Archive for the ‘Life Success Tips’ Category

Do you believe you are courageous? Does the actions you need to take  in your business make you feel afraid?

Well don’t worry because everyone one of  us has an abundance of courage. Too many women entrepreneurs don’t believe that they have courage.  But almost every act in business requires courage:  raising your fees, sending out that book proposal, asking a new prospect to come to a meeting, and signing a new client.  Creating a successful business requires courage! Agreed?

People mistakenly think that if they feel afraid that they don’t have courage.  The opposite of courage is not fear; you can take courageous action and still be afraid.  The opposing force of courage is doubt or uncertainty; and this is what will keep you stuck or sabotage your success.

When you are clear that you are going to raise your fees you are courageous.  When you are clear that you are going to send out that book proposal you are being courageous.  When you are clear that you are going expand your business you are being courageous…get the point!

What courageous action can you take a  stand on  in your business?    What do you need to get clear on today, tomorrow and the next?  I want you to choose  one thing that you desire clarity on.  Get clear in your choices and then choose.  Know that the act of choosing is a courageous act.

How do you feel your value?  Do you know where your value comes from?

Your sense of value doesn’t come form other people it comes from within, from deep down in your core and emanates out of you in a way that people naturally respond to.  Value coupled with clarity of purpose and decisiveness creates phenomenal confidence and results in your life and your business.

One of the ways that you can “feel” your value is to practice saying the following:

What I value in myself is….

Completing the sentence throughout the day gives you multiple opportunities to create a deep felt sense of your value.  Complete it in every situation throughout the day.  You  will begin to feel your sense of value like you have never felt before.

Do you often find you compare or compete with others?  Do you walk into a networking event and start sizing yourself up with the other women in the room?

For some people competition drives them to break out of complacency and  to get their butt into action.  And you know what?  That is totally ok and sometimes necessary.    But for a lot of other women they compare themselves to others and end up feeling like a failure or feeling inadequate in some way.    My good friend Linda always says that comparison only brings about misery and unhappiness.  I totally agree.

If you are comparing yourself to others you are probably measuring yourself against someone else’s expectations, against someone else’s yardstick and you’re the one coming up short.

So instead, when you find yourself comparing yourself to others…catch yourself!  And then instead of measuring yourself against someone else, ask yourself these couple of questions.

1. Am I living up to my full potential?
2. What is the opportunity to here for me to step up more powerfully into my greatness and do what I know is best for me?

Now when you ask these questions you are going to find that you immediately stop comparing yourself to others, which by the way is going to feel really good!  You’re going to stop feeling like you are not good enough and instead you are going to feel more powerfully aligned with your truth and your greatness.  And that is the most powerful place to take action from, guaranteed!

The Millionaire Maker and Best Selling Author

Maximizing Success is hosting an awesome event March 20 – 21, 2010 right here in Boston, Massachusetts!  The Wealth Building Seminar will bring together some of the greatest financial thinkers and doers of our time.  Read on to learn about one of the speakers at this event.

Loral Langemeier really does make millionaires of attendees! That is why we have asked her back time and time again to present her powerful presentation “Extreme Financial Makeover.” You’ll see how she takes a volunteer from the audience who is making less than average income and takes them step-by-step to becoming a millionaire at lightning speed.

Loral , author of the best-selling book The Millionaire Maker did not start out in this life with money or connections. Loral, a master coach and financial strategist, built her first business in high school and, by the time she was 34, established a multi-million-dollar portfolio of properties, businesses, gas/oil and notes. She will show you how to do it, too.

Follow this link to learn more and to join all the success minded thinkers that will be there http://tinyurl.com/maxsuccess!  Hope to see you there too!

What’s your story?  You know your money story; what is it?  We all have one.  Some of our stories are simple and some far more complicated.  These stories are all rooted in our past, deep inside of us and where formed when we were very young.

How many of us heard the following statements from our parents growing up:  “Money doesn’t grow on trees”, “Do you think I’m made of money?”, “We can’t afford it”, or, “Do you think there is a money tree growing in the backyard?”  There are countless phrases that our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles said to use as kids.  We know them all and those statements are part of what has created our money mindset.  Sad I know, but true.

Unfortunately, most of us have negative feelings about money.  We have gathered all of the information that our family, peers, television and the media have told us about money and it has come together into what is now our negative money mindset.  Some of our feelings may be conscious and others subconscious.  It doesn’t matter if they are conscious or subconscious, they are there and they need to be tackled head on if you are going to make the money you desire!

1.  Stop Ignoring Money and Start Paying Attention To It

Money needs to flow and it needs to be paid attention to. If you don’t pay attention to money it will find a way to get your attention.  This will show up in ways you don’t want it to because you are not giving it the respect it deserves.  So stop putting your head in the sand and take a good look at your current money situation and develop a strategy to deal with it head on.

