Selfishly selfless – what does that mean exactly? Well, for starters it means taking care of all your personal needs before anything else. Yeah, I know, sounds great eh? But the question I get over and over again, how? How exactly do I ‘do’ that?

Not unlike making any change, you have to begin with an audit, in this case of yourself. Do you even know what you would need to change in your life to be selfishly selfless? For me, I need a lot, but here’s a sample:

1. Food – I don’t know about you, but, if I’m hungry, I don’t cope well.

2. Sleep – unlike Tiger Woods, 5 hours doesn’t do it for me – I need 7-8 hrs

3. Exercise – I LOVE working out (I know, I know, you can punch me in the face now), but, I’m serious, I really do. For my entire life I’ve been an athlete. Athletics and working out my body is so much more to me than just staying in-shape. I’m the first to admit, I like the side effects, but moreso, I like the adrenalin rush, the connection with my body, feeling powerful and the confidence that comes as a result of exercising and challenging my body.

4. Music – it’s a constant for me, can’t live without it.

5. Money – I have a certain lifestyle that I enjoy, and that often requires a monetary exchange. Managing mine (both in my business and personal life) is a must.

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  Now it’s your turn.  This week I want you to identify what your non-negotiable needs are. Write them all down.  Then…

Tune in next week for the next step: Communicating Your New Rules

All the best,

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc.

We all have bad habits that hold us back in our business and personal lives. But habits don’t have to be permanent. And if you’re serious about changing your ways, don’t be intimidated by thinking it’s a matter of willpower (in case you don’t think you’ve got it). It’s more about simply replacing your bad habits with new, better habits.

First, choose just one habit you want to change. You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. The habit can and often will be a habit of omission – for instance, you often lost your access key card, miss appointment or neglect your paperwork.

Next, tell yourself how you’re going to replace your habit. Tell others. The more of your colleagues who know you’re trying to change your habit, the easier it will be. Write it down.

Every day, take a few minutes to think about the habit you are changing, and repeat to yourself (out loud, if you’ve got some privacy) your commitment to change your ways. You can also use this time to actually undertake the replacement habit. For instance, if you’ve resolved to improve your filing of paperwork so it becomes a regular process, doing this on a daily basis at a regularly scheduled time is ideal. If the problem was missed meetings, then taking a few minutes to check your calendar at the beginning of every day just before your prioritized tasks is essential.

Remind your colleagues about your habit change so they can help keep you on the right path.

Consistency is key. In 30 days, you can replace your bad habits with better ones. Remember, it’s not about willpower. It’s about routines.

Linda Chu
CEO – Out of Chaos, Professional Organizing Solutions
www.outofchaos.ca

I regularly hold events where I talk to entrepreneurs about marketing and, without exception, they are overwhelmed to some degree with the pressure to get 101 million things done every day. (Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration.) The addition of social media has only added to the pressure, at least in part due to inane advice like, “you have to Tweet 24 times a day to be effective.”

Yikes, no wonder you feel behind before you even start!

The ads I see for web access on our handhelds so we don’t “waste” a second of our day, including those precious minutes waiting in line for our morning coffee, indicate we are not alone in feeling we need to do more, more, more in less time. The cool thing about technology is all the ways it is constantly being reinvented to make our lives easier.

A lot of those technology tools can be used to automate marketing and ensure you are visible on a regular basis. We can schedule our blog posts, schedule Twitter posts, and automatically Tweet when we blog or update Facebook.  We can Tweet from our phone when we come across something interesting in our daily travels. There are even tools to notify you when you and/or your business are mentioned online, so you don’t have to do regular searches.

Having said all that, how the heck to do you figure out what the tools are, which ones work better than others, and last but not least, how to use them?!

Here’s my secret: I ask someone who knows. I don’t like researching technology and I’m even less interested in spending hours figuring out how each tools works. Instead, I ask someone knowledgeable for the inside track. In the case of some new technologies, that means asking someone younger (much younger) than me.

When I got my iPod for example, I collared my niece and “made” her show me how to use it, how to navigate iTunes, and quickly download music. It’s not that I couldn’t have figured it out. I just didn’t want to spend the time. The benefit was greater than just the info I gained, too. My 16 year old niece was pretty pleased to be giving me how-to advice, and I saved time fast tracking my learning curve.

Don’t let the fact that you don’t know stop you from finding ways to automate your business. Trust me, it makes for a fabulous work/life balance. Just ask me. When this post goes live, I’ll be sitting at the beach in the sunshine…

- Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

The new model of business is education. Business owners everywhere, whether running a small or large operation are tasked with educating their market about what they do, why it matters to the market, and who, specifically, within the market cares enough about what they are doing to want to buy their product or service.

