We’ve talked recently about identifying good and bad habits and replacing bad habits with new ones that serve you. Now we need to look at how to use these habits to reach your goals.  

What are your goals in life? Do you want to get back to working out? Do you want to start sleeping eight hours a day? Do you want to get up early? Do you want to up-level your business? Do you want to attract more clients? Do you want to have a stronger marriage, a better relationship with a family member or a friend?  

What is a goal that you want to reach? Now look at your current habits and ask yourself, do these support the goals I want to have? 

Your bad habits probably don’t support your goals, and that’s what makes them bad habits. 

Your good habits bring you closer to achieving your goals, and that’s what makes them good habits.  

Using GOOD habits to move you towards your goals 

Now think about what new good habits you need to adopt to bring your closer to your goals. Here are two examples:  

• Do you feel that your schedule is all over the place, you're forgetting things, or you feel overscheduled? Make a habit of planning out your week on Sundays so you can feel more in control throughout the week.  
• Do you find yourself burned out by the end of the day and you lay in bed just mindlessly scrolling through Facebook or “unplugging” in a different way that isn’t very productive? Make a habit of doing a good habit in the evenings to help you feel more relaxed, like just chilling out on the patio, meditating, listening to music, or going for a walk. 
• Do you feel that your digital files are in shambles? Make a habit of downloading files right away and filing them where they belong. Yeah, I get it. Filing sucks, but what if starting today you put files where they belong right away. Do you think that that would help you be a more successful, organized person? Of course! It's going to save you time too!  

Having Successful Habits Will Make You A Successful Person 

Think of someone you consider successful in your life or in the world. You can bet they have established good habits that push them towards reaching their success goals. But, it's up to you to figure out the habits you need to reach your goals.  

That’s my wish for you! Take some time today to go through your list of habits (the good and the bad). If you were to just drop one bad habit. Really consciously put effort into dropping that one bad habit and pick up one good habit that's going to help you achieve your goals, you my friend are going to be a more successful and dynamic woman.  

Congratulations for investing this time in yourself. I know it is going to pay off. If you have some really good habits and ideas that you want to share, please reach out. You can find me at @coachdianerolston on Instagram or comment below with your questions or comments.  

So, until next time, stay dynamic! 

Do you have habits that doesn't serve you anymore? What habits do you want to break?  

Maybe you snack while you watch TV? Do you drink too much? Go to bed late? Do you bite your nails? What are some bad habits that you want to break and do you know how do you break them?  

First, you need to know why are you doing the bad habit in the first place. Are you snacking while you're watching TV because you're bored and your “eating” your emotions?

Are you going to bed late because you're not getting up early enough? Or are you going to bed late because you just have too many things on your plate? Maybe the bad habit really is that you're saying “yes” too much that you're taking too much on. 

To get rid of your bad habits, first look at reason, motivation, or influence for that bad habit? And then ask yourself what's important about breaking this habit?  

If the habit is, for example, snacking too much while watching TV, think about what is so important to you about breaking that? Is it because you want to be healthier? Because you don't want to go to bed with a full stomach? Or because you just end up watching trash on TV anyway. Maybe you want to read more, go to bed earlier, exercise, or do a different habit that is going to actually going support you and help you.  

I had to ask myself that earlier this year when I wasn’t eating well and the reason was I was wanting to eat my emotions around my Dad’s cancer.  I couldn’t do anything to take his cancer away and the chips and donuts helped me to drown my emotions. But this bad habit didn’t support me.  

Find the core reason for your bad habit, a cue that is actually making you do the habit.  

As a mom and a coach, I've talked to my fellow moms and clients, many say that as soon as the kids are in bed, all they want to do is grab a glass of wine. Now I'm not gonna sit here and judge you because I feel it too and I don’t know your reasons for drinking wine. I’ll be honest that I feel the same way too. The back and forth “Just get to bed!” routine with the kids is stressful. Maybe that’s why you reach for a drink, or maybe you have another stress in your life that is your cue and the first thing you want to do is just get a beer or glass of wine just to calm down. Is that really the best habit in that situation, if I am using it to self-soothe?  

Probably there are better habits for self-soothing like meditation, going for a walk, or talking to a friend. 

