Greetings!,

I hope you've had a great year so far. The best season of the year (in my opinion) is just around the corner, cooler temps, a chance for the Chiefs to redeem last February's outing and hopefully a good chance for things to settle down a bit. Here's hoping for a great fall.

When I first started Aspire (now over 14 years ago), I went through training and a coaching certification process that was really helpful. I learned a lot of things but one of the ideas that's really resonated with me over the years is a discussion I had with the guy who led the training and owned the Professional Business Coaching Association that I joined.

As part of a bigger discussion on helping business owners he shared this idea:

As someone who was starting my own business at the time, I found that to be a very helpful perspective - but it's been even more helpful as I've worked with dozens of business owners over the last 14 years. As a business owner it's easy to fall into the trap of driving yourself, your team and your business in certain ways because that's what you think you're supposed to do. Expand, grow the top line, work with everyone.

But when you can take a few minutes and slow down and reflect on why your business exists... and think about what you want out of life, you may realize that you need a different strategic direction...

There's no time like the present to take a few minutes to think about how you're viewing your business and where you want to take it. Likewise, this month's article challenges you to reframe all of your interactions with others and assume positive intent as you deal with people. If you're truly looking to change how you feel for the better, take it as a challenge to assume that everyone you interact with means well (for you and in general). You'll find that just that simple shift in perspective can have a profound affect on how you feel (for the better). Give it a try and let us know what you think - we'd love to hear from you.

And finally - here are some things I've run across the last few weeks that I think are worth sharing.

There is an art and a science to business growth - our goal is to help business owners win the game of business by giving them clarity on what they're actually doing, where they want to go and the best way to get there. Implementing strategy and planning along with powerful new ideas will help you grow your business the right way! At Aspire we work with successful people that understand the value and the need for continual improvement and growth. (You know - people like you!)

If you have customers, revenue and costs, we can help you grow your bottom line, find more free time and generally have more fun with what you're doing. If you think you're up for the challenge, give us a call and we'd be happy to have a free consultation with you.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Chris Steinlage  and Shawn Kinkade

P.S. The Entrepreneurs Alliance has a great meeting scheduled for September. They'll be hosting Tony Sheets from Umzuzu to talk about technology tips and tricks that will help you be more productive. Tony and his team really know their stuff and this will be a fantastic discussion and a great opportunity to network on September 9th. Check it out - Entrepreneurs Alliance September Event w/ Umzuzu