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Photo Credit http://stockfresh.com/gallery/PixelsAway

With 2011 coming soon, I’ve been thinking about goals a lot lately.  How about you?

I’ve been trying to decide what goals are both realistic and a stretch for me.  There’s a fine line in there somewhere between setting a crazy impossible goal and setting a goal that will be challenging and exciting enough to pull me forward.

I found this quote that’s given me a lot to think about and might make you think, too:

An average person with average talent, ambition and education, can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society, if that person has clear, focused goals. ~Brian Tracy

Here’s a great article on goal setting from Brian Tracy’s blog: http://www.briantracy.com/blog/general/planning-your-year/

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Ever feel like you’re all dressed up and ready for the spotlight but don’t know how to get it to shine on you?

This isn’t my area of expertise (I like to hide behind my computer screen, thank you very much), but I can point you to some great ways to get visibility and share with you who I know that can help you even more…

Join the Ultimate Blog Challenge and then jump in and really participate.  Yes, I’ll keep plugging it because I know it can help you if you’re looking to get visibility for you blog!  Plus Michele & I put together all sorts of great resources this time including a teleseminar about getting more visibility and we want to support you, which we can only do if you sign up.

Be visible on social media and don’t be afraid to participate in the conversations.

Look for opportunities to comment on blogs, social media, articles, and where ever else it makes sense to add your two cents.  Guest blog, invite guest bloggers, and find your own opportunities!  It’s okay to ask for the “date” first when you run your own business.  Don’t sit at home and wait for the opportunities to come to you.

And, go sign up for Nancy’s newsletter at www.vivavisibility.com — she can tell you what to do next to get out there and dance in the spotlight.

P.S. This idea, all dressed up with no where to go, inspired by Sheila of http://www.newbielifeline.com/

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Photo Credit http://stockfresh.com/gallery/solarseven

The video and thought this weekend are about the journey of life… finding happiness as we go along… and not focusing on the “destination” as success. It’s true in life and in building a business.

Don’t focus on “arriving” or being “discovered” or hitting the million dollar mark or whatever else your end goal might be. Goals are wonderful to have, but don’t get so focused on them that you don’t acknowledge the joys and accomplishments along the way–enjoy the path you walk to reach them.

Shifting your perspective so you enjoy the process of creating success makes it so much easier and less stressful. You’re not a failure if you haven’t reached your biggest goals yet. If you’re a step closer than you were yesterday, that’s success!

Celebrate every success, no matter how small, and no matter how many other things aren’t working yet or what other storms are surrounding you.

“Life’s not about waiting for the storms to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” ~Vivian Greene

As I was looking at quotes to include with this week’s inspirational video, I found a beautiful piece written by Shannon Spaunburg. If your life has felt difficult, challenging lately I encourage you to take a few minutes to read it: http://www.motivateus.com/stories/journey.htm

Oh, and here’s the video! Think about life as a journey while you watch.

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Photo Credit http://stockfresh.com/gallery/Misha

What difference could it make if you could put in just one degree more effort towards reaching your goals?

My challenge to you this week – throw 1% more passion and energy into your business and see what happens.  Stay up a little bit later or get up a little bit earlier.  Reach out to one more person and build a connection.  Spend that extra hour to get your new report done.  What can you do to push just a little more forward?

“When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures.  So I did ten times more work.”  ~George Bernard Shaw

“Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts.  This is the secret of success.”  ~Swami Sivananda

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"Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It's our goal in life to find it and to keep it lit." ~Mary Lou Retton

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This week I’m sharing a video my son and I created using FlixTime.com (I blogged about it here: http://michelleshaeffer.com/lights-camera-action/2010/10/27/). He picked out photos and music and I added the quotes.

This is one of several I’ve created recently using the various video options – you can find more on my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/MichelleShaeffer

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Photo Credit: http://stockfresh.com/gallery/kjpargeter

So last night we took the kids to the Planetarium’s show, “Life Without the Moon.”

After a walk through the night sky to identify constellations (which I admit, I can rarely find in the real sky… but they’re fascinating in a planetarium!) the presentation covered what would be different about life on Earth and popular culture if Earth had no moon.

Aside from missing moonlight, the lunar calendar and werewolves in folk lore, did you know Earth’s orbit and tilt would shift or that tides would be much less strong (the sun is responsible for a portion of the tidal pull but it’s mostly the moon)?

Without the moon constantly orbiting Earth: Continue Reading

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As small business owners and entrepreneurs it often feels like one thing after another is a challenge, especially when you’re starting out.  Should you be challenging yourself?  OF COURSE!

The better question is: WHEN should you challenge yourself and how do you know WHICH areas you should challenge yourself in?

I’ve participated in quite a few challenges recently – the #blog30 and #blogboost challenges, the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge, Ezine Articles Hundred Articles in a Hundred Days challenge… and I’ve gotten so much out of them. But I know going into most of them exactly why I was participating.  In case of the posting challenges I wanted to force myself to create a more consistent blogging habit, connect with other bloggers, build more links to my website, increase comments/interaction, and get my blog noticed by a wider audience.  With the EzineArticles challenge I wanted to create content on several specific topics that I could repurpose as well as help to build expert status around the things I’m very good with.

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Some inspirational words and music to inspire you this weekend…

People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.  ~Norman Vincent Peale

Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret – curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.  ~Walt Disney

The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.  ~Richard M. DeVos

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Photo Credit: http://morguefile.com/creative/doctor_bob

No, this is not my desk.  But it is a visual of what the inside of my head feels like today.  A wee bit messy and overwhelmed.  I’m tackling it with a written to do list prioritized with A/B/C and lots of coffee.  And asking for your help…

So, leave me a comment and don’t forget to fill in the URL field so I can credit you for your brilliant strategy!