So today happened. Err, it is happening. It’s been one of those days where I woke up energized to do big things, to really move the needle, but I’m so motivated that I don’t have a focus.

You know what I mean?
You do know what I mean, right?

(Click here if you can’t see the video.)

See? The video didn’t even make focused sense! Ugh.

So, the question of the day is: how do you find your focus?

How do you force yourself to get to work when there are so many fantastic things you could be working on? How do you pick one when there are such great options?

My brain needs you. It needs you bad.

HELP!

In scatterbrainedness we trust,
Annie

I ran into this poster last weekend:

So the key, then, would be realizing when you’re just “being busy.” Right?

Knowing when you’re just being busy, or you’re not on the right track, or you’re in need of halting your dig.

Right?

Stopping, every once in a while, is a good thing, you know. Taking a moment to put down the to-do list, to take a step back and reflect.

Pausing is a good thing. A coffee break pause, a weekend pause, a summer vacation pause.

Use them to relax and determine if you are on that elusive right track, whatever that might be for you. Then – and here’s the kicker – make sure, before you take the pause in the first place, that you’ll be able to deal with and take action upon the realizations that come forth while you’re doing it.

Otherwise, what’s the point? Might as well carry on digging that hole that may or may not be in the wrong place.

Being busy is seductive. But what’s even more so? Being busy with the confidence that you’re busy-ing in the right direction.

Don’t you think?

We have a friend who frequently asks for our opinion on personal development books. Which one he should read next, specifically, and unlike many others who never make it to this step, he actually picks up what we recommend and reads them. Go him!

However, the accolades, sadly, end there. He reads them, we ask what he thought, and his response usually centers around, “It was ok, but I knew all of that stuff already.”

After completing the book, he doesn’t live his life any different than he did before.

He doesn’t grow.
He doesn’t admit to himself that he could grow.
He doesn’t take any action based on what he read.

In essence, he’s just reading. Entertaining himself.

Reading books for entertainment is fine. Great, even. I do it all of the time.

Personal development, though? If you want to improve the circumstances in your life, you have to not only make the decision to read (or listen) and follow through with it, but you have to accept the knowledge you gain and allow it to change you.

Don’t forget the difference, ok?

I’m the kind of character that loves working from home, but struggles with it sometimes.

And isn’t afraid to admit it.

I’m the kind of character that writes because she loves it, but hopes beyond hope that at least one person out there finds a tiny bit of inspiration or hope or…laughter?…from her writing.

But she would do it anyway, even if there wasn’t.

I’m the kind of character that tends to hesitate to push herself, yet jumps at the challenge when someone else doubts her.

I’m the kind of character who believes that anyone can improve their situation, if they simply decide to make a change.

If they decide to push through the fear of change.

I’m the kind of character who thrives on self-education, making a difference, and connecting with others.

I’m the kind of character who used to think she “worked hard for the money.”

The artist put those words on this drawing for me, but I believed them wholeheartedly.

Now that phrase makes me crinkle up my nose and wonder how I changed so much. It makes me think about how I still work hard, but in a totally, completely, 1000% different way.

(I wonder if my mouse still loves me, even if I tethered its cord long, long ago? :) )

I’m the kind of character who thinks it’s important to sit back once in a while and review who you are and where you’re going.

The kind of character who gets a kick out of finding an old, forgotten artist’s rendering of herself and how much it makes her think about where she was and what she was like at the time it was created.

(Early 2004, by the way.)

What kind of character are you?

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

An old line. But a true one.

Instead of seeing projects or progress as giant mountains to climb, why not break things down into smaller, more focused pieces. I think a lot of us, present company included, tend to default to seeing the whole picture for, well, all that it is. Kind of hard not to.

Your goal is to replace your entire salary with your side business.
Your goal is to read 52 books this year.
Your goal is to pay off all your debt.

How do you make progress on such huge accomplishments? How do you know what you should be doing today, this very minute, to get a smidge closer to making them happen? I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t have vision that focused.

Break it down, place your focus on the tidbits. The monthly, weekly, daily digestible tidbits.

Digest one at a time, over and over and over again. And before you know it, that elephant will be yours.

Yum. :)

So. You know how you hear people say that “stick with your gut” line? Sometimes that’s easy to do, right? But for some reason, there are also times where sticking with your gut is maddeningly difficult to do.

Argh.

I left my corporate job in January 2010, and shortly thereafter I applied to volunteer at a couple places around town. Giving my time to others was a big part of my excitement about finally being self-employed and having complete control over my schedule. Except, a few months into it, it wasn’t exciting.

I signed up for Habitat for Humanity, enrolled in several iterations of the volunteer orientation, and could never get myself to go.

I signed up at a local animal shelter, attended several of the orientations, scheduled myself to volunteer on several different occasions, and couldn’t get myself to go.

I was failing at volunteering. I mean, seriously, who fails at volunteering?!

For many weeks and months I thought something was wrong with me. None of it felt right. I doubted that I did, in fact, want to work in my community. I felt selfish. I felt lazy. And never once did it occur to me that maybe I should think about why I wasn’t interested, or that perhaps my lack of interest was a signal one part of my brain (wherever that “gut” thing is located?) was trying to send to another part of my brain.

It’s not a fit for you, Annie! It’s not a fit for you, Annie!

Then, while I was busy working on something completely unrelated the other day, it hit me out of the blue; it’s not that I don’t want to be volunteering, it’s just that I picked the wrong outlet for it. Duh duh DUH. So I stopped what I was doing, hopped into the car, and drove to the closest library.

The library! Of course! Do I need to say duh again?

I picked up and filled out an application. I returned a couple days later for an interview. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the specific department in which I will be spending my time. Later this week I will be a full-fledged volunteer for the first time. And I can’t WAIT.

I ignored my gut for months, I logic’d myself into something I didn’t feel was right, and even made myself feel guilty about it. I wish I would have listened to that little voice in my head much, much sooner.

Why is making the decision to ignore logic and go with your gut feeling sometimes require so much darn convincing? Shouldn’t it be, you know, a gut decision? Something done without thinking?

Beats me. I don’t know the answer. But what I do know is that I will be trying to listen to it more often.

You with me?

Want your business to grow this year? Making a big difference on the success of your 2011 doesn’t have to mean making big changes.

1. Throw out your New Year’s resolutions and annual goals. It’s January 19th; define five, specific mini-goals you would like to accomplish by February 15th. Then get to work.

2. Be honest with social media. In 2009 the masses were introduced to the social media world. 2010 they tested it out and tried to put every, single piece of it to use for their business. This year? Be honest about what fits best for you. If you don’t connect with Twitter, decide not to use it. If you get a lot of use out of MySpace, don’t be guilted into not using it. Be honest with yourself and the best use of your time online.

3. Send a gift to a networking contact for no reason. Write “Just because I thought you’d enjoy it” on the card. My recommendation? A book, of course.

4. Say no. You can do it, ready? Nooohhhhhhuuuuwahh. Try it again? Noohhuu. Nice! Now keep practicing.

5. Set aside ten minutes every day to learn something new. You pick the method – a non-fiction book, a blog, a trade magazine, whathaveyou. Do it either first thing in the morning or last thing at night, and discipline yourself to never skip a day.

6. Contact a local university and submit a job posting for an intern. You’ll be providing a student with valuable work experience and getting a second pair of hands for free in the process.

7. Answer the question – what do I have to offer? What specific experiences and knowledge do I possess? Write down the answer (or answers) and make a plan to develop a product around it. Be it a new email series for your clients, a weekend convention for potential customers, or even an ebook for your blog audience, you’re offering something new, building relationships, and adding an additional income stream to your business.

8. Every other time before you hit Send on that tweet or Update on that status, erase what you wrote and write a sincere promotion for someone else instead.

9. In the next week, identify two of the most common processes that occur in the everyday operations of your business. Pick one of them, step back from it for a minute, take yourself out of the equation, and find a way to automate that process. Everything can be systemized, you just need to figure out how. Make it happen. Put the system into effect immediately. If you’re feeling super-productive, repeat this exercise monthly.

10. Say “thank you” to someone – anyone – every day.

11. Once a quarter, if not once a month, spend a long weekend with the most likeminded friends you have. Travel across the country if you have to. If you don’t have friends with the same goals and mindset as you do, attend a networking event every week and network your face off until you find them.

So, what do you think? What would you add to the list?

Hi, I’m Annie. Now, who are you?

This month, I’m approaching my one-year anniversary of fleeing the corporate world and launching into 100% self-employment (HO.LY.BUCKETS.). As the date gets closer and closer I find myself reflecting more and more on what I’ve learned the past 12 months. The #1 thought that repeatedly keeps rising to the surface – how much I’ve learned about myself.

The obvious nature of self-employment is that you only report to yourself. You don’t have a boss, you don’t have a manager, you don’t have co-workers. No one’s telling you what to do, how to do it, or even when to do it. Because of that, you’re able to define for yourself the what, the how, and the when.

Throughout the past year I have learned that I most enjoy reading in the mornings, right after breakfast.
I have learned that I hit a productive streak around 10am.
I have learned that I hit an unproductive streak around 2pm.

I’m not actually hungry for lunch at noon, but more like 1:30 to 2pm.
I don’t naturally want to go to bed at 10pm and get up at 6, I go to bed at midnight and rise at 7:30 or 8.
Hands down my most productive work occurs in the evenings, anytime after 8pm.

