What is an Accountability Partner and Why Do You Need One?

Do you ever have days where you just can’t seem to motivate yourself to do what you planned to do? Maybe that day turns into a week or a month. You had all sorts of plans laid out to help you achieve your goals, but you just kept getting distracted by other things.

I had a mini-revelation about this a few days ago, after I’d put up a new pack ofGoal Setting PLR articles in my PLR store. While it’s essential to lay out specific goalsand action plans, it’s the follow-through that defeats most people. That’s where an accountability partner can make the difference between success and failure.

What is an accountability partner?

If you haven’t heard the term before, let me explain just what I mean by “accountability partner”. The term is traditionally associated with Christian accountability partners who help each other adhere to specific morals or behaviors. However, in the business world it refers to someone that helps you stay on track with your goals.

It’s easy to get off track, even with all the time management and action planning tools out there. Many highly successful business people have accountability partners who they talk to regularly to check in on progress and work through any distractions or obstacles that have come up. It’s not the same as a mentor or coach, because usually the two of you are on a more equal level. This is a mutually beneficial relationship in which each person holds the other accountable to themselves.

What are the benefits of having an accountability partner?

• Forces you to be specific.  Just by sharing your plans for the day or the upcoming week with someone else can give you the clarity you need to move ahead.
• Gives a dose of reality. When you tell your accountability partner what your plans are, you may just get a painful dose of reality that you didn’t expect. They can be the objective eyes that tell you that you’re trying to do too much, or you’re not being aggressive enough, or you’re being too aggressive. You get the point. They don’t even have to tell you the reality. The process of asking questions and forcing you to think about your actions can be enough to bring you out of your fog.
• Mutual motivation. Everyone could use a partner who pushes and encourages them to keep working away at their goals. Especially in business, where your spouse or friends don’t understand what you do, it can be incredibly helpful to have someone who can relate to your efforts and struggles.
• A swift kick in the rear. Then there are the times where you just need a metaphorical “kick in the butt” to get moving. It’s easy to let things slide or get lazy when it comes to attacking new plans. Having someone to remind you of what you’re working towards is priceless. Just be prepared for a little harsh love once in a while. If you’re not willing to give and take that kind of push, then your accountability relationship may not work.

What to look for when picking your partner

This isn’t a marriage, but you have to feel comfortable sharing fears and concerns with your accountability partner without being judged.  You should have some kind of connection or chemistry that makes it easy to understand each other. Your goals don’t have to be the same, but you do have to make a commitment to helping each other succeed.  In fact, some people have the same accountability partner for years and they claim that it’s one of the major factors in their mutual success.

A few quick tips

While I’m still at the early stages of my accountability partner relationship, I can share a few tips that I know will help us succeed:

• Figure out what your goal is for having an accountability partner. Share that with the other person.
• Keep notes of what you are holding each other accountable for. You can agree on what you’re accountable for achieving before you meet next. Then share that in an email or other format.
• Set up a regular check-in time to see how you are each doing on your tasks or goals. A weekly check-in meeting is what we’re aiming for, but it’s going to depend on what obstacles or struggles come up along the way. I know one senior executive who only checks in with his accountability partner once a month and meets twice a year. Others check in with each other briefly almost every day.

I’ll do a post at a later date when I can share more about my own accountability partner results. I can already see that the impact on my success is going to be tremendous!

Do you have an accountability partner? What are your own experiences and tips?

http://www.sharynsheldon.com/508/what-is-an-accountability-partner-and-why-do-you-need-one/

Tips for Success Working From Home

“The work-at-home lifestyle can be incredibly satisfying and an effective way to be closer to your family.”

-Mitch Thrower

Working from home is a dream that many of us tend to put up on a pedestal as an ideal scenario. I’ve heard many people say they’d be happy if they could just work from home… But would working from home really solve their problems and bring them happiness? Many who already work from home say that it takes a much higher level of self-discipline to succeed as compared to working outside the home.

