Archives for April 2011

Values in the Small Decisions

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One of the best books I every read was Stephanie Frank’s The Accidental Millionaire. For me, the most impactful part of the book was an exercise that helped me determine my values in life. I won’t try to explain it here, because I won’t do it justice. Suffice it to say that “values” in this context means “what is most important to me in my life”, rather than “virtues”.

What this exercise did for me is set up a kind of internal compass, so that when I’m making decisions in my life, both personal and professional, all I have to do is look at my top three values and see which decision is in alignment with my values. Mine happen to be:

  • Freedom and travel
  • Impact on others
  • Experiencing new things

Why do I bring this up? Because over the past few years, I’ve found this tool invaluable when navigating big decisions. But recently, I’ve noticed some of the small decisions I make on a daily basis are not in alignment with my values.

This occurred to me on a recent Saturday when I was out hiking in Sedona with my husband. We found a beautiful secluded spot by Oak Creek and dangled our feet in the water, basked in the sun, and enjoyed the view. In a word – idyllic.

When we got back to the car, the first thing I did was check my email. A few messages came in, my adrenaline spiked, and the peace I’d just experienced was diminished in an instant. That one small act was TOTALLY out of alignment with my #1 value of freedom – I mean, it was Saturday, for goodness sake! Was someone going to have a coaching emergency, and send me an email about it? How on earth would this add to my freedom?

An absentminded minute, that’s all it was, but these small moments add up to form a lifetime, don’t they?

I’m committing to being more vigilant about how I spend my time. In fact, I’ll work on changing how I think from “spending” to “investing”.  I challenge you to do the same – and feel free to share your experience!

Am I Slacking?

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My company is growing and in order to continue the growth, I have to spend some time on business development. To make sure I follow through, I committed one day a week (Wednesday) to focus on business development, client relations and marketing.

Recently, still a little woozy from my fast-paced vacation, it wasn’t until Tuesday night that I realized that I needed to create my newsletter. Now I had a dilemma – do I spend Wednesday creating articles for my newsletter (forgoing my business development day), or do I stay committed to my new plan?

I got a little creative, pulled information from great resources for my newsletter and found a way to stay committed to my new plan without losing the consistency of the newsletter.

Because of this choice, on Wednesday I was able to create an organizational chart, job descriptions and post a “help wanted” ad on Craigslist. Plus, I did some research into project management software and made an inquiry with a consultant to help me with implementation. All in all, a very satisfying list of business development activities!

The moral of the story? There will always be competing priorities in a business, and in life. A combination of creativity and delegation is my solution this week!

Maybe it’s Time to Open the Door

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DoorknobToday I did something unusual… I opened the door. My front door, that is, to a couple of clean-cut Mormon boys.

Ok, don’t hate me, but when I spy these kind souls through my peephole, I usually quietly watch from behind the door, hoping they’ll simply think no one was home and move along to the next house.

But today, it occurred to me that I knew how to handle this situation with ease and grace, and perhaps a little more dignity than I have in the past. So I took a deep breath, and I opened the door.

I was able to look these young men in the eye, thank them for their good works, and gently disagree. We shared a laugh about an old friend of mine who spent her Mormon mission going to seedy bars in Salt Lake City because, as she put it, “Don’t you think those people need it the most?” Then I wished them well as they moved along to the next house.

Why did I find this situation significant? Because I realized it was good practice for real life. I’m sure I’m not the only person who finds it stressful to be in situations where I disagree or have to say no. But what I know for sure is that when I don’t deal with the situations, the stress internalizes itself. Over time, it builds, it erupts, it causes health problems.

So, is there anything that you are “hiding behind the door” from? Would it be possible to kindly look it in the eye and dismiss it from your life?

Maybe it’s time for you to open the door, too.

Tell Me What You CAN Do!

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A few years ago, I was listening to a client complain, “I don’t have time to do this, I don’t have time to do that… “.

We’d been having this conversation for months, and in frustration I burst out, “I’m not interested in what you can’t do, tell me what you CAN do!”

Not the most elegant delivery, I’m admit, but my point hit home. From that outburst, my client profoundly shifted the way she managed her business and her life. We identified the inner voice that silently kept her stuck in paralyzing inaction.

Can anyone relate? So what are you focusing on – the problem or the solution?

Now before I am accused of being one of those annoying “just think positive and bury your head in the sand if anything negative comes your way” types, let me clarify. I’m not talking about being happy-happy all the time, I’m talking about learning to direct your thinking so that you are in alignment with what you want out of life.

Now that I’ve given my disclaimer…

The biggest complaint I hear these days has to do with a lack of time, so I’m including one example of how to replace paralyzing thinking with a perspective that is more in line with your goals.

Current Perspective: I’m busy from 8 to 9, 10 to 11:30 and 2:30 to 5

By focusing on the busy time, you’re giving yourself messages that you are busy, there is not enough time, and you’ll get nothing accomplished. This subconscious belief directs your actions and becomes self-fulfilling. You’re likely to get nothing accomplished. With this perspective, you’re convincing yourself that you have no time at all.

Simple Alternative: I have time available from 9 to 10, and 11:30 to 2:30

Now you’re giving yourself the opportunity to see the time that was completely invisible to you before. Without rearranging a single appointment, suddenly four hours just opened up!

This perspective shift can be used on any belief based in “can’t”, “don’t have” and “not enough”. Try it on money issues, doubt about your own abilities or any perceived lack of resources. If you get stuck, email me. I’ll do what I can to help you turn those paralyzing phrases into motivating mantras!

Distractions and Solutions

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On a recent poll on Facebook, I asked for business owners to share the biggest distractions they face each day. I’m including the top three here, along with a few tips for minimizing the impact of the distractions.

WARNING: All of these tips will require you to change. Distractions are a part of life, and trying to eliminate them is impossible – you’ve got to manage yourself around the distractions.

WARNING #2: These tips are basics, and you are likely to think, “Well I already know that!” You may know it, but are you DOING it? Don’t let the “I know” syndrome lead you away from a deceptively simple tip that could be just the solution you’re looking for!

#3 Top Distraction: Email

I was surprised this wasn’t #1, actually! So how do you deal with the pinging and flashing that pulls you away from your priorities?

  • Turn off all notifications. This means all sounds, visual alerts, icon appearing – everything.
  • Turn off automatic send and receive. This means you receive email when YOU decide.
  • Put checking your email in your schedule like an appointment. I check at 10:30am and 3pm. No one sends me emergency emails, so even a response time of 24 hours is appropriate in my business.

Basically, you must reframe how you think about email. It is a communication tool, NOT a priority manager.

#2 Top Distraction: Daily Operations

And I’ll lump in another category, “busy work”. The best thing to do to deal with the pull of daily operations is to have superior priority and time management. I could teach an entire class on this, but will limit myself to just a few tips.

  • Plan your day the night before. If you go into work and then start planning your day, you may not get it planned until noon. And then, seriously, what’s the point? When you go into your office clear about your priorities and others make demands of your time, you’ll be able to easily discern where that new demand fits into your plan.
  • Close the door. If you’re in an office, this is a literal suggestion. If you work from home, then it means turning off the phones, internet and email so that you can work on that priority list. With focus, you will complete the list in much less time than you expect, and you will deal with the rest of your day (and the people in it) much more cheerfully!

#1 Top Distraction: The Internet

With pop up notifications, social media, chat, and icons showing us how many “friends” we have waiting, is it a surprise that we are distracted by the internet? The internet is a distraction machine, and because we can’t expect it to change, we must change.

  • Don’t leave social media running while you’re working on projects that require concentration.
    Change your home page from one with flashy articles that will distract you to something simple like Google.

The bottom line? Determine your priorities, and make sure your environment doesn’t cut in line in front of them!

9 Best Practice tips from Virtual Assistants

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I recently asked the Virtual Assistants on my site what they considered their #1 best practice when working with clients. The most common theme is communication, and I love how each Virtual Assistant expresses it in their own style!

1.  “The #1 best practice (in my opinion) is to become acquainted with the client’s work style, attitude and expectations – that allows you to see if you are both a good fit.”  Jeanette Hughes Barnes

2.   “Set up a regular scheduled meeting at least once a week with clients. Even if it is only a 15 minute call – this gives me a chance to ask questions and give them an update on projects.”  Candy Sugarman

3.  “My #1 best practice is ongoing, open communication scheduled on a regular basis.”  Michele Reynolds

4.  “The #1 best practice for working with my clients is organization. Staying organized! I have to be organized or I begin to feel overwhelmed. When a client emails me a project, I place the project in a TO DO folder in my Outlook. I then assign it a task, and create a time schedule for the day. When I’m running close to the time to end what I’m doing, I get a pop-up to let me know that I am running close to ending that project and it’s time to begin the next one. Once I complete a project, I move it to a completed folder. This is the only way that I can run my business successfully.”   Christine Davis

5.  “I would be lost without my Outlook Calendar.  Not only does it help me remember meetings dates/times, but I also use it to keep track of project due dates and milestones.”  Dawn Kramer

6.  “Listening! (Whether it’s their needs, wants, complaints, rants….just listening!).”  Amanda Lawson

7.  “The best practices I use for working with my clients are clear communication and follow up.  Clients are generally comfortable as long as they feel they are in the loop with a project. I also try to assess early on if they want me to have creative control of a project or want to take the lead and have me follow their instruction. If I feel the client may be moving in the wrong direction, I will sometimes offer a draft of an alternative design or approach at no charge in order to help them consider options that may be more favorable.”  Jennifer Molton

8.  “I think for me that the best practice with my clients is consistent communication and follow up.  Especially if I am scheduling their week, or they are depending on me to follow up with their clients.”  Kristina Andaya

9.  “Using online project management tools such as Basecamp or Google Docs is an easy and efficient way to share project information, tasks and milestones: from any place, any time!”  Danielle Seville