You Get Paid On What You Get Done

You Get Paid On What You Get Done

by | Jan 18, 2017

Today I’d like to share with you this poem I found whilst clearing my office the other week. It was given to me by my mentor Loral Langemeier a few years ago and it is all about commitment. I think it’s so applicable to this time of year because once we have set goals we need to stay committed to them. And two weeks into 2017, is the time a lot of people fall “off the wagon”, yet without follow through your goals are just useless pieces of paper. After all you get paid on what you get done and achieve, not what you think about.

Action is the language of business because unless we take action and make our ideas a reality, then nothing will change. And yet incredibly typically less than 1% of ideas get followed through on. Just imagine what opportunity therefore lays hidden in your business, just waiting for you to take action on it and make it a reality.

Until One Is Committed

Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back
Always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
There is  one elementary truth,
The ignorance of which countless ideas
And splendid plans;
That the moment one definitely commits to oneself,
Then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
That would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision
Raising in one’s favour all manner
Of unforeseen incidents and meetings
And material assistance,
Which no man could have dreamt
Would have come his way.

W.H. Murray (1951)
The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

I’d love to know what you are committed to this year. Please share it in the Facebook group.

Clear The Clutter And Create Space For Possibilities

Clear The Clutter And Create Space For Possibilities

by | Jan 11, 2017

I’ve been spending some time this week clearing the clutter in my office to create space for all the new possibilities I want to attract in 2017. When you create space everything can flow. Just think about a river, when its blocked with clutter it can’t flow and it’s the same with your business, your finances and your mind.

Having created my strategic plan for 2017 I realized that my office was not reflecting the way I want my business to be, which is simple and elegant. In contrast, my office was messy and chaotic. And I know that when that happens I can feel confused and lack direction.

So armed with some sturdy old boxes, some hanging files and markers I’ve gone and re-organised my office. I’ve thrown away bags of paper, articles and magazines that I know I will never read. I’ve had some shelves put up to store my files on and created a load of new hanging files to store my papers in. I’ve reinstated my policy of only touching paper one and you know what, it feels amazing not being surrounded by clutter. I never fully realised how debilitating and draining all those unread magazines and articles could make me feel

And this is the amazing thing, once I’d finished tidying my office, I suddenly became super productive and focused. A project that I had been meaning to do for over a month suddenly became easy to do and in fact even quite a lot of fun. Now there is some learning in that, so my pledge for this year is to ensure that my office stays super tidy and uncluttered.

And it’s not only physical clutter that I have been clearing, I’ve also been clearing some emotional clutter. Emotional clutter can exist in terms of relationships that don’t serve you; beliefs that don’t align with where you want to go; remaining attached to feelings about past events and even poor money habits that don’t encourage abundance. That’s financial clutter.

In fact financial clutter is one of the biggest blocks to stop you achieving your goals, so to help you get a flying start in 2017 I’m gifting you a copy of my Free Training on 7 Steps To Remove Money Clutter From Your Life Forever. I hope you enjoy it.  Simply email me and I’ll send it right through.

It hasn’t always been pretty busting through all this clutter but I am already more than delighted with the results. I feel lighter and more energized since I’m no longer literally dragging around all that clutter. How liberating that is.

Now, of course, my horses already model being uncluttered. By being grounded and staying in the present moment they generally don’t suffer all the emotional clutter that we humans do. They simply experience an encounter with another horse and move on. They don’t hold on to the emotional charge that their friend bit them. They accept it and move on. Living by being present is a great way to minimize the emotional clutter by getting you out of your head and into your heart.

What can you do today to clear the clutter in your life. If you’d like some assistance why not book in for a call with me and let’s explore how I can help you. And please let me know in the Facebook group your biggest AHA from listening to my free training on 7 Steps To Remove Money Clutter From Your Life Forever.

Happy Clutter Clearing

What’s Your ROEE?

What’s Your ROEE?

by | Dec 14, 2016

What’s your ROEE, return on energy expended? We often think about ROI, return on investment when considering for example what to buy. Will the amount we spend/invest yield more than we are paying because if it doesn’t it is probably not a smart investment.

However, how often do you focus on how much energy you are expending in your business. After all, like time, your energy is finite. You only have so much of it. Sure we would all like to be super woman (or superman) and have the kryptonite factor that makes us invincible but the reality is, as far as I know, we don’t.

