Getting yourself out of a rut

I was asked a question through one of our recent AskSimonSmith.com free teleseminars “How do you get yourself out of a rut?”

Not an easy question to answer because of course it really does depend on the context of “the rut”. However, I came across the question again recently and it reminded me of a story told to me some years ago about a guy who had got himself so badly in debt that life literally didn’t seem worth living. It seems topical right now, given all the negative news we are exposed to almost every day, that the world is going into recession, fuel prices are higher than they have ever been, food costs are soaring, the credit crunch is biting, and life is becoming harder and harder.

This guy had a good job, a nice house, company car, regular holidays, spent time in the pub with his friends, had a supportive family around him, and yet still managed to spend more than he earned. His family wanted more material things around them and he wanted to be able to provide for them. His friends invited him to social events and he didn’t want to miss out. Credit card companies and banks offered him more and more money to provide him with what were essentially luxuries, and he took them up on their offers and continued to spend. Life was great so to speak.

Unfortunately, it became increasingly obvious that he was in fact living beyond his means and before long the payments were becoming a burden and there was no longer any spare money for the things that the family had become used to. He began to worry about how he could keep providing for himself and his family in the same way he had previously. The more he worried, the worse it got.

Eventually it got to the stage where he had no choice but to own up to the situation he found himself in, and talk to his family. He had been so wrapped up in the problem that he found himself considering suicide so that the insurance would settle everything and his family would get what they needed, or wanted at least. However, he realised that he simply had to own up to the reality of the situation and talk it through with those who were most important to him. The relief he felt was enormous and unsurprisingly, in hindsight anyway, his family remained absolutely supportive and helped him see that there were indeed options available to him.

Through talking to his family, he was able to see that there were alternatives and life could continue, albeit things would have to change. His attitude began to shift and he became more positive and resourceful. He calculated the reality of his financial situation and wrote letters to the credit card companies and the banks. He was honest with himself about what was possible and then was honest with his creditors. Some of them resisted at first but when they realised that they had a genuine offer on the table they relented and allowed him to make payments according to his plan. His family continued to support him because they realised they could help. The light at the end of the tunnel was dim, but it was definitely there.

It took time, it took patience, but in the end he got out of his rut and he and his family looked forward to a much more fulfilling and exciting life together. They had got through “the worst” and were moving on “for better” as they had vowed together some years before.

This guy’s “rut” was created because he had bottled everything up and had not been honest with himself or his family. He had, as they say, buried his head in the sand, in the hope that things would go away. In fact, his solution was closer to him than he had realised, and just by being honest and having a conversation he was able to see that options were actually available to him. Life became easier and a future of possibilities was discovered.

So this week’s Success Tips are:

Be honest with yourself and with others – by being honest opportunities become clearer and the “burden” is relieved.

Communicate with people around you – if it is simply too much of a stretch to talk to those close to you at first, talk to a friend, coach or mastermind buddy.

Get out of the problem – ask yourself “what is the problem not?”


And a bonus tip not drawn from the story told to me; remove negative media from your life. The current economic climate may not seem all that rosy but the media do nothing to help the situation. We have a choice about how we feel. Don’t allow others to influence the positive choices you can make for yourself. In simple terms, only allow positive influences and people in your life. Turn the TV and the radio off when the “news” comes on. Read positive material. Choose positive friends.

Some people will say that by removing all the negativity from our lives, we are simply hiding from reality. I maintain that the truth is just an interpretation of events or circumstances. My truth is that life can be as positive as we want to make it, we really do have a choice how we feel!


If you want to know more about how coaching and masterminding can help you improve your results in business and in life in general we will be happy to discuss this with you. Contact us here

A Day for Success - Are you ready to unlock the power within YOU?

A message from my very good friend Martin Laschkolnig:

Hello,

I know that you have been thinking about how to get better results…we all do. So the question “did you ever think about how to improve things" would be an insult to your intelligence and your life experience, so I won’t ask.

But let me ask you one thing:

Do you think that it’s possible to double your income and your time off within two years or less?

Sounds too good to be true? Sounds impossible? Sounds like: “well perhaps, but not in my situation”?

What would life be like if it were true? What if we could show you a way to do just that – no matter what industry you are in or what your business or situation is like?

Well, I’m not babbling – I learned from the best and I am honoured to be his exclusive European partner: Jack Canfield – America’s Success Coach, as featured in The Secret, author of The Success Principles and co-author with Mark Victor Hansen of the book phenomenon Chicken Soup for the Soul with more than 120 million copies in print across the world.

I did not only learn from Jack, I also applied what I learnt and did exactly that last year…doubled my profit and my time off!

Check out on the next page what you could learn and join Simon and I on 26th September in Belfast – and you can do the same (well, only if you want to…)

To your Success – with my best wishes

Martin Laschkolnig




On 27th September you will discover how to:

- Identify what you really want

- Motivate yourself to not only get started but complete what you start, so you actually get the rewards you want

- Identify what is most important to you and live a life of passion

- Create success habits and integrate them into your life forever

- Stay focused on your “core genius” and use that to raise your game

- See what you want and get what you see

- Identify your unique purpose in life

- Handle setbacks and “failure” to your advantage and make you all the more powerful


Get practical strategies and techniques to:

- Stop settling for second best, saying “no” so that you can say “yes” to success

- Identify when you perform at your peak and how to manage your time for high performance results

- Eliminate limiting beliefs and decisions and silence your inner critic

- Build your confidence and stay resourceful in any situation

- Reduce stress, frustration and other negative emotions within minutes


Plus so much more…


Book now and join us on this special day and begin the life you always wanted to live!

Your investment:

Regular: Booked and paid for after 15th August £197.00

Early bird: Book and pay for before 15th August £147.00(save £50!)

Super Saver Offer:

Bring a partner or buddy: just £97.00 (save £100!)


Book now and save £50 off the normal price. Book a partner or friend at the same time and save a further £100!

Lunch and refreshments included.

Do your planning and development now and stay ahead of the competition

It always interests me when I hear people in business say that it isn't possible to do anything during the summer because everyone is away on holiday. It seems that because we take a week or two for a break some time during July and August that the entire country comes to a stop!

Is this true? Well of course not. In fact, my experience is that typically most business owners I know work through the vast array of bank holidays we have to endure as they can get so much more completed on these days. Furthermore, they are at their office enjoying the peace and quiet in the belief that everyone else has taken the day off.

If we applied similar thinking during the entire summer what would our business look like? Just because our staff, customers and suppliers take a summer break does not mean that everything stops entirely for two months. In fact, this is exactly the time when we could, and should, complete our planning and development so that we hit the ground running in the autumn and get a head start on the competition.

This is the perfect time, it seems to me, to review the business and it's strategies, assess goals, certainly plan and possibly deliver training, look for the new opportunities and get everything in place for the busy period between September and Christmas.

The alternative is to sit back and wait and then do all these things in the autumn by which time you are so busy that you don't have time to review and plan. The result is then, in all likelihood, that it gets put off until after the new year and suddenly six months have passed and you are wondering why you are left behind from your competitors. Why would you do that?

So, take my tip - have your break in the summer, certainly, and then use the other six weeks to review where the business is right now, plan your strategies, develop new marketing methods, identify training needs (and if possible deliver what is required), and then start September with everything in place already. If you do this you will almost certainly be ahead of your competition and will be much better placed to optimise the opportunity when others are still trying to catch up.

Like any review process, it is wise to enrol support from those who will help you look at the business without your "rose tinted glasses". With this in mind now is the perfect time to talk to a business coach and explore how they can help you "get all your ducks in a row" over the next few months.

If you would like to speak to us about the support available to you right now that will help you put your plans in place and stay ahead of the competition, give us a call on +44 (0)28 9048 8673 or visit www.simonsmithcoaching.com and we'll arrange to have a conversation with no obligation to you.

Don't fall into the "we can't do anything in the summer" trap. Call us now and take the opportunity to see how you can make the most of your business when others around you are asleep.

Wishing you success!

Focus on your core skills - let others do what they are good at

It can be hard when you start a business to get everything done. Not only is there the work that you started the business to do, your passion if you like, but there are also all the other things that need doing that keep a business efficient.

These are often the tasks that drain your energy and take you away from your core skills. Prospecting, accounts, banking, tax issues, marketing, sales, networking, insurance issues, payroll, staff issues, training and so on. Sometimes it can seem that there is not enough time to do what you went in to business to do, and yet all these things have to be done.

Advisors will tell you "outsource" and it seems logical. However this can be scary. After all it means investment in paying someone else to do the things that you could do yourself and save money. At the beginning it is even more of a dilemma.

How do you balance expense against your own productivity?

I struggled with this for a long time. I am perfectly capable of keeping reasonable accounts. I know what I want in terms of how my office is organised. I can theoretically turn my hand to writing script for website. I can put a sales letter together and no one can network for me so I have to do that myself.

Then I realised that I was spending 12-18 hours a week on my accounts. I was being diverted from getting new clients by posting articles on various websites around the world. I was creating spreadsheets to track coaching and training hours. I was developing new ways to market my business. I was doing everything I could do move my business forward, I told myself, but I wasn't getting enough time and I wasn't getting enough clients!

So when the light bulb came on with the accounts fiasco, I woke up and smelt the coffee. I got myself a book keeper. Suddenly I had "created" another two days to my week. She did what she did best which freed my time up to do what I did best. Then I engaged a marketing coach and she supported me with what she does best. After that I took on a new accountant and a financial advisor, a new bank, a success coach and got involved in a mastermind group. It wasn't long before I had a great support team around me and I was then able to do what I do best, coach, train and speak at events. The business literally went from zero active clients to the best ever month in 4 weeks and each subsequent month continued to grow.

I'm not saying it wasn't scary. The idea of investing more money after having already put everything into the business was terrifying frankly, but it did mean that I had created my very best chance for success because I had stacked the odds in my favour.

The best move of all though was taking on admin support. With two part time assistants I could now delegate all those essential yet time consuming tasks around the office. Keeping the database up to date, creating spreadsheets, prospect call lists, filing etc etc etc. This was the crunch. This enabled me to go from 1 "focus" day a week and 6 "buffer" days to 3-4 focus days and 1 or 2 buffer days AND get at least 1 totally free day and even 2!!

I then began to find that the more I delegated the more I got done...obvious really, but when your business is your baby you don't want to give it to a baby sitter!

It's a stretch to move into "outsourcing" but it is, without a doubt, one of the quickest and most satisfying decisions you can make. You get to focus on your skills, those things that you went into business for, and you allow others to do what they do best in support of you. Tu
You can employ people later but in the first instance just get your support team on your bus and watch the results improve.

A word of caution though...make sure you use the extra time you create to drive your business forward. Don't fall into the trap of outsourcing and then divorcing yourself from your primary responsibility of making your business work. That's an avenue that, if followed, will certainly lead to misery.

So my tips for success right now are:

1. Create a powerful and effective support team
2. Outsource anything that is not your core skill or passion
3. Delegate, delegate, delegate

And of course, hire a success coach! ;o)

To your success!

If you want to know more about how success coaching can help you transform your business visit is at www.simonsmithcoaching.com and submit an enquiry, or call us for an informal chat on +44 (0)28 9048 8673.

Your success is our business!

Use your Peak Performance time to optimise results

Have you ever tried to finish, or even start, a project, proposal, important letter, or perhaps a presentation, and found yourself staring at a blank piece of paper or computer screen? That feeling of trying to push water uphill or swim against the tide...

It is at these times I am reminded how useful it is to a) identify, and b) use, those times of the day when we perform at our best - our Peak Performance hours. After all, who says that we must get the most out of ourselves between the standard "9 to 5"?

For me, I know that if I want to be creative or "think outside the box", the best times are 6 am to 12 noon and then again between 10 pm and 2 am after everyone at home has gone to bed. That's assuming that I've had the discipline to have had enough sleep and enough "breaks" as well.

At other times of the day I know that I need to have meetings or coaching sessions with other people so that someone else is providing some of the input and stimulating my "creativity". Identifying and then applying this knowledge helps me to ensure that when planning my time I am doing my utmost to get the most from myself and my day.

Is it always easy? Of course not. Things go a little awry at times when people need something from me that doesn't "fit" with my idea of the ideally laid out day, and these are the times when I usually find that something on my day planner "slips" off the page and ends up in another day. The facts remain the same nevertheless; if I keep to the system knowing that it works, I always get so much more from my time and myself.

Sometimes, we need reminding though and that's where the true power of a mastermind group, accountability partner or coach shows up. My support team are great at "stretching" me to get the most out of me, and they so often are able to say the right thing that stimulates me to deliver on my own expectations of myself.

The results then speak for themselves...

So, my success tips for anyone who wants to optimise their results in business and their life are:

1. Identify your own Peak Performance times

2. Plan your day as far as you can to get the most out of yourself and your time using this knowledge

3. Create your own support team including a coach, accountability partner and/or a mastermind group

Enjoy!

If you want to know more about how coaching and masterminding can help you improve your results give us a call or visit www.simonsmithcoaching.com

Does just "Belief and Commitment" create Success?

It's a Bank Holiday today, marked significantly by the wonderful absence of traffic as I was driving over to see a client this morning.

As I drove through Belfast I came across the marathon runners wending their way around the city. At first just a few, the "elite", super fit leaders, and then the numbers increased as the masses came through. I was reminded of the self belief and commitment that all these people would have made just to be able to make it to the starting line today. The hours and weeks of lonely training in all weathers. The pounding out the miles when many of us would have still been tucked up in our beds. The heartache and pain with the blisters and occasional injury. All for the opportunity to be able to say "I did it, I was there".

I have always admired these people, particularly those that are so fit they can complete the race in just over 2 hours. Wow, what a feat of endurance! It takes massive courage to take on the challenge. Many run for the benefit of others, a worthy cause that they have some personal affinity towards. Others just do it to prove to themselves that they can. Wheelchair participants, less able runners, people with limited or no sight, and so on. All of these have one thing in common - they absolutely believe they can do it, and do whatever it takes to make sure they do.

Business is no different. Success is created when we have an unwavering belief in what we are trying to do. When we make the commitment to our customers and our staff. When we do whatever it takes to fulfil the needs of our clients and serve them to the best of our ability. When we play full out to deliver great service. It is these things that ensure success.

I wonder though how often we compromise on our commitments in favour of the "easy" option. When is it that we lose sight of what we created our business for? Is it at these times that we find ourselves in difficulty? Should we just simply remind ourselves of what we stand for and why we started out in the first place?

I often ask clients why they are in business as opposed to what do they want. Attempting to create a distinction between material goals and what those material goals will give them emotionally, we are more easily able to uncover the feelings that enable movement towards action.

As with the marathon runner, having self belief and commitment without the action, the preparation, the practice, the pounding of the miles out on the road, will not deliver the results you are looking for.

When I completed the London marathon some years ago I absolutely had the belief but I did not do the hard work, for a variety of reasons, and the end result? Yes I completed it, slowly. But I came in the bottom 5%. Is this the result you want? Do you want to be in the elite or come in much much later?

So, have a go certainly. Believe in yourself, definitely. Commit, without doubt. But make sure you know why you are doing what you are doing and stay focused on doing whatever it takes to keep your business ahead of the pack. With this level of commitment to action you surely will succeed!

To your success!

Making the most of your FREE time

Many people say to me they never have enough time off.

As I sit here outside a shopping centre, waiting for my family to finish doing their thing, I find myself questioning how we define "time off" in the first place!

Last weekend I was enjoying the supportive environment of being with my mastermind group in San Francisco and we were discussing just this topic. Jack Canfield, our group leader, suggests that a FREE day is one where you are doing that which gives you energy and enables you to re-create, as in recreation, from midnight to midnight. It means not opening email, taking work related calls, doing your paperwork, accounts or other more "mundane" activities. It means taking care of yourself, nurturing your body and your mind, relaxing, sleeping, perhaps going to your favourite restaurant, beach, walking spot, getting a massage and so on.

For me, it means all these things and more. It doesn't mean shopping though. My daughter chastised me when I said I would wait in the car. For her, shopping is a real time off activity, and she felt I should want to traipse around the shops with her and enjoy it! No, for me I would rather sit in the car, listen to some relaxing music and just chill out for a couple of hours.

So, in fact my family are actually doing me a favour acting as "Dad's taxi" to take them to the shopping centre. I get to spend some time with myself and relax!

On that basis, despite not necessarily doing those nurturing things that I would perhaps prefer to do, I get to help my family enjoy their free day and I can also make the choice to make my day just as relaxing. By having respect for their preference, and having respect for my own choice, we all get to "win".

My tip then is simply this: make the choice that serves you even when it may seem that there is no choice. I could have chosen to be annoyed that I was having to spend my free time driving my family to the shopping centre, and being dragged in and out of shops I didn't want to be in, OR I could make my own choice and spend some time looking after me at the same time....

Enjoy your weekend!