IDEAING is the act of allowing your ideas to be expressed, and capturing them (usually on paper), so that you can look at them more closely and with further purpose. IDEAING involves relaxing and allowing thoughts to flow. It also involves active thinking, innovation, and sometimes problem solving. Most importantly, IDEAING involves planning—putting your thoughts, ideas, and innovations into a plan for potential action.
Comments September 9, 2010
Many of the time management principles that are “out there” simply tell you how to do more things in less time, or more things in the same amount of time. This approach can pose a HUGE problem if the “things” you work on are not the right things to begin with! You need a TIME MASTERY APPROACH, where the tasks you spend your effort and energy on or even complete are totally in line with your values and especially your most meaningful business and personal goals.
In a nutshell, you need to:
Begin with a Goal Planning Session
Mastering your time begins with finding the right direction for your business and for your life in general. You have to know where you are going but more important than that, you have to choose where you want to go! This will require an initial small amount of planning on your part. Let’s call this your “”goals planning session” (this can be a “business goals planning session” or a “life goals planning session” or both wrapped up into one). Either way, you should do one of these goals planning sessions about every 6 months since business goals and life priorities do change, and short term goals get accomplished quickly.
Your time mastery session will involve establishing and prioritizing meaningful business and personal goals, and prioritizing projects and specifically tasks in terms of how they fit into your long-term goals, your mid-term goals, and your short-term goals.
Once your goals are set, each day you will take a few minutes out to plan and you will decide DAILY which activities and tasks are most valuable for you to work on to help get you closer to accomplishing your targeted goals and dreams.
Comments September 9, 2010
Monday Message from Margo
“Too often we… enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” ~John F. Kennedy
“The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.” ~Will Durant
“Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won’t come in.” ~Alan Alda
Once in a while I find myself deep in thought about life and business and such. It’s a good practice. Thinking purposefully can open the door to so many new ideas and possibilities. If you can think about thinking as a way of just reflecting, looking, observing, or even brainstorming in an objective manner, you can leave your usual thoughts and habits to discover greater success.
Here are some thoughts I looked at today. As you read them, don’t judge the words. Instead, simply be open. Maybe there is space here for you to explore something in a new way in your own life and business.
1. Create and develop amazingly USEFUL and BENEFICIAL products and services. Leave the so-so stuff for the armatures.
2. Don’t expect overnight success. Keep pluggin’ away at being exceptional in your business offerings, and give people time enough to catch on.
3. Be passionate about what you do (I cannot say this enough, have you noticed?). If you are not passionate with what you are doing, find something else you can be passionate about, since success takes time and you’ll need your passion to keep you going until you reach your financial goals.
4. Don’t follow the pack in your products and services, or in the way that you market them. See what everyone else is NOT doing and make it a point to do that.
5. Just because a product or has a great margin for profit, and just because YOU like it, doesn’t mean people will want to buy it.
6. Hire GREAT people and don’t be afraid of their talent. Treat them very well and let them help you win.
7. Don’t fight change. Open your arms to it. See it as the new way of life. If you are coasting, you are not growing, so make it a choice to ENJOY change and the effort it takes to go with it—the way you enjoy any sport. Let change help you to see the needs and desires of your customers, prospects, employees, business associates, and yourself. Let change bring you terrific opportunities to learn, grow and profit.
8. Make certain today’s to-do-list focuses on the priorities that matter most TODAY, NOT yesterday.
9. Your customer’s and prospect’s attention is so divided that they can barely hear their spouses, kids, and significant others anymore! On top of that, droves of marketers are shouting for their attention on every corner of the street and Internet. When you say something to your prospects, make it great, not just good or O.K. Say something that makes them want to give you a shout out, instead of something that makes them want to run from your shouting.
10. Don’t be fooled into thinking you have to create controversy (like they do on most talk radio, and on all of the news and interview shows on t.v.) The world is changing, and so is the way people want to talk. Forget controversy; instead, seek to always ADVANCE the CONVERSATION—with your employees, your prospects, your customers, your vendors, your business associates, and your joint venture partners. Drop the gimmicks and the need to impress. BE WHO YOU ARE and bring your incredible self to the conversation knowing that YOU are enough. STIMULATE and ADVANCE conversations that make you a vital and valuable part of someone else’s world.
Have a Wildly Thoughtful Week,
Margo
Comments August 16, 2010
Monday Message from Margo
“Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” ~Peter F. Drucker
We have all heard of the 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto Principle) at one time or another, but we tend to ignore its real power in our work and personal lives.
The concept of the 80/20 rule was first written about by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, way back in 1895, hence the name Pareto Principle. This savvy economist noticed that in his society, there was a clear distinction of types of people in regard to money, prestige, power, and influence. He saw that there was a “top” 20% which he coined the “vital few”, and a “bottom” 80% which he termed the “trivial many”.
This economic finding caused Pareto to look further into his premise of an 80/20 rule, and he discovered that almost all activity was in line with this principle, too, which basically states that 20% of effort and activity will produce 80% of the results from that effort or activity. This is a phenomenal finding, and one that can help us to be more successful in our day and not waste time, money, or effort in our lives and in our businesses.
Based on the 80/20 rule, 80% of what you wear comes from only 20% of your wardrobe and 80% of what you eat when you go out for meals comes from a measly 20% of the restaurants you frequent! 80% of the free time you use visiting with the people you know well is spent with just 20% of those people.
Now let’s apply the principle to your business. You could bet that approximately 80% of all of your sales comes from just 20% of your 
customers, and about 80% of all of the profits in you business come from only about 20% of the products and services you offer. A whopping 80% of what your customers complain about likely comes from 20% of your offerings.
You can further assume that roughly 20% of the activities you spend your time on will result in 80% of the meaningful results you desire. So out of every ten things you set out to do, two of those activities will pack a powerful punch in terms of getting you moving ahead in a substantial way, and they will benefit you more than the other eight put together! Best of all, those two activities may take the same amount of time, or even less time, than any of the other eight taken individually.
Obviously then, you need to take a long hard look at your to do list each and every day, and try to decipher, from past experience, from the experiences of others, from past results, from your GUT, and from your good common sense, which one or two activities you should focus on or do first and foremost each day, and let the other tasks take a back seat (you can also delegate these). Spend your first efforts daily on the “vital few” activities, and AVOID doing the “trivial many” activities if your “vital few” are not yet done. Spending time on the “vital few” or the most results-oriented tasks is KEY to your definite success.
The vital activities that deserve your focus can be finding ways of improving products that are not working, or eliminating them altogether. Or your vital activities may be calling customers who you value most. Vital activities could be finding the team members who are producing, connecting, and innovating, and spending time with them, or finding ways to use their skills to help others in the organization or to help the organization itself. Your vital activities may involve organizing strategic creativity sessions with the intent of developing one new product. Your vital activities may be to finish developing a meaningful product or service that you halted because you got sidetracked.
As a business person, business manager, or manager of self, FOCUS on what matters most. Avoid the constant trivial interruptions that take your focus away, and especially avoid the overly-needy people who sap your energy and time. Learn to delegate tasks, and learn to assign sales associates or employees to a mentor who can help them, or simply remove the bottom 20% of tasks that are not necessary, and the bottom 20% people who are stagnant, lazy, disruptive, unwilling, or who will not think for themselves once they have been taught the ropes.
The Pareto Principle is a useful tool we can all use to manage our businesses and our lives. If you have a choice concerning which activities to invest your time in (and you do), which people to visit and associate with, which customers to follow up on and stay in contact with, which products and services to sell, and which projects to develop further, choose the 20% that will bring the most desirable, the most peaceful, and the moist profitable results.
Now do the math for your own personal life and business, and get ready to see AMAZING things begin to happen for you and those around you.
Have a Wildly 80/20 Week,
Margo
Comments July 12, 2010
Monday Message from Margo
“Great things are only possible with outrageous requests.” ~Thea Alexander
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
It’s so mind-boggling that we work our tushies off, stay up late, get up early, take courses, attend seminars, get degrees, and run around like our heads are down the street and we have to hurry and get them, but we often ignore doing the simplest thing to get what we want: We don’t ASK!
We have not, because we ask not.
Sometimes we ask not because we are too busy playing games. Sometimes we ask not because we are tired. We may ask not because we are too proud (the bad kind of pride) or because we don’t want to look needy. Sometimes we ask not because we are stubborn. We may ask not because we think we 
are being humble and thoughtful of others.
As much as we ask not, you’d think it would pay off. Instead, we have not.
What if you suddenly made a decision to do things differently?
What if you decided that you would begin to ask?
This may help…
You already know you are a good person, right? You already know you are kind. You already know you are hard-working. You already know you are intelligent and skilled. You already know you would not take advantage of others. You already know you are fair. You already know you would do for others if they asked you (in most reasonable cases anyway). So stop over-thinking what you think other people will think. WHAT do you have to lose by asking? The truth is, you have nothing to lose, but only new and exciting experiences and benefits to gain.
I’ll tell you, false humility and ego have kept more people down than lack of money, lack of education, or lack of any kind of resources. NOT ASKING KILLS US! It kills our relationships and our businesses, it kills our friendships and our bodies, and it kills our spirits, too.
Not asking means we do everything ourselves. Not asking means we don’t get the sale. Not asking means we don’t get what we want in friendships and marriages. Not asking means we are passed up for the raise, the promotion, the new product line (that our competitor ends up getting because they asked first).
