True partnership in action

March 18, 2016 by admin

sagelevineandariana I had the great good fortune to attend the Women’s Leadership Summit last weekend at the beautiful Asilomar Conference Grounds in Monterey – a place I always love to go to for any reason.

This was Sage Lavine’s event – the goddess I’m hugging in this photo. I love this woman, and the way she leads and does business. She’s a beautiful example of the new paradigm of business, and of true partnership – with self, others, work, community, spirit and nature.

(I wrote about partnership last week. Read that article here.)

I love how she combines conscious business coaching with spirituality, mutual support, and giving back. I love how she speaks in her whole soul’s voice.

Partnership in work: She demonstrates partnership with her staff – acknowledging them and celebrating them more than any other workshop leader I’ve seen.

The Art of Serendipity

January 7, 2016 by admin

Want to be creative? Cultivate the art of Serendipity!

Serendipity is such a wonderful word, isn’t it?

It makes me think of happy chance, and it’s related in my mind to synchronicity, another word I love.

I just found out that we can actually cultivate serendipity. This is exciting to me! Here’s a lovely story about the origin of the word:

In 1754, Horace Walpole wrote some thoughts on a Persian fairy tale that entranced him about 3 princes from the Isle of Serendip who had extraordinary powers of observation. Walpole suggested this tale contained an important idea about human genius: “As their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.” (NYTimes 1/3/16) He proposed the word “serendipity” to describe this talent.

So, serendipity is not something that happens to us by dumb luck. It’s something we DO. It’s about paying attention, casting a wider net, allowing plans to change based on a feeling, using an accidental encounter or happening to chart a new path or open new doors, or make new discoveries.

It means that having too narrow a focus or being too perfectionistic can actually prevent you from finding creative solutions to problems in your business and in your life.Continue Reading

I Am Taking A Stand For You Today

December 24, 2015 by admin

I want to help you make more money.

I am taking a stand for you today and asking that you give yourself permission to open to

a deeper knowing of your value and the value of everything you have to offer that skyrockets your confidence
increased awareness and understanding of how to communicate your message so it GETS ACROSS
an improved ability to connect to your Higher Self and to Source
an expanded ability to receive anything and everything that you desire.

So you can

stop holding yourself back and start playing a bigger game
raise your fees
step up to the next level of success in your business
get on bigger stages (online and offline) and rock them
speak in your soul’s voice and step into your soul’s purpose

In order to increase your impact and fulfill your soul’s mission while making a great income.

I want you to take a stand that starting today, starting right now, you will not fail.

I believe that the Universe works miracles in many ways, and one of them is that we all have the opportunity to get more of what we want – especially when we bring our whole selves back into full, authentic self-expression.

So why do people struggle?Continue Reading

How To Handle Sales Rejection With Grace

April 21, 2015 by admin

by Ariana Newcomer

Have you ever gone into a sales conversation with a prospective client DREADING the whole thing? I have.

The fear of rejection is a powerful one, and it is what stops most women entrepreneurs from getting more clients.

Rejection can trigger deep, core emotions, and even make us feel our survival is in question. We learned to avoid situations that could cause us to feel threatened this way – to protect our tender, inner selves.

As entrepreneurs, however, we have to grow past these self-imposed limitations. I’ve written before about “Business As A Transformational Journey.” Getting past and transforming our fear of rejection in sales conversations is crucial to our success.

We need to let go of what one of my mentors calls “spiritual stubbornness,” too. For spirit-driven entrepreneurs, fear of rejection mingles with the story that money shouldn’t even be part of what we do, which can cause almost total paralysis, along with big time resentment and the pain of not succeeding in our deep purpose.

I can’t tell you how many times I hear these stories from my clients: “I shouldn’t charge for what I do because it’s my calling,” or “my gift” or “I should just be giving this away if I’m really spiritual.”

As we shift into embracing money as part of our spiritual path, along with using the strategies I’m going to give you today, we open up wonderful possibilities for ourselves – not just in our businesses, but in all our relationships, and in our spiritual dimension as well.

Growing in this specific area helps us let go of old patterns of self doubt and feeling unworthy that we definitely don’t need to carry around anymore!

Would you like to handle sales rejection with grace?

Great! I’ve got 3 strategies for you to step into your power in sales conversations when you feel threatened by rejection.Continue Reading

3 Secrets Of Highly Effective Coaching

April 15, 2015 by admin

by Ariana Newcomer

Do you challenge your clients to step outside their comfort zone so they can grow?

Do you ask them to do things that you know are scary for them? Do you request that they get things done in a really short amount of time? Or straight-out tell them that a story they’re telling themselves is keeping them stuck?

Actions like these challenge your clients to step into their growing edge, move past their fear, and surprise themselves with what they can actually accomplish.

As coaches, these actions challenge US to stop being so nice, playing it safe, and worrying about what our clients think about us (common issues for women that hold us back in business).

If we’re not challenging our clients this way, we’re at risk of losing them. We’ll have a hard time charging and getting higher fees. But most importantly, we’re actually failing our clients. They hire us to help them create transformation. Transformation doesn’t happen when we’re comfortable.

So, how do you challenge a client to be more and do more than they thought they could, without feeling like a bully?Continue Reading

Making Money Wrong

February 25, 2015 by admin

I’ve done my share of it. Spirit-driven and service-oriented women are especially likely to make money wrong.

We have stories we grew up with, that came from religions, that we absorbed from our culture. Money is the root of all evil. It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Rich people are selfish and greedy. Caring about money makes me a bad person. I can’t be a spiritual person and be wealthy.

Here’s one of mine I uncovered last year: If I make a lot of money, I’ll no longer be an artist. (This is of a piece with the mentality that if I go for lots of money as an artist, I’m “selling out.”) That was really holding me back!

There are plenty more of them, too. Some people believe that we need to get rid of money entirely and have a “gift economy” where people give and receive freely, sharing and taking care of each other.

If you’re making money wrong, you won’t allow yourself to get much of it, which means you won’t be working with (serving) many people. Your impact in the world will be small.

What is money, really? It’s a medium of exchange. The coins and pieces of paper don’t have any value in and of themselves. They have value because we say they do, and because everyone agrees. We give it in exchange for things and services.

Money makes it easier for us than if we had to exchange actual stuff for everything. This is the barter or trade system. It works well if you want chickens and your client wants to trade you her chickens for your services. It breaks down when you don’t want chickens and that’s all she has to barter with. (You also don’t want to have to take her chickens, then trade them for something else you really do want, because you have no place to keep chickens in the meantime.)

If you got chickens for your services, would the chickens then be “the root of all evil?” Of course not.