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Are you wondering if you're a workaholic? Or are you wearing the badge of being a workaholic with pride?  Today we're going to talk about how to know if you're a workaholic and how it's hurting you. But first, I invite you to answer my FREE quiz How Much of A Workaholic Are You because if you’re reading this blog, you probably have a strong inclination that you are a workaholic. Oftentimes in society, being a workaholic shows you're passionate about what you do and you're proud of what you do. People clap for you. People say, “Oh, wow, you're so busy” and “Oh, you're doing so many great things”. Workaholics are often rewarded at work. They set the bar so high that the company thinks, “Wow, they’re such a model employee. They're working so hard.” But working that much could be damaging to themselves and to others. Let me go through some different aspects of how to know if you're a workaholic and how each of them is hurting you. #1: You work longer hours than others. This can show up in different ways. If you work in a company, you’re first in the office and you’re last to leave. If you have your own business, you’re working into the night or maybe you miss dinner because you're working late or you finish at five, but then you go back to it for another round between seven and ten. For moms out there, I know this often happens because your kids come home at three, so you're working later in the day to catch up on those two missed hours. How this hurts you: Working longer hours can lead to burnout. Plus, it's taking away the time you have to be off. You end up feeling ON all the time. It also sets precedence especially if you are at a company where they expect you to produce that high level of work or that amount of work because you're working more hours and when you try to reduce the hours, you're not going to be able to get the same results. It's just not possible. #2: Your default is work. You have a couple of free hours here or there and you directly go to work. I see this a lot in my entrepreneurial clients. You then have a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon free, so what do you decide to do? You decide to work. You're always turning to work rather than other things. How this hurts you: When your default is work, that's the thing that consumes most of your time and your energy, rather than the other things. You’ll be off balance and without rest you’ll get burnt out. #3: Your fun and recreation part of life is lacking. If we look at the “Wheel of Life” (I do a wheel with 10 different areas) and your fun and recreation part is lacking, it means you're not having fun. You don't have hobbies or other interests you get to enjoy. How this hurts you: The issue is you're now looking to your “work area” for all your fulfillment. You're not growing as a person in other ways. You're not able to just chill out and have fun and develop yourself. But when you don't have enough fun and recreation, then it feels scary to take time off. One of my clients in the past had a really hard time booking time off because with no fun and recreation, she was worried wondering, “What am I going to do when I'm not at work?” #4: You're always thinking about work. Let’s say you're at a dinner with girlfriends, but you're thinking about work. You could be hanging out with your kids, but you're thinking about work. You are on vacation, but you're thinking about work.  How this hurts you: Your brain is always at work. It just doesn't get time off. It doesn't have that opportunity to say, “Okay, work is over, so I can move into fun, and be present with my family.” Work is always running through your mind in the background. That's stressful. This can cause high-level of cortisol to be pumping in your system and the adrenal glands to be overworked, that can lead to the next problem. #5: Your stress is high. Whether you are feeling it physically, mentally or emotionally, stress is detrimental. How this hurts you: When your stress is high cortisol levels are high, your adrenal glands are pushing. This causes you to hold weight. I'm not a doctor, but I've gone through this myself. When your stress is high, you're getting headaches or body pains. You're maybe getting sick more because your body doesn't have time to rest and your mind doesn't have that time to be off. This can cause anxiety, panic attacks and for you to shut down. #6: You don't take proper vacations. Have you taken a 10-day vacation or a one-week vacation? What I've seen in clients is they will book time off, and they will fill those days catching up on work or planning for the next quarter. That's not the intention of a vacation. That's not the intention of taking time off. Time off means having time not ON your work. Maybe you’re thinking, “Yeah, I like working.” Well, maybe if you had the opportunity to lay on a beach, go on an adventure, take a cruise, go sightseeing, learn how to cook Thai food, or do a yoga retreat, then you'd allow yourself to have a proper vacation and you'd enjoy it. How this hurts you: When we don't have complete time off, it's hard to feel rested. You don’t have something to look forward to. You don't have new memories to reflect on. What I found in my recent vacation was I was able to connect more fully with who I am as a person, which was really amazing. #7: You choose work over personal commitments. Maybe on a Friday, you see you have a doctor's appointment, but there's a report you want to work on a little bit more, so you skip your doctor's appointment. Or maybe you're not even booking doctor's appointments at all. Or you're not giving yourself the opportunity to go to the gym because you have work to do. You're not doing date nights. You're not going to your kids’ events that are happening through school because you're choosing work. Maybe on the weekends you miss out on special events because you choose to work rather than choose to do the things in your life that are more personal and important to you in that regard because you're choosing work now. How this hurts you: Well, it's kind of obvious with the doctor stuff. Maybe you're in pain and you need to do physio or get a massage and now you're not, so now you're hurting even more. You're also telling yourself that you don't matter as much as work does, and you're going to push these things aside because they don't matter to you. Your circle and your bubble of life and experiences get very, very, very small. #8: You even work when you are sick or hurting. I'll admit I've been guilty of this. I had a speaking engagement, and I had food poisoning the night before and so the whole night I was hugging the toilet bowl (not literally). I still showered in the morning, got ready, and off I went. Not ideal. I did push through but it was for that specific occasion.  But when I got COVID, I took a week and a half off. Reduced my hours. I canceled things. I didn't push through and any other time now that I'm sick or hurt, I really try hard not to work. How this hurts you: When you do that, you risk the chance of (1) making others sick and (2) you’re going to extend the life of that illness or sickness or injury because you're not resting. #9: You work through your lunch. Lunch? What's lunch? I just sit and eat at my desk. I'm super guilty of this. It happens. How this hurts you: Some people are even guilty of skipping a meal which is not good for your energy levels and health. When you don't take a break, your brain doesn't have time to reset and have quiet time. You fatigue a lot faster when you don't have that break. Plus, it's not good for your eyes and your brain to be staring at a computer or doing whatever you're doing repetitively, or over and over again, without having that moment of rest. #10: You have a hard time unplugging from work Anyone guilty of that? Anyone been out and receiving messages? Or kind of sneak off to the bathroom at dinner to try and take a work call? Or are you like, “Oh, I just have to send this email” or “I have to do this thing” and it turns into more. How this hurts you: When you have a hard time unplugging from work, it means you're always plugged in. When you're always plugged in, you're too easily accessible. People get access to you. People are constantly in your space, and you don't have any time to just let everything go to reset, to recharge, and to rejuvenate. You're always ON. Wrapping Up In these 10, which ones do you have the most trouble with? I'd love to hear from you. In my next blog, I will talk about some solutions you can use to get over them. (FYI - Also when you let me know which ones are the hardest for you to get rid of and the ones you want some more strategy around. I can create some specific training videos on how to get rid of those specific aspects of being a workaholic.) Again, here’s my FREE quiz How Much of A Workaholic Are You. It’s going to show you how much of a workaholic you are. That's kind of important because you're going to know if it is a problem for you or if you just have to keep on top of it. It's going to give you some really great insight.  P.S. If you're thinking,”Diane, well, I'd love to not be a workaholic. I just have so much work” then please know that we do have the Virtual Assistant Made Easy Program where I hire a virtual assistant for you from the Philippines. I then help you and your VA figure out what to delegate, what to pass off, how to train them, and all the tools. Some of the results my clients have included sales, more leads, positive feedback from their circle and being invited to do a speaking engagement. I've had a client get three new clients in one week! Another client in the program finished their book! Another client made their first course! There are so many opportunities to stop being a workaholic by passing off some work. Send me an email at diane@dianerolston.com to know more. If you would like to pass off your social media content creation and social media management through scheduling of your posts, then read on. We have a new program we’re getting ready to launch, where we take a piece of your anchor content and we repurpose it for all of your social media and we can even schedule it for you. Join the waitlist here to get first access to it as spots will be limited. Read my other blogs here:
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Have you asked yourself these questions before:
 I have had many people over the years asking me (this is not a brag because I do this to others too):
These are the questions that I get asked. These are the questions I ask others, my colleagues and my clients. But why do we do it? We ask because we want an easier and simpler way. I have to state that there are so many factors based on
What is the one trick that can go across the board with all successful people? What is one thing that no matter who you are, where you are, you can do? Because there is one major difference between those who are successful and those who aren't. Let me first share a story…of how I learnt that trick I am part of a mastermind led by a coach who I've been with for six years. I go to his mastermind three times a year with all the other coaching clients. I see clients come and clients go. I've seen how people come and they learn all this fabulous material. Then we go back into our own worlds and our own businesses. Then we come back and we learn more incredible material. People were noticing that I was getting ahead and having really great success with what this coach was telling me. Also, as I was growing up, people would say to me,
Now, on the practical side, I have probably given numerous answers… very specific to each of these things. Again, I'm not saying all these things to brag by any means. I'm just saying them to prove my point. Let's go back to the new members coming into this coaching community and asking me, “How have you had so much success with this coach's program?” It all comes down to one single word. Implementation. I had to really think about what is something that anyone could do, no matter who you are, what industry, what position you are in, no matter what it is. It’s implementation. When I learn a technique or strategy, I also write down how I would implement it and prepare the steps I will take. Either I'd send it off to my team, or I'd do it myself. Then when I showed up at the next mastermind, I had things done. For example:
Now, you may say, “Well, Diane, you have a team.” That’s true, but not everything I had my team do. I also didn’t always have a team. I just did the work. Implementation is the thing that helped me get forward. My peers would come to me and say, “Oh, how have you had so much success?” The answer, “I just implemented what I was told.”
Sometimes when I've given a talk, people say, “Oh, yeah, I know that” or “Oh, I teach that.” But the key thing is, are you actually implementing it? There's a huge difference between KNOWING something and IMPLEMENTING something. Being TAUGHT something and IMPLEMENTING something. That's the difference between those who have been successful and those who haven't.  Is this just a wonderful idea on paper? Or is this actually something that you are putting into your business or your life? Now, I get that not everything you’re taught should be implemented. Either it's not right for your business or your life, or you're focusing on other pieces. Therefore, you have to put those ideas on the backburner. If I go back to the health topic, if you are wanting to be healthier, it's maybe not wise that tomorrow you implement a healthy eating plan, a fitness plan, a sleep plan, to reach out to all the different doctors and to implement everything you possibly could, because you still want to have balance in your life. But which piece can you implement right away and how do you make it easier? Suggestions on how you can Implement Faster and Better! 1: Decide what you want to implement Go through these questions:
2: Come up with a plan After deciding what you want to implement, you have to come up with a plan of how you're going to actually do it. Also, is it you or someone else implementing it? If you want someone else to do it, hire someone else to do it. If that seems overwhelming, we can talk and have my virtual assistants implement for you. But the key thing is, you have to take some steps. You have to move forward towards getting it done. You have two choices: (1) you can implement it very quickly and all at once or (2) you can take your time. You can lock yourself in a room and write your book over the course of the next few weeks. Or you could do a thousand words everyday and be done in a year or be done in so many months. You have different options on how you implement. But the key thing is to just get going. A lot of it is around making a commitment to having it done. 3: Reflect & Commit Reflect right now on your life and ask yourself, “What are the things I want to do or I want to have happened?” “Do I have an implementation plan for those?” Maybe you don't. Maybe that's why you haven't had as much success as you had hoped. Maybe the reason why you haven't reached some of your goals is that you're just not implementing what you want. A lot of that comes down to:
98% of people don't implement. That's the funny thing. There are so many reasons why people don't implement. I'm not going to go into all of them, but it's a choice.  When I'm working with a client, we set up what they are committing to. There's accountability. There is support on how to do it. There's a due date. If you don't currently have that with your coach, get that into place. It's all good and well to have all these amazing ideas come your way, but if you are not going to set up the accountability and know when you're going to do it, and how you're going to do it, and what the due date is, there is a very high chance, not even a chance, but a guarantee that you're not going to achieve it. Wrapping Up Last two questions:
I'll give you an example of something that I'm implementing in my life. I need to implement a better nighttime routine, so that I actually go to bed at a decent time. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I've been reading the 5AM Club and want to move myself to getting up at that time. This is one example of something to implement… to put into place. Then on the business side, what I'm really implementing is a lot of systems and processes in my business because I don't want to be so valuable to my business that I can't step away from it when it's necessary. Let me know, what are some things that you need to implement in your life? Trust me, they are going to make you so much more successful. I’m not defining successful as lots of money or successful in the way of promotions. That can come. But successful just in how you look at your life, and if you can say, “Wow, I'm so proud of myself. I feel satisfied with what I've been able to do.” That is really the true testament of success. What now? Go implement one thing. One thing. Don't take the fuel and the time that you've invested in reading this blog in vain. I hope it's inspired you. P.S. If you do want someone to help you implement, we can have a conversation about that. I do have a team of virtual assistants in the Philippines. They are skilled. They are hardworking. They're vetted already by me. They're trained. They have a lot of systems and processes from me. If you want to know more about that, just reach out to me by sending an email to diane@dianerolston.com Read my other blogs here:
Have people been telling you that you can't do it? Have you been feeling like an underdog? Last week, I talked about what I learned from Kevin Eastman who came into a mastermind that I was a part of and shared his knowledge and his truth bombs with us. Rudy Ruettiger or the real Rudy from the movie “Rudy” (not the actor) was also there to talk to us a little bit more about how he was able to do what he did, even when everyone told him that he couldn't and that so many things were against him. Let me give you a little backstory. When Rudy Ruettiger was young, he had two dreams. One was to go to Notre Dame school. The other was to play for the Notre Dame football team, the Fighting Irish.  Now the problem is that he weighed nothing and he was only five-foot-six, so he couldn't get a football scholarship. Also, he was dyslexic, so he didn't have high enough grades to be able to get into the school. If you've seen the movie, great, you know what I'm talking about. But if you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. He was the underdog and eventually reached his dreams so the movie will inspire you to push harder, to persevere, and to be able to do something that maybe other people are telling you you can't do. Even when Rudy tried to get his story made into a movie he was told “You can't do this. You know nothing about video production.” That's the truth. However, he was able to get the film made. Now, he's a motivational speaker. He goes and talks about his experience and how he was able to do what he did. The 5 Things I learnt from Rudy Let me share with you the five things I see helped him to have the success he had. First: Pester life until it gives in Maybe you've heard about calling people over and over and over again until eventually…
Rudy applied to go to Notre Dame and got rejection letters. He continuously tried to play football at five-foot-six, which was like three inches shorter than me (as you can see in the photo above!). His thing about “Pester life until it gives in” is 150% perseverance that he just went for, and he kept trying. How many times have you given up without trying again? How many times has someone said “No”, and you just took it at face value, and you walked away? This is your solution! This leads me to the second point. Second: When someone says “No” to you, ask why it was a “No” Ask what would have made the difference to get a “Yes”. For Rudy? Sometimes the answer was “You’re five-foot-six” or “Your grades aren't high enough”, which are two very valid reasons for why you can't get into college and why you can't play on a football team. But he continued to ask, “What made it a ‘No’?” If you ask what made it a “No,” it gives you an idea of how you can make a little adjustment for next time. When we asked him, “How many times did you apply? How many no's did you get?’ He didn't want to answer that. His key point was, “It's not the no's that you get. It's what you do with the answer of why you got a no.” Every time, he just made an adjustment and made an adjustment and made an adjustment, until eventually he was allowed to be part of the school. He was also allowed to be on the support team. They're the ones who play defense against the main team in practice. (SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t watched the movie, go see it before reading. Otherwise, don’t say I didn’t warn you!) In the last game of his senior year, they decided to dress him and let him play. He was able to sack the quarterback of the opposing team, which is not an easy feat to do. Again, he had a great fight in him and the desire to be relentless and bigger than he really was. Third: Form strong relationships with people who want you to win Sometimes, he was able to get ahead because of the relationships he had. A relationship helped him get in with Notre Dame. A relationship helped him get his story made into the film you can see today. (Just a side note, one of my coaches said that he watches that movie every year in December, as a way of pumping himself up and getting ready for January.) It’s important that you form strong relationships with people who want you to win. People who like you. People who are cheering for you because you never know when these relationships will help you to move forward.  Then cut the relationships with people who are negative. People that push you down. People who don't necessarily want you to succeed. People who are threatened by your success. People who are making fun of you because by cutting those negative people, you keep your mindset, and your attitude really strong. Fourth: Your forward action can inspire others Rudy was watching an interview with the late Kobe Bryant, and he saw in that interview, that Kobe Bryant thought of Rudy as one of his heroes, one of his inspirations, and he was telling people in this interview, “Watch this movie. This is great. Rudy's awesome.” If you think of it, Kobe Bryant was much more famous than Rudy has ever been and a lot more successful at being a pro athlete than Rudy has ever been. You might be thinking that you're only inspiring people below you. But in this case, Rudy was inspiring people ahead of him. He actually got to meet Kobe Bryant before he saw this interview. Kobe had tears in his eyes at that meeting. Rudy said to us, “I couldn't believe I inspired Kobe with my story.” I want to ask you right now, have you maybe stopped doing what you are meant to do because you don't think you're impacting enough people? Imagine the people that you're inspiring who could be ahead of you, who could be behind you, who could be beside you. Just know that your forward motion, whether it is successful or not, can inspire others. You don't know who you will inspire with your forward action. Keep going. Keep doing. Fifth: Do you participate or do you just spectate? This is based on a video he showed from this gentleman named Justin. He has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. They were in a stadium and he was invited to cross the 50-yard line. The trouble was Justin’s wheelchair was not allowed on the field, and he would have a very hard time trying to walk it.  Justin got out of his wheelchair and since he can't walk, he crawled. He crawled across the ground. He was falling over. It was a very hard situation for him. He got tired but he never gave up. He did it and he did it himself. The key learning from that is, do you participate or do you just spectate? Justin had the chance to do this, but no one would have thought he was going to do it. They thought he would just spectate and watch every single other person do it. But he said, “No, I was never going to miss out on that opportunity.” How many times do we miss out on opportunities because…
How many times as a woman have you felt, “Oh, I can't do that because I'm a woman” or “They're not welcoming women to do this.” Has that happened to you? Do you participate or do you spectate? Do you jump into things you want to be doing? When you do jump in, do you continue to persevere like Rudy did to reach your goals and to have the results you want? If you have a dream, are you going for it or are you sitting back? Bonus: Do you listen to people who are also participating? This is a side note around the “Do you participate or do you spectate?” This is a bonus from myself, not from Rudy. I want to ask you, do you listen to people who are also participating? Or are you listening to the spectators? If you're a coach, are you listening to other coaches who are doing well and maybe even beyond you? Or are you listening to people who don't do it? How many people in your life are just spectating? But say,
Are spectators telling you what to do? Or are you surrounding yourself with other people who participate, other people who are living life and who are in the game. I don't know how many times somebody on the sidelines has wanted to tell me how to play my game. You're on the sidelines. You don't have the experience. You don't know how it feels. I wanted to add that because I hope you not only participate in life, but surround yourself with other people who are participating, other people who are in the game. Then listen to others who are in the game too who can give you real feedback, real inspiration, and real strategy on how to do well. Wrapping Up These are the five different pieces of wisdom I learned from Rudy. I encourage you if you haven't seen the movie, go watch it. If you want to participate and surround yourself with others who do too, then join one of my upcoming events: https://linktr.ee/dianerolston Read my other blogs here:
Have you been asking yourself these questions:
I attended a mastermind where Kevin Eastman, former NBA championship coach, was a guest speaker. I learned a lot from him and my favourite were 3 different ways you can be THE best or be YOUR best. Who is Kevin Eastman? Let me tell you a little bit more about Kevin.
Here are the 3 different mic drop moments Kevin Eastman had that I’m implementing in my business in the next little while. The 3 ways you can be your best Where does that “be the best come” from? Well, he has a book that is called “Why The Best Are The Best”, it’s a great book. I've got a copy of it that he autographed. First: Remind yourself there’s more inside of you He calls this the capability gap. Have you been feeling like…
The “be more” piece doesn't mean you're not enough. It's that you can get to the next level of success. Just like if you were in sports playing in the little leagues you could go play at the college or varsity level. Then you move into being semi-pro or a pro. There are different levels and the goal is to be your best self at each of those stages.  But the problem is something that holds people back from reaching their full potential.
Is one of these stopping you from getting to your full potential? To learn more about clarity, confidence, and action I've got lots of other podcasts, trainings, and blogs on the topics. That capability gap from where you are to where you could be, we want to move through that faster. One of the ways I get through this is by having my own coaches. Now it could be sports coaches because I still play soccer. It could be physical in another way like my Pilates instructor. It can also be in a business coach, a life coach, a consultant, or an advisor, whatever it may be, and having someone believe in you. Why?
I'm curious, what will help you reduce the capability gap? What will help you to get to that place of feeling, “I am actually being my best”? Second: You get your rep through your reps. The full meaning of that is you get your REPUTATION through your REPETITIONS. You get your rep through your reps. Think of something you’re doing in your life or in building your craft. If you're really good at graphic design, and you're doing it over and over, and day after day, after day, after day, and people are seeing your work out there, they start to see the repetition of what you're doing. They start to see the consistency of what you're putting out there. Maybe you are a hairstylist or you are a home designer. As you work with more clients and do more hair or more homes, or whatever it may be, you're getting better and better and better. You start to get a reputation for the work you've put out. If you're a speaker and you're doing more talks, whether they’re paid or not, the repetition not only gets you better, but increases how people know you. It's social proof. They're seeing you out at work, seeing you have the clients, seeing you talk about it. That's the other piece - make sure you're talking about what you're doing. But by doing the repetitions of this, you're going to get better. People will look to you as the expert. Now, what do you need to be able to achieve this? What I see is you really need a growth mindset. You need to not think in the closed mindset of, “Oh, well, I can't get any better” or “I'm as good as I'm going to be”. You really have to think, “I can get better, and I'm going to do so much more so that I can master this”. You can go wide in your expansive knowledge, in your offerings, or you can go deeper…
Doing it over and over and over and over again. It reminds me of watching Chef's Table on Netflix. There's this woman who spent around eight years coming up with the best pizza dough where she lived in the United States because she was trying to make it as good as the ones in Italy. It was crazy how much work she put into mastering this skill. She had lots of reps, and she got a really good reputation. Third: Hard work is the price of admission. It's the unrequired work that gets you success. Everybody is working hard these days. Have you felt that…
 Well, you've just entered the game. That's the hard work piece that is.. “Just the price of admission,” Kevin Eastman says. It's the unrequired work that gets you to success. The things you do that no one expects you to do. What is the unrequired in your industry or in the service that you provide? How will you stand out compared to your competitors? Not from a sports perspective, but in your life. What is the unrequired work to be the most amazing speaker, coach, or whatever it may be that you are doing? Stick with that thought for a moment. What is the unrequired work? What would make you stand out? Then to the next level of that, what would be going above and beyond? What's something that no one else is doing? What's the innovation in your industry, in your product, or in your services that will help you not only stand out, but get a larger market share? Because people are going to see how you are the best because you're doing it at this top-notch stage. Wrapping up Those are the three mic-drop moments I heard from Kevin Eastman. He’s an inspiring speaker, funny, super humble, and really knowledgeable. Let me reshare them. I encourage you to try spending at least two minutes on each one and write down your thoughts on each.
