Guest post by Cass Mullane, Creative Innovator, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

I live in Colorado and as a state we’re in the process of moving out of Stay at Home into “Safe at Home” with businesses slowly phasing back into operations. Let’s hope for a smooth transition.

COVID-19 has been a real kick in the teeth.

It’s totally disrupted our world and our sense of what is normal. It’s taken people we care about. It’s showed how unprepared we are, how fragile our health care system is, how delicate our economy is and how heavily we rely on others to “take care of things” for us. It’s also put a glaring spotlight on how little we plan for contingencies and save for the unexpected in our society.

As a small business owner, it’s been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I was rather surprised when a large percentage of my regular small business clients decided simply to tuck in and wrap themselves up in both the disruption to their lives and in the fear around not knowing what’s coming. In addition, the building that houses my art studio and office closed to the public. Obviously, all of this negatively affected my monthly revenues.

COVID-19 has been a real gift.

On the other hand, I get to Hit Pause and Reset. I have the chance to really practice what I preach and take the time to scrutinize how I was doing in my business and my life. Because I tend to look ahead and plan, I am able to remain calm and nimble. I’ve taken advantage of the opportunity to exercise my creative muscles and figure out how to replace at least part of the lost income. I’ve learned how to do live art classes online and was able to get them up and running quickly. I’ve revisited my coaching programs and have refined what I’ll be offering once people come back out of their shells. I continue to stay focused on what is really important and take a lot of the other stuff off my plate. As a result, I find I have more time to make my own art and just to BE.

The non-profit arts organization I chair jumped on the available funding opportunities and was able to keep the staff employed even though the building was closed to the public. They continue to look ahead and come up with creative ideas on reimagining the organization, re-engaging our community, and restarting normal activities like First Friday openings and art walks as well as classes and events. Lots of rules, restrictions, and rigor are required to make our facility a safe environment for the public and staff as well as the 80+ artists that have studio space in the building. But the mindset is ‘we’re in this together’ and we’ll do what it takes to come back strong.

So, what are you doing now to help get your business into a new normal once your Stay at Home orders are lifted? Here are three suggestions:

1. Do Stop, Start, Continue exercises on your business and on your life [continue reading…]

When I’m feeling especially tense and stressed (like in the beginning of shelter-in-place!) and my normal daily practices aren’t cutting it, one of my top self-care strategies is to book a relaxing massage. Of course with shelter-in-place measures and social distancing, that wasn’t an option.

Early on in my quarantine, I reached out to my friend Eugenia anyway and inquired if she’d be willing to do some virtual healing work with me in lieu of an in-person massage. And, low and behold she was already cooking up some online offers (they’re now up on her site)!

We met up on Zoom and she guided me through a very grounding personalized session that included some gentle yoga, breathing exercises and self-massage instructions. It was no surprise to me that her therapeutic gifts and supportive energy translated beautifully to a virtual experience. I left the session with the same kind of grounded feeling I’ve had after getting direct bodywork from her but I didn’t have to drive home under the (“blissed out”) influence and I learned some additional practices to add to my self-care routine. Cool to get some unexpected benefits of being forced to work with her in this new way.

Now, I don’t know if she would’ve created virtual offers if we weren’t under stay-at-home orders, but by golly, times of uncertainty, challenge and change certainly demand innovation from us, right?!

If you do mostly in-person work or you don’t do much business online yet, I’m wondering what this anecdote sparks for you?

Some in-person work adapts fairly easily to the virtual world (think therapy, coaching, or art instruction). But other folks like bodyworkers, hairstylists, portrait photographers, dog walkers, acupuncturists and doulas, just to name a few, may have to think outside the box to discover new ways to work within our current restrictions.

Here are some questions to help you think outside the box:

• What are some related skills that might translate more easily online or to an info product? For example, perhaps a dog walker might be able to offer virtual private obedience training sessions with pet parents and their dogs. Or an acupuncturist can create resources that show clients some acupressure points that they can do themselves.
• What are some tangential, adjacent or past skills that you can leverage now? Maybe you’re currently a yoga instructor but in your past life you were a bookkeeper and you can temporarily offer some bookkeeping or financial systems support to yoga studios that have had to move online classes and change their backend systems.
• What are some fresh ways of looking at how you can deliver the same results, knowledge, or support through a different medium? And how can you trust in your own natural impact? If you focus on the benefits or how you want your client to feel, you might be surprised that there are other ways of getting to that same or close enough outcome. My session with Eugenia above is a great example of this. Eugenia just showed up as present and supportive as she always does and that is the core magic of her offerings. The delivery method almost doesn’t matter at that point. I’m just happy to have a way to work with her!
• What’s something you’d love to do, but just haven’t had the chance to get to yet? When our normal routines get majorly disrupted like they are now, it can be a great opportunity to reset or try something new. Give yourself some space to experiment and play, even just for a bit. Allow yourself to be inspired and see where that takes you.
• Who are some of your most creative, off-the-wall-thinking friends? Ask them to do a call with you to brainstorm or free associate some new ideas. Sometimes you’re so close to your work that it just takes an outside perspective to open up options.

