When Kindness Is Bad for Business

When Kindness Is Bad for Business

by | Mar 25, 2019 | Blog, RYT Radio, Success Mindset

A short and sweet podcast episode for you today.

I say sweet, because I talk about kindness.

But actually, what I really talk about is the bitter, unseen damage caused by kindness.

It is very likely the real-life scenario I describe is familiar to you.

A story of cancer, hardship, kindness, self-sacrifice and guilt one of my VIP clients faced this month.

I share my advice I gave her, and it may shock you.

You may not see me as a very nice person after you watch this episode but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

See what I mean in this 9 minute episode of the Romance Your Tribe Podcast.

You can watch the video, listen to the audio, download from the podcast directory, or read the transcript below. Never miss an episode. Click here for all the ways you can subscribe.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:55 — 13.6MB)

If you prefer to read, click at the bottom of the page to read the transcript.

A Special Message From Janet

Thank you so much for being here. I know there are a lot of podcasts you could choose to listen to  and you chose to join me on Romance Your Tribe Radio.

Woohoo!

I’m honoured and  grateful for your support.

If you enjoyed this week’s episode, I’d love for you to take a quick minute to share your thoughts with us and leave an honest review and rating for the show over on iTunes!

Links and Resources Mentioned

Attract Your Tribe Accelerator

15 Simple Mindset Hacks to reprogram your subconscious for happiness and success

Romance Your Tribe Radio in iTunes

Read The Transcript Here

Hello and welcome! Janet Beckers here. I’ve got a short and sweet episode for you today and I know that’s today’s topic is going to be really, really confronting for some of the people who are going to be listening today because we’re going to talk about kindness. But in fact we’re going to talk about when kindness is a really bad business strategy and when kindness can actually harm your clients. So let’s have a look at what I mean by that and the signs when you may be doing this and what to do instead. Okay. Now this might sound really unexpected coming from me or in fact from anybody to say kindness is not a good thing, because honestly, you know, kindness and love are actually enshrined in our approach of what we do in business. So what am I talking about here? Well, let me give you a scenario.

Have you ever found yourself in the situation where you’re thinking, oh, this person, either an existing client or a past client, you know what, they are having a really tough time. There’s so many hardships that they’ve gone in their lives. So many things that are going wrong for them. I felt really, really bad about charging them for what I’m doing. And you know what I’m thinking? You know, maybe I won’t give this to them for free, but I’m really thinking this person, they should be getting a discount. Like I’m feeling really, really bad about doing this. Now that may seem to you to be kindness, but let’s flip this around the other way. And this is from a person who has that… you know, this was something I had a lot when I was starting out in my business and it’s still something that gets me every now and then and I have to remind myself of this because you see there’s kindness, there is selflessness and that’s, especially as women, we’re very often conditioned from quite young that these are really great attributes.

This makes you a good person. But let’s take that a little bit further because the flip side of that is martyrdom. When you start to become the martyr, when you, as soon as you are able to say, you know what, I am helping that person out because that person is doing it tough and I can do this for them and I’m so good, I am a martyr. Now, what is wrong with that? If it means that they get something good out of it and you get a sense of, you know what, I’m a good person. What is wrong with that? Okay, so this is what I have learned over the years of being a martyr and having those martyr tendencies and I would like to feel now that I don’t, and this is why a big Aha that I had in business and the reality of what damage I could have been doing to clients and potential clients.

Because you see, as soon as it comes to any kind of martyrdom, we’re talking about power. And very often the sense of being a martyr is that I am the one that is giving up power. I’m being the good person. But in fact, by you being the martyr, by you being selfless in that way, you are actually dis-empowering your clients. You are taking the power as the martyr. You are putting them in a position where you are actually dis-empowering them. So let me give you an example that just came up a couple of weeks ago. It was a classic sign and I gave this advice to one of my clients and it was a classic sign. They did not even realize what they were doing.

So the scenario. On one of our VIP huddles every single week, my Attract Your Tribe Accelerator clients. Every single week we get on a video huddle, and it’s hot seating. You know, they’ve got me and they’ve got these other wonderfully clever people who are in business helping them. We brainstorm issues that are happening in their business. Now, one of the ones is one of our clients, an incredibly beautiful, kind woman said that, you know, I felt really, really bad because I’ve got this client, a potential client and you know what? She’s just been diagnosed with cancer. I feel so bad for her. I really feel bad about charging her and I’m thinking that, you know, I should try and make her life easier by giving her a discount. Now that sounds kind, isn’t it? But here’s the interesting thing, as when I pointed out that that was actually going to be dis-empowering this woman who as soon as she started to having to go into the medical system where she is going to be giving up her power so much into everybody else, she’s just giving up the power over her body, very often over decisions that are happening in her life because this is the right way to do things.

So many things that she’s getting, it’s power being removed by you even just assuming that she is that she can’t pay you is going to be removing another part of power from her. Now interestingly, we had a few people who were on our call who are all survivors of breast cancer. And when I said this, cause it’s a bit controversial to say, look, hang on, actually, you know, you think you’re being kind, you’re actually dis-empowering. It was really interesting because each person had said, you know what, that is so true. Everybody saw me as a victim and I did not want to be seen as a victim. So this is an example, an extreme example of somebody who’s had something like cancer. Now, what do you do if you have a situation where you do have somebody who is financially challenged?

Well that’s what you have payment plans for. So if they can’t pay for you in the one go, you have payment plans to help them. And if it’s somebody who you know is going to be good, you know they’re going to be able to pay. But they may be having struggles, well you can negotiate payment plans, but you’re not making that decision for them. You’re letting them know that you have ways to help them if they need assistance with cashflow. Now the other side of that is just because somebody hasn’t told you about something else that’s happening in their life, why can you assume that there is nothing else happening in somebody else’s life and you’re not even taking into consideration that they may be having hardship? So keep that in mind there as well. You do not know the stories of every body else.

It’s just that they are choosing not to let you know. Um, they are choosing not to be dis-empowered. So I know that this is going to be a really big challenge for a lot of people out there. And if you find yourself that the idea of being able to stop feeling guilty about taking money from people because you’re not taking money, you are providing a service, a solution, and this is the energetic return, which is the money, that is your business. If you’re feeling really bad about that, well then you may have one, you might have a certain percentage of what you do that is scholarships that can be applied, you know, for people that you think would really benefit from them. So you’ve got that part there that allows you to have a philanthropic side without it being you being the martyr, you dis-empowering your clients.

I’m really curious to hear from you. Have you listened to this and you’ve just thought, how insensitive. What on earth are you talking about? I’d like to hear from you. I really do want to hear from you on that. ,Because this would have shocked me to hear this maybe 10 years ago. If you’re listening to this and you’re thinking of from either side, one side, which is where you are the person who has been tempted from a sense of being the good person to help other people and be selfless. Does this help you? And also from the outside, if you’ve been the person that has been having a difficult situation and you found that somebody was offering you extra support when you didn’t even ask for it. How did that make you feel? Loved, or did it make you feel dis-empowered?

I’d really love to hear from you. Okay. So go forth. Treat the world with kindness, but don’t dis-empower them. Okay. Bye!

Procrastination Is Not a Character Flaw

Procrastination Is Not a Character Flaw

by | Feb 11, 2019 | Blog, Business Skills, RYT Radio, Success Mindset

Procrastination is not a character flaw. It’s simply lack of clarity.

Do you find yourself beating yourself up because you know you need to make changes in your business, or launch that new program, or start that podcast etc. but you haven’t taken action? So you label yourself as a procrastinator and beat yourself up further because you know as a procrastinator, you are flawed! 😖😖😖

Know. it’s not just you and it doesn’t have to stay like that all the time. Instead, stop seeking procrastination as a character flaw and start seeing it as a symptom.

It is a symptom of lack of clarity so you simply need to:

1️⃣ Identify where you have a lack of clarity

2️⃣ Follow a framework to get clarity, make a decision and clear up the energy so you can stop procrastinating and get s#*t done.

In this week’s short and sweet podcast and “cheat sheet” post below, I share with you a few of the areas you are most likely lacking clarity on that you may not realise are the root of your procrastination.

Plus tips and resource links to help you get clarity and get momentum.

You can watch the video, listen to the audio, download from the podcast directory, or read the transcript below. Never miss an episode. Click here for all the ways you can subscribe.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:38 — 14.6MB)

Procrastination Road Blocks

Here’s a few areas you may have lack of clarity on that are causing you to procrastinate in your business:

✳️ How do I really help people anyway? so what is the transformational journey I take people on to get from A to B?

✳️ What gives me joy in my business…am I doing enough of that?

✳️ Have a created a business that has me doing a lot of things I don’t like? If yes…what can you outsource or what can I stop doing…….otherwise why have a business anyway, if you don’t choose to do things that light you up. You may as well get a job!

✳️ Have I got the right business model?

✳️ Have I over-complicated my business?

✳️ Am I really clear on what my clients really want help with or am I just assuming?

✳️ Am I clear on what I stand for? What will get the splinters out of your bum from sitting on the fence in your industry?

✳️ Am I clear on my confidence to step up and get seen or do I need a framework to stop sabotaging?

That’s just a few ideas.

If you aren’t clear on any of the above, well that’s what I do. I have frameworks to give you clarity then the tools and templates to get you taking action in the right way so you can stop procrastinating and get stuff done.

The stuff that makes a difference.

If you’d like my help either comment below or contact me and tell me what it is you are stuck on.

I’ll see if I can help you get unstuck.

Handy links mentioned on the video:

How to Make Better Decisions: A 5-Step Framework

How To Find Your Why in Business

Check out the different ways you can work with me.

1-Page “Chaos To Clarity” tool

A Special Message From Janet

Thank you so much for being here. I know there are a lot of podcasts you could choose to listen to  and you chose to join me on Romance Your Tribe Radio.

Woohoo!

I’m honoured and  grateful for your support.

If you enjoyed this week’s episode, I’d love for you to take a quick minute to share your thoughts with us and leave an honest review and rating for the show over on iTunes!

Read The Transcript Here

Hello and welcome! Janet Beckers here with a short and sweet episode for you this week of Romance Your Tribe Radio and today we’re going to be looking about why you’re not getting stuff done. Now, if you find yourself going in are what I’d be wanting to get this podcast on or this program launched or I’ve been wanting to make those sales calls, do that webinar, make my, get my website, get it out there, but I keep on stuffing around. I’m not doing it. I’m not getting committed. I’m, you know, I’m just really just doing everything else. But I’m doing a lot of busy stuff, but I’m not getting the results. I’m really common thing is to describe yourself as a procrastinator to say, I’ll keep on procrastinating, I’m not getting things done. And it’s very, very easy to see that as almost who you are, that this is like a character flaw that you have, that I am a procrastinator, you know?

So if you find yourself saying that, and I’m being totally transparent with you here, I used to say it’s a lot to myself and I do say to myself quite often, Janet, you’re procrastinating, stop stuffing around. But the next question you have to ask yourself is, why, why am I procrastinating? Are you really so incredibly flawed as a person that you default to procrastinating on everything? So first of all, I’d like you to have a look at other things in your life, things that you are super clear on their importance or, um, or you know, why you’re doing that. And do you procrastinate around those things? And I bet you will find that there are a lot of things that you don’t even procrastinate on. And if you’re struggling to find this, it’s because you do those things all the time. So much so that there’s very little thought put into them.

So you don’t even think about them as procrastinating, you know, for example, me spending time with my family, um, you know, carving out time to, you know, hang out with one of my kids is, you know, for me it’s a no brainer. I don’t procrastinate over that. Um, but that’s because I know how important it is. I’m clear on it. So what I’m going to look at here is what I see is the number one reason why you may be procrastinating and that is you just don’t have clarity. For me, I know with myself, if I’ve been stuffing around and I’m procrastinating now instead of seeing this, that this is something that I need to work on from personal development point of view, as in a discipline point of view, that there’s actually something deeper there. That this is nothing really to do with me as a person being flawed.

It’s to do with this particular situation that I do not have clarity. And so this is about what I want you to ask yourself. What am I stuffing around on? What am I procrastinating on? What am I avoiding? Now let’s look at what am I clear on? So I’m going to run over just a few for you. And the thing is, if you’re procrastinating, number one, you’ve got to get clear first of all on what it is that you are unclear about. So because you can’t get that clarity on why or what, what it is it your needing to do unless you actually identify which part of this whole thing are you clear on. So I’ll run over a few of those. Now once you’ve got that, then it’s so much easier because then you can go, right, I need a frame work now to be able to take action.

And if it’s something that I know that this is the area that I need to get clarity on, I need to make a decision on, right? What sort of things do I need to do to be able to make that decision? So to help you understand, I’ll run through some really, really common scenarios that I experienced myself and importantly that my clients deal with. It’s really, really normal. So I’ll just refer to my notes so I don’t miss on here. So number one is you’ve got to identify what the clarity problem is, where you need clarity and then use a framework for it. Now here’s a few ones. So here is a really common one that I find if you’re procrastinating around getting your offer out there or um, you know, telling people about your business, very often it will be yours actually really unclear on what kind of transformational journey you actually create.

