The Wheel of Business
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| THE WHEEL OF BUSINESS |
Is this you: You're working, and working, and working. You're making money, but not as much as you'd like. You'd prefer to work less, make more, be happier. Have you asked yourself, 'Isn't there a better way?'
There is! To properly diagnose what's not working, use the above Wheel of Business to asses what areas of your business are a 10, a 0, or somewhere in between. The eight sections of the Wheel of Business represent eight of the major areas of your business. Take the center of the Wheel as 0 and the outer edge as 10 (10 is high), and rank your level of satisfaction or frustration in each area. Draw a curved line to create a new outer edge (see example, below). The new perimeter of the circle represents your actual, current Wheel of Business.
If you're like most folks, your Wheel of Business looks like this:
That wheel doesn't roll, it thumps along. Ineffectively. Inefficiently. Painfully. You've accomplished so much with this kind of wheel, what could happen if your Wheel was in alignment? If all areas were an 8, 9, or 10? You'd get where you want to go faster, easier.
This is most easily accomplished with the help of a coach. Spend some time figuring out the areas you'd like to work on first. Then, go here for some assistance.
1%-er Action: Handwritten Notes
While that's fine for your competitors, if you're reading this, you most likely want to do what 1%-ers do so you can earn what 1%-ers earn (hint: it's usually in the 7-figure range). I send about five notes a day, for a variety of reasons:
- in gratitude for things others do for me (such as buy lunch, refer new business, hire me or send a gift)
- after meeting someone for the first time (leaves a powerful, positive impression and opens perhaps otherwise closed doors)
- to start to bridge the gap with acquaintances from "friendly" to "friend," thus increasing the likelihood of future business*
- to recognize someone for a personal or professional achievement
- to offer condolences on someone's loss
- or just to say hello and enclose an article or other piece of important information
Here is a great stationery resource. My recommendation is to have notes with your name and business address (without your business name). This elevates the relationship to personal - which is crucial for business success. In perfect or imperfect worlds, we do business with our friends - people we know, like and trust. Sending notes is one of the best ways to begin and continue that process.
1%-er Actions
Who makes money in a down economy? Who succeeds when success seems impossible? Who has a great attitude no matter what? A 1%-er, that's who! Throughout my dozen years as a coach, I've identified many 1%-er actions, the ones that make all the difference in the size of one's business, the level of their success and, of course, their income.
The great news is that these actions aren't impossible, in fact, they're not even really difficult. But they do require focus, intention and determination.
Here's a list of some of the 1%-er actions I've identified. Stay tuned, in the coming days, week and months, I'll be spelling them out for you so that your success is all but guaranteed.
1%-ers:
- Stay in solution.
- Have an outstanding attitude.
- Know their ideal client profile.
- Market relentlessly to their potential ideal clients.
- Are on time, every time.
- Give no excuses.
- Are all about results.
- Keeping trying until...
- Have excellent manners.
- Go in the direction of the next level.
- Are consistent.
- Are intentional, intense and focused.
The 6 D's of Doubling Your Income
Is this year the year you'll double your income? Is this year the year you'll take time to enjoy your new-found abundance?
Is that resistance I feel from you? Are you about to start your story with how that's not possible with your current income restraints, the economy or some other constraints? If so, this post is not for you. If you're in, read on ...
- Decide. Decide you want to double your income. Brainstorm, strategize, and be open to the possibilities. The formula for results is 100% intention (begins with a decision) plus 0% mechanism. Decide and then take the next step that occurs to you. From there, you'll be able to create a workable plan.
- Discipline. Have the discipline to follow through on your plan. Success is a result of your daily habits. You make your habits, and eventually they make you. Get in the habit of taking those crucial steps each day in the direction of your dreams.
- Determination. Determination makes all the difference. When you're determined, it's not if something will happen, but when.
- Delegate. I may sound like a broken record, but stop doing anything and everything you could hire someone else to do, so you can do the things that will make your dreams and goals a reality. You don't get rich, or richer, by doing what you've always done. It's time to do something new! Start by creating what will become your team by hiring one person to do those tasks that need to get done, but not necessarily done by you.
- Do. Nothing happens until you take action. So, take action. Right action equals right results. Get moving and keep moving. Until.
- Dump. Let go of and stop striving for those things that don't move you in the right direction. Dump, or eliminate, anything on your to do list that isn't crucial and important.
You've got just about two weeks until the gun goes off on another year. Will you be on track, this time next year, to have doubled your income? I hope so! Cheers to you!
Multiply
Simplify. Leverage. Accelerate. Then Multiply.
Multiply your efforts through others. Have a team of people that make your business run like a well-oiled machine. Your team can include any or all of the following: assistant, marketer, sales person, web designer, housekeeper, nanny, editor, social media expert, coach, organizer, receptionist, office manager, travel agent, event coordinator ...
Each of these members of your team perform critical tasks that enable you to perform your critical tasks (you know what these are right? Revenue-generating activities). The number of attorneys who make copies and send faxes is astounding. The number of CEOs who handle their own calendar is breathtaking. The number of business owners without a coach, CPA, mentor or advisory board is, truly, mind-boggling.
What it is, you must know, is a waste of time and money. While you can always presumably get more money, once you've wasted time, it's gone forever. Having a team multiplies your talents and abilities, makes you more profitable, decreases your stress ... and wouldn't all of those things truly make you happier? Isn't that what life is all about, anyway? Happiness and all that goes with it?
If you think you can't afford a team, the truth is you can't afford not to have a team.
Coach's Directive: Create an organizational chart, even if currently you're a team of one. Sketch out who needs to be on your team. Then, take the first magical step of faith and hire someone. Today. (Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of your bank balance growing!)
Each of these members of your team perform critical tasks that enable you to perform your critical tasks (you know what these are right? Revenue-generating activities). The number of attorneys who make copies and send faxes is astounding. The number of CEOs who handle their own calendar is breathtaking. The number of business owners without a coach, CPA, mentor or advisory board is, truly, mind-boggling.
What it is, you must know, is a waste of time and money. While you can always presumably get more money, once you've wasted time, it's gone forever. Having a team multiplies your talents and abilities, makes you more profitable, decreases your stress ... and wouldn't all of those things truly make you happier? Isn't that what life is all about, anyway? Happiness and all that goes with it?
If you think you can't afford a team, the truth is you can't afford not to have a team.
Coach's Directive: Create an organizational chart, even if currently you're a team of one. Sketch out who needs to be on your team. Then, take the first magical step of faith and hire someone. Today. (Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of your bank balance growing!)
Accelerate
We all want what we want, when we want it. I want it yesterday, even if I didn't know I wanted it until today.
So do your best clients.
In the interest of simplification: The best way to accelerate your business is to always be looking for ways to serve your clients faster, better, and more effectively. Identify areas of pain that you can help your clients avoid or eliminate, and quickly. Then, let everyone know.
So do your best clients.
In the interest of simplification: The best way to accelerate your business is to always be looking for ways to serve your clients faster, better, and more effectively. Identify areas of pain that you can help your clients avoid or eliminate, and quickly. Then, let everyone know.
Leverage
In my previous post, I discussed the how to simplify your business and life for a happier, more profitable you. If you've evaluated your business, started doing only those activities that are necessary (and delegating the rest), and using Zero-based Thinking, you're well on your way.
Leverage is the second step in this process. Leveraging yourself is key to creating true wealth, and having the time to actually enjoy the wealth. I know I'm talking crazy, but please allow me to continue!
There are several leverage points that, when implemented, can make all the difference in your profitability, stress level, time needed to accomplish goals and overall lifestyle. When you leverage your strengths and abilities, as well as those around you, you're able to achieve much more than you can do on your own. Let's explore my favorites:
Leverage is the second step in this process. Leveraging yourself is key to creating true wealth, and having the time to actually enjoy the wealth. I know I'm talking crazy, but please allow me to continue!
