Chia-Li Chien | Nov. 10, 2010

Are you exhausted from working IN your business? Many business owners struggle to grow their businesses, but not because they did not have the right tools. Most in fact, have all the tools they need, but are not using them strategically or consistently.

Lily’s business was going gangbusters, and in the spring of 2010 she was busier than ever, thanks to a new email marketing campaign she started. She was able to secure many new clients through that one effort. However, by October 2010, Lily felt her business had decreased considerably, mainly because she had no clients to work with at that point. You see, she had dropped the ball and was no longer running her email campaign on the monthly basis she had begun in the spring. As a result, she found herself with no follow-up calls and her prospects pipeline had dried up.

Joanne conducts annual free seminars every fall, consisting of two seminars every other week for three months. She emails seminar invitations only to her existing clients, asking her clients to bring someone who might be interested. In each of the seminars, she will get an average of thirty-five attendees, ten of whom will book appointments with her team right on the spot. She has been doing this consistently for the past five years. Are her seminar topics really that attractive? Is her email letter really that compelling? According to Joanne, even if you had the worst email letter ever, and the worst seminar topics in the world, if you are consistent, your pipelines will remain filled. It’s the discipline that really matters.

Let’s take a look at two words I have used here and their definitions:

Discipline (according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discipline):
A rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity

Consistent (according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consistent):
Showing steady conformity to character, profession, belief, or custom

So why do business owners struggle to have the discipline to do what they are supposed to do consistently? Well, we live in a multi-media and multi-tasking world, for one thing. One of my business colleagues told me once, “The worst person to work for is YOURSELF.” You put in more hours than ever, are more distracted with many different clients with many different projects, and on top of that, you have a team to manage and new prospects to attract. There are so many things to do and still you may find yourself asking, “Where does the time go?”

Do you remember your college days? You most likely had a set schedule of what day and time to attend the classes you selected. You may or may not have liked the class subject, but at the end of each semester, you probably had completed what you were supposed to do and received a passing grade.

I did the same with my workweek schedule for my business. See below for a sample of what my working week looks like. I’ve also asked my team to know when I am doing what and I do stay on that schedule accordingly.

There are couple things that you might consider:

• Green Time is your money making time – make it a priority.
• Client Retention Time is your money making time too – make servicing your clients top priority in your business.
• Marketing and Sales are Income Generating activities – block them out accordingly if that is your role in your business.
• Continuing Learning Time. Knowledge helps build your common sense. Remember, you can’t teach others about common sense, but each of us can continue honing our common sense skills through varied training, reading, etc.
• Personal and Family Time. Take care of yourself in body, mind and spirit. Take time with family as well. I take a 30-minute nap during my 3 to 5 pm block because my brain needs a break before I can continue on. Listen to what your body is telling you – if you’re tired, take a break.

A weekly schedule can help each of your team members too. You see, being organized saves everyone a lot of time in getting the right thing done right!

See my personal sample here.

There are a few rules I follow and train my clients and team to follow that you might also want to consider:

•    Don’t return phone calls or emails during the day. Because I am busy servicing scheduled clients and working on scheduled tasks, I only return calls when they are pre-scheduled via email. I return email in the late afternoon or early in the morning. This may not be realistic for your business, nevertheless, set your own rules and train your clients and team accordingly. Remember to stick to your own rules.
•    Use your weekends wisely. Depending on the stage of your business and life, you may be very busy over the weekends. To be quite honest, weekends are my sacred time, and I protect them well. I would rather sacrifice a party, or a hiking trip for a good 2-hour nap to recharge my batteries. Or, I use the weekend to catch up on projects. I enjoy cooking and love to make delicious meals not only for just the weekend, but also preparing them for the week ahead.

I love what I do and am rewarded by watching my clients grow consistently in the right direction. But each successful business owner has their own internal time clock of the best time for doing certain things. Once you get into a routine you can follow, stick with that. Make changes as you see fit. After all, it’s your time – make it worthwhile.

So, where does your TIME go?

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.  She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

I’ve always loved Christmas; something about the songs, the bright lights, and the overall spirit of happiness has always made December a joyous month. I was not one of those children who grew up believing in Santa. My father ruined the magic of St. Nick Christmas of 1989 when he fell asleep in the living room after a long night of putting together bicycles for my sister and me. Knowing that my presents came from people who loved me was more meaningful than believing some imaginary guy in the North Pole delivered everything. I have several fond Christmas memories, but the one that stands out the most didn’t become so meaningful until 2004.

I believe it was Christmas of 1991, it may have been 1992; I’m not quite sure, because the year wasn’t important. Christmas was spent with my mom’s side of the family in Norfolk, VA. My grandparents, Granny and Pop-Pop, were so happy that all of their children, both son in-laws, and all their grandchildren were able to be at the house for Christmas. My memories of that day are scattered, but I can vividly recall the feeling. I remember my sister jumping rope with me outside while my estranged Uncle Martin watched with pride while smoking a cigarette. He didn’t buy any presents for his nieces (my sister, 2 cousins, and myself), but I didn’t notice. Having my uncle home was enough to make me happy; I don’t have any memories of him prior to this encounter. My cousins Nicole and Erica lived in Connecticut and we rarely got to see each other because my military father kept the family on the move. I’m the baby of the group and was content to tag along behind my eldest cousin Erica.

We took a family picture; I copied my big sister pose (I didn’t do a good job). The day was perfect. I don’t remember any gifts I received that year, except for a watch from my Uncle Lynn, Aunt Bernadine, Erica, and Nicole. My Uncle Lynn set it and then put it on my wrist. It was my first watch; a red band, blue face, the long hand blue with a happy face, the short hand red with a happy face; a beginners watch to help me learn to tell time. I learned to count seconds, minutes, and hours. Perhaps I should’ve learned to stop time instead; because that was the last time my entire family was together.

In the years that proceeded Erica died, followed by Uncle Lynn, and then Pop-Pop. Uncle Martin hasn’t showed up to a Christmas since that one we were all together; he did come to the funerals and to Aunt Dawn’s wedding, but not a Christmas. In lieu of losing our family did gain Uncle Keith (Aunt Dawn’s husband) and shortly after Pop-Pop died they had a son, Harrison. I love watching him open his presents and only wish he could have known Erica, Uncle Lynn, and Pop-Pop.

New Christmas memories have been made, but none of them will ever surpass that Christmas. If someone gave me the option to turn back the hands of time and relive one day in my life, I would choose that Christmas. Even if they tricked me and one day turned out to only be 1 hour I would savor every second.

By Rev. Diannia Baty

For a few weeks now I have been struggling with getting my thoughts on Thanksgiving so I could get it down and bring it to life. For some reason that has escaped me until now I have been blocked and could not write about it. I am blessed as a writer to write about anything at anytime but not with the subject of one of our major holiday celebrations.

Finally it came to me this morning that a block is something temporary and if I just delved into my emotions and thoughts that I would find the reason for the block. Once I exposed it to the light and stood toe to toe with it I would take the power of the block away.

While growing up in a large family a lot of my days were on survival mode. There was a lot of trauma and drama. Suffice it to say that I am amazed I made it out alive. Holidays are difficult for me because for all the rest of the days of the year, fear, pain and anxiety were prevalent. Then a holidays roll around and it is Picture Perfect for that one day and then back to the craziness. Don’t get me wrong I would enjoy these rare Norman Rockwell Days with a bittersweet taste because I knew it was short lived and that the next day all hell would break through once again.

So, in retrospect it has occurred to me that I didn’t trust the concept of Thanksgiving because it felt like some sort of sham. For a while after I left home I would make an effort to establish my own tradition but my heart was never in it. I was always quick to accept an invitation from someone to break bread with them on this day. I didn’t need to make an effort that way.

I do remember how my mother would cook a feast fit for royalty. The table would groan with the weight of the food. All the uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents etc. would be crowding the house and gossiping about one another. It was a day like most families would have and for that one day we were like regular folks and were truly nice to one another but the next day I had to come back to the reality of our crazy dysfunctional

family and my life as it was. I resented that so much and wondered why we couldn’t be loving, thankful and kind the rest of the year?

Now I am going to honor this day in the spirit that it is and that is giving thanks and being grateful for absolutely everything and to do it everyday of the year not just this one day. Every day should be Thanksgiving Day! While I fill my stomach every day I should be grateful that I do not go hungry while others are dying of starvation. I should be grateful for friends and a roof over my head when there are so many who are homeless right now.

I should be grateful, grateful, and grateful. Gratitude and giving thanks should be the mantra we hear and live every day of our lives. Love should be out most powerful thought and action of every day. War, economic upheaval, global warming, oil spills and all manner of horrible stuff is going on right now. I will not sugar coat that and pretend it is not happening but imagine a global movement of love, acceptance, generosity and giving thanks spreading from land to land, across borders, country to country. Imagine billions jumping on board with that. Now, imagine a world of peace where no one goes hungry for a single day. There are 60 billion of us and by the sheer numbers of us we have immense power to bring about change. Be your own leader, teacher, student and love ambassador for the world. Stand up and show up for humanity and yourself in any way that you can every day.

I declare that every day is Thanksgiving Day in my life. How about you? Is there someone or something you need to forgive, validate, express love to, volunteer for, give something to or let go of? Every day of our life choices are presented to us to do these things yet we wait for one day a year to do it and usually with a heavy heart so it never sticks. You know if this is you and if it is this may give you a different way to look at it.

I declare to live thanksgiving in my life.

I also want to add…”THANK YOU, GOD.”

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

www.makeachoicenow.com

There are a lot of people in this world who are called in service to become a caregiver to someone in need. People step up to the plate either because of family needs or to be of service to another. It makes no difference if you are a volunteer or not, care giving is a tough job on all fronts. It is emotionally upsetting, physically exhausting and financially draining even in the best of circumstances.

