Tracey D’Aviero, Virtual Assistant

I came across an article today that made me feel good! It was a study by MoneySense that concluded that Ottawa-Gatineau is the best place to live in Canada.

Seeing as I live in Osgoode, which is in the greater Ottawa area, I take this as a great compliment! (mind you I’d rather live in Osgoode, in the country than in the city, but I get it!)

Last year apparently we came in second though I could not figure out who was first last year. Apparently we scored 73.5 out of a possible 105 points. That’s pretty cool.

Anyway, I’m very proud to live in Ottawa. The statistics are certainly an interesting read.  Check out your city and see where you placed!

In a recent conversation with my business coaches, I was talking about the fact that I keep my clients’ needs at the top of my list. I have regular calls and emails with them, I ensure that we have a list of things that we are working on each week, and I let them know what’s going on all the time as we navigate their Internet marketing and social media needs.

This sounds good, but I was, in fact, lamenting that although I do all of these things for my clients, I do not do pay enough attention to them for my own business.  Do you know what they said?

Stop Putting Yourself At The Bottom Of Your List!

They were right. The fact is that I constantly tell my clients how important it is to keep their service offerings current, their clients and their ‘tribe’ informed and in touch, and their networking contacts fresh. I tell them these things because they are TRUE! But I always let this area of my own business lapse. I focus on it for a while and then I get too busy and let it go again. Instead of keeping on top of it, I am always playing catch up.

I have decided that it’s time to take my own advice, and so as you know I am building my very first team of subcontractors, after working alone for about 13 years. I have decided that my business is just as important as my clients’ businesses. We are not apples and oranges (now you get it!). We all deserve the same attention.

The fact is, my client load right now is full. I have a waiting list for work in June and July. So really the attention needs to turn to my own business in order for me to be able to grow, and for me to be able to grow with my clients too!

Look for an exciting announcement from me early next week about a new program I am launching. It’s going to be great, and finally I am looking after my own business the way it deserves! (and thanks to my wonderful team members, it will get the TLC that I show my clients!)

Every morning I get a daily inspirational message via email from www.dailyom.com. I try to take a moment each day just to read it and take whatever inspiration I can from it.

This morning’s email reminded me of  my last blog post so I thought I would do a mini blog post just to share it with you because I really love the message it presents.

Try to learn something new this week. This keeps our energy active which affects not only us, but those around us too.

The whole article is called The Mind Follows No Timeline and you can find it here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Over the March Break, we were lucky enough to get together with family at Mont Tremblant in Quebec, which is about 2 hours or so from our house. My son had gone skiing on a couple of school trips this year, and his cousins and uncles were anxious to get him out on a ‘real’ hill before the end of the season, so we popped up Saturday afternoon. 

As I stood at the bottom of the covered gondola watching him go waaayyyyy up to the top of the hill, I was both excited and nervous. The next time I saw him was over an hour later, and he was beaming. I’m happy to report that he had an awesome time. He skied for several hours, and did very well by all reports. He is definitely hooked, and is primed and ready for next season! We are even going to ski with him next year.

So now that the snow is definitely gone here, I have been reflecting on that trip (daydreaming of a longer holiday soon, no doubt!).

I always think that the simple things in life teach us great lessons. The lesson that I am taking from that ski trip is definitely simple:

• Learn something new (a new skill or service)
• Practice it often to perfect your technique
• Start slowly but don’t be afraid to push yourself
• If you LOVE it, be sure to find opportunities to keep doing it

And if you stop loving it and it stops challenging you for some reason, then it’s time to learn something new.

That’s not to say that you should move along everytime something gets boring, but it’s important to keep challenging yourself to keep your work interesting. One of my favourite quotes (I have it hanging in my office) is from Aristotle, “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”

If you love what you do, then you will love to go to work everyday. So if there is a task you don’t love to do anymore, outsource it! If there is a client who doesn’t fit with your vision anymore, refer them to someone new. If there is a procedure that you are using that isn’t working like it used to, explore new options.

The idea is to keep things fresh – spring is a great time to take a look at various parts of your business and make changes where necessary!