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🎤Speak Your Truth - the blog |
We're always selling.
Marketing our business, is obvious. Yet, we're always walking around selling our ideas to our friends, pitching ideas for social activities, selling loved ones on things we want to buy, do, or places we want to go. We sell all the time. Now that we agree on that, let's talk about how you can position yourself and your service or idea so that others will jump on board. Why do we complicate everything? Marketing is simple and so are business plans. You don't need to create some intense document that looks like an investment bankers spreadsheet to know what you do, who you serve, where you are and where you want to be. This week I was at a Marketing for Lawyers Conference a full day continuing legal education event in New York City. There were fabulous speakers sharing decades of experience in legal marketing for law firms. I was taken aback that the same exact principles I use to work with private clients in helping them grow their businesses and put their purpose work into the world, were shared by in house Chief Marketing Officers and private marketing consultants to Billion dollar firms. My take away: Everything is the Same and everything is different. When it's the same it's the same, when it's different it's different. Keep it simple. In other words, we complicate everything when really life is so simple. There are a simple set of marketing rules that apply to all -giant billion dollar law firms and individual service providers: 6 Simple Marketing Practices to Grow YOU and Grow Your Business: 1. Purpose 2. Mission 3. Strategy 4. Goals 5. Plan 6. Execution
Let's go in depth here...
1. Purpose: You need to know your WHY- why are you doing what you do? What is your calling - your Soul's Agenda on this planet in this lifetime? What are you so passionate about in your life that it feels so important to pull you forward? What is YOUR purpose? What is your business' purpose? OR what is the purpose of your proposition or proposal? Knowing what you want and why you want it is very important before you will be able to manifest it to spec! 2. Mission: What's your mission statement? Do you have one? Does your business have a mission statement? Do you have a mission? How is it connected to your businesses mission? Creating a powerful statement that secures your mission brings clarity to your strategy. It is a compass that directs all of your activities. This isn't written in stone. You can change your mission. Start somewhere. Your mission reflects what's important to you or your business - it reflects your values. 3. Strategy: You need to know where you'd like to be. If you don't have a business, yet you've got a pulse and desire for something in life- you need a vision. From that vision you need a strategy. As I borrow from others who've said this, "Hope is not a strategy." Even if you're having a baby. These days you've got a purpose, a mission, and you need a strategy. If you have a business- it's like having a baby. You need to chart your course. Often we get stuck at this point because we can only strategize from what we know. It helps to have support in all phases and especially this phase if you want epic success. You can only know what you know. Remember there are things you know you don't know and things you don't even know you don't know. "Stop thinking like you're a manager of your circumstances and remember you're a creator of your life." Tony Robbins 4. Goals: Once you have a strategy you create goals. Goals are step by step benchmarks. They're ideas with deadlines. They pull you forward and stretch you. You want your goals to be big enough to feel scary yet still at a level that you BELIEVE are achievable. 5. Plan: A plan is something you sink into. You create a plan (preferably with some guidance) to help you achieve your goals while staying in alignment with your strategy and always measuring whether it's in alignment with your mission -your values- and your purpose. 6. Execution: Taking action is the hard part for many people. You bump up against edges that are uncomfortable and here's where your beliefs, mindsets and paradigms are challenged. This is the critical step. Executing your plan means moving forward consistently celebrating successes and course correcting promptly when things are not working. Execution will test how thick or thin your skin is when it comes to failure and rejection. This is your opportunity to SHINE. It's where you get to transform old stories of who you think you are to step into who you are becoming. This is where your challenges become levers- not stopping points. If you're not moving at full speed. It's worth reaching out for help FAST. I watch people suffer needlessly when there is so much help available. A breakthrough is a STATE shift away. The starting place is to ask, "How attached to this state of ______ am I? How is it serving me?" (there is always a gain) Your next level of success is one decision away! Are you in? Let's talk. Stephanie ************************************************** Please share your comments below: Which of the 6 practices do you have the easiest time with? Which is most challenging and why? Plus: If you'd like to breakthrough and move forward more rapidly, on purpose and connected to your Inner Source of Power apply for a one on one Strategy Session and we'll have 30 minutes on the phone to help you get clear on your next best steps! (these are always breakthrough calls!) Apply Here Intentionally,
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Why do people say, "I'm sorry" when they've done nothing wrong?
