A funny thing happened on the way to the beach

November 21, 2018 By

Ripples in the sand.

When we first got Bruin, our puppy Bernese Mountain Dog, he loved to play. We’d take him to the beach to play in the sand.

One day I had my camera and was taking photos of him playing. By the way, there is nothing more fun than to watch a puppy play.

As I was taking photos I looked down and saw these beautiful ripples in the sand. Yes, the photo above is one that I took that day.

The ripples made me pause. They were beautiful, they created a pattern of sorts and they were oh so different.

Ripples in your life.

Just like the ripples in the sand, we have ripples in our lives. Things can often get messy, out of sorts and even fall apart.

We tend to view our life ripples as something to get over or to put behind us. In my last blog post I used a quote from Henry Ward Beecher “One’s best success comes after their greatest disappointments.” You can read the blog here. And the quote holds true for today’s message. Ripples in our lives are really us living our lives. We can’t have good without knowing bad. We can’t have happy without knowing unhappy. How else would we know if we were happy?

Debbie Ford wrote a book about this. I highly recommend it to you. It will give you some amazing perspective to see how all of our emotions are valuable, yes even the negative and icky ones.

Ripples in your business.

I’m part of an amazing mastermind group. During our meeting this month we talked about confidence. Confidence specifically as it pertained to being a business owner and what to do when we weren’t feeling all that confident.

One of my colleagues said we don’t just get confidence or we aren’t confident one day and that’s it. It’s something that comes and goes. Well, kind of like the ripples in the sand. I know first hand that there are days when there are no ripples in the sand at the beach and the sand is smooth as glass. So while all days aren’t going to be rosy in our businesses, knowing they aren’t permanent helps us to be able to take steps every day toward where we want to go.

Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. Winston S. Churchill

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In time this too shall pass.

When my cousin had her first child, he had to stay in the hospital for about six weeks after he was born. I remember her saying (and we even say this to this day), “In time this too shall pass.”

It’s the same thing with your life and your business. Tomorrow you won’t be where you are today. You just can’t. Things change. Your mindset changes, something you have been wanting shows up, something unexpected but great shows up. An opportunity knocks. You make decisions, you take action and your roll with the punches.

It’s all about the ripples of life that make our lives what they are.

And you know what, you have the power to either get caught in the ripples or accept that ripples will happen. And by looking at your ripples in a way that is positive and enlightening you free yourself to go where it is you want to go.

Bruin 9 weeks old

And if you are like a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, there is nothing holding you back!

Where in your life can you go with the flow rather than forcing the ripples smooth?

Sometimes it’s helpful to talk things over. If there is an area of your life or your business that you feel frustrated by, I would love to be that person to help you move forward.  Set up a free 30 minute session with me and we’ll smooth the ripples or we’ll talk about how to go with the flow better so that you can move on with your achievements faster, easier and better than before! Click here to be on your way. And if you need a little Berner love, Bruin will be happy to send some!

Filed Under: Empowerment, Personal Development, Reaching Goals, Self Worth Tagged With: , , , ,

How To Get Over Disappointment

November 7, 2018 By

Disappointment sucks.

Yes, it’s true. Who likes feeling disappointed.

We spend so much time making plans, take action to make those plans come true and waiting for them to happen that when they don’t boy are we disappointed.

So yes, disappointment sucks. It doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t make us happy. I doesn’t make us want to continue on in some cases.

Getting over disappointment.

If we were sitting in a coffee shop, we could probably talk for hours over the disappointments that we have each experienced, endured or suffered. There are no shortage of disappointments in this world.

Yet, what if we could get over them and get over them easily? Would you say tell me how! There is a way and it’s not at all hard.

Though so many people will tell me, “I just can’t” and there in lies the problem. See for some reasons our brains like to go on and on about the negative things. And we often fail to focus on the positive ones.

In order for you to get over your disappointment: 1) acknowledge you were disappointed and 2) move on. Thinking that it couldn’t be that easy? Let’s take a look.

How to acknowledge disappointment.

First know that there are many ranges of disappointment. There are really big ones and really small ones. For our purposes today, I am going to share a personal example of what I look at as a small disappointment.

