For those of you who are accountants or tax preparers, this is “hell week”. Hopefully, you have completed your tax returns or have a good idea of what payment to send along with your extensions. The week will be a blur for those of you in the profession and after 25 years doing tax work, it seems like the weekend will never arrive. Keep in mind, April 18th is the last day to file this year.
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” Lao Tzu
Most of us that are involved in sales spend too much time chasing opportunities that aren’t’ significant enough to make a difference in sales results. The key is to move sales efforts to selecting higher-value targets. Targets could be defined as key ambassador’s, center’s of influence, conferences and the big one – current clients. Each should be evaluated to eliminate the “black hole” of wasted time. To win the dream clients/relationships it comes down to nurturing relationships. It’s imperative to pursue them over time, playing the long game.
Getting the Yips is most commonly associated with sports such as golf or baseball. As Wikipedia defines Yips: the loss of fine motor skills in athletes. The condition occurs suddenly and without apparent explanation usually in mature athletes with years of experience. It is poorly understood and has no known treatment or therapy. Athletes affected by the yips sometimes recover their ability, which may require a changing technique. Many are forced to abandon their sport at the highest level.
Mindfulness, yoga, Zen – the buzz words we hear every day that we must do because of our over stimulated, hyper-connected, high stress world as a business owner. There are so many things going on at once in many cases as an entrepreneur and in many times its difficult to focus on one thing instead of capital requirements, marketing, sales, distribution, employee morale, financials,new partners, etc. all at once. One more thing to add to the endless list – Mindfulness. Can it really help your business?
If you are a cyclist living in a cold climate for the winter, there is an experience that comes every March with the approaching spring season. While riding, there are warm pockets where the temperature is warmer and the smells of spring are vivid in the olfactory system. It’s always a full body “tingling” up lifting feeling, moving from cold to warm pockets.
It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” – Aristotle
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary
There is a big difference of writing a book, selling it and making a profit vs. just selling and earning top-line income. I have learned through writing my three books a myriad of lessons – good and bad. I have experienced many ups and downs from publishers, editors, marketing, PR firms, hybrid, printers, graphic design companies, lawyers, web developers, etc.
The DECA Ironman is a race, journey and experience similar to the daily, weekly and yearly grind of being an entrepreneur. For clarification, the DECA Ironman (my favorite endurance sporting event) is an ultra distance triathlon consisting of 10 Ironman races. The length of each of the 3 triathlon disciplines is as follows: 24 mile swim, 1120 mile bike, 262 mile run – the equivalent of 10 Ironman races.