Masterful Problem-Solving

Everyday in life we are faced with problems to be solved and decisions to make. Some choices are easy and some more complex and critical to get right. As entrepreneurs, we are the key decision-makers in our business. Having a proven process for making good decisions builds our confidence in the choices we make.

Today I’m going to share a system that I discovered in the book The EQ Edge, Emotional Intelligence and Your Success, by Steven J. Stein, PH.D and Howard E. Book, M.D.  I will paraphrase an approach to problem solving that is outlined in this book, and was researched and developed by psychologists Thomas D’Zurilla and Arthur Nezu.  

The next time you encounter a problem or have an important decision to make, practice this approach:

• State the case. Describe it as accurately and realistically as possible.  Try to see it from the other person’s point of view.
• Generate alternatives. Think of as many situations and approaches as possible to solve the problem. Don’t evaluate them – just brainstorm ideas.
• Evaluate each alternative. Look at each and consider the outcomes. Next prioritize them from best to least favourable.
• Choose the best option. Choose one knowing the risk involved. No one can predict success or failure with 100% certitude. Gain confidence knowing you took action based on sound information from the previous steps.
• Implement your solution. Press on without getting bogged down in what-ifs or maybe-we-should-haves. You may make an adjustment along the way, but resist the temptation to go back to square one. Give your strategy a chance to work. Congratulate yourself for moving forward.
• Assess the outcome. Evaluate if your solution has solved the problem. If is has great!  If not, begin the process again.

Having a systematic approach to problem solving is like having a roadmap to the solution.  Give this process a try the next time you have a critical decision to make and let us know how it worked for you!

7 Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success

Have you ever had the experience of setting a goal for yourself and working towards it only to find yourself at a completely different destination than you originally chose?  If so, you’ll value these helpful tips and strategies for staying on track.

In Jacqueline Kelm’s book, The Joy of Appreciative Living, Your 28-Day Plan to Greater Happiness in 3 Incredibly Easy Steps, she describes these 7 Steps for Staying on Track to help you reach your goals.  I’ve paraphrased them here to share with you as they’re loaded with great ideas.  Enjoy!

1. Create Positive Rituals:  Rituals are behaviours we repeat automatically.  One way to create a positive ritual is to specify ahead of time exactly when, where and how we will do the positive activity.  By thinking ahead and planning where, when and how we will incorporate an activity into our lives, we are more likely to do it and repeat it.
2. Track Your Results:  Tracking our results allows us to see our progress and boost our enthusiasm about achieving our goals.  Reflecting on our overall experience, we notice changes and the perceived success will motivates us to continue the journey.  Results can be tracked by creating a checklist or spreadsheet that gets check off when a task is accomplished.  Or it can be as simple as reviewing past work and results and comparing them to today.
3. Reward Your Success:  When we experience the pleasure of a reward after doing a new activity, our brain secretes chemical neurotransmitters that reinforce the changes we just made.  To determine a reward, make a list of the things you enjoy, and then select one of them to use as your reward for a given week.  It can be as simple as enjoying a cup of your favourite drink or a round of golf.  The thought of the reward motivates us to do what we know we should and want to do.
4. Create Novelty: In reality anything we do for an extended period of time eventually loses its excitement factor.  Shifting or adjusting things a bit can keep them interesting and exciting. Get creative and find new ways to keep doing what’s important to you.  For example, try the non-dominant hand writing on your Friday mornings or spend part of the time with eyes closed visualizing your ideal (leadership, situation, upcoming meeting etc).
5. Get Inspired:  Inspiration comes from a distinctly positive source. (Whereas motivation can come from either)  One way to build inspiration is to create a future image so compelling that everything in you wants to make it happen.  Make your image of the ideal and describe everything about it as detailed as possible.  Visualizing the ideal inspires us to complete the activities we know will get us there.
6. Partner with Someone or Join a Group:  The key here is accountability.  Having either a program or a partner to hold us accountable to our goals will increase our probability of success. (Consider how this works with the major weight-loss programs).  One tactic is sharing our goals with another person – someone who will be supportive of our desires.
7. Do it Anyway: There are days when we just don’t feel like doing things differently; things we know will bring us closer to our goals.  We can revisit our ‘ideal vision’ for motivation or we can ‘just do it’, knowing it will bring us what we really want.

