Recently, I did a keyword search on some words that I thought had high traffic on the Internet and the word "transform" was one of these words. In fact when I typed it into the keyword search tool, the number was 5 million! What that says is that there are 5 million people out there looking for "transform" ing something. That is a whole lot of lookers.
What are you looking to transform? I also did that key work search also and you know what came up: life and business. That's no big surprise. When you put this word "Transforming Business" or "Transforming Life" into a Google search bar you get millions of "solutions". How in the world is a person suppose to wade through all of that. I know from my experience as a coach and consultant that we (mere humans) become transfixed and linked and distracted for long periods of time and become paralyzed and then something happens to slap us back into the here and now and suddenly we are late for something else and we leave the computer screen and abandon our quest for "Transformation".
When you personally think; "….I need to change something (in other words "Transform") in myself, my world, my career, my relationships (or whatever that is)…" What is it that pops into your mind first?
That is the thing that you should write down. When you write it down. Write the first word or phrase that pops up. Then think about it for a moment or two and then write it down underneath your first impression in sentence form. Next ask yourself: "Who", "What", "When", "Where", "Why do I want to transform"? These are pivotal to your ability to move forward from the initial thought that "…somethings got to change….something has to go through a transformation….".
Do you understand this process?
Let's write it down step by step and expand on what we are doing i this "Transformation".
Step 1 Decision to think about: "I want to have a transformation in my business life"
Step 2 Think about the statement in step 1. Write down the first word or phrase that comes to mind when you say it.
Step 3 Look at the word or phrase you have written down, now close your eyes and let your mind dwell on the word or words. What comes up?
Step 4 Write down in a sentence what you just thought about. If it is lots of sentences, write them down cynically and legibly.
Step 5 Looking at the list what jumps out out you? Is it a pattern of ideas, actions, or is it a person's name, or something else?
Step 6 Write down what jumps out at you.
Step 7 Which one of those has the most "energy" associated with it?
Step 8 Make that one the first one on your list of "Transformation"
Step 9 Look at the the others and prioritize them as to the "energy" associated with them. These will become 2 through 10 for example.
Step 10 Take a look at #1. Close your eyes and think about what needs transforming.
Step 11 Write that down.
Step 12 What are all the ways that that transformation can take place? Think about it. The easy things, the tough ways, the not in a million years will this or that happen.
Step 13 Write them all down, do not quantify them or leave them off because they are ridiculous or absurd. These are the ones that make it come true sometimes.
Step 14 Which ones on your list are within your grasp, power, or otherwise doable from your place right now in the organization?
Step 15 Take each on and write out a "plan" of how you will accomplish each one, who you need to interface with to make it happen, put a date of completion next to each item
Step 16 Put a start date on the page, then all your steps and the completion date for each.
Step 17 Begin
Step 18 When your completion date rolls around, evaluate how you did. Remember small victories are still victories!
Step 19 Celebrate! all the victories!
Step 20 Go back to that original list and choose number 2 and repeat the process until all the items on your list are exhausted and you will be transformed!
This is a great process because you can insert those other areas of your life other than "Business" and get the same results. We will talk about that next time.
Filed under Women In Business by 
What day on your calendar is the "Red Letter Day" for "redesigning your life"? The last time you told yourself, "Today is the day, I have got to do something different….this isn't working!"…when was that?
For many of us it might be on our birthday as we take a millisecond to reflect on the years gone by. For others it is "New Years Day". And still for others it is a moment of "Transition" when we look at that road we have walked down and reflect. Perhaps it is you place your personal items into a box and walk from the job you have held for years and put it in the trunk. Or as you sign Divorce papers and walk "all alone" to the bus to ride to your new apartment. Redesigning our lives looks and feels very different under each of these scenarios which I have just listed here.
Some of us on the other hand just roll along through life and these things do not even give us time for "pause". What makes these two types of people living their lives out here on this blue planet so different?
Every single one of us has many, many transitions in our lives. I am sure that there is a list somewhere of the average number of transitions in a human beings life based on all sorts of factors, a sociology major who has done a PhD dissertation on the topic would know. And it isn't about the statistics is it? No. It is about how we feel about ourselves when we are in the throws of the redesign which is the crux of the matter.
Are you a person who has designed your life since childhood and are living out your dreams now? These folks are few and far between. I will say that I do know what this looks like, feels like and lives like. I have coached clients to this dream. I actually live in this space myself and it is a wonderful place to dwell. That doesn't mean that there haven't been bumps in the road traveled, because they have been there.
Do you remember that blog before about the "Filter" or the "Glasses" that we look at our world through? This is the same thing. The redesign is actually a changing of your filter.
Think about it this way. Let's say you have always lived in the country and you have lots of "stuff" that goes along with living in a place where you have wide open space. You have a car, patio furniture, a bar-b-cue, golf clubs, lots of furniture and a long commute every day. At some point you get a new job in a big metropolitan city say New York City and "country living" is no longer an option. Your have to change your FILTER big time. Suddenly, a car, golf clubs, patio furniture and the like are a huge burden to you in a large city. Your view of living must change in order to make your life work. That's an example of really redesigning your life and changing your filter.
What's your view of life today?
What "Filter" are you using?
What would you redesign if you could do anything and their were no barriers?
Filed under Growth by
These are two of the most important words in the English language. Indeed, these are two of the foundational corner stones of why people want to come to the United States because of the dream of "Options and Opportunities" and the perception that "Options and Opportunities" do not exist where they currently reside.
Where do you look for your own "Options and Opportunities"? Perhaps you are looking at the business ladder in the the career field you have choosen. Perhaps you are looking for the opportunity to start your own business at some point in your life. Perhaps you are looking in the options of buying a home, moving to a new state, or something else.
We are all "searching" for that next opportunity to………(what)…….?
The "WHAT" is different for each one of you reading this. That is a fact!
The "HOW" is also different for each one of you reading this post. That is a fact!
The "WHEN" is another interrogative that is different for each one of your reading this blog post today. That is a fact!
What is similar about the "searching" for the next opportunity?
Say those things that you think is the same for each of you. Drawing a blank? Well, let's explore that blankness for a moment.
You each have first had the "dream" of the next opportunity. Right!
You each have given some "thought" to that next opportunity. Right!
You each have a "Plan" when the next opportunity, suddenly shows up and you can say "YES!" Ahhhhhhh,…….probably not!
You each have put aside the money that you might need in order to jump when the door of opportunity presents itself, right? Ahhhh…., I'm not so sure about that one…..
You each have a support team in place that will cheer you on, give you sound advice, understand the long days and night of sweat equity you need to put into the opportunity when it presents itself.? "Definitely….that would be a "NO!""
Here's what happens in our lives since we don't know what we want, where we want to go and are not prepared by even taking the time to follow the day dream past the dreaming stage to get it onto a napkin or piece of paper, we are never ready when Opportunity presents itself.
I also know that because we here in the United States have millions of "Options" available to us, we become paralyzed and can't make a decision. We also take for granted that those "millions of options" will always be there.
Some of us are just the opposite however. We have a "favorite" thing and that's all we purchase. If the manufacture suddenly changes the packaging, flavor or scent, we are enraged that we can no longer find "Our Favorite Product". So what do you do?
Think about a product that you have purchased for more than 10 years. You got it. What is it that you like or love about that product? Why do you keep buying it? My guess is that, this product fills a very specific need in your life exactly, just like a puzzle piece in a puzzle. It does everything that you need it to do and nothing more and nothing less. You are "stable and satisfied" when you buy it, see it on your shelf at home, and when you use it, it gives you the experience that know it will.
When we search for "Options and Opportunities" that are there for the purpose of taking us to the next level of experience in our personal lives or our professional lives, that thing we just discussed in the last paragraph changes. Let's call that our "filter" on life.
Your filter is liking putting on you sunglasses on a sunny day. Or if you wear corrective lens your world look fuzzy until you put in your contacts or your glasses and then ""Your World" comes into "FOCUS". This is what happens when we are searching and looking for options and opportunities. It often reminds me of "Tax Season" with the preparer looking and searching for options and opportunities to find deductions and savings.
What is your "Filter: in looking for the "Options and Opportunities" in your life and business?
Filed under Awareness by