6 Ways to Stay Focused During Summer Months

*As originally posted on grasshopper.com*

It’s summer, and outside your window you see luscious green grass, sunshine, and, well, a thousand different distractions. There are so many reasons for you to fall out of your business routine and just go out and enjoy the nice weather.

But entrepreneurs and business owners who stay focused (even during the summer lull) are the ones who benefit when fall arrives—and when everyone else is scurrying to get back on track.

So how do you stay focused during summer months? Here are a few ideas.

Shift Deadlines and Meetings to Mid-Week

Because so many weekends are jam-packed during summer months, Mondays and Fridays can be slow days for everyone. Shifting your important deadlines and meetings to Tuesday-Thursday helps you focus on the mid-week crunch so you can wholly enjoy your weekends. Plus, your family and friends will reap the benefits of having your full attention over the weekend when you’re not stressing out over what lies ahead on Monday.

Take a Company Retreat

Allow your team to get recharged and refreshed with a getaway where you can focus on new ideas, goals, and team building (rather than the details of the daily grind.) Even if you’re a soloprenuer—take at least a few days to unplug and re-center your mind. It’s okay to give yourself a break every now and then!

Not sure where to go? Here’s just one idea: Camp Wandawega is a favorite camp-style wonderland for creative companies like Studio Gang, Land of Nod, and Anthropologie.

Start (or Join) a Book Club

Participating in a book club during the summer months is a great way to spark conversations and to be deliberate about self-education. You can start a group book club internally, or, if you’re a solopreneur, look for local or online book clubs you can join.

Your summer reads can be business-oriented or purely for fun. Either way, research shows that reading helps improve your writing skills.

Form New Healthy Habits

With longer days and warmer temperatures, summer is the perfect time to form some new healthy habits that you can carry out through the rest of the year.

This might mean:

• Waking up earlier
• Starting an exercise class or running schedule
• Making time to journal
• Breaking up with caffeine
• Drinking more water
• Reducing your negative thoughts and complaints

Not sure how to stick with it? Tim Ferris wrote about his 21-day experiment with taking on a new healthy habit and how he used a simple rubber band on his wrist to be mindful about the change.

Learn Something

Attending a conference or taking an online course can help expand your mind (and your personal network) in ways that dramatically impact your business. Through education, you might unexpectedly find a new process that improves efficiency within your business or meet a new referral source that boosts your income.

Conferences like Double Your Freelancing (for freelancers) or the Yellow Conference (for creative ladies) are just a few of the many options out there for you this summer—and we’ve got a whole list of online courses to check out.

Take Lunch Outside & Go for a Walk

Something as small as moving your lunch to a picnic format can help you stay on track throughout the rest of the day. It allows you to get some Vitamin D, changes up your view, and allows your mind to get a hard reset before re-entering work mode.

After lunch, escape for a quick walk through nature: Studies prove that people who spend time walking through green spaces away from noise and traffic performed better on a mental health questionnaire had had less blood flow to the subgenual prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain where brooding happens.

Be Intentional: Stay Focused During Summer Months

The summer months might seem like a great time to slack off and enjoy the outdoors all day—but if you can stay focused, you’ll be ahead of the game when sweatshirt weather arrives. Use these tips to make this season your most productive season of the year.

Kaleigh Moore

Kaleigh Moore is the founder of Lumen, a company that helps individuals and businesses expand their reach through social media, copywriting, and design.

Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win!

"As previously posted on www.crgleader.com"

Quitter: One who quits; especially, one who gives up too easily; a defeatist

All of us at some time have wanted to quit on something or someone.

Just yesterday, I was running in a 5 K race. I wanted so much to just walk for a bit, especially in the last mile. All the way to the end, I had to fight the urge to quit. It turns out that I won in my age category by only 2 seconds! If had walked even three steps, I would have lost that race.

So, what are you? A winner or a quitter?

If you quit, your life can be about a lot of near–misses and few victories.
Quitting can apply to every part of our lives. Here are a few examples.