Second, know that how you view disappointment or whatever happens to you for that matter is in the eye of the beholder. It is all relevant to each individual person and how they feel about it.

I am in the middle of a move, my husband and I decided relatively quickly to put our house on the market and move. I told myself I could do both, manage the move and run my business exactly as I had been doing so. Well, much to my disappointment, I wasn’t able to do both as I had planned. And because I was focused on what I had planned to do and felt I could do when it didn’t happen, I felt disappointed.

One’s best success comes after their greatest disappointments. –Henry Ward Beecher

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Moving On.

At first I was beating myself up over all that I didn’t do. I didn’t blog, create any fresh content, or look at email regularly. Nor did I look for new business. There were all these “didn’ts” in my head. Then I realized wait, there were lots of things that I did do. My clients got the attention they need, bills got paid on time and  the marketing was taken care of as I do a lot of that ahead of time. So what if I didn’t do some of what I like to do regularly. It is what I DID do that I started to focus on.

When I took a step back and acknowledged that I was disappointed in what didn’t happen. I was able to acknowledge what did happen and I was able to let go of my disappointment.

Letting go of your disappointment leads to growth.

By letting go that freed up my mind and my feelings to feel better about where I was. It allowed me to think ahead. Something that we never can do when we are in a state of disappointment. It gave me freedom and peace of mind to be where I am. In transition and excited about what is next. Will I have other disappointments? Yes, and probably on the bigger scale, and that’s ok. Being disappointed is not a bad thing, it is actually a really good thing. If you never experience disappointment, how then, can you experience the thrill of accomplishment.

Your turn.

Where in your life are you feeling disappointed? Are you willing to acknowledge it, see it for what it is (which is really just information for you to grow on) and either begin over or pick up where you are?

If you are, I’d love to hear about it. Simply share your comments here or email me privately at kim@kimravida.com.

If help getting over your disappointments or acknowledging them is something you need. I can help you. Set up a free 30 minute session with me and we’ll work together so that you can move on with your achievements faster, easier and better than before! Click here to be on your way.

Filed Under: Empowerment, Personal Development, Reaching Goals, Self Worth Tagged With: , , ,

How to not give in to distractions

August 8, 2018 By

Distractions are just a part of our lives.

You probably didn’t want to hear that. I know I don’t! Yet, it is so true.

How then can we cope with them and even overcome them when they appear in our lives?

It’s important to first know that there are different types of distractions that we deal with. There are the small distractions. The telephone calls, text messages and social media bings and bongs. Heck, this blog post might be distracting you from something you should be doing instead.

There are medium sized distractions. If you work from home you might be distracted by your children or spouse or even your pet. Full disclosure, right now Bruin, my 8 month old Bernese Mountain Dog is bumping my elbow wanting his lovies.

And then we have the BIG sized distractions, a sick relative, looming deadlines, things you just have to do and do now or their will be grave consequences.

Oh and let’s not forget odd distractions like your street being paved (I’m raising my hand here as that is also happening right now as I write this). Or an accident that happened in front of your house or things along that nature.

There are always distractions, if you allow them. Tony La Russa

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No matter what the distraction is, don’t let it derail you,

Now that you know that there are different kinds of distractions, you can learn how to not let them derail you.

One of the things I help my clients with is to set up solid systems so that if and when (cause ya know it’s gonna happen) distractions hit, they’ll be prepared.

When you are prepared for things to happen they usually don’t have the power to pull you off course for long. Sure they may pull you off for a short time, but with your systems and tools you easily get back on track.

My friend and colleague Ann Rusnak once said to me, when I got distracted and didn’t finish what I wanted to, it’s like sometimes we play whack a mole. That has stuck with me because it made so much sense.

That’s when I set up those systems for myself and what I help my clients with and it made all the difference in the world!

How to not find yourself playing whack a mole in your life and business.

Here are several strategies to take so you don’t find yourself getting caught up in distractions:

  1. Plan for them. Not all distractions we can plan for but the small ones we can. Such as the telephone calls, emails and text messages (even the puppy dog wanting his lovies). Have set times when you will be “doing” what I like to call admin/communicating time. The big ones, if we know what they will be can be planned too.
  2. Follow a To Do and Projects List. Well-thought out lists can help you plan your time accordingly.
  3. Be Mindful. This one is a little less of a step. However, just as important. Do you know when you usually get distracted? When you are mindful of what is going on with your life and business, you’ll be able to avoid them in the first place.

