Blog | Coach, Trainer, Speaker

Are You Doing Too Much?

“We can do no great things – only small things with great love.”
Mother Theresa

This week I had several different conversations with clients where they were feeling very overwhelmed. Not that things were going poorly. In fact, things were going pretty well in their business and things had really picked up for them.

This time of year, when we’ve started working on our new goals for the year, business starts to pick up and we start feeling that inner push and pull that we must get things moving along for the New Year, we can begin to feel overwhelmed with it all.

And many times when we begin to feel overwhelmed, it gets us stuck, stressed and our productivity levels go way down. We find ourselves just wanting to stay in bed and read a good book all day, or lay on the couch and watch our favorite TV shows, or hang out in social media all day.

It could be because you are trying to do too much.

Here are some things you might consider if you are doing too much and feeling overwhelmed:

Simplify. Try and find a few things that you want to accomplish within a short time frame-say three months and do your very best to push all other activities and ideas, out later in the year. Work to complete the few items you’ve identified, until you’ve completed them and then, and only then add new ones to your list. Remember, KISS (keep it simple, stupid)

Hire Help. Where can you hire someone to help you? Maybe it’s a housekeeper, maybe a virtual assistant, maybe a personal assistant or concierge. Any of these kinds of personal services can be purchased on a project basis, or a once a month basis. It does not have to be over the top costly. And, once you figure out your hourly rate, and you find yourself spending time on things you could hire for less than your rate-it starts to make good economical sense to start to look for these opportunities.

Schedule Self-Care Time. Get your calendar. Right now. Schedule at least one hour this week, for yourself. It can be to go to the gym, go to the mall, take a walk, schedule a massage, anything that would feel good to you to do for a minimum of one hour. Go ahead, put it in your calendar right now. Because overwhelm is an indication that more energy is going “out of you” than coming in to keep you going.

What do you do when you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed? Share your comments and thoughts below—I’d love to hear from you!

Mandy works with talented, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” right down below.

The True Meaning of Self-Discipline for Your Success

by Mandy Schumaker Leave a Comment

My son Cade, recently began taking karate lessons. I don’t know a lot about martial arts, although for a very brief period between ages 10-11 I took judo lessons, because my mother thought it would help me be more ‘well-rounded”.

Cade is taking a form of karate called, “Chun-Kuk-Do”, which claims to cultivate high character in the lives of individuals.

In a handout he recently received, there’s a section on “The True Meaning of Self-Discipline for Your Success”. Which is defined as “doing what you should when you should do it-whether you feel like it or not. And without being told multiple times by anyone.”

Wow.

It really struck me that this definition absolutely gets at the essence of self-discipline. When I think about my own business and a lot of the things I don’t like doing, but must do such as administrative tasks, or sometimes writing my newsletter and there doesn’t seem to be anything obvious to write about. Or when I need to be doing more marketing, or following up with prospects.

If I just “did what I should, when I should do it-whether I feel like it or not”. It seems an almost over-simplified concept, yet when I think about the places in my life where I lack self-discipline, or where my clients lack self-discipline, the practice can be very challenging.

So I ask you to look at your own business or life. Where are the places where you could use more self-discipline, that if applied would make a big difference in your business, or your quality of life? Someone once told me that many times making small changes in your life can make major differences in your life (or business). And the foundation to doing that is in self-discipline.

What are you willing to start doing that maybe you don’t feel like doing, but know by doing so, would make a major difference in your business? Let me know in the comments section below-I’d love to support you in your effort!

How to Use Your Body to Create Confidence

by Mandy Schumaker Leave a Comment

Learning to present with confidence can take time and practice. Like you, I’ve sat through many presentations at my networking group, some of them good and some of them, well, not so good.

This week, I watched a wonderful, smart, talented woman give her ten-minute presentation and I cringed through the entire thing. It wasn’t so much what she was saying, but what her body language was portraying. She looked scared when she walked to the front of the room. She overcompensated by trying to look confident by putting her hand on her hip. Then she tried to look relaxed by leaning against the table with one hand. It all came across as unprofessional, awkward and self-conscious.

As you probably know, communication is 80% body language, 15% tone and 5% actual words. Yet, most people spend the most amount of time working on the actual words to their presentation and not giving any thought to their body language.

Here are a few tips that you might want to consider around your body language (and practice), the next time you have a presentation so you convey total confidence, even if you’re not feeling it.

1-Consider using a power pose before you go on stage. Research has shown that if you can put yourself into a power pose (this would be in private) for two minutes. Here’s a great video that explains how it works.

2-As you move to the front of the room or podium be sure you are standing tall, breathing and moving slowly with grace, confidence and sureness-even if you aren’t feeling it. Visualize yourself exuding confidence! There’s nothing worse than someone looking scared and nervous, with their shoulders hunched.

3-Keep your hands to your sides or use them while gesturing. Do not put them on your hips or lean against a table, podium of anything else within reach. That just makes you look sloppy, with lack of energy, like you need something to prop yourself up.

As the research shows, body language is everything in your presentation, so be sure and practice in front of a mirror, or perhaps consider having someone videotape your presentation. That way, you can see for yourself how you come across!

What Will You Stop Doing in 2014

by Mandy Schumaker Leave a Comment

This time of year is often filled with goal-setting, intention-making and feeling like we have a clean slate on which to create what we want in our lives. All good and well.

However, one of the things that I continually see happening is that people create the things they want to start doing and just try and add it to the already long, overwhelming list of things they are already doing!

It’s no wonder so many times by February or March of the new year, we get lost in our goals and end up becoming overwhelmed and just giving up

So here’s a thought.

