Hello everyone and thank you for joining me for this month-end episode on goals. I hope you are enjoying the holidays and have a safe and happy New Year.
The end of November and December were very active. I was surprised at how busy I was with meetings right up to the weekend before Christmas. That is unusual but a good sign that you all are ready to create some big things in 2019.
The Create and Achieve Goals that Are Worthy of You workshop was so much fun and the feedback was incredibly helpful. What was clear was that we needed more time - duly noted!
I also attended and conducted round tables at The Massachusetts Conference for Women. With over 12,000 people in attendance that day it made for a high energy event. As someone put it, “It was overwhelming in all the good ways.”
What was really gratifying for me was, as a speaker, I was invited to have my books sold in the bookstore and they sold out. I can’t tell you how amazed and delighted I was. Many things validated for me that I was with my people. Not just women, but go-getting women who are eager to participate fully in their growth and development.
Now I’m spending some time unplugged with my family and friends. I’m spending some time resting and finalizing my goals for next year and I’ll share more about that in the next episode which will be releasing in a couple weeks.
For now, let’s get caught up on how my 2018 goals landed.
To catch up anyone who is new to the Women Taking the Lead podcast, last December I did a series of episodes to walk everyone through my goal setting process and I used myself as an example to take you through all the steps.
I promised during that time that I would keep you updated on my progress toward my goals in the hope that it would be helpful for you as you work toward accomplishing your goals.
This episode is the progress report on my goals through December.
During the Goal setting series I identified four focus areas that were important to me this year and each area has a specific goal assigned to it.
Because I was struggling a little bit with this goal I also created 4 sub-goals in June. These sub-goals are, by year end:
November’s Profit and Loss report showed a net profit of $1822.98. I did not meet the average $6800 net profit I’m was looking for each month this year and I’ve been reflecting on this and actively talking to coach colleagues of mine about this concern.
There were some things missing in the attainment of this goal but it was not a lack of effort or activity that was the problem. I worked HARD to achieve this goal and applied many strategies that got some traction, but not enough. There were 3 things missing that got in the way of my achieving this goal.
I accomplished my goal to do 1000 chest-to-ground burpees back in October but I have yet to do the unassisted pull-up.
Although I have continued to do pull-us with a band as a part of my workout I was not driven to accomplish this goal by year-end. I did not have the same drive and passion for the pull-up that I had for the burpees. This tells me that this goal was chosen more for my ego than to be in alignment with living the life I want to live. I’ll continue to incorporate pull-ups in my weekly routine but I’m likely going to let the task of doing the unassisted pull-up go.
Who knows, this may come back sometime in the future and if I happen to hit the goal in the course of getting more fit, I will let you know.
Although I did not accomplish this goal this year, working toward this goal definitely got me out of my comfort zone and caused a lot of growth for me.
I am much more aware of what I am looking for in a partner at this stage in my life and just recently I had a huge “ah-ha” seeing myself falling into a now-familiar pattern of settling for something casual, hoping that something will change in the near future. It never does.
Note to self: If they are not in, I’m out!
As my sister reminds me, “stay open, stay available, stay vulnerable. There is someone out there for you.” I believe that, and that it’s only a matter of time and as hard as it can be to remain open, available and vulnerable, that’s what I’m going to do.
I’m going to focus on being me and having fun. That’s actually what my focus for 2019 is going to be. Being me and having fun with everything I do.
Success! I checked this goal off this month and am considering some smaller workshops in the future.
My Mom is doing much better now that the chemo is working its way out of her body. She is getting her strength and appetite back. She will be having Lasik surgery on both eyes and once she is healed from that her radiation treatments will begin. Oy!
As always I hope this update was of value to you and here’s to your success!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this online mini-course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Hello everyone and thank you for joining me. I have a special episode for you this week. As we are heading into the New Year and you are visualizing and commenting to what you want to create in the coming year I thought we could get some inspiration from some of my recent guests. I hope you are as energized and inspired by their words as I am.
201: Dana Malstaff on Seeing Your Value as a Mom and Businesswoman
“Ah, but a man's [or woman’s] reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?” ~ Robert Browning
202: Elizabeth Williams-Riley on Being Open to Loving Everyone
“You never know how much your past will affect your future until it shows up in your present.” ~ Elizabeth Williams-Riley
americanconferenceondiversity.org
203: Rene Brent on Happiness & Subconscious Mind
“Do something every day that scares you.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
PracticeHappyNow.com
ReneBrentHypnosis.com
204: Tara Lynn Foster on Situational Confidence
“Fear is stupid, so are regrets.” ~ Marilyn Monroe
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Phillipains 4:6-7
205: Lee Hews on Leading with Action
“It’s all about balance.” ~ Lee Hews
206: Kara Lamerato on Owning You are a Leader
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” ~ Rosa Parks
207: Ariana Sylvester on Not Wanting to Be a Burden
“Be the kind of leader that you would follow.”
208: Jen Hecht on Similarities Between Business & Dating
“Let’s get it together, sisters!”
209: Lolly Daskal on How Curiosity & Self-Reflection Can Set You Free
“Greatness is a destiny that is available to anyone. We just have to choose it."
210: Erin Robbins on How to Give So Everyone Wins
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” ~ Thomas Edison
211: Kara Snyder on How to Overcome Type-A Burnout
“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.” ~Colette
212: Jen Glantz on Creating a Unique Business
“Never, never, never give up”
213: Lindsey Anderson on Being Truthful with Yourself
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” ~ Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple.
214: Andi Simon on Making Change a Doable Opportunity
“We take observation into innovation.”
215: David Lee on Creating Safety in Conversations
“Better results require better conversations.”
216: Stephanie Breedlove on Turning Point Moments
“Never allow a person to tell you no who does not have the power to say yes.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
217: Lynda Adams on Being Mindful of Those Who Influence You
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
218: Diane Gardner on How to Stop Believing the Lies
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”
219: Maggie Patterson on the Value of Unplugging
“I run this day. This day does not run me, because otherwise, chaos will ensue.”
220: Joe De Sena on How to Begin Believing You Can
“It could be worse.”
221: Alison Cardy on Walking Toward Fear
“Your real life, your whole life is worth getting your heart broken a few thousand times.” ~ Martha Beck
222: Rita Morales on Leaping to Big and Scary
“You are enough.”
223: Naomi Amat on the Need to Nourish Yourself
“By nurturing you, you can better nurture your family too.”
224: Lisa Woodruff on Leaning In To What You Are Good At
“Done is better than perfect.”
“Progress over perfection.”
225: Megan Kelly on Creating the Experiences You Want to Have
“Better to ask forgiveness than permission.”
“Nevertheless, she persisted.”
226: Jenn Aubert on Identifying How You Want to Be of Service
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
227: Elizabeth Moss on Challenges Creating Opportunities for a Thriving Art Gallery
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
elizabethmossgalleries.com/about
228: Amanda O’Brien on Being a Leader Who Serves a Community
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed in the things you didn’t do than by the things you did do.”
229: Kelly Roach on Respecting the Stages of Entrepreneurship
“Be the best that you can be in everything that you do.”
230: Carol Mitchell on Breaking Female Stereotypes
“What do you care what other people think?” ~ Richard Feynman
231: Jen Brown on Making Moves When You Feel It
“You aren’t pizza. You won’t please everyone.”
232: Christina Vinters on What’s Possible When You Shed Self-Limiting Beliefs
“If you want to fly, give up what weighs you down.” ~Toni Morrison
233: Katie Krimitsos on Becoming the Version of You Who Can
“Stay in your lane.”
234: Katie Allen on Being Both Planner & Risk Taker
“The two most important days of your life are the day that you’re born and the day you figure out why.” ~ Mark Twain
235: Hira Ali on Believing “You’ve Got This!”
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” ~ Henry Ford
236: Maegan Watson on Evolving Your Business
“We are not given dreams or ideas without the ability to create them. We are not given the vision of ourselves without the bravery to being this vision to life. All you have to do is tell yourself that you are worth it, over and over.”
237: Melissa Hereford on How to Get What You Want
“The only thing to fear is fear itself.” ~ FDR
“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the slide, overthinking it. You have to go down the shoot.” ~ Tina Fey
238: Sari de la Motte on Trusting Your Gut
“People won’t remember what you said, but they’ll remember what they felt.” ~ Maya Angelou
239: Giovanna Capozza on Finding Your Meaning of Happiness
“You’re not doing this alone.”
240: Lynette Delane on “You Don’t Need that Piece of Paper!”
“Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are.” ~ Brene Brown
241: Anne L’Heureux on Empowering Those You Lead
“Do and believe that which leads you to your goals.” ~ Tom Bilyeu
242: Alissa Daire Nelson on Not Feeling Good Enough
“Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.”
243: Elizabeth Ross Holmstrom on Using Mindfulness to Combat Stress
“There’s no such thing as a weird human being, it’s just that some people might require more understanding than others.” ~ Tom Robbins
244: Suzanne Anderson on the Evolution of Women
“The place life calls you to, where the most aliveness is, is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” ~ Frederick Buechner
245: Brian Ligotti on Rethinking What You “Have To” Do
“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think” ~ Rumi
246: Kristy Wallace on Finding Balance by Releasing Perfection
“Love what you do.”
248: Angela Lussier on Speaking Your Voice
“Stop waiting. Start creating.”
249: Keisha Reynolds on the Valuable Risk to Be You
“There is something inside of us that transcends the human experience of race, and culture, and class, and for me that’s the human spirit.”
250: Alexa Gilmore on Coming Back to Your Body
“Be the first.
The first to say hello.
The first to compliment the other person.
The first to give credit.
The first to say sorry.
The first to offer to help.
The first to show up for someone else.
The first to set an example.
The first to offer hope.
The first to shine.
Be the first.”
~ Chris Winfield
251: Kelly Gushue on Helping Women to Succeed
“Carpe Diem.” ~Horace
252: Randi Levin on Living Your Legacy
“We tend to think of our legacy as something we leave behind at the end of our lives, but what would you do differently today if you believed that you had the choice to carve out exactly what you wanted that legacy to be in real time? Manifest that concept and magically you do have that choice. You are your own GPS in your life. Start by having a voice. Say yes by listening to that voice. What’s next? Now is your new next.”
If you loved this episode you are also going to love The Quotes From the First 100 Episodes and Another 100 Quotes to Take on the Go.
If you listened to this episode and got fired up to make things happen in the coming year but you are feeling lost or doubtful around how to make it happen, reach out to me. You can find me at jodi@womentakingthelead.com. I would love to hear from you and help you to achieve all your goals this year.
As always, I hope this was of value to you and here's to your success.
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this online mini-course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
If you enjoyed this episode subscribe in iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music or iHeart Radio and never miss out on inspiration and community!
There is a lot of competition in the online space and in the current job market. It can be difficult to distinguish yourself from others using the same strategies that have been around for decades. Even with the growing number of podcasts being launched daily there is still a barrier to entry and sustainability – making it the PERFECT way to stand out of the crowd if you’re willing to apply tried and true methods that simplify the process and attract the perfect audience for you.
Take some time to consider the following questions and journal your answers.
1. What do I want to be known for?
Before you can amplify your personal brand be very clear on what your personal brand is all about. This information will give you topic ideas and narrow the focus of what you cover so you are know for exactly what you want to be known for.
WTL example: I want to be known as a woman that helps other women own their power, step up as leaders in their own life, and go after what they want.
2. Who do I want to reach? Who is my ideal audience?
Is your audience the movers and shakers in your industry? Are you trying to reach your ideal customers? Are you looking to develop those who will come after you? Being very clear on who you want for your audience will help you to customize information and develop a format that will engage the people you want to engage.
WTL example: My ideal audience is women who are Type A. They are the ambitious entrepreneurs and the high performers within organizations. They've had a successful career but they are working really hard and getting burnt out by all the work; they long for success to be easier.
3. What is my message? What do I want people to know?
What do you want to add to the space? You have a unique perspective that no one else has.
WTL example: I want these women to know that there is a different way to have everything they want. I want them to know that there is a way to achieve more while doing less. I have the tools that can make that happen.
4. What format(s) will I use to deliver this information? (Interviews, audio blog, on-air coaching, news story, etc.)
Information can be delivered in a variety of ways. Which format would you enjoy most? Which format would your audience enjoy most? Which format would be best for you to accomplish your goals stated in questions #1 and #3?
WTL example: The Women Taking the Lead podcast started as interview format only. Since then I have expanded to doing audio blog episodes and "on-air" coaching episodes.
5. What would be the frequency of my podcast? (daily, weekly, monthly, in seasons, etc.)
The frequency of your podcast doesn't matter so much as setting a clear expectation for your audience. If I am listening to a weekly podcast I get disappointed when an episode doesn't come out each and every week. However, some of the podcasts I listen to are released in "seasons." I enjoy the episodes that are released and I know there will be a time lapse in-between seasons. It's also okay to change the frequency of your podcast but be sure to inform your audience ahead of time so they know what to expect.
WTL example: Women Taking the Lead started as a bi-weekly podcast and transitioned to a weekly podcast after 2 years. This summer I let my audience know my mother had been diagnosed with cancer and because of that I would be releasing episodes less frequently. I did promise I would have my "month-end update on goals" episode out the last week of each month.
6. What do I want people to do as a result of listening to my podcast? (Hire you, engage you as a speaker, join your mailing list, attend you event, join a cause, etc.)
You may have a variety of actions you want your audience to take. However, be sure each episode focuses on one call-to-action (CTA) or your audience will get overwhelmed. Your CTA may simply be to email you with any questions or feedback. Don't skip over having a call-to-action in your episode or it will be a missed opportunity.
Time block: block out time on your calendar for working on your podcast. Don't leave it to chance and don't give this time away. Especially if you are doing interviews. Pick a set time and day to do your interviews back-to-back.
If you are doing interviews set your guest up for success. Let them know what you expect of them and what they can expect from you in regard to preparation, sound quality, and marketing. Make sure they have a quality microphone before you do the interview. Do not waste your time recording if the sound quality is bad. You will hurt your reputation and their's if you release the episode. Also, let them know when the episode will go live well in advance of the release date.
Make sure the content of the episode is relevant for your audience. Don't throw something together just to stay on schedule. Better to miss a release date than to put low quality content out. You're audience is loyal to you because they've been impressed by what you have been delivering. Don't abuse their trust.
Check in with your audience. Ask for feedback. Some of the best ideas I've gotten for my podcast have come directly from my listeners.
Give yourself permission to pivot. The content you want to share, how you want to share it, and whom you want to share it with may all change over the course of time. Just as you are not the same person you were a year or two ago, your podcast will also grow and evolve over time. If things are feeling stale try changing it up a bit. Your audience will grow with you.
I'm sharing my very basic set up with you so you realize this is not a barrier to entry.
PC - Dell Latitude E5430 $220.00
Microphone - Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone $69.08
Microphone Stand: Hamilton Nu-Era Tabletop Mic Stand $15.12
Pop filter: Dragonpad USA 6" Microphone Studio Pop Filter with Clamp - White/Black $13.38
Pop filter: On Stage Foam Ball-Type Mic Windscreen, Black $2.95
Webcam for "On-Air" Coaching episodes: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920, 1080p Widescreen Video Calling and Recording $49.99
If I had to rebuild my "studio" from scratch today it would cost me $370.52. If you don't need to see the person you are interviewing or coaching you would save $49.99 on the webcam.
Skype - for audio-only interviews (Free)
MP3 Skype Recorder - recording software for the interview (Free)
Zoom - for "On-Air" Coaching episodes. Recording capabilities included $149.90/year. I use Zoom for business meetings and client calls as well so this expense works for me.
Audacity - editing software (Free). Both pictures you see in this post... that's Audacity up on the computer screen.
The Levelator - for leveling the sound, especially with episodes that include other people. I use this and then Auphonic to get a better sound quality. (Free)
Auphonic - high quality software for leveling sound. (100 minutes a month are free)
Libsyn - podcast hosting/syndicating service. (There is a variety of plans and pricing based on your needs)
As you can see there is a low barrier to entry in podcasting but effectiveness of your venture into the audio space will depend on your preparation and creativity. If you'd like to dive deeper into the realm of podcasting you can do this Free Podcast Course lead by my friend, John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire. He gets into the nitty-gritty of what can make or break your podcast and gives you tips and tools to take you from concept to launch.
As always, I hope this was of value to you and here's to your success!
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Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Hello everyone and thank you for joining me. On the day this episode is releasing I am in full swing preparing for the Create and Achieve Goals that are Worthy of You workshop which is happening tomorrow. I am so excited about this. I am in my zone when I am leading workshops and I’m thrilled to be with the women who are attending. I cannot wait to lead them through a process that will help them craft the perfect goals for them, as well as create the plan and begin executing on it.
I am also psyched because I will be going to see Jen Sincero tonight. She is the author of the book, You Are A Badass, and she is doing a book signing in Boston for her latest book, You Are a Badass Every Day: How to Keep Your Motivation Strong, Your Vibe High, and Your Quest for Transformation Unstoppable.
So, I’ve got the Jen Sincero event tonight in Boston, the goals workshop tomorrow in Portland, Maine and this Thursday is the Massachusetts Conference for Women and I’ll be leading a few roundtable in the technology pavilion on how to use podcasting to amplify your personal brand. And then on Friday I’m going to sleep in and play with my sister’s puppy. How’s that for a week?
Enough about me, we are back to talking about Playing Bigger, the awesome book by Tara Mohr. We are diving into chapter 3…A Very Old New Way of Looking at Fear.
Having a toolkit to face fear will be priceless to you as there are always new situations that will invoke fear and you don’t want to live a half-life because you can’t manage your fear of perceived danger.
Also, since the theme here is playing bigger, make a list of the things that cause you to feel worry, concern, fear or anxiety, when you think about playing bigger. The behaviors associated with this are avoidance or escape. What are you avoiding because you are afraid you will be embarrassed or rejected or not supported?
Know that playing big will invoke both types of fear but we need to examine and shift the danger fear into the enlivening fear.
In talking with many of you around playing big, or even just playing at where you are now, I know one of your big struggles is managing your time. You may even feel concern, worry or anxiety around your time and if that is the case I have a program that is what you need to free yourself up and let go of overwhelm.
In this program I cover 7 different strategies that will help you get control of your time, your calendar, and your peace of mind so you are accomplishing everything you want to be accomplishing with more ease and a sense that there is plenty of time.
This program is seriously just $19 and I guarantee you will get results and feel relief around your schedule and your to-dos.
To find out more about this program go to womentakingthelead.com/time.
As always, I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
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Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Hello everyone and thank you for joining me for this month-end episode on goals.
Here in the US we just had our Thanksgiving Day celebrations and I am now in a detox mode. Luckily I had the opportunity to help my brother and his wife move so I’ve burned off most of what I consumed and now I’m just waiting for the cravings to go away.
Now we are in full swing for the holidays and I am wishing you all peace, joy, and happiness as you make your plans, do your shopping, wrap your gifts, and make time for all the holiday parties and events that you want to attend. Remember, you don’t have to attend them all. Celebrate the holidays in the way that fulfills you.
Last December I did a series of episodes to walk you through my goal setting process and I used myself as an example to take you through all the steps.
I promised during that time that I would keep you updated on my progress toward my goals in the hope that it would be helpful for you as you work toward accomplishing your goals. I want you to know we are in this together.
This episode is the progress report on my goals through November.
During the Goal setting series I identified four focus areas that were important to me this year and each area has a specific goal assigned to it.
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this online mini-course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Hello everyone and thank you for joining me! And hello November! The countdown is on to the holidays. When I think of the holidays I think of busy and I want to share with you an insight I had recently around the whole concept of busy.
I, like many of you, dream of a time in the near future when things will settle down and there will be an opportunity to move at a slower pace and enjoy a phase where not much is going on.
The insight I had was there really is no slow time of year. Sure, certain activities slow down at certain times of year but then other activities creep in to take their place. I remember when I was in my office job summer was a slow time of year in terms of how much mail we were getting, so the day-to-day workload was lighter. However, this was also the time of year many people were taking vacation so it wasn’t uncommon to have weeks where we were staffed at 70% or less. This was also the time of year projects needed to be completed because we didn’t’ have time for them the rest of the year.
Now that summertime is over and the kids are back at school and we’re not yet in the thick of the holidays you would think this would be the time of year when things slow down. I don’t know about you but I am as busy as ever. I’ve mentioned before we had our BNI chapter leadership transition and The Maine Women’s Conference has been in a recruiting phase for board members and volunteers.
In my business there have been a surge of networking events and meetings because now is the time everyone has the time to give to their businesses. They are typically not distracted by vacations, staffing issues, back-to-school, holiday parties, etc.
My point is I’m thinking we need to give up the notion that there will be a time when we are not busy. This may sound like bad news but it actually gives you some freedom. Knowing you will always have things that will occupy your time you now can make a choice on what will take up your time. Use your time for the things that bring you satisfaction, fulfillment and even enjoyment, and don’t give it to things that feel like a burden or an obligation.
Also, you and I have choice in how we feel about how we are spending our time. There is nothing inherently wrong with being busy if you like what you are spending your time on. Busy is only a negative if what is keeping you busy is taking you away from what’s important to you. If that resonates, you my friend, have some decisions to make. If it doesn’t feel in alignment with who you are and how you want to live, change it.
And you know what? This isn’t even the topic for today’s episode. It’s just my random thoughts. However, it’s not a bad lead in because today I’m continuing my review of Tara Mohr’s book, Playing Big. I don’t even know if review is the right word. Rather, I’m listening to the audio version of Playing Big and sharing some of the content that jumped out at me and my thoughts on it.
This time I wanted to talk about chapter 2, titled…
You can also tap into your inner wisdom to help craft your 2019 goals and if you’re at the workshop I’m doing on December 4th in Portland, Maine, you will definitely be accessing your inner wisdom and that of the 32 other women who will be there.
If you want to come out strong in 2019 you’re going to want to set your goals for next year before the New Year starts. December is the perfect time to plan, prepare and get excited about the year to come.
For me, goal setting is the process that gives me more clarity and structure around what is going to bring me to life. That’s why I call my goal setting process “creating goals that are worthy of you.” Goals that are worthy of you are exciting and feel good. You are called and compelled to achieve a goal that is worthy of you. It gives you that extra bounce to do what needs to be done.
Goal setting is the support system to playing big. It is because of my ability to set these personalized goals that I’ve been able to run a marathon, start a business, launch a podcast, write a book, become a national speaker and workshop facilitator, as well as do 1000 burpees in one workout, increase the profits in my business and do a live event.
My goal setting system is very personalized because the goals that have brought me to life are not the goals that will bring you to life. This process will help you to create and achieve goals that are a perfect fit for you.
It’s time to toss out the old arbitrary formula for setting goals and create goals that not only represent who you are and the life you want to live, they will guide you to let go of who you are not and old patterns that do not work for you as you move toward your goal.
In this workshop you and I will:
This process is going to reveal your Highest Self.
If you are done with suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with the heartbreak of an unattained goal this workshop is for you!
Date: Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Time: 9:00 am-2:30 pm, Doors open at 8:30 am.
Location: CoworkHERS, 411 Congress St, Portland ME
Parking: All-day parking at the Temple Street Garage included in the price of the workshop.
Price: $175, Early bird price of $125 until 11/23/2018
However, this space can only hold 32 participants and tickets have already been sold so don’t wait for the last minute to register. Get signed up now. Go to womentakingthelead.com/goals2019 and reserve your seat!
As always, I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
TextExpander lets you instantly insert snippets of text from a repository of emails, boilerplate and other content, as you type – using a quick search or abbreviation. Go to https://textexpander.com/podcast and select Women Taking the Lead from the dropdown list for 20% off your first year!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Hello everyone and thank you for joining me for this month-end episode on goals. We are solidly in the 4th quarter of 2018. Can you believe it? This is the time we all typically have a wake-up call when it comes to our goals. Are we going to achieve them? Do we need to adjust them to make a realistic motivated push between now and the end of the year? Or are we going to throw in the towel on our goal.
Unless you realize you set a goal you don’t give a care about I am always going to encourage you to adjust instead of throwing in the towel. Throwing in the towel will leave you feeling defeated and as the next couple of months will also be focused on setting goals for 2019 you don’t want to go into that process with a defeated mindset.
There’s nothing wrong with adjusting so that you’re still stretched a little bit, yet don’t feel so overwhelmed you don’t know where to begin or start to feel like, “what’s the point? I’m not going to achieve this goal anyway.”
Remember, achieving goals is largely due to your mindset. Do what you need to do to get a positive and willing mindset. You can do this!
Last December I did a series of episodes to walk you through my goal setting process and I used myself as an example of what the process looks like in real life as it plays out.
I promised during that time that I would keep you updated on my progress toward my goals in the hope that it would be helpful for you as you work toward accomplishing your goals. I want you to know we are in this together.
During the Goal setting series I identified four focus areas that were important to me and each area has a specific goal assigned to it.
Focus area #1 Increase profitability in my business
Specific Goal: have a net income (earnings minus expenses) of $80,000 minimum this year.
Focus area #2 Build more strength and endurance
Goal: do 1000 Spartan-regulation burpees in good form within one workout by the end of October. Separately, do an unassisted pull-up before the end of this year.
Focus area #3 Romantic Partnership
Goal: Be in a committed monogamous relationship with a man.
Focus area #4 Live Events
Goal: Do a live workshop in the 4th quarter of this year.
The Creating and Achieving Goals that are Worthy of You workshop is going to happen on December 4, 2018 at the CoworkHERS co-working space in Portland, Maine.
All-day parking at the Temple Street garage is included in the price of the workshop so you don’t have to worry about finding a spot or any additional out-of-pocket expenses for parking.
I am also running an early bird rate for this event but here’s the thing: space is limited to 32 participants and tickets have already been sold. Buy your ticket now because I have a feeling something is going to click and all of sudden the tickets are going to be gone.
Go to womentakingthelead.com/goals2019 to reserve your seat!
I am looking forward to seeing you in-person and introducing you to all the other amazing women who will be attending this event.
Quick Update on my Mom
My Mom has had her third chemo treatment. Her hair had started to fall out so this past month she went to her hair stylist to shave it all off. There were some tears while it was happening but the family was sent two pictures right after the appointment; one of her with a cap on and one of her completely bald.
She was beaming. In both pictures she was absolutely beaming and I had the thought, “I hope when I grow up I can face life with the same attitude she brings.”
Although she is more tired and the side effects of the chemo and steroids increase with each treatment she is still in good spirits. And my sister and sister-in-law who are nurses are helping her to regularly take her anti-nausea medication and are checking with the doctor for possible alternatives.
Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and messages. They make a difference and I am grateful to you for taking the time because I know you’ve got your own stuff in your life you are dealing with. I truly appreciate you.
As always I hope this update was of value to you and here’s to your success!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this online mini-course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Over the summer when I shared my Mom’s cancer diagnosis I asked this community to help support me in doing the Women Taking the Lead podcast by giving me some ideas for future episodes. I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of creative energy so your suggestions would take a couple things off my plate.
I have to thank Geraldine Carter of the She Thinks Big podcast who sent me voice recordings that she created while she was out for a walk with ideas for future episodes. On idea was to talk about Tara Mohr’s book, Playing Big.
We talk a lot on this podcast about playing small so this is not the first time I had heard of Tara’s book or gotten the suggestion to read and possibly review it.
This time, however, I was ready and an open recipient for the suggestion. Geraldine, thank you so much for the support you have been to me.
Let me dive into some of the underlying premises of Tara Mohr’s book, Playing Big.
Women Are Playing Small and They Don’t Like It
Women work really, really hard to deliver value and then undervalue their own work. This leaves them behind men who are not as critical of their own performance.
In a survey Tara Mohr put forth to her community, to ascertain what type of content and programming she should create for them, she created a long list of multiple choice options. The “largest number of survey responses from women deemed their most significant problem, ‘I’m playing small.’”
Playing small ranked higher than work/life balance, stress and relationship issues.
It is my opinion through my own experience, and I put it forth confidently, that most of you who are listening to this know you are playing small and it makes you unhappy when you think about it.
I’m going to do a few episodes on the concepts in the book, Playing Small, because I want to make you aware of what is going on for you and some steps you can take to stop playing small in your own life. Even though I’m going to review this book I recommend you buy it as well because:
The concept I’m covering in this episode is only chapter one of this book so much like a book turned into a movie, there’s a lot that didn’t get included.
Here we go...The Inner Critic
As always I hope this is of value to you and here’s to your success!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
As I’m recording this it is a rainy Sunday morning, I’m sipping my hot beverage looking out the window at the trees that have started to change colors. It’s a very relaxing picture but let me warn you this is not going to be the tone of this episode.
The pace so far today is giving me an opportunity to reflect on the past week and this past week was anything but tranquil. I was already a little off balance when something good happened and yet it sent me into a spiral.
Let me set the scene. Last weekend I drove my friends to the airport in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday and that began for me a week of house sitting and doggie sitting. My friends have two dogs and one is a one-year-old Australian Shepard. He requires a lot of attention and engagement and will get in trouble if you don’t wear him out.
This was also the week the BNI leadership positions transition over and as the incoming Secretary/Treasurer of my chapter there were a lot of things that needed to be requested, communicated, decided, put in place and prepared for.
I have also taken on being Vice President of the board for the Maine Women’s Conference this year and we have been in a recruiting phase for the board for the past month. All of a sudden this week there was an influx of emails with nominations and applications to review as well as attempts to schedule interviews for the candidates.
While all these things were not necessarily meant to happen all at the same time they did. It made for a hectic week but I’ve seen weeks like this before.
Sunday and Monday were very productive days for me so I felt really good heading into the week.
What I also had on my calendar was a large time block on Tuesday for training for my goal of 1000 Spartan-regulation burpees in good form in one workout.
As I’ve mentioned on the podcast previously, I recognized I needed some expert help on this goal so I began working with Alex who is a personal trainer and nutrition coach in August. Alex put together a training and nutrition plan for me that we execute and review on a weekly basis. To save my joints in my weekly burpee workout Alex had me doing no more than 500 burpees in these weekly workouts. The focus of those workouts was initially getting down the proper breathing and form and once I nailed those the focus was to try to do the workout a little faster each week.
Based on the times I was hitting Alex and I guessed that it would take me about 4 hours to hit 1000 burpees if I could stay at a steady pace.
This week the training plan was to do burpees slowly and steadily for 4 hours just to get my mind wrapped around how long it was going to take. The best day for this workout was Tuesday as I didn’t have any meetings in the afternoon. I knew I wasn’t going to be good for much than basic activity after doing any kind of a cardio workout for 4 hours.
So Tuesday morning I began doing burpees slowly and steadily figuring I’d hit around 900. What happened occurred to me like good news and bad news all at the same time.
The good news is on Tuesday, October 2nd at 11:41 am ET, after doing burpees for 3:38:34 I hit 1000 Spartan-regulation burpees done in good form and achieved my goal.
I shared with a friend that it was a little tacky to share that “I did intend to but I ended up doing 1000 burpees in my last workout.”
She responded that there is a saying, “practice hard so game day is easy.” I completed 1000 burpees so easily because I was prepared for it; better than I realized.
I also joked with Alex that I think he used reverse psychology on me. By telling me to go slow and just do burpees for 4 hours with no goal he made it easier for me to hit 1000 because there was nothing riding on this workout; there wasn’t any pressure. I settled into a kind of meditative state just focusing on breathing in, breathing out, awareness of my form and keeping count.
The bad news is I’ve been in a bit of a funk about it ever since.
After some contemplation I hit on the pitfalls that created this experience for me and I'm sharing these in the hopes that if you ever find yourself feeling let down rather than joyful at hitting a big goal you can find your way out of the funk.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode this past week was a perfect storm of things that are important to me requiring a lot of attention all at once.
You need to know that as much as you and I plan, as much as you and I prepare, it doesn't stop "life" from coming at us.
Sometimes, even when we've done all the clearing away of what’s not important to us, so we can focus only on what is important those things suddenly have needs at the same time.
Don't judge yourself and your life too harshly. All you can do is your best.
However, the work that can be done now in preparation for the next time is to move the needle on what your best looks like.
Can you practice more awareness, presence, patience and listening? Can you take better care of yourselves so your body is better absorb brief periods of living at full speed?
It is no mistake that I am choosing mid-October as the time to do The Accomplished Course Part I: Energized and In-Control. We’ve just gotten through the busy end of summer beginning of fall period and the holidays are coming.
Now is the time to change your perception of what you can and cannot handle. What will you focus on to prepare for the next active wave?
In The Accomplished Course I’m going to give you some insight into how you are handling stress right now and the tools to manage what is coming at you more effectively so you actually decrease and even remove the experience of feeling stressed.
Imagine having life coming at you full speed yet you still remain calm and in-control.
When you can remain calm and in-control you will be more productive, more effective, more enjoyable to be around and you will hit your goals more quickly.
I hear people say all the time, “I know what to do I’m just not doing it.” It’s always a stress reaction that is keeping them from it.
If you’ve been thinking that you would like to work with me this is one of your best opportunities to do so. Go to womentakingthelead.com/energize to find out more and get yourself registered.
This round of The Accomplished Course will close to new registrations on Friday, October 12 so take the step and get yourself registered now.
One last thing…
You guys, I did 1000 Spartan-regulation burpees in good form in one workout and I did it in the month I said I would do it, October. Thank you for being a part of my journey and supporting me along the way.
As always, I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
TextExpander lets you instantly insert snippets of text from a repository of emails, boilerplate and other content, as you type – using a quick search or abbreviation. Go to https://textexpander.com/podcast and select Women Taking the Lead from the dropdown list for 20% off your first year!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Hello everyone and thank you for joining me for this month-end episode on goals.
Can someone please tell me where September went? With a couple trips home to Worcester, The Maine Women’s Conference board and activity surrounding next year’s event ramping up, the BNI Maine Leadership Team training and transitions going on, as well as my October group program joyfully on the calendar, the month of September seemed to go by in a blink!
However, I made peace many years ago that September is a very active month. And although we’ve had some wacky weather here in Maine it has now settled into the mild days and cool nights that I enjoy the most.
I’m releasing this episode late on a Sunday because I was determined to get the month-end update on goals episode out by month-end.
Last December I did a series of episodes to walk you through my goals process and I used myself as the Guinea pig for that purpose. I promised during that time that I would keep you updated on my progress toward my goals in the hope that it would be helpful for you as you work toward accomplishing your goals and this is the September update.
During the Goals series I identified four focus areas that were important to me and each area has a specific goal assigned to it.
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
I chose the topic today because I noticed a lot of activity lately on a post I first released in 2014 titled, 5 Reasons Why Having Clear Goals is Critical for Your Business.
It being September, the other New Year, and just before the beginning of the 4th quarter of 2018 I’m thinking it’s not a bad idea to go over some of the reasons why you would want to have clearly stated goals.
For those of you who have been listening to Women Taking the Lead on the regular, you know I love setting and accomplishing goals. In fact, if someone asks me what my hobbies are or what I do in my free time the answer I give, a bit tongue-in-cheek but also true, is I set and accomplish goals.
Some of the questions that drive me and I want to explore in my lifetime is, “Who am I? What am I capable of? What can I accomplish when I put my mind to it?”
As a side note, if you are someone who doesn’t have hobbies because any hobby you take up either begins to bore you or becomes a pursuit, don’t feel bad and stop judging yourself. Many of my Type A clients don’t have hobbies because we can’t stand to “waste time” or we turn a hobby into something we want to conquer.
If you want to accomplish something don’t be shy about it, make it clear and document it. Here’s the thing, you would never dream of building a house without a blueprint, a plan for what it would look like once it was built. You would never hire a contractor who didn’t know the materials, manpower, and time it was going to take to build that house.
Is your business or career less important than the house you would live in? Why, oh why, would you be a leader in business and not have a clear picture of what you are building and what it’s going to take to build it?
Goals, like proper nutrition, are often seen as additional work, but I’ve got five reasons why goals are actually the fuel to your success.
When you have clearly stated goals, preferably written and posted somewhere you can see them, your attention is brought back to what you are trying to accomplish.
Shiny Object Syndrome is common. I can’t tell you how many people I meet who believe they have a touch of Adult ADD. They don’t have Adult ADD; they’re not clear on what they should be focusing on in any given moment because everything seems important. As a result, everything gets a little bit of their attention and progress on any particular project or initiative is slow.
