Empowerment Archives - Page 2 of 6

Simple Strategy to Stick to New Years Resolutions

Simple Strategies to Stick to New Years Resolutions

Simple Strategies to Stick to New Years Resolutions

I hope you are in good spirits and excited about 2016. I sure am because… good things are coming. But now I have a thought or two about the famous New Year Resolutions.

Here we are again…it´s a few weeks into the New Year, the gym is packed, my favorite class is overcrowded… what happened? This phenomena happens every year, people create resolutions just to drop them 4 weeks later? It must be some kind of insanity as Albert Einstein stated in his quote 🙂

Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result is the definition of insanity

Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I don´t do this… but I´m aware of it. I think it´s kind of a herd thing….As soon as the end or the beginning of the year comes around and everybody creates New Year resolutions… I have to do it too.

Yeah it feels good….we have the best intentions until we decide otherwise and they are put on ice again until next year and then the same game starts again. Can you relate?

So what’s the problem?

New Year Resolutions normally reflect short-term thinking, or a quick fix, instead of having a long term plan, that’s why only a small percentage of those who make resolutions achieve their desired goals….Now that’s not a good success rate.

So is there a reason people don’t stick to their resolutions? Professionals’ answers are mixed. Some believe that many don´t have a strategy or someone to keep them accountable and support them to achieve these “goals“. But there is a way to empower yourself and stick to your new years resolutions.

Below are some strategies that will help you keep your resolutions Steven Covey, the author of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People “ once said, “Some habits of ineffectiveness are rooted in our social conditioning toward quick-fix, short-term thinking.” This is how I feel about resolutions: As the CEO of a strategic marketing firm, my New Year’s Resolution is not to have one. As an individual, could I say that I plan to improve myself in 2016? I certainly strive for that on an on-going basis, but not that the start of each year. That too is a marathon, not a sprint.

Be clear with your goals:

If you want to be healthier what does that mean for you? Exercise, eat healthier foods? Meditate, work less? Let’s just ake the example of healthier foods.

What’s on the list of foods that’s not good for you?
Are you willing to find a healthier replacement?
Are you willing to change some habits?

The key is to make it work for YOU…when you make a shopping list please…. write down things that you like to eat, don’t write down spinach and whole grain noodles if you hate them. Make it a habit to write a grocery list, with healthy foods, that you like. If you have only chips, soft drinks and junk food at home it’s impossible to eat healthier.

Would you like to move more? Think about exercise that you would like to do, there must be something. Sometimes it’s easier to go for walks, go on a bike ride be in nature, or take fun classes, than to work on machines. Although I like the machines because I listen to interesting audios at the some time.

Keep track

What did you eat today?
What kind of exercise did you do?
What did you do that is good for you?

Try to do 3 things every day towards your goal, even small things. Write down how you exercised, or what you ate….. if we keep track of something it’s easier to manage. Just simply tracking how much you are….or aren’t…doing, will push you in the right direction. If you didn’t do well…please just forgive yourself and try again….make it an experiment, there is no fail there is only: I try again!!!

Be accountable to someone

This will motivate and inspire you, just tell someone you trust about your endeavour, work out with a trainer, take a class, do something with a friend or get a coach. Start a little accountability group where everybody can work on their own resolution, but you still watch out for each other’s goals. All this takes you out of your “alone zone” and it will be more motivating if you are not left to your own devices.

If you break your resolution today, try again tomorrow. Voltaire.

Do it one step at a time and forgive yourself if you think you didn’t do it right. Try again and again and again and again until eventually you will establish a new habit. New habits get easier, because after doing something for a while new neural pathways get established in the brain.

Lots of luck to YOU and I hope this article will help you a little bit, but no matter what…don’t give up. To finish this up, please remember to celebrate your successes whenever you made a little step towards your goal celebrate…Take yourself on a date, get your nails done, buy some chocolate, go to a nice café and have a cup of tea or coffee. Go to the spa, do something nice for you. Will ya 🙂

Talk to you next time 🙂

Perfectionism Kills Dreams

Perfectionism Kills Dreams

Hello again…I'm so excited to share this post with you….I turned 60 this year and the older I get the less I'm interested in being perfect, the more I want to be playful and experimental. Why?…Because life is a lot more fun 🙂

Lately I've noticed again and again…. that so many people have very little joy in life and noticed that the common denominator is perfectionism: Focusing on chores, what we need to do, you know the annoying stuff like homework, shopping, cleaning, working, we beat ourselves up when we do something wrong, but rarely do we celebrate when we do something right 🙂

Even as adults…. it's still like this: Do your homework and then you can play. The weird thing is… now you say this to yourself, no teacher or parent required. Have you noticed this? Take a moment and ask yourself this question….are you one of them? do you do this? Just this little “awareness” can change your life.

Change your attitude, change your life.

So… how can you actually change your attitude?

