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Browse every published article connected to Carrie Greene, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
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Browse every published article connected to Carrie Greene, or search within this exact expert archive.
OK, I'll admit it; I love getting rid of things. A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in my office and suddenly had the urge to purge. I filled four bags with papers, notes and other things that weren't serving my needs. The reason I love getting rid of things is because of the space I ...
It’s all over the news, ADHD is everywhere. Kids have it in record numbers, adults have it too. Is ADHD the latest craze? Is ADHD real or is it just an excuse? What is ADHD anyway? ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is commonly referred to as ADHD, ADD, AD/HD or ...
The last four coaching calls I’ve been on have focused on one topic. Self care. But wait a minute; I’m a business coach so why do I spend time with my clients talking about self-care? Guess what? Unless you take care of yourself you cannot take care of your business. Entrepreneurs tend to put everything and everyone in front of themselves. When they do that, they risk losing it all. Now before you tell me (or yourself) that you don’t have time for self care, take a look at the following seven areas to keep an eye on. None will take you more than a couple of minutes a day.
I know a lot about getting organized and clutter, yet the more I talk about it the more I realize that getting organized and decluttering is not what it's about. n So then what is it about? It is about creating time, space and energy so you can focus your attention on the things that are ...
I was speaking with someone who doubled her multiple six-figure business over the past year. She had amazing business coaching, kept her focus on her business and put in a lot of hard work. The coaching and advice she got were exactly on target for her business. I knew that increasing her revenues was extremely important to her so I was excited to hear her answer to my question, “Are you happy?” The phone line was silent for a full minute. She said “I wish I could say yes”. She was tired. She had lost herself in her business.
A client of mine said, “I feel like a fraud. Like what right do I have to build a business around my needs and my desires? ‘Real businesses’ don’t get to do that. What right do I have to build a business my way and ignore what everyone else is telling me to do?” What do you think?
I help facilitate a Facebook page for a group of entrepreneurs. The page is for day-to-day support. Everyone is encouraged to use the page as a place to ask questions, share celebrations and challenges. I was monitoring the page one day and I saw a post by someone who “admitted” she had been hiding. She shared that things had been hard. She hadn’t been following through on commitments. She said that she had been hiding because it was obvious from all the other posts that everyone else was doing great. Stop judging yourself by what you see on Facebook.
Have you seen the show Hoarders, Buried Alive? Many people are entranced by it. It’s reminds me of when you drive down the road and pass an accident… it’s hard to turn away. I’ve heard people say that they are amazed at how “those people” live. Can’t “they” understand the difference between what’s junk and what’s not? How can “they” save all that stuff? What were “they” thinking as they accumulated all of it? Did “they” really think they would use it? How can “they” live that way? Don’t “they” know when enough’s enough?
Like many kids, my son Eric has crooked teeth. About a year ago we started along the orthodontics route and he got a Herbst appliance. In case you're not an orthodontist, a Herbst appliance is designed to do some preliminary moving and adjusting before "real braces". Unlike a retainer it is ...
When I sat down at my computer I was instantly overwhelmed. I opened my email and it was overflowing. I knew there were messages in there that needed my attention. There were emails from current clients, prospective clients, and colleagues looking for information. There were opportunities that I needed to decide whether or not to take advantage of. And that was only some of it. I had a choice. I could either, shut my email and let it wait until later (very tempting!), OR I could set my timer for thirty-seven minutes. I set my timer and here's what I did.
My daughter, Sammi, goes to Lehigh University (my alma mater) and just pledged a sorority. Sorority recruitment (or rush) at college is a pretty intense experience. Sammi referred to it as a solid week for "girl flirting". At Lehigh rush happens DURING winter break. The freshmen girls go back early to focus on rush without the pressures of having to study too.
According to the weather app it's 57 degrees and mostly cloudy. I was hoping to sit outside, get some work done and soak in some vitamin D. I looked outside. Not a cloud in the sky and the sun was warm. Obviously the weather app was wrong. Can you guess where I am right now? Outside on the deck! I'm glad I didn't take that expert advice at face value. There is so much expert advice being offered to business owners.
A client of mine was frustrated. She was talking about the pace of growth in her business. She was telling me that things were shifting, that her message was getting clearer. That she was feeling more confident every day. She also shared with me that her business was still not where she wanted it to be. She did not have as many clients as she wanted. She did not have the reach or audience that she needed. She said to me, "I know it takes time. I know I need to be patient. The problem is that I'm not a patient person."
A client emailed me…I am feeling crazy stuck in a comparison cycle today - and I have so much to do. Just wanted to share my mind-tape today in case you have any sage wisdom. When you play the comparison game it seems that you always fall on the short end of the stick. Everyone else’s business is better. Everyone has more clients. Everyone is making more money. Everyone else is doing more than you. Everyone else can do it. Now wait a minute. Is that really true? If you are going to play the comparison game at least play full on.
A client of mine recently said to me "I have to work on my time management but I never get to it!" Does this sound familiar? Problems with time management seem to lie at the heart of the difficulties faced by many adults with ADHD. Everyone has issues with time management especially when life ...
You know you have to do them. You know that they are the foundation to a profitable business. You don’t have a choice…the dreaded sales call. You may have lists of names of people to follow up with. People you’ve met at networking events. Someone that somebody else suggested you get in touch with, heck even former customers. How do you get yourself to pick up the phone? What do you say? How do you get someone to call you back?
My sons, Eric and Josh, graduated from middle school last week. I had a conversation with them about moving onto high school. I expected to hear "I'm looking forward to high school," "I'm nervous" and "I hope there isn't that much more homework" but, after all of the complaints I heard this past year, I was surprised that what came out of their mouths was "I'm going to miss South Orange Middle School," and "I really like my teachers."
People tell me that they want to go into business for freedom and flexibility. It’s easy to embrace the freedom but are you willing to embrace the keys you need to unlock that door? A client of mine shared with me that when he went into business 3-years ago one of his goals was to be able to be home more, to not have to answer to a "boss", to be able to spend time with his daughter and, do what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it.
I went for a walk the other day and saw a squirrel gathering aco s for the upcoming winter. I was thinking about how much easier his life would be if only he could go to Target for all of his aco needs. I pictured the sale Target would have in order to attract the squirrels and imagined what would happen. All of the little gray squirrels would show up in droves and rush around Target. They would each be pushing big red shopping carts overflowing with aco s. The squirrels would shop until the shelves were empty and they had filled every available nook and cranny in their trees.
I recently saw a documentary about Joan Rivers. Obviously, she was quite the comedienne but what surprised me was how astute a businesswoman she was. She talked about risk. One line that stood out was, "You need to stand out in the rain in order to get hit by lightening."
Trees are magnificent. They root themselves deep in the earth. They grow tall - twenty, thirty, forty, a hundred feet, or even more. And they come from a single seed. An aco caught my eye recently. This aco was usually large and I started thinking. As I picked it up the first thought that came into my head was that everything an oak tree needed to grow 60-feet tall was in my hand. My thoughts went to the business owners that I work with and how they constantly struggle thinking that they need more to be successful when, like the acorn, they already have what they need.
When people talk about productivity they often talk about routines or habits. “Professionals” tell us that it takes 21-repetitions of an action to form a habit. This means that after twenty-one repetitions of an activity, it will be engrained into your mind and body so that you do it automatically. Here’s what I wonder, once you have a habit in place, why are good habits so easy to break and bad habits so hard to break?
I was at a beautiful, beachside hotel in Miami, the elevator opened; a bellman with six large pieces of luggage was already inside. As I joined him, I commented that someone brought a lot with them. Then he told me, two of the suitcases were empty but they will be full when they leave. Shopping was on someone's agenda. Why do we shop? It can be a necessity. There are things you truly need, that your survival depends on.
I was speaking with a client earlier today who related a story to me about a river in Louisiana that was jammed full of logs. Nothing was moving in or out. Many strategies were employed to loosen the jam but nobody was able to clear it. Everyone and everything was stuck. Finally someone came along who was able to clear it and everything started to flow. Business could once again move their goods and people were once again able to get what they needed.
I was out for a walk and saw a bunch of pigeons poking around for food in the grass. All pigeons pretty much look the same to me but this time, one of them caught my eye. It was white. By now I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m writing about pigeons. Well, as I continued walking three thoughts struck me that have everything to do with you and your business.
We did it! It's finally springtime, my favorite time of year! Here in New Jersey we experience very distinct seasons and during the winter everything dies, or at least it looks like it does. Then spring comes and the earth magically comes back to life. The snow melts, the branches of the trees start getting fat, buds appear and the first flowers begin to break through. It's time to wake up. Many people use January 1st, the beginning of the calendar year, as a date to spur them into action, but I find spring is when my brain really kicks into gear.
Productivity is a multi-billion dollar business so it should be easy to cross things off your to-do list. For the most part the tasks that are on our lists are not difficult, yet it’s as if an invisible force stops you from implementing. We’re full of excuses. Some of the excuses are more “valid” than others. No matter what the excuse is however, at the end of the day you look at your to-do list and wonder what the heck you did all day because you certainly didn’t do anything you were supposed to be doing.
Everyone talks about clutter these days. A whole industry has sprung up around it. There are TV shows, magazines, books and professionals like me to help you deal with all of the stuff that you have in your homes, offices and cars. Here are 4 tips you can use IMMEDIATELY to help you stop the ...
I was astounded. I raised $1,109. Yes, that's a lot of money and that's not what astounded me. What astounded me was that out of over 8,000 participants I was the 23rd top "fundraising participant". Frankly, I find that embarrassing. Why? Because, I hardly put any effort into raising that money, I didn't think I deserved any special honor.
It’s officially summertime and vacation season. Business owners often have a tough time traveling on two fronts. First, there is often a sense that they are responsible for so many things that there is no way that they can truly shut down. Then there’s the other side of the coin… the sense of overwhelm and overload when they get back. Sometimes you may be left wondering if your time away was even worth it. By the way, this is not just a summertime or vacation problem, many business owners experience exactly the same issues when they travel for business.
I was speaking to a colleague who, like me, is a coach who works with other business owners. We hadn't spoken for about a year. I was happy to catch up with her. When I asked her what was going on, she told me that she was looking for a job in the corporate world. She missed the predictability of a job. She was tired of making decisions and she missed the regular paycheck.
Many people have trouble staying focused on what they are doing. I got this email recently, take a look, does this sound familiar to you? "I know what I have to do but never do it. I get side tracked, then I lose track of time and next thing I know the day is gone and I've done nothing. It ...
I’m not so sure the saying “a diamond’s a girl’s best friend” is true. Go ahead and read these two stories, then let me know what you think… Diamond Story 1: About five years ago I received a wonderful present from my mother-in-law. A pair of 18 karat gold earrings she inherited from her aunt. The earrings were covered with 44 small but nearly perfect, diamonds. I told you it was a wonderful present! But there was a problem…the earrings were ugly and not something I would ever wear. They were valuable so I put them safely in a drawer and they sat.
I recently participated in a chili cook-off. chili food There were four teams. Each team was given the same ingredients, the same utensils and access to the same serving dishes. We all heard the directions at the same time. The clock started, we had 45 minutes to create our chili and present it to the judges. We got to work. When the timer went off four very distinct dishes were presented to the judges. Each dish had a unique taste. Each chili looked different and was presented differently. How could this be if we all started with exactly the same resources?
I was on the phone with a client and she said, “I have a really stupid question to ask you.” By far the best and fastest way to get to know someone is to talk with them, ideally face to face, so it makes sense that you need to get out from behind your desk, meet people and get to know them. Yet, it’s easy to justify that you need to be at your desk. You need to clean up your inbox, work on your website, work on the new program you’re developing or even work with current clients.
When something comes up four times over the course of two days I know it's serious. Entrepreneurs are lousy at taking care of themselves. * Entrepreneurs routinely work long hours. * Entrepreneurs often beat themselves up for not doing enough or not doing it well enough. * Entrepreneurs have a misguided belief that they are the only person who could possibly do "it" right. * Entrepreneurs feel guilty spending time relaxing when there's so much work to do. * Entrepreneurs spend their day worrying about what they missed or what they "should have" done.
I don’t often write “how-to” articles but this is something that has come up again and again during coaching calls so I figured it was time to put it out there. The question I am getting is around event sponsorship. What do you need to do when you have a table, or are exhibiting your business, at an event? The good news is that you don’t need much, but you absolutely must have (or do) the following six things.
Networking is vital to growing your business. Simply put, unless you go out and meet people nobody will know you exist. If they don't know you exist they can't hire you. You can be the best "networker" out there but unless you follow up with the people you meet you are wasting your time.
At the beginning of February I committed to a new challenge at my gym... to run (or walk) a total of 144 miles over three months. It amounts to 12 miles a week. It was a big commitment for me. I already spend about four hours a week at the gym in classes that I don't want to give up. To add the additional running, it means another three hours a week.
We had so much fun kayaking last week, we decided to go again. It was a bit warmer, the water was clearer and there were a lot more people. We set out on the 8-mile trip down the Delaware River. There are two islands you pass on the left as you go down the river. We stopped at the first island to eat lunch. I think everyone had the same idea and the very small “beach” got very crowded and we quickly left. As we got into our kayaks, I suggested we leave the main branch of the river and instead go around the island. Last week we stayed with everyone else.
I jumped out of a plane. When my daughter turned 21 my husband and I wanted to give her an adventure for her birthday. She’s always wanted to go skydiving so it seemed like the right thing. I have never had any desire to jump out of plane. Skydiving wasn’t even close to being on my bucket list. But then Paul decided that if Sammi was going to go, he would like to jump too. I was sure I’d be happy cheering them on from the ground. I’m not quite sure how or why, but one day I found myself sending this text message to Paul and Sammi. Me: Okay, I’m going to jump with you.r
Insanity. According to Albert Einstein it's to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. According to this definition I've marketed, coached, managed email, engaged in social media, worked my plan and so much more in an insane manner. As a business owner it's so easy to fall into the trap of insanity. Here are a few examples of insanity I see every day. You see someone getting amazing results. You want those results so you do exactly what they are doing. When it doesn't work you try again and again.
The most important thing you do in business is communicate. One of the key times to communicate with people is after you’ve met them but before they become a client. During this the time you create your relationship. You nurture them. They get to know you and hopefully, based on what and how you communicate, they grow to like and trust you. As time goes on you continue to develop and deepen that relationship and when they are ready, they buy from you.
I get to the gym often. Yesterday, I took a class called "Cardio Boot Camp". I went in thinking that it was going to be just another class; that I'll get my heart pumping and I'll lift some weights. As soon as the music started I sensed a change, it was a really tough class. Many of the ...
Time management 101 tells us that we should figure out how long something will take us to do and block out the time to do it. Makes sense on the face of it. What bothers me with this way of thinking is that it puts the project in control of your "time budget" instead of you deciding how you are going to spend your "time budget". I prefer to decide how much time I want to GIVE TO a project based on what I believe the project is worth to me. This is what we do with money, which we can get more of, but we don't do it with our time, which is finite.
I was sitting in my son’s high school psychology classroom on back to school night. I was listening to the teacher talk about what the kids would be learning. He asked if there were any questions. One of the parents asked, “What’s with the map?” I looked at the wall and realized the map was upside down. The South Pole was up at the top and the North Pole at the bottom. Wow that was a new look.
Springtime is a season of activity and anticipation. During spring, the view outside my window seems to change everyday. It starts when the bare branches of the trees suddenly seem to get fat and then like magic the leaves appear. The birds are busy flying all over the place and building ...
I participated in a duathlon last week. It was a 2-mile run followed by a 10-mile bike ride and finally a 2-mile run. After 64 minutes and 35 seconds I was done. I was sweaty and tired. I got a medal (we all did). I know it was an accomplishment. I trained for it. Now here's the part that's hard to admit...it wasn't that difficult.
Legitimate excuses. no excuses What’s yours? We all have them. A legitimate excuse is the reason you say you can’t do something. I hear a lot of legitimate excuses. I hear them from clients during coaching calls and, boy, do I hear them during sales conversations. Legitimate excuses I hear from clients are: -I can’t speak with potential clients until I have the particulars of a program worked out or a sales page completed.rn -I can’t go to a networking event until I figure out what to say in my elevator pitch.r
If you’ve been following all of the gurus, you know that one of the best ways to meet people and get business is by speaking. Frankly, I agree, unless of course you shouldn’t be speaking. Let me tell you what I mean by that. My client Steve knew he needed to be speaking from the stage. He had spent a year working on his “signature talk”. Only he never gave his talk to anyone. He kept hearing, you need to speak, you need to speak and he knew everyone was right. He knew that it was a great strategy to use and yet he was absolutely terrified of public speaking.