When you look back on your life and review your past successes you should be able to see a common theme to your success. At the pivotal point when it means either a success or a failure you make a conscience choice to push beyond what you know to be your comfort zone. It is only by learning new things and pushing beyond what we know, what we are comfortable knowing that we reach our greatest successes in life. For whatever reason most people in life learn to go to a certain point and stop not ever knowing that if you were to push just a little bit more you could succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Every time you push beyond your comfort zone that opens up new opportunities multiplying your options exponentially each time you expand that circle. With that in mind read this follow up article describing your comfort zone as it applies your success from a business perspective. Once you have read about getting out of your “damn box” please share your opinions with a few comments at the end. But first as a teaser watch the following clip about going from your comfort zone to your confident zone.

From Comfort Zone to Confidence Zone

Technorati Tags: Personal Development, Comfort Zone, Professional Growth, Mentoring, Coaching, Business Coaching

That Damn Box!

In today’s market, especially the Direct Marketing and MLM business you will run into the title of this article more often than not. I’m going to provide you with some stories and insights on this very subject and if you are one of these people, maybe a way out.

Let’s start at the beginning. The beginning believe it or not, is at birth. That box will start building itself there and will gain structure as conditioning and habits start to form. The basics are simple; you’re hungry, you cry and someone appears and feeds you. You have discomfort you try the same tactic, “cool that works”. You make a mess, same thing. Totally cool, all I have to do is this cry thing and I get what I want. Let’s try something new. . .how about waking up really early, do the same thing. . . .”hey that works too.” “Life is good.

But then all of a sudden something happens. I don’t know if the newness of this new baby thing has run its course or what, but what I was doing before isn’t working. I’ll try some new stuff. . . These someone’s are making me do things I don’t want to. I cry and it doesn’t work anymore, in fact they have added some minor pain to my choices. Okay, if I do these new things they want, “all is good in the hood”. Continue Reading »

Most entrepreneurs start their business ideas with the driving force that they will get more me time when they become successful. Unfortunately for those that start out with more me time in the equation they are in for a rude awakening. As running your own business inevitably takes more time away from me time. Be sure to watch the following video and leave your comments about increasing efficiency in your business.

Motivation at Work

Technorati Tags: Business, Systems, Business Operations, Business Productivity, Increase Efficiencey, Work Less

Tips to Increase Efficiency and Productivity

When you started your business you thought you would be working less, instead you find yourself working more. Here are a few tactics to help increase your efficiency so that you can work less and enjoy life more.

Organize your office.

* Go paperless - scan your paper files and place in folders with descriptive names on your computer. Do the same for each new piece of paper you receive.
* Set up your computer files to match your paper files.
* Client files – Folders for each client
* Accounting files – Folders to hold receipts, bills, tax forms, etc
* Administrative files – Folders to keep track of
* Marketing files – Folders to keep copies of all your marketing materials - Web site, business card/flyer/brochure, presentations, etc.
* Put the items you use often within reach.
* Give yourself something nice to look at – family pictures, flowers, and inspirational sayings.
Develop the self-employment mindset
* Make your business something you are passionate about, something you would do even if you didn’t have to.
* Keep track of everything, small advances are very encouraging.
* Start the day dressed for work.
* Let the family know that once you enter your office you are no longer available; you have left for work.
* Start and end the workday at the same time every day.
* Once you enter your office, leave all personal tasks behind, and once you leave your office, leave all work behind.
* Schedule meetings & appointments during your personal peak time.
* Create a time during non-peak hours to handle paperwork.
* Leave the office for lunch and dinner.
* Identify things that UN-motivate you, and avoid or change those things.
* Reward yourself when you reach goals, no matter how small; rewards can be a splurge on expensive advertising for the business or a personal splurge to celebrate your success.

Create Systems

* Create a “to-do” list that prioritizes your tasks, 1. Must be completed today, 2. Must be started today, 3. Should be started today
* Make sure your “to-do” list includes marketing, billing, research, and reading
* Use a “follow-me” phone system that lets you determine when calls should be routed to your office and when calls should be routed to voicemail.
* Make sure your voicemail message requests all the information you need to return phone calls, and the caller knows when to expect a return call
* Have a set time to return phone calls and email, and don’t stop working to answer the phone or email.
* Use an application like Plaxo to keep your database up-to-date
* Create templates and a complete sample of forms and documents you use on a regular basis, including contracts, proposals and welcome packets.
* Set up email filters so that incoming email goes into categorized folders and you won’t have to spend time sorting through email.
* Be sure clients are aware of your business hours and know when you are available and how quickly you respond to a message
* Divide your day into 30 or 60 minute blocks, and schedule your tasks within those blocks.
* Back up your computer data every day.
Take a moment to relax
* Work out
* Take a walk
* Get a facial
* Read to the kids
* Have a candlelight dinner – yes, even with yourself!

Outsource routine tasks

* Let your Virtual Assistant handle all your correspondence, including email and phone calls.
* Let your Bookkeeper handle your billing, and keep track of your expenses.
* Let your Web site Designer design and maintain your Web sites.
* Let your Online Business Manager generate Web site traffic, and submit your articles and press releases.
* Let Schwanns.com or Netgrocer.com deliver your groceries.

About the Author:

© 2008 Beryl Powell, Business Operations Advisor and Trainer, helps Solopreneurs live the lifestyle of their dreams by providing innovative tactics, strategies and resources to help you build your business to sustain your lifestyle. Get a copy of her OperateItRight Success ToolsTM when you subscribe to her bi-monthly newsletter the OperateItRight BulletinTM at www.OperateItRight.com

Once you have read the following article about achieving a level of financial freedom that most people dream but never achieve. With some no nonsense tips that can be applied in your life today. Please share your thoughts about achieving financial freedom with a comment at the end.

The 4-hour Work Day - Shadowing Fortune 500 Ceos and Self-made Millionaires

Wouldn’t you love to work 4 hours a day and still manage to create an empire of wealth that far exceeds your wildest dreams? Heck, why not work toward a 4-hour per week schedule? If you don’t believe that it’s possible, then it definitely isn’t! Just keep in mind that the self made millionaires have unrelenting belief in themselves and that they will achieve whatever goals they set for themselves.

While it might seem unfair, the reality is simple. Fortunes are being made by a very small percentage of people. These fortunes are collected by the industry leaders as they continue to spend less and less time in the office, on business calls, on business travel, and worrying about office politics.

In fact, there is an elite class of today’s wealthy that shares some common characteristics: they don’t come from old money, they’ve achieved millionaire status on their own, and they are trading the traditional concept of retirement (work to age 65 then live off savings) for multiple mini-retirements all throughout their lives! So why is it that most people are putting in 80, 90, and 100+ hours per week to pull in a $70,000 annual salary (give or take a few grand) while others, who are no more talented than
you and I, are pulling off high 6-figure and 7-figure incomes and they hardly work a 20-hour week?

The answer is simple. But I have to add this caveat: to understand the answer is one thing. To put it to practice is another. Not that it’s difficult to do; it is simply that most people don’t believe that they can.

Unfortunately, most people dream of what they want and then they stop there. You’ve done it. I definitely was a victim of this phenomenon as well. You’re probably doing it in some way, shape or form this very moment. You have a clear idea of that gorgeous house, luxury cars, private school for the kids, all the free time in the world to spend golfing, vacationing, hiking the Appalachians for 3 months - whatever your particular dream plays out like. And then Poof! It vanishes into thin air. Monday morning alarm clock rings and you’re off the rat race, the daily grind, the worm hole. So what can you do to change things around so you are taking advantage of 4-hour work days and living it up the rest of the week?

Action Plan & Leverage
The problem stems primarily from the fact that most people don’t follow through with
an action plan. A good action plan focuses on leveraging the resources that are within arm’s reach in order to transform your dreams into reality. It is this action plan, simply stated, that you will need in order to design your lifestyle and have complete control over what you do, when you do it, how you do it, and with whom you do it. It is then the practical application of leverage that will ultimately give you the time and financial freedom that you seek. Successful entrepreneurs have already figured this out and are in continuous and evolving implementation mode. They have the same dreams as you.
The only difference is that they have an action plan to acquire and recruit the appropriate resources, and the wheels are put in motion.

Daily Affirmations
Do you regularly and systematically remind yourself what it is you are working toward? If not, you must consider that this is one of the most important and most overlooked requirements for success. Countless CEOs and entrepreneurs have for years repeatedly and publicly confirmed that if there was one thing that they could trace back to being the main reason for their success, it was the daily routine of affirmation. My vision (my dream) is posted in clear view in my home office as a daily reminder of where I’m heading. At the beginning of every day, I have a brief yet focused moment of orientation. It is the friendly tap on my shoulder that defines what I am working towards. There is no mistaking where my ship is sailing, even if I do experience the occasional rough seas that tosses my ship slightly off course. This sets the positive, motivational tone for my day.

Achieving More with Less Time
When was the last time you took all day to finish a project that could’ve taken just an hour to complete? We’ve all been there. Thanks to deadlines, most of us who have a naturally tendency to procrastinate will perform with the highest degree of efficiency in the 11th hour. Let’s be honest - we all have other things we’d rather be doing, right? We might have a month before a particular project is due, but the majority of the work is done in the final 3-5 days. Have you considered how vastly different your daily routine might be if you planned better and focused all your energy on being as highly efficient as possible? It’s not as difficult as you might think. And it’s actually very motivating when you align your goals with your dreams.

A Case In Point
I used to work 14-hour days when I started my first company selling insurance (I have
since moved on to a much more satisfying and flexible business). At that time, my primary means of income was commission from the sale of health and life insurance policies. Every appointment I had was a face-to-face appointment and so it goes without saying that I never made a sale unless I drove to somebody’s home or office.
Now think about all the time I wasted on the road, driving to and from appointments. And to further compound the wasted time, I did not generate sales from every appointment (I’ve never met anyone who has 100% closing ratio). So aside from the drive time for appointments I did sell, I had 4-6 times more time wasted on appointments with no sales. This was a huge cause of my frustration with that business.So I reinvented my business by cutting out 100% of my drive time!

The Result
I generated the same income in 4 hours work per day that I did in 14 hours when I was driving to every appointment. In fact, I later went on apply this same technique to my network marketing business and it has dramatically improved my quality of life! Now I have the extra time to devote to anything I want: I can focus more on quality family time, getting involved in other investment projects, golfing, exercising, etc.

Final Thought
Articulate your dreams. Write them down. Read them over and over again every day until you have them imprinted so clearly in your mind that you can begin to imagine yourself already achieving your dreams. It is then, and only then that you can begin to seek out ways to dramatically improve your life and your business. You can work less and achieve more - but you have to want it.
See you at the top!
© Copyright Frank Saffoori.

About the Author:

Frank Saffoori is an award-winning marketer, CEO of his own home business, and coach to 100’s of elite entrepreneurs. With an MBA and 10+ years of climbing corporate ladders, Frank moved on to pursue his dream of working smarter to achieve true time and financial freedom.Space is very, very limited for Elite Entrepreneurs.

Technorati Tags: MLM, Network Marketing, Entrepreneur, Wealth, Home Business, Home Based Business, Home Business Opportunity, Direct Marketing, Millionaire, Direct Sales, Multilevel Marketing, Starting A Home Business, CEO, Fortune 500, Become A Millionaire, Direct Sales Business