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The Essential Daily 3’s for Your Business

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My yoga teacher often talks about the Essential Daily 5 yoga postures to keep your body balanced, aligned and thriving in everyday life.

So one recent day in yoga class I got inspired to create the Essential Daily 3 for creating a business that is balanced with the other important parts of your life, aligned with what brings you joy, AND thriving financially.

Essentially, it boils down to taking 3 daily actions in the areas of money, marketing and mindset to grow your business, your bank account, and the big impact you’re here to make.

Of course, there’s a lot more than these actions that goes into building a profitable business you love.

But when you consistently prioritize these 3 things, your success will skyrocket, your dreams will come true, the magic will unfold.

Essential Daily #1: Marketing

Action: Book a minimum of 30 minutes each day in your calendar for marketing outreach and then spend that time reaching out and connecting with potential clients.

Remember the ABC’s of marketing? ABC stands for Always Be Connecting! Use this 30-minute block of time to make calls, send emails and follow up with hot leads, prospective clients and referral partners, or to book yourself to speak in front of groups that are your ideal audience.

Bonus Tip: How to stay focused on your outreach and stop distractions in their tracks? Before you start your calls, set the timer on your phone to 30 minutes. This simple strategy works brilliantly!

Essential Daily #2: Money

 Action: Track your numbers every single day to the penny.

Most of us want to create a more harmonious and abundant relationship with money, and I’ve found this practice is a simple way to keep you mindful and on top of what’s coming in and what’s going out (revenues and expenses).

The practice of numbers tracking keeps you consciously engaged in a daily relationship with money, empowering you to make new decisions and take new actions that will certainly take your business to the next level.

Essential Daily #3: Mindset

Action: Spend a minimum of 30 minutes everyday engaging in a practice that cultivates a calm mind, uplifts you and raises your vibration.

Pick the practice(s) that you LOVE to do—whether it’s gardening, walking in nature, meditation, journaling, yoga, reading inspirational material, mindful movement or other activities that strengthen your inner wellbeing and inspire joy in your day.

What’s key here is that you practice it consistently.

One of my favorite practices is celebrating.

So I take time almost every day to celebrate and appreciate the big AND the little wins in my business and life. Even on crappy days when nothing seems to go my way, I force myself to find at least 5 things to celebrate in the day, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.

Bonus Tip: Set a recurring calendar reminder at the end of your day and take 10 minutes to write down 5 things you are celebrating and appreciating. This super simple practice has a big pay off: Tracking and acknowledging your successes each day breeds more success!

5 Habits of Ambitious Heart-Centered Entrepreneurs

Do You Embrace Ambition? 5 Habits of Ambitious Heart-Centered Entrepreneurs

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“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
– Nelson Mandela

For many spiritual, heart-centered entrepreneurs—especially women—I’ve noticed a tendency to shy away from ambition.

There’s a very real fear we have seemed to inherit that stops many of us from standing fully in our power, speaking up and out, and claiming our right to abundance and wealth.

This fear stems from any number of factors: cultural conditioning; things we were told growing up such as “children should be seen and not heard;” modeling what our moms did or didn’t do; and/or perhaps even having a past life or an energetic/DNA imprint from a time in history when women were literally burned at the stake for speaking up.

The fear of ambition may show up for you when you say things like:

I want success, but I don’t want to have to work so hard or work a ton of hours to achieve it.

It’s not about the money for me; I just want to help as many people as I can.

I’m truly happy with my life the way it is… Even though I’m not making the money I want to be making, it’s decent enough.

First off, to truly embrace your ambition, you’ll want to define what ambition means to you.

Is it having a 6-figure business doing work you love in a way that supports your preferred lifestyle?

As an aside, I hear SO MANY women solopreneurs say this is what they want. Yet they don’t take the actions (such as investing in themselves) or use their mind in the most productive way to get this desired result. (I’m here to change that, but that’s for another article in the works for you!)

Remember, you get to define what ambition means for you, and it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. And your definition will probably look much different now than when you were in your 20s.

Ready to embrace your ambition? Here are 5 habits to cultivate as an ambitious and driven heart-centered entrepreneur:


1) Stand out. Be willing to be fabulous and unique YOU.

There’s truly a unique part of you that many women business owners mistakenly believe they have to hold back.

You may be plagued by self-doubt or lack the confidence to really own your value, resulting in you significantly undervaluing what you do and charging far less than what you are worth.

The truth is… you have a gift, a unique viewpoint and a stand in the world to take.

AND it often stems from a childhood wound or something you’ve really struggled with in the past, have overcome, and now you want to be sure no one else has to struggle with it like you did. Be willing to come out with it and capitalize on that part of you!

One of my clients Miriam realized she had been holding back and undervaluing her talents and not appreciating her accomplishments as a designer and businesswoman. As her brand mentor and business coach, I helped Miriam to define her business’ brand essence, which included her owning her value and discovering the courage, clarity and conviction to confidently move forward with the launch of her women’s clothing line on her own terms.


2) Show up. Take daily consistent action to get the results you’re wanting—whether you feel like it or not.

Ambitious heart-centered entrepreneurs show up. Every frickin’ day whether they feel like it or not. 

It’s not about working harder or working longer hours. But it is about being really clear on your goal, taking daily consistent action, staying laser-like focused and minimizing distractions.

The old saying “Little hinges swing big doors” could not be more true.

And when you learn to take daily consistent action—not just every so often or once a week, but DAILY—in your marketing outreach, money tracking and personal renewal time, you’ll actually increase your fun and profits!


3) Act as if. Make decisions from where you want to be not from where you are.

Here’s a quick exercise for you.

Step 1: Think of a decision you need to make in your business. It could be as simple as: do I order new business cards now or wait until the New Year?

Step 2: Next, write down the most amount of money you’ve ever made in a year.

Got it?

Step 3: Now, add a zero to it.

Whoa! That’s a very different number, isn’t it?

Step 4: Now ask yourself: As someone who makes THIS amount of money, what decision would I make in this situation? As someone who makes this amount of money, what’s the next action step to take?


4) Know your edges.

The famous Kenny Rogers refrain from “The Gambler” comes to mind: You got to know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold ‘em. Know when to walk away. And know when to run.

I’m not talking about cards or gambling in this case. I’m talking about knowing your edges and knowing when to hold ‘em, fold ‘em or walk the hell away.

In essence, it’s about you discerning what your edges are, your willingness to go to those edges. I’m not talking about jumping without a safety net. It’s also about knowing when to pause, stop and take a breath, or take a break. Or stop and rest.

Ask yourself honestly, am I going to the edge of the light I can see? Or am I holding back because it feels scary as heck and my insides are crazy?


5) Completely replace complaining, criticizing and comparing with…

Celebrating, Connecting and Collaborating.

Enough said! 😉

3 Ways to Relax on the Money Rollercoaster Ride

3 Ways to Relax (and Enjoy!) the Money Rollercoaster Ride as a Conscious Entrepreneur

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There’s a saying that “how you do money is how you do everything.”

And what stops most women from getting their gifts out into the world isn’t their passion, drive or commitment. It’s their relationship with money.

Why is that?

Because money is at the heart of every decision you make — in your life, your business or your career.

However, for most women, money is a source of fear, confusion and self-sabotage.

And it can often feel like one big fat rollercoaster ride!

But money doesn’t have to be a struggle.

In fact, money can be your most powerful ally, especially when you learn to take practical, mindful actions with money everyday while staying relaxed and present with your experience.

Here are three of my top recommendations to help you “power up” your relationship with money:

1) Set a Bold Money Goal every 60 days and be clear why this amount of money is important to you.

Are you someone who only has a vague notion of your money goal for the year and the next 60 days? Or is it a figure you keep only in your head?

Having a clear dollar figure as your goal that you write down on paper and look at everyday is my top recommendation for relaxing and enjoying the money rollercoaster ride.

Why is this important? Two main reasons: it activates your brain into asking, “So if this is my goal, what steps can I take today to reach it? Who can I call and email?”

It also sends a clear message to the Universe, which then begins to conspire on your behalf to bring you what you clearly ask for.

Then, write down your “why.” Why is this amount of money important to you? What will you do with it?

