WellnessCoach.com™

“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.” – Joseph Campbell

• Are you saying a “hearty yes” this month?

• Are you saying “yes” each day to high impact actions that will move your wellness coaching business forward?

• Are you letting go of time-wasters, energy-drains, and clutter in all areas of your business and your life?

In the 2012 Wellness Coaches Calendar, the focus for February, Develop a Yes!Energy® Mindset, is based on Loral Langemeier’s soon-to-be-released life-changing book, Yes!Energy: The Energy to Do Less, Make More. It’s a fabulous philosophy and I’m encouraging each of us to embrace the daily practice of saying “yes” in our businesses and lives.

What do I mean by saying “yes”?

Well, what I don’t mean is to say “yes” to just anything and everything. What I do mean is to practice discernment and consistency when it comes to saying “yes” – discernment when it comes to knowing what is ours to say “yes” to and consistency in doing what we tell ourselves and others (including our businesses) that we’ll do.

So, this month, consider saying “yes” to doubling or tripling your marketing efforts if this has meaning for you. Consider saying “yes” to approaching a colleague about a Joint Venture project if that appeals. Consider saying “yes” to bigger opportunities, even if you are not quite sure how you’ll pull them off.

Yes, you may not know how you’ll set that Joint Venture up, or how you’ll hire an assistant right now, but, as Loral encourages her clients and readers, and as I’ve done many times in my own business and life, the idea is to say “yes” to what is ours to do, and then figure out the how.

I want to emphasize the practice of saying yes to what is yours to do…not what is someone else’s to do. And in your hearty “yes”, you know the difference.

We can scare ourselves by thinking that we need to push ourselves to say “yes” to huge goals and actions that we’re not yet ready for. This is not the kind of “yes” I’m advocating.

If your business is doing $10,000 per month right now, saying “yes” to bringing in seven figures this year is probably not realistic and just saying that goal aloud will probably be enough to keep you frozen in non-action. Likewise, I’m also not advocating that you play a game that’s too small for you and under-commit by saying “yes” to only those things in your comfort zone.

Instead, what you’re after is saying “yes” to the things that are yours to do, that are the “right” size of big, one chunk at a time. In the case above, rather than shooting for seven figures when you’re barely over six, saying yes to doubling or tripling your marketing efforts, hiring an assistant, and getting a new product out the door could be a fabulous way to say a big hearty yes.

Then with these wins behind you, increase the size of the things you say “yes” to from there. The payoff from saying “yes” to what’s yours to do and sticking to what you say you will do consistently is enormous. This month, become an ambassador of saying THAT kind of “yes.

The following list highlights the key actions that will help you say a hearty yes to the adventure of your wellness coaching business, or other entrepreneurial adventure, this month. I’ve combined some of the actions listed in the 2012 Wellness Coaches Calendar with a few more to keep you going! So say “yes” as you:

1. Pre-order the Yes!Energy book by Loral Langemeier if you haven’t already done so.

2. Do some serious thinking, writing or talking with a business coach to identify the places you can: do more with less energy, delegate and/or say “no”

3. Say “yes” to offering specials for new clients this month.

4. Start, join or attend a business mastermind group. Challenge each other to say “yes” to new opportunities.

5. Get out there. Sure it’s important to jump into the  social networks and form contact there. But get offline and start talking about what you know in the live world this month. As Startup Daddy said back in 2010 in his You Can’t Build an Arc When It’s Raining post, “Get into the social networks. Don’t try to game the system and pad your follower and friend count and just look good. Go out there and start meeting people and talk about what interests you.”

6. Attend networking functions & meetings and say “yes” to my challenge: Up your interaction level. Go for interacting with more than people you usually engage. Listen to the needs of and talk about your wellness coaching business solutions with double the number of people that you talk to when you stay in your comfort zone.

7. If the above challenge finds you stopping in your tracks and getting in your own way of moving forward, simply stop, breathe, notice what you are doing and choose to go forward. For more support, re-read Taming Your Gremlin® by Rick Carson. The bottom line here is that no amount of action alone is going to propel you into the “yes” territory if you haven’t embraced the “yes” attitude on the inside first.

8. Feb 21^st – receive and start reading that Yes!Energy book! Encourage your mastermind group to do the same and support each other in implementing the actions.

9. Work with your business success coach this month to develop a stronger “say a hearty yes” mindset.

Tell us other ways you’ll say “yes” this month, or share your ideas for how we can all do so!

To Your Wellth,

Erica

Tags: Inspiration, Mind, Wellness Coaching, Wellness of Your Business // Add Comment »

Got Wellness Coaching Business questions?

Let’s Talk!

I’m excited to announce the new Free Monthly Q&A Call for Wellness Coaches. Beginning Wednesday, February 8, 2012, on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, I’ll be taking the business questions that are foremost on your mind. No two calls will be the same and you’ll be setting the agenda. Get answers to questions such as:

• How do I create added revenue streams & not just trade time for money?

• When is it time to establish a business entity? Should I incorporate?

• Which marketing strategies work best?

Details:

•WellnessCoach.com Free Monthly Q&A call

• 2nd Wednesday each month beginning on February 8

• 3-4pm Eastern Time, 12noon Pacific

Hurry over to the signup page so that you can join me!

To Your  Wellth,

Erica

Tags: Announcements, Wellness Coaching // Add Comment »

I’ll bet that at the moment this photo was taken the rider shown here had hundreds of email messages in her in-box, a To Do list a mile long, and a blog post she thought she’d like to get out on January 1^st that she hadn’t even started to write yet. In short, like you and me, she always has many things vying for her attention at any one point in time. But at this moment, her focus is 100% on the event in this arena.

As my friend, colleague, and Exceptional Horsemanship owner Lauren Woodard explained to me, the rider put all her attention on this jump, lined everything up and then turned it over to the horse so he could do his job and get them over the fence and land. As he’s doing so, she’s now focused on the next fence they’ll have to jump. Those email messages are nowhere on her radar right now. The rider (along with her horse) is demonstrating what I call the “Do Less” Attitude.

In my book, Seven Sacred Attitudes, I explain that the “Do Less Attitude” is founded upon the Chinese Law of Least Action.

This Law advises us to Do Less of the unimportant stuff. To Do Less of the unnecessary. To do only those things that have the greatest leverage for us-just as the wise ancient butcher did in China when he dismembered an entire ox with just four simple cuts of his knife.

So, can doing Less teach us to come to our entrepreneurial businesses More fully?

You bet.

The Do Less Attitude has to do with focus. It does not have to do with being lazy, letting important things slide through the cracks, or abdicating responsibility.

As an entrepreneurial business owner, you already know that you come to your Wellness Coaching business more fully when you have a clear and focused vision of where you are heading, know which activities are closest to your bottom line and delegate or dismiss the tasks that are not the best use of your time. This is the Do Less Attitude in action.

If you’re a Wellness Coach who works for someone else, the same idea applies. Doing more high-leverage tasks is the best use of your valuable time and energy.

You will come to work and life more fully when you adopt the Do Less Attitude, because there will be more of YOU (your energy, passion, creativity) available. You will be, as author Chin-ning Chu writes in her book, Do Less, Achieve More, “…elevated from the ordinary agitated state of consciousness into an extraordinary level where desired objectives and results unfold with an uncommon ease of effort, thus positively effecting our practical day-to-day performance in all arenas of life.”

These days, when we are bombarded by new information arriving every minute and everything seems to be urgent and in need of our attention, it can be easy to get distracted. But distraction is not a requirement.

The keys to focusing and the Do Less Attitude are:

• First, identify what’s important (To do so: Hire a business coach, work with a friend or colleague, or take some time to yourself one weekend.) This means getting clear about which activities in your work environment are closest to your bottom line. The best tool I know for selecting priorities and dismissing the unnecessary is to ask myself: “Is this mine to do?”
• Identify the activities that you can delegate or dismiss.
• Ask yourself: What price have I been paying for trying to do everything and/or multi-tasking?
• Ask yourself: How important is it for me to be relaxed, productive & clear-minded in my business and life?
• Commit (preferably to someone else who is interested in your well-being) to saying No to those items that are not worth your precious energy.
• Commit (also to someone who wants the best for you) to saying Yes to those items that have the biggest payoff to you (however you define this.)
• Keep it simple. Cut out a few things at a time. Once you get the hang of this and make it a habit, the Do Less Attitude will become a new way of life…a new daily practice.

The question is: When would NOW be a good time to identify those high-leverage activities?

Focusing Experiments

Try this: Sharpen your focusing skills. Experiment with one or more of the following activities and get into the habit of focusing.

1. The Color Game:

When I was a child, my dad often took me to Candlestick Park during the summer to see the San Francisco Giants’ play baseball at the stadium that was then their home turf. I remember sitting in the bleachers, hotdog in hand, looking around in amazement. But I wasn’t amazed at the action on the baseball field.

What I saw in the stands was much more fascinating to me. The stands were the setting for the Color Game.

I would close my eyes, think of a color, and then look around the entire stadium and see just how much of that color was present. I’d say, “Dad, look how much blue there is! There are millions of blue shirts and hats.”

Between cheers my dad would say, “What blue shirts? There are thousands of different colors out there.”

I knew the secret though. He wasn’t focusing. I saw an entire sea of blue.

Not much later I would choose another color and open my eyes and see all the shirts in yellow, or red, or green. This kept me occupied for all nine innings and sometimes into the extra innings. I still play that game today. When I’m at crowded venues, or waiting on line, I will often look around and simply notice a particular color. Doing so keeps my focus sharp.

So when I am back in the office, and a dozen e-mail messages scream my name, a thousand distractions cross my mind and I must keep focused on the article I’m writing, I’m glad I practiced earlier with the Color Game.

2. The Selective Focus Video

Professor Daniel J. Simons conducted research roughly 13 years ago and produced an awesome video on the power of selective attention. There’s more to the research study now, and a great book to explain more. But if you haven’t seen the video, go check it out first. Do the exercise. You’ll be amazed:

http://viscog.beckman.illinois.edu/flashmovie/15.php

3. Books to help you focus:

• The Power of Less by Leo Babauta

• Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life by Margaret Moore and Paul Hammerness

• Seven Sacred Attitudes: How to Live in the Richness of the Moment by Erica Ross-Krieger (click here to get ebook) (email us to order paperback: Info (at) WellnessCoach (dot) com (US delivery only.)

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What do you do to stay focused and jump your own business fences?

To your Wellth,

Erica

P.S. Big thanks to Lauren Woodard for sharing her Exceptional Horsemanship wisdom! Visit her at: http://exceptionalhorsemanship.com

Tags: Wellness Coaching // 2 Comments »

Hundreds of you have downloaded the Free Toolkit! Many of you have sent email notes of thanks. You are so very welcome! Thank YOU for taking the time to write. I’m truly jazzed you appreciate the kit. And, you know me…I’m always looking for ways to add to it. So…

Now, I’m after specificity. I’d love to hear the details:

- Are you using the Calendar’s action steps to plan your year?

-  What business changes did you make after taking the Success Quiz?

-  Anything else you’d like added to the calendar itself or included in the whole toolkit?

-  How are YOU using any of the components of the Toolkit?

Let us all hear your feedback and jot a comment below.

Best Wishes for a Glorious Year,

P.S. Since assembling the 2012 Calendar, I discovered another great resource I’ll be adding to my own reading list! Join me in reading the newest, just-released book by Wellcoaches CEO Margaret Moore: Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life:Train Your Brain to Get More Done in Less Time.

What a gift for us personally, for our businesses, and for our clients! Thanks for this one, Margaret!

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Yes, the end of the year is an important time for reviewing the “hard” data of your business results. Yes, you do need to check out the P&L, look at goals met, goals unmet, market trends, social media results, and other hard numbers that measure overall business success. You know this and you do this. So how about taking time for a “soft” review of your business as well?

Each year at this time, you’ll find me spending quiet time with a mug of tea, a notebook and a pen, and a smile of delight on my face. You would have found me this way this morning, sitting in my favorite overstuffed chair, wearing my favorite old jeans and doing a “soft” review of 2011 for WellnessCoach.com I used a process for this review that I adore.

The process I used for a “soft” end-of-year review was presented to me many years ago in a Four-Fold-Way® workshop by cultural anthropologist and author Angeles Arrien, Ph.D. I am grateful for such a powerful tool and honored to use it to review my personal and professional life each year.

It is with great respect for Dr. Arrien’s work that I present her “Year-End Journal Questions” process below. I invite you to join me in this wonderful way of looking at your own life and business at this time of the year.

Year-End Journal Questions

By Angeles Arrien, Ph.D*

Looking back at this last year:

(answer each question as it pertains to: 1. yourself; 2. your relationships; 3. your business/work; and 4. your community)

1. Where have (you, your relationships, your business, your community) been strengthened this year?
2. What has softened in _____this year?
3. What has deepened (integrated or fallen into place) this year within me, my relationships, my work, or my community?
4. What has opened (what’s new, what have I learned, where am I being stretched) this year within the nature of my relationships, my work, my community and myself?

Looking ahead at the upcoming year:

(answer each question as it pertains to: 1. yourself; 2. your relationships; 3. your business/work; and 4. your community)

1. What’s CALLING to be strengthened in (me, my relationships,  my business, my community) in the upcoming year?
2. What’s CALLING to be softened in_____in the upcoming year?
3. What’s CALLING to be deepened (integrated) this upcoming year within myself, my relationships, my work, and my community this upcoming year?
4. What’s CALLING to be opened (learned, started, acquired, stretched) within my nature this upcoming year with regard to me, my relationships my work and my community?

I believe we decide to become entrepreneurs not only for the great contributions our businesses can make to the world – and not only to generate profit, but also for the way our businesses will in fact deepen us and help us grow on every level.

Doing this exercise for myself and my business, I see that I have grown stronger, been softened, deepened and learned so much this last year as a result of my entrepreneurial journey that my heart is singing. My business is calling me forth to do even more meaningful work in the year ahead.

May you also enjoy doing a “soft” review of your business this season and see how much you have grown personally as a result. Please stop by and let me know how it goes.

Warmly,

Erica Ross-Krieger, M.A.

Master Business Coach and Founder, WellnessCoach.com

*Angeles Arrien, Ph.D., as a cultural anthropologist, researched, created, and synthesized the Four-Fold Way® program. It’s currently used in medical, academic, and corporate environments. Angeles is also an award-winning author, educator, and consultant to many organizations and businesses. Her Four-Fold Way book has been translated worldwide into ten languages. Angeles lectures and conducts workshops internationally, bridging cultural anthropology, psychology, and comparative religions. Her work reveals how perennial wisdoms are relevant to our families, professions, and our relationship to the Earth. She is the President of the Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research. You can learn more about Angeles and her work at: http://www.AngelesArrien.com Her seminal work is also presented in her book, The Four-Fold Way.

Tags: Wellness Coaching // 6 Comments »

Thank you for joining us and “sitting down” to the “WellnessCoach.com table” for our annual post of Thanks, Appreciation and Gratitude. Our 2011 Cornucopia contains a list of and links to the inspirational quotes, books, music, DVDs and resources that we appreciate for having touched our lives this year. We hope they’ll touch yours. Please enjoy the feast.

Warmly,

Inspirational Quotes of Thanks & Gratitude:

• “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” ~G.K. Chesterton

• “To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” ~J. Gaertner

• “Gratitude is a wonderful emotion. Appreciation is ten times better. Gratitude almost always points you toward the thing you’ve overcome. Appreciation aligns you with the Source within you. They are very different vibrations.” ~Abraham; Abraham-Hicks workshop

Blogs, Posts, Presentations & Websites:

• Tim Miles’ site, http://www.TheDailyBlur.com especially his quotes of gratitude: http://www.thedailyblur.com/quotes-of-gratitude/

• Gail Lynne Goodwin’s site: http://www.InspireMeToday

• (From Gail’s site above) Lisa Cypers Kamen’s 11/11/11 post: Harvesting Happiness: Getting Yourself Unstuck to Find Your Happiness

• Evita Ochel’s website and her presentation on Natural Health and Nutrition at: http://www.evitaochel.com/#services

Books, Music and DVD’s:

• DVD: HappyThankYouMorePlease So uplifting! What a practice to say “thank you, more please”…we love it. If you rent this movie the first time you watch it, we just bet you’ll do what we did and go buy a copy to watch again and again:)

