|
As a recovering perfectionist and former competitive athlete, it feels so weird to say that winning isn't everything. But if you've ever wanted something so badly that the outcome became the only thing that mattered, keep reading.  In this blog, I'm covering the difference between results-based goals and process-based goals, and why shifting your focus might change everything. My Son's Sports Season My son had a great couple of weeks, winning the championship for his baseball league and the championship game for his flag football team. Then he was playing with his all-star baseball team. They were losing, they came back, but didn’t win the game in the end. During the game, they were all down, and that was the main conversation with the coaches afterward: you can't get down on yourself; you gotta pick your head up and keep going. On the way home, I asked him, "Did you have fun?" He said, "Not really." I realized then that much of his fun was tied to winning. It really opened up an important conversation between us and was a really good opportunity for a lesson. Yes, winning is fun. Winning feels good. Winning sometimes gets you rewards, trophies, and such. But winning is not everything. I said to him, “Sports are also about fun, friendship, fitness, and developing your skills”. The thing I really want him to know is that there is joy in just the doing. Joy is not only reserved for when you win. My Emerging Artist Showcase This also makes me think about my recent emerging artist showcase for my one-woman show. It was a 10-minute showcase to industry experts and leaders. Some of the other people told me (because I have zero theatre background) that usually there is a cash prize at the end, either everyone votes and there's a winner, or there's the reward of getting booked. I was like, "Oh, I don't want the pressure of any of those, because those are results-based goals." I was very happy that there was actually an honorarium for everyone involved, everyone who pitched, so there wasn't one big prize. Everyone got a little bit, and it took the pressure off. It shifted it from a results-based goal (landing my show in a theatre or a residency or winning the prize) to a process-based goal. It allowed me to focus on:
Having a process-based goal took the pressure off. Results-Based Goals vs. Process-Based Goals Results-Based Goals These are focused on the outcome:
These goals can be super motivating because they're clear, focused, and they push you. But you're not always fully in control of these situations. Other people, others' timing, circumstances, competition, and luck can all affect the outcome. In my theatre example, who is in the room also makes a difference. I can't control that. In sports, you can't control the refs or the umps. Results-based goals can put a lot of pressure on you, and sadly, there's only one winner. What I saw on that day with my son losing that game was that he felt unhappy that he didn't win, because he didn't get the result he wanted, and he didn't have a good time. He couldn't enjoy it. That was just really sad. Process-Based Goals These focus on how you show up and the pieces leading up to the result. These are the things that are in your control.  Rather than "I have to win this game," maybe it's:
Other things you can control:
After the game, it was really cool to see the big team meeting where they were told you can't let a few runs cause you to put your head down and get down on yourself. You have to stay positive. You can still come back. You can still win. I heard the coach say to one of the kids, "Hey, it was really great how positive you were out there. That was being a good leader. Nice job. Keep it up." I love that the player was acknowledged for their attitude. Sometimes just staying committed to something, even when it's hard. With my emerging artist showcase, I could have thought along the way, "This is too hard. I can't do this. I'm not as good as everyone who's gone to theatre school or has already done lots of shows." I could have given up. But I stayed committed, even though it felt hard, even through late nights, even while still running a business, trying to keep my house clean and feed my kids. These are the things that are going to help you grow, regardless of whether you win or lose. Applying This to Business We can become obsessed with results-based goals in business:
But when we look at process-based goals, we can control them. We can enjoy the process and can win at that. Instead of "How many people registered," it's: "I'm going to put in this strategy, get it done by these dates, and then review it, monitor it, and do our best." Instead of "Did the launch work, did we fill the program?" it's: "Did I even just make the invitation? Did I improve my copywriting skills in my email funnel? Did I improve the offer when it wasn't selling as well?" Instead of "Did they say yes," it's: "Did I put in the right sales strategy on this call? Did I follow up afterwards? Did I educate them? Did I learn something? Did I stay consistent?" Other Areas of Life Health: Instead of "I'm going to lose 20 pounds," it's "I'm going to eat better according to this way of eating, drink water, and go to the gym three times a week." Then hopefully you get that results-based goal. You can actually have both going at the same time. Love life: If you want the result to be finding the man of your dreams and marrying them, that's a big goal. What if the process was just "I'm going to put myself out there, tell people I'm looking for someone, and go on some dates"? That's a process-based goal you can control. The Bigger Message Yes, results matter. We know they do. They are the SMART goals, the quantifiers. However, process goals can also be quantified. They can also be things we follow and measure. But results-based goals can't be the only measure of success.  Otherwise, my son would think that every time the team loses, there's no success in that, no joy in that. Also, he hit a good hit, but they caught it. The other team catching the ball and making him out doesn't change the fact that he made a good hit. However, he felt that way. If we're only allowed to feel success when we're winning, we miss out on so many things along the way that we can be proud of, celebrate, see grow us, and learn from and apply to something else. Process goals allow you to celebrate your progress along the way. The importance is that it helps you stay motivated, because you can win every day. In a sports season, you might be playing for two months, then you have the playoffs. You could be training for four years for the Olympics. If you're only motivated by the gold medal or the trophy at the end or the big paycheck, you're really missing out. You can build your confidence during the process because you're able to really manage and focus on what you can control. Questions to Ask Yourself Where are you only measuring the result, and what process goals could you focus on instead? It might be more motivating to say "I'm going to make an offer every day" or "I'm going to hire someone to help me with my next launch" rather than "I want to make an extra $10,000 a month." The last question I'm going to leave you with: What would make you proud even if the result doesn't go your way? Even if you don't win, what would still make you proud? That's a powerful question. Yes, winning is wonderful. Yes, I love winning. Yes, I'm super competitive and always want to get that result. But it's not the only thing that matters. The real win might be who you become in the process of achieving the result. So this week, this month, choose one process goal you can control and celebrate that. If you get the result, then that's just icing on the cake. Until next time, stay dynamic!
0 Comments
At the Dynamic Women Podcast's seventh anniversary celebration, listener Ashli Komaryk asked me: For women building a speaking and coaching business, what are the top five most impactful actions you would recommend taking? And can you help differentiate between what's noise, what's nice to have later, and what's most urgent and impactful right now?  It's a great question because we are inundated by "Oh, you need to do this, you can't do anything if you don't have an updated website, you need to have a newsletter, you need to have all of these things." Let's cut through that noise. First, Ask Yourself These Two Questions Before anything else: What are my goals, and how am I making my money? So often people will say, "Maybe it's the podcast, and a book, and all these other things," but what is your actual plan to bring in money? If it's "I want to do keynotes, I want to coach corporate clients, and maybe one day training for professionals," okay, we've got these three offerings. Then ask yourself: Which is the first offering that will open the door to the other two? Continuously in business, ask yourself: looking at all my offerings, what is the one that will open the door to the other ones? We don't want you trying to offer everything all the time from the beginning. The 5 Most Impactful Actions 1. Get Clear on Your Offer and Your Fastest Path to Cash What are you offering? If money is the biggest push right now, what's fastest to cash? Corporate training is potentially not fastest to cash if you don't already have a corporate network. A lot of speaking engagements are booked six months to a year out. That's also not fastest to cash. But if speaking to groups is where you want to be, with coaching as a back-end offer, that's a strong starting point. This is how I started. I looked for any organization or women's group that I could speak to and make an offer, or at least build my network, and then have a funnel that creates my invitation to them.  What is the offer? What's the fastest route to it? Lock in that plan. 2. Find Your Groups and Start Applying to Speak If the plan is to speak to women's organizations and networking events and then make an offer at the end, then figure out: How do I reach them? In my case, I would make a list of all the groups, figure out how to apply to each one, and start the process. If you have an assistant, get them to find all the groups and figure out how to apply. If it's just you, that's what you do. That's what I did in the beginning. If you have an assistant or Virtual Assistant then you pass off this task. That is what I do now. Start with the ones you want least as practice to see what works, so you don't mess it up for the ones you really want. 3. Choose a Topic That Positions Your Offer All you need to know in order to apply to speak is your topic. But your topic should position your offering. Here's the key: what you teach shouldn't teach the problem and the full solution and then be done. You are teaching "you have this problem," and you can teach the solution to what you said you would teach, but then by the end you need to share a new problem that your next offering will solve.  Here's an example I'll piece together as I go: You say "the way to have more energy in your life is to stop eating plants with pesticides on them." You say "go buy organic," and people are like, "Okay, that's the solution." But you could say, "But what's even better is to grow your own." Now they're like, "But how do I grow my own in a really easy way that's cheap, especially if I have a patio?" And now you're like, "Because I have this hydroponic system..." We want to pull them in with a top-of-mind problem. They'll say, "Oh, I want to go hear that topic because I want to know the solution to that," but then that creates its own set of problems, which your next offering solves. I ran a talk called "Three Massive Mistakes Professional Women Make That Keep Them Overworked, Overwhelmed, and Pulled in a Million Directions". I told them the mistakes. I told them the solutions to the mistakes. But the easiest solution to all three was actually my Dynamic Balance program. Speaking is how I really built a lot of my network and my business. 4. Take Stock and Build Simply Once you've spoken to groups and have grown your list, ask yourself: "What do I do? And what is noise?" What is Noise: Any task you don’t need to do yourself.
Get someone else to do these things. I get what you're thinking, "Yeah, but what if I don't have the money for that." But if delegating those tasks gives you the time and faster ability to get out there to speak to more groups, put your offer together and serve clients, that's what you need to do. 5. Go Where Your Ideal Clients Are If you don't have your own network, your own platform, your own stages yet, go where your ideal clients are. At least start with where your current ideal clients are, and then from there you can start to niche down. It's about:
That's the foundation everything else is built on. The Bottom Line Cut the noise. Get clear on your offer, find your groups, craft a topic that positions your offering, speak consistently, and go where your people already are. You don't need a perfect website or a fancy funnel. You need to be in the room. This is the third post in our series featuring burning questions from our seventh anniversary celebration guests. If you missed the previous two, check out Jennifer Kanyumwa’s question on what I love most about podcasting and advice for starting one, and Paula Kent's question on how to monetize your expertise when you're just starting out. Listen to the full Dynamic Women podcast episode here. Or watch the full YouTube Video here. Until next time, stay dynamic!
If you want to get ahead in your business, it's time to stop being the technician and step into the manager and visionary roles. Today, I'm referencing one of the most important first business books I've ever read: The E-Myth Revisited (get the revised version; it's the more up-to-date one).  This book explained something to me that so many business owners experience but don't necessarily have the language for. I was a trained coach, and rather than being hired by a company, I decided to go out on my own. But the problem is when you go to a coaching school to learn coaching processes and modalities, you're not taught how to run a business. This is the case for so many business owners. You're not just one person in your business. You're so many roles. But when you come in as the technician, the doer of the work, you're not necessarily able to step into those multiple roles. You love to stay safe in that one place. The Three Key Roles The book goes through three key roles: 1. The Technician The doer of the work. Most of us start here. Maybe you're an accountant doing people's taxes, a cleaner, whatever it may be; you are the one doing this skill, this talent. You decide, "I don't want to work for someone else. I'm going to go on my own and make my own money rather than build someone else's business." But that also means you lose whatever team a company would have. You're not only doing the technician role (delivering the services), but now you're also doing all the other roles: answering emails, posting content, doing admin, solving problems, handling everything yourself. You're in execution mode all day long for the things you're paid for and the things you're not. You become the default person for everything, every role, every task. 2. The Manager The organizer of the work. This role creates structure with all of those tasks:
This role asks: How do we make this run better? How can we improve the technician's role? How do we make the organization run better? Many entrepreneurs skip this role entirely, which is why things can feel chaotic. You're just doing one-offs all over, and you don't know what the plan is. The manager role is really important, especially if you end up bringing other people onto your team as employees, contractors, and such. 3. The Visionary (CEO Role) The future of the work. They are the ones looking at:
 They're answering the question: Where are we going? If you get stuck in technician mode all day, you rarely have space to think like a visionary. Your head's down, you're doing the work, you can't come up and do that bird's-eye view above, looking down on everything. You can't see the future view of everything, and you can't do a 360 to see all the way around. Why Most Women Are Stuck in Technician Mode Most women over-function as technicians. We spend so much of our time in the “doing” roles because it feels super productive. You can see immediate results. You can check things off your list. Meanwhile, the manager and visionary roles are neglected. Think back to the past month. How much of your time in your calendar was allocated to the manager role? To your visionary role? If you don't do that, your business is going to feel heavy, maybe messy, and over-dependent on you. If you spend all your time doing the work, you won't have enough space to actually lead it, to see where the problems are, and to consider how things could be better. Where Support Becomes Transformational This is why support becomes really transformational, not just for you, but for the business. A Virtual Assistant can take over the technician roles that you never wanted to do in the first place:
They can also help create your systems and SOPs (standard operating procedures), which help strengthen the manager role as well.  This gives you more time, more space, more energy to actually operate as the visionary. Ideally, they're creating such a good ROI (return on investment) that they're actually paying for themselves. And that's when businesses get to start scaling. The real goal is not to stop being the technician because you're really good at it for a reason. The goal is to give up certain things, so you're not the only one doing everything. Where Are You Spending Most of Your Time? I'm guessing it's in the technician role. Some people spend too much time in the visionary role and never get anything done. I encourage you to:
Here are free resources to get started with your own virtual assistant: If you'd like me to hire that vetted dynamic virtual assistant for you, I would be happy to. I’ll share a lot of my systems, processes, and IP with you to make it easy for you to get started right away. Just reach out by booking a time on my calendar. One final question: Which role actually needs more of your attention right now? That's the one to focus on first. Until next time, stay dynamic!
At the Dynamic Women Podcast's seventh anniversary celebration, listener Paula Kent asked me: For women who are going in a new direction, a career direction or following a new passion, what is one high-impact action they can take to monetize their expertise in the initial stages of building their audience?  It's a great question, and one I see come up all the time in women transitioning from career to business, from one business to another, or even after a break from business. They're like, "Shoot, I need to monetize right now. How do I do this?" Or they're in that building stage, still researching, still developing, but they need to pay the bills because they also have subscriptions, tools, or a coach for the business. So how do you bring in the money? Here's what I tell my clients. Ask Yourself: What's Fastest to Cash? The first question I often ask my clients is: What's fastest to cash? It's not creating a podcast. It's not writing a book. Those are longer-game activities. If you need money now, you need to think simpler and more immediate. Go really, really basic: What's something that your friends, family, or network already come to you for that maybe seems really easy for you, but you could charge money for? For some women it might be:
What skills do you already have that people are already showing you there's a demand for? This is what I hear all the time: "But, that's nothing. It's so easy for me." Well, yeah, but it's not easy for other people. How can you now package it so other people can access it and pay you for it? Get Specific: One Problem, One Person Take it a step further. What's one specific problem that you can solve for one specific person? When you put that out to people, it's going to be much easier for them to either say yes themselves or say, "My friend needs you. My friend needs what you’re offering." You don't have to wait for a huge audience. You just have to look at who you already have in your network. My Story: 30 Sample Sessions in 30 Days When I started coaching, I was literally two days in, and I put out a challenge: 30 sample coaching sessions in 30 days. I put it out to my community. I said, "I'm doing this challenge, and if you want a sample session, please let me know. But only do it because you want to actually have coaching, not because you feel bad for me or you want me to complete my challenge." This was unpaid, but I had I talked about continuing with coaching at the end of each call. I ended up doing 32 sample sessions in 30 days and had about 15 clients sign up. That was not the purpose. The purpose was to get really good at sample sessions, but I was very happy with the result of clients. When I asked people what had them hire me, they said things like:
It was really interesting because it also gave me feedback on how I could market myself, since these were the things people said. Then I started having stories to share: "This client had xyz problem, and after coaching had xyz success." I just started with a few. Simple Ways to Start You're not necessarily going to do 30 sample sessions, but you still have to find the people and make an offer. Think about what you can start simply with:
 Don't underestimate what comes naturally to you. Think outside the box. Could you edit essays for high schoolers for $50 an essay? Could you offer writing support to people in your network? Whatever it is, please don't underestimate what comes naturally to you. That is fastest to cash, really. Already in Business but Need a Cash Infusion? If you're already in business and just need an infusion of cash, look at the people who were interested in your offers but didn't say yes. Ask yourself: what was stopping them?
 Can you circle back to them now and say, "I have this new offering," highlighting that it's more within their budget, takes less time, or delivers faster results? Maybe it's an immersive one-day offer. Always be thinking: What's the low-hanging fruit? What can I offer them right now? The Bottom Line Having clarity on who you can help, what problem you solve, and what result you create is more important than having a massive audience. Focus on that first, and the monetization will follow. Stay tuned for the next post in this series, where we feature another burning question from our anniversary celebration. You don't want to miss it. Can’t wait? Listen to the full Dynamic Women podcast episode here. Or watch the full YouTube Video here. Until next time, stay dynamic!
|
Archives
August 2026
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed