Themed Tips for every day of the week

Alliteration is a powerful thing. It’s designed to help you remember what to do, when you want to do it, what’s important, and so on, by just associating something with the first letter of a word. This is a challenge to motivate you to keeping the “first things first.” Everyone’s list may be different. Something once deemed as a priority may change to a back burner item as your business grows and develops. On the other hand, a project that needs to be dusted off and worked on may need to move to the front of the line as changes in your priorities shift. Wherever the importance of what needs to be first, paramount, and primary falls on your list, be sure to remember and acknowledge them every day.

This may be used as measurement of where you are. Milestones can measure how well a plan is being executed or a reminder that things need to be done –by a Monday deadline. The first or last Monday of the month can be used to mark the importance of a particular goal. Maybe a reoccurring task that’s important to the establishment or growth of your business can be marked for reminders on Monday. Monday is typically the beginning of the work week. What better way to kick off the week by ensuring you are on the right track and on time with your goals and responsibilities!

Appreciating the “awesomeness” of the beginning of your work week will help you and your employees have the best mindset for a productive and positive week. Take time to encourage and inspire those around you today to do and be their very best! We have previously associated Monday as the “dreaded” back to work day. However, as a business owner, it’s the time of the week to bust out the gates ready to take on the challenges of a new week!

This one speaks for itself! But just in case it doesn’t speak to you like it does to me, I’ll share a little bit about what I hear when I hear this phrase. Find something to motivate you! If you have to pull out the old Karate Kid movies (Ralph Macchio or Jaden Smith –take your pick, depending on your generation J) and tell yourself “you’re the best! around, nothin’s gonna ever you keep you down!” then do so!

I personally get a lot of my motivation from the Bible. Inspirational reading gets me going and reminds me of all the great things I CAN do, rather than the things that are tough and I have yet to master. As a matter of fact, God’s word says that “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). So that’s plenty of motivation to start my week!

Take the things that have been the ideas swirling around in your head and start by writing them down. Sounds simple right? It may be an easy task. However, writing down your ideas is a powerful tool for strategizing your next move, placing final details on a plan or project, helps you remember and plan out new ideas, and so much more. I am personally a big fan of the “sticky notes.” They are convenient and I can gather them together at the end of the day, write them in a notebook or type them up to create a working document which will become a plan of action. This can be anything from a to-do list to a new strategy to grow your business. Either way, once it’s written down, you’re more accountable to yourself, your partners, vendors, clients, shareholders and anyone that has a vested interest in the success of your business.

This may seem like an odd day to do it, but there may never be a bad time for it –planning! What’s next for your business? Start, update, modify, edit, refresh and clean up the short term and long term goals.

Similar to What’s Next Wednesday, but not to be confused with Tangible Tuesday. While Tangible Tuesday’s focus is on making the abstract things you’ve been thinking about into becoming tangible, Write it down Wednesday can be for things that are already in place and just need an email, a memo, a contract, a receipt. This may be the designated day to have meetings about your upcoming contracts (write it down), create company procedures for a new task in your business (write it down), or other things in writing.

What in the middle of the week??? Yes. It’s a good day to take a step back and evaluate how the week is going so far. You may not completely “put on the breaks” on essential tasks and things to do, but you should take time to gauge how the week is going and plan for how to finish the week strong.

Just as it sounds. Follow up on unfinished business from the week. Tie up loose ends. Return phone calls or emails that may have been put off. Follow up on clients or vendors that have not given you a response on something you are waiting to hear about. An obvious and courteous business practice is to follow up on inquiries from people inside or outside of your company. However, make Fridays the focus day to follow up. Be proactive! Reach out and contact people that you have been waiting to hear from.

Similar to Follow up Friday, but this reminder ensures that jobs that are unfinished are completed by the end of the week. No loose ends before the weekend! Depending on your type of business, this may be the busiest day for you rather than the end of a work week. Either way, Finish up Friday can be a marker in the week where anything that is undone will be done, TODAY. Not only does Finish up Friday close out the week, but if planned correctly, it will set you up for measuring where you need to be next week during Milestone Monday!

This nationally recognized day falls on the heels of Brown Thursday (also known as Thanksgiving) and Black Friday yet sandwiched between Cyber Monday. #ShopSmall http://www.smallbusinesssaturday.com/

This is a great day to take advantage of the shopping season –remind your network of people to patronize your business as small business owner so that you can grow to be in the Brown Thursday, Black Friday and Cyber Monday big leagues!

Whether this is the day you hit the pavement and sell, sell, sell or the day that you count up all of the new accounts for the week, make sure you mark your successes! It’s easy to think about how many things did not get done during a week because they will be waiting on you next week. Successful Saturday can be the day where you challenge yourself to celebrate all of the things that went right this week. Cheers to your success!

This is one of my favorite days. It’s the introspective, evaluative day where I look on the inside of me. Not focused on the ideas rolling around in my head, or the sticky notes I’ve collected or the contracts that were successfully completed, but the day where I make time to take time for self-assessment. My personal grounding day. This is the day where I make sure internal rejuvenation takes place. Not only to prepare me for the next week, but to make sure I stay grounded. Running a company, a corporation, or a lemonade stand is not always easy! But successful entrepreneurship, in my opinion, can best be obtained within a balanced life.

I encourage you to take time name each weekday with whichever one of these reminders will help you have the most Marvelous, Tangible, Wonder What’s Next, Take a Break, Finish Up, Successful and Soulful week ever!