If you were here last week! We talked about two or five tips to success! Well today I am back with the final three! Lets get into it!
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Sometimes it is hard to understand, but the problems that we face may be the door to a new opportunity. As you watch this video, you will notice several of the women saw a problem in their life and found a way to create an opportunity. 

Every problem needs a solution what you have to offer may be the answer. Instead of allowing the things that frustrate you to turn you away, why not dig to find a resolution to the problem.  When Steve Jobs started Apple, it was because he hated his current phone. Instead of allowing his frustration to sit, he found new and innovative ways to get technology into peoples hands. 

As you see today, many people have iPhones, and the Apple company has had tremendous success. That success would not have been possible had Jobs not turned his frustration into an invention. 

The thing you must understand is that your frustrations may also be someone else's frustration. So instead of allowing people to walk around frustrated, why not be the solution to the problem? Let's start finding and being solutions, rather than continuing to let issues sit! 

                                              You are the answer to someone concern!
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Success starts with taking small steps daily to reach the overall goal. We live in a popcorn paced world, and as a result, we can look for the fastest way to achieve our goals. The thing about quick results is those results can just as quickly fail. Instead of focusing on how quick to succeed, focus on how to accomplish well. If you want to start a business, make a five-year plan and begin by figuring out what you need to do today to get there. 

                                   Focus on what is necessary today to succeed tomorrow!​
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The final and most crucial factor to success is to permit yourself to move! You never have to wait around for someone else to give you the green light to do something, start now! 

Being your CEO starts with taking a vision and building it the way YOU want to create it. Do not be so people driven that you do not do things your way! You make the decisions, and you plan the direction of your dreams! ​

When we go to a 9-5, we are fulfilling the vision of the companies CEO. But now is the time to start bringing YOUR vision to fruition. Never allow yourself to get so busy accomplishing the goals of others that you forget to build what was placed inside of you! Today, give yourself permission to put your vision first!

Each and every day we get a new opportunity to reach out dreams. Success is available for you, but you have to make a choice to work for it! Until next time! -Tamika!

Over this past week, I came across a fantastic video on YouTube (linked below). In this video five women, CEOs share their top secrets to success. While success looks different for everyone, the insights shared within this video can help you no matter who you are. The journey to reaching your dreams can often be long and tedious, but remaining focused on what is on the other side of the grind is much more beneficial than being uncomfortable temporarily. 

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them” -Chris Grosser
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The critical thing to understand about success is it starts by taking advantage of the opportunities that are in front of you. Success requires you to work hard and be dedicated even when you do not see results. It requires that you learn to produce your best even when no one is watching. Success starts with taking opportunities and maximizing them. It starts with learning to stop sitting on your ideas and visions and creating them into a reality. These ladies did that, and their insight can help you get the push you need to do it also. Today I want to share with you five success tips the stories of successful entrepreneurs can teach you.
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We can get so focused on everyone else’s program to success that we start duplicating what they did. When we see others succeeding in a certain way, we can develop a mindset that their way is the best and only way to success. While this may seem like a resolution, I ensure you, it is not. People are not looking for replicas; they are looking for the difference in the crowd. 

Just because someone has a lifestyle blog does not mean that you can’t too, but find creative ways to share your content. Your unique ability is what will attract others to you. We all have a unique vibe that we bring to the table, being confident in what you have to offer is the number one way to succeed! Instead of allowing your difference to limit you, let it motivate you to reach new people in a new way. Being different is a good thing!
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It is our human nature to focus on negative rather than the positive. It is easy to talk yourself out of doing something instead of figuring out how to reach your goals and be successful. Start by refocusing on your game plan. Instead of focusing on things that limit your success, find ways to conquer! Success starts with you being determined to face adversity head-on, knowing that you will not allow it to win! Some of the best ideas and inventions never take off because the person was so focused on the limits instead that they lost the opportunity to create something amazing!

Being success minded starts with training your mind to focus on what looks like a challenge and to see it as an opportunity. 
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                                                       Do not allow your obstacles to win!

Well friends, I know I said five tips and I promise they are coming, but since this post was getting lengthy I decided to do a part 2. Come back next Thursday for part two!

If you look around at the world today, you'll see there's been a significant shift in the culture. It seems now, more than ever people are leaving their "stable and steady" 9-5 positions, to embrace the risky world of entrepreneurship. While many people leave for many reasons, more and more we see the corporate world is no longer the only norm. 

While many people are running to leave their day job, they are not allowing themselves appropriate time to grasp the lessons a 9-5 teaches. Going to a job every day is much more than punching in on a clock, it is an opportunity to learn lessons for your personal growth and development. The lessons you learn allow you to develop the skills that you can apply toward the fulfillment of your future goals.

Each life lessons is a stepping stone towards personal growth and development. During my journey, I have learned to embrace the 9-5 season. Instead of that looking at it as a burden, I have learned to take note of what is going on around me. Today I want to share with you three lessons I have learned, and my hope is you too will learn to look past the day to day of a 9-5 and look at it as a training ground for your future. Let's dig in!
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During my working years, I have seen both good and bad communication! I have learned it is essential to be mindful of how you communicate in any capacity. It does not matter if you work in the mailroom or if you are the CEO of a company, you are required to communicate with somebody. Communication is one of the critical components to a companies success. It is more than just getting the point across; it is how you get the point across.

Good communication requires you to be clear and effective. It is crucial to learn to explain things in an easy to understand manner and to allow it to be something that produces change. When you communicate better, you develop better internal and external relationships. 

Excellent customer communication may bring a happy customer back, good conversation with a vendor may lead to a great deal/partnership, proper employer/employee communication may make it easier to retain the employee. Proper communication is essential to drive success and positive results.
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Adaptability is not something that can be taught. When we learn to adapt, we learn to respond better to change, and when we can better respond to change, we are more likely to succeed. Life is full of change, and that change is evident in companies. Even when a company is doing good, there is always an opportunity to do and be better. It is important to realize that you can not settle in where you are now (no matter how safe it feels) as you must learn to get in position for a shift.

All businesses and companies go through good seasons and bad season. And while the good seasons allow us to ride on the high, there is always an opportunity to do better. Difficult seasons teach lessons to enable a company to reexamine current processes and procedures while considering a new plan of action. 
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Whether you are the employer or the employee, be prepared for change. There is ALWAYS change. I know that change can create chaos, but how we respond to change is up to us. Being prepared and understanding change promotes success.
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I used to think that the title boss and leader were interchangeable! When I delved into the 9-5 world, I quickly learned they were not. Being boss focused is typically an individual who is self-absorbed and focused on results. They can be critical and often blame others as the cause of issues. A leader focuses on how to help grow, develop, and maximize their team. They find their focus on assisting you to become the best you that you can be. 

A title does not make someone a leader! I think we often get that confused! "Leadership" roles within a company provide fantastic learning and growing opportunities however many see it as an opportunity to be demanding. Most employees want someone who can help them grow, rather than someone who has no empathy and is only result driven. 

Having excellent leadership opens the opportunity for employees to grow to their highest potential. Being a leader is not about a title/position, it is about how you carry yourself as a person and how you respond to others. 

​Going to a job every day can seem like a task, but today I encourage you to pay attention to what is going on around you in your current corporation, the good, the bad and the ugly! Allow what you see not to be a distraction but a lesson to push you in the right direction. I wish you the best in your daily ventures! Until next time!

Tamika

PS. Share below some things that working at a 9-5 has taught you!

It does not matter if you are sitting across a table from your spouse, or standing in front of a crowd of 500+, each day we must communicate in some capacity. Communication is an area that even the best speakers struggle. We must understand that communication is an area that requires constant development. 

Communication is a vital component to our daily life’s, learning how to be an effective communicator helps us to be better leaders, make better decisions makers and help others unlock their very own potential.

Communicating is so much more than merely opening your mouth and saying words, it is not only about you, but also whoever is on the receiving end of the conversation...​
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Effective communication starts with listening, when you listen, you make yourself aware of the need of the concern the person/group of people is having. Example being, if you are speaking to an audience of people, you must start by understanding their need. If a company is struggling to keep employees before you give a solution, you must know why they have that struggle, that starts by actively listening. When you listen to the concern or the problem, it not only helps you, but it also allows the listener to know that you hear them. 

Being to ask yourself, what do I have that can help to solve this problem or help this person? When you understand what you have to offer, you can begin to formulate an appropriate response and plan of action. This leads me to my next point...
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When you are formulating an appropriate response, you need to communicate it honestly and transparently. Our weak areas are often the areas that people connect with us the most. Sharing struggles allows others to understand that you are not perfect and they also do not have to be perfect. 

It is our nature to share our successes but sharing how our success may have begun with a failure should not be a taboo topic. Yes, you may have started a successful business, but do not be afraid to talk about the first five you had that failed before that. Share your truth as a way to understand that failure is not an end but rather a beginning for something new. ​

If you are not confident in what you are saying and the knowledge you are offering someone then they will not be able to have confidence in you. Confidence is something we must work on developing, and the journey to confidence is different for all of us. Take the time to learn and grow in your skill so that you can help someone else grow and develop in theirs. (PS I blogged more about confidence here!)
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Confidence is necessary to connection.

Communication is not about always being right; it is about being real. While you may not be the perfect communicator being willing to grow and develop that skill actively will help you succeed in any conversation. Remember great communication leads to great connections.

Until next time,

Tamika 

Friends, let's talk in the comments. Share any communication tips you have below, let's chat!

It’s the end of the year and it’s time for the thing we dread the most, end of the year reviews! The time when we get to sit down and face the long awaited manager feedback. While many people get scared or nervous when it comes to feedback, feedback can be the very that produces better results!

You see the thing that we need to understand about feedback, is that feedback forces us to grow!  

Feedback comes in many ways, on the job, in the business, in school and even in relationships. It’s easy to feel like we get more negative than positive feedback but whether the feedback is negative or positive, constructive feedback can help us to grow as employees, friends, and even as leaders. No person, no matter their position or status is above receiving feedback. 

So why is feedback important?

Feedback provides opportunity to grow as well as providing an opportunity to examine the way that we manage and handle situations. Good feedback produces good change. So instead of brushing off feedback, use it as an opportunity to examine how you are handling things and explore ways to execute change. 

Often times, we do not realize, or want to admit the areas that we are lacking in an area, until someone on the outside brings it to our attention. When you open yourself to feedback, you allow others to educate you in areas that you may need growth in.

Productive feedback leads to improvement. Whether you are an employee, parent, spouse, business owner, or anything in between, ask for feedback, accept feedback and examine feedback.

Feedback is not always about criticizing you, it is about growing you.

When you receive feedback, it is important not to take it personally, but rather to examine and determine sort out any truth. If you do find there is truth, then take the proper steps to produce changes.

​ There is no opportunity to change if you don’t allow feedback. 

While it is easier to accept feedback when we know the person is going to tell us what we WANT to hear, open yourself to receive feedback from those who will tell you what you NEED to hear. While the people close to you may be honest, they may also sugarcoat some things out of love and the desire to not hurt your feelings. 

In considering this understand that it is important to allow individuals who have no emotional investment to be the ones to provide you with feedback. 

While feedback is often scary, it can be the very thing that helps you go from good to great! Today I want you to stop playing it safe, and allow yourself to be open to feedback, and allow that feedback to produce change.

As the second quarter of 2018 quickly approaches, you, like many of others, may realize that many of the goals you set at the beginning of the year have already failed!

Yeah you wanted to lose that 5 pounds, grow your social media following or even start that business! As you reflect on you Q1 goals, you quickly realize that you have not completed any of them! 

While we know that everyone falls below the mark at sometimes or another, it is easy to allow failures to define our plans moving forward. Allowing discouragement to defeat us, it is easy to find begin questioning if this dream you are chasing down, is nothing short of a false reality.

While it is easy to allow the discouragement bug win, I am here to remind you that you that your setbacks do not have to define you. Do not let your setbacks now to ruin your future later. 

How you started the year doesn't have to define how you continue the year. I have created a guide to help you reflect on your Q1 and being planning your Q2! 

​So lets get to planning so that together we can knock out this Q2! **PDF download available at the end of post!

In order to best prepare for your second quarter you must start by reviewing your first. Page 1 of this guide will walk you through how to review and examine your Q1!

Start by reviewing and writing out the goals you set for Q1. When reviewing your goals consider:

• Q1 Wins
• Q2 Losses

Place a check mark next to the goals that went well, and an x next to the goals that did not.

When considering your wins and losses be sure to evaluate:

• What helped you in achieving your goals.
• What limited you in achieving goals.
• Anything that caused setbacks.
• How you could have improved.

Also be sure to list any big projects/goals that you had in quarter one separately. Did you reach your goals? Why or why not?

When you understand the WHY behind things, it helps you to evaluate ways to improve in the future.

Finally, examine your Q1 feelings. Consider the time you spent, as well as the attention and energy you gave towards reaching your goals. How did this make you feel?

On the second page, you want to set a plan for Q2! Start by listing your goals. Consider what you want to accomplish in Q2, i encouraged you to use what you didn't reach in Q1 to help you build that plan.

If there are any Q1 goals that you did not reach or did not meet completely, consider building off of those goals. Only consider this if those goals are as asset to your overall business/life goals.

Instead of trying to reach more goals in a short period of time, you want to focus on reaching less goals but reaching them well! Remember that reaching your goals is not about how fast you can reach them, but it is about how effectively you can reach them!

List 1-3 BIG goals or projects that you want to reach by the end of Q2. Consider your bigger goals, I am talking about things that actually scare you and/or push your forward.  Working towards those goals each and every day is key.

And finally, consider your feelings when you set your goals. Allow your feelings to push you forward and not move you backwards!

Here on the last two pages, is planning out your Q2. In order for you to start scheduling the time that you are working on your goals and/or business, you must start by examining the time you have available.

Here you want to evaluate your schedule over the next three months. Be sure to list any prior arrangements such as scheduled appointments, leisure time and/or travel.

You can also use this space to get an idea of your free time during your weeks, and begin setting mini deadlines! So if you know you work a 9-5, Monday-Friday, make sure to list an estimate of the time that you have available on evenings and weekends! 

Understanding the time you have available is key to planning out the completion of your goals.

I hope this guide can help you as much as it has helped me. Remember that you can download this for free below.

Let me know how this guide works for you! I look forward to hearing from you.

​Tamika

For your free PDF download of this planner click below!

"Wow I've been so busy today"

I remember uttering these words after spending yet another day in front of my computer thinking of ways to start my blog. I was so excited to start my journey as a blogger. After days of "working on my blog" I finally sat down to examine what I actually got done, and boy was I surprised. Why?

I didn't do anything! I quickly realized, although I spent hours on the computer being busy, nothing that I did was actually productive. I spent most of my time jumping from site to site, trying to figure out what I should do. I had no clear plan, no clear goal. I was simply busy for the sake of being busy!

In that moment I realized that, yes it is possible to be busy, but there is a difference between being busy and being productive. You can be so busy doing SO many things, but you never get ONE thing done well. I have learned that its better to do one thing well than 10 things half way. The lessons learned from this time were valuable, and once I examined and fixed them, I was able to get my blog up and running as is today.

​Join me as I cover the reasons why you are busy but not productive.
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How can you possibly focus on something when you don't have a clear goal? Having a clear goal is the number one way to clearly plan your strategy. If you are not clear on what you are doing or why you are doing it, there is no way to measure whether or not you are making strides towards achievement. When you have clarity on your goal productivity comes naturally.  

Once you have a set goal, make sure you are measuring whether or not you have worked toward that goal. At the end of each day ask yourself these 3 questions:
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• What have I done to move toward achieving my goal?
• What have I done that limited me reaching my goal?
• How can I make a change for tomorrow?

The only person that can manage your progress is you, and if you want to be productive you have to start with being honest. Don't cheat yourself out of reaching your goals, rather get clear and focus so that you can move forward.
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Its more important to do one thing well that to do a million things part way.

Prioritizing is vital in achieving any goal. You make think that everything is important but trust me, if everything doesn't get done the world WILL NOT end. Stop trying to do everything at once, instead rank everything on area of priority.