How to replace bad habits 
Now, what do you do after identifying your trigger? 

Start by replacing that bad habit with a good habit? For example, if you don’t want to go to bed so late, come up with a going-to-bed ritual or routine and get to bed earlier.  

If you're snacking while watching TV instead think “I'm going to go drink a glass of water and grab some veggies.” Or “I'm going to do 10 push-ups.” Or “I’m going to journal.” Find a habit that will actually support you instead.  

Then your next task is to attach this new good habit to another good habit you already have.  

For example, if you’re someone who's feeling like they're constantly being negative, try bringing in the good habit of affirmations or gratitude. If you have already a habit in the morning of making yourself a coffee or tea, attach your new habit to that established habit. Then each time you brew your coffee, think of all things that you are grateful for.  

When you attach a new habit to good established habit that you already have, the good habit becomes your trigger or cue, and it’s a win-win all around.  

Next week, we’ll discuss how to use your newly anchored habits to achieve your goals. 

In the meantime, comment below on some goals you’re going to work on replacing over the next seven days.    

So, until next time, stay dynamic! 

Do you ever look at successful people in wonder? How do they do it?  

Do you want to get ahead in your life, but it seems like hard work and constant struggles?  

Well, there are things that you can do that will help you in leaps and bounds.  

Let’s start by having you look at your good habits because they will help support you in reaching your goals.  

What are “good” habits? 

First, what is a good habit? Good habits are actions you take on a regular basis that are linked to your behaviours, and they benefit your physical and mental health. Good habits are often thought to need a high level of discipline and self-control. But are they? 

Ask yourself, what are some good habits that you have right now? What are things you do daily or often that really are beneficial to you? 

Take a minute, write a few down, or just think of a few. What’s on your list? 

I’ve made a list of really good habits that support my values, beliefs, and goals. Do you share any of these 10?  

1. eating healthy foods  
2. getting enough sleep  
3. getting up early 
4. meditating daily  
5. working out 
6. eating a good breakfast 
7. taking naps  
8. not wasting time 
9. taking breaks to re-energize  
10. showing gratitude 

Now looking at each habit we can see how they are important to us. 

​For example, one of my good habits is I make my bed everyday. What is the importance of that for me? Well I work from home and my office is quite near my bedroom. So, when I go to the bathroom I walk through my bedroom to my en-suite. Can you imagine walking through your room seeing your bed NOT made?  That wouldn’t be the greatest sight, but if it’s made seeing it all neat and tidy, actually feels really good! It’s a little boost for my energy. 

How morning rituals make you successful 

What are some really good habits you have and how do they add to your success?  

Well, if you start your day by doing something great like getting up early, meditating, working out, eating a good breakfast, or like me making your bed, do you think that kicks off your day in the best way? For sure. It totally does! Successful people not only have morning habits but they have a whole morning ritual of habits. 

The morning is a really great place to start having good habits so you start your day off right. This is when you're going to get the most benefit because it fuels the rest of your day! 

Do you like to hit your snooze button when your alarm goes off? Do you wake up and immediately reach for your phone? If you want to break yourself of these bad habits, think about what would be an ideal habit to have in the morning?  

One popular morning ritual I reference in my book Dynamic You is called the Miracle Morning. It’s a book by Hal Elrod created around as series of steps called LifeSAVERS: Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing (or journaling). Where you do each for 10 minutes or make your own timing for them. 

Many successful people have other morning routines you can follow, or you can make one that serves you.  

You can also create new and good habits that tie into getting ready for work, starting your day, or getting into different activities that you have. 

This week I challenge you to really look at the good habits you have now, and good habits you want to have because next week I’ll share the secret to how successful women achieve their goals by adding new good habits, and how they replace their bad habits with good ones. 

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe and give us a 5-star review on the Dynamic Women Podcast. 

So, until next time, stay dynamic! 

I believe that every woman is dynamic!  

As women we share many commonalities and many differences and it’s the combination of the two that makes us dynamic.  

I have started noticing commonalities among women I consider to be dynamic in my life.  

Based on my observations, I have developed a list of 5 similarities that dynamic women share.  Do you have them all?  

