The Bright Shiny Object Project

Learn more about the Business Growth Mastermind: www.businessvictories.com/mastermind As a young entrepreneur I quickly began to dread the coming of April each year. The closer this month got in my early years I knew that I would have to have my annual “awakening” of the financial status of my business for the previous year. Not only did I have all the other responsibilities of the business to handle but by April 1st I had to deal with the dreaded “brown box.” My “brown box” held my receipts and what I perceived was the secrets as to whether I had actually made a profit in the year gone by. Cash flowed to be sure, however it was the question of was I spending it wisely or not, and was I actually creating a profitable business? Learning by the seat of my pants in those early years I just thought I should innately know how to deal with the numbers. As I moved forward in my journey I discovered that it didn’t have to be so painful and systems began to get rooted as I learned it was okay (and actually quite necessary) to get help from financial professionals. Now it hasn’t always been easy, some years have been financially better than others. The juggle for the best use of my time as I approach my 34th year of being an entrepreneur always comes back to the most important element in the business - paying attention to the numbers. Ironically, I started my first business on April 1, 1985. Yes, April Fool’s Day! Without a doubt surprises and the unexpected have come and gone like the tide over the years. Some long forgotten and some have left financial scars or better said, a permanent reminder. Here is what I know to be true when it comes to self control with money… If you are not a “money person” you need to learn to be one. Some years will be better than others and doing your financials on a monthly basis is key to getting to greater profitability. Expenses have a way of creeping up on you. Making sense of them can come too late if you are only looking at numbers on a quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Look monthly. Charging the right price for your goods and services isn’t just about what others are charging – they have to make economic sense for the value that your business provides. Do not, I repeat do not, continue to beat yourself up as you waste time in regret for past financial mistakes made. Learn from your mistakes, moving on smarter and money wiser. Knowing your numbers helps you to make educated decisions in your business. Included in this is financial projections – you can’t hit a target when you don’t know what it is. Finally repeat to yourself on a regular basis “Show me the money!” as the Jerry McGuire movie so infamously shouted it out. Say it loud and say it clear. Make April a time to fully enjoy the gifts of spring and watch all the growth around you. And if that is not inspirational enough, how about these words from Benjamin Franklin (you know the guy on the $100 bill), “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” Have a month full of growth ahead!

Join our business mastermind program and grow your business: www.businessvictories.com Have you noticed how life doesn’t always go according to plan? No matter how carefully the plan is orchestrated, sometimes the wind doesn’t align with our sails and we have to opt for plan B (or sometimes even plans C-Z). There has always been the part of writing a business plan that never seemed to connect to the overall success of my businesses along the way. In between the beautifully crafted words, thoughts, and strategies of the business plan is really what matters most. On paper it all sounds so realistic before the realities of life get in the way. What happens when real world 101 takes over the plan? Our mind started thinking about other business ventures or lost the courage to fully implement the original plan. Maybe the original plan had some fatal flaws that need to be readjusted first. Planning and having goals is super important to make sure you know where you are headed. The key is being open to other ways to get you there once you are on the road, as the curves and bumps in the road can knock us off course. Sometimes this happens by coincidence and sometimes overlooked circumstances get in the way. What I see brings most entrepreneurs to their knees (and I have had a few prayer sessions myself) is when things don’t go as hoped, planned, or dreamed. Many business owners just give up or go hide under a blanket waiting for a miracle to change the timing of things. It’s at the point of hopelessness that we find a way to adapt, fix what didn’t go as planned, and create a new plan of action that will move things forward. Take these 5 steps to avoid giving up too early: 1. Stop and take a breath to see where you currently stand. 2. Honestly assess from all angles to see how hopeful or hopeless the situation is. 3. Decide whether to abandon ship, adjust the sails, or find a new destination. 4. Surround yourself with others who support your vision. 5. Never stop believing in yourself and your team when seas get stormy. As we finish up our conversations this month on honoring time, here’s to keeping the dream alive, dedicating the time to make it happen, and never giving up what matters most!

