8 hours & a lunch

suit up & show up

So you want a new job, to lose weight, to write the next great American novel, or to start a business.  You want to do what you're passionate about.  But you're convinced none of those endeavors will be successful.

And maybe you think, “But it won’t work!  Because to really be successful, you have to get your product/business featured on Oprah.  And that’s impossible!  I’ll never get my stuff on Oprah!”

And here’s the thing.

You’re right.

You’ll never get on Oprah.

Because you’re not doing the thing you want to do in the first place. 

It’s not happening because you’re not doing it.  

You’re not going to lose weight until you stop eating more than you need and start moving more.

You’re not going to ditch the day job, or find a better one, until you figure out what you want and start taking steps in that direction.

You’re never going to get published if you don’t write.

But still, you argue:

1. “But I can’t just ditch the day job!” Sure. There are realities and responsibilities we all have to deal with.  But you can write a page a day while working the day job at the same time.  A lot of people get their businesses going before leaving the cubicle.  There are tons of options between the cubicle and chucking it all to go open the doors of your business in Spain  
2. “People won’t like it.”  How do you know?  Maybe everyone won’t love it.  But everyone doesn’t love John Grisham or Steve Jobs either.  Besides, what other people think is none of your business.  You can’t control it.  And what they think says more about them and their stuff than that great thing you do anyway.  That’s about them.  Not you.
3. “I’m not good enough.”    ‘Good enough’ compared to what?  Hemingway?  I bet his first drafts weren’t all that hot either.  (OK.  Maybe they were.  But you get the point.) Stop comparing your early efforts to ‘the greats.’  If you want to start a business?  I guarantee you that even the most wildly successful people made mistakes along the way.  Besides, who says you’re not good enough?  All those people?  I refer you to number 2.
4. “I don’t have time.”  The truth is that we make time for the things that are important to us.  If you’re not making time, you’re either afraid or it’s not important to you.  If it’s not important enough to you?  That’s okay.  Own that.  Accept it.  Just say, “Ya know?   I really don’t want to start a business.”  And then let it go.  Put your energy towards something you really do want.  (If you’re afraid?  That’s a whole other monster.)

The Guarantee 

Nothing is going to happen if you never start doing the thing you want to do.  And not doing it will guarantee you won’t get the thing you want.

So start.  Today.  And start small.  Start ridiculously small.  

Great novels were not written in a day.  

Neither do successful businesses appear overnight.  

And you don’t lose 30 pounds in a week. 

Do something. Take a small amount of time and write one page or research your business idea or walk for 20 minutes.  Small steps add up, so that’s okay.

Do you know how great books are written?  

One sentence at a time.

That’s right.  Even the great Hemingway wrote - one sentence at a time.

What is it you’ve been putting off that you really want to do?

What could you spend 15 minutes doing today?

All the best!

deb

your board of directors

As surprising as it might seem initially, concepts and strategies that apply to having a successful business or career also apply to leading a successful life.

Here's one.

You are the leader of your life.  And just as it is with business, great leaders don't take yes for an answer.

What do I mean by this?

We've all heard of the concept of the 'yes men', those who agree with the boss simply to win favor and seek promotion.  Trust me, those people do exist.  But those are the people who are first and foremost concerned with themselves and their own position.  

In business, leaders who ultimately are the most effective and best at what they do surround themselves with smart people.  They surround themselves with people who will come up with solutions to problems, and they surround themselves with people who have the best interest of the organization at heart.  That, at times, means pointing out problems.  That, at times, means saying no. 

It works the same in life.

Think of all the stars we've watched meet with an untimely demise due to surrounding themselves with people who never said no.  They surrounded themselves with people who never questioned their actions or pointed out when they were heading down a dangerous path.  And they paid a hefty price.

What does this have to do with you?

Look around at your friends, your family, your spouse.  Is there anyone who will say no?   Or are they 'always supportive'?  Support doesn't mean always agreeing or never rocking the boat.  Your best bet?   Your best bet is to have people who know you, love you, and who you can trust who will call you on your stuff when you're doing something they know isn't in alignment with who you want to be and where you want to go.

Put together a board of directors.

That's right.  Get a 'life board of directors.'  Find friends and mentors who you admire and can help you in each area of your life.  Is your spiritual life important to you?  Find a spiritual mentor who exhibits what you'd like to experience in that area of your life.  Is your career important?  Find a coach who can help keep you from getting lost in the day to day details and keep your eyes focused on the bigger picture, and how that all fits together.

Think through all the roles in your life and what you value most, and assemble a board of directors.  Look for people who model what you'd like to see in your own life, can give you solid advice, be a cheerleader when needed, and will tell you no when you need to hear it.

All the best!

deb

business owners, make the most of what you've got

If you’re smart and good at what you do, you know that it’s not necessary to grow to be more profitable or to get more done.  It’s about making the most of what you’ve got.

Interestingly, Sonia Simone just sent out an email newsletter today in which she says, “Those perfect Martha-Stewart type people who actually get it all done? They're either gigantic liars or they're exceptionally good at delegating.”

As much as I like Sonia, there’s another option.  

There’s another way that people get it all done.  

It’s About Making the Most of What You’ve Got

Forgive the ‘corporate-speak’ and feel free to get out those old ‘corporate-meeting-bingo’ cards if you’re someone who has ditched the day job if you wish, but it’s what we call streamlining.

You don’t have to extend your reach or do more of what you’re doing now, you just need to find and get rid of wasted steps, wasted activities and wasted money.  

It’s Not Just About What You Do - It’s Also About How You Do It

It’s also about getting smarter about how you do what you’re doing.  And then continuing to get smarter about how you do what you’re doing moving forward.

Processes.  Structure.  You might be entrepreneurial and think you don’t need this, but you do.  The difference between being highly efficient and moderately efficient can be the difference between making money and closing your doors.  

Personal Productivity

Solid efficiency tools do apply to personal productivity as well.  So it’s even more important that solopreneurs learn these skills so they can apply them across the board.

But I Have A System

You have a system, you have a workflow, you have processes.  Maybe you bought a productivity or planning process that was designed by someone else.  Maybe it even works okay for you.  You can still take that and make it better, tighten it up, saving you more time.  And you can design the system to make it work for you - and make it work better.

Uh Oh - A Sports Metaphor

As if using corporate-speak isn’t bad enough, I’m going to use a sports metaphor.  Tiger Woods.  Best golfer in the world, right?  Right.  Does he go out and just hack away at the ball?  Is that how he got so good?  

No.  If you know any golfers at all, you know they know every detail of their swing.  (I don’t play golf, I just was raised by golfers.  Sorry.)  They know every detail of their swing.  And they drill it down to the smallest detail and that’s where they get better.  They adjust their stance.  They adjust their grip.  They adjust their follow-through. 

I could go on if you’d like.  Runners.  They pay attention to things like their stride.  

It’s the small things that make the difference between weekend-warriors and those doing it for a living.  And it’s the small things that makes the difference between being a touring pro and cashing those big checks winning tournaments.

I Get 35% of My Clients From Twitter

Even those who take the time to measure their marketing efforts sometimes get it wrong.  Working with someone recently, a client was excited that she knew that 35% of her clients came from Twitter.  That sounds great, doesn’t it?

Until we looked at the real stuff.  The real deal was that those 35% of people who ‘came from Twitter’ had simply followed her to Twitter from her blog.  So she was spending all this time on Twitter talking to the same people who were buying from her anyway.  And wondering where her time was going.

If you knew that, where would you spend your time?  What would you cut out? 

True Costs  & Fixing Problems For Good

Have you ever signed up for a service because it was cheap?  You think it’s great because you’re saving money.  But the thing crashes and it takes you an hour a week to fix it -- every week.  Maybe you think it’s worth that hour because the service is cheap.

But it’s not.  That’s an hour you could spend with clients, or building a new product.  That’s an hour copywriters could spend writing or photographers could spend shooting.  Sometimes spending a little more money, when you calculate the true cost, is worth it.

Stop fixing the problem over and over, fix the real problem for good and get on with spending your time where you need to be spending it.  Not on the problem, but on doing that stellar thing you do for your clients.

Close the Gaps & Then Get Better At What You Do

You can save time and money right now while making your business stronger simply looking at where you are now and closing the gaps where time and money are seeping out, and fixing problems once and being done with them. 

Then you can improve the way you’re doing what you’re doing and spend your time and money in the right places that lead to growth.

Spend One Hour & Save Four Hours a Week

All of this stuff?  They’re all skills.  They’re learn-able.  You can learn how to do this and apply it to making your marketing better, your sales process better, working with your clients better.  You can even apply this to how you manage that unmanageable email. 

And I've written before about how this is where it all starts.  It applies to any place that your business has 'moving parts', which is everywhere.  

Smart business owners and solopreneurs know that it’s about making the most of what you’ve got.  Getting a true look at where you are now, closing the gaps, and then tightening it all up is how you do that. 

All the best!

deb

where does possibility dwell?

Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security - John Allen Paulos

We like security.  We like to be comfortable and think that we know what tomorrow will bring.  After all, if I show up for work every day and work hard, I'll eventually be promoted, right?  And one day, many years down the road, I'll get to retire with the gold watch.  Right.  I believe that recent history has shown us differently.  Those days are gone.  

Where Possibility Dwells

Possibility dwells in uncertainty.  Possibility dwells in the unknown and the unexpected.  Creativity lives in uncertainty too.  The creativity to see a new path, a new direction.  

Everything is always changing.  Nothing stays stagnant forever.  We're either moving forward or moving back.  

And the unexpected happens.  As much as we may try to keep it at bay, the unexpected can and will happen.  And really, how boring would life be if everything worked out exactly according to plan?

As I look back over my own life, I think of a party I went to where I thought I'd know everyone there and met someone new and fell in love.  I think of an opportunity that arose that led me to move someplace I never thought I'd move.  I think of friendships forged at work.  I think of a job I took that I had no idea, in the beginning, how much I'd be allowed to travel or how much I'd learn.  

And especially, starting a business.  Sure.  I knew my reasons why I was starting the business and had the plan in place.  And unexpected twists and turns have happened along the way anyway.  While I was focused on 'working the plan', opportunities came up in other places that led to greater things than I had in mind at the time.  

Where Adventure Lives

Do you look for and appreciate the adventure in your own life?  Do you look forward to ditching the day job?  Do you have a plan but stay open to what might lie ahead that you don't yet see?  

It took courage for early explorers to go past the horizon and discover that the world is round.  But what if no one had done it?  What if no one had taken the risk?  What if no one had thought that computers could become personal or we could one day have phones that we could carry around with us everywhere?  (Yes.  Some of us remember the days before cell phones.)

Staying Open

Especially if you're heading in the direction of ditching the day job and starting a business, there is certainly some planning to be done.  There are certainly responsibilities to consider.  There are calculated risks to be taken.  But when opportunities come up, as they always do at some point, are your eyes open enough to see them?  

And are you willing to explore them?

Do you, as Dickinson said, dwell in possibility?

If not, you're missing out.  

Begin to learn to look for the unknown, to seek it out, to appreciate it.  

The unknown, after all, is where possibility dwells.

All the best!

deb

entrepreneurs: desperation is still a turn-off

Reading Jo's post yesterday on desperation as it applies in the academic world, I was reminded of a post of mine from way back that I'd updated last year specifically regarding job searches.  

Regardless of whether you're searching for a job with a company (in any industry), or starting your own business and searching for clients:  desperation is still a turn-off.

