PAT ALTVATER Welcome to Q4, 2022 Elite Experts Network AFP Marketing PatAltvater.com How did the time go by so quickly this year, amazing, right!? We’ve heard the old saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to Plan, is Planning to Fail.” In the past, if someone asked me for a favorite quote, that would be mine. However, I have a new favorite now: “Strategy without tactics is a daydream; tactics without strategy is a nightmare.” ~ Mark Schmukler I’ve seen both, strategy without action and tactics without strategy, andhe’s right, neither turns outwell. Tobe successful with marketing, we need an integrated plan that starts with strategy and includes the right tactics to implement the strategy. I’ve created the Intentional Marketing Planning Method™ that has three steps to ensure that strategy and tactics are both implemented and work together. An intentional focus results in a way of thinking about your business and life that’s committed, purposeful and deliberate, which is a TALL order, but so needed, in the environment we’ve been experiencing over the last three years. Have you started thinking about your marketing plan for 2023? How about for Q1 of 2023? If not, head over to my blog on AFP Marketing and read about the three steps in the Intentional Marketing Planning process. If you need some help, reach out to me at pat@afpmarketing.com and together we can create a roadmap for your business for 2023. I’m also considering creating a virtual workshop for a small group of people towork on creating theirmarketing plans for 2023. If you are interested in being part of that group, let me know via email. If you need some help coming up with tactic ideas for 2023 or for Q4 2022, go grab a copy of my list of Intentional Marketing Tactics. Wishing you a prosperous Q4! Pat
Personal Growth Strategies SOAR to SUCCESS CONTENTS Magazine 04. 10. 24. 12. 16. 18. 14. 36. 34. 32. 21. 31. 22. 26. 28. 38. 39. Core Business Strategies Business Acceleration Strategies If It’s Broken, Fix It By Diane Helbig The Wandering Mind By Pat Bennett Why being an Entrepreneurial Leader Rocks By Janet Kendall White Fix Online Sales Problems By Mark Allen Roberts Be Intentional About Your Culture By Megan Patton The Role of Training in Employee Engagement By Lisa Ryan Key Tax Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 By Jim Fisher Can Cloud Prepare Your MSP Clients for the Unexpected? By Jeanne DeWitt Do Your Big Goals Scare You? Turn Fear Into Success! By Melanie Rembrandt Book Recommendation Soar to Success With Speaking Podcast Are You Persistent In Your Pursuit Of Success? By Jack Klemeyer Soar with Yoga & Meditation By Heather Wiegering Pace Yourself for a Healthy Life By Design By Karen Cupp Our Favorite Videos Our Contributors Cover Feature: David Wood Shares How To Find the Mouse in the Room and Soar to Success
DavidWood Shares HowTo Find the Mouse in the Room and Soar to Success David Wood has always been interested in how things are put together and how they work. He excelled in school and was very systems oriented, but his social skills such as, intimacy, vulnerability and authenticity were lacking. He found that the old adage, ‘You just don’t know, what you don’t know’ was true for him. “The first 25 years of my life were about money, systems, and business. The second half of my life has been more about the system of being human. I tell my business clients, if all youwant is increased sales and more money, you should go to someone else. I want to know what makes them tick and what makes them happy. When my client is on his deathbed, I want him to say, I gave it everything and really lived my life to the fullest.” A former Consulting Actuary to Fortune 100 companies, David left his cushy Park Avenue job 20 years ago to build the world’s largest coaching business. He became #1 on Google
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Feature Article for “life coaching,” serving an audience of 150,000 coaches, and coaching thousands of hours across 12 countries. David coaches’ business owners, executives, and teams, to produce extraordinary results through authentic, transparent communication. He was elected to the exclusive Transformational Leadership Council alongside such thought leaders as Jack Canfield, Don Miguel Ruiz, and Marianne Williamson. David has appeared on over 200 shows and podcasts, plus helps business owners and other individuals solve issues and become more successful. His approach supports people so they can understand the issues behind their actions and find solutions, that work, to make them better humans. David found that over the years he had to learn to lead himself before he could successfully lead others. To do that he had to identify and name the things that bothered him. We’ve all heard of the saying “there’s an elephant in the room.” David discovered there’s another animal in the room too - something a person is afraid to talk about, or address. In his newly released book, Mouse in the Room, he calls these mice. “An example of a mouse could be, you are late to a meeting, and you are embarrassed. You are wondering if the other people are annoyed with you for being late. You first must learn to lead yourself and ask, what are you actually feeling, what do you want and don’t want. That is a leadership move and takes courage to look that deep inside.” In his book, Mouse in the Room, David identified eight different types of mice that could be in the room when you are communicating with another. He shared three that are themost common for entrepreneurs to experience, although we all probably face all eight at one time or another. The first discussed was Desire Mouse. Do you have a desire to lose weight, eat healthier, spend more time with family, or do you just tolerate the lack of success in those areas, because those goals are not important enough to make them a reality? Becoming aware of the things you really want is a win. “If you are a business owner and someone is five minutes late to a meeting, but you want them to be five minutes early, that is a DESIRE Mouse.”
