Your Manner Matters (WT476)

Your Manner Matters (WT476)

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by Shirley Dalton | 9 Aug, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT476 Your Manner Matters

Firstly, I want to say that I am not complaining and this isn’t a rant. Rather, the goal for the stories in this week’s thought is to remind us of the importance of our manner and the impact it can have – both positive and negative. 

Here we go:

As we’ve been travelling around Far North Queensland we’ve been staying in a mix of caravan parks, national parks and free campsites. We generally only plan our itinerary a few days in advance and mostly call a prospective caravan park a few hours before we intend to arrive.

We got caught out a few times, booking and paying in advance, only to arrive and find the park was awful, so we made a rule, policy or guideline, whatever you want to call it, that says “We can enquire on the way, but not book in and pay until we’ve seen the site”.

On a couple of occasions, we’ve made the decision not to even look at a park because of the manner of the receptionist.

Here’s an example of an enquiry:

“Hello, could you please tell me if you have any sites for a motorhome for tonight please?”

“How big is the motorhome?”

“About 25 feet.”

“Have you got slide outs?”

“No.”

“You’re sure you’ve got no slide outs?”

“Yes.”

“How many nights are you staying?”

“Just the one please?”

“You’re sure it’s just one night?”

And on the conversation went until an exasperated Ross ended the call.

Turning to me, he announced, “We won’t be staying there!”

His next phone call was completely different.

“Sure we’ve got sites. Just come around when you get into town and we’ll show you what we have.”

When we arrived, the lady was extremely hospitable and gracious. She walked us around the caravan park, pointing out the various sites and inviting us to choose the one that suited us.

When we were leaving, having extended our stay by a few days, she came out of the office and thanked us for staying with them and invited us to return.

Your manner makes all the difference.

It can win or lose you business and you may not even be aware of it.

Could you say you are confident that your team are winning you business?

Are You Burning Energy? (WT471)

Are You Burning Energy? (WT471)

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by Shirley Dalton | 5 Jul, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 471 Are you burning energy?

I’m guessing you’re well aware of the word “procrastination” and what it means?

Today I’d like to look at it from another angle.

I was talking with a client this week who was totally distressed by what he perceived as his “lack of achievement” towards his goals. (I can totally relate to that!) 

It’s not that he is lazy.

It’s not that he won’t take action.

It’s not that he’s not motivated and it’s certainly not because he doesn’t know what he is talking about. 

Indeed, he is totally frustrated because he can’t decide; he can’t choose the first step to take.

As we talked, I encouraged him to “simply lean into it” and just do something.

We burn so much energy when we waste our time trying to come to a decision.

Many of us need to see the perfect outcome before we can take a step forward.

The irony is, that life is not like that. We make progress by taking one step at a time.

Like my client, I’ve been stuck myself with making a decision about how to niche down my own business and who to attract.

I admit, it’s difficult when you have so many choices. Again, like my client, when you can serve many people with different solutions and you enjoy them all, it’s a daunting task to say “No” to some.

When you think about the energy you’re wasting, it becomes critical to stop procrastinating.

Simply make a decision, choose an action and take one small step towards it.

If you find you don’t like the direction it’s going, simply make another decision.

The only way to overcome “paralysis by analysis” is to do something.

A mentor of mine once put it this way, “Just pick a horse and ride it”.

Your task this week is to do exactly that.

If you’ve found yourself paralysed and burning energy, simply choose one small action you can take and do that.

Go on. Do it now. You can always change it.

Stop burning energy.

Do It Fat, Do It Thin, Do It Scared, Do It Anyway (WT470)

Do It Fat, Do It Thin, Do It Scared, Do It Anyway (WT470)

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by Shirley Dalton | 28 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 470 Do it fat, do it thin, do it scared, do it anyway

In a couple of weeks, we launch our new membership site and only that we have Founding Members, I think I would have backed out of it, if I could.

It’s a curious thing that many of us experience self-doubt and fear as we embark on something new.

Listening to one of my mentors this week, he shared that every year he does something that “scares the crap” out of him.

When asked why, he replied, “To condition myself to doing things even though I may be scared. Being courageous is a muscle and it needs to be exercised just like any other muscle.”

For me I’ve been making excuses not to create videos because I am carrying a few extra kilos.

I’m also scared of putting myself out there and being criticised or rejected. 

I was so thankful to hear my mentor say that no matter what level of success you experience, the majority of people still experience self-doubt and fear.

He went on to share his story of launching a product for the first time and how some criticism almost caused him to give up and abandon the project just as they opened the cart for sales. Fortunately for him, one of his colleagues sent him a message of encouragement and he went ahead and enjoyed a hugely successful launch.

How about you? Is there something new you want to do or achieve and are finding that fear or limiting beliefs are holding you back?

I encourage you to go for it.

Do it fat, do it thin, do it scared, do it anyway.

Make Use of Your Resources (WT469)

Make Use of Your Resources (WT469)

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by Shirley Dalton | 21 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 469 Make use of your resources

A few years ago, I was attending a training course with Clinton Swaine of Frontier Trainings. I was in the hot seat. Clinton is a master at training using experiential games. In this particular game I was the CEO. I wasn’t doing very well. The mock company was in chaos and was losing money.

