Category Archives: Results

Improve Your Business Now

Now that April is here there is a new energy and excitement in the air. Can you feel it? It’s the month for change. It brings Easter, with its remembrance of renewal and re-invention. In many parts of the world, it’s time for spring vacations and a respite from doing business or school for at least a couple of weeks.

It is also the end of the first quarter of the year. Those of us who are in business use April as the time to pay taxes and reflect on our 2013 business success and/or disappointments.

It is also time to look at where we are in both our business and the business of our lives. With the first quarter of the year behind us, we can forecast where we will be at the end of 2014. April can give us the time to review where we are and make decisions about adjustments to make to both our businesses and our lives.

Are you dreading making a first quarter review? I can get it. Often the facts we face are not those we thought we wanted. I urge you not to be scared. Use this time to re-invent, re-new, and start something new. Failure is not an option since all it does is point us to a new direction. It is with this review that you can make the changes needed to have a successful year end. The review will give you a blue print from where to go next with your business.

If you are reading this and think, well, I am not in business, then substitute the word “business” with the word “life”. It’s really not much of stretch to realize that our lives are our business.

Here are some questions that will give you insight about the state of your business.

Is your business standing up to its stated purpose, vision, and mission?

Is your business meeting its sales forecast?

Is your team clear about the results you want to achieve?

Are your products or services excellent and wowing your clients? If not, what has to change? By when?

Are your clients satisfied with your services? How do you know if they are?

If you look at the questions and discover what is missing, then add the missing pieces.

I look forward to hearing from you about the results from your first quarter review. As always, I am here for you and am your biggest fan.

The First 2 Keys to Being A Successful Entrepreneur

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There’s a difference between an entrepreneur and a small business owner. Small business owners own small businesses. Entrepreneurs solve problems.

-Simon Sinek

If you are struggling getting your new business venture off the ground, it is time to visit with one of the masters of business success, Peter Drucker. He was the leader in the development of management education and invented “management by objectives”. He wrote dozens of books about business and management. Drucker was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.

The article by Eric Wagner, contributor to Forbes Magazine, lists Drucker’s 12 Keys to success (http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/05/07/entrepreneurship-according-to-drucker-your-12-keys-to-success/).

Today, we are going to look at the first 2 keys and see if you fit Drucker’s keys to being an entrepreneur.

Key 1: “Those who perform love what they’re doing.”

This is an important first step to your knowing if you can fill the shoes of an entrepreneur. If you are working because you have to and are only working to make a living, you are better fitted to be in a business or to work in a business. Entrepreneurship may not be in your DNA.

However, if you love doing what you are doing and also of course, want to make money doing it, then you fit the first key of being an entrepreneur. To many people this seems strange, or even revolutionary, the very idea that you can love your work. Many people have lived their entire lives so run by what they are supposed to do, or with what will make them look good to other people, that they have never discovered what it is they truly love to do. It’s never too late to find out; without it you will quickly lose interest as you begin to develop your business.

You may find out that you are not suited for entrepreneurship when you hit the first or the tenth pot hole in the road to success. Suddenly, you hate your work and can’t wait for each day to end. If you are reading this and say, “that’s me”, it’s time to re-examine your commitment to the venture.

Key 2.“Successful entrepreneurs do not wait until “the Muse kisses them” and gives them a bright idea; they go to work.”

The key here is the last phrase: they go to work. Are you waiting to start starting? Then go to work. Are you waiting for X to occur? Take the first step; go to work. X will either happen or not, but the going to work will lead you to the next step and the next step—you get the picture.

Might you make mistakes? I certainly hope so, since that will show you what is working and what is not. Remember failure is good. All failures show that, number one, you are working, and that, number two, the failed action wasn’t the right one. Only by going to work will you find out what is next.

I am looking forward to your comments and reactions about the first 2 keys to entrepreneurial success. As always, I appreciate you and your comments!

Photo Courtesy of Oomf.

Banish Your Predictable Future – Try This!

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Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.

Henry Adams

As you look forward to the future of your business, is it ho-hum or exciting? Does it bore you? Does it energize you? Does it make you want to go to work, as opposed to having to go to work?

If thinking of the future makes you uneasy or bored; if it is something you have to do instead of something you want to do, I assert that your future has become predictable.

Predictable futures are good in some instances: For instance, you can predict that the newspaper will be delivered in the morning and that you will receive an electric bill at a certain time of the month. That type of predictable event provides a stability that enables you to live without sweating the small stuff. Predictability also gives you a certain rhythm and comfort in life. Predictability is generally a good thing as it pertains to life’s necessities; however when your future becomes predictable, then you get bored, tired, cranky, listless. Where did the excitement go? The looking forward to life?

Has predictability taken the joy out of your business future? If so, try taking these actions:

Make a list of 3-5 business results you are committed to accomplish by the end of this year.
Condition the end results: Conditioning is looking at what elements need to be present to have the results occur. Include any costs or expertise of other professionals.
Define the qualities you want the results to have.
Determine the actions you need to take.
Put a “by when date” next to the actions.
Schedule the actions and the “by when dates”, and put them on your calendar.
Begin implementing your plan which is already a success – you planned it from the future.

Please let me know what it is that you are going to do to stir up an unpredictable future. I am here to support you in causing a hoo-hah of unpredictability in your business.

Where Can I Buy Intention

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The Creative knows the great beginnings.
The Receptive completes the finished things.

~I Ching

“And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?”

~Pink Floyd

We have been discussing what it takes to get out of the box that our mind puts us in. It is that box that makes us feel safe and yet keeps us small. We discussed some of what it takes to operate beyond the limits of our box. This is predicated on the commitment to something bigger than we are, something that calls forth our re-invention of ourselves—in fact, what we are looking at is a commitment that demands that we re-invent ourselves.

Another correlated ingredient to great accomplishment is intention. Webster’s defines intention as: “a determination to act in a certain way”, but we are going to toughen it up a bit to read: “a relentless determination to achieve a certain goal or task—no matter what.”

Being intentional is a determination to act in a certain way. It is this intention that allows you to succeed despite all the challenges that would seem to indicate otherwise. It is intention that keeps you moving forward. It is intention that allows for brilliant actions that defy reality—your reality.

So, where is this intention, and where can you buy it?

Fortunately, we have intention at hand at all times. Reflect on your life. You can see, in hindsight
that you have been living an intentional life all along. You learned to walk,
dance, sing, talk, read, and ride a bike with your reserve of intention.
Unfortunately we are also very intentional about staying safely within the
walls of our box.

It is almost impossible to re-invent ourselves alone. Anything you do alone is inside the box. Great people don’t act alone. They may spend most of their time alone, but they have a world around them that is demanding they be great. How is this? They say what they are going to accomplish—before it is possible—and then they act. Specifically, they tell the people around them—but not just anybody—they tell people who will hold them to account for what they said they are going to do, people who won’t let them quit when the going gets tough. And it will get tough. That is what a coach is for.

In the comments below, please share an instance where your intentionality overcame the obstacle that you were facing. I look forward to hearing from you!

How To Open Your Box

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To continue last week’s discussion, we were asking “What it is that really extraordinary people bring forth that allows them to operate outside of the boundaries of their psychological (ontological) box?” — the purpose being to give us equivalent access.

Look and see for yourself. There have most likely been times in your life when things just worked, when life seemed almost magical, when you made exactly the right moves at exactly the right time, when other people suddenly appeared to assist you somehow at just the point when they were needed. Granted, for most people it seems accidental — seems like it just happened. But maybe not. Maybe you brought something special to the party. And more importantly, what we are after here is, how can you cause this state of being in your life and your work?

What conditions are present that allow people access to miraculous living, and not have their ambitions and dreams be either just more of the same box sized futures, or else another bunch of airy-fairy nonsense?

First, you will see that they are 100% committed to something that cannot be accomplished unless they re-invent themselves as bigger people. And that takes courage. The kind of courage that can be with not knowing how, with being uncertain, with being afraid.

Second, they have at least one person who knows that they are big enough to do it and who is there to remind them of that fact when they themselves forget. That’s why smart people who are up to big things have coaches, be it a business associate or a professional coach. Mohammed Ali had Angelo Dundee; Roger Staubach had Tom Landry; Joe Namath had Bear Bryant.

Third, they somehow keep going when reality screams that they should quit, or change course. Remember what we said last week: you invented that old reality anyway, in response to some very pressing conditions. Now it is time to invent new ones!

Photo courtesy of Unsplash- Vee-O

My goals are there for me to take action…

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“My goals are there for me to take action, and if I can stay somewhat unattached to the outcome I can deal with setbacks with more grace and ease, while inventing a new course of action.” Chris Henry, Fine Art

Last week, our focus was on making mistakes instead of New Year’s Resolutions ( http://susanjamescoach.com/new-years-resolution-hack-a-guide-to-making-them-work-out/ )

I hit a nerve. Readers know that there is more to making a resolution than just making it and hoping that it will work out. In fact, in a study by University of Scranton, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2 out of 3 people make resolutions, but only 8% of the people who make resolutions keep them.

Look at what Chris Henry says: “I like what you said about mistakes, and for me it’s always a question of how long will I let this issue or mistake stop me? As an artist it’s a prerequisite to doing good art. I need to make mistakes and create bad art before I can create good or great art.

“I know from experience that having a support structure: a coach, or a team of people to go to when things get difficult, allows for new ideas or courses of action that I may not see on my own. Thanks again Susan for your words of wisdom! Here’s to an awesome 2014!”

Here are the cogent points.

1. How long will I let this mistake stop me? The best practice is, first of all, to know that you will make mistakes and then set a limit on how long you will beat yourself up for making one. 5 minutes? One day? Your lifetime?

2. Know that making mistakes and correcting them leads to making something great. You might have to “pivot and switch” what you are doing. Really, if it works great by changing aren’t you happier?

3. Have a support structure: a coach, a team of experts, a person who is committed to your success. Trust them; ask them what they would do. Allow them to point out what you haven’t thought of on your own.

4. Try new things, know they might work out, or not. Your intention to succeed is more important than the mistakes you make. Most of our greatest inventions were the result of a mistake. Penicillin was a lab accident. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

I am looking forward to hearing from you regarding making mistakes and what you have learned!

art courtesy of Chris Henry, Fine Art http://chrishenryfineart.com

Thought for food?

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It is not an everyday occurrence to receive such an elegantly written, unsolicited acknowledgment about the value of coaching.

I am sharing it with you not as a shameless self-promotion, which it is, but also as a commentary about what happens between a coach and the client.

It is my intention that it sparks you to look at the relationship that you have with your coaches to see if you are encouraging them to be your GPS. If you are, bravo! If you are not, perhaps you can dial it up a notch or two.

My coach is my GPS.

Sometimes I don’t know where I am and she helps me find myself.

Once I know where I am, she asks me where I want to go.

She never says, “Really” Are you sure you want to go there?”

But she often asks, “Why do you want to go there?

Then, she asks if I want to get there by way of the fastest route, or the easiest route, or the safest route and if I want to avoid toll roads.

I always chose the fastest route and am willing to pay the tolls.

Sometimes I get lost along the way and have to ask her to recalculate my route. She never complains.

Sometimes I ignore her recommendation and take a short-cut. That never, ever works!

Thanks to my coach GPS, I am fully prepared for the journey and able to deal with any traffic jams and detours I encounter along the way.

My coach is my GPS and all I have to do is ask for directions!

Mike Altman, CEO
PV-Health.com
MikeAltman@PV-Health.com
www.PV-Health.com
Health Insurance for Mexico and the World

Pretty cool analogy eh? I am looking forward to reading your comments!

Sound Business Advice from Project Runway

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Sound business advice from Project Runway? For those of you who don’t watch television, Project Runway is a break out television show in its 12th season. It’s a reality series about undiscovered fashion designers, one of whom wins as the best designer of the season. Tim Gunn is the mentor for the designers and works with them to do their best designs.

I think what he says about being in business and life are worth considering. This is what inspired me about his New York Times interview.

“There are many ways you can establish your own path,” he said, sounding very much like the teacher he is. “The reason I love my catch phrase, ‘Make it work,’ is because it is not just about what is happening in the workroom, it is about life. Taking the existing conditions, the things we have available to us, and rallying them to ascend to a place of success.” Tim Gunn: A Lifetime of Making It Work.
New York Times, 10.11.13

Looking at this quote from a coaching perspective, I find its true for successful entrepreneurs. They succeed because that’s what they do. They are presented with a set of circumstances that challenge them, and they literally mold those challenges into success.

You have done that yourself or you wouldn’t be reading this newsletter. However, we forget sometimes that we have that power. We lose heart; we think we are failed business owners when things we want to happen don’t. This is exactly when the brilliance of Tim Gunn steps in to save the day. What he recommends is this: “Take the existing conditions, the things we have available to us, and rally them to ascend to a place of success.”

I think the first thing is to realize that we are successful in life. We have created success before and can and will do it again. And when you forget about your strengths perhaps you can remember Tim’s words. And that you and what you do both matter. You are a success and can stare circumstances in the eye and “Make it work”.

I invite you to share in the comments below about how you have had your business work. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

*photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos

Are You Trying Too Hard?

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Have you ever really thought about the verb: to try? As in, have you tried that new restaurant? Or, I tried to finish the marathon. Or, I tried to make my business a success.

When I was young, every time I gave up on something—often after expending little effort towards reaching the goal—and told my father, “I tried,” he would respond, “Trying don’t count, its results that do.” – Tweet That! He never let me off the hook with the explanation, “I tried.” With him I was doomed to actually do the thing, rather than try.

So let’s look at this verb try, and see where you may be using it perhaps a little too much (at least by my father’s standard).

The verb ” try” is defined by Merriam-Webster:

: to make an effort to do something : to attempt to accomplish or complete something

: to do or use (something) in order to see if it works or will be successful

: to do or use (something) in order to find out if you like it

For the sake of this conversation, let’s just go with the first two definitions. Obviously, the third one “to do or use (something) in order to find out if you like it” is very useful with foods, haircuts, new clothes, a new boyfriend etc.

Seeing IF something works is entirely different from being committed to doing it. Attempting to accomplish or complete something takes less intention—and it’s far less uncomfortable—than actually doing it, no excuses allowed. Which is it going to be? “I’ll try.” Or, “It will happen.”

From what I know about people who are successful in business, they don’t try or attempt things. They do them. And that is exactly what my father trained me to do as a young person.

That is also what coaching is about. It’s a collaboration between the performer and the coach to be successful in the goal decided upon. It is not to attempt to be successful.

For those of you who wonder why I am writing this, you are probably not playing the “trying” game. And I would imagine your business is successful.

For those of you who find this blog thought provoking or if it gives you an AHA! moment. Congratulations! Now you can quit “trying” and produce some results.

I would love to hear from you about this topic. Please tell me what you thought about it in the comments below. I am looking forward to hearing from you.