As a past counselor, I know that phobias and anything that we start to avoid because of a fear or for whatever reason, are the things that start to create psychological baggage as we spend our energy avoiding things rather than working through them. Anything that you find yourself intentionally not doing that is “normal” for most of the world, stop and look at the fear and how it can be getting in your way (not talking about addictions and non-beneficial activities).

This excellent read will serve you in both your personal and professional life.  We all have fears; they just show up at different levels and in different ways. Empower yourself to find your fears and move beyond them so you can perform at your peak potential!

For you own copy of this book, click here.

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer from Minneapolis, MN

2. Business Cards  Take 100 business cards and pass out along the way. You never know who will be so thankful that your paths crossed. A great habit is to pass out 5 cards a day, and while you are on vacation let your journey take your card distribution into new territories!

3. Cd’s and Tapes  There are so many motivational and educational tapes you can listen to as you drive, fly and relax. This is a great time to soak in new information or review old information. You are on vacation, so don’t act on it; just savor it!

4. Books  Take one book and really get it read! Rather than packing five that you “hope to get to,” be serious about one and enjoy reading it.

5. Ideas  Before you go, pick something you would like to discover or get new ideas about. Take the questions with you as conversation starters and gather information from those around you. Pick their brains. They have great ideas and you might be able to glean new resources and information that will be greatly applicable when you return.

6. Perspective  Look at your business from a new perspective. Look at your business from the framework of relaxing on the beach, enjoying the breathtaking mountains, etc. What is possible here? What can you take from this view and apply to or bring into your business?

7. Explore  Look at phone books, ads, posters and businesses around you. Check out the needs and saturation of your market. Is your vacation spot your next target area?

8. Focus  Evaluate your goals and progress. Where have you been and what do you want? Revise your goals and set new ones. While you are away from the office it is a great time to do some longer “thinking” activities that you do not have time for when you are in the chaos and rush of normal schedules and business life!

9. Journal  Spend some time just writing down and capturing your ideas. What are you learning and noticing? What do you want to do differently when you get back? Brainstorm something new. Write a top ten to keep your mind sharp. Writing is powerful. Even if you never look at the entry again, there is an amazing connection in the act of writing thoughts down and remembering them later!

10. Keep Motivation Pieces  Look for an item (postcard, picture, souvenir, etc.) that is motivational to take back with you into your working day. Bring your trip and the inspiration from it back with you!

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

Remember to allow yourself a true rest, clear up the clutter before you go and have a plan for how you will handle coming back, productively use the slower season in the office, and tidy up loose ends at home. When you are active and intentional during this slower season, employing the strategies that we’ve discussed here today, you too will have a winning, successful year!

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

To assist you, I want to give you strategies on how to maximize this “season” when you or others (clients, co-workers, vendors, etc.) are away, so that you are prepared to charge for the rest of the year!

• Rest. The concept of periodicity means that you allow your body a time to rest, re-engage, and recharge (or train) so that you achieve maximum energy and the results that you want during the periods that require you to push harder. If you continue at 150 mph 24 hours per day/7 days per week, you will burn out. More importantly, you will not get the results you want. So, plan time each summer for a period of rest. (For you workaholics out there, rest means no voicemail, no email, no clients, no “work mode”, no initiatives that are not wholly enjoyable. Turn off work 100% while on vacation! If you do, your ability to run full out when you return will be twice as great.)
• Clean up. The days before you leave on vacation are a great time to make a game plan for yourself when you return. Your departure date is a deadline that’s not likely to move. Start by challenging yourself to sort the emails, do all of the follow-ups, and close the open loops before you leave. As you do this, make a list for when you return of what you will do next. If you want to be most productive, schedule what you will do when, so you can resume your working habits quickly when you return.

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

An even bigger BONUS is that you get a personal code for an online survey that identifies YOUR “top five inborn talents”! This benefit is worth every penny you spend on the book! Identifying your top five strengths will change the way you look at life. This assessment is unique from the many other assessments out there (i.e. Myers-Briggs, DISC, etc.). With the “strengths” information in hand, you will be able to apply the theories presented in the book on a day-to-day basis.

I HIGHLY recommend this book: it is a refreshing concept that moves you forward by focusing on the positive and teaching you how to maximize your full potential!

