I’ve gotten this question a few times this week and honestly I hear this questions all the time. It's a really good question, but a tough one to explain. “What happens if my family or friends don’t support my dreams, I don't know that I can do it”. Well here’s the thing, if your family or friends don’t support you they don’t need to be in your immediate life. Ouch right, it’s a hard couple of words to hear but there might be some truth in it. Becoming your own boss takes a LOT of work. You must dedicate time to your business. You need to be able to contact people and build relationships with them. You need to be able to show that what you are doing or selling does work and can benefit others. You need to earn the trust of those you want to work with the most. All of these things take time. These items aren’t going to happen over night, they take time. Your family and friends may not see the worth in your efforts because they aren't immediate like if you’d just get a “9-5”. Sadly, I can personally say that I know what it’s like not to have a partner, family member, and friends support you in your dreams. To constantly hear “what have you done?” “Have you made any sales?” “Oh look they’re hiring, you could apply there” “We should just talk to them about you working”. It’s disheartening. It makes you feel like you're worthless and that all your hard work goes unnoticed completely because you're not working a “9-5” like the rest of society. Many people give up and just give in to what these types of comments because it’s hard to be put you down all the time. Maybe they don't mean to do it maliciously but it still happens and it hurts. You Are NOT Alone!! Many people go through this when they find their passion. You find your calling, you believe in it with all your heart, you see the potential, and EVERY DAY you make an effort to work towards those goals. You are on FIRE and you finally feel great about something. You’ve helped sooooo many people change their lives and yet you still get “Are you done playing on your computer?”. The idea of starting something new can be scary to others around you. When those around you are content in their lives, in their 9-5’s, in working for someone else who gives them orders, in not being able to take vacation unless their boss says its ok, it’s hard to make them see that what you want to do is worth something too. When you start a new venture you are going to find a number of your close friends and family will try to tell you your not going to be successful. It REALLY sucks to hear that but you need to be aware that it can happen. TRULY, that is the #1 piece of advice I can give to any new entrepreneur! Many people are uncomfortable with the unknown and they poo poo on those who do something different from them. When you start a business online many of those people in your close circle will think you are nuts at first. It’s terribly sad to think those that mean the most to you don’t believe in you. Sometimes you just have to bite your tongue, take their words, and just do your thing all the while knowing that someday you WILL show them that they were WRONG. If you are willing to dedicate time, energy, and effort into your passion you CAN achieve whatever you set your mind to. You CAN Make Your Dreams Come True -It Doesn't Matter What Anyone Else Thinks- You MUST believe in yourself in order to make your dreams come true. You ARE important and can accomplish whatever you put your mind to. You WILL succeed if you set goals and you work towards them each day. You WILL start to remove the negativity from your life once you start following your dreams. I can promise you WILL lose friends along your journey, but the thing is- if they were only there for you when your life was tough it just means they enjoyed having friend as miserable as they are. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life and you will begin attracting like minded people once you start building your new life. The reality of the situation is NO, your partner, your family, or your friends may not support you. Is that the worst thing ever? It sure feels like it in the moment. But truthfully the worst thing ever is you not achieving what you know can be a better life for you in the future because you're focused on someone else's opinion. YES it’s going to suck to have those closest to you get down on you, but you CAN rise above it if you know that your dreams can be a reality. You ARE important and I believe in you. If you need someone in your corner I’m here and ready to be your support system. I have a success partner who believes in me and that is enough to keep me moving forward in what I KNOW is my direction in life. Tie yourself to someone positive and ride their coat tails until you feel secure enough to fly on your own. You WILL build the life you deserve if you take a chance on yourself and choose to ignore those around you who are constantly negative. So what happens if your spouse, family, or friends don’t support you? Chase your dreams anyway! Work when they aren't around, build relationships when they are gone at work, work after they’ve gone to bed so that you don’t have to justify your time spent. Create the life you know you deserve and don’t let anyone try and stop you! You are worth more! xoxo, Lauren P.S. If you're looking to get your business started, going, or moving forward come join us for daily tips and trick on how to do just that! Click Here For--> Daily Motivation/Tips/Tricks
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It doesn’t matter if this is your first day in business or if you're a pro mapping out your goals is a MUST do to help you be more productive and successful in your business endeavors! If you merely “wing it” from day to day or week to week you might just end up spinning your wheels and getting nowhere fast. Being a full time mom certainly has it’s challenges. Let’s be real you're not “on point” every single day. BUT when you have a plan you are more likely to stay focused on your overall goal. I know that when I’m in full mommy mode for a day or two and I can’t work or i’m totally distracted I sometimes get down on myself or i’ll guilt myself into sitting to get some work done and then I feel bad about not doing my “mommy duty”. I have to take a minute, look at my plan, check my prioritize and realize that no matter what I will achieve what I set out to do because I have an end goal and a plan. Instead of all the “mom guilt” you put on yourself let’s take a few minutes and talk about how you can plan out your big goals ahead of time to help alleviate the stress now! 1. Grab your planner and map out your ENTIRE year! If you don’t have a planner yet GET ONE!!! I love my Erin Condren planner and I HIGHLY recommend them to you too! They have tons of space to get detailed, they have space for notes, and daily space for tasks. In a perfect world you would sit down plan out your tasks, crush your tasks, and be rolling in your business success with zero hiccups. BUUUUUTTTT you're a business building MOM who has things that need to be taken care of while running your business. Writing down what you need to achieve for each week based on your goals will help keep you focused and on track to reach each of your goals. Now I say “write it down” I don’t mean start with your planner. Good grief you’d have white out everywhere while youre making adjustments haha. I encourage you to outline everything in a notebook, on a piece of paper, in a digital document, etc so that you can see how you want your year to go. THEN add things to your planner! 2. Figure out FOUR things you want to accomplish in your business for the year. The reason I say four things is because there are 4 quarters to your year and in each 90 day cycle you should be able to accomplish a big task! For me I try to stick to income goals, content goals, subscriber goals, etc. This year I made some lofty goals since I went through a re-branding.
3. TAKE ACTION Once you figure out what you want to achieve you need a plan to MAKE IT HAPPEN! For me I sit down and create a list of what I want to happen in order to reach my. Let’s use my quarterly goals as an example. **Create a foundation for my business
** Reach 1000 mommas in my new FB group
**Create a new program to help mommies create income & stay home with their kiddos through maximizing their time and skills >> 4 Weeks To Build Your Online Business <<
**Promote new program >> 4 Weeks To Build Your Online Business <<
4. SET DEADLINES Now that i’ve mapped out everything I go back in and elaborate on each task. Once I know exactly what needs to be done in order to reach my goals I give each task a date that it needs to be accomplished by. With those dates I then go in and plug everything into my planner so that I can get a visual of where I am and what i’m working towards. Once I have a good idea of what activities i’m doing regularly I add them in on specific days each week/month again and again. For content sharing I go into my social media platforms once a week and schedule my posts so that i’m not forgetting to engage each and every day. I LOVE knowing what i’ve got coming up. I NEED too have a visual of what tasks i’m actively working on in order to keep myself focused and moving forward. If you're just starting out I highly suggest that you start planning 90 days at a time. You can literally change your life in 90 days with hard work and persistence. I have a FREE 90 Success Planner for you to use as a mock up or for an outline for your year planing. —> 90 Day planner xoxo, Lauren P.S. If you're looking to get your business started, going, or moving forward come join us for daily tips and trick on how to do just that! Click Here For--> Daily Motivation/Tips/Tricks
“Hey, I’ve got wraps on sale until tomorrow night, I was looking at your pictures and noticed you could use one. Are you interested?” Lets just talk for a quick second about how ALL of these are a hard NO for any potential customer you may have just added on your social media platform. These are all REAL messages I’ve received from people I either don’t know or people who had just added me as a friend. I'll be honest, not a single one of them got my business. I don’t know about you but some of these messages I personally found offensive and the others I just found pushy or annoying. So let’s just start off by saying this is not how you want to start conversations with any of your potential customers. You want to get to know your audience, make them feel comfortable with you, build trust before asking someone to invest with you. Have you ever gone to one of the big box stores and a few short steps inside the store there is a direct tv sales person standing there ready to pounce? Literally you walk past them and the first words out of their mouth is “Let me talk to you about upgrading your TV package”. Never once did they ask you how you were, if you had cable, if you even had a TV. Personally we don’t have cable at our house and we have no intention of ever having cable. For the longest time I only had one TV in my house and it was in a hutch that always stayed closed. You tend to say “no thanks” and just keep walking because no one likes to be a part of a blatant sales pitch. The same principle applies to your business. You need to build a relationship, trust, and confidence among your audience. Think of building your audience like dating. You have to get to know someone before you decide you want to spend time with them. Once an individual accept your friend request, follows