Monday, March 7, 2011

If There Were No Time, Everything Would Happen at Once


Everyday we juggle what we commit to and what we actually get done. If our goals were static it would be easy to check them off and move on. It would be like shampooing your hair: Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

Our days are not static and that is both a blessing and a curse. New ideas, acquaintances, and opportunities present themselves with regularity, if we are willing to acknowledge them. And except for those of us with a crystal ball, few can predict how those new insertions to our experience will play out. The person you strike up a conversation with at the next lunch table could become a friend, a client or a drain on your resources.

How or if we react to that new idea, acquaintance or opportunity can become the curse.

New ideas are exciting. They strike an entrepreneurial chord in all of us. They are full of possibility but ideas without planning, commitment, and capital can quickly become disillusionment. New acquaintances can become new friends, but friends like plants are a responsibility. They require attention, watering and empathy. New opportunities are the lifeblood of life and business. To take advantage of them the trinity of recognition, timing and drive is essential. The cost of each is certainly worth the possible value of each.

The common curse is time and how we manage it. We struggle for balance in everything we do. We particularly struggle with the balance between work and personal time. But, is it a curse or do we make it one? Do you over commit? Do you honor the time of others more than your own? Do you give equal weight to the things you want to do and the things you have to do?

These are easy questions to ask, but not easy to answer with introspection and honesty. They are however important questions to answer for your self. If you don’t find the answers to the questions of how you commit your time, your days will be filled with frustration and anxiety. You will always be torn between what you commit to and what you deliver.

Friday, January 7, 2011

2011 – Looking Ahead or Looking Back?

While most of us think of resolutions at this time of year - to have or to have not - it may be more important to take the time to review your online presence. In today’s world of social media we are out there 24/7 and it is important to take stock of that online presence, business or personal. It may include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, and much, much more.

So ask yourself two important questions: What have you done in the last year? What do you plan to do in this next year?


It may not be enough to just answer the questions. Know the answers and keep them in mind. Now go to your public profiles and evaluate the content in the context of your answers. Update accordingly. Remember you want the content to reflect what you have accomplished and how you want to be perceived as you achieve your goals for 2011.

While this is a great time of year to take stock of one’s life, is a once a year update enough? Probably not, but it is the maximum amount of time you should allow your profiles to remain stagnant. And while you may think you are “on Facebook all the time” that is to post and share, not necessarily to update profile information or business fan page information. (Facebook may have given us all a gift with new personal profile formats toward 2010 year end. It was a great time to review and update as more of the information is immediately present to our friends.)

One last tip for the year - set a Google Alert for yourself and your business. This is an incredibly valuable way to be informed of an online presence you may not have been aware of. One can never be too careful…