Too often we have our attention on things we have no control over; specifically our results. We focus our attention on what the other person is going to do. Yet, we have absolutely no control over them.

It’s true we have control over what we say, do and how we act. But as good as we might be at those things, it is not a good indicator of what someone else might do. You can be the most eloquent. You can be a master at enrolling. You can have the best opportunity for someone to make a change. But if they aren’t motivated, none of it will happen.

If we stay focused on things we can’t control, it doesn’t take long for anxiety, disappointment to take hold. Then the resistance to continue sets in.

What should we be focused on?

Only what we can control. Ourselves. How does that make for a robust, financially sustainable business? Because by doing the action we have control over we create possibilities. Think about that for a minute.

You make a call to someone who may be thinking about starting their own business. Did you create a possibility? Sure you did. You created the possibility they may say “No” or may say “Yes” to you. Do you have control over what they say? Nope. But you do have control over how many possibilities you create.

How do you get proficient?

Ever hear the joke about the guy who stops someone walking by and asks, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer is “practice, practice, practice.”

But that’s really only part of the answer. If someone was practicing the violin daily with all the focus they could muster, but didn’t understand music would they get to Carnegie Hall? No of course not. The adage practice, practice, practice means, “Improve what you do and how you do it.” If you keep practicing the same thing the same way but expect different results, it’s not to Carnegie Hall you’ll get!

How do you get better and better at what you do? You pay attention. You take a few minutes after each possibility you create and ask yourself questions like these:

• How did I do?
• Did I feel comfortable throughout the conversation?
• Did I listen more than I talked?
• Did my questions help to me understand what they really wanted?
• Did the person I was talking to appear comfortable?
• If not, did it change during the conversation?
• What was my reaction to their change?
• Did I check out if they changed, or ignore it or simply change my approach?

In my coaching practice I call this debriefing. Taking a few minutes after each call, or event, or activity will give lots of insight into how you might want to change or strengthen your approach.

And read and then read some more. Ask questions of those who know more than you. Join a mastermind of your professional peers. Hire a coach. Go to business seminars. (If you would like to be more proficient in your business in, consider our Savvy Sponsoring program.)

As Michael Gerber says in the E-Myth Revisited, “…people who are exceptionally good in business aren’t so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more.”

Why keep track of the points?

How many people do you need to talk to before someone says, “Yes, I’d like to start a business? How many people do you need to talk to before someone is willing to meet with you? Or, host an event for you? Or, buy from you.

Having a good working knowledge of these details in your business is known as your “ratio of success.” It’s tough to run a business if you don’t know how many calls it takes before someone says, “Yes, I’ll listen to you.”

The only way to determine your ratio of success is to keep track of what you do. When you first start out you’ll take a guess at what you think. But the only way to know for sure what kind of activity you’ll need to generate, in order to get the results you want, is to determine your ratio of success.

Goals don’t have to be tough or a guessing game.

Even though you have no control over the people you’re talking to, you do have control over how many possibilities you create.

• You determine the work you do.
• You determine how many calls you make.
• You determine how many real connections you make at any event.
• You determine when you do your follow-up.

I’m sure you’re getting the picture. As soon as you know how many times you need to repeat an action before you get a desired result, you now know your ratio of success.

Your business and the money you make is not a guessing game.

It is really straight forward.

Make your calls. You create possibilities. Get better at what you do and you get proficient. The more points you get, the more possibilities you create. The better you get at creating possibilities the more profit you make.

Not hard. Simply, straight forward good business foundations. If you would like to be more proficient in your business, apply straight forward good business foundations to your business. If you don’t know how or simply aren’t doing what you know you should, ask for help. Go public. Put yourself on the spot. You could even hire a coach (Our new Savvy Sponsoring program is all about giving you the tools you need and keeping you accountable.)

It is easy to keep score.

Check out our Points = Possibilities + Proficiency = Profits tally sheet.

You will be amazed at what this simple tally sheet will tell you about how you’re spending your work day.

Go on Take a Chance Create a day full of Possibilities And keep track of it!

Warmly,

Jillian

How do you create possibilities?

Calls, Calls, Calls,

Here are the questions that most people hate to answer.

How many calls did you make this week?

How many possibilities did you create this week?

Here is the simple truth about your business.

You only have control over what you can do. You can create possibilities. Here are the possibilities for your possibilities

• They say, “I don’t want to talk to you.” It ends there. You’re exactly where you were before you called.
• They say “Yes, I’ve got a minute to talk.” Now you’ve got the possibility of creating a new relationship.
• They ultimately say, “No thanks I don’t want your product.” You’re exactly where you were before you called.
• They ultimately say, “Yes, I’d like to try your product.” Your possibility turned into a business relationship. You’re better off than before you called.
• They ultimately say, “No thanks, I don’t want to start a business.” You’re exactly where you were before you called.
• They ultimately say, “Yes, I’d like to start a business.” Your possibility turned into a business relationship. You’re better off than before you called.

Two big questions for you:

1. Are you creating possibilities?

2. Are you creating possibilities in the best possible way?

If the answer to either question is “No.” Isn’t it time you did something about it? You have absolutely no control over the results of what you do. The results are out of your hands. But, you do have full control over how often and how well you create possibilities.

• You have full control over how many possibilities you create.
• You have full control over how many calls you make.
• You have full control over how confident you are.
• You have full control over how well prepared you are.

Want Help?

• Get on every complimentary call we offer.
• Read everything you can get your hands on about business. Pay particular attention to “sales.”
• Do what you have to in order “to get over you.”

If you need help in these areas check out our upcoming Savvy Sponsoring program. Only two days left for early bird savings. Savings end March 21st!

There is no need for you to feel unprepared, afraid and unwilling to create possibilities in your life and business.

If you wanted to learn yoga or tennis what would you do? If you want your kids to learn to skate, play the piano or dance what do you do?

Do you or your business deserve less?

Bottom line: If you are not doing in your business what it is going to take for it to be successful, go find help.

If not us, then someone else.

It’s that simple.

Calls, Calls, Calls, create possibilities that create results.

Click here for information about our Savvy Sponsoring program. You have till Friday March 21st to save up to $465.

Folks, there is no time like the present time to take control.

Warmly,

Jillian

Ever have your life going along just fine, thank you very much, and then POW, life delivers a one-two punch that changes things forever. When that happens, it can rock you right off center. I don’t know about you, but it humbles me and brings into sharp focus how fragile life is.

None of us are immune to these things. It’s all a part of life. We’ve lost pets, changed jobs, moved, dealt with illness and lost loved ones. And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what life can bring. The one thing we can all count on, life will bring change and it won’t always be change we want.

Typically I can have two re-actions to these kinds of crisis. I can throw myself into work until I drop trying to “catch up.” Or I walk away feeling totally overwhelmed saying, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

Neither action solves the problem. Let’s take the first example, I throw myself into work. The problem, I’m already depleted because of the crisis I’m dealing with. Therefore, I’m not very effective. And when I start working all the hours I can muster, it typically doesn’t take me long “to drop” either. Actually, it’s not uncommon for me to “drop” right into some kind of cold, flu or some other stress related illness. Ringing any bells with you?

Great. Now I get to be mad at myself for getting sick as well as being behind. I don’t want to do anything, plus I’m fairly ineffective because I’m unwell! Not a great combination for success.

I don’t fare much better in the second scenario, walking away in overwhelm saying, “I’ll do it tomorrow.” This produces guilt plus a mountain of (ever increasing) undone work and broken promises. Why? Because of course, I don’t do it tomorrow. Nothing has magically changed. I’m still in overwhelm. And the situation snowballs. I’m further behind and feel guilty too. It’s not unusual for me to add that cold or flu into this scenario as well.

The typical end result of both of those scenarios is being so far behind that everything feels hopeless.

Time for Triage

What I talked about in the last ezine issue wasn’t theoretical. I was climbing out of overwhelm and regaining control. I don’t mean to amp up the drama here. But if you’re dealing with “high marks on the stress chart” your energy and focus are most likely going elsewhere. That means everything else is going to get short shrift including your business. (My Google search turned up this stress chart. According to this chart my stress score at the end of last summer was 378)! http://sweetchillisauce.com/Letters/Stresspic.html

Tom and I were dealing with death, sickness, his job change, and moving from one coast to another (and those are just the big ones). Talk about emotionally draining times. But I could have made it much easier on myself and everyone else around me. I could have been pro-active rather than re-active. I needed to do early triage.

Getting Really Honest

With everything (unplanned) that was happening, I was not going to complete everything I wanted to do. It was time to stand back and be the CEO rather than the “technician” (E-Myth, by Michael Gerber). I needed to make some business decisions. Tough to do? Of course it is. Some things are going to be cut out and not get done. That’s never an easy process. Plus there is another dynamic going on. Getting caught up in the drama makes for a lot of energy. All that energy can be pretty appealing. Unfortunately, it is negative energy.

When life turned things upside down on me, I decided not, - yes - not, to be rigorously honest with myself. I kept saying to myself and anyone else who would listen that I was going to do this, and then going to do that, and then going to… You get the picture.

I continued that behavior until my “red flag” (pushing my email send and receive button) broke through my stubborn hold on avoidance! That’s when I got honest with myself. That’s when I acknowledged I was out of balance and not in any kind of control. It only took a few minutes with “Back to Basics,” (yes, that’s all it took) to get myself back on track. I’m not saying that everything got fixed that day, but I got focused. I was on my way.

You know what else, I can pretty much tell you the day I choose overwhelm. I know when things are knocked off track (just like you do). And I know, realistically that whatever I had planned didn’t include this “change.” But I decided to lie to myself and pretend that I could get it all done and push myself into overwhelm.

Do you relate? Well there’s hope. Here’s what I could have done to avoid the heartache and stress. Triage. I needed to “sort my victims” as Dictionary.com defines “triage.” I needed to “determine priorities for action in time of emergency.” There was no other way to avoid chaos and ultimately getting really stuck. Because (again) the truth was I was not going to get it all done. But how do you do triage when you’re in chaos?

It’s Time for STOP

• Step Back
• Think
• Organize your list of things to be done
• Pluck*

Obviously, what Tom and I were going through was hard. But tucking my head under my unconscious wing didn’t help. I added a lot of stress to my life (and Tom’s) because I didn’t take a realistic look at my business. I also amped up my feelings of overwhelm. If I had paired down my list to what I absolutely could get done and let the rest go (till later or maybe forever), life would have been much easier. Things that were really important to me would have gotten done. And no one would have expected things from me that I couldn’t deliver. (That in itself is a big guilt reliever.)

It’s Your Choice - Damage Control or Damage Prevention

Here’s what the STOP does for you. You get to step back and get out of the “doing” mode (which can also be avoiding mode) for that CEO bigger picture point of view.

1. Take a quiet moment to think on paper so you can organize the list of things that you’d like to get done.
2. Give them a time in your calendar.
3. Tell everyone who is expecting something from you when they will get it, or if they won’t get it.

Number three above is really critical to your piece of mind. It stops those “broken promises.” The things you say you’ll do and there is no way you’ll ever have time to get them done.

Bottom line. You will not get to some things. It can’t be helped. There is nothing you can do about that. You don’t have time. But make sure everyone knows what they can or cannot expect from you. No surprises.

You may not like having to do this. But don’t you think it is better you decide what will, and what won’t, get done, rather than leaving it to chaos to decide. If you let chaos decide you end up dealing with guilt because of those broken promises and missed deadlines. Damage prevention is often difficult but it is always easier than damage control.

When life delivers a curve ball use a STOP to do triage and Back to Basics to get back on your way.

Then everyone knows what to expect plus the important things get done.

Please let me know if this ezine hits home with you and if the ideas and tools are helpful.

Comments? Leave one below!

Warmly,

Jillian Middleton

*Shamelessly adapted from The Inner Game of Work, by Timothy Gallwey

I was so far behind I didn’t know where to start.

Recently I came to grips with the feeling that I was so far behind I didn’t know where to start. Rather a scary thing to admit being a coach and all.

Obviously I am not immune to life and things happen that disrupt. And, if I’m not on top of things right away, they seem to snowball. As soon as things start to get out of control, the less well I seem to be able to accurately determine what I can get done. When things are in a chaotic state, I make things much worse (oh so very much worse) by thinking I can do much more than is possible. It seems that my mind and good sense scramble right along with my routine!

Do you relate? If so, then you know what kind of a slippery slope this can be if it’s not checked really early. Depending on how long you stay in this “running behind chaotic state”, at the end of the day, week, month or (yikes) months, you have:

• unfinished projects
• little or no follow-up
• great leads getting colder by the minute
• unmet deadlines (broken promises)
• goals feeling further and further out of reach

Yes, there is a way to prevent getting into this mess. It takes some practice – and as you can tell by my confession I’m still practicing! Watch for our next ezine issue. I’ll cover in that issue what to do to avoid setting yourself up to be hopelessly behind.

What’s Your Red Flag?

When I find I’ve allowed myself to get out of control and am behind, I have to be really careful or it can get worse, way worse, before it gets better. Why? Because once I start thinking, “I’m so far behind I don’t know where to start – I don’t start. My routine is so out of whack I feel powerless to get back in sync.

To make matters worse, I’m so into ‘the overwhelm’ and so caught up in the guilt of “what’s not done,’ that I end up being reactive rather than proactive. I find myself spending time in my office doing the least important things. Eventually things get so bad that when I do (finally) sit down at my desk, the first thing I do is push the send and receive button. But that actually is a good thing.

How can aimlessly reading emails be a good thing?

Through the work I’ve done with my own coaches, I’ve identified this behavior as a major red flag. It acts as an alarm. I know when I’m sitting down and pushing ‘send and receive’ to see what I have to do, I’m not in control. I’ve learned over the years it is my habit when I’m in overwhelm. I look to my email for (of all things) direction! Today I’m aware that’s what I do when I’m out of control and it sends all kinds of warnings off in my head. I know I’ve blown through an opportunity to avoid chaos, I’m in it. It’s time to stand back and get back to basics.

Back to Basics

This is exactly what I do:

1. I grab a piece of paper and write down all the things I need to get done. It’s a brain dump. No editing. Just write down everything that’s undone.
2. I grab another piece of paper and determine my store hours for the day, or the week or the month. It doesn’t matter if you decide them each day or if you feel you can get them together for the month. Do what works. If you’ve never set store hours our Savvy CD http://www.savvysponsoring.com/storehours/ will make it quick and easy. Once you know when you’re starting and stopping work each day, you’ll wonder how you ever got anything done before!
3. After my brain dump and store hours schedule are completed, I take a minute to congratulate myself for “getting started right again” and let myself off the hook. There are going to be some things that are simply not going to get done when you go through this process. What it meant for me was letting go of the fact that I’d not sent out an ezine for months. I also didn’t offer two of my favorite coaching programs that were scheduled on my calendar. My guilt wasn’t going to change what was. Period. And the guilt didn’t help me to get moving. It was time to focus on what I was doing rather than what had slipped through the cracks. Make sense? Letting go of judgment and self recrimination is critical to moving forward. They act as anchors or a ball and chain at best. Let go of “what didn’t” and focus on what is.
4. I take a look at my list of things to do and circle three top money making activities. For you, these activities could include making follow up calls (use the most recent leads first), or an initial call to someone you think may be interested in your business or your product. Your goal might be setting a one-on-one appointment to make a business presentation. Or you might be asking someone to host a home event for you. All of these activities are money making activities.
5. Now grab your calendar and make an appointment with yourself to make these calls. Absolutely no ifs, ands or buts. This is an appointment with as much commitment as the one you make with your doctor. Real time carved out in your calendar for you to get these things done. Period. This means an appointment, an allotted exact time in your calendar. If you find yourself saying you’ll make the calls “when the kids are napping” or “after lunch” you’re setting yourself up for failure. Each day you work do these two things, (1) make sure you know your store hours and (2) that your calendar has you doing at least three money making activities before you do anything else.

Go Public!

If you have trouble keeping these commitments, go public. Tell someone you respect what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it. It could be your partner, upline or coach, someone who will hold you accountable and help you through whatever comes up.

If keeping a calendar is tough for you chances are you’re trying to pack it way too full. Check out our Sexy Savvy Calendar CD, it will make things way easy. http://www.savvysponsoring.com/calendar/

Once you’ve moved the items on your list into your calendar, you can strike them from your list. Two important things to remember in order to successfully work through that list of things. (1) Do the money making activities first in your business hours and (2) give your self plenty of time to accomplish what you want to get through. If you have time left over you can add something else to your calendar. But if you pack your calendar too full, you’re asking for frustration at the end of the day because you were unable to complete your goals.

For many of us this is the toughest thing of all. We all have so much to do and what feels like so little time to do it. But less really is more when it comes to planning what you can get done.

Can You Be Seduced?

One last thought about planning. Sometimes we think planning our day takes too long. It can be very seductive to “just jump in.” Planning is your business roadmap. Having a roadmap doesn’t mean you’ll never get lost, but it is your best tool to get back on track.

I hope this ezine helps you stay on top of things. As for me, it’s great being back in sync, and wonderful to, again, be in touch with you.

If you didn’t take the moment above to register for our complimentary coaching hour covering, “How to get your new recruits into confident money making activity within their first 48 hours” well go ahead and click here now to register. The teleclass is on Tuesday, March 4th at 9am PST / Noon EST. It’s open to everyone. Hope to see you there.

Warmly,

Jillian