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

“I have a focus goal, but I am just too busy to do anything about it. How do I get more time?” The power of passion. WHY did you set that goal? Was it a “should”? Often we set goals, like lose 25 lbs, eat better, make more money because we need to or know we SHOULD do this, but are not really motivated to make it happen. What we are passionate about will get our time and attention. Get connected to the WHY of your goal. Ask yourself “WHY does it matter?” ten times to get to the heart of it.

“I have a goal, but it is not happening yet. What needs to happen?”Post it in three spots. Read it daily. Think about the Laws of Attraction (www.thesecret.tv). Write what you have to do each week to make that goal more of a reality. Do not cancel yourself out with negative or self-defeating self talk. Be positive. Look for opportunities. Assess and make sure it is measurable and know what baby steps you can be taking to move closer to it. An elephant is not meant to be eaten in one bite!

In summary:

1. Have a clear direction and set your goal.
2. Make sure your goal is specific, inclusive of your life and motivational.
3. Set milestones to stay on track and have mini successes.
4. Stay connected to the Big WHY of your goal.
5. Be positive and whatever you do, DO SOMETHING!

“I don’t want to set goals, but I like results. What should I do?” Often this is from a fear. Reality is that in order to set a goal; you must decide what you want. Many people prefer to leave all the options open, picking nothing, and defaulting to “life” to pick their destiny for them. Whether you resist goal setting because of a fear of failure, success, pressure, or whatever the reason, the fact remains; you cannot arrive where you have not set out to go. People who set goals have something to attain; and often do. You cannot attain what you have not set. Do yourself a favor, evaluate where you want to end up, determine a viable course to get there, pick a focus and work toward it. You can always adjust or change if after several months doors are closing, but at least then you can disregard this option!

“I have lots of ideas and goals, but I am overwhelmed where to start?” Often, goal setters can set too many goals. Three SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timed) goals are about the max a human brain can really focus on. I prefer to have ONE focus statement that combines several goals.

For example, if your goals are:

1. Earn 5K a month by being disciplined and focused on money making activities.
2. Refine skills (education) and processes to hold my clients more accountable to exceed goals.
3. Grow personally, more study time, expand family, eat better/work out, have an organized home.

Then you focus statement could be:
I am energized to be a focused and disciplined IBO, earning 5K/mo. coaching and training ‘Movers and Shakers’ to exceed their goals, while living in integrity nurturing and advancing my faith, family, health and home.

A few tips the book emphasizes are:

• Manage your energy, not your time
• Downtime is key for your success
• Rituals help to maintain focus
• Purpose fuels performance
• Work in sprints (small bursts of focused energy)

Here are 5 strategies to EMPOWER your productivity through Organization. This is organization of the mind.

1. Brain dump. What is on your mind? What needs to be done and how much time will it take? What can be delegated and what do you have to do?

2. Mind map. Push yourself to think beyond your brain dump, what else is there? You can write several columns with these headings or make circles with these in the middle and then list or make “lines” off your circles with what else might need to be considered: Look at work (marketing, business development, clients, staff, administration, finance, etc.), family, home/car, volunteer activities, meetings/events, friends/fun, money, health, and any others that have significant action items.

3. Park it. Use the concept of a “parking lot” to put things that are concepts or ideas, not urgent or important, and can be done later. Keep this as a post-it, task list or sheet of paper, as new things pop into your mind, you can jot them down to manage later. (These are non-task items)

4. Plan & Schedule. Mark the items that are very important or urgent and then plot out the next day or two of when you will do what and leave the rest of the list. Specify when you will do what so you can work through your list in a disciplined fashion. Plan blocks of time to manage phone calls, interruptions and other things that might get you off your schedule.

5. Book mark. Use a future to do list or a planning tool like Outlook to assign the other tasks that will be handled in a few days, next week, or in the future. This way you can get them out of your brain and know that you will not forget them. Our minds are like computers. The more windows and things open, the slower it runs. Likewise, the more things you try and hold in your mind, the slower you run.

Get everything out. Put it in the proper place (parking lot idea list, on a day schedule or bookmarked in a task list) and get going on the task at hand. Stay focused and do not divert. You will be amazed at how you make progress and how good you feel!