Next Steps

Which of the costly mistakes do you find yourself making from time to time?

Costly Mistake #1: Lack of Focus – scattered energy, too many new projects at one time

Costly Mistake #2: Play the Lone Ranger – I should be able to do it by myself and I can

Costly Mistake #3: Lack of Visibility – Clients have a hard time finding out about me

Costly Mistake #4: My way or the highway – there is only one way and I’m attached to it

Costly Mistake #5: Acting from a place of Self-doubt, Fear or Desperation. This one speaks for itself.

Costly Mistake #6: Limiting Money Beliefs – limitations that form your own glass ceiling

Costly Mistake #7: Playing Small – doesn’t work with big dreams

Now that you know what the costly mistakes are (and this is probably not the first time you’ve heard them), what are you willing to do differently this year?

Are you committed to the 6-month goal you set in Lesson 1?

Then come blow the lid off these old ways of being and join a group of your peers in creating all the clients and income you desire. Have fun as you celebrate new clients and revenue coming in month after month, in a way that works for you.

Are you ready? Try it for 30 days risk-free.

Learn more at Client and Sales Attraction

I wish you all the joy, happiness, and abundance in the world and look forward to working with you soon.

To Your Success!

Stacey Mayo
www.ClientandSalesAttraction.com

Costly Mistake #7: Playing Small

Many times we have big goals but yet play small. Seems contradictory and it is. If you want to hit the ball out of the park, you have to be willing to stretch outside your comfort zone.

As human beings, we prefer to stay in our comfort zones. After all, it is comfortable. But it doesn’t necessarily make us happy. Many people are comfortable but unhappy or dissatisfied. Why do you think so many people stay in marriages that are not working, or in jobs that they dislike?

Almost everything we have ever done was uncomfortable the first time we did it. From the first time you walked, to the first day on a new job to the first date with the person you ended up in a relationship with to the day you attracted your first client.

After a while these things then became your new comfort zone and were no big deal anymore. That is what there is to remember.

The second thing to remember is the thing that makes something uncomfortable is the thoughts we make up about it in our mind. Yes, usually those are the negative thoughts of what if I fail?, get rejected? make a mistake?, get humiliated, etc.? It is that thought that makes us uncomfortable, not the thing itself.

So to move forward on something that seems uncomfortable, start shifting your thoughts about it and how you want it to go. Start seeing it happening in your mind in a way that makes you smile. And last but not least, get support. Unconditional support is the most important thing you can have to help you stretch outside your comfort zone faster and more often so you can attain those clients and goals you’ve been wishing for.

Well, that brings us to the end of our mini-ecourse. I hope you have gotten tons of value and have started applying these principles to your life. It takes practice, practice, practice.

So be patient with yourself and remember that in each moment you have a new opportunity to shift your mind, shift your actions and do things differently.

It is never too late.

The next lesson will bring you some ideas for what you can do next to keep moving forward.

Stay tuned...

Costly Mistake #6: Limiting Money Beliefs

Have you been hovering around a certain income level for a while or perhaps are making small incremental increases but you are still quite a distance from your bigger goal?

Likelihood is you have some money blocks. We all have them. I know of millionaires who are trying to work through blocks to become billionaires. The important thing is that you recognize them so you can work through them and go to the next level.

To determine what blocks you have, start noticing how you feel when you think about:

your bank statement,
your credit card statements,
your bills,
you savings account,
your retirement account,
spending mon-ey,
saving mon-ey,
rich people,
attaining your financial goal,
financial independence.

Notice which things bring up tension or negative thoughts. That is a first step to identifying your blocks. Then start visualizing yourself doing things differently around money.

There are other tools to deal with money issues and clear them at a deeper level, but that is more depth than I can go into in this message.

For now start by identifying your blocks. Once you know you have them, you can take steps and get support in releasing them.


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What’s coming up next?

Costly Mistake #7: Playing Small. I’ll be chatting about the human tendency to play small and stay in your comfort zone and how that is actually the hard way to reach your goal and contradictory to attracting lots of clients

Stay tuned...

Costly Mistake #5: Acting from a place of self-doubt, fear or desperation

These are all emotions that people experience from time to time when growing a business. There is nothing wrong with feeling these from time to time; the key is to shift out of them as quickly as possible.

You are probably familiar with the old adage "feel the fear and do it anyway." It certainly has some merit. But if you are acting from a place of fear, your energy is low. The same is true for self-doubt, desperation, anger, etc.

And law of attraction says what you focus your energy on is what you get more of. So rather than bulldozing your way through the fear or other "negative" emotions, allow yourself to feel them and then see what you can do to shift out of them.

Accepting your emotions is already a higher vibration. So that is a good start. And sometimes just feeling them allows you to move through them.

But sometimes it takes more than that. I have a whole toolbox of tools to help myself and my clients release anxieties and negative emotions. These are things that I have learned over time and am always learning more.

If you doubt yourself and your abilities you are looking at all the reasons why you cannot do something. If you are feeling fear, you are probably imagining all the worst-case scenarios. In both cases, you are focusing your thoughts and therefore your emotions in the wrong place. Try listing all the reasons why you can do something and all the best-case scenarios. Allow yourself to be playful with this and let your imagination soar. Do it because it feels good. When you feel good, you are no longer acting from doubt or fear and will be more effective in attracting clients.

And by all means, get support to help you shift. Sometimes we can do it by ourselves, but other times we need someone to help us see what is really possible for us.

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What’s coming up next?

Costly Mistake #6.: Limiting Money beliefs. Next time I’ll be chatting
about the fact that if you are facing a limit around how much you can earn, there are bound to be some money blocks. This is true if you earn $500 and want to earn $1,000 or if you earn $100,000 and want to earn $1 million.

Stay tuned...

Costly Mistake #4 – My way or the highway

It is easy to believe that your way is the best way or the only way. Both ways of thinking are dangerous for a couple of reasons:

(1) It assumes you already know all you need to know and there are ALWAYS things that we don’t know. No matter how wise or experienced we are.

(2) If you are attached to a certain outcome or way of doing things, it actually tightens you up. Ever had the feeling that a certain thing HAS to happen? Notice how tight just that thought makes you? And when we are tight things don’t flow to us and everything feels like a struggle. So let go of your pre-conceptions of how things have to go and open up to seeing what else is possible. Who knows, things just might become easier.

So if someone tells you there is only one way to attract clients, thank them for sharing. And then open up to all the ways that show up for you. Notice what works best for you. That will be the "right way" for the moment, but remember there is still more than one right way. Always be open to learning new ways, new ideas and to new possibilities. And then act on what feels right for you.

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What’s coming up next?

Costly Mistake #5 – Acting from a place of doubt or desperation

I’ll chat about the lethal effects of self-doubt, fear and desperation on attracting clients and how to start to shift those

Stay tuned...

Costly Mistake #3: Lack of Visibility

It makes sense that if the client can’t find you, you won’t attract them. But many people have 2 misconceptions about visibility.

(1) You might think visibility means doing things you don’t want to do. For instance if you hate writing and are not very good at it, then it doesn’t mean you should do it. You can either choose other methods to be visible or hire someone else to do it for you. (This comes back to the team concept we talked about before.)

(2) You might be afraid to be visible, because what if you make a mistake or even worse – fail! Very few mistakes are fatal. Oprah was sued some years ago and it received national media attention. And it did NOT hurt her popularity. The key is to work through it, learn from it. Find a positive spin on it if possible and move on.

So pick a way of being visible that is fun and/or appealing to you. If you are having fun, then clients will automatically be attracted to you. And you will attract the right kind of clients as well. I have a Google ad. It is not fun but the idea of attracting in clients via the Internet is appealing to me. I started with a very small budget and tested it so I knew I would get a good return on my investment before spending more money.

What is fun and/or appealing to you? Not sure what this looks like? Have the intention to notice things that you and others do that are fun for you. Brainstorm some ideas with your coach. You will be surprised at how many things you have been overlooking, or have ruled out without seeing what is possible AND within your budget.

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What’s coming up next?

Costly Mistake #4 – Thinking there is only one way to attract clients, pitch a sale, and make money. In the next lesson, I will chat about the problem with getting attached to one way or one outcome and what to do about it.

Stay tuned...

Costly Mistake #2: The Lone Ranger Mentality

I am sure you are good at what you do and hopefully you really enjoy it as well. Otherwise, you may want to consider another line of work.

But the truth is none of us is good at everything. And the biggest mistake people make is thinking they can’t afford more team members and trying to do everything themselves or with a skeleton crew.

Depending on whether you have just started your business or are well on your way will impact the size of your team. But there are some key players you will want to have regardless of how long you have been in business.

They include an accountant, web designer, administrative support (unless any of these things are your strength AND you like doing them) and a business coach. All of these people can be freelance initially or forever. As a matter of fact, you never have to have salaried employees unless you want to.

You say you can’t afford them? Well if your strength is sales or consulting or counseling or art and you are spending your time doing clerical work, then you are losing mon-ey. Spend time where your strengths are for maximum impact and farm the rest out.

On a tight budget, then consider doing a trade for services or a profit sharing incentive for your team members.

View every team member as in investment in your future and have the intention to make a sizable return on your investment. If you pay $20.00/hour for administrative support, have the intention to use that hour of time to make at least $40 of revenue doing something you love and excel at. That is double your return – better than you can normally do on Wall Street.

When I hire my coaches I intend to more than make back the investment that I spend on coaching. And group coaching is even more economical.

The truth is you can only grow so big by yourself since there are only so many hours in a day.

So grow your team as a way to stretch your hours so you can be doing more of what you enjoy in both your work and leisure hours while earning more mon~ey..

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What’s coming up next?
Lack of Visibility. I am going to chat about 2 common misconceptions about visibility and how being visible can be easy, fun and profitable.

Stay tuned...

Costly Mistake #1: Lack of Focus

Do you want more clients or customers, more money, perhaps more time off? Exactly what do you want? Most people don’t take the time to gain clarity on what they want OR try to go after many different things at one time and get nowhere fast.

Entrepreneurially-minded people often have lots of ideas. The problem is they want them all NOW. When you scatter your energy amongst too many new things at one time, you are likely to make much slower progress than if you focus on one new project or concept at a time.

This does not mean you need to do the same thing all day long. Variety is the spice of life and is important for many of us. It just means pick one new learning curve at a time unless you have a team or a partner to support you in getting through the start-up phase of more than one project at a time.

So how do you get focused? I would start by looking the big picture. What is it you want to attain in the long run? A full practice? Re-occurring stream of passive income? A six-or seven –figure income? Time off to travel and do all the things you’ve been wanting to do? Perhaps you want all of the above.

Having a big dream is great and it is important to chunk it down into doable steps so it does not get too overwhelming.

In my group coaching programs I ask people to set an interim goal that you would like to accomplish over the next six months that would be a stepping stone goal towards the big dream?

Examples might be attract “x” number of new clients, or $x.xx in sales
Make it a stretch, yet doable.

What is your six-month stepping stone goal?

Write it down:______________________

Now what one or two things can you do that are fun and joyful for you and a good use of your talents that you can focus on to attain this goal?

Examples might be holding free seminars, developing a training program, placing a Google ad, holding a party, etc. Choose to either do something you have done before with good results and aim for even better results or pick something new and learn what you need to do to implement it. Notice what other people have done that appeal to you. Pick something that makes you smile (not something that feels like a drudge)

Focus your energy on this method and move forward one step at a time.

Now you have 3 points of focus. Your big vision, your interim six-month stepping stone goal and an initial marketing methodology to implement.

If there are other new project ideas, volunteer work, and other things that will distract you from your six-month goal, place them on hold while you bring this one up to speed. Once it is bringing in the desired revenue stream, then take on the next project.

Most entrepreneurs resist this advice. I find myself resisting it from time to time as I have so many things I want to do. But when I focus in on one NEW idea at a time things happen much more quickly.

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What's Coming Up Next?
Costly Mistake #2: The Lone Ranger Mentality
I’m going to chat about the lone ranger mentality and why having a good support team
Is less expensive than not having one.

Stay tuned...

Should You Be Content with Your Life?

Many years ago I was asked to give a talk about contentment. At first I was taken aback. You see, in my mind, I had connected contentment with complacency. How many of you have made the same mistake? I say mistake, because I quickly realized that contentment and complacency do not have to be the same thing-- far from it.

Webster defines complacency as self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. Many times we connect laziness with complacency.

I have come to believe that contentment on the other hand is about being satisfied with your life right now. AND you can be content with your life right now and still want and strive for more

So you can be content with your life even if you have not attained all your dreams and goals yet. And actually, it is very important that we learn to be content with our lives right now, because we will always have more dreams and goals. The old phrase, enjoy the journey, cannot be reiterated enough times. As a recovering Type A personality, I know the importance of that as much as anyone.

So how do you become more content with your life right now? There are many ways. Some of which are at a more spiritual level, and I'll talk about that more in the future.

But there are also small, doable, action steps that you can take to be more content with your life almost immediately.

The truth is most of use tolerate and put up with way too many things in life - from clutter in our homes and offices to people treating us badly to our own anxieties and thoughts that keep us awake at night. And when we tolerate things, it drains us.

If you get up in the morning and continuously dread something or someone related to work, that too is pretty obvious. There are smaller things that are less obvious that also have an effect on our level of contentment, but we may not even notice the effect they are having. For example, I may not notice what is bothering me as I walk through my office, but find I am irritated. There is a stack of papers on the floor. I can choose to tolerate it and it is a toleration because I find that I get irritated by it - i.e. in this case continue to step over it or around it, or I can choose to buy more file cabinets or re-organize to make space for it.

What you are putting up with keeps you from being fully yourself and evolving quickly as a human being. It also drains you, so that no matter how much you put into your cup, the toleration-hole lets it all drain you - thus affecting your level of contentment to varying degrees depending on the level of the toleration.

I encourage you to start noticing what you are tolerating and start eliminating those things from your life. Start with the small things. You will be amazed at how much better you can feel almost instantly.

I have created a program to help you understand better why you tolerate things, to identify your toleratiions, and a process to start zapping them. To learn more visit www.igetpaidtodothis.com/content.htm

Why Empty the Trash?

I recently viewed Dan Millman's movie, "The Way of the Peaceful warrior". It is an excellent movie and I highly recommend it.

In it, Socrates, the wise mentor, tells Dan to "empty the trash". By this he means to empty his head of all the chatter that goes around in it. This chatter keeps us from being present in the moment.

The chatter can be positive or negative. More often, it is negative. It can be the words in our head that tell us why we can't do something. Or it can be our minds rehearsing what we want to say to someone or how we want to handle it (over and over again). Or it can be creative ideas about what we want to create next in our lives. All of it, keeps us from being in the present.

When we are not present in the moment, we are not in the flow. The busyness in our minds, keeps those things we desire from flowing through us.

So how do we empty it? I'll start with the positive thoughts, because quite truthfully, that is the easier of the two.

If you have creative ideas flowing in your head, empty them into something that will capture them for later use. I have gotten into the habit of carrying around a digital pocket recorder as I've learned that inspiration can happen anytime, anywhere and when I can capture those thoughts, I can quit thinking about them and go back to being in the present. Then I can unload them from my brain or recorder for use later. The interesting thing about that, is I usually don't have to play back the recorder to remember what I was thinking. By saying them into the recorder, I set the intent to remember them and my brain just does.

If you are rehearsing in your mind, the words you want to say to someone, go ahead and get those out. Talk to them, call them or send them an email. If you are angry, you may want to journal all those negative thoughts first as a way of getting them out of your head. Usually when we are pointing anger at someone else, the deeper anger is with ourselves. Once you have written all the angry thoughts, you may find yourself in a more rational place to see what and who you are really angry with.

When going about your everyday life, the best way to stay out of your head is to focus on what is going on around you. It is too easy to be drive a car, walk or even sit at a meal with someone on autopilot and not be present. How many times have you driven somewhere and wondered how you got there? Or sat with someone and realized you didn't hear a word they said.

Make a conscious attempt to be more aware in your life of everything that is around you. Notice the people and what they are doing, the expressions on their face; notice the scenery - the textures, the sounds, the smells; notice your food and how it tastes as you are chewing it. Notice. When you notice what is in front of you, you are not mired in the trash in your head.

When you are in conversation with someone, listen to what they have to say, rather than rehearsing in your mind how you are going to respond. Then respond to them from the present moment. It will make you a much more interesting conversationalist and your conversation will flow. And you will still get your point across - that is, if it still relevant.

When you find yourself going away in your mind, bring it back by looking at the person in the eyes or noticing their features. If on the phone, remind yourself to be here now and start listening. If you missed something they said, be honest. Say, I'm sorry my mind wandered, can you repeat what you just said. It happens to all of us. If you just nod and say uh huh, they will often know you are not present anyway.

Before going to bed at night is a great time to "empty the trash". Keep a journal next to your bed and use it to dump all your thoughts. Be careful not to go on a negative tirade. If you find yourself having a pity party, ask yourself how you can change that or have more of what you want and then write some more.

If you wake up at 3:00 in the morning and find the thoughts are keeping you awake. Pick up the journal or go to your computer and write. That is what I am doing this morning. It is a great time to let the creative thoughts flow without interference from the outside world.

These are just a few ways to "empty the trash". They are not new concepts, but ones that can easily be forgotten as we get caught up in the busyness of our lives. So let this serve as a reminder to be in the present moment as you go about your day.

The main point is that when you are present in the moment, things can flow. When you empty your head onto paper, the thoughts flow. When you are out in the world and consciously living, things flow with you and through you. Not to mention, that life is more fun.

You also perform better when you are in the moment. Can you tell when someone is giving a speech and they are in their head trying to remember what they were going to say vs someone who is giving a speech and you feel like they are talking to you. The second person is in the moment, being with you rather than being in their head. Try being with people in your life and see what happens.