Ross was there with me, although not participating in the games or training. He was actually a resource I could have used although I hadn’t thought of that until Clinton reminded me, “Shirley, you are the leader and you have resources available to you and you are not using them. Good leaders are resourceful.”

Of course I felt embarrassed at the time and it was one of those lessons that we learn the hard way.

Interestingly for me, the same concept has reappeared this week.

Earlier this year we completed 3 Leading Yourself and Leading Others experiences training about 30 people.

The experience includes some 1:1 coaching with me. As the coach, I am a resource that is available to participants. I was amazed that not all participants made use of this resource.

The time frame for coaching had an expiration but not all participants have booked their sessions, despite receiving friendly reminders.

So you get the learning this week.  Make use of your resources. Good leaders are resourceful.

It’s a great reminder to take stock of the resources that are available to you and perform an audit for yourself.

Are you using your resources? Are you being resourceful?

Nine Years (WT468)

Nine Years (WT468)

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by Shirley Dalton | 14 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 468 Nine Years

Have you ever started something on a bit of a whim and then found yourself completely committed to it?

Well, this week is the 9th anniversary of our Weekly Thoughts and I’m so excited to share and celebrate with you.

I often mention how proud I am of the fact that I haven’t missed one single week in that time. That absolutely astounds me. Why? Because I love change and variety. I often get bored once I’ve mastered something and I’m always looking for the next best thing.

In fact, I can say there are only 5 main things in my life that I’ve committed to:

  1. Marriage to Ross (30 years in February 2020)
  1. Completing my University Degrees in Education and Psychology
  1. Successfully continuing my business for the past 10 years
  1. A handshake agreement with former employer for 5 years of service
  1. Weekly Thoughts

If I dig into it, there are most likely more things that I’ve committed to however these are the standouts to me. What about you?

What are or have you committed to?

Commitment is a big word with a big responsibility and an even bigger impact.

I’m committed to completing another year of Weekly Thoughts to make the 10 year mark and then we’ll see what happens.

It’s been such a great journey over the years. We’ve self-published our Weekly Thoughts book which was a huge learning curve. We’ve managed to find a topic every week, even when I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired. We’ve also managed to ensure we made the deadline for Friday mornings, although not always meeting the 3:00am timeframe. 

As I reflect back on the years, the thoughts started as a whim; a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings, sort of like journaling and for me, it’s also all about self-reflection and education.

I remember a flat mate of mine saying to me once, “You’re not much of a talker are you? You’re a real thinker.” Up to that point I hadn’t realised that about myself.

Self-awareness and knowing myself and then knowing others has always been a passion of mine as has sharing what I know with others.

This week I’d like to combine all three. As a celebration I am offering 9 complimentary Reach Profiles for the first 9 people to reply with a “Yes Please”.

These profiles will help you to see how you show up in the world and the degree to which you can influence the 3 other personality types.

Normally retailing for $200 each, it is my gift to you to say “Thank You” for being on this journey with me. If you’ve already completed the profile, don’t worry, the offer is transferrable so you can nominate a team member or spouse or friend, etc.

Simply reply with “Yes Please” and I’ll send you a link for the profile. You can download the results when you complete the quiz.

Here’s to another year of thoughts, feelings, education and support.

Woohoo, we made it to 9 years!

Thanks for being on the journey with me.

https://reachquotient.com/Participants/TakeSurvey/Start?code=QTKBUAIM

Messages From Your Heart (WT467)

Messages From Your Heart (WT467)

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by Shirley Dalton | 7 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 467 Messages from your Heart

This week I want to share some words of wisdom from one of my mentors because it’s a different way of looking at an issue that many of us experience.

I am a big fan of “Tapping” (Emotional Freedom Technique) to clear negative emotions.

I follow Nick Ortner and his sister Jessica Ortner (www.thetappingsolution.com). They have written a number of books and have created a number of online programs to help educate people about the power of tapping to improve relationships, emotional well-being, abundance, weight loss and more.

This week I opened an email from Jessica and was thrilled to read her words: “I easily begin to care less about what other people think, so I can more clearly hear the messages from my own heart.” 

I love this. Why? Because I often struggle with worrying about what other people think of me and up until now I have not had a way to frame it to be able to effectively embrace changing.

I know on a logical level that I “shouldn’t” care about what others think of me. Like you, I’ve heard the saying, “What others think of me is none of my business” and yet the words didn’t make any difference.

However, from Jessica’s point of view, I can see clearly that there is a far greater reason not to be concerned about what others think. 

The more I worry about what others think and might say about me, the less I can hear what my heart really wants to tell me. Now this is something I do want to hear. This is something I do want to know so I am now motivated to free up that line of communication and of course the added benefit is releasing the pressure and worry of being good enough to only ever be thought about or discussed in a positive way.

And whilst we’re sharing mentors’ quotes, here’s another from Stu McLaren, Founder of Tribe (my membership mentor), he says, “Love me or hate me, there’s no money in the middle.”

“OMG. What might you think about that? Am I being mercenary? Maybe I shouldn’t mention money?”

Wow! How freeing these quotes have been for me. Worrying less about what others may think enables me to hear my heart and that is to create an awesome experience for the people I work with to guide and support you through change, transition and transformation.

How about you? Is this a message you needed to hear?

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