Do you feel like you are all alone?

October 15, 2015 By

Video conference with coworkers from abroadDo you consider yourself a master of your business? Master in this case meaning: somebody controlling or influencing events or other things, or somebody who is highly skilled.I am not keen on the word ‘controlling’. I really prefer the word ‘influencing’. To me, influence means to have an effect on something – such as an outcome. So from this point on, let’s talk about being masterful in your business from an influential point of view.

If you are a master in and of your business, then you would be able to create results that you want. Sounds powerful, right?

It is. In fact, this is what many business owners ultimately want for themselves. My clients won’t tell you that they started out wanting to be influential to themselves or others, but what they will tell you is that they knew something was missing. They knew something was holding them back from reaching their goals and from making the money they wanted to make (and often needed to keep their business open).

As a business owner, to be influential (or if you prefer “in control”) you need to do certain things in a certain way. In order to influence others to work with you and to be a part of your success, you need to be masterful.

How does one become masterful? There are many ways, but one that works beautifully and will put you on the fast-track is to mastermind with other like-minded individuals.

What is a mastermind? Napoleon Hill defines the “Master Mind” “as coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people for the attainment of a definite purpose.” When you join a mastermind group, you have more than one brain (you know the saying “Two brains are better than one”?) to help you in your endeavor of becoming masterful at your business.

Here are several examples of areas where you might gain knowledge and how a mastermind can help you:

  1. Mindset. We can get caught up in a negative way of thinking (mindset) that can hold us back. Being a part of a mastermind will allow others to share their perspective on your challenge that will help you see it in a new light so you can continue moving forward.
  2. Business Activities. Such as sales, marketing, managing team and such. My current mastermind group consists of women from all areas of business, internet-based as well as brick and mortar, and they each possess unique talents and skills that others in the group learn from.
  3. Support and Community. Because your mastermind group is not attached to the outcome of your decisions, they are able to be completely 100% honest with you about what they hear you say. Your mastermind group will challenge you to make bold commitments you might not otherwise make on your own.
  4. Accountability. Hopefully you will be stepping up in powerful and authentic ways in your business. Part of that growth and success is walking your talk and follow through. The beauty of a mastermind group is that they will hold you accountable to what you say you will do.

I’ve been a part of a mastermind in one shape or another since I began my business. I believe being a part of one has been a driving force in my learning and growth (as well as the power behind being motivated to accomplish what I say I will).

The goal of a mastermind is to provide a safe place for you to share your vulnerabilities (we all have them) and to ask for what you need. It’s a tool to grow beyond your wildest imagination and become more powerful than you even believe you are.

I will have a mastermind group forming in the near future; if you’d like more information about, drop me a line.

If you have experienced the benefits of a mastermind, I’d love to hear what you love best about it. Be sure to drop me a note at kim@kimravida.com. Or if you wish to share with a larger audience, post to my blog below!

Filed Under: Personal Development Tagged With: , ,

Are you seeing your true self?

October 1, 2015 By

pretty from withinDo you see yourself as a most beautiful, intelligent and loving person?  Or do you see yourself as less than those things?

I have no idea why, but a lot of people look in the mirror and think “Oh, I have wrinkles, my hair is horrible, I hate how I look, I’m not pretty” or down the path of “I’m not…” this or that.  Then they go into the inner sanctum of themselves and continue to say such negative things throughout the day – I’m stupid, what a fool, I’m a loser, I can’t do this, who do I think I am, no one likes me, I’m unlovable and so on.  It wears them down and keeps them down.

Where does this come from and why does it happen?

What if we were to see ourselves as who we truly are?  Brilliant, gorgeous, amazing, kind, loving, worthy of love, and worthy of anything and everything we want.  What if we embraced being the shining star we are… no matter what we think the outside looks like?

How great would life be?

