By Ivan Goldberg

This changing world is in a time of crisis, but shifting priorities mean that it is also a time of new opportunities. It requires us to reset our dials, to rethink our business, and open our eyes to the new business world, to the New Normality.

This is called “outside-in” thinking. It enables us to make sense of change, and seize the best insights and ideas to drive innovation and profitable growth.

Here are the ten “outside-in” principles that will help you to thrive in the new business world normality.

1. Find the best markets for growth. Growth is no longer about selling more of what you have, or making your existing assets work harder. It is about finding the markets with most potential. Look across continents and sectors. Don’t be limited by what is comfortable or close.

2. Explore the new business landscape. Business can no longer be parochial. We all operate in global inter-connected and inter-dependent markets. Power has shifted from West to East, from big to small, from business to customer. New priorities like social and environmental issues drive out agendas too.

3. Live in the customer’s world. Thinking like a customer is liberating. Take off your business blinkers and see what matters to customers. Talk to them about their dreams and priorities, rather than products and prices. They will be more engaged too.

4. Treat customers as individuals not averages. We often seek to create average solutions for average customers. No wonder nobody is really delighted. Think about your customer as a real person. Learn about what drives him or her deeply.

5. Don’t sell products, deliver experiences! We see the sales transaction as the culmination of our efforts; for the customer it’s just the beginning. Go beyond that little bit of after-sales support to deliver experiences that are personal in solutions and style, that will endure over time.

6. Do business on their terms, not yours. Why should I want to read a random piece of irrelevant mail from you? Why should I come to you? Learn to engage and interact on customers terms - what, when, where and how they want - to make their life easier, not just yours.

7. Enable customers to achieve their dreams. Customers have ambitions, or at least problems to solve. That’s what they’re really interested in. Your products and even your services are just a means to address these. Enable them to do things faster, better and bigger than they ever thought possible.

8. Embrace networks and partners. Physical and virtual networks are prime opportunities to connect with customers, embrace and build communities, connect with partners who have difference capabilities and relationships, and reach new places.

9. Be more emotional and energising. Business is about people engaging with others. People are inspired by those who have a vision, those who can make sense of complexity and those who understand them best. Find ways as a leader and as a business to engage your staff and customers in more emotional and energising ways.

10. Don’t be the biggest - be the best. In a changing business world, the emphasis has shifted from scale and volume to relevance and difference. The profits are to be found in niches. Loyalty lies in personalisation. Embrace new opportunities first, new marketing techniques and new technologies. Leverage the power of the web.

For more information contact us at ivan@maa-uk.co.uk or ivan.goldberg@vistage.co.uk and check out our websites at www.maa-uk.co.uk and www.vistage.co.uk

“Just do your best.” This phrase may conjure up images of your parents sending you off to school to participate in the school-wide spelling bee; Or your soccer coach sending you off to cover a position you’ve never played before; Or your elementary school teacher trying to get you to answer a tricky question. Maybe you can relate to this phrase now, as your boss tells you to “do your best” to complete a major project when you don’t have enough time or resources to pull off a miracle.

Why does this phrase cause such fear? I was reading an author a couple of weeks ago and he suggested doing away with this phrase because it is harmful to children. His argument was that it instills perfectionism and competition and doesn’t do enough to underline the fact that trying is equally important as doing something well. He argued that “do your best” kept people from even trying, if they couldn’t perform perfectly or at 100%.

To me, “do your best” is an invitation to try. It invites you to jump right in and do what you can. Why do you always have to be perfect? You don’t. And it’s completely unreasonable to think that your best is 100%, 100% of the time. That is the exact false thinking that leads to perfectionism!

Give yourself permission to try something, and do your best. If your best is only 40% at that moment. That’s fine. The point is to try it. “Your best” should be a term that is relative to any given moment, not a concrete definition of who you are.

As long as you’re attempting and trying so that you can go home feeling proud of your performance, 40% should feel fine to you.

 Kimberly Englot is an Authentic Life coach, the founder of Authentic Self and the creator of the Master Life Cleanse.. Kimberly works with women who want to eliminate the negative energy blocks in life. In 12 months or less she guides her clients to more health, wealth and happiness. Learn how do that with the brand new Master Life Cleanse Action Guide, or participate in the Master Life Cleanse Program. For more information check out Kimberly’s website , or email her at Kimberly@kimberlyenglot.com.

