I love to network. I never used to because I never got results from it in the past.  I didn’t even like talking to people.  Now that I have a business networking is imperative and I have come to understand it’s purpose.

Think about it, any time you purchase a service or a product, why do you choose to purchase it from any particular business?  Chances are it’s because you’ve come to trust that establishment or someone you trust has recommended it.  If your experience with a particular product or service doesn’t meet your expectations, chances are you will not buy from there again.  And you will also likely tell others not to buy from there either.  After all, you want to help those you have trustworthy relationships to avoid a costy and disappointing mistake. 

Now if you have a business and you’re the one who’s selling a product or service, why would customers buy from you? You have to establish that trustworthy relationship first.  Networking helps you to do this.  You get to know people and what they’re about and what they need.  This takes time.  The reason why some people thing networking doesn’t work is because they expect to get business after their first encounter.  Trust, like respect, has to be earned and this takes time.

Believe in your product or service, add value to others’ lives and businesses, and focus on building those strong, trustworthy relationships.  Your business will benefit only after others have benefitted.

I can’t give you a surefire formula for success, but i can give you a formula for faliure: Try to please everybody all the time.

~Herbert Bayard Swope

I finally watched the movie The Bucket List. Have you seen it? It not, I highly recommend that you watch it.  It has some very profound lessons and some hilarious moments.   The scene that stood out most for me was where Carter and Edward are sitting and looking at the pyramids and discussing the two questions that Egyptians believed they would be asked at the entrance to their proverbial pearly gates:

Did you find joy in your life?

Did your life bring joy to others?

These two questions are very applicable to all areas of life, and not just in a spiritual way.  How would you answer them?

Your work is a big part of your life, isn’t it?  As a business owner and entrepreneur, you have chosen to do what you do for many reasons.  It could be because you feel you need to give back to others, or you have a talent to share with others, or you want to leave this world a better place, or you make a lot of money.  Only you know the reasons for why you’re in the business that you’re in.  And only you know if you’re truly doing what you’re meant to be doing.  

When you live and work according to your purpose you automatically enrich the lives of others because only you have the special solutions to their problems.  Once you realize the potential of the gifts that you have, you also realize that it’s your duty to share them – because there are people looking for exactly what you have to offer.   There are people who need you and who’s lives will change because of you.

 Have you asked yourself recently, “does what I do bring me joy?”  and “does what I do bring others joy?”

If you can honestly answer yes to both questions then you know you’re on the right path.  You know you’re fulfilling your life’s purpose.  If you can’t answer yes to one or both of these questions, then what’s missing for you?  What would it take for you to answer yes?  As Carter discovered in the movie, life passes in a flash and it’s important to live it.  Dr Wayne Dyer says, “Don’t die with your music still in you.”  If you feel at any level that you’re not doing what you’re truly meant to be doing and you know that you’re the one who’s standing in the way of your own joy, then do what it takes to get out of your own way!

There are so many tools to help yourself release past baggage, communicate more effectively, and to feel joy!  Here’s another question for you, how much life do you have to spend to recognize that your business isn’t getting you the results you want?  There is always room for improvement, do whatever it takes to reach your highest potential.  When would now be a good time to start?

Have the courage to follow your hear and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary.   ~ Steve Jobs

Energy flows where attention goes – this is somthing that I heard my NLP teacher say once.  He is also a HUNA teacher and works with energy.  He’s a very wise person and so I chose to pay particular attention to this concept recently.

I’ve been focusing on increasing the level of energy in all areas of my life: health, family, and of course, business.  And it’s been working!  Now that I have my NLP instructor certification I have been asked left, right and centre to set up trainings and give talks.  I love it!  It’s good to know that all my work is now paying off.

I’ve been clearing out mental and physical energy in myself and my home.  I smudged my office and will also do this to the rest of my house.  I’m passing on the old to make room for the new.  And with it the new is flowing in freely!

I really recommend taking the time to do this type of energetic clearing to everone.  Especially to business owners who are wanting to play a bigger game.  If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten said Einstein.  Another wise teacher.  Since money and the services we provide are energy, it makes sense to do whatever it takes to bring in more of it.

Training Your Core

Recently I wrote an article for my Warrior Fitness Training newsletter about “Training the Core -Vector Style”.  Don’t worry; I’m not going to get into the aspects of physical fitness here.  But I did notice something when I was writing this article.

There were a couple of paragraphs that could be applied to personal development and personal empowerment.

Just to give a brief background on the what the core is, from a physiological perspective – “The core is a section of the body roughly defined as the area from the armpits to the knees, and more specifically, as the 29 pairs of muscles that support the lumbo pelvic-hip complex that stabilize the spine, pelvis, and kinetic chain during functional movements.”

OK…that’s it for the anatomy lesson.  Well except one other part… “most movements occur through the core, after beginning somewhere else.”

Let’s think about this from personal empowerment perspective.  What is you ‘core’?  I might offer that your core is your values.  That part of you that give’s you direction in life.  That gut feeling when something is right and something is wrong.

