CLICK HERE TO WATCH

It’s a delightful reminder of how, as children, we are so full of self-esteem and confidence. It’s just a natural part of childhood. But for most of us, [...]]]> A private small business coaching client gave me the head’s up about this short little video and I want to pass it along to you.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

It’s a delightful reminder of how, as children, we are so full of self-esteem and confidence. It’s just a natural part of childhood. But for most of us, something changes as we grow older. We start to doubt ourselves. We develop fears and insecurities.

Where did that confident and self-assured little girl (or boy) go? And, more importantly – how do you get her back? Although the description of the video talks about the power of affirmations – I don’t think that’s enough.

One of the concepts I like to share, with my clients and in the Magnetic Goals Home Study Course, is the how you progress from a thought (affirmation) to a strong belief. The difference between having an idea that you can do (or have) something important to you and the strong belief that you can – is evidence.

It’s true that you choose your thoughts, but it’s only when you have evidence to support what you think that it become a strong belief.

Most of us seem to just let our attention wander at will but our mind is actually continually seeking evidence to support our strong beliefs. If you believe you are not good enough – your mind will seek out evidence to support that belief – and you will find it. You see, as humans we just plain like to be right about what we believe and so we go about unconsciously proving it to ourselves over and over again, all day long.

If instead, you actively and deliberately look for evidence to support some other belief you would like to have, perhaps a belief that you are capable of doing the most wondrous things – you will find that.

Decide what you want to believe then get busy consciously collecting evidence. Try it. It works!

If you are a small business owner one of the [...]]]> I woke up this morning debating with myself whether or not to write this short article. When coaching my private clients I generally manage to avoid sounding like someone’s boss, or worse – their mother. But it might be useful for you to read so here goes…

If you are a small business owner one of the reasons you started your own business, and one of its greatest joys, may be that you get to choose what you work on and when. You also get to choose how long your lunch break is, whether you go shopping in the middle of the day, if you will stop to do a few errands on your way home from a meeting, or tune into Judge Judy for a little mid-day mental break.

Many of my clients come to me unhappy with their business results and often explain they are having difficulty staying focused. If I ask them to recap how they spend the previous week some of them are surprised at how little time they actually spend attending to their business.

Lack of focus and productivity has many causes but one common one is too much independence and flexibility –the very things that we love about being in business for ourselves. While most of my clients relish their flexibility and use it wisely, others simply become spoiled by it.

As boss-less entrepreneurs, left on their own to decide how to spend their time, many small business owners become quite irresponsible with their “work” time and rob their own businesses of much needed productivity to do the things their friends with “real” jobs and “real” bosses have to either leave to the weekend or forgo altogether.

Look back at yesterday, last week, and last month. If you had a boss what would he, or she, say about your productivity? About the amount of time you spent in and on the business? About your attention to making the business financially successful? The choices you made?

I’ve asked these questions of some of my clients who seemed to be behaving as if they could go on forever with a full-time business, that was generating poor financial results, giving it only their part-time attention. Usually they replied “If I had a boss he’d say ‘YOU’RE FIRED!’”

While your boss might tolerate the odd bit of personal time for urgent matters, your boss knows that long personal calls during office hours, constant late starts and frequent missed time from work to attend to personal matters, robs the company of precious resources needed for the success of the business.

Flexibility is a wonderful benefit of being in business for ourselves and it can be hard to say “no” to ourselves when a tempting opportunity to ditch work comes up, and even harder to say “no” to friends and family who know darn well we set our own schedules. Ask yourself “What would my boss say?”

As a small business owner you have great flexibility, a true blessing when you can re-arrange your schedule or when life throws you a curve ball, but are you behaving like you can never fired? As a small business owner your “boss” is your balance sheet…and if you don’t take care of business and make your boss (your bottom line) happy before you know it you may find yourself looking for a “real” job, which will come with a “real” boss.

I’d love your comments!

Currently doing a Blog Guest Tour, Kathleen Gage has personally chosen MotivationalResources.com in order to meet with you and offer FREE professional expertise in the form of high value and content rich information! Today, Feb [...]]]> Today my blog highlights a great article by my friend and mentor, Kathleen Gage, written specifically for my readers -that’s you!

Currently doing a Blog Guest Tour, Kathleen Gage has personally chosen MotivationalResources.com in order to meet with you and offer FREE professional expertise in the form of high value and content rich information! Today, Feb 11 2010, Kathleen – aka The Street Smarts Marketer – will be reading your comments to my blog, and answering your questions. Wow!

Read the article below and please post your comments (appreciations?) here on my blog. Questions? Post them there too and Kathleen Gage will respond.

Resolving Deep-Seated Conflicts About Money

Guest Post By Kathleen Gage

Conscious entrepreneurship is a topic of conversation for many people these days. Long gone are the days of running a business simply to make money.

Today, many business owners, and soon to be business owners, want to do more than simply run a business to achieve the outward rewards. They want to make a contribution to the betterment of society, specific organizations that make a difference in the world and they want to sincerely improve the  lives of their customers and feel great about the good they bring to their vendors by virtue of the fact they hired them.

There is much more of a spiritual element to business today than ever before. Yet for many entrepreneurs there seems to be a deep seated conflict that making money is not spiritual.

The fact is, making money can be one of the most spiritual things you do. Doesn’t it make sense that when money is not an issue there is more good you can do for others and for those organizations you believe in?

The belief of money being a bad thing is a deep seated one that was handed down by others. “Don’t be greedy,” we were warned. “Money is the root of all evil,” we heard in many different ways. “Who are you to think you can be THAT successful?” we were scolded by authority figures.

Truth be told, the more you have the more good you can do if in fact, your moral compass is on track. So how does one move from the place of disempowering beliefs to those that will not only serve us, but all those we do business with.

Begin with this.

1. Write down all your beliefs around money
2. Determine when you first formulated these beliefs
3. Decide if each one serves you
4. Focus on the good your money can do for others

I used to live in a very lack filled reality. I was so filled with fear that I would never have enough; I conveniently created this as a reality so I could be right. You see, no matter what our beliefs we want to be right. It doesn’t matter how painful our existence is, we want to be right.

Until we realize some beliefs no longer serve us and until we willingly change them, we will be unable to live the life we say we want. Until we change, nothing is going to change.

Yet, as we allow ourselves to acknowledge the story we have consistently told ourselves no longer serves us, we shift our energy in such a way as to move away from old beliefs to new beliefs. This allows us to not only live an incredibly abundant life that brings us great joy, but also brings joy to others.

Think of it this way… the more abundance you have the more good you can do for others whether it be family members, friends, community members, organizations and causes.

It is very fulfilling to know when you are called upon to help; you can do so without wondering if you will be able to pay your bills.

Success and abundance is a mindset. It is one that requires diligence. It also requires being willing to move away from those things that pull you down and move towards those that lift you up. It may even require you change the people you hang out with.

If you are surrounded with people who are constantly talking about how bad things are, you are making it very difficult on yourself. Rather, surround yourself with people who believe in possibility; people who can be a model for you to emulate possibility living.

Granted, it may be uncomfortable to make some changes, but as your life changes you can look back and realize that by willingly taking steps towards a better life, you are in such an incredible position to improve all things you come in contact with.

About the author
Kathleen Gage is an Internet marketing adviser who works with spiritually aware speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their knowledge into money making products and services. Find out how you can learn from Kathleen on how to build a successful business using the Internet through her Street Smarts Marketing VIP Club by Clicking Here

PS. Like many of your peers, other success-minded small business owners, I am a member of Kathleen’s VIP club. I encourage you to check it out for yourself.

Answer: They both take about six days to go from ripe to rot.

It’s no accident that cold remedy commercials on TV give way this time of year to resolution-related sales pitches, most notably for weight lo**ss and fitness. The resolution season is in full swing by late [...]]]> Question: What do Resolutions and Bananas Have in Common?

