“Challengers invite us to take giant steps long before we might ever become giants…Challengers invite us to explore possibilities and hold us accountable in the manifestation of our dreams.”  ~Donna Dahl

Have you ever accepted a challenge? Has someone ever dared you to take an action that you knew would make you feel uncomfortable—and you agreed to accept?

Conversely, have you ever challenged someone? Perhaps you wanted to find out who could run to the end of the block the fastest. Perhaps you bet your buddy that you could sign up more new recruits by the end of the day than he could. Perhaps your friend bet you that you could not go without a cup of coffee for an entire day.

Challenges don’t have to be big, formal things that score time on the evening news. Challenges simply ask you to stretch yourself beyond your normal comfort zone. Some will find that the stretching is downright scary. Fear could rush in and doubt could blanket the whole affair. Things could get frozen or stuck. Some will find that the stretching that comes with a challenge yields an adrenalin rush. The appearance of that rush may set off an appetite for more adrenalin rushes. And thus the search for more challenges begins.

Challengers can arrive at your doorstep in the form of mentors, coaches, teachers, peers, proteges, students, parents, children, bosses, superiors, co-workers, friends and more. Yes, challengers can motivate you to stretch but it is up to you to accept or deny the challenge. Trust counts. I doubt you would accept a challenge from someone for whom you didn’t hold a strong measure of regard. I doubt you would accept a challenge unless you believed you could succeed or make a difference.

Challenges don’t have to be issued by others. You can issue a challenge to yourself. People do this all the time. Think back to early January of any year. People the world over make countless New Year’s resolutions—resolutions that are never kept. Please don’t challenge yourself to do something for which you have small intentions to complete. That’s just setting yourself up for failure.

Setting foot into a challenge should have a sufficient measure of commitment to keep you in the game, so to speak. Your commitment should draw you in with hope for gain. It should not feel like the weight of a heavy burden is dragging you down.

The quote at the beginning of this article comes from my book based on Aesop’s Fable about the tortoise and the hare. The story is a delightful illustration of how beliefs influence achievement and how challenging circumstances can open doors.

As one example, I recently posted a challenge to people who lead meetings. I challenged them to consider ending meetings early, not monopolize the airtime, and end meetings no later than the appointed hour. Meeting management strategies such as these build trust and show respect for other people’s time. I challenge you to set an example with respect to managing the time set aside for your meetings.

I am not one to talk the talk without walking the walk. I was recently challenged to bring new life to my Tortoise Book. I admit it took me some time to give it thought but after saying yes to the challenge, I was in it to make it work. You will find a new look at Tortoise on a podcast with Greg Voisen interviewing me.

When all is said and done, challenges offer opportunities to make discoveries about personal strengths.

May you invite more challenges into your life and may you be open to the discoveries waiting to be revealed. May you discover the joy that having the faith to face those challenges bestows upon you.

By Donna Dahl

Donna Dahl is an author, master empowerment coach and speaker. She is a popular podcast guest and she is considered a thought leader. Her book, Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise, has received numerous 5-star ratings and is an excellent guide for leadership. Read more about this topic in the chapter entitled “Afterword.” Invite her to be your challenger in a discovery call.

In Part 1, we examined three areas of distraction: Business, Individual, and Family. The first step ahead of implementing your solutions is to evaluate your distractions. You may be very organized like me, and if you are, then kudos because that helps you refrain from being distracted.

For others, here is guidance, 3 Keys to Assist with Removing Distractions in Your Business.

Key One – Healthy Habbits

• Establish a healthy morning routine
• Remove physical clutter
• Complete small or difficult projects first
• Turn off smartphone/PC notifications
• Respond to email twice each day (AM/PM)

Let’s look at establishing a healthy morning routine. This will mean something different for each of us.  For me, it starts the night before.   I prepare my business and workout clothes for the next day.  I work out in the morning, and I get my gear ready, so I can jump in and go. 

Create Habits

In the morning, my alarm goes off, I never hit snooze, and I'm up and out within 20 minutes five days a week.  When I return from my workout, I get ready, I’m good to start my day!

If you are like me, your workout is important.  I keep things interesting by doing various activities, including boxing, yoga, HIT workouts, tennis, badminton, weights, spinning, snowboarding, and skiing. 

There are many advantages to working out in the morning when other people are still asleep.  Parking is free, few people want to have a meeting at 6 am, and roads, trails and fitness locations are less crowded. If morning isn't the time you want to workout, then determine when to get it into your day.

Other things that can become part of a healthy morning routine include meditation, journaling, a cold plunge, an ice bath, etc. The key is finding what works to kick-start your day and get you moving.

All these elements must work for you to have a successful morning routine.   It is essential to make your fitness work for you. Not for your spouse, partner, boss, or anyone else. Do it for yourself!   It is the only way you'll keep doing it year after year.

Clutter Cleanup

Remove Physical Clutter is subjective.  It can be as simple as what's on your desk or more complicated when you can’t see the floor of your room, right? Do you have things all over your desk or scattered on the floor?

If you have younger children, you have toys on the floor, there may also be papers, files, and other work-related or personal items.  We want to remove clutter as much as possible. Remember the cheesecake factory menu, so large it is hard to decide. A confused mind does not make decisions. Clutter creates brain confusion.  Remove clutter to make effective decisions and have less to worry about or workaround. 

Get Organized

Complete Small or Difficult Projects First.  This will help get items off your plate.  As human beings, we like to accomplish tasks. You can complete a few small things if you tackle them first. Completing more complicated tasks feels amazing and satisfies our need to complete our checklist.

When I talk about turning off smartphone/PC notifications, people cringe, are horrified by the suggestion, or think I was born in the dark ages.  We don't need our phones every minute of the day.   Even Millennials or Gen Zers need to look up or take a break from their phone now and then.  

When notifications come in, your brain says, "shiny object, shiny object"! because you want to read it. It's human nature. You want to look at it. It distracts you and takes you away from what you're doing.  As a phone or email notification comes in, having your devices on silent or with notifications turned off removes distractions. 

Key Two - Remove Distractions

The Muse.com University of California-Irvine study suggests it takes an average of 23 min 15 sec to get your mind back to the task after a distraction. I am not suggesting you ignore all your notifications.  A great way to remove distractions is to turn off notifications and respond to them between tasks, not during.   You can also set up specifics at a predetermined time, such as checking email twice daily, not immediately when messages come in.   If you're a doctor, surgeon, or rocket scientist, you may need an immediate response.  Yet, most people can wait hours between email responses and even text messages.

The second key Structure can remove distractions by:

• Use A Gatekeeper
• Prioritize Your Work
• Do One Thing at A Time
• Use A Calendar for All Meetings, Tasks, and Bookings

When you use a gatekeeper, you have a buffer between you and others trying to reach you.   A receptionist or virtual assistant can be the first point of contact for an appointment, meeting, or call.  Not everyone needs to reach you first.  Ensure you have someone who can be that buffer for you while you focus on your work.

Prioritizing your work means looking at what is most important in your business.  Ask the question…What do I need to do today, this week, or this month? What's most important?  Are there items that I can complete easily? What are the more critical projects that are going to take more time? 

Avoid multitasking, our brain can only focus on one thing at a time successfully.  I'm not saying that you can't have more than one thing going on at once.  What you want to do is focus on the first task, get that done, then move on to the next, and so on.  If you need to jump between tasks, go from the first task to the second, focus on that, get it done, and go back to the first task.  Jumping back and forth is where the brain gets confused and doesn't let you focus.

Calendar Management

When you use a calendar for all your meetings, tasks, and bookings, it is more effective and will keep you on track. My brother calls me the “Queen of Calendar” and “Queen of Routine.”  I'm not saying to be a robot.  Yet, if you use some of the tools and tips I show you, it will be helpful.

I am giving you a glimpse into my Google calendar.  If you already have Gmail, it is part of the Google Apps offering. (You'll find it in the nine little squares at the top right-hand corner of your Chrome browser). 

On my calendar:

• Appointments/meetings are in red
• Workouts are orange
• General tasks are default blue

The colour code is great because you can look at it on a phone and not have to click to open an item because you understand the colours.  You don't have to have different calendars or keep things in your head, and nothing is missed.

There are those that still prefer a paper calendar. If you're using paper, a tip, get a few highlighters and use colour as well.

Everything goes into my calendar including personal items such as birthdays, doctor/dentist appointments, networking meetings, or a business or pleasure lunch.  Whatever it is, it's all on my calendar and helps with structure and planning to look at everything together.

Items are moveable. When you click on items in the calendar, you can move them.  When something didn't get done, I moved it into another time slot or day.  As you put things on the calendar, you will see where you are fully booked and have run out of time.  Often, we have a list of tasks we want to do in a day. However, there are only 24 hours, and you're not working on all of them.  You can only book the time you have available. Your calendar is a visual representation of your time blocks.

Make sure fun, family, and self-time are all booked too.  If it's not, you will most likely book something else. Book everything in your calendar, even times when you don't want anything booked, and block that off as well to keep it open.

Self-Help

Here are a couple of different things that others have suggested for “structure”. These may work for you too;

"The 4-hour Work Week", a popular self-help book.  It focuses on a promise of, getting to what you want to do now, enjoying life and not waiting till the end of your career.  

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B002WE46UW/

Recently, I was introduced to the "12-week Year".  It breaks your year down into 12-week segments rather than 52 weeks. The goals and accomplishments focus on 90 days.

https://www.amazon.ca/12-Week-Year-Others-Months/dp/1118509234/

Key Three - Wellness

This takes us to the third key, Wellness which you may be surprised to find out also removes distractions.

They tell you to put your mask on first on the airplane, right? If you don't put your mask on first, you're not going to have oxygen to be able to help anyone else.  Putting your mask on first in life is taking care of yourself and making sure you manage your own personal wellness.

Setting up an exercise and nutrition plan is key.  It’s about what you enjoy with physical exercise and food, combining what is good for you.

With your nutrition plan, you need vegetables, protein, micronutrients, and macronutrients, while reducing your bad carbs and sugars.  Consider working with a nutritionist to get on track for what you need concerning food.

Nutrition and consistency are huge and work together.  21 days is approximately what you need to make a change and form a habit*.  Have fun with it so that you enjoy what you’re doing. If you don't, you will not keep up any consistency. You won't have fun, and you won't keep it going.

For the final piece of this trilogy, uncover how to implement these keys in three easy steps in “Discover 3 Keys to Stop Suffering from Squirrel Syndrome In Your Business | Part 3”

Source: https://thebestbizreview.com/the-21-90-rule-can-help-build-good-habits-and-a-lasting-lifestyle-change/

By Michelle Ricketts

Overall, health and fitness always played a part in Michelle’s life and continue to be part of her consulting approach today, differentiating her from others in the industry. Michelle guides business owners to develop a self-sustaining business, generate more revenue, and take back time to do things that excite them!

Raised by a strong, independent single mother, Michelle’s vision and values were instilled early. Michelle’s entrepreneurial journey started in the 90s in event planning and speaking. In addition to Michelle’s over 30-year Corporate career in Media, Logistics and Financial Services, her passions shaped Michelle’s experience, providing innumerable opportunities to give back as a volunteer.

Passionate about making a difference, Michelle is on a philanthropic foundation, “Board of Advisors,” building sustainable schools in developing countries and supporting Digital Samurai’s efforts, an entrepreneur focused on reducing youth unemployment in Africa through apprenticeships.

Michelle’s 35 years as an Account Executive spanned credit card processing and financial services, transportation, logistics, media, and consulting, with many projects including managing consultative alliances, live event management, and sales team leadership. In 2021 Michelle completed Wardell International Advisor training and had recently undertaken S.O.S. Sales Objection System group training with renowned trainer Joe Marcoux. Her career and entrepreneurial ambitions have taken Michelle outside Canada, providing extensive experience in multiple markets in North America and beyond.

You can find Michelle Ricketts on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/michellericketts 

Making Changes that Directly Impact your Business

Very few would argue that to be successful with health and fitness, you have to find which workout is best for you, the gym, running, spin class, boxing, or crossfit, and commit to it. Combine exercise with healthy eating of nutritious foods with getting enough sleep, drinking water,  watching your caloric intake and your Body Mass Index (BMI), and arguably you have a recipe for success. 

A great thing for business owners to consider is how taking care of your body directly impacts your business. I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career to be healthy and rarely catch a cold or flu. That’s not to say that I haven’t had challenges. They are part of life. I’ve been successful through several surgical procedures, including double foot reconstruction, Ventricular Tachycardia (VT), and Atrial Flutter (AF). Having my heart rate go up to 280 BPM was both scary and telling. It confirmed my heart, although a little confused, was strong and reconfirmed my ability to recover quickly after various procedures. I tell you this to share the fact that the work I put in over the years is worth it.

When Illness Happens It Does Make a Difference

I’ve worked hard to take care of my fitness and nutrition for many years. Some might say my procedure challenges should not have happened if all that fitness stuff works. However, the key during these and other challenges in my life, I have missed little to no work and recovered in record time due to investment in my fitness. Angela Dimos, Strength Training and Weight Loss Coach, says exercise and healthy eating are more important than ever.

I have seen evidence of what Angela says in my life and with others. When you invest in self-care now, and in the future, even if you haven’t done so before, it will keep you on the path to success. Taking care of yourself today will allow you to continue working on your business moving forward. Caring for your own health and fitness will allow you the opportunity to strengthen your business too.

I Know This - But Do you Do it?

Some business owners are reluctant to do the work necessary to get their business in shape. They continue to press forward, hoping to get different results without changing anything. It is not dissimilar to working out yourself, becoming fit enough to rise to the challenges life throws at you. Your business workout should include; strengthening, development, endurance testing, and training.

An Olympic athlete would never think of starting their journey without engaging in the proper training and coaching; neither should you. Business requires the same commitment, doing “business push-ups,” working hard on your business structure and processes for your ongoing success.

If you would like a glimpse into your business strength, take your 10 Minute Business Strength Test

By Michelle Ricketts

Overall, health and fitness always played a part in Michelle’s life and continue to be part of her consulting approach today, differentiating her from others in the industry. Michelle guides business owners to develop a self-sustaining business, generate more revenue, and take back time to do things that excite them!

Raised by a strong, independent single mother, Michelle’s vision and values were instilled early. Michelle’s entrepreneurial journey started in the 90s in event planning and speaking. In addition to Michelle’s over 30-year Corporate career in Media, Logistics and Financial Services, her passions shaped Michelle’s experience, providing innumerable opportunities to give back as a volunteer.

Passionate about making a difference, Michelle is on a philanthropic foundation, “Board of Advisors,” building sustainable schools in developing countries and supporting Digital Samurai’s efforts, an entrepreneur focused on reducing youth unemployment in Africa through apprenticeships.

Michelle’s 35 years as an Account Executive spanned credit card processing and financial services, transportation, logistics, media, and consulting, with many projects including managing consultative alliances, live event management, and sales team leadership. In 2021 Michelle completed Wardell International Advisor training and had recently undertaken S.O.S. Sales Objection System group training with renowned trainer Joe Marcoux. Her career and entrepreneurial ambitions have taken Michelle outside Canada, providing extensive experience in multiple markets in North America and beyond.

You can find Michelle Ricketts on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/michellericketts