by Liz Clark | Mar 3, 2016 | Business Matters, Getting Stuff Done, Personal Development
Imagine for a moment a society without structure. Try to imagine the chaos if: Schools didn’t have set start and end times and there were no bells or buzzers to signal everyone to go to their next class. (A dream come true for many kids!) Grocery stores didn’t organize food into categories and didn’t keep regular “hours.” Banks didn’t have procedures for depositing and withdrawing money. Traditional jobs didn’t assign work to employees, never set schedules or coordinated efforts to achieve the company’s objectives. “Developed” societies are built on structure and lots of it. In fact, without structure, we’re often at a loss as to how to behave. Think about it. From the moment you were born, through school, jobs, and every day society – you were given external structure “cues” that helped you understand how to behave, what to do and even where to be at what time. At some point in your life, you’ll likely try do something big on your own – like start a business, write a book or invent something. You think it’s going to be exciting (and it is), but suddenly… There’s no one there to tell you where to be. There’s no one with a textbook on how to write your book or make your invention a success. You no longer “get in trouble” for being late because suddenly… you’re the boss. The problem with a structure-obsessed society is that structure is usually developed for us. We aren’t taught how to create structure for ourselves. We’ve been given a fish sandwich with a side of fries…instead of being taught how to fish,...
by Liz Clark | Feb 4, 2016 | Business Matters, Getting Stuff Done, Personal Development, Pursuits, Team Building
Last week, I came clean and confessed that sometimes…ideas can get the best of me. Ideas can be a BIG distraction. Overthinking. Being stuck in a never-ending “idea loop” and never taking action. In that scenario, your ideas are leading you – leaving you exhausted, unfulfilled and with no results. It’s true: sometimes, I am undisciplined with my ideas. But, sometimes, I stand up and lead my ideas through a system. A framework that gives me peace of mind, a sense of fulfillment and that helps me produce positive results in my life. What does that even mean? Moving from “idea” to “reality” takes leadership. If you want to see your idea succeed, it takes YOU leading YOURSELF (and eventually OTHERS) to make it happen. I said that to a coaching client once, and he immediately replied, “That’s IMPOSSIBLE!” Well, it can be very difficult…maybe nearly impossible to lead yourself. And, to be frank, if you haven’t been able to lead yourself successfully before, you will probably need some help to develop self-leadership skills. But, it’s not impossible. So, what does it mean to lead my ideas? It means: I take ownership for my ideas. I don’t expect others to be more invested in my idea than I am. I don’t let my ideas lead me. I lead my ideas. I ruthlessly ignore ideas that don’t serve me. (Seriously, I’m a total jerk to my own toxic ideas: GET OUT OF MY LIFE, TOXIC IDEA!) I write interesting ideas down or use voice memos on my phone to capture them. Immediately. Because they will FLY away if I don’t! I schedule time...
by Liz Clark | Feb 1, 2016 | Business Matters, Personal Development, Pursuits, Uncategorized
This mindset held me back for many years. I sincerely believe it was responsible for a lot of unnecessary unhappiness. Try this mindset shift experiment to begin enjoying your life right...
by Liz Clark | Jan 28, 2016 | Getting Stuff Done, Personal Development, Pursuits
With a headline like that, I’ll get straight to the point: Ashamed is how you feel in the morning. Or at least that’s how I felt. Can’t-look-myself-in-the-mirror-ashamed. And despite the awful shame, it happens again and again. It starts innocently enough: An adventurous glint in my eye, a pep in my step, The seed planted deep within my mind, nothing else will satisfy… I rush impatiently through my “regular” work and chores and errands. Sometimes it takes hours, sometimes days, but it always happens the same. Sooner or later, I can wait no longer. The pull becomes too great. Everything else pales in comparison to the singular fulfillment of this one desire: I HAVE A SHINY, NEW IDEA! Bolstered by sheer will-power and determination, I start out confidently, thinking I know exactly how this love affair with a new idea is going to go: “Why, hello there, Idea. Ready to change the world?” But this Idea is not so easily tamed. After one or two rough nights of unmet expectations, I awake in the morning – bleary eyed and ashamed – and slip back into my “regular” life. Leaving the idea behind without so much as a phone number. I try to pretend it never happened. Have you ever had a great – I mean lightning-bolt-great – idea? Maybe while driving? Maybe in the shower? Maybe in those moments just before you fully wake up in the morning? Ever felt that idea slipping through your fingers the moment you do a little research and find a similar (or identical) idea already out there? Has an idea even broken your...
by Liz Clark | Jan 21, 2016 | Family, Personal Development
Last week, I was scrolling through my Facebook News Feed, passing time while my husband drove us to our son’s karate practice & belt promotion ceremony. Without warning, I landed on a status update that didn’t make any sense. It was a death announcement on a dear friend’s Facebook wall. She had died just hours before. Normally, I would have kept it together and waited until my husband wasn’t driving to tell my family this news. Normally. But, this was so shocking! So unexpected. My husband and I know this family well. I shared the news immediately and we were all in disbelief. I learned that she had been in the hospital since Monday of that week. I didn’t know. In the days since her passing, I’ve reconnected with friends we had in common that I haven’t talked to in a long time. While all of us were shocked and saddened, it is astounding how so many of us seem to know exactly what she would want. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my friend lived her life in a way that, in many ways, prepared us for her death – in the best way possible. She lived out clear values and boundaries that are surprisingly comforting even without her here. Here are the lessons my friend taught with her life that unintentionally prepared us to grieve her death: Look to God to Meet Your Needs She was a strong, independent woman, a wife, mother and minister. But despite her many responsibilities, her source of strength, love and peace came from one source – God. She...
by Liz Clark | Jan 11, 2016 | Getting Stuff Done, Personal Development
So, you’ve set some goals or you have a great idea! You’re excited about making this new idea happen. Maybe you want to: lose weight get organized be smarter with your money get a new job launch a new business take your business to the next level You start of with great intentions and lots of momentum. Then regular life happens and days turn to weeks and you realize you haven’t made any progress toward your new goal or idea. It still excites you. It’s still something you want, but there is literally no time to work on it. As a small business owner, wife and mom of 4 kids, I totally understand how this happens. Here’s the thing: it’s actually normal. In fact, most people don’t succeed. The amount of change that’s required to accomplish new goals or to make a new idea into reality takes a lot of effort. But, some people do manage to accomplish their goals and ideas. It is possible. So where do you start? 1. EVALUATE YOUR PLATE Taking on something new doesn’t mean that regular life goes away. Get honest with yourself about your current responsibilities and the scope of the new idea you’d like to make happen. Don’t do this in your head; write it all out on paper. Make sure you get everything. It is common for us to overlook or forget about certain responsibilities if you’ve been doing them for a long time. Keep a journal for a week to see exactly how you’re spending your time. 2. DECIDE WHAT STAYS – AND WHAT GOES Taking on something new takes effort and focus....