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Business!

If you believe as I do that our thoughts have an enormous impact on our experiences in life and the choices we make, come along on this journey of exploring the thoughts that keep us from promoting our business/offering.

I’ve been coaching health and wellness entrepreneurs since 2006 and I’ve noticed some common themes about what we say to ourselves that keep us stuck in old, ineffective patterns.

I’m going to share with you some of the most common negative messages we give ourselves that hold us back from taking the steps necessary to grow our business.  You’ll also find some suggested affirmations to counter these negative thoughts and reframe them in a more positive light.  This exercise is most effective if you take the time to create the affirmation that is most true for you. 

The way this works is by replacing the existing negative thought with the affirmation that resonates most truly and authentically for you.  Each time you become aware that you are running that old negative message in your mind, replace it with the appropriate positive message.  Soon the new affirmative message will become your habit and lead to strengths-based action.

 

Common Negative Thought	Behind That Thought	Affirmation
I’m not a sales person and don’t want to be seen as one	Sales people are pushy, inauthentic, overbearing and no one wants to be in their presence.	I’m an expert in my field and talking to people about my offering is critical to my business success. If I’m authentic, respectful of others and genuine in my interactions people will be drawn to work with me.
I can’t sell	I’m a practitioner not a sales person. I don’t have those skills.	As an entrepreneur I must wear many hats. It’s critical to my business success to talk to others about my offering.  I will learn and explore ways to promote my offering authentically.  Answering questions and discussing my offering is a form of selling, and I can do that.
I don’t want to be pushy	Talking about my offering will offend others and they will avoid me or feel uncomfortable around me.	Talking about my offering while being respectful of others and having a back and forth dialogue about what I do is respectful and allows the other person a chance to learn more about what I offer.  Talking about my offer lets people know what I do so they can decide for themselves if we’re a fit to work together.  I believe in what I do and know how others will benefit from my services.
I don’t want to look “stupid”/not have the answers	I worry that if I don’t have the answers I won’t look competent.	Just like I would ask questions about something new to me; others will do the same. The most common questions I anticipate are: X, and I will prepare for that before I talk to about my offering.
If people question me/my offering it means they don’t want to work with me/want what I offer	If they question me they are questioning my competence.	It’s natural for people to ask questions.  If I don’t know the answers I’ll tell them, but I am prepared (as above).  The more questions they ask, the more interested they are!  Questions are a good sign.
What if they don’t like what I’m offering?	What if I tell them about my offering and they say ‘no, I don’t want to work with you.’  I can’t handle rejection.	My offering is not right for everyone. I know this. I am clear about who my ideal clients are and they are the ones I will attract.  But, I won’t find them unless I get out there and talk to people about my business.
I don’t know what to say	I’ve never done this before – it’s new to me.	I will talk with others who do know; read or find a mentor to show me the ropes and I will build my confidence.  It’s not rocket science, but learning the right way to promote my business with integrity will bring me success.
People will find me if it’s meant to be and if I’m meant to work with them (I shouldn’t have to search them out)	I’m not comfortable promoting my business for any or all of the reasons above.	People will find me faster and more of them will find me when I share with others what I offer in a way that resonates with them.  I will fill my practice with my ideal clients by doing what I know is critical for my success.

Choose the negative message that resonates most strongly with you and start with that one.  It will be the one that will make the greatest difference for you.

Enjoy!  Have fun getting out there and sharing your gifts with the world!

Expect Success

March is “Expect Success” month.  Isn’t that nice! It makes me feel good just to write about this topic. 

Today we’re going to look at a strengths-based approach to creating success in our business. Generally speaking, we’re conditioned in our society to spend our time and money focusing on where we’re lacking and what we need to improve upon so that we can ‘fix it’.  The downside to this approach is that it keeps us blind to all of the greatness we have to offer, and diverts us from exploring how to utilize our existing gifts and talents to create what we want more of in our business and our lives.

