Jigsaw-Puzzle Wisdom for Your Health & Wellness Business

I confess. I adore putting jigsaw puzzles together. The big ones. The 1000-piece size. The entire process of putting them together delights me no end.

From the joy of selecting which puzzle I’ll buy, to the sound of the pieces rattling around as I rummage through the box, to the trial and error method I resort to when I’m assembling a huge section of all blue sky. I love it all. I even like pulling the whole puzzle apart when I’m finished, and returning the pieces to the box. It’s a Zen thing for me. And the practice itself helps my business. How?

When we apply “jigsaw puzzle wisdom” to growing and maintaining successful health & wellness businesses, we find a rich source of material. Borrow these 10 jigsaw-puzzle tips, adapt them (as suggested) to your business, and watch what unfolds!

1. Take your time selecting your puzzle — be sure the picture is one you want to embrace for a while. [i.e. Take time to choose your goals for the year]

2. Keep your eye on the big picture you are creating, the entire time. [i.e. Review your goals often, keep a vision board or mind movie]

3. Trust. When you start, and you look at all those loose pieces, you’ll be excited because you know with certainty that, as my favorite teachers, Esther (& Jerry & Abraham) of Abraham-Hicks are fond of saying, “you are in the perfect position to get ‘there’ from ‘here’”…and you’ll trust the process. [i.e. Use Abraham’s words as a mantra this year.]

4. Focus on one small task or area at a time…be that the border, sorting colors, or just putting the trees together. [i.e. small steps and habits done continuously will move you to your goals this year. Big leaps not required and often lead to set-backs.]

5. Enjoy the entire process of putting this together – all of it…even the part where you can’t find a piece. Yet. As soon as you shift your attention to what you want and away from what you don’t have, then let go, and the piece will be there. [Need I say more]

6. Stay present. Commit to enjoyment the whole time – from the sound of the pieces in the box as you rumble around and sift through them to picking out “just the edge pieces.” From finding “just the sky pieces” to placing each and every piece into the puzzle in its own time. [i.e. This is the only moment where your body lives…learn from that.]

7. Appreciation Perspective. Remind yourself that you do this not just for the end result, but for the fun of the game. [A journal of appreciation for the work you did today can be a great habit to foster this.]

8. Refresh. If it starts being anything but enjoyable, or you can’t keep a smile on your face – take a break, get up and move around or outside, do something else, shift your attention to another section of the puzzle, or just stop for a while. [Swear by this and you’ll be happier, more productive, and probably get more fresh air.]

9. Reconnect. Take a time out every so often and look at the finished picture on the box so you reconnect with where you are heading. [A reminder of #2. Are you reviewing your goals regularly? Your vision for the year?]

10. New puzzles, new dreams. Know that when you are “complete”, it won’t be long before you want to do a new puzzle…know that it is the process that delights you. [i.e. as you reach your goals, new dreams will form. Capture them as the year unfolds. We never “get it all done”, we just keep expanding!]

Any other jigsaw-puzzle tips to share?

 

To Your Wellth,

Erica

7 Simply Powerful Habits You Must Adopt to Grow Your Wellness Coach Business

Through the course of 20 years, coaching thousands of clients, I find myself continually repeating and highlighting 7 simple yet powerful habits that help wellness coaches grow successful businesses. Habits that will make the puzzle of growing a business much more manageable.

Yes, times have changed dramatically these last 20 years. Yes, there are new avenues for marketing our businesses, yes there are social media avenues we now use, and yes there are also other brilliant options for leveraging technology. But these 7 simple habits for building a highly successful business remain the same.

These habits are not born of rocket science. Quite the opposite. And at first glance, you may discard them as too simple. But simple never meant easy and doing things the hard way never guarantees success.

The 7 simple habits are also the keys to putting together jigsaw puzzles of all things. Yup, jigsaw puzzles. Shuffling through a box of 1000 such pieces one rainy afternoon, it hit me — everything I know about the best way to grow a successful wellness coaching business, every habit that must be adopted, was mirrored in the lessons I’ve learned from this simple hobby. No wonder building both puzzles and businesses just fascinates me.

The Seven Simply Powerful Habits:

1. Keep your eye on the big picture you are creating, the entire time. In business, this means knowing your “why”, and your mission statement. Not sure of that lately? Take time to rewrite and reconnect!

2. Avoid overwhelm…get into inspired action.  In the jigsaw puzzle realm, when you start, and you look at all those loose pieces, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. The same is true in your business. So just remember during those times of overwhelm that, as my favorite teachers, Esther Hicks and Abraham of Abraham-Hicks are fond of saying, “you are in the perfect position to get ‘there’ from ‘here'”…trust the process, refocus on the “why”, pick up the single next piece and take inspired action.

