Tag Archives: planning

WTF (Fostering)

21 Dec

live-free

I thought the title might be a draw.  For some reason, I always find that writing a post for WTHayley comes so much easier than writing a post for my business.  Maybe it’s because I feel I can be more ‘raw’, as opposed to more ‘professional’.  I initially started WTHayley because I felt the need to vent during a difficult time in my  life.  It was my outlet.  Now, Foster Inc. is my outlet and so WTHayley has sadly been pushed to the back burner and doesn’t get much action.

I felt the need to test my audience and see what gets more play, a blog on WTHayley or a blog post on Fostering101.com.  So, I’m pushing this out to both.  If you only follow me on one, feel free to sign up to follow me on the other…. and thank you in advance, it’s always fun to see the email opt-in’s no matter where they are coming from.

I fucking love December.  Not just because the smell of pine in my living room makes me feel warm and fuzzy or the twinkling lights outside that brighten up my home (sorry Rabbi), but more so because it means the end of one thing and the beginning of another.  While the school year and the Jewish New Year also give me a similar sense of a ‘fresh start’, January is a whole other animal.

I use December for myself and for my groups as a time to reflect, analyze and project.   We look at the highs, the lows, the lessons and the themes and then determine what we want to take with us into next year and what we want to leave behind. It’s like a cleanse, a facial scrub, a cold shower, a long run….  Whatever you want to relate to that makes you feel like you’ve hit the ‘refresh’ button.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, I’d like to share with you some of the insights and lessons learned from the women that I meet with monthly to ‘FOSTER’ their businesses.   Here are some of their lessons from 2016:

  • There’s no substitute for hard work
  • Be honest with yourself about what you’re capable of
  • Don’t over promise what you can’t deliver
  • Delegate, delegate, delegate
  • Trust is earned over time, not overnight
  • Don’t give away  your time, you’ll never get it back
  • Networking leads to a network and a network leads to growth
  • Embrace the people that need you
  • You can’t do it all on your own, so don’t try
  • Accept that everyone has a path.  Know what yours is.  Follow it where ever it may lead.
  • What you think you want and what you need may be different… and that’s ok
  • Be fluid…. not hard and fast
  • You can’t fix or change others, but you can advise, guide, support and if that doesn’t work you can move on
  • Make money on the things you know YOU KNOW instead of giving them away for free
  • Be Consistent
  • Show up
  • Be more discerning (Viveka)
  • Take Risks
  • Hire and surround yourself with great people
  • Hold people accountable, including yourself.  And if you can’t, find an accountability buddy.
  • Set boundaries
  • Consistency leads to effectiveness
  • Stay humble with success
  • Make time for yourSELF
  • Things always feel better in a community

 

So many great lessons for anyone at any level of business.

Now…. It’s your turn.

Look ahead to January as a time to step forward, outside of your comfort zone, and plan for the things that YOU WANT to achieve in the year ahead.  What did you learn in 2016?   What do you want to take forward into 2017?  If resolutions aren’t your thing, then just make a list, post it someone you can see it every day and set small attainable weekly or monthly goals that you can achieve.   Reward yourself for the small successes.   Don’t try to shoot for the moon – it’s pretty f’in far away, reach for the sky instead.

One thing I love to do that helps me is to use a visualization technique.  Sit down(in a quiet spot), close your eyes and think about your business as if it’s a year from now and you’ve had an amazing year…. Then ask yourself – what does that look like…. how did I get through this awesome year…. what steps did I take to get here…. what were my hurdles and what propelled me forward.   Write it down and use it in your planning process.  Let it motivate you.  It typically never happens that you talk yourself ‘OUT’ of what you want.

After doing this visualization myself, I’ve set up some great new programs for my business in 2017.  Just to give you a little tease…. watch out for  my ’12 Months of Fostering’ kicking off in Janaury, podcasts from women who have BTDT (been there done that), and ‘FosterWomen Success Stories’… just to name a few.   Sign up and stay tuned.  2017 is going to be an amazing year!

Happy and Healthy from WTHayley and Foster Inc.

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WT Insanity

14 Dec

 To write a personal blog or a business blog… that is the question.  Or make it applicable to both.  Since I started Foster Inc. a year ago, I’ve kept my business blog strictly on my business website.  WTHayley has always been my personal brain dump and the place where I can write about whatever I’m feeling and business associates and Clients won’t be offended.  Well, for the sake of this post, I am merging and if we do business together and read my previous personal blog posts and you’re offended… Sorry, NOT sorry.  I write from my heart and my gut and that’s just who I am and always will be.  

As the end of the year is quickly approaching and I emphasize quickly, people begin to freak out… And I’m not just taking about holiday shopping.  Many of us use the end of the year to reflect and think back on what the year was like.  Did I set out with a goal in mind? Did I reach that goal?  Did I want to lose weight, workout more? Eat healthier?  Save more money?  Whatever your goals were for this past year and whether or not you achieved them, chances are you will write many of the same ones down again for next year.  What we rarely do is analyze why we didn’t reach that goal, what road bumps slowed us down and what actually got in our way.  When you reflect, you can better plan and strategize for how to go about things differently next year so that we don’t make the same mistakes again.  As you know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again but expecting a different result.  Thanks Einstein. So, are you going to start 2016 off as an insane person or better equipped for success?

Wether or not you are thinking about your goals for 2016 from a business or life perspective – or hopefully both – below is what I have done (and I am still doing) to plan for the year ahead.  

  1. Grab a piece of paper and write down what your goals were for this past year – 2015.  
  2. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being SUCCESS, how would you rate yourself on each goal?  Be honest, “failure is the opportunity to begin again, onlybthisntime more intelligently.” (Henry Ford)
  3. What did you do/actions you took to be successful? 
  4. What didn’t you do that you should have done?
  5. What/who got in your way?
  6. What could you change moving forward?

Before you put pen to paper for your new 2016 goals, I want you to close your eyes, obviously when you’re done reading this entire post, and do this short visualization exercise.  We get so caught up in the things we want to do or not do, but don’t necessarily think about who we want to BE. 

  • Close your eyes
  • Take three deep breaths 
  • Ask yourself ‘who do I want to BE in 2016’
  • Picture yourself a year from now as that person you want to BE
  • As your future self, what did you need to DO to get yourself there – actually try to picture yourself going through those steps
  • Now that you’re there, what do you HAVE that you didn’t have before
  • Open your eyes -hopefully your smiling
  • Grab your pen and write down what you just saw – who you became this year and how you did it. 

To give you an easy example to follow, let’s talk about the person that starts the year off with the goals of working out and eating healthier.  Taking the BE approach, that persons goal should be that they want to ‘be more disciplined‘, in order to DO more workouts and cook healthier meals in order to HAVE a healthier lifestyle.  By also looking back on last year, they could probably conclude that the reason they failed was because X and Y got in the way.  Being disciplined and recognizing that discipline was what they needed each day, they may have avoided looking back with regret that they didn’t do a better job reaching those goals. 

When you think about what YOU want to BE in 2016, try to find a word, just ONE, that is all encompassing.  Underneath that word, you should be able to list the things you’ll need to DO so that you can HAVE…. 

As coach-like as this sounds (it’s sorting bothering me that it is so coach-like), it’s been tested and works. You can’t keep setting the same goals and doing the same things to reach them and expect success if you don’t change your plans and formulate new strategies.  Picture yourself as a success and you will be!

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