Unlock the secret to balancing relentless business growth with your personal well-being as we sit down with Donna, a seasoned Director of Operations and Business Growth Strategist. She brings to the table a wealth of knowledge on averting the all-too-common entrepreneurial burnout. Our enlightening conversation navigates through the importance of setting up efficient systems, emphasising the art of prioritising life alongside business. Donna's insights challenge the hustle myth, advocating for intentional business decisions that foster success without compromising personal health and happiness.
Ever considered the transformative power of strategic delegation and virtual assistants? This episode takes a deep dive into the practicalities of optimizing your business by identifying which tasks to outsource. We address the hesitations of small business owners, from affordability to job scope, and offer a step-by-step guide to hiring the ideal VA. Learn how tools like shared calendars and task automation can free up your time, allowing you to focus on what you do best – leading and growing your business.
Rounding off, we introduce the CEO Power Hour playbook, a strategy that promises to revolutionise your business efficiency. By dedicating a weekly slot to review your business's performance, you'll gain clarity on your annual objectives, broken down into actionable segments, to steer you closer to your revenue targets. And for those keen to continue the conversation, you'll find out how to connect with Donna Dube and tap into her ongoing stream of business wisdom. Join us to arm yourself with strategies that not only uplift your business but also honour the life you aim to lead.
My recommendations: Want to get booked more and get more out of your guest appearances? Join fabulous podcaster & Podcast Guest trainer Kelly Mosser for her signature Program Hell Yes Guest get 10% off the program with my link plus some extra bonuses from me check it out HERE FEA Create Simple all-in-one web, CRM, email system For graphics Canva For Email Convert Kit
Want to Guest? Apply here >>FORM Edited and produced by Donna Eade
Unlock the secret to balancing relentless business growth with your personal well-being as we sit down with Donna, a seasoned Director of Operations and Business Growth Strategist. She brings to the table a wealth of knowledge on averting the all-too-common entrepreneurial burnout. Our enlightening conversation navigates through the importance of setting up efficient systems, emphasising the art of prioritising life alongside business. Donna's insights challenge the hustle myth, advocating for intentional business decisions that foster success without compromising personal health and happiness.
Ever considered the transformative power of strategic delegation and virtual assistants? This episode takes a deep dive into the practicalities of optimizing your business by identifying which tasks to outsource. We address the hesitations of small business owners, from affordability to job scope, and offer a step-by-step guide to hiring the ideal VA. Learn how tools like shared calendars and task automation can free up your time, allowing you to focus on what you do best – leading and growing your business.
Rounding off, we introduce the CEO Power Hour playbook, a strategy that promises to revolutionise your business efficiency. By dedicating a weekly slot to review your business's performance, you'll gain clarity on your annual objectives, broken down into actionable segments, to steer you closer to your revenue targets. And for those keen to continue the conversation, you'll find out how to connect with Donna Dube and tap into her ongoing stream of business wisdom. Join us to arm yourself with strategies that not only uplift your business but also honour the life you aim to lead.
My recommendations: Want to get booked more and get more out of your guest appearances? Join fabulous podcaster & Podcast Guest trainer Kelly Mosser for her signature Program Hell Yes Guest get 10% off the program with my link plus some extra bonuses from me check it out HERE FEA Create Simple all-in-one web, CRM, email system For graphics Canva For Email Convert Kit
Want to Guest? Apply here >>FORM Edited and produced by Donna Eade
Thank you for your support:)
U...
Speaker 1:
You're listening to the Mindset in Action podcast, the place to be to grow and streamline your business. I'm your host, donna Eade. Let's jump into the show. If you're too busy to build good systems, then you'll always be too busy, brian Logue. Welcome back to the podcast. Everyone, I'm so glad to have you here today and I am so glad to have a guest with me, donna, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:
Thanks, donna, so happy to be here, I was going to say.
Speaker 1:
it sounds really weird. People instantly think you're talking to yourself today. No, no, I'm not talking to myself. There's another Donna, there's quite a few of us. Really, In all honesty, there's a lot of us.
Speaker 2:
That's true, and our accents are distinctly different, so it should be obvious.
Speaker 1:
Yeah absolutely, Absolutely so. Donna, why don't you introduce yourself to the listeners? Tell them a little bit about what it is that you do?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, thank you, so happy to be here.
Speaker 2:
So I'm a Director of Operations and Business Growth Strategist, which really means I work behind the scenes in online business owners to really help them leverage three things their time, their talent and their tactics so that they can grow their business without losing their minds, without their health deteriorating, without family confusion, and so because so many entrepreneurs are really working 24-7.
Speaker 2:
I know there, I've been there, I went down that route, and so really just helping them realize it's about working smarter, not harder, and the hustle and grind that we've been taught is the way to success is really not the way to success. We really have to be intentional with our time and what we're doing as a business leader each and every day, each and every week, so that we can reach those goals that we have for our business. So, in terms of the operations, we're dealing with what I call the back of the house things like project management, things like leading and delegating, things like hiring, looking at metrics and making informed decisions from what the data is showing. A little bit of looking at the finances. No, I'm not a bookkeeper, but we have to be on top of those numbers to you know, to be able to run our ship confidently. So, yeah, that's where I like to hang out.
Speaker 1:
Oh, I love that and I think intentionality is so, so important. I'm actually reading Denise Duffield Thomas's book Chill and Prosper at the moment and I was listening to that. And it's funny that you said about the hustle and everything, because obviously the book is all about being a chillpreneur and not doing the hustle and grind and what I find hard to sort of swallow as somebody who is young in their business but has been around the block a few times. So you know I'm quite experienced in the world when people of Denise's level are saying, you know, you don't have to hustle, you don't have to grind, and I'm thinking, well, no, you don't now because you already did that and she did do it and people like Amy Porterfield, they hustled, they all did that and now they're all coming out going you don't have to do that to get to where I am and I'm like, but you did. So how do you know that you?
Speaker 2:
don't have to do that.
Speaker 1:
Because you already balance it, Because for me my health is my number one priority. You know, I am reaching that age. That's kind of middle of the road of you know, heading towards the downhill, which I don't really want to.
Speaker 1:
I don't want to get to the top of that hill and go down it, but it happens to the best of us and I want to make sure that I'm here for as long as possible. You know, I have a daughter, she's 23. I want to be around for as long as I possibly can to see as much of her life as I can. And to me, the way we behave in our businesses is often to the detriment of our family life and to the detriment of our health. So if we can find some sort of chill and prosper, that might not look like the book I'm currently reading, because at the end of the day, the work still needs to get done, but it's what you said right there. That, I think, is the important element and it's that intentionality with what we are actually choosing to do with our time. And if we can find that, then we can focus on the right things, which will give us some of our time back. And we're going to jump in and talk about that right now.
Speaker 1:
I'm so excited. I'm so excited. So, you know, I literally sort of sent you some questions over that. I wanted to ask and it just blends in beautifully with that little discussion because I want to find out what we can do to understand in our business what we can truly let go of, because you talk a lot about, you know, the things that we're doing and the intentionality. So what I think a lot of times in business we're trying to do all the things and we're like everything's important. My social media is important. You know, I need to be on LinkedIn, I need to be on Instagram, I need to have a Facebook group, I need to have a podcast, I need to have a video, and I need to do all of this because I need to get people in. And then I need to serve my customer, and when everything's important, nothing's important. So how do we kind of sit down to like take stock, what is important in our business? How do we work that out for ourselves?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, good, excellent question. I love this. So a few tips here. I'm in total alignment with you in the sense that I believe life comes before business. So my business is important to me, no doubt, but my family and my life trump that right. And so I set up my week so that my family and my commitments have time on my calendar. And so if you're in a position now where your business runs, your calendar and you're trying to squeeze in oh, I'll see if I can meet Sally for lunch and you get to Friday and you think, oh, I never had time to do this, this and this for myself or for my family, then it's time to rework that and flip that upside down.