1. Dynamic women encompass many skills and talents 
Dynamic women come from all walks of life. These women come together regardless of age, demographic, likes/dislikes. Together, we create a community that is truly all inclusive so that no woman would feel like, “Oh, that's not me, so I can't be a part of that group.”  

When you embrace your unique set of skills and talents, and be accepting of the talents of others, you can be a truly dynamic woman.  

2. Dynamic women focus on who they are, not what they do  
A dynamic woman focuses on who she is, not her titles, nor what she does, so she shows up as her authentic self. As a coach, I was witnessing the judgment that many of my clients were facing as they often felt defined and judged based on their professional and societal titles. The world was putting them into a pre-sorted box, and it wasn’t fair. This judgement was preventing them from being fully themselves.  

When you start focusing on who you are, not what you do or your titles given to you by society, you can be a truly dynamic woman. 

3. Dynamic women show up 
When they show up, you just know they’re dynamic. You can sense it based on being around them. Not only how you see them from afar, but how you feel when they're near. They're interesting! 

When you show up with a positive outlook and vibe, you can be a truly dynamic woman.  

4. Dynamic women make you feel great 
The way you feel around dynamic women is super awesome. You sometimes feel a connection or just feel like you want to talk to them for the long time. It’s that sensation you feel when in a flowing conversation with them, when you want to know more about them because they're so interesting and there's a positive vibe between the two of you.  

When you show up as your authentic self, others will naturally gravitate to you, and you can be a truly dynamic woman. 

5. Dynamic women embrace change 
You might not really notice, but change is happening everywhere and all around you. We don't have to be afraid of change even though sometimes we are. Just think of it as growing or stepping fully into who you are. You can try to control these things or you can just embrace change. And I'll tell you, embracing change is just so much easier than trying to keep things the same because you can't keep things the same.  

When you roll with the punches and really embrace change as it happens, you can truly be a dynamic woman. 

So I'm curious, which of these five would you say is true about you? Probably a lot of them, if not all of them.  ​

Have you ever felt a pull towards someone that you couldn’t explain right away? Have you ever seen a woman at an event and thought “Ohhh, I need to talk to her!” 

You have probably just spotted a dynamic woman. You know when you feel that tiny spark!

“What is a dynamic women?” Well, I’m going to tell you right off the bat who a dynamic woman really is.  A dynamic woman is…you, of course. 

​All those times that you felt a sort of magnetic pull towards someone…that was probably a dynamic woman. 

Now, you may be wondering “Diane, why did you bother to start this group, this community of dynamic women, this global club? Why do feel so strongly about putting time, energy, and resources into building the global club?” 

Well, three main goals come to mind: 

1. To build relationships: I find that, as we get older, it just becomes harder for many of us to make friends, to build strong connections with other women. This community is a springboard for women to connect more naturally and authentically. 
2. To stop women from being judged: As a coach, I was witnessing the judgment that many of my clients were facing. They felt like they were defined and judged based on their professional and societal titles. The world was putting them into a pre-sorted box, and it wasn’t fair. The community is a judgement free zone where women can feel comfortable being fully themselves. 
3. To create genuine connections: In many communities, networking events, and workshops, there isn’t traditionally a lot of time for people to connect with each other. Not enough time to really be seen and to share more deeply than a lot of the surface-level stuff and small talk. Each Dynamic Women event includes activities and time to get to know each other in a deeper-than-surface-level way. 

Today, through the Dynamic Women global club, my podcast, and my blog, I am building a higher level of inclusivity for our society where any women can belong.

I purposely chose not to use words like “confident” or “powerful” in the name of this community because I felt like women might not view themselves as confident or powerful, and thus exclude themselves from the group. Even though these are powerful words, I still felt they were limiting and could turn people away.

In the Dynamic Women community, we are allowed to build true relationships, without judgment, and create genuine connection with our fellow women. We're a community where we thrive as individuals, thrive as a group, and were we can authentically support each other. 

Next week on the blog we’re going to talk a little more about 5 qualities that make a woman dynamic. 

In the meantime, learn more about being dynamic in the Dynamic Women Podcast.

This article was originally published on February 24, 2016 and has been updated.

Confidence is like an outfit. It can be sexy, it can be cute—sometimes, it can be flat-out over the top.