Be aware of your thoughts
Be willing to experiment
Accept that new behavior feels uncomfortable.

Be aware of your thoughts

What are you actually thinking? Interesting question isn’t it. For a few minutes several times during the day…. watch your thoughts. Like an outsider, observer, be aware of what you think. Yes it’s simple but then it’s not….. try it and see what happens. Actually… why not write it down….take a journal and write down whatever pops into your mind. Do I hear you say: this is stupid??? maybe but it’s very interesting to know what’s going on in your mind, actually my mind too 🙂

For example it could look like this: I have to do the dishes, I really don’t like what so and so said yesterday, I am tired of doing this, why should I write down my thoughts, oh I forgot to buy toilet paper, this person doesn’t like me, I don’t want to do this, the potato soup was not good, it’s raining again, I don't know what to do…… It’s a mindfulness meditation to be aware of your thoughts.

This simple action step can change your life, if you chose to do it. Mindfulness Meditation is a great tool to help be more aware of your thoughts and feel yourself…. but it’s a process and won’t happen overnight.

Be willing to experiment.

I have to be perfect
I have to do this right
I will not do this because I have to do it perfectly

Oh man….. perfectionism is a killer, it kills creativity, aliveness, joy, It can make people sick and invites them to give up. Experimenting and being playful is the opposite of perfectionism. What you need is the willingness to play, to make mistakes and yes, you MUST be willing to fail. Kids have this kind of presence and willingness, they always experiment and play until …….they grow up.

I'm sure you heard the stories of famous people for example: Steven Spielberg was rejected from schools several times, Albert Einstein had a learning disorder, Thomas Edison was told by his teacher that he was too stupid to learn anything, Henry Ford failed at several businesses. There are many others who failed many times, some over years but they did not give up, they kept experimenting until eventually…. they succeeded.

By changing one simple thing, YOUR ATTITUDE, you can change your life. Try it out, set little experiments for yourself and just play and enjoy whatever you are doing.

Don’t try to do it right,
Don’t be serious
Don’t be attached to the outcome…..just play.

Now be aware of how it feels. Does it feel any different, are you experiencing more joy, is it more fun to do things… even if some things are not exactly fun? Watch yourself, write it down and keep experimenting and noticing. Get to know yourself, be your best friend.

Accept that new behaviour is uncomfortable

This is a tough one, but it's an important part of the new game…..why should I be doing something that is uncomfortable? We are creatures of habit, even if the habits are not good for us. Smoking for example can calm you down, but most people know that it can kill you.

To be a perfectionist feels comfortable… to experiment might not, even if it’s a lot healthier for you. Working too much is a habit and working less will feel very uncomfortable. Putting yourself down feels comfortable, celebrating what you do right might feel uncomfortable. Taking time off and just playing will feel uncomfortable but is actually a good thing…..and on it goes.

When you start doing new things it will feel weird and you have to know that this is normal and not be discouraged by it. This is why people abandon their dreams, it’s that important!!!! Write it on a poster or set a reminder on your phone, tatoo it on your hand, whatever will help you remember, just do it! I am doing new things and I am willing to play. I invite you to play to win 🙂

Leave a comment and let me know how it works for you. do you have any tricks you would like to share?

How to Create a Simple Video for your Business

How to Create a Simple Video for your Business

How are YOU? It’s fall in Germany, the leaves are almost off the trees, it’s cold outside, the ground is covered with golden foliage and wet. What a good time to be greatful for having a warm home, a nice cup of tea and a cozy place to sit and work….ah life is good.

I am writing to you from this place of gratitude, with a view of my vision board and I thought you might be interested in ways to be more creative, self expressed and have fun creating more visibility for your business.

As a business coach I mingle with entrepreneurs like YOU, who would like to create more visibility for their business. One fun way is to create videos to post on youtube, but somehow it does not always happen 🙂

Why?

Techno-fear,
Fear of visibility
Fear to make a fool of yourself
Fear of not doing it right, also called PERFECTIONISM…..and on it goes

The common denominator is FEAR….. fear can be overcome… but that’s another blogpost: In this post I will help you to overcome only the techno-fear. So if you would like to create a simple video about your services or products and post it on youtube, this might help you do it.

Just a little story to start….when I began learning about online business and marketing strategies, my mentors suggested to create videos…

Needless to say I was scared… I suffered from “techno-phobia” and at that time…. I did not even know how to cut and paste…… yes indeed it was that bad.

That was about 5 years ago. When my mentor suggested videos I thought: impossible……I don’t know how to do it, I can’t, I never will…….. I’m not doing it.

But eventually I was willing to try new things and be uncomfortable……I started creating a simple video by using a series of images with motivating quotes in between and added music to finish up.

The software I used is called Animoto, it’s a simple program with a basic, free version.They offer different templates, you just have to add the images, the words and some of their music to make it professional. Voila….done and with having lot’s of fun 🙂

My dad actually helped me to do this….The next step is to create an account on youtube upload the video, done. You just created a simple video and posted it on youtube, congratulations!!!

