It’s crazy looking back at when I first started out in business and how much I’ve grown – both personally and professionally. There’s been a lot of trial and error and many lessons learned. But also just as many wins!
I can even pin point key moments in the journey that were pivotal in my growth.
Those “aha” moments that change everything.
Some of these moments were advice from trusted mentors. Others were simply the result of stumbling across information that challenged my way of thinking.
So here are the top 5 blog posts that have had a HUGE influence on how I approach business.
Zen to Done (ZTD): The Simple Productivity System
This seriously changed my life. Way back when I first started out, I struggled with time management and staying on top of everything. I couldn’t get my head around my workload, what to prioritise and how to maintain that ever elusive work-life balance.
I suffered from information overload and was bombarded daily with emails, phone calls, snail mail, social media notifications, meeting requests, event invitations not to mention the client projects and deadlines that I needed to also get done. And that’s not even taking into account my personal life!
I needed a system.
Enter GTD or the Getting Things Done Methodology by David Allen. It all starts with writing stuff down and getting it out of your head. It then goes into an “Inbox” for processing later or immediately assigned to a “Task List / Folder”.
Leo Babauta from Zen Habits has his own take on GTD which simplifies the system and focuses more on taking action. Check out his post here.
The 30 Minute Business Plan: Business Model Canvas Made Easy
So how’s that Business Plan working for you? Oh, don’t have one? Maybe, like mine, it is half baked and unfinished buried somewhere depths of your hard drive.
I say ditch the business plan and paint a canvas instead!
Introducing the Business Model Canvas. I live and breath this tool for my business. It’s the tool I refer to when I’m stuck in a rut. It’s my complete business MAPPED, from now and into the future.
If you’re looking for something practical that will actually help you think through your business, this is the answer. And here’s the best part – IT’S A ONE PAGER!
This post helped me build a long term vision for Kreatology.
How We Sell: Men vs Women
Why do we find it so hard to ask for money? We’ve provided a service, invested our time, expertise and put our blood, sweat and tears into a client project. And yet we still feel guilty about asking to be paid!
I am even guilty of working for free or discounting my services, but why?
Denise Duffield-Thomas sums it up perfectly with this blog post. Time to be fearless about money and get paid what you’re worth!
9000 Unread Emails to Inbox Zero: My Executive Assistant Shares How We Did It
As my business has grown, so have the number of emails received each day. I was easily receiving at least 100 hundred emails a day and the reality is I wasn’t getting to them. Important emails were getting lost. Client requests sometimes took a few weeks to be responded to and as a result, customer service was suffering.
This podcast from Smart Passive Income is only a recent discovery and still a work in progress. But has already made a huge difference to my email management and response time.
Do You Have An “Upper Limit” Problem?
I see it time and time again. I’m even guilty of it myself! A business starts seeing the results of their efforts and things are going well. EXTREMELY well. All of a sudden suddenly things start to go wrong. They might get sick. Mysterious gremlins attack the computers. Excuses are rife for why they can’t move forward – too busy, personal problems, other commitments.
Self sabotage.
Without realising, we bring it all back to a level we’re comfortable with. We all have a comfort zone and unconscious ideas of how happy and successful we feel we deserve to be. And that’s ok. But time to hit that BS for six. Marie Forleo sums it up fabulously!
So that’s my list of of Blog Posts! What posts have influenced you on your entrepreneurial journey?
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