Koen van de Velde

Your reputation in your professional and personal life is invaluable. It’s one of the most important assets that you have. As you navigate your way through the working world, you’ll find that your reputation precedes you. 

If you are always demanding, hard to work with, and constantly breaking your promises, you’ll find that you are always passed over for promotions and other deals. Alternatively, when you have a history of being honest, trustworthy, and reliable, you’ll find that people will always want to work with you and help you succeed in life. 

The Dangers of Over-Committing

One of the most effective ways to build a strong reputation is to stick to your promises. Only make a promise that you know you can keep. People with the best reputations and other desirable assets often under-sell themselves so that they can over-deliver and wow people with their skills and dedication. Moreover making a habit out of showcasing these assets will make you more attractive to those that you work with since they know that you word is bond. 

In the business world, it isn’t easy to come back after breaking your promises. We all take on more than we can handle at times, but the best way to avoid this is to carefully evaluate each situation before ever agreeing to something. Not every deal will be beneficial, so it’s best to know when to walk away completely. 

You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’ve agreed to a deal, only to decide that you don’t want to participate a few weeks later. Everything you do and say in business interactions like these will be evaluated and judged instantly. Likewise, your industry is likely smaller than you think, so word always gets around. If something you say or do is misconstrued as being fake or dishonest, even if you had good intentions in the beginning, you’ll find that your word is tarnished. 

Developing Discernment and Similar Assets

Discernment will allow you to exercise caution before getting involved in bad deals. To avoid having to break your word later on, be sure to ask as many questions as you need to before making a decision or agreeing to anything. While some people are afraid that asking questions will make them seem incompetent, the opposite is actually true. By finding out all the pertinent information, you’ll be well informed and appear to be an intelligent colleague. 

Knowing all the information is the best way for you to make a well-informed decision. Don’t let the pressure trick you into thinking you have to give a “yes” or “no” on a whim without careful consideration. While taking the time to process everything may cost you some “last minute” deals, this is for the best. Oftentimes, anyone that is trying to get you to make an immediate decision is not looking out for your best interest.

Remember that you don’t really get a second chance to establish your reputation. Make every effort to ensure that you aren’t over-committing to something or that you aren’t giving your word to a project or deal you don’t believe in. There will always be other opportunities in the future, but you’ll likely be overlooked if you never learn how to keep your word.

Enjoy your Day and Focus on your Dreams !

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It may seem easier to be laid back and not plan out your time, but this will actually cause you more anxiety in the long run. A lack of time management means a lack of focus for your day. Without focus, your life will have no balance.

Balance in time.

Balance is about having enough time in your day to accomplish everything you set out to do, but it’s also about being able to breathe and not having to panic about how you will get things done. Without proper time management, you will have minutes that add up to hours every day that are just lost to time. You may not even know that you have them, but they’re there, hiding within your lack of a schedule. However, if you sit down and make a plan and stick to it, you will find the time that you had no idea that you had. 

People who are single think that they have no time to do anything, but then people who work out every day find the time to work out and go about the rest of their lives. People who aren’t married think they don’t have time to go on dates, but people who are married manage to find time in two people’s busy schedule to spend time together. People who don’t have kids think they have no time, but parents of young children will tell you that you have a lot of free time that you simply don’t see as “free” because you take it for granted.

Keep yourself happy and healthy .

Knowing this, proper time management is all about finding balance in your life to keep yourself happy and healthy, as well as the people in your life. If you spend too much time on one thing, you will neglect something else. Before you can find balance, you have to find your priorities; what’s important to you? For most people, it would be your career and/or school, your health and your relationships (whatever they may be at this point in your life). Choose to focus on what’s important and be willing to cut the rest out. If you plan around your number one priority, everything else that’s truly important to you will fall into place. That might mean waking up an hour earlier to make breakfast so you’re not eating something unhealthy in the morning, it might mean staying up an hour later to go to the gym before you come home from work, it may even mean sacrificing some of your free time to spend it with someone special in order to build your relationship.

Set priorities.

Once you’ve taken care of your priorities, you have time for things like self-care and working on your life’s goals. Do you want to advance in your career? Use your free time to work towards that goal.

No matter how much time you think that you have, if you haven’t been managing your time wisely, odds are that you have much more time than you realize. Don’t waste it.

Please share with me how you have surprised yourself in the past period.

These and other interesting tips & tricks you can pick up from The Six Figure Mentors. Subscribe for their here free video series to start with and figure out if it can work for you too! Add your life values and act ! Invest a few dollars. It will be worth it!