Next you can experiment with creating a simple video presentation. Talk about something that is relevant to your business, or interview someone. For example, in my case: I created videos about vision boards and subjects that might be interesting and helpful to entrepreneurs.

What you need is:

Simple tripod, If you use an Iphone you need a tripod attachment for Iphone (google it)
Camera ( I use my Iphone or a minoHD camera
A simple editing software (moviemaker for PC, Imovie for Mac)
Something interesting to talk about
YouTube account

How to create a simple video

Set up a place with a good background, from where you present something
Set up the tripod, to capture you well
Make sure the light is good
Start talking and record
Load the video onto your computer
Edit
Upload to youtube
Give it a good title and write a description, use keywords, if you have a website or squeezepage add the URL
Embed on your website
Share on social media

Here some more details: Prepare it a little bit…..start by writing bulletpoints on a posterboad to remember what you want to talk about, otherwise you might end up rambling… yes it happens. Another idea is to write down the seperate scenes on post its…… yeah, kind of like a simplified screenplay.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember a long talk, so what you can do is: take short sections of video and then cut them together. Also when you record yourself, you have to cut out the parts, from pushing the record button to taking your position, which is easy to edit out.

Moviemaker provides themes which will make the cuts look professional and it can be a lot of fun to experiment. Movie maker is really easy to use. If you need help find some tutorials on youtube……if I can do it anybody can 🙂

Oh…one more thing that will give you a more professional look is: you can go to fiverr and order an “intro/extro” which you can add to the beginning and the end. They offer a variety of music and animations.

The service provider will want your logo and or business name. It’s a lot of fun and everything on fiverr costs only $5…. it’s ok to experiment, just allow yourself to play 🙂

Now try it…..be creative and have fun!!!!! I posted some of my videos, to give you an idea how simple it is. Did this help YOU? If you have anything to add or questions to ask, please post it in the comment box. I love to read them.

and pssst: Do you need more help? I would like to give YOU the gift of one free session. Just let me know.

Women over 40 and going through major life changes

Easy Vision Board Meditation

Do you Feel Stuck, Discontent and Confused?

You probably googled: being stuck, discontent and confused ……welcome to my blog, I hope this post will lift your confusion, or at least help you accept the times when you feel confused.

Most people have these moments of feeling stuck, confused and discontent, I sure have many times. Confusion is constantly with me, but I am learning to not be stopped by it.

Last year my coach introduced me to “Human Design” and used it in our coaching sessions. One of my obstacles came up: “confusion” and I learned that it actually is a huge energy in my system and I should use it as an asset.

I used to see it as a hindrance and after hearing what he told me… I thought, now I’m totally stuck with it. Nothing will get done, because my confusion always takes me out of the game. Painful…… can you relate?

The pattern acts like this: I am “gungho” about a project and start doing things then……I get confused and I start questioning everything I do…. with the result of not wanting to move forward anymore.

So…what I learned is: I use the confusion on others by questioning the options they have and help them get get clarity. How brilliant is that? My favorite questions are:

How does all this fit together?
How can you make this work?

First I thought, wow this is brilliant and it is… but of course it takes a bit of time to get out of one pattern and get into the habit of doing something new.

New habits need to be practiced and after a while they become second nature, experts say it takes 21 days…This is very hopeful, but to be honest… I would say it takes longer.

Adopt the new attitude that there is no rush, it’s just life and there is nowhere to get to, no time limit to do it within. This is such a great help, that there is time and no rush. it's normal to set time lines, but we don’t have to. Ok… sometimes it’s necessary but not always.

How to practice a new, healthy habit……. the most important piece it to keep reminding yourself of it because…..believe it or not you forget 🙂

How to remind yourself of important things:

Journal about it every day
Write yourself a card to remind yourself
Create a poster and hang it in your office
Set reminders on your phone

These are common suggestions and tools, most people think it’s too simple and they don’t believe they work, they don’t want to do stupid exercises like this. The big answer to the problem is: don’t let your mind talk you out of stuff because…….. Your mind is the big problem.

Your mind is not here to make you happy, help you be successful and all the other good stuff. Your mind is here to keep you safe. Do you understand this? Just to spell it out what safe means for the mind: a miserable, boring, unfulfilled life.

Anything exciting in life has something to do with trying new things, experimenting. Your mind will keep you from doing that….it’s not safe!!!……………

What this reminder phrase looks like for me: "Confusion is just an energy to help me help others clarify their life".

As a coach that’s very helpful……..don’t you think so too 🙂

This is what it says in my human design chart: I am under pressure to make sense of certain aspects of the world and to bring rhythm and change into other people’s lives.

I am here to make others aware of aspects of their lives so they can follow a progression of change or choose to stay the way you are. But whether you chose to change or not …….the awareness my energy brings, cannot be ignored.

Wohooooo, are you ready?

If you are curious, try an exploratory session with me, it’s my gift to you: e mail me at maritasteffe@gmail.com to schedule a convenient time for you.

Simple Tips to Create More Visibility

Simple Tips to Create More Visibility

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful, happy summer with family and friends….. It's the beginning of September and a wet day in Germany. The rain is welcome after many, many hot weeks. Thursty trees and plants are soaking up the water and so am I. Are you ready for fall?

Ok, now lets talk about creating visibility for your business. I will share some of my strategies with you, which are easy enough for beginners or people who like to keep it to the basics.

Creating visibility online
Going out and meeting people

Today we will cover online visibility

Most of us know how to do it… many actually do it… some desire to do it… some talk about doing it… some never do it 🙂

Creating visibility online can be easy, but it’s good to have a simple strategy to get better results: how to effectively create visibility.

Writing posts and articles
Posting on social media
Creating videos

Writing blog posts and articles is a great way to share your expertise with others and get your tribe, (ideal customer) interested in your service or product. It’s very simple…. especially if you like to write. Before you start you should know a few things about your customer.

Who is your customer?
Where to find them online?
What is their problem?

Do your research by asking people, doing surveys and talking to experts… for example a social media or a business coach. …After you collect your information, write a blogpost about a subject that will help your customer with their problem.

Easy isn’t it? Let me give you a simple example: Let’s say you want to help people with their communication: your customer might be people who have “bad” communication skills, the solution to the problem could be a blog post or an article: How to learn effective ways to have better communication with your customers. The result for them would be a more peaceful life and happy customers, yippeeeee.

This is a very simple example, but I hope it makes it easy to understand. Now the next step is to post it. If you don’t have your own blog you can post it on other people’s blogs or on Ezine. If you are on LinkedIn you can use their publishing platform, which will be great for visibility.

Two more things before I forget: If you plan to post it on several platforms, make sure to change the title and some of the text. Google does not like exactly the same content posted on different sites.

Just in case you suffer from “perfectionism” and want to make sure that your spelling is right; find a professional editor on Fiverr, where everything costs $5, or Elance. Outsourcing some tasks is a great way to get help and get things done.

Creating simple, fun videos

This is one of my favorites. You can create simple videos by sharing information that relates to your business. In my case it’s anything that relates to coaching, or to help people live more successful, fulfilled, happy and balanced lives.

You can use your phone, or a simple HD flip camera, a tripod, and a simple editing program called moviemaker. Moviemaker is a free movie editing program that comes with windows. It’s very easy to use. I am not a technical geek, so when I say easy….. it’s easy.

Some of you might need extra hand holding, just look into a schedule at your local college or find a student who can help you until you feel more comfortable. After you created your video you have to upload your videos to youtube, or another hosting platform. When your done with it, post links to them on social media and embed the video on your blog.

Simple strategies to be visible on social media

Ok, now it can get a bit confusing, I will share some of my favorite sites and strategies with you. No matter what you use, start with creating an appealing profile, to tell people about who you are and what you do.

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest

In order to be effective on social media you have to use a strategy and post things that are of interest to your audience. Do not post: Buy my new product, look at me, I know this, I want to sell you this… click here… download this….. it does not work

I will just tell you about the most basic strategies I use. For more detailed knowledge check with an expert. All of them offer free training videos. I like Wendy McClelland and Amy Porterfield, Kim Garst, but there are man more.

Think about what inspires you and post things that inspire you and your audience or tribe. Something that will help them with their problem. Be social, be interested in others, connect and respond, be human, be fun, be kind, be creative. Make it about them, care about them.

Facebook is one of the most popular social media sites. People share other people’s posts and write some words to add a personal touch. You can like other people’s posts and maybe leave a nice comment. Make it personable and positive, nothing worse than people who spill their drama on social media.

If you want more visibility and post business related themes, it's a good idea to create a facebook page to post your business related content. Facebook has instructions on how to set up the page. Spend some time to find interesting videos on youtube, or podcasts, blogposts, audios and post links to them, along with links to your own material.

Once in a while you can share a post from your business page to your personal profile. In order to be more effective I would suggest to create a facebook ad in order to be more visible. Unfortunately facebook is limiting how many people can view your post. Paying for ads or boosted posts will get you more visibility. I will admit here that I have avoided advertising, although many experts say it works very well when done right.

Instagram

Instagram is one of my favorites. If you like to be creative and take pictures it might become your favorite too. It should reflect who you are, your desires, your personality, your creativity, how you express yourself. It took me a while to understand #hashtags, now I love to use them, actually I find it very creative.

They should represent the content of the image and your brand. I use: #dowhatyoulove #outwalking #lifeisgood #becreative #effectivecommunication #lifepurpose #behappy #makeyourlifework #instagood #createyourlife #healthylifestyle. The key is to have fun with it, lot’s of fun. Like with any other other social media, comment back when someone leaves a comment for you and when someone likes your image pay it back and go to their page and like some of theirs.

Pinterest is fun too, great for creative, visual people. First you create boards by themes and then you pin images onto the boards. Some of my boards are related to business with inspiring quotes, one is about vision boards, one is about music I love, one is about creative projects…Many creative ways to express yourself. You can also create a board with inspiration relating to your business and then post links to your blogpost in the text field. Be aware it can be addictive 🙂

Twitter

Twitter, is fast and you can only post 140 characters. Otherwise the strategies are the same. Retweet other people’s posts when you like them, reply to other people, thank them when they retweet your posts. Start conversations and create relationships.

Content ideas to post: inspirational quotes, business tips, links to your or other people’s blog posts, links to free offers, or to videos that you find interesting and which fit into my subject matter.

Hashtags are also a good way to be found by people who are interested in what you have to offer. #healthylifestyle #lifepurpose #businesscoaching #improvecommunication, whatever is relevant to your business. Make it fun, make it supportive, be there for people, be personable. Contact them personally when you see someone needs help, offer them support.

Ps: don’t buy twitter followers or facebook fans it will not help. Grow your followers using simple strategies, like follow your followers and engage in the conversation.

Oh wait ..one last tip to simplify posting on social media and save time is: Hootsuite. A great service to schedule your post on several different media sites from one dashboard. You can schedule your postings for several days. They offer a free and a paid version.

I hope these simple and fun tips to create more visibility in your business will help you. If you have some other suggestions please leave a comment.

Have fun with it alland please leave a comment.

Do More of What You Love to Do

Do More of What You Love to Do

It's a rainy day and I'm sitting in a cafe in Aachen Germany, with a view of the old townhall, dating from 1300. My fingers are tapping rythmicalIy on the keyboard…… I love to write, actually it wasn't always like this……it used to be something that I thought I'm not good at…… I did not enjoy the process and it never crossed my mind that I would actually love to write. All the stuff that my mind would tell me, to keep me from doing the things I love to do 🙂

But you just never know what miracles can happen. Now I'm thinking about writing a book to share my eventful life experiences, a journey from enduring life to loving life. We'll see when that happens….Right now I am fascinated by Human Design and I learned that one of my "superpowers" is to share my experiences. Wouldn't it be great to share this in a book?

The more you do the things you love to do, the more the things you love will come to you.

Meditative dancing is another great way to express yourself. It's not recreational dancing, but a form of moving meditation, which I discovered through a good friend of mine in California. It's called "5 rythm dancing" or "sweat your prayers". Click the link if you would like to find a class in your area, they normally let you try one for free and after that it's $15 per class.

When I tried it the first time, I could not believe how good I felt after the dance. My busy mind was quiet, my body was calm and totally realaxed. I felt like being on a cloud without having taken any substances. I was so moved by the music and spirit that I had tears streaming down my face 🙂

Dancing meditation is: to be moved by the music. The body is the instrument that is being moved, it's a way to get into the body out the mind, to free yourself from thinking, planning, strategizing, future tripping and worrying for a short time. Sometimes when I dance, solutions to problems float into my mind, or I get flashes of creative ideas.

Moving meditation is also self expression at it's finest, it's not about looking good, it's not about taking the right steps, it's not about performing…..It's about "the expression of self" expression of spirit, a prayer in motion…..and also a way to deeply connect with others.

Ok, this might sound a bit too much for the people who are "rational" and don't believe in spiritual practices and believes… By the way this could have been me ten years ago, I was very rational and did not understand the "new age thing, the old hippie thing, the "god thing"….But I changed my mind.

I now live in a mind-space of miracles, when I say miracles…it's the little things in life where the timing is just right. Someone or something appears out of the blue and it helps, inspires or motivates me. Maybe it's the next piece in the puzzle of my life.

For example, I was at a friends house and I had the thought; Marita… walk to the creek… somehow I did not do it….another hour later I had the thought again….Marita walk to the creek. This time I put my shoes on and walked to the creek.

At the turn in the road a man and a dog came up the path…I looked at him, he looked at me and he said…are you Marita? I looked at him perplexed and said yes… are you Tom….he said yes….it was a friend of mine from 40 years ago, before I moved to the states. (By the way I did not use his real name)

If I would have come 2 minutes later or one minute earlier… we would not have met on this path… this is what I call "my little miracles." I don't know, why we met, but I know the timing was so crazy that there must be a good reason.

Maybe I can say something to him, that he needs to hear to open something up for the next step on the journey, maybe it's something I will need to hear……Who knows?

What are your miracles?

Now… you might ask; what's the common denominator between miracles and doing what you love to do. Well for me it works together, the more I do the things I love to do and I can generate the energy of inspiration, the more I experience these kinds of miracles.

