When You Think One Person Can’t Possibly Make A Difference

Christi Hegstad November 17th, 2020

You may think the issues we face right now are so large-scale that one person can’t possibly make a difference.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Let me give you a few examples:

A small business owner wonders if she can realistically keep her doors open any longer. Unexpectedly, a client raves about the business on social media and the outstanding experience he had. The client’s friends and connections see the post, the small business owner starts to receive new inquiries, and the business starts to revive.

Starting with the generous efforts of one thoughtful person.

A nonprofit dedicated to feeding the hungry is low on food. A member of the community asks her neighborhood to drop off donations on her front porch, stating that she will mask up and deliver them to the nonprofit the following week. Word spreads, a nearby company volunteers to match efforts, and suddenly two van-fulls of food – plus additional monetary donations – begin replenishing the pantry.

Beginning with the actions of one committed person.

Or consider Dale Schroeder, a quiet carpenter in Iowa, who has sent 33 kids and counting to college (read about Dale here).

One thoughtful, committed person who has set an astounding ripple effect in motion.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world,” anthropologist Margaret Mead wrote. “Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Guess what a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens starts with?

One thoughtful, committed person.

You.

Me.

Rate and review that podcast you love. ‘Like’ and comment on the posts of that small business you admire. Forward the newsletter of your favorite nonprofit to your friends. Call the person who popped into your mind today. Write a testimonial. Send a note. Text a simple comment of gratitude.

There are countless, simple ways to make a difference.

How will you make yours today?

Less than two weeks to surround yourself with the most positive, purposeful difference-makers you’ll ever hope to meet. Join the ASPIRE Success Club today!

Choosing To Grow (Or Not)

Christi Hegstad November 15th, 2020

Sometimes our greatest gifts grow from what we are not given. – Erica Bauermeister

I recently read a novel where the main character loved the homemade food she had while visiting a friend. Her parents, however, did not cook.

She could have said, “Oh well, guess I’ll just never have homemade food.”

Instead, she considered her options, and decided she would actually like to learn how to cook.

As a result, she ended up discovering a true passion and gift, going on to become an incredible chef, restaurant owner, and teacher of cooking classes.

She asked herself what she could do to make her vision a reality. Then she sought the information and support needed to make it happen.

Where could you choose growth over frustration, resentment, or wishing things were different?

There are many things we may not be given in life – or in 2020 alone.

Rather than let them bring you down, use them as fuel to lift you, and others, up.

We don’t always get to choose our circumstances, but we do get to choose how we respond.

We can choose to grow. Or we can choose not to.

What choices will you make this week toward meaning, purpose, and growth?

Choose an entire YEAR of growth with us in the ASPIRE Success Club! Just two weeks left to enroll – click here to join us!

A Different Kind Of ‘What If…’ Question

Christi Hegstad November 15th, 2020

What if we had an unwavering belief in ourselves? What if we always knew that there was nothing too big to stand in our way? What if we truly believed that against all odds we will always figure it out?

– Jess Ekstrom

How many ‘what if’ questions do you ask yourself on a given day?

How many of them stem from a place of optimism?

I often use a methodology called appreciative inquiry with my coaching clients (we’ll delve into this in the 2021 ASPIRE Success Club, too), which incorporates a number of questions arising from a place of possibility.

I can tell you from years of experience, this leads to wildly different outcomes than focusing on negativity, blame, and a mindset of ‘it’ll never work.’

This week, ask new ‘what if’ questions.

For example:

What if we experienced the ideal in this situation – what would that look like?

What if there’s a solution we haven’t thought of yet?

What if we approach this from a new angle?

What if we take one small action in the direction of our vision?

What if it all works out?

By clarifying the vision, you can then generate the action steps to get you there.

What if you gave this a try this week?

Only two weeks left to enroll in the group that will bring you clarity, community, and coaching all throughout 2021! Click here to join the ASPIRE Success Club!

50’ish Days: Who Will YOU Be?

Christi Hegstad November 14th, 2020

In our ASPIRE Success Club meetings this week, each member shared a word or phrase that they want to describe them in these final weeks of 2020. We started with this question:

Regardless of external circumstances, how do you ideally want to be / feel in these remaining 50’ish days of the year?

Or, imagine it’s December 31 and you’re looking back: What word do you most want to describe you in those last 50’ish days of the year?

Some words that came up in our meetings: Peaceful, calm, productive, light, intentional, grateful.

You can ask yourself a similar question. The next step, then, is to let your word fuel your actions. For example, if your word is ‘peaceful,’ a few questions you can ask yourself:

* What tends to make me feel peaceful? How can I bring this into my daily life?

* How can I design my surroundings in a way that invites peace?

* What would bring peacefulness into this current moment?

Consider creating a breakthrough map of ideas and actions that support your word, too. Continuing with the ‘peaceful’ example, ideas might include going for a walk, turning on a meditation app for 5 minutes, lighting a scented candle, calling a friend or support person, brewing a cup of tea… whatever comes to mind for YOU.

We have a lot going on around us. All the more reason to decide, with intention, who and how we wish to be in the world, and then gently encourage ourselves to carry that out. Different moments may require different actions, which is why the breakthrough map can be so helpful in this regard.

Let me know if you have any questions or if I can support you further in this. In the comments below, please share the word/phrase that comes to mind for you!

Participate from anywhere! Gain the clarity, community, and coaching you crave! Join the ASPIRE Success Club today before enrollment closes for the year!

7 Quick Ways To Get Un-Tired

Christi Hegstad November 13th, 2020

We’re hearing – and experiencing – it everywhere: Zoom fatigue. Election exhaustion. Pandemic overwhelm.

A meme I saw last week captured well what many of us may feel:

“I’m tired but I’m trying.”

Quality sleep, good nutrition, and other basics are important, and I’ll leave those to the health coaches to share their expertise. What I’d love to offer you today are 7 quick – and in some cases, counterintuitive – ways to help put a zip back in your step and a light in your leadership!

1. Speak With Someone Inspiring.

Two coaching clients have opened businesses in the past few weeks. ASPIRE Success Club members have led, achieved, transformed, and grown in exponential ways. My own coaches and mastermind partners provide extraordinary perspective. No matter how my day is going, these meetings and discussions never fail to inspire me!

Who inspires you? Who consistently leaves you feeling better after a conversation with them? Whether it’s a friend or family member, your coach, or a peer at work, make it a point to connect with them for a mutually uplifting conversation. (And if no one comes to mind, join us in ASPIRE – inspiration abounds!)

2. Create More Than You Consume.

I want to encourage this in two parts:

First, decide for yourself what your top priorities are for the day – before you look at your phone, email, etc. Yes, your priorities may change, but begin your day discerning what *you* place at the top before you let others determine what’s important for you.

Then, to the extent possible, focus on being a ‘maker’ in the morning. Plan a meeting agenda, design a spreadsheet, paint a mural … create something from your own wellspring of inspiration (it’s there, trust me!) before you consume – ie, via social media – what everyone else is creating.

3. Start With A Win.

My coaching clients know that before we dive into our focus for the session, I’m going to ask them to share a ‘win’ they’ve experienced recently. You can do something similar in your department meetings or one-on-ones. Get in the habit, and help others get in the habit, of celebrating what’s going well – an instant energy boost!

4. Change Your Language.

The title of this article is an example of what not to say. 🙂

Instead of “How can I be less tired?” ask “How can I feel more energized / vibrant?”

Instead of “How can I be less frustrated?” ask “How can I help my day run more smoothly?”

As one of my clients wisely put it last week, “Words are everything.” Be intentional with yours – whether you’re saying them out loud or in your mind.

5. Lift Someone Else.

My guess is you’re probably doing a lot for others these days, so this one may seem counterintuitive. But I’d also guess that much of what you’re doing for others – around your home, for your team, with your child’s schooling – may be out of necessity.

That’s important. Also important is finding fun and inspiring ways to care for others: pay for the coffee for the person behind you, volunteer for the cause you believe in so deeply, write a social media post highlighting someone else’s awesomeness.

One of the first items I ever cross-stitched had this quote (attribution unknown): “The best exercise for the heart is reaching down and lifting up another.” Twenty-five years later, that cross-stitch still serves as a reminder in my home.

6. Change Your Scenery.

While traveling to new lands might not be a viable option right now, get creative with your scenery: Rearrange furniture. Declutter your desk. Refresh the photos or artwork on your wall. Put up your holiday decorations (twinkle lights make a surprising difference!). Focus on being creative within your current reality rather than wishing it away.

7. Walk It Out.

Even if it’s just for five minutes, even if it’s only 20 degrees outside – get some fresh air and move your body. Nearly all of my best ideas lately have come while on a walk, not while sitting in front of my computer. And if walking isn’t an option, then stretch, dance, or replace with another movement-oriented activity.

Which one of these ideas – or a new one that comes to mind – will make the most impact for you today? Give it a whirl, and let me know how it goes!

Participate from anywhere! Gain the clarity, community, and coaching you crave! Join the ASPIRE Success Club today before enrollment closes for the year!

Clarity, Community, and Coaching – Plus Recommended Reading – To Help You Flourish!

Christi Hegstad November 12th, 2020

Imagine the ease and delight in knowing you have an entire year of personal and professional development lined up!

The 2021 ASPIRE Success Club is now enrolling – for a limited time! If you love the idea of connecting with a positive, inspiring group of achievers each month to set and reach your most meaningful goals, build extraordinary relationships, discuss exceptional personal and professional development concepts, learn new techniques and proven best practices, and have a built-in cheerleading squad, this is the group for you! Click here to learn more and join!

In addition to all of the above features, we recommend four books throughout the year to support our discussions and personal / professional growth. As we now enter our 11th year of the ASPIRE Success Club, we’ve established quite a collection of excellent books! Below you’ll find the four we’ve selected for 2021:

The 12-Week Year by Brian Moran + Michael Lennington

Every year, ASPIRE members receive the training and support to set and reach a Bold Goal – one that typically takes the better part of the year to achieve. In 2021, however, we are adding a quarterly Bold Goal focus, which Moran + Lennington’s book will complement well.

If you tend to be most productive as you near a deadline, or if 4th quarter tends to outshine the rest of the year in terms of sales or production (as it does for many), this book challenges us to adopt that “home stretch” experience much more effectively. I’ll be weaving in some principles from The 4 Disciplines of Execution by McChesney, et al in our ASPIRE Success Club meetings here, too.

Chasing The Bright Side by Jess Ekstrom

What role does optimism play in business and leadership? For Ekstrom, founder and CEO of Headbands of Hope, a significant one – and she shares her story and so much more in this delightful and insightful book. Her actions and principles support much of what positive psychology has taught us over the past couple of decades, and she writes about them in such an engaging way that you feel like you’re reading a novel – or a letter from a friend.

I can’t wait to share with ASPIRE the strategies I learned while earning my Positive Psychology + Wellbeing Coaching certification, and align them with concepts from this enlightening book!

The Energy Clock by Molly Fletcher

I have read approximately a million time management books (give or take 🙂 ), but Fletcher’s takes the concept ten steps further. I love her three suggestions for categorizing activities based on how they impact our energy, and then her sound solutions for implementing change to increase our wellbeing, effectiveness, and joy.

This is a quick read that packs a powerful punch, and I am excited to supplement it in ASPIRE with the time, energy, and purposeful productivity tools and resources that I often use in my coaching practice.

The Power of Moments by Chip Heath + Dan Heath

We typically pay special tribute to big life events: graduations, weddings, and the like. But as we grow, we tend to learn that the most meaningful experiences in our lives aren’t necessarily the big, grand to-do’s but rather the small, poignant moments.

The Heath brothers share so many examples of powerful moments that I never would have even thought to celebrate or mark somehow – but now I definitely do! ASPIRE members will love the experiential activities we’ll introduce to truly make moments count in work, leadership, and life!

We only open enrollment to the ASPIRE Success Club once per year, and now is that time (and for just a little while longer!). Join today and rest easy in knowing you have an entire year of personal and professional development lined up in 2021!

Questions? Email us here – we’re happy to help!

Here’s to the clarity, community, and coaching of ASPIRE to support our FLOURISHING 2021!

Join us for big dreams, bold goals, and abundant meaning and purpose in the ASPIRE Success Club! Our once-a-year enrollment is NOW OPEN for a limited time – get the details and join us here!

Non-Random Acts of Kindness

Christi Hegstad November 11th, 2020

When I opened my email today, the first message I read was from someone I haven’t heard from in years.

We had collaborated on some projects way back when, but work and life took us in different directions. Unfortunately our paths haven’t crossed since.

Until today, when I received this thoughtful email, thanking me for some of the ways I impacted her life.

There’s no way she could have known that it was exactly the type of email I needed, at exactly the right time.

In addition to the immense gratitude I felt for her in that moment, it also got me thinking about my own behavior:

How many times have I thought about sending a note recently, but then let time get away from me?

How many times have I cheered from afar for an article someone wrote, but didn’t take the time to let them know?

How many times do I have good intentions, but don’t follow through with intentional action?

I love a good random act of kindness, and I’ll keep doing those. But what I’m committing to at the moment are intentional acts of kindness. Those actions that require a combination of forethought and follow-through. For example:

* Anonymously leaving a pre-paid grocery card on the front door of an acquaintance who recently lost his job.

* Sending a handwritten thank-you card to a business mentor from years ago, indicating that her lessons still impact me to this day.

* Emailing a service provider who recently went above and beyond to thank him for his exceptional work, and cc’ing his supervisor.

In her outstanding book, Wonder, R. J. Palacio writes:

“If every single person in this room made it a rule that wherever you are, whenever you can, you will try to act a little kinder than necessary, the world really would be a better place.”

I agree 100%: An act of kindness can change someone’s day, someone’s life, and ultimately the world.

What are your favorite intentional acts of kindness?

Surround yourself with kind, positive, purposeful achievers who make a difference! The 2021 ASPIRE Success Club is now open for enrollment – click here to join!

What Would Your Book Of Life Lessons Include?

Christi Hegstad November 10th, 2020

In the ASPIRE Success Club this week, we are discussing life lessons:

Those things we’ve learned along the way, the ones we wish we had known when we were younger, the advice we’d share with others.

The lessons vary greatly, each one framed by our own life experiences.

“Trust your intuition.”

“Do what you love.”

“Laugh more, worry less.”

“Believe in yourself.”

“Everything will be o.k.”

And many more.

If you wrote a book of the most important lessons you’ve learned so far, what would top your list?

What if you wrote that book at age 100 – do you think your lessons would change?

Share your thoughts below or on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook. I’d love to know what you’ve learned over the years!

Want to participate in smart, meaningful discussions for an entire year? Join the ASPIRE Success Club – enrollment is NOW OPEN for a limited time. Join here!

5 Steps To A Fresh Start

Christi Hegstad November 9th, 2020

We’re approaching mid-November, a time when many people will decide that whatever changes they want to make in work or life might as well just wait for the new year.

Whether it’s implementing a healthy new habit, taking charge of your finances, moving your business idea forward, decluttering your office… What if you decided today is the day for your fresh start?

What if you started off the new year ahead of the game?

Below are 5 steps to help you do just that. I am guessing that, as an achiever, you may find #4 the most challenging, but let me know!

1. DECIDE to make the fresh start.

Endless pondering, considering, waffling, thinking about, or wondering can be exhausting. You can find great power in making – and committing to – a decision to begin.

2. ENVISION what you’re moving toward.

That’s right: Dream. Imagine the ideal. Create a clear picture in your mind of what you are moving toward, not what you’re stopping or letting go. This distinction is subtle but so important!

3. BRAINSTORM possible steps.

My favorite method for this involves creating a breakthrough map, which you can see an example of pictured below and read more about here.

4. CHOOSE ONE from step #3.

Yes, just one. The achiever in you will likely want to conduct a complete overhaul, which might feel exciting for a few days or weeks and then get abandoned completely. Choose just one to practice consistently for a week or two; you can then add another, and then another. Enjoy sustainable, rather than fleeting, success.

5. Take an ACTION.

Anyone else really good at planning but not so much with the follow-through? (It’s one of the reasons I believe everyone – including me – needs a coach!) So take an action in the direction of what you envisioned in step #2: Maybe that action is securing a coach, or printing out your last 3 months’ of spending, or registering the domain name for your business idea, or taking a 5-minute walk, or joining an action-oriented group for support.

I am embarking on a fresh start myself today, and I can’t wait to see how improved that aspect of my life feels when January 1 rolls around! How about you? Ready to start?

Get support for sustaining your fresh start all year with the ASPIRE Success Club! Our once-a-year enrollment is NOW OPEN for a limited time – get the details and join today!

Creating Your Legacy On Purpose

Christi Hegstad November 8th, 2020

We’re kidding ourselves if we think we’re not leaving a legacy. Everything we do touches the lives of other people. – Leider + Shapiro

Whether you run a solo business or lead a team of 10,000.

Whether you have a million Facebook followers or no Facebook account at all.

Whether you routinely receive feedback on your work or never hear a word.

Regardless, you are touching lives, making a difference, leaving a legacy.

This week, decide your legacy.

Our legacy isn’t just how we’re remembered 100 years from now, and it isn’t simply determined by chance.

It’s also how we’re remembered when we leave a meeting, an interaction, a check-out line, a workday.

So, how do we decide our legacy?

By deciding, on purpose and with intention, who and how we will be in the world.

Then living that out, each and every day.

Thank you for making a positive, purposeful difference!

Surround yourself with meaning, purpose, and intention – plus an incredible group of uplifting people – all year long in the ASPIRE Success Club! Our once-a-year enrollment is NOW OPEN for a limited time – get the details and join us here!

Author Archives: Christi Hegstad