I thought I would switch up what I normally share and turn the attention to cultivating prosperity.

Rather than sharing tactics, I’m sharing what I’ve learned and continue to practice in my life about the mindset of abundance.

First off…

Abundance: a very large quantity of something; plentifulness of the good things of life; prosperity.

Opportunity: a situation or condition favourable for attainment of a goal.

You give power to what you focus on.

What I’ve learned in my experiences about cultivating prosperity is that the nature of seeing abundance and opportunity is more about where I apply my attention and focus.

This is a collection of what I’ve learned and perspectives I practice daily to help me do that:

You started your business because, and I’m taking an educated guess here, you want to have flexibility, create a lifestyle uniquely yours and make a positive impact through your work. Is that right? or close?

If you’re aspiring to or on your way towards something bigger and you feel there’s more to go and not quite there yet, amidst the strategies and the tactics, I’m inviting you to consider another aspect that will help you increase your success rate to achieve big goals.

Your energy: the mental perspective you’re bringing to your goal achievement.

As some of you are considering and refining your goals for this year, I want to ask you…do you have a goal to grow your business?

As business owners, ‘growth’ can be a loaded word.

I hear some saying - yes, they’re all about the growth and that’s their focus.

I hear others saying - no, I like my business the way it is, I’m not looking to grow at all.

And also saying - growth means more work from me and I just don’t have more to give.

Maybe there’s even another camp here that isn’t reflected. In spite of what you may think about growth in your own business I think it’s worth deconstructing what growth means.

I was speaking recently with someone who had sold not one, but two businesses in the past several years.

I asked her what she found was the more challenging aspects of selling. She said that one of the biggest challenges was getting her processes in order. She didn’t build it with selling it in mind and certainly didn’t think about capturing her processes as they operated.

So, preparing to sell her business the first time was quite onerous because it’s something she had to start from scratch.

It wasn’t until this was in place that her business could be properly evaluated (along with other metrics).

Standard operating procedures are not only valuable when you’re trying to sell your business, they are actually very powerful to…

Ah the zen vacation, the year long sabbatical, the parental leave, the short mini-break where you immersed yourself in 4 days at the beach or hiking in the back woods somewhere.

And, now it’s time to head back to work.

Heading back to work can sometimes feel like a mixed bag of emotions no matter if you run your own business or are an employee.

There have been years where I’ve reluctantly gone back (almost in tears), some years when I’ve been indifferent and years where I genuinely looked forward to starting back on Monday morning. Luckily, the latter has been much more often.

Where ever you are…the feelings you have when you’re ’heading back in’ can be telling. We often want to push them aside and get on with it, but did you know that those emotions and feelings hold incredible amounts of information for you?

If you’re feeling reluctant, anxious, dread, uncertainty, sadness, joy, or excitement, there’s information in here not to be shoved aside, but to be experienced and listened to. And then, what to do about that information?

Being able to recover from setbacks, challenges, and major difficulties not only applies to your personal life but also applies to your work and career as well.

A number of people leave jobs where they’ve experienced high stress, overwhelm, and even workplace trauma. 47% of working Canadians agree that their work is the most stressful part of their day. (Source: Workplace Strategies for Mental Health: Morneau Shepell. (2017). Media Room)

Finding your own ways to recover from setbacks and tough situations can help you move forward and cultivate resilience for future challenges.

And, as a leader, resilience can help you lead and expand into new opportunities. Having personal experience in cultivating your own resiliency can also help you support the people and teams you lead.

Here are some strategies to consider if you’re interested in continuing to build your own resilience:

Being able to articulate your company’s vision simply is powerful.

It supports your decision-making, how you lead, and provides a guidepost for your company to work towards.

Sharing it with your team, your clients and suppliers can be equally as powerful so people know what you’re about. People are attracted to doing business with companies that have passion and purpose.

If you haven’t articulated or written your business’ vision in a while, I encourage you to use this simple framework which includes what success looks like.

Here’s a vision framework for you to work with:

As many locations begin to slowly open up, some faster than others, I don’t know about you but for me there comes a mix of relief and anticipation for the things we’ve missed: connection, hugs, seeing people we care about, traveling, greater sense of stability & security.

And, reservation and cautiousness. For me the reservation comes from, not wanting things to go back to exactly the way it was….I want to incorporate some of the changes and things I’ve come to carve out space for: a greater sense of my own purpose, more frequent consideration of my personal wellbeing, making space as a nuclear family in busy weeks, and more space in my calendar and shifting my relationship with time.

Have you noticed any of these things too?

