Wheel of Life Podcast: Business|Productivity|Accountability

This is Anne Bachrach here. I really appreciate all your support over the past 12 years by listening to my Wheel of Life Podcast. I wanted to let you know that I will not be continuing this Wheel of Life Podcast going forward and I will be consolidating it into The Accountability Podcast. The good news for you is that The Accountability Coach Podcast has the same great content you have been enjoying and provides you with the same value you have been receiving over the past 12 years. In other words, when you subscribe to The Accountability Coach Podcast, you will continue to get the same great content you have been enjoying. So, take a minute now and Subscribe to The Accountability Coach Podcast, which can be found on most Podcast Platforms and in most English-speaking countries. Once you have subscribed to The Accountability Coach Podcast, and you feel you have been continuing to get value from my podcast, please take a moment and leave me a rating and review on The Accountability Coach Podcast. Of course, I would really, really appreciate it. I look forward to having you join me on The Accountability Coach Podcast going forward and I very much appreciate your continued support. If there is anything I can do to be of service to you, please don’t hesitate to let me know by going to www.accountabilitycoach.com and leaving me a voice message or sending me an email. I wish you the very best life has to offer, and hope for your continued success in business and in life. Thank you again for all your support over the past 12 years. Take care and stay healthy. Always remember to Aim for what you want each and every day. Want more of the same great content and value, subscribe to The Accountability Coach™, Podcast and continue to get the same great business success tips, by going to https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/accountabilitycoach.com/id290547573. You can also find me on most Podcast platforms and in most English-speaking countries. Take advantage of all the complimentary business tips and tools by joining the Free Silver Membership on https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circle-store/. Check out all the great free high-content business success training web classes, by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/free-articles/free-webinars/. Check out my high-value Blog (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/blog/) Subscribe to my YouTube channel with business success principles (https://www.youtube.com/annebachrach) Connect with me on Linked-In (https://www.linkedin.com/in/annebachrach) Connect with me on Pinterest (https://pinterest.com/resultsrule/) Connect with me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/annebachrach/) Connect with me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheAccountabilityCoach) Go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com to check out for yourself how I, as your Accountability Coach™, can help you get and stay focused on you highest payoff activities that put you in the highest probability position to achieve your professional and personal goals, so you can enjoy the kind of business and life you truly want and deserve. As an experienced accountability coach and author of 5 books, I help business professionals make more money, work less, and enjoy even better work life balance. Check out my proven business accelerator resources by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/. Aim for what you want each and every day! Anne Bachrach The Accountability Coach™ Business professionals and Advisors who utilize Anne Bachrach’s proven business-success systems make more money, work less, and enjoy better work life balance. Author of Excuses Don’t Count; Results Rule, Live Life with No Regrets, No Excuses, the Work Life Balance Emergency Kit and more. Get your audio copies today.

Ask any successful business owner and they will tell you one of the number one rules to optimizing the success of a business starts with producing effective results with the greatest efficiency. This may not seem like a concern if you don’t own your own business, but even as an employee, or business professional, your success is riding on your ability to perform with the greatest effectiveness and efficiency. Whether you are an employee or business owner, it is your goal to be as effective as you can with the greatest efficiency. If you are an employee, the more effective and efficient you are, the greater asset you present to your employer. As a business owner, the more you can optimize these two factors, the greater return on investment you will realize in your business. So, how do you improve your career or business by improving effectiveness and efficiency? Let's begin by reviewing the difference between the two terms: Effective - Producing a decided, decisive or desired effect. Effective emphasizes the actual production of or the power to produce an effect or result. Efficient - Acting or a potential for action or use in such a way as to avoid loss or waste of energy in effecting, producing or functioning. Effectiveness is the building block, while efficiency is the process of refinement. The better you become at effecting positive results with the greatest efficiency of effort, the bigger asset you become - and so does your business. Optimizing effectiveness and efficiency doesn’t have any relation to IQ or intelligence levels, it‘s really an awareness of your habits. It’s a delicate balance between effecting positive results with the least amount of energy expenditure. This essentially means that you expend the least amount of energy with the largest return - while effectively creating the desired result. Take Henry Ford for example, here is a man that was not well educated, but knew that in order to build a successful business he needed to be effective and efficient. Granted, Ford had other skills that contributed to his success, but he was obsessed with optimizing the effectiveness and efficiency of his assembly line in the interest of the success of his company. This obsession led to constant production procedure refinements that were unheard of at the time. Ford understood that quality effectiveness and high efficiency were vital to building the best car with the least amount of wasted energy. Over a century later, Ford built one of the largest and most successful car manufacturers in the world. While many of his peers at the time thought his ideas were impossible, his innovations still remain a standard in modern day car manufacturing today. Optimizing your effectiveness and efficiency is vital to your success even if you are not a Bill Gates, Donald Trump, or Henry Ford. Your personal life depends on it and so does your professional life. Let’s start by discussing improving effectiveness. What does this actually mean? In the most basic terms, you must first learn how to create positive effects, change or results; though by definition you could be effective at producing negative effects. However, our focus is on becoming proficient at producing positive effects. The better you become at effectively creating desired results, the better your personal and professional life becomes. So how do you know if you are being effective? The first step is to ask yourself what kind of actions you are taking. If the goal is to produce a desired result, every step between the initial action and completed action needs to be in support of the desired result. Recall a situation or project that produced a less than optimal result. If you go back through the series of actions that led to the result, can you pinpoint what might have triggered the shift from the direction of positive results to non-effective results? When the “trigger” can be identified, you can learn from

Sure, many entrepreneurs say they are committed to their success, but are they really? When it comes to commitment to your success, there has to be a “no excuses - no exception” rule to back it up. This rule is especially true for entrepreneurs, simply because there is no one to point the finger at should things not work out as planned. As an entrepreneur, you are the one holding the key to your success and no one, but you, can be held accountable. Once you make a commitment to something, there absolutely has to be a “no excuses - no exception” rule, because that is the only rule that separates the failures from the successes. Imagine what would happen if you were to commit to your success only 99% of the time: - 1% percent of your clients would be unhappy with your product or service and proceed to tell 10 of their friends. Those people would proceed to tell their friends they had a friend that had a bad experience. This could translate into dozens of lost clients and thousands in lost revenue. - 1% of your printed marketing materials (or online marketing material) were published with spelling and grammar errors. This has a devastating effect on any business with a poor perception from the public and potential clients. - 1% of the time you don’t answer your email from a prospective client within 24 hours. You respond a few days later, but learn they have taken their business to someone who responded promptly. See how much of a difference there is between 99% and 100% commitment? Although 1% doesn’t sound like much, reaching 100% commitment at every opportunity is not always easy. The only way to truly hold a reputation for commitment is by consistently demonstrating 100% to each and every task. Once genuine commitment is displayed, your success is inevitable. There are two rules when it comes to your success, and a sure-fire way to catapult your success, but they only work when you are 100% committed! Rule #1: 100% Commitment to Achieving your Goals There may be many opportunities for excuses and exceptions, but under no circumstance do you waver from what you truly desire. Ever. What do you do if your life doesn’t support your goal achievement? In all honesty, there’s no easy way around it - some changes will have to be made. Sometimes those changes are easy, and other times they’re not, especially when there are others to consider. This is no more true when you have a spouse/significant other and/or children. After all, every action you take has the potential to affect them. You may have to do some soul searching and find out if you can make changes that will allow you to commit to your goals, while doing the least amount of discomfort to those that will be directly affected. If you choose to commit to achieving your goals, do not settle for anything less. Rule #2: 100% Commitment to Never Ending Improvement The second key to your success, is committing to never ending improvement. You may be better than you were yesterday, but in no way are you better today than you will be tomorrow. Taking a humble approach to learning is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success. Use every action and reaction as an opportunity to learn how to do things better next time. In addition, surround yourself with as many positive role models as you can. Watch, listen and learn from successful entrepreneurs that have gone before you; what you learn can result in huge shifts in your perception and life. When you are facing obstacles or challenges, do not allow self-doubt, fear or frustration to sway your commitment. In fact, during these times, it is more important than ever to remind yourself why your goals are important to you. Reconnect with the emotions that are the driving force behind your goals and you’ll remember why you are taking the steps in the first place to make changes. Remember, your commitment to your success not only benefits you, but those around you, and the world as well.

If there is one thing that holds the most power over your success, you can bet that it comes down to your beliefs. Before you even have the opportunity to consciously process the reason behind your actions, and the results those actions put in play, your beliefs are at work determining whether you are headed toward success or disaster. There are literally tens of thousands of actions you take daily (some consciously, most unconsciously), but do you know how those actions are affecting your success? You can probably think of at least one action that you have taken in the past that didn’t necessarily deliver the results you desired. With conscious awareness, you have the ability to examine and identify what went wrong, and what you could change to bring about a different result next time. This is an example of conscious awareness. But what about all those times you make unconscious decisions that bring about undesired results. How do you stop them from occurring? Let’s explore 6 tips for helping you master your beliefs and head for success. Tip #1 You are only as successful as your beliefs Are your beliefs supporting your success? The most definitive way to know whether your beliefs are leading to success or disaster is to examine what you say to yourself. Do you typically think to yourself that you will be successful or that there’s no use in trying, because it will never work. The nature of your belief system – positive or negative – will be the single greatest determining factor in your success, so you had better start thinking success. When the negative talk starts swirling in your head, just cancel it out – sweep it out – delete it. Focus on the positive (and what you really want) and remember that your success is completely dependent upon you and you alone. Although you can allow talk from those around you to negatively affect your progress, no one can prevent you from achieving your goals. The determining factor is always and only your ability to hold true to your belief in yourself. There is always a way, so take a “no-excuses” approach to achieving your goals and you will achieve them. The way isn’t necessarily apparent, and if you feel like you’ve hit a roadblock - get creative. You’d be surprised how you can come up with some creative and effective solutions when you think outside the box. The idea is to maintain an element of creativity when coming up with solutions, so you are constantly expanding your belief system. Tip #2 Take ownership of your life Are you the driver or passenger in your life? Don’t think for a second that sitting in the passenger seat is going to get you where you want to be. If you want to be successful, you have to make plans, take action and commit to achieving your goals. Surrendering the wheel to the “luck of life” will not give you peace of mind, but it will mean you’re in for a rough ride. When you give up control, you are at the mercy of whatever life throws at you, and you will most likely get everything you do not want. Success only comes from those who drive their own life. Don’t just take things for granted. Create a game plan and focus on what you can control. YOU and your actions! Tip #3 Are you a victim or a master? There is one solid rule you can count on: successful entrepreneurs never think of themselves as victims. This is the major factor that separates the wealthy from the poor. The wealthy understand they are 100% responsible for their reality, making them masters of accountability. When there is no one to blame, there is no finger to point, and therefore, no crime. With no crime, there cannot be a victim. Period. There is something magical that happens when you take 100% responsibility for your own success – and that is a feeling of freedom. You are your own entity and you control your own destiny; it all starts with your beliefs. Tip #4 Consider the results if you do or don’t take action Becoming a conscious action taker takes

Becoming an entrepreneur can be one of the most unnerving ventures in your entire life. Just when you thought you knew it all, you find out you’re just a student trying to make the grade. So, what do you do when your confidence takes a hit? Follow these 6 tips we will be exploring for gaining even more confidence. 1. Start with what you know If you’re a new business owner, start with what you know. If you know your stuff, in and out, you’re bound to make a lasting impression with your clients and prospects. Create a specific outline to the benefits of your services or products, and then be sure to deliver what you’ve promised. Don’t worry about being the expert, just start with what you know because that’s where your greatest confidence lies. 2. Have an insatiable thirst for knowledge Your business will not survive unless you continually learn, nor will your confidence grow. When you don’t learn new things, you cannot offer expanded products or service, and that is a death sentence to your business. The market and demand are constantly changing and if you don’t change with it, you’ll be left behind. The more you know the more benefits you can deliver to your clients. Keep learning and you’ll keep gaining confidence. 3. Know your target audience Most entrepreneurs think they know what their clients need and want, but rarely do they truly understand how to market and deliver the right products and services to the right people. Invest in research so you have a full snapshot of your market. Without it, you can only hope for successful sales and business growth. Survey your clients and prospects to learn more about them. The more you know about them, the easier it will be to create products and services that deliver exactly what they’re looking for. Some resources for web surveys are surveymonkey.com, zoomerang.com, zohosurvey.com, surveygizmo.com, etc. Check out all the options and use the best one for your survey. 4. Try something new every day We all get used to routines, because we like to stay within our comfort zone. However, it’s staying within that comfort zone that keeps us from gaining confidence. Knowing what you know now will only get you so far – and I regret to point out, that is not very far. As an entrepreneur, you must constantly push yourself outside your comfort zone to learn and do more. This not only benefits you, but it also benefits your clients, which will only grow your business. “If comfort is your goal, success is NOT in your future.” --Bill Bachrach, CSP, CPAE 5. Have unwavering optimism There are only two outlooks you can have on life and in business. Either the world is your oyster or it’s out to get you. It is only the latter that will not support your success and confidence. If you are an entrepreneur and you think the world is out to get you, chances are it will deliver. Your perception is everything! Having an unwavering optimism will constantly be fed creative ideas to increase your success. Obstacles will melt, challenges will be seen as opportunity, and you will have peace of mind that you can conquer anything. 6. Success breeds confidence When you are facing a situation that takes you outside your comfort zone, keep taking steps forward. Even if you have to take baby steps, at least they are steps in the right direction. Trying something new isn’t always easy, but take action before the nerves have time to settle in. The longer you wait, the more your confidence wavers, and the likelihood you will talk yourself out of taking action increases. Remember, success breeds confidence, so if you have to take baby steps to make it to the finish line – that’s okay – just keep moving forward. Being an entrepreneur is not about being the expert, although you may one day reach that status. For the time being, focus on what you know and become the best at it that you can. Commit to learning more, so you can deliver more to your clients; and your business is bound t

Samuel Johnson said: The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Bad habits can be difficult to break. Bad habits are a repetitive form of behavior that becomes so enmeshed in your psyche, they quickly become instinctual and involuntary. Each year people spend thousands of hours and dollars attempting to break free of a pattern of bad behavior, but the majority fails. Why? Because there is no magical solution. Breaking a bad habit typically requires hard work and there are no shortcuts. To effectively change a bad habit, you need to firstly recognize that the habit exists, and then make a conscious decision to overcome it. Pain vs Gain The most critical exercise in beginning the process of breaking a bad habit is looking at what is the payoff and what is the cost? Let’s look at alcohol abuse: ask yourself “what do I gain by having 5 or 6 drinks every night when I get home from work?” Of course, the answer is easy. For you it might be, “A drink or two relaxes me”, “I have time to think about the day’s events”, or “I can forget about the stresses of the day”. Then you must honestly answer the question: “But what is it costing me?” The answer may be less time with your spouse and family, a monumental hangover in the morning, alcohol may make you cranky and moody, or in a worse-case scenario, you may become abusive and hostile. What is it doing to our organs and you physically that you won’t realize until years later? Once you’ve assessed the positive and negative impact the bad habit plays in your life, it’s time to begin an action plan to break the habit. Here is a Suggested Action Plan for You to Consider 1. Affirm Your Conviction If you don’t consider the price you pay for repeating the bad habit worthwhile, then it’s likely you won’t break the habit. Be honest with yourself and take into account not only how the habit impacts on your life, but also how it impacts those around you. Make a decisive choice to become a better human being by breaking the repetitive behavior. 2. Focus on the Benefits Make a list of all the positive changes that will occur once you have broken the bad habit. Include the improved health factors, the opportunity to improve your personal relationships, or the emotional benefits. Refer to this list every time you believe your resolve is under threat. 3. Take Action The time to start your new behavioral pattern is NOW. The right opportunity is NOT going to present itself in a few days or at the start of a new week. Once you have resolved to change the bad habit, put your action plan into top gear straight away. 4. No Excuses! Provide yourself with a safe haven in which to activate your plan for change. As an example, if you decide to give up smoking, get rid of any leftover cigarette packets, remove ashtrays, lighters, matches or anything else that reminds you of smoking. Bad habits are often triggered by stressful situations, so work on a plan of attack to counter your lowered resistance during times of stress. 5. Plot your Progress Take note of your daily/weekly/monthly progress in your diary or on a calendar in full view. Nothing is an inspirational as seeing how far you’ve come and what it would cost if you had to begin the process all over again. 6. Maintain Motivation After the initial novelty of making a life altering change begins, boredom can set in. Continually challenge yourself to stay on target, and focus on the good things you will achieve once you’ve broken the back of your bad habit. If necessary, practice a daily affirmation like “Every day in every way I am becoming a better person.” 7. Set Up a Support Structure Keeping your action plan to yourself is a great excuse if you fail. You figure: “Nobody knows about what you I’m aiming to achieve; therefore, nobody will know when I fail.” Tell your friends, colleagues and family about what you are proposing to do and enlist their support and encouragement.

