Welcome!! Happy January 2011

Happy January!! Welcome!

I am honored to have you visiting my site and reading my blog. You have come to the right place if you are an entrepreneur, or want to be, and need some support and encouragement. You will find detailed ideas, resources and inspiration to help you keep moving your business and your success forward! Each month I will have a new welcome message with a theme of topics to focus on.

This month is the month of reinvention! You are starting the year with a fresh clean start and a list of ideas and aspirations that you’d like to explore. Be the #1 celebrity in your own movie! Your role is to shine extra bright and leave thoughts of being a ‘tough act to follow’. What if that were your theme this month? Be a tough act to follow!! What would that look like? How would you behave differently? What actions would you step up and tackle? What fears would you overcome? This is your month to set the tone for the rest of the year! Reinvent yourself and be the super star you know you can be!!

Best Life Now – Achieve Victory With Your Full Potential

Each of us has unused potential. No matter who we are or what we have created and accomplished, we have more that we are capable of. If you are not doing new and uncomfortable things regularly then you are not moving forward. It is not always easy to move forward every day or else everybody would be doing it. What does it take to enjoy the victory of living each day to our full potential?

We all have great potential and moving forward by doing whatever it takes is a big part of expressing that. When is the last time you made a 100% commitment  to the accomplishment of a goal.? When is the last time you remember being determined to do whatever it would take to succeed with a project? It is that commitment that will Continue reading »

No Longer A Perpetual Participant!!

Success is on my mind! It has been for as long as I can remember and it has always been something that I desired and set goals to achieve. I am no longer that person who puts the idea of success out there to hope for some day. I am a person who takes action and each day I accomplish new levels of success. I have crossed the line from thinking about it and hoping for it and knowing in my heart that I deserve it… to really getting up and doing something about it!

I am thinking about what it was that really helped me to cross that line. I was starting to think that “it is now or never”. I have wanted greatness for myself and never seemed to really go out on a limb to get it. At the time, I thought I was working hard and taking action, but I was mistaken. I was in a false state Continue reading »

The Opportunity For Success

Can you remember the last time you came up against something that was uncomfortable? Something that either was a bit scary or something that you may not have felt you were good enough or even knew how to do? If you are growing your business then you no doubt will hit moments like this often. Believe it or not, these moments are the opportunities of a lifetime.

With each new step you take down a path that is new and uncomfortable you demonstrate that you are serious about being successful. You pass the test that separates comfortable from outstanding. This test will repeat itself again and again in the form of new risks and new opportunities. Success is not being average! Average people stick to the things they know how to do and are easy for them. What is typical is that people stop or get stuck when things get uncomfortable or a little scary.

I know this is true because I have always been an average person. It was painful to be average and I don’t like to admit it, but it had nothing to do with what I was capable of and had everything to do with the actions I was taking and more importantly, not taking. I have passed several tests this year and I see the results are grand and well worth it! The opportunity for success is up to you! To raise your hand, all you need to do is pass the next test that you come up against and do the scary or uncomfortable things that you know will move you forward!

Who Wants To Be An Entrepreneur – 12 Qualities Of Success

If you are an entrepreneur ,or want to be, then here is a list of important characteristics to measure yourself against. Anyone can be a successful entrepreneur, it takes hard work, determination and unwavering persistence to name just a few. Here are the essential entrepreneurial qualities that anyone who is interested in great success should work on:

1. Independence. This is the most common denominator. Entrepreneurs want control of their future; and they decide to become their own boss instead of working in a thankless job. They have a strong sense of independence and will keep moving forward with a purpose to accomplish something great and meaningful on his own.

2. Visionary. An entrepreneur has a vision for the future. This vision is for both the short term  and the long term great ideas and accomplishments that are next on the horizon. They are always dreaming up new ideas.

3. Persistence. An important quality of a successful entrepreneur is the persistence to continue pursuing a goal despite some setbacks and obstacles that may be encounter along the way. Persistence is demonstrated with action and is then followed up with more action.

4. Determination. Persistence needs a best friend and Continue reading »

Accountability By Means Of A Fish Bowl!

As you may or may not know, I am a 10k coaching client with a brilliant mentor, Connie Ragen Green. I have been doing really great and making outstanding progress and I had an idea I wanted to pass along to you.

I have been playing a bigger game and taking the responsibility of accountability to heart. Connie’s coaching method has put me in a fish bowl for the world to look in a see. It is one heck of an idea!!

