Earlier this week I wrote a post titled So. You Want to Be a Millionaire. Get the Right Coach. In my post I mentioned there was a multi-million dollar tip for you. In fact, there were over a dozen tips.

Millionaire Maker Contest:

If you can spot at least 8 millionaire maker tips in my post, you win!

Your prize:

One-hour free coaching with me. I’m an awesome coach. So, hop to it!

Special bonus prize:

If you can name all 12 millionaire maker tips in the post, we’ll coach for two hours. Free! And I’ll make it even easier. Your tips do not necessarily have to be the 12 I see. If you see a tip in the post that didn’t make my list, and you make a case for why it’s a million dollar tip, I’ll count it.

What are you waiting for? Taking action is always a good thing. (That’s a little hint.)

Read this post:

So. You Want to Be a Millionaire. Get the Right Coach.

Come back and leave your list of millionaire maker tips in the comments. (To leave a comment simply click on “comments” next to my author byline under the post headline.)

Ready? Go!

Millionaire Maker Tips Contest Rules:

If you list a tip someone has already mentioned in an earlier comment, briefly describe why you think the tip qualifies. (In other words, you can copy, but you’ve got to back it up.) There’s no limit on the number of winners. Entries must be submitted by July 31, 2011 to qualify.

See? The early bird really does catch the worm. Er, coach.

Related posts:

1. 30 Tax Tips in 33 Minutes
2. So. You Want to Be a Millionaire. Get the Right Coach.

For those of you who listen to NPR (National Public Radio) the name Eleanor Beardsley will be a familiar one. You know it’s her on the radio almost immediately. She has a distinctive ‘style’ of delivery.

For those of you who haven’t heard her radio reports, she speaks in a deep, growly, drawn-out-word voice… like, “This is Elllllleanorrrrrrrr Beeeeardsleeeeeey, reeeporrrrrting frommmm [fill in the blank].”

Unfortunately, her style sounds exactly like an affectation — or a somewhat misguided interpretation of how a radio journalist should sound.

I’ve also noticed over the past few years there are a lot of young women reporters arriving on the scene who sound exactly like Eleanor. It’s a veritable cadre of young women journalists who seem to have attended the Eleanor Beardsley School of Radio Broadcast. (Okay, I made that up… but you get the idea.)

Now here’s the really interesting thing.

A couple of months ago I was listening to Eleanor give a broadcast from Tunisia – right smack in the middle of riots, fire bombs and mass demonstrations. Security forces were fighting protestors. It was a mad house. Throughout her report, Eleanor kept her professionalism in spite of her obvious high anxiety. I felt like I was right there with her.

But I didn’t know it was her, until she signed off with her name.

She sounded like a completely different person.

The affectation in her voice was gone. She simply sounded like I would imagine she normally talks. To her friends. To her colleagues. In the height of anxiety and chaos, she forgot how she was ‘supposed to sound’. She accidentally found her true voice.

It inspired me to learn more about her.

I hopped online to see what she looked like. I was totally surprised. She didn’t look at all like I expected her to look. She was young… and attractive. Until then I had imagined a hardened veteran of decades of reporting. Someone who looked lived in. Someone who had seen it all and had become unfeeling and removed from what she reported on.

She found her voice during this broadcast because she was truly living in the moment. She was telling a story she was experiencing first hand.

And that is the key to finding your voice.

Eleanor has, sadly, returned to her original broadcast voice.

***But she had that one moment of brilliance***

And I’ll never forget it.

Your turn. Who do you know (person or company) who has totally missed the boat in how they approach their audience? Can you think of companies or individuals who understand the idea of coming across as real people?

For some reason the Pistachio ads come to mind… Get crackin’:)

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I’m going to be camping in Canyonlands NP this week. I’ll be reading your comments if I can catch some cell service:) — keep ‘em coming! And I’ll be publishing the posts I wrote last week… when I find high ground. Talk to you when I get back.

No related posts.

I’ve spent the past twenty years studying, practicing, teaching and writing about how to think differently.

The first observation I can make is that intellectually we all GET the idea of thinking creatively. We KNOW we should look at ideas from a new perspective.

The second observation I’ll make is that very few practice it.

And my third observation is that if we don’t take personal responsibility for looking at things in a different way, someone else will. And they will reap the rewards.

Where do you begin?

Sometimes you just need a thump on the head.

How do you take an idea and start running at it from a million different directions? They key is to start with a single thought and start throwing some wildly creative thinking at it.

I don’t spend my days thinking creatively on a global basis. In other words, I don’t approach everything thinking, “How I can look at this differently?” Some people do… take my little brother for example. He’s known as the “what if” kid.

But I LOVE to take a single idea and explore it. From every angle I can come up with. It’s not as hard as you might think. The following posts are full of ideas on how to look at things in new ways. On how to take ordinary thinking and turn it into extraordinary thinking.

Here are my Top 7 Posts to get you on your creative thinking way.

How to Ask Amazing Questions

Want to look at something in a completely fresh way? This post will help you break out of habitual thinking. If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you be doing right now?

A Shift in Thinking

How do we change direction so that we don’t end up where we are heading? A shift in thinking would be, “I’m going to take a different route today.”

It’s Time to Start Talking to Some New People

Think about the people you know who are really busy and involved with life. Who continue to learn and explore new things. Maybe you should ask them out to lunch.

Believe Impossible Things

This is about looking at things as they are and seeing them as they might be with a nudge here and a twist there. It’s really about creating new worlds out of the one in front of your eyes.

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How? is an excellent place to start.

The Art of Creativity in Business

Change your question. Challenge current conventions. Reverse your viewpoint. Ask yourself what is missing from the picture. What happens when you turn an idea upside down?

8 Ways to Avoid Business Burnout or How to Get Unstuck

Some simple things you can do today to get unstuck. Such as, Clean desk, clean mind. That piece of paper you’ve handled three times? Toss it. File it. Delegate it. This applies to email too.

Neverware: A Great Story of a Young Entrepreneur

Take a look at this remarkable story of a ‘kid’ with an innovative idea, tremendous perseverance and no quit in him despite hearing “No” from almost every corner.

There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ And we’ve always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will. —Steve Jobs

Why sit on a great idea? Are you ready to invest in yourself, trust your crazy idea and turn it into an extraordinary one? To explore your most innovative thinking?

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My friend Sheila Atwood over at Newbie Lifeline is holding a Headline Blog Challenge. This post is my contribution to her challenge.

If you haven’t been over to Newbie Lifeline, The Beginners Guide To Making Money Online, please take a minute and hop on over there. Sheila has been sharing hot tips and money making ideas like there’s NO tomorrow! She’s one of the most generous bloggers I know.

There’s still time to join the headline challenge. You have until midnight April 30th, MST to write your post. Visit her site for the contest guidelines.

Oh, and one last note. These 7 extra headlines? Just icing on the cake.

Your turn.

How do you shake off old paradigms and see something with new eyes?

Related posts:

1. Got a Great Business Idea? Why Are You Sitting On It?

I thought a little cliché might brighten your day! Did it work?

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There’s nothing more appealing to your customers as when you answer your phone with a smile on your face (and by extension your voice).

This may seem obvious, but… have you tried it? Do you you answer your phone with a smile? Back when I was a headhunter in training this was drilled into me until it came naturally. We also practiced standing up when we talked on the phone. You might be surprised at how much of this stuff comes across a phone line. Or at your front door.

It also does wonders for your own attitude. And your attitude can positively influence sales and customer relations.

When was the last time you said ‘Buenos días’ to a complete stranger? In some cultures this goes without saying. Or rather, it goes with saying… morning, noon and night. Buenos días, Buenas tardes, Buenas noches. Nice isn’t it?

I recently had a coaching client hire me after finding me on the internet.

When I asked her how she arrived at my blog she couldn’t recall. “Darn!” I thought. It would be so good to know this. I could do more of it. Was it facebook? Twitter? Did she search for coaching?

So I asked her the next obvious question. “Why did you decide to call me rather than the other coaches you found online?”

Her answer? “You look so happy.”

A smile goes a long way.

The way you are being influences others. Who would you rather work with? Someone who loves what they do or someone who begrudges every minute spent on the job?

Do you remember the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”? Have you ever wondered why a song like that gets stuck in your head?

Related posts:

1. “What happened to 44%? We lost money!”
2. You Had Me at Hello

“It’s the questions we can’t answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he’ll look for his own answers.”

– Patrick Rothfuss

One of my favorite coaches taught me to approach a new project by considering first how much I knew about it. It was a great exercise.

You start by drawing a circle that represents the face of a clock.

The time from high noon to around 2 o’clock represents what you already know about the project.

So far so good.

The time between 2 o’clock and around 5 o’clock represents what you know you don’t know.

This is where you educate, act and perfect.

But, here’s the most interesting thing to think about.

The time between 5 o’clock and 12 o’clock – more than one half of the clock face — is the stuff you don’t even know you don’t know.

The funny thing is, I don’t remember exactly what point he was trying make. Other than to let me know it was okay that I didn’t know everything.

But it got me thinking.

How do you figure out what you don’t know?

And how do you know what questions to ask? There is no right answer in my humble opinion. Do you remember how many questions you asked as a kid? How creative you were?

That’s a good place to start.

Shift Your Thinking

Maybe you shouldn’t be thinking at all. You already know what you know. The question is, what don’t you know? If you showed your project to your kid, what do think his or her top 5 questions would be? Can you even explain your project to a kid? Try it.

The Billionaire

If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you be doing right now? Let’s say the project you are working on is so wildly successful you’ve just become a billionaire. Now what questions are you asking?

Hold on. Questions about your project, not whether or not your yacht should have a helicopter pad. On second thought, that might be a great question. Why do you need a helicopter?

How Would Somebody Else Do It?

Oprah, Mahatma Gandhi, Alfred Hitchcock, Walt Disney, Jack Nicholson, Darth Vader and Jon Stewart would all throw a different party. Who do you think would come? What food would they serve? What party games would they play?

How would your project look with any of these people in the lead? One thing is for sure, they would all bring a different perspective.

Be an Impostor

Do some role playing. In your chosen role what would you have to know in order to not be exposed as a fraud? What trick questions are people going to ask you? How do you look? How are you behaving? Be your own devil’s advocate. What better way to get external evidence of your competence?

