Feb 1, 2016
As you well know, this past November, our latest Easy Breezy Coaching Business Bootcamp ended.
We’re proud to present you Devora Gila Berkowitz, one of our Top 10 students in this past session—the “cum laude” of the bunch who launched her businesses with our support and who is now thriving!
Devora helps talented heart-centered spiritual women fulfill their purpose and potential so they can create their unique impact in their life and business.
3 Keys to Activate Your Divine Connection
I’m passionate about empowering spirit-led women to move quickly out of overwhelm and connect to their inner voice and creative power, so they can receive more abundance in life and business.
But it wasn’t always this way. To be totally transparent, I used to sabotage myself with “mindset pitfalls” and instead of attracting health, love and abundance, I had a habit of calling the complete opposite into my life. Although I was a very accomplished musician, writer, teacher, yoga instructor and vocal coach, I was a chronic over-giver and would often put myself last. I was a very juicy target for “energy suckers” and “freebie seekers.”
The Divine decided to have a sense of humor with me one day to reflect my “martyr” attitude back to myself. I was married and seven months pregnant, waiting at a bus stop on my way to my ob-gyn. Suddenly, I was attacked and stabbed in the back eight times by a terrorist who wielded a huge kitchen knife! The weapon fell to the ground, breaking into three pieces, and I ran for my life while sustaining only surface scratches.
I put the event behind me and continued in “push forward” mode until eight years later, when I was diagnosed with a rare, neurological condition that affected my brain, optic nerve and spinal cord. Sounds horrible, right? Actually, I saw the illness as a huge gift – the opportunity to slow down, reflect on my life and heal myself.
Although for years I had questioned the purpose and meaning of my miracle story, only now did I receive this deep realization: Everything in life that happens to you comes directly from the Divine and is meant specifically for you, for your ultimate good. The Divine calls out to have a relationship with you – so you can become who you’re truly meant to be and receive the abundance that is waiting just for you!
This experience led me to discover a step-by-step system that gives you the clarity and confidence to fulfill your purpose and receive your divinely-inspired abundance. (So you won’t ever have to go through a drastic wake-up call like I did.)
I love helping my clients access their inner voice and creative power as their inner divine relationship unfolds, which is the secret to receiving abundance. It’s from this place that they improve their relationships, health and finances. In fact, as a result of this work, one of my clients earned in this past month alone what she earned in all of 2015!
To help get you started, here are 3 Keys to Activate Your Divine Connection.
#1 – Remember Who is in control. Who’s really running the show? This is a challenge for many of us – especially for talented high-achievers. To give over control to the Source of all seems on the one hand so obvious, and on the other – so difficult! We like to be in control. For many of us, the need for control feeds one of our darkest mindset pitfalls: I’m not enough, I’m not worthy, I’m not important, and I can’t. As long as you hold on to one of these mistaken beliefs, letting go will be a challenge. The solution here is to allow “letting go” be your mantra.
Here’s an illustration: One of my clients was in a stressful marriage and had been trying to conceive a second child. As a result of her letting go, she improved her relationship with her husband. At our last session she gave me a thank-you note: “I feel so blessed and grateful for all you have taught me and given to me,” she wrote, “I have grown so much, I have truly transformed…” When I heard from her about nine months later – she was expecting a baby!
#2 – Everything that happens to you is meant specifically for you. Did you ever make an innocent mistake and couldn’t figure out why it happened? Or everything goes wrong one day for no good reason? In the theater of life, we are the players and the Divine is Scriptwriter, Director, and Producer. Each of us is a player in everyone else’s theater so that the Divine can have a relationship with each one of us. While we cannot ultimately pen all of the stories of Life, we can use our free will to rewrite our own stories, by 1) understanding how we interpret and perceive our lives, 2) deciding how we want to experience our reality instead, and 3) take the necessary steps toward those goals.
So instead of feeling guilty or angry when something goes wrong, realize that this is your special moment when the Divine is saying, “Hey, you’re special – pay attention!” When you get really clear on this, life becomes more meaningful and feels magical. You begin to see the world as your personal stage and appreciate the role you’re playing just by being you.
