Monday Spark: Make yourself accountable to someone you would hate to disappoint.

sign of accountabilityWe have dreams. We make ourselves promises. We make resolutions.

And…all too often, absolutely nothing happens or changes.

When nothing changes, we are quick to find excuses. We find a way to make other people or circumstances the cause of our failure to take action and move forward. If all else fails, we can simply say something wooly like, “The time wasn’t right. Maybe next year.”

It’s easy to get away with this kind of non-action, because we keep our plans and promises to ourselves. In fact, if we hard work on it, we can even persuade ourselves that we didn’t really promise ourselves to do anything at all. (As humans we’ll go to almost any lengths to protect our self-esteem.)

One step forward is to make yourself accountable by letting other people know what you plan to change or achieve. In fact, there are whole websites devoted to sharing your goals with other people. At this time of year, people also share their resolutions on social media sites like Facebook.

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Monday Spark: Don’t have time to network in person? I bet you do.

hand grinder networkingOne of my Christmas gifts this year was a hand coffee grinder. This is a great little device for grinding coffee beans by hand.

Why bother when I have an electric grinder? Because from time to time I like to actually pay attention when I make coffee. Instead of being a process that is automated and rushed, making coffee becomes something I focus on, pay attention to, and enjoy. I can feel the beans being crushed as I turn the handle. The experience becomes real and physical…something I am doing, rather than something I get done by a machine.

Anyway, I posted a photo of my coffee grinder on my coffee site, and within minutes someone left a comment.

Here is what he wrote:

“Very nice article but I must say manual coffee grinding is a thing of the past. With all these improvements in technology everything is going automated. Burr coffee grinders are in and manual coffee grinders are out!”

Someone else wrote:

“Nice idea, but I don’t have time for that.”

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Freelancers: Repeat after me, “I am a Rolex”.

rolex perceived valueIn a fair world, every freelancer would be paid what they actually deserve. But, of course, it isn’t a fair world. So you have to do something to make sure you get paid at least what you truly deserve, and preferably more.

As an example, I spoke with two different coaching clients a few weeks ago, both of whom had just picked up projects to create a monthly e-newsletter for a client. One was charging $200 per issue, the other was charging $2,000.

Was the second guy ten times better than the first? Not at all.

The difference was that the second freelancer genuinely felt his work was worth $2,000. So that’s what he estimated, and that’s what he got.

The value of your work has less than you think to do with its real value, and more to do with its perceived value. That perception resides both in your own mind and in your client’s mind.

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Monday Spark: How to avoid chronic pain as a writer [VIDEO]

freelancer with back painSitting at a desk for 8 hours a day is not very good for your health. In particular, it’s bad for your spine.

For years I used to suffer from back pain. Just too many hours sitting in front of a keyboard.

I tried a few things. Not pills, because I avoid those like the plague. But I went to a chiropractor, I tried scheduling times during the day when I would get up and do some walking around and stretching, and I even tried setting up my computer so I could work standing up.

There was nothing wrong with any of those approaches, but the solution that really worked for me was to throw away my regular chair and use a kneeling chair instead. Not every office supply store carries them, but some do. Failing that, you can find one online.

To go a step further, watch the video below. It contains some interesting information and some tips on strengthening your lower back.

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Monday Spark: If you believe in your plan, don’t give up.

don't give upI have a coaching client who, alongside his writing work, is working to launch a stand-alone business aimed at the boomer generation.

He’s excited by the business idea, because the information he wants to share is so important and timely. Give him a few minutes of your time, and you’ll be hooked.

As part of the plan to develop and launch his business he recently booked a meeting room for two evenings. We wanted to fill the seats and then run through his presentation.

He has back-end products, but his plan at this stage was simply to get his message in front of an audience and measure their response. It was a test run.

Once he had booked the room, which would seat about 30 people, he then ran an ad in his local paper. He ran it three times in the run-up to his event.

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How to catch your first lucky break as a freelancer. And your second. And your third.

lucky freelancerThis is the third in a series of three posts, all on the topic of how a lucky break or two can accelerate the growth and success of your business. (Post 1 and post 2.)

If you feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of luck playing a part in your business success, don’t worry, you’re not alone. The story we all tell ourselves – the accepted narrative – is that successful people make their own luck. That’s what makes them successful.

In part, that’s true. And this post is largely about how to make your own luck. But, as I mentioned in the first post in this series, sometimes you are just plain lucky. Something unplanned for and unexpected just comes your way at exactly the right time.

Does business success depend on being lucky? No. Can you blame a lack of success on the absence of being lucky? No. One way or another, you’ll get the level of success you deserve. But getting a lucky break or two certainly helps.

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