When you bridge your money goal (your “what”) with the meaning behind it (your “why”), that’s where the magic can happen.

2) Track your income every single day to the penny.

Money loves attention! I’ve personally experienced that when I pay attention to where my money goes, money flows and GROWS.

Start by tracking your income every single day to the penny. I give all my clients “money tracking sheets” to put on their desks or post in a visible place.

Money tracking is an amazing practice that keeps you mindful of your money—and empowered to take the necessary action steps to increase what’s coming in and be conscious of what’s going out.

For many women, it can become all too easy to ignore your finances, or to go to the other extreme and be obsessive-compulsive about your numbers.

Tip: Set a recurring appointment time on your calendar at the end of your workday to track ALL sources of income that have come in that day.

This time is also the perfect opportunity to express appreciation for the money that comes in, and the value and meaning that expression has for you!

3) Start to notice your thoughts about money — and how you feel when you think those thoughts.

One of my favorite sentences in The Science of Getting Rich, written by Wallace Wattles in 1910, is this:

“The thoughts you think about money and how you feel when you think those thoughts directly relate to the flow of money in your life.”

So when you have automatic or reactive thoughts like “I can’t afford it” or “it’s too expensive” or you notice that tight feeling in your belly when you really want to buy something that seems out of your price range, become aware of that sensation in your body and the thoughts you are having.

Stop. Pause. Take a deep breath, and notice what’s there. Get curious.

When you can begin to notice what you’re noticing, that’s the first step in shifting from a reactive pattern around money to consciously responding to the “money moment” at hand.

This is good time to journal what you’re noticing and talk to a trusted friend, coach or mentor, as a way to begin reclaiming your power from the money trigger.

You’ll find that as you “gather yourself” and take back your power, you’re in a much better place to mindfully take the next step around money and begin to claim your financial freedom — in your business and life!

 

How to Get Started with Speaking to Grow Your Email List and Attract Wonderful New Clients for You

How to Get Started with Speaking to Grow Your Email List and Attract Wonderful New Clients for You

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So you’ve heard speaking is a great way to build your business and attract new clients. But how do you even get started?

I know from personal experience how daunting it can be to hear “just get out there and speak” when you’re not even clear where to begin. So in this article I share with you my best tips for taking those critical first steps.

First of all, why even speak?

Simple answer: Because you’re seen as an EXPERT when you speak, and it’s the easiest way to demonstrate the value you can add to someone’s life.

(I remember the first time I was a roundtable presenter at a women’s conference and how I walked away from that event feeling like an expert. It was the perfect confidence-builder in those early days of getting started.)

So here are some simple steps for you:

1) Choose your hot topic.

The first step to launch yourself into speaking is to come up with a “hot topic” that gets the attention of your ideal clients. Ideally, it’s a problem that your clients regularly struggle with and that your services help them solve.

Brainstorm possible topics by asking yourself these questions:

– What is it my clients don’t know how to do?
– Where do my clients get stuck?
– What disempowers them?
– Which specific situations cause them the biggest problem?

2) Create a clear, captivating title for your talk.

Don’t try and be clever or cutesy with your title. You want to use clear language with lots of BENEFIT words and phrases.

For example, if you’re a relationship coach or therapist, your title might be “How to Put the Romance Back in Your Marriage.”

Or if you’re a health & wellness expert targeting women over 50, a possible talk title could be “5 Ways to Balance Your Hormones Naturally So You Can Sleep Soundly Each Night.”

Here are a few easy formulas you can use to create your captivating title:

“How to ______________ so you can ________________”
“How to ______________ in # Simple Steps”
“# Secrets/Keys/Steps/Strategies to_________________”

3) Make a list of ALL the possible places you could speak.

The key when you’re just getting started is to draw upon audience members that are already in existence, so you don’t have to do all the work to rent a space and promote the event.

Start by brainstorming and create a list of groups, organizations and businesses that your ideal clients are already part of.

For example, if you work primarily with women entrepreneurs such as I do, you’ll want to list out places where these types of women gather. Do an online search for “women’s networking.” Check out local Meetups, civic organizations and entrepreneurial groups.

Play the “who do I know” game and get creative here! In addition to speaking in more traditional settings, I’ve spoken at a chiropractor’s office, a women’s workout studio, and even a hair salon once!

Bonus Tip: Let your friends and colleagues know you are looking for places to speak, and ask for referrals.

4) Smile and dial!

Now that you have your list, prioritize the top 5 places where you’d like to speak and start calling them. Do a little research on the group before you call, so you’re prepared with how your talk would fit in with the group’s goals and mission.

Much of the time you’ll be leaving a voicemail, so leave a brief, friendly message and then a critical step is to follow up with an email.

Here’s a simple script you can use when you get someone live (you can modify it when leaving a message):

Hi, this is [Your Name]. I’m a [your title], and I’d love to chat with you about the possibility of speaking for your [group, organization]. I offer a phenomenal presentation on [your hot topic] where I help participants [briefly state 2-3 benefits of your talk]. How does that sound?

The most important step here is to make the call!

Invaluable Bonus Tip: Get regular speaking practice by joining Toastmasters or a weekly networking group such as BNI or Team Referral.

Add your comments or questions below about how to use speaking to grow your business. And send me an email to let me know how it goes for you.

Enjoy speaking your way to getting wonderful new clients now!

These 3 daily actions can make or break your business (and your dreams)

These 3 daily actions can make or break your biz (and your dreams)

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There’s a saying I love by W. Clement Stone: “Big doors swing on little hinges.”

When you apply this to your business, it’s the little, yet consistent actions and habits that swing open wide the doors of income and opportunity for you.

In Sanskrit, the word for “habit” is called samskara. (Thanks to my yoga teacher who shared this with me the other day.) When we cultivate a new positive habit or samskara, our lives truly do transform before our eyes.

So here are the 3 daily actions in the areas of money, marketing and mindset to grow your business, your bank account, and your impact on your clients and community.

These are my personal practices, so I wouldn’t highly recommend them if I haven’t already given them a test run and KNOW they work.

Focus on these three areas each and every workday, and I guarantee you will skyrocket your success:

1) Money: Track your numbers every single day to the penny.

Tracking the inflow and outflow of your money is an amazing practice that keeps you mindful of your money—and empowered to take the necessary action steps to increase what’s coming in and be conscious of what’s going out.

For many women, it can become all too easy to ignore our finances, or to go to the other extreme and be obsessive-compulsive about our numbers.

Action: Set a recurring appointment time on your calendar each day when you write down or use a spreadsheet to track everything that has come in that day and everything that has gone out. (I do my tracking everyday at 2:30pm.)

This time is also the perfect opportunity to express appreciation—another powerful daily practice—for the inflow and outflow of money, and the value and meaning that expression has for you!

Bonus Tip: Set a weekly money date for bill paying, and schedule it as a recurring appointment on your calendar. I have my weekly “money date” on Friday mornings.

2) Marketing: Spend a minimum of 30 minutes each and every day making outreach calls to potential clients.

This one simple action has made a HUGE difference in the growth of my business. Use this 30-minute block of time to make calls, send emails and follow up with former, current and prospective clients for setting appointments and booking NEW business, or taking steps toward your big dreams.

Bonus Tip: Use a timer or hourglass to keep you focused on the project at hand and minimize distractions that are rife for many entrepreneurs who work from home. Set a timer for 30 or 60 minutes when you’re doing some critical (yet easy-to-avoid) business-building activity such as outreach phone calls, updating your website or writing a blog post.

3) Mindset: Set aside time daily (30 minutes at minimum, 1 hour is best) for spiritual nourishment and renewal.

This is perhaps the most important action of them all, as it promotes a calm mind and a feeling of being centered and grounded throughout your day–something you definitely want to feel when you’re marketing your business or tracking your money!

This time can include a combination of personal introspection, quiet time, yoga, meditation, journaling, a contemplative walk in nature, gardening, mindful movement, reading or listening to inspirational material, or other activities that strengthen your inner wellbeing and help you feel peaceful.

I’m a morning person so I like to get up before my family does to have a dedicated hour-plus time for meditation, visioning, journaling and reading from a book that contributes to my spiritual and personal growth. I also read my 3-Year Life Vision Plan each morning while making coffee and doing standing stretches in the kitchen.

