Business Mindset Archives - Better Business Freedom

Ask a different question to get unstuck

Jean-Marc — Fri, 10 May 2019 07:14:44 +0000

Stuck? This 3 letter word could help…

One of the easiest and quickest ways to get unstuck in business is to ask a different question.

Most often we’re stuck because we keep asking the same question over and over hoping that at some point we’ll be inspired with a solution.

Moving forward though can be as simple as changing one or two words in your question. Or re-arranging the letters of a 3 letter word…

being stuck is an expensive pastime

As an entrepreneur, or business owner, being stuck is an expensive pastime,because how quickly you move forward is often the difference between capturing, and taking advantage of opportunities, or watching them pass you by. Equally when it comes to solving a problem, the longer it takes, the greater the cost and negative impact. Delays cost money and are expensive in many different ways.

If you’re capable and competent you’re even more likely to fall into a trap and get stuck.

This is because you’ve got oodles of experience to show that you’re good at solving problems and figuring things out. As a result you persist at trying to solve the problem on your own. People who aren’t good at solving problems don’t fall into this trap…

If you’re a competent person and good problem solver, the likelihood is that you’re asking yourself “HOW” do I solve this?

I see this with my clients and people that I help over and again. Competent people seem habituated to asking themselves “How”.

Usually what you should be asking is ” WHO” can solve this for me,

or “Who” can point me in the right direction.

So if you find yourself stuck, or slow in making progress, change “how” to “who” in your question and see if that helps you to progress a little quicker.

If you need support with a complex problem, or options, and you’re still feeling ‘stuck’, send me a message and I’ll do my best point you in the right direction.

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I help owners of service businesses structure their businesses to grow seven figure profits, working 30 hours or less a week, 40 weeks a year.

If you’re making 6 figure profits (or low 7) and want to grow to seven figures but are already working more hours than you care, I’ll show you how to use a Freedom Framework to grow your bottom line and achieve more whilst working less.

By using the right structure and playing to your own individual strengths, you can design your business to operate and grow, without trapping yourself in the process.

More Growth, More Freedom, Better Business!

Follow me at https://www.facebook.com/betterbusinessfreedom

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Habits for Productivity

Jean-Marc — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 11:27:46 +0000

I was recently asked for some advice on establishing a new habit. This was after someone had seen my Productivity Pyramid Framework and realised that increased movement and exercise was vital to improving their business productivity.

Unfortunately there’s too much focus on goals these days.

Our focus instead needs to be on cultivating successful habits. It’s our habits that allow us to achieve our goals after all.

Habits are critical to productivity, because habits require less energy to sustain than adhoc actions.

What I share below applies to creating a habit of exercise, but the same nine principles apply to any habit whether business or life related.

To help create a habit, create a ‘streak tracker’ to engage your inner stubbornness and competitiveness. A streak is a series of consecutive unbroken ticks (for each day you complete an action) on a calendar or piece of paper.

Set a low minimum achievable action to give your streak tracker a tick. Make your minimum action really achievable each and everyday. Something like walking your stairs 3 times in a row. You must be able to do your exercise at any time of the day regardless of weather, time of day etc. This means that there’s literally no excuse to break your streak even if it’s the last thing you do before bed.

Maintaining your streak will enhance your self esteem and your positive feelings about moving forward and making progress. You’ll feel great about honoring your commitment with yourself.

Build your habit into an existing routine or routines as far as possible. That way it’s easier as you are piggy backing off an existing habit. If you make a cup of tea or coffee in the morning then do your stairs whilst the kettle is boiling or the coffee is percolating.

Start tiny: Whilst something this small seems hardly worthwhile or unlikely to yield an impact, or would take too long to make a big difference, the opposite is actually true.

When it comes to change and impact, small consistent action trumps grand gestures! That’s why there’s great wisdom in “an Apple a day” but we readily discount this simple truth. Compare how much easier it is to agree with “a chocolate bar a day over many years will make you overweight”.

Experience shows that when you commit to just a very small achievable activity, then within days you’ll be doing more than your minimum, maybe not everyday but more often than not.

Getting started has the greatest friction and we can dramatically decrease the starting resistance by having an action that’s so perceptibly easy that there’s virtually no resistance to doing it.

Play the long game: whilst rapid results are motivating, most often they require grand or monumental efforts to create them, and these grand efforts are unsustainable over the long term and hence the habit and results don’t endure.

Start small and increase incrementally, focusing on small wins consistently that will amount to big impacts over 3 months, 12 months and 3 years.

We over estimate how much we can achieve in a year but underestimate how much we can achieve in 10 years with small consistent efforts. Use this truth to your advantage and adapt your time frames accordingly.

Success is the ongoing pursuit of a worthwhile goal. Don’t let arbitrary deadlines or failure to meet them deter you from continuing towards your goal.

Plot milestones not deadlines. Being a certain amount by Xmas is too binary. It’s a fail or succeed outcome. And why does by Xmas really matter if your long term objective is enhanced health month on month and increasing mobility month on month.

Reframe your goals so that you can’t fail. Because so long as you continue to persist towards an outcome, any ‘failure’ becomes a temporary setback rather than an outright failure.

Don’t overwhelm yourself by doing too much across too many areas at the start. Build another habit off the success and confidence of an already established one.

Success breeds further success.

You will naturally make other better choices as you succeed with the first small habit. Each successive choice and habit will become easier. A little more exercise will make you thirstier and you’ll drink more water. More water and exercise will help you sleep better. Better sleep will improve your impulse control and prevent you having as many low nutritional binges.

Like a snowball rolling down a hill It’s another compounding effect, so let momentum work for you in this natural effect.

There’s deep truth in the statement that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but rather one stone at a time!

You can achieve great things by building one habit upon another.

In summary:

– Start small

– Have an achievable minimum action for every day

– Create a streak and see how long you can grow it

– Piggyback off other habits

– Play the long game

– Eliminate resistance

– Reframe your goals so that you can’t fail

– Plot milestones not deadlines

– Let momentum be your friend

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Are You Mad?

Jean-Marc — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 03:07:14 +0000

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Maybe it’s time to break free of your madness…

Figure out what your business goals are and then set about finding a NEW way to achieve them.

Start by asking yourself these questions:

Do I have a planning system that pulls my long term strategic goals into my weekly and daily tasks and actions?
Is my business deliberately designed and structured for Freedom, or is it restricted by design?
Do I have a Strategic Roadmap that provides me with clarity, confidence and certainty around key decisions and choices?

Do something about it now… don’t wait for insanity to strike again!

#BetterBusinessFreedom #Freedom #BusinessFreedom #BusinessPlanning

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