You Wanna Get Ripped?

There’s a weight training class at my gym that I love because it’s like having a personal trainer put you through a tough workout. It’s always a full class, no matter what day, which is an environment that gives me a tad more incentive to keep going one more rep – I mean if THAT girl can do it…

At one point, years ago, I had my personal training certification, so you would think I could easily do these workouts on my own. Sure, I could. I know how. But I never push myself as hard or as far. I can get in a good workout by myself, just not a great one.

It was the day after class earlier this week, while walking to get lunch and as my glutes, quads and hamstrings, et al were letting me know how great a workout it had been, when I started thinking about the correlation with business.

First, you’ve got the people who show up at the gym, get on the bike, open a magazine and kind of pedal along as they read. Those are the ones I want to shake and say, HEY, what-are-ya-even-doing-here?! Get MOVING or give up the bike to someone who’s gonna USE it. I’ll assume you’re not one of those types and move on.

Then you’ve got the people who read the fitness magazines or do a few sessions a year with a personal trainer, just to stay up on trends and techniques. These are the equivalent to the business owners who study and learn all the strategies and tactics for creating a successful business.  Is this you? You find out what to do and set about implementing everything on your own for good results.

However, if you want great results, you need to put yourself in a setting that inspires you to push just a little harder on a regular basis. You join the classes, you work with a trainer regularly. In business, you get around other owners and entrepreneurs in a structured setting. For me right now, it’s a group called Her Corner, a local, face to face network of women business owners who are all committed to helping each other build thriving businesses. We meet in person in our local groups every other month, as an entire area group on the other months and connect via our closed Facebook group regularly.

For Kris, it’s a similar community in an online only format. And for Jason, it’s an informal group of colleagues nationwide who meet three times a year and talk by phone the other months. To be clear, what we’re talking about here is not the same as a team of people or employees who help you do the work. This is a person or group to sustain you as the business owner.

It comes down to accountability and support. You need both. You need someone standing in front of you, encouraging you to do ONE. MORE. CURL. driving you beyond your comfort zone. Someone challenging you to add another zero to that annual revenue goal. Reminding you of why you’re doing this – whether you want to look good in that bathing suit or create a legacy for the next generation.

Then you also need someone making sure you’re using correct form, spotting you on those last two bench presses so you don’t get hurt. That’s the person checking in at the end of the day to confirm you’re stepping away from the computer and spending time with your family or pushing you to take a few days off when you’re on the verge of burning out.

You want to get a good workout or a great workout? Put yourself in the right setting to see the results you’d like.

The Best Part of a Big Event

Hello, my name is Lori and I admit I’ve fallen off the (blogging) wagon. It’s okay, I’m not hurt. Here we are four weeks into 2011 and I’ve not written a single blog post this year yet! Can I plead that my writing energies have been going towards the daily thank you notes I committed to in the last post of 2010? I could, but that would be lame. As mentor Paul Martinelli says, “the only thing worse than an excuse is a good excuse.”

I actually heard Paul say that once again when he was on stage at The Big Event 2011 this past weekend. What a great event to give a kick-start to the goals. If you haven’t been attending learning events and conferences, boo to you. But instead of beating yourself up for the past, vow to change this oversight now and schedule some for this year. It’s not just about what you learn from the speakers, it’s the connections you make with other attendees, which can be even more valuable.

There was a group of young entrepreneurs who drove straight through from Idaho to West Palm Beach to attend this conference. That is an example of a no excuses approach. When you want something enough, when the WHY of what you’re doing is big enough, nothing stands in your way. Challenges don’t deter you. You do whatever it takes.

Carrie Wilkerson, Dr. John Maxwell, Randy Gage, Les Brown, Paul Martinelli, and Bob Burg all spoke at The Big Event and in one way or another touched on that idea. All good stuff.

And back to the connections with other attendees, yeah, that was the best part! I’ve been working with The Newsletter Guru Jim Palmer for months and we finally got to meet in person. What happiness to brainstorm with him over dinner! It was a joy to reconnect with author and person extraordinaire Svetlana Kim; her silly enthusiasm for The Gratitude Cookies made me laugh. Plus I got to make a ton of new acquaintances with really cool people who are building fun, interesting businesses.

Whether it’s an industry event or a general business or personal development conference, make arrangements to attend at least ONE (if not more) this year and see how many ideas and new friends you come away with. Here are the next ones I’m considering (although I’m going to have to choose, as they’re these two are the SAME days!):

Glazer Kennedy Super Conference
Extreme Business Makeovers

Which ones do you recommend or are you going to this year?