But it doesn’t end there.  I know many young people (and older people, too!) who have low self-esteem and think of themselves as losers and not worth anything.  And no matter what I or anyone else tells them, they can’t aspire to be great and follow their dreams because they just don’t feel it.  If they don’t feel it on their own, nothing is going to happen for them.  It is really heartbreaking.

So how can we also help others feel as though they are wonderful and deserving?

What if we were kind, loving and supportive to everyone around us? What if we truly listened to others? What if we encouraged them without judgment, fear or worry so that they could go out and become exactly who they were put here to be?

What a wonderful, joyful, and highly successful world we would have!

You already may know this, but each of us are true miracles — just think about the birth process and how we come to be. Your true self is magnificent.  You are unique and special in so many ways.  Therefore, you are definitely a most beautiful, intelligent and loving person!

Can you think of someone you might encourage or support… or just reach out to and say “Hey, you are perfect just the way you are”?  If you can, please share with them what you truly think about them.  You never know, that one act could truly change the course of their life.

Do you have an experience to share?  I’d love for you to share by either emailing me at kim@kimravida.com or sharing here on my blog!

Filed Under: Self Worth Tagged With: , , , ,

But I have to treat my business seriously! Seriously?

September 17, 2015 By

Goofy businesswoman talks on her phone headset. I often get asked if I enjoy working by myself and my answer is a resounding YES!  Then the next thing I get asked is who do I have fun with at work.  Well, myself!  Doesn’t everyone know how to have fun on their own?

Right now as I am writing this, I’ve put on an Amazon Prime 80s radio station and am having fun listening to Foreigner, Dire Straits and other 80s bands.  I couldn’t do that when I worked in corporate. 

Now, that’s not to say I didn’t have fun working with other people, I sure did, loads of it.  Just recently I met with a friend whom I worked with in corporate and we were cracking up over all of our “work” shenanigans.

Many of my clients, before they began to work with me, were not having fun in their business.  They were struggling, frustrated and often in tears.  I’m not saying I don’t have those moments, because I do.  As a matter of fact, I just had one.  Then I remembered my objective: to have fun in my business.  See, at the end of my corporate career, I was miserably unhappy so I vowed I would never find myself in that situation again.

So how can you have fun while running your business?  Here are a few tips:

  • Determine that you want fun in your business.  One client said to me, “I can’t have fun in my business; I have to take it seriously.”  Seriously?  Fun also means amusing, enjoyable, pleasurable, and entertaining.  I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be in an enjoyable place than in a somber, solemn, grave place (yes, those are other words for serious).
  • Decide what fun looks like for you.  Fun for everyone is different.  What do you think is fun?  Is it fun to come into the office and declare the queen has arrived, wear funky clothing or jewelry, and drink from a fun cup?  I am always accompanied by one of my dogs and I joyfully declare the “office is open” and it cracks me up.
  • Incorporate fun daily.  Maybe you call a colleague and have a laugh, watch a YouTube video or read a joke. What matters is that you put fun into your daily schedule. If you’re getting to the end of your day and realize you haven’t had fun yet, jump up and dance, sing to a song, be silly.  Trust me, it works (I’m bee-bopping to Ozzy’s “Crazy Train” – think that’s not fun?).  What will you do?
  • Remember that fun IS #1!  This comes in handy on those days that you are pressing to get projects done and tasks are coming at you faster than you can imagine.  Or on those days where you are overwhelmed and feeling like you want to go and get a j-o-b because this business building thing is freakin’ hard!  Stop and remind yourself that Fun is #1 in your business and then go and have some – yes, right then – whenever you feel that frustration, struggle or hopelessness.  When you do, you’ll not only feel instant relief but you’ll also discover how easy things come together simply by taking a moment and having fun!

Life was made to be enjoyed.  Let’s face it, in business there are many things that can be depressing; not enough clients, not enough money, having to do a lot of things you don’t like or do well.  I’m sure you could rattle off a quick list, but you can’t fully enjoy life if you’re not also enjoying your business.

