I recently spent a long weekend visiting my parents in Albuquerque and while I was getting ready for my daily morning walk, I heard a familiar voice blaring from their 3 television sets that reminded me how sweet it is to be in your “career groove.”

The clarion call I heard was this: “Come on down!”

The voice was Rod Roddy, side-kick to 83-year old master of MCs, Bob Barker, the 30-year veteran host of “The Price is Right.”

Every time I visit my parents I get my regular dose of Bob Barker (my parents are close to his age and are huge “Bob” fans). Plus I get to marvel at Bob Barker’s authentic energy.

Barker is a vivid and marvelous poster-gentleman for a unique human situation that few people achieve. What is that situation? No, it’s not the money. It’s something more significant:

Bob is a guy who is completely in his “career groove.”

What is a Career Groove and Why Should You Care?

So what exactly does it mean to be in your career groove?

• For one it means you love your work so much, you can keep on doing it and loving it all the way into retirement and beyond.

• And it means one more thing: what you’re doing is perfectly aligned with your natural gifts and talents. You bring your WHOLE self to work.

So, what does it matter to you or anyone if you’re NOT in your career groove? It matters foremost to you, and secondarily to your community.

Where are you on the “Joy-Meter?”

From my perspective, a lot of physicians and professionals live their life somewhere between “outwardly successful but not completely content” and “professionally constrained and wanting more.”

Life goes on, years pass, children grow up, you take vacations, you get a new car, you sit on a hospital committee, you go to a continue-ed conference.

I knew a physician once many years ago who at the end of each day would count down: “Only 11 years, 5 months and 3 days to go before I retire.” He took vacations and went skiing, had a nice family remarried . . . and yet he was sadlyresigned to the countdown.

Not being in your career groove doesn’t mean that you are experiencing a career crisis or even burnout—but something important is missing.

That missing element is this:

The opportunity to be MORE COMPLETELY engaged (body, mind, spirit) and more completely OF SERVICE to the world.

It is from that level of engagement that we experience pure joy.

“Career Groove Indicators” – See Where You Are

Here are three indicators to gauge how muchyou are in own Career Groove — and in a future article, I’ll share some thoughts on how to “get your groove back.”

Career Groove Indicator

Scoring: For each Indicator Statement score yourself as follows

• 3 points: I am completely aligned
• 2 points: I want to be aligned, and am in the process of taking steps now to be completely aligned
• 1 point: I want to be aligned, but not sure of the next steps

Career Groove Indicator #1:

I look forward to every day and look ahead to the near horizon with a sense of optimism.

Career Groove Indicator #2:

I am developing mastery in some aspect of my work—mastery based on recognition of my passion, natural talents and gifts.

Note: your mastery can be in a clinical area, a leadership domain, a communication skill , a creative path, or something unrelated to your current work . Career Groove Indicator #3:

I have no regrets about the course my life is taking right at this moment and feel grateful for everything and everyone around me.

Note: One way to answer this is, What if you or a loved one were struck down; are you focusing your energy on what you care about most? What barriers do you want to remove, or conversations do you need to have, or actions would you take in order to feel “no regrets”?

What does your score indicate?

If you scored between 8 and 9: Congratulations! You’re in your career groove or heading fast in that direction. Find someone to mentor!

If you scored between 6 and 7: Your career groove is not far away. You know what to do next, so what is holding you back?

If you scored between 3 and 5: Your desire is strong, but if the “next steps” elude you, it’s time to seek outside help.

You might be asking yourself: But as a doctor, am I not already “being of service” to the world, and isn’t that “groove” enough?

The answer is No, Yes, and Maybe:

• No, if you’re not spiritually engaged in what you’re doing,
• Yes, if you are completely engaged, and
• Maybe, if can bring your total repertoire of natural talents, strengths and gifts to work every day

So why not go for gold and “pure joy”?

In a future issue I will delve deeper into how to find your career groove and ways to get aligned. In the meantime think about what natural strengths, talents or gifts you were meant to share with world. Once you put these to serve, PURE JOY is the natural by-product!

Daily routine and structure are an important step in keeping your business organized, on track and moving forward. We often get caught up in energy burning activities that although important to any business, are not going to make you money. It is essential to implement daily routines and habits that will not only move your business forward, but also leverage your time and put dollars in your bank account.

In my previous article I began to discuss 5 habits that almost all successful 3% Leaders do on a daily basis. I went through the importance of daily visualization and meditation on your goals. I also laid out a quick process to get really clear on where you want to go, and what you want to accomplish. In this article I will be discussing the next two habits; Income Producing Activities and Personal Development.

Income Producing Activities

This habit may seem a little obvious but it is amazing how many people have difficulty not only establishing but also sticking to it. When I say “Income Producing Activities”, I am not referring to getting your desk and office set up, or shuffling around papers and checking email. What I mean is taking daily, consistent action on the things that will put dollars in your bank account. For those of us in the Online Marketing industry, this means placing ads, generating traffic, and having quality conversations. Conversions are all about numbers. The more ads you place, the more traffic you generate. The more people you reach, the more chance you have for qualified leads and quality conversations and ultimately, the opportunity to change people’s lives.

I know how difficult it can be to get into this groove because it requires you to work. Remember that those who are successful generally got that way because they took the time to do the things that others didn’t. I highly recommend doing what is most important first thing in the morning. This way, it’s done, out of the way, and allows you to move onto other things. We all know how quickly things can change in a day and send you into reactive mode. If you commit to doing the highest leveraging activities first thing, then you have a greater chance of getting them completed.

The fastest way to grow your business is to get really, really good at placing ads. Not all ads are going to convert, not every idea is a good one, but the more consistent and diligent you are, the faster you will close in on what works and start to see the results you are looking for.

Personal Development

What is personal development? It’s exactly what it sounds like, things you do to develop yourself from the inside out, self-growth if you will. If you’re not growing, you’re standing still and Leaders rarely stand still.

The easiest way to take consistent action in this area is to commit to reading an hour a day. What you choose to read is up to you, but the intention here is to find something that will help you grow as a person and also in your business. A commitment to personal growth is essentially a commitment to never stop learning. If this is new to you, you may want to consult your mentor or business coach for a reading list (all the good ones will have a solid reading list). Just remember that Leaders are readers. I would add that acquiring specific knowledge would also fall into this category. Look for training and courses that will enhance your knowledge and skill thus, contributing to your business.

Some topics you may want to consider may be copy writing, quality conversation training, specific ad placement techniques and training, leadership, time management etc… The possibilities really are endless. Just pick a topic and stick with it until you feel you grasp it. What’s important is that whatever area you choose to focus on, remember that you MUST implement and apply what you are learning. If all you are doing is reading without integrating it into your life and business, you’re missing the point.

I will point out two very good tips to leverage your time in this area are:

1) Get the books you want to read on audiobook. This way, you can listen while driving, cleaning, bathing the dog, whatever.

2) Use what you are leaning for fresh content. Whether a course, training, or a book you have read, use it. You will always be applying what you are learning through teaching which will really solidify the information.

With some planning, time management, and careful execution of these two habits, you will continue to set yourself up for success. Committing to these activities has the power to change not only your business but also your life.

In the last article in this series, I will be discussing the last of the 5 habit that 3% Leaders do daily; Masterminding with other Leaders and Cultivating the Expectation of Leadership.

As we all know that yoga is a great practice for keeping one’s mind and body relaxed. If you are a yoga teacher and are planning to start a successful home yoga business then you should work hard on a number of aspects.

First of all, you need to go for a proper certification program that can help you in acquiring a decent job. You should select a decent program that works for you in the right way. You must try to get support of various organizations that are associated with yoga business. This article will offer you some crucial help regarding how to start a successful home yoga business.

Some key steps that you need to follow in order to start a successful home yoga business.

• You should first find out more about a yoga studio in your area where you can opt for a suitable certification program. This is a program which would really offer you some great help in regard to this topic. There are a number of yoga training schools that offer you suitable certification courses that can match up to your requirements in the right way. You can easily sign up in one of those schools to get complete knowledge regarding the yoga basics.

• Now, you should choose a quiet room in your house where you can practice yoga on a daily basis. Well, it is not enough to learn yoga in a studio. Instead, you need to practice hard at your home if you want to excel in the industry. The place should be soothing and relaxing so that you can concentrate hard on your skills. You can put up some nice posters that have beautiful motivational quotes written on them. This is one thing that can prove to be extremely encouraging for you. Privacy is really important for a yoga teacher.

• When you are planning to start on your business then you should make them fill up some forms. They need to offer you all their contact information so that if a problem occurs in the future you are able to solve it without any difficulty. Give your students some free time to relax and get in to the groove before you actually start taking strict sessions.

• Now, you should start going about your business in the right way. You can get started by teaching some basics to your students. This is the right way to get started in this industry. Think about some great plans to expand your business in the long run.

• At last, you got to ensure that you work according to the needs of your students. This is the right way to keep them interested in yoga. Yoga is something that needs to be done willfully and not forcefully.

These are some of the key things that could help you in starting a successful home based yoga business. You should follow the above mentioned steps carefully if you want to become a great yoga teacher.