Financial Saboteurs: Any Show Up for You in 2018?

Did you meet or exceed your financial goals in 2018?

Right about this time, it becomes very evident to businesses, entrepreneurs, speakers, and authors, that many of you hit some financial saboteurs this year and didn’t meet your financial goals. If you came up short in one area, or didn’t do as well as you had the year before, can you identify what the cause was?

In some cases, you exceeded your financial goals — which begs the question, why? What did you do this year to make it so successful?

Why are some entrepreneurs able to hit and exceed their financial goals, and others are not?

I’m going to share with you 6 Financial Saboteurs that interfere with our ability to reach our financial goals — these are the major commonalities I’ve learned over the years personally and as an entrepreneur.

There’s no reason to feel bad if you don’t hit your financial goals. However, it’s always important to measure your results against your actions. That allows you to identify where you can strengthen your efforts and figure out where you and your business are going, so you can meet your financial goals next year.

This becomes a treasure trove of opportunity for you to identify where you want to be in 2019, and how to get there!

Financial Saboteur #1: No Focus

We allow for distractions, or shiny new programs, or shiny new objects. We think another machine or another program will make the difference – because the marketing of that program was so good, it hit our pain points!

Here are three questions to keep in mind when joining a new program:

Is this person hosting the course the right expert for this top or area of business?
Do they have a track record of success for themselves as well as their clients?
Does this program or course align with my intentions right now?

Financial Saboteur #2: No Qualified Help for Your Business

Do you have the right kind of qualified help for your business? Oftentimes as entrepreneurs we don’t have enough help – because we fear we can’t afford it. But at the end of the year, look back at the financials: what if you had invested that $3,000, $6,000, or $25,000 in good, qualified, experienced people to help you with your business, instead of on programs or tools that may not have netted you the results you expected?

Would that be a better time and cost investment than signing up for multiple programs or buying a fancy new device? Maybe you didn’t think you could afford a Facebook expert to run your ad campaigns, so you tried to do it yourself – to much frustration, and lost time and money.

Anything you think you can “do yourself,” you should be tracking as though you were invoicing yourself for your hours. Is it worth it to spend 48 hours of your time figuring out Facebook? Maybe it is. But maybe it’s worth hiring the expert who can do it in a fraction of the time (without the headache!) and has a track record of success.

Financial Saboteur #3: No Money Tracking

Money loves attention. As you know from the Law of Attraction, that which you focus on most is what comes about. So when you do not focus on money, it hurts you – it’s like ignoring a big part of your business!

You need to track your money daily. You might think that’s a pain – and hurtful when you have to track $0 income for the day! But it’s such a great reminder to stay on task every day. I have a free download for a Money Tracking Guide you can print out and use over and over – you’re going to love it!

Financial Saboteur #4: No Follow Up

Every person that you meet, there’s a reason for it. I’m convinced there are no coincidences – it’s all synchronicity. You go to an event, or you’re out and about in your neighborhood, and you meet people and make contacts. How often do you follow up with those people to solidify the connection?

Do you put them in your database? Do you have a system for tracking them? I’m going to link you to a fantastic system that will help keep you on track for follow-ups. It’s a database, email campaign platform, and e-commerce site all in one. I use it and love it!

You need something to keep track of all your different systems. What kind of systems do you have for your incoming and outgoing calls? What kind of systems do you have in place for email campaigns? How about partnerships and affiliations with other businesses or entrepreneurs?

If you approach someone with a collaborative idea rather than a competitive idea, they’re going to be much more open to it! But you have to follow up, or you’ve lost both the business opportunity and the personal connection. Sometimes the collaboration doesn’t work out the first time – and that’s okay! But you don’t want to lose that relationship forever!

Financial Saboteur #5: No Momentum

Every time you…

Answer a phone call outside of work-related calls
Check social media (just for fun, not for work)
Scroll through your email inbox

…you’re interrupting your intentional action, and you’re stopping your momentum!

Now, these tools (especially social media) are necessary for modern business life, but they’re also specifically designed to draw us in and distract us for the rest of the day. Don’t let them – don’t check them till you’re done with work for the day! You don’t want to shift mindshare gears until you’re ready to wrap up.

Financial Saboteur #6: No Lead Generation System

Do you have a system to find new clients or customers? Do you have a sentence or two about what you and your business do at the ready (that you can easily adjust for your audience) for every time you meet a potential new client or business connection?

