Jennifer McClure`

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Written by Jennifer McClure

5 Things I Plan to Start, Stop, and Continue Doing in 2023

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 072

Start? Stop? Continue?

When I was in human resources, as part of review processes, I learned to look at things to start, stop, and continue rather than just talking about traditional goal setting.

With 2023 right around the corner, I thought I’d share five things I plan to start doing, five things I plan to stop doing, and five things I plan to continue doing next year.

Hopefully, this will encourage you to do the same as part of your goal-setting process as well.

Start

  1. Goal setting and tracking
  2. Daily planning/time blocking/using Trello
  3. Prioritizing learning/professional development
  4. Investing in my relationships
  5. Scheduling time for content creation

Stop

  1. Starting my morning with my phone
  2. Allowing busy work to fill my day vs activities focused on achieving my goals
  3. Not prioritizing my email list community
  4. Putting off writing a book
  5. Taking my friends and family for granted

Continue

  1. Using Profit First in both of my businesses
  2. Participating on the Defense Business Board
  3. Listening to podcasts for professional development
  4. Outsourcing what I’m not best at/working with a team
  5. Podcasting ?

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 72

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Workplace from Meta

Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt

Full Focus Planner

Trello

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz

Defense Business Board

Impact Makers Podcast Episode #70: My Favorite Podcasts Related to the Future of Work, Speaking, and Entrepreneurship

Emerald City Productions – Making Your Podcast Sound Great

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

Categories: Blog, Personal Development, Podcast
Posted on December 14, 2022

Written by Jennifer McClure

10 Things You Need to Do to Make This Year Your Best Year Ever

As I’m sure you did too, I spent some time during the end of year holidays to reflect on the past year, the past decade, and my life in general. I also spent a little time – not enough yet – to consider the new year, and the new decade that lies ahead. If I’m blessed to be able to make it through to celebrate 2030, there’s a whole lot that I need and want to do!

As I was traveling to Tennessee to spend the week with my extended family, I spent a lot of time thinking about the new year during my 5 ½-hour drive. To prepare for my annual goal-setting process, I asked myself “What I would need to do to make this the best year ever?”

I came up with 10 things, and wrote them down (without looking!) on the back of an envelope while driving, so I could share them with you. I’m inviting you to join me in making 2020 not only MY best year ever, but YOUR best year ever too!

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 37

(Email subscribers – click HERE to listen to the podcast.)

Show Highlights:

10 Things You Need To Do To Make This Year Your Best Year Ever

  1. Set goals in all aspects of your life.
  2. Do that thing you say you’ll do someday.
  3. Do something that makes you uncomfortable.
  4. Choose one thing that you’ll do every day – or at least consistently.
  5. Stop doing something that you know you shouldn’t be doing, or don’t want to do.
  6. Travel somewhere you’ve always wanted to go.
  7. Have a hobby – and make time for it.
  8. Plan time and invest money in your personal development.
  9. Schedule time for gratitude and appreciation.
  10. Choose one day each week for your Sabbath – and honor it.

More Info and Resources:

King University

Mike Kim

Michael Hyatt’s 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever course, book and workshops

Full Focus Planner

Jesse Cole – Owner of the Savannah Bananas

The Thank You Experiment

Laurie Ruettimann blog

Kris Dunn blog

Tim Sackett blog

Amy Porterfield

Dan Miller

Invest In Yourself, Dan Miller

Shawn Achor’s 6 exercises for happiness

—–

Thanks to King University, who’s support makes this podcast possible! King is proud to offer sixteen online degrees with accelerated programs and affordable tuition so you can start a new career faster than ever. You can choose from programs in technology, communication, and business – like an online MBA with six concentrations including human resource management. And because the program is offered fully online, you can earn your degree on your own schedule in as little as 16 months. Visit https://online.king.edu/impactmakers to learn more about the King Difference today.

Categories: Podcast
Posted on January 31, 2020

Written by Jennifer McClure

Welcome New Year! Now, When Can I Take A Vacation?

For most people, it’s the first work day of the new year, and you’ve probably already seen or read several articles about hopeful New Year’s resolutions, what people will be doing to make 2018 their Best Year Ever, and even what went wrong in 2017.

Good news! This post is not any of those things.

Sorta not. 🙂

I’ve not yet set any goals, or made New Year’s resolutions – more about that below – but one thing I do plan to do going forward is to share more peaks into my life as the Wizard behind the curtain with my community. My hope is that by sharing more about what I’m learning along the way – through both successes and failures – I can encourage and equip you to make the most positive impact as you travel your own journey.

Out With The Old Year

Like many of you, I spent the last two weeks of 2017 winding down.

