Getting Ready for 2011 -- Part 2
Last week we talked about SWOT analysis specifically related to your business (see webinar below) . This week, I want you to think about what you can do to make your personal life what you dream it should be.
Options:
1. Work really really hard and never make it.
2. Work really really hard and squeeze out a living.
3. Work really really hard and make lots of money but at the expense of not having a life.
4. Maximize your work so you have a life you can live.
Being an entrepreneur means many of us have or will live in all four options at some time. Being in and living number four means we need to KNOW and LIVE what our values are for ourselves and our business. Then make a vision and plan to get there . . . oh yes, then work the plan. Sometimes we only bang our head against the same wall over and over again when we could go around it OR make and implement a new plan.
Our own personal core values should be consistent with our business core values and will guide us in our business decisions. Defining our core values gives us purpose and will guide us to the correct decision. They just make life simpler.
This time of year on most any given night you can see some version of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol on TV. As old as it is, it is a seasonal reminder that core values do percolate through our entire being and business.
What three core values will you live by in 2011 to magnify your business vision?
1.__________________________________________
2.__________________________________________
3.__________________________________________
Here are some sample business core values:
Zappos
Whole Foods Market
National Park Service
Copyright 2010 Linda Fayerweather MBA EA
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
419-897-0528
linda@changinglanes.biz
Consider working with a coach or a MasterMind Team to make 2011 the year of your dreams!
New Year's Resolutions and Networking
By TR Garland
In less than 30 days, we're all going to be faced with the same thing we're faced with every single year.
No, I'm not talking about keeping a smile on your face while spending the Holidays with your in-laws (wink-wink). I'm talking about setting your New Year's Resolutions.
Every year, one of the top resolutions is to "get in shape". The truth of the matter is that most of us already know how to "get in shape".
1. Design a nutritional plan
2. Stick to that plan
3. Design a workout schedule
4. Stick to that schedule
5. Track your actions and results daily
6. Re-calibrate if needed
The problem is that a large percentage of people don't reach their goals because:
1. They don't write out a formal nutritional plan or workout schedule
2. They don't hold themselves accountable
In other words, life gets in their way. There's something about human psychology that pushes us to not let someone else down. So...people who have invested in a personal trainer to help keep them accountable find results much more consistently than they ever could achieve had they simply attempted to get in shape ON THEIR OWN.
Well, the same holds true for Business Networking and Referral Marketing.
Many people are spending a lot of time networking by just chatting away with others and maybe grabbing their business cards. And, they expect results from this! They expect people whom they've met and handed their card out to eventually pass a referral to them.
This mindset is called being REACTIVE...and hoping for the best.
Being REACTIVE is an employee mindset or mentality that, in my opinion, gets placed into the same category as punch cards, guaranteed smoke breaks, assembly lines, benefits entitlement, and cubicles. In other words, concepts that aren't really that viable anymore in today's economic environment.
What? Don't believe me. Please look around and see which businesses are hiring and thriving. Yep. You guessed it....entrepreneurial minded businesses.
An entrepreneurial mindset is one that takes ownership and focuses on being PROACTIVE versus REACTIVE.
Just like the "getting in shape" example above, being PROACTIVE in your Business Networking and Referral Marketing efforts is a sure fire way to get results - plain and simple.
So, when you are out attending Holiday Parties this holiday season with your spouse, significant other, and friends please keep in mind to be PROACTIVE with your networking efforts. Go to each event with a purpose (in addition to having fun).
Do you want to leave these events with everybody's business cards? No, that's not what I'm talking about. Set relevant and realistic "networking goals" and ask the person you went with to hold you accountable to them.
And, of course, there is a time and place for everything. If the environment doesn't warrant you achieving your "networking goals"...then grab a cup of eggnog, a handful of homemade cookies, and be prepared to laugh and smile with the rest of the party-goers. There's always next year!
Paula Frazier
Executive Director
BNI
(540) 793-0622
paula@bniswva.com
http://www.bniswva.com/
