True to form, Caroline Donahue has provided us with another fabulous post about how to play to win in the game of business. Read on for your inspiration of the week!

Caroline–Thank you so much for yet another fantastic post! WMT blog followers-enjoy!

**Guest Post from Caroline Donahue of Remabulous Coaching.

Business can be a game: Three tools that help you play to win.

Let’s face it- given the choice, you’d prefer to win in your business, right? You’d love to celebrate a tremendous victory, a slam dunk, or slide that championship ring on your finger.

So how do you make the equivalent happen for your work?

These three tips will help propel you to a higher RBI when you apply them consistently:

1. Focus on the outcome you are seeking. I have to thank Jariek Robbins, who I have been working with the past two months, for this one. If you focus on your outcome and measure your progress by how close you are to that outcome, you are more likely to succeed. Rather than making a lot of to-do lists that feel like obligations and busywork, simply shoot for the goal you want. Fall in love with results, not the elaborate process you have created that you think will take you there. You have succeeded when the end goal has been reached. Put your attention there.
2. Train your weak muscles. Many of us are taking on new roles by becoming entrepreneurs and owning businesses. I like to think of familiar skills as large muscles- biceps and quads that we can count on to carry a heavy load. However, we have a lot of other skills we need to learn and these are like the tiny muscles you find out about after a yoga class that tried new poses. Don’t expect all yoru skill sets to perform like large muscles. Do smaller reps of new activities or get help. For example- writing is a large muscle set for me, but bookkeeping is a small one. I can write for hours, but if I tried to do all my bookkeeping, I might tear something. Be gentle on yourself when you learn something new, practice regularly for short spans of time, and you will race ahead!
3. When you fall off the horse, get back on. A batter who makes a good hit one out of three times is considered exceptional and probably commands a huge paycheck and even more respect in the game of baseball. Yet we expect ourselves to hit 100% of the pitches that are thrown at us 100% of the time. This gives us no room for failure, which is one of the greatest learning tools out there. Congratulate yourself on the hits you make, and know that you will lean from those who pass you by. If you choose to take a lesson from each unexpected outcome, you will win every time a ball gets thrown your way. And if you gave up each time you missed a pitch, or never got back on the horse after you fell, you would be wasting that knowledge you worked so hard to gain. Failure is knowledge, too. The approach to failure Spanx founder Sarah Blakely describes above in this video is particularly useful- check it out!

So, try these tips out this week. If you focus on outcome rather than staring at a long laundry list of to-do items, I am sure that will push you ahead all by itself. But do remember to avoid straining new skill muscles will too much pressure and catalog those unexpected twists of fate as more value in your experience file and I am sure you will be slamming business baskets in no time!

Keep up the good work!

________________________________

Caroline Donahue is the founder and owner of Remabulous Coaching, which serves and entrepreneurs and business owners through business coaching and training in video marketing.  Caroline has over ten years’ experience working both in the worlds of psychology and the arts. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and also trained at Johns Hopkins University, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, and in Expressive Arts at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. She works in person and through phone sessions, workshops, and teleseminars. Look for a new package that incorporates business coaching AND video training coming soon! When not firing up the creative community, Caroline is an avid reader, novelist, knitter, film fanatic and conscious bookkeeper.  She eagerly awaits the opportunity to work with you on creating your dream job as well as your dreamed-of life.

I was immediately attracted to her because 1. she was a woman that made up words like the Wild Web Women at WMT, and 2. I learned that her profession was helping professionals Re-Write their Story to Create a Remabulous Life, how cool is that!!??

Caroline and I both share a passion for helping professionals thrive.  Her approach and Master’s In Psych made her very therapeutic (and perfect!) invite to guest post on the WMT blog to help our readers get inspired and own their professional success.

Web Marketing isn’t just about search optimization, emails, websites and social media, it’s about bringing your passion to the forefront to attract the right clients.  (People want to play with fun, functional people!)

Caroline – thanks for the great post!  WMT blog followers – enjoy!

**Guest Post from Caroline Donahue of Remabulous Coaching

Find peace and strength in a crazy time – the Remabulous way!

Caroline Donahue of Remabulous is Remarkable AND Fabulous!

Greetings wonderful readers of Web Marketing Therapy’s fantabulous blog! My name is Caroline Donahue, owner of Remabulous Coaching. (Remabulous = remarkable + fabulous)

I work with creative professionals and help them break down large-scale projects into steps that are manageable and fun.

I am so honored to be able to connect with you through this guest post. During these crazy times we are witnessing, I am seeing many clients who feel like they are being tossed around a big wild ocean in a tiny little boat. Many of us are finding that it is much easier to get sucked into overwhelm and fear these days.

We don’t have to let fear run the show. In fact, working with that fear can be the key to moving us forward towards our goals.

Here is the process I use with clients to help them get their professional boat back on track:

First, write a list of every fear that is coming up for you. And I mean everything.  Yes, you need to put the “fear of living in a cardboard box” or “moving into the garage and subletting your home”.  “They’re all going to laugh at me” should go on there, too.  Some people find it easier to leave a pad of paper out in their workspace so they can add to it as they think of fears.

When that list feels complete, set it aside for a day or two.  Let it settle.  Then look at it again with fresh eyes.  How many of these fears are really just anxiety?  These are the ones that might make you laugh as you read them again.  Then pay attention to the fears that feel like legitimate concerns.  Put stars next to them and set the list aside again.

Next, we’re going to work with that part of us that wanted to start working in this amazing creative

Own the fear, move past it to have success!

business in the first place. The part that sings when we think about the work we are putting out in the world. I promise that part is still there. Getting the fear out of the way makes this part easier to find.

Sit quietly and close your eyes. You might want to light a candle or some incense, too. Feel the excited and inspired part of you come forward. Then ask it, “Why do I do this work that I do?  What is my vision for my business?” Sit for a few minutes and let the answer come. Then write down what you get.

Many of us work in creating visions, but I find it is much easier to contact our centered place once we let the fear speak first.  It will stay out of the way if it feels like it’s gotten to speak its peace.

Now look at the answer you got.  Think of the reason you are doing this as a powerful compass that you can take with you whenever you work on your business.  If you have a compass on your boat, you can learn to navigate around the storms and still find your harbor.

Revisit the list of your fears. Look at the starred items. Then read through your “Compass” writing.  How can you hold onto those values while still addressing the fear?  I am sure that having this compass as a reference will help you come up with new and more empowered ideas.

Keep the compass writing where you can reach it easily. Read it on a regular basis and when you are making big decisions. Think of each decision as an opportunity to tack in your boat- will the choice you plan to make take you closer to or further away from your compass vision and your end goal?

By navigating from an internal authority, you will feel stronger when dealing with realities we can control or predict outside. Hold on to what is important to you and you will find more peace right now.

Caroline – thanks for a GREAT post!!   Where were you when I was going through the fear of launching Web Marketing Therapy !!?? 

If you’d like to work on your work process individually, please contact Caroline at info@remabulous.com.  Caroline is available for individual and group coaching.  She blogs at Remabulous.typepad.com and her newsletter sign-up is: www.remabulouscoaching.com.