Tips & Insights for Top Performance

• 14Jan

  Staying Organized on a Monthly Basis

  Effective Habits, Energy Management, Goal Setting, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management, Work/Life Synergy & Balance No Comments

  Do you have a New Year’s Resolution to have more family balance and be more organized at home in 2011? Here was HGTV’s tips on staying organized on a monthly basis.  

  “STAY ORGANIZED CHECKLIST: MONTHLY

  Bill Paying

  • Pay bills once or twice a month or set up automatic payments for recurring bills such as the mortgage, utilities and credit cards.

  Paperwork

  • File paid bills in an accordion folder or similar filing system.
  • Update your designated file for receipts pertaining to taxes and deductions.

  Bulk Shopping

  • Make a bulk shopping trip. Buy household items such as paper goods, cleaning supplies and toiletries. Purchasing these standard items on a monthly basis will streamline weekly shopping.

  Calendar

  • Review the calendar at the beginning of each month to plan for upcoming events or gift purchases.”

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

  Tags: HGTV, New Year's resolutions, Staying Organized

• 07Jan

  Staying Organized on a Weekly Basis

  Effective Habits, Energy Management, Goal Setting, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management, Work/Life Synergy & Balance No Comments

  Do you have a New Year’s Resolution to have more family balance and be more organized at home in 2011? Here was HGTV’s tips on staying organized on a weekly basis.  

  “STAY ORGANIZED CHECKLIST: WEEKLY

  Grocery Shopping and Meal Planning

  • Plan out the week’s meals on Sunday afternoon and create a shopping list.
  • Designate a time for coupon clipping and commit to it. Recycle unused coupons.
  • Shop once a week for family meals, bringing your menu plan with you.

  Family Schedules

  • Review the calendar for the week with other family members to ensure you have all appointments accounted for.

  Laundry

  • Set up a routine schedule for dry cleaning. Many dry cleaners will pick up and deliver weekly; your office might offer a similar program.
  • Attempt to do as much washing, folding and ironing before the week begins. This will save time during the week.

  Car

  • Remove trash, and organize must-haves for the car.
  • Find homes for everything that does not belong in your car.”

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

  Tags: HGTV, New Year's resolutions, Staying Organized

• 24Dec

  Successful People Are Always Pursuing Balance

  Effective Habits, Energy Management, Goal Setting, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management, Work/Life Synergy & Balance No Comments

  I asked some of the successful and talented business owners and professionals I know, what they consider their key to success… here is what they said…..

  “Successful people are always pursuing balance in their life. There are only so many hours in a day and it is important to prioritize every aspect of our lives instead of just our business lives. Family, marriage, spirituality, health, volunteering, etc. are all the components of a successful person – in business and in life. If you are lucky enough to pursue what you love then you will see success follow. People will want to be part of that success.”

  Lois Cozart, Owner
  My Girlfriend’s Closet
  www.mygirlfriendsclosetnc.com

   

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

  Tags: balance, life balance, Lois Cozart, My Girlfriend's Closet, Sussessful people

• 10Dec

  Book Recommendation: Eat that Frog!

  Book Reviews, Effective Habits, Energy Management, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management No Comments

  With the new year just around the corner, there are all kinds of intentions floating around. But, be it the cold weather or the less than pleasant tasks involved, procrastination quickly sets in and our resolutions are tucked away, never to become a reality.

  If you’re ready to take on your resolutions with intention this year, Brian Tracy’s “Eat the Frog!” is the book for you. In his powerful book on overcoming procrastination, Tracy shares 21 ways to organize, prioritize, and move ahead with any project! If this is the year that you’re serious about your resolutions, I highly recommend that you “eat your frog!”

  To order this book, click here.

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

  Tags: "Eat That Frog", Brian Tracy, stop procrastinating

• 03Dec

  The HOW TO, of Re-design Your Life

  Effective Habits, Energy Management, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management No Comments

  So you get that you need to re-design your life but can’t figure out how? Here are a few places to look.

  1)      Your schedule. Write out your schedule. Everything that you are doing, how long it takes, etc. Go back and look at your schedule. What things are contributing to you moving forward in your life and what things are just there, but not really adding value.  Draft a schedule that adds one new block of time to support your success behavior and remove one activity from your schedule that is not moving you forward.

  2)      Your habits. What habits do you have? What habits did you used to have that supported you to get what you wanted but you have stopped doing? What habits do you know you need to have to support your success? This might be things like snoozing, sleeping in, working out (or not), too much time in e-mail or social media, etc. What are your habits? What are the habits of successful people in your industry and which ones of them are you doing or not?

  3)      Your beliefs and attitude. What are you thinking about your work and life right now? Are those thoughts supportive to where you are trying to head? Considering what you are trying to accomplish?  What do you need to be focused on? Write that out and read it daily.

  4)      Your systems. Consider how you have things set up. What allows you to move quickly and efficiently? What do you not have together that slows you down? This might be the tracking of contacts, this might be the sorting of e-mail, your files, ready-made handouts, etc.  Make a list of the systems that you do not have in place that cause procrastination, congestion and poor follow-through. Create a plan to put those systems into place in the next 30 days.

  5)      Your support. Think about the people in your life. Are they positive? Are they forward moving? Do they support you? Are you a bottle neck or are you empowering and freeing people up to do their job so you can do yours? People in our lives can zap our energy and cause stagnation. BUT the lack of good people and support can also cause the clogging of progress. When you understand TEAM (together everyone accomplishes more), energy and the use of strengths, you will be positive to others while ensuring you have and leverage a team.

