Why aren't you holding yourself accountable for your success?

“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.”
― Thomas Paine

Accountability.  No one wants to hold themselves accountable, but everyone else should be.  And you are the only one who can pave your way to success...or failure.

So why aren't you holding yourself accountable for your own success?

There are 4 fears that cause a lack of accountability:

Fear of failure -
Are you so afraid of failure that you cannot hold yourself responsible or liable for your own actions?  Do you lack trust or faith in yourself?  Fear of failure is a deep imbedded, nagging thought that can stop us before we even start a task.

Fear of success - 
Some of us are afraid of what would happen if we are successful.  Will we be able to keep up with family obligations?  How about a social life?  Will you be more scrutinized if you find success?  Fear of success is just as debilitating as fear of failure.

Fear of being thought of as a fraud -
Imposter's Syndrome impedes success.  The fear of being seen as not qualified enough by others, or not feeling like you know enough yourself can cause stagnancy.  Even when you have an MBA and 12 years experience, you can feel like you aren't enough of an 'expert.'

Fear of not being taken seriously -
Ideas and products die before they are even launched due to the fear that others won't understand or see value.  People are afraid to talk about their business plans or ideas, thinking that they'll be laughed at or ridiculed.

And all of these fears can be cured by one important resource: your business coach.

A business coach listens.  A business coach leads.  A business coach gets you from the current level, to the next, by teaching you to hold yourself accountable.

Clearing the 4 fears: failure, success, Imposter's Syndrome, or not being taken seriously, all happen with the right coach.  There will be a future post about finding a business coach and what other added benefits they add, but for now understand that before you start that next business, launch your next product, or decide to jump ship from a corporate life to an entrepreneurial one, check in with your coach.

Success is waiting - and it's not terrifying.  It's attainable.  Build your support network, and include a coach!

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

P.S. Be sure to sign up for "Become a LinkedIn All-Star!"  The Google Hangout will be held on Wednesday, July 23rd at 1pm EST - and a lucky attendee will receive 1 hour of FREE entrepreneurial coaching!

Join me in a Google Hangout - Become a LinkedIn All-Star

Being an All-Star is everything.

-- Allen Iverson

Mark your calendar - you don't want to miss my first Google Hangout!

If you read the post about breaking up with social media, then you are probably like me and know that you can get more out of your social media - especially LinkedIn - and I want to help you reach "All-Star Status!"

Let's work together to grow your business, grow your connections, and grow your influence over your market using LinkedIn.

Be sure to join me on Wednesday, July 23rd, at 1pm EST on Google Plus for: "Become a LinkedIn All-Star!"



While you're at it, be sure to connect with me on Google+ so that you won't miss the other Google Hangouts I'll be having - all to benefit you and grow your business!

We should probably connect on LinkedIn also!

Here's another reason to attend - one attendee will receive a one-hour coaching call or private hangout for more tips and tricks specific to your business.

Hope to see you then!

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Breaking up with social media

“Moving on is easy. It's staying moved on that's trickier.”
― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

Today, I decided to break up with social media.

Wait, that doesn't make sense.  I thrive on social media; I teach others about social media; I grow my business and others' businesses with social media.

But I need a break.  I need a break from cheap, meaningless connections.  I need a break from sub-par content and dialogue.  I need a break from mediocrity.

http://www.elsaelsa.com/astrology/2012/05/22/what-if-someone-breaks-up-with-you/

How often do you audit your connections?   

Do you scour through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or any other social media sites and remove contacts that aren't worth your time?  Do you make mental notes about where your connections are on your radar?

Why not?

So the truth is, I'm not breaking up completely with social media; I'm breaking up with how I use it.  Fact:  I'm typically not a "friend" or "follow" collector.  Take Facebook for instance: today I decided it was time to clean through my friends.  I don't use Facebook for business often, so it's just my social circle, and it needed to be cleaned out.  I was at my highest amount ever, 308, and judiciously and without regret eliminated 127 people.  Not because I didn't think they were good people; not because they did something wrong; not even because they don't post funny things sometimes.  No, my reasoning was simple and precise - short of family members, I deleted people who didn't enrich my life.  I kept people who I would call if they were absent, or at the very least email by normal email.  I kept people who I interacted with.  People whose stories and pictures were meaningful.  People who I would miss if they no longer posted.

