May 8, 2013 by

Give Blood For Business Success

Business SuccessThe first thing you are asked to do when you are making your appointment for your annual physical with your physician is to set up an appointment a week or so prior to have your blood drawn and tests run on your blood. Why is this so important?

The results of your blood tests are like looking at the inner roadmap of your body. Through years of research and testing there are normal bands or ranges where your test results should report into to be considered normal. In addition, certain results when compared to other results, even within the normal ranges may reflect a pattern. This may result in further testing, questioning, or possibly something to monitor over a period of time. Okay Doc, we didn’t realize we searched online for WEBMD. What gives here?

You are correct, this is not an article on medical advice, tips and tricks for your health!

The point is, our body is amazing! The fact that our blood will be able to signal us to potential problems or current problems is simple and important. If we do not take the blood test and we do not work with our physician to review the results, even though the ability to conduct this work and find out the results exists, we will not have the information. In order to take advantage of the science we must take an action.

How about our road toward success in our business? Each of us measures what we refer to as success in different ways. There are typical areas where the ability to achieve some level of success will clearly be moving in the correct direction or not. Where are we making assumptions that no review or expert opinions are necessary in our business?

A few areas might be customer acquisition, marketing, internet presence, personal growth, staffing, branding, and there is much more. Where do you begin? Isn’t it annoying when someone answers a question with a question? To answer the question ‘where do you begin?’ let’s consider a comparison: If the blood work is able to signal there may be issues to look into further and take corrective action for our physical body, what would be similar to that for our business?

Is the answer cash flow? Sales? Without cash flow and without sales we will not stay in business for long. This might be the place to begin. If you have an ongoing business which has some level of cash flow and customers, how are these trending compared to where your vision of success for your company resides?

The best way to work through this analysis is to bring in an expert to review the results and determine where you are now. Together begin to work on action steps to take in order to move in the right direction.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Strategy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
April 10, 2013 by

Create a Mindset Renewal for Mindset Success

Are you interested in going places you have not been to before in your mindset, your attitude and your belief system? A mindset renewal, if you will. If you are ready, let’s do it and go there. Let’s develop a way to stay in the mindset you want and need to succeed.

Let’s discuss some of the foundation and history of your mindset before we begin. Our minds are programmed to think negative thoughts. The majority of us, beginning at age five, heard “No” or “Don’t do that” more often than any positive statements by a large margin. Some examples: “Don’t cross the street”, “Don’t touch that, you will break it”, “Don’t eat that until later”, or “Don’t wear that now, we are going to visit…”

These negative statements were constantly stated to us by a factor of eight or nine times vs. any positive feedback or positive statements we heard from anyone – ever. Every single day, for many years, negative statements outnumbered the positive statements. During our time in school this pattern continued, “No Talking”, “No loitering here”, “No Parking Here”, or “No loud music allowed”.

There are multiple purposes for the utilization of positive affirmations. One of these is to overcome the negative programming instilled in our minds for years. This will take persistent and consistent work. Positive affirmations provide a pep talk to each of us whenever we need it. By taking the time to plan ahead and create a few positive affirmation cards, and carrying these with us or placing them in strategic locations we will always have a positive affirmation to read aloud. This is our self talk pep talk. You might place these on your iPhone or other electronic device as well.

Here are a few options for you when it comes to positive affirmations. If you feel you are not ready to write your own positive affirmations, think of a few names of people you find inspiring and utilize their quotes for your positive affirmations.

An example would be a quote from Jim Rohn, “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.”

Now you rewrite this quote to become your positive affirmation, “I am living my happiness every single moment of every single day.”

Another example might be this quote from Orison Swett Marden, “Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. seize common occasions and make them great.”

You might rewrite this quote to become your positive affirmation, “I will find opportunities in everything I experience throughout the day today, and every day.”

My suggestion is to create a few dozen of these positive affirmations in your first month of practicing this mindset renewal. Read these aloud or to yourself, often throughout the day. You will feel better about your day and your approach to your day as more time is invested in this practice.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals, Inspiration Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
March 27, 2013 by

Three Steps to Free Up Your Time

In a previous article, Time to Watch How You Spend Your Time, it was suggested that you should track your time, in order to identify time wasters built into your schedule. In order to effectively put into use the three steps described below, a time tracking method should have been completed by you, for you, for at least a week or two.

One other calculation will be necessary in order to proceed. What is an hour of your time worth?

Step One – Review your time tracker results described in the previous article. Identify what you spent time on into a few categories. For example, “Items I must do” might be one column. Another column might be, “Personal Chores”. Another column might be, “Items someone else might be able to do.” If these example columns were your columns where are you spending most of your time? If your answer is “Items I must do”, you are being challenged right now to prove it. Is everything you are doing of the value you placed upon your hour of time value?

Step Two – In the review of your time tracker results what items do you spend time on at various times of the day which might be ‘batched’ in order to save time?

For example, if you are attending a networking lunch and in this similar geographic region are clients or prospects, call to make an appointment before or after the networking lunch. Take advantage of where you will be physically and utilize this time in this location to conduct other beneficial activities.

Step Three – What time of day and how often are you checking your email or writing emails based upon the results of your time tracker results? Schedule one or two times per day of a specific start and end time to read and/or respond to emails and stick to it. There are valuable lessons worth noting here of great importance. Your own habits in this area of responding to emails and reading emails create the urgency and expectation from others that you will respond to them in a quick and fairly immediate fashion. When you create the habit, and stick to it, of only interacting with email one or two specific times of the day at most, within a brief period of time the ‘urgency’ will change. You will relax and realize every email does not need to be answered immediately and your other side of the emails sent to you will recognize you will be responding to your emails when you get around to it, not sooner.

