Category Archives: Tame Those Pesky Details

Tame Those Pesky Goals!

Tame Those Pesky Goals!

Many studies show that when you write down your goals, you have a much better chance of accomplishing them. So, then, why do so many people avoid setting and accomplishing goals?

Aside from the stress and anxiety of potentially feeling like a failure when you can’t cross an item off your list, I think there are three key areas that people struggle with when it comes to goals:

  1. When to set them
  2. How to define them
  3. How to track them

So, let’s look at each of these topics.

  1. When to set goals
    The logical time to set a goal is when you are ready to go after it! Traditionally, goals are set at the very end of the year or beginning of the New  Year. But, things change over 12 months and you might change your course of action, have a life-changing event, or discover something that absolutely needs to be accomplished right now! Limiting yourself to setting goals just once a year can impede your progress. I suggest setting them, but reviewing them on a regular basis – weekly or monthly – to make sure they still align to you. Having two or three umbrella goals like achieving financial independence, becoming the next best technology company or balancing your work/home life dynamic, will probably remain the same, with the subgoals and projects emanating from that.
  2. How to define goals
    Ah, this one is a bit tricky, as is the next. The best way to define the goal is in a way that you understand and will motivate you to achieve it. I know, that sounds like a cop out, but it truly makes sense. Giving you hard and fast rules as to how to define your goals might dissuade you from setting them. You know yourself best and how you like to see things – vision boards, colored markers, spreadsheets, pie charts, essays – whatever works for you is how you should do it. My one caution here is that if you like to do vision boards to also have something in writing so you can identify accomplishment, or have a way to mark the item off on the board, like a big gold star.
    As I stated above, I would start with a couple of umbrella goals, sometimes referred to as your WHY. What is the main reason you want to improve yourself/your business? Once you have the WHY identified, you can create subgoals and projects/action items related to each. As each action item gets crossed off the list, you’ll be that much closer to achieving your goal.
  3. How to track goals
    Again, tracking is as personal as you are. Some people are reluctant to set goals because they’ve tried it in the past and were not able to cross everything off their list by the end of the year. Well, guess what? That’s normal! Many goals take longer than a year to achieve, but as long as you’re making progress, that’s all that matters. I like to identify a highlighter color for each year – either a digital highlighter or a physical one – so I can see very clearly what was accomplished each year and how many years it took. I highlight and date as each action item or goal is accomplished. As you see accomplishment, your confidence grows and you want to achieve even more!

I hope these tidbits help you to begin or renew a process of goal setting and tracking. I talk a bit about goals in my book, Tame Those Pesky Details. I’m also working on an online course that will show different ways to identify and track your goals. Like my Facebook page to be the first to know! Sometimes you just need to find a new way of doing things!

How do you set and track your goals? What might be keeping you from accomplishing more? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please leave your comments below.

Sparkle on!

Aunti Cindi 

4 Great Lighting Options for that Unexpected Power Outage


4 Great Lighting Options for that Unexpected Power Outage

Total darkness. For miles…

I lived in California for a number of years, experiencing earthquakes both large and small, occasionally resulting in a loss of electricity. I also lived in an apartment where I was guaranteed the power would go out once a week. So, the question is, what do you do when the lights go out?

Let’s say you’re sitting in your home office in the evening, trying to finish a big project, when suddenly you’re cloaked in total darkness. Your natural tendency would be to grab your cell phone and turn on the flashlight so you could assess just how far reaching the outage was. That’s fine for a bit but what do you do when it goes on for hours? How are you prepared?

In case you’re wondering why I’m presenting this topic, I’m following along with my book, Tame Those Pesky Details (TTPD), where I focus on one specific item each month to keep your business in tip top shape. April is the month for Emergency Preparedness. I’ve written at length about backing up your backup, so today I’m addressing a more practical issue.

If you think it’s no big deal to be without lights, you have to realize that if you don’t have lights, you don’t have Internet either. You can get stir crazy pretty quickly. It also means the microwave doesn’t work nor does the hot water heater. But, I digress…

I actually was in this situation a few years ago. When I lived in California, I was diligent about maintaining my earthquake kit as well as having emerging lighting options throughout the house. However, once I moved to Nevada – even though the state is number three in earthquakes behind California and Alaska – I put my kit and lights on a high shelf in the garage. I got lazy.