• Someone quits on a relationship because it is too much work to change. Over 50% of marriages end in divorce, so we have a lot of quitters.
• You are difficult to work with and continue to change jobs, not because of poor companies but because you are a quitter.
• You start your wellness program but, a few weeks or months into it, you stop eating properly and/or working out. Over 90% of individuals quit their diets. Many excuses are made, but the fact is they quit.
• You submit your book proposal to a few agencies and publishers; they all reject your work so you quit trying.
• You submit your résumé to 50 job openings but no one hires you. You think why bother and quit looking.

You get the picture.

Many of life's best success stories are about individuals who never quit—especially when their peers gave up.

In the past, I did some speaking engagements for Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of the bestselling “Chicken Soup” series. Mark said that the first book written by himself and Jack Canfield was rejected by more than 25 publishers before their concept for Chicken Soup for the Soul was accepted.

Can you imagine being one of the publishers who said No?
Success was not immediate for Mark and Jack. After their book was published, they did a radio interview every day for over a year before Chicken Soup caught on with the reading public. In other words, they did not quit.

Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was available for several years before it made the bestseller list.

Abraham Lincoln faced many challenges, defeats, and failures before he became President of the United States in 1860—but he never quit.

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years incarcerated as a political prisoner before he was released and became the President of South Africa in 1994. Most of us would have quit long before 27 years.

I mentioned in my previous ezine that many times during the year it took to write my latest book, Why Aren't You More Like Me?™ , I felt like quitting. Even though I felt like it, I did not.

I don't know what you are facing but, in most cases, quitting is not the answer. Last week, I met with a colleague in Orlando, Florida. He shared that just 2 months prior to our meeting, he was unable to walk after a recent stroke. According to his doctor, the only reason he is currently walking, with the assistance of a cane, is his unwillingness to quit.
Quitting or not quitting is a choice and a reflection on the character of the individual. Rarely does it have to do with education, intelligence, or opportunity, but rather your level of persistence, tenacity, determination, and commitment to a vision or goal.
Now even if you have quit on something or someone and feel guilty about it, you can always change your mind and get back on the track of success.
There are exceptions, where changing or quitting is a preferred direction. Choosing not to do something because it does not match your purpose, passions, or values is something different than quitting on a goal or a dream or simply giving up on something you desire.
All of us face challenges. It is our response to our challenges that separates the winners from the quitters.
Review the Action Steps to strengthen your resolve to triumph and achieve.

This Week's Action Steps

1. Would you call yourself a winner or a quitter? Why?
2. In what area(s) of your life would you like to stop quitting and start winning? We all have some area we would like to improve.
3. Think about an area in your life where you just never quit. Why and how are you able to persevere? What do you do to stay focused and move forward when you feel like quitting?
4. In what area of your life did you quit and regret it? Why did you quit? Do you still want to achieve that goal?
5. Winners have no fewer challenges than quitters, but they make a decision to keep going. You can make the decision right now�in one area of your life, you will not quit . . . no matter what!
6. Success breeds success and failure feeds failure. If you have been quitting, focus on one area where you will stay on course and not quit. Use your success and fulfillment from that area to leverage other areas of your life.
7. Not quitting comes from a deep desire to achieve and a strong connection to your goal or dream. Go back to the previous ezine and lock in your vision of what it takes to become a winner. (Living On Purpose 156 - What's Your Vision for Your Life?)Sports professionals work to develop the mental toughness to push through challenges; they rarely quit on themselves or their team.
8. Clarify your values and style using CRG's Values Preference Indicatorand Personal Style Indicator. They can help you make values-based decisions as you develop yourself and play to your strengths. To help you engage life on your terms, read Why Aren't You More Like Me?
9. Let go of any past failure. Learn from it and move on. Holding on to the past will not help you shape a bright future.
10. Encourage and help others to keep going when they want to quit. Your words to them will help you in your times of doubt.
11. Enjoy the journey along the way. It is the fullness of our experiences—not simply the achievement of a goal—that makes us who we are. Here's to us all being Winners, not quitters.

