Mindset. Beliefs. Psyche. Whatever you call it, it’s what makes you tick. Beliefs propel us forward. Beliefs hold us back. Great business leaders continually question their belief systems searching for those that no longer serve them, need to be tweaked or outright abandoned. You’re human, right? The toughest obstacle you’ll face on your way to achieving your goals is YOU. You’ll need to battle your own mind (cue the scary music). Our mind has several tricks up it’s sleeve to convince us of things that are not really true. You believe your mind is your friend. And as our friend, it has our best interest at heart, right? Nope! Remember, your mind also tricks you into creating bad habits, takes you down the road to temptation and can’t resist brain crack distractions like social media! You might be wondering, “How’s my mind out to get me?” Here’s how: Your mind lies to…
Imagine you won the lottery that deposited $86,400 into your bank account each morning and emptied it each night regardless of whether there were funds remaining in the account. No carry over. You could spend or invest the funds as you liked. The same happens each day. You get 86,400 seconds to use each day. How much of that time is wasted? How much is effectively invested in activities that bring you closer to achieving your goals? Every day you and your employees waste time looking for documents, resources and information. Time is wasted with re-work, extra trips and unproductive meetings. A McKinsey study reported that 1.8 hours on average is spent each day looking for information. Let’s cut that down! Quit Wasting Time Tips Document your processes – make them easy, fast and effective. if they’re not documented, they don’t exist. Onboard and effectively develop employees – Firms often…
Why Celebrating Wins Makes You A Better Leader Sure, you’ve heard it at every goal-setting and leadership session you’ve attended… “Celebrate WINS”. But do you know why it makes you a better leader? If you pay lip service to your team’s successes without recognition, what does that say about you as a leader? How do you think employees feel about a leader who doesn’t appreciate their efforts? Those perceptions may also reflect on the company’s ability to attract and retain the talent it needs. 7 Reasons Why Leaders Should Celebrate Wins It reminds you why the goal was important in the first place. When people apply themselves to the task at hand, they may forget why it was important at all. Taking time to celebrate the win reinforces the WHY behind the activities. It reminds you that a good goal-setting process works. Success inspires individuals to repeat actions that led…
The Beginning. The End. The In-Between. Get a pen and paper. Ready? As quickly as you can, without thinking, jot down everything that ENDED in 2018. What was over? What did you give up on? What did you just plain STOP doing? What habits did you break? Make another list. This time jot down everything you STARTED in 2018. What began? What new habits did you adopt? What decisions did you make? What relationships started Which list makes you happiest? Why? We are HUMAN BEINGS. We are forever in the process of becoming the being we were meant to be. We are getting closer and closer to fulfilling our life’s purpose. As one year comes to an end, reflect on the achievements, however big or small they may seem. Dedicate some time to creating a list of 10 or more positive, affirmative statements that you are becoming in 2019. We…
I hear a lot of family analogies used in business. This time, I’m challenging you to incorporate a business productivity practice into your family: the weekly review. Think Productive’s Ninja habits include developing habits around the “second brain”. The Weekly Review with checklists is one of the tools in exercising this habit. One of the challenges that comes with combining business with family is to ensure that both elements get focus. Incorporating a family weekly review into your practice helps facilitate communication, prepare for the week ahead and reflect on the week that was: what to celebrate (yay), what to correct (oops) and what to reign in (whoa)! Suggested Weekly Review Process 1. Gather loose ends – Collect important mail, statements, permission slips from school, newsletters from activity groups, etc. and dump them into some kind of inbox. It’s a good idea to set up a basket or tray where…
When our children were small and coming up with excuse after excuse for why they didn’t have time to clean their rooms, the 10 minute tidy strategy helped us move through procrastination, resistance and get results. Thinking about all the tasks that need to go into accomplishing a significant goal can be daunting. Just like helping our children engage in the room cleaning project, strategies that help me “just start” on a new project help me get results sooner. What we discovered was that the 10 minute commitment often stretched into more time invested in tidying the room. The kitchen timer was always set for 10 minutes with a choice to continue or not past the buzzer. What’s the 10 Minute Tidy Strategy? Rather than asking for a commitment to complete the entire project, we just ask for a 10 minute commitment to START the project. Because the commitment is small…
I’m often asked, “Laura, how did you manage to build a professional career, raise 4 successful children, volunteer in your community and contribute to a successful family business?” I think they are looking for that silver bullet that they can copy! The silver bullet is grit, perseverance, and focusing on what matters. Accept that there are many different ways to achieve the personal, family and career goals. In a family, talking about your family’s purpose helps all family members align personal, family, career and business activities. We wear many hats and perform many roles in our lives. What I find useful is to focus on the few roles I am performing in the moment rather than trying to keep all the hats on at once – or feeling guilty if I am not performing one or more roles all the time.Focus on what matters to you, your family, your career, your…
I failed my first accounting midterm yet went on to make the Dean’s list and achieved academic awards, graduating as top graduate from one of Canada’s premiere MBA programs. How did I achieve those results? By believing that I could effect my dismal result through hard work: effort. My experiences impacted my beliefs My beliefs impacted my actions My actions contributed to my results My early school experiences led me to believe that I was “gifted” and had natural academic talent that didn’t require me to put much effort into my studies. Because I held these beliefs, I didn’t study effectively and failed the exam. I’m sure I wallowed in self pity for a few days, blaming the instructor for writing a bad test and likely second guessed whether I had what it took to complete the program. If I had a fixed mindset, this experience would very likely have…
If you’re looking at an overwhelming “to do” list and trying to pack everything into your life, you’re not alone. Many entrepreneurs resist saying no to requests from customers, suppliers, family, friends or staff. Not wanting to disappoint anyone, the business owner sacrifices physical and mental health in the reckless pursuit of “yes”. You want to say, “no”, but you don’t want to be an asshole about it. It is okay to say “no”. In fact, it is essential that you say no to many good ideas so you can say “yes” to great ones. Saying “no” frees up time and space to not only say “yes”, but also to take action and reap results from the essential few things in life that really matter. Whether you’re reading these tips from a business, professional or personal perspective, they work across the board. In a family business, I find saying “no”…
Here’s a little exercise for you to do. Think about the KEY business objective for the next 100 days that will have the most IMPACT on achieving your vision. Now, reverse engineer the optional paths to get there. Can you break this 100 days into 10 – 10 day smaller projects? Select the optimal path – the one that gets you there quickest with the maximum return on effort or resources spent. Eliminate all steps in your existing routines that do not add value – can you use some LEAN principles to improve your results? Strip away the excess “noise” in your routines. Improve your processes by making them more efficient yet still effective. You’ll gain time that you can re-direct into profitable activities or those that bring you satisfaction. At ProVision Coaching Network, our coaches help you audit your processes to make them LEANer and we’ll help you manage…
Peter Drucker reminds us: Management is about doing things right; leadership is about doing the right things. Mistake #1 – Doing the wrong things Time flies by – no one seems to argue this cliche whether you’re looking at changes in your personal life, your family or your business. Only you can decide what the right things are to realize your vision and achieve what is important to you, your family and your business. Are you choosing to use your time on activities that are impactful and contribute to achieving results? Leadership in your business, community or family calls you to do the right things. Mistake #2 – Multi-tasking Focus! Your calendar can be your best friend to ensure you set aside time to complete everything you need to get done. Schedule the important tasks into your calendar, making them part of a regular routine. You’ll soon discover fewer urgent…
On our farm, getting the equipment ready for spring seeding or the fall harvest is an important seasonal routine. If we have an equipment breakdown, we increase risk to the business. If we don’t get the crop planted by a certain date, we increase the chance that we won’t get it harvested before frost or other inclement weather arrives in the fall. In a crop production business, no crop = no revenue. For us, routines are an important element to save time, to increase safety, to reduce stress or to minimize input costs. For others, routines are an essential element of their creative process. What routines are in place in your business? It might not sound like stimulating conversation to discuss the routines in your business, but when you link routines to increased profits, time savings or reduced stress, now that is worth talking about! “Focus on being productive instead…