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March 27, 2021 by katmillar Leave a Comment

What I Wish I’d Known When I First Started Out In Business

In business, we all make mistakes. I’ve made hundreds… and some were absolute pearlers.

When I first started out in business 18-years ago, I didn’t have any qualifications, business knowledge, or money. I just had a lot of enthusiasm, drive, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed.

I was much younger, more stubborn, and ignorant back then. I look back and see how much faster I could have propelled my growth if only I knew what I know now.

Making mistakes is normal and it’s one of the ways we learn and grow. But there are some mistakes that are unnecessary and waste precious time, money, and energy.

So I’m going to share with you how to avoid some of the mistakes that can trip you up and fail and what to do instead.

Here are the top 5 things I wish I’d know when I first started out in business…

1 – The Value Of Investing In Coaching and Mentoring

A mistake I made when I started out, was that I didn’t value other people’s input who had been in business longer than me.

If someone asks why I’m successful – it’s hard work, a strong work ethic and dedication etc. but the number 1 reason absolutely comes down to investing in coaching and mentoring.

When I was younger, I was so stubborn and naive.

I started my first job in insurance when I was 17 as an office junior (earning a whopping $17,000 a year)

I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do, I just wanted freedom when I left high school.

When I was 25, I left my office job when I decided to become a personal trainer. I didn’t know anything about sales or marketing.

I could have seeked help from the experienced personal trainers at the gym I worked at. I could have taken them for coffee to ask for their advice. But I didn’t. Maybe I thought I knew everything. ?

I wish I knew the power of mentorship and coaching back then.

One of my favourite mentors says the fastest way to succeed in business is to attach yourself to a fast-moving vehicle, and do what they’re doing. Stand on the shoulders of giants and don’t try and reinvent the wheel.

Once I realised the power that they bring you, I’ve always had multiple coaches and mentors.

Some people say to just have one mentor or one mentor per year. Everyone’s different, it’s totally dependent on your style, personality, and character. I invest in multiple. I’m coach-greedy.

Without mentoring and coaching, I would not be where I am today.

The CEO of Google has a coach. Every great athlete, ca,tor or actress will have people around them that are supporting them and coaching them. If they need coaching and mentoring, then so do we.

2 – The Value Of Networking

When I started out in business I was so such an introvert. I hid behind my laptop and my phone. In fact, some people that knew me back 10 to 12 years ago, would say they knew a completely different person.

A lot of people who knew me back then have been telling me lately that they have seen my transformation. Anyone can change. Even if you are an introvert, you can get out there and network. I never used to network, in fact, I hated it.

When I moved from New Zealand to London, I realised that I desperately needed to improve my communication skills and my confidence, so I read books on the plane. I bought books on how to become confident. And I learned one very important thing. I learned that you don’t get confident from reading books.

You become confident by getting out there and confronting your fears. Confidence is a by-product of being competent.

When you’re facing the fears of things that challenge you, you’re moving to your next level and outside of your comfort zone. When you do that, confidence comes like a gift and a reward for doing hard things.

Networking for a lot of you is not easy, and you feel like you’re not good at it. I network a lot and some people are really bad at it! They are not present, not listening, and not hearing what you have to say. They are half distracted.

You only get good at networking by doing it. When I started networking, I would hang around the food table because it was my comfort. It was like a blanket. Now, I try and meet as many people as I can.

I don’t give out business cards. That’s one mistake people make. I was at an event recently and I went home with a stack of business cards. I don’t have business cards and haven’t had them for eight years. I don’t have them because I like making contact with the other person.

When I was a personal trainer, I handed out hundreds and hundreds of business cards. Let’s be honest, most business cards end up in the bin. I only keep people’s business cards if I make a connection with the person.

If you’re not putting yourself out there, and networking, now is the time to do it. Because of the pandemic, people are now getting out and the energy is amazing. I can feel my energy has shifted so much since I started going to more live events.

Have a look at Meetup.com or Eventbrite as there are a bunch of events happening. Challenge yourself to get out there and network. The only way you get better is by doing it.

3 – The Value Of Investing

My third mistake was not realising the value of investing in my business. I used to try and hold on to money, whereas I’ve come to the point where I invest, because that’s the way to grow.

I invest in 3 main things – marketing, coaching and education.

You don’t get wealthy by saving money. You get wealthy by getting your money working for you. And so, I love investing money into marketing, like Facebook ads.

I also love putting money into education. I’ve spent over $130,000 on education, not on formal education, but through learning specific skills.

Back when I started in business, I wish I had known the value of investing in marketing, sales copywriting, and coaching skills. I never used to think of copywriting as an essential business skill. I just thought I could put up a post and people were going to sign up.

Copywriting is one of the most undervalued, underrated skills, but being able to write well is one of the most important skills.

Knowing how to craft your language in a way that is compelling and attracts your right clients is a skill and it’s one that is worth investing in.

In the past, I’ve printed off flyers but now I mostly do all my marketing online because it enables you to track and see the ROI on your marketing dollar and investment.

If you’re starting out in business or you are struggling in business, you always need to be investing.

4 – The Value Of Daily Income Generating Activities

All of us do low-value tasks. We are human. Our brain is wired to take the path of least resistance.

Our brain is wired to keep us safe, so it doesn’t easily accept change. We naturally want to follow the path of least resistance. It’s really natural for us to do the easy things.

You know you need to go to the gym, but you stay watching Netflix. It’s normal so please don’t beat yourself up. This is not about making you feel guilty.

I do want to challenge you and encourage you to spend a good proportion of your time on income-generating activities. Ideally, do them every morning.

Instead of waking up and consuming on social media, create something. Delete apps off your phone if you need to. I have recently deleted the email app off my phone so I don’t waste time on it.

One of the easiest ways to change a habit is to just remove it. I always taught my clients this when I was a weight loss coach. At the time I was helping people change their habits. I would tell them that they needed to remove everything unhealthy from their house, so they didn’t get tempted.

If you’ve got a problem with sugar, don’t put things with sugar into your shopping trolley. Make up healthy packs of veggies or nuts and keep them in your bag. Don’t end up buying crappy food because you’ve gotten stuck out somewhere without being prepared.

It’s the same thing with business. Remove all things that take you away from income-generating activities. Are you tracking your sales conversion rates? Are you showing up and giving value rather than just consuming?

Entrepreneurs show up and give value and help others solve problems. Entrepreneurs do income-generating activities.

I wish I knew that earlier because I spent way too long faffing about making my PowerPoint slides look amazing.

5 -The Value Of Fast Decision Making

Do you fall into the trap of perfectionism?

None of us wants to make mistakes in our work. We don’t want to fail.

But overcoming perfectionism is not about doing rushed or sloppy work. There’s a difference between perfectionism and excellence.

Striving for excellence shows you have a good work ethic and strength of character.

Perfectionism is the enemy of progress. And the reality is, nothing is ever perfect. ⠀⠀

Getting something out there, (even if it’s not ‘just right’) is better than it sitting on your laptop or in your head, not helping anyone.⠀ ⠀⠀

I’ve never done a Facebook Live or webinar or an event and been 100% happy with how it’s gone. There are always things to improve.

If we want to grow as entrepreneurs, we need to value speed. Perfectionism can be a handbrake on our success. It keeps us from accelerating. We don’t have time to be afraid of mistakes.

As one of my mentors says, get it out there ‘quick and dirty’ and learn from it.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of delaying our decisions and let things pile up. Then we get overwhelmed by how much we need to do.

I was challenged in an event recently to write down 5 decisions we’ve been putting off, and decide when we’re going to do it.

I calculated that if I live until the average age, I have approximately 2000 weeks left of my life. Only 2000 weeks! I plan on living longer than this, but none of us are promised a set amount of time. So I don’t want to waste a second of the time I have left on the planet.

What have you been putting off? I invite you to write down one thing NOW and make a decision on when you’re going to do it.

Want help to grow your business?

Do you need help to get more right-fit clients, free up more time and create a profitable, lifestyle-friendly business that you LOVE?

I offer a free 45-minute business strategy session, where you’ll get personalised guidance, direction, clarity, and a clear action plan.

I’ll walk you through a proven business growth roadmap and personalise it to show you exactly what you need to do to hit your financial and freedom goals.

I’ve helped people get fully booked with clients, double their income, increase their conversion rates, fill their events, and more. I would love to help you navigate to your next level.

Apply for your free strategy session here

March 11, 2021 by katmillar Leave a Comment

Are you an introvert or extrovert? What this says about how fast you’ll succeed in business

Have you ever wondered what effect your personality style is having on how fast you’re growing your business?

A lot of people share with me that they struggle to do the things that successful business owners do, like holding an event, doing a Facebook live video, or running a webinar, and put it down to being an introvert.

Other times, extroverts tell me that normally they can talk to anyone – but when it comes to talking to that little lens on their laptop, they get anxious.

Too often, we use our personality type – such as being an introvert to STOP us from doing the very things we KNOW we need to do, so we can see the results we want.

The KEY to getting results quickly in your business is to be able to clearly see what is acting as a handbrake and stopping you from moving forward in your business…

It is always the story we’re telling ourselves. And it all begins with our thoughts.

Being able to identify the thoughts that hinder our actions, and ultimately our results, helps you BREAKTHROUGH your limitations…

…and into the business success you dream of.

The challenge is, most of us have no awareness of the thoughts that are causing the issues because they are happening at the unconscious level.

In this training, I share how being an introvert or extrovert affects how fast you’ll succeed in business…

so you can…

* Use your personality traits to your advantage

* Identify the thoughts and beliefs hindering you from getting results

* Step out of the slow lane and into the results fast lane TODAY

I share my TEAR Model – a success creation formula that enables you to quickly identify what you need to focus on to create success in your business.

Introvert or Extrovert?

Let’s start by thinking about whether you identify as an introvert or an extrovert. I have a lot of people talk to me about this, and they use one or the other, as a way of explaining their results or their actions.

Introverts and extroverts both have traits that can serve them, and traits that can hinder them. There are pros and cons for each. You may identify as an extrovert or an introvert, or you may not identify as either.

Perhaps you identify as an ambivert, which is someone who has qualities of growth. All of us identify with each area in some ways. Sometimes we love hanging out with people because we’re human and we’re social creatures.

An ambivert is not someone who sometimes likes being with people and sometimes doesn’t. How ambiverts are typically described, is that they can slip into either depending on their mood, their context and their goals.

Ambiverts have also been called outgoing introverts. I naturally identify as an introvert because I love spending lots of time by myself, compared to a lot of people.

A lot of people don’t realise that I’m an introvert. They assume because I’m a speaker and I’m constantly showing up on video and running events, that I’m an extrovert. I have high energy when I’m with a group, so people often assume that I’m an extrovert every day.

I’ve also heard it described sometimes as an anti-social extrovert. Naturally, these people are extroverted, but they need a lot of time to recharge, before and after socialising.

And then, they really need a lot of time by themselves to draw energy, but they still love connection and being social. It kind of comes down to the amount of time that you really want to be with other people and where you get your energy from.

Beliefs About Introverts And Extroverts

A lot of people tell me that they are introverts and therefore they struggle to put themselves out there on video or running webinars or doing Facebook Lives.

It was Carl Jung who advanced the theory on introverted and extroverted personality types. He defined introversion as inwardly directed psychic energy. We may assume that introverts are shyer and find it harder. We may assume that extroverts are more willing to put themselves out there and present themselves more boldly and confidently.

It used to be that extraversion was a strong predictor of who would become a leader. But this thought has been debunked somewhat.

In my experience, all personality types struggle if they don’t have the right thinking, regardless of whether they identify as an introvert or extrovert.

According to an article on Inc.com, psychologists had discovered that introverts do just as well in leadership roles. A lot of these stereotypes have been challenged in recent times. I’ve read a number of articles on introverts who are really successful leaders and entrepreneurs.

In the past, in Western society extraversion was really celebrated. The outgoing enthusiastic person often is thought to get more things done and may be known as a greater communicator. This is seen as an asset.

However, other articles show that the introvert / extrovert scale only represents about 20% of what they called the Big Five personality traits. And that is a lot more to a person than how much social stimulation they need.

And this is really what I’m wanting to drive through as a point here, is that your success rate in business has very little to do with whether you identify as an introvert or extrovert.

In my experience, over the last 17 years in business, I’ve met a lot of successful extroverts and a lot of successful introverts.

What is it that is actually determining our rate of success then?

I have created a formula for success. I call it the TEAR Model.

T – Thoughts

E – Emotions

A – Actions

R – Results

The TEAR model explains that our thoughts lead to our emotions. Our emotions lead to our actions. And our actions lead to our results.

This is basic psychology. I didn’t make that up. I just gave it a label.

I just named a concept from everything that I’ve looked at in psychology from NLP to fixed mindsets and growth mindsets and cognitive behaviour therapy.

Our results are based on our actions, our actions are based on our feelings and all of it is coming from our thinking and the stories that we tell ourselves. These stories include how we think about ourselves.

Our self-image is made up of the stories that we tell ourselves. It’s made up of the beliefs, thoughts, and data or proof that we’ve collected over time. This all contributes to our story that we rehearse. But these stories are just thoughts.

So if we want to change our results, we need to look at what thoughts are driving those results. Most people are stuck at the results level, and asking themselves why they can’t get more results.

Everything that has been created has started with a thought. For example, a bookshelf. Someone had the thought to build a bookshelf. They got a feeling from that thought, whether it was a feeling of motivation creation, innovation, whatever it was. They took action and they created a result, which is the finished bookshelf.

Our thoughts are habits and you can create new thought habits. Instead of saying, “I’m an introvert, so I find it hard.” Choose a more empowering thought.

There are so many successful introverts. If you look at the Top 10 richest people in the world, who are multi-billionaires, like Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates – about half the lists are introverts and the other half are extroverts.

These introverts are still putting themselves out there and not letting their introverted natures stop them from succeeding. Richard Branson is an introvert that sits on a couch and is kind of shy. He looks a little bit awkward. I’ve seen him live. He may be an introvert, but he’s presenting all the time.

Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Wozniak the co-founder of Apple, and Barack Obama, are all people who identify as introverts, and these people still present. A lot of them present regularly, and they don’t let being an introvert stop them.

If you want to succeed in business, your rate of growth is measured by how willing you are to take the right action, regardless of how you were born and what natural personality type you are.

Reverse Engineering the TEAR Model

When you look at the TEAR Model, and you say you want to get your business going fast, and you want to make money, help people and be creative. Perhaps you want to create an online course or a webinar or a coaching group program.

Grab a piece of paper and write down your page T.E.A.R. Start at the bottom with R.

R – Results

In the R line – put the result you want. Maybe the result is to make $10,000 a month or run a webinar, whatever your result is you are aiming for.

A – Actions

Then in the A line, you need to write all the different actions you need to take, to get to the result. It could be you need to create a free downloadable recourse or create a landing page and funnel. There are so many different lead generation strategies, and you just need to pick them and go for it for the next 30 days.

E – Emotion

In the E line, you need to write what emotions you need to have to take those actions. So you don’t want to be depressed, anxious, fearful, or stressed. What you want is to be determined and motivated.

You want to have the feeling of energy, that you’re unstoppable. Think about the emotion that’s going to make you want to take those actions and just write all those emotions out.

The emotion could be feeling unstoppable, or feeling passionate or grateful. These are the emotions that will drive you to take action.

T – Thoughts

Finally, what thoughts do you need to think? Thoughts are a little bit sneaky, as it’s harder to catch thoughts. What thoughts do you need to be thinking to get those feelings, take those actions and get that result?

With the thoughts, often you need to write them out or you need to go through them with a coach. Because for us to change, we have to change the meaning we put on things.

If we’ve been looking at something the same way the whole time, it’s really hard for us to see and have a different perspective on that thing. We often need someone else to give us a different perspective.

For example, if I hold up my phone. I’m looking at the Apple logo and you’re looking at the face of my screen. We’re both looking at the same object. But I’m looking at it from a completely different angle to you. I can only see this side of it, and you can only see the other side of it.

It’s the same with a result. We look at it one way. And there could be hundreds, if not thousands of ways to look at it. It’s very hard for us to try and do it in our mind.

We need to externalize it, and get it down on paper and do some self-coaching on it. This will help us get a little bit further than keeping it in our head. But ultimately, if you want to see a transformation, you need someone else’s perspective.

You need someone else to see things or draw things out of you, that were previously unconscious. About 90% of our thoughts we think every day are unconscious thoughts, and we are not even aware we are having those thoughts.

Your Thoughts Drive Your Results

It’s those unconscious thoughts that are driving our results. So, we can also sit down and think about the results we want, and what you might need to be thinking to get that.

One thought is: “Whatever it takes, I have everything I need to succeed.” How often are you repeating a thought like that in your mind, if you really want that desired result?

How often are you having these commands that are going to get you that result? “I absolutely can create 10k a month as a business owner, and I will keep going until I find a way.”

If we thought that empowering thought dozens and dozens and dozens of times every day, and we felt the emotion of it, eventually we would start taking the actions and start getting the results.

Most people are focusing on the problems and all the reasons why things won’t work. They are focusing on the things that are going to give them a completely different result.

Using The TEAR Model On Current Results

So let’s look at the other side of it, and look at what your current results are. On the other side of the paper to your TEAR, write down your current situation. And this is where you can start reverse-engineering the thoughts that are driving your current results. It sounds simple but it is actually not.

It takes thinking and intention to really get to know what those subconscious thoughts are. To do this, look at your results. Let’s say you are only making $1,000 a month. That’s your current result.

Then ask yourself what actions you are taking that are leading you to the $1000 a month. It could be that you are contacting five people a month. Or you are doing Facebook Live once every three weeks. You may be reaching out to your email list once a month. These are all the actions you are taking to cause your current result.

Then write what feelings are driving these actions. Are you feeling negative about yourself? What do you say to yourself?

Are you saying to yourself, “I don’t really think I know what I’m doing? I’m kind of a bit vague. I don’t really trust myself. I don’t have a specific niche, so I’m coming from a place of doubt. I don’t want to turn up on camera so I’m avoiding running a webinar.”

There are so much fear and negativity attached to these feelings and all of these thoughts are negative, so these are leading to your wishy-washy results. You’re not putting yourself out there and showing yourself boldly.

Footpath Activities Versus Fast Lane Activities

I give an analogy of footpath activities, steady lane activities, medium lane, and fast lane activities.

Negative, pessimistic thoughts zap your energy. There is a flatness that comes with resignation. Instead of working on what you need to work on, you watch Netflix and don’t do what I call ‘fast lane’ activities. Fast Lane activities are what get you in the fast lane and get results fast.

Fast lane activities are: directly contacting people, sales calls, and private messages.

Medium lane activities include: following up leads, creating a webinar, creating a client attraction funnel, creating consistent content.

Steady lane activities include sending a weekly or twice weekly email to your list and updating your Facebook group regularly or posting really valuable content.

Footpath activities include: mucking around on Canva and trying to make things look pretty. Creating things that you don’t really need to create. Consuming a whole heap of content that is not needed but it’s fun.

If you look at your results, and your actions, you will probably find that you’re not getting the results you want, like the 10k a month, then you’re probably doing a lot of these footpath activities.

Think about the feelings, the doubt, the fear, and what thoughts are causing this result? “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t really know what I’m doing. Nothing works for me. Facebook’s too hard to figure out. I suck at technology.”

These thoughts are keeping you on the footpath and out of the fast lane. The TEAR Model is super easy, but it’s powerful to work out what you need to think, feel and take action on, to create the result you want. I encourage you to do this activity.

Do you need an external perspective on issues you are struggling with in your business? Are you finding it hard to unpack them and need to see your business blind spots?

Please get in touch with me. I give free strategy sessions for people who have not had one before with me.

You can book a strategy session with me here.

See you soon,

Kat

March 4, 2021 by katmillar Leave a Comment

What’s Most Important To Me In Business And Why

A few people have been asking me recently about what’s important to me in business.

Understanding your business values is one of the most powerful ways to prioritise and make great choices, and reduce decision-fatigue.

If you’re trying to roll out something in your business and you’re wondering why it’s not working, it may be because what you’re doing is not aligned with your values and doesn’t have the right energy and passion behind it.

When you outwork your values in your day-to-day life, you feel aligned. You’re not going in different directions – where part of you is really happy and satisfied about what you’re doing, and another part is frustrated.

The way you know you’re not aligned, is that you get tension in your body.

When you really stop and think about what’s most important to you in business and you strip away all the external things, like the incessant need to impress other people or the need to look good… you tap into the true source of inspiration inside you.

This is the FUEL that’s going to motivate you to keep going when business gets tough.

Business gets tough. It can be a roller coaster. It’s hills and valleys – it’s rarely smooth sailing. This is why we need to make sure we’re clear on our business values, because they keep us going and focused on the right things.

When we really tap into our ‘why’, and understand and honour what drives us at the deepest level, we feel aligned, relaxed, calm, and in flow. We feel motivated, energised and inspired to KEEP GOING, no matter what.

So I decided to unpack my business values with you, to get you thinking about what’s most important to you in your business, so you can plan and prioritise your actions that are aligned with your values.

I will take you on a journey to help you reflect on your business values, who you’re becoming, how happy you are with where you’re at right now, and how fast you’re evolving.

I’ll share my top five values in business and how I outwork these business values in my day-to-day life. I’ll share how you can determine your business values, how they’re different from your personal values, and how you can outwork them.

Answering powerful check-in questions at the beginning of a day, week, month, or quarter is one of the best ways to get alignment.

The more you ask yourself and answer powerful questions, the more you get powerful answers.

I ask myself who, how, what, where, and why questions regularly. These are valuable questions that help keep you aligned.

Here are the questions…

1 – Who Do I Want To Become More Of?

The first question to ask yourself is “Who do I want to become more of?”

Who are you becoming? Take time to think of your future you – your future identity, and future vision. This activity is SO powerful.

I learned this in a coaching course and I now do it with my clients.

Future Vision Activity

Imagine you’re 75 years old and someone’s coming to your house and interviewing you. And they ask you what’s it like being such a successful…(You fill in the blank.) When I did this, I said speaker, spiritual mother, philanthropist, author, and advisor.

When I’m 75, I don’t want to be retired. I still want to be writing, speaking, and taking more of an advisory role in my business. I want to be on the board of advisors for my company, and have a CEO looking after the day-to-day operations.

When I think about who I’m becoming, I’m thinking about that ultimate future. Who am I, becoming right now? Who do I want to become more of? If I keep taking the actions that I’m taking now, what trajectory is that leading me on?

If I want to become a successful speaker, I need to be doing things in my day-to-day life and putting things in my calendar, potentially every day, if not every week that grow me to become a successful speaker. These will eventually lead me to become that successful speaker and world-class coach.

You can also place characteristics around your ‘who’. So think about the character of who you want to be. For example, I want to be more kick-ass. I don’t mean intimidating, but to me, kick-ass people, are relentlessly dedicated to creating results.

I want to be that person who is kicking goals, in order to inspire other people, because inspiring people taps into my personal value of contribution.

Perhaps in your character, you want to be more patient. That’s one of my characteristics I want to develop this year, is being more patient. Maybe you want to become more kind, inclusive, or resilient.

If you want to be braver, you need to prove this to yourself by doing things that scare you. You prove it to yourself by doing things like Facebook Live videos or running a webinar even if you’re scared of tech and don’t feel like a good speaker.

2 – How Quickly Am I Evolving?

Ask yourself how. How quickly are you evolving? How are you evolving in business, or in your personal development? How quickly are you dedicated to catching what the issue is where you need to improve and working on it straight away instead of delaying it?

In order for me to grow quickly so I can help people who are struggling and suffering, I need to ask myself these ‘how’ questions, and so do you. We need to stop being doormen and start taking the fast lane instead of the footpath.

I was sharing in my Inner Circle group today about putting the accelerator on and choosing to stop cruising. How much time are you spending in the fast lane really accelerating your growth by facing the stuff that scares you?

How long do you spend facing those things that are in the next level of your comfort zone? If you think about your comfort zone as a boundary that’s around you, that boundary is made up of your fear, because you don’t want to go over that boundary into your next level.

Your next level life outside of your comfort zone is your growth zone, so your fear is keeping you in that boundary. f you want to grow quickly, you need to step out and face your fears. It’s here that you quickly evolve for the sake of the people watching your life and for the sake of those who you will help in the future.

3 – What Can I Do Today To Live From My Values?

Ask yourself, what can you do today to live from your own values? I really love asking myself this question. Sometimes I just go for a walk without my phone. And I just take one question with me. So just get the question in my mind and I walk until I get the answer for it.

