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: , , , ,

Do you get into CRAP?

November 19, 2015 By

Thinking, tired or ill with headache business womanI’m curious. Do you get into a lot of CRAP? And what about experiencing The “BIG O”?

If you’re thinking right now “Has she lost it?” you can relax, they aren’t what you think. If you were thinking, “Holy cow, this is going to be interesting!”… you’re right. Keep reading.

As I see it, the BIG O for business owners is Overwhelm. Overwhelm causes a lot of stress, struggle and frustration; “a lot of tears and fears” as my mentor is known to say.

I’ve been there. I’ve had a lot of tears and a lot of fears and it was usually when it came to making money in my business. I didn’t know how or what to do and I shed a lot of tears trying to figure it out.

A lot of small business owners and entrepreneurs have the same problem. Sadly they often aren’t able to solve it for themselves. The BIG O leads to tears and fears, which leads to more BIG O, which then leads to what I call a lot of CRAP in business and in life. The BIG O, as you can see, leads to a lot of not-so-good things!

Now, when I say CRAP, this is exactly what I mean:

• Chaos

• Resistance

• Anxiety

• Procrastination

And when you are experiencing a whole lot of CRAP, it generally leads you to NOTHING — as in no clients, no money, no peace of mind, no freedom and certainly no happiness and joy!

One way to eliminate the BIG O, and therefore get out of CRAP, is to get very clear on what it is you are doing.

Instead, you want to get into creating what I like to call Business Mastery where you truly are the master of your business, you are moving along at a comfortable pace, getting things done and seeing amazing results.

Here are several things for you to get clear on:

• What is your big why?

• Why are you in business?

• What is your business’s purpose?

• What is the impact that you want to make with your business?

This knowledge is key to getting yourself out of overwhelm and into Business Mastery. You’ve heard the saying (you’ve probably heard me say it too) “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” When you have a crystal clear view of what you want, you will be able to identify with it, and from there you’ll be able to make it happen. Think about this: what you identify with, you become.

So why not identify with being masterful at business? Have a clear understanding of what you need to do to reach your goals of creating the business you want — one that makes great money!

If you haven’t answered the questions above, take 30 minutes to give it some thought.

Now, if you would like to have some help, I have an amazing opportunity open for you. It’s my 2016 Prosperous Business Mastery Group Mastermind Program. Click here for more information or feel free to reach out to me to set up a time to talk.

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Yup, procrastination gets you every time!

April 9, 2015 By

Right time, right place in wood typeDid you ever drag your feet on doing something and when you finally did it you thought, “Now why didn’t I do that sooner?” Or “I wish I did that sooner”?  Yes, probably most of us have.  The beauty is to remember that you did it and therefore can feel good about it.

Yet… there can also be a benefit to waiting. Right?

Now, I’m not promoting procrastination but there have been many times I delayed doing something and when I finally did it, I benefited even more than I originally thought I would.  You know, those times when something has happened or shifted in the meantime (while I was delaying) that intensified the beneficial end result.  Strange, huh?  If you think about it, I’m sure it’s happened to you also.

One of my clients had been talking about taking a specific action for many months, when I finally asked her if she really wanted to do what she said she wanted to do.  She did and through our conversation she realized that she had been putting it off because it wasn’t the right time to do it.  Sometimes timing is everything and that is a key piece.  Once she realized that, she gained a lot of peace and ease around it.

You can do the same thing. Ask yourself do you need to do this now?  If not, then you can postpone it and be on your way feeling good, feeling free and knowing that you will get it handled when the timing is right.

But wait… how is postponing “better” than procrastination?  If you look up procrastination in the dictionary (you don’t have to, I did it for you) it says:  to postpone doing something, especially as a regular practice.  So what is procrastination really?  It’s a habit.  A habit of doing something regularly so that it begins to be the way you are, how you are being.  Truthfully your way of being can make or break your success.  If you’re postponing on a regular basis, it’s a problem.

However, let’s leave off the ‘especially as a regular practice’ and take the part where it says “to postpone doing something”.  See, often in order to say ‘Yes’ to something we need to say ‘No’ to something else.  That can be hard to do!  Therefore we think we are procrastinating when we really are postponing.  Does that help take the sting off of you procrastinators?

Look, running your own business — heck your own life — has one challenge after another come up.  And that’s okay.  Lots of what we do is problem solve.  Being clear on whether you are postponing or procrastinating can mean all the difference between negative outcomes or positive outcomes.

Share below a time when you postponed something and discovered the pieces fell together in a better way. I know it’s happened to you!

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