My blood thirsty theme of the last couple of weeks got me thinking about vampires.
Vampires are all the rage these days.  We’ve made heroes of our fanged friends with the insatiable thirst for blood.  They’re so much more good looking and sophisticated than their old low-budget, laugh-out-loud scary (from behind my cushion)Hammer House of Horror predecessors too.
No one is afraid of vampires these days.
But you should be, cos if they get into your business they will suck you dry!
I’m talking about Time Vampires!
The external sort are bad enough - you know, those people who’ll call you up at their convenience, and expect you to drop everything and talk to them…at length! Colleagues, clients, friends…they come in many disguises, and can suck the life out of hours of your time.
But bad as they are, they aren’t the worst. The worst time vampires are in your head.  You know, the ones who tell you you aren’t good enough, that you’re not smart enough or, most time-drainingly, that you don’t know enough, that you can never know enough, to take effective action.
So you learn, and you keep learning, you develop an insatiable thirst for knowledge.  You read loads of books, you surf the net looking for how ‘successful people’ do it, and you subscribe to their e mails, you sign up for development course after development course.  You become a learning vampire.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against learning, I’m a huge fan of personal development myself, love reading, love modelling others, and totally get that the right learning at the right time is essential for your business success.
But when it comes to your business success, can you really afford to let learning suck your time dry?
If you subscribe to websites or read about a smart new way of doing something in your business and then do nothing with it, all you’ve done is waste precious time and money.
Business learning is only worthwhile if it is a catalyst for action.  If it’s focused on one area of your business that is struggling, or that you’d like to strengthen, and if spending time learning leads to clear and tangible improvement.
For years we have been taught to think outside the box.  It’s something we do naturally as business owners and entrepreneurs - we’re always outside the box thinking and creating, looking for the new and exciting, and as a result our approach to learning is scattergun.  We’ll stick our learning fangs into any book, or any body that we think will feed our thirst for new information, and spark yet another new idea.
With learning, we need to think inside the box; to focus our attention on one business challenge at a time - learn, implement, review, learn, implement, review until it’s sorted, until it’s no longer a drain on our time and energy.
Whatever your particular priority, focus your learning and action on it.  And, like any good vampire, stay inside the box.
Do one thing: Go through your e mails and unsubscribe from anyone whose information won't help you resolve the main challenge in your business today

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk
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​Last week I asked you to kill a snake. Continuing on this blood-thirsty theme, I'm wondering how much time you spend killing moles?

You must have seen the arcade game Whack A Mole which is all about smacking cute little moles on the head as they peep out of their holes. Fun game! Just as you knock one back another appears and another, and another...until your time, or your money runs out. Fun, but infuriating!

Do you ever feel like that game mirrors your work - maybe your whole life?

Always fixing the latest problem, always dealing with mini or sometimes major crises?

Of course, for those of you in love with the struggle this is all part of the game, part of what you love about being in business.  Fire-fighting can be fun!

A crisis occurs and we rush in and save the day. It’s high octane, high energy and a great adrenaline rush. Aren't we the hero!

I'm sure you're not old enough to remember public service broadcasts!  They were like ads only non-commercial, aimed purely at educating and informing the apparently 'not too bright' population of Britain at the time.

Anyway, there was one about a family whose water pipes had burst.  It showed how the father had all the family trained to go through a well-rehearsed, well-drilled process of dealing with it - turn off stop cock, get buckets under leak, mop up water with old towels...

At the end of the ad a smug father and his family stand there proudly, crisis overcome. And just as you’re thinking that it's their well-drilled 'crisis management' that's being recommended, the voiceover says, “Well done Mr Mole…..but what a pity you let it happen in the first place….”

Fire-fighting can be fun. But...

What if our time or money run out?

It isn't sustainable, it's a waste of our resources, and it's certainly not good for our reputation - with our team or our customers.

Yes, some fire-fighting is inevitable; there will always be the knowns and the unknowables, the controllables and the uncontrollables. No matter how much we plan or anticipate the future there is always uncertainty.

But – if you're constantly fire-fighting - if every business day is a game of Whack A Mole, then maybe it's time to call in Bright 7 pest control and get some preventative systems in place.
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We don’t kill moles, but we do prevent them from digging up your business.

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

I’d like to introduce you to someone who’s saved me a lot of time and money over the years.

He may well have done the same for you.

He’s Mr Kipling; not the maker of exceedingly good cakes, but the author of the famous lines:

“I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I know);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.”

(from The Elephant’s Child)

I’ve used these serving-men a lot throughout my business life - when I’ve been developing processes and plans, or deciding what and how to delegate and who to, or working to improve my work life balance.

When you have an idea you’re just busting to jump right into and get on with, reeling this little poem off in your head can remind you that a bit of discipline up front will save you a whole lot of bother further down the line.

What, Why, When, How, Where, WhoIt’s hard to argue that Planning, Process development or Cost Benefit Analysis are sexy and fun, but they’ll save you a whole heap of money in the long term and free your time to enjoy things that are.

So instead of “do, do, do, patch, patch, patch” why not try “plan, plan, plan, implement, review, improve”. Your team and customers will love you for it too.

On the other hand, if a snake wanders into your office - just kill it! (Only hypothetical, for any snake lovers out there!)
Now, where did I leave that fondant fancy…?
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For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

I had a long day yesterday.  A full day masterminding, with 4 hours travelling time either end.  It was a great day - not only because the content of the meeting and the people I was sharing with were both top quality, but also because I had close to 8 hours of pure thinking time - just me, on my own, in the car.

Time is so precious, and all too often we see time spent thinking as a waste of it. We're business owners, so we should be doing, right?! Thinking is for those people who are going nowhere.

We don't need to think.

We know, and we act.

The trouble is, we can often be running full speed in the wrong direction.  Busy busy busy doing stuff that isn't taking us to where we want to be.

And that's because we haven't ever stopped to think where that is.

One of the first questions I ask my clients is 'what does success look like to you?', and very rarely do I ever get a full answer

- 'This is what I'd be doing, feeling, thinking.' 'This is where I'd be and who I'd be with' 'This is what my life would look like' 'This is what my relationships would be like.'

It's usually a vague, 'Well I'd have a really successful business, and more time to do the things I've always wanted to do.'
Nobody gives themselves permission to take the time to think these days.  Not properly.

We're all relentlessly driving our business forward.  But forward to where?

Do we ever really think about the basics of where we want our life to go, and how our business is going to help us get there.

So that's my challenge to you over this short break.

Give yourself a break.  Give yourself time alone to think. Give yourself permission to switch off, and recharge, and gain new clarity from your newly created head-space.
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Work out where you want to end up.  And give Q2 a fighting chance of taking you on the right road to getting there.

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk