I have heard this idea several times and wanted to share it with you:

Find a nice small stone and put it in your pocket. This stone will be called a thankful stone. When you wake up in a morning, take the stone and squeeze it while thinking of all the things you are thankful for such as family, friends, your job, your home, etc.. Throughout the day, squeeze it whenever you are feeling thankful for something or grateful for an event that is taking place. Finally, before going to bed, you squeeze the stone again and think of all the things you have to be thankful for in that particular day.

The best thing about this practice is that you will be so busy finding things to be thankful for it will allow less time for negative thoughts. Another great thing is that you will be reminded each time you feel the stone to think of the great things in your life!!

I am sure that there is that one thing that you are thinking about and would love to step out of your comfort zone and accomplish … so what is stopping you?

If I hadn’t stepped out of my comfort zone I wouldn’t have my business, I wouldn’t be an author, I wouldn’t be a Success Partner at CVAN, I wouldn’t have the friends that I have all over the world …..

So … here is my challenge … think of that one thing that you have been dying to do and just get out there and do it. What is the worst thing that can happen? Will you be any further behind from the point you are at right now if you at least try?

How can your dreams come true if you don’t take action? How can you have all of your wishes granted if you never, ever take a chance?

I am not even going to make excuses for not posting yesterday except to say I have been lacking motivation the last couple of days. We are in the process of moving and that is taking up a lot of my time, energy and thoughts. I found this really interesting article on-line today though and really wanted to share it.

The link if you want to read the rest of this information on-line is here.

Here’s why they say we procrastinate:

1. Avoidance: We often disguise our avoidance by being very busy doing things that may be interesting, and even useful, things that don’t contribute to our goals.

2. Fear of failure and self-doubt: Judging yourself as not good enough or worried that others won’t like or accept you, you may keep putting off getting started or getting finished with a project. You may even convince yourself that failing at a small task will result in devastating consequences.

3. Feeling overwhelmed: This can directly related to not being able to get your thoughts around everything on your list. This bout of stress can be more related to the large amount of commitments you may have.

4. Lack of commitment: No desire to get the job done, no matter what because of the inability to distinguish between what is important and what is unimportant.

5. Low Self-Esteem: You may insist upon a high level of performance even though you may feel inadequate or incapable of actually achieving that level.

6. Not A High Enough Priority: You have challenges evaluating your obligations and demands and prioritizing them.

7. Perfectionism: This can referral to “starts and spurts” in your performance, meaning that you go on a cleaning spree, or attack a task with great energy and then slump back in exhaustion after having exasperated, irritated, or alienated everyone around you.

8. Resentment: When you tell yourself that you have to do something, you’re implying that you’re being forced to do it.

9. Undervaluing the Rewards: you feel that the effort to complete the task (almost any task) would not be worth the rewards.

10. You Just Plain Don’t Want To:

So why do you procrastinate? How do you find your motivation when you are lacking the desire to just get moving?

You learn as much from those who have failed as from those who have succeeded.
- Michael Johnson

This quotation has a great lesson in it … even though others have tried and failed, it is still possible to be a success. I think many of us ignore possibilities because of the fear that they will be a potential failure, especially if others have failed before us. What if, perhaps, you looked at this in a different light and looked at others failures and thought about ways you could try that same thing, but only BETTER!!

Take some time and look at others that have tried something and think about ways that you can improve on their idea. Some of the greatest products, services and ideas are created from fixing someone else’s “mistakes”.

Good luck and enjoy … my goal this week will be to find something that someone else has tried prior to me and failed and I am going to report to you on how I was able to make it really great. I would also love to hear your comments as well!!

Today the thing that I am most thankful for is the fact that I can form an opinion and others still respect me based on that opinion. Even more importantly, I can listen to others opinions and be thankful that we are each different and each have our own thoughts and views on subjects.

The person who goes through life thinking “it’s my way or the highway” will never have as rich of a life as the one that is willing to listen to others.

The ability to listen to others and consider their thoughts and opinions is a quality that we should all possess!! Wouldn’t life be boring if we all had the same thoughts and opinions on everything?

So you’ve narrowed your search in that crowded room and picked out your ideal client because they looked exactly like your ideal client. You approach the client and begin talking with that client and realize, “Wait! I was totally wrong. This is not my ideal client”. You now know that choosing your ideal client cannot be based on appearances alone. Now is time for the second step in finding your ideal client. Now is the time to start asking those probing questions to find your ideal client. Now is the time to master the “art of conversation”.

Before you can ask those probing questions and start that conversation, it is important that you know what values are important to you.

Is there a lifestyle that is important for your ideal client to possess?

What is their vision in life? In business?

How do they work? How do they live? What is the balance between the two?

What are their opinions? Their ideals? Their values?

Now that you know what values are important to you and for your ideal client to possess, what questions can you ask to make sure that you can determine that the person falls into your ideal client role model? Remember to word your questions so they are non-invasive and casual in nature. Some questions are easy to ask, for example, if your ideal client is a mother, asking “Do you have children?” is a topic that most mothers would never find invasive. However, if your ideal client is in a certain tax bracket, asking “How much do you make?” would certainly be very offensive to most.

You can get the same result by simply carrying on a conversation and learning about them and their lifestyle. Remember how a person talks and carries themselves in a conversation can sometimes be very telling and other times very deceiving. In our example above, some people may be in a certain tax bracket, but living a lifestyle of someone in a tax bracket well above them or well below them.

Remember that finding your “ideal” client, one that fits every single criterion may be a daunting task. It is important to know which values are the most important to you, the ones that you are NOT willing to compromise on and which values you are more willing to. For example, my ideal client owns a business that is growing. They realize that they can no longer do everything on their own and would like help. They appreciate my value and worth and trust me to be their confidante. They value my opinion and ask it frequently. They respect my boundaries and never push the limits of these.

The last statement, “they respect my boundaries and never push the limits of these”, is one of those values that I will NOT compromise on. So for me, finding a client that will respect these is crucial to a good relationship. Of course, if I ever asked a client “Will you respect my boundaries”, there answer would undoubtedly be “Yes”. So I must ask the right questions to get this answer. Sometimes this can be answered simply by asking “What expectations would you have of me?”, “What do you see as a perfect relationship between us?” These answers can answer a lot of questions for me. If, for example, they stated that they were looking for someone available 24/7, I know that would not be my ideal client because one of my boundaries is that I have business time and I have family time and I keep them separate and apart.

I think that, as a Virtual Assistant, I have an advantage that many others do not. I cannot base my search for the ideal client on appearance alone since many of my clients I will actually never meet in person. Finally, it is important to keep in mind that your search is not over. You may think that you have found your ideal client, but there are also two other areas to consider when searching for your ideal client and we will talk about those further in Parts 3 and 4.

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the importance of setting boundaries for your business and stated that the best thing I did for my business was to establish a boundary letter. Here are the top 10 areas to consider when developing your own boundary letter:

1. Hours of Business - Just as any business states what the hours of business are, so too should you establish hours that you will be available to your clients. They should be stated clearly and should never change without written notification. Remember you are your own boss and whichever hours you establish are fine provided your potential clients know from the very beginning.
2. Phone Answering - Let your client’s know how and when they can reach you by telephone. If you do not wish them to have your cellular telephone do not provide it to them, however if the opposite is true let them know that you are available by cellular phone when you are not in the office. Make sure to tell your clients how long they should expect you to take to return their phone call when they leave a message. If you do not have an answering service on your telephone be sure to advise your clients as to how they can reach you
3. Email Availability - Be upfront with your clients as to your email availability. If this is your preferred method of communication be sure that they are aware of this. Let them know how long they should expect an email to be answered. Also, if you have limits on the numbers of emails you want to receive from them in any given day be sure they know this. Also, let your client’s know how often you check your email and when that is.
4. Turnaround Time - Most businesses have a usual amount of time it takes to complete projects or order products for their clients. Be sure that your clients know exactly what this usual turnaround time frame is. Also, if there are any surcharges, be sure that they are aware of how these surcharges work and when they are applicable.
5. Pricing/Invoicing Policies - Be sure that your client is very clear on what your pricing policies are. How do you track your time and calculate their invoice each month and how quickly is this required to be paid? Do you require a deposit? What constitutes an overdue invoice and what are the consequences of an overdue invoice? Be concise yet thorough in your descriptions so that you can avoid problems at a later date.
6. Referral or Other Bonuses - The best way to grow your business is to get your client’s working for you. Do you offer any referral bonuses or customer loyalty programs and how would your client qualify? What expectations do you have of your client or is this an appreciation? Be sure that they know exactly what is expected from being able to work with you.
7. Vacations and Closures - If you close each year at Christmas, be sure that your clients are aware of this up front. For some this might mean the difference between doing business with you or not. If you have a “back up” plan in place for when you are closed let them know about that as well.
8. Subcontractors/Employees - If you are in a service business and you are selling yourself to a potential client even though others will be assisting you with the work, be upfront with your client and let them know how this works in your business. Make them aware of the credentials of each of your staff and why this system is in place. Let them know that you are still involved and how.
9. Tools or Software Utilized - In particular in my business it is very important to let my clients know in advance which software programs I will be utilizing so that we can ensure that we are compatible. For many programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel just knowing the version someone is using is important when saving documents. For other programs (accounting software in particular) it is important that both parties are using the same version to be compatible. If you are aware of a potential problem and how it is solved be sure to include that in your outline.
10. Termination of Relationship - The final thing to include in your boundary letter is a brief description of what would “push” you to terminate the relationship. Let them know what rules when broken would mean you would sever your relationship. Also, let them know how quickly you will utilize this. For example, if one of your areas to terminate is failure to pay an invoice let them know that all work will cease immediately. If, on the other hand, it is for not respecting your boundaries they will be given one warning/reminder after which time a second occurrence will mean 30 days notice for termination.

I am sure that once you begin to establish your boundaries and are clear with your clients, they will learn to respect you more easily. Remember the most important rule of boundary setting is to stick to your boundaries no matter what. This is perhaps the hardest lesson and one we can talk about another time!!

One of the best things I did for my business was to establish boundaries. These are those items that establish the line between personal and business. For many their business is full of gray areas and this often leads to confusion between them and their clients.

In order to establish boundaries, one must first know what is important to them in order to maintain that true balance between work and life that so many of us are trying to achieve. The first step to doing this is to sit down and really figure out what is important to you and to your business. Here are some areas to look at:

• What is office time? What is family time?
• What are you willing to do? What are you not willing to do
• What would your perfect business look like? What would your perfect family life look like? How do they interconnect?
• What rules do you have to keep personal and business separate?

The next step is to sit down with your family and get their opinion. What are their expectations from you as a business person and what are they NOT willing to “sacrifice”?

The final and perhaps hardest task is to respect the boundaries that you set. If you determine that you will work while your children are at school only then ensure that this is when you work and make it very productive time. If you determine that you will not enter your office after business hours do whatever it takes to make that happen.

The best way to do this is with the aid of a boundary letter. This letter outlines for your clients exactly where the boundaries of your business are. I give my “boundary” letter to each and every client right after our initial consultation and/or with my Proposal. The best thing about a boundary letter is that is sets out my clear expectations from the very beginning and lets my clients know what I am and am not willing to do. For some this has meant the difference between working with me or not, but in the long run I have come to realize that if a potential client does not respect my boundaries then they are not the client for me.

Come back tomorrow and I will outline for you the ten areas you should consider when creating your boundary letter. I am sure that once you are clear with not only yourself, but with your family and clients as to what you consider to be the balance you need between work and life, you will be on your way to creating a truly thriving business.

“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.”
Arthur C. Clarke

This is one of those quotes that the longer you look at it the more you go “Hmmmmmm”.

I love to push the limits … it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you do things that you never would have imagined doing. So just what are you doing to push the limits? What are your “impossible” dreams?

The other day I wrote an article about how I was clearing the clutter and today I found an excellent blog post that you should really check out all about clearing the clutter …

Declutter - Organising Queen