Your Brain, Your Business, Your Bottom Line...Connecting the Dots for Maximum Results!

You know what I mean. That state where you are totally committed to what you are doing, regardless of the obstacles in your path. One of my clients lives this way. Let me tell you about him.

Richard Villasana used to have a business called http://www.mexicophonebooks.com/ where he sold phone books for those looking for relatives in Mexico. This is his area of expertise, and he was trying to find ways to create more of that business. I met him when I worked as a coach for Christian Mickelsen's Small Biz U (www.smallbizu.com). There we staffed a coaching hotline and Richard called in EVERY DAY to work with one of the coaches, getting advice to grow and move his business forward. He was fearless and determined to create this business and wasn't afraid to ask for the help he needed.

Through the coaching, Richard did what most of my clients do....find ways to expand his business to be something he loves doing, and to create more income! He went from just targeting libraries to targeting genealogists and eventually business owners who want to break into the Mexico market, but don't know have the connections in that country.

Working with Richard was great fun, because he was constantly tweaking and willing to think outside the box with what was possible. He went from delivering a low cost product (phone books) to expanding his service offerings where he started a "Find someone in Mexico" service that he could pay others to do while he made the profit.

Richard also is a wonderfully gregarious man who desired to do public speaking. Initially he was able to find 'gigs' with the libraries or the genealogists, but it was mostly free work. Richard got clear that his goal was to begin to grow his business, get paid to speak, and have fun doing it.

He was well on the path to creating all of this, and guess what happened? He got run over! For reals. He was helping two elderly women who's vehicle had stopped on a freeway in San Diego. While he was in front of their car, another car hit that one, and the womans' Pathfinder ran over him. The doctors said he was lucky to be alive, much less even be able to walk.

Now, talk about having a detour to your plans!

Richards attitude? Nothing but optimistic. He turned "lemons into lemonade" as they say, and during his convalescence, he wrote "The Insider's Guide to Doing Business in Mexico" and has revamped his business so it's now www.MarketingtoMexico.com. In addition to building his business helping people tap into the Mexico market, he's also a public speaker. That business is called www.TheMexicoGuru.com. I'm thinking that the story about being a good Samaritan and getting run over should make an awesome keynote!

What's Richard's secret? It's the way he looks at his situation. Here are his four tips for creating a winning mindset when things around you seem to fall apart:

1. Accept where you are. How many times have you lost something, felt 'cheated' by life, or just plain didn't understand how this could be happening to you? Instead of feeling like a victim, Richard decided to make the best of what he has. Today, if he walks around for an hour, he may have to stay in bed a couple of days, but he's grateful that he can walk at all. Acceptance is the key. Of course there is the whole grief/loss psychological process that you may need to go through, but make sure your goal is to accept whatever life brings. For more inspiration around this idea of accepting where you are, I would encourage you to look at the work of Byron Katie, who's website is www.TheWork.com. She's a wonderfully gifted teacher in "Loving What Is."

2. Begin to face your new life and decide, "I'm going to overcome." Don't give up. Richard tells of how so many people he met in rehab were just resigned to their situation and became helpless and depressed. Have an unstoppable attitude. Think of Nelson Mandela. One of my personal inspirations, because while he was locked away for 27 years, he always had hope. He shared that the first few years he was depressed and miserable, but then he decided that while they could incarcerate his body, he would not let them imprison his mind. He took control, stopped suffering, and every day imagined the time when his country would be free.

3. Make a new goal. Ok, so things are different....but what else can you still do. The secret to living fully is in having a purpose. You may have lost some things, but where else can you play big! Who else can you help or support. You have to find a new meaning and a compelling reason to use your talents.

4. Look for the gifts. Yes, there are gifts to be found, even in the most painful or challenging situations. If you have this mindset, you will then give your loss/frustration a different meaning and it will be easier to navigate through it. Richards gift was the gift of time. Sitting in the hospital allowed him to come up with even more ideas to grow his business. He focused on this and decided to take advantage of what was in front of him. I know from Richard's experience, many lives will be touched. I know mine has.....

Hey Richard, thanks for being such an inspiration!

