Lots of people ask me how I find the time to write books. I’m not going to suggest that it’s easy, but for me it’s the simple process of taking it a step at a time, knowing that all those steps will add up to moving me towards the end goal.

That’s perhaps the secret to life and it’s certainly the secret to growing a business. You have to commit to act every single day. Do five things and then five more tomorrow.  It’s not sexy, it’s not front page worthy, but it is how it’s done.

So many people want the promise of success without taking the steps to get there.

And it’s not because the answers to all their business building questions aren’t readily available either. On any given day you could sign up for a free training session from a knowledgeable expert on just about any business building topic you could name.

So why is it that so many people sign up for these events, attend or don’t, and then do nothing with the information that’s shared?

I have a couple theories – 1) the information being shared isn’t as action oriented or concise as needed and 2) the folks attending don’t have any mechanism to hold them accountable. (Mind you, I have only anecdotal findings for this research conclusion, but I think it’s pretty sound.)

I want to try to figure out to address this notion so I’ve cooked up a little experiment of my own. Next week I’m launching a monthly series of online education sessions, featuring a roster of well-known experts.

But, the format is going to be a little different.

Each month my guest expert is going to share 5 specific action steps and challenge every participant to employ these steps. That’s it. No theory or fluff, just do these 5 things. (Calls will be around 30 minutes.)

Then, I’m going to give every participant a chance to come back and report their progress. (We’ll have a prize drawing each month to try to keep people motivated to take this step.) It’s my hope that this holds a few people more accountable to act.

Lastly, I’m charging a $5 one-time commitment fee. This is simply a way to keep people that sign up for “anything that’s free” at bay. In fact, I’m telling people not to even bother signing up unless they are committed to taking each month’s action steps.

If you’ve read this far you might want to know who my guest experts are and how to enroll – check out Commit2Act here

So, here’s what I’m trying to test:

• Does the action oriented, shorter format drive real action?
• Does the ability to report back help with accountability?
• Will that fact that I’ve put the $5 hurdle keep signup down, but actual participation up?
• Will the ongoing series format build momentum?

So, who’s willing to commit?