3. Focus on one small task or area at a time…be that the border, sorting colors, or putting just the trees together in a puzzle or making a video, writing a post, or attending a networking meeting to grow your business. You can’t do it all at once, and the true gifts come as you…

4. Enjoy the process of putting this puzzle or business together – all of it…even the part where you can’t find a piece. Yet! As soon as you shift your attention to what you want and why and away from what you don’t have or can’t find, and then let go, the desired piece will be there.
 In fact, it’s best if you commit to enjoyment the whole time – from the sound of the pieces in the box as you shuffle them around to picking out “just the edge pieces” or finding “just the sky pieces” to placing each and every piece into the puzzle in its own time. 
Commit to enjoyment in your business in the same way — from choosing your new logo to hiring your first assistant, to dealing with a computer crash — sounds Pollyanna-ish, but it’s really important to remind ourselves that we are truly blessed to be in business for ourselves and we do this not just for the end result, but for the fun of the game.

5. When it starts being anything but enjoyable, take a break — at the puzzle board or in your place of business. Get up and move around, do something else, shift your attention to another section of the puzzle or business, or just stop for a while. Have some tea, go for a walk, shift from the details of bookkeeping to the interactive world of calling a colleague or jumping on a mastermind call. Always keep it fresh. And speaking of breaks…

6. Take a time out every so often to reconnect with where you are heading.
 In the puzzle realm, it means looking at the picture on the box…in business, it means re-visiting your “why” as I mention in habit #1 – but also connect regularly with your goals as well as you “why” – I suggest doing so at least weekly – pull your mission statement out, pin it up on the wall, post it on your computer desktop. Close your eyes and imagine yourself at the business level you are aiming for right now. Do so until emotion wells up. If you use the EFT “tapping” technique that I teach, start tapping while reading that mission statement aloud!

7. “Manage your expectations and don’t quit.” This little gem of wisdom is courtesy of my business mentor & coach, Dr. Ben Lo. It’s great advice for business and for puzzles — if you think there won’t be glitches along the way, whether in puzzles or business, think again. You’ve got to just keep on keeping on. You’ll see as you go that the picture will begin to come into focus — the jigsaw puzzle picture and the picture of what you are shaping in your business.

Bonus tip: Know that when you are “complete”, it won’t be long before you want to do a new puzzle…know that it is the process (of building a puzzle OR a business) that delights you. When you get to a desired level in your business, soon a new desire will be born — a new product to create, a new tagline that emerges, or a new book to write. There are always more puzzles to do and you never get them all done.

Now I know, some of you are possibly saying, “Yes, it’s a cute analogy, Erica, but this enjoyment thing, and trusting the process are only applicable to jigsaw puzzles — because there you know all the pieces are in the puzzle box — the manufacturer put them there. I don’t know that all the pieces are there when it comes to my business. In fact some of them are glaringly missing…I don’t know how to make a Youtube video for instance.”

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I am a joyful student of the teachings of Abraham-Hicks and their Law of Attraction material…so it won’t surprise you when I say, “Yes, and YOU contain all the pieces of your picture of a successful and prosperous business that you could ever possibly imagine…your “manufacturer” put them there right from the get go…it is your job to FEEL this and ALLOW it. Even if you don’t know exactly how to make a Youtube video or design a subscription site, you are creative, resourceful and very much whole. And you do have what it takes to find someone who does know how to do that thing you don’t know how to do, or to learn to do it yourself, or to get the need met in another creative way. Yes, you do have all the pieces you need.”

Let me know what other habits have helped you in your business!

 

To Your Brilliance and Wellth,

 

 

 Erica Ross-Krieger, M.A., BCC

Board Certified Business Coach, Author

WellnessCoach.com

 

5 Sure-Fire Ways To Block Your Own Success

“Are you interested in your own success or committed to it?”– John Assaraf

When you’re interested in your own success, you dream a lot, wish a lot, hope a lot and focus on the roadblocks in your way. Thinking you’ll achieve success “someday”, you don’t even see that you’re the one actually putting up those roadblocks.

When you are committed to your success, you see clearly that the roadblocks are of your own making. You breathe, simply notice what you are doing and, in that moment of witnessing, you activate what author Rick Carson calls The Zen Theory of Change in Taming Your Gremlin:

“I imprison myself not by trying to be free, but by simply noticing how I am imprisoning myself in the very moment I am imprisoning myself.”

Get Wise to Your Roadblock Habits

Being clear about and getting wise to the top 5 ways you block success is important. When you stop and notice specifically what you’re doing, and that Zen Theory of Change starts shifting things, you can further the process by stepping in to remedy the situation. Here are the top ways you block success and the remedies for removing them:

Top 5 Self-Imposed Blocks to Success:

1. Acting from current reality. This is especially true for wellness coaches who want a full practice but are focused on how their practices aren’t full. They make marketing efforts in a state of panic and scarcity, working like crazy to “get more clients.”

Remedy: It is of great value for you to give your conscious attention to what you specifically want and summon the feelings of what you want, in the here and now, otherwise you can be swept up by the influence of that which surrounds you. (This is not appropriate however in the case of an acute physical problem that requires immediate medical attention.)

For the desired state of a thriving business or full coaching practice, or anything else, start from the inside out. Immerse yourself in the feelings of the desired state right now. This means summoning up the feeling of how it will be when the practice is already full so that you then can act from a state of ease and grace when you do take action.