• Develop a Budget and Stick To It

We all understand the importance of developing a budget buy many don’t follow through by sticking to the plan. me ask you:  How do you expect to pay down your debt if you don’t have a plan?  Your budget is part of that plan and a crucial part of your overall success strategy.  So take pencil to paper and develop your budget NOW!

• Pay Your Bills On Time, Every Time

Paying your bills on time is an important step in your money recovery plan.  When you fail to pay your bills on time you are creating the energy of lack and scarcity and that leaves you feeling powerless over money.  Many of my bills are paid automatically some manually but I pay them at the same time each month.  Find a system that works for you and your money flow and stop ignoring your bills.

• Track Your Money Daily

You don’t need a fancy system just paper and pen.  Put down the date and money that was received each day.  You may start out with some zeros on some days but eventually you will see money coming in everyday!  This simple system really works…try it and see for yourself.

2.  Find The Money Leaks In Your Business

Every business has money leaks.  It may be that you are paying for a membership that you don’t use.  Maybe you are paying someone by the hour and they take far too long to complete a task costing you hundreds of dollars in lost cash.  There are countless ways that money leaks right out of our hands and back account.  Find your money leaks and plug them so that you can have more money in your business and life.

3.  Stop Using Negative Money Language

Spending money is always a choice about what you are prioritizing and what you value.  But when you say things like, “I can’t afford it” or “I don’t have the money” it tells the universe that you are not open to receive the money that it is trying to give you.  These statements are constricting, limiting and are based in scarcity and lack.

Instead say things like:  “I am worth it” or “I choose to invest in myself and my business”.  Not only is the language really important but what’s behind the language, the mindset is really important too.  Start focusing on what you say and stop using language that sends the wrong message to the universe.

When you start to pay attention to money, it will begin to flow to you into your business and into your life.  So pick one of these tips today and change your money story.

As many of you know I came down with pnuemonia this weekend.  What a signal that I needed to slow down and take care of myself.  I am not always able nor willing to sit back, relax and do nothing.  It’s just not in my nature.  So for the last several days I have been struggling with doing nothing, resting, catching up on some reading and some extra sleep.

I have received countless suggestions from friends and fans about how to go about taking the time necessary to heal my body.  I have been blessed with daily deliveries of hot soup and fresh bread.  Been the reciepinet of regular phone calls from friends and family checking to see how I am recovering.  And still I want to get out of bed and go about my day.

Since I have so much time on my hands I figured I would go back to the basics that I learned when I was in coaching school and revisit the concept of extreme self care.  The concept is simple but easy to forget when you are not focused on practicing the skills.

What is extreme self care?  It is the practice of fully committing to a nurturing lifestyle and then following through to make it happen.

Here is a list of self care stategies that I am going to focus on over the next several weeks:

1.  Focus on feeding my body healthy, nouroushing foods to speed my recovery

2. Make sure I make time EVERY day for quiet meditation.

3. Get enough sleep each night.

There are plenty of other self care strategies I can list here and while I am recovering I am going to take the time to further develop my list.  In the mean time why not start developing your self care strategy.  I’m going to finish mine right after I wake up from my nap.

The New Year has begun and with it is my desire to surround myself with the most positive, supportive people that I can.

Being surrounded by people that love and support you is crucial to your overall success as a business person.  If you don’t think I’m right about that just look at the people that you know that live mediocre lives or are not that successful.  What drama do they attract in their lives?  Who is dragging them down?  Do they surround themselves with positive people or do they find that they are tolerating and maybe even inviting less than stellar people into their lives?

So in support of my New Year’s resolution I developed the criteria below to  ensure that I am attracting the most positive and supportive friends, business associates and support team to me.

Here it is:

1.  They must have my best interest at heart

2.  They do not create nor live a life filled with drama

3.  They understand that communication is the best tool we have to improve our lives and resolve conflict

4.  They must be genuine.  How can I tell?  I watch their behavior.  Actions always speak louder than words.

5.  Has good boundaries.

6.  Has high standards.

7.  Understands the importance of integrity in one’s life.

8.  Takes full responsibility for their life.

Bottom line:  I am not tolerating people that suck the life out of me, are mean spirited, are emotionally immature and/or engage in gossip or other unhealthy habits.  That type of energy is not the energy that I want to surround myself with.

What about you? Who are you ready to let go of in your life?  Are you ready to start attracting and inviting the right people into your life that will support you?  Let me know!

Those who know me well know that I don’t buy a lot of Christmas gifts.  Instead I prefer to have friends and family to my home and to spend an evening laughing, sharing, and honoring the people that mean the most to me. Gift giving is wonderful and I certainly love to receive, but gifts from the heart are the ones that matter the most to me.  Here is my favorite list of gifts that you can give this Christmas that won’t cost a dime but will certainly fill your soul!

The Gift of Listening ~ When you engage in the task of listening… truly listening, you are connecting with that other person in a way that lets them know how much they matter to you. While you sit there intently listening; not daydreaming, planning or interrupting, you are connecting at a deep place where two souls join together for the betterment of each other. As the listener you gain something too; the deep fulfillment of lending yourself to another in friendship and love.

The Gift of Laughter ~ “Laughter is the best medicine” is how the quote is known and I couldn’t agree more. Nothing makes me feel better than to share a good laugh with a friend. It lifts my spirits and the other person’s too. Share a joke, funny story, or a cartoon and share the gift of laughter with others.

The Gift of Kindness ~ I realized the other day that it is just as easy to be kind to someone as it is to be nasty…almost easier because one leaves you feeling good about yourself while the other leaves you feeling empty. Be kind to others by sharing simple gestures of yourself. This could be opening a door for someone, being a good driver on the road ways, sharing a kind word or a simple smile. Watch how these gestures of kindness fill you up and help you be a better person.

The Gift of Affection ~ Nothing feels better than a hug! I love to give hugs and I love to get them. And I love to pair it with a kiss on the cheek too! Maybe it’s the Italian in me, I’m not quite sure. But what I am sure about is how much those little gestures of affection let me express to my family and friends how much they mean to me.

The Gift of Service ~ I believe that we are on this earth to be of service to others. Giving of your time and talents to the benefit of someone else is the most wonderful gift you can ever give. Service comes in many forms but can include giving blood to help save a life, feeding the hungry, volunteering for a local charity, helping an elderly neighbor with household chores. The list is endless.  But one thing is certain, helping others fills the heart and soul in ways that nothing else can.

The Gift of Solitude ~ Sometimes we need to be alone. Maybe we need time to sort through a problem or time to reenergize ourselves. Others need this time as well. This Christmas learn to respect other people’s need and give the gift of solitude by leaving them the time they need to be alone.

The Gift of Courage ~ This gift allows you to be courageous, to speak your truth always and to stand in your power as a person. Give this gift to yourself. Be honest with yourself about what you want and don’t want in your life. Take good care of yourself…this is not about being selfish. It’s about taking time to care for you!

The Gift of Appreciation ~  Mother Theresa said “There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.” Take a moment to think about your family and friends. Make a list of all the things that you appreciate about them.  Keep this list in a safe place, maybe in your journal or with your will. Just imagine what this gift of appreciation will mean to people after you’ve gone. Your last words to them will be a heartfelt treasure they will never forget. You will show clearly how you recognized, admired and valued their unique qualities. You will acknowledge with gratitude what they meant to you.

This gift of appreciation will be the memory of your heart and will live on. This Christmas don’t delay in giving the Gift of Appreciation. Share your feelings this holiday with the ones you love.

May this Christmas Season fill your home with Joy, your heart with Love, and your life with Peace.

I read a story recently written by Dr. Alan Morinis about Itzhak Perlman and I would like to share it with you.  The story highlights how gratitude can be found in any situation; it all depends on how you look at things.

There is a story — maybe an urban legend, but full of truth nonetheless — concerning the famous violinist Itzhak Perlman. One evening, Perlman was in New York to give a concert. As a child he had been stricken with polio and getting on stage is no small feat for him. He wears braces on both legs and walks with two crutches. Perlman crossed the stage painfully slowly, until he reached the chair in which he seated himself to play.

As soon as he appeared on stage that night, the audience applauded and then waited respectfully as he made his way slowly across the stage. He took his seat, signaled to the conductor, and began to play.

No sooner had he finished the first few bars than one of the strings on his violin snapped with a report like gunshot. At that point Perlman was close enough to the beginning of the piece that it would have been reasonable to bring the concert to a halt while he replaced the string to begin again. But that’s not what he did. He waited a moment and then signaled the conductor to pick up just where they had left off.

Perlman now had only three strings with which to play his soloist part. He was able to find some of the missing notes on adjoining strings, but where that wasn’t possible, he had to rearrange the music on the spot in his head so that it all still held together.

He played with passion and artistry, spontaneously rearranging the symphony right through to the end. When he finally rested his bow, the audience sat for a moment in stunned silence. And then they rose to their feet and cheered wildly. They knew they had been witness to an extraordinary display of human skill and ingenuity.

Perlman raised his bow to signal for quiet. “You know,” he said, “sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much beautiful music you can still make with what you have left.”