There are several leverage points that, when implemented, can make all the difference in your profitability, stress level, time needed to accomplish goals and overall lifestyle. When you leverage your strengths and abilities, as well as those around you, you're able to achieve much more than you can do on your own. Let's explore my favorites:
- OPK (Other People’s Knowledge): One piece of key information can save you time or money, or help you to make more money. You'll find this knowledge in books, seminars, blogs and amazing conversations. Who do you need to know that knows what you need to know?
- OPE (Other People's Energy): Use the skills and abilities of others to delegate and outsource lower-value and specific talent activities. No, you shouldn't balance your books, clean your car, pick-up the dry-cleaning, prepare your own legal documents or tax returns. You should be spending your time doing what you the best and what creates the highest payoff. Leveraging your talents, skills and abilities through others is another key way to expand your business without having to do the work yourself. How can you leverage others?
- OPM (Other People's Money): Borrowing and/or tapping into the resources of other people will allow you to accomplish more than if you financed it yourself. Borrowing and investing money wisely will help you achieve greater returns than if you boot-strapped it yourself. How much money do you need? Who has money they're looking to invest in someone fantastic with a terrific plan?
- OPS (Other People's Successes): Study the successes enjoyed by other people and their companies. Usually, successful people have paid high prices, learned lessons, identified short-cuts, and developed effective strategies that would be amazingly beneficial to you. These quite simply can save you time and trouble. Who has been successful in the way(s) you want to be successful? What can you learn from them?
- OPF (Other People's Failures): Ben Franklin said: "Man can either buy his wisdom or borrow it. Buying it, he pays in time and trouble. Borrowing saves him time, money and trouble." I say borrow, borrow, borrow! Study the failures of others so as not to make the same mistake yourself! Who has had a failure and some valuable information for you?
- OPI (Other People's Ideas): One good idea is all you need to make your fortune. Think, observe, experiment + your talents and experience + one brilliant idea = success. Write down three ideas every day. One of them can turn you into a millionaire, or take you from millionaire to multi-millionaire.
- OPC (Other People's Contacts/Credibility): Each person knows about 2,000 other people and some of them can be helpful to you. One introduction to a key person can change the direction of your life, your career, or both. Who do you know that well-connected and can make some powerful introductions for you?
Leverage is powerful! It's like compound interest ~ the benefits are unending and exponential.
Simplify
My personal lifestyle goals include enjoying life, working as intelligently as possible, and still prospering massively. I use a few simple ideas in my quest for an amazing lifestyle. While it looks easy, it takes thought, effort and planning.
The first step is simplification. People say they hire me because they want to "double their income and triple their time off." Oh sure, no problem! And ... the first thing they must learn to do is simplify everything, starting here:
- Ruthlessly evaluate each and every activity you're engaging in, then reduce and eliminate those low-value activities that (a) take up valuable time while (b) contributing very little to your goals. It is tempting to answer the emails, surf the web for a lower price, go to Office Depot, and yet you could have one of your team members handle it while you're making the big bucks.
- Do more of the things that make an impact on your bottom line. These are known as revenue-generating activities. When I hear, "I spent the whole day in my office and got nothing important done," I'm quite frankly flabbergasted. How on earth can you have a profitable business if you're not getting anything of value done? Then exactly when will you do valuable, profit-increasing, revenue-generating activities that need to be done to keep the business moving in the right direction. Without question, these activities are the ones you're supposed to do first!
- Use "Zero-based Thinking" by asking yourself this question: What am I doing right now, that knowing what I now know, I wouldn’t get into again if I was starting over (such as: a relationship, business, activity, product, service, expenditure of time or money). When identified, this activity needs to be downsized or eliminated, or contact with a particular person needs to be minimized or eliminated. Implementing Zero-based Thinking can almost overnight simplify your life (not to mention lowering your stress level). Most likely, the next-most important questions are: How do I get out of this? and how fast? What should I do more of, less of, start or stop doing?
The benefits of taking the time to simplify are well worth it. You'll be doing work that's productive, the work you're doing will provide you with the cash-flow and profitability you need, so you can have the personal life you desire. The process takes time and is well worth the effort.
Multiple, Profitable Streams of Income
In my last post, I talked about becoming profitable. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, in this ever-changing economy is diversifying, being flexible and staying permanently profitable. On top of that, you should be more profitable month over month, quarter over quarter, and year over year.
If you are selling only one widget or one service, it is possible you are leaving much on the table. Diversifying allows you to have different streams of income and if one dries up, you still have at least one other to fill in the gaps.
If you are a service provider, have at least three different services with options for customization in case your new client wants more and has the budget to afford it.
Examples: A CPA can do simple and complex tax returns, tax planning and have a bookkeeping department. Ideally, a portion of your business should be passive revenue, and in this case the CPA makes far more than a bookkeeper. The bookkeeper's services can provide an additional stream of income, while employing someone to provide a much-needed and asked-for service. An Executive, Business or Personal Coach can do 1-on-1 coaching, group coaching, write books or self-study courses, and do speeches or seminars. An HR consultant can consult, edit personnel manuals and do workshops.
If you strictly sell products, what are some complimentary products you can offer or refer and receive referral income? Can you sell from multiple price points to serve more of the clients you already have?
Your challenge is to expand your products and/or services to give your business more options for profitability. One of the best ways to decide what might work best is to listen to your current clients and prospects. They will tell you their problems and your job is to solve them.
Have fun figuring out how to expand your business and create new streams of income. You'll watch your profits soar, regardless of what's happening around you.
If you are selling only one widget or one service, it is possible you are leaving much on the table. Diversifying allows you to have different streams of income and if one dries up, you still have at least one other to fill in the gaps.
If you are a service provider, have at least three different services with options for customization in case your new client wants more and has the budget to afford it.
Examples: A CPA can do simple and complex tax returns, tax planning and have a bookkeeping department. Ideally, a portion of your business should be passive revenue, and in this case the CPA makes far more than a bookkeeper. The bookkeeper's services can provide an additional stream of income, while employing someone to provide a much-needed and asked-for service. An Executive, Business or Personal Coach can do 1-on-1 coaching, group coaching, write books or self-study courses, and do speeches or seminars. An HR consultant can consult, edit personnel manuals and do workshops.
If you strictly sell products, what are some complimentary products you can offer or refer and receive referral income? Can you sell from multiple price points to serve more of the clients you already have?
Your challenge is to expand your products and/or services to give your business more options for profitability. One of the best ways to decide what might work best is to listen to your current clients and prospects. They will tell you their problems and your job is to solve them.
Have fun figuring out how to expand your business and create new streams of income. You'll watch your profits soar, regardless of what's happening around you.
What's Your Model for Profitability?
Are you "just in business" or do you actually have a profitable business? Is your business more and more profitable over time, or are you just barely keeping the doors open and the lights on? I'm surprised by the number of people I talk to who are barely breaking even, or worse, losing money on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. You've heard the saying "cash is king." This is especially true in our current times. In order to have cash, you've got to be profitable. In order to be profitable, you must obtain clarity about several critical aspects regarding your business.
Do you have answers to these questions: Are you and/or do you know how can you become profitable? Who do you serve the best and how do you serve them the best? What's your plan? You must have clear, concise and definite answers to these questions. Then, and only then, can you proceed toward becoming profitable.
