Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Ane Axford

For most of my life I didn’t know the difference between being exhausted and being sleepy or tired. It seemed like I only slept when I crashed from exhaustion. I didn’t know that I could just feel sleepy when my body was ready to rest until many years later when I learned what I am about to tell you. And it got WAY worse before it got better when I became an entrepreneur.

Many entrepreneurs may have a more highly sensitive nervous system that picks up on things at a deeper level. If you have your own creative, small business that may mean that you wear many hats and you may like it that way. You may like the creative freedom and control to use what your sensitive body is picking up on. HOWEVER, you may also be burning yourself out because there is always more you can do.

Our nervous systems work with our hormones and our blood sugar to create our energy state. Really, our whole body is connected to how we generate energy. But, specifically, part of our endocrine system called our adrenal glands have a lot to do with how these sensitive nervous systems work with energy in our bodies.

When we are over-stimulated, we can begin to use adrenaline and cortisol to help us get through it. If you are chronically over-stimulated, you chronically run on these hormones and that can have an effect on your whole system. Adrenaline’s only speed is “go”…until you can’t go anymore. This is why I didn’t know the difference between being sleepy and being exhausted. Many small business owners complain of being “tired but wired”. This can be a state of adrenal fatigue.

Some recommendations ::

1. Find me on facebook (Ane Axford) to join the Fall :: In Love With Being Alive challenge that will take you through some not-so-common health strategies.

2. Check out a supplement with adaptogens in it, such as Adrenal Optimizer from Jarrow Formulas. You can find that on Amazon.com

3. Eat within 90 minutes of waking to get your blood sugar going and then make sure to maintain it throughout the day with a slow carb diet that has plenty of protein and lightly cooked greens. Limit the fast carbs, like processed sugar, wheat, and dairy. Especially limit caffeine and other stimulants close to bedtime. That includes TV, computers,and other things with a screen like your smart phone.

4. Take a bath with Epsom salt, baking soda, and essential oils in the evening to calm you, soothe you, detox you and prepare you to rest.

After making a few subtle shifts, you will be able to start operating on a cycle of natural rest and productivity. You will stay connected to your natural states and operating within them optimally instead of forcing anything. Rather than using yourself up like a battery, you will become your own source of power.

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Ane Axford is a licensed psychotherapist, clinical hypnotist, and highly sensitive CEO of sensitive + thriving, Inc. She utilizes holistic lifestyle services to serve those who have the genetic trait of high sensitivity in thriving wherever they may be, from struggling to leading with sensitivity. Ane is of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.

Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Amy Egenberger

What anchors you? When it comes to growing your creative entrepreneur-ship, it’s important to prepare. What will steady the voyage through times of change? People, processes and controls.

In a recent MOOC (massive online open course) I completed about growing a small business, the professor highlighted these key provisions. To successfully grow a small business, you need people, processes and controls in place.

How is your business doing in these three areas?

People.
Many of us are solopreneurs, but that doesn’t mean we are alone. In fact, we never really do anything alone. Look around. Who are the people you want aboard for the next leg of your business journey? If you don’t see them on your radar screen, describe them. Jot down the talents and traits someone would need to become a part of your growing-business team. Then keep your eyes open for such crew to show up.

For example, after three years of leading a meetup group, I finally looked around and wondered who might co-lead. There she was! An ideal fit to team up with me, and since she stepped up, attendance and participation has grown, too. I’m doing less and our customers receive more.

Processes.
How do operations happen in your business? What is the flow from customer contact to purchase to delivery to follow-up? Maybe it’s time to record what you do. Then consider how it could be improved through technology, automation or other creative changes. Figure out a way to communicate your business processes. Like in a captain’s log or user manual, you’ll want the how-to’s articulated so that when all hands are needed on deck, your team will know how things run on your particular ship.

In my case, I do too much of my communications by hand. By sketching out the flow chart of what I currently do, I’ll be poised to find the assistance the meets the need.

Controls.
What quality checks do you need or already have in place? As you grow and let go of being the one to do absolutely everything, you still want to keep a handle on quality controls. You want to trust that your customers can count on the same great products and services from your brand.

For instance, when I’m ready to contract more teachers to facilitate the learning modules I’m creating, I’ll need to create agreements and understanding on the Spirit Out! experience we stand for and deliver.

