Corporate Soul Woman

Leaders Take Thinking Time

2012-01-31T12:11:00.000Z

How much thinking time do you build into your diary each day?

When we allow thinking time in our day we step back and re-focus on what is most important.

Many people spend their lives being busy, yet achieving very little. Being busy impresses no one except yourself. I passionately believe life is not about working hard or even working smart; life and time are about working right. Just imagine all the extra time you would create in your life by adding thinking time into your diary each day. I encourage you to set your clock thirty minutes early; get up and use the time to think, focus and plan your day ahead.

Imagine just how much more productive and creative you will be.

Lessons on Thinking:

Get out of bed thirty minutes early, make that time your thinking time.
Being busy impresses no one except you.
Step back and re-evaluate everything you spend your time on each day.
Thinking time will enhance your creativity and innovation.

Click HERE to watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or master class contact

Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Be It Now

2012-01-23T12:51:00.000Z

What are you really here on the planet to do?
How do you really want to live?
What if you lived every day as if you were what you are called to be now.

I learned that lesson very early in life. My mother has been one of my greatest teachers. At 36 years of age she had to have all her teeth removed due to a gum disease. Soon afterwards the dentist called her back to collect her new set of teeth. As the months passed by I noticed she only put her teeth in for weddings, christenings and funerals. At first, I was embarrassed and often said “Mammy will you put your teeth in”. I remember her laughing and her reply was “I don’t need my teeth to be who I am”. Many years later I often ponder on that profound statement.

I encourage you to be what you want to grow into today. You are the main star in your own movie. Act as if you are there right now. Every day when you get up see yourself where you want to be now and one day you will be in total alignment with the resonance of your presence.

Four Lessons on Thinking:

Why be normal when you can be yourself.
Be the best you that you can be now.
Become a star in your own movie.
Stop putting off your true calling and do it and be it today.

Click HERE to watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or master class contact

Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Leaders Know It’s Show Time Every Day In Business

2012-01-16T11:04:00.000Z

Outstanding leaders know and understand that it’s show time every moment of the day. When you lead from the front, consistency is the key. People will follow strong authentic leaders who lead in a consistent way. Be aware of your daily rituals; be aware of your behaviour. Pay attention to what is happening around you and encourage each one of your people to be the CEO of their own job.

Set boundaries and encourage honest conversations. You as a leader cannot afford to have a bad day. Learn to reframe all problems into solutions, being innovative, creative and bold. Communication and inclusiveness is the key.

Show up and step forward today.

Lessons in Show Time:

Be aware of the impact you have on others.
Lead with consistency and truth every day.
Set boundaries and have honest conversations.
Pay attention to what is happening around you.

Click HERE to watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or masterclass contact

Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Action is the Key

2012-01-09T14:32:00.000Z

You can have the best, most creative intentions in the world, so what if you don’t take action.

I realised many years ago that it was useless setting goals in my goals book every New Year and then never looking at them again until the following year. When you set goals you must add a deadline too; when you hope to achieve it by. Then every day get your goals book out and look at your intentions. As you look over the goal, feel what it will be like when you achieve it. Then feel as if you have already achieved what it is you want. It will take discipline to look at your goals every day.

Why not make a decision to look at your goals once a day over the next 90 days and if within the 90 days you forget to look at your goals book, go back and start at day one again.

What you will find after about 30 days, is your sub conscious mind will come up with actions on how you can achieve what you have set out to do. Once your ideas come… act fast. Don’t ponder, don’t think about it, do it.

The only difference between you and someone else is the amount of action you take.

Where can you take action today in your life?

Four Lessons on Action:

Every morning and last thing at night, look at your goals.
Feel whatever it is you want to achieve.
See and hear yourself as having already achieved it.

Don’t ponder, take action fast.

Click HERE to Watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or master class contact

Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Are You a Leading Authority?

2011-12-14T10:54:00.007Z

Are you a leading authority in what you do? People will pay more if you are a leading authority in what you do.

I first heard the words leading authority about eighteen months ago when I came across the website of a gentleman called Greg Habstritt www.simplewealth.com. Greg has been an entrepreneur for many years and believes that becoming a trusted authority allows you to achieve your version of 'Freedom without Compromise".

If you are called to be an authority in what you are currently doing, it takes persistence and perseverance; one of the key ingredients is to develop the mindset of a learner.

