FranklinTaggart.com - Blog, Podcasts, Videos, School

  Have you noticed a slowdown in your business in the last year?  You're not alone. A client I was talking with yesterday asked an increasingly common question, "Is it always this hard to find new business?" She opened her consulting business early in 2023 after being laid off from her job in the post-COVID months. She landed a major contract within a month of opening that kept her in the black for most of the year, but that contract isn't being renewed, and now she needs to find new clients ASAP.  She's not the first one to come to me with questions like this in recent months. Costs are increasing, interest rates are rising, wages are not keeping pace, and belts are tightening. When spending slows down, most businesses are impacted at some level.  These downturns can be scary times, especially for new business owners who haven't experienced them before. Consistent, steady growth isn't a pattern we see in the normal nature of things. Sustainable businesses...

  Relationships are hard. One of my supervisors used to say that when I did crisis intervention work. I believe it. The same theme has frequently emerged in recent conversations with friends and clients. We've noticed similarities as the relationship patterns from personal and family life play out in career and business situations. And why wouldn't they? The challenges I face in marketing, selling, and delivering in my business have the same root as the challenges I have as a spouse, dad, son, and brother.  That root is me. But I'm no longer labeling it as a problem. I just have gotten okay with not being great at relationships. "...it's become most important to just acknowledge all the ways I suck at relationships." I'm old enough to have read a lot of books, taken a lot of classes, attended plenty of weekend seminars, encountered encounter groups, and tried every way I know how to be better at it. But at almost 62 years old, I've decided that my odds...

I've been a self-help, self-improvement, self-development junkie for decades.  I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on books, programs, curricula, behavior modification, weight loss, smoking cessation, discipleship training, and seeking my vision in the wilderness. If I had invested that money in making more money, I would be comfortably retired by now. For all the time, money, and effort, I would have hoped for a better result.  As Jamie Smart says, shouldn't light be streaming from all my orifices by now? But I'm not much, if any, different than I was before all of this. I struggle with the same things, think the same negative thoughts, worry about everything, and don't see the improvement I've been striving for. I use the techniques - mindset shifts, meditation, yoga, nature walks, writing my desires and goals clearly, clarifying my intentions, and doing all the prescribed work - but I'm no better off as a person or in life. Don't get me wrong, I h...

It's safe to assume that any link you see in my review pages is an Amazon Associates affiliate link. This allows me to collect a few cents if you use the link to do your shopping. Thanks! I've done a lot of reading this year, and I won't list all the books I've read here, but I wanted to list a handful of favorites in both fiction and non-fiction. I've also shared some other titles I've read on Goodreads, so if you have an account there, please add and follow me there:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/29732821.Franklin_Taggart Fiction Raves: Top of my fiction list:  Remarkably Bright Creatures , by Shelby Van Pelt, Narrators - Marin Ireland and Michael Urie I've recommended this book to almost everyone I know. It's a bittersweet family drama with an octopus as the real protagonist. Marin Ireland and Michael Urie give an enchanting voice performance.  The White Lady , by Jacqueline Winspear, Narrator - Orlagh Cassidy Child spies bringing down Nazis ...

  I'll be joining my friend Teresa Funke for another round of the 5 Creative Ways to Start and Use a Blog class at Blue Moose Art Gallery in Fort Collins. If you've been thinking about starting a blog or reenergizing one you've already started, this class will be filled with practical information and a bunch of inspiration for your next steps. Space is limited and will fill up fast, so make your reservation now at this link:  https://bluemooseartgallery.com/collections/classes/products/5-creative-ways-to-start-use-a-blog-wed-10-18-23-6p See you there!

  In the category of life imitating art, I am excited to return to production of the Virtual Coffee Break.  You may have seen my last post about the final episode of Your Own Best Company, but if you haven't, be sure to check it out. 2023 has been filled with a lot of reflection and evaluating activities. The pandemic years were good for business, but I ultimately found that any expectations formed during that time were largely abnormal. I've noticed that much of my work has shifted back to the levels and activities I had before the pandemic. I've also had more than a few people contact me for coaching as they navigate new twists and turns in their career and business paths. Most recently, three find themselves having a Rip Van Winkle moment - waking up from a long nap to find that everything is different for them than before. One has been taking care of a dying parent, another has been sending the last of her children to college, and another has rekindled a music career af...

  The idea for the Books Applied Podcast is one of the most fun and creative I've run across. Iggy Perillo of WSL Leadership is the creator and host. The premise of Books Applied is that Iggy invites people to read a book related to their professional expertise and then discuss it on the podcast. So much fun! The book I was invited to discuss was Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert , the celebrated author of Eat, Pray, Love.  I had already downloaded the book on my Kindle probably two years earlier, but Iggy's invitation was the impetus to crack the cover and read it. I won't give away the whole conversation, but I'll spill the beans on a couple of things to listen for. Iggy and I both had lukewarm responses to Eat, Pray, Love. We each had our own reasons, but it didn't make our recommended reading lists. In Big Magic, I found much to agree with and felt very affirmed by many things she wrote. I did feel like there was a push to make the cre...