Passion is the fuel

Posted on June 13, 2012 by
head down

Follow your passion and come up for air

Passion is THE driver of ALL successful business!

Passion is the fuel. Passion is the reason you do what you do. Passion is a driving force so powerful that NOTHING can stand in its way.  Passion gives you direction. Whether you realise it or not Passion underpins the theme of your life. With out passion there will only be struggle!

With out passion you’ll end up in a job or role that less than inspires you. You’ll end up spending time with people that drain you and leave you lifeless and without energy. Without Passion you will never experience the feeling of achievement. Without Passion you will never experience fulfilment. Without Passion your health will suffer and relationships will break down.  Lack of Passion in the work place breds disdain, disorder discontent and lacklustre performance.

If you are a manager of people you can not afford not to find the passion within individuals and do everything you can to exploit and make the most of  it! Take the time to find out what you are passionate about then take time to find out what the people you work with or employ are passionate about. It will pay dividends on your time investment especially if you then find a way to align roles with passions and organisational values.

To discover your PASSIONS answer these five questions:

1. What do you think about most of the time?

2. What makes your blood boil? get’s you juiced up or really makes you angry?

3. If you could do anything right now that could change the answer above what would it be?

4. What would you put your life on the line for and make a stand for?

5. What do you want to be number 1 at and contribute to the world?

Knowing the answers to these questions will enable you to understand what drives you and what drives your people.  The net result is that you, your organisation and your people all experience feeling valued. This in turn leads to more success, better and faster results and above all you will feel content, fulfilled and at ease with your self. knowing and following your passions is the first step towards achieving results. Passion is the driving force that makes you get out of bed on a cold, dark, wet morning and do the thing you are passionate about, even when the odds are stacked against you. And you feel great about doing it.

In the next installment we will look at how  KNOWLEDGE impacts your business and how to make the most of it.  You can begin to raise your self imposed limits and barriers to going after what you really desire for your life and business.  Until next time and to your success

Warmly, Donna Still

Don’t be shy,  feel free to share this post with friends family and work colleagues or anyone else that you believe would be interested in subscribing to my regular posts. You can use all or any part of this post as long as you include my contact details. We run regular business masterclasses for micro and small businesses who are ready to take their business to the next level. Reply to ultimatelife@sky.com to find out more or comment below and share with us the passions that form  your business  foundations and future development opportunities.

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Progress is NOT inevitable

Posted on June 5, 2012 by

capture best thinking on business ideas

Unless of course you DECIDE it’s what you want!

Starting your own business ranks amongst one of the biggest challenges you’ll ever undertake in your life. Taking that leap of faith from employee to employer is no mean feat and brings with it a great deal of learning experiences. Quite often in the vertical direction!

A crucial skill as the leader in your business is the ability to make effective decisions. It may surprise you to learn that decision making is more important than anything else in your business operation. Yes, that’s right! making decisions is the No 1 activity of every business! Sadly many business owners don’t appreciate the importance of this when they start out on their business journey.

I was recently speaking with a business owner who is struggling to make ends meet in the current climate. The first question I asked was, “What is the vision you have for your business?” at which they replied, “I don’t believe in all that!” Surprised and a little perplexed I pushed on, Why did you go into business then? A husband and wife team who purchased the thriving window and glass business they worked in and within five years have quite literally run  into the ground.  As the business income has gradually diminshed they have taken out lines of credit to suppliment their business and living expenses. And have since had to sell their home to pay the business loans! Unfortunately they had no plan of action as to how they might go about increasing their income or market share!  They hadn’t decided at the outset what they wanted from their business. They were now stuck in a cycle of doing the same as everyone else in the glass and window industry in their area. Their reply to my question of WHY was simply because the guy who owned it was selling and they thought they had the experience and drive to make it work.

When they brought the business they had NOT decided exactly what they wanted the business to provide for them, other than a job. They had NOT decided or even thought about what the business would look like in five, ten, twenty years time! They had just brought themselves a job!  They had given NO consideration to how much money they wanted their business to provide for them. They had given NO thought to the type of lifestyle they wanted to have as a result of owning their own business. Subsequently another previously thriving business is now in danger of closing down within the next year because the owners have chosen not to make the necessary decisions and create a vision and plan of action for developing their market share. They have NO focus other than to pay the monthly bills! They have NO clarity on the direction of their business. They have NO system in place to provide them with a growing income!