Whether you are entertaining yourself (like I am today =) or are with others where laughter abounds, incorporating a little fun into your business day is an amazing way to create a lot of uplifting energy that will have you attracting the right kinds of people, experiences and success in no time!

If you already are making Fun #1 in your business or if you decided to incorporate it after reading this, I’d love to hear how.  Be sure to drop me a note to let me know what you are doing for fun!  Or if you wish to share with a larger audience, post below to my blog!

Filed Under: Personal Development Tagged With: , , , , ,

To tell the truth…

September 3, 2015 By

Concept of accusation of guilty business womanI haven’t always been honest.  Man, that was hard admit — to you and to myself.  But now that the truth has been told… what do I really mean?

Well, I realized that I am someone who is so loving, caring and compassionate that I was not being of exceptional service to my clients!  See, I come from a place of not wanting to hurt anyone – and so I would let my clients’ pussyfoot around and not stand in their power.  Oh sure, I pushed them (I know this because they are very free in telling me “Kim, you’re pushing it!”), but there were times I let them off the hook and boy, does that make me mad at myself now.

It makes me mad because that is what they do for and to themselves already.  They came to me because what they were doing wasn’t working and they needed that proverbial kick in the can…  and I wasn’t doing that enough! 

Once I recognized that I had been afraid of creating conflict or controversy, I decided right then and there that I wasn’t being honest with myself and with my clients and I was making a change.

What happened next is so amazing!  After my clients were introduced to the “new” Coach Kim — and got over the shock of me no longer using kid gloves with them but really holding them powerful no matter what (something I learned from my own coach) — they began to see even faster results.  It was inspiring!  When they understood that I was no longer afraid of creating conflict or controversy, they were able to step outside of their comfort zone and really soar.

By allowing them to see what was possible for them, they got a taste of how their life could be. Instead of being fearful of “What if it doesn’t work?” they began to take actions based on those positive feelings and came from a place of “What if the results are so amazing?”

My new truths are that it’s okay to push someone out of their comfort zone and I can still do it in a loving, caring, compassionate way – hey, that’s just who I am!  And it’s okay if someone gets upset with me.  When I teach my group exercise classes, I often say “I don’t care if you don’t like me right now, you’ll love me when we are done and you feel great!”  By embracing that philosophy in my coaching business and challenging my clients to truly be greater and wiser and more successful than they think they can be, I am absolutely standing in my honesty with and to them.

Is there a place in your life where you aren’t being honest to those you are trying to serve?  I hope this helps you change your thinking. Share your story below!

Filed Under: Self Worth Tagged With: , , , , ,

The world will not fall apart if you do this…

August 20, 2015 By

ImagineLast month my article was about reaching for the stars.  This month it’s about not being afraid to run with the horses and step up your game.  What do I mean by that?  Well, quite honestly there are so many people who say that they want to do something, yet do absolutely nothing. Talk, talk, talk but no action.

Have you been there?  Have you ever noticed a time that you talked a great game, but didn’t follow through?  Sure, you have – we all have.  So what makes some people a “get-up-and-go, get it done” type person and others a “Yeah, right” person?  There are a lot of reasons but mostly it’s about fear… or lack thereof.  Fear of many things; fear of success, fear of failure, fear of what other people might/will say (I know that one very intimately), fear of feeling like a fool… you get the picture.

Well then, how do you run with the big guns feeling confident, self-assured and full of motivation to get things done to reach your goals?  It’s not as hard as you think.  No, really it isn’t.  I can speak from experience here that’s for sure.

For many years I wanted to make a career move and talked about it, but never did anything about it. Until finally one day I had had enough – enough of hearing my own voice talk, talk, talk.  What held me back was fear of what others would say… and also fear of making mistakes and feeling stupid.  One day I just said “I’m not doing this anymore” and there was no more worry about what if (the world came apart, I had no money, I didn’t have insurance).  All of those things ceased to matter.

So how can you make the changes that deep down you want, yet feel too much fear about doing?  First, there is a saying “Feel the fear and do it any way.” While I am not going to discount that, there is a little more to it than it sounds.  Here are several tips for you:

  • Imagine the best thing(s) that could happen for you because you had the courage to reach for your stars. Visualize how you will feel, what you will be doing and tap into all the great things you want for yourself, your family and your life (business too).  The great news is that our minds cannot distinguish from what is real or imagined – so imagine away!
  • Write out what you want on paper. Be super specific here and do not hold back.  I do suggest pen and paper because there is something special that begins to happen.  You really begin to tap into the feelings of what it will be like when you have your goals realized.  This part is a lot of fun.  Play up the ‘what if’ game and think about the amazing things that will happen for you.
  • Make a decision to do one thing that will move you closer to what you imagined. Then put that into an action-able form.  Being decisive is the first step to moving into action.  Once you decide, then you can easily create your next steps to reaching your goals.

These will help you get started.  And what happens once you get started?  Yes, a body in motion stays in motion.  The beauty here is that once you begin, you’ll want to continue. You’ll be in the feeling of possibility, and then opportunities will show up seemingly out of nowhere.  Then you’ll be taking actions that you might not have while you were in the fear frame of mind.

Get out of your fear and get into faith: faith that you can do it and you can have what you want.  Life is meant to be fun and enjoyable.  Think about it, would you rather be in fear, worry and dread or be in joy, excitement and courage?

As many of my clients know, taking action leads to results, the results lead to the success, and the success leads to happiness.  So my friend, by when will you sit down and go through the steps I gave you to do?  Make a date with yourself by the end of the month – do it this weekend! – and lay out your next grand adventure.  When you do, be sure to drop me a note at kim@kimravida.com to let me know what your next action is going to be for you to reach your goals.  Or if you wish to share with a larger audience, post below here on my blog!

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , ,

Got things to do?

August 6, 2015 By

Bucket with notes featuring things to do in the future with clipping path at original size

In order to get to where you want to go, you just have to get moving. If you think “I’ll do it when…” then guess what? When will never come.  Never.  Do you need to hear it again? When will never come.

You have to get moving right now! The smallest movement will begin the momentum of helping you get to where you want to go.

When I teach my group exercise class we start simply by moving: marching in place and breathing, or sometimes just taking a few breaths is all we need to get the momentum going.  Once we are in action, it’s easy to stay in action. When I coach my clients, we start by taking a moment to celebrate what action they have accomplished and then we move on to what they want to accomplish next.  Did you catch that?  We move on.  There is no standing still in life or in business! 

We get in, get going and get done.

I use this method in my own business too (of course!) especially when I’m feeling like I have to wait for the right moment.  When I catch myself stalling, I say “Just get into it, get started and get done!” It never fails me.

Even if you feel that you need to do something to educate yourself before taking action — like reading up about a foreign country before going there – then do it.  Start now! Make the time to get the learning in which will keep you motivated enough to actually take your trip.

You’ll be delighted with the results!

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , ,

Reach for the Stars!

July 23, 2015 By

Young woman pulling bright starsI’d love to pose a question.  What are your thoughts on being realistic?

Many times in my past I was told, “Kim, you need to be realistic.”  And so I would be.  But what did I get?  Lots of nothing.  I never stepped out of my comfort zone.  It wasn’t until I recognized I was a people pleaser that I realized those people — who I was trying to please — were actually holding me back by telling me to be realistic.

So what is realistic anyway? Realistic is defined as sensible, practical, reasonable.

But sometimes you need to not be sensible in order to soar.  Be outrageous and think really big, abandon practical, and embrace what might feel like the impossible.  You need to break from being reasonable, and to be a bit awkward, in order to grow and do new things.

See, being realistic can hold us back.  Abraham-Hicks says that being realistic can root us firmly to where we are.  I truly do not know any person who wants to absolutely, without question, stay where they are.  Everyone wants more in and for their life.

