Goals

Money Matters: How to Systematize Your Business

December 20, 2017 By Karen Leave a Comment

Here’s an all-too-common scenario: A seemingly successful small business owner is hard at work growing her business. She’s working lots of hours, and her hourly rate is respectable. But her cash flow is dismal.

Why?

Because she’s working so hard that finding the time to actually take control of her money is impossible.

Invoices don’t get sent on time. Past due balances are ignored. Taxes aren’t done. And maybe worst of all, she’s got dozens of recurring payments that go out automatically each and every month, and she has no idea what they are or if she’s even using the programs she’s paying for.

Sound familiar? Sadly, that’s exactly what a lot of “successful” businesses look like. When you work at home, and you’re accountable to no one but yourself, it’s far too easy to let these little things slide until, like an avalanche, they have a devastating effect on your business.

The good news is, cleaning it up is easy, when you take the time to put some trusted systems in place.

Start with your billing. Sign up for (and use) a system such as Freshbooks or Harvest, which will automate your timekeeping and produce an invoice with a single click of a button. Then put your billing day on your calendar as an unbreakable appointment.

Log into your timekeeping app, generate your invoices, and click send. You’ll be done in a jiffy. Not only that, but most billing systems automatically send follow-up messages for unpaid invoices, so you don’t have to worry about tracking down those slow pays.

For your expenses, use a single system. That might be PayPal or a dedicated credit card or even your business checking account. Whatever it is, be sure it has a reporting feature that will allow you to send monthly statements to your accountant. At the end of every month, bundle that up with your sales report and your receipts, and send it off. When tax time rolls around, you’ll be sitting back with your feet up while everyone else scrambles to find documents and update their accounting system.

If you do your own taxes (kudos to you!) then look for tools that will talk to each other easily. For example, you can download a Quickbooks file right from PayPal for super-fast reconciliation at the end of every month. That alone will save you hours of “doing the books.”

Just putting these two simple systems in place can easily save you 10+ hours per month, but the even larger benefit is that the money work will get done. And what that will do for your cash flow is priceless.

Filed Under: Education, Goals, Money

Starring You

October 31, 2017 By Karen Leave a Comment

Create a Mental Movie to Achieve Your Goals

We all have something in life (or work) that we want to accomplish. Most of the time we don’t know how to go about achieving these goals and we just allow ourselves to fail by simply giving up. You can increase your chances of success by creating a mental movie. It is a creative and simple way to program your mind–and it’s fun!

Making mental movies is a creative visualization technique used by Neuro-Linguistic Practitioners to help clients reprogram their mind to overcome fears or phobias, heal past traumas or to achieve work or life goals. If you know the goal you want to achieve then you can take advantage of this powerful tool to help you create a successful outcome. It’s a 4 step process.

Step 1: Decide your goal

Identify the goal you want to achieve–even if it seems incredible or impossible to you. It must be specific. Write it down.

Step 2: Create a blueprint or script

Okay–you know the end point; the goal. It is important that you create a blueprint or script describing the exact change you want to make. You are author, director and producer of your movie. For it to be useful and create a successful outcome it must:

Use all five senses
Be very descriptive and
Be written in the present tense

For example, if your goal is to become more confident in social situations your blueprint or script might look like this:

I am at a party for a friend’s birthday. The room is brightly lit with music playing. There are red, blue, yellow and green balloons everywhere. I can hear people talking and laughing. I am standing in the center of a group of people talking about a movie. Everyone is listening. They are smiling at me and I feel happy. The beat of the music pulses through me making me feel invigorated. I feel comfortable talking and listening with others.

With every sip of my drink I feel stronger and more confident. Each bit of the delicious food makes me feel happier. I am smiling…

You can include different scenes, just like in a real movie. So change the situations to include any that are important in helping you to create the movie of the life you desire.

Step 3: Relax

This is how you will get your subconscious mind to open up and be receptive to your mental movie, so it is very important to relax.

Find somewhere comfortable. Close your eyes. Tense every muscle in your body and then release. Repeat twice more. Now breathe in deeply through your nose to a count of five and out through your mouth to a count of eight. Repeat this three times or until you feel relaxed.

Step 4: Play your movie

This is where the mental programming takes place. While relaxed, play your mental movie showing you living the goal you set. It is important that your movie is played as if you are living it now. Feel the emotions, experience the sights and sounds. Don’t forget to include all your senses to make the experience feel real.

To make sure that your new mental program is fully installed you will need to repeat steps 3 and 4 every day for 30 days for best effect.

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill

Filed Under: Creativity, Goals

Build Confidence in Yourself One Day at a Time

October 5, 2017 By Karen 1 Comment

Many of us have many goals and dreams we envision for our lives, but without self-confidence, we’ll get nowhere with them. Building confidence in yourself will give you the motivation you need to achieve everything you want out of life.

Here are three exercises you can try each day to gain the self-confidence you need.

Start a journal. A confidence-boosting journal should contain positive things you did for that day. Most people accomplish a lot of little things in the span of 24 hours, but don’t really think of them as achievements. As you look back on your entries of positive accomplishments, it will give you motivation to achieve even more.

List your goals in baby steps. Instead of setting a goal to accomplish the whole thing at once, try breaking it down in tiny steps that need to meet each day. Each time you get to cross off the little steps, you gain more confidence in yourself and you’ll empower yourself to reach the next step until you’ve achieved the primary goal.

Read inspirational quotes. Search the Internet or purchase a book with lots of inspirational quotes on confidence or self-esteem. Read one of the quotes daily and see if you can apply it to your life throughout the day.

Here’s a little pocket journal you can fold up and tuck into your pocket or purse!

Self confidence Affirmation Journal

Filed Under: Confidence, Connection, Goals, micro journal

Getting to a Growth Mindset

September 24, 2017 By Karen Leave a Comment

How to Nurture a Growth Mindset – The 3-Step Process

One of Rich Chicks’ principles is prosperity–true prosperity of all aspects of your life: health, spirit, wealth. Sometimes we get stuck in a pattern that does not bring prosperity into our lives. That’s when you need to examine your core beliefs and values to see if they are what you truly believe and want in your life. Monetary Identity, starting on October 11 helps you get to the growth mindset and out of fixed beliefs and ideas that are holding you back.

Step One – Awareness: Hear Your “Fixed Mindset” Voice

You most likely already know your “inner critic.” The first step is to identify it and the times you hear it. These are times that you’re brought back to a fixed mindset. Practice awareness by identifying the voice when you hear it. Remember what preceded those thoughts–look for clues.

Step Two – Reframe

Once you recognize that inner critic, you can learn to control it. The way that you interpret challenges is up to you. It’s hard to reframe the voice when you have ingrained thinking patterns. Imagine giving advice to a friend. We’re generally harder on ourselves than others. Take each statement and imagine that you’re giving advice, then reframe it

Step Three – Action: Take on the Growth Mindset

Choose a challenge that you’ve been avoiding and try it again. Turn your fixed mindset around. Start with one challenge and then apply it to the next once you have success.

Where Do Limiting Mindsets Come From?

Limiting beliefs come from a place or event in your lifetime experience. As children we are conditioned to think in more fixed mindset terms.

Intelligence

IQ tests give you a ranking or identity as a child. Most of us develop an identity based on a perceived level of intelligence, and it becomes a label that we carry around. Modern research shows that intelligence is much more fluid than the system suggests.

Money

Money beliefs again usually originate within the family. Limiting beliefs express feelings of guilt, hopelessness or scarcity. These are obviously not useful.

Work

Early educational experiences also play a part in shaping limiting beliefs about work. The current education system does not train people to become growth thinkers or develop an entrepreneurial mindset

Other Limiting Beliefs from School

Some ideas you might have internalized include:

Obey Authority
Schools and workplaces are hierarchical–those in positions of authority know best.We learn this chain of command very early in our lives.
Follow Rules–this system naturally requires rules and discipline. There is a need to maintain order early on, but carrying it on into adulthood doesn’t serve us well.
Learn and Then Do. Tasks in school are given with instructions, learning starts with theory and ends in practice. This is the opposite of the growth mindset.
Comparing with Others. School evaluates and grades to compare with others, which fosters fixed thinking. This fixed, negative thinking can hold you back.