If you’re like most people I’ve been hearing from during the pandemic, you’re wondering how to keep sharing your gifts and serving your peeps, while still tending to your needs as the ground continues to shift beneath us. I hope these examples and prompts have planted some seeds for some beautiful innovations to sprout and flourish.

If you need more support or guidance on how to package your know-how into digital products or virtual offerings, please check out my Product Development Playground. It includes a pandemic-response inspired Quick Start Guide with tips to get your Minimum Viable Product (read: quick and scrappy product) out there faster than you think with little to no cost.

Guest post by Cass Mullane, Creative Innovator, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

Whatever form prosperity takes for you, I’ll bet many of you looking at what happened last year and what you’d like to see happen in the next 12 months. Here are some tips to help that process:

•Take a breather. Give yourself some grace and breathe. Think about all the wonderful things that have happened this year and express your gratitude. Be sure to include the lessons learned as well, for they all have value in shaping what’s to come.

•Give yourself a change of scenery. When you take yourself to a place that is different from your normal workspace you break your routine. This allows your brain to get out of its regular neural pathways and you think differently. You become open to possibilities and you see your world through fresh eyes.

•Do a ‘Stop-Start-Continue’ exercise. One of my favorite exercises I do during the year is a ‘Stop-Start-Continue’ exercise. I learned this tool when I worked in corporate, and Jennifer Lee has beautifully incorporated it into her Right-Brain Business Plan® activities. Take time to identify which activities you want to Stop doing, which activities you want to Start doing and which activities you want to Continue doing. Then take the steps necessary to make it happen.

•Be honest in your assessment and in your expectations. When planning for the next 12 months, be honest with yourself. Stick to the facts and try to keep your judgment and emotions out of the equation. Don’t be too harsh on yourself, yet don’t sugar coat reality. Just look at the facts and make your plans based on them.

•Think Bigger. When making plans, I like to say, “add a zero.” This means, if you want to make $1,000 per month, take a little time and look at what it would take to make $10,000 per month. The simple act of thinking bigger puts you in unfamiliar turf which, if you let it, will open your mind. Your brain is there to help you solve problems and is waiting to answer questions. Why not ask it to figure out how you would go about bringing in more to your business?

•Manage your Mind Monkey™ chatter. When you start thinking Bigger, your Mind Monkey™ will likely start swinging around in your head spouting a plethora of reasons why you can’t or why you shouldn’t think Bigger. Remember that you’re in charge of your thinking, not your Mind Monkey™, so throw it a banana and continue to spend time figuring out what playing Bigger looks like.

•Take your first step Now. Don’t wait for tomorrow, next week, next month or next whatever to start. Begin TODAY and take that first step. Set the tone of doing it Now and you’ll find that procrastination may start taking a back seat to action. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

•Fill your Cool Stuff Jar® all year long! Need I say more? The simple act of acknowledging the cool stuff will put you in a good frame of mind throughout your day.

Here’s to a prosperous year!

©2019 Cass Mullane – All rights reserved

Like many great innovators, Cass Mullane has the unique combination of being a strong creative as well as a strategic thinking MBA. After departing the corporate world in 2004, Cass built a thriving business and personal coaching practice that focuses on accountability and solid business skills for right brainers and creatives. She specializes in helping you tame your Mind Monkey™ while enjoying healthy doses of creativity and play in your business and your life. Tapping into this whole-brain approach has helped to make Cass a highly valued coach with an international clientele.

Cass’ new #1 International Bestseller, The Cool Stuff Jar: Three Simple Ways to Live a Happier Life, is available on Kindle! You can also follow Cass on Facebook!

Guest post by Cass Mullane, Creative Innovator, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

The holidays are upon us!

Most of us get pretty busy during the holidays. Whether it’s preparing for business events, ramping up the retail or just getting together with family and friends, our calendars fill up quickly. But there’s nothing that says you cannot choose to simply cruise through the holidays. In order to set yourself up for smooth sailing, here are five ideas you might think about implementing:

• Set the expectation NOW that you’re going to have a fun, relaxing holiday season. Setting this expectation now, and holding yourself to it, can work wonders toward having a good mindset throughout the holidays. Remember that you, and only you, are in charge of your thinking. Quality thinking will help you make quality decisions and quality decisions will help keep the stress to a minimum.
• Make smarter choices. Do you typically overspend, overeat, overextend yourself during the holidays? Maybe it’s time to make some smarter choices. You can still have plenty of fun without over-anything-ing. Just make one smarter choice in each area each week. Keep your money in your wallet. Leave some food on the plate. Say no to something and preserve that blank space in your calendar. That’s it. The cumulative effect of these small, simple choices will serve you well. And who knows, maybe you’ll carry these smarter choices into 2020 and reap significant positive benefits over the course of the year!
• Manage the Mind Monkey™ noise inside your head. If you’re making a change this year to adopt the expectation that you’re going to have a fun, relaxing holiday season, you’re bound to have times when a Mind Monkey™ starts to play an old tape in your brain, like “the holidays are ‘always’ so stressful.” The keys to managing the noise are 1) identify that the old tape is starting, 2) interrupt that tape and 3) immediately replace that tape with something better. Remember, you’re starting a brand new story for the holidays, one that is full of fun and relaxation. The old story no longer applies, so toss it and make your new story a great story.
• Get enough sleep. As you probably know, most adults need a minimum of 7 hours of quality sleep each night. Are you getting your sleep? The physical, cognitive and emotional effects of extended sleep deprivation are serious. A hard look at what’s currently on your plate might be appropriate. What changes do you need to make in order to get the sleep you need? Now here’s the real question, what changes will you actually choose to make?
• Go out and DO something fun. When you do something fun, lots of good endorphins get released into your body and you feel great. Talk about a 100% natural stress reliever! Something fun could be anything from active winter sports to a meditative spa treatment, to anything in between. You pick what’s right for you. The key is to go out a DO it, not just dream about it.

So be proactive in taking actions that will ensure you’re setting yourself up for a wonderful holiday season. Set the expectation now, make good choices along the way, pay attention to what’s going on in your head, take care of yourself and have some fun! You can choose to enjoy smooth sailing.

©2019 Cass Mullane – All rights reserved

Like many great innovators, Cass Mullane has the unique combination of being a strong creative as well as a strategic thinking MBA. After departing the corporate world in 2004, Cass built a thriving business and personal coaching practice that focuses on accountability and solid business skills for right brainers and creatives. She specializes in helping you tame your Mind Monkey™ while enjoying healthy doses of creativity and play in your business and your life. Tapping into this whole-brain approach has helped to make Cass a highly valued coach with an international clientele.

Cass’ new #1 International Bestseller, The Cool Stuff Jar: Three Simple Ways to Live a Happier Life, is available on Kindle! You can also follow Cass on Facebook!

Guest post by Cass Mullane, Creative Innovator, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

You’ve been distracted.

Perhaps you’ve had a situation that resulted in elevated stress which resulted in a lack of focus on your business which resulted in some serious procrastination which resulted in more on your to-do list than ever! Can you guess what continuing this cycle is likely to trigger? Yep, more stress, more lack of focus, more procrastination, more on the to-do list… and on and on and on.

It’s not that you’re lazy or incompetent or incapable. It’s more likely that you made a series of choices that ended up not necessarily being optimal and this is the consequence. Rather than continue (or give up), it’s time to break the cycle.

So how do you break the cycle?

First off, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone, this happens to all of us at some time or another. Do not waste any of your precious time or energy dwelling on what has already happened. It’s over, you cannot change it. Instead, focus on what you’re going to do to step into a better mindset.

In order to improve your mindset, and thereby improve your ability to make better choices, you’ll need to move a little distance away from the emotions wrapped around your current state of affairs. So, sit comfortably and breathe in and out slowly for about 20 seconds. You’ll find that your mind is clearer and your emotions are calmed. Now take a dispassionate look at the Mind Monkeys™ that were chattering away inside your head.

What were they saying that was triggering the less than optimal choices that you were making? Were you adding things to your plate without taking anything off? Were you saying yes when no would have been a better answer? Were you getting sucked into drama that you did not need to be involved with? Were there legit concerns that had to be addressed and that put a squeeze on you and your resources?

