STOP DREAMING & START ACHIEVING

Your 10 Point Goal Setting Challenge For 2014

Many years ago I was introduced to the concept of writing down my goals in December for the year ahead. This meant being very specific about the actions I would take to achieve them, where this was possible. My friend explained that before you write your goals down they are just dreams or wishes waiting to happen. At the time I was not convinced but hey, what the heck, it couldn't do any harm so I gave it a go.

That was the start of amazing experiences, where instead of a life of holding on to hopes and dreams I began to realise a life of achieving them. Not only do you have a motivating plan of actions to follow during the year but also something else quite remarkable happens. I was told to include in my goals a couple of things that I believed I had no way of achieving. So the first year I decided to write down a long held desire to visit America. I had no money to afford a holiday and so in my opinion it was still a dream.

There was no way that I believed that by just writing it down the dream would become a reality. However, to my amazement before the end of the year I had met and made friends with an American lady who invited me to visit her home the next year! This was the start of many of my dreams becoming a reality. Just need to clarify one thing. Not all of them come to fruition and never in the timescale you expect or wish for!

That’s the thing, you have to be patient and keep transferring your wishes into goals. I still have one that has been on my list for years and years – to design and have a house built. At some stage every year I draw out my designs. Each year they are refined. Yet, I do not have the money to make my dream a reality. However, something keeps holding me to my dream and finally this month I am taking steps to move it from the drawing board into bricks and mortar. Will my dream be realised? I still don’t know but the fun is in watching for the opportunities and then taking the steps to move you forward.

Always remember that the pathway to achieving your dreams may be in a slightly different direction. I have spent years looking for land to buy. I have been frustrated by financial constraints holding back my dream. The problem was that by knocking my head on a brick wall trying to make it work I had forgotten to step back from it and look for the opportunities. Guess what happened when I eventually did that? I realised that if I can get planning permission I have enough land to build the home of my dreams right next to my present house.

I feel excited and motivated for the New Year after writing my goals and action plan. So here are my tips for your 2014 Goal Setting Challenge:

1.       Start with the goals you feel sure you can achieve.

2.       Set actions to make them reality.

3.       Write down one achievable action per goal that can be carried out early in the New Year.

4.       Make sure your actions are achievable. This helps to motivate and keep you on track

5.       Make sure each action has a date that it must be completed by.

6.       Plan how and when you will review your goals and update your action plan. This is important if you are to move things forward.

7.       Include a couple of goals from your dream/wish list. These are the ones that you have no idea how to move them forward.

8.       Set the goal of increasing your awareness of opportunities to progress your dreams into actions to achieve them.

9.       Where there are barriers in your way take a step back and look for the opportunities. The pathway may be in a slightly different direction.

10.   Stop dreaming and start achieving.

Want to get more creative? Then watch and be inspired.

Don’t miss out on the ending as it is brilliant!

TOP TIPS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

From 6 Top Business Owners

Last week’s Entrepreneur Wales 2013 Big Debate at the University of South Wales was an inspiring event run by The Welsh Assembly Government. The speakers and panelists completed the event by giving their personal Top Tips for new entrepreneurs….

Alan Bristow, CEO ICON Corporate Finance

·         Sell, Sell, Sell

·         Surround Yourself With Positive People

·         Do Business With Excellent Companies

Stephanie Murdoch, CEO and Co-Founder of Comparison Creator Ltd

·         Be Realistic

·         Be Tenacious

·         Be Ready to Roll with the Punches and Take The Knocks

Warren Flauvel,  CEO & Founder at 5aWk

·         Go with Lean Start Up – simple yet focused & well researched business
          plan

·         Launch Ugly – don’t wait for everything to be perfect

·         Listen a lot

Simon Powell, CEO Eysys

·         Believe in Yourself

·         Always have a Mentor

·         Don’t be afraid to make mistakes – learn from them

Tim Morgan, Co- Founder Mint Digital

·         Listen to your ‘gut’

·         Use Your Instinct to tell when to start and stop anything

·         Find Others Who Empathise

David Murray-Hundley, Founder Adaro Red & Co-Founder Pario Ventures

·         Love What You Do

·         Help Others and ‘Give Back’

·         Have Five People You Trust 100%

ONLINE SECURITY

Is Your Business Protected?

What is one of the biggest threats to small businesses these days? Believe it or not it is something that 20 per cent of Federation of Small Business members have not taken any steps to protect themselves from:

e-Crime

The UK’s crime statistics demonstrate that the incidence of e-crime is high and increasing. In July 2012 RSA dealt with 250,000 attacks, on average about one per minute. Three years ago, 87 per cent of large businesses suffered cyber-attacks. That figure has now fallen slightly but the crooks are going for easier prey, with about 90 per cent of smaller firms being hit by some form of attack according to an article in last month’s Daily Record.

A report earlier this year from the Federation of Small Business shows that 41 per cent of its members have been a victim of cyber-crime in the last 12 months, putting the average cost at around £4,000 per business. Around three in 10 members have been a victim of fraud, typically by a customer or client (13%) or through ‘card not present’ fraud (10%).

A GCHQ report published earlier this year highlighted that a staggering 80% of cyber-attacks could be stopped through basic information risk management. So here is the Federation of Small Business Top 10 Tips for Online Security:

1. Implement a combination of security protection solutions (anti-virus, anti-spam, firewall/s)

2. Carry out regular security updates on all software and devices
 

3. Implement a resilient password policy (minimum eight characters, change regularly)
 

4. Secure your wireless network
 

5. Implement clear and concise procedures for email, internet and mobile devices

6. Train staff in good security practices and consider employee background checks

7. Implement and test backup plans, information disposal and disaster recovery procedures

8. Carry out regular security risk assessments to identify important information and systems
 

9. Carry out regular security testing on your business website

10. Check provider credentials and contracts when using cloud services

HOW THE BEST BOUNCE BACK

There’s no doubt that life can be tough but the fact is that some people just seem better able to handle it than others. They are the people who cope well with long-term exposure to stress and pressure, who bounce back when things go wrong and who sustain their levels of energy and effort despite criticism, setback or failure. They are the people who are resilient, and their resilience is what makes the major difference between those who can deal with difficult and challenging times and those who struggle to do so.

Although some people start out with a natural level of resilience, the good news is that it is something which can be developed, whatever the starting point.  It is a set of skills and abilities which can be learned. By focusing on changing actions and mind-sets in a number of key areas – physiological, social, psychological, problem solving, adaptability, commitment to purpose and goals - resilience can be improved, with the result that both the individual and their organisation benefit.

Improved resilience typically translates into sustained individual performance, ready acceptance of change, effective and timely decisions, fast recovery times following failures or setbacks, low levels of absenteeism, lower employee turnover, a sense of well-being and less burnout and negative stress. When exhibited by managers, it creates team cultures which are positive, confident of success, focused and engaged. Resilient sales teams impact positively on the top line and resilient project teams handle change and setbacks with ease. Executive teams which possess high levels of resilience are well equipped to handle issues and make decisions and no business can afford to overlook the positive impact resilience makes to the bottom line.

That said the argument is sometimes made that resilience is synonymous with stress management and doesn’t offer anything new or different. Although it is true that both concepts are concerned with pressure and stress, the fundamental difference is that stress management is needed when someone no longer feels able to cope with the pressures they are facing. It becomes necessary when the nature and level of stress being faced has gone beyond a tipping point where is no longer serves to motivate and drive performance. Resilience on the other hand is an attitude of mind and set of skills which enables someone to cope well with pressure and continue to perform. The key difference between those who display resilience and those who don’t is the concept that it’s not so much the hard times we face that determine our success or failure but rather how we respond to them.

So, in today’s tough and competitive times, can you afford to leave building resilience to chance?

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 Today’s Guest Blogger @The LoftBlog

Jane Penton

Jane has an extensive background in Human Resources management and offers expertise in senior management coaching, people management, training design and delivery, talent management and change management. She has experience of working with small, venture capital companies through to multi-nationals such as Nortel Networks and Lucent Technologies.

She is a Director of Metacella who provide individual and team coaching and development in resilience. Contact her to find out more about how they can help your people and your business to thrive. jane@metacella.com or 01494 857350.