Tag Archives: perspective

The 3 G’s of Happiness

I think that you would agree that we all want more happiness in our lives; less complications, less problems, less stress and MORE happiness. This is something I have shared with my clients when they come to me and want more happiness. It’s called the 3 G’s. I’ll break it down for you.

Gratitude. On a daily basis, find a small thing that you’re grateful for. Not some big thing, but something small that you can be grateful for every day.
Generosity. Be generous towards somebody or something in your life. That could be money, that could be time, that could be a note you write to somebody to encourage them. Or maybe it’s something you do for a coworker or for your spouse. It doesn’t have to be big, but you’re giving to somebody without the expectation of a return.
Goodness (or doing good). Is there somewhere or something you can do good around or for? It might involve your child — maybe helping out at your child’s school event. It could be serving at your church. Or maybe doing something for a stranger. It might be giving something away to somebody and doing good in that way. Anyway, get creative and think about something you can do that is good. It could be as simple as saying please and thank you or maybe leaving a really big tip for your waiter at dinner tomorrow night.

Now you have the secret to creating more happiness in your life — the 3 G’s of Gratitude, Generosity and Goodness/Good.

If you practice and do one of these every day, your happiness factor will go up.

We all know about the 3 G’s but unless you actually do them and practice them, you’re not going to get the benefit of Happiness that they bring.

by Scott Ballard , May 1, 2023

What Did You Learn?

Last week’s blog was about making choices and how your perspective of what you think about affects you and your business. During this season I know that a lot of us have been either doing things differently, learning new things and/or have had to pivot to keep our businesses going.

These were a couple of questions that I asked you last week.

What did you learn during this season that you want to keep doing in your business?
What did you learn that you are going to omit or get rid of?

Make two lists and submit them to us. We’d love to hear what you are going to keep and do more of and what you are going to get rid of.

Reach out today and schedule a free call if you’d like to talk. We are here to encourage and help you build a better future.

by Scott Ballard , June 7, 2020

It’s Gonna Be Okay

I just wanted to tell you that it’s gonna be okay! Part of my belief in that is a matter of perspective. We may not return to our original normal but we will have a new normal.

Here are some questions to get you thinking and to check where your perspective is:

Is what you’re thinking about leading you to peace, life and a better future?
Or is your thinking leading you to more doubt, more fear, and more uncertainty?
What did you learn during this season that you want to keep doing in your business?
What did you learn that you are going to omit or get rid of?

You need to be aware of what you are thinking, watching and talking about. You get to choose your perspective of how and what you think about.

There’s a story about two salesmen who went to Africa a hundred years ago. When the first one arrived on the continent, he sent back a telegram to the home office. “Coming home on next ship. No one here wears shoes.”

When the second salesman arrived on the continent, he also sent a telegram to his home office. “Send all the inventory you can. No one here wears shoes. Huge market!”

You and I get to choose what we think about and where we place our focus.

Choose well! You usually get what you see. It’s all a matter of perspective.

At Confidence Coach we offer business owners a place to reconnect and rebuild their confidence; which leads to their better future in the days and years ahead. Reach out today and schedule a free call if you’d like to talk. We are here to help and encourage you.

by Scott Ballard , May 31, 2020

Looking at Things from Your Employee’s Perspective

It’s clear that every CEO, business owner, entrepreneur or director comes to us with the dream to build something. That’s the mission/energy that drives companies from the kitchen table to be an industry leader. Unfortunately, there’s one thing almost everyone forgets. It’s the reason why employee disengagement is up to 80% and turnover is the highest it’s been in decades. We forget that our companies are made up of people. And we often forget to look at things from their perspective.

Each of the people that work for you has a dream or goal, right? But those hopes and dreams are often seen as liabilities to mitigate instead of assets to leverage. I suggest that you need to see it from the employee’s side:

If I could connect my job in accounting with my dream and goal to buy my first home, how much more commitment and energy would I be putting into my job at your business?

If I knew the company was interested, excited and supportive of my most important dream or goal, it would compel me to care more, work harder and help the company accomplish its goals and dreams with more intention.

We work with business owners and leaders to help them embed a program called The Dream Employee. This program asks each employee the question: What are your dreams, goals and aspirations for your life? And then we deposit encouragement, support, collaboration, and celebrate each employee as they make progress and achieve their goals.

This is just simple human nature:

“Nobody cares until they know that you care about their dreams and goals.” –Scott Ballard

One of the biggest impacts you can make in your company is when you show your employees that you really care about them and what they care about. For example, they have a goal to train and complete a 5K. They take pictures or a video of completing this goal, and you get to celebrate this achievement with them. In celebrating their goal with them, you are depositing good will.

This isn’t just a one-time thing. If you want to truly transform your culture, you need to be continually looking out for opportunities to do this.

When people are in the process of achieving their goals and dreams, that’s where real productivity, energy and creative genius appears.

Reach out and schedule a free consultation if you’d like to learn more about The Dream Employee program. Or, if you’d like a free demonstration for you and your team/employees, let us know that too. We’d be glad to come in and demonstrate and show you the transformation of how this will energize your people for free.

by Scott Ballard , January 19, 2020

Profits

Today I want to talk about profits. Profits seem to always be at the top of your mind if you are in business. It’s one of the most important numbers.

Think about profits, not only in your numbers and your financials, but also start thinking about how you “profit” from mistakes that have happened in your business.

How do you profit from setbacks that have happened in your business?

How do you profit from losing customers or clients in your business?

How do you turn this around and learn from things that happen?

How do you turn them into ways in the future that will actually generate cash profits in your business?