Speaker 2:
So take a blank calendar and let's set up a model calendar for you in the season of life that you're in right now. And I say that because for many of us as women, we may have a family and life, responsibilities, children, whatever that involves for you, and that will change over time. Right, what my business looks like now is not the same as it looked like when my kids were much younger, and so we have to take in what's actually happening to us. Maybe you have parents who have some aging requirements and you have to step in and help out a little bit more in that area, right? So actually looking at your life now and mapping out what are the important things to you and blocking that off in your calendar. So, if you like to have a morning routine, plug that in. If you like to have a date night with your spouse, plug that in. If you want to go for a massage every second week, plug it in right Whatever matters to you, plug that in so that it's there and nothing else can trump that.
Speaker 2:
And then, after that, we put in the hours when our business is open Now, I say open because for many of us with the online business, we're always open. We don't have, you know, set hours like a brick and mortar does, right, but I encourage you to think about having set hours when you're at your laptop and when your team and your clients and customers know they can reach you if they need to. Right, you have set times when you are available and that doesn't have to look the same Monday to Friday. Maybe Mondays you like to, you know, take the time off to do something else, and Tuesdays you have a heavier day, like that can ebb and flow depending on, again, where you are in life. And then, within that time that you've blocked off for business, you then need to block off chunks of time for those important tasks that you have to do every week.
Speaker 2:
And again, I know people listening are going to say that you have to do every week. And again, I know people listening are going to say but I have to do everything. I'm a solopreneur, I don't have a team member, right, and I understand that, and it's true, to get to the level of you know Amy, porterfield and and um, you know children are. Yes, it's a journey, no doubt, but I don't believe we have to hustle and grind to get there. And so what we have to do next is look at our to-do list. It's a mile long, I know it never ends. But if you attack your to-do list in the sense that I'm going to start at the top whenever I have an hour, I'll just start at the top and work through my tasks, or if you cherry pick and say, well, I kind of feel like doing this one, so I'm going to do that first. Both of those ways, while you're completing things on your to-do list, it's not being strategic, because I want you to start thinking that you, as a business leader, even if you're a solopreneur, are the CEO, and when I say CEO, I don't mean chief, everything, officer. Right, there has to be some time in your week when you are thinking and acting like the CEO and working on your business, not just in it. Yeah, and so when you have that mindset, you know there are certain things that move the needle forward in your business and those things need to be on your calendar each and every week, so you're probably responsible for some subset of marketing. You may not be doing the whole thing, but probably responsible for the strategy and possibly coming up with the actual words or the content. Someone else or a machine might be doing the actual posting for you, but there's some sort of marketing that you need to do right, whether you're nurturing your leads, attracting new leads so that's got to be on your calendar.
Speaker 2:
Unless you have a sales team, sales is still part of your designation as business leader, and so you need some time on your calendar for those sales activities. You may not be having one-on-one sales calls, you know, to get people into your program or your offer or your service, but are you regularly mapping out okay, here's my signature program and here's when I'm going to sell it during the year and here's how I'm going to promote it right, I'm going to do a webinar, I'm going to do emails, I'm going to, you know, jump in a group, I'm going to present to somebody's masterclass, whatever that's going to look like for you. That strategy and that process needs to be in place, and you need time on your calendar to make sure it happens right. And then, lastly, the client delivery system is probably still mostly you, again, unless you have a big team, right? And so, ensuring that you can fulfill on the promises you made when your clients purchased XYZ, whatever that was, you need time for that as well. And so, whether that's a group program that you know happens once a week at this time, or it's individual appointments with clients, set them and their rinse and repeat, right. If I have a coaching service and I meet with you once a week, it's going to be every Tuesday at 10 o'clock. That's your time, right? You don't have leeway to book all over my calendar whenever it fits you, right, it's a set time. You know when it is, they know when it is, and you can also then prepare your mind and yourself for that ahead of time, right? Yeah, so really being strategic with that to-do list and saying, okay, what on here is most important for me as business leader to do? And we can break that up a little bit further, just to sort of help you envision it.
Speaker 2:
So, if you think about all the tasks in your business, we've got two buckets maintenance and growth. And so maintenance tasks sure, there are things that need to be done. Invoicing, you know. Setting up emails within your email service provider, publishing on social media, right. Getting your podcast episodes out, you know lots of different things fall under that Maintenance, customer service, your bookkeeping.
Speaker 2:
But I question do you, as business leader, have to do them all? And so what you want to ask yourself is, okay, this task repeats every month, every week? Is it something I have to do? No, not really. Okay, do I have a tool in my business that could help me automate some of this? Right, we still want that human touch, but is there some way I can use a tool that I have to help automate this and take my hands out of a bit of the process? Right, Because if that task takes you two hours every week and you can cut that down to an hour, great, you just saved an hour, right? And then after that you look at okay, do I have room and could I hire someone for a small number of hours a week to take these sets of tasks off my plate? Right, you don't have to hire a full-time employee, it can be someone for a few hours a week.
Speaker 2:
Then, on the growth side, the growth level tasks these are the things that are most important for you as business leader to do, so this is going to be new content in your programs, new offers, jv partnerships, networking, one-to-many sales, sales calls if that's something you do, right. Podcast guesting if that's something you do. So, again, it depends on your strategies. But there's certain things that you just can't hand over to a team or to you know a machine to delegate for us Right, and those tasks are usually the ones that bring you a return on investment, yeah, and that's why they're associated with you, the business leader, right, and so ensuring that you have time on your calendar each and every week for those growth level tasks helps you step up and truly be the CEO of your business. Is it going to look the same as Microsoft? No, of course not. Right, because they've got a board of directors, they got tons of VPs underneath them. You know, vp, sales, vp, this VP we don't have that. So we have to wear some of those hats until we grow bigger. Yeah, but just ensuring that we have time in that week to actually look at those things and to prepare and make them happen, to implement them, what we need to do.
Speaker 2:
The other piece of this is, when we have something that's working in our business, taking a look at that process and saying do I need to be a part of every piece of it? So I'll just use podcast as an example. Obviously I need to come to be the guest on Donna's podcast right, I can't send a team member to do that and she needs to be here as the voice of her podcast, as the host. But, for example, it's easy for us to book when she has a calendar. She pops me a link. I can find a time in her calendar. We don't have to go back and forth in the email saying, oh, what about Tuesday at three o'clock? No, right, easy piece she can send me.
Speaker 2:
You know, do some prep work, send me some questions. Does that sound good? Yep, ready to go. Any instructions I need to know ahead of time can be sent automatically right. Then afterwards, if there's any editing, maybe you can have someone hire to do that little bit of editing for you. Set up your social media posts and get it out into the world. You, as business leader, have a part in the podcast process. But I want you to think do I have to do all the pieces?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that's brilliant.
Speaker 1:
I love that, I absolutely love that, and that was so step-by-step, which I also love, and I know that you have a fantastic freebie that we're going to talk about later, which really tie into this what we've just spoken about.
Speaker 1:
So if you're like, okay, yeah, I think I need to do that, but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get that done, stick around to the end, because Donna's going to share something that you'll love. So, talking about outsourcing and you know, getting people in for a few hours, oftentimes small business owners will think that they can't afford to outsource. It's always something. Even myself thinking about it, I've not looked really into getting a VA of any sort, because I feel like I need to have a set number of hours for them, or I don't really know what kind of tasks I could give them, and all of that kind of thing that comes into it. And then the imposter syndrome like, oh, I don't have enough money coming in to warrant, like, having a VA like this is like that's what bigger people have, or you know it's not for me or whatever.
