C.A.T.E.S - 5 Things That Will Help You Move Ahead

No matter what you want, there are five things that can definitely help you move forward and get results with less stress, more ease, and better success. To help you remember it easily, I will call it C-A-T-E-S. 

This is one of the main teaching points that I shared during the Dynamic Women in Leadership Summit. 

How did I know to share it? I asked the women coming to the summit to fill out a survey. There was a question around, “If you could have a VIP day with me, what would you ask? What would you hope I helped you with?” There were so many different questions and so many different things that they wanted to know including the ones below:

• “Diane, what did you do to have success?”
• “How can I also reach my goals?”
• “I’m not sure what I even want, how do I figure it out?

Also when I asked about what their goals were and what obstacles hold them back, with every single answer they put there, I knew that C-A-T-E-S could help them. 

What is C-A-T-E-S?

I’ll break it down into 5 parts and as I go through it, think about these questions:

• Do I have this in place?
• Is this something that’s working for me?

If you realize you have each part in place ask yourself:

• How can I have more of this?
• How can I enrich what I have?

If you don't have it, start thinking about how you can get more C-A-T-E-S into your life.

When clients come to me or even in my own development, a lot of times we're on our own. We’re silos, the lone wolf, whatever you want to call it. Female business leaders are often alone. We're not meant to be alone. We're meant to be in a flock, in a group, in a community, or in a tribe - just with other people around us to support us. 

Now I could go on and on and on, but why do we do this? Simple answer. We are so skilled and talented that we believe we can do it ourselves. Plus, we've been totally praised when we do things ourselves, and asking for help shows weakness, but that shouldn't be the case. We move forward so much faster when we get other people to work with us on it. You want to have the synergy of the group, the synergy to move you forward faster, and C-A-T-E-S is going to do that. 

“C” Stands for Cheerleaders 

Cheerleaders are people in your corner. People who are telling you, “You're doing a great job.” When you fall down, they're the ones believing you can get back up again. They fan your flame. Sometimes there's only a little spark and they help to keep it going. 

Other times, it is a bunch of flames and they get into a roaring fire because they are mirroring back to you the amazing person that you are. But cheerleaders also give you the help you need when you fall down. 

I have had clients come to me and say, “I don't know if I can do this, Diane.” The problem with that worry is when they don’t have cheerleaders in their life, they start to doubt themselves which then shows up in their business situations and transactions. They negotiate for less pay, or they can't close clients because they're not showing up confidently and other people don't believe in them. 

They don't go for opportunities they would be a good fit for. But when you have a cheerleader, someone in your corner, it's kind of like you're in a boxing ring. You've got that person there saying, “Give a right hook”, “Give a jab”, “Make sure you do this”, and “You've got this”.

Then when you're all tuckered out and you come to the corner, they're there to wipe the sweat off your brow… to tend to any wounds you have… to give you a bit of a pep talk because you may feel like giving up at that time. Then they give you a pat on the back and say. “Come on, get back in there” and they continue to support you. 

That's what cheerleaders are for. Fans. People who believe in you. People who care about you. People who support you in a way that is encouraging and motivational. 

Now ask yourself, how are the cheerleaders in your life? Do you have enough? Do you want more? Do you want them to be stronger in your life and better for you? 

“A” Stands for Accountability

Now, a lot of people think, ​

• “Oh, I got accountability.”
• “I got my friend. They're going to help me to make sure I do this.”

A lot of times, friends will let friends get away with not doing what they're supposed to do. But when you have true accountability, you get the thing done, even if it's at the last minute. Many times I've had clients say, “Wow, if I didn't commit to you and have the accountability, I wouldn't have done it last night.” 

It's important to have real accountability because otherwise, we often will be uncommitted to ourselves. When you are accountable to someone and you get things done, that also builds confidence. It builds habits and routines until eventually, your actions become a way of life. It's so important to have the right accountability, and someone who will call you out when you don't do what you said you would do. ​

Sometimes with clients, yes, they choose not to do what they were supposed to do. We find out through talking in the sessions that it was actually a better decision to do a different action or a different step. But they knew they had to make some sort of action in lieu of the one they committed to. You can't be thinking, “Oh, I'm just not going to do it and that's fine.” ​

I take a stand for my clients. I take a stand for their goals, and I call them out when they're not stepping into them. It's not because they're in trouble. It's because I know what they really want. 

Some of my best sports coaches used to keep me accountable to doing specific drills in my own time, like kicking multiple times over and over and over and over again for posts in rugby,  practicing my dribbling skills in soccer, or practicing my left-hand layup in basketball. I only got better because I had the right accountability. 

Ask yourself, How’s your accountability? Are they actually going to keep you accountable? Are they going to call you out when you don't do it or are they going to let you off? Are you happy with the type of accountability you have or do you need some because you have none? Or do you want to up  your accountability?

