The other day, I shared the first of five tips for creatively planning for a joyfully successful 2010. I truly believe that it’s all about intention. The intentions that are aligned with your goals and purposes for being in this business in the first place, as well as purposefully designing your business. (Tip #1 was to schedule a creative planning day.)

Tip #2: Get out of your home office

I find that creativity, sparks, ideas, and inspiration don’t usually come when I’m sitting at my desk. Going to a new environment like a café, a friend’s retreat house, the lobby of a beautiful hotel, or even renting a lovely space for the day will shift my energy. What does shifting energy mean? Instead of having a “head down – what needs to be done next” focus, I’m able to have a “heads up and looking at the horizon” type of perspective.

By shifting your location, you are able to shift your perspective, and then you shift what’s possible. New ideas come to you. Just the act of planning to go on a creative retreat outside of your office will subconsciously start pulling new ideas and thoughts toward you. Suddenly you will find that you are making notes of ideas to explore when you have your retreat time. Your commitment will cause your creative momentum to start moving in that direction.

“The system is the solution.”

-Michael E. Gerber

Michael Gerber is just fantastic.   How could I start my chapter on systems without a nod to the systems guru?

Please feel free to tweet this, using the hashtag #flourish with the quote.

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If you are anything like me, you are inspired by people who have interesting things they say.  Feel free to print this out and post on your own bulletin board, keep in your wallet, or anywhere you’ll see it regularly.

“The difference between ‘try’ and ‘triumph,’ is just a little ‘umph.’”
-Bonnie Przybylski

You just have to love this quote so I added it to chapter 6 in my book, Flourish! 10 Easy, Elegant, and Essential Marketing Strategies for Solo- and Micropreneurs. What are you doing to give yourself and your business little umph today?

Finding Time to address the challenge of procrastination head on will boost your productivity and reduce your stress in one fell swoop!

Today I am sharing another adapted article from our Finding Time E-zine. It offers 3 practical questions for getting a handle on procrastination – and finding time for what matters most!

Having templates for ongoing or seasonal activities is one of the biggest time savers you can possibly institute for yourself. But, what if you are a procrastinator?

Then, even if you created a template, you might find it hard to use it effectively. You may read your list and review your template, but if you don’t complete tasks in the time allotted, your list and template become sources of stress themselves.

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I wanted to quickly share with you an article I read in the NY times today about what pulls high-level athletes forward (because it relates to your business success as well!)

Kevin Hanson, who started a team of elite runners, says American runners’ performances declined in the 1990’s, when they started training on their own, whereas “the countries whose distance runners were the best- all emphasized training in groups”- in addition to training with a knowledgeable coach.

Further, Ms. Kara Groucher who had the fastest time ever for an American woman running her first marathan, says “I think it’s possible to train on your own, but I do think it’s much better in a group.  You see success in each other” (Gina Kolata, NY Times, E10, 9-17-09).

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“Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.” – Gordon Parks

In the dictionary the definition of enthusiasm is lively, absorbing, an activity in which much interest is shown!

Are you enthusiastic and passionate about what you do in life?

Do you show enthusiasm about your business when you speak about it to others?

Do you find yourself excited and motivated to get up each day because you are so enthusiastic about what you do?

If you answered no to any of the above I suggest you ask yourself why not and then give your attitude a tune up!

I want to encourage you to create a meaningful vision for yourself and your business.

James Allen has a great quote where he says, “For true success, ask yourself these four questions.” These are actually the four questions I would like you to use in creating a vision for how you’re going to launch your business. If you’ve had a business and you’re looking at revamping and revitalizing it, ask the same questions. They’re very powerful for someone just starting or for someone who’s looking to go to the next level.

James Allen’s quote is “For true success, ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?”

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I could write reams about productivity and perfection so I’ll just give you an easy suggestion: Keep a weekly log so you can see what needs to get done. Keep it simple. Just use one page with columns and print it each week. When it’s only on your computer you don’t have to look if you don’t choose to and that’s not productive!

• Project

• Priority Weekly Action

• How Long

• Finish Date

Sometimes my clients turn this weekly sheet into daily action steps, other times they use this as a weekly guide and add a daily action plan. Use whatever works best for you, however always have some kind of daily plan that keeps you focused and moving forward. Listen in to our education forum in August when we have Maggie McCauley from a New View For You as our guest expert. I know one of the things she will be sharing is how to maximize your time and energy.

If you’re a solopreneur you came into that status in one of two ways.

1. For whatever reason, you lost your job and are calling yourself a solopreneur while you look around for new employment.
2. You have dreamed (usually for a long time) about doing a particular type of work, you may have felt called to get out on your own to do this work, and you sincerely hope and believe that whatever you are doing is truly your life’s work.

That’s usually how it goes.  And whichever category you are in, finding your soul (sole) purpose is important, because you will become filled with fire and passion, find a commitment within yourself that fuels focus and action, become unstoppable.  Whether you do that working for someone else or for yourself, you will be adding value to the world.  You will be adding love to the world.  You will be courageously modeling for others what it is like to live from deeply rooted, certain knowledge about your soul (sole) purpose.

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“Ability is what you’re capable of doing.  Motivation determines what you can do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.”
~Lou Holtz

By now you have no doubt had your ups and downs with running your business (marketing, sales, production).   Like running a 26-mile marathon you have had adrenaline pumping days and days when you’ve hit the proverbial wall.  If you’re like most of us you’ve been both very excited by your results and extremely frustrated with yourself for having fallen behind.  What causes these things to happen and what part does attitude play?

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