Amidst the worry, anxiety, and fear of the past 15+ months, the challenges have been great. But, what came from that were new perspectives, new ways of working and being, new ways of relating with each other and much more.

The unconventional strategy: Create space to think.

This may seem odd to highlight, but stick with me here…

Often, we go and go and go in a business we’re trying to create and build. We feel like there’s never enough time, there are more clients or customers to attract, or new products or services to release in this quest of creating, building, and growing a business. There’s a lot of doing. And a lot of striving.

And that action-taking can be worthwhile.

However, there is another side of the equation to consider….and that side is the opposite of doing.

It’s about taking frequent pauses. Creating space for something else…..

How often are you creating space for thinking, reflecting, planning, and considering?

Happy New Year!

I hope you were able to enjoy your Holidays and they provided you with what you needed.

As we look to 2021 I feel optimistic and excited for what’s to come.

As I look around to the world I still see turbulence, uncertainty, and many challenges. And I also see beauty, kindness, and innovation - solving and addressing some of those challenges we face.

As I turn inward and think about the impact I want to have and the role I want to play, I think about things like:

You don’t need to get through your to-do list, focus on managing your priorities.

With changes happening regularly, sometimes hitting us daily, challenging our focus and shifting our plans, you can pretty much toss that to-do list out the window.

These days our weeks are anything but predictable, yet our work must continue.

So, how do we continue to adapt to our still-changing environment?

In spite of the strategies you may try in growing your business or stepping into a broader leadership role, having ideas to pursue is only half the equation for success.

Often we know what we need to do, but why is it so difficult to do it sometimes? To internalize it.

There can be so many reasons why we humans don’t do the things that are good for us all the time or don’t always make choices that support us, but one of those areas that we could bring focus to is our mindset.

Your mindset WILL support you to navigate challenges and is an important determinant of your success.

Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: , says that…..”Mindsets frame the running account that’s taking place in people’s heads. They guide the whole interpretation process.”

Being ‘Out of sight and out of mind’ is a killer when you’re trying to build and serve in your business.

Typically only a small percentage of your target market is ready to buy at any one time. So, staying in touch and developing relationships helps you stay ‘top of mind’ when your customers are ready for your product or service.

Because, when they are ready to buy….you’d like them to immediately think of you!

So, consider this….how can you stay in relationship with your potential buyers/clients in a way that adds value?

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to conversations that highlight the challenges and needs that are surfacing right now. These conversations take place in my client interactions but also with my network and beyond.

What I’ve been seeing is that you are evaluating how you’re moving forward over the next few months. Whether it’s deciding what services or products to offer now or how you will position or sell your services and products.

Businesses are looking at re-opening guidelines and looking to their provincial and state mandates to see what that means for them and how they can continue to operate or re-open (if they’ve been closed through this).

In addition to that, I see you wondering about what this means for your existing services and products and questioning how to get these in front of your clients over the next few months. What’s appropriate as a business? How can I continue to be viable? How can I continue to strive to hit certain business goals?

I hope you are well and finding your way at this time.

I had a few people reach out to me, sharing their challenges of trying to get things done.

These were centred around the area of time management and productivity….in the midst of managing other things at home now.

This is aligns so well with the topic of personal productivity that normally comes up in the work and coaching I do with business owners and leaders. And it aligns with the concept of showing up even when it’s a challenge and you don’t feel like it. This is a skill in leadership.

However, that being said, while I love the topic of personal leadership, at this time, I believe we can serve ourselves and others well, if it’s tempered, with more awareness and patience for ourselves and others during this situation we’re facing.

Yet, at the same time, there are still things to be done.

The idea I’m sharing with you today is practical and in the area of productivity & time management.

However, for the next few weeks, I’ll be leaving productivity and moving into other ideas on how we can conduct business at this unusual time.

Tune in here to another idea on how to shape the way you work at this time…

In this time of working from home, with so many distractions and major worldwide issues unfolding AND having others in your home, having a strong morning routine can mean the difference between a great day and an unfocussed one….which can sometimes add up to many unfocussed days.

I wanted to go back to basics here, because this is what we are all facing right now. Our regular routines have been disrupted. Where we work has changed for many. There are others in your space that may not normally be there…..

I will add a disclaimer here as well…sometimes we need time to process, time to adjust, reflect and adapt, with patience, compassion and grace. I am in favour of taking the time to process all the changes and challenges that you’ve been through or are facing. If that means working at slow speed, making space for more family time, I am all for it.

When you are ready…and I know you will be. You’ll be wanting to get some things done. And, feeling like you’re able and capable of getting things accomplished will be a form of carving out your own control in a situation that is very fluid now.

So when you are ready, here are some ideas for you.