Time and time again, I hear from emerging entrepreneurs who want to start their own businesses in health or fitness. And more often than I’d like, I also hear the comments, “I should…”

This was a recent discussion on one of my listservs, in fact: The person was saying she should offer this and offer that because that’s what the physicians would want.

Oh my. BIG mistake taking this route! Why? Because if you do what you THINK you should do, two things are likely to happen: First, you won’t see the success you envision, and second, it won’t be too long before you dread what you do. So, instead of living your dream with your own business, you’ve just traded a job that bored you to a business that drags you down.

What is the answer? Here are three keys to success that you can’t go wrong with.

#1 – Focus on your passion! Stop thinking about what you SHOULD be doing. What excites you? What motivates you to get up in the morning? What leaves you energized by the end of the day? For me, I LOVE empowering people and when they leave a coaching call energized and motivated and with ACTIONS for moving forward, I have achieved my life passion. When I hear from clients who are literally living their dreams, my work has been complete.

#2 – Focus on your vision. What do you want to ultimately create? One big area that gets new entrepreneurs bogged down is when they start to see opportunities at every turn. Then they want to do EVERYTHING! But, before you do anything else, get very clear what it is you want to create and then continue to ask yourself, ‘does this help me achieve that goal right now?’ If the answer is yes, great, go for it! If the answer is no, add it to your ‘opportunity list’ and leave it for later. As an example, one goal I just achieved was completing my MBA degree. At the same time I started school, I started to increase presentations. Something QUICKLY became apparent. Something had to go. So, I put aside growing my speaking career for after I completed school. NOW I am focused on my public speaking gigs.

#3 – Learn to say no! Oh yea, this is a biggie for most of my clients. In fact, we often will end up with EXERCISES on how to say no. And, the great thing is how free-ing it is for them! If this is an issue for you, practice it! An example would be to practice saying “no” at least 5 times in the upcoming week. Remember #2? If it doesn’t help you achieve your goal right now, it’s ok to say no! Now, HOW to say no without totally closing the door: You can say this doesn’t fit with my plans right now, but do please consider me the next time (or in the future, or I’ll get back to you when…). Although fear may lead you think you HAVE to say yes to everything, it ends up filling your time with things you are NOT currently passionate about acheiving, and prevents you from doing what you love.

What happens when you aren’t doing what you love? It shows! But, when you are doing what brings out your passion, that shows to, and people gravitate to you. And, when it comes down to it, you want to have your own business for success, fulfillment and enjoyment. Dragging through the day isn’t going to make that happen.

Margie

Come check out how I can help you move forward: http://www.meg-enterprises.com

If you are like me, you have 16 million things going on at once. I know many people are in this situation, because they tell me!

Then, just to add more pressure, at every turn, we read the importance of ‘showing up’, or participating in blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc, etc, etc.

Oh, and I hear more and more from people who are feeling way too overwhelmed with their email! In fact, chances are those people will never even see this blog!

How can you get control and STILL ‘show up’? Here are four steps you can take now.

#1 – Get control of your email! My favorite resource for this comes from David Allen in his book, Getting Things Done.  I believe he’s right when he says we all clean out our voice mail to zero. Why is that, yet we allow our email to grow and grow and grow? Great; so how DO you get control? First, as I tell members of my Just Jump into Business membership program, create folders and filters, and then set up instructions. If you are like me, you belong to multiple listservs and several newsletters. Filter each one into its own folder. I literally have over 50 folders. I couldn’t survive without them! I can then just spend time on listserv email or read newsletters when I have the time, rather than have to sort through it all to find the important things. What’s important? Clients, family and friends. Reading what each person has to say about lipids is NOT important….

#2 – Set a timer for reading email. It’s all well-and-good to stay on top of your inbox, but if you’re using up your precious morning reading them all, this is unlikely the best use of your most limited resource; your time. I have clients seriously look at their schedule and determine when they have time for email. This is where the timer comes in – when it goes off after the designated amount of time, go onto what’s next! Imagine actually ACCOMPLISHING your goals for the day!

#3 – While you’re evaluating your schedule, this is where you must also decide if participating in social media is effective for reaching your potential clients. Let’s assume it is effective for you. Now you have to decide which sites these people hang out in and what it is they want to hear from you. Then add spending time there to your schedule! But, again, your time will be limited; you do not want to spend the day telling people, ‘I am now making lunch’…. Again, what do they want to hear from you and how can you make the best use out of the limited time you have? And… set the timer…

#4 – Show up IN PERSON! Sure, the major bulk of my business is online, but it is still important to develop in-person relationships. This includes going to networking and social events. This provides you with the experience of learning who else is out there and what they need.  Not to mention developing friends and colleagues you can spend time with and have fun with! It also gives you the opportunity to learn from others in ways you just don’t learn long-distance.

These are simple steps. Just working on ONE can make a huge difference in not only helping you become more productive, but also help you get out there and feel you are SHOWING UP. When we feel bogged down, we tend to back off and try to escape.

See you out there!

Margie

P. S. If you are interested in how you can get control of your life and business, contact me for a complementary, 30-minute coaching call.