Like how do you get people from point a to point B, like not just, yeah, I can help them like absolutely step by step, how do I do that? What are the steps in the transformational journey? If you are unclear on exactly how it is that you get results, then it’s very difficult for you to actually with confidence go out there and get it. Cause you’re always in the back of your mind going fraud, I really don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m not sure if I can get the results. So if that’s one thing that you’re, that you’re not clear and then you go, right, I need a process that’s going to help me get super clear on what the steps are that I take people on. No, that’s what I help you with. So that may be the framework that you need. Another really common one might be, you know what, I’m really unclear on who is the best person for me to serve.

So that’s why I’m not putting it out there because I can help everybody or should I go this way or should I go that way? What’s the way I should go? So if that is what is stopping you, if you’re pretty sure how you get results for people but you’re not sure where to focus, then go right? That is the one area that I need to get clarity on because that is blocking me. And again, that’s another thing that I can help you with. Um, another one may very well be is why I don’t even know why I’m doing it. I’m really unclear on this that I’m not getting motivated. So maybe you are needing a process. It’s going to help you to get clear on why you’re doing what you’re doing, what really lights you up, what are you on a mission, those sorts of things.

So once you know that, then you can, um, you know, you can go and have a look at that. And I’ll actually, I’ll put a link down below. He, there’s a really great, uh, Ted video on about your why. So that’s a great one. And I’ve also got some other podcast episodes I’ll link you through to around your why. Um, so other ones, let me have a look here that I’ve got here. You might be thinking, you know, have I over complicated things in my business? So am I just feeling overwhelmed because I’ve got so many things happening. You know, that that’s what’s stopping me because it’s just all too much. So you may need clarity on actually what is getting me the results and what is not getting me the results. So you just may need to have, okay, that’s what I’ve got to look at first.

And so then I can go, you know what, these things here are not getting me the results. That’s what I will give up. So I can focus on doing the things that are working but doing super well. Um, again, that’s other things that I felt pure with, but that’s that first step that you do is right. What is working, what isn’t working? Be Really, really clear on that. Um, so that’s something that you could probably start to do yourself. Another one might be, am I sabotaging all the time? Because I, I’ve got self doubts. I’m not confident to put myself out there. So if you look at everything else, don’t always assume that it is this. A lot of times people will default to going, you know, I’m just not confident, but really on my farm and I dive deeper, we all have that. We all have that.

You know, even people who are outrageously successful still have that self doubt. Very often. It may actually be that it’s because you weren’t clear on what are the steps in your process or you’re unclear on exactly who your market is or you’re unclear about what gets splinters out of your bum baby. Like what’s going to get you off the fence and take a stand in your market so you’re not going to get splinters in your farm. So you know, cause if you sit on the fence all the time, that’s what happens. So maybe that’s one of those things that you’re just not clear on. What’s your unique voice, what do you stand for? So these are the, these are a few of the things that actually may be stopping you from procrastinating. So before you make assumptions that it is a character floor or it’s something that you need to dive deep into what it is that stopping you from moving forward.

Look at the logic part of it first. Okay. And look at what are the areas that I need to get clarity on that I need to make decisions on and focus on those. And then you can step up into that fear because we will always have it. That’s what I call scare cited. That when you’re scared, because you know this is pushing you out of your comfort zone, but you’re excited because you know you’ve got, you’ve got something to share and um, and you, you’re going to get you express yourself there through that business. So I’d love to hear from you like, do any of those resonate with you? Um, if you, um, you know, or do you have other ones, other tips around procrastination specifically around this part here? I’d love to hear from you if you can leave a comment, wherever it is that you are viewing this.

I love to hear, if you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast, I’d really appreciate if you would, uh, go over to iTunes. I don’t normally ask you that. I’m going to start asking, go over to iTunes and leave a review and a rating. I would really appreciate that. So more people can find this podcast. Um, and importantly, I’d like to hear from you now what works for you, what do you procrastinate on? And I may be able to help you pinpoint the thing that you need to get clear on. And if you’d like to work with me, just send us an email and I can tell me a bit about your business and I can let you know what’s the best way that I can help. Okay, go get them folks.

 

9 Ways to Declutter Your Business……. Starting with You

9 Ways to Declutter Your Business……. Starting with You

by | Jan 22, 2019 | Blog, Business Skills, Productivity, RYT Radio, Success Mindset

In the new Netflix show Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, the Japanese decluttering diva shows Americans how to do with less, challenging America’s hoarding and consumer cultures.

I love her approach of “throw out anything that doesn’t spark joy” (true confessions, I haven’t watched any of her shows…. life is just too short!).

So why not use this approach in your business?

That’s the topic of this week’s podcast and cheat-sheet article for you below.

This is a topic that is top of mind for me because this week I have done the ultimate declutter.

I have closed my award-winning website after 10 years!

Decluttering my business in such a drastic, but essential way, has allowed me to release the energy I need to make a greater impact.

So, making the most of the unique decluttering energy I’m feeling at the moment, I share with you today the 9 ways you can declutter your business and let go of things (and people) that have an energy that really isn’t serving you anymore.

Once that cluttered energy is gone, you’ll free up space and emotional energy to attract other things into the vacuum you’ve created. This freedom allows you to feel and see things more clearly. It is essential to the growth of your business.

Read / listen/ watch on  for the 9 steps in the order I recommend.

If you any of these areas I share make you go “Aha! That’s what I’m going to do next”, come and share it. I’d love to hear it from you. Share it on the podcast on the blog page or get in touch with me through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, wherever you hang out.

You can watch the video, listen to the audio, download from the podcast directory, or read the transcript below. Never miss an episode. Click here for all the ways you can subscribe.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:11 — 37.3MB)

9 Ways to Declutter Your Business

Clear the energy to attract great clients, great staff and great opportunities.

Plus clear your mind and business life my simplifying in these 9 areas.

The list below has a very specific order. It’s not necessarily to do with the importance, but the right steps to approach your business declutter.

#1 Clear Out Your Office

This may not seem like the most important area to focus on first, but it is actually the best one to start with.

If you have an office, throwing out things that clutter your peripheral vision or things that distract you without you really noticing it, will be freeing.

Keep only what is important.

This clutter not only clutters you visually, it clutters you energetically.

Take the time to create a calm and focused energy in your immediate work space. A place you can feel a beautiful energy that is pleasure to work in. For me, I always have flowers on my desk where I can see them without having to turn my head. I also have an aromatherapy candle just outside my peripheral view. And I keep these little things, presents, that remind me of why I do what I do.

Set yourself a deadline to work on this and just focus.

TIP: If you don’t have an office, but the area where you usually work isn’t giving you a good energy, then claim an area in your home for yourself, even if it is small. Create a sense of “ritual” by creating a clear space and whatever you choose to include to create a feeling of happiness where you work.

#2 Your Clients

This might sound weird or a bit tough, but you need to do this.

Look at the people you’re working with. Who among them use a lot of your energy and time? Who causes you stress? Are there clients who are making you focus on things that you don’t do well?

They could be a client from hell or you’re simply just not a good match. Maybe you’re not the best person to help them or maybe the help they need  is something that is not a part of your business any more.

Make those decisions.

  •         Does that client need to go?
  •         Do you have to refer this client to someone else?
  •         Should you review the boundaries you set with that client?

I’ve only had to do this twice. Once was with a client who I was able to get great results for, she paid on time but she was incredibly needy. She sucked my energy dry.

She also counted as a high percentage of my business. So I  built up the other parts of the business so I could eventually let her go in a kind way.

This is how I worded my letting her go:

“It’s been wonderful to help you achieve so much in the time we’ve been working together and we’ve well surpassed what we set out to do. I don’t think you need me any more. And for some of the stuff that you still need my help with, I can refer you to some people who specialise in just that part.”

There was one other time where it was actually a client from hell.

She was awful. She had everybody in tears. I just had to let her go. I gave her all the money back even if we’ve done the work because I didn’t want that energy.

That’s only happened twice in 10 years. Letting go of them just freed me and opened up opportunities and space for new, wonderful clients.

But what if you actually have fantastic clients?

I’m actually at that stage where I have the world’s best clients. I’m just attracting people who I know I can really help. They get me and I get them. I’m absolutely adoring them.

So if you have great clients, let them know!

Also say to them “I want to work with people who are like you. I’d love you to refer people to me who are just as wonderful as you”.

You can also offer your favourites an alumni package to help these great clients stay with you for longer. I just did that with my Rising Stars clients.

#3 Declutter your products

To do this, you’re going to have to do a couple of things.

Look at all your products and services.

This is helpful if you’re doing a lot of little things. This also applies if you’re doing very different things for each client.

If you’re doing a lot of different things for a lot of different people, I want you to list everything down you are doing. You do this because you need to get really clear on what you are really offering. Then you can make decisions on what you will no longer offer.

Simplify and channel your energy to doing less, better and with more focus.

You’ll also attract clients easier with this new clarity.

Look at your profit and loss.

How much money do you make from each of the products and services you offer? If you are creating tailored solutions for people – coaching or service provision – then I want you to look at which of those are making you the most money.

Most importantly, look at the time you are spending on each. You might be getting a lot of money from it but it also may be taking up an excess amount of your time, emotion, or energy.

On the other hand, you might have products that are low cost but they’re efficient because they don’t take much work on your part.

Look at what you can simplify.

It’s not necessary that more is better. Less can be better for you because you can be clear about what you offer. More importantly, you’re not going to be using as much emotional and mind bandwidth.

Can you declutter your programs and your products?

That’s something I just done recently by consolidating everything into one core program with 2 VIP levels. All of the things you offer should lead to the ultimate result.

#4 Your Opt-ins

Do you have a lot of different ways for people to join your mailing list?

Are some of those really not going to be the best ones to lead people into your nice, simplified, decluttered products?

If so, maybe you should just get rid of them. They’re just confusing and unnecessary. Keep it simple. As much as it can be overwhelming you, it could be confusing your clients as well.

Questions to consider:

  • Are these going to attract the perfect clients you want?
  • Are these really going to lead them to the products and programs that take the least amount of time, and give you the least amount of stress and the most amount of profit?

If you don’t have an email list yet and you need help, I can help you create an integrated solution from opt in to programs to profit through the Attract Your Tribe program.

#5 Your Content

What are you doing that’s getting you in front of people?

You need to be seen and heard for your ideal clients to find you and know what you stand for.

Some of these include:

  • Podcasts
  • Blog posts
  • Facebook live
  • Videos
  • And more

What is it that you’re doing to let people know that you know your stuff, to connect with people and stay top of mind? Take a look at what’s working and focus on them.

Some of the things you do might be things you do just because you’ve always done them or you feel that you have to. Many of those things are often things that don’t give you results.

Simplify. Doing different types of content can attract different types of prospects, but have a really good look if any of them aren’t really getting results.

This is a great place to declutter. Again, do more with less.

Disclaimer:

Now this depends on the stage of your business. If you’re just getting ready to launch, you need to be building your mailing list. You need to be getting people’s attention. You need to be visible. That’s your runway.

For a plane to get lift and really take off, it needs a long runway. That’s when you’re going to be creating your content and building your mailing list. You might look at it and go, “Janet says I need to declutter if it’s not working.”

Recognise first if you’re in that runway phase. You’re still building so you can get your sales. Don’t go and throw things out without knowing what you are measuring. How many opt-ins are you getting? What kind of engagement are you getting? What suite of core blog posts are you creating that’s going to end up attracting the perfect clients? Have a look at that and the way that you’re creating content.

Can you declutter there?

#6 Your Staff

That also includes you. It could be you, your virtual assistant, your staff, the people you call in every now and then. Or nobody else.

Look at your team and think:

  • Is there anybody here that if they would leave, I would be absolutely horrified?
  • Is there anyone here that if they left, I wouldn’t be too upset?

If they’re not doing a fantastic job, then maybe you should declutter. Don’t surround yourself with mediocre.

There might be someone you’re keeping because you don’t want to go through the effort of looking for somebody else or you don’t want to hurt their feelings. Let that energy go. You’re going to attract somebody awesome in instead.

Finally, if you have a virtual assistant, are you using them to their full capacity? Would you be better off just hiring part-time? Take a look at what you’re doing and delegate better.

#7 Yourself

Look at yourself. Are you spending time doing things that matter or are you doing “busy work”? Be really honest. Can you declutter yourself as the person who is running the business and attracting the clients? Can you declutter your own time and use the support team that you may already have, or intend to build?

Now, what is using up your bandwidth?

What email lists, Facebook groups are you on? Things that use up your time and attention. Work out your criteria for what you really need to grow your business and only spend time reading and interacting with the content and groups that will help you.

Ask yourself, which are the ones you really look at all the time?

If you were on a newsletter list or Facebook group just because you were curious or someone else had added you, just unsubscribe or leave. That’s all clutter using up your brain and distracting you. Exercise minimalism so that the energy that you use is going to be calm.

#8 Software Subscriptions

How many of the software you pay for are you not actually using? Go and get rid of it. It’s going to save you money and the space at the back of your head where every now and then something comes up and you go “why do I have that; I don’t remember” just declutter.

Streamline. Less clutter. Less things to learn. Less things to pay for.

#9 Your Online Presence

Once you’ve decluttered all this, take a look at your website and social media. The best way for people to join your mailing list. Does it reflect your new decluttered life and business?

