Shift Speaker Training Blog » Lifestyle

The Truth About Those New Year Goals . . .

Joey — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:00:30 +0000

It’s the start of a new year and time to dust off our new year’s resolutions for yet another year…

Or is it?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve read countless articles and emails in the past week all advising me how to create the perfect new year goals and yet none of them seem to resonate with me.

Why is this?

Well, in part because we each respond differently to advice and so what might work for someone else might not necessarily work for another. But, I sense it’s deeper than that – at least for me – and maybe for you too.

All of the messages I read about setting new year’s resolutions miss one key part. . .what if we don’t know what we want?

That’s why in today’s blog post I want to talk about HOW to reconnect with what you really want and therefore how to set some new year goals with a difference.

The best way to get back in get back in touch with your heartfelt dreams and so create your ideal lifestyle, is to re-connect to yourself again.

Here’s a challenge for you to get you reconnected (and remember just because we’re almost 2 weeks into the new year doesn’t mean it’s too late!) I want you to spend the next 7 days connecting with your Self with the purpose of finding out what you really want. If you know what you really want, try this anyway, because you might get even more clarity or fresh insight into your goals.

The process of reconnection is easy. You can do this with morning pages (stream of consciousness writing), meditation, daily walks in nature, swimming in the ocean, yoga, basically anything which is YOU connecting to YOUR soul.

The idea is that you are giving your higher Self (divine essence, soul, inner you – however you call it) the opportunity to speak and be heard about what it wants in life.

What usually happens for me is that my ego wants one thing (related to safety and something logical) but the deeper part me wants something else and when I’ve followed that something else – that’s been my path to happiness however absurd or crazy it sounded like! Quite often your deepest dream is connected in some way to your life purpose so don’t even try to make sense of it and rationalise it.

So when you have heard what your soul wants to say (and often the answers surprise us!) don’t discard it straight away. It might be something completely left-field but allow yourself to sit with it a while.

Perhaps starting a family came out top and you hadn’t even considered this. Or maybe it was breaking through a financial barrier – perhaps the 100k mark – even though you have no idea how. Or maybe it was professional, for example, putting on your own speaking event – but you have never spoken before!

Just because you have never done them before or you have no idea HOW to make them happen, don’t panic. This is what YOU most deeply want and the most important part is already done – being honest about it.

The next step is making it come to fruition and again, there are as many strategies as there are stars in the skies so I’ll keep my advice simple and clear:

Trust
When your soul has spoken, there are a million and one things you can do to move toward your goal – plan, invest in a program, get healing/coaching/mentoring to take away limiting beliefs, take clear and specific action etc
But the biggest tip of all is to trust the voice of your soul. For example, if your dream is to meet your ideal man or woman this year, then take the necessary action but also trust in the outcome. Remember, ‘to realise one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation.’

May your dreams come true this year.

The Most Valuable Skill You Will Ever Need to Learn

Joey — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:00:25 +0000

Today’s post is particularly juicy for anyone looking to succeed in business. Because the secret to success is TIME.

So take an hour of your time to listen to my webinar and in it you’ll discover:

* How to avoid the time stealers that will kill your dreams
* My time management secrets that will give you up to 4 hours of extra productivity every week
* The #1 secret to momentum after events

Where do you learn how to be the most productive you can be, without killing yourself or sacrificing your values and personal life?

Find out here:

Let me know what you thought in the comments section and share any time tips you might have too!

Breaking Out Of Your Comfort Zone!

Joey — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:00:11 +0000

It’s all in the mind this week.

Have you heard all heard the saying that success breeds success?

But where does success actually start?

I believe it starts with a willingness to step outside the comfort zone.

You see it doesn’t matter what level of game you are playing right now- there is always another level you can go to. And what usually holds you where you are is this thing called a “Comfort Zone”.

Have a read of this by Bob Riggs.

“The Comfort Zone”

“Many of us have established a comfort zone in our lives. We’re just coasting along taking the path of least resistance, and just getting by.

This is a very common and understandable attitude. We’ve all worked hard to get where we are and it may seem a good place to be.

