My very best wishes to you for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2007. Take some time to sit and reflect on 2006.

Where are you today compared to where you were 12 months ago and is it what you expected?

Why?

That’s a big question, “Why?”

Every year starts with a perceived clean slate. Make sure you take the time to reflect on the why of your current situation before setting the plans with which to move through 2007.

This kind of reflection isn’t the easiest thing to do. As a business owner, it means setting your ego to the side and being totally accountable for what did and didn’t happen, regardless if you physically ‘pulled the trigger’ or not. It’s your business, your call and your life. If someone else ‘pulled the trigger’ that means you handed over control.

Without this kind of reflection and understanding you run the risk of finding yourself in a very similar spot next year at this time. Do the work, look inward before looking outward. Be accountable and be BOLD. Clarify your vision – because that’s where it starts.

Happy New Year.

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"Time stays long enough for those who use it".  --Leonardo Da Vinci

I guess this means getting off my chair and following up on a few things. Using the time and not the excuse that "it's the holiday season". Cut yourself some slack, but don't cut the cord - yet.  It's still business as usual as far as the IRS, the bank and the credit cards are concerned.  Make the calls. You may get voice mail - more than likely you will get voice mail.  However you are getting their voice  mail -  your client isn't getting yours.  Be a leader; set yourself apart from the crowd.


From my house to yours, have a BOLD and Happy Holiday. You know the VISIONs of sugar plums are everywhere!

Are you happy with your performance this year? How successful were you in reaching the goals you set for your business and for yourself?  If you didn’t see the progress you hoped for you might have a common challenge many ambitious, goal-oriented people have; a lack of focus. Look at it from another angle and the challenge might be trying to do it all - or trying to be all things to all people. It all boils down to a lack of focus.  “I’m focused!” you say.  But, are you really?  How many goals did you set for yourself? If it was over 10, it was too many. 

In fact, Dale Carnegie in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People suggests that the first critical step is to write down all your goals.  The second step is to narrow the list down to a single one.  A single one!

Depending on whether you’re setting a personal goal or business, limiting yourself to one, single goal may or may not work for you.  The point is that it is important to FOCUS. The more narrow a range of focus, the better your success. Just like the advice from marketing experts; the more narrowly you can define your target market, the better your marketing results. It's the same concept.

Why is this? Because, each goal you set competes with the other goals for your time and attention. For example, consider the following goals:

·             Increase income 20%

·             Be featured in 3 art exhibitions

·             Learn to speak Spanish

·             Lose 15 pounds

·             Remodel the kitchen

·             Become a black-belt

When you’re taking Spanish lessons, you’re not practicing martial arts. When you’re putting together your art work for the exhibition and making contacts with galleries, you’re not focusing on how you can increase your income.  Yes, I know – balance is important.  I’m just pointing out the facts. 

When you set goals it’s important to see the time requirement of achieving the results you want.  There are only so many hours in a day (that would be 24) and so many days in a year (that would be 365). People tell me there are just not enough hours in a day to get things done.

Well, I can show you a quick and simple way to find 1 or 2 extra hours a day. Turn the television off! It is the exception rather than the rule to find anything worthwhile airing. The quality of the programming is an insult; the value to one’s life is … well it isn’t; and the news programs are depressing, disheartening and divisive.

Instead of watching television, use that time and energy to focus on your key goal(s).  Read a book.  Make a plan.  Share your vision with your partner.  If you’re willing to do this – and then DO IT – you will have a much higher rate of success.

Take control of your life.  Be BOLD.  It all starts with a vision.  ...and FOCUS.


If you don't already, consider subscribing to the BOLD Bulletin, our monthly e-zine for self-employed professionals and small business owners. Sign up now and receive a free e-book version of the original Dale Carnegey (yes, this is the original spelling of his name) book The Art of Public Speaking. See a sample issue of the BOLD Bulletin here.

I subscribe whole heartedly to the chaos theory; that there is underlying order in seemingly chaotic and random systems (i.e. my desk.)

An ever-present goal of mine has been to bring order to my desk.  I don’t think my comfort with desk clutter is unique. Organizing paper – that is culling through, throwing or filing things away is one of the most frustrating and stressful things for me. Papers, magazines, to-do notes, clipped articles, messages – my desk is an a-tonal symphony of paper in all sizes shapes and colors.  It’s really quite beautiful in an odd, creative sort of way.  I could however, put my hands on whatever was needed – and quite promptly I might add.

Perhaps my effort to arrange my desk more neatly is the result of buying into others’ definition of “order”.  As a matter of fact, I find it more difficult to locate things after I’ve organized and filed things away.  There IS a method to the madness of my system. 

Thank goodness for the new book, A Perfect Mess by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman.  These guys did studies and found “moderately disorganized people, institutions, and systems frequently turn out to be more efficient, more resilient, more creative and in general more effective than highly organized ones.” 

Phew! FINALLY someone who gets it! Everyone has his or her style of work and what I am suggesting is to focus on the work style that’s right for you.  The “clean desk” rule doesn’t necessarily improve productivity any more than the “clean plate” rule improves your health.  “Moderate” is the key word here.

So those of us efficient, resilient and creative types, be BOLD and stand firm! One person's chaos is another's order. 

A Promotion Action begins after the first of the year - January 3, 2007. There are only 4 spots left so if you're interested please go to www.PromotionAction.com for more information and to enroll. 

Stay tuned for other Bold Vision Consulting's January events.

Social responsibility isn’t something only large corporations are involved in these days.  Small businesses are signing up and implementing CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) efforts in record numbers.  Socially responsible businesses, sustainable businesses, ethical business practices… while they all differ slightly, the catagor of business responsibility is hot.  

Increased attention on the social responsibility of businesses hasn’t been entirely voluntary, unfortunately.  However, it is a topic that has evolved from damage mitigation to primarily a proactive effort to impact society in a positive and profound way. Do you (or your employer) participate in CSR efforts? Is there a CSR strategy? How are your CSR efforts aligned with your business? 

Successful businesses need a healthy society to survive.  A healthy society needs successful businesses to survive.  There's no question, the moral obligation of business to support the communities in which it does business is one felt by many. 

There are also unlimited worthy causes with which a business can align. How do you choose? Businesses can’t solve all of society’s problems, nor can business bear the costs.  So how can you determine which cause to support?

As a business owner you have a responsibility to society, your employees, your clients and the business (or shareholders) itself. It’s important to select issues that intersect with your business.  The guide is not whether a cause is worthy but whether it presents an opportunity to generate shared value that is meaningful and benefits society and is valuable to your business.

No matter how beneficial a social effort / program is, unless you align your CSR efforts with your business efforts; unless it is integrated into the overall strategy of your business plan, the direct impact of these efforts on your business will likely be modest at very best; negative from an ROI perspective at worst.  There are explicit and implicit costs of CSR programs, sometimes significant.

There’s a very good, albeit lengthy article in December, 2006 issue of the Harvard Business Review: “Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility”.  As the article says, it is important that a business social agenda look beyond community expectations to opportunities to achieve social AND economic benefits simultaneously. 

Do good work while doing good.  It's takes a BOLD move and it starts with a vision. 

For upcoming events and other news and resources, see www.BoldVisionConsulting.com