Take care,

Therese Skelly

602-369-0091

Last weekend I got to hang out with my good friend/mentor, Christian Mickelson. I was in San Diego for a personal growth workshop, so I stayed with Christian and his girlfriend, Chelsa. They are the neatest young couple. Connected, playful, and just fun to be around. On Saturday night after dinner, they began to play a computer game and invited me to join in. Now, I fancy myself as being one smart cookie, but this game made me feel like I had oatmeal between my ears! It's on Yahoo, and it's called Text Twist.

Basically the game is like a word search, where you are timed to see how many different words you can come up with out of the 6 letters they give you. You have two minutes to get 13 possible words, and my two pals were rocking, while I was slamming words out like, "it, or, be, so" and after one round.... I took my tired brain and dropped out. I felt like a kindergartner just learning how to read....slow and dorky.

Christian shared that playing the game has really expanded the way he looks at his business. He feels it has helped open up his creativity, and has allowed him to see so many more possibilities than he ever could. Wow. Do you have those people in your life you look to and say, "Dang...you are so amazing at what you do?" That's how I feel about Christian. In my mind Christian is 'the bomb' when it comes to marketing and creating programs, so to hear how playing a simple mind game helped him so much was like finding one of the insider secrets. Much like Willy Wonka and the gold bar!

If you want to learn more about Christian you can go to www.ChristianMickelsen.com. He is now narrowing his target market to helping coaches grow their business, so if you want to see some of his stuff, you can go to www.coachechangetheworld.com or www.kickstartyourcoaching.com.

Here's a photo of Christian and I last May at Adam Urbanski's Small Business Marketing Summit in California.


This also got me thinikng about one of the things I do for my clients. I have this crazy belief that there is always more money to be made/found/generated in your business. Often times it's not even about the need to work harder, but the ability to get creative with your services and offerings, as well as leveraging your time better. Here are a few examples of what I mean....

Let's say you have a business where you provide an hourly service like coaching or consulting. Most people think about charging per hour. What about charging for a month, three months, 6 months or a year? If you are bold and ask people to make the commitment, you will likely get clients who stay longer and get much better results.

If your clients can't pay your hourly or monthly rates, how else can you deliver the service? What about a group teleclass/seminar? Perhaps an audio program or specialized workbook? Ask yourself how you can move to serving more people and that's where your creativity gets to flow to show you other options.

This is where the 'marketing funnel' comes in. You can't just offer your free ezine, then jump to the $500 month coaching package. Think of the 6 other things that you can bring in that will 1) make it more easy for your clients to buy, and 2) free up your time, and 3) "show you the money."

What about if you offer a service like plumbing, air conditioning repair, etc. Think beyond the basic service calls. You could offer a quarterly 'check up' or a yearly 'retainer' which would also provide great service and more revenue for yourself. The possibilities are endless!

Just as Christian and Chelsa could find tons of new words in just 6 letters, give yourself the time to see where else you can provide something of value. Be in the question. Train your mind to work for you and not against you. I'd suggest that you make it a daily practice of just asking, "what else can I offer" and then wait for the answers to appear.

Now....go find 'more' in your business! And email me your success stories!

All my best,

Therese Skelly
www.AcceleratingYourSuccess.com
602-369-0091

Happy April Fools!
Bet you wondered if asking you to think of yourself as an expert was some cruel April Fools trick? No my sweet! Claiming your expert status is critical.

The picture on the right is Kailee. My expert-shoe-eating-dog! She usually goes after only my FAVORITE kicks. She almost lost her residency and was close to getting deported back to the shelter we got her from, when my best ever brown alligator pumps got chewed up. Hey....We all gotta be good at something, right. And isn't she cute!

Now, why do you have to show up as an expert? You may be thinking to yourself, "What about humilty, Therese? Won't people think I'm arrogant? I can't say that I'm better than other people." Whew...you are misunderstanding the concept.

Let me put it to you this way. Imagine if your child had a brain tumor and needed immediate surgery. You have two choices of whom to see: The family practice doc who might have taken a neuro class 15 years ago because they are a GENERALIST, or the Neurologist who has done this surgery a thousand times and is a SPECIALIST? Get my drift? We want experts taking care of us! Your customers and clients want you to know your stuff and convey that confidence to them. Not in an arrogant or condescending manner, but with one of strength and conviction.

Why this topic today? Because I was recently interviewed by my good friends Ray DuGray and Maria Ngo. They are a husband and wife team also known as "The Entrepreneur Doctors."

I used to always say, "I wish I knew what I knew." Do you understand that? For me, having them grill me for an hour about how to "Master Your Psychology So You Can Be the Master of Your Business" was a fabulous experience. I walked away feeling pretty stoked about delivering a great call (and going, "Damn....I really AM an expert in this area!") and they reported being blown away by how much they learned from me. If you want to get the interview, just go to www.interviewanexpert.com and you will find my audio.

Here is just a sample of what I covered:

• What is "Mastering Your Psychology?"
• What does this cost people if they don't take care of this?
• What is the process you teach?
• What do you do with fear?

There's lots more, so please take the time to listen to the audio and let me know if you have any questions. Also, let me know if you have any ideas about how to keep dog's from eating shoes!

Here's to your success!!!


Therese Skelly
www.acceleratingyoursuccess.com
www.moresmallbizsuccess.com
602-369-0091

I just had the priviledge of being on staff at Melanie Strick's "Ultimate Business Breakthrough Intensive" a couple of weeks ago. The workshop was filled with eager entrepreneurs who wanted to invest in themselves and their business by making the commitment to the three day process.

Here is a photo of us at the Redondo Beach Portofino Hotel right on the water! Way cool!!!




We took these folks from the point of defining their vision, removing/releasing blocks around that, creating their one year goal, and then creating a strategic 90-day plan to really nail it down.

That was the interesting part for me, because it hasn't been my normal way of being. I've always been a 'fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-gal' until now, so working with the step by step plans was an amazing process. How many of us fall into the trap of just doing what's in front of us to do? Or, we may chase other opportunities because we haven't assessed correctly what the costs will be.

One of my favorite parts of the planning process was in having people look at their return on investment filter. I had the clients come up with the questions they needed to ask themselves to determine if the goal/plan/activity had a good "ROI" for them at this time.

Here are some examples of questions you may want to ask yourself.....

• Will this activity save me time or money?
• Will this gain me more credibility/prestige?
• Will this help me leverage my resources better?
• Does this work with my value system or what's important for my lifestyle?
• Does this allow me more freedom?
• How much will this truly cost me in terms of time and money?

This process will be different for everyone, but imagine if you had a way to easily and systematically assess what you would put your time and energy into next. For those of us who tend to have the "Bright-Shiny Object" syndrome, this is a way to insure that the focus of our efforts is intact. So that's my challenge to you...come up with your ROI filter questions.

And here's one more shot of the UBBI staff.... That's Melanie Strick, Matt Brown, and yours truly...having a major bad hair day!



To your success!!

Therese Skelly
www.acceleratingyoursuccess.com
www.moresmallbizsuccess.com
602-369-0091

Dang...
I got into major overwhelm this last week! It was one of those to "practice what I preach and teach" kind of experiences.

My little boy John got pretty sick with the stomach flu, which lead to severe dehydration. What should have been a quick visit to ER turned into 3 days and 2 nights in the hospital! (The funniest part was when they gave him some anti-nausea medicine which made him completely stoned. Nothing like seeing your seven year old high as a kite.)

So three nights of little sleep did not go well with me, aka "The Spunky Coach." I should have been called "The Cranky Coach" as my reserves were depleted and everything seemed hard and overwhelming. Do you know that feeling?

I once heard the Dali Lama say that "fatique is the enemy of compassion," and I totally understand that when in a state of overwhelm. In my case, mostly it's a lack of compassion towards myself, but then those around me may have a different opinion as well.

If you have a business, have a family, and have a pulse, you from time to time have gotten into the state where you are running on fumes, lose your spark, and generally think life sucks!

Here's how to turn it around.....

• Stay in the day. No, it really hasn't been this horrible since the beginning of time, nor will it be this nightmarish hell until time ends. Take it one day at a time. Yea, it may be tough right now, but you can get through anything for one day, or even one hour.
• 
  
• Keep perspective. Yes, you may have it bad, but there's always someone worse. Poor me. In a beautiful hospital with my son in a private room, internet access, 24-hour cafe open, and a chance to go home in a few days versus being on a death watch. It's all about counting your blessings even when things seem dark and hard.
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• Go with what grounds you. For some people getting back in to nature refreshes and energizes, while others may find prayer or meditation to be the tonic. Maybe it's going for a run or eating a Krispy Kreme donut. Step back from your life and business. Too often when it gets overwhelming we think we have to do more. To the contrary...the doing more is not getting us the results we need. Give yourself permission to walk away from what's overwhelming you for awhile.
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• Outsource. What can you let go of? This is a biggie, as most biz owners think no one else can do it as good as they can. If you are capable of making $150/hr in your trade, why are you cleaning your house, washing your car, and ironing your shirts? Loral Langemeier (www.liveoutloud.com) says that Millionaire Business Owners don't do this stuff! Hire an admin, barter some services out if you don't have the cash flow yet, or get creative about what else you can let go of.
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• Reconnect with your big vision. Why are you doing what you are doing? If we get so bogged down into the day to day stuff, we forget the BIG why of our work. Often just taking time to see yourself in the future, with all the success you have earned is enough to get you back on track.
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• Do service work. Again, get out of your life and give something to your community. There is no better way to feel good about what you do and who you are than to help someone or some organization you believe in. It doesn't have to even be a lot of time, but you will transcend yourself when you align with something who's mission is bigger than your problems.

Hey... what strategies do you use? I'll share them in future posts.
Hope this was helpful. Want more information about overwhelm? I wrote an e-book on the subject and would love to send it to you. Just shoot me an email at spunkycoach@cox.net and I'll be glad to get you a copy.

Thanks for reading. Focus on the good in your life, and hug the people you love.

All my best,

Therese Skelly
www.MoreSmallBizSuccess.com
www.AcceleratingYourSuccess.com
602-369-0091

Are you old enough to remember those public service announcements that used to come on the TV, saying something like...."It's 9:00, do you know where your kids are?" I was reflecting on that and thought about a crazy idea where periodically, a voice would shout down to you...."It's Wednesday, do you know where your goals are?"

Imagine what it would be like if even on a weekly basis we stopped and checked in with our goals. Oh...I guess that would presuppose that we had actually WRITTEN them down somewhere! Do you know that only about 3% of the population does this ever so important activity? It's funny. People will spend hours and thousands of dollars with an architect and designer to re-do their bathrooms, yet show up for life and business being completely unprepared! Talk about some weird priorities!

I'm going to share with you the C.R.E.A.T.E method of Goal Setting that was developed by Melanie Strick and James Roche. Melanie is having her fabulous Ultimate Business Breakthrough Intensive March 10-12 in Redondo Beach, California, and I'll be teaching this part of the workshop. You can find more info about this power-packed event by going to www.tinyurl.com/e3krv.

Here is the formula.
C - Clear and concise. Having a goal of creating more income for yourself? You can't just say you want to earn more $$. More specifically, how much? The more clear you get it, the easier to measure and attain it becomes.

R - Realistic. If you are 45 and 5'2" you probably won't be in the NBA! Your goal has to be realistic and attainable for you. Is this the right time for the goal?

E - Ecological. Is the goal safe for you? Does it fit within your value system? Who will be effected if you achieve the goal? Often people have conflicts due to this component. If you desire to spend more time with your family, yet desire a promotion which will involve M-F travel, that may not fit into your ecology.

A- As if now. Using the mind to act/think/feel/speak as if it's happened. The mind is powerful! Trick it by pretending that you already achieved your goal. You'll be surprised with how this works.

T- Timed and Toward what you want. When will the goal happen? And is it moving towards something positive, or away from what you don't want. Moving toward a goal is more powerful of a motivator. For example, you could desire to take up running because you have always wanted to do a marathon (towards motivation) or you could take up running because if you don't, you will probably have a heart attack (away from motivation).

E - End Step. This is the one I'm going to talk most about today. This is the Golden Nugget!! What is the end step you will experience in achieving your goal? For example, if you desired to become a public speaker, the 'end step' or culmination might be you on the stage in a huge auditorium, people are applauding you, and folks are running to the back of the room to buy your products. Feel all the sensations, listen to the sounds, notice as much detail as you can, and then live in that space.

What is it for you? If you make that as tangible in your mind as you can, this will turbo-charge your goal. Really spend time with the sensory details and allow yourself time each day to put yourself in that state. I guarantee that you will find yourself moving forward in more powerful ways than you had previously imagined because the goal will draw you in!

Happy creating!