Then the power went out. I didn’t have my phone at my side, so I banged and felt my way to find it. Then, while on hold with the power company to find out the extent of the outage, I climbed an unopened ladder pushed against a pile of unpacked boxes and managed to grab my Coleman dining lanterns with the end of a broomstick. The power would be out at least till the next morning. I grabbed all my lanterns and turned them on, one of the few houses on the street to have some light.

After that experience, I made sure that every room had a lantern of some sort. I’m never more than a few feet away from a light source. I keep a flashlight in my nightstand and have others sprinkled around the house. And I still want more!

In the photo, I’ve shown some of my favorite emergency light options. You might want to buy a couple to keep handy next time you wind up in the dark.

  1. Brooklyn Lantern. These were advertised on television for months, but I bought mine at Target. You can also find it at Amazon. I really purchased it because the light is supposed to last 10,000 hours or something like that, and it’s dimmable. I only have a couple of these and while not my absolute favorite, they give off a decent amount of light and you shouldn’t need to replace the batteries or bulbs for a while.
  2. Coleman dining lantern. This is my absolute favorite! I’ve had these for years. They don’t have this exact style any more, but I’m tempted to buy some new ones. Just one will really light a room. And, I looked for a long time to find one that uses regular D batteries instead of the lantern battery. I like that it has a hook on the top so you can carry if you need to. Love love love it!
  3. Bell and Howell tactical flashlight. I’d been reading a lot about the benefits of having a tactical flashlight, and this one is great! It’s very bright so it lights a wide area, but you can also focus the light if you need to. It’s a bit heavy, but definitely worth it.
  4. Blocklite. This is another of my absolute favorites. I was reading about this on a blog one day, and just had to get one. You simply attach the light to a 9v battery and you have an instant flashlight! It has two settings, which is nice. I’ve used it to walk out to check the mail at night and to make sure I got everything out of my hamper, which is dark purple and in the corner of my closet. It’s come in handy so many times, I’d buy them as stocking stuffers for all your loves.

I also purchased a hand crank lantern with a USB plug to recharge my phone or any other small device. Oftentimes, we charge our phones at night and you might just need a few extra minutes that the hand crank can provide.

This may not be the most glamorous post, but I’m here to make you ponder what you need to make your life and business more efficient. Preparing for emergencies is part of the responsibilities of you, the CEO of your business. I’ll cover other emergency topics in the future.

If you’d like to follow along through the year, purchase your copy of Tame Those Pesky Details. (link below) 

How have you prepared your business for emergencies?  I’d love to hear! Leave a comment below.

I do hope you’ll enjoy my blog posts, Instagram photos and tweets on Twitter!

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi

Are you making money while you sleep?

Are you making money while you sleep?

Cha-ching!

Ah, the joy of waking in the morning to discover that money was deposited into your account while you were off in dream land.

I’m following along with my book, Tame Those Pesky Details (TTPD), where I focus on one specific item each month to keep your business in tip top shape. March is the month for Passive Income, the ability to make money while you sleep. As the Internet pervades our lives more each year, options for passive income become more readily available. Of course, it’s not as easy as waving a magic wand; there is much prep work to be done, but once you’ve put in the effort, you can reap financial rewards for some time to come.

I think it’s the ultimate goal of many online entrepreneurs to be able to work as few hours as possible while making as much money as they can. That’s not the only goal, mind you, but by creating a steady online income, you can do anything from quit your full-time job to plan extravagant vacations or donate to your favorite charity. Even if you have some other source of income that you’re content with, earning extra money online is still a good thing. It’s always great to have multiple streams of income.

So, where do you begin? Here are four options to help you build your bank account in your sleep.

  1. Affiliate links. Everyone has them. Why not you? If you reference any products in your blog posts, YouTube videos or elsewhere, it’s easy to direct people to the item you’re referring to by including an affiliate link. Your commission will vary depending on the agreement the company offers. Be sure to disclose your use of affiliate links, and check for broken links on your site on a regular basis. Broken links result in lost commission and can even impact your search engine ranking.
  2. Books. As a writer, this is one of my favorite ways to find money in my account! With POD (print on demand) and ebooks, there’s no inventory or shipping required. If you have a shop on your site, you can even include the books there, avoiding sharing the commission. Choose a topic – or three – that relate to your business and pound away on the keyboard. Of course, the book will need to be well-written and properly priced, but there are many ways to build a lasting income through the written word.
  3. Classes on demand. If you have an area of expertise, or if you can produce training classes that show how to use your products, then online classes might be a good option for you. You might need some technical guidance to put this all together, but once you’ve mastered the process, you can create one or two new classes each year to build your offerings. I’ve seen classes for free (particularly when purchasing a product) or for a wide variety of prices, from $19 to several hundred dollars.
  4. Online shop. Can you create digital downloads that complement your blog content, books or classes? Post them in your online shop. People are online 24/7 and a digital download is readily accessible with an easy shopping cart. It might even be the way to find customers for your other products – a digital download could lead to a book or class sale. Be sure to have a secure checkout and capture the buyer’s info to build your email list. One thing leads to another…

