Archives for July 2016

Jul 23 2016

Tips For Reframing Problems & Failure

I heard 2 things this week that really helped me change my perspective on the ideas of problems and failure.

Failure

Do you know Sara Blakely? The creator of Spanx? Love this woman! She’s so inspiring so when a video of her was making it’s way around Facebook this week, I had to click and see what she had to say. She was talking about how when she was a kid her father encouraged her to have failures each week because that at least meant she was trying. She reframed the definition of failure to mean not trying something, versus focusing on what the outcome would be. How great is that? If you look at it that way wouldn’t it be much easier to go after what you want?

Here’s the link to the video in case you want to watch.

Problems

Another person I really love is Tony Robbins. I went to one of his live events back when I was in my 20’s and couldn’t really appreciate it. I remember being a little cynical and weirded out about all the hype and having to hug strangers around me. Fast forward to today and I would LOVE to go to one of his events! He had a movie come out this week called I Am Not Your Guru. It’s a behind the scene documentary of his live event called Date With Destiny. I started watching yesterday and only got halfway through and already took so many notes! One thing that stuck out was that he said “our problems are what make us grow“. Again, it’s just a reframing thing but it really has an impact. If you take a problem as something you can learn from, overcome and then help others going through the same thing, isn’t that so much more powerful than just focusing on it as just being a problem that you have to deal with? It’s definitely put me in a different frame of mind!

You can catch that movie on Netflix but I must warn you it can be really powerful and emotional. Be ready!

If you watch either of these, let me know what insights you took from them.

Jul 13 2016

5 Steps To Trigger Inspired Action

When you have your own business, you know you need to take action to make things happen. You can’t just sit there and hope things are magically going to get done on their own. But there’s a difference between trying to force yourself to do something and being inspired to get it done. You can definitely feel the difference.

When you’re trying to force something, it feels hard, like a chore, you may feel stuck and the ideas just aren’t flowing. No matter how hard you try, it’s just not working.

Inspired action on the other hand feels like bliss – ideas magically flow out of you, tasks seem effortless and fun.

Have you experienced this before?

Recently I had a situation in my business where I wanted to create something new but what I started just didn’t feel right. Each time I attempted to work on it I had that dread feeling and I kept avoiding it and making excuses – but I knew it had to be done. Yesterday I magically had a breakthrough so after analyzing what happened, I want to take you through the steps so you can apply it to whatever it is you want to accomplish to trigger inspired action.

1 – Step Away

Yesterday I had a brunch date with 2 long time friends. We hadn’t seen each other in a while so it was great catching up. One of my favorite things to do is to spend time with friends. It feels like home to me – there’s a comfort, familiarity and history together. It feels easy being with them.

Tip: Take a break and do something you love to do

2 – Try To Help Someone Else

Toward the end of our brunch, I told them about a success story of one of my recent coaching clients. One of my friends mentioned something that she’s been secretly wanting to do – coach people on how to eat healthier. I was so excited for her! She’s perfect for it because she lives and breathes the stuff! I had so many ideas for her on how to get it going!

Tip: Take the focus off of yourself. Reach out and help someone else – Give of yourself – it feels very rewarding.

3 – Stay In High Vibe

When I got back home I was still super excited and sent her an email with all of my ideas and encouragement for her to go for it!

Tip: Find ways to stay in a great mood

4 – Set A Deadline – Sense of Urgency

It was 2:41pm and I knew I had a call with my own coach at 3pm. There was NO WAY I was going to get on that call and tell her I still hadn’t made progress on my project.

Tip: – Set a hard deadline – nothing wishy washy

5 – Let it Flow

With a sense of urgency and expecting last minute miracles, I let myself start thinking about my project again, and then as if by magic, the ideas came to me!! I frantically started writing everything out – I literally couldn’t write fast enough and was worried I’d miss a thought. It was so exciting and by the time the call started I had a whole action plan mapped out that I was truly excited about and ready to discuss with her. I was able to come up with the ideas because I was in the perfect frame of mind to do so.

Tip: Let you mind be open to new idea and be ready for the floodgates to open!

Do you have something you know you need to do but you’re feeling stuck?

Try this 5 step process and see if you’ll be triggered to take inspired action!

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If you’re looking for personalized support, in your new creative venture, apply for a free clarity session!

Jul 07 2016

7 Tips For Balancing Your Business and Kids During Summer Break

It’s only 2 weeks in to summer break here in NYC but it already feels like we’re knee deep! If you’re trying to start or run a business during the summer when your kids are home it may seem almost impossible. You may be feeling scattered, overwhelmed and unable to focus. You may also feel torn between wanting to keep working on your business, wanting to spend time with the kids and also wanting to slow down a bit.

Every morning my younger daughter wakes up and asks “what are we doing today?” In my mind I’m thinking about coaching clients, blog posts I want to write, photos that need editing and the list goes on. She’s thinking when are we going to the zoo?!?

It’s time to come up with a schedule that works for everyone. Here are some tips that I’ve implemented and hopefully they can help you stay a little sane as well.

1 – Mark Your Calendar

Hello summer camp!

In the past my girls went to a 6 week theater day camp so our schedule was similar to school. Starting last year however, they decided they wanted to try something different so we have a few weeks here and there that are booked for various camps along with a week long beach getaway that my husband takes them on at the end of August – so all in all about 4 weeks. I block these weeks on my calendar so I know I can be the most productive during those times. That leaves about 5 extra weeks to figure out. Yikes!!

2 – Morning or Night?

Pay attention to their sleep habits. For me, my girls like to stay up late which means they’ll sleep in pretty late in the morning. If I get up by 7 and they get up around 10:30 that gives me over 3 hours pretty much guaranteed to work on my business.

3 – Prioritize and Focus

During those prime hours you have to hyper focus and tackle your most important business tasks first. This is NOT the time to be checking Facebook, folding laundry or doing dishes. No way!

4 – Be Present

If today’s the day you’re going to the zoo, an amusement park or whatever else the activity is, be present. If you try to check emails or facebook at the same time your kid is telling you to look at the giraffes, it’s only going to stress you out and piss them off. BE where you are.

5 – Know Your Non Negotiables

Tuesday afternoons I have a group coaching call with my own coach and Wednesday mornings I have a check in with my accountability partner. These 2 things are non negotiable so I won’t schedule anything during those times.

6 – Your Turn, My Turn

Get your spouse or partner into the mix and let them know you need some time to work on your business and see how they can adjust their schedule to spend some time with the kids.

7 – Keep Moving Forward

Even if you have to scale back during the summer, do something each day for your business no matter how small. You will be so much more ahead of the game than those that go M.I.A. It’s like working out (I hear 🙂 ). You can’t stop exercising all summer and still expect to be in shape in the Fall, right?

What strategies do you implement in the summer to balance kids and business?