Now be careful when you approach decluttering your online presence.

When I talk about decluttering you and your time, one of the things to be wary of is “busy work”. These are things that seem really important, keeping you busy, but is not actually growing your business and making an impact.

One of these unproductive, busy things is constantly tweaking your website.

So when you’re decluttering your website, make sure you’re sure about what needs to go. Set your timeframe to do that. And if you haven’t been using your virtual assistant efficiently, this is the best thing to ask them to help you with.

Just don’t fall into that trap of “I’ve been really busy tweaking things on my website”.

This is the last thing you would want to do because you want it to represent this minimalist, decluttered energy that you are clearing around yourself and your business so that the good things can flow in.

Do you have other areas you recommend decluttering?

Or maybe you have some other great tips?

Share down below what’s worked with you and if you have tips for other people, share them as well 🙂

A Special Message From Janet

Thank you so much for being here. I know there are a lot of podcasts you could choose to listen to  and you chose to join me on Romance Your Tribe Radio.

Woohoo!

I’m honoured and  grateful for your support.

If you enjoyed this week’s episode, I’d love for you to take a quick minute to share your thoughts with us and leave an honest review and rating for the show over on iTunes!

Links and Resources Mentioned

Attract Your Tribe Coaching Program

1-Page “Chaos To Clarity” tool

Romance Your Tribe Radio in iTunes

Read The Transcript Here

Hello beautiful people! Janet Beckers here and welcome to the next episode of Romance Your Tribe Radio. This week we’re going to be talking about decluttering your business and I have got here nine different parts of your business that you can be decluttering now. Now, why on Earth am I talking about this topic? Well, you see, I’m really feeling a unique decluttering energy as I record this because last week I announced on my podcast that I was completely wiping from the face of the earth, my award winning website I membership site that had won me numerous awards and that had been running for 10 years. Now, if you haven’t listened to that episode, I really do recommend you go over or it or go over to the blog and look at the read the article that I’ve written there because you can see why it was a really important decision for me to make, to be able to release the energy that would allow me to be able to expand my reach and make a greater impact.

And I shared on that podcast that I kind of felt this really, really weird sense of decluttering, but this business that this website was going to be completely gone. That sort of thing that you get, you know when you’ve got this really cute pair of jeans that you’re really, really light and it’s got all these fantastic memories and you know, you looked hot in them and you remember all the great times that you had when you were wearing them and you don’t want to let them go because maybe I can make it fit. Maybe it’ll come back in fashion. I really don’t want to let them go. But you know that when you declutter that wardrobe, when you throw that out and the other things that it’s going to be really freeing that sort of minimalist feel that it’s going to open up the energy for let other things come in.

Well that’s how I’ve been feeling when I have kissed wonderful web women goodbye with love that completely wiped from the earth. So I’ve been feeling that decluttering energy and you know what? It’s really, really frame it’s in it. Cause once you’ve made that decision to, yeah, okay, tiny ergo baby is once it’s, that energy has gone that’s been associated with something that wasn’t serving you anymore, then it’s almost like you’ve left this weight off you, that there is all this energy that was being used in that place that now is free. So you’re now free to be able to accept other things into that space. So that’s how I felt. Uh, with wonderful web women going as much as a tough decision. It was. And there’s the grieving that goes with it. It’s opened up all this beautiful energy and that comes with like a decluttering of your home.

You get that same sort of thing. And for my beautiful friends out there that are really totally clued up on law of attraction, on vibration and all of those sorts of things that you will know, you will understand exactly why that decluttering, throwing things out and simplifying actually clears the, to let other things in. So let’s take that beautiful energy and yet loot use it like right now and have a look at nine different areas in your business that you can choose to simplify, to declutter and to really clear out the baggage and have that beautiful kind of clear, non cluttered, non hoarding feel that allows you to be able to feel things more clearly, see things clearly and bringing that beautiful energy. So let’s go and have a look at those now and I would love to hear from you. So if you, you are, um, you know, as I’m going through this, if any of these areas and make you go, Aha, that’s where I’m going to do next.

I’d love to hear from you. Come and share it. You know, wherever you are listening to this, you might want to share this on the podcast blog page, which is a great place to go or even come and find and join the conversation on Instagram or over on Facebook or Twitter, wherever it is that you’re hanging out. Um, I’d love to share. And so, and he went, the other people have got to say as well. And if you have got some, any tips on how to declutter the specific areas and I’m going to talk about, I’d love to hear from you and I know other people will as well and you might have an extra area that you’re thinking she missed. This one. Love to hear from you as well. So I’m going to share these with you in the order that I suggest that you look at them and make some decisions and actually take action.

And I’ll explain to you why I have given them in that order. So it’s not necessarily to do with their importance, but a lot of it’s got to do with the right steps to put them in so that you clearing the energy in the right way. Okay. So step number one is clear out your office. Now this may not be when we’ve gone through the other eight may not seem like the most important, but the thing is by you going through your office, and this does not have to be hours and hours and hours. And if you don’t have an office, wherever your workspace is by actually throwing out all those things that use your peripheral vision, that clatter your, your mind without even being aware of it, just declutter. Only have things that are of really importance to you either said do your work or that help you to get that beautiful energy.

Um, if you’ve got a falling box, like I have where I go, most things I don’t file because we don’t use paper that much, but there’s certain things that have come through that I’ve gone, you know, I’ve either got a scan that or I’ve got a file that, so, but you know, I’ll just go in the box for the meantime, you know? Sure. There’s a couple of years worth it. So you might want to decline of that. So any of your, any of your sort of systems that you’ve got, if you’ve got your top drawer that’s full of stuff, de Clutter, it makes a huge difference. So have a really clear workspace or your peripheral vision is not getting that imagery that is there. Now the other thing then would that declutter is then also take the time to create a space that is great for, um, for focus.

And also that makes you feel like, you know, this is a great, this is a, a place where I feel, um, a beautiful energy. So take the time to do that as well. For example, with me, I always have flowers on my desk where I can see them without having to turn my head. Um, so always have flowers. I also have a, an essential oil burner with a little candle that’s just out of my view so that I can get those beautiful smells that are coming through. I also have underneath my computer, little things that are symbols that may be from different holidays or gifts that have been, but they’re things that for me, um, are a symbol of why I do what I do. So I can have that great a holiday so I can impact this person who sent me this present. Um, so just create, taking the tiniest to create that space.

So that’s number one. Declutter. Now don’t, um, you know, if you’re, you know, you can very easily just go to the nth degree here, but make sure that with all of these things, you set yourself a deadline and just focus, focus, focus. If you don’t have an office, my next challenge to you is, is the place where you are doing most of your work? Does it have a good energy or is it something that you’re constantly aware of all these other distractions around you? If so, you need to claim a space somewhere, whether it’s in your home, whether it’s out of the home somewhere where you can get that, that decluttered feel. So that’s my challenge to you. Um, okay, that’s step number one. Now the next thing now, number two I’ve got here is, and this is going to sound really weird and probably a little bit tough, but you may need declutter your clients.

Now, what I want you to do by this here is I want you to look at the people who you are working with, the clients that you’ve got. Are there any of those clients who use up a lot of your emotional energy who may use a lot of your time, who cause you stress, that are making you focus on things that you don’t feel that you do? Well now it might be because they’re the client from hell or it might also be that you’re not a good match. Maybe you’re not the best person to be helping them. Or maybe what the help that they need is not something that you’re actually providing through your business anymore. So have a look at that and make those decisions. Does that client need to go or do you need to refer them to somebody else or do you need to look at the boundaries that you have with that client?

I’ve only had the hat to do this twice, once where I had somebody who just use up a lot of my emotional energy because she was incredibly, um, very, very needy. But I could help her and she also accounted for a high percentage of my business. Um, and so once what I did is I built up the other parts of the business so that I could eventually let her go in a kind way of saying, look, you know what? I think I’ve got you to the point where I can help you. You’re now, you don’t need me. And you know, for the summer, that stuff that you have been wanting my hope with, this is a great place for you to go to because really I’ve got you to where, you know, we need, we need to be, it’s just that you’re really wanting to hold on.

So that was able to go and then there was one other time where it was actually the client from hell. She was awful. She had everybody in tears and um, you know, I just let it go. I gave her all of her money back even though we’d done the work cause I didn’t even not want that energy. Um, yeah. So that’s only ever happened twice in like 10 years. So, um, but for me they were, they just freed me and open up opportunities now also have, do you need to be doing that or have you actually got fantastic clients? Like I’m at that stage at the moment, I’ve got the world’s best clients. I absolutely adore them and I’m just attracting people who are, no, I can really, really help. And who know, they, they get me and I get them. I’m absolutely adoring them.

So one of those things is, you know, what, if I have cleared out space with clients, I want more of them. Or you know what, I’m loving this. I’m going to come, I’m going to talk to each of those and say, I want to clone you. Refer other people just like you that may be part of your decluttering. So it’s um, simplifying saying, you know what, I want more people like you. So to all my clients that I have at the moment, I just want more. You okay? It’s want a clone. You all, all I’m really, really loving the people that I’m working with. Um, okay. So that could be your clients. Um, and also you may go, okay, I want more of these particular clients. You might offer them some kind of alumni package to stay with you for longer is another thing I’ve just done that with, um, with my rising stars clients.

Uh, number three, I want you to look at decluttering your products. Now to do this, you’re going to have to do a couple of things. First of all, have a look at exactly all of the different products and services that you’re offering. Now this can be really important if you have lots of little things or also if you’re doing very much, um, every client that you’re providing a different kind of solution, a different service. Now I worry first of all to get really clear on what you’re doing and if you are providing lots of different solutions to different people, I want you to list all of those. Okay, cause they are all different products or services you’re doing. You might be saying it’s this is the hourly rate, but what are you doing? Okay, that’s a lot of energy space that you could be doing there.

Now I also now want you to have a look at your profit and loss. I want you to have a look at how much money do you make from each of these. If you are creating tailored solutions for people, whether that’s coaching or whether it’s service provision, if it’s each one is different. I need you to look at which of these different types of services that I’m providing, the groupings, which are the ones that are making me the most money. And importantly, I will now want you to have a look at how much time we’re spending on each because sure, you may be making a lot of money from it, but you might be spending an amazing amount of time on it and an amazing amount of emotional energy. You may have other ones that at first glance you go, they’re not as expensive, but hey, I’m done.

And nothing for it. Um, or the people who I’m working with on that one, it’s so easy to solve because I’ve got, you know, I’ve got so many, um, efficient ways for me to be able to get those results. So have a look at that and are the ones that are using so much of your energy that either you’ve got to change them or they’ve got to go and can you simplify, simplify, simplify, simplify. Because they’re not, it’s not necessarily that more is better. Less can be better for you because you can be clear around what you offer. And importantly, you’re not going to be using as much emotional bandwidth and your mind bandwidth in all those things that you’re doing. So can you declutter your programs and your products. So that’s something that I have just done recently by really consolidating everything in to one core program and just two little tiny side ones.

Um, and yeah, three little side ones. Yep. So that’s all they are. And they all, all of those ones really lead to the ultimate. So simplifying what that is. So is that something that you can be doing? Now the next thing that we want to do in this order is now we want to have a look at your optins. So if you are building your mailing list, if you’re not doing any of this stuff yet, don’t worry. That’s what I hope you to do. So just come and have a talk. Come and have a look at what I, what I can do to help you there. So have a look. Have you got lots of different ways for people to join your mailing list as some of those really not going to be the best ones to lead people in to your nice, simplified decluttered products.

If so, maybe you should just get rid of them because they just confusion, you know, they just unnecessary keep it simple because as well as it may be overwhelming you, it can be confusing your clients as well. So really have a look at the things that you’re using to get people onto your mailing list. Are they going to be attracting those perfect clients that you want and are they going to be really leading them towards the programs and the products that you’ve got? The you get the most, um, you know, the lest amount of time, the less amount of stress and the most amount of profit from. So see if you can simplify those as well. Now the next thing that you can do, what have I got here for number five? Okay. Because as you can see, I’m kind of working backwards here and I’m going from clients to products to optins.

So the next thing is your content. What are you doing that’s actually getting you in front of people? It could be, are you doing a podcast? Are you writing blog posts? Are you doing Facebook lives? Are you doing using video? Are you using video? And using my meaty the method where you’re doing lots of really short videos and getting them out there and syndicating, um, what is it that you are doing to be able to let people know that you know your stuff and to connect with people and stay top of mind? Now what’s working? Are there some of those things that you’re doing because you’ve always done them or you think you should do them but they’re not getting results? So simplify, you want to be doing a few different formats so that you can get people where, um, you know, in different ways that what you have a really good look and can I declutter?

Are any of those things really not getting me the results? Now I’ve just got a little bit of a disclaimer here for you. Depending on what stage you’re at in your business. If you’re before you’re ready to launch and you’re going to be, if we can think of like a, you know, an airplane taking off where you’re ready to launch with your new, your programs, your products or whatever you’ve got. And then when you’re sailing in the air, that’s when you’re, you know, you’re helping your clients and it’s all working beautifully. Now, if you’re not at that point yet where you’re launching your programs, um, you know, whether that’s through a launch process or whether that’s through one on one, however it is that you’re letting people come by leading up to that, you need to be building your mailing list. You need to be getting people’s attention.