Answer: They both take about six days to go from ripe to rot.

It’s no accident that cold remedy commercials on TV give way this time of year to resolution-related sales pitches, most notably for weight lo**ss and fitness. The resolution season is in full swing by late December even though the flu season is far from over.

Many people are really good at creating resolutions and even those who decide not to risk any more self-inflicted broken promises pon der what they might improve, eliminate, or create in the upcoming year. Advertising agencies know that, even though we might resist participating in the annual resolution craze, the majority of us do think about the areas where we want to see improvements in the upcoming year.  The enthusiasm of a fresh new year is contagious.

For the vast majority of folks I know resolutions are like bananas – really delicious and appealing for about 6 days after which point they both get pretty rotten.

The reason resolutions don’t really last is because they are often expressed as some sort of wish and they are not coupled with effective goal setting to help them become a reality. Making a resolution without goals is like dropping a coin in a wishing well. We make a wish, drop in a coin (not a really big investment – is it?), and walk away hoping our wish will be granted.

If your resolution is to have any hope to last beyond the “rotten banana stage” you really need to invest a bit more time by getting out a pen and paper and creating some goals and some action plans to support it into reality.

If you are thinking “well I don’t really have a resolution but I sure would like to see some better business results this year” try this resolution on for size: “I resolve to get really good at goal setting”. Sure, I know I sound biased but it is only because I am. Goal setting works for those who learn to do it well.  I’ve yet to have a client or student tell me that goal setting was a waste of time or that learning to become really good at goal setting was a waste of effort. It is the single best investment you can make and the one with the biggest short-term and long-term payoffs.

If you are looking to make big changes in your business this year (more profit anyone?) I recommend you resolve to get very good at goal setting.  But mo re than that – get really good at using goals in ways that can super-charge your small business success. Knowing how to set and use goals can mean the biggest difference between having a year much like last year and making 2010 the year of your dreams. What’s more, Magnetic Goal setting is not boring, doesn’t mean tedious hard work, is as tasty as a ripe banana, and never goes rotten.

To learn more about Magnetic Goals register for the upcoming complimentary teleseminar on January 12, hosted by my friend and mentor Kathleen Gage, by Clicking Here.

(note: if you are a member of Kathleen’s VIP program we will be announcing something special for you on January 12. If you are a not a member please check it out by Clicking Here)

For information about the Magnetic Goals for Small Business Owners Home Study Course Click Here.

When I ask my clients what is the biggest challenge they face in building their businesses I commonly hear that their biggest challenge to the success of their businesses is lack of focus. Coping with the endless stream of wonderful, exciting, interesting, and enticing bits of information, ideas and opportunities can be a very [...]]]>  

When I ask my clients what is the biggest challenge they face in building their businesses I commonly hear that their biggest challenge to the success of their businesses is lack of focus. Coping with the endless stream of wonderful, exciting, interesting, and enticing bits of information, ideas and opportunities can be a very big problem for many small business owners. Often hours, days and even weeks can go by with very little significant progress made even though they have been busy, busy, busy.

Our email in-boxes are literally jammed with email that promises to hold the key to the actualization of our dreams. Fascinating articles beg to be read, promising books are everywhere, new technological solutions are around every corner, interesting people pop into view, invitations to explore beckon constantly. The myriad of ways to spend our time and energy is never ending and constantly growing.

And so, left to our own devices, we can go down one “rabbit hole” after another as we click on link after link, only to find that we have spent much of our precious time and energy chasing yet another BSO (bright shiny object) rather focusing on just those areas that we are certain will move us closer to the business success we crave.

What is the solution to fortifying our resistance against chasing those BSOs that really do little more than satisfy our curiosity and leave us with a profound sense of frustration with our lack real tangible results? Successful people do not have fewer BSOs to contend with – they have a strategy that allows them let the BSO fly past barely noticed and rarely chased while they select only those bits that will are truly worthy of their attention.

