Category Archives: Business Building Tips

Productivity, Time and Energy Drains

A very, very, very sad day in the kitchen. I cracked my crock! Yes, I turned my crock pot over to wash it and low and behold I have a crack along the bottom where I could see that even some of the juices had seeped out.

Isn’t that just about how it is in our own life? We may look fine on the outside, and even appear to be doing things correctly. But, upon closer examination, there is a flaw that is permitting things (time, energy and productivity) to drain from us.

I’m doing a personal “Productivity” chart to just see what I am doing through the day, where my productivity hang ups are and what are my productivity drains. Yesterday at the office (my full-time job where I work for wages) was very insightful. I had interruptions that were not my fault, but I had some that I realized were truly keeping me from keeping focused on the task at hand. Such as the sound of the ding of the incoming email. And the “pop” of someone signing on to the inter-office IM. Even having the internet search page up while I was working on a spreadsheet became a distraction because it made me think of the weather and I wondered what the temperature was outside. It’s no wonder at the end of the day my energy was drained because I realized I didn’t make as much progress with the day as I had would have liked.

I realized that even those small distractions were keeping me from focusing on my part-time job, building a fortune =) It’s so important to remember that when you are working on building your fortune from home that every minute counts. Any time you waste is gone forever!!

So, I leave you with a few little business building tips…

Really think about things that may be draining your attention. Such as, do you really need to have the radio or TV on while you are working on your business? Does email need to be on your screen? Do you need to be logged onto the Chat/IM ? Of course, sometimes those are things you are working on to build your business, but my point is let’s really try to work on the one task at hand and apply laser focus to the job!

So, until next time…I will be shopping for a new crock pot / slow cooker!

Move Through The Obstacles – MOO

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There are many obstacles that stand in our way of moving forward. And yes, we are faced with them every day. But we have to make a decision.

Do we?

Don’t we?

Moving through obstacles come down to two things.

You are not ready.
You may have reached an obstacle and you just aren’t ready to move forward. Maybe the timing is right and maybe you just don’t “FEEL” it. Maybe you don’t have the knowledge. None the less, you can’t move forward. You don’t know how.

You don’t want to.
That is the hardest thing to really admit to yourself. It isn’t that you can’t. You just don’t want it. Or, you don’t want it bad enough.

Many times in the business sales world they say that if your “WHY” is large enough THEN you will do the necessary action steps.

I am inclined to believe that. When your WHY is truly turns into a big, hairy, and audaciously huge goal – you THEN will take action.

I know I did.

You see, my world rocked a couple of weeks ago. My mom had a stroke. Spending days in the hospital helped me to realize that my husband and I needed to rethink our financial goals. You see, mom has recovered amazingly fast. She isn’t 100% yet and we do have a road to healing to go down. BUT, had things not gone so well, I had not done my due diligence to have things ready.

Things like a firm back up income plan.

We have been given a second chance to get ready for the next stages of our life.

And I am on a mission. My WHY became huge. Compound that with the fact that our first grand child is on the way! This MeeMee in the making is going to need extra vacation days for some grand-baby spoiling!

I am on my journey to remove obstacles. I am going to have to learn some new things.

But the only way to move over obstacles(MOO) is to DO IT.

Fear is not an option.

I must be diligent & determined.

MOO.

Move over the obstacles – MOO

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We face obstacles every day. Every single day. If anyone tells you they don’t, they lie! Even a red light is an obstacle. It’s beyond your control. But, none the less it is an obstacle. It is slowing down your progress of moving forward. It qualifies as an obstacle.

The dictionary defines an obstacle as “A thing that blocks one’s way or prevents or hinders progress.” A hindrance. Impediment. Barrier. Hurdle. Obstruction.

Some obstructions you have no choice. You have to wait on them, such as the traffic light.

But those obstructions for which you do have a choice, you have two choices.

You can either MOVE over the obstruction so that you can move OVER the obstruction. (Yes, it’s a little play on words, but stick with me). You either do or you don’t.

Moving over the obstruction would entail removing yourself from what is obstructing your forward motion. Maybe it is a friendship with someone that is draining all your emotional and physical energy. Maybe it is a dead end job that is zapping you of all your emotional health and joy. Maybe it is learning a new skill.

The point is it can be any number of things that is keeping you from reaching a goal and making changes. You know what you want. You know what you need. You can see it. But in front of the goal are “things” in the way that are keeping you from reaching the goal. Those nasty obstructions and hurdles.

Once you acknowledge the obstructions you can then work on moving them, so that you can move forward.

But, maybe you say “I Can’t”. WHOA! You can’t say CAN’T. Can’t only means two things. Either you don’t know how, or you don’t want to.

If you don’t know how, you learn. You read. You talk to someone. You research. You ask. Then you do.

But here is where your second choice comes in. If you don’t want to, then admit it. Quit hiding behind the “I can’t”.

Let’s make a decision today. If you have an obstruction standing in your way. MOO. Move Over the Obstruction (MOO). Either pick yourself up and MOVE over the obstruction so that you can move OVER the obstruction. Or just admit that you don’t want to and you are willing to sit still.

I hope you choose to MOO.

Just don’t run any red traffic lights along the way =)

Tomorrow we will talk more about how to MOO.

MOO!

Organize Your Way to Success, Part 2 – Attention

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Building your business online as a busy professional can sometimes be overwhelming. An average day may find you pulled in many different directions, from personal issues to work issues to things that happen beyond your control.

However, I am not alone in thinking the idea of “multitasking” is probably one of the most detrimental concepts to the idea of success and getting something done. A new concept is the ‘Media-multi-tasking”

For instance, are you reading this blog, keeping up with Facebook, checking your email, listening to the radio, and on hold on the telephone? Then, at this point in time you would be “media-multitasking”.

And you may be exhibiting that you have problems with focus and self-control.

Wait, don’t shoot the messenger! The interesting article is found over at Scientific American.

Media-multitasking can be looked at in two ways. You are gathering a lot of information at one time showing a basic desire for information or novelty facts. Not a bad thing if you are looking for some blogging ideas =)

But, this type of multi-tasking could also be a sign that you are too easily distracted and have a hard time focusing.

I suppose my caution to myself and anyone else, is to use Multitasking with caution. Just because it is a popular entry on Job Postings doesn’t mean you need to do it every hour of every day.

I have found that my greatest tool is creating my specific list of 5 things that I will do before 11 AM in the morning, therefore funneling my attention to some productive tasks. At the end of a busy day, where I have not controlled my multitasking therefore not accomplished all that I wanted to do, I at least do have some success. I can look at my list at the end of the day (like the one pictured below for this morning) and have 5 things DONE!
So, yes, after posting this article, I will cross off my #5. And I did #1 on the way to work while hubby was driving. Two items down, and 3 more to go!

By the way, if you like the idea of the “5 before 11″ I highly suggest you read Allyson Lewis and her book “The 7 Minute Solution”. I started applying what I learned from her at the beginning of the year, and it’s really been a game changer for me!

Remember these wise words from Alexandar Graham Bell~ “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”

Here’s to your Laser Focus for the day!
Kim

Organize Your Way to Success Part 1 – Calendar

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Organize.

The mention of the word can be exhausting.

But, for the busy woman entrepreneur, organization is going to be the key to your survival.
It will be the key to your success. It is a #1 business building tip.

I used to stay organized with memory and a few little sticky notes.
I then graduated to less memory, and more sticky notes. But soon, my desk began to look like a parakeet that would take flight and fly away because of all the yellow sticky notes on it.

One year ago, I began to heavily use paper calendars. But, I had one for home, one for work, one for business…I was on calendar over load.

I highly suggest doing two things:
1. Start using a calendar if you aren’t already.
2. Combine all your life into one calendar.
3. (This is a bonus). If you haven’t converted away from paper consider it. I have merged all my calendars to a Gmail online calendar. I have work, personal and online business actions all on one calendar.

This one action has done wonders to help me feel more organized and in control. I no longer have to flip between calendars, and the google “alarms” are great at helping me to not forget the important stuff.

Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back

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Hi There!

I just wanted to give you a quick little business building tip. Actually, this was going to be my first video post. But, my camera on the laptop filmed everything a jerky motion. And the phone battery and Flipz battery, deader than doornails. So, you get written word because I didn’t want the hour to go by without sharing something with you.

I’ve been plugged into Natasha for a couple of years now. She is one of those that if she sends me an email, I read it. It always have something of value that I need or will need in the future. Never fluff or hype. Just good information and content.

She has a new video series that I’ve been plugged into the past few days.

If you are someone that is stuck in your online business, or maybe you just aren’t getting anywhere or you don’t know where to start. Start here. Plug into her website at http://fastforwardproducts.com/hidden-gold/
You will need to start at video one. Listen to her, work through the exercises. She has a contest with a couple of nice juicy prizes.

Her “hidden gold” worksheet helped me to realize that I had let fear of many things hold me back from realizing some of my dreams. In fact, the other day if you had asked me if I was “fearful” of anything, I would have told you no..well, except for needles and blood. BUT, I started working through some questions she threw out to us…and man-o-man. Now that I have realized it….WOW.

But the best part is now that I do realize it, I can make my game plan and list to overcome it!

So here is knockin’ out that FEAR and running the race to Rat Race Freedom!

A Little Positive Reinforcement

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A recent bout with a sore throat found me needing some fresh cough drops. Instead of the generic brand, I reached for a good, old standard “Halls”. Much to my surprise, when I unwrapped the menthol goodness, I found a surprise.

Part of the marketing tactic is to include some positive sayings on the wrapper. Consider that most people, when taking a cough drop, is taking that drop due to a sickness. I thought this was a very nice thing for Halls to do. We all need a little more positive reinforcement especially when going through a tough time!

I actually took my wrapper and folded it in half to use as a book marker for the day.

It is so important to fill your life with positive words!

And positive actions.

The cough drop wrapper reminded me of some recent reading explaining accomplishing our goals and performing our daily actions. I don’t remember all the scientific lingo but it goes like this:

Our brain is pliable and the neurons are ever changing. If we want to accomplish something new or get over an mental obstacle or hurdle, we have to make pathways in our brain. At first, pushing those positive words and those positive actions through our brain is like moving through a huge field of grass that his shoulder high. It will be a tough job. But, keep walking that same exact path every day and the pathway will beat down. (In the country, we call those cow paths or coyote paths).

So, as the last 90 days of the year quickly approach it may be time to find some positive words and push through the grass. There are new pathways to create!

30 Day Gratitude Challenge

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Back in December I truly became burdened to be more of an example of Gratitude. This was fire was an ember when I spoke to a young lady regarding some things going on in her life.

It was then that I really started quoting my phrase more often “An Attitude of Gratitude Will Lift Your Altitude”. I realized that if that young lady could still smile through her heart aches and heart breaks, I needed to practice MY gratitude to a higher level.

Recently, a friend challenged several of her Facebook friends to accept the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge.

And I did.

If you haven’t heard of it, it is simply take 30 days. Take 30 people to whom you are grateful for. Send them a card – 1 each day.

The journey in this challenge has been amazing. I find myself each morning thinking not of the challenges of the day, but of who will be the recipient and planning which card I will send them from my card system.

Living a life of Gratitude can truly make a difference in your life and can make you a happier person.

It reminds you of what truly is important. When a friend is going through a life threatening disease with grace and composure, it reminds you to be thankful that your family is healthy.

It reminds you to take the bad things and make them good. Things going bad at work? Be grateful you have a job? The storm did damage to your home? Be thankful you have a home. The hotel mess up your reservation on vacation? Be grateful you have the opportunity to take a vacation, much less stay in a hotel.

It reminds you of what is truly important in life. It’s always been said that our kids will very rarely remember what things we give them at all the birthday parties and Christmas gatherings. But they will remember how we make them feel. It is not in what things we give, but in what feelings we invoke that people will remember us for.

It reminds you to express thankfulness to others. Saying the words “thank you” to others can truly make a huge difference in their life. Years ago my husband and I began the practice to say ‘thank you’ and address store clerks by their name on their badge. We have witnessed even the most sour and down in the mouth clerk completely change in less than 15 seconds by the simple expression of gratitude for their work. Combine that with thanking people you know and taking a minute to express gratitude to old and new friends can help you to make a difference in others lives in such a simple way. It costs so little, but reaps such huge rewards and help your spirits to soar.

I truly hope you can find the path to expressing Gratitude to others.

Remember…

“An Attitude of Gratitude Will Lift Your Altitude”

Blessings!

5 Hints To Get Out Of A Rut

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Have you ever been in a rut before? Or worse, are you in a rut now?

You know when you are in a rut when life just seems like the “ho-hum” same daily grind day after day. You don’t feel any zest in your day or you feel like you have no inspiration. It’s as if your brain is in a void. Poof. You may realize you are just spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere. A vicious roller coaster or perhaps a hamster on a wheel may be the image in your head of your daily routine.

I usually consider myself to be a productive person. But there are those times and sometimes more frequent than I like, that I start feeling like I am in a rut.

Below are 7 Hints I follow to get out of the rut and to get back on the productive highway.

