I deeply admire and am inspired by business owners.

They take a chance….make a leap….to create something from nothing. To take the untravelled path, taking a chance and a risk, no matter how calculated…there’s always some degree of risk.

As the business grows from start-up to an established business, typically people are hired or contracted and the team grows. More people benefit from that business’ existence. Not only the customers buying the product/service and the people who are employed or contracted, but there are the spin-off effects of that.

Somebody’s child gets to play soccer that year. There’s a family vacation. There’s a charity that gets a donation or even a larger donation. A spouse that gets to have the freedom to then choose their own career path. The spin-offs are endless…..as long as that business does well.

We all benefit directly or indirectly from those ‘small’ businesses starting, growing and thriving. (A Small Business is defined as a business with employees 1-99: source Statistics Canada)

Yet, the challenges many of them face are…

Time, Stress and Money

These three power-hungry forces show up everywhere. They’re sneaky and like to assert their power over everything.

And, when it comes to running a business, this is no exception.

And, every business has had to deal with these power vortexes at some point. Some have battled back and have asserted their control over the 3 forces…and others are still battling valiantly.

The analogy of a ‘battle’ can be fitting because when you’re dealing with lack of time, lack of money and an overabundance of stress, it can feel like an uphill battle to grow your business.

The fatigue, the overwhelm, and loss of confidence can be crippling to a small business owner who has big dreams and wants to provide a secure financial future for their family.

So, we need to shift the power dynamic.

We need to rise up and establish who’s boss….a rising of the defenders and protectors of sanity, confidence, and calm presence. An anti-dote, if you will, to the power-hungry forces that want to dominate.

So, here we are at the beginning of a new year and many of us will be likely setting goals for the coming year.  Some will go forth and achieve those goals and others will abandon them and continue to do what they’ve always been doing - for various reasons.

Goal achievement can be hard!

As you look ahead to 2020 and consider what you want for yourself and your business, I would love to share with you a mini-training to provide you with an extra edge you need to have greater success in whatever goal you want to achieve.

Sometimes you just need a good book. And, if you love learning, a great book can go a long way in business.

If you’ve got a fellow business person or leader in your life and are looking for a gift that has the potential to make an impact for them, then this is the list for you.

Or maybe, in this season of giving, you’re looking to provide a gift to yourself.

Here are 4 business books that had a major impact on me and I know countless others.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I would share the year-end review that I conduct in my business to close out one year and move forward in the next.

By sharing my process I hope this supports you to hone in on what’s important in your business. 

My mission is to help Leaders and Business Owners create sustainable businesses. In order to create a sustainable business, knowing the metrics that convey the health in your business is so important. This way you spot problem areas that need to be addressed and successes that you can leverage or lean into.

If you chose to grow your business, you know whether or not you have a healthy foundation in which to do so.

I like to keep it simple.

I don’t know about you, but recently, I’ve been witnessing a number of people who’ve been feeling stressed and very tired. It’s a busy time of year. And, it can bring out feelings that sometimes lay dormant throughout the year. It can be an emotional time for many.

On top of that, you’re running your business and you’re dealing with everything that normally lands in your lap but you also have the added commitments that go along with the Holiday season.

I’d love to have a magic ingredient that could take this all this away for you and transform it into a feeling of peace, ease, and comfort for you.

What I will do is share some thoughts that I hope may support you.

Oh the challenge of trying to ‘get it all done’. There’s so much isn’t there? Sometimes it feels like there’s too much!

And, you’re only one person - you’re the leader, the business owner, responsible for it all. How can one person get ‘it all done’?

I’m often asked what productivity tips I would recommend for busy business owners. I have several, and often, it depends on the specific circumstances of the person I’m speaking with which ideas or strategies I might share.

There are also underlying elements that may masquerade as ‘productivity’ issues, but lead to deeper reasons why we aren’t moving forward….but that’s not for this post.

Sometimes, what we need are just some good pointers on different ways to work and get inspired, so this is what this post is designed to support you with.

I’ll share one tip here with you, and I have 9 others that I will send to you if you find yourself resonating with this challenge of wearing soooo many hats in your business and not knowing where you’ll find the time.

This isn’t a post about time-blocking or using your out-of-office responder strategically. While these can be effective strategies to put boundaries around your work, what I’m talking about here is a step before all of that.

First off - Is the work you’re doing…. the RIGHT work?

I can hear you saying – yes absolutely!

Before you exit out of this page, I want to challenge you to really think about that.

Are you doing the work that will move you towards your goal?

What makes someone successful in their career or business?

If you were to ask several people about their key to success, you'll get a lot of different answers (many of them about strategies and tactics), but what I've noticed is that a few consistent responses tend to surface.

The messages to return are piling up, the billing needs to be done, the meetings have to be booked, the conversations have to happen, let alone the kids need driving somewhere at the end of the day…wait…when will they have time for homework…or practicing their instrument? …and then there’s meal planing….

And then there’s Joy.

When do I have time for that?

Everyone has their own way of navigating career twists and turns.

However, there are some common themes (and mistakes) I’ve noticed that, if avoided, could actually improve your opportunities or make career changes more successful (and easier) for you.

Connecting to your work is easy for some and can be difficult for others. There are many factors that can impact how much you connect with the work you do, such as your career stage, proper job fit, etc. etc., but regardless of where you are, there are things that you can do to enhance your enjoyment of your work.

It’s something you may…or may not have heard before.

It can happen to any of us, getting to that point in our career where we don’t know what to do next. And then suddenly, that lack of direction can turn into the feeling of being stuck.

I find the tipping point in going from ‘exploring options’ to ‘stuck’ is when we let fear drive the ‘career path’ bus.

Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

When I read this quote, I thought about how it could be applied to one’s career, especially if you are at a stage where you’re considering making changes or getting clearer on your career direction.

This idea of reconnection and career came up recently in a video I recorded about identifying a purpose and creating a greater connection to the work you do.

This is a BIG topic.

Have you ever heard this one before?

‘If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not growing’

I personally don’t like this sentiment at all. But I get the idea behind it.

It's knowing what needs to be done in your business or in your career, but you just can't make yourself do it….

I've been asked many times by clients, "How do you shut everything off at night?", "Even when I'm not at work, I'm at work!".

There are three things I most often recommend to help with this:

When it comes to looking for new opportunities within your company or organization, it really comes down to two things - who knows you and who knows what you are capable of. In other words, it comes down to exposure.

Often I hear from clients that come to see me is that they feel 'stuck'. They feel stuck in their job or career and they have no idea what to do about it.