The problem with this is that once we stop reaching, stretching, seeking and risking, we actually stop growing. The comfort zone frame of mind is settling for what we are TODAY.

That may be fine today, but without continued growth, WE ARE NOW ALL WE ARE EVER GOING TO BE.

If you’re in a comfort zone, beware – the danger of a comfort zone is that it doesn’t hurt, and it may even feel good.”

Do Something Outside Your Comfort Zone

By taking yourself out of your comfort zone you begin to expand.

In that expansion comes self confidence . . .in self-confidence comes a more confident mindset . . .in that confident mindset comes success. . . . and in success there comes more success . . . and more confidence . . .and more success and so on!

You are currently inside your own comfort zone. So am I. But the good thing about a comfort zone is that every time you DO SOMETHING outside of your comfort zone, your comfort zone expands.

Picture a circle getting increasingly larger – each time you step out of your comfort zone, your circle expands. Now this something could be anything – say kayaking on the sea, a bungee jump, going on a singles holiday, walking into a bar by yourself . . . but here let’s apply it to speaking:

So for you, speaking might currently be outside your comfort zone.
Perhaps speaking is inside your comfort zone but selling from the stage is outside your comfort zone.
Perhaps selling from stage is inside your comfort zone but hitting 30% conversions is outside your comfort zone.

Take a Mini Risk

It doesn’t matter what level you’re at in your speaking business, there’s always another level to go to. It’s just a matter of stretching your comfort zone. And you can do this by taking a series of little risks. Not huge risks, just little steps outside your comfort zone. As your comfort zone expands, so too does your definition of yourself.

The mini risks do not have to be related to speaking by the way. I have a friend who recently went camping for the very first time. This was a really big deal for her.

2 years ago camping was the last thing she would ever do as being clean and comfortable was far more appealing . . but recently she ‘got’ that to increase her financial success she needed to do more things outside of her comfort zone. That way her comfort zone around money would also expand . . .

. . . So off camping she went. Also during her holiday she was doing white water rafting, rock climbing and other ‘scary’ activities. It’s why I like the high ropes course so much . . . we push ourselves to take risks on the ropes and see what happens when we don’t fall.

Same with life.

Your Next Adventure?

So if you’re feeling comfortable right now – this week it’s time to expand yourself, and commit to something new. What mini-risk can you take this week to step outside of your comfort zone and start cultivating that successful mindset?

Growing A Business: How Speaking Can Grow Your Business

Joey — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 02:00:26 +0000

Did you know that speaking is the most powerful lead generation tool you can use to grow your business?

Number One Business Growth Strategy… Use This And Watch Your Profits Explode!

Speaking on stage is not just about turning up, making a speech and getting paid for it. This is old school. The kind of speaking I teach is how to set up a profitable speaking business. If you’re looking for one simple thing to do which will grow you business . . . look no further than speaking on your topic.

Give a 90-minute presentation full of valuable content (and believe me, you could be in ANY business!) and within this presentation include an irresistible offer for your audience to take the next step with you.

You can use speaking to generate new leads, bring in new clients or make more sales in an afternoon than you made all month! It’s not uncommon for some of my clients to add $100, $1,000 or even $10,000 to their income EVERY MONTH.

Start Small

If you’ve never spoken publicly before, a great way to start is to speak in front of just a handful of people. The confidence you will draw from this experience will allow you to get up in front of a bigger audience.

I’ve got many successful clients who decided they were going to learn how to present from stage precisely because they were so terrified of it. They knew if they didn’t overcome their fears it would hold them back from all the other opportunities life throws us.

From Painfully Shy Child To $130,000 In Ticket Sales In 3 Short Months

As a child I was incredibly shy. Like many other people, I had to work through my own issues about getting up on stage. It was about letting go of the past and stepping out of my comfort zone.

Once I had mastered that, I made over $130,000 in ticket sales in 3 short months and without even a database of my own!

I don’t say this to toot my own horn . . . I say this to show you what is possible when YOU use speaking on your topic to grow your business.

Go For It!

So now you know speaking on your topic is the single most powerful, the fastest and the most effective way to grow your business, why not plan your first presentation and get out there and see your sales soar? So right now, make a commitment to yourself that you will take some action. I look forward to seeing you on the platforms of the world.

How To Create Your Dream Lifestyle

Joey — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:00:40 +0000

Creating your dream lifestyle is not a myth. It can be your reality.

Take a moment to imagine your dream lifestyle. What would it involve? For most people, it involves some of the following ingredients:

Foreign travel
More time off to relax and pursue your hobbies
Quality time with your family and friends
New clothes
New hairstyles
New cars!

And the list goes on . . .

The Myth

But here’s where the myth begins.

Most people believe all this is beyond their grasp. As a child, all this seemed possible and yet as adult-hood sunk its cynical claws in, these goals become dreams, which in turn become ideals, which in turn become a faraway concept forever out of your grasp…

But this doesn’t have to be the case.

You Can Create Your Dream Lifestyle.

It’s just that most people don’t know HOW to create their dream lifestyle. And the sad fact is . . . it’s actually far easier than people think! People chase the magic pill of success which will change their lives, but as a business owner, if you just focus on the following 3 strategies and apply yourself, you can create your dream lifestyle.

Increase Your Income: Using smart and effective marketing strategies you can increase both the number of customers you have and the amount each customer spends. Which will in turn…..
Give You More Time Off: As you bring more money into your business you won’t have to work so hard. The goal here is to free up 25% of your time (minimum) to work toward passive income streams.
Leverage Your Business Into Passive Income: You will then be able to select the quickest and easiest way to create passive income, in a way that works WITH your natural talents; not against them.

Summary
By following these 3 strategies, you could be on your way to creating your dream lifestyle. Don’t be one of the masses, why not take a step this week toward increasing your income so you can get more time off and leverage your business into passive income. . . . You never know, your dream lifestyle could be just around the corner.

7 Steps To Creating The Lifestyle You Desire

Joey — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 02:00:09 +0000

The lifestyle you desire, whether it be one crammed full of exotic travel, settled with a loving family around you, rich and famous, or recognized within your field as an expert . . . . all of this is possible when you remember the following steps.

Let Go of Old Preconceptions of Success
Only when you accept it is possible for people, and that includes YOU, to fulfil your dreams completely then and only then, you can create the lifestyle you desire.
Identify Limiting Beliefs
It might be you need to do an internal search to see what has been holding you back. Just as you would type a keyword into google to search for something, try a keyword search within your psyche and see what comes up. Try ‘typing’ in words which carry some sort of emotional charge for you and then either carrying on writing to lose this charge, or work with a coach to help let any ‘stuff’ go you may have around success. Or simply just be aware of it and it will lose its power.
Visualise
What do you want? Have you ever sat down and really thought about your ideal lifestyle specifically? Have a go in words, pictures, cut-outs from magazines etc. It’s a fun exercise to do and gets you focused on outcomes.
Act As If
When you’ve worked out exactly what you want from your lifestyle, the next step is to act as if you have already achieved it. It helps to get you aligned to the end goal and when energy is aligned, miracles happen.
Make A Plan
Miracles work better with some planning. It’s always a good idea once you’ve got your goals in mind, to work with someone to help map the way. This could be a business coach, a mentor or even just a good friend who has some business acumen.
Take Action
The ideal lifestyle doesn’t just happen, no matter how much we wish it so. You need to take the required action steps. If this means meeting some of your limiting beliefs head on, then full steam ahead! You’re on your way.
Reward Yourself
Remember to treat yourself with every success, no matter how small it seems.

Summary

Creating your ideal lifestyle sounds easy . . . and it can be. All you need to do is get out of your own way, picture what you really want, allow yourself to have it and then take the required steps to get there. This week, why not take that first step? You never know, you might just be one step closer to the lifestyle of your dreams.

How to Write a Book

Joey — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:00:05 +0000

You want to be looking for strategies to increase your celebrity as a speaker. One of these strategies is to write a book.
People think they don’t have time to write a book.
We have this concept that our book needs to be perfect and all emcompassing.
A friend of mine wrote his book in just 3 hours!
You don’t even have to write it yourself!
Put together the outline of what you want and have someone else do it for you.
Get over the fact your book needs to be perfect. Just get it done.

3 Quick Steps To Boost Your Vitality

Joey — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:06 +0000

What’s good health got to do with business? Well, read on and find out…

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Speaking from a Doctor’s point of view good health is the cornerstone to everything. It’s the founding bed for relationships, for business, for love and for life. Ironically, there’s nothing like a bout of sickness to make one appreciate life. Without good health there is nothing.

So, that’s why it’s important to not just stay healthy, but also to take active steps to live a healthier life in order to support your business. If we equate good health with good vitality, in business terms, it’s this inner vitality that makes you brim with ideas, burst with passion, thrive on life.

These 3 easy to follow steps will help stay connected to your own inner powerhouse…

May The Force Be With You
“The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”
- Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi – Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope
Our energy is not just self-created. If you believe, as I do, that we are connected to something greater than ourselves – connected to the Universe or source energy (however you wish to call it) – then this external energy is always there to call upon when we need it.
How do we summon this energy field? The easiest way is through a daily meditation practice, visualisation techniques, or simply by taking a moment to be in nature. This is a great tip if you start to flag in the afternoon. Think beyond your own existence and tap into that which is vaster than you.
Water Is A Source Of Energy
“To keep the body in good health is a duty, for otherwise we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom, and keep our mind strong and clear. Water surrounds the lotus flower, but does not wet its petals.”
- Buddha
Do what Doctor Joanna orders and drink plenty of water throughout the day. Did you know that the human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on body size? A rule of thumb, 2/3 of body is consists of water, and it is the main component of human body. The functions of water in a human body are vital.
- Transpsorts nutrients and oxygen into cells
- Moisturizes the air in lungs
- Helps with metabolism
- Protects our vital organs
- Helps our organs to absorb nutrients better
- Regulates body temperature
- Detoxifies
- Protects and moisturizes our joints
Every cell in your body needs water from head to toe. That is why it is so important to drink enough fluid. The brain for example, consists of 90% of water, if you do not supply enough water to your body, your brain cannot function well, and you will get a headache or migraine. Not great for business…..
Sleep Like A Cat.
“Eat well, drink in moderation, and sleep sound, in these three good health abound.”
- Proverb
No, I didn’t mean actually miaow. I mean have a cat-nap. An afternoon siesta is common practice in places like Spain and Italy. In our multitasking, high-pressure work environments, a cat-nap isn’t a sign of laziness. It’s necessary to our well-being and job performance. If you’re lucky, some companies even tout a “wellness room” where you don’t have to hide your need for sleep.

A NASA study showed people got as much as a 34% boost in performance with a 26-minute cat-nap. Why not give it a go and see if it restores your energy?

Bonus Tip – Love!

What I know is, is that if you do work that you love, and the work fulfills you, the rest will come.
- Oprah Winfrey

OK, so this is not really a tip. It’s just I couldn’t go the whole article without mentioning love – not the way I am feeling right now! In truth though, I’ve always spoken about following your heart in business Connect with your passion, do what you love and the money will come. Make time to listen to your heart today. The more you pay it attention, the more you can follow its beat.

Summary
All of these tips are easy to implement now and don’t take any great lifestyle changes. But they will affect your health and consequently, your business for the positive. They’re 5 or 10 minute routines (or a bit longer for the snooze) and you can slip all of them easily into your daily working life. Try it this week, and see if it makes a difference to your vitality.

How To Be Your Own Best Parent

Joey — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 05:00:53 +0000

Let’s talk about love.

Loving yourself is the beginning. Regardless of your goal, be it harmonious relationships with your partner and your family, or financially orientated targets, do not underestimate the power of self-love. It – or the lack of it – is at the core of everything. And just like an apple, the more juice on the inside, the tastier life tastes.

But, as so much else in the personal development field, self-love is easier said than done. Loving yourself is so much more than indulging in some long denied desire, or lying in a bubble bath surrounded by scented candles while relaxing music soothes your jagged edges.

It’s Up To You

Loving yourself begins first and foremost with the recognition that if you are not in a place of well-being inside yourself, it’s up to you to do something about it. This should become your priority.

Imagine you are the parent of a small child. Your child is upset, or sad, or angry or frightened, You, as loving parent of the child, would attempt to help the child move to a better place inside. You might embrace the child, talk about what is going on, or do any number of things to help the child see the situation with new eyes in order to feel better about it.

But in order for this to happen you would need to be closely connected to your child, you would need to have strong communication with your child, and you would need to be totally aware of your child’s feelings. Furthermore, you’d need to want to be there for your child.

Be Your Own Parent

By now you’ve probably figured out that I’m giving you an analogy about how you need to be dealing with yourself. In order to show yourself that you love yourself (because that’s how it starts), you must be aware of yourself and your feelings at all times and be conscious or aware enough to choose to do something about them at all times.

Does that mean that you would never allow yourself to feel pain or sorrow or worry or have any other type of negative feeling? Does it mean you would keep yourself in some iron grip of control so that you would not have those feelings? Absolutely not! But it does mean that you would be willing to choose to focus elsewhere in order to help yourself move to a better place inside.

Choose To Focus On Something More Positive

Worrying about your business, your income or your relationship takes you nowhere. It is much more proactive to resolve whatever is going on in your life. You can attempt to resolve it by allowing it a certain amount of time per day – but only that amount of time – in your life, brainstorming, consulting, researching about the situation, and you would then choose to focus on something else in order to help yourself move to a better place inside. This is what you do for those that you love.

What Next?

If you start today, right now, this evening you will already feel better about how you are dealing with yourself. You’ll recognize that you’ve taken some steps to love yourself. And a part of you will feel just as loved as the child who has been enveloped in the loving arms of a caring and emotionally generous adult parent. This will bring you ever closer to inner peace and freedom, and this will bring you joy and who knows what else…

Reconnecting To The Colours Of Life

Joey — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 05:54:50 +0000

If you’ve been feeling that life has been black and white of late here’s 3 easy steps to reconnect you to all the beautiful colours that life can offer us.

Play And Be Silly
What silly thing have you done recently? When was the last time you made some space in your diary just to have a bit of fun?
Look how much fun children have when they are playing – they brim with joy and a total sense of connection to the moment. They are living in sunshine. When we forget our ego and get lost in a moment of pure playfulness, it not only raises our frequency, it brings that shaft of sunshine to our day.

Sometimes we get stuck into being too serious-minded with our business and as a knock-on effect, with our families and our lives. We forget to make time for fun. But it’s the fun times that lighten us up and adds a sunny yellow colour to our lives.
Reconnect To Your Pipe-Dream
When was the last time you thought about your pipe dreams? You know, those dreams you had years and years ago. They may have seemed crazy back then and they may still seem crazy, but they still light you up, right? It might have been to sail the world, to go on a cruise, to watch the Northen Lights, to walk the Inca Trail, to visit an Ashram, to stand on stage in front of thousands of people…. What happened to these dreams? Because they’re not just pipe-dreams, never to be realised, they’re dreams waiting to be coloured in.
Dreams come in all colours – they’re vivid and alive. Sometimes, I’ll make time to reconnect with my dreams. I’ll look through my vision album, or I’ll journal them in my morning pages, or I’ll just take time out in nature to meditate on them. When I allow them to come up to the surface repeatedly then I allow them to influence my life and that way I can act upon them.

Keep present to your dreams so you can keep them alive and vibrant. You’ll be more likely to realise them if they’re blazing in colour rather than in muted, pale tones.
Do Something New
When was the last time you tried something new or did something new for the first time? It might be as simple as trying a new food, ordering a different dish at the restaurant, taking a different route to work. Or maybe talking to a stranger, trying that sky-dive, booking that holiday to Egypt.
When we do new things we light up the part of our psyche that likes adventure. Then with each simple act of adventure you do, you encourage yourself to take bigger and bigger risks. Red is the colour of adventure and also the colour of passion. By trying new adventurous things each week, you make it easier to keep connected to the dreams you are most passionate about in life.

Summary

Breathing colour back into your life doesn’t have to mean making huge changes – it’s as simple as trying new things, taking the time to reconnect to your dreams and having fun.

So see what colour you can add to your life and make a mental note of the impact that this has on your sense of possibility in all areas of your life. I think you’ll be amazed.