Let’s examine a few key topics relevant to working from home and outline a rough road map to success.

Self discipline

“In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… Self-discipline with all of them came first.”

-Harry S. Truman

As I transition from my old job to my new job, I have been blessed with an entire week off from work. In fact, as I type this article, I am waiting at my mechanic’s shop while they change the oil on my wife’s vehicle.

When this week started, it seemed like I was going to get so much done during my time off, but I have actually accomplished very little. Why is this? I see it as little more than a lack of self discipline.

After this short stint of freedom from employment, I would liken working from home with no self-discipline to driving a car with no feet… There is just no way to be successful. If you are thinking of making the switch to home-based employment, make sure that you have a high level of self-discipline and self-motivation or success will likely elude you.

The grass is always greener

“The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.”

-Robert Fulghum

If you have a bad attitude, and/or are stuck working a job you’re not crazy about, it is easy to fall victim to the grass is greener syndrome where anything looks better than the current situation. Why do you want to work from home? Is it because you hate your job? Perhaps you’re just lazy or have a bad attitude. If either are true, chances are you would be just as unhappy working from home as you are in your current job.

Before you set out to begin working from home, try adjusting your attitude and/or your work ethic and examine your current situation again.

Rough road map to work from home success

Proper attitude and discipline are key to succeeding as a home-based worker. Follow these additional tips to increase your likelihood of success.

1. Turn off the TV. Perhaps the best advice is to ensure that you do not plop yourself down in front of the television. Avoid doing this at all costs. The TV has a unique ability to suck the work and motivation right out of you. Some people like the television for background noise, but I would argue against this being beneficial for most situations. Rather than using a TV for background noise, try turning on the radio… Music can be very motivating.
2. Create a work space. Be sure to have a space designated to work. It is advisable to stay out of areas of comfort like your bedroom, the living room, etc. Your work space should be a space devoted to work, not relaxation. When you are there, you are working. Period. Make the space motivating and exciting. Surround yourself with things that inspire you and be sure to paint and decorate your space with colors and things that drive you and persuade you to accomplish.
3. Set goals. What are you shooting for? What do you wish to accomplish? Make sure you write these things down and put them some place where you will see them often. Set both long term and short term goals. Your short-term goals should break your long term goals down into achievable chunks.
4. Have and maintain a schedule. Use a calendar to keep track of what needs to be done each week. Spend at least 30 minutes each day populating your calendar with jobs, tasks, and errands that need to be done. Planning things out helps to motivate and maintain purpose and direction, along with showing you precisely what work needs to be done each day.
5. Make lists. Use your goals and schedule to create daily to-do lists. Create your to-do list for the next day at the end of each work day, that way you come to get to your work space each morning with clearly defined tasks.
6. Get up and go to work. Treat your home-based work just as you would any other job… Get up, take a shower, head over to your work space, and get to work. Do not let yourself wander into other areas of the house, just get ready then get right down to business.

In closing…

If you have ever worked from home, or are considering making the move, please share your experience here to help others along their way. Be sure to include any tips that I may have overlooked.

http://www.fivecentnickel.com/2010/05/20/tips-for-success-working-from-home/

If your are looking for the perfect work from home opportunity to fit your income needs this is where you want to be.  I have associated with top rated home businesses rated by the Better Business Bureau. Using the links associated with this blog will point you in the right direction.  Take me on as your sponsor in any of these programs and I will provide coaching and tips on being successful with your home based business. 

5 Easy Ways to Stay Motivated

Face it: There are days when being an entrepreneur sucks. Here are a few simple steps to getting your mojo back.

No matter what you do for a living, the key to success is superlative performance, day after day after day. And that’s only possible if you make optimism, expectancy, and enthusiasm part of your daily experience.