Things We Become Tempted To Do

1.  Get too attached to landing a certain client - We could determine that we need to land one specific client.  We think that if we get that particular 'big fish', then others will automatically follow.  We get it in our head that if you get this one, everything will be just fine. 

In the meantime, while we’re chasing that one potential client, we miss the three who are knocking at the door asking for more information on our services.  

2) Putting down your competitors (or even other clients)- Being negative about competitors just doesn’t work.  It comes back to the same reason people searching for a job are advised never to say anything negative about a previous employer.  

It doesn't make your competitor, or prior employer, or anyone else look bad.  It makes you look angry and bitter and possibly difficult to work with.

3)  Cutting pricing entirely too low - If your strategy is just to be cheaper than everyone else, you need a new strategy.  

Think about it.  If you were looking for a website designer, would you trust the one offering an entire website for $25 who ignores the scope of the project to produce a great site for your business?  Didn’t think so. 

4)  Thinking short-term - We become entirely focused on today.  We become entirely focused on where our business is right now. 

This could lead you to take projects that are too large for too little money, leading to a constant chasing for more and more small projects that you don’t really make any money on.

Long-term?  You'll end up burnt out and frustrated because you'll constantly be chasing small projects that pay you too little for the work you're doing.

Some Things You Need to Know

It comes down to knowing your worth, knowing what solutions you have to offer, and knowing that you're good at what you do.  Have you done your homework?

Have you taken the time to get to know what clients are right for you to work with?  Have you taken the time to learn how they like to be approached and what works for them?  

Or are you just desperate for anyone to pay you any amount of money to do anything?  If you are, you need to go back.  You have work you need to do before you even approach your next client.  

All the best!

deb

P.S.  Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter in that cool little box in the right sidebar.

(There are exciting things coming up and you'll want to stay updated!)  

the number one word that will kill your goals & dreams

Whatever it is, wherever you're blocked in your life.  If you know where you want to go or if you've forgotten what you love.  If you've lost the zing and aren't in the zone.  There is one word that will keep you right where you are - forever.

That word?

Tomorrow.

We tell ourselves we've found the right thing.  Or we know what to do.  We know it's time to take that workshop.  We know it's time to workout and start eating right.  We know it's time to start retraining so we can do that thing we love.  We know it's time to move on.  

And then we stay in our comfort zone, telling ourselves that we'll start....tomorrow.

But tomorrow never comes.  

All you've got is today.

What can you do today, even small steps, to start living an extraordinary life?

All the best!

deb

P.S.  The course start Monday.  I'm just sayin'.  Might be time to get off the fence and sign up.  ;-)

the world is my oyster (i mean, office) - what does your view look like?

(photo by deb)

People kept laughing as I said I was going to the Keys -- to work.  But it's true!  My friends over at Blueline, who I have talked about before and recommended before and have done shoots with before....had a workshop.

This wasn't your ordinary workshop.  I'll tell you more and you'll see the fruits of our labor soon enough.  (And I can't wait!  There's such awesome stuff on it's way!)

Now.  Before I go on, let me assure you.  We worked hard -- and we played hard.  So I will not say that I didn't have an amazing time.  I did.

But that's a part of the point.

I was working.

In a gorgeous spot.

In Key West.

Where I then went out on a boat and watched the sun melt into the ocean at what seemed like the end of the world.

Not too terribly long ago, I was in an office.  Every day.  By 6:30 a.m. with a 40 minute commute.  I saw the same walls, the same space, the same people....every day.  And it was miserable, for a number of reasons.  

One of which was that it's really hard to stay out of the "we've always done it this way" mentality when you're staring at the same four walls everyday.  

Inspiration is all around us.  But you've got to get out and look for it.  

This correlates differently for different people:

1)  If you're a leader in an organization:  Remember "Management by Walking Around"?  Or "genchi genbutsu"?  There's a reason that's important.  Relying on people to tell you what's going on while you remain disconnected in your remote corner office is not going to fix your problems or get things done.  You need to get the view from the trenches and talk to the people on the front lines to get the whole story.  It's important.  It matters. 

2)  If you're a business owner who is trying to model your business after 'successful people' or are staying in your own small circle in your own little world:  Get out, for crying out loud!  Get out and go to a conference.  Travel somewhere.  Talk to people.  Get to know them.  You'll find different ideas at every turn.  

You'll come back refreshed, reinvigorated, and with a new and better perspective on your business.  You'd be amazed at what people do for a living.  You'd be amazed at what people accomplish.  And yes.  This all means you can do these things too.  

But if you left looking at the same cubicle walls everyday to get out and do your thing?  Don't just trade that in for looking at your same home office walls everyday.  It's better.  It's a step in the right direction.  That's true.  But it's not as far as you can go.  Push the envelope.  Go ahead!  It'll be okay!  I promise!

3)  If you're stuck in a job where you're looking at the same cubicle walls everyday & hating your life?  What are you doing!?!  You need to get out too.  Just get out into your community.  Go to some networking events, if you're desperate.  Ask around.  People who are traveling to places like Key West as a part of their work are everywhere now.  Meet them.  Talk to them.  Find out what it's like.  Find out what's possible.  

There's a big wide world out there.  And changing location can change perspective.  Answers come seemingly from out of nowhere.  

So take a walk.  Out of the office.  Or out of the normal radius you live in.  Or, if you're so inclined, down to the end of the world to watch the sunset after an intense day of doing something you love to do.  

All the best!

deb

P.S.  If you're stuck and not sure what you want to do....or if you're blocked creatively and want your groove back...or have the groove but just want to deepen it.....

If you've forgotten what you want or have no idea how to get there.....

The Creative Pathways course can help.  A lot.  And early registration ends Friday.  So get over there and sign up!  Quick!

how to succeed in business without being creative

Business people are serious.  They've got a strategy.  They think in the language of business - numbers.  Business people aren't creative.  In fact, serious business people often think of ‘creative types’ as weird or woo-woo and strange in general.  It's great to be creative if you have that kind of time.  Business people don't have that kind of time.

If that’s the way you think? 

You’re not doing as well with your business (or in your job) as you could.

Seriously.

Often, in business, we prefer to use words like ‘innovative’ or talk about ‘thinking outside the box.’  (Oh, how I hate that phrase.)  

But we’re still talking about creativity.

Look at Steve Jobs and the Cult of Mac.  In his commencement speech at Stanford a few years back, Jobs talked about dropping out of college and the effect sitting in on a calligraphy class had on him.  (And the fonts Apple eventually offered.)  Design and creativity are very much a part of the business at Apple.  

Thinking creatively is necessary in setting any business apart from the rest, regardless of whether you're in a major corporation, small business, or an entrepreneur working on your own.

If you are:

-coming up with a new product, service, or program to offer

-developing better processes, whether you’re streamlining or figuring out a way to serve your customers better 

-searching for a way to better engage your employees

-looking for ways to ensure better quality in your products

-problem-solving in general

These all require creative thinking.  

You are looking at something as it exists and creating a new and better way.

Of course, there is one example that immediately comes to mind when people think of creativity in business -- your marketing.

And here’s the thing.

If your strategy in marketing is to look at what other successful people in your field or industry are doing -- and then do that?  You’re doing it wrong.  And you’re doing yourself a disservice.  

Your unique selling position includes what is unique about you and your people.  In the digital age we’re living in, people can more easily find other companies who do what you do.  You’ve got to be even better at communicating what differentiates your business from the others.  This not only includes getting the ‘creative’ part right, it includes being creative about your strategy.

Being successful in business requires creativity and creative thinking.  But if you haven’t allowed yourself to open up and think creatively, coming up with new ideas and new strategies, your business will be left behind as your competitors get busy doing just that. 

If you haven’t tapped into the creative side or aren’t sure how, there’s a way to find inspiration and get the groove back.  You and your business deserve it.

