Archive for Impact
Calgon Take Me Away–Permission to Pause
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Remember that commercial years ago where a woman is overwhelmed and frustrated by the many demands for her attention? She finally took a stand and declared “Calgon, take me away!” This woman was really onto something that I think bears repeating. Her declaration points to the truth that we all need to step away from the chaos and demands of life to slow down, pause, breathe, check in and reassess.
So what about you? Could you use a “Calgon” break? Permission granted…Go for it! Maybe it’s not a bubble bath, but it could certainly be a ten-minute break to breathe or go for a quick walk. Or how about sitting down to eat your lunch at the table rather than “on the go” or standing up?! 
At some point, you will get caught up in the “doing” and “serving” others through your business and your life that you barely have time to think, let alone feel. Some of you might press in and push through, while others shut down and just stop all together. In either scenario, you’ll reach the point where you are ineffective and unproductive forcing you to reevaluate.
So what’s the answer?
The answer is this: give yourself permission to pause. Take a quick assessment right now and contemplate the following questions.
- What are you currently experiencing internally? Are you at rest inside? Or are you feeling chaos within? Name what you notice.
Once you tune in to what’s happening in your internal world, take a look at what’s going on externally by answering these questions.
- What’s working?
- What’s not?
- What really matters?
- What changes are needed?
Your answers to these questions will reveal some powerful truths. However, you’re just scratching the surface at this point.
There are actually deeper truths that need to be accessed. This internal wisdom will actually help you on the front-end to be proactive in your life and business rather than reacting to the shut-down or burn-out that comes after you hit the proverbial wall.
When you give yourself permission to glean this inner wisdom, you’ll discover your true identity and life mission which reveals your purpose. With this information, you have filters for your choices and you can design a path to the life you’re intended to live. This keeps you anchored in peace while achieving greater impact and tangible results with less effort in both your life and your business.
There’s actually a coaching journey that can help you tap into these deeper truths. It’s called The Destiny Project and this week it went virtual under one website location with it’s own unique brand, identity, mission and purpose. What’s really cool about this journey is that it provides enough structure to keep you moving forward, blended with enough process that takes you deeper into the learning of who you truly are at the core.
Many say they don’t have enough time to dream because there’s too much to do. How about you? What do you think?
What if the question isn’t how can you afford to dream, but rather the question was how can you afford not to? I invite you to contemplate this in your “Calgon” moment as you exercise your permission to pause.
Post your comments at www.shannonbruce.com; I’d love to read your thoughts and be sure to check out the new website because it’s pretty amazing! Thanks Michael Warden and Josh Tilton.
Photo Provided by www.photoxpress.com, Copyright Julia Britvich
Will the Real Me Please Standup?
Posted by: | CommentsA direct sales client of mine started coaching because she was exhausted, tired of being different depending on who she was with. She realized she had various “faces” she shared with others depending on whether she was with this friend or family member, or that co-worker or team member. Allowing her external world dictate how she engaged with others caused internal chaos and lack luster results, leading her to confusion about her “real” self, wondering “Who am I?” and “What do I want?”
I wonder if you can relate? Do you find yourself putting on different faces depending on who you are with? Are you experiencing internal chaos and achieving marginal results because of this?
These questions actually lead to the bigger question of, “Do you know who you really are?”
Let me say this next thought loud and clear. If you find yourself in this situation, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! This is a challenge for all of us because discovering the truth about who you really are is an ongoing process, and likely something that you lose sight of with the demands of your life.
And you don’t need to accept this or throw in the towel in this game of life. There is HOPE as you make the choice to discover who you really are, and begin to live from this place of authenticity.
Through the power of the coaching process, the woman I mentioned above knows her values, understands her purpose and mission and now lives from her “real” self. Her impact is significant as she experiences inner peace and wholeness. Her relationships have dramatically improved and her business is flourishing based on her definition of success.
The point here is about living with authenticity, consistently, and without apology!