I remember reading one of Malcolm Gladwell's books a few years ago and he reckoned it took 10,000 hours to be an expert. How many hours of your life have you put into becoming a leading authority in your field.

Click HERE to Watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or master class
contact Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Are You Engaged or Exhausted?

2011-11-29T21:42:00.002Z

Right now in the workplace, are you engaged or exhausted?

Too often today when I work within organisations their staff are exhausted and morale is low.

It’s as if a sense of fear has crept into the work place; very often because of the changes that are currently happening all around the world; stock markets crashing, the recent volcanoes erupting in parts of the world and many large organisations crumbling.

I was recently working with a group of CEO’s and one gentleman replied to my question by saying he was engaged and exhausted all in one. My reply was ‘Do you think that people around you don’t know you’re exhausted? Do you think you can hide it?’ In that moment the gentleman paused and said ‘it’s time to stop pretending, I need to take a long overdue holiday and relook at my values and the current values of the company’.

For a moment there was a silence in the board room, then a huge round of applause for the gentleman who had the courage to be vulnerable and through his vulnerability he allowed everyone around him to stop pretending and have an honest conversation.

Where right now in your life do you need to stop pretending and have an honest conversation?

Three Questions:
• Ask yourself the hard question, are you engaged or exhausted in work and life?
• Are you clear on who you are and what’s important to you?
• Have you enough down time built into your day?

Click HERE to Watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or master class contact

Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Secret to Business Growth

2011-11-09T16:58:00.000Z

You can have the best business idea in the world, so what if you don’t have the right people around you to help you grow the business.

I have been fascinated with Leadership for over thirteen years and one of the great strengths of an Outstanding Leader is first that they know and understand the top three strengths of each of their team members.

Mother Teresa once said to Bob Geldof “I can’t do what you do and you can’t do what I do, but together we can create something wonderful.”

Leaders know that with a great team behind them they can leave a wake and create lasting impact.

Four Lessons to the Secret of Business Growth:

Know your top three strengths.
Delegate everything else.
Know the top three strengths of each of your immediate team.
Say no to what you know is not your top strength.

Click HERE to watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or master class contact

Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Enemy of Greatness is Security

2011-10-26T21:21:00.000+01:00

Without realising it, very often our businesses are most vulnerable when things are going really well. You could be thinking what a mad statement to make but in business we sometimes take it easy when targets are being reached and profits achieved. A sense of complacency can creep in.

I was recently speaking at a conference in Ireland; my opening line was ‘nothing fails like success’. At first I could see the shocked faces in the audience and then I went on to speak about the Celtic Tyre years where business boomed. Recently Ireland has and currently is experiencing some lean times, yet very often the lean times can be the best of times because it makes each of us stop, step back and re-look at everything we currently do.

When leaders step back and simplify, very often the hunger in the belly relights again and it fires up our enthusiasm to move forward and take a risk.

Four Lessons on Why the Enemy of Greatness is Security:

In 2011 there is no security except the security of knowing that when you fail, learn the lesson and get up again.
Complacency stunts business and personal growth.
The hunger in the belly is the key to enthusiasm.
Step back and take a fresh look at everything you do.

Click HERE to watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or master class contact

Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Leaders are Born to Climb

2011-10-12T15:07:00.077+01:00

One of my favourite authors is Krishnamurti and in one of his books he talks about mountain people and valley people. He explains that we are all born into the valley of life. We grow up in the valley and very often as we grow and develop, we feel that silent voice say ‘climb you were born to climb’ yet we meet many people who tell us to not climb, sit still and play small.

Every now and then as we grow older, we often see people leave the valley and head for the mountains. They have followed their call and when you ask people where they are going, often the response will be ‘forget the mountains, you might never come back’ and yet deep inside the silent voice says climb.

As I write this blog, you might be a leader who left the valley and is now living on the mountain of life. You listened to the inner voice and took action, went for the mountain and half way up built the lonely house with the picket fence and the chickens pecking in the garden. If you are that person, Krishnamurti’s advice is knock down the house, kill the chickens, listen to the silent voice, it’s calling you to climb again.

You are a leader born to climb.

Four Lessons about the Climb:

If you are currently in the valley of your life, stop, turn inwards and listen to your inner voice. It is telling you to leave the valley and climb.
Turn off the outside noise of other’s opinions and trust your own voice.
If you are half way up the mountain and life has become stagnant, listen to the inner voice and know you were born to climb.
Do something different and start the climb again.

Click HERE to Watch Corporate TV

To book Molly for a Keynote Speech, Seminar or Master Class

contact Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Stop the Inertia

2011-09-14T15:04:00.001+01:00

Have you ever had those moments or even days when inertia set in and you could not be bothered about anything?

How did you break it? The only way to break it is to change your behaviour.

I recently read Marshall Goldsmith’s new book called ‘Mojo’ and he asks two great questions to help you break it. As you go through your day, evaluate every activity you do by asking yourself:

How much long term benefit and meaning did I experience from this activity?
How much short term satisfaction and happiness did I experience?

Marshall believes the above two questions will help break inertia.

Too often in life we continue to do what we have always done. If we don’t change our behaviour we don’t become more effective.

To book Molly for a keynote speech, seminar or masterclass contact

Brendan O’Connor at The London Speaker Bureau

on +44 (0) 20 8748 9595

or email Brendan@londonspeakerbureau.co.uk

Know When to Move On

2011-09-01T16:31:00.000+01:00

Recently while on a holiday break to North Devon, my husband and I decided to walk parts of the North Devon Coast each day.

On the third day of walking the rugged woodland path to Clovelly, we stopped to take in the magnificent views of the Bristol Channel when we were joined by a fellow walker. After a few minutes of talking, the gentleman began to tell us about his vision.

For over 20 years he had developed a very profitable printing business which had created a lot of jobs for the local people of Cornwall. At 57 years of age one of his good friends offered to buy the thriving business. He then took some time out to decide what his next vision would be if he said yes to selling his business. He knew it was important for him to have a vision to keep his mojo and drive in life. In his spare time away from the business he loved to walk so he decided to turn his hobby into a future vision and made a decision to sell the business and walk all of the Cornwall and Devon coast line, photographing it along the way. On the morning that we met him, he was two years into that vision and loving it.

Lesson learned from fellow walker:

Have a vision so big it feeds your mojo.
As a leader know when to move on.
Vision is also being aware of future trends and the fellow walker could see a lot of changes ahead in his business. For example, one reliable major client was the local council and that business was beginning to dwindle.
Have a vision so big it excites you every day.

Going First Class, Travelling in the Wrong Direction

2011-03-30T13:40:00.000+01:00

Have you ever been on such a high that you missed the detail?

Recently, I was the Conference Speaker at a large Symposium in London. After I walked off that stage I was buzzing and the feel good factor just continued. I was in the zone; living my dream and being of service to the corporate clients all around me.

I got into a taxi and headed to Euston Station, my return ticket was off peak so I decided to upgrade to a peak time ticket. I paid an extra £130 and the guy who sold me the ticket began to glow as well, so much so that he told me to go and sit in the First Class coach G. I followed some other people and found coach G. I was relaxed and made a phone call, ten minutes later I looked at my watch and it was 5:21pm, Virgin Trains must be running late I thought as we were due to leave at 5:07pm. Then I looked out the window and saw platform 5 was on the other side, which was the platform I was supposed to be on!

I turned to the gentleman in the seat behind me and asked him if this train was for Liverpool. No was his reply as the train was pulling out of the station, this train was heading for Manchester. How could I have missed the detail when I was in the zone?

What to do when in the zone

Stay grounded
Pay attention
Remember to sweat the detail
Be aware of your surroundings

Be First Class – Travel First Class

I live by a simple motto saying ‘Don’t talk about it, be it…’

To be it means we have to be first class, no excuses, no poor me. It takes discipline and courage to be what you came here to be. When you are first class, no one questions you, they just know it.

By the essence and the presence of who you are and everyone who works for you, it’s not about walk the talk; it's about be the talk… be the brand. Be the product or service that you are. Ooze it, radiate it, respect it… the world right now needs presence, energy and positivity.

Change Your Environment

2011-03-01T09:00:00.001Z

Are you getting the results you want in life and business?

If not, maybe it’s time to look at what’s going on in your environment. When you surround yourself with the right environment, you have a better chance of succeeding. This might mean:

Rearranging the office.
Rearranging your home.
Studying books on people who have succeeded at what you want to do or be.
Looking at who you currently mix with… maybe it’s time to attract new friends and business associates into your life.

Eight Top Tips for Changing the Environment

Write a clear out list.
Clear out the clutter.
Be ruthless; get rid of anything you don’t love. Example: books, pictures, dead plants.
Sort out your files in the office.
Add colour to the office with fresh flowers.
If you work in a sales environment, put a picture of what you will buy with the money you will earn from new sales.
Bring in healthy snacks to the office, ones that will increase your energy levels.
Place two litres of water on your desk and drink it before the end of your day.

When there is beauty and order in your environment, you are more likely to succeed.

Why Not?

2011-02-25T08:41:00.000Z

Why not be world-class?
Why not be the best that only you can be?
Why not work smarter instead of harder?
Why not ask yourself deep thought provoking questions that will take you to the next level every day of your life?
Why not live in the stretch zone every day?
Why not learn a new skill?
Why not think bigger than ever before?
Why not set a great intention today and really go for it?
Why not begin with the end in mind? Feel it, see it and hear it as if it has already happened.
Why not do that difficult thing you have been putting off until today?
Why not pick up the phone and call someone you have never spoken to before?
Why not take action on something in your life that until now you have been putting on hold?
Why not step into fear and move past it?
Why not write a list of what you will no longer tolerate in your life?
Why not be brave and ask?
Why not change your environment today?

When we ask and challenge ourselves with the question why not, we open the inner doors in our minds to boundless possibility. We change how we think and feel and our life changes around us.

Three Biggest Distractions in Business

2011-02-16T16:03:00.000Z

What takes your time away? Have you ever gone on facebook for five minutes and lost an hour?

The same can happen when you open your inbox, pick up the phone or get caught up in gossip within the workplace. Time and energy are precious; they are the two things we cannot ever get back again once lost.

I recently had a telephone conversation with a business associate in Minneapolis. She was stressed and overwhelmed by the fact that there were 3,500 unread emails in her inbox… WOW was my first reaction and then okay how do you deal with it?

Four Top Tips for Handling Emails

Stop using your inbox as a storage box.
Put chunks of time aside each day when you will focus on your inbox, no more than three times a day.
As you open each email, delete, respond or file out of your inbox.
Be ruthless and delete anything that has been lying in your inbox for months.

How to Handle Phone Distractions

Work as a team.
If you have a deadline to meet, work with a colleague next to you and ask him/her to take calls for you for one hour, then you can help them in return.
Return all your outgoing calls in one hour chunks. Build it into your diary.

How to Handle People Who Waste Time

Be firm and clear. Arrange to speak to them over lunch or at a coffee break.
Always when meeting, set a start and finish time.

I encourage you to use your energy wisely because without world class levels of energy, you cannot be or reach world class in business.

Are You Meeting Your Customer’s Needs?

2011-02-08T11:16:00.000Z

The world in 2011 is transforming like never before and with it customer’s habits and needs have and are changing. We are all caught up on the hamster wheel of global change; however some things will never change, like meeting the customers on their level, asking the right questions and solving the current pain in their market place.

Seven Tips on How to Meet Your Customer’s Needs:

Communicate, ask questions and shut up.
Get deep on what your customer really want and need, not what you think they need.
Find out what they love.
Find out what they are passionate about.
Know at least 20 things about your top customers.
Send a gift to them, example: books, tickets, flowers, be original.
Personalise your gifts.

Why not in 2011 become so brilliant at what you do that you become the number one go to source in your market.

What to Do When Your Life Is Delayed

2011-02-01T14:56:00.028Z

Have you ever had the experience where you were delayed for hours at an airport somewhere in the world?

Last week I checked in at Liverpool Airport to take the short 35 minute flight to Dublin. I had one and a half hours to spare so I bought myself a black coffee. As I looked at the board I couldn't believe what I saw, my flight which was due out at 11:05am was now not departing until 3:35pm. At that moment all around me, the negativity started moaning and whingeing and I had to quickly reframe my thinking.

What if I used this time to write my blogs in advance?
What if I used this time to go over the final points of my Master Class for the next day?
What if I reviewed my goals and vision for 2011?

By just changing my thinking to ‘what if’, my whole mindset changed and I achieved more in the following four and a half hours than I had in the last two days.

Top Tips on What to Do When Your Life is Delayed

Ask yourself ‘what if'?
Always go prepared to an airport, take a book, laptop, notebook, pens.
Move away from negative Nellie’s and Ned’s.
Breathe in relaxation, breathe out stress.
Find a comfortable chair/table from where you can work, read or just relax.
Use your time wisely.
Clean up your to do list.

Pause and be grateful that at least you were not sitting on a plane on the runway for four and a half hours and know that sometimes in life delays can be positive.

You just don’t know who you might connect with along the way.

Ghosts of Leaders Past

2011-01-14T17:04:00.000Z

Have you ever stopped and pondered on what resonance you will leave behind when your work is done?

I was recently completing a Leadership Programme within a large corporate and as the organisation was closing one building down, we were asked to complete the programme within another of its buildings on site.

As we walked to the conference room, we passed room after room of empty furniture, chairs and tables, stacked on top of each other… the ghosts of days gone by. Some of the desks were very beautiful and expensive and I could not help but wonder what kind of leader used to use each desk.

I wondered how did they manage their people?
Did they lead with integrity?
Did they foresee the changes that were coming?

The Lessons I Learned from the Ghosts of Leaders Past Experience:

If you had six months to live, would you still do what you are currently doing?
Make a difference today, don’t wait until tomorrow.
The price of discipline is much less than the pain of regret.
Go deep in tough times and evaluate everything you do.
Look ahead and ask yourself as a leader, how would you perform if everything fell apart and you were told to clear your desk?

Life is too short for long pity parties, learn to embrace, change, get rid of the crap and focus on what is great in your life now.

Reflections & Questions for a New Decade

2011-01-04T11:53:00.000Z

The christmas celebrations are over and as we head back to the workplace, getting used to the new normal of 2011, I encourage you to pause for a moment and ask yourself these tough questions:

• What will you no longer tolerate in your life?
• On a scale of 1-10, what is your level of energy right now?
You need high levels of energy to fuel your personal greatness.
• What people, things or habits do you need to let go of?

New Decade Questions

• What do you want in the new decade?
• Who do you want to become?
• What is the number one reason you are on the planet?
• Who do you want to hang out with in 2011 and beyond?
• What are you going to personally do to make sure 2011
will be your best year yet?

Every one of us has an inner vision; we just need to build reflection time into our lives so we can explore it. Build renewal time into your 2011 diary.

A CEO of a large corporate I work with takes one week off a month to spend with his family. He works on the business and not in the business. He knows that his rock is his family, what is your rock for 2011?

I encourage you to reflect, ask yourself tough questions and take massive action. Build in lots of fun time along the way.

Life Is Not About Where You Are Now

2010-12-15T12:00:00.006Z

Recently I spent the weekend listening to Wayne Dwyer’s CD called ‘The Shift’. As I listened to the whole programme, the quote that most stood out for me was “life is not about where you are now, it’s where you are going that counts.”

A calling is that which you feel deep inside of you and it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. I encourage you to do what you do in life because it’s your calling. Don’t let your doing-ness get in the way of your being.

Every day that you awake to a new day, you can choose to live in higher awareness and be steadfast in your thoughts and actions. Explore your patterns of behaviour and as you walk into the future, leave behind those patterns that no longer serve you.

As you change direction, be mindful of how things will unfold, as Wayne said, "very often the truths that you adopted and made your own in the morning of your life won't matter in the afternoon".

Random Acts of Kindness

2010-12-07T18:47:00.000Z

If you want to see more kindness in the world, give it out…

I was recently on my way home after speaking at a conference and drove through the village where I live. I went into the corner shop to pick up some bread and milk and there was a boy of about five or six years old in front of me in the queue. He had a bottle of pop in his hand and the lady who was serving frowned and told him in a loud shout to put the pop back as he was 5p short. I watched the child’s physiology crumble in embarrassment as he went to put the pop back on the shelf and behind me the queue was growing with very impatient people.
Then it was my turn to pay for the milk and bread; I asked the woman to take an extra 5p from my change and pay towards the little boy’s pop.

As I walked out of the shop I could see the little boy’s eyes fill with delight when the woman shouted to him to go back and bring the bottle of pop back to the counter.

Where in life can you pay forward for someone else and make their day?

Random acts of kindness can change a life…

Do the Difficult Things First

2010-11-30T09:39:00.000Z

Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘do the difficult things first’?

What if for the next thirty days you started the day with what you found difficult in life. I tried the experiment in September. I got up every morning and started with what I had most resisted in my life… EXERCISE!

I had resisted exercise so much so that at first I felt allergic to it.
The excuses I used were:

• I hate gyms.
• I am far too busy.
• I don’t want to have a bad hair day.
• I will start tomorrow.

Well tomorrow never came until the 1st September, 2010, when I got out of bed at my usual 5:05am, took the jogging pants out of the wardrobe and met my new personal trainer.

Looking back I could barely walk after the first few sessions. However after about four weeks something began to shift in me. All my excuses began to fall away and I didn’t see exercise as difficult any more.

What’s difficult right now in your life?

Tips on How to Overcome It

• Make a decision to do the things you have been most resisting.
• Run towards the fear of what has been stopping you and leave your comfort zone.
• Every morning that you awake, start with what’s most challenging.

It is now nine weeks since I started exercising and here are the results:

• My BMI has dropped 9 points.
• I have now to date lost 21lbs in weight.
• As for feeling good, I have much more energy and clarity in my thinking.

I encourage you today to start doing the difficult things first in your life.

Intellectual Constipation

2010-11-23T16:14:00.003Z

Life is meant to be simple. However, in this fast changing world we sometimes complicate life and add too much fluff. We become emotionally constipated which can lead us to feel de-motivated and often feelings of self-doubt can creep in.

I encourage you to let go and simplify work to eliminating any destructive inner conversations that you might have with yourself.

• What is it that makes you happy?
• What do you really want to do?
• Why do you do what you are currently doing?

Most people are not living the way they want to live. Why? Because their lives are very often about how can I get more.

What if from today you changed that mantra to how can I be more?

Be the best you that you can be…

What’s All This Busyness About

2010-11-15T15:06:00.002Z

As the last months of 2010 pass by, this is the time of year when I take time to reflect, press the pause button and stop.

Business wise and family wise it has been a successful year. Why? Because I stopped being busy all the time on what didn’t matter and became busy with what’s most important in life. For me it has been family health and developing a world class business. The only person you impress with your busyness is yourself. In fact, in life we can become addicted to being busy achieving nothing, yet all the time the clock ticks by.

Imagine being told you had seven days to live and you suddenly realised what you had been doing wasn’t all that important. No one wants to get to their last days and realise they wasted their life.

Molly’s Top Tips

• Stop the clock.
• Question all your busyness.
• Let go of distractions in your life.
• Say no to others, so you can say yes to what matters.
• Start to build your legacy.

The Power of Passion

2010-11-01T09:27:00.001Z

Are you currently living a life where you are excited to get out of bed each day? If not, why not?

I recently saw a short video of Les Brown and he spoke about the two best days of our lives. The first being the day you were born and the second being the day you knew why you were born and what you were here to do.

Life is really about being the best that you can be and that inspires everyone else you meet to be themselves and find their passion.

What do you love to do?
What is it that makes you happy?
What is it that makes you shine?

I encourage you to open up to the possibilities that have yet to unfold in your life. Go out and find a mentor who can see the gifts in you that you cannot yet see in yourself.

Most people are not living the way they want to live, don’t be part of the crowd. Find your passion and create your own life.

Smash the Rules That No Longer Serve You

2010-10-22T11:29:00.001+01:00

What rules in your life hold you back? What rules no longer serve you?
To dream big and play big in life, we have to let go of what no longer serves us.

While speaking to a great friend and business associate Louise from Minneapolis recently, we were talking about the baggage of life. She had been to a seminar where she heard a great saying…
'That as human beings, we often carry baggage and cargo.'

Baggage is all to do with our own experiences and limiting beliefs in life. However, cargo is very often the stuff people carry that is not even their own. Imagine for a moment, how much more clarity and focus would be in your life if you let go of any old rules that no longer serve you and stopped carrying any cargo that is not your own.

Smash the rules, life is too short to do guilt.

Watchfulness

2010-10-15T11:12:00.000+01:00

Have you even thought about watching yourself? It is all about observing and getting yourself involved in the right thinking.

I first learned about watchfulness when I lived in the west of Ireland. One of my greatest mentors in life was a priest called Fr. Jimmey O’Connell who taught me the gift of observing and being silent to your own presence.

I encourage you to spend one day…

Watching your thoughts.
Watching and being awake to what you do in the world.
Watch what and who you are listening to.
Watch who you spend time with in the day.
Watch what you read.

Then sit and write what you have learned about yourself.

Too often in life when we are not watching, our mind becomes wide open to suggestions from outside sources. Only get involved with the right thinking.

The Greatest Disease in the 21st Century

2010-10-07T17:02:00.000+01:00

The greatest disease in the 21st Century is lack of self-esteem. Most people don’t know what they have going for them. The time has come to encourage each other to get out of our head and step into our greatness.

In order to become who and what you are meant to be, sometimes part of you might have to die. If you have found your inner glow, I encourage you to go out and help another find theirs.

Very often in life it’s when we are at our greatest low, we find our inner glow. It’s up to you to build yourself. Every one of us has a distinct purpose, find it and live it.

If fear is what stops you from being you, here is what you do:

Write down all your fears
Then ask yourself, what’s the worst thing that could happen to you?
Find the courage inside of yourself to say no more to fear.
Know that every day is a new day to re-invent yourself.
Work on small things, one step at a time.
Wake up, re-think and put all those hidden dreams into action.

The only person who will ever truly hold you back in life is you. Build a bridge and get over yourself.

I encourage you to take the next step… stop settling for less and watch the impossible become possible in your life.

Why Business Fails

2010-10-01T14:59:00.000+01:00

October 1993, I set up my first business and over the years I have had some great successes and also some great failures.

I have come to realise that an entrepreneur is someone who solves problems at a profit and one of the most important business questions today is ‘Who is your target market?’

It might shock you to know that the vast majority of people out there today will not be your target market.

Hot Question
Look back over the last five years of your business, who have your customers been?

Stop trying to please everyone and focus on the 1% that is truly your target market.
Stop wasting time marketing and cold calling people who will never buy from you.
Spend all your time giving massive value to the customers who currently buy from you.

Why Most People Are Not Successful

2010-09-24T16:05:00.000+01:00

My grandmother taught me to use elbow grease when I was a little girl and it’s something I still use today in my life. Elbow grease is about hard work and commitment, a willingness sometimes to do what others don’t want to do.

What does the word success mean to you?

The word success will mean different things to various people and the number one reason why people are not successful is we are sometimes not willing to do what it takes. The second reason is very often we are too lazy and make excuses like:

I have not got enough time.
The economy.
Not enough money.

All of the above are excuses not reasons why…

I learned many years ago that knowledge is not power. It is the implementation of knowledge that is power. In simpler terms, it’s not what we know that matters; it’s what we do with what we know that makes the difference.

You have created everything that has happened in your life both the good and the bad. Every day that you live, what you think about, talk about is what comes about in your life.

Three Tips on How to Be Successful:

Know what you want.
Take action towards your goals each day.
Be and feel successful now.

The Old Model Of Leadership Is Dead

2010-09-18T11:57:00.000+01:00

With the world going through some of the deepest changes in history, its great that at last, everyone from CEOs to MPs and World Leaders are saying it’s time to take responsibility.

I love Robin Sharma’s new book ‘The Leader Who Had No Title’. He challenges each and every one of us to lead without a title.

Go out and create your own economy.

Six Steps on How to Become a Social Artist of the Future:

Look at the current rituals you live by each day.
When you change your inner world, your outer world will change.
Write down a one page vision of what you will look like when you are playing your leadership best.
Do one thing within the next 24 hours that will take you to the next level of being a great social artist.
Leave your ego at the door.
Learn to say what you mean and mean what you say.

It’s an extraordinary time to be alive, make a commitment to yourself to take responsibility and be the best that only you can be… and never forget that on the other side of fear lives possibility.

It’s time for the social artist to emerge fully in the world and teach people how to move from victimhood to leadership.

I encourage you to look for opportunities in what others call problems. Look at your daily rituals and question yourself. Is what you are doing in your life working? If not, change it!

Stop being a victim of circumstances, it’s time to lead.

Make a Difference or Get Out of My Way

2010-09-11T17:22:00.000+01:00

I recently heard a quote that came from Bono.
“If you are not going to make a difference, get out of my way.”

At first I was shocked and thought the quote was a bit harsh, then after contemplating on it, I grew to like the quote more and more. It got me thinking about the word responsibility.

We live in a world today where there is a denial of self-responsibility. We blame everyone and everything except ourselves. Yet if we look at some of the greatest leaders alive today, they take responsibility and make higher choices each day.

When we take responsibility for who and what we are, we realise that little things do matter and that as you live your days so you craft your life.

