A few quotes of mine to keep in mind when in the middle of adversity.
Sometimes lessons in life come the hard way. But if we truly pay attention, learn and make the changes that are necessary, adversity can help put us “in a better place”.
We either allow our circumstances to make us miserable, or we can choose to make ourselves stronger. Only we decide which it will be. Other people and other things cannot.
©2012 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
I have been through a lot in my lifetime some of which include my house catching on fire while we were all in it, another home flooded with over three feet of water and so much more.
Many of us have events in our lives that are devastating. We are the only ones who can choose how it will affect us. We can allow it to break us down or decide to use it to make us stronger.
Sometimes lessons in life come the hard way. But if we truly pay attention, learn and make the changes that are necessary, adversity can help put us “in a better place”.
©2012 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
As a small business owner for over 30 years I always strived to show appreciation for a job well done and to let the staff know they were appreciated. There were so many things I have done, both high budget items as well as low budget items. How you handle
it is also based on the size of the company and how close you are to the employees.
Although most everyone prefers money for their gift, there are other things that have
worked as well when times were lean. Below is one idea that worked really well
for my office.
Be a part of a “Big Little” holiday party. A lot of upscale facilities have large holiday parties where you can buy a table and be a part of it. This saves both time and money. And each time we participated it was an “over the top” party that as a small business I could not afford to put together myself. There was a band or DJ for dancing, a full buffet open most of the evening including multiple food stations and close to 100 items to pick from. There were free raffles for DVD players, flat screen TVs and much more. The decorations were top notch. We requested our staff bring a guest. I took pictures throughout the evening and was sure everyone received a small album of the event and we kept one in the office.
©2012 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
A) Be sure to always maintain a cash reserve that will cover your required expenses for at least 3 months and even better, I recommend 6 months. This can give you the time you need to decide what you want to do and to get back on your feet.
B) Manage your debt and budget closely. While you are still working, pay off short term and especially high interest debt. Do not spend money you do not have. Live conservatively now and put as much money away as you can.
C) Take the time now to update your resume and references.
D) This can be an opportune time to “reinvent the life you really want for yourself”. Had this not happened you might have stayed in a job that did not provide the life you could otherwise have had. Ask yourself this:
- What did I like about the work I was doing?
- What did I not like about the work I was doing?
- If I could have any career, what (realistically) would be my ideal career?
- What do I need to do to have it?
- Do I need to go back to school?
- If I want my own business, what skills do I need to assure it be successful?
©2012 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
I wanted to assure my daughter would have good credit when she graduated and therefore be better able to live comfortably on her own. I also needed to find a way to reduce the cost of sending her to college. We lived in Connecticut and her college was in California. That meant several trips a year by plane to come home. I opened a credit card with her name first and my name second. The address was mine so I received all statements. Her school accepted credit cards but I did not have a high enough limit to cover the entire cost at once. I called the school and charged $4,000. The next day I mailed a check to the credit card company to cover the amount charged so I would not have to pay any interest. The check could come from a home equity line of credit, student loan or other resources. I continued to do this until the entire amount due had been charged to my credit card. This accomplished two things. #1 I earned points on the credit card. Putting the cost of school on the card gave us enough points to pay for round trip air fare to get her home twice a year at no cost to me. #2 Since her name was first on the card and the bills came to me, I made sure they were always paid on time. When she graduated college she had excellent credit.
©2012 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
So many of us live the life that falls into place for us rather than taking control of our future. It is time to take control and make your life what you really want it to be. That may mean changing how you think, how you act and how you react.
Think of it this way, if you were to wake up three years from now and look back at the life you lived for the last three years, what would have had to happen (realistically) for you to feel really great about the life you had. Once you determine that, the next step is to determine what you need to do to make it happen. Then you are ready to put a plan into place to do what is necessary to get there.
©2012 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
As a single parent with my only source of income coming from my own business, I had to become extremely organized and good at managing my time. My mantra for quite some time now is that “I only touch things once”. I do my best to hold true to this whenever
possible. Having become extremely organized enables me to accomplish a lot in a day.
Some examples include:
Think about how you can change the way you do things to be more efficient. It may take little effort now to make a larger long-term difference.
©2012 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
Now is the perfect time to look back at 2011 and make a note of what has gone well and what you have accomplished personally, in your business or both. It matters less what day to day looks like. Instead taking stock one year at a time can give a better perspective.
What did you accomplish that makes you feel really good?
What did you want to accomplish but were unable to?
When you look back this time next year, what do you want your answers to those questions to be?
I feel a goal should be enough of a stretch to make you feel really great when you accomplish it. But, not so much of a stretch that you cannot accomplish it. Also if you write it down you are more apt to get it done than if it is only in your head.
Take some time now to decide what you want to accomplish in 2012 and write it down. Make a note of the following:
Then put in your schedule, time to work on each of your goals. Also list the date each quarter that you will check in to assure you are on track to accomplish each goal on time.
Taking the time to plan now, can make a world of difference for you in 2012.
©2011 Nancy Butler all rights reserved
You may be double paying if you have towing included in your car insurance and also belong to an auto club. Cancel one, as you normally cannot collect from both for the same incident.
Use Century Gothic font which has been shown to use about 1/3 less printer ink than arial.
Trade in your old cell phone or computer to get either a charitable tax deduction, cash, gift card or credit toward a new purchase.
Several web-sites, such as mygrocerydeals.com or groceryguide.com, offer free grocery and other coupons for money off.
Buy gift cards for less than their face amount or sell ones you don’t want at web sites like plasticjungle.com or giftcardrescue.com, which offer this service.
See plays for free by volunteering as an usher at your local theater.
Grocery shopping – every two weeks (not weekly) lessens the opportunity to buy things you don’t need.
Clothes for teenagers – One time purchase of the brand name they really want, then switch labels on purchases after that
©2011 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
Developing and implementing systems to enable everyone in the business to “touch things only once” whenever possible, is a key to an efficient and effectively run business. Think about how much time is spent on a particular issue and how you can streamline it to be more efficient while being effective. One example would be instead of the staff handing you a note that someone called and then you have to call them back many times before reaching them, have the staff set a phone appointment while they are talking to the client. This is only one way to reduce wasted time and provide better client service. There are so many more. Have a mantra of “I only touch things once”.
©2011 Nancy Butler All rights reserved
