Month: January 2017

Are you always frustrated by setbacks and failures in your business? While taking the occasional step backwards is a normal part of any career, when this becomes the rule and not the exception, it’s time to figure out why you are going in the wrong direction. For many of us, the things that get in our way are often related to things we ultimately control, whether we realize it or not. Behavioral blind spots may be to blame for your lack of progress, and it’s critical to acknowledge, address and fix these self-sabatoging problems.

Intentions, idea and plans are the bedrocks to business success, but these three components are ultimately worthless when they are not coupled with action. You may be limiting yourself, but, fortunately, corrective action is often relatively simple. Some of the most common behavioral blind spots include:

• Blame-shifting: Blaming someone else is the easiest, and often most natural, reaction to a problem. However, this does little to fix underlying issues, but instead may only divide your team and develop resent. It’s important to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, but you have to aware that you need it in the first place.
• Distraction and procrastination: It’s no secret that everyone battles distraction every day, whether it’s compulsively refreshing their email inbox or checking Facebook instead of doing, well, anything productive. Procrastination is a habit, which means with dedication and discipline, you can replace it with something much more conducive to your success. If you have a hard time meeting deadlines or doing certain tasks in a timely manner, one or both of these two mental blind spots may be to blame.
• Mixed priorities: It’s highly likely that your problem in meeting goals and reaching success has nothing to do with your actual priorities, but rather is related to how you prioritize. It’s hard to go far when you put the cart before the horse. Do the right things in the right order, prioritize and then delegate–it’s an effective combo.

Bad habits sometimes form slowly and over a long period of time, and you may not see how any of these blind spots could be the reason why you are still not where you want to end up. It’s always easier to see where others fall short, and much more difficult to be honest with ourselves regarding how we may need to improve. Regularly and honestly checking for your own behavioral blind spots is a simple and effective way to avoid unnecessary setbacks.

If you have a blog or have created content for a website or other medium, you know how unbelievably impossible it can be to write content that is original, interesting and informative. It’s hard to be interesting when it seems that everything has already been said, either by you or a random person on the internet, but it is still possible to create something that people want to read, and, better yet, something that is not a total snooze-fest.

It can be difficult to create content that is unique when you are following someone else’s formula or trying to retell something you’ve already said in a new way. Stop trying to find new ways to say old things, and, instead, just tell you own story. Here is the great thing about reliving your own story through your content: you can cover the entire scope of the internet and never stumble across a person who has lived your life. The things that make you tick, the reasons you became an entrepreneur and reason why you believe what you believe is unique to you and you alone.

Creating content on a regular basis is a great way to run out of ideas really fast. Blogging is great, even necessary, for anyone looking to increase exposure, and this is a great opportunity to think back to the beginning of your small business venture. Explain why you started, look back at your missteps and explain your growth. Don’t be afraid to tell the whole story–the good, the bad and the ugly. Retelling your personal and professional experiences is one of the most effective ways to generate more interest in your content. It’s why art always imitates life—nothing is as interesting as reality.

As you tell your story, be honest and funny, but don’t be afraid to also use daily life experiences to engage with your readers. Engaging, relateable, shareable content is a lighting-fast way to increase your exposure. So don’t be afraid to lean on your own experiences to connect with your readers and potential customers.

It’s officially 2017, which means that for the next few weeks, you may have to throw some punches to get a treadmill at the gym, and more people will be hanging out in the produce section of Whole Foods. Whether you are a resolution-making kind of person or not, the beginning of a new year offers you a great opportunity to try some new things and implement some positive habits. One of the most beneficial, doable things to work on in 2017 is increasing productivity–even if you think you’ve got that area under control.

Productivity is necessary, but it can be harder to find when you haven’t gotten enough sleep, you are bored with your task or you can’t stop thinking about other things. But, alas, work sometimes requires us to do things, even when we don’t feel like it. Sigh. So, how can you find the sheer force of will to just do something that needs to be done, despite feeling like all you want to do is surf Facebook and eat Cheetos? Mustering up the will to be productive is hard, especially following a busy and exhausting holiday season, but there are some things you can do now to help you push through these times. Here’s how:

• Clean up your workspace: When your desk is cluttered and disorganized, you will find it distracting, even on the best of days.
• Divide your tasks: Divide and conquer your to-do list, starting with the smallest and easiest things, working your way to the most involved items.
• Eliminate distractions: Play music in the background, buy some noise-eliminating headphones or do whatever  you need to do to get rid of those things that rob you of your focus.
• Reward yourself: As silly as it sounds, motivate yourself with simple rewards. Motivation is an extremely important and underutilized component in productivity. Find what works for you.

Sometimes, you just have to do what needs to be done. It’s not always fun, it may not feel rewarding all the time, but that does not mean you get to just sit it out. Make it easier to power through these moments by implementing a few of these habits. Resolutions or not, a few small changes can make a big impact, even when you don’t feel like working.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC