In this episode, Kareen and I explore:

• Basic principles of DISC personality profiles
• World Health Organization's definition of ‘mental health’
• The difference between mental health and mental health issues
• Personalized mental health strategies
• DISC examples of early warning signs of burnout and how to avoid
  • D’s tend to be high achievers, delegation is a problem
    • They won’t find meditation helpful but perhaps taking a walk
  • I’s will need to schedule some social time to have fun DAILY; this will help them re-charge
  • S’s need to make sleep a top priority as this is how their body will re-charge
  • C’s who like to work (perfectionists) need time to schedule leisure i.e. puzzles, journaling will help them re-charge

ABOUT KAREEN 

Kareen Aristide is a Human Behaviour Expert and a Mental Health Practitioner who specializes in blending personal development and mental health for holistic growth. With nearly 25 years of experience as a pastor, speaker, trainer, coach, and author, she empowers individuals, teams, and communities. Kareen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience and Mental Health and is pursuing a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Cognitive Science. A Certified DISC Human Behaviour Consultant and a Top 100 Black Women to Watch in Canada honoree, Kareen is also the founder of She Did It Collectives.

Connect with Kareen

Link to webinar replay on personality + mental health:  https://www.kareenaristide.com/personality-mentalhealth

Link to the LinkedIn article on my story: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/finding-purpose-through-pain-my-journey-overcoming-burnout-aristide/?trackingId=ESZvH99kTDu3utiV4uF7Mw%3D%3D

ACTION PLAN:

1. Become more self-aware and more aware of others
2. Learn more about your own personality profile as this will better equip you to avoid burnout or other mental health challenges
3. Develop a habit to recharge that works for you.
4. Book a Growth Strategy Session – www.dianalidstone.com/apply

Connect with me here: 

• [email protected] 
• www.dianalidstone.com 
• https://www.facebook.com/diana.lidstone 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiredianalidstone/ 

WORK WITH ME

Currently, there are 2 ways you can work with me: 

I am only accepting private clients in my 12-month Business Accelerator program (here) or  

By booking a VIP Grow Day which is intensive session designed to give you my undivided attention and acceleration to accomplish something extremely fast. More information here. 

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

Over and over again, business founders find themselves in a trap! A growth trap where they feel trapped by their business – not only is it running their life; it’s consuming almost every waking hour; they are working as much as they can; and YET... they have this feeling that something could be better; something could be different.

In this episode, I’ll talk about the growth trap; the difference between scaling and growth and how to avoid the most common mistakes business owners make when they want to stop being Chief Everything Officer and are ready to scale!

Just a note – in episode 136, I outlined 7 scaling mistakes to avoid….. so in this episode I’m talking about additional challenges that you might face as you scale your micro business!

ACTION PLAN 

1. Identify where you are in your business growth (emerging, growing or scaling) and decide if you truly want to scale. 
2. Are you facing any of these scaling challenges?  If so which ones? 
3. Download my Business Self-Assessment tool to identify your strengths and possible gaps so you know your next best step 
4. Book a Growth Strategy Session so we can strategize how you can best grow or scale your business. 

ABOUT ME: 

Hi friends, 

Want to escape the chaos of the day to day running of your business?  Then I’m your gal. 

I’m a champagne lover and a sought-after business coach for small business leaders who want to grow, and scale their business without the hustle or burn out. 

I’m also a best-selling author, award-winning speaker and podcast host. After almost 40 years as an entrepreneur, I’m best known for my straight-talk, no BS and the simple business and marketing strategies that bring my clients more joy, profit and freedom.  My podcast, Work Less PROFIT More business podcast offers tips and strategies for small business owners who are tired of working too hard for too little profit, and having little or no free time.   

You can do this! 

Connect with me here: 

• [email protected] 
• www.dianalidstone.com 
• https://www.facebook.com/diana.lidstone 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiredianalidstone/ 

Work with me: 

Currently, there are 2 ways you can work with me: 

I am only accepting private clients in my 12-month Business Accelerator program (here) or  

By booking a VIP Grow Day which is intensive session designed to give you my undivided attention and acceleration to accomplish something extremely fast. More information here.  

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

Of all the types of entrepreneurs in the world, you won’t expect a wellness professional to suffer from burnout!  But here’s the personal story of how it happened so slowly, she didn’t recognize how it came to be. My guest, Lydia Di Francesco shares her lessons learned in today’s episode. 

Lydia and I have a very honest and open conversation about: 

• How burnout crept up on her 
• What burnout looked like for her, personally 
• Her lessons learned  
• 5 steps to recovery  

ABOUT LYDIA

Lydia Di Francesco is the CEO and Workplace Wellness Specialist at Fit + Healthy 365. Lydia has worked in the wellness industry for over 12 years. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences and an MBA from uOttawa and is a Certified Workplace Health and Performance Practitioner. Lydia works with organizations to create and deliver effective workplace health and performance strategic plans that support employee well-being and mental health and result in greater productivity and retention.
 
Lydia is a former radio host of a wellness segment on CHIN Radio Ottawa, a regular TV guest expert and has been published in national and local magazines. She was recently selected as a Businesswoman of the Year.

ACTION PLAN: 

1. Pay attention to your own body, feelings and health 
2. Be strategic as to how you spend your time  
3. Find ways to re-charge yourself – it’s a priority for business owners 
4. If you want to Work Less, Profit More -- Book a Growth Strategy Session – www.dianalidstone.com/apply 

ABOUT ME: 

Hi friends, 

Want to escape the chaos of the day to day running of your business?  Then I’m your gal. 

I’m a champagne lover and a sought-after business coach for small business leaders who want to grow, and scale their business without the hustle or burn out. 

I’m also a best-selling author, award-winning speaker and podcast host. After almost 40 years as an entrepreneur, I’m best known for my straight-talk, no BS and the simple business and marketing strategies that bring my clients more joy, profit and freedom.  My podcast, Work Less PROFIT More business podcast offers tips and strategies for small business owners who are tired of working too hard for too little profit, and having little or no free time.   

You can do this! 

Connect with me here: 

• [email protected] 
• www.dianalidstone.com 
• https://www.facebook.com/diana.lidstone 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiredianalidstone/ 

Work with me: 

Currently, there are 2 ways you can work with me: 

I am only accepting private clients in my 12-month Business Accelerator program (here) or  

By booking a VIP Grow Day which is intensive session designed to give you my undivided attention and acceleration to accomplish something extremely fast. More information here. 

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

People may forget what you say; forget what you did; but they will never forget how you make them feel – take on the famous quote Maya Angelou. 

So how do you make people feel? Your clients, your team, your suppliers?? 

My guest today is known as the FROG Lady – listen and find out why and how recognition can play an important part of your role as CEO of your small business. 

Sarah McVanel is a globally recognized Recognition Expert, acclaimed speaker and author – as well as a recovering perfectionist, mom and an entrepreneur with too many letters after her name for me to count! 

Sarah and I discuss and laugh about: 

• When I first met her and what I thought about her business then 
• Why she is known as the FROG lady 
• What FROG stands for 
• Simple ways to incorporate recognition in our daily lives – the correct way 
• A simple exercise you can do for self-recognition 
• A link between recognition and avoiding burn out 
• Some great examples of how you can make others feel appreciated 

ABOUT SARAH
True acceptance is believing people are worthy before they’ve earned it. Imagine a workplace that extends acknowledgment and appreciation to its employees before they even start.

Sarah is a recognition expert, professional speaker, coach, author, recovering perfectionist, and movement maker of F.R.O.G. Forever Recognize Others’ GreatnessTM. With 25+ years of experience, she invigorates companies to see their people as exceptional so that, together, they can create a scrumptious, thriving culture where everyone belongs.

As the founder of Greatness Magnified, Sarah is proud to have built a thriving organization that specializes in providing training programs and certifications for employees at large. By being solution focused and resilient in changing times, she can help to build a healthy and recognition-rich team.

Contact Sarah here: https://greatnessmagnified.com/

ACTION PLAN:

1. Learn the acronym F.R.O.G. (forever recognize others greatness).
2. FROG someone you know today – get out your phone & text someone.
3. Make it a habit to FROG a friend, colleague or business person each day.
4. Download: Recognition Cool Stuff  (here).
5. Let me know how you recognized your own greatness or someone else! 

Connect with me here: 

• [email protected] 
• www.dianalidstone.com 
• https://www.facebook.com/diana.lidstone 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiredianalidstone/ 

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

#1 reason people start a business – freedom. In the USA, the SBA says that 80% of the  29.6 million small businesses are run by a single person – the solopreneur. 

But most often these entrepreneurs realize that true economic and personal freedom isn’t possible by being the solopreneur … because:

• They are caught in the daily grind – the day-to-day running of their business. 
• Rarely take vacations or time off to recharge.
• Work is all there is – their business runs their life. 

Sound familiar? 

But what if you could serve more people?   

What if you could grow and scale your business to have a bigger impact and grow your income? 

In this episode, learn: 

• The different questions asked by skilled experts and business builders 
• How their perspectives and mindsets are different 
• 3 core pillars to master to evolve from solopreneur to CEO 

If those 3 core pillars sound familiar, it’s because they are the 3 core areas of the WLPM framework that has guided hundreds of other skilled experts to evolve into true visionary CEO’s.

ACTION PLAN: 

1. Determine where you are in your business growth? (just beginning, trapped or freedom).
2. Ask yourself Which perspective is predominant in my business (skilled expert or business builder).
3. Examine the 3 core pillars required to evolve to CEO.
4. Book a Growth Strategy Session – www.dianalidstone.com/apply.

ABOUT ME: 

Hi friends, 

Want to escape the chaos of the day to day running of your business?  Then I’m your gal. 

I’m a champagne lover and a sought-after business coach for small business leaders who want to grow, and scale their business without the hustle or burn out. 

I’m also a best-selling author, award-winning speaker and podcast host. After almost 40 years as an entrepreneur, I’m best known for my straight-talk, no BS and the simple business and marketing strategies that bring my clients more joy, profit and freedom.  My podcast, Work Less PROFIT More business podcast offers tips and strategies for small business owners who are tired of working too hard for too little profit, and having little or no free time.   

You can do this! 

Connect with me here: 

• [email protected] 
• www.dianalidstone.com 
• https://www.facebook.com/diana.lidstone 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiredianalidstone/ 

Work with me: 

Currently, there are 2 ways you can work with me: 

I am only accepting private clients in my 12-month Business Accelerator program (here) or  

By booking a VIP Grow Day which is intensive session designed to give you my undivided attention and acceleration to accomplish something extremely fast. More information here. 

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – whether you’re a lawyer, accountant or other professional, real estate investor – there’s a lot of competition for clients!

So how do you stand out from your competition?

And what if standing out didn’t involve endless posting on social media?

During this engaging episode, Chantal & I share:

• Why being good in business isn’t good enough and why you have to build a stand-out business.
• Her ABCs of how a client ‘chooses’ you.
• How she and I buy boots and shoes (it does have relevance).
• 5 strategies to stand out.
• Her Stand Out test (here) as well as her new book.

ABOUT CHANTAL CORNELIUS

Since founding Appletree Marketing in 2000, Chantal Cornelius has spent the last two decades helping hundreds of service-based businesses grow and achieve their goals by making strong emotional connections with their clients.

Chantal knows that the key to standing out from competitors is to build strong, long-lasting relationships with clients.  Her mission is to help business owners realize that the path to success doesn’t involve churning out endless social content.  In her work, Chantal introduces service-based businesses to different Stand Out Strategies that they can use to make the best emotional connection with their clients.  She explains how to utilize them, in order to stand out from their competitors, by incorporating more emotion and empathy into their work.

