Feb 12
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7 Signs of Self-Sabotage
7 Signs of Self-Sabotage
By Terri Levine
Are you having trouble reaching all your goals? Or perhaps you are feeling blocked from going forward, or indulging in procrastination more than you should. If there is no outside source holding you back… perhaps you are doing it yourself. You may be a victim of self-sabotage.
Here are seven signs that you may be sabotaging yourself:
- Negative thinking and focus.Problem: Do you verbalize all the things you feel are going wrong in life, that are getting in your way and annoying you? This is like openly confirming all the negativity, so no wonder you feel unambitious.
Action: Focus instead on the things that are going right. Ask yourself what is going well in life. Notice all the things, no matter how small, that are working well. Keep an evidence journal and each day write down everything that is working. You must change your thinking.
- Being Afraid.Problem: Do you worry a lot about the future and what is going to happen or might happen? Are you thinking about your fears so much that you are paralyzed and take no action because of fear of what might occur?Action: Focus on the present. You can’t control or predict the future or other people’s behaviors. Ask yourself “What is the worst thing that could happen?” Then, let go and know that it isn’t in your hands to control the future and that rarely do the scenarios we create in our heads occur. Relax, breathe and trust that the Universe will take care of you – it always does. Even if you don’t get what you want, you get what you need!
- Feeling Worthless.Problem: Do you forget all your achievements sometimes and just lack self pride in your work? If you stew about the past or your lack of success, then you’ll be focused on how much you lack as a person. If you are self-critical and find it difficult to accept compliments, you clearly have a self-love issue to deal with. Feeling worthless will hold you back.Action: Choose to notice what you do that is good and that you can be proud of – even if it is small. Keep a log of things about you that you feel good about and are proud of, then when that inner voice starts bringing you down with negative self-talk, stop it, read your log if you need the reminder, and tell yourself all the good things about yourself. Every day at the end of the day find as many things as you can on which to compliment yourself. Notice all the small successes as well as the large and start accepting those compliments!
- Self-ComparisonProblem: No matter how many times we are told, we invariably find ourselves comparing ourselves with others… we do it spontaneously when we have to shape up to competition. It becomes a problem though when you are constantly comparing yourself with others and finding yourself “less than”, which does nothing for your self esteem or motivation!Action: If our designer had wanted us all to be the same, guess what? We’d all be the same. Clearly we are not expected to be clones of each other and we are different for a variety of reasons. In your log write a list of things you like about yourself, things that make you different in a good way. List ways in which you excel – why would you rather be you than somebody else. Next time you feel tempted to compare yourself, stop and think about these great things about yourself.
- Meeting goals and losing them.Problem: Do you often think that you don’t deserve to succeed or reach your special goals? Why do you think that? Why do you think that you are not good or deserving enough?Action: Start with a list of things you have accomplished and then experienced them fading away. In what way did they bring you satisfaction and how did they make you feel? Identify the self belief you have that says you can’t have what you want. If, for whatever reason, you do not believe you deserve a goal, establish a new belief – a bridge belief. Start by writing down how you felt when you had first accomplished the goal, and then write how you feel now without it. Now write a “bridge” belief – that is a belief that is a step up from what you currently feel right now. Each week amp up the bridge belief. Using a very easy example, this would be something like, “I had lots of money and lost it and I’m so useless I just don’t deserve more money.” For you, to believe you’ll be a millionaire might be too large a stretch, so your bridge belief might be: “I make more money easily and I deserve to earn more for my efforts.” Then the week later: “I make a lot of money very easily and I deserve it.” Each week, create a new bridge, that you can really believe. In this manner, you’ll shift your limiting beliefs slowly but surely.
- Chase away relationships.Problem: Do you distance yourself from others, or find you are constantly finding fault with significant others, or feel something is missing?Action: Start by creating a list of the qualities you value in a relationship and the qualities you want to attract in your partners. Cultivate connections you have with people. Express what you want and don’t want to the other person and allow them to express the same to you. Create time to acknowledge the other person on a regular basis. Focus on what feels good about the relationship and remind yourself of that when the doubts appear. Many people have doubts; they just don’t let them rule their lives or their relationships!
- No purpose.Problem: Do you feel you have no reason for being? No purpose in life? This is common and even the most successful people are seeking out their purpose in life.Action: Write down all the things that are important to you (possessions, people and feelings). Then write out what you want to contribute to the world. From your writing, create a statement of purpose for yourself that you can read every day. Make regular contributions to people and community. Volunteer to an organization in your community. All volunteers will tell you that they get more out of it than they feel they give!
Keep a list of positive statements about YOU on your fridge so you see them every day. Start to like yourself more and know that you have a right to be here and a right to share in the happiness and success along with everyone else!
Terri Levine, The Business Mentoring Expert, specializes in helping entrepreneur-owned businesses achieve record breaking growth. Based in Philadelphia, Terri is founder and CEO or Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., The Professional’s Coach Training Program. She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, and in more than 1,500 publications. She is the best-selling author of Sell Without Selling, Coaching is For Everyone, and Stop Managing Start Coaching. Learn more at http://www.TerriLevine.com. Contact Terri at Terri@TerriLevine.com.
By Terri Levine
Whether you work in a large corporate office or manage a home business, despite advances in technology, you probably work as hard today as you did three to five years ago and put yourself at the bottom of your list of priorities. You’ll take time out for yourself when… and there are a list of conditions you have that will signal when that time is right at some unknown future date. Am I correct?
If you honestly believe that everything hinges on you, and this justifies to you your decision to do everything yourself and to try and be all things to all people, you are placing huge and unnecessary demands on your time and energy. How can you serve others and stay on the top of your game if you are run down and tired?
There is only one way to achieve peak fitness for the task and that is to take care of yourself. There is no magic pill that can replace self-care. And an important part of self-care is ensuring your life is balanced. This goes beyond the simple work/life balance concept and involves you serving yourself as much as you serve others in your life and work.
Kelsey Howard is MentorOnlineMagazine (MOM’s) first official editor intern. This is Kelsey’s first article. Please let her know what a great job she did on her very first attempt. I am very pleased to help Kelsey advance as an online editor, so she can get to New York City! — Tamara Patzer
Five Techniques to Organize Your Life
By Kelsey Howard, MOM Editor Intern
Often throughout the day most find themselves wondering, “How can I become more organized?” because we see the disorganization in our lives as a setback. Here are five tips that will lead you in the right direction for a more organized and simple lifestyle.
Purchase a planner!
This may seem simple, but purchasing a planner can be harder than it looks. Countless times I have received a planner and vowed to record important dates and too many times I have failed. I first started out with a free planner that was provided by my school and I found myself questioning where I last placed it and neglecting to write down assignments and important dates. After wasting several free planners, I decided that maybe if I had a planner I liked, it would help me to use it. Even better was the fact that I spent my own money on a planner. I purchased a two-year Vera Bradley planner for $36. I know that $36 is costly for an organizer, but the benefits have been tremendous. I purchased a planner with a design I loved, one that provided me with fun and unknown holidays (July 30th is Cheesecake Day!), and one that would fit my lifestyle perfectly. This meant including months, semesters, and daily calendars to write on. I now carry my planner with me everywhere and constantly find myself checking it to see what school or work assignments are coming up or if I am free to spend time with friends.
Designate a space!
We often find that our life at home, school, and work becomes cluttered very easily. It is important to have a room, or even just an area, designated to you. Disorganized rooms can become a reason that individuals prefer to work outside of their home. I usually find myself studying or writing at my local Starbucks. I know I can’t afford a $4 Latte every time I need to study for a test or write an article, so I have designated an area in my room to be an uncluttered “me space.” I have a large desk, computer chair, printer, and office supplies there. I also have a desk calendar on the top of my desk so that I can easily see my schedule. You don’t want your space to be boring, but to reflect on you as a person. It is my dream to one day live and work in New York City so above my desk is a picture of the Manhattan skyline, a desk lamp with “New York City” written across it, and most importantly I have framed photos of my family and friends. Make sure that anything you incorporate into your work space brings a positive attitude to your life.
Keep Track of Your Family!
If you have a family, live with a roommate, or have ever lived with another person at some point in your life, then you know how hard it can be to keep track of others schedules as well as your own. Whether you live with a parent, a significant other, kids, or all three, then this “family binder” will come in handy for you! Keep track of important dates for each family member in the household, so that all it takes is a quick glance to see what needs to be done each day. Each person in the family binder should have their own section to write dates as well as a combined section where each person should write dates. This allows for each person to be organized as well as allowing the family to make time for each other and extracurricular activities. This planner can be made using word processing software.
Envision your goals!
People who see their goals in some way throughout the day are twice more likely to complete their goals than those who do not. For instance, because my goal is to work in N.Y.C., I have pictures on my desktop, on my walls, and on my desk and I am making sure that I take every step necessary in order to succeed. Find a place that you look at each day. This could be your computer, desk, refrigerator, or anywhere else. Then find a picture that represents your main goal. This could be anything from a classroom, if you desire to be a teacher, or a pair of running shoes, if you want to make more time for exercise. Make sure you post your visual in a way that makes it interesting and fun!
