Do you have a lot of ideas and can’t seem to settle into one that will take you into success? There is a success myth out there that you need MORE in order to become more successful. But I see that creating a lot of overwhelm and very few tangible results. I’m a fan of focusing on “the one” — the idea that lights you up and helps position you as the expert (or leader) that you are.

You might see yourself in Nancy. Nancy was like every entrepreneur I know. Highly creative and visionary, she had a million ideas. First she wants to be a coach. Then a mentor tells her she should offer live workshops. Then, someone approaches her to do some corporate consulting so she adds that offering into the mix.

Then, confused and full of angst, she hears about how one guru makes a million dollars a year on selling just ONE e-book. Now Nancy jumps to writing an e-book but plans to have an audio program and a group coaching program three months from now.

I wanted to shake Nancy and tell her to STOP THE MADNESS!

Just because you have lots of ideas doesn’t mean you should act on all of them. Adam Gilad, founder of many online dating resources, once had a coaching epiphany with me many years ago that changed how he connected to his internal idea generator.

“Just because you have an idea doesn’t mean you should be the one to act on it.”

Moving an idea from inspiration to an actual money making business or revenue stream is much more than chasing the current fads. In order to have significant success you have to allocate time, money and resources to grow an idea into a real cash-machine. Not to mention the leveraged effort required to make a real impact in the world.

Yes, success should reflect what’s really important to you. But if making money is important, you’ll want to tune into this one key truth:

You can do it all. You can chase every bright shiny idea that lands in your mind. But if you want to speed up results, you have to focus on one core thing at a time.

Many entrepreneurs and service-professionals spin around and around in the “idea addiction” phase because it makes them feel inspired. Ideas are exciting. its just that an idea needs a plan and implementation to generate results. Ideas alone are not enough. And too many ideas at one time can just overwhelm you.

So how do you pick the one(s) that really can become a money-making, life-changing business offering? I’ll share with you a formula that is part of my Amplify Your Authority Inner Circle trainings (cause it is necessary to focus on ONE thing):

It’s called the Decision Making Filter and the way it works is you have to get clear on what’s REALLY important to you.

I like to start with clarifying a strong foundation and identify these five factors:

1. What do you need to feel aligned?
Start by building your own personal decision filter. Get clear on the values that must be met intrinsically in order to stay fulfilled. Your values are an important part of your “compass” for decisions so new ideas must be in alignment for you to stay inspired and motivated.

2. What’s super important right now?
It’s important to factor in exactly what is a hot priority for your business right now. This criteria can include cash flow, credibility, support, funding, etc. An idea that is not in alignment with an urgent priority becomes a “should.” Which means it doesn’t get attention, becomes another item on the to-do list, and eventually falls off the radar.

3. What lights me up?
In this step we identify how much passion you for an idea. When you factor in passion, it becomes a checkpoint for your entrepreneurial fuel. When things get tough (and they will) you need to be fired up to overcome challenges. Fuel generally comes from passion. Other mentors might tell you that passion is not important but in my almost 20 years of experience with entrepreneurs, being deeply driven to accomplish something is critical. If you are not excited then 100 other things will get your attention. If you are not excited, your prospects will feel it. This is part of an idea being aligned for sustainable growth.

4. Show me the money?
Where most decision making processes stops at the first three criteria, its important to evaluate when and how will an idea will make you money (or a least delivered the desired result.) Identifying exactly how long it will take to be monetized and later generate a profit moves you out of a “hobby” and into a “real business offering.”

One way to do this is to identify how much of a financial investment is required to nurture the new idea into results. I map out every cost involved, including my time away from other opportunities (otherwise known as opportunity cost.) Then I estimate best and worst case scenarios for when and how much income will be involved. If I can take that financial risk and accept the worst case scenario then I’ll move forward.

5. Is there an opportunity cost?
All other things considered, an idea can only reach a payoff if you have the time and resources to implement it. There is always an opportunity cost to anything that gets your attention. If you say YES, who would be in charge of moving this idea into completion? What else is on your plate right now? What will have be paused in order to focus on this idea?

Now what?

Now its time to decide. What opportunity is going to have the greatest impact on your visibility, impact and growth of your income? I’ll guide you through my FREE 7 step PROVEN Framework to Add Another 6 Figures to Your Business This Year will help you focus on what moves the revenue needle quickly.