I do a biz plan collage every year as I think in pictures plus words for goal setting. Some people love charts and Excel spreadsheets or mind maps. There is a choice out there that can work for you. Whether you own a business or are inside a company, for now, you are CEO of your professional development. It is your job to be in charge of your career, your finances, and your happiness. Stop waiting for someone to rescue you.

Start with a statement of purpose–why are you doing the work you are doing and who does it serve? What products and services do you offer and how do they work? Who is your ideal client or customer? What are your costs and potential profits? How much capital do you need or are you self-financing? What are your plans for expansion, if you have any, or plans to sell your biz at some point? These are the core questions.

But I always add a few more. What is your heartfelt commitment to this biz? How does it jibe with your lifestyle? You want your business to be in alignment with creating a life of meaning and joy that reflects your values and enhances your relationships. Then there is the all important question of life balance –however you define it. Does this business increase your quality of life or destroy it? If you didn’t need the money would you want to do at least part of it anyway? Which part? What kind of a team do you want to create or do you want to fly solo? Who will be your advisors and/or mentors?

The essence of a great biz/career plan is total honesty, not just with the numbers, but with your heart and soul.

So forget the banks or the VC’s for now and answer the tough questions. If you feel stuck, keep a journal for a month and note all your emotions as well as strategies. You will begin to get clear and that will lay the groundwork for your success, with your own formula.

I hear questions all the time from clients and colleagues about LinkedIn and whether or not it is important and how it is different from Facebook and Twitter. Well, LinkedIn offers a key opportunity for professionals to connect and forge alliances, share knowledge, and yes, get business! To help you to have the best and most up-to-date information about how to maximize your profile and to learn all the tricks that make LinkedIn powerful for you, I interviewed my colleague, Martin Piece, who is the LinkedIn guy in Boston.

In our comprehensive interview, Martin will clearly explain how all the features work and map out a strategy for you to use with this unique social marketing tool. Have a listen and you will be scrambling to update your information and start getting Linked up, big time.

You can listen to the complete interview with Martin Pierce here.

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In order to live a fulfilled life, you must fill it with positive life choices that nurture your body, mind, and spirit. Your Muse needs time and attention and you need to subtract anything and anyone that interferes with that communication. Avoidance Games are a way that we sabotage ourselves and we need to get rid of them, as they are Serenity Stealers. Serenity and solitude keep us connected to our inner Fascinations and help to keep our creative channels open!

So if you find yourself hiding out from your inspirations and intentions, try these remedies:

1. Are you procrastinating? If so, dissect it. Sometimes we don’t do something because we are undecided about it. For example, we don’t fix up our office as we have not yet decided exactly how we want to use it.  We may have questions about whether we will see clients there as well as do paperwork or whether or not we want our art work to be in that office or up on the third floor. So draw a map of your space and try out different options. If you are clear on what you are trying to create, get some momentum going. Send your inner critics to the North Pole, set a timer for 30 minutes, and do something related to your new project.
2. Break down big projects into specific steps. If you are doing some networking to find a new web master, write out a great job description,  map out your target market, and then write down potent questions to ask about candidates before you start calling people you know or candidate references. If you spend 20 minutes a day doing these tasks for a few days, you will be ready to begin.
3. Do a Pro and Con list. It may sound old-fashioned but it works. It will help you get closer to a yes or no. It is a yes if you find a compelling reason for doing it. If it’s a no, that frees you up to focus on something much better.
4. Is this a project you need to delegate so that you can be working on something more important? Or do you need a consultant or an expert to teach you how to do it or get you on track? Do you need a friend or colleague to brainstorm with? Maybe you could do a barter.
5. If it is a portable project, do you need to leave town or go someplace new nearby to get a new perspective? Take your project on a field trip and see what you might learn.
6. Consider technology. Is there a solution that can help you like a mind map, online research , or software package?

As you can see, when we are avoiding things, there are proactive strategies to help you to make some decisions and start checking off those goals. You will feel empowered and be on the road to your best work and lifestyle!

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If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to read Secret #5: Design Action Strategies that Work.

Your prosperity vision is not simply about money, but can include your heath, peace of mind, well-being, fulfilling work, a sense of community, great relationships, safety and security, healthy life styles, harmony with the Earth, personal growth, creative expression, being of service, and whatever else you choose to include. You may want a simple life or a complex one –you choose.

A goal is simply a statement of intention that needs to be written down. In my book, there is a Personal Success Contract to help you to look at barriers to having what you want and what kinds of supports you need. Marilyn Tam, who I interviewed for this book, has 4 Principles that are the key to success: “Tell the truth all the time, Make me your partner, Make big mistakes, and Die by your own sword.”

One pitfall for women, including myself at times, in working our action plan is a tendency to not keep our promises to ourselves. We let other people’s needs distract us, we get stuck or scared and our commitment waivers, or we get caught up in feeling uncomfortable trying to elevate our self-esteem in order to create what we want.

As women, we need to unlearn our self-esteem issues around earning and enjoying money and the responsibility that comes from being empowered.

Each of us need to develop a strict schedule for how we work. Do we get up at 6 AM to write or is noon a better time for us? We want to use our best energy time for our creative endeavors and our priorities. Schedules, as much as many of us independants may squirm at the concept, work. Artist Jeanne Carbonetti, my favorite water color painter, who runs the Crow Hill gallery in Chester, VT, keeps a strict schedule, and tells us that Monday is about my books that I write and bills, Tuesday is art studio chores like matting and framing, Wednesday through Friday is painting, with no office work, and Saturday is what needs me the most and Sunday is none on the above. Jeanne also stops teaching and traveling between January and April so that she can focus on writing and painting exclusively. This kind of a schedule with blocks of time to focus allows us to stay connected to our big picture and get results. There are so many distractions with massive amounts of email and the pull of social media and other Internet seductions, that we need to be vigilant each day. I have a sign on my laptop that says, “Write first, do email later”, to keep me on track!

If you work for yourself, set deadlines on your priorities, and you will see faster results. As a coach, I keep people accountable and inspired. We all need people who care about us to both cheer us on and pull us forward.

For previous Secrets, please visit Gail’s blog!

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You are the CEO of your life and your psychology, so you need to take charge. We really do have to figure out what we want in our life so that we direct our energy towards those goals–no kidding. There are a myriad of possibilities out there and we have to rigorously filter out the ones that are not right for us now. Keep a file of these possibilities and put them aside for later!

Now don’t groan when I mention goal-setting, instead make it an adventure in building a better life in 2012. I have a great visualization on my audio program “Positive Choices: From Stress to Serenity ” called Follow Your Dreams which gives you a chance to find out what inspires you and nail down what you want. It will give you all the ingredients you need to design a treasure map for your daily focusing. We have a special give-away this month. If you make a comment on this blog, we will send 3 of you this special audio program, which is also available on my website http://www.creativesuccess.com. Then, you are all set to follow the instructions in “The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women” and create a beautiful picture of the essence of what you want. This way you own your priorities and can study them daily and begin to live the conditions to make your treasure map bloom!

Here are some tips to keep you focused:

1. Write a Life Purpose Statement of who you want to be, do, and have.
2. Tune into your heart to make sure that your goals and your inner truth are in alignment.
3. Choose your first five steps and schedule them now.
4. Get yourself grounded–clear out your clutter and get centered.
5. Make your top priorities a focal point in your life and measure your results! Be sure to celebrate your successes along the way and ditch strategies that are not working!

Gail: When did you start writing? Tell us about why you chose to write a screen play and what it is about.

Jenna: I’ve been writing professionally since graduate school, first as a city planner and urban designer, and more recently for my coaching business. Over the last 9 years, I’ve written hundreds of blog posts and articles, though it wasn’t until recently that I took the plunge into writing creatively. It took two wake up calls to get me going: 1) I had my hands analyzed, which made it clear that my life long fear and avoidance of my creativity was actually my life lesson and would have to be faced come hell or high water, and 2) my family and I were in a roll-over car accident, which gave me the kick in the pants to start doing what I am passionate beyond reason about: Science fiction.

I’ve always held the belief that I, Jenna Avery, could never come up with anything interesting enough or original enough to be quality fiction, so to get started, I began asking my creative muses for an idea. And one arrived. With some trial and error along the way, I’m now deeply entrenched in writing a sci fi screenplay about a powerful female commander who has to make an impossible choice between redeeming her past failures and protecting the people she loves. It’s darned exciting.

Gail: How does your personal writing fulfill your Life Purpose? Are they connected?

 Jenna: My writing fulfills part of my life purpose as a Messenger to the Masses, otherwise known as a “Gifted Author and Speaker,” so they’re definitely connected! I also have “Lines of Genius” gift markings that reinforce the writing. Most telling, however, is my life lesson, which is to “Value & Trust my Creativity.” Together, they are a one-two punch that make it both hard to write and hard not to write, especially creatively. It’s a pretty picnic, indeed. Although it still scares the daylights out of me, I feel like I’ve finally come home. My full life purpose is Big Shot Messenger and Wise Elder Mentor Loving Life.

Gail: What keeps you accountable as a writer? Is your group an outgrowth of tricks that you have learned to keep yourself on track?

Jenna: Strange as it may sound, I’ve learned to make it even harder NOT to write than it is for me TO write. To that end, I have multiple levels of accountability: My online writer’s circle group gives me a place to report in everyday, and the fact that I am the coach and therefore role model for the group doesn’t hurt. I’m also enrolled in a screenwriting class where we have assignments due every 24 hours in a public forum. On top of all this, I have a certain level of accountability to my family to get my writing done in such a way that it doesn’t overly interfere with our time together nor with my ability to generate income through my coaching business until my writing begins to generate income directly as well.

The “Just Do The Writing” Accountability Circle is based on a system devised for academic writers needing support around completing their dissertations and tenure articles. When I saw that this system was available for other accountability programs and saw all the little green check marks that could be mine, I knew I had to have it for myself and for the writers I want to support.

We use several simple but critical principles to keep us on track in our writing, like showing up every day, using a timer to write, and more. See the graphic below.

Gail: What is different about this group that makes it so successful?

Jenna: The keys that make this system so successful are the unique combination of personal awareness and social accountability.

In terms of personal awareness, we ask you to note how much time you spent writing, what you feel good about, and what got in the way. We also ask you to reframe any inner critic’s messages that may be coming up for you around your writing. Just taking the time to notice and shift what’s working about your writing, what’s not, and what you’re telling yourself about your work is a powerful way to clear out the inner debris so it doesn’t accumulate into writer’s block while you’re also fine tuning and adjusting your writing process each and every day. The level of personal awareness that results is truly priceless.

On the social accountability front, we ask you to publicly state your goals to your coach and your small group, on a daily and on a session basis. Then, when you log on and report about your progress, your peers and your coach respond with supportive comments and encouragement. There’s nothing quite like knowing you’re not alone to help you stay on track and avoid the sense of isolation that can be crippling for artists and writers.

Gail: I know that you still have some of your Protection and Grounding jewelry that you make for sale on your website. The necklaces and earrings are quite lovely. Tell us how you got interested in making them and how they work.

Jenna: I’ve always loved making jewelry, and when I read “The Psychic Pathway” by Sonia Choquette, I was intrigued by the idea of creating jewelry with crystals that would help sensitive people with some of the challenges we face, like picking up other people’s energy and feeling ungrounded. The two remaining necklaces on my site are good for blocking negative energy and staying grounded and present.

For more info about Jenna and her group which begins on January 23rd, check out www.JennaAvery.com.

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The main premises are that you have to write down either one big goal or no more than three small goals, design an accountability action plan, get the right kind of support, reroute if your first plan doesn’t work, and keep experimenting until you get the formula right and the results you want. For people who are willing to do these steps with goals they truly want, victory can be theirs. But the stats are terrible–most people have spaced out on their intentions by March or much sooner. Worse yet, they often set the same goals year after year. So if you are not willing to do what it takes, please do not set goals this year.