Set a routine!
It is no good to keep a planner or family binder if you don’t look at it once in awhile. Make sure you make it a point to glance at your planner every day. Every morning when I wake up I check my planner to see what I need to do that day. Choose the time of day that is most convenient for you. Whether this is in the morning, while you eat your breakfast or at night after a day of work, make sure you do this repetitively so that it soon becomes a routine for you. This will help you to keep a clear head and an organized lifestyle throughout the day.
If you start by implementing these techniques into your everyday life it will soon become automatic and you will see yourself slowly becoming organized in different ways as well.
Kelsey Howard
Kelsey Howard is Mentor Online Magazine (MOM) editor intern. She will be taking the reins of MOM until May 2012, so let’s give her plenty of help and feedback, so she can become a great magazine editor and mentor.
It’s mid-January, so I am wondering how everyone is doing with their resolutions? Are you on track? Are those promises long forgotten? Read Terri’s article today and let me know what you are going right now to keep your life moving forward. It’s 2012! Let’s make it the best year yet! – Tamara Patzer
By Terri Levine
Honestly, you can be setting yourself up to fail by making New Year resolutions! We are our own worst critics and taskmasters, and nobody can make us feel more guilty for not keeping our word than ourselves.
We make New Year resolutions in all solemnity, determined that this year, this time, we will have the gumption to actually achieve them. But things happen. We begin to procrastinate, because our goals are overwhelming… stressful… we find we’re out of our depth… the resolutions slip away… we hate ourselves, because once again, we have let the team down (ourselves).
Sep 11
7
Subscribe and get chance to win ‘Ask Tami: Logbook of 365+ Social Media Tips, Tricks and Tools’
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AUTOGRAPHED BOOK
If you want to be one of the very first people to get an autographed and numbered copy of “Ask Tami: Logbook of 365+ Social Media tips, Tricks and Tools” by Tamara Patzer and Kristina Blasen, just subscribe to MOM. If you want to increase your odds of winning, just comment on the articles as you read them.
It’s Triple T Thursday, and Kristina is back with some great tips to help deal with stress. Take a deep breath and enjoy the next few minutes and be sure to take me up on my invitation at the end of the article. Thanks, Tamara Patzer, publisher of MentorOnlineMagazine.com
Stressed? Just Desserts, please!
By Kristina Blasen
I saw a quip on Facebook today to remember that Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts…of course, the problem with constant stress may be that it leads to too many desserts!
Seriously though, in these rough economic times everyone I know seems to be under more and more constant STRESS.
We all know how terrible stress is on our lives, but do we really think about the toll it takes.
The obvious is that too much stress is bad for our health, we gain too much weight, we can’t sleep, people take up bad habits like smoking or drinking too much, we are less productive at work, and quicker to snip and snipe at home, some people even start having anxiety and panic attacks.
It’s been a wild few weeks here at MentorOnlineMagazine.com. I want to thank YOU for subscribing and adding your voice to MOM. Today, Kristina Blasen shares a powerful way to start your week. Take a few minutes and read it, think about it, and apply it. Have a happy bright beginning to your week and tell your friends about MOM! Thanks, Tamara Patzer, Publisher of MOM.
By Kristina Blasen
I can’t say this enough, surround yourself with positive people
who believe in you and support your success 100%
and AMAZING things will start to happen!
The Power of Belief
There is a POWER in belief. When other people believe in you and support you in succeeding and working towards you dreams it empowers you to achieve more than you ever dreamed you could. When you know you have people who will stand for you and help you, you are then empowered to believe in YOURSELF more than you ever thought you could which then leads you to do more, try harder, dream bigger, work around the obstacles and to persevere far above and beyond what you ever thought you were capable of BECAUSE you know others believe in you and are counting on you and hoping for you to succeed.
This “power” supports you when you start to question and doubt yourself and your dreams. Think about it, it is hard to believe in our own success IN THE MOMENT when things aren’t going well, but when we have a GROUP of people who believe in and support us, their belief can act as the bridge we need to keep going when things aren’t going great. After all, success is often JUST AROUND THE CORNER! We tend to give up when we are 90% there because we are tired and because so many of us have a tendency to sabotage our own success through FEAR.
Find Your Supporters
We all know this is true, but we forget. It really does matter who you choose to be around in your day to day life. If you choose people who see the world as against them, who believe something “bad” is going to happen, who have a mentality that there is never enough (time, money, happiness) to go around, then you will see the world through the lens of their beliefs about how the world works. When you talk with these people, not only is the glass always half empty, but all the sudden YOUR ENERGY feels like a balloon with a hole in it that is slowly deflating. We’ve all been around people like that! The key is to spend LESS TIME with the negative group of people (whether they are friends, co-workers, family members) who are negative and spend MORE TIME with the people who are positive and supportive of your dreams. You can build a pyramid of success that can support and sustain you as you work day by day to build the life you dream of!
Do you have someone who always makes you feel a little better, a little brighter, a little more hopeful after you talk to them? Do you have someone who thinks about things differently from you, so they are great to call and get advice from since they can see the parts you’d never think of? Do you have someone who no matter how wild or wacky your latest idea or dream they will support and encourage you?
Who are the people that can be part of your PYRAMID TO SUCCESS?
Here is a visual of what these loving and supportive people are really doing for you and in helping you achieve your dreams:
G I V E R S
Do you see it?
(It may be your dream, but look at all the people who play a part in making you a success!)
AMAZING, huh?
Become a Mentor and Help Others Succeed
The best part is, you can do this for people too! BE the person who is supportive, helpful, who offers calm and balanced advice, the shoulder to cry on, the hand to hold, the one who can elicit a laugh in the most stressful of times, the behind the scenes sanity-saver…by giving you will only learn and receive MORE in your own life! In other words, be a MENTOR!
Be a Cheerful Giver
Mentoring, and MOM is all about being a cheerful GIVER. Someone who helps and mentors others as a way to give back, even if not directly, to all those that “invisibly” help others to achieve their life dreams. Start creating your PYRAMID for SUCCESS today, if you don’t have a group to support you, you want to start looking for and cultivating the friends, acquaintances, co-workers and anyone else you come across who makes you feel good about yourself and your dreams and before you know it, AMAZING RESULTS will appear as you work on and achieve your goals and dreams, instead of giving up or ignoring the real dreams when you lose belief that they are possible.
BELIEVE
YOU CAN ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS.
YOU CAN BUILD THE LIFE YOU WANT.
YOU CAN BECOME THE AMAZING SELF YOU SEE IN YOUR MIND’S EYE.
HELP WILL BE GIVEN WHEN YOU ASK FOR IT, ARE OPEN TO RECEIVING IT AND ARE WILLING GO LOOKING FOR IT!
My life’s journey is about helping others to realize their potential, to mentor others and encourage their dreams to become reality, to help others grow, to offer counsel and support, to offer a helping hand and is realized by being a catalyst for change.
Kristina Blasen is a transformative life coach. She specializes in working with teens and adults to help them discover their life purpose and create a plan to turn their dreams into reality. She believes strongly in radical change! Do you need radical change in your life? She may be reached at: the.next.level.life.coach@gmail.com
~Kristina Blasen
Posted in Issues Mentor Monday Mentors MOM by .
A-C-T-I-O-N has been on my mind a lot lately and Kristina Blasen really drives home the point of the power of the human mind and spirit in this Motivation Monday article. Pay close attention to the tips she provides here. Take a few minutes to re-vision your life. Report back and let us know how it’s going for you. Watch for a recorded interview with Kristina Blasen this week. Kristina is my first guest on Ask Tami: Mentor Online Magazine.
By Kristina Blasen
I was thinking today about “Motivation Mondays” here at MOM and why you’d need some extra motivation…especially on a MONDAY…after the weekend…
Might that be a sign that you aren’t doing whatever you feel deep inside you that you are SUPPOSED to be doing Monday through Friday when you are stuck at the J-O-B where you’re bored and unhappy?
Uncovering the Hidden Blueprint for Your Life’s Purpose
By Kristina Blasen
Do you know what the real difference is between YOU and those OTHER people, you know, the super successful ones you catch yourself feeling jealous of, the ones you think have life SO EASY? (They don’t, they just have a different strategy and it is working for them.)
You can get what they have!
The difference is that they know their LIFE PURPOSE and they consistently take ACTIONS to make things happen. Every. Single. Day. They take ACTION on their ideas. They create and complete tasks all leading to a GOAL and a series of GOALS add together to create a life that matches their PURPOSE.
Your Life Purpose should drive every single thing you do. You need to know your purpose so well that you won’t need to think about it or look at it written down; you need to know it so well that if someone woke you up in the middle of the night you could tell them without even thinking about it. It should be like your ABC’s, you KNOW them!
Think about it!
Without a direction, how will you know where you are going?
Posted in Experts Issues Mentors MOM Triple T Thursday by .
I am excited to introduce you to Terri Levine, a new addition to Mentor Online Magazine’s mentor expert team.Terri Levine, The Business Mentoring Expert, specializes in helping entrepreneur-owned businesses achieve record-breaking growth. Based in Philadelphia, Terri is founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., The Professional’s Coach Training Program. She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, and in more than 1,500 publications. She is the best-selling author of Sell Without Selling, Coaching is for Everyone and Stop Managing Start Coaching. I am very pleased to announce that Terri will be featured twice monthly here at MentorOnlineMagazine.com. As I have promised from Day 1, MOM is here for you and MOM will continue to grow and bring you the best mentoring advice available. Sincerely, Tamara Patzer, creator and publisher of MentorOnlineMagazine.com. Subscribe! It’s free!
‘Do What You Love and Love What You Do’
By Terri Levine
Doing what you love and getting paid for it may seem like a pipe dream in today’s challenging economic climate, where many people are lucky to have a job, let alone a job they love. Yet more and more people are dismissing the traditional workforce mode of income-earning and choosing instead to wear their own “Boss” cap, working for themselves, and doing what they love to do. Today’s generation enjoys an entrepreneurial spirit and not only do they not expect a job for life, especially with the same company, they anticipate doing their own thing and enjoying true work-life balance into the bargain.
Then there are those whose foray into self-employment stems from necessity. The day of secure employment for life, especially with the same company, has gone the way of the dinosaur. With companies downsizing and outsourcing overseas, the jobless are hapless and self-employment can sometimes be their only constructive option.
Then there are the baby boomers coming out of retirement, thanks to a global economy playing havoc with their retirement plans and investments. This time round, this generation must also employ some entrepreneurial creativity and find new ways to earn an income.
But can just anybody start their own business and work from home and be their own boss? Sure they can. Do they need a business degree? No… although some knowledge is obviously beneficial. Does it matter how old you are? No, clearly not when people from every generation are doing it. Do you need money to start? That depends on the business you want to set up, and there are options for small business loans if you really need it.
So, how do you know what business to set up to ensure success? Easy… do what you love. When you do what you love to do, you will never work another day in your life and what efforts you do take will not feel like effort. Wouldn’t you love to be paid for doing something that feels like a hobby?
It’s possible, and how do I know this? Well, I work with clients who do this, but probably the most convincing reason would be because I have done this myself for years and continue to do so. I am a living, walking example of successful career reinvention, doing what I love and loving what I do.
I started out as a Speech Pathologist, a career choice based on my passion and desire to help people. Cutting a long story short, after several career changes that saw me rise up through the ranks in corporate America to become a high-flying executive earning a six figure income with all the trappings, I looked at my life one day and didn’t like what I saw. My life was all about career and money. I had no other life as such. And definitely no work-life balance. I had lots of money and lots of stress. And was I loving what I did? No. But I was paid incredibly well to be so miserable!
It dawned on me one day that there had to be more to life, and that’s when I decided to toss in my prestigious, high paying career for something different. Something that would fulfill more important needs while still providing that very necessary income. Of course, my family thought I had gone totally bonkers and tried desperately to talk me out of it. Even well-meaning friends were convinced I had lost my mind and was headed for ruin.
I stubbornly ignored the nay-sayers and found myself training for a new career that really resonated with me, that I loved and that fulfilled all my needs. I threw away everything that was not providing a fulfilling life and trained to become a coach.
I hired my own coach to help me through the transition, because what I was doing was pretty daring for those days. However, choosing a career that really resonated with who I was has meant that I now wake up every day doing what I love and loving what I do. Don’t get me wrong. Just choosing a career that resonates with you does not guarantee success. Huge success is rarely handed to you on a plate. You have to put in equal amounts of effort, but again, when you are doing something you love, it doesn’t feel like work and it makes succeeding just that little bit easier.
From a corporate high-flyer, living a life of stress and dissatisfaction, I morphed into a certified Master Coach and I became the CEO and Founder of two leading coach training programs, Comprehensive Coaching U and The Coaching Institute. But I didn’t stop there. I now hold a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior. I’m also the author of ten books, including an international bestseller Work Yourself Happy, Sell Without Selling, Coaching Is for Everyone, and Stop Managing Start Coaching which reached #6 on Amazon.
I live in the Philadelphia metro area and share my business growth strategies with companies and entrepreneurs large and small across eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with my focus on service professionals such as chiropractors, dentists, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, financial planners, personal trainers, dietitians, psychiatrists, speakers, authors, florists and restaurant owners. My passion is helping “stuck” entrepreneurs break through their barriers and find overlooked income opportunities and unlock new sources of revenue.
I lead a busy and rewarding life and I still enjoy an impressive income for doing something that really does not feel like work to me. And this is how I know anybody can achieve this and just about anything else their heart desires, be that business or career growth, personal reinvention, financial success, improved productivity, work and life balance…
Does this sound like you but you don’t know where to start? Ponder this then. If money were no object, what would you do with yourself? Now take that activity and ask yourself the next question: How can I make money from this?
Terri Levine, The Business Mentoring Expert, specializes in helping entrepreneur-owned businesses achieve record-breaking growth. Based in Philadelphia, Terri is founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., The Professional’s Coach Training Program. She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, and in more than 1,500 publications. She is the best-selling author of Sell Without Selling, Coaching is for Everyone and Stop Managing Start Coaching. Learn more at http://www.TerriLevine.com. Contact Terri at terri@terrilevine.com
Note from the publisher: WOW! Now that was powerful! Please ask yourself the two questions: “If money were no object, what would you do with yourself? How can I make money from this? Now, please comment and welcome Terri Levine to MentorOnlineMagazine.com
Posted in Experts Issues Kristina Blasen Mentor Monday Mentors MOM Terri Levine by .
It’s Triple Thursday at MentorOnlineMagazine.com. I would like to introduce you to Laura Berger, a new mentor expert at MOM. Laura shares her intimate story of her struggle with an identity crisis that led to her to self-discovery. Join me in welcoming Laura Berger to MOM’s warm embrace. On this special day, embrace your personal power and take a step toward discovering your life purpose. Thank you, Tamara Patzer, publisher of MentorOnlneMagazine.com P.S. Please subscribe and share MOM with your friends and families!
Who is Laura Berger- Outside of Her Accomplishments and Titles?
My journey to self-discovery was revealed to me while living in the jungles of Costa Rica.
Trapped between fear and desire, my husband and I moved to what we thought would be paradise. The desire to be bold, throw caution to the wind and go against the grain was the main reason we left corporate America in our 30s to follow our dreams.
One of the ultimate ironies I encountered was that living in paradise took a tremendous adjustment. I was so wrapped up in who I was – or thought I was – in my profession and my accomplishments. I experienced an identity crisis. My sense of self worth came from my work, my independence and intelligence and I had walked away from it all.
Shredded to Pieces:
In the spirit of being transparent, I thought that I would share with you my journal during the darkest moments of not knowing and loving me for me.
New Years Eve: 2006:
“I feel like a piece of paper that has just gone through a shredder. There is no way to put the pieces back together. Can I sort through which piece belongs where, to make the paper (me) look as if it was never shredded? Realistically, the remains and evidence of this shredded paper will exist forever until perhaps it disintegrates. Is it possible for this paper to be repaired back into something more durable or does it need some kind of support to assist in its strength? Where is this support? Where did I go and who am I now?
I had come to think of myself as a piece of paper that had been wadded up, thrown away and eventually shredded- of no value.
How Can You Learn to Love Yourself Beyond Your Achievements & Titles?
- Create the shift: Imagine looking through a kaleidoscope and continuing to shift the lens to see what new shapes and patterns form. How do you feel while looking into a kaleidoscope when it is completely black? Is this how you feel when stripped of your achievements? As you move the lens several degrees, begin to envision what colors represent you – be it love, courage, inspiration, fearlessness and see what you have created—a rainbow of beautiful colors and patterns that embody you.
- Give yourself permission to receive: You cannot love yourself if you do not feel worthy of receiving –period! Practice receiving by making one request for help or support per day. Do something you have always wanted to do for yourself but have never done. Allow others to nourish you!
- Design The Empowered You Memoir: Begin to document your happiness, courage, freedom or other positive aspects of your personal life. These could be moments of joy that you experienced by yourself. Keep this separate from a journal that you may already have. The Empowered Memoir not only represents the POWERFUL YOU, but can be shared with loved ones, such as your children or parents.
As Oprah said, “the biggest breakthrough in life is to find your purpose”. The wonderful news is that since 2006, I have come to know and love myself, a pre-requisite to identifying one’s purpose. I am courageous and empowered.
Coupled with real-life takeaways from my life abroad and my senior-level corporate experience, I look forward to supporting, advising and providing step-by-step action plans that enable women’s achievement in the workplace and in their personal and professional relationships.