Speaker 1:
So how can we sort of look at that? And you know what is it, you know in your experience. What do VAs do? How you know? Can we just book them for an hour a week? What kind of tasks are they sort of primed for? Tell us all the things.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yes, good, well, thank you for asking. So this is how I like to approach that thing of okay, should I hire, am I ready to hire, and what would that look like? So, really, starting with your tasks again, are there routine tasks and when I say routine they happen every week, every two weeks, every month, whatever that cadence is that happens in your business that you are still doing, but it fits into that maintenance bucket. You don't have to do it. It's not completely attached to revenue generating, but it needs to get done. And so the first thing is, again look at the tools you have. Is there a way to automate what part of that process to reduce the amount of time that you have to spend in it? Because if it's a tool you already have and the automation is there, you're just not using it. Yes, it's going to take a little bit of time to set that up, but then after that there's no extra costs, right. And so, looking there first, then after that you want to say, okay, I've got these lists of tasks that I can't automate or I don't know how to automate further, and you know, could that fit with somebody? And so you want to kind of look at those tasks and decide.
Speaker 2:
If that was going to be a role, what would the title be? Do they fit together? Is this one person or is this two different people, right? So just kind of overviewing what it is. Is it a lot of admin and customer service tasks? Then great, that might work perfectly for a general VA. Or, if it's more, I want a social media person. But I want them to kind of give me the best strategies for using LinkedIn or using Facebook. Well, that's a different level. You want that person to have a little more expertise in that channel or in that software tool, right? So just kind of analyzing and critically thinking through that part first, and then from there you want to look at well, how many hours a week does it take me to do these things? And that might be some, you know, some documenting.
Speaker 2:
So you can see, oh, it's Tuesday. I got to do these three tasks. It's 10 o'clock. Okay, let's see what time it takes me to finish Right, but it just gives you kind of a sense of how much time rather than just guessing, because I don't know about you, but normally when I guess I'm way off.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, oh gosh. If I book three hours to do something, it takes me six. Yeah, oh gosh. If I book three hours to do something, it takes me six.
Speaker 2:
Yes, exactly, right. And again you may say, okay, well, I'm quite experienced at doing this. I've been doing it for three years. Great, your new person that you hire will get there too. So don't worry about the fact that, well, if I hire someone new, it's going to take them twice as long, and this is a short term, right, they're going to get there. And so then now you know, okay, I've got these set of tasks. It could look like this job description it's about this many hours it takes me to do it a week.
Speaker 2:
And then you want to go and look at your budget and your numbers, right? So what is your monthly income each week? What are your other I'm sorry each month, and what are your other expenses that you have to look at? Out of what's left over your profit, what do you have that you'd be willing to part with, and what could that look like in terms of an hourly rate, right, yeah, so if you know, okay, I'm like someone to be able to do five hours a week and I'm willing to spend $500 out of what I've got every month towards that person, then that gives you a sense of what that hourly rate could look like. Yeah, right, if you're looking at what's left over after you pay your expenses and you think, no, I'm not there yet, that's not a problem.
Speaker 2:
You're just like, okay, I need x number more clients or I need to sell x number of thing x to be able to bring on that person. Right, and yes, you can totally bring on someone for two or five hours a week it does not have to be even part-time status and you just make it clear to them from the get-go that you know if, if it's a right fit, they'll grow with you as your business grows.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
I think that's so important, so important to look at that in that way, and what you've just said there is just like magic to my ears, because I think a lot of times we don't look at okay, what's it going to take to get me there? And what you said about going. Okay, you know, look at your numbers, look at your hours that you want to give away, look at all of that, actually do the work, and I think a lot of times people will just sort of say, oh, I would like that, but they never actually do the work to see whether they can. And some people will do the work and realize, oh gosh, yeah, I've got, I've, I've absolutely got the money to to do that. Why did I not do this earlier? And other people will go, no, I haven't. But then they know what they're aiming for and if you can say, okay, yeah, you know, one more client a month or two more clients a month, and and I'll be able to do that and on the flip side of that for everybody because I did a whole episode on something similar to this conversation way, way back at the beginning of my podcast is, remember that something that takes you an hour.
Speaker 1:
So for me, it's my Pinterest. We were talking about Pinterest before we jumped on the record. Well, I use a lot of automation slash. You know chat GPT to help me with my Pinterest Canva, with templates and things like that. It still takes me time and I literally want to sit down and work out how long it takes, because I know that I could get somebody else to do that and they could probably do it quicker than me, because they're not sort of getting distracted by the things that I'm getting distracted by, because it's my business, and so you will oftentimes find that you need to pay somebody less hours than it takes you to do something, and also, with the hours that you get back, that is hours that you can spend on all of these other tasks that Donna was talking about earlier. That are your money-making tasks. That is going to bring in more money to your business. So don't ever think of it like, oh gosh, I'm giving up my profit. You're giving yourself back more time to make more money, which I think is really important to remember.
Speaker 2:
Exactly, exactly. And when you think about hiring some people that you hire, it'll be a clear picture that they're a revenue generator. Right, let's say you hire a marketing assistant or you hire a salesperson. I mean, you can directly tie your revenue to the tasks they're doing. Other people it's not as obvious, but, like you said, donna, you have to look at the time. You got back. So I saved five hours a week by hiring Sally. So I saved five hours a week by hiring Sally, and now I can spend five hours on, you know, creating that new offer that I want to get out. Or, you know, bumping up my networking and attending some local events and getting in touch with people that I've, you know, lost that connection with because I've been so head down in doing Right. So time really is our most precious asset.
Speaker 1:
Really is, really is, and we were talking about that earlier as well, but get into that. So what are the key habits that you see, because obviously you work with business owners what are the key habits that you see that create a successful business owner?
Speaker 1:
We're talking about this chillpreneur thing and you know us all sort of being able to sit on our laptops on a beach or whatever, and and making millions um but no we're talking about sensible here, like with our businesses, that they're generally considered our babies and I don't like to talk about business as a baby because it makes it harder for you to sort of be that decisive decision maker in your business because you want to protect it at all costs.
Speaker 1:
But no our businesses are precious to us. We are. We take it very personally with what we're doing and we can end up taking on so much doing so much that we end up in burnout and then and then everything that we were working so hard for can literally fall away from us, and that kind of breaks my heart when I see people get to that stage and I've been at that stage myself with previous businesses, so I don't want us to ever get there. So what are some key successful habits that we can start to implement and why do you think that they actually help?
Speaker 2:
start to implement, and why do you think that they actually help?
Speaker 1:
Yes, good, so I'll start off by saying you do not have to be part of the 5am club.
Speaker 2:
Oh good, Never going to happen for me and for some that's probably music to your ears and others wish that was the key right. So one thing I see successful business owners implementing to try and help with their mindset and get into that yes, I am the CEO of my business, even though sometimes I don't feel like it is. To implement what I call a CEO power hour, and really what this is is one hour. It's dedicated time on your calendar, so you can have it Monday morning, you can have it Friday afternoon, Sunday night, whatever again works for your lifestyle right now.
Speaker 2:
But, it's a set time, it's in your calendar and it's non-negotiable, so nothing else trumps that time, you know, unless there's a family emergency. And so great, I've got this CEO power hour in my calendar. Now what in the world do I do? And this hour is really the time for you to be looking critically at your business. So you're reflecting, you're reviewing and you're setting your top three priorities for the next week. And so, when you're reviewing and reflecting, you're looking at how did my last week go? Did I set myself up with way too many things to do? And you know there was no humanly way possible I could have accomplished all those things I put down. Okay, now I need to readjust for this week, right. And then you're reviewing some top metrics.
Speaker 2:
And for those who are like oh, data, I don't want to go there Because I know numbers are scary For some people. It doesn't have to be scary what you think about what things. You want to go there, because I know numbers are scary for some people. It doesn't have to be scary. I want you to think about what things you want to know in your business. Well, each week, I want to know where I am compared to my revenue goal. Right, I set a revenue goal in January. I hope I'm reviewing it before May or June, halfway through the year. Right, so, each week, where am I in meeting what my monthly revenue goal is through the year? Right, so, each week, where am I in meeting what my monthly revenue goal is?
Speaker 2:
And the reason for doing this each week is not to, you know, have a party and celebrate, of course, if we're beyond our revenue goal, and not to put us in the dumps if we haven't met our revenue goal. It's more about being aware. And then what actions can we take? Right? So if I've set a revenue goal and I haven't't met it and I'm in the second week of the month, well, what do I have coming up? What can I do to kind of bump that up? Maybe I can reach out personally to a few people who you know are kind of hot leads but they haven't actually bought something yet. Maybe I can, you know, do a flash sale and, you know, invite my list to something that they can get a bonus on and get in quickly, right? So, just thinking through, what could I do to increase that? But if you're not aware of where you are, you're not going to take any action because you don't know. Action is needed right.
Speaker 2:
So, looking at your revenue goal, looking at how you're getting people into your business, into your world, and is that mechanism working for you? So the reason I say this is because, like myself, many of us start a strategy like, oh, that sounds good, I'm going to implement that. And we start rolling with it. Get to a month or so in and we're like, oh, that, I'm going to try that. And so now we're layering different strategies on top, but we haven't taken the time, donna, to go back and see what strategy one even working. Am I getting a return on investment from that? I'm spending hours on it, but is it helping me?
Speaker 1:
Right.
Speaker 2:
So really going back and saying what are my strategies? If I have more than one in place and is it working? And if it's not working and it's not aligned with me and it's feeling clunky every week to get it done, then let's let it go, because why are we keeping it Right? So, having that mindset and allowing yourself to say I don't have to do everything, I need to figure out what works for my business, my audience and me as a person, and I need to double down on what's working. I need to forget the rest, because while it's working for my business bestie and I need to double down on what's working, I need to forget the rest, because while it's working for my business bestie and it's working for Amy Porterfield and the rest of them, it might not be working for me.
Speaker 1:
So good.
Speaker 2:
Right, yeah. So reviewing your metrics, and then the third part is looking at what your priorities are for the week, and I say well, how in the world do I only pick three priorities? Have you seen my to do list? You're going to say well, how in the world?
Speaker 1:
do I only pick three priorities?
Speaker 2:
Have you seen my to-do list? Again, it's going back to that strategic to-do list, right? What are my goals? Taking my 12-month goals, breaking them down into 90 days and then down into monthly. The reason we do that is because it's so much easier to know what the next step is when the goal is smaller, right. When you have a big, hairy, audacious goal, it gets overwhelming to know what do I need to do next to reach that. When we break it down, it's like taking a bite of the sandwich instead of trying to take the whole thing, right? So here's my monthly goal. This is where I'm at. To get to that monthly goal. I need to do this thing this week. That's one thing. Find time on my calendar, block it off Right. And that should relate to those growth level tasks. It should relate to the marketing, sales and client delivery system that you have going on in your business.
Speaker 1:
Mm-hmm, yeah, brilliant, I love that, I love, I love a good to-do list, and by that I mean, you know, listening to something like this and writing down all the action steps and then going in. I'm a good implementer, so I'm I'm a I'm a bit of a teacher's pet. I'm a very good student, so I will.
Speaker 1:
I will listen to something and I will go away and implement it and I'm just thinking while you're talking. I'm like I'm gonna have to listen back to this properly when I am editing so that I can note down all the things she said, so I can go and start.
Speaker 2:
But you know what you tapped on something really important there, and that's exactly it is that just listening on its own isn't helping without taking the action right. So you know, don't worry if what I've said feels a little overwhelming. You're like, oh, I don't know where to start. Pick one nugget that you've heard that. You're like, I can do that and do it this week, next week, the next week and next week, because how we get that momentum is that consistency?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and you've got something that's going to help us take away a lovely nugget from today's episode. So tell us about your freebie what it's called, where people can grab hold of it and what it's all about.
Speaker 2:
Yes, so it's called the CEO Power Hour Playbook, and so what it is is a PDF that you can download and it walks you through okay, I've got this hour on my calendar, what do I do? And so it'll walk you through some of those things I talked about, so you can use it, you know, three or four times until you get into the habit of having your CEO power hour and doing that on a weekly basis. Again, it's a simple thing, but so powerful when you institute it. You know over and over right. So that can be found on my website, which is CEOamplifyca.