There are so many people out there right now who could use your services and products, but they don’t know you’re there. How do you get that visibility? How do you get yourself and your services out in front of your potential clients?

One of the best ways to do that is with a lead generation e-book! This is very different from a regular legacy book. Even if you have 4 books out, you’ll still benefit from this lead generation e-book because it serves a much different function than your legacy book does. This is simple, to the point, with a specific structure and strategy as a lead generator.

Now, how can you tackle these Financial Saboteurs in 2019?

Every day, ask yourself: what’s my intention on what I want to be doing and need to be doing right now?

Ideally, you’re taking inspired action. Once you start something and you get it going, you have momentum. How do you keep that momentum going?

One way I love to maintain momentum is to create a Task List or Step List. You have your intention, the action you’re taking, and you write down the steps you need to take to complete the action. Then, just start with the first step, and you’ve created momentum.

Any time you feel task overwhelm creep in, or you aren’t sure what to do next, just refer back to the plan you wrote down. It doesn’t have to be fancy or detailed – even just a couple words or phrases on some Post-Its will do!

Train your focus on the intention: be very conscious of your thoughts and your words.

Don’t allow your mental refrain to be, “I can’t do this, I don’t know anything, this is more difficult than I thought.” Any criticism will stop momentum in a New York Minute!

Let’s say, for example, that you really don’t know how to do one element of your action. That’s not a problem! That’s a neutral thing — and, honestly, it’s a very easy one to fix!

How, you ask? You can find a mentor, you can teach yourself, you can hire someone to implement certain aspects that you think are better left to an expert. But be mindful of your thoughts and words — they’re going to pull you away from action and into the emotional dungeon of “I can’t” if you’re not keeping them primed to the positive!

**Reflect on your business practices every month.**

Commit one day a month – or half of one day, whatever you think you need – to reflect on your business practices, your processes, and your 2019 Money Goals to identify areas that are lacking depth or development and areas that are succeeding.

And, if you do this, you can recalibrate what you’re doing with your business regularly. That helps you catch potential conflicts well in advance of them becoming actual problems. It will also help you identify the areas where you’re thriving — which is exactly what you need to stay motivated to maintain that momentum!

“But Ruth…”

Now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “But Ruth, I have a million things going on right now!” “How can I write an e-book to be a lead generator? I don’t have time!” “How could I possibly track money every day…I think it will end up being a downer. When will I find the time to do it daily?”

If you’re ready to get serious about your business and your financial goals in 2019, I have some amazing new programs for you to check out!

I’m starting a 5-month Creating a Successful and Profitable Lead Generator course in January, which will walk you through everything you need to know about writing an e-book for lead generation. You can start writing in January, and have your book ready to launch in 5 months! I’ll be hosting a complimentary Master Class on December 19 to cover the course details – be sure to grab your spot here!
If one of your 2019 intentions is to attract more media attention to your business or your brand, you should head over to Be Your Own Publicist. This is a super-charged, 30-day program that packs a ton of amazing information in in four weeks – it’s a great way to kick start your 2019! You might think it’s impossible to get media attention without a fancy, 6-figure agency representing you, but not anymore! I’m excited to share with you my tools to attracting the media placements you and your brand deserve.
And, as always, I would love to speak with you one on one if there is something else I can help you with, or if you’re looking for more tailored guidance. Sign up for a strategy session with me here!

Now, to recap…

It’s so critical to set intentions and goals at the onset of any project, business venture, or calendar year. This helps you to stay on track, helps you identify areas for improvement, and helps highlight what you do best.

Positive reinforcement is the biggest motivational tool we have, and when you see areas where you’re doing well, celebrate them! Don’t let the tougher parts of your business pull the whole operation down. And if you’ve knocked it out of the park in 2018 — congratulations!! Celebrate YOU and your brilliance this New Year.

We can always implement new problem solving strategies before problems arise. Here’s how you can plan to prevent problems and recalibrate when Financial Saboteurs pop up in 2019…

Identify your intention and take inspired action
Stay focused on your intention and be mindful of your words and thoughts: they will sabotage your momentum if you let them!
Reflect on your business practices every month

Are you ready for the new year? I know I am!

Here’s to Your Brand and Your Brilliance,

Ruth

P.S. Don’t forget to get your free Money Tracking Template here!