That’s easy if you’re pursuing your life’s dearest dreams.  But what if, like almost everybody else in this world, you’ve got a job that’s not exactly perfect. Here’s how to remain a go-getter, even when the getting gets tough:

STEP #1: Realize That YOU Are in Control

Your attitude isn’t controlled by the outside world.  That’s an illusion, a fantasy that, if you believe it, you’re simply using to escape responsibility for managing this all-important part of your career.

For example, if you run into snowstorm that’s making you late to a customer meeting, you can get frustrated and start cursing..., or you can look forward to the appreciation that the customer might feel because you were committed enough to fight the weather to make the meeting.

Similarly, when the economy goes south, you can start obsessing about how it’s going to affect your job, or you can be one of those individuals who use tighter budgets as a way to streamline operations, develop new markets and create innovations.

It’s all in how you see it!

STEP #2: Neutralize Your Negative Triggers
Stop letting exterior events trigger negative thoughts.
For example, suppose you’re traveling to a customer meeting but keep running into red lights and traffic delays. That IS a problem, but if you get flustered, you’ve got TWO problems: the fact that you’re late, and the fact that you’re flustered.
And if you walk into the meeting flustered, the customer might wonder if you’re moody and unreliable. So now you’ve got THREE problems.
To get a better result (and achieve a better attitude), modify your interpretation of exterior events that tend to trigger a negative outlook. Once the events in your life take on a different, more useful meaning, they won’t trigger a bad attitude.
For example, while the delays may be making you late, use the extra time to collect your thoughts, consider your options, and decide on a damage control strategy. Or use the time to come up with a better schedule, so that you always leave plenty of time, just in case there’s traffic.
As a mentor of mine once said: “Life is like those signs that say ‘You Are Here’  What you make of where you are is up to you.”

STEP #3: Detoxify Your Media Consumption
Much of today’s news programming consists of “if it bleeds it leads” stories followed by commercials offering some form of (often addictive) security or comfort. The constant flow of negative imagery automatically creates a negative attitude about life, the world, and everything in it.
If you want to maintain a positive attitude, you MUST reduce or even eliminate your exposure to broadcast news programming. Rather than waste time with that garbage, add material and content into your life that will help you become more successful (like this column!)
Start and end each day reading something positive! When you’re on the road, rather than listening to negative, emotionally-charged talk radio, listen to motivational tapes, music that raises your spirits, or maybe great literature.



STEP #4: Avoid Negative People
You probably have one or more friends, relatives, or acquaintances who make you feel tired and drained. They always seem to have something sour to say; criticisms come to their lips far more quickly than compliments.
Such folk are toxic to your attitude (and hence to your success) because, if they’re not actively tearing down your enthusiasm, they’re trying to get you to think the same way about the world as they do.  What a drag!  Literally.
If you want to maintain a positive attitude, consider sharply limiting your daily exposure to such people. Don’t show up at the daily “water cooler complain-fest.” Don’t go to lunch with the “grouse and grumble” crowd. If you’ve got family members who are constantly negative, tune them out.

STEP #5: Adopt a Positive Vocabulary
The words that you use—both what you speak aloud and your internal dialogue—have a vast influence in how you perceive what’s happening in the world. All words carry a certain amount of emotional baggage, inherent in their exact definition and the way that they’ve been used in the past.
For instance, the words “despise,” “hate,” and “dislike” mean essentially the same thing, but carry very different emotional baggage. If you “dislike” something, but tell yourself that you “hate it” over and over and over, it will intensify the original emotion.
To keep a positive attitude, use weak words for negative feelings and strong words for positive ones. This thwarts the downward spiral of negative feelings and words, and accelerates the upward spiral of positive feelings and words.
The above is based upon a conversation with one my favorite people, motivation-guru extraordinaire Jeff Keller, and is a shortened version of one of the chapters in my newly-published book How to Say It: Business to Business Selling.
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/5-easy-ways-to-stay-motivated.html

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Doing Research to Find the Best Online Jobs

