I don’t know when it hits you, but most of my inspirations come about just as I’m waking up in the morning.  All the good stuff gets downloaded, and suddenly I have clarity, creativity, and just know that it’s Divine Inspiration.

That’s what happened this morning.

You see, I’m making some changes in the way I have been working and will be clearing some space for the next BIG thing to come in.  So there is an element of letting go that is necessary, without fully knowing what’s next.  This calls for loads of faith.  And mostly I roll with it really well.  But there are those days where my mind wants to get in and control….or at least pretend that it has control.

Because our minds feel safe when they have little jobs…like figuring out what to do in any given situation.  But when LIFE moves you, there is nothing your mind can do but sit and wait.

But I have one of those trickier-than-most minds.  It can get a hold of something and it’s like a dog with a new chew toy.  So the ‘battle’ between faith and will kicks in.  And since my very bright mind LOVES to figure out things, sometimes it wins.

This morning however, the Divine answer was shown to me.  Since I’m working on creating my new program for November, there are loads and loads of details and “what if’s” that spin through my head.  “What if this happens, what if this doesn’t happen, what should I do about xyz?”  But this morning, the message was clear:

Relax, and give thanks that it’s already done.

“What, my mind said?  How can it be done, I haven’t even put the webpage up or gotten any clients in the program yet?”  Then I heard this:

Just relax, and feel what it will feel like when the program is filled.  Be grateful and feel peaceful.  It’s already done.

Later in the day I listened to an audio a friend sent me that also suggested that so many of us spend our mental energy in what’s not working, that there is where we get stuck.  But what if we just spoke of the delight that we will feel when we accomplish what we want.  I could speak about how excited I am that 10 perfect clients were inspired to take the program and have had amazing results.  I can feel how blessed it would be to make such a difference in their lives, and how I was able to also contribute more to the economy by helping them earn more money.  And it would feel crazy good to celebrate with my team and give them each a bonus for pulling off such a seamless launch.

Doesn’t that energy feel loads better than the more traditional, “OMG, I have to fill this program…what if they don’t buy….is the price to high…” crap that goes on in most of our heads.

The secret here?  Pretty basic Law of Attraction stuff, but it was so powerfully clear this morning when that Voice said to me:

Relax, and give thanks that it’s already done.

Now what about you?  Can you relax and give thanks?  It’s a heck of a lot easier than doing it any other way.

And I’d love to hear your story.  What are you working on creating, and how are you relaxing into that?

Blessings!

No, that doesn’t make you a multiple personality or crazy person, but it may mean that you are running what I call “Conflicting Intentions.”

You may experience a part of you that wants to move forward, but another part that wants to stay safe. How do you know if you have this going on? Sabotage, lack of progress, overwhelm, and all the other frustrating things we entrepreneurs deal with.

Listen in as Molly Luffy and I share what conflicting intentions are.

This is for our upcoming program that starts on September 15th:
www.InnerGuruExperience.com

Just imagine…14 days to a breakthrough!
It’s possible.

Today’s post is about three things – creating powerful environments, accountability, and identity.  Yikes!  Sounds a bit heavy, but keep reading.  It’s all gonna be good in the end, I assure you.

Okay gang, let’s see if I can keep my commitment.

One of the gals in my Women Making an Impact Mastermind group is Sandra Martini.  You’ve probably heard of her as she’s quite the savvy solution for business owners.  Recently  she threw down the gauntlet – a 30 day blog challenge which starts today.  That means that we are to write 30 posts in a 30 day period.

Since I’m such a challenge driven-chica….I thought I’d play.  I actually love writing, but have not been making time for it.  I always want to go all “Anne Lamott” with my work, so it’s much like the artist with their canvas versus using the blog for article distribution and marketing purposes.  So Sandy’s challenge is just the the thing I’ve needed to get in gear and start writing.  Her idea is that in 30 days, we will have created a new habit.  How cool is that?

This experiment brings to mind two very important coaching points.  It’s far easier to be successful if you have created for yourself a powerful environment than trying to use your will power.  I liken it to going to a personal trainer who won’t put up with you whining that your legs are getting sore or that you can’t possible do another push up.  Ya see, we give up on ourselves way too easily.  That’s why having the environment of the blog challenge is a great thing for me to get the results I want.

The second piece to this success tip – having accountability!  Just like going to the gym (or in most cases NOT going to the gym) when we are on our own and no one expects us to show up or keep our commitments, it’s way too easy to push deadlines, slack off, get distracted, and ultimately…lose site of the very thing we want.

But Sandy has set up a community and a contest, and I’m going a step further and publicly proclaiming my desires.  That’s a HUGE kick-in-the-pants-to-keep-on-track strategy and I suggest you do that in some area of your life or business.

This all leads me to the real meat of the post today.  It’s 09/09/09.  My friends who are familiar with feng shui have shared that this is a very auspicious day.  (Don’t you love that word!  It means “favored by success, prosperous, or fortunate.”)  It’s auspicious because in numerology, the number 9 is about endings and completions.

That’s what I really wanted to talk to you about today.  My big question to you is this – What do you have to let go of in your life, in your business, with  your health, with your habits or beliefs in order for you to make the rest of this year really be what you want it to be for yourself?

Here’s an example of what your list could look like-

Disorganization and clutter- email – lack of focus – trying to do it all by myself – lack of exercise – lack of putting myself first – spending money – no plan for investing – working too much – poor eating habits – being surrounded by emotionally unavailable people – playing small and safe.

What is it for you?  This is where the rubber hits the road as they say.  I challenge you to take time today and do an inventory of all the ’stuff’ you need to let go of, and then build time into your calendar to make it happen.

And here’s one thing to know…the physical stuff is easy!  Anyone can clear clutter or organize a closet.  It’s those pesky emotional and relational things that can hold us back.  If you are living with a partner who drains  you, or have clients who don’t value you, it takes courage to either cut them loose, or have better boundaries.  But I want to tell you that I am here, cheering you on because I know it can be done.  And if you feel like you need a bit more support – you can check out our InnerGuruExperience and get the tools you need.

So what’s it gonna be?  How are  you going to design your life as we roll in to a new year?  I’m encouraging you to choose higher!  Why don’t you post on the comment section what you are giving up so we can hold that for you?

Here’s to the NEW you……

What if there were some things that you weren’t even aware of that were preventing you from getting the success you desire?

Molly Luffy and I have created an amazing program which will blast through all the old beliefs you have which aren’t supporting you.

The program starts September 15th - go to http://www.innerguruexperience.com/ to check it out.

You CAN have a huge shift!

Part two – Finding the Tools to Prevent the Freak Out!

I’ll tell you the business application in tomorrow’s post, but I want you to hear the story of how this all came to be, because it’s pretty funny. Pathetic perhaps, but funny.

A friend and I decided to take our kids to the water park.  To tell you the truth, I was really cranky because it was about a hundred million degrees and I’d rather be anywhere but outside. But I said yes because the boys were super excited to go.

When we got there, we first went to more of the ‘kid-friendly’ area where there were a few teenagers, but mostly people under four feet tall. It was here that I finally decided to just go for it, so I think I did one 20 feet high open slide.  That open piece is the key because being in an enclosed tube in the black was more than my little psyche could handle. Me and the toddlers were content to stay on the baby-ish slides, but my boys wanted to head over to where the real action was.

Now that my kids were on the big slides, my only choice was to stand at the bottom, realizing what I was missing, mad at myself for having these stupid fears, and feeling pretty ridiculous that at age 50, I have this huge limiting thing. That’s where I began to make the decision that I was not leaving until I conquered my fear and did one of the slides, because I just knew that if I could do it, it would lead to a breakthrough somehow.

I found my boys and told them that I needed their help in getting over this fear. Having done most of the slides by now, they decided that I’d do the tubes that were only half way enclosed, but not pitch black. Let the journey begin!  Once decided on the slide, we began to scale what felt like five stories, and the closer I got, the more anxious I became. So anxious in fact, that I was almost hyperventilating! (But thankfully having done the Inner Guru Experience with Molly Luffy, I learned how to use EFT for just those situations!) It actually worked, and I was able to calm myself down enough to get up the stairs.

My ten year old was the one really leading the charge to get me to do this, and his famous coaching command to me (as I was doing EFT tapping like a fool and praying) was to say, “Come on mom, sack up!” Guess that’s boy love or something. Between that, the prayers, the tapping, and mostly my decision that I would not turn back, I did it!

One slide down! I did it and it was absolutely exhilarating. I had been able to conquer all my thoughts and calm myself down.

Now the boys decided to throw me into the black tube of death. (OK, it wasn’t really called that, but felt like it at the time!)

This slide was completely enclosed and totally black except for the last third. There was about a ten foot open space, and then it was enclosed again.

Being in this tube was where it all came clear to me. As I popped onto the inner tube and pushed myself into the water, it was pitch black. And the water was in control. Not me. Then and there I had the ‘a ha’ that this is the very place that business owners fear. Very often we hit places in our businesses where it almost exactly mirrors my experience here.

Tomorrow’s article will share with you the connection with the water slide, business breakthrough’s, and how to set yourself up to have one in any environment.

or “How my 10 year old coached me into getting over my fears and getting with the game of living bigger”

This is a story that I just kept writing and writing and writing, so we’ll break it up into three parts….

What if you could have a breakthrough in the most unlikely of places? What if doing one wild and crazy thing changed the way you experienced your business?

Because we are in some wacky times and almost every business owner I know has been faced with having to figure out how to get and keep clients, and how to best put forward their marketing messages. Since I’m in the middle of yet another rebranding, I’ve been experiencing some of that frustration myself. But it was all about to change….

There I was, finally facing my fears, barreling down one of those enclosed tube-style water slides, when it happened. CLARITY! It’s as if something Divine got revealed to me as I realized what a metaphor this was for not only my business, but for most business owners. Who would have thought that leaning into my HUGE fear of water slides would reveal something so symbolic and profound to me.

In that moment of surrendering to the water and where it was taking me through the black tube – I saw why so many business owners are struggling. Speeding down the tube, I even was able to see a solution! (Sort of like your life flashing before you…except I wasn’t going to the pearly gates, but to the big splash pool at the end.

Tune in tomorrow to hear how I went from a freaked out water-slide phobic mom, to a solid and grounded business owner who ‘got it’ in terms of the flow of life and business.

“What the heck,” the frustrated business owner proclaimed. ” I can’t believe that my program didn’t work.  I did EVERYTHING right.  I had great copy, offered some cool benefits, and solved a problem for my market.  And price was super low.”

“But mostly, I thought I used consciousness in this one.  I prayed about it,  connected to the soul of my prospective clients, and felt all the feelings of how amazing it would be to work with these people. “

She was near tears with this as she went on..

“Why?  Did I do something wrong?  How could people not buy?  Maybe it’s an integrity issue with me, or maybe I have some hidden beliefs that made me screw this up.”

The wise marketing mentor listened patiently, and let her go on.

“I thought I knew how to work with the Law of Attraction, but clearly I missed something here.”

At this point, it was too much for the marketing mentor.  She had to jump.

“Stop!”  I hear that you are going down that road, and that stuff may be part of the problem, but do you want to know what the real issue is?”

Startled, the business owner was ready to hear what the problem was because she was so desperate for solutions.

“The real problem is that you had a marketing failure!”

“What?”  Marketing failure?  What do you mean” asked the business owner.

The mentor went on – “Think about it…you have not been connecting with your list regularly.  You absolutely cannot expect your audience to buy from you without first establishing a relationship with them.”

“Really, it’s that simple?  Can you tell me what to do to start establishing those connections?”

“Sure! Here is what you do:”

1.  Consistently get in front of your list.  Weekly is ideal.  Send a newsletter or tip.

2.  Share content that solves their problems.

3.  Be personable and let them know personal details about you so they can connect.

4.  Gradually begin offering them ways to partake of your services.

5.  Start by offering small things – even free teleclasses/articles are fine at first.

6.  Next move into offering low cost ways to have them sample and experience what you do.

7.  Invite other people to promote you to their lists, and repeat the cycle with the new names.

“I can’t tell you how much better I feel!  I will still do the LOA stuff because that’s who I am, but this gives me something I can work on.  Now I have a plan!  Thanks so much.”

The mentor smiled – feeling so happy that she could pass this information on, knowing that it will make all the difference in the world.

This one surprised me.

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

Loving My ‘Hate’ Mail

There it was.  Right on my Facebook wall.  Not in a private message to me.  No…on the wall.  The snarkiest comment I’ve ever gotten, just sitting there for the entire FB world to see.

Earlier in the day I had written a status feed asking for some support in picking a title for a new opt in piece, and had ten wonderful folks giving their ideas.  They were kind and friendly and encouraging…all the things I know to be true about my Facebook community.

Then his message came in.  It went like this:

“I wonder, have you ever noticed how incredibly self-absorbed you are?  Everything seems to be about you, even when it appears to be about “helping” others.”

YIKES!!!!!!

In that moment, I had three thoughts running all together.

The first – “Ouch!”

The second – “What a jerk!”  (Ok, I am human and was offended)

The third – “Woo Hoo!…This means my marketing is working”

Thoughts one and two are pretty self explanatory, but this article really is about the third concept – the one that you may not have heard much about, so let me break through some of the myths of marketing here.  We all know that we want our marketing to attract our target clients, right?  But here’s the flip side…

Good marketing serves to REPEL the wrong client.

Most of us spend so much time trying to be all things to all people, hoping not to ruffle feathers, and ‘win’ clients over, that in reality, it serves only to make us invisible.

So when “G” decided to blast me, I took great comfort in that fact because he’s SO CLEARLY not my market that the fact that I pissed him off, means that who I am being is working.  See, I have made the commitment to play very full out.  That means being a bit edgy, singing karaoke, and showing who I am.  It’s all about authenticity.  And I know the “risk” of that.  When you are operating to be safe and not ruffle feathers, you fly under the radar, so would likely never get this kind of blasting.

But…you also never connect deeply with the folks that resonate with your message and appreciate your work.  The ones who need what you have to offer.

In fact, here’s a cool “God-thing.”

One minute after “G” sent this to me; I got this post on my wall:

“Hi Therese,

Just wanted to wish you a wonderful weekend! You are such an inspiration to truly live our dreams – I appreciate all your reminders – you consistently keep us motivated – and in the ‘mindset’. So glad to know you and work with you!”

This person is clearly MY TARGET MARKET so appreciates how I express myself in the world.  That’s what I want for you.  To have your ‘tribe’ clearly find you, connect with you,  and value the work you do.  Oh, then hire you as well!

Now I’m going to challenge you.

Do you have the courage to stop being bland?  Are you willing to take a position?  Trying to ‘play nice’ and get along are the rules we learned in kindergarten.  No great movement can come about when there are not courageous leaders willing to take the hits and speak up from the place of passion inside them.

Here’s my request.

Look at your website, brochures, 30 second commercial, and any other marketing material.  If someone got a hold of it, is it very clear who you serve, who you DON’T, and what you stand for?  What has to shift in you to get out from under the cloud of obscurity?  Trust me….the more you step up and play big, the more we all win.

In fact, I’m so inspired by “G’s” snarky comment that I’d love to help you in any way I can to be able to step up and stand out…and repel the folks you need to repel!  Feel free to send me your website and I’ll be happy to give it a quick scan and give you’re a mini-consult (no fee!) to tell you how you can tighten up your message.

Now go shine your light!

This is an oldie but a goodie!  I’m reprinting it because there are times when we get stuck and have trouble ‘keepin on keeping on.”  You’ll find some inspiration for how to stay focused and moving forward.

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