The woods where I walk my dogs every morning are currently coated in a nasty sheet of ice – they have been for weeks. I ran into a neighbor on the trail this morning, and she said, ‘This ice sucks, it’s impossible to walk out here!’

Which is when I realized that I hadn’t really noticed. I had just figured it wasn’t very slippery ice.

Reading that last sentence now, it sounds a wee bit ridiculous. But, I had come up with such a good solution to combat the ice, that I had all but forgotten there was ever a problem. Better yet, my fix enabled me to do something vitally important in my day and for my life.

My solution? Crampons, of sorts. Mine are little rubber soles that slide over my shoes and have 7 well-placed metal prongs that ‘crampon’ to the ice and give me stability. Genius – and apparently very effective.

But this got me thinking about the crampons that I use for my business and my writing. Resources that I have and tools that I use that enable me to succeed as a writer and business owner, if not effortlessly, than certainly easier. Bottom line: they keep me from falling down.

Here are my crampons:

1. A good space. Once upon a time, I worked out of my kids’ play room – on a desk we shoved in the corner. Then, I worked in a friend’s living room – it was quiet – but it wasn’t my own space. About 9 months ago, I made an investment in myself and my business and built a 120 sq. ft. office in my backyard. I couldn’t love it more, everything has a place…and my business has quadrupled since I moved, and settled, in.

2. The right computer. I have a Macbook. Need I say more? My old Dell laptop froze repeatedly, shut down at will and was slower than me & a level 32 Sudoku puzzle. The point is, you have to have technology that works and can keep up with you – is even one step ahead of you or more.

3. Solid partners. Do you how much easier my job is when I can tell clients with confidence to use this graphic/web designer, this fast WordPress design wizard, this tech writer, this printer, this host, this videographer…and on and on. Having them in my tool box allows me to offer so much more to my clients than I ever could by myself.

4. A Virtual Assistant. Yes, I’ve taken the plunge. Do you know that I was holding myself back from growing my business because I couldn’t do all of the ‘things’ I needed to be able to do in order to grow it? If that isn’t ass-backwards, I don’t know what is. Now, with my right hand lady, I’m publishing ebooks, offering my 1-on-1 Intensive, creating an affiliate program and doing about a zillion other things I’ve been meaning to do. The best part? I get to do grow and dream – and my VA always say, ‘yep, I can do that.’ I love it.

Yes, there’s an investment. But the return is so much greater. I’ve decided that my business is worth it. For you, it might not be a VA, it may be some other integral staff member that’s been missing. The question here is: what are you doing that someone else could do for you? Faster, better and more efficiently so that you can focus on what you do best.

5. Time Management. Between client work, marketing, social media, family, food, me-time – the day gets tight. My time crampon is this: scheduling. Without fail, when I have a wide-open day, it ends up mostly un-productive. But when the day is scheduled and my reptilian brain is encouraged to just follow the map, I get the most done.

6. Flexibility. Like the revolutionary Ani Difranco sings,

Buildings and bridges
are made to bend in the wind
to withstand the world,
that’s what it takes
All that steel and stone
is no match for the air, my friend
what doesn’t bend breaks
what doesn’t bend breaks

Flexibility is paramount as a critical tool for business success. Clients cancel, one minute you have 10 deadlines, the next you have none, the internet goes down, you have to work sleep into the equation – all of these things require that you transform your plan at a moment’s notice. When flexibility is utilized, the crisis becomes an opportunity – not a derailing. And it doesn’t break you.

7. Colleagues. I have a tight network of trusted peers that I couldn’t live without. They are my reality check, my idea bouncer-offers, my partners in crime, my support system. They share my joy and hear my disappointments – and I them. We keep each other on our feet with kind words, objective eyes and large senses of humor.

8. Joy. I have had several jobs in my life that I didn’t like. And, big surprise, they are distant memories. Love and passion for my current work brings me purpose, energy and a desire to thrive. Getting the job done is the fun part. This is, perhaps, my most invisible and most cherished tool. It keeps me from slipping and falling every day.

What are the tools that get you through the day, the year? What are your crampons?

Make sure you visit Julie Roads at Writingroads, and the blog at Blogging Roads.

Photo credit alextorrenegra

In 2006, my three words were “Ask. Do. Share.” Everything I did, I tried to filter through the mindset of asking people for help, or asking if I could help them. Doing seems self-explanatory. Sharing was making sure that I shared opportunities with others, that I shared my learning with you, and that I kept myself open to sharing the possibilities.

In 2007, I blogged about seek, frame, build, bridge. I’ll admit that it wasn’t as easy to keep that in mind all year long. I still worked towards it, and it still made a difference.

In 2008, I blogged about my three goals being “believe, loops, and farms.” Those are a bit more abstract, but they actually did help me through 2008.

Set Three Words as Goals for 2009

If you want to try the process, it works something like this: think of how you want to be successful in 2009. Then, try to think in even broader terms. Extrapolate on the broader terms, and find one word to hang the idea on.

Meaning, don’t think as much “I want to lose 50 pounds and get back into my high school pants.” Try thinking “Fitness means I’ll be able to cover more ground.” From there, you can say “ground” might be your word. And then, when you look at that as a word, you see how it can open you up to even more meanings. “Ground” can remind you to get fit so you can cover more ground. It can mean to be “grounded,” like someone who feels calm and at rest.

Look for three words that will help you frame your challenges and opportunities for 2009. Don’t think about where you are this exact moment. If you’re without a job, setting a goal in 09 to get a job might not be very useful. Once you’ve got the job, then what? Instead, you could think about setting the goal of “Alignment,” where you ask yourself, “does this fit with everything else I intend for myself in this year?”

Try setting your three words far out on the horizon, but such that they can lead you to your goals every day. Meaning, can you use the same word to get you started, but have it still be relevant when you’re almost at the big goal?

My 3 Goals for 2009

Here are my three words for 2009:

Equip . Armies . Needles .

Taken out of context, those all look terribly wrong. But I know what they mean. I’ll share with you.

Equip – Equip and educate people to solve their business communications challenges in 2009. It’s what we’re using for a theme for New Marketing Labs, from our events to our social media agency practice, that’s the goal: give people the tools and skills to tackle everything from online marketing to internal collaboration. My goal here is to equip you to do what you wish with the information I share.

Armies – I’ve learned a lot over the last few years and I shared as much as I could. That’s great, but if I don’t start building armies of people who can execute and do similar things, then I’m still just one guy, and the scale isn’t all that useful. I’ve started off the year by hiring Justin Levy as my General Manager at New Marketing Labs. His role is to build armies of people who can execute social media in some way (blogging, community management, listening management, blogger outreach, etc). At the same time, everything I learn and share in 2009, I’m going to try and teach even better, so that I can equip more people to execute. That’s why we built New Marketing Bootcamps.

Needles – Simply, the work I do in 2009 is not about theory; it’s about moving needles. I mean to say, when we work with people, it’s not “gee whiz, the Internet is cool.” We’re working on “reduce customer service escalations by X%, improve lead funnel by X%, improve engagement stats by X%.” It’s all about needles in 2009 for me. If I’m going to work on something (at least with clients, not so much for just my pure research), it’s going to be about moving a needle for them at some point. Why? Because social media for businesses feels like a lot of talk, if we don’t show a concrete change for it.

Share Your Three Words

If you come up with a set of three words to frame your 2009 goals around, please feel free to share them. I bet your ideas will inspire others, and I know that I’d love to see what you’ve got in mind. Oh, and because my goals are to equip and build armies, please share the concept liberally. I’d love for your communities to learn this from you, and for them to find the same results I’ve had for the last several years since working in this mindset.

So, what are your three words?

Photo credit Hokkey

You, at your desk, can come back and do the same thing over and over and over for weeks and weeks, and it will look like youre doing something. It will feel like you’re moving. But if you’re in the trenches, and you can’t see things from a different perspective, how do you know it’s working? How do you know anything?

In life, in business, in our interactions with people, the most visible thing is that things are the way they are. The truth, with effort, is that everything can change. Nothing is permanent. Your job is not permanent. Your relationships aren’t permanent. Where you live, what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, are all things that, with effort, could move. Could change.

Are you stuck in the trenches or are you looking at 2009 with new eyes? With or without the answers, will you stick with what you’ve been doing, whether or not it’s working? Or will you be daring and try something new?

I’m over here trying something new. How about you?

The goal is rarely that. The goal is conversation. Or if you’re someone else, the goal is sales. Or if you’re someone else, the goal is thought leadership. Or the goal is capturing business practices.

It doesn’t require the right picture. It doesn’t require a blog post. It doesn’t require anything very specifically, as much as it requires realizing that you’re doing what matters most to the goal. If my goal is to make money blogging, then I do a really poor job of it. If my goal isn’t about this blog at all, but for something larger, then getting tied up in my stats and things like that means I’m not focusing on the goal.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Right?

Photo credit, Michael Morel

Too esoteric? How about this: you don’t want to buy cars from Coke. You don’t want your airline pilot cooking your supper. You, yourself, shouldn’t try to be a combination web designer / CPA. It’s not that you can’t do this, but rather that the results are less than stellar. This is some of the mindset behind the way the folks at 37 Signals create software, by the way.

In planning my goals for 2009 (and yes, I’m thinking about that right now), I’m thinking about which small boxes to use, what goes in them, and how I will address the challenges faced by choosing not to do everything. I’ve got some plans for what I’m doing with CrossTech (both Media and Partners), as well as how I’ll work with other social media types across the globe.

Want a peek inside my head?

As with all things I do, the goal is to give you something to help you figure out YOUR 2009.

Planning and Constraints: a Framework

Let’s start with plans/goals. If I don’t, I’ll just put stuff in place for no reason .

My big plans for 2009

• Publish Trust Agents and help others develop.
• Educate through speaking / advising / articles or interviews.
• Equip businesses through a social media practice.
• Improve blogging to educate more. Deliver smaller chunk projects.
• Improve my physical health to improve my capacity.

(Note that my plans are all phrased around my biggest core belief: be helpful.)

Now, here are some things that are important to me, and important to my sanity, and important to my business needs.

Some Constraints

• Writing practice even more disciplined. (I write TONS, but need to focus on what goes into blogging versus what goes into work.)
• No more than 3 trips a month.
• Small (2-3 day vacations) every 3 months tops.
• Walk daily, especially if I can walk my daughter to school in the AM instead of my commute.
• ALL conferences reviewed on: opportunities / reach / committed time.
• Check ALL requests versus the five above-mentioned goals. Fit in? If not, pass through to others.
• EVERYTHING goes out of my inbox and into review. Approved projects are commitments.
• All commitments have time allocated to them, and all time is budgeted.
• All commitments are checked against revenue needs and time budget.
• Commitments are spreadsheeted: who, what, due, hrs, $, notes, status.
• Twice weekly commitment reviews, and success reviews. (Am I doing what I said? Are my projects succeeding? If no to #1, fix it. If no to #2, can I fix it or do I kill it? No screwing around, because of the economy.)
• Accountable to Operations head.

If I hope to succeed, I do also have to keep track of what I’ll need to deliver on my five big goals.

Some Things I’ll Need

• An assistant and/or an intern. – I can’t manage my inflow by myself any more. I need a parser.
• Build and enhance my network of support. – CrossTech and I have a framework started for this. I’ll enhance it even more.
• More business acumen. This past month, I crippled myself by putting out too much travel budget in one big pop. It left me broke for several weeks. Small businesses need to manage their cash flow, and I’m now much more aware of how this works.
• An Operations head, mentioned above (have someone in place for this).

Boiling This Down

If you want to do something like the exercise I did above, here’s what I did:

1. Decide what matters most. Articulate it in the largest possible way. It’s easier to drill down when you have the larger goals in mind.
2. Put constraints around HOW you’ll accomplish the goals you’ve set out to accomplish. Include accountability in the constraints.
3. Figure out what you need to help you achieve those goals. In my case, I need two other people and some more education. You’ll need something else.
4. Make your goals public in some form or another. (This helps with accountability).

If you can put your giant plans into small boxes, it will help you move towards your goals. It’s part of what Julien and I think about when we talk about “Make Your Own Game” in our book. (That’s the chapter we’re writing so it’s heavy on my mind.)

What do you think? Does it make sense? How does it match your own needs? What would you change?

Photo credit, Alana Elliott

It’s up to us to keep our thinking open and expanded. Are you watching sources outside your little bubble? How are you challenging your thinking to make sure you’re not contributing to the merry-go-round?

Photo credit, Monroe’s Dragonfly