Bonus Tip: Choose the 1-3 nourishing activities that truly feed YOU (not the ones that others are doing or the ones you think you SHOULD do) and then stick with it. Again, the key is consistency. Put it in your calendar and just do it. No excuses. 🙂

Be patient with yourself as you’re installing these new healthy habits or samskaras into your life. Don’t give up—and, eventually, they will become part of your normal routine.

Plus, you’ll feel great knowing that you are not only doing something that takes care of yourself, but also benefits your family, your friends, your clients, your community, and your bank account!

Leave a comment below and let me know how these tips have helped you!

3 Ways to Identify Your Unique Brilliance—and What Makes YOU Stand Out as an Expert in Your Field

3 Ways to Identify Your Unique Brilliance—and What Makes YOU Stand Out as an Expert in Your Field

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You are brilliant. Absolutely, positively and fabulously brilliant!But if you’re like me, you’ve struggled to identify that special “thing” that makes you really SHINE and lights you up no matter what you’re doing or who you’re with.

And when we don’t know what IT is, we tend to doubt ourselves, wonder if we’re “good enough” or if we “have what it takes” or even hold back from sharing our gifts and putting ourselves out there. Which, frankly, can be painful and a huge disservice to others—not to mention, ourselves!

Discovering your unique brilliance is the first step in creating an abundant business and life that you truly LOVE.

You may wonder, “Who am I to be brilliant?”

And as Marianne Williamson so famously says, “Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.”

So getting in touch with YOUR unique brilliance, that has been with you since you were born, is key to sharing your gifts and serving the people you are meant to serve—from your clients or customers to those in your close circle and extended community.

Here are 3 ways to identify your unique brilliance:

Think about what you LOVED to do as a child.

Was it performing, being on stage, reading, writing, singing, dancing, sports, playing with animals, being alone in nature?

Write down at least 5 different things that really lit you up when you were a kid—which, for most of us, is a time in our lives when we were the most free and uninhibited.

Now, write down the words and/or qualities that describe that. (Hint: Think about what you loved to do as a kid meant for you.)

For example, one of my clients loved to read and invent imaginative stories as a young child, and for her that meant the freedom to create, unlimited possibilities, as well as inner pride and accomplishment.

As a child, I Ioved singing, dancing and performing in front of an audience, and for me that meant expressing myself creatively, delighting others, and shining my joyful essence. (It’s no accident that my company name is called SHINE, and my unique business brand is a way for me to authentically stand out from other coaches and consultants.)

So what are the words that described what you LOVED as a kid?

Now, think of 3 times in your life when you were absolutely, positively at your best, and write those down.

Look at the common qualities that are in each of these situations, and you’ll start to clue in to the aspect that makes you really stand out as an expert in your field.Remember, your Unique Brilliance is about YOU and not other people. It’s something that’s true for you no matter WHAT you’re doing or WHO you are with.

Once you’re clear on your Unique Brilliance, the more powerful, focused and aligned you become in your business, finances and relationships. The feeling of using your Unique Brilliance is so powerful and motivating that you’ll find you can begin to let go of anything that is NOT it.

And over time, you’ll find that when tasks and activities try to creep in that are outside of your Unique Brilliance, you quickly learn to ditch, delegate or redesign them—so that you are living primarily in your most brilliant zone!

P.S. As always, I want to hear from you! Post a comment below and let me know your thoughts on these 3 tips to identifying YOUR Unique Brilliance.

5 Tips to Make Each Day Positive, Productive—and Profitable

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One of the best tools I know of to keep me on track, disciplined and focused is… my calendar.

“Calendarizing” just about everything related to my business—even personal stuff like exercise, meditation, date nights and social time—may sound constricting or rigid.

But, in fact, it’s just the opposite… it’s liberating!

Having appointments, work projects AND personal commitments to myself on my calendar give structure to my day (something I need as an entrepreneur who works from home) and helps me grow my business AND enjoy a balanced life with ease and grace.

If you struggle with overwhelm, lack of focus, prioritizing or just getting the important things done in your biz and life, here are five tips to help you:

1) First off, make friends with your calendar.

