Would you like to have a money tree?

March 7, 2014 By

Money-treeWhen I was a little girl, my uncle had this cool thing called a ‘money tree’ – I liked the sound of that even as a kid.  Except… there wasn’t money growing on it.  That’s just weird.  Why would there be something called a money tree with no money coming from it!  I didn’t get it.

Now I know the Malabar chestnut (Pachira aquatica), is known as the ‘money tree plant’.  If you are into the Law of Attraction, it is a great thing to have because it symbolizes a money tree.  And since the Law of Attraction states “what you put your attention on, you attract”, it can serve as a reminder of money.  Who doesn’t want more money?

A money tree is a bit of a metaphor.  I grew up hearing “money doesn’t grow on trees.”  Well what if it did?  What if you had your own ‘tree’ that produced money?  What if you didn’t have to worry where money was coming from?  What if you had all the money you needed to live your life the way you wanted to?  That would feel pretty great, wouldn’t it? 

While I didn’t get the concept of a money tree not being a tree with money on it, I get that it is important to have a ‘money tree’.  Money is the cause of many people’s angst and stress.  If we can grow our own money tree, we can eliminate the feelings of worry about not having enough money to support us.  The frustration and anxiety that so often causes us to feel bad would be gone.  For some this is an especially interesting concept as they have lived all of their lives with those feelings. 

In my early years, I never really learned how to manage my money successfully.  I didn’t understand that you need to know what your outputs are in relation to what comes in.  I was taught “don’t spend it all in one place”, but that’s it.  I wasn’t taught that there was a way to handle money so you had it when you wanted and needed it.  Oh, I handled money okay, a lot of it and it always was going out.

I learned by reading, taking classes and doing some trial and error experiments.  It wasn’t until I took a course that taught me how my money archetypes played a big role in my money success — and how they also held me back — that I began to understand what I had been doing wasn’t getting me where I wanted to be.  Then I learned what to do that would.

So if you aren’t happy with your lack of a money tree, it’s time to start growing your own!

I’m teaching a course on how to use your archetypes to your advantage so that you stop doing the things that sabotage your efforts.  Grow your money tree and create a foundational system to make and keep more money!  If you are interested, click here for more info.

Filed Under: Money Habits Tagged With: , , ,

Are you going backward more than you are going forward?

February 27, 2014 By

hopscotch I am back here at square one!  Now, just how did that happen?  I thought I was going forward until I realized I was doing it again.  All the stuff that I do that holds me back or puts me back at the beginning.  It’s frustrating, aggravating and downright depressing.

So what happened this time?  Well, I realized that the old gremlin reared its ugly head again. I faced it before and won so… why is it coming back again?

Have you had this problem before?

I get really upset when the gremlin shows up and this time decided to do something about it.  It took courage for me to do this but I decided to face it — and I mean stare it in the face!

I asked my gremlin; “Just why are you here now?” and the conversation went something like this:

Gremlin:  I’m here to keep you safe and protect you.

Me:  Great, thank you but safe and protect me from what?

Gremlin:  From getting hurt.

Me:  Ok, I understand but what is going to hurt me?

Gremlin:  Everything.

Me:  Ok, I get it that you’re worried, but if you are keeping me safe and protecting me from getting hurt by everything, how am I supposed to live my life?

Gremlin:  Oh, well I didn’t think of that.  But it doesn’t matter because I still don’t think you are good enough anyway so why bother?

See, the gremlin is the part of us that has the doubts, the fears and the concerns.  Only ‘playing it safe’ doesn’t get us anywhere.  I was tired of never taking any chances!  I was willing to step up and out of my comfort zone because I knew the reward would be oh so great… and it is!

Let’s get back to the gremlin.  Once you know what the gremlin is protecting you from, you become aware of what is holding you back.  Then you can use your gremlin to provide the strength to move forward!  In my case I asked myself “How true is it that I’m not good enough to make money in my business, get clients, live healthy, and have great relationships?”  And I soon saw that none of it was true at all… and courage showed up!  I turned that gremlin into my motivator to take chances to be confident and bold in my life and got such great results.

Let’s go back (yes, pun intended) to you.  Are you going backward more than you are going forward?

