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!

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

You’ve just gotten back from a great workshop or class or conference. Your mind is open and your head is overflowing with great ideas and inspiration. You look over your notes and handouts and feel excited to get to work and to do some of the things you learned.

Then your phone pings, so you put your notes aside to check your email or answer a text or get on social media. Someone drops by, you chat about the things that happened while you were gone, then you quickly slip right back into the old routine… And the sizzle starts to fade.

A few weeks later, you come across your notes from the event and remember that the thing with the star beside it meant it was really cool, but you cannot remember exactly why. All that great information fades into the background and goes to waste because you didn’t get back to it in time. It’s no longer fresh and sizzling so it loses importance.

Coming back from an event is a challenge especially if no one around you attended. They’re not in the same frame of mind as you are. You’ve changed, they’ve remained the same. So, what can you do about it?

First of all, turn off your distractions, close your door and intentionally review your notes and handouts. Just the act of re-reading your notes will remind you of the things you wanted to pay attention to and it will reinforce the fact that you have an opportunity to make some positive changes.

While you’re reading, use your Stop-Start-Continue skills to figure out what could be beneficial for your business. Code your notes to highlight the things you want to Start, the things you want to Stop and the things you want to Continue.

Then, run through your Stop-Start-Continue codes and:

1. Pick three or four things that you could implement quickly that would make a difference in your business.
2. Pick one of those and put it in place right now.
3. Decide when you will implement the remaining things and put those start and end dates in your calendar. These are dates you must commit to.
4. Connect with someone you met at the event and ask them to be your accountability partner. You have a shared foundation and experience that you can help each other tap when you feel yourself getting off track. (If you’re about to go to an event, set the intention of meeting at least one accountability partner there!)
5. Commit to following through with all of this.

Events are fantastic sources of inspiration, fresh perspective, deeper insight and even a swift kick in the pants to move you into action. You have the opportunity to take advantage of other people’s experience and knowledge to optimize something in your business, avoid a pitfall or streamline a process. Make sure you maximize the benefits to your business by committing to selecting a few key things you learned and working them into your business intentionally. That way, while the party may have ended, you can capitalize on the good feeling by improving your business.

©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!

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

Have you ever had a situation where you sent someone a text or an email and the message was completely misunderstood? Ever had a prolonged period of discomfort between you and the recipient as a result?

Because we have dehumanized communications an awful lot gets lost in translation.

When you post, send a text, IM or email you do so without the benefit of direct human interaction. You don’t make eye contact, you don’t hear the tone of voice nor do you see each other’s body language. You lose the ability immediately to note how someone is actually responding to what you’re saying and to clarify in the moment to ensure the message is heard properly.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t take advantage of the efficiency and convenience of technology. It would be pretty hard to run your business without using posts, texts, IMs and emails. I’m also not saying that you cannot be creative in what you write and how you express yourself. (After all, my friends know that I’m the queen of making up words!) What I’m talking about is when you need to convey a message clearly to your clients and customers, your staff, your vendors and your peers.

Here are three simple things you can do to make sure less gets lost in translation:

1. Make your point.
2. Make sure your context is clear.
3. Make your point in language that your recipient will relate to.

Make your point. Here are some stats I’ve been seeing: On average, business people receive about 90 emails each day and send about 40. If you’re 45-55 you receive and send about 16 texts/IMs per day, If you’re 25-45 you receive and send more than 85 texts/IMs every day. If you’re under 24, that number rises to 128 per day. So get to the point. Considering how much we’re bombarded with digital contacts, you need to make your point clearly and fastly (see how I make up words? Lol!).

Make sure your context is clear. You have seen how a tweet can be taken out of context and spun into a media frenzy. Take a moment to make sure your recipients know what your context is and keep it crystal clear. Remember that your recipients are human and they’re often in a hurry so they will only scan your message rather than reading it carefully.

Make your point in language that your recipient can relate to. Think about who you are writing to and make sure you use their language. It’s not about you, it’s about your recipient. When you do this, your odds of being heard and understood go up dramatically.

Take care in what you write… I’m not talking about the 125 character limit, but actual words and phrases carefully selected to convey a message as it is intended to be received. Make your point, give clear context around your message and do your best to say what you mean in a way that it will be received as you intended. Plug in your brain and practice writing quickly and clearly. Oh, and spell things out instead of always shortcutting… KWIM?

©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!