#3 – What happens in your life is for your highest good. You may be saying, How can I possibly see the good when everything around me is falling apart? I hear you. It’s easy to go to that place. The problem with staying there, however, is that you miss out on the golden gift that lies beneath the surface of life’s surprises. That hidden gem is your relationship to the Divine. So the next time you feel frustrated, confused, angry, fearful… these are signals that the Divine is tapping you on the shoulder. Get curious and ask, “I wonder why the Divine is calling to me right now?” Ask to understand the message that you need to hear, or the lesson you need to learn. Remember, it’s all a gift especially for you!
So, following these three steps will help support you to activate your own relationship with the Divine so you can receive more abundance in your life and business. Meditate on these ideas and notice what happens when you open up to the Divine Love that is flowing to you at every moment.
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Devora Gila Berkowitz is a visionary, coach and healer, musician, writer and editor, yoga teacher and soul-purpose expert with 25 years’ teaching experience who recreates herself daily while following her soul’s calling. She knows the unparalleled satisfaction of watching her kids blossom while doing what she loves: helping talented heart-centered spiritual women fulfill their purpose and potential so they can create their unique impact in their life and business. Devora Gila Berkowitz is here to remind you that you have the vision, voice and creative power to make your impact in your family, community and in the world.
Website: www.devoragilaberkowitz.com
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Jan 28, 2016
As you well know, this past November, our latest Easy Breezy Coaching Business Bootcamp ended.
We’re proud to present you Margarita Martin, one of our Top 10 students in this past session—the “cum laude” of the bunch who launched her businesses with our support and who is now thriving!
Margarita works with direct sales, self-employed and professionals seeking to grow in their field – folks who are HUNGRY to grow and improve.
Remember, nothing is IMPOSSIBLE! The word itself says, “I’M POSSIBLE”!!!
I am so EXCITED!! I’ve gone from National Sales Rep of the Year at Dow Jones, twice; to stay-at-home mom of four, to entrepreneur as a Life Leadership coach. And now I’m HERE! With all of you!! My journey with Melinda and Kate has been pivotal and amazing for me and my business as a coach, trainer and speaker with The John Maxwell Team.
We’ve just rung in a new year and as I do every year I’ve reflected back on the past year – what went right, what could I have done better, what where my greatest joys and my deepest let downs. I’ve always been a student of leadership – I’ve always wanted to be the best I could be and I knew that in order to get to my personal best, I needed to read and learn from the very best – one is too small of a number for greatness.
Along with welcoming the newest little member to our family (Baby Grace is 3 months old now), one of the absolutely best things I did in 2015 was become certified as a Coach, Speaker and Trainer with The John Maxwell Team. My heart has always been for bringing others up, training on the best content, sharing what has worked for me in the past and what hasn’t worked. I am a natural motivator and cheerleader. My closest friends describe me as a bundle of positive energy!
As a Certified Coach with The John Maxwell Team I deliver a strong dose of the best content on the topic of leadership on the planet. In fact, John Maxwell has written three of the top five leadership books EVER written. And I get to share that with my clients, through virtual one-on-one coaching, mastermind groups and lunch and learns.
What I have learned, both personally and from my clients, is that SELF-leadership is the absolute hardest form of leadership. One of my favorite quotes from John is this – “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” It is so very true!! How we lead ourselves is how other perceive us, how they respond to us. If you are looking to grow your business, build your sales team or make an impact on the world around you, you must first and foremost LIVE BY EXAMPLE.
Between the killer content, being a keen listener and living it, I would love to share with you some resources available on my site, www.MartinSquared.coach. Take advantage of my free gift to you, “5 Free Infographics to help you Up Your Leadership Game.” They look great printed out and I know you’ll refer back to them time and again.
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Margarita Martin is an influencer that is an experienced sales person. As a mortgage broker, she survived the mortgage crisis of 2007-2008. She transitioned from this battle zone to what turned out to be an all-out Armageddon. Her new role selling a printed publication in our digital world, to a market, of all things – early adopters. Margarita was selling the Wall Street Journal for classroom use to university deans, faculty and graduate programs. Not only did she survive, she was “Sales Representative of the Year” two years in a row. Not bad for a two year deployment. And then came four babies creating a new full-time position. Survived, again, and ready to teach straight from the front line.
Website:www.MartinSquared.coach
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Jan 25, 2016
As you well know, this past November, our latest Easy Breezy Coaching Business Bootcamp ended.
