Out of the Blog, Into the Light

Strengths Checklist

I’ve received a lot of emails requesting my strengths checklist, so I decided to just post it on the blog for easy-access.

Available in PDF

Circle each strength you think you have:

When Life Gets You Down, Here Is How to Get Back Up

If Nick Vujicic can do it, you can too!

Technorati Tags: Nick Vujicic,A Giant of a Man,personal development,hopeless cure,success,getting up again

The Cycle of Creativity and Reprogramming

I just finished reading some great information on the cycle of creativity by Mary Jaksch on her blog, Write to Done.  Click here to read it.  She’s shortened Paul Plsek’s process on Directed Creativity and presented some highlights I hadn’t remembered.

I’d like to add something to her discussion…

To read the remaining article, visit my ProNFwriter blog.

 

Technorati Tags: Cycle of Creativity,directed creativity,paul plsek,mary jaksch,write to done,law of attraction,energy levels of creativity

Attracting Summer Interns

As an entrepreneur for a long time now, I’ve learned that trying to handle everything yourself isn’t a smart business practice.

The question to ask is, “How do you bring others onboard when you’re on a tight budget?”

Just recently I went through this process.  Since I hadn’t did this in a long time, I had to start from the beginning.  One part to the answer was to find a few summer interns and maybe ones for the fall as well.  I wanted to focus on this process, not just because of the financial savings, but because I find interns bright, eager, have less fear of voicing their ideas and opinions, and come up with creative solutions.  Plus their energy is catchy if harnessed correctly.  This goal also matched my strength of being an excellent mentor and teacher.  And handles my weakness – not enough time to accomplished all that I want to do. 

Let me share my strategy.

Step 1.  I named my goal.  To attract three interns for the summer.  One for strategic development and  planning.  Another for marketing campaign development.  And a third to support me with editing and info product development.

Step 2:  Next I created task list.  Afterward I place in priority order.

Example of my list.

1. Contact my client who already does this and ask for advice.
2. Search on Google for any helpful advice, read, take notes, and add/modify to do list.
3. Make a list of projects I want them to work on. Answer what type of intern would best fulfill this.
4. Write a job listing piece for each type of intern and project and what my offer.
5. Make a list of schools to contact.
6. Make a list of additional online places I can post the listings.
7. Research the schools on line for the “how-to” information.  Track this in OneNote.
8. Submit information to the schools.
9. Submit listings to places other than schools online.
10. Review resumes received.
11. Interview and offer.
12. Work with new intern and utilize their full potential.
13. Increase productivity and enjoy the results!

Step 3:  After completing the list, I added the estimated time I thought it would take to accomplish the task.  From this I was able to create a start date and end date for the project.  I wasn’t happy with how much time it was requiring so I made adjustments and looked for tasks that could be delegated to my virtual assistant.  I was able to cut my time requirements in half and the completion date move up almost a week.

Step 3:  Next, I shared my goal and list with my VA in an overview email.  Then set up the delegated tasks in OneNote with connections to task assignments in Outlook and forwarded them to my VA.  Then I began my tasks.

Continue the attraction . . .

Maybe you have used interns in the past, please share your experience, or things you’ve learned in the comment section. 

Technorati Tags: summer interns,how to,task list,strategy,process,finding summer interns for your business

(c) Copyright 2009, Catherine Franz.  All rights reserved.

Get FREE Advice From Experts

How would you like to get an answer to your problem from a leading expert who normally wouldn't give you the time of day?

Well there's one possible way…no guarantees though…each expert is different.

Imagine, getting a response from Brian Tracy (http://twitter.com/BrianTracy_).

Look up the expert on twitter.com. Find people like Brian Tracy on twitter.

Here's the page to find others http://twitter.com/invitations/find_on_twitter

10 Rules For Daily Success

1. Get a good nights sleep.

2. Dump all your thoughts, ideas suggestions, worries and anything else onto the page before you go to sleep.

3. Do three things during the day that honor you and your life.

4. Meditate, even for a few minutes, your daily outcome and desires.

5. Hold an attitude of gratitude throughout the day.

6. Perception is key -- it's not what comes at you during the day, it's how you perceive it. If a negative perception appears, tell it, "I don't understand this, and until there's a lesson from it, I'm letting it go." This will let it go until it matters.

7. Know and set your intentions before the day begins.

8. Vibrate positive energy. Say, "cancel" three times for anything that isn't.

9. Eat for productivity. Allow food to leave it's mark on your accomplishments.

10. Set your priorities and stick to them. Say no often, so you can say yes to more.

(c) Copyright 2009, Catherine Franz

Change Your Thinking, Change Your Happiness

I had a coaching session this morning with an over 40 man looking for a job in the HR field or human services field.

Tying this in with a few other experiences yesterday, I began to notice a pattern.

I speak in general terms here, however, you may see yourself in what I'm about to discuss.

Many people spend more time in having the right tools for a successful job than they do having the right tools for a successful life.

For instance…

Just a Regular Trip to the Grocery Store, Right?

Since there aren't any coincidences…I'd like to share today's experience.

It's Sunday and raining in Arlington, Virginia right now. Normally, not a day I would venture out to the grocery store. But I had. I wanted to have a strawberry bash …myself, strawberries and some Cool Whip…so bad.

A Myth About Consumer Spending During a Recession

Since 1854, there have been 28 recessions. This means an average of one every 4/5 years. During this time, the longest was 16 months. The shortest seven. Each recession lasted 11 months. However, in every case, consumer spending was higher after each recession than before a recession.

What this means is in every case, recessionary periods are not periods of loss, but actually periods of cumulative gain.

How’s Your Touch Point Marketing?

To read the introduction and previous posts in this series, click here.

Happy Birthday – Day 3

Yesterday was an interesting day – I took most of the day off…played in the snow making angels, snowball tossing, etc. In the afternoon, I went ice-skating in the outdoor rink in the afternoon in Washington. Met some new people—they kept picking me up off the ice. This was something I haven't done in 20 years. My ankles were quite wobbly. It took a while but eventually I began enjoying it. Wow, it sure was exhausting though.

Later in the day, I had to buckle down and get some client work done. It felt good then to just sit and work. I felt the muscle soreness creeping in. Thought I'd ward them off with a good soak, Advil, and a Bengay massage before bed. This morning I'm feeling a little sore but I'm sure not as bad if I hadn't done this process.

On a slightly different note…