You need to be visible. That’s like a runway. So for an airplane to take off and get enough lift, it needs a long runway. And a lot of times that’s, you know, that’s what we’re going to be creating content. You’re going to be building your mailing list. And a lot of times you might look at that and go, well, Janice has to de Clutter because I’m not getting any results. Where’s the sales from this? Recognize if you are in that runway phase because you’re not going to get the sales yet. You’re preparing for that. So just a bit of a disclaimer, therefore you don’t go and throw things out until you know exactly what you’re measuring. So you want to be measuring here for how many optins and my getting, what kind of engagement am I getting from people? Um, you know, so what kind of suite of core, um, blog posts am I going to be and are creating that’s going to end up being my, um, my pillar content.

So, um, so have a look at that. And so have a look at the way that you are creating content and getting people know that you’re attracting people to you. Can you declutter there? Now we’re up to number six. So we’ve had, we’ve had a look here at your, you’re basically, you know, your, um, from attracting people through your content, through to your opt in, you know, products to your clients. Now the next thing we’re going to have a look at is your staffing. Now by that I’m also including you. Okay. So it could be you or you might have a virtual assistant, you might have staff, you might have just people that you call in every now and then, um, it might have nobody else. Um, what I want you to do is have a look at that and think, is there anybody here that if they were to tell me they’re going to leave, I’d be absolutely mortified.

And if there’s anybody that goes where you go, well look, I wouldn’t be too upset if they left. You know, they, they, they, you know, they’re not doing that fantastic job. Well maybe that’s time to declutter cause you don’t want to be surrounding yourself with mediocre. Um, are you, um, maybe when you’re looking at that, you might be thinking, well, okay, I’m paying for a virtual assistant. Am I using them to the full capacity? Maybe I can get somebody off time or maybe I need to be looking at what I’m doing and delegate better. So that comes back to you having a look at yourself as well. Can you actually declutter yourself? Are you spending your time on the things that matter or how you doing busy work of stuffing around with your website and playing around on social media. Um, so be really, really honest with yourself.

Can you declutter yourself as the person who is, um, you know, producing, you know, is the person that’s running the business that’s attracting the clients and that is running it. So can you de Clutter your own time and can you declutter any of the support team that you’ve got that you may have, somebody that you’ve been keeping on cause you, you, you don’t want to go to the effort of getting somebody else so you don’t want to hurt their feelings. Let that energy go, okay, you can attract somebody. Awesome in instead. Now the next one we’ve got, we’ve got three left now while we, we’re working on what is using up your bandwidth. When we decluttering your self and decluttering your brain is I want you to have a look at what email is so you on and you know, groups, Facebook groups, are you on?

Those sorts of things that can be using up your attention because they’re coming into your inbox and they’re just dicks. They’re making a mess or that you get distracted with these groups that are perhaps on Facebook or linkedin where ever it is that you’re working. Now, what I want you to do is work out your criteria of what is it that I really do need in order to grow my business or whatever it is that you’re on. These different groups or things for what do I need and and which are the ones that I really look at all the time. And if there are ones there that you know, you’re just on them because you were curious and you’re on that list or somebody else added you to a Facebook group, set yourself a timer and just unsubscribe on those Facebook groups. Just get rid of them.

Okay, now of course you’re going to stick with my baby. But you know, that’s all clutter that’s using up your brain and it’s distracting you. You want to get down to the minimalist so that any of the energy that you’re using is going to be effective and calm. Now, two last ones, and this is going to be coming over to the techie stuff that you’ve got in your business. Now, one of them is how many software subscriptions have you got that you’re not even using? Maybe you signed up for something that was going to be, I dunno, the bee’s knees for automating something, but you’ve never actually used it. Well, if you’re not using it, go and get rid of it. Okay? So as well as it’s going to save you money, it’s going to be saving that stuff that’s in the back of your head where every now and then something comes up and you go, oh, why do I got that anyway?

I can’t remember. So just declutter on and it’s on the software that you’re not needing streamlined. Keep it simple. It’s less things to learn and it’s also less things to go wrong. And now we’re up to the very last one because once you’ve done this declutter annual simplified, does your website and any of your social media presence, the places that represent you and your brand, do they actually represent these, this beautiful decluttered view or view to can people go to your website and see what it is it you stand for, what your programs are, the best way to join your mailing list that’s going to attract the right people? Does your website do that? Now he comes a big disclaimer. You know what I talked about before about De cluttering you and your time and I said that one of the things that you might be doing is busy work.

That seems really, really important and it’s keeping you busy, but it’s not actually making your money, growing your business, helping you make an impact. One of those can be constantly tweaking your website. So when you’re doing this, make it sure that you are very, very clear with your audit of what needs to go and then set your timeframe to do that. And if you haven’t been using a virtual assistant efficiently, this is the list of handover to them. So just that disclaimer of don’t get sucked into, I’m being really busy make, doing stuff on my website when all you’re really been doing is, is fiddling around. Okay. So, but this is the last thing that you going to do because you want it to represent this beautiful minimalist, lovely decluttered energy that you are clearing around yourself that you are clearing around your business so that the good things can flow in.

Okay, so that’s Janet’s nine different parts of your business that you can be decluttering right now. And what a great time to do it because as I’m recording this, it’s just at the beginning of the year and as I also said, this is really close to my heart at the moment because I’ve decluttered in a seriously big way. But this whole year for me has been a declutter of really simplifying my business. And this week made or last week made the big step of wonderful web women. My award winning website that served me for 10 years has been wiped from the face of the earth. It has gone. And so that is a, that’s a big step in the declaring. All right. I would love to hear from you if, you know, if you’ve got some great tips from here, why don’t you take a screen grab or you know, take a photo of your screen when you’re, if you’re, if you’re watching this or just of yourself when you’re listening to the podcast and com and share it over and on Instagram or on Facebook.

And tell me, um, show me that you’ve actually been listening and Shimmy, you know, a bigger heart. You know, it’s something that you have got. And I will, I will, I will choose some of those. And I will also, I’ll share those, um, through my stories. And so I can help, you know, through Instagram stories and Facebook stories. So it helped to shine the light on you as well as somebody who’s taking action, not just listening, but also getting an Aha and acknowledging it. So that’s, I’d love to hear from you with that. And I’d love you to do that with any of the episodes that you listened to the get value from, and also share down below what’s worked for you. And if you’ve got some tips for other people, share them as well because I know that you will have some great things that you can be sharing with other people that come here, um, and a part of our tribe. Okay, bye. [inaudible] it’s chairman here. Thanks for joining me on romance, your tribe radio. Hey, you heard our voices today,

but do you want to see what we really look like? You can see the video version of this episode over at Romance, your tribe.com and grab the show notes while you’re there. And if you enjoyed this episode, I really appreciate if you show them love and leave an honest review on iTunes or your favorite podcast directory. I’ll see you on the next episode.

 

7 Steps To Get Back Into Work Mode After a Vacation

7 Steps To Get Back Into Work Mode After a Vacation

by | Jan 8, 2019 | Blog, Productivity, RYT Radio, Success Mindset

I’m writing this on my first day back at “work” after 2 and a half weeks of Christmas and a perfect Aussie summer beach staycation. It took my brain a week to slow down and after that (another week and a half) has been fantastic. A beautiful rhythm of beach life of walks to the beach, swimming, cafes, kayaking, exploring wild swimming places, painting and cocktails.

Here’s a few holiday snaps from one of our exploring days:

As always after a holiday, no matter how much you love what you do, it can take a few cranks of the keys in the “mental ignition” before the business woman engine catches on and starts to rev up.

So what better way to get back into work mode than do something I love, and that’s record a podcast episode for you.

And what better topic than the one I’m struggling with myself today, and that’s how to get back into work mode after a vacation.

In this week’s episode I share:

  • In hindsight, the last thing I COULD have done on my last day of work before leaving for holidays… and how it would have made the transition to reality easier
  • The importance of sleep cycles and vacation mode.
  • How to use your Vacation Brain to improve your business
  • Priorities for the first day back
  • How to keep the holiday vibe and still be productive in business
  • What Goldilocks has to do with your first day back

I’ve also written a short “cheat Sheet” article on the 7 steps I follow to Get Back Into Work Mode After a Vacation with some handy links to help you, if the transition back to reality eludes you.

You can watch the video, listen to the audio, download from the podcast directory, or read the transcript below. Never miss an episode. Click here for all the ways you can subscribe.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:18 — 36.1MB)

7 Steps To Get Back Into Work Mode After a Vacation

Reclaim Your Business Sleep Cycle

If you’re like me, you’re sleep cycle may have defaulted to holiday time, instead of productive, world domination mode.

So get to bed early! (boring I know but important).

Set that alarm baby and get up!

Simply creating this structure to your days will move you out of lazy time.

Cut yourself some slack for a few days

Before you went on holidays you were very likely super woman / man. That person who powered through the to-do list with adrenaline fueled energy, so you can go on holidays.

You probably imagined yourself coming back after holidays, super fresh from relaxing, and hitting the ground running. That’s so not going to happen if you really did get to wind down on your break.

So set your goals (for example on your wake up time, to do’s etc) but allow yourself a day or so to get in the swing of things.

But only a few days!

Consciously Keep the Holiday Vibe

If you’re relaxed after a great break, be careful not to switch into head down bum up mode too fast. Otherwise you’ll need another holiday by the end of the week!

Instead consciously create a vacation vibe in your work space.

Here’s a few very simple ways:

  1. Music that keeps the vibe
  2. Burn essential oils
  3. Place a few mementos on your desk and allow yourself to stop and spend a few moments of mindfulness in pleasant thoughts.
  4. Schedule short breaks more often and consciously visualise / meditate on calmness and joy. Then bring that energy back to your work.

Actually, I do all the above most days to stay focused and calm.

Allow your first day back to be a planning and catch up day

It can be easy to get into micro-mode on return from a break.

Answering emails, getting stuck into looming deadlines etc.

Instead, take time to get clear on the big picture.

Do an assessment of any unfinished tasks from before you left, clarity on important goals and commitments for the next few weeks and top priorities.

Schedule this overview and planning for Day 1 and resist the urge to action items immediately.

Instead of schedule WHEN they will be actioned and then do them in that order. That way you won’t get overwhelmed by “stuff”.

And hey, if you ever start to feel overwhelmed in business, this article on 8 steps to free yourself from overwhelm in business is a great place to start.

If you start to feel overwhelmed by all the crazy things you feel you need to get done in the next week or so, then use this fast and simple template I use to quickly identify priorities. You can download it here.

Connect With Your Team and Your Top Clients

Relationships are your top priority in business so make reconnecting a priority.

This doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment.

A simple email, message, post in a customer support group or super-quick phone call is important on the first day.

Simply to say “I’m baaaack” and you’re here for them.

This is a simple customer service, and leadership touch point that can make a big difference.

Make The Most of Your Relaxed Mind

If you are relaxed from a holiday, this is the perfect time to tap into the right side of your mind.

This is the creative side that is so often ignored when our left sided brain takes over to power through all the to-do actions.

So use this strategically.

I’ve mentioned visualising, mediation and mindfulness above.

That’s not just woo-woo feel good stuff (which by the way I’m totally for too).

These are also tools to help you tap into your creativity so when you do these exercises, consciously ask your subconscious the question “what is a new way to look at what I’m doing?” or ask about a specific project, goal or issue.

Also bring this new energy to the next step.

Make a Reality Check of Your Year and Next Quarter Plans

I have very clear steps my VIP clients and I use to create simple 90 day plans that work to keep us focused, accountable and motivated.

There is nothing better than returning to that 90 day plan immediately after a holiday and ask yourself the question:
Does this plan seem too big or too small, with the clarity I have with my vacation vibe?

I often find one of three things happens:

I’m clearer on WHY I do what I do and I realise my 90 day plan is thinking too small!

I don’t mean I hadn’t planned to do enough work.

It very often means I planned to be busy with things that were more of the same, and not really pushing me out of my comfort zone.

I have stopped running on adrenaline and realise I had a 90 day plan to burn out

Yep I’ve done this too many times over the years.

When I’m focused I’m totally on fire and I keep on going!

However, that’s not always the most effective way to make a difference through my business.

Often less is more (my mantra for the last 12 months and likely to be the lesson I still focus on this year).

Slowing down often gives me the clarity on how to simplify.

If you feel the burn out coming, you might find this article on how to get out of a funk in business over here.

The Goldilocks moment

That’s what I experienced today, when I returned to work and did everything I’ve listed above.

I reviewed my plan and had that rare moment when everything was JUST RIGHT.

Pure Goldilocks moment.

I find if I do THIS end of year ritual before I do my yearly plan, the Goldilocks moments occur far more often.

Over To You

I’d love to hear any rituals, hacks and special tips you use to get your business mojo back when you have been on vacation.

Share below or even better, take a screen grab of the podcast above and share it on Instagram or Facebook and tag me I it sharing your tip. I’ll choose great tips and re post to my story in Instagram or Facebook and help shine the light on you.

A Special Message From Janet

Thank you so much for being here. I know there are a lot of podcasts you could choose to listen to  and you chose to join me on Romance Your Tribe Radio.

