“It
isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you
out. It’s the grain of sand in your shoe.”
~ Robert Service
Fireside
Chat - a personal note from Teresia &
Sonia
Hello Sassy and Savvy Women!
Welcome to 2007 – the year
you get even sassier and savvier than you’ve
ever been before! We’re a little excitable
this month, so you’ll have to excuse our
exuberance. January always gets us a bit
worked up. A fresh start is just so… refreshing,
don’t you think? Especially when you’ve
been working your tail off for the past
year (or ten!).
One of the reasons we love
January so much is that people are naturally
inclined to think about making some positive
changes in the way they do things. We all
seem to take a deep breath and say to ourselves,
“Ok, I’m ready to kick it up a notch.”
Unfortunately, when most
people sit down to make a list of New Year’s
resolutions, they pile up all the unpleasant
things they’ve been avoiding, grit their
teeth, and decide to finally push through
them. That’s so noble… so committed… but
-so uninspired!
There’s a better way to
make positive changes in your life, and
it makes the journey so much easier. How
about resolving to live a better quality
of life? That one commitment can make all
the difference. Read on, we’ll show you!
Don't miss
out on this month's "Savvy
Conversation," a *fre'e* conference
call that will help you learn and utilize
powerful tools for your own business. JOIN
US and other like-minded business women
on January 18th at 9 AM PST to dig into
the details of how to build a thriving business
with all the support you need.
Get more details and register!
Your
Sassy Catalysts
Teresia
LaRocque & Sonia Stringer
SassyandSavvyWomen.com
In
this issue:
Feature
Article
Stop Putting
Up with What’s Bringing You Down
Life as an entrepreneur
can be intense, rigorous, even downright
exhausting. There are 10,000 things calling
for your energy and attention, but you only
have so much to give. As most of us learn
along the way, you have to conserve your
energy and direct it in ways that produce
results.
If you want to accelerate
your path to success, it helps to identify
the things that compromise your progress
and deal with them. We’re talking about
plugging the little energy leaks in your
daily life, so you have more energy to focus
on what’s really important.
The most common energy drains
in life are the little things that irritate
us – the ones we just keep tolerating. It
could be your unreliable printer; a chronically
late employee; clothes that don’t fit and
flatter; that unsightly pile of files in
the corner. Anything that repeatedly causes
friction and frustration, eats up your energy
and attention, and holds you back can be
called a “toleration.” These little tolerations
may seem minor, when you add them up they
cost so much.
When your energy and attention
are spent (read: wasted) on little things
that irritate you, you’re left with so much
less to give. Your unique talents and abilities
fall by the wayside while you’re distracted,
and instead of making progress, you end
up maintaining (or worse yet, falling behind).
If you go through busy days
without feeling like you’ve accomplished
a lot, you’re long overdue for a Toleration
Hunt. What things are zapping your energy
and slowing you down, whether you see them
or not? Here are three places to look, and
the tolerations you might find there:
- Physical environment – messy
desk, overloaded inbox, files in the corner,
disorganization, incomplete projects,
outdated technology, bad headsets, improper
ergonomics, poor lighting, a “make do”
workstation (i.e. the kitchen table).
- In your relationships – people
who don’t deliver or keep their word,
those who breach your boundaries, clients
who don’t pay on time, an inadequate support
team, disrespect, dishonesty.
- Within yourself – bad habits,
procrastination, lack of discipline, neglecting
the “big picture,” doing it all yourself,
negative self-talk, fearful decisions,
perfectionism.
When you finally
sit down to look at all the little things
that compromise your productivity, energy
level and happiness, the list may be surprisingly
long. It is for most of us. Why? Because
up until now, most of us thought tolerating
was a good idea – the way to save energy.
“I’ll just put up with this old printer…
it still kind of works, and that way I don’t
have to spend money.” Trust us – the cumulative
aggravation and lost productivity is far
more expensive than a new printer, so we
encourage you to get things like this handled,
once and for all!
One of the fastest ways
for an entrepreneur to zap tolerations is
to hire an assistant to deal with all the
little details and tasks that slow you down.
If you’re spending more than 10% of your
work time on administrative details, you’re
tolerating. A phenomenal support person
could be your pivotal step up to a new level
of productivity. (More about that next month!)
This January, instead of
adding a long list of resolutions to your
overflowing plate, we highly encourage you
to clear the decks, do less, and manage
your energy in a way that pays you the biggest
rewards. We want for you to not only have
an incredibly profitable and productive
year, but an extremely rewarding one as
well. You deserve it!
A
Sassy Breakthrough
- Tracy Johnson
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When
Tracy signed on as a new coaching
client, she was unproductive and exhausted.
“Something’s got to give – before
I give up! I’m always feeling scattered,
running in five directions at once,
and I get more impatient every day.
I know my life should feel a lot better
than this, but I honestly don’t have
the time or energy work on big, ambitious
goals.” She was sinking fast.
We talked
about tolerations and sent her off
to build her list. The following week,
this is what we heard:
“WOW! My
life is overflowing with little irritations!
I generally consider myself a positive
and easygoing person, so I’ve let
a lot of things slide. But it’s impossible
to stay positive when you’re surrounded
by annoyances. Everywhere I look,
things are broken, stained, or misplaced.
My kids trample all over my boundaries.
I spend two hours a day on things
that bore me to tears. My gas gauge
is broken and I’ve run out of gas
twice this month – all because I didn’t
want to spend time and money to fix
it. Do you know how much time and
money I spent on tow trucks? It’s
ridiculous! No wonder I’ve been so
tired… running circles is exhausting!".
“As soon as I
started my list of tolerations, I
got excited. I knew this was big for
me. I had a belief that tolerating
was easier than handling – but that’s
SO not true! Once I got my head around
that idea, my whole approach to my
life changed. I don’t want to tolerate
my life, I want to savor it, and now
I’m setting things up in a way that
allows me to do that. Thank you so
much for pointing out the obvious!”
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Savvy
Steps: Hitch up your pantyhose and get moving!
Imagine how great your year
would feel if you zapped every one of your
tolerations! How much more energy would
you have? How much happier and productive
would you feel?
This month, we want you
to become aware of all the things you’ve
been tolerating. Make a list of at least
40 irritations that drain your energy and
attention, and keep adding to it for a least
a week. Put everything on there, even the
minor ones. By writing them out, you’ll
find yourself dealing with some of them
– without even trying!
Make a commitment to yourself
to shrink your list of tolerations. Start
with the easiest ones; pick three in your
physical environment. When you get them
handled, you’ll experience a burst of energy
and momentum that will help you tackle the
next one.
Ask a friend or family member
to support you in this process of developing
a toleration-free life, and remember, if
you deal with things right away, you never
have to waste energy on them again.
Featured
Tools & Resources
 The
'New Approach to Goal Setting'
ebook. Set your new goals and intentions
for 2007. Setting value-based goals is one
of the most important and fundamental strategies
in living the life we truly desire. What
we want for you is to become clear of your
values so you can experience a life of fewer
struggles, more ease and one that naturally
pulls you in the direction of your ideal
life. .. visit http://www.sassyandsavvywomen.com/info/book-goalsetting.html
We're pleased
to offer members of the Sassy and Savvy
Community a special offer
- purchase the 'New
Approach to Goal Setting' for only
$19.97 (savings of $10). Get
your copy today (Please note you
must use this link in order to receive the
special offer.)
---------------
On January
23rd 9:00 - 10 a.m pacific, join
Sandi Amorim for a savvy conversation on
setting sustainable and inspiring goals
for 2007. The call will be based
on some of the principles shared in our
New Approach to Goal Setting
ebook. To get the most from the call it
is best to complete the self coaching ebook.
Reserve
your spot.
---------------
Thursday Mastermind
calls......Every Thursday at 9:00am
pacific is your time to get your Sassy and
Savvy support, either through the Savvy
Conversation or the Savvy Mastermind Group.
Dial-in#: 712-432-3900 Passcode: 5077473.
Make this a regular part of your
professional development. The next
calls are on on Thursday, January 11th and
January 25th.
Savvy
Conversation –January 18
Next
free coaching call on January
18
In this *fre'e*
teleconference, we'll be exploring
tolerations and how they affect your life
– both your results and your experience
of life. In this candid discussion, you
learn about some of the most effective
ways to zap tolerations and reclaim your
energy. We’ll
"see" you there!
Watch for more upcoming developments from
the Sassy and Savvy Women! We are building
one amazing community, full of top-notch resources
and high-caliber guidance for the self-employed
woman. And we're burning the midnight oil
to wrap up our book: Sassy and
Savvy Self-Employed Women: The Ultimate Guide
to Leverage Your Business and Love Your Life.
If you'd like to preview a chapter, click
here!
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