So how does this translate to business?  

If you're a Twitterer, what are you getting out of your news feed?  Are you clicking the links excitedly because you love the content you're receiving?  Or do you just follow everyone who follows you?  Are you bored with your content?  Are you tuned out?

The same goes for LinkedIn, Pinterest, and the others, as well as newsletters.  It's important to look at how you distribute your content: B2C through newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Pinterest, or Instagram, YouTube; or B2B through newsletters, LinkedIn, Twitter, Vine, Pinterest., or YouTube, but it's also important to look at how you receive feedback and content relevant to you and your business.  If you're digging through hundreds of nonsensical posts hoping for that one golden piece of information that will push your business forward, then you're doing it wrong.

Take 5 minutes a couple times a week and weed out that bad information!  Unsubscribe to unnecessary newsletters; unfollow people on Twitter; break a broken connection on LinkedIn, and unfriend people who don't enrich your life on Facebook.  De-clutter your information pipeline, and you'll see that viable leads and information are all that's left.  And then, all that's left is the follow up and close.

How often do you weed through your social media and newsletters?

Nicole  
The Restless Entrepreneur

P.S. Learn more about making LinkedIn work for you in "Become a LinkedIn All-Star," a Google Hangout on July 28th!

Team Wil Wheaton

“If you like nerds, raise your hand. If you don't, raise your standards.”
― Violet Haberdasher

In case you've missed it, Wil Wheaton has pretty much become the King of the Nerds (he has his own new show!), and that is a level of awesome most of us will never reach.  Ten years ago, heck, 3 years ago, that would have been a hide under your bed, anxiety-inducing title.  No one wanted to be labelled a "nerd."

Flash forward to 2014, and nerd is the new cool.  Or something.  My point is, we, all nerds collectively, have found our place on the internet and in the world.  Our fear of being who we are, thrown out the window.

http://www.webpronews.com/wil-wheaton-has-advice-for-kids-being-bullied-2014-03

So, since I ask this in every post:

What does this have to do with business?  

Well, for me, it allows me to include a ton more self-deprecating humor in my presentations and writing.  It also made it acceptable for me to talk about my strange hobbies, including entomology, brain dissection, and welding large metal dinosaurs without feeling like I'm going to be harshly judged or branded a weirdo.  My interests, which have been all mine for over 30 years, can now be shared with a wider audience.  And the reception has been amazing.

What does this mean for the rest of us?  

I believe that more innovation can and is happening.  Science fiction has created so many useful products.  Jules Verne's Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea lead to Simon Lake creating the submarine.  Igor Sikorsky took another Verne book, Clipper of the Clouds, and made a helicopter.  H.G. Wells' books lead to many more inventions, and Star Wars was the inspiration for cell phones and others.  Nerds created these.  And nerds, with their new-found platform, will create even more.

What will I do with my nerd platform?  

So far, it has allowed me to take my love of brain dissection and neuroscience, combined with a deep understanding of psychology and mental illness, combined even further for my passion for politics, to help spread news about the NIH's NeuroBioBank to a broader audience.  It helped me realize that my passions were in Public Health so that I could pursue those, as well as my fascination with infectious diseases, into a career path.  I can combine that with my entrepreneurial attitude, and become a consultant on Public Health.  My nerd platform allows me to do what I love, what I'm passionate about, and now instead of bizarre or obscure, it's interesting.

Nerd culture is giving everyone a chance for new conversations.  Bullying, and in turn, anti-bullying campaigns, are driving forward due to nerds like Wil Wheaton.  Carryovers from past cult classics can co-mingle with modern day pop culture, getting people interested in things like role playing games and steampunk.  Shows like The Big Bang Theory show how adults can be almost child-like with excitement about things, causing them to geek-out.  Dragons and comic books are mainstream, and even my least nerdy friend has seen every Marvel movie to date.