Loosen Up

Elbert Hubbard said it best, “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”

My little brother was the “What if” kid. He had the most wacky questions. He made us laugh all the time. And he never stopped asking questions.

Sometime it’s a good thing to go back to that way of thinking.

We’ll never know it all. No one does. Some questions simply have no answers. But they will teach us how to think.

How do you look at what you’re doing in a fresh way?

What do you do to break out of habitual thinking?

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Related post: 23 Extraordinary Questions to Ask Your Mentor

Related posts:

1. Customer Surveys: Don’t Ask Your Customer These Questions!
2. 23 Extraordinary Questions to Ask Your Mentor

Today’s awesome guest post is written by Daniel M. Wood of Looking to Business where he blogs about Motivation and the Principles of Success.

We had an amazing Skype call yesterday for about an hour. It wasn’t really related to this guest post, we just decided to talk one step removed from online.

And let me tell you this.

Daniel is smart. Really smart. I love his blog — I hope you pay him a visit. You are guaranteed to be inspired.

Enjoy!

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Today’s globalized high competition society requires us to do more and more. It requires us to produce better and better results.

What makes this difficult is that we aren’t only expected to produce more, but everything we produce has to be of a even higher quality.

If you are to be able to produce more you can either work for a longer time or you can start learning time management and improve your efficiency.
Either way works, but there is a limit to how much time you can spend working, after all you only have 24 hours/day.

How I doubled my efficiency

A few years back I was given the honor to start a new office for my company.

I went from a regular manager role to being in charge of advertising, recruiting, sales and all the fun administrational duties that come with it.

I know what you are thinking, delegate!

The problem was that there was no one to delegate to, I was alone at the office.

All the work was up to me.

Sure, as we built I would be able to start delegating, but when I started I had to do everything myself.

I started working my regular 8-17 and realized I just couldn’t keep up.

I had to work later and later, before long I worked from 7.30-22.00 every single day (On weekends it was enough with 9-17).

This was of course not sustainable and I knew I had to do something.

I talked to my bosses and all they could do was offer some advice on how to work faster, I talked to my friends who told me to quit.

Luckily I got advice from one of my customers to start reading about time management.
I read books from Stephen Covey, Brian Tracy and David Allen. Before I knew it I was caught up. I started producing better and better results. I could start coming home earlier and earlier at first 9 pm then 8 pm, 7 and finally at 5 pm like my colleagues.

The techniques below are the ones that saved me. You might be using some right now, but if you aren’t using all of them, try them out and you will start seeing a difference in how much you can produce.

Plan Your Weeks

Start by listing everything that I know will need to be done during the week (this can be saved, as the basic week looks pretty much the same), then I plan it out.

What do I do Monday, what Tuesday and so on.

I have a basic plan for what I do each day and can from there organize it to make me as efficient as possible.

The ABC Method – Organizing Your Days

Prioritization is the bread and butter of time management. Choosing your most important task and sticking with it until it is completely finished will save you lots and lots of time.

There are 5 types of tasks (in order of priority).

A – Tasks with severe long-term consequences.
These are tasks that, if done, will have a great effect on your long term success.

B – Tasks with moderate long term consequences

C – Minor long term consequences

D – Tasks that could be delegated to others (a typical quadrant to action is to delegate all of these tasks to others as soon as you can).

E – Tasks that should be eliminated.

They might even have a negative effect on your future if completed.

Prioritize at the beginning of the day

Every morning go through the tasks you have planned for the day and assign them a letter.

If you have multiple of a letter call them A-1, A-2, B-1, B-2 and so on.

Start with your most important task and work down the list

Conclusion

If you use these 2 simple techniques your days will be a lot more productive and will be able to produce more and more every day. You will produce better results which will help you move forward quickly in your career.

I hope you liked this article and found it useful.

If you would like to read more from Daniel M. Wood you can find more at his blog Looking to Business.com. He writes mainly about Motivation and the Principals of Success.

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2. Are You Running the Whole Show?

I used to write blog posts that had ridiculously long preambles leading up to what I really wanted to say. Then I learned to go back and delete oh, usually the first 9 or 10 sentences. Now I try to just cut to the chase.

That means I usually pick a sentence in the middle of the second or third paragraph – the one that actually has something to do with my point – and I start with it. Nine times out of ten it’s the best point in the entire article.

That’s your attention grabber.

I found it hard to delete all that copy at first — erasing the brilliant prose I just spent time writing did not come easily. Then it started to feel a little bit liberating.

That fluff at the front end of your presentation, speech or article is the surest way to lose your audience. You can talk yourself right out of a sale by starting with the entire background story. It was dark and stormy night should be saved for bedtime stories.

A big smile, a confident handshake and a succinct description will win the day every time. Less IS more.

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Have you ever met someone who loved the sound of their own voice so much they talked themselves out of a sale? Or bored you to tears? What techniques do you use to keep it interesting — and short?

