Procrastination, Overwhelm and dog walks!

For this months blog I wanted to look at how recovering from the Leo & the Lion incident related to the processes, systems and mindset that my clients focus on.

How did I get back to walking leo?

I’ve had to learn to take things one stage at a time whilst still recovering from the incident with Leo & the Lion! What do I mean by that? Well when you have a knee that makes you go Oww when ever you walk down a pavement, walk too fast, turn only the top half of your body to look behind to see if it’s safe to cross a road then you have to be careful and plan your routes.

What it has meant for me in the last 8 weeks, was the first 5 weeks I wasn’t walking Leo at all, in fact I was resting my knee so the healing process could start. Over the last 3 weeks I started by going out with various people whilst they walked Leo with me accompanying them at the speed I was comfortable with.

Next came me having Leo when he was on “dog time” which is when he’s allowed to snip and roam to the extent of the lead but no more. It’s his freedom time, it’s the time when predominately the lead is slack and he doesn’t pull.

Then only this week I’ve started walking him with someone else with me. So I predominately have Leo the second half of the walk, once he’s burnt off his over enthusiastic start to the walk and he’s had his “dog time” so is more capable of walking at the pace I want to go at.

What the heck has any of this got to do with business?

I regularly work on my clients, especially those who procrastinate or suffer from overwhelm, by looking at the tasks they have on their achievement list and we review why they aren’t achieving them.

Predominately it’s because they are too large.

Overwhelm about decluttering an office

A cluttered office or home creates a cluttered mind. If you have a clear desk, you also have less on your mind.

By having a sort out and a tidy round you will feel more relaxed, more focused and more energised.

Also you won’t be thinking “I still need to do that” or “When will I get time to sort this out”

By clearing your home or office, you will be clearing your mind and freeing up mental space and you’ll have better focus on your current task.

If this seems like a massive task to sort a room, chunk it down.

Disorganised shelves can give a sense of overwhelm
Disorganised shelves can give a sense of overwhelm
Organised Shelves organised mind
Organised Shelves organised mind
Chunk it down

Rather than think I need to tidy the office, focus on a shelf, a drawer, one corner of your desk.

Once you’ve achieved sorting that out celebrate, make yourself a brew, sit in the garden and listen to the birds for 5 minutes, tell someone you’ve done it.

By celebrating this small chunk you’ll be more motivated to achieve another chunk and before you know it you’ll have tidied your whole office!

I’d love to hear from you about what task, personal or business you’ve chunked down and achieved this week. Why not book in a call with myself to share your success, or struggles with chunking it down?

As always I appreciate your time is limited and I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to read my blog.

Rachael

Leo, a Lion and a Fall. Why this relates to myself & business.

Introducing Leo and MYSELF

Let me introduce you to Leo. He was a 5 month old Collie / Alsatian cross when we rescued him last November. Now, just 8 months old he’s growing in confidence and character.

What an 8 month old collie / Alsatian cross can teach you bout MYSELF
Leo 8 month old collie / Alsatian cross

The Incident

His confidence in us is growing, his confidence when he came across a stone lion, on the left, in the dusk wasn’t so high. He saw it out the corner of his eye, thought (or I think he thought) “PREDATOR RUN”.

And that he is what he tried to do. Unfortunately he was attached to me! In a split second I was on the pavement / road landing nose first, knees next! Leo was at the full extent of my right arm and lead away from me in the middle of the road.

The next day I carried on as normal, going for walks, going to his training lesson looking like I’d been 10 rounds with Mike Tyson to my face and with aching, very swollen knees! It’s just bruising I thought.

Leo looking at the lion in daylight allowing me to put myself first
Leo looking at the lion in daylight

A week went by

Deciding to take time off from my part time role was a must, I wasn’t focussing I wasn’t concentrating and I was in pain.

ENOUGH I told myself!

I got a physio appointment and went for my assessment.

Turns out I’ve damaged both ligaments either side of my left knee as well as given myself a swollen fluid sack beneath the knee cap. Rest, Ice, Heat, a knee support and elevation were needed.

Time to put MYSELF first!

You’re longest serving, highest income generating client.