Here are a few tips to help you face your gremlin:

  • Stop being so emotional.  When we are in our emotional thinking it is hard to see our options.  We only see fear, what ifs, and negative outcomes.
  • Start using your logical thinking.  Using your logical thinking, you can ask questions like:  “What am I afraid of?”  “What really could happen?”  “What do I know about myself that will help me take a step forward?”
  • Look at the bigger picture.  There is always more going on than we can see.  If you take a step back (this is when it’s good to step backward) and say “Ok, what exactly is going on here?”  Look at the emotional side and the logical side of your situation so you can see it with different perspectives.

Remember, examining from more than one angle often takes out the fears, the worries, and the doubts… and opens up a new view of what is really ahead of you.  If your two options are not being good enough or being even greater than you imagine, which will you choose?

I’d love to hear your comments and how you have overcome your own personal gremlin.  Please post your thoughts below!

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

But I don’t have a choice…

February 20, 2014 By

three choices As a women’s business coach, I hear that comment a lot “But I don’t have a choice!”  On the contrary, you do have a choice.  You might not like the choices you are given, but you have a choice.

Once my clients embrace this concept, it’s amazing what happens!  Not only do they start making great choices, they make quick decisions and take fast action.  So therefore, feeling stuck, feeling like they don’t know what to do, and feeling insecure are all gone! Whoosh!

I’d like to point out to you that every time you say — or even think — “I don’t have a choice” you strip yourself of your energy, power and inner strength.  When you are not in a place of “Choice”, you are living as the effect of everything around you.  You’re letting others make decisions for you.  That is a very discouraging place to be!  Being IN “Choice” is the most empowered place to be.

No matter what the situation it, be it personal or professional, we all have the power to have – to take and make – a choice.

You can choose how to respond to something or how to feel about it.  It’s kind of like if someone asks “Do you want spinach or broccoli?” and you want neither.  Well, your first response might be “Well, I don’t have a choice” but you do!  You have more than two choices!  You have the option to say “I don’t want either, thank you.” See?

Sometimes we feel that our choices are cut and dry when often that is not the case.  When you believe you have no choice, you are putting on the breaks and get stuck where you feel like there is no way out.  However, when you stand in what you want and what is best for you, you can find alternative choices that best serve you and help you get to where you are going.

If I can leave you with one bit of motivation, it is to remember no matter what, you always are in “Choice”.

 

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

Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?

February 13, 2014 By

Light at the end of the tunnelI used to be one of those people who would say I wanted to do this or do that… and, well, I never did.  Until one day I realized that I had spent too much time talking and not enough time doing. I finally had enough talk and needed to take action!

What changed for me was I had let myself down, and it wasn’t for a bad reason but it wasn’t something I wanted to continue.  I regularly put those I loved and cared about ahead of me.  Back then I did what they said I should do.  I took care of their needs and wants first and always before my own.  Then one day I was so upset with myself because I had ‘wasted’ what I felt was a lot of time giving myself away and I decided that I needed to make a change.  I realized I was not granting myself permission to go for what I wanted in my life.

I spent a lot of time in a job that was not right for me, and I felt that I had wasted a lot of my life—like, umm, 20+ years of it!  So what did I do?  I hired a career coach who helped me figure out where to start and then I hired a life coach to help me get there.  Turned out I didn’t get a new job, but I got a new career as a life/business coach instead!  Very cool, eh?  What changed?  Well, I finally gave myself permission to fulfill my personal mission which was to make a change.  See, change isn’t always what we think it will be and yet it always seems to turn out even better!

One of the things I learned, and now teach my clients, is that when you see the light at the end of the tunnel you have to take steps regularly in order to get there.  One of my favorite sayings is from a book The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein and he talks about how your car goes where your eyes go.  Keep looking ahead because what we focus on we get… both for the positive as well as the negative.

Here are three tips I want to share to make sure you keep your eyes on the prize and head toward the end of your tunnel.

