Sometimes you just need a good book. And, if you love learning, a great book can go a long way in business.

If you’ve got a fellow business person or leader in your life and are looking for a gift that has the potential to make an impact for them, then this is the list for you.

Or maybe, in this season of giving, you’re looking to provide a gift to yourself.

Here are 4 business books that had a major impact on me and I know countless others.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I would share the year-end review that I conduct in my business to close out one year and move forward in the next.

By sharing my process I hope this supports you to hone in on what’s important in your business. 

My mission is to help Leaders and Business Owners create sustainable businesses. In order to create a sustainable business, knowing the metrics that convey the health in your business is so important. This way you spot problem areas that need to be addressed and successes that you can leverage or lean into.

If you chose to grow your business, you know whether or not you have a healthy foundation in which to do so.

I like to keep it simple.

I don’t know about you, but recently, I’ve been witnessing a number of people who’ve been feeling stressed and very tired. It’s a busy time of year. And, it can bring out feelings that sometimes lay dormant throughout the year. It can be an emotional time for many.

On top of that, you’re running your business and you’re dealing with everything that normally lands in your lap but you also have the added commitments that go along with the Holiday season.

I’d love to have a magic ingredient that could take this all this away for you and transform it into a feeling of peace, ease, and comfort for you.

What I will do is share some thoughts that I hope may support you.

Oh the challenge of trying to ‘get it all done’. There’s so much isn’t there? Sometimes it feels like there’s too much!

And, you’re only one person - you’re the leader, the business owner, responsible for it all. How can one person get ‘it all done’?

I’m often asked what productivity tips I would recommend for busy business owners. I have several, and often, it depends on the specific circumstances of the person I’m speaking with which ideas or strategies I might share.

There are also underlying elements that may masquerade as ‘productivity’ issues, but lead to deeper reasons why we aren’t moving forward….but that’s not for this post.

Sometimes, what we need are just some good pointers on different ways to work and get inspired, so this is what this post is designed to support you with.

I’ll share one tip here with you, and I have 9 others that I will send to you if you find yourself resonating with this challenge of wearing soooo many hats in your business and not knowing where you’ll find the time.

I've been asked many times by clients, "How do you shut everything off at night?", "Even when I'm not at work, I'm at work!".

There are three things I most often recommend to help with this:

In my years of working as a sales professional and teaching sales at a Fortune 500 company, I've seen people held back by their own self-diagnosed assessments that they 'can't sell' or don't know 'how to sell'. 

I now coach people who are promoting their small businesses or in career transition and I've seen trends that can make a big impact to your personal sales process (whether selling your skills, product or service).

Having systems in your business is like having healthy eating habits...once they're established they contribute to longevity, vitality and create a solid foundation for great things to happen - such as growth in your business.

This chance encounter was not so 'by chance'. And, it reinforced a concept that I learned early on in my sales career...

I've been in a number of conversations with professionals/business owners who want better for themselves - who are striving to put their talents and skills to better or more constructive use, who want to feel fulfilled each day, or who want to step into their own leadership skills and lead with confidence.

This power is not to be underestimated.

Your Intention can make profound things happen. It can create changes or actions that may feel small at the time but can have a big impact on how your life events unfold.

Like the cylinders in a car or cogs in a wheel, your business has components that make it run well.

Just like your car's engine, your healthy body, or a puzzle, when one component isn't working, your entire business begins to struggle to keep up....

I've been thinking about the relationship between intent and behaviour.  

In life, so many of us have goals - to eat better, to increase our exercise, to be present at home more...

I'm guessing you can relate to the idea of intending to eat well and then making a poor choice of snack. Or, intending to get more sleep, yet, making the decision to check your social media accounts late into the night.

When it comes to your business or career, we also set goals and then find ourselves making poor decisions that don't get us close.....

I always find it interesting to look at our behaviours towards those goals because it tells us what our relationship is to them, and it can reveal something deeper at play....

We are a culmination of our experiences and environment.

We are the main protagonist in our story. We hold on to our stories of who we've been and they become our identity.

But, what happens when a part of our story no longer serves us? What happens when we hold onto a part of our story that actually limits our future growth and success?

I've noticed that when we plan to accomplish a goal and create our actions, there's a piece missing that can de-rail so many of us.  Setting the goal and determining how we'll get there is only a piece of the puzzle...

Accounting for that 'thing' that has the potential to de-rail us could be an important component of your next goal setting and action planning exercise.....

Starting your business – the one that you’ve thought of, explored and now finally launched out into the world, is a huge accomplishment.

What comes next is no easy task.

Finding people to work with: Clients. Customers.

A decision so powerful it changes the course of things.

At first, it’s not visible on the surface, to anyone else.

Between blogging, booking yourself into networking events, focussing on one product/service offering or the next....how do you know where to focus your time and energy?

Something else was calling to me and I just couldn't figure it out.

If you’re having trouble moving forward, figuring out the next step in your life – whether it be your career, your business, or your personal life and you feel that you just don’t know which way to take things, looking to your past could offer up clues....