Happy New Year – 2012 The Year Of GREAT Ideas!

Top 5 Habits For Business Success in 2012

As an entrepreneur you probably know better than to fall into the trap of setting resolutions. You are thinking bigger than that and planning out what you will accomplish in the new year. Goals and step by step actions are the mindset you have here at the start of 2012. Good habits are always in style, but with a focus on business success, here are my top 5 picks for the best habits to have in the new year.

#1 Stay focused on a priority project. I am sure you have plenty on your list of goals and accomplishments, but in order to excel in the achievement department, my experience has shown that you’ll move forward in a much bigger way if you focus on one priority at a time. Focus diligently and keep it in front of you everyday until you accomplish it. When it is complete you can bring a new project into your priority status. When you have a few larger projects that will take more than 90 days to complete, you may want to break down the milestones into smaller mini projects.

#2 Celebrate every success, both big and small. As entrepreneurs we are much harder on ourselves because we know what we are really capable of. By logging each and every success or win throughout the year you will be able to see ‘in writing’ that you have had many great days and productive weeks. This ongoing list is an excellent source of confidence and can do a great deal to encourage you with ongoing momentum to push forward. Keep you wins and the milestone successes close by, as a word document or in a dominant notebook.

#3 The third good habit of business success in 2012 is to surround yourself with positive people who are thinking big and taking action to improve their business and their lives. You can’t really get away from family or close friends who swing more on the negative side of the fence, but you can control the conversations you have with those people. You also can choose to spend more time with people who support and encourage you to take action on your ideas instead of just letting you talk. If you need to meet and bring new people into your life than seek out online and offline groups where you can meet some like minded people.

#4 Double D attitudes, discipline and determination, are the dual power that can make or break your business success in 2012. Self discipline is the action that supports you to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done. Determination is the drive and commitment that helps you keep your eye on the prize (end result) so you don’t get too far off track when you know exactly what it is you want to accomplish. Determination and discipline are the attitudes you want to bring with you to the game, every single time! Are you ready to bring it and play big?

#5 This one is really important, but more times than not it falls to the back burner. The 5th habit is about balance between business success and living the life style you imagined your business success would bring. We often put our heads down and work our butts off to get ahead and before we know it, the day is over, the week has ended or it is another new month (already!?)! There are certain lifestyle elements that you dream of and before another daydream gets put off with the justification of ’someday’, think about how you can bring some of those ’someday ideas’ into the present. What would that look like? Would it include more downtime, travel, time with friends & family, giving back, moving to the country or city?

I wish you a very happy and successful new year. A big part of that is just being clear what that even looks like. After you have a clear vision, these habits will help you to keep moving forward!

Power Of Intention – First Steps To Success

What are your intentions this year? If you could write the script (and you can, ya know?) for how this year would turn out, what would it include? There are many choices and I can share from personal experience, that too many choices can stop you in your tracks and put a halt on your progress. So take a minute to pause and then ask the question of what your intentions are for this year as many times as it takes before you get a few solid and clear answers.

Have you ever read something or heard something that you never paid a lot of attention to and then out of no where (or so it seems) you hear that idea over and over again? That is what happened with me around the word ‘intentions’. Sure, I know the word, I’ve read about it here or there, but in the last few weeks I have seen and heard about it more than I can count. No, not because it is a new year and the conversations are usually the same, but because I was present to it and I have been called out to look at it more closely.

So I stopped, took a look and will continue to do so in the weeks and months that are ahead. I wanted to put the idea out there for you to take a look at the word intention and what it means to you, but more so, I wanted to check in and see if you are being called to look more closely at something. A word, an idea, a business model, a relationship? Turns out there are signs and clues all around us if we pause long enough to recognize them instead of ignore them.

