This latest blog post is an interview I did with Book Coach Bev Ryan of Bev Ryan Publish.com exploring how writing a book for your business can help raise your credibility, open you up to a whole new network of opportunities and position you as the expert in your field. Enjoy!
To Your Business Success!
Cheers,
Nicole Murray
P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
Here’s a post from my Women in Australian Small Business Blog with co-author Pam Stellema…
Business guru Jim Rohn said “We want to set the goals that our heart conceives, that our mind believes, and that our bodies will carry out.”
So, how do you make this a reality for your business?
There is a simple, step by step formula that you can use to help you create meaningful and achievable goals, which will drive your business to the next level.
Watch the video below to learn how to be a S.M.A.R.T.I. pants in your business.
Click here to download your S.M.A.R.T.I. template
To your business success!
Cheers,
Nicole Murray
P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
Ah, good old discipline…I know that for some, having discipline is one of the hardest things to achieve, and the mere mention of the word would see many of you running for the hills. But for others, it’s no big deal. Sure, the word is not exactly synonymous with anything exciting or sexy, but here’s the thing…
If you are disciplined enough, your business can be highly productive and successful, and that is surely exciting and sexy!
Let’s explore it.
Perhaps you need to be disciplined in the simpler things like making phone calls you have been putting off, replying to emails that have been ignored, or doing the follow ups you know could make you a sale. Or, it may be that you need to be disciplined to complete more complex tasks such as setting up systems for your business, putting the effort into improving your products and services, or updating your business plan!
Yes, we all can get a little slack at times – from the smallest of disciplines right through to the largest of disciplines. But, if your lack of discipline is affecting your business growth and causing you frustration and stress, then you may want to pause and think about this…
Lack of passion.
Some would argue that it’s laziness, not caring, lack of a good work ethic, or even fear of failure or success. But at the root of all that, lurks a lack of passion. When the passion is missing, so too is the motivation to take action.
Because discipline involves being bothered to do the things that others couldn’t be bothered doing, and doing them often, when you lack passion, then it’s really difficult to take the necessary actions required.
Without passion, your mind tends to search for and focus on the reasons why you can’t get things done – reasons such as interruptions, lack of funds, no time, no energy, it’s too hard, and even to the point of blaming others, instead of looking for reasons why you can get things done.
If however, you can connect to the driving force behind why you started your business in the first place, you can discipline yourself to:-
You will find the answers because you have a strong reason to seek the answers.
For some of you it could be the idea of having money, prestige or fame that drives you, and for others it could be to provide a good lifestyle for your family, to have freedom, control or contribute to the community.
Many years ago I was chatting with a surgeon and asked him what drove him to becoming successful in his line of work. He replied “Because my parents had nothing and money was always a struggle. It was difficult growing up, and eventually my Dad become very ill from the stress and died. I decided after his funeral that I would never let that happen to me”. Well that was certainly a strong enough reason for him to ensure that he was successful in his business.
Each of you will have different reasons for wanting to reach your business goals. It doesn’t matter what your reasons are, as long as you have them. The WHY can be so powerful.
When the WHY is strong enough, the words “I can’t” will most likely fade from your vocabulary, and in their place the question “How can I?” starts to become the norm, shifting you into a solution focused and action oriented mode – without hesitation.
It’s like the athlete striving for the Olympics who gets up early while everyone else is asleep in order to practice and practice and practice – disciplining their minds and bodies. They know that the benefits outweigh the pain. They have a compelling reason to be disciplined.
If you aren’t starting your day in a positive frame of mind with a yearning to reach your goals, then discipline will simply vanish and you can end up with a whole day of nothing achieved, even though you seemed to be busy. Your passion for your business needs to be nurtured regularly, not once a month or once a year.
Those who become successful at whatever they want to accomplish do so because they stay focused on their vision and their goals, which then helps them to be disciplined. They have absolute clarity about why they are doing what they are doing – a compelling reason to be disciplined. The alternative of not reaching their goals is just not going to satisfy them.
It’s where the law of attraction and the law of action meet. You know what you want and declare it, and want it badly enough to do the work necessary to get it. When you take action, it helps you to maintain motivation and then momentum kicks in, and before you know it small successes turn into bigger successes.
By connecting with your passion, where once you may have hesitated to do something, that can be replaced with a willingness and determination to ensure it gets done.
And, if the word discipline gives you a negative feeling, then simply replace it with another word. For me, the word I like to replace it with is ‘pro-active’ – for you, it may be some other word.
So, what’s your compelling reason to be disciplined?
Here is a great video from Will Smith to help inspire you…
Let me know what you think about discipline in the comments below.
To your business success!
Nicole Murray
“The most important actions are never comfortable.”
Tim Ferriss
P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
It’s hard trying to find the right person for a job. Of course you want a staff member who is highly skilled, productive and fits in with your business culture. A wrong decision could cost you a lot in time, money and energy.
So I thought I would chat to Executive Recruiter Steve Semmens to find out just what it is they do and how they can help.
I have also written an article on how to find the best staff for your business. Click here to read it.
To your business success!
Cheers,
Nicole Murray
P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
For this post I would like to touch on the subject of productivity from a different angle. Productivity is not just about ticking things off your to do list, it’s also about how you make the most of everyday situations as you go about your business building activities. This includes networking events.
I recently wrote a two part guest post on this topic for Virgin.com’s Entrepreneur section which I would like to share.
Click here to read part 1
Click here to read part 2
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Nicole Murray
P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
Here on the Gold Coast Australia, it’s spring time. It’s the time when a lot of people go about their spring cleaning…tidying up and sorting through things to bring some fresh life back into their surroundings. Doing a regular business assessment is a bit like spring cleaning.
Note: If you are one of my Northern Hemisphere subscribers, instead of spring cleaning, think of it as an opportunity to get things done before it gets too cold!
It’s important to keep an eye on your business by sorting through what is and isn’t working, and make the necessary adjustments before anything that’s not working gets out of hand.
Failing to do so may affect your business growth because you could end up spending too much time, energy and money focusing on the wrong areas of your business, which won’t be very productive. And I’m sure you don’t want to do that!
So I thought I would share with you a simple assessment tool for your business, to get you started.
It’s called the Wheel of Business.
You may have heard of the Wheel of Life (used in Life Coaching) – well this is the business version of that.
The purpose of the Wheel of Business assessment tool is to assess different areas of your business, and after doing so, it will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your business.
Once you have an awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, can you successfully create business goals and strategies that are right for you.
It’s important, that after using the assessment tool you then look at your business as a whole, and not just as the individual parts (this will be explained in the video), because everything affects everything.
A perfect wheel is meant to look like the wheel on a car – of even roundedness. But of course business is never perfect, so some of you may have a fairly smooth wheel, while others may have a much bumpier wheel. The assessment tool will show clearly the state of your wheel! You will see what I mean when you watch the video.
I created with my good friend and colleague Pam Stellema.
Here’s the link to download the template mentioned in the video! Click here
To your business success!
Cheers,
Nicole Murray
P.S. We initially created this video for our Women in Australian Small Business Facebook and LinkedIn groups, hence the intro name on the video.
P.P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
Many years ago, I was riding a longboard enjoying the waves in the sunshine. All of a sudden I fell off into the water, and somehow the force of the water ended up pinning me underneath the board. It all happened so fast.
At first panic and fear set in, and I almost became another statistic. Then I suddenly realised that to get out from under the board I would need to make a change by moving my body away from the board, instead of hoping the water would move the board away. Voila! I was then free.
You see, the board and water were doing what they do – a bit like the business marketplace. Your customers do what they do, technology does what it does and the economy does what it does.
So in order to survive, you need to be flexible, adaptable and be ready to change when necessary. If you are permanently locked into your business model, and are unwelcoming of change when it’s needed, it can negatively affect your business growth. You could end up drowning instead of surviving and thriving.
How is your business growing with the times? Have you been adapting and making the necessary changes to take your business into the future? Or do you have outdated systems, technology, products, services or even outdated beliefs and ideas? Does your business planning reflect the changing marketplace, your customers’ needs, and your staff’s needs? Are you still selling records instead of Ipods?
If you are resistant to change and your business is stuck in the past, you could: -
I remember being at a conference recently and an audience participant was expressing to the speaker how his business was stagnating in the current conditions.
The speaker shared his thoughts on how the man could stay competitive if he re-evaluated his current business structure in order to keep up with his customers’ needs and the economic conditions.
Now the man was not happy at all about the fact that he had to change. “Why should I? I’ve been doing this for 30 years and have been successful” he said. Well, clearly that was not working for him now, and just because something has worked in the past does not necessarily mean it will work in the future.
Digging his heels in and refusing to change will only hurt him in the long run. He may not like it but change is inevitable – always has been, always will be. The man got quite annoyed and ended up leaving the conference early, and missed out on some fantastic content that could have helped him.
