Hey, Hey everyone! Welcome to Episode 3 of the Bold Leadership Revolution podcast and I am your host, Tara Newman.
Today we are diving into some of the activities that you must have on your calendar each week in order to grow your business. I will even say that if you have these activities consistently on your calendar, your business will grow at an accelerated pace.
What are 5 activities that in my mind are non-negotiable?
Why you might be resisting these activities?
And as always some quick turnaround actions to help you make them a greater focus each week
This episode is for you:
If you have ever felt:like you were spinning.
If you’re not sure what to do next.
If you’re not clear on what your priorities are.
If you’re overwhelmed with tactics and not sure which one is the exact right one.
If you’re over consuming content,
If you’re stuck in overthinking and feeling like right now business is hard.
As usual, these activities have a much wider application that just your business.
They can also be used to grow a career if you’re leading in someone else’s business or to grow that level 10 life.
We’re going to go “back to the basics” today and focus on 5 things you can do everyday to make sure you and your business are moving forward.
The irony is I find that these are the 5 things leaders often resist.
I’ve resisted them in the past so I completely understand how real the struggle can be. So we’re going to talk a little bit about that.
Now, I’m giving you 5 activities that if you make a habit will serve you well for infinity.
But as always, I want you to do what you can and do what resonates.
None of this will work if you force it.
Or if your energy around these activities feels off or hard.
Despite what that old saying says, you can’t fake it till you make it in your business.
Faking it doesn’t make money, keep the lights on or pay the bills.
Trust me, at times in my career and my business, I have tried. But no dice.
So, here are the 5 activities you must have on your calendar every week to grow your business, career, and live your level 10 life.
Thinking/Creative Space — space is my absolute favorite word.
Just saying it out loud calms me down.
Leaders today are cramming WAY to many things into their day, leaving little if any time for quiet reflection or processing time.
Even sitting quietly for 15 minutes a day can make a big difference in your idea generation, problem solving, and creativity. In December, I carved out a good portion of the month for thinking and reflection time. I birthed a new business model, laid out content for this podcast season, dreamed about my ideal schedule and exactly the type of people I want to work with in 2018.
I also booked a significant amount of business into 2018. I have evidence that the more space I create on my calendar, the more my business grows. And it’s not just my experience. It’s the experience of my clients as well.
Checking in with your money — if I’m having a scarcity moment or feeling any kind of lack around my money, I know it’s coming from a place of fear, uncertainty or lack of clarity around my money.
All things that I know I can move past when I look at the TRUTH. And the truth can be found in various places. I check in with my projections spreadsheet that has all my clients and expenses mapped out for the year. This gives me line of sight and financial peace of mind. My peace of mind isn’t attached to how much money I have but that I know exactly where I am with my money.
Secondly, I look at my P&L. I spend a lot of time understanding where I’m spending my money and ensuring that I’m consciously spending it
I will also check my actual bank accounts but be WARNED — people have a habit of looking at their checking accounts, seeing a low balance and freaking out. Your checking account is suppose to have a low balance. Money flows into your checking account and then back out again to pay bills. I’m actually incredibly grateful to see a low balance in my checking account because that means my bills are being paid. What a wonderful thing to pay your bills.
One thing that I have started doing on a weekly basis is going on a money date. Technically I don’t go anywhere but I create a ritual around sitting with my money. I light a candle, pour myself a cup of coffee, focus on how I want to feel with my money, and then I go through my P&L, Projection sheets, and track my expenses for the week.
Building relationships — no business is built without relationships. Relationships of all kinds — peer relationships, referral relationships, client or customer relationships, employee or subcontractor.
For me, building relationships isn’t about getting the sale. It’s not sales driven At ALL. It’s about being a helpful, thoughtful human being. When I’m a helpful, thoughtful human being, I meet amazing and valuable people that enrich my life and allow me to enrich theirs.
I don’t approach relationships with what can I get, I approach them with what can I give? How can I add value to the person in front of me.
And by value, I don’t mean giving my services away for free.
Being valuable to someone else is being a good listener, sharing my thoughts openly and vulnerably, injecting humor, or acknowledging another person.
I make sure each week that I’m thoughtfully, intentionally, and INTUITIVELY connecting with people. I like to reach out and say “hey”, when I’m scrolling my facebook or instagram feed, I make sure I COMMENT and ENGAGE with people. I mean seriously people, let’s put the social back in social media!!
Let people know you SEE them. Then watch what happens in return.
Asking for the sale — are you asking for the sale? Whether you’re a business owner or leading in someone’s business or on the home front. Are you asking for what you want? Are you offering your service to those who need it most? Are you inviting people on a daily basis to have a conversation with you, to work with you, to refer you to someone who would be a good fit for your idea, service, business, etc.
And I’ll just say — this is hard. We resist doing this for so many reasons — fear of rejection, fear of feeling icky, fear of succeeding and getting the sale or too many sales. So, my best advice is to practice asking. Practice being bold in your requests. Pay attention to how if feels when you ask for the opportunity to serve someone.
Action: To help me practice asking for my desires including sales, I practice every week by writing a letter to the universe asking for what I want to receive this week.
Journaling — technically, I believe you must have journaling on your calendar every day but I’ll take what I can get from all of you! Journaling has so many benefits and it’s something I see my clients struggle with the most. Making the time, what to journal about, questioning if something that feels so passive and reflective could actually get them greater results than hard core DOING.
The answer is yes, journal is a powerful action that can get you greater results than hard core doing.
Journaling is a great opportunity to get to know yourself better, to understand what’s really happening a few layers down and creates the awareness needed to take bold action.
Writing is a wonderful learning tool to help us process all the information we intake on a regular basis. It helps quiet our minds and gain valuable perspective.
I believe SO strongly in journaling and the results you get from journaling, I’ve created a short workbook to help you get started.
So, there you have it. 5 Activities you must have on your calendar every week to grow your business.
- Thinking and creative space
- A money date
- Relationship Building time
- Asking for the sale/selling
- Journalling
Now, if you don’t have any of these currently on your calendar, DON’T go and add them all. Start small. Start with ONE and make it a habit. When you’re doing that ONE on a regular basis, add another and so on.
Now, I’ve created that journaling workbook for you, called Bold Leadership Journal Prompts for Intentional Living and Leadership, to help you remove any barriers to journaling and getting started.
You can head over here and download it right away.
I’ll be back next week with Episode 4. If you haven’t done so already, come find me on social media and let me know some of your recent takeaways from Season 2.
