“When things aren’t adding up in your life, start subtracting.”
~ Anonymous

The entire month of September is all about “being” instead of doing in business - this really struck me hard.

This really got me to reflect on this question: why does it throw me off so much to take an additional day off, and an entire weekend to relax? To add this day to my personal “bank” and subtract it from my work “bank.”

Some of you who are business owners have zero problems with sprinkling in time off and I admire you for that. Others are struggling a bit to create this level of empowerment in their business to be able to subtract and not feel at a loss. Read that again.

I shared a little video reflection a few weeks ago and wanted to talk about it in today’s Sunday intention- getting rid of, making space, and subtracting the things in our business and in our life that doesn’t bring much value at all to our life. 

That’s the first part.

The second part is being totally okay, overjoyed, and almost to a euphoric state of celebration that you subtracted.  What I mean by this is saying no, unfollowing, and creating more distinct boundaries with yourself and what you allow in your day to day. 

Here are a few examples:

• Going through your entire social media feed on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram and unfollowing, unfriending, and removing the connections of those who bring more angst and negativity to your life. Including other business pages, groups, and reporting ads that you do not want to be bothered with. 

• Start wrapping up the “COVID Emergency Plans” where you took on work & projects that you know weren’t profitable or sustainable for you and declare the end date and move forward.

• Don’t work on the weekends- at all. And do something for yourself instead!

• Or completely turn off notifications altogether and start deleting events off your calendar if you want to be where I’m at! 

• Take it even a step further and subtract a working hour each week from your schedule and put that 1 extra hour toward something in life you truly enjoy like gardening, cooking, hosting a gathering, volunteering, reading, or doing research on your most passion-driven nonprofit. 

Some of these are examples of what I’m experiencing as my February is going to entail a brand new role for myself- being a new mom! 

I have to make space to welcome one of the most important roles in my life I could ever dream up and I cannot insert that tile of motherhood without allowing space in my life to do so. 

As I continue to focus the rest of this month on projecting my plan for what 2021 is going to look like in my life and business, I have to start making space. T

his is going to allow more amazing things to come true and I already know whatever I decide, it won’t be a LOSS, it will be a complete deposit of my time, energy, skillset, contribution, & addition to a better version of the business, of me, and so much more.

Having the time to think about what I am going to “subtract” is going to allow me to focus on what better additions to The MKTG Brand, to Dana Magnus as a person, and to my entire community.

What can you subtract this week?

This exercise is going to skim the fat and grant you a more clear outlook for how to use the best use of your time to “be” and stop “doing” what you really shouldn’t be.

Think to yourself what is up and coming for you in 2021- is it being so much more efficient in your work? Being more connected to your community? Sharing more time in the spaces in the world where you feel your most wholesome-self?

Can you take away wasted time on social media with all of the fake news and propaganda, ads, and negativity to open up time for yourself to enjoy more, share more; and receive more? 

I’d love to hear about what you are subtracting in the Your Ethical Business Community Group- feel free to start a post in reflection of this Sunday Intention!

Until next time-
Dana Magnus


PS> Have you heard of CEO Days? We are being proactive about your month ahead with accountability, planning, and a bit of networking at this FREE meet-up! Check it out>>

Let’s talk about guiding principles, codes of ethics, and a framework for making decisions today. This is something I’ve been feeling like I wanted to talk about throughout 2020 as so many business owners are asking me what they should/ should not post on social media these days in a heated social climate. 

The solution is to know, live out, and stand by your Code of Ethics! 

As we approach the 2020 Election, I have seen so many people so hungry on social media to express the “do’s and don’ts” of life - what they believe, why they feel like they want to be heard about their beliefs, and who is on their ‘side’ of that particular set of beliefs. It’s incredible how many business owners also want to be more vocal about the causes, mission, and the concerns in the world they are connected to, but doesn’t feel like it is “professional” enough to do so. 

I am a professional business owner and marketer who leads a virtual community group called “Your Ethical Business” and it’s difficult to talk about individual issues without addressing the absence of a “code” of some sort. 

Why is a code of ethics important to have established?

1. TO GUIDE
   The first and most important reason a code of ethics exists is to create a framework of guiding principles that a group agrees to, lives out in full-action, and seeks to set an example for those around them to get inspired and motivated to follow as well. This helps to attract the right community, team, and clients to your brand as they understand how people in and around the organization are being treated and cared for.
   

2. TO HOLD YOURSELF & OTHERS RESPONSIBLE
   The second reason you’d want to have a code of ethics is that as your team grows, you can use this as a foundational reference to the type of conduct you are willing to tolerate and what specific actions you embrace.

   If a worker of your team thinks its not important to tell you that they are needing to take off time for their maternity leave or if they aren’t feeling good because they fear you will fire them for now showing up 100% of the time, that can get to be a very awkward conversation for you and them when something comes up. 

   Or for example, if a customer of yours is being mistreated by one of your team members and they just end up leaving as a client because there is no policy for open feedback or communication, that can leave you as the owner not responsible for correcting that action. Last but not least, if your team, including yourself, has a lot of very inappropriate social media engagement and misrepresenting the mission or ethos that ties back to the reputation at work- what does that look like and how can that harm you as a company? 

   So many scenarios paint a picture of unwanted outcomes when a code of ethics or code of conduct is not set in place. 

3. TO COMMUNICATE YOUR VALUES & ETHOS
   Last and not least, you want to have a code of ethics established to be proud of the systems and the ethos of your company that is used for marketing & advertising such as going for your B Corporation Certification.

   I’ve been working, slowly, toward my B Corporation certification and it is required that my company has a written out Code of Ethics to demonstrate what I promise to do to be the change I want to see in the world. 

Some more reflection of how a Code of Ethics in our personal lives can support our decisions as leaders & business owners

Something that religion does very well lays out this code of ethics - I grew up Catholic so we had this as our 10 Commandments. Other religions have something similar, and it just helps us to navigate what is right and wrong. Be nice to others, give to the less fortunate, don’t lie, steal, cheat, or kill, and respect your authority and parents. A framework to understand what to tolerate and not tolerate when it comes to looking at certain worldly situations. 

I think with the changing world we are living in, powers of influences shifting away from traditional settings and more modernized with the incredibly influential social media, these blurred lines of a social framework have been placed on political parties, peer influence, and money. Do you agree or disagree? 

This is an extremely complex question, feat, and assignment for some. Others feel like they can pinpoint 4-8 bullet-pointed ideas and be confident. 

Some of you may find that your code of ethics gets heavily involved in politics, social justice, and the powers in larger organizations. Others, may not. But this Sunday intention is simply to help you identify what it is that you stand for, what your business is responsible for, and how you can use that in your outward communications. 

Examples of Code of Ethics

As an example, here is more about Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream containing a way to describe their Code of Ethics as “values”

Here is Amazon’s

 Here is Best Buy’s

And a B Corporation Web Development company (scroll to Principles) Mangrove.

Regardless, if you were to journal about what your code of ethics looks like, maybe even make a list of what you would design it to be for your mission-driven business, I believe you would find yourself organized, level-headed, and so much more clear about what your business stands for, what you promise to act-out, and how to find a great balance of what to express loudly on social media as a business professional! 

Welcome to Sunday Intentions

My mantra is also fitting for what I want to share with you today: 

“Life is 10 % what happens to you and 90 % how you react to it.”

― Charles R. Swindoll

I had some fierce conflict between business week prep & writing these emails vs. summertime enjoyment in personal life spent with family & friends. Oops!

As my theme for this season has been all about “Business Vacation,” I thought I would take a page out of my own book and visit you today instead. 

The last few weeks have really got me thinking about trying to set “GOALS” and ask for what I want in a time that feels so scarce, so hurtful, and with so much pain going on in the world. 

What more could I ask for? 

Are you feeling disconnected from wanting “more” when you are stuck feeling like you are just trying to process how to get to tomorrow? Me too. I think of all of the kids who can’t return to a school who has a traumatic homelife - their refuge is taken away.

I think of all of the people who have lost their homes, their businesses, and their jobs - their security has been taken away. And on a global view, all of the people who have lost their spouses, daughters, sisters, uncles, fathers, mothers, and so many others to the devastation of the world shutting down, a global pandemic going on, and catastrophic climate events in other countries- their everything has been taken away. 

2020 was given to us as a gift, I believe, to change our hearts and be more of what truly matters, not what we layout on a goals list.  

It makes me extremely uncomfortable when I am facing this polarity as a leader- telling people who have “EVERYTHING” to want more, and forget about the people who have been stripped down to nothing. 

Hold on- no.

That’s not the narrative. Mission-driven marketing is embedded into the fabric of what I do. I have the absolute power to change the world for the better to make these very bleak topics my goals instead of wanting more comfort, security, wealth, or “stuff!” 

This is what Ethical Leaders use to connect a community together by being a force of GOOD, not a force of victimization. We go to the uncomfortable spots in the world because we take what we witness, we feel, and we can really be moved by and embed it back into our businesses. 

For some of you, this is very obvious and already baked in. For others on this weekly update, this is brand new and you are just navigating how to play a part in the changes you want to see in the world. 

I shared with my community of Ethical Leaders what in their life they felt so deeply moved by and how has it made them a better leader? It was an incredible and very vulnerable spot to share, but I really got to see a completely different side to people that they are struggling with sharing with the world- even though it is the “Why” behind their entire business! 

It’s a hard thing to do, but instead of complaining about what is wrong with this world and the leadership in it, let’s use this as our chance to: go to the ugly places, the deep dark spots in our soul, and the hurt in the world to find our true calling and align it with our very purpose & start to make the action happen!  

I invite you to be open minded to thinking about this in a way of healing, leading, and being the “light” in the world this week instead of feeding into the negativity of the media on our social feeds. What are we sharing- more fear, anxiety, and frustration or what the world needs from you most? Make the change happen because you are going to the good places we need you to reach to, talking sincerely about the things that your business was built on, and start rallying your community to create something amazing to happen that YOU were part of leading! 

The intention this week: 

“Everything that I’ve seen, felt, and experienced was no mistake. It happened to me because I can handle it and I was meant to be forever changed by it. I now can not “unsee” what I saw, and that is what is going to make me a stronger leader. I will start by recognizing what I feel so deeply moved by and work on incorporating that into my message as a leader!” 

Intentions are what we do inside to make our life steer toward where we want it to go. The expectations and outside events are just the waves, the wind, and the obstacles that are along the journey. Stay true to the direction that you declare you are going, we are here to support you! 

Have a great Sunday, Dana Magnus