Build Your Legacy

Building a legacy sounds like hard work.  Until you realize you are already in the process of building your legacy whether it is intentional or not.  

"Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty," as Napoleon Hill shared in Think & Grow Rich!

12 Days of Apps: TIMER

Welcome to the 12 Days of Apps from Envision Success Inc!  We are reviewing 12 apps this month that we like, and that help our clients, friends, and colleagues be more productive.  

The first is an indispensable product!  Fortunately this is a piece of hardware (or software) that everyone has, either around the house, on their mobile device, and easily accessible at their nearby Target or grocery store:

A Timer
As in, a standard kitchen/household timer...  Yep, this is a critical tool for getting the most focus when you really need it. 

What I Learned in 7 Years in Business

OK, seriously, I can't possibly cover everything I've learned as a business owner over seven years in one post!  However, I wanted to share some of the highlights with others out there-- especially newish business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs, and those on the fence.

1. Make sure you like what you're going to be doing.  If you aren't sure yet, find some resources to help you figure it out.  Don't fall into the money trap.  The sayings are true: the money will come much more easily when you are contributing in a way that's enjoyable to you, and that others find valuable.  After 7 years, I have no "itch" to do anything else...
2. It's better to fail than to be afraid to make a move!

Hit the "Up" Button

You know how it feels when motivation is flagging, and that task that you said you would complete suddenly seems too difficult and you want to take a break, or quit altogether?  Hit the "UP" button!

During one of my recent workout sessions, the video host said, "You can always hit the UP button" in reference to putting more effort into the task at hand.  Hmmm...I like it! Very motivating.  I have since adopted it a bit as a personal motto. (Thanks to Jillian Micheals)

Don't Be Resolution Roadkill

You've got your resolutions and/or your goals set.  Now how do you avoid what typically happens: becoming a statistical "failure"?  What will you do differently (from other people, previous years) to guarantee your success?

Following are 5 easy steps for achieving greater success. They are all important, but in this case they are counting down to the one most critical during times of multifaceted change:

The Five Olympic Attitudes

What I learned during my weight workout this morning, from a video presentation of Dennis Waitley (what perfect timing with the games in London currently!)

5 Olympic Attitudes (for Success):

I. Adapt to Change
A great formula for dealing with change proactively is KASH; continue enhancing in every area-
K nowledge
A ttitute
S kills
H abits

Part 1: How Today's Leaders Are Like Successful Athletes

I was asked recently what I think today's business leaders need to be doing differently than 4-5 years ago, in consideration of the economic changes. I came up with a three-part model and used the ever-popular sports analogy for my answer. Upon reflection, I decided to share it out to the blogosphere in hopes that it is helpful for leaders at all levels in terms of creating more personal and professional success for themselves and others.

Part 1 of 3
Consider your favorite team-sport athletes with the most long-running career success. Let's borrow the strategy & apply these concepts to create long-running success in business:

1. They go to work on themself.
Athletes with the longest career success show us how to work on oneself and take responsibility for their own performance. They work on their own self (for long hours, practicing, repeating, and seeking ways to do better, better, better...) to build skills and lay a strong foundation for winning performance. Plus, even when experiencing consistent wins, they continue to work on their own performance.

What Not To Do at the End of the Year

I've compiled a short list of things NOT to do toward the end of the year, things that most people do - because they are either too tired, ignorant, or unmotivated to make the most of the present and plan appropriately for next year..

Yes, we want to eat, drink, & be merry. We worked hard all year and when nearing the end, it is natural to seek celebration and experience some "I deserve it" attitude. However, this is not the time to let yourself go.  You want to

3 Parts to Making Change EASY

Yes, you read that correctly: "Change" and "Easy" can absolutely go together. Most people would agree that change is hard, changing habits is difficult, changing your conditioning takes focus and discipline plus time you don't want to spend on it.  Admittedly, that is true for most people.  However, you

9 Ways to Stay Motivated

So you've set your goals or intentions.  Now what?  From experience, we all know "life gets in the way" and often weeks and months can go by without much progress toward achievements. To change results, there must be a process or system for execution. In other words, you have to

Selling With Confidence

Feel like you want or need more Sales Moxie or Mojo? Do you berate yourself for not asking for the sale, speaking with confidence, or generally being uncomfortable or even afraid in sales situations?  There are some easy ways to feel more comfortable and confident when selling.

After all, "sell" is a 4-letter word.
But "sell" is not a bad word! Successful sellers are helpful, influential, and skilled at finding a match with customer needs --rather than manipulative-- so you can quit worrying about changing your personality!  You probably just need to rev up your confidence.  Yes, there is definitely the idea of too much confidence in sales which can come across as aggressive, "sales-y" or pushy, and this approach is the cause of most buyer's remorse, returns, and canceled contracts.  Yet the other side of the spectrum is probably worse because although it makes friends and establishes comfort with prospects and buyers, it is simply not as effective (as the overly confident sales approach) in terms of actual sales.  Let's face it, provided you believe in your product or service, you can't truly help people if you don't offer them ownership.

Why do people buy from sharks?
Bottom line: they respect sales confidence.  Think about how your own buying experiences validate this. As buyers, we want

Cultivating a Daily Success Mindset

What one skill do all successful people, all around the world, and all throughout time, have in common?

Whether they realize it or not, they all are masters at visualizing their success.  They routinely envision successful outcomes--and most often expect nothing else. Their words likely match their thoughts, but they may have also mastered the art of not telling everyone how confident they are.  If you could tap into the minds of the top tier of successful people, you would find

Partners in Business: from the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly –to Great!

How to profit from and enjoy each other’s personal and professional strengths in business.

Choosing a partner in business is just as important as choosing the right marriage partner, yet many people “fall into bed with” someone in business and "wake up" later wondering what happened. It starts innocently enough, as a fun idea over drinks after-hours, then suddenly it can take on a personality of its own and can overwhelm a friendship or other relationship with all the sticky details of running a business. The stress builds and soon the partners can hardly stand each other, from the varying ways they prioritize business activities, different approaches with clients or employees, and annoying personal habits they bring to the office.

We all know roughly the statistics on marriages that break up citing financial reasons…is it any wonder that most business partnerships end for similar reasons?  However, most often financial problems are symptom of relationship problems or partnership “personality” challenges.

Creating Great Partnerships for Great Business:
I. Choose the right partner; this critical step is often flubbed up. Take time for discussions about many aspects of the business, go through what-if scenarios, and expectations.

II. Create the partnership business plan and agreement together before the business really takes off.  Both of these are best when kept simple but usable.  Hire an attorney familiar with partnership contracts, and actually go through the process of discussing and agreeing. (I believe this step alone could prevent as much as 50% of future partnership dissolution.)

III. Check to see if you have the same dream, as far as what the business provides. Are you assuming early retirement and moving to the Caribbean, when your partner is planning to work in the office daily until they pry his cold, dead fingers from the desk? What about the vision for the business? Maybe one partner is expecting to expand into new markets, while the other feels it ruins the integrity of the business to grow beyond one location. It takes conversation and brainstorming strategically (and sometimes a facilitator or coach) to be on the same page. And agreement; what may seem like a grudging compromise can grow into a solution where both partners are truly happy.

IV. Establish policies, guidelines, or protocols for doing business and handling common activities.  What criteria do you use in decision-making? Do half your employees follow one partner’s guidelines, and half the other’s? Do your staff members feel they get caught in the crossfire? Consider how this affects the work environment, the clientele, the bottom line.

Many partnerships go through “the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” phases and sadly most that get to this point break up. Some come to another end, hopefully with an arrangement that allows them to resume their former camaraderie without financial strain. Some partners buy the business, others agree to switch to silent/investor-only/limited partnerships and let the more business-talented partner act as business owner, and others form a custom arrangement that allows for win/win.

Then again, some partners (the few, the proud) work out their differences, get their purpose, mission, and goals aligned, and become Great Partnerships, running Great businesses. Yes, it is worth some consideration. After all, you were attracted to the idea of working together once upon a time…

ACTION: Answer the following questions separately, and then discuss together.
*What made the partnership such a great idea back then?
*What are the top 3 things your partner brings to the partnership?
*What do see as the top 3 things you bring to the partnership?
*How can you work together to create more positive business results?

SPECIAL OFFERS
Through the end of June 2010: SWOT Analysis for Business Owners. Up to three partners, same price as one owner. Only $350.


Also great for Partners: “Purpose, Mission, Goals” 3 month coaching program, only $1500.  Focus is on where all the time, money, and effort goes, and specifically what long- and short-term results are expected.  What results would you like to change first?