I need to put myself first for the next 5 weeks, no driving. Flat short pavement walks only. No holding Leos lead in case I twisted my knee when reacting to him.

Working with my clients about their time management mindset, I teach them all that you’re longest serving, highest income generating client is the same for them, as it is for me, as it is for you.

It’s MYSELF

Without myself, you have no family, no friends, no business, no employment, no way of generating cash or servicing those you people you need to be there for.

I had to put MYSELF first. I reduced my part time hours, I worked sometimes from the sofa. I got lifts to my face to face networking events. I asked for help and support.

Everyone of my clients fully understood I need to put myself first.

So my question to you is

When did you last put MYSELF first?

Do comment or email me and let me know when you last put MYSELF first.

Want to be informed each month about what I’ve learnt from Leo about life and business? Then sign up here.

Do You Follow Up 121 Or One To Many?

Following up 121 or 1 to many?

I’ve talked lots about the benefits of following up after networking meetings and I’d like to share two different strategies to help you make the most of your follow-ups without experiencing overwhelm or getting distracted by…Squirrels!

When I attend a new networking meeting, I know I’ll meet around twenty people each time. Over the course of a week I might meet over a hundred new people plus catching up with people I’ve already met. Without a proper follow-up strategy in place it could be very time consuming and difficult to keep track of who asks for more information and who wants to order from me.

Following up is so important in networking
Following up is so important in networking

If someone doesn’t want my services or need them right now, I can also keep track of potential opportunities where I can recommend that person to speak with other people that I’ve met networking. An example of this would be recommending a mortgage advisor or removal company to someone looking to move home or office, or a mechanic to someone who needs help with their car.

Having lots of networking contacts helps you become a problem solver, simply by connecting people together who might not have met each other. To make the most of your contacts, it’s important to follow up with them regularly, adding value with each conversation.

I attended Rachael’s Follow Up training session and afterwards I felt motivated and immediately implemented some of the things we discussed. I will be back to carry on and will book a further Follow Up session!” – Liz Johnson, Pet Health and Welfare Specialist

There are two main strategies for following up and these are 121 Follow Ups and One To Many Follow Ups. They each have value and can be used successfully depending on how much time you can invest in your follow-ups and how you prefer to carry out your follow-ups.

121 Follow Ups

As the name implies, you’re following up one to one, you and the other person. This is a great way to continue a 121 meeting and find out more about the other person. It offers you the chance to get to know someone better and consequently find out if they want or need what you do, or whether they can be someone you can recommend or refer to another of your networking contacts in the future.

In my Focus Guru Networking Follow Up Power Hour I talk more about the power of 121 Follow Ups and how you can implement technology solutions to make your follow up process simple and stress-free.

One To Many Follow Ups

A “One To Many” follow up typically involves a generic message talking about what you do and how people can find out more. You can also include a call to action and a special offer or a time-limited offer, as well as your website and social media links.

One of the most successful ways to do this is to address a problem your contacts might be having and show them how your product or service can remove the problem and/or the cause of the problem. You can write this in the content of your message and track which of your contacts opens the message and what they do next. With many mailing list solutions you’ll also have access to see whether they click on the links inside your message as well.

I cover making the most of your message tracking information in my Focus Guru Power Hour and highlight exactly how important it is to know your numbers when carrying out a methodical follow-up process to maximise your time, energy and resources when following up.

Rachael led the session well and is a patient teacher. I recommend giving one of these informative sessions a go.” – Liz Johnson, Pet Health and Welfare Specialist

Book your Focus Guru Power Hour here

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

Why I think I had less reactions to my 1st Covid vaccination than my hubby

What reactions have I had?

I had my 1st vaccination 5 hours ago and so far I’ve had no reactions at all. The injection itself was less painful than the Depo injection I have every 3 months. The fact the Depo is also injected into the muscle means I didn’t feel the pain, really.

My hubby by now was complaining of a sore arm, a fever, a headache amongst other things.

I had less pain than my Hubby after the injection
I had less pain than my Hubby after the injection

I don’t have medical training, this is just my thoughts.