All the best!

deb

P.S.  Early registration for the Creative Pathways course ends Friday!  (And I appreciate those of you who have shared your current plight with me.  I can't wait to see what things are like for you by the end of the course!!)  Spaces are limited.  So go check it out and sign up soon!  

mastering the obvious

Tom Peters wrote about an article a couple of days ago in the Boston Globe called "Luck Inc., the 7 secrets of really really lucky companies".  (Bob Sutton wrote about it as well.)  

There was one particular comment in the article that stuck with me.  It just wouldn't leave me alone. At the end of the article, it reads:

"There's value in mastering the obvious," he says. "If Jim Collins's impact is to get people to do stuff that they know they should do already - facing the hard truths or being selfless or whatever - I certainly don't think that's a bad thing."

"Mastering the obvious."  

I had quite the reaction to that statement.  And "get(ting) people to do stuff that they know they should do already".  I couldn’t get that phrase out of my head, despite the assertion that it's not "a bad thing." 

The longer I mulled it over, I realized that this statement got to me because I often feel like I'm talking about just that -- what should be obvious.  

It's something that I struggle with, feeling like I'm stating the obvious.  (Which then taps into bigger questions for me about what I have to offer.  But that's my stuff, right?)

But then I’ll work with someone, or an organization, and say, "Try this....and this...and this..."  And, when they see results and thank me, I realize something.  Which brings me to my first point about 'the obvious'.

1)  What's obvious to you, might not be obvious to me.  

Calling something 'obvious' assumes that we all have the same level of knowledge and experience.  Leaders have all levels of education, all levels of experience.  What seems obvious to me, with a background in learning & development, often isn’t obvious to someone with a background in engineering.  Many things, including our perceptions and assumptions, effect what seems obvious to one person versus another.  

2)  Sometimes we forget the 'obvious'.  

We get busy. And sometimes, we forget the basics.  We forget the obvious.  Sometimes, we simply need to be reminded.  For example, being there, being seen, and being in touch with the ‘front lines’ is a concept that appears in many business philosophies.  Tom Peters called it MBWA (management by walking around), the Toyota Production System calls it ‘genchi genbutsu’, Jim Kilts talks about the importance of doing this.  And yet, leaders often get pulled into putting out fires or their focus changes, and they forget.  Maybe it’s a good thing that this obvious concept appears over and over again, if only to serve as a reminder.

3)  If it's obvious, why isn't everyone doing it?  Having just written about how leaders are sending the message that they don't care to their employees, writing over and over again about how to handle layoffs but seeing it handled badly, it seems everyone isn't doing the obvious. 

Another case in point:  how many times have we heard that much of what we're experiencing in corporate America right now is due to short-term thinking.  I've heard several respected business leaders make this point.  (You probably have too.)  And yet, we're watching as organizations continue to exhibit short-term thinking in response to the recession.

There are times I believe that this, again, comes back to life experience.  At one time, I believed ‘management by walking around‘ was obvious and all leaders in all organizations did this.  I believed that until I worked in, or with, organizations where the leaders didn’t do this one basic thing.  (In other words, while some things that even I write here might seem obvious at times, even to me....I write them because either I have known leaders who don’t do these things, or my friends & clients have had these experiences.)  

4)  Seeking out ways to continuously improve is one of the marks of a great leader.  Whether it’s being reminded of basics, or finding new ideas that can be integrated into a company’s culture to make it better, good leaders read these books in an effort to improve, which in and of itself denotes humility and a willingness to learn - two good qualities for leadership.  

They don’t read these books as a magic formula for success.  They have the ability to discern whether something is obvious or whether it will work well in their business or not.  If they’re a really good leader, they’ll seek out the ‘best-of-the-best’, even outside their industry to look for new and better ways to do things.  

It seems that reading ‘success literature’ might not be a terrible thing after all, since we all seem to be at different points on the road to obvious.  But that’s obvious, right?

All the best!

deb