• Book: I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude The owners of Cafe Gratitude have a wonderful relationship to the sacred acts of both preparing and eating organic, raw food. Even if, like us, you appreciate eating organic food but you aren’t vegan, you might want to try making the “I Am Creative Pumpkin Pie” recipe this holiday season. Yum:)

• Book: The Art of Happiness, 10^th Anniversary Edition:
A Handbook for Living We featured this in our free Toolkit’s 2011 Wellness Coach’s eCalendar this last year because of the beauty of the Dalai Lama’s message – “…happiness is the purpose of life.” Re-reading it again this year, we appreciated it even more…we think you’ll appreciate it also.

• Music: Never Be Daunted is a fabulous song by Jaymay (from her album Long Walk to Never). We first discovered it in the soundtrack of the movie HappyThankYouMorePlease (listed above) and then went out and bought the single from itunes. We love the lyrics that ask, “…what are you so afraid of?” and appreciate Jaymay’s reminder to “never be daunted.” You can find the entire album in the itunes store.

Tags: Abundance, Cornucopia of Resources Series, Wellness Coaching // Add Comment »

This little post is about a big concept: Leverage – the brilliant idea of doing more with each word you write, each talk you give and each class you give. It certainly is the most brilliant idea for business and life that I’ve ever embraced.

Leverage is making the most of each action. You might say it’s the “green approach” to managing the Wellness information that you and your Wellness business provide. Leverage is really the economical approach to energy output. It’s making the most of your valuable time and energy.

There are lots of ways to save and maximize time in your business day. You probably know many of them. In your quest to stop being the Lone Ranger and doing everything yourself, you may have already: hired a virtual assistant; got a great bookkeeper; and stock up quarterly on office supplies, batteries and copier ink cartridges. But how about leveraging the information that you provide as a way to maximize your time, brilliance and energy output?

Leveraging the Wellness information that you provide is a key business habit to develop. Each time you provide information to one or more clients, simply ask yourself these questions: “How can I leverage this information so that it will reach many more people?” “How can I repurpose, reuse, recycle and/or add spice to this information so that it can go farther out into the world?”

Here are 10 Ways to Leverage Your Time and Brilliance:

1. Record* your teleclasses, turn them into MP3 products, and post them on your website or blog;

2. Record* the upcoming Wellness presentations you’ll be giving, turn them into MP3 products, and post them on your website or blog;

3. Gather a few current clients, give them a free 1-hour teleclass or in-person presentation, record* the session and create an MP3 product.

4. Write a blog post, then copy it, tweak if needed and submit it as an article to wellness magazines, trade journals, on-line publications.

5. Gather all past blog posts. Identify the top 10-20 most juicy, most commented-on and most relevant posts. Assemble them and create a simple Free Top Wellness Posts ebook. Voila! A new product made from re-purposed material.

6. Finishing up with a client? Make it a habit to ask for a testimonial. Then send a sample testimonial via email to make it easier for them to write their own.

7. Give a new, inspiring, free presentation, lecture, or talk at a health club or day spa…and record it (getting permission from the venue manager and attendees to do so)*. Get emails and names from attendees to build your own list (also clear this ahead of time with the venue manager.). Give out self-addressed postcards at the end of the talk and ask for a one-sentence testimonial about their experience. Turn the recording into an MP3 and post on your site. (Lots of leverage here.)

8. Join groups on Facebook and/or LinkedIn where your potential clients are hanging out. Notice the top questions being asked. Join the conversation, give freely of your opinion and information. Then make notes of your general responses and types of questions being asked, keeping confidential all references to specific people. Expand your answers and use as the basis for a new blog post. (Example: Someone in a group I’m a part of asked about ways to save time. I answered briefly then expanded the idea for this post.)

9. Next time you place an ad in a newspaper or on-line, make it MORE than an announcement of who you are. Leverage the opportunity and put a give-away item right into the ad. (Example: Nancy Smith, RDA, 123 Main Street, 123-555-1234, specialist in weight loss. Call me for a free 20-minute wellness strategy session.)

10. Hire someone to transcribe any recordings* into written text. Use this information for blog pots, articles, and information products.

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*Note: anytime you record a teleclass, lecture or presentation, it is critical, ethical, respectful and lawful that you get permission to record the session from those in attendance. Preferably in writing.

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You are a reservoir of incredibly valuable information. Yes, others may know some of the same or similar information, but the way that you deliver that information, like your thumbprint, is unique to you.

That thumbprint of you is what your clients come to you for and return to you for. When you provide information with your thumbprint, you need to focus on making it go far and wide and to do so as easily as possible.

Imbed the concept of leverage into your mind. Doing so is simply a matter of applying some Environmental Awareness to your business environment. So when it comes to information that you provide:

• Reuse what you can.

• Recycle what you can.

• Renew, refresh and re-gift what you can.

• Record and Transcribe as much as you can.

To Your Wellth,

P.S. Our new Wellness Coaching Certification Report is now available! This report will help you make a more confident and strategic decision when choosing the right Wellness Coaching training and certification path and program for you! Click here or in the header for more info.

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We’ve all been there. We’ll all be back. We’re human, and sitting on the fence a bit too long, pondering a decision, comes with the territory. I’m not referring to the fence sitting that is necessary when we’re facing major life decisions. I’m referring to those less critical, should-I-go-to this-event-or-not, or do-I-hire-this-person-or-not type of decisions – the kind of a decision that we can get stuck agonizing over, yet later might look back and chuckle at the energy we spent while ambivalent.

In my view, I think it all comes down to that final moment when we have to trust ourselves and just choose. We can review, analyze and get opinions from others all day long, but the end result is the same: we need to listen to our Inner Wisdom and just decide. To help you do so, I’ve put together a list of my favorite decision-making tips.

I’ve used each of the following tips and tools myself and select from among them, taking into account the nature of the decision I’m making.

Depending upon the importance, type and immediacy of the decision you face at the moment, some of these tips and tools will be more useful and applicable to you than others. Just don’t get stuck trying to decide which tool to use!

I’ll give you the first 4 Tips in this post, and provide the rest of the 7 in my next installment.

7 Tips to Simplify Decision-Making  (Tips 1-4)

1.  Stop…Breathe…Notice…Choose I first introduced this 4-step practice to you in my book, Seven Sacred Attitudes. I find that using the process when I’m stuck in indecision can be quite valuable. To do so, simply Stop action the next time you are struggling to make a choice. Just freeze in one spot. Now take a deep breath and pay close attention to what you are doing to yourself while you are struggling. Notice the details of your breath, shoulders, position of your body and any tension in your muscles. Notice the prison of indecision you have created in your mind – are you telling yourself that the choice of a movie or book is critical? Are you stressing yourself out wondering whether you should attend a social event or not? Just notice. Then take another deep breath and, using your intuition, simply Choose.

Notes: This technique is useful when you have already analyzed the heck out of a situation or when the stakes are not too high to risk an unanalyzed choice.

2.  Ask your Board of Directors what they would do. Don’t worry if you don’t have an actual Board of Directors. This technique involves some active imagination and is, as those of you who work with me will testify, often better accessed while in the shower.

When you have a few minutes of solitude, close your eyes and bring to mind a large oak table in a beautiful meeting room – perhaps a room with large windows overlooking a forest and creek. Now picture your ideal Board of Directors sitting around the table — all of them present to help you in your decision-making process. Your Board Members can be anyone you choose, presently living or not, and real or animated.

You can vary who you “invite” to sit on your Board, depending upon the type of decision you’re making. [I've been known to "invite": Walt Disney, if I'm facing a creative decision; Donald Trump, if I'm making a real estate decision; Loral Langemeier, if I'm making a business development decision; an entire football team (okay, the Buffalo Bills right now) and their coach if I'm making a hiring decision and want good teamwork input; and John F. Kennedy, if I'm making a leadership decision.]

Go ahead and put anybody around that imaginary table that your big heart desires. Now put the decision in question before your Board. I even dare you to talk aloud while doing this. Take on the voice of any and all of your Board Members as they each tell you what they would do. When you have had enough input, thank them all and send them on their way. Emerge from the “session” (or shower) with a fresh perspective on the decision.

