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March 20 is International Day of Happiness. However, the world right now does not feel very happy, does it? With everything going on in Ukraine, everything we're seeing on the news about the destruction, about all the refugees having to flee, it's hard to be in our own happiness. However, we do need to be coming from a place of our own happiness because we are the only ones responsible for our happiness. A lot of times, people get married, they join companies etc. and are expecting that other person or expecting the company, their job, their career, the money, whatever it is to bring them happiness. However, we are all in charge of our own happiness.  Today, I'm going to share about owning your own happiness, sharing happiness, and some really great actions for happiness. International Day of Happiness This campaign is a global celebration to mark the United Nations’ International Day of Happiness. It's actually coordinated by Action for Happiness, a nonprofit movement of people from 160 countries, supported by a partnership of like-minded organizations. Canada was ranked 15th last year in happiest people in the world. It’s maybe lower due to COVID or because of the floods and fires, the protests, inflation and all the unrest that we've been feeling right now. The top seven countries are Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Sweden. Most of them are European countries, and I'm not going to go into why they're happier because I really want to bring it back to where we are and what we can do in our daily lives. Owning our happiness As I said, we are in charge of our own happiness, but society values certain aspects of our life to make us happy. We look to outward accomplishments, outward material goods like our house, cars, clothes etc. that we earn or buy. But the problem is we're not looking towards what truly makes US happy. I'll share a little bit about where I am right now. I'm hanging out in Ontario. I'm in my mom's guest room. This is one of the places where I am happiest - puzzling with my mom, sitting and watching the news or different TV shows together. We like anything that includes animals like the vet shows or the dancing shows. Sometimes even game shows. It's the simplicity of that. They bring me joy. Also, for me, it's walking in the sun. It's the laughter with friends and family. These are the simple joys that maybe during COVID, you found again. In my coaching world, I focus on having people switch from measuring their success in life for happiness and instead looking to their satisfaction. When it comes from success, we ask ourselves…
Where really we should be measuring our life and our happiness according to how SATISFIED we are. We would ask ourselves…
If you look at your life right now, how would you score your life based on success? And how would you score your life based on satisfaction? I do have a tool that I use to do this. But if you just gave yourself a number for both of them, what would it be? I get that there are different areas of life. I actually have 10 of them. By going through that, you can also see which areas are higher and in which areas are lower. But a lot of times, when I first work with someone and I ask what the number was for each area and I ask them why, they might say,
So again, it comes back to the things that we have… the things that we accomplish or earn. In the About section of dayofhappiness.net, I love this paragraph that says, “A profound shift in attitudes is underway all over the world. People are now recognising that 'progress' should be about increasing human happiness and wellbeing, not just growing the economy.” Some people tell me that they're happiest on vacation, and I asked why. They say, “Because I get to slow down. I get to sleep in. I get to cherish the moments and hang out with friends and have new experiences, and live slower.”  No one's talking about how they achieved all these things on their vacation. What if we brought the things that seem only worthy of vacation into our regular days, for example:
These are the joyful moments, but yet we look to material items and accomplishments because we consider them to be so much bigger. With everything that's going on in the world today, happiness is not about the big material purchases or the achievements. It's about the little things in life. The little moments where we really get to enjoy ourselves. Back in 2015, the Day of Happiness campaign was focused on relationships. It says on the website, “We are a social species, and we thrive on we're closely connected to others. But modern society is leaving more and more people feeling disconnected, isolated, and lonely.” Where can you connect with another person in a real way like stopping by with some freshly picked flowers from your garden or inviting them over to have grilled cheese and soup? It doesn't have to be something major. Relationships. That's how we can share happiness, be part of more happiness and take action. Maybe you never thought about taking action toward your happiness. I kind of forgot about this for a while. I was just in the busy schedule of life and focusing on all the responsibilities I