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John Lee Dumas is the host of EOFire, where he interviews today’s most successful Entrepreneurs 7-days a week. JLD has grown EOFire into a multi-million dollar a year business with over 1500 interviews and 1.5 million monthly listens. His latest project is The Mastery Journal: Master productivity, discipline and focus in 100 days. Learn more at TheMasteryJournal.com!
We’ve all heard about having the competitive edge. When it comes to business and the work being done in organizations, the competitive edge occurs when each individual is honing their own skills therefore enhancing the effectiveness of teamwork.
Collaboration is often referred to as the new competition. Shifting from a “Me to We” mentality. The problems faced tend to be more complex and one person alone can’t always come up with a solution. It is becoming more important to tap into the diversity of your people. They come from diverse backgrounds, have a wide variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities, and possess different strengths and experiences. Tapping into this rich resource can demonstrate how much more you can accomplish as a group versus what you can accomplish alone. When faced with challenges, you can use this as an opportunity to see things differently. Innovation emerges from the creativity of many people.
Collaboration is key as it allows everyone to have a voice and feel that their ideas are valued. When the focus is on one’s personal gain versus the collective outcome there can be division in the vision. Let’s say that two agents in the same company are focused on getting this sale of one client. The client may develop mistrust or even encounter are a negative experience because the focus between the two agents is on competition and they may seek to sabotage the efforts of each other. Competition should begin and end with you. It is the ability to push yourself to give your best.
Collaboration between team members is developed through connection and engagement. It is important to inform a network of support as you work together. Too many people scramble to develop a network in tough situations. Whereas in if you would have developed them along the way when you need it there readily available. When you work well together with other team members you naturally increase your team’s performance. The team starts to see themselves as part of the vision. When the team sees themselves as part of the vision, this is where true teamwork emerges. The people start to realize that the vision does not exist only at the top of the organization but within them.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller
Competition is natural and it may be natural that you may feel intimidated when faced with competition. This follows its Competition can lead to insecurity and uncertainty. When you focus on the competition, you can drain your energy. You may even start questioning yourself and doubting your abilities. What is worse is that you may start copying or patterning yourself to be much more like the competition then separating you from the competition and being unique. You end up being another flavour of the day. You may even hoard your talents instead of using them to benefit the vision of the team.
When people are competing, they will back away from responsibilities if they don’t believe it is their job. Whereas, in teamwork, people often jump in and do things without being asked.
The only good thing that I can see about competition is that can discourage complacency and push an individual to work harder. There can be friendly competitions within the team but they can be used to challenge members of the team so that they can learn from each other in collaboration. Instead of making incentives monetary-based, consider having team members focused on performance and productivity in the way of the number of follow-up phone calls completed, the number of gratitude cards sent out, the number of lead conversions, and the number of e-mails addressed or cleaned out of the inbox. Find ways to drive results and improved performance by working collaboratively.
The true competition should be you becoming a better version of yourself. At the end of the day, wouldn’t it be more effective to utilize and leverage the strengths of the people within your business or organization to make a difference, make a change, or increase your profit margin?
DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com
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“Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you.”
― Carl Sandburg
Do you waste time? We all talk about how we wish we had more time yet we all are given the same amount of time. It is about how we allot that time to what’s important to us. People like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Junior, Michael Jordan, and Albert Einstein all had the same amount of time as you do. It is all about how you chose to use that time to be of service or to better yourselves.
When we think about time, we often think about multitasking how to get more packed into the time that we have. The truth is – multitasking is a myth. Think about it when you read and listen to music you are only concentrating on reading or listening to music. You cannot be focused on both the same time. The same holds true for sitting in a business meeting and texting someone. You are actually switching the gears and shifting from one activity to in the next with your attention and focus. This is why we see a huge emergence on the topic of mindfulness. If you want to master your time, you need to be present in the moment and focus on what you’re doing. It’s about really thinking about what you’re doing and how you’re feeling before you act and determining what are the outcomes you want to achieve.
Time escapes no one. Entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives are confronted with managing their time more effectively and more efficiently all time. They need to be organized and have to have systems in place to be efficient. They have constant demands on their time and resources. You are asked to do more with less on a regular basis. If you work from home, you don’t have anyone to hold you accountable and therefore you may stay hidden behind the computer and waste your time more than you think.
There are several strategies that you can use to stay focused and become better organized:
When it comes to mastering time and minimizing stress, you need to be able to deal with the interruptions of the day. They’re going to happen so you might as well plan for them.
You can put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign when you need to stay focused and get something done in order to meet a deadline.
When someone says, “I just talk to you for a minute.”, and you know you’re busy; let them know what you’re working on, and arrange of mutual time for further discussion.
There will be times when someone asks for that minute and you really need to listen and determine what the impact would be if you held it off. You can choose to be distracted and have your work disrupted or you can choose to be proactive. You might decide to have a certain time of day set aside when people can come to you with their issues.
There may be times when you look need to learn to say “No” and not take on more than you can handle.
The other thing you can do is move to a space where you can do the work totally uninterrupted without distraction. Deadlines are pressing and sometimes you need to have time alone to get what you need to do – done.
The whirlwinds of the world will continue to show up. You need to remember that you are the master of your time and you can minimize the stress that comes with it feels like your time is being stolen. Be proactive rather than reactive with your time. Get up early to seize the day! You have 24 hours what are you going to do with?
We would love to have you subscribed to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!
DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com
Time: 11:38 min
Keywords: time management, timer, organizational strategies, entrepreneur hacks, biz tips, business, professional development, master your time, minimize your stress, how to manage time, dealing with interruptions, time management skills, checklists, planning, time management strategies
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Nicole Holland helps busy CEOs increase their visibility exponentially to create greater impact, influence, and income. Proud to have been named in the Huffington Post as one of “50 MUST-FOLLOW WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN 2017”, Nicole inspires entrepreneurs all around the world through her popular podcast, The Business Building Rockstars Show, and her annual online summit, The Business Building Rockstar Summit.
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“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” – Tom Landry
Goal setting can occur at any time of the year. People seem to think that New Year’s resolutions or goals are only set when the clock strikes midnight; however, the resolutions are things that you’re wishing to happen there are no definite measurements or time frame in which you wish to achieve it. There’s no game plan. It is simply an announcement of something you wish to resolve.
Interested versus committed. Some people steer away from setting goals for the fear of truly making a commitment. One of the number one reasons that people fail to meet their goals is that they are more interested in having it happen and actually truly committed to making it happen. Commitment takes discipline, hard work, and even some sacrifice along the way. If you really want to achieve something you must maintain focus on the right things.
Focus on the wrong things. When people set goals, there are times when they set goals that they’re trying to avoid something they end up focusing on what they don’t want. As the saying goes you get more of what you focus on. If you continually put your time, attention, and focus on avoiding what you don’t want, for some reason it always seems to be there. Your focus needs to be on what you want to achieve.
Don’t know what you want. Another reason people fail to meet their goal is that they lack clarity. They have never stopped and really thought about or reflect on what they truly want in their life. They didn’t think about where their career would take them were what type of legacy that they would like to leave. If you don’t know where you’re going you can end up anywhere. If you’re frustrated you need to change what you’re doing.
No action plan. Imagine getting into your car. You’re sitting behind the steering wheel you turn on the ignition. You have no idea where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. There are many people out in the world wandering with no real sense of direction and no plan. You can’t get to where you want to go if you don’t have a plan to get there. I’m not saying focus on the how initially. That’s where the clarity came in. You need to know where you want to go and as you focus on what that is. You will become a creative thinker and figure out the “how”. What will it take for you to get to where you want to be? What knowledge skills and ability you have to gain and learn? Who do you need to speak to get more information?
Cannot make a decision. Making decisions is a big part of a person success. Indecisiveness can lead to missing opportunities. Opportunities don’t wait in the wings for when you decide the time is right. People who are ready to take action will seize the opportunity. You need to be prepared to be ready. Way out the facts and trust yourself and your judgment – make a decision.
No emotional connection to the goal. I’ve seen many people set goals that have no meaning to them. Some are chasing it for material wealth and others realize they have no emotional connection to the goal that they had set. The issue is often that someone else set the goal for them. The end up self-sabotaging every action is not truly what they want and are not being true to themselves. You may have faced that internal struggle of doing things that you no longer feel that are important to you or you lack the emotional connection.
Setbacks lead to paralysis. Another painful truth about why people fail to meet their goals are that when a setback occurs they shift into an “all or nothing” thinking. They are devastated by any failure. They fail to see the lesson and self-correct quickly and move forward. These people lose motivation quickly and often give up. They need to rally and put strategies in place that when a setback occurs that they can prepare for the greatest comeback. They need to take the lessons they’ve learned with them.
Playing it safe. When you avoid taking risks you miss out on opportunities of growth and challenge. I’m not saying put all that eggs in one basket. Do your due diligence it is important. Too many people fail to take a risk because they haven’t assessed and analyzed any of the information available to them they simply just brush it off. Sometimes it takes only one action that can propel you so much farther than you ever have before if you’d only stop and take the time to learn what you need to learn and make a decisive decision.
Comparing yourself to others is a trap! The other painful truth is that comparison trap. We often catch ourselves comparing ourselves to others thinking that there is so much farther ahead – where they have the skill or something that you would like to have. Everyone in life faces challenges you are not unique in that aspect. They might not display it to the world especially through social media which is always everybody’s greatest day. Focus on your own strengths and what you have to offer. You can learn from others but don’t compare where you’re at to or someone else’s is you don’t know the other person struggle.
There is no magic wand or silver bullet to success! You need to stay driven and committed to your goals. You need to be clear on what it is you truly want, make a decision, and a plan to make it become your reality. It is time to end the frustration and disappointment of not meeting your own expectations.
We would love to have you subscribed to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!
DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com
Time: 11:20 min