| |
| |
|
Small Business Information |
|
|
|
A Key to Success: Be Consistent
Over the years I heard the best way to learn something is to to teach it. Well, this week's topic, practicing consistent behavior, is definitely something I need to learn and practice more effectively. When I made the commitment to refocus my energies on writing again, I had the best intentions. I planned to have a new column for distribution every Tuesday morning. Early morning. Which meant the actual column needed to be written by Monday night. I spent a great deal of time considering how often to publish this column and I thought a weekly deadline was doable. I wrote the first two columns in an afternoon and actually had three weeks before the next column would be due. "Plenty of time!" I thought. The days went by and so did the first week. I promised myself that I'd write this week's column the next week. But each day something came up that required my time and attention. I wish I could tell you it was something that truly had a higher priority than this personal and professional goal I had set for myself, but I can't. Solitaire and e-mail were the two big time stealers. Yikes! It hurts to admit it to myself, never mind share that truth with you. But there it is. I was defeating my business and personal goals by wiling away the hours playing solitaire and checking my e-mail. Monday, the day of my deadline, arrived and I tried to get focused. I had worked the night before and slept until noontime. I had signed up for a teleclass that lasted from 12:30 until 3 p.m. I had another conference call at 4 p.m. I had promised to take my daughter to a musical performance at 7 p.m. We arrived home at 9 p.m. and while I wanted to get this article written, I was too tired to focus on anything except my bed. "No problem," I told myself. "I'll write a column tomorrow. I can still get it sent out on Tuesday." But Tuesday morning I was meeting an associate for a breakfast meeting. I ran a few personal errands and got home around noontime. I needed to tidy up some coaching loose ends and knew that once I finished those I could concentrate on writing. I did those things, and was feeling better. "Ah..." I thought. "I'll just play one game of solitaire before getting down to business. This will be my reward for all that I accomplished today." An hour later my son came home from school. You know where this is going, don't you? You know that this column didn't get written yesterday. You know that I felt terrible because I let myself down. Looking back over these past three weeks, I can tell you exactly what my downfall was. It was lack of consistent behavior. Or even more accurately, you could say it was consistent poor behavior. I made the wrong choices over and over again. And because I did that my goal to have this column written for Monday night didn't get met. I also didn't take advantage of writing columns for the future so that I would always be several columns ahead. This week look at your life and your goals. What do you want to accomplish? What actions are you taking on a regular basis to support or defeat your chances for success? What can you do to change your focus or establish your priorities so that you can provide the time, energy, and resources to consistently do what you need to do? Playing solitaire is fun, relaxing, and let's my mind go totally blank. I have vegged out in front of my computer for hours at a time playing this game. Some days that is okay. Some days I want and need to drift away into a mindless activity. But when I do that too often, when I do that because it is easier than doing what I really want to be doing, I am doing more than wasting a few hours of my time. I am actually undermining my chance for future success. I'm establishing a pattern for dealing with things that may challenge me. I'm telling myself that my desire to write is not important. Jim Rohn says: "Neglect starts as an infection and spreads, then it erodes your self-value. To stop the spread take action-- discipline yourself to accomplish something." If you want to achieve something--anything--in your personal or professional life, then do something. And do it consistently. Copyright 2005. Donna Doyon, Activities Coordinator for Your Virtual Retreat is the author of GLOW: Renew Your Spirit & Release Your Inner Beauty. She offers information, inspiration and encouragement to people who want to say goodbye to self defeating attitudes and behaviors and hello to greater success, healthier relationships and more joyful living. Get inspired at her website: http://www.donnadoyon.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Small-Business - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Small Business Debt Collection Laws In your small business debt collection laws will eventually become important, as your debt grows and some clients do not pay. To collect small business debts legally, you must send a written notice that collections have begun, within five days of first contacting the debtor for collections. 13 Steps to Protect Yourself from Your Bank The success of your business is critically dependent on how well you negotiate and manage your financial partners. Banks, investors, credit cards and financial services companies work for you. Creating Lists to Learn About Yourself, Your Business and Your Customers I love lists. I make them for everything. Looking for a New Office Chair? Perhaps you are building a new home office or you are redoing the one you have. Or, maybe you are looking for an office chair to replace that broken down model sitting in your office. Personal Success - Take a Break from Business Have Some Time to Yourself One of the most important things you can have when running a successful business, is to have time for yourself. Every small business owner needs to make time to be quiet. Self-Employment: Managing Your Money: Tips for Living with a Fluctuating Cash Flow (Part One) The way you manage your money is one of the first things you'll change when you move from employment to self-employment.You are moving from an environment where you received income in equal amounts at set intervals to one where your income fluctuates. How to Start Home Based Travel Businesses Home based travel businesses are no longer the wave of the future. Home travel businesses are the hot trend right now. Small Business Savvy: Reaching Key Big Business Decision Makers As a solo entrepreneur or small business owner, one of our key challenges can be reaching key decision makers in larger companies. Getting to the right person who can seal the deal can be a frustrating experience, especially if you don't have a game plan. Boat Cleaning Business Case Study: Entrepreneurship 101 How do marine type businesses start? Have you ever thought of turning a hobby into a business? Let me tell you a story of how I got into the Boat Detailing Business when I started our in the car cleaning business which grew into a franchise system. So often we read in business books to study markets and develop business plans when in reality it does not exactly work that way. Questions to Ask as Your Business Grows Here are some of the questions that you need to ask yourself regarding various areas of the business before you start your growth push. Are you clear on the goals of your business? Are your managers and other staff also up to date with these goals? Does your accountant or other adviser know what you are planning? Have you developed a business plan which brings into play the whole area of growth, which includes the resources that will be required of it? Have you assessed the performance of your marketing and advertising sections and if so, are these adequate? Have you put in strategies to get repeat sales? Are you clear about your competition and what you need to do to win when you start expanding your operations? Are you confident about your current advertising plan, including whether you have identified your target market and also the methods by which you will reach that market? Have you put in place policies for your employees? Do you feel you have loyal and productive staff? Have you put in place strategies for motivating your employees? This could include a system of extra remuneration or some other way of acknowledging their efforts. Business Reviews that Work What is the satisfaction & expectation review of the business history to date?You have spent a lot of time and effort gathering information about your clients and potential customers. You have kept track of everything that you need to know and have followed-up with precision. Mobile Carwash; Senior Citizens and Mobile Homes Senior citizens are generally not a large marketing segment for mobile detailers or car washers, however, they should not be ignored. You will find in a near by area a seniors-only mobile home park. Looking for a Business to Run in the New Revitalized Downtown Area? Looking for a place to add a Quick Lube away from your Super Wal-Mart Competitor? Down Town Revitalization, Why You Should Be Part of Such a Committee.A study showed that within the next five years 20% of LOF- Lube, Oil and Filter Independent Owners said they had plans on adding one or more facilities. Start a Technical Writing Service Technical writing services are employed to explain the details of a topic in a way that is easily understood by the readers. In todays information age, technical writing jobs are increasingly common. The Key to a Successful Business Where would a business be without a business plan? A business plan sets the course for the future of the business. It gives the business owner or manager a sense of direction, listing the objectives and goals of the business from the outset. Starting an Aircraft Washing Service To wash an airplane there are many items you will need to keep in mind. The first is safety while working on the tarmac of an airfield. 7 Cash Flow Secrets Your Accountant Never Told You Looking for ways to boost your cash flow? As a small business consultant, I make these recommendations to my cash strapped small business clients:1. Shoeboxes are for shoes, not business records. Choosing A Business Thats Right For You Q: I really want to start my own business, but I have no idea what business would be best suited for me. I'm also eager to get started, but I don't want to pick the wrong business just because I'm impatient. How to become a Career Coach for Profit A career coach could be simply defined your job seeking partner. A career coach could be a career management coach, who helps you in managing your career or a career marketing coach, who helps you build contacts, posts your resumes, tries to find the best jobs for you and helps you secure the best jobs. The Key To Success - Choose The Right Partners Do you promote yourself as offering prompt, reliable and quality service?Of course - none of us promote ourselves as anything less, and equally we strive to provide this level of service all the time.So what happens when you take your networking to the next level, and start to offer referrals, or even establish partnerships or alliances for certain activities?Whatever you do at this point creates significant impact on your business and personal reputation - potentially positive and also potentially negative.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
