Inspiring New Year Message from Helen

Hello Lovely Ann

Please pass on my love and gratitude to everyone who’s been supporting me over the last few months and let them know that my spirits are continually boosted by the messages they send.

Quick update is that I had my second chemo on 14th Dec. My intentions for the course are that “I receive the healing gift of chemotherapy with love and gratitude” & secondly that “It’s going to be a breeze”.  Such a different attitude to 5 years ago – its been amazing how the work I’ve been doing (with the help of some exceptional therapists) has given me such strong self belief.  The medics now tell me I have multiple tumours in both lungs as well as infected lymph nodes in my neck & around my trachea, and that the chemo course will be 6 months, with a scan to check progress half way through.  This was a bit of a surprise as we’d previously been told only 3 months.  I’ve told them this treatment is going to work so well I simply won’t be needing the second 3 months (besides I have a mountain to climb in June!).  I’m not sure they believe me.  That doesn’t matter really, because I believe me.  I’ve been feeling pretty good so far, and see myself as a well, healthy person with an amazing future ahead of me.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy & fun-filled 2010.

With love, as always

Helen

Helen is blogging again – read about her adventures at http://helencrowe.net/

(Helen had bowel cancer 5 years ago and last year made a trip to Peru to raise funds for the Bowel Cancer charity. On her return she was diagnosed with a brain tumour which was successfully removed in October. If you’d like to send Helen a message (even if you don’t know her – its OK) and don’t have her details, please just ask me or leave a message here or on her own blog http://helencrowe.net/)

Big Hairy Goals

Why are big, hairy goals better than SMART ones?

If you have ever set goals, you were probably advised to set SMART ones:

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed.

In other words, mediocre, run of the mill and not too challenging!

Last week I was fortunate enough to hear David Hyner , international professional speaker, talk about the Massive Goal Principle. In the last twelve years, David has interviewed some of the top achievers in the world.

David learned that people who achieve extraordinary things are generally quite ordinary people. The thing they have in common and to which most of them attribute their success is that they set outrageous, massive, audacious or, in David’s words ‘big hairy’ goals.

“I have been very priviledged to hear some of the top motivational speakers in the UK and David Hyner cetainly ranked up there with the best. Very inspirational talk that left me with a lot to think about.” Claire Martinsen www.brecklandorchard.co.uk

If you are completely and utterly contented with your life, you probably don’t want to bother reading any further but if there are things you want to achieve, this, according to David, is how to follow in the steps of other great achievers:

1. Set a BIG Goal.

It should excite you, scare you and you probably have no idea how you’re going to achieve it. Don’t allow anyone else (including the voices in your head) determine what you are capable of. You decide!

2. Decide WHY you want to achieve it.

Your ‘why’ must be bigger than your fears. It is what will keep you going when things get tough and you say “Why am I doing this?”

3. Find out what you don’t know.

Join a Mastermind Group of people who have different skill sets, experience and expertise. Ask them for ideas. Study people who’ve done what you want to do. Use your group for support and ask them to help you to keep on track.

4. Decide what you ‘must’ do.

Prioritise a list of actions that you must take to achieve your goal. Follow it with a list of ‘maybe do’ tasks.

5. Draw a pyramid on a large sheet of paper.

Divide it into twice as many blocks as tasks that you have on your ‘to do’ list. Write the most important actions in the bottom blocks and continue upward until the least important are about half way up. The remaining blocks are for the ‘not thought of’ tasks.

6. Take action.

In your diary set aside time every day to do something that will take you closer to achieving your goal. Cross off the blocks on your pyramid and watch what happens as you complete the bottom two layers. Suddenly things will start to happen without so much effort from you and you’ll find the rest of the tasks much easier to complete.

Final word:

If your ‘why’ is big enough you will never give up, no matter how many obstacles you encounter. If you find you are not taking action it is because your goal simply doesn’t excite you enough so let it go. Its not supposed to be another stick to beat yourself up with.

David Hyner 01785 859589 info@stretchdevelopment.com http://www.massivegoals.com

Get your self a nag!

The thing that makes the biggest impact in our 
Mastermind Groups is that members are accountable to
each other for their actions.

If you work on your own, who is to know if nothing on your ‘to do’ list gets done? You can procrastinate for as long as you like and no-one but you will be any the wiser.

This weeks action plan (if you are not in an Inspired Mastermind Group) is to appoint an official ‘nag’! Make it someone who has no axe to grind, no hidden agenda and just wants to see you succeed. Ask them to accept no excuses and make sure you keep on track with what you say you will do.

Make the first task on your list to book a place at our event on 22nd April to do some practical work towards achieving success.

Get a free blog

My Mastermind Group members have realised that a blog, linked to social networks (especially www.twitter.com) is a great way to get good Google rankings so Ian McKendrick is offering a free fully optimised blog + really good value hosting service. Contact me for more details.

Mastermind Group taster events

The power of Mastermind groups was demonstrated again at our last taster event. Twenty business owners who’d only just met got right into the spirit of it all and came up with brilliant ideas for growing businesses. There was a real buzz in the room. Unfortunately, we couldn’t send a post to Twitter because the site had crashed owing to the number of people trying to see the photo of the plane in the Hudson River!

More Mastermind Group tasters:
6th Feb – Milton Keynes
13thFeb – Colchester
25th Feb – Bedford

Why should you join an Inspired Mastermind Group

Come to a free taster session on Thursday 15th Jan at 7.00pm in Cambridge at The Punter, Pound Hill. Call me for more details on 01480 830282

“If you want to be the best and you want your business to be the best, it’s a no brainer! The speakers expand my knowledge and information base and the other members of the group offer genuine support on both a personal and professional level. We all have different experiences and skills but we all want the same thing – to build great businesses – so the range of information we share is like a huge raft of support and inspiration.” Helen Crowe www.amazingva.co.uk

“Our group is like having a monthly board meeting with different pools of expertise around the room. Everyone cares as much about growing your business as they do about their own.” Ian McKendrick www.letspresentit.com

“We attend the group as individuals but work as a team. This is a great way to test out ideas instead of trying to work out a growth strategy in isolation. If someone else in the group tries something I often realise I could apply it to my business too but I wouldn’t have thought of it on my own.” Moira Upton www.tlchealthscreening.co.uk

“It’s too easy to just react to work coming in and get bogged down in the day to day operations of the business. I find having monthly targets and taking time out to discuss and reflect are very useful. I have re-visited and updated goals and plans – both personal and business.” Roger Galpin www.thewoodshop.biz

Inspired Mastermind groups are one of the most exciting and effective ways to grow a business. Free taster sessions are being held at the following locations – just email me ann@theinspiredgroup.com to say which one you’d like to attend:

Cambridge – January 15th at The Punter 6.30pm
Bedford – January 28th 10.30am
Essex – January 30th at High Barn, Great Bardingfield 10.30am Milton Keynes – February 6th Beales Hotel Buckingham at 10.30am