SUCCESS QUOTES

“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.”

Henry Ford

January 30, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 To Do And You Can Change It All!

OK - You’ve got a list. We ALL have a List. Now’s the time to take control of those To Do’s and turn them into Ta Da’s!Ask yourself.

What single thing will I absolutely get “DONE” today?”

Write it down.

Now write down 3 items you’ll take off today’s calendar so you can keep your focus. Take those items and delegate, dump, or time block them so they’re off your To Do list and you can celebrate what you got DONE today and the rest of the week. Ta Da!

January 28, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Organization, Processes, Productivity Tools, Time Management | Leave a Comment 

SHIFT YOUR TO DO LIST TO HIGH PAYOFF TA DAs!

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

You’ve got dreams and you’ve got your attention on what it takes to achieve them. You’re ready to roll up your sleeves and eager to start producing massive results.

The problem is, you’re dragging. You put in tons of hours, your desk is piled with papers, and no matter how hard you work, you’re plagued by a To-Do list a mile long and growing. You’re constantly busy yet you get to the end of each week before you get to the end of your list.

Important things fall through the cracks. In fact you’re feeling frustrated, drained and overwhelmed. And you’re doubting what you’ve actually accomplished.

I started coaching this month with two new business leaders and that’s exactly what they were facing, every day. They were wondering how they’ll ever achieve their big goals when they can’t seem to dig themselves out from under their avalanche of tasks and ‘have to get done’s’.

So I gave them a To Do list Makeover. We turned that time and energy sucking list of “To Do’s” into “Ta Da’s!” they can smile about. And you can use it too!

So what’s a Ta Da! List?

Have you ever noticed that your To Do List is a never-ending list of everything you think you should be doing?

We’re all so adept at creating lists of things that need doing. But not all items are created equal—some are simple items to get done, others take major effort. As a result your To Do list is full of busy work all mixed in with the important stuff and even the urgent and critical things your success depends on.

A Ta-Da! list is results focused. It’s a list of High Payoff tasks, that when completed have immediate impact on your results and success. Completing items on your Ta-Da! List results that in energy focuses you and each next effort on accomplishments.

A Ta Da! List is a declaration of what you are committed to getting done. And that means getting it done in the most effective way possible.

Here is a 5 step plan to tame that To Do list:

Step #1: Declare Your Top 3 Priorities.

Your Ta-Da! List needs a clear focus. Every day, start a fresh list with your 3 most important projects or priorities. Don’t let your High Payoff Activities get buried – keep everything else off this list. Clearly focus on the 3 priorities that must get done, no matter what else happens. Let this focus your actions.

Step #2: Dump The Lowest Priority Items.

If everything is equally important then nothing really is. Take a fresh, honest look at your To Do list. Now filter your list for the things that you dream of getting done ‘someday’ and write them down on a separate piece of paper – out of your sight, permanently. Ask yourself “What items on my list fall in the ‘great idea’ category but have very little payoff if I do them? What items have absolutely no consequence if I DON’T do them?” If you’re finding “shoulds” that you keep stalling on because they aren’t aligned with your top priorities, cross them off and be done with them.

Step #3: Delegate. Delegate. Delegate.

Identify anything and everything that must get done, yet could be done by someone else. That means handing it to someone and overseeing their accomplishing it so you stop being the ‘only one’ who could get it done. I teach my clients to use the “If I Ran off to Fiji Test”. If you decided to catch a plane tomorrow, and it still needed to get done, who ought to have it on their list? If you’re concerned it won’t get done to your standards, set-up a formal hand off with a ‘check in’ dates and times to review progress and provide input. But commit to letting someone else handle it all the way to completion.

Step #4: Pencil Out The Week.

Take another look through your list. If there’s anything on your list that doesn’t have to be completed today, but does need to be completed within the next 7 days, pencil it onto the appropriate days. Just knowing you’ve created a time and space for them will free you up to focus on other, more important, priorities right here and right now.

Step #5: Time Block The Rest.

All that should be left on your list are those items that (a) must be done today, (b) are linked to a top priority item and (c) must be done by you and only you. You may want to break them into 45-minute blocks of time, alternating with 15-minute breaks, so you know you’ll accomplish them and also give attention to quick fix items that crop up. Write those blocks of time in your calendar.

And anything else that crops up during your day? Take them through steps 1 through five and get your attention back on your declared focus for the day!

That’s it. 5 simple steps to create your Ta-Da! List. Watch how much more focused and productive you are.