If you don’t state what’s important EVERYTHING will seem important.
If you are someone who has a hard time saying “no”, having goals is definitely in your best interests.
Whenever you are approached to give of your time, or resources the request is measured against your stated goals. You want to ask yourself, “Does this move me closer or further away from my goals?”
If it does not move you closer to your goal the answer is, “no, for now.” It’s not to say you will never help the person who is approaching you; it just means that at this time you cannot commit your time and resources to their initiative because you’ve got your own.
We are all busy. The question is what are you busy doing?
This is probably one of the most important reasons for having goals. Having goals, setting milestones and timeframes gives you an opportunity to gauge how you are doing against goal.
Rather than having a vague notion of how you’re doing (I’m really busy) you have a realistic picture from which you can make decisions.
From here you can assess what’s working, what’s not working, where you may need some help, or perhaps you realize you need to tweak the goal.
Having these measurements can also give you sense of accomplishment. Because you have documented where you started from you can also see how far you’ve come. This can keep the motivation up when working toward the goal becomes hard and I did several episodes on “The Dip” that you can refer back to.
People want to help, they want to contribute. More often than not they don’t live up to this desire because they are not clear on where they can make an impact. Help them help you by sharing your goals and why you want to achieve them.
If the goal is vague (increase business, improve net profits, increase productivity) there’s not much there for people to get inspired by nor is there a clear idea of how they can help.
Clearly crafted goals and objectives motivate other people to see where they can make a difference for you in achieving your goals.
Your unconscious mind is always working. Having defined goals allows the unconscious mind to work on them, even when you are not. Your mind will constantly be looking for solutions and creative ideas to move you closer to your goal.
The more clearly the goal or the “problem” is stated, the better able the unconscious mind is at finding solutions.
These solutions usually come while doing a mundane activity like washing the dishes, brushing your teeth or going for a walk. Be ready when inspiration hits.
Goals, though they may seem tedious and stress-inducing, are beneficial to you, your business, and the people around you.
If you have not done so already, take some time to jot down what you want to have accomplished by the end of the year. If you are struggling, reach out to me, a counterpart or a friend to help pull out the concept and get it down on paper.
And if you’re not 100% happy with your goals or your progress I’m going to suggest doing my goals mini-course. You can find out more about it at womentakingthelead.com/goals. And as a thank you for being a listener of this podcast you can use coupon code goals10 to get $10 off.
As always, I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Emi Kirschner, speaker, coach, and author masterfully combines her deep intuitive abilities with her analytical sense to help creative entrepreneurs double and triple their revenue.
Committed to impacting 1 million entrepreneurs over the next 5 years, Emi teach the leadership skills necessary to help you to confidently step into the CEO role in your business. She is known for giving meaningful tools, not just theory, to implement marketing, sales and operational strategies that result in increased profitability and more freedom in the rest of you life.
Emi believes that when you aren’t working in the zone of your genius, you aren’t able to grow. People tend to get stuck on things that aren’t bringing clients in, and that is where she comes in to help out.
Emi encourages her clients to bring along team members to start off-loading their tasks to. Emi also has them put their planning and development into their calendars, including eating and exercising. Having your week laid out on the calendar takes the guess work out.
Emi finds people often struggle to price their products, but she knows the market can bear confidently what you ask for. Emi also believes that getting yourself hyped up before a possible proposal or phone call can make all the difference.
There were times when Emi was not working inside any of her zones of genius. She struggled with SEO for weeks without reaching out for help, did not want to be structured by her calendar, and was not charging what she should have been.
Emi had really great coaches that helped her reach her aha moment. The book, “You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero, had a huge impact on her as well. Emi was done playing small. She now asks herself how she can go bigger.
Emi is starting a podcast, and is developing a membership site that will hopefully launch early 2019. Emi currently has an 8-week course that helps create a roadmap to success. If you’re feeling stuck, the program covers life and business, leadership and mindset, operating state and where your zone of genius is, marketing and sales.
Website: emikirschner.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Emi-Kirschner
FB Group: Lifestyle for Leaders https://www.facebook.com/groups/LifeStyleforLeaders/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+EmiKirschnerCHHC
Twitter: https://twitter.com/empressemi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emi.kirschner/
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
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Hello everyone and thank you for joining me for this month-end episode on goals. Can you believe this is the 8th monthly update on goals? We are 2/3 of the way through 2018!
Here in the US we’ve also got Labor Day next week which is our unofficial end to summer. This is also when all the kids go back to school, if they haven’t already.
September is also known as “the other New Year” so this is great time to set new goals or recommit to the goals you’ve been working on.
Times of transition are great times to make changes or start something new. Our brains have an easier time accepting change during transition so take advantage of this if you been meaning to change some habits or take up anything new!
Okay, on to what I’ve been up to in the month of August in regards to my goals. I have four focus areas and each area has a specific goal assigned to it.
Goal: have a net income (earnings minus expenses) of $80,000 minimum this year.
With the help of my mastermind group and going through my goals review back in June I have created 4 sub-goals for this goal. These sub-goals are, by year end:
Now, June’s Profit and Loss report showed an abysmal net profit of $922.38, way far off from the average $6700/month required to see a net profit of $80,000. However, July’s Profit and Loss report showed a net profit of $5,788.76. Still $1000 away from the $6700 I’m shooting for but I will take it. This is the closest I’ve gotten to goal and I am pleased with the progress.
Goal: do 1000 Spartan-regulation burpees in good form within one workout by the end of October. Separately, do an unassisted pull-up before the end of this year.
Two Fridays ago I did 800 burpees in 3:02:31.
The Monday after my 800 burpee workout I also began training with Alex. Alex is the Personal Trainer in my BNI group. He is certified as a Person Trainer and Nutrition Coach and has experience working with endurance athletes. That first workout was eye opening and as Alex put it, “you’re strong enough to do 1000 burpees but you are working way too hard.”
I really haven’t had to change what I’m eating too much but I’ve changed the frequency in which I consume food. I was eating 3 meals and 3 snacks a day (consumed about every 2-3 hours) and now I’m eating 4 meals every 3-5 hours. In one week I’ve already lost .7% body fat and gained .8 lbs. in muscle mass. Not too shabby.
Alex also recommended, in an effort to save my joints from wear and tear, changing up the burpee workout I do once a week. He suggested doing my burpee workout quicker rather than trying to do more burpees.
For instance, last week rather than striving to do 850 burpees I’ll did 500 burpees striving to beat the time of my last 500 burpee workout. This I did. The last time I did 500 burpees was in April and it took me 1:43:49. This time it took me 1:36:15, shaving 7 minutes and 34 seconds off my original time.
Goal: Be in a committed monogamous relationship with a man.
I have to laugh a little bit at this goal because while sometimes it is the most enjoyable goal to work towards it also challenges my Type A, need to know, need a plan, need to be in control tendencies. They are getting a workout, for sure.
And they are at odds with the qualities I identified that would take me toward my goal; namely, being aligned, feminine, social, focused, disciplined and committed.
When I feel uncertain and like I don’t have control it takes work for me to feel and exude those qualities.
While being on a dating app can be compared to being on a rollercoaster the experience I had last month has continued. I am making more quality connections and overall enjoying myself more. Every man I’ve had the fortune of getting to know briefly has helped me to be clearer on what I’m looking for at this stage of my life from a romantic partnership.
And oddly enough each month I meet a new man who is closer to what I’m looking for.
That being said I don’t want to sugarcoat this either. I get more feedback and commentary on my burpee goal than any of the others. To most people that is the goal that is the most challenging on my list.
But for me dating is more challenging because there’s only so much I have control over, pretty much just myself: who I’m being, how I show up, how I communicate, my appearance, my boundaries, etc. Nearly every other aspect of dating is out of my control.
Through the dating app I recently met a very handsome man who has intelligence, wit and a similar sense humor – which means in my world he has a great sense of humor. He is very close with his family, devoted to his teenage son and in a profession that contributes to the community. All pluses. All awesome.
The caveat is that we met while he was vacationing in Maine and he lives about 700 miles away. Queue the wah-wah. If we were local to each other this would be a no-brainer but we don’t live local to each other.
The other thing is we have different perspectives on this. I have 7 siblings, 5 of whom have gotten married thus far. Of those 5 marriages 3 of them started as long distance relationships where they didn’t live together until after they were married. And to give you some perspective on the distances, one couple lived in Texas and Florida, another lived in Toronto and Cuba, and the last was Washington State and the Philippines. We’re talking long, long distances.
In my paradigm distance is a challenge but not an obstacle. My handsome new friend, however, does not have the same paradigm as I so he is taking some time to mull it over and decide if he believes long-distance relationships are possible and if this is worth a try.
And I, little Miss Type A, am practicing patience in the face of the unknown, uncertainty, no decision, no plan, and no deadline.
I’ll end with this coach-like thought because in my heart of hearts I am a coach. This is an amazing opportunity to have a mirror held up for me to see how much my need to be in control and to have all the answers holds me back and keeps me from being at my best. Luckily I sorted my way through and am feeling more peaceful than I was at first.
Goal: Do a live workshop in the 4th quarter of this year.
This goal is on the back-burner as I am focusing on the mail campaign that is coming up and then I’ll be working on the virtual group program which will start in October.
I am committed to doing a workshop in the Portland area the last week of November or first week of December and I will keep you posted on how that is coming about.
How are your goals coming along? If you’re not 100% happy with your goals or your progress I’m going to suggest doing my goals mini-course. You can find out more about it at womentakingthelead.com/goals. And as a thank you for being a listener of this podcast you can use coupon code goals10 to get $10 off.
I shared in the last month-end episode that my Mom had been diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. She had the surgery to remove the cancer and take lymph nodes to rule out stage 2 breast cancer.
Overall she is recovering very well from her surgery. Everything has been routine thus far and she didn’t need to take anything to manage pain afterward, not even an Advil. But this is also a woman who delivered 6 of 8 children via natural child birth.
However, they did find cancer in one of the lymph nodes taken and so her diagnosis has been changed to stage 2 breast cancer. Also, her hormone test indicated she has an aggressive form of cancer so she will be taking Herceptin, will have chemo followed by radiation treatments.
My entire family is rallying to keep everyone updated, update plans for the holidays, and we are choosing treatment dates to keep my Mom company while she gets the Herceptin and chemo treatments.
I asked my Mom if she wanted to share anything and she wanted you to know that prayer is important. She is counting on it like medicine so please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
She also wanted to thank family and friends who have been important and have provided tremendous support.
I asked her last week how she was doing and she said that while this is upsetting overall she feels relaxed because she is getting so much support and being well taken care of.
I wish for all of us that no matter what life throws at us that we can stay relaxed through it all because we are so supported by those around us.
As always I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
I've been administering the Energy Leadership Self-Assessment tool I use with my clients more often lately and because I tend to work with perfectionists and "recovering perfectionists" quite a bit there's something that has been coming up quite often: the fear of failure.
Perfectionists HATE failure and will employ nearly any strategy to avoid it. The strategy can range from not trying at all to running yourself into the ground to ensure success. But if you avoid trying at all you also keep yourself from some of the sweetest moments life has to offer. According to Robert F. Kennedy, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
And if you are sacrificing your health and well-being to avoid failure you won't be in a state in which you can appreciate your success once you've achieved it. I know this feeling myself and many of my clients know it too. The empty feeling you have when you've achieved something big and you don't feel anything. You are so tired, you are so done that you don't want congratulations, awards or a pat on the back - you just want to crash because your body is shutting down.
I'm going to throw you for a loop because I'm going to declare that there is nothing wrong with failure. In fact, it's a good thing. Here we go...
Many of us are taught from a young age that failure is “bad”, and perhaps it’s this early conditioning that causes us to make an enemy of failure once we grow up. Some people cringe even thinking about it, others try hard to avoid it, and virtually all of us question ourselves when we do something that’s perceived as a failure.
On top of that, failure is often more public than success – or so we perceive it to be. After all, the failures of public figures – large and small – make dramatic media headlines. And as we all know, drama sells so their failures get more play than their successes. Yet, whether we like it or not, failure is a part of the journey to achieving our goals.
You, like many of my clients, may have a tendency to beat yourself up over past failures - some may have even occurred decades ago. A sudden flash of a memory has your body cringing even though there's nothing in your immediate environment that you have to protect yourself against. That's how powerful those memories can be. And to make sure you never make that mistake again you castigate yourself - for what, the hundredth time? - for having been so naive, stupid, blind, arrogant...you name it!
You think by mentally beating yourself up you're helping to make sure you never make the same mistake again. But the truth is you won't the same mistake again and all you're doing is hurting your self-image and undermining your confidence. There's a better way!
If you’re willing to change how you perceive failure, you might just change your life. Renegotiate your concept of failure by considering four of its benefits:
One: Failure is a catalyst for change.
Think of failure as the result of an experiment. You tried something out and it didn't go as expected. This is your chance to assess what happened, face the facts, and creatively plan how you’ll move ahead. After all, it took Edison around 10,000 attempts to invent a light bulb. If you give up too soon, you won’t be able to leverage the failure to your advantage. I've been struggling to achieve my monthly profitability goal and that struggle has been energizing for my business. I've made a lot of changes due to the wake-up call of these failures and there are some exciting things starting to happen as a result of those changes. More to come in the month-end episode!
Two: Failure = freedom?
You bet it does! Failure does one thing well – it shows us that we’re not invincible. Be willing to own your failure. Doing so will help you release the belief that you “must” be perfect – and that’s a pretty freeing feeling.
If you can change your expectations that it has to be dead-on on the first try you will give yourself the space to play, be creative and test what's possible. This is the part of the reason children learn so fast. It's not just because their brains have plasticity. Adult brains have plasticity too. Young children aren't afraid to mess up. They do it all the time and so they are more open to trying something, taking risks and hitting that button. It's the reason why they figure out how to use your smart phone faster than you do. You're afraid you'll blow it up; they're not.
Three: You learn who your friends are.
Failure brings clarity on many levels, and as anyone who’s failed before knows, you’ll quickly discover who your friends really are. True friends will stick by you when the going gets rough. If you have a "ride or die" friend, that friend who will stick by you whether you're on top of the world or hitting rock bottom, then you are truly blessed.
Your failure can be a great way to thin the heard so you are focusing your precious time and energy on those who are truly there because they love and believe in you. There are always people in our lives that we generously give to whether they have the capacity to give back or not, but at least you'll know who is who and you won't rely on someone in a time of need who will suddenly have no time for you.
Four: You can bounce back, better than ever.
Failure is possibly your #1 opportunity to build resilience like never before. This key trait of successful people is all about recovering quickly from what shuts you down and what set you off.
One of the strategies I use to recover quickly from a failure is to have a sense of humor. Although I take my work seriously and I have some big goals to change the world, I don't take myself too seriously. Or, at least I strive not take myself too seriously. My inner critic has an insidious way of working it's way into my internal dialogue at times.
Look for the ridiculous and absurd in a situation and have a good laugh. If this is hard for you make a point to watch some comedies with friends. It has been proven that we find things to be funnier and laugh more when it's a shared experience.
One of my favorite movies of all time is Elf with Will Ferrell and Zoe Deschanel. The lines, "Son of a nutcracker!", "He's an angry elf" and "Does somebody need a hug?" get me every time and I quote them often.
I'll leave you with this quote by Henry Ward Beecher. "A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road."
I'll be back in a couple weeks for the month-end episode on goals update.
I hope this was of value to you and here's to your success!
TextExpander lets you instantly insert snippets of text from a repository of emails, boilerplate and other content, as you type – using a quick search or abbreviation. Go to https://textexpander.com/podcast and select Women Taking the Lead from the dropdown list for 20% off your first year!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Randi Levin, founder & CEO, Randi Levin Coaching – is a nationally recognized transitional life strategist, Fortune 500 keynote, author, & reinvention expert. Randi supports women in becoming legends in their own lives through redefining legacy as a power tool for change and redirection TODAY. You may have seen her featured in Thrive Global, HuffPost, Better After 50, Reader’s Digest, Working Mother Magazine, American Express Open Forum, or The WSJ. Randi is also contributing author in Get RESULTS!
Randi was convinced that she had to choose one thing or another in life. She thought her kids would be her legacy, until she realized that her legacy wasn’t just what she was leaving behind, but what she could create in the current moment. Once Randi embraced the use of and instead of or, her life changed.
Randi leads by example. Once she commits to something, she is all in, and wants others to do the same.
Randi is thrilled to be hosting her first retreat in April 2019 that will take 10 women on a personal and cultural journey in Italy.
Randi will be downsizing her home and relocating. She plans to document this journey to provide relatable content for her audience that may help someone in the same situation.
When Randi was just starting out, she was told to “Just start.” So, she goes through life saying yes now, and figuring out all the details later. Randi believes there is no one right way, but you have to take that path forward to the thing you want without overthinking it.
Randi would tell her younger self, “Believe in yourself.” Success is a three letter word, and that word is now. You’ve got this. If this doesn’t work out, there will be something else, but don’t hold yourself. Be curious about the things you most want.
“We tend to think of our legacy as something we leave behind at the end of our lives, but what would you do differently today if you believed that you had the choice to carve out exactly what you wanted that legacy to be in real time? Manifest that concept and magically you do have that choice. You are your own GPS in your life. Start by having a voice. Say yes by listening to that voice. What’s next? Now is your new next.”
Website: https://randilevincoaching.com/
Email: randi@randilevincoaching.com
Free giveaway: https://randilevincoaching.com/balance
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RandiLevinCoaching
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randilevincoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randiclevin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/randilevincoach
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9GYtxz1RRqAl5g39kuXJ-Q
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
If you enjoyed this episode subscribe in iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music or iHeart Radio and never miss out on inspiration and community!
Hello everyone and thank you for joining me for this month-end episode on goals.
As I mentioned in the June month-end update on goals episode, I took myself through my goals process to see if I my goals are still in alignment with what I’m really trying to accomplish in my business and my life and there were a few tweaks.
And there are some more tweaks this month which will also drive the theme of this episode which is going with the flow with what life is presenting to you. Let’s dive in to the progress I’ve made on my goals so I can explain everything that is going on.
Goal: have a net income (earnings minus expenses) of $80,000 minimum this year.
With the help of my mastermind group and going through my goals review I have 4 sub-goals for this goal. These sub-goals are, by year end:
June’s Profit and Loss report showed an abysmal net profit of $922.38, way far off from the average $6700/month required to see a net profit of $80,000.
As I am bringing on more organizations as clients I’m also experiencing more delays in payment. I invested more time in proposal writing and follow-up meetings and communications and I’m realizing my prices for organizations are also going to need to reflect the larger investment of time and travel required. It has been a really good learning experience and I’ve already changed some of the language in my documents to reflect the expectations.
Goal: do 1000 Spartan-regulation burpees in good form within one workout by October. Separately, do an unassisted pull-up before the end of this year.
This past Friday I did 750 burpees in 3:10:55. I’m still on track to complete this goal by October but in the last month I experienced pain in the back of my knees a couple days after my burpee workout and I hit 750 burpees in my second attempt, not my first attempt. The first time I tried I got to 705 and had to stop. I lost good form and I was completely spent.
For the pain in the back of my knees I consulted the Personal Trainer in my BNI group and we figured out what was causing it and the solution – I need to have a wider stance when I jump in and out of the push-up position and pay attention to keeping my feet straight. My heels have a tendency to come together causing my feet to form a V-shape when I jump out of the push-up position and into the squat.
For this and several other reasons I’ve decided to hire Alex as my personal trainer and nutrition counselor. His certifications and experience working with endurance athletes made this decision easy to make. The only thing I have to figure out is timing and schedule as the gym he works out of is 30 minutes away from my home and as you can imagine I have a wonky schedule at times.
As for my failed first attempt at 750 burpees, there was a reason for that too: my mental attitude. You’ve heard me talk about this before. If you don’t have the right mental attitude you will be working against yourself and your goals and that was true for me that day.
There have definitely been things going on in my life that my brain noodles over. However, the day of my workout it was like my brain couldn’t let any of it go.
I was having arguments in my head with people who weren’t in the room. I was getting annoyed with myself because I knew what was happening and what the consequences would be if I didn’t change my attitude. I had small victories and then would realize I was doing it again. Half way through my workout I was exhausted – not from the workout, from the war that seemed to be raging in my head.
My second attempt, even though the temps and humidity were higher I was in a different place mentally and I achieved my goal. The lesson for me here that I keep learning and practicing over and over again is to always work on my mental game. For me that looks like meditation, walks and runs in nature, taking really good care of myself physically, making time to nurture my relationship with loved ones and frankly, letting go of the things I don’t have control over.
That was the mental angst I was experiencing that day. There are some things I do not have complete control over and I need to accept that because resisting it is only causing me stress.
Getting clear on what is and is not in my control will help me to take on going with the flow. From that place I have more peace and more power and can stop wasting my energy and mental space on trying to change what is.
I think I may have to go back and reread Byron Katie’s book Loving What Is.
For pull-ups I have not get graduated to a lower weight pull-up band but instead of stepping into it I’m now putting a knee in so that’s a little bit of progress. I let Alex know I also have this goal so we’ll be working on my pull-ups as well.
Goal: Be in a committed monogamous relationship with a man.
To recap, when I did my goals mini-course I identified qualities that would help to take me to my goals. Those qualities are being aligned, feminine, social, focused, disciplined and committed.
Then I identified the daily practices that would help me to develop these qualities. Many of the practices had to do with my self-care: sleep, a lighter schedule and transition time between meetings and activities.
I set the intention to take better care of myself this summer so my best self and the self that enjoys being feminine and social can come forth.
And guess what? It’s working. I am meeting more men that I had before, making more quality connections and overall enjoying myself more. It doesn’t hurt that my burpee workouts are making me feel more confident overall and more present in my body as well.
This goal has changed as I am having a hard time connecting with Emily leRoux and it was getting to the point that pulling off this event in only 3 months was going to take such an enormous effort it would have likely ended up hurting me and my business rather than helping.
Go with the flow, right?
I am still going to do 1000 burpees by October but the completion of this goal will not be tied to an event.
I am also still committed to doing a Women Taking the Lead branded event this year. In doing the goals mini-course as a part of my review process I realized how important live events are to me. This is an area where I shine and I feel an enormous connection with the participants of the workshops that I do.
Goal: Do a live workshop in the 4th quarter of this year.
I haven’t committed to any particular topic yet but given that time of year a workshop on creating and achieving your 2019 goals would not be inappropriate.
How are your goals coming along? If you’re not 100% happy with your goals or your progress I’m going to suggest doing my goals mini-course. You can find out more about it at womentakingthelead.com/goals. And as a thank you for being a listener of this podcast you can use coupon code goals10 to get $10 off.
Before I go I want to share with you something very personal that is going on in my life and may impact the release schedule for this podcast. It’s also part of the reason I’ve made some changes to my goals.
A little over a month ago my mother was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer and will be having surgery to remove the lump in her breast next week. My mom is positive and optimistic but after a hormone test her treatment was changed from surgery and radiation to surgery, chemo, radiation and pills. It’s a little disconcerting.
I’m still trying to understand everything and will hopefully be chatting soon with my sister-in-law who has been an oncology nurse. My family is rallying together so I’ve got a lot of support but for me there’s still some confusion and uncertainty so it’s a little draining.
However, I am taking control where I have control and working on letting go of the things I don’t have control over, and there’s a lot of things I don’t have control over in this situation.
This was one of the things going through my mind during my failed burpee workout.
I am committed to continuing to bring you great content, though it may not always be each and every week.
If you have any topics you would like me to cover please let me know. I am always looking for fresh ideas and this is a way you can support me and the other women listening to this podcast.
Please keep me, my Mom and my family in your thoughts and prayers and know that you are in mine.
As always I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
I don't know about you but I feel like this season is going by at lightning speed. There's so much I'm doing and accomplishing and yet there's so much more I want to do and accomplish that I'm finding I have to be very intentional about taking breaks to do nothing.
In fact, when I realized it had been years since I'd read a fiction novel I committed to read at least one this summer. I got my Portland Public Library card and by recommendation from the Women Taking the Lead private Facebook group I checked out The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and it is so good!
I've also discovered the podcast Binge Mode Harry Potter and that is just a pure pleasure. Warning: it is not for children or for someone who has just started getting into the Harry Potter series. They swear and their conversations contain adult content and they tie themes between all 7 books and all 8 movies in any given episode.