I communicate best around 1pm.
I write my best around 10am and 10pm.
I dream and visualize best early in the morning.

I am a classic jeans and t-shirt type of gal. Collared shirts? Sweaters and slacks? Never touch ‘em.

All of that? It’s who I am. It’s who I am really. Without the influence of limits.

In the corporate world, I arrived when I was told to arrive (Ha! Well, most of the time…), went to meetings when I was asked to go to meetings, left when I was allowed to leave, ate when I was allowed to eat. In following someone else’s schedule, I never really got to know myself.

You could say I never did because I never had the opportunity to.

However, you could also say that I never got to know myself and the way I work and live best because it never occurred to me to pay attention.

When do YOU work best?
When do YOU work not-your-best?
How do YOU learn the most?
When does it work best for YOU to eat? Sleep? Work? Read? Relax?

Pretty powerful food for thought here. Whether you’re in a position to decide and act upon every area of your life at the moment or not, I encourage you to at least give it consideration.

Get to know yourself. The past year (almost!) has allowed me to do that without assumptions or restrictions or rules or standards to follow. You might not be in a situation where you can act this way every day all day, but see if you can find a moment in your schedule to incorporate unlimiting periods of time into your day, week, or even month.

If you take away all of your limitations, what will you find out about you? You really?

What do you think – if someone else currently dictates your schedule, does it mesh with your personal schedule? When you work best, when you want to relax/eat, etc? Do you ever reflect on that? Do you think any of it even makes a difference?

P.S. It is currently 9:37pm. Maybe I should wait until 10pm before I hit Publish? :)

I read because…

…it makes me a better conversationalist.

…it opens my eyes to all sorts of things I never would have thought of if I hadn’t read it in a book. A novel talking about family relationships that makes me consider and mull over my own. A high-profile CEO talking about mentorship in a way I’d never thought about. Internet entrepreneurs talking about their mistakes in marketing with social media, comparing them to my own experiences. A journalist in New Orleans recounting his emotions during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that I never understood until then.

I read because…

…self-education is far more powerful than formal education.

…it teaches and reminds me how much I don’t know about the world, about culture, about business, and about life.

People ask me this all the time. Not directly, perhaps, but indirectly with their questions about how I can find the time to read so much, or how I can find books of such different genres so interesting, or how I know so much about books that I haven’t yet even read. It applies to blogs and magazines, too. The answers are really simple, actually.

Why do I read? Because it’s fascinating.

Truth!

And that’s all there really is to it.

Have you thought about this before? Am I weird in thinking about it this way? (Always a strong possibility. :) )

Why do you spend some of your precious minutes of the day reading books/blogs/magazines? Let me know!

I was sitting in the salon chatting with my hair stylist the other day, and we got to talking about business and learning and self-education. Without really thinking about it, I quickly mentioned several books that I assumed everyone was familiar with – the most important of which was Rich Dad Poor Dad.

She had never heard of it and grew more and more excited about the recommendation. How it could help her husband with the launch of his new business, how it could help her business, how it could affect them personally, etc. She even made plans to run to the bookstore that afternoon.

The entire exchange surprised me. I mean, what? Doesn’t everyone know about Robert Kiyosaki’s work? And how it could change their mindset and assumptions about wealth and business? At the very least, how it’s the #1 bestselling business book?

Be Careful With Assumptions

I shouldn’t have made such an assumption. I had added the specific book titles into the conversation without a thought. If I was in a lazy mood that day or tired of talking I might not have even brought them up. And all of it really got me thinking about sharing. Specifically, sharing with a purpose.

How often do we not share a passion or interest of ours, a piece of our knowledge with others? Are we assuming that they won’t care about it or that it won’t make a difference? Are we assuming that they are already aware? Why?

Value Your Knowledge

Life is often about surrounding yourself with likeminded individuals, those that have similar ideals, similar goals, similar lifestyles. However, I think that in doing so we’re often lead to assume that everyone shares our knowledge and experiences. Yes, everyone in your circle might know, but everyone else? Probably not.

Don’t pre-judge people. Place a higher value on your knowledge and experiences in regards to their benefits to others. Lean towards assuming that your knowledge could be helpful, versus the opposite. Be polite, of course. But place importance on what you have to offer. A book, a company looking to hire, your Mom’s famous stuffing recipe, the best hotel in Rome, your favorite blogger. You never know when what you share could land on needy ears.

In Summary? Share!

I joked with my stylist that I expected a full book report the next time I came in. She practically jumped up and said that she would gladly write down and share her thoughts. Her thoughts, mind you, on a book I selfishly assumed everyone knew was out there. So exciting.

Thoughts? What have you shared lately? What knowledge do you have – big or little – that you’d like more people to know about?