New Year - New You

New Year, New You

By Regina Collins, Purposed Success, LLC

Here we are at the beginning of another new year. I love new years. New years are full of hope, possibilities, opportunities, and resolutions. Have you made your New Years Resolution? This year make MVP Planning part of your New Year, New You.

What is MVP Planning? Most of you instantly thought of Most Valuable Person didn’t you? MVP Planning is Mission, Vision, and Purpose Planning. Why is MVP Planning important for your New Year, New You? How often do you make resolutions only to have them fade into the sunset in no time at all? MVP Planning may provide the motivation you need to see your resolution through.

Begin your MVP Planning with your mission. Your mission is at the heart of your endeavors. It is your cause for rising in the morning to greet the day. My mission, what makes my heart beat, is to help others feel successful in their endeavors. It is the end result that I plan each day towards. What is your mission?

Your mission guides your vision. Vision is the human value of your mission. What does your mission do for others? My vision is to empower others to achieve ongoing and sustainable success. What is your vision?

Your mission and vision provide the inspiration for your purpose. Your purpose is to make your vision a reality. Where we tend to get off course is working our vision into our daily lives. That’s where MVP Planning comes in. When you have a clear mission and vision and you realize your purpose is to make them a reality then you can plan each day to that end.

As you put your MVP Plan into action develop a map of where you are and where your vision has you. I relate this to that map at the mall that says “you are here.” Start by creating an image of where you are and where you want to be.

Next establish goals that will help you on your way from here to there. When I am in the mall looking at the map I note stores that are between me and the place I want to be. This helps me know that I am headed the right way and that I am making progress on my journey to my destination. Use your goals the same way. Create goals that measure progress while showing you that you are headed the right direction.

When you have your goals in place, determine what you need to do each day to meet your goals. Schedule daily purpose-driven activities into your calendar. Purpose-Driven Activities (PDAs) are those activities you need to include each day to ensure progress on your journey to your vision. Your PDAs also serve as markers on your journey the same way the stores serve as my markers on my journey through the mall. As you travel from here to your vision, check your goals to make sure you are on the right track and to measure your progress.

I wish you a Happy New Year! As you endeavor to seize the opportunity available to you this year remember to make MVP Planning a part of your New Year, New You.

Wishing You a New Year of Success!

Plan For Success

Why plan for success? Statistics provided by The US Census Bureau's Business Information Tracking Series (BITS) and posted on the Small Business Administration website show approximately 66% of small businesses survive two years or more, only 50% survive four years or more, and just 40% survive six years or more. These statistics confirm that it makes sense for businesses to build a Business Plan to help overcome these percentages. read more...

Master of Efficiency

Are you a Master of Efficiency? If you’re like me it probably depends on the day. Some days it feels as though I’m unstoppable, can’t touch this. Other days it’s like I spent the day on the not-so-merry-go-round. Ever been there?

Just what is the key to earning your Master of Efficiency? For some it is a gift, for others it seems to be a hopeless degree. For those of you who are ready to become more efficient I would like to share with you some steps towards developing your own Master of Efficiency (M.E.) strategies.

The first exercise is the hardest, for me anyway. Stop, sit, and really look at what you do in your 24 hour day. Evaluate where and on what you are spending your time. If you made a list of your most important things (MIT), where would the activities in your day fit in on your MIT list? If you don’t have an MIT list, stop and make one. When you have an MIT list it is a bit easier to say no to the things that don’t help you accomplish those things on your list.

Once you have looked at your schedule and reduced the clutter, you’re ready for your next exercise. Look at your work environment. What things in your work space are creating dead ends? Mine used to be my desktop. You know all those attractive desktop organizer things that promise to keep your desk clear? Not so much for me. For me personally, they created more stress. I would hit a brick wall simply because there was all this neatly organized stuff on my desk staring at me. Since my mind tends to try to average 15 thoughts at once, this was a bit distracting, neat and tidy looking but distracting nonetheless.

My solution was to create files in one of my desk drawers to hold said stuff and create scheduled times to deal with said stuff so as to not forget it was in the drawer. This gave me freedom to work without the distraction of seeing the stuff and no worries that I would forget the stuff.

Another common obstacle is work flow. Is your environment conducive to an efficient flow of work? If you are left handed, as I am, this means my desk needs to be arranged so that I can comfortably write to the left of my workstation. My raw materials and resources need to be to my left and my end products need to be on the right. If you are not in your right brain simply reverse this order to suit your right handed, left brain, needs.

Now that you have de-cluttered your time and space and created flow in your environment, your greatest challenge lies before you.

Like any good diet out there you feel great until you go off the diet. If you want to be a continuing Master of Efficiency you need to build in a maintenance plan. Include regularly scheduled maintenance into your calendar. Review your Most Important Things list. Evaluate if your schedule reflects what you say is important to you. De-clutter your time and space. Check your work flow.

In our every day lives we tend to get so busy living that we skip efficiency. We think we’re too busy for it. The amazing thing about efficiency is that with very little investment you get huge returns. To bad we can’t sell that on Wall Street.

