A few months ago, I wrote about why teams require vision, mission, and values to be cohesive and high-performing. And how as a team leader, you need to live and breathe them so that the team follows you.

The same principlesapply when you are a solopreneur running or just starting your business.

As a business owner, I’m sure that just like the rest of us, you’d like your business to last and be healthy. Your dream lifestyle and family well being depend on it.

To achieve that, your business needs a core, a spine that will always be there no matter the changes that happen to the rest of the “body.”

This core should help you persevere in times of doubt, say “Yes” to the right opportunities and “No” to the wrong ones, even if they seem like “once in a lifetime” at the moment.

In my blog series on change we talked about the the anatomy of change, what is needed to embrace it, and how to lead your business through it. It’s because in today's changing markets driven by light-speed evolution of technology, as business leaders, not only we need to adapt it but also rive it in our organizations.

However, there are things in your business that should stay fixed.
Things that shouldn’t change at all or not for a long time, even if the strategies, products, or services you deliver change and adapt to your customers' needs.

Those main three things are:

• Core Purpose = the ‘why’;
• Values; and
• Vision

Let’s talk more about the them then.

1. Core Purpose – why?

You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things so that all the small things go in the right direction.

Alvin Toffler

When we start abusiness, the truth is that the main reason for it is hardly ever solely money.Yes, I get it that we want to make a living while running the biz, but pauseand think back why did you start it in the first place?

Was it because youwanted to be independent, have total control of your time? Or maybe to be ableto lead a balanced life where you can spend time with your kids? Or you want tohelp people become healthier, feel more beautiful or be more successful becausehelping others makes you happy?

The answer to thisquestion is your business’s core purpose. Now, it can create a mission, astatement that will embody it. The statement needs to be idealistic. If youthink it’s not idealistic enough once you have your first draft, ask, “why dowe do that?” and refine your answer. Repeat this exercise up to magic 7 timesuntil you get to a statement that you are happy with and is short of “makingthe world a better place”.

This way, you’ll define your core purpose as something you’ll always strive for that will never achieve 100. Something close to “make the world a better place.” Why? Because it will keep your business going and help you persist. Whenever you have any doubts about why you should continue to work on your business or feel discourages, the core purpose will give you the answer.

2. Core values – how do we behave?

When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.

Roy E. Disney

When you take timeand think of core values for your business, they will act as guiding principlesthat will help you navigate your entrepreneurship journey. It’s because theycan assist you in making the most critical decisions when presented withopportunities. Saying “No” to opportunities that look promising but can hurtyour business, in the long run, isn’t easy. It can be easier though if you knowthat such an opportunity doesn’t align with your core values. To putdifferently, having values gives your business its soul.

How do you determine your business’ core values then?

If you are asolopreneur, look at what’s important to you as a person and align them withyour values.

If you already haveemployees, look not only at your values but also at who is your best teammembers. The ones that you’d pick to recreateyour business if you had to do that in another country. How do they behave whenat work, what do they value?

Once you pickseveral them, put them through a time laps prism. Would you be living by themin 100 years? If yes, keep them. If not, scratch them off.

This way, you canget down to 3 – 5 core values. Your business doesn’t need more. Then, insteadof keeping them as one-word principles, try describing them a bit more byanswering a question – how do we behave? What do we stand for?

As a reference to help you, here is Disney’s example that will clearly show you how values can guide a business:

• No cynicism
• Nurturing and spreading of “wholesome American values"
• Creativity, dreams, and imagination
• Fanatical attention to consistency and detail
• Preservation and control of Disney magic

3. A Long-Lasting Vision – where are we going?

Vision is a destination – a fixed point to which we focus all effort. Strategy is a route – an adaptable path to get us where we want to go.

Simon Sinek

As a business owner,you should create a far-reaching vision on what you’d like to achieve in 10-20years from now. It needs to be audacious, BIG, and also needs to be achievable,even if the probability at this point is 60%.

To do that you canwrite it down or if you like visuals, creating a vision board will work aswell.

In short, yourVision or Big Hairy Audacious Goals, as Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras calledthem in “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies,” need to beachievable and will change, unlike your core purpose. Because once you reachthem, you’ll need replace them with the new ones for the business to havesomething to strive for and not become complacent.

Now, after you have done all this great and hard work, you can start developing different strategies that will help you achieve your vision. These strategies will change and adapt to customers' needs and market shifts.

So WHY should I do all that?

To conclude, all I covered above will allow your business to be healthy and last. WHY?

Because, it will help you see what are the important things to focus on as opposed to the urgent ones.

When you don’t have such clarity, here's what happens:

• you don't have enough time to accomplish your business goals;
• you feel overwhelmed and paralyzed;
• you procrastinate;
• you don’t accomplish much although you are busy all the time;
• you don’t see the progress in your business that you were hoping for.

Looks familiar? Yes, if you see some or all those symptoms in your day to day operations, maybe it’s time to stop and regroup.
And if you need help, I’d like to offer you FREE training CLARITY & FOCUS that will walk you step-by-step on how to do it. Yout can download it by clicking here.

Need more help or have questions? Then click here and let’s connect.

A lot of people have a hard time saying "No." They say "Yes" to favors, asks for help, additional services, etc. even though everything inside them then screams "no – don't agree to that!" No wonder they end up having hard time managing their time. Have you ever been in this situation? Saying "yes" to something you really wanted to say "no" to?

Why do you have such a hard time saying "NO"?

It's because people aren't loners, we live in groups. And thus,we want to be approved by our environment. Included, not excluded.Consequently, we act in ways that favor social approval; one of them is saying"Yes" to other people's requests.

Such a need for social approval fosters our feelings of wantingto:

• be part of the group (socially accepted),
• be a team player (cooperation),
• do what we can to avoid ostracism, criticism, and exclusion,
• care about other people's opinion of us,
• improve our self-esteem by popularity (reputation).

As you can see, it's easy to go overboard with "yes." The need for social acceptance, being liked or well thought of by others could take over your life. The trap, though here is that if you overcommit with "Yes's" too much, you end up saying "No" to personal priorities and can miss out on opportunities as well. You can end up stressed, anxious, and develop regrets over having to compromise to honor all your commitments. And what good such feelings bring on you or others?

So, what can you do then to start saying "No" moreoften, gain more time to work on achieving your goals, and improve yourbusiness? Here are five strategies to help you do that.

1. Be clear on your priorities.

When you clearly define priorities and goals and take action on them, you set boundaries for yourself and start utilizing your time more effectively. That's why you'll be able to assess if the request coming from the other person aligns with your goals or not. As such it's more natural to decline: "Your idea sounds great politely! It's just that it doesn't align with my priorities this month. Maybe X can help (you can refer then to a person to someone whose priorities might be aligned with the request)?"

2. Stop & listen first

Instead of just saying "Yes" to all incoming requests,partner with requesters to fully understand the ask, and maybe you decidetogether what makes sense for you to do, and in what time frame. For example,if your client is asking for a "small favor" right away, understandfirst if indeed it's small and you can fit it into your current schedule. Ifit's Big Work on the other hand then politely mention that this wasn't part ofthe original agreement and that you can quote the job. Then upon approval agreeon a timeframe that will work for both.

3. Understand & change your beliefs if needed

There is a reason behind every action. Identify the beliefs thatlead you to say "yes" often. Perhaps you believe that saying"no" makes you look bad or that you'll be rejected by the personasking. Then write down all the consequences saying "yes" all thetime would have on your life, business and well-being. Next, create morepowerful beliefs. For example, excellent quality is more important thanquantity. Saying "no" is respectable when it comes from the rightplace. People respect others who respect themselves.

4. Balance "Yes" & "No"

When you say "yes" to what is in front of you, you'resaying "no" to something else that might be more important but lessvisible. For a few days, try assessing what you'd be giving up and if it isworth it. Improving your services or products? Speaking engagement? Potentialclient meeting? Your family? The exercise? If it's worth the loss, then go forit with your arms wide open. When you continually make such consciousdecisions, you can balance what you're saying "yes" and"no" to overtime.

5. Throw the guilt out the window

Guilt is often the culprit that causes us to say "yes"more often than "no." We don't want to disappoint people. If you areguilty of feeling bad when you say "no," recognize this. Write theword on a sticky note and stick somewhere you can see often. Such visual onwhat's driving your decisions to say "yes" can help rewire your brainto say "no" more often.

And if you can't quit saying "yes" cold turkey, trychanging your habit through baby steps. For example, by offering thealternative to the ask: "I'm not able to help you with the move the entireweekend but can come over on Saturday for a couple of hours and help you pack."

All in all, learning to say "no" when it aligns with your goals and values can be liberating and eye-opening.

You'll have more time to devote to activities that are important to you (your business and life). You'll end up with less stress, anger, or resentment. You'll have more energy, optimism, and a greater sense of control over your time and life.

Remember, we only have a finite number of years to live.Therefore, don't be afraid to take control of your time so you can live yourlife to the fullest.

And if you need help in practicing how to say no politely and professionally without sounding rude, I have prepared for you a list with 39 Ways to Respectfully Say "NO." Click here to download it so you can start practicing now!

Google says that we live on the planet that has beenevolving over 4.543 billion years.

From slow evolutionary changes, through faster seasonal, toeven faster human-driven ones (industrial, technology, medicine & othersciences, or social movements); change is all around us.

"Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." — John F. Kennedy

And yet as individuals, most of us have a hard time adoptingchange. At work, in personal life, self-driven, and especially imposed, it’snever as easy as just merely deciding or accepting it to make it happen.

Why is this? If the universe is thriving because of change,why for us, humans, change does not just come instantly and naturally? Why doesit scare us?

With the spring finally breaking through in Canada and nature fully transforming with the help of sun and rain, for the next 3 weeks, I decided to explore change. Today, I am trying to find answers to the why’s above. Next week, I’ll be writing about managing change at the individual level. What can we do as individuals to embrace change and make it easier for us to adopt it? The 3rd and last part of the series will explore leading other people through change.

Are you interested in the topic? I hope you are!

Join me then, and start our change journey now…

To understand why we react to change the way we do, we needto start by understating our own brain and especially how it evolved over time.

In a McGill University publication, the authors explain the evolution of 3 main brains that humans have: the reptilian brain, the limbic brain and, neo-cortex. They have shown up and evolved in different times of our evolutionary history but interact with each other in everything we do.

The first one: the reptilian brain

It first appeared in fish over 500 mln years ago and yes youguessed it, it's the oldest part. It controls our body’s most vital functionslike breathing, heart rate, etc. It is very reliable (no thinking involved) buttends to be somewhat rigid and compulsive. Doesn’t it remind you of an older person stuck in their ways ;).

But let’s be serious, imagine having to think to breathe allthe time? It’s a great relaxation technique and during yoga class, but if wehad to do it all the time? Yes, you got it, not only we couldn't do anythingelse, we'd not be able to survive at all!

Second: the limbic brain

This fellow emerged first in small mammals about 150 mlnyears ago and is responsible for our emotions. That explains why we are not theonly emotional creatures on Earth. Our beloved pets and other mammals can alsofeel happy, angry, scared, or excited.

Our values that guide our behaviors sit in the limbic brain.That's why more often than we realize, we make decisions emotionally and only‘explain’ them logically after that.

The third one: the neo-cortex

It began its reign in primates "only" 2-3 mlnyears ago. It evolved the best in us, humans, with two large cerebralhemispheres that make us so unique as species. Here is were our languages sit,executive thinking functions, abstract thoughts, imagination, creativity, andself-consciousness.

And BAM! Here is what’s so impressive: the neocortex is flexible, and that’s why it has almost infinite learning abilities. And it’s in all of us, every single human being! That means we can learn any skills we want (even leadership skills) if we can only get past our natural resistance to change.

So why does change scare us, you ask?

It's because the thought of it starts in the animal limbicbrain that is hard-wired to look for danger, to keep us safe and alive. Asneuroscientists discovered, the mere thought of change puts it on “threatalert.” That's why we feel uneasy about any notion of change; that's why, evennot entirely consciously, we fear it. And because our brain needs and thereforefocuses enormous amounts of energy on keeping us alive while on “danger alert,”it's challenging for us to move the thought from the limbic brain to theneo-cortex. Only when we succeeded in doing that our reasoning kicks in, andfrom there, we can analyze the change calmly and let our creativity andimagination take it to the whole new level.

What’s the moral of this scientific lesson of mine then?

My goal with this post was to make you aware that our fearof change is irrational. It’s irrational because it starts in our emotionalbrain and is a result of archaic hardwiring that kept us alive as species forquite some time. Whenever we face or want to embark on a change journey, weneed to allow our thinking brain to kick in so it can convince our emotionalbrain that change isn't a threat but an entrance door to something bigger andbetter 😊.

“We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have something better.”

C. JoyBell C.

And how do we embrace and manage change for ourselves?

That’s a theme of the next week’s blog so stay tuned!

However, I don’t want to leave you empty-handed, so here isone small tip.

Always carry a journal with you. And whenever you come upwith even the smallest new idea, write it down right away. It’s beenscientifically proven that by a mere act of writing down the idea on paper, youare more likely to act on it. Why? Because you are giving precious time foryour neo-cortex to kick in and feel excited about it. And at the same time, youare preventing the emotional brain from overtaking your thinking and trying to“protect you from dying” by finding reasons why you shouldn't act on yourmillion-dollar idea 😊.

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” ― Albert Einstein

Thank you and see you here next week!