January 26, 2008 | Filed Under Delegation, Goal Setting, Managing, Organization, Processes, Productivity Tools, Time Management | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Thought And You Can Change It All!

I shared with you the 3-minute Service Movie video at SimpleTruth.com

Did you watch it? You can watch it here.

This time, as you watch it, think about the reaction you had when Johnny identified one action he could do.

When you have, come back here and ask yourself:

“What is an action I say I cannot take with MY customers?”

List all the ideas that come to mind. Now think about reasons that you’ve used to bolster those ideas.

When you’ve run dry listing all your “can’t”s take one those ideas and list 3 simple steps you could take to just do it.

It’s the second step to designing High Payoff customer contacts you can use in the coming year.

January 21, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Ideas, Inspiration | Leave a Comment 

USING THE HIGH PAYOFF PERSONAL TOUCH WITH CUSTOMERS

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

When was the last time you looked in the mirror, really looked, and saw how you show up for your customers?

I ask because it’s been a subject that has come up repeatedly for my coaching clients, my MasterMind buddies, and myself the past couple of months. We’ve faced how we were showing up, and changed our results as we made an important shift.

My client Susan serves the legal community… as a marketing consultant. Her personality is very different than that of her clients. And her expertise at increasing their presence in the marketplace is what they need, what they want, but what they are uncomfortable spending time or money on.

One of my MasterMind buddies, Bonnie, is a career coach. For years she’s helped people forced into career transitions to take a fresh look at their capabilities. And then she teaches them to use specific interviewing techniques that have their next employer clamoring to bring them on board.

And as for me? Well, I came out of the world of mega corporations and work with a diverse group of professionals and business owners who want to grow their business, while doing it easier and faster. My expertise is in getting people crystal clear about their goals, getting all their distractions handled and out of their way, and sharpening their attention on their High Payoff Activities.

Each of us faced the same challenge: How to differentiate ourselves from others saying they produce great results for our clients.

The single spark that changed our own results is stepping into our authentic selves and connecting with our clients from that place.

For Susan, that means showing up as a bright, successful professional woman, and modeling the very marketing activities she’s asking her clients to invest in. The marketing activities at professional conferences, the artful and eye-catching way she distributes articles and tip sheets, the way she gets herself quoted in the media are all models of the High Payoff results she’ll create for her clients.

Susan models how to inject a personal flavor in professional marketing so her clients can trust how they’ll show up as well. Susan shows them how to preserve their own personality while building their professional presence.

For Bonnie, her relaxed personality blended with all her expertise are a perfect style for working with the younger generation, just as they enter the work force. She invites them to grow a powerful sense of themselves, and teaches them how to navigate finding their first jobs and any employment changes they make next.

Bonnie coaches her clients into new skills in connecting with their own personality so they practice them, use them adopt them in their interactions the rest of their lives.

And for me, my ideal clients all share a common characteristic - they are ‘doers’ challenged with stepping out of the ‘doing’ and into the leadership and management activities that feel constraining to them. Each of them is afraid of disappearing as person and becoming a robot if they focus on ‘management.’

I show them how to preserve their drive and individual style while connecting with and leading the people who now need to be the team that achieves their vision.

You don’t have to wait until your clients signal you to take step into your own authentic self. The fact is for Susan, Bonnie, and me, the moment we allowed ourselves to just show up, as we are, our clients relaxed and stepped up too!

So here are 3 High Payoff Steps that bring your authentic self into your business:

Greet everyone with a SMILE

People cannot connect with you or listen to you if you’re just a ’suit’ sitting across from them. Your clients are stressed and feel vulnerable. They want you to solve that stress AND reassure them it will happen with ease. If you’re not smiling, you’re in your head rather than in your heart. And the person sitting across from you knows your attention isn’t on them and their challenges. Your smile instantly lets them know your attention is on them, and they’ll relax and breathe.

Focus first on THEIR issue, not your solution

You’re already an expert. You already know one, or six, or even twenty ways to solve their challenges. The more you focus on probing how they understand what needs solving, the more natural your conversation with them will be. And immediately your true personality can come into the conversation so they see you, in your own unique brilliance. And your individual personality, added to your proven ‘Know How’ is what will cement the relationship.

Champion the result THEY want

Our greatest gift is in helping people succeed on their journey. Yet our greatest challenge in life is to help others along the road they want to travel, rather than the path we’d take “if we were in their shoes.”

So take a look in the mirror and see how you’re showing up. When you use these three steps your clients will be begging for more of you. Now that’s further, faster and easier, isn’t it?

January 19, 2008 | Filed Under Ideas, Inspiration | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Obstacle And You Can Change It All!

It’s the beginning of the year so we’ll keep it short, sweet, and direct!Ask yourself:

“What is a single obstacle that held me back from my goal last year?”

Write it down.

Now write down 3 steps you’ll take this week to redefine it, erase it, or get a coach to help you see a path around it so it won’t hang you up this year.

January 15, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Processes, Productivity Tools | Leave a Comment 

THE FIRST 4 STEPS TO A HIGH PAYOFF YEAR IN 2008

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

Are you staring at your calendar, musing over last year’s results, and wondering what IS the way to get started in really creating the business of your dreams?

We’ve all had that moment of scratching our head and feeling stuck. The moment, maybe hours, when we know we need to sit down and put our plans in writing. To make a couple of commitments to ourselves so we keep them in action, but we can’t get the picture in focus at all.

I kicked off my work with a new coaching client last week. Mike is looking at the next step in his career ladder. I posed lots of questions. He laid out for me his idea of where he wants to go, how long he’s wanted it… and then… there was a long silence.

A silence marked by the sounds coming from the other side of the office door.

A silence triggered by my question to him, “What have you tried so far?”

And then he said it. The painful admission uttered by most people with an idea that’s languished…

“Not much. I’ve thought about it a lot. But, what do I first?”

Mike thought that was his stalling point. Not knowing what to do. Is this where you’ve been stalling out too?

To get to that answer you have to ask the right questions.

Every single business starts from an idea. Every advancement in a profession is launched by a personal opinion or belief, or a specific realization of a possible way of being in the world.

While it’s a vital part of the process of creating a business, your “idea” is NOT your business. Ideas amount to nothing IF they never go beyond the thought. And from thought into action.

More often than not, business owners and professionals get so taken with their “idea” they fail to move forward. Like Mike, they get caught in a tug of war they cannot even name – wanting to move forward while being diverted and held back. They stall out because they miss the 4 simple steps that create a clear path to achieving that vision.

To make sure YOU don’t ever stall out with your “idea” you have to do first things first:

1) Define Your Vision – This is what all of your efforts and energy in this business will create. Your answer to this question is what gives your idea juice. In order for your answer to anchor your efforts it must be very specific.

The Vision for Your High Payoff Catalyst: To help 1,000s of entrepreneurs and business owners become successful faster and easier than they ever imagined.

2) Sort Out Your Resources – This is taking stock of all that you bring to achieving your Vision at this specific moment. Your answers to this question help you clearly see what you already have to assist you in making your business “idea” solid.

They should include: your skill set, your knowledge, your aptitude, where you came from, where you’re at now, what you have in your kit bag to make your idea a reality.

Your High Payoff Catalyst resources include some pretty unique skills, proven experience, relevant contacts and a 20-plus year track record of systematically helping hundreds of professionals and business leaders learn simple step-by-step processes that get them from “idea” to “action” to “results.”

3) Sort Out Your Challenges – This is taking stock of all that you know might delay you achieving your Vision. Your answers to this question help you to clearly see what you need to solve first. When we’re facing obstacles rather than our resources our time and attention is constantly diverted. It’s like carrying a 200-pound backpack with us on a hike.

This includes your own doubts, fears, limiting beliefs, and even old habits that work against what is wanted and needed to get to that goal. My Challenge? Getting beyond wanting every single step laid out before I start my journey.

4) Systematically Work BOTH Lists – This is giving deliberate attention to removing your obstacles at the same pace as you are using your resources. Each obstacle that you clear out of your path accelerates the success of each resource you use. And the lighter your load, the quicker your progress on your path.

Mike and I will be working on these two fronts at the same time: clearing out his limiting beliefs about how hard it will be to prove himself to his boss, and using new techniques to increase his personal productivity in the role he’s asking to step into.

To make progress to your goal, you need to simultaneously work two parallel tracks. When you recover your attention from your obstacles, you’ll easily know what is each next step to take. It will be staring right at you.

January 13, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Ideas, Processes | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Action And You Can Change It All!

I shared with you the 3-minute Service Movie video at SimpleTruth.com
Did you watch it? It’s time to take a second viewing of it. You can watch it here.

This time, as you watch it, think about the first reaction you had when Johnny thought there was no action he could do. Then think about how it felt to hear his idea. And lastly think about how it would have felt to be one of his customers.

When you have, come back here and ask yourself:

“What simple action could I take to connect with MY customers?”

List all the ideas that come to mind. Now think about actions that you’ve heard or seen others use. Which of those ideas would you like to consider as well?

Carry that list with you and start putting notes next to each idea to flush them out. It’s the first step to designing High Payoff customer contacts you can use in the coming year.

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

January 8, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Ideas, Inspiration | Leave a Comment 

HOW TO LEVERAGE THE WRITER’S STRIKE IN YOUR OWN BUSINESS

By Linda Feinholz, “Your High Payoff Catalyst”

It may not be immediately apparent to you, yet the Hollywood Writer’s Strike of 2007 has lessons and opportunities for you in your business.

The event has filled the news for months. Over time, the reported stories have shifted from the repetitive newscasts of who fed donuts to folks walking in circles to who negotiated special deals.

Those special deals have been interesting on their own merits and for the speculation and gossip they generated among the public. What’s hidden from view are the opportunities faced by people whose lives are being thrown into turmoil by the labor union’s strategies.

This situation might be considered “special” or “unusual” - if it isn’t quickly resolved, people whose livelihoods are placed at risk by the strike will find themselves forced to examine what they’ll do to rescue themselves.

You don’t have to wait until your survival is threatened to take a fresh look at your business. The fact is this is your chance to leverage their self-examination and see what opportunities you may have been missing.

So here are 5 ways you can use the Writer’s Strike to take a new look at your business:

1 - Buyers Will Change HOW They Use Their Time

Television viewers are going to be looking for other uses of the time that the Strike has freed up. That means they’ll be reading more, listening to more audio material, and having more conversations. And some of those people are your customers.

How will you maximize on the attention that has been freed up? How can you tease people into giving you that attention? What experience can you give your clients or prospects? What information do you want to put in front of them? What could you invite them to?

2 - Sellers Will Have More Time On Their Hands

Just as the Hollywood writers will have time to work on scripts, you’ll have more time to work on your business. Instead of the hours spent watching television, you can invest them in getting your High Payoff activities completed and accelerate your results.

What are the Top 3 challenges you can give that attention to?

3 - Suppliers Will Be Threatened Economically

Not only are the Studios and the Writers affected economically, so too are thousands of vendors to the industry. Staff, crew, drivers, gaffers, caterers, dry cleaners, set designers, hotels… I could go on. They may “know” that it will eventually turn around. Yet the actual future results is unknown. And they may be out of business before then.

If you considered the impact on your business of changes to your suppliers and vendors and associates, what contingency plans would you put into place today? If your business depends on those same people’s success, how might you work to assure their success in order to stabilize your own?

4 - People Will Re-examine The Future They’re Building

Many of those striking writers are looking at their bills and their family and weighing how long they’ll hold on to their ambition as writers. That means they’ll be taking a hard look at the goals they thought they were aiming for and deciding if those goals still hold true.

What goals have you been holding for your business? Did you have a clear Vision you were aiming for these past years? Or did you just sort of fall into the work you’re now doing? If it were all likely to disappear, what would you turn your attention and efforts to? If that’s so, why not focus there now?

5 - The Internet Will Get More Attention Than Ever Before

Entertainment, personal and professional development, alternative business models and much much more are all thriving on the Internet. Writers have the opportunity to become direct suppliers of material in this growing medium. Whether in copy writing for web sites, scripting blog entries, developing learning materials, running webinars, these folks are skilled with language and this is a land of opportunity for those who want to explore it.

How might you increase your online presence to build your business? Are there ways of attracting new clients, providing services to prospects and customers, or staying in touch that you’ve not given much thought to? Are there technological systems that you’ve been pooh pooh-ing and missing out on using, such as an emailed newsletter? And what about videos to provide sales support or ongoing customer service information?

Don’t just watch reruns… and don’t keep living them in your business! The Strike is offering entire industries a chance to examine the risks and rewards built into their business model. It’s an opportunity for you to embrace as well, before your favorite shows put out new episodes.
This is your chance to re-envision the business you’re in, the opportunities in front of you and even make leaps right past others staring at the news an muttering to themselves.Take the time newly available to you to focus on breaking out of the business assumptions you’ve been holding and refresh your future.

January 5, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Ideas, Inspiration | Leave a Comment