Wearing confidence is like wearing an outfit. Worn the right way, confidence is sexy. Worn the wrong way, it’s quite the opposite.

These days, I feel like most people are wearing confidence all wrong.

People who wear confidence the wrong way are getting their confidence from the wrong source.

Let’s start with what I feel confidence is.

What is confidence?
Real confidence takes us out of our comfort zone. It challenges us. A confident person knows that no matter how challenging or difficult a situation, they can own it.

Confidence is presenting a speech in front of hundreds of people who intimidate you, and still feeling good about yourself, despite what you are wearing or what you look like.

Confidence is owning it.

It’s knowing that you have the knowledge and power to do whatever you want.
Confidence is loving yourself, and it comes from inside.

What’s wrong with confidence in today’s society? With the growing popularity of social media, it is external factors that are either bringing us confidence or depleting our confidence.

Posting pictures on social media and receiving ‘likes’ gives people artificial confidence and validation.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, social media can make people feel inadequate. It makes us question why our lives aren’t as perfect as the lives we see portrayed there.

These external factors are influencing our self worth, and this is not healthy.
Sure, a great pair of heels and new hairdo can make us feel confident. Posting a picture on social media with the same heels and hair can also make us feel more confident. But this confidence is fleeting (and artificial) if it doesn’t come from within.

A deeper level of confidence doesn’t take a pair of sexy shoes or a handful of likes on Instagram.

So whether you’re in a pair of brand new heels or your oldest joggers, if you have the confidence, you'll look sexy either way. Your confidence and sexiness will simply shine through.

My 3 Steps to Sexy Confidence

1. Believe in yourself.
Like I said, confidence comes from within. If you believe in yourself, and believe in every single thing you do, your words and your actions will reflect this.

Whether consciously or not, people pick up on inner confidence. It is reflected through you and your actions. When confidence is reflected through you, people not only see it, but feel it. When you believe in yourself, others believe in you as well.

Not sexy:
Being too confident. No one likes talking to someone’s ego. When people talk to others who have a big ego, it’s almost like a contest to see if they can one-up you, or try to prove how much better they are than you.

Being too modest. You don’t want to come across as having a low opinion of yourself—or that there’s nothing worth celebrating. There is a lot to celebrate about being you, so don’t be modest about it!

Find that sweet spot between modesty and over-confidence. But be careful—it can be very easy to cross the line between modesty and over-confidence.

Sexy confidence:
Don’t be afraid to share some of the great things that are happening in your life. But when you are sharing your accomplishments, be sure to ask others about the accomplishments going on in their life. You can ask something like: what have you done recently that you are proud of?

2. Celebrate others.
Everyone loves being acknowledged for a job well done. It’s in our nature.
Being recognized when you’ve put your hard work into something is a great feeling.
Embrace this feeling. And share it with others.

Being able to celebrate others and their success shows absolute confidence. It shows that you care not only about your own success, but other people’s as well.
When you celebrate others, you shine a light on them and bring out your own inner confidence.

Not sexy:
Only celebrating your own success and/or not acknowledging others for their support. If someone has helped you get to where you are then thank them!
Never take credit for others’ success. This has happened to me several times throughout my career. It is dishonest, and will show its way eventually. Own up to your successes, and when someone else succeeds, don’t take credit for it—celebrate them!

Sexy confidence
Compliment people. Acknowledge them and their hard work. It can be as easy as saying “You’re inspiring”, or “I admire the way you run your business”. Write them a card, send them an email, take them out for lunch—doing this shows your confidence—and it's sexy.

3. Stay committed.
Setting goals, working towards them, and staying focused can be difficult—and scary. You don’t know if you will be able to accomplish what you have set out to do, or how hard the road will be.

One of the sexiest things about confidence is being able to face the unknown—facing the hard times and obstacles and overcoming challenges.

Commitment will attract your dreams. There are times when it’s easy to give up when the going gets tough, but a confident person overcomes. A confident person stays committed and never gives up.

Not sexy:
Giving up at the first obstacle or challenge. I have seen this all too often in both my career and personal life, when someone just gives up when things get difficult.
Remember: goals take time. They take hard work to achieve. If they were easy, everyone would do it.  If a goal doesn’t take commitment, it’s too small.

Continuously changing your mind. You have to stay consistent. If people see that you aren’t committed, they won’t take you seriously. They won’t support you.

Sexy confidence
Going forward with a goal. Even if you don’t know where it will take you or how it will result.

Confidence is about being able to trust yourself.  Trusting yourself to figure it out, asking for help when you need it, and persevering through all challenges.
You don’t know unless you try.

Ask yourself two questions when you start to lose confidence:
“What do I need to know about this?”
“How do I get around or through that?”
Then, go do it! Become a Dynamic You!

I often get told that I am confident. Yes, that may be true—but it is always a work in progress. Why?

Because as I grow, and as my business grows, and as I expand the services I offer, I enter unknown territory. I’m human like everyone else. I do things I'm scared of, things I've never done before. I meet and work with people I have admired from afar. I hit challenges and roadblocks that seem insurmountable.

But I believe in myself. My belief, my ability to celebrate others, and my commitment are what give me confidence and help me succeed in business and in life.

It’s not always easy.

But where’s the fun in easy?

Mwah!

Liked this post? Here are three more you might also like to read!
A Woman's Guide to Business Survival
How to Get to the Next Level
The Secret to Staying Positive and Passionate

This article was originally published on October 7, 2015 and has been updated. 

How do you stay positive and passionate?  Do you struggle to stay positive, especially when you’re going through a difficult challenge? Is your lack of positive thinking stalling your progress?
 
I am often asked how I stay so positive and passionate. The answer is pretty simple.
 
Positive thinking isn’t hard. In fact, it’s easy to stay positive when you’re doing what you love. Think about it: it’s so much easier to stay positive in life when what you’re doing is supporting your growth, development, goals, and values.
 
When you’re doing what you love, you experience fewer curve balls. roadblocks, or situations that make you angry or sad.
 
Most importantly, when you’re doing what you love, you experience fewer challenges that make you question yourself.

My inner truth.
 
Here’s my inner truth—my life is not perfect all the time. But I choose to be positive and passionate in spite of it.
 
Sometimes it’s hard to know how to be more positive and passionate.
 
You can learn how to find your inner truth and focus on positivity when you understand how to get through bad moments—and what causes those bad moments.
 
So let’s draw back the curtain, shall we?
 
3 Times I don’t feel so positive and passionate (and what I do to overcome these feelings!)

1. When I’m around negative people.

Let’s be honest: negative people suck. Literally. They suck the life, energy, and happiness out of you. When I’m around negative people, I can feel them draining my positive attitude. I can feel my inner truth start to crumble.

It’s near impossible to be positive around people who suck the life out of you. Let’s refer to these people as emotional vampires—because in all reality, that’s exactly what they are.

A big part of my job is to coach people through difficult situations in their lives, situations they chose or were on the receiving end of.

The main difference between these people and emotional vampires, is that they are seeking to make a change and to use setbacks to learn and grow, rather than wallow.

I should be clear about something.

Expressing or acknowledging that you are struggling, or having the desire to clear feelings left after a bad experience, are very different from being a sucky person.

Being able to admit they’re stuck is what sets sucky people apart from the positive and passionate people.

Negative people bring us down. Remember that. If you have negative people in your life who are constantly sucking away your positive thinking, it may be time to rethink those relationships.

Don’t write them off completely, but be honest with them. Help them move forward. Use your own positive energy to bring positivity into their lives.

If nothing changes, it may be time to cut ties before they suck your own life out of you.

2. My values are being dishonored.

This can happen for a number of reasons. You could be doing it to yourself, or someone could be doing it to you.

An example of dishonoring your values is when you procrastinate on a big project, or do something that may prevent you from achieving your goals—like if you’re trying to lose weight but you skip the gym and order a pizza.

When someone is dishonoring your values, it’s a setback.

How do you know when someone is dishonoring your values?

If you’re not feeling good about something someone said or did to you, ask yourself why you’re upset. You may have just had your values dishonored.

Here’s my own personal experience of when I had my own values dishonored:

I run a women’s community called Dynamic Women in Action. When people say they will come and do not show up, I feel my value being dishonored. Negativity starts brewing up inside of me.

Why?