The Professional Side:
Laura is an Executive Advisor and Founder of The Berdéo Group. She is also Director of Corporate Programs at Tiara—Exceptional Women’s Coaching.
She provides cutting-edge perspectives that enable women’s achievement in the workplace and in their personal and professional relationships.
Organizations with a hunger to retain, and advance their top female talent, partner with Laura for women’s leadership development and coaching programs. She takes great pride in assisting captains of business to bring value and creativity to their organizations.
Coupled with real-life takeaways from her life abroad and her senior-level corporate experience, Laura brings her concepts to audiences with metaphors that inspire “a-ha” moments.
An authority on women’s workplace & leadership development issues, all of Laura’s articles and speaking engagements support, advise and provide step-by-step action plans to succeed both in an entrepreneurial and corporate environment.
Her cutting edge perspectives have been featured as top stories in national publications.
Posted in Experts Issues Mentors MOM Triple T Thursday by .
The reception to MentorOnlineMagazine.com has been tremendous. Thank you. As promised, MentorOnlineMagazine.com brings you wise friends, advisors and mentors. I would like to introduce you to Victoria Burse, one of MOM’s new mentor experts. Victoria shares her story of discovering that sometimes it isn’t the place you are at, or the job, but it’s you who needs to change. Read and learn this valuable lesson today! Welcome, Victoria.
By Victoria Burse
I remember well, it was 12 years ago. I worked for an institute of higher learning in Georgia. I had what most would consider a good job with good pay. In fact, I had begun working only four days per week – 32 hours. I loved having the three-day weekends, and some money to spend during them. However, it was also about this time I began feeling a bit restless on the inside. I could not quite put my finger on it, but I did know it was job related. I could not determine whether or not I was tired of what I was doing, or tired of where I was doing it. I’d been employed at the university for about nine years, and really had no complaints. Either way, I was unsettled enough that I began to ask myself some serious questions, and to pray about making a change. I did so for several months, but – to no avail. It seemed like I could not come up with an answer that made that unsettled feeling go away. The truth was that I was looking for the entire picture to be drawn out in front of me, instead of being able to focus on just the “next step.”
Change
After some research, and some consultation with the other key people in my life, I decided to do the following: to leave my place of employment, and start my own business. Even though I did not know it was the right answer at the time, I did make the decision to trust what was in my heart, and take a leap of faith. Now, 12 years later, I can say it was the best move I ever made. Why – well there are several reasons, but first let me go on with the story a bit.
While I am still an entrepreneur, I do not still operate the very first business I started. It failed. In fact, I am now on my third and fourth businesses simultaneously. My second business, a Professional Development Training Company, fared well for about four years; however, the economy went into a dive after 9-11 in New York, and the need for corporate trainers went along with it.
Full Circle
In 2004, I actually returned to the same university I had left, and am currently employed there today. Some would say, this sounds like I made a bad move, and then ended up right back where I started. Not true, here is what I have found to be the case.
A leader was being birthed within me. This preparation for leadership began with leading my own company and basically myself, because it was only me – I was self-employed. I had to learn how to manage my own time and tasks well – and especially, my finances. At the height of my time with my second business, I employed 12 contract trainers. What an experience that was. I think my greatest hurdle was learning to trust myself to choose someone to go out somewhere and represent me well. You see, I had also learned that self-employment was not what I desired, but business ownership. Now that comes along with the capacity to reproduce myself and my services; with confidence. I also had my first experience of having an employee not do such a great job for a customer, and having to deal with that aftermath. While it was one of the things that I feared the most, in the end, it was not half as bad as I had imagined it might be.
A change in ME
Last, I will say, that upon returning to the university – while many things there were exactly the same as when I left, one thing was certainly different. ME. I had changed and grown so much. I had learned to live when finances were flowing, and when they were very slow coming in. I had learned not only to take full responsibility for myself and my actions, but to do so for other persons who I was accountable for because they were a part of my staff or of my team. I had learned to lead with authority and responsibility. Now back at the university, I began to seek out leadership opportunities in that environment, while I had not in the past. In the mean time, my husband and I started a photography business that is now in its 10th year of existence and is steadily growing. Another invaluable lesson, stop treating your failures, as if they mean the end of EVERYTHING!
I’m saying all of this not to brag or promote my accomplishments in any way, but to bring out the fact that there are truly times in our life where we have to take a Leap of faith. We have a decision to make, something weighing very heavy on our hearts or minds, and for the life of us, we cannot seem to come up with the answer. Yes, at times, it is meant for us to stand still. However, there are just as many times when we must take a chance. If we never step out and try anything, true, we don’t have to worry about failure, but we will never succeed at anything either. Even when mistakes are made, and failure lifts up its ugly head, there are roads to recovery. Failure does not have to mean the end.
End your worries
Fear, anxiety, insecurity, and a whole host of other things can cause us to exist in a place of indecisiveness, and therefore procrastinate on decisions we need to make and tasks that we need to take care of. Let’s bring that to an end today. Let’s recognize that making a first step, be it a conversation, completing some research, or setting aside some finances, can give us just the peace that we need to go all the way.
Victoria Burse, through her extensive training in Leadership and Organizational Development aims to transform the lives of women through spiritual, personal, and professional development as CEO of her women’s outreach organization, Queens of the Kingdom.
Queens of the Kingdom is a ministry of prayer, teaching, resources and life-long partnerships, focused on assisting the women of God to live their promised life and to walk in their intended destiny as Queens. Burse hopes to instill in these Queens of the Kingdom that, whether they are aware of it or not, “God has given you the skills, gifts, and talents you need to lead virtuous and fulfilled lives, but we all need to position ourselves in settings where we can be mentored and developed in Christ.” She firmly believes that it is never too late to begin to execute your role as a Queen of the Kingdom.
Formerly, Victoria served as President and CEO of Myriad Business Solutions, Inc., which provided personal and professional development and leadership training to corporate, government, educational, and other non-profit, civic, and youth organizations. A degreed professional, Burse has worked for various educational institutions in the states of Illinois, Mississippi, and Georgia.
Donning a 20-year background in Information Technology, she has also provided professional consultation to organizations such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Community Service in Washington, D.C. and the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, GA. She is presently employed as an IT Support Professional Supervisor at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
Alongside her role at Queens of the Kingdom, Burse is the Vice President of Front Page Photography, Inc., a professional photography company specializing in shooting weddings, special events, family portraits, and commercial products.
Victoria would love to connect with you socially, please friend me on Facebook at facebook.com/Victoria Burse. Also be sure subscribe to http://www.lady-n-waiting.blogspot.com and Victoria’s weekly “Wisdom from the Throne”
Visit http://www.queensofthekingdom.org and check out my latest book “Sabbath Songs.”
Kristina Blasen is “blazing” trails with her unique insight. Today take five minutes and really read this article about the And-So Method…it’s an easy way to change your NEGATIVE thoughts into POSITIVE change. Try it, and report back about how it really instantly changes your thoughts.
Feed Your Brain, Annihilate Your Excuses
By Kristina Blasen
One of the habits that I have that is different from many people is that I read constantly. I’ll read anything! Instead of watching TV, I can usually be found with a book in my hand learning about something new. Last weekend we went to the Arboretum to enjoy and play in the beautiful fall leaves here in Minnesota and I was lucky enough to go during a $2 a bag book sale! Since I love learning and books, you can imagine that I had a lot of fun wandering around and filling an entire paper bag with great books in all different subjects knowing that now I’d have a fresh supply of reading material to keep my mind busy learning new things over the next few months without breaking the bank!
Posted in Experts Issues Kristina Blasen Mentor Monday Mentors MOM by .
MentorOnlineMagazine.com honors its readers and is happy to share Rebecca Springer’s commentary about FEAR. Each week MOM provides food for thought, support and solid information to help you move forward in your life adventures and transformation from jobs to creating multiple streams of income. What is stopping you? Fear? Read Rebecca Springer’s inspiring article and please comment and do share it with your friends and family. Thanks, Tamara Patzer, MOM Publisher.
Is Fear Holding You Back?
By Rebecca Springer
First, I have to say, I love quotes. My favorite quote is from Maryann Williamson. It goes like this…
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, which frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Wondering if you are on the right track career-wise? Mentor Online Magazine Mentor Expert Terri Levine has a few questions for you to answer to help you understand exactly where you are with your career. It is time for a change? Find out, and let us know at MOM! Thanks, Tamara Patzer, publisher.
How To Know When It’s Time To Look for a New Job
By Terri Levine
Are you having doubts that the career path you chose is still the right one or is your current employer or job giving you doubts that they’re “keepers”? Unsure?
