Growth Happens Outside Your Comfort Zone

Growth Happens Outside Your Comfort Zone

O.K. We don’t like to hear this, but it’s true! Growth happens outside of our comfort zone.

If you want to experience personal growth, any growth, but particularly massive growth, you’re going to have to get out of your comfort zone. You can’t grow while you stay within your comfort zone.

Hint: They call it “comfort zone” for a reason! Makes you think of a big pillow, a warm blanket, and a mug of hot chocolate.

When you’re in your comfort zone, you’re comfortable. You may not be happy, but you’re not going to be totally miserable. And you’re static. There is nothing to challenge you or push you. Things are rolling along as normal, and you’re caught in the normal day-to-day flow of life.

This is a fine state of affairs if you’re happy with life, but what if you’re not? What if you want to grow and change and find a better way to live?

In the latter case, staying in your comfort zone means stagnation. It means life passing you by until one day you wake up to find yourself too old to live the life of your dreams and you wonder what happened. If you don’t want this to be you, you need to step outside your comfort zone.

Discomfort isn’t pleasant, but it’s where growth happens. Your brain and body have to respond to challenges (discomfort) and this catalyzes new growth and development. You can cause personal development and deliberately change your mindset by challenging yourself. The bigger the challenge, the bigger the response, and the more personal growth that happens.

That doesn’t mean you should schedule skydiving lessons for next weekend, however! Going too big too fast can also backfire on you. This is particularly the case if you’ve stayed in your comfort zone for a long time. Start small. Take a new route to or from work every day for a week. Try a new restaurant. Shop in an unfamiliar store.

Next, make a list of experiences you would like to have and things you would like to do. Start marking them off. Plan these things, commit time and money to them, and even tell other people you’re going to do them so you’re less likely to back out. Start planning for the biggest thing on your list.

Mark had always dreamed of rafting through the Grand Canyon.  So one day, he decided to stop just dreaming, and start doing.

First, he planned the trip. He booked it for a couple of years away. So it was on his calendar and his deposit was paid, He was cammitted. In 24 months, he was going to be floating down the Colorado River.

That was a big, scary challenge. Certainly those “what have I done?!!” voices started. Yet he was committed.

What next? Mark scheduled rafting lessons. He went on local day trips. Then short camping trips. When the time came, he was ready.

You can do this no matter what the goal. Think about some big dreams you have for your internet or writing business. Then commit to them – maybe by telling others. Then plan for a year or two ahead. And begin the preparations you need to do to make this happen.

Step outside your comfort zone, challenge yourself, and change your life!

10 Ways To Be Mobile Friendly

10 Ways To Be Mobile Friendly

Do you sit at your desk all day and look at things  online with your dual wide screens?

Uh-oh. You may be making some mistakes. (Just like I do from time to time).

It’s fun to design and implement beautiful layouts. But we need to take a look at this

In the last few years, more and more people (figures are about 33%), are using their smartphones and tablets for all or most of their internet needs. So a beautiful website on your desktop can sometimes look clumsy – and even weird on your phone.

So, as always, we smart people adapt.

We have to design our sites so that they look good – and are readable – on all devices.

So let’s look at a few tips to help us maximize our audience.

Be Minimalistic.

A flashy website is not going to translate well on a mobile device. Stick to the basics, and remember the acronym you’ve learned before. K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple silly)

Consider how mobile readers see your content — Check for yourself on the mobile device that you are targeting to assure yourself that the mobile content translates well to the device. You can’t be sure without looking.

Cut down on ad clutter

You may find that you need to move your ads to other areas that work better with mobile devices. Ads right in the middle of content might not work well with a mobile device like they do on a regular website

Choose a website theme which is good for phones.

Some – like Divi by Elegant Themes  – have a means of customizing a page for all devices.

Or if you are a bona fide techy, you can detect platforms that are viewing with proper coding — Learn about special coding that you can do for your content so that it detects what device is looking at the site, and appears in the best format for that device.

(I’ll stick to choosing the right theme).

Have Lots of navigation

For a mobile device you likely need more navigation than on a website. Consider using shorter drop down menus, and think of ways to drill down to the minute information on your site with more menus.

Make short links

As we know, typing on a handheld device is not fun or easy. So make links as short as possible so that no one throws their mobile device across the room in frustration when trying to view your site.

One post or set of content per page — this goes back to being minimalistic but keep the content to one post per page for easier viewing.

Put content front and center

Instead of having an entry page, put the newest content front and center so that mobile content viewers see what is important right away.\

Reconsider how you put textural links within a post.

While this is great for a website viewed on a webpage it might work better to put links under the post as well as within the text for easier navigation.

Add drop down navigation or hover navigation

This type of navigation saves a lot of space on the mobile device and makes it easier to actually click it to move to the mobile content that the visitor wants to view.

So there you have a few tips for pleasing your mobile viewers.

We want to keep those mobile viewers coming back again and again.

Do You Have Enough To Say For A Book?

Do You Have Enough To Say For A Book?

Do You Have Enough to Say for a Book?

When working with writers, I hear about all sorts of obstacles. Not enough confidence. Not enough time.

One of the biggest is “Not enough to say.”

Sometimes people will begin to write a book and spill everything they can think of onto a page, only to find that all of their thoughts amount to just a short amount of writing.

Then discouragement sets in and the familiar lament, “I don’t have enough to say to write a book.”

This is a common problem, and one which most writers face.

Often the issue is that famous “writer’s block.” There are tons of techniques for getting over this hump.

On other occasions, the writer truly doesn’t know enough to say. The standstill is real.

That’s why one of my webinars in It’s Time For You To Write That Book 2.0 is dedicated to research and information.

When you are writing your book, you don’t have to be the origin of every idea you include. As long as you give credit, your book actually has more significance when you include quotes and thoughts from other writers. That’s actually a plus and not a minus.

And also there is that wonderful world of Private Label Rights and Public Domain. These are books, articles, photos, and other items which you are free to use as if they were your very own.

The rights differ from item to item, but often you can – and even are encouraged to- change them. You can add your voice and put these pieces into the context of your book. There are e-books available which can be edited and included in your portfolio.

I love talking about this, because it’s truly a treasure trove for authors. Even if you are the top authority in your field, your expertise is enhanced by the expertise of others.

So if you have thought that you didn’t know enough to write your book, you’ll get some good ideas from my On Demand Course. For a short time, the entire course with videos, audios, transcripts, and lots of bonuses can be obtained at https://OurCBI.com. At almost half price.

I hope you check it out. Your book is important for establishing your credibility, and others will be inspired and encouraged by what you have to say!

We’ll talk soon.

In the meantime, Keep on Soaring!

 

 

 

Build Trust Like Mac’s Tire Store

Build Trust Like Mac’s Tire Store

Do Your Customers Trust You?

It’s a well-known fact that people like to do business with people that they know, like, and trust.

So every now and then we have to take a personal inventory. How do we measure up?

When I think about this concept, I almost break out into laughter, because I am reminded of one of my favorite all-time businesses.

Are you ready?

A tire store. Mac’s Tire Store in Tupelo, Mississippi. Let me tell you about that store.

You may have heard that my husband and I lived in Mississippi for about 25 years. We had some wonderful times while there, and I loved the area.

However, there were a couple of times when I would suddenly find my tire low in air, and I wouldn’t know what to do about it. (It seemed that Mickey was out of town or in a business meeting when those times came).Could it be fixed easily, or was it serious? I certainly didn’t know.

So I would take my car to Mac’s and confidently wait with my cup of coffee in hand and a pleasant magazine to browse.

I was confident because I knew these people. Their service would be quick and first rate. They would do a good job, and they woudn’t try to sell me something that I didn’t need. In fact, once I went in thinking that we needed new tires and they talked me out of it!

Now that’s my kind of a store!

It’s funny because I don’t even care about cars. Much less tires. But when I was in trouble, I knew these people would help me. They came to my rescue, and I was incredibly grateful.

The kind of trust that Mac’s had with me (and others), didn’t come over night. They had worked at building their business on a strong foundation of integrity and friendliness. They knew that most  people think of tires as an unpleasant necessity, and so they worked at making the experience at their store to be the best it could be.

Have you thought about this element in your business lately? I have. Every now and then, I like to take a step back and look at this issue. How trustworthy do my customers see me?

I think that this is even more important for online businesses. Since people can’t see us and talk with us face to face, it’s even more important to convince them that they can trust the products and courses they buy from us. They need to know that we understand their needs and concerns and help them meet those needs.

I’m determined to build my own business around the same concepts which made Mac’s so great.

The following points to improve your trust ranking and build better relationships in your business. They can also be used to regain trust too.

  • Understanding and Empathy – try to look for things that you have in common with people and then build trust from there.
  • Being Honest and Open – don’t be scared to show your true emotions and viewpoints. Of course be receptive to other people’s opinions too.
  • Be Genuine – show people that you care.
  • Have Respect – you need to respect yourself and others and treat people as equal. Do not blame or criticize anyone or make them feel guilty.
  • Listening – really pay attention to what someone is saying and demonstrate that you understand them. All it takes is a quick nod in agreement to achieve this and trust will quickly build.
  • Best Interests – learn how to take other people’s interests into account, not just your own. Look for solutions so that everyone becomes a winner.
  • Being Reliable – when you promise to do something, follow through and get the task done. Don’t make promises that you have no intention of keeping.

Think about how you can take these principles and apply them to your business practices. If you promised to look into something for a customer, actually follow through and do so. Even if you don’t locate what it was they were looking for, at least you made the effort and tried. This will no doubt be totally appreciated by them and helps build trust and respect.

Sometimes mistakes happen or you sell or refer a product that isn’t suitable. When this happens be honest and tell your customers or clients that you made a mistake. This helps demonstrate solid business practices along with trust.

If you truly want to run a business with honesty, integrity and trust then take steps to build relationships with everyone you meet on a day to day. Be personable. Open.

One of the best ways to build trust is to write a book. Share your life. Your stories. Your point of view.

For material to help you get started, check this out.

In the meantime, Keep on Soaring!

Your Vision Will Take You To Success

Your Vision Will Take You To Success

When I was a child, we had fill-in-the-blank Saturdays. Sometimes we had some extra time to sleep. Often we would take excursions just for fun.

Then there were those other Saturdays. The kind when you would wake up to a morning of “Clean-out-the-closets.” Or “Work-in-the-yard.”

Ugh!

Those Saturdays were boring. Not fun at all!

Now on the Saturdays when we had fun activities on the calendar, I would hop out of bed – even before the alarm went off. There was excitement in the air as we packed our picnic lunches or loaded our beach equipment.

Not so on those “other” days. My Dad would have to call to wake me several times before I would hear him. Then I would drag to get dressed. Drag to eat breakfast. And drag around even more as I attempted to put off the inevitable.

What was the difference? Why did I eagerly wake up on some days and dread facing the day on others?

Motivation. The kind of motivation which only comes by having a clear vision of what will be happening. (more…)