There are manydefinitions of marketing, but if you strip them down to the essential, it’squite simple. Marketing is making your business visible and known to yourpotential clients as well as attracting them to buy your products and services.As you can see, two keywords stand out in this definition: visibility andattraction. In other words, they are the substance of what marketing is andaccomplishes.

And since marketing is one of the three most significant challenges of every entrepreneur (right after financing and before time management), I wanted to help you to increase your results in this area.

The below 5 Steps will help you with ideas and on How to Be More Visible and Attractive to Your Ideal Client.

1. Talk about topics that interest them

In any copy youput out there to the world to promote your business: a blog, podcast, livevideo, e-mail, or an ad, ensure you always talk about pain points that yourideal client is feeling and that you can solve. There is so much content outthere on the internet, that if you don't hit the topic out of the park, it willget lost in the world wide web unnoticed.

For this reason,you need to know your ideal clients well. Who are they, what’s ailing them, andhow your business can help them?

Now, if you do know them but still struggling to find inspiration for your content, then go out there and talk to people. Be genuinely interested in their challenges, ask deep questions, and listen to their answers. When you have meaningful conversations. After that, outline your reflections and observations, and you’ll never run out of topics for your content. Still wondering how to do it? Click here to connect, and I'll walk you through a simple formula.

2. Provide high-quality content

Once you knowwhat topics to cover, you’re ready to create. Doing research on any given topicand then outlining your ideas and sharing your stories will help you create apiece that’s unique to you. As an expert in your field, you want to show yourauthentic thought leadership.

Additionally,when you’re creating the content, do it with the mindset of abundance andwillingness to help your audience. Don’t be bogged down by limiting thoughts ofgiving away too much. There is no way for you to give out too much in one blog,email, or video.

When your potential clients see the value and fall in love with what you create, they will come to your door knocking willing to pay a high price for what you offer them. Why? Because by then, they’re convinced that you can help them and decided to buy from you.

3. Have a purpose for each piece of copy

First, you needto know why you’re talking about the subject you have chosen.

Then it would bebest if you decided on its core purpose. Do you want to gain new subscribers toyour mailing list? Or maybe increase sales? Or gain customer feedback on thenew service you just launched?

Lastly, includea call to action that aligns with the purpose. I know you’ve heard that manytimes, and for a good reason. But without a call to action, your piece ofcontent will not be a marketing copy but an article or e-mail to a friend.

Imagine baking a cake and forgetting to add one of the key ingredients. Yes, maybe something will come out of it, but it won’t be so deliciously attractive anymore.

Be present where your ideal clients are

This point iskey. Because it’s easy to get distracted by trends and shiny object syndrome asfar as social media is concerned. The point is, it's not about you being everywhereand spread thin but you being present at key places where your clients hangout.

And if you'rejust starting, it’s better to pick a couple of platforms and become pro therebefore expanding to others.

Because there are so many of them out there, I want to help you with ideas on how to increase your visibility and where you can start or expand. That's why I have prepared a Guide with 49+ Ways You Can Increase Your Business Visibility. It’s a great tool where I did the brainstorming on where to be for you. All you need to do is download it by clicking here, and then pick a couple of ways and do them 😊.

5. Show up consistently

Last but not least, let's talk about consistency because I can't stress it enough. You can be visible in many places and create lots of valuable content, but if you're not there for your audience consistently, they will get confused. And even irritated. Why?

Let me explainwith your internet service example. You‘re probably investing your money in ahigh-quality internet so you can reliably use it to run your business. Imaginenow that it becomes spotty and inconsistent. One day you get the fantasticquality and speed, and your FB LIVE is like no other, only to struggle with itsquality the next day and not have it at all on the following day.

Without consistency, you’ll look unreliable to your audience. If you’re unreliable, then they won't trust you. And if they can’t trust you, they won't buy from you. Just like you wouldn’t spend your hard-earned money with a business you’re not sure about. So be a professional and show up 😊. Even if in the beginning, your audience consists of 4 people, 2 of whom are your family.

Final thoughts

In closing, the fact is that making sure that your services or products are visible and attractive to your audience is a long process and requires hard work and dedication. It also involves the mindset of being of service, abundance, and grit. It requires strategy and consistency. Strategy in picking where you’re going to be visible (my Guide will help with that here), what content you’re going to put out there, and consistency that will bind it all.

Just like the most successful entrepreneurs don't give up, you shouldn’t either. Because really if the first few attempts don't work, so what? Think of them as these many steps that brought you closer to turning your ideal clients into raving fans.

The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.
Aesop

I love the Holiday Season. Not only because of childhoodmemories and tradition of family gatherings but also because we all slow downduring this time. We become much more thoughtful, compassionate, and kind toeach other. Kindness makes the world a better place. And it happens throughsmall acts of it done many times by many people.

There are many ways how small acts of kindness can alsochange your business for better. In the spirit of Holidays, I'd like to share 5of them with you below.

1. You'll build more trust

Doing the right thing, being kind, builds lasting trust for you and your business. I'm sure you've heard that for the customers to buy from you, they need to know, trust, and like you. Trust is a prerequisite for the like. And with kindness, the clients will grow the trust for you and your business along with your partners, collaborators, and employees.

That's why being respectful to all people you meet, strikingup a conversation with a clerk in a grocery store, or showing your appreciationthrough kind words to a supplier or employee goes a long way.

2. Kindness reinforces brand loyalty

Once your clients trust you, you need to maintain thattrust, and small acts of kindness do it every time. You deposit chips to theirbank of trust by a simple phone call from time to time with no special occasionto say "hi" and taking an interest in their lives. Another way is tosend people significant to your business a thank you card or a small present.With all that, you create a substance behind your brand and deliver the promiseit has. Once you achieve this, loyal customers will follow.

3. It promotes high-quality service

Being kind helps to do things right, not just fast. Servingclients from the mindset of goodwill and care will naturally enhance and raisethe quality of your service. Whether you're dealing with a complaint or aregular business event, doing the right thing with care will beat any otherstrategy. And if you cannot help a potential client with a problem they have,referring to them to a fellow business owner who specializes in it, extendssuch kindness in many other ways.

4. It fuels learning and innovation

Being kind not only to others but to yourself helps you keep going. There're many roadblocks we inadvertently face in our businesses. So instead of beating yourself up for mistakes, being kind with yourself and learning from them will help you develop a growth mindset. With such a mindset, you will want to keep going, keep trying, and keep improving in your business. And with improvement comes innovation, which creates a market advantage and successful results.

5. Kindness improves performance

Do you volunteer? Or support a charity? I'm sure you do. Nowthink about how you feel after doing such things. I know that I feel muchhappier and eager to go out to the world and do even more good deeds. Acts ofkindness energize us, put us in an excellent state of mind helping us to createbetter results in business and also personal lives. Do you agree?