We have to wonder, was he speaking of his violin strings or his crippled body? And is it true only for artists? We are all lacking something, and so we are all challenged to answer the question: Do we have the attitude of making something of beauty out of what we do have, incomplete as it may be?

When you are open to gratitude you see clearly and perfectly how much good there is in your life.  Gratitude affirms that very fact.

We will always be faced with challenges in our lives.  Life provides the ebb and the flow no matter how much we try to resist it.  There is no limit to what we don’t have and if we focus on the lack in our lives we will inevitably be filled with an abundant amount of pain and dissatisfaction.  But when we can look at our lives, businesses, family situations with a focus on what is right we experience gratitude.

Like other attitudes, gratitude can be cultivated.  We don’t have to wait for our fairy godmother to shower us with presents to feel thankful.  We can develop gratitude by reflecting on the gifts that we already have.  Gratitude is the memory of our own heart I once heard someone say.  It is therefore an expression of love and abiding friendship which transforms itself into deed.

I try to cultivate gratitude every day and when I feel it – when I am grateful for my body and mind, for the world in which I live, for my family and friends – I know that my spiritual path is in order.  When I don’t feel it, I understand that I am off and I try to right myself.

Gratitude is profound – it takes us to the edge and beyond.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.

While we all recognize that a complete economic turnaround is still a few months away, smart women business owners are taking control of their money right now  by implementing strategies so that they can make more and keep more.

The sooner you take control of where your money is coming from and how much you keep the better off you are as the economy takes that upward climb and emerges from this economic cycle.  What’s the trick?   To take an active role in ensuring you are creating the income that you want from your business, as opposed to sitting back and passively waiting for money to fall into your lap or for “things to change”.  So here is 5 simple tips to help you get a handle on your cash flow right now so that you are in control of your money and cash flow destiny!

1. Know Where The Money Comes From

Do you know where your money comes from?  Do you have multiple streams of income or are you reliant on just one?  If you have only one stream of income I suggest that you start to look at ways to increase your revenue streams.  If you are a coach or consultant and currently only offer 1- on -1 services it may be time to look at creative ways to bring in more money.  You could develop a group coaching program or mastermind.  This will dramatically increase your revenue with very little additional effort on your part.

2. Value and Pricing Go Hand In Hand

Most business women undervalue their products/services.  I bet that when you started your business you looked to your competition to determine the price…am I right?  The problem with this is most business owners undervalue and under price themselves so you perpetuated that same mistake.  Take a look at your current prices.  Is it time for a review?  Probably!  Find a way to offer greater value to your clients for a higher price and everyone wins.   I just did this and it’s why my next mastermind program will never be the price it was ever again!

3. Track Your Income Daily!

I learned this trick from my mentor and I have to say it works and it works brilliantly!  This is so easy and you are going to love it!  Every day I track how much money I brought it from every income stream.  I use an excel spreadsheet to accomplish this task, but simple paper and pencil will do the trick.   At first you may think that you don’t bring in enough money to track it, but don’t worry that will all change over time. When you pay attention to money in this positive, abundant and grateful way more of it will flow to you faster and faster.  Everyone that I know that has used this trick reports making more money faster than they ever dreamed possible.

4. Know Your Hot Button Money Issues

We were all raised with certain beliefs about money.  These beliefs came from what we learned from our parents.  Most of these limiting beliefs and old values just don’t serve us any longer but many people don’t know how to rid themselves of the past.  Don’t worry, this is totally normal and you can do something about it.  Many women business owners discount their services.  Discounting tells me that you have a fear about what your clients can afford so in order to make yourself feel better and in the hopes of making a sale, you discount.  I recommend checking out my next group coaching program launching in January 2010.   The Money and Mastermind Group Coaching Program:  How To Bust Through Your Money Roadblocks AND Solve Your Biggest Pricing Challenges! will help you shift your mindset and free yourself from those limiting money beliefs so that you can transform your business and daringly charge what you want and get it!

5. Get  Help Where Needed

More times than not I meet women entrepreneurs who have no idea what their cash flow looks like.  Why?  Because they don’t have a handle on their books.  I hate doing my books that’s why I have someone else do them for me.  This way I always know how much I have coming in and how much I have going out the door.  My expenses are at my fingertips which allow me to make informed decisions about expenditures.  It also helps me to know if I am on track or not in reaching my money goals.  If you hate bookkeeping as much as I do, do yourself a favor and hire someone to take care of this for you!  You won’t regret it.

Having Control Over Your Money Simply Means Finding Creative Solutions To Your Situation

Follow these simple tips to have the control necessary to make more money.  Remember it need not be complicated.  Look at what works and what doesn’t and be willing to make the changes.  Keep it simple and it will be effective!