Don’t shy away from your mistakes by not talking about them or really addressing them. However, instead of focusing on the negative aspects of a mistake, I want you to create a learning lab. Admit what went wrong or didn’t work but use this as motivation to change things for the next time.

Ask what CAN we learn from this?

What DID work?

Because there are always things that you DID DO RIGHT. Focus on what worked; what went right; how can we make things even better; what will we do different next time; what needs to be changed, fixed, updated?

You could be missing out on some great opportunities here. Because it’s the easiest thing to do, every business owner I know asks what went wrong last month, last quarter, last year.

Turn it around. Phrase things in the positive — here’s what we are going to do. Here are the things we are going to work on.

Think about it from the standpoint of positive outlook leads to positive future profits in your business — whether it be future benefits, future revenue, or future better client/customer experience.

How can we profit from mistakes or setbacks? How do we profit from a product that flops or a service that doesn’t work? How do we profit from customers leaving us? Can we actually get more from a customer leaving than a customer staying?

My answer to you is “Yes”!

Because I would argue that depending on how you look at the situation, you can profit by seeing what worked and how you can do better the next time.

Your future is huge if you change your perspective about profiting. If you need help in this area reach out to us and schedule a free consultation sometime.

by Scott Ballard , February 24, 2019

Conquering the Mental Game

In order to increase and improve the success of your business you need to do what we call “conquering the mental game.” Eighty percent of being successful in business is how you think about things. What are the mental game things that you need to be aware of, deal with or have a strategy around?

Three Mind Challenges Identified

The three big mind challenges that we help our clients deal with and change their perspective about are:

FEAR. This could be any kind of fear that they have about their business. Maybe they are worried about what might happen and how that will impact how they operate and strategize their business in the future.
UNCERTAINTY. They could be uncertain about their product or service, their team, their employees, the customer, the economy, or their competitors. It’s important to acknowledge what you are uncertain about before they can deal with it.
DOUBT. Is there doubt about whether or not they can grow the company to $10,000,000. Are they doubtful about whether or not they can find the right person to be a Vice President. Doubt about whether or not the market is going to stay good for the next three years. Maybe doubt about their own ability to lead the company to $50,000,000 a year. It’s just doubt about anything and everything!!

Write It Down and Get It Out of Your Head

If our clients are experiencing any kind of fear, uncertainty or doubt, we talk about it and have them put their concerns down on paper or write it on a whiteboard. When their fear is written out where they can see it then it’s not occupying all their thinking, brain power and mental energy. This helps them to create a different perspective. It’s amazing when something is written on the whiteboard where they can see it, they realize it’s not as big of a deal as they thought. Most often, their fear has been greatly exaggerated in their mind which made it bigger than it really is. Acknowledging this takes away or reduces the fear.

Break It Down to Simple Steps

When it comes to uncertainty or confusion, we want to take the complexity out of growing and running a business. Breaking the complexity down into simple terms or steps removes the uncertainty.

Look Back at Your Accomplishments

How do we deal with doubt? We look back to the day you started your business and account for all the growth, accomplishments, and everything that you’ve done to get you where you are today. Take the perspective of looking back and seeing all that happened. Recognize that you started with only one customer or maybe it was just you. Where was your revenue when you started and where it is now? You need to make a note of how far you’ve come and see the positive as you look to the future to build the company that you dreamed about building and hoped for.

In order to conquer the mental game and come out on top, you need to write down and acknowledge what your fear, uncertainty and doubts are. When they are brought to the light they usually are not as bad as you think they are. It’s a matter of perspective and overcoming or conquering the mental game.

If you’d like to know a little bit more about who we are and what we do, you can still go to our website and sign up to get a free copy of my book. Or, sign up for a free coaching session and we will create value for you by taking you through a process that will change your business and your life!

by Scott Ballard , December 16, 2018

Steps For Transformation: You Decide

If you’re like most CEO’s or entrepreneurs, you always have the next steps planned — and you’re pretty confident about what the results will be. That’s fine and all, but don’t you think it’s playing it just a little too safe? In our coaching we call this “arranging.” This type of planning or prep does not bring the great result or the huge transformation that we’re always hoping to see. In our coaching we ask a different question: What would transform your entire business? This is a total paradigm shift, because this is now about ideas and strategies that are total game changers.

Are you thinking in a transformational way? Or is something in the way in your mind? Are you blocking yourself from becoming all you can be? Let’s talk about it.

by Scott Ballard , December 24, 2017

Shifting Your Entrepreneur Mindset

I was coaching a client the other day, a guy who started his company a long, long time ago. Over the last couple of years in his business, he’s hit a real plateau, and I’ve been trying to coach him through it.

“Think back when you started the business,” I said once, “when it was just you. How did you tackle it when you ran into an obstacle in your business? Did you get excited about problems? Or did they drain you?”

His response? “I love problems! The bigger the better! I always knew if I could solve my customers’ problems and make their lives better, then I could have anything and everything I ever wanted.”

That’s a smart business owner. So I told him: “I want you to close your eyes and I want you to go back thirty years. It’s just you. You are the business. And I want you to think of the biggest problem that you have right now in your company, and I want you to think exactly as you would have thought about that thirty years ago.”

And guess what happened? He had a breakthrough in his mindset. “I’ve become complacent!” he said. “I’ve fallen asleep at the wheel. I have to change. I have to start thinking and acting with the mindset of an entrepreneur! And I have to lead my people with the courage and belief that problems are our greatest opportunities.”

As a coach, I couldn’t agree more. Run to the problem, for that is your biggest future in the success of your business.

Where is your mindset today? If you’re looking for a turnaround, click here to schedule a free thirty-minute coaching session.

by Scott Ballard , June 25, 2017