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Time = Gold (and … money = silver) by @SBSLEducSoltns

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by SJ Barakony | Featured Contributor

Putting Productivity ahead of Busy-ness in Business

 

“I’m so busy!”

“How are you? How’s business?  Busy!”

 

There are mild variants,  yet, the theme is constant: The individual is … say it with me now …. B-u-s-y.

Since when did our nation’s backbone, entrepreneurs, decide that this status was the end all, be all, in conversation, let alone in practice?

Let’s reframe. First, though, empathy & grace are necessary.

I know: There’s a LOT on your plate;  I’m sure many of these are on your calendar, scribbled on sticky notes, and/or are pop up reminders on your smart device:  Payroll. Review insurance coverage. Talk to the V.A; accountant; and/or financial advisor. Respond to client messages. Etc …

Still, we shouldn’t aspire to busy-ness; when we stop, if merely for a moment & reflect, we realize that as entrepreneurs, we’re solution providers & producers.

Thus, the more we produce, the more pro-ductive we are: it’s productivity which we should strive for, a 1:1 replacement for the ‘busyness’ that is our default answer to so many questions.

Painting a picture to aid in this mindset shift, we revisit the 1st few words …

 

Time = Gold.

 

… and now can move to implement this truth in our business first ( self-leadership ), then, model it for staff + customers, lastly, replicating it to other entrepreneurs in our network.

 

Those who are wise won’t be busy, and those who are too busy can’t be wise.”
― Lin Yutang

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Lin Yutang #quote

 

 

Precious Metals

 

Gold :  

Time is an irreplaceable asset, just like gold. Gold is finite & very rare: Its value has held firm for thousands of years & once was used regularly in commerce worldwide. Just like there’s always been a 24 hour day, the amount of gold available for mining is constant; fluctuation in the ‘price’ of gold is due to the underlying currencies, just like your productivity ties to how well you lead yourself.

Silver :

Money is a reflection, a flag, which signals how much value you’ve added to the marketplace; your monetized service, product, &/or specialized knowledge is your entrepreneurial bridge b/w problem identified & solution provided. We look to silver now, as its value is also stable, yet it’s more abundant in nature than gold. So, with an abundance mentality x growth mindset, you know you can grow your share of this not fixed pie.

 

 

Two must read books

Without a shred of doubt, I wholeheartedly recommend both. Each has a high ceiling of potential energy which can be tapped to lead to dramatic improvements in your productivity & reduced busy-ness.

 

E-Myth: Revisited

The Fifth Discipline

 

Stephen R. Covey

He passed away over 6 years ago, gone & not forgotten as a pioneer; through his off the charts levels of contribution, we have much to tap into. The 4 quadrants is something to study often, & implement in short order.

 

Covey’s Time Management Matrix, in the written word

Or perhaps you’d learn better from a visual?

 

 

Suggested ‘Twitterverse’ Follows

 

A Helpful Guide to Becoming Unbusy by Joshua Becker

How to Stop Being Busy All the Time from Gus Razzetti

4 Ways to Break Free From Being “Too Busy” penned by Rikki Rogers , culled from The Muse

 

Leverage = Legacy

 

This concept is transformational.  Pulling from the vastness of the internet, here are two marvelous resources. Once you take this small two-step seriously, my advice is to keep going!

 

Kelly Azevedo

Amanda Abella


Systems Thinking?  

 

Its powerful.  In a previous post, you learned all about the power of principled self education.

Here’s a superb opportunity to practice what you read by visiting Donella Meadows ‘s website.

And if you haven’t yet bumped into this infographic, please, I implore you, dive in over the next 24 hours. Your income can become systems driven wealth through active application of this business truism.

 

In my ongoing discovery, I’ve repeatedly shared these maxims with those whom I mentor, in coffee 1:1’s, & elsewhere: Why? They’ve allowed me to run multiple business ventures at the same time, all while making strides towards being productive = gold = time & (more) passive = silver = money.

 

Next steps:

 

 

What can Westminster Abbey teach about implementing this content?!  

 

This inscription, when understood at a deeper level, reflects the ongoing value of lifelong learning.