Ken Keis

An internationally known author, speaker, and consultant, in the past 28 years, Ken has conducted more than 3000 presentations and 10,000 hours of consulting and coaching. Dr. Keis is the author of Why Aren’t You More Like Me?, Deliberate Leadership, and The Quest For Purpose! Best selling authors Kenneth Blanchard, Jim Kouzes, and Marshall Goldsmith have endorsed Ken’s work.

6 Powerful Strategies for Hosting a Successful 3-Day Live Event

Now that I’ve had a chance to get some perspective, I wanted to share some valuable lessons learned from my experience hosting our first 3-day live event for women entrepreneurs! Holding the space for a room full of people over the course of a whole weekend is NOT easy (especially for an introvert like me!), but after seeing the impact the event had on attendees, it was so worth it! We had dozens of women (and a few men!) join us from all over the country to learn practical strategies for getting their businesses off the ground.

Here are my 6 best tips for hosting a successful 3-day live event, based on my own experience with our recent Launch Your Business LIVE 3-Day Boot Camp in Atlanta!

1. Get Professional Help with Planning the Event

The best decision I made was hiring a professional to guide me through the process of planning my first 3-day live event. I found the fabulous Jillian Smith from One Touch Events LLC online and I highly recommend her as an event planner. Jillian was a guiding light for me in planning the Boot Camp, from managing the venue negotiations, vendor relationships and banquet orders down to the beautiful details of our linens, florals, signage and more. Everything turned out much better than I ever could have envisioned on my own! There are so many moving parts to planning a 3-day live event and you don’t want to skimp on this investment. It will be worth every penny!

2. Enlist a Support Team

I decided to have my virtual assistant join me in person for administrative support, customer service and social media management during the Boot Camp. As my right-hand woman online and off, she brought a high level of organization to the event. Only a true professional could get off a red eye flight to walk right into an event and start making things happen! I also enlisted the help of two volunteer staff members to manage the registration table, run microphones, do last-minute errands, etc. They were awesome volunteers, but as coaches themselves, they brought even more positive energy to the room. Having a support team made a world of difference, allowing me to shine as the speaker and host for the weekend!

3. Teach Actionable Content

For a 3-day live event, you need to have an entire weekend’s worth of content that you will be teaching and training on. Your attendees came to learn something and they want to learn it from you! It’s nice to have motivational words that inspire people, but it’s even better to have actionable content that helps them move forward and get results. For the Boot Camp, I taught my 5-step Launch Your Business system that can help anyone who sells products or services to get their business off the ground. In a live environment, I was able to take participants through each step of the process with deep training, plus answer their specific questions along the way. I structured my agenda with the intention for everyone to leave with a plan of action to take when they returned home. As a result, we heard from so many attendees who were “on fire” with increased productivity after the event!

4. Invite Great Speakers

I invited my friend, accountability partner and social media marketing expert Kristen Robinson of KR Design to speak at the Boot Camp. The attendees loved her infectious energy and her eye-opening talk on “5 Easy Ways to Create Content: How to Create 30 Days Worth of Engaging Social Media Content.” (When you invest in the Launch Your Business LIVE Deluxe Audio Program, you will receive Kristen’s entire 70-minute presentation and slides.) I also had one of my long-term coaching clients come and share her emotional and financial journey to success in her business. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house! Having great speakers at my event increased the value of the experience and exposed my audience to additional information and inspiration they could use to grow their businesses. Of course, it also gave me a break in the agenda to sit back and rest for a bit!

5. Monetize the Event

With an intense event like this, you will likely be spending thousands of dollars on your venue, food, printing workbooks, hiring AV, etc. So you don’t want to just “break even” after all the time and money you put into planning this amazing experience for your tribe. What I have learned over the years is that the best time to sell your products and services is at a live event! At the event, we gave attendees the opportunity to invest in Happy Black Woman training products and coaching programs, with special pricing that was only available for the duration of the event. We had a sales table set up in the back of the room and there were also a few special offers made from the stage. As a result, we completely surpassed our sales goals and got some wonderful new clients and customers!

6. Capture the Magic

I hired a photographer and videographer to take professional pictures and get some video to capture the highlights of the event for marketing purposes. I went with Lynsey Weatherspoon Photography because I really liked her creative style. I also hired an AV team to record the entire content of the event for resale. The audio turned out beautifully! By having professionals in the room to document the experience, I was able to focus on being present to my attendees and creating an authentic networking environment. Get your piece of the magic with a “virtual seat” to the Boot Camp when you invest in the Launch Your Business LIVE Deluxe Audio Program!

As a result of these 6 strategies, we were able to create a transformative experience for everyone who was in the room that weekend. I couldn’t have done it by myself – I truly had the most amazing support team on the planet!

Rosetta Thurman is a nationally-recognized author, speaker, mentor and coach dedicated to helping women create their ideal lives. She is the creator of 31 Days to Reset Your Life: A Practical Guide to Personal Transformation and the founder of HappyBlackWoman.com, a supportive community for women all over the world. Learn more about Rosetta here.

ACCELERATE YOUR BUSINESS: 4 Cybersecurity Best Practices for Your Organization

**As originally posted on Entrepreneur.com** 

A data breach can happen to any organization, and it’s a growing concern among companies both large and small. According to this cyberattack infographic, an IBM study revealed that the average consolidated cost of a data breach is approximately $3.8 million, a 23 percent increase from 2013. According to that same graphic, the Identity Theft Resource Center found that approximately 22 percent of breaches are due to insider theft, and 12 percent are simply a matter of accidental exposure.

You can keep your company and your employees safe from these dangerous data breaches by ensuring that employees are aware of a few tried-and-true data security best practices. Here are some of the most important ones:  

1. Practice good access control.

Without good access control protocols, company information remains at risk. Each organization should have a firm policy on password strength and password update policies. Convey the importance of keeping those passwords private, and make sure your employees adhere to minimum password requirements.

Employees should also lock their computers when they are away from their desks. If you have employees accessing your network remotely, make sure that you know exactly when they are doing so, and why.

2. Avoid scams.

A good email filter may be the first defense against phishing scams, but it should not be the last. Educate employees on what phishy emails look like, and make sure they know which ones to avoid opening. Remind employees to never open attachments from unknown senders and to never provide sensitive business data to unfamiliar individuals outside the company. Spell out what information is and is not acceptable to divulge over the phone, in an email, or in-person to those of unfamiliar status within the organization and outside the company.

3. Implement hardware and software restrictions.

It’s important to place limitations on the types of installations and downloads that employees are allowed to perform on company computers. Employees should not be allowed to install or download any software on company technology that is not previously reviewed and authorized. Explain to your employees the importance of avoiding freeware and shareware and how this type of software can become a threat. What may appear to be an innocuous download for work purposes can easily introduce a virus to your network and expose sensitive business data.

4. Manage mobile devices.

Mobile devices pose additional risks, as data can be easily exposed outside of the office. Off-site devices can be subject to mobile malware, eavesdropping, unauthorized access, theft and loss. Set expectations with employees as to their mobile conduct when accessing company data while on the road. If you allow employees to connect personal mobile devices to company Wi-Fi connections, make sure those connections are separate from the general organization network.

Almost half of American companies experienced some sort of data breach of in 2013. It doesn’t take an expert hacker to view, take possession of, or exploit personal, intellectual or financial data. In fact, according to a Forrester Research report, most mobile data breaches are caused by employee negligence.

Security training can be a challenge without explaining the importance of security measures and adequately communicating how these measures effect the company and the employee. By implementing a few best practices and making sure that data security is of principal concern to everyone within your organization, you can keep your employees educated and your sensitive company data safe from prying eyes.

Eric Basu

Eric Basu is the CEO of Sentek Global, a provider of government and commercial cybersecurity and information technology solutions. 

5 Tips to Get Through The Tough Mommy Moments

One of the greatest gifts God has given women is the opportunity to become a mother. A gift that brings life and helps to mold you into a better person. Although being a mother doesn't come with instructions, tools, tips or even a map, it teaches you how to create a priceless masterpiece. . Something to be proud of knowing you helped create a productive citizen in the world. 

When I was young I always dreamed of being a mother holding my percious baby in my arms someday. As I grew older I heard many stories from mothers telling me how horrible labor was, staying up all night with a newborn.. It affected the way I once felt about becoming a mom. Before I knew it, I was going to become a mother sooner than I expected...

Becoming a mother at eighteen was life changing for me. Growing up in a two parent home with strict rules and I couldn't date, hang out with friends, nothing. As the youngest of my brother and sister, my mom really treated me like the baby of the family. So when I turned sixteen, I lost my virginity to my son's father and became pregnant within that year. When I told my mother about the pregnancy it devastated her. She couldn't believe her babygirl was about to be a mom.. A woman now with real life responsibility...

As a family we managed to get through it which helped me get through the tough years of raising my son. He's now fifteen years old and a sophomore in high school and honor roll student. Although the turn out was good for me everyone's story isn't.. 

Here are five tips on getting through those tough moments as a Mother. ..

1.) Be open and honest about where you are. There are going to be days that have you feel less than a mom. When this takes place give yourself a timeout. Remote to a quiet place to breath, relax, and remove any negative thoughts. Most importantly, pray. 

2.)Get a serious prayer life going. No one knows your story, pain, or mistake but God. As a young mom thier were times I felt judged, but my mother helped me through those times. Seeking God's face daily structured my outlook as a mom.

3.)Join a mommy and me group. The goal is to travel the mom journey together with other moms. Its a place where you will be supported by and have fun with other moms and often get the children to socialize together. 

4.)Remove yourself from anything that will hinder your growth as a mom. As a young mother, my peers knew nothing about being a mom. I had to surround myself around other mothers who understood and had knowledge on motherhood. 

5.)Meditate and focus on your emotions. As mothers we have to get our feelings in check. The more postive our thoughts are the better moms we are.

Patrice Simmons is a Author, Writer, Motivational Speaker. .. Beginning her writing career in 2009, which lead to her first Co-Author book." Walk in your Purpose" along with writing her self published books.. "Moments" and "The Journey to finding you".. 

5 Things Your Brand Should Learn From Beyoncé’s Lemonade

**As originally posted on Huffington Post Black Voices**

So if you were anywhere near a TV, computer, cell phone, well any electronic device then you should know all about Lemonade. And no I’m not talking about the Country Inn kind your Mom use to make. I’m referring to the Queen of Killer Launches ........Beyoncé!

So the Leader of the Beehive has done it again! She’s got the whole world talking about her. And I’m joining in the conversation. But I’m not here to talk about the phenomenal imagery of the videos, the emotional subject matter or any of that. As I watched the visual album on HBO and all the buzz throughout social media it became obvious the lessons that all entrepreneurs could learn from this. There are five specific lessons I want to share with you that will help your to catapult your brand to Beyoncé status in your industry.

1. Dare to Be Different! - We can’t keep ourselves inside the box. And we DEFINITELY cannot allow others to force you into a box they’ve created. Though Beyoncé was not the first person to have a visual album and this is not even her first visual album (remember the “Beyoncé” album). However, it is still considered different in the fact it’s not the everyday norm of releasing music. As Entrepreneurs we have to be confident with going with the ideas that we receive even if it’s not being done in your industry. Different is what makes you STAND OUT! Embrace your brand’s uniqueness, don’t run from it.

2. Don’t Be Afraid To Be Vulnerable! - All over social media as the words poured in as varying views of the videos included in the album. They were everywhere I turned on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, not to mention just type in the word lemonade on Google and see how B takes over the World Wide Web! However, whether they like the album or not the same words were used to describe it; raw, emotional, artistic, strength, pain and forgiveness. She allowed herself to be very open and show her vulnerability to people about her martial struggles (alleged). By being so open with her emotions and not being afraid to do so made her audience relate to her even more. The same is true for all of us in business. Stop only wanting to share the good and glamorous side of entrepreneurship. Being open and honest will allow your audience to trust you more!

3. Give Your Audience What They Want! - There are many speculations as to why Beyoncé gets the response she does from her fans...respect the Beehive or they will come for you! No matter what your thoughts are to the why at the heart of it all is that she give them what THEY WANT. She’s very in tune with her audience. How in tune are you with yours? Are you giving them what they want or what you want them to have? They’re not always the same thing. Building community is imperative your brand’s success. Get people off social media and in your mailing list. So that you can connect with them even the more. When creating programs, products or services you have to tap into your ideal client’s desires and needs.

4. Let Your Genius and Gift Speak For Itself! - Whether you like Beyoncé or not the one thing you CAN’T deny is her gift. She’s not only a musical genius, but a marketing and branding one as well. Even with the flawless way in which she executes her releases it wouldn’t matter if the music was garbage. So let this be a lesson to you as well. No matter what hype you drum up around your Brand if there’s no substance behind it you WILL be found out! Trust your gift, embrace your genius zone and allow it to speak for itself.

5. Think of a Master Plan & Keep It To Yourself! - Trust me I know when you create something new you want to shout it from the rooftops! It’s bubbling up inside of you, however telling the world is not always the best thing to do. Part of why Beyoncé’s projects like Lemonade and the Formation Tour are able to be the huge successful releases that they were is because she put together a Master Plan for them. These were not easy undertakings the thought and planning is apparent! The way in which she laid out the release of Lemonade on HBO as well as on social media was impeccable. Playing a major role in the success was the elements of surprise and curiosity. Both of which could only be accomplished at this level by keeping it under wraps. Not just herself, but her team as well. Just think of all of the people involved in creating this visual album and NOTHING leaked!! So learn to keep things to yourself and when you need a team to help you launch be sure you chose the right ones to share with and take whatever means necessary to ensure their discretion. I’m sure there were tons of Non-Disclosures signed for this project. The proof is in the EXECUTION not the CONVERSATION.

So let us all learn from this amazing songwriter, musical artist, and business phenomenon. No matter what’s going on in your business it’s time to get yourself into Formation and turn those lemons into lemonade....... (I know, I know; I couldn’t help myself!)

Famira M. Green

Branding (Coach*Strategist*Designer), Speaker, and International Best Selling Author

Successful vs Unsuccessful People

Your habits and mindset has a great influence on your success, success with finances and life. The above infographic has been circulating after MaryEllen Tribby posted it on WorkingMomsOnly.com. It goes through some great tips and habits that you should institute if you want to be successful and some that you should drop to avoid not reaching success (notice I didn't say failure). There are definitely some key elements that should be highlighted.

 

1) Continuously gather knowledge and learn things that will help you move forward. When trying to accomplish a goal, learn all that you can about the subject. Learn about the tools and resources available to you to assist with accomplishing your goal. Unsuccessful people don't actively gather information and don't act on the knowledge that they do have. There's a vast amount of information available to help you master your finances and reach financial success. Actively seek it out and apply the knowledge when you acquire it.

2) Giving to others is necessary. Don't horde what you know and don't try to step on others to reach your goals. Many people have a fear of letting others know what they know, of giving to much away. You want others to help and promote you without doing the same for others? It doesn't work that way. Share information and tools and others will be more likely to do the same with you. If you come across a great resource for saving money, cutting costs, etc share the wealth and let others know. 

3) Accept responsibility for your failure. The fact that this is listed on the successful people side of the graphic says a lot. You cannot reach success without some failures. Don't give up in the face of failure. Learn the lesson and use that failure as a stepping stone to do even better. Say you wanted to pay off your debt and made a plan to do so but along came an emergency and you had to incur more debt. Establish an emergency fund so you'll be better prepared next time and move forward.

About the Author: Dr. Maria James
Maria James has a compassion for people that makes her involvement in Heal a Woman to Heal a Nation a sure fit. She is a biomedical scientist who is public health conscience and has always worked for the betterment of others. While an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University she co-founded an organization called STOP, which taught basic self-defense to women and children. Her has a passion for diverse communities led her to live in Costa Rica for three weeks to learn more about the culture and community. Maria also continues to pursue her other interests which include, Spanish and finance. Maria also founded the business Pocket of Money, LLC which provides tools and tips to help you take control of your money and live your best life.