Within ten minutes, some juicy gems flowed out of me.  Two sentences that took the powerful but doubting business woman from feeling less than, to being back in her power.

Let me share them with you.

This client of mine is currently in a coaching program with some BIG hitters.  Or at least that’s how she views it.  The gals she’s associating with make loads more money than she does, so she was sharing how she didn’t feel worthy.  She compares herself and falls short because all she can see is how financially successful these other women are.

But what I know about her is how brilliant and talented she is and how much she could teach them about her unique niche.

So I asked this question:

“What are you measuring,“ I inquired.

She told me that she had decided that she wasn’t worthy because she was measuring the difference in their incomes.  Measuring this made her feel less than, inferior, and like a big fat fraud.

“What if you measured something else,” I asked.

“What if you measured the relationships you create, or the heart you have, or the connections you make with people?  What if you measure your integrity, or your desire to step up and really make a difference in the lives of your clients?  Now are you equal to these other women?”

“Wow” she replied.  “I never thought of it like that.”

Guess what…I know most of us don’t think of it.  We base our worth and value one one measure.  Often times its how much money is rolling in.  And of course we beat ourselves up, so my challenge to you is to find at least four other things to measure yourself against.  If you can do this, you’ll very likely lighten up on that trash-talking-monkey-mind that reminds you of your lack.

As the conversation progressed she felt much better, but still had some remnants of “but look how much more successful they are” feeling.  So I told her my favorite analogy….

None of Tiger Woods’ coaches are better golfers than he is!

Do you know how refreshing it is for me to acknowledge that?  What it means to me, is that we all have our slice at what we are brilliant at. Tiger’s coaches can’t out golf him, but they can see what he can’t.  And that’s the beauty of coaching. When this client heard that, you could feel her energy shift.  When she could ‘own’ her slice of the pie, she saw how she could powerfully help these superstars in her program.  Sure, they were successful at what they were doing, but weren’t so successful in the piece that she is an expert in.

So the next time you are comparing yourself and feeling like “Who am I to be claiming to be an expert here,” I want you to imagine some guy hanging out on the green telling the greatest golfer in the world where he needs to make some changes.

Don’t ever diminish yourself.

The world needs what you have to offer, so my challenge to you is to find even more ways to step up and claim your expertise.

And I’m here to support you!

Blessings,

Therese

In the beginning it was going that way, but by the end it all made sense to the client.

She was referred to me by the owners of the Big Blend Magazine where I am the Small Business Guru.  (A huge plug for them because it’s a been great way to advertise and get visibility!)

Her focus for buying the strategy session was to have help in creating a membership site.  So I began to ask her questions.  Loads and loads and loads of questions.  I could tell that she was getting a bit frustrated because she wanted to get instruction on how to build the site, but I needed to get the big picture.    That’s how my brain works….

You see, all that she thought of was adding a site onto her existing offerings.  It hadn’t occurred to her that maybe clients would enter at different levels of expertise or want a “do-it-yourself” vs. “done-for-you” option.  She didn’t get that there has to be a way to interlock all the parts in the client journey.

In the end, we came up with a beautiful FULL funnel of how a client could enter, what the special report would be to capture data, different levels the clients could get to, how to market to them, and how to get a whole lot more cash than she had thought of.  Oh, and of course all the mindset stuff that she’d need to pull it off.

As we were processing the session she did admit that in the beginning she was getting really frustrated because she didn’t see how all the pieces fit together as she was so focused on what the thing that she thought needed to be in place should have been.   But she was delighted with how it turned out!

Now for you….are you fixated on that one offering at the expense of the bigger picture?  Ask yourself the same questions I asked this now happy client -

Where do people enter when they work with you?

What skill level do they come with and what can you teach/offer in each level?

Have you surveyed them to see what they want and what they are willing to pay?

Who would you have to become to have a grander vision like this?

What can you outsource – cuz most likely you are the bottle neck?

What is your vision for your business in a year?

Answering those questions will help you take the big view and not get stuck making the mistake of trying to piece things together.

I guess sometimes its a good thing when your coach uses intuition!  Giving someone what they NEED versus what they WANT is often times much more kind in the long run.

Blessings!

p.s.  Feel free to leave a comment about how you take the long view.

I don’t listen like most people.  25 years of being a psychotherapist has given me a bit of an ‘edge’ when it comes to hearing what’s said, what’s not said, and the energy around all of that.

So when I hear language that screams out a really faulty belief under the surface, you bet I release out my inner bloodhound and jump all over that!

Like the other day when I had a session with a client and we were discussing why she priced her product so low.  What she said about threw me out of my chair.

“Everyone knows women are cheap.”

I let it roll the first few times, but when she tried to use that again to justify her unrealistically low price point, I could no longer sit there!

Ya see, this is where my head goes -

If you have that belief, then YOU GET TO BE RIGHT and you’ll have a bunch of cheap women taking up your time and resources and never buying anything because that’s what you decided to be true.

Instead of screaming, I very nicely said, “Hey…I gotta stop you here because women are not cheap.  I’m not cheap and the women I know spend tons of money on things they value.

I then explained to her that clearly she had that belief and it must be banished from her language, or that would be her reality.  She got it when I explained the value piece, because here she was paying good $ for coaching, so it must be true. 

Now if the word police followed you around for a week, what would they notice coming out of your mouth?  Our beliefs are revealed through the words we use.  (Did I tell you the one where a new client kept referring to her “little business” until I corrected her and requested that she only refer to it as her big business!  AHHHHHH…..This stuff makes me nuts, gang.)

The gift of watching your language is that you become aware of hidden beliefs that are holding you back.

So here is the exercise I suggest – ask someone you are close with to listen for certain things.  They could listen for self deprecating statements you slip out, or they could be on the look out for any statements where you play small – like “my little business”, or a new “little idea.”  Have them give you feedback on that, then correct it immediately.  The goal is to extinguish and correct this language, but you also may have to look at where it’s coming from and if you have some funky energy around something you just don’t know about.  Your language is like the window to this for you.

Truthfully, I just got busted by my mastermind group when I spoke some language that showed some weird energy.  My point is that no matter how evolved you are, how long you’ve been in business, or have been doing personal growth work, your language is rife with those little slippery places where you are showing some of your ’stuff.’  What it takes to change it?  AWARENESS!

That and a sassy business and mindset coach!

Let me know how this lands for you, and what tricks you use to avoid those pesky word police.

Blessings!

“Can you review the new sales page that I wrote,” she said.

That’s where it started.  And fifty minutes later she had a completely different business model, had a plan to quadruple her income, and added a membership site for more leveraged revenue.

What a rewarding time!  Doing Strategy Sessions is one of my most favorite things because I can take the persons business, understand what motivates them, find what they desire, rip the heck out of their current model, then spin something really amazing out of all the pieces.

In this case we went from a business owner who sold only a $19 ebook, and turned it into a $97 Toolkit.  We then added a 90 day free membership for everyone who buys her  product so she moved from a one time purchase to monthly income.  How cool is that?!?  Let’s do the numbers – if she had 50 sales at $19 she’d be making $950/mo.  50 sales at the new price is over $4800!  Just one tweak and she’s rolling in the dough.

It got me thinking of how many creative entrepreneurs spend so much time energy and money, yet don’t have a business model that has the maximum revenue potential.

A couple of years ago I coached a woman who had a list of 22,000.  (Imagine that!)  She sold one thing – a $247 info product that she was getting ready to sink loads of money in to create videos and promotion for.  The problem was that this was a one time use.  So she had a huge list, worked her butt off to market, but once she made a sale, there was no other offering for those purchasers to get.

The solution?  We also created a funnel for her and added different levels of membership, and a higher end coaching program.   Finally, she could leverage that huge list and get loyal fans who kept coming back for more.

Now I want you to look at your business.  Is there a way to add more offerings?  Can you sell a upgraded version of your product?  Do you have a mechanism to have your customers return, or do they buy once and leave you?

An hour spent brainstorming these three questions can make your life (and revenue) a lot sweeter!  Think outside the box my friends……

And if you need some more support, get a hold of me and we’ll work some magic on your biz.