A few ways to start:
1. Acknowledge those who are currently contributing to your business. (This necessarily includes you!) Write out job descriptions, present and future, to make way for hiring help.
2. Make a flow chart or graphic organizer to depict the key processes in your biz.
3. Identify ways to ensure quality and integrity of your brand both now and moving forward.

Whether you are deciding to grow your business now, or are dreaming of expanding someday, you’ll want to give weight to these three essentials: people, processes and controls.

Anchors aweigh!

Making way for creative action, Amy Egenberger, MEd., CPCC, is proud to be a Licensed Facilitator of the Right Brain Business Plan®. She is a seasoned educator, life coach, artist and founder of Spirit Out! Coaching. Amy helps people find the courage and clarity to get moving on their creative path. A book, a business, a project, a change… your creative spirit gets out! Amy is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.

Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Cass Mullane

I just watched someone MAKE something good happen. He took what looked like a negative outcome, stopped it midstream, and turned it into a big win.

So here’s the scenario. In the morning the executive director had to pull the plug on a class that did not have enough registrants fill. The teacher had been notified and the staff had already made the calls to the people who had signed up to let them know that the class did not have enough registrants and was being canceled. They were getting ready to process the refunds in the afternoon when a new person materialized and said she would like to register for the class.

At first the new person was told that the class had been canceled. Everyone was apologetic and sympathetic, but the decision had been made. Then, there was a little hesitation, a little thought, and the executive director swung into action. He spoke with the teacher to see if the class could be run a couple of weeks later, she said yes. He then personally contacted each of the people who had registered and asked if they could attend on the new dates, they said they could and were quite happy about it. He confirmed that the new person could attend on the new dates, she said yes and that she had a friend who was also interested in the class. She contacted her friend, and the friend was able to attend on the new dates. In the span of less than half an hour, the class was back on the schedule with the new dates and everyone was happy from the teacher to the students to the executive director and the staff!

Taking that sort of action with that sort of attitude is indicative of a great leader. The teacher saw it, the potential students experienced it and the staff watched it unfold before their own eyes. How do you think each of those people is going to feel about that facility and the people associated with it? They’ll want to be there, they’ll remember how well they were treated and how the people bent over backwards to try to accommodate them, and they’ll recommend the place (www.CottonwoodCenterForTheArts.com) and the people. Not bad for half an hour’s work!

Think about some ways you can practice strong leadership. Maybe it’s taking the time and effort to come up with a creative solution to a problem. Maybe it’s turning and facing something that might get hard instead of walking away. Maybe it’s simply stepping in and making some calls yourself. Whatever it is, do it because the results can be powerful.

What have you done lately to MAKE something good happen?

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Cass Mullane’s calm, comfortable approach consistently yields positive results for clients. Her business and personal coaching practice, www.ProsperCreatively.com, specializes in delivering solid left brain business skills to right brainers and creatives in a fun, visual way. She’s the author of Cool Stuff Jar which is slated for publication in Spring 2014. You can also visit Cass on Facebook. Cass is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.”

Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Laura Burns

“I’m so busy! My to-do list never ends!”

I say stuff like this all time, and I’m betting you do as well. Sometimes my days feel crazy busy and my to-do list gets so full that I start a second, less urgent, to-do list. My calendar fills up and soon my work day feels like rush hour as I try to tackle everything at full speed.

Are you nodding your head at this description? Is this hitting a little too-close to home?

If so, you may have too much on your plate. I’ve recently found that it’s high time for me to step back, take a few minutes, and pare down my to-do list to just the bare essentials.

Before you protest, humor me for a moment. I want you to imagine that you only have a few things on your list for today. Envision the peace that comes from that simple little fact. Think about how it would feel to give yourself space, emotionally and physically, to create a day full of simplicity, focus, and productivity. Instead of completing 10 small tasks that don’t matter much, you could accomplish a few things that will actually really impact your business.

Of course the difficult part is actually implementing this relaxed philosophy! It’s absolutely totally possible, this workday of peace, but it takes focus, energy, and a healthy dose of stubbornness. I know, because I’ve been steadily working on changing my work-style.

Here’s what I’ve been doing. I encourage you to try this for a while – it’s reduced my stress quite a bit!

Clarify your goals. In order to know is important enough to make your pared down list, you have to know what you’re trying to achieve. If you’re not clear on your goals, you won’t have a way to know if a task is essential. Take some time to review your vision for your work and any goals you’ve set recently. What’s your big project right now? Where are you trying to take your business this year? Next year? What do you need to do in next few months to make those things happen? And what can you do this week? By clarifying your goals you are providing yourself with a roadmap. Focus on just one goal at a time for now, until that is achieved, and then focus on the next.

Value yourself. If you don’t know your value, you won’t value your time. If you don’t value your time, you’ll say yes to everything and your to-do list will look super crazy all the time. Clear a block of time to take a personal inventory, and assess your skills and talents. What are you worth? I’m betting you’re undervaluing how much your time is worth. Think about it, and get clear about how much you want your time to be worth. Then, and this is a bigger, don’t accept any work that’s not worth your time.

Bang for your buck. Look at your to-do list: which tasks on there really, really matter? Which ones will provide the most satisfaction, get you closer to your goals, and pay off for you the most in the long run? Put a star next to those tasks. If you don’t have any of those tasks on your list, consider coming up with a few. These are what you should focus on.

Three things. If your to-list still has a bunch of things on it, take time each morning to choose three to focus on for the day. “But I want to do five or seven!” NO. Be cutthroat. Prioritize, and only choose three. Write those three on a separate piece of paper, and that’s your to-do list for today. I make a new post-it note every day with my three things on it.

Random folder. Here’s my favorite solution to the small task distraction problem that tends to muck up my work day and keep me from focusing on my three things. Every day, as those small tasks crop up I write them on scraps of paper or post-its and put them in a separate folder – I call it my Random Folder. The best part is that after you add your small task to the folder, you put the folder away! Don’t leave it next to your computer. Don’t add it to your stack on ongoing work. File it in a drawer, stick it in a rack on the wall, whatever you need to do to keep it out of your line of sight. Create a recurring pop-up reminder in your schedule for an hour or so late in the day or on specific days to batch process those small tasks. Phone calls, quick memos, paperwork, whatever – it’s amazing how quickly you can get through all those small tasks when you focus on them at one time. This one work-style change has dramatically improved my focus and productivity. I’m no longer stopping to complete a small task and then getting distracted by something else that only leads me off in a new direction.

There’s no magic wand here, folks. I know this will sound awful to some people, and I was skeptical at first. I’ve traditionally been a multi-tasker to the extreme, but it no longer serves me to work that way. I’m glad I’ve found this new way of structuring my work day, and I hope you try some of these ideas. I really think they can help people looking for ways to improve their work life.

I help heart-forward businesses create thoughtfully crafted plans for growth and sustainability. I love to inspire people to think critically, dream big, and clear out the cobwebs to let in the light and the joy! Wanna leave your soul-crushing job to start your own business? Check out my new book, Work Life Revolution! Laura Burns is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.

Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Amy Egenberger

I think we agree. The creative path is not linear. It folds, turns, and spirals around in ways we cannot see.

Then why do we look for those linear connections? How come we get hooked on cause-effect thinking? We do marketing “Action A” and expect “Business B” to come in, immediately. 

Okay, sometimes it might work that way. But this summer reminded me to marvel at the mystery of something else at play in having business opportunities come our way unexpectedly.

Three clients came in that I didn’t see coming. Now, it’s not unusual for people to contract my services, but these three people seemed to come out of left field at a time when my marketing efforts have been in low gear. 

The first new client is a young woman who called me up to coach her through a threshold on her artistic journey. The last time I saw her, she was six and I was her first grade teacher.

The second person I met two decades ago at church, and then facilitated a visioning retreat for her company. Now near retirement, she hired me to coach her successor through the leadership transition as she passes the baton.

A third new client came as a referral from school consulting work that I’d done seven years ago.

On one hand we need to be out there, doing good work and sharing the story of what we offer. That outward direction takes action, perseverance and creative courage to mindfully get the word out.

The other hand is receptive, open to catch the peaceful opportunities that come back our way. Sometimes the connection is direct; sometimes it is not. That’s when faith comes in handy. We practice trusting that the well-intentioned, well-placed work and communication about our work brings value to others AND brings more business back around.

Put the work out there and the word will come in.
Put the word out there and the work will come in.
Both are true in my experience.

So what lessons do I glean from this windfall of peaceful opportunities? To persist in doing the work and sharing the word. To be patient as to when the return will come. To be grateful and open to the possibilities of those direct leads to turn, curve and take their time.

Make Your Own Memo
Here’s a simple device you can make. It reminds us to open up to new business in both linear and non-linear fashion. I call it my “Mobius Memorandum to the Universe.”

1. Take a strip of paper. (1/2” x 11” works fine)

2. On one side write what you are offering. On the other side, write the work you are welcoming in.

Here’s one example.

Offering Out: “Helping people find freedom, move creative projects forward, and shine spirit beauty.
Welcoming In: Ready clients, good consulting gigs, art buyers.”

3. Bring both ends of the strip together, and give one end a half twist before taping. See demo here.

4. Let the melding of the two sides remind you of the giving/receiving balance of being open for business.

May abundant possibilities ensue!

**Join Amy starting Sept. 9, 2013 for fun & focus to make your biz plan real.
Right-Brain Business Plan® E-Course

Making way for creative action, Amy Egenberger, MEd., CPCC, is proud to be a Licensed Facilitator of the Right Brain Business Plan®. She is a seasoned educator, life coach, artist and founder of Spirit Out! Coaching. Amy helps people find the courage and clarity to get moving on their creative path. A book, a business, a project, a change… your creative spirit gets out! Amy is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.

Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Laura Burns

“You,” the brand is a smart and effective marketing strategy. It’s branding and marketing that puts the true you on display in order to create connections and engagement with your customers and community. Sounds great, right? Well yes, but only if you’re really doing it right.

Unfortunately people often misunderstand what the essence of this concept truly is. I see well-meaning business owners take the idea and run with it, only to end up a little too perfect — packaged, programmed, and plastic. They’re presenting what they think we want to buy, not their real selves. What a turn-off! That kind of attempt at ‘authenticity’ leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths, but can be avoided by truly just being yourself. The things you try to hide about yourself might actually be your greatest marketing tool.

When I first started out I was scared to let potential clients see me the way I felt most comfortable. I dressed and spoke differently because I wanted to be taken seriously and respected. But I didn’t respect myself, and I didn’t feel good about my business. I finally gave myself permission to let my guard down and release the anxiety I was holding onto. I stopped hiding all the ‘flaws’ I saw in myself and let it all hang out. It was the best decision I ever made. All of a sudden I was attracting the clients and community I felt comfortable with and was excited by. My people came out of the woodwork and wanted to be my client because I was like them. They never would have known if I hadn’t just been myself, exactly the way I am.

We all want this kind of authenticity in our interactions and inspirations. We don’t want some pre-planned production with a script and stage lighting – we want to know the real you. We want to hear about all the parts of your business, not just the victories and successes. Seeing someone deal with a setback can be incredibly compelling and can increase our emotional investment in their success. Isn’t that what we strive for? To have a following of people who genuinely care if we succeed and will participate in our success either as customers or promoters.

Here are five ways to find your authentic brand:

1) Know your values and never compromise them, even if doing so might lead to short-term gain. Integrity and authenticity go hand in hand. For me, covering my tattoos felt like compromising my values. As soon as I stopped hiding my true self my business exploded and I attracted tons of clients and supporters who saw themselves in me and wanted to connect.

2) Take care of yourself. Find things that nurture you and make you feel good. This will deepen your sense of self and your self-confidence. When you take care of yourself you feel good, and when you feel good you do great work.

3) Have fun. Life is short and often difficult. Fun and a sense of humor help us all get through. They also happen to be amazing productivity and community-building tools. I can’t tell you how many tough meeting I’ve been in where the mood is turned around by some genuine humor. Exercise your funny bone.

4) Don’t hide your “flaws”. No one is perfect and no one is expected to be perfect. You may be cranky at times, have tattoos, or be an introvert in an extroverted field. Well, guess what? The world is full of people just like you who need your help. Understand yourself — talents and “flaws” — and bring it all to the table.

5) Know what you want. Save yourself the time and energy and skip the opportunities that’ll just make you feel bad about yourself and your work. To the greatest extent possible, only go after opportunities that ignite your passion and stir your soul.

I help heart-forward businesses create thoughtfully crafted plans for growth and sustainability. I love to inspire people to think critically, dream big, and clear out the cobwebs to let in the light and the joy! Wanna leave your soul-crushing job to start your own business? Check out my new book, Work Life Revolution! Laura Burns is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.