Take These Steps

Even a small shift can create a tremendous amount of change toward a growth mindset. You have learned how to make these changes step by step. It’s easy to fall back into old mindsets, just remember these three fundamental steps to make your new mindset take root:

Awareness
Reframing
Action

This is only a small part of what life-changing ideas Monetary Identity brings to your life. Check out Monetary Identity! Use code gap to get and early bird discount (expires September 30)

Filed Under: Goals, Gratitude, Monetary Identity, prosperity

Ask for What You Really Want!

March 25, 2017 By Karen Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to get everything they want? If they want to go on an exotic vacation, they suddenly get their wish. If they want a promotion, it happens. So how can you make this same ‘magic’ appear for you?

The only true way you will actually get what you want is by learning how to ask for it and then take action! Nothing is magically going to happen, but you can start the wheels turning by putting things into motion. Here’s an example:

Are you waiting to be discovered so that you can be promoted to the next level? And you can’t figure out why you are always overlooked when a better position becomes available?

Here’s a couple of reasons for this:

Does anyone even know that you are looking to be promoted?
Have you demonstrated that you are capable of doing this particular job?

Most likely you are just sitting at your desk each day doing a wonderful job waiting to be noticed! Unfortunately, that method is not going to get you too far. While you may be fantastic at what you do, you need to take action so that others know what you are looking for. If you don’t ask for the promotion you will never get it.

Now let’s look at what steps you might take:

First you need to make it known, to the right people, that you would love to be considered for a new opening. If the position is posted on your company job board then apply for it.

In the meantime, you should start demonstrating that you have the experience and knowledge to perform this particular job. Of course, you don’t want to start just doing the job, you want to get paid for it! But find some way that you can show that you have the skills to do it.

The worst thing you can do is to just ‘hope’ that you will be asked to fill any vacant position. Your supervisor is most likely aware of how well you do your current job, and they may think you are perfectly happy.

If you feel a little awkward about applying or even asking for a better position, then bring the subject up in your next employee review meeting. Most companies will give you the opportunity to ask questions. So make it clear that if a certain vacancy becomes available you would like to be considered for it.

So get out there and ask for what you want!

Filed Under: Goals, Money, money and happiness, prosperity

5 Ways to Get More Done Every Day

November 27, 2016 By Karen Leave a Comment

Girl Preparing to Pool Dive Do you feel like you are always behind? Can’t get enough done? There just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you need to do. Stressful? Yes. Frustrating? Yes. These emotional states can cause a flood-like release of hormones that cause physical and mental health problems.

Here are 5 tips to help you jump into your (better) day!

1 – Write It Down

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on an expensive day planner. Some people could effectively manage the world with simple sticky notes and scratch pieces of paper. You have a much greater chance of accomplishing something when you write it down, rather than just locking it away on your mental to-do list.

2 – Don’t Think of Your Daily Responsibilities as Tasks or Chores

The words “task” and “chore” don’t taste good in the mouth. They make you think you have to do something, rather than wanting to do it. Tell yourself that your daily responsibilities are something you enjoy doing, and you will look forward to scratching them off your to-do list and moving onto the next one.

3 – Get Plenty of Rest

You may be one of those people who thinks you only need 4 to 6 hours of sleep every night to function properly. Try that 2 or 3 nights in a row and see how productive you are. Adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep on a daily basis for good health and high energy levels. You can’t accomplish much of anything when you are tired, worn down, and suffering from mental and physical fatigue.

4 – Stop “Winging It”

You may be very good at putting out fires, thinking off of the top of your head and working productively on the fly. But is this really the best way to get things done? The human brain craves order, discipline, routine and standard operating procedures. Create routines in your life, stick to those routines, and do them at the same time each day to get more accomplished.

5 – Don’t Check Your Email First Thing in the Morning

Fortune 500 CEOs are some of the busiest people on the planet. Studies and interviews with these uber-productive individuals show most of them get up and get working first thing in the morning, and don’t check their email until after lunch. You don’t have to own a Fortune 500 company to benefit from this productivity hack.

Filed Under: Business, Connection, Goals