Woohoo!

I’m honoured and  grateful for your support.

If you enjoyed this week’s episode, I’d love for you to take a quick minute to share your thoughts with us and leave an honest review and rating for the show over on iTunes!

Links and Resources Mentioned

8 Steps to Free Yourself from Overwhelm in Business

Why I’ve Been in a Funk for 2 Weeks and How I Got out of It

The End of Year Business Ritual to Finish the Year with a Bang

Chaos to Clarity Tool

Romance Your Tribe Radio in iTunes

Read The Transcript Here

Hello and welcome! Janet Beckers here. Today is my very first day back at work and I’m saying work here with inverted commerce because to me, you know, running my businesses, my passion, I love what I do, but it is still work. There is still a to do list. There is still things that you need to do. Um, so no matter how much you love what you do, there is a certain energy that is needed to be able to run your business and to meet those goals. Now when you go on holidays, if you like me, it takes about a, about a week before my mind stops working. It’s always going, if not going on my business and growing it, it’s going on my clients’ businesses thinking about them. So it can take about a week to kind of slow down, shut down that brain. And then you have that beautiful, beautiful holiday.

And I’ve, you know, um, I’ll share with you a little bit about some of the things that’s meant that I’m so relaxed at the moment. But here was a problem when you come back for that first day, no matter how much you may love what you’re doing in your business, the kind of energy and the focus that you need to run your business and grow your business is so different to when you’re in holiday mode, when you’ve got that vacation vibe going. And to me it’s a lot of times it’s like, you know, when you get in the car yet turn the engine and nothing happens. You got to kind of have a few goes before you know it sort of trying to get started and then when it finally catches and you can get that energy going. So that’s how it feels like for me is just trying to rank up that energy.

And so what I’m going to do here today is it’s a little bit like sort of first day ception it’s, you know, I’m going to talk about in my podcast here about on my first day back at work, how do you get your mind back out of vacation mode and get back into work mode on that first day. And in that first week especially. So what I’m going to share with you as seven steps that I follow and one that I missed that would have been really, really good if I had done it. So I’m going to share with us. So there’s seven steps at work for me, things that are really important for you to do on that very, very first day. And um, and it’s just a few sort of routines that are hacks to help you to be able to hit that ground running.

So you can still keep that beautiful vacation vibe for as long as you can and bring a lot of it into your day to day work. But you get focused and you get stuff done because the reality years has a much as you may want to stay in holiday mode. If you want to reach your goals and make the impact you want to do, you’ve got to start getting focused. So you can’t leave that for too long. So that’s what I’m going to do here. And because I love having steps and things for you to follow, that’s what I’m going to do. So if you see my eyes go off the camera every now and then, it’s because I’m looking at the notes that I took and I’ve got them here in my document on that computer. So I’m just apologizing to you upfront. If you’re watching this on the video, I’m paying attention to you.

I’m just looking over at my notes so I don’t forget anything. So, um, first of all, if you’re, um, if you’re coming over it to the podcast page, uh, where you can see the videos and the podcasts, you’ve and the audio, I’ve got another couple of things there for you. One is I’m just sharing some holiday snaps of some of the things that we got up to when we were on holiday so you can kind of get a little bit of a feel of how I really like to be able to spend the perfect holiday and um, and she has some really beautiful spots with you. And then I’ve also got an article, a real cheat sheet article for you. So it doesn’t really matter if you prefer video or audio or if he just want to have the highlights. It’s all there for you.

So that’s all there on the podcast page. Um, so now I’m going to refer back to my notes and you, so I make sure I remember everything for you. So that’s things that I got up with my holiday here is, you know, it’s Christmas, New Year is a busy time, there’s lots of family, lots of things happening. Um, and then there’s that beautiful period after. Now I live on the beach. It’s a 10 minute walk from my house down to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And I live in an area where people spend a fortune every summer coming to, you know, to rent holiday houses and go exploring. So come January I ferry really Goldway I just stay where I am and make the most of where we are and have a staycation. So my perfect, you know, last couple of week and a half has been those beautiful walks down to the beach, going for swims, you know, throwing rock, throwing stones, stones, throwing sticks with a dog, going to cafes, having breakfast, spending time with my man, spending time with my kids.

Um, except my son cause he’s in India at the moment. Um, and then going exploring, pretending that we’re tourists and going exploring new places and I’m really into finding beautiful places that are in the wild, broken, go swimming. So we’ve found some really beautiful swimming holes and natural infinity pool, beautiful waterfalls, Kayak places you can only get to by kayaking or by boat and all that we can do as half day trips and holiday trips from where I live. So you can see why I don’t want to leave. The nice part about that is it rarely gets you into that beautiful cycle, that vibe of, you know, going outside, doing things, healthy, sleeping in the middle of the day, cocktails in the afternoon and some pretty serious kind of Netflix binging. Um, that beautiful winding down. So how do you bring that energy back into your first day? Okay. So this other, this is the steps that I follow now.

First of all, the step that I really wished that I had done and I always plan to do it, but the reality is if you like, I’m just like most people were as, as organized as I can be. When it’s leading up to a holiday, you’re trying to do a gazillion things at once and usually that last day is spent going, what am I going to do? So I always planned to do this, but it never makes the grade. And that is to really map out my very first day, especially in my first couple of days down to not just meetings cause I usually avoid making many of those. But, um, you know, from my actual to do of do this in the first hour, you know, so I thought I’d have to think. So if I had plotted out if past Janet had really logged out exactly what Janet should do following these seven steps and actually put it there in my calendar for me to look at at would have been a lot easier.

I wouldn’t have had to think. So anyway, let’s see if I do it next year. So that’s, if you can do that, that is a fantastic thing for you to do. Assume that the person coming back from holidays is a bit thick. Okay. And kind of work things out for themselves. So do future. You’re an er a favor and um, and sort of spill it out for yourself for the first few days. So if you haven’t, if you do, do that, follow these seven steps to make sure that you’re actually going to create the foot the perfect for the first couple of days. Otherwise these other steps that you can follow. All right. So the very first thing that I do to get yourself back into work mode is you’ve got to reclaim your sleep cycles. So if your like me, I tend to default a little bit in the holidays to sleeping in a bit longer.

I might have a nap in the middle of the day and I might go for an hour or so and then I’ll wake up and just, you know, read a little bit. And so I’ll go to bed a little bit later. Now that’s just a really lovely holiday cycle to be into. But it doesn’t work out too well for business. So what I find I’ve got to do is reclaim the holiday, you know, in your work time and really quickly. So that means make sure you go to bed early in the night before. I have an alarm that I have permanently set up on my phone that goes off at nine o’clock every night with, I’ve actually named the alarm, not go to bed. I’ve named the alarm, uh, three things you’re grateful for today. It’s to remind myself to focus on gratitude before going to sleep. That’s just what I do every day.

Um, so make sure I make sure I’ve set that one again. Um, and make sure you’ve got a bed and then also set the alarm for the time that you need to get up in the morning and do the routines that you would normally do on work day. So that ferment for me, setting the alarm for five 30. Um, and true admission, I didn’t stick with it today. I sort of allow myself to lay in bed and read for another hour or so instead of getting up and getting into it. So yeah, set that alarm and just get back into your sleep cycles. We’ve got to do that quick. Um, sounds a bit boring, but I tell you what, sleep and sleep cycles from somebody who has consciously change themselves from being a, um, you know, a night owl. I’ve always been a night owl too. Now I’m a morning person, I confirmed morning person and that took some, a really concerted effort to do and um, I’ve, I’ll link all funneling for you to where I’ve actually shared the process I did to do that.

Um, so anyway, so I know how important sleep and sleep cycles are to your productivity. So that’s number one. Um, if you’ve got any tips, please come and share them with me and I’ll tell you now a really nice thing for you to be able to do if especially if you’re watching this on the video, is take a screen grab of what you can see when I’m talking and come over onto either Instagram or Facebook. Share that image with me, tag me and share your Har or your tip. And what I’ll do is I’ll share those around old shine the light on you and I’ll share that through my Instagram story or my Facebook stories. So do that. I would really, really love that and especially if you’ve got tips that work for you or if one of these tips I share is an half, four year.

Absolutely. I love to hear from you which one really, really worked and that will help other people who I share it with. So there ya go. There’s a productivity tip. Get into it baby. Now let me look at number two then. This is an important one. Just cut yourself some slack for the first couple of days. And by that I mean, you know, a lot of times you might get back to work, you’ll have a look, you might look at your inbox and go, oh, you know, so much to do and you’ll want to hit the ground running. Don’t do it. Okay, you will end up getting an overwhelmed. So cut yourself a little bit of slack. Okay. So allow yourself a couple of days. We can sort of, you know, we knew self back into it. Um, and it doesn’t mean that you’re just going to go total holiday mode.

That would be very nice if he can do that. Um, but you know, just cut yourself some slack. So at might mean that you’re going to give, you saw some longer breaks that your not going to sit yourself a ridiculous to do amount of to do’s, but allow yourself to win back into it. Don’t try to win that out for a couple of weeks. Give yourself a couple of days knowing that you had to ramp it up. Um, okay. So, um, now here is another really important one to do and it’s, you know, if you’ve had a really lovely holiday and even though for me it was a staycation, you know, I really want to keep that vibe going. So take the things that help that you can, that you associate consciously or subconsciously with that vacation vibe with being relaxed and have them around you. So for me, and I do this all year, I’m really into keeping that vibe.

Um, it probably helped because I live right near the beach. So I’ll do things like making sure you’ve got music on that makes you feel relaxed. So music is a really important thing. Um, I burn essential oils, things that are going to make me feel relaxed and calm so I can keep that vibe a little momentos, which may just be as simple as shells that you’ve collected, keeping those around where you’re working around your workspace. Those things are really, really important. Um, other things that I’ve put here is, um, schedule your brakes and then consciously such. You saw some time where you go, you know what? I am actually just going to sit here and look at the things and remember my holiday recall the vibe. Do that in a conscious way and I’m going to go into a little bit more about how you use that strategically in your business to keep that vibe is you know, it’s been mindful.

Allow yourself to totally not just stay in work mode, allow yourself to be able to keep that vibe going, doing it in a conscious way because it is going to make you more productive. It’s going to help you to focus. It’s not just the escaping. Um, so that was number three is about you know, keeping that holiday vibe but doing it consciously like take control and know why you were doing it. Now here is one that I find really important. It’s, it’s very tempting when you come back to work is your check your inbox and you may have even been, especially if you’re in business, you’re very likely had been going about looking for anything urgent but not really actioning too many things. Or you may have been able to cut off completely if you had other people doing things for you. Now it’s very tempting when you come back to go to your inbox and feel like you’ve got to go through all these to do’s as also to go and go look right.

You know things I’ve got to do when you start taking action, start doing stuff that is just a fantastic way for you to get really, really overwhelmed. So what you need to do is you need to make it a planning and a catch up day. Okay, so you want to be making it so that you’re looking at the big picture and then you’re going to narrow down. So take that time to look at the things that you had delegated, the tasks that you had, that you had delegated before you went away, and just go back to make sure, is there anything outstanding? Is there anything I need to follow up, what somebody was doing or something that I haven’t done now? Instead of just going straight off and doing them. Just take the time to get really clear on what needs to happen. What other things that you look at.

You’re looking ahead at your calendar for the next week or two is a look ahead at what would the big meetings, the priorities, the goals, things coming up with clients. So you’ve got the big picture because if you start going straight down to the narrow, you’re going to get overwhelmed. So have that big picture and take that time then to plan when you’re going to do it. Now you might be planning to do it today. That’s okay, but don’t just dive straight in and do it. Take that time to get the big picture and then planned down. Um, and if you have a little bit of trouble with that, if you feel like you’ve just got too much and it’s a bit overwhelming, um, I got a really good tool for you. So, um, the link to it, I’m just trying to think if I know the link off by heart, which I don’t think I do.

Try Romance Your tribe.com. Forward slash chaos to clarity. Um, otherwise I’ve got the link there for you to the free. It’s a free tool. It’s the thing that I use when I’ve got a, lots of things that seem really important and I just need to really be able to take the emotion out of it and do it quickly. Work out the priorities. So I’ve got a really handy tool, one sheet tool that I use in my own business and my clients use. So if you’re having a bit of trouble, they’re just working out. I can’t do all this, what’s going to, what’s the most important thing? It’s a great tool. It really, really helps. Um, now the next thing you want to do, step number five, um, and these aren’t necessarily in that order, but this one is one is a really top priority is you know what business is about relationships and you need to nurture those relationships and the most important relationships.

You’ve got other people who are on your team and your top clients. So connect with them today as a top priority. Now that doesn’t have to mean that you’re going to have to allocate hours. It doesn’t mean you can have meetings with everybody, but just either dropping them an email, it could be sending them a message. It could be sending them a short personal video. It could be going over into a support group that you use for clients and putting a post, whatever it is, just connect and say, hi, I’m Mack and I’m here for you. And just letting you know, um, you know, I’ll contact, I’ll, you know, I’ll send you a message about the meeting that I want to have next. Or if for your clients, hey, if you’re ready to book in, here’s the link to my schedule, or I’m looking forward to seeing you on our call, you know, that is this week.