I want to clarify, I don’t have medical training or nutritional training. These are my pondering on my choices, sharing some of the information I’ve been given and listen to. This me thinking about the things I do but my Hubby doesn’t and why I think they have helped me with my reactions so far.

Why am I sharing this?

I’ve seen other friends share on Social media and in very safe groups about how they have been affected by having the vaccine and if I can help someone I know to not have as bad a reaction as my Hubby, I really want to help them.

It’s not all about Genetics.

In my view it’s not all about my genetics, as a family member keeps insisting and the hubby keeps reiterating to me. The person saying this has no medical training, no training in genetics. They refuse ,as does my hubby, to accept it could be down to my choices of supplements, the fact I listen to friends who are on the front line and follow their advice.

DNA Helix String
It’s not all about the genes

What advice did I get?

This is written in the order I did things, not in order of preference or bias.

24 hours before your appointment.

  1. PARACETAMOL My friend who works on the front line said to me, she had heard taking paracetamol for 24 hours before you have the jab (injection). I did this, don’t know if it made a difference, however when I’m given advice from someone on the front line who is around people with medical knowledge, as well as having medical knowledge themselves I’m going to listen.

  2. SUPPORT YOUR IMMUNITY. As part of my daily routine I normally have 1 sachet of Immunity Support each day. In the 24 hours before my jab I upped this to 2. A single serving of this vegan food supplement pouche are a convenient way to get essential vitamins and minerals along with an instant pick me up any time or any place.

  3. Drink more water. As a rule I already drink loads of water, I have a litre of water with a supplement that helps support cognitive performance including aspects like memory and learning and a supplement that delivers a blend of electrolytes to support isotonic balance and rehydrates cells to promote proper muscle function. In the morning especially if I’m on a heavy computer day as I need to keep hydrated when working at the computer.

No downside to drinking more water
No downside to drinking more water

1 hour before your appointment

  1. Take 2 paracetamol, again I don’t know if this helped but as mentioned I didn’t find the injection painful nor has my arm become painful so maybe it does help.

  2. Take 1 Sachet of the Immunity support. I took a sachet of my immunity support supplement an hour before so my body had time to absorb it.

After the appointment

  1. Another friend of mine, who is a volunteer organiser for the vaccination appointments, advise taking regularly paracetamol for 24 / 48 hours after the appointment. They advised that the younger generation (40s) struggle more with the vaccination in general than the older generation, their own sons had a much more severe react than they did. They advised that paracetamol every 4 hours for 24 / 48 hours really helps with managing / reducing the symptoms.

  2. 4 hours after my appointment I took another sachet of immunity support sachet.

Currently (5 hours) after the injection

We’ve just got back from a dog walk, during which I called into Tesco to pick up some new food and some some fish to add to her current food to see if we can’t tempt her to eat it. We also needed a loaf, in case I do have worse symptoms tomorrow. I carried the shopping home, a mile and a half and have no pain in my arm.

I have no headache, I’m not shivering, I’m not feeling tired. I’m writing this watching the Eprix.

Home from a dog walk & shopping trip
Home from a dog walk & shopping trip

What do I differently to my hubby?

1 – Positive Mental Attitude.

My hubby has been telling me, “I’ll get worse” or “Your arm will start hurting later” or “You just wait”. Every time my response was “I’ll be fine”. The family member I mentioned earlier had been telling him since he got the date we would react badly and should expect to really struggle. I think he got into his head to expect nothing else.

I believe that a positive mental attitude and the self believe that you’ve done everything to help your body deal in the best way to jab is the huge part of the battle.

2 – Listen to people with knowledge.

Hubby listened to hearsay, his main advisor was someone with no medical training. The only experience they had a of being jabbed was their own and their partners.

I listened to people who are on the front line, have medical knowledge and took their advice.

3 – I use supplements

As a couple we do eat well, we cook most things from scratch using herbs from my garden and later on in the year we have salads and veg from the garden too. However I believe in putting myself first and I work with my clients on the easiest way to do this too.

So give my body the best chance to deal with the jab, the supplements I have used which my Hubby doesn’t have given my body the additional supplements of:

  • Vitamin C

  • Zinc

  • Selenium

  • Naturally derived caffeine from Green Tea Leaf and Guarana Seed

  • Vitamin E

  • Vitamin A

Do they actually make a difference? I don’t know but I’m feeling a lot better than he was.

4 – Paracetamol Regularly

I have taken paracetamol regularly before and since my jab, my hubby only took it once he was feeling very ill.

5 – Ignore your arm

The more you focus on something, the more you subconscious focuses on it and the more you worry about what’s going on. My hubby was constantly looking at his arm, seeing if “he had stopped bleeding” or “if he’d got lunch” or “if it ached more”!

I have an arm, like I have a back, a bum, a neck, a face. Don’t focus on it and your subconscious won’t.

6 – Drink more water

There is no downside to drinking more water,

Conclusion

I’ve shared here what I’ve done differently to my hubby and I do believe that some, if not all of it, has meant I’ve had less a reaction to the jab.

Find the supplements I used following my injection.

Find out what supplements I use every day here.

To find out how I can help you with Focus and Concentrate then book a free 15 minute 121 zoom.

I am an Arbonne Independent Consultant other products are available. This article is based purely on my experience since having my first Covid vaccination, not on scientific data.

Do You Experience LinkedIn Overwhelm When Using LinkedIn?

If you’ve ever opened LinkedIn with a feeling of dread at all the notifications you’ve received, all the posts you’ve been tagged in and all the connection requests from people you’ve never heard of, then you’re probably experiencing LinkedIn Overwhelm.

Head in hands from overwhelm
Do you feel like this from Linked In

Experience LinkedIn Overwhelm

LinkedIn Overwhelm is a very real problem. There’s a huge pressure to expand your network of connections. The theory is that if you have a large network, you’ll gain more customers, or if you have a large network, you’ll get more reactions, comments and shares. But this isn’t necessarily the case. Yes, having a large network is beneficial, but only if they are your target audience.

I talk about finding and understanding your target audience in my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour. It’s important to know who you’re putting your message in front of. Otherwise you might end up posting about the amazing washing machines you sell to people who’ve already bought them or talking about red cars to an audience who want blue cars.

This is where having the right audience is important. You need to find the people who are actively looking for what you do as they will be the captive audience for the stories you want to share. These are the people who are most likely to interact with your posts and read your articles. Getting this right can relieve you of some of the symptoms of LinkedIn Overwhelm.

How do you manage Linked In Overwhelm?

The question is, how do you make it manageable and avoid overwhelm on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn Overwhelm is a big problem for many people. I explain more about this in my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour, where I help business owners and employees build a structure for managing LinkedIn to make the most of this social media platform. This is important because LinkedIn is still the primary social media platform for business use and plenty of business gets done through posts, articles, messages and phone calls.

It’s easy to experience overwhelm on LinkedIn, but also easy to find a solution. LinkedIn one of the world’s largest social media platforms used daily by millions of people across the world. Even within a small network of connections you may find there are dozens of posts every hour. Every post takes a little brain power, either reading through the post or checking whether the post needs to be read or scrolled past. Every small decision to read or scroll past uses our energy.

What fears does this create?

We have a fear of missing out. We fear other people are using LinkedIn better than we are. We want to be seen and can fear we haven’t been listened to. There’s also a fear that if we’re not ever-present on LinkedIn that we will fade into oblivion.

These are the fears which lead to overwhelm.

You may have already experienced these fears.

Maybe you know someone who has LinkedIn Overwhelm?

Whether you are new to LinkedIn or a regular user who wants to learn more about LinkedIn please consider booking a Focus Guru 121 Power Hour where I can share my LinkedIn tips and strategies for managing your time effectively on the LinkedIn social media platform.

To book your Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour, please book a free 30 minute call and let’s get started.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way, www.getfocus.guru

Do You Follow Up 121 Or One To Many?

I’ve talked lots about the benefits of following up after networking meetings and I’d like to share two different strategies to help you make the most of your follow-ups without experiencing overwhelm or getting distracted by…Squirrels!

Ban the Squirrels, take back control
Ban the Squirrels, take back control

When I attend a new networking meeting, I know I’ll meet around twenty people each time. Over the course of a week I might meet over a hundred new people plus catching up with people I’ve already met. Without a proper follow-up strategy in place it could be very time consuming and difficult to keep track of who asks for more information and who wants to order from me.

If someone doesn’t want my services or need them right now, I can also keep track of potential opportunities where I can recommend that person to speak with other people that I’ve met networking. An example of this would be recommending a mortgage advisor or removal company to someone looking to move home or office, or a mechanic to someone who needs help with their car.

Having lots of networking contacts helps you become a problem solver, simply by connecting people together who might not have met each other. To make the most of your contacts, it’s important to follow up with them regularly, adding value with each conversation.

I attended Rachael’s Follow Up training session and afterwards I felt motivated and immediately implemented some of the things we discussed. I will be back to carry on and will book a further Follow Up session!” – Liz Johnson, Pet Health and Welfare Specialist

There are two main strategies for following up and these are 121 Follow Ups and One To Many Follow Ups. They each have value and can be used successfully depending on how much time you can invest in your follow-ups and how you prefer to carry out your follow-ups.

121 Follow Ups

As the name implies, you’re following up one to one, you and the other person. This is a great way to continue a 121 meeting and find out more about the other person. It offers you the chance to get to know someone better and consequently find out if they want or need what you do, or whether they can be someone you can recommend or refer to another of your networking contacts in the future.

In my Focus Guru Networking Follow Up Power Hour I talk more about the power of 121 Follow Ups and how you can implement technology solutions to make your follow up process simple and stress-free.

One To Many Follow Ups

A “One To Many” follow up typically involves a generic message talking about what you do and how people can find out more. You can also include a call to action and a special offer or a time-limited offer, as well as your website and social media links.

One of the most successful ways to do this is to address a problem your contacts might be having and show them how your product or service can remove the problem and/or the cause of the problem. You can write this in the content of your message and track which of your contacts opens the message and what they do next. With many mailing list solutions you’ll also have access to see whether they click on the links inside your message as well.

I cover making the most of your message tracking information in my Focus Guru Power Hour and highlight exactly how important it is to know your numbers when carrying out a methodical follow-up process to maximise your time, energy and resources when following up.

Rachael led the session well and is a patient teacher. I recommend giving one of these informative sessions a go.” – Liz Johnson, Pet Health and Welfare Specialist

To book your Focus Guru Power Hour, please find the next one that suits you here and book your place today.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

Do You Know Your Numbers?

Do You Know Your Numbers?

How much did you make last month? No, I’m not asking you to tell me how much, I’m just curious to ask if you know your numbers and if you know why knowing your numbers is really important. At Focus Guru I help small business owners learn the best way to keep track of the important numbers within all areas of their businesses.

Do You Know Your Numbers?
Do You Know Your Numbers?

Perhaps the most obvious place to start is in your accounting software, Excel spreadsheet, or pen and paper notebook, to see your incoming sales and outgoing expenses. I work with clients to help them identify their absolute minimum income to survive. Then I ask them how much their dream income would be and what they would do with it.

  • Absolute Minimum Income
  • Dream Income

These figures are usually easy to identify but it’s surprising how often they can be overlooked. I recommend checking your outgoings as much as your income as often there are savings to be found. For example, a Focus Guru client changed their utility supplier and saved hundreds of pounds over the year. This wasn’t a sale. It wasn’t generating money. It was being savvy and cutting back on unnecessary overheads by breaking away from an uncompetitive supplier.

  • Check Your Outgoings
  • Find Hidden Savings

Compare and contrast your numbers

I also recommend comparing and contrasting your numbers. I cover this in more detail in my Focus Guru Power Hour, however the principle behind this is to work out your numbers for each month and compare this month with last month and with this time last year. Don’t put your head in the sand! If you spot a problem, that’s a good thing. Problems can be fixed but if you don’t know what’s going on, that’s when small problems can become big problems.

  • Know Your Accounts Numbers
  • Also Know Your Business Numbers

In the Focus Guru Power Hour I talk about knowing your business numbers. These can be anything from how many customers you target, how many 121 follow-ups you do, how successful each meeting is for your business, and much more.

Networking numbers are key to return on investment.

Do you know your conversion ratio from your networking 121s? Do you know how many phone calls you need to make to generate a sale, or to recover a debt? Do you know how many people visited your website last month? Do you use Google Analytics in your business?

These are just some ways you can use the numbers in your business to identify strategic solutions to generate more sales, or even to streamline existing processes. If it can be measured it can be monitored, and if it can be monitored then it can be adjusted as and when needed.

Knowing your numbers isn’t scary! It’s one of the best business tools you can invest your time in learning. In my Focus Guru Power Hour I give you tuition and training and uncover the most important numbers within your business. Your numbers might be accounts or sales related, or they might be based around how many social media posts you create, or how many hours you work in the week.

Every business is different and that’s why knowing the numbers which relate to you and your business is so important. I’ll help you become more confident in knowing your numbers in the sixty minute Focus Guru “Know Your Numbers” Power Hour.

To book your Focus Guru Power Hour, please find the next dates here  and let’s get started.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

Do You Know Who’s Watching Your Business Social Media Posts?

Do You Know Who’s Watching Your Business Social Media Posts?

Are you aware of your silent audience? These are people who have you as a LinkedIn connection, Facebook friend or follow you on Twitter, yet you almost never hear from them. They’re your silent audience, the people who are there, but those who don’t regularly like your posts or comment on your articles.

Who are your silent audience?
Who are your silent audience?

You might be tempted to remove these people, to delete them or block them, but I can share with you a story about how one person in my silent audience messaged me out of the blue and bought my services to help recover a debt from his customer. When I looked at his message, the last time we had exchanged messages was several years ago.

Why Me?

I asked him what prompted him to make contact and why he had chosen me to help solve his problem. He replied saying he’d seen my 4Networking 4Sight “Why I’m a Cyborg”, a presentation I deliver regularly on the networking circuit. He told me he’d read testimonials from my clients and that he wanted my help and no-one else’s. I solved his problem and I know he’s a happy customer who will recommend me for this service in the future.

When Is The Right Time?

I was chosen to provide the credit control debt recovery service for him because of my online reputation. It happened because he had a need for my service at that time. He stepped out of being part of my silent audience. It was the right time for him to contact me.

In my Focus Guru “Making The Most Of Your Silent Audience” Power Hour I help you choose the right ways to engage with your silent audience and how to bring them towards you at the right time.

Who Are You Reaching?

My good friend Stefan Thomas (The Networking Success Programme) is exactly right when he says, “you don’t know who’s watching or who you are reaching”. This means it’s even more important to keep your message consistent, to keep the same tone and language consistent, and to be the person that you portray online.

For example, if you post pictures of large houses and flashy sports cars and imply in your posts that you own them, your audience, silent or not, will find out and may change their opinion of you. So, always be you. Be authentic and you won’t need to keep track of what you’ve said because it will be part of your personality and lifestyle rather than a fake front to remember to upkeep.

Make It Easy

A bonus tip is to make it as easy as possible for your silent audience to reach you. Make sure your contact information is prominent and up to date. Make sure your website has the right information for the products and services you provide. Have you added anything new? Tell your silent audience what it is and make it easy for them to contact you.

If you would like to find out more about your silent audience and how to make the most of your social media connections, please book your Focus Guru “Making The Most Of Your Silent Audience” Power Hour and let’s get started.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

The Power of LinkedIn For Your Business

The Power of LinkedIn For Your Business

Are you making the best use of LinkedIn for your business? It’s a social media platform that, when used to it’s potential, can really accelerate the way you keep in touch with your ideal customers. From a personal viewpoint, since implementing some simple changes to my LinkedIn profile, I’ve noticed a huge improvement in engagement from my target audience.

Connections are the most important thing in business
Connections are the most important thing in business

I’d like to share some tips and help you to do the same. I cover these tips and more in my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour which is available to business owners and employees in companies of all sizes and turnovers.

First, I’d like to ask why you’re choosing LinkedIn above the other social media platforms. Is it because LinkedIn has more of a “business feel” than the other platforms? Is it because you feel you need to be on there? Either way, LinkedIn is widely recognised as “the place to be” for business connections, industry news and work opportunities.

