Do you feel like you are in control of your calendar and all those things on your to-do list or are they in control of you? If you are driven by everything that has to be done each day, there’s a good chance that the systems you’re using to plan your days and keep yourself organized need to be examined and restructured. By implementing some key structures in the important areas in your life, you will find yourself moving through the day with less stress and more items on your list being crossed off. Let’s look at what you need to do before you can create more structure in your life.

Exercise – Part 1 – Determine what’s working for you

Make a list of all the systems and areas in your life that are working well, so you can celebrate all the activities that you have got a handle on. Go through a typical day, from the time you get up until the time you go to bed. Look at each area of your life.

Part 2 – Examine what’s not working for you

In her excellent book "Time Management from the Inside Out", Julie Morgenstern offers us these questions to help us discern what’s not working in our lives:

1. I never have time to:
2. I spend way too much time on:
3. I don’t have well-defined goals for:
4. One thing I wish I could do every day is:
5. I always underestimate how long it takes to:
6. I procrastinate whenever I have to:
7. I am usually late for:
8. It’s hard for me to say no to:
9. I have a hard time finishing:

Once you’ve asked yourself the above questions, answer this question for each one: "Why?" Why do you ‘never’ have time to do xxxxxxx? Why do you spend too much time on xxxxxxx? And so forth.

Part 3 – Are you ready to make some changes?

If you want to have more time for family, a more successful business, or a better life in general, you need to take a good look at yourself and ask the question:

Am I ready to make the changes that are necessary to have more of what I want in my life?

If the answer is yes, then look over the lists of what is and is not working in your life, and make a decision that you want more things working for you, and less of the things that aren’t currently working for you. If it seems like you may have to give some things up, how would you feel if I asked you to trade in what’s not working for you for something better? Start coming up with solutions, systems, or structures to help your days be more productive and joyful. If it seems like there is a lot to do, make plans to take care of each one, a little at a time. Recruit family, friends, colleagues or hired help you get organized with your time. That will give you more time in 2009 for both your personal and professional lives.

Tomorrow is our last day about planning and time management. We’ll take a look at a couple of ways to organize your weekly schedule. I’d love to hear how the program is working for you so far. Please make a comment, send me an email for a Tweet! Have a great day!

Other Savvy Posts You May Enjoy:

1. Day 21 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – Where Do You Fall Short and What To Do About It
2. Day 4 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – What Will It Take To Feel The Fire Within?
3. Day 3 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – How balanced are the various areas of your life?

Yesterday you went through an exercise of visualizing your life one year from now and writing down goals to help get you there. Today we’ll just talk about goal setting in general. In order to create powerful goals, think of the acronym SMARTER -

Specific, and the more specific they are the better.

Measurable. That which you measure will be treasured, so think about what will be the measurement of your achievement of your goal.

Accountability. Who or what are you accountable to for the goal? Being accountable to something or someone other than yourself will tend to encourage you to keep your promise to complete the goal.

Realistic. It’s good to think big, but setting unrealistic goals will lead to discouragement. Start with smaller goals that are easily within your reach, then begin to challenge yourself more.

Time based. Decide your time-table for completion, and stick to it. Make sure whoever is holding you accountable knows your deadline.

Exciting. Exciting goals will be met far sooner than boring, bland goals.

Recorded. Write down your goal and post it in a place where you can look at it every day.

Exercise:

1. Take a look at the goals you created yesterday. Adjust them as needed to make them into SMARTER goals.
2. When you’re satisfied with them, make three copies.
3. Place one copy should be posted near your work area so you will see them every day.
4. Put the second copy into your purse or day planner in case you need to refer to them, add to the list or check them off your list if you’re away at the office.
5. The third copy will go to someone else who can hold you accountable, like your significant other, a colleague, a friend, or a coach. Be sure to have them check in with you at the deadlines you created for yourself to see if you met them, or to ensure that you’re on track.

Join me tomorrow for more planning tips! If you’ve been following along each day, I’d love to hear how you’re doing so far. Send me an email or a message on Twitter or Facebook and let me know how this is working for you. What insights have you picked up while doing these exercises? See you tomorrow!

Other Savvy Posts You May Enjoy:

1. Day 4 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – What Will It Take To Feel The Fire Within?
2. Day 3 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – How balanced are the various areas of your life?
3. Day 1 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz For ‘09 – Reflect

Over the past three days, you have reflected upon the last year, created a list of your core values, and have revealed  how balanced you are in your life. Today we’re going to explore why you are here.