Look upon history, and you’ll find that the notable quality that exists in all champions is persistence. The path you walk will not always be easy, but you have to continue to persist. Even in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, you must keep putting one foot in front of the other, because there are lessons to be learned along the way, all of which will support your success. Whenever you confront an obstacle or roadblock, step back and emotionally detach yourself from the situation. It’s much easier to think of ways to go around, under or over the obstacle when you let go of the frustration. This may take some practice, but try this exercise: imagine a friend is the one facing the challenge(s), and you are simply providing ideas how to help them overcome the obstacle. When you are solution-oriented, you focus on the possibilities, not the impossibilities. In truth, nothing is impossible, and change is inevitable. Knowing this, you can take persistent steps in faith, with the wisdom that nothing stays the same, and at some time in the future your current obstacles will dissolve. Here are some quick facts about persistence.  It took approximately 10,000 experiments before Thomas Edison successfully invented the light bulb. What does he have to say about persistence? “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”  Long before becoming the lead singer of REO Speedwagon, Kevin Cronin, was determined to make it big. At a young age, he went to go see an influential music producer, only to get turned away. Kevin was so confident in his talent that he didn’t let that producer’s rejection get to him for one second. In fact, he was convinced that the producer’s tape player must not have been working properly, because if it had, the producer would have recognized Kevin’s talents immediately. He kept pursuing his passion and eventually landed with REO Speedwagon, bringing the band into the mainstream music scene. Over the years, they’ve sold more than 40 million records and charted 13 Top 40 hits.  When 19-year-old Rick Little wanted to start a program in high schools that would teach kids how to deal with their feelings, handle conflict, clarify life goals, and communicate effectively, he was turned down by more than 155 organizations. Finally, the Kellogg Foundation gave him $130,000, but that wasn’t enough. He was persistent and eventually received $65,000,000 in funding - the second largest funding in U.S. History - to create the International Youth Foundation. How’s that for persistence?  In 1998, Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page approached Yahoo! and suggested a merger. Yahoo! executives politely declined and suggested they continue working on their “little school project” and come back when they were all grown up. Ten years later, Google is worth an estimated $140 billion! That surpasses Intel, Coke, McDonald’s, as well as other corporate moguls, including Yahoo!. Just for moment, think about how their persistence impacted the world of search engines as we know it. What’s the lesson here? You should never, never give up. However, there are times when it may be appropriate to refocus your persistence in a new direction. How do you know when it’s the right time to change course? If you absolutely cannot live without what passionately consumes you, then do not give it up. The problem is never your passion, it only the manner in which you are trying to make it happen. Try a different approach - think of a creative solution. However, if you can live without it, then passion is not is what is driving you. When passion is not driving you - it’s not something you really want. Perhaps you have trained yourself to want what someone else wants for you. Go back to your list of goals and reconnect with the goals that really drive you. Old goals don’t match new priorities and/or values We all know that people change. W

As a business owner, it’s imperative you focus your energy on completing actions that drive your success. When you spend your workday procrastinating or refusing to delegate low-priority tasks, you are losing money as well as preventing your business from growing. Understand What Your Time Worth What do you consider to be valuable tasks for your business? How about building your client base, completing client projects, and/or promoting your business? These are all important factors and you should be focusing all of your energy into fulfilling these tasks in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Completing these tasks will lead to increased revenue, satisfied clients, and attract the attention of more clients. Actions that increase your profits substantially are inarguably effective actions that drive your success. If you’re currently a one-person show, completing all of these tasks on your own is not practical. If you also take care of administrative tasks such as answering phones, replying to emails and bookkeeping, you are seriously hindering the growth of your business. Individually, these tasks may seem like quick and simple tasks to accomplish, but if you take a step back and look at the big picture, you’ll discover that these “quick and simple” tasks actually eat up countless hours of your time, decreasing your productivity - and success. You probably already knew this. The logical answer is to hire an assistant. Your time is a limited and valuable resource; do yourself and your business a favor by delegating administrative tasks to an assistant. As a business coach, this is one of the most valuable tips for being more successful I share with my clients. If you work from home and don’t have space where an assistant can work, don’t worry. There are thousands of qualified and experienced virtual assistants that are willing and happy to work remotely. You can search through a database of freelance virtual assistants through websites like Upwork.com, Guru.com, and TheVirtualGurus.com. Learn from the Masters By emulating the actions that drive success used by other successful business owners and entrepreneurs, you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches and growing pains. Let’s explore the top four effective actions of successful business owners and entrepreneurs. 1. Stop procrastinating! Successful people wouldn’t dare procrastinate because they know that their success is riding on their ability to grow their business. Discipline yourself to work on a daily schedule and stick to it. Focus on income driving and client building actions during the day and leave personal actions to after hours and weekends. 2. Become a master marketer! Successful people are aware of the fact that clients are the reason why they’re still in business. They take the time to allocate funds and time to effective marketing plans. This is not something you have to know how to do - just hire the right person with a proven track record of delivering results. 3. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate! Chances are you became an entrepreneur because you like being in charge, but you have to learn to give up control of certain tasks. Successful business owners value the art of delegation and know that it is a vital part in expanding the reach of their business. Hire an assistant to take on the tasks that don’t lead to directly putting money in your pocket. And yes, you can even delegate grocery shopping, running various errands, and cooking to an assistant. To download a Free Delegation List Sample to help you identify more activities to delegate, go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com//delegation-list-sample/. 4. Successful entrepreneurs spend money to make money! Successful business owners know that in almost every profitable situation, you need to spend some money to earn more. They don’t think twice about paying for the billboard ad or hiring an assistant to place cold calls, because they understand the result

