A Clear, Simple Method For Achieving Goals

It’s January 5th and for many people that may mean their New Year’s resolutions may already be a faint memory. No worries, you can start over any time you want. Or, if you’re like me and haven’t done any yet, you can start whenever you want. I’m being extra purposeful this year. Last week I wrote about choosing a word for 2014 and I finally settled on one. My word is ‘steward’. Now that I have my word in mind I’m going to create my one-year goals around my word. I choose one-year goals instead of resolutions and they seem to work better for me.

Let me share a run-down of a method that works and doesn’t take a lot of time. First, start with a brainstorming session and write down everything you can think of that you want in each of the 7 areas of life (career, financial, relationships, recreation, health, personal growth, and community). After you’ve exhausted all your idea, choose your top 3 in each area and those become your one year goals.

Next, and this is the key, choose 3 small goals per week that support one or more of your one-year goals. You don’t need to do 3 goals for each area of life, just 3 goals total. Small, purposeful actions over the course of one year will make a significant impact on your life. Just make sure you’re not giving all your attention to one area. The idea is to go for balance.

Each week, when you have your 3 goals in place, use a daily time blocking technique to intentionally carve out time to do everything you said you wanted to do. The biggest lie in the world people tell themselves to absolve themselves of responsibility for their lack of action is that there isn’t enough time. I would prefer that people would just be honest with themselves and not say they want to do things that they really don’t.

And finally, commit to improvement every month. Be mindful about your attitude and commit to working on improving a specific attitude each month. What skills do you need to master? What training will you take? What book will you read?
A few consistent actions taken over the course of time can change your life. If this sounds like a method you can work with, check out the How to Organize & Manage Your Time – A One Year Planning and Action Guide. This workbook has everything you need to meet your goals over the next year.

Remember, you can achieve whatever you believe as long as you are willing to work for it!

Liz Uram is the owner of The Coach & Mentor Group, the best choice for personal and professional development for the self-employed.  Get your free eBook ‘5 Ways To Boost Your Business Now!’

Is Your Business Model a Money Maker?

Do you think about your business model often?  No?  Well, you’re not alone.  It’s not something that is top of mind for most people.  Or, is it?  You probably spend a lot of time thinking about how you are going to make money.  And at it’s simplest, that’s what a business model is.  It’s really about how you will get your product or service into the hands of the people who need it. 

A strategy is helpful to make it happen as quickly as possible.  A strategy lays out the roadmap so you don’t waste time on detours.  Don’t short change yourself by thinking that strategy is just about marketing.  It’s so much more than that.   To keep things simple, let’s look at 3 things:

What do you do.  The first thing you need to do to get more cash in your pocket and get on the road to results is to be super clear on what you do.  Have you ever had someone explain their business to you and when they were done you still had no idea what they did?  They probably won’t get a lot of referrals from you will they? I learned that lesson the hard way.  I had to take a hard look at my message and set aside some things that weren’t working and focus on the things that were and get better at those things.  As soon as I did that, doors immediately began to open up and my business began to grow.

Who do you do it for.  The second basic that will bring more cash into your business is getting clear on who you do it for.  This means erasing the words ‘everyone’ and ‘anyone’ from your messaging and figuring out who needs and wants to hear what you have to say.  What good is a great message if there’s no one to hear it?  By focusing on your ideal client and what makes them ideal, and knowing what’s important to them, you will be able to use the words that they will respond to.  You will be attractive.

How do you do it.  The last basic is where do you do it? It’s time to put that message out there where your ideal client can find it.  People can’t do business with you if they don’t know you exist.  But, in order to keep cash in your pocket you need to put your message in the right places.  This is where saving money comes in.  There are many ways to get your product or service to market and you need to find the best distribution method for you.  You can choose in person through expos or networking, online methods, if you have products you can get them into stores or have other people sell on your behalf.

There is more to a successful business model than these 3 things but these basics must not be overlooked if you want to be profitable.  There are many options for developing the right business model for you.  The key is to get a clear strategy.   This is how I help my clients.  It’s not that they don’t know what to do, they do.  It’s a matter of taking all those ideas, sorting them out, and deciding on which steps to take.  It is hard to be objective with your own business and that is why many successful business owners get outside help.  In the meantime, a good place to start is getting super clear on what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it.  Watch these videos for step by step instructions.  Remember, you achieve whatever you believe as longs as you are willing to work for it.   Visit The Coach & Mentor Group to learn more.

Are you taking daily actions for success?

I was recently asked to speak to a team of independent distributors for a health and wellness company to give them some step by step action steps to get them ready to tackle a 90-day challenge that will help them achieve their next level of success.  The challenge involves giving away 90 magazines in 90 days.  That seems easy to do, but without a committed action plan it’s easier not to do.

If you were doing a challenge like that, you would ideally give away one item per day.  But, in all likelihood, without a plan you might end up with 70 magazines to giveaway in the last 10 days and you wouldn’t.  Most people would say they didn’t have enough time.  Did you know that ‘not enough time‘ is just code for ‘didn’t have a plan‘?

Luckily, for this team of distributors they set themselves up for success from the start by figuring out what their consistent daily actions are going to be and getting their hands on the How to Organize & Manage Your Time – A One Year Planning and Action Guide.

If you want to achieve great results in any area of your life that you are working on, give yourself the best odds for success by making consistent daily actions a priority. Success is a process and it takes time. However, you can minimize the time it takes to see results by doing a few basics consistently over time. It’s all about setting goals, taking action, and being accountable. 

Set goals with the end in mind.  You don’t want to set just any goals, you need goals that add value.  Taking a look at the example I shared, standing on the corner handing out a magazine to everyone who walks by is not going to serve the ultimate purpose.  The end in this case is a certain number of people signing up for something more.  You have better odds of success if you are handing out the magazines to qualified leads.  That means your first goal should be to figure out who your ideal client is and then find out where you can find many of them in one place.

Take action.  The biggest reason people don’t succeed at what they want is they don’t take action.  They spend too much time thinking or making excuses and not enough time doing.  It’s too easy to make excuses and tell yourself that you’ll do it tomorrow.  The problem with tomorrow is that tomorrow never comes. You must make time to do the things that matter. Remember, you always have choices.

Be accountable to someone.  Accountability increases your chance for success by 40%.  Accountability is simple telling another person what you are going to do and then reporting back on whether you did what you said you were going to do.  Hardly anyone wants to go back to their accountability partner and say they didn’t do it.  This is why people who use coaches are so successful.  It’s important to choose the right person because you don’t want to be accountable to someone who will nurture your excuses.

Apply these three ideas to any area of your life that you are working on and you cannot help but see good results.  But every day you make an excuse is another day you stay exactly where you are.   My encouragement for you is that you will set some goals, take the action, and get accountable.  Remember, you can achieve whatever you believe as long as you are willing to work for it!

What you need to know about business plans

Let’s face it.  No one comes rushing up to me asking to help them prepare a business plan.  The very words ‘business plan’ seem to produce an immediate glaze over some solo entrepreneur’s eyes.  Business plans can seem boring on the surface but they are the foundation of a solid business.  Yeah, I know, that still sounds boring.  Whoever said everything about business had to be exciting?

I’m passionate about educating solo entrepreneurs about the importance of planning because the statistics are pretty grim for those who skip this vital step.  One study shows that only 5% of business owners have a business plan.   A separate study shows that 95% of businesses don’t last 5 years.   Think there’s a correlation there?  It’s one of those things that you know is good for you but hard to believe you need it until it’s too late.

So why don’t people take the time to put a plan together?  Mainly because they hear the words business plan and think it’s a bunch of useless information that they will never need.  Not so and that is why I’m making it my mission to inform business owners about the benefits of doing a business plan.  In order to understand the benefits it’s important to know the different parts of the plan.  Now, this can be as complicated as you want it to be but I prefer a simple approach so I’ll share what I cover with my clients:

1)       Overview.  The overview contains the most basic information about your business.  But don’t be fooled.  Just because it’s basic doesn’t mean it’s not important.  We review several categories but the most important one is the company mission statement.  The stated purpose for your company.  Many business owners gloss over this but it provides a reference point that helps make decisions down the road that are in line with why the company exists.

2)      Products and Services.  You need to know what you’re selling and at what price.  Spending some time on this section helps ensure that you have the right mix to support your revenue goals.  One area that most solo entrepreneurs have difficulty with is pricing.  The pricing challenges get ironed out in the section.

3)      Marketing Plan.  The all important marketing plan.  Without it you will end spending all kinds of time and money on marketing activities that won’t get the results you need.

4)      Operation Plan.  This section covers how you will do business.  Another section that the solo entrepreneur can easily brush off with the misguided notion that it doesn’t apply because they are working out of their home office.   If you don’t want your business running you then you want to define your hours of operation in this section along with other important information.

5)      Management and Organization.  Again, another section that is easy for the solo entrepreneur to overlook because you work alone right?  Well, this isn’t necessarily about management of employees.  This section allows you to think about functions you can outsource like accounting and virtual assistance.

I hope I’ve at least provided a little food for thought and have spiked your curiosity a little.  My encouragement for you is to at least take a closer look if you haven’t done a plan yet.   I take the pain out of it as much as possible by walking my clients through the process hand in hand.  I’ve never had any regret the process.   Why?  Because what they learn about themselves (I include a strengths assessment in my program) and their business during the process provides an indescribable level of belief and commitment that just wasn’t there before.   It’s why I do what I do.

Want to talk about your plan and see if you have any gaps?  Schedule a complimentary Get Focused consultation and we’ll check it out.

Remember, you can achieve whatever you believe as long as you are willing to work for it!

5 More Ways to Control Your Time

Don’t go down the rabbit hole. Have you ever been on a website that ended an hour later with visits to many other websites and links? That’s the rabbit hole. There is so much great information on the web and so many websites that are full of content it is easy to get absorbed in all the information available. It can also be a huge time waster. Set aside time for surfing the web like at lunch time. If you just said to yourself “what’s lunch time?” then you need to implement all of these ideas right away! Lunch is not a four letter word.
Group appointments. If you are mapping out your time this will be easier to do because you’ve already decided on the days and times that you are available. If you meet people in person group your appointments in the same geographic location so you aren’t running all over town. Planning ahead will also benefit you in this area because you can fill in any gaps with people you want to see or even just personal errands that need to get done if you are in between appointments.
Delegate. There are lots of amazing women out there trying to start their own businesses who would love to help out. A few places to start might be a virtual assistant who can help with administration, email marketing, and database maintenance. Or a bookkeeper who can keep your records up to date and in order. How about someone to maintain your social media accounts? Think you can’t afford to delegate? Think again. If you are a service provider and your hourly rate is $150 an hour, you can save $115 an hour by hiring a virtual assistant at $35 an hour to do your administration tasks. You can spend that extra time growing your business.
Touch it once. Whenever possible, handle mail, email, and paperwork just once. Reply, file, or delete it. Make a decision. You will benefit by having less clutter. Less clutter means less stress. There are very simple ways to create filing systems. You can create virtual folders on your email account. Buy file folders for your physical mail. Enter information as you receive it or file it to hand off to your assistant or bookkeeper. No need to spend a lot of money on filing systems. Keep it simple.
Keep a notebook for your ideas. A cluttered mind takes up time. Our minds get full when we have too much stuff going on up there. Busy, creative minds are wonderful things and transferring our thoughts to paper clears our minds for our next great idea. Keep a notepad and pen with you at all times so you can jot down your ideas. I have special notebooks I keep just for ideas. It’s fun to go back to them and see what I was thinking. Sometimes I laugh and say to myself, “what were you thinking?” and other times I find that idea has been implemented. Lists also come in helpful for remembering little tasks that need to be done.

For a complete, simple use system for better time management, check out “How to Organize & Manage Your Time – A One Year Planning and Action Guide“.