 

Action Time

 

As with anything you choose to read, listen to, or watch, the truest formula = what you do next, how you proceed, & why?

Reflect, through meditation, prayer, yoga, or in a moment(s) of silence on this post, please, & thank you for reading!

 

In short …

 

  • A producer is productive; a consumer is busy. ‘Busy’ shouldn’t be a status, symbol, or state of being for the wise entrepreneur
  • Time = gold.  Money = silver.  Prioritize your irreplaceable asset;  focus on it and not on money (income, wealth) as #1.
  • Review the links to invest in 2 highly recommended books
  • Covey’s quadrants/matrix is a terrific tool in and by itself
  • Suggested Twitter follows & some of their scholarly tweets. #MustReads
  • Understand systems & leverage in your entrepreneurship education
  • Leadership starts with self

 

The One Time Kanye West Got It Right by @inspiredbysgp

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by Tanea Smith | Featured Contributor

Oh Kanye. What can I say? Very little about a man I don’t know personally. What I will say from my own experience is that there’s a Kanye in every family. Yes, yours too! You know the cousin who shows up to the barbecue and everybody dead stops in the middle of eating their macaroni salad because nobody has a clue what they’re going to say or do. Be they male or female, every family has a cousin like him. As there are two sides to every coin, we’ve also come to learn there are two sides to Kanye West. There’s the Kanye who meets with Donald Trump for no reason that anyone would recognize as helpful. And there’s the Kanye who sells out an arena and goes on a rant simply because he feels like it. But there is also the Kanye I happen to love.

The artist who has given us such brilliance as “The College Dropout” and who was quoted in “The World According to Gayle” column in Oprah magazine several years ago:

Now, THAT is the Kanye I’d like to hear from on a consistent basis. Just put down your latte and let that sink in for a minute.

“Excellence is the bare minimum.” Because isn’t it? Good is okay, but GREAT is most certainly the goal, right? What does that mean for you? If that were to become the mantra for your life, how would it change the choices you make and how you move every day in the world?

Here are three ways we can get closer to our greatness:

  • Define your awesome – Using pen and paper, a page out of your favorite journal or a pencil and a napkin in your favorite café, write out what your awesome is. Not your cousin’s or the lady you follow obsessively on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. Yours! Write it down. You need to see it in your own words. Is it launching your side hustle or losing that last 10 pounds so you can get back into your favorite prebaby jeans? Maybe it’s rising a half hour earlier each day so you can master your meditation practice or taking that step to go back to school?
  • Give yourself a deadline – On a scale of 1 to 10 how important is your awesomeness to you? If it’s just a 2 no need to read to the end of this post. Because, why? But if it’s between an 8.5 and a perfect 10 then you’re going to need a deadline. And not just any random Thursday, but rather a day that will be of significance to you. If you plan to be back in those jeans by your daughter’s first birthday, write it down and be sure to get a full body shot with your precious baby and your fabulous figure. Yes Mama! Launching that side hustle “at some point” this summer? Well no, how about the Fourth of July? It’s Independence Day and if you work your hustle properly you could really have something to celebrate by Christmas. There’s no better gift we can give ourselves than the feeling of accomplishment.
  • Keep your foot on the mark – Awesome ain’t easy! Your bare minimum has gotten you exactly nowhere thus far which means you have to do something different. The difference will come in the form of your “Front Row”. Trust me, you need people! Why? Because people who have tribes to encourage, motivate and hold them accountable to their goals get things done more often than not. Gyms are full of personal trainers helping women just like you hit that target weight. Women in corporate jobs they hate who want to launch side hustles come to hear women like me speak on my experience and give them tools to make the transition. No one has ever achieved anything amazing on their own. Identify three people who you can share your goal with and you can depend on to help you get to awesome.

Winners, you can only be sure of today. Not knowing what’s to come is part of the magic of being on this journey. But since we’re going to be marching anyway, shouldn’t we be doing the most instead of the least? Share your awesome with me in the comments and let’s encourage each other.

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Tanea SmithTanea Smith is the Owner & Creative Director of She’s Got Papers, a lifestyle greeting card & gift company with designs that are as powerful as they are witty and life affirming. But that’s only half the story.

As New York City’s Side Hustle Expert & an Inspirational Business Speaker she teaches women how to launch their own businesses while working full time. The “juggle” as she calls it is not for the faint of heart but Tanea believes that with passion, the right mindset and the proper tools it is possible for every woman to build the business of her dreams. Easy? No. Worth it? Absolutely.

Her mantra: There is life beyond your current gig!

Tanea has been featured in Essence, More, About.com, American Express Forum & The Wendy Williams Show.

Tanea has spoken at St. John’s University, City College of New York, New York University as well as a host of churches & women’s groups.  She has a PhD. in thriving despite the odds. She is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity.

See her stationery collection at: www.shesgotpapers.com

Take the journey with her & get inspired to begin yours at www.taneasmith.com

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How to Raise Your Money Set Point and Eliminate Scarcity Once and For All by @mindycrary

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ow to Raise Your Money Set Point and Eliminate Scarcity Once and For All

by Mindy Crary

Why is it that some people are constantly going broke, but have to have the latest and greatest thing, while other people are like the millionaire next door, living well below their means?

In my experience, it’s because these two different types of people have different money set points.

We arrange our life to match our unconscious expectations of the amount of money you “should” have—this is your money set point. It’s based solely in your head, in your wealth mindset.

You have an upper limit that prevents you from busting through your comfort zone, and a lower limit that prevents you from financially crashing. That sweet spot in the middle is your money set point.

When people have a lower limit problem, every time they start bringing in a little more money, the basics they “can’t live without” get a little more expensive. So no matter how much they make, they always seem to end up with the same result.

This is called your net cash flow. When you’re in that situation, you want to find away to make more money and keep more money, right? And with most things, clarity is the first step. Clarity around exactly what money is coming into your household every month, and clarity on the best use of every dollar leaving it.

If you think you might have a lower limit problem, ask yourself: If you couldn’t do the work you’re currently doing, what amount of money do you know you could go out and generate in another way?

I knew a client once who made really good money, but said, “If everything went to hell, I know I could go out and get a job waitressing and make enough to cover the basics.” Her basics were about $40,000 annually, so that was her lower limit.

On the other side of things, upper-limit problems are almost always wrapped up in our self-worth. And it crosses all kinds of boundaries — from happiness and love to money and self-worth.

We get a raise, we get a promotion, we land that big client… And we start to feel bad, feel guilty. We get sick, pick a fight with our partner, run out and spend it all on who knows what.

THAT is an upper limit problem.

To help identify your upper limit, think about an amount of money that you feel absolutely comfortable generating as income on a monthly basis. You should have zero physical reaction to this number.

Now, double that number . . . how did that feel? Did you start to react? If that number was still in your comfort zone, try increasing it by $5,000 . . . how about now? Play around until you find a number that makes you nervous; that’s your upper limit.

The easiest way to raise your money set point is to consciously plan how you’re going to allocate it. Every year, I make a list of everything I want to spend money on, in addition to my normal monthly expenses and savings (of course, this list gets changed, updated and reviewed several times per year as I think of new things and cross off old ones). For me, this list creates the why behind increasing the upper limit. If I can reasonably predict how I would allocate the money, then I have no internal conflict about generating it.

If you think you might have upper limit issues, you might want to make a list like that and post it someplace conspicuous, to remind yourself why it’s so important for you to raise your limit. The more you tend to “settle” for what you get money-wise, the more frequently you should look at the list.

And if you really think you have upper limit issues, you might want to get some support in generating the list, to help you see the possibility and reinforce the idea of expecting more.

Your money mindset sweet spot is when you have an upper limit and a lower limit that are working for you, not against you.

Remember: Just because you have a money set point doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. You can work to adjust it, and find your very own sweet spot.

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mindy craryMindy Crary, personal finance expert and author of Personal Finance That Doesn’t Suck, helps both you AND your money succeed. From growing your wealth to the actual person behind it, Mindy bridges the gap between the energetic, spiritual and practical financial services industry with a creative twist. Check out Mindy’s excellent (and FREE) ebook on Money Chakra.