Not asking means we get a higher interest rate. Not asking means we pay a higher percentage to the real estate agency. Not asking means we eat alone (hey, even if we get turned down, we would have eaten alone anyway)!
We ASSUME other people know what we want. NO, NO, NO, THEY DO NOT. They are busy, they are consumed with their own day, and no offense, but they are not thinking too totally much of you throughout the day. You have goals, needs, tasks, and desires that others can help you meet, yet you do not ask.
But, ASKING…AHHHHHHHH, ASKING!
Asking means we get more love and snuggles. Asking means we get to hold someone’s hand. Asking means we get more sales. Asking means our commission just went up. Asking means we get to work with amazing people. Asking means we become part of THAT team, asking means we get to pick our date up in that really cool car. Asking means we get what we want that wasn’t on the menu. Asking means we are so much less tired because now we have the proper amount of help. Asking means we make a lot more money, and a lot more profit, too!
Asking means we let ourselves be human. Asking means we allow others to have the joy of sowing into our lives. Asking means someone else gets an opportunity to function in more responsibility while we get some needed rest. Asking means we are happier. Asking means we are warmer and more connected. Asking means we don’t burden others by expecting them to know what we want. Asking means we become grown-ups and take responsibility for our lives, giving up the tendency to complain about what we don’t have.
Go ahead: Ask for the sale, the raise, the special product. Ask for the backrub, the conversation, the love. Ask for the interest rate, the promotion, the price. Ask for the help, the nap, the puppy. Ask for the chicken sandwich with the sauce that normally goes with the roast beef dip.
You have not because you ask not, and I promise, you can have more, and be happier, if you will simply ask for—VOICE—what you want.
Have a Week of Wild Asking,
Margo
Comments June 14, 2010
Monday Message from Margo
“The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.” ~Vince Lombardi
This week I will share with you My 8 Proven Business-Building Tips that you 
can apply to your business (store-front or home-based) to build it to success. Most have to do with your mindset first, which in turn will direct your actions towards precisely focused effort to get you where you desire to be.
These practical and very doable tips are research-based and have been proven over and over again. They lead to success for the business professional who will practice them.
These tips are easy to put into action.
1. When you are not selling, MARKET your business
If you do not have an appointment on any given day, market yourself during the time you would normally be on an appointment. Think about a person who is seeking full time employment. To be successful in finding a job quickly (which would in turn generate money quickly), a person seeking a job should make their full time job the task of getting a job. Similarly, if you do not have a client or a lead, make your full time (or part time) job the task of marketing to get leads and appointments. Before long you will have a steady flow of clients.
Create Awareness (market) by doing events related to your industry or niche, writing articles, or getting your materials out there in your community. A few examples from my previous decorating business include distributing flyers, doing decorating seminars for the public, partnering with a builder and putting over a dozen sample treatments in his showroom, and writing a decorating advice column every Sunday in the Home Section of an area newspaper in conjunction with a local real estate company, to name just a few. I got many exceptional leads and sales as a result of doing these tasks, and it did not take long at all.
2. DON’T pre-judge who you think will buy from you: Target your marketing but be good to EVERYONE
Market to your target groups, and then serve every one who comes to you from these activities. NEVER be hasty to judge a book by its cover (especially when that book approaches YOU)!
Get out there in your local community and network. At events, strike up conversations and be polite and kind to everyone that you meet. Even if someone is seemingly not your potential client, remember that people have bosses and acquaintances and relatives. People tell people, and people who cannot afford your services right now tell people who can. Someone who cannot afford your products now may be in a position to purchase them later, and they will remember how you interacted with them when they couldn’t buy.
One time, when I had a storefront design studio, a woman came in dressed in ragged jeans and a t-shirt, and from her appearance I absolutely assumed she was someone who could not afford my products and services. She just did not look the part AT ALL. I thought she was someone who was waiting for the bus or had missed it, and was just coming into my shop to cool off from the hot Texas summer heat. However, I treated her the same way I did any other prospect (or any person): I was kind, courteous, and gave her my undivided time and attention. Little did I know she lived in one of the biggest homes in the most “well-to-do” subdivision in our area. I ended up doing custom cornices for her very large family room and it was a wonderful job with a very nice profit.
3. “Losing” a sale is still a positive thing
When you lose a sale, you are a step closer to your closing rate goal. Remember that in order to have an optimal closing rate (60-80% for most industries), you will have to lose some sales. Even a lead that did not become a sale can lead to a referral sale if you remain professional and courteous. Think about it in a positive light. Hearing one “no” means you are much closer to the “YES”!
4. Our futures and fortunes are in the follow through!
Follow-up on ALL of your prospects, even the ones you KNOW (or rather, think you know) will not buy. Through your follow-up they will see that you care, and through your sincere communication, you may get the real reason for the lost sale. This gives you another opportunity to actually make the sale by helping the prospect to overcome any fear, misconception, or obstacle that was standing in the way for them.
