Archives January 2017

A credo for entrepreneurs
Motivation: What Works Credo for the Entrepreneur

We work hard. Sometimes the money flows. Sometimes the unexpected happens and the money seems to go out faster than it’s going in. Still we work. We work for the passion. We work because it’s play. We work to change our communities, to change the work, to change ourselves. We innovate. We don’t think like other people. We fight through the lean-to get to the abundance. We are tenacious. We are a little crazy. We live and breathe what we do. Some cheer us on. Others don’t understand. But the fire burns deep within us. It may not be 9 to 5, but we change lives. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Being an entrepreneur can be hard. Some days you can’t imagine life any other way. Others, you wonder if you made a big fat mistake. Entrepreneurial stress is a real thing. It sinks more businesses and causes more business-related fights than just about anything else. It can burrow deep under your skin. And, if you don’t watch it, entrepreneurial stress can kill your business. A negative mindset can creep in. Action stops. You stop asking for help. You stop growing your team. Soon, you find yourself wishing you weren’t an entrepreneur at all and going back to the 9 to 5.  If you are in the weeds. Here is some hope.

You are not alone! We all have felt this way at one point or another during our ventures. For some of us, we felt it early and we quit early. But for every successful company, there is a founder who has been in the weeds in one way or another.

Read more about how you can use this credo to turn the light on when entrepreneurial stress gets to you by reading Diane’s article this week on CarsonNow.org

Daily Greatness Accountability Coaching
Mindset: Discover Your Daily Greatness Through Accountability
The Daily Greatness Business Journal costs $50, but you can get it for free when you schedule accountability services with What Works Coaching.
The Daily Greatness Business Journal costs $50, but you can get it for free when you schedule accountability services with What Works Coaching.

A year ago, I began using the Daily Greatness Yoga Journal. I can’t believe it has been in a year. In that time, my relationship with myself, my health practices, and how I schedule myself has completely changed. I dropped 25 pounds. I feel better. This year, I started applying the Daily Greatness Business Journal to the business practices of What Works Coaching. The result has been more strategic partnerships, more content for you to enjoy, and building a family of superstar clients. It’s only been two weeks!

What’s the secret? Accountability, process, and flexibility. The three work hand in hand.

Stop me when this sounds familiar.

Example: You want to commit to accountability but you skip a day. You feel like you’ve blown it. You can’t hold to this new habit, practice, discipline for a week or two without messing up. The stick comes out and you start beating yourself up. Whatever you’ve been trying to do gets put on the shelf.

I know I relate. Do you?

Success comes with process and flexibility.

Fortunately, the Daily Greatness journals don’t have hard dates attached to them. I have “blown it” for a month or more and come back into my accountability practice. Overall, in the sum of the year, a month or two of oops is still majority win.

So, I decided to reach out to Daily Greatness to let them know I would like to start coaching my clients using their Daily Greatness Business Journal. I didn’t hear back directly. But, I did get this nifty discount code.

Then, I had an idea.

What if, I gave clients (new or existing) who booked my most popular accountability package the Daily Greatness Business Journal for FREE? I decided I would do it. And, I would structure my already popular text and email accountability program around What Works Coaching practices and using the journal!

What’s in my accountability package normally?

  • An hour long coaching call to address your challenges and apply them to how you will use the journal.
  • Five days a week of emails (48 hour response time)
  • Five days a week of texts (24 hours response time)
  • Use every day or just one or two. How you use it is up to you!
  • An hour recap coaching call to review your progress, fine tune anything that needs it, and send you off for success.

I am so excited about doing this. I can pilot this with 20 CLIENTS. That’s it. I’ll even start a very neat Facebook mastermind group with it, during the pilot phase, for no extra charge. So, book a customized accountability package and get a Daily Greatness Business Journal for free (A $50 value)! As soon as I see your order come through, I will order your journal. When it arrives, our work begins! What a great way to get a journal that will guide you for the rest of the year (or two, or however long it takes you to finish) and a solid month of coaching to kick it off!