Increased revenues, more client retention, more upsells from your sales force, more qualified employees are all examples of DESIRE Mice. Another mouse is the Toleration Mouse. We fail to make our Desires a reality because we tolerate less than what we really want. The business owner TOLERATES an employee being late. He accepts less than desirable sales numbers and hires employees that are less than what he hoped for. A third mouse is the Story-telling Mouse. This mouse shows itself when we tell ourselves, and maybe the rest of the world, a story to justify, or explain, what is really happening. We’re telling ourselves stories all of the time; the problem is we think of our stories as reality. When we accept less than desirable results, do we create a story in our imagination to justify less than successful results? “Here’s an example of the Story Telling Mouse: a person you work with seems to be standoffish and does not seem to want to interact with you. You create a story that you have done something to alienate and offend that person, but you really don’t know for sure.” The best way to solve this issue is to approach the person, strike up a conversation and ask if
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Feature Article there is something that you have done to alienate him and tell him, or her that you would like to apologize for any past issue, if there was one. When you have identified a mouse, you can use David’s 3-D Process to further analyze the impact of that mouse on yourself and the relationship and decide what action to take. He has a free 3-D Process worksheet that can be found at www.mouseintheroom.com. The 3-D Process The first D stands for Discover. The worksheet helps you discover what is really going on. In this step we get clear on our feelings and motivations around a mouse. If someone is continuously late and it bothers you, what is really the issue? You may feel disrespected because the person, who is late does not value your time and effort. During the discover stage you also put yourself in their shoes – what might be happening for them to cause the action that triggered your mouse. Maybe they were busy and really want to meet, but just couldn’t be on time. The second D stands for Decide. In this part of the process, you decide whether this mouse is worth naming or not. Are you willing to accept the consequences of what might happen to your relationship by bringing the mouse up to the other person. Is the risk
worth it for the possible upside. Once you have identified the problem a decision must be made to reengage that person, resolve the issue, or write them off. The final D is Disarm. If you’ve decided to name themouse, this stage is about setting the scene for your mouse to be received in the best possible light. Even though you may be irritated that the lateness issue wastes your time and shows disrespect, rather than a direct confrontation with the person, begin a conversation by sharing your positive intent, explaining why you want to discuss it and get their consent. Once they agree to the conversation, you name the mouse. This method disarms the person, and your empathy becomes a positive way to start the conversation and find a way to help resolve their lateness issue. David also believes in the power of video communication. When someone, a business associate, or potential client can see you on video your message becomes much more powerful and memorable. “Video is a much better method of communication. The audience can see and feel your positive energy coming through the screen. It becomes much more believable.”
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Feature Article 3 Keys to Soar to Success When Soar to Success asked David what three personality traits he found in most successful people, he said: 2 1 3 Courage “80% of small businesses fail because the owner won’t do the things that make them uncomfortable. You must have the courage to do the things that you don’t want to do, the things that the unsuccessful businesspeople won’t do.” Play and have FUN “You’ve got to be someone people want to be around. So, if you are enjoying life, you must have a positive mental attitude. You are enjoying what’s coming in life. I’ll call that play and fun.” Growth Mindset “Always seeking ways to grow personally. A need to be a better person six months from now than you are today.” Mouse naming is a simple, repeatable approach for conflict resolution, tough conversations, badass leadership, more influence, thriving teams, deep connection, being truly seen, and real confidence. By naming the mice in the room, we are able to share our true feelings, thoughts and body sensations, of which the other person may have no clue, resulting in more authentic relationships. If you would like to download the worksheet, learn more about David and his book, “Mouse in the Room,” visit www.mouseintheroom.com. There’s a link in the menu at www.mouseintheroom.com to apply for coaching with David. He does a free session first just to see if coaching is actually going to be right for you. We enjoyed our conversation with David, he gave so many more examples that we could include here, so go to YouTube or iTunes to experience the entire conversation.
You know the adage, ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.’ This is something that happens repeatedly in business. We get so used to a process or system that we just keep at it, even when it stops working. Truth is, it may never have worked. It might have been a bright idea of someone in leadership, so it was adopted without question. There is real value in reviewing processes, policies, and procedures on a regular basis to ensure they are all useful. If It’s Broken, Fix It By Diane Helbig If we take a look at various areas of business, we can see the value in regular review. Human Resources In our ever-changing world we are consistently confronted with new issues that can require additions or adjustments to HR policies. Social media is a prime example. Most companies struggled to figure out if, and how to implement an effective social media policy. Many waited too long and only implemented policies once an issue presented itself.
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Business Acceleration Strategies Sales and Marketing Too many organizations implement sales practices that don’t work. Someone, somewhere, at some time extolled the virtues of a strategy that the leadership wholly adopted. However, no one takes the time to look back and identify whether the strategy has worked. If the results aren’t stellar, everyone and everything except the strategy is blamed. It must be the salesperson. They must not be following the practice to the letter. Or it must be the prospects. After all, we all know they lie. Word to the wise: if you are expecting results that aren’t materializing, it’s time to review your sales strategy. There’s a good chance that is the problem. When it comes to marketing, it is essential that you monitor your processes and adjust when necessary. How we market, where we market, who we market to changes over time. It stands to reason that our tactics have to change as well. These two areas of business are simply examples of opportunities to fix what is broken. Embrace the whole concept of questioning how your company operates and encourage others to do the same. Your staff knows what is working, and what isn’t. They are closest to the processes. When you develop a culture of egoless curiosity you will discover untold opportunities for improvement, and growth. There are few things as frustrating as engaging in practices or having to follow policies that don’t truly work. The people on the frontlines get it. So, even if you are too far removed from the day to day, you have people who can help you fine-tune the ‘how-tos’ so the results you are seeking are realized.
Why being an Entrepreneurial Leader Rocks By Janet Kendall White Entrepreneurial thinking is not just for entrepreneurs or for those who own businesses. If you work as an employee in an organization of any size, you might wonder why you would want to be an entrepreneurial leader. Here are just a few of the reasons: • It allows you to fully leverage the value and creative potential of employees • You accomplish more, adding more value to the organization
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Business Acceleration Strategies • Your example will develop the ability of your employees to self-reflect and selfcorrect • It feels good What is it? “Entrepreneurial leadership is a mindset that focuses organizations on turning problems into opportunities that create economic and social value,” says Babson College President Stephen Spinelli Jr. Roebuck (2004), defines entrepreneurial leadership as “organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal using proactive entrepreneurial behavior by optimizing risk, innovating to take advantage of opportunities, taking personal responsibility and managing change within a dynamic environment for the benefit of [an] organization.” So, if it is so great to be an entrepreneurial leader, how do you do it? Most of it stems from our mindset, which is the foundation, though it does not end there. Developing a growth mindset versus fixed (see Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck), having an internal locus of control versus external, learning to own and often extend the gap between stimulus and response are good places to start. Once that foundation of the right mindset is built then we move to the skills needed, all of which can be developed by any leader. One skill is learning to recognize opportunities, they are all around us regardless of where we are or what type of organization, we are in. Seeing problems as opportunities and teaching those that we lead through our words and our actions how to think that way and how to identify them is another important skill. Once you recognize the opportunity, knowing how to collaborate with others to develop solutions and/or influence others regarding your solution becomes a necessary skill. Next, how is your network or community within your organization? Have you developed the credibility and respect with those you lead and those around you to execute on ideas, to accomplish the objectives that you have set before you? That requires the people skills to network, develop relationships, and deal with conflict in a productive way. Once again, all skills that we as leaders can learn. One of the things that stymies some of us if we have the right mindset and we have the skills is actually putting it all together and taking the appropriate action. Appropriate being a key word and sticking with the action even when we hit obstacles. Over and over again when we listen to different types of success stories, we will hear how persistence played a key role. Having the will or grit to persist when things get a little tough in some way. Are you an entrepreneurial leader? We always have improvements we can make in our leadership even if we possess all the right mindset and skillset. Feel free to reach out to discuss or learn more Janet@berkshiregroupinc.com. “Entrepreneurial leadership is a mindset that focuses organizations on turning problems into opportunities that create economic and social value,” says Babson College President Stephen Spinelli Jr.
The Role of Training in Employee Engagement By Lisa Ryan It can probably be safely said that no employee ever quit a job because of “too much training.” Not only is it important to invest in your team, but you also want to make sure that you’re doing it the right way. When employees feel that their managers value them enough to invest in their personal and professional development, it increases loyalty, engagement levels, and productivity. Unfortunately, too many managers believe that if they spend “all of that money on training, employees will just take that knowledge and quit.” Here’s a little food for thought – what if you don’t invest in them, and they stay? Another thing to keep in mind is to make sure that your training efforts are not punitive. Don’t “send” someone for training because you think they need to be “fixed.” After spending several years as a contract trainer, I can tell you that we lovingly refer to those individuals as “hostages” or “prisoners.” You are not getting any return on your training costs.
However, when you let them know that you are making an investment in them, and you follow up with them to see what they learned from the training and ask for ideas they would like to implement, your investment pays off – many times over. Here are three essential elements of a successful training program. Analyze Actual Training Needs. There are all kinds of “bright, shiny objects” out there when it comes to training. Of course, you want to keep your employees up to speed on the latest developments. However, spending the time to understand how your team members are working now, what’s changing in their roles, and how urgent this new training compares to other business priorities makes a huge difference in the value you receive. Be Versatile. Each of your employees learn differently, and at a different pace. Even SOAR TO SUCCESS / Business Acceleration Strategies employees who are doing the same job often understand their role in vastly different ways. When you recognize the various learning styles, and consider your employees’ learning strengths and challenges, it will help you to improve your professional development outcomes. Train your trainers. Training is a learned skill, just like anything else. When employees are nervous or uncomfortable speaking to their peers, they probably won’t perform at their peak. Offer some kind of training “on-boarding” process to help your potential employee trainers identify different training methods and learning styles. Help your trainers get comfortable with the tech they’ll use. Encourage them to shadow your top trainers to see how it’s done and get comfortable with the training role. When you put some thought into your training curriculum, the ROI on your investment will be measurable and will give your leadership team the results they are looking for.
For over 20 years I’ve shared how to fix sales problems. There is a new growing sales problem: Online Sales Problems A recent study shared 33% of buyers prefer to buy online without engaging with a salesperson. ( And the trend line is growing) What are online sales problems and how can we fix them? There are numerous online sales problems you’ll face as your site grows. Fortunately, most are easily fixed with some time and patience. Here are some of the most common. Inadequate Communication Not being able to reach services means a customer is unlikely to return and may leave a bad review. This is a shame because it’s easier than ever to communicate with customers online these days. Some of the best options include email, forms, and livechat. Livechat is anexpected feature, and some of the best live chat for small business includes Click4Assistance. People Can’t Find You Over 90% of people search online for a service before deciding to use one. But what if you aren’t showing up in those searches? That’s where you Fix Online Sales Problems By Mark Allen Roberts
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Business Acceleration Strategies must form an SEO and marketing plan. SEO helps with your search result ranking. Online Sales Problems Include Cart Abandonment Shopping cart abandonment reportedly costs online retail $18 billion per year. That’s a staggering amount, and your business could be losing out. Here’s how to prevent it: • Be upfront about shipping costs long before the final checkout stage. • Use analytics software to identify your key abandonment areas. • Always be clear about the total cost of a current purchase throughout the sales process. • Use standardcheckout formswithsecure certificates such as SSL servers. Misinformed or sudden shipping costs are one of the main reasons people cancel a sale. So always be honest about shipping as early in the checkout process as possible. Cybersecurity and Hacking A significant problem with modern business is cybersecurity. Hacking affects all types of business, regardless of size and prominence. In fact, being a smaller business makes you a bigger target since hackers don’t expect a solid defense. So don’t let them win by using a solid cybersecurity plan or outsourcing. Summary Some of the most common online sales problems are easily rectified with dedication. These include beingmore communicative, reducing cart abandonment, and cybersecurity. If your team has sales problems you would like to fix, with your sales team and or online let’s schedule a call.
Company culture serves as the background for everything the company does. It incorporates philosophies around how the company treats its people, its customers and vendors and how they are perceived both in the marketplace and as an employer. Culture drives conversations around values, implementation of policies, development and growth of employees and how to both on-board and offboard individuals. In short, the culture will define how people behave within the company. Often, a company culture has evolved into something that isn’t really aligned with the overall values and strategic direction of a company. Culture can actually work against the achievement of strategic objectives if it is not aligned properly. One company client with whom I worked was frustrated. The owners’ wanted a flexible workforce, but the employees were timeclock driven, though all were salaried employees. In this company, everyone arrived at exactly 8am, at 12:00 everyone would get up and go to lunch andreturn to theirdesksat exactly1pm. At5pm, there was a steady stream of people walking out the door. No matter how much work was piling up, the employees were committed to an 8-hour day, and not a minute more. This company had at one time in their past established expectations around the workday that encouraged this compliance with an exact number of hours. The new owners wanted a workforce that would focus on job completion within customer deadlines. They By Megan Patton Be Intentional About Your Culture
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Business Acceleration Strategies were willing to offer flex time, comp time and other arrangements that would allow their individuals to focus on getting the work done, and not minding the clock. If they stayed late one night, they could come in later the next day. Changing this culture took a significant amount of effort and conversation. Communicating to employees the fact that company values focused on serving the customer and meeting deadlines meant that some days, work would go late. However, when client projects were completed on time, employees could come later or leave earlier to compensate for the times they stayed late. It was fairly difficult to change the mentality of the employees, as the timeclock culture was so prevalent and had been for decades. It took some incentives, a lot of encouragement and level of trust-building in order for the changes to gradually be made. Owners were up front with employees on the impact that ontime delivery had on their ability to be paid on time, which had a positive impact on company cash-flow, resulting in improvements for the employees. Part of the solution had been an increased level of transparency on the part of the owners: sharing their vision and goals with employees and drawing a straight line from employee contributions to company success to employee rewards. Luckily, this company was able to shift their culture successfully. In fact, currently, approximately80%oftheemployeesareremote workers, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. The key to this culture shift was the willingness of the owners to increase transparency, share expectations, and wildly increase communication. It worked!
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SOAR TO SUCCESS / Book Recommendation GIFT-OLOGY The Art and Science of Using Gifts to Cut Through the Noise, Increase Referrals, and Strengthen Client Retention By John Ruhlin Reading this book will provide you with the basics of using gifts to cut through noise, increase referrals, and strengthen client retention. I’ve been giving gifts for years in my business, so I didn’t know how much I’d learn from reading this book. It turns out, quite a lot! I’ve always believed in the importance of showing appreciation, but this book gave me some ideas of the types of gifts to give and what not to give, ever! Those never give gift items include food, gift cards, and consumables. The idea is to gift something that will last and be used for a long time, so the person who receives it will be reminded of you every time they use the item. However, they shouldn’t be reminded because your logo is on the gift – that’s a big no-no! Instead, it could have the name of the person who received the gift engraved on it. Reading this book, you’ll discover: • Why Giftology isn’tanexpense...it’san investment that can pay off with huge dividends. • How to practice Giftology on a tight budget... it’s easy and very effective. • How Giftology turns existing clients into your best salespeople. • Why (and how) gifts with a relatively low value can trump something expensive. • When is the best time to send gifts? (The answer may surprise you.) • How to unleash a Referral Factory, a small army of influencers vouching for you no gimmicks, no catches. • Find out how Giftology can transform your supply chain. • The ten worst gifts...definitely avoid these. I love that he refers to the red ocean philosophy. He says: “Does it feel like you work in a ‘red ocean filled with sharks?’ Eat or be eaten. Fierce competition. Continual battling over scarce resources. What if there was another path? What if you could create your own blue oasis where profits are higher, marketing is as natural as breathing, and competition is nearly nonexistent? This nirvana can be a reality when you practice the principles of Giftology. “ Get a copy of this book on Amazon. By Pat Altvater About John Ruhlin John Ruhlin is the founder of The Ruhlin Group, a gift logistics company that helps clients like the Chicago Cubs, Wells Fargo, Caesar’s Entertainment, Miami Dolphins, Morgan Stanley, and The John Maxwell Company execute year-round gifting strategies. John’s unique approach to relationships led him to become the #1 salesman for a $250 Million direct sales company by the time he was 23 (out of 1.5 Million reps). He now speaks widely about strategic gifting and relationship building and helps CEOs and sales teams drive referrals and open doors to elusive decision makers. Visit https://giftologygroup.com/ for more information.
Are You Persistent In Your Pursuit Of Success? By Jack Klemeyer Achieving success in life no matter how one may define what successful is will always be dependent on being persistent. A river cuts through a rock, not because of the power of the river, but from the persistence of the river on the rock. No matter what your success goals are, be it in business, sports or even family life, being persistent will always play an important role. Being persistent is defined as continuing to move on with whatever goal has been planned even though an external event or initial losses may have slowed down, or temporarily halted a person while she’s on her way in her trip towards achieving her goals in life. Look no further than the career of Professional Football quarterback Gino Smith with the Seattle Seahawks. Smith has been in the professional ranks since 2013 and has been with three professional teams before he signed with Seattle. According to Gino, even though he didn’t get the opportunity to start in the game that many times, he prepared every day, every week as if he would start. His motto was that no one would out work him. There’s a quote by legendary basketball coach John Wooden that says “When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.” Gino Smith proved that to be true.
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Personal Growth Strategies In all aspects of life, there will always be challenges that will be ahead of anyone who has planned a success road map. There will be hurdles, humps and disappointments along the way and the only way to cut short the journey towards the end of the map is if the person traveling that success road map has decided to stop, change directions or even turn back to square one. You don’t fail until you give up. In order to determine how persistent a person is in the pursuit of success, he needs to know what drives him towards success. Monetary rewards alone at the end of the journey do not necessarily guarantee that the journey will be successful. Moneymay not be a strong enoughmotivator but it certainly is one of the rewards. It takes some folks many years of persistent effort to become an overnight success. All we see is the success… not all the trials and tribulations faced along the journey. The commitment to finish a task or a goal is kept afloat by passion and drive. While this trait is intangible, it’s a trait that is available for free to anybody. The drive for material rewards comes in second to passion and drive and only serves as a bonus once success is achieved. If the goals or objectives are worth all the risk, the time and the effort, this already justifies the reason to be committed. Sometimes being committed justifies the passion and the drive and sometimes the passion and drive justify (and create) the commitment. Discover your passion and realize the drive and commitment which will fuel the effort. Keep moving forward and believe in your goal.