Take 5 short minutes before you fall asleep at night to imagine this desired state as if it already exists. Do so until you can actually feel the peace, joy, calm, exhilaration (or whatever feelings and sensations you imagine that desired state will evoke for you) right then as you are lying there. Over time, this state will become more familiar and replace the feelings of scarcity. Acting from the feelings of the desired state already existing is what creates results. Guaranteed.

2. Using irresponsible semantics. When you habitually say: “I can’t…”, “I never…” “I don’t have enough time for…” and repeat these statements as if they are the “truth”, you’re hypnotizing yourself into believing what you say. 99% of the time, unless there is an actual physical obstruction or limitation, these are not “true” statements.

Remedy: Develop the habit of using responsible semantics this month and empower yourself in the process. Adopt just one of the following statements and put it into practice for the next 28 days: Say “I choose not to…” instead of  “I can’t”. Say “Until now, I never____and now I am willing to___”; or say “Until now, I’ve not made the time for…” Watch what happens.

 3. Acting like The Lone Ranger. Somewhere along the way, you might have adopted the attitude that you would “tough it out” or “go it alone” to prove that you could: 1) get it done the way you want it done if you do it yourself; or 2) do it faster if you do it alone, or maybe 3) show the world you’re capable and competent if you do it yourself. It really doesn’t matter why you went this route or what’s behind your habit of acting in a vacuum. What does matter is that you realize that successful people use a team.

Remedy: Call on all members of your team and lean into them. Your “asking for help” muscles may be a bit atrophied, so it’s time to put them to work. Start with the team you already have…and you do have a team. You just may not see it that way. Your children, your spouse, your partner or friend, your bookkeeper, your business coach, your CPA, your on-line Twitter or FB community…that is what your team looks like right now. So put those little-used muscles to work and delegate or ask for something from someone on your current team in the next 24 hours. Go!  (You can make a conscious choice to expand your team soon enough.)

4. Relying solely on logic & ignore your intuition.

We are multi-dimensional and multi-layered beings. We are gifted with brains and neurology we haven’t even begun to tap or appreciate. In this culture, we have learned to revere and rely on our logic and left-brain strength. Generally, we have let our intuition and right-brain muscles get lazy. The power of intuition and your right-brain gifts are amazing resources that you may well be neglecting.

Remedy: Build your Intuition Muscles. Suspend judgment and doubt for 10 minutes. Get 2 fresh sheets of paper and a pen. Claim quiet time and shut off the ringer on your phone, the computer and any alarms. You are going to get information from something that is inanimate.

Choose a business question you want answered right now by someone very wise. Be specific. Write the question down on one of those sheets of paper and set it aside. (example question: “What do you I need to do or know to forward my business this year?”) Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Imagine your business itself has a voice. You are going to animate your business. You are going to write as if the voice of the business is responding to that question.

Now when I say, “go”, begin writing as if the business itself were answering that question and don’t lift your pen from the page for a solid 10 minutes. (Example of how a business might answer that question: “You’re doing extremely well. I’m happy with how you’ve managed me and grown me. I want you to create more information products to fatten my bottom line now so we can do even more great work in the world.”) Got the idea? Ok, ready? Go!

Don’t believe me that this technique works? I wrote an entire book this way and have grown a thriving business doing the same:)  Try it now! You’ll be strengthening your intuition muscles!

 

 

Bonus Remedy: Read Luara Days’s book, Practical Intuition

 

 

5. Worrying about what others will say. This strategy is the most sure-fire way for any entrepreneur to fail.

Remedy: Memorize this quote from Peaceful Warrior author Dan Millman: “You cannot listen to the God of your heart while you’re busy monitoring the god of opinion.”

When Dan first said this to me, some 23 years ago, I soaked it in like a sponge. It’s my “go to” quote when I find myself tied up in knots and not moving forward because I’m worrying about opinions. Remembering this quote works like magic. If I catch myself worshipping opinions, I take a deep breath, recall the quote, and march forward. Now it’s your turn. Write down Dan’s quote. Put it on a yellow-sticky by your computer or mirror, get a tattoo, or if you have an iphone 4S, ask Seri to remind you of the quote throughout the day. Whatever works to remind you to tune in to your heart and tune-out the noise of opinions.

—–

Remove Those Roadblocks Now

It’s your time — time to shift from being interested in your success to being committed to your success however you define it. It’s time to get out of your own way, remove the roadblocks you’ve created and come to life more fully. We’re all eager for you to do so!

To Your Wellth,

 

Are there other “self-imposed roadblocks” you’ve become aware of lately? Please share in a comment below. We’d love to hear.

Top 10 Business Resources Every Wellness Coach Must Have

Whether you’re building a new Wellness Coaching business this year, leading one that’s established, or restructuring and re-energizing a Wellness Coaching business that’s undergoing a makeover, the resources shown here are a must-have.

By “resources”, I truly mean “sources of help.” That said, you are going to have to expend energy to obtain or create each of the “sources of help” that I’ll mention. I won’t share anything with you I haven’t put into place myself. I have each of the 10 resources below in place for my own business. Yup, it took solid effort…AND the rewards are plenty. I invite you to put them into place in your own business.

Use the following list as a way to assess the resources you already have and to determine what else you need to put into place. In each category, I’ll open my contact files to you and let you know: the professionals that I whole-heartedly recommend; which resource to purchase, and/or; where to look to find out more.

Top 10 Business Resources Every Wellness Coach Must Have

10. An Inspiring Mastermind Group – Weekly meetings with 4-6 professionals whom you respect is key to keeping connected, achieving goals, avoiding isolation, and expanding your thought-processes and ideas. Join an existing mastermind group or form one yourself and include those you admire. Meet with those who will help you stay accountable to your goals and true to your authentic nature. [If you want help forming a mastermind group, let me know in the comment section below this post.]

9. A Great CPA  – You must have a CPA who has experience with entrepreneurs, all types of corporate structures / business entities and who can help you reduce your largest expense, taxes. You don’t just want to hire your uncle Joe who says he knows how to fill out tax forms. It’s important you develop a list of questions for the professionals you interview and perform rigorous due diligence. [You can learn about CPA Warren Taryle’s outstanding company, Taryle & Associates, by clicking here.]

8. A Savvy Bookkeeper – Let’s hope your receipts aren’t filed in the recesses of your wallet or purse and that you own up-to-date small business software such as Quickbooks. Even so, hiring a bookkeeper will be one of the smartest additions you will make to your team. Doing so will save you hours of work and free you up from number input and allow you to put your energy into Wellness Coaching. Did you know you can successfully use a bookkeeper remotely & even outside of your state? Yup! Again, do your due diligence, ask for references, check that they work with entrepreneurs and have a solid track record. [You can learn about bookkeeper Mary James’s stellar company, Mary James Bookkeeping Group, by clicking here.]

7. An On-Line & Social Media Strategy to Grow Your Brand – Let’s be honest. The on-line and social media world can be a bit overwhelming. You know you need to develop your on-line “authority” and strengthen your on-line visibility, but without a plan your start-and-stop efforts can be ineffectual and a waste of time. A successful strategy or plan is one that fits you and your style and one that you will follow. Consistently. A solid strategy will help you focus and be a resource for you to turn to in the midst of internet and social media overwhelm. Do some research. Find someone to help you create a system and strategy that fits you. [Learn about internet guru Chris Garrett’s Authority Blogger course by clicking here.]

6. A Proven Business Coach  – I could write an entire post about the Top 10 Results You Can Achieve When Using a Business Coach, but I’ll save that for another time. Suffice it to say that to this day I have my own Business Coach — we meet regularly to keep WellnessCoach.com and me heading toward and on-track with the goal achievement that is important to me. I also hired a Business Coach when I was a Wellness Coach, and I can tell you first-hand how great that was. Having someone who wants the best for you, is willing to fiercely hold the space for you to achieve the business results that matter, and who knows the entrepreneurial territory from the inside out is crucial to entrepreneurial success. Are there many Business Coaches out there? Sure. Some who understand the Wellness Coaching arena? Yup. Do your homework. Identify the top qualities you want in your Business Coach. Make sure they are a good fit for you. Interview several. [Yes, I’d be glad to answer your inquiries. I’ll say no more here…]

5. A Well-Performing Website/Blog­ – Is a website and/or blog a resource? Absolutely! It’s your conduit for communicating with your tribe. It’s not enough to have an aesthetically pleasing website or blog…and gone are the days of sites being solely on-line brochures. Your site needs to do work for you. In fact, it’s more important that it functions well than looks “perfect”. Entire posts and sites are dedicated to web & blog development and keys to good performance. Be sure you do the right amount of research but don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. Get into action here. Be sure your site gets put up, provides useful content and captures visitor information. If yours is still in the brochure category, or non-existent altogether, get busy and hire a pro to design and get a solid site up for you. Gotta do more due diligence? Yes. Get referrals, work within your budget, and be sure who you hire is a good fit for you…the person who creates your site needs to understand you and your business. [You can learn about Julie Hood’s rock star web and blog business, YourBlogTeam.com, by clicking here.]

4. The Best Entity for YOUR Business – Let’s face it. One of the most important decisions you ever made was to go into business for yourself and start to build a successful Wellness Coaching Business. Isn’t it just as important to protect what you are building? Having several entrepreneurial businesses, I can absolutely say “yes!” Being sure that this is the right time for you to establish an entity and deciding whether to form an LLC, S corporation, or C corporation is critical. You need to rely on an entity specialist who is a seasoned professional. Get referrals. Do your homework. Have a consultation to get a professional opinion about what’s right for your business. You can sign up for a free 30-minute consultation, join the teleseminar series, and learn about the proven track record of CEOs Cheri Hill‘s top-notch entity-formation business, Sage International, by clicking here.