So, whether you are just starting out or already on your business journey it’s crucial to create your MAP. A one page business MAP is a tool for you to capture your best thinking and decisions about your future business direction. It is crucial for your business success and it only needs to be one page that outlines your vision, your strategy, your key objectives, your plan of action for achieving your vision, strategy and key objectives. Also the key performance indicators that’ll let you know how you’re doing on a monthly, annual basis. It must also include your financial plan so that you know at every stage what the most profitable activities are in your business and your one number. This is the financial amount you want your business to provide for you in five years time. Whether you’re intending to sell or keep the business.

By deciding up front what you want from your business and generated a plan of action of how to achieve it you will have clarity about your business direction. You will have clarity on what activities you must be focused on for your success. Making these decisions at the outset is the difference that makes the difference between failiure and success in business.

If you’d like me to show you how to create a MAP for your business success then contact me directly at ultimatelife@sky.com to arrange a consultation. You do want success don’t you?

To your continued SUCCESS

Donna Still, Implementing Business Enhancement Systems & Technologies

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Exposing and Outting Ones Self!!!

Posted on April 10, 2013 by

I am an inmate of a mental prison. I am the keeper of that prison and I also hold the key to set me free. But do I really want to be free? What would being free bring with it?

Wouldn’t being free, bring with it responsibilities, Choices and decisions to be made? Is that what I really, really want?

If the answer is yes, I am  ready to take full responsibility for my results and I mean every aspect of my results. Then I will provide you with the means and neccesary tools to use to break free from the mental bounds that tie you. I will provide you with everything you require to discover the mine and the rich vein of diamonds that exist within in the shortest time possible.

You already know what to do. The time is right to direct and focus it in an organised manner. You have available to you a wealth of knowledge and information that will help you along the way to understand your purpose and the role you are meant to play in this life.

The universal thruth is that the natural order or way is to always be expanding and expressing your truth, the truth of who you really are. Firstly you must decide what you want give, give to the world. Gifts that you’ve spent your life developing, whether you realise it or not you have been training yourself for a higher purpose, a role or position that only you can do.

what gifts are you intending to share with the world? This forms your purpose and once it’s clear everything you require for its delivery is provided for you in the form of opportunities. Sometimes these opportunities come as pattern interruptions and at first may appear like dark clouds and huge challenges. Viewing them as gifts from the universal creative power allows you to use your individual creativity, skills and talents to demonstrate your readiness to live life on your own terms.

Do your work, inquire within. The answers will arrive at just the right time and not a minute before. What will you do with all the amazing power you posses? what sets your heart and spirit alive making you want to sing with joy and ecstacy? You have amazing power, talents and skills and it’s your job to discover what they are and use them for the good of the world.

No more hiding from your light.

Donna Still, ‘The Diamond Detective.”  Works Alongside Business Owners Who Want a Bigger Market Share And More Money Without Working Harder. She is the Bromley Borough Representative for Federation of Small Businesses and works tirelessly To Liberate Business Owners By Exposing The Diamonds Within.

Donna can be contacted by calling the office on +44 (0) 208 914 8407 to arrange a complimentary 20 minute Strategy Focus call to clarify the results you want. http://www.ultimatebusiness.co

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What is Peak Performance?

Posted on April 10, 2013 by

In the world of Business Development we hear the term, ‘Peak Performance,’ but what does it really mean for you?

What does it mean for you as an individual? And you as a business owner??

The benefits of peak performance in your business are greater productivity, improved efficiency and better engagement with both your peers, prospects and regular customers.

If I start with defining exactly What I think the term Peak Performance means then, and it’s this.. ‘It’s quite simply, when you are operating at your absolutel best. When you are in a place of knowing, a place of certainty that you can and will achieve the results you want. You go about your daily tasks, ‘expecting’ to be successful and focussing on what CAN be done rather than focussing on the exact opposite.’