Those are a few ways you can start using to not fall prey to the distractions around you.

Distractions can derail us faster than you can say the word. If you want more personalized help to be able to be productive no matter what is going on around you I can help you do that. Set up a free 30 minute session with me and we’ll work together to create a plan for you to feel good about your change. Click here to be on your way.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Business Planning, Empowerment, Environment, Health & Fitness, Personal Development, Productivity, Reaching Goals, Self Worth, Structure, Time Management, Wellness Tagged With: , , , , ,

Is it time for a refresh in your business?

July 18, 2018 By

A refresh might be just what you need!

In life and business, a refresh could be just what you need right now. If you keep doing what you have always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten. That saying is very true for a lot of people.

In fact, so much so that they can’t see the forest through the trees. In other words, they keep doing things because it’s what they always have done. Yet, they aren’t happy with their results.

Many people I work with know that what they are doing isn’t working. And they want to change that. Though there are some who can’t see that what they are doing isn’t working so in that case, we do a little refresh.

You have to really use your imagination to refresh your daily life. Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

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How a refresh can help you get different results.

A refresh has you looking at what you are doing differently. Maybe from a whole new point of view. And from there you can see what areas of your life and your business need attention. Once you know that, you can refresh what you are doing and be on your way to having better results.

Here is an example. One client of mine was exhausted. She was frustrated that she wasn’t bringing in new business as fast as she had before. So we did a little assessment. And what she discovered is that she had been neglecting her physical health. You know, she was too busy to exercise and the take time to eat well.

That gave her a starting point. She created a plan of action for improving her health which included daily walks outdoors for 15 minutes and she planned and prepped her meals ahead of time. Just this little refresh gave her renewed energy and a better outlook.

Within a week of doing this refresh she brought in new business. Because her personal energy was so low, she felt ill and tired all the time. So, no wonder she didn’t bring in new business. She did not feel like attending networking events or contacting satisfied clients to do repeat business with her. Just this little refresh gave her different results.

Ways you can get started on your own refresh.

If you get my monthly ezine you may already be doing this as that was my topic recently. Here is how to get started:

  1. Set aside at least 60 minutes in a quiet place and do an assessment of your life and your business.
  2. For your life assessment, review and rate (scale of 1-10 1 being very unsatisfied and 10 being totally satisfied) each of these areas and determine:
    • Your physical health & fitness
    • The personal relationships in your life
    • How much fun you have
    • Personal finances
    • Energy for Life
    • Balance between life and work
    • General happiness with your quality of life
    • Personal Development/Achievement
  3. For your business assessment, review each of these areas and determine:
    • Your business and professional relationships
    • Business building skills and actions
    • Professional Development/Achievement
    • Business finances
    • Leadership
    • Schedule/Organization/Prioritization
    • Time Management
    • Energy for Business
  4. For each of the ones you rated a 7 or less, list out on a piece of paper, separating the life and business ones. You can draw a line down the center of the page and on one side list Life and the other Business. This will help you see the areas you want to improve clearly. Pick ONE area for your business and ONE area for your life that you want to do a refresh in and lay out a plan to do it.

Keep the flow going.

Whenever one area is refreshed, you can move on to the next and so on. As a result, before you know it you’ll have had a whole refresh! And way more of the results you want to see in your life and and in your business!

If you would like to make this even easier to do a refresh, I’m here to help. Set up a free 30 minute session with me and we’ll work together so that you know exactly the right place to start your refresh in order to focus on the outcomes you desire! Click here to be on your way.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Business Planning, Empowerment, Productivity, Reaching Goals, Structure Tagged With: , , , ,

Don’t like your results? Change what you are doing.

June 20, 2018 By

Don’t like what you’ve got? Change what you are doing.

Oh now I know that is so easy to say and not so easy to do.

But is it? As a coach, I like to challenge my clients’ thinking. When someone says “I don’t like my results.” or “I’m not getting the results I first want to know what their specific results were.

Once that is clarified, it is easy to work backward and find out what they were doing (or not doing as the case may be). This gives us a great picture of what went on prior to where they are now.

Many times what we discover is that the actions they took (are taking) will in no way, shape or form lead them to their end result. And it’s there that they need to change what they are doing.

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. Carol Burnett

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Change is a good thing!

You may be rolling your eyes. You may be thinking “no change is not a good thing”. But think about it. If what you were doing was working, you wouldn’t need to change. So if it’s not working, then making a change is a good thing.

Most times it doesn’t have to be drastic. A small change here and there could be all that it takes. Of course, there may be times when you need to completely scrap what you were doing and begin from scratch changing everything.

Start looking at change as a good thing and you will more likely feel differently about it.

Start slow, keep going.

A stumbling block to making changes is we often feel we have to do it all at once. In some cases, yes, that is the best way. And it isn’t the only way. There are times when going slow is in your best interest. The key is to keep going. Just like Dory!

Still worried about change? Still not feeling good about changes you maybe know you need to make yet are afraid to make them? Set up a free 30 minute session with me and we’ll work together to create a plan for you to feel good about your change. Click here to be on your way.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Business Planning, Empowerment, Productivity, Reaching Goals, Structure, Time Management Tagged With: , , , ,

It is Time For You To Make Your Success Happen

June 13, 2018 By

You are 100% in charge of what you get out of your life and your business.

That’s right. No one but you. It’s both liberating and scary isn’t it?

I’m doing a social media challenge with my mentor, Denise Wakeman. She has us try different online marketing activities. Sometimes we get them in one shot. Other times, we have to do it and learn from it. I get to be in charge of how I experience the challenge and let me tell you, it’s all a great experience.

One of the things that I experienced early on in my business was I wanted everything to be perfect. It’s something that may ring true for you too. It’s not a bad thing. It means you care about your work and how you show up in the world. Something I think is valuable especially in business.

Though, it was something that kept me from taking action and moving forward. Once I realized that I was the one responsible for my results and what I was getting, I saw how being a perfectionist held me back.

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid that you’ll make one.” Elbert Hubbard

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Let yourself be in charge.

When I began working for myself I had a lot to figure out. I had always been an employee and did things mostly the way the place I worked at wanted it done. I didn’t have much say. And when I began working for myself, I was afraid to make mistakes.

A key learning for me was that I was in charge of what I did or didn’t do and how I did it (aka getting things perfect). And by making mistakes I was learning and by learning I was growing. I was learning how to be in charge.

After I realized that I was standing in the way of my own success, it was easy to change how I did things. And it was easy to be able to be in charge of my results. My results then lead to my success.

Where in your business are you not letting yourself be in charge?

Where can you step into being 100% in charge of what you get out of your life and your business?

Are you stuck? Not sure where to begin? Feeling like you can’t stop being a perfectionist? Set up a free 30 minute session with me and we’ll work together to put yourself 100% in charge! Click here to be on your way.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Empowerment, Personal Development, Productivity, Reaching Goals, Time Management Tagged With: , , , ,

How to end a lifetime of procrastination

June 6, 2018 By

Let’s not re-invent the wheel, let’s change it completely.

When it comes to procrastination what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

Did you think about all the things that you still need to do? And then did you think to yourself “argh, I’m such a loser because I can’t seem to get anything done?” Or did you look off to the side with a sigh feeling defeated?

I’ve got such great news for you. There is no such thing as procrastination. It’s just a word! One that isn’t totally positive nor productive. It’s like a label on a jar that tells you your have Skippy peanut butter rather than Jif. That is ALL it is.

Now, how does that concept grab ya? My invitation to you today is for you to 1) stop using the word procrastination and 2) give it another meaning. As in let’s change it completely from here on out. What do you say, are you game?

When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. – Dr. Wayne Dyer

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Changing the way we look at procrastination.

Dr. Wayne Dyer is known to have said:  “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.”

A lot of my clients first arrive in my world because they want to change something that isn’t working or that they want to improve on. Many think that they are procrastinators and can’t seem to do what they need to do to get to where they want to get.

I’m going to introduce you to a word that I know you have heard before (probably many times) yet maybe haven’t thought about how it could be playing a major role in your life and in your business.