Speaker 1:
Okay, I will make sure that that is in the show notes for you guys so you can go and grab that Very important. I actually am part of a membership where we have a CEO hour once a month. As a group, we get onto a Zoom call and go through a PDF in a similar way. So I think this is going to be really powerful for you guys If it's not something that you already do in business to actually take that time to review it.
Speaker 1:
Because, like you were saying, I think we get so bogged down in the everyday and we just keep moving on and then move on to the next thing and the next thing and we've lost sight of the big goal and because we haven't got our sights on it, we're not making our little goals in relation to those. We're just like oh, what do I want to get done this month? Oh, I'd like to increase my followers by 400 people on Instagram or whatever it is. It's like well, how's that attached to the big goal you made at the beginning of the year? Or we've forgotten all about that goal. It's the end of the year. Do our review and go oh, I was way off.
Speaker 1:
So really important to have those moments where you come back to the plan, the plan always. So I love that. Thank you so much for that conversation, donna. I really appreciate it. So before we hop off, I love to do a little quick fire round with my guests just to kind of uncover something maybe a little bit different about you that people don't know. So I've got four little questions for you and I'm going to spring one on you because I'm just looking at my notes and realize that I only put three on my notes I've got four little questions for you to answer.
Speaker 1:
We'll get to know you a little bit more. So number one what is the book that has made the biggest impact on your life thus far?
Speaker 2:
Okay, from a business perspective, I would definitely say Atomic Habits by James Clear. I have gone through that several times and always pull more golden nuggets from that. So yeah, that's my favorite.
Speaker 1:
I love that one. I shall link that in my guest's bookshelf for you guys in the show notes. And then, what is your favorite podcast that you listen to?
Speaker 2:
Ah, yes, yeah. So, being an operations girl, I do quite like listening to Traction. Well, traction is the book, but then they have a podcast out of there, so I do enjoy that one Just keeps me in the realm of working as an operator behind the scenes with those visionary leaders.
Speaker 1:
Brilliant Love that. And then, what's your go-to snack when you're in a hurry? That's my favorite one. Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:
So I would say for me it's a green smoothie. Now some of you are probably listening going. That doesn't sound like it's very quick, right. But you have to understand. I'm a planner through and through and so I have little smoothie packs in my freezer. So I just have to take that out, dump it in the blender, put in some liquid, spin it and we're ready to go.
Speaker 2:
So I love those, especially if I'm running late and I have no time to sit down. Have a meal. You can throw in some protein and those can be your meal replacements.
Speaker 1:
I love that. What do you have in your green smoothie? Because I have a green smoothie recipe that I like.
Speaker 2:
So I'm always interested to know what people put in theirs. Yes, yes, of course I like spinach. I try and mix up the greens so that it's not always spinach Like some banana. I often do pineapple or will do you know, frozen berry, that type of thing. I had some flax seed, I add some chia seed and then sometimes some nuts, just for extra, extra protein.
Speaker 1:
Oh, I like that. Yes, love it. I put apple and cucumber in mine and I like kale as my greens. So yeah, spinach and kale. So yeah, love that, love that. Okay. So what is your ultimate me time thing? To do so when you're wanting to get away from everything. What is it that you love to do?
Speaker 2:
yes, I love to go to a quiet beach with a good book.
Speaker 1:
I love that I don't even need the book. The water is my friend, I just want to feel the sand between my toes and sit watch and listen. The sea to the sea. That that's my ultimate, so I love that. I love that you're a beach girl, too Brilliant.
Speaker 2:
Awesome.
Speaker 1:
Okay, thank you so much for coming on the show today, donna. Where can people connect with you? Where do you hang out online?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so my website is CEOamplifyca. They're welcome to peruse around there. And then, in terms of social media, I'm not a huge fan, but you can find me on LinkedIn at Donna Dubé there as well, brilliant.
Speaker 1:
Okay, I will link those in the show notes for you guys. I hope you have got something out of today's episode. I know I certainly have. So thank you very much for coming on, donna. And you've got a podcast as well, haven't you? I do? Yeah, so we will make sure that that's linked in the show notes as well, so people can come over and listen to that, and until next time I'll see you there. Bye for now.
