Get it done!

Dear Friend,

What have you been putting off?  Almost all of us do it from time to time.  I'm convinced that procrastination is one of the biggest causes of stress.  You have something you know needs to be done.  Often, it's not even something difficult.  But you've made it difficult in your mind, and as a result, you never get started.  Instead, you do everything else you can think of - wash dishes, organize your files, surf the internet, check email - rather than the thing you actually need to do.  Perhaps you're even procrastinating right now.  It drains your energy and wastes precious time.

This week, I challenge you to focus your energy and just do what needs to be done.  There are two antidotes to procrastination:

1.     Drop the goal or project, and don't do it.

2.      Exercise some discipline, and just go ahead and do it.

Sometimes procrastination is a sign that you don't want or need to do the thing you're dreading, in which case Option 1 is a good choice (this does not apply to filing taxes, paying bills, picking kids up from school, etc.).  At other times, procrastination is a sign of perfectionism, stubbornness or lack of self-discipline, all of which you have the power to change.  If this is the category you relate to, Option 2 is your best choice.  Don't make the task or project a big deal.  Break it into smaller pieces and just get started.

So what is it that you need to do?  Don't wait for inspiration, just start.  You don't have to "feel" like doing something to do it.  Often, in the process of starting, your mood develops.  And even if it doesn't, the feeling you have after completing something you didn't want to do is well worth it.

My challenge to you this week:

Stop procrastinating.  Get it done!

Until next time...

  

Warm wishes, 

 

 

For more information on Valorie Burton please visit her website @ www.valorieburton.com

The Importance of Women Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship matters. Its benefits are many, from rewarding problem solving, organizational, and leadership abilities, to fostering creativity and engendering empowerment. Not the least of its merits is the significant boost it gives to the economy.
Approximately ten and a half million American women run their own businesses. Their endeavors account for the creation of approximately twenty-three million jobs and three trillion dollars added to the U.S. economy. Ironically, as Nell Merlino, the founder and president of the non-profit Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, has pointed out, the White House report on the status of American women released early this year surveyed employment data, yet remained silent on women-owned businesses.
For American women, who represent the primary or co-breadwinner in nearly two-thirds of this country’s families, entrepreneurship is clearly a meaningful option that can offer greater income as well as more varied lifestyle choices. In lower-level GDP countries, entrepreneurship can provide a way out of poverty for women faced with few other opportunities. It may also lead to greater personal autonomy and a route around discriminatory practices. In fact, some experts believe that greater female economic independence promotes geopolitical stability and world peace. If so, it might just be time to firm up that business plan you’ve been dreaming about.

Think you’re ready to save the world?  See how your business idea measures up with the $20 Starbucks Test!
Originally posted by Sheri J. Caplan on August 18, 2011 @www.pettistripes.com

Career Stalled? 5 Ways To Reboot

 

Dear Friend,

Do you feel as though your career has hit a standstill?  Are the promotions slower or your career in need of a jumpstart? How do you break through to the next level?  Try these five steps to reboot:

    

1.Fall in love with your job again.

By the time you feel stagnant, there is a good chance any love affair you had with your job is over.  You may be bored. Perhaps you're frustrated or have even become complacent.  Do an honest gut check. If unbeknownst to you, someone who didn't know the situation had observed you at work last week, would they say you have the passion, skills and attitude to break through to the next level?  You've got to make a decision to approach your job with the energy you would if you were a brand new hire looking to prove yourself.  Even though you want to go to the next level, your proving ground is the level where you are.  If you can't be in the job you want right now, make a decision to maximize the job you're in.  

2. Fine tune relationships.

Many people who find themselves stuck have never accepted the truth that it's not just what you know, it's WHO you know.  Don't resent it, embrace it.  Then make a plan to build relationships. Reach out.  Listen.  Observe and learn from those who are progressing more quickly. People get promoted, in large part, because of the effectiveness of their relationships - how well you lead, how people respect you, how inspired they are to follow you, how you make them FEEL.  Key questions:  1) Do people leave your presence feeling better or feeling worse?  Also, consider doing what HR departments do for performance reviews - get 360-degree feedback.  Get feedback from your bosses, peers, customers and subordinates.  It's hard to hear criticism, but if you learn from it, a few adjustments can catapult you to the next level.  Don't take anything personally.  Glean every bit of truth you can from criticism.

   

3.  Set new clear, specific goals.

Where exactly do you want to be in one year?  Be clear, specific.  What position?  What type of responsibilities? How much income? And what do you want LESS of?  Then identify specific steps - doable steps - to get you there.  If you don't know what they are, actively seek the answers - from inside or outside the company, from books and articles, from role models who are already where you want to be, and from anywhere credible that you can find the info.  Don't set only big goals and hold your breath until you reach the finish line.  Establish the milestones on the journey to the goal.  And research shows you will be more effective if you give yourself the flexibility to adjust your goal and your strategy for reaching it as you progress. 

   

4. Understand the big picture.

What does your company want from you right now?  If you're unclear, ask. Your goals and your desire to get to the next level are not just about you getting unstuck, it is about you making a contribution to the company's vision.  Understand the company's bottom line and your position's role in contributing to that bottom line.  Being a team player is absolutely essential to getting unstuck in a corporate environment.   

5. Close the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

It's possible you can reboot your career at your current place of employment.  But many workers have found the door is shut to promotion.  The company is determined to hire from the outside or the company itself is at a standstill.  You need to understand whether that's the case, and if so, you need to reclaim your career by coming up with alternatives.  Do you need to transition to another department or another company?  Are you in a field that is stagnant and need to find a sub-field in which your skills are coveted (i.e., newspaper reporters who've moved into PR or marketing; teachers who move into corporate training, family doctors who go to work for health-related companies).  Be willing to make a BIG move to reboot your career.  First, plan your work.  Then work your plan.    

Challenge: 

Make a decision to reboot your career by being honest with yourself,  taking a look at it with fresh eyes.   Identify the most important change you could make that would shake things up and take you to the next level.

Question:
Think of a wise person who has already made it to or beyond the level you want to be in your career. What is the most powerful piece of advice you imagine s/he would give you right now?  Is it time for you to take that advice?

 

Until next time...

  

Warm wishes, 

Carve Out Time for the People That Matter Most

"No man on his death bed ever said, 'I wish I had spent more time at the office.'" - The late Sen. Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts

Dear Friend,

When I moved to Maryland in 2003, my father serendipitously received a promotion to move from Colorado to nearby northern Virginia. We had not lived in the same city since I graduated from high school and I was excited that he'd be just 20 miles away. Despite the close proximity, we both noticed something: We didn't actually see one another as often as we'd thought we would.  

Have you ever noticed that life sometimes gets so busy that it gets in the way of what you say is most important? It's in those moments, that you must reassess your priorities and make sure your schedule reflects them. If you aren't intentional about how you spend your time, it will slip through your fingers without bringing you some of the experiences that make your life rich and fulfilling.  

To make sure we made time together a priority, Dad and I decided to set a standing appointment. On Fridays, we met for lunch. Same place. Same time. And on the occasions when one of us couldn't make it, we made it a point to see each other at some other time. Our lunch dates ensured that we never became so busy that we'd go for weeks, living in the same metro area, without visiting with each other face to face. We visited at other times, too, of course, but we didn't rely on happenstance and special occasions to see each other regularly.  I now live in Atlanta, and I am intentional about spending time with my family here. 

This week, I invite you to take a moment to consider the people with whom you most want to spend time with on a regular basis. Then carve out some time and put strong boundaries around it. There is so much vying for your attention that you must be intentional about making time for your relationships. I make it my rule to visit with my family here in Atlanta and South Carolina regularly.  I also have a few friends with whom I get together once a month or so. If we don't set a date, one of us calls the other to say, "Hey, it's time for us to get together."  

To some, it may seem ridiculous to set appointments with yourself and the people you care about. Instead, I see it as a way to honor your most important relationships. In a world in which there is always something calling for your attention, it is essential that you take control of how you spend your time and put boundaries around the time that's meant for your most important priority - your relationships. Here are a few ideas to get you started: 

• Invite friends or family over once a month for an old-fashioned Sunday dinner.
• Eat breakfast or dinner together as a family.
• Choose a weekly "date night" for you and your spouse or significant other.
• Have a "game night" with your children or friends.
• Choose a favorite pastime and schedule regular time to enjoy it with someone you want to spend time with consistently.
• Set a standard for how often you want to see loved ones who do not live in your area. Honor your standard by taking out your calendar and marking the dates.
• Carve out regular time just for you. Just as it is important to make time for the important people in your life, it's important to make time just for you, too!
• Come up with your idea by brainstorming with the person you want to carve out time for!

Living an inspired life means aligning your true priorities with your day-to-day actions. When you make time for your relationships, you'll notice that other less meaningful activities may fall by the wayside. Take a deep breath and let them go. You can't be all things to all people. Carve out time for the people who matter most to you. Enjoy!

Journaling assignment:  

With whom do you need to be more intentional about spending quality time? When, how and how often would you like to spend time with them?

My challenge to you this week: 

Carve out time in your schedule for the people who matter most to you. Make that time sacred by setting boundaries around it that cannot be infringed upon by work, other people or less significant priorities.

Until next time...

Warm wishes, 

Who Am I Meant To Be?

Forget your career. Forget your role as a mother or a wife. Forget how much money you make or how successful you are. If you're struggling with the question "Who am I meant to be?", this quiz can help you figure out what really defines you. Based on personality science, I have identified seven "striving styles," modes of thought and behavior that direct us to seek satisfaction in different ways. Although everybody is wired with all seven styles, most people have one that dominates. When you engage this innate style, you've got the best shot at fulfilling your potential; when you don't, you can feel stuck.

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Who-Am-I-Meant-to-Be

What Career Women Can Learn From Oprah Winfrey

http://blogs.forbes.com/lisaquast/2011/06/13/what-career-women-can-learn-from-oprah-winfrey/Over the years, one of the role models I’ve eagerly observed from afar has been Oprah Winfrey. Her abilities as a female entrepreneur are what inspired me to leave the confines of corporate America and start my own consulting company focused on helping women succeed in their careers. And there are a lot of lessons career women can learn from Oprah.
Ms. Winfrey defied the odds stacked against her in life and used her abilities as an entrepreneur to take Harpo, Inc. from a small, five-person production company to a 430-person multimedia conglomerate. “Today, she is one of a handful of black billionaires across the globe; her net worth estimated at $2.5 billion” (Alleyne, 2008).
Born to unmarried parents, a miner father and a mother who worked as a maid, Oprah’s early years were filled with abuse, loneliness, and heartache. But what she was forced to overcome became a driving force for making Oprah what she is now, an incredible entrepreneur and mentor to women and men around the world.
“Her unprecedented success in American business serves as the undisputed blueprint for many minority entrepreneurs. Her leadership has broken down barriers; her business instinct the stuff of legend; and her innovation unprecedented. She has spent her entire career beating the odds – and has inspired millions of business-minded minorities in the process” (Allyne, 2008).
What career women can learn from Oprah:

• Sometimes it pays not to “over plan” things: Oprah claims not to be much of a strategist; rather, “she asserts that divine inspiration, not strategic planning, is the key to her company’s success: ‘I haven’t planned one thing – ever. I have just been led by a strong instinct, and I have made choices based on what was right for me at the time’” (Allyne, 2008).
• Demonstrate a strong work ethic: While Oprah worked as a news anchor she also took on the responsibilities as host of a morning television talk show. Throughout her career, Oprah has never shied away from hard work, she welcomes it.
• Don’t be afraid to be an entrepreneur: Her entrepreneurial mind-set and willingness to take risks has paid off by propelling her forward throughout her career. She sought out opportunities as an actress, invested in start-up businesses, such as Oxygen, an independent cable network for women, and most recently, launched the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
• Create a moral-support network: Oprah created a cheering squad with people such as her best friend, Gayle King, and Stedman Graham, who helped her during difficult and lonely times in her career.
• Create a professional-support network: Over the years Oprah has built up a professional network and been able to reach out to some of the most successful business people in the world for help or advice. In turn, she has also given back to others such as helping Barack Obama with his political campaign for president.
• Lead and inspire others: Oprah’s leadership style demands that nothing be taken for granted. “I don’t yell at people, I don’t mistreat people, I don’t talk down to people. Treating people with respect is the most important thing to me. It’s not just talk” (Allyne, 2008).

