First Word

The pressure I put on myself can't be any harder than the pressure I ... put on myself. Stand up and confess, "I, Michelle am a workaholic." Truth is I started my business not to have to work myself into the ground to meet other people's demands. Over time, I made the great discovery, I still have to meet other people's demands (clients). The saying "work smarter not harder" is the applicable tool to keep life in balance. Problem is economics + delegation are conflicting at the moment. So sharp manager that I am I need to "noodle" some solutions to the scale tipped the wrong way. Ever find yourself stuck in this quagmire? I bet if you're a business owner reading this blog you know what I'm talking about. Here are some things to think about: Guilt is not an excuse to give 10 times more than you get in payments . If you're being paid to do a job do the job to the best of your abilities. But you are not obligated just because you h...

Dumping the words "lesson learned" into my business knowledge I have acquired section of my so-called "management manual," there is a good one all small business owners should apply. Never pay contractors their fees all upfront. Either do payments or 50/50. Wanting to be a trusting person, I've stumbled and fell on my face a couple of times after "trusting" the wrong contractor -- someone I should have been able to trust. The rules should apply like this: No. #1 Don't do anyone any favors out of strict kindness and pay them in advance of work . Motivation to do the work sometimes requires a carrot and a stick. If the contractor eats the carrot before commencing the work, the motivation is now gone. Leverage is now gone, too. Outside of legal recourse, that contractor can hold you hostage to his/her whims or lack of work ethic. No. #2 Trust is earned ... period . I'm never one to suggest not to be trusting. Trust is a beautiful thing especia...

I get regularly asked how I do so much. I can distill it down to one word: goals. My entire life and career I have been goal-oriented. The way to keep goals organized and stay on task is to write (not type) your daily, weekly and monthly goals. I have a desk calendar. When I was in college and had to travel from class to class, I had a binder calendar. I would write the homework assignments and deadlines on my calendar. I once had this condescending HR woman look at my calendar and make comments about "silly" calendar and neat penmanship. The only person who looked 'silly' was her. Truth is, I still to this day have a desk calendar with the same so-called neat penmanship, and I use a highlighter pen to put special emphasis on deadlines. My eye always goes right to the highlights so things do not go unforgotten. The trick to the workhorse abilities is to systematically go through your daily goals, accomplish the tasks, mark it off, and move to the next. A list keeps ...