Don’t feel you have to do everything at once. Choose one method of passive income, make sure it works properly, then add another to the mix. Evaluate your income streams on an annual basis. If it requires too much work to maintain for too little return, consider dropping the stream or item and add or enhance another. Things are constantly changing on the Internet, so what works this year might be passé the next.

If you’d like to follow along through the year, purchase your copy of Tame Those Pesky Details. (link below) Print books will be available soon!

What are your favorite sources of passive income? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment below.

I do hope you’ll enjoy my blog posts, Instagram photos and tweets on Twitter!

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi

How well can your business run without you?

How well can your business run without you?

If you’re a solopreneur or small business owner, chances are you’re focused on growing your business. Or, at the very least, maintaining a smooth operation. A good mindset to have, but what happens when – Heaven forbid – something unexpected occurs and you’re unable to helm the day-to-day activities of your company?

If you were part of a large organization, there would be multiple people at the ready to take over in your absence. But, if you’re a one-person show, it’s very possible that no one else has a complete understanding of how your business is run. Every business has so many different facets that it’s more than just leaving passwords, mission statements and banking information for your temporary CEO; contracts, trademarks and even fonts and colors of your logo are all crucial information.

I’m following along with my book, Tame Those Pesky Details (TTPD), where I focus on one specific item each month to keep your business in tip top shape, February is Legalities and it covers a wide-range of issues. Having a way to provide a temporary – or even permanent – means of understanding and operating your business will bring peace of mind.

I’ve been busy updating a lot of personal and business items lately, and although I have binders and electronic and paper files filled with the proper data, I realized that it would take a concerted effort for someone to step into my shoes should that unexpected need arise. I also discovered that I was missing some crucial information because my business has been operating for so long and I’ve moved so many times, some things have gotten misplaced.

I also think in terms of emergency preparedness. I keep hearing stories of people who had to leave their homes with moments’ notice and left behind some key business info because they were unprepared and were worried about saving their lives, which, of course, is most important.

In addition, I’m looking forward to expanding my business in the foreseeable future. Parts of this data collection can easily be organized into an employee reference manual. A little extra work up front will pay big dividends down the line. Again, this is all normal in a larger organization, but smaller businesses might not view this as a high priority. I’m all about having a solid foundation to build upon so this data collection and coordination will benefit me greatly as I move forward. Having all my info at the ready will save me time and frustration and enable me to easily update any changes. Whew!

While you’re organizing your business, think about vendors or employees who perform key tasks that you personally don’t know how to do, for example, adding/deleting items from your online store. This may seem like a small item but your inability to make these simple changes can have an impact. That employee or vendor can disappear on a moment’s notice and your ability to run your business smoothly will be hampered until you either learn how to do it or find someone new to work with.

Aside from determining the safest place to keep this info, my next decision is whom to share it with. And, I’m even thinking about a permanent succession plan for down the road. If there’s someone in my family I’d like to groom to take over the business, one can never start the process too early!

It will take a couple of months to pull this all together, I suspect, but once I’ve completed it, I’ll post a free checklist in my store. I might even do another blog post with more details. So, keep your eyes on all my social media so you can access the information as soon as possible.

I do hope you’ll enjoy my blog posts, Instagram photos and tweets on Twitter!

If you’d like to follow along through the year, purchase your copy of Tame Those Pesky Details. (link below) Print books will be available soon!

How do you organize your business data? Do you have a plan for someone to take over in case of emergency? Have you ever experienced the need to have someone step in your shoes? I’d love to hear all about it. Please leave details in the comments below.

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi

May is Education Month

 

Aunti Cindi Presents

May is Education Month!

Greetings Sparklers!

We’re up to May as we follow along with the book, Tame Those Pesky Details: 12 months of business tips and tasks (Aunti Cindi Presents). May is the month for education.

I put education into this month because we’re finally past the craziness of the New Year, past tax season and before the summer heat makes us not want to work at all! However, we have to take the opportunities when they arise.

