Solution Building

I Know, This Sounds a Little Backward Most people plan by guessing how much time or effort something will take and then wonder why they’re always rushed or behind. Planning backward flips that on its head by starting with where you want to end up and mapping the steps needed to get there. Whether you’re managing your time or building toward a major business goal, this approach puts you back in con...

There are certain moments in life that split everything into  before  and  after . For me, one of those moments came after my  accident in 2012 .   Before then, I had concluded that my bland, ho-hum life was simply what it was. I was just trudging through life with little hope that things would ever be different. Mentally, I felt stuck in a rut with no way out.  That feeling of being stuck was rea...

If you’ve ever looked at your to-do list and thought, “Where do I even start?” you’re not alone. Goal setting and planning sound great… until everything feels important and nothing gets done. Progress comes down to making a choice. You can only do one thing at a time, and prioritizing helps you decide what that next step should be. Learn a simple, realistic framework for deciding what deserves you...

A clear plan makes all the difference when it comes to building a life and business you’re proud of. Most of us have a picture in our heads of what our dream life looks like. It can be frustrating and depressing when things don’t turn out as planned or when our expectations exceed our accomplishments. Setting goals is easy. Staying the course for the long game is hard. When it gets difficult, it’s...

Sometimes the biggest disruptions don’t come from major failures, but from small, everyday actions. One minor delay sets off a chain reaction of schedule changes, conversations, and adjustments for multiple people. And it's all because of something that seemed insignificant at the time. It’s a reminder that our actions, communication, and attention to detail matter more than we often realize. When...

Find the Balance of Planning and Doing Planning feels productive… until you realize you’ve spent more time thinking about the work than actually doing it. If that sounds familiar, you’re in good company.  We’ve all had those moments when a simple task suddenly becomes way bigger than expected. Before you know it, you’re in over your head wondering how you got there. There’s a fine line between pre...

It Helps Cut Down on the Dizzy Running your business all by yourself feels responsible until it becomes the very thing holding the business back. Sharing the load can change everything, but only if the shovels are placed in the right hands.  And that’s the part most folks overlook…

Chasing Your Tail Can Make You Dizzy Getting subcontractors on the job, coordinating material deliveries, and lining out the order of operations…all while juggling other construction projects in various stages, working on new proposals, and helping customers with project designs. Add to that everything outside of work like family, church, community, you name it. Sounds like a pretty normal week in...

This is Especially True for Saving Money Like anything else that’s worth doing, starting is the hard part. Saving money is no different. It’s like digging a hole. Over the last couple of weeks, we have discussed why it’s  critical to save money  to keep your business afloat and how  having a tool  for that can help you figure out how much to save and what you’re saving it for.  The Savings Transfe...

Most business owners don’t fail because they can’t find work. They fail because they run out of money. That's why it is so important to save intentionally, even when income isn’t consistent. That's where the Savings Transfer Sheet  helps you plan ahead for big expenses, equipment replacements, and the unexpected costs that come with running a business. Whether you’re just getting started or have b...

A “Rainy-Day Fund” Can Help Keep You Afloat It’s common for people in business to spend everything they make and not save for future investments or emergencies. For the most part, as a society we have become comfortable. There will be more, right? We have forgotten how important it is to save money. 42% of Americans in 2022 had less than $1,000 in savings, and 10% didn’t have any. Businesses aren’...

There’s a big difference between building a house and building a home. A house is a structure. A home is a feeling— a place of warmth, safety, and belonging. That same idea carries over into business and life. BUILDing something meaningful starts with clarity, intention, and a willingness to take action. I share what it means to BUILD in seven key areas of life: spiritual, family, vocation, financ...

This Can Be A Hard Question To Answer. If you’re anything like me, your to-do list probably never ends. Between projects, clients, estimates, and everything else that gets piled on your plate, it’s easy to feel like everything’s urgent and nothing can wait. In this episode, I’m talking about how to figure out what’s actually most important. I’ll walk you through a simple tool that helps me sort th...

It Starts with Not Giving Up We all have big dreams for our businesses, our lives, and our future. But what happens when the results don’t match our expectations? In this episode, we'll dig into what it really means to stay productive when progress feels slow (or nonexistent). You’ll learn how to turn big, overwhelming dreams into practical, bite-sized goals, how to keep moving even when you’re di...

Achieving Goals Doesn’t Happen by Chance It takes consistent review, accountability, and a system that actually works. We’ve all set goals and fallen short, and it’s easy to get frustrated or even stop setting them altogether. But progress isn’t about perfection. It’s about building habits and systems that help you move forward, one intentional step at a time. When you take time to regularly revie...

So How Should You Do It? Unless you’re a millionaire … waiting until the job is complete to get paid is a sure way to go out of business. But it can be hard to ask a customer for a progress payment. Partially because there are too many stories of contractors asking for money upfront and then don't come back to complete the work for an extended period. So you can’t blame customers for being hesitan...

The Simple Thing We Did That Turned Our Finances Around One small shift can make a big difference. It wasn’t complicated. It came down to being aware, understanding the problem, and taking intentional action.  With the right tools to track progress, it became much easier to stay on budget, stay on schedule, and keep building for the future.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could tell the future? In this episode, I share the behind-the-scenes struggles of building my coaching and consulting business, and the doubts that creep in when the path isn’t clear. From the idea of a “genie in a bottle” to the lessons I learned after my 2012 accident, I’ll walk you through why persistence matters, even when you don’t have all the answers. If you’ve ev...

But I Don’t Want To! We like the warm, safe feeling of our comfort zone. A comfort zone is a safe space where we don’t take risks, but we also don’t grow. It’s not simply a physical space, but a mental concept. It’s not just a wall we’ve built, but it’s also our daily routines and way of thinking. The danger is that a comfort zone becomes the perfect excuse not to do something, not to take risks,...

And This Happens Way Too Often Nothing happens if you don’t show up. I saw it just the other day: rain in the morning, clear skies by afternoon, and still no crew on site.  It’s a good reminder that the same thing happens in our businesses and lives. We let distractions or excuses keep us from doing the important work. Clarity comes when you decide what your priorities are and commit to them.  You...

What Should I Do First?  We all get caught in the whirlwind of busy days, scrambling to fit everything in. But what if the problem isn’t time, but priorities? One of my favorite lessons from Stephen Covey is the “big rocks” analogy. Imagine a jar filled with rocks, gravel, sand, and water. The order you put them in makes all the difference. If you don’t place the big rocks first—the most important...

Ever feel like your to-do list is so big you don’t even know where to start? Productivity isn’t about doing everything at once. It’s about doing the first next thing. This is why it’s important to have a process for breaking big things down into smaller bitesize pieces.

So … Do the First Next Thing So much of the time being unproductive comes down to doing nothing. We get so overwhelmed by all the things on our to-do lists that our brains start spinning out of control. Should I do this? Should I do that? And then … we get stuck in limbo … and do nothing.

You Can’t Be Really Productive Without One Being productive starts with being aware . A list gives you direction. A calendar gives you a plan. But it’s the clock that helps you take action . When you start paying attention to how you’re spending your minutes, those minutes start working for you. Little bits of focused time, used consistently, snowball into big results. You don’t have to overhaul e...

Productivity isn’t about doing more . It’s about doing what matters most . A solid list keeps your priorities clear. A calendar turns those priorities into action. And when you build in urgency, things actually get done. With the right tools and a little intention, you can get more of the right things done every day.