While I did manage a tiny bit of work the week before the Christmas holidays, for the first time in my life, I didn’t do ANY work during the last week of the year.

And that was a big deal (for me).

No work meant:

  • I didn’t go into my home office.
  • I didn’t schedule any calls.
  • I didn’t answer my phone or respond to texts – except from family or friends.
  • I didn’t open my To Do List app to review scheduled tasks.
  • I didn’t go on LinkedIn to respond to invitations and messages, or approve any posts in the groups that I manage.
  • I didn’t scroll through social media – except Instagram – although I did check in on Facebook if I wasn’t doing anything else, and I replied to tweets/DM’s sent to me.
  • I didn’t read/respond to email to me/Unbridled Talent/DisruptHR – although I did briefly open emails on my phone to get that annoying red dot to go away. (Note to self: just turn off notifications next time, or maybe even delete the app.)
  • I didn’t do my annual Goal Setting process.

In addition to opting out of work for a week plus, I also nixed a couple of personal habits:

  • I didn’t watch the national news, and watched the local news only for the weather a few times. (Because I’m officially and old person, and that’s what my people, do.)
  • I didn’t look at the feeds from my Twitter lists set up to track political happenings and commentary by reporters, politicians, or celebrities.

So, while this means I’m starting the new year goal-less, less politically informed (this is a very good thing), with a mountain of email to respond to, and a To Do List in need of triage, I’ve tasted something sweet, and I want more…

How Can I Avoid Burnout?

The truth is, I’ve felt on the verge of burnout for some time now – probably a year or two.

I’ve jokingly made comments to friends that I need a month long sabbatical, but in my heart, it’s felt more like I’ve fallen so far down the rabbit hole of obligations and busyness, that a month wouldn’t even be long enough.

Yet those feelings of overwhelm haven’t meant that I’ve fallen out of love with my work, or with either of my businesses. In fact, I’m more grateful and in love with what I do than ever, and I’m looking forward to some exciting changes in both my personal business, and DisruptHR in the near future. (Which is fantastic. And daunting.)

The Allure Of The Sabbatical

So, how does a self-employed person (or any person, really) – responsible not only for supporting self, but an ecosystem of family, animals, and things – take time away from work to recharge and renew, while still being able to eat and live indoors?

When faced with something that I don’t know how to do, or don’t do well, I often look around me to see who I can learn from.

Whether you work in a corporate environment, or you’re self-employed, you can probably think of a few people in your world who seem to have the work/life balance thing under control. You can also think of a few people who are flaming dumpster fires. (This one is usually much easier.) We can learn something from both of these types.

For me, I see plenty of people (including myself), who are doing many things wrong. Trying to do everything themselves (guilty), not using systems to plan and prioritize their work (guilty), and not establishing and sticking to schedules and timelines (guilty), are just a few of the things that they (we) have in common.

I also can identify several successful entrepreneurs that I follow who are doing a lot right. For example:

  • Michael Hyatt – takes a month-long sabbatical from his insanely successful personal brand business every year, and also takes several weeks of vacation during the year. Each year, he writes about how important his sabbatical is to recharge physically and emotionally, and for doing long-range thinking.
  • Chalene Johnson – typically spends the entire month of December away from her many businesses to focus on family and friends during the month of December. She looks at this time as her “fallow season” – a time of rest and restoration necessary for future growth.
  • Ryan Estis – steps away from his extremely successful speaking business for a month each year to recharge and refuel. He calls this the most expensive vacation of his life – that is worth every penny.

Plan It. Schedule It. Do It.

Thankfully, my short period of recharging recently freed up enough brain cells to help me to identify some consistencies among those that I see who are struggling to find whatever balance means to them, and those who seem to not only be doing it well, but thriving.

And since I like to break things down into threes, I’ve decided upon three focus areas to take my life back in 2018:

  • Plan my days/my week based upon priorities to achieve goals – and stick to the plan.
  • Create systems and processes for routine work, so I can outsource those tasks.
  • Build teams to support both my personal business, and DisruptHR.

I’m starting 2018, by setting a big, audacious long-term goal: to prepare myself and my businesses to be able to plan – and take – a month long sabbatical in 2019.

What About You?

I’m sure that there will be some twists and turns in the journey throughout 2018. But, I’m going to focus on what I can control, which is making a plan, and working that plan. By doing this, I actually believe I can set myself up to take time away from my work, and have my life and my business be even better because of it.

Do you also want time to create more space to rest and recharge in your life? Your goal may not be a month-long sabbatical, maybe it’s a just a long weekend unplugged, or a vacation spent fully present with your family. Whatever your big goal is, identify a few virtual or in-person mentors you can follow and learn from, create a plan, and work the plan.  There’s no better time to start your journey than now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Personal Development
Posted on January 2, 2018

Written by Jennifer McClure

30-Day Commitments: The Sexier Alternative to New Year’s Resolutions

If you’re in the majority, you made some sort of New Year’s resolution. According to this Infographic, 62% of Americans do, but unfortunately less than half maintain those commitments beyond 6 months.

I’ve finally reached a point in my life where I’ve stopped making New Year resolutions.

Why? Because I don’t like to start something I can’t win – and I’ve never crossed the finish line victorious after 365 days of success with a new habit.

Each year, I’ve had good intentions to lose weight, eat better, get more organized and create more margin in my life for spending time doing the things that I love. But so far, those things have not happened consistently for any length of time.

Sure, I’ll be moderately successful for a few days or weeks, but soon the enormity of committing to a life change for such a long time – 365 days – makes the activity seem a bit overwhelming. Once a day gets skipped, the slope becomes very slippery and the likelihood that I’ll slide backwards down the hill of success increases exponentially.

So this year, I’ve decided to try something different. I’m going to make 30-day commitments in three areas of my life – personal, health and business.

Why 30 days? It’s a shorter distance to the goal line. It’s doable and not overwhelming. Plus, I’ll be able to try at least 36 new things in 2014 that I may not have done otherwise!

Part of my inspiration for this idea is this popular and short (3:27 minutes) TED talk  from Google Engineer Matt Cutts on trying something new for 30 days. (email subscribers click here to view)

I like it. I can do this.

Here are my three 30-Day Commitments for January 2014:

Personal – I will get out of bed by 7am every day for 30 days (even weekends)
Health – I will do some form of exercise every day for 30 days straight (no rest days)
Business – I will create and post content (good stuff) on my blog 5 days per week in January 2014

Want to join me in committing to something for 30 days instead of 365?

I’d love to encourage you in your journey. Leave a comment and share with me your commitment(s)!

Categories: Blog, Personal Development
Posted on January 2, 2014

Written by Jennifer McClure

Finding My Focus: One Word For 2014

Like many of you, I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last few weeks preparing to finish the year strong and dive enthusiastically into the new year.

One outcome of these efforts has been choosing one word to guide and focus my 2014 efforts to educate, equip and empower effective people leaders.

What follows is an excerpt from the December 2013 Unbridled Talent LLC newsletter where I shared my catalyst for this concept, as well as the word I’ve chosen for 2014. Enjoy!

Are you receiving the monthly Unbridled Talent LLC newsletter? If not, you’re missing out on the news, articles and resources that we curate and share specifically focused in the areas of leadership development, executive communication skills and talent strategy. Click here to sign up and receive the first awesome issue of 2014 next week!

Recently, I had a conversation with a good friend about the power of choosing one word as a guide and focus point for the year.

The word that he had chosen for 2013 was “Attitude”. As we chatted, he described how focusing on a positive and healthy attitude in all aspects of his life this past year – work, family and personal – had been a life-changing experience for him.

The results are noticeable. 2013 will be a record year for him personally and for his business – and he continues to grow stronger as a son, husband, father and community member.

I didn’t choose a word at the beginning of 2013, but looking back it would have been “Stretch”.

I stretched myself by committing time and resources to business coaching and working with outside partners to identify the areas where I can add the most value to my clients.

I stretched my business by completing a record number of speaking, coaching and consulting engagements and also added a new team member – the lovely and talented virtual assistant Katy Trotta.

All of that stretching in 2013 wasn’t always easy – in fact, sometimes it hurt – but stretching was necessary in order to grow. That growth will enable us to serve our clients even better in 2014!

Following my friend’s lead, I’m going to choose a focus word for 2014 – “Inspire”.

Why “Inspire”?

It’s my goal to educate, encourage and equip the clients that I work with and the people that I meet. To paraphrase a line borrowed from Oprah – I want to help others to be the best version of themselves as Leaders, friends and family members.

Will you join me in choosing a focus word for 2014? What will it be?

Share it with me in the Comments section!

—–

Unbridled Talent LLC is a consulting and advisory firm providing services to clients in the areas of leadership development, executive communication skills and talent strategy. Jennifer McClure offers keynotes, workshops and training that inspire and teach business leaders to be more effective in their careers and as leaders of their organization’s most valuable resource – people. Contact us to schedule an event or to discuss our strategic consulting and advisory services.

Categories: Blog, Strategic Planning
Posted on January 1, 2014

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  • 5 Things I Plan to Start, Stop, and Continue Doing in 2023

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