Why do I say that? Aren’t we supposed to keep trying to grow and improve ourselves? Isn’t positive change worth aspiring to? Of course, but if we don’t want the results that we say we want in our whole being, in our gut, in our bones, and in our heart, we don’t have the emotional power to succeed. If we continually set ourselves up to fail, the price is our self-esteem. That is too high a price to risk. We need high self-esteem to negotiate our way through this matrix of a world that we live in. If we cannot keep our promises to ourselves, our word becomes tenuous, and we lose trust in ourselves. When we can’t trust ourselves, we feel ungrounded and the world becomes a scary place. Many years ago when I took EST, we learned about the power of promises and the psychic toxicity of not keeping them. Since then I try really hard not to promise something I cannot deliver–my integrity is one of my core values since one of my life purposes is being a Mentor.

Change is challenging, especially in the context of a global community where information doubles every few years. Change is uncomfortable–it smarts.

It brings up fears of all varieties. I have a client now who is writing an important book. She cut back her current workload, put money aside for this project, set up a writing space and a writing schedule, alerted her family and friends that she needed to focus on her project and has me and a success buddy in place for support. All fabulous positive choices. Yet, she can’t get started. She is paralyzed, an unusual feeling for a brilliant woman. We dug around during our coaching and she has old ghosts in her brain who told her she didn’t have the gift. She wonders if they are right, even though she journals everyday. We all get slammed for self-expression sometime–everyone has a story. Yet my client has a message for the world and she wants to start with a book and you don’t have to write a book by yourself. She has passion which is a key catalyst for empowerment. What she needs now is to find her identity as a writer who completes her work so that she can finish this book in nine months as planned.

New Year’s resolutions are not just about finding the right health club or the best diet or a new career. They are about a new identity, a transformation, whether large or small. Dancing with a resolution and ending up on stage having mastered it, changes who you are and how you hold yourself. Failure to meet our goals is rarely about laziness, it is about earning to let go of who we were and becoming someone stronger and more esteemed, by ourselves.

So don’t get conned into the resolution syndrome without understanding its potential to bring you down, if you don’t want the change enough. Take better care of yourself than that and wait until you are so ready to do what it takes to win this time.

You need to own and celebrate your talents and your gifts, fix the things you can and want to change, and as the Serenity Prayer teaches us, release the rest. Feeling shame about anything zaps your creative spirit and ease of living. So what are you holding onto about yourself that has you wanting to hide? In my book, The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women, scientist Mary Hayden says that doing the best you can is all you can do. Are you doing your best now? If not, I suspect there are some toxic myths stuck in your mind. Here are a few big ones:

• You can never fail at anything, and if you do, cover it up.
• If anyone criticizes you, you have to feel deflated.
• It is not okay to not know what your next step is because you need to be in control and have it together at all times.

Wow–what a straight jacket these myths are to our ability to be ourselves in the world and be content with who we are in the moment plus take the positive risks to become more of who we want to become. If we are not allowed to fail, how can we possibly grow so that we can learn how to do our best?

I just spent a year in a professional training program where we all got criticized (lovingly, I must add, which is the only way we can hear it), we all tried new things, and some of them flopped, and we got scared as we had to step up to our next best level. My Spolight Sisters and I stared down our fears, remedied our liabilities, and now stand strong and proud of our leap forward. We did what it took to get better and our self-esteem rose.

If you let go of these myths and your own dysfunctional lies you were or tell yourself, what is your next step forward to being your very best self?

Stop putting yourself down for who you are not. Gee, somedays I wish I was much taller, a real extrovert, in love with financial services (ethical ones), could sing like Barbara Streisand, and had inherited 200 million dollars when I was 18 so I could be a big time philanthropist. What a waste of energy as none of these fantasies will ever be true. What are your fantasies and how do they block you from focusing on healing yourself and making the life you have as great as possible.