Handeling A Setback-A Simple Reflective Process

Most people let a minor setback paralyze them. They give in or give up. As a business owner, you can’t afford to fall prey to this self-sabotaging behavior. As discussed in training, successful entrepreneurs maintain positive thoughts, patience, persistence, and are always taking action. They see everything as valuable feedback, not failure. They set their goals, take action, assess outcomes, modify their approach to get better results, and take action once again. Successful entrepreneurs do not allow themselves to get “stuck” or “blame others or the circumstances”. They take full responsibility for their business and results. They reflect on ways to improve and take action again.

Remember, “You become what you think about”. Are your thoughts and actions positive? Do you focus on your vision and goals? Your desire to help others? Or, are you focusing on fears, uncertainties, doubts, setbacks, etc.?

When you encounter a setback, and you surely will, stop any “negative thinking” and use this simple process to learn from your feedback and improve:

Initial Reflection
• What were my expectations?
• Were they realistic?
• What were my actual outcomes?
• Do I take full responsibility for these outcomes?

Assessment: What Worked/What Didn’t Work
• What part of the process worked? What outcomes were good?
• How do I feel about this positive feedback?
• What part of the process didn’t work? What outcomes were bad?
• How do I feel about this unexpected feedback?

Positive Lessons
• What positive lessons can I learn from this experience/feedback?
• What didn’t I do that I should have done?
• What did I do that I should not have done?
• What should I do differently next time?

Future Action Plan
• Do I take full responsibility to improve my performance?
• What are the concrete steps I need to take to improve my performance in this area?
• When do I get started again?

Goals That Make A Difference

The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day with words, pictures and emotions as if we’ve already achieved them. -Denis Waitely

Be sure you are setting S.M.A.R.T. goals! By S.M.A.R.T. we mean that they are:
• S.pecific
• M.easureable
• A.chievable
• R.eally Desired
• T.imed

One reason we fail to achieve our goals is that they are not SPECIFIC. Be sure to think in concrete terms what the end result will be. Then make sure it is measurable. It must be achievable and really important/desired. Set a date you want to accomplish the goal by. By setting S.M.A.R.T. goals daily, weekly, and quarterly, we can accomplish significant things. What do you want to accomplish? Get clear. Get focused. Get S.M.A.R.T.

Imagination and the Myth of Motivation

Walt Disney use to say that you can create whatever you can imagine! Is your imagination alive? Think about this:
• The company you have is the company you can imagine!
• The marriage you have is the marriage you can imagine!
• The money you have is the money you can imagine!
• The life you have is the life you can imagine!
I hope you will have the courage to dream and engage your imagination! Take some time today to just dream – dream about the life you want, the relationships you want, the company you want! I believe that everyone of us is endowed by God to create – what are you creating? What kind of company? What kind of life?
Do you know what enables you to dream? Is it solitude? Is it prayer? Is it the beach? Is it the woods? Is it music? Is it art? Whatever it is, embrace it more and dream more.
One final thought – every business owner is looking for a way to motivate his/her team. But motivation is a myth! It is impossible to motivate someone. However, you can inspire someone and when you do you will draw out the motivation that resides deeply hidden in their soul. You’ve got to inspire them, but first you’ve got to be able to inspire yourself. Is your imagination alive? Do you know how to engage your soul? I hope you will make time every week to awaken the artist, the creator, the entrepreneur in you

Marketing is Education

“Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.”-John D. Rockefeller

What is marketing? Remember this basic thought: Marketing is a Continual Education Process. Too many experts have made marketing into some type of mystical, magical, complicated process. However, marketing is really very simple. Let me share with you another basic concept:

The more people who know about your business and the superior benefits you provide, the more your business will grow.

In your particular industry, if your business was the absolute best in the history of the world but you never told anyone about it, you and/or your employees never left your office, and your office was under ground on a deserted island somewhere, how much would your business grow? How many referrals would you get? Would you even have 1 client or customer?

Now, let’s go to the other extreme. What if every living client/customer, prospect, referral source, advisor, etc. knew that you were the best? How many referrals would you get? I believe it would be safe to say you would have a lot of customers and many new ones pounding at your door. Here’s the point. IT’S ALL RELATIVE! The more people who know about you, the more customers and referrals you will receive. Period.

Marketing is about educating people in your market on the advantages of doing business with you and the reasons why they should trust you to deliver on your promises.

Never lose sight of the fact that You are first and foremost a business owner in the MARKETING BUSINESS!!!

Sales: The First Step

“Internalize the Golden Rule of sales that says, ‘All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.’”-Bob Burg

Do you have a defined "Sales Process?" Unfortunately most small business owners have never defined (much less documented) their sales process or system. That is a mistake!!!

The first step in any sales process is to relate to the potential customer in a warm, positive manner. You must slow down and relate to the individual you are speaking with. Don’t push too fast or too hard. If you don’t establish rapport, the customer/client will not open up to you by sharing their real issues, problems, pain, opportunities, challenges, etc. You want to open up the faucet and get important information flowing.

It's a cliché but true: people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care! They must feel they can trust you.

To achieve rapport, establish commonality, be interested in them and their needs, ask questions about their world, show respect, and mirror their pace of speech. You know you’ve achieved rapport when there is open and free-flowing communication, open body language, relaxing their guard, the flow of information is increasing, they are sharing real issues and real pain, etc.

Don’t forget, nothing happens until someone sells something. Make your sales system the first system you define and document!

Prisoners of Our Own Minds

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”-Franklin D. Roosevelt

The Growth Coach process focuses intensely on developing a Strategic Mindset! The battle is won or lost in your mind. We are merciless when it comes to facing reality and examining your mindset. Simply put, we coach entrepreneurs to conquer themselves first, the marketplace second.

Any limiting beliefs holding you back? Any fears holding you back? If so, take action. With action comes boldness and solutions.