Your priority should be things that move your goal forward. Creating content for your audience is more important that keeping up with web design! Is web design important? Yes! But the truth is you can have the flyest website and the most disorganized content. Focus on the things that are going to keep your audience interested, and that is perfecting what you have to offer!

When prioritizing consider the following:

• What needs done right now, or in the immediate future?
• What is important but can wait until the immediate tasks are complete?
• What is not important and can wait?

Once you understand this, work on 1-3 of those tasks a day. If one of your tasks takes up a lot of brain power, then just focus on that 1, OR allow your other 2 to be more simple tasks (not important and can wait). Prioritize and focus on your most important tasks first, and focus on the smaller tasks later.
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Remember: Its not about how much you can get done, but about what you can get done well. 

​Stay tuned for part 2,

**Part 2 is now up! Click HERE to check it out!!

Tamika

If there is one area that we all seem to struggle with, its the area of focus. I mean, how could your possibly stay focused in a world full of distractions? We have TVs, smartphones, TVs in our smart phones. I mean everything is calling us right now, and everything seems more interesting than what we are doing. Well I am here to tell you today, there is one thing that will take you further than any void a distraction can fill, and that thing is FOCUS.

Focusing, doesn't sound attractive right? It sounds BORING! I mean why focus when I could be doing something more fun or interesting? Well this isn't going to fluff your feathers, but learning to focus and say no to distractions is what is going to produce results in your life and/or business. Steve Jobs said it best: "Focus is about saying no". WHAT???

​Yes! If you want to succeed in your goals and dreams it starts in the small stages of saying no. Do you think that Apple gained its success by Jobs saying YES to everything, NO! Learning to say no to things, even if they sounded like great ideas, is what allowed Jobs to say YES to the things that helped build Apple into the success it is today.

Too many YESSES leads to overcommitment, wasted time & poor results! 

​Often times, when we are saying yes to things, its things that we dread and do not want to do.  We are over committing to things out of our core of being people pleasers. When we let our inner "people pleaser" lead us, we end up only hurting ourselves. The truth is when you say yes to something you don't really want to do, you are saying no to something that you do want to do! When we overcommit to people and things, we begin to snatch away the valuable time that we have, and as a result our goals suffer. 

"If you short-change your priorities for those of others, you might sacrifice the very benefits you were seeking as an entrepreneur in the first place" -Adelaide Lancaster, The Muse

No matter how it may look or feel, I am here to tell you that no one cares about your goals like you do. Although it may seem like something small, when you give into distraction you are only pulling away from YOUR GOAL, no one else's. You open the door for procrastination. Yes it might just be one night out with friends, but now your tired, unfocused and you're scrambling to rearrange meeting your deadline. One small distraction can lead to major setbacks in reaching your goals.

I know we have been taught to put others first, but I am here to say you need to place yourself and your goals first. Reaching goals starts in saying no. 

When you learn to say no in the small distractions, you learn to say YES to the big things. Your goals are the big things! 

As Steve Jobs said, its about FOCUS. Good results are a product of good focus! Focus on getting your goal done, and getting it done WELL. Whatever is distracting or threatening your focus, SHUT IT DOWN! It doesn't matter if its a person or thing, or even YOURSELF! Remember that saying no to others, is saying YES to you! Can we be YES (to self) people today?

Lets chat! What is the biggest thing limiting you from reaching your goals?

You can do it guys! Here's to focusing more starting today!

Tamika

New year, new me, I'm sure you have heard this term right? We start off every year with a bang. We have so many things that we want to do, some many goals that we want to reach but come mid-Jan even February, that passion that we had to achieve those goals wears off. The more we focus on what are big goals entails, the more we begin to lose focus on the small steps that must taken to get there. 

Now if your like most people, there are big things that you want to accomplish this year, and part of you may fear you will never reach those goals. Today I am here to tell you that no matter how daunting the task can seem, any goal you set can be accomplished. It starts with minimizing your big goals in to daily to-dos! Join me today as I share with you, how to make your big goals achievable ones.
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In order to know how to execute a plan to reach your goal you must be clear on your goal. Whatever your goal may be, analyze it! Most goals that we have are vague such as start a business, earn six figures, lose weight. The more vague we make our goals the more unrealistic they become.

Analyzing your goal starts with understanding what it takes to achieve that goal. Make your goal as specific as possible, so if you want to lose don't just make your goal lose weight this year, get specific. "I will lose 25 pounds by 12/31/2018". Instead of having a vague goal with no real way to determine that it was reached, you now have a specific goal with a specific deadline. 

Once your goal is specified, write down what it takes to achieve that goal. Consider the time, dedication and effort that it will take to reach that goal. If you don't have a plan of action behind your goal, your goal is nothing more than a wish. From the beginning you must have a mindset of I WILL achieve this goal, then you must plan what it takes to execute that goal.
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Now that you are clear on what your goal is, you need to determine how you are going to achieve that goal. This is where you determine exactly what is needed to complete the task. So do you need equipment before you produce a podcast? Do you need to create content before you start your blog? Do you need to hire someone to create your website? Break down your big goal into a list of actions that are needed to reach your goal! From start to finish, write out every task and/or tool needed to complete your goal, project and/or business idea.  
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 ​Take 1-3 of your tasks on your list that is needed to complete your goal and work on it. Setting 1-3 tasks is simple enough to reach, but challenge enough to work. While some of your tasks you may be unable to do due to lack of funds or opportunity, start mapping out the ways to make those tasks work. If money is an issue, the map out how you are going to save your money so that you can complete the task. Each day do something to move the needle forward on your business.

If you are working a 9-5 all day, get creative, use your breaks or your commutes to work on something toward your goal, even if you are just utilizing that time to do research. During my day job, I spend time getting educated by listening to videos and podcasts on the things in areas I am working to progress in. During my commute, I am reading articles and learning tools to more forward in achieving my goals.

If you knock out one task during your commute and or breaks, guess what? You have the rest the time to work on the other two. If one of your tasks is really big and thats the only thing you got done, that okay, simply readjust the rest of the week. Never let a day go by where you do not do at least one thing to move  forward toward your goals.
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And finally, setting a deadline is a vital part of completing a goal. Your deadline should not be so close that its unattainable nor should it be so far away that you can slack off. Set a deadline that you know you will have to work toward but allow yourself enough space in the event of obstacles. Reaching a goal is not meant to be a race, it is NOT about getting there as fast as you can, its about getting there as best as your can. Deadlines force you to work hard with limited opportunity to slack off. Don't dread your deadline, but let it inspire you to reach your goal and reach it well.
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In closing I want to say that any one can create goals and reach them but its about doing it with grace. You want to give the best you can to your goals so you can create your best for your audience (even if your audience is just you). Knowing your end goal is important but you must know how to get from start to finish in order to be successful. I leave you with these tips and wish you well in your goal planning.

​Tamika

I want to hear from you what step do you need to work on most in order to reach your goal?

Your alarm goes off you have to go to work, another day at the 9-5 that you hate, but despite that feeling of pit inside of your stomach everyday you get up and go to work. While you may hate the job, you know that you have a family to feed, and business to build and bills to pay.  Despite your feelings of going there your WHY is what gets you up out of bed each and everyday and leads you to that same place day after day. Understanding your WHY is what keeps you committed to your dream.

What is this WHY I speak of, you may ask? Your WHY is the purpose, cause or belief that leads to your inspiration. Its the deeper purpose beyond the money, beyond the fame! It is what connects you to the person you are trying to reach, and what inspires you to want to help people. It is the same thing that motivates you to keep moving whether you have zero audience members or you have a million. 

Many people think that have a defined why, but in reality they simply have a WHAT and a HOW. People often know what they can do, and how they can do it but they don't know why they are doing it. The problem is when you don't know your WHY, your WHAT and HOW will not sustain you or your business. Having tools and education in certain areas is great, but if you don't have a reason behind your strategy, it will be hard to connect with and motivate your customers.

Until next time,

​Tamika
*I want to hear from you! Answer one question from the worksheet below! Lets Chat!