The scenarios are different but the bottom line is when there is someone who needs care someone somewhere has to step in and help.

This article is primarily for those who are taking care of someone who is either, elderly, terminally ill, or is helpless in some fashion. It makes no difference if they are sweet natured or mean tempered. You are an unsung hero.

Some years ago I made the decision to take care of my mother who was failing fast. Her addiction to anything that smacked of painkillers, valium or muscle relaxers had reached a peak. Her health from years of this abuse had gone downhill and had affected her heart and liver function. Her house was falling apart and my siblings were creating distance with her. She was not an easy person to be around. I sold my business and packed up everything to go to her and was planning to live out my life in Texas. This was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done. She was not very nice to me. In fact, she was mean and hurtful.

Long story short, I went through a lot just to get the doctors to detox her. Her health was so bad I think they were concerned that she wouldn’t survive detox. She did and I discovered that I had created a monster. I was the one that doled out her medications and took her to her numerous appointments. I was the one that sat through emergency room visit after emergency room visit. Her heart was weak and failing. There were so many things wrong with her that she was a walking medical textbook. She had a clear mind due to the detox and now that she was thinking clearer she took out her frustrations on me.

She decided that she didn’t need me anymore and the things that she did to get rid of me caused me great pain. I now know why someone goes to the store and is never heard from again. It was hard for me to believe that the mother that I loved so much could be so horrible to me. She did everything she could to malign and discredit me.

My siblings were no help to me at all. Out of sight, out of mind was pretty much how they handled the situation. I don’t really blame them for that and I have forgiven them for not being there for me.

This was so isolating to me. I felt that I was on my own and I pretty much was. The stress came close to killing me. I suffered an eye hemorrhage, heart palpitations and stomach issues while I was with her. I went to her doctor for these ailments and she told me it was stress related. She advised me to put my mother in a nursing home and run for my life. She was very aware of how my mother related to the world. She told me it could kill me. I still hung in there. There were no caregiver support groups in the area.

Many people are concentrating on the person who needs care but not the caregiver. I am telling you that is an extremely tough job.

If you are a caregiver find a support group and go to the meetings. If there isn’t one in your area, start one. If your brother or sister or dad or whoever is taking care of someone, offer help. Take over for a day or even a few hours. You have no idea how much this could mean to them. Call often and see what you can do but do something. Don’t abandon them.

During this time in my life I talked to God a lot to make it through another day. I wept with frustration, anger, sadness and a feeling of hopelessness.

If your health is failing because you are overwhelmed with someone’s care think about an alternative plan. Many families have broken apart because of these issues. The point is that the person in question gets care, no matter what organization or person gives it.

Don’t sit back and breathe a sigh of relief that good ole ___________has taken over ____________’s care and now you can get on with your life. Fill in the blanks.

I have talked to my creator about this care giving issue. I received guidance to remind everyone to support and love the supporter. Lift them up and show compassion.

My hats off to all of you who have stepped up to the plate but remember you need care too!

To all of those who are supporting the care givers of this world…kudos to you! I also want to remind everyone that someday you may need care too! We are all God’s creations and would do well to remember that! Don’t just think that you should help out and forget it.

Do something.

www.makeachoicenow.com

For the past eight years, my number one companion has been Marty, my 10-year-old toy poodle. He’s been with me through several boyfriends as well as one big cross-country move (to California and back). Together we’ve played, we’ve cried (he likes to lick my tears), we’ve slept in on lazy Saturdays and endured many a thunderstorm (he hates those). I think we can learn a lot from a dog.

While he has a long memory, he’s got a very short attention span when it comes to being upset. He gets over things. He’s definitely not a grudge holder. Animals, unlike humans, innately trust their instincts. We let too much ‘thinking’ and second-guessing get in the way. But Marty reacts based on instinct and he’s usually right. He can tell when that dreaded thunderstorm is coming before I have a clue. He knows when I’m upset and is ready with a lick to comfort me.

Before Marty, I could get up and be out of the house (dressed, hair done and full make-up) in 15 minutes flat. Not so much with a dog. The concept of late just doesn’t occur to him. I can rush like gangbusters but time slows down when I have to walk him. He just refuses to rush!

What I like best about him though is that he’s an automatic mood lifter. A hard day or a sad moment becomes a little bit better when he’s around. He’s there with a sympathetic ear (and a head tilt that makes you think he really does understand) or to lick a tear away. He’s always up for a quick game or just to sit on your lap and let you pet him. After 5 minutes with Marty, you will feel better! It’s guaranteed.

His unabashed love and affection are contagious. The groomer refers to him as her ‘boyfriend’ and he arrives at the vet to a chorus of greetings from the vet assistants. In fact, my friend Cindy refers to him as America’s Favorite Pooch .

Life is hard and filled with twists and turns and disappointments. But with a Marty in my corner, somehow I know I’ll get through it all. Everyone should be so lucky.