Are You Asking The Right Questions?
I want to talk about relationship building this week. Specfically as it pertains to building your career or your business. Even more specifically, I want to talk today about asking the right questions when you are talking with people. About two and a half years ago I had started contemplating a move out of corporate America and into something else in my career. Before I get into the story, I want to make it clear that it’s not about me, it’s about having opportunities and not doing anything about it. So as I am contemplating a move, a good friend of mine hears that I am thinking about moving on
Tools for Shifting Your Personal Viewpoint
I touched briefly on tools to help you shift your mindset to see yourself differently on Monday. I wanted to dive into those a little more in depth and add more tools that you can utilize to start shifting your mindset and living as the person that you want to be. The first tools that I will touch on again is meditation. An article that I ran across at discovery.com give an extensive process for getting started with meditation. The article talks about 4 basic meditative practices. The practices are follow your breath, observe an icon, recite a mantra and do a guided meditation. These are meditation tools to aid
I Have No Experience
More mindset fluff for today. You’re welcome. Now on to our program. One of the biggest factors that kill our enterpreneurial careers before they even start is experience. You think that because you have no experience that you have no value to give in the marketplace. The analogy displayed of the cat looking at itself in the mirror and seeing a lion is critical to your success. When you are conveying your message to others conviction is important. How you see yourself will dictate your level of conviction in your message. Once you are clear on your purpose and ability for value creation then it’s time to move onto actions.
Be…Do…Have
If you are on the road to living your plan or even if you haven’t started that journey yet, you may be asking what to do next. If there is something that you aspire to, the most important is to start seeing and acting as if you are already at the level that you aspire to. This concept really sounds new agey and I will apologize in advance but this is important to being a successful business owner. I want to talk about the concept of be-do-have. This concept was first introduced to me by a good friend and business partner, Garrett Gunderson. When Garrett had first talked to me
This is Only a Test, If This Were An Actual Emergency….
I believe there are many people out there who start living their plan but stop pretty early on in the process. The reason why they stop is because they incur some sort of set back. It doesn’t even have to be a major one. I honestly believe that this is a test to see how bad we actually want it. The Emergency Broadcast System buzz should start playing in your head when this happens. Times are not always going to be easy, whether it be in your career or a business. The important thing with setbacks and tough times is to make sure that you learn the lesson that needed
What if…..
“And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge And all knowledge is vain save when there is work And all work is empty save when there is love.” Kahlil Gibran “The Prophet” I love the above writing by Kahlil Gibran that deals specifically with work. In the context of living your plan, the above section breaks down how our working lives ideally work when we have a conscious plan of action. “And I say that life in indeed darkness save when there is urge” Essentially he is talking about passion. What is it that you
Don’t wait
Making the decision to start a business, or even a new career for that matter,can instill fear and doubt about our abilities to get the job done and be successful. Because of this fear we wait and don’t make the move and we wait for a time that feels more right. I am here to tell you that that day will not come. Fear can be a tool for survival. Unfortunately, that’s all it’s for, survival. The question then becomes, do you want to survive or do you want to thrive? We have many instances in our lives when we are pointed to an enlightened path and most of the
How to Use the Trading of Services Effectively
Trading services can be a great resource regardless of the economy. I have seen trade work out really well and I have seen trade work poorly. So how can you use the trading of services effectively? Trade is used when you have a specific need and are short on cash to make it happen. The first thing to do is to identify who can use the services that you provide and how can you package them attractively to a potential trade partner. The best advice I can give is to think it out. We will talk more on this in a minute. Make sure that the businesses you approach for
A Lot of This is Common Sense. Do You Still Need to Hear it Anyway?
When I look at this blog, I swear that most of it is pretty straight forward for the most part. So much so that I am confident that most read it and say things like, “I know that” or “Makes sense”. But while most of what we talk about with building a business is common sense, I am still amazed by how many people ignore simple principles. So I am going to share another straight forward tidbit about being resourceful. This time I will give you a peek at a model that we use with clients to help them identify where the stand and what they have on hand in
How Can You Be Resourceful?
Looking at the landscape for today’s business environment, it’s more important than ever to be creative. It’s just as important to be more resourceful. We often overlook the resources that we have around us as we continue to work “in” our business and not “on” it. How can you be more resourceful as a business owner? I talked last week about mentoring and specifically mentoring programs for your business. As it turns out the more I look into the subject of resources the more resources that I find that are available to small business owners. In particular I ran accross an article on student consultants. Many colleges and universities offer