“T” Stands for Teammates

Teammates are people who go alongside you, either in a program, in a group coaching situation, or in a mastermind. They are there in the community with you wanting to see you succeed. 

Teammates make it fun because sometimes one person will inspire you. Other times you'll inspire them. You don't always have to be the one keeping the inspiration and motivation going. Having others around you can also add to the brain power of the group giving fresh ideas. Maybe even referring you to others and a lot of times teammates also take the role of cheerleaders. 

Do you have teammates in your life? I don't mean sports teammates. I mean, those who would be in a mastermind with you. Something organized with a facilitator. If you have really great teammates:

• you're excited for each other
• you're thinking about each other's goals
• you're there for each other in your growth and in your steps to success 

You might think, “Oh, I’ve got teammates or people around me. Sometimes my neighbor and I talk business.” Well, how consistent is that? Teammates should be meeting consistently and with a very specific structure to make sure it's fair:

• Fair in what you share. 
• Fair in how much time you get. 
• Fair in the right amount of support from the other teammates.

That's why a facilitator or coach is important. Someone who will make sure it's fair all around, and that everyone gets what they need, and what they want. 

Ask yourself, could your teammates be better? Do you want to switch out the whole lineup? Or do you want to just add a few key players? For me, I have different teammates in different areas of my life. I have teammates for my business. I have teammates for my speaking business. I have teammates for the growth of my business. I have teammates for my spiritual life. Then I have my soccer teammates. How about you?

“E” Stands for Experts

Experts are crucial if you don't want to work harder, and I'm guessing you don't. What I see in my clients is when they're starting new businesses or when they're looking to grow, there is this place of “I want to grow, but I don't want to spend the money to grow it, so I'm going to try and do it all myself. I'm gonna go to Google and try to figure out how to do XYZ or I'm going to get a program and work through it myself.”

But what I've seen time and time again is it's a waste of time and energy, and oftentimes a waste of money. Experts will help you get ahead faster. They'll tell you the exact steps they took. They'll tell you the reasons why so you don't have to learn the hard way. 

That's also building your experience and your own expertise in whatever process they're teaching you. You can always have experts who are going to do the work for you. Wouldn’t that be nice? So then you get to focus on your core competencies rather than focusing on figuring out how to do things like accounting, graphic design, or building a website. 

It might even include things like cleaning your house, experts have a very high return on investment or ROI. When you invest in them, it helps you to move forward. It helps you to be bringing in customers, clients, profits, and to reach your goals a lot faster. 

I encourage you to look at the experts you need in your life (all 10 areas of life). Do you need experts

• in your health? 
• in your romance?
• in your home?
• in your business? 
• in your finances? 
• In your personal development?

I could list them all, but I think you get the point that there are experts you could have in every single area of life. 

If you’re thinking you have experts in your life and you’re always investing in experts, well, ask yourself do you have the right ones? Do you want to level up now? Do you need to bring one in for a new area that you're just starting to grow or develop in? 

I've been able to move ahead a lot faster and easier because I can tap into experts.  I hire them in 3 ways:

1. I hire them to do the work for me.
2. I hire them to teach me how to do it.
3. I hire them so I'm able to tap into their knowledge and ask them questions.

It's not that I'm not able to figure it out. It's that I choose to use my time in my core competencies in the income-producing activities that helped me to grow my business. So what experts do you need?

“S” Stands for Support

Support can take on many different forms. This can be life coaching or counseling. It can be support through grief. It can be supporting the business in different ways. It can be support in hiring someone to do the work for you.

Do you feel supported? I think that's the bigger question. Sometimes people look to their spouse, friends, and family for support. But is that really the support that’s moving you forward? Support from someone who knows what they're doing. Support from someone who is specifically trained to do what you need to do is the wise choice. 

Ask yourself, How much support do you have in your life? Do you feel supported? How do you want that to be better? How can you have more support? What would be ideal? 

That concludes the 5 parts of C-A-T-E-S.

You now have the questions I invite you to answer in regard to every piece of C-A-T-E-S. These are the five crucial things that when in place, you're able to move forward faster. If you're thinking I don't want to move forward faster, then what they're gonna do is make your life 

• Easier
• More enjoyable
• More satisfied
• Less overwhelming
• Less moments of feeling unconfident
• Less money being spent and thrown away on things that don't matter

There's a three-phase model that I talk about in how I work with my clients. This is where I can help you implement C-A-T-E-S so you can move forward with CLARITY on what you should be working on, the CONFIDENCE to be able to go for it, and a TANGIBLE ACTION PLAN that will get you there faster and easier. 

I talked all about C-A-T-E-S during the Dynamic Women in Leadership Summit. If you were not able to attend, don’t fret! You can still access the recording of all the sessions and even receive special gifts from the speakers and gifts that will be sent to your doorstep! Just go to this link and learn more about C-A-T-E-S. ​

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2. Stop Dropping the Balls and Instead Find Balance
3. Where to Focus YOUR Resources for the BEST results