  These are a few parts to re-designing your life. In this process you should find some things to keep the same, some things to add, to remove and to change. Have fun!

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

  Tags: re-design your life

• 26Nov

  Is It Time To “Re-organize” and “Re-energize” Your Life?

  Effective Habits, Energy Management, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management No Comments

  Like organizing anything in life, a home, office, desk drawer, car, etc. you spend time carefully setting it up and then use it. Over time, most organized spaces gradually become disorganized. Depending on your level of type-”A”-ness, it will take longer then for others. Regardless, at some point, a system that was structured, organized and neat gets disorganized.

  Our lives are also like this. We can design our schedules, routines, habits, and what not in a way that works for us. This might be to accommodate kid’s schedules, work schedules, fitness habits, etc. We set it up (sometimes intentionally and sometimes not) and work out a plan. (I just want to stop and note, even for people who are free spirits and tempted to argue with me that they don’t have a schedule, you DO have a schedule in your lack of schedule. Stop and notice your habits, patterns and mode of operation). Back to the plan, so we have that set up and working. Over time life evolves and changes and the structures we have set up begin to get “messy” and “stop working”.

  The challenge is that in LIFE this disorganization is not as obvious as a grossly disorganized desk drawer. We keep running our lives using our old structures and experiencing the lack of them working, but not quite sure what to do about it.

  When you feel this happening, I want to challenge you to step back and look at the big picture. Not the little activities you are doing, but the big habits, routines and schedule you are operating by. It is likely time for LIFE RE-DESIGN.

  While some “habits” can be life serving, others are not. Consider, how you operated when you were in grade school often does not work when you are in high school. How you operated in high school, often needs to be adapted when you go to college. How you live when you are in college really needs to be shifted when you get a “job” and have a “family”. That is usually where we stop, but each stage of life brings new changes, challenges and opportunities. If you feel like you are out of control in your life, stop and take a look at your schedule, systems, beliefs, and habits. More than likely there are a few old paradigms that need to be shifted.

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

  Tags: "re-energize" your life, "re-organize", disorganized, life red-esign

• 24Sep

  An Attitude of Thanksgiving…(part 1)

  Effective Habits, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management, Work/Life Synergy & Balance No Comments

  In a time where it seems like each week you hear of someone new laid off or out of work. People are short on money and struggling to make ends meet. .. . stress is high, nerves are short and tempers are quick. It can be easy to forget the many things we have been blessed with and focus on what we do not have or fret about what we might lose.

  There are two concepts that come to mind to help us be THANKFUL …

  1. Prosperity. Be thankful for what we have. We are SO richly blessed here in the USA. We have more then we realize and what we feel we are “missing” is riches beyond what most ever dream about. We have exactly what we need. That is hard to remember when we are truly short on cash; however, it is true that often with some pre-planning we can avoid irresponsibility and neglect that might get us in compromising positions.

  • Be a good steward of what you have. Review your spending and remove things that are unnecessary. Do not live beyond your means, making you financially strapped and unable to save for the rainy day.
  • Be thankful. Instead of complaining about what you don’t have or  whining about what you want, make a list of all the things you have been blessed with. You hear of people sick with cancer having a renewed perspective on life and what is important. In the hustle of life, it is materialism, more money, more toys, and better upgrades which draw us in with the elusive promise of…what? When it comes right down to it, the relationships with family and friends, the time we have together, our health, a clear understanding of why we are here, and the value of each day are what is truly important. Be thankful for what you have and focus on that.

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

  Tags: Anatomy of Peace, Attitude of thanksgiving, be a good steward, Live beyond your means, Prosperity

• 10Sep

  Productivity Assessment

  Business Coaching, Effective Habits, Energy Management, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management No Comments

  Productivity is an ideal state of being in today’s fast paced world. Often we find ourselves unable to escape from responding to crisis. It is the urgent that drives us and whatever else needs to happen will have to wait!  The art of productivity comes from discipline and clarity in 5 key areas.

  1) Your ability to be self aware and adjust as needed.
  2) Your level of orderliness.
  3) Your skill level to think through and plan.
  4) Your discipline to be repetitious and effective.
  5) Your willingness to collaborate and receive support.

  The following assessment will help you evaluate how you are doing with productivity and begin to explore how you might increase your results.

  Click here to download a Productivity Assessment

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

  Tags: maximum productivity, Productivity, productivity assessment

• 03Sep

  Just Do!

  Effective Habits, Energy Management, Goal Setting, Performance & Productivity, Time Management No Comments

  There is no need to try. Just do.

  Feel what you feel without judgment or regret.  Those feelings connect you with the power of your authentic purpose.

  Use your head wisely to follow your heart faithfully.  There’s much that you can think, and yet even more that you can know.

  Let the experience of each moment come, and then let it go.  Rest assured that the goodness will stay with you always, because you love it so.

  Be now in spirit where you would most like to be. Imagine waves of pure joy as they carry you along.

  Somewhere within you, all is well, no matter when, no matter what. Feel the peace of knowing the beauty of who you truly are.

  Ralph Marston

   ………………………………………………………………….

  “There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.” 

  E.W. Wilcox

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

  Tags: E. W. Wilcox, Just do, Ralph Marston

• 18Jun

  The Top 10 Ways to Stay in the Business Flow While on Vacation

  Effective Habits, Energy Management, Executives & Leaders, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management, Work/Life Synergy & Balance No Comments

  1. Set Boundaries  Decide when and where you will check voicemail and e-mail. Limit your time and frequency of checking to one time a day. You are on vacation!

  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

  Tags: business flow, information, motivational, perspective, vacation

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