How do you know that you are on the right track to achieve what you really want in your business and life?

And once you are on the right track, how do you stay there?

Well, there are two essential things you MUST put in place to guide you. They are:

1. Create your own Success Definition

Having a definition of success that you have carved out for yourself will be a guide for you to follow when making decisions, setting goals and creating action plans.

It will help you make better choices for yourself. And as a result of making better choices, you will get better results.

It is easy to get caught in the trap of chasing success as defined by society, family and peers.

But ask yourself this

“Whose definition of success do I want to spend my one and only life living by?”

Take time to create your own definition of success for all areas of your life.

Think of it almost as a navigation tool steering you down the right path and keeping you there.

2. Get clear on your Core Values

Your core values are things that are central to who you are. They are the things, that when you are living and working by them, make you feel fulfilled, alive and living life fully.

You can tell when your core values are being trampled all over because life and work feel a push, a struggle and totally unfulfilling.

People who orientate their life and business around their core values are the people who are more likely to be living a fulfilled life, getting the results they really want and feeling successful on their own terms.

So, take some time out to get clear on what your core values are.

Once you have your definition of success and your core values nailed, make sure your vision, goals and action plans are built on them.

To make choices and decisions easier for yourself, keep asking:

“Does this fit with my core values and definition of success?”

If you head off on a journey without a map of how you will get to your destination, chances are you are going to end up taking the wrong road.

The same is true of trying to create the life and business you really want without a definition of success or knowing your core values.

I encourage you to get stuck in to creating your own definition of success based on your core values.

Then use them to drive your choices and decisions to get on the right path and keep you there.

What are your views on this topic? Please share in the comments below.

5th November 2011 was a very special date for me.

It was the 10 year anniversary of my first day of going Self Employed.

10 years ago I escaped the corporate rat race and embarked on a quest to design life, work, success and freedom on my own terms.

There have been many lessons that I have learnt along the way. Here are just a few of them:

Top 10 Lessons from 10 years being Self Employed

1. It is vital to create your own definition of success based on your core values to live and work on your own terms.

2. The path to business success & the ideal life isn’t linear. Accepting this is essential.

3. Not everyone works from the same level of integrity, standards and ethics. Be careful who you let into your space.

4. You can’t be firing on all cylinders 100% of the time. Be kind to yourself if you lose your mojo sometimes. Beating yourself up serves no purpose.

5. Mindset dictates your results in all areas of your life. Being committed to learning how to improve it is a no brainer.

6. When the brown stuff hits the fan, there is always an opportunity lurking in there somewhere.

7. Being a Lone Ranger is a recipe for disaster. It is important to build a support team of like minded people who share the same values.

8. Working with GOOD QUALITY mentors & coaches speeds up progress and results.

9. Having a clear vision of where you want your business AND life to go is key to guide your actions and avoid wasting time on stuff that doesn’t move you forward.

10. Relationships are the life blood of the Self Employed and a fulfilling life.

I am not going to give you a load of BS about how the last 10 years have been a breeze. Because it hasn’t. There have been ups and downs, challenges to overcome and some whopping mistakes!

But through all of that, it has all been totally worth it because:

The freedom of living and working on your own terms, by your own definition of success, is priceless.

As I finish reflecting on the lessons of the last 10 years and look towards what I intend to create in my business and life moving forward, I invite you to join me in making a commitment to yourself to grab the unlimited potential being Self Employed offers.

Make a commitment to design your ideal life and business and start taking steps to turn it into reality.

You up for it?

What difference would it make if you made a commitment to radically simplify your life and business?

And why should you bother or care?

Here’s why:

Simplicity liberates. Complexity Kills. Simplify or Die.

The level of complexity you are allowing in your business, life and relationships directly impacts the results you want to achieve.

Complexity can dramatically influence your level of success in all areas of your life. This is because it has a nasty habit of strangling the life out of whatever it touches.

And that is why I say simplifying is your secret weapon to influencing success on your own terms.

We need to take 100% responsibility for proactively eradicating complexity to reap the benefits.

If you are still wondering why you should give a damn about simplifying your life, consider this:

The Hidden Costs of Complexity

The more complex stuff is, the harder it is to achieve results. Would you prefer your path to success to be harder or easier? A no brainer, hey?

Complexity can create stress, confusion, overwhelm and that feeling of being in sinking sand.

It can strangle the life out of your business, relationships and life. Don’t underestimate its destructive forces.

Complexity is the thief of potential.

The solution is to simplify like crazy.

The Benefits of Simplifying Your Life

When you get into the simplifying habit, things become much easier. Quality results are more likely to be achieved. Life becomes more fun and enjoyable. The pace of life becomes closer to what it should be.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo Da Vinci

How to start Simplifying your Life

Awareness is the first step in any change. So creating awareness is your starting point. Get a piece of paper and brainstorm these points:

• What are you DOING that creates complexity in your business, life and relationships?
• What are you ALLOWING that creates complexity?
• What could you do to start eradicating it?
• What benefits could you achieve if things were a lot simpler?

Once you have completed your brainstorm, start looking for actions you can take to simplify your life, business and relationships.

It is time to escape the slavery of complexity and claim the freedom that comes when you simplify your life.

Get radical folks. Simplify like crazy. It will smooth the path to success on your own terms.

And that is why simplifying is your secret weapon to success.

Do you have any tips of simplifying? If so, please share them in the comments below?

How you deal with setbacks can be the difference between moving forward and getting the results you want or staying stuck in the doo doo.

I don’t mind sharing with you that I have experienced some real whoppers.

And boy have I learnt some important lessons from them. One of the most powerful lessons I have learnt is this:

We can’t always choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we respond

So, with that in mind, here are three easy steps that work a treat when dealing with setbacks:

Step 1 – Learn the Lesson

When a setback happens, whether it be a whopper or just a tiddly little one, look for the lesson.

There is ALWAYS a lesson.

Look hard for the lesson instead of wallowing in the misery of the setback. Don’t fall into the trap of victim mentality. That serves no purpose at all. It will rob you of taking 100% responsibility of what has gone wrong.

Yes, I am suggesting you take 100% responsibility for the setback. Because it is only when we take 100% responsibility for everything going on in our work life and personal life that we can create effective change.

Ditch the quest for blame and assigning fault. That is a waste of time and energy. It doesn’t achieve anything and it certainly doesn’t move anything forward.

Step 2 – Apply the learning

So, you have learnt the lesson, right? Next you have to apply the learning.

Look at the lesson you have learnt and ask yourself:

What do I need to do to stop this sort of setback happening again?

APPLY IT.

Unless you apply the learning you are pretty much inviting that particular setback to happen again.

Hint: this means taking action folks. It’s not going to magically happen by just thinking about it.

Step 3 – Move on

Have you ever come across folk who are endlessly dwelling on a setback they have experienced, sometimes for years? Energy draining or what? They are just keeping themselves stuck.

Holding on to a setback keeps you stuck. Let it go. Move on.

Once it’s done you can’t change it. You can only:

Learn the lesson. Apply the learning. Move on.

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Are you killing your chances of success?

Success is something we are all striving for in some way, shape or form. So it is important to be aware of the things that will kill off your chances of achieving the success you really want.

Check out this list. Can you identify with any of these things? If so, it’s time to step up and deal with them:

10 Killers of Achieving Success on your own terms

1. No Success Definition

Do you have a clear definition of what success means to you? And I mean for all areas of your life. If not, whose definition of success are you living by?

Take time to create your own success definition based on your core values. Start living by that.

2. No Vision

As the saying goes “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will do”. Without a clear vision of what your ideal looks like how can you be taking the actions that will create it? The answer is, you can’t.

What does you ideal look like? Get crystal clear. Without it you are on the road to nowhere

3. Not having goals and action plans linked to your vision

It is all well and good having a clearly defined vision but if you don’t create goals and action plans linked to it, it isn’t going to just magically happen.

4. Conforming

Blindly conforming will stop you from finding new ways to achieve success on your own terms. All the rules are made up by other people. So the question is “do you want to live life by your own rules or someone else’s? Remember:

Conforming is the killer of creativity

Read Why You Should Break All The Rules for more on this subject.

5. Unwilling to take risks

You are going to have to do something new to create something new, right? This means taking the odd risk or two. Learning how to take calculated risks is liberating.

6. Unwilling to rock the status quo

This one is pretty much in the same category as conforming.

If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you always got

You are going to have to rock the status quo if you are serious about creating change that will bring success on your own terms.

7. Settling

One of the biggest diseases of our time – settling for less. Folk often settle because they think it is safe. It isn’t safe at all because you are selling your life down the river and all it’s potential and possibilities with it.

8. Mediocrity

Mediocrity is a killer of success. It eats away at business success, family life, relationships and quality of life. Allowing mediocrity to stick around in your life is killing the success you really want. Eradicate it.

9. Being a BMW

A BMW is a “bitch, moaner, whiner”. Spending your time being a BMW keeps you stuck. Ditch this habit. Take 100% responsibility for every area of your life. Focus on what you can do and get stuck in.

10. Mindset

Your mindset is one of the biggest deciding factors of your chances of achieving the success you want. It is the driver of your attitudes/feelings. It is your attitude/feelings that drive your actions. And it is your actions that dictate your outcome. Working on upgrading your mindset is a no brainer.

There are many other things that could be including on this list. What would you add? Leave your ideas, opinions and thoughts in the comments below.

People don’t like to feel uncomfortable in any situation.

It feels… well…uncomfortable.

As a result, people will go to great lengths to avoid situations that make them feel uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, that avoidance strategy is a killer of making change, achieving results and creating success on your own terms.

Here’s why:

Change doesn’t happen by staying in your comfort zone.
Change only happens by stepping out of your comfort zone.

And thereby lies the challenge.

To make change and strike out in new directions requires doing something you haven’t done before.

It means rocking the status quo. It requires deciding not to settle for mediocrity.

All those things can feel scary. It can bring up all sorts of feelings like fear, resistance and self doubt. And that feels uncomfortable.

So, unless you are willing to expose yourself to feeling uncomfortable you are going to stay stuck. Believe me, I tried for many years to change a number of areas of my life in my safe little comfort zone and it does not work.

It was only when I stepped out of my comfort zone that the really good stuff started to happen in my work life, family life and lifestyle

You have to get out there and frighten the pants off yourself. You have to take risks. You have to feel fear and carry on regardless.

Here is something worth thinking about:

Thinking staying in your comfort zone is safe is a huge mistake. It’s not safe at all.

It’s not safe because you are risking a life time of just existing rather than living. You are settling for mediocrity in your work life, relationships and family life. That’s not safe. From where I’m sitting that is downright dangerous.

The bottom line is this:

If you are serious about creating change you have got to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable.

If you are willing to do that the sky is the limit. You could rocket your business results. You could transform your relationships. You could have the quality of life you really want.

To me, that sounds like something worth feeling a little uncomfortable for.

So I invite you take a look at what sort of feelings come up for you when you want to make change or create different results. What do you need to do to manage those feelings so that you can learn how to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable?

Hearing how others have dealt with this really helps other people who are struggling with it. So, please, step up and share with us an example of where you benefitted from dealing with feeling uncomfortable in the comments below. I have already shared one of mine below to get the ball rolling.

Related posts:

• Why You Should Break All The Rules
• Stepping Up and Being Bold
• Taking Risks (Part 1) – An Essential Part of Success

Would you like to improve the results you are getting in your business, family life and lifestyle?

If so, have a think about this:

How are you deciding what to spend your time on each day?

Unless you are spending your time on activities linked to your goals and the things that deliver results, you won’t achieve what you really want.

With that in mind, here are 4 steps to support you in keeping on track and focussing your time and effort in the right place.

Remember, these steps are as important to creating your ideal family life and lifestyle as they are to achieving your desired business results too!

Step 1 – Measure

Measuring the outcome of what you are investing your time in is crucial. It allows you to see what is working well and what isn’t. You can take corrective action to head off problems before they occur.

It is important to measure activities linked to achieving your goals and your desired results.

In your business – what are the key things that influence successful results? Measure those. (Tip: think of all the roles you would find on a Board of Directors – think of what they would measure. Remember: you are the CEO and entire Board of Directors for your home business)

In your family life and lifestyle – what things would make you feel really fulfilled, happy and add real quality to your life and relationships? Measure those.

Step 2 – Review

Measuring on its own isn’t going to change anything. It is what you do with the information you have measured that is the foundation to creating change and improving your results. Use what you have measured to review your progress and to drive your decision making.

Step 3 – Action plan

Once you have completed the first two steps, use the information to drive your decisions and action plans and to choose what you will spend your time on and focus on.

Step 4 – Repeat

If you are really serious about achieving your goals and getting the results you want, this process needs to be carried out regularly.

This will allow you to identify potential problems in advance. It is an opportunity to adapt, tweak and upgrade your plans to keep you going in the right direction and on track to achieve the results you want.

Put in place a regular schedule for this process.

I recommend to my clients that they set up a monthly “Board Meeting”. This meeting is to review what they have measured, make decisions based on the information they have gathered and set action plans based on this for the following month.

This is a very simple process but extremely powerful in its ability to drive results. Give it a try.

Do you do this already? If so, how does it work for you? If you don’t do this yet, what difference do you think it would make to your results if you did? Please share your views in the comments below.

This is a great time of year for asking ourselves questions that will give the New Year a serious kick start in creating change that will improve business success, family life and lifestyle.

Questions are a really powerful tool to kick start things in new directions.

I have put a few together here to get you started. So put some time aside. Sit down with a blank piece of paper and see what comes up when you ask yourself these questions:

7 Essential Questions to Kick Start the New Year

Apply all these questions to your business, family life and lifestyle as a whole rather than individually. That way you will avoid creating conflict between the different areas of your life:

1. What do you want to have achieved by the end of 2011.

2. What didn’t work well for you in 2010? Is it time to drop it or approach it differently?

3. What worked really well for you in 2010? How can you capitalise on that in 2011?

4. Does your business model support your ideal family life, the hours your want to work and revenue levels you want to create? If not, what do you need to change so that it does?

