30 April 2017

Nothing is Left to Chance - My Sunday Routine

This is me sitting down to tackle my weekly plan. Nothing is left to chance in my business. Every quarter, I sit with a coach and hammer out a broad look at the next quarter but in between those official meetings I do this Sunday routine.

I set aside a chunk of time and get out my pen and paper......and crayons. Pen and paper because I'm a boomer and it works well for me. Crayons because my first language is images and that's how I get creative. Call it wonky if you will but wonky is not too shabby in my world. It allows me to dive deep into what I want to bring about.

I start with a meditation and my first thought is "A week of success". This allows me to become centred and focused.  Meditation has become a staple and it allows me to free up time by only doing what needs to be done.

This is followed by a review of my appointment book. Here I find the things that I can't ignore - the fixed obligations that I have no control over. I write them into my working weekly planner.

Next I go with a brain dump for all the things that I would like to accomplish that week. I'm already primed with the glance at the appointment book - there are calls to make, emails to send, flights to book etc. Those need to get done  - the logistics of my work.

Then I look at my events that I have coming up in the quarter. I reverse engineer them a bit to see what needs to get done in the coming week. I keep an event book and I check in on those weekly to make sure that they're proceeding as planned.

Then I do a visioning exercise. I pretend it's end of week and I'm looking back over the week. In essence, I'm dreaming of what I have accomplished this past week (which is really this coming week). It's really not that confusing - it's about starting with the end in mind.

Having conjured up this vision of a successful week, I engage my creative side. This allows me to hammer out a plan to make those experiences happen. I've always been a dreamer - learning to leverage it in my business has been golden.

That's the gist of what my Sunday plan look like. It works for me. Success is never left to chance. What systems do you have in place to make this week amazing?

15 April 2017

When you want to cry......just cry!!!

The day started out lovely - I had a few hours of work to do and then I planned to do something fun. The problem was, I didn't know what I wanted to do and then there was no one to do it with. I did a mental role call to see which of my friends would want to do a little road trip.  Trouble was, there was no one that came to mind immediately.

After a nice long chat with my niece where I was grumbling about my dilemma - beautiful day, no car, no one who loved crazy impromptu road trips like I did - I mentioned that I felt like crying.

My wise and beautiful niece says "Aunt Debbie, if you want to cry, then just cry!!!"

Wow! How powerful were those words. I wasn't struggling to figure out what I wanted to do today - I was grieving and couldn't quite put my finger on it. This really made me think.

Driving was such a huge part of my prior life and losing my license hit me hard. My counsellor told me that it would take me a long time to grieve that loss - she didn't tell me that it would show up at the oddest of times.

What i wanted to do today was get in my car (likely something with a big motor and a killer stereo) and just drive. No real destination necessary, a small overnight bag in case I decided to stay in some bed and breakfast along the way. I'd have my favorite music blaring as I travelled the back roads to nowhere but adventure. I'd likely drop in to see friends along the way - the old fella that has a farm or the guy who builds spinning wheels.

Adventure  - That's what I wanted to do - that's the life I was craving - I've missed the many adventures I've been blessed to enjoy - horseback riding, sky-diving, dirt bike riding, camping, hiking - I didn't need anyone to help me find fun. I wanted to drive myself to an adventure.  I often feel like I'm living someone else's life.

I needed to grieve and having given myself the permission to cry until snot ran off my chin and my throat ached, I could get that out there. I felt better once it was done. Now I can get on with my day.

14 April 2017

What are you passionate about? Sell that.

I sell what I know. I know how to unleash internal capacity - I learned this by unleashing my own capacity.  I went from over mentored, awesome employee material to loving entrepreneurship. Circumstances made it necessary for me to step out in faith and start a business. I've learned a set of skills where the rubber hits the road. 

I sell that knowledge. I'm passionate about that knowledge because it's personal to me, because I've been there and because I see the impact it has in a person's life. 

I am ecstatic about the capacity that we have as adults - a capacity that needs to be unleashed and I'm over the moon stoked about my role in that. 

What are you passionate about? When you find that passion amazing things happen. People show up in your life to help you bring that passion to market. You step out in faith and show your vulnerable side. You reap the benefits. 

Find your passion and make it your business. 

2 April 2017

Are you a good listener? Are you targeting the wrong market?

When I was a rookie entrepreneur, coaches would come alongside and try and sell me services. In the early days, I wouldn't purchase because I wasn't ready to put the skin in. There are many reasons for this.

 Later on people tried to sell me programs/coaching and I didn't purchase because they didn't clearly articulate that they could give me the solution to my problem - we all know what that looks like. We can be so caught up in that elevator pitch that we're not listening to the other person. We've all been there.

When I was ready, someone came along and they spoke to my need and a deal was struck. I was always ready to put some skin in but I am a very careful shopper.

If you're selling a service, are you listening to the prospect to see what their problem is or do you have a canned product that you're going to force on a market? Are you selling to the wrong market?

Market your services to folks who want to get where you are. You have that solution.

What about it? Are you targeting the wrong market? Are you listening well?