5 Ways to Control Your Time

Time is something most people wish they had more of. Here are 5 ways to squeeze more out of your day:

Plan Ahead I call this living on purpose. I like to plan my week out on Sunday nights. I use an old-fashioned paper calendar and I transfer my schedule to my daily planner using color coding to see what areas I need to fill in. This gives me a good overview of where I’m spending my time and what areas need more attention. This does not take long at all and helps me to be purposeful about where my time is going. If I notice that I have not spent much time on relationships recently, I can make it a point to plan something. I do not micro-manage my time in the least, and if you saw my daily planner you would see a lot of white space, but I do want to be intentional about spending time on the things that are important to me.

Prioritize This does not require complicated calculations or numbering systems. It simply requires that you know what is important to you and for you to focus your energy on those things. The best way I know for doing this is to sit down and decide what you want to accomplish over the next year in the different areas of your life – financial, career, relationships, recreation, health, personal development, and community service. Choose 3 things for each area and those become your priority. Focus your time and energy on activities that will help support what you want in those areas.

Limit time suckers Time suckers can be different for each person. For some it is social media outlets for some it is emails or television. Know what your time suckers are and then get disciplined. Time management is all about discipline and being willing to give up some things for the short term in order to enjoy long term success. Doing a time study is a great way to get an accurate account of where your time is going. To do a time study you track where your time is going in half hour increments in real time. It can seem tedious and time consuming but what you find out about where your time is really going is worth it.

Map out your time Do you have specific time set aside for business activities? Do you know how many hours you want to work each week? If you don’t, your time will get away from you. First, decide how many hours you will work each week. Then break that down into client time, marketing time, admin time, etc. If you are a service provider you can’t spend all of your time with clients. You have to spend time marketing too in order to keep your pipeline full. Map it out using the daily planner and decide what days and times you will set aside for each activity.

Minimize personal calls This is especially important for self-employed people. Your friends and family will want to call you during the day to chat because you aren’t doing anything anyway, right? It’s important to become disciplined about this so that it doesn’t become a habit. Early on it is important to spend as much time as possible focusing and working on business development activities to help your business grow.

For a total time management system that isn’t time consuming, check out How to Organize & Manage Your Time – A One Year Planning and Action Guide.

Can you see it? Success is right around the corner…

Can you see it?  Visualizing yourself where you want to be is a power tool in helping you achieve the life you want.  Many professional and personal development experts tout the benefits of this exercise which is known as the Law of Attraction.  Not everyone shares in this philosophy but it certainly can’t hurt anything so if you haven’t tried this before I want to encourage you to give it a try.  Here are some tips to get started:

Make your vision ‘visual’.  There are many ways to make your vision visual.  It isn’t important how you do it, it’s just important that you get your vision out of your head and onto something tangible that you can see.  You can create an elaborate vision board with pictures  that represent the life you want or you can simply write out what you want on a piece of paper.  Some people like to use colorful sticky notes on a big piece of flip chart paper.  Some people like a straightforward, neatly organized goal chart.  Do whatever suits your personality – just get it out of your head.

Make ‘no limitations’ your motto.  It’s too easy for so many people to bury their dreams because they second-guess themselves, compare themselves to others, and get caught up in negative self-talk and talk themselves out of what they really want.  It’s your dream, it’s your life!  You must believe that you are good enough (you are), you are capable (you are), and you are worth it (you are).  And remember, your vision isn’t something you publicize to the world.  You can if you want, but you don’t have to.  Better to keep it yourself than share with others who won’t support you.

Make a habit of ‘seeing’ your vision.  What I mean by this is use your imagination to actually view things around you differently.    I have a client who has an empty office but wants to see it filled with the hustle and bustle of employees and clients.  I encouraged him to practice visualizing the scene each day when he walks into the office instead of the empty scene that awaits him now.  Inability to see beyond their present circumstance holds many people back from achieving what they are really capable of.   Use your imagination and get in the habit of seeing things as you want them to be.

All action is born in thought and each thought starts with a tiny spark of a seed so it is important to plant the right seeds.  If you have negative thoughts then you will most likely reap negative experiences.  On the other hand, if you have positive thoughts you will start taking actions that help support those thoughts and before long you will begin to see a change in your surroundings.  Practice these ideas until they become a habit, it takes about 30 days to create a new habit, and you cannot fail to have a change in your perspective and in your attitude.  You can achieve whatever you believe as long as you are willing to work for it!  Visit The Coach & Mentor Group to learn more.

Get What You Want the SMART Way

Setting goals is the fastest to get from where you are to where you want to be. Once you have your big vision in mind, set smaller goals that help you get there. I recommend just 3 meaningful goals per week. It might not seem like a lot but you will make significant progress towards what you want if you do this consistently and follow the SMART method. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based.

Be specific when setting goals. Statements like I want to increase my revenue, or get more clients, or lose weight are not specific. Stating that your goal is to increase your revenue by 20%, or to add 10 new clients per week, or to lose 20 pounds is very specific. Now you have a clear vision of what you are trying to achieve. If your goal is ambiguous you’ll never know if you reach it. Don’t let yourself be deterred by the fact that you don’t know how it will happen.

Make your goals measurable. There are few things more motivating than hitting a goal. But if you don’t have a measure you miss out on that sense of satisfaction of being able to say “I did it!”. Regardless of the type of goal – increased revenue, number of clients, weight loss, life/work balance – quantify it so you’ll know when you can check it off the list.

Make your goals achievable. When you are setting weekly goals, make sure they are small enough to be completed in a week’s time. If it is a larger goal that cannot be completed in a week then break it into smaller pieces that can be done a week at a time. You will experience a great sense of accomplishment as you chip away at your goals. Incremental steps are best for long-term sustainable results.

Be realistic. Assess your current situation compared to where you want to be realistic about the steps you need to reach the bigger goal. If you are currently making $500 a month and you want to make $10,000 a month you are better off setting your first goal at $1000 a month and moving up from there. Be careful that you don’t use realistic as an excuse to shy away from trying something though. Part of the fun of goal setting is stretching your comfort zone. It’s fun to see yourself doing something you never thought you could do.

Set time frames for the completion of goals.  While your ultimate goal may have a time frame of one year, the mini-goals you are setting to reach the big goal will have much shorter time lines.  Time limits provide motivation and help keep you focused.  You can create new habits by disciplining yourself.  Using the weekly goal setting system you get the satisfaction of seeing many check marks which will keep you motivated.

Now it’s time to get to work.  Ultimate achievements are built by stringing together many small, attainable goals and the goals you set should support your overall visions of what you are trying to be, do, or have.  It’s one thing to put your goals in writing and another to put them into action.  Remember that you can achieve whatever you believe if you are willing to work for it.

Want to learn more?  Click here to request Instant Access to ‘4 Keys to Your Best Year Ever!’ webinar and learn more techiques for successful goal setting and planning.

Putting together the pieces of success

A lot of people have the holidays on their mind at this time of year but it’s actually a great time to start thinking about planning for next year.  Why wait until the beginning of the year to get going? Wouldn’t it be great to be all set to blast off and start off strong?  The success you achieve in the future begins with actions taken now.   Just like the success you enjoy now is the result of actions put into motion in the past.  It’s all about momentum and momentum begins with a single step.  Think of the powerful locomotive that starts out slowing chugging along and ends up as an unstoppable mass of energy.

Your greatest chance for success starts with a plan.  Here are 3 ideas to get started.

Think about what you really want to achieve.  Set aside a few hours, a full day, or whatever amount of time you want to lay out your vision.  Get creative however creativity looks to you.  You might have a wall full of post-it notes, or flip charts with colorful markers, or just a plain old pen and notepad.  It doesn’t matter what medium you use to get your vision down, the key is to get it out of your head and onto paper.   When you’re ready to this, be relaxed, in a good mood, and don’t second guess yourself.  Start by writing out everything you can think of.  It doesn’t matter if it’s big or little, realistic or unimaginable, this exercise is like dumping out a box full of puzzle pieces.  You get to figure out how to put them together later.  

All action is born in thought.  Procrastination and inactivity is the result of too much time thinking and not enough time doing.  Getting your thoughts down on paper, as just described, is the first step in achieving what you want.  It is amazing what can happen just by getting things out of your head and down on paper.  You can begin to see the big picture.  Just like when all the puzzle pieces that are out of the box, you can begin to see how they can come together.  As long as they are in the box nothing will happen.  Once they are out of the box you will likely start to pick them up and start piecing them together.

Success takes time.  Just like the puzzle, success takes time.  Of course, the length of time depends on the difficulty involved.  A 500 piece puzzle won’t take as long as a 5000 piece puzzle.   When you’re dealing with your life or your business you’re probably dealing with a 5000 piece puzzle at least. Just like the puzzle, success is a process that includes prepping, testing, analyzing, and tweaking.  Be realistic about what you are trying to achieve so you don’t get discouraged.  If it’s a long term goal, don’t expect overnight success.  A few pieces of the puzzle put together might not look like much but you have to start somewhere.  If you keep at it eventually the picture will become more defined, more clear, and eventually you will have succeeded.

My encouragement for you this week is that you will plan to plan.  Schedule some time before the end of the year where you can have relaxed, uninterrupted planning time.  Have fun with it and just take it step by step.  If you want some help getting started, call or email me to schedule a Get Focused session.  Remember, you can achieve whatever you believe as long as you are willing to work for it.

Liz Uram is a certified professional coach, has a B.A. in Organizational Leadership, is the author of ‘How to Organize & Manage Your Time – A One Year Planning and Action Guide’, and is an award-winning speaker.  She specializes in helping entrepreneurs and solo professionals attract
more qualified leads, get more clients, and make more money!  Request your free eBook 5 Steps to Boost Your Business Now!

Plan for Success

Do you have a plan?  Here’s what happens if you don’t plan – you start looking for quick fixes, you throw money at the “next best thing” that’s going to solve all of your problems, you are constantly in a reactive mode, and you never reach the level you want.  Why does a plan a work?  Because it gives you a solid foundation to work from.  A plan comes with immediate hidden bonuses that you might not experience otherwise – clarity, commitment, and confidence.

It doesn’t matter which area of your life you want to work on, your greatest chance for success happens when you have a plan.  Here are 3 ways to get started.

Take a time out to think about what you are really trying to achieve.  When we’re talking about business, of course our end goal is to get more clients and make enough money for our desired lifestyle.  There are a few steps in between that have to happen first.  If you are looking at your health you might want to eat healthier or lose weight.  Maybe you want to work on your relationships and that means scheduling time to be with those people.  Whatever it is, it starts with a clear idea of what you want and what you want your life to look like.  Don’t be content with drifting through life hoping everything will turn out okay.  You get to choose what your life looks like. The How to Organize and Manage Your Time workbook lays it all out for you.

Pound it into your head that success takes time.  You are not going to see immediate results the second you start taking action.  This is why people waste so much on the quick fix.  Someone tells you that you absolutely must invest in SEO on your website if you want your business to be successful.  Guess what?  If you invest in that without thinking about how it fits into your overall plan, you will most likely never see a return on the potentially thousands of dollars you invest.  I’m not saying SEO is a bad thing, I’m saying you need to know if it makes sense for your business.  People are falling for these one-size fits all marketing efforts all the time without knowing if it fits with the strategy because they have no strategy!

Don’t try to figure it out on your own.  I cannot stress enough that it pays to have someone beside you as you work out your plan.  I’ve been talking to too many people lately who are struggling with next steps, not following through, and wasting time to trying to figure it out on their own.  It’s not that they don’t know what to do, they do.  They are very smart people with great ideas and good businesses.  But it’s too easy to confuse ourselves with all the information out there.  I don’t care if you use me or someone else but I’m telling you the best investment you can make is a coach to help you develop a plan and keep you on task with that plan.  How do I know?  Because I use a coach and I benefit from the investment.  Learn more about coaching here.

For more planning ideas, request your free eBook 5 Steps to Boost Your Business Now!  Liz Uram is a certified professional coach, has a B.A. in Organizational Leadership, is the author of ‘How to Organize & Manage Your Time – A One Year Planning and Action Guide’, and is an award-winning speaker.  She specializes in helping entrepreneurs and solo professionals attract more qualified leads, get more clients, and make more money!