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Archive for Motivation – Page 2

Staying motivated

I’m on Track to Double My Income – Are You?

Posted on March 24, 2015
by Andrea J. Stenberg
Can you Double your income in 2015?

When you run a business, no matter how heart-centered you are or how dedicated you are to helping others, if you don’t make a profit you have a hobby, not a business.

Always remembering to focus on the bottom line can be challenging when you’re wearing so many different hats in your business. I know I’ve had my ups and downs over the years when it comes to business profits.

However, for 2015 I’m on track to easily double my income over last year. And when the dust settles in January 2016 I plan to be even further ahead than that.

[bctt tweet=”When you run a business, if you don’t make a profit you have a hobby, not a business.”]

I’ve set goals like this in the past, but I haven’t been able to reach them. I’ve had good intentions, good plans but I’ve never quite managed to achieve that level of success I’m looking for.

So what’s different this year?

First of all, I’m much more motivated. I took my son for a university tour and although he’s still a couple of years away it’s really become imminent. And when I totaled up the cost of tuition, residence, food and books I was shocked. I knew costs had increased since I was in school but I hadn’t done the math recently.

But more importantly, I got the right help this year when I joined the 100 Day Challenge. This is a program created by Gary Ryan Blair to help you achieve exponential results – in business or personal goals.

It seems like a simple program. We set some goals at the beginning of the 100 days then created an action plan. All of this I’ve done before.

What’s different is each morning I receive an email with a link to today’s video. Or I can log in with my smartphone and watch the video before I get out of bed! The videos are short – usually around 5 minutes – and are motivational as well as instructional.

Next I have to write out my top 10 priorities for the day.

See what I mean? It’s so simple. And yet I’ve been getting amazing results.

The videos keep me motivated, on track and remind me to focus on what’s important.

I’m just about at the end of the first 100 days. The next 100 Day Challenge starts in April. I plan to continue and I hope you’ll join me. Of course, I can’t guarantee you’ll double your income but I can attest to the fact that you’ll have a better shot doing it with Gary’s help.

You can learn more by checking out Gary’s special report and free video series. Just got to: 100DayChallenge.com

Stay tuned … Gary has agreed to let me interview him about goal setting. I’ll post the interview once it’s ready.

Motivation, Planning

Advice to Future (and Current) Entrepreneurs

Posted on December 4, 2013
by Andrea J. Stenberg

I was recently asked what advice I would give to future entrepreneurs. To paraphrase a proverb my advice is “It takes a village to raise a small business.” Let me explain.It-takes-a-village

Over the years I have interviewed dozens of entrepreneurs – some for this blog, some for teleseminars and some for various publications I have written for.

They came from a variety of backgrounds and a variety of businesses. Some were consultants, some provided a service, some sold products. Some were bricks and mortar businesses while others were completely online.

Additionally I have been hired by a variety of businesses as a consultant and as a member of my local Chamber of Commerce and a BNI chapter I meet many more entrepreneurs.

What struck me about all the people I’ve spoken with over the years is that no matter how different their backgrounds or businesses, there was one thing that all the successful entrepreneurs had in common – they had a mentor and/or coach.

Some have an on-going relationship with a coach. One woman had several coaches who she called upon depending on her needs and their expertise. One man and purchased his business from another man. The previous owner met with him almost daily to act as a sounding board and give advice. Another young man has a team of successful entrepreneurs who meet with him three or four times a year to give feedback and advice.

It doesn’t matter whether these are hired advisors or volunteers. What matters is the successful entrepreneurs look for outside advice and feedback. And more importantly, they FOLLOW it.

The one thing that unsuccessful entrepreneurs – or those who have plateaued and can’t seem to grow any more – is that they won’t listen to outside advice.

As an outsider it’s quite fascinating to see how similar these struggling businesses are in the attitudes of their owners. They feel that no one knows as much as they do. Sometimes they will even hire an advisor and then not listen to the advice they’d paid for.

Entrepreneurial Myth

I believe that part of the problem is we have this cultural myth of the ‘self-made millionaire’. The idea that the Bill Gates’, Warren Buffet’s and Oprah Winfrey’s of the world did it all by themselves. And while I don’t know it for a fact, I bet Bill, Warren and Oprah have had their own advisors over the years.

In my own business I know I suffered from that delusion for a number of years. And it made my struggles much harder. But once I started seeking out other people for advice, my business became easier and more successful.

If you can’t afford a coach (personally I think you can’t afford not to have a coach) then you need to find another business person who can act as a sounding board. Find someone you admire or like and buy them dinner. Ask for their input and feedback on your activities and plans. It’s amazing how generous and helpful most business people are.

And finally, follow the advice you get. Yes, you need to make sure it’s coming from a reliable source and makes sense for your business. But at the end of the day, you don’t know it all. So don’t try to act like you do. If you get good advice, follow it!

Business Basics, Motivation

Creativity in Business

Posted on November 29, 2013
by Andrea J. Stenberg

This morning I was watching the attached video of Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat Pray Love. She talked about the creative process and how sometimes the creativity comes from an external source, how the words or the poem or the music seems to come from outside the artist.

For a lot of business people this idea may seem a little airy fairy, woo hoo or whatever, and although I tend to be fairly firmly planted to the ground I know what she was talking about.Where-do-ideas-come-from

Once upon a time when I thought I wanted to write novels for living (which I may still do someday) I had an experience like that. I was writing at the computer and then suddenly the words seem to come from outside of me. I wrote and wrote and wrote with no idea what was coming next. I needed to finish putting words to computer to know what the end would be.

It was an uncanny experience and frankly scared the crap out of me. To be honest, it was the end of my fiction writing career.

When I turned to business I thought that this experience was behind me.

But listening to Elizabeth Gilbert speak in this Ted Talk made me realize that the process of building a business is not unlike the creative process of a writer or artist. Read More→

Motivation, Vision
You miss 100% of the shorts you don't take

Inspirational quotes to get things done.

Posted on November 20, 2013
by Andrea J. Stenberg

I collect motivational and inspirational quotes. I keep them on file cards and pull them out when I need a boost.

I also keep a couple posted on my desk for daily inspiration. I rotate them as needed.

That’s why I decided to share this slide show of quotes. The Gretzky one is one of my favourites (the Canadian in me is showing)!

It’s a little fancier than my file cards. Let me know what you think.

20 Quotes to Inspire The Doer In You! #MotivationMonday from Nadine @ We Are Visual | Presentation Design
Motivation
How to make a lasting change

What does it take to make a lasting change?

Posted on November 5, 2013
by Andrea J. Stenberg

Making a lasting change – whether it’s getting better at marketing, learning to manage your books or changing your personal life – can be a challenge.

We are creatures of habit. When things are going smoothly, it’s easy(ish) to make changes. However, when times get rocky we often fall back into old habits. I am often frustrated with myself because I need to learn things over and over again.Make a lasting change in your life or business

So, how do we make lasting changes if we keep backsliding? That’s the million dollar question. Here’s Andrea’s answer:

Where are you now?

Assess where you are today. You can’t make a change if you don’t know if you’ve changed.

What do you want to change?

Now decide what exactly you want changed. Be specific. Saying Read More→

Motivation
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