If it’s, you know, this week I’m resuming my VIP group Huddles, coaching calls, can’t wait to see them all, so I’ll let them know. So, um, take that time to just connect. Okay. Don’t get so bogged down in the to do’s that you forget that the most important things in your business relationships. Um, just that simple connection will, um, will make you stand out and it’s a great way to lead of your team. Um, so don’t forget to do that. So that may be the first thing that you do. Um, but at least make sure that it’s going to be, you know, within that first half of that first day, connect with the people. Remember the relationships. Um, now make the most of your relaxed time. Now that this is my tip number six, the thing is when you’re busy and your business, we tend to work in the right side of their brain.

And that’s the analytical task focus part of our brain. And that’s where we get a lot of stuff done. And you need to be there a lot. But where the real creativity in your business, the thing that makes you do things differently that makes you really see the big picture comes from the left side of your brain. Nope, nope, nope. Right side of your brain got the wrong way round. You use the left side of your brain for doing on your or your work and it’s the right side of your brain. Yeah. That’s for your creativity. Sorry about that. Um, so you’re actually, when you’re really relaxed, you’re very likely to be spending more time in that side of your brain. And this is where you as the leader in your business, you need to actually schedule time to do that. So you know how I mentioned earlier about taking those type those brakes a little bit more often on this first couple of days to actually be mindful, to meditate, to have, you know, to be holding those things that put you into that relaxed state and do those, those things that I talked about with since, um, fear, those sorts of things that keep you in that relaxed, relaxed side that, um, that right side of your brain.

Now the reason for this is when you’re doing that, think about, it may be, you know, the, is this the right way for me to approach him? Am I on the right track? Or you might be thinking about an issue or a project you’ve got just implanting your mind, hey subconscious, you know, what is this the best way to do it? Can I be doing it a bit differently? Um, and just allow yourself to have that thought in planted as you’re going and doing, doing that mindfulness, that reflection, that meditation. There’s short periods of time that you’re allowing yourself in these first few days because your brain’s already in that mode. Make the most of it. This is a very strategic way for you to be able to review what you are actually deciding to do and you can bring some real clarity and some creativity to what you’re doing.

So this isn’t, this is a prime opportunity to be able to do that. Now with that, now what you want to be able to do is while we’re still thinking big mode before we get stuck too much down into the nitty gritty is review your next plan. And depending what time of the year is this, you might have your 12 month plan, um, you with, if you’d been working with me, you will have a 90 day plan. So what do you want to do is look at your 90 day plan and ask yourself how does it feel now when I bring back this energy and this clarity that I’ve got from being in this relaxed vibe while you’re still got it. Okay now for me what normally happens, it can go one of three ways. Either I look at it and I go, you know what?

Because I’ve been relaxed and coming back to work and you know, cause without fail, when coming back to work, you’re thinking about how do I feel about that? And for me I always can. I just, it’s a natural way to connect with why I’m doing what I’m doing and I love what I do and I want to help a lot more people. So sometimes I will come back and I’ll go, you know what, Janet, you were still planning too much in your task, driven to do driven too much when you were doing the 90 days and I might go, you know what? You’re not thinking big enough. Now. That doesn’t mean I didn’t. I’m saying you weren’t doing enough. Very often it’s the other way around. It might be, you know what? You’re focusing on. Small stuff, do less of that. Let’s focus on making a bigger impact.

Sometimes that’s what will happen with me and they haven’t with you as well, so this is a good time to do that. Now the next thing that can happen is with that beautiful, calm vibe you’ve got, you may look at what you’ve planning. You’ve gone off for Heavens Sake, who do I think I am? I’m going to have to go flat out with a huge amount of adrenaline to get that stuff done. Very often this is what will happen with me because you know when I’m on a roll, I’m focused. I get a lot of stuff done, but you can’t keep that energy going for too long. You’ll burn out. That’s why, you know, entrepreneurs lit cons. We need lots of breaks. We need holidays because we’re using a lot of that energy. Um, so you know, for me sometimes I’ll come back, go, come on Janet, you were over committing yourself on what you can do.

You’re going to burn out. And so with that energy of them there who can be bothered, it’s actually a good way. If you look at what you were doing and go, you know, what is important, what’s going to make the biggest difference, what can go. Now the third thing that can happen is you might get that beautiful goldilocks moment where you look at your plan and it’s just right now if you’ve been using the process that I use for my end of year, you ritual and then my planning process and how to create a 90 day plan. If you’ve been doing that cause you may have read some of my articles, I’ll put them down here below in the post. Um, and also I’ve got my clear time program where I walk you through all of these steps with templates, et cetera. The more I follow my own process of doing that, the more that I look at the plan and it’s a goldilocks moment and it was really nice coming back today and just reviewing what I’ve got and I’ve gone, ah, it’s a goldilocks moment.

It’s totally cool. This is exciting. So that’s what I hope for you. So, um, but the important thing is take the time to look at that because that energy that you’ve got now, it’s really important to be able to review what you’ve got coming up, bringing with it that different energy that you’ve got at the moment. So, um, don’t discount it. Really respect this vibe that you’ve got at the moment and he used that energy to look at your business differently. It’s a rare opportunity. A truly, truly is. Um, so that’s for me, that’s um, that’s my seven steps and I really do hope that it helps you. And I’m just, if you’re seeing my eyes got off the screen cause I’m just making sure I haven’t forgotten anything. Um, so now over to you. Um, I’d love to hear from you. I’m sure you’ve got some really good tips, some good productivity tips that will help me and will help other people as well.

And you made, there may be something that I’ve shared here today that might be, oh, Aha. You know, that’s what either I, I knew that but I haven’t been doing it or oh, I’ve never thought of that before. I’d love to hear from you. And a really cool way to do that is using social media so I can shine the light on you. So a great way to do that is take a photo. So it could be a screen grab of, um, of when you’re watching the podcast. That’s a really great way to do it. It could be a photo of you taking a selfie. Um, it could be something that you’re using at the moment for, you know, being back at work, you know, just share an image and come over on the, on to Instagram. And tag me, um, or come over to my Facebook page and tag me in there and just share either your bigger, higher autumn tips that you’ve got.

I’d love to hear that. And um, and I’ll choose that one side that are great tips and I will repost them. I’ll share them on my story. So everybody who’s following me can see them as well. So let me shine the light on you and it’s a great way to be able to interact. So I’d love to hear that from you. So that’s my challenge to you. And um, I’m just really excited. I’ve got some great things planned for this year. Really building on what I’ve been, all the work that I’ve been doing for the last 12 months and I’ll share that with you this over this next few weeks. Um, the big lessons and some things and I’m going to be able to help you with this year. So I’m really looking forward to that. So here’s to an awesome 2019 and I can’t wait to, you know, to really be helping you as much as I can. Okay. Bye.

 

The End of Year Business Ritual to Finish the Year with a Bang

The End of Year Business Ritual to Finish the Year with a Bang

by | Dec 24, 2018 | Blog, Business Skills, Productivity, RYT Radio, Success Mindset

As I write this, it’s only a few sleeps until the end of the year and my family and I are looking forward to our end of year business ritual. This will be our 12th year completing this ritual and we all look forward to it as it is guaranteed to finish the year with a bang. It’s a lot of fun.

I’ve introduced this ritual to many of my customers over the years and I look forward every year to hearing their stories and seeing so many of them including their version of the end of year business ritual in their own families and businesses.

In this week’s podcast and action article, I’ll walk you through the entire process and importantly, WHY this step is essential for you as an entrepreneur before you finalise any plans for the following year.

We’ll cover:

  • Why this fun end of year business ritual is an important business planning strategy (disguised as a family bonding exercise)
  • The type of energy you have before and after this exercise, and how that relates to business growth.
  • The concept of the Celebration Board and how to adapt to an individual and to a family or team
  • How to prepare and materials you will need
  • What to do with Celebration Board for the next 12 months

I also show you the roll of our 12 years of this ritual and talk about how they have evolved since my children were 8 and 9, and are now 20 and 21. I also show you one of my most recent boards so you can see what they look like and what sorts of things we included on it.

This year will be yet another stage in how we complete our end of year ritual. That’s because my son will be back-packing in India. He didn’t want to miss out on our ritual so this year we will be adding a virtual video component to the mix. It will be interesting to see how this works out.

You can see “my baby” here, already looking like a local!

And hey, if you want some tips to get the conversations flowing at Christmas, especially with the second cousin, on your step-brother’s side, you’ll love this simple exercise over here.

You can watch the video, listen to the audio, download from the podcast directory, or read the transcript below. Never miss an episode. Click here for all the ways you can subscribe.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:43 — 36.7MB)

The Celebration Board As An End Of Year Business Ritual

Now if you’re like me, even as this year is winding up, you’re probably already planning for next year, and may already have your next year plotted out. But a word of warning…… if you attempt to do any planning before doing an exercise that strategically clears negativity about the previous year, makes you think “big-picture” and builds your confidence, then your plans for the next year are likely to be ho-hum, uninspiring and even set you up for failure.

This exercise is called The Celebration Board and it is an end of year business ritual I’ve been doing for the past 12 years. It ends your year with a sense of celebration and is also a lot of fun to involve other people in, such as your family, friends and business team.

Why this end of year business ritual is important

At the end of the year it’s really normal to feel quite overwhelmed. There’s a lot of expectations and demands draining your energy. As well as trying to “wrap things up” for the end of the year, organise Christmas presents, family gatherings and meeting other people’s demands, you may also be thinking about your plans for business and personal for the next year.

Most likely, either formally or even subconsciously, you’re reviewing what you achieved this year compared to what you had planned. How dies that make you feel?

Maybe you’re disappointed and don’t think you achieved much?

Or maybe you have achieved your goals (go you!). But you may now be thinking:
How can you keep this pace up next year?

Or how can I even do better?

Whichever of the above sounds right to you at the moment, the energy you have at the end of the year is the WRONG type of energy to bring into the visualising and planning process for the next year.

Your energy may include frustration or disappointment. It may include overwhelm and exhaustion and even a sense of panic. It will always be an energy of “doing” and task focus, simply because there is a focus on wrapping up and the crazy to do list.

If you bring this energy into your next year plan the following is most likely to happen to your big plan:

  • It’s going to be small. You’re going to end up making a to-do list. This limits the kind of planning you would do. You’d end up doing the same old.
  • You won’t be able to think creatively. There will be a small-minded energy in the planning you will be doing.

We don’t want to do that. We want to make your next year your best year yet. Even if the previous year has been your best year yet, or your lowest.

Even if you have already done your plan before the craziness started, it is important to review it again after completing this end of year business ritual.

The whole purpose of this ritual is to acknowledge the different things you have achieved this year. With this ritual, you’d be bringing in to your planning a sense of gratitude and well-being. Instead of panicking, you’ll clear out the panic and the heaviness of the to-dos.

We’re going to bring in that beautiful, optimistic, positive energy into your planning

Decide on who you’re doing your end of year business ritual with

I’ve been doing this every year with my family, starting when my children were still at an age where I had to really convince them to sit down and do something for a long time.

Now that they’re 20 and 21, they’ve come to anticipate the Celebration Board. They ask me when we’re going to do it because they really feel as if they own the ritual and they look forward to it every year. They looking forward to creating this celebration together as a family.

Now you may not have family, or don’t want to involve them at all. That’s totally cool because, this is YOUR end of year business ritual so you can include who ever you like! The first few years I did the exercise on my own first and then afterwards would drag my family in with a “you’ll love this, really”. Now we also include Leo The Dog!

Here’s ideas on who you could include:

  • No-one. Just do it on your own
  • Your immediate family
  • Your extended family (you choose who)
  • Friends
  • Your animals
  • Your business partners
  • Your business team
  • Your clients

Write your own adventure 🙂

Decide how you are going to do it

We use a huge sheet of paper and coloured pens. Some people like to use pictures and clippings from magazines. Others like to do it as a powerpoint presentation or other software.

We just keep it simple.

You could do it one person at a time or you could work on it simultaneously while sitting in a circle or at the table. The point is for this to be an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Decide on a schedule

Decide on a date and a time. Make sure that everybody sticks with that.

Christmas is usually a great time to do this because that’s when you usually gather with people important to you. But don’t let distance be a barrier. It can be a really good thing to have everyone on board.

As I mentioned above, this year we’re gonna have to change how we’re going to do this because my son is backpacking in India for 3 months. He told us that we couldn’t do it without him, so now he’ll be joining us via video call. We’ll work out how we include his contribution in our final Celebration Board.

Prepare sufficiently

Every single person has to prepare because it’s so easy to forget what you have done. Social media is excellent for this. You can go through Facebook or Instagram. You might also go through your phone gallery, emails, or your calendar. Whatever it is that would help you identify things that were significant to you and your life.

Alternatively, look at the events in your life that are negative. This could be a sickness or a death in the family, or any kind of loss. You might also think of a time that you’ve felt really depressed and could not feel motivated to do things. Those things are really significant.

Have all these major events, and also significant small things in a list you can access on the day.

When you get together, get a big piece of paper you can do it on. Get your materials and that’s all you need.

The process

As you start, assign a corner to each person and start writing down all those significant things. Acknowledge the positive and negative things as things that have happened. Eventually, you’ll find things about them to celebrate. The important thing is to focus on the learnings and to focus on celebrating.

