This weekend we are spending some time in the Hudson Valley and went by the Visitor Center at West Point.

There we discovered an interesting piece of historical trivia (West Point’s Class of 1915 was nicknamed “The Class the Stars Fell on”) that sparked my thought for this episode…

Get this: 164 graduates that year and 59 of them became generals in their career and one American president (Eisenhower)!

You could say it was a graduating class that literally changed the course of history.

Not to disparage any of the great leaders that came up at that time, but a thought crossed my mind that I couldn’t quite escape…

“Was is the unique individuals in this class that made it so famous or was it their unique time in history that allowed them to step into their capacity and help shape nations?”

This class graduated 25 years before the US entered WW2 which is about the timeframe one could expect to become a general…

Did their time in history call out their greatness? The capacity they already had inside that was waiting to be called upon?

I’ve been toying with this thought for the last couple of days and sat down to do some more research

Guess what I found…

A class previously had that title “The Class the Stars Fell On” in 1886. Over 30% of that year’s graduates became generals in their career. And this was roughly 30 years before we entered WW1.

Are you seeing a pattern? You could probably place this into the old nature versus nurture conversation, right?

I’m sure other classes whose graduates held careers during peaceful times had just as capable leaders but their influence is just remembered differently

So how does this impact my life and my business today?

Why should I care?

Here’s the nugget I want to share:

We all have unaccessed capacity.

I think we all have MUCH more capacity that’s lying dormant within us because it just hasn’t been called upon or accessed…

To hear more about this interesting bit of historical trivia and to hear my top 2 tips for accessing your own untapped potential, list to the rest of this episode!

Until next time, continue to be up and to the right.

Cheers, Ginny

Have you ever had this happen to you? You've developed some incredibly gorgeous plans... All the pieces should fit elegantly together... You see the finish line in sight... When WHAM.

Something happens that reveals the plan may not go the way you thought it would. What seemed so certain feels a bit out of reach now.

What do you do? What's your first thought?

I had a moment like that today and thought I would walk you through my simple but powerful process of finding the solution (or at least the next step forward).

I hope you find this framework helpful. And until next time, continue to be up and to the right!

With so many things to get done to move your business forward, it can be easy to focus on what needs to get done right now (Tyranny of the Urgent anyone?) versus what will make the biggest difference as you continue to grow your business and help more clients solve the problem you uniquely solve.

And it's in those busy growing seasons that we really need a strategy that directs our steps...

In this week's episode, I provide a peek into a couple of projects I've been working on behind the scenes and I share the strategy I've implemented to actually GET THEM DONE!

Have you been in an exceptionally busy season in work or life and thought to yourself, "I just need to get through this season?" It can be tempting to think that and stop moving forward.

But what if there were a few things you could do, specifically during these crazy seasons, to keep your up level momentum in place?

In this week's episode, I share my top 5 secrets for continuing to uplevel even in crazy busy seasons.

We are currently driving across the country for a summer in Boston. And during the hours-long drive across some beautiful parts of the country, a childhood memory came back to mind in a way that I thought would be helpful for you as you take your work up and to the right...

I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase: Rome wasn’t built in a day. And while this old adage has it’s place, I think it’s a little incomplete and therefore not as helpful as it could be.

So, in this episode, I share what I think the saying SHOULD be and why I think this little shift in perspective can be the thing that helps you finish building your “Rome.”

Who is this episode for? It’s for you, the builder, the entrepreneur, the doer that’s putting in the time, creating something meaningful but it’s simply taking longer or asking more of you than you thought it would.

I’m a firm believer that success is often a quarter-turn away. And I think that the mental perspective around building something meaningful (ie. something that takes TIME) sometimes just needs a quarter turn to see things as they really are.

So, I hope this episode encourages you to continue to build: brick-by-brick, layer by layer. Because sometimes it’s the time itself that helps us accomplish the mega goals we have in our souls.

Until next time, continue to be up and to the right.

Cheers,

Ginny

In this gold-nugget-packed episode with guest expert Tama-Lea Lorenzen, we talk about the power of gamification in our lives and businesses.

Since success leaves clues, we discuss how "big dogs" like Starbucks, Facebook, and even local brick-and-mortar businesses leverage the power of ramifying the sales process or client engagement for incredible results!

