Taking Stock

Thanksgiving is always a great time for pausing and taking stock, then acknowledging what HAS been successful this past year. I spent a lot of time in hopsital waiting rooms, ICUs and funeral activities for my step-dad. Each of those hours stirred up thoughts of appreciation AND of priority.

I’ve found, from way too many personal encounters in this life time, that when shocking events strike our lives we snap into a closer focus on what is important and what is the fluff and chaff that’s clouding our view and our focus.

So Thanksgiving seemed an opportune time, as I took a deep slow breath before heading back into the business world, to reset my focus and priorities for business. I put the next article together for all of us – there’s no reason we need to wait for miserable events to refocus!

I look forward to your thoughts about all of this.

December 5, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Vision | 1 Comment 

Law Of Attraction Is The THIRD Step For Businesses

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

One of my clients, Don, kept waffling back and forth over which sized firms he wanted as his clients. For the lack of that focus, his efforts were scattered and outright conflicting with each other.

If you’ve been aware of hearing about the Law of Attraction recently, you’re in step with the latest message about inspiration. For nearly 25 years, I’ve seen it taught in various forms, from ‘mindfulness retreats’ to est to various Human Potential and Self-Actualization programs. Each program teaches their own frameworks, or those borrowed from the ages, to give us tools to use on a daily basis.

As with anything in life, all the techniques and frameworks are only moderately effective if you don’t KNOW where you’re going. Without a clear Vision and destination in mind you’ll either eventually get lost or it’ll take you a long time to get there, much longer than necessary.

If you’re heading out to drive into new territory and choose to do it without a roadmap, you may spend a lot of your time recognizing you’re lost and looking for road-side assistance, over and over again. It may not make sense to even head out in the first place.

Over the years, it’s been proven out that if you don’t consciously declare what you want, you’ll continually attract what your unconscious mind wants to attract rather than what you say you want.

In business, I see this play out over and over again with participants in my Productivity and Time Mastery Kick Start Program. People learn a technique or two that has the potential to double and even triple how much they accomplish in less time. They take on a commitment to using the new practices, and then come back asking for personal tune-ups.

When we take a closer look at what’s going on, they’ve go the technique down pat. They’re often missing the content – what they’re spending their time on has not been prioritized or selected to get them to a specific destination. Read more

November 8, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Vision | Leave a Comment 

Break The Fright Cycle, Out-Smart The Business Ghouls

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

If I were to make a guess, it would be that you’re hearing an average of 6,294 messages a day about how bad a disaster the economy is, how everyone is going to loose their jobs, the roof over their heads, and even the ability to put clothes on their backs.

Even if I’m overestimating your exposure by a factor of 100… that’s 62 times a day when the despairing ghosts are moaning at you from behind the curtains and the goblins are haunting you from your radio and TV.

Well, all I know is I don’t need to hear whispers sixty-two times to put me off my dinner. Once, twice, three times is enough to give me the creeps. So my survival technique for surviving the ghouls is to remember the walk in the woods when I was growing up.

I remember creeping through the woods by our house after dusk. Every snap of a twig or brush of a leaf made me jump. I had that reaction even when I’d walked the same path easily in daylight a mere few hours before.

And of course it was even creepier when I was walking with other kids, as we all stirred each other with mutterings of fright – building a sense of helplessness and impending doom.

In the same way as that path was just fine during daylight, things are just fine when you shut off the radio and TV, put down the magazines and newspapers and focus on what you DO have control over. Read more

October 30, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Leadership, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Diversify The Ideas That Build Your Business

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

I’m a voracious reader. There have been some years when I read nearly 400 books… and worked full time and slept fewer than 4 hours a night. I love reading.

That was then… And now my body wants more sleep, and my reading has dropped off. So I use my reading time even more focused. 20 percent for pleasure and 80 percent for the joy of new ideas that I can take to my clients.

I don’t usually take the entire book or article for them to read. I extract the core idea, perhaps even a quote, and take it into a discussion to illustrate a new way of thinking about their challenge.

I have favorites that I give to management teams whose companies are facing growth challenges, leadership practices, and marketing. Those include the

  • Harvard Business Review article by Larry Greiner “Evolution & Revolution as organizations grow” (I prefer the original version, not the updated one),
  • Fast Company’s piece called “Measure What Matters”
  • Inc Magazine’s “Cold Fish, Hot Data, New Profis”
  • Fast Company’s “Start With Nothing”
  • And Fortune Magazine’s “Making The Lord’s Copies”

If you get yourself a copy of these, you’ll find the following core ideas: Read more

August 24, 2008 | Filed Under Delegation, Goal Setting, Ideas, Managing, Marketing | Leave a Comment 

Thoughts On Stepping Longer In Business (and in life)

I got a lot of comments on my note last week – people applauding me for the great results on the financial goal I set for myself this year.

Several folks asked me what I did differently this year. As I thought about it, I realized that it was a mix of old familiar activities AND ones I’d never stepped up to before.

One of the key ones, and this is uncomfortable to say to you, is that I asked. I asked for support from folks that I share my goals with. That’s a given.

But beyond that I stretched out of my comfort zone and asked for the support of professional colleagues, in a way that met both of our goals. The result is I was referred to a client that I’ve been working with for nearly eight months. AND they’re one of my all time favorite clients – they pull me aside to tell me how they’re using the ideas and techniques I’m showing them and talk about the results they’re getting and loving.

And for my part, I’m passionate about people getting better results from their efforts and I love seeing people take our conversations and the tools I show them and making a difference in their lives.

So, the result of my stepping up with a new stride to that uncomfortable action is both warming my financial results and my heart all at the same time.

Thus, last week’s article, this week’s quote, and some additional thoughts in this week’s article on what I did differently.

Go on! Be ‘different’ this year!

August 15, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting | Leave a Comment 

Will YOU Stretch Your Goals?

Let’s get practical shall we?

8 months ago I set new financial targets for myself for the year. They included boosting my earnings by 60%. (I love stretch goals, don’t you?)

I have to admit that I gulped as I put those goals down on paper. I made that commitment very publicly, to 12 other people at a MasterMind retreat.

And, since I just updated them on the results so far, I thought I’d share them with you.

Why? Because all too often we worry about impressions others hold about us instead of focusing on the person we want to be in the world. And part of who I am is a professional who stepped up, did a very uncomfortable thing (setting that goal that had knots in my stomach AND saying it out loud)… and standing firm about it.

For me, the shift is in experiencing my self as… Tah Dah! Someone who set a significant goal AND already hit the 78% mark at the end of July. That’s 58% of the time I gave myself. And that’s also already the highest gross income I’ve ever mad.

I’m popping a bottle of the fizzy stuff to celebrate!

This year has been radically different than past years and I thought I’d share HOW that occurred in this week’s newsletter so watch for the article 2 days from now. YOU can take action on your goals and celebrate, too.

August 7, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 COMMITMENT And You Can Change It All!

Have you ever tried working out alone. How did it compare to having a workout partner? With a partner you’ll find yourself exercising even when you might have slipped because you can’t let your buddy down. Having someone who is relying on you in business can produce the same results.

For example, if you want to really make sure your project is done on time, make a commitment to others. Let those folks know the deadlines you’re using and exactly what you’ll be delivering.

In other words, assign your own public accountability.

Read through your appointments, and the projects that have been sitting incomplere. Ask yourself:

“Who shall I make myself accountable to, for which items?”

Make yourself accountable to someone for what you want to accomplish. This could be a coach you work with or it could simply be a business friend.

Even more powerful, find a buddy who wants to create the same High Payoff result. They tell you their weekly goals and you tell them yours.

Now you know you’re going to asked about how you did.

July 22, 2008 | Filed Under Catalyst Action Tip, Goal Setting | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Reminder And You Can Change It All!

Have you found yourself caught by ‘bright shiny objects’ lately? You know – those great ideas that are too good to pass up… So you take on one after another until you’ve completely lost focus on your key objectives.

Let’s get you back on track!

Ask yourself:

“What single key objective do I want to make measurable progress on this week?”

Write that goal on 5 Post-It notes. Put one on your phone, one on your computer, one on your calendar or PDA. The fourth goes on your note pad and the fifth on the center of your steering wheel.

They’re there to give you pause before you leap into action on any new idea that comes to mind

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March 25, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting | Leave a Comment 

3 KEYS TO HIGH PAYOFF OBJECTIVES TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

The world is full of fabulous ideas. Some of them are extensions of your current products and services and would add materially to your bottom line profits. Others are outright innovations that could dramatically launch your business to new heights.

And sometimes those ideas pull you ‘off focus.’ My client’s management team is running around like…. Hmmm, ‘chickens with their heads cut off’ is the typical expression we’d use here. But let’s shift the metaphor to one that’s more useful for building effective businesses.

I sat in employee feedback sessions on behalf of my client. The questions I posed to more than 30 people were “What is working well here?” and “What could be working better?” and also “What are your impressions of the management team as Leaders? As Managers? As a Team?”

Over and over again the senior professionals were described as well-intentioned, but poor on execution.

The common phrase that was used by the people I spoke with, at every level in the company, was “We all run around like everything is a fire drill!”

The irony is the entire team spends hundreds of hours preparing plans and key objectives for the coming year. They agree to all of it. Yet that’s not how their behavior shows up the rest of the year.

Everyone on the management team drops everything to take on projects that aren’t on the plan. They run to solve customer emergencies, and work overtime on special projects that were never planned for. They all operate this way for a very specific reason: the head of the company rewards people for being flexible and looking urgent.

Let me say that another way: one of their key performance indicators is how quickly they jump to take on any new thing that is proposed, simply because someone paints a compelling picture about how valuable the effort would be.

No one steps up to ask “How does this fit with the objectives we set for the year?” Their personal focus has become to ‘jump’ and prove to their boss that they will whenever called.

As you can imagine, at the end of the year, many of the goals they set out in their plan have not been achieved.

You can sure bet they hear about that when it’s time to review their results.

Most important of all, the reason for the fire drill is basic: The team needs to learn to tie all their activities to their key objectives.

So I’m rolling up my sleeves to teach the entire management team how to set and keep objectives in a new way. I’ve found there are 3 Keys to setting objectives that stick:

First – Set objectives that have a measurable value to your business – a value YOU actually want.

You may ask why this even needs to be said? It’s all about the trap of ‘shoulds.’ Many times when I begin my work with new clients, they have a list of objectives that reads more like a list of ‘shoulds’ than actual goals.

At times the goals they set come from industry standards. At others from articles or advisors or lists of ‘best practices.’ They may sound right, but that doesn’t make them right for their business or yours.

When your heart isn’t behind your goals, you’ll write them down and promptly ignore them.

Second – Keep track daily, not just weekly or monthly, if your activities are getting you closer to those objectives.

By making your goals measurable, you’ll be able to evaluate your results. And as important, you’ll be able to assess whether you should even be pursuing a particular course of action – before you invest time, money and energy towards it.

Third – Politely turn away all other activities.

Remember those ‘fabulous ideas’ I mentioned at the top? Check any and all new ideas that show up against your list of objectives. If new ideas don’t address one of your objectives exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, put it on a list for next year’s plan and get your attention back on focus.

I know, I know. It’s a true challenge to see them and to not pursue them. To put them on a list and get back to them later, if at all. Yet it’s the only way to leverage your efforts.

If you use these three Keys, you’ll achieve your true objectives and create powerful results. They’ll keep you on track so you can get the highest payoff from your planned activities.

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March 23, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting | 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 

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