Hitting the halfway mark: how're you doing?

Welcome to July, which may start your fiscal year...or it might mark the halfway point. Let's go back to those New Year's goals: doing as well as you'd planned? Exceeding your goals? Still feeling the fallout of the economic woes of your clients?

Halfway is a good point to really measure how you're doing. If you're a procrastinator, halfway is when you start to pick up the pace to catch up. If you're an overachiever, halfway is where you take a breath. And if you're a well-organized planner, halfway should be where you pat yourself on the back for being right on target.

I've always hated running. In junior high, we had to run a mile or two for gym class one day, and as usual, there I was in the bottom three finishers. I always felt like such a loser, but I just didn't feel like I had the strength to keep up with everyone else. I didn't let myself walk the whole thing (I wasn't going to be last, mind you), I just kept up my baby-step pace in my lane, kept my face down so I didn't see just how far behind I was, and kept going.

My teacher pulled me aside (it wasn't hard, everyone else was already in the showers), and encouraged me to go out for the Cross Country team. Was she nuts?!? Did she not just see me fail the exercise? I looked at her like she had three heads.

She laughed at my reaction. "You're a distance runner," she said, "You stayed steady the whole time, and finished solid."

It took me a long time to realize how important what she said to me was. Unfortunately, I didn't get it before I got out of junior high (therefore, never proved my worth on the Cross Country team).

You see, I was a classic overachiever. "Book learning", as we call it in the country, came very easy to me. (As an aside, I'll be exploring the "why" behind this in a later post when I do a little review of the book "Outliers") So easy, in fact, that anything that wasn't as easy, I disregarded.

I was a mental "sprinter". I wanted to get there, and get there fast. Win and be done. The hare, taking a nap on the side of the trail, while the tortoise soldiered on.

In my business life, I expected to continue being the sprinter. I did have some quick successes, but ultimately, I had to learn (at times, the hard way), that it's all about being the distance runner. Stay steady, know where your competition is in their lane, but ultimately, keep your nose down and just move forward. If you stop, you're out. If you waste all of your energy up front...you still have the same distance to go, and you're going to be beat when you get there.

(And for the record, I LOVE running now.)

So I'm halfway through 2009, and I'm not winded yet. How're you doing?

How to Succeed in 2009 - more on the Power of the Plan!

Janet Attard has a great article on how to succeed in 2009 up at Business Know-How, which I think works in perfect sync with my post here the other day on the Power of the Plan: 2009. Keeping "the end in mind" (as my coach likes to say) is a fantastic way to really get goals (and dreams!) accomplished.

As I've said before, I'm a very "visual" worker, and I've got to get all of my senses in alignment or I start to get confused. On my vision board, I actually stuck a little drawing with my overall "end goal" at the top, with the depiction of a road leading from it. Along the road, I've got all of the things sketched that I need to do, or that are aspects of my life that I'm doing now that already lead to the road, to keep me on track. Other things, which I may also be doing (or have done in the past), that lead away from the road, have arrows pointing away, reminding me that they're not good choices if I want to get where I want to be.

The lesson is, you need tools! No good craftsman, either in business, in art, or in life, operates without them. Don't shy away from using as many as you can.

The Power of the Plan: 2009!

Happy New Year! Another one is behind us, bringing with it financial ups and downs, political changes, and beautiful opportunities to shine and grow. I have two freebies for you today, to help get your new year started off right:

1. The Power of the Plan!

A few years back (2000-2003, to be exact!), when I was a writer for the now defunct Women of Mp3.com, my first article each year was my very own personal and business planning outline. I have always believed strongly in putting dreams, goals, and visions down in physical form, as a means to not only get clearer on the steps I need to be taking, but also as a message to the powers that be that "this is what you need to aid with!". It was not a big shocker to me, as I moved deeper into studying personal and business development that many great minds also used this method to move closer towards their goals. It's a very important part of the business growth network I belong to today, and the foundation on which I've built my tiny empire.

2. Some "Soulstice"!

Download the free mp3 above to groove your way into the new year while you read the article below! Brought to you by our very own Serious Vanity Records and performed by Gentlemen Prefer Bombs! You can enjoy it and the other 11 tunes from the "wintery mix" Too Cool for the Yule at the CD's official page, for free, for a limited time.

And now...on with the plan!

Whether you're a full-time pro in your industry, a part-time enthusiast, or a hobbyist just looking for a little more direction, this will be a helpful activity to get your head in the right place.

Get yourself a pen, lots of paper, and a big glass of leftover egg nog, and let's get to work!

Page 1: title this one "MY DREAMS FOR 2009".

I like doing this page best. Let your imagination run away with you as you list all of the amazing shows you'd like to play, ads you'd like to produce, albums you want to record. It's important that you don't concern yourself with budget on this one. It's purely creative visualization material. Just let your heart play dress up with it, and list anything and everything that would be your "dream gig".

Page 2: title this one "MY GOALS FOR 2009".

Here's where we get a little more precise and budget-minded. If you think it's realistic that you could put out a CD in 2009, add this to the list. If you'd like to play certain clubs or go on a regional tour in the summer, add this to the list. If you've got a prospect that's looking pretty close to getting on your schedule, add this to the list. If you've been meaning to do more web promo, social networking, blogging, or physical marketing, add this to the list. You get the picture.