Stephen Covey, the author of several "7 Habits" books, writes in "First Things First", writes about how humans have four fundamental needs to feel complete. They are:

1. Physical – our basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, health and economic well-being.
2. Social – our need to relate to others, to love, be loved, and to belong.
3. Mental - our need to continue learning to develop and grow.
4. Spiritual – our need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, contribution and personal congruence or alignment.

In a simple sentence, Covey says the "essence of these needs is captured in the phrase ‘to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy’."

This is another facet of looking at the whole picture of our lives. Yesterday you got to see how balanced you were in specific areas of your life. The model that I’m now presenting melds those areas into these four facets of our basic needs. Stephen Covey goes on to explain in his book that when we are able to view these needs in a way that overlaps, as demonstrated here, we can see how they interrelate. In order to feel fulfilled and joyful in our lives, we must take care of ourselves in all areas of our lives. When one area suffers, it affects the whole.

Do you see the section in the middle that is red? This is called "The Fire Within". Covey explains, "Fulfilling the four needs in an integrated way is like combining elements in chemistry. When we reach a ‘critical mass’ of integration, we experience spontaneous combustion–an explosion of inner synergy that ignites the fire within and gives vision, passion, and a spirit of adventure to life.

The key to the fire within is our spiritual need to leave a legacy. It transforms other needs into capacities for contribution. Food, money, health, education, and love become resources to reach out and help fill the unmet needs of others."

Exercise:

Think about a time in your life when you felt really alive. Answer these questions:

• What was going on in your life at that time?
• Who were the people in your life?
• Were your basic needs being met?
• Were you mentally stimulated?
• Were you doing something meaningful?
• Would you say that all your four fundamental needs were met in that moment, and that what you felt was a Fire Within?

I want to sit with this memory for a while, and when you’re ready, answer the following questions. You may want to do this with a friend or partner.

• How would it feel if you could live your life from day-to-day, feeling this Fire Within?
• Picture yourself at the end of 2009, and you are living life with this Fire Within. Close your eyes with you feet flat on the ground, and really feel this Fire. Where are you? What are you doing? Who are you with? How do you look? Where is your family? What does your business look like? How much money is flowing directly to you? Who have you become?

Now, I’d like to think about what you need to do to get from where you right now, today, to where you are at the end of 2009:

• What do you need to take care of your physical needs of food, clothing, shelter, health and economic well-being?
• What do you need to take care with your relationships? Are you willing to let go of relationships that are draining your energy? What can you do to actively nurture the relationships that mean the most to you? Are there people in particular or a group of people with whom you’d like to create relationships with? How will you do that?
• What do you need to learn in the next year to become more effective in your work and your life? What new skills do you want to learn, and what skills do you want to improve? Do you have certifications to complete? Workshops that you’d like to take? Do you want to learn more about business, or becoming a better parent, or something as fun as art, music or gardening classes?
• What activities inspire you? What centers and grounds you? What actions can you take on a regular basis that calm you, give you joy, and allows you to lose track of time?

Working on your doula practice means working on your life. When you feel mostly joyful in your life (let’s be realisitic — we all have bad days now and again!), your work will flow more easily for you. Your life will flow more easily for you. When all your fundamental needs are cared for, you have the energy, or the Fire Within, to serve others more fully. You will feel less like you’re beating against a wall and more like everything is falling into place.

The exercise you’ve just completed are the goals you will take to live your best life in 2009. What do you think about that? Send me an email, make a comment below, or Tweet me @savvydoula.

Join me tomorrow and we’ll explore more deeply into ways to accomplish the goals you’ve just set for 2009. Have a great day!

Other Savvy Posts You May Enjoy:

1. Day 7 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – Incorporating the Big Rocks Into Your Life
2. Day 3 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – How balanced are the various areas of your life?
3. Day 21 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – Where Do You Fall Short and What To Do About It

What should those products be?

First, look into your background, your life before you became a doula, and examine those things that you are good at, any skills you might have, any trainings you’ve done or certifications you possess. For example: Do you sew? Are you artistic? Have you taken massage workshops? Do you like to scrapbook? Are you a dedicated yoga student or fitness buff? Did you used to sell cosmetics?

Next, look at the things that you have genuine interest in and aptitude for. Would those things match up well with a business that provides support for childbearing families? For example: Are you curious about massage, aromatherapy, eco-friendly living, life coaching or breastfeeding?

Look within and without yourself for skills and opportunities for learning that will benefit your clients. Go back to previous clients and ask them what other services they would have found helpful during their childbearing year.  Examine what services you would enjoy providing to mothers, partners and children.