Blessings,

It happened to a recent client of mine .

He had contacted me after being referred for coaching by my friend Jen Blackert.  He knew that he needed to have a mindset breakthrough, because he was stuck.  This man previously had two professional careers, but had left those to pursue his dreams of being an Internet marketer.  But after six  months, he was broke.  He had done all the Law of Attraction work, visualizations, affirmations, and everything he needed but still was struggling with not having enough money to pay his bills.

He came asking for some coaching, but when I asked “What is it that you want to accomplish if we work together for six months”….he couldn’t answer.  All he could do was wallow around in what hadn’t worked, where he was stuck, and didn’t have any idea of what to do next.

See, the problem was that all he could focus his energy on was what what he wasn’t getting. He could not get any clarity around his goals, or what would have to happen if he were able to have the breakthrough that he was seeking.  I work with lots of people here when they first get started with me.  They tend to spin around in the same possibilities that they know right now… as opposed to being able to break free and create something that they would really love.

In his frustration the man said, “Maybe I should just get a part time job to get some of these bills paid.”  Now as a die-hard entrepreneur, the thought of a job is not the first thing I ever think of.  In my mind there is always some way of creating a solution.  But in his case, after I had asked him what he wanted to create/accomplish/achieve, and he was completely focused on the lack, I decided to explore what this would be like for him.

We put it as an option on the table.  I said, “OK, imagine you get a part time job that brings in say…$1000 a month, what is different now?”  This is where my mind-blowing surprise came in - suddenly he knew what he wanted to work on! He “remembered” that he had really wanted to start a membership site, “knew” what his goals were and exactly where he wanted to be in six months.  Instead of being unfocused and having flat and draggy energy, he now became animated and could see a million new possibilities he didn’t have access to just 5 minutes before.

It was in that moment that I saw that his cash flow challenges were the thing that blocked his movement forward.  His constant focus on his problems interfered with his ability to create.  And I learned a huge lesson.  I think there is an “entrepreneurial arrogance” about never having to resort to getting the dreaded J-O-B.  But his commitment to the entrepreneurial dream was also the very thing that was preventing him from getting it!  When we opened the door to just taking a short job for 90 days to plug some of the cash flow leaks, he then was able to move into a place of creating his dream.

Lesson learned!  Do whatever it takes to get out of wallowing in what you don’t have and shift your energy into moving forward.

Here’s to your success……

Ever since I started working with “B” a year ago, he’s been crusty at times.  Occasionally his brusk style is off putting to say the least, but the the transformation that he is going through needs to be shared.

Recently “B” went to a workshop where he heard Brendon Burchard, who wrote the book “Life’s Golden Ticket.”  Brendon is an amazing speaker and a fabulous human being to boot.  Well something clicked for my crusty client.  Perhaps the time being away from the office gave him permission to reflect on his life.

You see, in his talk Brendon asks three powerful questions that he formulated as he had a near fatal car accident years ago.  The questions became the centerpiece of his life’s work:

1.  Have I lived?

2.  Have I loved?

3.  Have I served?

What I didn’t know is that while “B” was quite successful in the business world, his marriage didn’t offer him any happiness.  But being the good family man that he was, he just assumed that he’d hang in.  Little did he know that the trip to hear Brendon would have such an effect on his life.

He shared that when he got home, he could no longer maintain the veil of denial that had kept him stuck.  He was faced with those three questions and so decided to take the leap.  He asked his wife for a divorce and is moving through that with grace.

Now how does this relate to his business?  While I can’t prove it, I would suspect that having to deny an aspect of your life would cause all the other aspects to suffer as well.  Seeing the courage and commitment to Living, Loving, and Serving that “B” has made is inspiring.  I feel him being a different person, and I’m sure the clients he serves will also notice that positive changes.  And it’s also funny that his trip to see Brendon was under the auspices of business.  Do you see that so often it’s the business challenges and opportunities that are the catalysts for massive personal growth for us?  That’s why I always say that the entrepreneurial journey is a spiritual path.

So I will ask you – what is in the way of you living, loving, and serving in a big way?  You can’t take your life out of your business, so in keeping with yesterdays post, what’s next for you?  When you let go of all the ’stuff’ that is no longer serving you, what do you do then?

This is some deep stuff.  The stuff legacies are made of.  What will yours be?  Feel free to leave yours in the comment section of the blog.

Blessings my dear readers.

I was coaching a woman who is incredibly talented in what she does.  In fact, she’s positioned to make close to a seven figure income in a year, so the gal knows her stuff! Trust me – you’ll know her name very soon as she rolls her marketing out in a big way.

We were working on the elements of her ’squeeze’ page and other items for her new blog.  That’s when it happened.

I said, “Okay, so now what you need to do is to put those things we just talked about in your calendar and get them done.”  She said, “Yeah, but how?”  I said, “You just do it!”

She said, “But Therese, that’s where I break down.  I can’t figure out what to do in what order, so because of that I do nothing.  I need you to help me with that.”

Truthfully – probably not my greatest coaching moment – I giggled.  I couldn’t believe it!  This woman is so powerful and fearless about picking up the phone and getting clients, that I was shocked.  Luckily we have a good relationship and so she said, “I know you are giggling because you see me as really successful and you always see the best in me, but this is where I could really use your help because I always get stuck right here.”

So I took her through the process of deciding what to work on, which order, with how much time, and then to put it into her calendar so it could get completed.  She was delighted, and I had learned something really valuable as a result.

What I learned was that we all have areas where we struggle.  We all can look brilliant and talented on the outside, but experience places in our business where things don’t come easy to us.

For me it’s spreadsheets.  I feel completely ill equipped to work spreadsheets.  They are like doing neurosurgery or something in my book and I look at people who can use the functions (like adding!) as demi-gods who I respect and admire!  I used to say that in my world, before I was an entrepreneur, Excel was a phone company!  This is one of my huge weaknesses.  But do I beat myself up for it?  Maybe playfully, but what I do do is to have an assistant who is a rock star with this stuff so I don’t have to try to slog through it, feeling stupid and frustrated.  I get to focus on what my unique brilliance is.

The morale of the story?  Everyone has both an inner rock star, and an inner goofball who can’t figure out what seems to be the simplest of tasks.  The goal is to not beat yourself, but to get the support around you that allows you to S-H-I-N-E.

I’d love you to share with me your thoughts.  Feel free to post your comments.

Blessings,

Therese

For me, it was magical confirmation of the power of doing of my Work with clients – allowing them to step into their greatness.  It’s kind of like turning a light on not only in their business, but inside themselves.  That was the case with Kim.

During a recently group coaching call for my Extraordinary Results Coaching Community, Kim called in for some laser coaching.

When I asked what she wanted, she was clear – “I want more belief in myself.”

You see, Kim has had tons of coaching and mentoring, and is truly brilliant.  Except that sometimes she can’t see it for herself, much like most of us.  I think it’s the curse of talented entrepreneurs.  We focus on growing our businesses, but sometimes don’t see just how amazing of results we get.  Or if we see it, we don’t OWN it.

I asked her where she was on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being fully owning her gifts and believing in what she had to offer.  She was a 7.

Here’s where it gets cool!  I asked her to find a spot on the floor in front of her where the “10″ lived.  No, not Bo Derek, but the Kim that is in the future and solidly embracing who she is and has the business that she loves.  She was instructed to slowly walk into the 8, the 9, and finally stand on the spot where the 10 of her belief in herself resided.

She stood there on the phone in her home, as I ‘called in’ for her that level of belief.  I asked her to open her arms wide and just say YES to life, YES to more money, YES to new clients, YES to abundance, and YES to belief.  In fact, everyone on the call was saying YES with her.  She totally got the integration and realized that she does have all she needs, and now had the tools to affirm that for herself.

I asked Kim to write about this experience and two days later, I got this email:

In a group coaching call, I said I wanted to walk away with 100% confidence. During that 15 minutes, not only did Therese boost my belief that I can accomplish my goals, she helped me identify that a missing piece was a willingness to receive what I was asking for.