Profitability is a result of knowing (a) your most profitable product or offering and (b) knowing the profile of your best buyer. Your most popular product or service is not always your most profitable. Many business owners confuse what goes out the door with what makes them the most money. Identify the products and services that provide you with the most profit. Next, create an ideal client profile. I call this the Who #1: what are the qualities and characteristics of your ideal client? The Who #2 is a list of actual target clients who fit your profile. Now you can begin the process of (creatively) marketing your most profitable products and services to the best buyers! This leads very quickly to profitability.
What's your Plan? Do you have a business plan? An annual plan? A 100-Day Plan? It is imperative to have a plan and work your plan! Not having a plan virtually eliminates the possibility of a profitable business. The question becomes: Are you in business to survive or thrive? (That's what I thought.)
Once your ideal products and ideal future clients have been identified, market to them and only to them. Here's what you need to STOP doing: Just taking work to take work to get revenue in the door. It's a trap! Your singular, intense focus should be in finding your best buyers to buy your most profitable offerings. Period.
In my next post, I'll talk about having multiple profitable streams to diversify your business ...
“It is always nice to read a short book that cuts to the chase (has zero fluff) with great ideas for reaching your goals.” ~Andrea Waltz, author, Go for No! Read the entire review here. Buy this book here.
Honorée Enterprises, LLC. turns service providers into rainmakers, average producers into rock-stars, and dreams into reality. For more information on how we can specifically help you or your organization, click here. You can read all about Honorée here.
Anticipation
I'm off to visit Austin this afternoon - my future new home - and I'm so excited. The anticipation of this trip, where I get to meet new people, make authentic connections, and begin what will be my new life is keeping me up late (reading this) and waking me up early!
What are you anticipating? Are you anticipating that great things are going to happen in your life? Are you looking forward to meeting new potential clients, and therefore taking action to do so? Are you anticipating seeing the results of your efforts this week, next week, next month, next year?
Part of anticipating is picturing in your mind's eye what you want to happen in the future all the time and no matter what you're seeing right now. Truthfully, it doesn't matter what you see with your eyes, it matters what you see in your mind, and the pictures you hold there.
Take a few moments and do this closed-eye exercise: Picture your top 3 goals and visualize them as being achieved. Feel in your body how you will feel when they have actually been achieved. Create a sense of anticipation ~ the side benefit will be that you will take action when times are tough, when you get a "no" instead of a "yes" or it even seems like what you're striving for might not happen (it will, or something even better will).
Anticipation is really powerful and I know if you harness that power, you'll be just as excited about what's coming up next in your life as I am in mine!
Go for it!
~Coach H.
What are you anticipating? Are you anticipating that great things are going to happen in your life? Are you looking forward to meeting new potential clients, and therefore taking action to do so? Are you anticipating seeing the results of your efforts this week, next week, next month, next year?
Part of anticipating is picturing in your mind's eye what you want to happen in the future all the time and no matter what you're seeing right now. Truthfully, it doesn't matter what you see with your eyes, it matters what you see in your mind, and the pictures you hold there.
Take a few moments and do this closed-eye exercise: Picture your top 3 goals and visualize them as being achieved. Feel in your body how you will feel when they have actually been achieved. Create a sense of anticipation ~ the side benefit will be that you will take action when times are tough, when you get a "no" instead of a "yes" or it even seems like what you're striving for might not happen (it will, or something even better will).
Anticipation is really powerful and I know if you harness that power, you'll be just as excited about what's coming up next in your life as I am in mine!
Go for it!
~Coach H.
Before You Network
A good part of networking success depends on what you do before you leave.
Here are your Networking Event Planning Questions:
Here are your Networking Event Planning Questions:
Why am I attending this event?
Based on one of your most important goals, and determine some critical outcomes for your event.
Example: I am attending this event as a step toward my goals of creating new business and increasing new client revenues by 30%.
Who do I want to meet?
Example: I want to meet the general counsels of XYZ Co., ABC Co. and DEF Co. I also want to meet and get to know as many people as possible in the X industry.
What am I going to say?
Create a powerful 30-second sound bite so you can introduce yourself in a way that makes certain your new contact will want to know more.
Example: “My name is…I am a senior associate at…I help corporations with all of the challenges they face with respect to…”
What do I want to accomplish?
I want to meet the three targeted general counsels and for each of them identify at least one item of personal or professional need. I also want to establish with them a next step based on their based on their personal or professional need. Finally, I want to exchange business cards with 20 people and have a next step for at least five of them.
How am I going to follow up? Determine the most effective post-event activities to move you in the right direction. Examples:
*Have my secretary enter all contact information into our firm’s contact database
*Add the names of those who were interested in receiving our newsletter (if the topic arose in our conversation).
*Write personal notes, send items of interest and schedule face-to-face or telephone discussions depending on the results of my networking activities.
Control What You Can Control
Attending a luncheon today, I heard a speaker talk about "feeling out of control" in this economy. It made me ponder what one can actually control, if anything. Turns out, there are quite a few things ... and doing them just might make you feel better, right about the same time they help you to become more happy and successful.
To your success! ~Coach Honorée
- You can control your psychology. You become what you think about all day long. That makes those six inches between your ears the most important real estate you own. It's not what happens, it's how you respond (rather than react). Spend a few moments in silence first thing in the morning, followed by a few moments of "putting some good stuff in." You can go here or here to find good stuff to read or listen to. I also recommend Success Magazine and the current publisher Darren Hardy's book, The Compound Effect. That time will set the tone for the rest of the day and help you to feel unstoppable.
- You can control what you do. You can spend time feeling sorry for yourself, feeling upset about what isn't happening or you can spend your time getting busy creating your amazing future. Spend time doing revenue-generating activities, be they short-term or long-term. Create a 1-, 3- or 5-year plan. Getting into action will temper any fear or anxiety you're feeling as well as help you to create awesome opportunities.
- You can control what you don't do. Right after telling you to get busy, I'm going to remind you that doing just for the sake of being busy isn't the ticket. Sometimes it's what you fail to do that makes all the difference: fail to go to useless networking events, fail to procrastinate, fail to waste time on Facebook or twitter (unless you're using them to market your business or services).
- You can use "down time" to work on yourself. When all of your i's are dotted and t's are crossed, you can sharpen your saw by doing what most other people stop doing as early as possible: learn. Learn a new skill, learn information that is valuable to your clients, concepts you could integrate into your business, and leading-edge ideas that will make a difference and complement your current vocation. Learn anything new to keep your brain sharp.
- You can use your time to build deeper relationships. I love to do business with my friends, and it takes awhile to truly become friends. Finding yourself with some extra hours will allow you to meet someone for lunch, coffee, or drinks. This face-to-face offers the opportunity for true, deep and authentic relationships to occur. It's exactly those insights that you share, the thoughts you exchange and the information you provide that makes someone your friend -- and an advocate sometimes just when you need it.
To your success! ~Coach Honorée
How to Get Everything You Really Want
If you don't have everything you really want, there might just be one critical thing missing in your box of tricks: asking. We've all heard "Ask and ye shall receive." The challenge is, as kids, we're told "No, and stop asking." What may have happened is that you've been conditioned to (a) ask internally (as in, "I hope they just ask me for my product/service without me having to ask.") or (b) ask once and wait. Neither of these really works, and it certainly won't get you what you want.
The truth is: You Must A-S-K to G-E-T. Here are five keys to successful asking:
1. Ask specifically. Be precise. Tell who, what, where, when and if necessary, why. This will require you to be clear about what you want prior to embarking on your quest.
2. Ask someone who can help you, hire you, give you the yes. Pre-qualify who you're asking to make sure you're not engaging in an exercise in futility. Find the person with the authority and the money.
3. Ask from a place of adding value. Create a win-win situation. If you're always just asking, you'll be considered a taker. The most successful people are givers and give first whenever possible. What can you possibly do for the person you're asking that will make the yes you're getting seem like the most logical thing for them to do?
4. Ask with congruent belief that you'll get the yes. Lack of belief sounds like, 'You don't really want to help me, do you?' Your belief can not only affect whether or not they say yes, it can affect their subsequent actions.
5. Ask until. God's delays are not God's denials. Ask again. Ask another person. Keep asking until you get what you want. Become a kid again. My sweet Lexi, without question, is a master (at age 10) of this key. If only we, as adults, were as committed to getting the yes as our children!
Go for it! The amazing results you're after are yours to get.
The truth is: You Must A-S-K to G-E-T. Here are five keys to successful asking:
1. Ask specifically. Be precise. Tell who, what, where, when and if necessary, why. This will require you to be clear about what you want prior to embarking on your quest.
2. Ask someone who can help you, hire you, give you the yes. Pre-qualify who you're asking to make sure you're not engaging in an exercise in futility. Find the person with the authority and the money.
3. Ask from a place of adding value. Create a win-win situation. If you're always just asking, you'll be considered a taker. The most successful people are givers and give first whenever possible. What can you possibly do for the person you're asking that will make the yes you're getting seem like the most logical thing for them to do?
4. Ask with congruent belief that you'll get the yes. Lack of belief sounds like, 'You don't really want to help me, do you?' Your belief can not only affect whether or not they say yes, it can affect their subsequent actions.
5. Ask until. God's delays are not God's denials. Ask again. Ask another person. Keep asking until you get what you want. Become a kid again. My sweet Lexi, without question, is a master (at age 10) of this key. If only we, as adults, were as committed to getting the yes as our children!
Go for it! The amazing results you're after are yours to get.
Abudance AND Happiness?
I had a discussion recently regarding abundance (in terms of money and time) and personal happiness. Could it be true that what we've been taught - that in order to be wealthy, we must sacrifice our personal happiness and spend all of our time in pursuit of this wealth?
My answer to this is a resounding NO. My personal belief is that in pursuing our most passionate past-times, we are able to create an abundance of whatever we need, including time and money.
I read a book years ago, Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow, and the entire book was about just this very concept. If you've bought into the belief, through social conditioning (absolutely present, and completely unnecessary), that you must sacrifice everything else in order to have "enough" to do what you really want to do, I'd like to challenge that belief. You can wake up every day, full of energy, vitality and positive expectation. The first thing you have to do is make the decision to do it! You may not be able to leave your law practice tomorrow and go to culinary school, but you could in 1, 3 or 6 months if you created a plan to do so. You could start that business you've always talked about, dreamed about, and perhaps stopped wanting because you've stopped believing you could do it.
It's up to you to stop believing it's not possible and step into all of the ways it could be possible. Really, the only thing standing in between you and everything you've ever wanted, everything you still want, is you.
You have to become unreasonable, and when you do, you raise your standards and start to go for what you truly want. Don't settle, you only have one life and the time is right now to start living it exactly the way you want it. Go for it!
My answer to this is a resounding NO. My personal belief is that in pursuing our most passionate past-times, we are able to create an abundance of whatever we need, including time and money.
I read a book years ago, Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow, and the entire book was about just this very concept. If you've bought into the belief, through social conditioning (absolutely present, and completely unnecessary), that you must sacrifice everything else in order to have "enough" to do what you really want to do, I'd like to challenge that belief. You can wake up every day, full of energy, vitality and positive expectation. The first thing you have to do is make the decision to do it! You may not be able to leave your law practice tomorrow and go to culinary school, but you could in 1, 3 or 6 months if you created a plan to do so. You could start that business you've always talked about, dreamed about, and perhaps stopped wanting because you've stopped believing you could do it.
It's up to you to stop believing it's not possible and step into all of the ways it could be possible. Really, the only thing standing in between you and everything you've ever wanted, everything you still want, is you.
You have to become unreasonable, and when you do, you raise your standards and start to go for what you truly want. Don't settle, you only have one life and the time is right now to start living it exactly the way you want it. Go for it!
All I Need to Know About Tenacity I'm Learning from My 10-Year-Old
My daughter Lexi came to me and asked if she could earn some money by selling my books, Tall Order! and The Successful Single Mom, and could she sell them door-to-door in our neighborhood. Thinking this would be a soon-forgotten (by her) request, I said "Sure!"
She immediately grabbed her cell phone and 5 copies of each book and set off down the street. Within five minutes she called and said she had sold her first $15 book, and since she didn't have change, she made $20. I told her she had about another hour and then she needed to come home for dinner by 7. At 7:07, I called to find out where she was. She told me she was talking to a lady named Melinda who was a single mom with two dogs and she was just getting to know her. She informed me she'd be home in about 10 minutes. When she returned home, she asked if she could go out again in the morning. She made $35, sold two books, and was so excited.
Today she and her friend spent about 2 hours, went to 25 houses, got 6 no's and 1 yes (and another $20). Rather than be discouraged, she put her money in a pile and declared herself successful. She had reached her first goal, she told me, of making $50.
Her tenacity, enthusiasm and resilience have inspired me. I will no longer get discouraged by knocking on more doors than I'd like, or hearing no when I'd rather hear yes. I will take my cues from my inspirational 10-year-old and keep smiling, dialing, meeting and greeting. I hope you will, too.
She immediately grabbed her cell phone and 5 copies of each book and set off down the street. Within five minutes she called and said she had sold her first $15 book, and since she didn't have change, she made $20. I told her she had about another hour and then she needed to come home for dinner by 7. At 7:07, I called to find out where she was. She told me she was talking to a lady named Melinda who was a single mom with two dogs and she was just getting to know her. She informed me she'd be home in about 10 minutes. When she returned home, she asked if she could go out again in the morning. She made $35, sold two books, and was so excited.
Today she and her friend spent about 2 hours, went to 25 houses, got 6 no's and 1 yes (and another $20). Rather than be discouraged, she put her money in a pile and declared herself successful. She had reached her first goal, she told me, of making $50.
 |
| Lexi & her $55 |
Her tenacity, enthusiasm and resilience have inspired me. I will no longer get discouraged by knocking on more doors than I'd like, or hearing no when I'd rather hear yes. I will take my cues from my inspirational 10-year-old and keep smiling, dialing, meeting and greeting. I hope you will, too.
Dealing with Nay-Sayers & Criticizers
As you rise to the top, go for your goals and achieve success, there will inevitably be those folks who have "input" for you. There's a saying I've heard:
"The higher up the flag pole you rise, the more your ass sticks out."This is so true!
You can choose to play small and fit in, or you can go for it and along with that will come those who will say it can't be done or criticize your optimism and even your results! There are, indeed, those people who believe those who are rich and successful must have done something bad to reach their achievements.
Coach's note: You can't resent something someone else has and get more of it for yourself.
My mentors and coaches have given me some insight into dealing with these people, their thoughts and input:
- Take time to ponder their words. Ask yourself if there's some validity to what they're saying. If there is, you may have some opportunity for improvement or adjustment.
- Another great question: "Do they live a life I aspire to?" If not, there's no need for further thought. For me, if I don't have high respect for the person who's criticizing me, I will most likely dismiss what they have to say.
- Finally, if the person who has something to say hasn't taken the time to talk with you, get to know you and gather all the information they need to form an opinion, than their opinion is just that: their opinion and it is none of your business (and it should stay that way).
- Sometimes what they have to say is all about them, their fears and insecurities, and has nothing to do with you. If someone can say something, get you to doubt yourself and play small, then they won't feel as uncomfortable. Have compassion, and love them just the same (from a safe distance, if you need to).
Here's to your amazing success!
Tall Order! is a book that gets to the point. It helps you pinpoint what is going to get you the results you want, starting right now. Jeffrey Gitomer says, "Don't let the size fool you -- this book is compact dynamite! Buy this book!"
Honorée Enterprises, LLC. turns service providers into rainmakers, average producers into rock-stars, and dreams into reality. For more information on how we can specifically help you or your organization, click here. You can read all about Honorée here.
Beliefs --> Behaviors --> Results
The good news is: your results are based upon your beliefs. The bad news is: your results are based on your beliefs. The results you're getting in your life are a direct result of the deeply-held beliefs that control your behaviors and actions, and therefore your results.
These beliefs can relate to something simple, like my old belief of “I don’t cook, sew, decorate, etc. because I was never taught to do these things.” I decided I didn't like the outcomes (or lack thereof), so I changed that belief to: “If I can read and follow directions, I can do anything.” Once I adopted that new belief, guess what happened? I started doing all of the things I previously said I couldn't do. Was I perfect at first? Heck no! Did I make it a point to laugh at my lack of competence? Absolutely! Over time, I've gotten better and it's increased my self-esteem in the areas of trying new things.
Your beliefs can be about something more complex or complicated, like today's current economic conditions. Try adopting this belief: "I live in abundance. I choose to participate in a rockin' positive economy." Believe me when I say: the choice is truly yours.
Change your belief, change your story, and your self-esteem and belief in yourself will rise - and your results will change, for the better. This I know for sure.
These beliefs can relate to something simple, like my old belief of “I don’t cook, sew, decorate, etc. because I was never taught to do these things.” I decided I didn't like the outcomes (or lack thereof), so I changed that belief to: “If I can read and follow directions, I can do anything.” Once I adopted that new belief, guess what happened? I started doing all of the things I previously said I couldn't do. Was I perfect at first? Heck no! Did I make it a point to laugh at my lack of competence? Absolutely! Over time, I've gotten better and it's increased my self-esteem in the areas of trying new things.
Your beliefs can be about something more complex or complicated, like today's current economic conditions. Try adopting this belief: "I live in abundance. I choose to participate in a rockin' positive economy." Believe me when I say: the choice is truly yours.
Change your belief, change your story, and your self-esteem and belief in yourself will rise - and your results will change, for the better. This I know for sure.
Sending E-mail Made Simple
E-mail has dramatically increased the speed of communication. Present day, people expect instant replies, which has forced us into hastily crafted responses, rash decisions and sometimes poor judgment calls. Taking the time to employ some old school wisdom, common sense, and logic to your e-mail will automatically filter out and eliminate many such potential errors.
Here are Fourteen Tips for Excellent E-mail:
Here are Fourteen Tips for Excellent E-mail:
- Keep it brief. Your reader will mentally check out, neglect to read until it's too late, or even delete what could be a very important message if it's too long. Make no more than three points or ask three questions in any e-mail. Use the amount of screen you can see as a guide when crafting an email. If someone can read your e-mail in under one minute, you're most likely to get and keep their attention, as well as get a response.
- Include the original text with your reply. That way, if you do use a one-word response (not advised), the original sender (and now recipient) will know to what you're referring.
- Have "in writing" standards. Use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. Remember, you never know who will be the ultimate recipient of your e-mail and you always want to be seen in the best light.
- DON'T YELL. No-one likes to be yelled at, and ALL CAPS gives a sense that you're YELLING.
- Fresh topics need a fresh e-mail. It can be confusing if you reply to an old e-mail with a new subject. If you must, delete all of the old text and then compose your new message.
- Make your subject line clear and captivating. What is the subject of your e-mail? Why should the recipient open it and read it right now? Rev up those creative juices when composing to ensure the recipient will be compelled to read and respond right away.
- Know when to use CC and BCC. Copy only those who absolutely need to be copied. When broadcasting to more than three (yes, 3) people, use BCC to avoid blasting everyone's e-mail address to everyone else on the list (this, in turn, will prevent a host of other potential challenges).
- Add a greeting. Include at least a "Hi, Susan," at the beginning. The best e-mails I've seen have the date at the top. It just adds that extra bit of professionalism.
- Have a signature. I have lost count of the number of times I've had to search for someone's phone number or address because it wasn't included in their email. Unless the recipient is your mom or best friend, they won't have your information memorized. Alleviate the need for someone to "track you down" and provide the information they need each and every time you reach out to them.
- Market mindfully. If you use e-mail to send e-zines or e-newsletters, be brief, to the point, and add instant value to your reader. Raise your hand if you get 200 e-mails every single day (me, too). I want to read pertinent, informative and valuable e-mails. All of the others are deleted. Aren't you the same way?
- Reply in a timely manner. Don't say you're too busy, everyone's too busy. Take one minute to reply, rather than making the sender wait for your response. It is entirely within your right to respond with, "Thank you, I'm not interested at this time." Just as it's important to return phone calls within 24-48 hours, the same holds true with e-mail. If you must set aside 30-45 minute each day to respond to e-mails, then do just that.
- Be mindful of your tone. Be as polite as your possibly can. When in doubt, read your message out loud and if there's any room for doubt about your tone, change your words, syntax and possibly your punctuation.
- (Almost) Never use "reply all": At the very least, use "reply all" sparingly and only when you're completely sure that everyone on the original recipient list has an interest in, and/or needs to receive your response.
- Don't hide behind e-mail. If you have something important to say, have the courage to say it over the phone or in person. It is considered passive-aggressive and unprofessional to send your "true feelings" in writing over e-mail. I also advise against using profanity. You just never know who will eventually see your email!
- Anger is one letter short of danger. Would you want the email you're about to send to be seen by your parents, best friend, children, boss, be printed on the front page of your local paper or highlighted on CNN? If the answer is no, compose away ... go ahead and get all of those negative thoughts and feelings out ... and then hit "delete!"
Rules for Leaving Effective, Useful Voice Mail by Ellen Simon
Be brief, be concise and, most of all, don't waste people's time, experts warn
If you would like to leave a long, rambling message with no apparent point, please hang up now.
If you are calling to verify that your e-mail has been received, please go outside and do five laps around the block.
If you'd like to leave five numbers and the different hours of the day you might be reached at those numbers, please quit your job, begin taking daily Bikram yoga classes and move to Santa Fe.
If you are Alec Baldwin, please hang up and call your attorney.
Voice mail used to be so useful. But somewhere along the line it drifted from brief messages saying, "Hello, it's Jordan. We have reservations at 6:30 at Savoy for dinner. See you there," to painful, musing, hard-to-comprehend monologues.
And we're not just talking about Baldwin's voice-mail-heard-round-the-world to his 11-year-old daughter, calling her a "thoughtless little pig." We're talking about the business world.
Greg Brown, editorial director of the financial publishing group at Newsmax Media Inc. based in West Palm Beach, Fla., said he follows specific rules when leaving a voice mail, saying his number twice, slowly, then his name with a brief message, then his number, plus an e-mail option.
Why?
"Because I am so annoyed at this message, which I get 15 times a day," he said. " 'Hiiiii, Greg, this is Allan, well, I was thinking about our, uh, conversation, and I think that maybe a good way to do the next step might be uh (long pause while he fiddles with a door, or something) get together and talk about it, maybe get a drink, I dunno ... hey, maybe we could involve the people in marketing, too, well, maybe, it's a thought. Anyway, give me a call. ..."
Then, there are the mystery callers.
"People leave a message saying, 'Hey, it's me. I can't wait to tell you something. Call me back,' " said Honoree Corpron, an executive coach based in Las Vegas. "And I play it over and over, wondering,
'Who is this?' "
In the age of caller ID, it's somewhat easier to figure out, but not always.