We’re proud to present you Larry Jacobson, one of our Top 10 students in this past session—the “cum laude” of the bunch who launched his businesses with our support and who is now thriving!
Larry offers non-financial retirement planning for baby boomers because golf and grandkids are not enough.
Baby Boomers Reject and Redefine Retirement
Baby Boomers have a problem we rarely discuss and are reluctant to face. If like me, you are one of the 10,000 boomers who will retire today and every day for the next 15 years, you face two basic questions about your retirement.
Do you have enough money to retire? This is the question everybody talks about. The financial planning industry hits us with an endless barrage of advertising to generate enough fear so we’ll invest with them. Let’s say you’ve planned well, had some good luck and timing, and you do have enough money to retire. Good for you. Now you’re faced with the question nobody wants to talk about.
What are you going to do with your time when you retire? Most answers include some version of, “Sleep late, golf, and travel.” I hear this often from new retirees, and many are back on the phone with me before a year has passed. By then, they’ve had all the sleeping late, golfing, and travel they can take, and have discovered a new problem; they are missing the fulfillment and purpose they had with their career.
Today’s Retirement Situation—The Hard Truth
A majority of those approaching retirement have not thought about what happens after their career comes to an end because the idea of losing one’s identity is frightening. Many of life’s big transitions are scripted for us and follow an established progression from one stage to the next. In school, we progressed from kindergarten to elementary, from middle to high school and the next step for some was college. In the corporate world, you climb the ladder from supervisor to manager, director, VP, President, and then the C-suite. If you’re in the military, you rise through the ranks in proper order. But now that you are approaching an unscheduled part of your life, how do you write the script so it includes fulfillment and purpose?
Think about your days at work. Even on the worst day, you experience a variety of emotions including feeling valued, needed, and respected. At work, you are scolded and praised; you absorb, and contribute knowledge. Most likely, you thrive on that steady flow of interaction with fellow workers, the fast pace, and the feeling that you are ‘doing something.’ When this stimulus is gone, how easily do you expect to transition to tending your garden? What will you do to maintain purpose and how will you contribute to the world?
What’s Your Plan?
The answer to this important question of what you’ll do with your time is to have a non-financial retirement plan. Having a financial retirement plan is common, but only 30% of baby-boomers have a non-financial plan. Why don’t you have a plan? Don’t feel bad; it’s not your fault. We didn’t expect to live this long and thus need a plan for a whole new phase of our lives. Our parents didn’t have much of a plan—but we’re living 10-30 years longer than they did—so we need one. However, there are three hurdles to creating a plan.
- We didn’t know we were supposed to have a plan, and figure we’ll make it up as we go. That’s being reactive, not proactive.
- Even if we wanted to, we were never taught how to make a non-financial retirement plan. What would it include? What would it look like? I’ve met a lot of executives who could write a business plan in a day, but have no idea how to write their own plan for retirement.
It takes deep introspection to consider what you’ll do with the next phase of your life. This is not easy to do by yourself and resources have been thin in this area. After all, the financial firms’ profits come from your invested money remaining invested, not spent.
No financial firm wanted me to spend my money on a sailing journey around the world, but that’s what I saw as my vision, so I went anyway. What do you see in your vision? When you think about yourself in retirement, what do you picture? If you don’t have a vision and a picture of what you want, then you may want to consider these statistics.
- In retirement you have a 40% higher chance of falling into clinical depression than when you were working.*
- You have a 56% higher chance of having a stroke if you cannot state your life purpose in retirement.**
- The average retiree watches 4.5 hours of television per day. That’s the equivalent of 205 8-hour days or 56% of your potential productivity time.***
- Retirees have many concerns but their #1 concern is the lack of identity they felt in their career.
Still, 70% of retirees don’t have a non-financial retirement plan.
Do you have a plan?
Without a planned route, it’s easy to drift aimlessly from one pleasure to another never finding fulfillment. In the words of the great motivator, Jim Rohn, “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s….” It doesn’t have to be this way. Retirement doesn’t have to mean the end, but rather the beginning of renewal. Retirement should be redefined as opportunity.
Baby-Boomers are Rebelling Against Traditional Retirement
The old way of looking at retirement was to see an endless bliss where you would finally get to do nothing, with no pressure, deadlines, or work. Wrong! That was your parents’ definition of retirement. You’re of a different generation, someone who has reached a position of respect in your professional life, and want to contribute and feel appreciated.