Suppose you did not follow-up with a prospect because you just assumed they were not going to buy, so “why bother”. Then, that prospect suddenly realized that they could make the extra room in their budget after all. There is a very great chance that the prospect WILL NOT CALL YOU after the initial sales presentation even if they figured out a way to broaden their budget. Instead, they may just go forward until another buying opportunity presents itself, and someone else will get that sale. On the other hand, if you simply follow-up—perhaps a week later and then maybe again in a month or two— they may interact with you and give you their business. Our fortunes are certainly in the follow through.
5. Invest in your business
Make room in your business budget to invest in your business so it can grow. Allow resources for the development of new products and services, for education for yourself and your associates, for interesting projects, and for advertising and marketing. Perhaps you could invest in a joint venture with another business owner, or spend a little cash to delegate tasks. You could put resources towards things like search engine optimization for your website, a regular “advice” column in a local community magazine, some yard signs and door hangers, or .towards a company vehicle.
Having my car fully wrapped was a good investment for me when I ran my decorating business. I got a lot of attention with my bright and attractive colors, and many people stopped me in parking lots and garages for my business card even though my phone number was clearly visible on my car wrap. I think people just wanted to say hello and strike up a conversation because the wrap was so extensive, so colorful, and so interesting. It was always a lot of fun, and it definitely led to business and great profits, meaning it was worth the investment.
6. Know your competition, but do not obsess over them
Understand basically how your main competitors function, and have an idea of their products, services, and prices. Then, find what you do that they do not, and brag about it. Know your competition, but never be obsessed with them or give them even one minute more thought than is necessary to serve your clients. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS on what you do well and who YOU are, and shout it out in your wonderful, unique voice! Do not get sidetracked and caught up in the kind of negative energy that comes from fixating on another person or business. Focus on your customers instead, and you will enjoy amazing freedom and greater success.
7. Give your business time to grow
Do not be pulled off sides by get-rich-quick schemes, and do not expect instant sales and referrals just because you are in business. You must nurture and grow your business, each day doing something positive and meaningful towards your short-term and long-term business goals (which means you must have them and know what they are). This type of effort will definitely pay off, perhaps a little at first, but be patient and faithful in the little and you will see exponential and expedited growth once it all starts to take effect.
8. Have fun and be the kind of person people LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be around
When you leave the presence of others, they should feel better for having spent time with you. Who wouldn’t want to do business now and in the future with a fun, positive, fair, and caring individual? You cannot separate “real life” from “business”. We are who we are, and know assuredly that your business success will reflect the kind of person that you choose to be. It IS a choice!
Have a Wildly Successful Week,
Margo
Comments May 31, 2010
Monday Message from Margo
“The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.” ~Vince Lombardi
This week I want you to take a little bit of time to think about the activities you spend your time on throughout the days and weeks in your business.
What are you good at? Probably a lot of things for sure, but if some of the things you are good at are things that lots of other people can be good at too, 
then you should likely delegate these tasks, and focus your business efforts instead on things that are not easy for others to do or not easy for you to delegate. The things YOU personally use YOUR time on should primarily be activities focused at growing your business.
I have a short video (about 4 ½ minutes) for you to listen to sometime this week about the ORGANIZATIONAL CHART. This is a tool that you can use in a VERY SIMPLE WAY in your business.
An organizational chart will give you a good visual and a good basis for knowing what YOU should be doing to make more profits, and what OTHERS should be doing to totally support that.
With a simple and powerful organizational chart in place, YOU feel amazingly focused and empowered, and others on your team do too, because they know they are supporting you in your efforts to have a phenomenal business.
By the way, as a natural compliment to talking about YOUR own simple but powerful organizational chart, I have included some tips on DELEGATION— on when, how, what, and to whom to delegate tasks. The tips are listed after the link to the short video on Your Organizational Chart (about 4 ½ minutes).
http://www.degangigroup.com/ff_vid_3_organizational%20chart_4_min
Delegation
Learning to release certain tasks and even projects to others can free up much of your time for more important tasks. As a business owner, it is imperative that you spend your time (work time) on the activities that will bring in more revenue, grow your business, and increase your profits. The other activities should be delegated out.
Many people think they cannot delegate for several reasons:
• They feel they are too unorganized to show another person what to do
• They feel they do not have the funds to be able to delegate jobs
• They feel they are just too busy to stop and take the time to delegate
Each of these reasons reinforces the need to delegate. As long as we hold onto doing the jobs that keep us from growing our businesses, we will fell frustrated, overwhelmed, unproductive, and behind on our goals.
Delegation will free you up. It will allow you to focus your personal efforts on those things that will make you more productive. Delegation is a skill like any other. It must be learned.
Which Types of Tasks to Delegate
The types of tasks and projects to delegate are the ones others can do without negatively affecting your business, or the ones where delegating them will positively affect your business. Delegate the tasks that free you up to grow your business.
These include:
• Tasks that require low skills (such as filing, cleaning, running errands).
• Tasks that someone else is especially proficient at (this would include companies that offer services in a specific area like book-keeping, tax-preparation, newsletter service, etc.
• Tasks that tie you up and keep you from working on your personal and professional goals.
• Tasks you dislike and are not those that MUST be done by the business owner-those which will not negatively affect your business if you delegate them.
Begin to delegate by choosing low skill tasks that most people can do. As you get used to the idea of delegation, you can begin to release other jobs that require more skill.
To be successful at delegation, you must find, and sometimes train, someone who is responsible and competent. You must make clear to that person what your objectives are. Be specific about the results you expect. Write down these goals and the results you are looking for. Make certain that the person is sure of what is expected of him/her.
Give a time frame or date for completion. Check in occasionally to monitor the process, but do not spent too much time here. The point is to find someone who is capable of the task so it will free up your time. Refrain from trying to control the situation, which is actually a type of procrastination and will waste time. Allow the person you delegated to the freedom to do the task—even if they do it a bit differently than you would. If the results are what you want, it will not matter how you got there.
Set up a basic organizational chart for yourself and your business, and learn to delegate, and you will begin to see changes in your business that you once only dreamed of. It is not difficult to have a successful business, but it does take time, effort, and commitment. Follow the road that other successful people have traveled before you. The results will amaze you!
Have a Wildly Organized, Focused, and Profitable Week,
Margo
http://www.degangigroup.com/ff_vid_3_organizational%20chart_4_min
Comments May 24, 2010
Monday Message from Margo
“The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” ~Norman Vincent Peale
We all want to be more disciplined in life. We know that certain routine 
practices will help our businesses to grow and our personal empowerment to “appear”. What we may not understand though, is that some actions are simply things we do to get to a certain goal or benefit while other actions are actually a part of who we are at our core. In other words, some actions are driven only by the desire to reach a goal, while other actions focus on the process itself— which is seen as a valuable experience and benefit—as well as on the goal, which is also seen as a benefit. One is a DISCIPLINE and the other a PRACTICE.
• A DISCIPLINE is a willful chore (sometimes looked at as a rigid chore) that you dutifully do to get something done or because you know it will yield certain benefits.
• A PRACTICE is a transformative action done with awareness and with a purpose in mind that resonates with who you are. It is an extension of what you truly believe and it yields certain benefits.
Here are some more ways of looking at the differences:
A discipline is extrinsic
A discipline is born of something that must be accomplished
A disciple is often rigid
We may have to remind ourselves to do a discipline
A discipline is something we do because we know it will bring desired results
We usually do a discipline in spite of what we “really” want to do
A disciple is seen as a task
We often “white knuckle” through the discipline, looking for the moment it ends
We often do a disciple robotically, almost unconsciously
During a discipline we often focus on the end result
A disciple is driven by a GOAL
A practice is intrinsic
A practice is born of a belief system that truly motivates us
A practice is fluid and dynamic
The process of a practice is seen as transformative
A practice is something we do because is in line with our core beliefs
A practice is something we do because it gives us satisfaction
A practice is a belief
We are driven to do a practice because it is what we really want or love to do
We often are very away during a practice
During a practice we often focus on the process (the experience itself)
A practice is driven by a SENSE OF PURPOSE
Examples of Disciplines vs. Practices
Discipline: Calling past customers to keep your name out there and to drum up sales.
Practice: Calling past customers because you appreciate that they have put their trust in you to do business with you, and because you really do care about them. You want to know how they are doing and you want to see what’s going on with them, and see if they have any thoughts or questions you can help them with.
Discipline: Eating a salad because you think it will help you maintain your weight
Practice: Eating a salad because it is rich and healthful. Enjoying the process of cutting the cherry tomatoes in half, and slicing the purple onions, and smelling the fresh herbs. Then enjoying tasting each and every different flavor and appreciating the freshness of each ingredient.
Discipline: Doing regular customer events because it is a good business practice for increasing leads, sales, and contacts.
Practice: Doing regular customer events because you are a leader and an innovator, and you can’t wait to share good news and interesting findings with your customers and prospects. You look forward to the wonderful connection and ongoing relationship that your customer events create.
If we want to see real changes in our lives and in our businesses, we certainly have to do some things differently. That means we must take on new behaviors. At some point along the way though, if these new behaviors are not seen as exciting tools for change, and if they do not become a part of new core beliefs, the behaviors will either be dropped, or they will be continued but with a reluctant and resistant energy source pushing them. That’s no way to live.
You may have to start out some new behaviors with a discipline, but a discipline can become more. During the activity or task, be in the moment and appreciate what you are doing—really appreciate it, whatever it is. If a discipline is looked at through the eyes of our core beliefs, enjoyed as a process, and embraced as a powerful act of transformation, it will become a welcome and enjoyable practice.
Attitude is everything.
I’m sure you get the picture. Much of the difference between a discipline and a practice is in our attitudes and our sense of purpose. Many of the disciplines in our lives can be changed to practices simply by changing our attitudes and examining why we do the discipline in the first place. We can decide to function out of a true sense of purpose, attaching meaning to everything that we do. This makes for a far better business and a more enriched life overall.
Think about the disciplines you now engage in that can easily become meaningful practices in your life. Decide to create the self-awareness and the self-dialog to put you in a totally different arena with the activities you do on a regular basis.
Practice a Wildly Successful Week,
Margo
Comments May 17, 2010
Monday Message from Margo
If you had a magic tool that could help you to be more productive, help you to be a better saver, help you connect more meaningfully with clients, help
you to overcome specific fears, help you to focus on activities that bring in money, and help you to “slow your roll” when you get a little crazy, would you use it? You might say “yes” pretty quickly, but droves of people overlook or dismiss the power of this incredible tool each and every day. That tool is COLOR !
Color is not just something pretty to look at. If that’s all we think about when we think color, we are really selling our opportunities short.
Color is a powerful motivator. Different colors work to trigger different parts of our brain and stimulate various types of thinking and behavior. Color also has a role in how our bodies respond on a physiological level.
Color can actually become a tool that you strategically use to grow both personally and professionally if you know how to leverage it.
For example, if you tend to be very critical of self and others, which gets in the way of sales and customer connection, you need more exposure to magenta. If you want to be better at saving money to ensure a more solid future, pull some rich blues into your life. If you tend to accept what everyone else says and blindly obey, then lime green will help you ask yourself “why” and take on more personal power? Combining blue, red and yellow will cause you to get serious about accomplishing your goals, and basking a little more in the tandem of gold and indigo will infuse you with innovative thinking that can help you launch new and exciting products and services.
Purple will bring out your creativity, and orange will help you to facilitate change. Whew! I am on a roll, but I’m just getting started. There is so much to know about the world of color and its many delicious benefits that we take for granted every day. It is an amazing asset that has been given to us and we truly under rate and under use it. I hope we will simply stop doing that soon and become better business people by embracing color and its appropriate applications.
If you ever want to have a stimulating dialog about color and how it can totally change your life, give me a call. I’d love to brighten your understanding.
In the meantime, here is a short excerpt (4.5 min) from my appearance on the Debbie Davis Show, sharing a bit about the phenomenal power of color.
Have a Wildly COLOR FUL Week,
Margo
http://www.degangigroup.com/excerpt_from_colors_of_life_w_margo.mp3
Comments April 26, 2010
Monday Message from Margo
“Who is wise? He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful? He that governs his passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.” ~Benjamin Franklin
“We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everyone wants to get rich quick, and there are a mazillion experts ready to take your money and tell you how. But don’t blame them. There are 
mazillions more who want to know how to get as much money as they can, so they can finally be happy. With that frame of mind, unfortunately, few will ever experience true wealth.
That’s because being RICH has NOTHING to do with money! It has everything to do with the way you live your life and the happiness you feel every day. To get rich, you have to first stop thinking about money, and start thinking about what drives you with excitement and passion.
For example, I am RICH. I live my life with a mindset that is positive and that also draws me to opportunities where I can help others, enjoy my days, and make great money, too. I had to be RICH before I could ever be financially well-off.
My passion—what drives me every day of my life—is empowering others to find their unique gifts and use them to create amazing lives and businesses. I would do this for free. It is who I am.
For you it may be designing and creating off-the-hook interior spaces, or mentoring others to be their very best, or helping people to get well and strong and energized, or it may be informing and entertaining your tribe through exciting seminars and special events. Your passion may be connecting with clients in the selling situation because you know you are changing their lives in unprecedented ways through the exceptional products that you sell.
To GET RICH QUICK, quit thinking that RICH means money, and get a brand new mindset. You must be RICH well before you will ever see the first shiny dime of your small business fortune.
Getting rich quick starts with your decision to drop a very dangerously deceptive mentality—the one that says you can be successful without a lot of effort or without putting a reasonable amount of time into your business.
If you are involved in the fallacy that one day you will “make it big” and never have to work again, I can bet that you are not tapping into your passion—you are not doing what you truly love. The people who become highly successful are so motivated, so inspired to help others, and so driven to always have a RICH quality of life, that they never even desire a day when they can quit “doing” what they love.
Research proves over and over again that doing what you are passionate about, or at the very minimum what you are peaceful about and extremely motivated to do, is the key to financial rewards. This is because you end up in a zone of productivity, often called “flow”, that continues to drive you through all obstacles, and the energy you emit from doing what is meaningful to you actually draws others your way, and many of these “others” have money to spend.
Do you still want to get rich quick? Maybe so. I think you should. Here’s how–here’s the RICH mindset you need in order to be financially wealthy and incredibly happy, too:
R- Reclaim your personal passion and redirect all of your efforts towards it.
I- Invest in yourself and in your business: education, extreme self care, marketing activities that have proven results and move you forward, and leisure time spent doing the things that make you happy and bring you peace.
C- Create environments where you can thrive: Ditch negative energy, spend less time with saboteurs and gossipy people, make your home a place of refuge, expression, and fun, and your office a station of peak productivity, connection, and creativity.
H- Hire Help. Spend time doing what you are good at, and delegate the tasks that are not directly tied to building your profits or caring for self. If you don’t, you will burn out because you are not doing activities that are profitable or that you are passionate about. Let someone else do your monthly newsletters or your daily books. If you are a designer, put together a small team of design assistants for the less complicated work. Hire a housekeeper because the money you pay for that is LESS than the money you lose on the sales you are not bringing in while you’re vacuuming the carpet!
And there it is. Now, to get rich quick (which precedes gobs of money), simply get clear on what it is you really love to do, and do it FULL THROTTLE. My friend Gary Vaynerchuk says “CRUSH IT”! I say “smash the 
heck out of it, and do it with all of your might”. Either way, bring your passion to the table, take great care of your mind and body, engage yourself in pertinent, consistent activities to bring you towards your goals, surround yourself with good vibrations, delegate what slows you down, then buckle your seat belt to take the ride of your life to financial independence and true personal empowerment.
Have a Wildly Rich Week,
Margo
Comments April 19, 2010
Monday Message from Margo 4-12-2010
“Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character” ~ T. Alan Armstrong
A few mornings ago, after my fitness boot camp workout, one of the coaches said to me as I was leaving “eat like a champion today”. As I got in my car and drove away, I thought more and more about those words and how very empowering they were (and still are). I immediately peeled the banana that was in my car! Of course, you know all too well that I just had to apply this to business (it is who I am)!
I started thinking that we should all live like champions, and that the concept shouldn’t intimidate us, either. If you said to some people, “live like a champion today”, they might become pressured by it and take it to mean 
that living like a champion requires over-the-top, relentless “A” game strategies every moment of every day. Actually, it is much more liberating than that to live like a champion. Bottom line, it means to be exceptionally good to yourself, which is something we all can OWN.
I am ON IT! I will live like a champion everyday. I will be my best without distress! That means that during my morning workouts with Coach Cliff, I will go at MY OWN PACE and push myself to MY best. It means if my marriage seems a little crusty, I will tell my honey how thankful I am that he is in my life. For my business, it means that if sales are slow, I will call a few people who I know need my help, because I have time. It means that I will make the best use of my resources each day, focusing on those activities that are in line with my goals and that will propel me forward, and I will delegate or ditch the rest.
Living like a champion means I deserve to have a prosperous business that makes money and does not needlessly leak funds. Knowing that so many real, average, normal people have built incredibly successful and extremely prosperous businesses testifies that I can too. SO every day I work at being a champion. I keep a good attitude and stay in the moment. I try new things and measure what is working, I repeat those activities that bring results, and I drop the rest. I hone in on my ideal customers more and more each year, and focus my marketing efforts on them alone. I open myself to new ideas and new ways of applying old ideas, and I listen to others, apply the feedback, and I learn. I am a champion, so I NEVER stop learning.
I continually indulge myself in sessions, seminars, and conferences that energize me and keep me up on the latest technologies that apply to my field. I stay sharp to always be there for myself as well as for others. I eat right, I make my body move because I am its boss, and I guard my sleep (a new activity for me) so I am well-rested when I do my work and enjoy my play.
I am a champion, and that means I am amazing, and I deserve love and goodness from myself. If others give it to me fine, but I am not waiting for that. I am the one who gives that to me, and I can therefore give to others. My friends and family “get” me, my colleagues appreciate and value me, my clients love me, and I respect me.
YOU are a champion. It does not matter if you feel like one or not. You are because you want to be. You are synergetic. Each step you take in your life—in your business— to build something big and meaningful may seem enormously small, but when you add all of those important little steps up over time, you gain phenomenal results because the sum of your steps is far greater than each part.
You will not notice much happening as you go along, but a champion lives in the moment. You tick and you tock and you keep a constant, consistent cadence with channeled activity you know is moving you forward, inches at a time, until one day, you see it. You have gained something incredible, and it is finally here, and so you keep going. You are building, forming, creating, envisioning, and the synergy gets richer, thicker, grander, until the little steps accumulated become giant steps seamlessly tied together with a business stride that causes you to fly— and to go on to win the race— YOUR race.
That’s how it works! You are a champion. Today, you made it to your desk. You fueled your body wisely. You thought about your goals, and you focused on one. You moved your joints, your mind, and your business and 
marketing plan. Way to go! Now just keep up with the movement and stay on course. Be steady and consistent, and be gentle on yourself, too. If your engine stalls, restart it. If you veer off course, ease back on. Tell yourself how exceptional you are. Tell yourself “this is easy”. Tell yourself you deserve all of the financial freedom that is in your life and all that is coming your way. Embrace every small task you have the privilege to work on, and silently celebrate every actualized goal, no matter the size.
You ARE a champion! You may as well live like one!
Have a wildly champion-like week,
Margo
Comments April 12, 2010
Monday Message from Margo 3-15-2010
“Comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort.” ~Peter McWilliams
I would bet my 13 pound kitty (whom I love very much) that the first time you ever kissed someone, the first time you ever flew on an airplane, and the first time you ever got up in front of an audience, you were in a place of definite discomfort (I know I’ll get to keep my kitty with this one).
During your most nerve-wracking life moments, while behaving like an enterprising human being who dared to try something different, you allowed yourself to be in an unfamiliar and even scary position, in order to attain to something you thought of as positively wonderful, or to gain what you did not yet have, be it a special friend, an exhilarating life experience, or an exciting new client.
If you have developed and grown much as an individual and as a professional, you have embraced some meaningful measure of discomfort, and the degree to which you have allowed it, has determined where you are today.
On the flip side, have you ever met someone—and I’m talking grown-ups here—who thought that going to the UPS office to mail a box was a major event, or who stressed to the point of hives about having three people over for pie, or who went nuts and practically needed counseling because they had to call someone up whom they did not know? Successful T.V. shows like Seinfeld were built on psyches like this, and we find this kind of entertainment hilarious because we can all relate. We all know—YOU know—someone like this, someone who has not allowed discomfort to be a catalyst for growth. Perhaps it is a relative or long-time friend. Have you 
noticed that people like this, no matter how kind, loving, and sweet, never really get very far in life in terms of accomplishment and material reward?
Obviously, there is absolutely nothing wrong with not seeking prominence, position, professional accomplishment, material wealth, success, or financial freedom. Lots of wonderful people don’t, and have no desire to ever begin, and that’s fine. However, this is about YOU, not them. If YOU want to build these things—to whatever degree— you MUST get COMFORTABLE with the concept of DISCOMFORT. You must embrace it as a friend, as a fundamental, vital, and healthy 
part of living, and especially of growing! In order to get from one place to another, from one level of professionalism to another, from one life position to another, you MUST be willing to be uncomfortable, at least for a time.
Discomfort is without a doubt a wonderful thing. Being uncomfortable is the tension you feel just before the thrill of a new life ride or just before a fresh and un-chartered experience. Discomfort can be rather magical, IF you let it work for you. GET COMFORTABLE WITH DISCOMFORT, and be matter-of-fact about the fact that you will be uneasy, uncomfortable, and unfamiliar on many occasions as you develop yourself personally and professionally, and that’s O.K. In fact, it’s exciting!
What do you want?
You want something, or you would not be reading this. You want to expand yourself into the arena of fabulous possibilities and realities. Is what you want a bit of a reach, or is it way out there?
Reel it in a little at a time. Going for what you want does not mean you have to live constantly in discomfort, it just means you have to visit that palace now and again. Visit, stay for a while, gain some benefit, then sit back in a place of comfort once again. Then, go back and re-visit the place of stretching yourself—the place of discomfort. Repeat as necessary, and so it goes. Soon, being uncomfortable will actually be comfortable to you. You will relax into it, knowing that the unknown almost always unfolds itself in something wonderful, something that makes you feel that you are glad you ventured out.
Those who step outside of their recognizable zone of comfort, and stretch themselves to higher elevations, will likely enjoy a richer life, more embellishments, a deeper connection to others, and even better coffee than the average Joe.
In this day of constant innovation, quick change, brilliant ideas, new 
marketing, and new media, we have ample opportunity to be in discomfort every time a groundbreaking social media outlet comes onto the scene, every time an amazingly helpful technology breaks through the e-curtain, and every time a colleague asks us to be involved in a project we don’t yet understand. WHAT WILL YOU DO? Will you embrace them, engage, learn, and come to higher ground, knowing discomfort is just a small part of personal growth and business improvement? I’ll bet my kitty’s collar you will.
Go ahead and open yourself to discomfort. Make your life a NO WHINING ZONE, and allow the things that take effort and a sprinkle or two of uncertainty and nervousness to be a regular part of your professional protocol. Occasional discomfort is a very small price to pay to live an amazing life—to find your dreams right here in this comfortable place of reality.
Have a Wildly Uncomfortable Week,
Margo
Comments March 15, 2010
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