Enjoy your Day and Focus on your Dreams !

Sorry guys, you must have missed me last week. The reason I missed my weekly blogs was a justified one…. I moved. Not just with my office, but with my entire house. So, imagine, packing ALL your things in boxes and move. I suggested to the Misses we let the movers pack; she wouldn’t hear it. So, we ended up packing ourselves. Which turned out not to be that bad, since that is the best moment to chuck things 😊 At least that was my idea.

I am going to reveal to you how I experienced this whole “moving to a new house” thing and what are my most important takeaways which you could benefit from too.

How to get rid of the dinosaurs

If you are half like me; you see bears on the road. What? I mean dinosaurs on the road. Big, green dinosaurs. You get upset with your Misses, your dog and yourself. For nothing.

Moving to a new house? Like, packing all your belongings in boxes and letting strangers move it to another place… Breath in, breath out.

Focus on the positive

In the meantime, I was also supposed to work for my employer. I informed them I would take 2 days off for the handyman and the actual day we were moving to a new house; which turned out to be a good idea. My starsign is Virgo; and even if you are not into star signs you will recognize that we are very organized and have difficulty handling change. So, you can imagine the day of the actual move was not my finest moment. But keeping a positive spirit helps!

Ikea & me

What I also like to reveal is that am I not a real practical guy. As my Misses often says (which I totally object to): I am a Panicking Parrot. Not that I fly away at gunshot, but in times of “crisis” I don’t have my finest moments. I am not proud of this, sometimes I wished I had more DNA of my wife. No matter the challenge, she takes it heads on. She gets bruised sometimes for sure yeah, but at least she gets them by taking action.

And in one of those “taking action” moments, she pulled into the drive way with 4 (I repeat FOUR) Ikea closets. Because moving to a new house is one thing (very stressful to me), but decorating the new place is a second.

Less is more

It turned out we had different ideas when it came to decorating the new place. My mojo is “less is more”  but try to practice what you preach when you are living together with someone who is collecting fridge magnets.  On the opposite side, I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out my better half must have watched some of these new Marie Kondo’s shows on Netflix. She actually decorated the closets as I would have. Piece by piece and color by color.

Everybody loves MacGyver

My inner MacGyver woke up when I unpacked my toolbox. Instead of calling handymen as I would have done in the past, I tried myself. I hung a painting in my study. The world did not stop turning. The light did not go out, neither the local police force turned up. I just hung up a painting, with plugs and stuff. So not my thing. But I succeeded. Once I fulfilled this task successfully, it tasted like more.

Grow

So more paintings followed, a mirror and even a fence in the garden. And guess what? It felt good to be McGiver. As I shared with you before, I am not really a practical guy. In Dutch we say I have two left hands. So imagine my pride & joy after fulfilling all those tasks. This is the key take away of what I like to share with you today: Don’t let yourself be stopped by …you! Don’t let your prefixed ideas stop you from trying. Because you can do anything. As long as you try…

Please share with me how you have surprised yourself in the past period.

These and other interesting tips & tricks you can pick up from The Six Figure Mentors. Subscribe for their here free video series to start with and figure out if it can work for you too! Add your life values and act ! Invest a few dollars. It will be worth it!

Enjoy your Day and Focus on your Dreams !

First, best wishes to all of you! Hope you had a lovely time with your family and friends over the holidays and are recharged for everything that the new year has in mind for you.  I am happy that you are also reading my blogs in 2019, I will keep sharing my vision of a digital lifestyle with you.

A new beginning.

So, a new year, a new beginning. Consider it an empty notebook. You oversee filling it, every line, every paragraph, every day is open. I love fresh moments. You will most likely recognize the following scenario:

January 1^st is approaching rapidly, you can already see the empty notebook. You start making resolutions. A list of things that you will do differently in the new year. This can be anything from saying goodbye to bad habits (smoking), to welcoming good habits (hitting the gym more often). Gyms see it happening every year. January is packed with motivated people, working on their resolutions. Only a hand full of people make it till March. After 4 or 5 weeks, the motivation to work on their resolution has faded. Shame, because they did take the first step.

Also business wise people make resolutions. If you are enjoying the life of an entrepreneur, you are in charge of your own freedom. However, this does not mean that there are no resolutions to make. Work less hours, make better arrangements with your clients or become more structured when it comes to administration

Why wait till January 1^st?

But the key question here is: Why wait till January 1^st? Every day can be a new beginning. Nothing is stopping you to quit smoking on November 16^th for example. Will this mean that you will be unsuccessful because you are not waiting for the new year to say goodbye to this nasty habit? Of course not.

I mentioned I love fresh moments, that counts for every day. Sure, in the past I focused on January 1^st as well. But after a while I start asking myself why to postpone new things I wanted to do until a certain date? Everyday is perfect for a new beginning.

My advice to you: Don’t wait. If you want to chance something in your life, start with it straight away. Throw away that cigarette, go to that gym and focus more on your work life balance. Nobody knows what the future holds and before you know it, it might be too late.

You will notice the change you are making will affect you. You will be proud of your new steps. Nobody said it is going to be easy; because if it was easy you would have done it a long time ago. But you are getting there. You are following your resolutions.

Wishing you wisdom for 2019 and remember, every day is a new beginning!

These and other interesting tips & tricks you can pick up from The Six Figure Mentors. Subscribe for their here free video series to start with and figure out if it can work for you too!

Enjoy your Day and Focus on your Dreams !

The Most Valuable Place on Earth

They say that the most valuable place on Earth is the graveyard where people have left their dreams unfulfilled. The biggest reasons why people don’t pursue their dreams is because they don’t feel inspired. I know I have felt that way. There have been times when I have wanted to write short stories and thought, “Who would want to read these?” However, after looking for inspiration, I have found the energy and the passion to write those stories. Below are some of the tried and true ways that many people have found their passion to get started. 

1). Set Goals

Setting goals is the single most powerful way to go from doing nothing to doing something. I set a goal to write one short story and publish it on my blog every Friday afternoon. That meant that I had to come up with an idea on Monday, write a first draft on Tuesday, write a second draft on Wednesday and then edit on Thursday. Setting this goal gave me the inspiration to publish one short story, per week, for over a year. 

2). Go for a Walk

If you are looking for some creative spark, going for a walk is one of the best ways to get activate your brain. Going for a walk allows you to get some fresh air, circulate the blood through your body and open up your mind to new ideas. Personally, I have gotten many short story ideas from simply going for a walk. 

3). Watch a Rags to Riches Story

If you ever thought, “I can never make it.” Then it is best to read, watch or listen to the story of someone who went from the very bottom to the very top of their profession. These authentical stories can really show you that anything is possible. Stephen King, one of the most successful novelist of all time, once didn’t even have enough money to buy paper to write his stories. Today, Stephen King has published over 50 novels and have sold over 400 million copies of his books. 

4). Step Away From All Types of Media for a While

Social media, TV and video games have a great way to “turn your brain off” from thinking. Therefore, if you want to “turn on” your brain, then it is a good idea to step away from all your digital devices. When I go for a walk, I don’t bring any smartphone or music player with me. This allows me some good time to be with my thoughts. 

5). Brainstorm Ideas

A great way to spark inspiration is to simply get writing. When I want to come up with an idea for a short story, I write down at least 25 ideas on a piece of paper. Don’t edit yourself. Write any idea that comes to your head. Eventually, you’ll come up with an idea that is so original, pure and authentical, you’ll want to get started on that project right away. 

Getting Started

Passion doesn’t just happen. You have to take some steps to get started. Set goals, spend some time away from your devices, look for authentical stories of success and brainstorm ideas to get the inspiration to get going.

These and other interesting tips & tricks you can pick up from The Six Figure Mentors. Subscribe for their here free video series to start with and figure out if it can work for you too!

Enjoy your Day and Focus on your Dreams ! I’m back on the 2nd January 2019  Happy Holidays !

Whether you’re a high school student trying to write an essay, or an experienced business associate preparing a sales pitch, procrastination affects us all. Thankfully though, it’s not the end of the world. Here are five ways to tackle procrastination head-on.

1. Do the most challenging thing first.

Is there a particular task that is causing you a great deal of anxiety? Then that’s the one you need to take care of before doing anything else! If you continue to let it simmer in the back of your mind, it’s only going to make all your other work harder to complete. Plus, dealing with something difficult right off the bat can give you a helpful boost of confidence.

2. Break down large jobs into manageable chunks.

For example, if your room desperately needs cleaning, don’t dwell on the overall messiness, just focus on each individual step. Make your bed, pick up clutter, dust the shelves, and before you know it the job is done!

3. Always give yourself more time than required.

If you think you’ll need a day to complete something, plan for two instead. This will allow you to account for unforeseen circumstances and give you breathing room. It may seem paradoxical, but the fear and desperation of a time-crunch can directly cause someone to procrastinate. Besides, rushing rarely leads to quality work.