It’s AVOID. You know as in you are avoiding looking at your bills each month when they come in (and next thing you know you owe a late fee). Or you are in avoidance of taking an action that you said you wanted to do such as go to the gym, get more sleep or even go to a networking event.

When you can look at your procrastinating as really avoiding it makes it easier to actually move from sitting on your bed, looking at your phone, reading and having coffee (see I chose today’s photo for a purpose =). And it gets you into action. That action that you know deep down will get you to where you want to go!

Making the change, getting yourself to take action.

Well then, you are changing how you look at what you have been looking at. You are now going to look at all the things that are left undone and get them done. Now let’s move on to the meat of the matter so you can figure out why you may be avoiding getting things done.

First of all, you may not truly need to get those things done. You may really want to just let them go. You can do that you know.

Second, you may not even want to get them done and in that case, you can let those go too.

Are you ready…

Here are a few ways for you to begin to change how you look at where you have been so you can get to where you are going:

  • Make a list of all the undone tasks. List out everything you have left undone. A few examples may be:
    • washing your interior car windshield
    • updating your monthly finances
    • paying your bills
    • calling a prospect
    • empty the shredder
    • give the dog a bath
    • make a dentist appointment
  • Put a star next to those that you deem important. Then go back over those and ask yourself, 1) do I need to do this and 2) do I want to do this? If you say no – you can delete or delegate it. If you say yes (and for the record your reason why you feel it is important has no bearing here) your next step is to do it, but first…
  • Ask yourself why you think you are avoiding this task. This is where the beauty comes up. You will (more than likely) find that you immediately know the answer. Let’s take the example of washing the interior car windshield because it’s my challenge. I am avoiding this because it’s awkward to do, the windshield is pretty big and I can’t seem to get the bottom nor the sides well and end up seeing lots of streaks which I do not like.  Hence, I will drive around with a windshield that I can barely see out of (especially at night) because of my thoughts around it. Are you laughing yet? I can almost bet you that windshield will be clean by end of that day. Why?…
  • Once you know why you are avoiding a task, it’s no longer an obstacle. It’s the knowing why that can get us moving, in a small or big way. I won’t go into breaking steps down here yet it’s key to do that for you to be successful in moving forward. My first step would be to get the supplies to clean the windshield and then I can begin that action.

Don’t forget to give yourself a high five.

T. Harv Eker is a great proponent of giving yourself a high five. You’ll feel great completing what you had been putting off. And by celebrating you create a “get it done muscle” making it easier to keep going.

So what do you think? Are you ready to move out of procrastination, by look at what you are avoiding so that you get to what you want to do so you can get to where you want to be?

Sometimes the easiest thing is to have someone help you. I’d love to be that someone. You already know I’ve been there and I work with people just like you who have been there too so I know I can help you get out of being and feeling stuck.  Set up a free 30 minute session and you’ll be able to create the time for what’s important in your life! Click here to be on your way.

 

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Empowerment, Personal Development, Productivity, Reaching Goals, Time Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Creating Time For What’s Important In Your Life

May 23, 2018 By

Time is equal. What you give your attention to is not.

Think about that for a moment. In the last 24 hours what did you give your attention to?

I keep hearing from my clients and the people in my life that they are “so busy” and “stressed out”. In fact one person is having health issues due to stress. She feels pulled in many directions. Her work, her family, herself (you see who is last on this list, don’t you?).

When I ask the question “what are you busy doing” I get silence or a blank stare. If you are so busy, why can you not recite what you are busy doing? Because you are busy doing things that are not important.

On the other hand, one of my clients is busy creating a new program for her business. Though if you asked her if she was busy she would tell you that she is productively working on her next program. And she’s not stressed out over it. In fact, it is energizing her.

What ARE you giving your attention to?

You have probably heard it before, if everything is important then nothing is important. Everything cannot be important. It may be urgent, but is it important? See, a lot of my clients when they first start working with me tell me that everything is important. But the reason they want to work with me is that they can’t seem to reach their goals, build their business and have a great life. Their attention is given to everything. They, maybe like you, put their energy, effort and attention into everything and wonder why they aren’t where they want to be.

So right now, get out a piece of paper and write at the top:  Things I am giving my attention to right now. Draw a line down the center of the page and on one side write my business and the other write my life. Then list out everything that you have given your attention to in the last 24 hours. And if you want this exercise to be really impactful, write down everything in the last week.

Once you do it, take a short break. Next, look at your list through fresh eyes. What is on there that is truly important to you? Can you find it right away? Is it at the top? Now, don’t be surprised if it isn’t 1) on there or 2) near the end. Or perhaps you haven’t truly figured out what is important to you and that’s causing the problem.

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” ― Charles Buxton

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How to give your attention to what truly matters.

Take a deep breath. No matter what you discovered from the exercise above, it is all good. You now have awareness. And awareness in my book is THE #1 key element to being able to create the changes you desire.

Here are several steps for you to find out what truly matters for you:

  • Rate your list. On a scale of 1-10 rate how satisfied you are with how you spent your time. 1 being very dissatisfied and 10 being completely satisfied.
  • Write down your 8 or higher items. Maybe it’s time with your family or onboarding new clients. Ask why those are important and write it down.
  • Review the less than 8 items. Ask why you feel you needed to do (or need to do) those activities/tasks. Begin thinking, who else can do these or do I even need to do them in the first place (think, alphabetizing your spices or re-arranging your office supplies).
  • Pick ONE area in each of your category of business and life to focus on. Choose the one that you know will give you the most satisfaction, that if you were to spend your time and energy here you’d receive the biggest results.
  • Create your step-by-step plan to spend time in those important areas. Enter the time in your schedule/calendar and hold yourself accountable to focusing on it regularly.

It’s important that you 1) know what is important to you and why, 2) to have your roadmap in front of you and 3) hold yourself accountable in order to experience less stress, more results and lots of satisfaction!

What if you took just one step toward your dream? Here is an article I wrote about recently about rowing your boat toward your dream. Let’s look at it this way. Just put one oar into the water. Once you do that, you can put the second one in. Then you can begin to row, gently. After that, you’ll be on your way. How great would that feel?

Oh, I know this isn’t as easy! I’ve been there and I work with people just like you who have been there too. I’m happy to help you get to what is important. Set up a free 30 minute session and you’ll be able to create the time for what’s important in your life! Click here to be on your way.

 

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Empowerment, Personal Development, Productivity, Reaching Goals, Time Management Tagged With: , , ,

Dream Big Because Life Is About A Dream

May 16, 2018 By

Your life is meant to be so much more.

Life is but a dream! Did you read that and think “Yes! It is!” I hope so. That is my intent anyway. I’ve been so fortunate to work with some amazing business women over my coaching career. So many women who are doing great things in the world and in their lives. And it always amazes me how they struggle. Struggle with guilt, feeling bad and many other negative thoughts and feelings.

We are so much more than we believe we are. Just look at some women you admire. You know those you think are just awesome. Guess what? YOU are too! Your life IS meant to be so much more than you are allowing yourself to have.

It is time for you to acknowledge your greatness.

Usually I write about ways for you to be your best. I’ve been taking a sort of under the radar approach. And today I’d like to take an in your face approach. Recently, I’ve had several conversations with clients and some friends and the theme that surfaced was that they are all afraid to acknowledge that they are great.

Not great at what they do (though they are), just great at who they are.

Is that true of you? Do you have a hard time saying “I’m great”? If you do, I would love for you to remember that you are great. Just as you are. You do not need to make more money, be more successful, lose more weight, be more positive or whatever. You as you are right here, right now are great.

Life is bout a dream.

Oh but it is! I can hear you saying “NO IT IS NOT”. Let’s go back in time and remember the song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Here is a video in case you forgot how it went.

They lyrics are:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

Why then do you push and shove in your life and in your business and struggle to get to where you want to go? What if you were to remember these lyrics? Personally, I like the merrily merrily, merrily, merrily part as there have been times in my life and in my business that I wasn’t all that merrily! And looking back, if I were things may have been quite different.

“Life is but a dream” -Eliphalet Oram Lyte

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Stepping into merrily rowing your boat down the stream.

Where in your life have you maybe forgotten about a dream? Given up on a dream? Were afraid to dream? What if you were to dream right now? What would your dream be? Is there something that you would love to do that you think “naw, I can’t do that”? Have you been contemplating making a change (even a small one) and saying to yourself that it would be too hard?