If asked, what is the one defining quality that sets great leaders apart from their wannabe counterparts, it would have to be their ability to maintain focus on the important issues. Sure, once behind closed doors, even the most successful leaders probably have moments of indecision, procrastination, and uncertainty, but even the sharpest minds need to take a break occasionally. For the majority of us, the power to focus on one task at a time and see it through to completion is not an innate gift. Focus is a learned response, so if we want to achieve the professional, personal and social goals we imagine, we have to first learn how to focus on what we want. We now live in a frenetic, activity-filled, multi-tasking, instant gratification society, so it is easy to get lost in the distractions that bombard us from every angle. How many times have you found yourself on the phone talking to a client, while reading your emails, hitting the “Reply” button and then typing out a response? Where is your focus while you are completing a number of individual tasks at the same time? Focus requires that we learn to differentiate between the “urgent” and the “important” tasks. Urgent tasks are distractions that cause us, subconsciously, to put off or delay the important projects. And it’s the important tasks that lead us to our objectives and goals. Responding to urgent emails, answering the phone, or checking your text messages can all be categorized as urgent tasks. We are conditioned to believe that these urgent tasks require our instant attention because they keep us busy and make us feel important and needed. We think, “This will only take a minute,” when, in fact, urgent tasks can often take a lengthy amount of “minutes” to complete. 11 Guidelines for Helping You to Stay Laser Focused The power of focus lies in your ability to distinguish the urgent from the important; and concentrate your energy on the important. These guidelines will help you to re-direct your focus and prioritize getting the important things done first. 1. Write down the important tasks you have set yourself for the day. These are the results-driven projects that require your complete focus. Prioritize those tasks according to their importance, as they relate to goal achievement, and then plan a strategy for completing the most important task first. Visualize the entire process and how it will look once it’s completed. Keep that image at the front of your mind. 2. Clear your desk of everything except the important project you are working on. If necessary, make a pile of paperwork on the floor. You can always pick it up once your important task is completed. 3. Block out a time in your daily schedule to attend to the urgent matters. Most of us find we are at out lowest ebb early in the afternoon, so this is an ideal time to take care of anything “urgent”. 4. Don’t answer the phone. Imagine you are in a meeting and can’t be interrupted. 5. Turn off your email client and shut down the automatic email notification system. 6. Turn off your cell phone or shift the ring tone to “silent”. 7. Close down any programs on your computer that could cause you to become distracted. Remember to turn off RSS feeds. 8. Close the door to your office. If you work in an open plan space where there is a lot of noise around you, consider buying a pair of ear plugs. 9. Work attentively. If you find yourself getting distracted, re-visualize the project in your head and the action steps necessary to complete them. 10. Take regular breaks. Very few of us can remain laser focused for long periods of time without losing the plot, so take a 5 to 10-minute break every hour. If you sit at a desk, get up, stretch your legs and take a few deep breaths, do some sit-ups, or push-ups or take a walk around the inside of the office. If you have been working on a computer, re-train your eyes to focus on middle to long distance objects. This helps avoid eye strain. 11. When you