The Mists of Avalon and Binge Mode Harry Potter, that's what I'm up to right now in my down time and transition time.
In my business I've also been working on putting my presentations and workshops into DIY formats that you can purchase right from this website under the Products tab at the top of the page. I've also been working on polishing the marketing materials and documents for the Executive Leadership Coaching arm of my business. That has been very gratifying and fun to work on.
Overall the summer has been a nice mix of business and pleasure and I'll give more updates in next week's month end update on goals episode.
Today I want to talk about the connection between your sense of self-worth and your ability to achieve a goal. I want to start with this quote by Brené Brown.
You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.
~ Brené Brown
From the moment we’re born, we’re taught the importance of achieving in life.
Parents, teachers and coaches counsel us that setting goals and striving for them is what life is all about. And it's true, achieving goals is an integral part of a successful personal and business life.
But too many times along the way, we set unrealistic expectations for ourselves. And when we can’t meet those exaggerated or mismatched goals, our self-worth plummets. We beat ourselves up, forgetting that we aren’t perfect. We decimate our own self-worth.
Forgiving others is important. But forgiving ourselves – that’s essential.
Do You Think You’re Worthy?
If you don’t think you’re worth it, you won’t invest in what it will take to be happy in your career. Career happiness takes effort – you can’t set it and just forget it.
How we value ourselves determines if we’ll take the risks or make the investments necessary to succeed in both our business and personal lives.
Sadly, if we don’t respect ourselves, that self-defeating philosophy affects our entire life.
When our self-worth takes a nosedive, we often try to overcompensate in other ways. This is also where perfectionism will take over. We will try too hard to show we are worthy and valuable – over-promising or making too many commitments at once - and end up running ourselves into the ground to keep up appearances.
Or, we may give up too soon, never living up to our true potential.
The result is frustration, overwhelm, and a whole lot of unnecessary stress. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Improve Your Self-Worth: Appreciate Your Value
You are responsible for naming and achieving your own success. Each person has their own innate gifts and talents that can enhance their career. Follow your path - not someone else’s. Stop being influenced by what other people do or think.
To give your self-esteem a boost, try these practices:
- Forgive yourself for past mistakes. Recognize that at that time you were doing your best, you learned a lesson and now you can give yourself permission to move on.
- Identify your strengths and how you can incorporate them into your life. This is a vital exercise I take you through in my goal-setting product because when we leverage our strengths we make achieving a goal so much easier. That sounds like a no-brainer but often we are not present to what our strengths are and we dismiss them as common when they are far from common.
- Develop a mindset that validates you, not diminishes you. Our brain has a negativity bias and if left untrained it will mainly focus on what's wrong, what has not been accomplished yet. That causes you to lose sight of what is going well and what has been accomplished thus far. Make it a practice to think about how far you've come in the past 5, 10, 20 years and all the things you are doing right to move yourself closer to your goals.
Self-Compassion – A Key to Success?
Research by Juliana Breines and Serena Chen at Berkeley suggests self-compassion may be the key to your true potential. “Self-compassion is a willingness to look at your own mistakes and shortcomings with kindness and understanding — it’s embracing the fact that to err is indeed human.”
Hundreds of years ago when Alexander Pope wrote “To err is human, to forgive divine,” he had a good understanding of human behavior. It’s hard to forgive ourselves when we’ve made a mistake; after all, we’re groomed throughout life to try to be perfect.
Reality check: no one is perfect.
Do you set expectations for yourself that no one could achieve only to berate yourself for having failed?
Start Increasing Your Self-Worth Today
There are many ways to help you increase your self-worth - some are simple things we may have forgotten to do:
Many of my clients suffer from setting unrealistic expectations for themselves. The remedy? I recommend a good dose of self-forgiveness for any perceived mistakes - and tons of self-care.
For one person in particular, I suggested she imagine herself as her 3-year-old self – and speak and relate to herself as that child (to curb self-abuse). You would be amazed at how this simple practice can work wonders for your overall self-worth.
Self-worth doesn’t come from something outside yourself. It comes from within.
Why not try to make every day Thanksgiving?
Be thankful for the talents you have.
Be thankful for each day that you can truly live and learn.
Re-discover what brings you peace, joy, and fulfillment.
Your self-worth has nothing to do with your craft or calling, and everything to do with how you treat yourself. ~ Kris Carr
As always I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Deb Elbaum, MD, PCC, is a neuroscience coach, author, and speaker, who works with women and professionals during times in their lives when they feel ready for a new challenge personally or professionally. She brings enthusiasm and a wide-ranging toolkit that incorporates the best of neuroscience and intuitive coaching to help clients break though mental blocks, spark new connections, and take action. Deb facilitates workshops around how Think Positively and Effectively, and was a recent presenter at the Maine Women's Conference.
We all have times when we lose our composure, or feel overwhelmed and stressed. Fortunately, there are strategies that can help us return to calm, clear thinking and leading. Deb will share some brain concepts and tools that you can use right away to start building awareness of your patterns and how to shift them. These concepts include:
Website: www.debelbaum.com
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
If you enjoyed this episode subscribe in iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music or iHeart Radio and never miss out on inspiration and community!
If you've been following along with the podcast or got my newsletter a couple weeks ago you know I was sidelined with a strained muscle in my lower back and I am feeling so much better now and am back at my burpee workouts and moving toward my goal. This is going to sound strange to say but I am so grateful to be back doing crazy amounts of burpees!
I did a lot to care for my injury but the real turning point was when I sucked up the scary and the discomfort and started going for walks, doing light aerobics and then building from there. Go figure, movement is beneficial to the body.
Recently I had a conversation with someone about leadership challenges.
Her biggest challenge is one we all face – and one that seems so much more overwhelming at this time of year: How to stay focused when you have so much to do – and you feel like all you’re doing is simply putting out fires and keeping up with minutia – and getting nothing of significance accomplished.
I know this is an all-too familiar topic for many of you. The good news is that you can stay focused, even when it feels like you have no time to spare and you’re extinguishing whatever fire seems to be burning brightest.
Here are my 5 of my favorite strategies for staying focused – try implementing even one and I bet you’ll see noticeable results in your life
Ever hear of a digital detox? I’m sure you have, and right now you’re probably thinking, “What?! Like I can disconnect now.”
Don’t get me wrong – I love smartphones just as much as you do. But the importance of disconnecting from technology is even being recognized by hotels, many of which now offer a whole new kind of “detox package”.
Instead of the customary offerings that give guests a chance to “cleanse” by dining on a special diet and engaging in a fitness plan, digital detox packages have been called the “next big trend” in the hospitality industry.
No need to spend days detoxing – a mini-detox can be just as effective. Close out that email, turn off the phone, and shut the door to focus on what’s really important (and it’s not that Facebook post from your friend detailing what she made for dinner last night).
We all have the same amount of hours - so instead of trying to use your energy on dozens of tasks, target your energy on a limited number. Focus on what will give you the biggest bang for your energy buck!
Many people say yes to avoid confrontation or maintain and image of themselves as giving, capable and in control. You can take the middle of the road option: the neutral no.
“A neutral no is steady, uninflected, and clear. It is mostly notable for what it is not: harsh, combative, apologetic, reluctant, or overly nice.”
Saying “yes” to everything is one of the fastest paths to burnout. It is perfectly ok to say “no”; in fact, you owe it to yourself to be honest about what commitments you can – and cannot – handle at a given time.
Practice makes perfect on this one, and for some people, saying “no” can be really hard. Just keep practicing until it becomes comfortable for you. Oh, and there’s a bonus here: when you do this, you’ll gradually feel more and more empowered and confident.
If you absolutely hate to say "no" I recommend using the phrase, "That's not going to work for me." It's a way to say "no" without shutting the other person down.
There’s another fire burning somewhere right now, just waiting for you to come put it out. Wait – is it really something that needs your attention now? Has it turned into a total conflagration, or is it just a “flare-up”?
I like to take a closer look at the issue and see if it’s actually something that can wait, even if it’s just for a little bit. That little extra time may allow for the fire to burn out on its own…and if not, that bit of added time allows me to look at the issue with a clearer mindset.
When we are overworked or overwhelmed we don't see things clearly. We lose our ability to rank need and so everything feels urgent. Taking that deep breath and calming down before making a decision will give your brain some time to turn those capabilities back on.
Sometimes, because we have such high expectations of ourselves, we assume other people have the same expectations of us.
Oftentimes, however, it’s our own expectations running the show - and rarely do we live up them.
According to Eckhart Tolle,“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation - but your thoughts about it”. Reset your expectations and be real – and by taking an unbiased second look, the situation can end up looking totally different.
I often remind myself that if I'm the one who set the deadline then I'm the one who can change it. I look at whether it was an arbitrary deadline or if it is tied to something time sensitive. If it was an arbitrary deadline I chalk it up to a bad guess and move the date.
Being overly stressed can impede your ability to get tasks done in a timely manner. If by changing the due date on some less import tasks allows you to give your biggest priority more mental bandwidth, all the better.
This strategy is unfortunately often under-utilized by many people who think they have to “do it all”. Amy Gallo in Harvard Business Review says if you’re working long hours and feel you’re the only one who can do the job while your staff keeps regular work hours, you may not realize that you’re hoarding your work.
Don’t make excuses by telling yourself training someone will take too much time. Keep a checklist and see exactly how your time is spent. “You’re likely to find that a lot of time is spent on low-leverage activities that can be delegated,” says Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of What Were They Thinking?: Unconventional Wisdom About Management.
There you have it – my 5 favorite strategies for keeping focused when it feels like the fires are burning all around you.
And don't forget the Create Goals that are Worthy of You Mini-Course has exercised in it to help you identify your Superpowers as well as qualities that, once developed, you can leverage to get things done more quickly and effectively. This mini-course is $29 but as a listener of the Women Taking the Lead podcast you can use coupon code goals10 to get $10 off at checkout.
I hope this was of value to you and here's to your success!
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Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Kelly Gushue is Founder & CEO of Personal Finance Warrior. She empowers women all over the world to claim their financial power inside their business and in their personal life through her online programs and coaching. She also holds live workshops for companies, women's groups and alumni groups. Kelly has worked in several areas of finance including portfolio analysis, research and investment management. She holds a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from the Booth School of Business at The University of Chicago.
After living in Shanghai for 3 years, Kelly returned to the U.S. and took a job as a financial advisor. When she received the job offer, she was told there was no room to negotiate, so Kelly took the first offer. After a few months, a female manager pointed out to Kelly that she should have negotiated for more. Kelly now uses that experience to teach other women to stand up and ask for the pay they deserve.
Kelly leads with enthusiasm, which is one of her natural abilities. She talks with her team and gets them pumped up for the vision she has in store, while also paying attention to their ideas as well. Candid and meaningful feedback is also very important to Kelly.
Kelly loves talking about money and encouraging other women to stand up and have that conversation as well. In her latest project, Kelly is taking the information she gathered from 24 entrepreneur women and turning it into a helpful tool for women. She is hoping that women can learn from this instead of making the mistakes themselves.
Kelly finds it challenging to offload more work to the people on her team in an effective way. She wants her team to take on more tasks, but she isn’t sure if they can.
Kelly goes to the gym every morning to start her day with a clear mind. She likes to be part of a physical gym and be around people.
Kelly would have told her younger self to share more of her wild interests and wacky ideas. She was always concerned people would think she was a little nutty.
“Carpe Diem.” ~Horace
Website: www.PersonalFinanceWarrior.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/claimyourfinancialpower/
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
If you enjoyed this episode subscribe in iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music or iHeart Radio and never miss out on inspiration and community!
In this review I have narrowed down my focus areas from 5 to 4, removing outsourcing as a focus area. Outsourcing is still going to happen and will occur as a part of my overall plan; it just won’t be something I focus on or measure for progress.
Goal: have a net income (earnings minus expenses) of $80,000 minimum this year.
With the help of my mastermind group and going through my goals review I have 4 sub-goals for this goal. These sub-goals are, in the next 6 months:
May’s Profit and Loss report showed a net profit of $1658.40, down about 39% from April’s profit and still far off from the average $6700/month required to see a net profit of $80,000. The good news is I have a new client, the potential for a couple more in the coming weeks and 2 corporate workshops in July so next month things should look a lot better.
If you know any ambitious overworked women who would like to make more money and achieve their goals while doing less, please send them my way. Thank you!
The original goal for strength and endurance was to do 300 Spartan-regulation burpees in good form in one session by June 30 but I completed that in February.
Goal: I had updated my burpee goal to do 1000 burpees at the Burpees for Boobs event I’ll be planning to occur in October. Separately, I have a goal to do an unassisted pull-up before the end of this year.
With this new review I’ll stop talking about the original goal of 300 burpees and only mention the goal of 1000 burpees going forward.
If you receive my newsletter you know I strained a muscle in my lower back putting a dish into the dishwasher and this is an injury that got worse before starting to get better so I have not been able to do my normal workouts this past week. However, I always plan a cushion. Knowing it was possible to get sick and/or injured during the 9 months I would be training I built in a 4 week cushion in case I needed to take a break.
Pray that my back is well enough to begin training again soon and this will not be a concern.
For pull-ups I now have the reminder on my to do list every day so I’m getting them done. Starting to see some small progress and I’ll be looking to see what I can do when I’m no longer so uncomfortable.
Goal: Be in a committed monogamous relationship with a man.
I am continuing to meet people, continuing with first dates but not seeing a lot of progress in this area.
While doing the goals mini-course I identified qualities that would help to take me to my goal. The ones that I specifically want to develop are being aligned, feminine, social, focused, disciplined and committed.
Then I identified the daily practices that would help me to develop these qualities. I was not completely surprised to see that many of the practices had to do with my self-care, especially sleep, a lighter schedule and transition time between meetings and activities.
This past week being injured and not feeling like my usual self, never mind feminine, it was hard to be engaged on the dating app.
When you’re sick or injured it is natural and appropriate to be focused on healing and so you need to be self-focused.
For me, it was taking so much energy to just compose messages back on the dating app it was ridiculous. And not surprising the men I matched up with were also self-focused. We had the same vibe going on; I was just pretending that it wasn’t the case for me.
My intention this summer is to take excellent care of myself so my best self and the self that enjoys being feminine and social can come forth. It’s a new strategy for this goal but it’s a good one.
Goal: Plan and execute the Burpees for Boob event in October in partnership with Marie Sola of Daughters of Change and Emily leRoux, the Spartan Women Global Leader and Global Partnerships.
In October, which is breast cancer awareness month, we will partner for a “Burpees for Boobs” event. I am going to coordinate the event here in Maine and Emily will coordinate these events globally.
Also, as a part of this focus area, though it is not technically a goal, I will continue to serve on the board for The Maine Women’s Conference to develop this start-up entity and plan the conference for 2019.
In doing the goals mini-course as a part of my review process I realized how important live events are to me. This is an area where I shine and part of the reason I chose to have workshops be a part of my plan to increase profitability in my business.
Have you reviewed your goals yet to see if they are still serving you and in alignment with your values and superpowers? Do you know what qualities will help you to achieve your goal and do you know how to apply your superpowers to get better results?
Did you not set goals at the beginning of the year and your thinking now is as good a time as any. Because now is as good a time as any. We still have 6 months left in 2018 and you can make a lot of progress in that time.
This entire mini-course is only $29. If you are interested in finding out more and accessing this mini-course go to womentakingthelead.com/goals. And as a thank you for being a listener of this podcast you can use coupon code goals10 to get $10 off.
As always I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Create Goals that are Worthy of you: If you are done with either pursuing vanilla goals, suffering through the struggle of goals that are not aligned with your strengths, or dealing with heartbreak of an unattainable goal this course is for you!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
I was thinking about last weeks episode and how it was all about getting out during the summer months to network and continue to meet people.
The following is a keynote address I delivered to the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce in January of 2016 on the power in community. Having shared it with some friends I was encouraged to re-purpose it for the Women Taking the Lead podcast. I hope you enjoy it.
It’s no secret that business owners like their independence. They like to set their own hours, be the ultimate decision maker and forge their own destinies. The same holds true for those shooting for the top levels of their organizations. They tend to be the people who want to be in the know and be the decision makers.
However, rather than a state of independence, it is a state of interdependence that has worked to grow economies and organizations.
In my corporate career I was absolutely the benefactor of mentoring and partnerships. But, much like how a grammar school child makes friends, these relationships came naturally and developed through forced interaction, from working in close proximity with others.
When I started my business, however, the game changed. I had to seek out interactions and work at building business relationships.
Working for myself, there is no such thing as a forced interaction.
One of the greatest challenges my small business clients report is a sense of isolation and loneliness.
If you are a business owner most people in your life cannot understand your challenges or even your work day.
A few summers ago my sister, who lives over two hours away in Massachusetts, started a topic of conversation with the question, “you can work from anywhere, right?”
I responded flippantly with, “That’s the goal"…and "Why are you asking?”
Her husband would be travelling to Kenya for a month and my sister, being a mother of 3 and a nurse who works the night shift, needed someone to spend an extensive amount of time with them through the holidays to help.
With the holidays typically being slow for coaching I agreed and scrambled to prepare to work a few less hours per day during the holidays.
Now, during this time my sister would also be hosting 8 people on Christmas Eve, 24 people for Christmas and my brother and his family, a family of 5 travelling from out of state, would be staying for six days bringing the total living in the household to 10 for that time.
After arriving I found out my sister, without consulting me, had changed her schedule so she could have the days my brother’s family would be staying off. This meant working double shifts of 3-11 and then 11-7 twice within the first 4 days of my arrival.
I was shell-shocked by the amount of work I was not able to accomplish for my business. It didn’t occur to her to inform me of the change because my work schedule was flexible and I could "get it done at any time."
I’ve joked about my flexibility in the past by saying, “this week I can work 50-60 hours whenever I want to.”
On Christmas Eve she also informed me she hadn’t been able to get any of her wrapping done yet and she was going to be up all night getting it done. Since I would be bunking with her that night due to the arrival of my brother and his family, my brain froze with that information.
I had already determined I was going to need to get up at 4 am to meet the deadlines in my business before the household woke on Christmas Day.
At 12:30 am we finished wrapping and 3.5 hour later at 4 am I woke to complete my tasks.
I kept reminding myself of the quote, “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”
Sometimes that thought helped. Sometimes.
The next weekend it happened again, without consulting me two of her work shifts I had been unaware of were on the schedule requiring two double shifts in one weekend.
I kept feeling like figurative bombs were being dropped on me. I didn’t know what was going to come at me next.
It was with gratitude I returned back in Maine to happily work my own schedule but a lot of it was catch up and l think I continued to be shell-shocked from the whole experience for some time.
I tell you this story for two reasons:
Even with all the challenges faced, I know I made the right decision. The good experiences in Massachusetts far outweighed the bad and when I left everyone was happy, healthy and sad that I was going.
And to put it in perspective this was the same sister, when I contracted the flu and bronchitis at the same time when we were away at college, came to my room every day to help me to the bathroom, help me to eat and give me my medication.
I am reminded of a poem I read in high school by John Donne.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
Soon after I started my business I was invited to a networking group. One of the members introduced me to another woman whom she thought would be helpful to me in my business. I met with this woman and she spent the entire meeting brainstorming with me on how best to get the word out about my new business.
I was so blown away and so thankful, and somewhat embarrassed that I wasn’t asking her how I could help her until the meeting was nearly over.
She replied, “When I started my business someone did this for me, now I’m getting to do this for you, and someday you’ll do this for another.”
I will never forget her generosity nor will I forget her message. The help we receive is meant to be passed on. It’s not for one it’s for all.
According to Vince Lombardi, “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.”
In March of 2014 Tom Post contributed two articles to Forbes Magazine based on data collected by Radius. In his articles, The Surprising Secret Behind Small Business Success and Why Small Business Communities Grow In Clusters.
Tom reports that the most hospitable locations for small businesses is “not based on their economic growth, but on factors that predict community engagement and access to resources. It turns out that small businesses tend to attract other small businesses, creating their own, distinct ecosystems."
By connecting and collaborating with one another they create an environment in which they can all thrive.
The statistics are grim for the 10 year survival rate of a new business.
Tom Post postulates that "aside from manic drive, moxie, hard work, creativity and luck" that perhaps "a sense of connectedness to a community" - local and global, on and offline - is what gives a company the edge.
Another quote I keep close by and read on occasion is by Margaret Mead. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
I’m going to offer you 6 good reasons not to go it alone that I found in an article by Jen Waak:
"Access to experts. No one person ever has all of the answers, and regardless of your ability to use Google, consulting with experts is always going to give you better information.
Pushing our limits. When working alone, it’s oftentimes too easy to give up when things get hard. By surrounding yourself with others working toward a similar goal or objective, you’ll get motivation, support, and friendly competition to push yourself just a bit further than you would have done on your own.
Support and belief. Some days those big goals just seem impossible. On those days when you most want to give up, you need to lean on your community the most. They believe in you—probably more than you belief in yourself.
New ideas. I truly believe that when you are working within a community of like-minded people that the wisdom of crowds is considerably greater than any one person working alone. Our divergent world views and lenses mean that we all approach the exact same problem in a slightly different way.
Borrowed motivation. Even on those days when your belief in yourself isn’t waning, doing what needs to get done can seem overwhelming. Look around your community and be inspired!
Accountability. If you’re an uber-responsible person, you may not want to admit to people you care about who are pulling for you that something didn’t get done. There’s nothing like having to be accountable to others to up your game."
I encourage you to introduce yourself to one or two people you have not met before and find out more about them.
When you are networking in the coming week, find out what problems the other person is experiencing and ask how you can be of service to them.
Make it a goal to get out in your community and find out how you can contribute, even if in a small way.
Another saying I absolutely love is, “Many hands make light work.”
And lastly, look for the good in people. Recognize that we are all going through something and could use some compassion.
I will leave you with an African Proverb that sums it all up…
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Knowing how great it is to work in groups I considered running my group program again this summer but ultimately decided against it. Summer schedules tend to shift week by week based on vacations, events, visitors, childcare, etc. Not many people can commit to two group calls a week for 5 weeks. Instead for the summer I am offering quick-hit coaching sessions.
Quick-hit coaching sessions are 30 or 90 minute coaching sessions that allow you to get what you need to get over any humps and keep making progress in the summer without a big time or money commitment. If you've been considering coaching but the commitment has been holding you back this is a great option for you. You can find out more at womentakingthelead.com/quick-coaching.
As always I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Summer is just about here and we've actually passed Memorial Day in the U.S. which marks for us the unofficial start to summer.
You probably know all too well about the “summer slowdown” – that time of year when everyone seems to be on vacation or planning one. So big plans are tabled until fall, and unless you are in a seasonal business and this is your time of year it’s easy to feel like your business or career growth is in a bit of a slump.
Now I know not everyone listening to this podcast is in the northern hemisphere so if you are living somewhere and it's getting colder outside keep this episode in your back pocket as a future reference.
What I want to offer you in this episode is some reasons why it’s important to continue to network through the summer and some ways you can do it without feeling like you’re missing out on enjoying the gorgeous weather.
What better time than during the longer sunny days to be face-to-face networking?
In fact, recent economic downturns have caused many shifts in how we do business. Customers today are now significantly more cautious when making decisions to buy anything, and there is a continuing – and growing – push to “buy local”.
And how does this compare to social networking - making connections with others via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or any of the many social platforms?
You might be wondering how in-person networking opportunities measure up against online social networking.
Here’s the thing: social networking is an awesome tool for your business that you can use to connect with people anywhere, anytime –virtually every successful business owner knows that. However, it is most effective as an awareness tool to be used to create more touchpoints before someone is willing to take a meeting or buy a product or service.
If you want to really accelerate your business or career growth – make more sales, hone your in-person communication skills, and even get new inspiration for your business – face-to-face networking is the answer.
1. Schedule 1-2-1 meet-ups at establishments with outdoor seating. Who said you had to sit indoors for the meeting to be more professional? Enjoy your meeting outdoors while you take in the beauty of a summer’s day. I love the idea of chatting with like-minded people in a friendly, open-aired environment.
Bonus tip: schedule these for mid-afternoon on Friday and call it your "last appointment." The pleasant meet-up and knowing you'll be starting your weekend early will motivate you to get work done in the morning.
2. Network while doing a summertime activity that you enjoy -Whether it's hiking, golfing, sailing or walking a nature trail you can network and enjoy the beautiful weather. Again, networking is not limited to sitting indoors. Let’s change our paradigm to suit the summer season.
3. Attend a conference to get involved in your field and make the connections you need to grow your business or your career. Here, you can connect with potential referral partners, joint venture partners, and connectors. This may involve travel to some cool places or at the very least get you out of your normal environment for a little while. Perhaps even be a tourist or a tour guide in your own backyard as you plan activities with other conference goers.
4. Volunteer - at fundraising walks, 5Ks, triathlons, or for any cause that resonates with you. Put some of the time you have this summer to good use by giving back to the community. Plus, you’re likely to meet a diverse group of people from all walks of life who share a common interest with you - or perhaps who will need your services or could offer you your next big opportunity.
5. Just be social! After all, it is summer – the time of backyard BBQs, endless youth & church events, annual picnics, college (and family!) reunions...you name it! Yes, these events may seem more “personal” rather than “business”, but who knows who you might meet up with?
No matter what summer networking opportunity you decide to take advantage of, remember my #1 tip...
Don’t network specifically to “make a sale”. You are there to meet people. Is every single person you meet able to provide you a new opportunity? Of course not – but it doesn’t mean they’re not worth getting to know!
If you’re new to networking, I know how frustrating this can be. Over time, you’ll be able to polish your networking skills and reap the benefits of quality relationships.
It’s summer – use this season to your benefit by taking advantage of all the great networking opportunities that exist beyond the confines of your office. Get out there, start shaking hands and making eye contact – with real people – not with your computer screen!
Lastly, I would like to make a request. If you find value in this podcast please share it with your like-minded friends and colleagues. I am so grateful to the people in my life who shared their favorite books, courses and podcasts with me because they changed my life. And I remember exactly who shared those resources with me. Let’s continue to share the love and pay it forward.
As always I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
TextExpander lets you instantly insert snippets of text from a repository of emails, boilerplate and other content, as you type – using a quick search or abbreviation. Go to https://textexpander.com/podcast and select Women Taking the Lead from the dropdown list for 20% off your first year!
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
Alexa Gilmore is a vitality warrior who takes a stand for your fullest potential. As an acupuncturist, Chinese herbalist, bodyworker, and coach, she takes a no-nonsense approach to the healing arts and expects positive outcomes: function rebalanced, harmony restored, resilience renewed. She welcomes guests from around the county to her clinic in Portland, Maine, where she specializes in chronic illness, women’s health, and skin disease, but her passion is to use optimal health as a vehicle for personal transformation.
After months of seeing her maximum amount of patients each day, Alexa suddenly realized there was more she wanted to accomplish. Alexa knew that if she could get her hands on people uninterrupted for as many hours per day, magic would happen. So, why did she feel that it wasn’t possible? This helped her come to a realization about who she was and what she wants to offer the world.
Alexa starts off as a guide for her clients and patients, to help lead them back into their bodies. Then, there is a shift and she is leading the leader to help themselves. Alexa uses her enthusiasm to get her patients and clients excited about taking back power of their own body and health.
Alexa wants to take the information that she knows about Chinese medicine and make it mainstream. If you aren’t coming into her clinic, Alexa still wants you to know the information she has about how to take care of your body and the things you should or shouldn’t be doing to live a healthy life.
Transitioning from a clinical space to an online space has been challenging for Alexa. She wants to stay fully present and one-on-one in her clinic, but also have time to create her online presence without feeling overwhelmed.
Alexa makes sure to carve out time each day to get some quiet time in, usually through yoga and meditation. That time gives Alexa the space she needs for her inner wisdom to come forward.
“Oh honey, it’s going to be okay.” Alexa would also give her younger self the book, The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer.
"Be the first.
The first to say hello.
The first to compliment the other person.
The first to give credit.
The first to say sorry.
The first to offer to help.
The first to show up for someone else.
The first to set an example.
The first to offer hope.
The first to shine.
Be the first."
~Chris Winfield
Website: http://www.atxacu.com
Website - Specifically for Skin Disease: http://www.atxskin.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atxacupuncture/
Zebralove Web Solutions: Your website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!
Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women in the community!
Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.
If you enjoyed this episode subscribe in iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music or iHeart Radio and never miss out on inspiration and community!
This is the month-end episode; that means an update on goals. This month I’m going to review my goals from the perspective of being vs. doing.
Many of us believe that if we are not getting the results we are looking for it means we have to work harder. Although there are some cases where this might be true I believe, especially in this community of go-getting women, more often than not it means we have to shift who we are being as we take action toward our goals.
It’s more than just “work smarter not harder” but that can be a part of it too. It’s about the attitude you bring, your self-awareness and your presence as you do what needs to be done. Or – hold onto your hats – it’s who you are being as you step back and allow others to take action on your behalf.
I’ll go through each of my goals and explain it more as I talk about the progress or lack of progress I’ve made in the past month.
May was a busy month with The Accomplished Intensive wrapping up the first week, The Maine Women’s Conference happening the second week, a slew of corporate training in the third week and all the meetings that could not happen in the 2nd and 3rd weeks landing in the fourth week of May.
Even with all the craziness I feel like I’ve made progress and it definitely has helped to keep my goals top of mind even as I’m working on other things.
The original goal for strength and endurance was to do 300 Spartan-regulation burpees in good form in one session by June 30 but I completed that in February. My burpee goal is now at 1000 burpees. Separately, I have a goal to do an unassisted pull-up before the end of this year.
I have not done a great job of incorporating the pull-ups into my workout so I’m adding a task to my calendar each day to prompt me to at least do a few assisted pull-ups with the band.
As of the day I’m recording this episode I have completed doing 600 Spartan-regulation burpees (chest to ground) in good form in one workout session.
Doing so many burpees in one workout each week has been a little hard on my body. I recently remembered that when I was training for the marathon the program I used had the long run scheduled every other week and on the weeks in between the distance would be half what the previous long run was.
For instance, if my long run of 14 miles happened today, next week I would run 7, and the week after I would run 16 miles and the week after that it would be 8.
After I remembered that I decided that is how I am going to do my burpee workouts. Rather than add 25 burpees to my workout session each week I’ll add 50 burpees every other week and half the burpees on the weeks in between. This will give my body more time to recover after pushing my wall.
I did 600 burpees in one session 2 weeks ago, 300 last week and this week I’ll do 650.
This is an example of working smarter.
The added benefit of doing these halved workouts on the weeks in between is I can compare my current time with my original time. For instance, when I did 300 burpees in February it took me 56:36. Last week it took me 52:22, shaving 4:14 off my time.
That felt good to see and showed the progress I’ve made with my fitness.
Another thing that has made a difference in my workouts was my mentality. Who I “Be” during my workouts is “this is happening and I’m lucky I have the ability to do this many burpees.”
This impacts my presence creating one of calm confidence as I’m doing the burpees.
Full transparency: this is not the presence I wake up that morning. I’m usually feeling a little anxious about what I’m going to put myself through. But if you’ve ever trained for an endurance event you know how critical it is to have a positive frame of mind.
Did you know your body responds to your frame of mind?
When I work out, if I start thinking about the things that are stressing me out or my mind starts floating toward negative thoughts I immediately have a harder time catching my breath and my muscles start to cramp up. It’s amazing biofeedback and it is fascinating!
So, as I’m preparing to do my workout I shift my attitude and I get it done without any mental suffering.
Attitude and presence impact your ability to take action toward your goals. Keep that in mind!
In October, which is breast cancer awareness month, I will be collaborating with Emily leRoux, the Spartan Women Global Leader of Spartan Races, Inc. to do a “Burpees for Boobs” event. I am going to coordinate the event here in Maine but the intention is to have these events happening globally in October.
Now that the work for The Maine Women’s Conference and the corporate workshops has slowed a bit I’m shifting my focus to this event. I am currently in the process of scheduling a call with Emily leRoux to begin coordinating this event.
I’ve also aligned with Marie Sola of Daughters of Change to make this event happen. We are both excited. Marie says she’s never done a burpee in her life but she is looking forward to learning. I hope she’s still in after she’s done a few burpees.
I’ll admit, in the time I’ve had to put this goal on the backburner, I have had random defeating thoughts like, “can I really make this happen?” and “what if this completely flops?”
I’ve come to realize I need to take the same attitude I’ve taken on for my burpee workouts, “this is happening and I’m lucky I have the ability and the network to make this happen.”
That feels better!
Goal: have a net income (earnings minus expenses) of $80,000 minimum this year.
April’s Profit and Loss report showed a net profit of $2730.41, slightly lower than March’s profit and still far off from the average $6700/month required to see a net profit of $80,000.
In June I’ll be participating in two strategy sessions with my mastermind group to take a look at this goal and what it’s going to take to achieve it.
I realize I still have stories around selling and conveying value. One of my struggles is my ideal client is a busy, overworked woman. It is not uncommon for someone to reach out to me to explore coaching, they want to work with me but then all the things I can help them with come up and cause them to put coaching on the back burner.
It’s tragic when I hear back from some of these women a little further down the road and nothing has changed. Or more gut-wrenching, things have gotten worse.
There are definitely some actions I can take to tweak my packages, offerings and my website but I know the big piece of this is going to be shifting who I am being when I am chatting with a potential client.
I know there are instances when I am so conscious of not coming off salesy or pushy that I undermine my own calm and confidence. I know when my coaching process is the solution to someone’s biggest problems and I have to be very clear about that and also clear about the cost of putting off the solution.
It’s a dance but I know that by shifting who I am being in those conversations I can do it gracefully and be a support to the women whom I most love to help.
Goal: (contingent upon profitability goal) to outsource social media content creation and email inbox management.
I’m going to hold space for this goal. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself because I know without a doubt that once my profitability goal gains some traction this is a done deal!
Who I am being in regard to my outsourcing goal is “This is happening. Oh yes it is!”
I’m still doing the do. Most traction is happening on the dating app – no surprise there. I’m making connections and planning dates. I’ve also got a couple of friends who know someone they want to fix me up with and I have granted my permission for them to coordinate introductions.
You have to be careful with this because sometimes who your friends see you with is not the person that you see yourself with. I’ve been on some odd blind dates in the past and I am typically not a fan of blind dates. However, given the conversations I’ve had with my friends I’ve felt comfortable giving the “go ahead.”
With this goal I am staying in the arena, as Brené Brown has described it, and seeing it through even though it is difficult for me. I had an experience this past month that played into all my old stories about men: that they are not straightforward, they don’t tell the whole truth and the truth they leave out is the truth that would have been REALLY important for you to know.
This one shook me to my core, partially because I was worn out from a couple other things pulling at my energy, and partially because the man was a person I thought would be completely honest with me.
For about a week up was down and down was up. I questioned how much I could trust my own judgment in people because I’d had complete faith in this man to be a friend and be completely honest with me.
I’ve mostly made peace with it and energetically forgave but talking about it even vaguely with you is causing some emotion to come up again.
Historically this is when I would check out and decide finding a partner was not important to me.
I would decide it was not worth the negative impact is was having on my energy and mindset which would have a ripple effect on my career, my business and my overall wellness.
So, I’m in the arena. I’ve been knocked around a bit but I’m still in the game and I’m proud of myself for that.
Who I am calling myself forth to be is soft, open, loving, calm, confident and playful. It is a practice but it is worth it.
One thing that has helped me with my stress level, my self-awareness, my attitude and my presence is the work I’ve done with the Energy Leadership Assessment. This is a vital tool I use for myself and in my business to get to the heart of what keeps me from naturally expressing who I am: calm, confident, powerful, playful and loving.
The Energy Leadership Assessment is at the heart of the work I do with my clients and is the reason they start having crazy ah-ha moments right away and can see impactful progress within weeks or even days of beginning to work together.
If you’ve been spinning your wheels and working harder and harder to make progress toward your goals I’m going to suggest that it’s not what you’re doing or not doing that’s holding you back it’s who you are being, and you are not being your best self.
If you are interested in finding out more go to womentakingthelead.com/coaching. There you can also purchase the assessment for yourself which will give you the information you need to achieve your biggest goals with a lot more ease.
As always I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!
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Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.