What if what the experts have been telling you about their success formula is something that mostly only works for them?

What if successful marketing and business success strategy was totally unique to the individual?

I am a big fan of uniqueness.  It is no accident that we are all so distinct from one another.

What if that uniqueness came into play not only with the gifts and talents we have to give but also in how we operated our own small business?

I’m coming to see that truth more and more clearly.

Vocation is where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.   Frederich Buechner

That’s my favorite career coaching quote yet I now believe that there are two additional roads intersecting at that essential crossroads.

I believe that your core business calling can be found only at the intersection of these four paths.

1). the product or service that you are most eager to create.

2). the work activity that gives your deepest gladness.

3). who and what you care about the most right now.

4). what value point others most need from you offered how they want it.

Let’s look at eagerness in this article.

Just like fear cannot exist in the presence of love, resistance cannot exist in the presence of inspiration.

You can’t run out of inspiration either. I’m talking about a special vein of inspiration that is tied to right action.

I’m talking about eagerness.  Right now think of something that you are eager to do.  Does any resistance come up at all?  I didn’t think so.  Here’s a powerful distinction for you.

The relief or avoidance of resistance is, running away from what you want.

The inspiration of eagerness is, running towards what you want.

Nike is wrong! Inspiration works better than discipline. Just doing it is the old way. Attend this free teleseminar find your natural eagerness.

When you find and engage your natural eagerness it’s easier to get what you want because a natural flow takes over.  Here are my principles of eagerness that will tie it all together for you.

Eagerness leads to willingness which leads to action which leads to success.

Eagerness is a natural response to authentic desire and only exists in the absence of fear.

The fierce and passionate qualities of the heart are more prevalent when we are actually doing something, so the more active the experience the more authentic the desire.

Two of our most basic desires are to create and to connect.  When we are creating or connecting we have already moved from eagerness, through willingness and into action.

Can you see why the most certain route to success begins within?

Would you like me to coach you in the discovery of your eagerness free of charge?

Then join me on Thursday Jan. 19 at 4 PM Eastern for this powerfully effective Eagerness Teleseminar. 

To identify all four of your core calling paths you can turn them into a cash stream, click here.

In your comment please share which of your paths are the most underdeveloped?

We create unnecessary pressure in our pursuit of career or business success. Since both fulfillment and money are attracted to confidence, building your natural confidence is essential.

Here are the three most powerful ways to do so that I’ve learned in thirteen years of coaching.

1). Seek wisdom within, not without. Before you can start an authentic business you must believe in yourself enough to make the move. Beliefs determine possibility. Resolve and determination come from clearing limiting beliefs and accomplishing small wins.

Desire = Proof of Capacity. If you did not have what it takes to complete and idea – that idea would not have come to you. You are enough. In fact you are more than enough to complete the purpose you came here to complete. BUT you cannot keep searching for “the” secret to success on the outside. Your secret to success is only found within.

2). Make the decision you fear making the most. Decision-making is an active affair. Even if you’ve hit rock bottom and need to start completely over again you can do it by being more decisive. The best decisions are made and acted on. We are adaptable beings but if you remain a thinker and never a doer, you won’t get the opportunity to adapt. Without action your best possibilities remain hidden from your view.

Waiting serves no one. Any movement works. You must get in play and walk down the corridor to see what doors will open. You can’t see them without taking action. You’ll remain blind to your best opportunities unless you start now.

3). Understand and act on the basis that you are not your past. You only hesitate to do what you want to do because you believe more in your past than in your magnificent possibilities. Your past is primarily based on the erroneous assessments of others. Their opinions do not count when it comes to creating the life and business you want. You are far more than your past. Your past only exists to show you the wisdom of contrast. By seeing what you don’t want and filliping it – you’ll be able to see what you really want.

Your majorpoint of adjustment lies within none of these three.  Which is it for you?

It’s not too late; you can start completely over and make a fresh start.

You have what it takes to get what you want.

You can find your natural confidence.

You can see and make your special right path decision.

When you make that right path decision you will have the confidence to follow through and finish what you start.

Join me Tuesday Dec. 13, for this free teleseminar Building Self-Confidence for Business Success - How to Make a Fresh Start, Blast Away Limiting Beliefs & Bolster Resolve  and you’ll be richer for it.  Click here to register.

What’s the key to earning money authentically? Authentic Abundance for me is more of an inner game than and outer action based game.

Earning money authentically means that you seek to be paid well for expressing who you are. If you don’t care about fulfillment and purpose in your work then just making money could be more about hard work and taking action.

But authentic abundance adds meaning to money. It means that you care about the service you offer and about the people you serve. It means that your work is aligned with who you are.

Making money in a way that makes your heart sing is authentic abundance.

Money is attracted to two things: enthusiasm and confidence.

I keep hearing from clients that they never have enough time to do everything that they fear they must do in order to be successful.

Startling realization$$$$ – One only has to act and do things enough to maintain a high level of confidence and enthusiasm because that’s what attracts money. Good enough is often good enough if YOU feel good about your efforts.

Money doesn’t necessarily come as a result of any one method or action but as a result of how a variety of actions make you feel. That’s the point of massive inspired action.  Abundance comes alongside of your actions because of the vibes you feel and emit.

What work inspires you to be most enthusiastic and confident while doing it?

It’s only the engagement of the most meaningful work that always brings forth both confidence and enthusiasm. When your work has meaning you are fired up for it.  Eagerness and willingness to follow-through is not so much in question when you are fired up.

Making money authentically comes more readily, by being real, while taking meaningful, sincere action.

These things have worked for me:

1). Use marketing and selling methods that you are personally eager to engage in.  Do it your way.  Lead with your unique and natural strengths and preferences.

I have a current coaching client who never enjoyed in-person networking. She would often schedule 3-4 opportunities weekly on her calendar and then beat herself up because she only attended one of them. We made an agreement that she quit scheduling and attending networking events all together.  Her time has increased and her income has remained the same.

Why? It’s because she now honors herself by only engaging marketing that she is eager to do.

2). Sell products/services that you feel proud to talk about and inspired to market because you deeply care.

Which formula works best for you?

Inspiration + Eagerness = Willingness
Discipline + Avoidance = Resistance

3). You must have conversations to sell things. How can you create more conversations? You really only have two choices.

a). You must contact prospective clients with a direct phone call … or
b). Put together a combination of traditional and unique methods that you are eager to do.

Authentic abundance will start flowing for you when bring your heart into your marketing. To do so be sure to continually ask these focusing questions:

1). Whom do I care about serving the most?
2). How can I most effectively serve them in a way that brings me alive?
3). How can I give them what they need, to feel better about what they are doing or where they are going?
4). How can I give it to them in a way that they can recognize as something that they want?

I’d be honored to guide you to your authentic money-making success.  Delay no more.  Your heart wants you to come alive.

The best way to discover your calling is to know who you are.

So many folks are living in paralyzing fear because they are trying to live a life created by others. Hiding behind the mask of appropriateness deadens your soul and changes your identity to something less than you could have been.

Instead be all of who you are. Get inspired by these powerful benefits to being the individual you were always meant to be.

1). The honor of giving space to who you are gives you access to so far hidden wisdom. Gain access through asking your most challenging discovery questions. Residing within this wisdom are jewels in the form of thought connections, fresh insights and rich realizations.

2). Decision-making is easier and more spot on. You only struggle with big decisions because you are choosing from culturally created options that are not a fit for you. Be who you are and you’ll more readily see the wisdom of hindsight in foresight.

3). It allows you to see opportunities you were once blind to. It’s impossible to see the right opportunities when you are looking through false lenses. But once you know who you are, then you can see more of the opportunities that fit you.

4). You’ll be more productive with less effort. Authenticity allows you to tap your purest vein of inspiration so you don’t have to use will power, discipline and self-control to get things done. Inspiration is the only effective antidote to resistance.

5). True north self-identity allows you to see options that are more supportive of your true desires. But when you are living a false life, one that was created by someone else, the choices you see only perpetuate that fallacy. Living from true north gives you greater access to the actions you can take to get what you want.

6). You can only truly see what you want (your heart’s desires) from the vantage point of who you are. These desires of your heart of hearts feed you at a soul level. They are your Divine gifts that have been sent from God’s heart to yours. Until you honor who you are these gifts stall in limbo waiting for your recognition of them.

7). Once you know who you are you can choose or create work that is aligned with you. This work is your natural edge in the marketplace. It is your calling which is the work that will give you both the greatest fulfillment and the most prosperous rewards.

Which of these benefits inspires you the most to be who you are?

You are not alone. You are connected but you often don’t act like it.

You are not supposed to face challenges by yourself.

Going it alone creates separation and discord. Following the myth of the rugged individual entrepreneur is not the surest path to success.

Going it alone causes you to judge yourself and exclude others. More fear is conjured out of thin air when you try to handle it all by yourself. Fear breeds more fear. Connection breeds strength.

Going it alone creates doubt and delay. Connection is a much better way.

What if the surest way to success and fulfillment was connection and you aren’t really connected?

What if your higher self cannot fully reveal your calling while going it alone?

What if true service can only be realized in deep connection with others?

What if life really happens for you, not to you but in order to get that you can’t go it alone?

It’s only through connection that all good things are allowed and received. Business is no exception. Value is exchanged because of the trust in connection.

I believe that connection is the missing link between authenticity and prosperity. Don’t you find it more rewarding to truly express who you are when others encourage you to do so?

Authentic abundance is the natural state of affairs in the Universe but we can’t see it while working alone. The fear of being alone, blocks out the warmth of serving others.

Money is attracted to confidence. I think confidence increases to the degree that we hang with others who are eager to unconditionally support us. Confidence builds as others voice appreciation and recognition for our creations.

One of the biggest blocks to creating original value occurs when solo business owners feel judged and not supported by others. When entrepreneurs feel the sincere well wishes of positive intention they care less about what others think because they can feel the sincere connection.

Even if you’re self-employed, how could you increase your connection to like-minded others in the same boat?

What concerns come up for you when you consider being more vulnerable in connection with other small business owners?

Do you think the quantum physicists are correct when they say that everything is energy so we already are connected to everything and everyone?

If you knew that to be true without doubt, how might you conduct business differently?

I define a real business with two main qualifiers. One it’s authentic to you and two it pays you. Authentic business building is all about receiving money for providing value that fulfills you. That’s it.

As Steven Covey in his excellent book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People shared – Begin with the end in mind and put first things first.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Synopsis: Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life.

Habit 3: Put First Things First
Planning, prioritizing, and executing your week’s tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluating if your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you towards goals, and enrich the roles and relationships elaborated in Habit 2.

This may surprise you but the first thing in turning your idea into a business is not incorporating or figuring out how to file your taxes. It’s not ordering business cards or putting up a website.

These things are all necessary but distracting steps, that can dilute your energy and cause you to avoid taking action.

No one has ever been paid for getting ready to be in business.

You aren’t really in business until you have a customer.

Are there preliminary steps that you must take to develop your idea into a business? Yes there are but they do not have to take you months to accomplish and you don’t have to write a traditional business plan.

Getting started in real business building activity is more important than writing a plan you may or may not ever follow.

Yet a written summary of the business is an essential focusing tool. Just write out what your business idea is, explain the product or service, define who you will be selling to and what aspect of your product, service, delivery or business model gives you a unique edge in the marketplace.

After you do that – then get busy building your business. A good place to start is by asking, answering and acting on these five questions.

1). What can I do now to move this idea forward into a business.

2). What are the next 90, 60 and 30 day milestones to set and hit to prove that I am doing so?

3). What are the three toughest questions I could get from someone who is testing my commitment and the idea’s validity?

4). What are my most enthusiastic and confident responses to each question?

5). How can I put myself in front of potential clients or customers now so I’m having real conversations about my real business?

Do these things first and you will create clarity and progress.

Go direct to what you want. Take action to get it and before you know it – you’ll have a real business.

Digging deep and really feeling the discomfort of transformational change is the fastest and surest way to business success.   You’ve got to feel the full pain and discomfort of where you are to transcend it.

The slow way to business success is to exhaust yourself on a worldwide search for an opportunity that already fits your current state of comfort.  Quit looking – they are disappearing faster than you can find them.

Well-paying, comfortable jobs with good benefits are rapidly disappearing.  Most of those remaining can be found within dyeing institutional bureaucracies.

If your work is without challenge and without discomfort then it’s already disappearing.

Look at the toll-takers sitting in little tollbooths on the turnpike.  Automated toll collection is far less costly.  These toll-takers have absolutely no uncomfortable challenges in their duties.   Thus they bring absolutely no transformational value to humanity.

If you really want to find work that makes your heart sing – then first look for challenges and value points that make you heart ache.

Look for messy opportunities that make others run because they are uncomfortable.  Only these opportunities matter in providing true transformational value.

If it’s not messy, it won’t hold meaning.  If it doesn’t mean anything, then it doesn’t matter to anyone.  If it doesn’t matter then the money won’t come because the value will be too low.

Can you really find business startup success while being authentic? Yes, it’s really the only way to be happy and make money.

If I had only 15 minutes to share the best business startup advice I tell you to use these tips as your guide.

1).  Starting your own business can be challenging so you can’t play small. Don’t hold back or water down your desires. Go for the highest vision of what you can imagine, then you’ll have more energy and others will want to support you. Pioneers don’t compromise or conform. Business success comes from the energy of holding nothing back. Give it your all and prosper.

2). Hold a grand vision of what you want. See that vision daily. Get pumped if you can’t get pumped you’ve chosen too small. If I could wave the magic wand of outstanding success over you and your business, what would that look like? Imagine that.

3). Business startup success does not usually happen without massive, inspired action. Learn the language of marketing and how to ask for what you want. Then ask boldly and often.

4). Try lots of stuff and smile when you fail.  If that traditional advertising campaign composed of custom pens and business cards does not yield the results you expected, try something different — maybe an online advertising or social media campaign.  Love yourself for having the courage to make frequent mistakes. Mistake making is a normal part of the process. You will not succeed without missing the mark more often than not. Love yourself even more than you think is possible.

5). Place yourself compassionately in the shoes of your customers. Be vulnerable and connect. Be human and share how you are, like they are. Tell it like it is, authentically.

6). Enthusiastically love your work, yourself, your language, your marketing, your customers, your mistakes, your joy, your pain and your trials. Love it all deeply and completely. That’s the only way you’ll care enough to persist.

7). Hold frequent conversations. This is my best business startup advice. Conversations create opportunities. You’ll see things you couldn’t see previously, by listening and expressing authentically.

8). There is a deeper, purer river of meaningful service flowing within you and you must tap it in order to flourish and thrive. When faced with critical decision go deep within. Your heart knows the way. Your mind just wants to see what others will say.

9). Always look for the sunny side. It’s there. A new business startup will not succeed without sustained focus on what’s working well. Know, think about and talk about what you want. Leave the negativity to the nightly news. Only fools think and talk about what they don’t want. Park the self-judgment permanently.

10). Practice compassion, self-love and gratitude. Look for what you truly appreciate about yourself and your business. Be grateful and build on those.

They call me intense.

I think that’s because I go deep and speak up, whether that’s comfortable for you or not.

Admittedly I’m a handful, especially if you think you aren’t ready to face the real stuff. One coaching client described working with me like diving into a cold lake. Our work together can be both invigorating and chilling, in all the right ways.

I like the way I am and I like others who can accept me as I am. Since I like me so much, I’m able to accept and champion you.

If you blow smoke or make flattering, inauthentic comments I’ll call you on it.

Being appropriate is the death of individuality.

I’d rather you express your wild, untamed self and join me in pissing all over cultural appropriateness.

If you want to play the game of appropriateness go work for the State Department or lose yourself in a big corporation.

But if you want to be real and make some money from your realness, you want a coach like me who will tell it like it is.

I like getting down and dirty into the messes of life. I thrive in relationship messes because that’s where all the growth comes from. Everything is a relationship.

It’s my way, to challenge you, with a smile on my face.

I love the way I am and I love the way you are, however you are.

I love how you are, as long as you are the real you. If you don’t know what that means – you’re faking it.

I love how you push my buttons because the resulting understanding is life’s greatest gift.

Happy Valentines Day my friend, May you be deeply loved and appreciated for who you truly are.

Get To The Heart of the Matter

All madness stems from too much head and too little heart.

I’m not talking about certifiable insanity but the regular, daily madness that drives us crazy.

The way out of any challenge is to find a point of hopeful willingness. That’s the point where you can clearly see a next step action and you feel inspired to take it.

That point doesn’t come from over-thinking. It doesn’t come from asking why. And it seldom comes from searching for a better how to. Those are all head games and head games are complex.

Instead you must get to the heart of the matter in two different ways.

1). The first way is to go deep, connect with your heartfelt desires and come from within out.

Ask yourself.

Deep in my heart what do I care about the most here? If I put my dear self first in an extraordinary demonstration of self-love what might I do? What do I really want?

If you are looking too much at outside conditions and circumstances you’re looking in the wrong place.

2). The second way to get to the heart of the matter is, to boil it down to its essence.

Brevity creates clarity and clarity empowers. Boiling it down best occurs with persistent, audacious inquiry. Ask yourself.

What’s really going on here? What else? If I could answer the question that would save my ass, what would that question be?

Stay with the inquiry until you hit upon a startling truth that smells very clean and fresh.

Combine that truth/action in service of what you really want and the madness will stop.

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been down or what’s going on around you. What matters is in your heart. What matters is getting to core, boiled down clarity and acting now.

There is no limit to the number of fresh starts you can make.
Audacious inquiry will save you every time.