Final thoughts

Imagine now that your present spirit of kindness continuespast the Holidays, that it spreads everywhere, and stays there every day. Evenif the pace of life peeks up again or if we go through harder times, the spiritremains.

What effect do you think it would have? I know that kind actions, no matter how small, repeated over and over, day after day, will compound to create a substantial positive impact in your business and beyond. And if you need someone to guide you through it, help you achieve your full potential and grow your business with no overwhelm, we should talk :). Click here to schedule a free consult with me.

In the meantime, I wish you Happy Holidays!

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading an article, and throughit, it dawned on me that 2020 is not just the new year like most others. Thisone opens a brand-new decade of opportunities!

So, if you haven’t started planning your goals for 2020 just yet and thinking of it, I want to encourage you to do that by looking back at 2019 first.

First, take time to reflect on what worked great this year soyou can repeat and do more of in the new year. Then look at what didn't. And as my contribution to your 2020 planning,I prepared the below points that will help you avoid 5 traps, and this way NOTcarry them over to the New Decade.

1. Things that don’t work

As you look at 2019 and reflect on what worked, you also should spend time to remember what didn’t. It’s not about beating yourself up for mistakes or judging whether your actions could have been better. It's about learning and growing from all the experiences you've had.

We are human, we aren't perfect, and especially when we do new things. It's completely normal that when we learn anything, the results of our new actions aren't going to be at an expert level from the start. What’s already impressive about you taking on something new is the courage that you have to start! Congrats as not everyone does. Now, use the same courage to look back, analyze, and improve so your results can be better next year. That’s how you become an expert in anything. There are no short cuts or magic spells, just trial and error, and the ability to learn from the experience.

2. Goals or projects only because you think you “should”

As you analyze and prioritize the plans and goals, be honestwith yourself. See if any of them are onyour list because you want to do them or because you think you “should” dothem. Maybe they are on your list because you feel you need to please someone.Or maybe you just have a hard time saying ‘NO’ to others at the expense ofputting your real priorities at the back burner.

Saying ‘NO’ to others isn't easy. And lots of us struggle with it. If you’re one of them, then this Guide of 39 Ways to Saying NO Respectfully, will help you get started. Click here to download it now.

3. Non-important Things

Taking on too many initiatives and projects into your business right from the get-go is a perfect recipe for stretching yourself too thin and the overwhelm. You MUST prioritize and pick only what’s truly important. To help you with it, I suggest you write down all your projects and ask yourself: "Out of all the projects I have, which ones will have the most significant positive impact on my core goals in business and life?"

And please don’t pick more than 3 core goals for the year 😉. If you make everything important, thennothing really will be. And when you stretch yourself too thin, then you won’tbe able to put quality effort, which will translate into mediocre results.

In case you need more help in this area, I have run a full training on prioritizing and strategic time management. You can find it in my fabulous FB group: Businesswomen with Passion 4 Life under announcements. It’s totally free, so it's as easy as joining the group or if you prefer worksheets only, you can download the Ultimate Guide to Reduce Your Stress & Increase Results here. It contains the prioritization tool.

4. Associations that drain you

You've probably heard this quote by Jim Rohn: “that we arethe average of the five people we spend the most time with.”

When it comes to any relationships, we are greatlyinfluenced, whether we like it or not, by those we hang out most with. Itaffects our way of thinking, our self-esteem, and our decisions. Of course,you're own person, but research has shown that we're more affected by ourenvironment than we think.

That's why it’s essential to surround yourself intentionallywith people. Don't leave your associations to chance, especially with peoplethat you're spending the most time with. And it’s not about only picking otherswho will only say ‘yes’ and never challenge us. Different opinions allow us tosee things from a different perspective and grow. However, having people aroundyou that are respectful, supportive, and better than you in areas you want togrow, will speed up your journey to success.

Therefore, take this opportunity to reflect if there are any people in your life you need to disassociate with. And on the other hand, are there people you need to spend more time with or maybe even find first.

5. Feeling guilty or beating yourself up for past mistakes

If you're doing this, you need to STOP NOW 😊. It’s not doing you any good and only brings you down. Consequently, it pulls you away from pursuing your goals.

As I mentioned in point 1, we all make mistakes as we arehuman. And mistakes are a natural part of any learning journey. Just think of ababy trying to learn to walk. What if had the ability to feel guilty every timeit falls? It would stop trying after probably 3-5 falls and never learn towalk! Can you imagine how it would hinder human progress in anything? So, accept the failures, accept the mistakes,welcome them in your life as things that allow you to grow, learn, and becomean expert. Then try and create better results every time you try somethingagain.

Final thoughts

Taking Time To Think (4 T's) and look back regularly allows us to pause and learn from the past. When we do that, we can take what’s good about it, improve and leave the negative things behind. Every day is a white sheet of paper that we fill, every year is a brand-new book we write. And in a decade, we can write a whole new series of books. So why not making the adventure better each time? Each time you have a fresh start, and each time, you can make it count more.

As we've entered the last month of 2019, I hope that you're already planning on how to grow your business in 2020. Without growth, no business can prosper in today's marketplace. And what can hinder such growth? The answer is you.

If you don't grow, your business cannot either. You are its leader, leading creator, and propeller. If you stagnate, your business will too. That's why the most successful entrepreneurs are obsessed with personal development. If you're not yet, you should join the community.

I'm passionate about personal growth. Not only do I practice it myself but also help my clients with it as part of the business coaching when they sign up with me. Today, I want to encourage you to read this blog and hopefully decide why your 2020 plan should also include goals on developing yourself.

In the paragraphs below, you'll discover the reasons why it's so essential for you to grow and how you can go about deciding where to start.

Why is personal growth so vital?

A. If you grow, your business grows.

For one thing, it's impossible to move your business tothe next level if you, its central brain and heart, don't move to the nextlevel first. It's like planting all your seeds in the garden and then expectingthem to grow without watering them. The water for your business is yourcreativity, innovative ideas, relationships, organization, and leadership.

B. When you improve as a person, your relationshipsimprove as well.

Here I'm talking not only business relationships with your clients or suppliers but also your partners, employees, and the loved ones around you. In other words, as you develop your leadership skills, for example, such as listening, communication, conflict resolution, self-management, team development, etc. they will, by all means, have a tremendous positive impact on your personal life as well.

C. Self-development is a huge time saver.

Last but not least, the better you become at any given skill, the less time it takes you to do things. Additionally, self-improvement can also teach you powerful routines, systems, and behaviors that will make you highly effective. It's how you save tones of time. Wouldn't you want to spend this most important but limited resource on valuable things, that make your life meaningful? Wouldn't you want to avoid being down or upset with yourself because you just wasted 3 hours being "busy" with no tangible output? What about the feeling of being stressed out and overwhelmed? How much is the lack of these fillings replaced by serenity and sense of fulfillment every day are worth to you?

Given these benefits, I hope that personal growth is now going to make its way into your 2020 plan. But you're probably thinking now: that's great, Maggie, but where do I even start? Or What if I don't have financial means to do that?

If you read on, the rest of the article will help you with that. Nevertheless, before you go there, I wanted to tell you that just like with time that we can create for things we want to do and are important to us, we can always find the money for important things we want. If you can afford to spend $250 each month for coffee, lunch, take out dinners, and beauty, you can also find $250 for books, seminars, workshops, or a coach. Not to mention all the free fantastic materials that are out there, at your fingertips one "google" away. You should start there. Or join my group Businesswomen with Passion 4 Life, where outside of tones of Free written materials, you get LIVE training and Q&A sessions weekly solely focused on helping you grow.

With all of this in mind, now here's how you can decideon where to start your 2020 personal growth journey.

1. Have a vision for your business and with it foryourself.

First, look at your business' 2020 strategic plan. If youdid even the most straightforward SWOT analysis, look at your "W,"which I call opportunities for growth rather than weaknesses. Let's say that inthere, you identified structure and process implementation or hiring newemployees. Next, look inside you and be honest. Are you confident you have theknowledge and discipline to implement the systems your business needs? Have youever lead a team or even one employee successfully? If the answer is no, to anyof these growth opportunities, these are the skills that should go first ontoyour development plan.

2. Strategically plan your skill development.

Second, plan. If you don't plan, you plan to fail.Nothing will happen. What books are you going to read? Are there any seminarsand workshops you can attend? Or maybe you should hire a coach because you knowyou have a hard time implementing anything you learn from the books andseminars? Once you have this figured out, then plan the budget you'll allocateto your growth fund. I spend 10% of every dollar I make on self-development.You can choose your amount. All I can tell you is that your ROI (return oninvestment) will yield higher rewards than any profitable stock or ventureyou've ever invested.

3. Implement the plan.

Next, it's time to act. No plan will do anything for you and your business if you don't implement it. Action is key. Break down the goals into quarters, then months, and get to work. Start by going to the library and borrowing books or buy them in a book store. Sign up for Audible or a seminar each quarter. Reach out to the coaches you know, decide which one will be able to help you best, and hire them. Then, start reading the books, attend the seminar, and show up for your coaching sessions. Last, implement the learnings daily and consistently.

4. Keep track of your progress

If you write down your key learnings and resultsregularly, then you can look back each month and reflect on what works best foryou and what needs to be adjusted or stopped altogether. Which brings us to thelast point.

5. Review and adjust.

Lastly, at least monthly look back at your notes,evaluate the progress and results. Imagine you are a plane. Planes always getoff course throughout its journey due to winds, turbulences, or unplannedevents. But with this routine and your plan acting as a GPS, you can get backon track, no problem. So during the monthly review, identify what works bestfor you and what areas need adjustment. Maybe there are even things that arenot working, and swapping them with something else is the way to go. Thisprocess will ensure that you're making the most out of your time and moneyinvested in your growth.

In conclusion, I hope this article inspired you, andyou've decided to invest your time and some money into your growth. You are themost critical asset not only in your business but also in your personal life.That's why I want to finish up with a quote and a few free resources you candownload now to start your 2020 self-development journey.

Growth is the great separator between those who succeed and those who do not. When I see a person beginning to separate themselves from the pack, it's almost always due to personal growth.

John C. Maxwell

5 FREE Resources To Get You Started:

1. Businesswomen with Passion 4 Life, click here to join and grow every day!
2. Guide to Creating 10 Hrs of Time Weekly in 10 Mins, click here to download.
3. 49 + Ideas on How to Increase Your Business Visibility, click here to download.
4. Ultimate Guide to Reduce Your Stress & Increase Results, click here to download.
5. 39 Ways to Respectfully Say 'NO,' click here to download

PS. If you’d like more than one resource, e-mail me here letting me know which one, I’ll send them to you personally in one shot 😊.

Being an entrepreneur requires two primary skills that, if you develop, nothing can stop you. One is grit, i.e., being able to treat challenges as a regular part of the journey, learn from the failures, and keep going. The second one is staying focused on your goals.

We live in a world where distractions are always allaround us: e-mails, chats, messages, social media. Those who can tune them outand focus are the ones who succeed.

The challenge here is that it's tough to do that. You have probably heard of Shiny Object Syndrome, which is one of the self-sabotaging behaviors I see in entrepreneurs.

You probably have fallen prey to at least a couple of the five main entrepreneurial distractions you’ll read about below. That’s why I want to help you with that today with tips on how to deal with them and stop self-sabotaging your business results.

1. Confusing busyness with effectiveness

Working longhours “doing” things all day doesn’t always mean you’re getting closer toachieving your goals or maximizing the time you’re spending in your business.

Because if a lot of this time is spending scrollingon social media from one irrelevant post to another or starting a new projectevery day, all you’re doing is wasting time.

I'm sure that if you've experienced this, you feltterrible at the end of the day, knowing that you just worked so much and merelyaccomplished anything. One of the main reasons why it happens is that you mightnot have clarity as to what your business is all about, what do you stand for,what is your mission. It’s hard for a plane to take a specific course and flyto a destination if it doesn't know where to go.

If busyness is your challenge, then you need my free Clarity & Focus training. It will walk you step by step how to establish Mission, Vision, and Values for your business. Once you have such North Star, focusing on what’s truly important will come easier. Click here and start today!

2. Listening to too many opinions

There are ALOT of resources out there for entrepreneurs. Some of it for free and somepaid. Some of it is amazing, and some so so. Blogs (like this one 😉), podcasts, webinars, and on-line courses sometimesoffering advice that contradict each other. That’s why listening to too manydifferent people can be confusing and cause you to switch directions too soonand too often.

If you’re a parent, you probably remember when youhad your first baby. Everyone under the sun had an onion on how to raise itfrom the day the baby was born. A lot ofit was good but not necessarily applicable to the times, your baby, and yourfamily situation.

Don't get me wrong, though; having mentors, coaches, and improving your skills is crucial to your business growth. However, the key is to make is strategic, listen to your intuition, and focus on what you need right this moment to be successful. If you want to know how strategically invest in your self-development, then click here and read this blog.

3. Saying “YES” to everything

Trying to please all the people that enter yourbusiness world is the quickest way to self-sabotaging your success. Not everyclient is the right client for you. Not every collaboration is mutuallybeneficial. Not every service or product you want to provide will beprofitable. And not every idea presented to you will help you get betterresults.

My advice - don’t run your business on other people’sagenda. Take ownership of everything in it. You’re the leader.

First, learn how to say “NO.” If you’re not sure how this guide will get you started, then prune regularly. Just like a fruit tree to grow beautiful and juicy fruit needs to be pruned every year, you need to take time to review what’s going on in your business and be able to stop doing some things.

Unnecessary tasks tend to creep into our lives. If you have too many, eliminating some will limit the daily distractions and help you focus just on the key priorities.

4. Poorly planning your goals

Procrastination and the overwhelm lead to avoidanceof working on your priories. This distraction most often comes from poorplanning. Here are a few ideas on what this means:

• You gave yourself too many goals to achieve and too little time which is paralyzing;
• Individual goals are too large to work on and feel too scary to start;
• You only have Big Hairy Audacious Goals but don’t have a monthly and weekly plan on how to achieve them. You feel stuck, not knowing where to start.

Hot to fix that? Simple – do the opposite 😊. But if you don’t know-how, reach out. I can help you do that as pat my free brainstorming session offering. Click here to schedule one.

5. Impatience

Let's come back to my parenting example. The smallkids usually are impatient and need things that they want NOW. But as theygrow, with our parental help, they develop the patience and understanding thatrewards don’t come right away, that in most cases, it takes time and effort tosee them.

Somehow, some adults become kids when it comes toexpecting results in business in no time and with minimal effort. I think it'sone of the downsides of modern technology (which overall is fantastic!). Socialmedia are conditioning us. All the likes, followers, hearts, etc. are teachingus to expect instant gratification for whatever we do. On top of that internetdoesn't lack “experts” who are telling you that your business can make millionsin a few months by you working in it 15-60 mins a day.

Don’t fall prey to such false promises. Be patient. Only because what you’re doing right now in your business doesn’t generate the results you expect immediately, doesn’t mean it's the wrong thing to do. If you switch course too fast, you’ll lose the momentum you have been working on and squander good things coming your way only to start all over again. When you launch a rocket into space, it burns most of the fuel to get off the ground. Once it does, it’s a minimal fuel and effort for it to fly in the space. So imagine now that rocket was stopped before taking off because someone thought it’s taking for it too long to launch …. Exactly.

Conclusion

The good news is that Shiny Object Syndrome is not a diagnosable condition. It’s all about how you think about your business and how you chose to act in it. That’s why once you realize you tend to get distracted; you can start doing something about it. Diagnose first, then think of how you can correct the course and finally put the plan to action. The more you do it, the more focused and consistent you’ll become. And with that, the business results you expect will come.

Welcome to week 2 of the Entrepreneurial Roller Coaster series. Last week, we talked about the lifeline of any business – your clients. This week, the topic shifts to you – the most significant asset your business has.

Many entrepreneurs start their journey as hobbyists. They have an idea about something they love to do; they think it would be good to make some money out of it and take the first steps toward making it happen. Then the business grows. And as it expands, at some point, they need to make a decision: "do I become serious about turning the hobby into your sole source of income" or "do I continue with it as a hobby?" If you're the one who chose the former, then you need to shift your role from the hobbyist to the CEO.

That's why today, I'd like to share the three most essentialaspects of this shift, especially in the beginning.

1. Being professional and authentic at the same time

There's a lot of talk and advice out there about being authentic but not a lot about professionalism. And personally, I think that because of it, sometimes authenticity is misunderstood, and professionalism underrated. When, in fact, they go hand in hand together, especially for business owners who are serious about their growth.

Here is what I mean by that:

• Professionalism is about showing up for your audience and clients and delivering excellence in everything you do consistently. I'm not talking about perfection here and will refer to this article for more details.
• Whether you feel like it that day or not, when you're professional - you show up and deliver your best. Imagine if Adele or Beyoncé canceled every show when they feel a bit under the weather or had a bad day? I'm not saying show up when you're sick and can't function (even the Adele doesn't do it), but self-managing your emotions so they don't control you is key to being successful and doesn't take away from your authenticity. This way, you show your clients that you care and respect them (and yes, sometimes it means dressing appropriately to the occasion too).
• When you show up, speak from the heart, in a way that only you can (authenticity) but be prepared at the same time (professionalism). Trying to wing it and, in consequence, 'babble' is not really authentic and undoubtedly not professional either.
• Be there for your clients to serve them, to help them skillfully solve their issues. When you make it all about them, not only do you show professionalism, but when you draw from your experience and share learnings from your own mistakes, you are also authentic and relatable.

2. Understanding that your BRAND is a PROMISE, not just its visual representations such as logo or colors.

Your brand is a promise to your clients of solutions you deliver to them consistently. It should align with your business vision, mission, and values. And as a CEO, you need to stay connected to them.

When you have a strong vision, mission, and values thatalign, it's much easier to make crucial decisions for your business. It's mucheasier to stay the course, not to get distracted by the next shiny object,because they help you stay focused. Theyare like your North Star showing the way to your destination in the darkness.

So if you haven't thought about them yet or aren't sure if they're aligned, take my free Clarity & Focus training that will help you do it. You'll see that it'll be the best hour of your time you've invested in your business. Click here to gain access.

3. Growing your business in a strategic way

CEO's don't take random actions in their business based on a never-ending to-do-list containing just thoughts or ideas without structure. CEO's are strategic. They set goals that align with their Vision. They care about the overall health of their business (clients, partners, employees, finances, systems, etc.).

Your business is an organism just like your body: consisting of many interconnected parts all-important and reliant on each other. Taking a holistic approach and strategically running it is key to long-term success.

"No matter what the industry you choose to ultimately invest all your time and energy in, be sure you're the owner, founder, and CEO. Remember, if you don't own it, you can't control it, nor can you depend on it." ― Brandi L. Bates

Now that you've read it, are you wondering: "OMG, that's a lot, how am I ever going to do it?" To that, I say step by step.

You're probably doing most of it anyway and maybe need a bit of gap filling or putting structure around it. When you do it, it'll allow your business to interconnect with all the parts in the most efficient and organized manner. And if you don't know where to start, I'd say start with Vision, Mission, and Values and go from there. In the event you have any questions as you go along, I'm always here to help, one free consultation away.

I readsomewhere this saying of Rockstar Salespeople: "People love to Buy; wehate to be Sold." Nine simple words and so much depth to them. Who doesn'tlike shopping or purchasing services that fulfill our needs and wants?Everyone. But at the same time who likes to be told what they should buy orwhat apparently, they need? No one.

So, ifyou're struggling with finding clients in your business, pause for a moment andlook inwards:

• What's your mindset about and approach to sales?
• Are you trying to convince your potential ideal clients thatwhat you have is the best, and they should buy it regardless of theirsituation?
• Are you genuinely listening to the person, or are you justfocused on getting through yet another conversation asap?

Dig deepand be honest with yourself as this is the only way you'll become aware ofareas you could potentially improve. And if you realize that indeed, you coulduse some improvement, then read on.

Below, I'd like to offer you 5 tips on how to think like your client and increase your sales.

1. Embrace the Abundance Mindset

You Begin by Always Expecting Good Things to Happen.

Tom Hopkins

Why?Because scarcity creates scarcity and abundance creates abundance. Whether it'swith the content you put out there on social media, or in prospecting for newclients, have an abundance mindset. In other words, don't fear to sharevaluable insights into your content that can help your ideal clients whetherthey buy from you or not. What you say or post reflects who you are and createsyour brand. To buy from you, people need to know you, like you and trust you.They will if you're genuinely offering value to them in every step of theircustomer journey with you.

Moreover,there are enough potential clients in your market for everyone who is in it.You have something unique to offer that no one else does because it's comingfrom you. Consequently then, if you consistently provide great value, you'llfind people that connect with it and will want to buy from you if given achance.

2. Ask Lots of Great Questions

If You Are Not Moving Closer To What You Want In Sales (Or In Life), You Probably Aren't Doing Enough Asking.

Jack Canfield

To know what your clients are thinking, understand their pains so you can provide solutions. Gaining such an understanding requires asking a lot of good questions. Great business leaders ask great questions. And as a leader of your business, you need to grow and hone that skill as well. Your business doesn't exist in a vacuum but is here to serve others.

Therefore,analyze the latest sales conversations you had by answering the followingquestions for yourself:

• How did they go?
• What questions did you ask?
• Who talked more?
• Did your questions allow you to get to know the potentialclient, the situation they are in, and their pain points or goals?

3. Talk Less and Listen More.

Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.

Stephen Covey

Those whounderstand their clients' needs and wants best and can translate their offeringas solutions to these are winning. Suchan understanding comes from deep empathetic listening. Unfortunately, veryoften, people half-listen focused in their minds only on what to say next.Being present in the moment in your conversation with a potential client ratherthan thinking about how to respond to them is key to truly understanding them.And don't worry, "what to say next" will come very naturally to you.Moreover, it will also be better once you have deeply understood yourclient.

4. Provide a Solution Speaking Their Language

Approach Each Customer with The Idea of Helping Him Or Her To Solve A Problem or Achieve A Goal, Not of Selling a Product or Service.

Brian Tracy

The wayyour potential client describes their challenge is different than yours. It'sbecause you are an expert in your field and are so close to everything, youthink everyone knows as much. There is nothing further from the truth, and asexperts, we tend to forget that.

As you're listening deeply to what your clients say, put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you are them experiencing their pains, dreaming of their goals. What solutions do you need at this moment? Can your current offering be one of those solutions or do you need to adjust it?

Once youknow what to offer, use their language to present your solution. Always breakit down to terms they understand and associate with. Throw away"expert" mumbo jumbo that can confuse and repel them. Such anapproach shows that you care, that you empathize with them, and createofferings tailored to help them, not someone else.

5. Build Genuine Relationships.

To Build A Long-Term, Successful Enterprise, When You Don't Close A Sale, Open A Relationship.

Patricia Fripp

Not every conversation with a potential client will end in a sale. Even the best of the best don't have a 100% sales record in any given year. That doesn't mean that your relationship with a person you talked to ends here. Just like with your current clients, spend time building relations ship with your potential ideal client that is a 'NO' for now. Find a way to nurture them and provide value. By staying in touch, this way, you can keep asking more questions and deepening your understanding of what they need.

Keep inmind that the most successful businesses are built on strong and genuinerelationships. Yes, this takes time, andyes, it requires effort. However, I think that relationship building is one ofthe most rewarding parts of growing a business, right beside helping a client.

Just OneMore Thought

In case you see value in the above tips but are not sure how to put all this to work, I prepared a Sales Strategy Outline for you to help you use it in real situations. It's not s sales script because I don't want you to sound like a robot when you're talking to your ideal clients :). Instead, it's a great tool that will help you flow the sales conversation naturally, ask questions, listen to understand, and ultimately gain permission to offer your solution.

If this sounds like something you need now, click here to download it.

Happy Selling!

EntrepreneurialMindset. Is it even a thing? It depends on whom you ask.

Those who’ve never run a business of their own will haveno idea what that is, just like people who’ve never stepped out of theircomfort zone don't know how it feels. Nevertheless, if you’ve never run abusiness and are thinking of starting one, this is a must-read for you. On theother hand, if you’re running one right now, you’ll probably put a checkmark ateach of the points I’m going to describe below, but hopefully still benefitfrom the advice.

If you ask the Goggle's dictionary, a mindset is “the established set of attitudes held by someone." Now, replace “someone” with “an entrepreneur” and the below five fundamental attitudes show-up in all the successful ones.

1. Humility

First of, humility. The entrepreneurial roller coaster is a school of hard knocks. Even if you don’t know what humility is when you start the journey, you’ll gain it pretty fast. And that's a great thing! Humility keeps us grounded and focused, and it helps with relationship building, which is key to growing your business. To read more on how to build successful relationships in your business, click here.

2. Love ofconstant learning

Secondly, successful entrepreneurs are avid learners. They’re continually looking for new ideas and lessons in everything. Not only do they invest in self-development through books, seminars, coaches, and mentors, but they also look to learn from anything around them: conversations they are part of or overhear, day to day life of those around them, and of course, their own experiences.

Through such an attitude, entrepreneurs are used to being always outside of their comfort zone. Why? Because true learning means that you’re going to go out there and try to implement what you’ve learned. And when you do that for the first time, you’ll be scared and doubt yourself A LOT. The good news is that everyone feels that way. It is a natural reaction our primitive brain is programmed to have to anything new and unknown to us. Being able to overcome that and thrive develops the next attitude of the entrepreneurial mindset.

3. Grit

I have written a separate blog about this attitude because it’s so critical. Grit is passion and perseverance to achieve long-term goals. In other words, it is the ability to persist in something you feel passionate about and not give up when you face obstacles or experience utter failure. It also means being accountable for mistakes you make and taking full responsibility for how you react to things that happen to you (even though you didn’t influence them).

I just want to pause your reading here for a moment because these two sentences are loaded with immensely valuable advice. It's only two sentences, simple paradigms, and abilities but so hard to develop and live day in and day out. That's why having a coach helps. A lot of the work I do with my clients focuses on this very area.

Entrepreneurs who have grit, don’t blame the world forchallenges or failures. They treat them as opportunities to learn, and theirgrit helps them get up after every fall, brush off the dirt, and keep going.

4. Consistency

As Seth Godin said, “Average overnight success in business tales six years.”

If you’re looking for a quick, easy way to make money, starting a business is not the best solution. It takes a lot of hard work and patience to become “the overnight success.” The attitude that develops patience is consistency.

Consistency in doing the mundane 95% of the tasks day in and day out to be able to enjoy the 5% of the amazingly fun stuff that is visible on the “surface of success.” Successful entrepreneurs establish routines and systems in their lives that help them be consistent. Such systems also help them move anything they learn and adopt into their day to day modus operandi, so their brain has room to learn and experiment with more new things.

Consistency is the other most crucial attitude in theentrepreneurial mindset code. As a matter of fact, without it, you cannot builda thriving business.

If you think you need help in developing consistency, this is where the investment in a business coach will bring you great results. It might not be for you, but scheduling a free strategy session with me and having a chat about it will give you a better idea about it. Click here, and let's brainstorm together.

5. Last but notleast, the most important one …

Finally, the drum all. I left the best for the last. Without this attitude, the others won’t matter in running a successful business. What I’m talking about here is decisiveness.

And the first decision every entrepreneur needs to make is that you’ll figure your business out no matter what. The secret behind this decision is knowing your “WHY,” knowing the purpose of your journey. As long as you have this figured out and decide that you will make your business work, no matter what, it will help you grow and expand on the other four attitudes.

In the light of this last point, have you decided yet that you’ll figure it out?

If you haven’t, do it now. It will make your journey easier. And once you do and then realize you do need help growing your business, contact me, and we’ll work on cracking the rest of the entrepreneurial mindset code together 😊.

Moving from a hobbyist entrepreneur to a CEO of your business is not easy but a necessary shift to take your business to the next level. The following change you need to make is becoming a high achiever. In other words, learning to effectively maximizing the time you have to work smarter, not harder, to achieve more in less time, to reach your goals and more without burning yourself out.

And this is what we'retalking about today, week 3 of the entrepreneurial roller coaster series. Justthink of any role model entrepreneur in your industry you look up to. Theydidn't achieve success by luck or without hard work. They made it possiblethrough hard and strategic work performed overtime consistently. They becamehigh achievers.

That's why today, I'm sharing with you five powerful tips to help you become a high-achieving entrepreneur, just like your role models.

1. Stay connected to Your Vision

The high achievers not only have a Vision for themselves and their business but are also deeply connected with it. They ensure that any critical decisions about their business align with the Vision, which in turn allows them to pick the most effective strategies (marketing, offering, structure, growth opportunities) and align their execution part as well.

As a result, they achieve the following:

• Laser focus and ability to overcome the "shiny object syndrome" distractions;
• They don't feel overwhelmed or paralyzed by too many options on which way to go in their business
• They accomplish A LOT more with the same amount of time you have and consequently create incredible results.

Now that you know thatthink about you. Do you have a vision for your business? Is everything you doin it align with it? Do you see the results you want to see? If you've answeredno to any of these questions, then it's time to create something different.It's time to pause and do this one foundational thing: align with and stayconnected to your Vison.

To help you, I prepared a great and free Clarity & Focus training. It'll walk you step by step on how to create your Vision and align your values, mission, and goals with it. Click here and get going on a journey of a high-achieving CEO.

2. Challenge Yourself with Setting Ambitious Goals

Ambitious can meandifferent things to different people, and there are a lot of theories on how fara goal should go. My take on it is that your long-term goals should be VERYambitious, something that makes you quite uncomfortable.

However, as you break downyour goals to smaller chunks: this year, this quarter, this month – each oneshould be stretching past your current abilities but at the same time notparalyzing you through its magnitude.

It's why working with thecoach is so beneficial to most people. A coach pushes you more than you'd everpush yourself and holds you accountable to it. They also provide support inbuilding the right habits and structure making sure you stay committed andconsistent. No wonder most people get much better results and achieve theirgoals faster when they partner up with a good coach.

3. Build Routines and Habits that Make the Execution of Goals Easier

What helps me with ensuringthat I write this blog every week? Grow my business while working a demandingcorporate leadership job? Raise my kids and excel at an on-line executiveMBA?

It's all possible because ofgood habits and routines that support my goals. Let me illustrate this with ahealth goal example: if you reduce your soda intake by only one pop a day andreplace it with water, you could lose about 15 lb n a year! Isn't that amazing?Without harsh exercising but only a minimal diet change, you can lose 15 lb.Such is the power of small good habits performed consistently. And you'll seethe benefits of that in any area of your life, business included.

Structuring your days sothat you don't need to waste time and energy, making decisions about everylittle thing makes it easier to maximize the time you have for your business.We all have 24/7/365. We all need to sleep, eat, and have time for loved onesand ourselves. There is only so much time each of us has for pursuing ourbusiness goals. High achieving athletes, CEO's or artists ensure to maximizethis time with value-added activities, work that is not a distraction but avessel bringing them closer to their Vision.

4. Invest in Your Personal Development

I'm passionate aboutself-development, so maybe I'm biased. But I've seen the positive changesinvestment and dedication to it made on many other people and me. If you studyOlympics athletes, all successful CEOs, artists, or entrepreneurs, you'll realizethey all invest in themselves enormously.

Why? Here are three critical reasons from your business perspective:

✅ If you grow, your business grows. For one thing, it'simpossible to move your business to the next level if you, don't move to thenext level first. It's like planting all your seeds in the garden and thenexpecting them to grow without watering them. The water for your business isyour creativity, innovative ideas, relationships, organization, and leadership.You need a tap to take if from, and that tap is constant self-development.

✅ When you improve as a person, your relationshipsimprove as well. Here I'm talking not only business relationships with yourclients or suppliers but also your partners, employees, and the loved onesaround you. In other words, as you develop your leadership skills, such aslistening, communication, conflict resolution, self-management, teamdevelopment, etc. they will, by all means, have a tremendous positive impact onyour personal life as well.

✅ Personal development is a huge time saver. The betteryou become at any given skill, the less time it takes you to do things. It'show you save tones of time so that you move on to the next thing and grow evenmore.

5. Have Fun

Marc Anthony said it best: If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.

I'm assuming you became anentrepreneur to do what you love. But I also know that it's very easy to gettangled up in day-to-day busyness and fire fighting. If you lose the fun, passion, and joy fromwhat you do every day, you'll also lose creativity, ideas for improvement, andinnovation that keep your business competitive.

So don't forget about FUN.Do you have enough fun every day? How often do you laugh?

As you create structure, routines, and habits, fun needs to have a place in here alongside with rest. All of this and laughter will recharge you and give you the energy to deal with challenges.

Final Thoughts

The trick to achievement and making any positive change in your business is not just knowledge but doing. The fact that you read my blog and know more now than you did 5 minutes ago isn't going to bring any benefits if you just leave it at that. That's why the coaching model I developed to help my clients grow their business has three steps: DREAM-PLAN-DO. All important for high achievement: Vision, mindset, strategy, but DOING is what makes it happen. If you're curious to know more about how my model can help your business rise to new heights or need help in the "doing" department, click here to schedule a free consult with me. Let's talk!