Take this opportunity to innovate.  Take this moment in time to delve into your deepest, darkest nerdisms and pull something creative and inspired out.  Collaborate with your people on the next big thing.  There are few wrongs that can come from this time of freedom.  

Thank you, Wil Wheaton.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Editing your content to death

“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.”
― Stephen King

How many steps does it take from pen to paper to publication?  

One?  A few?  Too many?

I have a confession.  

I edit my content...to death.  I pre-write, then I write, then I edit, then I edit again, and again, then I pass it off to someone else, then I edit again and then, maybe, it's done.  This whole process happens in normally a day, two tops.  Or, at least I used to.  Then I got smart.

http://janefriedman.com/2013/05/31/find-freelance-book-editor/

I heard some great advice in a podcast (The Solopreneur Hour #117) that if you want to be a better public speaker, you should study comedians.  While I use this methodology for speaking, it also transfers well to writing.  One lesson has really stuck lately - your first draft sucks. Tweak it over time. Then, when you've dispersed it enough, throw it out and develop new content. It's helped me to stop my edit-to-death step that comes after creation - instead, I'm letting it develop and editing it a little at a time as it goes.  

While I'm not altogether giving up on editing, I'm taking it more as a long process instead of a hack job.  I pre-write a few bullet points.  Then, I write, whether it be an article, a blog post, content for a marketing piece, or a presentation, and then I let it sit.  I'll browse over it and tweak obvious errors.  I'll pass it along for feedback, then respond to the feedback.  I'll let it sit a bit longer.  I'll look for ways to enhance the piece, and if I can't, I stop trying.  I'll throw it out to the public and let them comment.  And then, if I feel that the message is good, I leave it along.  I write my blog posts a couple weeks ahead so that I have time enough to fix what needs to be fixed, but I no longer fixate on fixing everything...to death.

I realized that writing is not a sprint to the finish, it's a marathon.  

You have to pace yourself.  You have to prepare for the long haul.  If you're spitting out perfect content in the first go, well, you're amazing.  But realistically, your first piece needs work.  Sometimes a lot of it.  Most of the time, though, it doesn't need to be red-penned to death.  Most of the time, it just needs time.

Do you pick your pieces down to the bare bones, or do you fluff it up? 

 I try to land somewhere in the middle.  Content matters, but how it is delivered is obviously important.  No one is going to be interested in a story or presentation that is just bullet point information with no depth; but on the same token, readers and listeners don't want to be walked through every single thought, emotion, or action that you, the writer or presenter, has.  Get to the point in a meaningful way.

How do you determine when your piece is finished?

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Let's talk about community

“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.”
― Kurt Vonnegut

If there is one thing that you, the reader, takes from my little blog, it should be the importance of building a supportive community.  Scratch that, I have two; integrate yourself fully within your community.  These are the yin and yang of community.  Surround yourself with supportive people who have different strengths and weaknesses than yourself, and make sure that you reach out to people in your local region to help and build a better place.

I moved here, to the Great Lakes Bay Region of Mid-Michigan, a little over four years ago.  I knew my boyfriend at that time - no one else.  I didn't have clients or business partners in the area.  I didn't know what resources were available or where to even look.  I felt alone and friendless, and quickly because fairly reclusive.  It was easy to hide from people here.  I could be anonymous.  I could become anyone that I wanted to be.  I could make any impact that I wanted to without coming in with preconceived notions.

http://cloudcatamaran.com/2014/01/customer-community-customization-part-2-visualforce-pages/

 
So what did I decide to be?

What impact did I decide to make? 

 How did I build my community? 

How am I working to make my community a better place?

After moving here, I decided to regionalize my once worldwide company.  Instead of traveling around, meeting with clients, I decided to find the local market that could use my strengths.  And then I decided that the best way to decide what I wanted to be was to become someone's employee.  And 11 short months later, I realized that I knew all along what I was: an entrepreneur who had an opportunity to once again re-brand myself.

My impact came through a series of events.  Last year, I started networking.  You've heard of "fake it till you make it?"  I lived that.  I introduced myself to everyone as a consultant who was looking for local opportunities.  I listened to the needs of the community.  I looked for opportunity.  I faked it until I started getting enough viable leads to actually be a regional-based consultant.

Building a community came later.  After realizing that I lived here for nearly 3 years and didn't have someone I considered a close friend, I decided that had to change.  So once again, I looked for opportunities.  I joined a local Rotary club.  I joined a women's leadership organization.  I volunteered in the community.  I took leadership roles that existed.  I kept reconnecting with potential friends.  And after a year of feeling out my regional area, I found my community.  I found people I was comfortable with, who understood me, and who I could lean on when needed.  People I could help.  People I could be there for.

This translated huge for my involvement with my city and how I work daily to make it a better place.  Within the past year, I've developed a relationship with a group of locals who are working on a community project to curb violence and clean up the city.  I worked to bring resources to small businesses and start-ups in the form of a coworking office space, a business incubator, a manufacturing proto-shop, and a private think tank on community violence and rebuilding our forgotten cities.  All of these projects are in a different level of research and development, but these plans and programs are huge.

The main point of building community is actually getting out there and talking face to face with others.  It's not hiding behind a computer, waiting for something interesting to happen.  It's getting out there, in your world, following your passions and finding like-minded individuals to help you make them happen.  Good things are happening here in Saginaw because of it.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Like a phoenix rises from the ashes...

“Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn't work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach.”
― Roger Von Oech

Some of my favorite lessons over the past over 10 years in business for myself have been learned through failures.  Failure can be a blessing in disguise.  A dying business can bring new ideas, innovation, that wouldn't have happened otherwise.  Failure forces you to reassess your skills, knowledge, and goals, which most don't revisit often enough.  By failing, you learn better how not to fail in the future.

Once upon a time

 I was wading through a vast pool of government bids and start-up businesses.  This time was about 2007.  Connections were easy to make in the military contractor business, and I found myself in a position to sell some of the most innovative, useful, and life-saving products to the government.  It was nice work if you could get it.  2007 was a good time for start-ups, and I worked to build businesses all over the United States and Europe, taking ideas and pushing them through the grueling process on business planning and investor meetings, grant proposals and lead generating.  Then something happened.  The bottom fell out.  The stock market crashed.  The government contracts froze immediately.  The start-up businesses dried right up.  And I was not prepared. 

The biggest failure I had in my business was not preparing for the uncertain future.  Being successful so quickly in business clouded my better judgement and left me in a tough spot when I woke up one day and didn't have a back up plan to save my business.  So what was one to do in the face of a failed business?  Innovate, of course.

http://www.chcp.edu/blog/sharing-your-failures

I didn't immediately seek out more work.  I took time to reassess.  I thought about the needs in the region.  I thought about my strengths, weaknesses, and knowledge.  I thought about applying to every job available in a quick moment of panic, but then I relaxed and decided that was the worst idea of the bunch.  I came to a conclusion:  I needed to find a line of income that would cover me until I came up with a better plan.  That was it - I needed a bandaid.

2 days later I had ordered a home-study kit from the top fitness training company, chock full of books on becoming a personal trainer.  I also ordered a home-study kit from a yoga teacher training company.  And lastly, I started taking classes to become a nutrition coach.  Within a week, I had my bandaid - I was going to become a personal trainer, yoga teacher, and nutrition coach.  I was not going to build a business for someone else.  I was not going to take a low-level office job to tide me over.  I was going to learn new skills that matched my interests to "re-brand" myself so that I could control my income.

The band-aid lasted me a few years.  In the time where I was learning and testing, I put 100% effort into my new materials.  As soon as I had passed my tests, I got to work.  I took on clients and started making money.  And in my free time, I read everything that I could about starting a business.  Wait...why would a start-up business professional read about how to start a business?  I decided to literally start from scratch.  I decided to reforge my business in the heart of the dying economy.  I decided to try to get ahead of the next unseen entities that would interrupt my plans.  I met with mentors.  I read books and blogs and magazine articles.  I listened to podcasts and radio shows.

How did this help me?

It taught me that failure wasn't an option.  It taught me that while failure can be scary, it's the perfect time for learning, reassessing, and building new skills.  It taught me that failure doesn't mean failure - failure now affords us the chance to do it better next time.  And more than anything, failure taught me to be innovative.  Six years after running my own business into the ground because I wasn't prepared, I am better than ever. 

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Adventures in Mentoring

“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.”
― Phil Collins

One of my favorite activities that I've started this year is actively mentoring others.  At the present, I'm mentoring a young college student, a non-traditional (older) college student, and one of my best friends, a post-graduate mid-level career woman.  By "actively mentoring," I mean that I set aside time twice a month to meet with them and guide them.

My favorite lesson so far is that I have learned so much from mentoring them.  They are all different from me; different experiences and in different stages of their life.  They have different degrees and grew up in different areas.  They have reminded me of different life experiences that I've had that I can weave into my stories and lessons.  They have challenged me to grow.  They have required that I learn more by researching, asking questions, and coming up with new solutions to problems.  They remind me that the line between mentor and mentee is quite blurred sometimes, and that we all step back and forth over that line often in a good mentoring relationship.

 

http://mentorguru.info/getting-the-most-out-of-mentoring/

The young college student is a new mentee.  I've met with her once so far, but she is the one who, at the moment, wants to pursue entrepreneurship.  She wants to learn about how to succeed and how to fail and how to start your first business and how that is different from your fifth business.  She wants to flexibility and freedom that she thinks entrepreneurship offers, and she knows she can change the world.  And I believe that she's right.

The non-traditional student is about 5 years younger than I.  She hasn't started her career, and realized that she doesn't want to pursue a job in her field of study.  She's the level of creative that I only have in my dreams.  In our second meeting, we talked for hours about passions and where she sees herself.  Like me, she's a more recent transplant in the area and is looking for opportunities to integrate into the community.  She has a level of excitement that is contagious and breathes new life into my sometimes jaded personality.

And last, but not least, my most  recent meeting happened this morning with a friend who reached out to me for training in a specific area: social media.  She recently had some career transition and thought that I could teach her things that could apply in business as well as her personal life.  We've been friends for over a year and recently became each others plus one to community events.  I was more than happy to help her with what she wanted to learn.  6 hours later, we covered so much more than social media.

Last year, I wouldn't have thought I could mentor others.  I spoke at the local college once last year and that was the extent of my teaching moments.  This year, I lead a 3rd grade Destination Imagination team to state competition.  I spoke to 2 classes.  I was asked to be a keynote speaker at the state DECA conference.   I received my first intern.  I sought out opportunities to share my knowledge - not because I thought I knew everything, but because I knew that in teaching, I would learn.  If I needed to know something, I would research it until I was comfortable with the content.  If I was presenting a new topic, I prepared my presentation.  I re-read Dale Carnegie books.  I brushed up on my PowerPoint skills.

Every day, I'm honing my skills.  Every day, I'm looking for ways reach more audiences and help more people, help more businesses.  These skills that I work on in my free time with my mentees help me to boost my abilities with my clients.  Mentoring has given me the confidence to write and develop seminars and workshops.  It has given me the confidence to speak to more classes and do more training.

Phil Collins was right - I am both teaching and learning.  I am always on the look out for new opportunities to do both.  And I believe that everyone should look for these opportunities because I still have a lot to learn from them.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Welcome to The Restless Entrepreneur

"You have the power to change everything that's to come.  And you can do that by asking yourself: 'Why not be great?'"

-Seth Godin

In 2014, I have started a new journey in my business and personal life; a challenge to myself. This year, I decided to say "yes" to more opportunities and focus my work on my passion project. My journey last year took me from a recluse freelancer to a networking, community-involved professional, and I knew that I could expand on that this year.
My goals with this blog are to recap my progress of self-growth, as well as provide business and personal tips, tricks, mentoring, humor, and whatever other information I feel may benefit you, the reader, client, colleague, or friend, who may stumble upon this. I also plan to do Google Hangouts, podcasts, seminars, workshops, e-books, and other resources that benefit you and your growing business.

Stick around and be sure to follow along!


Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur