Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Meet Bice Awan

Bice Awan
Social Entrepreneur, CEO – Skylight Trust (up to Dec-14)

Social enterprises around the world are on the increase, which is a really good thing.

As defined by Social Enterprise UK, “businesses are defined as social enterprises when they trade to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances, or the environment. They make their money from selling goods and services in the open market, but they reinvest their profits back into the business or the local community.”

Meet my good friend, Bice Awan. Over 15 years ago she lead the establishment of Skylight, a New Zealand based social enterprise that supports people who are experiencing grief, trauma and stress.

Testimony to Skylight’s success, a leading Government official once told Bice that “If Skylight didn’t exist, New Zealand would be a sad place”.

Listen to my interview with Bice. Her commitment and energy for the cause is heart warming.

While having a strong community centred vision, Skylight also recognised the importance of financial independence so over the years has developed a number of revenue streams which as they continue to grow, will further support the increased financial sustainability of this wonderful organisation.

As well, the services offered are of such a high quality that Skylight is now an international enterprise, providing services to a number of countries around the world.

I’d be delighted if you shared this interview with anyone you know who is thinking about establishing a social enterprise. Bice demonstrates all that is possible when one has true belief in the cause. Enjoy.

You can listen to the original Interview with Bice Awan here:

To connect with Skylight:
W: www.skylight.org.nz

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly into your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories: Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success

What’s Your Personal Brand?

“Regardless of age, position or the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of brand. We are CEOs of our own companies. Me Inc! To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called YOU!” – Tom Peters (from the book A Brand Called You).

Everybody’s heard of the word ‘brand’ and often we think about brands in relation to companies like McDonalds, Coke, Apple and Virgin.

But think of those last two, Apple and Virgin, and the two people most associated with those companies: Steve Jobs and Sir Richard Branson. In his black jumper and steel-rimmed glasses, Steve Jobs never detracted from the Apple brand, he embodied it. The same is true of Richard Branson; he is a walking entrepreneur, he never wears a tie, is awkward in interviews, and his whole being is on the pulse of what his customers want, need and dream about.

Okay, you may be thinking, but these are two of the most successful people on the planet in recent history. How is personal branding really going to make a difference to my life, career or business?

Regardless of whether you’re a small business owner, searching for a job, are an employee or even a student, it will benefit you to think about and own your personal brand.

When we pay attention to our personal brand, we create a vision for our future, and with our brand strategy, a path of action with which to get there. The impression we make, the interactions we have, the products we create, and whether we are truly authentic and consistent are all key ingredients of personal branding and hugely impact our success as a business owner or employee throughout our career.

Reputation has always been a key to success and in today’s social media age we have more opportunities than ever before to build our reputation through our style, presence and expert content. And don’t think that content is only for ‘creative’ people. Whatever you do, in whichever field, people will always ‘Google you’ before they meet or employ you. What will they see? It’s up to you.

Your personal brand is what defines you and what you would want to be remembered for. Right now that might not be immediately apparent, and so the first step is to take a little time to really understand yourself, who you are, what you do, your values, skills and passions, and how all of these things come together to create your unique brand. Personal branding is about getting to the essence of you, so that everything you build upon is true to your values, passions and personality.

Once you understand who you are and what you do, you can identify your audience, the people who will benefit most from what you have to offer.

With just a little knowledge you can begin to influence all of those impressions. Don’t leave your reputation to chance when you can easily be your very own PR guru.

In my opinion, it’s time to stand up, stand out and be counted. What do you want people to think of when they hear your name? What do you think people say about you? What is your personal brand?

I’ll start. With some recent surveying I have done, I’ve been told that I am true to my informal slogan of being an ‘Inspirator, Agitator, Motivator’ in that my clients are inspired by my achievements and breadth of knowledge and experience in business, entrepreneurship and high performance. When they work with me, we set big goals and plans for them to work on and achieve which at times they can find a little scary until they have jumped that hurdle – so they connect with the ‘agitator’ in me, in that I am there to push them beyond their comfort zones. When working with me they are motivated to achieve everything they want, knowing that they will be supported by me during the journey. Finally, everyone also said that I am true to my personal values which are: trust, happiness, health, generosity, creativity, optimism, courage.

Whew, hopefully that means I am branded… or at least part way there. I’m so passionate about the importance of personal branding that the next book in my Small Business Huge Success™ series is on this topic. It’s due to be released in a few months time.

Let’s start a conversation. In the comments below, how about writing what you think your personal brand is? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Could some guidance from me be helpful to you? If so, please arrange a free 30 mins Skype strategy meeting with me. Here’s my calendar to book a meeting. I’d love to support you in some way to gain ‘seductive clarity’ in any aspect of your business or life.

Other articles on Branding, Marketing and Pricing:

Do You Compete on Price? Bad Business Decision!!
Is Customer Service YOUR Key to Business Success?
Creating Superior Customer Value – do you do that in your business?
Which are Your Most Profitable Customers?
Finding Customers via LinkedIn
Using YouTube for Finding Customers
Who Wants High Customer Retention?
Increase Your Prices & Make More Profit
What is a Customer?
What is Business Marketing?

Business Success Tips : Meet Rob Warlow

Rob Warlow
Business Financing Expert

For many of us, trying to organically grow our businesses via retained profits and cashflow is almost impossible to do – or at least it slows the pace of our desired business growth.

Around the world, as economies continue to recover from the global financial crisis, business growth is a reality for many businesses, which is really exciting. The question is: “How do we access external funding to support the business growth?”

We’ve all heard the stories about how banks don’t want to lend to small businesses…. those stories are enough to put anyone off from having a go at getting bank or alternative debt finance, as the process and hoops we have to jump seem way too hard.

Meet my friend Rob Warlow. He’s a business financing expert. He’s helped loads of businesses access the finance they need to support the growth in their businesses.

In our interview, Rob talks about the ‘dos and don’ts’ when a business owner wants to access external financing. The things we talk about are universal… so regardless of where your business is located, listen to what Rob has to say.

I promise you, Rob’s tips will save you a lot of time, energy, hassle and heartache when it’s right for your business to seek the business loan you need to achieve the business growth and success you deserve.

Oh and by the way, in case you are wondering, Rob has come in from the ‘dark side’. He worked in senior banking roles for many years, so he knows their mindset and ‘modus operandi’… therefore he’s really well placed as an independent adviser to offer you some really useful advice. And the great thing is it’s here for free in this interview. Enjoy.

You can listen to the original Interview with Rob Warlow here:

To connect with Rob Warlow:
W: www.businessloanservices.co.uk

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be art of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Subject Matter Experts and be inspired in the Business Success Tips: Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

What’s Your Excuse? No Arms? No Legs?

Our brain, while it’s the most amazingly fascinating and mysterious machine, it’s also a very dangerous machine!

Our brain is our greatest friend or our biggest foe!

Our brain is our nightmare and limitation, and often needs a jolly good talking to…spanking or whipping (now don’t get too excited here :)) …to get it on the ‘straight and narrow’.

Our brains and all that ‘internal chatter’ hold us back from being, achieving and doing everything we want to in our lives.

Our brain gets fearful and stops us in our tracks so that we live in the safe zone, rather than pushing through and living in the ‘magical happening’ zone.

Know what I mean? It can be so annoying… our brain gets in the way of us sizzling with the excitement of life and the possibility of achieving great things. Why? Because it’s in our brain that fear is created.

Granted, fear keeps us safe. A fear of being mugged in the dark helps me to remain vigilant if I’m out late at night. Look out anyone who tries it on… they’ll get their eyes plucked out with the keys I carry in my hand to support my safety!

Do you use fear productively?

Sadly, fear holds most of us back. Fear encourages us to create excuses. Fear keeps us living small rather than living expansively.

Here are a few of the most common fears that stop us from achieving all we are capable of, desire and deserve in our lives:

Fear of what others will think.
Fear of not having enough money.
Fear of not having enough education.
Fear of rejection.
Fear of failure.
Fear of making a mistake.
Fear of not being good enough.
Fear of conflict.
… and sadly, fear of the unknown… get the idea? Do any of these resonate?

Last Monday I attended a conference where Nick Vujicic was speaking. He’s the ‘no arms, no legs, no limits’ guy. What an inspiration!

If ever someone had an excuse to live in fear and to hide from the world, Nick would be it. He was unexpectedly born with no arms or legs some 32 years ago in Australia. Yet, while the shock of his disabilities was initially devastating for his first time parents, they fell in love with his beauty and became his biggest supporters.

Nick has overcome the most unimaginable hurdles in life, yet he never gives up. He’s a trained accountant and financial planner, an entrepreneur employing 14 staff, a husband and father, an adventure seeker …and much more. Nick also now travels the world speaking to thousands of people a year – children and adults. He inspires and uplifts everyone he encounters. He’s a miracle to many.

“If I fail, I try again and again and again. If you fail, are you going to try again? The human spirit can handle much more than we realise. It matters how you are going to finish. Are you going to finish strong?” ~ Nick Vujicic.

“I was never crippled until I lost hope.” ~ Nick Vujicic.

How about we take inspiration from Nick’s life? If Nick can have the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G life, then so can we.

Let’s park the excuses and insecurities or get support to eradicate them. Let’s push through the barriers that stop us from being all that we dream of and all that we can be!

Let’s light the fire. No more simmering in life. Let’s sizzle! And why should we?

Quite simply, because we’re worth it! We are fabulous and beautiful and wonderful and glorious and deserving of the life WE want to create for ourselves. That’s why!

What’s the one BIG thing you are going to do to push past your fears to support the achievement of your dreams, your vision, for your life? I’d love to hear. How about leaving a comment below?

Other articles on What Creates Success in Business and Life:

Success Breeds Success!
Success Secrets of Successful People
Adèle in a Nutshell – ‘To Give is to Live’
Reflect, Smile and Smell the Christmas Lilies!
The Beauty of the Last Hours in Life
Success Breeds Success – Tip #1
What’s all this Gratitude ‘stuff’?
Savour the Journey
What’s Stopping You? FEAR?
The 7 Traits of High Achievers

The 7 Traits of High Achievers

Have you ever wondered why some people achieve more than others in their businesses and lives?

As this question has fascinated me for over 20 years, I have studied the highest achievers in life to see ‘what makes them tick’ and to find answers that I can use when coaching my clients and in my own life.

There are 7 traits that are key in achieving anything and everything in life. In brief summary, they are:

Seductive Clarity – Quite simply this means that high achievers have a really clear view of who they are in the world, and what they want to achieve in their lives. The vision is so clear they live and breathe it. I call it VIVA – Vision Internalised is Vision Actualised™.

Sensational Mindset – High achievers make sure their mindset is right – they work with coaches, masterminds and others to support them in maintaining the right mindset and belief systems. Like anyone, they have setbacks and failures, but because they believe they can do it, when difficulty strikes, they flow with the challenges, twisting and turning to get back on track, managing their mindset in the meantime.

Soulful Vitality – Zest, energy and enthusiasm are words often used to describe high achievers. They have an excitement and vitality about them that can be contagious. That vitality is not always a ‘ra-ra-ra’ extroverted energy, it is a quiet confidence and assurance. High achievers recognise the importance of their own internal energy and vitality in achieving their vision, so they work towards maintaining it, often through focusing on their health and fitness.

Steadfast Focus – Goals break a big vision into bite size, manageable chunks. High achievers recognise the importance of setting goals, savouring the journey and celebrating achievements along the way.

Once the goal is set, high achievers get on and do the work. As Shakespeare said: “Nothing comes from doing nothing”. They are efficiently productive. They work on the things that matter and don’t get side tracked with being productive in areas that are not a good use of their time or skills. Those elements are delegated. In essence, over sustained periods of time, high achievers get more done towards the achievement of their vision.

Skilful Excellence – Many high achievers aim to be the very best at what they do; they master their area of expertise. In doing so, they ‘fail forward’ and they seek out feedback. They also recognise that change is a constant, so they embrace it.

To be skilfully excellent, high achievers are brave. They have the courage to ‘find the magic’ that lies beyond their current comfort zones. They know (through experience) that new and exciting frontiers appear after they push through self imposed limitations and barriers.

Sincere Relationships – People are drawn to high achievers as many have wonderful people skills. Others want to work with or for them, supporting the achievement of their vision. They are respected and are respectful. They are admired, kind and generous. Often in leadership roles, high achievers have a wide circle around them: loved ones, coaches/mentors, powerful others, communities.

Self Expression – High achievers are constantly curious about life. They don’t rest on their laurels; they experience life. They seek out experiences to magnify the quality of their lives. In doing so, new opportunities are created.

You made it! In summary, that’s all it takes to become a high achiever in business and life. The great thing is that each of the 7 traits are able to be learned. Persistence, practice and the development of new habits is all it takes. Are you up for it? High achievement in life is not the domain of the ‘good and the great’ – it is something we can all master. Remember, the ‘magical happening’ lies beyond our comfort zones.

Remember the magical happening lies beyond our comfort zone

I’d love to hear your thoughts on your own journey towards being a high achiever. What have been some of the challenges, lessons and experiences you have had? How about writing your comments and thoughts below?

Other articles on What Creates Success in Business and Life:

Business Success Tips : Meet Ricky Powell

Ricky Powell
Happiness Coach

Our normal body temperature is 98.6 percent. Can we be happy 98.6 percent of the time?

Meet my new friend, Ricky Powell. He says yes, we can! Ricky is a Happiness Coach and he’s on a mission.

After a lifetime in the entertainment industry, including being a well known child actor and 25 years working at America’s NBC channel, Ricky decided to move on and live his other passion – helping people learn how happiness changes our lives! Literally!

Ricky works with people, helping them experience lifelong happiness and exponential success on a daily basis.

He also works with businesses – large and small – helping them improve their profitability and success by creating an environment where their employees feel supported, productive and happy working in the business. He cites the American business, Zappos – an online fashion retailer as a fabulous example of the benefits of creating a ‘happy organisation’. We talk about Zappos as its mission is to ‘deliver happiness’ to its customers.

Ricky is the Founder of LifelongHappiness.com, the author of the book, Happiness Rocks… and much more.

Listen in to our conversation. I was riveted as this is a topic I am absolutely passionate about too.

While you may start out as a cynic over the importance of happiness in our lives, I hope, by the end of our conversation, you will be a convert to this wonderful concept that is sweeping the world. Enjoy!

You can listen to the original Interview with Ricky Powell here:

To connect with Ricky Powell:
W: www.lifelonghappiness.com

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be art of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Subject Matter Experts and be inspired in the Business Success Tips: Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

What ice cream flavour is your business?

An ice cream is an ice cream. A laptop is a laptop. A plumber is a plumber. A business coach is just another business coach. They are all homogenous ─ basic commodities that can be bought anywhere in a competitive market. Right?

Yes and no. Many entrepreneurs operate as commodity businesses. They look and sound the same as everyone else in their industry. They trade on price, often reducing their price to ‘win the business’. Nothing makes them stand out from the crowd. They are like plain vanilla ice cream; something that can be bought anywhere.

Yet, one of the most pressing issues facing many businesses is how to attract more quality customers. That is the constant concern I hear when networking with and coaching entrepreneurs.

Why? Often is it because they have not identified and communicated to their customers the value they offer with their products and services.

When we are selling value to the customer, we are selling benefits – things they want and need; an emotional connection to the product, and often an experience too. When we do that we are selling something that stands apart from the rest and cannot be bought anywhere.

Let me explain.

I am an ice cream ‘snob’, yet we could argue that most ice creams taste very similar. In London, I will travel to Notting Hill just to visit a particular store to marvel over their range of gorgeous flavours, buy one, and then sit and savour it. When in New Zealand I will only eat one brand of ice cream. I can buy it from a handful of stores or in tubs in the supermarket.

So why do I bother being so finicky over ice cream? Because I am buying something more than just ice cream. I am buying an experience – a moment when time stops as I savour the joys of the ice cream. I am also buying a perception of luxury – as defined by me. The personal benefits of the ice cream brands I buy are worth the inconvenience of travelling far and wide to buy them.

The same goes for many other products and services I buy. I will return to buy certain products and services time and again, as they are selling something that is of value to me.

Look at your business. Is it selling something that is highly valued by your customers? Do you have differentiated products and services that your customers can only buy from you? Do your products and services emotionally connect with your customers so they come back time and again?

Starbucks is great example. They enjoy customer loyalty that most businesses can only dream of. Yet, I am sure the same quality of coffee can be bought in many coffee shops around the world – and more cheaply. But Starbucks is selling an experience that its customers will pay for.

Value is often intangible. It’s in the mind of the buyer. So as business owners, we need to get into the minds of our desired customers and understand what benefits, value, and experiences they are seeking when buying the products and services we offer.

Once we understand, it is our duty to effectively communicate our ability to deliver those values, benefits and experiences to our potential customers. If we do that effectively, we will be seen as different, relevant, and necessary by our customers.

Our businesses will be branded differently from our competitors… so long as we deliver on the value and benefits we promise. If we don’t, we are doomed to be seen once again as a commodity business.

Get value, benefits, and experience right in the eyes of our customers and we will be able to set premium prices for our products and services. Price is only an issue when value is not perceived.

And finally, not all business coaches are the same. I have branded my business to work with business owners/entrepreneurs around the world who want to be ‘mega performing’ – achieving all that they desire in business and life – as they define it. My business is a Swiss chocolate ice cream made with only organic products, and with little ‘sweet treat surprises’ scattered throughout… and it can’t be bought anywhere else other than from me.

What ice cream flavour is your business? And where can it be bought?

Let’s start a conversation. What makes your business stand out from others in your competitive market? How do you define and communicate the benefits you offer your customers? Write your thoughts below.

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Entrepreneurial Success Without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
NZ Entrepreneurship Success
Millionaire Mindset
7 Secrets of Business Success
Sir Richard Branson Asks…
Ordinary vs Game Changing
Thriving within the Juggling Act
Business Success and Cookie Dough
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?

Business Success Tips : Meet Bill Gluth

Bill Gluth
Business Strategy Consultant and Evernote Business Certified Consultant

Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed? So much to do and not enough hours in the day or enough people available to assist?

You are not alone. Life seems to be a bit manic for everyone these days.

The year is racing by and ‘stuff’ hits us at all hours of the day (and night) – work, family, ideas, inspirations, lists of ‘must dos’ and ‘don’t forgets’… know the feeling? I certainly do.

Meet my friend, Bill Gluth. He says: “Great ideas and brilliant strategies only work when implemented!” Too true! But we need systems in place to make the implementation easier.

Bill’s a Business Strategy Consultant. Recently he also became an Evernote Business Certified Consultant.

Have you heard of Evernote? It is the latest and greatest in helping people to organise their lives – personal and business. It’s available as a free download on computer and synchronised app for your phone.

Evernote (as its marketing says) “is the place where we write free from distraction, collect information, find what we need, and present our ideas to the world”.

I have to confess, I’m a novice user of Evernote. But already it’s making my life easier, and with Bill’s instructions on how I can make it work for me in life and business, I can’t wait to get started on learning more.

We are also looking to integrate Evernote into our company wide processes and systems to make our business lives even more streamlined across the team. You can do that too.

So, have a listen to this week’s Business Success Tips Interview with Bill where he explains how to use and get the most out of Evernote. He mostly focuses on the free version of the tool, so this conversation is relevant for everyone.

Technology is quite literally at our fingertips, and there’s so much choice on the market. Evernote seems like a winner to me. I was thrilled that Bill was so willing to share his expert knowledge on how to get the most of out it. Enjoy!

You can listen to the original Interview with Bill Gluth here:

To connect with Bill Gluth:
W: billgluth.com

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be art of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Subject Matter Experts and be inspired in the Business Success Tips: Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

What’s Stopping You? FEAR?

Even with the greatest will in the world, the most exciting plans in place, the kindest and most generous support network, at times we all experience the sensation of fear.

We are human! Fear is one of those things that can get us at the oddest of times. Things are going well, then wham, fear hits and stops us in our tracks.

Fear of others
Fear of not having enough money
Fear of failure
Fear of time – not having enough of it
Fear of rejection
Fear of loss
Fear of the unknown
…and, in my opinion, the biggest and saddest fear of all …. the fear of regret!

Do you recognise any of those fears?

Fear is a response to a physical or emotional worry. Fear is a natural response to uncertainty and change.

At times, fear is intuitive, meaning we can’t explain it. But if we explore it, fear can keep us safe.

Sadly, fear can also be debilitating, life limiting and success sucking!

The thing is, no-one is immune to the emotion of fear. Ask the biggest achiever or the most confident person you know.

Does fear sometimes hit them in the face? The answer will be a definite YES!

Fear often raises its head when we are about to scale new heights in our lives and/or in business. When we are ready to put our big plans and goals into play, fear has a way of attempting to stall or halt us. Ever experienced that? I certainly have.

A number of my clients are about to scale new and exciting heights in their businesses and lives, and fear has crept in. Here’s a quick summary of some of what we have been doing together to say ‘thank you and adios’ to fear.

Acknowledge the pain and thank your internal self for bringing fear to your attention. List all the pain and fear that you are feeling; there’s no point hiding from or bottling it.

Remain curious and explore the fear. Have you ever thought about why you might be experiencing the fear? What life experiences have contributed to the fear? When does it hit? What are you thinking about when you feel fearful? Again, make a list.

Think of the potential pleasure and successes you will miss if you succumb to the fear, remain the same, and take no action. List them.

Change your physiology as certain foods and liquids we consume (sugar, additives, sweeteners, chemicals, and wheat based diets) can have a powerful and negative effect on our body and our moods, contributing to how we are feeling. Eat ‘clean green’ foods. Get some exercise and breathe. You will feel better, I promise.

Be grateful and think about all the wonderful things you have in your life. Then tip the fear on its head. For instance, if you are frightened about the upcoming presentation you have to do as part of a sales pitch to win a new piece of work, be grateful that your business is so good that you have the opportunity to pitch for this new work, and upon winning and completing it, your business success will be heightened. Gratitude is a wonderful elixir in life.

Get a new perspective on life. Sadly, we are conditioned to focus on the negative. Put fear into perspective. Are you making a big deal out of nothing? Start thinking positively.

Take massive action and do something. I love the quote: Feel the fear and do it anyway and the death of that fear will be certain. Says it all really, don’t you think?

Finally, while the above list is not exhaustive, it’s a good start. If you find fear is holding you back from having the business and life you want, then I strongly advise you to talk to someone to get the fear out of your head and into the ‘airwaves’ and you will feel better in doing so. Talking it through is positive and helpful.

Let’s start a conversation. What tools and tactics have you used to overcome fear? I’d love to know. How about leaving a comment below?

Other articles on What Creates Success in Business and Life:

Success Breeds Success!
Success Secrets of Successful People
Adèle in a Nutshell – ‘To Give is to Live’
Reflect, Smile and Smell the Christmas Lilies!
The Beauty of the Last Hours in Life
Success Breeds Success – Tip #1
What’s all this Gratitude ‘stuff’?
Savour the Journey
The 7 Traits of High Achievers
What’s Your Excuse? No Arms? No Legs?

Savour the Journey

Vision clear? Check!

Goals sorted? Check!

Belief nailed?…. I can do this! Check!

The journey has begun towards achieving something great or important. It’s so exciting.

Know that feeling? It can happen at any time when a goal is set towards achieving something meaningful to us.

The journey starts off well – with a hiss and a roar and often at speed – because we are highly motivated towards achieving the end result. The goal. It’s still exciting.

The road appears straight; an easy ride to the end. Excellent! This will be a ‘walk in the park’ to achieve.

Eeekkk. What’s happened? There are twists and turns in the road. More twists and turns. Oh no, I feel a bit carsick. I don’t have a bucket or plastic bag. It wasn’t meant to be like this….

…and OMG, there’s a big hill coming up! I wonder what’s around the corner after that?

I’m not enjoying this journey. It is getting a bit too hard. Is the destination worth it?

Sound familiar?

The journey towards achieving almost everything we want in business and life is never a straight line or an easy ride. There will always be twists and turns and unexpected stops, starts, and possibly, u-turns. That’s life.

I truly believe we are supposed to savour the journey towards achievement of the goal. The essence of the experience, the learning, is in the journey and not the destination.

Savour the journey! That might sound disingenuous… some journeys in life (and business) are really, really difficult. I totally agree, and I have had many VERY hard journeys in my life and business, like everyone else.

It seems that we want everything fast and furious in today’s world. We want it all now and without too much effort – well, certainly our children do, in my experience.

Yet, not so long ago, it wasn’t like that! Not so long ago, we accepted that the journey would be a challenge, a struggle worth having, as that is what all the stories were about… the struggle towards achieving something important or great.

Have we forgotten that overcoming the struggle and completing the journey is THE key part of the achievement?

If everything in life was easy, life would be homogeneous and boring. The struggle and the journey is what gives life colour, excitement, and variety.

In my opinion, the struggle and the journey is what we fondly remember, long after the goal has been achieved. It makes the achievement of the goal more precious.

Think about it. After the storm has passed and the journey is over, have you had amazing learnings, lessons and experiences that, in a funny old way, are integral to who you are today? I certainly have. It’s often those lessons and experiences that propel us onto the next journey with all its winding roads, hills, and mountains to climb.

So I say, savour the journey. But we don’t have to go it alone. We can ask for help. We can seek guidance. We can receive the roadmap from others who have gone on the journey before us. Still, we may choose to take a different road, even with a roadmap; it is our journey, so we can do it our way.

The result is our vision, our goals, our beliefs, our journeys, our successes, our failures… are our own life learnings, lessons and experiences in all their uniqueness. They are integral to who we are and who we become over time.

I don’t know about you, but those thoughts alone constantly propel me to go on journey after journey after journey…. treasuring each one.

I’d love to hear of your journeys and the struggles along the way. How about leaving a comment below so we can start a conversation on this topic?

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Success Breeds Success – Tip #1
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The 7 Traits of High Achievers
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