I’m at a retreat this week with some amazing women. I’m learning lots, getting clear on the next steps to take in my business and enjoying a break from my regular routine. Even though I miss my family, I have to say it’s been nice having time to myself in the evenings.

Today I’m sharing with you some tips on how I’ve learned to balance work and family. I haven’t perfected it, but I have learned some tips that definitely make things easier

“How to Balance Work & Home Life”

Do a Schedule. Create an overall monthly schedule. This will help you to have a general schedule for the month. You can make time for focus time (time spent on projects to grow your business), flex time (time spent on the current tasks to operate your business) and free time (time just for you) time. You will feel organized knowing you are making time for everything you need to. From there, look at your schedule weekly and adjust your schedule as needed. It’s important to pick a time each week to look at your schedule. I find it helpful to do it the same day each week so that it becomes part of your routine.

Set-up Systems. Setting up systems is important in your business and life. Automate as many tasks as you can. For instance, do your budget the same day each week. Choose which days you will do laundry, grocery shop, etc. By setting-up systems you will feel organized and it will also give you more time to fit in other things, i.e. instead of doing laundry every night you can do other things guilt free In your business, this will help you know everything has a day/time to be dealt with. You will also be a lot more efficient with the time you do have.

Always Prioritize no matter what. Whenever you’re working, as yourself if what you’re doing will generate you revenue. If not, then delegate it to someone else or schedule in some time to tackle it after you’re worked on revenue generating projects. Work on your top 3-6 until they’re fully implemented. In your personal life, do the same. Do what has to be done only. You will always have a list. If you’re one of those people (like me), who tries to get everything done all the time, ask yourself at what price? Are you spending less time with your kids because you’re trying to get other things done?

Be Present. In line with the last tip, try to be present when you’re working and when you’re with your family. This is easier after setting a schedule and setting-up systems. You will have peace of mind knowing there is a plan to tackle it all. This will make it easier to show up fully for work and family time.

Last but not least. Stay flexible. Life will throw you curve balls. The more you can roll with it and adjust your plan as you go the easier and less stressful of a time you will have.

There’s an issue I’ve been noticing for a long time and so I decided to write an article about it. It’s customer service. I’m not sure what is going on, but there definitely seems to be a lack of great service. Granted, I have high expectations, but still. It seems like a lot of people are missing the boat. Today I outline how you can check-in on the level of service you provide for your clients and five suggestions on how to provide even better service.

First and foremost, what type of service do you want to provide? Do you want to be known as a person that gets back to people promptly? That you take your clients and customers seriously, and value their business? Decide what your standards are and communicate them to your clients. This serves two purposes. The first is that you will be clear with your clients on what they can expect from you. This prevents any misunderstandings later. The second, is it enables you to set boundaries with your clients. They know up front they can’t expect anymore then what you’re telling them you can offer. After all you do have more then one customer you need to provide great service for. Under promise and over deliver. Not the other way around

Second, what I’ve come to realize is that your level of customer service directly reflects who you are and what you stand for in your business. Think about it. If you don’t call someone back what does this say about you and your business? It’s my opinion that it doesn’t matter what type of call it is. If it’s a situation where you don’t want to say no to someone. Get over it. You never know who knows who and you should be treating everyone you come in contact with like a prospect.

Third, manage your expectations. Is what you expect of others the same as the service you provide for your own clients? Make sure you are realistic with your expectations of others, i.e. if someone isn’t getting back to you, are you doing the same to someone else?

Fourth, it’s important to communicate your criteria to everyone on your team. Customer service works both ways and doesn’t just apply to how you interact with your own clients. For expamle, if you work with a VA (Virtual Assistant), make sure she/he is aware of the top three criteria that are the most important to you. My top 3 are great customer service and representing my company in professional manner, communicating/completing projects within pre-determined timelines and acting with integrity.

Fifth, another important distinction to make is value versus service. Make sure you treat all of your clients with the same level of service regardless of how big or small of a client they are to you. All of your clients deserve to be treated like they are important and that they deserve your best. Now, a smaller client may not receive as much value because they simply aren’t paying for it (i.e. they will get what their package includes only), but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t receive the same level of service as your higher paying clients.

I hope this article helps you provide the best service for your clients and prospects You are sending out a powerful message to the universe by doing so.

I was chatting this week with someone who told her boss she would either be quitting or going down to part-time. This conversation takes an enormous amount of courage. Her boss agreed to part-time with benefits and she will be free to explore other options that are in-line with her passions! Yay! This is what’s it’s all about. Making those scary decisions and trusting it will all work out. It always does

This week’s article is all about how to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone.

“How to Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable”

I love this statement because it’s all about stretching yourself out of your comfort zone and being comfortable with it on a continuous basis. In order to grow and learn, you must be willing to take risks and plow through your fears. Moving forward and doing new things can be scary, but if you don’t do it you will be left feeling stagnant and likely with a lot of regret.

So “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable”, has become my motto. After doing so many new and “scary” things over the past few years, I’ve come to being cool with feeling the fear and doing it anyways and to almost expect it! It always subsides and then I’m on to the next thing

Another point that comes to mind is flexibility. I am a true believer that setting goals is important for creating your ideal lifestyle. Without taking action, you won’t move forward. However, staying flexible within that process is equally important. If you are familiar with the law of attraction, then you understand that we’re not supposed to worry about the “how” portion of it coming to fruition.

