goal setting

The Push And Pull Of Creativity, How To Stay On Track And Get It All Done

December 28, 2009 By Cara Lumen

Passionately On Purpose Radio with Cara Lumen, Your Idea Optimizer, who keeps you passionately on purpose while you make a difference in your world. As a Business Coach, Content Developer and Educator she talks about how to uncover your passion, define your purpose, identify your path, make money from what you already know and attract the people you are meant to serve. But most of all, she’ll help you believe you can!!! Join her Mondays on www.blogtalkradio.com/passionatelyonpurpose

This Show You are loaded with new idea for the new year, complete with resolutions but now what? You are buffeted by the push and pull of creativity and don’t know where to start. Let’s talk about how to stay on track and get it all done.

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What The Numbers Tell You

December 24, 2009 By Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

It happened again. As I totaled up the various sources of my income for my end of year evaluation I was surprised at what had been the most successful. Last year it was curriculum development, this year it was teleclasses. Guess what I’m going to do more of this year.

I use Quicken for Home and Business and so at any time I can look at these numbers to see how I’m doing, but the end of the year is the big contemplation/decision making time about next year and when I take the time to examine how I’ve done.

I’ve been giving inexpensive two week teleclasses and have been drawing a wonderful core of people who are ready to take their business to the next step. I have loved doing them. The Magnetic Marketing Plan course is going to become a workbook rather than a home study course and I have ideas for a lot more courses including teaching some that are already home study courses like Article Magnetism and How to Write a Magnetic How To Book. The next step is to see which classes pulled the best – what their topics were – what needs they met. I can do that.

Do I raise my prices? Do I make the courses longer? Do I need to restructure them? I always over deliver by a ton on my courses – how can I add more time for processing? What do I want? What do they want?

I also use numbers to see what article or blog post or radio show topics are drawing interest. Having Google Analytics on every web page and blog page is great and Blog Talk Radio has good statistics. EzineArticles has fabulous statistics – you can see exactly what each article did.

Numbers are signs of what you have succeeded in doing and numbers are also goals you set for yourself.

I want to double my income from coaching this year and triple my income from teleclasses. And I am also willing to be surprised by new curriculum development projects. Now I can make my plans.

This is a good time to write down the numbers you produced this past year and set some goals for what you would like to create next year. Let the numbers tell you where you are needed in service.

How to Make Good Decisions Quickly

December 18, 2009 By Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

I decided to move half way across the country within an hour of knowing that I must. It was a huge decision, made quickly and acted on in confidence. Do you know yourself well enough to do that?

Had I known I was going to move I would not have invested in my yard, I might have waited to get my two kittens rather than drive young animals across the country. But I didn’t know I was going to move, until I did know. And when I did know I knew it absolutely and irrevocably.

In our lives we contemplate many choices. Sometimes we explore them rather deeply and then decide against them. Sometimes we act impulsively on the spur of the moment. But both scenarios happen when we know ourselves, when we have a relationship with our inner wisdom that we trust. Here are four steps for making a good decision quickly.

The situation has changed.

One of the major reasons we make decisions is because something changes. In my case, my wonderful housemate lost her job and made a decision to move across the state to be closer to her sisters. But the other thing that had changed was that she was the best housemate I’d ever had. So I had changed and the situation had changed.

You need a new solution

What had been working was no longer a viable solution. I needed a new housemate and after several interviews I realized I could not possibly live with someone else. I knew what it was like to live with someone who was really compatible. Financially I either needed to find a housemate or move so I could live alone. To live alone meant less expensive accommodations and those were to be found in the Midwest near my children. Two choices, two solutions to consider.

There are other circumstances building up that need to be considered

I’m 77 and although I plan to live to 114, the reality is that I’m still an older person who should be living near her family. The reality check was that I was ready for some physical help and to be in an environment that was easier to maintain. When I told people I was moving from California to Kansas City they said, “Why?” When I said “To be with family” they all agreed it was a wise move. When considering a change be aware of all the circumstances surrounding your decision, your current needs as well as your future needs.

Take a Reality Check

In order to make a good decision quickly, you have to be aware of the reality of what you have created so far. Your finances, your health, your relationships, your spiritual nourishment, whatever is out of balance should be balanced. Whatever is not working should be dropped. Whatever is working should be increased.

I do a quarterly heartbeat check to see how I’m doing in my business and in my life. Look to see how your situation has changed, seek a new solution, and consider all the changes that may affect both your current situation and the one you are choosing, then tune into what you truly want and you’ll be able to make a good decision quickly with accuracy, conviction and confidence.

2010 – The Year of the Entrepreneur

December 8, 2009 By Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

Entrepreneur Magazine says 2010 will be the year of the entrepreneur because unlike a large company we are fluid and flexible and can respond quickly. We’re also small and light on our feet since we use Cloud Nine technology to outsource even some of our core systems. And that frees us up to stay fluid, to monitor and respond to the changing moods and needs of our target audience. Between home offices and virtual assistants and tech people from all parts of the world, we can even start up with very little money and the trend now is for friends and family to bankroll a start up. Anything is possible. Your dream can become a reality even now. Especially now.

I hadn’t thought of myself in that light – fluid and flexible, and if I get too bogged down in where I think I should be going I may not be able to see where I could be going.

How fluid am I? How often do I thoughtfully examine the changes in my target community? Do I look for their new concerns? Do I think about what keeps them up at night? And do I keep adding skills and look at my talents and passion to see if I can add something to my business that will meet those needs?

Are my business systems fluid? Do I have a VA and an accountant in place ready to move quickly if I need them to do more for me? Have I located a virtual team to meet the needs of new clients? Are my own systems set up so that I can quickly add more clients or effectively promote a new telecourse? How have I freed myself up so I can stay creatively tuned into the people I serve?

Is my measuring system in place so I can spot what’s working and what isn’t and quickly do more of what is working? Do I reevaluate my business every quarter and redirect its course if necessary?

How flexible am I? One thing I did do well this month is plan my direction for the coming year. I did a lot of thinking and analyzing and I figured out what my community will want from me and I set up some new offerings. I increased the number of courses in my Magnetic Marketing Method Mastery Program. Then I designed a schedule and blocked off time to make it happen. I even know what new information products I will produce. I’m excited about my plan and I’m a bit like a train going rapidly down the track in one direction. So what if something comes along that seems like a better idea? Will I be flexible? Will I fluidly change gears and directions to absorb or accommodate the new idea? I like to think so.

If I keep my attention on the needs of my community I will know when I need to change. When I hear them call I will answer. And if I have my systems in place I will have the time and resources to make it happen.

If you get too caught up in the details of your business, you can’t do your job – the job that says you are the idea person, the one watching the ebb and flow, the one who creates the new programs and services. As the core of your business, you have to be its heartbeat, you have to tune into its rhythm and keep all its working parts going in the same direction.

Are you set up to change directions easily? Do you have the systems in place you need to grow rapidly? More importantly do you have the mind set to respond quickly? Think agile, think quick, think decisive, think fluid and flexible. Then you’ll be ready to keep up with the changing needs of your community and keep your business in tune with the times.

New Vision = New Direction = New Action

December 5, 2008 By Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

My business has made a 90 degree turn in the last two months and I’m looking over my foundation again to realign it with my new vision. I was very happily helping people develop web content and create information products until I became a Book Yourself Solid Coach and found the system and the structure that allowed me to take people from vision to venue. It was like being shot out of a cannon. My vision expanded, my expectations increased and my target market sharpened. All because I added a certification to my credentials and positioned myself differently in my business. Now I have to match my actions to my vision so I can make it happen.

The "Why I Do It" Statement

At the core of your business must be an understanding of why you do it. And why you do it must be filled with passion. Why do you get up every morning and joyously go about doing whatever is necessary to make your business grow? If you are not happy, not excited, not eager to get to work you are not in the right place doing the work you were meant to do. You might want to do something about that.

My core reason for being and doing is to learn and teach but I get more excited about learning and teaching some things more than others. Does my new vision make me even more excited than my old one? It sure does. It expands my thinking, changes my target audience and opens up new opportunities.

The "Who and Do What" Statement

Your who-and-do-what statement takes time to develop and it often changes as you change. You have to keep an eye on it to be certain it reflects your passion and will take your business where it needs to go. This new vision changed my target market. Not a lot, I just upgraded my expectations about who would come play with me and what we could do together. It got me very excited and made it necessary for me to reexamine everything – my web words, the structure of my offerings, my tag line even the bundling and pricing of my offerings.

I had to have a coach to help me do it. I knew I wanted to change my target audience but I couldn’t do it for myself. I was standing in my own way. So I got help from my coach and was propelled into greater expectations and infinitely more possibilities. If you need help making the leap, ask for it.

What’s working?

Every quarter I examine my measurable results to see what is working and what is not. I examine how the needs of my target market might have changed, how I have changed, what new skills I have learned, what new friends I have made that are potential joint ventures.

I reexamined the goal I had set myself for the year to see if it still is the perfect goal or if it should be shifted or expanded. Then I looked to see if everything I am doing helps make that goal a reality. If it does, it stays, if not, it goes.

How does your new vision make you feel?

Every once in a while I feel like I’m spinning in place there are so many interesting choices. Taking time to evaluate where you are, how you got there and where you want to go should include how you want to feel. Do you want to learn more or are you full up of information? Do you want to get involved with a community service so you can get out of your home office? What new hobby would you like to undertake that would offer a change of pace and rhythm?

What is your body telling you? What needs adjusting on your emotional level? How are you nourishing yourself spiritually? A new vision means making new choices.

How can I expand my vision?

My vision seems to expand with everything I learn. There are always so many possibilities that present themselves. Check out your excitement level. Hold up the new vision with your core passion and see how it expands your thinking. Let your vision expand. Tweak it. Let it fly. Let it show you the new direction you can go and then design the new action steps to get yourself there.

goal setting

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