Get Your Hopes Up with Christy Wright

3:09 I have so many passions and dreams. How do I combine them enough to feel fulfilled, but narrow them down enough to create a focus that creates more success?

12:10 I know I need to set goals, but I don’t know how or where to start. How do I learn how to create goals for my business?

16:00 What do you do when you feel like you are spinning your wheels and not moving forward?

20:31 If I launch before my journey is complete, do I risk failing from the start? Or is this simply a case of imposter syndrome?

24:13 What is the best way to handle copycats in your business?

28:24 Where is the first place newbies should start to attract ideal customers?

30:52 How do you create an email marketing plan?

35:27 How do I get my husband to realize, with owning my own business, I have to bring work home?

41:16 I have come from a 7 to 4 job. Now I have a blessing of working my own hours and enjoying my family. I don’t want my hours of work to take away from my family. How do I balance my work and family?

2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner

Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy’s Setting Goals video that you can watch right now!

If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at [email protected].

New podcast episodes are available every other week.

Get to know photographer, business strategist, and host of The Jasmine Star Show, Jasmine Star; coach, consultant, and host of the Marketing Your Business podcast, Stu McLeran; comedian, musician, speaker, and host of The Kelsey Show, Kelsey Humphreys; and founder and CEO of The Cupcake Collection, Mignon Francois. They’ll answer your questions, and more!

This podcast was recorded during our Business Boutique Conference 2019 VIP Lunch in Nashville, TN.

Alright y’all. Let’s face it: Distractions are a fact of life.

You’re going to face them in every area of your life and your business, and the honest truth is that if we don’t face them, they’re going to keep us from getting things done. I want you to reach your goals and achieve everything you want in the coming year.

So let’s talk about how to stay focused and eliminate distractions.

All human beings are wired to be curious. We naturally gravitate toward the new, even if that keeps us from doing the things we need to do.

But not all distractions are created equal.

Let’s think of distractions in the form of a stop light.

STOP.Red Distractions: The distractions that you should ignore. STOP.

Proceed with caution.Yellow Distractions: The distractions that cause you to slow down and think about.

GO!Green Distractions: The distractions that demand your attention.

Squirrels

These types of distractions, like a squirrel zooming in front of you on a walk, divert you from your main task at hand. They might be new ideas, shiny objects, something more fun, or simply something that is going to help you procrastinate.

For me, this is a normal occurrence. They steal my attention away from what I’m really supposed to be doing. I am working on one idea or objective, something new pops up, and I focus on that instead.

It’s easy to get derailed by these types of distractions. But honestly, they are just squirrels. These go in the Red Distractions category because they are the types of distractions that you need to stop letting steal your focus.

Technology

You knew I was going to go here. I can’t talk about distractions without calling out the main culprit and source of distraction for so many of us.

Technology notifications distract us all day long. It’s a text when you’re in the middle of a project or a quick browse on Facebook when you really should be writing marketing copy.

Most types of technology distractions are examples of those that you can and should ignore. Those notifications come in 24/7, and they’re still going to be there when you get done with your task at hand.

Red Distractions are the easiest distractions to avoid. You shut it out, put on blinders, and force yourself to focus. This is a matter of will and discipline.

If you want to get anything done, set yourself up for success. You need to eliminate any possible chance for these distractions to come at you. Put on noise-canceling headphones, go to a room or coffee shop by yourself, close all the tabs on your computer, hide your phone, and get to work.

Force yourself to focus, and you’ll finally start finishing.

There are no hard and fast rules for ignoring these distractions. Proceed with caution, like you would at a stoplight. Stop and think before you let them steal your focus.

You’re going to encounter all kinds of people who have the potential to distract you—customers, team members, vendors, friends or family. When you have people in your life distracting you, you must stop and think before allowing them to steal your focus. Do their needs demand your attention, or can you set up a boundary until you have the space and time to address them?

Related: How to Say No And Stand Your Ground

Yes, kids are people, but we all know they present a different level of distraction than the other people in your life. Nothing can derail your plans like your kids. (Can I get an “Amen!”?)

Let’s be honest. When your kids need you, it’s because they need one of two things: They want to play or they need help.

Again, think about what is most important in that moment. Are you up against a deadline and you need to tell your kid you’ll play with them later? Or are you in a place where you can be present and seize a moment with them?

Related: Look For Distractions

Let’s go ahead and call something else out too: Your child will be disappointed.

How can I stay focused on my work at home and not disappoint my child? You can’t. I disappoint my boys in some way every day.

They want cake for breakfast, and I say no. Disappointment. They want to drill their brother in the head with a plastic power drill, and I stop them. Disappointment. They want to play outside barefoot in 20-degree weather, and I make them we...

If you’ve been in business for any amount of time—heck, if you’ve been living for any amount of time—you’ve encountered fear. We always think of fear as a bad sign. But in truth, fear is not a sign that we’re doing something bad; it’s a sign we’re doing something bold.

So many times in life fear can hold us back from doing the thing we’re really meant to do.

Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you don’t get scared.

I was 10 years old the first time I realized I was a good runner—at the skate center of all places.

It gave me incredible confidence as a 10-year-old to discover something I was naturally good at. It was this realization that led me to join the track team in middle and high school.

Despite my natural running ability and the fact that I loved running, the strangest thing happened before every race.

I got scared.

I’m not talking about the normal “prerace butterflies.” I mean, I was terrified.

Being scared made me doubt my ability and made me want to quit.

I would beg my coach to take me out of the race, and every time he made me go to the starting line. I love that about him. He made me do it anyway.

You’d think that after running multiple events for multiple track meets over multiple years, I wouldn’t have gotten scared anymore. But I always did.

Then my coach did something that helped me change my focus and interrupt my thought pattern.

At one of the track meets, I was begging him to take me out of the race, he looked me in the eyes, exasperated, and said, “Christy, will you just tell me one thing you like about yourself?”

Confused, I answered him: “My blue eyes.”

“Great,” he said. “Focus on that. I don’t want you to think about the race, the other runners, or your time. Just focus on your blue eyes.”

Changing my focus from what I was scared about to what I was confident in was just enough to distract the fear out of me.

Related: The Fear or Wisdom Filter

Whether you choose to think about what you’re scared of or what you’re proud of, what you focus on will become magnified in your life.

Focusing on what you’re good at and what you’re proud of will encourage you to get better.

Focusing on fear causes you to stay back, give up, or play small.

I was a good runner, but fear made me doubt my training, my track record and my natural ability.

It doesn’t matter how many accomplishments you’ve earned. The fear can get so loud in your head that it makes you doubt yourself.

But here’s the good news: You get to choose what you focus on.

The thoughts you allow to enter your mind will change your entire experience.

My friend Melissa says, “Your mind is multimillion dollar real estate. Be very selective about what you allow to reside there.”

Related: Ep. 31 — Is It Fear or Wisdom?

Walking to any starting line is scary, and it makes you vulnerable.

But before you let fear steal your opportunities and rob you of your potential, ask yourself a few questions.

1. What’s something you like about yourself?
2. What are you proud of?
3. What’s going right in your life or business?

And then, focus on those answers instead.

It may just be enough to distract the fear right out of you and make you want to go for it.

Jessica Honegger is the founder and co-CEO of the socially conscious fashion brand, the Noonday Collection; author of the book, Imperfect Courage; and host of The Going Scared Podcast. As if that’s not impressive enough, she’s also the mom of three little ones. Jessica is passionate about encouraging others to leave their comfort zone, move forward even when you’re scared, and step into a life of impact.

The path to success doesn’t always seem clear, but when you focus on what you are confident in—instead of what you are fearful of—moving forward doesn’t seem so overwhelming. Why fuel your fear when you can focus on what you’re uniquely positioned to do with your gifts?

Jessica Honegger is incredibly successful, but she’s no stranger...

This week’s podcast episode is going to help you simply your life and business. The stress of chaotic schedules and spaces keeps us from living effectively. I know for me a few practical tips can make all the difference. Our guest this week has personally helped me simplify my own life through simple, easy-to-do daily changes. One small change got me thinking beyond my personal life to business.

I can’t wait to share a few tips to simplify your business today!

In addition to a laundry mountain, I have mail mountain. It piles up high for weeks or months until I finally address it and sort it into neat stacks.

What if we had permanent stacks?

What if there were permanent places where those things go?

What if we created, like my friend April Perry calls it, a Command Center?

You probably already know the main categories of paperwork you encounter throughout the month in your business.

Just start there.

Do a little bit of work on the front end, and create spaces to sort your paperwork as it comes in! Whether it’s your email inbox, your computer desktop, or a few literal spaces, this strategy is going to help reduce stress in the long run.

When my husband Matt and I were planning our wedding and had a larger invitation list than our budget would allow, our wedding planner provided us with a challenge: cut 10%. We eliminated 10% of our list by eliminating from each category.

The same challenge can be applied to your workspace. What if you cut a percentage of what was there? Let’s say 30%. Go into your work space and choose 30% of the items taking up space to sort, store, or throw away. Junk, clutter, and the seventeen pieces of artwork from your children are overwhelming your space. It’s time to approach your workspace with an elimination mindset.

Imagine creating a workspace you actually want to work in. You’ll enjoy your work more when you've created a space that you love.

Related: How to Have More Time

When it comes to your customers, less is more. In products, design, and content, it’s important to create clarity. If it’s complicated to you, it’s even more complicated to your customers.

You want to make sure you have a clear path for your customers. A million options with a million varieties is not clear for your customers. It’s overwhelming.

Research shows the more options you give people, the less likely they are to buy. People do better with limited options.

Get rid of anything in your product offerings that wastes space, doesn’t sell, you don’t enjoy making, or has a horrible profit margin. You’ll leave more space and fewer options for your customers to actually buy what they want.

Just like with your product offerings, your website needs to be simple and clear for your customers.

My friend Donald Miller says, “People don’t buy the best products and services; they buy those they understand the quickest.” People understand the fastest when you give them a few simple words. Everything needs to have a purpose and a point—every tab, landing page, and product description. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t need to be there.

When I’m writing a talk, I challenge myself to write the “one sentence.” What’s the one thing I want people to know? Then everything I say points back to that one thing.

Your website should be just like that! Your website is a source of communication with your customers. Make it as clear as possible.

What landing page, words, or images are not the most important things you want your customer to know?

What words are confusing? What words are a distraction?

Similar to your workspace, you can approach your schedule with an elimination mindset. Set a goal and take a percentage right off the top.

It’s time to find some margin, and the best way to do that is to be honest with yourself about what you have to do, and what you just think you have to do.

You don’t have to do a lot of what you think you do. That’s how we get burnt out: doing all the things halfway. You made that to-do list. You can cut some of it.

What if you created margin to do the things you wanted to do, and then did them really well?

Related: How to Create Your Perfect Schedule

You can make these changes. You can stop perpetually running ragged. I firmly believe that you can slow do...

In this episode, I share an announcement about the future of The Christy Wright Show and a message that God has put on my heart.