Page 3: title this one "DEFINITES for 2009".

Name says it all! If you know the CD you've got at the plant will be back next month, or your iTunes songs you submitted last week will be live soon, add this. If you've already got shows lined up, add this. If your networking, online and off, is in action, and you know it will continue, add this. It's very positive after seeing everything you want to see a list of everything you're already accomplishing.

Page 4: title this one "TIMELINE".

This is where pages 2 and 3 start to come together. Page 1 will work itself in through the year, as you accomplish these other goals and definites.

Make a calendar (this can actually replace Page 4), January through December 2009. Be precise in lining out the shows you already have, the release dates that are coming up, and (the organized Virgo AND synesthete in me suggest using a different colored pen here!) the release and launch dates you have on your goals (Page 2) page.

Put as much info as you can on your calendar. Seeing the way your business and creative endeavors will potentially fill up your year will help you to meet your goals!

Page 5: title this one "BUDGET".

Ah, the least fun page (if you're not Bill Gates).

This is called a revenue plan in other spheres, and should really be far more detailed. But I believe that you've got to start somewhere, and especially for us right-brained musician types, a big picture is very necessary before we can even begin to deal with fine tuning the details.

List your resources. What's your band's monthly income? How much credit do you have available for CD pressing or merchandising? What's your average weekly/monthly biz spending? It might be something you're not used to rigidly keeping track of. But once you start, you'll see that you are better managing the money you have left over after web fees, guitar strings, promo items, or new microphones (my favorite vice).

Break it down as much as possible. Yearly incoming/outgoing doesn't give you enough of an idea of what you have to work with. Monthly and weekly budgets are a lot easier to manage. Truth be told, I've now broken mine down into a daily picture, with my various bids and scheduled jobs worked in well in advance, so by mid-week, I know whether or not I'm hitting the targets I need to.

Hold on to your budget and your timeline, and be prepared to amend them as you go. Tuck everything else away until mid-year. When you have some down time in June, whip those puppies out and see how many of your definites are done; how many of your goals; and most surprisingly of all, how many of your dreams.

Believe in the Power of the Plan, and it will work for you!


Dana Detrick-Clark is an entrepreneur, musician, composer, producer, award nominated voice artist, writer, and all around rockin' Zen gal. What kind of world do you want to create today? Dana's mission is to help. Learn more and get more F*R*E*E information on her site. http://www.seriousvanity.com

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Recession-Proof Your Mind, Recession-Proof Your Business

“Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves,’who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God; you playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. You were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

--Nelson Mandela

One of the biggest hurdles in the current Western economy is in conquering the doomsday machines. We're besieged with negative speak from the media and our peers every day about how we're all going to spiral downward.

It's hard to argue with: there have been huge drops in the stock market, here in the U.S. we now have a fat cat "rescue" plan in place that will cost us tax payers $700 billion, with little guarantee of effectiveness (Certainly, that money invested back into our education system would guarantee far more long term success! But that's another blog post...). People are losing their jobs, their homes, and their hope.

It all spells difficulty in keeping the end in mind (aka your Clear Vision) when pursuing your business and life goals. How can we say that we're certain of our year-end results, when we don't know what the market's going to do this afternoon? Even if we're not directly effected, if that fear is in the heart of our client, they'll be less likely to want to spend right now--causing the agony to 'trickle down' on us.

So what can we do? Luckily, lots of things!

Every challenge presents us with the opportunity to learn, grow, and dig deep to find those solutions that will not only move us forward individually, but as a collective, too! Just like Nelson Mandela said above, "...As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” So we MUST push onward!

Step One: Revisit that Clear Vision, hone it, and own it!

Without the end in mind, we lose our True North. That internal compass point is going to help us plot our path to what we want our businesses (and our lives) to be!

It may be that we need to approach our visions in a new way. There are many methods in laying one out, not limited to:

• lists
  
• storytelling
  
• scripts
  
• mind movies
  
• audio (recorded messages or even song mixes or playlists!)
  
• vision boards (My mentor, John Assaraf, is actually releasing his new The Complete Vision Board Kit tomorrow!)
  
• questionaires or worksheets
  

If you've laid your Clear Vision out as a story in the past, maybe developing a vision board for it will help you to refocus on what you want. A movie-like script, outlining the story of your dreams may be just the injection of excitement your current mind map needs to get you pumped up again, and take your mind off of all the gloom-and-doom you're hearing on the nightly news.

According to "Creating a Clear, Compelling Vision" by Marilyn Schwader, there are four components your vision should have:

• 1. Your Values
  
• 2. Your Dream
  
• 3. Your Purpose
  
• 4. Your Mission Objectives
  

I'll be visiting these all in more detail in the coming weeks. Until then, get on that vision, and start step one in Recession-Proofing Your Mind!

Some great words from Brian Tracy!

I recently discovered some great Brian Tracy finds at, of all things, a rummage sale. So for a less than a cup of coffee, I attained some great personal and business development tools. You can't beat that!

I wanted to introduce you (if you weren't already aware of his work) to this prolific speaker and motivator.



Intrigued? Check out Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. I found it to be a great starting place in his huge library of work.