"I had a woman call recently, saying, 'Hi. It's Cathy.' We had a bad connection, I called her back and got her outgoing voice mail that said: 'Hi. It's Cathy.' There are days when I talk to 200 people. Cathy is not an uncommon name. Is it Cathy my neighbor? Cathy the Realtor? I still don't know who she is," Corpron said.
As we clean our desks and promise to start the new year fresh, perhaps it's time to rethink how we handle voice mail. Some tips:
National Discount Brokers was well known around 2000 for its voice-mail instructions, which ended with, "If you'd like to hear a duck quack, press seven." So many people did that it became part of the company's marketing.
Corpron said she's left an outgoing message saying: "Hi, it's Honoree. I'm out doing my Christmas shopping and I need some additional cash. Please leave your name and your American Express card number."
"People do it!" she said.
If you are calling to verify that your e-mail has been received, please go outside and do five laps around the block.
If you'd like to leave five numbers and the different hours of the day you might be reached at those numbers, please quit your job, begin taking daily Bikram yoga classes and move to Santa Fe.
If you are Alec Baldwin, please hang up and call your attorney.
Voice mail used to be so useful. But somewhere along the line it drifted from brief messages saying, "Hello, it's Jordan. We have reservations at 6:30 at Savoy for dinner. See you there," to painful, musing, hard-to-comprehend monologues.
And we're not just talking about Baldwin's voice-mail-heard-round-the-world to his 11-year-old daughter, calling her a "thoughtless little pig." We're talking about the business world.
Greg Brown, editorial director of the financial publishing group at Newsmax Media Inc. based in West Palm Beach, Fla., said he follows specific rules when leaving a voice mail, saying his number twice, slowly, then his name with a brief message, then his number, plus an e-mail option.
Why?
"Because I am so annoyed at this message, which I get 15 times a day," he said. " 'Hiiiii, Greg, this is Allan, well, I was thinking about our, uh, conversation, and I think that maybe a good way to do the next step might be uh (long pause while he fiddles with a door, or something) get together and talk about it, maybe get a drink, I dunno ... hey, maybe we could involve the people in marketing, too, well, maybe, it's a thought. Anyway, give me a call. ..."
Then, there are the mystery callers.
"People leave a message saying, 'Hey, it's me. I can't wait to tell you something. Call me back,' " said Honoree Corpron, an executive coach based in Las Vegas. "And I play it over and over, wondering,
'Who is this?' "
In the age of caller ID, it's somewhat easier to figure out, but not always.
"I had a woman call recently, saying, 'Hi. It's Cathy.' We had a bad connection, I called her back and got her outgoing voice mail that said: 'Hi. It's Cathy.' There are days when I talk to 200 people. Cathy is not an uncommon name. Is it Cathy my neighbor? Cathy the Realtor? I still don't know who she is," Corpron said.
As we clean our desks and promise to start the new year fresh, perhaps it's time to rethink how we handle voice mail. Some tips:
- Nix the list of alternate numbers when you leave a message. "Forward your phone instead," said Caroline Ceniza-Levine, who co-owns a New York-based career coaching company called Sixfigurestart.com. "Don't ask the caller to hunt you down. It's disrespectful of their time. They already tried to reach you once."
- If you can't keep your outgoing voice mail short, give callers a way to bypass a long message. "There are people who, when I call them, I make sure I have five minutes: Three minutes to listen to their outgoing message, two minutes to leave a message," Corpron said.
- Leave brief messages. "Never leave voice mail longer than 30 seconds," said Chris Carpinello, a software engineer at Lancope, a network operations company based in Atlanta. "If you can't convey why we need to chat in that time, you are not communicating effectively, which is tantamount to wasting my time. Think of voice mail like a resume. Efficiently 'sell' yourself to me and provide a compelling reason to follow up with you."
- If you have vast amounts of information to convey, send it another way, like e-mail.
National Discount Brokers was well known around 2000 for its voice-mail instructions, which ended with, "If you'd like to hear a duck quack, press seven." So many people did that it became part of the company's marketing.
Corpron said she's left an outgoing message saying: "Hi, it's Honoree. I'm out doing my Christmas shopping and I need some additional cash. Please leave your name and your American Express card number."
"People do it!" she said.
Your Schedule Shall Set You Free!
I got almost everything done today I wanted to. I definitely got all of the important, must-do tasks checked off. I have a set list of priority items I work on daily (workout, read, write, marketing, coach, family time) that take me toward my goals. These are my six daily actions, and I've been using and teaching this practice for many years. This list is my touchstone, it keeps me focused and on track.
To identify your most important daily actions, ask yourself:
In practice: Your six-daily items may sometimes be schedule as a to do item during only one or two days during the week. The focus is progress not perfection. The aim is to stay on track the majority (60-80%) of the time. By identifying your actions and calendaring them as on-going items, you will never get too far off-track.
To identify your most important daily actions, ask yourself:
- “What are my top three goals?"
- Next, based on those goals, "What are the most important action items I must commit to in order to achieve my goals?"
- Immediately calendar those six daily action items. Suddenly your list of activities will have a much greater impact on moving your business/practice forward. It also helps eliminate the questions around where future work is coming from.
In practice: Your six-daily items may sometimes be schedule as a to do item during only one or two days during the week. The focus is progress not perfection. The aim is to stay on track the majority (60-80%) of the time. By identifying your actions and calendaring them as on-going items, you will never get too far off-track.
Just One Thing
What is one skill or ability, if you performed it on a regular basis, in an excellent way, would have maximum positive impact (MPI) on your business?
- Identify just one skill or ability.
- Create a plan to achieve it.
- Your plan could take a year, 3 years or 5 years. Schedule time every day for 30-60 minutes, 5 days a week. In a year, 3 years or 5 years, you'll be an expert and able to command higher fees.
- Commit to yourself and follow through by setting a SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, risky, time-sensitive) goal for its completion. And tell it to your coach.
Success or Failure Depends on Resourceful
I talked recently about your A Game vs. your B game. A big part of your A Game is being resourceful. When I'm resourceful, I feel invincible, powerful ~ like I can handle anything! When I'm in an unresourceful state of mind, body or emotion (or all three), I feel the opposite. Even the little things get me down, and I'm sure you can relate. Like your A Game, you've got to crack the code on making sure you feel resourceful and can therefore handle anything life throws at you.
Being resourceful is being calm, confident and feeling powerful. Here are 7 steps to creating a resourceful state of mind (from scratch). I suggest practicing now, while you're feeling pretty good.*
1. Select previous success experience and bring it to mind. Run the movie in your head for a few minutes.
2. Intensify that moment. Use ALL of your senses to take yourself there, but make it bigger, better and brighter than it was when it happened.
3. Think of one word that sums of your experience, a key word that reminds you of that time/success and how great you feel about it.
4. Sit up straight. Look up. Take a deep breath. (*Smile.*)
5. Close your eyes and clinch your fist. Repeat your key word out loud
6. Intensify your memory of that original experience. Live that experience again and again and again until you're literally vibrating with excitement.
7. Unclench your fist and open your eyes. Now, go have an amazing day.
For those of you disbelievers, just trust me. Have I steered you off course ever before? No, of course not. Try it, what have you got to lose but that sour face? You've got everything to gain. That's why I'm writing this for you, right now. I'll be ready to hear your great report.
*What? You're not feeling good? Call the person who has the ability to make you feel fantastic right now. To avoid spiraling further down,for goodness sake people by all means do not tell them your story, ask them to spend three full minutes telling you how terrific you are, making sure they don't leave anything out. When the three minutes is up, hang up! You can always fill 'em in later, after you've gotten yourself into a better place.