I had a number of items on my list to learn this year (yes, even Aunti Cindi needs to grow some new synapses), and when February arrived, my inbox received emails from several different webinar providers that really looked interesting. All of the webinars were free, and in all cases, once I registered, I would have access to the replay to listen on my own time. This was really important to me as I was not available for the live webinars.

Now, February isn’t Education month, but I took advantage of the webinars and I am now extremely grateful that I did. Each one got my mind functioning in an enhanced direction. Now that May is here, I’m working hard to implement many of the concepts and tools that I learned in February.

Some things to consider when it comes to education:

  1. Education doesn’t always come in the form of a formal classroom setting. You can learn a lot on the web on your own time and often for free or low cost.
  2. The same topics may be offered several times a year, so if you’re unable to attend a particular session and a replay isn’t offered, check with the provider to see when they’ll offer it again.
  3. Free webinars do come with a sales pitch at the end, but generally there is enough information provided during the free webinar that you may not need to sign up for more. It also gives you a chance to see the presenter’s style and see if it works for you.
  4. The sales discounts can be well worth the listening effort and generally bonuses are included. I took five free webinars, and purchased from three of them. The discounts were exceptional for the material received. I purchased one set of follow-on materials for only $17! Yes, that’s correct, $17! Many pitches will require hundreds or thousands of dollars for their material so be sure to do your research and know that that’s the best way to spend your money.
  5. Most purchases allow you unlimited access to the materials for as long as that person or company is in business. Many times it will include add-ons or upgrades in the future. I would access the contents as soon as you can in the event things change.
  6. Don’t feel that you have to follow everything to the letter when you sign up for a program or take a webinar. You have to apply the information to your business and how you work. Start with the program then adapt.
  7. There will likely be more educational opportunities as the year progresses. Don’t ignore them simply because they didn’t occur during May. The focus this month is really to determine what you need to learn and to find ways to do just that. And, sometimes you discover that there’s something you needed to learn that wasn’t even on your radar!

Learning helps us to respond to market changes but also to create new opportunities for our businesses. The more we know, the stronger we can grow.

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi

This post contains affiliate links. However, all opinions are our own.

What is your motto for the year?

What is your motto for the year?

Many people this time of year are focused on New Year’s resolutions or setting up a few goals for the coming new year. I’ve been a big goal setter for several years. I like to remind myself what I want to accomplish during these 12 short months as well as celebrate all that I’ve accomplished at the end of the year.

Over time, the way I set goals has evolved and I’m sure it will continue to evolve. I change. The world changes. Technology changes. Many different things influence my methods to achievement.

In my book, Tame Those Pesky Details, I talk a bit about goal setting. However, the past few years I’ve added a twist. Before I begin my planning, I determine where I want to be at the end of the year and summarize in one or two short sentences, mottos or mantras, what is the theme for the year. Everything else falls in line behind that.

It’s often said, if you don’t know where you’re going, all the planning in the world won’t get you there. While setting goals is fantastic, I’ve found it’s become even more meaningful by having a motto or two as an umbrella of sorts to summarize and light my way.

Let me give you some examples. Perhaps, if you’ve been working on a project for a long time, this might be your Year of Manifestation, when you finally reach that major goal. Or, if if you’ve struggled financially but feel you have a gameplan for changing that, your motto might be the Year of Good Income and Good Savings.

Only you can decide what your motto will be. The first year I did this, I only had one motto. Now, I find that I like to have two. Why? I can’t exactly explain. If I had to deduce I’d say one has more of a personal slant and the other relates primarily to my business, but they intertwine. However, if there comes a year when I feel one will sum it up completely for me, I’ll do it.

I like to set up my motto as a daily appointment on my Outlook calendar, so every morning when I turn on my laptop I’m reminded and focused on making my year the best that it can be in the direction of my motto. Doing this definitely inspires me and keeps me on track. I’ve also written it into my planner (more on that later) but you could set it up on your phone or make a pretty screensaver image with it. Whatever works for you!

Most goals tend to be pretty specific, but I feel we need to be open to opportunities that arise that may be better than we ever imagined. Or, that are our dreams come to fruition! Working towards your goals but focusing on the big picture motto creates a perfect storm of positive energy. At the end of every year, I’ve realized my motto has been achieved even though it might not have played entirely with my goals. In a good way.

What are my mottos for the year? Sorry, I share a lot but for me, that’s something I hold private. If you care to share, I welcome that. More importantly, I encourage you to think in higher-level terms when it comes to your goals and know that you have your destination, you just don’t always have your route!

Best Wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Sparkle on!

Aunti Cindi