Here are some suggestions:

Possible Products

• Childbirth Education – Private, Group, Christian, Sibling, Homebirth, Hypnotherapy
• Photography – Home Birth Photography, Home Birth Videography, Pregnancy Portraits, Breastfeeding Portraits
• Birth Art – Belly Casting, Belly Painting, Portraits, Name Art, Scrapbooked Birth Stories, Placenta Prints, Jewelry
• Slings – Sales Only, Sales & Manufacture
• Eco-Friendly Products – Natural Personal Products for Mothers, Natural Personal Products for Baby, Cloth Diapers
• Books/eBooks – Childbirth Preparation, Nutrition for Pregnancy, Fitness for Pregnancy, Smoking Cessation, Breastfeeding Basics, Comfort Measures, Newborn Preparation
• Diaper Cakes
• Baby Event Coordination – Blessingways, Showers, New Baby Party, New Baby Party for the Adoptive Child, New Baby Announcement Cards/eCards

Value-Added Services

• Massage – Traditional, Aromatherapy, Foot, Back
• Breastfeeding Counseling
• Home Child Safety Consultation
• Financial Preparedness Consultation
• Babywearing Consultation
• Birth Art – Birth Portrait, Birth Story – Text, Birth Story – Scrapbook Page
• Handmade Rice Bag
• Personal Coaching – Health Coaching, Life Coaching, Financial Coaching, Fitness Coaching, Nutrition Coaching
• Personalized Wearables – Onesies, Hats, Blankets, Booties
• TENS Machine Rentals
• EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)
• Coupons, Discounts and Gift Certificates For Partnered Services

As you can see, there are a lot of products and service offerings that can enhance your doula business. Some require new trainings and certifications and some require skill and aptitude. All would increase you’re your ability to create income as well as differentiating you in the marketplace.

As we come the end of this series on increasing your income potential, I want to draw on your expertise. What are some of the diversified products and added benefits that you offer your clients?

Leanne Palmerston is a doula, childbirth educator, radio personality and writer in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. She’s writes about birth issues at Hamilton Doula, a crafty life with kids at The Clever Mom and whatever strikes her fancy at Momcast. You can also find Leanne on Twitter and Facebook.

Many thanks to Leanne for taking the time to create this article series. If you would like to be a contributing guest author on the Savvy Doula Business Blog, please send me an email at Darlene@SavvyDoula.com, or send me a DM via Twitter @savvydoula.

Other Savvy Posts You May Enjoy:

1. Increasing Your Earning Potential, Part 2 of 3 – Two Types Of Products, by Leanne Palmerston
2. Powerful Descriptions To Sell Your Doula Services
3. Day 9 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz for ‘09 – 10 Tips for Taming That Paper

Adding multiple products to your offerings results in new earning potential. You can attract clients who might not want to purchase Service A but who do want to purchase Service B. You can also sell both A and B to clients who originally intended to purchase only a single service or who are interested in multiple services.

This often happens with childbirth education. A woman and her partner hire you to provide their private childbirth education. They build a relationship with you over the course of a few weeks and decide that your birth support services would be perfect for them.

The reverse also happens often. A couple hires you as their birth doula. Discovering that you provide private childbirth education, they decide that having you provide them with their prenatal education would be a good fit for them and they purchase this service from you, as well.

Each of these services, childbirth education and birth support, are stand-alone products. This is one type of product. It can be sold independently as a single product offering or in tandem with complementary services. Essentially, though, each is a single offering.

The other type of service is the value-added service.

A value-added service is not something you sell separately but something that you add to your regular offerings to increase their value.

By adding value-added services to your offerings, you can increase the amount you charge for the offering and (or) distinguish it from the other similar offerings of doulas in your local market. Potential clients will see your services and know that choosing you means they are getting more than from other service providers.

Bottom line: To increase your earning potential you must offer multiple stand-alone products and add value to the products you currently offer to clients.

In the next and final installation of this three-part series on increasing your earning potential, we’ll investigate different types of stand-along and value-added services you can add to your offerings. I will give you lists of products and value-added services you can add to your product line, making your services more attractive to clients and increasing your chances to earn income.

Leanne Palmerston is a doula, childbirth educator, radio personality and writer in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. She’s writes about birth issues at Hamilton Doula, a crafty life with kids at The Clever Mom and whatever strikes her fancy at Momcast. You can also find Leanne on Twitter and Facebook.

Other Savvy Posts You May Enjoy:

1. Increasing Your Earning Potential, Part 3 of 3 – Product Suggestions, by Leanne Palmerston
2. Increasing Your Earning Potential, Part 1 of 3 – Diversification, by Leanne Palmerston
3. Day 20 of Reorganize Your Doula Biz – How Much Money Will You Make In 2009?