P.S. Wanna know where my kids are. Sleeping soundly as I write this! In fact John just lost a tooth tonight so the tooth fairy came to visit. Here they are.... my pride and joy...



Birthdays - Danny 11 and John 7

Therese Skelly
www.MoreSmallBizSuccess.com
www.AcceleratingYourSuccess.com

Whoa Nelly! I got thinking about my last post and decided that before the American Psychological Association, therapists or 'touchy-feely' persons in the world boycott me, I'd best clarify my position on working with people's feelings.

Truth is....I love the feeling world. It may not sound like it from my first post, but I'm very passionate and experience things quite deeply. I have gone from being somewhat held hostage to my feelings... don't we call the "the 20's", or was I just the only neurotic one walking around? I now am able to use emotional mastery as one of my top skills. It's what I love, and so it's become what I'm the most passionate about teaching folks.

After you understand how to be the master of your mind, then you can learn how to use the power of your feelings and intentions to really accelerate things for yourself.
My goal for you is to learn how to manage the debilitating feelings, while maximizing the feelings/thoughts that move you forward.

I'll give you an example. I was working with a client last week who needed to make some calls to get business for her new program. I could hear it in her voice that she was a little resistant as there was FEAR and DOUBT which are the evil twins of business failure. I asked her on a scale of 1 - 10 how much she believed in her product. She scored herself as a 7, but instead of letting her passion drive her conversation, she let her hesitation lead.

What was the solution? I had her amp up that 7 to a 9 and then see what it felt like to make the calls. What did she notice? When she could put herself at a 9, she was bright, vibrant, energetic, and persuasive. Viola! We found the magic bullet that would allow her to 'master her psychology' and shift her state.

So the next time you are feeling funky, allow yourself to remember when you experienced feelings that you wanted. If you have to give a speech, remind yourself of when you were totally conident and comfortable in that situation. Allow yourself to expand that. Hey...you did it once, so you can invoke that experience again.

And finally...remember these words...."What you focus on, expands."

Meaning, allow your focus to be on the successes and on the feelings you'd rather have, and you'll begin to have more of those in your life.

Now there ya go. Have I won back the feelers in the group?

Make it a great day!
Therese Skelly
www.AcceleratingYourSuccess.com
www.MoreSmallBizSuccess.com

When I used to practice as a psychotherapist, people's 'feelings' were the gold that me things, and holds us back from giving ourself over to the new opporunities. Mastering your psychology is just like a muscle. If you go for a run and the next day 'feel the burn,' it demonstrates that you went past your comfort zone. You keep pushing through. Most of us even enjoy that newly-worked-out "Hey, my muscles are kind of stiff today" feeling as it lets us know we've done something! (It's better than the couch potato syndrome for sure.) I always tell my clients, I don't need you to be comfortable... you just need to be willing.

2. This next one is a biggie. You can't feel your way into acting differently, but you can act your way into feeling differently. I'll write it again. You can't feel your way into acting differently, but you can act your way into feeling differently. Think about that. So many of us back down from something new because we feel uncertain, afraid, overwhelmed, or a whole slew of other possibilities.

Imagine you need to make 25 cold calls tomorrow to find some new business. For most people that generates some degree of discomfort. You have two choices....you could do like very many business owners, and just wait until you feel more comfortable, or you could take the more successful route and ACT before you FEEL comfortable. The act of doing the uncomfortable thing will eventually lead you to get more okay with it. Waiting till 'motivation' or some other mysterious feeling comes over you is setting yourself up for failure. You have to learn to be the master of your moods.

So what are you going to do differently now? Try thinking about how good it's going to feel on the other side of the uncomfortable thing. Also remind yourself of a time when you pushed through feelings and persevered, only to get the results you wanted. It's the action that's going to create the change...not what you are feeling about it!

By the way, if you want to really have a breakthrough in this area, I'd encourage you to attend the Ultimate Business Breakthrough Intensive Workshop held in Redondo Beach, California on March 10-12. You can see all the info on it at www.tinyurl.com/e3krv. I'll be assisting Melanie Strick teach this powerful event, so I'd love to see you there.

Hope this was helpful!
Therese Skelly
www.MoreSmallBizSuccess.com
www.AcceleratingYourSuccess.com



Watch for part II of this theme in a few days.