When I can stop and enjoy the moment, I like to call this “BE time.” I have come to think of BE time as a time for Better Energy. It’s those snippets of time that let us truly feel content as we prepare for other things to come. This past week I have talked to a number of people in cold winter climates who are experiencing cabin fever with the long-anticipated wait for warmer days ahead. What I have come to discover over the years is to look at ways to embrace the comfort that can be found in the solitude of cabin fever. I like to find an extra minute, hour, or even whole day to give my mind some extra attention. Setting aside time to just be is an act of self-respect and helps me discover creative solutions to roadblocks. Here are a few awesome benefits that come from setting aside time to just be: BE Inspired BE Confident BE You BE Courageous BE Happy BE Creative BE Effective BE Valued BE Grateful When you stop to actually enjoy life instead of constantly rushing through it, there are endless ways to enjoy all the little delicious elements that life has to offer. Perhaps it’s just time smelling a flower or spending extra time with eyes closed letting the sun warm your face. During those occasional negative moments of life, such as Jury Duty or having a difficult conversation with a loved one, just be. Try not to react in anger or frustration, just be and notice what these difficult moments are trying to show us in order to grow into the future. As we head forward in time, let’s harness the beauty of whatever season you are in. Find time to just be and you will create a business and personal life that you love. Looking to grow your business? Browse our on demand online courses or get the maximum results by joining our business-building private coaching program. Learn more at: https://www.businessvictories.com

One of the most effective ways we have to manage our life and our business is by giving closer attention to our time. My iPhone now gives me a summary every Sunday how I spent my time on my phone. Quite an eye opener to be sure! I wish I could use that tracking on everything I do outside of the phone, giving me the ability to accurately know where all my time goes each week. I have started looking differently again at my time as I do during this month every year. This year I have decided to go back to a habit I drifted away from and that is giving every work day a regular theme and focus. The idea behind this is that you are grouping your activities and energies around a common theme versus being all over the board running from here to there every single day. More intention, less reaction. With my clients this month I am working through a process based on a worksheet called Time for Income. The goal is to have them start to look at what is taking their time (like the iPhone) that they could be better spend elsewhere enhancing their business. And once that is accomplished, find quality chunks of time on a given day to put your focus where it gives you the best results. The 5 ways to protect and leverage your time during the days of the typical M-F, 8am-5pm work week is to give each day the dedication to a task or process that matters most to the success you wish to achieve. I learned this technique many years ago during a coach training by the late Jennifer White, and Jack Dorsey (CEO of Square and Twitter) also follows this method. You may only need an hour or two each day to accomplish the tasks required once you do it on a regular basis allowing you to dig deeper into that element instead of always playing catchup and cleanup. For myself here is how I have decided to let it shake out for now, allowing it to shift as required as this is a very fluid process. Keep in mind while I have emails, client calls, etc. throughout each day just like you this is where I want to focus my intention on during each specific day of the week. Monday Money and Business Management Work on the core elements of my business, especially around the financial element. Tuesday Coach and Inspire One of the two days a week I dedicate fully to coaching and enhancing my coaching tool kits in between client coaching appointments. Wednesday Partnership Building and Booking Speaking Engagements Partnerships come in all shapes and sizes and it’s important to nurture those relationships as well as seeking out future speaking and teaching opportunities. Want to partner with me? Send me an email. Thursday Coach and Inspire Second day of my week dedicated to my clients, because some days you simply need to rinse and repeat to finish up the work that needs to be done. Friday Marketing and Growth From creating new content materials (like this letter) to finding ways to educate and inspire myself in order to inspire others, on Fridays I like to stretch my ideas and find new ways to grow. What would your perfect week of intention look like? Download the Time for Income Chart and begin to take a stronger hold on what you allow to have happen with your time each day: http://www.businessvictories.com/blog/more-intention-and-less-reaction Whether you work for yourself or someone else it’s your mindset and what you do with your precious time that really matters!

More and more I continue to hear people say the words … “I don’t have time.” And if I don’t watch myself very carefully, I can find myself saying those words as well. Truth of course is that we all have “time” as long as we are breathing. I have come to find it’s how we start the very first waking hour of our day that makes all the difference. Every single morning, work day or play day, at home or traveling, I take the opportunity to slowly and carefully start my day on my terms. One of my favorite things to do is be up before the sun so I can watch it rise each morning. Some mornings when I think it can’t get more beautiful with the pinks and reds of the clouds catching the sun rays, it does! There is something about the beauty and quiet in those early morning hours that feels so peaceful and beautiful. It inspires me and helps to overcome any obstacles waiting in the day ahead.  This month we are going to be diving into the Mastermind Principle of Honoring Time. I can think of no better way to honor time then to come into each day respecting and honoring the gift of a new day. Five benefits I have seen from what I have come to call my Morning Momentum time are: More joy and happiness. Less feeling of overwhelm. Gratitude for the simple things in life. Greater productivity. A deeper connection within myself.  If you have tried meditation or any form of creating a better morning routine in the past that hasn’t worked, check out my 21-Day Morning Momentum Challenge. In this course I share in detail all the elements it takes to get the most out of the first hour of your day. Quick little audio sessions each day will help you find your own perfect routine to use for many years to come. Life will give us many options every morning when we open our eyes. The choice is in selecting the options that serve us best. Here’s to the peace of mind that comes from honoring our precious time!   Learn more about the Morning Momentum Course: http://businessvictories.com/goodmorning