My thought is that if you are determined to raise the bar on what you expect of yourself and are willing to get out of your comfort zone then you could put yourself in a ‘self-imposed’ fish bowl.

You could start today, share what your goals are for the rest of the year. Send out e-mails to everyone you know, blog about it, tweet about it, announce it on facebook, let the world know what your intentions are.

Commit to your goals as loud as possible and keep updating your status as you go. If you seriously throw yourself in the bowl, I promise you will surprise yourself with how much bigger you are willing to play.

If you’d rather have a fish then be a fish, then I am happy to volunteer to let you just watch me swim around with great passion and persistence! You can still get access to all our coaching audios and video recordings that Connie has been saving in a very organized members area. Many people are following along at their own pace with the great ideas and advice that Connie is sharing with me.

Access to this complete members area is only $97, a one time fee to listen to all the recordings as often as you like. If you have been stuck and unable to get yourself to take action then I think you will really enjoy and find value is the lessons that have been recorded. http://10kLaserCoaching.com

Motivating Yourself

There are things we want to do and things we know we need to do. The only difference is that one may be more fun, but really they both are on our minds and need to be completed. What can you do to create motivation for yourself so you can be more efficient at tending to all the tasks and ideas that need to be accomplished?

I started a list and thought I would share that list with you. These are ideas to help you create your own motivation to get something done.. something that is really important to you.

• Set up a challenge with someone else who has a similar task or goal. Whoever gets it done first is the winner and receives a set ‘prize’ that both agreed upon up front.
• Send an email out to your list (or family and friends / coworkers) that you will be doing ‘set task’ and wanted to share that it would be done and complete by ‘set day’.
• Share your project on your social media sites and declare your accountability. Ask people to check in with you and ask about your progress.
• Set up an ‘escrow account’ with an amount of money you just could not bear to lose and the person who you gave access to that account would get to keep the money if you did not do what you committed to do. (to add to the pain, the money could go to someone you are not too crazy about)
• Make a promise that if you do not accomplish a set task or project that you will have to do something that is far worse then the project you want to complete. Like post a video on youtube about why you didn’t do what you said you would do or wear a sign all day at the mall that says “I don’t keep my promises” (crazy stuff, I know.. but you get the idea I hope)
• If there is something you have been wanting.. like a new CD, book or a laptop computer, make it a reward for yourself. Don’t allow yourself to go get it until you have crossed that goal or task off your master list.

On a personal note, I was very determined to lose some weight and get in shape. I lost 20 pounds in July and was really proud of myself and more so for sticking with the commitment. August is here and almost gone and I have kept up a healthy eating routine but I have completely dropped the exercise ball (no pun intended). I have not worked out nearly as much as I had decided I would.

Motivation is needed! Before, I was motivated just by the fact that I didn’t fit in my clothes anymore and I was always tired. Now, I am back at the task of working and sitting at my desk all day and not making the time I need to go work out. So here is what I am doing to motivate myself. I told my husband that I will work out for a minimum of 30 minutes every single day for the next 14 days (that is when I leave for a business trip to Atlanta). and that if I miss even one day then I can’t go.. that I will cancel my trip. I want to go more then anything in the world and have already paid for the non-refundable tickets. Am I motivated? You bet!!

What do you need or want to do? What can you do to increase your motivation? (Leaving a comment on a blog post about what you will do counts as accountability… just saying!)

Unraveling Your Success Strings – By Dr. Jeanette Cates

 I’d like to introduce you to an Internet Marketing Superstar, Jeanette Cates. She is a teacher and leader that I look up to and have learned a great number of valuable online lessons from. One of her unique specialties is how organized she is and how great she is at putting together and following systems. If you are not already a fan of hers, you soon will be!

If you’ve ever been stuck on a problem in your online business and didn’t have a clue where to start, here’s a technique that may work for you. It’s called “unraveling the strings of success.” You’ll be able to visualize those strings as you see how it works.

1. Figure out what you want. It may be a new website, more subscribers, fewer support tickets. In online business terms, let’s say I want “more sales.”

2. Now take that goal and ask yourself “What do I need to get more sales?” Again, for the online business owners, it’s probably something like better website sales conversions, more traffic, better follow up.

3. Next take one of those topics and start unraveling it. “If I want more traffic, what do Continue reading »

Success Map – Small Business Entrepreneur

A business needs many things to be successful. The crazy thing is that you can ask 25 successful people what they do that makes their business thrive and you may very well get 25 different answers. Sure there will be some cross over and a connection, but no two maps would be the same. The differences can be very subtle and don’t forget they each add their own unique twist and personality into the mix.

What if someone asked you to create a map of your success, they offered to pay you a great deal if you would provide a step by step guide to reach success in your market or in your niche? What would that look like? This is a fun and productive idea because it would cause you to focus much more intently on what you do and how you do it so that you could share this map. Most people don’t even know exactly what and how they do most things because they are on auto pilot.

The other part of this ploy is that you may well be aware that you are not on a clear path to success and the idea of creating a map for others would hold you accountable to living and working by a higher standard then you typically do. If you were responsible for creating a map of success and you did not yet think of yourself as successful then you might take your job and your role much more seriously then you do right now. What do you think?

If you were going to write and design a map for someone to follow in your footsteps of great success what would that look like? Where would you start?

Killer Applications In Business

A killer application in business is always an important consideration when looking to stand out and get attention in a positive and upbeat way. People have opportunities to do business with a great number of people, namely your competition, around every corner. Why should they choose you? What do you have that most other offers do not have? What is the thing that defines you that everyone would like to be surrounded by?

There is a lot of sameness going around these days. It is easy to be attracted to the latest ‘grab attention’ gimmick but what is much more valuable is your integrity and your authenticity. Focus on what makes you unique and then get out and share that in a way that adds value to what other people are trying to accomplish. You have information, ideas, resources and connections that are unique to you. How can you work those into your business model?

The answers are all around you. You may even get ideas from your own personal experiences from doing business as a consumer. People crave connections and the want more value. If you can offer them a personal connection with you and/or your business as well as give them much more in use value then they pay you in dollar value then you have a winning combination.

What can you create that would be special for your customers that they want and need? Something that has your personal twist so they can’t get it anywhere else? Ask this question as many times as it takes before you get a killer idea that you can apply. Then get working on that idea in the next week and implement it as soon as it is finished. Create buzz about your ‘gift’ and set out to share it everywhere you can.

Stop Out Self Sabotage – Your Business Success Depends On It!

Self sabotage is a real situation that is experienced by the best of us. In theory it makes sense, but logically it is very far from making any sense at all. Who would actually go out of their way and try to find ways to hold themselves back from success and moving forward? Okay, I’ll admit it… I do!

I have made a list of the top 3 ways that people sabotage their efforts. I am not thrilled to say this out loud, but I am doing all 3 of these things right now! Yes, I am actually finding ways to hold myself back. No, not on purpose, and I don’t feel like I am going out of my way to sabotage my efforts, but these are some things that just kind of sneaked up on me and they may sneak up on you. Look out for these unsupportable actions:

1. Over promising and under delivering. In business it is the opposite that will help you excel and be successful. Everyone has hear that you want to under promise and over deliver, this way you look like the hero and a well organized and productive entrepreneur. When you over promise and under deliver, your prospects and clients may get the idea that you can’t handle the work, that you are not in integrity or that you just don’t care. Any one of those thoughts in your customer’s thought can put you right out of business.
2. Questioning if you really have what it takes. Don’t second guess yourself. Know what you want and take action to accomplish it. Your mindset is a very important element in reaching your goals! You have to believe it is possible and you have to surround yourself with people who believe in you. When you have some thoughts pop up like, “Who do you think you are? Or “Can I really do… do I have what it takes?” … You have to be your own best cheerleader and remind yourself that you can indeed do it, not only can you, but you will do it!!
3. Information Overwhelm. Biting off more then you can chew with new information, classes, and books can alter your confidence. Spending money and committing to learning more only sets you back unless you have made room in your life and schedule to take the new information into practice by taking action right away. This is especially difficult now that we are fully in the information super highway era! Great information and wonderful people are everywhere and ready to teach us some great new tricks. Be careful… be very careful!!

Keep your eye on where you are looking to go. What is it that you want to accomplish? When you sense that self sabotage is entering your mind or environment, do whatever it takes to stop it before it settles in. Believe in yourself and know that if you can dream it then you can do it! Make it a daily habit to keep positive ideas and people in your life. When negativity tries to sneak in turn your focus to the vision of the result you are working toward and take action in that moment to move forward!