Never again put your productivity in jeopardy

October 5, 2017 By

It’s a sad fact that a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs jeopardize their success.

Honestly, it’s not hard to do. What with all of the things that have to happen to first start a business, then be successful at it.

Recently I wrote an article that I published on Medium. It was a pretty popular article. So many people highlighted parts of it and commented on it. One man wrote:

“What I came to notice, though, in my own search for improving (or establishing at all) productivity is that prioritizing my tasks and planning for the day A) rarely works out; and B) can quickly overwhelm me. The former, I guess, is rooted strongly in being a freelancer. But the latter I think is something a lot of people can maybe relate to.”

And what he said got me to thinking.

To Be Productive, You Have To Be Yourself.

See, if you are truly to be productive you have to be yourself. I can tell you to do this or that but if it doesn’t fit for you, you won’t be successful with it. And I want you to be successful. I want you to be super successful!

So while my article gave the how to be productive and while many people liked it and are trying it, what if it doesn’t work for you?

Well first, go read it to see if it won’t work for you. And if you find it won’t, then we’re in business! If it does, then, we’re in business! The beauty is you will be aware of how to be you! Either way you’ll be productive.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things they are transformed. Thich Nhat Hanh

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Get Results, Your Way.

No, we aren’t talking Burger King. Well, yes, actually we are.

You can have your productivity YOUR way! And that said, in order to do that you still need to take some steps.

  1. Decide what it is you want for results. While I’m all for being in a flow and just going about taking actions, if you aren’t taking specific actions on a specific goal, forget about it. You will never get anywhere. And you do want to get somewhere don’t you? Yes, I know you do!
  2. Determine what you need to do to get your results. Like the photo in this article, if you are here, there and everywhere you’ll get nowhere. Clearly determine your action steps that you will take to reach your end results.
  3. Make a list of all your actions. This is valuable because you can pick and choose from your list and do things as you feel appropriate and that fits into your energy for the day. It gives you the opportunity to be you and just go with the flow yet still be productive.
  4. Create a timeline. By being clear about by when you want to have your results you will be able to have a feeling of free flowing yet you’ll be moving things along at a pace that feels good to you and with an anchor that will help keep you on target.

Tips For Not Jeopardizing Your Productivity.

Now that you know what it is you want, how you’ll get it and know how and when it will happen, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

  • Allow for white space in your day. My reader mentioned that planning rarely works out and he’s correct (for the most part). Things do happen. And things do work out. When you give yourself space during your day, rather than jam pack it thinking you will be productive but rarely are, you give yourself freedom to be in the flow of whatever happens to happen during your day.
  • Give yourself permission to be who you are and work how you work. A lot of people will read my article and go I need to do that in order to be productive (and I’m not going to say no that isn’t true, because it is true for a lot of people) but if you are like my reader and are a go with the flow person, then give yourself permission to do that.

Remember it’s how you look at productivity that will have you being productive. Kind of like the saying “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”.

You Are Your Best Expert.

Let’s face it, YOU are your best expert. I can give you all the advice, suggestions, tips, tools, etc. in the world yet if they don’t fit you they are useless. If you are having a hard time being you, another article I wrote can help you with that. You can read it here.

My suggestion to you (if you are willing to take it =-) is to allow yourself to be you. Work the way you know feels good to you. As long as you are getting things done, are being productive for how you define productivity and are seeing results, there isn’t anything wrong with what you are doing.

If however, you feel your go with the flow ways are not benefiting you and you feel you aren’t getting the results you want because of it, learning a few high value productivity actions will always help you.

If you would like help learning some high value productivity actions, I can help you do that! Schedule your 30-minute complimentary Productive Planning For Success Strategy Session now.

The good news is that it isn’t hard and it doesn’t take long to learn to be productive, it just takes the desire to learn to do it.

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

Success is what happens when you stay on target

September 21, 2017 By

You are 100% responsible for your results.

I say this a lot. And it’s so true. Yet, there are a lot of people out there who do not take responsibility for what they want and blame others because they don’t have it.

I hope that isn’t you. Though if it is and you are resonating with what you just read, have no fear. As of this moment, you can change it. You can have your life be different and you can truly be the boss of you.

Be YOUR Difference.

If you are willing to take on the mindset of “If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me”, here is what I would like you to know:

“The victim mindset dilutes the human potential. By not accepting personal responsibility for our circumstances, we greatly reduce our power to change them.” –Steve Maraboli

Did you see the part about WE greatly reduce OUR power? You have the power to make changes in your life.

  • What changes would you like to make that you may have been thinking it’s up to someone else to do?
  • Where may you be wanting to do something, yet have been feeling like it’s someone else’s fault that you haven’t been able to do it?
  • How are you letting someone else be the director of your life?

You are your greatest champion, your greatest supporter, your greatest cheerleader and the greatest leader of you!

If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me. –William H. Johnsen

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Create Your Absolute List.

What do you want in your life that you don’t have now?

Create a list of what you absolutely want to have in your life. Take a look at your list and ask yourself what your top 3 items on it are. Put this list in a prominent place in your life, these will be your target goals. Without a target to focus on, you’ll never have any direction and you will never get there.

These will be the goals that you will work on, take regular actions on and move forward on regularly to see results.

Eyes on the Prize.

In order to be the difference and reach the successes that you want in your business and in your life you must stay on target. Having laid out that target by creating your absolute list, you now have a starting spot. Here are some things to help you stay on target:

  1. Create an action items list. This list will contain everything you will do to reach your goal.
  2. Create your timeline. This will be your beginning and end dates and the actions you will do in the middle that move your toward your end result.
  3. Bring in support. This can be anyone who you think will help you, family, friends, a professional, etc.
  4. Be accountable. Lay out how will you hold yourself accountable for staying on target and taking actions.
  5. Build in checkpoints. Create points for you to check-in on your progress and results.
  6. Review and Reassess. Take time to review what you are doing, have done, still need to do. Reassess where you are and what you want.
  7. Course Correct. If you find you need to course correct, do it. The goal is for you to stay on a target that you want to stay on.

You Are Solely Responsible For Your Results.

In a previous blog, I told you that if you aren’t 100% happy with were you are in your life and in your business, your thoughts may be to blame. And while that is still true, it may be you haven’t had a target or you haven’t stayed on target and so you haven’t been responsible for your results.

This will help you not only be responsible for your results, but have you in the drivers seat so that you can have the power to change your circumstances in your life and in your business!

If you’d like some help creating your target goals and a plan on how to reach them, I’d love to help. Schedule your 30-minute complimentary Productive Planning For Success Strategy Session now.

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Do this one simple action for an absolutely productive day

September 7, 2017 By

Have you ever ended your day having done 100 things? And have you ever ended your day without doing the ONE thing that you knew you absolutely had to do?

You aren’t alone, and you probably know that. I’m not writing about anything you probably haven’t heard before.

There are so many articles on productivity and time management it’s crazy. Yet, here I am writing about it. And the reason why is because there is such a need for it.

Here where I live, in the United States, the culture is pretty much get as much done as you can and even more than you think you can physically do and you are a star.

So, we add and add and add to our ever growing to-do lists, calendars and schedules and we hope that we’ll be able to get it all done. When we don’t we are frustrated, unhappy and basically burnt out.

Is that anyway to live a life? Not at all!

The solution.

How then, can you end your day doing the ONE thing that you absolutely need to do in order to move your business forward?

Well, (now, hang on to yourself, because I know you are going to say, “that’s it?”) simple, set aside 15-30 minutes to plan out your day either the night before or first thing in the morning. Yes, that’s it.

It is the most simple thing you can do to end your day feeling amazing about yourself. Your productivity will improve and you will have more time which in turn helps you be a great time manager.

How to effectively use your daily planning time.

Below you will see the steps to follow during your daily planning time.