Peak performance then, comes as a direct result of certain habits, attitudes and behaviours that enable you to produce the results you want, both in your business and your life. So if your business is currently in a position where it’s struggling to make the same figures as last year, then somewhere in your team is obviously not performing to it’s potential. When researching peak performers the number one attribute is their, ‘thinking,’ they develop a ‘certain way’ of thinking about situations, issues and challenges that enables them to overcome and break through them rather than being stuck and running away from them.

When you begin to take a really close look at the habitual thinking that holds you locked in your current position, you quickly realise that you have the power to change your results by changing the thinking that got you into the current position.  Sandra Gallagher stated in, ‘Thinking into Results,’ “Through a slight shift in your own personal self image you can take all the genius and talent you have developed for one profession and apply it effectively to another.”

There are a number of ways that you can effectively increase your performance, little changes and tweeks that’ll improve every aspect of your working life. The first would be to develop the attitude of gratitude for what you do every day. So, I challenge you to find at least five things that you are truly grateful for in your working role. Do this every da for the next 30 days and then let me know what happens, because I’d love to hear about the power in this one little tweek to improve your performance.

Donna Still, ‘The Diamond Detective.”  Works Alongside Business Owners Who Want a Bigger Market Share And More Money Without Working Harder. She is the Bromley Borough Representative for Federation of Small Businesses and works tirelessly To Liberate Business Owners By Exposing The Diamonds Within.

Donna can be contacted by calling the office on +44 (0) 208 914 8407 to arrange a complimentary 20 minute Strategy Focus call to clarify the results you want. http://www.ultimatebusiness.co

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About The Diamond Business Protocol

Posted on February 27, 2013 by
Stuck, buried under a pile of paper

Stuck, buried under a pile of paper, I don’t remember signing up to this when I begun my business!!

Well you know how as a small business owner how tired you can feel because there is just not enough time in the day to ‘do all the stuff’ you want to get done?

And you end up focusing on the things that don’t always achieve the consistent results you crave, even though you mostly know what you need to do. This inconsistency leads to low profits and challenges that leave you running scared and making decisions based on fear and desperation. And at the end of every month you’re left feeling frustrated, stressed and wondering why you even went into business in the first place.

What this means is, firstly you are just not making enough money so your main focus becomes more about what you can’t do and cost cutting rather than what you CAN do.

The net result of uncertainty is slack decision making based on fear.  In fact often the decisions are not made, this ends up really hurting the company and you personally. Poor decision making can even lead to the business owner having to close the business altogether feeling a failure, totally dejected and in possible financial ruin!

What I do is, having worked with many small businesses over the past 12 months, researching and testing the Diamond Business Protocol extensively is to get business owners focused on taking consistent actions that make their business profitable and sustainable.

What it means to have me working with your business alongside you is that you’ll make more money, have more time to enjoy it and have a set of practical tools that you can use everyday for the rest of your life. The financial freedom to enjoy your life supported by a business that you can be proud to own.

This is how  The 6 Step Diamond Business Protocol works

Stage 1 – Observation 

Stage 2 – Optimization 

Stage 3 – Opportunity Development 

Stage 4 – Measure results

Stage 5 – Prioritise & Plan 

Stage 6 – Heart based legacy 

The Diamond Business Protocol provides a step by step process for you to continue using & implementing cutting edge business development technologies daily to take your business from stagnation to stunning growth, liberating you from feeling like you’re in the daily grind, making business life simpler and easier, and or course adding directly to your bottom line.

Donna Still is an accomplished business development practitioner who works with business owners that want more. She is also a trained Thinking into Results facilitator for Bob Proctor’s Life Success Company. Contact Donna, donna@ultimatebusiness.co

Feel free to share this blog post along with this information and contact details.                  To Our Success

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Turning Ideas Into Profit Producing Products

Posted on February 27, 2013 by

hidden depthsTurning Ideas Into Profit Producing Products

“21 Steps that can change your life ~ That’s if you complete them of course!”

