Brand New Year, Brand New Website, Brand New Goals

January 2019

Welcome to the new and improved Business World Rising® website. Hope you like its entirely new, even more appealing look and feel to go along with our slightly new focus for the business. For anyone outside of Southern California (where this business was born in 2009), hope you will be as thrilled as I am that we will finally take our show on the road, so to speak, beginning in the second half of this year.  I look forward to meeting many new friends on this new journey.

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the publication of the leadership book Dr. Mark Goulston and I have been collaboratively working on for the past few (or more) years, I’m thrilled to announce that what originally began as one book has now turned into two! We still have a ways to go before you’ll see them available on Amazon, but my #1 most important business goal for 2019 is to get our first book in print and in stock for you to purchase.

Even better: You will be able to pre-order our first book, The WOW Factor Workplace, soon … here on this website…just click on the BOOKS tab. For anyone who places a pre-order on this website, you will be among the very first in the nation to receive your copy, just as soon as the first batch is printed (planned for Q4). I will personally autograph your book and I promise to drop it in the mail just as soon as I have it in my hands. Can’t wait.

For those who may be new to Business World Rising and for anyone not yet familiar with my story about writing “the book” with Dr. Mark, I will bring you up to date in an upcoming edition of HerSpectives. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here’s my Mentoring Moment for the new year (anyone who was a member of our original Business Women Rising - Leadership Vistas program in Southern California knows what I am about to say, as this was always how every one of our peer mentoring groups kick-started each new year):

First: Ask yourself, as of right now, what does success mean to you?  

My vision of success is likely to be quite different from yours and vice versa.  Take some time to consider what success looks like for your career, your friends and family, your financial well-being, your health and your community.  Success has to be personally defined to be achievable and inspirational for you.  Do not waste time trying to achieve someone else’s vision of personal success. 

To achieve your vision of success, you need to start with a solid foundation of self-knowledge.  Do you understand your own strengths, passions, values and priorities?  This level of self-knowledge will help put you on the right track. 

Next: Define your business / career goals for the year and write them down.

Keep it simple. Simply pick your top five or six most important goals to be accomplished within the next 12 months. I personally find listing them in a smartphone app or on a credit card-sized paper that can go in my wallet, where they are close at hand for quick reference, is most helpful.

Finally: Review these goals every day.

Use these goals to help you make decisions about your everyday activities.  When faced with choices, refer to your goals to help you decide which choice will move you closer to achieving your goals.  Expect that your goals will change over time.  Some may at some point no longer be relevant. That’s OK.

Remember you control how you spend your time. Your written goals will provide you with valuable guidance regarding how to best utilize your time.  Use your goals to decide when to say “yes” and when to say “no.”  Don’t hesitate to ask for what you want.

A former Leadership Vistas member, now a company President, shared this with me:

“I just wanted to reach out and tell that I was thinking about you the other day.  We were finalizing some goals for the year and I pulled out a blank Action Plan card that I had from your meetings.  I have written my high level goals on these cards and keep them right on my desk.  Each time I look at them it makes me think of you. Just wanted to let you know it has left a lasting impression on me.”

So give it a try. You might be amazed at what you can accomplish this year. Go for it!