Friday, December 31, 2010
Year End Checklist - By Lisa Mininni
Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone
From: "Mark's Motivation Mail" <motivation@chattertonworld.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:44:32 +0800
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient>
Subject: Year End Checklist - By Lisa Mininni
When you think of the end of the year, what do you think of? Most small business owners think of taxes. It's not only a good time to analyze, but also plan ahead for the next year.
Since I developed a business blueprint complete with identified metrics, it's easy to see how I've done throughout the year. A business blueprint acts like a map so you can see where you are and where you need to go consistently aligning all areas of your business, including your external marketing as well as your internal operational systems. The end of the year is a perfect trigger to analyze all areas of your business.
Consider adding these to your checklist this year and get a head start on next year:
* Thank your customer/clients.
If you haven't yet thanked your customers this year, you may want to send them a simple thank you note for being a loyal customer or client. You might also want to thank them by providing an irresistible offer, especially since they may have holiday gifts they need to buy and your product or service may be the perfect gift for someone on their shopping list.
* Get your financial books in order.
Get all of those receipts ready for your accountant or CPA. Did you donate gently used business attire to your favorite charity? If so, keep your receipts. You may be able to deduct your donation. Above all, get the financial help you need so you can make informed decisions and choices in planning for the new year. Examine your balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statements to see what you need to continue and what you need to change for next year.
* Strategically plan your business goals.
Now that you know where your business is, it's time to look at how you got there. Pull out your business plan or blueprint. Did you accomplish what you set out to? Identify the reasons for the success or where you fell short. Make notes on your successes or identify the support you need to reach them next year. This assessment will come in handy when you conduct your business planning for the upcoming year. Remember to identify goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and have a timeframe. Now is the perfect time to assess where you are, where you want to go and plan out how you're going to get there.
* Work smart.
Identify the contacts you've made and review anything you need to follow up on -- you might have left some business hanging. Reassess if your networking organizations are working for you. End of the year is a good time to determine if you're going to reinvest in the same organizations. You might just find that it's time to let go of memberships that are no longer working and explore new ones that will help you expand your business.
* Refine your branding.
Keep things fresh by updating your website, Ezine or Enewsletter and other marketing and branding materials. You need to be exact to attract your ideal clients. Make sure that your clients/customers know exactly who you work with and that your messages match your market.
* Set up your marketing systems.
Get a head start on any New Year's Resolutions. Find yourself saying, "I wish I had a sales person who could work 24/7?" You may need to implement automatic lead generation systems and set up your marketing systems so they work on autopilot. Examine other internal systems and processes you need to implement next year to help leverage your time, energy and resources.
* Plan for your personal development for next year.
Whenever I invest in my own personal development, it pays off a hundred fold. Plan to grow your business by growing your own knowledge. Identify the training or resources you need to take your business to new levels next year whether it is a specific program, mastermind group, or mentor.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
L U N C H
Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone
New Year's Resolutions - First Steps to a Better Life? - By Clare Mann
Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone
From: "Mark's Motivation Mail" <motivation@chattertonworld.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:52:15 +0800
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient>
Subject: New Year's Resolutions - First Steps to a Better Life? - By Clare Mann
As the New Year approaches, thousands of people make New Year resolutions, determined to change their lives or aspects of them. By the third or fourth of January, many have broken them and by the middle of the month, most have forgotten them completely, yet alone used them as the impetus to change their lives. What is this collective urge to usher in a New Year, determined to make it different from the previous one? Why are so many people failing to put in place the changes they believe will transform their lives?
New Year Resolutions are often made in response to a self-censoring of one's behavior or punishment for not doing what they believe will bring happiness. Giving up smoking, losing weight or getting fit are often at the top of the list when it comes to the top ten resolutions. Self-disgust, low self esteem or admonishment by others is often the reason for making resolutions. When we look at New Year resolutions, they are focused on changing aspects of one's unacceptable behavior - rarely are they couched in terms that reflect a larger vision for our lives or the values that might underpin a personal mission for what we want lives are about. Thus, conscious and unconscious resistance to the punishments that resolutions demand, sabotage us from keeping them. The outcome is that we continue our lives as before with humor, cynicism or increased self-loathing for our inability to change. We risk, as Henry Thoreaux said 'Living a Life of Quiet Desperation'.
What alternatives are there for changing aspects of our lives in more productive and nurturing ways? The following questions help you look at your life more strategically so changes you desire can be assessed in terms of their alignment with your vision and desires.
1.What do you really want to do with your life? What do you want your life to stand for and how would you like to be remembered?
2.What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? Don't answer this question within the constraints of what you believe is currently possible. Think big and worthy dreams.
3.What are your values and what is so important to you that you would stake 'even life itself' to act in ways to celebrate these values?
4.What thoughts, feelings and actions do you believe align with achieving your vision, values and dreams of how you want your life to be?
5.What stops you from achieving the life you so desire? What reasons do you give yourself for not having what you want? Do you blame others for your failures or are you taking full responsibility for your own life?
6.What reasons do you give yourself for not having what you want? Do you blame others for your failures or are you taking full responsibility for your entire life?
7.What do you need to do to support achievement of your desired life? If those supports are not in place, what stories do you tell yourself for why this is so?
By asking these and similar questions, you can create a pen picture of the life you want. Take that picture and set goals, targets and the means for measuring and assessing your success.
The late Earl Nightingale once said 'Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal'. Dare to dream something worthy and examine your thoughts, feelings and actions to assess the extent to which you are progressively realizing it.
New Year Resolutions are temporary ways to assuage the anxiety of not living the life you truly want. They provide a temporary salve hoodwinking you into believing that positive change is on the horizon.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
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