Make The Most Of Your Connections

In my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour I’ll share with you how to make the most of your existing connections and how to find new people to connect with. I’ll also share the best ways to interact with your connections to make sure they know you exist and you’re “top of mind” when it comes to thinking about your products and services.

Some of your connections will be your silent audience, the people who are watching from a distance. You may never know which of your posts attracts their interest and it could be several months or even years before they need you.

An example of this is an email I received from a 3rd level LinkedIn connection. A 3rd level connection is someone who’s heard about me via two other people. They are two people away from knowing me directly. Yet, this person wanted my help with a time management issue. They got in touch and I was able to solve a problem for them. This is the power of LinkedIn!

Add Value Every Time

One of the most important tips I’d like to share is to make sure each time you post on LinkedIn you’re adding value to your audience. It could be a “Top Tips” article like the ones here on Focus Guru. It could be a “shout out” for someone who’s helped you. Or it could be letting people know about a new product or service, but not necessarily a “buy my stuff” post, which many people find off putting.

In my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour I teach you not only how to add value to your posts, but also how you can add value to your connections’ posts too. It all helps to build that “Meet, Like, Know, Trust” which in turn leads to recommendations, referrals and sales.

I always say if you get one gem from any training then it is worth the time and the money spent. If you attend one of Rachael’s Power Hours, I am sure you will feel the same as me – time and money – VERY well spent.” – Martin Duddridge, Autolease Ltd.

To book your Focus Guru Power Hour, please check out the group sessions page.

Why it PAYS to have the Right Attitude

I was always taught that with “the right attitude you can achieve anything you set your mind to” and this got me thinking. What is the “right attitude”? Where does it come from? How do you know when you have it? I think you can break it down into four elements and that it really PAYS to cultivate these elements into your everyday life, at home and at work.

The four elements I identified are: Positivity, Acknowledge Achievements, You First and Start Today.

I talk about these in more detail in my Focus Guru Power Hour packages. Please contact me if you would like to hear more about my 121 support and strategies for success.

Let’s look at the four elements individually and see if there are areas you could change in your life that would make a big difference to your level of happiness and success.

Breaking down PAYS

P = Positivity

Positivity to me is being able to see any situation from multiple points of view and choosing the best outcome to think about. There are plenty of people who are never happier than when they’ve missed the bus, or who love to recount tales of when things went wrong. That’s not to say I don’t reflect on problems, but I always look for the good side and what opportunities are available. As Brad Burton, Founder of 4Networking and Now What Club, would say, “what does this make possible?”.

A = Acknowledge Achievements

With the right attitude it becomes easy to acknowledge your achievements. For many of us it might seem like you’re blowing your own trumpet, but I like to think of it as being your own cheerleader. Everyone’s level of achievements is different, and that’s ok. You might consider winning an award, filing your tax on time, or gaining a new client, as achievements. Equally, if you’re going through a bad patch, simply getting out of bed to go networking on Zoom might be your goal. I recommend writing your achievements on sticky notes and placing them in your office to remind you how good you are.

Y = You First

In the acronym, “Y” is for “You First”. You are only human and if you can’t look after yourself you won’t be able to help others as much as you would like. This might be hard for you to change if you are the primary carer or breadwinner, but I cannot recommend enough how important it is to take a few minutes out of your day just for yourself. You’ll come back to your tasks refreshed and re-energised. It will help you stay positive and be able to do more on your achievement list.

S = Start Today

It’s never too late to start making the changes to lead you towards a happy and successful place. From clocking signs of overwork and overwhelm, to making the call to make changes, there’s always time to take the necessary steps forward in your journey.

I believe it PAYS to have the right attitude. I’ve made changes in my life to use this formula on a daily basis and it works! Sharing these tips is a starting point.

“Rachael is incredibly professional, supportive and approachable.” – Sharnelle Simcock, Pumpkin PA

If you’d like to find out more about how you can be positive even when things go wrong, how to recognise and acknowledge your achievements, how to identify what’s important and put yourself first, then please book your Focus Guru Power Hour and let’s get started today.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way