Her third book, scheduled to be published in the autumn of 2024, further explores the emotions behind consumers’ buying decisions.

When she is now showing her clients how to blow their own trumpets, Chantal is the National President of the Professional Speaking Association (UK) and can also be found riding her horse, walking her dog, or working in her garden!

Connect with Chantal here or on LinkedIn

ACTION PLAN:

1. Listen to how your clients feel about working with you.
2. Take the Stand Out Test (here).
3. Of the 5 strategies (certainty, connection, contribution, growth, significance) which one resonates best with you.
4. Get your report from Chantal on how to use your best Stand Out Strategy.  
5. If you’d like more support to further build a stand-out business, Book a Growth Strategy Session – www.dianalidstone.com/apply.

Connect with me here:

• [email protected]
• www.dianalidstone.com
• https://www.facebook.com/diana.lidstone
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiredianalidstone/

WORK WITH ME:

Currently, there are 2 ways you can work with me:

I am only accepting private clients in my 12-month Business Accelerator program (here) or 

By booking a VIP Grow Day which is intensive session designed to give you my undivided attention and acceleration to accomplish something extremely fast. More information here.

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

Can’t believe that this is the last week of this free 5-part training series on how to get focus and find your freedom without hiring an additional employee!

One thing I know for sure is that when I listen to podcasts like these – great ideas pop into my head and I need a place to record them – rather than little bits of paper scattered all over the place.

Don’t forget to grab your workbook here: www.dianalidstone.com/takenotes so you outline how you’ll implement these strategies.

If you missed the earlier part of this workshop series, you can find them here:

• Ep 155 – Get Focused: Build your business with purpose
• Ep 156 – Which activities move the needle?
• Ep 157 – Free up time: Why it’s Systems BEFORE Team 
• Ep 158 – Save Time & Sanity: 5 Productivity Strategies 
• Ep 159 – How to Reduce Your Workload: A 7-Step Sequence

Today – I want to share a couple things with you:

1. How much time you will actually save if you implement the strategies and tactics I’ve shared with you this week – you’ll be astounded!!
2. The 9 core pillars you MUST master if you want to grow and scale without hustle and burnout (WLPM Framework)
3. The exact sequence you’ll need to implement right now and in the future

WANT TO………

• Get back on track?
• Stay focused on the right activities for your business right now?
• Eliminate what’s not working?
• Make a plan for the upcoming 90 days?
• And have me right along side you to guide you?!

Check out https://dianalidstone.com/shop/quarterly-retreat/

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Ep 64: https://dianalidstone.com/blog/podcast/ep-64-want-to-make-more-money-niche-down/
• Ep 65: https://dianalidstone.com/blog/podcast/ep-65-debunk-5-niching-myths-if-you-want-to-scale-your-small-business/
• Ep 24: https://dianalidstone.com/blog/podcast/ep-24-fall-in-love-with-marketing-use-your-content-personality-to-attract-your-dream-clients-with-guest-amy-hager/
• Ep 56: https://dianalidstone.com/blog/podcast/ep-56-client-attraction-without-social-media-is-it-possible/

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

Research shows that of the time given to a workday, 80% is spent doing tasks with little to no value and only 20% is spent doing something important. That’s a BIG scary stat!

And yet when Google sends me my website report, one of the MOST looked at pages – is a blog I wrote in 2018 – how to increase your odds of success by 95% ... it seems people WANT to be more productive.

So today – Day 4 of my free masterclass, The Ultimate Focus & Freedom Masterclass, I’ve cobbled together not just 5 productivity tips to save you time and your sanity but more like 5 concepts to apply in your business that will make you more productive.

Don’t forget to grab your workbook here so you can create how you’ll best apply these concepts. One thing I know for sure is that when I listen to podcasts like these – great ideas pop into my head and I need a place to record them – rather than little bits of paper scattered all over the place.

If you missed the earlier part of this workshop series, you can find them here:

• Ep 155 – Get Focused: Build your business with purpose
• Ep 156 – Which activities move the needle?
• Ep 157 – Free up time: Why it’s Systems BEFORE Team 
• Ep 158 – Save Time & Sanity: 5 Productivity Strategies 

Next week – the exact sequence to implement big changes in your business:

Ep 159 – How to Reduce Your Workload: A 7-Step Sequence.

Want to really save some time?  Make more $$$? Have more freedom?

If you’re feeling like the Chief Everything Officer of your business or feeling overwhelmed and frustrated because you just can’t seem to get stuff done – then I invite you to attend my upcoming QBFPD – it’s one of the best solutions to

• Getting back on track
• Staying focused on the right activities for your business right now
• Eliminate what’s not working
• Make a plan for the upcoming 90 days!
• And have me right alongside you to guide you!

Check out https://dianalidstone.com/shop/quarterly-retreat/

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• CEO WEEKLY Checklist: 5 tips to make your week more productive– download here
• https://trafft.com/time-management-statistics/
• 5 Easy Ways to Increase Your Productivity – read here
• 9 Productivity Tips to Work Smarter, not harder! – read here
• Shonda Rhimes – Year of Yes (book)
• My typical Model Agenda – view here
• 9 Activators of Your Well-Oiled Business Machine – view here

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

If you’re anything like a lot of my clients, you heard this before… Systems will set you free! Sound familiar? But what I do hear back from my clients is that they don’t know where to start to create systems and they are often confused about what it truly means to create systems.

It’s Week 3 of my 5-week podcast training series The Ultimate Focus & Freedom Masterclass designed to help you save 10+ hours per week in your business without hiring another employee!

If you’re just joining me – be sure to head back to episode 155 – to start from the beginning.  

• Ep 155 – Get Focused: Build your business with purpose
• Ep 156 – Which activities move the needle?
• Ep 157 – Free up time: Why it’s Systems BEFORE Team 
• Ep 158 – Save Time & Sanity: 5 Productivity Strategies 
• Ep 159 – How to Reduce Your Workload: A 7-Step Sequence

Although today is all about SYSTEMS – instead of giving you a specific exercise, like I did in previous episodes, I thought I would change it up and tell a story instead!

You’re going to hear about Cynthia, a lawyer, and her journey through growth, the growth trap, and finally creating systems to help her scale and ultimately have more joy, profit and freedom in her business.

RESOURCES: 

• Register: Check out https://dianalidstone.com/shop/quarterly-retreat/
• Download checklist:– www.dianalidstone.com/gifts-library

Check out the Work Less PROFIT More Business Freedom Framework here with its 9 essential elements that must be mastered so you can experience more joy, profit and freedom from your business.

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!

As a business owner, if you ever struggle with deciding what to tackle first on your to-do list or if you ever wonder how to pinpoint the tasks that will have the biggest impact on your business growth – have no fear, you aren’t alone. 

• Ep 155 – Get Focused: Build your business with purpose
• Ep 156 – Which activities move the needle?
• Ep 157 – Free up time: Why it’s Systems BEFORE Team 
• Ep 158 – Save Time & Sanity: 5 Productivity Strategies 
• Ep 159 – How to Reduce Your Workload: A 7-Step Sequence

This week’s episode will help you solve that challenge with a couple of simple, step by step exercises so you focus your time & energy on what matters most to your business growth.

It’s Week  2 of my 5-part podcast series The Ultimate Focus & Freedom Masterclass and if you’re just joining me – be sure to head back to episode 155 – to start from the beginning.  You can grab your workbook here – www.dianalidstone.com/takenotes so you can easily follow along.

Today is all about you choosing the right activities for you to work on, for your business, for RIGHT now. Once you see the simplicity of what I’m going to share, you’ll always know exactly where to focus your time.

Let’s get going….

OTHER RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Think Like a CEO, free book chapter (Here)
• Fall in Love with your marketing: Use your content personality (listen here)

Share your feedback with me by clicking here and leaving a short voice message!