I have been a bit stuck. My head has been spinning with ideas about what big things I want to accomplish and what big goals I should and should not make a priority. I was looking for the first steps to success, seems normal, right? So here is what happened as a result of looking at the word intention more closely. I took all my ideas (oh, SO many!!) and made a new list called “The BIG 3”. I wrote down 3 priority projects and also listed out in what ways I could measure that I was making progress with each.

Intentions can be inspiring! Intentions can pull you in and help you focus on what matters most to you so that you can get out of your head and start taking action to make some bigger (or not so big) things happen!! How about you? What are your first steps to success this year?  Your thoughts?

Taking Action – Do Things Differently

It is a New Year and we are off to a strong start. You may be excited about what 2012 holds for you, and you also may be thinking about doing things a bit differently in the New Year in order to end up with some different results.

If you are serious about success then YOU need to Continue reading »

Focus On What Works – Keep Moving Forward

It can be so easy to get stuck with inaction. So many choices that you can stop dead in your tracks and lose momentum. You probably get and see great ideas and opportunities all around you. But, too much information is the quickest path to halting your progress. If this is something you can relate with it is a sign that you have lost your focus. You are running around more then you need to and nothing is getting accomplished.

Focus is about knowing exactly what you want and having a clear and decisive plan to get there. If you are not moving forward full throttle, it could mean that you are not as sure about what you want to accomplish as you thought. With the clarity of knowing what you want to create, you can work toward Continue reading »

Fear Of Failure -OR- The Price Of Success?

What is it exactly that stops people from taking action? I get this question all the time. I have been there myself, in a place where I have been stuck and not making progress. Although there are many small reason that sound pretty good, one reason stands out above all else. Fear is the reason to blame 9 out of 10 times when someone does not take action. It can be fear of success or fear of failure, but either way, fear is at the top of the list when it comes to people holding themselves back from taking the action that will help them achieve the success or Continue reading »

Grow My Business – What Things Should I Be Doing Each Day?

This is a question that I hear a lot, “What should I be doing in my business each day?” An important part of being productive is knowing what to do. And, just because you have it all figured out at one point or stage of your business, does not mean that you are all set for the long haul. I have been thinking about this and I have 3 things to share with you that will help you lay out what your daily plan of attack should include. These are 3 big things, the day to day actions will then fall into the details of these ideas.

No matter what industry you are in, your most consistent role is as a marketer. You have products for sale or a service to sell, no matter what business model you are following, you need to Continue reading »

Welcome To December – Be Present Every Moment!

Welcome to my Blog! Each month I make a static post that will stay at the top for the month to introduce myself and what my blog is about. You can look around and find out plenty about me and my blog, but this month I want to talk about December.

This month is filled with so much joy, love and also with some stress or even depression. December is a special, crazy and sometimes unpredictable month. It goes faster than most months and can go by in a blur if you don’t make a conscious choice to Continue reading »

Better Your Best – What Does It Take?

I have read many articles and books about the topic of being a ‘winner’, of what it takes to be successful and the differences between those who dream vs those who take action to make their dreams come true. It is a topic that I have been interested in since I was a young teenager. It’s both educational as well as inspirational to read the success stories and triumphs of those who have traveled down a road we wish to go. I now have a tale of my own that I’d like to share with you.

At the start of the year I entered a contest called ‘Better Your Best’, it is a well know contest within the Internet community hosted by Armand Morin and his AM2 team. The contest is open to Continue reading »

What Would You Do With $25,000?

This past weekend I won $25,000 in a very special and elite contest called “Better your Best”, hosted by Armand Morin and the AM2 Network. (Yes, woohoo and yippee!!!!) To enter was easy, to do everything required, follow through and keep the commitment all the way through to the end was a little bit tougher. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and to date, the most memorable! I’ll share all the contest details in the next few days, but right now I want to talk about the prize money.

After I won first place in the contest, the question that I was asked most often was “How are you going to spend the money?” Certainly a valid question, but I was a little surprised that it was the most common question and that only a few people asked what I did to win and be successful in the contest. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to Continue reading »

What Are You Doing To Better Your Best?