What we see and experience on a daily basis can be turned into profit producing products. Over our lifetime we discount great ideas, insights and pure flashes of genius simply because we believe we don’t know where to start. It all seems too big for us little people!! We find ourselves saying things like, ‘Oh that’s alright for them, they have…’ or we kid ourselves, ‘we don’t want to do it any way, it’s just not our thing!’ When at the very heart of who we are, we DO want to do it for ourselves and we’d definitely like a share of the extra cash generated.

In my experience working with myself and other business owners the biggest challenge for most people is getting started. The second biggest challenge is getting finished! As humans we have a tendency to over complicate and fiddle about with, ‘our stuff,’ until we have it perfect, just so! Which means that we never get going. That book never gets published or those dvd’s never get produced. And all the time Our Businesses end up losing out on additional streams of cash that would definitely make a difference to our business and our lives. It’s with this in mind I thought I’d share with you part of one of my core processes that I take business owners through during an Experience Mapping Workshop to turn ideas into profit producing products. I really hope you enjoy the process and be sure to send me a copy of your published product.

Here goes.. 21 steps to turn your ideas into cash

  1. Brainstorm the themes & facets of your life, this could be areas of work, interests, passions, hobbies ~ you get to choose. You have a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise that you can use and profit by, if you take the time to complete these simple 21 steps.
  2. Take just 1 facet that excites you, one that you also know alot about, that you’ve experienced in all its glory. Write the name of your chosen facet at the top of a sheet of A4 paper. Fike the rest as that is fertile resources for future profit creation projects.
  3. Underneath list the 10 things that someone would ‘need to be know’ about the facet you’ve written down to understand it.
  4. Now, take 10 separate sheets of A4 paper and write 1 need to know at the top of each.
  5. Take the first sheet and asking yourself – what’s important about this need to know? Brain dump all your ideas and everything you know about it. Remember this is your first need to know.
  6. Order each idea/concept in IMPORTANCE, i.e. What must be known first, then second and so on to really understand it?
  7. Now, For each one write an attention grabbing headline/statement, one that’s truthful. It can contain facts, figures or statistics – BUT it must be real or you’ll lose trust and turn your readers off!
  8. The next step is to follow with a short supporting paragraph that outlines why it’s true! (still high level concepts) What the benefit would be to your reader if they carried on reading. What they could hope to gain from reading on.
  9. This is where we get into the nitty gritty and outline your core process, Think, Magic formula, 3,5,7 steps, keys etc. This is where you add the meat on the bones so to speak!
  10. Next is to think of a metaphor, similie or quote that makes the concept more real to your reader. One that they could possibly relate to in their own lives. Ideally it must encapsulate your need to know.
  11. We’re near the end of completing the process for your first Need to Know,yay!! so congratulations. All you need to do now for this one, is think of an image that captures the meaning or spirit of what you’ve just been talking about in your text so that it makes it easily understood and teachable. Because you do want your readers to tell others about what they’ve just read, don’t you?
  12. Repeat steps 8 – 12 until each need to know is completed.
  13. Now we can start transforming your ideas into tangible profit generating products. Obtain a voice recorder – If you have a smart phone then you have one already that’s great to use. An app that I use is Dragon dictate as it transcribes my words into a text document ready for editing. There are other voice recognition apps, experiement to find one that suits you and the way you want to work.
  14. Record yourself reading through each sheet in order and remember the punctuation!
  15. If not using audio to text software get your audio file transcribed. ( you could however use the audio file as an additional download on your website for those auditory learners!)  Websites such as elance/peopleperhour or similar who are great for finding freelancers offering their time to get your work done! Having both formats is a great way of maximising your profit generation.
  16. Never fall under the illusion that you can edit yourself! This is one of the biggest mistakes that rookie authors make. Yes of course do the intial edit yourself so that it all makes sense, but DO get a fresh pair of eyes to look at it as we become blind to our own typo’s. (Voice of experience)
  17. Depending on where and how you are going to publish your information product you must have it formatted – (with Amazon Kindle you just need to upload a word document ~ they do the formatting for you.) Formatting can be a long tedious job if sitting at the computer is not your idea of a great day. I would highly recommend outsourcing to someone who specialised in formatting books. Otherwise you may never get your book out there! I always outsource as I find this really tedious and it takes me ages!!
  18. Wow! You’ve done a great job so far and we’re almost there! It’s time for the visual creativity and designing both the front & back cover of your product. I love thinking about and designing the covers for my books & programmes, it really appeals to my creative side. There are software programmes that can do this for you with little input from you other than choosing the image. However, It’s another one of those jobs that I would outsource too! Fiverr.com is a great place to go if you are on a tight budget.
  19. Even if you are going for the ebook or kindle publishing I would still recommend getting a hard copy published too! Get it printed! There is nothing like holding your first book in your hands, feeling the cover and seeing your name on there. Its a feeling that I’ll never forget, It was even more emotional than when I held my first child for the very first time.
  20. CONGRATULATIONS You are now a published author!
  21. Yay!!! Celebrate

Then the really hard work and fun begin with the marketing of your product. In fact the marketing should’ve already been happening while you’ve been producing your masterpiece. Developing your launch platform is crucial to the success of your book/products – otherwise they will just sit on your computer gathering space dust in the ether!!!

Until next time :)

Donna Still, Exposing The Diamonds Within. I’m happy for you to share my blog as long as these contact details remain attached. Donna is an accomplished business development practitioner and works with businesses and individuals who have a big vison about where they want to go but not sure how to get there!! Donna can be contacted on +44 (0) 208 914 8407 http://www.ultimatebusiness.co

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What Life Can Teach us About Business?

Posted on February 18, 2013 by

Today I had a bit of a wobble in the kitchen, which got me thinking about business and how we run them. It was a huge learning that I’d love to share, so here goes…

I was making a chicken soup for my husband to take to work tomorrow. I put the chicken in the saucepan with the stock, brought it to the boil, set it to simmer – and went for a shower!! well there I was, preening to look my absolute best and not another thought for the chicken. About an hour had passed –  the poor chicken, boiling away downstairs. The extractor was on, so there were no obvious signs that any thing was wrong. Until that is, I opened my bedroom door and, pow!!! The smell hit me! The most disgusting, acrid smell – At that moment a sinking feeling came over me when I realised I had Overcooked the chicken!!!!

Always one to use all of life’s experiences as learning opportunties I began wondering how this event could relate to business?

I began wondering where else ‘overcooking’ showed up! Anyway!

One particular example popped into my mind such as in my workshops, I’m so keen to deliver value to participants that in the past I’ve overloaded them with content! Given them so much content with a net result of participant paralysis! This is where the participant can no longer make a decision on what to do with all the new information as it’s just too overwhelming. The outcome has been that the all new Experience Mapping Workshops are now much more streamlined with a format that delivers simple tools with massive impact for the businesses who participate.

What can you learn about business from your own life experiences? Share your thoughts and comments.

Donna Still, Exposing the Diamonds Within

Donna is an accomplished business development practitioner and can be contacted at 0208 914 8407

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Education tops list of priorities in annual GE survey on innovation in business

Posted on January 17, 2013 by

Reblogged from GigaOM:

Click to visit the original post

When it comes to education, should business leaders have a bigger seat at the table?

According to GE’s annual Innovation Barometer (s GE), it looks like that’s what they want. The report, which surveyed 3,000 C-suite executives in 25 countries and took their temperature on a range of issues affecting innovation and competition, found that business leaders highlighted education as one of their top policy concerns.

Read more… 321 more words

Innovation is the key to businesses surviving and thriving. And the key to innnovation is the time and space to THINK!
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Create an Avalanche of Extra Cash

Posted on January 17, 2013 by

Business asset generation is the key to succesfully asisting more people and creating an avalanche of extra cash in your business.

Everyone, what ever their current background or experience has enough information within to generate content for a digital product. There are many ways in which you can use what you already have within to make extra money and I can show you HOW easy it is.

Our next workshop is on the 12th Feb 2013 and will walk you through the process, guiding you step by step how to craft what you’ve got.

To book click here

I am really looking forward to welcoming you.

Donna Still

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