The Wandering Mind By Pat Bennett Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to stop thinking about it, take some deep breaths, and let yourmindwander. “If a problem has built up in your mind and you need to find a solution, letting it go into the background for a bit probably helps,” according to a new study by the University of Calgary’s Julia Kam. “Mindwandering facilitates the kind of solution that just comes to you, as in a lightbulb moment.” Cognitive scientists have debated about whether mind-wandering is good for us or not. Until recently, the evidence has suggested that mind-wandering is bad for us and makes us
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Personal Growth Strategies unhappy. Yet mind-wandering is such a natural part of how our brains work, that our thoughts wander about half of the time. It defies logic to think that our brains would be spending that much energy on something bad for us. This is according to a 2021 Forbes magazine article, New Science: Why Our Brains Spend 50% Of the Time Mind-Wandering. Mind-wandering seems to involve the default network of the brain, which is known to be active when we are not engaged directly in tasks and is also related to creativity. It can also serve important functions for our performance, well-being and elevated mood. Whether or not mind-wandering is a negative depends on a lot of factors—like whether it’s purposeful or spontaneous, the content of your musings, and what kind of mood you are in. In some cases, a wandering mind can lead to creativity, greater productivity, and more concrete goals. It’s no wonder that my best inspirations come to mind when I take a long bike ride or walk or stare out the window above my desk. Creatives and innovators have used mindwandering to solve difficult problems or generatenew ideas. Zachary Irving, anassistant professor at University of Virginia argues that mind-wandering works differently than we think. Irving is a philosopher of cognitive science who proposes that mind-wandering should be understood as ‘unguided attention.’ Mind-wandering may appear to be purposeless, but our thoughts have a surprising way of wandering to our goals. Irving calls this the “Puzzle of the Purposeful Wanderer.” He writes, “My solution to the puzzle is this: mind-wandering is purposeless in one way—it is unguided—but purposeful in another—it is frequently caused, and thus motivated, by our goals.” If mind-wandering is a positive feature of cognition, what is it doing for us? Well for one thing, the alpha waves that show up when our minds arewanderingmeanwe are relaxing. Our brains cannot maintain focus and productivity without regular periods of relaxation. But there is another thing mind-wandering does for us. It may seem counterintuitive but letting our thoughts drift can actually help us solve problems when focusing on them does not work. So, the next time you want to solve a problem or create something new, you might want to crank up the alpha waves and let your mind go. In some cases, a wandering mind can lead to creativity, greater productivity, and more concrete goals.
Soar with Yoga & Meditation By Heather Wiegering, PhD Although people often begin yoga and meditation for flexibility or body and mind, other benefits including sleeping better, calming down, working through emotional turmoil and helping the body and mind to yoke and function better. Yoga is a large toolbox of options to help your body and mind to come into harmony. We are so much more than just our bodies and the material world. When we awaken to this awareness, our capacity and opportunity to lighten our mind, heart and spirit is abundant. Meditation is also a valuable tool. It shows a positive connection to increasing regional brain gray matter density. This is a very big deal, and has been talked about since the vedas, over 5000 years ago. Mindfulness meditation is a practice that focuses attention on breathing to develop awareness of the present moment. It can result in incredible andmeasurable changeswithin the brain. That’s right – so for everyone that needs science to back up their practices, here you go!
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Personal Growth Strategies Mindfulness meditation is showing the potential to increase memory, learning and emotional intelligence. In a research study involving a Massachusetts Hospital, Medical School and Germany, images from meditation show gray matter concentration in the left hippocampus. Gray matter also increased in four other brain regions. Enhance Your PracticeWith Essential Oils Using essential oils during a yoga and meditation practice gives you the chance to enhance the vibration and depth of your practice. Just place one drop of the following essential oils on your wrists, temples, neck, ankles or behind the ears and start to feel the shift. My top 3 YOGA & MEDIATION essential oils are Arise, Align and Anchor. These also work beautifully to support chakra balancing and mindfulness. 1. Arise – Enlightening Blend Promotes feelings of happiness, clarity and courage • Encourages rising to achieve goals and improved performance. Helps when you are challenging yourself to achieve the next level. Use during these poses: Use Arise while practicing the following yoga poses: standing, arms high and standing side stretch, and Half Moon. 2. Align – Centering Blend Promotesfeelingsofself-acceptance, trust, and fluidity • Encourages harmony and calm progress. Helpful when feeling apathetic and unfocused. • Ideal yoga poses with Align’s aroma areWarrior II, Triangle, and Gate pose 3. Anchor – Steadings Blend Promotes feelings of com-pleteness, calmness, and courage • Encourages a steady foundational sense from which to move forward. Helpful when feeling scattered or uprooted. The perfect yoga poses to pair with Anchor’s aroma are Seated Meditation, Seated Twist, and BhuMudra (one hand on the heart, the other on the Earth). Start to relax and revive your life with yoga and meditation. New to essential oils? Wonderful! Reach out to us at email: heatherwiegering@gmail.com and join us online at http://my.doterra.com/we Essential Oil Safety & Cautions: This content is for information purposes. Possible skin sensitivity with any oil. Please always dilute with 1 Tbsp or more of doTERRA Fractionated Coconut Oil to minimize skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. Statements not evaluated by FDA, nor intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. If pregnant or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Keep out of eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas. With citrus, avoid sunlight or UV rays for up to 12 hours after applying product
Pace Yourself for a Healthy Life By Design By Karen Cupp Life by your design means you can have it all. Like a long-distance runner, it calls for learning to pace yourself. Without this pacing you will burn out and never achieve your victory. The art of pacing comes through awareness and periodic resets. I recently spent the weekend with my son in Chicago. We had lots of quality time together. However, in the moments between building great memories he shared with me how overwhelmed life seemed to be. Life can be loaded with so many opportunities that we feel compelled to take advantage of. The question is howwe intentionally create the space for moments of peace. There is a form of peace that comes from having a good and healthy pace in life. Whenwe have bad and unhealthy routines, try to do to much at once, or set high and lofty expectations of ourselves or others, we can get ourselves
SOAR TO SUCCESS / Personal Growth Strategies into an unsustainable pace. So how do you reset yourself and reestablish this healthy pace. Think of this like a cleanse. Just as you train your children that they need to get rest to be prepared for the next day, you must enforce this same for yourself. To find your way back to a healthy and more enjoyable pace of life, we invite you to take this journey with us to explore some tools: Start your day totally unplugged – Move your phone and electronics out of your bedroom. Awake and spend time sitting thinking about absolutely nothing. Guard your find make your Sunday a day of rest. Create boundaries for yourself. Instead of saying yes to the endless social events, work opportunities, or work assignments, stop and say yes to spending time for yourself. Be it taking a walk, reading a book or doing absolutely nothing. I have a post on my wall “say no to the good things, so that you can say yes to the best things.” Little did I realize that these best things were meant to help me say yes to creating that wonderful healthy space called peace! Do these things to live your life by design and you’ll notice a difference. mind and heart from worries, to do lists, or requirements. At first this may seem impossible yet after a while you will find this is the best thing you do all day. Move to making a list of things that you are grateful for. This will open your heart of all of the wonderful gift’s life has offered you. Take walks periodically during the day. Breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the sunshine on your face. My daughter actually challenged me in this and now it is my favorite activity. Practice a day of rest. Everyone talks about the good ole days and the wise words of your grandmother so why not
Michael Haynes Michael Haynes is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Listen Innovate Grow. For over 25 years, Michael has worked with companies ranging from micro-businesses to large corporates across Australia, Asia, Canada and the USA to develop and implement customer strategies and programs to drive business growth. His passion is helping CEOs and Business owners of small and medium-sized businesses operating in B2B markets to achieve the growth and impact they seek. Michael is also an avid traveler and is regularly invited to be a guest speaker and panelist for an array of SME events and podcasts across Australia, Canada and the United States. Michael is available as an expert guest speaker for multimedia engagements, podcast appearances and online workshops. To contact him, or to find out more visit: https:// listeninnovategrow.com/ Michael Haynes believes that speaking is an excellent way to educate prospects regarding topics they need to be aware of and to start to initiate engagement with them. He enjoys all types of speaking opportunities but talked about hosting a workshop and how that can really build engagement. He doesn’t do any selling but uses the workshops he holds to educate, interact, and build relationships. Even though it’s not directly selling, he does offer calls to action where the interested people can further engage and interact with him. He also talks about follow-up and the different things you can do to continue the conversation with prospects. This podcast is full of information…way more than we could cover here. Be sure to tune in. You can either watch on YouTube or listen to the podcast on iTunes or other places where podcasts are found. SOAR TO SUCCESS / Reinvention Uncensored Michael Haynes Shares Several Strategies To Engage Audience Members and Follow-Up With Them / Soar to Success Podcast
This time of year, you see plenty of spooky decorations, haunted houses and scary costumes. But to you, your big goals are more frightening than anything else! No worries! It’s time to put that fear aside and… F: Fight for what you want! Life is short. If you have a great idea, pursue it with everything you’ve got. Do Your Big Goals Scare You? Turn Fear Into Success! By Melanie Rembrandt
After all, do you want regrets later in life? Plan how you will make your dreams a reality with specific tactics, deadlines and targeted results. Then, create a schedule so that you can complete each step (and get the help you need). Before you know it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sooner! E: Exercise for energy and health! As you create your schedule for success, don’t forget to exercise, eat nutritious foods and take care of yourself. Go for a walk, work out at the gym, play with your pets, or just spend time outside doing your favorite activity. We all know that movement can refresh your mind, body and spirit. But it’s also a great way to take a break from all of your digital distractions, be in a different environment where you can think and discover solutions to current issues you may be having. A: Abolish the negativity! It’s easy to let frustration, stress and negative comments from others get in the way of pursuing goals. SOAR TO SUCCESS / Core Business Strategies To avoid this, surround yourself with a supportive network of people who care about your success. Read uplifting books and remind yourself of your accomplishments to stay positive and keep moving forward. R: Relax! You’ve got this. Do you spend too much time at your desk? Keep track of your hours and allow yourself to take a break. Let your mind and body relax. Breathe deeply, get a good night’s sleep, spend time with the people you love, and remind yourself of how far you’ve come in reaching your goals. Get Rid of the Fear and Revel in Success! It can be scary to pursue a new goal. With zombielike naysayers, self-doubt, anxiety and stress, you may just stop dead in your tracks as your dream becomes a nightmare! Well, instead of running away from your fears, take steps to make your dreams a reality. Create a plan with specific tactics and deadlines, surround yourself with positive people and messages, exercise and eat healthy foods, and get the rest and relaxation your mind and body need to work at their best. Over time, you’ll realize that you are well on your way to success and confidence will replace all of your fears! Instead of running away from your fears, take steps to make your dreams a reality.
Nothing throws a wrench in a business’s plans like a natural disaster. A projected hurricane, an unforeseen fire, a sudden tornado. Your clients rarely plan ahead for such occurrences, and instead are reactive when they do occur. Unfortunately, reactive planning only puts them at risk. As an MSP, your role is to support your clients so that they are fully prepared in the case of a natural disaster. Natural disasters often mean your customers losing the ability to continue operating – they can’t get to their office, their office space may By Jeanne DeWitt Can Cloud Prepare Your MSP Clients for the Unexpected? be damaged, or their usual equipment may be nonfunctional. In terms of helping your clients prepare for natural disasters, the cloud is an essential tool. Here are two key ways the cloud helps your MSP support your clients in the case of unforeseen disaster. Off-site backups In the event of a client’s on-site location being damaged, your clients have one main worry: all of their work and data is gone! The fear of starting over and losing progress is present in the back of most employee’s minds.
With the right cloud solution, you can ensure your clients that their data is backed up in full. Data is backed up in an off-site location that is protected and completely secure in the case of an emergency or disaster. This type of redundancy lets your clients work without the worry of any setbacks. True 24/7 access to data A substantial natural disaster will often mean a shift to remote work, which is synonymous with a headache for some. It’s never quite as easy to run applications and locate files from home. That may be true for unorganized clients, but the cloud completely solves this issue. Give your clients the ability to access data and applications for anywhere at any location, giving them all the tools they need to work at a highlevel. Remoteworkdoesn’t have tobea roadblock to productivity. SOAR TO SUCCESS / Core Business Strategies As a bonus tip, your MSP needs to be able to educate your clients on what their responsibilities are for a natural disaster. Here are some examples: • For a projected disaster like a hurricane: Make sure your clients have a written plan for disaster recovery, and ensure that they have inventory of all their technology in the cloud. • For an immediate disaster like a fire: The safety of your client is priority #1. With your MSP’s preparation, they don’t need to worry about the safety of their data! Providing for your clients in the case of a natural disaster is essential to your MSP’s credibility, and the cloud only helps to strengthen your response and preparedness. You may never have to use it, but having the solution will build your client’s trust and give them the tools to endure any disaster.
Key Tax Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 By Jim Fisher, CPA/PFS, CTC The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law on August 16, 2022, includes tax provisions affecting businesses, individuals, the clean-energy industry, healthcare, and more. Let’s take a look: Businesses Sec. 461(l) Business Loss Limitation. The passthrough tax deduction for small business owners (sole proprietorships, some limited liability companies, partnerships, and S-corporations) was enacted under tax reform (TCJA of 2017). The tax break limited individuals from taking more than $250,000 ($500,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly) of business losses to offset nonbusiness income. In effect for tax years 2021 through 2026, it has been extended through 2028. Research Credit Against Payroll Taxes. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, the limitation amount increases by $250,000 to $500,000 for the Sec. 41(h) research credit
against payroll tax for small businesses. The first $250,000 of the credit limitation will be applied against the FICA payroll tax liability. The second $250,000 of the limitation will be applied against the employer portion of Medicare payroll tax liability. Alternative Minimum Tax for Large Corporations. The corporate AMT repealed under tax reform in 2017 has been reinstated but is based on book income - the amount of income corporations publicly report on their financial statements to shareholders - instead of taxable income. Generally, this new corporate AMT of 15% applies only to large corporations with an average adjusted financial statement income exceeding $1 billion for the three consecutive tax years preceding the tax year. Nondeductible 1% Excise Tax on Corporate Stock Repurchases. A new 1% excise tax applies to corporate stock repurchases after SOAR TO SUCCESS / Core Business Strategies December 31, 2022. The tax is paid on the stock’s fair market value (FMV); however, the excise tax does not apply if the total value of stock repurchased during a tax year is $1 million or less. Furthermore, it also does not apply if repurchased stock is contributed to an employersponsored retirement plan, employee stock ownership plan, or for stock repurchases that are part of a reorganization in which the shareholder recognizes no gain or loss. Healthcare Affordable Care Act Premium Tax Credits. The premium tax credit is extended through 2025 for taxpayers whose household income exceeds 400% of the poverty line. Seek Professional Guidance When making tax planning decisions, obtaining the advice of a tax professional is critical. If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to call.
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