success

Diving into a December Detox

Posted on by Zinga H

I’ve been reading a book called Results by Jamie Smart. At first I thought it was going to help me find some management techniques to ensure that when I work with small businesses or large enterprises, the goals they set bring provable results.

Woops! Judged a book by a cover, but it seems the universe had bigger plans for me in mind. The book Results was actually about how our minds, our very thoughts, can get in our own way of finding the true innate results we can deliver as humans. *Mind blown* It seems simple, but this concept really attempts to get the reader to accept that clarity to a human is as real and pervasive as gravity is on this earth. We did not invent gravity, it just is, and we discovered and name it. We do not create our own clarity, the clarity is there, and sometimes our thoughts can keep us from tapping into it.

As someone who loveeeesssss to think, I still struggle to embrace this concept, but I would like to get closer to stepping into clarity. As a challenge for myself, and this blog, I am going to be embarking on a detox in December. As a way to clear some of the “contaminated” or even “cluttered” areas of my life. I’ve put together some areas to detox and hope that writing will help me commit to this journey over the next 21-days.

So here is a list of 21-day detox ideas that I will be building together.

  • 21 Clean Eating Detox by Fit BodyRock (Food)
  • 21 Day Yoga Challenge by Yoga with Uliana (Fitness)
  • 21 Mind Makeover Challenge by Gravity Life Coaching (Mind)
  • 21 Day Digital Detox Checklist by But First Joy.Com (Tech)

While there are a dozen of ways to detox, I hope these areas hit on the global areas of the self! Here are the details on some.

21-Day Clean Eating Detox by Fit Body Rock

Source: https://www.bodyrock.tv/
From: https://www.bodyrock.tv/ Found on Pinterest

I am choosing level 2, since I am fairly close to level 1 on this. Giving up dairy products will be hard especially during egg nog season!!

Source: https://www.yogawithuliana.com/

I love yoga and it’s been months since I’ve done it in a dedicated way. By releasing the stress and tension from my body, I can definitely open up space for clarity!

21-Day Mind Makeover Challenge by Gravity Life Coaching

Honest, I found most of these challenges on Pinterest 🙂 This one seems to lead to https://www.erinsonlinecoachingcamp.com/

Finally the 21-Day Digital Detox challenge! It’s easy to say that social media can be distracting, especially when you’ve worked in marketing or adjacent to marketing for years! Now that some of my responsibilities are coming to an end I feel comfortable deleting some social media apps, even if its just for a week! I just love this one from But First, Joy.com

From:https://butfirstjoy.com/

So that lays it out! From December 1st to December 21st, I’ll be retreating into myself and practicing these challenges!

Have you ever done a detox? What would you recommend?

Here’s a sneak peek of Week 1, which is underway!

Guest Post:3 Things to Remember As You Build A Successful Business

Posted on by Zinga H

Hey all!

It’s been a journey since I’ve written my last article! Getting an MBA has been the major focus of my writing free-time. Articles coming back and a special summer series for my small business owners sisters is already in the works. For now, I am sharing a special guest post from one of my readers: Chelsea Lamb, author at, https://www.businesspop.net/

Photo by fauxels from Pexels

Are you considering starting a new business or branching out with your current venture? Ready to take that next step into small-business ownership or looking to hire more people for the business you have already forged and made successful? As we come out of the pandemic and consumers are looking to spend some of the savings they accumulated over the last year, you may be considering (or reconsidering) a foray into entrepreneurship.

Let’s take a look at a few things you should remember as you build a successful company following the COVID-19 pandemic:

1. The numbers are on your side

Now could be the best time to start a business thanks to the assistance and incentives being provided by the U.S. government to small-business owners across the country. For instance, there are programs that will help companies maintain their payroll so that they can continue to pay their people throughout the crisis. Around six weeks into the pandemic, U.S. economists were shocked to see a boom in the numbers of new business applications. 

In fact, the third quarter of 2020 is the quarter with the highest recorded number of applications since 2004. New businesses are springing up from the old ones that had closed during the pandemic — more now than ever before. So it may just be that now is the time to start a new venture.

2. Consult the experts

Talk to people who know how to build a successful business. That includes social media and marketing experts, networking specialists, and business success coaches. Keeping a metaphoric rolodex of people who you can consult when you have questions or concerns about the business is a huge way to set yourself up for success in the long term. It’s hard to do this alone — and if you’re a solopreneur and doing everything on your own, it is still essential to have a group of folks you can turn to in times of need.

For instance, business coaching provides you with guidance for every step of the way as you’re ideating, planning, strategizing, launching, and building your business. There are a lot of moving parts in entrepreneurship — and if you’re doing it all yourself, it can be overwhelming. A business coach can provide a critical objective perspective on the work you’re doing and the clientele you’re attracting, not to mention they can help you identify weaknesses in your current strategy and help you strengthen these areas for long-term goal achievement.

3. Don’t forget the importance of organization

Running — and maintaining — a successful business is all about keeping a tight ship. Part of that is making sure your organization is on point. Being able to deliver statistics on your customer lifecycle, developing a marketing persona, and paying your people on time are all artifacts of an effective organization system.

For instance, you may find yourself having trouble maintaining accurate and effective payroll records. Investing in a system that can help you keep things straight and that offers direct depositing payroll for employees can improve your ability to pay them on time and accurately. The right payroll platform allows employers to enter hours and send timely payments directly to employees’ bank accounts without worrying about paper checks.

Take the leap

Is it time for you to finally realize your dreams and start your business? As we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and move toward the “new normal” in terms of the impact the pandemic has left, we can safely say that the new-business boom is here to stay, especially if you’re in it for the long haul. Now’s the time!

For more information about consulting services offered by business coach Zinga Hart, contact her today!

— Thanks for the tips Chelsea!

Draw Out The Details

Posted on by Zinga H

I recently revamped my monthly meetups with Cultivated Sisters. We switched from lesson-based format to more of mastermind format. This guaranteed we delved into everyone’s strategies towards success.

One shared theme was keeping consistent when the task list doesn’t create itself. This is a skill entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders must master to make progress in their goals. When no one but you is running the show, you must be able to give yourself action items, otherwise you might be stuck swirling in a sea of hopes and dreams, instead of swimming to success’ shore.

When we explored this idea forward I realized my knee jerk reaction to create a to-do list, but this  wasn’t actually getting at the source of the problem. What we needed was the Source of the to do list. The foundation from where all those tasks blossom while you’re pursuing your own goals and dreams.

Here’s one  more move  to help you get closer to that list you are looking for:

Drag out the details.

A lot of my people in my circle definitely want to put projects into play and if getting it done seems like a barrier sometimes it may be due to a lack of clarity and one exercise that helps bring about clarity is being verify specific about the outcomes you hope to achieve.

Here are three exercises that can help bring about clarity.

First, figure out what’s in it for you.

Knowing what motivates you and drives you to put this project into play for no reason other than because you want to spend time on it gives you a source and a reason as reward for whatever task you’re about to take on. Sit down and truthfully drag out your personal vision of what the best day would look like for you if this project was fully in bloom.

What would your role be? 
What would you be doing?
Who would be on your team?
Where would you be located? 

These details matter and  will be the fuel for your motivation.
Next would be to figure out who you serve.

If you are in the passion project area of starting a business or non-profit no matter what you must have a customer on the other end.  Someone you serve someone has to buy or use your services in a sustainable way.

Drag out the details of the person you serve.

Why are they coming to you?
What is the problem you’re solving for them?
How did this problem come to be?
How do you solve this problem?
What is their hobbies, likes, and dislikes?
What do they think about in their free time?
Where do they go to find out new information?
How did they find you?
How did they connect with you?

Building all the ways you connect, know, and serve your ideal client or customer is a key  tool for your nonprofit or business organization. It allows you to craft  not only your mission, but also your message to the world and those that would want your help, product, or solution.
Finally leverage your time by dragging out the details of your project. Think about the next big move that is it going to move your project forward from where it is now to where you want it to be. What is the barrier you need to overcome today to take a step forward on whatever you’re working on?  Write that down using whatever tools you can and then look at that project and list all the steps it takes to make this project outcome happen.
Dragging out the details of the project can give  you a tangible view of progress. As a bonus set the smallest amount of time that you think you could truly work on your business or project and I mean be generous! For instance my least amount of time to work on a goal is 15 minutes, but you should choose what ever amount works for you. Then find the optimal space where  you could squeeze that time in into your calendar. If you’re the type of person who wakes up early can you squeeze it in in the early hours. If you’re the type of person that has a lot of free time after work where could you squeeze it in there. How does this project fit into your schedule on a daily basis or weekly basis?Choose whatever counts as consistent to you. Find those little in-between spaces  in your day where you can work on your business.

So that’s our One More Move for this month- Drag Out Those Details.

Stay tuned for our next meetup in Akron, OH last Monday’s of the month!

Join our Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/cultivatedsisters

One More Move: Let Out Your Excuses

Posted on by Zinga H

2018 was a year of introspection for me.

A new career, personal commitments, and community projects made me step back and assess what I was doing. I took time away from writing and  I focused on the internal and external challenges that I had to recognize and explore at the roots. I learned my main priority needed to shift towards projecting my truth into the world. Yet, I know my most truthful voice comes through my writing. Sure, for 2019, I set goals to communicate with my teams more and to make more videos, but deep down I could never escape my calling to write.

What is a part of your calling you could never escape?

Not sure what your calling is?

With time and observation you will hear your calling  within you or see it in the actions that you take. Yet, some of us do hear our calling and then we find ourselves avoiding, ignoring, or neglecting it. We fill our days with excuses to do other things besides what the universe gently asks of us.

So the One More Move challenge is to: Let Out Your Excuses.

 

dazzle

Notice I didn’t say Let Go (that’s another move), but to let them out. My mentor suggested I read The Goddess Warrior Training by HeatherAsh Amara. She discusses the importance of knowing the stories we lean on everyday to explain why we are the way we are. Knowing what those stories are is the first step to take before attempting to transform them. Listen to yourself throughout the week and observe where you stop yourself from taking action or where you make up an excuse for not moving forward on something . Hear those stories and write them down.

At the end of the week, look at those stories and ask do those stories still serve my growth? 

Your stories (including your excuses) are powerful tools to influence how you act in the moment. When you begin to identify how you use your stories on regular basis, you can begin to build the awareness that allows you to leverage them to build your progress towards success.

So want to hear more about 2018? Check out Cultivated Sisters group built for real women who aim to pursue their passion in an authentic way.

 

Ask April: Get Comfortable With Your Ask

Posted on by Zinga H

When you embark on your passion project path you find yourself having to pick up many new skills and experiences. One constant is that you find yourself asking a lot of questions. Asking questions is the brilliance of our humanity. It gives the world in front of us pathways to possibility within a seemingly random world.

The act of questioning is a skill, and like skills can be lost without use. Good news is you can also build mastery in this skill. What you find is a well-crafted question will yield more meaningful results.

For Ask April, get comfortable with our ask. Here’s a method to do it:

  1. Ask away: Give yourself time and space to ask without limits. Set a timer for five to ten minutes and ask your self for and about anything. Grow on your requests or ideas to make them wow you. Bring in details and paint a picture or a story around your asks. If you ask another question allow yourself to move with the questions and then build on that.This practice is a bit of an asking brainstorm that encourages you and stimulate creativity in your questions.
  2. Focus your ask: Now that your question creativity is flowing it’s time to put your skill to good use. Consider a specific question you are facing in your life.

    What is the challenge you want to overcome or bring to fruition?

    For instance, you could be passionate about educational programs in your community. You want to build a local environment where everyone feels empowered to prosper.  You work with a nonprofit that organizes itself around that mission. Now you find yourself having to ask many questions. Now it’s time for your annual fundraising event and you’ve been charged with getting the community you serve to care.
    ZingaHart

    When making the ask to have people commit to the organization’s success you should focus your question in three ways:

    1. Know the who: There may be many people involved with your question or there may only be a few. Take note of who they might be and why they might care.
    2. Know the why: What is your connection to this? What makes you feel good about the efforts in place and what do you hope is the ultimate accomplishment?
    3. Know how: When you are engaged in conversation with your person, know how they can take the next step. Give them the action that brings them closer to the move you hope they’ll take: making a commitment in this case.
  3. Cut in clarity: If you’ve been taking notes throughout this process, you should have 3-5 minutes of free writing and around half a page of planning. Of course, you could and should extend your research, but the last move before taking action would be to bring clarity to your ask.