Oprah has been a wonderful role model for myself and for women all around the world because she has demonstrated the key traits necessary to achieve your dreams. She has proven that it does not matter from where you come; what matters is where you want to go, how you get yourself there, and how you treat people along the way. She has shown me that to be a successful entrepreneur takes courage and the ability to try new things, even in the face of uncertainty.

But what I will probably always remember is that she has become more than a talk show host and more than a business woman – she is a mentor to women around the world.

Follow Your Passion, Not Your Fears

http://www.forbes.com/2011/06/20/midlife-crisis-passion-fear.html

How I learned to thrive in my midlife crisis.

One year ago, I found myself at a midlife cross-road and almost-crises. After 15-plus years working at PR Newswire, one of the largest commercial newswire services, I had come to the end of the professional road. Reaching a vice presidential position a few years earlier, I was left with zero opportunity for personal advancement, nearly no challenges and, not least, a company-wide feeling of questionable growth ahead.
To be fair, the company was an incubator of many years of passion, growth, learning and exploration; it would not be fair for me to describe things as negative. But, the time had come for me to make a major leap of faith and choose a new path.

Naturally, I was terrified. But why? I was someone who somehow survived losing a mom at 20 to a hotel fire, recovered from a defeated marriage of 11 years by packing up and planting myself in a new city where I knew no one (New York), and witnessed the two-year slow-death of my father, which was caused initially by a root canal infection.

For years, I had been an accomplished sales, business development and marketing professional. When not working, I poured myself into various causes (women's advancement and leadership, entrepreneurship, environmental programs), as well as always being a go-to person for those looking for new jobs, connections, nonprofits to support and even potential life partners.

There was absolutely no reason I couldn't grasp what my future could be. The question was how could I take this turning-point, bottle it up and somehow monetize it? For the previous few years, I had taken an active interest in corporate social responsibility and in my spare time I kept up-to-date with the industry and attended conferences when possible. My last position at my old employer was helping the company determine what CSR communications services to offer its corporate clientele.

Thankfully, due to (1) solid and wonderful friendships; (2) a very supportive partner; (3) my ability to reach out to, and connect with, anyone online; and (4) with my voracious appetite for research, I was able to form a new path and strategy. Today, looking back at the last 12 months, I feel at peace with the decision and road I chose.

I've found my new direction and its one of excitement and challenge each and every day. Currently, I am a senior vice president at Fenton, the country's leading public interest communications firm. The firm has a 30-year history of helping make positive social change happen working with organizations, NGOs, nonprofits, government and individuals. My role is to lead our corporate responsibility practice and help market our good work to the overall public interest sector. Each day I'm blessed with working alongside some of the most passionate and brilliant thought-leaders, each making a difference in the work they do.

My thirst for creating innovation and developing new initiatives is satisfied. I feel challenged and motivated and look forward to continuing the enriching work we have ahead of us. I'm now paid to do what I'm passionate about. How rewarding is that?

For those prone to doing some reflecting on their summer weekends and vacations, I highly suggest that you consider following your passions and don't throw in the towel continuing with a job that is less than enriching or invigorating. We are blessed today with amazing technological resources and social media that provide us the opportunity to connect with almost anyone on the planet. Whether through the power of Twitter, Skype or Facebook, or joining one or two of the thousands of professional groups on LinkedIn, we now have the ability to gather new information and insight in minutes and hours rather than days.

I'm not saying its easy, but it is possible. There are webcasts, webinars, podcasts, conferences and symposiums presented on every subject imaginable. You have the power and tools to make change happen. Although one year ago I may have argued on this point, it is truly never to late too pick up and start-over.

Susan McPherson is a senior vice president at Fenton, the nation's leading public interest communications firm, where she focuses on corporate responsibility programs for the firm's clientele and regularly writes and speaks on sustainability communications and the value of public/private partnerships. She also serves on the board of Bpeace, an organization dedicated to assisting women in regions of conflict and post-conflict start businesses. She also is a member of Echoing Green's Social Investment Council and the New York Leadership team for 85Broads.