The need for downtime

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...your brain is full, the creases are marking your forhead and the To-Do list is growing.

When can you close up shop and head out? Your stomach is growling, the weekend relaxation calls and your family and friends nudge you into distraction.

If you don't say NO, you feel like a dunce. If you don't say YES, you feel irresponsible.

What's a professional to do?

Now for the Don'ts of the Marketing Game Plan

Yesterday I shared the value of picking up a copy of this paperback or hardbound copy of Nancy Ancowitz's extremely resourceful book. If you think you COULD be an introvert (dislike mingling at networking events, would rather not give a presentation, prefer to stay at your desk for lunch, etc.) this is a great resource for those of you needing to originate business.

Yesterday's post, The Introverts' Marketing Game Plan: The Do's , lays out 5 useful tips for the introvert to do for self-promotion. They make sense for the introvert.

Today is Nancy Ancowitz's concise list of what NOT to do.

The Introverts Marketing Game Plan: The Do's

Nancy Ancowitz's book, self-promotion for introverts is one of the best reads I've found that helps the introvert understand their strengths while trying to promote business. If you can relate to the introvert, get a copy of this book. I know - business development is the hardest piece for this intelligent, committed individual. Yet if learning some techniques and remembering your strengths is the first step toward getting back in the game, get this book.

Here are a few nuggets you'll uncover:

Solo Practioners' Accountability Group

Malpractice, client complaints, workload overwhelm - all these spell disaster to the solo practitioner. And yet this entrepreneur who wears all the hats while reporting to nobody endures the risk of these things on a regular basis. Truth is, you don't have to go it alone. For some, coaching is a valuable option. Yet the budget of the solo practitioner may not support it. Is there an affordable, timely option for creating accountability?

Lawyer's world: Turnabout is Fair Play

Digging deep is a behavior pattern for the lawyer to engage in when uncovering evidence, researching history and background, questioning witnesses. Search requires getting past the roadblocks, the barriers to the goldmine.

6 Facts about Public Speaking Anxiety

When I was a child I was ultra shy. The middle child in my family, I developed the pattern of letting my older sister do the decision-making and my younger brother handle conversation.

That pattern made me comfortable yet did little to help me break away from the communication barriers I created. What this means is, I had problems entering conversation, getting to know people, making decisions and feeling confident around people. Later in life when encouraged to speak up at meetings or to groups, I suffered physical anxieties like diarhea triggers, focus issues, cold hands, and weak knees.

Researchers tell us that social phobias like public speaking anxiety start in childhood with shyness. If we don't address them, they progress through adulthood.

Merri's Tips - Part 9

 50. Remember your manners. It seems when we are tired, worn out or challenged by things in daily life, our manners get forgotten. Recall what you learned in kindergarten about being nice, friendly and personable.

51. Choose those times when manners aren't needed. Whether you're being bullied or physically attacked, manners will get you no place. Quite honestly, these are the times when you must show your muscle. Stand up. Speak up. Listen up. Buck up. These times are few, but how we play them will demonstrate what we are made of.

52. Do what it takes to find rest. Our minds and our bodies will be in constant motion if we don't quiet them. I'm not the one to say how to do so. Each of us inherently knows what it takes for us to be at rest. It's our job to do it. It's a commandment. And on the 7th day...

Quieting our mind is part of intrapersonal management. Becoming aware of our emotions  (what we are feeling) and regulating them (determining how we prefer to feel and then focusing on this) are essential for our minds to be quieted.

Gain confidence in this and we gain control over manners, relationships, responsibilities and how we present ourselves.