Invest in your business and take it to the next level

Sometimes just hopping in and doing your thing is the best way to get started. But taking it to the next level -- setting yourself apart from the competition -- requires upping your game. And it means using expertise and higher skills to show you're serious.

When I self-published my first novel, I had to just jump in and do what I could to get going, doing everything myself, down to drawing and designing my first cover. But I knew I had to raise my standards if I wanted to be taken seriously for the long haul, so as soon as I could, I used what money I made and reinvested that into the business, hired a real designer and republished the book. I knew I needed to go to the professionals to get the look and quality I wanted.

What about you? Have you jumped into your new business, book or project by doing the best you can on your own? Are you ready to elevate your work and show your potential customers, clients or users that you are for real? If so, I have a special opportunity just for you.

I don't talk a lot about my business in this blog, but I just had to tell you about what RootSky Creative is doing. RootSky Creative, the parent company of the Knowledge Wealth Series, is a marketing and design company. It specializes in helping small businesses, organizations and individuals get their messages out in clear, concise and compelling ways. RootSky Creative writes, designs and produces books, Web sites, newsletters, brochures and a host of other marketing tools.

And for one day only -- June 10, 2009 -- RootSky Creative will create custom Web sites for $599, a huge discount off the regular $997 price. This is an opportunity for people who need quality Web site writing and design to get it, and at a steal. This package includes writing AND designing a five-page Web site, using Flash, photos, SEO writing, sound, etc., as needed. Because this is such a fantastic discount, it's available on a limited basis. I'm telling you today so you can get a jump. Just e-mail me at monica@rootskycreative.com for details and to lock in your special rate. All you have to do is sign your project agreement and pay the first half ($299.50) June 10 and you're all set to get a new, professional Web site to wow existing clients and woo new ones.

If you want to compete in today's economy, you've got to find a way to stand out. You can't keep working with the "make-do" attitude that got you started. You've got to invest in yourself and in your business so you exude an attitude of quality. Start with your Web site. E-mail me at monica@rootskycreative.com to claim your spot and get ready to take your work to the next level.

Free yourself from 'have-to' and focus on 'choose-to'

Do you ever feel as if you're stuck doing the same things over and over, things you feel you have to do? If you've ever said, "I have to do this," or "I have to do that," you'll want to check out the latest Knowledge Wealth Series newsletter. In it, I share why it's important to shift your thinking from "have to" to "choose to." If you want to take charge of your life, this is an essential mental shift.

Why? Because when we are constantly talking about what we have to do, it makes us feel like victims or prisoners of our circumstances. And nobody wants to feel that way. But when we begin to see everything we do as a choice, then we get a bit of pep in our step as we feel empowered to make choices that benefit us.

As a personal development author, I am often looking for ways we can make our lives better and get more enjoyment or improve our results. This is one mind shift we can make and begin to manifest positive changes in our lives, simply by realizing we can take charge.

Try this: The next time you are tempted to say "I have to do XYZ," stop and ask yourself, "Really? Do I really have to do this?" What would happen if you didn't do that thing? You might find the consequence of not doing it could be minor or you may find the consequence could be pretty big. But regardless, you'll likely find that you don't really have to do that thing. But because you prefer not to live with the consequences, you choose to do the thing.

Big difference between thinking in terms of have to and choose to.

So check out this month's Knowledge Wealth Series newsletter, and learn more about shifting your thinking from the negative have-to equation to the choose-to option. And you'll also get other great information, including learning how to be a part of my next book and getting information about my latest e-book, Turn Your Book into a Business, so you can learn to write your own book and earn more money from it.

Dumped, fired and evicted. What would you do?

I struck up a friendship with a man I met in 2005 at a speakers' conference. We chatted at the event, and afterward, he began calling to tell me about his attempts to jump-start his speaking career. Of course, as is the case when a friendship develops, the conversation covers things other than business. He told me about his new romance, his job search, his plans to move out of his mom's house and into his own place. Then came news that the girlfriend had kicked him to the curb, he had been fired from the job, the apartment manager had evicted him.

Tough breaks, all.

All while he was trying to build this dynamic speaking career, spreading hope and enlightenment to others.

Unfortunately, that's what often happens on the way to our dreams, or as we're building our lives. It's never a smooth process, where one day we dream and the next day we reach the mountaintop. Instead, we're most likely going to have many good days mixed with a bunch of not great days. If you're like my speaker friend, you may even feel as if everything is coming down on you and your very hope may be threatened.

Through all of this with my friend, I tried to encourage him to keep pressing forward. Not everything I said was what he wanted to hear -- I had to tell him when I thought he was doing something dumb, when I thought he should "man up," even when I thought he was wimping out. But I also told him when I thought he was doing well and when I had ideas that could help him.

And things are working out for him now. After years of seeming to get nowhere with his speaking career, he has called me several times in recent weeks to share news of new speaking gigs he has lined up or is in the process of lining up. In the midst of experiencing these setbacks, he has found a new sense of self and a confidence that can come across in his speaking. Now, he can talk about real-life experiences and touch lives in a way he could not earlier, because he will speak from a place of knowing and overcoming the everyday challenges, and still holding onto that drive.

I'm excited for him! It's been a very long journey. He could have given up anywhere along the way, and most probably would have expected him to do so. At times he had to take smaller steps than he wanted -- accept smaller speaking gigs than he really wanted, take on non-speaking jobs to have money to support his speaking business, etc. -- just to hang in there. It wasn't the glamorous life he envisioned when he started, but he realized he had to go through the tough times to get to the stuff his dreams were made of.

The reason I share this story is to remind you that your journey to the life you dream of having will be a bumpy one, but if you just hang in there, you will get there. And you may find that the tough times (as unwelcome as they are) make you richer; your journey may actually be a tool you can use to touch others in a way you never even imagined.

It's easy to feel discouraged -- or even to feel like a fraud when it seems that you should be further along than you are -- but those are just momentary setbacks. Stay the course. Sometimes you have to take smaller steps just to stay on track. If a smaller step will help you keep moving forward, then take that smaller step. Then when you've gotten your bearings again and are in better shape, take the bigger steps you prefer.

Most see setbacks and rather than taking a detour -- or smaller steps -- they just sit down on the roadside of life and give up altogether. They settle. They settle for relationships that don't fulfill them. They settle for careers that bug them. They settle for lives that are not even a fraction of all they dream. All because of a few tough days.

Whether it's the economy that's gotten you sitting on the roadside of life or your weight issue or a relationship disappointment or any number of other things, now is the time to regroup. Take one step to get back on the journey. Even if that one step is a small one. Just put one foot in front of the other.

And gradually, you'll get closer to where you want to be.

Six tips to overcoming setbacks:
1. Acknowledge the hurt. Disappointment stings.
2. Consider why the problem arose. Looking for answers now will help you avoid repeating the mistake in the future.
3. Have a gut-check moment. Ask yourself if you're ready to move forward. Be honest.
4. Pick a new goal. Find something new to work toward. It can be a revision of the goal that failed, or it can be something altogether new. Just choose something that excites you.
5. Create a plan. Figure out how you will approach this new goal. Enlist the help of others, if you need it. (Even emotional support, such as what I gave my speaker friend, counts.)
6. Get to moving! Nothing pushes aside negative feelings (and the tendency to wallow in self-pity) faster than action.