your board, tweets you back, etc. it’s always a great idea to shoot them a message. NOT a “buy my stuff” message!! This is a time to get to know your new friend. Scroll through some of the persons profile and find something you have in common and ask questions without making it about you! Ask the person questions about themselves. Shoot them a Birthday message. Ask them how their kids are enjoying whatever program their in. Tell them how much you LOVE their photos of xyz. Connect with a person on a friends level before you ever pitch to them. Getting to know your audience, building trust, and sharing with them opens up an entirely new channel for communication and down the line on boarding them. Some things to AVOID: *Posting blatantly about your business *Asking your audience to “CLICK HERE” to BUY without ever getting to know them (Unless it’s a promotion offer) *Making EVERY SINGLE post about your business *Soliciting products on someone else’s page (Do NOT ask your friends if you can post your “for sale” items on their walls!) *Talking trash about your competitors on your page or theirs *Using stock photos of your products *Having a profile picture that isn’t your face Some things to DO: *Get to know people: who they are, what they like, their hobbies, etc. * Share YOU doing normal every day things (people work with those they can relate to) * Use a picture for your profile that shows your smiling face * Share YOU using your product or living your moto without a “BUY NOW” action call * Grow your audience * Invite daily *Get into groups with others you share interests with No one likes a sleazy car sales man who only follows you around the lot (social media) wanting to sell you something. Make some friends, make those connections, invite people into your world, and then offer them a glimpse into what you have to share. To snag some sample posts that will entice your audience with you having to pitch your products click here --> SNAG YOUR PDF xoxo, Lauren P.S. Don't Forget To Join Us For Wine Wednesday- We Mommas deserve wine while we master out businesses --> Join Us
How many of you have beat your head against your table trying to just “stay ahead” of your “work load” trying to engage with your audience? I mean you’re on social media, you have an e-mail list, you have groups, you need to post in groups, you run live events, etc. Theres SOOO much stuff you share that you need to come up with it might seem like, at times, you're drowning just keeping up with content. When you first start your business it can be OVERWHELMING without a doubt.
What I quickly had to realize was that I was creating content and sharing it one time and it was lost in the universe never to be heard from again :O. That’s about the time i’d reached my breaking point. I finally signed up for seminars to help me structor my business and MAN was it way overdue. During one of the seminars I learned about using autoresponders- BAM - Business changer in seconds! One of the BEST things about using an autoresponder is that you can write your content ONCE and then each time someone signs up for your e-mail list they will receive your content in different intervals so you're genius content doesn't go to waste. Still not following? Ok lemme break it down! If you have 10 people sign up for your e-mail list those 10 people will get the content you're sharing, then you send those 10 people another genius e-mail, and another, etc. they are reading your genius content. Well if person number 11 signs up 15 days down the road they will get the original e-mail they signed up for and then all of the other e-mails you have scheduled to go out according to how you’ve scheduled them. You don’t just share your content once on a platform and let it go out into the universe to die along with your engagement. You can continually have your word spread out with an autoresponder! This was literally the BIGGEST time-saver for me. I kept creating content and sharing it again and again and again and again…. it was time consuming and I rarely knew if anyone was getting a chance to read what I was sharing. That simply does NOT work now that I am a busy mom who runs the house, cooks the meals, cares for the baby, runs the errands, sets up the appointments, goes to the appointments, you get the idea. Using an autoresponder means that your content is on autopilot. Your audience will always be engaged even if you aren't there with them the second they sign up. Autoresponders are fantastic tools for blogs, resources, links, upcoming webinar announcements, promos, all sorts of stuff! You might think “But I can’t engage with my audience if i’m just sending them content” SURE your can!! At the end of each of my e-mails I ask a question, invite my audience to join my Wine Wednesday Session, encourage them to go and do, etc. There is ALWAYS the option to e-mail me back if there are any questions :D. Now what autoresponder do you choose? Gosh, there are literally a TON and I have tried MANY of them! While i’m not going to cover all of them I will share with you my absolute favorite one- I use Convert Kit. It is SUPPPPPEEEER simple to use, there are a ton of templates, you can build relationships with your audience view a newsletter, and its a great tool to incorporate into your business. Another amazing thing about Convert Kit is their customer service. I had some questions when I first started with them and I jumped on a live chat with one of their reps and my questions were answered quickly and thoroughly. To me customer service for a company is extremely important, if you are not there for your customers when they need you the most then you aren't great in your business ;-) . I HIGHLY recommend checking them out if you want to continually engage your audience with little effort. It’s time to start engaging!! xoxo, Lauren P.S. If you’ve missed a Wine Wednesday don’t fret, we have another one this coming Wednesday!!! --> Join Us
Have you ever shelled out a booty load of money for something to “fix” your problem only to figure out whatever you bought simply didn't work? I know I absolutely have. Ive shelled out a significant amount of money on live trainings, books, e-books, webinars, higher education, etc. all which promised something I was looking for. Only, in the end, I was disappointed to find out what I was promised wasn't actually going to occur. If you are a business owner of any kind the last thing you want to hear is that your customer thinks you're a quack pot and that your products don't work. A good rule of thumb for an online business owner is to assure your services match the offer you create. 1. Make sure you are providing a guided transformation What I mean is don’t just give a bunch of info and say “here you go, good luck, hope you figure it out!”. No you actually need to walk your customers through your programs, your tutorials, your services and make sure they know how to use your guidance effectively. The proverbial, take them form point A to point B comes to mind here. *Take a look at what you are sharing, make sure that there is a journey within your info, and assure there is an achievable end result that your customer can obtain. 2. Determine What Your Customers Needs To Learn And Share That Info If you are creating a video tutorial don’t simply sit down and ramble about whatever it is you “think” your customer wants adding erroneous examples here and there. NOPE NOPE NOPE. You need to make are whatever you provide offers your customer an end result. Before you sit down and hit record try creating an outline of what you need to cover. Write down topics, objectives, and results you want to provide. This little tool will help you from getting long winded and sharing unnecessarily. Having an outline keeps you on track and allows you to share that “point A to point B” info your customer is looking for. You can always share example stories as long as they relate to what your customer needs to learn. 3. Be Sure You Know Ahead Of Time What Your Customer Will Need To Do To Achieve Results Back to the video tutorial example, you outline what you want to cover and how your customer will achieve the end goal. Now you need to be sure that you are communicating clearly to them what steps they will need to take in order to achieve their point A to point B. You can do this by creating action steps, workable hand outs, actions assignments, to-do list’s, check lists, etc. It’s one thing to provide information to your customer but it’s another thing to help them follow through with what they’ve learned. By providing them interactive ways to apply what they have learned you are helping them achieve the goals they set out to reach by purchasing your program. Now, go make some happy customers! xoxo, Lauren P.S. Don't Forget To Join Us For Wine Wednesday- We Mommas deserve wine while we master out businesses --> Join Us
Idunno about you but I always want to increase my sales in business. I am in business to help mommas but i’m also in business to build my families dreams. Over the last five years in business I can without a doubt say there have been REALLY good ups in my online sales. But there have equally been just as many lows. What works in one instance for a sales share may not work for another sales share. It is a battle of trial and error sometimes. I know, I know, not exactly what you want to here. But it’s totally true! Now that does NOT mean it’s impossible to achieve more sales. There are three techniques that I have found time and time again that do in fact help boost my sales and I feel like they will absolutely benefit your business too. #1 Create An Offer Your Target Audience Simply Can’t Refuse You already have the content you just have to give it a little thought. Now, you might think this is hard but really this can be SUPER simple. Think for a minute what the answers to the following are:
Now that you have the answers to those questions do you see how you already have something your target audience will want? By providing them the answers to their questions you will be offering them something they simply can’t refuse. Your audience will literally be jumping out of their seats to hear the answers to their questions. If you’re looking for more things to share try reaching out to your audience and asking them what they want. I’ve done surveys, e-mails, facebook polls, pinterest shares, etc. You can get feedback from your audience many different ways. #2 Explain EXACTLY What Results You Will Help Your Audience Reach Have you ever tried the “latest” beauty product guaranteed to make your skin youthful looking only to realize it’s just another cream that doesn't do anything? When you offer your audience something you can’t simply promise them success or a better way to do XYZ. You must be able to provide them results. When you offer your audience something specific they WANT, MUST HAVE, WILL DO ANYTHING FOR your idea. They will literally be able to see themselves achieving the things you have promised them. “Lost the 15lbs you gained during the holidays” or “Your first big ticket client in 7 days”. These are specific things a client will be able to reach. The key here is to engage with your audience, figure out what they specifically need help with, have something for your audience that specifically meets their desired needs, and offer them the sure fire results they are looking to achieve. #3 Show A Sense Of Urgency In Your Offer Let me ask you first, what is so enticing about black friday shopping? It’s the fact that the sales are “one day” sales at the “lowest prices” and you must act now. You see a sense of urgency and you take action before you “miss out” on the sales. That’s exactly what you’ll want to do with whatever it is you have to offer. Your audience will make a purchase because they don’t want to miss out on an opportunity. “Bonus Content Available For The First 15 People Who Purchase” or “Program Half Off For 7 Days” or “15 Spots Left & The Doors Are Closing”. Just like you do on black friday, you jump on the sales, your audience will want to do the same with your products because they don’t want to miss out on a good deal. There is no secret to success in sales, it’s all about asking yourself what your audience wants and then giving it to them. When sharing your offers just make sure you are creating something they can’t refuse, explain exactly what problem you will solve for them, and show a sense of urgency. With these three tips you're bound to see an increase in your sales in no time ;-) Grab your tools to start building your online business now --> Tools Until next time! xoxo, Lauren P.S. Don't Forget To Join Us For Wine Wednesday- We Mommas deserve wine while we master out businesses --> Join Us
I was listening to Darren Daily one day last year and I realized, not only does his advice start my day off on the right foot but he always has these amazing words of wisdom that I start implementing in my business and waaaalaaaa magic happens! When you are a stay at home mom, you literally need to use your time wisely in order to accomplish everything. Chunking is the BEST way I have found to be able to work my business and my mom life seamlessly. While I have been able to find more time in my day then every before I like to use my time wisely so I'm not all over the page when I sit down to work. Side note—> If you are looking for more time in your day check out my blog on “Managing Business & Mommy Life”, literally I have SOO much more time in my day once I figure out what I actually did each day. So let me tell you what I'm talking about before you start to think I'm crazy lol. One of the main reasons I love “chunking” is because as a mom I only have windows of time here and there to get my work accomplished. Right now I don’t have the ability to just sit down and knock out three-four-five hours of work to get my tasks accomplished. I literally have to make the most of every second I am in front of my computer. Chunking not only helps you accomplish tasks in your business but it helps you move your progress forward. What Exactly Is Chunking? Chunking is taking your to-do list and breaking each project into smaller specific tasks (in chunks). So for example, I’m working on an 8 week course so my break down looks something like this: • Determine course content • Record videos & Upload Videos • Write e-mails & add videos • Create sales page • Upload all content to my scheduler & test launch • Promote So that list might seem like a lot when you first look at it and you're right, it IS! So what I do next is break those down even further into more manageable-mommy life appropriate- tasks. • Create a content map so that I know where I am taking my customers • Organize the content into specific modules • Create headers for each module • Create the objectives & outcomes for each module • Create banner for each module • Write out the video content notes for each module (in separate times) • Record each module video (in separate times) • Upload each video to my drive • Write the E-mails & add video links for each week Breaking down the tasks into smaller tasks (chunks of work) helps me see how each step completion will get me closer to my end goal of completing my 8 week course. Once I’ve really broken down my tasks I then add them to my planner each week so that when I sit down to work I know exactly what I am doing each day. NOW- What do I do in each chunk of time that I work Each day of the week I have a set group of work that I dive into. On Saturdays I play catch up with my social media. I like to sit down and schedule my social media posts, mainly my Facebook, for the week ahead. Sundays I spending writing blogs and scheduling them for the week, I like to write 2 at a time, I batch them, so that I free up time elsewhere In my schedule. Wednesdays I spend a “chunk” of time preparing for my live Wine Wednesday event in my #MommiesOnAMission Group. The rest of the week is sharing value and responding to my clients in other batches of time throughout the week. Since the sharing and responding doesn't take as much time as content creation I am able to schedule chunks of time throughout the month to work on my chunks of my upcoming project. Three months ago I had to spend chunks of time familiarizing myself with my new e-mail marketing platform Convert Kit. I took a few courses to really get comfortable with how to use the program most efficiently. Outlining chunks of work ensures that you keep moving forward in your business, it allows you to hit your goals, and it assures that your customers are always cared for. If you found this helpful share it with a friend ;-) Until next time xoxo, Lauren P.S. Don't Forget To Join Us For Wine Wednesday- We Mommas deserve wine while we master out businesses --> Join Us
Growing your list… what does that mean?? Your e-mail list is gold, the bread and butter, the 1st place prize to strive for in your business because it almost always translates to more money. In my 4 week training program I talk about list building. The goal of building your list is to add more people, who are your target audience, to your e-mail list so that you can communicate with those people regularly. In the past month I have tripled my e-mail list and I want to share with you some of the tips I used to make that happen! Now, there is a TON of info on this topic but what i’m going to share has worked for me and many others that I’ve worked with before. 1. Focus on TWO platforms So many people today get themselves on all social media platforms and share mediocre content because they are exhausting themselves. It’s hard to keep up with all the platforms there are today, especially if you are currently a one man operation and posting on all platforms yourself. When you decide you are ready to hire someone to help you with your social media then by all means branch out onto all platforms, but while you're building stick with two. Put all your effort into those two platforms, share great content, and grow your list without exhausting yourself. My main social media platforms are Facebook and my Blog, which you are reading ;-) 2. Share Consistently Whatever platforms you choose to branch out on be sure that you are showing up on a regular basis and giving as much content as possible. You can never give enough info away for free. I know, I know, its scary to give everything away for free. I know that when I was first told to give away the gold for free I was like “ummm yea right, theres no way”. But the thing is people want to hear from you, they want info from you, and the more you give away the more quickly people will be jumping onto your email list. Providing great content allows people to trust you, rely on you, and be dying for your next bit of advice (i.e. sign up for you paid products). 3. Make Your Audience WANT To Sign Up Offer an incentive for your audience to sign up. Like we talked about half a second ago, people expect free stuff so make sure you are giving them what they want. Some free item ideas could be a video tutorial, PDF, e-book, worksheet, etc. You are literally trading free stuff of value for their email address. If you are struggling what to offer ask yourself what you would like to receive. Then ask yourself if that's something that your audience could benefit from. 4. Ask For Shares Plug yourself and your content on your platforms. It takes an extra minute once you're done your content to add the link to your free offers, your other social media platform, your e-mail list, etc. You can say something like "If you found this helpful please share with someone you know who might also find this helpful" or "I'd love to have you joking us on (date) for our web event". This is the quickest way to get more eyes looking at your awesome content. The more traffic, the more signing up for your content, and the more wanting what you've got coming next. Don't be afraid to ask for shares! 5. Reach Out To Your List Often It's fantastic that you have people coming to and signing up for your list but don't just collect their emails- TALK TO THEM! You need to build a relationship with your audience who has entrusted their email address with you. Send updates, share your social media updates, invite to events, recommend products for your audience, share wins, share fails, just share! The more you engage with your audience the more they will think of you when they need advice for their business needs. I firmly believe that engaging, providing value, and nurturing relationships with your audience is the #1 way to grow your business successfully. It's time to go out and apply these practices to your own business! Ooo, before I forget I've got 5 more tips to hook those subscribers for a long term financial boost in your business. Check it out --> GROW YOUR LIST xoxo, Lauren P.S. Don't Forget To Join Us For Wine Wednesday- We Mommas deserve wine while we master out businesses --> Join Us
Goal setting can be a VERY hard for many people. It seems so easy when you think about it but only a few people can actually make it work. The thing about goal setting and actually achieving them is that once many people set out on their journey to success hurdles, set backs, obstacles, road bumps, etc start to pop up and this is the point where things get hard and many quit. BUT setting and achieving goals doesn't have to be that way for you. There are a few steps that I have found to make setting goals stick and WORK. As I was flying home on Monday from our little mr.’s birthday vacation trip I really got to thinking about writing this blog. We hit some turbulence that required the pilot to hit the fasten seat belt sign; thats when it hit me. Now, i’m sure by now you are aware that I am a firm believer in personal development. Well, awhile ago I read a GREAT book that explains the process of goal setting to a T. Brian Tracy, one of my all time favorite pd authors, wrote the Flight Plan: The Real Secret of Success. In the book he uses the example a plane flight to describe the process of reaching your goals. If you’ve ever been on a plane before you know that you might have to go off the planned course in order to reach your destination. The pilot might come across turbulence, storms, snow, rain, lightening, etc that may make him adjust his course, but at the end of your flight you have reached your desired destination. This is exactly how life happens. You sit down and set yourself goals that you want to reach, you start to work for them, but you inevitably will need to adjust your course along the way. Now here is what I’ve found true time and time again, time management comes into play when these scenarios arise. Your ability to manage your time will determine how you handle set backs and adjust to reaching your goals. I mentioned earlier that setting goals isn’t where people fail. Actually reaching their goals is another story. What stops people from reaching the end of their journey is their inability to adjust their time or productivity along their journey. Here are some steps I’ve found that work without fail to reach your goals.
1. Figure out what you want to achieve -This might seem self explanatory. Simply ask yourself what you want to achieve. I suggest starting with a year time frame because you can change anything in a year. If this is your first time really trying to achieve a big goal stick to one goal. 2. Break down how you will reach the goals - Now that you know what you want to achieve its time to outline how you will get there. It’s one thing to say you want to reach a goal but if you only have a general idea of where the end will take you there wont be a way to hold you accountable each day. So break down your goal step by step. Just like in Flight Plan a pilot needs to plan how he will get you from point A to point B you will also need to know how you will reach your goals. Start from the end and work your way backwards creating steps you’ll take to reach your end goal. 3. Write it down - I can’t stress this point enough, you MUST write down your commitments. By writing down what you plan to do you are signaling to your brain that you are serious and invested in your project. I don’t use the word investment lightly, as humans when we invest in something we don't like to lose our investment so we try to do anything to keep that from happening. From personal experience when I write things down in my to-do list, planner, or on a white board it is easier to stay on track and focused. WRITE IT DOWN. 4. Keep at it - Ok, you have figured out hat you want to achieve, you have a road map to get you to your goal, you’ve written it down now it’s time to get at it! Yes I know this sounds easy but this is another step where many tend to fail. Every day you must remind yourself that you CAN achieve your goals. The power of positive thinking can do wonders for your end result. Create ways to keep yourself motivated and on track. Establishing an environment for success will be key to keeping your momentum going. *Make motivational notes *create a dream board of things you want to do once you’ve met your goal *surround yourself with positive and motivating people *change your desktop background to something relating to your goal *Leave Yourself Notes In Your Planner *Use special stickers to help stay on track *On a separate piece of paper or a white board write your BIG goal so that you can see it daily -----------Some of my favorites to staying on track-------------- Sticky Notes Pad White Board Super Awesome Stickers Erin Condren Planner 5. Every day work towards your goals - This is the easier part of all five steps. If you want to reach your goals you must work on your goals EVERY SINGLE DAY! I’m not saying you have to spend 8 hours every day getting stuff accomplished-sometimes you only have 10 minutes because you're a busy ass momma. But every single day accomplish something that will lead you to your end goal. The more you accomplish the closer to your end goal you will get. This is called using The Compound Effect to your benefit! If you haven't read The Compound Effect you NEED to. Literally if you read nothing else to get your business started, your life goals going, or your personal secret goals you MUST read the compound effect Truly, creating goals is super simple but sticking to them and actually reaching the end goal is quite a bit more difficult if you don't have the right tools and mindset to follow through with. If you found this helpful I highly encourage you to join our community of mommas on a mission to reach out goals! Every day there is a little nugget of wisdom shared, encouragement offered, support given, and WINE-we drink Wine On Wednesdays ;-) —> JOIN US! xoxo, Lauren P.S. Don't Forget --> COME DRINK WINE WITH US! AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging and social media activities, I may receive monetary compensation for links to products from this post. However, I only recommend products that I personally love and use myself!
Time and time again I'm asked “How do you find time to run your business with a little on running around” Sometimes I just have to sit back and laugh because there are days I literally have zero idea how I do it. I’d love to say I sit down and knock out 8 hours of work in one sitting each day but that thought makes me laugh even more these days. I’m a stay at home mom I have an hour here, an hour there, sometimes I have twenty minutes here, twenty minutes there where I can get my to-do list done. That’s I usually answer the famous recurring question. I run my business in twenty minute to an hour chunks of time. Each morning before the baby wakes I'm up and working a bit, during nap times Im working a bit, and after the kiddo goes to bed I am working a bit. I try to dedicate certain times to my wonderful other half and one on one attention to my kiddo. During those times I focus solely on them and not on my business so that I can be true to my purpose for running my online business- them. Being able to find time is just that, it’s about finding time in your day. It’s about making adjustment to how you currently go about your day in order to make your dreams a reality. You must find moments of unused time during your day and dedicate them to your business if you want to further yourself. I’ve been to a number of seminars in my time and the biggest take away I ever got that I apply to my business still today is what Roger Love called the 80/20 rule. At the worlds greatest speaker trainer Roger Love explained how 80% of your results came from 20% of the work you put in. Being a mom means you have your head going in a million places at once throughout the day. Whatever time you have during the day counts for something important. What I can say is that not everything you do throughout your day is productive. I know right now it seems that everything you’re doing matters but I promise that when you really look at your day I can say with certainty that you have time throughout your day that can be reallocated. If you're anything like me, which Im almost positive you are, you have insane amounts of dishes to do, you have toys to pick up, you have mounds and mounds and mounds of laundry to do, you chase your kids from here to there, maybe you run them to and from events, chat with friends, sneak time in for your other half and maybe, just maybe you get 20 seconds of quiet time for yourself. Sound familiar? WANT MORE TIME TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS? SNAG YOUR FREE WORKSHEET >>>> HERE <<<< Just reading all that you’re probably thinking “sooo how am I supposed to get to the 80/20 rule in my business”. When I attended the conference I didn’t have aforementioned kiddo so it was SUPER simple. But NOW…. lets just say it takes adjusting too but when you find the balance it’s truly smooth sailing as my Mr. always says. You must learn to cut down on the things that don't matter throughout your day. You learn to put the priority things first and leave all the fluff for later. For me… in mom life… I had to learn to cut down on the dishes throughout the day (I simply didn't need to do them after every meal, once a day was fine), I didn’t need to pick up the toys after every single play session (once after the kiddo has gone to bed was enough), I stopped getting on the ooo so glorious Facebook 100 times a day, I set specific laundry days (and my family sticks to those days for the most part). I do laundry on Tuesday and Fridays, I do a deep clean of the house on Tuesdays (bathrooms, floors, sheet changes, etc), on Sundays I lay out my week of To-Do’s and get organized for the week ahead (work and personal life). All the things that are necessary for a well balanced day get scheduled before I start adding anything extra to our days. Plus, by scheduling your day you tend to free up more time throughout your day when can lead to more time to build your business. At first you may not find extra “hours” here or there. You might start out with simply twenty extra minutes here or there. But you must remember that every little step counts towards the bigger picture. START FINDING YOUR EXTRA TIME WITH THIS WORKSHEET >>> HERE <<< I HIGHLY encourage you to take a good long look at your week, then break it down to your individual days, I want you to start to identify areas where you can eliminate unnecessary activities in order to refocus on the bigger picture. I want you to be able to take that BIG idea that you have been stewing on and turn it into something even BIGGER. BUT—You MUST remember. We all have the exact same amount of hours in our days. You are no more busy than any other over exhausted mom on this planet. It’s simply a matter of how you choose to spend the time you have each day. Rather than saying “I just don’t have time” or “I’m just so busy” I want you to try to find just twenty minutes in your day where you can begin to cultivate some of your dreams. I’ve created a worksheet for you to help you figure out what you're really doing with your time throughout the day! >>>>> HERE <<<< xoxo,
Lauren P.S. If you found this helpful I encourage you to share it with another mommy you know who could use some extra time during her day! P.P.S. If you’re looking for more tips and trips on how to get organized come join our community —> #MommiesOnAMission |
Hey, I'm LaurenWho am I? I am a SAHM to a beautiful baby boy, a furmom to 2 doggies and 1 kittycat, a girlfriend, a fitness enthusiast, a beach lover, a dreamer, a world traveler, a business coach, a planner, and an advocate for the SAHM's with BIG dreams! Archives
November 2017
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