Why Your Success is on Hold

by Michelle Hill-Smith www.OnTaskAssistants.com

I HAD A REVELATION.  Just like many people, I spent a lot of my life struggling through decisions. I wanted success but didn’t know how to get there without the bumps and bruises along the way. I was always so determined to “make it” without having to endure the necessary hardships that were sure to be along the path of “making it.”

THAT WAS THE PROBLEM.  My goals were large. My standards were high. My resources were none. My connections were nil. It really wasn’t a good combination to begin with.  Boy, did I waste a lot of my time and the time of others that I wanted to be apart of my success. Once I figured out that in order to have the success I was looking for, I had to have a strategy to get there. Then, a plan was born. Granted, it took 8 years for me to get to this point, however, I am here when it’s time for me to be here.

You see, often times, we regret the struggle. We regret the pain, confusion, “wrong turns” we take and bad investments we make. We always feel that if we would’ve done “this or that” a certain way, things would’ve turned out better or success would’ve come sooner.

  

IT’S CALLED BEING DELUSIONAL  That’s right…delusional. It was my middle name for a very long time. I’m always reminded of what my Mother says quite often in her Jamaican dialect “Nothing ever happens before it’s time.” This simply means that everything in the universe has a time to be born. Your dreams, your ambitions, your trials, your tribulations, YOUR SUCCESS will all be delivered to you when you are ready to handle it. All the hurt, all the pain, all the “bad” decisions are assigned to you because you were divinely equipped to handle them. It’s God’s way of molding you for what He has in store.

The way of the universe allows us to go through things in order to be molded and prepared for what’s to come next.  Your success is on hold because you’re wallowing in your regrets.  You stopped the launch for your business or movement because you’re dwelling in the past and constantly reminding yourself of all the time “you feel” you’ve wasted. You’re exact thoughts are “Look at what happen last time. If I don’t choose this opportunity or make the decision fast enough, my success would never come.” Patience and proper planning is surely a virtue.

I NOW HAVE AND UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ORGANIZED STRATEGY, SUPPORT TEAM AND SUCCESS SYSTEM!  At this stage in my life, after all the drama, confusion, hurt, pain, bad deals and investments, blah, blah, blah, now it’s quite simple.

1) I identified where I wanted to be financially and the reasons I need to be there.

2) I developed a strategy that involves every aspect of my business and career path that would easily flow together, combine well and be understood by my audience and followers.

3) I plugged into a proven system that has all the components needed to not only bring success for me financially, but can also enhance the value of my business and career as a business launch and productivity expert.

I MADE THE DECISION.  As you can see, it all fits together for me. I decided that I didn’t want to do the same thing, following the same strategy for my business‘ growth for the next 5 years. I wanted and needed to step out of my box and do something different.

Your success doesn’t have to be on hold. I encourage you to develop a strategy. If you’re interested in a system for your success but you’re not sure how it can tie into what you’re already doing, consider enhancing your current business or lifestyle to include this new system or venture. It’s important that you get the support of a mentor that can guide you in the right direction. Plug into a system that has a proven track record and can bring you the results you’re looking for in order to get to the next level in your life or business. I did it and I know you can as well.

Here’s to your new found strategy and success!

Michelle Hill-Smith

Spring Sprucing: Why it's critical to your success!

by Michelle Hill-Smith
www.OnTaskAssistants.com 

In the place where you live, there's most likely a dyer need to clean something somewhere. The window seals, cabinets, carpet, furniture...the need is always there and the cycle never stops. More commonly, in the spring time, people often have the realization that there are boxes whose contents need sorting and discarding. Furniture would benefit more from being shifted or completely moved in another area of the room. After all, your comfort and sanity depends on it. The weather is wonderful, your mind is clear and you realize that it's critical to perform your house sprucing now instead of later. That's what I like to call "Spring Nesting". It's simply spring cleaning. For some odd reason, at this time of the year, it's feels better to do. Just as an expecting mother begins "nesting" her home for the arrival of her new child. She begins cleaning and putting things in order, despite the pain and agony she may be experiencing. For her, it's an automatic, internally programmed activity that will be done. No one can tell her that those activities, in her state, shouldn't be done.

Every now and then, I like to do Spring Sprucing on my business. Just as my home, my business has a lot of rooms, areas and boxes that need to be taken care of and brought up to date. How many times have you been in total business ready and inspiration mode and received one of those emails from a Forum or online community that you forgot you were a member of? The email seems interesting so you click on it. One of two things happen when you get to that account. 1) You can't log in as you forgot the email address you used to create the account. 2) You log in to the account and view your profile to find that it looks like 3 years prior when your contact information or branding was totally different. Sounds familiar? I know that it does for me. I was the prime culprit of keeping a dirty business home year round. If you look up the word "Non-Spring Sprucer" in the dictionary, my picture would be right next to it.

In my organization, we've changed our logo and contact number over 5 times. Within that time, we've joined tons of online forums, business communities, created several online profiles and written several articles and blog posts to represent our business and expertise. Yes, it is a wonderful idea to extend your business across the globe, however there is one thing wrong with this type of scenario. That's right, you guessed it. Congruency and Consistency. Just as with cleaning your home, things just work better when the area allows room for ease of movement, reach and familiarity.

If your business' home isn't cleaned and spruced up frequently, it makes it difficult to function and represent a professional existence. Here are some things I recommend doing to begin your spring sprucing:

A) Create a Google Account to provide congruency. There are a host of business apps you can use that will all work under that same account. Starting with your email address, it should be of your business' name so that it's never forgotten. This doesn't mean that you can't use the email that's linked to your website. Just link the two together so that you won't miss the emails from that account.

B) Set up a local Google Voice number for your business. This will allow you to always have a number where you can be reached either by text, email or voice. You can set up your voicemail for your business to always answer when you're not available or when you're closed for the day. It's Free and will always be there when you lose your paid phone accounts for whatever reason. There's a misconception that a small business should have an 800 number. Within your first 3 years of business chances are you'll experience slow to no activity so, having additional (besides your cell or landline) paid phone accounts specifically for this will result in a major lost of money that can be better used elsewhere in your business.

C) Go into your Online Profiles and update your contact information, branding, and update your status. Even if you're not using them on a regular basis, it's always best to make sure their up to date and appear active. You never know where your new prospects are going to be. Make sure they can always see you as a business that's still active and still in business.

D) Update your Forms, Website and Marketing Accounts/Platforms. It's going to hurt you more when you're spending countless hours trying to update your business documents before sending anything out to your new prospect. This includes your signature on your emails, brochures, regularly used flyers, business cards and e-mail marketing platforms as well. Be sure to go through them all and provide them a set structure that includes your business name, logo, contact number, email, tagline and social media links.

E) Prepare a binder with all your updated information, services and programs. Call it your Service Guide and put the year of use on the front of it. This is my secret to success. Having this in place will honestly serve as the difference between success and failure for you. I can not stress enough how important it is. If you have information in place that allows you to properly, thoroughly and quickly service your prospects, you will show consistency and orginazation which is what 90% of new clients and customers are looking for.

In short, finding ways to keep your activities for your business at a minimum is ideal. This allows you to spend more time on servicing your customers and finding new prospects. Begin by thinking of all the rooms and areas your business is in (whether online or off). Start Sprucing and don't be afraid to make your small humble changes. If you've accumulated an email list of prospects, don't forget to update them as well on your company's changes. This way, you won't feel so afraid and nervous about your sprucing and the small changes. Think longevity. 

Are you guilty of Success Hopping?

by Michelle Hill-Smith

of www.OnTaskAssistants.com

Remember back in the day, when you'd go to a nightclub and end up visiting at least 3 more by the end of night? Yep, you got it! Club Hopping! A simple way to describe it is when you go from club to club in search of a better experience than the last. When my sisters and I would prepare to go to the nightclub that evening, our goal was to remain in the club we set out for. We didn't have enough money back then to go from place to place. Not to mention, all the gas, time and energy we'd spend to do so. Often times, with club hopping, you can never seem to have genuine fun. At the end of the night, you almost feel cheated and incomplete.

The same is true with many aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners. One idea is created, molded and implemented.Once success is realized, it's time to move on to something bigger because so and so is doing great with it. How many times have you done this in your business journey? I can honestly say that I am VERY guilty of this very thing. Since 2001 I've actually started and sometimes operated a Dance Company, Dance Studio, Fit Club, Natural Soap Making Company, and God knows what else. I guess my excuse was that I just wanted to be successful at something. 

I believe the question is “What’s the hold up?” Sometimes, our destination for success is held up by our own fears. You plan and plan for months to no avail. I, personally felt as if I was my own obstacle. My business ideas were very thorough, well-thought out from start to finish. However, I constantly experienced one to two variations of the same problems. One, I would get so excited about my new venture. I knew that that would be it. It was the one. I’d plan it out for several months. Write every detail out and even create the logo and website for it. Then, within a matter of time, I’d began thinking of something else after seeing the success of another.  I’d begin jotting down ideas to create something else. Two, I’d revisit one of my once exciting new venture ideas that was on the verge of being launched and begin revamping that idea in hopes of it being the one. 

Whew! What a delusional cycle I was creating for myself. The madness had to stop.

In short, I realized that if I had the guts to stick it out with the one best idea or system I’d grown accustomed to running for a while, chances were, I’d probably be on my way to creating that empire I longed for successfully. I had to stop chasing success and start creating success. 

There’s only one reason to stall in going forward with your business venture. The simple cause is a LACK OF READINESS. Moving forward without really examining your idea and operations from start to finish will result in failure in the long run.

You see, often times we allow our dreams to remain just that, a dream. I learned that if I thoroughly examined what it was that made me happy and execute a plan to create a stable, yet fulfilling life from it, I achieved my dream...on my own terms.

TIME TO DECIDE. GET RID OF OBSTACLES. TIME TO EXECUTE.