7 End-of-Year Rituals For a Fresh Start

Christi Hegstad November 30th, 2012

For many professionals, December (which, believe it or not, begins tomorrow!) brings a slower workload. It’s therefore a terrific time to enact some final to-do’s to close out another powerful year. Creating year-end rituals can make these actions both celebratory and impactful. Here are 7 ideas to consider:

Purge Your File Cabinet. Clear away the outdated and unnecessary paperwork, archive older reference files, and free up space for fresh, new opportunities.
Document Your Successes. Never start your new year’s goals until you’ve celebrated your current year’s success! Many of my clients document their wins all year long in a Success Journal. If you haven’t tracked your successes throughout the year, set aside some time this month to reflect and make your list.
Thank Your Top Clients. In his Nov. 28 blog, marketing guru Drew McLellan suggests sending handwritten thank-you notes to your top 5 customers. You could extend this to vendors and colleagues, too. I once worked with a client who knitted scarves for her staff for Christmas – talk about a personal and meaningful thank-you!
Rearrange Your Office. Give your office a thorough cleaning, a new coat of paint, and whatever touchups are necessary. If possible, rearrange the furniture and decor to encourage a fresh flow of ideas, too.
Line Up Your Professional Development. Now is the time to enroll for training, hire a coach, and join or renew your group memberships for 2013. Make sure you update your professional profiles while you’re at it.
Book Your January Calendar. Are your prospects telling you they won’t take action until after the holidays? Set up your January meetings now so you can hit the ground running when you turn the calendar. Darren Hardy, publisher of Success magazine, credits his prior real estate success to this strategy – he booked his entire January calendar throughout December, which set his sales miles above the rest by January 15.
Assess Your Lessons Learned. Cull your notes from the conferences, classes, and webinars you’ve attended throughout the year, as well as the books you’ve read. Summarize your key learnings and set your top 3-5 action steps. Knowledge is great, but knowledge plus implementation makes you unstoppable.

For an added sense of ritual, you can create a little “ceremony” around any of these activities: light a candle, pour a fresh cup of coffee, or purchase a special leather-bound journal for those successes and key learnings. A small touch can elevate an ordinary activity to an extraordinary event.

Which one of these rituals will you activate? Or what new ideas can you offer? Post your comments below or on our Facebook page!

Top 3 Tips For Achieving Your Bold Goal

Christi Hegstad November 29th, 2012

Every town has an organization that makes a difference in such a meaningful way that you can’t help but admire – and be humbled by – it. In central Iowa, one such organization is Amanda the Panda (ATP), a not-for-profit offering support for families grieving the loss of a loved one. Their mission is simple, significant, and changes lives.

Charlie, the executive director of ATP, joined The ASPIRE Success Club this year and set a BOLD goal: to secure a stand-alone site to house ATP.

Charlie knew this was a significant stretch goal – but also knew how it would help her team more effectively support the many families that come through their doors. She clearly connected her goal to their overall vision.

She also knew not to “go it alone” and relied on the accountability, idea-sharing, and cheerleading that ASPIRE provides.

At each monthly ASPIRE meeting, Charlie’s progress was up…then down as something fell through. Then up as another prospective site came up…then down. And each month, her fellow members supported, encouraged, and offered suggestions.

Last week, Charlie posted the following on our ASPIRE discussion forum:

“I am excited to share that Amanda the Panda has a new home! My bold goal was to make progress on purchasing a stand-alone dedicated grief center. Well, the Maddie Levitt and Susan Glazer Burt Foundations made it a reality with their amazing gift. GDMLI also selected Amanda the Panda’s proposal (out of 25) to help renovate the center! The power of positive thinking, positive talk, and keeping focused on the goal! We hope to move by April.”

And Charlie’s not alone. We’ve had members this year become published writers, double their incomes, and run their first 5k races. One grew her joyful side business to such a success point that she left her day job; another created a measurable sense of balance in her busy life…the list goes on and on.

To encourage your achievements, ASPIRE members share these 3 tips that helped them significantly in their journeys this year:

Get support. Join a group, hire a coach, find a trusted accountability partner. “Knowing I’ll be reporting back to a group has made a big difference for me,” said ASPIRE member Dianna.
Proceed step by step. It’s insufficient (not to mention overwhelming) to simply state the Bold Goal. You need to know what you’re doing this month, this week, today that’s moving you closer.
Surround yourself with uplifting people. Don’t seek out the naysayers and critics – they can find you easily enough 🙂 Do seek out inspiring, positive people who believe in you and want to see you succeed.

As a coach, for example, I am only successful when my client succeeds – so I am 100% invested in their success. These are the types of relationships you want to cultivate when striving for something bold!

Does Charlie’s win inspire you? As we approach the close of 2012, seek out more stories like Charlie’s and our other ASPIRE members to give your motivation a bit of extra “oomph.” Ask your fellow goal-oriented colleagues, read biographies, listen to podcasts. Use others’ successes to buoy your own.

And before the year is up, you have one more assignment: secure support now for your 2013 goals. Then you can relax into the holidays knowing that next year is your year to SHINE.

Takeaways From MANDELA’S WAY by Richard Stengel

Christi Hegstad November 27th, 2012

Surely you’ve heard about Nelson Mandela – but how much do you really know about him? Before reading Mandela’s Way by Richard Stengel, my knowledge on the man was fairly low. After reading it, I feel like we could be friends.

In this authorized biography (Nelson Mandela wrote the forward), Richard Stengel sheds a great deal of light on the thoughts, inspiration, and purpose behind the legend’s experience. Through interesting stories and rich interview details, we find out how Mandela could survive – and thrive – amidst his unfathomable 27-year imprisonment in South Africa.

Among his 15 lessons:

Look The Part. You need to carry yourself in the way you want to be perceived by others, otherwise known as “impression management.” Mandela is a man of incredible discipline: while imprisoned, he ran in place for 45 minutes a day, followed by 200 situps and 100 fingertip pushups! But he also makes efforts to cultivate the idea that he is a man of discipline. He wants others to perceive him that way, so he lives accordingly.

Know When To Say No. “Nelson Mandela is not a man of maybes.” Saying no is not always easy – and we tend to forget that No is a complete sentence. Avoid ambiguity and making excuses. Say No when necessary, without muddying it up with justifications and excuses.

Find Your Garden. Although it was unheard of, Mandela was able to convince his captors to allow him to create a small garden patch while in prison. He grew vegetables which were then shared with fellow inmates, guards, and superiors. He pursued his garden primarily so he would have a private space in which to quiet his mind – something he encourages us all to do.

One of my favorite lines from the book speaks to our ability to live positive, look-for-the-best lives that are based in reality:

“It’s not that Mandela does not see the dark side of others, it’s that he is unwilling to see only that. He chooses to look past the negative for two reasons: because he instinctively sees the good in people and because he intellectually believes that seeing the good in others might actually make them better. If you expect more of people, they often contribute more.”

Whether you’re relatively new to Nelson Mandela or have followed his politics for years, this book will illuminate some of his most profound lessons that he admittedly learned during his extended imprisonment. He encourages us to have a ‘core principle’ – to know what is so important that we’re willing to fight for it – and then to proceed through life as planful, compassionate, high-integrity people.

Your Mantra To Work (& Live) By

Christi Hegstad November 13th, 2012

We often hear of people using a mantra to “center” themselves, perhaps during meditation or a frightening time. Have you ever considered adopting a mantra to work – and live – by, at any time?

A couple of years ago, I found myself waffling in indecision more than I’d like. I’m a researcher at heart, so I can read and study and make lists and…on and on until I either irritate myself (and likely those around me!) or, disappointingly, the opportunity passes. As the saying goes, by not choosing, you are making a choice.

Around that time, I adopted a new mantra: Decide & Take Action. Rather than going back and forth endlessly, I wanted to conduct the necessary homework, then make a decision. I’m always amazed at how liberating simply *deciding* can be!

The second part of that mantra – “Take Action” – took care of any “buyer’s remorse” that might arise. Once I made the decision, I moved forward with it. I accepted it as my decision and got on with it.

What a boon this mantra has been in my life since! That’s not to say decisions always come easy now – but this gives me a guideline and a plan for movement.

Nike provided us with a mantra that many still use: Just Do It. Author and seminar leader Barbara Winter recently told me she has used the mantra, Work With The Willing, in her business for years. You can probably conjure up several examples of mantras, too.

You don’t have to commit to a mantra forever – it might simply serve you for a short while or during a certain chapter in your life. For whatever reason, I feel like my mantra right now is “Shoot for the moon, land among the stars.” Give this idea some thought this week and see what mantra might serve you best right now – and feel free to share your ideas below!

Start Something That Matters

Christi Hegstad November 9th, 2012

Imagine starting a shoe business in which, for every pair you sold, you gave a pair away to someone in need. While it sounds wonderful, it’s not a sustainable business model…or is it?

Blake Mycoskie dreamed up this idea after a trip to South America, where he saw many children who couldn’t afford shoes to protect their little feet from the elements. In 2006, he founded TOMS Shoes, a business designed to provide consumers with quality shoes and donate just as many to those children in need.

His business model is simple: One For One. For every pair sold, a pair is donated.

While he encountered his fair share of naysayers (“It will never work,” “You’ll put yourself out of business”), Blake carried his vision high and honored his underlying mission. Within 5 years, TOMS had given more than a million pairs of shoes to children in need.

Start Something That Matters shares Blake’s journey from idea-conception to today, where TOMS is a thriving, socially responsible business making a difference. Three of my takeaways from this book:

Know Your Mission. A mission statement is a succinct tool that can guide every decision you make and action you take. Creating a mission statement is one of my favorite topics to coach people on because it’s such a game-changer! “I didn’t have to compartmentalize any of my life’s ambitions: personal, professional, or philanthropic,” writes Blake. “They all converged in a single mission.”

Think Big, Start Small. While we often crave the dramatic overhaul, “small improvements made every day will lead to massive improvement overall.” Capture your vision, then break it into manageable pieces that you can move on daily.

Plan Your Giving. Rather than scattering your giving, or donating only when you feel you have extra money, incorporate philanthropy into your strategy. You can do this as a business owner, an employee, and an individual. When we streamlined our giving as a family several years ago, we found we were able to make a more significant contribution to the causes we cared most about, and in a much more sustainable way.

The examples and practical action steps shared in Start Something That Matters will leave you feeling inspired, optimistic, and motivated to act. You’ll probably also want to order your pair of TOMS shoes – and know that you’re making a difference. 🙂

Welcome to The 3% Difference!

Christi Hegstad October 5th, 2012

If you’ve followed MAP Inc. over the past 10 years, you know that we’re all about meaningful work, extraordinary success, making a difference, and achieving Bold Goals while doing what you love. With this blog, you’ll find tips, strategies, and resources to help you successfully do just that!

Through this blog, I’ll share things like:

* Ways to increase your success in streamlined, positive ways;

* Tips for setting and achieving purposeful Bold Goals;

* Success stories highlighting people making a difference through their work;

* Takeaways from excellent books;

* Fun quotes, facts, and happiness hints;

and other ideas to help you create a meaningful career and purposeful life! Feel free to connect, share, add, and implement as we go.

And what does the title, “The 3% Difference,” actually mean? I’ll share the reasons behind this in our next blog post – stay tuned! Until then, keep in mind:

Happiness comes when we test our skills towards some meaningful purpose. ~ John Stossel