Get Accountable – Schedule Here

Work from home. But don't feel like you have to stay at home all day long.
Productivity: How to Plan a Successful Work from Home Day

 

Work from home. But don't feel like you have to stay at home all day long.
Work from home. But don’t feel like you have to stay at home all day long. Article by: Allyson Lambert, What Works Coaching client since 2015

Working from home. For some, it sounds like a dream come true: roll out of bed…put on yoga pants…turn on your computer…brew your coffee…and spend the day working in peaceful bliss. No traffic, no interruptions, no problem. Right?

Except…by noon, you may find yourself distracted by the television or laundry, with a crazed look in your eye as your hair begins to mat around your face (or is that just me?). For those of you who work from home on a daily basis, you know the drill.

This past weekend, Diane and I found ourselves hunkering down during a flood warning. As the news urged us to “not go to work tomorrow,” (an adult-dream come true) we quickly grabbed our planners and started planning an #epic Work-From-Home-Day.

This was not any ordinary work-from-home day. It was one complete with a play-list. We thought it would be fun to share our day and some of our tips for working from home during these winter months.

My schedule on Google Calendar. You can download the Google Calendar app on your phone and sync your schedule for the day.
My schedule on Google Calendar. You can download the Google Calendar app on your phone and sync your schedule for the day.

Create a Morning Routine You Look Forward To

8:00am Wake Up and Morning Mediation

When you don’t have a commute urging you out the door in the morning, it can seem tempting to stay in bed longer. That’s why it’s important to have a morning routine that you look forward to. This can be anything that you enjoy:  brewing a cup of fresh tea, reading, journaling, taking a walk, or anything that gets your mind to transition from the groggy sleep-state to more fully alert.

Diane and I chose mediation and quickly realized that this WAS NOT the right one for us. It almost put us back to sleep which was #counterproductive. However, with some trial and error, you can find the right morning ritual that you enjoy and ACTUALLY look forward to waking up to.

Our Trial & Error Story: During our mediation the previous night, Diane’s Dog, Roxy was lying on the bed between us. When the instructor said, “take a deep breath in,” Roxy took a huge inhale. We both busted out laughing and couldn’t stop laughing for the next hour.

The bottom line: Have fun experimenting and finding what works for you!

Energize and Make Getting Ready for the Day Fun

8:30am Dance Workout While Getting Ready

Since mediation was a no-go for us in the morning, we decided to try something more upbeat to match our personality types. Que the dance party! The night before we curated a “Work from Home Play List” complete with choreographed dance moves. Yes, we are both theater people (if you couldn’t tell).

Now, we realize this may not be your style, but the key is to find something that fits your energy levels and personality type to get you going for the day.

You won’t have an office of co-workers to push you along, so the key is to MOTIVATE and ENERGIZE yourself for the day.

Here’s a play-list to get you pumped for working from home. Turn up the volume while you get ready for the day and have some fun with it. We laughed hilariously at these songs and it got us in a good mood for the day.

Work from Home Play-List:

Work From Home ft. Ty Dolla $ign by Fifth Harmony

Worth it (feat Kid Ink) by Fifth Harmony

Work ft. Drake by Rhianna

Eat Regular Meals and Be Available to Your Team 

9:30am Breakfast and Emails

We had our breakfast together as I checked in with my team and Diane wrote her column for Carson Now. When working from home, it’s important to be available via email and phone so that your team can reach you throughout the day.

Create Structure in Your Day with Online Classes

10:00am Instagram Webinar

It’s learning time! At 10am, we both tuned into an Instagram webinar that was teaching us the basics of growing a following and using hashtags. With a variety of webinars and online courses, there’s plenty of ways you can increase your skill-set during the day. I especially like adding courses to your schedule because it adds structure to your day.

Get Out of Your House for Socialization

11:00am Work from Coffee shop

After the webinar was finished, our Wi-Fi stopped working, so we headed to a coffee shop to get out of the house for a bit and change up the scenery. Getting out of the house really helped me focus and improved my productivity.

Hold Conference Calls and Meeting Virtually

12:00pm Analytics Meeting

At noon, I jumped on a conference call while Diane worked on her website. Having a meeting scheduled mid-day helped me prioritize my tasks.

If you don’t have any client or team meetings scheduled, set up a call with a mentor to check in. Having structured items on your calendar can hold you accountable and help you make progress in your workday.