The foundation of focusing on our strengths to be successful that we’re going to explore comes from Appreciative Inquiry (AI). AI began as an organizational change philosophy developed by David Cooperrider and his thesis supervisor, Suresh Srivastva in 1980.  Recently it has been developed into a personal growth and development tool for anyone to use, by Jacqueline Kelm which she calls Appreciative Living.  Jacqueline has written about this in her new book The Joy of Appreciative Living, Your 28-Day Plan to Greater Happiness in 3 Incredibly Easy Steps (yes, they really are incredibly easy and incredibly powerful)!

Based on these concepts, the questions below can get you started in utilizing your natural strengths and what you’re doing well already, to create greater success in your business.

Explore these questions to help you create your ideal business:

1. What is going well in my business right now?
2. What do I want more of?
3. When I think of the challenge(s) I’m facing in my business today, when was a time in my past when I’ve faced something similar?  How did I overcome it? (Who did I engage for assistance, what steps did I take, what was the key in successfully overcoming it.)
4. How can I apply what I learned from that past experience (above) to what I’m facing today?
5. What do I truly believe about reaching the level of success I desire in my business?
6. Complete this vision with as much detail as possible:  “My ideal business looks like this…”

What we focus on grows; and what we expect – we get. By answering these questions we take a look at what is working; and by imagining our desired future we’re motivated to take positive action in creating our ideal. 

Considering the positive outcomes from the exercise above, and reflecting upon what’s worked in the past, we’re retraining our thought patterns to see what’s right in any given circumstance and revealing a roadmap for future success.  The result is greater success along with greater joy!

Marketing Plan for Health and Wellness Entrepreneurs

So what’s your marketing plan for this year?  What?  No plan!

Ok, truth be told, marketing plans haven’t been my forté either. But, it’s a new year and so maybe we can do this together.  First, let’s talk briefly about the value in doing one.  A good marketing plan will give you two extremely valuable things – a better understanding of your customers, and of your market.  In the end that translates into business growth. The better you know your “market” the easier it is to communicate to them and build strong, client-focused relationships and offerings.

For many health and wellness solo-preneurs, their marketing plan consists of coming up with ideas on a whim or when the mood strikes, then sending out a communication here and there without constancy.  Often this leaves your audience confused and unsure of how to respond to you.

If this is your first attempt at doing a marketing plan, make the main goal here just to be doing one.  Don’t get hung up on too many details.  The act of giving this area of your business attention for a period of time will bear fruit for you – I guarantee it.

We’ll touch on a couple of main points to get you started and I’m going to include a link to a great article with more information for those who are ready to delve deeper.

You’ll need a touchstone to refer to when doing a marketing plan. That touchstone is your written vision statement for your business – for this year, and a business plan with your overall goals and strategies.  These 2 items set the intention and direction of your business.

For your marketing plan, this brief outline will get you started:

1. Objective – Define your primary marketing objective. Is it to: Build better customer relationships? Bring in more clients? Establish a presence in the community?
2. Know your market – Include everything you know.  Who are they? (Demographic) Where are they? How much are they currently spending on the services/products you will be offering to them? What form of communication do they prefer?  The best case scenario is to survey them to understand them most accurately and to fill in the blanks.
3. Value – Define the unique value you offer your clients that others in your field don’t.  How will you present your unique value? (both verbally and in your print material)
4. Action steps – Identify the top 2 or 3 marketing-related activities that if you do them this year, will have the most positive impact on your business.
5. S.M.A.R.T. – Take those 2-3 items and make them Specific (what and how), Measureable (ie: revenue your action should result in), Attainable (with a stretch!), Realistic (something you WILL do) and Timely (put a ‘complete by’ date on it)
6. Budget – Determine the amount of spending you will allot to marketing per month or quarter. What revenue do you estimate your expenditure will bring in?

Completing a marketing plan is an act of treating our business like a business – and not just a hobby.  Attention to ‘how’ and ‘who’ we get our message out to has a direct effect on our business results.  There’s joy in that!

For more information and resources on marketing plans, check out this article from Inc.com  http://www.inc.com/guides/writing-marketing-plan.html

Perseverance

In the spirit of the athletes who must overcome so much to achieve their Olympic dreams, what can we borrow from that spirit to keep us going in business when times are tough?  How do we keep going – persevere – when we’re feeling discouraged, disheartened, tired or directionless?

The definition of perseverance is: Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement.

I think the answer is in this definition.  I know as I create my ideal business, one of the dominant features has been to cultivate calm, comfort and ease in my personal and business life.  Living in Canada, it’s quite possible to do this.  Not that I haven’t faced strife and struggle – I guarantee you I have – but I’m always searching for the easier way; the path of least resistance. 

But when it comes to achieving a goal that I’m passionate about, this desire for the easy path can act in opposition to my success. Facing tough obstacles with this mindset can lead to giving up, giving in or becoming discouraged because something got in my way.  A fly has entered the ointment; a rough spot on my smooth journey.  In my business this can manifest as avoiding doing the things I don’t like or that are hard for me.

 Accepting that perseverance is about achieving your desires and reaching the goals you have set for yourself in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement wakens me to the knowledge that my success depends on my ability to overcome and persist in the face of a challenge.

The truth is, obstacles will appear, and this reality check prepares me for such eventualities while I hold the vision of my desired future.  We build strong muscles through resistance training and without resistance our muscles become weak and flabby.  I know that overcoming resistance makes me and my business stronger, and so I soldier on. 

Like the Japanese proverb says: Fall seven times, stand up eight.  

A New Kind of Resolution

Well, it’s that time of year again.  It’s the time when many of us take stock of our accomplishments from the previous year and set goals for improvement for the upcoming year.

I think that it’s valuable to give yourself some quiet space to reflect on the past and envision your future in whatever form works for you. The magic is in being accountable, taking responsibility and raising our awareness about what we create in the world.  In our busy, hectic days it’s so easy to skim the top layer of existence just to survive from one moment to the next and any exercise that gives us an opportunity to go a bit deeper – is a good one. 

I tried something new this year that has been valuable for me and I wanted to share it with you.  The idea behind this “January Retrospective” as Martin Seligman calls it in his book Authentic Happiness, is to rate your satisfaction in the of areas of your life that are important to you. This exercise gives you an opportunity to evaluate how satisfied you are with each of the domains you value most in your life.

These are the domains I chose:

• Love
• Profession
• Finances
• Play
• Friends
• Family
• Health
• Creativity
• Overall

Rate your satisfaction with each of the areas of your life you have chosen on a scale from 1(abysmal) to 10 (perfect).  Then write a couple of sentences about each of them that sum it up.

I’ll share with you an interesting thing that happened with me when I did this last night.  I was doing what most people do – focusing on the area I knew I needed to and wanted to build upon this year – because I had not met my goals last year.  I had skipped straight to rating my “overall” domain quite low because I was evaluating my overall life satisfaction based primarily on that one area.  After I completed this exercise, I realized that I had rated my satisfaction with all but 2 of my domains at 8 and higher. So in review, it raised how I felt with my “overall” satisfaction. 

It’s so easy to evaluate ourselves on the one area of our lives that we feel we haven’t mastered and completely overlook all of the other important, valuable contributions we do make.  This exercise does a great job of placing value on all aspects of our lives.

I can say that after completing my first “January Retrospective” I already feel a little happier!

‘Twas 2 Days Before Christmas

‘Twas 2 days before Christmas and all was a-flutter,

Still baking to do and we’re all out of butter.

 

Pre-Boxing Day sales are in their full swing,

As I think of the gifts and joy that they’ll bring.

  

Gentle ‘Charlie Brown’ snow flakes float from the sky,

And a gem of a parking spot catches my eye.

 

I weave through the lot with precision and skill,

As a red SUV thinks to test my good will.

 

I’m a black-belt in shopping and getting my spot,

And to challenge me now, he wisely chooses not.

 

Snug as a bug-in-a-rug I pull into my space,

I head to the entrance to start the seasonal race.

