Have Trouble Saying No?

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Do you have problems with saying no?

As a small business owner or even an employee if you wish to succeed it is often hard to say no. You feel that if you say no to anything you have the possibility of loosing a customer or not being eligible for the next promotion.

However, not saying no may be doing more long term damage than the no would be. First of all you may be taking on too much and not doing the best possible job. Also, you could be carrying so much on your shoulders that some important things may fall by the wayside. You are also putting additional stress on you that could leave to long term health problems.

I know from personal experience how hard it can be to say no.

When I was working for other people I was afraid if I said no they would think I was not good enough to move ahead but I wasn't able to take on every task that came along. As a business owner I am afraid that if I say no it could mean one less important customer.

The Zen Habits blog has some simple ways to say no:

7 Simple Ways To Say “No”

To perform at your best you need to learn how to say no at the right time.

Are you looking for Magic Pills?

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The Positivity blog has another great entry, this time for those people that seek those magic pills. Either it is a book, tip, or something else that is going to magically turn their life and business around.

Four Healthy Reasons to Stay Away from Magic Pills, and How to Do It

Another example of magic pills is the get rich quick schemes. Everyone thinks they can find a magic pill and presto they will be rich. As anyone who has made will tell you it takes lots of time and smart money management.

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The Six Disciples has a great entry on change in 2010.

Seven Steps To Effective Change in 2010

The year is now more than half over and its time to sit down and evaluate the year so far.

What has gone right, what has gone wrong, what did you do that benefited the business, what could you have done better?

The most important thing to do is be honest with yourself. Do not look through rose colored glasses or be extremely negative.

Once you evaluate the first part of the year decide what you want to accomplish in the second half of the year and what you can do to make it happen. Take a look at the Six Disciplines blog and get some ideas to a better second half of 2010.

Prioritizing your Daily Goals

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Now that we have talked about the importance of goals and the different time frames, we will discuss the daily goals in a little more detail.

As mentioned last time you should have long term goals, medium range goals, and your short term goals that should be broken down even farther into monthly, weekly, and yes especially daily goals.

You should get up every morning, or better yet write down your goals for the next day before you go to bed. So that you can see the big picture I suggest that on divide a piece of paper with several columns with sections for the priority, what the goal is and most important how that goal relates to your long range goals. That way you can see how accomplishing that goal will build you toward the place you want to be in five, ten years or more.

You will also want to write down the goals you have for the day that may not directly tie into your long range goals but before long you will see that everything you plan to do that day will start fitting into those long range goals.

The next item on the agenda is to prioritize your daily goals in order of importance. I usually letter them A, B, and C. If something is a lower priority than a C, then it really is not important at all and should not be a goal for the day, correct?

Next take a look at the A category. Is there anything on there that is something you’re not looking forward to doing? Then do that item first so that it is over with and you do not have to think about it for the rest of the day. Do the same thing for the other three categories of priority so the stuff you’re not looking forward to is done and over with first.

At the end of the day go through your goal list and note anything that you did not accomplish that day. Figure out what you did get that goal accomplished:

1. Will it take longer than done day to accomplish, then try dividing the goal up into several sections and completing a section each day.
2. Something that you were trying to avoid, once again get this done first so that you do not have to think about it the rest of the day.
3. Too many goals for the day? We will go over this next time.

As Rick Pitino says in his book “Success is a Choice” you need to go through your goals and not what you accomplished and figure out what you did not accomplish and figure out why and how you can do things differently tomorrow.

If you are seeing to many A or B items not get done then you should evaluate what is keeping you from accomplishing important things. Are you getting distracted? Are you being interrupted by outside influences? Trying to bite off more than you can chew?

After a few weeks you will have a better idea of how a goal setting system will work for you and get you on the road to accomplishing more.

Being Creative.

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeOf the many blogs I read, one of my favorites is the Zen Habits Blog. It is always filled with good information that is designed to make your life better. Today's entry is called:

The Secret to Being Insanely Creative

So what are the secrets of being insanely creative? It is not that big of a secret and you probably know the answer already.

One of the secrets is setting goals. As Zig Ziglar says "How can you hit a goal you cannot see?". Goals must be specific, have a specific time period and most of all be written down. You must have daily goals that work toward your important long range goals. Sometimes it is hard to set those goals but it is vitally important that you have them.

Another important ingrediant is your relationships. Are the people you associate with helping you achieve or they are holding you back. Often times our friends can hold us back because subconsciously they fear that if you achieve your goals either you will not need them any more or they will be something less. While it is painfull to do, you need to seek out relationships that will build you up and not take you down.

So what are you going to do to unlock your creativity?

Procrastination

Are you a procrastinator?

I have to say yes to this question unfortunately but I have found ways to over come it. The Putt it off Blog has 28 ways in which you can overcome it yourself.

I overcame it by setting very specific goals with specific targets and sticking to them. I also have a very competitive spirit so I use that to be a motivating factor.

Take a look at some of the suggestions and see what will work for you. Just because it works for person A does not mean it will work for person B, so you need to find your own path to overcoming this vise.

Here is another area where a mentor can help you. Seek someone that can watch over you and motivate you to overcome the problem. Don't let procrastination harm your potential for success, overcome the problem and be stronger for it.