  • Set a timer. You only need about 15-30 minutes to plan your day.
  • Get out your calendar/planner, to-do list, any other support materials you use. This gives you an overview of what you want/need to get done.
  • Prioritize what is on your list. Do a rough outline of how long you think things will take.
  • Review your schedule, what appointments are already in there. This tells you where your time is already committed that cannot be filled with anything else.
  • Determine how much open space do you have. Look back at your to-do list and rough time-line and determine what you can actually get done in the time you have available.
  • Choose your top 1-3 things that you have to complete by the end of the day. I say have to, yet it can also be doing things you want to and that will feel good to accomplish.
  • Write down your priorities in a place you will see them during the day. This helps you stay focused and on target.

After you have completed the above, it’s time to get into action and started on your #1 top priority.

Next, all you need to do is do it. You already thought about it, planned it and now it’s time for you to succeed and end your day feeling productive and good about yourself!

Decide. Commit. Succeed.

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Keep The End In Mind.

If this is a new action for you, keep in mind it takes time to create a habit.

Writing down your top three and placing it in a place where you see is paramount to your success. You use it as a touch point. It is your guide that will help you get to the end of the day feeling successful.

Each time you find yourself going off track (bright shiny objects anyone?!), this list will pull you back. This is your to-do list for the day and by thinking (or even saying) by the end of the day, I will have done this, this and this, the odds of you actually doing that are very high.

Also, you don’t have to struggle with this. If you’d like some help with planning or even going over these steps, I’d love to help you with that. Sign up for a 30-minute complimentary Productive Planning For Success Session.

Here is to your success!

Kim Ravida works with solopreneurs and small businesses to help them create fun, stress-free and results-oriented plans for their business success.  Kim’s clients have simple to follow plans of actions that have them seeing fast results in their business.

Get your free e-book 5 Essential Steps to Creating a Successful Business that is Profitable.

 

 

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Simple tips to live the life you want

August 24, 2017 By

Did you know that you are the one responsible for what you get in life?

You are. I’m not a big proponent of telling you things. I really like to share and have you test the waters to see if something is right for you, would work for you and help you in the way that you are wanting. So for me to say you are 100% responsible for your results goes against what I normally teach you.

Though I’m doing it because it’s something you need to hear. In order to live your life the way you want to you need to stop making excuses and assigning blame to anyone other than yourself.

Ways you can get what you want in your life.

So, it’s up to you. Now what?! My goal here is to share with you ways in which you can get what you want.

I’ve been doing some Facebook Live Videos and wanted to share two with you. My most recent is about a trick to stop procrastinating. You can watch it here. If you have ever found yourself not getting to what you truly want to do, this will help you get there.

And the second one is about leaving white space in your calendar for the unexpected. We all know stuff happens. Yet, we never plan for it and end up feeling frustrated because we didn’t get to do what we wanted or needed to because of it. Click here to watch.

Both of these videos will get you started on the path to getting what you want in your life. Repeat after me:  “I will no longer just settle for what I get, I will be at the cause of it.”

In order to get what you want, you must be intentional and specific.

If you wake up and just start your day with whatever comes to you first, you will never find the time to do what it is you truly want. And you’ll end up settling. Your life is worth so much more.

Are you ready to stop behaviors that aren’t supporting you? I hope so!

Be intentional and specific about what you want your life, year, month, week, day to be like. Then go out and take the actions you need to in order to get there.

Your turn, what is one thing you want in life and what will you do in order to get it? I’d love to hear about either comment here or feel free to email me personally at kim@kimravida.com!

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What you think about, you get

July 20, 2017 By

Are you happy with where your life is? Are you doing what you want? Do you have what you want?

If you aren’t 100% happy with were you are in your life and in your business, your thoughts may be to blame.

I’ve been participating in T. Harv Eker’s 7 Day No Complaining Challenge. You can check it out on his Facebook page. One thing that is being taught is that our thoughts = our results.

Your thoughts equal your results

Harv is a master at mindset. And one thing I have learned is that I complain more INSIDE my head than I do outwardly.

I was a bit horrified at this knowledge, yet, it’s great to know. See, awareness is the first step to making a change. And since there were things I wanted to change in both my life and in my business, this was a great first step for me. I also (as of the writing of this blog) am in the middle of an experience that I’d rather not experience.