3. The Right Insurance – Your insurance needs are unique to you. Be sure getting the right coverage isn’t a task you put in the “someday” category. Take action now. It might be that you’ll never actually know how much of a resource insurance will be…I hope this for you. Check with the providers of your homeowner’s insurance (or providers of other types of insurance you have) to see if it’s appropriate for you to obtain, (and see if they offer) an umbrella policy, Errors & Omissions coverage, and/or Business Liability coverage. [You can also look into the various coverage packages offered to members of IDEA Health & Fitness Association. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) also offers insurance to its members. Check with them to see if becoming a member and getting their 3rd-party coverage is appropriate for you.] Depending on your training, and/or your prior or current education or license, you might also want to consult an attorney to see what is needed in your circumstances.

2. A Solid Revenue Model­ ­– Revenue models are a part of every entrepreneur’s successful business toolkit. Once put together, a yearly revenue model for your Wellness Coaching business will be a great resource for keeping yourself on track to reach your own levels of business success. A well designed revenue model will include: the revenue you are targeting to generate this year; prices for your various products and services; estimated expenses, and; how many of the specific products, group programs and individual services you will need to offer to meet that revenue goal. Looked at monthly, the revenue model will help you see what course correction you need to make to meet your revenue goals. [Be sure to use your key business resource  (#6 above…your Business Coach) to help you put your revenue model together.]

1. A Clear Vision, Mission & Marketing Plan – This is Business 101 and a great “course” to put yourself through whether you are starting or re-launching your Wellness Coaching Business. It occupies the #1 spot because there is no more powerful motivator to an entrepreneur than keeping his or her eye on the vision and mission of their business. Used as a resource, doing so repeatedly and consistently is invaluable. Well-crafted, these three components will remind you why you do what you do, what you are committed to, and how you will get the word out about what you do. Enlist the help and support of your Mastermind Group and your Business Coach as you create, sharpen, or polish this business resource. [Also use Loral Langemeirs 4-CD set, Building, Leading & Protecting Your Business, to guide you in your work on this.]

 

—Got additional resources in mind that you think other Wellness Coaches need to put in place? Let members of the community know in the comment section below.

 

To Your Wellth,

Erica

Say a Hearty Yes! to Your Wellness Coaching Business

“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 21st – 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

Time to Get off the Fence: 7 Tips to Simplify Decision-Making (Part 1 of 2)

Two cowboys sitting on fenceWe’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.

—–

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…

Wellness Coaches: What’s YOUR Brand of Overwhelm?

overwhelmed businesswoman

A Head-On Look at Overwhelm

If you follow the trends of “focusing on the positive”, it may seem odd to you that I’m illustrating this post with a photo of a business woman literally hitting her head against the wall and experiencing (what I imagine is) overwhelm. Instead, you might have expected that I’d use a photo of someone in a zen-like state and then hoped I’d go on to tell you how to attract that state. Nope.

Even though I incorporate the Law of Attraction into my work and life, I’m not much for skipping over what’s so and I’m really not much for trends. I’m more about what works and as far as I know, what works is always about first looking squarely in the eye of what’s so. So let’s talk Overwhelm.

What’s So

It’s a new year. You’ve got big plans for your Wellness Coaching business. You’ve printed out my 2011 Wellness Coaches planning calendar, looked through all 16 pages, seen the year’s worth of to do’s and gotten right down to it. You set your 2011 business vision, outlined your Q1 plans, started in on a huge list of marketing calls you’re committed to making, and you’re already juggling client work, writing blog posts and have outlined plans to develop new mp3 downloads.

Chances are, you have a ton of unread email in your in-box, a stack of juicy but unopened mail on your desk you’re dying to get to, and between it all you’re trying to fit in your own fitness routine!

(By the way, how’s your breathing right now? Just checking.)

You want to join a new networking group, spend more time on social media, order products, and sign up as an affiliate of your favorite big cheese. You also plan to hire a virtual assistant so you’ll be more efficient and work less hours. Of course you also have to place ads, read resumes and interview people… Whew!

How’d You Get Here?

Overwhelm. We’ve all been here. Some of us tend to hang around the place longer than others, but even the infrequent visitors know it well.  And while your brand of overwhelm is as unique as your thumbprint, it’s just about as likely as the sun coming up tomorrow that your version of overwhelm contains some element where you’ve lost your focus.

In fact, I’d bet on it. You probably arrived here at Overwhelm by trying to get your arms around the whole enchilada of your Wellness Coaching business all at once. So, slow down. Breathe. Focus in on just this post for now. We have work to do.

What You’ve Tried

When it comes to “Managing Overwhelm,” you’ve likely tried many ways of rearranging the external circumstances in your business and life to get “it” (as if Overwhelm were an entity) under control. Guess what?

You’re not overwhelmed because you need to work harder to manage your current activities. And we know you’re not overwhelmed because you’re slacking in your effort to try to get “Overwhelm” under control. You do plenty of both.

Neither task works because they’ve both got a faulty premise…they both assume that the content and circumstances of your life cause “Overwhelm.” Not so. “Out there” is not where you need to look.

