#4- We’re Almost There… Leveraging Your Past

01/30/2007 | 9 Comments

Hey Guys,

I’m back again with your next installment of my Make 2007 Your Best Year Ever Business Makeover Formula.

Remember, you can’t have a makeover if you don’t get in the game. If you’ve not done the ‘Power Lists’ from the first three posts, do not pass GO!

These things build on each other, so go back and do the lists of your successes, disappointments, and the things that are holding you back from greatness. You need all the pieces in place, or it’s like putting in the foundation after you’ve put up the siding.

Are you ready now? Let’s get started with this next Big Question, since it really shows you why I had you do those lists in the first place…

Your Next Big Question…
What Did You Learn from the Last Three Questions?

You may not even have to think about this question.

After you put together your Power Lists of accomplishments, disappointments and things that held you back in 2006, the lessons learned could have already hit you square in the head like a 10 pound brick!

Don’t worry if that didn’t happen right away for you -We’re all different and what hits someone else right away may take a little longer to sink in with you.

I’m here today to make sure you fully learn from everything you’ve discovered about yourself and your business.

Learning From Everything You Did Last Year

So you’ve compiled your Power Lists of what went well last year, what could have gone better and what held you back.

Now it’s time to take a step back and learn something from each and every entry from all three lists.

Taking inventory of last year will not help if you can’t learn from your mistakes and your victories…

Don’t only look at the failures and victories from the day to day activities of your business, either…

You should learn from entries in your Power Lists from your personal life, too. Especially the things you found that are holding you back…

Then apply what you’ve learned to your business and your life right away.

For example, if you have been struggling to write sales copy for your business and are still getting poor results, it’s time to outsource this task.

And if you want to have a pile of money for you and your family – even though your grandmother has always told you that money is the root of all evil… you’ll need to resolve the confusion created by trying to achieve something your subconscious mind thinks deep down is wrong.

Even though you have learned what your mistakes and victories were last year, it may not be completely clear exactly how you should take this information and apply it to your business and your personal life.

Well that’s where the next Big Question I have for you comes in…

After you read my next post, you will be very clear about just how to apply what you’ve learned about yourself so you can indeed Make 2007 Your Best Year Ever!

To Higher Profits,

Rich Schefren
Strategic Profits

Part 3 – Who’s Holding You Back?

01/28/2007 | 11 Comments

Hey Guys,

Today I want to continue with the five questions that are going to Make 2007 Your Best Year Ever.

If you followed my previous posts you created two powerful lists that show you exactly what happened in your business and your life last year- what worked and what didn’t work – your successes and your disappointments.

And you probably learned a great deal about yourself in the process.

Well now you’re going to learn even more about yourself as we get into the next step of my 2007 Business Makeover Formula.

And today’s question may reveal some things you would have never thought of in a million years.

Are you ready?

Your Next Big Question. How Did You Limit Yourself Last Year and How Can You Stop?

You know how I feel about constraints. And you may not believe it, but there are nasty things hiding deep inside of you that have been holding you back from living the life you want.

And most are not your fault. They were placed in your head by well-meaning people. Some of this stuff you’re just thrown to based on things like where you came from, where you grew up, your family background, etc. And some of this stuff has been told to you by people who were really trying to help you by passing on what they thought was valuable advice to live by.

But what actually happened was that you got hardwired with programming that’s outdated. And yet it still influences your thoughts and day to day activities and beliefs in a negative way.

The part of your thought process that has been affected by this ultimately negative input is your belief system and your core values.

Were Your Grandparents Wrong?

Did you have an elderly grandmother that used to tell you things like “Money is the root of all evil” and “Rich people are all crooks”?

Well money is not the root of all evil, and all rich people are not crooks.

Each year millions of dollars are donated to worthy causes by rich people. Their generosity has brought forth breakthroughs in the fields of science and medicine that have made this world a much better place to live.

And even though the news media makes the public believe all rich people are crooks when a CEO is caught stealing from the company pension fund, that’s really not true.

What they don’t tell you is 99.9% of all successful business people have achieved their success through hard work and dedication, not by theft or cheating.

Exposing Your Pre-Programmed Belief System

Along with discovering and listing last year’s business accomplishments and disappointments, it’s time to take a good look at yourself on a very basic level.

This involves reaching deep into your core values and beliefs to see what’s holding you back.

And you may find that some of the things you thought were the truth are really just clich’s. Misguided ideas presented by narrow-minded thinkers and then passed down from generation to generation.

So be ready to find out that what you thought was bedrock in your belief system may not actually be true. For some of you, this may be really shocking.

If it’s your mission to discover exactly what’s holding you back from achieving your goals and dreams. Then do whatever it takes to stop doing or thinking those things.

Have You Been Operating from a Position of Strength or Weakness?

And along with those programmed beliefs, there’s the behavior of operating from your weaknesses instead of your strengths.

Personally, I know a lot about this one! Last year I did not leverage my strengths as much as I could have. And I was involved in some things that I don’t consider my strengths.

But I realized what was going on and fixed the problems. I hired people that are strong in things that I consider myself weak in. Their strengths complement mine.

This one essential move is already making a huge difference for my business this year.

What about you?

Are your daily activities based on your strengths? Or are you wasting your valuable time struggling to get better at things you know deep down are your weaknesses?

You know what I’m talking about here. Not things that you could get good at – but things that you don’t care if you ever get good at but need to have handled excellently.

Are You Ready to Answer Today’s Big Question?

It’s now time for you to get your treasured notebook of powerful lists that make up my formula for Making 2007 Your Best Year Ever.

And create another list – this one from your deep, hard look at the values and belief system that you’ve been carrying around for most of your life.

Then include all of the activities you’ve been doing that are not really your strengths.

It’s important to identify those activities that are definitely your weaknesses. The things you struggle with regularly that don’t produce the results you expect.

You’ll Soon Find Out Why You’ve Been Creating This Notebook of Life-Changing Lists

To be prepared for the next Big Question in my Business Makeover Formula, you must have completed all three lists we have discussed so far.

I kid you not.

It’s the only way this series of Make 2007 Your Best Year Ever questions will help you turn your situation around. It will mean the difference between you having an extremely profitable year, or just getting by again – like you did last year.

To Higher Profits,
Rich Schefren
Strategic Profits

P.S. Following this formula myself has enabled me to put my business on track to have a record year. And it wasn’t from just doing the three lists we’ve covered so far.

The next two Big Questions are essential keys to making this formula work for you. So make sure you move on to the next blog post when you’re ready.

Because I really want to see you make a splash this year.

And not just a hand-in-the-water splash. I’m talking about a take-a-running-start cannonball splash that gets everyone around you soaking wet!