Express your “calendar-love” daily by investing at least 10-15 minutes of your time planning, keeping it organized and clutter-free and working for you, not against you.

Google or other online calendars make this sooooo easy. I love being able to easily set “repeat” events like I do for meditation, exercise, marketing outreach and tracking my numbers each day, plus other great features that pencil & paper calendars don’t have. Plus, I sync it with my iPhone, so I always have my calendar with me and can set appointments or schedule things on the go.

Here’s an empowering calendar mindset for you:

My calendar is my friend. It’s here to support me in positive, productive AND profitable ways each day.

2) Make sure everything that’s on your calendar is what you WANT to be there.

Is it packed to the gills with appointments and your long to-do list? Then, look at where you need to build in more buffer or integration time between projects and appointments, as well what things you can cross off your list.

Yes, part of growing a business and building your dreams is discerning what needs to be let go of–or delegated!

Or if there’s too many blank spaces and “unaccounted for” time on your calendar, then you’ll want to start scheduling in those things that are most important to you—such as marketing your business, networking, family and relationship time, and, yes, self-care.

Essentially, you want to ensure that your calendar serves you and not you being a slave to it.

3) Schedule a minimum of 30 minutes of personal one-on-one marketing outreach or dreambuilding time every single workday on your calendar—first thing in the morning is best. Just get it done!

This one simple action has made a HUGE difference in the growth of my business. There’s the old saying, “Little hinges swing big doors.” And when you stay in action consistently each and every day with building your business and creating your dreams, the doors of income and opportunity will swing open wide for you.

Use this 30-minute block of time to make calls, send emails and follow up with former, current and prospective clients for setting appointments and booking NEW business, or taking steps toward your big dreams.

4) Use a timer or hourglass to keep you focused on the project at hand.

This is one of my absolutely favorite tips. Many entrepreneurs like me work from home—and there’s soooo many distractions that can call to us: The laundry! The dishes! Email! Facebook! The online shopping that needs to get done! The list can go on.

So we need support, yes?

To help you stay on track and minimize those pesky distractions, set a timer for 30 or 60 minutes when you’re doing some critical (yet easy-to-avoid) business-building activity such as outreach phone calls, updating your website or writing a blog post.

Use that timer as your little sidekick buddy and as a signal to the Universe that you’re serious about focusing and getting a particular task DONE. And when your mind starts to wander and think about doing other things like checking email or Facebook, you can just take a look at your timer and hear it’s friendly reminder saying, “Not yet, sweetie…”

Then, when your 30 or 60 minutes are up, consciously choose whether you want to keep going or conclude your focused time for the day. (Set a new timer for the desired amount if you’re continuing.)

You can even use a timer for 10- or 15-minute time blocks, too, like I’m doing now to help me finish this article. 🙂

5) Don’t forget to schedule in “YOU” time for spiritual renewal, rest and fun.

Too many entrepreneurs (especially moms with kids and most Type A personalities) can neglect themselves or forget to schedule in downtime when running their own business. But the truth is, when our well is dry and depleted we have nothing to give to others anyway. So it’s critical to schedule in time for rest, renewal, fun and self-care.

When I first started my business and left my full-time job, I couldn’t wait to start taking my favorite yoga class with my favorite teacher on Tuesdays at 9:15 a.m. For the first 6 months or so, though, for the life of me, I couldn’t get myself to go to that yoga class! I tried once or twice, but would end up feeling guilty for going to yoga during “work hours.” (Obviously, the 9-5 grind was so engrained in me.)

I didn’t give up, though. I faithfully kept that yoga class on my calendar, started showing up (guilty feelings and all) and eventually it became a habit—and one that I look forward to every week now.

So just because you set an intention to meditate everyday, for example, and then you take the step of putting it on your calendar to remind you, but end up not doing it… don’t give up! Be patient with yourself—and, eventually, the healthy habit will become part of your normal routine. AND you’ll feel great knowing that you are not only doing something that takes care of yourself, but also benefits your family, your friends, your clients,  your community, and your bank account.

P.S. As always, I want to hear from you! Post a comment below and let me know your thoughts on these 5 tips for making each day positive, productive—and profitable.