Stay aligned with your Vision

Excerpt from one of my Write-Out-Loud sessions with Lisa Abbate fromWordmountain

Lisa: Now we've talked about the nuts and bolts kind of practicality, but then we also talked about what are the nuts and bolts also of staying aligned with your vision, and you have this in here as 'Accessing you core self, spirit, heart to stay aligned with your vision', and I think it's really important for individuals who are solo-preneurs or entrepreneurs to really find ways to stay on their path and stay motivated or stay strong and believe them in themselves.

So what are some of the ways that you offer or can advise people on maintaining those, whether it's different meditations or things like that? Can you speak about that a little?

Joanna: I do have some guided meditations that I offer that can help practitioners on stay on their path. Those are available, and then other techniques that I do with clients include things like doing a vision board, like for my book, and I have one for clients. I have a vision board for the type of client I'm hoping to attract. In the past, for the type of business I wanted to build, vision boards can be really helpful doing affirmations - I actually do affirmation books with my clients where we take a bunch of index cards, especially if you can get them in a flip book, and you write down these different affirmations and goals in the flip book and then you look at it every day to remind yourself of where you're headed.

Lisa: Okay. Can you talk a little bit about vision boards? Because some people know what they are and some people don't. They haven't really done it before so I think that's a helpful thing to talk about - the process of creating one, what a vision board is?

Joanna: Yeah. So there are two kind of ways you can do a vision board, but the idea of the vision board is that you're accessing your subconscious, creative side of your mind. So you're using images. You can use some words, but the idea of the images is that it's accessing a different part of your brain than the thinking, kind of verbal brain. And when you look at the vision board once it's created where it has all these images that represent the things that you want to attract into your life, it kind of just helps them stay present with you in your energy and as you go throughout your days. If you look at it every day, it helps you make decisions that keep you aligned with your vision.

I really find that they're helpful and it's a really great tool for pulling out those magazines and just creating a time to work on it. It's part of the inner work I think, of this kind of business where you've some nice music and maybe a candle lit and quiet time, and you're really just focusing in on what you're trying to attract.

Lisa: So in another words, it's time well-spent.

Joanna: Yes, exactly.

Lisa: And it's not just a fluffy exercise. It's a core exercise.

Joanna: And it's a holistic exercise because it's allowing you to exercise, use other parts of your brain that, if you're focused on the nuts and bolts of your business and you're really working that left-side of your brain, it's nice to balance that out with this more creative work. Another thing that I've been doing lately is mandalas, coloring them, where I have books that have many mandalas in them and I find one that represents some process or something that I'm trying to accomplish or work with. And then, just the act of coloring it in and focusing on the topic of what this mandala represents helps me just align with that process.

Lisa: That's great.

Joanna: Yeah. So there are a lot of different ways that people can stay on task, but in this type of heart-centered business, it is really important to engage that side, the creative side, and the spiritual.

Lisa: That's really, really great. I mean I have some ideas of my own, but for manifestos, and what do you do in terms of creating your own manifesto? And what is that and how do you do it?

Joanna: It's kind of like a personal mission statement where you're declaring what you're setting out to do and how you want to set out to do it. It's really where you're putting your mission and values together and it's kind of a personal mission.

But you can also do one for your business as well. You know specific for the business, like we have one for the healing center. We provide these personal growth opportunities. We provide services that are heart-centered. Our goal is to be a resource for the community on the North Shore, and so you can kind of lay those all out for your business or what you hope the business will become.

Lisa: Okay, that's really good. It's like different. It's a mission, but not necessarily one sentence and it goes a little bit deeper than the standard corporate mission statement.

Joanna: Right.

Lisa: Okay. Those are really good. I think I need to do a few of those myself. I do. I get into the nuts and bolts and I never take the time for that. I think that it I so important to take the time to do it. I do it. When I am taking a walk I think about it but it is always not to be doing something else and that at the same time.

Joanna: Yes. It is like taking yourself away from the to-do list for a while and doing that. That other work can really help because that's also where your insights and breakthroughs are going to come; you are accessing that side of yourself.

Lisa: That's a good line. 'Where your insights and breakthroughs come true'

Joanna: Yeah. Especially if you're feeling stuck, pounding away at it doesn't necessarily help you get through it. So stepping back and accessing your creative side, whether it is through a vision-board, through meditation, through a mandala, or whatever it is that can help you tap into the answer or the solution that you need.

Lisa: Oh I think that is really good. These are all really good.

Do you need guidance and support in identifying your ideal client, crafting your offer and creating action plans? Join us for the Summer Apprenticeship for Heart-Centered Entrepreneurs. Or if you prefer one-on-one guidance, the Heartsick Employee to Heart-centered Entrepreneur program may be for you.

How the Law of Attraction Really Works

I want to tell you a secret - I've never read "The Secret" though I've been practicing my own understanding of the Law of Attraction for years.

My version of the Law of Attraction is a combination of setting clear and specific goals, taking consistent action and being persistent. It's not woo-woo at all.

The Law of Attraction is often described as a technique to visualize and affirm the reality you want to create in your life. Things like "I am happy and healthy", "My business is fulfilling and profitable,"and "I am loved" etc.. There are some definite benefits from using positive affirmations and visualizations to shape your thoughts and shift your outlook. These chosen thoughts can help you train your mind to be more loving, positive and upbeat. This works great for shifting your mood and feeling more empowered and excited about life.

However, if you rely on these affirmations to grow your business without combining them with goal setting, consistent actions and persistence in following through with what needs to get done, not a whole lot is going to happen except you sitting around talking to yourself.

I absolutely believe there is a role for affirmations and visualizations, and I teach my clients exactly how and when to use them. But we also combine the mental outlook shaped by these exercises with down to earth strategies and action plans that produce results. For example, in last night's Mastermind call, we looked at what, specifically, would need to happen for the practitioners on the call to achieve their long term goals of making a profit in their business.

For one practitioner, the first baby step was to set a goal of booking 2 clients next month. The actions she needs to take in order to do that are not just speaking an affirmation every morning, though affirmations are helpful to keep you on track. She needs to get really specific about who she wants to help and flesh out a character profile of this person in her mind so she recognizes when she comes across this person.

She also needs to carry around her business cards, talk with everyone she meets about what she does, listen carefully to what people tell her about their own problems and goals, and finally to confidently let the people she talks with know that she can help them with their problems and invite them for a session. She can't just hand them her business card and tell them to call her either, she needs to offer specific session times in her invitation - so she needs to be aware of her schedule and availability too.

To make her goal happen, she needs to be proactive like this every day as if it's her job (it really is her job!), and keep up with it until she meets her goals. She also needs to be persistent and not take it personally when her invitations are declined. She needs to be confident enough in herself and her offering that she knows in her heart the right people will jump on the opportunity. This means wishing those who say no the best and moving on to the next person. She might need to seek out new venues to meet people if she is not encountering the people who fit her profile and tweak who she is talking to in order to hone in on her ideal client.

With consistent action, persistence and determination, I am positive that she will meet her goals. This is the "secret" I use to meet my goals every month, and you can use it too!

Do you need guidance and support in identifying your ideal client, crafting your offer and creating action plans? Join us for the Summer Apprenticeship for Heart-Centered Entrepreneurs. Or if you prefer one-on-one guidance, the Heartsick Employee to Heart-centered Entrepreneur program may be for you.

That Magical Moment of Connection

After hearing the same frustration from my practitioners at THC month after month about how difficult it is for them to transition people interested in their services into clients, I decided to bring my friend Catie Shoenfarber in to share her success techniques and strategies for turning contacts into clients. Catie has been in the wellness business for over 10 years.

Before she began her workshop, she started with having us write our answers to the following 5 questions. If turning contacts into clients is a challenge for you, why don't you pause and jot down your own answers to Catie's questions.

1. What is your next available appointment date and time?

2. How long did it take for you to answer that question?

3. On a scale of 1 - 10 (1 lowest, 10 highest) how successful is your practice

4. What are your 3 main goals this year?

5. What are your 3 greatest strengths in your practice

These questions are important because they indicate how prepared you are to turn a contact into a client when you meet them. According to Catie, the key things you need to transform someone into a client include having your availability at your fingertips, knowing what you're really good at doing in your practice, and recognizing the magical moment of connection with the person in front of you.

(By the way, Catie's advice reflects what I learned at the Sacred Moment Seminar with Sufi Master Mark Silver back in February.)

Making a confident, heart-centered offer while face to face with someone is the best opportunity for transitioning an interested person into a client. In a client ~ practitioner relationship, it's your responsibility to make it as seamless and easy for someone to book a session as possible. Handing them your card and walking away is a lost opportunity. Catie emphasized that making a heart-centered offer EVERY time is the way to start filling the pipeline of your business.

So, how do you create a heart-centered offer?

Your offer needs to be positive, specific and include your next available session (up to 3 options) as well as your confidence that you can help the person. Catie suggested crafting formulas for your offers that you can practice until they become second nature. Choose your offers based on your goals for the year to help you meet them.

An example of a specific, heart-centered offer is: "I understand your situation, and I can help you. This is what I specialize in, and I have been able to help other clients reach the same place. I would love to work with you in reaching your goals, here are my openings this week." Tweak this offer with specific details about your own practice.

Don't hand the responsibility over to the client to contact you later to schedule the appointment. Catie pointed out that you offering a specific appointment time is your commitment to this potential client. Making a commitment first makes it much easier and less scary for a potential client to commit to an appointment with you.

One of the challenges practitioners run into is fear of rejection. We all feel it from time to time, but it's important to learn how to keep your heart open and allow it to be ok if the person doesn't say yes. Trusting in abundance, filling your heart with love, practicing the Remembrance are all ways to practice keeping your heart open no matter what the other person says or does.

My rule of thumb is to expect that 90 percent of my offers are refused this time, so I keep offering until I connect with that 10% who are ready to work with me today. I trust that keeping my heart open and flowing with love will attract the people who need my help the most, and it's ok when people who aren't ready say no. It's not about me, it's not personal. It's about them and where they are at today. It takes a little practice to shift into this perspective, but it's very rewarding when you do!

Practice making specific offers to the people you meet every day. You'll find that before you know it, your calendar is full!