eWomenNetwork Blog

If you take a good look at the role models and mentors in your life, they probably have one thing in common: a innate sense of thinking big about what they’re doing in the world. They seem fearless, easily rallying the troops for their business or personal cause, and they expect big results.

You might think they were just born that way, or they woke up one day and it happened for them. But here’s the good news. They weren’t sprinkled with pixie dust; they’ve expanded their thinking and belief systems over time and you can too. Because the lines of business and life are blurry for many solo professionals, what we think and believe in one area naturally flows into the other.

Here’s what I’ve learned about big thinking and going beyond the ordinary:

Befriend discomfort. Most meaningful accomplishments are usually just beyond our fingertips. If you’re going to grow, you will learn to love, or at least befriend, discomfort. Does putting yourself out there with that new business idea or personal goal give you a pit in your stomach? That’s a sign you’re heading in the right direction.

What are big thinkers willing to do after that?

Let go of perfection and take action. Big thinkers are willing to risk a little imperfection for action. That goal you want to accomplish – how many times have you decided to wait until the perfect time to start, or the perfect plan is in place? Start getting comfortable with less “perfection at launch” and more “perfecting as you go.”

Make decisions from where you want to be, instead of where you are today. A million-dollar business coach I follow mentioned that when she has a decision to make she asks herself: “What would a million-dollar business owner do in this situation?” This means a shift in your mindset, thinking beyond where you are at this moment. You will probably find that in order to do this, you have to create a team of personal and professional support.

Ready to learn more?

The Four Ways to Flourish Tele-summit, sponsored by eWomenNetwork members Sue Painter and Amy Franko, is a FREE 4-call tele-summit designed to help you flourish in your business and personal life.

We’re excited to feature Sandra Yancey, eWomen Network Founder & CEO, as part of this series!

Get all the call-in details and the entire speaker list by visiting:

http://fourwaystoflourish.com

See you there!

Caroline Melberg

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We’re all aware of procrastination, and have indulged in it from time to time. It’s probably one of the biggest obstacles we face as entrepreneurs.

The bottom line? There’s a lot of power in both action and inaction, because we’re directly responsible for creating our income, profits, and lifestyle.

Have you ever pulled back the curtain on procrastination? It’s rooted in two big areas: knowledge and demand.

Knowledge. When something in our business directly challenges our level of knowledge, we feel threatened. The brain is wired to diminish threat and we focus our energies elsewhere, to less threatening (and usually more menial) tasks.

To help overcome the knowledge gap, begin by objectively assessing what you think is missing. Then create a short list of people or resources that can help fill that gap. It’s a step toward gaining the knowledge that can head off procrastination.

Demand. In today’s world, there’s a heightened awareness of productivity, but it’s not always the right productivity. Many demands – and especially time demands – are imposed from the outside. When something takes more time than we can offer, or we feel it’s not a valuable use of our time, a natural response is delay.

Every entrepreneur who grows her business has a support team that helps manage demands. There’s no way around it. A great first step? Schedule an initial meeting with a virtual assistant in your eWN chapter. Learn what it’s about and how creating a demand management strategy can actually grow your business.

Ready to learn more?

The Four Ways to Flourish Tele-summit, sponsored by eWomenNetwork members Sue Painter and Amy Franko, is a FREE 4-call tele-summit designed to help you flourish in your business and personal life.

We’re excited to feature Sandra Yancey, eWomen Network Founder & CEO, as part of this series!

Get all the call-in details and the entire speaker list by visiting:

http://fourwaystoflourish.com

See you there!

Caroline Melberg

Back to the eWomenNetwork Blog

This is probably a typical day in the life of many solo professionals – at least 5 open tabs in your browser, Twitter notifications blinking every 15 seconds or so, and other personal or professional to-do list items floating around in your mind.

Productive? Not really.

The truth is, our brains aren’t really wired for multi-tasking. The brain truly cannot pay attention to more than one task at a time, and perform them well.

Yet so many of us are multi-taskers – and chances are the more you do it, the worse your results. What’s really happening? You’re probably dealing with stuff that just doesn’t matter that much to your business.

So what are some simple ways to deal with distraction and re-train your brain?

Create a list of no more than three strategic items to accomplish each day. A never-ending list of action items creates a sense of failure and overwhelm. Instead, take 5-10 minutes and reflect on this question: What 3 things will move your business forward tomorrow? This forces you to be very thoughtful about what you want out of that next day, and you improve your odds of finishing that to-do list.

Create time blocks. This gives your brain a semblance of order and allows you to focus on one thing at a time. Time blocks for email, phone calls, social media, and internet research are especially effective. Out of those time-blocked tasks, can any be outsourced to a trusted assistant?

Create quiet time. When the brain becomes overwhelmed with too much activity, it’s time to quiet it down. Physical movement is a great way to settle the brain. Take some scheduled time away each day for short breaks. This might be 15 minutes to take a walk, or to do something small around the house.

The true key to making these new behaviors a habit? Giving yourself permission to do fewer, but more meaningful tasks. If you talk to the truly successful people, they have trained their brain to tune out distractions to their business, and they say no more often than they say yes.

Ready to learn more?

The Four Ways to Flourish Tele-summit, sponsored by eWomenNetwork members Sue Painter and Amy Franko, is a FREE 4-call tele-summit designed to help you flourish in your business and personal life.

We’re excited to feature Sandra Yancey, eWomen Network Founder & CEO, as part of this series!

Get all the call-in details and the entire speaker list by visiting:

http://fourwaystoflourish.com

See you there!

Caroline Melberg

Back to the eWomenNetwork Blog