bc Archives - Page 553 of 959

How to Know If You've Lost Track of Your Vision

February 19, 2008 by Liz

Where Do You Want to Be?

It’s well-thought business wisdom that we need vision for a business or a career. Knowing where we’re going makes our daily decisions easier, quicker, and more lasting, because we’re building a road to a specific destination. Having a vision for our work is the same as having goal we’re saving our money to enjoy — a vacation or a great retirement.

I’ve not met anyone who disagrees with the wisdom of doing that. Yet, when I ask folks about their vision, most people have to stop, find some long ago thought, and dust it off. Holding that vision in the sunlight, they see how long it’s been set aside. Real-time issues and day-to-day decisions have taken all of their attention.

Many folks have lost track of their vision and don’t realize.

How to Know If You’ve Lost Track of Your Vision

If we don’t keep our business vision in our sights, we lose direction. A business vision is the energy that fuels our decisions, especially when situations get trying, and we’re learning new things under new conditions. With no clear focus to guide us, we start to compromise. Here’s how to know if you’ve lost track of your vision.

If you wake up in the morning thinking the day is going to be boring, you’ve probably lost track of where you’re going.
If you look at your life in the future and what you see is more of what’s right here, you’re not heading anywhere certain.
If you’re watching other folks get places and your response is that could have been mine, you’ve set your dream aside.
If you think that having a vision for your business is too [put your word here] for a serious person like you, you’ve given up trying.
If you cite the roadblocks and barriers to making your vision a reality and consistently stop there, your vision is just a story.

The road to making a most amazing vision happen is paved with our thoughts, our passion, and our decisions. No outside barrier can stop a person who’s willing to stay fully invested in getting where they want to go. Winners keep their vision in front of them, adjusting and tweaking it to fit reality and their changing skill set. They do the work and stay the course, holding onto the future they see, even when other choices come along.

That’s the purpose of having a vision — to guide us to where we want to go.

Is time to take out your vision and dust it off again or are you on the road to making it happen? Do you know where you’re going?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you need to refocus where you’re going, let’s talk.

Bloggy Question 75: Stop Thief!

February 17, 2008 by Liz

Taking Content from a Baby

For those who come looking for a short, thoughtful read, a blogging life discussion, or a way to gradually ease back into the week. I offer this bloggy life question. . . .

A while back, you received an email that was disturbing. It was a message from a well-known blogger, someone you respect and admire. She wrote to say that she had decided that you must not know about the activities of someone who frequents your comment box.

The story she laid out was clear and had several links of evidence. The commenter you knew had been lifting entire stories writing a new introduction paragraph then pasting in what he took and passing it off as his own experience. This was happening on a blog for his business. One of the examples came from personal blog of a 12-year-old student.

The well-known blogger asked your help, as she had been getting no where after months of trying. After a telephone call or two to be sure you knew the situation, you emailed the commenter to discuss content theft. The commenter first blamed people who work for him. Then later came back to say that the original authors took themselves too seriously. The commenter cited his own graduate degree to show that he knew plenty about everything.

Finally, the commenter promised to stop using other people’s content.

But he didn’t do that.

To add insult to injury, he’s come to your blog twice — once under a new name — to leave a link with a comment. When you go the post it links back to and Google a passage, the same content shows up on another blog owned by another person.

How do you respond?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Read All About it: SOBCon Opens Invitations, Hotel Choice Forthcoming

February 17, 2008 by SOBCon Authors

From SOBCon Founder Liz Strauss:

Thanks to 07 Attendees
I’m pleased and delighted to announce that we’ve updated the front page of the official SOBCon08 event blog. The new information on the page includes a formal invitation to join us in Chicago for this event.

Also included is some information on why we’ve not yet named the location — the hotel. Our choice is close to contract, but venue has to live up to the experience that was SOBCon07. We’ll have things set in days (not weeks), and you’ll be the first to know when we do.

I can’t wait to let the cat out of the bag. 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!! SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!

Critical Skill 7: The Opportunity Action Test

February 17, 2008 by Liz

Fast Information and Quick Decisions

Do decisions ever come too quickly? Is choosing among your options ever a problem? it seems the more plugged in we are, the more we have to move instantly. It’s stressful. The situation can become so overwhelming that we’re stuck, standing, staring, while the world keeps turning and opportunities pass us by.

A bias toward opportunity and action can help us stay on top of the situation. The key is to base that forward leaning with solid decision making.

The Opportunity Action Test

No one wants to miss a great opportunity. Yet we all do, because great opportunities show up when we’re not ready. They don’t announce their value, nor do they look much different from big mistakes we might have made.

So how do we have a bias toward acting on opportunities that doesn’t lead down a path of personal destruction? Here’s a list of questions to help you choose the right action when an opportunity comes your way.

Does this opportunity suit me? Know who you are. If we know our values and our skills, we can be realistic about projecting our success when an opportunity arises.
Does this opportunity take me in the right direction? Know your goals. We might be right for an opportunity, but it might not takes us closer to where we’re going.
Is the timing right? Opportunities are changes that involve risk. The amount of risk our lives can handle changes based on situations and circumstances. The right opportunity at the wrong time is a bad decision.
What relationships and expectations can you see? The goals and promises of an opportunity that come to fruition are a direct result of the relationships between the people who are a part and their expectations of each other and the endeavor.
What’s the loss if you do it? What’s the loss if you don’t?

Ask yourself those five quick questions. Verbalize the answers and you’ll know the appropriate action. No more getting stuck, standing, staring. You’ll be a part of the world changing and turning.

How do you decide when to act on an opportunity?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Need help finding a niche that fits you? Click on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

SOBCon08 Opens Invitations

February 16, 2008 by Liz

Thanks to 07 Attendees

I’m pleased and delighted to announce that we’ve updated the front page of the official SOBCon08 event blog. The new information on the page includes a formal invitation to join us in Chicago for this event.