  1. Give yourself permission to fulfill your personal mission.  No matter what you want to improve or to have — a new relationship, job/career, better health, improved finances, more time with family, with self, etc. — give yourself permission to have it.
  2. Envision what the result is.  Think ahead and envision what your life will be like once you have it.  What are you doing?  Where are you?  Who is around you?  How are you feeling?  This helps to set the stage and get into the feeling of having it.  Some people find it fun to create vision boards that they can look at regularly to keep themselves on track with their goals.  It can be a creative way to keep your eyes on your prize.
  3. Design your action plan and time frame.  Pick the time frame of when you want to have this in your life.  Is it a month, a year or longer?  Now that you know what you want and when you want it, you work towards that goal.  What is the first thing you will need to do in order to reach your end result?  Let’s say you want to start a business.  The first step might be to figure out what type of business.  Or you want to improve your finances.  The first step would be to know how much money comes in and goes out each month and you’d need to get out the support documents for this.

There are often many steps that we need to take to reach our goals.  We aren’t going to start a business or increase our income overnight.  Knowing what to do, when to do it and having a timeline to keep us on track are key to successfully reaching the light at the end of the tunnel.

Now that you know where to start, give it a go and take action!  If you get stuck, feel free to shoot me an email as I’m happy to help you get on track.  Email me personally or share your thoughts, insights and revelations below!

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

From Setback to Comeback!

February 6, 2014 By

detourIn my last blog I shared with you The Secret Behind Big Success… are many smaller ones.  This time I would like to talk about what a “setback” can do for you—yes, do FOR you.

I used to get so upset when something went wrong.  I really did.  I was thrown off my pace, and felt frustrated and often angry.  There were so many things I started and then abandoned because they didn’t go the way I thought or wanted.  Do you ever feel that way?

It was about the time I decided to do a complete shift in my career path and became a coach that I finally learned that a setback is not an end-all.  It isn’t game over or give up time.  Instead, it is a chance for a comeback.  It was a time to review and revise; to do something different.  Maybe even something that was more to my liking and would lead me to what I wanted.  I found that so liberating and appealing!

So whenever you feel that you are stuck, you don’t have any choices (which by the way, you always do but that is a topic for another blog), or something isn’t going the way you want it to—take a second and a step back.  Ask yourself – what kind of comeback do you want to have?

Once you know your answer, take some time to sort out your strategy.  Write out a small plan and the steps you will take to get closer to reaching your goals.  While an extensive plan can be useful, for this keep it simple and short; say 3-5 tasks that you can start with.  I like to call it the Game Plan yet I have learned not attach myself to it!  Instead, I stay fluid and keep my options open.  It gives me a roadmap to follow so that I know what my comeback is going to give me.

Try it.  I’d love to hear from you how you make out.  From setback to comeback!  It’s a fabulous experience to have and once you have it, you want more of it!  And a funny thing happens… “setbacks” seem to disappear.

 

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , ,

The Secret Behind Big Success

January 30, 2014 By

child with gold medal (428x640)What’s behind the big successes of our lives?  Do you know?  If you said “lots of little ones” then you are likely on the right track to your success.  Whoohoo to you!

There is an awesome commercial on television that features U.S. Olympian Snowboarder Louie Vito, the current Gold Medalist of the 2013 Winter X Games Europe. It runs videos of his life from winning medals backwards to when he was very little.  It ends with “Behind every big moment, there are lots of little ones.”  My point, exactly.

However, when we are running our businesses we tend to think of the next big thing.  The big client we sign that pays in full, selling out your latest awesome program in one day and so on.  I’d like to remind you that before every big success, there are lots and lots of little ones that happen first.  So all those little clients are preparing you for the big one and having any people in your first program is preparing you for the sell-out later on.

While we do not necessarily celebrate the small achievements, they are the backbone to us reaching our goals.  They have to be.  I have yet to meet or hear of someone who is successful who did not have any small accomplishments!

Along with those successes are some small and big struggles, too.  I live by the mantra, “There Are No Mistakes.”  One of my mentor’s says that no matter what happens, there are only opportunities for breakthroughs.  She says:  “You didn’t meet your goal, opportunity for a breakthrough.”  “You didn’t get the client, opportunity for a breakthrough.”  The lesson in that moment is I have the choice to look within and see what I can do differently to move forward toward my goal; I have the opportunity to do something different.  And let me tell you, it’s an amazing feeling to have.

Did Louie Vito get to where he is now by not taking advantage of the little moments, both successes and struggles?  Of course not!  He got there by taking advantage of the opportunities along the way – the good ones and the not so good ones.

I invite you to look at everything happens in your life as opportunity to learn and grow and to mold your life into exactly what you want.  Remember that you are the only one responsible for your successes and your struggles…because there are no mistakes.

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

Thoughts – Exactly What Do They Do?

January 22, 2014 By

happyA penny for your thoughts.  Have you ever heard that phrase?  My mom used to say that when I was little…  and being quiet.  Some people still ask that whenever someone they are with is being silent and reflective.  Maybe they use it as a conversation starter.

Did you know that our thoughts create our destiny?  Well, they do.  Are you are positive or negative thinker by default?  If you are a negative thinker, you more than likely see all the things that are wrong with your life.  On the flip side, if you are a positive thinker you probably see all the good things.

You know all about the optimist and the pessimist thing.  The glass is half full or half empty.  But be that as it may, it is true you are what you think.  If you think you are stupid, well then… and if you think you are smart, well then…

There’s a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, “A man is but the product of his thoughts – what he thinks, he becomes.” It’s a great example to make my point.

If you do not like where you are going in your life and would like to change it, begin with changing your thoughts.  Oh, easier said than done, right?  Only because you think it is.  So let’s start there.

In a recent movie I watched The Iron Lady, with Merrill Streep playing Margaret Thatcher, she quotes:

“Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

Here are four steps to change your thoughts for good!

  1. Change your thoughts.  Where our thoughts go, our energy flows.  If you are in constant negative self-talk—telling yourself I can’t do it, I don’t have time, I don’t know what to do or there is too much to handle—that is where your energy will be.  If you turn those thoughts around to positive ones—I can do this, I have plenty of time (secret: this is my #1 go-to phrase that I use myself and teach my clients – and it works!), I know exactly what to do, I can figure out what I don’t know, it’s no big deal or I can handle whatever comes my way—you shift your thoughts and subsequently shift your energy.  Once you start using positive words you will begin to see that forward movement you want.  There is much to be said about the power of positive thinking!
  2. New words lead to new action.  Once you have shifted your thoughts, you will notice how easy it is to get into action.  You will have the confidence to figure out what you need to do to reach your goals.  You will be able to make powerful decisions and choices that support what you want in your life.
  3. New action leads to new habits.  After you make decisions and things start moving on fast and furiously, you will no longer be negatively-focused.  You will have created a healthy habit of being positive and believing you are positively-minded.  These traits will    move you forward on your journey to having the life you want.
  4. New habits lead to an empowered character… and we know where that leads!  Finally, once you are in the practice of using positive self-talk, taking action quickly and forming positive habits, your character not only will be much improved, but others will notice the new you.  You will be well on your way to your destiny and all that you want to have is at your fingertips!

See how just having a new thought can change your destiny?  How cool is that?!  Before reading this you were thinking that life was hard and you felt stuck.  But now you can see how to get into the swing of things to run a profitable business and lead a fabulous life.  When you change the way you think, you create a domino effect in your life.  Again, I repeat, how cool is that?!

I would love for you to share one thing that you experienced by choosing to think positively, please share below!

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

It Matters To Be On Top Of Money Matters For Your Wealth Success

January 16, 2014 By

money guyMoney, one of my favorite topics!  Yet it wasn’t always like that.  I used to ignore it because I really didn’t understand it well.  I knew I liked to save money and not spend it once it was saved… but if it wasn’t saved, well, I liked to spend it!  Kind of contradictory right?

Well, no it really isn’t.

See, once I came to understand my money archetype, I realized my pattern wasn’t abnormal.  It was actually the way I ‘did’ money.  While sometimes I did money really well, other times I did not.  And when I wasn’t doing it well, that was when I became frustrated with not being on top of my money matters.

Here is a secret—and I’m sure I already shared this with you – how you do money is how you do everything.

Think about it.  Are there other areas in your life where you maintain really well for a while, and then one day just fall off the wagon (so to speak)?  Like with weight loss; you’re really good about watching what you eat and exercising, then once you slip up suddenly it’s all downhill.  Or you get on a roll attracting clients, then one day you realize they’re not lining up anymore and you’re wondering where did they all go.

It’s kind of like a psychological twist.  We have these patterns… and we often don’t even realize we have them!  Sometimes they work for us and sometimes they work against us.  Yet, once we know what they are, it is easy to get them to work for us on a regular basis.

So, why is it important to your wealth success to be on top of money?  Well, if you pay your utilities late, how does that help you?  If you don’t know what you have in your bank account and you overdraw, how does that help you?  If you can’t pay a creditor or vendor, how does that help you?  The answer is (and you don’t need me to tell you this), it doesn’t.

If you aren’t on top of your money, you can’t effectively build and lead your business to success… can you?  No, you can’t.

However, when you do money well, you live a healthy and wealthy life of joy and success, you feel good about yourself, and because of that you find more great things will come to you.

What are you doing to get on top of your money matters?

 

Filed Under: Money Habits Tagged With: , , ,

How to Use Time to Your Advantage

January 2, 2014 By

hour glassHave you heard the saying, time is money?  It is true in one sense, but you can make more money, you cannot make more time.  Time is elusive and we can be masters at wasting it or maximizing it.

As a business owner, are you wasting time or maximizing it?  Are you like Goldilocks and using it ‘just right’?  I work with many clients who are trying to do everything themselves on time management because when you are a one-person show, you better use your time wisely.  Remember, time is not like money, there is no opportunity to get more of it or make more of it.  Once gone, it’s gone.

So how do you learn to use time to your advantage?

There are many time management books, articles, and tools out there but most of them miss the boat.  (I should know, I’ve tried more than I can name!)  But why?

Because I’ve learned that the single most important thing you need to use your time wisely is to know how you work.

  • Do you have energy in the morning, afternoon, or evening?
  • Do you like to work on the computer or handwrite your ideas?
  • Are you visual, auditory, kinetic or a blend?

Once you know this, then you can implement time management tools and tricks that make sense for you.  Stop trying so hard to fit a square peg into a round hole and maximize your time like you never imagined!

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With:

Your Ticket To Having A Joyful Holiday Season

December 19, 2013 By

blowing bubblesAh, it’s the time of year that is supposed to be joyful.  Are you joyful?  If you are, please, stop reading and send me your tips.

If you aren’t, I’m going to share with you a couple ways that you can find joy.

First, decide that you want to have joy in your life.  Yes, you want this!

Next, make a list of things that make you feel joy: playing with your kids, going on a date with your spouse, spending time with your pets, being with friends, exercising, reading, going to the movies.  Write down everything that comes to mind (but wait until you’re done reading this).

This next one, my friends, is your ticket to having a joyful holiday season.  What might it be?  Take time to do those things you’ve written down! It’s really that simple!

I don’t want to hear “I don’t have the energy”.  Here’s why. Energy is elusive.  It is hard to describe, yet we feel it pretty much daily… minute to minute actually.  If your energy is low, guess what?  There isn’t a whole lot of joy happening either.  If your energy is high, however, you almost can’t help feeling joyful and having fun. Yet one feeds the other! Joy feeds your energy and energy feeds your joy.  So if you take time to do those things that bring you joy, the energy will come to you.

Remembering this can lead you into January feeling fresh, energized and happy.

I try to live my life with joy in it every day.  Now that is not to say I’m happy every second of every day – but I try to see the joy in things.  The small and the large.  It makes my life rewarding and fulfilling.

I’m willing to be truthful with you; it wasn’t always this way – I was an outward optimist but an inward pessimist.  I was so darn hard on myself… I was a joy-sucker!  (If you have never heard that term before, I’ll be writing about that more soon.)  Anyway, I couldn’t find joy in anything because there was always more to do and have and be.  Boo-hoo.

Things didn’t change until I realized that my negative energy of being the joy-sucker was the cause.  Once I started to raise my energy (simply seeing the small things that brought me joy), I had more peace of mind, success and yes, joy!  And that to me translates into a whole lot of fun!

So stop what you are doing, get out a pen and paper (or slide our your keyboard) and write down the things that make your life joyful, make you smile and make you feel amazing – those are what will lift your energy and bring you what you want!

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