I’m not trying to be cryptic, I’m just not ready to share it with the world. I will, just not yet. So focusing on where my thoughts are has been key in helping me turn an experience that could potential stop me in my tracks into one where I can look for something more pleasing to me. And for me, that equals a better result.

What results do you want to have in your life?

What about you? Where or what in your life (and/or business) do you want to have better results? Go ahead and write them down. Then, take a moment to think about your thoughts.

When you look at what you are thinking about, are you positive about it or are you negative about it? If you notice you are more negative 1) this is great awareness and 2) now you can change how you think. This will help you move toward creating those results that you want faster.

Your happiness depends on YOU! –Kim Ravida

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How to change your thoughts

Yes, you can change your thoughts! And guess what? It’s easy! Here are the steps:

  • Notice your default thought pattern – what do you tell yourself when something doesn’t go your way? This creates the awareness.
  • Determine another way to think about it – how can I change this thought? This creates the new thought pattern.
  • Say OUT LOUD your new way of thinking about what is going on. This reinforces the new thought pattern.
  • Write it down. This creates an even stronger pathway from brain to body.
  • Repeat as often as necessary.

Once you get into this habit, you’ll soon notice your thoughts changing. They won’t be so negative and you’ll (here’s the beauty) start to notice you are thinking more positive more often than not!

Pretty cool, eh?!

Why it matters?

Well, it matters because your life and your happiness depends on YOU. It depends on your ability to make it exactly what you want it to be. You are the only person that is in control of your life and don’t you want it to be a great life? Don’t you want your life to be full of what you want? I bet you do!

You matter. You are unique and special and you have unique needs and wants and there is no reason for you to not have what you want!

I’d love to hear about what happens for you when you begin to think thoughts that help you get what you want. Either comment here or feel free to email me personally at kim@kimravida.com!

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Want results, set a powerful intention.

June 9, 2016 By

When it comes to results, there is more to it than laying out goals. It’s about setting powerful intentions.

What is your intention?

How many times have you said or even heard “It wasn’t my intention to do that.” For the most part those words are uttered after something happened that either didn’t go well or wasn’t something that you wanted.

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When that happens usually it is because there was no aforethought. It’s usually a dive in and get going. Kind of like driving blind, you just get going and hope for the best. Well that isn’t any way to get results.

 

Setting an intention means to have a purpose, an aim, to have meaning. Yes, it is important to quantify your results. Writing down I will make $10,000 by June 30, is a powerful goal and adding a powerful intention in terms of purpose to go along with that means that you will see results.

Let’s take a look at setting an intention for the $10,000 by June 30.

Goal:

  • To make $10,000 by June 30 (quantifiable)

Intention:

  • I will show up for my business in a confident and assertive way.
  • I will hold myself as powerful no matter what.
  • I will take powerful actions:
    • To speak to 10 previous clients about working together again.
    • To follow up with potential clients to make an offer to work together now.
    • To track and keep all income and expenses up to date.

As you can see, there are some intentions that are focused on your way of being and then there are intentions that are focused on actions. The things you will do that will help you attain your result.  Each one is an important part of the result equation, to have one without the other results in less than what you want out of your goal.

The best way to be productive, purposeful and profitable is to:

  • Set specific intentions
  • Write down your specifci intentions
  • Review daily
  • Take consistent action

Here is the beauty of setting goals with powerful intentions, you immediately set yourself up for success. You will know exactly what it is you will do in order to work toward your goal throughout the time frame you have given yourself.

So many people let themselves down by choosing general goals without intentions, when they don’t reach them they feel like they have failed. When you set those powerful intentions, write them down, review them daily, and take consistent action you have no choice but to succeed.

Even if let’s say, you did not make $10,000 by the end of June, but you took specific action daily, you have won. Can you see that failure is not an option?

The other thing that happens when you set and follow your intentions is that you give yourself some insight into what perhaps didn’t (and of course, what did) work  so that you can easily course correct. The ultimate end result here is to continuously stay on target by taking action,  reviewing the results that come out of taking action and course correcting accordingly.

Are you ready? Good! I’m excited to hear how it goes for you. Email me your goals and intentions at kim@kimravida.com along with the time frame you set for yourself. I’ll be here to support you in any way during your goal time and after the time frame is over, you’ll be able to write again to share your results!

Here is a resource for you if you are truly interested in reaching your goal, it’s called the Freedom Journal. Click here to go to the website and order your own copy.

 

 

 

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How to make the results you want happen

February 19, 2016 By

I saw a Twitter post recently, that said: “Your Attitude Determines Your Direction” and I couldn’t agree more.

Your mindset is your attitude. If you have a winning mindset, guess what? You will win. If you have a losing mindset, well, you will lose.

When it comes to business (and heck, everything) if you aren’t in a winning mindset why are you even in the game? When it comes to being in business and making money, your mindset will make or break you.dreamstime_xs_51541207

My 6th and final free training in The 5 Key Money Areas webinar series is about mindset. You’ll learn how your mindset can transform your results and you’ll answer several questions that will help you with your mindset now.

Listen now and then come back to share your new winning mindset and the one thing you are going to do that will support your new mindset. Can’t wait to hear it! If you’d rather email me privately, please do so at kim@kimravida.com

Because no matter what, your mindset will determine your direction!

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Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?

February 13, 2014 By

Light at the end of the tunnelI used to be one of those people who would say I wanted to do this or do that… and, well, I never did.  Until one day I realized that I had spent too much time talking and not enough time doing. I finally had enough talk and needed to take action!

What changed for me was I had let myself down, and it wasn’t for a bad reason but it wasn’t something I wanted to continue.  I regularly put those I loved and cared about ahead of me.  Back then I did what they said I should do.  I took care of their needs and wants first and always before my own.  Then one day I was so upset with myself because I had ‘wasted’ what I felt was a lot of time giving myself away and I decided that I needed to make a change.  I realized I was not granting myself permission to go for what I wanted in my life.

I spent a lot of time in a job that was not right for me, and I felt that I had wasted a lot of my life—like, umm, 20+ years of it!  So what did I do?  I hired a career coach who helped me figure out where to start and then I hired a life coach to help me get there.  Turned out I didn’t get a new job, but I got a new career as a life/business coach instead!  Very cool, eh?  What changed?  Well, I finally gave myself permission to fulfill my personal mission which was to make a change.  See, change isn’t always what we think it will be and yet it always seems to turn out even better!

One of the things I learned, and now teach my clients, is that when you see the light at the end of the tunnel you have to take steps regularly in order to get there.  One of my favorite sayings is from a book The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein and he talks about how your car goes where your eyes go.  Keep looking ahead because what we focus on we get… both for the positive as well as the negative.

Here are three tips I want to share to make sure you keep your eyes on the prize and head toward the end of your tunnel.

  1. Give yourself permission to fulfill your personal mission.  No matter what you want to improve or to have — a new relationship, job/career, better health, improved finances, more time with family, with self, etc. — give yourself permission to have it.
  2. Envision what the result is.  Think ahead and envision what your life will be like once you have it.  What are you doing?  Where are you?  Who is around you?  How are you feeling?  This helps to set the stage and get into the feeling of having it.  Some people find it fun to create vision boards that they can look at regularly to keep themselves on track with their goals.  It can be a creative way to keep your eyes on your prize.
  3. Design your action plan and time frame.  Pick the time frame of when you want to have this in your life.  Is it a month, a year or longer?  Now that you know what you want and when you want it, you work towards that goal.  What is the first thing you will need to do in order to reach your end result?  Let’s say you want to start a business.  The first step might be to figure out what type of business.  Or you want to improve your finances.  The first step would be to know how much money comes in and goes out each month and you’d need to get out the support documents for this.

There are often many steps that we need to take to reach our goals.  We aren’t going to start a business or increase our income overnight.  Knowing what to do, when to do it and having a timeline to keep us on track are key to successfully reaching the light at the end of the tunnel.

Now that you know where to start, give it a go and take action!  If you get stuck, feel free to shoot me an email as I’m happy to help you get on track.  Email me personally or share your thoughts, insights and revelations below!

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