Setting Goals, Welcoming Spring

Welcome, spring!

Flowers are blooming and waking up from winter, nature’s signal that it’s time to assess where we are and where we want to be. Take a moment to assess where you’ve come from and where you want to go.

What are your personal goals for the coming months? It can be setting your fitness goals and deciding what to tidy up for spring cleaning.

What are your professional goals? Do you want to learn a new skill? Get a promotion?

For business owners, we are nearing the end of the first quarter. It’s the perfect time to assess what we’ve achieved during the first three months of the year. Then set goals for the next quarter.

What are your goals for spring?

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6 Steps to Leaving Your Comfort Zone

Here’s the scary truth: leaving your comfort zone is HARD. You’re living your nightmare in real life. But if you don’t take the first steps to challenge yourself or allow yourself to feel vulnerable, you will never leave your comfort zone. When you leave your comfort zone, you grow. You’ll open yourself to new experiences and opportunities. The crucial moment is to take that first step. 

1 Identify your comfort zone

To leave your comfort zone, you need to identify the boundaries of your comfort zone. Your comfort zone is where you feel safe, surrounded by what’s familiar to you. For example, if you don’t feel comfortable giving presentations to a group, you may feel more secure sitting in the audience. If the thought of traveling to a new city scares you, you’ll feel more relaxed watching a show about the place you want to visit.

In your comfort zone, you don’t have to take risks or face challenges. You don’t have anything to cross off your bucket list. Your major challenges and goals are those that you’ve achieved before. After you find the outer boundaries of your comfort zone, you’ll know when you’re about to step outside of it.   

2 Set goals

When you’re ready to leave your comfort zone, set goals, starting with one small goal to get you started. Make sure that it is realistic and challenges you. If you fear public speaking, making a speech in front of 500 people is not a realistic first goal. The gap between where you are now and where you want to be is too wide.

Small steps are easier to achieve. Your goal gives you direction and purpose and can help you stay motivated when things get tough. But you need to first break your goal into manageable steps, and work on just one step at a time. Begin with a well-practiced speech to a picture or toys in a room. They are a captive audience. Join groups such as Toastmasters, which is a supportive group that works on speaking skills. 

3 Face your fears

After you get your goal or goals, you will face the hardest part: facing your fears. Planning is easy. Working on the plan is hard, which is why working on conquering your fears one small step at a time is so important.

Before speaking in front of an audience of strangers, practice speaking in front of supportive peers. By repeatedly putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation, you will slowly become comfortable. People who speak to an audience of thousands didn’t become professionals at public speaking overnight.

4 Welcome change

Change is scary. It’s why most people take the same route to work or dine at the same restaurants and avoid new types of cuisine. Leaving your comfort zone means embracing the unknown. When you are open-minded, you’ll try new things and explore new places. The results can be exciting.

When you challenge your public speaking skills, you’ll discover a confidence you didn’t know you had. In turn, this confidence will give you the confidence to leave your comfort zone for something new in the future.

5 Surround yourself with supportive people

Facing challenges alone can be overwhelming. Having a support system can make a big difference in your self improvement. These people include friends and family, even coworkers.

When making a presentation at work, you can ask supportive coworkers to give you feedback o your speaking skills. Join a group with similar goals to provide you with an encouraging environment to grow and get advice from people who have been where you are now.  

6 Celebrate your successes

Remember to celebrate your successes at each step, not just when you have accomplished your goal. Each step to achieving your goal is equally important.  

After giving your first speech to five friendly faces, celebrate what you’ve achieved. After you’ve given your first major presentation to a new client, reward yourself.

Key Takeaways

Leaving your comfort zone is not easy. People love to be where they are comfortable because it is safe. But safe doesn’t bring you new experiences or help you grow as a person. You don’t develop new skills by repeating what you’ve done before. To leave your comfort zone, you need to take that first small step.

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Celebrating Women’s Day

International Women’s Day celebrates the economic, social, political, and cultural achievements of women. This day has been observed as early in history as 1909. It’s a day that is celebrated in many countries around the world.

In recognition of the achievements of women in business and women who are entrepreneurs, I’m resharing this blog about why women should be entrepreneurs. Happy reading!

Rating Customer Satisfaction Levels

How important is customer service to you? Is customer service more important when you dine at a restaurant, or more important when you subscribe to an internet service? Customer expectations for good service directly affect how much satisfaction they get from the services they seek.

Some industries have really high customer satisfaction levels. Restaurants and breweries have high rankings. Other industries have low customer service satisfaction levels, such as gas stations and internet service providers.

Take a look at these findings that rate customer satisfaction levels by industry.

Do you agree with the findings? Are there industries in which you have a higher expectation for good customer service?

5 Ways to Get People to Remember You

Let’s make lasting impressions because you’re easy to remember and hard to forget. Whether it’s a social situation, a job interview, or a business situation, you want people to speak with you because they like you and you created a strong initial impression. To help you achieve that goal, here are five ways to get people to remember you.

1 Say the Other Person’s Name

After you meet someone new, say their name during your conversation as soon as possible. Repeat their name at the end, closing with, “It was nice meeting you, (name).” People like to be remembered, and if you make an effort to remember this person, they are more likely to remember you as well.

2 Give a Gift

When someone gives you something, you feel obligated to give them something in return. This is the Law of Reciprocity. You see this often when you go shopping. A staff member gives out free food samples, increasing the chances that the shopper will reciprocate by buying an item from the store. Similarly, when you open the door for someone, buy a co-worker a coffee, or share useful information (like telling someone about a 2-for-1 deal you heard about), that person will view you more positively.

3 Be Vulnerable

One way to get people to remember you is to be vulnerable. When you make mistakes, others see you as more human and relatable. When you meet someone for the first time, share a quick anecdote about an embarrassing moment. For example, share how you ate the spicy green wasabi because you thought it was mint ice cream. People like people they can relate to.

4 Share an Insight

People remember stories. If you have a name that is difficult to remember, an anecdote about your name makes it easier to recall. Something catchy is as simple as an adjective + name: smart Sam or adventurous Alex. Then they will remember your name and something about your personality.

5 Radiate Positive Energy

People associate you with what you say. If you complain a lot about the news, the weather, or other people, you may be perceived as negative. If you compliment others and speak positively about people, places, and events, others will associate you with this optimism. Make positive energy your brand, and that is what people will remember about you.

Key Takeaways

Sometimes our first interaction with someone is brief. To create a lasting impact, try one of these five techniques to make yourself more memorable. As the saying goes, you have one chance to make a lasting impression.

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