If I share something that is challenging or that happened that's not pleasant and I receive a "I'm sorry" it tells me a lot about the person and if they're on my page with 'sorry.' In this circumstance, 'sorry' colludes with an idea there is something wrong. It robs me of the full experience to see the challenge as an opportunity. We as a collective need to give the word "SORRY" some much needed boundaries. The meaning of "I'm sorry" when someone apologizes conveys some level of responsibility. So how did it happen that we as a society say, "I'm so sorry" for someone's loss, or challenge when we had nothing to do with causing it? Here's what "sorry" subtly does: 1. Speaks to the person saying its subconscious mind that by 'being sorry' they are somehow doing something to lighten the load off the other person- so they're shifting responsibility from the person experiencing the trauma, sadness, loss or challenge to themselves in order to 'help.' 2. It disempowers the person experiencing the challenge because it removes full responsibility from them. By responsibility I am referring to the fact that we create our reality and as a matter of fact, every circumstance is an opportunity for some level of growth- spiritually, physically, emotionally... I'm not being cold. There is always space for support without 'being sorry.' I'm just putting forth the need for us to reevaluate how, why and when we use this loaded phrase. 3. And lastly when we say "Oh I'm so sorry" what we do is collude with someone else's story. Most of the time people share what they're experiencing or challenges for a few of the following reasons: sometimes purely to vent, sometimes to reinforce a disempowering story, and sometimes to express an underlying 'need' for love, support, attention, or validation. None of the above are bad. Part of surrounding yourself with people committed to saying what they mean and meaning what they say, or working one on one with a mentor/coach is you will be held powerfully. You don't get away with saying things that are just default from our conditioning. Most folks haven' stopped to question themselves and why they apologize to everyone for everything. So when a client of mine tells a story that is disempowering and comes from a place of need- or an old belief system, in a most supporting and soulfully loving way, I will stretch them to see how they are colluding with their old story, their old belief system, and their old way of reacting or responding. This empowers them to choose more meaningful words of influence. We are able to change our perception and see possibilities when we are empowered. We are also able to take responsibility for the challenges that show up in our lives. So one person asked, "What about when someone you love dies? How is this a challenge we are to take responsibility for?" Of course we are not the cause of this great loss. In a situation where someone is passing we have a whole lot to learn about the process of death and the spiritual gifts that are present. Grief from loss, trauma and tragedy offer us a way to deepen our relationship with Spirit and the energy of death. I'm writing this with the intention that we all become more aware of when we say "Sorry," how we say "Sorry," and WHY we say "Sorry." What could you say instead that conveys support, compassion, love and an opportunity for growth? Intentionally,
Are things changing in your life?
I hope you said yes things are changing. Things are always changing. How do embrace the change? In truth, change happens all the time. Transformation is the intentional using of change to turn one thing into something else. When it comes to your life and your challenges - the effects show up as things you don't want. Or less of what you want more of. "Transformation is the intentional using of change to turn one thing into something else." So how do you interrupt the cycle and create more of what you want and less of what you don't want? First, you choose transformation. That means life no longer is just happening to you, it's happening for you. ie. The reason you are stressed is not because you have no money. The very situation that may suck- money, business, relationship, ...the cause may seam like fear, or the bank, or the rent, or the mortgage or the place where you live, or the illness or diagnosis. The reason you are upset is not because that happened. That's never the cause. Those are effects. Including fear. Fear is an effect also. So how do you get to the true cause? First you must be willing. Without willingness you will never achieve what you want. You may be willing to DO certain things but if your inner program is set- your inner set point is creating your world and all the events and effects showing up in it colored by that inner hidden cause. If you're not getting what you want you have to be willing to get in there and find the inner hidden cause. Then what? Transform it. Be willing to intentionally choose to transform. Change will happen anyway. Why do most people shy away from transformation? It's not easy. It's often scary, It often sucks in the thick of it. It's painful. It often changes things and produces discomfort (at first). Sometimes our blocks are so intense (for some good reason) they don't allow us to undo them! That's when it's time to call in the surgeons (outside support). Energetic or psyche / psychic surgery is sometimes what we need. Why? Because you're brilliant and that block is there for a reason. It's protecting you from something your subconscious mind believes is true (danger) even if it's not. It's within your subconscious mind that lay the cause. The cause is what built the belief, and the belief is what keeps your program running the same no matter how much conscious effort you make to 'feel the fear and do it anyway.' I'm not saying transformation has to be this formidable idea. It can be 100% the opposite- pleasurable, enjoyable, enlightening, easy, fun, and orgasmic. Either way it can be chaotic and better yet why invest in help or a coach to help you create even more chaos? Right? A part of you knows when you choose transformation your life will change. Basic. But a part of you fears it's going to be uncomfortable and may 'rock the boat' in such a big way that "Why choose chaos voluntarily and pay for it nonetheless!" 3 Steps to Change Your Life with Empowered Transformation: 1. Acknowledge the sludge you're is carrying gold. Stop, drop and dig. When you're feeling bummed about something, maybe it's fear of never succeeding the way you want, or perhaps you feel you'll never get out of the soul sucking job and create your extraordinary life...whatever it is you're feeling. Realize it's happening for you. It's waiting for you to wake up and dig. Stop and contemplate your situation. Drop in and be willing to investigate for what's really causing things to be the way they are in your life. And dig for more answers. Dig until you find the real cause- not a link in the chain that's really an effect, but dig until you get to the cause. 2. Uncover and go deeper. There is a diamond under the gold. Even when you think you found the root, the cause, 98% of the times you have deeper to go. It may not be ready now...the diamond is still in formation. Humble your awareness to be shown what needs to be seen and be 'willing' to stop drop and dig when the diamond calls. What looks like sludge should now be glittering from a new perspective. 3. Take the diamond covered in grey and transmute that stone into a gem. When you have that diamond in your hands, the root, the cause the ever abundant producer of the effect show of your life, what do you do? You transmute it. It's transmuting all the time, creating seemingly new ideas and experiences- all produced by the same story teller. You want to change the story. From the root, the first link in the chain, you change the rest of the links and create a new experience. This is how you interrupt the chain of causation (the true law of causation in effect- pun intended) Each new experience with this transmuted story creates a new link and a new link until you have a new chain. And the effects in your life have changed, they reflect the new you who is becoming! You have transformed! And then you do it again. I'd love to hear comments below if you're willing to dig... Live Intentionally,
Do you know stress?
Stress is just information. Most people use it the wrong way. I meet so many people who are successful. They look successful that is. Yet truly, inside there is a whole other reality going on. Stress, overwhelm, feeling stuck, lack of confidence, not speaking the truth, feeling like there's no way out, there's no other options. Do you ever feel this way? Stress shuts down possibility and cuts off your masterful mind from resources and faculties available to you now, before and always. Life is telling you a story. You're constantly being given signs. Whether you hear them and decode them is another story. There are keys to unlock the code. I'm not undermining the intensity or saying it's not a painful or a hard situation. I am saying, you're being given signs- maybe through your physical body, maybe through outer experiences. There is something you are meant to find out and learn from this situation. Are you being told to make a change? You can lead the change or be led. Becoming more self aware is the first step to hearing your signs more clearly. This week, listen more closely. What could be a sign? ********************************************************************
In the spirit of GROWTH there is no starting over.
What if everything was a step in the right direction- even when it doesn't work out? When you carry a mindset of training, growing, compounding, adding on, you really don't see failure and you don't see change as stopping and starting over. Do you know it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an master? That's how Malcolm Gladwell portrays mastery in, "Outliers: The Story of Success." It's a wonderful read on what makes one person masterful and another person not. (highly recommend) I'm someone who has had a lot of careers for a woman in her early 40s. If I look back on what I've accomplished and what I'm focused on mastering I know the thread because I was intentional about continuing to add on to my expertise. Through various degrees, experiences, trainings and businesses I've started and succeeded in (and some not so successful), I approach each move, each shift in niche or market, each new city I relocate to, as a next step. It's easy to slip into the mindset of, "Here I am again starting anew." This isn't the most productive mindset. It signals to your subconscious mind that you don't have the resources you already have. Cognitively you know you have experience yet when you believe you're starting over your subconscious mind goes into starting over mode. Instead a more productive and forward moving mindset is, "How can I leverage my skill and position my talent to continue to add on to my expertise so that I'm on track for mastery?" Sure some parts of change will mean starting over. It's not always without challenge. The key is at some point decide what you're gifted at. Take that thing and no matter where you find yourself, be it in a new job, a new business, a new relationship, a new city, and continue honing that gift, applying new skills, new levels of success, and by the 10,000th hour, you'll attain mastery. The key to mastery is practice. Practice is the only constant on the path of mastery. Once you have your gift/talent clarified, and you can see in retrospect how it has shown up in most of your experiences, (sometimes it's up to you to be a little creative to find it), intentionally commit to moving forward honing that talent no matter what your next step is. If there is an aspect of that path that you don't like or feel you're that good at, don't be so quick to dismiss it as 'not your natural gift.' A masterful athlete who is not strong in the abdominal's will become strong through practice and training. By becoming strong in the abs, they become better at their sport because naturally a strong core enhances all level of fitness. If you're not good at sales for example, it doesn't mean you can't become good at sales. If mastering another part of your business requires sales, in the beginning you have to practice sales. When you practice what you're not good at, you become better. With more time you become even better. It's the LAW of Mastery. What's something you could clock close to 10,000 hours at so far in this lifetime? How about 4,000 hours? What about talking? How about running? A musical instrument? Gymnastics? Writing? Sales? Personal development? If I approached my life as stopping and starting over I'd never amass skill or mastery in anything. Instead keep the clock running and be intentional in applying your talent. Ten thousand hours isn't that far off. It's a decision away.
Connect with Stephanie:
Are you feeling stuck or disconnected from what, when, where and how? What's your next move? How can you be more purposeful, perform better, earn more income, feel confident and ready to embody your next level of success? Whether it's your business that needs an overhaul, upgrade or tweak, or it's time for a big change, I can help you achieve an extraordinary outcome. Request a complimentary no obligation Breakthrough Session with Stephanie by answering this brief questionnaire. |
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