What Is Your Crown Jewel for Success?

In the world of business there are limitations or restrictions of which you need to be aware when you want to achieve goals and ultimately succeed. There are some things that just, well, fall into place without compromise. Curious what restrictions need to be in place for you to succeed? Great! What about not compromising? Wondering what's not up for compromise?

For one, your attitude! Your attitude needs to be in what your crown jewels are encased, much like Queen Elizabeth’s crown is made of gold; your success crown is made of attitude, allowing you to show off the jewels within you. With a positive attitude, a little self-discipline and a certain level of knowledge, you're empowered to make sound decisions along your journey to success even when a challenge might raise its pretty little head. Your attitude can not be compromised by anyone but you. You are in complete control of your attitude, and being in control of your attitude means your limitations are set by you and only you.

In a previous article I talked about why your foundation for success needs to be built not just on stone but must also include sand to allow for flexibility and growth. Knowing where your foundation is enables you to then focus on identifying your crown jewel and gaining clarity on the steps it takes to achieve your goals. Your crown will, of course, have more than one jewel held within it but jewels (or, here, skills) that need to be on display for others to notice.

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Achieving Goals: 5 Steps You Can Take to Improve Your Odds of Success

A goal is a target on which you aim your focus and put your time and effort into the process of achieving. There are five steps essential in guiding you toward achieving and realizing your goals. Achieving a goal can take longer and require more commitment than you realize or might imagine. Self-empowerment and motivation are great tools for you to use, and they are two tools you can use as ingredients to steer yourself toward creating your vision, which will lead you to your target.

Some people believe that when they fail in achieving a goal, it ends the existence of their goal. But this is not true at all. Failing to achieve a goal provides you the opportunity to go back to the drawing board to redefine it and refuel the spirit of your motivation.

The first step you can take to improve your odds of succeeding and achieving your goal is not to allow failure to enter into your description or definition of success. Instead, replace the term "failure" with the idea and feelings associated with the term "reset": meaning, you did not fail at achieving your goal, but instead you need to simply reset the goal you had. Where you are today is not where you were when you initially established the goal. The growth you've achieved means that resetting your goal today makes it that much more achievable.

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Organize Your Business

The task of filing paperwork is often the most hated and avoided in any office. The same is true about our email inbox! The good news is that it's not so hard as many people think to establish and maintain your filing when you have a system.

If you start your day by sitting at your cluttered desk or an inbox filled with unanswered emails, you set yourself up for an increased level of stress and lack of productivity from the beginning of your day. For most people (ourselves included), our personal lives are already filled with enough stress; adding to it doesn't motivate us to get busy on our list of to-dos. You deserve to start your day refreshed and confident so you can be productive and make progress on completing your tasks.

An organized workspace—both physical and virtual—will give you confidence and a sense of empowerment, whereas a cluttered desk or inbox can make you feel lethargic and confused and will zap your creative energy!

So now you may wonder how a pile of disorganized paper can cause stress. The simple answer is not just procrastination; these pieces of paper and unanswered emails are actually deferred decisions. Each piece of paper or email in the stack is a reminder of something you need to support, which will inevitably stress you each time you see. If you do nothing, then that small molehill of paper you’ve create will grow into mountains of stress, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and uncertain where to start.

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Choice Is Motivation

We hear the term "empowerment" a lot these days. For those who need a reminder, empowerment refers to liberty and our ability to achieve what we desire. Motivation, on the other hand, is that what keeps your spirit and enthusiasm high. Your need for self-empowerment or self-motivation in life comes from within. Motivation gives you something to which to look forward, and it makes everything seem attainable – even those goals that may seem impossible.

Mainly what motivates you is the dream of having a better life, career, family or love. Acquiring self-motivation can be a difficult process to start, but it ultimately all comes down to making a choice. Your decision to choose an appropriate motivational tool can be more difficult than you might think.

Personal motivation is a very important skill in this day and age, especially when we have so many distractions to pull us away from tasks at hand. When you can maintain your focus on the tasks at hand, you will begin to see you journey take great, positive strides toward the success you seek. I've talked about and given ideas in previous blog posts regarding your focus, but how do you stay motivated when some days are filled with challenges? Feeling empowered is important, but being a self-starter – a person who can pick herself up and jump right back in – is the foundation of staying motivated.

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Leadership and Marketing

As a leader, main man, top dog or any other pet name you can think of for yourself when referring to your role as decision maker, there will be times you will be faced with when to refocus, redefine or repurpose the financial resources of your organization depending on the challenges you may be facing. Change is all around you, and keeping a steady course during those times is a challenge all in itself. One of the common areas that most entrepreneurs will immediately look at cutting is the area of marketing. As an entrepreneur your budgets (if you follow one) are not normally as flush as those of Fortune 500 companies. As a result, your ability to refocus or repurpose resources becomes a lot more stressful and difficult to do.

We’ve heard of the different types of marketing, and it can be very confusing. I'd like to support you in reducing your stress regarding marketing; there are amazing marketing coaches out there who can support you in creating a full marketing plan, outlining what is specific to you and your organization. But today let's bring your focus back to the basics so when you decide to hire that coach or consultant, you have an idea of what marketing means to you and your business.

So what is marketing, or a marketing budget, and why do you need one? Simply put, marketing is defined as the process used to determine which products or services are of interest to your clients and outlines the strategies best used in the sales, communication and development of new business. Okay, that wasn't so simple; but basically, it means matching your product or service with your client. The budget piece is the estimated cost of running these programs and projects. The "why" is basically all about transparency and empowering you to stay focused and moving forward in the right direction with each decision you make regarding spreading the word about your wonderful products.

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