Related posts:

1. Poor Negotiation Skills and Saying Way Too Much in an Email
2. Start At The Top

In a former life I had a headhunting business (aka corporate recruiting). During those years I learned some great marketing strategies. I also learned a lot about human nature. Things like, How to ferret out what someone doesn’t want you to know. (A little tip I picked up from Mom and refined by interviewing thousands of employers and job candidates.)

One of the best marketing strategies I learned was to start at the top. Of any organization. Big or small. You want to deal with the CEO, Founder or President.

Here’s why.

Chances are they will refer you down the chain. That’s a good thing. Then you get to say, “So and so (CEO, President, etc.) suggested I talk to you.” This gets the attention of middle management every time. It’s exactly the same as having a very warm lead.

It’s been my experience (and I’ve done this literally hundreds of times–no kidding) the people at the top are more accessible than you would ever imagine. They are not protecting their position with the company like a middle management guy would. They got to the top by being professional. They understand networking.

There’s a common belief that the ‘guy’ at the top got there by being ruthless and well, a regular S.O.B..

Not so. If you own a company you KNOW this isn’t true. You got there by hard work and by being accessible to people. You completely understand the importance of being a team player. Frankly, there really aren’t that many jerks who rise to the top.

Sure, there’s usually a ‘gate guard’. That would be the admin’s or lower level executives. Hard to get through? Not necessarily. Try using a perfectly honest approach.

When I was marketing to companies as a headhunter I was looking for clients. I was actually selling my services. Even so, business owners and top execs were still very willing to speak with me. Sometimes I was just looking for advice. Or an answer to a simple question like, “Do you guys hire your top level executives through corporate recruiters?”

See what I mean? Perfectly straight forward. No subterfuge. (That’s when you get yourself in trouble.)

On the occasions I simply could not get past the office door (figuratively speaking), I explained why I was calling and asked who the appropriate contact person would be. That’s okay too. You still have a warm introduction. When you call that individual you’ll say, “The CEO’s admin assistant (insert name) suggested I call you directly.” Works like a charm.

The only time this doesn’t work is when being told ‘No’ hurts your tender sensibilities. But then, you wouldn’t be in business for yourself if that were the case, would you? ‘No’ won’t kill you.

You’ll also make some awesome connections.

Why start at the bottom?

Do you have a product or service you’d like to get in front of some influential people? Try this. Do you want to run an idea by someone who might have some great answers? Start at the top.

Can you think of something right now where this strategy might help? What is it? Are you willing to give it a shot? When? There’s no time like the present.

Related posts:

1. How to Give a Great Sales Pitch!
2. Start With Why

Yesterday I received a text message from a tenant who was so over the top with anger I was simply floored. My first reaction was one of seriously hurt feelings. I wondered, “What on earth did I ever do to her to cause such a hateful reaction?”

In truth … I did nothing. But wow, was I ever the recipient of my tenant’s bad day.

A reply to her text message was expected. I had to think long and hard about this one. I knew any knee jerk reaction I had would be the wrong move. I was angry. I was hurt. I was shocked. My first reaction was to lash out with a snarky reply. Or an angry one. Or a defensive one.

Instead, I typed, “I apologize.”

I’ll admit it felt like I was typing with broken fingers … it was so hard to type ‘I apologize’ when I felt I had done nothing wrong. But, something I heard once guided my response. And that was,

If your reply has a ‘you’ in it, it had better be, “You’re right.”

“You misunderstood me” makes it their fault.

“I’m sorry I made you angry” makes it about their reaction — something they might not want to be reminded of.

So, I typed “I apologize.” When I received a response from my tenant she sounded like a completely different person. She was nice. She was thoughtful. She even wished me a ‘wonderful and blessed weekend’. I’ll probably never know what was going on with her. But do I need to? Not really.

The customer is always right. Oh, really, you ask? Yes, really.

Except when you don’t want them as a customer. Or, if you’re apathetic about your reputation.

Let’s hear from you. I expect some of you might disagree with me. That’s cool. Let me hear it. And if you’ve had a similar experience I’d be curious to know how it was resolved, or if it was resolved. Sometimes you never can win.

No related posts.

Here’s what I mean by “challenge your underlying assumptions”.

If you think your product is going to sell simply because you want it to, chances are wishful thinking isn’t enough. If you believe a niche location will be the next new hot real estate market because you took a gamble and invested there, recall the top three words in real estate investing; location, location, location.

You can’t always impose your very good intentions on a market and make it want what you have. Don’t get me wrong; you can still help a market know what it wants, ask Apple, but I promise Apple wasn’t simply throwing darts and hoping for a bulls eye.

If you have a suspicion you haven’t properly done your homework, you probably haven’t. If you think you don’t have all the facts, you probably don’t. Be open to hearing what you don’t want to hear and be willing to course correct.

Does your product or service fulfill its performance promises? Do the numbers support its profitability? Do you know and understand your target market and/or consumer? Do you have the right team working with you?

Still not sure what I mean? Google Edsel.

How about it? Are you ready to investigate, take the extra steps, and honestly answer the difficult questions… and change accordingly?

If so, chances are you can smile all the way to the bank, just like the brilliant entrepreneurs at Apple.

No related posts.

If you read my post, Some Tips on Setting Your Own Schedule, you’ll recall that when possible I don’t schedule appointments on Monday.

Here’s why.

Mondays are the days when I work on my business. Without distraction. Holding meetings can be a tremendous time destroyer. Especially those regular weekly meetings where you fall into such a routine that very little gets accomplished.

Like cheerleader sales meetings, for example. Or management meetings. I would rather see my team develop product, or strategize in smaller groups on how to monetize the business. While I do the same thing.

I’d rather kick butt on Mondays. When I spend all day Monday doing things that will increase the bottom line, like revenue generating activities, it sets the tone for the rest of the week.

I don’t spend my time driving to meetings or in long phone calls that rehash something that’s already happened.

I don’t spend my time slogging through the weekend email.

Mondays are for kicking ass on those activities that look to the future.

For some tips on what you can do to make your Monday rock, read my post The Difference Between Reactive and Proactive Activities.

What are you doing today to work on your business? Take a minute and leave a comment. Not sure what to do? Ask a question. This community is full of entrepreneurs with great ideas!

Related posts:

1. 8 Ways to Avoid Business Burnout or How to Get Unstuck
2. Some Tips on Setting Your Own Schedule

I have a friend who answers my email within minutes of my hitting the send button. There’s an image in my mind that she is sitting right on top of her computer, or checking her phone every 2 minutes. So now, when I send her email, if I don’t hear back immediately, I’m almost irritated. I find myself thinking, “Where is she? Why isn’t she responding right away?”

Do you do the same thing?

And, how about you? Are you available the minute someone wants you?

When it finally occurred to me that I expected my friend to be available immediately I realized I didn’t want people thinking the same thing about me.

This taught me a valuable lesson: Set other people’s expectations early and reinforce often.

These tips will help you stick to your own schedule. They’ll help you be more proactive (and less reactive) during the day.

I answer email within 24 hours… not the minute it arrives in my inbox (there are obvious exceptions such as emergencies). I use the ignore button on my mobile. Just because the caller knows they are calling my cell I never let them think it’s something I run to answer. Or worse, keep holstered to my hip.

When possible, I don’t schedule appointments on Mondays. I schedule coaching and mastermind calls all on the same day. I block time on my schedule for returning and making phone calls. I do the same thing for social media and email.

Over time people “get” my schedule… so it’s all cool. I have no problem telling people, “This is how I work.” They don’t get uptight and sideways with it. They know I’ll reply but they don’t expect it immediately.

And I don’t get sidetracked.

Of course, there are still days when I fall into my old habit of reacting immediately to everything that comes my way. Heck, some days I feel like being interrupted. There are days when I’d really rather be doing something else. These are the times when I should stick to what I’m doing. That’s how things get done.

How about you? Do you have ways in which you manage interruptions and distractions?

Comments are open!

Oh, and stay in touch with all of my New Year’s posts by subscribing by email!

Related posts:

1. Tips On Setting Up a New Email Account for Your “Junk” Email
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I follow a lot of bloggers. One of my favorites is Extreme John. I want to take a minute today and introduce him to you.

John is an entrepreneur extraordinaire. He is very prolific in his blogging. He’s sometimes really out there and always entertaining and informative. If you are an entrepreneur looking to grow your business both offline and online, you’ve gotta check him out.

Not only does he write killer posts, he shares business tips, entrepreneur ideas, blogs, social media marketing know how and fun stuff from around the web. He’s one of the most generous people I know.

I suggest you start with his recent post, 15 Best Business Articles Featured in 2010.

John, you rock! Thanks for your support and for the wonderful entertainment and ideas! Here’s to an awesome 2011.

Related posts:

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Imagine a new you. Someone who jumps out of bed in the morning embracing the challenges that lie ahead. Without fear. Without second-guessing. Visualizing no-holds-barred success. Sure it’s combat but you’re ready for it. You’ve tackled all those excuses that are holding you back. They’ve been banned to a locked attic in your brain, and even you don’t have the key. You can’t even peek at them.

This is how I approach every business venture I’m in. With a totally clear intention of where I plan to be and no fear of screwing it up. Oh, and a willingness to work really hard. With a great support system around me.

You are totally capable of doing this too.

Have you seen the mobile phone commercial where a Big Blue Monster is standing at the foot of a little girl’s bed? She looks at her phone, and then she looks up at the Monster and states, “It says you’re not real. Sorry.”

I love that commercial. She has absolutely no fear of the Monster. She believes he doesn’t exist and that she’s completely safe and protected. She’s in charge. She’s confident. How would you like to approach your life or your business that way?

A fearful or doubtful state of mind — those gremlin thoughts of failure — almost always guarantee that you won’t succeed. So maybe it’s time to have a sit down with yourself, and possibly a really great friend, or coach, and identify those things that might be holding you back.

1. You believe that if you fail, you are a failure. Have you ever seen a little kid learn to ride a bike? She doesn’t have a fear of what could go wrong. When she falls she doesn’t equate it to a failure on her part, she just knows she hasn’t succeeded yet.
2. You think you don’t have the talents to go for it. Well, how will you ever know? If you start doing something you are totally passionate about, you will find talents you didn’t even know you have.
3. You think you can’t change your old paradigms. Your old pre-conceived assumptions and expectations about success are based on your past performance or successes. Remember that. They are not about who you are… today.
4. You are chasing bright shiny objects. It might be time to stop following the crowd and go back to what you do really well. Listen to your heart.
5. You don’t manage your time well. Are you taking on too much at once and becoming confused about your priorities? It’s OK to say, “No, I don’t have time for that right now”.
6. You’re a lone ranger. If you told yourself that you had no really good friends or coaches to review this list with, then you’re a lone ranger. Not a good recipe for success. Who holds you accountable?
7. You don’t have a vision. Cut out the daily busyness if it doesn’t support a large dream. What is your vision? What smaller goals support that vision? Set your sights on a single plan and go for it.
8. Your family and friends are enabling you in your inaction or your confidence levels. Sometimes friends and family are the worst consultants. They often feel as though they know you better than you know yourself. It’s too easy to buy into their stories about why something won’t be a success. Surround yourself with people who see you in a successful role.
9. You are hanging around the wrong people. If you are, you know it. Only you can change your reality. Who would you rather associate with? Do it.
10. You want something yesterday. Patience friend.
11. You don’t have a business plan. It’s time to sit down and write out a plan that includes marketing, revenue modeling, team, strategies for growth, exit strategies, etc. If you were to go to a lender, mentor or prospective partner today, do you have anything in writing, or is it all in your head?

Are you ready to invest some time in yourself and take a hard look at what’s holding you back? With complete honesty and a critical eye? It’s time to say “no” to those things that are not moving you forward.

A huge part of your success is your decision to play a bigger game. What one step will you take today to banish those things that are holding you back? Please leave me a comment below!

Oh! If you haven’t done so already subscribe by email. You don’t want to miss my posts on how you can make sure your New Year is your best year ever!

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Last week I spent several entire days reacting to everything and being proactive about nothing. Don’t you just hate days like that? I replied to emails. I answered phone calls. I had requests that had to be dealt with immediately. Mistakes needed correcting. People asked me questions all day long.

Not one thing got done that furthered me along the path of reaching my goals or working on my strategic planning for my businesses.

Let me tell you why I hate days like this.

If everything you do during the course of conducting business is reactive… your business owns you.

If you are spending more than 90% of your time reacting to the world… you are not in control.

Over the next 48 hours pay attention to what you do during the day. If you need to, put a little sign on your desk that says “Proactive? –or– Reactive?”.

Make a note of what you’re spending your time on. Over the next several weeks we’ll talk about how you can plan for 2011. About how you can be sure you’re going to be in charge. I’ll give you tips and inspiration to get the New Year started off on the right foot and a plan to sustain it. Be sure to subscribe by email so you don’t miss these posts.

But first, you need to see where you are right now, not where you want to be.

Click this link to read: The Difference Between Reactive and Proactive Activities. This is a list that will help you plan for the New Year.

Are you willing? Let’s play! You know I love your comments.

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2. Perseverance: Getting Off the Ground

This is a special guest post by my good friend Janet Fish. Janet is one of the smartest entrepreneurs I know.

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I know we’re still in a deep recession; I don’t care what the analysts say, the recession DID NOT end June 2009! At least not for hard working folks who are struggling to make ends meet. Unemployment remains at an all time high and I am not convinced that jobs are coming back anytime soon – maybe never!

What I am totally convinced of is that it is the entrepreneur who will see us out of this recession and back to economic growth. So you say you want to be an entrepreneur. Congratulations, saying it is half the battle. How do you get from here to there?

I’ve been a master coach for LiveOutLoud, a company focused on the entrepreneur, for over 5 years and this is what I’ve learned from coaching hundreds of clients.

Being an entrepreneur is simple, but it’s not easy.

It starts with a great idea for a business. Okay, even a good idea will do. How do you find that great idea? What do you like to do, what are your hobbies, what are you passionate about? What are you good at, what is your skill set? Once you’ve brainstormed some ideas, share them with people you know and respect.

Define the business. What I mean by that is simply choose. I’ve coached too many people who have a wealth of ideas, and never execute on any of them. Why? They can’t choose. Please know that your idea for a business, although well thought out, need not be perfect. Too many folks stay in analysis paralysis and never get their business off the ground. My favorite saying – Just Do It!

Once you have chosen, FOCUS!!! I can’t emphasize this enough. I have a good friend who I’ve know for years, and for years he was into this business and that, never settling down on one long enough to be successful at any of them. I call this the shiny objects syndrome. We flit from one shiny object to another. Recently he has focused on just one business and wow has it taken off. He’s so busy he can barely keep up with the demand. He finally found FOCUS.

Okay, we’ve got the idea for the business, and we’re focused, what’s next? I’m going to assume that one of the important next steps is an internet presence. Almost every business needs one and for some it’s the main component of the business, it is by definition an “Internet Business”. You need a website. Here is where I have also seen many coaching clients get stuck. I have two thoughts here. The first is, you don’t have to wait until you have a website up and running to sell something. Don’t let the lack of a website keep you from selling. I am sure there are people you can sell your products to right outside your door, so get out of the house.

Secondly, websites don’t have to take months in the making. Utilizing programs such as WordPress and WordPress themes, you can have a website up and running in no time. I’ll give you an example. I have a website where I sell dog bandanas. It’s an online store with more than 75 products. It took me 10 days from start to finish to get the store online and functioning. I’m not a programmer, I was somewhat familiar with WordPress, but by no means was I an expert. Take a look at my Dog Bandana Store by following this link. 10 days after I came up with the idea of selling dog bandanas I had the store up and running. I’ve made some improvements since then, but 90% of what you see today was done in 10 days. If I can do it, what are you waiting for?

Lastly, you don’t have to do it alone. At the very least, find an accountability partner. Someone you talk to frequently (I suggest scheduled weekly calls) that will hold you accountable for the things you say you want, the things you commit to do. Write them down, share them. That will help ensure they get done. Join or create a mastermind group.

Find or hire a mentor. Join a group of like minded entrepreneurs. Become part of a group that will help you keep on task and focused. I’ll bet you’ll find you have much to offer others in the process.

I never thought I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and now I’m sure I’m unemployable so I have no choice. All kidding aside, embrace your inner entrepreneur. Follow these simple steps and check back in here to report your progress!

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Note: If you have specific questions for Janet, you can post them in the comment section below. I know she’d love the hear from you!

Subscribe by email to bigfishtopdogs… you’ll be the first to receive new posts hot off the press!

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Hey there friend. Let’s say I just stopped by your office or home right now and said, “So, what’s up?”… what would your answer be?

Maybe I should have knocked first, lol! What are you up to? What are you doing?

I’d love to know more about you. So, today’s comments are open. You can ask questions, you can brag, you can even engage in some shameless self promotion. Well… within limits that is. I mean, don’t spam us with links to ten websites or try to sell us the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, and no sniveling or whining allowed.

This is your opportunity to do some brainstorming, some marketing, and some connecting. And if you hesitate… what wonderful opportunities have you lost by not taking action? Is this your declaration that, yes, you are definitely a lone ranger? Or are you ready embrace working with a team?

What are you working on right now? Is this what you want to be doing? Would you like some support? Do you have a little challenge you just can’t get your head around?

Are you doing something so great you’re dying to tell the world about it?

Take. This. Opportunity.

Ready… set… go! You can leave as many comments as you like. Come back and support someone else. If you’ve never been in a mastermind group before, see what it’s like by participating. You will be amazed!

Oh! If you haven’t done so already, grab my RSS feed or subscribe by email to bigfishtopdogs over on the right sidebar of this blog… you’ll be the first to receive new posts hot off the press!

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1. A Few Thoughts on Waiting for Opportunity to Knock

“It is extremely important that the enthusiasm not get ahead of the evidence.”

This is just the greatest statement. I heard it while listening to the radio yesterday morning. In this case, they were discussing Vitamin D, the health supplement de jour. A few years back it was Vitamin E.

People are popping high dosages of Vitamin D, sometimes on the strength of what they read on the Internet alone. My husband and I take it every morning.

So, are we chasing bright shiny objects? Following the crowd… consequences be damned?

Although I’m a huge advocate for taking action, you will never hear me say, “Jump before you have a look”.

We’ve got some really great friends, lots of them fact — like lemur hoards worth — who recently jumped on the stock option trading bandwagon.  Those that didn’t look closely and operated purely on blind faith, lost their money early in the game.  Often times money that was not earmarked for risk taking, in other words, “It’s a risk but it’s not going to kill me to lose this money, I’m investing to learn the game.” That’s OK. Gambling with your savings is not OK.

In high school I had a friend who used to say “Madagascar lemur, away!” whenever he got a chance.  I was never sure why he said this. I thought it was just fun to say. But now? I think maybe he knew what he was talking about.

We bought land in Mexico four years ago in a project that should have been developed in 12-18 months. We knew it was a gamble going in. It may still pay off in spades, but it isn’t going to happen tomorrow. Here’s the thing to think about though. We negotiated a huge discount before we agreed to buy and we used windfall money from previous real estate investments.  Money that was leveraged from doing other deals successfully. Money that was earmarked for risky real estate investing.

Do I have some other things I could invest that money in today for a better return? Absolutely. But it didn’t bankrupt us having it tied up indefinitely.

The lesson is, don’t get ahead of the evidence.

Have you ever been tempted to start flipping houses because you know someone who’s doing it really well?  Don’t get a head of the evidence in your enthusiasm to try the same thing. They may be doing all cash deals and have a large bankroll with little or no reliance on the broken credit market.  They may not be at the mercy of the system if they need to carry a deal a little longer than planned. Different exit strategies for different folks.

That’s the evidence. It’s important to learn and understand how a deal works before you leap blindly over a cliff. Or start experiencing really weird side effects from too much Vitamin D.

It might be time to stop following the crowd and go back to what you do really well. Listen to your heart.

So, what was the last shiny object you chased? We’ve all done it. Let’s see… our last one was probably that really great network marketing gig our friend told us about. Or those ten resale websites I put up 5 years ago. Those sites that were going to make me a fortune. Wow, did that suck up a lot of my time. Lesson learned.

I’d love it if you would share your experiences in the comments below!