     In anything that we do we all want to be successful. In today's economy it is nearly impossible to achieve our goals when working for an employer and contributing to the success of their company. The opportunity to operate a home based business is a platform for building success for yourself while working for yourself through becoming an associate and doing affiliate marketing. This is the way to gain financial freedom and work on your own schedule.With so many work from home opportunities it is difficult to know which online jobs to get involved with. Comparing the top rated affiliate marketing home businesses can be a time consuming and tedious task.
Use your resources. Working from home doesn't limit you to the house. You can make money anywhere that you have an internet connection.There are a few ways to make finding the home based business to fit your income needs and increase your income and your free-time easy. There are a number of online job opportunities that are rated by the Better Business Bureau that have been in business for years. Compiling a list of these companies is the first step in finding a perfect fit. This list will enable you to write out the pro's and con's of each business and see them side by side. Before picking a company you want to know a few things about it such as how that company will benefit your home business, is the product or service offered by this company something that my consumers will be interested in, what is the payout by this company, how often does this company pay out.

      These are just a few of the questions that will come to mind when making your list of pro's and con's. With all of the work that it takes to find the best fitting work from home opportunities I took it upon myself to help educate others on being successful with jobs at home online. When trying to find the perfect match for yourself do not give up or become discouraged. You will find success in being persistent. The most important part of the process of finding the best job from home online is doing effective research. You do not want to go into affiliate marketing blind and then start looking for the answers. There are a lot of associates in the field that fail due to lack of knowledge and laziness. This laziness keeps these job seekers from doing the necessary research. Motivate yourself and you can be successful with online jobs from home.

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Willie_P_Royal

There are several methods used in finding the best home based business to fit your income needs and increase your income and your free-time. My company Royal Orlando Affiliates was designed to bring all of the best opportunities together. Our goal is to educate others to be sucessful with home jobs online. We provide full training and support for FREE.  http://www.royalorlandoaffiliates.tk

Linking to Relevant Websites

Find links related to your niche               

Incoming links are a major contributor in not only traffic, but your page rank as well. The more relevant sites that are linked to your site, the more weight your site has. A link like a forum signature does not hold as much weight as a link on MSN's home page. While forum signature traffic can be good and important, it's not as highly regarded in SEO.

Do you have good ethics?

In your efforts to get more backlinks to your site, you really have to be ethical and listen to your gut. Look for sites that really are relevant to your site and have great content that is useful. Be sure to scan the whole site to be sure they are not linking to sites that aren't reputable. If you're tempted to bite on a site that has a high page ranking but doesn't look all that appealing, remember this: search engines change every day. What's on the front page today could be on page 4,688 tomorrow. If you remain ethical, your site will gain exposure and page rank naturally.
http://www.squidoo.com/targetedwebtraffic

Keep checking my blog for updates on how to be successful working from home.

Keyword Marketing and Research

Use the right keywords to increase traffic - and find paying customers

To get the right audience to your website, you need to get very specific. There's a reason it's called niche marketing! For instance, there are thousands of companies that claim to increase your web traffic. The phrase "web traffic" is one of the most competitve search terms out there. However, if you dug a little deeper and became more specific in what your site was about, like "Overstock auctions web traffic," you're getting a little more specific. There's not much chance that you'll get much traffic with a line on your site or a text ad like "web traffic," but the second phrase might be a winner.

The deeper you dig for more specific terms, and the more you stick to one relevant subject or topic, the better your chances are becoming relevant to the search engines. Here are some comparisons of some good search terms vs. bad...

BAD: wooden tables
GOOD: solid cherry dropleaf dining room tables

BAD: digital cameras
GOOD: refurbished Nikon Coolpix digital cameras

The Best Competition is NO Competition!

What's the best thing to write about? Something no one has written about yet! You're competition will be little to non-existent.

http://www.squidoo.com/targetedwebtraffic

Keep checking my blog for updates on howto be successful working from home.