How To Launch Your Business Success Anew

© 2009 Linda Feinholz

In a meeting last week with one of my Platinum clients, Brian, reviewing the goals he had achieved since we began work in January, he shared an “Ah Ha!” he’s had.

“Linda, when you kept steering me to simplify my Vision, I didn’t want to hear it. I wasn’t ready to. But, wow! Once I heard you, once I followed your process and created that simple vision – it’s all taken off like a rocket!”

Now, prior to this, Brian had been having difficulty getting his team on board. He couldn’t get all their activities pulling in the same direction towards the same goals. When we took a look at the reasons for the weak results, the confusion behind it became apparent. Everyone on his team had a different understanding of what the objectives were.

For the lack of a clear vision, all their time, intelligence and energy was having minimal results. Instead, the was lots of Read more

January 3, 2009 | Filed Under Leadership, Vision | Leave a Comment 

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 

Refresh Your Vision With A Business ‘Fast’

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

There are a lot of techniques we can bring into our business from other areas of life. Each has the capacity to significantly shift the way we’ve been approaching business. For instance, once a year, every year, I have a personal day “off” – off from business, off from play, and off from my normal activities. It’s Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of self-examination.

I make it my commitment to stop my automatic way of living and being with others. I try my best to look honestly as what my challenges have been, how I’ve dealt with them and what I’d prefer to do differently going forward.

This particular ‘break’ is actually very structured, and the structure is easily adaptable to using it for a business ‘fasting’ day and review your business. Here’s how: Read more

October 10, 2008 | Filed Under Vision | Leave a Comment 

Business Lessons From The Lazy River

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

If you’re like most of my clients, you’ve been working to smooth out the kinks in your business. You’ve put your time into systems for streamlining activities and installed processes that make the work flow efficient.

While I was on vacation, I was bobbing along on an inner tube on the resort’s ‘lazy river’. The sun, the flow of the water, the conversation of people around me all had me unwinding and relaxing. And for a kicker, I got to enjoy the periodic 4-foot waves that tore around the curves of the river when the staff turned on the wave machine.

Just like some of the surprises that crop up in business. Fun, interesting, a brief challenge.

After those waves, I noticed all the different ways people were using that river system. The basic experience was the same for everyone: a 15-minute loop around at a constant speed, inner tubes to rest on. What changed were the variables: how people used the water, the river, the flow, the tubes themselves.

I started thinking about the way our businesses can be humming along so steadily that we forget to notice the changes we could make to enliven our workday daylight hours, and even to create High Payoff results for ourselves.

Here are some options taken from the Lazy River: Read more

September 4, 2008 | Filed Under Processes, Teams, Vision | Leave a Comment 

PLEASE Design your Freedom with me!

OK… It’s confession time!

I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom, independence, and liberty lately. I recorded all the John Adams mini-series episodes and watched them in one swoop two weeks ago.

It was really great to learn about the challenges those early founders of the United States grappled with as they did the persistent work of getting this country organized, and launched as it’s own nation.

One of the most interesting parts of the information, at least for me, was the reminder that while those people held a common purpose, they didn’t all share the same values, goals and priorities. And so they had a lot of frustrations as their attention was pulled in many competing directions.

Just like you and me in our businesses.

I mentioned last time that the folks who tell me what they want are the ones who influence what I do in this weekly newsletter. As I continuously work to keep The Spark fresh and relevant for you, I look at the feedback you each send me.

So I’ve made it completely easy for you to let me know:

1 – What are the specific challenges you are now facing in your business?

2 – What are the specific results you wish you could create?

PLEASE, take 19 seconds, right now, to send me an email at Linda@Feinholz.com and tell me so that I can get you the High Payoff results you want.

I look forward to shaping articles, tips and programs to get you further, faster and easier! This time next year let’s be celebrating your own Independence Day

Here’s to Your Success!

July 12, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized, Vision | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 COMMITMENT And You Can Change It All!

It’s not at all unusual to become stalled…. as an unconscious reaction to mis-aligned goals and projects.

If it’s been a while since you reviewed your Vision, and the action plans you’ve been following, you may have begun pursuing projects that feel like ’shoulds’ rather than ones that have a direct, high payoff for achieving your Vision.

And if you’re keeping yourself over-worked and over-whelmed, you’re not building in time to notice that you’re putting energy into activities taking you further and further off-course.

