Ever Better Today

"Illuminate all the pieces of your life that make you extraordinary and powerful and magical and wonderful so that you can think about your next step."

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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Unmasking your potential is one step in seeing yourself as a masterpiece.

Listen to episodes 49 and 50 to learn more. Then…

Go to everbetteru.com/masterpiece to download my worksheet, You Are A Masterpiece.

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Steps on how to unmask your potential!

1. Think about things that you are capable of doing at a higher level. Write down what those things are and then say them out loud. When you speak your ideas, they become more real and tangible, and you're more likely to move forward with them.
2. Speak out for yourself. Find someone to discuss your career goals and options with. Discuss topics that you've been thinking about but haven't shared with anyone yet. Consider talking to a friend or trusted colleague before you talk to your boss or someone more senior.
3. Start simple. If you're considering creating a business or making a bold move, do more research and draft a business plan or life plan. Start simple! It doesn't need to be complicated. Just get started!
4. Assess the areas of your life where you could have a greater impact. Who can you serve that could really use your assistance? Where could you have a greater impact on the world?
5. Where can you take a bigger risk? What have you been thinking about doing that you haven't said out loud or that you haven't shared with someone yet? Think about the next steps in order to make that happen. How can you unmask and reveal your potential? Start with a couple of small steps and build from there.

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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How to determine who your team follows?

1. Observe who they listen to in a meeting.
2. Find out who they take cues from.
3. Check who they tend to look to when a question arises.
4. Be aware of your personal biases that may lead you to assume that you already know who your natural leaders are.

Now that you've identified your leader, what happens next?

1. Consider developing that person as a leader more proactively.
2. Find a way to involve them in higher-level meetings.
3. Explore ways you can introduce them to people who are more senior and who can broaden their views.
4. Train them so they can get a more well-rounded or more in-depth perspective about a certain topic

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here

Your actions and attitudes impact every aspect of your life as well as the people around you.

What's going well? What's not? How can you start to make changes wherever needed?

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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Consider these questions to determine where you can level up.

1. Do you have control of your calendar? Do meetings "appear" that you forgot you scheduled?
2. Do you manage your time well?
3. How would you rate your recordkeeping?
4. Do you leave your responsibilities hanging and not communicate status or updates to others?

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If you are great at balancing your time and obligations, and you're communicating effectively - that's awesome! You've been doing your work!

Now, how can you support others to achieve greater satisfaction in their lives?

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here

Learn to be aware of your negative thoughts and interrupt them to create a more positive life.

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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How to interrupt your negative thoughts

1. Be aware of your thoughts. The more aware you are, the more you can control your actions and your habits. Be alert to when your brain is entertaining a negative thought. Recognize that it's temporary and a positive thought can come along next.
2. Come up with an action plan. Be prepared. Write down what you'll do the next time one of your recurring, negative thoughts arises.
3. Have an accountability partner. Team up with a friend or family member to create a plan that's mutually beneficial. Help each other be accountable for interrupting each other's negative thoughts.
4. Get professional help. Seek someone who can provide the assistance that you need. If you're having significant, recurring thoughts, find a professional to discuss this with. Often, that's the best course of action.
5. Try another perspective. Think of driving your car in a direction that you're so used to going in, and then taking a different exit or path to get to your destination. Interrupt your normal routine.
6. Read a book. I recommend "The Little Book of Big Change" by Amy Johnson. I appreciate her analogies for changing your thoughts and her specific examples of how individuals have learned to interrupt their thinking.

To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here.

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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ROCK your most productive day! Here are some ideas that might work for you.

1. Set an ALARM to wake up before everyone else in your house. Use that time to journal, meditate, plan your day, or read something positive.
2. ORGANIZE your ideas and to-do's for the whole day.
3. MAKE YOUR BED as soon as you get up!
4. GET OUT of your home and kickstart your day with EXERCISE.
5. Write "MORNING PAGES" as described in The Artist's Way. (See below for more information.)

Here are my recommended books for this episode:

"The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron

I recommend reading The Artist's Way for her philosophy on life and for lots of inspiration.

What Julia Cameron suggests for morning pages is that your write longhand, three pages of anything, every morning.

"The Miracle Morning" by Hal Elrod

In this book, Hal recommends six-morning practices that he recommends, and he uses the acronym, SAVERS.

S is for silence, A is for affirmations, V is visualization, E is exercise, R is reading, and S is scribing.