Being resourceful is being calm, confident and feeling powerful. Here are 7 steps to creating a resourceful state of mind (from scratch). I suggest practicing now, while you're feeling pretty good.*
1. Select previous success experience and bring it to mind. Run the movie in your head for a few minutes.
2. Intensify that moment. Use ALL of your senses to take yourself there, but make it bigger, better and brighter than it was when it happened.
3. Think of one word that sums of your experience, a key word that reminds you of that time/success and how great you feel about it.
4. Sit up straight. Look up. Take a deep breath. (*Smile.*)
5. Close your eyes and clinch your fist. Repeat your key word out loud
6. Intensify your memory of that original experience. Live that experience again and again and again until you're literally vibrating with excitement.
7. Unclench your fist and open your eyes. Now, go have an amazing day.
For those of you disbelievers, just trust me. Have I steered you off course ever before? No, of course not. Try it, what have you got to lose but that sour face? You've got everything to gain. That's why I'm writing this for you, right now. I'll be ready to hear your great report.
*What? You're not feeling good? Call the person who has the ability to make you feel fantastic right now. To avoid spiraling further down,
August is a Great Month to ..
August is great month to have fun, feel free and allow yourself to attract effortlessly what you want.
Set three powerful intentions for the month (10 new client, $50,000 in new revenue, lose 8 lbs.). Intentions are goals on steroids, because an intention will happen, where goals (sometimes) are "I'd like them to happen.
What are the three strong actions you must and will take to support your intentions?
Let go and/or eliminate. What are three things (tolerations, energy sucking people, clutter, etc.) you will let go of in August to support your intentions? What is one thing you will stop doing this month?
What is one thing you will do to solidify your finances and financial future this month?
Choose a focus word for this month, such as: fun, focused, intentional, results.
Make August amazing!
Set three powerful intentions for the month (10 new client, $50,000 in new revenue, lose 8 lbs.). Intentions are goals on steroids, because an intention will happen, where goals (sometimes) are "I'd like them to happen.
What are the three strong actions you must and will take to support your intentions?
Let go and/or eliminate. What are three things (tolerations, energy sucking people, clutter, etc.) you will let go of in August to support your intentions? What is one thing you will stop doing this month?
What is one thing you will do to solidify your finances and financial future this month?
Choose a focus word for this month, such as: fun, focused, intentional, results.
Make August amazing!
Tolerations are Slowing You Down!
A simple question to ask yourself today: "What am I tolerating?"
Tolerations are things (activities, relationships, incomplete projects, to do items, people, situations, etc.) that you are putting up with and not handling for one reason or another.
Tolerations zap your energy and keep you unfocused and off-balance. They are a slow-leak in your tires, making you less efficient, effective and more stressed. Most tolerations are a choice, a few are beyond our control. By handling the ones that we can, we are empowered to manage the ones we can't. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it!
You have three choices to deal with a toleration:
Go ahead, make a list of five things right now that you're putting up with and can handle right now. By doing do, you'll begin to build your weak "no tolerations allowed muscle." This will make future tolerations less likely to be tolerated by you, or at least for a shorter period of time.
Just so you know, you're worth it. (Yes, you.)
Now pick one thing and handle it today. If you're feeling sassy and inspired, do the same thing tomorrow and the next day! Post a comment and let me know what you did and how you feel now. I'll bet $5 you're feeling pretty great.
Tolerations are things (activities, relationships, incomplete projects, to do items, people, situations, etc.) that you are putting up with and not handling for one reason or another.
Tolerations zap your energy and keep you unfocused and off-balance. They are a slow-leak in your tires, making you less efficient, effective and more stressed. Most tolerations are a choice, a few are beyond our control. By handling the ones that we can, we are empowered to manage the ones we can't. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it!
You have three choices to deal with a toleration:
- You can surrender and accept it. The situation or person may never change. Are you wasting energy, time and possibly even money waiting on that possibility? Perhaps the best thing is to just allow what is to be what is.
- You can eliminate it (or the person) from your life. This could involve you handling a situation and it is therefore eliminated, or ending a friendship or relationship. Sometimes this one is the hardest because it means you'll have to dig deep and make a tough, painful decision that is the best for all concerned in the long run. Always consider the long-term consequences when choosing this option. Most of the time if you think you need to eliminate something or someone, you're absolutely right.
- You can change it. Or attempt to change it. Sometimes the best way to change a situation or relationship is to change the stimulus (you). When the stimulus changes, the response changes.
Go ahead, make a list of five things right now that you're putting up with and can handle right now. By doing do, you'll begin to build your weak "no tolerations allowed muscle." This will make future tolerations less likely to be tolerated by you, or at least for a shorter period of time.
Just so you know, you're worth it. (Yes, you.)
Now pick one thing and handle it today. If you're feeling sassy and inspired, do the same thing tomorrow and the next day! Post a comment and let me know what you did and how you feel now. I'll bet $5 you're feeling pretty great.
You Is Where You Is
All growth begins with the willingness to recognize and "value" where you are right now in each area of life. Until we understand this, we waste a lot of time and energy.
"To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose (event or activity)."
I suggest that there are four stages, or seasons through which every purpose in our lives must grow. These seasons are collectively perpetual and individually distinct in the way they serve us.
Modeled after the four natural seasons, these four "seasons of purpose" are designed to support the process of conception, inward growth, outward success and renewal.
Consider this model:
Spring - a time to prepare the ground and plant (conception). This is the season to initiate new action.
Summer - a season of nurture (inner, often hidden growth). Example: Spiritually, this is closet time.
Fall - a time of harvest (outer reward). This is a time to receive, often a season of focused work.
Winter - a season of renewal (rest). This is a time to reflect, renew, plan, learn new skills and sharpen tools.
Five Things to Consider:
1. Since everything that happens serves you, the place where you are right now is the perfect place to be.
2. Each season has it's own lessons and rewards.
3. The "next level" only becomes possible when you "get" the lessons of the present.
4. Just are there are multiple levels of purpose at work in each of our lives at any given moment, you can be at very distinct stages of purpose in each area of life (i.e. spiritually in fall, career in spring, financially in winter).
5. Expecting results inconsistent with the season you're in can cause you to miss the purpose of the present.
Here are your action steps:
Consider each area of your life and respond to these questions for each of the following:
Life Areas: Spiritual, Physical (Health, Energy), Relationships, Career, Finances & Money, or an area not listed here.
Which season am I in, in this life area?
Am I expecting results inconsistent with this season?
Have I tried to skip a season or two in this area?
What 3 actions can I take now consistent with this season of purpose in this area?
Which season am I in overall?
Remember, each season of purpose contains within it a gift, lesson or message that is necessary for success in the next season. Refusing to graciously receive, honor and patiently growth through the lessons of our present season can be painful and costly.
>> The lessons we refuse we must repeat. <<
Working with a coach helps you "get" more of the lessons now so you can move on to the next season faster. Please email me your responses: Honoree@CoachHonoree.com.
"To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose (event or activity)."
I suggest that there are four stages, or seasons through which every purpose in our lives must grow. These seasons are collectively perpetual and individually distinct in the way they serve us.
Modeled after the four natural seasons, these four "seasons of purpose" are designed to support the process of conception, inward growth, outward success and renewal.
Consider this model:
Spring - a time to prepare the ground and plant (conception). This is the season to initiate new action.
Summer - a season of nurture (inner, often hidden growth). Example: Spiritually, this is closet time.
Fall - a time of harvest (outer reward). This is a time to receive, often a season of focused work.
Winter - a season of renewal (rest). This is a time to reflect, renew, plan, learn new skills and sharpen tools.
Five Things to Consider:
1. Since everything that happens serves you, the place where you are right now is the perfect place to be.
2. Each season has it's own lessons and rewards.
3. The "next level" only becomes possible when you "get" the lessons of the present.
4. Just are there are multiple levels of purpose at work in each of our lives at any given moment, you can be at very distinct stages of purpose in each area of life (i.e. spiritually in fall, career in spring, financially in winter).
5. Expecting results inconsistent with the season you're in can cause you to miss the purpose of the present.
Here are your action steps:
Consider each area of your life and respond to these questions for each of the following:
Life Areas: Spiritual, Physical (Health, Energy), Relationships, Career, Finances & Money, or an area not listed here.
Which season am I in, in this life area?
Am I expecting results inconsistent with this season?
Have I tried to skip a season or two in this area?
What 3 actions can I take now consistent with this season of purpose in this area?
Which season am I in overall?
Remember, each season of purpose contains within it a gift, lesson or message that is necessary for success in the next season. Refusing to graciously receive, honor and patiently growth through the lessons of our present season can be painful and costly.
>> The lessons we refuse we must repeat. <<
Working with a coach helps you "get" more of the lessons now so you can move on to the next season faster. Please email me your responses: Honoree@CoachHonoree.com.
What BOLD MOVE Could Set You Free?
An observation: the true meaning of courage is … “to be afraid, and then, with your knees knocking and your heart racing, to step out anyway - even when that step makes sense to nobody but you. That's not easy. But making a BOLD MOVE is the only way to truly advance toward the grandest vision the universe has for you." (O magazine article, 04/01)
Ask yourself:
"What am I afraid of?"
"How has this fear held me back?"
"How has this fear kept me playing a smaller game in life?"
To experience our greatest potential, we must acknowledge, or act as knowing, that fear is simply a door through which we must pass in order to gain the courage to live fully.
Here's your ACTION STEP:
Write down 3 things you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want over the next 100 days. (You have permission to THINK and PLAY BIG!)
Did you do it? Great! Now email me the 3 things you REALLY want to accomplish in the next 100 days: Honoree@CoachHonoree.com
P.S. More from the "O" article: "It's true that when you dare to step out, speak up, change yourself, or simply do something outside what others call the norm, the results may not always be pleasant. You'll fall down. Others will call you nutty. You'll be so exhausted that you'll want to quit. People won't like you all the time. But the alternatives are even scarier: You might find yourself stuck in a miserable rut for years at a time. Or you could spend too many days languishing in regret, always wondering, what would my life have been like if I hadn't cared so much about about what others thought ..."
Ask yourself:
"What am I afraid of?"
"How has this fear held me back?"
"How has this fear kept me playing a smaller game in life?"
To experience our greatest potential, we must acknowledge, or act as knowing, that fear is simply a door through which we must pass in order to gain the courage to live fully.
Here's your ACTION STEP:
Write down 3 things you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want over the next 100 days. (You have permission to THINK and PLAY BIG!)
Did you do it? Great! Now email me the 3 things you REALLY want to accomplish in the next 100 days: Honoree@CoachHonoree.com
P.S. More from the "O" article: "It's true that when you dare to step out, speak up, change yourself, or simply do something outside what others call the norm, the results may not always be pleasant. You'll fall down. Others will call you nutty. You'll be so exhausted that you'll want to quit. People won't like you all the time. But the alternatives are even scarier: You might find yourself stuck in a miserable rut for years at a time. Or you could spend too many days languishing in regret, always wondering, what would my life have been like if I hadn't cared so much about about what others thought ..."
One Key Ingredient for Success
I was having lunch with a prospective coaching client the other day. We talked about his aspirations: where he was currently, and where he wanted to be, and how to arrive at his intended destination as quickly and easily as possible.
At the end of our lengthy conversation, he asked me what the key ingredient was: the one thing that successful people do in order to create the results they want to create. What was preventing him from pursuing this dream that he was so clearly passionate about? He was looking for a magic pill, the one thing that he could do.
After our meeting, I reflected on this very point. I realized that there is this "one thing" that is absolutely essential. While other traits may or may not be present, successful people always possess this one characteristic. Without it, one could not possibly achieve their desired outcome.
What is this important trait?
It's ACTION!
Think about it: He has an incredible idea (maybe you do, too?). He is visibly passionate as he describes this entrepreneurial opportunity. He has reviewed this plan over and over, sought input from others and examined the possibilities from every angle. But he hasn't taken action. There's just a little bit of doubt about the viability of his idea, and it has prevented him from taking action on an idea that he has been carrying around for almost six years!
Until and unless he takes action, he will never achieve his desired outcome. Unless and until you take action, you will wonder five (or ten or twenty-five) years from now why this idea is still stirring around in your head. Action sets the whole process in motion. It takes what now is only an idea and makes it real. When you take action, when you take that first step, results are produced. They may or may not be the desired results, but every step you take moves you closer to your desired outcome.
When an airplane is on autopilot, it's off course as much as 95% of the time; however, it is constantly moving toward the destination. I love this metaphor, which so accurately reflects the dynamics of our own journey. Theodore Roosevelt once said, "There is nothing brilliant nor outstanding in my record, except perhaps one thing: I do the things I believe ought to be done...and when I make up my mind to do a thing, I act."
Sure, there are other "habits" of successful people, and they are all important. If they are all present, then nothing can stop you! You can set goals, and you can think positive, and you can visualize and affirm and practice all the other success habits. However, if you don't take action, the other habits will all be for nothing!
As the Nike commercial says, Just Do It. Decide that you will take one small step. Then another. Then another. Like an infant learning to walk, do not allow the obstacle of an occasional fall to stop you. Pretty soon, you'll be walking. Then jogging. Then sprinting toward your destination. You'll gain momentum, just by first putting one foot in front of the other. Just do it! You'll be so incredibly glad you did!
At the end of our lengthy conversation, he asked me what the key ingredient was: the one thing that successful people do in order to create the results they want to create. What was preventing him from pursuing this dream that he was so clearly passionate about? He was looking for a magic pill, the one thing that he could do.
After our meeting, I reflected on this very point. I realized that there is this "one thing" that is absolutely essential. While other traits may or may not be present, successful people always possess this one characteristic. Without it, one could not possibly achieve their desired outcome.
What is this important trait?
It's ACTION!
Think about it: He has an incredible idea (maybe you do, too?). He is visibly passionate as he describes this entrepreneurial opportunity. He has reviewed this plan over and over, sought input from others and examined the possibilities from every angle. But he hasn't taken action. There's just a little bit of doubt about the viability of his idea, and it has prevented him from taking action on an idea that he has been carrying around for almost six years!
Until and unless he takes action, he will never achieve his desired outcome. Unless and until you take action, you will wonder five (or ten or twenty-five) years from now why this idea is still stirring around in your head. Action sets the whole process in motion. It takes what now is only an idea and makes it real. When you take action, when you take that first step, results are produced. They may or may not be the desired results, but every step you take moves you closer to your desired outcome.
When an airplane is on autopilot, it's off course as much as 95% of the time; however, it is constantly moving toward the destination. I love this metaphor, which so accurately reflects the dynamics of our own journey. Theodore Roosevelt once said, "There is nothing brilliant nor outstanding in my record, except perhaps one thing: I do the things I believe ought to be done...and when I make up my mind to do a thing, I act."
Sure, there are other "habits" of successful people, and they are all important. If they are all present, then nothing can stop you! You can set goals, and you can think positive, and you can visualize and affirm and practice all the other success habits. However, if you don't take action, the other habits will all be for nothing!
As the Nike commercial says, Just Do It. Decide that you will take one small step. Then another. Then another. Like an infant learning to walk, do not allow the obstacle of an occasional fall to stop you. Pretty soon, you'll be walking. Then jogging. Then sprinting toward your destination. You'll gain momentum, just by first putting one foot in front of the other. Just do it! You'll be so incredibly glad you did!
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