As you work on your Master of Efficiency degree, remember these things: Rome wasn’t built in a day and you don’t become efficient in a day. Mastery of anything involves dedication, determination, and perseverance. You can choose to be your own Master of Efficiency.

Wishing you success!

(This article is a reprint of an article written by Regina Collins, Purposed Success, LLC, for the Jenks Express Community Magazine.)

STRESS LESS

Does your schedule cause you to stress? Whether you own your business or work for someone else you can reduce stress and increase your feelings of success by adding a few simple “habits” to your routine.

Habit 1: PLAN
Plan your week. I schedule time Sunday evening to map out my week. Why Sunday night? Because I used to wake up several times during the night on Sunday nights thinking of all the things that I needed to remember to do or schedule or take care of Monday morning. When I started taking the time to plan all this on Sunday evening I started sleeping much better. Now if I could just get the dogs and kids to cooperate.

Habit 2: BALANCE
Create balance in your schedule. As you plan your week make sure you have balance between work, personal, family, fitness, and quiet time. Countless articles are available showing the direct correlation between a balanced lifestyle and increased productivity and feelings of success. Google was recently one of the featured businesses in a news story about companies encouraging their employees to take breaks during the work day to improve productivity. Schedule time and give yourself permission to take breaks for yourself. If you don’t see positive results you can always go back to all work and no play.

Habit 3: PREPARATION
Establish time to open and close your work day. Schedule time each morning to prepare for your day. Spending a few minutes in the morning looking over your day will get your mind off your schedule so you can focus on being productive. Review your day before leaving the office. Move any “leftovers” from today to tomorrow. Make any needed changes to your schedule for the following day. Prepare for the following day so you are ready for success.

Planning, balance, and preparation are simple steps you can take towards reducing work stress and feeling more successful. As you learn new habits for success give yourself time. Habits don’t happen overnight. Schedule time for these new habits and hold yourself to your schedule. Wishing you success!

Check out our website for more help on reducing your stress. www.purposedsuccess.com

MVP Planning

Today I get to speak to a group about MVP Planning. MVP Planning is very simply planning based on your mission, vision and purpose. I love to use the analogy of putting together a puzzle. Anyone ever put together a jigsaw puzzle? Do you use the picture on the box as a guideline or do you wing it? I've met both types. If you are winging it in your personal or professional life are you finding the success you desire?

The reason the picture on the box is such a help is that it provides a clear vision of success. If you want to have a clear vision of personal and professional success, create your MVP Plan. It is your picture of success to inspire and guide you.

Wishing you success in all you do!

Purpose Pearl

Purpose Pearl: When writing vision, purpose, or goal statements, always write the statement as fact. Write your statement as if it is reality. Your subconscious mind does not understand “try” or “hope to”. Speak your words as fact (“I am”), and your subconscious mind will go to work making it a reality.

Thank you Dr. Migliore

Thank you Dr. R. Henry Migliore for writing such a great foreword for my book. I appreciate you so much.

BOOK 1 COMPLETE!

I am so excited to have sent my first book to the publisher! The book was written to help you achieve the success you envision for yourself personally and professionally. Years of listening to well intentioned people tell me that doing things their way would make me successful left me with a desire to share a framework for developing your own keys to your vision of success.

While writing the book I developed concepts for two others books to take you to the next level. I plan to get started on those right away and will keep you posted on their progress.

All of my books will be offered on Amazon,com and BarnesandNoble.com. As the websites are developed for the books I will share them with you as well.

I am grateful to be able to help others through my books and my business, it is my joy. Until next time!

Wishing you succes

COMING SOON!

We will soon be debuting a newly redesigned website. We will feature our new services as well as our new team members. There will also be seemless integration to our blog in order to provide tips & strategies for success in your business. www.purposedsuccess.com

NEW SERVICES!

Purposed Success, LLC is excited to announce that we have contracted with McKnight & Stone Financial Associates, LLC in order to provide full service Business Plans, Strategic Plans, and Business Optimization Services. Both Purposed Success and McKnight & Stone will be offering coordinated services to provide a one-stop team approach to sustainable business success.

BOOK 1

I am wrapping up the manuscript on Book 1 in my series to provide Business Optimization Tools. I am so excited to be able to reach out and help people through my books. Book 1 will guide you through the processes of developing your own Purposed Success.



Book 1 is anticipated to be released in early '09 and will be available through Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com. Subscribe to this blog for updates as we prepare to launch this book.

Purposed Success

So what is purposed success? A definition reveals purpose is something that one hopes or intends to accomplish while success is a favorable or desired outcome. Purposed Success therefore can mean something that ones hopes or intends to accomplish that is a favorable or desired outcome.

Success is not typically something that just happens. Achieving a desired result (a.k.a. success) is more often the result of intention, resolution, and determination (a.k.a. purpose). Therefore, success is something purposed.

Purposed success is having a vision for a desired outcome and a firm and unwavering adherence to that vision. So what is your vision? What is your purpose?

The vision of Purposed Success, LLC is to provide solutions to enable you to achieve purposed success in your career or business. For more information see www.PurposedSuccess.com.