Whatever the reasons, pay attention to the chatter that went through your mind so you’ll be aware the next time you’re starting to travel down this less than optimal path. Think about what might be a better way to respond the next time you feel the stress so you can improve your mindset. Then, you can interrupt the chatter and replace it with something more productive and positive.

This improved mindset can help you break the cycle and lead you to make better choices overall. Better choices will reduce the stress that you’re feeling which will improve your focus which will result in less procrastination and a smaller to-do list… and on and on and on.

BONUS: This is a great tool to develop now, in advance of the holiday season. Putting a little distance between the triggers and your responses allows you time to make better choices. And better choices will make for a more pleasant holiday season for you and the people around you.

©2019 Cass Mullane – All rights reserved

Like many great innovators, Cass Mullane has the unique combination of being a strong creative as well as a strategic thinking MBA. After departing the corporate world in 2004, Cass built a thriving business and personal coaching practice that focuses on accountability and specializes in helping you tame your Mind Monkeys™ while enjoying healthy doses of creativity and play in your business and your life. Tapping into this whole-brain approach has helped to make Cass a highly valued coach with an international clientele.

Cass’ new #1 International Bestseller, The Cool Stuff Jar: Three Simple Ways to Live a Happier Life, is available on Kindle! You can also follow Cass on Facebook!

Guest post by Cass Mullane, Creative Innovator, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

Recently I had coffee with a most divine woman who wanted to grow her business… “a little.” When I asked why it was only “a little,” she hunched over, looked down at her cup and said in a tiny voice, “Because big is so scary.”

We chatted for a while about what she was currently doing and how it was going. Slowly, she uncurled. I asked what her favorite skills were in her toolbox. She sat straighter in her chair. Then I asked her what she dreamed of for her business and the people she served. Her voice became stronger and more animated. She started looking me in the eye and I could see a twinkle in hers. She became her passion and that wonderful energy started to flow outward and sparkle.

She started taking up a much bigger space. We stayed in that space for the rest of the conversation. She was in her joy and I know that the people around us were touched by the power of her being in that beautiful space. She was Big.

What happens when you tap your inner Big? How does it make you feel emotionally and physically? What is the effect on the people around you? What is the effect on your confidence and your creativity?

I’ll bet you feel confident and exhilarated. You breathe deeper and feel stronger and more centered. People are attracted to you because they can feel your joy. You know down to your bones you can have a significant positive effect on the lives of others. You feel like you can take on the world. You’re in flow. You are Big.

Now translate that to your business. There’s no reason at all that you shouldn’t feel the same way about growing your business. The only thing blocking you is, well, you. If you feel yourself shrinking when you start thinking about being Big in your business, it’s just a Mind Monkey℠ chattering in your head about how you can’t or shouldn’t do it. Once you recognize that, and you decide to replace that thinking with something better, you’re on the road to being Big in your business.

For a literal example, I want you to say this sentence out loud: “I will increase my sales by 1% next year.” Are you comfortable? Does this make you feel Big?

Ok, now try this sentence out loud: “I will increase my sales by 10% next year.” Are you comfortable with that? Do you feel Big?

The only difference between the two sentences is a zero. That’s it. A zero is just a number, there is no emotion attached.

Now, say this sentence out loud: “I will increase my sales by 100% next year.” How does that feel? Are you comfortable with that? Now, do you feel Big? Do you know what a 100% increase in your sales amounts to? Think about what good you could do with the money generated by a 100% increase in sales!

My goal here is to get you to get comfortable feeling Big and thinking Big. Start talking to yourself in a way that puts you in flow and makes you feel Big. Then, talk out loud about your business growth in terms of adding a zero to everything. Get used to it. Do it over and over and you’ll diminish that self-imposed fear that holds you back.

You’ve worked hard to get here. You bring a lot of skills and experience to the party. You’re worth so much more to the world.

You Are Big.

©2019 Cass Mullane – All rights reserved

Like many great innovators, Cass Mullane has the unique combination of being a strong creative as well as a strategic thinking MBA. After departing the corporate world in 2004, Cass built a thriving business and personal coaching practice that focuses on accountability and specializes in solid business skills for right-brainers and creatives. Tapping into this whole-brain approach has helped to make Cass a highly valued coach with an international clientele.

Cass’ new #1 International Bestseller, The Cool Stuff Jar: Three Simple Ways to Live a Happier Life, is now out on Kindle! Keep tabs on the book launch and all the fun following the launch by visiting www.coolstuffjar.com and entering your email. You can also follow Cass on Facebook!