Monthly Archives: November 2015


The Importance of Working ON Your Business 1

In this weeks guest post Dawn Goldberg Shuler shares steps to make your coaching business soar in:

The Importance of Working ON Your Business:

7 Steps to Making Your Business Soar

By Dawn Goldberg Shuler

"The Importance of Working ON Your Business 7 Steps to Making Your Business Soar" By Dawn Goldberg Shuler

Michael Gerber in The E-Myth Revisited, talks about the importance of working ON your business, as opposed to working IN your business. The working in is the delivering of your business’s services or products: providing the service, fulfilling the product, writing the proposal, giving the class, hiring the vendors, firing the contractors, sending the reports to the CPA, ordering supplies. Working on your business is far different; it’s looking at the big picture, designing the marketing strategy for the next year, creating new products, deciding to expand, defining new roles and descriptions, professional development.

Honestly, most entrepreneurs don’t spend enough time working ON the business. They’re much too caught up on the working IN side. Take a look at your to-do list; what’s on it? I bet it’s a lot of those Working IN tasks.

The problem is that Working ON the biz isn’t an item on your to-do list that you can cross off. (“Oh, thank goodness that working ON the business is done!”) It’s time you need to take away from the day-to-day to focus on the bigger picture and the deeper why of your business.

What you need to do:

1. Schedule regular Working ON the business time. Call it whatever you want. My favorite is Business Development or Business Dreaming Time.

2. Block off at least a half day a month. A full day is better.

3. Don’t mix IN with ON. In other words, you’re not going to efficiently go from ordering supplies, following up with prospective clients, and answering emails to big-picture planning and product development. Keep the activities separate. More concretely, that means when you have scheduled your business development time, do not have any other Working IN to-do’s for that day.

4. Have lovely blocks of free time in your regular schedule. While this isn’t Working ON your business, per se, it helps replenish your fuel, center and ground you, and let your mind dream. You’re priming the pump for your regularly scheduled business development time (see #1).

5. Have a way to record all your ideas, dreams, plans, and goals. Put them in one place. My favorite is a Sacred Space for Ideas document. That way, whenever you have a great idea, capture it, and then it’s there for your Business Development time.

6. Find one (I’m just asking for one) week a year where you don’t have any Working IN the business tasks. No email to return, no client work, no marketing, no phone appointments, no networking, no meetings, no social media. And use some of that week to think REALLY BIG for your business.

7. Delegate to a team (if you don’t have one, you need one… no arguments). Get rid of as much of the Working IN your business as you can so that you can bring some of those big dreams to fruition.

Imagine what your business could look like if you nurtured it with love, attention, and the business equivalent of vitamins and minerals.

It would soar.

About Dawn Goldberg Shuler

Dawn Shuler, Content Creator Extraordinaire, has been working with writing and the writing process all her life, from teaching English to working with companies to improve their communications and marketing materials.

Her soul purpose is to help people unleash their authentic selves into their daily lives through their words. She works with business owners, entrepreneurs, and authors to convey their deep message into compelling, potent words, whether it’s a website or a book, as well as to create powerful content to increase their credibility, visibility, and profitability. Visit www.WritingFromYourSoul.com to get a sense of the work she does as well as download her free Writing From Your Soul system.

 

 

 

Article Source: The Importance of Working ON Your Business – 7 Steps to Making Your Business Soar

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Expectations: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

In this week’s guest post experienced coach Frederique Murphy shares:

Expectations: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

By Frederique Murphy

"Expectations: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!" By Frederique Murphy

Ever wondered why you feel pain when you don’t meet a goal? or Why you feel good when you do? or Why you feel so good when you reach more? Beyond the rationality of these 3 scenarios, and of course understanding why you would feel pain when not reaching something or feel good when reaching it, there is an actual neuroscientific explanation to what is going on.

When any of these 3 things happen – and you know that these happen all the times, both to you and your clients, in your life, career, business – your brain releases or withdraws dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, produced in the brain, primarily involved in motivation and reward. When it releases dopamine, you feel good; when it withdraws it, you feel pain. The more your brain releases dopamine, the more you want to keep going and experience it over and over again.

When it comes to you or your clients not meeting, meeting or exceeding something, dopamine plays a huge role. And, all 3 scenarios are linked to the same one thing: EXPECTATIONS.

Expectations are what we think, or hope, is most likely to happen, and whether or not we realise it, we actually have expectations about everything. Let’s break down these 3 scenarios and see what happen when….

  • …your or your coachee’s expectations aren’t met: you or they experience a fall of dopamine; it feels painful,
  • …your or your coachee’s expectations are met: you or they experience a boost of dopamine; it feels good,
  • …your or your coachee’s expectations are exceeded: you or they experience a super boost of dopamine; it feels super good.

As coaches, I believe that the gap between unconscious expectations and conscious expectations is where our potential lies. Work with your clients to help them become aware of their unconscious expectations; this will help them manage their expectations better, and in turn they’ll gain a better control of their dopamine releases throughout the day, thus increasing their motivation.

How will you use this knowledge to better manage your expectations? And, your clients’ ones? I’d love for you to share; this will be helpful for the other coaches. Comment below!

About Frederique Murphy

Frederique MurphySpecialising in Inspirational Leadership, Frederique Murphy is a mindset strategist who inspires leaders to believe and accomplish the extraordinary. With her Mountain Moving Mindset (M3) platform, she equips you with scientifically-based strategies to take your life, career and business to a whole new level: she makes change happen. With over 15 years of experience in corporate change and expertise in positive psychology, neuroscience and behaviour change, she helps your organisation reap the benefits of tapping into the power of the mind. Frederique is a passionate and charismatic speaker, who captivates audiences – when she takes to the stage, sparks fly and beliefs, attitudes and behaviours will be instilled to create lasting change. For more information on Frederique’s transformational services, visit FrederiqueMurphy.com.

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3 Essential Steps to Know If It’s Quitting Time or a Tipping Point

In today’s guest post coach Kavita C Melwani writes about those times when you feel like you are working and not seeing results. When your goal seem like a far-off dream! Before you are ready to quit, consider if you have reached a tipping point.

3 Essential Steps to Know If It’s Quitting Time or a Tipping Point

By Kavita C Melwani

"3 Essential Steps to Know If It's Quitting Time or a Tipping Point" By Kavita C Melwani

As I have been working this week I have had many reminders in my life and business that patience and persistence pays dividends. In our current society of instant gratification it can be increasingly difficult to have the discipline to keep going even when we don’t see immediate results. I know that there are many points in my life and business when I have and do feel frustration. I feel like I am not making progress. When I get to these points I really have to examine how far I have actually come and do an honest assessment of all the seeds I have planted.

What have you been working towards in your life where you just don’t seem to be seeing the results of your hard work? When this happens, do you give up? Take a step back? Or do you persist? If you give up too soon you may miss your tipping point. According to Malcolm Gladwell the tipping point is

” that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire”

In fact, he has written a book about this phenomenon called “The Tipping Point”. So if you have a business and want to be successful your tipping point would be when you start to see your sales dramatically increasing.

Of course I want to clarify that there are points that quitting is the best option. I am not suggesting that you never give up on anything. I do believe that sometimes it is appropriate to quit. Only you truly know if you are quitting because you know that things will not change despite all your best efforts, or if you are simply feeling discouraged. So how do you know if it’s time to quit or you are getting to the tipping point? It’s important to know because you definitely don’t want to quit before reaching your tipping point.

Take a step back. When you are in the middle of situation or problem it is usually much more difficult to look at it objectively. Stepping back and taking a break and then coming back to the situation changes your perspective and solutions/clarity follow. Then you can be honest with yourself about your current situation. Are you holding on to something because you are afraid to let go or are you just tired and need a break?

Write it down. Once you have taken a step back and re-examined your situation the next step is to write. Take some time to write a list of all the things you are done and accomplished, the true progress towards goal or objective.

Prioritize Action. Now that you have written down all the things you have done and accomplished you can review the list and see what has been working for you and what has not. See where you have made progress and other places where you have not moved at all. Now you can brainstorm some new action steps and move forward with these steps and continue the rest until you reach your tipping point. If you look at your list and see absolutely no progress then it may be time to be honest with yourself and change your goal (quit or modify your goal).

After you take these steps allow everything to sit overnight and the right decision for you will be clear. I encourage you to keep going, you may be on the verge of a tipping point.

About Kavita C Melwani

Kavita C Melwani‘s  passion is empowering entrepreneurs to live their life purpose. Making life changes takes courage, commitement and support. Her commitment is to help you Transform, Connect, and Destress… Live your Purposeful Life! Empowering you to move past your stressed and overwhelmed life into a life of ease and flow moving towards fulfilling your dreams, desires

If you need motivation, guidance to reach your goals, please contact Kavita for a complimentary consultation.

Email Kavita Melwani, M.Ed at ka*************@***il.com for a complimentary consultation to see how you can reach your tipping point.

 

 

Article Source:  3 Essential Steps to Know If It’s Quitting Time or a Tipping Point

Article author expert page: Kavita C Melwani


Do You Have to Have Money to Make a Difference?

Many people enter the coaching profession wanting to make a difference and often have lots and lots of thinking and beliefs about the topic of  “money”.

In today’s guest post Bonnie Hurd Smith shares some historical examples she finds inspiring and compelling to answer the question:

Do You Have to Have Money to Make a Difference?

By Bonnie Hurd Smith

"Do You Have to Have Money to Make a Difference?" By Bonnie Hurd Smith

I was recently asked this question after a talk I gave for a group of Girl Scouts who were visiting Eastern Massachusetts, including Salem. Several years ago I created the Salem Women’s Heritage Trail, so I was asked to highlight some of the women on the trail for our smart and enthusiastic young visitors. I told them about Salem authors, publishers, teachers, philanthropists, reformers (abolitionists, suffragists), artists, founders of social service organizations… it’s a long and impressive list.

And then, Q & A.

“Do I have to have money to make a difference?” one girl asked.

I realized I had not made the point that, NO, YOU DON’T!

In fact, I replied, it’s the women who did NOT have a lot of money whose stories I find particularly compelling and inspiring. How did they achieve what they did against obstacles we can’t even imagine today? What were their strategies and tactics? What was their background? What motivated them? How did they come to believe in themselves?

Answers to these questions are what I have attempted to provide in my talks and Unitarian Universalist sermons over the years, because history is a living energy. We can draw on women’s wisdom from the ages to enlighten us today, especially when we find role models who faced some the same challenges we do-including not having a lot of money.

In Massachusetts women’s history alone I think about Phillis Wheatley, who was kidnapped from Africa as a little girl, brought to Boston where she was “sold” to the Wheatley family, and eventually became the first published African American poet.

Louisa May Alcott comes to mind as well, whose father was notoriously unable to make money. Through her pen and her imagination, Louisa became the most successful and famous woman writer of her day-and she supported her family! And she always insisted that women be paid what men are paid.

I remember Margaret Fuller, who spent about a year and a half living with friends and relatives as she could not afford her own home. She became the first woman literary editor of a national newspaper; an unparalleled reporter in the United States in Europe; the first female foreign correspondent (in Italy); and the author of Woman in the Nineteenth Century, a landmark book in the history of women’s rights.

And so, you do NOT have to have a lot of money to make a difference. What you DO have to have is a rock-solid belief in your abilities, wherever that comes from; a strong support system (which means ditching the people who do not support you); and the ability to spot or create opportunities and go after them-and to keep going!

Having said all of this, you do need money. You need money to survive and thrive, and you DESERVE to have money. As one of my coaches always says, “You can’t be of service to anyone if you’re broke and homeless.”

She’s right, and since being of service is our highest calling in life we really need to think about this truism-and to be of service to ourselves first!

Money is also a lubricant. It helps you get things done, including publishing your own book or investing in your own business!

We were all raised with the lingering Puritan notion that money is bad-that money is the “root of all evil.” This is a lie, and it’s one way that people, especially women, are kept down. Instead of focusing on the LACK of what you have, focus on what you DO have. You DO have your talents and your reason for being here. With the right support system-people, faith, whatever you need-the money will come because you deserve to be rewarded for using your gifts! And you will use it to help others.

I always learn something from my audiences, and I will keep this Girl Scout’s question in mind for future talks.

I did not have the chance to find out her name, but whoever you are, thank you for the question and keep them coming!

About Bonnie Hurd Smith

Bonnie Hurd Smith has been writing and speaking about women’s history for over 20 years. She is particularly known for being able to “connect the dots,” with passion, between history and how it can inform, inspire, and assist us today. Her most recent book is “We Believe in You: 12 Stories of Courage, Action, and Faith for Women and Girls.”

Bonnie is also a lay leader in the Unitarian Universalist church. She has led numerous inspirational services on Judith Sargent Murray (18th-century Universalist), Margaret Fuller (19th-century Unitarian), and Elizabeth Peabody (19th-century Unitarian).

Connect with Bonnie Hurd Smith on Social Media

 

Article Source: Do You Have to Have Money to Make a Difference?

Article Expert Page: Bonnie Hurd Smith