She gave me the tools to solve that challenge and within 48 hours I received messages from a woman who wants me to teach a class for her online academy (which is filled with members of my target market), a business owner who wants to promote my upcoming teleclass to her entire network, and a multi-millionaire business woman who wants to set up a meeting to learn more about me and what I do.

Coincidence? C’mon! I think it’s simply amazing.

See what happens when we say YES to the Universe?

As a coaching question for yourself, ask what level of belief you have and how much you are allowing yourself to receive.  Bump it up!  See what happens when you do.

And if you want to see what Kim is up to – check this out cuz it’s gonna be good.

“Tweeting for Dollars (For Clueless Entrepreneurs Only)”.

http://readytoevolve.com/trainings/tweeting4dollars.html

Shut up and run!

February 7th, 2007

There are times in your life when you need to keep going, but things get hard.  You know the times.  Maybe your assistant quits, or you are shifting away from your existing model of running your business, so are feeling overwhelmed? You aren’t alone…we’ve all been through it.

How do you keep going when all you want to do is go back to bed and pull the covers over your head?

I was working with a client the other day who was in a similar situation.  She was ready to give up on herself and her dream business because things were hard in the moment.

You want to know what I did that totally shifted her out of that, in about 2 minutes?  (That’s my speciality, by the way…finding where you are blocked.  Guess you could call me a roto rooter for your mind!)

My solution was that I had her remember a time when she felt exactly the same way.  After searching in her past, she told me of a time when she was running a marathon.  As the race wore on, she hit the wall.  She was tired, frustrated, and didn’t think she could keep going,  and at about the 13th mile had her cell phone out and was going to call a taxi.  She was ready to give up on herself.

After she remembered this time in her life, I had her go back to that place, and discover what it was in her that shifted and allowed her to keep running.  Where did the perseverance come from?  How did she move from being in a place of pain, to just giving herself permission to take the next few steps?  She remember that it was a shift in her self talk and that she could come into a place of power JUST FROM DECIDING to make it so! Once she decided, she could persevere, regardless of the pain.  She then had the sweet, sweet knowledge of victory as she crossed the finish line.

I call this your Mount Everest Moment.  Or you can use your Rocky Balboa moment if you are into that.  The moment when you have reached the top of the mountain or run up the stairs, fists pumping in the air, singing the victory song.  We’ve all had them.  I’ll ask you now to think of a time in your life when you had to dig in and pull out strength you didn’t know you had.  The trick is to replicate that.  For my client, her new mantra is, “Shut up and keep running.”  For reals…she’s posted it all over the place, so she’s got an anchor to that time when she was strong and invincible.

What is it for you?  If you could watch the movie of your life and find that frame where you stopped time, blasted through your fear or doubt, and became invincible…what happened?  You can do that in any moment you choose.

I dare you to keep going!!!!!!

Focus on the good,

Therese

That’s all it took to turn her around.  One sentence.  Five well chosen words.  Here’s the story.

I was doing a group coaching call the other night when one of the women asked a question.  Now truthfully, this woman is amazing at what she does, but tends to ’spin around’ in her head a lot, so gets herself overwhelmed.

She’s a consultant and she asked me about how she should handle a proposal.  Now normally, I’d jump in and coach her on the how…but not today.

See, my intuition told me to go in a different direction.  So instead of answering her, I simply said:

“You know what to do.”

She missed it at first, so tried to get me again to tell her how to handle the proposal, but I wouldn’t budge.

“You know what to do.”

What happened next was amazing.  She stopped, got back into remember who she was, and immediately had a solution.

The reason I share this, my dear readers, is that the breakthrough for her occurred when someone who knew and respected her, “called her out” to be more in the strong, brilliant and resourceful person she was.

My coaching challenge for you this time is to make sure you have the people in your life who can give you this kind of feedback.  The folks who don’t let you spin around in confusion or overwhelm, but stop and remind you of your magnificence.

It’s all good!

And by the way, in June I’ll be opening up my Happy In Business Mastermind Coaching groups.  Stay tuned….