Resources Mentioned in this episode:

1. Facebook Groups: A free platform for you to bring gamification to your clients

2. Gamify by Brian Burke https://amzn.to/2JTLitF

3. Play to Learn: Everything You Need to Know About Designing Effective Learning Games by Sharon Boller and Karl M. Kapp  https://amzn.to/2ELyUYM

4. Tama-Lea's Engaging Gamification Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/EngagingGamification/

5. EngagingGamification.com

How do you plan to bring gamification into your business to increase sales and customer success?

Until next time, continue to be up and to the right.

Cheers,

Ginny

Have you ever made a pivot in business? Or do you know one is on the horizon? If so, this show is for you.

In this week's episode, I share how and why I made a pretty big pivot in what I'm doing (and how the show will follow suit).

Even if you haven't pivoted in business, I hope you still listen to this episode. Why? Because I unpack what it means to uplevel (and why we should even care about upleveling!).

Stay tuned for more and remember, be up and to the right.

Cheers!

It's a term you may or may not be familiar with, but capacity is a behind-the-scenes hero that will help you reach your goals by overcoming hurdles, juggling multiple things that needs to get done, as well as, being brave enough to do things you've never done. Here's what I mean...

Hello, Savvy Entrepreneur!

As we dig into this topic, you know I can't resist looking into what the word actually means.

Google defines "Capacity" as: (N) The maximum amount that something can contain. The ability or power to do, experience, or understand something.

And as I was looking into this word, I stumbled upon its origin. 

It came from a Latin word, “Capere” with means "to take" or "hold." (Side note: I always love when the origins of a word are from a rather ancient context like this - from a dead language in this case - because it means this word has been a part of the human consciousness for millennia. It's something we've always worked to increase, it's a part of who we are.)

Ok, next step: What do I even mean when I say, "increasing our capacity?"

It's basically increasing our ability to handle things - good or bad - either in our personal or business life.

It often grows when we have to deal with crazy schedules, circumstances we never saw coming, difficult people, our preconceived thoughts, AND when the pursuit of our goals meets reality.

In this context, it shows up when we do things we’ve never done before. Stepping out on a limb. Trusting ourselves and those around us. Remembering that the goal we're working to reach is worth more than the potential scariness of that moment.

Capacity, much like a muscle, is usually developed through "the work of it."

But capacity, once it’s earned and nurtured, allows you to handle not only more of the issues but more of the good in our lives.

Perhaps "the work of it" is doing that thing you were terrified to do. Or reaching out to collaborate with someone you thought was too far ahead in their business or really didn’t know that well yet.

But it's in doing those scary things, you’re building the capacity to accept the good that will come from it as well!

So, when you are in the middle of something scary, some unchartered territory, something really challenging or you’re in a season that doesn’t look like it will change fast enough, remember you are building capacity.

This happened to me recently.

We received a phone call about an investment we have - that something was happening that we would have never expected that needed our immediate attention. Then we got a text that a beloved family member was in the hospital.

PLUS... I was in the middle of finalizing everything for the Summit which is actually wrapping up today and we're planning to move in the next couple weeks. No big deal, right?

So, as we were making phone calls trying to sort things out and keep everything moving forward, I had this quiet voice inside me saying “You’re building capacity. You’re building capacity. This is how it’s done. You’re building capacity.”

I felt like all I could do was be in that moment and do what I knew to do. As we checked more and more items off the massive list and heard back from various people who were involved, things felt like they were moving forward in a steady way. Despite the feeling of chaos and those thoughts of "Are you kidding?" Things moved forward.

(And to circle back, the investment situation is now resolved (better than anticipated), our family member is on the mend, the Summit is going to be incredible, and moves are always a bit hairy and it’s going fine.)

So, as you are working on right now that feels a bit overwhelming, daunting, stretching, or uncomfortable? As you contend with these situations (both internal and external), as you do new things that scare you, remember, you are building capacity.

You are building your capacity.

You're building your ability to hold more of the good and handle all the rest.

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Taking a look at anything that's stretching you now, take a moment to consider how this is growing your capacity. I promise it'll change your posture on moving through this season.

XOXO, Ginny