Notes: This is one of my favorite tools. It can be used in either the beginning or final phases of making decisions that are as important as whether or not to hire a specific employee, or which product to sell, or as simple as which color to paint your office.

3.  Act “as if” for an hour or a day. This tool also requires some imagination. If you are deciding between two options (i.e. deciding which of two new pieces of office equipment to purchase) or two actions to take (i.e. deciding whether to attend a week-long seminar or stay home and work on that new book), this technique will be helpful in the decision between the two options you’re considering.

Depending upon how much time you have available, and also depending upon how big of a choice this is, set aside an appropriate time period (1 hour, 1 day, 1 week).

For that entire period, act “as if” you have decided on Option 1. Get into it. Absolutely pretend that you have decided on this option, are excited about the choice, and get on with the rest of that period “as if” you’d really made the choice. Put aside any consideration for the other option. Don’t even think about it.

Speak “as if” you’ve made the choice for Option 1, try it out by telling someone else you made the choice, and feel the freedom of having made a decision. Now, when the hour, day or week ends, go ahead and set another time period aside, identical in duration.

You guessed it – you’ll now act “as if” you’ve made the choice for Option 2. The same guidelines apply. Talk, walk, and act “as if” you’ve opted for Option 2. When the entire experiment is over, you will have a much better idea of which Option is the right one for you (and I’ll bet you’ll know even before you’re finished acting “as if” for the entire period!)

4.  Try this “Basic Option Evaluation” technique by Brian Clegg. Click here and try out this exercise from Brian Clegg‘s book, Crash Course in Personal Development. Likely to appeal to you when you want to make a logical, well-reasoned decision, this exercise provides a great way to evaluate your options when you are choosing among a number of different things. It will help you rank the options according to logical criteria.

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Now Take Action! Choose one tip above that you are willing to put into practice. When is NOW a good time to get started?  No fence-sitting allowed:) I’ll be back in the next post to give you 3 more tips for making other decisions. Just pick one of these for now and give it a try.

Enjoy!

I look forward to hearing about your experience…

Tags: Mind, Wellness Coaching, Wellness of Your Business // 2 Comments »

What’s Important?

or

Did Lucy Ricardo Stop to Ask?

Remember the “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy worked in the candy factory wrapping chocolates? Remember how the conveyor belt shot so many chocolate candies out that Lucy couldn’t keep up and so she popped handfuls of them into her mouth? Even if you’re too young to have seen the original episode or never saw the rerun, can’t you just picture that scene in your mind’s eye?

Well, I remind you of this image not just for a trip down memory lane but to draw a comparison to our busy lives. With To Do lists a mile long, email messages and in-boxes filled to overflowing, we too struggle to keep up. And as we do we can lose sight of what’s important.

We all agree that it’s become more critical than ever for us to be clear and focused on what is important, but how do we do that? Well, it boils down to this: the trick is to take time each morning to set our intentions for the day…our intention around the values we want to embody and our intention around “right actions.” And it’s up to each of us to name our top values and determine what constitutes “right action.”

Maybe it’s been awhile since you’ve taken time to clarify your values. Maybe it’s been awhile since you put together or revised your life plan, business plan, or marketing strategy. Maybe you’ve never put them together at all. Why not schedule an appointment with yourself to do so or at least to begin?

The appointment doesn’t have to be formal. It could even be an hour at a coffee shop or a few hours in the garden, where you spend time mulling over and identifying what’s important. Time for you to stop the chocolate conveyor-belt of life and regroup. The plans don’t have to be formal either, if that’s what’s stopping you. Just start somewhere.

I think it’s important to begin and end each day with regroup time. “Bookends” I call it. “Bookends” are comprised of two daily segments. First is a brief time in the morning where you name what is most important for the day—not just the Doing, but the Being. Second is a break before retiring for the night to check in and ask yourself: Was I able to focus on what’s important? What did I do that helped me do so? What got in the way? How can I change that in the future? What will I have to say “Yes” to and what will I have to say “No” to, so that I can keep on track?

Creating lives that reflect our values and top priorities takes “discipline.” I’ve found that this word makes some people shudder. Does it do so for you? If so, be your own coach here. Understand and embrace discipline for the gifts it brings. The roots of this wonderful word are found in the word “disciple.”