Change is inevitable. In fact, change can occur so frequently and regularly that in many cases we hardly notice it. We change our hairstyles, our fashions, our relationships, our opinion, or we re-arrange the furniture; all with little or no resistance. So, why do some of us react like a nuclear war is pending when we are confronted with change? Familiarity with our surroundings, our friends and relationships and our working environment allow us to reside safely inside our comfort zone. And comfort equals security. However, large changes require us to step outside our comfort zone, adapt to new patterns of behavior and learn new techniques for survival. Change makes us uneasy. Even when a change seems logical and reasonable, we ask ourselves, “Why can’t things remain as they are? I liked it just the way it was.” But that kind of thinking is self-delusional; we all want to change, whether we admit to it or not. Sure, there are people who say they are happy the way they are, but they are not being truthful with themselves. We all want to be better, faster, stronger, richer, more powerful, happier, more fulfilled; the list goes on and on. So, why then do most of us vehemently resist change? Change is a Fact of Life Progress requires change, so we must develop change strategies that reduce our resistance and allow us to view change with a positive and constructive attitude. Although the majority of us initially react to change with feelings of anxiety and disorientation, most of us are able, over time, to respond with a more favorable and positive attitude and mindset. After all, 9 times out of 10, change brings about new opportunities to improve our position, our wellbeing, our environment and our circumstances. Occasionally change is precipitated by destructive, stressful circumstances like divorce, death or natural disasters. When a catastrophic change occurs, most people require time and support to enable them to deal with the grieving process before they can adapt to the new changes that have been thrust upon them. But like our response to grief, our response to change varies, depending on our inherent qualities and attitudes. So, what coping mechanisms can we put in place to ensure we embrace change with a positive attitude and a sense of excitement in the possibilities? 5 Strategies for Change Management 1. Focus on the positives Change generally results in a positive outcome. Rather than focus on feelings you may be experiencing like insecurity, discomfort or anxiety, concentrate instead on how the new experience will enhance your current situation. Imagine yourself once the changes have taken place and think about how good they will make you feel. Imagine yourself feeling re-energized, optimistic, excited and exhilarated. 2. Nullify the negatives Be honest and ask yourself what is it that’s holding you back? What beliefs are you clinging to which prevent you from moving forward? What is the worst possible outcome you could experience from change? Once you take a realistic and logical look at the reasons why you are resisting change, you will find most of them are unrealistic and illogical. 3. Clarify your Commitment Change requires commitment and self-discipline. You won’t always get it right the first time, so you’ve got to find the strength and purpose to get back up and try again. You’ll find the reward is worth it. 4. Look after Yourself Change, no matter how big or small, requires a healthy mind and a healthy body. Change doesn’t have to occur overnight – it may take weeks, even months, to make the necessary changes. Take care of yourself. Eat regularly, exercise, breathe and make time to relax and acknowledge how far you’ve come. 5. Be Flexible Changes don’t always occur the way we imagined. You may encounter curveballs and forks in the road you weren’t expecting. Give yourself enough latitude to readjust for the unexpected. Neal Maxwell said, “It is not the years but the changes

Living your life without practicing The Power of Focus, is like trying to hit the bull’s eye of a target you can’t see. You can spend hours launching arrows, only to miss the target entirely. You become exhausted and frustrated when your repeated efforts don’t show the results you are trying to achieve. This is what it feels like to operate without The Power of Focus. To get to where you want to be, you must hold clear in your mind what you most want. Your subconscious mind is a powerful, goal-achieving machine, but it can’t lead you to your desired goal, if you don’t provide it with a specific target. If it doesn’t have a clear and specific target, it can’t get you there. As Stephen Covey would say, you must begin with the end in mind. The Power of Focus is the practice of focusing on the ‘right’ tasks at hand, while minimizing distractions that take your focus away from your goals. It will improve time management, professional and personal performance, task efficiency, overall life balance, and provide your mind the information it needs to get you to the bull’s eye. When you focus on the ‘right’ activities that lead to ‘big’ goal achievement, you will succeed. A client of mine set a goal she was afraid to set because she had never been successful at achieving it before. We brainstormed a list of what we thought were the ‘right’ activities she needed to do in order to achieve this particular goal. She got focused on these activities, did them, and exceeded her goal! The same thing can happen for you when you focus on the ‘right’ activities. Step 1. Create a Long-Term Goal List What are your Long-Term Goals within the next 3-5 years? Within 10 or 20 years? They can be anything you want - but they must be what you really want. Your Long-Term Goals should go far beyond your comfort zone and how you would ideally like to see your life. Asking to retire rich isn’t specific enough - you must include as many details as possible along with the date you would like to achieve each goal. A date includes a month, day, and year for each goal. Step 2. Create a Short-Term Goal List. What are your Short-Term Goals? Within one week? Within 3 or 6 months? Whatever they are, include specific dates down to the month, day and year. Prioritize your short-term goals and put the goal that is most important to you at the top of the list. When you finish the most important things, move them off your list and do the next one, then the next one. It isn’t the one that is the easiest to do and the one with the least amount of discomfort. It is the one that is the most important to do first that will have the biggest impact on your overall success. Maybe there is a goal you would like to achieve, but you’re not totally convinced you can do it. How do you know if you don’t try? The mind is a goal-achieving machine and can help you do more than you think. Hang your Short- and Long-Term Goals up where you will see them frequently, even many times throughout the day. Remain mindful of your goals as you go about your day and read them aloud every morning and every evening before going to sleep. Your goal lists serve two purposes. First, it uses The Power of Focus to help you concentrate on what you DO want so you can work on making it a reality. Secondly, they serve as positive reinforcements. When you can cross off a goal because you achieved it - you feel good! Then you have room to add new goals. Step 3. Create a Daily Task List At the end of each day, create your Task List for the following day. Prioritize your tasks in order of importance, with the most important being at the top of the list. The following day, start with the number one item and work your way down the list. At the end of the day, you will have completed your tasks with improved organization and efficiency. This is the part where most people run into trouble - they hate making a task list! And that’s OK, you don’t have to like it - but it is necessar

Persistence is to success as excuses are to failure. Never, never give up - there is always a way. Jim Rohn said, “If you want something, you will find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.” And he should know. A college drop-out, and in a rut, in debt and unable to see his way out by his mid-twenties, Jim set out to achieve more. And he did. His persistence paid off and by age 31, he was a millionaire. If you want more, you WILL find a way, because there always IS a way. With persistence and consistent action, you will make it happen. If you don't believe me, keep listening. Did you know that Thomas Edison had over 10,000 failed attempts to create the light bulb before he was successful? His persistence was as valuable as his invention. 10,000 failed attempts and look what he created! Even if you’re not out to change the world, what could you create with an unresolved persistence? Allyson Felix made it to the Olympics in just over one year. With an intense training schedule of five to six hours per day, her persistence paid off. By the end of her training season in 2003, she had broken many records, including one set by Olympic Gold Medalist, Marion Jones. At the 2004 Olympics, she won the Silver Medal by running a 22.18 in the 200-meter race. Amazingly, she did all of this while being a high-school senior and a freshman college student. Persistence always pays off - and sometimes big time! It's a known fact that more business deals are inked when one of the parties is persistent. Now, being persistent is not the same as being pushy; rather, it is voicing your ideal fit and expertise to someone that may not be aware of the benefits they will receive working with you. They will appreciate your persistence and the benefits - but you have to make them known. You’ve probably heard of Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, and their best-selling book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul. Did you know they marketed the original books to over 130 publishers, over a two-year period before a struggling publisher agreed to publish it. That's two years of phone calls, foot-peddling and persistence that started a best-selling book series. The authors knew the value of the book, it came down to making it known to the right publisher. Once the publisher saw the value, they knew what the benefits would be. Their first book went on to sell 8 million copies in 39 languages. And to date, the series has sold more than 100 million copies in over 45 languages. At one point, JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series was on welfare and so broke that she wrote her story on pub napkins. She could have easily given up on writing, but she was persistent in her passion. She finished the first Harry Potter novel, found a literary agent and went to work marketing her book. Today, she is one of the wealthiest women in the world, with a net worth of about $1 billion dollars. There are thousands of examples of ordinary people achieving extraordinary goals; these are just a few examples of how persistence paid off. Achieving your goals requires you to take consistent action, be persistent, and maintain a resolve to simply not give up. Let’s explore 5 steps you can take today, to get you closer to achieving your goals. 1. Take Measurable Actions - Every Day! Persistence takes action. Take at least 3 actions every day that support goal achievement. If you need funding for your venture, then get on the phone and find an investor. If you want to lose weight, then eat well and exercise. If you want a new job, then take steps to make yourself a prime job candidate for the right company. Consistent action and persistence pays off. 2. Keep Showing Up If you believe in what you’re doing, just keep showing up. You never know when your break-through opportunity will appear, so bring your best to every situation. When the right opportunity appears, you’ll be ready! 3. Remain Objective About Your Obstacles

Today we are going to talk about 5 Key Principles to Business Success and How to Utilize Them. Understanding common keys to business success is essential to any business owner who is looking to move on to the next level. A lot of people don’t understand that almost all successful businesses have a few things in common. Figuring out exactly what these common denominators are and how to use them in your business can provide you with some very valuable insight as you seek to increase revenue and enlarge your profit margins. Principle #1… Be Organized Organization is key when it comes to business. If you can’t take care of your desk, then how do you plan on taking care of your company? Keeping everything organized, from paperwork to personnel, will not only eliminate confusion, but will set a good example for everyone in your firm. How to Utilize Organization for Your Business Utilizing this principle begins with YOU. To start with, never leave an area without making sure that you have organized it. If you have papers on your desk at night, organize them and put them away before you go home. On the same note, make sure that employees keep their areas neat and tidy. Never allow clutter or chaos to rule your workspace. If you have several people doing the same job, you can take a picture of the ideal workspace and how to organize it for maximum effectiveness. Add this photo to the procedures manual so everyone has access to it. Principle #2… Do Research Neil Armstrong once said “In much of society, research means to investigate something you do not know or understand.” When it comes to business, it is extremely important to investigate before taking a leap, and this investigation is exactly what research is. How to Utilize Research for Your Business Use research to test any theories that you might have before taking decisive action. Are you thinking of carrying a new type of product? Then do some research and find out if your clients/prospects would buy such a product. Decisions that are not researched thoroughly beforehand can end up failing, especially if you happen to guess wrong about factors that could have been tested and investigated beforehand. Principle #3… Be Passionate Being passionate about what you are doing is a must have if you want to move ahead. If you are not passionate about what you are doing, then odds are good that you are going to get burnt out and sick of it. The most successful businesses in the world were founded by people who were so passionate about what they were doing that a day never went by that felt like work. That is exactly what you should be looking for! How to Renew and Utilize Your Passion for Your Business Rediscovering your passion can sometimes be difficult, especially if you have been going through hard times. If work is starting to feel a lot like WORK, then rediscover why you loved it in the first place. Talk to mentors who are in the same business. Figure out what it is about your business that you love, and then channel that into your efforts. What is the emotional and financial payoff you will experience? Principle #4… Be Fiscally Responsible Every successful business owner knows that running a business responsibly is the only way to run one the right way. Knowing when to budget money and how much of it to budget are skills that will keep you from making dire mistakes and losing money, or having to close your business. Making sure that you know how to keep a balanced budget is going to be of monumental importance. How to Achieve Fiscal Responsibility When it comes to money, it is all about knowing what is going on. Keep on top of the books. Budget everything. Know how to intelligently use lines of credit. Know how good you did last month in sales, and figure out where you can improve. Know what your expenses are and where you might be able to cut or reduce expenses. Principle #5… Maintain an Entrepreneurial Mindset This last principle is critical to the success of any b