Because commitment, trust and my word are some of my most important values. When those values are dishonored, I have negative thoughts. When this happens, I have to take a step back and self-manage by focusing on where I am honoring my own values.

3. I’m stuck.

Feeling stuck when experiencing obstacles is a surefire way to lose momentum. This is is quickly followed by negativity.

it's hard to stay positive when you're working so hard but aren't seeing any results or progress. Sometimes you have to refocus. Try doing something different. If what you’re doing isn’t working, change it up. Acknowledge that what you’re doing isn't working and take the next step—even if it’s a baby step.

Sometimes when I get stuck, I can feel myself losing momentum. It feels like blocks are being placed in front of me.

Here’s what to do if this happens to you:

• Ask yourself what can be done.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
• Allow yourself to take a break.
• Do not allow yourself to get overthrown by negativity.
• Never fake positivity.
• When ready, get moving again.
  

Follow these steps and you’ll feel refreshed. And once you get moving again, your motivation will return.

Just remember to never fake positivity. There’s a difference between putting your best self forward and faking it.

Never underestimate how much others can help you. Having people listen to your feelings, thoughts and struggles can help a lot. Make sure you have an outlet so you can be your best self.

RECAP!
The 3 ways to be more positive and passionate are:
1. Surround yourself with positive people.
2. Honour your values!
3. Keep moving forward, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

These are three of the top ways I stay positive and passionate, but I have a lot more! Learn more in my book, Live Your Passion.

And, If you’re a woman and want to learn how to unleash the potential that exists inside of you, consider signing up for my Dynamic You Program to help give you the clarity you’re working on.

But everyone is different, so I'd love to hear from you!

How do you stay passionate and positive? Dancing to music? Walking your dog?
Let me know!

Diane

Liked this post? Here are three more you might also like to read!
Work when you can: 6 tactics to get more done in less time
4 crucial questions about your life path
Finding the Right Accountability Partner

​This post was originally published April 2016 and was updated in 2019 and republished.

Mompreneurs have a unique vantage point that few others have.

It’s the opportunity to witness the power of small steps.

The growth of my business has kept pace with my daughter’s. I was still in the early stages of my business when she was born, and at that time I wasn’t completely confident in everything I was trying to achieve.

However, our babies master skills little by little and hit developmental milestones. If we follow that example in our business life--taking small steps that scare us—we nurture our confidence and growth from a place of ease and joy instead of fear.

I know you are thinking, can I really reduce my fear by taking small, scary steps? While it may sound counterintuitive, that is exactly what I am saying!

I often encounter clients who set big, challenging career goals, and while they are full of excitement at the beginning, they stop dead in their tracks the moment fear rears its ugly head.

Why are we paralyzed by fear?

There are a few reasons for this, but it’s largely to do with perspective. How we perceive long-term goals makes an impact on achieving them.

At some point it was decided that for something to be considered a long-term goal, it must be huge. Some goals are even referred to as BHAGs: “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals”. This term describes a long-term goal so large that it changes the very nature of a business' existence. At the same time, we adopted the belief that the outcome of the goal is the only measure of success of failure.

Why have we set such constraints on career goals?

Change your perspective.

I have continued to take small, scary steps throughout my career, committing to reasonably pushing my boundaries a little further each month. Too often only big career goals are set, and the motivation to achieve them wanes too easily.

If we can change our perspective around what is considered a goal, we are much more likely to set, and even enjoy trying to reach them.

Consider this:

1. The size of the goal has no relation to the power it has to move you forward in confidence and growth, ie. big things come in small packages.
2. The process of who you become in completing a small, scary goal has big value and long term traction; ie. we acknowledge process goals as well as outcome goals.

Here’s an example. If you set yourself a long-term goal of tripling your sales in a year, it might seem unachievable. After breaking it down into much smaller goals—such as the short-term goal to attend three new networking events this month—it doesn’t seem quite as foreboding. As you complete each of the smaller goals, your motivation stays high and you inch closer and closer toward that larger long-term goal.

It makes sense that when goals are out of proportion to where you are now, you may commit to a huge goal but not be able to follow through.

Think back to watching your child go from rolling over to sitting up. There were lots of small developments in between. Learning to sit helped develop the core muscles needed to walk, just as building your skills and resources to hit your big goal takes time and development.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone a little further every month.