So I ask, are you willing to become a disciple of what is important to you? Beyond naming what’s important, are you acting on it? And if not now, then when?

Bookends™ Exercise

Try this: Try my Bookend exercise tomorrow. It only takes 10 minutes in the morning and another 10 minutes before bed.

To prepare, put a pen and pad of paper on your nightstand or elsewhere beside your bed tonight, so it is waiting for you tomorrow morning. Set your alarm so that you awaken 10 minutes before your usual wake-up time.

Upon awakening:

• Take a moment to sit up, stretch and greet the day. Now think about the attitude or state of Being that you want to bring forward into your day today. Examples: Appreciation, Confidence, Self-Compassion.

• Write down that state of Being you want to focus on today.

• Now think about the area of your life and/or business that is of most importance to you right now. Of all the To Do’s that are before you today, which action is going to further your progress in that area or deepen your learning? Example: writing or drafting a business plan.

• Write that action on your notepad.

• Take another moment to contemplate how you will integrate the Being and Doing focus that you have listed. Imagine that you are placing that value or state of Being right into your heart and will carry it with you as you take the important action(s) you need to take today.

• Example of how this could look: Writing a business plan while Being in a state of Self-Compassion could mean I pour myself a cup of tea and sip it while I write the plan, extend self-compassion by not insisting the plan be perfect, and turn off the ringer on my phone so I am not disturbed.

Reminder: It is more important that you remember you can always return to that state of Being throughout the day, than it is that you give yourself a new mandate to try and stay in that state. Being mindful that you have let your focus slip from, say Self-Compassion, you can apply the 4-step centering process I use and teach my clients: Stop, Breathe, Notice, Choose ™ and gently bring yourself back to your desired state of Being as you Do the next important task in your day.

Upon retiring for the day:

• Write a few sentences about the exercise for the day. How did it go? What worked well? Where were you able to stay in the state of Being you selected and/or return to that state when you veered off the path? What did you learn? What will you do differently if faced with similar circumstances?

• Extend appreciation to yourself for your commitment to What’s Important.

Once you put this exercise into action, leave a comment and let me know how it went.

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I had big plans for getting you out a post this week to help you grow your wellness coaching business. Life had other plans it seemed.

My husband was bitten by a black widow spider this week…in more than one place on his ankle. It’s not pretty. It’s not been an easy week. Initially, I struggled against the change in plans. Then I surrendered. Now, my commitment to making the most of what’s presented to me brings me here to the page. So here’s a post after all.

Those of you who’ve read my blog for ages, know that I’m a big fan of using metaphor. Those of you who are new here will see that trend soon enough. Today, I’m using the blessed black widow spider to help you thrive in and grow your business as a Wellness Coach. It’s not a long post, and it’s certainly not complicated. It’s simple really. It’s meant to spark your thinking, to invite you to consider…to stop just for a moment and take stock.

Business Lessons Wellness Coaches Can Learn from Black Widows & Their Bites:

• Practices To Emulate:

1.   Be committed to your territory. (Be committed to your brand.)

2.   Be prepared to defend it. (Speak strongly about what you offer.)

3.   Build a web. (Network like crazy.)

4.   Create offspring. (Create products to carry on the business when you’re elsewhere.)

• Practices to Adopt & Avoid:

1.   Step out into the world. (Avoid: being a recluse & hiding out.)

2.   Forgive others, forgive yourself, play fair. (Avoid: Resentment, retaliation & biting in general.)

3.   Team up with other Wellness Coaches & form joint ventures. (Avoid: Fear of competition, being overly territorial.)

• Additional Business Lessons From Spider Bites:

1.   Sometimes you just can’t plan it all. Surrender. Be flexible and open. Often what’s presented to you turns out better than what you’d planned.

2.   Deal with what’s right in front of you.

3.   Breathe. Just breathe.

4.   You are much more creative and resourceful than you realize. You can trust this.

We’ve been busy looking at ways we’ll put these lessons to work for us here in the WellnessCoach.com community. We’ve got lots to think about and lots we’re excited about doing. (To name a few: Simpler posts now and then, networking more, and building our web:)

How will you put these “lessons from spiders” to work in your business? Let us know!

To Your Wellth,

Erica

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