The end of August dog days are real—they’re in full effect. I, for one, am certainly having a difficult time staying focused and motivated. I need to snap out of it and gear up for Fall. Anyone else feeling this way? If so, or if you're just keen on continuous self-improvement, you might find Nir Eyal’s article on turning routines into habits useful. Eyal is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of “Hooked” and “Indestructible” who is also a public speaker and consultant (😏). Eyal goes into great detail about the common misconceptions that surround habit building, the largest one being that a habit and a routine are one and the same. Eyal suggests that it is critical that you know the difference between the two. He explains that a habit is a behavior done with little or no thought, while a routine is a series of actions regularly followed. Further, it’s just as important to acknowledge that not all behaviors are created equally; only certain kinds of behaviors can become habits. If you want a community of consultants who can help you turn routines into habits, then join CoSolo by signing up here to start your free trial.
🍻 NYC Happy Hour (CoSolo and ICN Joint Event) As serious and hardworking as we all are, we do need to have some fun. Come join us in Bryant Park on Thursday, September 19th, at 6PM for happy hour by registering here. Meet, greet and mingle with your fellow CoSolo and ICN members IRL 😱. Non-members are welcome too! Come hang out and see for yourself why CoSolo’s community is so special. To prove that we like fun, here’s a pic from our last in-person happy hour:
Look how much fun @deepak, @roi, and @david are having! They’re beaming! So we have a headcount, please register here if you want to participate.
👩💻 Super Focus Hour This week’s featured resource is CoSolo’s very own Super Focus Hour (SFH). Think of SFH as virtual coworking. You meet with other CoSolo members via video call to bang out a solid hour’s worth of work. At the start of the hour you talk about what you’re going to dedicate this allocated slot of time and then you check back in at the close of the hour to see how well you did. But here’s the catch— you’re on video call for the entire duration of the hour. Don’t just take my word for it. Hear out what some of our members have to say about SFH: “This is the time I can focus and set the tone for the day. I struggle in the afternoon to keep my productivity high and SFH helps me to stay away from distractions like YouTube, Facebook, etc. After I have attended an afternoon SFH, I continue to work.” “It keeps me accountable. Because of my personality, I can get distracted while working. In a SFH, I have to stay accountable for what I promised. It’s like meditation and after practice, it gets better and better.” “It gives me an hour to focus. Independent consultants don’t have many of the routines and processes that are part of the workday in a professional organization. With SFH, I get an anchor where I can focus on the things I want to work on. I usually make a plan for the hour and get everything ready beforehand. Then, I execute it all during SFH. It gives a certain rhythm to the workday.” Typically, SFH is held two times a day (10am and 2pm EST), four days a week (Mon-Thur).
📚Business Book Recommendations A major part of CoSolo is its active Slack community. Our whole cohort (which spans from coast to coast) is connected by the tips of our fingers. One of our Slack channels, #ask_for_anything, is a perfect example of how eager all of our members are not to just ask for help, but also to give it! @josh asked the community, “If you could only recommend ONE business book that helps teach how to increase your inbound sales traffic— which would it be and why?” Josh got his first response in under 5 minutes 😵. Traction, Little Red Book of Selling, The Irresistible Consultant's Guide, and Expert Secrets were some of the recommendations Josh received. You better buckle down, Josh! You got some reading to do 🤓.
Do you have any good business book recommendations? Please feel free to jump in on the discussion. Join our community for free!
🎺CoSolo Free Trial🎈 If you are serious about building your independent or boutique consulting business and you think it will be beneficial to have other peer consultants advise and hold you accountable, try joining us! You can try us out for 1 month risk-free. And if you sign up this week, we will even give you a nice secret gift. Any questions, feel free to reply to this email or just sign-up here.