Sure, sometimes you may feel resistant to change; I know I have been in the past, but it’s important to look at the real reason and evaluate it from a place of truth.
If you know you need to make changes, what could be the impact if you don’t implement them sooner rather than later? How will it affect your customers, staff, branding, reputation, product/service quality, future opportunities and profitability etc.?
You may be thinking that not all change is good, and that can be true. But you at least need to take the time to evaluate the pros and cons of changing.
Sometimes you may not like change simply because you are comfortable with what you already know and do, but change is necessary for growth. If you never stretch yourself, how can you know what is possible?
Imagine a child refusing to learn how to walk because they were comfortable just crawling. Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? That’s because babies love change, and are in fact fascinated by it – and of course that’s how they grow and learn and get better and better.
If you feel resistant to change, try and grab some of that child-like fascination. It may even spark a new motivation and add some fresh life into your business!
Yes it can be a bit scary to change, but it can also bring so many wonderful rewards you never thought possible.
Embrace change, don’t become a statistic.
To your business success!
Cheers,
Nicole Murray
P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
Time…always pushing us, always making us live an hour, a day, a week, a month, or a year ahead.
I have heard many a person say (and yes, I have been guilty of it myself too) “If I only had more hours in the day I could get more things done”. Really? I think not.
We all know of someone who fits more into their 24 hours than others would fit into a week. So how do they do it?
They deliberately create strategies to manage one of the biggest time thieves of all – saying ‘yes’ too often.
You see time is an interesting thing; it’s a bit like money. It’s not how much of it you have that makes the difference, it’s how you allocate it that makes the difference. I have yet to meet a successful business person who hasn’t valued how they allocate their time.
Sometimes you may say yes too often to things such as:-
or perhaps it might be…
All of these things can cost time not only now but also in the future – valuable time that could be spent more productively on things that truly make a difference to you and your business growth.
So if you find yourself saying yes to things you would rather say no to, ask yourself why you are saying yes: -
Having an awareness of what triggers your behaviour makes it’s easier to make the changes you want. It’s much harder trying to manage your time when you don’t know why you make certain decisions in the first place.
Before you just automatically say yes to things, stop and ask yourself some of the questions below. It may help you to make more informed decisions to create a better outcome for you, others and your business growth.
It does not make good business sense having a to-do list as long as the Great Wall of China if it is filled with tasks and appointments that you cannot fulfil or that don’t align with your values and goals. You could be setting yourself up for failure and letting others down in the process too.
The great news is that allocating your time is under your control and you choose to make decisions about what you say yes to. It’s always a good idea to weigh the risks and rewards of saying yes, and avoid just blurting out ‘yes’ to anything, especially if this has caused you challenges in the past and wasted precious time.
If after weighing your options you decide that you do need to say no to certain things, then gradually start saying no one step at a time. Ease into this slowly so that your confidence increases each time.
You can be more productive spending time on quality tasks and people that matter, and on promises that you can genuinely fulfil. You are then more likely to feel in control, less stressed and be able to manage things more effectively this way.
You have worked hard to create your business, so make sure you protect it by valuing your time. You can do it – trust yourself, it will be worth it.
To your business success!
Nicole Murray
P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
It’s 2011 and automation is everywhere, but there are still piles of paperwork on your desk. You stare at it every five minutes hoping it will magically disappear. But alas it doesn’t, and as the pile gets bigger so does that tight feeling in your chest and stomach. Fear not, there is a simple solution.
When I was the tender age of 16, my first job was at a law firm in Sydney. 17th floor of a big office building – it was both scary and exciting. My supervisor was a fantastic woman named Sandra. She was so organised and efficient it blew my mind. Sandra taught me a system of how to deal with paperwork, and that system has made my desk clutter-free, improved my productivity and kept my stress levels down ever since (well, most of the time – hey I’m not perfect).
It’s about getting back to basics. Some of you may not know this system and some of you may already know it. But even if you do know it, the question is ‘Are you actually implementing it?’ Sometimes we forget to do the basics, but the basics are what keep our business foundations strong, stable and consistent.
4 Simple Steps
If you have a pile of paperwork that has grown from a period of neglect and are finding it hard to get started, implement the 9-minute rule. You work for 9 minutes at a time. It could be 9 minutes per day over a period of days, or 9 minutes in the morning, at lunchtime, and in the afternoon or evening. After 9 minutes, decide if you want to continue to work on it or attend to other tasks. That will be up to you.
Take each piece of paper one at a time and place it into one of these four categories: -
*Make sure you work out what your time is worth ($ hourly rate) and what you are realistically capable of doing well. Compare that to the cost of outsourcing. Sometimes it will more efficient, productive and cost effective to outsource the whole or part of the task, and perhaps sometimes not, but you need to at least do the comparison.
Now back when I learnt this email did not exist, but you can apply this system to email as well. For the ‘filing’ section, make sure you set up categories or folders in your inbox just like you would in a physical filing cabinet. That way should you need to refer to the information again, you can access it easily. Items to action can be priority flagged or put in a separate ‘to action’ folder.
Once you have sorted all your built up paperwork, apply this method to any new paperwork that crosses your desk, to prevent it from piling up in the future.
Remember, in order for this to work, being consistent and persistent is the key. You must make an effort to ensure you stick with it. Like anything in business, systems are only as good as the people working them.
Is it simple? Yes. Is it easy? Yes it’s easy to do, but it’s also easy not to do, and that is where you must be self-disciplined if you truly want your business to thrive. As business philosopher and leader Jim Rohn used to say ‘The difference between success and failure is not hard -v- easy; the difference is easy to do -v- easy not to do.’
A place for everything, and everything in its place – makes for a more efficient, organised, and productive office, and a happier and more relaxed you. That’s got to be good for you and your business!
To your business success!
Nicole Murray
Enjoying the uniqueness of the cliff tops in Santorini, Greece
I remember cruising in a boat along the waters around Santorini in the Greek Islands. It’s sheer cliff faces and solid sharp rock were in stark contrast to the softness and fluidity of the azure Sea of Crete. The coloured houses scattered along the cliff tops certainly make it stand out from other islands around the world, and I found it incredible!
Now, I do love islands with swaying palm trees too, but Santorini found a place in my heart because of it’s uniqueness and I am sure it does with many of the tourists that visit it every summer.
Of course the island of Santorini is from mother nature, but those cliff top houses are man’s creation. Man has taken mother nature’s foundation and built something special upon it.
So how can you take the foundation of your business and build something special from it? How can you step out from the crowd?
I believe part of it comes down to perception. How you perceive your business has an effect on how much passion, energy and creativity you put into it. If you look at things the same old way and do the same old thing, you will attract the same old results, and possibly get frustrated and tire of it easily.
One of Wikipedia’s definitions for perception is “A way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.”
The ability to understand and interpret things can make or break businesses, and make or break dreams. Looking at things in a different way can certainly bring an idea to life, and failing to do so can also destroy that same idea, in a second.
Whenever you come up with a business idea, does the old ‘I can’t do that’ or ‘No-one does it like that’ or ‘People will laugh at me if I do that’ creep in and squash your idea before it even has a chance?
Or, are you open to the possibility of asking ‘How can I turn this idea into reality? How can I create something unique? How can I differentiate myself from the competition?’. It really comes down to confidence in your ability to pursue that which ignites your passions and gets your creative juices flowing.
It’s about challenging yourself to think outside the square, expanding your thinking and spurring yourself on to look beyond what is to visualise what could be. Are you game enough to stop worrying about what others think and start caring about what you think – your ideas, your vision, the way you want to leave your mark on the business world?
If you do worry about what others think, I can empathise. I spent a great many years worrying what other people thought about my ideas and what I did, but then I realised the only person it was hurting was me – my passion, expression and enjoyment in life, and of course in my business too.
The term ‘how can I do it differently?’ has stimulated the minds and the creative processes of all the great inventors, leaders and business people in history. What if they didn’t step out and do things differently? We would still be living in caves, and getting around by foot!
Look at Richard Branson and how his ability to be unique has paid off. So many people told him he wouldn’t be able to tackle the likes of British Airways, but he did. He made people fall in love with his uniqueness. He perceived things in a different way to everyone else. His business gave a freshness to the industry and made him a pretty penny along with it!
Other people’s perceptions do get thrown on us constantly, but it is up to us to decide if we accept those perceptions or not – whether we give weight to them or not.
I am reminded of that saying ‘things aren’t always what they seem’, and yes that’s true, and sometimes things are MORE than what they seem too. Look for the uniqueness, look for the quirkiness, look for things that make you stand out from the crowd, and then when you find it, nurture it to ripeness.
Be bold, have confidence in your vision, get creative and step out from the sameness to reach your business dreams…you deserve to!
‘What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?’ – Vincent Van Gogh
To your business success!
Nicole Murray
P.S. I have a new exciting business venture… click here