Time and time again I come across business owners expending loads of energy into their business and yet ironically not getting the results they want. I know that has been the case for me this year. It seems like I have been working harder than ever and yet the results I desired have not materialized. And this got me to thinking why this is happening. It is certainly not my lack of effort or commitment but somehow the energy I’m putting in is not manifesting out the other end. Something needs to change but what is it?

As I watched my VIP clients during an Unbridled Success Leadership Day I suddenly gained the insight I needed to solve this challenge. These VIP clients come every year to work on their next year goals and gain clarity and insight on how to approach any upcoming challenges. They were doing an exercise leading the horse through an obstacle course towards their 2017 goal. My client made in through the course and reached her goal but as I observed her leading my pony Thistle it looked like such hard work for both parties. The energy expended felt disproportional to the result. So I asked the client what would need to change to make the exercise easier?

After reflecting she said that doing the exercise with her business partner would make it easier. So as her business partner was also part of the workshop she joined in and sure enough they both completed the course with Thistle, and it was way easier. Now as these clients primarily work with groups I decided to up the game. I gave both clients two horses to lead around the obstacle course and asked them to follow each other around. Wow, what a difference. In this group setting the energy changed again. There was laughter and fun and the horses all upped their pace and trotted around the course. It all looked so effortless as everything happened in collaboration. The goal was accomplished easily and the clients had so much fun.

The learning we all took away from this exercise was that you need to find the best way for you to work where it is fun and seemingly effortless. You need to find a space to work in where you are in flow. For these clients working in a group as a team is their optimal way of working and when in this situation the positive, creative energy expended didn’t feel wasted. It was almost as if the energy expended created momentum rather than when working alone when the energy was almost putting a brake on proceedings.

So if you want to discover the best way for you to work and where your strengths are and how you can get into flow, then connect with me for complimentary consultation. Don’t spend 2017 expending your energy on tasks that don’t serve you but rather find your flow where you get a great ROEE.

Time Secrets of 6-figure Entrepreneurs

Time Secrets of 6-figure Entrepreneurs

by | Nov 27, 2016

In my last post I asked you “are you wasting time or investing time?”, and the resounding feedback from people was the very realisation that they are in fact wasting time.  Time is such a valuable resource. It is added to our invisible bank account every day, and yet if we don’t use it all up it disappears at the end of the day.  Now I bet if instead of time being deposited in the imaginary bank account everyday it was cash, and you were told to use up all the cash every day or else it would be taken away. Then come hell or high water you would find a way to use up all that cash

No matter how much you may believe in abundance, time is the one resource that is non-renewable. Every moment is precious and once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. Which is why the biggest shift you can make to grow your business is to get a handle on how you spend your time.

Most entrepreneurs waste tons of time on tasks that don’t add to their bottom line and only serve to deplete their energy.

Why? Fear of:

  • creating boundaries
  • someone feeling uncomfortable
  • saying no
  • being visible
  • failing (or succeeding!)
  • not being good enough
  • being too busy
  • what others will say

The bottom line is, these are all excuses or distractions to keep you from taking a powerful leap forward.

So let me share with you my personal favorite time secrets with you.  By implementing even just a few of these strategies you’ll see a remarkable up-leveling in your energy, your sense of freedom and in how much you easily get accomplished every day.

  • Hire someone to run errands, clean your house and do your laundry.
    Even if you feel a little guilty at first, I know I did, you’ll thank me once you’re freed up from routine tasks that are so easy to have someone else take care of for you.
  • Delegate email to an assistant.
    This was the first task I hired a virtual assistant to do and it saved me hours every week. Remember, you can’t be both the assistant to your business and its leader!
  • Schedule specific times each day to respond to email.
    Allocate 15 minutes in the morning and another 30 in the afternoon. As a result you can keep your inbox to less than 30 items
  • Give up your to-do list. Seriously!
    Schedule all of your projects and activities into your calendar, just like appointments. This one action helps get me ahead on my projects.
  • Use time-blocking to free up your time and give you focus.
    Schedule regular tasks such as writing your ezine, serving clients, giving Discovery sessions, paying bills, etc. for the same days of the week, from week to week. Just watch out for any “I can’t because…” excuses, as they are a clear indicator of where you need clearer boundaries.
  • Create a weekly marketing action list so you know your priorities.
    Deciding in advance how many contacts you’ll make and how often will keep you from procrastinating on the tasks that will ultimately add the most cash flow to your business.
  • Turn your mobile phone and email notifications off during focused time.
    Trust me, the world WILL continue to run even though you may be offline for an hour or two. And you’ll be happily surprised at the peace of mind and freedom you gain from this one simple action.
  • Designate your mornings for marketing.
    Investing just 60 minutes each morning creates the momentum you need to increase your income. Time spent reaching out to one new potential joint venture partner, writing a thank you note to someone you just met, writing a promotional email, placing a call requesting a speaking opportunity … and more … is a great investment in your business.
  • Get accountable to a coach or a colleague who won’t let you slide.
    Imagine telling someone every day what you’re going to accomplish and by when. Enough said.
  • Be aware of when others’ priorities are colliding with yours.
    Whether you need to create a “do not disturb” sign for your door or get a sitter for your kids during work hours, what’s critical is to realize that growing your business serves your family and serves the people you’re meant to help.