    Write your question in one concise, yet encompassing question. You may not always use this question exactly, but you will bring clarity to what your communicating should the opportunity ever arise.

*Bonus* To grow even more comfortable with the ASK think of little stories that elaborate what you’re saying.

What do you think about the importance of asking questions? Let me know below! 

 

 

The Simplest Way to Build a Discipline Map

Posted on by Zinga H

Zinga Hart Success Quote (2)

Let’s say you’re starting from scratch.

Sure you’ve gotten things done in the past, but your reliability is 50/50 on your good days. You know you need to get more done to get somewhere, but life — ever-distracting life — draws you away from your personal bigger picture. It happens to the best of us, as we make room for new family responsibilities, changes in professions, a call to civic duty, or the gamut of things we have to deal with as we paint our life vision into reality.

What keeps you going? 

For me, my biggest skill to develop has been the habit of discipline, which I see as doing something even though the thought of doing it brings one discomfort. Putting off that 50-page thesis or skipping a morning run all stem from the ideas that come into our heads when we think about doing them…

…ugh so many pages to write…

…but I’ll get all sweaty…

Whatever the situation or thoughts may be…it is the sensation of discomfort the forces us to choose whether to stay with the discomfort and do what is important anyway or find a way to escape the sensation by another binge session of Shameless on Netflix.

Discipline is the act of going forward anyway.

How does one use discipline?

While we can be sporadic about the ways we are disciplined (you should see me buy the whole town on Sims…), if you are interested in creating your authentic vision of success you exercise discipline in meaningful ways otherwise, you run the risk of life molding your discipline muscles for you. Creating a routine for yourself allows you to apply your discipline to your personal mission.

 So here goes, here’s the simple way to create that routine:

  1. Figure out what you want to do with your life (i.e. write your vision)
  2. Write out what you want to achieve in the next 10, 5,  and 3 years
  3. Develop goals to get done within 1 year
  4. Figure out what you need within 1 month
  5. Write down what you need by the end of the week
  6. Jot 3 things to get done by the end of your day
  7. Check 1-2 (once a year), 3 (once a month), 4-5 (once a week) and update 6 every day.

And we’re done. Sure there are tons of tools you can use, and please remember, you have to actually do the things on these lists for them to be real, but if all you had were a pencil and paper, this list is all you would need.

Build your routines around finding time to achieve what is on these lists and let life fill in the blanks.

Here’s a great article from ZenHabits on mastering discipline.

PS Posting are switching from Tuesday Mornings to Thursday mornings.

professional picture zinga hart return on investment akron cleveland

Return on Investment: Get a Professional Picture

Posted on by Zinga H

Most of my “One More Moves” are free. Honestly, most of our beginning desires for success in life can be achieved for free. Mapping a business plan, building a network, sharing your ideas, staying productive and motivated….there are free ways to do all of these things, the investment comes when you are ready to grow.

Like all good things that come to grow, you need to invest:

  • energy,
  • time,
  • and/or money

into getting to the next phase of your mission. While you could live in the very romantic world of hopes, dreams, and ideas, you will miss out on the fulfilling experience of creating your desires into a reality.

How tomakea workshop (4)

So what’s one small investment you can make?

Adding a professional picture to your digital profiles.

I tell you! It’s an investment I made near the end of 2016 and the changes have been real and meaningful. Here are some immediate returns on my investment in a professional photo:

  • Improved level of connections on LinkedIn: Within days of updating my profile pic, I was invited to connect by a US Senator.
  • Impress colleagues: For my new role, I did an interview, having my own professional photo instead of the standard issue one given by the university, allowed me to bring my warmth and character into my first stamp.
  • Increase confidence: When building my website and creating flyers, I feel great sharing my face and brand because I am not doing an “in-the-car selfie”. I show that I could invest in the experience needed to do the job.
  • Better lighting: Improved lighting allows for you to use your photos in a variety of situations, you can cut and paste can add it to book covers, marketing posts, and plenty of other places.

A typical professional business headshot will typically be an investment of $100-$250.

Unless….

How tomakea workshop (3)

You’re a Northeast Ohio (Akron Event) woman and a member of Empower NOW, the social enterprise group that empowers women to empower women through business development, creative connections, and resource sharing!  Get a professional headshot on March 25th for only $10 thanks to the generous donation of one of our members and the sponsorship of the Akron Microbusiness Center!