What can I do today to live from my values? This question forces your mind to come up with your answer because you’re not asking ‘am I’, you are asking actually what can you do today to make living in your values a reality?

This is a powerful question because your mind is so resourceful and creative, and it will come up with the answers for you. And then you want to take action on them and actually do them.

4 – Where Do I Need To Improve?

Be honest with yourself, and ask yourself, Where do I need to improve? Where is it that I’m sucking or really failing at right now? Maybe you can fake it with other people, but don’t fake it to yourself.

If you’re eating a bag of chips every night, yet trying to lose weight, or if you’re scrolling on your phone for an hour every morning when you wake up, instead of doing something else that will progress your business or life, then you’re not being honest with yourself.

Really face yourself and don’t fake to yourself. Instead of thinking ‘one day’, take steps today to improve yourself. Let’s face it, we don’t know if tomorrow will come, so taking steps today is what is important.

5 – Why Is It Important For Me To Go To The Next Level?

Why is it important for you to go the next level? Why is it actually important for you to step out of that boundary where you’ve kept myself safe and small because of fear?

We’ve all got a next level to go to.

For some of us, it’s going to the next level in finances or to the next level in running events or writing a book.

Whatever it is, we’ve all got a next level and we’ve all probably been putting the next level off.

I feel like that’s the most common theme that I see with my clients. I see they want to do something and they procrastinate. We don’t procrastinate typically because we’re lazy, we procrastinate because we’re not clear on the benefits and the reasons why we should be doing something.

I often ask myself why it’s important for me and don’t just give a few answers. I will write at least 50 answers – usually 80-100.

I ask myself, for example, why is it important to do Facebook Lives each week, or why is it important to learn to do Insta stories or to write a blog each week?

My Personal Values

and

1- Freedom

My number one value in life and business is freedom. That’s why I left my full-time job in 2003 and I haven’t been a full-time employee since.

Freedom for me is about setting my own rules, being my own boss, and being free from the rat race I was in. Freedom is a higher value for me than security. It’s more important to me than a safe income.

2 – Growth

Look at how you spend your time and you will know your values. Look at your calendar. Is it filled with gym sessions, business events, etc. or is it filled with a whole lot of space where you sit and watch Netflix?

Look at what is on your walls and what kind of books you read. If you look at your audible account, what kind of books are in there?

You can see what your values are by looking at where you spend your time, energy, and resources. This will show you what you value.

3 – Health

Health and energy are really important to me. Having enough energy and making sure that I’m exercising regularly and nourishing my body, soul, and spirit.

Looking after my health and energy is about eating well, getting enough sleep, getting enough exercise, taking breaks, and going on holidays. These are all part of my health values.

4 – Connection

Spending time connecting with people and building relationships is one of my highest values. It’s part of the way I feed my soul. Connection is a value that I build into my business.

5 – Creation

It’s so important to me to create my own content, legacy items, and intellectual property and package it all up and share it.

My Business Values

With your personal values, you look at your life in every area.

With your business values, you want to think more specifically about what is most important to you in business. Think about how you’re serving people and what’s important to you in terms of your lifestyle. For example, to have integrity, to be honest, reliable, and give great customer service.

These are quite obvious, but there are some deeper things like what makes you unique and it becomes your manifesto. I like to set up business values that I’m aiming towards as guidelines and goals, rather than values I’ve necessarily arrived at.

1 – Radical Resilience

Radical resilience is doing what I know is the right thing to do, whether I feel like it or not. That encompasses discipline and encompasses consistency. It’s turning up with I feel like it or not – because I’ve made a commitment.

Radical resilience is also bouncing back. If I do an event and it doesn’t work as well as I wanted it to, I don’t wallow with it, I just keep going. I keep going until it works. It’s having an ‘until’ mindset.

When I look at my to-do list, I’ve got hundreds of action items on there. I’m going to just keep going through until they’re done, or I delegate them to someone. But I know that I’ll never give up. I just will not ever give up. Going back and giving up is just not an option for me. It never ever enters my mind.

2 – Authentic Expression

With authentic expression, I don’t always get it right. Sometimes I feel like I’m not fully expressing who I am. Sometimes I question who I am. I’m not really sure. I’m such a by-product of all my mentors that I’ve studied.

Am I really using my own authentic voice? This is something I keep working on and evolving towards. If you think of innovation, it’s often the combination of different ideas, plus someone else’s creativity added to it. So that’s something that I’m evolving to become.

3 – Extreme Ownership

Extreme Ownership is another of my high values. There’s a great book called Extreme Ownership. I recommend you read it. Extreme ownership is taking ownership of everything in your business and being responsible for it.

I’m 100% responsible for my reaction to what happens. I can’t control coronavirus, the economy, or all these other external things, but I can change my response to it and pivot to make my business better.

4 – Productive Organisation

Productive organisation and consistency are something I’m working towards. It doesn’t come naturally to me.

It’s something I have to train myself in as it’s not a natural gift or talent, despite people thinking that I’m very organised.

I strive to be organised. It’s like striving for excellence. Sometimes I have to launch things at 80% or 90% because the ROI of me getting that thing to perfection is just wasting time. And so I’ve got to just be consistent and be organised and just do my absolute best. But I have to let go of perfectionism.

5 – People-Focused Growth And Contribution

It’s not enough for me to just amass money, or just to build an empire. For me, it’s about how can I serve others or support them? How can I give back? How can I invest money into charities and causes that I care about?

I invite you to come up with your top five values if you haven’t already. It’s about growing every day towards your values.

P.S. Would you like to know exactly how to define your business values and outwork them, so you can accelerate your business faster?

I offer a free discovery session (first-time sessions) for people who want help to take their business to the next level.

I’ll map out a clear business roadmap for you to follow straight away, so you can get more clients and hit your freedom figure asap!

Apply for your free session here

See you soon,

Kat

January 21, 2021 by katmillar Leave a Comment

3 Things Your Business Game Plan Needs For A Successful 2021

Having a business game-plan sets the course for your quarter and your year.

Without it, you don’t have a roadmap to travel on so you can get off track and lost… With it, you have more clarity, direction and inspiration.

There’s a way to design your plan so that it feels exciting, and there’s a way that feels depressing…

A study done by the University of Scranton found that 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail. Why?

Because most people don’t have a successful plan to go with their goals.

We all need a clear plan for our business. Creating a clear business plan at the beginning of the year will help you achieve greater business success in 2021.

Today I’m sharing with you a powerful process that you can follow to create a successful business this year.

Here are 3 things your business needs to create a successful 2021 game-plan…

1 – Have A Clear Vision

The first essential element you need is a clear vision.

I recommend that your vision is always based on your ‘why’.

A powerful vision has a few elements to it…

1. Match your vision up with the identity of the person that you want to become.

I’ve done goal setting with clients for years and I’ve noticed the difference between people who match their vision with their future desired identity and those who don’t.

When I first started out as a personal trainer in 2001, I would get people to set goals around their weight.

After a while I realised that what was more powerful for many people is attaching their vision to an identity, for example being the kind of person who consistently goes to the gym, maintains a certain dress or pants size, does a marathon, or competes in a contest.

Make your goals line up with who you want to be. This is super powerful.

Think about the identity of the business owner you want to be.

Do you want to be a thought leader? Do you want to disrupt your industry? Do you want to be a fully booked coach? Do you want to be more courageous?

I’ve been a goal-setter since I was about 8-years-old. My first memory of setting goals was having a big scrapbook with a picture of dogs on the front of it. I would sit there on a Saturday afternoon and write my goals.

My goals back then were to have a million dollars, have a pet gorilla and own a lolly shop. Goals have always been a big part of what I do hahaha…

But when I was about 20, I started listening to Tony Robbins and that was when I really started writing my goals properly.

2. Break your goals into milestones

The second important factor is to break down your goals into achievable milestones.

This is a big game-changer.

If you want to be a guest speaker on a podcast, for example, you want to think through the steps you need to take to achieve this. What steps will you take to make the goal possible?

If your goal is to do 50 Facebook Lives this year, write out your plan for how you are going to do it. For example, you could lay out your steps of doing 1 Facebook Live a week to hit your goal.

3. Set Defining Words And Intentions

Every year I set 3 words for the year and these are the characteristics that I want to crown my year with.

In 2019, my words were discipline, fun and courage. And these words really shaped who I was in that year.

These aren’t tangible goals, but for example, if I’m the character trait of ‘disciplined’ then I will get my goals. If I’m courageous, then I’ll do consistent Facebook Lives and run more webinars and I will set my income goal higher.

In 2020, my words were explosion, ease and example. My life kind of exploded in the best possible way. Ease didn’t really happen as much as I would have liked, but that’s coming haha.

My 3 words for 2021 are fruitfulness, fulfillment and freedom.

Fruitfulness is being fruitful and having lots of self-care time, nature walks and taking time away from the business. However, when I am working in the business I’m really focused and productive.

Fulfillment is making sure you’re fulfilled in what you do. Tony Robbins says that success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.

Fulfillment is so important, especially if you have a massive vision and you’re in this for the long haul. Fulfillment comes when you are aligned with your values.

So you want to build your goals around your values.

Do you want to know what you value?

Look at your bank statements and see what are you spending your money on, because what we spend our money on is what we value.

Look at your home. What is on your walls, your bookshelf?

Look at your Google history.

All of these things tell us what our values are. And you can have different personal values to your business values, but they have to line up with the core of who you are and who you want to be.

One of my business values is radical resilience. Being resilient means I’m not going to stress out when things go wrong. I’m not going to react when technology isn’t playing the game. I might get a bit annoyed in the moment, but I’m not going to let it ruin my whole emotional state.

Authentic expression and creativity is another value I hold. I choose to show up, be real, and not be perfect. I share my vulnerability and my struggles to my communities.

I’m listening to a great book called ‘Extreme Ownership ‘and it’s the concept of radical ownership and responsibility. It’s owning our stuff and not being stuck in blame and excuses.

Extreme ownership is taking 100% responsibility for everything in terms of my thoughts, my actions, my beliefs, my values and my behaviours.

If you haven’t revisited your values and aligned them with your vision, I recommend that you take time to do this. Our vision can change and evolve over time, so it’s good to revisit them.

My vision is to equip, support and inspire millions of people to live on purpose, doing what they love, creating and contributing from a place of abundance and freedom. My vision is to help people be authentic and live the fullest expression of their potential.

Sometimes we need to grow into our vision. My vision is to inspire millions of people, but you start where you are at. Your vision needs to be inspiring, aspirational and energising.

If you haven’t revisited your vision wall recently, then I recommend that you do that. Put your vision up on your wall. Have it actually in your face and then make your decisions based on your vision.

Your mission then, is how you are going to outwork your vision. My mission is supporting and equipping business owners and leaders to do what they love and feel they are called to do. It’s to encourage business owners and leaders to use their unique brilliance and make a significant impact in the world.

When you have your vision and mission, then you can work out your delivery methods for how you will get your vision into the world.

2 – Have An Up-levelling Mastermind

Having a mastermind small group is one of my favourite things for enjoyment and group.

The whole purpose of the group is that it’s designed so that everyone grows into the best version of themselves and they do it together.

Doing things together is more powerful than everyone doing things individually. I love to do visioning with other people.

My sister Vicki and I do a regular summit. We call it our ‘KV’ (cavey!) Summit. We get together either in Australia or New Zealand, usually at a holiday resort or Air BnB.

If Vick is over we usually go to the Hunter Valley or Port Stephens. We spend 3 days together visioning, planning, goal setting and breaking things down into milestones at our summit.

This year we did our summer online because we couldn’t travel.

I also did a vision day with my partner Josh. We went to a beautiful park with a view and we just sat together and did the wheel of life. We talked about what we wanted, and did some coaching together which was awesome.

I did a mastermind with a couple of friends at my house also, where we literally spent 12 hours, visioning and planning. One person would take the hot seat and the other 2 would coach. It was incredible.

2020 was a huge year, and it was so good to sit back and re-vision what I wanted 2021 to look like.

I had to up-level my vision and doing it in a mastermind is so great, as everybody knows what each business vision is, and what goals they have.

Being in an up-levelling mastermind helps you stay accountable. You inspire each other and collaborate to bring out the best in each other. When you spend time with people who are going places and are reaching the heights, it’s going to rub off on you.

Who are you surrounding yourself with?

Are they influencers and high achievers? Do they want to push themselves? Do they want to hold themselves to a higher standard and potential?

Do they consistently want to meet you and not just have random meetups?

Are they committed to being reliable and supportive?

Having a supporting mastermind group is a game changer.

The great author Napoleon Hill talks extensively about the power of being in a mastermind and how it’s been such a key to his success. He is one of the world’s greats, so he’s worth listening to.

3 – Have A Focused Action Plan

Having a focused action plan where you know what you’re doing every day and every week and also where you’re heading towards that quarter is such a game-changer.

An action plan makes sure you’re not waking up in the morning and opening your laptop and getting lost in the sea of the internet and getting sucked into the internet black hole.

I moved house recently and I’ve created a bit of a different space in my office and set up my environment in a way where I don’t come into my little office until I’ve done all my morning self-care routine.

My morning self-care routine gives me a fresh mind and I can then sit down and know exactly what I’m doing each day.

I plan and schedule my day the night before. It sounds so boring, but we have to know what we’re doing, otherwise we will just waste so much time.

I’ve wasted so much time getting sucked into the internet and lost down rabbit holes. Instead of creating, we ended up consuming and it’s such a waste of our talent and our ability.

Without a game plan we become lost. Sports players have a game plan and they know if they are clear on their plan, then just need to execute it. The coach develops the plan for them.

To make your action plan, I recommend that you start with a brain dump of your priorities that you want to do for this year. It could be that you want to do more online networking, run more workshops, learn and develop certain skills like increasing your copywriting or sales and marketing skills.

Once you’ve got your priorities, then work out how you are going to measure your KPI’s. You might say you are going to spend 2 hours a week doing a Facebook course, learning how to create Facebook ads and test and measure them.

Or you might want to write 50 articles in 2021. So you set the big goal and then you set the numbers and steps to get you there.

An example is if I want to earn $100,000 in 2021 and you break that down by financial quarters. Then you have to earn $25k per quarter. So you would then work out how many clients you need each quarter to earn your target income.

Typically the year starts out slower and the growth increases throughout the year, so you might be a little bit more conservative in the first quarter. You then work out what you need to do to get those clients. That may be doing a certain amount of webinars or it may mean you need to create 5 new freebies and funnels with nurture sequences.

You work out the numbers so you have a focused action plan, so you know exactly what you are going to be doing on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Focused action plans help you keep on target with your goals and vision.

I’ve tried so many goal setting methods over the years, and I believe the 3 best things you can do straight away to ensure you are successful in 2021 is:

1 – Have a clear vision

2 – Have an up-levelling mastermind

3 – Have a focused action plan

If you’d like help creating a successful year in your business, my next free event is happening on the 6th of February, 2021.

I’ll be sharing how to write compelling copy that is going to help you attract new clients in 2021.

You can check it out here

See you over there,

Kat

P.S Want to chat one-on-one instead? You can book in for a free strategy session here.

December 28, 2020 by katmillar Leave a Comment

Fun Ways To Reflect On Your Year

2020 has been a crazy year for most people. It’s time to give yourself a pat on the back, chink your glass and celebrate your personal and business success!

With 2020 rapidly drawing to an end, I believe it’s important to look backwards at the year that’s been, before moving forward into the new year ahead.

At the end of every year, I take time for reflection on my personal life successes and my business successes and growth.

Taking the time to celebrate everything that you’ve achieved throughout the last year is so valuable.

It’s also a great way to take the learnings and grow from them.

I like taking myself on a date, where I go to my favourite cafe or park, sit under a tree, take out my pen and paper and reflect.

3 Ways To Reflect On Your Year

There are a few different ways I recommend you reflect on your year 🙂

1 – Do A Solo Date With Yourself

The first one is to do a solo date with yourself, which is my favourite thing to do. I love to go away by myself, somewhere out of the house, and sit with pen and paper and actually have a time of reflection, and just write and write.

2 – Do A Group Reflection

The second way is to do a group reflection, and I like doing this as well. I just tied up my Influences Inner Circle Program for the year, and we went around and encouraged each other and spoke out what we admired about each other.

I encourage this group to think about where they were last year in December 2019, and none of us knew about the craziness that was about to occur in the world.

None of us knew that in March a pandemic would impact our lives as much as it did.

I encourage you to acknowledge yourself for how you’ve handled one of the craziest years in your living history.

For me, 2020 was one of my favourite years, despite the loss, the stress and way our lives have changed, but for me it was a fruitful year.

Give yourself grace and kindness, because your nervous system has been through the wringer. Acknowledge yourself for everything that you have been through, acknowledge that it was probably one of the toughest years of your life and just be really kind to yourself.

3 – Create A Video Reflection

The third way of doing a reflection is to do a video reflection. You could record yourself a video and watch it back in a year’s time, or watch it back in a couple years’ time. You could do this on Zoom, FB Live or just a video on your phone.

Share some of your highlights, what you have gained and achieved, and what you would do differently. You can do this alone, or with your community.

3 Steps For Doing A Yearly Reflection

There are 3 steps that I use that might help you when you’re doing your yearly reflection.

1 – Go Through Your Calendar

The first thing I do is I go through my calendar, right from January to December. The easiest way to do this is to do a search. I compile a list so I can see it in front of me.

I write down the courses that I’ve crewed, the events, webinars and Facebook Lives I’ve held and the holidays I’ve had.

2 – Have A Logical Process

I put mine all my information onto a spreadsheet with filters on it.

I work out how many hours I’ve crewed for other people’s events, how many events I’ve run myself, how many Facebook Lives I’ve done, how many webinars I’ve held and I tally them all in a spreadsheet.

3 – Have a Creative Process

You may also want to have a creative process of reflection. A friend of mine took a day recently and created a snapshot of drawings of her year, a beautiful creative reflection of her life right now.

You might want to just summarise your year on one page, or put it creatively on a big piece of paper for what 2020 was like for you.

10 Reflective Questions To Ask Yourself

It’s important to have targeted questions that you ask yourself when you do a yearly reflection. This helps guide your reflections.

1 – What Went Well For You This Year?

Ask yourself what went well for you this year? What’s one thing or many things that went well for you?

I know it’s been a super challenging year for everyone, but this is important. You need to really acknowledge what you did well.

For me, being on lockdown forced my business to go full time online. This actually expanded my business. I took risks that I may not have taken if we didn’t have a lockdown.

I loved that this year I was not out and about all the time. I saved on petrol and I got to know myself a lot more. I got to see my non-negotiables, and what was really important to me.

I did my last live, in-person event in March. I did my very first 2-day weekend workshop, and then the WHO announced the pandemic. And so that was the last time I did an in-person workshop.

Despite things closing down around me, I pivoted and went fully online. This was a huge leap of faith for me and ended up being an incredible change for my business.

2 – What Are You Proud Of?

It’s important to write down what you are proud of. Is it doing your first Facebook Live? Or was it your first time doing social media posts?

What are you proud of that you’ve achieved in 2020?

I’m proud of my resilience. I’m proud that I quickly I just changed directions and pivoted to go full time online. I’m proud that I didn’t complain, I got excited.

3 – How Have You Grown Personally?

When entrepreneurs face challenges, it shows you what you are made of. We’re tough, we resolve challenges, we push through, we solve problems.

The leaders that are doing the best in the world, the most successful people are the ones solving the biggest problems. They create solutions and solve problems.

I’m proud that I’ve created solutions for myself and for my community during this crazy year of 2020. I can honestly say I’ve grown so much personally in this last year. Adversity forces you to grow and expand.

It’s in a crisis that you see what’s really inside of you. When everything’s calm, anyone can be calm, peaceful and joyous. But when the rubber hits the road and when the storms come, that is when your true inner strength comes out.

The storms show you what you’re made of. They force you to step up.

Write down all the areas you have grown personally this year. And boy, it’s been a crazy year where we have all had big chances to grow personally.

3 – How Have You Grown Professionally This Year?

The next question to ask yourself is, “How have I grown this year professionally?” Ask yourself what have you done professionally that has caused you to grow?

For me, I’ve been able to be able to build a strong community, which was really my big desire. For years, I’ve desired a really amazing community. And I’ve now got that. And I love every single one of my clients. I love working with them all.

I’ve said no to people throughout the year, so I can just keep saying yes to the right people. And I’ve finally got a book of clients that are incredible. I don’t just take anyone. I’m selective.

This requires a lot of faith and trust to believe that the right people will come to you if you allow the wrong people to pass by. I’ve let go of people that haven’t been the right match go, in order to keep spaces open to the right people.

I’ve run multiple different groups. I have the public community and I have 2 private communities. One community is the Client Attraction Accelerator and the other community is my Profit From Presenting Mastermind.

In these communities people grow professionally as individuals and they grow corporately also. I’m seeing the power of community and people encouraging and inspiring each others.

5 – What Did You Learn?

It’s important to ask yourself, “What have I learnt this year?” I did a lot of learning this year. I think learning can come as a by-product of life.

We learn from our business relationships and from the things we’ve invested in our lives. I’ve invested in 3 big programs this year, which was quite an investment for me.

I’ve always believed in the power of mentorship, but I’m really seeing my growth now. My business exploded as soon as COVID hit, and that was only because I had great mentors and because I pivoted fast.

Also I’ve attended and crewed many courses. I’ve learned so much more about marketing, copywriting, about Facebook ads, and there’s still so much more to learn.

I think it’s really good to be specific on the skills that you’ve been improving on and specifically the knowledge that you’ve gained in the year.

6- What Did COVID Teach You?

COVID really taught me the value of online technology. I know that sounds really funny, but we can sit at home and make money. We can have a 6-figure business, just sitting at home. And I think that’s incredible.

COVID has also taught me not to take things for granted, like going to the gym, going to church, hanging out with friends or just doing what you want. I’ve become so much more grateful for those things that I may have taken for granted before.

I’m very intuitive in business, and I’ve learned to listen to my gut feeling. I want to work with leaders who are committed, coachable and willing to learn and change. They don’t have to know a whole lot and they can be struggling, but I know I can help them.

If I don’t feel like I’m the best person to help someone, I will not take certain people on.

I know that when I invest my time and energy into people that that are going to do the work, then I’m going to grow also and the impact that I’m having on the planet is much bigger. This is all related to my values.

We’ve only got a certain amount of hours in our week. And it’s so important that you protect your own emotional energy. And you’ve got to go with what feels right.

7- What Has Changed That You Don’t Want To Go Back To?

COVID has changed a lot for a lot of people, but it has also brought positives. I’ve seen the value of being online. I love that people in New Zealand, England and America have all been able to attend my courses and events.

There are also downsides to online, and you definitely miss the energy of live events. I definitely want to go back to holding live events. That’s something that is on the cards for me and my community in 2021, as soon as we’re allowed safely.

But what I don’t want to go back to is just limiting my events to face-to-face events and not having that ability for people to be on Zoom and benefit.

I think what’s going to happen next year for a lot of events is it will be a hybrid – online and in-person, which I think is a beautiful thing.

Next year I’m going to be having more boardroom style in-person events, and also holding them on Zoom so that they can all be recorded and other people can benefit from them.

8 – What Is One Of Your Highlights?

I know this is a similar question to others, but what is one of the highlights of your year? What is one thing that really sticks out to you as being a real highlight?

I think one of my highlights was my birthday, because I got thoroughly spoiled, and it was just absolutely amazing.

9 – What Is One Of Your Happiest Moments?

What was one of your happiest moments in 2020? Just a time where you laughed and laughed and laughed and couldn’t control yourself.

Is there a happy moment that you can pinpoint as being one of your happiest of the year?

10 – What Advice Would You Give To Yourself In 2019, If You Could Go Back?

This is a fun one and it’s really interesting. What advice would you give to yourself if you were back in 2019? If you could go back and knowing what you now know, what advice would you give to yourself?

I think I would tell myself to be prepared for anything. To appreciate everything, because anything can just be taken away in a moment.

I encourage you to do these 10 reflection questions by yourself – take yourself out on a private little date with yourself and reflect, and also in a group as well.

This way you can go forward into the next year, taking the learnings from the last year and running with them into the new year.

Have a wonderful, happy new year and may your 2021 be very prosperous, successful and fulfilling!

Have fun with your friends and family, no matter what’s going on in the world and remember to take lots of deep, refreshing rest.

See you in 2021!

Kat