Category: Productivity
Do your 2013 goals excite you?
| January 2, 2013 | Posted by krista under Be Inspired, Goals, Leadership, Productivity, Solopreneurship |
We all know the importance of goal setting…especially those of us who are self-employed.
As I train new business partners in my company, one of the very first things we do is set short-term and long-term goals. Coming into the new year, however, I’ve set my goals a bit differently.
I’ve realized that while business goals are important, long-term life goals are even more important. At the end of the day, what good is a successful business if one is simply living to build a solid business? We all know there’s more to life than that. And that greater life purpose is what fuels business success – for it’s through the flourishing of my business that my greater calling will also pursued.
I often compare this to taking a vacation. If you don’t know your ultimate travel destination, how do you prepare to get there? It’s rather silly to book a hotel or research sight-seeing activities if you haven’t decided where you are going.
In the past, I’ve simply set month-to-month business goals, adjusting them as necessary…not necessarily taking into account the larger picture at play. As 2012 came to a close, however, I took several weeks to reflect on where I’ve been, where I am now and where I desire to be. A guide that REALLY helped me accomplish this was Michael Hyatt’s Life Plan. You can get yours here. (Yes, to access it you must sign up for his weekly email. Remember, you can always unsubscribe…although, I really enjoy his weekly emails.)
Thankfully he explains the process well because drafting this life plan was not easy. It really forces you to into deep thinking about your priorities and where you see yourself in the future. Most people don’t think this way. And we’re certainly not taught to think this way. Society teaches us to go to school and pray we find a job. Hope it pays us what we feel we’re worth. Pray we’re spared during layoffs, etc. I don’t understand why we put so much more hope and faith in Corporate America when applying even a small portion of that energy into personal development would pay exponentially more.
In closing, I have to admit that my 2013 goals make me giddy. As I look back at the last two years, I see that, even with the puny goals I set for 2011 and 2012, my business doubled. Thanks to the time and effort I’ve put into drafting this life plan, I’ve created some big personal/professional goals that really excite me…and I’m on pace to triple my business this year. What a great feeling. If that’s what I’m planning for, then I can only imagine where my faith and hope will lead…
What is your experience in goal-setting or visioneering? Do you have an accountability partner to help you stay on task with your goals? I’d love to hear about your experience in this area.
How do I keep my business moving forward? By becoming a productivity ninja…
| August 11, 2012 | Posted by krista under Be Inspired, Business, Productivity |
A common response I hear from those in my industry or other business owners in general is “I just don’t have enough time” to do…[fill in the blank].
Here’s the thing. We all have the same amount of time in our days. It’s not a matter of having enough time…it’s a matter of not choosing to make the time to work towards things you’ve said are important. (Remember one of my recent posts? “You can do anything, but not everything…”) If you’ve set a few key priorities and then organize your time and energy around those priorities…you will see results!
Take a moment to watch this brief video and join me in becoming a productivity ninja! Who’s with me?!
I’d love to connect with you, so tweet me, leave a response on my Facebook fan page or simply respond below.
Warmly,
Krista Dial
Motivational Monday: You can do anything, but not everything.
| July 30, 2012 | Posted by krista under Be Inspired, Business, Goals, Leadership, Productivity |
Sad, I know. That means choices must be made. Choices can be difficult. And ultimately, when it comes to choosing priorities for your business or life, in general, you are the chief decision maker.
It’s easy to get “shiny object” syndrome and want to jump at everything that appears to benefit us personally or feed our businesses. When we say “yes” to everything that crosses our desks or inboxes, however, that means everything becomes a priority…and if everything is important…then really, nothing is a true priority.
We must learn to be selfish with our time and focus on our top priorities. Only then can those priorities flourish.
I have first-hand experience with this. I’ve been involved with several non-profit volunteer board member roles and also participate in a number of business networking groups. These are wonderful ways to meet new people and give back to the community. Before I knew it, I was in over my head with volunteer roles, spending too much time networking without allowing time for ample follow-up and not allowing myself enough time in other areas that are vital to my business. I was feeling overwhelmed, overworked and over-committed. I realized what I’d done and knew I had to make some important decisions, so I started to really take ownership of my time. Besides, I’m my own boss…so this was all my own fault. Being the people-pleaser that I am, I knew that I had to start learning how to say “no”.
So I left the networking groups that weren’t benefiting my business and I left the volunteer groups where everyone seemed to be spinning their wheels. I made a decision that I would only commit to new activities that were in direct alignment with my availability and my priorities…and this commitment to myself has paid off exponentially.
For those of you in a network marketing or direct sales business, remember that there is one true way we build our businesses…by engaging with people. There are great ways you can start engaging with people via social media, but nothing beats the telephone, a face-to-face chat via Skype or an in-person conversation over coffee. It’s as simple as that. We can’t grow by immersing ourselves in 20 networking groups, “virtually vomiting” all over the Internet about how great our product/company is or attempting to “convince” people to work with us. Keep it simple. Remember your priorities. Focus on consistent daily activity to achieve the goals associated with that priority and you will see success.
If you need help moving your business or a certain project forward, I highly recommend reading David Allen‘s “Getting Things Done” and “Making It All Work“. I’ve read both and have implemented many of Allen’s strategies for project/task/information management.
Also, head over to Rock n Roll Bride and read Kat’s interpretation of why being selfish with your time and skillset is crucial to your success.
What are your tips for taking control of your priorities and getting things done?
I’d love to connect with you, so tweet me, leave a response on my Facebook fan page or simply respond below.
Warmly,
Krista Dial
Are you scheduling meetings with tungle?
| September 7, 2011 | Posted by krista under Business, Leadership, Productivity, Solopreneurship |
Although I consider myself an early adopter, when it comes to scheduling meetings and staying organized, I’ll admit, I’m a bit more old school. I use a purple Franklin Covey leather-bound planner and keep track of tasks and projects using lists and folders (per David Allen’s Getting Things Done method).
As a self-employed individual, networking and meetings are imperative to my business. It’s not uncommon for me to meet with 6-8 new contacts, business partners or friends per week. Back in July, keeping track of meeting requests and following up with meeting requests really started to get stressful and confusing, so I signed up for a tungle.me account. The tungle tagline is “easily schedule meetings anytime, anywhere.” Sounds exactly like what I needed.
Unfortunately I let my tungle account sit, unused, for a little over a month. To make tungle work, you have to add your meetings to an online medium like Google Calendar and sync it with tungle. Because I use a paper-based planning system, I decided the payoff couldn’t be worth the time and effort to regularly input my data into an online form to implement tungle, so I didn’t use it.
Boy, was I wrong! Last week, scheduling meetings started to overwhelm me again. I decided to revisit my tungle account and take 20 minutes to input my current commitments for the next 60 days. I responded to several folks who’d contacted me about meeting them and included my unique personalized link (http://www.tungle.me/krista), asking them to view my availability and propose a few meeting times that worked on their end and we’d go from there. By the end of the day, three meetings were booked!
If you’re looking for a way to be more effective with scheduling meetings, I highly recommend using tungle. I’ve been using it for just over a week and have already booked 9 meetings because of it. (Keep in mind that I’ve been trying to plan many of these meetings for at least 1-3 months.) Thanks to tungle, I no longer waste time looking at my calendar to pick 2-3 dates and times that I’m available and email the person only to learn those times don’t work for him or her. Tungle eliminates these steps.
If you’re already using an electronic-based planning system, you’re one step ahead! Are you using tungle or a similar web-based scheduling program? Has it made you more productive? Please share how you effectively schedule your meetings. We’d love to hear from you!
Need to get those creative juices flowing?
| August 31, 2011 | Posted by krista under Business, Creativity, Productivity |
I subscribe to A TON of blogs. One of my new favorites is More Design Please, which led me to this fabulously inspiring print. For those days when you just can’t quite get the creative juices flowing, reference these 29 tips and I promise you’ll be on the path to more enlightened creativity. Speaking of…I’m off to read a book with a piping hot cup of coffee…Happy Wednesday, friend!
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