KeyNotes Newsletter
December 2006

Greetings,

Happy December!

I hope your Thanksgiving was a safe and happy one.

I had a wonderful November. I achieved some personal and professional goals I had set for myself and for my company. It's a fantastic feeling. And I was sure to reward myself once I had met these goals.

Has goal-setting become a regular event in your daily life? I know we can become inundated with all of the goal-setting strategies, articles, and websites that are out there today. I roll my eyes, too, when I see yet another article or ezine about goal-setting arrive in my inbox.

However, I did read something earlier in November that I thought was great and worth sharing. It's a blog post by Scott Ginsberg (you know, the guy who started wearing a nametag 24-7 back in 2000 to encourage people to be more friendly). He calls it "25 gems I've learned about goal setting". It's well worth a read. Check it out here.

So what goals are you going to set today, and this week, month, year, five years?

I know, I know, enough goal-setting information already. I just can't help but want to share with you a short article about goal-setting for the new year. Enjoy!

This will be the year you not only set goals but achieve them
by Donna Toothaker

Are you one of those people who only set goals (okay, we’ll call them “resolutions”) at this time of year? As Dr. Phil says, “How’s that working for you?” I bet it’s not working well. I would venture to guess that your New Year’s resolutions go unachieved, year after year.

Setting goals, especially business goals, takes much more than just writing a list of resolutions like, “This year, I will attend more networking functions”, “I will get more clients”, or “I will do more speaking engagements”. Goals need to be very specific; they need to be written down and looked at on a regular basis.

Goals also need to have a set time for completion. Give yourself a time limit. Instead of saying “I will do more speaking engagements”, try, “I will secure two speaking engagements for 2007 by January 31”, then list the action steps or to-do’s that require that this becomes achievable. These might include things such as contacting certain organizations for consideration or preparing/revamping your one-sheet. Again, declare a time to accomplish these action steps.

This year – try things a different way. If it isn’t working for you the way you had been trying to accomplish goals - re-think that strategy. Wasn’t it Einstein who said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”? Why not make 2007 the year you achieve all of your goals?


Donna Toothaker is an expert Virtual Assistant and founder of www.1stVA.com. Donna specializes in providing marketing and administrative support and services to Professional Speakers and Life and Business Coaches. To discover how 1st VA can help your business – visit http://www.1stva.com .

Resource of the Month

Business Building Article of the Month
Are you a clerk or a CEO?
by Ann Zuccardy

There is a quotation I love and believe with all my heart.

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”

Unfortunately, that’s not the attitude with which I was raised, but it’s an attitude I’ve cultivated and honed over many years. Sometimes I forget this quote and wallow in suffering for a few days before I remember that I attract what I put out into the world. Shifting my thoughts about whatever negative event has occurred would be in the best interest of myself and everyone who has to deal with me.

A few months ago, when the pain of the mess on my desk became overwhelming, I hired a professional organizer to help me wade through it. At first, I had a hard time justifying spending money to have someone sit with me while I plowed through papers. What I got from this experience was more than immediate relief. I ended up with tools to help me set up my own system of organizing my papers and information and a set of questions to help me determine what do with each of new piece of paper or electronic information that came into my world. Was that worth the few hundred dollars I spent? You bet!

In honor of my experience I modified the pain quotation as follows:

“Messes are inevitable. Chaos is optional.”

As I looked at the mess on my desk today, I realized I no longer felt the overwhelming sense of being out of control. The mess was there because my business is growing rapidly. I now know that I have the mess; the mess doesn’t “have” me.

Let’s take it one step further.

I don’t like the mess. I don’t want to have to deal with it every day. For me the mess is on my desk because I simply have too much to do. So, I took a leap of faith. I farmed out some of the work that was causing the mess. The mess is there not because I don’t know how to organize, but because I have too much on my plate! Just as I’ve had to hire a housecleaner to keep my house tidy, I’ve had to hire virtual assistants, copywriters, delivery people, marketing experts, a bookkeeper, and bakers. And let me tell you - it’s scary to write all those checks. But guess what, I am working less and making MORE! There are hundreds of people out there offering every service imaginable. If you’re overwhelmed, find just one of them who you trust and give her some of your workload so that you can feel in control of your business. Clerks work in their businesses. CEOs work on their businesses. I want to be a CEO.

Suffering and chaos are optional. I’m choosing not to wallow in either.

How about YOU? Are you a clerk or a CEO? Where are you choosing suffering or chaos?


In 1996, creative entrepreneur and food lover Ann Zuccardy kitchen-tested some traditional shortbread recipes, added a shake of this and a dash of that; infused a bit of her own genius, and came up with the original recipe for what is possibly the best-tasting shortbread on BOTH sides of the prime meridian. Friends and neighbors who sampled the goods were powerless to resist the rich, buttery shortbread - "a taste of heaven melting in your mouth". Visit www.VermontShortbread.com, today!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and safe Holiday Season.

Until next YEAR...

Warmly,

Donna Toothaker