Working on it or in it?

Many of us entrepreneurs, especially those of us that provide a service can get very bogged down in the day to day details of running a business and lose the focus of working on getting new business. One way to help in that area is to colour manage your time which I won’t get into here (read the article in the November posts). However one addition is to make sure that any marketing activities and business meetings are similar colours. For instance if your business meetings are in light green, then client contact or marketing would be a dark green. When you look at your calendar for the month you should see green everyday. If not then you need to work more on contact with clients.I suggest reading the article “Capitalizing on Life” that talks about goals and then the “Colour Manage Your Time” article from November. Make 2011 the year of success!

Captializing on Your Life

Are you doing all the things you want to this year? Are you looking for new goals or to complete those un finshed ones from years past? If so read on!

If you have been writing down ideas for a while or if it’s in your head as life goes on then scratch out anything that is no longer of interest.  Next, scratch out anything that is older than five years or is too physically demanding.  You know like the goal where you planned to bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower when you were twenty.  Add anything to the list that has come about lately.  If you don’t have lists then start adding things to a blank piece of paper.  Once you have your list made out, I want you to divide theitems into three categories.  I know this is work but you’ll feel better for it in the end.  Most people spend more time planning a vacation.

 The first category will be any goals that you would like to achieve in the next six months.  The second category is goals to achieve one to two years from now.  The final category is five years or more.  Now remember when categorizing your list that you may want to pay off your mortgage in six months but realistically without a windfall in the lottery you’re probably looking at over five years.  If you have lots of travel items but only make ten dollars an hour with one week’s vacation that may not fit in with your six month goal list.  Just be realistic.  By the way if the items affect your family, it should be discussed with your family.

 Now that you have your goals divided in the timeline evaluate each one and break it down into yearly, monthly, weekly or daily goals.  This will be determined by your schedule or costs involved.  You may have to move items around if you are unable to meet the commitments.  Prioritize the ones most important to you, enter them in your day timer and get started. If you got to this point and don’t yet have a day timer or calendar program, then stop right now and go buy one. For continued motivation put the list where you can see it regularly and check off the items as you complete them.

Good luck with the goals; you have now completed the planning and action plan part of the program.  Just add the action.

 Interested in workshops to help with this, click here http://www.outridge.ca/publicworkshops.html

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I would like to take this time to wish you and your families and wonderful Christmas and all the best for 2011. Rest and get ready to tackle 2011 with passion.

All the best

Bruce

CSA 2010 Arrives!

It made it! CSA 2010 arrives in 2010, which is a feat in itself. The FMCSA launched the program on December 13, 2010 completing a very important change in the motor carrier community. Now is the time to ensure all of your ducks are in the right place because you can bet that beginning January 1 things are going to heat up in a hurry. If you are not sure what CSA involves or you are new to the industry and have been hearing the lingo, but not the details than a little homework over the holidays is in order. I’ve been saying it all year, educate,educate,educate, know what is going on as a driver. There is a ton of information for you to review and much of it reverts back to you. The professionals will prevail, the rest won’t so keep yourself educated. For information on the press release click the link http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/news-releases/2010/CSA-Program-for-Commercial-Trucks-and-Buses.aspx and if you want to review article and information I have commneted on then click this link http://www.outridge.ca . Be safe out there and be the professional that you are.

Sharing Duties

Many of us work with our spouse or another family member and don’t realize their is an art to doing this. If this is not done correctly it can cause all kinds of problems. This holds true for truck drivers that travel with their spouses. A small cab, tight quarters, and personal and work issues can all play a part in loving or hating your spouse. If you are going to work together then the best way to handle this is to divide duties and define key roles for issues and information. It is never black and white but the successful couples I have seen in business usually work along those lines. If this is the road you are travelling down then read the article titled working with your spouse to get ideas on how to set things up and remember, it’s just business.

http://www.outridge.ca/spouse.html

Good luck