Then after that, pick one that you're going to implement. Share your answer with me in the comments below! Read my other blogs here:
Are you wanting to stand out in your business? Do you feel like you need to reinvent yourself to be able to catch up to the competition? Last year, I went on a road trip through Route 66 with my family, and I learned a bunch of lessons about how to stand out in your business just like Route 66.  A little background Let me give you a little bit of context first. My family and I flew into Vegas for a holiday before my mastermind. From the airport we rented a car and since it was night we started to drive towards our first hotel on Route 66. When we woke up the next day, we were able to head off to Arizona, and our starting point was Kingman. The goal was to go along the old Route 66, which decades earlier, used to be so busy with 10,000 cars a day going along it. When the new highway was created, it was in danger of becoming a ghost town. Some changes were made to make the little locations tourist destinations, and so it didn't lose its life. I'll get into that a little bit later. Because of these changes I really wanted to take my kids and my husband on Route 66 on our way to the Grand Canyon. On my trip, I saw so many cool things that businesses were doing that I felt I should share with you and you and your business can benefit too! A Short History of Route 66 I picked up a brochure from what used to be an old barber shop called Angel and Vilma's Original Route 66 Gift Shop and it has a little bit of backstory. “For 50 years, Route 66 was the main thoroughfare through Northern Arizona and brought much commerce to the town of Seligman. But on September 22, 1978 the newly constructed Interstate 40 bypassed Seligman and replaced the section of Route 66 that had brought the traffic of thousands of cars through town on a daily basis.” Just imagine all of those restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, gift shops, and attractions, their livelihood shut down in a day. Could you imagine your business having an outside source or new technology shut down your business? It’s like owning a Blockbuster, who did VHS rental, and then all of a sudden all video is digital. Things in business can happen so quickly that we can get bypassed just like this new highway literally bypassed those businesses! “The livelihood of the businesses in Seligman disappeared in one day. All the travelers who had one stop to eat, get fuel and stay the night were now quickly driving by just two miles south. For 10 long years, the residents learned to live on very little. Businesses closed down. People moved. Buildings were abandoned.” Isn't that crazy? Super crazy! Then Angel Delgadillo, a barber and proprietor of the town, didn't want this to happen. He didn't want his town to die. Just like maybe you've had times in your business where you've thought,
Long story short, Angel didn’t give up and kept writing letters and raising money. One of the ways he raised money was he sold souvenirs about Route 66. Eventually, it became a historic route. The state of Arizona christened it Historic Route 66, from Kingman, to Seligman. Isn't that amazing? Now, rather than a place that people just went through on their way to somewhere else, Las Vegas or wherever they were going, instead, it now became a really cool touristy destination and adventure. It completely shifted the purpose. Then it actually continued on into California and all these other places as well, based on the route, the work of Angel, the barber. 3 ways to stand out What happened to Route 66 could very well be happening to your business. There could be:
If you’re in that space, then here are 3 things that can help you. (If you feel like your business is doing good, then great! Just take a look at these ideas and see if you want to add any of them to your business) 1. Reinvention Maybe it’s time in your business for reinvention. For Route 66, it went from just a thoroughfare to a landmark and a destination place. Maybe you need something new to draw people in. In this reinvention, it wasn't just, “We've got great burgers” or “We've got great souvenirs.” It then became “Look what we have on the outside.” There is a place on Route 66 that has Giganticus Headicus. It's this big green head and makes no sense to me why it was there. Except it made us stop for a photo…then go in the shop. I chatted with the guy there, probably the owner, who said his friend made it about 10 or 20 years ago, and it is drawing people into his shop. It catches their attention. It's an Instagram moment!  Here’s a photo of me picking the nose of this big head because that is exactly what my son did before he ran off to go to the bathroom! Now, how are you catching the attention of people that are driving by, walking by, or scrolling by? The way they're doing this on Route 66 is with colorful old car signs and other pieces of art. This is the area that inspired the Disney movie Cars. Angel, the barber, was interviewed in his barber shop for three days by the eventual writer of Cars and that's where Cars and Radiator Springs and the whole idea was born. They have other ways to catch people’s attention. There are dinosaurs in the Grand Canyon Caverns. Things are also interactive like in Kingman, they have a massive drive-thru sign. You can drive through, have your car sit there, get out and take some photos. There’s also a train where you can go inside and take a photo. If you're thinking of things like having booths at markets or if you have a storefront, what are you doing to draw people in or to have people be interested? That's what I was thinking about because of the big green head. I asked myself, “Well, what's happening here? This place looks interesting and I need to stop by.” So what are you doing in a physical space with people in person to draw them in? Next, ask yourself or ask your team about your website: “What am I doing to draw people in, to catch their attention, and to keep them on my website longer than seven seconds?” The last thing is when they're scrolling by on social media, what are you doing to capture their attention and to have them stop? There might be some reinvention that needs to happen for you as a person or maybe for you and your business. Even just wearing my hair curly, I've had so much positive feedback. That small change in my hair could be a little bit of a reinvention because it's drawing more attention and having people stop. 2. The Route 66 Passport They have a Passport for Route 66. If you can imagine a little guidebook showing you all the cool places to stop. Well, they've done that. but they also added in the ability to get a cool stamp at each location. They’ve gamified the drive and sightseeing. My kids had so much fun going through the book and getting the different stamps. Even if there wasn’t much to stop for, it gave us a reason to. Ask yourself, “Is there something in my business that I could gamify? Something that I could do to connect one piece of the journey to the next and encourage my clients/customers to continue?” Because I'll tell you, we followed the Route 66 passport that day and we stopped at places we probably would have just driven by because the stamp was there, that interactive piece of it and the milestones. It gives people the purpose to complete it. Also, is there a way you could connect with other businesses and do something similar? It got me thinking about my client journey and all the services and programs that I offer. Could I have my own passport where my clients can mark off how far they have gotten and then I send them something in the mail to celebrate their journey? It might not be the stamps, but it could be something else. I really liked the idea of this passport. What's even more clever is I had to pay for it. I paid $1.75 US for it, which I was like, “Oh, that's so cheap.” But how many times do you go to a visitor center and you get a map, marking off the places to go or a little guidebook for free? They're making money off of this as well, which I just thought was genius! There are also so many other sections to it: the western section, the central section, then there's the eastern section which encourages you to keep going, even if you hadn’t planned on it. Then at the back of the passport, there were extra pages for any other stamps you got. There was even a PRIZE! They have a passport redemption coupon. When you get seven stamps, you're entitled to a special certificate. It’s just made of paper, but it’s a motivator and a reward. You can also mail it in, which I think is clever. Do you know what's also clever for them? You have to send in the passport redemption survey, which asks for your demographics and so they learn more about their ideal customer. 3. Having some charm, humor, and wackiness It kind of blew me away how quirky all of these places are and it’s like they're playing this up. They've got some people working in these different places who are like historians, sharing the history of Route 66. When I was at the barber shop or the Original Route 66 Gift Shop, it was so amazing. The woman there was sharing lots of cool info and encouraging us to experience the shop, “Hey, go sit in the barber seat” and then we noticed a big cardboard cutout of Angel and so in a photo it looked like he was cutting your hair. My son sat in the chair, and he loved it! Then at another place, there’s a whole wall where people stuck dollar bills or different denominations and currency. It has people's names on it and so many things stuck on that wall, like license plates. As we were there, a real ambassador was chatting with us. He even encouraged us to all sit up at the fake diner counter and he’ll take our picture. They're really encouraging these types of connections. That charm, that humor, that wackiness is there, but also that ambassadorship. I want you to think, how are you showing up? Are you just showing up as someone in their business? Or are you really embodying what you're wanting for your business?  Let me give you another example. There's a place called Delgadillo's Snowcap Diner. I think it was actually run or started by Angel as well. They do burgers and fries, and fried foods. I'll tell you though, their shakes are amazing. We went there, and their place is like one of those hole-in-the-wall sort of place. You have to sit outside. But it had so much character. Even the backyard area, it was like the bathroom was an outhouse, but it was all done up inside, almost like you were in Pee Wee's Playhouse. It was so wacky. There was a fake TV that was playing music and all these funny signs. But as we're going to order, the woman there pulls out a mustard bottle and shoots my kids with it. They all jumped back. It was one of those fake gag mustard bottles and only a yellow string touched them. We all had a good laugh. The other thing is to get in, there are two doorknobs. I went to open the doorknob on the right because I'm right-handed, but that wasn't the doorknob. It was the doorknob on the left. It was quite funny. We had a giggle and even funnier when I went to leave and I did the exact same thing. Then after we ordered the shake, she goes, “Straw?” I said yes and she went to pass me a handful of actual straw from a farm rather than a straw you would drink from. So again, we all had a giggle. This is the charm, humor, and wackiness. It makes me think of my business, “Where can I take it up a notch?” She could have just shown up and been like, “Okay, what do you want to eat? Okay, here's your food. Thank you. Bye.” So how could you show up differently in your business as someone more charming, humorous, wacky, like an ambassador, or a historian? All of these people had different ways of being, but so endearing. I really enjoyed my interactions with them. It has me now telling you about it. Maybe it wasn't the best nuggets and fries for my kids. Maybe they weren't the best souvenir shops. But I'll tell you, they left a mark on me. You have to think, how many times in your life have you bought something that's not as good as something else because you liked the person? Or do you continue to shop or buy somewhere because you just love what they stand for? Or do you continue to go to a certain hotel or a certain coffee shop because of their reward system? It's so interesting how a few hours on Route 66 caused all of this in my head. I'm curious for you, out of these three, which ones are new for you or which ones are you going to implement? Has one of them made you think, “Oh yeah, maybe I could do that?” Because what would Route 66, and all the small towns be, if they didn't do these things? They'd be like certain companies out there that didn't evolve, that didn't change. I know you care about your business, and you love your business, or at least you want it to succeed, so one day you can sell it or pass on the legacy to your family, or just enjoy life while you're doing it. I hope that you take at least one little piece of what I shared and look differently at your business, and possibly your life. P.S. If you want to receive tools, tips, and truth about all things life and business, sign up here for free! Read my other blogs here:
Are you feeling like you want to increase your revenue and decrease your expenses? I went on vacation last year to Mexico with a friend. I stayed at a beautiful resort called Vidanta where I learned three ways how you can increase your revenue, lower your expenses, and bring in more clients.  (Think about your business and your business model as I go through these.) #1 - Share resources between different customers At the resort, there are five different hotels under the same brand. Those hotels share all the different services, events, locations, lounges, pools, and staff. For instance, there is entertainment on most nights. People from all five hotels can come and enjoy. The resort pays for one event, one band, one set of musicians, or one form of entertainment. All the resort guests can come no matter their level. Now, where in your business could you have multiple customers from different priced offers share the same service or the same event on different platforms? Where in your business could you have the same resources or assets offered to different customers or different clients under different packages? I've seen this work so well at the resort because for example, if the staff are busy in some location, rather than the shuttles just sitting there waiting for one hotel, the shuttles are going around for all the different hotels - such great savings. Also, the customers who paid more get access to more pools and offerings. Where in your business could you include lower package benefits to higher paying clients, even as bonuses? #2 - Create a desire for a higher-end product The five hotels have different levels of experience, different decorations, and different levels of luxury. Some have different pools just right outside your door. Some are full suites with your own butler. How do they create this exclusivity? The higher-level hotel guests can go to any of the pools and any of the locations and do all the activities. But if you were at a lower-end hotel, which is still amazing, you only get specific ones Guests know which hotels are better than others and since everyone also wears bracelets that shows which people have access to which locations. Imagine this in your business. You're creating a desire for the higher-end product because some of your clients are seeing what other clients get - what perks, bonuses, or offerings are given to your higher-end customers or clients. If they buy a certain package, they get these additional experiences.  I was on the app the resort has, looking through the events and special activities they offered and thought, “Oh, I can attend this one, but I can't attend that one because that's at the super exclusive place.” It makes you covet the ones you can’t have, yearn for them, want them. It makes you walk past certain places and go, “I wish I could go in there.” If you have a platform for your courses or an app where your clients access their materials and additional ones are there but locked it may make your customer think, “I'm going to move up to that. I'm going to one day buy into that when I can afford that” or “I'm going to prioritize that because I want that experience.” Maybe it's “I want that VIP experience” or “I want those opportunities.” #3 - Opportunities to Upgrade There are opportunities during my experience at the resort to upgrade. So not only to upgrade to maybe a higher-level hotel but also opportunities to expand the package like “Do you want to add on this piece?” I know you might be like, “Oh, God, I don't want to go to those sales things.” But think of this in your business. How can you have your clients move up in their package while they are still working with you? Or how can you have them expand to do add-ons? It could be additional:
Whatever it may be. They already love you, right? Just like the people walking around the resort, they already love the resort. Here’s a bonus tip. When your customers are in the moment of loving working with you, that's when you invite them to upgrade. That's when they might add on because they're in the moment of appreciating the experience or the results you provide, and they see the benefit. If you ask them,
 And their response is, “Oh, it’s great”, then that's the time to see if they would like more or to expand their package. Which of the three ways to grow your revenue will you try? Let me quickly go through them again.