Why not take some time figuring out what you’re going to stop doing in 2014—in order to make room for the new? These might be things like volunteer work, board work, or extra-curricular things you’ve taken on.

Or they might be bad habits, over-scheduling and your lack of ability to say “no”. Whatever the case, I challenge you to make a list of 10 things you will STOP DOING in 2014 and post it near your computer or desk and make a plan to stop doing them as soon as you can. Perhaps some of them will just be a temporary stop, but others should’ve perhaps, come off the list years ago.

So, go on. Be brutal and put your list together today. And feel free to share your list below in the comment section because your item(s) might be super helpful to others!

Challenged with Staying Accountable to Yourself and Others?

by Mandy Schumaker Leave a Comment

One of the most common issues that entrepreneurs often speak to me about is the ongoing challenge of staying accountable. Most of us have no trouble in coming up with the next “great idea” we want to implement in our business, but when it comes down to actually implementing it and sticking with it, well, that sometimes is where the challenges come into play.

This week, I spoke with several potential entrepreneurs who were all looking at making an investment by hiring a coach for their business and ALL of them talked about the challenge of staying accountable on a daily basis. It is hard, particularly since many of us work alone or in a small group and we don’t have someone asking us each day, “Where are you on this?” “Have you completed that?” Or, “What! You’re going to start doing that, before you’ve finished the last thing?”

It can be challenging staying accountable to ourselves on a daily basis. Here are some tips that might help you stay accountable to your goals and intentions for 2014.

1-Don’t have too many goals

People find it easier to stick to things if you have a shorter list. Developing a list of 3-5 goals for 2014 will help you feel less overwhelmed and more likely to stay accountable and focused than if you have a list of 10—20 items.

2-Find an accountability partner

Find someone who will NOT let you get away with anything! Firm and tough, not sweet and nice! You want to share with them your goals for the year-so they have a good understanding of the big picture. Make sure you take the time for this part. Then figure out a schedule as to how often you will touch base with them, whether daily, three times a week, twice a week, whatever works for you. Then STICK WITH IT! The phone calls (and I strongly suggest phone calls-much easier than trying to meet in person) only need to be 5-10 minutes max. If you have the right partner, this is a great way to stay accountable.

3-Publicly announce what you’re going to do

Publicly announcing your new idea on your blog or social media sites is a great way to “put it out there”. Then, there are lots of people who will want to hold you accountable!

Staying accountable is absolutely necessary if you want to have a successful business and there are lots of ways to do it. What works for you in your business? Please share it in the comments section below! Also, if you would like to have a complimentary session with me in 2014 to see how we can help you be more accountable and exponentially grow your business, please click here to set up your appointment!

5 Gold Rings…Proven Ways To Lead a Happier Life

by Mandy Schumaker Leave a Comment

No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.

– Barbara de Angelis

Many of us spend hundreds upon thousands of dollars every year on books, CD’s, seminars, coaches, teleseminars etc to figure out how to be happier in our lives. Interestingly, there’s been very little research to date on what actually makes us happy. There’s a lot on what makes us unhappy, depressed, miserable, but those are certainly not places we aspire to.

There has been recent data on the ceiling of achievement of material comfort-which is around $75,000. More money a year, after that amount, has very little effect on your happiness.

But according to a research study, done a few years ago from Stanford and Wharton, the way you spend your time can make HUGE difference on your happiness quotient. These researchers looked at 60 academic studies and came up with five guidelines that anyone can use to increase their happiness.

1-Who You Spend Time With Matters. The research shows that by spending our time with the “right people”, generally family, friends and romantic partners, will increase our overall general happiness. Finding the people in our lives that “give us energy”, not “suck out our energy” are the “right people”. The research also shows that a predictor of happiness is how much substantive conversation we have in our lives. Small talk can make people unhappy and often times our lives have a disproportionate amount of small talk in it.

2-Increase your socially connecting activities. Are you connecting often with friends and family? And while there are certainly benefits to social media and on-line groups, socially connecting activities also means physically getting out with other people who enjoy the same activities and hobbies that you do.

Volunteering and focusing on other people’s issues and challenges, can improve our level of happiness as well. Look for organizations that mean something to you and see where you can offer your gifts and strengths.

3-Take time to daydream. Research has shown the part of the brain responsible for pleasure can be activated just by thinking about something pleasant. For example, vacation planning is something some people enjoy more than the vacation itself. Memory is also important to happiness, because it takes a past event or experience and allows us to “expand” its worth into the future.

4-Be in the present moment. Focusing on the “here and now” slows down the perceived passage of time, allowing us to feels less rushed. One study showed that people who were asked to breath slowly, taking long and slow breaths (versus short quick ones) for five minutes, helped them feel there was more time available to get things done, and gave the perception that the days are longer.

Pay or barter with people to do the chores you dislike. Tasks that we choose to do and like make us happier than the obligatory tasks. If you can afford to hire someone to do the things around the house that you dislike i.e. cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, then do so, and take the time you “bought” to do something enjoyable. If you don’t have the money-see if you might barter or trade with someone, something you like to do for something you don’t like to do. Maybe child care for house cleaning, baking bread or cooking some meals for something else. Be creative.

5-How old you are effects the way you experience happiness. The younger generations tend to measure happiness by excitement, but the older generations tend to associate happiness with peacefulness. Younger people get more happiness from spending time with interesting new people, while older people get more enjoyment from spending time with close friends and family.

Pick one or two of these ideas and see if it changes your happiness quotient. Or better yet, leave a comment below on an idea that has worked for you in the past!

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