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A Year Of Saying YES!

A story of Life, Love and Business

No. 81 Don't Put Off Until Tomorrow Things You Could Do Today

2019 Oct 29, 2019

I’m a ‘Last Minute Worker’ - I work best to a deadline. It has always been my way, although it took me years to recognise it.

The events of 2019 have meant that I have had to move away from this deadline driven model which has served me so well and learn a new way.

Why?

Well, because my deadline focussed way clearly works well when you can rely on things... when you can be certain about what will be happening from day to day, but it is not so good when you can’t rely on stuff.

As many of you know the one of the key features of 2019 has been my health issues and my cancer diagnosis and treatment. What that makes for is a period where things are very uncertain. You cannot be certain which days will be good, and which will be bad. You cannot be certain when you will be at home (and able to work) and when you may be called into hospital at short notice.

Deadlines whether externally or personally set...

No. 80 - Think BIGGER - Focus Your Efforts

2019 Oct 28, 2019

In my experience when most us start our first business our principal goal is to get paid for doing work that we love. We hustle to get our first offerings out there; we strive to find our first customers; we hone our skills and with luck we begin to earn a living.

But sometime later most people are struggling to grow their businesses beyond that point and to close the gap between where they are now and where they ‘really' want to be.

We find ourselves looking longingly at others with successful businesses, taking considerable time off; pursuing a variety of interests; having time to create great new products and services; and building talented Teams around them or outsourcing successfully to increase their potential to grow their businesses further. Many can’t understand why it isn’t happening for them too.

Running your own business is very different to being 'self-employed'. If you want to breakthrough the revenue ceiling with your business, to build...

No. 79 - Are Your Financial Expectations Holding You Back?

2019 Oct 22, 2019

Our December Business Bootcamp (2020 Vision - Goal Setting Day) is focusing on getting your Vision and Plans for 2020. The aim is to ensure that you are in the best possible shape to make 2020 your ‘best year yet’ in your Business.

That got us to thinking about where your thinking would need to be and what you would need in place to make the very best of that time.

The fundamental first step for any successful Business is finance. So, this week I want us to focus on our ‘Money Mindset’. The key question being:

‘Are your financial expectations holding you back?’

So, what do I mean by this?

Well, whilst the definition of ‘success’ means different things for all of us, as a Business Coach it’s my job to remind you that making money in your Business is not a maybe or a choice - if you want to build a sustainable Business you have to be clear ‘where’s the money’ in your Business...

No. 78 - Collaboration Is The Name Of The Game

2019 Oct 14, 2019

So, this week in our Business Club we have introduced a new format to a number of our regular features.

Now, in this instance some of the reasons for this change are obvious… (given my illness), my ability to be as consistent as I was previously is somewhat compromised, and my plans often have to change at short notice.

From my perspective, whilst this is understandable, it is still not ‘good enough’!

So, I recognised that I needed to take positive steps to address this before the level of compromise became too great for me personally and my customers.

But actually, this is not just a message about our Business. There is a much more universal message that we’d like you to consider about giving Collaboration some serious thought.

So, our question for you this week is - Is it time that you started to Collaborate more?

So, what do we mean by Collaboration?

Well, put simply - "Collaboration is the action of working with...

No.77 - What Do You Need To 'Buff-Up' In Your Business?

2019 Feb 24, 2019

This week I want to set you a challenge and I’d like you to give me some feedback over the week about the impact this Blog has on you.

Deal?

This week I want you all to take a good look at your business and be honest with yourself.

What I want you to notice is ‘what areas of your business do you need to buff up or tune in.’

Let me explain.

I’ll use a couple of analogies to help explain my point.

1 - If you want to make an impact always pay attention to shiny surfaces.

(I know I’m the first one to tell you to stop paying attention to shiny objects(!), but bear with me). When you walk into a restaurant or a hotel or even your front room, its my belief that if all the light reflective surfaces have been made to sparkle, then the whole room is immediately elevated. Everything looks better; better quality, more desirable, more inviting. When dust is allowed to settle the whole mood of the room changes. It suddenly...

No.76 - Are You Taking Responsibility Or Are You A Spectator?

2019 Feb 13, 2019

We’ve just introduced a new feature over in the Business Club which builds on our regular weekly Accountability feature. Every Monday our Members come on and tell us what they absolutely must get done that week. We now check-in with people individually during the week to see how they’re doing and whether they need any help from us. Not everyone needs it every week, but hopefully it will make a difference to whether they get to tick things off their ‘to do’ list.

It’s made me really think about accountability this week. The research shows that if you tell someone about your targets / goals you’re 65% more likely to be successful in delivering them. When you add in the magic ingredient of putting in agreed ‘check-in’ points that success rate increases to 97%!

So, there are lots of tricks and tips we can all deploy to help us to be accountable and deliver our goals… but what happens when things start to go awry; when...

No.75 - Looking At Things With Fresh Eyes

2019 Feb 04, 2019

I was wrong!

"Be willing to listen to others and be teachable;

You're not right about everything... nobody is"

Okay! So, I was wrong!

Not always easy to admit is it? But, sometimes the only thing to do is admit it and immerse yourself in learning from it.

You see I began my 'quest' (in February 2014) to learn how to understand the intricacies of harnessing the power of social media to help me build my new business when we moved to Scotland. Since then I have been open to learning about and mastering so many new and previously unexpected tactics and skills. But having previously trained in 'sales', and done MLM back in the 1980's, in some pretty regimented systems, I was very clear from the start on my quest that I wasn't going to spend my time and money working with, or listening to, the people that talked to me about Sales and Marketing 'Machines'.

For me the phrase 'Sales Machine' transported me straight back to the 1980's and to those people who valued the 'sale' above...

No.74 - Hold The Line & Keep Moving Forward!

2019 Jan 28, 2019

When I’m Coaching I often get asked how I appear to keep just powering forward all the while, even when unexpected things happen or things go wrong. I know for new Business Owners (and sometimes for longer term Business Owners) it can sometimes seem like a hard slog to keep going.

It’s true that since arriving here to live full time in Scotland, in August 2016, there really has been no rest. We’ve not taken a holiday and we have just kept going. We started out Business in the spring of 2017 and are still working hard everyday to build our Brand and broaden our reach. But neither of us ever expected anything different. Making such a big move was never likely to be a walk in the park!

To be honest exactly what keeps me going isn't something that I have ever had to think about until I started to get asked! It has just been how I do things. Now, helping others to move forward day by day, week on week, month on month I have had to analyse what drives me...

No.73 - Believe In Yourself

2019 Jan 23, 2019

On Monday I wrote about how to survive the nagging self-doubt that so many of us struggle with.

In my work with my Business Coaching Clients I often find that this is the first work that we have to do together - in order to get them as individuals to value themselves and heir unique skills and talents.

Last week I was down in England working with groups of Senior Managers to help them to build their strongest Teams to deliver what are some challenging Goals in 2019.

This has been part of what I have done for many, many years, in order to drive forward the massive Change Programmes that I have led. Unlike many companies that come in to work along-side these Teams I have a very different approach to helping them to achieve their goals and move forward.

Whether I am working with a one-person Business or a multi-million pound organisation I begin with the notion of 'working with strengths'. Every individual in the Team has a role to play and has unique qualities and...

No.72 - Look For The Lion Within You...

2019 Jan 21, 2019

Every week in my role as Coach I have the joy of working with many new Business Owners to help them move forward in their business. It’s a privileged position from which I get to share their successes and failures and their highs and lows.

One of the things that often surprises new Business Owners the most is the degree to which their mindset can affect their day to day progress and productivity.

Not surprisingly, most business owners are obsessed with doing the work they love; following their mission; finding a regular stream of customers and growing their business. But, often the things that keep them awake at night relate to their own self-doubts.

Being a Business Owner is a complex thing. If we are honest most of us find ourselves fluctuating in our mood and mindset on an almost daily (or even hourly!) basis.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Whilst every Business Owner is different their concerns and doubts often follow similar...

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