• Set a short-term goal that is in alignment with the next step of your evolution. For example, if your ultimate dream is to run sold out seminars but public speaking scares you, start with emceeing small networking events, or signing up to Toastmaster classes to improve your public speaking skills.
• See a goal as a series of phases carried out over time. You should not be trying do everything at once. Otherwise you are in constant learning mode and that is exhausting! As moms we have to be conscious of our energy expenditure.
• Shift your perception to embrace process goals vs. outcome goals. When you only focus on the result, you miss out on the value that comes from noticing who you are becoming while working towards the goal. The personal pride that comes from doing something that scares you can be immediately gratifying and confidence boosting.

By consistently doing things that you are afraid of, you build confidence at a pace that allows you to catch up to your striving. When I first started doing free discovery calls, I was a little terrified of pitching my coaching services. With practice it got easier and easier, until the fear vanished.

Shifting your perspective on goal setting, and using small powerful steps, will make your professional and personal growth feel easier. I have certainly noticed it changes the nature of how I do things and how much joy and confidence I feel when I do.

Approaching ourselves with the same nurturing touch we give our kids makes room for celebrating our growth too.

Mwah!

Diane

Liked this post? Here are three more you might also like to read!
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• Manifest more with your vision board
• A woman’s guide to business survival
• How to easily attract your dreams

This post was originally posted on August 15th, 2017 and has been updated.
A few years ago I immersed myself in lead generation strategies in a live training session with Paul Toby of Training Business Pros.

Ever since I’ve been sharing his tips with coaching clients. Now you can have it as well (watch my video if you want to skip ahead.)

Here they are...3 lead generation tips to boost reach and sales:

1. Your website
Google likes it when people stay on your site longer.
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Time on site equals engaging content—valuable content., In fact, Google wants to see people staying on a page for at least 2 minutes - this plays into your page’s ranking on Google. Remember, Google ranks pages, not sites, so keep people on your homepage longer by inserting anchor links that take people further down the page, not to a different page.

2. Your blog
If you don’t blog already - start. Start now!

Blogging is important for bringing people to your website, keeping them on your site and generating new leads. Google likes new content, and the easiest way to continually put out new content is to blog at least once a week. New content leads to higher page ranking, and therefore more website traffic and leads. However, you need to write content people are searching for. Sure, your existing customers might regularly read your posts, but that won’t get you new leads.

Make sure your blog posts include the keywords and key phrases that people would use to find your site online.

Tip: Post on Google My Business. Your business should have a Google My Business listing (and if not, you can claim yours here). Once verified, you can post articles. If you think about it, Google controls how your pages rank in a search, and Google has the option for you to post articles via Google My Business, so it clearly makes sense for you to add your blog posts on Google My Business.

You can probably tell from the video above I like to vlog (video-blog) too, and that’s OK. Some people don’t like to write, orsimply don’t have time, so my tip is, don’t!  
Instead, talk, and use a service like Rev.com which will transcribe anything you say at $1 a minute and they will do it within 24 hours. If you do use a service, note that it won’t be 100% perfect, so do a quick edit before publishing.

Alternatively, write a quick outline of what you want to say, making note of key points, arguments or opinions, and what you want the reader to walk away with and then get a ghost-writer. Of course you must read over other people’s writing to ensure it is written in the same way as you would write, and that the concepts they are writing about are accurate.

If writing is not your core competency, don’t do it. Small business owners and entrepreneurs can’t do everything, so stick with what you know best, and let someone else do what they do best - writing.

3. Have people sharing your work
I am a great believer of tools that save you time so I love this suggestion of using a simple WordPress plug-in called Shareaholic which makes sharing your content to social much easier.

If people can share your content easily to their own social networks, they are much more likely to do so, and a share is a mini-endorsement. If people see others in their online network sharing interesting topics, they are more likely to visit the page, and become a new lead.

So, there you have it - my tips, learned from Paul Toby, to increase your business reach and online leads! If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your network, and check out these additional articles that you might also find interesting:

1. What does your social media say about you?
2. ​Work when you can: 6 tactics to get more done
3. Tools that save you time (and money)