What does living with authenticity look like? Here are some suggestions to consider excerpted from an article written by Barbara De Angelis, PhD in the Empowering Women Magazine:
- Behave in ways that are in harmony with your personal values
- Make choices based on what you believe, and not what others believe
- Believe you can be yourself and be loved, rather than having to act in ways you feel will be acceptable to others
- Accept and honor all parts of yourself rather than hiding or lying about them
- Communicate the truth when you need to, even though it might create conflict or tension
- Don’t settle for less than what you know you deserve in your relationships
- Ask for what you want and need from others
This month is the launch of my newly co-authored book, “Direct Selling Power” which includes the chapter on “Ignite your Passion and Live with Purpose: A Guide to a Thriving Life and Prosperous Direct Sales Business.” Whether you are a direct sales business owner, entrepreneur, stay-at-home Mom, or employee, what I’ve written will help you discover the real you. Perhaps this is a next step for you to in connecting with the “real” you.
Bottom line here, it’s time for the real you to stand up! We need what you have to offer.
So what do you say? Share your comments at the blog; let’s get real together!
Contributing Sources
Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D., is one of the most influential teachers of our time in the field of relationships and personal growth. For the past 25 years she has reached tens of millions of people throughout the world with her positive messages about love, happiness and the search for meaning in our lives. She is a best-selling author, popular television personality and sought after motivational speaker.
Empowering Women magazine is a specialized and focused national publication designed to inform, motivate and inspire individuals who are interested in supplementing their income and empowering their lives. Each issue of Empowering Women spotlights a direct selling or party plan company. Readers are given an in-depth look into the featured company and how it creates opportunities for women to achieve success in life and in business. Every issue is packed with engaging articles designed to educate women on how to obtain success in their professional, financial and personal lives.
Tending to the Garden of your Business – Growing beyond a Solopreneur
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As a solopreneur, you wear many hats as you plant a variety of seeds to keep the garden of your business thriving. These seeds are activities such as marketing, administration, serving, selling and developing, all which keep your garden flourishing.
While I’m not a gardener, I do know that weeds begin to grow if you don’t tend to it. If you aren’t careful, these weeds will slowly choke the life out of the healthy plants destroying the beauty and harvest of the garden that’s planted. The same holds true for your business and life!
As you plant these seeds and your garden grows to produce a harvest, there is one thing to remember. Each day is limited in time and because of this you must be intentional as you tend to your garden. Nurturing the seeds already planted, as you continue to seed for the future, are both important and necessary. At the same time, you must be aware of the weeds that need to be removed to avoid losing the harvest you’ve planted.
What are some of the weeds that might show up in your garden of your business?
- Activities that are no longer energizing and take away from producing a fruitful crop.
- Administrative tasks which drain you and could be done by someone other than you, the master gardener.
- Duties outside of your expertise like technology, social media, graphic design, web site maintenance, newsletters, developing promotional materials, etc.
Take a moment to look at your own garden. What are your weeds?
Once you’ve identified them, here are some next steps:
- Hire others to help. You cannot grow the garden of your business without expanding your team. At some point, it’s essential to hire a virtual assistant, bookkeeper, accountant, technology person, and a professional certified coach to support you through the expansion. Bottom line: you cannot do it alone forever!
- Dedicate time to plan and strategize. Block time in your calendar to evaluate and assess: What’s working? What’s not? What changes are needed? If you don’t, you risk being reactive rather than proactive.
- Remove the “good” so the “better” and “best” have room to flourish. As you grow and narrow your focus, some of the opportunities that were one ideal and considered healthy plants in the garden of your business may actually become weeds. This is because the good plants can take up space and time in your garden and keep you from growing and harvesting the best plants that produce greater abundance.
You’ve probably heard all of this before but it warrants repeating. As the garden of your business expands, growing beyond being a solopreneur doing it alone, to becoming an entrepreneur with a support team is critical. Every business owner reaches this fork in the road and needs to decide what the garden needs to grow, otherwise you run the risk of the weeds taking it over and wreaking havoc not only in your business, but also in your life.
As you contemplate your own business (and life because this metaphor applies here too), how would you answer this question:
What next step will help the garden of your life and business thrive to produce a more abundant crop?
This month, there are several coaching programs and products available to you to help your garden grow, flourish and thrive. If you want to know what’s coming, sign up for our monthly newsletter.
What comments do you have? Share at the blog and may the harvest of your life and business be abundant!
Practicing the Art of “Being”
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I’ve spent the majority of my life “doing” rather than “being”. After all, there are places to go, people to see, and things to do, right?
This approach to life fell short for me over ten years ago when I made the bold and courageous decision to leave behind the security of my steady paycheck. I quit my “Corporate” job to pursue my entrepreneurial dream because I was exhausted and burnt out from all of my “doing” for the sake of what?!
Little did I know that I would find myself going through life transition upon life transition, starting with my divorce and the subsequent hurdles of my daughter’s health struggles.
Because of these changes, I was challenged to find answers to the questions of “Who am I?” and “What’s next?”
I could write a book on the topic and some day I just might! In the meantime, the key learning is that I am a “human being”, not a “human doing”. Out of this paradigm shift, I have reaped the benefits of living a heart centered life and I am committed to supporting women like you to do the same.
For those of you who are “do-ers” (which is 99.9% of the women out there), here are some practical next steps that will help you “to be”.
- Slow down and breathe fully. Repeat multiple times during the day!
- Go for a walk in silence. A little bit of exercise, a chance to be and not just “sitting still”.
- Get up early in the morning before everyone else wakes up. Drink your coffee in silence and breathe some more.
- Stop talking and listen. Pay attention to others and to your inner voices, your body, etc.
- Read my blog article “On the Verge of a Break Through” for more insight.
Learning to “be” is essential if you want to find inner peace, joy and greater purpose. It’s a huge shift from the crazy-making world we live, yet so worth the perseverance and commitment to find it.
So what else would you add to this list? Share your comments at Facebook and the Blog…And then, breathe and “just be”!
Going on an Information Diet
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OK, let’s get real. Are you overwhelmed by too much information? It’s a blessing to have readily accessible information at your fingertips 24-7. However, the curse is that there’s an overwhelming abundance of “too much”. So much so that I’m inviting you put yourself on an information diet!
Let me set the stage as to why I think this is important. Last week I had a conversation with a colleague about the impact of being plugged in to so much information. We both agreed that having access to the collective wisdom and brilliance of so many people provides not only inspiration and practical tips, but also calls forth new directions, opportunities and possibilities.
Just like a coin however, there is a flip side. We’ve both found that too much information can become distracting, overwhelming and worst case, it can cause you to question your value, abilities and direction.
If you’re like me, you might often find yourself reacting to what shows up in your in-box feeling obligated to read all of the newsletters, blogs, daily devotions, tips, and inspiration that you’ve signed up for. The challenge is that it can become all consuming to the point you end up working more than you’d like, once again compromising what really matters. Not to mention it can totally diminish your self-worth and esteem.
If any of this resonates for you, my suggestion is that you go on an information diet. Just like you cut back on your food intake to focus on becoming physically healthy, an information diet is about reducing the volume of content you read so you become emotionally healthy and can thrive in your life and work.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting you eliminate everything. I am encouraging you to become tuned in and aware so you can decide what content to decrease as you guard your heart.
Here are some questions to ponder and some potential next steps:
- Does this information add value to your life or work or is it a distraction? If it’s a distraction, consider opting out.
- Are you energized and inspired by the information or do you feel drained or defeated? If you are drained and defeated, it might be time to opt out.
- Do you read the information or do you just delete it? If you’re deleting it you aren’t reading it anyway so clear out the volume of e-mails by opting out.
- Is it all good and yet there’s just too much? Rate what you receive on a scale of good, better and best and opt-out of the good so you have time for the better and best.
Clearing and purging information that is no longer life giving or relevant to where you are in your life and work will have massive benefit to you. It will free you up emotionally because you will have more energy available to focus on what’s truly important. It will also help to eliminate the self-sabotage and allow you to focus on who you really are, not what you think you ought to be.
So what do you think? Share your comments at the blog and share it with your friends, family and colleagues.
Here’s to living freely and lightly!
