As a small business coach and entrepreneur, I love to read customer service answers to questions that a business’s customers actually ask. Here’s one that came to my inbox this morning. Question: Do you take orders over the phone? Answer: We can take orders over the phone, but we go through the same account creation process that you would go through yourself over the Internet. If you want to phone in your order, we will be happy to help you, but you can do it all from the comfort of your own PC as well!
If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, chances are you know my beloved BlackBerry died last week — I love my “scroll wheel” and have had a similiar model for over 10 years (I know you iphone peeps are cringing).
They no longer make scroll wheels. Now it’s all touchpads and touchscreens.
As I tested the Droid and Droid2 (on the Verizon platform where I’ve been), I quickly realized that it wasn’t what I wanted. Luckily, BlackBerry came out with it’s new Torch and the ATT store was right next door.
15 minutes into “playing”, this is what I wanted.
Back next door to Verizon to see if they have anything comparable.
“Nope, but we’ll be getting new BlackBerries sometime before Christmas. Can you wait till then?” said the Verizon rep.
When you run a business—especially by yourself—day in and day out it can be hard to stay positive. Especially when things aren’t going exactly as you’d planned (and hey, that happens to all of us).
While I have a whole list of things I do regularly to keep my spirits up like exercising, making time for myself, and laughing as much as possible sometimes it isn’t enough.
That’s why I try to start every day by focusing on being thankful for at least five things in my life—no matter how small. Because I’ve learned you have to celebrate even the smallest good things in life since the big ones don’t roll around often enough.
And life is so good right now I decided I just had to share!
Hopefully reading my list will be uplifting and inspiring for you too…
“People are happiest and most satisfied in life when they are engaged in actions and activities that draw upon their natural capacities, skills, and abilities.”
It’s true, and this is the sixth principle of Perceptual Style Theory or PST a theory that I developed with my colleague Lynda-Ross Vega to help us make sense of the everyday differences people experience between themselves and others.
This is part six of our article series on PST – to review here are the first 6 principles of PST:
People perceive the world differently.
Differences in perception result in psychological diversity, and psychological diversity is the most profound diversity there is.
Perceptual differences can be grouped into 6 unique Perceptual Styles.
Everyone believes that their way of experiencing the world is the right way (and until they learn differently – the only way!).
A person’s Perceptual Style is innate and determines what natural capacities, skills, and abilities they have.
People are happiest and most satisfied in life when they are engaged in actions and activities that draw upon their natural capacities, skills, and abilities.
I had an amazing interview with Laura West yesterday on my “Spotlight on Style” radio show on the Diva Toolbox Network at BlogTalk Radio. Our topic was “How to Market Your Business Like a Business Goddess for More Success with Grace and Joy” and Laura did not disappoint! I’ve been coaching with Laura for several years now and feel so connected to her joy-full approach to marketing for heart-based business owners like me. She shared some fabulous information with my listeners, including the “7 Traps” that we face as women entrepreneurs. I guarantee you will learn some valuable tips from this call! If you missed it, or just want to listen again, you can go to my show page for the replay.
Here’s how you can connect with Laura and learn more about the Business Goddess movement:
Finding time to de-clutter is something that is often on our To Do Lists. It can be one of those items that keeps getting moved from list to list – never quite making it to the top.
Why is that? There are many reasons. Other tasks can often seem more pressing and take priority. Add to that the fact that many of us have difficulties with letting go, and you have a sure-fire recipe for procrastination. I would add that when a task like de-cluttering becomes a “should” in our minds, then that alone can often bring out enough rebelliousness to keep the activity shelved!
Last night when I was putting my work away and getting ready to leave my office, a guest post by Barrie Davenport on Zen Habits caught my eye. Titled “How to Simplify When You Love Your Stuff,” it offers ideas and insights about simplifying and simplicity that I found very intriguing – most especially her comments on mindfulness and balance.
The Sentelligent Solution is all about learning to pay attention to the messages our senses are telling us. This goes beyond what is happening inside our body. It also pertains to what is happening in our homes, in our environment, and on the planet in general.
This applies to the everyday things that happen in our life as well as the larger scale issues of what is happening on our planet. It is all the same.
Let me give you an example on a smaller scale. I was visiting my mom in Florida recently. Mom is 83 years old and widowed and lives by herself. She is in remarkably good health and still lives a fairly active lifestyle.
About a year ago, I noticed that there was this loud banging noise when I turned on the shower in her master bath and only when I turned the knob past the noise did the water came out. I found the noise quite disconcerting.
I’m a big fan of Donna Amos and everything she does to help solopreneurs be more successful. So I just couldn’t resist sharing this short but powerful tip from a recent edition of her daily “Inspiration to Start Your Day”. She hits the nail right on the head. Enjoy!
By: Donna Amos
“Successful people are successful because they form the habits of doing
those things that failures don’t like to do.” – Albert Gray
You can get more of what you want done, if you simply stop confusing EFFORT with RESULTS. Where could you have used a little help from someone else today? Different people possess different expertise. Are you tapping all the talent that’s available to you? Who could help you most with the difficult situation before you right now? What system can you create to help automate your most productive activities?
We all ‘know’ we need systems and processes in place for everything in our business.
Do you understand why you don’t put them in place? I’ve come up with 5 reasons. Or are they excuses?
1. Too Comfortable – in our habits
2. Resistant to Change – the status quo we know
3. We assume putting systems in place will be Too complicated/complex – even before we check out the options
4. We think it will be Too expensive – it must be more expensive than doing what we’ve always done – right?
5. Supported in our (old) ways – by current habits, friends, family, lifestyle and by what we’ve always known.
Do any of these sound familiar? What gets in your way?
If you feel more like a rat on a wheel than a successful entrepreneur of vision, then this video’s for you. Maybe you’ve heard of the E-Myth and the 4-Hour Work Week. Here’s my philosophy for having a successful business and enjoying your life!
