10 Ways To Ensure 2013
Is Your Year For Positive Change
If you�re ready to make
2013 the year opportunity knocks on your door, read on for a few of
successful entrepreneur Vickie Milazzo�s suggested action steps:
1) Go boldly after your
biggest goals.
When is the last time you set a goal and truly went after it?
Milazzo encourages people to identify their �Big Things� � those
goals that connect to their passionate vision. Then choose one to
schedule their day around.
Be your own number one
fan. If you don�t announce your own achievements, you can bet that
no one else is going to do it for you. With humility, make sure that
you�re keeping your name, your accomplishments, and your skill set
in front of everyone.
2) Don�t under-price
yourself.
You�d love to ask for more money but frankly, you�re afraid to. The
economy still isn�t great so I�d better lie low, you reason. This
just seems like common sense. But settling for less than you�re
worth is a big mistake � even in the wake of the Great Recession. In
my eyes and in the eyes of many other CEOs, job candidates actually
lose credibility when they underprice themselves.
3) Make sure you stand
out. Many
people get stuck in ruts at work because they become viewed as
commodities. Commodities are easy to obtain and easy to replace. And
that�s certainly not how you want to be perceived at your job �
whether you�re an employee, a leader, or an entrepreneur. Do
everything you can to ensure that you aren�t seen as interchangeable
or dispensable.
4) Network with big
players.
Generally, we tend to gravitate toward people who are similar to us:
those who think similarly, who find similar things fun, and who are
in similar walks of life. That�s fine when it comes to your
friendships, but you need to aim higher when it comes to networking.
More than 60% of people find jobs through networking, for example,
and you can bet that most of them didn�t achieve this goal because
they knew someone at the bottom of the pecking order.
5) Turn off cyberspace.
There�s no greater blow to productivity than breaking your
concentration to reply to an e-mail as soon as it hits your inbox.
Remember, no award will be handed out at the end of the day for the
person who responded to the most e-mails the fastest. If you�re
doing nothing but responding to e-mail, you�re bouncing around like
a pinball.
6) Break the feel-good
addiction. In
today�s world, we�re constantly sabotaged by nonproductive energy
wasters. There are emails to read. Facebook statuses to update.
Receipts to locate for that already-late expense report. Dishes to
be washed. Files to be organized. And on, and on, and on. These are
the easy, albeit often unproductive, tasks that make us feel good.
They may not get you any closer to accomplishing your greater goals,
but at least you�ve checked a couple of things off your to-do list.
�Unfortunately,� says
Vickie Milazzo, �this addiction comes at a high price, because that
cheap check-mark high is guaranteed to frustrate, overwhelm, and
stress you out in the long term. By majoring in minor things, we
never get to our big commitments. Breaking these addictions opens
the door to achievement, because what you focus on is where you will
yield results.�
7) Set aside sacred
�momentum time.�
Momentum time is precious time you are able to set aside for
yourself each day, to work uninterrupted toward achieving your
goals. To carve out time, examine every activity and decide how to
eliminate it, delegate it, hire it out, or do it faster.
�If part of your day is
rarely interrupted (such as early morning or late evening), reserve
it for momentum time. Keep your momentum time sacred. Use phrases
such as, �I�ll be available in one hour. What time after that works
best?� Start your day with a two-hour uninterrupted chunk, and then
gradually add more two-hour momentum sessions each day. Claim your
momentum time and you�ll find those lost hours you�ve been looking
for.�
8) Have confidence in
your abilities.
It�s highly unlikely that you�ll reach any goal you set for yourself
if you don�t believe with your whole heart that achieving it is
possible. Among other things, you won�t be confident enough to take
calculated risks, if you don�t believe that the limitations in front
of you are surmountable. Anytime you find yourself entertaining
doubts or trying to limit what you think is possible, remind
yourself of your past successes. Let them infuse you with pride and
bolster your resolve.
�Believing you can do
it�whatever �it� is�is 90 percent of the win,� assures Milazzo.
�When I walked into my first meeting with a potential client, my
legs were literally shaking. I forced myself to remember that this
attorney needed specialized knowledge that only I�a critical care
nurse�could give him. I walked out of that meeting with my first
client. Plus, I learned that when you expand what you�re willing to
believe about yourself, you can transform who you are and what your
life looks like.�
9) Surround yourself
with mentors.
There are two ways to develop the skills, habits, and mindsets that
you�ll need to achieve wicked success. The first is to go it alone
and learn by trial and error in the school of hard knocks. The
second (much smarter) path is to learn from others who have
encountered and surmounted problems that are similar to your own.
That being the case, surround yourself with as many mentors as
possible and practice the skills they pass on to you.
10) Safeguard your
momentum.
Accept that you won�t please everyone. Someone is bound to be
unhappy about the changes you make to focus on your big things. A
friend might get upset because you can no longer meet for lunch on
Wednesdays. Your spouse might complain because you won�t run his
errands on a weekday.
�Bottom line, they�ll
get over it,� says Milazzo. �Stop feeling guilty and stay true to
your goals. Surround yourself with friends, family, and peers who
support your vision. Discard all discouraging messages. These are
your passions and goals, not anyone else�s.�
�You can�t snap your
fingers and suddenly become successful,� admits Milazzo. �And the
successful people you envy weren�t able to do that either. They
worked for it. They set big goals. They didn�t settle for small-time
achievements. Wicked success can be yours too, if you make the same
big commitments.�
Vickie Milazzo is the
author of the New York Times bestseller
Wicked Success Is Inside
Every Woman.
She shares the
innovative success strategies that earned her a place on the
Inc. magazine
list of �Top 10 Entrepreneurs� and �Top 5000 Fastest-Growing
Companies� in America.