I noticed something recently and thought it might be helpful for you too. 

Have you ever heard the quote “what got you here won’t get you there” from Marshall Goldsmith?

It means that the habits, behaviors, strategies, and tools that got you to your current level of success won’t get you to your next level of success. You must evolve in order to “level up.”

This idea has become a recurring theme with some of my most successful clients.

They’ve built a strong foundation in their business and it shows in their level of success. They’ve created teams and built communities and are changing the world… but as a result of their success, they are feeling like they are tied to their business 24/7.

They’ve delegated and tried creating systems. They’ve put boundaries in place, but at the end of the day, they still feel like something has to give. 
For many of them, they realize that the potential for massive growth is there, but they are almost afraid to reach that level of success because they fear that achieving it will mean giving up the small amount of freedom they have right now. They fear having that “chained to your desk” feeling that you often hear about from people still working their corporate jobs. 
When they come to me there is one overwhelming sentiment that I hear over and over again…

“I just want to get my life back but I don’t want to slow down the growth my business is experiencing.”
 
Fortunately, that’s exactly what I do best! Helping successful and ambitious business owners (like you) to hone in on exactly what needs to happen within their business to move to that next level with greater efficiency and ease.
 
It starts with understanding that they need to approach things slightly differently. How differently is unique to each business, but there is always something that needs to shift.

And when that shift happens, everything changes, and things start happening very quickly.
 
We approach that shift in 3 steps:

1. Acknowledging what made your original business great and why.  It can be easy to get frustrated with your old methods, but you built a successful business on them so don't walk away without taking the parts that did work well for you.

2. Recognize what you have that can be transformed.  There are always elements of your business that are working beautifully. They may need a little tweak here and there, but they don’t need a total overhaul.  Your client onboarding process, networking, etc are made of the same essence but may need to be tweaked a bit to make them even more efficient and profitable.

3.Let go of the parts that just won't work anymore.  This can be hard to do, but it’s critical for your success. Some things that worked before are just not going to work moving forward with your new goals. Sometimes you need to just let go. Period.  And that’s ok. Say thank you and move forward.

Are you ready to stop messing around with your time and get real results? If so, going at it alone is no longer an option. It’s time to reach the growth you know is possible.

It’s time to take that idea that is just swirling around in your mind and make it a reality so that you can make the changes to the world that you feel called to make.
  
I’d love to help.

My client, Frank, was where you are. In fact, he believed that, having worked with a coach before, he already had everything that he needed but, like so many others, what got him to that first level of success wasn’t working to get him to where he wanted to go.

Frank joined me in the Momentum Accountability Program. Here’s what he had to say about our work together:

“Nettie’s program helps you think about and restructure the things you think you have a handle on, but actually, don’t. I made the best decision in my entrepreneurial life by partnering up with Nettie and receiving the accountability I needed. She really grounds you and puts you into a state of focus that you will never know existed in your world. And... Her program isn’t just about accountability, it’s about action and truly driving home the key elements of your business that need to be put into action. Working with her on this has been a true blessing for me and I can’t thank her enough for helping me along my journey of true entrepreneurial success.”

If you are ready for success, let’s talk. No pressure. No obligation. Just a chance to see if we might be a good fit to work together to move your business forward and give you your life (and time) back in the process.

I think we can all agree that 2020 has not gone the way we expected it to.It most certainly has not gone the way we wanted it to.But here’s the good news… we are officially past the halfway point in the year.

We’ve learned a lot and we realize that we need to make adjustments to how we do things, but now it’s time to take those lessons and tackle the second half of the year with a renewed focus on achieving your goals.
Let’s pretend we have a “reset button” for 2020, shall we?

I use this exercise at the start of each year with my clients, but it feels right to do it again for our 2020 Do-Over…
​

1. Out with the old! Clear out files, projects, receipts, digital files that reflect past work you are no longer doing. Archive if needed and delete to give yourself a fresh start. (handling files now makes tax time much easier!)
   
   
2. Spend a morning listing all of your accomplishments and the lessons you’ve learned so far this year. Once you have a good list, make a note of 'how' you achieved those successes or what changed with those lessons. It's easy to forget what we have accomplished when we are moving forward but we can learn from our successes and our challenges equally.
   
   
3. Review your calendar. We’ve all had to make changes to plans for in person events, travel, and other things that look very different now from what they did 6 months ago. What can you let go of to make room for as you create your new 2020 plan? Add the 'big stuff' onto your calendar to give yourself a framework moving forward.
   
   
4. Vision - Wave a magic wand. Write yourself a letter six months from now explaining all that you have accomplished in the last half of 2020 (despite all of the Corona-craziness). This clarifying exercise can help you see what will be important in the coming months.
   
   
5. Break down your plan - on 2 separate sheets of paper (a digital file works, too if you print it or save as your phone wallpaper) - list what must be accomplished in each of the remaining quarters of the year. Work from the end (Dec 31, 2020) back to the starting point.

If you are ready to hit that reset button and start your 2020 do-over, and you would like to know more about how to create your own recipe for the business you desire, let’s talk.

It’s easy, just a 15-minute conversation to see where you are, where you would like to go, and what’s getting in the way.

It may just be the one conversation that changes everything for you.

One of the topics that many small business owners find confusing as they begin adding employees to help grow and expand their business. I interviewed Allison De Paoli from Altiqe Consulting about what businesses need to know now about health care.
Allison helps employers take control of their healthcare spend and get budgeting predictability. She is able to show them how to find high-quality care with lower out of pocket costs for their employees. Providing a solid benefits package is critical for attracting and retaining talented employees.
Allison answers some of the most important questions you should be considering in this current environment. Some of the topics we cover include:

• What are you doing to control the frequency and severity of your claims?
• Do you have complete access to your data - even if you are a smaller employer and even if you are fully insured?
• If you are a larger employer, have you had your claims audited for billing errors?

​Find out the answers in our 10 minute conversation right here.

My New Year Planning Recipe :-)


The new year is a great time to reflect on your past successes and lessons and to set yourself up for success going forward. Moving into 2020 marks a new year and a new decade. Here are a few strategies I use to help transition and prepare for the coming year.
1 - Out with the old! Clear out files, projects, receipts, digital files that reflect past work you are no longer doing. Archive if needed and delete to give yourself a fresh start. (handling files now makes tax time much easier!)
2 - Spend a morning listing all of your accomplishments over the last year. Once you have a good list, make a note of 'how' you did it. It's easy to forget what we have accomplished when we are moving forward but we can learn from our successes and our challenges equally.
3 - Review your calendar. What can you let go of to make room for the coming year's activities? Add the 'big stuff' onto your calendar for the new year to give yourself a framework moving forward.
4 - Vision - Wave a magic wand. Write yourself a letter one year from now explaining all that you have accomplished in the coming year. This clarifying exercise can help you see what will be important in the coming months.
5 - Break down your plan - on 4 separate sheets of paper (a digital file works, too if you print it or save as your phone wallpaper) - list what must be accomplished in each quarter of the year to create your 2020 Vision. Work from the end (Dec 31, 2020) back to the beginning.

I used to ask my coaching & organizing clients, “If you could wave a magic wand in your business/life, what would you create.”  Some people had never imagined a different outcome than what they saw right in from of them.  But many, especially my entrepreneurs, have imagined big for a LONG time.  

There is a brilliance in this exercise in that as soon as you start to imagine a new possibility, your mind, loving a puzzle, begins to work out how to make it true. 

Just THINKING about a magic wand actually creates the magic.  Super cool, right?

But what if you infused your magic wand with another element… Time Travel. 

Instead of just waving a magic wand and talking about what you would create, you close your eyes and imagine that what you most desire has already come true and you are living in the future results.   This magic infuses your spell with emotion and belief that what you see is actually possible. 

And your brain does not know the difference between your current reality and the imagined future.  It believes both are real!  The power of suggestion is well documented as a way to bring things from imagination into reality.  

One aspect of people with ADHD is that there are only two time frames, Now and Not Now.  Whatever is ‘Not Now’ is of little relevance.  They live in the NOW.  What if, you could make the ‘Not Now’ feel real, so real that it becomes the brain’s believed, “Now”.  What would happen?

This is the magic that you possess and every person possesses but that is even more powerful within the hands of naturally creative entrepreneurs.  

As an entrepnreuer, you imagine your future and pretend that it is your current reality, happening now, feeling it as if it were real.  When you open your eyes, it becomes abundantly clear what is not in alignment with your future reality and you can begin to take steps to address these ‘out of alignment’ situations to move yourself forward. 

This kind of visualization is the first step to remove any perceived blocks, shake you loose from procrastination, make clear your path forward, reveal connections and afore unseen collaborations and more.  There is so much more to this ‘magic’ that you possess.  But starting here will set the ball in motion.  Everything else we do allows the momentum to continue. 

If this speaks to you, and you would like to know more about how to use your own magic to create the business you desire, let’s talk.  It’s easy, just a 15 minute conversation to see where you are, where you would like to go and what’s getting in the way. 

​
I was recently on a trip with my youngest daughter and her Girl Scout Troop.  I felt like I was hit in the face with all of the lessons and information that I could directly relate to business.  So I have decided to bring a series to you on these ‘ah-ha’s that I experienced.  Look for the title and hashtag, Business Lessons from Life Adventures, to follow this series. 

Then, let me know your lessons that you have learned outside of the office. 

I was 17 years old when I graduated high school.  At the time, in my community, it was customary to take a crazy week to Ocean City, Maryland, get drunk and try not to get arrested. My parents said, ‘no’ to this trip.  So, as an alternative, my friends and I coordinated a camping and white water rafting trip.  I had camped all my life so that was the easy part. I had also canoed all my life, being on and in the water was also very comfortable for me.  The new twist was rafting in white water.   Being the 17 year old know-it-alls that we were, we opted not to get a guide as we rented our equipment and rafts from the local outfitter.  

We must have had a lesson or someone in our group had rafted before so off we went. To make a longer story short, the relevant piece of information here is that our trip went south.  We hit the white water, our raft tipped and people fell out, including me.  Others were pulled back in but I was not. In the chaos, it took a moment for others to realize that I was back peddling for my life in front of a patch of water that would have pulled me down and likely never released me.  When my friends did pull me in I was within seconds of being pulled under.  As I treaded the water vigorously, I knew that death was a possible outcome and I fought against the river and that outcome. 

That was it.  

We made it down the remainder of the river and back to camp.  I never got into a raft again.  I had flashbacks and panic attacks at various points in my life about that moment. White water was not for me.

Until, my 9 year old daughter’s girl scout trip planned a white water trip and my daughter, asked if I would go with her. It was time to confront my fear.  This time however, we would be on a man made course, with all the right gear, and a guide.  At any point, I would only ever a moment away from being pulled ashore if I got into trouble.  How could I show her bravery if I didn’t face this challenge myself?  I decided to go along. 

Each step, listening to the safety talk, getting in the raft, being pulled down stream in the raft, heading towards the rocks and going over turbulent water, was facing that moment decades before all over again and I breathed through it. Lots of deep breaths.  Paddling forward and trusting the safety from which I was operating.  We made our way to a stopping point where we could practice jumping into the moving river.  My daughter raised her hand to jump in. She looked to me.  I would have to jump in, too.  How could I teach her courage if I didn’t jump?

Breathing deeply and reassuring myself, “I am safe here.” I jumped in and let the water carry me then swam to shore. I survived the test.   We made our way through another lap around the white water.  There was another opportunity to stop and this time be allowed to walk into the white water, be pulled through it (and briefly under water), then out into the river and swim again to shore.  Her hand to participate went up.  I knew I had to go, too.  I was afraid and yet even in that fear knew that I had to step into the rushing water and face the churning river ahead.  

I stepped in, the current pulling me towards the rolling white wave, rocks on either side of me.  Feet up! Once my feet left the concrete floor of the river I was whisked rapidly in and then pulled down under.  I held my breath and popped up 3 seconds later, passed the danger and then swam against the current to the shore. 

I did it. 

This time, I got back into the raft and was ready for the next rapid. I even contemplated, although the opportunity never came, to jump out of the raft into the last rapid. 

Decades of reliving a terrifying moment were re-written moment by moment. 

There is a lot to unpack from this experience so I will do it in pieces over the course of several blogs.  Today, I challenge you to consider, what fear are you holding on to from an experience that went badly?  How does that fear shape your decision making today?