Have you noticed that especially over the last few years it seems to be getting harder and harder for people to speak their truth in a way that creates strong relationships? Here’s a simple test to see if you have been withholding your truth: Have you recently held a belief or thought about another person but never told them your feelings directly? These feelings could be good, bad or indifferent. As we wrap up the discussions this month on the Mastermind Principle of Self Confidence I have seen a common need of finding confidence through speaking and honoring your truth. I had a recent conversation with a brilliant coaching colleague, Beth Buelow. Initially I had reached out to Beth to have a conversation around her innovative work that led to her book, The Introvert Entrepreneur. I then discovered as we set up a date for the upcoming podcast that she has moved her coaching focus into the area of communications and conflict management. She made this transition after 10 years of exploring the ins and outs of what it takes to be successful as an introverted entrepreneur, which so many of us are… myself included! Learning to live with introverts is important. What is also so important is learning how to speak your truth. Not honoring and speaking your truth may be affecting your self-confidence – along with adding a whole lot of stress to your life – I was excited about the possibilities that lie in the 5 ways that unfolded in our conversation together: 1. Truth needs trust Trusting yourself, your expertise on a given topic along with the should and should not’s that have been expected of you. 2. Center your truth Making your truth a central conviction not needing validation on what you “should” be saying. 3. Honor your story Being vulnerable as you own and share it. Not worrying about other people’s assumptions or opinions. 4. Come from love, not fear or scarcity Being engaged in a healthy versus unhealthy conversation. Being sincere in the process. 5. Separate truth from ego Perhaps the hardest piece in using this tool. Our righteousness can eliminate the willingness to be wrong and admit it as you put yourself in someone else’s shoes. I highly encourage you to listen to our entire conversation and all the juicy tidbits we unwrapped. Then pass it on. Just imagine how we might all change the world around us if we could talk to each other with these five steps in place. Imagine how this could change not only your personal world but the world you work in as well. Wishing you a week full of powerful communications ahead.

If we don’t use our creativity muscles in the brain, we will lose them. The good news is that we can regain this muscle and the more we use creativity throughout our lives the more this super power benefits us!  The coolest part is that the more you build that muscle and get good at whatever creative muscle you are building, from fly fishing to making bread, it builds your confidence right along with building that muscle. My daughter, who is known by many as Chef Bai, is quite an amazing creative with food being her favorite thing to create. She has always had a love of cooking, but recently she has taken her creativity even farther to provide her with the confidence to create a very profitable business. Creativity comes in so many shapes and sizes. It’s not necessarily just drawing a picture, writing the next great novel, or writing a poem to someone you love.  Creativity appears when you give yourself the time and space to share your unique voice with the world. A great benefit is that if your creative work really resonates, it can make you money due to the ability to connect with others. And that’s when your work really does become your play. Here is what Bailey shared with me as the 5 things that spark her creativity with the food she creates: 1. Farmers Market Seeing food in its whole form straight from the source allows her to imagine what it might become once she gets her hands on it. 2. Yoga and Body Movement Moving opens her up and she actually thinks alot about food during yoga and the process motivates her to cook more. 3. Consistency The more she cooks the more ideas she gets to create new things she hasn’t tried before. 4. Inspiration from others Blogs, Vlogs and cookbooks from amateurs and professionals. 5. Music Playing music while she cooks always helps in the creativity process. Just like I shared about learning and confidence last week creativity takes our confidence soaring to whole new levels when we use it on a regular basis. Mixing learning and creativity is really the most excellent part. I feel that way when I write, brainstorm with a client and even when I am in my garden. As you head into this week I would love to know where you are going to let your inner creative shine. What kind of creativity dates can you have with yourself or with someone who shares the same creative passion as you do? Tomorrow, February 18th is Bailey’s birthday! Happy Birthday Chef Bai and thank you for inspiring so many with your creative passion when it comes to making health based food. Be sure to leave a comment on her Instagram and tell her I sent you: http://www.instagram.com/chef_bai Let’s celebrate each of us as well for allowing our creative spirit to shine! After all, that’s what creativity is… letting our inner child come out to play. Learn more about chef bai: http://www.chefbai.com Want to grow your business? Schedule a clarity session: www.businessvictories.com/marketingclarity Subscribe to this podcast for weekly episodes delivered to your inbox: www.businessvictories.com/subscribe

Learning builds confidence. There is the great saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Isn’t that why you are reading this? Somewhere along the way you decided that you wanted to learn how to grow your business and make elements better in your life. As we continue the journey into our mastermind principle of self-confidence, I want to share with you the importance of being a life-long learner. Education doesn’t stop after formal school. Life itself has so much to teach us every single day and each moment is waiting to teach us something if we let go of being a “know-it-all.” Recently I heard the idea of always having at least 5 learning experiences happening in your life at one time. The more I try to learn new things, the more I discover that learning makes me see so many more possibilities for my business. Here are 5 topics I am currently learning: 1. French I have always wanted to visit Paris. This year I will be following through on this dream and in preparation for my trip every day I dedicate time to an app that helps me learn this language. Bonjour to French! 2. Public Speaking I belong to a group that supports speakers and it’s amazing that even though I have spoken on 100+ stages, I still continue to learn key tips from my peers and every time I get on the stage. 3. Psychology of Money I frequently listen to some great audiobooks that dive into this topic and help me strengthen my relationship with money. I have watched a feeling on “lack” inhibit many business owners, clients, and myself. Money is the transfer of energy and our relationship to money is equal to our energy levels. 4. Yoga I am on day number 34 of a 40-day yoga program at a local studio. This is a challenge where I am being asked to incorporate my mind and spirit into my physical transformation. This practice was a bit challenging at first, but by getting through it I am learning so much about what I am capable of.  5. Instagram I dedicate time daily to learn more about the popular Instagram social media platform in order to grow my audience and share my message with the world. I decided a year ago to add Instagram for Business into my teaching offerings and it has reinstalled the belief in me that if you want to learn something more deeply, teach it!  What are the 5 things you are focusing on learning? These can be topics you are either developing or want to develop in your life right now. Write this list down and put it somewhere you can see often. Then start diving into those topics! Experience is the best teacher. Keep yourself accountable by replying to this letter to let me know what they are – I would love to cheer you on! --- Want to grow your business? Schedule a clarity session: www.businessvictories.com/marketingclarity Listen to the latest episode and subscribe to this podcast: www.businessvictories.com/subscribe

1. Love  How much do you love what have to share with the world? When you can share that love and passion in an authentic way you lose the salesy, canned unauthentic piece and just share the core of what you have to give. Think of the confidence you feel when you think about the people and things you love the most in this world. That should carry through in all you do. 2. Composure Meet life where it meets you, and do this calmly without drama or fuss. Be kind to yourself when someone doesn’t buy your products or when things just don’t go your way. No more shutting down and stopping. Replace this with a smile and a step forward, knowing that failure and friction are a necessary a stepping stone to evolve. Have the confidence to remain calm and understanding in stressful situations. 3. Listening The power of kindness begins with listening what another person actually needs. The answer to not getting the results from your efforts in sharing your message lies in listening to what the person needs right now. Sometimes we can be so nervous about sharing that we spew our idea all over someone before listening to what their needs are right now. Asking questions is key to building confidence in listening. 4. Belief To achieve in anything in life you have to believe in what you are doing. Think of all the things that you truly believe in and those things you try to believe in. The moment belief disappears all kinds of negative stuff can seem to appear. Surround yourself with a well-rounded group of people who help support you. Our inner circles feed our confidence. 5. Courage  Fear busting better known as courage is probably one of the greatest forms of inner kindness to yourself you can give. While it might feel terribly uncomfortable at the get go, stop and think of every time you have pushed through a fear you have held close and how much better you feel when you get to the other side. Confidence and pride of your efforts for stepping up to fully play in the game is what builds even more courage for the next time around. - - - Want to grow your business? Schedule a clarity session: www.businessvictories.com/marketingclarity Listen to the latest episode and subscribe to this podcast: www.businessvictories.com/subscribe

Download the PDF worksheet to follow along: https://businessvictories.com/blog/thriving-business Powerful insights take time. I have decided to share with you a variety of secret tips that I have found from not only those materials, but also from the many other experts I have had the honor to learn and mentor with over the years. My hope is that you will find this list beneficial in helping you along your journey. One thing I find for sure with us business folks is that sometimes we run out of ideas on how to enhance our businesses. Fresh ideas are essential to enhancing our business and personal lives. If you need that creative spark, this list will help to get you on the right track! Here’s to cleaning out our closets - which also happens to be #18 on the list! ;) - Want to grow your business? Schedule a clarity session: www.businessvictories.com/marketingclarity - Subscribe to this podcast: www.businessvictories.com/subscribe