Where the Work Needs to Be

You don’t “manage Overwhelm” by manipulating the external things in your life. Actually, you don’t “manage” Overwhelm at all, and you can’t “catch Overwhelm” from your To Do list. It’s not a virusas my friend, mentor, founder of The Gremlin Taming Institute and author of Taming Your Gremlin®, Rick Carson is fond of saying. Rick also says, Balance and Pleasure are primarily an inside job. This is key, as Balance and Pleasure are the opposite states of Overwhelm as far as I’ve experienced. Balance and Pleasure are the Big Kahuna of life. So let’s look more closely at that “inside job” of yours.

A Trip Inside You

The question is, what is your brand of Overwhelm? What’s involved when you do it? No, I’m not interested in those things outside of you that you consider to cause you Overwhelm. Those things could look the same or absolutely different for each one of us and some of us would or wouldn’t Overwhelm ourselves in response to them. I am interested in what you do on the inside of you. How do you overwhelm you? What do you do to you?

Actually, I’m inviting you to participate right here in one small component of Rick Carson’s powerful Gremlin-Taming® Method. I’ve studied and practiced the full method for years and teach it to my clients. Here, I’m inviting you to do as Rick taught me and Simply Notice.  Yes, I want you to Simply Notice how you Overwhelm you.

The Exercise (To be done when you’re alone and not driving.)

I’d like you to take a break right now and give yourself some time to do this exercise. Get comfortable to start. Turn the phone ringer off, put the cell phone away, and hang a privacy sign on the door. Great.

Let’s begin. Imagine I’m there with you right now.  I want you to Teach me how you Overwhelm yourself. Yes, teach me. Only you know how you do it. And until now, you probably haven’t been aware of how you do it. We’re going to shine a light on the whole mess right here, right now.

Notice every detail of you and your experience of overwhelm one by one. Do so as if you were writing a guidebook on how to create your brand of Overwhelm. Take big time to notice. Get into your best Overwhelm state. What are you doing to you? What are you doing with your neck? Your shoulders? Your jaw? Your eyes? What pray tell is going on in that mind of yours? What messages of exasperation are you chanting over and over again to yourself?

Notice I’m not asking you what the external circumstances are that you’re using as a reason to overwhelm yourself. Nor am I asking you what you think “causes” your overwhelmed state.  I’m asking you how you are overwhelming yourself. Only you do that to you. Exactly how, step by step, do you do this to you?

Go slowly. Play up, highlight, and exaggerate every smidgeon of the routine you go through.  Don’t judge, just Simply Notice.

Stay with it and see what happens.

Need an example?

Okay, I’ll do the same exercise I’m asking you to do, right here. This is risky because you might be tempted to try out my exact method for “Overwhelm.” Please don’t. You have your own way. That’s enough for one lifetime. So read “my way of Overwhelming me” at your own risk. Then be sure to do the exercise for yourself. Meantime, here’s a description of “my brand” of Overwhelm:

My No-Fail Step-by-Step Guide to Overwhelming Myself:

1. First look at every detail on my new 2011 business plan.

2. Now scan my entire To Do list for the week.

2. Be sure to open my eyes really wide. Then wider still.

3. Alternate this with a frown, squinted eyes & a wrinkled brow as I…

4. Dart my eyes around the room from one thing to the next. (Tricky, but heck, I’ve been practicing for 54 years.)

5. Make my focus go rather fuzzy so I don’t see any one thing very clearly.

6. Make my breathing very shallow or even better, hold my breath.

7. Scrunch up my shoulders.

8. Keep staring at the clock and internally remind myself how little time I have to do “it” all, whatever “it” is.

9. Keep telling myself I’ll never get to “it” all and that others are going to get “there” before I do.

10. Say aloud how overwhelmed I am. Repeat 10+ times per hour.

What Happens?

Once I’m aware of my brand of overwhelming myself, and I exaggerate it just a bit, until I really see how I’m making myself miserable, 99% of the time magic happens. The other 1% of the time I just have to stick with it a bit longer. But the magic always happens. It will for you too. More on this when you come back from doing the exercise.

Now It’s Your Turn

Go ahead. Head on back and do the exercise. Really. I’ll wait.

About the Magic

Good job. If you took the time to do this, and played it up big time, something happened after awhile. You likely noticed that, like magic, things shifted. Rick calls this phenomenon The Zen Theory of Change which he describes on page 10 of Taming Your Gremlin as: “I free myself, not by trying to free myself but by simply noticing how I am imprisoning myself in the very moment in which I am imprisoning myself.” It’s magic indeed.

Now What?

My number one recommendation for Wellness Coaches, and anyone else experiencing Overwhelm, is to take a breath, and Simply Notice how you overwhelm you right in the very moment you are overwhelming you.

It’s as simple, and yet as challenging, as that.

After You’re Centered Again…

The exercise above, truly a life-long practice, will take you quite far when next you Overwhelm yourself. When you come back to Balance, consider some of these tips for staying a bit longer in that Balanced state:

1. Breathe. Do it often:)

2. Put your focus on just one thing. Stay with that one thing for an extended period of time. Even if it’s 30 minutes. Just the one thing though. No distractions. No fuzzy focus on a million things at once (which is impossible anyway.)