So what strategies are you going to start implementing right now?  Just starting with one strategy will free up your time and give you more focus as you start investing your time in growing your business.  And the more time your invest, the better your results will be and so it becomes a self-fulfilling circle.

Are You Wasting or Investing Your Time?

Are You Wasting or Investing Your Time?

by | Nov 23, 2016

Don’t you just love it when you think something and then it happens. Well that very nearly happened to me this morning. I woke up at 5:30am, nearly 3 hours before my train to London and firstly decide that as its cold outside I won’t go on my morning run. Then I wonder what would happen if I fall asleep and miss my train. The good news is that I didn’t fall asleep but the bad news was that I nearly missed my train. I got on the train with just 20 seconds to spare. Now I wish I had had better thoughts this morning than missing my train!!!.

Reflecting on the situation I am reminded of this great quote from Roger James Hamilton. “if we waste money, we can always make more, but if we waste time, it’s gone forever”. This is exactly what happened to me this morning. I wasted time checking my email, catching up on facebook and looking for my misplaced mobile phone, and as a result I nearly missed my train.

Time is actually the most valuable commodity we have in business. We all have the same 24 hours in each day but it is how we use this time that determines our success. Do you spend hours cleaning your house and running errands, or do your outsource these activities so that you can spend your time on high, income generating activities that grow your business?.

All the successful people I have ever met or studied have mastered the art of leading their time. They treasure every second they have and use it wisely. They invest their time rather than spend it. Now that’s an interesting thought. Investing in time rather than spending time. Typically when I work with business owners to help them grow their business, their wealth and time mindset are two areas that we start with, because until you value time you will always be chasing your tail.

When you master leading time your days become more effortless, as you are crystal clear on what you are doing when. You make better decisions and don’t get distracted by the bright shiny object syndrome. And when you value time, others around you start valuing their time too. They recognise the implications of being late for meetings and you start not tolerating behavior that in any way under-values your time.

I would like to invite you to track your time for an entire week. Create a spreadsheet or grab a sheet of paper. Draw seven columns – one for each day of the week – and then break each day down into 30 min segments and then track what you do during each 30 min segment (You can change this to 10 or 15 mins increments if you prefer but 30 mins works well for me). Make sure to note the times that you eat, sleep, bathe, work out. In fact everything that you do. At the end of a week you will some great insights into how you spend your time, and then you can assess how much of your week are you investing your time and how much you are spending your time.

When I did this exercise the results were illuminating. So don’t delay start today by really valuing your time and stop wasting it. If you need any assistance with mastering your time mindset then please book in for a complimentary chat and let’s explore what is possible

3 Simple Daily Acts of Discipline That Boost Your Profits

3 Simple Daily Acts of Discipline That Boost Your Profits

by | Aug 14, 2016

Joined Up Business Leaders are disciplined to ensure that they never waste any resources – time, energy or money. They recognise that when they are disciplined and do what they said they would do, everything in life flows more easily.

Discipline comes from being committed to an activity and seeing it through to the end, no matter what. Far too many people say they are committed to something but when push comes to shove they quit. So why is this? Quite simply whilst they were just interested in achieving something rather than being committed to its success..

Here are three simple actions that you can practice every day to ensure that you stay disciplined and use your resources wisely.

1. Run the day, or it will run you. Some people will be masters of their time, and others will be servants. Joined Up Business Leaders become the masters of their time.

To master your time, you must have clear written goals for each day that you keep with you at all times. It helps to create each day’s list the night before. Prioritize your goals for the day and constantly review them. Enterprising people don’t let the minor activities distract them from the major activities—the ones that hold the keys to their success. Joined Up Leaders are disciplined in how they approach their day and remain pro-active rather than re-active to daily events.

2. Don’t mistake activity for productivity. You probably know some people who always seem to be busy being busy. To be successful, you must be busy being productive. Some people are going, going, going, but they’re not making much progress. Don’t mistake activity for productivity, movement for achievement. Evaluate the hours in your days and see if there is wasted time that you could manage better. You can read more about being a busy fool here.

One of my favourite exercises is to track what you do everyday for a week.  I tracked my activities by the hour but you could do it in 15 mins or 30 mins increments.  List all the activities that you do during the day, including eating, exercising, sleeping etc.  Then at the end of a week calculate how many hours you have spent doing each activity. I was shocked by how much time I was spending on social media and researching what my peers were doing. No wonder time seemed to be slipping past each day. I was in busyness but not really being productive.

3. Focus. The third key is good concentration. You’ve got to zero in on the job at hand and let nothing stand in your way and distract you from the task. It is also important to focus on your highest producing activities first.  High income producing activities are those that will immediately yield you income and typically involve connecting with potential clients and prospects. There is no better use of your time than to be investing in activities that leverage your time.

Another way to stay focused is to set a timer and give yourself say 50 mins to complete the task.  During this 50 min time make sure that you turn off your phone, email notifications and stop all distractions. There is something very motivating about knowing that you just have a finite amount of time to complete the task at hand.  Then at the end of 50 mins you can take a break, re-focus and then start again.  I’ve found this strategy to be really successful in helping me get things done.

I’d love to hear what strategies you are using to stay focused so that you can remain disciplined and boost your profits.

 

Consistency is the key to Success

Consistency is the key to Success

by | Apr 27, 2016

The thought in this week’s Wednesday Wisdom is all the more appropriate as I’m sending this out three hours late!!  And this weeks thought is all about the power of consistency, which I believe is one of the keys to business success.

Whatever you want to achieve in life, you won’t become a master unless you demonstrate consistent behaviour and keep training at that discipline.  Malcolm Gladwell in the book Outliers  says that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field.  That requires some consistent behaviour and discipline to show up each and everyday and practice.

The whole concept of consistency has been coming up for me recently with regard to my running.  I started the year in great form and was going out on average five days a week. Then I went to South Africa for the best part of three weeks. I didn’t run once and boy was starting again tough when I got back to the UK.  And then last week I was in London for a week and yes you guessed it, I didn’t run. This week been really painful trying to get back into the groove.

So what I’ve been learning is that I need to be more disciplined in my life and business and take consistent action each and every day.  Because as I have experienced every time I stop it is so much harder to get started again. Consistency helps put structure into your day which in turn actually makes you more productive and efficient.  You simply know what you have to get done.

Consistency is particularly important when it comes to marketing your business.  You only need about 30 mins a day but making sure you engage in some marketing activities each and everyday helps ensure you have a pipeline of clients who want to work with you.  Fail to do this and then you begin suffer from the money roller-coaster, that so many business owners experience.

So I’m going to out myself and apologise to my clients as I have not been following the advice I give you and marketing consistently for 30 mins a day. However, the great news is that now I have a limited number of spaces available for clients who want to make a significant impact in the world and take their business to the next level.

Are you one of these people?  If so lets have a complimentary, no obligation chat and if you like what you experience, great I’ll share with you how we can work together.

I only have a limited number of spaces so reserve your place now and let’s see what is possible for you.  I look forward to connecting with you.

Have a great rest of the week and an amazing Bank Holiday weekend and don’t forget to do your 30 mins marketing a day!

Inch By Inch It’s a Cinch

Inch By Inch It’s a Cinch

by | Apr 6, 2016

This week I began an 11 day Fat Loss Challenge with one of my former mentors John Assaraf.  I love his work about the neuro-science of business and how the brain impacts our success.  The great news is that you can re-programme your brain through a series of entrainment exercises and that is what I am doing with my eating patterns.

I met and then mentored with John back in 2009 when I was living in California and his programme “Having It All” was amazing and transformed my life.  I’ll always remember his wise words about how to change anything in your life when he said “Inch By Inch It’s a Cinch”.

You see often when we seek to change habits or achieve goals we often think we have to do it all right now.  We have become such an instant gratification society that we have begun to fail to appreciate all the small things around us. And yet it is all those small actions that ultimately help us achieve our goals and dreams.

It is dogged determination and persistence day in day out that effects change. It is the daily decisions that I make about exercise and chocolate that will affect how successful I am on this Fat Loss Challenge, after all I know I can’t lose 6kg overnight!!!

As well as consistent action the other thing to do when setting goals is to make sure they inspire you.  John bans the word “diet” as that implies lack and none of us want that. The language we use is so important in helping help us stay motivated and focused, so rather than losing weight John talks about releasing weight. There is something in the language that makes me feel that I am making the choice to do this rather than being forced.

So what small action will you take today to move you towards your goals and dreams – maybe it is reaching out to client, having a courageous conversation with your boss or spouse or in my case exercising and making the choice to eat healthier food.

The Law of Sowing and Reaping

The Law of Sowing and Reaping

by | Mar 27, 2016

This blog is inspired by the work of Jim Rohn and the fact that Spring, the season of sowing and planting has just begun.  As a Creator type (Talent Dynamics) it is my favourite time of year. It is the time when I get to explore new ideas and strategise (and prioritise) for the upcoming year. Now I know most people say do this in January but I love to work with the seasons of the year so Spring is my time for plating and initiating all my new projects for the year.

As I’ve been reflecting on what projects (seeds) to plant for this I have been reminded of the first of the basic law of leadership: Whatever you sow, you reap.

In other words, in order to reap rewards (i.e. get success), you must first sow. You must take action and put your ideas into practice otherwise you will never be able to reap. Reaping is reserved for those who sow, who plant. To deserve the harvest, you must plant the seed. Take care of it in the summer. Carefully harvest it and then do wise things with the harvest.

Now, there is a second part to the law which states: If you sow good, you reap good. If you sow bad, you reap bad. This means you cannot sow badly and then hope for good. You can’t plant weeds and hope for flowers.

Here’s something else about the law of sowing and reaping. You don’t reap only what you sow. That’s important to understand. You reap much more than what you sow. If you just reaped what you sow, what’s the exercise for?

It is also important to understand that the law works in both positive and negative, so be careful what you sow. An old prophet once said, “If you sow the wind, you don’t reap wind, you reap a whirlwind.” Therefore you’ve got to be careful sowing the wind, because it might just come back as a whirlwind. That’s on the negative side. But now it also works on the positive side. If you plant a cup of corn, how much do you get back—a cup? No, a bushel for the cup. You get back much more than what you plant. That’s the reason for planting—for the increase.

The final key to the law of sowing and reaping is:. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Everybody has to understand. The farmer plants the crop in the spring and takes care of it all summer. He’s an honorable man. Loves his family and is a decent citizen. But the day before he sends the combine harvesters into the field, a hailstorm comes along and beats his crop into the ground. And it’s gone. It’s lost.

So this time it didn’t work. Now what must the farmer do? He’s got to decide whether to do it again or not. “Shall we take another chance the next spring?” I would advise him to do so even though he lost everything in the last harvest because more often than not, you’ll have a harvest if you plant in the spring. There’s no guarantee, but it’s pretty good odds.

And it’s the same in business. We need to carefully select what we want to sow and then we have to nurture the seed (project, programme etc) until it is the right time to harvest.  If we pull up the seeds too early and give up on projects before they have had time to get established then we will never reap the benefits of the harvest. And this is what I see a lot of clients doing. They give up on their dreams just before the harvest period. And of course like the analogy goes, even despite all our good work the crop (business or project) might still fail. And what do you do then. I suggest be like the farmer, dust yourself off and have another go.  After all the law of probability will probably come into play meaning that the likelihood of failure will be diminished, assuming of course that you learn from your mistakes and don’t replicate them.

The Power Of FOCUS

The Power Of FOCUS

by | Jan 13, 2016

So how are your New Years resolutions going? Are you giving them the focus they deserve? If not the reason might be that they are not important enough to you, or else you have too many other things going on.

Todays Wednesday Wisdom has been inspired by by own situation over the last few weeks. As some of you know I made a commitment to start running in November and yesterday, 8 weeks later, I have just run, for the first time in my life, 5km. It felt amazing.

What I’ve realised about my approach to running is that I have been disciplined and focused. I even went out on Christmas Day!. I could have never even have conceived that running 5km would even be possible but with regular practice I am moving forward to achieve my goal of completing 10km.

And in business too, you need to ensure you just FOCUS on one thing at a time. I love the acronym for FOCUS which is Follow One Course Until Successful. So this is my mantra for this year. Choose one thing and stick to it, because by taking small steps everyday the impossible can start to become a reality.

What are you choosing to focus on today?

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