How can YOU stop yourself from following those BSO’s, like Alice in Wonderland, down yet another “rabbit hole” only to realize that you have been distracted and precious business-building time has passed that can never be recovered? The solution is not fortifying your will power. The minute you relax your will power – poof- down another rabbit hole you go. The solution is in your brain.

I’ve written before about the remarkable benefits of deliberately training your brain to draw your focus, your energy and your decision making powers to only those bits of information, ideas and opportunities that best serve you and your business.

Your RAS (Reticular Activating System) is the part of your brain responsible for filtering the millions bits of information that bombard you at any moment. It is the best tool you have for selectively focusing only on what will best serve you and your business. It is infinitely easier to train your brain to flag only those bits of information that are in your best interest than it is to use your willpower to ignore most of what flies past or to try to assess each and every bit of information as it arrives.

There are many ways to train your brain, your RAS, to do the work of filtering so you can stay focused on your priorities. By far the most effective method is setting magnetic goals and keeping them top of mind.

All those stodgy business consultants who tell you that you need to set goals so you know where you are going are missing the most benefit of goals – goals help you GET where you want to go by helping you every minute of every day to stay focused and choose only those bits of information and opportunities that will directly contribute to your success.

I’ll write more next time on how magnetic goals are your best tool for staying on focused and on track all day every day. Or, you can read about how “Magnetic Goals for Small Business Owners” will dramatically improve your ability to focus on what’s important and making it easy and natural to avoid distractions by clicking here. I assure you…it is not a BSO!

photo credit: Greg Veen

Last weekend I went to see Michael Moore’s “Capitalism – A Love Story” mostly because I was curious to know his views on how things got so messed up in the financial sector. True to form, Moore uses the camera like a blunt instrument. I got what I went for – information delivered in [...]]]>

Last weekend I went to see Michael Moore’s “Capitalism – A Love Story” mostly because I was curious to know his views on how things got so messed up in the financial sector. True to form, Moore uses the camera like a blunt instrument. I got what I went for – information delivered in an entertaining way and I was laughing through the tears in my eyes.   But I left the theatre deeply saddened and on the verge of feeling acute hopelessness for what lay ahead for many millions of hard working and honest people.

The book by my bedside this week is The Portable Coach: 28 Sure Fire Strategies For Business And Personal Success by the late Thomas J. Leonard. One of my favourite, yet trickiest to grasp and employ, concepts he delivers in this book is about choosing not to overreact but to overrespond to all situations.

Overresponding is defined this way: discovering choices in action that are available, even though they might not be apparent in the moment. Knowing that you can discover several possible choices gets you past feeling threatened and lets you select the one with the most potential to spur your evolution.”

I was speaking with a client who hired me recently and she was talking about how difficult it can be to be “up”, positive and enthusiastic about her immediate future when her financial results are disappointing and a future was not looking not so rosy from where she was standing. The challenge was to help her find ways not to stuff her emotions (it’s not healthy and they never stay stuffed for long) but to find ways to overrespond to her situation by identifying 10 possible solutions or new courses of action.  She would only implement a small number but striving to identify 10 was exercising  her overresponding muscle…her creativity and problem solving ability.

This is not an easy task when you are stuck in overreacting but you can buck the trend and operate much differently than most of the people who “stream out of the movie theatre of life” and overrespond your  way out of the  most uncomfortable and difficult situations.

Thomas J. Leonard sums it up best “If you’re alive, creativity interests you. Especially your own creativity. Become creative in how you overrespond. In other words, make it your personal strategy and, as such, work it. Whenever something throws you off or in any way impresses you with singularity or significance, ask yourself “What’s a great way to overrespond?” It’s both a creative exercise and a big part of attracting success…and you will develop a skill-set that’s invaluable at untying the knots in problem situations.”

As for overresponding to Capitalism – a Love Story? My private clients are aware of one of my solutions which I announced to them yesterday and here is another…I am asking you to learn more about “dead peasants insurance” and support reversals in the laws that opened the door in the 1980’s to what I consider a highly immoral practice for the sake of profit. Please visit www.DeadPeasants.biz.