So these are six activities that you would do in sequence with a set amount of time in order to do each of these.

"Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss

He's written about the morning routines of people who've been very successful in all walks of life in his book, Tools of Titans.

It's a very large book, actually, so he suggests using it as a reference.

Or you can listen to his podcast episodes where he talks to people about their morning routines.

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here

Are you aware that scheduling emails and Slack messages to be sent in the future can optimize your productivity and demonstrate leadership? Listen to this podcast for tips and tools.

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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How scheduling messages demonstrates leadership

• Schedule your messages to be sent during appropriate business hours for your team when they will be read. When you send messages around the clock, you're setting an expectation that you expect your team to be available during all hours.
• Using productivity tools sets an example for maximizing productivity. You'll increase your efficiency and time management and so will your team.
• Encouraging your team to use such tools can help everyone including yourself to stay focused on tasks that matter the most at a certain period of time.
• Using these productivity tools helps to set a healthy work environment by contributing to a positive work-life balance.

Productivity Tool Recommendations

1. Boomerang

Boomerang allows you to schedule email messages to be sent later, track responses, get reminders for no-reply emails that were sent, and schedule meetings. My favorite use of Boomerang is to pause my email inboxes so that I stay more focused.

1. Slack

Chances are, your team is already using Slack. But did you know that there is a built-in feature that allows you to schedule your messages to be sent in the future? Check it out and try it today!

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What productivity tools does your company use? Consider the impact of these tools in your business and in your organization. How do the tools contribute to your company culture? How can you set the best example as a leader? What tools will work best for you and your team?

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here

Your legacy is created through big decisions and small ones. Every action, reaction, and decision that you make shapes your reputation and your legacy. Choose carefully.

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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Real-life experiences with individuals who are creating a positive legacy…

• The team at Adventist HealthCare went above and beyond to help me stay on track for me for my DEXA scan when the tech didn't show up for work.
• The woman whose response when called for her appointment elevated everyone in the waiting room.
• Pickleball pro, John, takes extra time and care to help me and other players develop our skills.

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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Some of My Wonderful Memories with Leslie…

• Meeting her at Bethesda United Methodist Church during a Christmas decoration party
• Renaissance Faire near Annapolis, Maryland with Leslie
• Bunco night with Leslie and friends
• Our dinner club
• A birthday surprise in a French Restaurant
• A bird pecking at her ring camera
• Wordle results
• Groceries when I broke my ankle and needed assistance
• The memories her lifelong friends shared

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here

You will earn respect by doing the right thing for your organization and those around you. Being liked is less important and may come later.

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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How founders and other senior leaders fail to lead…

#9 They avoid discomfort.

• Sabotage their success purposely or subconsciously.
• Don't cultivate the ability to manage increasingly stressful circumstances.
• Don't address the feeling of imposter syndrome.

ESCAPISM: When things get tough, leaders often seek to distract themselves with drinking, drugs, gambling, shopping, eating or other excessive habits or addictions. Escapism typically doesn't end well. If this describes you, please seek help.

#10 They are concerned with being liked vs respected.

• Don't make "tough" decisions that might be considered unpopular.

INTEGRITY: Respect happens through consistently acting with integrity. Being liked may follow.

Go to everbetteru.com/fail to download 10 Ways that Founders and Other Senior Leaders Fail to Lead.

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here

Everyone should be aware of how they respond when triggered and how they work best. That takes work! And it takes the assistance of a trusted circle of advisors and peers.

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Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I'm Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let's jump in!

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How founders and other senior leaders fail to lead…

#7 They don't invest in their own development.

• Invest in developing other team members, but not themselves.
• Are not aware of current leadership practices and norms.
• Don't fully understand the product, customers, and financials.
• Don't create or fully understand the strategy.
• Don't prioritize their physical health.
• Don't address their mental health.

TOUGH LOVE: When you fail to identify and regulate your emotions, your communications and interactions may create a dysfunctional team.

#8 They become insulated and lonely.

• Don't create a trusted peer group to cross-pollinate ideas.
• No trusted circle of advisors.
• Don't work with a coach to help them through challenging times and accelerate their growth.
• Don't' attend conferences with peers.

TIP: Founders should know other founders. Senior leaders should know senior leaders at other companies.

Go to everbetteru.com/fail to download 10 Ways that Founders and Other Senior Leaders Fail to Lead.

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To learn more about working with Ever Better, send me an email here or book a complimentary call with me here