3. Phone a colleague or shoot a quick email and declare that one thing you’ll be doing for the next half hour, hour, or more. (Make it short and sweet. Don’t get distracted with the call.) Tell them you’ll be leaving another message when you’re done. Or hire an accountability coach and do the same.

4. Take some time to re-look at your priorities. Frequently. Ask yourself: What’s important? Perhaps it’s time to revisit this, right now.

5. Get a copy of Crazy Busy by Dr. Edward Hallowell. Take your time and read it. (Jane Massengill, LCSW MCC, Director of the Gremlin-Taming Institute, told me of this book just days ago. I ran off and got a copy. I’m drinking it up. Thanks, Jane!)

6. Remember that “NO.” is a complete sentence. You can use it whenever you want to. Doing so makes saying “YES” to your priorities all the more delicious.

7. I’ll say this one again: Get Rick Carson’s book, Taming Your Gremlin®. Go slow. Read it for just 15 minutes a night before sleep. Go ahead. I dare ya. And if you already have it, re-read it, or grab the sequel, A Master Class in Gremlin Taming. Seriously. Read or re-read either one or both. Don’t let your Gremlin tell you this isn’t important. It is.

‘Til Soon,

Erica


Acknowledgments:

This post was born from your ideas. Many thanks for the requests and suggestions you sent or left in the comments on the We’re Refurbishing and Haven’t a Clue post. I appreciate you and your presence in the WellnessCoach.com community.

As you can tell, I ask you to bring your whole being, body, mind and spirit to the party when reading my posts or working with me. It’s a physical experience that you and I and all the other travelers on the planet have this go-round, and I make sure we work with that physical experience. My approach was first  built on years of study and practice of the Bio-Energetic work of Stanley Keleman at the Center For Energetic Studies in Berkeley, CA.

I have grown since then and my work has been deepened tremendously by the year-long studies I did at Rick Carson’s Gremlin Taming Institute in Dallas, Texas. My work and writing continue to evolve through the on-going studies I do with Rick to this day. As you can see in many of my posts, as well as when you work with me, I fully embrace Rick’s Gremlin-Taming Method®, weave it into all I do, and am honored to be doing this work in the world.

Thinking About Joy, Abundance & Well-Being

resting-at-apple-tree.jpgThere’s nothing new here. Truly. You’ve heard all of what’s in this post before. You already know the information, the concepts, and the ideas. So do I. But there are just times when I need a reminder. So I really wrote this one for me.

Joy. It’s not outside of you. Before my husband and I reached the millionaire mark, I thought doing so would make me happy. It did for a while, but the novelty wore off after a bit. I thought that when my health returned after an accident, that I would be happy. Again, it did for a while, but that joy was also temporary. And after years of inner work, meditation, therapy, and studies with world-known experts in the field of spiritual growth, I continually returned to that familiar statement “joy is within you, not in things outside you.” But did I really get it? I thought so. But maybe not…

Thinking I knew what to expect. For the past month or so, in preparation for a teleclass I’m teaching soon, I’ve been doing the abundance exercise presented in the Abraham-Hicks book, Money & The Law of Attraction. It’s the one where you get a check register and some checks that you aren’t using, and post “money” (imagined) into the checking account each day, increasing by $1000 each day. Then you “spend” that amount daily and actually write the check for things you will buy. To up the ante, and make myself “stretch” a bit, I began with $10,000, then “spent” that, added $20,000 the next day, and so on, increasing the amount added each day by $10,000.

At first, doing the exercise and “shopping” for stuff I wanted was fun and joyful. I actually felt like I had already purchased and ordered those things and they’d be coming in the mail any day. And I wrote the checks with no hesitancy, knowing that the next day there would be more money in the account, as if by magic, without my having to do anything. It was a feeling of freedom. And, after a few weeks of this, whenever I went to write “real” checks, from home or business accounts, I had a visceral experience of feeling the same freedom as I paid bills or bought things – no worries about investing right, the economy, or my businesses —  just knowing there would be more money in the account the next day. So far, so good.

Much more to learn. As I said, I’ve been doing this for a little more than a month now. So today in the exercise, I put the $400,000 amount I was up to into the account and chose to “buy” a condo on Maui. As I wrote the check for the condo, I had an odd feeling. A rather sad feeling actually. I couldn’t pinpoint it. So I stopped, took a breath, and sorted things out. What was the source of the sadness? What thoughts were present? Why wasn’t buying this condo bring me joy?

Ah. There it was. I wasn’t in a state of joy to begin with this morning. I wasn’t “buying” the condo from a place of joy. As I wrote the “check”, I realized that no matter what I bought, it wasn’t going to make me happy.

Now I’ve known this intellectually my whole life. But I didn’t know it as deeply as I do today. The money is just not going to make me happy. A new anything won’t make me happy. Perfect health, my spouse, the perfect career, or the perfect friends won’t either. Only I am going to make me happy.

This was sobering. I thought I knew this. I truly am a human in process, learning each day. I am sitting with today’s learning for now.

Just thought I’d share.

p.s. if you decide to give the exercise a whirl, let us know what happens…
p.p.s. “Most of you do not believe that it is your natural state of being to be well.”
— Abraham
Excerpted from the Abraham-Hicks workshop in Boston, MA on Sunday, October 20th, 1996

Cultivate Wellness By Keeping it Simple

bluewater-ripple.jpgWellness – a small word with big implications. So big, that some people are overwhelmed by the idea. Overwhelmed because they think they have to take big steps, make major shifts, and do so all at once, right now. It’s no wonder.

Just reading the front cover of a popular wellness magazine this morning, I saw admonitions that I, while reading this one issue, should: “Change the Way I Eat; Change the Way I Exercise; Improve My Meditation Techniques; Revamp My Yoga Practice; Hire a Personal Trainer; Achieve My Ideal Weight; Stay Calm.” Yikes!

Of course, you could get equally overwhelmed by reading every single post I’ve put on this blog and expect yourself to implement everything – and implement all of the tips all today no less. But that’s not the way I approach wellness in my own life, and it’s not the way I want to promote wellness here. I’m a big believer in keeping things meaningful and simple.

Keep it simple.
You can begin to make a difference in the wellness of your life and business with your next breath. You already have the blueprint for doing so within you. With simple attention and a commitment to your inner nature, you can begin today to uncover or rediscover that blueprint.

5 Simple Ways to Bring Wellness into Your Life

1. Honor your breath.
Right now. Without changing a thing, what do you notice about your breath? Is it shallow? Fast? Slow? Your breath is the source of your life. Taking time to notice it each day, in the midst of business and personal life tasks, is a powerful way to honor your inner nature.

2. Clarify your values.
What’s important? Personally and professionally, what do you value? Efficiency? Joy? Education? Recognition? Identify your Top 3 Values and post them on your calendar or dashboard. Refer to this list as you make choices throughout your day, especially the choices you know will impact your overall wellness level.

3. Make a mini-assessment in 1 hour. Assess your life, your business and your actions.
Are your values evident in your personal and professional life? Are you walking your talk? Take your Top 3 Values and spend an honest hour with yourself as you assess your life and business. Is there one small but high-leveraging change you can make? When and how will you do it? Go ahead. Shift something right now.

4. Discover what you love.
What makes your heart sing? What fills your soul at this stage in your life? Sometimes we get stuck in routines and wake up to find we are far away from doing what we love. Tame the Gremlin® that tells you that discovering what you love takes a lot of work. Keep it simple. If you had plenty of time and money, what would you be doing? Why? Take some time to write your answer (or speak it into a tape recorder). Find a way this week to start doing something you love. Review this tip often.

5. Focus on your strengths.
What do you do well? What comes easily? Are you overlooking any personal or professional strength that others see? List your Top 5 Strengths. Now ask 2 people (whose opinions you respect) to do the same for you—have them include any character attributes, business practices, or life skills they admire. Combine the information. Keep the final list handy and review your strengths often.

Bonus Tip: Read Something Inspirational
It’s amazing to me that the simple act of reading a short haiku, a small poem, an ancient fable, or an inspiring essay, can open up new space in the day. Find a collection of your old favorites, or discover a new one. Place Seven Sacred Attitudes® on your nightstand for easy morning or evening inspiration.

Invitation: Choose to take one of these simple tips and start cultivating wellness with your next breath!

Keep us posted: I haven’t done a few of these myself in awhile, so I’ll be looking at #5 today. How about you?

Blogging Well

blogger.jpgTime out from any overall wellness tips for a bit about blogging well. Now blogging’s not my area of expertise, and you’re not likely to see any future posts here about it, but I had to let you in on what I think it takes do do something well that isn’t your area of expertise.

1. Put an expert on your team.
Actually, put several on board. I hired blogging pro, Julie Hood, at YourBlogTeam (YBT) to help me get going and troubleshoot as I go. I also subscribe to some additional (and fabulous) bloggers’ feeds so I can learn a bit more. Namely, Liz Strauss, ChrisG, and Yaro Starak.

2. Acquire compelling & practical education that suits your learning style.
In this realm, I began the Teaching Sells journey last October. And now, I’m excited to embark upon another adventure, as you will see below. Thanks go to Edward Mills at EvolvingTimes.com, and Julie Hood at YBT, for pointing out what appears to be a promising resource:

Simpleology’s New Offer

I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

  • The best blogging techniques.
  • How to get traffic to your blog.
  • How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.

3. Practice, Practice, Practice
It’s what I’m doing as a blogger to learn to blog well (and btw, it’s also what I do in my own personal wellness regime.)

4. Get into a routine and rhythm
Be it blogging or a physical wellness routine, what rhythm suits you and what you are trying to achieve? Find one, stick with it, and experience the truth of what my friend, and author, Dan Millman says when he teaches that “Discipline equals Freedom.”

5. Evaluate & Course Correct
I’m learning this is key in the blog world, just as it is key in the wellness world. Implement, evaluate, tweak, implement again and so on.

Okay, enough tips about blogging well from a novice blogger. (btw, I hope you see these same tips apply to your personal wellness regime:)

So, what do YOU do to blog well? Love to hear it!