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How to Develop the Courage to Lead

It takes courage to be a leader, but even if you have fears that have kept you from leadership roles so far doesn’t mean that you can’t overcome them and achieve positions of leadership.

Each decision you make in your personal and business life is a testament to your courage. Something as simple as refusing a rich dessert because you want to stay fit takes a certain amount of courage if you have gnawing cravings for sugar.

Other decisions you must make may be monumental and require the courage of a lion. A decision to quit a high-paying job to follow your life’s dream is a major decision that takes courage – and planning. And, some decisions may seem unimportant in the moment, but later you may see that they were life-changing.

Courage promotes confidence and self-esteem and builds a framework in which you can accomplish pretty much anything you set out to do. Think of the genius, Stephen Hawking, and how much he overcame to become one of the l…

Mind Mapping to Assess Your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

When it comes to your business, you need to be as innovative, productive, and forward moving as possible. There are many tools that you can utilize in order to be as creative as possible. Mind mapping is one of those tools.

First, let’s examine what mind mapping is. Mind mapping is a way of brainstorming on paper. It is extremely beneficial as it is a visual tool that stimulates creative thinking preparing you to organize, evaluate, and analyze data you create for your business ideas. It is sort of like brainstorming with yourself on paper.

To begin with, you place a key word in the center of the paper that is a sort of main character in the mind mapping system. Next, you branch out ideas from that internal word and continue to branch out new words in a circle around that original word or theme.

It is similar to choosing a theme and several subthemes or topics and subtopics. The more you extend the circles and branch them out, the more creative…

4 No-nonsense Ways to have a Better Work-Life Balance

There’s a growing number of people struggling with their work-life balance. A large percentage of American workers feel their job demands that they should be available 24/7 since they can check in from anywhere using their smartphone. This type of constant availability takes a toll on both a person’s mental and physical health. Humans need to socialize, relax, and care for themselves to stay happy and healthy.

Here are four simple ways to improve your work-life balance:

UnplugIt’s easier said than done, we know, but avoid checking your phone for work matters after hours. This constant checking may have become a habit you wish you’d never started, and if you are honest, practically all work-related matters can wait until the next day. It’s key to unplug from work when you get home each evening and on the weekends. Let your coworkers know you won’t be returning emails, calls, or texts regarding work after hours so that they can prepare for this change. Wor…

6 Reasons Why You Should Prioritize Self-Care

Self-care refers to any activity that we engage in to maintain and nourish our health, including mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. While it may seem like an obvious concept, self-care often gets cast aside for more pressing priorities such as work, family and the everyday pressures of life. There are many reasons why you should prioritise self-care and we’ve listed six of the most important below.

Improves moodInvesting time in your own care can have a major impact on your mood, leading to greater optimism and positivity. It will help you to feel happier, more satisfied and better able to cope with the challenges that life throws you way. Even taking a small amount of time per week to nurture your physical, emotional and mental health can be hugely beneficial on your mood.Helps relationshipsSelf-care helps you to be the best person you can be, which in turn as a positive impact on your relationships. Taking regular time to invest in your personal health allow…

Are You Sabotaging Your Marketing Success?

What?!? Sabotage your own success? Who would do that? Well, you'd be surprised how many small business owners think they are effectively marketing their business, when in fact they are cutting their own throat.

Yes, they may be running ads that are pulling in leads or customers. And yes, they may be writing a regular column for their local newspaper so they are perceived as the expert in their industry. And yes, they may even be doing a pretty good job of marketing on a regular basis to their prospect list.

So if they are doing all of these things "right," how are they sabotaging their success? Well there are lots of ways.Following are just a few of the ways small business owners unknowingly sabotage their own success.

(1) They have not taken the time to develop a marketing plan.

A plan focuses your efforts and allows you to make the most of your marketing budget. Unfortunately, you can market without a plan. Yes, you read that right.…

Want to Stop the Endless Rollercoaster Ride? A Life Coach Can Help

Many people feel that they are going through a rollercoaster of life. There are big ups, downs, and days in between. They feel lost, hopeless, stuck, and unsure about how to get their spark back, so they can move in a direction that helps calm the ride and creates a sense of inner peace. Many people have turned to life coaches like Katie Sandler to give them the insight and guidance they desperately need.

“When you see others who seem to have it all together, don't assume they didn't have help or guidance to get there,” explains Katie Sandler, personal development and career coach. "Trying to figure it out on your own can be overwhelming. When you let someone else coach, it can be truly life-changing."

Sandler works with various people in personal and professional settings, helping them to become unstuck and learn to manage the seemingly endless rollercoaster ride of life. She does this in various ways, including helping people to focus on such things as…

REMOVE THE FEAR OF MISTAKES

When you start a new project or take on a new task in your life, do you spend a lot of time worrying about making mistakes?

In my first job out of university, I took a position that involved traveling to customer sites to implement fairly complex software systems. I had very little experience compared to the other consultants who performed the same role. My company was billing out my time at very expensive rates so the customer’s expectations were very high.

Inevitably, there were times where I messed things up; usually due to lack of experience. In some cases the mistakes would impact other parts of the business, cause down time or delay project deadlines. Obviously the client would not be happy in these circumstances.

Almost 100% of the time I was able to turn a stressful situation like this into a win for both myself and the customer. Here was the simple process:

Take Ownership: I made sure that the client knew I was taking full respo…

How to Create Your Money Systems – Everything from Invoicing To Tax Preparation

Here’s an all-too-common scenario: A seemingly successful coach (or service provider) is hard at work growing her business. She’s working lots of hours, and her hourly rate is respectable. But her cash flow is dismal.

Why?

Because she’s working so hard that finding the time to actually take control of her money is impossible.

Invoices don’t get sent on time. Past due balances are ignored. Taxes aren’t done. And maybe worst of all, she’s got dozens of recurring payments that go out automatically each and every month, and she has no idea what they are or if she’s even using the programs she’s paying for.

Sound familiar? Sadly, that’s exactly what a lot of “successful” businesses look like. When you work at home, and you’re accountable to no one but yourself, it’s far too easy to let these little things slide until, like an avalanche, they have a devastating effect on your business.

The good news is, cleaning it up is easy, whe…

How to Network Like an Expert

You know it’s critical to your success, but are you doing it with forethought and a solid strategy in place, or do you just “wing it?”

Admittedly, most of us are squarely in the winging it category, but there are some quick and easy changes you can make that will put even your most important networking tasks on autopilot.

Outsource the research: First step, hire a VA who can find and connect you with potential JV partners, affiliates, guest interviews, and all the other marketing options at your disposal.

With a list of requirements at hand, he or she can spend an hour or two on Google and bring back a list of hundreds of people you can then reach out to. What would a list of 100—or even 10—new JV partners do for your business growth?

Automate the initial connection: Create a script or email template to use when you first reach out to potential partners. Your VA can send this in an email or make a call on your behalf, but having the s…

How to Talk to Your Family about Working from Home

When you first realize the possibilities about working from home, it’s normal to get super excited and believe everyone else will be too. But often times the family isn’t as happy as you are, nor as trusting. They think it’s just a pipe dream, or worse, a scam. They haven’t done the research you have so they do not realize the true possibilities and potential surrounding the idea of working from home. Provide Your Research to Them Many times your family just cares about you so much that they simply want to protect you. But, if you show them the research that you’ve done, they may quickly realize that you’ve done your homework, and that you’re not going to get scammed. Give Examples of Others Doing It Successfully More than likely, at this point you have a circle of influence that includes work-at-home success stories. Let your partner and family in on the fact by talking about how so-and-so is making x dollars and all from working from home. Explain what they do, and put th…

4 Positive Benefits to Trying New Things

What does it mean to try something new? For some, it may mean learning a new sport. For others, it could be trying a new food. Whatever it means to you, the principle is the same for everyone: Trying new things opens your world, eyes, and heart to new possibilities, and that’s a great thing. That’s the overarching benefit of trying new things, but here are four other specific benefits.

Growth Comes from New

When you step out of your comfort zone and into the wilderness of the unknown, a crazy thing happens. You learn and grow as an individual. It may not always be easy or comfortable, but it certainly will expand your mind and make you aware of the possibilities life has to offer – whether that be something thematic like your personality or something smaller like picking up a pair of rollerblades.

Courage Boost

Courage is defined as the ability to do something that frightens you. Chances are, you may be a little frightened by the idea of trying som…

Eight Inspirational Women in History Who Found Courage

Most people who inspire us due to their courage did not start out wanting to be an inspiration to the world. They simply wanted to fix one thing wrong in their world or show people how to make changes themselves. For others, it was just being in the right place at the right time.

1. Helen Keller – The first deaf and blind person to get a Bachelor of Arts degree, she was made famous initially due to the story she wrote in her book about the journey to learning. She’s been an outspoken supporter of women’s suffrage, labor rights, and other social issues without fear.

9. Irena Sendler – After Poland was invaded by the Nazis, Irena knew she had to do something - even if it meant death. She and her group were responsible for saving about 2500 children who were gotten out and sent to Christian orphanages and given new identities. That’s not all; after being caught and having both her legs broken and being imprisoned and tortured, she worked on reuniting the fa…