5. What support and resources do you need to achieve your 2011 goals? What action will you take to put them in place?

6. What habits do you need to eradicate to be more effective? What new habits do you need to create?

7. What personal skills do you need to upgrade/learn to take your business, family life and lifestyle to where you want it to be? What will you do about that?

Don’t be concerned if you don’t know the answers to these questions straight off. That is normal. But keep asking yourself the questions and start looking for steps you can take to start finding the answers.

Important reminder:

Change happens where there is enough space to take new action.

So if your schedule is permanently jam packed with day to day stuff nothing will ever change.What will you do to create some space to regularly ask yourself questions and create your ideal business, family life and lifestyle?

What question would you add to this list? What suggestions do you have for creating a great kick start to the New Year?

Related posts:

• Why Questions Are the Answer!

Yesterday I had my monthly board meeting.

Do I actually have a physical board of directors? No. I am a Sole Trader.

I have a support team of business buddies with different skills and experiences to mine. We bounce ideas off each other on a regular basis.

But when it comes to my monthly board meetings, it boils down to little old me reviewing every area of my business, measuring how it is performing, using the information for future goal setting and action planning.

You can find out more about why I do this and why I encourage all my clients to do this by reading Why Board Meetings are Essential for Sole Traders

I wanted to mention this whole subject again now because it is a critical time of year for setting yourself up for success in 2011. Board meetings for sole traders are an essential part of making 2011 your best year yet. Don’t under estimate the powerful impact this one activity can have on your success.

Tip to set yourself up for success in 2011

• Read Why Board Meetings are Essential for Sole Traders

• Make a commitment to yourself that you will hold a board meeting every month in 2011. Having a set day each month helps (mine is usually the first Friday of every month).

• Work out what are the key aspects of your business that will influence your success in 2011 (hint: you need to be covering every aspect of the business that a board of directors would review).

• Make a list of everything you need to measure monthly. Measuring performance is essential. It is the driver of your action plans.

• Don’t let not knowing what to do get in your way. Find out. Research. Ask other people. Read books.

• Do it NOW. Set up a process to manage your board meetings now so that you can hit the ground running in the New Year.

There are many factors that will influence your level of success in 2011. But having a monthly board meeting that assesses every aspect of your business, measures results and uses the information to drive action plans is the backbone that will hold everything together.

Do you already do this? If so, please share your views on how it helps you in the comments below. If you don’t do this yet, do you think it would make a difference to your success levels next year?

Related posts:

• How would a crisis impact your business success?

Photo credit: Martin Davies

My six year old son has an interest in animals and nature. He often asks about birds, which my husband and I know close to diddly squat about. So last week we took him on an organised bird watch walk so we could all learn more.

He loved it.

So much so, that it has inspired him to set up his first business. He has decided to make and sell bird nest boxes.

With the help of my husband he has made three “prototypes” for different kinds of birds. He has big plans, starting with converting one end of his play room into a “factory”.

His approach demonstrates the mindset that contributes to success. Here’s how:

Passion

He has chosen a business related to something he loves and has a real passion for.

Success Mindset tip: you are more likely to be successful doing something you love and feel passionate about.

Valuing his product/service

When we talked to him about how much each bird house would sell at, he suggested a higher price than the one his dad suggested. Not because he is a money grabbing little git – but because he is valuing his time, product and service and pricing accordingly.

Success mindset tip: undervaluing and underselling your product/service is the curse of many sole traders. If you don’t value your product and service, no one will.

Think big

He announced he would advertise his product on the TV – big thinking eh? (he may have to settle for YouTube to start with!).

Success mindset tip: successful entrepreneurs think big. Remember the saying:

Shoot for the moon. If you don’t reach it at least you will land among the stars – author unknown

Start thinking big, even if you can’t yet see how you will make it happen.

Self belief

During his excited talk of his business vision he asked us “where will the customers park?” He already totally believes he will have many customers for his product. He has no doubt. No self defeating statements like “I can’t get enough customers” that besets many sole traders.

Success mindset tip: fostering self belief is key to success. Also, asking questions is far more powerful than making statements. Read Why Questions Are the Answer! for more on this subject.

Giving back

We talked to him about using business to make money but also to help others. So he is going to give a percentage of each sale to a wildlife charity.

Success mindset tip – you get back what you give out. Using business to serve and help others will come back to you many fold.

No matter how much you learn about building a business, it is ultimately your mindset that will dictate the level of success you actually achieve.

Here’s why:

Mindset drives thought patterns
Thought patterns drive feelings
Feelings drive your actions/behaviour
Actions/behaviour drive results

So, spending time developing your mindset is a no brainer if you want to boost success in your business, family life and lifestyle.

How important do you think mindset is to success?

Related posts:

• Why Questions Are the Answer!
• It’s Time To Unleash Some Serious Attitude
• 7 Books to Challenge your Mindset