Because of this, many business owners have turned to the likes of social media: Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In (and there are many more) which are all forums being used all over the world to spread the messages of business. One of the main challenges, therefore presented to business owners is coming up with relevant, fresh and interesting content. And gone are the days of having just a monthly newsletter, the sophisticated audience of today’s market is looking for content everyday and many prefer multiple times during the day – a tall glass to swallow for the already busy entrepreneur.

I don’t know about you, but the easiest way for me to get in to writing mode (i.e. content development) is to get first in to reading mode. Once I have a chance to read up on what others are writing about, in terms of topics of interest to me and the segment of the market that I’m in conversation with I get juiced up with content ideas, opinions of my own, or personal stories that give context to content that is already out there.

Alltop, an “online magazine rack” is a one stop shop for a plethora of web based, credible content written by bloggers and the like from all over the world.  Similar to an RSS feed but without the hassle of managing it.  Think Cosco for the mom of 6. Alltop also has a great feature that allows you to customize a page of your own personally selected blogs of choice on topics that you are most interested in.  In a 30 second glance you can browse the headlines (if you hover over a headline you like, you can read the first paragraph of content) of relevant topics topics that are of top interest to you. Having a system created to spark creative moments will save you time and money when coming up with fresh, new content for the market.

All the best,

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc.

Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” Vince Lombardi

I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to be too concerned about the recession on a sunny day. I was sitting out on the deck this morning reading the New York Times magazine and it was talking about all these places in the US where housing projects and developments just stalled. It was the wierdest thing (said in a mocking tone). These developers thought that if they built these massive complexes without pre-selling them, that people would line up to buy. Nobody lined up and now the developers are bankrupt. Even more shocking, people bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford and those houses got taken away when they lost their jobs. On top of that, they were leveraged out to the max and so no savings in place = hard times. These people are losers my friends. People who were trying to be something they aren’t and now are suffering public humiliation. The worst part, in all sincerity, is that their families suffer along side them.

What is the matter with people today? Have we, as a collective group, lost all forms of common sense? A friend of mine says, “I wish common sense was more common”, and she’s right.

I watch crowds flock to Suzy Orman shows to hear her say, “sorry girlfriend, you can’t afford that.” Really Suzy? I make 20K a year, spend 75% of it on housing and food, and I shouldn’t buy those $500 Jimmy Choo shoes on my Visa? Awwwww, come on Suzy, Just one pair?

Some of the stupider things I’ve heard people say on television about the recession in the last week:

• I knew I couldn’t afford the house payments, but I thought the bank would help me out.
• I knew that my whole division at work was being laid of three months ago, but I thought they would spare me.
• I can’t believe that working at Bear Sterns isn’t getting me a job.
• I can barely stand having to put up with my parents while I live with them. I know they are helping me get back on my feet, but I have the smallest bedroom in the house.
• I refuse to work for less that $75,000 a year. I’d rather be on unemployment.
• I know there are jobs, but I refuse to move.
  
• They will have to kick me out of my house. I’m not leaving until they put my stuff out on the street.
• I can’t believe how much my business is down. I’m going to start marketing when things get better.

Business is not immune to natural selection. The weakest and dumbest to get the biggest hits when things go south. I had a woman come to one of my events in Detroit three years ago. She came up to me after the show and said, “We can’t keep building cars they way we have been. It just doesn’t make sense. I think I need to plan my exit strategy.” She was a manager of a plant for one of the big 3 automakers in the US. She spent the next six months making her shift and has transfered her management skills from automotive to retirment homes. I got a note from her a few months ago saying that she was now getting heavily invested in Real Estate and couldn’t believe the deals she was getting. This is a smart woman. She saw the writing on the wall and left when it suited her. She didn’t wait to see herself and her cowokers get locked out of their jobs and put on the unemployment line.

What’s this whole rant about? Life is good. Life is short.  Don’t wait for tomorrow to do what you NEED to do today. If you think you might lose a big client, don’t close your eyes and brace for it. GO GET A NEW CLIENT! It’s not rocket science, or maybe it is. Maybe the reason why so many people are suffering right now is that they didn’t see it coming? Does anyone really believe this?Natural selection is at work eating up the people with the greatest concentration of ‘dumb ass’ in them. It started back in the cave man days. One cave man says, “I think I’m going to stay away from that tiger that wants me for dinner.” The other one said, “Pretty kitty and walked out and got eaten.”

A sunny day is a good day to do some planning. Plan for yourself, plan for your future. Plan to enjoy sunny days because you know you have control over how things turn out. You can take action before, during, or after you get hit with something and learn from it. The woman in Detroit didn’t have to get hit in order to learn about the importance of planning. Now she really gets it and is getting rich in the process. Don’t buy fire insurance when you smell smoke. Buy it when you learn what a fire is. Here are the questions to get your primed to protect your back, stay on course, and enjoy many sunny days to come:

1. What is the greatest threat to my way of life at this moment?
2. If this threat became a reality, what would my course of action be?
3. What can I do today to minimize the risk of the threat happening or mitigate its effects if it does happen?
4. Who do I know who has gone through this and come out the other side? What can I learn from them?
5. Are any of my actions contributing to a big fall for me personally? (i.e. Living outside your means/buying things you can’t afford)
6. Do I have resources at my disposal that I can access in a time of need? If not, how can I get started?
7. What am I doing that I know is wrong or conflicts with common sense? How can I get back on track.

These might be really tough questions for you to go through, but they will be tougher if you are under the gun to find solutions. Forewarned is forearmed. If you don’t like where you are, shift. If you like where you are, set up systems to keep yourself there. Your business life will model your personal life and vice versa. Be wise, look ahead, and plan for the worst, while hoping for the best. Many a visionary has been struck down because they spent too much time looking out and not enough time looking in. Much of business development and life development is to seize opportunities and mitigate risks. Today is your day to do just that.

Enjoy the sun.

C/

www.GhostCEO.com

There’s never really a ‘perfect’ time to do anything, but, the beginning of a new year seems to carry a certain electric energy to it and therefore is as close to perfect as I think we’re going to get.  Perfect for what you ask? Perfect for increasing your confidence by doing something totally off the wall, out of character for you, something you’ve never done before, but, have always had this little itch to try anytime you’ve witnessed someone else doing so.  This weekend I challenge you to increase your confidence by stretching your comfort zone and putting your body, mind and spirit in a new environment.  Make it as big and bold or as small and careful as you need to.  By the simple completion of such a challenge you will remind yourself of what an amazing being you are and you can carry this newly awakened confidence to the boardroom next week.  

Because at this point you may be thinking ‘great idea Heather, like what?’, or maybe you’re thinking ‘this chick is nuts’, either way, here’s some things I’ve done over the past few years that have stretched my comfort zone immensely, but, have increased my confidence and appreciation of myself 100 fold.

*let me preface this list by saying that I’m a tall, somewhat lanky individual and therefore if reading the below list amuses you – perfect! no excuses ladies, just have fun and feel good!

• Cardio Salsa Dance Class
• Completed the Grouse Grind in under an hour
• Downhill Skiing
• Eckhart Tolle’s 10 Week Book Study
• Hip Hop Dance Class
• Cooked my first Turkey Dinner for 8 

With the theme of New Beginnings and the spirit of the New Year in the air there’s no question that this is a time of change. The local gym that I go to is always a total gong show in January as everyone who’s ever thought about working out is there trying to start fresh and give themselves the healthy body they desire. What so many people miss however is that whenever you make change in your life, it’s not like flicking a light switch. You will not wake up, having not exercised for the past 5, 10, 15 years and begin a five day a week work-out regime from now to forever. You will be enthused and energetic in the short term, and then something will inevitably happen and you’ll miss a day, then you’ll miss two, then three, then you’ll think – ahh, screw this work out thing – I’m too busy to keep this up.

What I see happening too often when women try to make healthy change in their life is they take the ‘all or nothing approach’. You’re either leading the aerobics class, or, you never go to the gym. You have great intentions of a healthy diet, have two oreo cookies, beat yourself up, figure you’ve lost the battle and eat the whole box. This ‘all or nothing” b.s. doesn’t work. Here’s some tips on ensuring success for whatever changes you want to make this year.

1. Be gentle and kind to yourself as you attempt to change. You are going to fall off the wagon – it’s a given – and when you do, don’t beat yourself up, see it for what it is, a slip up, and get right back on the wagon. Don’t use a blip on the radar to give up all together.

2. Keep a record of your progress. It’s too easy for your ego to get you all wrapped up in keeping you dissatisfied with your progress. By keeping a record you can silence your ego and it’s ridiculous banter by looking back to how far you’ve come.

3. Get an accountability partner. If you can’t afford to hire a personal coach, business coach, personal trainer, wellness facilitator (depending on what changes you are making this year) get yourself an accountability partner.- click here to read an extended post on how to get a great partner.

4. Set a goal. It’s important for your sub-conscious mind, your ego and your motivation to ensure you know exactly what you’re working towards. Click here to read more about how to set effective goals.

Wishing you a successful, healthy 2009!

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc.