Successful Marketing Is About Following Your Dream
By Debbie LaChusa
My teenage daughter plays fast-pitch softball. And I spend a lot of time each year traveling to tournaments with her.
Pursuing a dream
You see, she’s been playing softball since she was 5-years-old. And she’s been competing seriously since she was 12. Her dream? To earn a college softball scholarship and go on to play the game she loves while pursuing her college education.
Taking steps to make it reality
She’s been planning this dream for years, and she has taken all the right steps to make it a reality. Getting good grades in school. Playing for top-notch softball clubs that can get her into showcase tournaments to be seen by the softball scouts from all across the country.
Getting extra help from batting and fielding coaches. And even marketing herself to the colleges she wants to attend.
What’s the marketing lesson?
What can we learn about marketing from a teenager? Well, a simple system for success, for one. Here’s how we can apply it. First, we need to decide what OUR dream is. Then we need to determine what steps we need to take to get there. And then we need to start taking action on all those steps.
We need to be persistent. We have to recognize we may need to expand our knowledge or skills to achieve our dream. And we can’t be shy about pursuing that knowledge and training.
Believe and do whatever it takes
The bottom-line is we have to be willing to believe in our dream and do whatever it takes to get there. If we don’t have that level of passion and commitment, we’ll probably find it hard to stick with it, and our odds of achieving success are pretty slim.
(C) Copyright 2006 Debbie LaChusa
Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free 10-week Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com
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A Lesson from Frogs
(I received this as a forward and haven’t been able to find the author or copyright information online. If you know who should receive credit for this, please contact me. Or, if you are the copyright holder and would like it removed, contact me and I will do so immediately.)
Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs…. who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.
A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.
The race began….
Honestly: No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
You heard statements such as:
“Oh, WAY too difficult!!”
“They will NEVER make it to the top.”
or:
“Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”
The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one….
Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher….
The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!”
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up….
But ONE continued higher and higher and higher….
This one wouldn’t give up!
At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!
THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?
A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal?
It turned out….
That the winner was DEAF!!!
The wisdom of this story is: Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic because they take
your wishes away from you — the ones you have in your heart!
Always think of the power words have.
Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
Therefore: ALWAYS be… POSITIVE!
And above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!
Thirty Minutes That Will Save Your Dream
By Suzanne Falter-Barns
If you’ve got a dream you’re intent on pursuing, chances are you’re going to bog down at some point. That’s just the way dreams are. In fact, there’s a little known rule about this called the Second Rule of Thermodynamics, which states that sooner or later everything returns to chaos.
In other words, expect your dream to come crashing down around your ears periodically.
Yet, no need to despair; such meltdowns are actually good for your dream, because they force you to stop and rethink your approach if you want to continue. That’s the only way you can find the footing to continue, and in that process, you’re forced to learn and grow. This is when I always pull out my trusty guided visualizations.
Nothing, but nothing, can turn your mind around quite as effectively as a good guided visualization. It can create hope where there was none, clarity in a space of confusion, and immeasurable inspiration. If you subscribe to the same notion that I do – that all of our ideas and instincts around our dream are guided – then this is where you’ll find the mother lode of such information. A good guided visualization will connect you with deep inner truths that most of us simply can’t tap into consciously.
So basically, you, too, can be a Ghandi or a Nelson Mandela or a Thich Nacht Hahn … if you dig deep enough and surrender fully enough. (Those enlightened souls have taught us that such round-the-clock access to the spiritual goods requires one heck of a lot of meditation, not to mention a saintly obfuscation of the ego.) In the meanwhile, the next best thing is to turn on the guided visualizations.
By guided visualization, I mean a recording of someone leading you through a meditation. First they relax you; then they help you imagine yourself in a particular place, or having a certain experience. A great guided visualization will lead you into situations where anything can happen and anyone can show up. You simply sit back and observe as helpers show up, insights are gained, and instructions are received.
Sometimes the path you see is a familiar one you’ve imagined often with your conscious mind, and the meditation serves as a wonderful confirmation of your plan. Yet, other times it can be strange and dark, making no sense whatsoever. My own students have come to me with alarm when they saw a picture of chaos, or violence and degradation. And yet, in talking it over later, they usually recognize a deeper meaning to the picture. Over time, if they repeat the process, they are often left with a greater insight than they anticipated.
For instance, Rosemary was a frustrated writer who hated her daytime job, and was given to fits of gallows humor about it. When she first did my Discover Your Soul Purpose meditation, she uncovered a chaotic back alley, full of lurking, menacing figures. She did the meditation several more times and the situation only marginally improved. Yet, what Rosemary took away from the experience was that her life was out of balance, and filled with dark, negative energy. She quit her job, attended to her failing health, and re-approached the meditation some months later. Now the scene was remarkably different, a sunny courtyard in which she could see herself as
a writer for the first time.
In fact, Rosemary had not ‘done the meditation wrong’, as she’d been quick to assume. (”I must be the only person who didn’t do this thing right!”) Instead, her soul was giving her a direct signal that she was tangled up in life circumstances that were obscuring her dream. The meditation, for all of its supposed lack of clarity, had really been clear as a bell.
The only real way to interpret the images we get in these visualizations is to check in with our gut. There may be age-old gypsy wisdom that water means good luck, or that a duck is an omen of impending death … but I say that’s all poppycock. The only person who knows what your visualization means is you; your gut is the only thing that should ever guide your interpretation. What is it telling you about what you saw — that you need balance, like the confused Rosemary? Or that you need courage? Could it be that you simply don’t want to admit that what you saw is actually true?
Often we get images of ourselves leading such a life of power and abundance that we can barely stand it. It brings tears to our eyes as we acknowledge that we really can do that thing we sorely wish to begin. In that instant, we see how small and constrained we’ve allowed ourselves to become; yet, we also see how much impact we could have, if only we could choose the right path.
Above all, guided visualizations give us permission to dream. They allow us to see ourselves graphically living a different life, feeling the feelings, smelling the smells, and owning the power. We see a higher, truer aspect of ourselves, and in that instant, understand how unstoppable we really can be.
This is the biggest reason I rely on guided visualizations in my work – because they take you beyond the sugary platitudes about ‘going for it’ and ‘reaching for the stars’. Instead, they deliver you smack into your dream for a moment, so you can see the impact and importance of what you’re here to do.
Once you really know the true rightness of what that feels like, down deep in your gut, nothing can keep from making that vision a reality. Even if the images you see are more fleeting or obscure, they will leave you brushed with truth. This is the wisdom that lurks in our bones; wisdom we can access simply by taking the time to turn on a visualization.
Learn more about guided visualizations at
http://www.howmuchjoy.com/soulpurpose.html
©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns.. www.howmuchjoy.com & www.getknownnow.com
For information on how to find the time, energy, money to live your purpose in life, download Suzanne’s free workbook, The Living Your Joy Companion Workbook And get a daily blast of joyful tips from the Blast o’ Joy blog at www.blastojoy.com.
Are You A Self-Saboteur?
A Questionnaire by Suzanne Falter-Barns
Take this questionnaire to get clear on what you may be doing to undermine your own success and happiness in life. An explanation of your score awaits at the end.
1. When someone offers help you usually
a) answer no without even thinking
b) consider for a moment, but then decide their help would be inadequate
c) consider for a moment, but then decide it would be asking for too much
d) happily accept
2. Your level of organization is
a) catastrophic — you can’t even find your toothbrush at night
b) okay, except that when it comes to your dream you tend to keep everything on tiny slips of paper that get lost
c) not bad … you organize everything. It’s just that you never act on it
d) fine — you keep a running file or list of what you need to do on your dream projects every day
3. If someone gives you a key contact, you
a) tuck it away in a pocket with no intention of using it anytime soon
b) stick it in a safe place in your organizer or wallet, then lose it
c) put it on your desk where it sits untouched for the next four months
d) get in touch with that person within a few days
4. When opportunity knocks
a) you get a strange feeling in your gut and do nothing
b) you always manage to get sick
c) you seize the opportunity, but not until after several hours hair-tearing while you try to find necessary materials, the correct directions, a parking place, an open Fed Ex office, etc.
d) you open the door and let it in
5. The idea of being prepared, i.e. keeping an extra clean suit handy, having a beeper, always keeping extra promotion materials on hand, seems
a) downright silly
b) like a good idea, but one you probably wouldn’t do
c) smart, and you may even do one or two of these things
d) critical — you even keep extra panty hose on hand, and business cards in your gym bag
6. The idea that someday you will be successful enough to call your own shots seems
a) unlikely
b) scary, but possible
c) likely … if you could just get your act together somehow
d) fated
7. When an important project begins to reach some kind of climax, as it nears its conclusion, you
a) withdraw and let others finish it
b) begin to get pretty bloody sick of the whole thing and start to complain loudly
c) start looking for the next thing to work on
d) hang in there for completion, taking care of the details, knowing the next thing will come along soon.
Scoring:
If most of your answers were
a: You are committed to hanging out, which is fine, unless you’ve got that nagging feeling you should be doing something more. If so, you probably need a therapist or a life coach when you’re ready to get serious.
b: Your fear is definitely getting in the way of what you want to do in life. You need to get an arsenal of support including a support group or support buddy, a coach, and plenty of meditation time.
c: You’re grappling with the usual fear and doubts, but the problem is you’re
listening to them, even though you know the deal. Set up a regular support group and find a support buddy or coach who will bug you to get your work done every day.
d: You’re doing the job the way it should be done. The only possible problem is burn-out, so be sure to schedule in the rest you need, and stimulating stuff to keep you perking along. A coach would be a wise investment towards seeing how far you could go.
Long to lead your own creativity workshops? You can with Suzanne’s Joy Facilitator’s Training – the turnkey program that helps you create, book, fill and lead your own creativity workshops! Based on her best-selling creativity books, from Ballantine.
©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns.. www.howmuchjoy.com & www.getknownnow.com
For information on how to find the time, energy, money to live your purpose in life, download Suzanne’s free workbook, The Living Your Joy Companion Workbook And get a daily blast of joyful tips from the Blast o’ Joy blog at www.blastojoy.com.
What to Do When You Feel Like Quitting
By Suzanne Falter-Barns
Sooner or later, I can guarantee there will come a day when you decide the results aren’t shaping up quickly enough, or neatly enough, or clearly enough, and you entertain thoughts of quitting.
Most likely, this is your dark night of the soul. Things won’t be going well and you’ll question whether God or Whomever really wanted you to do this work, or the idea just showed up like some mutant cell in the gene pool.
Since we all know the evils of quitting, I’ll focus instead on what to do to
help you hang tough. Here are steps to make sure your decision is the right one.
1. Take a break. Take a weekend or a week off from your project to think about what you’re doing. Often just some absence from the work, especially if you’ve been chipping away at it every day for a long time, is enlightening. You can gain just enough perspective to evaluate what’s truly going on. You might even want to take time to ask yourself the questions at the end of this chapter. (See “Ten Hard Questions To Ask Yourself When You Feel Like Quitting.”) Then, instead of acting rashly, you can act rationally.
2. Take a spiritual retreat. In the spirit of all the great religious seekers who ever wandered a desert, take a day, weekend, week, or even more time if you can, to tune in, spiritually. This could be a friend’s weekend house by the beach (if you go, make sure you’ve got some time to get away by yourself), a yoga retreat, a nearby nature sanctuary or state park that permits camping, or even a monastery or spiritual sanctuary. By removing yourself from the hustle bustle of everyday life, and going into a contemplative quiet place, you can really make the deep, life-altering decisions such times demand. I urge you to choose a place that is not only nurturing and soothing to your spirit, but one that allows you plenty of space, time and quiet to sort out your thoughts. There is an excellent list of such places at the end of this chapter, as well as key questions to ask yourself while you are there. (See Chapter X, “When, How, and Why to Disappear for a While.”)
3. Write down what’s going on. Your journal could be your greatest ally in this process, if you make time to empty your brain of all those frightened, frustrated thoughts that are kicking around in there. There is nothing worse for the creative flow than ‘brain jam’, the condition where your thoughts become so intense that they clog up your ability to think rationally. Indeed, too much thinking can paralyze you from any kind of action, and so you miss the opportunity to move forward. Again, take a look at the list of questions that follow and answer them for yourself in writing.
4. Get support. Just like an AA member contemplating going on a bender, you need to call your ’sponsor’ or greatest supporter and get help. This is precisely why you lined them up in the first place — so when the chips are down, they can talk you on to the next victory. If you feel squeamish about appearing in front of them in your most bedraggled state, remember that you would want them to come to you if they needed help this badly.
5. List the pros and cons. If none of the above seem to work, sit down with a piece of paper and evaluate the pros and cons of quitting your endeavor. Be brutally honest with yourself, and make sure each list is complete. Don’t leave a single pro or con unconsidered. Then walk away from your list. Take a look at it again in a few days, when you’ve had time for your thoughts to settle. Your perspective should be clearer and the answer obvious.
Try This …
Ten Important Questions To Ask Yourself When You Feel Like Quitting
1. What have I learned from my work in the past?
2. What am I learning now?
3. Have I generally been a quitter in life?
4. What would I leave behind if I quit?
5. What will I never know about if I quit?
6. How will I feel about this at the end of my life?
7. What do I need to keep going?
8. What do I still need to learn?
9. How will I feel if I can achieve my goal?
10. How will achieving my goal help other people?
Long to lead your own creativity workshops? You can with Suzanne’s
Joy Facilitator’s Training – the turnkey program that helps you create, book, fill and lead your own creativity workshops! Based on her best-selling creativity books, from Ballantine.
©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns.. www.howmuchjoy.com & www.getknownnow.com
For information on how to find the time, energy, money to live your purpose in life, download Suzanne’s free workbook, The Living Your Joy Companion Workbook And get a daily blast of joyful tips from the Blast o’ Joy blog at www.blastojoy.com.
How to Find Energy for Your Dream When You Work Full-Time
by Suzanne Falter-Barns
www.getknownnow.com
A recent Canadian study of 1,100 employees, polled across North America, found that one-third loathe their jobs. That’s loathe, as in detest, hate and otherwise despise. So here’s the good news: it’s entirely possible for these folks to overcome the usual obstacles, and actually find a more suitable line of work. The key is in managing energy – one of the key things people say keeps them from actively pursuing their dreams in life.
Here are some energy-saving tricks to help that process.
Dedicate your peak time of day to your dream. Are you a lark or an owl? Do you tend to spring out of bed or hug your pillow when the alarm goes off. Get clear on this key fact, then add an extra hour in this time zone for work on your dream. In other words, get up an hour earlier if you’re a morning person – or stay up an hour later if you thrive at night. Write it into your schedule and stick with it.
Indulge in a Four o’clock protein bar or shake. Replace the guilty candy bar in your desk drawer with a snack that’s actually got enough protein to tide you well into the evening hours. Protein bars, such as Balance, Clif, Luna and Power Bars have only slightly less sugar than conventional candy bars, but they’re loaded with soy protein that metabolizes more slowly for an even energy burn. (Ideally, the bars shouldn’t have more than 13 grams of sugar, say experts.) Shakes made with soyprotein powders available at health food stores work even better, and last longer.
Keep a lean office/work space. Nothing drains energy faster than clutter, especially that which accumulates on desktops. Jeffrey Mayer, author of the e-book, How to Win the Fight Between You and Your Desk, says that our energy is literally bogged down every time we see a pile of papers we have to deal with. So he advises parking everything out of sight in appropriate files. Then he suggests keeping a running to-do list on a pad, with items to check off each day as accomplished. This sense of order and accomplishment can breath new life into dreams that feel long in the tooth.
Stop working at least an hour before bed. Even if you’re a night owl who loves to create deep into the night, give yourself some true down time at least an hour before bed. Experts say this is critical unwinding time that will help you sleep better, and hence renew your energy for the next day’s tasks. Use the time to reconnect with your family or spouse, peruse some fun, non-work related reading, or sit in a room with low light simply listening to relaxing music. This is critical energy recharging time.
Avoid junk food; drink water instead. It’s an old saw, but it bears repeating. Nothing depletes your system quite like junk food. The excess sugars speed up your system so it eventually crashes; the excess salts just drive your thirst. They’re fun, but have not substance. Your body craves the good stuff: carrots, salads, light proteins, whole grains, because digestion of such is so much easier on the system.
Add large amounts of water, and you’ll be running at peak. Take your iron. Grains and vegetables provide us with only about seven per cent of their iron, while meat gives us close to 30 per cent. Added to that is the fact that drinking tea and coffee interferes with iron absorption. So, all in all, you’re best off with a supplement, preferably about 18 milligrams per day. Author and nutritionist Elizabeth Somers says you’ll see improvements in energy and mental clarity within three weeks.
Refresh your mind. On a regular basis, try to offer it something stimulating, fun and not work or dream-related. Consider playing an instrument, or going to a weekly dance or yoga class. Or taking a walk in an entirely new place. Museum exhibitions, browses through bookstores, hang outs in cafes and uninhibited strolls through the Web are all good for this purpose.
Take brainstorming walks. This is a daily exercise walk in which you clear your mind, and use the time for either a little reflection on what you’re creating, or for possible spiritual connection. As the exercise causes your brain to release feel-good endorphins, you can relax enough to really let your mind wander as your stroll. So this becomes a great time to work out little problems that crop up in your dream work. Be sure to bring along a small notepad, or electronic ‘instant messager’ for recording your ideas. If time’s tight, use this time to walk to or from the office, even if you have to park the car a few miles away.
Eat your lunch at your desk. It’s a simple solution, and remarkably effective. The simple act of bringing a sandwich to work, pulling it out, closing the door, and doing a little work on your dream mid-day can deeply increase your commitment to your dream. And that in turn can really fuel your dream, so making time for it becomes easier, not harder. If it’s hard to work at your desk, take your sandwich and dream work to a nearby café, your parked car, a public library carrel, or any public space where you can work.
Long to lead your own creativity workshops? You can with Suzanne’s Joy
Facilitator’s Training – the turnkey program that helps you create, book, fill and lead your own creativity workshops! Based on her best-selling creativity books, from Ballantine.
©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns.. www.howmuchjoy.com & www.getknownnow.com
For information on how to find the time, energy, money to live your purpose in life, download Suzanne’s free workbook, The Living Your Joy Companion Workbook And get a daily blast of joyful tips from the Blast o’ Joy blog at www.blastojoy.com.
Where Are You Going?
12 Focus Finders to Help You in Your Journey
Picture yourself driving down the road in your car. You’ve got so many things to focus on at once. Kids in your car. Other drivers on the road. Your rear view mirror. Your side view mirrors. The speedometer, the gas gauge, the check engine light. The traffic lights. Road signs. Your destination. If you’re unfamiliar with the territory you’ve got to get in the right lane for the right exit. Feeling anxious at the thoughts? For most of us, driving is not a stressful experience. We’ve learned to juggle everything that needs our attention so we can successfully and safely drive our cars from point A to point B.
Running your business is a little like driving a car. At times it might seem hectic and overwhelming, especially for new business owners, but just give yourself some time and you’ll find your groove. Once you get your systems down it gets easier.
Let’s take this little car metaphor and apply it to your business focus. There are twelve “focus checkers” listed below. In each of the next 12 editions of this newsletter I’ll explore these areas one at a time.
Where did you begin your journey?
Take a few moments to remember where you began. When did you start your business? Why did you start your business? What was your dream?
What are you driving in? Got your bumper stickers?
The car we drive makes a statement. So must our businesses! Your business has got to have it’s brand. It should be recognizable and plastered everywhere. Bumper stickers, door magnets, window clings. Build your brand and then surround yourself with it.
Who else is in your car?
Sometimes we forget that in building a business we’re not the only ones affected. Our spouses and our children are in this ride along with us. Remember them. Take time to stop and evaluate the way the business is affecting your family. Make changes if you need to. The journey should be fun and rewarding for everyone involved.
Are you wearing your seat belt? Carrying proper insurance?
Do you have a safety plan for your business? Just knowing what will happen when you’re sick or have a family emergency can relieve stress in your day to day operations. Even if your back up plan is as simple as finding out how to setup an auto-responder for incoming email to let people know you’ll be out of the office for a day or two, put some sort of plan together. Then put it in writing so someone else can care of this for you if you have an emergency situation.
Checking the rear view mirror?
Where have you been? Evaluate your last year. Did your business grow? Did it grow in the direction you wanted it to? Or did it overwhelm you? Look at what you did right. Look at what you wish you could change. Consider it all a learning experience and allow it to help you guide your business in the coming year.
Looking at your side mirrors?
Who else is on the road you’re on? Who are your surrounding yourself with? Be careful who your friends are. You need to surround yourself with people who will inspire and encourage you!
Do you have gas in your car?
Is the gas tank full? Or is it empty? When was the last time you took a few minutes for you. Just for you. Every day you need time to recharge. You cannot give what you do not have. All work at home parents understand the “running on empty” feeling. I encourage you to plan time into your day, even if it’s only 5 minutes, to step back and relax. Be thankful. Appreciate the good things in your life. And focus on one day at a time.
Check your speedometer!
Working from home can take over your life. It can become a 24/7 obsession. Stop. Yes, it’s great to be passionate about your business. But remember who else is in that car and if you need to slow down, then slow down. Of course on the opposite end, if you’re not moving, then get that car moving! No one else is going to build your business for you if you aren’t working.
Is your check engine light on?
Have you heard the saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail?” I’ve been guilty of this one! If your businesses doesn’t have a solid plan behind it, it’s going to sputter, it’s going to choke, and it’s going to be a constant struggle. It doesn’t have to be! Check what’s “under the hood” of your business. Get a business plan together. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated.
The traffic lights are everywhere.
Stay open to the signs around you. To grow your business and be successful you need to be in tune with the stop, go, and wait signals. There are times it’s important to slow down. Other times you may see a new market or a need of your niche that you can pursue. Don’t be afraid to go when it’s green!
Watch the road signs along the way.
Do you know what road signs you are looking for? You need measurable goals. Not just “I need to survive until next month.” You need to THRIVE, not just survive. Write down one goal for your business or personal/family life this month. Make it realistic. That’s the road sign you’re watching for next.
Are you at your destination?
I encourage you to rethink this concept completely. Life is not in reaching the destination, it’s in the journey. Your business should be something that you are passionate about and that you enjoy. So focus on your journey. One step at a time. Breathe.