Life Tips Daily

Like Reactive thinking, Managerial thinking is an essential skill. Without it, our lives are in constant crisis because we’re are “out of control.” But also like Reactive thinking, it lacks perspective. Managerial thinkers may “climb the ladder of success only to find, when they get to the top, that it was leaning against the wrong building.” Or as Peter Drucker said, there is nothing more foolish than doing with great efficiency that which need not be done at all. Both Reactive and Managerial thinking are essential, but like any tool they must be used skillfully, and in the right situations.”

Quoted from Coach Phillip Humbert

OK, I often need some tune-up here. People who are very organized add a lot to the smooth operations and often IMPROVED operations of a business. My manager at work excels at this. HE also knows how to think long term and provide excellent suggestions about how to achieve our goals. As with the 2 prevous blogs, cultivating your skills can expanding the number of lens you can work from immensely help you approach many work-related situations. Moms have to this all the time to keep communications with family and kids, and household operations functioning. Ever need more help? Go talk to a group of Moms. ANd of course coach Phil is here to help too. Feel free to copy and share. Please give credit here and include my url. Thank you.
Quotes of the Week

The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives.
– Louise Hay

The problem in my life and other people’s lives is not the absence of knowing what to do, but the absence of doing it.
– Peter Drucker

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. Now put foundations under them.
– Henry David Thoreau

It is never too late to be what we might have been.
– George Eliot

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5. Strictly Business: Study Your Data FROM COACH PHIL HUMBERT visit his site for more information.

I’m often called in to consult or coach with business leaders who are confused, even terrified by what they perceive to be a terrible business situation. Maybe sales are down even though they’ve added more sales people. Perhaps production costs are up and profits are plummeting. Sometimes key people are leaving, and they don’t know why.

Granted, sometimes the answers are hard to find and we have work to do, but often the answers are readily available. Often the answers are sitting right on their desk in the form of numbers they haven’t bothered to analyze.

Every business has a small number of critical “measurables.” For a therapist, these include the number of clients, the average length of treatment, and the number of new referrals per month. With just those three numbers, you can pretty well predict the future of any clinical practice. Obviously, the cost of rent, staffing and many other numbers are also helpful, but those three tell you most of what you need to know.

In other businesses, the variables will be different, but they ALL need to be studied.

I once worked with a large, regional landscaping company. For them, the key variable was the ratio of total revenue divided by total payroll. That single number said volumes about the over-all health of the company.

Whatever your key variables, study them! Too often managers and CEO’s get so caught up in planning for the future and putting out daily “fires” that they forget to crunch the numbers. I believe in numbers! Study them. You can learn a lot from a few key numbers, and make adjustments accordingly.

Carrie Wilkerson
The Barefoot ExecutiveTM has a terrific newsletter, and you can find her on Twitter, the barefefoot executive. Here’s the feature from her most recent newsletter by eth Schneider.
10 Ways to Increase Your Super Powers

A few years ago I began working with a business coach who had us do an exercise that helped us identify what our top values. Freedom was definitely one of the things at the top of my list. Because of that I have spent a lot of time and energy building a business that supports my need for freedom. Brian Tracy defines success as, “the ability to live your life, the way you want to live it, doing what you enjoy most, surrounded by people you admire and respect.” So essentially doing what you want, when you want, with people you really like to hang out with. Sounds like freedom to me! If you are like me and crave freedom, here are 10 things you can do in your own business.

1. Create blocks of time. Think of your business as a book. Make a list of all the main “chapters” then lay out time in your calendar for those chapters so you know when to work on each piece of your business. Once you are done, it’s time to play.

2. Let someone else manage your calendar. Set up an online calendar so that someone on your team can set and manage your appointments.

3. Empower your team to make decisions without you. Free yourself from questions by setting policies around things like product returns or customer service issues. When a customer calls in with a question your team will handle it without having to bring it to you.

4. Clone yourself. Spend the time to document how you do things so you can scale your company. For example, instead of doing all the one- on-one client consulting myself, I have trained consultants and they handle it.

5. Write out a new client set-up process. When the excitement of a new client is all around you it’s easy to skip or miss steps that you intended to do, but just never got to. Create a series of steps that all new clients go through so you are not reinventing the wheel over and over again.

6. Schedule a recurring meeting with your assistant. Meet on a regular basis to discuss projects, give assignments and check progress. When communication is strong between you and the people helping you, things happen faster.

7. Learn how to use the technology you already own. Take a look at some the programs you use on a regular basis like Outlook, ACT!, Camtasia, etc. Explore and learn some of the intermediate to advanced features. You’ll be shocked at how much time you can save when you stop fearing your software and start embracing it.

8. Actually use the systems you create. This is my favorite. Don’t write a system and stick it in the drawer. Share it with your team, tape it to your wall, assign it to someone. Implement, implement, implement. Did I say implement?

9. Checklists are your friend. When you are handling a task that is only done occasionally or you want to delegate it to someone else, jot down a list of all the steps. With a list of steps and actions to complete it’s easy to make sure nothing is skipped.

10. Plan out your projects. Be proactive by laying out all the steps of your project so you have a handle on everything. One of my clients, Christine did this. Instead of stressing out and handling everything for her big product launch last minute, she laid out all the systems and instead went on a week long family vacation.

Now that’s freedom. Go ahead, you can do it. Pick one of these and implement it into your own business today.

© 2009 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc.

Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., http://tinyurl.com/10WaysbyBeth, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit http://tinyurl.com/10WaysbyBeth and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00

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:: Where in the World is Carrie? ::

August 4 Fort Worth, Texas - full day of small group intensive coaching LIVE with Carrie. This is limited to 10 business owners and by appointment. Please contact Karen@Barefoot-Executive.com for details and availability.

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Need a business speaker for your group or corporation? My schedule books up fast! If your speaker coordinator needs a video or speaking topics, hit reply and ask Karen for details.

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:: About the Barefoot Executive ::

The Barefoot Executive ™
Carrie Wilkerson is the voice of experience. From corporate life to teaching high school to direct sales and even internet marketing, she has ‘been there and done that’ professionally and personally. An ‘overnight mom’ to 2 toddlers through adoption, her priorities instantly changed and so did her workplace. She’s now built several businesses and coached others to do the same while overcoming extreme debt, losing 110 lbs and having 2 more children, for a total of 4, ages toddler through teenager!

As President of the Association of Wo^rk at Home women, Carrie and her network of experts have quickly become the definitive resource for helping women (and men) achieve extra in^come and career goals while working from h*ome.

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Wow! I am having a great time from listening to a video I used in my last blog. Please go and visit.

Many people get scared by a budget. Horror thoughts about going without and struggling, and oh my goodness, falilure? Lighten up. Your budget is your game plan strategy and saving grace.

If I were to spend $300 a year at a thrift store, I automatically save $30 because of no taxes. If you are in a low tax state maybe $25.00. Now since I am paying way below “new costs” I may also be saving at least another $300, however more likely around $600. Plus I am supporting charity.

Pay off your car and keep it for another 3 years. You would save about $10,000.

Check all your spending and play the game: How much can I save? If you can save $3000 a year, then direct that to paying off your mortgage or buying a house.

Take charge and run the household as an efficient business. Remember though to add a few perks! Happy sailing.

Bring Focus to Family Budgeting

Often times, the family budget is a source of conflict. Most of the time, the major earner makes the final financial decision, which isn’t always a welcome deal for the rest. Since money is such an intrinsic part of family life, families need to achieve accord in this aspect. There is a four-step cycle in budgeting the family money to maintain peace and harmony.

1. Set your priorities.

Priorities are different from goals. They are aspects in your family’s life that you, as a family, want to set focus on, say health or children’s future. While goals are specific targets that support priorities.

In setting priorities, do not set too many as it defeats the purpose. Ideally, there should only be one, but because life is not ideal, 2 to 3 are reasonable.

As the priorities are set and agreed upon, write them down. Post the paper where everybody can see them to remind them of what your family is focused on for the next few years.

2. List down your goals.

Once the family has set and agreed on priorities, the next step is to set the goals. Goals are specific and measurable conditions that, when achieved, will support the priorities.

In setting goals, establish a target that is both challenging yet achievable. A 10-15% of the family’s income is a good savings target for a child’s future education: stretching yet reachable.

Try to limit your family into setting 1-2 goals per priority, to maintain focus.

3. Work towards your goals.

After setting your priorities and goals, start living by them. All of the family’s activities will be geared towards working at your goals. Track progress, particularly on financial goals, by using an income and expense-tracking tool. The simplest way is to get a notebook and list down all expenses and incomes and set a budget for future spending. There are those that invest in computer software or a family accountant. Whatever it is, the important thing is to have a system of monitoring the family’s performance towards achieving their goals.

4. Evaluate your family life.

At a certain point in time, when you feel like it’s time to evaluate your life, check how your family is doing against the goals. Goals that have been achieved can be checked off the list, and new ones can be formulated.

Ex: You may not be able to pay your credit card bill each month. Try for 100% of new charges. Focus on one card to pay off faster. When it is paid off do the same for the next. Retire 2 cards, no new charges, just pay it down. Try to pay 10% more of minimum payment plus this month’s interest. REad on.

Ten Practical Tips That Save Money

Saving money is not as hard as it seems. Here are ten practical tips that you can do to begin saving money, without changing your lifestyle.

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. CFL bulbs consume 80% less energy than incandescent bulbs, but give the same illumination. Make sure to buy only lamps and bulbs that have the Energy Star rating to ensure quality compliance.

2. Make a list when going to the grocery and stick to it! Anything that is not on the list is not a “need”, but merely a “want” so avoid busting your pockets for unnecessary items. Buy non-perishable consumables in bulk to benefit from bulk discounts.

3. Use coupons when available. Take the time and have the patience to clip and organize grocery coupons. When added together, savings from using all coupons in one grocery trip can be as much as $20-$30. Purchase dining and shopping coupons online and print them at home. Doing so can save you at least 50% on the face value of the coupons.

4. Buy online, whenever possible. Online stores pass their savings from rental costs and warehousing to the online consumer, thus they can afford as much as 70% off their rack price. When buying items online, Google it first together with the word, “discount code”. This can give you further reductions on the item you want to purchase. Try also online bidding: they offer at least 75% off the original purchase price, for practically new (slightly used!) items.

5. Take lunch to work. Buy potato chips and soda from the grocery and make a homemade sandwich and pack them in a brown bag.

6. Eat homemade dinners as often as possible. Plan menus that are practical and easy-to-cook to encourage eating at home. Save money by dining out only on special occasions.

7. Use everyday pantry items for skin and body care. Cucumbers, honey, milk, lemon, salt and baking soda are some items in your home that can also be used to take care of your skin.

8. Avoid shopping to de-stress. Try walking around the park or watching a movie instead.

9. Bring your own sodas and snacks when watching a movie. The cost of sodas and snacks are at least 25% higher in movie houses. Plus, homemade popcorn tastes much better: you can put on all the salt and butter you want!

10. Pay off your credit card balances each month and avoid finance charges. Better yet, use cash as much as possible, unless using plastic will give you a better deal (0% interest on appliance purchases, or cash rebates).

Consider this You have $200 to spend on goroceries etc. If you could cut off 20% off the top and place that $40 in a savings jar, would you be happy? Here’s how you can do it.

Start by taking that $40 and leave it at home. Grab the paper, go online and search for coupons only for items you planned to buy. Well you may have wanted oreoes, but the same cookie from another brand is on sale and has a coupon. Bingo. Perhaps you now save $3. Do not buy the ice cream on sale…really save the $3.

Look at your list. Can you substitute the sale veggie for what you planned? Can you cut out 3 junk foods and get 3 fruits instead? Can you enhance a meal with brown rice instead of pasta? Can you create an alternative to a pre boxed meal? Perhpas popocorn to pop instead of chips? Sale yogurt for smoothies? Big chunk of cheese instead of sliced cheese? SLiced chees on sale from the deli. Skip pizzas and make your own bagel pizzas? Yes visit the day old section for treats, buy items that include fruit or some real food.

I bet it would take you less than 15 minutes to save a lot. $40/week = $1600++ a year. In 10 years $16000. IF safely invested that could become $32,000. Read on for more ideas.

The Benefits of Using Money Saving Coupons

One great irony of life is that people find it so easy to spend money and yet, they find it doubly hard to save money.

Almost 80% of the consumers, according to some surveys, tend to spend their money easily and find it hard to save even just 10% of their income or any amount of their earnings. They always insist that they have more expenses than they can handle; that is why it is so hard for them to really create a hefty amount for savings.

What people do not know is that they can easily save more money even on their daily expenses if they just know how to do it.

The point is that if they were really wise consumers, they would definitely take advantage of freebies and discount items that can absolutely cut their expenses almost in half.

One of the best examples is the utilization of money saving coupons.

The problem is that many people are still not aware of the benefits that money saving coupons can give. They contend that these freebies just offer such a little amount of money and that they can be better off without it.

Therefore, for those who are not yet fully aware of the benefits they can derive from these money saving coupons and what they can do in order to save more money, here is a list of some of tips on how to use these coupons for a cause:

1. Look for the right places

If you are not yet aware of the right places where you can get excellent money saving coupons, try to look in your local newspaper, especially the Sunday editions. It’s one of the best places where you can get discount coupons.

Usually, different establishments provide discount coupons to entice consumers to buy their products. That’s why they use the paper to distribute their freebies.

2. Shop online

Online businesses also provide money saving coupons. What people do not know is that online discount coupons provide more money saving percentage than what the newspapers can give.

Best of all, it is so easy to accumulate discount coupons. All you have to do is to sign up for the online business and you can easily get some of their freebies.

3. Coupons are great money savers

The very advantage of money saving coupons is that they can cut your bill to almost 50%.

Indeed, using money saving coupons can definitely save you more money than what you have expected. So, for those who do not know this yet, try to cut more coupons and start saving.

http://www.infomarketingservices.net Mark Benjamin just added some new ebooks and software to his site. Get on his list. Great offers! Here’s a clip on some things to think about before a career change. Enjoy. Download the whole book: it’s great!! Like this subject and ideas? Want more blogs like this? Please leave comments to let me know. Mary
How to Successfully Choose the Right Career for Your Future

identified the reason that you are unhappy with your job, you can start to take
steps to look for something else.

Still not sure if you should make a career change? OK, then it’s time for a little
quiz. Ask yourself the following questions and answer true or false:

1.
There are few opportunities for growth within your company.
2.
You find the work you are doing boring.
3.
Few jobs exist in your field.
4.
You want to earn more money than you ever will in your current field.
5.
You will need to upgrade your skills to stay in your current field, but you
aren’t satisfied enough to even make the effort.
6.
You want to do something more with your life.
7.
You want to pursue a lifelong passion.
8.
There’s a new career you want to pursue. After doing your research, it
seems to be a good fit for you.
9.
You want to work in a field that will utilize your talents, skills, and
education and your current occupation doesn’t do this.
10.Your life has changed since you first got into this career and now the
requirements of your job don’t mix well with your current situation
(extensive travel when you now have children at home)

Successful Career Change Tactics Revealed
Page 8 of 80

I just got a special book about job changes from Mark Benjamin. Only I can’t find another url for the signup page. Since I have rights to do whatever I want with the book, go ahead and download it. Do see about getting on Mark’s list for other great offers.

Here’s a clip from the book. Check out the other blogs in this series too.

Strengths:

.
What are your advantages?
.
What do you do well?
.
Why did you decide to enter the field you will enter upon graduation?
.
What were the motivating factors and influences?
.
Do these factors still represent some of your inherent strengths?
.
What need do you expect to fill within your organization?
.
What have been your most notable achievements?
.
To what do you attribute your success?
.
How do you measure your success?
.
What knowledge or expertise will you bring to the company you join that

may not have been available to the organization before?
.
What is your greatest asset?

Weaknesses:

Successful Career Change Tactics Revealed Page 18 of 80

How to Successfully Choose the Right Career for Your Future

.
What could be improved?
.
What do you do badly?
.
What should you avoid?
.
What are your professional weaknesses?
.
How do they affect your job performance? (These might include weakness

in technical skill areas or in leadership or interpersonal skills.)

.
Think about your most unpleasant experiences in school or in past jobs
and consider whether some aspect of your personal or professional life
could be a root cause.

Opportunities:

.
Where are the promising prospects facing you?
.
What is the “state of the art” in your particular area of expertise?
.
Are you doing everything you can to enhance your exposure to this area?
.
What formal training and education can you add to your credentials that

might position you appropriately for more opportunities?
.
Would an MBA or another graduate degree add to your advantage?
.
How quickly are you likely to advance in your chosen career?
.
Useful opportunities can come from such things as:

.
Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and

industry-specific scale
.
Changes in government policy related to your field
.
Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle

changes, etc.

Threats:

.
What obstacles do you face?

Successful Career Change Tactics Revealed
Page 19 of 80

How to Successfully Choose the Right Career for Your Future

.
Are the requirements for your desired job field changing?
.
Does changing technology threaten your prospective position?
.
What is the current trend line for your personal area of expertise?
.
Could your area of interest be fading in comparison with more emergent

fields?
.
Is your chosen field subject to internal politics that will lead to conflict?
.
Is there any way to change the politics or to perhaps defuse your

involvement in potential disputes?
.
How might the economy negatively affect your future company and your
work group?

451Press.com

www.bargainstyling.com

Thanks to Stacey Sheets for reading some of my posts. She also has a frugal… blog and that’s one many need to visit daily. Go to 451Press.com So you can find her posts: .