Incorporate these three steps into your schedule and you will free up time to utilize on other items of your choice.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals, Focus, Habits Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
March 20, 2013 by

Time to Watch How You Spend Your Time

Time ManagementIf you are in business or running your own business, have you shopped in person or online at Staples or Office Depot recently?

They have everything there for you to run a successful business. It is amazing! You are able to buy an iPad, ink for your printer, all models, a chair for your desk, a desk and more. One question though about their stocking practices and inventory. The sales people were not able to direct me to the aisle where they sell more time. No one, not even the manager, was able to tell me the price to buy more time and how they would sell it to me.

The most precious commodity we have is time. Once you use it up you cannot replace it. There is nothing new about this information. Some will say, “Well, we are pulled in different directions because of technology these days.” The reality is yes we all are and that is part of this discussion. However, there have always been distractions to pull time away from you. Consider when a television was first introduced into the home of the average person. People would watch their television for hours and hours. Today there are a variety of technological tools which are pulling time away from us.

Let’s address technology first. Even if you and every single person who reads this article passes this article on to one thousand people each, and they pass this article on to another thousand people, it is doubtful it will be read by anyone who cannot turn off their electronic devices and all means of telephone and internet communication for ten days or more. The world will still be spinning. The ocean waves will still be there. You might not enjoy the experience and you may find it to be uncomfortable. The reality is we have created the habits we choose to continue to support and live with.

How do we create more time? If you are ready to create more time here is the exact formula to follow. Don’t take any shortcuts. Just follow the formula. Track your behavior and use of your time with specific information for the next one week, two weeks, three weeks or an entire month, your choice. The tracking is in fifteen minute intervals. What exactly are you doing in those fifteen minutes? At the end of the week add up your totals of how you spent your time. If you selected a month for your tracking, still add up your totals at the end of the week. Once the tracking is completed you will find the gaps and the time wasters which are currently part of your regular schedule.

Want to have three specific steps to free up the time that you need for anything you want to do? Start tracking your time now and come back and see next week’s article.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals, Habits Tagged With: , , , , , ,
February 6, 2013 by

Is Anyone Selling?

Business SuccessWhen we go online to make a purchase or go to a store live and in person, are we buying exactly what we need and want to purchase, or are we sold to and then we buy?

Recently at a workshop for people seeking to enhance their career, or to find a job, the audience was asked if anyone was in sales. Only one or two in the room of thirty raised their hands. Then they were asked how this is possible. Aren’t you selling the most important product in your life? Yourself? They were told (understand this now) “You are all in sales!”

The process of selling is going on all around each of us all day long, every single day.

These two examples are looking at this from two different viewpoints. You may agree or not at your own risk. Just recognize that you are always being sold to and in your life you are selling something every day as well.

Maybe you are still not convinced? Why were companies willing to spend over three million dollars for a thirty second ad during the Super Bowl broadcast this year?

In order to move forward let’s agree that selling is important to the growth and success of your business. How much time each day do you spend selling? Please understand the question, not networking, not typing into social media. The question is how much time each day do you spend selling?

Many entrepreneurs and small business owners are spending a huge amount of their time on social media or creating a new website. This is not to say this is a valuable item to spend time on or not. It is to say that these activities are not the act of selling. The act of selling is actually engaging in the conversation to close a deal, or through a cash register, or online merchant account, actually ringing up the transaction. Certainly there is a sales process which precedes this final action. How much time do you have scheduled in your day to sell?

A number of people would rather consider the color schemes for their website or the right options for the design of their logo than to undertake the structured sales process necessary to be effective. There is nothing wrong with conducting a sales process. The sooner you develop the style and method which feels most comfortable to you, the sooner you will be on your way to running a successful, thriving business.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who lives in Stamford,CT.

Filed Under: Business Strategy Tagged With: , , , , ,
January 30, 2013 by

Business Success Tip – Taking Action or Taking Notes?

Business SuccessYou want to get something done, you do it. You take action, right?

Here is the thing; one of my main ingredients when someone seeks out my advice is to determine if they are an action taker or a note taker. Let’s face it, some people feel they need to learn more, take more notes, read more books, obtain more certifications, and they just never take action. The people who take action are always high on my list of the people for me to work with and create the opportunities for them to work with me. Of course there are opportunities for the note takers to work with me as well, mostly to inspire in them the interest in becoming action takers sooner than never.

This is not to say it is not important to learn more, take notes, read books or obtain certifications. It is to say you need to start and take action on your objectives. You may always continue on with the rest as you are moving along your path. Show me a bank who accepts a notebook filled with notes for your mortgage payment. You must take action to build your business, grow your business or achieve whatever objectives you have set for yourself and your business.

Here is the problem. Uh-oh, a flip-flop is coming? Correct. There are some people who feel they need to be busy. Busy, busy, busy and just busy. This might be a more difficult issue to deal with than the person who is the note taker!

A full day may just evaporate as this person is so busy answering their emails, deleting spam and going through messages. Meanwhile they may have missed a networking event, did not focus on returning a half dozen potential lead phone calls and did not speak with a key vendor for a project they are estimating costs for.

Another person may spend two or three hours or more each and every single day interacting on social media. When you ask them about this activity, they may respond that they are marketing their business on social media. When you sit with them and review their activity the truth is much different.

The reality is, being busy is not taking action toward defined objectives. The exact action steps required of you and your team must be defined and written out. This may evolve as time moves forward as your objectives may evolve as well. The point is, you and your team are moving together toward specific objectives. It is not being busy. The act of being busy is a stalling technique. This may be a subconscious behavior. Often it is from fear. The actual fear of stepping out and going for your dreams and goals.

This is an entire topic of it’s own and will be discussed in a future article and teleseminar. The point here is this, take specific action, which you have defined, toward your exact objectives, goals and dreams.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who lives in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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