What if you took just one step toward your dream? Let’s look at it this way. Just put one oar into the water. Once you do that, you can put the second one in. Then you can begin to row, gently. After that, you’ll be on your way. How great would that feel?

So it isn’t always as easy as I’m making it out to be (but it is). And if it feels hard to you, I’m happy to help. Set up a free 30 minute session and we’ll get you in your boat and dipping your oar into the water and on your way to realizing your dream. Click here to be on your way.

 

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Business Planning, Empowerment, Environment, Productivity, Reaching Goals Tagged With: ,

How to create a supporting working environment

May 9, 2018 By

envrionment

Finding a winning formula to business success.

There are many things that go into creating success in your business. One of them isn’t something most people give a lot of thought to. Especially when they start their business. It’s your working environment.

In the past, I’ve written about creating best practices for your business. You can read about those here. Your best practices are also key to running a successful business. Recently, I’ve had a few client sessions and conversations with business owners who feel they are stuck.

After asking them some key questions, what came to light was that their environment wasn’t supporting them in achieving their goals. It’s easy to do. You have your list of things you do for your business and your routines. As a result, you are so busy doing those things that you fail to notice how the disorganization, (ahem, the mess) creeps in. Sooner or later things start to fall through the cracks. And at the same time, things aren’t happening as you planned. Surprisingly, you think “what is going on here”.

The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist. Zig Ziglar

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Look around at your environment.

Take a moment, yes right now. I’ll wait. Look up and look around. What do you see? Do you see a bunch of papers all over the place, are things on the floor (yes, I know that happens), and what about that floor? Does it need a good vacuum? What about your computer desktop and even the apps on your phone? Do you have your electronic files filed neatly so that you can easily find them?

Don’t beat yourself up here. It’s important to look at things as they are right now. Just look around and notice. That’s the first step to setting yourself up to have a winning environment.

My clients often tell me they need to work on their time management. And sometimes that is the case. But often, it isn’t. Often they need to clean up their environment. One client actually moved her office because she recognized that working in the basement with no windows wasn’t supporting her to be a successful business owner. [Side note: that year she increased her income by 80%!]

Steps to creating your supporting working environment.

Now, there are many ways we can do this. What I recommend is that you take the time to first see where you are, then decide how you want it to be and figure out the steps to take to do it. This creates ownership. You have a psychological vested interest in it and your success.

Here are a few ways for you to begin:

  • If you haven’t done it already, look around at your environment. What do you see? Is there anything that you are ignoring? What bugs you the most? Equally important is to make sure you take some notes especially around what just kind of gets ignored.
  • After you have looked around, pause and ask yourself “How does this make me feel?” Jot down your feelings. Are they negative such as unorganized, overwhelmed or frustrated? Then ask yourself “How do I want to feel?” Again, jot those feelings down. Do you want to feel organized, calm and peaceful?
  • Determine where to begin first. After you have taken stock of where you are, how you feel, how you want to feel you can determine where to begin. Maybe it is it vacuum the floor. It could be to clear off all the papers. Or it could be to first create a place for the things you have and begin putting them there. This is where getting help could benefit you. Though you want to make sure you hire someone who will ask the right questions, allow you to do the work yourself and be there for support.
  • Set aside time in your calendar to create your supporting working environment. The trick here is to do it and get it done relatively quickly. Momentum will help you. The challenge some people have is that they get overwhelmed. And if you know that may be the case for you, create a list of what you need to do and set 30-60 minutes a day in your calendar to work on it.

You can do this.

If you are reading and thinking that this is daunting for you. It probably is. Especially where you are today. The good news is that once you have your plan, you’ll easily execute it. Probably in a similar manner that you run the other operations of your business successfully.

It takes awareness to see where you are, a vision of where you want to go and your plan to get there.

Some of my clients set a whole weekend aside to just get it done and then tweaked it from there. One of my clients knew it would be a stretch for her so she opted to use several of her coaching sessions and a few Complete It NOW! Sessions so that she’d have my support while she did her work.

If you’d like some help, set up your own Complete It NOW! Session and we’ll work toward getting things completed for you!

 

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Business Planning, Empowerment, Environment, Productivity, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , ,
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