 But in today’s frantic pace many of us have lost track of our core and have let it get weak.  Let’s take a look at another expert from my article about the physical core.  

“If the core lacks strength with balance and stability then energy leakage can occur upon force production or force absorption and the power generated by the limbs and transferred through the core can be lost, resulting in less power generated for a technique or a compromised ability of the body to absorb force properly. During force reduction, the pattern of force reduction compensation can lead to injury due to core weakness and imbalances.”

You probably found this very interesting didn’t you?

Let’s take a closer look…”If the core lacks strength and stability then energy leakage can occur…”  WOW!

Let’s apply this to our values based core.  If we don’t live in alignment with our core values then we can get distracted with other things…this is also energy leakage!  Then we can’t generate any power! 

Can you see how this might be showing up in your life?

By studying the physical core we can learn about our values core.  One word comes to mind when I think about both cores…integrity.  According to dictionary.com one definition of integrity is “a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.” This can be easily applied to our physical core. 

Another definition is “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.”  This could be easily applied to our values core.

So, when our core is in integrity we’ll have no leakage and be in perfect condition.

The question is then…how to do you train your “core.”

Since there are so many similarities between our physical core and “invisible” core, let’s look at how one would train the physical.  Again from my article:

“If the core can be trained in these various angles, with a variety of implements, then it will be better prepared to withstand, as well as transfer, the forces needed in preparation, operations and deployment.”

Hum????

So how does this pertain to our values core?   The same way a person trains and develops mental strength….go out look for opportunities of challenges themselves.

This means intentionally exposing oneself to circumstances that will confront your values.  This might be keeping a commitment to friend to meet for lunch instead of canceling because you’re too busy (if friendship is a core value). It could mean telling someone you disagree with them instead of remaining silent.  

Take a look at your top 3 core values and think about the last time you “exercised” them?  I mean really put then to the test. By putting ourselves in a variety of circumstance (training from various angles) we can train our core to become stronger.  We’ll then have no energy leaks.

When we have no energy leaks we will have more energy to accomplish what we want and achieve personal success and peak performance.

If we don’t train our core will be susceptible to injury i.e. disappointment, fear, etc and personal failure.

The choice is yours….train your core or allow it be weakened.  I hope you’ll choose wisely.

All successful businesses have 3 pillars that are at the foundation.  These are compelling marketing, a good plan, and the business owner has a congruent mindset.  This means that they believe that they believe in themselves and in their business.

Having these three things in your business foundation will supercharge your success.

You may be wondering, how do I know if all three of these pillars are strong in my business…I think they are.  One way to tell is what results are you getting?

Do you have an awesome product or service that will help solve problems for people?  Great!  Do people know about it?  One way to tell if your marketing is not working is that you’re not attracting enough clients.

Do you know where you want your business to be in 6 months? 1 year? 3 or 5 or 10 years?  If not, this is an indication that your planning may not be as good as it could be.

When you work in and on your business, do you have any fears, doubts, limiting beliefs or other incongruencies come up?  Do you sometimes procrastinate? Do you feel like your business is more of an expensive hobby and you’re trading too many hours for not enough dollars?  These are all indications that your mindset is not 100% aligned and you don’t fully believe in yourself and your ability to succeed.  Even one limiting belief can impact your results in a big way because you communicate that in every interaction.  Only 7% of all communication is verbal, this means all the rest is body language and voice tone.  You may not be aware of it, but the way you speak, what you say, and even how you stand and hold yourself when speaking about your business sends ll sorts of messages.  And unless your physiology, your beliefs, and your verbal communication all say the same thing, you are not congruent.  Success will still come, but it will likely take a lot longer and it won’t be as gratifying.

When your mindset is aligned with your purpose you feel differently and you speak differently.  You hold your body differently and people can feel your total confidence.

Take a look at your business results and decide where you can improve.  The most successful people have commonalities in their thinking and in how they run their businesses, and their 3 foundation pillars are 100% solid and strong.  What does your success mean to you?

When you speak to yourself in a kind way the world smiles

When you speak to others in a kind way, they smile back

Every day we are faced with choices and challenged to take action or to stay where we are.  To get what we want we have to go after it with passion.  The universe responds to our desires and requests always.  It’s a matter of seeing, feeling, and receiving those opportunities. 

What do you choose today?

I’m having a super amazing time at this training!  It’s transformational, as Dr Matt James’s trainings always are.  I’m learning so much and shifting to new possibilities. 

I’ve also made some great friendships here.  The type of people who attend these trainings are very high level energy and they are motivated to invest in themselves and also in others.  They genuinely love to help and make a difference and that’s so inspiring to me.  No one here sits around and complains about the price of gas.  Being here with these fellow trainers has brought up my energy. 

I’ve had lots of my own limitations and beliefs come up and I’ve let them go and broken through lots of boundaries.  This is what I love to do…have breakthroughs and help others have breakthroughs.  I am definitely on the right track and I am so looking forward to teaching NLP!