The Accountability Coach: Business Acceleration|Productivity

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

Wouldn't it be Great to Get 80% Off on Proven Business Success Resources? Today, you can!! First and foremost, I hope you and your family are safe and healthy. It's been a crazy month.... to say the least. With the pandemic & social distancing going on, no one knows where the world is headed. Whether you have a job or business, it doesn't matter. Everyone is in the dark. We are all in the same place. Airplane companies are close to shutting down. Restaurants are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Any non-essential business is in a world of hurt. Fear is everywhere. And if you're feeling anxious, you'll see your productivity suffer. At first, you might not even notice. But you'll soon catch yourself glancing at the news. Decisions that were clear cut before will be muddied by panic. You'll be tempted to 'escape it all' for a bit & binge on some Netflix movies. Please don't fall into that trap. Most people see this as a disaster, but it's a golden opportunity in disguise for many of us. The fact is, everyone around you is feeling this level of uncertainty. Right now, your competition is buckling under the pressure. While others are frozen, you can hone your professional development and rise above the rest. Don't limit yourself to surviving, create momentum to thrive. And to help you do that, I was thinking here's one great solution for you to consider. For the first time in history, I'm rolling out the red carpet for you because I want to help - my biggest discount yet, to help you turn these challenging events into an opportunity to elevate your client value, grow your business. You can now get an 80% discount, yes I said 80%, on everything in the accountability.com store, including my 1:1 coaching. All you have to do is enter the Coupon Code

Confidence is absolutely essential if you want to make friends, influence people, and wake up energized day after day. A lack of confidence can be a pretty serious problem in a lot of different ways. It can affect your goals, your daily work, how you interact with people, and how you perceive yourself. If you don’t have enough confidence to believe in yourself, then you are going to have trouble ever achieving your goals. In fact, a complete lack of confidence will likely keep you from even setting goals! As a successful businessperson, you no doubt realize that confidence is important… and you would probably not have gotten as far as you have without having at least a good measure of it. If, however, you ever find yourself doubting whether you are ‘good enough’ or ‘capable’, then this article is for you! Let’s now explore 5 tips for becoming even more confident than you are now. Finding more confidence will help you as you venture on towards the next level of success, and can help to guard you against a recurrence in self-doubt or demotivation. Tip #1… Walk Faster Do you ever notice how confident people seem to walk faster than people who are not as sure of themselves? This is because confident people are usually busy, full of purpose, and have a ‘method’ to their madness! Next time you go out, try to think about all of the important things that you will be needed for. Think about how important your time is, and think about how much more you could accomplish if you got to where you were going in less time. Believe it or not, brisk walking can actually fill you with a sense of purpose and security about yourself. You will actually feel more confident if you lengthen your strides and walk like you have a reason to get somewhere (which you do! You are, after all, a successful businessperson… and you DESERVE to feel like one!). Tip #2… Create and Periodically Review Your “Me” File Keeping a ‘me’ file on hand filled with emails, letters, cards, and other positive communications or comments from clients and friends is one of the best ways to help give your confidence level a boost on those days when you don’t feel as good about yourself. Keep this file close at hand, and pull out a few letters to read when you start to feel down. If you ever feel like you are not good enough, looking back on good things that were said to you can REALLY have a positive impact. The whole point of this tip is to remind yourself that you ARE successful, and that you have a reason to be confident! Tip #3… Compliment Others Positivity is positivity… no matter what form it comes in. Believe it or not, complimenting others and making them feel better about themselves will actually HELP you to be more confident! When you focus on the negative aspects of life, you will often focus on the negatives within YOU as well. But, if you can learn to focus on the good in people around you, you will also be more prone to focusing on the good points within yourself. This will make a huge difference in your level of confidence, and will help you to improve your overall view of who you are as a person. Tip #4… Work Out – Get Some Exercise While this might seem like a very ‘healthy’ or ‘physical’ tip, it can be a very helpful one! Getting a healthy dose of exercise during the day is sometimes all that we need to push us over the positive edge. Taking up a sport, running around the block, doing a 10-minute exercise routine in your office, or even going a mile on the treadmill are all great ways to up your self-confidence level. By getting some exercise, you will be living a healthier lifestyle… but you will also be improving your own physical self-image within your mind. With confidence, it is all about how you perceive yourself, and you will be MUCH more likely to perceive yourself with confidence if you get in at least 20 minutes of exercise 4-5 times per week. Tip #5… Visualize the End Result In everything you invest your valuable time you want to visualize

Just in case you haven't seen or shared with your clients and prospects something that can hopefully, favorably influence their fears and concerns about the impact of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), the one I've seen that does the good job of explaining this new virus, it's effects, and best prevention tips (without any of the media hype either way), is from the Mayo Clinic. You can view their special report link in the show notes (http://bit.ly/2IDU3Wq). Of course, there are many great, short reports out there for you to use from very reputable organizations. After you’ve sent an email to your clients and prospects, implementing 2 ideas I’m going to share can turn these challenging events into an opportunity to elevate your client value and grow your business. 1. CALL every client. Glean your talking points for that conversation from the text in the email you previously sent them. Sample Script for a Financial Advisor - “You may have seen the email l sent with my thoughts about how the Coronavirus events could impact your money. The purpose of my call is to see how you’re feeling and answer any questions you may have.” Listen with empathy. Be prepared to respond to market, economy, and Coronavirus questions. Ask follow-up questions and listen with empathy. If the 'door opens' to have another phone conversation or a face-to-face meeting that may lead to being of service and doing more business, step through it. If not, feel good about being of service to your clients. Well done. 2. CALL every prospect, friend, and family member in your database to have the same conversation. This means that you sent the same message your clients received to your prospects, friends, and family members. The same script works (for a Financial Advisor). “You may have seen the email l sent with my thoughts about how the Coronavirus events could impact your money. The purpose of my call is to see how you’re feeling and answer any questions you may have.” Listen with empathy. Be prepared to respond to market, economy, and Coronavirus questions. Ask follow-up questions and listen with empathy. If the 'door opens' to have another phone conversation or a face-to-face meeting that could lead to being of further service and doing business, step through it. If not, feel good about the value you’re putting into the world. What goes around comes around, right? We live in an ever-changing, complex world, but one thing that has been true for those of us in business, we all must continue to do revenue generation and client acquisition to grow our business. Let me know how I can help you make more money and work less, so you can enjoy even better work life balance. If you are getting value from any of Podcasts, please take a minute to leave me a short rating and review. I would really appreciate it, and love to hear from you and requests for topics you would find of value. Aim for what you want each and every day! Anne Bachrach The Accountability Coach™ The Results Accelerator™ Get your daily Accountability Minute shot of a single, simple, doable idea, so you can start your day off on the "right foot", subscribe to it based on your country. The Accountability Minute on Amazon's Alexa in the USA: https://www.amazon.com/Accountability-Minute-Anne-Bachrach/dp/B07F5H2KGB The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Canada: https://amzn.to/2MpvUmx The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Australia: https://amzn.to/2vQqI4i The Accountability Minute on Alexa in UK: https://amzn.to/2MayU9v To help you stay focused and on track to achieving your goals, check out these other high-value resources. - Subscribe to my YouTube channel with business success principles (https://www.youtube.com/annebachrach) - Subscribe to my high-value Blog (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/blog/) - Anne’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheAccountabilityCoach) - Anne’s Linked-in page https://www.linkedin.com/in/annebachrach - Connect with me on Pinterest (https://pinterest.co