1. Work on a Micro-Action

Every day I try to work on a micro-action. These are little actions that move me towards my goals. You can read more about Micro-Actions in Allyson Lewis’ book “The 7 Minute Solution”. But, I will admit, I sometimes get busy with my daily tasks and don’t do a morning micro-action. I find a quick way to get out of the rut is to actually do the micro-action and rejoice in the feeling of “hey, I got something done!”. In short, a micro-action are the little things that nag in your brain and build up over time. Soon, your head is so full of lots of “to-dos” that you start feeling overwhelmed. I have a master list of micro-actions and (TRY TO) work on one a day. It may be writing a thank you card, organizing a file in the drawer, cleaning out a sock drawer, organizing an email folder, etc. It’s a little small something that moves you towards the feeling of organization, and it’s a wonderful way that I start the day feeling like I’m working on “filling the holes” of my rut!

2. Work on version 1.1 of YOU

Some people call it personal development, but whatever you call it it’s called expanding your knowledge. While I already read 10 pages a day from a self development book, sometimes it is time to step up the game and do something more! It may be time to learn a new language, go to a seminar, read some new material to learn a new skill or accept some 30 day challenge and then really WORK on it for those 30 days. I just completed a 30 Day Goals Challenge by Brian Tracy and feel SO proud of myself for really sticking to it for 30 days! And now my creativity is flowing for my book all thanks to getting out of the rut. Here is a list of 42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself.

3. List your “I AM” and read them daily.

I finally listed my “I AM’s” 1 year ago. These are statements of a vision of how you see yourself and your life in the future. It may be something like “I am enjoying luxurious vacations with my family”, “I am financially secure with $X in savings”, “I am healthy and enjoy the look of myself in my skinny jeans”. I encourage you to sit down during a quiet moment and create a list of 50 “I AM’s”, and then read them on a daily basis. You will find reading those will spur you to get out of your rut, and especially as you start seeing them come to pass! I also cut out pictures of my I AM’s and put them on the fridge, or in a frame, or send a card to myself with the images so that I can visually see my dreams and goals.

4. Take a break

This one may be hard for the busy working person, but believe me. Everyone NEEDS a break from the hustle and bustle. You can only burn a candle at 2 ends for so long, and then you WILL burn out. When you can, arrange for a 3 day weekend where you really don’t do anything but REST from work. No checking emails remotely. No taking a “quick” business call. The extra time will clear your head and really give you a feeling of stepping out of the “daily grind”.

5. Read Blogs

Blogs are good, quick ways to get some nourishment for our brains. Reading good inspiration from others is also a great way to fuel the brain on ways to get out of the rut. Sometimes something they write will spur new ideas. There are so many blogs and websites. Looking for inspiration on Leadership, try John Maxwell. Looking for inspiration about goal setting, try Brian Tracy. If you are ready to just “make something happen”, head over to Seth Godin.

Perhaps the secret 6th hint is, and forgive me for yelling…FORGET ABOUT PERFECTION. Don’t….. QUIT….. STOP worrying about doing everything with perfection. Do what you do. Do what you can do. Take baby steps. Allow errors. Allow mistakes. Sometimes I find my ruts develop because I’m afraid to step OUT because I know what I’m going to do won’t be exactly PERFECT. So I just keep churning in my rut, getting deeper and deeper. STOP. DO. Allow imperfection, and you will start to see the rut disappear.

5 Before 11 Tasks

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In yesterday’s post I mentioned about the 5 before 11 tasks as mentioned in “The 7 Minute Solution” by Allyson Lewis.

In this video, “Kicking Your 5 Before 11 Into High Gear” a long time user of “The 7 Minute Solution” gives 4 tips that are some critical do’s and don’ts.

Utilize your daily planner and these tips for the next 7 days and I think you will see some results you are looking for. Now, imagine committing 90 days and you can start seeing some stellar results!

For example, during my last 90 day segment, it was during the middle of packing up our office for a move during reconstruction. Imagine, my office that I had been in since 2007 and contained everything I had inherited since 1999. I had a TON of stuff. But, during my “personal reconstruction” I decided it was time to really go through everything and one of my daily “5 before 11″ tasks was to sort through 1 box/drawer/section of files a day. The end result of the cleaning was that either I knew I absolutely needed it for my current task, found the new owner that needed it, threw it away, or sent it to company archives. When my 30 days of the “preparing for packing” were complete, I had not only cleaned, but had anything that I didn’t need for the 1 week relocation packed away. Moving in was a breeze!! It was a small step daily that led to an overall success! And believe me, the packrat syndrome was very hard to overcome – but if I can DO it, anyone can!

You know the song “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere”, well, when it comes to YOU finding your focus, your purpose and your desires and to start living each day moving in that direction…well, “It’s 11 o’clock Somewhere…HERE”