Archive for the ‘lifestyle’ Category

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Why Are You “Just Too Afraid”?

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Almost daily, I will receive an email from a friend, fellow VA or business owner writing about how they want to move forward with a new project or business but are “just too afraid”.  “Just too afraid” does that describe you?

One of my favorite coaches, Barbara Sher, describes fear as the gatekeeper of our comfort zones.  Fear becomes a sign to our inner being that we are getting ready to try something new or take an unknown risk.  So, if you start to feel afraid, you could actually be doing something very right.

However, I have found that you cannot live life passionately or work passionately in your business without confronting it.  Sometimes fear can protect us from making the wrong decisions.  But sometimes fear can also keep us from achieving higher success levels.

Over the years, as I have worked with clients and other virtual assistants, I have come up with a check list to confront this “killer of dreams” called fear.

When becoming fearful, ask yourself:

  • Why am I so afraid of this particular opportunity or business venture?
  • What would happen if this turned out to be good opportunity?
  • How would my life be different if I succeeded at this?
  • Why don’t I just choose to think positive and try to make it work?

You would be surprised how much better you will feel about yourself when confronting these fears.  You will find that your self-confidence will be raised to a new level.

If you do fail, it certainly isn’t the worst thing.  Ask yourself these questions:

  • Are there other opportunities similar to this if this doesn’t work out?
  • Will I still be at “status quo” or completely ruined for life?
  • Will I do better next time or was this not a good choice?
  • Will I be able to learn something from this experience and move on?
  • Have I learned more about what I really want from life and business?
  • Can I tweet about this later on Twitter?

Going forward this week and throughout 2012, I challenge you to take a deep breath and really imagine the possibilities of living fearlessly.

Are you now ready to confront fear with a new boldness?

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Posted in lifestyle, motivation | 4 Comments »

How ThetaHealing® Can Help You Grow Your Business

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Most people I work with want to increase their income, grow their business or get a new job. Who can blame them? Perhaps you have one of these dreams too. After all, you can never have too much money. Or too many clients. Right?

Like others, are you wondering how to make this happen for you? Reading a shelf-full of “How To” books aren’t working. Neither is working yourself to exhaustion or “wishing” something would miraculously change. What may surprise you is that your blocks to success are something you can’t see. Or change on your own.

That “something” is your beliefs and programs about yourself and life. About money. About success. 

Your beliefs and programs are embedded inside you on a cellular level. They may be conscious or unconscious. Usually a combination of both. Two places your beliefs come from are:

1) The environment you grew up in (core) and

2) Passed on from generation to generation (genetic) 

Or you may have the program that you must work hard for everything, nothing comes easy.

A common belief is along the line of “I am not worthy” or “I am a stupid failure”. You might not even realize you harbor these beliefs. They may have started in third grade when you flunked a spelling test and rude classmate made fun of you. These feelings and beliefs of being a stupid failure stay with you and quietly destroys your success —  until you heal.

Your destructive beliefs can express themselves in many forms.  A few common ways is to:

1) Keep a client you really don’t like because you fear losing the money they bring in

2) Staying at a job you hate but feel as if you have no choice especially in this economy

3) Procrastination

4) Promoting your business feels like a struggle — as if something is holding you back

Getting rid of blocks to success is easy when you use ThetaHealing®. This is a technique where you heal limiting beliefs and programs using your energy as well as the energy of the Universe. Some people call this higher energy Source Energy, God, Creator or All That Is. 

When you open yourself up to ThetaHealing, you open up a whole new world of possibilities. That’s because when you change the way you think and process life, you change the outcome.

With ThetaHealing®, you can quickly change destructive beliefs and programs and replace them with healthy, abundant ones. Theta Healing not only helps you heal on the core and genetic level, you also heal on the history level as well as the soul level. Because of healing on these four key levels, changes happen fast. I witness this miracle every time I have a ThetaHealing® session with someone.

What’s really exciting is that energy healing sessions are conducted over the phone so it doesn’t matter where you live. Most sessions last an hour at a time. How many sessions you need depend on how many layers of healing you need to uncover your blocks.

Healing your blocks to abundance is a gift to yourself that will permanently enhance your life and your business.

 Wendy Baldwin is a certified ThetaHealing®practitioner. She helps people in different parts of the world heal their lives. You can read more about Wendy and ThetaHealing at www.alignwithjoy.com.

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Posted in Business Research, business economics, health, lifestyle | 30 Comments »

Happy Holidays and Never Leave That Out…

Friday, January 7th, 2011

It has been a while since I have posted, so I guess my one New Year’s Resolution should be to blog more. 

And speaking of blogging or at least writing, are you still receiving belated holiday greetings from clients and family?  Probably most of the clients’ holiday greeting cards came before the holiday with maybe a few exceptions.  But the cards from family?  Are they still arriving?  They are at my house.

Without exception, most of these belated holiday cards from friends and family have a newsletter neatly folded and tucked inside.  You know the newsletter that will explain what the family has been doing all year.  From kid’s sporting events to family vacations to a lost rag doll at the airport, it’s all in the family newsletter. 

Since social media has become such a big part of my life, I no longer receive as many of these holiday end-of-year family newsletters.  In fact, in the past, I was always the designated (lost the arm wresting match) editor/newsletter publisher of the family newsletter.  I would make my very best attempt at informing friends and family, who I only heard from once a year, what my family had been doing for the entire year.  

If nothing else, there were two major things that I learned about publishing a family newsletter.  But these two major things were what I was already applying to newsletters that I was writing for clients.  Isn’t it amazing how sometimes the lessons from your business life can also be applied to your personal life?  And visa-versa.

Keep it brief.  It is better for your family newsletter to be brief and to the point than have the reader suffer through meandering prose.  Pick three significant events and keep it to five or less tight sentences on one page.  Remember the ABC’s (Accuracy, Brevity, and Clarity) of business writing also apply to other good writing – yes, the family holiday newsletter. 

Always have another family member read it for clarity before mailing it.  Accuracy?  Well, it is the family newsletter.  But you can always get feedback (probably more than you bargained for) from the family as to dates and times events happened. 

Keep it humorous.  If humor is not your thing, have another family member write it or write it as a group effort with younger children chiming in.  Art Linkletter built an entire show and career around kids saying the “darndest things.”

If you can remember to keep it brief and keep it humorous, I promise you that your family newsletter will be more welcome than the mail order fruitcake.  Well, it’s a start.

Lastly, enjoy writing it and let the words, passion, and holiday happiness flow.  Just remember to save it to your hard drive, so you’ll know where you left off for next year.  Or if you missed this year, you’ll definitely get it out in time for next year.

Happy Holidays!  And never leave that out of the family newsletter!

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Posted in Christianity, blogging, lifestyle | 18 Comments »

Help, Spring Fever!

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

I have Spring Fever.  Oh, no what can I do?  What do some of you do for Spring Fever when you need to be working?  Hmmm.  Think I’ll go for a walk.

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Posted in lifestyle, miscellaneous, virtual assistance | 2 Comments »

Happy Holidays from Gemstone Business Solutions

Friday, December 25th, 2009

Wishing you, your family, and your business a very happy holiday.

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Posted in Christianity, lifestyle, miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone of you. Enjoy and if you are traveling, be safe.
 

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Posted in lifestyle, miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

3 Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Someone once said, “A selective memory is the road to sanity for long-term parenting.”

While all of us who are parents can definitely relate to that this, I think that some of us entrepreneurs can also relate to this. In their book, Good Luck: Create the Conditions for Success in Life & Business, both Alex Rovira and Fernando Trias de Bes explain three characteristics which separate successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful entrepreneurs. For more information, the book is now on Amazon.

The three principles are:

1) Responsibility. Business owners who feel that they have had good luck also feel responsible for their own actions. When things go wrong or the outcome of any given situation is other than intended, they never blame others or the current circumstances. They look inwardly and ask, “What have I done for this to occur?” Then they act accordingly and solve the problem.

2) Learning from Mistakes. Creators of “good luck” don’t see a mistake as a failure. Instead, a mistake is an opportunity for learning. Thomas Edison is the classic example. More than 1,000 attempts to invent the first long-lasting electric light bulb led to bulbs that only stayed lit for a few minutes.

When asked if he felt like a failure, Edison answered, “Not at all. Now, I definitely know more than a thousand ways how NOT to make a light bulb.”

Sure enough, just a few days later, he turned his inspiration into a practical concept. Originally, the very first light bulb was invented by Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, who demonstrated the theoretical concept but gave up trying to develop a practical application after only three attempts. Instead, Edison made his own good luck by designing a working light bulb.

3. Perseverance. Creators of good luck never give up or postpone. When a problem or situation arises, they act immediately to solve it without delay. These business people don’t carry a list of “to-do list” in their brain. Instead, they resolve problems and situations as quickly as possible. This enables their energy to be fully focused on their work and avoid distractions, which only generate inefficiency.

Do you have selective memory when it comes to your entrepreneurial mistakes? Do you think that it just may be time to develop one?

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Posted in Business Research, business names, lifestyle | 3 Comments »

What is Your Motivational DNA?

Monday, August 10th, 2009

If you are having problems, getting motivated then maybe it’s how you are “wired” and need to be motivated. It goes without saying that different people are motivated by different things and need to see different results. In other words, there are no cookie-cutter solutions.

Like a fingerprint, everyone is unique in how they need to be motivated. In this case, DNA stands for Desires, Needs, and Achievements.

After listening to Tamara Lowe, author of Get Motivated on a Life Today program, I decided to visit her web site and take the Motivational DNA test. Tamara and her husband, Peter, conduct sold-out motivational seminars throughout the United States, which frequently have celebrity speakers.

Go ahead and do what I did and take the test:

http://www.getmotivatedbook.com/Test.aspx

If you would like to share, I would be interested in hearing everyone’s test results.

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Posted in Business Research, lifestyle | 2 Comments »

What Will Your Entrepreneurial Legacy Be?

Monday, June 29th, 2009

This past week was a sad week in the entertainment world. With the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and now Billy Mays, it almost had us ordinary folks wondering who would be next.

It’s been heartwarming and also interesting to listen to all of the tributes given to these celebrities. Each one of these celebrities has touched me in a very special way.

Without age dating myself too much, I will say that I grew up with Farrah Fawcett hairdos and watching Charlie’s Angels. I also remember being in junior high and singing and dancing along with Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 or “J5″ as we lovingly called them. By the time, I had grown up and moved out on my own, I was also enjoying Michael Jackson as a solo artist and dancer. Especially as a dancer!

I also secretly wondered if I would ever win the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes. Nope. I never did. The closest I ever got to Ed McMahon was watching The Johnny Carson Show.

Having worked in advertising, I do appreciate pitchman, Billy Mays. Yes, he was loud. But boy, could he sell. And for anyone who has had to sell for a living– it ain’t always easy.

The day before Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away, my husband and I went to the cemetery to pay our belated Father’s Day respects to my father-in-law and my two grandfathers. As we walked through Prospect Hill Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries still open in Virginia, I couldn’t help but notice the birth and death dates on so many of the tombstones.

I almost became poetic as I thought about the poem, “Elegy in a Country Church Yard” by Sir Thomas Gray. I always think about that one verse where kings and paupers will lay down side by side. Yes, death comes for us all. No matter how rich or poor. Famous or ordinary.

As I walked around, I did notice that several of the tombstones also had markers indicating the war in which some of the men had served. While I did count several WWI, WWII, and Korean war markers, I wondered what some of these heroes had faced in battle.

I also thought about some of the daily battles that all of us face. We face these battles in our families, in our health, in our finances, and within ourselves.

Without sounding religious, one of my favorite Bible verses has always been I Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

All of us leave behind so much more than just a tombstone with a date of birth and date of death. We leave behind families, dreams, careers, and some sort of legacy. No matter how great or small. We leave behind a legacy. Everyone matters.

As an entrepreneur, I often wonder what I will do “between the dash.” Between my date of birth and date of death, what will I accomplish? Will I do anything in the way of advocacy for the self-employed? Or will I write an e-book or a book to pave the way for other entrepreneurs? Only time will tell.

As we continue to remember and reflect on the lives and legacies of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays, what would you like your legacy to be? How about your entrepreneurial legacy?

 

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Posted in lifestyle, marketing | 6 Comments »

The Secret Shame of Going Broke

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

 

This post is from one of my favorite coaches. I had written something else for this post, but I’ve decided to use the other Lisa’s post. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 
People are more willing to talk about their sex lives than they are their financial status.
Think about it, who looks more embarrassed, the people on Jerry Springer’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” shows or the couples who have to open their bank books to Suze Orman on Oprah?
 
Personally, I’d rather have Oprah air the video footage of my last child being born than I would have Suze create pie charts of my finances.
 
Everybody wants to talk about how awful the economy is, but nobody wants to admit that they’re the ones having trouble. It’s OK to lament that your entire industry is in the toilet, but heaven forbid the neighbors find out that you’re two months behind on your car payments.
 
It’s as if all this bad stuff is happening, but somehow it’s not supposed to be happening to you.  I recently wrote a column about how to keep your money worries from dominating your life, and I was amazed at how many letters I got from down-on-their-luck real estate agents, mortgage brokers, car sales people and others. People who were struggling, yet who were embarrassed to admit it because of fear of looking like a failure.
 
Many felt that they had to keep up appearances if they were going to have any hope of attracting new business.  But here’s the deal. I know that nobody likes a whiner, but with the economy this bad, chances are you aren’t the only one on your block worried about making your mortgage.
 
For example, a friend of mine lives in an affluent neighborhood where executives, professional athletes and business owners used to pass the time at the golf course talking about their investment portfolios.
 
But lately fancy-dancy has become foreclosure city, as top dog after top dog lost their business or job and was unable to keep up the payments on the family McMansion.  But the worst part isn’t people losing their homes.
 
The worst part is that during the last year four men in her neighborhood have committed suicide because of business problems. I don’t know the particulars, but I suspect embarrassment and shame were probably part of what drove these men over the edge.
 
Statistics are one thing, but these are families who will never be the same again, and it breaks my heart.
 
These are tough times indeed, but perhaps this is an opportunity for us to consider our own true worth.
 
Despite what the consumer culture may tell you, you are not the sum of your bank balance. You are not merely an economic engine whose sole purpose is to make money.
 
You are not your job, your house or your car.
 
None of us are.
 
You are a real live human being, and you deserve to love and be loved, no matter what your financial circumstances.
 
The people around you may be just as panicked as you are, but if you look deeply, beyond their immediate fears, I think you’ll find that they care more about you than you know.
 
So let’s quit being embarrassed. We’re all in this together.
 
We’re going to come out of this thing and my prayer is that, when we do, we’ll all remember that some things are more important than money.
 
 
 
Lisa Earle McLeod is a syndicated columnist, author, keynote speaker and business consultant who specializes in helping individuals and organizations create happiness and success. Her latest book is Finding Grace When You Can’t Even Find Clean Underwear – For more info - www.ForgetPerfect.com

 

 

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Posted in Business Research, business economics, lifestyle | 4 Comments »

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