I’d love to hear which of these you’ve tried or which you will be bringing into your business. P.S. Are you a member of the Dynamic Women Global Community? It’s a free community for female business leaders to come together to connect, share, grow, and be inspired. Join today so you won’t miss out on any of our programs and events! Read my other blogs here:
Are you wanting to take some time off but you’re thinking, “How can I go away when I have so much to do?”  Last year, I was able to go on vacation for three weeks in one month where I barely worked. I got away from my business and enjoyed my vacation! That’s all because of this one secret that’s been helping me. This topic came about because there were moments when I was soaking in the pool in Mexico, meeting people who have a nine-to-five, and even chatting with some business owners who said, “Man, how can you take three weeks of vacation this month? I'm taking just one, and I still have to check-in. I still have to do work every day.” Yeah, not everyone knows how they can take vacation from their business. I reflected on how for soooooo long I didn’t know either and would be working in my hotel room or in the business centre instead of enjoying my trip. Now I can enjoy trips and I’m grateful. I was so grateful when I’m sitting and sipping on some pina coladas in Mexico for a week, and as I was laying on the beach in Maui, watching the surfers without any Wi-Fi access (I didn't even get data because I knew I didn't need it), I thought how amazing that I do get to be away and my business still runs! Also grateful I could be in Vegas on a family trip. I don’t share this to rub it in. I really needed that vacation time and I’m sure you do too. I needed to reconnect with myself. I needed to not be needed by anyone because the joy of two of the weeks is that I went away without my family, which was such a privilege. I'm so grateful to my husband, not that he gave me permission, but for holding down the fort, so that I was able to go. So the trick is having a business, you can get away from. Right?! If you need to be in an office, or selling a product in a shop, then this isn't going to work as well for you. Maybe the next step for you is to ask yourself, “Do I want to move to a more location-freedom lifestyle?” In the beginning, when I went on vacation I’d have to put in a few hours each day just to be on top of things. Or I'd work like a dog before I went. I'd be pulling 12-15 hour days just to make sure I got everything done before I left and then when I got back, I'd be dreading the email inbox that was so full. The Secret Imagine saying to a friend, “Oh, sure I’ll join you in Mexico” and “Oh, yeah, I'd love to go to Hawaii with you the week after Mexico.” So what is the secret that has helped me to accept adventures and not have to work and still be able to do a bunch of things in my business? Like launch a program or bring on more team members, and still have my podcast, blog, newsletters - all of the stuff that happens behind the scenes? Well, the secret is having a team or at least a team member. I had Canadian assistants in my business, for around eight years. The first three years were kind of on and off with different people, nothing really formal, and then moving into a specific number of hours every single week, from a specific person, that worked out really well. But then I wanted someone with more hours, with more tech skills and knowledge of all the software that's out there now. Our list of software is massive and bringing someone on to be able to handle that has been really the secret sauce to my business and me being able to step away and take a real vacation. Three things you can do with your team so you can take a vacation! For the past two years, I have had two team members from the Philippines who have really helped me and my business. I also have another ten team members from the Philippines who are supporting clients of mine so they can also go on vacation. Here are the three things that will help you so you can enjoy your vacation! First: Do tasks in advance. I talked to my team and I asked, “What do you need from me before I go?” Here’s what they answered:
 Also look over your own calendar for the week you're going to be away and think, “What do I need to prepare in advance so that I can be away and things will be taken care of?” Then pass it off to your VA. Second: Give your team or team member power. That power means they have access to documents they need, or logins to websites, access to software. By giving them access they have the power to get into things and do things. Then you can very easily on the fly say:
Because not only do they need to do what’s normally done, but also tasks that pop up - that you didn't know they were going to happen. Can you imagine asking, “Can you go and share that document?” While I was away, I actually had one of my VAs create a new contract because we have a certain contract that we do for our virtual assistants, but we were hiring a bookkeeper from the Philippines to support our clients. We needed a new contract made. So I asked, “Can you just go into the old contract, edit that out, I'll look it over, then we'll send it out?” Now, could I have done that? Yes, I could have done that, but did I want to leave the pool? No. How did I know that needed to be done? Because my team and I have a couple of apps that I can use on my phone, so it's super simple for me to just look, see the message, and give them a reply. Or to go into our project management tool and give them some feedback on something or just quickly look at something. The last piece about giving them power is actually giving them the ability to do some decision-making. For instance, we were doing some hiring, and I said,
Now, this isn't something you can just do on the fly. You might want to start training in advance of your vacation to know you can pass it off. It's great in your business to keep looking at what you have, and what you have to do, what's on your plate as a CEO and ask yourself, “Where can I pass more of this work off and give more power to my VA or my team so that there's less for me to do and I can step up into higher impact tasks?” Third: Have systems and processes in place. This is crucial if you’re going to take any time off or if you just don't want to micromanage people. Having some systems and processes allows there to be some consistency in your business. Also, it really helps your VAs to know they're on track without having to ask you. For example, for us, this was in our newsletters. We have a specific system that happens, a process we follow in preparing it and sending it out. Our podcast also has a very specific system with lots of different processes in it. Along with our content creation system.  The beauty of this is we just roll through the system every week or every time we do something. My team now can say to me, “Hey, are we doing XYZ like we did last time?” I answer, “Yep!” Or they'll say, “Hey, can we refine our system and do this additional step?” I respond, “That's perfect.” So I know there's consistency in their output. While I'm on vacation, I don't want to worry, “Are they going to do this right?” I know that since we have already put in systems and processes, they're just going to follow them. It's going to be so amazing to see the results. Even if you're not going on vacation, you need to have these things so that you can start stepping away from certain projects, tasks, departments, or parts of your business. So ask yourself, when was the last time you took a vacation from your business? Not just a vacation in life, but a vacation from your business? On a scale of one to ten, how confident are you that you could completely step away from your business? Ten being “I could completely step away” and one being “not at all”. If you’re an eight out of ten that you can step away from my business for a week, what is stopping you from the ten? Is it because you still need to check your email? Or you still need to oversee certain parts of your business or you're just afraid? Then what would be the difference? Is it the three things I mentioned? Is it doing tasks in advance so that you can look things over and give approval? Maybe it’s to give more power through logins, access, decision-making to your team. Or is it the last piece around systems and processes? Maybe you can't leave because you don't have those dialed in. Now if you want to do this on your own, go for it. I did it on my own in the beginning, and then brought on team members and hired them with the assistance of a program. Or I can just hire them for you. If you want to be involved in a program we call Virtual Assistant Made Easy where we hire a VA for you, share our systems and processes so you can get things off your plate, then message my team at team@dianerolston.com and let us know you're wanting to hire a VA. Want more info about it? Then attend the event, “Go from Overwhelm to Ease with the Help of a VA” on Feb 10th from 10am-12pm PT. We will help you bring one onto your team or into your business so you can have that vacation without worrying. You’ll be able to step away from your business so that when you get back, you're refreshed, you’re ready, you've tapped back into the vision and into yourself, and you just feel ready to go again. Read my other blogs here:
In the past two weeks, we’ve given you a round-up of the Top 5 Dynamic Women Podcast Guest Episodes of 2022 and Top 5 Dynamic Women Podcast Solo Episodes of 2022. This week, we’re closing off January 2023 with the Top 5 Dynamic Women Blogs of 2022! I will count them down from 5 to 1. If you read them already, I’m curious, were they your favourites too? And if you haven’t, this is your chance to catch them this time around.  Do you judge yourself or have you seen someone you love judge themselves? Women can be so good at judging themselves in these ways:
I’m no exception here! I also judge myself, and I share that in the blog. Do you judge yourself? If yes, then why? Check out the blog as I also shared the four reasons why you might judge yourself.  This blog is part 2 of our Top 1 blog for 2022! Why are we feeling disorganized? Well, because we're busy. We are ambitious. There are lots of things we want to do. In this blog, I shared the last two things stopping you from being organized in your life. Top Blog #3: What’s Stopping You from Making More Money? (Part 2)  There are five problems that I continuously see in my clients, in my network, and in people I talk to after keynotes that I give. These problems can cost you money, your success, and your peace. In no particular order, I share five problems that could be stopping you from making more money. Two of those problems are shared in this Top 3 blog, while three are shared in the first part of this blog. Check out part 1 here. Top Blog #2: 5 Steps to Know If a Troll or Hater is Right  Have you ever had someone hate on you or troll your posts and make mean comments? Let me tell you…as soon as you start shining, many people will see you in a positive light and compliment you. It will feel amazing and to them, you say, “Thank you!” Then there is a chance that others will be jealous and say mean things about you to your face, online, or to others. I’ve felt it and it sucks how it can cause you to doubt yourself and want to fly under the radar. Don’t hide away! Don’t take their words to heart! Instead, I’ve got some tips for you! Check out the blog to know the five steps you can take in those moments in order to be able to deal with haters.  Here’s the top 1 blog of 2022! I asked the women in my Dynamic Women Global Community on Facebook, “What challenging thing are you working through these days?” One of the responses was “I'm not organized in my life.” I'm hearing that a lot recently from clients and from people in my community. Now, let me ask you, “Are you dealing with chaos, clutter, and feeling a lack of control?” I get it because you have a lot going on. You’re busy with:
In this blog, I shared with you three out of the five things that are stopping you from being organized. I also shared what being organized means. The second part of this blog is also our Top 4 blog of 2022! That’s a wrap! Those are the top 5 blogs of 2022! Thank you for always being here. If you know anyone who would appreciate the blog, share it with them. Every week, I publish a new blog that aims to give you tools, tips, and the truth about all things life and business! You can sign up to get them sent to your inbox here. Check all of my blogs here: https://www.dianerolston.com/blog/ Let’s connect in other places too! - like on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter so you’re updated on all things dynamic. For topic suggestions for the blog, email me at diane@dianerolston.com. Read my other blogs here:
In my last blog, I shared with you the Top 5 Guest Episodes of the Dynamic Women Podcast. They are on fire! Now, let me share with you the Top 5 Solo Episodes! These are the episodes that I record myself to give you tools, stories, and strategies that will help you in all areas of life. Do you feel overworked, overwhelmed, and spread too thin? In this episode of the Dynamic Women Podcast, I talk about:
Are you sick of people telling you that you are too much? Or is there someone in your life that you feel is too much? In this episode, I talk about how we as a society need to stop telling people that they are too much. Can you relate? Do you know that there could be three reasons why you’re not feeling so confident with your goals? In the 150th episode of the Dynamic Women Podcast, I share:
Have you been wondering about what you want in life? In this episode:
Top 1 - DW141: Recovering from Covid You're busy, and no one has time to be sick, including me. You want to recover as fast as you can so you can get back to your life. In this episode:
There you go! The Top 5 Solo Episodes of the Dynamic Women Podcast! I enjoyed recording these episodes for you along with all of the other weekly episodes. The Dynamic Women Podcast surely came a long way and as always, I intend to share with you only the best topics, stories, and tools to help you be dynamic in every area of life. You can listen to the Dynamic Women Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Captivate, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other podcast streaming apps. Make sure to subscribe and leave us a review so we can reach and help more women. When you do leave us a review, please send a screenshot to team@dianerolston.com with your mailing address so that we can send you a little something in the mail. ⠀⠀⠀ If you have topic suggestions, don’t hesitate to email my team at team@dianerolston.com or me diane@dianerolston.com. Read my other blogs here:
2022 was a great year for the Dynamic Women Podcast. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary and we also ranked #3 of the Top 50 Mom Podcasts by Podcast Magazine! In 2022, we featured 14 dynamic women who shared their stories and expertise to our podcast listeners. So let me present to you the Top 5 Guest Episodes of Dynamic Women Podcast for 2022!
Don’t miss:
TOP 4 - DW144: How to Save Time, Energy, and Money when Building a Home or Renovation with Desiree La Cas
contractors and designers can actually help save time, energy & money, how she works with her clients, her passions, and a lot more!
Don't miss:
Those are the top 5 guest episodes of 2022. Make sure to check those episodes’ show notes to grab freebies from our wonderful guests! I want to take this opportunity to thank our guests for sharing their stories and expertise to our listeners. You can catch the Dynamic Women Podcast on Captivate, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other podcast streaming apps. Make sure to subscribe and leave us a review so we can reach and help more women. When you do leave us a review, please send to team@dianerolston.com a screenshot of the review and your mailing address so that we can send you a little something in the email. ⠀⠀ If you also want to be a guest and inspire a global community of women, please email my team at team@dianerolston.com or me diane@dianerolston.com. Read more of my blogs here:
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