I think it's heightened awareness and being in tune with my intuition. Simple Miracles happen all the time, but the question is: are you aware of them?

Make a little experiment and try it for yourself…… Now back to dancing, tonight I will actually go visit a club with disco music, it's not the same spiritual experience, but it's super, fun exercise for me.

I remember that 10 years ago it would have been in agony to think about going to a club alone, just dancing and having a blast. These days I can do it… no problem and I totally enjoy myself.

Doing more of the things I love to do, is changing my life. The energy of blissful enjoyment is attracting more things that I love into my life.

Yeah, that's how the Law of attraction works in my life….

What do you love to do? Please let me know and write a comment…..I love to know 🙂

PS: If you don't know what you love to do….yes it happens and believe me you are not the only one…maybe you would like to try a fun coaching session. My gift to you…to get to know you is your gift to me 🙂 click the contact tab and let me know…

My dance video to give you a little taste

Why Blogging Will Create More Visibility For Your Business

I am so excited to write this post….Now don’t get me wrong, I am not the “Mrs perfect, expert blogger”…..But I’ve been blogging for the last 4 years and know it's powerful. In the process I also discovered writing as a creative outlet, wohoooo how great is that. Before I forget…. please forgive my twisted english and misspells, as it’s not my first language 🙂

Today I'm writing in a coffee shop with a view of the old city hall. The farmers market is set up with lots of stands offering delicious veggies, fruits, fish, meet, chesse and scented flowers. The smell of deep fried fish and spices is in the air….ah, life is good.

Ok now back to blogging…My first blog, which was about vision boards….would show up on page 2 of google after only 3 months, which was a real achievement…Ok, now I would love to share with YOU what I learned and why blogging ins helpful for your business.

Over the last few years I have participated in lots of classes, seminars, mastermind groups and so on, enjoying the chance to connect with many people who desire to have a more global business presence and live their life purpose, doing the work they love to do.

After talking to lots of wonderful human beings…I now have a good picture about the most common problems, when starting and/or growing a business online. So what do you think are the most common problems when starting a business?

Yes you are right, you need to find customers, so you have to be visible and no…they don't come out of the blue, even if that’s what some law of attraction gurus tell you. Believe me I tried this strategy for a long time and it did not work. Unfortunately you need to apply certain actions and strategies to be found… otherwise you will get lost in the jungle of other websites.

Your potential client has no idea that you are out there with your wonderful service or product. As a result you might think that nobody is interested in what you have to offer……but it might just be a problem of being visible.

Just to throw this in as a sidenote: People sometimes don’t do the necessary actions, but are unconscious about the fact that they don’t do them. The result is that they think… their efforts are not working…… This process is unconscious and it’s a mind strategy to keep you safe, within your comfortzone.

Do I hear you say? This is crazy? Yes it is…but it’s true……. Try this experiment, be mindful and watch yourself…. Being aware of it myself and many other coaches I talk to, I actually noticed myself doing this…. I hate to admit… Has this ever happened to you?

When starting or growing a business, one of the most important things you need to do in order to become known and attract customers is to create visibility. Most of you know how to do it for your brick and mortar businesses… Advertise in the yellow pages, gazettes, magazines, word of mouth, go to networking events and the whole shebang. But what about online?

If you follow the online marketing gurus, which I did, they all say: start a blog and write posts….. Oh my… how to set up a blog, write, social media….No clue what to do, so many options, don’t know where to start. I was in total overwhelm.

Yep I know what it feels like, I’ve been there…..When I started I was perplexed, I was not very techie on the computer. I never saw myself as a writer, I never thought I’m good at writing, but I just did what they told me to do and guess what, after I got over the resistance I started to enjoy it 🙂

Now what are the technical benefits? By writing blogposts on a regular basis, Google will think your website is more active. With every indexed page (new blogpost) you add, there is one more chance to show up in the search engines, so it’s a fantastic tool to create organic SEO and drive free traffic to your site.

I will not get into SEO, but websites like hubspot, or other experts will be a great source of more technical information. Just google experts in SEO and you will find great information, even for free. My worpress site also has a great Plugin to help with SEO.

The blog content will be available for as long as you have your blog, so if people are searching for something you write about, it will take them to your blogpost, even years after you wrote it.

The other great benefit is that you have your own original content to share on social media, so if people get to know you through reading your blog they start to trust you and if you engage enough they eventually convert to customers and clients.

Write about subjects that helps solve their pains. Yeah, it’s always about that, you have something…. they need this something and boom, if the 2 connect it can be a match made in heaven. Write what you are interested in, be personal, make it fun to read. Nobody likes to read boring "manuals".

You will need a weblog, social media setup and a good linkedIn profile and if you use it regularly it will create interest and customers for you, the key is to post on a regular basis, not once a year, that would not be enough. If you don't know how to do it get help, get a coach, a tutor, or start a mastermindgroup.

Find out about your client's pain and write about a solution to this pain or challenge. Now you have an interesting subject to write about, something that your customers are interested in. First you find a good theme, then you need a great title. What would people google who have this pain? Your title should reflect the answer to this pain, so do some research on google. How to find a great title for your blog.

Simple recipe, isn’t it? For example; if you’re a business or life coach you want to know

Who do you want to coach
What’s keeping them from doing the things they want to do

Let’s say your customers are women over 40 who are looking for a new life direction. What would their problems be?

They might have an idea what they are passionate about, but they don’t know how to realize it. They feel stuck, they might be afraid to leave their comfort zone, or their environment might not support them.

Now you can write about that, or how people can balance their lives, be healthier, more courageous, more successful, more confident, and more. Offer them tips and tricks, be the light at the end of the tunnel. Anything that might be of interest to “your tribe.”

Ps: I love to go write in different cafes, or at the library, it’s stimulates and inspires me to have people around, plus it’s more fun.

Ok my friends I hope this helps a little, if you feel stuck and need some help, take advantage of my “Coaching to help you move forward trial session”, it’s my gift to you, just

e mail me at maritasteffe@gmail.com

If you are inspired to add something to this post, or you have a question, please leave a comment, I love to read them 🙂

Simple Tips on How to Stay Inspired

Simple Tips on How to Stay Inspired

Hello my friends…we just had a heatwave in Germany….. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love good weather, but when it’s too hot and humid to move, it’s not for me.

I used to live in California, where it can be sizzling, but at least there is air condition everywhere… which is not the case in Germany….. Anyway I hope you are enjoying your summer no matter what the conditions are 🙂

During the last few weeks I experienced a loss of inspiration, feeling kind of blah….did not feel like writing, making collages or doing anything that’s fun. I‘m just wondering…has this ever happened to you?

Somehow you want to write something, paint something, create a video or whatever it is…But all you can do is stare into space and there is no spark of inspiration to get into action.

Ouch… it’s painful, frustrating and it happens to me so many times, it’s not funny. For writers it’s called writer’s block, but whatever you want to do, it applies to any block regrading expressing creativity and doing the things that you love to do. Crazy isn't it 🙂

Now what can you do when this happens?

One thing that helps me is to have the book the "Artist Way" nearby and read a chapter, it's the "bible for creative people." I also have a list of blogs bookmarked and when I need a “pick me up”, I read some of their material or watch their videos.That helps, most of the time….

When I want to write a blogpost, but feel blah about the state of the world or think… Well who wants to read another blogpost, there are millions out there already…. I listen to Dr. Lance Secretan, a leadership teacher who creates inspired environments all over the world.

Dr. Secretan teaches the "Higher Ground Leadership Course" at CoachVille, my wonderful school…I just watch one of his videos to put the wind of creativity and hope back into my sails. He uses a great tool: Spirit Cards, their purpose is to help you invite spirit into your work and life.

By the way.. Coachville has a free membership available with an abundance of free audios and other great material……. that's also a great way to get inspired…

One other great way to get back into the groove is: Visualize a time when you were totally on fire… working on something, being blissfully absorbed in the activity. Can you get into the movie?

What did you do?
Who were you with?
What exactly happened?
How did it feel

Try to come up with a few situations, be as detailed as possible and try to re-create the same energy, or feeling. This simple exercise will get the creativity flowing…..I promise 🙂

Music triggers the flow of creativity too, so creating a playlist of your favorite music, will be a fun action. What is it for you? Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cat Stevens, Nirvana, Bob Marley, Mozart, YoYoMa?

Whatever it is…put your headphones on and start singing to the music..

Maybe you want to be bold and start moving to the music…. there is nothing better than dancing, to get out of your mind into your body. Feel the movement, feel the joy, let it take you over. One of my passions is 5 rythm dancing…… psssst it's a secret.

Oh, one last tip…Go to a different place to work… like a nice cafe, the library, maybe your garden or the park, sit next to a creek under a tree, listen to the birds and wait what happens.

Ok my friends that’s it for today….Do you have some more empowerment tips? Please share them for all of us to enjoy.

Blessings

Marita

Check out this wonderful video with another technique 🙂

Make a Vision Board Work – Be Confident

Make a Vision Board Work – Be Confident

Hi my friends… Sometimes people tell me that they made a vision board, but nothing manifested….Frustrating, I get it…. sometimes it happens to people who do not have a lot of confidence. But the good news is that you can practice to believe in yourself.

Life can be great, life can be miserable and it’s up to you what you how you want to experience it. Now this is a tough statement, especially if you went through a lot of suffering in your life. But on the other hand it’s extremely powerful and a great way to transform and create a great life. It’s worth considering the concept!

Do you have doubts that you can be successful, that you can achieve your dreams and goals? Do you know that you can do certain exercises, to be more comfortable with the idea of being successful, confident and wonderful 🙂

Affirmations and power patterns are used in coaching and they are great, simple tools. You just repeat the same short sentence over and over again, like a mantra. You do this every day for at least 5 minutes, and also as a remedy when your limited thinking comes up.

Like… you know what: The little voice in your head that tells you all the bad things that can happen, that you can fail if you try, that you can’t do it any way, good things happen to other people and so on…That’s when you use the affirmation or the power pattern. I have many and I use them all, they work!

Use the opposite of your limiting belief, something that totally resonates with you. The key is to feel great when you hear yourself say the words. If your mind is telling you “you can’t do it”, you say: I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. If it is: “It’s too hard”, you say: I can do this with ease, I can do this with ease, I can do this with ease. Below are some more examples:

I am brilliant and confident
I am fit and in great health
I attract wonderful things
Money is flowing into my life from expected and unexpected sources
I attract all the right people into my life
I am getting better and and better every da
I am loved
Everything is working out perfectly
I trust the flow of life
Everything I need is coming to me
I am here to express my gift

This might sound too good to be true, but it is a simple exercise, that will help you to transform your inner critic to your best cheerleader. Just try it! It’s like a brainwash.

One other simple exercise is to not engage in negative thinking. This technique requires some mindfulness and presence, but if you are aware of the thoughts coming up, you can chose to not engage in them. Just let them go.

To manifest your vision, you have to belief that you are worth it to achieve your life aspirations. You want to look at the vision board as much as possible and feel the images on the board as your truth. You see it, you experience it, you vibrate it, you will draw it into your life. Indeed you will!

Feeling happy, successful, with a wonderful partner, a great career, a great team, wonderful friends and family relations. Driving the new car, on route to your dream destination. Dream big, go for the stars!

If you think you need more help: I use a powerful coaching method called “Inner Freedom,” to help people move through resistance and fear. Also, John Kehoe has a wonderful program called mindpower, it is very simple with easy step by step exercises. It is a truly life changing program.

But first just try the exercises…..Let me know if they work for you and if you have other tips, please share them in a comment.

How To Use Creative Visualization With Your Vision Board

How To Use Creative Visualization With Your Vision Board

How are YOU? I am so happy YOU are here 🙂

Visualization is the most important ingredient when YOU make a vision board…..But what exactly is it… how do YOU do it?

Visualization is the practice of seeking to affect the outer world by changing one's thoughts and expectations with positive thinking, or better said, producing positive images in YOUR mind.

Like…. daydreaming with a focus, YOU produce an image in your mind and focus on it, the longer the better, the more often YOU do it, the more effective it will work to help create YOUR life

“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve“ Napoleon Hill

It's a very simple process, but lots of people have a hard time with it. Same with meditation, a very simple process, but some of us make it very complicated. Are YOU one of them?

To be honest, I was one of them…I used to say that I don't know how to meditate, I can't visualize…..hello how crazy is that? Now I know why…. my mind does not want to engage in healthy activities like this.

Why is it so hard? In my opinion the major reason is that they get too intellectual and try to figure it out. Logical mind wants to know exactly how to do it, always screaming how, why, how, why… but there is nothing to figure out, you just let it go and it will happen. Some more reasons below.

You are convinced it's hard and it pushes the images away
Too much mind activity will overpower the visualization
Stress will make it difficult to calm the mind

Being too intellectual and trying to let the mind run YOUR lives is what we all learned… and it's a problem. The mind is a great servant, but not a great master. The key is to use the mind for certain things, for example: collecting information, memorizing, evaluating, analyzing, sorting……… but not to run YOUR life and make decisions.

Now that we know the problem, let's look at the solution….Meditation is a great practice to calm the mind, so just let go and accept whatever comes up…..Sit quietly in a peaceful place and let go of your thoughts, just let them float by… like clouds. If YOU have a dreamlike fuzzy visualization that's ok. If it's easier for you to feel, then focus on feeling the sensations instead of seeing images.

There is no wrong, YOU can't make mistakes. The most important thing is to feel good, to get into a state of anticipation that, what YOU desire is on the way. The more often YOU can feel or see things, the more effective it will be.

A vision board is a wonderful, fun tool to help visualize…. because it gives YOU the images to look at. So make a vision board, hang it somewhere where YOU see it all the time and gaze at it. Look at the images, feel all the beautiful things, be grateful that they are being attracted into YOUR life……

Believe it's happening, believe YOU deserve it, believe it's YOUR birthright to be happy, content and successful. Do it as much as possible in addition to being aware of YOUR thoughts. It's a practice, it might take time, but enjoy the journey…. it's all part of life. The more YOU enjoy your life the more "good things" will come to you, it's a law of the universe 🙂

Let me know if YOU have any more tips on visualization, please share them with us and leave a comment.

Some more tips for YOU

Visualization Exercises