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Are You Giving Your Best?
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It's a brand new year! I love the feeling we get when the calendar turns over -- a blank slate, a new beginning, endless possibilities!
So many people create New Year resolutions but why? Why not make goals and work toward them every day? Author of Life's Little Instruction Book, H. Jackson Brown Jr, is quoted as saying, "The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today".
I love that. And it's so true. But how do you know if you're doing your best? What objective measure do you use to quantify whether or not you are truly being the best at what you do or who you are, especially if you have your own business?
Well, one way is to review your Mission, Vision and Value statements. I do this every January to see if...
- They still reflect who we are and what we're trying to achieve and
- If we are adhering to the goals we set so many years ago in order to
- Ensure we are doing our best today and every day
In order to create Mission, Vision and Value statements, you must consciously decide your overall purpose, how you see that purpose and how you're going to accomplish that purpose.
It's funny (odd) too, because these statements are always listed as 'Mission, Vision, Values' but I actually think they should be listed as 'Vision, Value, and Mission' because you need to be a visionary to determine where you want to take your company. And you want to clearly understand how you will provide value. And then you need to define how you will go about meeting both your vision and value creation (i.e. be a missionary).
But, for simplicity sake, we'll stick with the socially acceptable Mission, Vision and Value sequence and we will review ours that were created in 2006 to see how we are doing:
Our Mission:
To be the leader and premier provider of individual and corporate services and organizational duties and to deliver them in a professional, caring and prompt manner.
I think we are successful in this goal and I do believe we are a leader here in the Coachella Valley as a personal assistance/lifestyle management company.
Our Vision:
To improve the quality of life for others by giving back time that may be used for more important activities -- family, faith, community.
Our snowbird clients regularly tell us they couldn't enjoy their homes here without our help, which is so gratifying to hear. And local clients always express deep relief when they have delegated a list of tasks to us so they can create a better work/life balance.
Our Values:
We are dedicated to putting the needs of our Customers first, adhering to the strictest ethical standards and shall strive to build long lasting relationships based on quality and integrity.
This is the most important one to me -- all our employees are trained to do their best to make each client feel like they are our only client. They are all trained to respond with lightning speed, to anticipate the needs of our clients and to cultivate long lasting relationships.
Every day we do our best to look at every situation from the client's perspective. It makes no difference how we personally feel about anything -- only how the clients feel matters -- this is a service based company and true customer service means creating a strong client-based perception of value.
As we stand on the cusp of 2018, I would not change a single word of any of our Mission, Vision or Value statements. They are still accurate and appropriate even though our services offerings have greatly expanded over the years.
These statements provide an objective way to measure how we're doing, help keep us focused and ensure we consistently do our best.
As I review them, I feel proud of what we have accomplished, how our clients respond to our services and that we achieved (and continue to achieve) our client goals.
Instead of making a resolution this year, why not create your own Mission, Vision and Value statements for 2018? You don't have to own a business; create them for your own personal objectives.
Take a moment and consider about what kind of statements you would create. What do you want to accomplish this year? What path should your life take? You might be surprised at the direction you actually want to go. What an exciting way to kick off 2018!
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If you'd like help creating Mission, Vision and/or Value statements whether for your business or your life, we can help you define any or all of them. Contact us at 760.898.9604 or email us to schedule a coaching session! January is National Mentoring Month and we can mentor you!
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The Best Way to Avoid a Heart Attack!
So a couple weeks ago, I got a pop up notification that Microsoft needed to do an update to my (PC) computer -- this is a pretty routine activity but as I was busy on the computer, I scheduled the update for a time when I wouldn't be in the office.
When I got back later that day, EVERYTHING on my computer was gone. Kaput! Brand new, clean system -- no data, no files, no bookmarks, no email, no passwords, NOTHING.
OMG! I almost had a heart attack. There is nothing worse than losing everything; especially since I recently spent a considerable amount of money upgrading to a 1TB solid state drive just to avoid this exact problem (as you likely know, regular computer hard drives have about a 2-3 year lifespan while solid state drives have no moving parts and can last just about forever)
Anyway, being above-average-computer-literate, I suspected that the update created a new instance of my database -- or in more current vernacular, a new user.
New users get a brand new clean system. But if this was true, then my data had to be here somewhere -- only I couldn't find it in my state of panic.
Long story short -- after countless hours on the phone with Microsoft tech support (who couldn't help), I engaged my local IT support person who was able to find the original user profile (and my data) and then my personal EE website/software IT person helped get my email back online.
And thank goodness, I use Dropbox, a cloud storage system so all my data was there anyway even if the old user profile had been deleted.
WHEW -- it took two days but in the end, everything was recovered EXCEPT my browser bookmarks.
So, since we are solidly dependent on technology, here are three pieces of advice to help you avoid having a heart attack over lost data:
- Use a backup cloud-based storage system (Dropbox, iCloud, something!)
- Sync your bookmarks between your smart phone and some other device (computer, tablet, something!)
- Make sure your email is also backed up so you don't lose all your records -- unless you're already using a virtual email system (I still use Outlook software -- yes, I know, I am a dinosaur!)
And please, be aware of what is happening. Physically watch those updates if you can so if a prompt comes up that you don't want, you will have an opportunity to say no!
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"Live with Leslie"
One way to do your best is to get quick problem solving help so you can keep your business moving forward in a positive way. Now you can get the help you need every Wednesday in my "Live with Leslie" Facebook Live broadcast!
Due to so many requests for help, I am now answering specific questions from viewers each week. It's exciting because it's so raw and unplanned! I love it! And you will too - if you have a question -- any question pertaining to operating your business -- email me or call 760.898.9604 and we'll put you in the queue.
My goal is to provide real life examples and guidance for your business based on my 30+ years of corporate business experience.
Live with Leslie is broadcast every Wednesday afternoon at 3pm. And all my videos are posted on Facebook and YouTube.
I look forward to helping you be your best in 2018!
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The Best of EE
Do you know how best to use us? That's actually a trick question since we offer so many services; it's pretty easy to use us in any capacity!
There is a lot of cross over between Snowbirds and Locals' needs but we'll attempt to separate them out a bit -- if you aren't sure how you personally could use us, let us give you a few examples:
Snowbirds
-- our primary activity for you are absentee home checks - we take care of your home when you aren't here, manage your schedules, facilitate home maintenance and can assist with any kinds of projects including remodeling, handyman, party assistance, etc. We also do shopping, laundry, and run errands for you whether you're here or away.
Locals
-- we can check your home while you're gone on vacation (no matter how short), provide personal assistance services (that may be tax deductible if you have us help with your business tasks), take on your 'to do' list(s) including running errands, shopping, laundry etc - all so you can have less time working and more time to enjoy yourself.
No matter whether you live here part time or full, we utilize a proprietary, state of the art software system designed specifically to track your data and our system provides full transparency for you - you can monitor everything we do and the time it takes.
To learn more about what we do or to become a client, please contact us today! We'll help you enjoy the best possible life here in the desert!
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Zig Ziglar said, 'Doing your best is more important than being the best'. I agree. If we all do our best then it is likely the people with whom we interact will feel they have received the most value from us -- be it in friendship or a work relationship or in family.
Because when we do our best, people come to believe our heart is in the right place and even when we are not perfect, they will give us the benefit of the doubt; understanding that we did the best we could under the circumstances or the best of which we are capable.
It's a brand new year. My hope for all of you reading this is that we all do our best in 2018. Consciously and with intent. Let's do this!
Until next time, Happy New Year and please, let me know: How do you objectively measure whether you are doing your best every day? I am sincerely interested to know!
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Leslie Spoor
Executive Errands®
CL#944447
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Leslie is a consultant, mentor and author helping small business owners around the globe. She is founder and CEO of two successful companies, Concierge Business Solutions® and Executive Errands®. In addition to her wide selection of training videos and webinars, documentation and forms, Leslie also is the creator of a data collections software system, Essential Elements™ and a Six DVD educational series, How to Start Your Own Business with Leslie Spoor©, available on her website. To work with Leslie or for more information, please visit her website or contact her at Lspoor@executive-errands.com
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For a list of our most popular services, please see our brochure here:
Last year, after traveling to Cuba (another beautiful country!), I wrote a travel guide! To download our
American in Cuba e-book travel guide, please
click here.
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This documentation, including sample applications herein, is provided for informational purposes only, and Executive Errands® makes no warranties, either expressly or implied, as to this documentation or its efficacies. Information in this documentation, including any URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice. The entire risk of the use or the results of the use of this documentation remains with the user. This documentation is copyrighted by Spoor Enterprises Inc, DBA Executive Errands®, 2017.
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