So take a look at the most recent Vision and Objectives you set. And take a look at what you’ve got scheduled on your calendar. Ask yourself:

“What percentage of the activities I’m focusing on actually align with my Objectives?”

Make a 2-columned list – place the activities that are on track on the left and the ones that are off-track on the right.

Now create an action plan to wrap up the activities in the right-hand column in the next 10 business days. When you commit your attention fully to the actions that are aligned with your Vision, your results will be achieved much more rapidly than you ever anticipated!

Let me know the results you create!

June 24, 2008 | Filed Under Managing, Vision | Leave a Comment 

BE A BEACON, NOT A CHAMELEON IN YOUR BUSINESS

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

In meetings with friends and clients this past month I asked a few people to be part of my R&D team to find out what stopped them from getting out there in a BIG way to get clients.

I also asked them to tell me the goals they set themselves being self-employed. Honestly, I was startled by the answers that rolled in, and their answers were right in line with what I hear from many other people I’ve talked to about this.

You see, most people have very LOW expectations and their actions match it. They decided that it was a fair exchange to liberate themselves from the constrictions of employment to gain full control over their work and their income. And they even capped their earnings expectations.

Using SYSTEMS and LEVERAGE techniques in marketing and managing your business, you can totally change that to create an income that is FAR beyond what you’ve assumed. I know it for a fact as I’ve helped my clients achieve it.

However, leverage and systems aren’t enough. Why do I say that? Because if you do the math, you need to target $300,000 a year in revenue to pay yourself and the people and services you’ll use to do marketing or service delivery, or administrative tasks, and so on.

The biggest stumbling block to reaching that next level is ‘habit’. The habit of thinking and acting like a generalist, serving anyone and everyone. I did it myself for years. It’s a commonly held belief that the wider we spread our net, the larger our likely result. I myself held that belief for years, even in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

Being a generalist means you’re constantly working on multiple ways of introducing who you are and what you do in the hope that it resonates with the person you’re talking to. All your attention is on adapting like a chameleon rather than shining like a beacon that calls people to you.

Get out of the way of your OWN High Payoff using these three Key Activities and you’ll see your results soar:

Key 1 – Select a Target Market and Stick To It

Your services may be equally productive to a wide range of clients and customers. However, when you pick a niche, a class of clients who share particular characteristics, you make yourself more memorable. The truth is, you increase your identity as an expert.

Elsa Lucan, a landscaping specialist in Los Angeles, recently made the shift from taking a wide range of projects, large and small, to working with homeowners who want to create completely new outdoor spaces. She focuses on using little known planting techniques that result in astounding growth and exquisite spaces.

A second shift she’s made? No longer doing the hardscape herself. Elsa now designs and supervises its installation by specialists in their own right. Her time is planned farther out, her crew knows they’re booked, and she’s seeing a doubling in her revenues in the space of a year.

That’s what people want – specialists solving their challenges.

Key 2 – Differentiate From Others Providing Similar Services

We often think of differentiation as being about our technical resume, dress and manners. Ironically, the personal story behind our choices attracts our market to us like a magnet.

One of my clients recently realized that when she spoke of her emotional reason for providing services to parents of young children – facing the same challenges she’s come through herself – her rate of closing doubled… and in half the time.

Her clients feel she ‘knows’ them and their challenges.

Key 3 – Take 5 Paths to Connect With Your Market

It’s easy to settle into habits unconsciously. Marketing by networking is one example. It may not actually get you in front of your ideal clients. When you expand your marketing activities that let your potential client know you’re the specialist to solve their issues you create momentum and business growth. Four additional activities that deliberately sharpen your identity include sending a newsletter to your contacts, writing articles, forming joint ventures with others who provide complimentary services to the same market, and asking clients for referrals.

Ironically, I’ve been implementing Keys 2 and 3 systematically for months. Yet I was neglecting Key 1. For 15 years I’ve worked with financial advisors, more than half my clients every year … yet I never said so. It’s time for me to declare my niche and use the three Keys together for myself.

How about you? What is one shift you could make to be a beacon to your ideal client and grow your business further, faster and easier?

March 19, 2008 | Filed Under Marketing, Vision | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Insight And You Can Change It All!

I truly believe that living from our Gifts creates the best world we can have.

When we recognize that unique aspect of ourselves and use it on purpose, the work we do becomes play, the conflicts we run into become interesting challenges, and the people we work with become teammates in creating a vivid, exciting world.

Someone you work with is unaware of their Gift. Yet you see it. You see it and your blessing in their life is to tell them so this week.

Take a sheet of paper and ask yourself:

“Who do I know that does something with such ease…

and they’re unaware that it’s a gift?”

List all the people who come to mind, and what it is that they do so easily. Remember, what you acknowledge in them enables them to offer it in greater abundance.

Now drop them a quick not and tell them of the Gift they’re bringing to your world, whether at work or outside it, and how much it’s appreciated.

December 24, 2007 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Ideas, Inspiration, Vision | Leave a Comment 

HOW TO MAKE 2008 THE YEAR OF YOUR IDEAL LIFE

By Linda Feinholz, “Your High Payoff Catalyst”

I truly believe that each of us can create and live our ideal life.

Our Ideal Life is the life that meets our Core desires, and provides an outlet for our Gift – our innate skills and intuition. It’s the life that allows us to recognize our unique gift and use it – to purposefully choose work that lets us live our deepest self. It’s the life that inspires those around us to do the same with theirs.

Can you describe what yours looks like? Would you say you’re living it now?

All too often we have a clearer sense of our Core Desires when we’re children, yet loose track of them as the world around us bombards us with messages full of “should” and “have to” and “can’t”.

We have hints of our Gift, using it unconsciously and tune it out, waving it out of sight because it’s so easy for us to use. It doesn’t look anything like the effortful activities we’ve been told any valuable effort must be.

Imagine the life you’d create if you founded it on having every one of your Core Desires, and using that effortless Gift. Wouldn’t that be a fabulous life? I think so!

You don’t have to walk away from the life you’ve built to live that Ideal Life. My client Shannon felt out of sorts most of the time – dealing with complex international business logistical issues and fractious personalities from three different generations. She’d risen in her career based on opportunities that presented themselves and she was ready to walk from it all.

When we uncovered her Core Desires to be a peacemaker and to nurture people early in their career, she deliberately shifted her focus from managing the logistics of an international business, to solving strategic partnership challenges for the company and mentoring new members of the team.

The High Payoff results were that Shannon loved her work, the company saw turnover drop 30 percent in the first year among junior staff, and management was able to retain all the knowledge and experience Shannon had built in her career.

As for me, my Core desires are for health, continuous life long learning, and companions to share the journey. I’ve built a life that brings me each of those, and that let’s me use my gift for cutting through chaos and confusion to get to the core issues and find practical, easy, High Payoff solutions to them.

So, tell me, are you living your Ideal Life now? Or, have you spent a lifetime being sent off down other paths?

Fear, opinions of others, self-doubt have gotten in the way of your living your ideal life with ease. They’re no longer reasons for suppressing who you are. Think of them merely as the creative entertainment provided by the society you live in.

If you have fear or doubts about living from your Core, tell yourself “Fear is no longer an excuse.”

You have a purpose in being here and your only responsibility is to bring your gifts to the world to enrich it and create a vibrant life for yourself and for others.

If you’re ready to bring you Core Desires and your Gift into focus, here’s a technique I use with my coaching clients and MasterMind members. It will take you less than 1 hour and can unveil the stepping stones to your Ideal Life.

  • Take 2 pieces of paper and something to write with. Divide each piece of paper with a line down the middle, top to bottom.
  • On the first page, label the left-hand column “What I loved at that job…” and the right hand column “… because it let me…”
  • On the second page, label the left-hand column “What I hated at that job…” and the right hand column “… because it prevented me…”
  • Starting with your first ‘job’ fill in all 4 columns. Do all four columns for each job you can remember right up to today. If you need the space, carry your notes over to additional pages. Even if the answers seem similar from one job to the next, write it all down.
  • When you’re done writing, read your answers out loud and listen to the pattern that will reveal itself in the answers you’ve recorded.

Even better – take this exercise into a group of others who know you well, to do it as a group. Pair off and have one person prompt the second person with the phrases over and over and act as the scribe of what is said out loud for them. Then reverse who is talking and who is scribing.

Then, as each person reads their own responses out loud, as partners you can listen and suggest patterns you’re hearing. The listeners will ll also be able to suggest what they’ve experienced as the other person’s Gift – “the thing you do with such ease that is so uniquely you.”

Engage your Core, your Gift, your entire self and watch what you can create in this life, through your work, our relationships, your play.

I so want to live in the world you’ll help create for all of us.

December 22, 2007 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Ideas, Inspiration, Vision | Leave a Comment 

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