Tuesday, January 10, 2012

New Year's Action Plan

I hope the New Year is looking up for you. 2012 is going to be a
year full of new opportunities and hopes and dreams and changes.
The key to your success and happiness will be based upon your
ability to maintain your focus, remain vigilant, trust that good
things will come your way because you deserve them ... and to
maintain your faith because it's very hard to accomplish anything
entirely on your own.

For me, I am trying hard to balance my focus on being practical,
yet also leave room for being creative. As I look back on last
year and the mistakes I made, I remain confident that I will do
better this year. I still expect to make mistakes, but hopefully
not the same ones over and over again.

So how is my business approach going to change? First, I'm going
to focus more upon what I can do on my own versus outsourcing
portions of work to others. While I have been blessed to work
with many brilliant and talented people in the past, it is very
difficult to provide quality service to my clients when I don't
control everything. So I'll be doing more of the design and
development on my own.

Second, I am going to be more selective of the projects and
clients I will accept. In the past, I tended to try to help
everyone who crossed my path, even if they could not pay me a
dime. I'll still make myself available for "Commando Consulting"
when I know I can drop into someone's business, rescue them, and
then get out quickly. But gone are the days when I will invest
endless hours helping people and companies that really can't help
themselves.

Third, I am going to branch out into new areas, developing new
services, and targeting new audiences. One new area I am already
beginning to focus on is coaching. Let me explain.

Back in 1989, I went through the Dale Carnegie Course in Human
Relations based upon the recommendation of a fellow magician and
friend. That single course changed the direction of my life, and
as a result of the mentoring and encouragement I received through
DCC, I went on to become a Graduate Assistant and co-teach the
course several times in NYC and Tulsa. I watched many lives get
changed. People grew and matured and their lives were
transformed.

Over the past few years, I have had involvement in two programs
in Tulsa which put me in the position of coaching entrepreneurs.
Here, too, I've seen tremendous growth in both individuals and
their new businesses.

Recently, in working with a new group of clients, I've noticed
how much value they placed on their private phone time with me.
Many said it was the first time they felt they could
confidentially air their concerns about their personal and
professional lives. So, this is an area I hope to grow and
develop in 2012. If you are interested, please note the fee is
$150/hour, with two hours a month required. You can start on a
month-to-month basis, but I will lower the price to $100/hour
with a year long commitment. Call me at 918-810-5233 if you are
interested. Space in my schedule is and will remain limited so
I can provide quality mentoring to you.

Lastly, another area I am working on is to more closely examine,
utilize and leverage my gifts. I think many of us take our gifts
for granted. Some just ignore them entirely. I have a friend who
is an incredible artist -- a painter -- and he blows off his gift
as if anyone could do what he does. Gifts are meant to be used.

One gift I have is remaining in contact with people. Take this
newsletter, for instance. I've been publishing it since 1997 and
have almost 2000 long-term subscribers. I like to remain in
contact with people, and many of my long-term relationships, both
personal and business, have evolved as a direct result of my
utilization of this gift. I plan to utilize this more in 2012.

Do you have a gift that you take for granted that you could use
more aggressively this year? Think about it.

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Well, that's it for now. If there's anything I can help you with
-- if you need a little "Commando Consulting" then please give me
a call at 918-810-5233.

All my best,


Steven