Take a Break and Eat a Nutritious Lunch

1:00pm Lunch

After my meeting, we headed back home to have lunch together while taking a short break. Whether you eat at home or go out to a café, make sure you make eating regular meals a priority to keep your energy up.

Block Out Time for Focused Work on Bigger Projects

2:00pm Finish up Web Projects

With emails and meetings out of the way, the rest of the afternoon was reserved for focused work on bigger projects that we both needed to complete. Remember, 80% of your results come from 20% of your work. That’s why it’s important to block out time in your schedule with sufficient breaks so that you get your most important work done.

Diane Dye Hansen works with a client away from the hustle and bustle of the office.
Diane Dye Hansen works with Allyson away from the hustle and bustle of the office.

What we did we learn from our #WorkFromHome Day? A little bit of routine, structure, socialization, and variety can go a long way.

Are you struggling with your work from home routine?  Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Working with a friend or hiring a professional coach can do wonders for establishing a productive routine and getting out of a rut.

This morning, I was back in my office…. but I jumped out of bed, ready to start the day, because I was excited to dance (umm… and start working *cough*)

packed calendar
Productivity: 7 Secrets to Cut Calendar Clutter

Last week, while I was coaching a vision board class. I noticed a student was looking for space to add just one more thing.  I call that conscious clutter. People who have a Type A Personality call it “the way we live.” I should know. I am about as Type A Personality as you can get. And that’s not a bad thing!

  • Time is a valuable thing and scheduling it is important.
  • We are goal directed, visionary, people who like to take action.
  • Unfortunately, we like to take a lot of action. Sometimes it’s more action than we can fit into a 24-hour period.

I like to tell my coaching clients, it’s not how you manage time. It’s how you manage yourself within time. It’s a small shift, but a large one at the same time. Suddenly, time isn’t a such a beast. You no longer feel the need to tame it, either.

packed calendar
Believe it or not, this calendar isn’t as packed as it looks.

That’s how I felt when I was cluttering my calendar. I was trying to tame time. My Type A Personality craved control and my calendar was the mechanism to control. What I found, though, in that control, was that I was shutting myself off from an opportunity. Yipes! If there’s anything a Type A Personality hates, it’s missing out. FOMO (fear of missing out) is part of the driver of calendar clutter in the first place.

Here are some coaching tips from a fellow Type A Personality. I hope this helps you cut down on the calendar clutter and removes stress from your life.

  1. Resist the urge to schedule every minute. Really, leave some space and see what happens. I think you will be amazed.
  2. Start coaching yourself to believe that empty space isn’t wasted space. When you accomplish #1, you may feel a bit of anxiety. Take a deep breath. Blank space is space for potential. If you are busy like me, you may learn to relish the break. Then again, if you are busy like me, something may just come along you didn’t expect and take that space.
  3. Give yourself time to get from point A to point B. Travel time, bathroom breaks, and time to make phone calls are necessary. Leave 15 minutes between appointments to provide padding.
  4. Group activities in the same location to avoid back and forth driving. Running back and forth is about as painful and tiring as running “horses” in high school. Remember those? Instead of running “horses” in your car, group activities to cut out the back and forth.
  5. Keep a list of to-dos separate from your calendar. This provides flexibility from day to day without hard scheduling tasks. Hard schedule meetings and events where you need to be present. Work those to-dos in separately. If you must block out work time to focus, do that. Entrepreneurs with flexible schedules may need to draw that hard line.
  6. Prioritize and decide what is calendar-worthy and what isn’t. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was your empire. Focus on the stones that build your career colosseum. Handle your hot items and let the rest trickle into your day (and don’t give me the “it’s all hot” line, it’s not).
  7. Realize it’s OK to be perfectly imperfect. Be kind to yourself. Sometimes you have to be gentle with yourself. No one will be harder on us than US. Remember that, breathe, and know the sun will rise tomorrow.

Doing these seven steps may feel like getting jabbed with a needle at first. But, when you feel the difference of over scheduling versus aiming for the middle ground, you will see a huge difference. It’s incredibly freeing. What’s best about it is you don’t have to stop scheduling. You just have to schedule some air so you can breathe. And, if you are concerned with balance, there’s always the Type A Personality go-to: color coding. But, that’s a whole other article.

Of course, I can help if you need it. Schedule a complimentary consultation with me right here.