Take this quiz and find out if you are still on the right track career-wise or whether it’s time for a change. By identifying the warning signs early, you can avoid wasted years in a job that is wrong for you. Obviously, you don’t need a quiz to tell you if you’re happy or not in your job, but sometimes we fool ourselves. We say it’s only a temporary phase, or we believe we can put up with it because the money is good, and meantime, we lose valuable days tolerating that which becomes increasingly harder to tolerate as time marches on.
Posted in Experts Issues Mentor Monday Terri Levine by .
Mentor Online Magazine MOM encourages its readers to share your thoughts and advice with everyone. Today, MOM reader Pat Straub says some sage advice about how treating your at home workplace with respect along with keeping up your appearance help you maintain a sense of commitment to your work goals. Thanks to Pat for sharing today’s wisdom. I invite you to share your advice and wisdom with Mentor Online Magazine readers. Thank you very much. Tamara Patzer, Publisher.
By Pat Straub
You may have a business where you never leave your home while you are working. You may go out in public and runs errands for your business, like going to the bank or post office. You may meet with clients or potential clients on a regular basis. No matter what category you fit in, the way you look and feel will make a big difference.
Oct 11
30
Affiliate marketing is NOT a business and other tips from the Internet’s Most Trusted Advisor!
Today, I am introducing my online hero, Jim Cockrum. Jim is one of the top people you want to watch and learn from if you are serious about creating multiple streams of income. This article is reprinted here on MentorOnlineMagazine.com with permission. Note: My testimonial is featured. Look for it and please do comment. Thanks, Tamara Patzer, publisher of Mentor Online Magazine.
By Jim Cockrum
1. Affiliate Marketing IS NOT a Business
I’ve been told I’m crazy and out of touch for saying that “affiliate marketing is not a business for newbies”. Even if someone “takes you by the hand” and shows you “step by step” how to do it your odds of success after MONTHS or even YEARS of focused effort ARE ABYSMAL (how many “gurus” are telling you that part of the story?), and on top of that you’ll be the one taking all the risk giving leads to other people’s businesses while fighting hundreds of competitors for the right to do so!
It’s starting to really tick me off actually!
Posted in Ask Tami Experts Issues Jim Cockrum by .
Nov 11
3
Defeating the Hourly Pay Trap
Are you trapped in the “hourly pay trap”. . . many people are stuck in this TRAP! How often do you think about your work and think I am making $20 or wasting $20 an hour doing this particular project? If you think in terms of hourly rate, you will ALWAYS be UNDERPAID. Do you really think that your brilliant idea that made your company $10,000 in added revenues was only worth twenty bucks? Read Kristina’s article.
Defeating the Hourly Pay Trap
By Kristina Blasen
So, I was getting ready to speak at my second conference ever last night when a friend stopped by and wondered why I was still working so late that night…after we talked about the conference; he made the offhand comment, “I hope they pay you well for all this…”
I was wrapped up in preparing for my presentation and when what he’s said finally registered and replayed in my head I was really taken by surprise and blurted, “I don’t get paid for all this…”
He looked at me like I was crazy and thought I didn’t understand the question so he added, “You know, hourly pay?”
Flustered, my reply was really an “auto-reply”, but this whole conversation made me think about this mentality that so many people are stuck in, I think of it as the “hourly pay mentality”…the idea that a traditional job, with a guaranteed “hourly” pay and certain benefits and earned vacation time that is carefully laid out for you is somehow safer and a smarter path than working for yourself and building your own business.
Are you stuck in the hourly pay mentality?
Even if you’ve stepped out and are working on building your own business and multiple streams of income, a lot of people slide back into the hourly pay mentality when they run into challenges and problems in growing their business or maintaining cash-flow. Why? Because they grew up with the hourly pay mentality and so many people around them live this way that when things get hard it is easy to slip back into that out of fear and forget about all of the benefits and joys when YOU ARE THE MASTER OF YOUR TIME AND YOUR INCOME—instead of a company!
If you are stuck or find yourself sliding back into this mentality, I thought it might help if you could see the difference between how I think about “work” and this idea of getting paid for my time in a very different way, sort of seeing an inside view of my thinking and decision making process. If you’ve always made your WORK decisions either by default (you apply only for jobs you think you can get) or you take whatever job is available and offered to pay the bills then this thought process might seem very foreign to you.
For a long time I really struggled with making LONG TERM plans and matching my education and employment decisions to those goals. Why? Because it is easier and somehow “safer” to take any job that is offered and stay as long as your bills are paid and you don’t get laid off. It is EASIER, but maybe not better in the long run.
The Concept of a “Career” and “Work” Isn’t What it Used to Be
Recently, I have had an amazing learning opportunity to interview on video several women who are retiring after as many as 30+ years in the same career and with the same company; in my generation, staying in the same position, or even with the same company for more than a few years is increasingly rare. One woman asked me just before I interviewed her if I would consider myself (at age 33) as part of the new generation or group of incoming educators. I thought and then said I would if I went to work there full-time once my schooling was complete.
We ended up having a really interesting conversation, one very different working generation to the next, about “why” young people don’t stay at jobs, or even companies for their whole career anymore in the way that was considered “normal” in the past. It was hard to explain something that is just “the way it is” to me, so I settled on what I think is my personal reason for job-hopping every few years.
Chose Jobs According to Opportunities to Add to Your Skill Set for Long-term Goals
For me, I take jobs for skill and experience building leading to much bigger, long term goals. If there is no clear path for me to move to a position with new knowledge or skills to be learned and of course, when raises are given on a standard percent system without consideration for merit increases, then I’m more likely to job hop to a different company and a related, yet different growth position to continue to build my skills.
Keep Learning – Create a Lifelong Plan to Grow Your Education
I’ve often left good positions with stable and growing companies seeking higher education opportunities that couldn’t be had in my small hometown, but the underlying reason for seeking those additional educational opportunities was a belief that higher education provides the key to opening many doors and opportunities for the future and I strongly believe that education has an intrinsic value no matter what job or business you made run in the future— it is an old fashioned value, but I believe that education is something that cannot be lost or taken away from you. Think about it, businesses can fail, economies can falter, companies can lay off workers, but what you learn stays with you and benefits you no matter what. Education can be formal classes you take or degrees you earn or informal learning, the things that you teach yourself and learn about because it is something you feel will help you grow your skills or that will move you one step closer to your long term goals.
So, stop worrying about how long something takes and set your sights on gaining experiences and collecting skills that will take you in the direction you want to go to build your future.
My life’s journey is about helping others to realize their potential, to mentor others and encourage their dreams to become reality, to help others grow, to offer counsel and support, to offer a helping hand and is realized by being a catalyst for change.
Kristina Blasen is a transformative life coach. She specializes in working with teens and adults to help them discover their life purpose and create a plan to turn their dreams into reality. She believes strongly in radical change! Do you need radical change in your life? She may be reached at: the.next.level.life.coach@gmail.com
Posted in Experts Issues Kristina Blasen Mentors Triple T Thursday by .
I wrote this in July of 2010, it’s been a little more than a year now…and I want to share a journal entry from JUST BEFORE I made some radical changes to my life…read on and see where I was and then I’ll tell you a little bit more about where I am now…
Knocking on the door of opportunities
By Kristina Blasen
If you want someone to say “Yes!” you better start knocking on some doors!
So here I am and I know that I need to make some radical changes to my life (and by default to my children’s lives). On one hand, this is so overwhelming that emotionally I don’t even know where to begin. Since it has to be done somehow I just pick something- anything- just to get moving. First, I know I need to leave my job as soon as possible. I’m commuting 2 hours each way because of having to drive way out of the way (in the wrong direction of course) to have daycare I can afford. I wasn’t a single parent when I took the job and that makes all the difference. I figured out that I’m getting paid for 8 hours of work, but it takes 13 hours a day just for me to work and I’m paying quite a bit for gas and parking just for the commute- not to mention in time!
Posted in Ask Tami Experts Issues Kristina Blasen Mentor Monday Mentors by .
By Tamara Patzer
Last week I was struck by either the flu or a gallbladder attack. (It’s been a long, long time since I was so sick that I couldn’t get out of bed!)
It hit in the wee hours of the morning and I will leave out the details. As I was recuperating, I noticed how my days ticked by slowly. An hour seemed like an eternity. A day felt like a week. The four days I lost to illness was like being away from work for two weeks.
When I regained my health, it struck me that indeed my internal clock had been reset. For the past several years (let’s be honest, the last 34 years), my life have been fast paced and in overdrive. I have popped out of bed at 6 a.m. and fallen into bed at 1 or 2 a.m. Until a year ago, I was commuting to and from work for at least three hours a day. I am happy to report that I just celebrated my one-year anniversary of being self-employed with my reliance on multiple streams of income that I have created to support myself and my family.
In the past year, I have been supercharged and working six or seven days a week to move forward. (I know that is not the goal, but in order to be self-sufficient and to reach the goal of only working a few well chosen hours a day or week while my business runs without me, I do have to put in some real hours to set the system into motion.)
Everyone needs to be honest about working for one’s self. Yes, it’s worth it and no, it’s not automatic and yes, it takes honest labor, time, love and dedication to see it through.
While at first I certainly didn’t appreciate being knocked on my butt,
I took this past week’s illness as the blessing it was…I found time. Just as the calendar called for us to “fall” back, I got the call to “reset” my clock.
Sometimes you just need to “find the time.” Think about it.
November is always a month of reflection. Today Kristina Blasen reminds us of how sometimes being thankful and showing your gratefulness is difficult. Please share your experiences with MOM.
By Kristina Blasen
In my own life, thankfulness and gratitude is an area that I have struggled with…not in being thankful, but in how to show others that I appreciate their efforts and that I am grateful.
I’m not a demonstrative person, but this doesn’t mean that I’m not thankful for the help I’ve received from my friends and family. Sometimes you can say thank you and instead of the other person hearing thank you, they don’t hear these simple words as genuine gratitude, but instead as an empty platitude said out of obligation.
Sometimes you try to say thank you, but since the other person has their own needs that are not getting met, thank you isn’t enough- they need something else in order to really hear you and to internalize that you appreciate them and their efforts to help.
Sometimes we can overcome this challenge by trying to show thankfulness in unusual ways; instead of the words said as an empty platitude signed at the end of an e-mail, we might write a letter, do something nice for the person, find some unexpected way to give back and to help make their life easier so that they know that you really appreciated the help that was given to you.
Expressing thankfulness and gratitude has been especially hard for me in situations where the help that was given wasn’t enough to change a bad situation even though the person did everything they could to help make things better. We’ve all been there, watching people we care about suffer and feeling powerless to help them or make a lasting improvement in their life.
Part of learning to show thankfulness and gratitude is to help yourself by helping others and to learn to ask for and accept the help and support that is available to you. Instead of struggling in isolation and merely surviving, it is extremely important to form a community so that everybody can move forward, so that everybody can be successful together, so that everybody can have their dreams come true. In this way we transcend our circumstances and learn to overcome and be successful as an individual, a family and a community in spite of them.
You can make radical changes, you can feel FEAR and experience change and also GET THROUGH IT and it is worth it! You can decide to make the changes you’ve been thinking about starting right now.
My life’s journey is about helping others to realize their potential, to mentor others and encourage their dreams to become reality, to help others grow, to offer counsel and support, to offer a helping hand and is realized by being a catalyst for change.
Kristina Blasen is a transformative life coach. She specializes in working with teens and adults to help them discover their life purpose and create a plan to turn their dreams into reality. She believes strongly in radical change! Do you need radical change in your life? She may be reached at: the.next.level.life.coach@gmail.com
Don’t Give Up Your Day Job… Yet!
By Terri Levine
I am often asked when is the best time to quit your day job to work on your new home business, because most home based entrepreneurs start their businesses while still working a full time job. It can be stressful and tiring living this way and the lure of quitting the regular job can be overwhelming to someone burning the candle at both ends.
Multiple Streams of Income — For Real?
By Terri Levine
Multiple streams of income… what is it and is it for real? Yes, it’s real. It’s how I make money, and it is how you can enjoy a steady income, too. In fact, it’s just good sense.
Let’s start with this scenario. You’ve given up your day job, or about to, in order to enjoy being your own boss and work from home in your own business. You may or may not have your business up and running, and you may or may not already be enjoying profit from it. But let’s say there is a downturn in your business and your income source starts to dry up. What do you do then? Well, if you have multiple sources of income, this won’t be a major problem for you.
If your income is dependent on your own freelance efforts, you need to set up other sources of income to tide you over during the tough times and to increase your profits the rest of the time. If you are sick, or business is quiet for a time, or you want to take a long vacation, you have no means of earning an income otherwise. The best sources of additional income are those that generate themselves with little effort from you once you’ve set it up.
To give you some ideas, here are some suggestions for other sources of income, and no, you don’t have to do everything on the list!
- Obtain a part time job that while giving you flexibility and plenty of time to do your own freelance, work from home business, will also ensure a regular source of income. Although, from the perspective of somebody who doesn’t want to have to rely on working for others like this, this may not be the best option, but it is something to consider if money is tight for you.
- Build your client base. You need more than a few clients if you want to survive. Businesses hit tough spots and one of the first expenses to go is the contractor and freelancer. You never want to put all your eggs in the one basket, and while you don’t want to have so many clients that you can’t keep up and provide quality service to them all, you need enough to keep you busy and profitable, so if one or more go quiet, you have the rest to keep you going.
- Create product you can sell on your website. As a freelancer you provide services or products in exchange for payment. To enjoy continued payment you have to keep providing the service or product over and over again. How much easier is it to turn your service or product into something that you can set up once and enable people to purchase online and you get paid over and over again without having to do any more work?! For example, maybe you are a naturopath or somebody who sells natural products from home. Maybe you can create a DVD or a workbook of information that people usually come to you for, and sell that online. You can also sell your products online with mini instruction manuals for each so when people buy the product, they get everything they need to know about it and how to use it. You can still have your regular clients, but a vast majority can just buy what they need and get the info they will need too, without taking up your time.
- Sell other people’s products for commission. You can join various affiliate programs for companies and products you like and can sell to others on your site and receive commission for each sale. You can also sell products from sources like Clickbank.
- Blog – your website should have a blog and if it doesn’t you can set a free one up at WordPress. Not only is this a great way to share your knowledge with others and help to market your name, you can sell advertising space, and your affiliate programs and enjoy income from the ads. Mind you, this will take a long time to make money, but as there is no effort from you once you set the affiliate ads in place, it’s something to consider.
- If you coach or teach clients, consider offering group sessions instead off or in addition to one on one. If you make the group sessions cheaper, you will attract the numbers and this way you get to service more clients but in less time.
- If you are in a profession such as an architect for example, you can hold in-house training sessions for other beginners who want to do what you do, teaching them how to do their work from home, how to set it up and build their business, etc.
- Write books and e-books. You don’t have to be a Pulitzer prize winner already to write a book. You’ll have it proofread and edited anyway! The beauty of books and ebooks is you only need to write them once but you can sell them many times from your website and from bookstores. Word of warning: since marketing experts starting telling people to write books, suddenly everything thinks they’re a writer and have a best seller in them. Do your research. There may already be too many books available on what you plan to write about, in which case, don’t, or find a new angle to present from, otherwise you will be wasting your time. (You can also sell other people’s books and earn affiliate commission.)
- Branch out – stick your fingers in other pies. Consider network marketing. Is there a product you enjoy and believe would benefit others that you can sell from your own site or from just delivering brochures about it in your neighbourhood? It might be a new dietary supplement, health foods, or make-up and beauty products. You deliver the brochure with an order form and collect it a week later… or have a means of people ordering direct from your website.
When you work from home for yourself, you have the freedom to decide and choose how you will earn your income and you are not restricted to earning it from just one activity or source. You are no longer an employee restrained by a job description with one company. The world is your oyster! For example, you may be a work from home book-keeper, but you can also do other things that will generate income that may or may not have anything to do with book-keeping. You might sell affiliate products on your blog page, be an Avon lady part time, train people how to use your favorite book-keeping software, and sell mini how-to e-books on how to work from home as a book-keeper that you’ve written yourself. Get the idea?
What ways can you generate more income without having to physically be present or repeat processes?
Terri Levine, The Business Mentoring Expert, specializes in helping entrepreneur-owned businesses achieve record-breaking growth. Based in Philadelphia, Terri is founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., The Professional’s Coach Training Program. She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, and in more than 1,500 publications. She is the best-selling author of Sell Without Selling, Coaching is for Everyone and Stop Managing Start Coaching. Learn more at http://www.TerriLevine.com. Contact Terri at terri@terrilevine.com
By Terri Levine
Far from freeing themselves, many women have enslaved themselves between family and career commitments, further tying themselves up trying to be Superwoman.
If you are not wealthy and particularly if your partner doesn’t have a high paid career, it is inevitable that you may also be holding a full time position, as mortgage payments have to be met, children have to be fed, clothed, schooled, etc.
Perhaps you are also working a full time job while trying to build a home based business, or maybe you are working full time at getting your home based off the ground. Either way, and whether you have other family obligations or not, you may be trying in vain to keep your house in order, do it all, and look like you’re having fun.
Life needn’t be so difficult. We sometimes make it harder for ourselves when we try to be all things to all people, when we try to meet other’s expectations and demands, and when we try to fulfill what we believe are our obligations in life.
Times have changed. Did our grandmothers put in a full day “in the office”, often requiring overtime, then rush home to be a “full time” mother and caregiver, cooking, cleaning, nurturing? What makes us believe we can do it all? Why are we so hard on ourselves when we can’t? Why do we think we are failing if we don’t? Who told us we could and should not only do it all but do it perfectly? Do we believe the myth that every other woman out there is doing it, so we must be able to as well? Do we believe untruths… stories of women who don’t want to admit they are not superwomen, so they’re stretching it a little? “Hey, look at me! I’m doing this, that, and the other!” (“Well, I’m not really, but I don’t want you to know that!”)
If you look at these so-called successful families, you may well find the successful career woman doesn’t “have it all”. Working women sacrifice time with their children, just as fathers do, to bring in the extra money that makes living in a nice house possible, attending private schools, having expensive dancing lessons, sporting activities, etc. These days, if you want your child to “have it all”, it usually means both parents have to work to make it happen.
Then those career women whose income is swallowed up by mortgages and educating and entertaining their children, come home and not always able to afford housekeepers, have to clean the house, cook, wash, iron, and do it all themselves. Their children are playing. Their husband may be watching TV, reading or playing golf.
Where is the “me” time? While these hard working women burn the candle at both ends, where is the time for them to just chill, relax, recharge their batteries, and enjoy any of the money their effort is producing? Hopefully, in this modern day, the husband is pulling his weight, but we know that doesn’t always happen.
Husbands should be able to work a vacuum cleaner and do the floors and carpets, and unless children are very young, they should be able to help tidy up, especially their rooms, and help dust. As for the rest, are out-dated ideas of housekeeping making us slaves to the routine? Can we do things differently that gets the job done but also gives us some “me” time? Yes, we can, and here are some ideas to help you get started:
- When you wash your clothes, when dry fold them immediately and put them away to avoid unnecessary wrinkles and mess as the “ironing” builds up.
- What are you ironing? Clothes are the only things that need ironing – not towels or bed sheets! Who is going to see those things? You’ll wrinkle them the moment you first use them.
- Only iron your clothes as you need them. How often do you iron something, put it away, and when you go to wear it, discover it has become creased and has to be ironed again? Why do it twice? Better still, buy clothes that don’t require ironing – wash and wear.
- You should have a dishwasher… if you don’t, don’t waste time drying after you’ve washed. Just leave them in the rack for an hour – they will dry themselves and then you can put them away.
- Get into a routine so you don’t find on the weekends, when you do have more time to enjoy leisure and family activities, that you are spending great wads of it doing housework. Spread the chores out over the week doing a little bit each day. Clean as you go. Clean the shower while you are in there – one job less you have to do later.
- Have a family “clean” day once a month when everyone pitches in and helps clean the house, windows, etc. and tidy up the garden. Why leave it all for one person to do? How is that fair?
- Don’t have a cluttered house. Instead of all those unnecessary ornaments and picture frames lying around gathering dust, put the photos in albums and have uncluttered and clean spaces that you can more quickly dust and the lack of clutter will give the illusion of tidiness.
- Children need space to play and make a mess and often it is not practical to put their toys/games away after each session because it is ongoing and you’d be doing it every day… do you not have a games room where they can leave their toys out? If not, do you have a spare room nobody is using? Remove anything in it and convert it to a room where your children can play and you can shut the door and nobody has to see “the mess”. Otherwise, arrange your furniture to split the room so they can “play” in an area behind the sofa, leaving the rest of the room “tidy”.
- Prepare meals in advance or cook double and save half. In winter you can pre-cook/freeze casseroles and soups – make double the amount and freeze half, and in summer, you can make containers of salads that will last a few days. Save the time consuming recipes for the weekend.
- Never feel that you have to do it all yourself. Train your teenagers to help around the house and learn to iron their clothes. Your husband should be pulling his weight or helping pay for hired help who can do some of it for all of you. That’s the key – it is everyone’s responsibility to “run the home” – not just yours – unless of course you don’t work and running the home is all you have to do. Terri Levine, The Business Mentoring Expert, specializes in helping entrepreneur-owned businesses achieve record-breaking growth. Based in Philadelphia, Terri is founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., The Professional’s Coach Training Program. She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, and in more than 1,500 publications. She is the best-selling author of Sell Without Selling, Coaching is for Everyone and Stop Managing Start Coaching. Learn more at http://www.TerriLevine.com. Contact Terri at terri@terrilevine.com
For MentorOnlineMagazine.com’s Thursday Tip, I would like to introduce Cross-Channel Mojo, a new 7-feature multi-channel marketing system that is worth a look. This is Mike Koenig’s Monster Followup turned Instant Customer with a whole lot more! It’s been tested and it’s patented. I have been waiting for this for a year and a half and I can happily say that Cross-Channel Mojo is something that I can get behind. I love it so much and I am TESTING it with my personal clients and getting rave results. I have partnered with Jim Cockrum, Jim Orr and Hans Milberger to tell the world about Cross-Channel Mojo. Read Jim’s blog and stay tuned! This is exciting for you and I.
By Jim Cockrum
I’ve just seen a demo of “Cross Channel Mojo” by Mike Koenigs, and I’m impressed. You’ll be hearing more about it soon from multiple sources, but make this blog post your “home” for the “inside scoop” on this new product.
If you’d like to stay up to date with my bonus offer, insider updates and opinion of Cross Channel Mojo, CLICK HERE to get on the update list and I’ll get you up to speed with short updates.
This page will soon contain my opinions (I’m still gathering some facts) on the pending release of “Cross Channel Mojo”. Since I endorse only one or two “launches” per year (at most), I hope you’ll stop by to see why I’m VERY excited about this concept and what I’m willing to do to ensure your success with this revolutionary yet simple tool.
While I could list dozens of examples of how this concept will revolutionize lead capture and followup, simply consider these example scenarios:
- A real estate agent that gets notification by text on his cell phone instantly with the name and phone number of any prospect that watches an online “walk through” for one of his listed houses. The entire process is run my Mobile Marketing Machines
- A chiropractor pays you $1,000 upfront and $400 per month to launch and run a full Online+Offline lead generation, capture and follow up system for his practice that adds in new prospects seven different ways and follows up on autopilot. It only takes you minutes to set it all up because all of the work has been done for you and it’s “wizard” ready for your input. There is NO competition that can touch the tools you have to offer and you can demonstrate it to him in 45 seconds. A few short training videos is all you need to be up to speed, and ANY “lead reliant” business could be your next customer.
- Automated webinars could be running 24/7 for you educating prospects, driving leads, and generating sales for any client, or for any product or niche market – and you optionally get a text message with full contact info each time someone views the entire presentation. (Talk about WARM LEADS!)
- A student who graduates from college, can’t find a job, but starts selling this product that can be demonstrated in under a minute to virtually ANY business or individual that is trying to get attention for their cause, business, art, music, organization etc.
- I could go on and on…stay tuned for more.
In the mean time, take personal inventory of your situation and make sure that you have room in your life to take this seriously for a couple days. This IS NOT for everyone. I spend time talking people OUT of every launch I endorse because many people just aren’t positioned for them. Being positioned for opportunity is more important than the opportunity itself. If you haven’t read my SilentSalesMachine.com book yet (it’s $5) or my 101FreeMarketing.com best seller yet, you need to check them out for full proof of why I make the claim that:
The era of big websites and SEO is dying while the era of relationships and influence is booming…and this is THE BEST tool I’ve seen yet to help you (or any client) stay on top.
For those serious about this opportunity, consider the fact that I’ve taught more people how to succeed in this niche that any other “guru” or “expert” out there. I have clients paying me very well for my advice, and I founded OfflineBiz.com with my partner Andrew Cavanagh because of my firm believe in this mega-trend. OfflineBiz.com now has over 10,000 members who are all learning from our resident experts about how to use the Internet as a power tool of influence and relationships & to assist traditional “offline” businesses (brick-n-mortars) and get paid well for doing it.
Many of the success stories you’ll hear in this industry have their roots in OfflineBiz.
My bonus to you will be your success (on top of a bunch of other great stuff). While I can’t promise you’ll succeed, I can promise we’ll work with you (personally if you desire) until you have a business that is making serious money. We’ll have a line up of unbelievable experts waiting to answer your questions and train you to success IF you choose to make the serious step of buying “Cross Channel Mojo”.
Additional bonuses coming from some wildly successful users of Instant Customer (the tool behind the launch of Cross Channel Mojo). We’re talking about EXCLUSIVE stuff you won’t find anywhere else.
COMING SOON IN THIS SECTION:
- My official endorsement update and links for more info
- Links to videos explaining the opportunity and tools behind Cross Channel Mojo
- How to order to ensure you get our bonus package
- More Specifics on the OfflineBiz.com – Jim Cockrum – Jim Orr – Hans Milberger – Tami Patzer bonus package
Action step:
Get on the notification list now!
http://www.offlinebiz.com/JimsMojoUpdates.html
(Be sure to tell Jim that Tami Patzer sent you!)
I want to share these videos with you about my experience as an internet marketing consultant. These are the tools I use and I have been successful with…these videos will give you some insight into the technology that is driving business today and in the future. My hope in sharing these videos is to give you some food for thought. Questions? Feel free to email me at my personal email: AskTami365@gmail.com
By Tamara Patzer
Stuck in Shiny Object Syndrome? Wasting time and money?
By Tamara Patzer
Are you stuck in your journey to moving from a job to multiple streams of income? Frozen by fear? Indecision? Shiny Object Syndrome? There is a big difference between people who wish and people who do. I didn’t realize this until I was part of the online world on Facebook in a group of like-minded people who are making or say they want to make a living using online methods. On one side of the proverbial coin are the people who buy business opportunities and use them, and people who complain that the business opportunity they paid their hard earned money doesn’t work.
Pros and Cons
I have witnessed and participated in conversations about what works and doesn’t work with online marketing with hundreds of people. What I know is that everything will work if you put time, energy and effort into it; and everything that doesn’t work fails due to lack of enthusiasm, effort and energy put into it. Same coin. Different side.
Ask Yourself
If you were to ask me about any opportunity, I would say that only you know the truth. If you buy it, will you put your time, energy, and commitment into it, so it grows, develops and becomes what it can become for YOU?
Don’t buy into the hype of big money overnight, or make $1000 in the next 24 hours or whatever big gimmick is grabbing at your lizard brain. Make a decision based on real information and TRUTH. Ask yourself: Am I ready to use this “insert product name here” to make a part-time or full-time income? Will I really put in all of my extra time into learning this? Is it that important? Do I have a vision for my life that this “product” or “opportunity” can help me attain? What am I willing to give up to make this opportunity really work for me? (This may be time, a clean house, a relationship, an orderly life)…see yourself in the future…what does your life look like after you took advantage of this opportunity? Is it better? Worse? What does your life look like in the future if you pass on this opportunity? What are the obstacles? If you had no obstacles, would this opportunity still look good? Are you really interested in this product and what is offers? Is it all about the money? Helping people? What is your why?
Do this little exercise and I bet the answer will be very clear to you. Opportunity is always knocking, but we don’t always answer the door. It’s always your choice.
Dec 11
18
How to Survive the Silly Season
Surviving the Silly Season
By Terri Levine
For many, this isn’t the season to be jolly. It’s a time of stress and heavy demands, of trying to meet career deadlines and family obligations. Whether women have a corporate career or are burning the candle at both ends building a home-based business, many feel pressured to be perfect at this time of year: perfect at their job, perfect mothers, perfect wives, perfect housekeepers, perfect hostesses, perfect friends…
There is only so much perfection any busy woman can take before the cracks appear. It’s time we remembered that it isn’t about perfection and got our lives back, as well as our sanity. Here are some tips and rules to help you survive what I affectionately term the silly season:
- Cape or no cape, you can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound while putting in a full day’s work plus try to care for your family and prepare gifts and fancy meals, etc. Realize this is asking a bit much, even of Wonder Woman. This year, decide that you are just not going to aim for “perfect”.
- This may be cliché, but mark time off on your calendar for “me” time. Have a partner, friend or family member mind the kids so you can get a massage, attend a yoga class, meditate, soak in the bath, go to the salon or a spa for some pampering, or even catch a movie with a friend. Just one hour of “me” time can be pure magic! It will refresh you and recharge those tired batteries.
- Manage your time effectively starting now. Don’t leave anything to the last minute. Start your shopping. Wrap the gifts. Send your cards. Buy the special food and drinks that don’t have an immediate expiry date. Make a check list.
- Do a little bit of housework every day, so it doesn’t build up. Get your family to help. Children can and should be doing chores. Work out a family roster. Insist on full family participation. Tell them this year, if they want you to “do it all”, they have to pay you. If they don’t have any money, they can pay you in other ways – hand them a list of chores that need doing!
- Stressed about finances? Decide on a budget for gifts and let your family know and ask them not to be extravagant either. If you are hosting the large family meal this year, ask everyone to bring a plate – why should you have to pay for and prepare everything yourself? These days most people understand the need to watch finances.
- If your family wants to go overboard with the festive decorations, let them put them up themselves AND put them away again afterward. Otherwise, consider just a few tasteful and appropriate decorations that will be easy to clean up afterwards and don’t add to the clutter, which is the key to easy housekeeping – keeping it clutter-free.
- If you tense at the thought of arguing relatives ruining your special family get-together, realize your stressing about it is not going to miraculously make it not happen. What you can’t change, simply accept. Maybe have a word with them beforehand letting them know that you’d like them to be on their best behavior this year. If your favorite Uncle has a drink problem, slip him a few non-alcoholic drinks in between. You can buy non and low alcoholic wines and liquors.
- Do NOT bring work home, and if your office is at home, keep the door shut and give yourself the gift of at least 48 hours office-free time.
- Learn to say no. You can’t please everybody and you shouldn’t have to. Don’t be put upon by those who would take advantage of your kind and generous nature. If you don’t have time, just say so. Sorry, I’d like to help but I just don’t have the time. Simple!
- Housework – if your laundry isn’t finished or all the ironing isn’t done, the world is not going to stop spinning. If the Silver really must be polished, that’s an easy chore for a child (or a husband) to do. Just do what really must be done and leave what can’t be delegated for when you have more time.
- Delegate! Whether it be food preparation or office related tasks, delegate so the workload is more fairly distributed. When people ask politely if you need any help, instead of saying, “Oh, no that’s alright, I’ll be fine,” I want you to say, “I’d really appreciate that…” and put them to work. In fact, why wait for them to ask? Get in first and ask them… “Say, could you help me with this?”
- Prioritize! Some things really are just not that important. Sometimes, we get so caught up in the importance of our positions, so accustomed to being super efficient and on top of everything, that we just can’t let go and we stick our necks out even for trivial things that don’t need to be done straight away. Be realistic.
All the time you spend in the office, or with the mop and broom, is time taken away from your loved ones… time you will never get back again. And your family and friends should be visiting you for your company… not to judge your housekeeping skills, right?
You need to stop reading about how to be a superwoman and instead find a system that works for you and is uniquely you. What works for you? Don’t compare yourself to others – everyone is different.
Set boundaries with your employer, your husband, your children, and your family. If they expect you to be all things to all people at all times, then they are the ones with the problem, because their expectations are unrealistic, unreasonable and unfair. That’s way too many “uns”!
Today, having it all simply means achieving your goals as much as you can but on your own terms. The key is flexibility – on your part and on those who rely on you. Define success as it pertains to your needs and wishes. One person’s success may well be another person’s failure, but if it works perfectly for them, then who is to say what is wrong and what is right?
So, how do you plan to get through the holiday season? Running yourself ragged trying to please everyone? Or being realistic and remembering that you are also entitled to enjoy this time of year?
If this is truly the time of year for sharing, then share the cooking, share the housework, and share the shopping as well as the love…
Terri Levine, The Business Mentoring Expert, specializes in helping entrepreneur-owned businesses achieve record-breaking growth. Based in Philadelphia, Terri is founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., The Professional’s Coach Training Program. She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, and in more than 1,500 publications. She is the best-selling author of Sell Without Selling, Coaching is for Everyone and Stop Managing Start Coaching. Learn more at http://www.TerriLevine.com. Contact Terri at terri@terrilevine.com
Hello everyone! My name is Kelsey Howard and I am 19 years old. I am young, but I am aged beyond my years. I am currently in my last semester at State College of Florida and transferring to University of South Florida in Tampa in the fall. I am majoring in Mass Communications with a focus on magazine production and plan to graduate in the spring of 2014. I enjoy magazine, print and online publications, because each has its own purpose. Every magazine has a goal and focus point for its readers and the fact that they are able to reach out and touch the lives of each reader individually really inspires me. It inspires me to publish my own thoughts and ideas so that other readers can feel what I am feeling. In the case of Mentor Online Magazine, I am excited to share with other women the situations that embarrass us, the moments that bring us happiness, and the overall feeling of accomplishment that we get by becoming independent women. Whether you are juggling the task of raising kids, attempting to climb the corporate ladder, trying to find yourself, or striving to uphold your own business, I look forward to introducing new ideas and techniques that will make each step a little bit easier. I hope that the information I am able to share with you will help you reach your goals.
Kelsey Howard is Mentor Online Magazine (MOM) editor intern. She will be taking the reins of MOM until May 2012, so let’s give her plenty of help and feedback, so she can become a great magazine editor and mentor.
MOM TALKS
{ Good advice, I was just reading a great book called, One Minute for Myself: How to Manage Your Most Valuable Asset by Spencer Johnson (Oct... } – Feb 13, 12:23 PM
{ Good job on your first article, Kelsey! I can identify with several of your suggestions and learned a few more from you through this article.... } – Jan 25, 9:57 AM
{ Thank you so much everyone! } – Jan 24, 7:49 PM
{ Kels, Who would have thought that your would become a guru on organization. Must get that from me. Sometimes I am organized to a fault.... } – Jan 24, 4:24 PM
{ Excellent advise! I have been keeping a planner since FOREVER. I don't know how I would have survived w/out it. Envisioning your goals is SO... } – Jan 24, 3:13 PM
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