That’s why it is called a Celebration Board.

For example, one year my mother was very sick and needed a lot of personal support (emotionally and practically) for that year.

Instead of focusing on the negative, I celebrated the fact I was able to care for her. There are always positive things for you to celebrate which are learnings from surviving hardship.

Here are some of the other things to keep in mind:

  • Celebrate the wins and celebrate the learnings as much as the wins.
  • Take your time. Just write it down or draw, whatever each person is more comfortable with. My husband likes to draw because these things are triggers that he can figure out right off the bat. As you do this, talk to each other and remember the things you achieved or enjoyed during the year.
  • Be honest with yourself. Other people don’t have to see it. So take the time to really process what happened this year and what you can take to make next year better.
  • Focus on the learnings that you have and what you are grateful for. That way, you identify the things that really came to matter even as other things fell apart or didn’t grow.

Finally, just acknowledge yourself.

That’s the energy you’re going to bring in to your planning.

Now look at what you’ve learnt through your end of year business ritual and ask the following:

“What are the things that I’m really happy about that I’m going to build on?”

For me, there was one year where I was traveling a lot – which I love – but I wasn’t doing it with my husband. So we set the intention that the following year we would focus on travelling together and romantic weekends away.

“What are things that happened I don’t want to repeat next year?”

And more importantly, what did you learn from them?

Continue to celebrate

When we have completed our Celebration Board we put it up on a  wall where everyone in our little family can see it for the next 12 months. That way when we walk past it we can celebrate our achievements and life lessons again.

Then we store every year’s Celebration Board together and bring them out every year when we complete our end of year business ritual, and reminisce and celebrate.

You may choose to put it in your office or somewhere private you can look at when you choose.

Some people even photograph their Celebration Board and use it as a computer background.

If you’ve done this before, I’d like to know. Tell me all about it on the comments. Have you made it a ritual? How is it impacting your life?

Feel free to share a photo of your own Celebration Board on Facebook or Instagram. Tag me @janetbeckers and use the hashtag #CelebrationBoard so we can celebrate all of it together.

I’ll share your post with my friends.

A Special Message From Janet

Thank you so much for being here. I know there are a lot of podcasts you could choose to listen to  and you chose to join me on Romance Your Tribe Radio.

Woohoo!

I’m honoured and  grateful for your support.

If you enjoyed this week’s episode, I’d love for you to take a quick minute to share your thoughts with us and leave an honest review and rating for the show over on iTunes!

Links and Resources Mentioned

You can see a succession of my celebration board videos over the years, over here.

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Read The Transcript Here

Hello and welcome Janet Beckers here and nearly the end of the year.

I hope that you have had a fantastic Christmas time with your loved ones and if you’re like me and like most people as well as having a chance to relax now, now are you really thinking about the new year. There’s lots of talk about what are you going to be doing next year what are your plans? What are your goals? Now. I’ve got lots of other resources that I’ve been sharing with you this month on how to plan for next year.

But hey I wanted to share with you the very very first step that I do every single year before I finalize my plan for the for the new year.

And it’s a really important step to take. Unfortunately it’s also a really fun one. So what I’m going to share with you today is a ritual, really, that I have been using with my family now for 12 years. And it’s something that ends your year with a sense of celebration. With a sense of energy and optimism that you bring in to the new year. So I’m going to share with you why it is important to do this activity now. If you haven’t done it, next year you may even do a little bit earlier. But really important to get this done before January. Why it’s important to do this, and then we’re going to walk you through step by step exactly how to do this and how to actually make it a bit of a ritual with you and your loved ones.

It’s a really exciting activity. So let’s get started and I shall share with you what it is. Now, every single year, I do what is called A Celebration board now why are you in a moment what actually one looks like. Why do you want to do this? Well, when you are leading into doing your planning for the next year normally around about this time of the year, You could be feeling really overwhelmed and quite exhausted. You know there’s a lot of expectations a lot of demands on your time and your energy at this time of the year in your business and also just personal. You know what it’s like you know getting the Christmas presents. And organising whose you know whose place you’re going to go to at what time.

All of those sorts of things that take a lot of your headspace up. And it’s also a time of the year where, if you haven’t already done your planning for next year which you really should have, but if you haven’t and you’re going to be really focusing again on reviewing your plan for the next year you can be looking back at your previous year, like the one that you’ve just finished, and thinking a sense of “I haven’t got anything done,” You know “I set myself these huge goals or they didn’t even seem huge at the time and what have we haven’t achieved them or if I have achieved them”.

You may be thinking “how am I going to do better next year or how am I going to build on this or how am I going to have the energy to be able to continue to do this?” These are really normal things. I tell you what when you were coming in to doing your plan for the next 12 months or reviewing your plan that you have already done, which is just a really normal thing for you to start doing at this time of the year. If you bringing that energy of, you know, a frustration of disappointment. or If you’re bringing in that energy of “oh you know I’ve got to get all this done before the end of the year”. That panic, that sense of tasks and to do if you bring that energy in to your planning for the next year.

You know be thinking two things. One is it’s going to be small. You’re going to be really bringing a “task energy”, “to do energy” into your plan and. That’s going to really limit what kind of plan you going to do. And it will very often mean it’s going to be the same old same old. And the other thing that’s going to do if you bring that energy in is you very often will not be able to think creatively about what is possible. And so you can be bringing in a very small minded sort of energy that comes into it. So we don’t want to do that because we want to make your next year the best year yet. Even if the year that you’re just finishing HAS BEEN YOUR BEST YEAR YET. Or it’s been the worst year yet. We want to make next year, your best year yet. So to do that we have to make sure that we’re bringing in the right energy. So the exercise I’m going to share with you is actually a really enjoyable thing to do and the whole purpose of it is to really acknowledge the different things that you have achieved this year. Now if you’re thinking well I haven’t done much to stick with me okay. So it’s going to acknowledge and celebrate the things that you have achieved that year and to be bringing in a sense of gratitude, a sense of well-being, and a sense of clearing out the panic. Clearing out the overwhelm and the heaviness of the to-dos. Because we want to bring in that beautiful optimistic confident energy into the plan that you can be creating. So this is a really important step to do.

And fortunately, it’s a lot of fun. So let me introduce you to the celebration board Now this started, the first one that I did, was in 2007.

So let me just show you who see this big roll up paper. You can see the end of it here like it goes. Woah! Can You see that? Layers and layers and layers. So 2007 was our first one. And so as I’m recording this this is the end of 2018.

So this will be number 12 that we have done. Now when I say we, this is something that I do with my husband and my two children. So I’ll give you a look on what one looks like. So you can see. And also on the podcast page. I will put some photos. I’ll blur out the details simply because this is not just me. This is also everybody else in the family. But what we do is we get a great big sheet of paper. Lots of colored text. Put the year in the middle. This one’s 2016. And each person’s name is on there. Now. It’s. A little bit hard for me to be able to show you here. As. You can see. Really quite big. So let’s run over with you. What we’ve done, so you can get an idea.

Now. Now. I really love to be able to involve my whole family doing this because the reality is, that you know. It may be your family. Or it may be friends. It may be your dog and your dog usually makes it every single year. But it’s really lovely to be able to do something like this with the people who are impacted by what happens with you on a day to day basis. And you’re impacted by what’s happening with them. It’s a really lovely thing for you all to get together and acknowledge and record everything that you have done. Now what we do. And so the first one we did it was in 2007. Now my youngest was eight at that time and my eldest was almost 12. So they were, you know, they were young. Now as you would probably know with kids that age, sometimes you really got to convince them to do something that means that going to sit down for more than five minutes. So the first few years that we did this required me doing a lot cajoling. Now that we are in 2018. I’ve got a 20 year old and a daughter who is going 22. By the time that you see this, she will be 22. She had her birthday just before Christmas. So that’s pretty different. So we’ve been doing this every single year. So now we have our children instigating it going. “When are we going to celebration board? We’ve got to do it. What date are we going to do it?” And they’re really looking forward to actually creating this celebration together as a family.

In fact this year as a you know a sign that you know that we will have to be changing how we’re doing it is, my son who who’s just turned 20 has just taken off with a three month visa for traveling in India. With a backpack and no plan beyond the first four days and he’s gone. But, he did say “what we can’t do this before I leave because I’m going to get so much exciting things I want to put on the celebration board before the end of the year.”

So we’ve got to do it via Skype and we get to work out how we’re going to get his contribution onto our big family sheet. but That’s. So it doesn’t even have to be that you’re going to have the people who you want to do this with need to be together. But I’m sharing it with you here around Christmas time because I know that there’s a very good chance that you may be with your loved ones at the moment. So don’t let distance be a barrier. It can be a really nice thing to be able to do virtually. So how does it work?

The whole idea is that we get together using a creative way so we do colored text, lots of drawing. Some people who are taught this to like to use photos or magazines or things like that. We just keep it simple and we set ourselves a well I had to set a timeframe when the kids were little (laughs) just to promise them that it was nearly over. But now that they’re bigger you know we you know we’ll set aside a date and we’ll set the time to do it.

Now the idea is that you spend the time going over every single thing that you have done that year. And I’ll go through the steps on how do you do this. All the different things that you have done this past year that maybe in your business. That may be in your hobbies. That may be activities different activities, you know excursions. Or different special events that you’ve had during the year. Special times that you just have with multiple ones. Things that were a personal growth to you. You know. Challenges that you may have had. But we’re not going to focus on bad things we going to focus on you know how were they good. What did you get from those. And so doing this especially as a family is a fun thing because a lot of times it’s things that we did together that we want to be able to do like a combination so there’s often lots of arrows going on out. And you know we, the dog even gets to celebrate, you know, that he got to to the beach a few times a week or you know little things like that. So that’s the whole idea is that we’re going to be putting that beautiful celebration in to what you are doing now what we do with ours when we’ve completed it is, we actually put up. That year’s one we put it in our living area and sometimes it in the hallway to one of the bedrooms or at the moment is up there where we do all of our painting. Because that where we’ve got a house where is always artworks happening. And that just means that, you know, every now and then you might walk past and you’ll have a look at it: “That’s right. That was really cool that that happened.”

So we actually live with it for the year which is really nice which is why the latest one that I’ve got here is two years ago. So. Let’s go over. Some of the things that were there from last year. From 2016, two years ago, that I can just see from this one and then I’ll guide you through. You can do this for yourself. So for example if I have a look at mine. This might work for you. So we’ve got each of us sort of sits around it. so It’s all at different angles because we’re all sitting around this table. So for me. I’ll turn it around. There might be a bit of noise.

So I’ve got things like for business wise you know that I launched my video marketing program so I around ran workshops. And my daughter who was studying event management at the time actually came along and was the event manager. So we got to travel what we did those workshops so that was that was a big event. We also did things that particularly here I was the patrol captain for our surf club. For our patrol. And we actually won the Best patrol of the year which was pretty awesome. And then I had a bit of fun because they they lifted up to me, they put the embroidery on the winning jacket. So I changed it and put most awesome patrol as the official embroidery on my jacket. So I’ve got there a picture that I’ve done there. I’ve also just written there about some fantastic camping and kayaking with my husband.

I also put, you know, here was an interesting one. My mum was really sick that year. Now I could very easily have put down here that that was a negative you know because I spent a lot of time with my mum. She was very sick and I went there but you know what I put down that I got to care for my mum. I Was able to be there. That was something that was a real positive from that. You know I’ve also been able to put things here like you know swimming. Going swimming with my friends. A weekend away. Actually I was being written down about 50 kilometres away and I really liked it. Some weddings we went to. When I was in the United States. That I was masterminding the high mastermind but I also made sure that every single time I went over there from asked why I stayed longer and explored. So that was a pretty good year. Yeah that was a pretty firm one.

We’ve also got things like, you know, my kids put things here about this one here my husband my my son was finishing high school. So for him he put down about all the difference even though yes he was studying for his HSC. He’s still we got there about all the different festivals and bands he went to ’cause he’s just obsessed with music.

And we also put about you know he took over being patrol captain for me. Oh he got a beautiful girlfriend. Gosh she was beautiful. still Is beautiful. My husband put down lots of things to do with his art and his gardening and his work. We put down about where we bought our first Aboriginal art as an investment. My daughter and I. All these different things that we did together and you know. And going and seeing Macklemore together. I was probably the oldest person in the audience but I was probably the loudest as well. So that’s it just gives you an idea of the kind of things that. Is.

Going to throw that down. So for me that was a great year. We had a lot of fun but also at that same time, as you saw, you know I was doing a lot of caring for my mum who was sick. So that was actually taking a lot of my time I could have very easily is focused on the negative. So you can see there’s all different positive things. So even just me reading that, I’m feeling a real sense of achievement but I do know that before I went to start that I was going: “oh yeah I did a bit of travelling this year that was really cool but you know”. There was always that sense of frustration of you know there always is. Everywhere we set ourselves big goals “I didn’t get everything I wanted to get done”. But after that I feel really really good about myself. So that is the purpose of doing this. So let me run you through exactly how do you create your own celebration board and create a ritual around that.

So these are the steps. Number one: decide who you want to do this with. You can do this on your own at some times especially when the kids were younger. I would do it on my own to start with because I really want to do my planning and I wanted to get this energy and then I would do it again with the family. So sometimes there were two sheets that I had and that’s okay.  You can do it more than once. So deciding you know what we are going to do it on your own and then you’re going to do it again later as a family. As a ritual that you do with your family. It’s a really lovely bonding thing to do. So decide who you want to do this with and decide then how are you going to do it. Are you going to do it as a virtual thing or are you going to do it together?

The next thing you will do is set the date of when you are going to do it. Set a date and a time and everybody sticks with that.

And just that they’re only going to do it with.

I was running through this with my Rising Star clients this week. I Was doing this exercise with them and one of them was saying what she’s actually going to be doing it when she’s got the whole family together. Including her kids’ partners because they’re a big part of the family as well. So that’s you know that’s going to be a big part for her is the extended family which will decide to do that as well.

So set your date. Now, the next thing is every single person needs to prepare because it is amazing how you forget what you’ve done. Now social media is fantastic for this so I always go back through my last, all the photos that I’ve had in my last 12 months on either Facebook or Instagram. Now for you you may not do much of on social media. You may go through the photos that you’ve got on your phone. That may be your trigger for that. You might go through your calendar and look at the different things that you do especially with business. You may not have documented those so much through photos but go through your calendar. Maybe even go through your e-mails looking for big things. Whatever it is it’s going to help you to try to remember the things that were significant for you that year and that also includes the things that were that you could perceive as a real negative. You know you might have some sickness in your family or yourself. You may even have deaths in your family. You may have had a time or where are you just feeling depressed and could not feel motivated to do things. They still count, okay? They are really significant because then what we’re going to do is when we get together, which is the next step. First of all, you’re going to get you know you need the materials. We get like a big piece of paper. We can go down to the newsagents and get a nice big sheet of paper. We just find that bigger is better because it just allows you to be freer. We get either coloured textures or colored pencils and really that’s all you need. I don’t have to complicate it. So you’ve got to get those. Now what I say about including things that might be really negative because what we’re going to do here now is we’re going to get we’re going to get our own little corner and we’re going to be creative with our colour. And we’re going to put down those significant events. And these are really nice things that you’ll be discussing that with each other as you’re going. It allows you to process so even those negative things is to look at to acknowledge that they happened and then to look at what was something that you can see as a sense of achievement around that. It may be, in the case when I was talking about, you know you may have been feeling really depressed. You know what I kept on going. Or it may have been you know there was something happened with your business. That you didn’t you didn’t get the results you wanted but you can be putting in there. You know what, I did the work. I learnt a lot through there. Celebrate the wins and celebrate learnings as much as the wins. Okay.  

So what you going to do now is just take that time is to just do what you want to do if you want your drawings or you just want to write words or a combination. Whatever works for you and each person can do it differently. You know how I want to. My husband’s I had to guess what they were for that year because he’s always just drawings. But they’re really they he knows what they are straight off. They’re triggers to remind you. So this is take that time to actually talk amongst each other and go to go to each other. “Ah remember when this happened or when know was that”. And be honest with yourself because it doesn’t have to be anybody else sees this. We put it up somewhere where we as a family to see it. But you don’t have to you know I can just be you. So that’s the next thing is to take that time to really process.

Now the next step is to look at what you’ve done and really acknowledge. Just soak up that energy of, “you know what? Things happened this year. This was my life.” And you know what? Really focus on the things the learnings that you had and what you were grateful for. And know I can remember one year that’s in that pile there where my business really, it stagnated. And that was for quite a few reasons. One was I had kind of outgrown the business but I wasn’t allowed, I wasn’t admitting it to myself. And so I wasn’t enjoying it as much because I was ready for the next step that I was holding on. But also it happened to happen at the same time that my mother had gone through time she was really unwell. Really unwell. She’s had a tough couple of years. You know she’s getting older and she had a lot of problems with her heart. And so for me I think you know what? Every single week, I travel two hours to be with her every single week to take her to the doctors. That is something to celebrate. And it is okay that other things fell apart. Not fell apart, but didn’t grow. Because that was what my priority was that year.

So allow yourself to really look at it and to be able to acknowledge things that you’ve learnt. And really acknowledge the things that went really really well. And just acknowledge yourself okay because that’s the energy that we want to bring in. Now when you’re taking this energy and you’re going to be planning for next year and I have whole process that I use for planning for the following year is the first thing you want to ring at any time now you look at what you’ve done and go you know what. What things that happened last year what things do I want to. I’m really happy about that. I want to build on so you can make sure when you’re planning your next year that you’re going to make sure that you that you do that. For me looking at that particular year. I know for me a lot of that was I was travelling a lot which I loved but I wasn’t doing it with my husband. So for me I put down you know what I would do more weekends away I want to do more kayaking. I want to do things just with my husband which is what we did.

So those are, you know, they were learnings. What do you want to more of? And what are the things that you had as big lessons that you don’t want to repeat that lesson? But what can you take from that to build into the next year? But if you had seen all of those things as failures or whatever, you can’t bring that energy forward. But if you’re celebrating the learnings that you had, you can bring that into the next year. Okay.

So this is a fantastic ritual for you to be able to introduce to your own family as I was saying the first time I started doing this. I have an eight and a 10 year old. Now I have a 20 and a 22 year old and we are still doing it. And there’s no way that the kids want to stop doing it. It’s probably going to be something we have to be doing for decades. And I tell you what, it is fantastic because what we also do is every year now, we open up all the previous years and we go over and reminisce and celebrate again.

So it’s a really beautiful ritual to have a really really important, actually very strategic thing for you to do before you set any big planning and visualizing for the next year. And if you’ve already done your plan for the next year, revisit it after doing this exercise and see if there’s anything that you want to change.

Okay I’m really looking forward to hearing from you. So I would love very much if you can share with me if you’ve done this. If you’ve done it in the past, because I know I share this every year. If you’ve done it in the past I’d love to hear from you. You know, have you made it a ritual? How is it impacting your life. If you do do one. I would so love it if you would share a photo with me. So come over onto Instagram or Facebook and share a photo of your celebration board. I would love to be able to see that just come and share that with me as well. And let’s use a hashtag. #celebrationboard. That would be a fantastic thing to do. I come over on Instagram come over on Facebook and share that and then you can search on that tag and see if you can find what everybody else has been doing that would be super cool. And just leave comments down below on the podcast page. I’m not quite sure if you can upload images there but if you can. I’m not quite sure if you can be extra awesome as well. All right. So I would love to hear from you and again. Hope you’re having a really beautiful time with your family or your loved ones. Or just also if you want it to just be alone, if you’re getting some time for some space to yourself. I’m hope that you’re actually doing what you want to be doing at this time of the year. I’m really really looking forward to helping you has much fun next year.

I have some pretty exciting things planned to really help you. I’m super excited about them.

Okay, bye!

Christmas Conversation Tips

Christmas Conversation Tips

by | Dec 17, 2018 | Blog, Business Skills, RYT Radio, Success Mindset

Not many sleeps now!

As we head into the silly season we are also heading into the “have fun and surprisingly do great business networking” season as well.

In this week’s quick episode I share with you 1 simple sentence you can use that is guaranteed to get the conversation moving in the direction you want and you know what?

It works magic at social gatherings, networking events and around the table on Christmas day when you are sitting next to the nephew / sister-in-law / boyfriend-of-second-cousin-on-your-step-mothers-first-husbands-side….  who you haven’t seen for 12 months.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and watch to the end where I ask YOU the same question and would love you to share the answer with us all below.

You can watch the video, listen to the audio, download from the podcast directory, or read the transcript below. Never miss an episode. Click here for all the ways you can subscribe.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:21 — 12.8MB)

A Special Message From Janet

Thank you so much for being here. I know there are a lot of podcasts you could choose to listen to  and you chose to join me on Romance Your Tribe Radio.

Woohoo!

I’m honoured and  grateful for your support.

If you enjoyed this week’s episode, I’d love for you to take a quick minute to share your thoughts with us and leave an honest review and rating for the show over on iTunes!

Links and Resources Mentioned

Free eBook – 15 Simple Mindset Hacks to reprogram your subconscious for happiness and success

Romance Your Tribe Radio in iTunes

Read The Transcript Here

Hello and welcome! Janet Beckers here, I’ve got a really short episode for you this week in Romance Your Tribe Radio because you know what? You get parties to go to. It’s just getting really really close to the silly season which is catching up with people having fun but also a surprisingly good networking time of the year. Because you very likely may be either going to different get-togethers that may be know with people who are in your business or are around your business and also, surprisingly, social events that can turn into being wonderful opportunities to end up growing your business.

So what me share with you is: How one sentence, phrase, that you can be saying to people. A question that you can be asking them that is guaranteed to really make the conversations that you have so much more rewarding and so much more powerful.

And this is whether it’s going to be sitting around the Christmas table with the cousin twice removed that you only see once or twice a year and you really don’t know much about them. You haven’t really been a huge part of their life. Or it might be at a dinner party or a social event that you go to. And you know, it could be used in that occasion as well. So this is the universal question that you can be using for Christmas time conversations.

In fact, you can be using it all-year round but it is particularly good at this time of year.

So, you’re ready?

When you’re in any kind of social event like this especially this time of the year. A lot of times you can be finding you going over the same information. You know, you’ll get you’ll be really just sort of going through a lot of small talk. I like Tt kind of cut to the chase and really start talking about things that matter. Now here is, lesson number one is you know what, people want to talk about themselves even though, you know, they may be interested in you really. People love talking about themselves and that’s quite cool. So what you want to do is let’s turn it very specifically over to them and this is the question to ask: “Tell me what is one thing, the one thing, that you’re most proud of from this year?”.

You know what. It is amazing.

The kind of answers that you get from that when I have asked this question of people who I see on a really really regular basis. It never ceases to amaze me that they come out and tell me something that I knew absolutely nothing about. Because it may not necessarily be something that is discussed in the situation where I normally see them. So really. You know it’s a really great insight people even more so I love doing this.

We did this last year we had Christmas at our home and we invited, you know, lots of family and there were friends as well that came along. And we did this going around the table. There were quite a lot of people there was a really long table. So it took a little bit of time but you know what? People were getting excited waiting for their turn to come up. And what we learnt about each person was really really interesting because, you know, I got to hear some great things about my nieces. And some other things about my nephew nephew and things about our grandparents. The things that they considered that they were most proud of really gives me great insight to them. So. There is a follow up question as well. So that there were already open up a great conversation without fails you might need to give people a little bit of a prompt.

So the next question that follows from that is: “So what’s the one thing that you are most looking forward to next year?”.

And this is a really powerful question because you know sometimes people will tell you something around a business school or a career goal or sometimes they’ll tell you about a fitness goal. Or they might tell you about a hobby. Or something to do. Travel. Something that you may not have even realized was going to be big for them. Now. Whether this is in the family or whether this is business, whichever way it is to be able to really help people to celebrate the things that they’re really proud of and those things that they’re looking forward to is: number one it’s just great to be part of that. And if this is around business when it’s the things that they’re looking forward to, it may very well be things that you can help them with or that you know somebody that you can connect them with that is going to be able to help them. And that is all around growing your business and growing relationships.

So I really want to hear from you. So come and share with me over here on the on the on where we’ve got the show notes over on the website is I’d love for your show down below. Number one what is it that you were most proud of this year? And what is it that you are really looking forward to next year?

So. Let me start it. Let me start the ball rolling. So I will share with you from a business perspective the thing that I’m most proud of from this year. And I would say the thing that I’m most proud of this year is I haven’t really totally restructured the brand and the focus that we, of my business from being Wonderful Web Women, to being Romance Your Tribe.

And of course part of that was creating a whole new training program. From scratch. At what I know has got the best results for people that have been working through it. It’s really is the best program I have ever created. I am exceptionally proud of the Attract Your Tribe program. Really proud of that. And really proud of the results. It’s been getting for people so that’s me. That’s what I’m really proud about.

And what am I looking forward to next year? Well I’m really looking forward to knowing that now that I have tested this program and I’ve had people who have been going through it and they’ve been sharing with me step by step the results they’re getting, I’m really looking forward to next year to really ramping that up. Because I know I get results for people. So I’m really looking forward to focusing a lot next year on helping more people go through that program. And helping more people if they want more personal help to get them to that next level. I’m really looking forward to that.

So for me, creating that strong foundation this year and then building on it next year they are my number ones when it comes to what my most proud of. And my most looking forward to. So I’d love to hear from you now.

I’m just thinking my mind was going to all the other things I’m really excited about next year and really proud of this year because of course we’ll have far more than just our businesses aren’t we? We’re really also very much around, you know, our personal side. You know, what to do with our creativity and to do with our fitness and our health and and our relationships. And so I could share so much more of that with you. So we might do that. You know, continue the conversation over on social media. Over through on Facebook, if you’re connected with me there. just Talking about all these different things because there’s lots of things that I’m really, really proud of and very excited about next year. On a personal perspective as well.

Okay. So. Can’t wait to hear from you. I would really love to hear from you so if you can answer those two questions for me. What is one thing you are most proud of this year? And what’s the one thing you’re really looking forward to next year? And share them down below.

Bye!