Some Of My AM2 Family Members

Today I am leaving for San Francisco (in about 60 minutes) for an Armand Morin Live event. This is my online mentor and the coaching program that I belong to. I go to several events a year and Armand Live is always one of my favorites. This weekend, the event is extra special and important to me. Once a year Armand holds a ‘Better Your Best’ contest. This is a very big deal in the Internet community and a big commitment to participate in as well. I am telling you about it, because I am in the contest this weekend.

The contest is open to members of his coaching program and there are two categories to compete in. One is increasing your income and the second is improving your business and marketing systems. There are many factors involved throughout the year, such as Continue reading »

Achieve Your Goals – 3 Simple Steps

We all have things we’d like to accomplish that might seem a bit out of reach, but regardless we know it is necessary to take certain actions to move forward if you want to achieve your goals. I would like to offer you 3 simple steps to really get the ball rolling in my favor of bigger results when it comes to accomplishing a really important goal or priority project.

Start with your mindset. Do you believe you can do it? Do you believe you deserve it? Your attitude and state of mind is the foundation for all that you Continue reading »

Build A Community – Job One

As empire builders (aka: entrepreneurs) we have several responsibilities and action habits to attend to. I know I sure do, how about you? I was talking with a client and realized that we go round and round about different topics that all seem important. The secret of success though, is knowing at any given time what exactly is job one? As we grow through different stages of building out our empire, we will change our focus a number of times, but job one will, more than likely, remain a consistent focus. What is job one, it is building a list of prospects and customers who know you, like you, trust you, and want to stay on top of what you have to offer. (they give you permission to Continue reading »

Welcome To November – Good Intentions vs Taking Action

Do you ever have really good intentions to do something, but it doesn’t happen? I am sure that happens to all of us at one time or another. The important thing to look at is what we do with that small defeat. Do we use it as an excuse to step back and let ourselves off the hook, or do we use it to learn and become more determined to follow through in the future? It is your choice and it can say a lot about where you are going.

More times than not, I would say I use those small defeats as a wake up call and  to step up my game.  Lately, I must admit, that has not been the case. I have had several good intentions fall through the cracks, and rather than stop what I am doing and get a handle on the situation, I have let it slip out of control. I am not excited to share this out loud, and pretty embarrassed due to the fact that I am the girl who takes action and makes things happen. I am an expert in productivity and I have not been the very best I can be when it comes to living up to my full potential.

Things can spiral out of control much easier than we may like to believe. No matter what has fallen through the cracks, there is always time and space to make it right. Last month, I did not post to my blog at all! I went from posting 2-3 times every week, to taking an unplanned and self imposed hiatus! I want to make it right and I will choose to plug away at sharing some great information, ideas and content with you this month. It won’t happen again. I now have a plan in place to hold me accountable and keep me moving forward.

Good intentions don’t always lead to good things, but taking action does! If you have let some important things fall through the cracks, take this month to get back on track and in control of what you want to be doing. Get clear, make a plan in enough detail that you can follow step by step, and then focus on that plan each and every day. When you get stuck or feel discouraged, reach out to your friends, family or online community and get back in the game as soon as possible.

My Overwhelm Rescue Kit

No matter who you are, how together you are (or others think you are), or how organized your plan is… overwhelm can still pay you a visit. I know this very well from personal experience. I am known as the “productivity princess” to many and the “queen of getting it all done” to others. I am about to take off my crown and keep it real for a minute. I am in need of an overwhelm rescue kit at this very minute, so I thought I’d step back, take a few deep breaths and create one right now. Others may find this valuable, I know I can’t be alone, so I wanted to share this process with you as I figure out in real time.

Step 1: Make a list of every little thing that is running through your mind, big and small, loud and soft. Things like; I didn’t call to reserve a hotel room for my trip this weekend, I promised to Continue reading »