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“Deep listening is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.” –Sue Patton Thoele

Last Friday my mom and I were having a conversation and she interrupted me five times. And then she complimented me on my listening skills.

The next thing she said really surprised me. She suggested I write a blog post about this. She actually dictated those first two sentences. Without her prompt, I would never have written that she interrupted me 5 times. It sounds disrespectful. I didn’t even realize she was interrupting me.

So, maybe years of practice have actually paid off. I wasn’t always a good listener. In the past, I spent more time thinking about what I was going to say next than I did listening to what the other person was saying. Do you do this too?

This summer I was at a barbecue with my husband and a bunch of our friends. We started telling fantastic dog stories. One story would remind someone of a story they knew and the conversation just fed itself. Then our friend David made a comment I still remember.

When it was his turn to tell his story he said, “Here’s another good story.” I remember it because he was doing what we all do. Jumping in with his own contribution but he also showed he was listening instead of racing to get his two cents in. What struck me was how he did it. By saying “Here’s another good story” he was validating all the stories already told. He was making it clear he had listened to everyone else. And that they were all good stories.

Would you like to be a better listener? During the upcoming holidays we will all have an incredible opportunity to practice our listening skills. We’ll be around people we know and love and we’ll most likely be meeting new people.

Listening is an active process. And it takes practice.

One of the best ways to improve your listening skills is to act like a good listener. Pretend to be a good listener until it becomes true. Until it’s something you can do with ease. This is one of the best tips I can give you.

One of my former business partners, Barb, was the best listener I’ve ever known. She made it look easy. When I practiced my listening skills I used to pretend I was her. She rarely talked about herself. Instead, she asked a lot of genuinely interested questions. She was a genius at it and our clients adored her.

Instead of giving your opinion or telling your own story, ask questions. If someone interrupts you well… that’s OK. Go ahead and listen to what they have to say. Let the conversation go where it will. You don’t have to go back to what you were going to say, ever. Go with the flow. You’ll never hear the other person if you do all the talking.

Practice these techniques over the coming weeks:

• Let the other person finish what they are saying.
• Be aware of the fact that you are listening.
• Ask questions that demonstrate a bona fide interest in the other person.
• Listen for enjoyment.
• Listen with an open mind.
• Make eye contact. Listen with your face and your body.

“To listen fully means to pay close attention to what is being said beneath the words. You listen not only to the ‘music,’ but to the essence of the person speaking. You listen not only for what someone knows, but for what he or she is…” — Peter Senge

Sometimes a gentle reminder to listen is all we need. You’ll have some really good opportunities to practice this over the weeks to come.

How about it? Are you willing to hone your listening skills through the rest of 2010? I always love reading your comments!

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OK. So you’ve already got a 9-5 job that takes up a lot of your time but you really want to start a part time business to supplement your current income. Ultimately you’d like to create a full time income and walk in and tell your boss, “I quit!” Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

Perhaps you are already working part time at something. If so, here’s a rousing round of applause – for you — please take a bow! But is it working out for you? Are you making any money yet?

Are you treating that part time business as a hobby or as a business?

This is the million dollar – or, perhaps, the $50,000 – question. And I have some answers for you.

Take my blog for example. I own three other companies that require my attention. My full time attention. Yet I started a blog in February. Why would I do that? And how am I doing that? How do I consistently manage to provide fresh content on a weekly basis, do all those things that require my time behind the scene – and continue to run three other businesses?

First of all, I consider myself to be a blogger and a writer. I’m proud to say this is what I do. I’m extremely dedicated to seeing my blog be a success. I know you count on me for fresh, inspirational content. I have you counting on me to provide value… consistently. Otherwise you’ll walk, right? Why would you stick around if I’m treating this like a hobby? If I only show up occasionally? It wouldn’t say a lot about what I think of you, would it?

It’s tough to have multiple businesses. Or a part time business plus a full time job. I’m not going to tell you otherwise. It takes a ton of dedication and perseverance. It takes a really positive attitude and a willingness to work hard. It takes team, coaches and mentors to succeed.

It takes time, patience and an ability to overcome frustration.

You can’t just work occasionally “when you feel like it”. You don’t get to play all weekend or have every evening off to watch TV. You do your 9-5 job and then you work on your business. You can’t pretend it will magically work if you are not committed and spending the necessary time. Set a schedule that works for you. I work an additional 10-12 hours per week spreading it out over the evenings and the weekends. You can get a lot done in 10 hours but the key is consistency.

You have to know that other people are counting on you. And you have to deliver. Consistently.

Start believing in the value you provide to your customers and to your team. Start delivering. Keep a positive attitude and trust that a little hard work now will pay off. Because it will.

Your business is not fast food. It’s not “let’s go get a cheeseburger”. It’s about taking the time to cook a full course meal – from scratch.

What’s your 10 year plan? What’s your life going to be like in 10 years? Are you still going to be eating french fries or will you be living the gourmet life?

Your turn! What’s your story? How do you stay committed to your goals? Please share in the comments below — you may really inspire someone! Even yourself!

Oh! If you haven’t done so already, grab my RSS feed or subscribe by email to bigfishtopdogs.com over on the right sidebar of this blog… you’ll be the first to receive new posts hot off the press!

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