WHAT ARE your values?

Many people talk about 'values' these days. Our experience is that most people don't know exactly what their values are. We ask questions that help people to articulate exactly what they most value in their life...what matters most. When you know what's really important to you, you can make better decisions about your money and how you spend your time.

What's important about life, to you?

ANOTHER WAY of looking at things

Things cost too much? No. We just cannot afford them.
Our income is determined by the economy? No. It is determined by our philosophy. We need to work on our philosphy to change our income.
For things to change, we have to change. For things to get better, we have to get better.
What happens, happens to us all. Our response to it is what matters.
Don't wish it were easier. Wish you were better.
Don't wish for less problems. Wish for more skills.
Don't wish for less challenge. Wish for more wisdom.
Our destination is not only determined by the wind. It is determined by the set of the sail. The same wind blows on us all. The difference in where we arrive is the set of the sail, not the blowing of the wind.

(With thanks to Jim Rohn)

FAILING WITH an excuse - even a good one - is never as good as succeeding

Isn't it fascinating that sometimes it seems that those who are in need the most are often also inclined the least. Being left behind, even with a very good excuse, is seldom as good as seeing problems as projects and moving forward.

DOING WHAT you know

I was comfortably seated in the tea rooms at Killerton with a Coffee and a piece of Victoria Sponge while Vanessa was inspecting the Plant Sales area (of course) and also the English Blue Bells (of course). I was reading ‘Leading an Inspired Life’ by Jim Rohn (yes, of course!)

As I sit here now reading my journal of that day, I made the note of what Jim says: “Lack of success comes from lack of confidence; lack of confidence comes from not doing what you could do. Disciplined action fosters self esteem and self respect. Even a little neglect is dangerous. Our lives will serve as either a warning or as an example. A warning of the consequences of neglect, self pity, lack of direction and ambition or an example of talent put to use, of discipline self imposed, and of objectives clearly perceived and intensely pursued”.

Isn’t it fascinating that reflection on our journals serve as a place for the truth to descend and, in that moment, give us the coaching we may need to help us stay on the path?

Well I thought you may get value from this should you ever feel like you lack confidence. Knowing that you’ve done what you know you could is the start of it all.

Well, all that said and contemplated and having then inspected every Blue Bell petal, we progressed to the Killerton House itself. I think Vanessa played Moonlight Sonata on their grand piano before we ascended to the costume collection whose theme this time was all the changes of clothes people had to make during the day in order to be properly atired for a cup of tea and a cucumber sandwich. What a palava.

Then Vanessa bought more plants (of course!).

TALENT

Isn't it fascinating that if we listen carefully we can hear something profound in the most unlikely of places:

"Trust me: you have a talent that none of the rest of us have. Just find out what it is and use it. It's doing nothing that's the enemy" - 'Sybil' - Downton Abbey, Sunday 2nd October 2011.

LET IT GO or hang on?

You know how sometimes we may get a little frustrated when a prospective customer or team member may not respond the way we had hoped, or an existing client or business partner doesn’t behave the way we would have liked?

Well, this is not productive and even reduces productivity for the future because we can be hesitant the next time we approach someone.

It’s a bit like playing golf and being unable to forget a bad shot. It is not useful to carry the negative emotions and feelings about the bad shot into the next. It’s better to let it go.

Our success or failure is never based on how a single event turns out. The decision of one potential or existing client or business partner is not the issue. The issue is our daily habits, performed consistently over a reasonable amount of time.

Imagine what would happen if the majority of our working days were invested in the correct amount of high pay-off activities consistently. People will respond both positively and not so positively, but what if you didn’t let obstacles that you know will occur deter you from doing what will lead to working with your next customer, client, team member or business partner? Imagine the results you’d receive.

You and I have little influence, if any, over how a person will respond but we can learn to let it go. The best way to let it go is to take goal directed action so that you do not empower a few individuals who may struggle to make decisions about working with you control your destiny.

Learn to let it go.

(With thanks to Bill Bachrach for inspiring this blog)

BE A STUDENT of inevitability

Ask yourself often, "In all honesty, if I keep up my current daily practices, where will they lead me in 10 years?"

I work with people who perhaps want to learn a different set of practices so they arrive at a well designed future rather than an un-designed future.

If you're sat in a rowing boat without a motor and no oars 200 feet from the drop on Niagra Falls, we would call that inevitable. My role is to spot people drifting well upstream so they can make alternate choices while options are still available.

Ask, "What or who's plan am I following? Is it mine or the one someone else gave me? Is it working? Do I need a better plan? What do I need to work on that is not working now? Do I have a good plan, but need to take action on it?"

EASY TO, easy not to...

...this is the nub of whether we succeed or not. What is success? Having a design for your life and then pulling that off. It revolves around decisions and actions which are often both easy to do and easy not to do. It's a push-shove match - which will win? The discipline of doing the thing or the neglect of not? Making that call is easy to do; it's also easy not to do; walking around the block is easy to do; it's also easy not to do; eating five fruits a day is easy to do; it's also easy not to do. Easy to, easy not to. If you don't make that call today, will there be a noticeable difference 24 hours later? The answer is: no. If you don't exercise today, will there be a difference 24 hours later? The answer is: of course not. But compounded over time? The difference is huge. So, the difference between success and failure are the daily decisions we make - we either choose the disciplines repeated every day, or we make errors in judgement repeated every day. The first can be uncomfortable - today, but lead to comfort tomorrow. The second can be comfortable today - but lead to discomfort tomorrow. But 24 hours after they're made - you can't tell the difference; over time, the difference is obvious and in some cases, irreversible.

Easy to...easy not to.

The Philosophy of Deserve

Life is not designed to give us what we need. Life was designed to give us what we deserve. I don't mean in the justice sense, here. I mean in terms of what seems to be a natural law. We don't reap a harvest in the Autumn because we need a harvest; we reap a harvest because we deserve it. If you wish to reap, you must plant. Reaping is reserved for the planters. You can't walk into a field and say, "I need a crop". The field will say, "Who is this clown who brings me his need but brings me no seed?" Take your seed to the market place, not your need. The market place is interested in what you want to plant. Giving out starts the receiving process. Find a way to serve the many. Supply your need by concetrating serving, sharing, not concentrating on your need. Success is something you attract by the person you become, not something your pursue, go after, grasp.



With thanks to Jim Rohn for this philosophy.

You are a Role Model

However you define a successful life, if you're a leader in any capacity, it's helpful to realise that this is true. That you are a role model. As Bill Bachrach says in his book, 'High-Trust Leadership', people will do as you do, not as you say. No matter what you tell them, they’re observing your daily activities, and they’re either going to use you as an excuse for mediocrity or emulate your excellence. If you want people around you to be extraordinary, you have to be extraordinary yourself.

How are we playing?

We had emptied my car to make room for hundreds of plants and, in doing so, accidentally removed the Jim Rohn CD's I was listening to and so my university on wheels lost its teacher. Time for reflection instead. However, as we were driving to an Open Gardens event where Vanessa was selling her fabulous plants last Sunday, I heard something profound on Radio 4 (the station it happened to be on - I rarely listen to radio in the car). People were discussing the England performance against Algeria last week.

A sports psychologist wondered if the England team were "playing as if they were afraid to lose".

I suppose if we play as if we're afraid to lose, then are we being too tentative? Too defensive? Afraid to try? Afraid to 'fail'?

For me, this is an interesting plumb line to lay against our activity - can we be more courageous? Should we? Will we?

Do what you have to do as quickly as you can so you can do what you want to do for as long as you can.

Work with how things actually are...

When I talk to people about what they want to achieve in life, we often get on to the subject of what I will call, for want of a better phrase, 'The Entrepreneurial Fantasy'. This is something which a mentor of mine, Bill Bachrach, Chairman and CEO of Bachrach and Associates Inc., has talked about in relation to financial advisers, but it applies to all business owners.

The fantasy is that one day the world is going to work differently than how the world actually works. i.e. "if only people would return my phone calls, I'd be more successful"; "if only people would respond more positively when I call, I'd be more successful"; "if only people would schedule more appointments when I call, I'd be more successful"; "if only people never cancelled, or no-showed or rescheduled, I'd be more successful".

My message, I suppose, is simple: stop wishing the world were different and deal with the world the way it actually is instead of the way you would like for it to be.

The world is how the world is and the reality is that some people will cancel, some people will stand you up, some will reschedule and some will reschedule into eternity - you will have achieved your goals before they actually show up for the appointment or meeting or phone call that they sincerely say they genuinely want to have, but because of the way their life is, they just have to reschedule and no-show a lot of their stuff (not just you!)

Build your business with people that do show up and are able to keep their commitments. The intelligent business owner will build in a 'cushion' to allow for the way the world is.

"Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems, wish for more skills" - Jim Rohn.

In closing, we could sum up by agreeing not to become distracted by obstacles that you already know will occur and that the success of what you're currently doing is built upon the foundation that preceded it.

Good intentions

This is a picture of Vanessa's reasonabley rare orchid which has just come into flower for the first time in seven years! It's called Napalm Flame and came from Madeira. It's a bit of a fussy plant: normally orchids are in flower all year round in our house but this is one of two that is a bit 'special' it seems, flowering infrequently and less prolifically. The relevance of this to Good Intentions? None that I can think of, but it's an amazing thing and lends colour to this blog item.

So, I read an article by Fiona Bevan on LinkedIn today about good intentions and following through on them to achieve what you want in 2010. In essence, the importance of goal setting, planning and then implementing. Afterall, results come from implementation in the real world.

I could not agree more and I'll repeat what I wrote on the discussion board: don't start your day until you have it finished; don't start your week until you have it finished; don't start your month until you have it finished. Goal Setting and Planning are 2 of the 7 high pay-off activities which I have been taught to allocate to major time.

Which leads me on to another point: do major things in major time and minor things in minor time. Avoid getting these mixed up. And remember, its on a daily basis that we succeed or not: a few simple discliplines repeated every day = success and a few, subtle and small errors in judgement repeated every day = failure.

Finally a word of caution to wrap around all this: be happy with what you have while pursuing what you want. Thanks to the late Jim Rohn for your inspiration.

You can find out more about Fiona Bevan at her Chartered Management Accountant site here: http://www.fionabevanfinancialmanagement.co.uk/ and also her Bright Dimension site here: http://www.brightdimension.co.uk/ Her LinkedIn profile is http://uk.linkedin.com/in/fionaatbrightdimension

There are only 168 hours in a week...

I have been taught that the success of whatever it is that you are currently doing is built upon the foundation that immediately preceded it.

With that in mind, for each of these quality of life areas - physical health, relationship health, career health, financial health and inner health - address the following questions:

• What results are you getting? Are they what you want?
• What are the foundations upon which those results are built that immediately preceeded them? What do they look like and what should they look like?
• Can you delegate this task in this area of your life? (Yes or No)
• How many additional hours a week would you like to spend on these areas?
• What 2 or 3 activites will you do in the extra time which will improve that area of your life?
• What is the impact of improving this area of your life?

All this is more important than money, DIY financial plans, washing the car, cleaning the pool and other 'delegatable' stuff. Who can do those things you can delegate so you can focus on those you cannot with the gift of the extra time that delegation creates?
You only have 168 hours in a week - what are you doing with those hours you have left after sleep and work?

What can I do for you?

I'm going to keep this short:

1. What does the perfect client or customer look like for you?
   
2. What professions can refer you easily?
   
3. What are the biggest challenges that you solve for people?
   
4. What are the key frustrations that people look to you for help with?
   
5. How would I notice a good opportunity for you?
   
6. Who can I introduce you to?

A small journey to a new direction...

Sometimes when we want to achieve things which are important to us or our families, or make important changes, the destination may seem very far off. It may seem like a giant leap.

However, it's a very small journey to a new direction. That's all it takes - a decision to change your direction and you're on your way. Take small strides, daily, one day at a time and you'll get there. Time will win out.

Resolve to follow this formula, today and thereafter:

A small journey to a new direction + a few simple disciplines practiced every day = success

And avoid this one:

Following the same path + a few, subtle errors in judgement repeated every day = failure

(Thank you, Jim Rohn)

Where it all started...

Guess who that is!? So this is where I get it from! This is a picture of me with my Grandad in his shed making stuff. Do you like my golden jumper? - my shed clothes:) We're actually making a bar skittles game and I remember that day vividly. Look how messy the shed is! He gave me lots of time and personal commitment. We used to create things from seemingly nothing - scraps and offcuts mainly.

I was chatting to Mike Wilshire from the Executive Foundation (http://www.executive-foundation.com/) and he's convinced that our past experience way back can shape our purposes, and this is how this memory came to the fore. I was about 4 years old there I think. As I spoke to him about my philosophy, he observed that it's no wonder I give those people who inspire me my personal time and commitment; and, in a sense, craft people's future from where ever they are with their finances - creating for them a personal Financial Road Map: their version of a bar skittles game, a wooden Farm, a wooden Fort and countless other creations that came out of that ramshackle little shed with my Grandad.

As he used to say to me when I struggled with the the saw that was bigger than me, "there's no such thing as can't".

Anything was possible. And it still is.

Loved the Oolong!

Thank you Ryan James of the fabulous Essential Marketing http://www.essential-marketing.com/ for your invitation to your gathering at Attic Tea in Bristol last night - a unique experience and great company.

Very priveleged to be in the company of so many that 'get' altruistic business development.

I look forward to drinking the very drinkable and refreshing Oolong! Pity they ran out of the Zing blend - would have bought that too. There's always another day :)

Time management?

Not sure if we can manage time as such; we each have 168 hours in a week - no more and no less and it ticks on by at a constant rate.

I found it was more helpful for me to believe that I need to manage myself within the time I have, rather than the time itself. As I say that, I appreciate that this it what most people mean when we talk of managing time, of course. However, I think it is more useful to be more precise.

I have found that the prerequisite for determining what we do in the time we have is to be crystal clear on all our goals and have them written down for every category of our lives. We can then easily see whether or not all the stuff and information that crosses our paths is relevant or not.

Then we need to do less. We also need to learn less and study more. Go narrower and deeper rather than broad and shallow. Internalise what we learn and pursue Mastery rather than dabble.

Errors in Judgement or Simple Disciplines?

Which would you choose? In his book, "The Five Major Pieces of the Life Puzzle", Jim Rohn talks about about failure and success. These mean different things to different people and one definition which Jim Rohn suggests can be a helpful belief to hold is:

• Failure = a few subtle errors in judgement repeated every day
  
• Success = a few simple disciplines practiced every day

We don't know the whole effect that little, subtle errors in judgement have on our lives over time. We know they have a compound effect. We need to consider the future more; think about it. A slight lapse in discipline in one area can create a tendency for lapses elsewhere. So we cannot allow an error to be repeated day in and day out.
Key idea: change errors into discliplines. Notice even the smallest errors that can be changed to it's opposite of discipline. Resolve to do this.