May 2024
An Abundance of Opportunities
May has a feeling of fullness. As May approached I kept thinking of words like plentitude. May is associated with so many celebrations: gradations, showers, mother’s day, family reunions, first communions, cookouts, pool openings, and memorial day weekend! There will be many chances to interact with friends, family, and associates. For many business owners the air is alive with options. Some of the tradesman that I coach have had a Spartan winter, but May weather is ushering in a surge of customer calls. In my world, trainers are getting horses ready for shows and vacation rentals are booking like wildfire.
What obligations do you have in May?
With so much activity, it’s a struggle to juggle it all. “All” is the key word. After a lean winter, it’s a temptation to say yes to everything. I’ve done this in the past and ended up being overwhelmed, exhausted, and irritable. Thankfully, I’ve learned from Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI and Isaac Stegman, business owner and coach that you must accept that you can’t do it all. You have to set priorities based on your values.
Are you overloaded and overscheduled?
Recently, I’ve been taking coaching classes from Dr. Misner and Isaac Stegman based on Dr. Misner’s book “Who’s in Your Room?”. As a result of these classes, I was chosen to take an advanced class to give workshops and coach people on the principles outlined in “Who’s in Your Room?”. These principles are consonant with my own values and how I help people as a coach. Talk about an opportunity! I was truly honored to get to work with people of this caliber. I do believe in seizing an opportunity. However, in coaching you learn that whenever you say yes to something you have to say no to something else. It’s essential to have margins and boundaries in your life so the you can excel in your priorities. If you say yes to everything you won’t have the time to devote to what really matters the most.
What matters the most to you?
Isaac Stegman suggested that you list 25 things you think you want to accomplish and narrow it down to the five that are the most important. It’s not humanly possible to do well and monitor yourself in more than 5 or 6 major areas. There will be some tough decisions to make. I’ve been presented with a number of promising opportunities. Since being accepted into Level 3 of Who’s in your Room?” training, I’ve had to say some difficult and even painful no’s. I’ve turned down a request to attend a conference and invitations to several civic groups. These possibilities were attractive and meaningful, but my training with Dr. Misner and Isaac is more in line with my value of wanting to empower people to improve their lives and businesses through coaching.
What are your top five priorities?
A related principle Isaac uses is “Be Here Now”. This means being fully present in whatever you are doing now: not worrying about the past or trying to plan the future. If you are too overloaded with commitments, you can’t adequately concentrate on your current activity or interaction. The month of May will be full of challenges in this area. There are many more social invitations in May and at the same time you may be ramping up for a big increase in your business.
Are you distracted or fully present when you’re with people?
You may need to say no to or limit some social invites. The most popular part of Dr. Misner and Isaac’s training is advice on how to say no without being offensive. You don’t want to offend but even if someone gets angry or bullies you when you say no, you have to stick to your values. For instance, if your top two priorities are your family and your business, you simply cannot attend every social function. Instead of attending a shower, graduation, etc., you could just send a card or a gift and wish them well. If you don’t want to say no, drop by the celebration briefly.
What should you say no to?
The same wisdom holds true in business. We all want to make more money, but it can be a disaster if you try to roll out too many products or services without having a plan in place. Every day I urge business owners to have written procedures and a sufficient number of employees or contract workers on board to make sure they can maintain quality when they are bombarded with new customers. If you can’t handle a request or are running too far behind, you will make a better impression if you refer the customer to someone who can help them in a timely manner. I make this mistake recently. I wanted to get as much out of the Spring as possible. I tried to do too much. Being overwhelmed and overloaded, I made several very embarrassing mistakes. I tried to do it all and you can’t do it all. Pick what’s most important and guard your time so that you can excel at what is most important to you.
Do you look competent and calm or are you beginning to drop the balls?
Don’t spread yourself too thin. Saying no is especially difficult for me because, “I want to have it all.” I’m just like a kid in a candy store when I see opportunities. What helps is to take some time out for reflection. Decide ahead of time what you really want your life to look like. Don’t let it get cluttered. Chose what’s most in line with your values. Although we are adults, there is still peer pressure and subtle bullying. There are a million competing distractions on your phone and computer. Take some time every morning, it might only be 5 minutes, but identify your top priorities for the day. In the future, I‘ll let you know about workshops and classes that I’ll be giving to help you spend your time on what you value the most. Consider spending a weekend at my country retreat to get in touch with your values and set your priorities.
https://evolve.com/vacation-rentals/us/mo/buffalo/462541?queryID=2c2f70dd5b526a4ad69f3561a0e8645d
https://evolve.com/vacation-rentals/us/mo/buffalo/462542?queryID=2c2f70dd5b526a4ad69f3561a0e8645d
