by Rex Richard | May 15, 2012 | Business, Personal Development
So many entrepreneurs that I work with seem to think that being busy 24/7 means they are being productive 24/7. The fact is, you need to separate yourself from your business and strive for a balance of work and life in order to be truly productive. Consider too, that being constantly busy doesn’t mean you’re being constantly productive; in fact, being “on” all the time eventually leads to burnout. Being in business for yourself means you wear many hats: salesperson, accountant, receptionist, marketing… the list goes on.
Here are ways that you can take a step back, recharge your batteries, and then move forward with a more balanced life:
- Have clearly defined business goals. Without knowing where you want and need to be on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis, how will you know when you’ve arrived?
- Have clearly defined personal goals. Yes, your personal goals need to be part of your business plan. If you don’t have personal goals (ie, run a marathon, learn to crochet, walk every day, etc.) you need to get some. Having personal goals will help you balance your life and work.
- Lists are your friends. Make a list every morning or at the end of each business day for the next day. A list will keep you focused and the mere task of crossing an item off your To-do list is a mood booster!
- Are you always involved in income producing activities? If you find yourself spinning your wheels on tasks such as mailings, or your own bookkeeping you should find someone to do those tasks for you. As an entrepreneur you need to focus your time and talents on the tasks that make you money and show your expertise.
- Don’t forget to ask for referrals from current clients. The best way to garner new business is through word of mouth.
Prioritize your work and life and you will be more productive and happy in both.
by Rex Richard | May 7, 2012 | Business, Personal Development
As an entrepreneur, you’re likely committed to your company’s success, right? Of course you are. You remain successful and committed you here are a few strategies to help you realize success in both your personal and your business life:
- Grow both yourself and your business. If you don’t remain as committed to personal growth as you are to growing your business, both will stagnate. Working 16 hours a day won’t necessarily lead you to greater success, but it could certainly lead you to personal burnout and that will mean you won’t operate at your peak.
- Your business is about you. No matter the endeavor, your business is a direct reflection on you, your ethics and the beliefs you bring to the office every day.
- Don’t stand in the way of your own success. Don’t get so bogged down in the busy-ness of your tasks that you don’t get out of the office, network and nurture your existing clients while prospecting for new ones.
- Focus your energies on your core competencies. It may be tempting to “do it all” to save money, especially when you’re a start up, but this will lead to burnout and frustration. When you consider that it could take you hours to perform your own accounting, your time and money will be better spent hiring an accountant.
- Have a clear definition of what success means to you. If you don’t know what success means, how will you know once you’ve arrived? Will you measure success on the money in your bank account, the number of clients you have, or the amount of hours you work – or don’t work – per week.
Your business endeavor and its success rests on you and your efforts, put your best foot forward!
by Rex Richard | Mar 5, 2012 | Personal Development
Do you wake up in the morning and go to the office facing a day full of promise and productivity? Does that feeling stay with you throughout the day or do you find that your productivity waning because you lose track of time and procrastination starts kicking in? Did you know there are five reasons for procrastination and that you can also kick those habits as long as you recognize that they’re thwarting a “good day” on the job?
Here are five ways that procrastination may be holding you back from being all that you can be and completing all that you want:
- Outside influences: Do you feel you need the “perfect” time to start a project? Do the stars all have to be in alignment? Bear in mind that there is no perfect time, you need to know that waiting for perfection is an obstacle you’re placing in your own path.
- Are there skills you’re lacking: If you are lacking in specific skills to complete a project you need to address that and perhaps look to an outside source to build up the skill set in which you’re deficient. To stop procrastination, you need to identify it, work on that skill and then jump back into it.
- Are you addicted to escapism: There are some entrepreneurs that simply look for ways to not concentrate on the problem or project at hand. They spend so much time looking for an answer to the immediate problem that they don’t act on it.
- Outside stressors: If you’re suffering from emotional stress and/or lack of confidence that can hold you back. In this case, you have all of the skills and resources you need to complete a project, you just don’t have the emotional energy necessary.
- Unaddressed inner feelings: In some cases, entrepreneurs procrastinate simply because they don’t want to – or aren’t meant to – participate in a particular project. It could be you were simply swept along on the tide of wanting to be involved even though it was outside your particular realm of expertise or true interest. Once you understand this, you can extricate yourself from the situation.
Once you understand your reasons for procrastination you can usually move past it and become your most productive self.
by Rex Richard | Feb 29, 2012 | Personal Development, Renewing The Mind
If you want to grow in life…
increasing your mental capacity is a must.
Increasing your “Brain Power” is much like increasing your physical capability to lift weight in exercise. People with greater physical capability will be able to lift heavier weight effortlessly while those with less capability will tire themselves out or even not be able to lift it at all.
In much the same way, the brain can be strengthened to substantially improve the ability to think creatively and logically, while improving calmness, stability, confidence, and the ability to assume increased responsibilities
But the question comes to mind, “how do we achieve the increase in our mental capacity”?
To increase your physical capability you train your body by pushing it to lift weight to the limits of your current capability. Though it may feel a bit hard in the beginning, you will find it effortless after some days or weeks of training. You can then gradually and continually add more weight, little by little, and by doing so repetitively, you see your physical capability increase significantly.
The way to increase your mental capacity is similar:
Do things which are just outside your comfort zone and that push you to the limits of your current capability.
As a result, your mental muscles will grow stronger and your mental capacity will increase.
To help you put it into practice, here are 30 ways to do things which are just outside your comfort zone to increase your mental capacity:
- Learn a new hobby.
- Learn a foreign language.
- Join a new club and interact with the people there.
- Practice an art you normally wouldn’t (painting, music, etc.).
- Learn a new musical instrument.
- Be dare to ask. This is to familiarize yourself with rejection.
- Read fiction if you normally read non-fiction, and vice versa.
- Read a new author.
- Read an old book.
- Visit a new genre of blogs.
- Find friends from a new country (i.e. a country from which you haven’t had any friend before).
- Find friends from different professions.
- Volunteer for activities conducted by your social or business group.
- Take a different route to work.
- Attend an art festival.
- Read history more than news.
- Visit a place you normally wouldn’t (museum, monument, national park, etc.).
- Go to a conference or seminar in a topic you are not familiar with.
- Initiate conversation with someone you don’t know.
- Find the most unpleasant task in your to-do list and do it first.
by Rex Richard | Feb 6, 2012 | Business, Personal Development, Spirituality
“Clarity Leads to Cash” is a phrase I heard recently and it got me to pondering whether it was true. Entrepreneurs that chase the next best idea or that are continually reinventing themselves to ride the wave of the latest fad aren’t helping themselves toward the cash at the end of the rainbow.
Do you have clarity in your business? Just as clarity in life helps you fulfill your life’s purpose, clarity in business helps you stay focused on what you truly want to do, where you ultimately want to take your business. Without clarity of purpose how will you know if your business is on the path you’ve set for yourself and for your ultimate business success.
While not all business owners look toward the bottom line as their only measurement of success, no business owner wants to be in business to lose money, right? What are your core competencies? What is the mission and vision statement for your business endeavor? Will you know clarity when you achieve it?
To find clarity you need to take time to write down your core competencies, what you do best, what drives you. Get a handle on what prompted you to go into business in the first place. Are you still focusing on what you do best or have you gotten sidetracked by the day-to-day tasks of running your business? Are you working on or in your business? Entrepreneurs with clarity understand they need to work On it rather than In it. Which path are you taking and do you have clarity of purpose?
by Rex Richard | Jan 29, 2012 | Business, Personal Development, Renewing The Mind
Whether you manage a group of employees, a handful of independent contractors or are merely keeping track of your own productivity levels, you need to ask yourself: How productive am I? At what level are your time management skills? Was getting organized at the top of your to-dos for 2012? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, let me ask you this…Do you believe that multi-tasking makes you more, or less, productive. We will discuss multi-tasking in a future post, but I wanted you to be thinking of it while you read this information.
What steps do you take to make effective use of your time? Do you live by a calendar — whether virtual or paper copy; write your to-dos on a white board or write sticky notes to remind you of items to be done? Truly, no one can dictate which of these methods for tracking your tasks are best, but you do need to know yourself to know what will offer you the greatest efficiencies.
Getting a handle on your time is perhaps the most important thing you can do for both yourself and your staff and it is likely the most difficult item to tackle. According to productivity professional, Laura Stack, the biggest time management challenge is that individuals simply don’t take time to think and plan. She suggests adding “thinking time” to your daily calendar. If you’re thinking you don’t have time to even get your normal daily tasks done, so how could you possibly spend time thinking, you need to open your thoughts. To effectively plan a day, week or month you truly need to take stock of everything you need to accomplish and how can you do that unless you’ve taken the time to think about it? You probably can’t.
Do you rely on your technologies to keep your time in check? Be aware that many people get lost in their technologies — smart phones, etc. — and lose track of time and therefore, fall behind in their day-to-day tasks. If you’re going to rely on your technologies, make certain you are aware of the time you might be wasting while doing so. Set a timer to keep yourself in check.
Remember, once your time is gone, you can’t get it back. Use it wisely and be the most productive you can be!
