I remember the day I experienced a very interesting shift in my business.  It happened as I was getting ready for a trade show.  I finally understood and believed in something that I had known for a long time.  And I decided to do something with that knowledge.

I had everything set up to attract huge successes at the show: my booth, my information, my forms, etc.  What I noticed was that I wasn’t on board.  My own attitude was all wrong.  Past experiences of failure (that f-word we all want to avoid), struggling to build my business, and not believing in my own ability kept me stuck in this mindset.  Now I found myself at a fork in the road.  I could either A: remain complacent and wishy-washy about the show and just go and hope to meet some people.  Or B: I could clean up my own attitude, commit my goals to paper, visualize my success, ensure my energy was high, and succeed!

It was completely my choice at this point because I had the knowledge, the information, and all those other things that make up a good trade show booth.  In fact, I realized, I had all the makings of a successful business, I just wasn’t allowing myself to be successful inside.

I chose path B.  I was 100% on board at every level and the trade show was a HUGE success for me. I met amazing people, made great contacts, and really moved my business forward.  AND I learned a valuable lesson: that attitude and beliefs mean the difference between success and the “f” word.

It is entirely up to you to succeed or fail.  That’s the case in business and in life and we all have that choice to make.  You can learn and think about things and feel like we’re not ready to play it big when in reality, you do know enough.  All it takes is just the decision to play big and the tools to let the limiting beliefs go.  I use all my knowledge every day to release my own stuff as it comes up so that I can nurture and live with an attitude and with beliefs that support me.  To me this means I am taking 100% responsibility for my own success and my own business. 

Sure, it’s easier to blame it on the economy, on the government, on neighbours, demanding family schedules, and all sorts of other things.  There are lots of people out there who have these same circumstances and yet they succeed at very high levels.  They don’t use excuses and they implement what they know.  AND they ask for help when they need it.

I hope that all of you experience this shift in your businesses and your lives so that you’re ready to implement the knowledge instead of just know it.  There are awesome tools like NLP and hypnosis that help release negative emotions and limiting beliefs and help you get laser focused.  All it takes is personal responsibility and the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed.

Negative Emotions are a part of life and we experience them whether we like it or not. They are valuable tools as long as we know how to decipher the clues they give. It’s easy to learn how to tune into what your negative emotions are telling you.

When we experience a negative emotion this means there is something going on in our lives that is calling our attention. This can be easy to figure out if for example, you’re angry about an argument or sad about a loss. If you are experiencing negative emotions in your family or your career, then this is a clue for you to look at what’s going on inside you with respect to those areas of your life.

The best way to begin is to understand where emotions come from. Emotions are triggered by the thoughts we think and our thoughts come from our beliefs. Our thoughts also lead to the actions we take which then lead to the results we get.

If you’re experiencing frustration or another negative emotion it means your actions are not gaining you the results you want. Perhaps you feel that you’re working really hard and yet things aren’t working for you. Or you feel like you’re driving with the parking brake on no matter what you do. The reason for this is that you have limiting belief(s) in your unconscious mind and they are causing you to feel inadequate, unsuccessful, and all those other things you’re feeling.

In order to stop this cycle it’s important to go to the source – to your beliefs and what you tell yourself over and over. You can just ignore these beliefs and just keep on taking different actions, however, because beliefs are so deeply ingrained in the unconscious, they will surface again and again. Unless they are rewritten or resolved, they will continue to cause you to think certain thoughts and to experience certain results. This is why willpower doesn’t work.  Because it’s a conscious thing and it tries to go against what’s conditioned in the unconscious mind.

What are some beliefs that may be leading to these negative emotions? You may think you’re not good enough. You don’t have enough confidence in yourself.  You fear failure or you fear success. You are not loved or respected.   Limiting beliefs like these can cause you to act small and not follow the opportunities that present themselves to you. You hold yourself back because you don’t believe that you can play big or you don’t know how.

The easiest and fastest way to identify and eliminate your limiting beliefs is to work with a practitioner who is trained in how the unconscious mind works and knows the techniques to do this work quickly. NLP and Time Empowerment Techniques create fast and everlasting changes at the unconscious level so that you can move forward towards your goals quickly. There are other belief change processes that you can try on your own that are useful and take more time. The most important thing is to let go of the limiting beliefs and stop that vicious cycle. You will notice right away that you think differently, you feel differently, and as a result you act differently in your relationships and the other areas of your life. Your results also show your new mindset because you experience success like never before.

In what areas of your life do you feel the most negative emotions?  What are they telling you?

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

This subject is one that’s on everyone’s mind for the last long while.  It’s almost like a cliche: “In this economy…”  The great news is that there are people still making money and not worrying about the economy, at least not in the way that the majority of the population seems to be worrying about it.

There is no doubt that changes have occurred in the economy.  So why is it that where some people only see job loss and lack, others continue to see opportunity and abundance? 

Because they have a different way of looking at it…a different mindset.  Those entrepreneurs whose businesses continue to prosper have simply shifted the way they do business, their marketing, or their services in a way that reflects the way the economy has changed.  They also believe that their ability to prosper and succeed does not depend on the state of the economy, the government in office, or the number of layoffs.  They believe and they know that their ability to succeed lies solely within themselves. 

Mindset is one of the 3 most important pillars of any business.  If the owner/entrepreneur doesn’t believe that they can succeed, and I mean really believe down to their core, then they won’t succeed.  At least not as much as they would if they did believe.  Because when you believe like that you talk differently about your business and you project a completely different energy about your business.

That kind of deep belief is possible and easily attained as long as the entrepreneur is willing to let go of all their mental gunk and sludge that’s clouding their beliefs and inner dialogue with negativity and scarcity.  It’s that kind of deep belief that allows successful entrepreneurs to shift whatever and whenever they need so that they guarantee their own success.

What is the most powerful thing that an entrepreneur can do to make sure that they succeed?

Stay in a place of positive expectation and take massive action!!

One of the best tools that an entrepreneur can use is an accountability partner.  When working for someone else like a corporation, the accountability comes from the boss.  When working for self you’re the boss and it’s easy to get off track.  In order to grow your business and get results, however, staying on track is important. 

There are other tools that can be effective are implementation checklists, goals, vison boards, and keeping track of your results.  These are only effective if you actually use them.  The advantage of an accountability partner is that it’s another human being instead of an impersonal piece of paper or sotware program.

Finding a trustworthy and driven entrepreneur to share accountability with is not difficult.  As an entrepreneur I’ve been networking and masterminding with and meeting lots of other entrepreneurs in similar and different lines of business as I am.  The key was connecting with another person in a way that would be mutually beneficial.  It was important to me that the person would take our accountability relationship seriously and would be willing to reciprocate.  My accountability partner and I share strategies, brainstorm, and support each other every day during a 5-10 minute skype call.  It’s been great knowing that when I decide to do something during the day and I tell my partner, she will ask me the next day “did you do it?”  It creates momentum for me to deliver in my business because someone will ask that question.

It’s important to remember that this is not about putting pressure on yourself.  You have to know how much you can actually accomplish during the day so you don’t set yourself up for disappointment.   It’s a check and balance system to keep yourself on track towards your goals and in turn, it’s having support and knowing you’re not isolated.  Entrepreneurs can feel isolated if they don’t leave their home office often.  An accountability partner helps you feel connected and know that you’re not the only one in the world experiencing things.  Often business owners experience similar struggles and also wins and it’s so nice to be able to share those and get support. 

An accountability partner relationship is a great and simple way to create support and momentum to reach your buisness goals faster.  I encourage all entrepreneurs to seek out and conect with another person who wants results and value and is willing to take 5-10 minutes a day or a week to check in and chat.  You will notice the difference very quickly in your mindset and your business.

I’ve begun writing a new report that I will be offering on my website very soon.  It’s called “Top 5 Ways to Retrain Your Inner Critic.”  I’m so excited about this report because it is the result of my work over the last few years. 

I’ve tried new things and walked different roads and some created more success for me than others.  By taking a look at my successes and what created the biggest changes in my life I realized it was all related to how I communicate with myself. 

There is oodles of scientific research today on how what we think and how we talk to ourselves creates our reality.  I think many people have heard that what they think about expands.  There are movies and books on this subject.  It’s easy to apply if you have the right system and set of tools.  I’m excited because I’ve put together my own set of tools that are based on my years of learning and trying things.  This is what I will be sharing in this report.  The final draft is almost done and my goal is to have it available by this Friday. 

Can’t wait to hear what you think.

Disliking making big decisions used to be something I avoided.  I preferred to have someone else just tell me what to do and preferably how to do it.  This is a big reason why I looked for a steady, 9-5 after finishing up university.  The hours were what I wanted, the pay was decent, and the decisions were taken care of.  I did what they told me.

Well, now all the tough decisions are mine to make and it’s time to make another one.  I find my energy is scattered in a few too many directions still, and it’s creating more of a bad impact than good.  I’m referring to my part time job.  It’s in a completely different industry than I want to work in.  My colleagues tend to be negative and draining, and I have to try very hard to do my best because my mind keeps wandering back to my passionate work where it’s so easy to give my best.  The money is simply not worth the effort I am having to put in and I could use that time way more productively.

So, I’m likely going to leave prior to the time I had originally thought I would.  Again, this is giving up a bit of security and certainty because it’s in an industry that I know very well.  I keep going back to that John Assaraf saying about being interested or being committed.  I am committed to success as a coach and trainer of NLP.  This is my calling and my passion and I have to pursue it with 100% of my career energy.  The universe is once again putting a cliff in front of me and this time it’s much easier to jump off.  When I jumped last time it lifted me up instantly.  This time I expect nothing less.

I will keep you posted on how this decision plays out.  It feels right and it’s also scary. Good thing I know how to deal with fear.

I’ve been interviewing moms for the last few weeks to learn their stories and struggles. The common themes that are emerging are low confidence, feelings of guilt, lack of time to take care of themselves, no patience, and not knowing how to turn their brain off.  So many moms have told me they lose sleep because they constantly worry about what they have to do and be, about their kids activities, about household issues, etc. 

Moms give so much of themselves and yet have such a hard time taking back and taking care of themselves.  And it’s not just the mom that suffers because of this. It’s the entire family and all the mom’s relationships.  All those struggles and feelings of helplessness create so much stress! When mom isn’t happy and taken care of then everyone feels it. 

So what can moms do to simplify their lives and begin to put themselves back on their prioity list?  The most important thing to do is to realize that they are amazing women and moms! Yes, they are! 

As moms we all do the best we can with what we know and with the resources we have. When we learn something new and we know better we can do better.  What’s the point in putting yourself down when you are doing your best? 

Another thing that moms can do is to give themselves permission to make mistakes. Our kids make mistakes all the time and we help them learn from those mistakes. Moms need to be ok with being who they are instead of striving for perfection. There is no such thing.  Our kids will learn so much more from seeing us moms make mistakes and being ok with it than from seeing us struggle to be perfect and then get upset when we think we fail. 

So give yourself a pat on the back and give yourself permission to make mistakes. You’ll notice how much lighter you feel without all that pressure that you put on yourself!

I’m very excited to announce that a good friend and colleague of mine will be guest blogging on this blog beginning in June. His expertise in mindset and change work is immense and we’re very much on the same page about what we do, just in different fields of helping others.  He works with athletes and I focus on working with women and moms and others who want to help themselves but don’t know where to start.

My guest blogger is Gregg Swanson of Warrior Mind Coach  and I am very excited to be working with him again. I am excited that he will share his expertise and passion for creating positive change. Stay tuned…his exciting and informative posts will begin in mid June.