It’s time to look at retirement in a whole new light. Not as a chance to stop, but as a chance to move forward in a direction you have always dreamed of going. It’s your chance to make your dreams come true. It’s your chance to live a life of true meaning, value, and solid purpose.
Three Elements To a Fulfilling Retirement
It may seem obvious but most new retirees have been so concerned with retiring from something, they have yet to consider what they’re retiring to, and thus the three parts to retirement.
- You must have something to retire from such as a job, career, or position of responsibility.
- You need something to retire to. This could be a new job or career, joining the board of a company, a personal passion, working for a non-profit, getting into a new relationship, or moving both physically and emotionally. Hopefully what you’re retiring to makes you feel like you’re contributing to the world’s betterment, even if it’s your neighborhood group.
- Creating a non-financial retirement plan means asking many questions of yourself—and answering them. Thus, the third element needed to retire is someone to nag you to get off your duff to do make a plan, and then take the first step in that plan. While I prefer my title as is, Chief Retirement Navigator, I’m also referred to as ‘the nag,’ which I don’t mind as long as the job gets one.
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While sailing his boat all the way around the world, Larry Jacobson followed many a course marked by buoys. They led the way through dangerous shoals, between reefs, and provided a safe haven for mooring. The international buoy system is like a roadmap and if followed properly, will keep you in safe waters. Larry’s Buoy Coaching, provides safe and confidential guidance into a new phase of life as you redefine your retirement.
Website: www.buoycoaching.com
Email: Larry@BuoyCoaching.com
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Jan 21, 2016
As you well know, this past November, our latest Easy Breezy Coaching Business Bootcamp ended.
We’re proud to present you Carol Williams, one of our Top 10 students in this past session—the “cum laude” of the bunch who launched her businesses with our support and who is now thriving!
Carol is supporting and empowering individuals and teams to reach their goals and dreams and now she is offering the readers of our blog some of her best pieces of advice.
January Dreaming to July Doing: A Savvy Business Leader’s Guide
WHAT is the issue?
New Year’s resolutions don’t work. You know that. Some statistics:
| Resolution maintained through first week |
75% |
| Past two weeks |
71% |
| Past one month |
64% |
| Past six months |
46% |
Source: http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/
But, why? We are intelligent and successful leaders. Why do we have a DISCONNECT between Intention and Action?
Answer: It’s our brains. It’s how we are wired. But, here’s the good news. We can outsmart our brains.
SO WHAT?
With everything to gain, and much to lose, it’s worth another look at the “right way” to not only plan, but to design a system that enables you and your team to (really) follow though this time. Without consistent and reliable methods for follow-through, your team will lose momentum, become disengaged, and possibly disgruntled. A disengaged team barely scratches the surface of productivity, whereas a highly engaged and motivated team knows no limits.
What if, after many tries of fording an impossible stream, someone built a bridge? Would you ford the stream again? It’s doubtful. What do you have to lose? To gain?
Want this bridge? Read on.
NOW WHAT?
How do we outsmart our brains, then, to go from “January dreaming” to “July doing”? It’s simple, but it’s not easy. If it were easy, we’d find different statistics.
Simply Successful Steps:
- Be certain. Envision your end result, with the caveat that you truly believe you can achieve your goal(s). Half-hearted beliefs are doomed to failure.
- Keep it super simple. A big mistake is to plan for more than three goals. One to three is ideal. “Less is more” after all.
- Believe through the bumps. There will be bumps, but reminding yourself of successes will breed more successes. Honor and celebrate, and expect the bumps. A deep and meaningful “why” is paramount.
- Really remember the reminders. What reminds you of “what you were going to do”? Some use a vision board. Some visualize daily. Create small “if/then” habits (hint: this is a “brain trick.” For example, “IF I open a new browser window THEN I will ask myself what my highest priority of the day is.”)
- Consistently. You must commit to a small step, at least every other day. This creates habit and momentum. It’s also known as Deliberate Practice, which is another way to re-train your brain.
- Get support. No “man is an island.” Humans are gregarious by nature, and in general, find greater success in personal accountability. Try https://www.stickk.com/, a mastermind group, or a coach. Even announcing your goal (personal or professional) on Facebook can help!
Above all, take heart:
According to a 2015 study by the Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island, we can “rebuild our willpower muscle.” Like any muscle however, it must be trained.
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Carol Williams owns EpS (Efficient Productivity Systems) and is a productivity coach, trainer, and Evernote Business Certified Consultant. She specializes in helping create systems for success in business and in life. If you are leading a team who desires to function at top speed and performance, contact Carol for a complimentary, 40-minute phone consultation appointment. She also coaches individuals and helps find calm in the chaos of our work and home lives.
Website: www.EpS-time.com
email: Carol@EpS-time.com
Jan 18, 2016
As you well know, this past November, our latest Easy Breezy Coaching Business Bootcamp ended.
We’re proud to present you Ali Godding, one of our Top 10 students in this past session—the “cum laude” of the bunch who launched her businesses with our support and who is now thriving!
Ali is helping successful women achieve even more and now she is offering the readers of our blog some of her best pieces of advice.
What Strengths Do You Need To Thrive in Today’s World?
Have you felt it too? The feeling that the world is accelerating at an incredible pace… That the sands are shifting beneath our feet? When we look into history we can see that this is a cycle that has always been revolving. Revolutions in human development technologically, socially, politically, spiritually have been cycling on and on for millennia. But what can we do about it?
At the recent Engage For Success conference aptly titled ‘Engage or Bust’ I heard this phenomena described very eloquently by Nita Clarke the co-founder of this movement, dedicated to the idea that there is a better way to work. She said:
“We are living in a world full of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity”
I couldn’t agree more! It is somewhat of a mouthful and so people have taken to reducing these meaningful words to an acronym. VUCA.
If you hear the phrase “We are living in a ‘VUCA’ world” you now know what the hell they are talking about! Personally I feel that phrase reduces this important-to-pin-down concept, it to mumbo jumbo ‘management speak’. However, the sentiment and what it is describing couldn’t be more relevant, and I doubt the term is going away anytime soon so I guess just need to get over it!
So… we are at a point in time where multiple revolutions are taking place all at once, some large, some small. Yet added together these shifts are dramatically changing how we operate as a society. These circumstances have manifested the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA World) we now find ourselves experiencing every day. I don’t think that is ‘news’ to anyone. We all feel the impacts of this ‘chaos’ don’t we?!
As wonderful as it is that we can now put our finger on, and finally articulate what is going on around us. It still leaves us the question of what to do about it. The Engage for Success movement goes on to answer this from the perspective of an organisation and for our economy, But what can I, as an individual, as a professional ambitious woman, do to improve the stress inducing environment we find ourselves in day to day. Which seems all the more urgent because this ‘VUCA world’ seems to breed the worst of the fear based behaviours; manipulation, game playing, politics and the like.
It probably won’t surprise you that my approach is to focus on what we can influence – ourselves. Developing ourselves personally, so that we can not only survive but thrive in this environment. That is the reason I wish to share with you this film by Tiffany Shlain. I believe it to be so powerful because it looks at the qualities we can focus on and develop, that will help us navigate this crazy world we all live in.
Watch it now, or if you don’t mind jumping to the punch line, I have summarised the qualities below. These are the areas that we can all work on to help us survive and thrive in today’s world. I still recommend you watch the film after you finish reading this post. 🙂
The Top 5 Strengths You Need To Thrive In Today’s World:
1) Curiosity – Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.**
2) Creativity – Thinking of novel and productive ways to conceptualize and do things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it.**
3) Initiative – the ability to assess and initiate things independently. The power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do.*
4) Multi-disciplinary thinking – A multidisciplinary approach involves drawing appropriately from multiple disciplines to redefine problems outside normal boundaries and reach solutions based on a new understanding of complex situations*
5) Empathy – the ability to understand and share the feelings of another*
* definition from wikipedia ** definition from VIA institute on character
Do you agree that these strengths are what is needed to navigate our way through or do you think others are just as, or even more important? How do we as a society measure up on these strengths? Are they around in abundance or are they scarce? Do these qualities come naturally to you? Do you want to develop them and hone the skills that go alongside these strengths? I would love to hear your comments on those questions or any other thoughts you may have…
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Ali Godding is Business Owner and Coach at MindSpa, the coaching practice dedicated to helping successful women achieve even more. If you want to get ahead and stay ahead whilst living a healthy balanced life then get in touch today.
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/aligodding
email: ali@mindspalife.com