Let’s say you have a goal of being a six-figure business owner and you are currently making $10,000.  If you think “Realistically, can I be a six-figure business owner?” you can easily determine that no, you can’t.  However, if you think “OK, I’m going to go for the moon here and aim for six figures and I’ll do this, this and this to get there” then you have successfully broken free of being realistic!  You allowed yourself to step into a bigger version of yourself and what is in store for you.

Being realistic keeps us in a space where often we do not want to be.  As Jack Canfield says you have to take 100% responsibility for yourself.  So I encourage you to stop being realistic about your life and your goals and go for what you truly want.  When you do that you’ll be thinking what is the best thing that could happen?

I don’t know about you, but I sure enjoy my life more reaching for the moon!

So what do you think?  Post below on my blog or email me at kim@kimravida.com to share!

Okay, I get it.  Sometimes reality does bite.  So if you are unhappy with the reality of your bank account balance and want to have more money to help you reach for the moon and the stars, my Grow Your Money Tree Program is for you.  Click here to find out more!

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Do you have a healthy relationship with money?

July 9, 2015 By

u.s. dollar banknote in heart shapeI’m passionate about health.  When we talk about health though, we are usually referring to our physical condition.  But health can be used for other areas of our life as well, like a healthy relationship with our spouse, children, friends, colleagues and so on.  You may very well be aware of that and even strive to have both — a healthy physical condition as well as healthy relationships.

Here’s another area to think about.  Do you have a healthy relationship with money or are you constantly feeling stress, strife and conflict around money?  Do you say:  “I don’t have enough”, “I can’t afford that”, “Money’s hard to make”?  If so, this plays havoc in your life and even double havoc if you happen to be a business owner!

I too had an unhealthy relationship with money.  I constantly felt and talked about never having enough money, having a hard time making money and how I couldn’t do things or have experiences because I didn’t have the money.  ARGH – it was not only depressing but each day in my business was a struggle!

Fortunately, I realized I was doing this to myself and feeling this way… and I knew something needed to change.  What I was doing obviously wasn’t working and I didn’t want to stay frustrated and in struggle any longer!  Also as a fitness instructor (at the time) and a coach helping people make changes in their lives, I knew it was important for me to make a big change and finally get a handle on my money!

I began paying attention to those thoughts and feelings I was having, and what I was telling myself and others about not having enough money.  And by taking small, specific actions I was able to change my harmful relationship with money to one that is healthy and life altering.

Here are a few things I learned that will help you:

  • The number one thing you must do is to value money!  It is vital to your success in having a healthy relationship with money.  If you don’t value something, you are basically saying “it’s not important”.
  • Create powerful, empowering money habits.  A few examples are to track your income daily or weekly, set up a debt repayment plan and a regular savings plan.
  • Pay your bills on time or even early.  Yes, really.

Those are just a very small sampling of what I discovered.  They worked so well that I began coaching my life and business clients to adopt healthy habits around money too.

Through my personal — and also my clients’ – experiences, I realized that what I had discovered was so amazing and life-changing that I simply had to share it with more people.  I decided to take what I know and put it into a program… and I did. It’s called Grow Your Money Tree and I just launched it this week! Check it out because it might be exactly what you’re looking for and it’s being offered with Super Early Bird Pricing!

https://kimravida.com/grow-your-money-tree-home-study-program/

 

Filed Under: Money Habits, Personal Development, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , ,

Truly, it’s ALL an excuse!

June 25, 2015 By

I’ve always been interested in making things – life, business, health, etc. – better for myself and for other people.

Over the years I have worked with so many clients — and had lots of friends — who say they are going to make things better in their lives.  Things such as lose weight, get healthier, get a new job, save more money, stop spending, do a household budget, take a vacation, have more time to spend with kids, parents, family, friends.  Yet, they don’t follow through on what they say.  Why?

What I realized is that man, there are a lot of excuses out there!  Here are some of the things that not only my clients and others are saying, but I’ve said too:

  • I can’t.
  • I have no time.
  • I have too much to do.
  • I don’t have enough money.
  • I need to learn how to do x first.
  • The weather is too cold/hot/whatever (yes, I’ve heard this).

Well, let me tell you exactly what these are…these are just excuses – and we all make them.  Because when we truly want to do something, we’ll do it.  When we really, really want something, we find a way to make it happen.

Why, then, do we make excuses?

Many of us fool ourselves into thinking it will be hard or we don’t like change or it’s going to take too much time.  And oh yeah, there can be a lot of that “F” word – FEAR!  Fear of lots of things.

Some of us know underneath and down inside, though, that we can’t be trusted to follow through.

Ouch!

For years we have let ourselves down by saying one thing and doing another.  This creates not only a pattern of negativity but also sends a message to our subconscious that we can’t be trusted.  So why bother getting started, we won’t be successful anyway.  Right?  Let’s make it wrong!

Look, we all know people who are successful at whatever they set out to do, so what makes them different?  They trust themselves to do what they say they are going to do… even if it’s hard.

Here are a few tips to break the negative pattern so you can begin to trust yourself, too:

  1. Pick something small to do and when you’ll do it – like walk around the block in the morning or read for ten minutes this evening — and write it down. Then do it!
  2. When you’ve done it…do a happy dance and pat yourself on the back! Yes, reinforcement does work!
  3. Do this for several weeks and then take on bigger goals. Soon you’ll be proving to yourself that you can be trusted.
  4. Enlist the help of a trusted friend or hire a coach to help support you and keep you accountable to yourself. Often, just having an outside source is enough to keep the fire lit through completion.
  5. Keep a journal or list of how you are doing so you can see that yes, indeed, you are following through.

When you finally show yourself that you can be trusted, the sky is the limit!  You’ll be done with excuses and reaching your goals faster and with more joy.

When you do, post below on my blog or email me at kim@kimravida.com to share your success and elation!

 

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , , ,

Achieving or OVERachieving?

June 11, 2015 By

Speedometer - Exceeding Expectations of Your CustomersAchieving your goal(s) is a feeling like no other.  When you reach what you have been striving for, there is no better feeling.  Just ask an Olympic athlete or a professional athlete who has won the biggest trophy in their sport.  Ask anyone who has triumphed over adversity.

Achieve means to attain, get, realize, reach, complete and pull off.  Sounds pretty amazing, right?  So then, I wanted to know what does overachieving mean?  I did a little research and it means:  Do better than expected, to perform better or be more successful than expected.  Well, that doesn’t sound all that bad! Why do we tend to think that overachieving is derogatory?

But wait a second, how is it to “do better than expected”?  If I just achieve, am I saying I’ll settle for less than what I really want?  Not exactly.  I’m not necessarily overachieving if I’m doing what I expect, am I?

That didn’t sit well with me.

I found another way to look at overachieving and this made sense to me:  “To be excessively or unhealthily dedicated to achieving success.”  It’s not in the achieving or doing better than you anticipated when the “over” comes in to play, but in the excessive or unhealthy manner of achieving your goals/outcomes.

The differences between achieving and overachieving are in the approach.  If you are to be great at what you do, you need to dedicate time, resources and yourself to your pursuit.  Yet, often in that pursuit there is a moment when the achieving crosses the line into overachieving.

If you find yourself constantly working, overdoing things, and being obsessive and compulsive about making sure things are just so, chances are you are an OVERachiever.  There is nothing wrong with achieving – we should all strive to achieve — but overachieving pretty much defeats and overshadows that act of achieving.

Many of my clients are in overachieving-mode, never satisfied with the pursuit of the goal or even the attainment of it.  They are on to the next thing without acknowledging what they have accomplished, big or small.

To the OVERacheivers out there, I highly suggest you keep an accomplishment log and review it often so that you can see all that you are accomplishing… and slow down to enjoy your successes.

Filed Under: Personal Development Tagged With: , , , ,
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