4. Take frequent breaks.

Knowing when to rest can be just as important as knowing when to exert yourself. Instead of plugging away at something for hours and hours, sprinkle in periodical respites. It could be a thirty-minute work session followed by a five-minute break; whatever suits your needs. This might seem like a waste of time, especially if you’re incredibly busy, but you’ll soon find that simply taking a moment to walk around and stretch your legs can increase your productivity in the long run.

5. Beware distractions.

A distraction can act as powerful fuel for ongoing procrastination. While some interruptions are simply out of our hands, like a family emergency or an impromptu staff meeting, most of them aren’t. We normally have our attention diverted by a trivial distraction, like our phone, the internet, food, etcetera. The most straightforward answer is to shut off or remove those things from our environment, but that isn’t always tenable. Alternatively, try turning a possible distraction into a future reward. They don’t even have to be a part of your scheduled breaks. For example, you could say: After I write two paragraphs, I get to check my social media. Or give little gifts to yourself like that throughout the day can make working more fun.

Conclusion

As long as you can figure out the cause of your procrastination, the solution typically isn’t too far behind. If you’re procrastinating because you feel tired, then go to bed earlier. If you’re procrastinating because you feel uncertain about your assignment, then do more research or get help from a friend. Sometimes this is easier said than done, but there’s always a path to success if you look hard enough!

These and other interesting tips & tricks you can pick up from The Six Figure Mentors. Subscribe for their here free video series to start with and figure out if it can work for you too!

Enjoy your Day and Focus on your Dreams !

When it comes to the things in life that we value, we tend to look for the same things in our lives then we do in the businesses that we frequent. When we look for a new business to use, we want to know that there are good people behind these companies. That’s why this blog post will feature some of the values that we look for in our favorite businesses.

Authenticity

We all like authentic people. We like authentic businesses even more. Why do we like these types of businesses? Because the people running these companies are not afraid to be themselves.

You can be more authentic in business by showing your followers on social media that what you do isn’t “magic”. For example, if you have an event planning company, you can show a “before” and “after” picture of the hall at which you’re holding an event.

Loyalty

Who doesn’t like a loyal person? These people stick up for their friends and family, through thick and thin. Shouldn’t the businesses that we frequent do the same? Businesses should value customer loyalty above all else.

How can you foster customer loyalty in your business? For one thing, give your customers things about which they can brag! Do you give your customers the best service in town? What about the best prices? What are you doing to foster customer loyalty?

Responsibility

Responsibility: it’s a word that almost no one likes. But it’s an important word. It’s a word that all company owners take on as a practical mantra. For a company owner, it’s certainly a given. But how do you pass it on the customer?

What you will have to do as a company owner is let them know, through blog posts and social media, that you feel responsible for them. If you own a garden store, you might take on responsibility for your customers having the best garden for their situation. Or if you’re a personal trainer, you might take on responsibility for the results of your clients. You care about your customers, so you might take responsibility for their results.

Joyfulness

Everyone likes joyful people in our life. We value being around them in our personal life. We like them, even more, when we encounter them during the course of our day. So how can you cultivate more joyfulness in your company?

One practice you can do with your employees is a gratitude exercise. At the start of every morning, you can have all of your employees or group go around and say one thing that they are grateful for. Studies have shown that people who are more grateful are happier.

Truthfulness

Who likes a liar? As the owner of a company, you certainly don’t. While saying the easier thing to a customer may get you by one time, you’ll pay for your less-than-spotless treatment of the truth over time. So saying the truthful thing may make for an upset customer. But lying to customers will make for many upset people. Which would you rather have?

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“Good things come to those who wait” is a phrase you must have heard at some point. For the record, I don’t believe in this. I much more like the phrase “Good things come to those who f**king earn it!  Excuse my language but this is part of the sentence 😊

A lot can be found on the internet about patience. I am not referring to the card game. I am talking about this patience; the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.

Waiting ….

We are all dealing with delays. Or with (in our eyes) unnecessary waiting time. This can be anything from waiting to board your aircraft, waiting in line for the supermarket, waiting for your online blog to get approved, waiting for your app to be approved in the apple store and so on.  But the funny thing is, patience is not about waiting. No. It is about the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.

Interesting huh? Let’s zoom in on this behavior part and ask yourself the question; how do I behave at the airport while waiting to board my flight? Let me answer that question for myself.

The airport story.

So, at first, I slowly move through the airport, since I arrived way before my flight is scheduled (this brings me piece of mind). After scanning the shops, probably after a purchase in some gadget shop, I maneuver towards the gate. Way before boarding time, but that is me 😊. So, I find myself a spot with good view on the gate, the ground stewardesses and information screens. I glance at my phone and scroll through articles and newsfeeds. After I while, I get distracted by the buzz of the ground stewardesses. They are about to call the first passengers. I stuff everything away and get ready to jump off my seat to be sure to be one of the firsts to enter the plane. I keep a close look; my heartbeat slowly increases. I see other people preparing to make their way. From the corner of my eye I already see people disembarking their seats. But there has been no announcement yet! And I have been here as one of the firsts to wait for this moment, so I feel entitled to be one of the first people. I leave my seat (still no announcement). I grab my hand luggage and “casually” make my way to the front, pretending to be distracted by my phone. I am almost there (still no announcement). Shit. I glance at the stewardess and she stares back at me. “can I help you sir?”.

Ehm…. “I want to make sure I don’t miss my flight”. Of course, she looks at me like a first timer. “We will call for all passengers sir”. I KNOW THAT I want to scream out, but I don’t. I do the walk of shame back to my seat. And just when I took it, they make the announcement! Impossible to run back, that would be too awkward, I end up in the middle of the line.

By now, I am irritated. Frustrated. I was so close to be the first one to embark, and now I am set back to a mediocre position. After what seems like an hour, I reach the point where I can show my passport and boarding pass. The same stewardess looks at me with a smile and says: “Sir, we wouldn’t have left without you” and wishes me a nice flight.

Make effective use of waiting.

During my flight, this got me thinking. Because I do see them; happy travelers. Even happy business travelers. They wait. They wait in patience for their turn. And in the meantime, whilst waiting, they get things done. They work on their email, blogs or reading. They seem to be peaceful. Patient. They make the most of it, they make effective use of their time.

What I am trying to get you to think about with the above piece is how you spend your time and how you are dealing with delays.

If you don’t focus on what you are waiting for (the airplane, the train, the results of your test) you will have free time to work on your goals. Make waiting time, working time. Make time work for you!

Go earn good things!

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Enjoy your Day and Focus on your Dreams !

Creating a successful business requires more than delivering high-quality products and services to your intended audience. Cultivating trust and loyalty is imperative when creating a brand, especially when you are faced with growing competition. With an understanding of basic goals for the hidden success factor, maximize your reach and the number of sales you are able to generate, both online and off.

Stand Out Among Your Competition

Define what makes your business stand out from your competition. What features do you provide or what needs do you aim to fulfill? How does your marketing strategy differ and outperform the top competition in your market? Do your logo and brand have a unique appeal to your intended audience? Are you proactive with building an online presence using an official website, blog, eCommerce store, and social media? Standing out among your competition is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when breaking into an industry and solidifying your place as a success in the desired market of your choice.

Social Media and Visibility

Social media is one of the most popular tools used by marketers today. With the ability to potentially reach millions of consumers worldwide, using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become more desirable than ever.

Create a social media presence for your business while utilizing the same page names and usernames on each platform. Use social media to showcase your company brand while providing photos and video media of the products and services you have to offer. Connect with your followers while gaining additional likes and shares to maximize your exposure. Launch Facebook ad campaigns to learn more about your most responsive audience and the type of users who are interested in becoming customers. Use social media analytics and data to measure the success of each campaign you launch and to better optimize future marketing strategies for even bigger successes.

Communicate With Customers in Your Niche

Customer loyalty is one of the most important elements of building a successful business whether you are launching a startup or scaling a corporation. Creating loyalty and trust helps to strengthen the relationship you have with your customers while providing you with more opportunity for referrals and future business.

Determine the target demographics that respond best to social media posts and marketing campaigns you launch. Profiling your target audience is essential to hone in on the type of customer who has a genuine interest in the products or services you offer.

Connect with followers on your blog, official website, or social media pages by remaining responsive and personable. Answer inquiries, reply to comments, and spend time building relationships with users while providing new prospective customers with complete transparency regarding how you operate your business. Remain authentic and true to your original goals to deliver top-notch customer services while growing your brand.

Setting goals as an entrepreneur are essential for continued growth and success. Knowing how to reach your intended customers and attract them to your brand is a way to move forward with the expansion and future of your business.

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Enjoy your Day and Focus on your Dreams !