Tomorrow’s newsletter will bring a few insights that will put a smile on your face - I’m getting a little excited!! I just need to tie up a few loose ends and I’ll be able to announce a special event for Create the Life Club Members and Coaching Clients… we have much to celebrate. The great thing about celebrating is that if it’s done coach-style, it’s not only fun, but it propels you to further success!
We recently celebrated Kerrie’s brother’s birthday at the Macquarie Club, where we played tennis and lawn bowls, a first for many. Greg turned 30, and is pictured here with mum Jenny, brother David and Kerrie.
Birthday wishes also to Create the Life Club members Sue Cornish, and Maree Pell. Birthdays are always a great excuse to get together for some fun with special people, but if you have no birthdays coming up - plan something fun and social “just because”.
It’s a very busy and exciting season here, with a book going to the publishers soon, members coaching calls launching, and a few other special events in the pipeline.
While I’m keeping a few details quiet about the book at the moment, I can say that we have a couple of our members featured in the book - and their content is AMAZING… Lyndon and I are really enjoying reading the drafts and having heaps of insights! Other successful entrepreneurs from across Australia have been highly recommended, and their stories are also bound to inspire and inform readers about the benefits of doing business and creating a wonderful lifestyle in Regional Australia.
We went to the Mudgee Field Days on Saturday - it was a glorious sunny day, and we met so many fabulous people with incredible ideas and innovative businesses. We’ll be sharing more in the next newsletter! Look out for that on Tuesday 4 August.
Exciting days! We’re working on an inspiring book - I can’t wait to share it with you!
It’s called “Lifting the Lid on Quiet Achievers - Success Stories of Regional Entrepreneurs”. Thank you to all our readers who went to the survey site to share your thoughts. It’s coming together beautifully and the entrepreneurs featured from across Australia and New Zealand will inspire you with their stories. I’ll share more as we progress!
We’re also creating some really valuable resources for members - including a members only coaching call - which will be monthly, beginning on Tuesday 4 August at 12 noon. (AEST)
We also want to pass on our Congratulations to Mark Crutcher and his IGA team - their Grenfell Store took out the National Award for Customer Service at the IGA National Conference last week! If you know Mark it’s no surprise - passion and enthusiasm always filters through to the whole organisation. Mark has won numerous awards, including the national “Local Heroes” award in 2008. Check it out in a previous newsletter.
Have you ever had the opportunity to learn how to break a board with your bare hand? I was shown board breaking techniques at the What Women Want event in Sydney on the weekend and I was rearing to go! After spending a little time exploring my thinking I was able to identify some self imposed limitations (which I wrote on the board) and I was ready to bust through this to fully live the life I’m on the planet for.
If you get the chance to do this - go for it! (After being coached in preparation of course!) It’s probably not a good idea to try this at home!!!
I was determined to break the board with the first hit, then as I watched many people before me hit their board again and again before breaking it, I started to wonder… It does look very hard! I now know that it’s more about mindset - focus, belief and determination… the same qualities one needs to succeed in any endeavour.
As it was, I achieved my desired outcome, breaking the board with one hit, and in one way I was surprised, then realised I didn’t need to be - it was what I intended to do! When the room had emptied and a few of the crew were breaking more boards for fun, I asked if I could break another - just to make sure I didn’t fluke it! Also, I thought Lyndon and Ethan would like to see it (to believe it, perhaps!) and they loved it… as you see, Lyndon had some fun replaying the moment of impact!
As I discussed the experience with several other board breakers, it seemed that we all had the experience we needed to, for our own insights. Some needed the experience of a few attempts before breaking, for me the insights that came as I broke the board were just as powerful as theirs. The main thing is to notice your thinking and be aware of your mental state!
I found the following insights on TKD Tutor website… “Punches fail because of fear, not because of lack of strength. The less your brain perceives the board as a barrier, the more likely the punch will succeed. For beginners, aim beyond the board, i.e., follow through! As any martial artist can attest, the hand hurts more when you fail to break than when you succeed.”
What limiting beliefs do you need to bust through this week? You truly can do whatever it is you set your heart on doing. The success is in the follow-through.
Every business is unique, and you’ll serve your customers and staff well by focusing on what’s unique and communicating it – with enthusiasm.
How would you like your business to be referred to in conversation? For example, “they’re so prompt!” or “They’re so much fun” or “I feel like royalty when I go there”. When you are clear on this, it’s so much easier to plan ways of increasing happiness in the business . How would you describe your business in it’s ideal state? Before we move on - are you clear or will you take some time to answer this?
If the message you want your customers to get is “fun”, consider how you communicate this – of course it must start with you. You can’t demand fun of anyone – just let it be infectious. Let’s look at some of the basics, which can too easily go by the wayside when you’re rushing.
Be conscious of your thinking and your conversations - Listen intently to people. If you consider the people in your world to be intelligent, unique and valuable, you’ll communicate with them in a way that reflects that. Look for the potential in people. Try it. Just start thinking about someone with conscious thoughts like “You are amazing” and view them through the eyes of appreciation and see what else you notice. As I wrote in our last newsletter - If you want to grow something - pay attention to it.
Choose to be the most positive person you know.
Share a laugh - learn to laugh at yourself, and when you come across something really funny - share the joy!
Say please, Thank you, you’re welcome.
The above tips are all internal, it’s about your thoughts and words - here’s a few practical steps to keep the momentum.
Use post it notes to support your chosen focus or to remind you.
Make a list of all the people you’ve acknowledged, encouraged or thanked as the day goes by. If you have pen and paper in your pocket to keep track of this it will raise your awareness and you’ll find yourself putting a smile on so many faces and a spring in many steps!
Little cards - even a little note on a plain sheet of paper to someone - expressing your thoughts of appreciation for what they do, or just who they are will go a long way. Do this for staff, customers, friends, if you haven’t been encouraged for a while, write a positive note to yourself - post it and look forward to the postie’s arrival! (These tools are more powerful than a pay rise.)
Customer service is similar to any other relationship - Customers are people!! Make them feel valued, and think about what kind of treatment would have you coming back time after time. Put yourself in their shoes and walk through your business. When people come into your business, acknowledge them immediately - the longer the customer wonders if they’re invisible, the less they’ll spend with you. A smile goes a long way!
You know what you can do in your business, just take some time to plan a few things. If you can imagine it, you can create it. Keep learning, keep looking for possibilities. Get a sheet of paper out, a few colleagues or employees and get some ideas on paper. It’s amazing to see how you can create some incredible outcomes easily – when you’re clear on what you want… back to the first paragraph!
These inspirational quotes came from the Create the Life Club website from the last few weeks in case you missed them.
7 Quotes
I am on twitter and regularly tweet inspiring quotes. Follow createthelife.
Have a great day and remember “With a little self confidence, you can do big things.” Lyndon Phipps - Ok so thats 8… not 7 quotes… you can have that one as a bonus.
Cronulla Beach was the perfect spot to meet friends Chad and Corrie, back in Australia for a few weeks from their aid work in Vietnam. A little chilly in the water, but worth it to jump in for a while and share the joy with the kids, their Hope and Josiah, and our Ethan.
Before leaving Cronulla Beach at the end of the day we popped in to see my friend and Coaching colleague, Barbara Anderson. The beach photo above is taken from her balcony - what a view! I wrote about this day briefly in a newsletter, but if you haven’t seen the video we did to share the value of creating a vision board check it out!
Click here to view … Update And A Video Tip