Six rules on how to make a difference:

Believe in yourself when no one else believes in you.
Know and understand that not everyone is going to like what you do.
Take responsibility to be the best that you can be.
Know that the more you make a difference, the more you will be tested.
Surround yourself with people who really make a difference.
Making a difference is about taking massive action and going down the road less travelled.

When you commit your life to making a difference, you will live from that vibration and all else will fall away…

Distractions

2010-09-04T15:44:00.000+01:00

It’s a true saying, if you want to lose two hours, go on the internet for five minutes.
I have been pondering on the word distractions.
Why? Because it was the end of August 2010 and I had set myself the task of having two new mini books written.
Did I succeed? No!
Why? Because I caught the procrastinator’s virus and I used the excuse of tomorrow I will start… Well, tomorrow came and went.
Have you ever been there, where you are really cross with yourself and you just say enough, no more?
That’s what happened to me and here’s what I did and it worked.

Before you fall asleep, let your thoughts be of writing, see yourself writing.
Make a decision to get up early, 5am if possible.
When you awake, let your mind wander to the day ahead and feel excited about what you are about to do.
Go downstairs, make yourself an early morning drink, grab a pen and paper, find a place to sit and start writing.
Set the discipline of writing for at least 60 minutes before rewarding yourself with a mini-break.
Don’t turn on your computer (distraction).
Don’t grab the morning paper or turn on the news (distraction).

Since putting the above disciplines in my life, I have now completed the next two mini books.
Embrace your procrastinator, shut out distractions and take action one minute at a time.

Take the Weather with You

2010-02-02T12:14:00.000Z

Have you ever gone to meet someone and as they walk to greet you, you just know that they are having a bad day?

I recently went to see a new client and as I waited in the reception area, they walked down the stairs to meet me. I could see from the energy of their body language that they were harassed, stressed and not having a good day.

I had brought the weather of sunshine with me as I had a lovely drive to the organisation and I had been listening to Og Mandino as I drove. I realised upon meeting the client, that each day we awake to a new day and we get a choice as to what weather we are going to project that day. As I walked with the client up to her office, I made a decision to stay in the sunshine.

Steps on How to Take the Weather with You

When you meet someone who is complaining, listen, hear and look for the positive.
Life is a cycle of moods, we can never be responsible for other people’s moods, yet we can be responsible for our own.
Never judge a man or woman by one meeting or interaction, remember we all have bad days.
Never react, only pause and respond.
Watch the magic happen when you bring sunshine to your customers and everyone you meet. That is what you will get back.

As Og Mandino once said

‘If you feel depressed, remember to sing.’
‘If you feel sad, remember to laugh,’
‘If you feel fear, remember to plunge ahead.’
‘If you feel insignificant, remember your goals.’

And most of all… Remember you have the choice to master your emotions and bring the weather with you wherever you go.

The Snow Brought Focus...

2010-01-11T12:35:00.000Z

Have you ever suffered from the tomorrow syndrome?
It’s where you wake up each day and say, tomorrow I will call that person or tomorrow I will write the first chapter of my book. You get caught up in a negative loop of self talk.

In the first week of January 2010, the snow brought focus into my life. I woke up last week to open the curtains and see a winter wonderland outside in our front garden. As I looked out through the window I could see the car was full of snow and ice. In that moment I made a decision to start writing my next e-book... which I had been thinking of writing throughout the whole of 2009. Thinking without action is useless.

For the next three days I hardly left my desk except to eat and sleep...... I had at last got a grip and just sat down and wrote, no more excuses. I will now share with you the 7 steps that moved me from thinking to action.

SET AN OUTCOME
I sat down at my desk and mapped out the book, e.g. how many chapters would the book have and what would be the title of each chapter.

SET YOURSELF A TIME LIMIT
I put a clock on my desk and set myself a timescale of how long I would write before having a break.

ENJOY WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN PUTTING ON HOLD
After about an hour of writing, I began to enjoy it so much that I didn't want to stop for a break.

ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT
When you get into the rhythm of focus, creativity and ideas flow.

CELEBRATE
I stopped for a break along the way and celebrated with a cup of coffee and Kit Kat.

CHANGE YOUR FOCUS, CHANGE YOUR RESULT
The gift of the snow showed me that when I changed my mindset, I changed my result.

IT’S ALL IN THE ACTION
In life it’s not what we talk about that makes the difference it’s the action that creates the result.