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.
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
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