Today you have the opportunity to download a complimentary special guidebook called, Are Limiting Beliefs Stopping You from Achieving Your Goals? To give you some insight about what this special guidebook is about and why you want to read it.…I believe that, inherently speaking, there is nothing that you are not capable of accomplishing. The truth is there is no such thing as can't - you only think you can't. Success is not a special privilege handed out to a selected few; success comes to applying success-oriented beliefs. Transform limiting beliefs into success beliefs and you can achieve anything. Sometimes people don't realize their limiting beliefs have created an obstacle that is stopping them from achieving their goals. For example, let me tell you a quick story. During one of my coaching sessions with a client, I asked him about his success with obtaining referrals (which is a key to any business). He told me that he typically will receive two referrals per client. When I asked him why he thought he didn't receive more, he replied, I just can’t imagine obtaining more than two referrals per client because that is what I typically receive. Then I asked him if he expected and believed he would receive more than two referrals (something like 5, 8, 12 or 25), did he think he might actually receive more referrals? He hesitated for a minute and in an "a-ha" moment, said yes. He realized at that moment his limiting belief was holding him back from something more. As soon as he changed his limiting belief, he began experiencing a higher number of referrals from his clients. How are limiting beliefs affecting your success? When you let go of limiting beliefs, you gain the power to not only get around obstacles, but prevent your mind from creating them in the future. In this complimentary Special Guidebook, we explore 7 Success-Oriented Beliefs that will help you realize that you can do anything and any obstacles you face are only imaginary blocks created by your limiting beliefs. Apply these 7 success-oriented beliefs to create a success driven business and life. Download this complimentary guidebook, Are Limiting Beliefs Stopping You from Achieving Your Goals today and crush any limiting beliefs you have or don’t know you have. Get your copy of this Guidebook by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/request-guidebook-limiting-beliefs/ or http://bit.ly/2ItXDSJ. If you are getting value from any of Podcasts, please take a minute to leave me a short rating and review. I would really appreciate it, and love to hear from you and requests for topics you would find of value. Aim for what you want each and every day! Anne Bachrach The Accountability Coach™ The Results Accelerator™ Get your daily Accountability Minute shot of a single, simple, doable idea, so you can start your day off on the "right foot", subscribe to it based on your country. The Accountability Minute on Amazon's Alexa in the USA: https://www.amazon.com/Accountability-Minute-Anne-Bachrach/dp/B07F5H2KGB The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Canada: https://amzn.to/2MpvUmx The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Australia: https://amzn.to/2vQqI4i The Accountability Minute on Alexa in UK: https://amzn.to/2MayU9v To help you stay focused and on track to achieving your goals, check out these other high-value resources. - Subscribe to my YouTube channel with business success principles (https://www.youtube.com/annebachrach) - Subscribe to my high-value Blog (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/blog/) - Anne’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheAccountabilityCoach) - Anne’s Linked-in page 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/) Take advantage of all the complimentary business tips and tools by joining the Free Silver Membership on https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circ

When it comes to your business, consistency is absolutely essential to increasing success. Becoming and staying consistent is not always easy, but it will always produce better results. What exactly does it mean to be consistent? I would say that Merriam-Websters dictionary probably says it best… “Consistent - Marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity: free from variation or contradiction.” Staying consistent will mean a number of things to you as you grow your business. To clients, you will appear reliable, dependable, capable, and steady. To your employees, you will appear congruous and constant. Consistency makes up a huge part of what causes a business to be successful, and achieving consistency will bring you a step closer to realizing this success on your own terms. We are going to explore 4 tips that can help you to become even more consistent each and every day. Some of these tips might seem like no-brainers; however, following them faithfully can have a dramatic impact on the outcome of any project that you might be working on, be it large or small. 1… Create and Execute a Game Plan Having a set plan is absolutely essential to staying consistent. Without a firmly established success road map, you could very easily veer off course. This could cause variation in any part of your business, even if you are trying as hard as you can to avoid it. In truth, it is really hard to stay focused and regular when you do not have a plan to work from that can help you realize how to get to where you ultimately want to be. To help you consistently execute your plan, you need to make sure you utilize your calendar, so you can stay focused on exactly what needs to be done every day. Does your business have policies and procedures for all of its work-related tasks? Do your employees have access to these procedures? How do you know that your employees have this information, and it is accurate? The failure to have a plan in place is a common-enough occurrence among businesses, but you would be amazed at how many businesses forget about putting together a plan for informing everyone involved, as keeping such information current is important! 2… Encourage Open Communication Have you ever had a team member who asked you a lot of questions or the same questions over and over? Believe it or not, some people naturally get aggravated when they are asked questions, even if they pertain to the important aspects of running the business. But unless this habit is broken and overcome, this kind of communications breakdown could result in setbacks that will hurt you and your company’s success. If you often find yourself annoyed when asked for answers that you feel should be common knowledge, then you really need to take a second look at the situation. Try to be open to any questions that make their way to your ears, and make sure that everyone else, whether they are directly involved or not, knows the answer as well. This is a great time to ensure that the answer to questions is being recorded in a procedures manual that everyone has access to so you don’t need to repeat it in the future. Successful businesses have procedure manuals for every position in the firm. Having a good, positive line of communication is essential to keeping things consistent and reliable. 3… Be Committed One way to achieve consistency is to commit to it. This could mean committing to work until a certain time each day, working by appointment as much as possible (minimize phone tag), completing a specific amount of revenue generation hours each week, or meeting with your employees on a regular basis to reduce distractions and interruptions (be more time efficient). Regardless of what you intend to accomplish or pledge to do, making one or more commitments is likely to affect your business in a positive way. One of the easiest ways to commit to your business is to be as passionate about it as when you first started. If you are having trouble finding