Money Mastery: Better Late than Never

Money Mastery: Better Late than Never

For the past year I have known that I need an assistant or a marketing person in my new business. I’ve been caught in the common dilemma of the small business owner: whether to wait till the business is generating the income to pay for such a person or use start-up money to fund the expense. This is a tough call for every entrepreneur in this situation. I knew then that I should take the leap and Just Do It, just as I had in making the decision to start the business and go full out with it. However, I just couldn’t get myself to do it. In the meantime I researched my options and I just got clearer and clearer that I was shooting myself in the foot by not getting the help my business needs. I explored what beliefs and personality elements were keeping me from taking the necessary action. THAT was the most (only?) fruitful part of waiting to take action. I saw a lot about myself, ways that I’ve been that no longer serve me (if they ever did serve me), and, as a good coach, I coached myself to eliminate those beliefs, choose to change and choose to create new habits, new neural pathways for new beliefs and new behaviors that do suit me, that do serve me, and will allow me to become as successful as I intend to be with my new business.

At the end of Feb. at the Bay Area Consultants Network monthly meeting in San Rafael, I met Sandi Silva, the owner of Dynamic Support Solutions which is a team of Virtual Assistants that do just about everything including marketing. Instantly, I knew I’d “found” exactly what/who I’ve been needing. I didn’t hesitate; I acted decisively and swiftly to get her team working on my business. What a relief! I feel an enormous weight lifted from my neck and shoulders- literally. Now, after a month, it’s taking a lot to keep from kicking myself for not doing this a year ago and to keep myself from dwelling on where my business might be now if I had. BIG SIGH!!!! I keep reminding myself that I can’t do anything about that now, that it’s not a productive use of my time and energy to dwell on that today, and at least I am now taking the needed action and reaping the benefit. The Chinese have a saying “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”

How often do we not do something because we wish we’d already done it, wish we’d already made the decision, set something in motion at an earlier time. We allow our regret and remorse to keep us from taking action today. If you too have done this, please consider that today is a good day to stop. So often I get a call from a middle-aged prospective client  who has made this decision to STOP having regrets and simply move forward from where they are to turn their work, their life and their finances around. What many people don’t realize is that if they’ve learned from the mistakes they’ve made in their life, in their work, in their finances, they may be in an excellent position for success now. Those lessons may have resulted in wisdom or maturity that will well serve whatever ventures they now have in mind for themselves. It’s seldom too late. Your best life awaits you. Take the first step. Need support? Contact me. It’s my greatest honor to support people to discover and fulfill their purpose and create their best life, their most authentic life, the life they’ve dreamed of living. Money and what you believe about money is often one of the biggest obstacles to this. Let’s eliminate that obstacle and replace it with what will serve you and your purpose.  This is why I created my business, Money Mastery. Ultimately, it’s really not about the money. Master your Inner Game of money; it’s the KEY to living the life YOU are meant to lead. Today is a good day to start. Now take that first step.

Create Time Abundance in your business and in your life

Create Time Abundance in your business and in your life

I write about our relationship with money, Money Mastery, and how it interrelates with our life purpose, our happiness, fulfillment, and enjoyment of life as well as our success and self-expression.
I believe our relationship with time is at the core of what allows us to be successful, fulfilled and living our deepest purpose. Many of us get stuck in time-related traps. We struggle with too many things on our to-do list. We get overwhelmed in our work. And we can’t find time for our most important priorities and for living our purpose.

When we are able to be fully present and engaged with what moves our lives and businesses towards our desired destination, magic happens:

· We feel alive
· We create unimaginable prosperity
· We feel open to possibility
· Even effort feels effortless

There is one person that really fully embodies this way of being: Satyen Raja.

So I want to share with you an opportunity to learn from Satyen Raja about Time Mastery and Time Abundance. It won’t cost you a cent! That’s right; it’s free! And it’s at lunchtime…..does that make it a free lunch? And you don’t have to go anywhere; it’s a teleclass offered by Bill Baren. You may recall that I recommended his Time Mastery Telesummit last year.
You’ll walk away from this call having a deep knowing of what Time Abundance truly is – as simple and powerful as that.

So, are you ready to create Time Abundance in your business and in your life? If so, Register for this rare interview with Satyen Raja on being a master of your time here: http://www.billbaren.com/interview/satyen.html
It will not cost you anything to participate. Your only investment is your time.

This ONE-TIME FREE TeleExperience takes place on Thursday, April 2nd at 12 noon Pacific Time/3:00pm Eastern Time.

I hope you can make it live on the call. If not, they’ll be sending out the recording to all who registered.

Self-Growth.com and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Self-Growth.com and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

David Riklan of Self-Growth.com has posted a useful 5 minute video to explain the 7 Habits quickly and provide a visual mnemonic to help remember them and their order. Here’s the link and his synopsis:
http://www.selfgrowth.com/blog/seven_habits_highly_effective_people.html

Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has sold over 10 million copies worldwide!

Number 1 – Be Proactive.
That’s almost self explanatory. It means you are taking the initiative. You are not living reactively, but are taking a proactive stance in your life.

Number 2 – Begin with the End in Mind.
The End is really your goal or your goals. Effectiveness is not just a matter of reaching a goal but rather of achieving the right goal. Imagine yourself sitting in the back of the room at your funeral, and what people could honestly say about you based on the way you are now. Do you like what you hear? Is that how you want to be remembered? If not, change it.

Number 3 – Do First Things First.
This means to focus on your most important priorities, your top priorities. This doesn’t always mean urgent. The phone is ringing, and picking it up might seem urgent, but the caller is not always important. It could be a telemarketer. Focus on your top priorities.

Number 4 – Think Win Win
In personal, business or other relationships, exercise “interpersonal leadership” to make both parties winners. Two wins make everyone better off; two losses hurts everyone. A win/lose relationship creates a victor and leaves someone injured. Think Win Win.

Number 5 – “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood”
Communication is a two-way street. To develop win/win relationships, find out what the
other parties want, and what winning means to them. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.

Number 6 – “Synergize”
Cooperation multiplies the power of one. In fact, “creative cooperation” may yield a
force greater than the sum of the parts. The buzzword to describe
this kind of relationship is “synergy,” which means bringing together a whole that
is greater than the sum of the parts.

Number 7 – “Sharpen the Saw”
There’s an old story about a man sawing a log. The work is going slowly and the man is exhausted. The more he saws, the less he cuts. A passerby watches for a while and suggests that the man take a break to sharpen the saw. But the man says he can’t stop to sharpen the saw because he is too busy sawing! A dull saw makes the work tiresome, tedious and unproductive. Highly effective people take the time they need to sharpen their tools, which are, in fact, their bodies, souls, mind and hearts. It’s time for “self-renewal.”

As you may have gathered, if you’re one of my regular readers, I am a huge fan of Covey and the 7 habits; I practice them in my personal life, in my business, and write about them regularly in my blog.
I see the fruits of this practice in my relationships, in the way I approach my daily work and business in general. Slowly, I am eliminating and replacing my most challenging and problematic habits.

Habit 2 helps me think backwards to achieve the Mission of my business and also to create the life I want.
Habit 3 is probably my biggest challenge on a daily basis even though I’m convinced of the wisdom of it. I do feel so much more satisfied when I do the most important thing FIRST in my day both in the personal part of my day and in my work day.
Sharpening the Saw is second nature to me; I have always done this and couldn’t stop when I tried.
In my personal relationships, Win-Win has had a big impact. Preceeding this with Habit 5 works helps because when I understand someone and their perspective, it’s natural for me to want to give them what they need/want and often this movement causes it to become mutual and we get to a Win-Win.

I’d really like to hear from you if you use Self-Growth.com
How are you using it? What are you getting from the experience

Co-creating your relationship with money

Co-creating your relationship with money

When I am in a relationship or desiring to be, I not only think about what kind of man I want to be in a relationship with and how I want that relationship to be; I also think about who I must be and how I must be in order to co-create the relationship and uphold my half of that relationship.

My friend and colleague, Morgana Rae, The Charmed Life Coach, coaches folks on how to become a Money Magnet and talks about your Money Honey, creating the relationship you want with your money as though it were a romance with a romantic partner.
How would/do you treat such a partner?

One of my mentors, David Neagle, talks about success not in terms of what you have to do to be successful, but rather WHO you have to BE in order to be successful.
I was so struck the first time I heard David say this! I decided this is true across the board whether you’re wanting to be successful with relationships with people, with money, or with your work. I have been internalizing this ever since!

Another of my mentors, Deborah Price, Founder of The Money Coaching Institute, started a new blog (see my blogroll) to speak to the fear and pain that is circulating in our society right now. She says:”Using relationships as the metaphor, begin to think in terms of what kind of money relationship you are seeking. If you were to place an ad in the personal column seeking a partner, you would want to have a pretty clear idea of what it is you are looking for before you placed your ad. Otherwise, you’re not likely to receive what you’re hoping for. The clearer you are, the more likely you can magnetize anything in your life, be it relationship with a person, a job or money. In this case, it is important to be clear about what kind of relationship you desire to have with money. Write a personal ad that addresses your intention. Here’s an example:
“Spiritual being seeking a relationship with money that is conscious, loving, trustworthy, fulfilling, co-creative and prosperous. I am ready to receive this relationship into my life and to embrace this prosperity with care and attention so that together we may realize our greatest good.”

Now, write your own statement of what it is you desire in your relationship with money. When you are done, repeat the following words:
“I am ready and willing to receive my perfect relationship with money and finances into my life with grace and gratitude. I consider it done and so it is. Amen. “

Let me know how it goes.

Be a Wealthy Warrior instead of a Poor Worrier

Be a Wealthy Warrior instead of a Poor Worrier

It’s no secret that we are in the midst of what some
people are calling one of the greatest financial downturns
in history.

People are scared to death.

They are confused.

They are uncertain.

They’ve lost their confidence and with it, many of their
dreams. Most people have taken on a victim mentality
and become weak. They are the worriers and the watchers.

You don’t have to join them. You can be a Wealthy
Warrior instead of a poor worrier.

The true warrior, the enlightened warrior, the Wealthy
Warrior is one who conquers him or herself. The warrior’s
way is the way of action. They come from strength vs.
weakness, courage vs. fear and opportunity vs. obstacles.

John David Rockefeller made his billions from 1929 to
1934 during the heart of the Great Depression. Rockefeller
was a Wealthy Warrior. The fact is, this may be the best
opportunity of your entire lifetime to get rich… really rich…
if you know what you’re doing or are willing to learn.

The next 2 years may well determine the rest of your financial
life. So decide. Decide who you are. More importantly,
decide who you want to be. Begin taking action. Even baby steps count; they add up!

The Difference by Jean Chatzky

The Difference by Jean Chatzky,

I normally post to this blog twice each week, but today here’s an extra post with a special limited-time offer:
Download Jean Chatzky’s new financial book, The Difference, for free until 10:59 a.m. ET Saturday, March 14, 2009!

We’re offering this as a free download for Oprah.com members. If you are an Oprah.com member, you’ll be prompted to log in first. If you are not already a member, you will be prompted to become a member. It’s free! Go to oprah.com

What can The Difference teach you?
The top five things you can do to not just survive but thrive during tough times
The eight things that make The Difference (i.e., the key traits and abilities of people who describe themselves as financially free)
Advice for those having job insecurity as well as strategies for finding a job
Why money doesn’t breed happiness—but happiness can breed money
The direct connection between The Difference and your health
How people who know The Difference make a difference for others
Myths and facts about the wealthy

More from Jean Chatzky
A step-by-step action plan to help you get out of debt
Have the retirement talk and try our free calculator
Become your own financial planner
4 ways to stop fighting about money
The layoff survival guide
Make money, not excuses

Being Real and Velveteen Principles/Velveteen Rabbit

Being Real and Velveteen Principles/Velveteen Rabbit

The book by Toni Raiten-D’Antonio, Velveteen Principles, is a lovely adult book for those who loved the Margery Williams’ book The Velveteen Rabbit as a child or have wanted to become Real as an adult. For those who somehow missed out on the Velveteen Rabbit, it’s a classic parable that inspires reflection and reminds us of our heartfelt longings to grow beautiful and valuable and be loved for who we are, our Real selves. It promotes the value of love, empathy and compassion and encourages us to struggle against what is artificial or superficial. It urges you to see the many ways we are pressured to abandon what is Real, the price you may pay if you do, and the merits of reclaiming everything that makes you a unique and Real individual.

While the Dalai Lama says that our job is to be happy, I contend that we must be real in order to truly be happy. Undoubtedly, HHR, the Dalai Lama would agree.

So, what does it mean to be Real? To paraphrase the skinhorse in the Velveteen Rabbit, Real is what happens when you are your true self and are loved despite, or perhaps because of, your imperfections.

Velveteen Principles by Toni Raiten-D’Antonio points to a safe and steady course towards peace, self-acceptance, and true love. In my experience, self-acceptance is a gateway to happiness and peace and is also a prerequisite for a healthy happy love relationship.

Really Living, Life Purpose, Survival, and Selfless Service

Really Living, Life Purpose, Survival, and Selfless Service

This weekend I attended a 3-day Diamond Approach retreat with Hameed Ali, the founder of the Diamond Approach and of the Ridhwan School (he writes under the name A.H. Almaas; If you’ve read any of his 13 books, please leave me a comment and introduce yourself); I’ve been a student of the Diamond Approach for 20 years now.
The retreat was an inquiry into life, death, living our realization in our daily lives, the survival drive, the enlightenment drive, and what limits our sense of aliveness, life force, and our love of life.

We did an exercise at the end of the third day inquiring into our fear of death and our love of life. It was fascinating to witness myself inquiring into this and discovering that BOTH my fear of death (which for me has to do with fearing not using my life well) and my love of life have motivated me to discover, pursue and fulfill my life purpose! It makes perfect sense; I simply hadn’t articulated it in that way before.

Discovering my life purpose and fulfilling it has always been critically important to me. Since I was fairly young, I’ve known that being of service to others was a key part of this for me. According to Hameed, this is universal. Love of life is inherently selfless, service-oriented, and sharing. Selflessness is needed for an individual life to mature and ripen.
I certainly had no idea, all those years ago, that my life purpose would involve helping others to discover their life purpose and get out of their own way to be able to fulfill their purpose.

If you’ve read my other posts on the topic of life purpose, you may recall that life, and the soul, have this amazing mechanism whereby we are continuously preparing, unbeknownst to us, for our purpose even before we discover what our purpose is. Isn’t life just grand?!

Thriving in these challenging times

Tough times call for adaptation and evolution, not desperate measures. Ramping up our creativity is how we’ll survive and thrive over difficult stretches of time. Now we are back to square one, where ingenuity will give birth to actual products and services to be sold. This is opportunity lurking. Don’t wait to hear it knocking. Some of us will react by using the “turtle strategy” : pull everything in, hold tight, and wait it out. Some of us will react by using the “headless chicken strategy:” run around panicked, without direction. Some of us will react by looking at needs and resources, finding matches, and seizing opportunities. We are limited only by our imaginations and our commitment to ingenuity.

Action is Born in Your Mind
As with all actions, everything starts with internal dialog. That internal dialog directs us in setting our course. If our focus is on our plight, we sit in our plight. If our focus is on our path out of the woods, we move out of the woods. Our interpretation of events directs us, not the events. We make the decision between victim and problem-solver from the start, and our actions merely follow through with that decision. As we’ve learned, we can shift from victim to problem-solver by shifting our internal dialog. The next step is taking that problem-solver to a new level of creativity. It means we need to be much more conscious about our internal dialog and our dialog with each other; all aspects of our communication. Opportunity may not be knocking as loudly as it once did, but that doesn’t mean we can’t seize it where it’s lurking.

Even during dark and desperate times there are certain prophetic people who can see beyond obvious challenges and fears. Every Pulitzer Prize was won by someone who shut their complaining mouth and took the risk to follow the thread of instinct. We can use the same principles today; practice, practice, practice doing this.

It’s easy to sit around paralyzed with worry about the future, but it feels really awful and gets you nowhere. You could stay in this state until the economy shifts and then you’ll be no better off. While the economy is not under your control, YOU are. You can control many elements of your reality. Take a minute to imagine your life exactly the way you’d like it to be. Then ask yourself what YOU can do to make things different. What’s your vision? What is the first step toward that? Take that step. Then take the next step. One step at a time you move toward your vision. When the economy shifts again, you’ll be in a better position relative to your heart’s desire.

Each one of us has certain doors of possibility that can only be accessed by allowing our internal daydreams to flow without restriction. Create the environment to allow this from time to time. Use all that time you’d spend watching the news. Fill your mind with images of your heart’s desire rather than the images from the news. You may find that you can be happy and inspired even in the midst of these wild times in which we’re living.

What is the first step? Set that in motion. Share it with me if you like.

Becoming Effective

Becoming Effective

Effective people aren’t problem-minded; they’re opportunity minded. They feed opportunities and solve problems.
Stephen Covey