Many professionals agree that, while learning to deal with certain situations in certain ways can be beneficial, the true nature of successful behavior really begins within. In other words, you can study individual problems and how to deal with them, but the only way that you are going to be FULLY equipped to handle any situation is if you learn effective and efficient behavior patterns that literally change the way that you are and how you think. In this episode, we are actually going to discuss four different behaviors that you can take upon yourself to learn. These behaviors are sure-fire ways to change your perspective when it comes to your business, and can equip you with the tools that you need to move onto the next level. Behavior #1…. Being Proactive Humans are a unique type of creature in the way that they REACT to stimuli in an intelligent way. Unlike any other creature in the world, humans have the ability to decide for themselves how they will react to a particular situation or circumstance. Unlike humans, animals do not possess this ability. They respond to situations more like a computer program. They follow their instincts. But as humans, we have a choice. Being proactive is a very human trait, and it is an especially prevalent behavior among very accomplished and professional businesspeople. In essence, to be proactive means to be the opposite of reactive. You need to move forward, always aware of your destination and of problems that might impede you. Once you get there, you will react accordingly. You might try to go around it, you might ask someone to fix it for you, or you might try to fix it yourself. Being proactive, however, is quite different. If you go through life being proactive, then you will actively be aware of anything that could potentially slow you down or hinder you. You will also prepare yourself to deal with such problems before they arise, and will often find ways of turning them into opportunities. You will also be constantly aware of what is going on around you, and will be able to take appropriate action before the need to do something is thrust upon you. By acting quickly and before you must, you will often find that the advantage will belong to you, which is another HUGE benefit to being proactive. To be proactive in life, start by looking around you at any possible problems that might be lingering. How can you use these problems to create new opportunities for yourself? That is what being proactive is all about! Behavior #2… Begin Your Journey with the End Goal in Mind Learning to think of the end first will allow you to set clear, defined goals as you journey towards a state of increased success. In a lot of ways, thinking about where you want to end up will give you a true, definable sense of purpose. To start with the end goal in mind, visualize where you would like to end up eventually. Where do you want your business to be? Where do you want to be as a person? What kind of house do you want to have? Then work backwards to create a specific game plan with the steps you need to take to achieve those end goals you desire. Behavior #3… Prioritize Putting the most important things having to do with your business first is, apparently, better advice than you might think! Did you know that putting ‘first things first’ is a behavior that many of the most successful men and women in the world have in common? Doing the most important, high payoff tasks first might be more difficult at times, but it pays off in the long run. It raises morale, ensures that the critical functions of your business will remain intact, and also helps you to utilize the most effective part of your day for the most vital aspects of your operation. To start utilizing this behavior, make a list of things that you need to accomplish, starting with the most important item and ending with the least important. Every day, make it a point to work down this list in order. This will ensure that you get the most i

Owning and running a business is no easy task as we already know. There is a lot to do every day, and odds are good that you find yourself feeling overwhelmed from time to time. With everything that needs to get done, it can be very easy to get bogged down. Looking at a to-do list for the month might discourage you, especially when you consider the fact that there are simply a LOT of things on that list that nobody else can really help you with! So, what do you do in situations like this? How do you go from being overwhelmed to easily accomplishing everything that you need accomplished? That is a very good question, and it is the exact topic that we are going to cover today. Let’s now explore the 5 simple steps that you can use to get from the ‘overwhelmed’ stage to the ‘easy’ stage. Some of these tips might sound familiar to you, but I’ll bet that if you try these steps in order, you will find your over-filled to-do list MUCH easier to deal with! Step #1… Break It Up Breaking your to-do list down into smaller sections can often make it much easier to handle. Instead of looking at the entire list at once, make it a point to separate it into smaller sections. For example, instead of having a week’s worth of tasks written down and marking them off as you complete them, try breaking this week into days. This will make it that much easier to avoid getting overwhelmed. Your list should always be in priority order with the highest payoff activities at the top. Step #2… Get Organized Once you have broken your task list down into smaller sections, it is time to get organized! Make sure you have allocated appropriate time on your calendar to complete your tasks. At the beginning of every new task, take a minute to gather what you will need to begin the next task on the list. Getting everything together in the beginning will streamline the process and keep you from having to take breaks to fetch things. Spending the time to completely prepare will pay for itself in the short and long run. “Discipline is doing what you know you should do at the time you should do it, even if you don’t feel like it.” – Rowena Szeszeran-McEvoy Step #3… Determine Whether or Not to Delegate As a business owner, you undoubtedly have employees who can help you to perform some tasks. While some things on your to-do list might be exclusively for you to tackle, take a minute or two each day to evaluate what you might be able to delegate to others. Delegating can save you time if it is done right. It can also give you the opportunity to get more accomplished than you could if you tried to do everything by yourself. Delegate parts of a task or a whole task with clear instructions and an agreed to due date for completion. Just keep in mind that delegating can also work against you. Make sure that your employees know what they are doing, and make sure that they are all committed to getting the job done right. You should also check up on them to find out how the project is progressing, especially if it is an important project that would be difficult to fix it were not done right. To help you be even more effective and efficient, so you can achieve your goals at an accelerated rate, you can delegate even more to your team members than you have or might think possible. Stop holding on to things that can be done by someone else and do only those activities that you can do and can’t be done by anyone else. Stop doing revenue generation / business development avoidance activities and delegate more! Successful people are excellent delegators so work at being an even better delegator and be even more successful. Download a Free Delegation List Sample to help you identify more activities to delegate, by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/delegation-list-sample/. Step #4… Make a Plan Regardless of whether you are going to delegate or not, make sure to make a plan before jumping in. Try to look ahead to any obstacles that may get in your way, and make