 

 

Have any tips on getting a professional headshot? Comment below!

one more move reset on zingahart.com

One More Move: Reset

Posted on by Zinga H

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while as I like to step back and observe during major life transitions.

What’s the big change?

Well, I managed to land a new role in higher education! Working with the College of Communication and Information to help serve our graduate student community. A dream opportunity, I am thrilled, excited, and pumped to embrace the new waves of change.

Working with the College of Communication and Information to help serve our graduate student community. A dream opportunity, I am thrilled, excited, and pumped to embrace the new waves of change.

A dream opportunity, I am thrilled, excited, and pumped to embrace the new waves of change.

Yet, at the same time, being an INTP (and a Taurus) I find sudden instances of change to take a lot of energy from my spirit. As an act of self-care, I go into Reflection & Rest mode.

I find ways to delegate projects, streamline tasks, and lighten up on meetings and events. I use the time to connect fully with family and take in the situations as they come.

we can't be afraid of change. you may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean a sea joy bell c quote found on zingahart.com

How do you approach big changes?

 

Before this Rest & Relax phase, I do one critical task:

Set a deadline for when your “rest” phase ends. Eventually, you should get back up to your full speed.

Rest is a beautiful gift, but it is best balanced with the energy of creation. Creating your future, your business, your brand or whatever drives you forward towards your goals.

So…here we are…

Building back up to full speed for me means taking the time to build on my mission to draw out your authentic success. To remind you of the hunger your ambitions ignite and give you the tools that satisfy your desires.

So I share one more move that gets you a step closer to where you want to be.

So my one more move is a review of how to reset after an extended period of rest. Disclaimer:  This is the method I’ve observed over time and I fully encourage your customize a process that works for you.  With that here are some actions to take.

How to Reset

Brain Dump

Set aside 5-10 minutes to free write or map all of the things important to you and what you want to achieve.

Organize and Prioritize 

Group what you wrote in the first part into major domains and then order the importance of what you should achieve first.

Review Your Vision

Does your latest brain dump align with your ten-year vision? Use your long-term look to further refine your current priorities or re-strategize the long-term goals as needed.

Get to it.

Things won’t get done unless you do them. If after the first three steps, you’re still frozen in the act, let’s chat about it.

one more move reset on zingahart.com

 

How Writing an Ebook Automatically Boosts Your Microbusiness Success

Posted on by Zinga H

We are doing an exciting new challenge for our meetup group this month! Many of us are small business owners or nonprofit leaders and writing for planning, marketing, or sales is something that we will always do.  So inspired by NaNoWriMo we are spending time writing an ebook, which roughly half the word count of a nonfiction novel.

Some of us are still participating in the novel challenge as well because honestly, we are a really flexible group! Write what you want as long as you write is what I say!

Why? Well, there is something very powerful about writing AND even a  good rough draft it helps improve your business.

Here are some good reasons to write:

Long-term marketing tool:

Where do your customers get to delve deep into your business or organization? If you are a micro-business, like I am right now, a lot of the delving deep comes from one-on-one meetings. Imagine giving your community a review of what you do by giving them a book that explains their problem and/or how to solve it. Having a place to point clients, customers and investors so they get to know your brand better and saves hour long meetings for priority initiatives.

Long-term strategy tool: 

When you write, as a focus on your purpose, you have to think it through. The act of writing allows you to actively reflect on the deeper connections that you know exist in your business. Writing allows you to realize your subconscious guide in a safe way. Have a mapped out philosophy behind the product or service you offer is a safe step towards playing out your business before taking a bigger risk.

Teach others 

Sometimes people are not fully prepared to use your product or services. By organizing an ebook you give yourself and your community a logical path to the solution you provide. Use your ebook to educate others so they are prepared to work with or buy from you.

Save Time

Break down the ebook (25000 words) into 25 (1000 word articles) An article for every week for over 6 months or an article a month for two years!! While fresh content is useful, having a backup reservoir of posts in the form of a past ebook can save you a lot of content production time.

There are four good reasons, although I am sure there is plenty more! If you’ve written an ebook for your business before drop a link to it in the comment section and share how writing it has benefitted you.Â