Greetings!  

I hope you had a restful and rejuvenating holiday season. I took time off with the family to spend time in San Diego and Arizona (visiting my parents). It was a wonderful way to end the year. 

Now it's time to kick it in to gear and begin the hard work of making this year even better than the last one. I want to double my business in 2016. Yes, it's a Big Hairy Audacious Goal and I'm going for it.

What about you? What's your BHAG for 2016? Hit Reply and let me know. I'd love to hear it. Or post it on my Facebook Page so I and others can support you.

My commitment to you in this newsletter is to continue to bring you bite-sized articles that can make a real difference in your business and life. Let's do it.
Coach Yourself - Six Big Questions to Ponder

As you consider the year ahead and think of how you can better yourself to DO more and ACHIEVE more, I want to share 6 questions that may help you get the ball rolling. These questions are designed to stimulate your thinking about what's possible by making a few CHANGES. Get a notebook and pen and find a quiet place where you can spend a few minutes in deep thought. Ready?

Question 1. What is your "theme" for this year? Pick ONE WORD to represent what you want to go after this year. My one word is, Creation. Once you've picked the word write it on a post-it and stick it where the sun does shine so you can see it daily.

Question 2. What is one habit you could adopt this year that would make a significant impact on your life?

Question 3. What is one habit you could drop that would make a significant impact on your life?

Question 4. Imagine yourself at 90. Being that person, what advice would you give to the person you are in 2016?

Question 5. If you asked your best friend for one piece of advice about how you could improve your life, what would they say?

Question 6. How great is your life going to be this year? Visualize it first, then write it down. Be as descriptive as you can. Really feel it. This is also something you should keep in a highly visible place so you can be regularly reminded of how great this year is going to be.

If you really took the time to answer each one of these questions, congratulations. You've just coached yourself. Feels pretty good, doesn't it?
Asana
Win at Work

Ken and I use a productivity tool called Asana to keep track of various tasks we're committed to for our businesses as well as those of our clients. It's web-based, free for teams up to 15, and there's a great mobile app, too. 

The folks at Asana have put together a fun way to promote greater productivity in 2016 with their Win At Work campaign. On the campaign page you'll see a deck of cards with various tips for productivity such as, "Be biased for action. If something will only take 1 hour to try, don't spend 2 hours debating it. Just try it!" If you have your own killer productivity tips to share you can submit it. You might win a great prize if it's selected and even get your tip included in the final physical deck that's printed. 

I submitted a couple of tips. One is, "To get an ambitious project done, make a commitment to a partner or customer to do it on an aggressive timeline. You'll find yourself digging deep to make the timeline and you'll likely surprise yourself with what you can do."
Business Growth Series
The Business Growth Series Gets a Reboot

If you're a regular reader then you've already heard about the Business Growth Series. It's the new program I'm launching that covers Modeling Success, Cultivating Great Habits, and using Strategic Planning to Win. Well, in its first iteration we were running the 3 classes on 3 different days over a 6-week span. We heard loud and clear that that wasn't a good plan. So, we've rebooted it! 

Here's the new plan: The first class (Success Secrets of the Super Achievers) is an on-demand video you'll watch on your own time. The second (Habits of Highly Effective Business Owners) and third (Business Growth Workshop) classes will both be held on February 5th. So, now you just have to give me one day and I'll give you great information to grow your business in 2016. Use PROMO CODE: REBOOT to save $50 and get one of just 9 seats left. I hope to see you in class!
The 3 Wins Weekly Plan

In Sales it's necessary to get things done each and every week towards the accomplishment of business development goals. But what should a busy salesperson focus on? There's always so much to do and so much to keep track of. Well, I like to boil it down to 3 KEY WINS EACH WEEK. 

If I can move a big step forward on 3 key business development initiatives each week, I'm doing well. And 3 wins is something I can remember and take action on without getting overwhelmed. Would you like to try it? This will work for owners, too. Just decide what would be 3 key wins for you in your business. 

To make it easy for you I've created this document to guide you to weekly success. I must give credit to Norma Fogelberg with whom I collaborated to create this document. She's a brilliant person. May this tool help you get more big things done. 
Book Recommendation: Essentialism

As you begin 2016 have you vowed to yourself to learn the power of no, to clear away the clutter in your life, and focus on what really matters? If you find that overwhelm is the norm in your life at work and at home, then this may be the book you need now. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less was authored by Greg McKeown who happens to be a Bay Area resident. 

In the book Greg explains how those who seek to focus on less are able to be more content. Simplicity is the road to happiness. Say it aloud and feel the truth in that statement. There was a time when we frowned on living a simple life, but now we crave it. One thing that Greg asks readers to commit to is a full night's sleep. Essentialists know that sleep is, well, essential and is not elusive when we are able to rid our lives of needless activity that fills up our day and night and pulls us away from getting the restorative rest that we so need. In the early days of this business I used to pull all-nighters to get work done. No more. You can find Essentialism here. You can also watch a short video here where Greg gives some insight in to his ideas. If you read just one book this year, perhaps this should be that book.
Super Bowl 50 Is Coming. Are You Tying A Campaign To It?

With the NFL Playoffs underway and Super Bowl 50 just a few weeks away the buzz is fully in the air. One of the hardest aspects of marketing a small business is simply getting attention. There's so much marketing noise each and every day bombarding the consumer that it's difficult to find a way to get your message to stand out. One way is to align with what's trending in the news. Right now, in our area, the Super Bowl would qualify. Consider how you might create an alignment with this major event coming to our area. The city of San Mateo has created a special event with SF NFL alumni playing a game with Wounded Warrior Amputees. You can see that here. As you can imagine, the city of Santa Clara is doing a lot. You can see a list of the events they're holding here. If you're looking for other ideas, here's a blog post with 9 different ones for you. You can always ping me if you want to brainstorm. Carpe diem!
Quote to Close it Out...
"The bad news is that time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." - Michael Altshuler

Well, this issue has flown by. Was it good for you? Let me know. Even better, please share it with a friend or colleague who should be on my subscriber list. Let's put my hard work in to more In-Boxes, shall we? Thanks for being here now.

Michael Neuendorff | The Growth Coach | 650.373.2022 

The Growth Coach | 533 Airport Blvd. | Suite 400 | Burlingame | CA | 94010