 

Somewhere between Lords-a-Leapin’ and 8 Geese-a-Layin’,

I whip out my black belt moves and then start a-prayin’!

 

‘Buy-one-get-one for free’ screams the sign in that store,

‘We’re closing our doors’ smoothly lure several more.

 

I’m beginning to sweat as I imagine the great deals,

I can’t pass up those offers, they’re practically steals!

 

I’ll take a quick peak inside, as I may need one of those,

Grinchy teacups, purple vases or Muppet slippers for my popsicle toes.

 

I’ll take 2 or 4, maybe more just for me,

Never mind what I’m spending it’s the savings I see!

(That’s the black-belt shopping decree!!)

 

I grab a life-time supply of these things I might need,

Thinking I’ll get to gift shopping in my own time and speed.

 

Look at that, the mall’s closing and I’ve forgotten my list!

All these bags with great deals are now hurting my wrists.

 

I crawl home sore and tired, the butter I must borrow,

Thank goodness it’s just the 23^rd and I still have tomorrow!

 ~ Kimberly L. Martin

Couldn’t Have Done It Without You!

Today is “Bake Cookies Day”!  What a great reason to gather your friends, children, pets or family members to do something special and fun together – whether it’s baking cookies or making snow angels. 

Entrepreneurship is somewhat of a solo endeavor, and for me there have been times when I have felt alone on my journey. But when I think of all of the ‘gathering’ that traditionally goes on at this time of year, I become aware of the many people who have supported me and contributed to my success.

If you’re feeling pangs of loneliness or isolation at this time of year, or at times in your entrepreneurship, it’s important to do 2 things; 1. Acknowledge all of the beings in your world who support and contribute to your business and life. 2. Reach out and ask for what you need. 

It’s easy to slip into the “I can do it all myself” mindset feeling that since it’s your business/life, you really should be able to do it all yourself.  This type of thinking can leave you feeling overwhelmed, under-supported and running on empty. 

By raising your awareness of all who have supported you in even the smallest of ways you focus your attention on what you have, and that will lead to receiving more of the same.  Where your attention goes, energy flows.

Taking action to create the life you want is a form of taking responsibility and being fully present in your life.  There is only one person who can live your life and bring everything into the world that you are meant to offer and that person is you.

The real-life angels that surround us are the fuel for our journey, and we are the pilot that drives us to our chosen destination.

To all of my friends, family members, clients, associates and well-wishers, I thank you; I’m so very grateful for you and I know that I couldn’t have done it without you!

All the very best to you and yours for a happy, healthy holiday season, and cheers to a New Year filled with love, unbounded wealth and prosperity!

3 Steps For Business Writing That Makes An Impact

In our previous blog we spoke about writing as a way to boost your business presence.  If you’ve decided to add writing to your marketing toolkit for 2010, today we’re offering 3 things to consider so that your message will leave the right impression on your readers.

1. Start With The End In Mind – What’s your goal in writing this piece?  What outcomes or next steps are you looking for the reader to take through the information you’re presenting?  Business writing often moves people to take action.  Knowing what action you’re inspiring, will help you to write in a way that will deliver a result that’s rewarding for both you and your readers.
2. Know Your Target Audience – What are the key challenges, gaps in information or primary areas for development in your target market?  To have the most impact and benefit to your potential and existing clients, your message should be written with them in mind.  If you write too generally, with the hope of connecting with many, you will actually end up connecting with few or none. People just won’t see that you are speaking to them.
3. Write On One Topic At A Time – Sometimes we have so much to say and to share with our clients we can inadvertently bombard them with information. It’s easier to digest information in small bites. Make one point really well and stay on topic. Be clear about your message so that readers know what action to take and feel inspired to do so, rather than overwhelmed by ‘all of the possibilities’.

Business writing could be described as ‘writing with a purpose’. Even if that purpose is to entertain, it still has a purpose.  Your readers will get more out of the information you provide for them if they connect with the message you’re sending.  The purpose of this article is to share business writing tips with health and wellness entrepreneurs to help them build their business when using writing as a marketing tool.

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