Setting the intention, trusting it will happen and letting go of attachment (control of the how), and then taking inspired action is how it works. You still need to take action, but the difference between having such a tight grip on figuring things out and inspired action, is that you “let go and let it flow”! Meaning you trust it will happen and then release the idea. From there you pay attention to any people, circumstances, events and ideas that you have that will enable you to achieve your goals

It can be scary to let go of control. Just having faith that it will work out AND being okay with that is a huge part of it actually happening. If you are so focused on “how” to make it happen, the opportunity to make it happen can pass you right by. Being flexible and having that “go with the flow” attitude can feel uncomfortable at first. This too shall pass and will give you the practice and experience to tackle the next goal with more ease and confidence

It’s been great getting back into the swing of things this week. As nice as it is to take some time off, it’s always just as nice to return and get back into a routine. For me and the kids

I also finalized this week who my mentor will be for 2012 and I am so excited to work with her. I’ve come to realize that as an entrepreneur, we just can’t do it alone regardless of what level we’re at. Even if you know what you need to do, it’s crucial to have someone to keep you motivated and cheer you on. It can be hard on your own. I hope this article helps you move forward and get on track for 2012.

Tip #1: Accept that you can’t do it alone. You might be the way I used to be, thinking you just need to take one more course and then you’ll be all set. Unfortunately it doesn’t work this way. Being in business for yourself means that you are constantly growing and learning new things if you want to succeed which I’m assuming you do

Tip #2: Trust the resources will show up. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and trust it will work out. If you don’t invest in yourself and your business you can’t expect it to grow. Trust that you will find the way to afford the services up front or that you will be able to pay it back. Think about ROI (return on investment). How badly do you want to grow your business? Are you willing to do anything and everything to make it a success?

Tip #3: Choose someone you trust and who is a little ahead of you in the area you need help with. It’s important to work with someone you click with and who is also ahead of you in their business. You will benefit from the tools they’ve already learned and acquired.

Tip #4: Make sure you know what is included upfront. I’ve had this happen where I’m so excited to work with someone that I don’t take the time to review exactly what is included. This then causes problems in the future. It’s important to be completely clear to begin with, even down to how many emails are included

Tip #5: Do the work! Make sure you follow through with everything you agree to do. This is the reason you’re hiring someone: to move forward. Keep your end goal in mind and take action daily.

Tip #6: Above all else have fun! Don’t take things too seriously (and I’m talking to myself here too). You are creating a business you love. Enjoy the ride!

As 2012 approaches, I’m reminded of why New Year resolutions don’t really work. As I write out my goals and vision for the upcoming year, I am also conscious of how I will make it happen

Today’s article will help you get on track for 2012. If you’re looking for extra help, then please visit: http://budurl.com/audioclass where you can find the details on my new audio coaching program that is on sale until tomorrow only. Just enter “HOLIDAY” at check out to receive 1/3 off the regular price I’ve also decided to donate 10% of all profits to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Here is the link if you want to check it out: www.stjude.org

Happy New Year! I wish you a wonderful 2012 filled with love, happiness and success!

“Why New Year Resolutions Don’t Work”

I’ve been hearing recently that very few people actually follow through on their New Year’s Resolutions. There are a couple of reasons why this is true.  The first is that people make their resolutions, which is great, but they don’t make a plan to actually make them happen. This undoubtedly causes them to fail. It’s easy to give up when you don’t have a plan to get there. It becomes overwhelming.

This brings me to the second reason; most people have such huge aspirations that they become overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Again, they end up not doing anything.  I have a great example of this. On New Year’s Day I went to the local Starbuck’s to get coffee. I overheard one of the barista’s say she was upset that she fell asleep early on New Year’ Eve because it was her last night ever to eat unhealthy and she didn’t take advantage of it! I felt so sorry for her because it was pretty obvious she would fail at never eating anything bad for herself again. She would likely end up eating something bad, then feel guilty about it, and then end up eating even more bad food then she would have in the first place! You get what I’m saying.

While most people have the best intentions of succeeding, the reality is that they need a plan to help them reach their goals. Here are a few tips that will help YOU succeed.

First, be realistic. If your goal is to eat healthy then map out a plan that will work for you. Cutting out ALL bad food likely won’t work. How about eating a salad for lunch 3 days a week, or researching tasty but healthy recipes that you will be motivated to eat. Set yourself up to succeed. If your expectations are too high, you are more likely to fail. You will feel overwhelmed and give up.

Second, breakdown your goal into manageable steps. What is the first step you can do to put you on track to achieving your goal? Then write down all subsequent steps needed. Be as specific as possible, so that you can be reasonable with the amount of time it will take to reach your goal.

Third, schedule in all of the steps. Get out your calendar and assign a date to each task. This will help you be accountable to what you have decided to do. You will also have a concrete plan AND that will help you reduce any stress.

Fourth, get support. If you’re going to the gym, go with a friend or sign-up for a class.  For business, grab a mentor or a coach. I’m in the process of doing the same. We can always use a personal cheerleader holding us accountable and motivating us to be the best we can be