As your vision becomes more clear and you start to actually CREATE it, you probably find that things keep coming your way at every turn.

Now, my HOPE is my words ring in your ears, “Ask yourself how does that help you achieve your goals right now?” in order to decide if an opportunity is one you should take or walk away from.

But they still keep coming.

And you still stop and wonder sometimes if you are saying no to something you’ll regret later.

So, let’s look at the concept of an ‘opportunity cost’; what would it cost you to say yes to that questionable opportunity?

Every time you come upon such an issue, go through both strategies: Ask yourself how it helps you achieve your goal right now, and also ask yourself what you’ll be giving up in order to take this opportunity.

Nine times out of 10, your decision will be the right one.

Will there be times where you’ll later say you wish you had taken that opportunity? Perhaps! But, I can’t help but THEN feel that everything happens for a reason, and there was a reason you didn’t at the time.

Also think back to a time when you said yes and wish you hadn’t! Do the same exercise and see what comes up for you.

What can you learn from reflecting on that?

Margie

Do you ever feel like you’re running ragged, in circles? You know what your big vision is, you have goals written down, you even have your daily list of duties to accomplish, but then you seem to literally hit that wall, where NOTHING is getting done?

We all get to that point.

I find for ME, now that I take more time off, when I spend a full week doing nothing BUT work, my productivity and creativity drop down into the toilet.

Seriously.

And I’m NOT putting my hand in there to find it!

This means setting up strategies to AVOID that burn-out.

So, what do you do when you just need to “get ‘er done”?

• First, evaluate if you need to take some time off. You know when that time comes. You sit at the computer and think “I don’t want to be here.” Listen to yourself and JUST WALK AWAY! What cannot wait for an hour or a day?

• Let’s say you can’t take TODAY off, yet you’re feeling like above. Look at your list and ask yourself what HAS to be done today. Chances are, it may only be one or two things. So, turn off email, shut down Twitter and Facebook, and “GET ‘ER DONE”! Then take tomorrow off..

• Next, do you have your list? If not, it’s time to create one! How can you feel accomplished without it? If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’re there? It will always feel like you have to get things done. But writing them down, based on your MASTER plan, will help you achieve your big-picture goals. Don’t have a master plan or big-picture goals? Then you need to see me.

• But what if you DO have a list and you’re still not moving forward? Then maybe your list is too big. Take a step back and get realistic. Do you need a monthly list of things to accomplish? That often can be a good starting point. Then you work from that monthly list to create your daily list. It feels great at the end of the month to see everything checked off AND to know you’ve created something that’s bringing in more revenue.

It’s a never-ending battle between feeling accomplished with our business and enjoying life. But there are little tricks you can use so you can accomplish both. Put these simple tips into play and let’s see if you then have more TIME to play! It’s through ‘getting ‘er done’!

Margie

I had to laugh as I was reading the book “Rework“, by Fried and Hansson, because I felt like I was reading about all of my clients! I work with perfectionists. In fact, this is why my book is entitled “JUST JUMP“!

I thought I’d share a few perspectives of this book that hit me as I read it. This is an extremely easy book to read, and I recommend it to anyone starting a business, but I think health professionals will particularly get good value out of some of their suggestions.

I have to admit that I didn’t agree with everything, but most of it was pretty right-on. What I didn’t agree with was the planning. The argument around writing or not writing business plans is probably as old as paper, itself. However, the reason I feel that some business plan is essential, and why I include a chapter on a 3-page business plan in my own book, is so that new business owners can identify their vision, goals and objectives. I’ve found that otherwise they just start their business, but without any sense of direction. Yes, I DO believe you have to JUST JUMP, but in order for it to be successful, you also have to do some planning.

So let’s look at a few of the pearls:

* Jump into your idea now. The longer you wait, the less likely you’ll do it. Be ok with learning as you go, or else you may never go!

* Narrow it down to the essentials. What do you really have to offer. Bottom-line it. Keep it simple.

* There are particular questions to help the reader really narrow down what problems they solve, is it useful and is it worth it? In many areas I felt I was reading my own words in JUST JUMP!

* This is a pearl and I’ll probably use this term (acknowledged, of course): “Communication Addition” I bet I don’t need to explain it, but how many hours have YOU spent on email, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, today??? CLOSE IT DOWN if you want to accomplish anything! Sound familiar??

* Along the lines of time management, this was also good: If you are tired, you are more likely to waste time doing something you don’t need to be doing, because you lack the motivation to do what you should be doing. Are you tired?

* I am a list-keeper, and I also do usually prioritize them after I write them down. So I tried the authors’ suggestion of just putting the most important things at the top. LOL: Sort of works!

* This is me: Let your customers outgrow  you! Do you know what that means? If not, read the book, grin!

* Pour yourself into your product. This made so much sense! When you’re motivated and pumped up, it just flows and is great! If you’re not in that mode, go onto something else.

* To go along nicely with the above point, act quickly when you’re inspired, because it won’t last. It ‘expires’!

* Hire only when it hurts. This will be a good tip for so many of my own clients who are at that stage of wondering if it is time, yet.

Bottom line: Jump in and check out the waters!

When you look back at your life, what do you want to see? No one ever looks back at life and says “Oh, I wish I hadn’t gone after that dream!” And it’s not like you can have a ‘do-over’ in life. So, again, jump in. As I say, “JUST JUMP.”

Margie

As we explore the huge expanse of hiking trails in our new home, we found the perfect ‘training’ hike for preparing for the Grand Canyon. This means it’s REALLY steep!

Today, as we headed back up the next incline, again, my husband was looking up and moaning about how crazy we must be. As I told him, “Don’t look up!” I realized that this really is the same advice with any goal that seems overwhelming. Let’s look at six of the steps to overcoming this 7-mile “eternal incline climb” with the same suggestions you’d apply to starting your own business:

1. Break your big goal into small steps. Let’s say you envision a multi-service wellness center. But you may need to start with just YOU, seeing clients, one at a time. For our hike, we literally took each incline section one piece at a time (without looking up).

2. Envision the end in sight. Do you know where you’re going? How will you know when you get there, if you haven’t envisioned the end? See your goal destination in your mind. Ideally, write it down. Set up milestones to achieve at certain times. For our hike, we set as our first goal to walk for 1.5 hours. The second hike, our goal was to pass that first location in the same time. The third time we decided to do the entire trail and documented the time it took us. Next time we’ll try to beat our previous time. And so forth.

3. Set ‘stretch’ goals. What do you know you can achieve? Now, take it a bit bigger! Do you know you can write a blog? What about submitting to write for a magazine? For us, our stretch goal was to do the entire 7-mile trail, both ways. Yea, we felt those 14 miles, but it felt GREAT to achieve that goal!

4. Share your intentions with others. It’s easy to tell yourself a goal and then back off when the going gets tough. Nothing risked! But when you tell others of your intentions, suddenly you feel compelled to ACHIEVE them! For us, just being accountable to each other is enough. Neither of us wants to back out.

5. Get support. As I said above, my husband and I use each other to keep us motivated. Support is extremely important! Who can you enlist to sit in your corner and cheer you on? Family members are the most valuable, but friends will work. A coach is a great support, because a coach is more objective to the outcome and only has your own best interests in mind.

6. Measure your progress. With any goal, knowing how far you’ve come can really help you move forward! When you set your goals, you then have a way to measure where you are compared to where you’d like to be. On our trail, using the guidebook helps us get a sense of where we are in our mileage, so we can prepare for the next part of the trail.

When a goal looks too big for reality, just a few simple strategies can  help you turn that HUGE dream into the life you once thought was for others. Take it one step at a time… and don’t look up!

Margie

MEG Enterprises

In the last week, I have had to make two drives I just hated. The first was in horrible rain, with trucks and vehicles going faster than they should for the conditions. While doing the drive, I kept telling myself, “It could be worse.” But, it WAS my choice.

Today I headed out and encountered snow and incredible fog. I actually considered turning around and going home, but then I would have to go BACK into the horrible fog that I couldn’t see in at all. So, I chose to continue with my original plans for my day.

Why do I share this? Because as we move forward to accomplish the things we want to accomplish, we do encounter steps we’d like to avoid, yet we have to do some of the things we do NOT want to do, in order to accomplish that greater goal.

Can you identify something that fits this category? I bet you can! Let me give you a couple examples:

• You want to let physicians or therapists know you are open for referrals. But this means you have to TELL them! Many health professionals hate to promote themselves. However, if you don’t ‘get out there’ and tell these people you are there, they can’t refer people to you!

• You imagine speaking to large groups of people, making a difference in their lives. But this means you have to SPEAK to groups! It really is a matter of stepping into something you don’t want to do in order to eventually DO IT! Yea, sometimes you need to ‘just jump.’

• Your business has started to grow, but it’s been part-time for quite awhile, now. Yet you’re too unsure to ask to go part time with your job, or quit. However, the ONLY way you’ll be able to really grow the business is to cut down or  quit your ‘day job’ and put more time into the business. Again, it’s doing what you don’t want to do in order to achieve what you want to achieve.

• You are ready to rent your own space to see clients. But this is a big investment! Yet you realize you could see far more clients if you had a space. When you analyze the potential and the risks, you also realize that this really is a low-risk, high-potential move. Yet you hesitate. Again, you need to ‘just jump’ sometimes in order to really see the successes you imagine!

As I made the two drives I mentioned, I had to laugh at myself. I have no problems promoting myself. I’ve never hesitated to “JUST JUMP” when it comes to business. But, man, can’t I do it without those awful drives???

Margie