Branding has always been an important part of every company’s marketing and advertising campaigns. The brand is basically the identity of the product that has some distinct and innovative features that makes it stand out from the rest. It gives the product a name that people can identify with and trust. This is how the product positions itself in the market and makes a name and place, thus creating an iconic item that consumers can trust and rely on.

Now that was all about branding. I will now relate it this to a very popular term that has become very rampant in the corporate sector for the past couple of years. The term is EMPLOYER BRANDING. The concept is the same but here the customers are basically the pool of talented human resources that the company wishes to hire.

In simple language it means that the organization or company wishes to portray itself in a manner that WE ARE THE BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR and this in turn will attract the best and most talented pool of resources. The employer will brand itself in a manner that they wont have to look for the talent, rather the talent will come to them. They will become a prestigious company that people will want to work for a will automatically attract human resources like flies to honey.

Interesting concept? Well yes, it is. But it is much easier said than done.

I have seen companies that love the concept and go all and out and spend, or rather waste money on fancy advertising and cleverly worded punch lines that give a feeling of ” Ahh this is what a dream company is made of” It makes the job seekers wish that they could be included in this fantasy like workplace where they will get paid and enjoy their work too. Usually the bubble bursts within the first month on the job and the new hire realizes that all that glitters was not gold!

The Benefits of Employer Branding:
Actual fact is that the concept is not only interesting but if it is done correctly it is quite rewarding and has long term benefits as well. The main thing that must be kept in mind is that you must know how to go about branding your company as an employer of choice and must be prepared to feel the heat when things will not sound as pleasant as you thought they were.

This will mean that you will have to actively involve your employees in all aspects of the process, and if you keep monitoring and refining each aspect of the work experience (especially those critical moments of truth), you will also enjoy the side benefits that affect your bottom line:
• Lower turnover.
• Less absenteeism.
• Higher productivity
• Satisfied employees and satisfied customers
• Higher employee retention
• Long Lasting reputation
• Good will and strong standing in market
• Active, energetic, self starting workforce
• Having and influence and say in the market

Let me give you a few examples of what I mean through my experience over the years…

PACKAGES Pvt Ltd.

This company is a very huge company that produces packaging material of all sorts. If u have a product that needs a package you have probably dealt with this company. Packages has such a huge name and standing in the market that it is a company that every one wants to work for.

Sounds nice huh? Is there a catch. Yep! You guessed it.

I have worked with and interacted with the employees there on a very micro level and got a chance to delve deep into the corporate culture and basic working environment of the organization. Being and outsider, I was shocked to find out that the grievance level was extremely high. It was totally adverse to what I had thought and had heard of. But since it was coming from the actual employees directly, it was the hard truth. (I will not go into petty details as my intention is not to tarnish the company image. I just wish to lay down some hard core facts and some practices that need to be revised and upgraded.)

I had a chance to sit down with the management and discuss this particular issue with them. They also acknowledged that fact that it has become difficult for them to attract and retain new talent and need to revamp their strategy. Packages had become a place where employees joined in , spent a while and moved on to a better company. The label that “we have worked in PACKAGES Pvt Ltd.”, was an excellent way to land a better job in another company. But it is Packages itself that has to bear the brunt of the situation. They are providing a talented pool of resources in the market at the expense of their own organization. Employees want to be recruited only to get labeled so that they can move on. Why? Why is it so?

The reason is simple. The organization is unable to deliver the promised and to meet the expectations of the employees. If this situation continues, they will be sucked dry of talent and may fall behind to their competitors because of this.

Human Resources are the vital component in any organization. You can have the latest technology, but unless you have thinking, breathing, creative and technical people to back it all up, your organization can never flourish. Once companies realize this, and acknowledge the fact that they need to change, they will be ready to embark on the journey of employer branding.

The First Step
My advice is… Please don’t waste your time and money on creating a glittery and fancy tall tale that you are the elite employer of choice, without conducting the preliminary investigations. You must make sure that what you are saying is true; otherwise you will do an excellent job of tarnishing your reputation beyond repair.

I quote the advertising legend David Ogilvy “nothing will kill your reputation in the labor market faster than doing a great job advertising a work experience you don’t deliver.”

You may be getting cross with me by now, and saying ” Ok smarty pants, how are we suppose to investigate all this?

Well ,as usual my answer is simple. Conduct a survey in your company to find out what your employees think about you as an employer and make sure the survey is discrete and unbiased. Also be prepared to listen patiently to the grievances, problems and issues that are mentioned. The tact will be to not take these highlighted problems and issues with a raised brow and vengeance filled attitude. Take it with a grain of salt and use this vital employee feedback to repair damages and build better relations. This feedback will be the foundation of your research and the initial step to being a better employer.

Ask your employees
• What kind of employer you are
• All positive and negative aspects of the company
• Ask them to compare you to other similar employers
• What facilities they enjoy and what more legitimate one do they require
• Why did they join this company
• What can the company do to become an employer of choice… etc

The main success factor will be how the company uses this information to design a better corporate culture and working environment.

Nestle Pakistan
Ok, I will now use another example to further elaborate what I have been discussing.

I have also had a chance to work with Nestle Pakistan on a project and had some very detailed meetings and useful insights from the employees there. I must congratulate this company on its successful working environment and the employee development focused attitude of the management. This is one company that has some really satisfied and happy employees. None of the employees I came across was ready to even listen to anything about leaving Nestle and joining any other company. They said that no other company could provide the work environment and opportunities that they had at Nestle. Each employee had a mapped career path, performance based promotion, was given a chance to take new initiatives, excellent learning experience, job rotation and augmentation. Employees were even given a chance to explore new departments that they had no knowledge or experience like an accounts person can be assigned to the marketing department just because he wants to venture and get a feel of that job as a change. This creates excitement and a drive to excel and obviously results in improved quality of work and productivity.

Another secret weapon of employers of choice is their proactive and motivating managers and supervisors. This level of management is the most widely ignored, but the most important in creating and sustaining a productive and complacent work environment.

I must quote Mr David Lee, “Common sense combined with research by the Gallup Organization tells us that bosses are the most important factor affecting an employee’s work experience. As Gallup’s research revealed, “Employees join companies, but they leave managers.” Thus, if you’re serious about actually being an employer of choice and not just saying you are, invest in leadership development at all levels. Make sure all of your supervisors and managers get the training and coaching required to know how to create a work environment that can make you an employer of choice. ”

Here I will quote Rebecca Clake, CIPD adviser, organisation and resourcing, says: “Employer branding is still important, and in times such as these it’s more important than ever. Budgets are under pressure, and it’s now that HR needs to demonstrate that it is true to its principles. If you cannot avoid making redundancies, then you will need to work hard to look after the people who are leaving and the ones who remain, to retain the impression of how good an employer you are.

To round it all up I just want to say that in today’s cut throat competitive corporate world every company should strive to have the best consumer brand and be the best employer brand. This can be done if we be more open and build better relations with our employees and consider them all as a part of one big family.

At Least 8 Questions to Assess Life Clutter

With spring around the corner for us in the northern hemisphere, and spring cleaning on my mind, I have been thinking about the clutter I have building up in my basement. It is physical clutter, textbooks from university, recycling I haven’t taken in yet, and old clothes that need to be donated to charity. The physical clutter affects my mental space, too. It is there, always in the back of my mind, and I must admit, I am procrastinating clearing it out.

What kind of clutter are you allowing in your life? Take some time to reassess what you have that you’re putting off or allowing to take up extra space in your life.

Physical Clutter:
1. Are you saving old newspapers or magazines that you won’t read, just incase you think you will want to read them again…some day?
2. Is your closet bursting with things you don’t like or wear? Do you have items that don’t fit properly or are stained or ripped?
3. When was the last time you cleaned out your pantry, fridge or freezer?
4. Can you park the car in the garage…or is it time for a garage sale?

Mental Clutter:
5. Are you finances a mess? Do you open your bills when they come in the mail, or do you just toss them away without looking at them?
6. What does your home office or desk look like? Are you able to think with miscellaneous loose paper scattered everywhere?
7. Are you holding resentments towards certain people?
8. Or are you trying to do everything and feel like you can’t accomplish anything because some minor emergency or drama always comes up?

These are just a few of the things you should think about to get the ball rolling for you to assess your life clutter! Take a deeper look.

What do you have in your life that you don’t absolutely love, need, or want? Anything that doesn’t fit into those categories should be cleared away. Think about all categories in your life: relationships, career-wise, financially, in your home environment, in your friendships. What is stunting your personal growth? What is getting in the way of your promotion at work? Why can’t you ever find time to finish reading that book, or go out for a cup of coffee with the girls? Why do you never make time for you?

Clutter comes down to not valuing yourself, your life and your personal space. If you felt like you deserved a clean, organized closet (and this was important to you) you’d have one. You likely spend your life running around for others and have forgotten to put yourself back on your priorities list. So, put yourself back on it! Figure out what you want for your life, and then get rid of what won’t help you get there! This helps you clean out both mental and physical clutter. You’ll have more energy and feel great. I promise.

Kimberly Englot is an Authentic Life coach, the founder of Authentic Self and the creator of the Life Cleanse mastermind. Kimberly’s passion is to work with women who are ready to identify and eliminate their resistance to living greatly. She teaches women to listen to their intuitions, cast out self doubt and have the courage to be authentic. An advocate of life long learning and personal growth, Kimberly’s personal philosophy is “Be True to yourself: Be Authentic!” For more information check out her website or email her at kimberlyenglot@gmail.com.

How to save office space….

Now is this ingenious or what?

By Ivan J Goldberg

Perhaps the question to ask is - what is a coach? My view is that a coach should be a support system, a point for accountability, a facilitator, a challenger, an honest commentator and a totally confidential advocate.

There are other aspects but perhaps the most important factor is what a coach is NOT and that is an advisor, a consultant or a crutch.

In more than 3,000 coaching sessions over the past sixteen or so years, I have learnt that there can be no prescriptive format or a formal process which takes the coach and the coachee (if that is the right word!) to the Promised Land.

Rather the coach must remain open minded and trawl very carefully to discover the real issue in the mind of the client. Too often, the initial statement of issue is one which masks the real issue and this can only be uncovered by sensitive questioning.

In order to “peel the onion”, the use of the “what else” question can be valuable but essentially, the coach must ask the question and then, vitally, listen to the answer. Remember that an anagram of “listen” is “SILENT” and silence will help the client to marshal their resources and thoughts so as to come to an eventual conclusion.

Stay silent after the client finishes and continue to stay silent until they start again. That restart will take them to deeper thoughts and feelings which may well start to help them uncover the issue. Don’t be tempted to break the silence - the client is more important than your opinions!

There are one or two useful questions to ask - the use of “how does that make you feel?” as a supplementary is a great opener with someone who is prepared to dig into their subconscious, and never allow anyone to say “I don’t know”. That usually masks a reluctance to vocalise their feelings so go on digging deeper until the real answer starts to emerge.

As the client goes deeper into their thoughts and feelings, the true reason for help can emerge. Notice that I said “can” emerge. Because this is a free ranging process, unless the coach stays very alert for some indication in the client’s answers about the real issue, then the point can be lost. This requires great sensitivity and some sort of instinct for the right thing which comes perhaps with experience.

Consequently, a prescriptive approach can almost always be counter-productive. If a formalised approach is used there is a danger that important points can be missed in the perceived need to follow the prescribed format of questioning.

Most essentially, the coach is NOT a consultant so never dive in with prescriptive answers and opinions. That is not what the client needs (it may be what they want, of course) but until he/she comes to their own conclusion, then the session needs to continue.

Always try to use “open” questions (who, why, what, where, when and how) as they can’t be answered with a yes/no. Be careful with “why” as it can sometimes be seen to be aggressive but if it is used with sensitivity, it can be a most valuable tool in the coach’s armoury.

Remember to use the “what else?” question to enable your client to dig deeper each time.

Always summarise at the end of the session. A short paraphrase on the basis of “I have heard that you ……………” or “You said that……….” is best, together with a summary of what you will discuss at the next meeting. Give them something to take away and think about and always make yourself available, by telephone or email, between sessions. It can be a demand on your time but if your client needs it then you should always be there to give help and support.

 Ivan J Goldberg is Managing Director of Michael Adam Associates Limited, a management consultancy specialising in strategic planning, marketing strategies and assisting companies through a process of change. He facilitates the management of companies in the planning process and also acts as mentor to Chief Executives of many businesses Besides running the Consultancy, he also operates as a Chairman of Vistage International (UK) and lectures widely on the process of change in organisations, behavioural and organisational modelling and strategic planning.For further information, contact Ivan at ivan@maa-uk.co.uk or ivan.goldberg@vistage.co.uk and websites www.maa-uk.co.uk , http://maa-uk.blogspot.com and www.vistage.co.uk

“All human beings are completely responsible for their actions, even if they don’t want to be.”

You can only control your reactions to an event, not the circumstances leading up to those reactions. It’s all about perspective.
No one can “make” you “feel” or “do” anything. You always have a choice, no matter what. Often it’s a choice you don’t want to make, but the point is you always have a choice. Take charge of your life and accept this personal responsibility and you will start to feel a freedom like nothing else. It is a strange but true paradox. Take charge of your life by examining the 4 ½ Principles.

1. Get a goal in mind. This is simply to get you started. Give yourself permission to: change your mind, reassess, and make mistakes.

2. Take a good look at your life as it is now. How close to your ideal life are you? Reassess your life and decide what you need to include and exclude to get you closer to that ideal.

3. Get focused and discover your true priorities. When you have priorities, you can instantly improve your life by holding yourself accountable to NOT settling for good enough on those priorities. Not settling for good enough in life is a double edged sword. You also need to have your priorities straight so that you can know what to let go.It’s a matter of clarifying what you’re willing to compromise on and what you’re not willing to compromise on. You can not try to lie to yourself here. They must be true priorities of yours (and not someone else’s). No “should’s” allowed. I can’t think of any “shoulds” that lead to happiness.

4. Put yourself back on your list! Enough of settling for “good enough” when it comes to your priorities…or do you even know what your priorities are anymore? Is it time for you to reassess your life, dreams, passions and goals? I know that life gets busy. Spouses, kids, jobs, pets, and homes all require attention, but what about you? You’re not a lot of help to anyone if you’re resentful, tired and only living via obligations to other people!

4 ½ . You need to realize that you cannot depend on anyone else to make (and keep!) you happy. As soon as you think that happiness is found in an external source, you will be disappointed…which leads to unhappiness. It’s just too much responsibility to place on someone else. Happiness is found inside you, and only you.

“Everything you think, everything you do, has a consequence and you are going to experience the consequences of your actions in one way or another.” Wouldn’t it be better to create your own consequences rather that having them just happen?
You deserve to feel good. But feelings of peace and joy come from you and your reactions to the things around you, not on the things themselves.

 Kimberly Englot is an Authentic Life coach, the founder of Authentic Self and the creator of the Life Cleanse Mastermind. Kimberly’s passion is to work with women who are ready to identify and eliminate the obstacles that are keeping them from being happy. She works directly with her clients to develop strategies to boost their confidence, focus on their priorities and attract the life they deserve. For her free Authentic Life Toolkit, or more information check out her website .

By Annette M. Bau, CFP®

Learn the 6 steps that will transform your Referral Marketing

It seems that everything you read these days about referral marketing says that all you have to do is ask for them. If only it was that easy! While I agree that asking for referrals can work in certain situations, you risk embarrassing yourself with existing clients and getting referrals to clients you’d rather not be working with.

Initially in my career, I would work with anyone. I found it frustrating, however, because the people I was advising had few things in common, and many of the referrals I received weren’t worth the trouble.

I knew there had to be a better way to get qualified referrals than asking all my friends and clients. I just needed to find out what it was. Once I stopped asking for referrals and instead spent more of my energies doing research and developing a niche, I built a thriving business with plenty of multi-millionaire clients.

Follow these six strategies and you, too, can attract quality clients and amazing referrals.

1. Choose a Niche Market.
Once I selected two niches - high-net-worth widowed and divorced women and high net-worth realtors - I was able to clearly identify the clients I wanted to serve. By working with a group of people with similar needs, I was able to learn a lot about their unique needs and provide better service. My clients noticed this, and immediately began giving me qualified referrals without my having to ask (or beg) for them.

2. Don’t Keep it a Secret.
I’ll bet you have friends, acquaintances, and even relatives who don’t know exactly what you do and for what types of clients. Simply explaining your work in casual conversation can go a long way toward generating business. It might not happen immediately, but the more people clearly understand what you do and with whom, the more likely they’ll refer you to people they know who fit your requirements. Be sure to paint a clear picture of your ideal clients and use positive actions to describe what you do: For example, “I help affluent widowed women create financial plans to ensure their security and protection,” or “I maximize high end realtors’ assets so they can make money while they’re traveling.”

3. Use the AskLearnRiches^TM Questionnaire.
This strategy consists of interviewing prospects, existing clients, and centers of influence in your niche market for insights about what you can do to become a better advisor. This technique is so effective because you’re much more likely to get names from existing clients and be able to talk to people when they don’t think you’re trying to sell them something. For this to work you can’t ask your interviewees for their business. The people you interview will be so impressed with what you’re doing, they’ll come to you. To receive a copy of this questionnaire go towww.MillionaireSeries.com/copper

4. Say “Thank You.”
I learned this strategy by mistake. We started sending out a quarterly mailer to our clients that included a note saying, “Thank you for your referrals to affluent widows and divorcees.” Something amazing happened. We started getting referrals from clients who had never given us referrals before!

5. Let’s Share Referrals.
This strategy has been worth its weight in gold in getting referrals from other advisors. My first referral using this strategy came from a CPA who referred me to a family with a net worth over $100 million. My largest insurance commission, which was in excess of $500,000 also came from this strategy. This strategy consists of marketing to other advisors with which you want to create a reciprocal referral relationship.

6. Create a Relationship Marketing Campaign.
When you’re friendly, honest, responsive, and sincere, you develop long-lasting, deep relationships with your clients that can lead to the best referrals of all. I’m incredibly gratified whenever my clients take it upon themselves to champion my cause and influence their friends and family members to work with me. This strategy became a huge success for me when once I created a systematic automated stay-in touch approach. I would send frequent heartfelt messages that nurtured and developed our relationship. Two of the best referrals using this strategy included a client worth in excess of 10 million and another in excess of 30 million. I just finished an interview with a real estate professional who focused only on using this relationship marketing stay in touch strategy and within the last 4 years sold $159,000,000 proving this strategy can work in other industries too.

I recommend that you choose 2 of these strategies so too can reap the rewards.

Annette Bau has been a successful financial planner for over 20 years. She is a foremost expert on millionaires and author of The 7 Principles of Becoming a Millionaire for Life, Powerful lessons to create wealth, health and happiness. Annette is also a top marketing columnist for ProducersWEB.com the largest online financial services magazine.

To receive more information or an invitation to attend a marketing webinar go to http://www.milliondollarmarketingpractices.com/.

Are you the kind of person that always keeps her word? Can your friends always count on you to follow through because you would never think of disappointing them?

If you’re like most women, the answer is probably “Yes.” You are loyal and dependable– very admirable traits.

But can you answer the same, “Yes” to those questions regarding yourself? Do you make promises to yourself that you don’t keep? Do you commonly hear yourself saying, “I’ll start for real on Monday,” or “I’m just too busy right now, I’ll do it later” ?
If you wouldn’t break a promise to a friend or family member, why do you do it to yourself?

Everytime you neglect to follow through on a promise to yourself (I promise to exercise 5 time a week for 30 minutes), you are telling yourself that you don’t matter and that it isn’t important that you follow through on promises to yourself.

I find this is a killer when it comes to living an authentic life. Any time that you second- guess your decisions, you say to yourself (in the form of The Inner Critic), “I’m not sure you know what you’re doing here….” and insecurity and self-doubt creep in.

What are you holding yourself back from? It could be something big — “I don’t want to go back to school because then I am taking on new debt.” It could be something small — “I don’t want to cut my hair short because it might look bad.” If fear of a bad outcome is stopping you from trying new things or pursuing new interests, the inner critic is creeping in and causing you to doubt yourself.

If you truly want to try something, try it! And if it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted or expected, know that you’re still okay. Your life won’t fall apart because you don’t like your new haircut! The laundry can wait 30 minutes while you exercise! Don’t let fear or self-imposed obligations stop you from living your life the way you want to, even if it means living with a bad hair cut for a couple of weeks or delaying a bit of housework.

Sometimes we fear other people’s responses to our actions (this is also the inner critic acting through what it thinks others might think). What would my mother say if she saw my laundry piled up like that while I went to the gym?”

I used to let what others might think get in the way of pursuing my passions in life. Then I discovered two simple words to silence my inner critic immediately.
Those words are: SO WHAT.

These two words stop my inner critic in its tracks and puts my decision in perspective. They can completely change your life.
This is how it works:
Inner critic: What if I cut my hair and it looks stupid, and then I’ll have to deal with it until it grows out!
YOU: So WHAT?
Inner critic: What if people think I’m crazy to train for a marathon? What if they think I’m too old?
YOU: SO WHAT?
Inner critic: What if mom judges me for not doing the laundry today?
YOU: SO WHAT?

Often the reason your life isn’t the way you want it to be, or you don’t feel successful or authentic, stems from the fact that you are looking for reasons NOT to succeed. Don’t let your inner critic convince you that you’re wrong to pursue something you’re passionate about. Don’t let what other people think stop you from doing something. I have learned that most people are much too busy worrying about their own lives, to worry about what you’re doing with yours! Keep your promises to yourself, the same way you would for a friend, and don’t take advice from your inner critic!

Kimberly Englot is an Authentic Life coach, the founder of Authentic Self and the creator of the Life Cleanse mastermind. Kimberly’s passion is to work with women who are ready to identify and eliminate their resistance to living greatly. She teaches women to listen to their intuitions, cast out self doubt and have the courage to be authentic. An advocate of life long learning and personal growth, Kimberly’s personal philosophy is “Be True to yourself: Be Authentic!” For more information check out her website or email her at kimberlyenglot@gmail.com.

By Kimberly Englot

I am under the impression that most people do not allow themselves these simple principles. I know that until recently, I didn’t either. I think it’s very important to shed some light on 20 permits that you need to allow in your life. Let go of the idea that you’re being selfish. Think of it as being self-ish! Many of these permits are familiar, but being an adult and the responsibilities that go along with that move in and take over our common sense! Take a few minutes to go through this list. How many of these do you give yourself permission for on a regular basis? Take away your inner critic’s power!

GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO:

1.LET GO OF “OBLIGATIONS.” If you don’t absolutely love it, consider letting it go!

2.SAY NO! Every yes you say to something, is a NO you are saying to your family.

3.CHANGE YOUR MIND. Circumstances change, so do moods, feelings, impressions, ideas and people!

4.REASSESS YOUR GOALS, PASSIONS AND DREAMS. As you change, so should your “plan.”

5.QUESTIONS OTHERS. You have every right to make up your own mind and not just follow along, especially if it doesn’t feel right for you.

6.HAVE YOUR OWN OPINION. Don’t let others dissuade you or bully you! You are allowed to think whatever you want, and so are they.

7.TAKE TIME OFF. Honestly, the world will not implode because you took a break! Take time to recharge and you’ll function at your peak afterwards.

8.MAKE MISTAKES. Life would be pretty boring if you were perfect, not to mention how much others would dislike you because they felt inferior!

9.SLEEP IN. Rest is important, schedule a day where you can sleep in if you want to.

10.LET “IT” GO. Dragging old resentments and anger will only hurt you.

11.HAVE “ME” TIME. Having at least one thing that is just for you will go a long way to improve your life.

12.BE GRATEFUL OF WHAT YOU DO HAVE. Getting stuck in a cycle of I’ll be happy when… keeps you from being happy, EVER. Look around and see how wonderful your life is now!

13.SUCCEED. Sometime you get in your own way! Fear of failure is less of a factor than fear of success in most cases.

14.DREAM BIG! Small dreams keep you safe, and small! So dream big because even if you don’t fully succeed, you’ll be much farther ahead.

15.CELEBRATE “SMALL” STUFF. This puts in your mind how grateful you are for what is in your life. Success is success, not matter how small! Treat it with the respect it deserves.

16.FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF. It’s not bragging or boasting or being arrogant to be proud of who you are.

17.FEEL EMOTIONS (EVEN NEGATIVE ONES LIKE FEAR & ANGER). To ignore emotions only gives them more power. Acknowledge them and they’ll disappear much quicker.

18.CRY. Again, trying not to only makes it worse! Crying is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of being sympathetic and caring, not to mention a release.

19.FORGIVE. “Holding anger & resentment towards another is like drinking poison and expecting it to kill your enemy.” Forgiveness is for you, not the other person.

20.REWARD YOURSELF. When you reach a milestone, reward yourself. While creating your plan, decide how you’re going to reward yourself once each big goal has been reached.

Kimberly Englot is an Authentic Life coach, the founder of Authentic Self and the creator of the Life Cleanse Mastermind.Kimberly’s passion is to work with women who are ready to identify and eliminate their resistance to living greatly. She teaches women to listen to their intuitions, cast out self doubt and have the courage to be authentic. An advocate of life long learning and personal growth, Kimberly’s personal philosophy is “Be True to yourself: Be Authentic!” For more information check out her website www.kimberlyenglot.com, or email her at kimberlyenglot@gmail.com.