had. Like taking care of two kids and trying to get fit again after all the physical injuries and then having COVID. It wasn't until my counselor said, “Well, what in your life makes you happy? Are you choosing to do the things that make you happy?” This week, while I've been hanging out with my mom and with my family, I closed the computer. I just sat. I told stories. I listened to stories. I asked questions. I looked out the window and watched the birds. I chose happiness. I consciously made the decision to do activities for my happiness now. Now, why bother? With all the negativity in the world, we need to recharge. We need to refuel. We need to have our cups filled. We are so depleted. Maybe you're thinking, “I'm not depleted.” Maybe it hasn't hit you yet or maybe you are not living at your highest level of happiness. When a friend wanted to set up a meal train for me when my son broke his femur, I said, “Oh, we're okay.” Because I thought financially, we can just pay for meals. Plus there’s me and my husband so both of us can tackle this. Yes, we didn't have any family around, but I thought we'll get through this. It'll be okay. I just went into grin and bare-it mode and checked things off. I said, “No, we're good. We can handle this.” She said, “But for how long can you keep your head above water?” You might not even know you're treading water. But it might just take one more thing. We've had COVID. We've had protests. We've had natural disasters. Now, the war in Ukraine. There are a lot of things pulling at us: responsibilities, wearing masks, not wearing masks, vaccines, financial disturbances. Taking action on your happiness, I'd say is one of the critical things we need to do today to build up our energy and emotional reserves so that we don't get depleted. This is also a little message I'm reminding myself. Dr. Mark Williamson said, “The International Day of Happiness is more than just a fun celebration. It also reminds us all that the world is a better place when we connect with and care about the people around us.” Simple steps for Happiness Step one: I encourage you to choose one activity, one thing, or make one choice for your own happiness.  Step two: Reach out to someone else, and do something where you get to share happiness in relationship with them. Then why not have this be a bit of a movement? This leads me to the third step. Step three: Post online about your happiness. What makes you happy? Maybe it's a photo of you with your dog by the beach. Maybe it is a bike ride with a friend. Share it to be a leader of a movement where we choose to own our happiness, increase it and create more happiness in the lives of others. How often do we get together and whine? It's a whine and wine Fest. What if we change the conversations to “What brought you joy this week?” “What made you happy?” They are simple steps, yet things we don't do because of the heaviness of the world and all of our responsibilities. We have a chance here. Not just on this one day, but every single day. So I hope you choose happiness. I hope you share happiness with others. I'd love to hear the things that you do for your happiness to inspire me and for me to be able to share it with others as well. So choose to be happy and to own your happiness! Read my other blogs here:
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Are you wondering if you're a workaholic? Or are you wearing the badge of being a workaholic with pride?  Today we're going to talk about how to know if you're a workaholic and how it's hurting you. But first, I invite you to answer my FREE quiz How Much of A Workaholic Are You because if you’re reading this blog, you probably have a strong inclination that you are a workaholic. Oftentimes in society, being a workaholic shows you're passionate about what you do and you're proud of what you do. People clap for you. People say, “Oh, wow, you're so busy” and “Oh, you're doing so many great things”. Workaholics are often rewarded at work. They set the bar so high that the company thinks, “Wow, they’re such a model employee. They're working so hard.” But working that much could be damaging to themselves and to others. Let me go through some different aspects of how to know if you're a workaholic and how each of them is hurting you. #1: You work longer hours than others. This can show up in different ways. If you work in a company, you’re first in the office and you’re last to leave. If you have your own business, you’re working into the night or maybe you miss dinner because you're working late or you finish at five, but then you go back to it for another round between seven and ten. For moms out there, I know this often happens because your kids come home at three, so you're working later in the day to catch up on those two missed hours. How this hurts you: Working longer hours can lead to burnout. Plus, it's taking away the time you have to be off. You end up feeling ON all the time. It also sets precedence especially if you are at a company where they expect you to produce that high level of work or that amount of work because you're working more hours and when you try to reduce the hours, you're not going to be able to get the same results. It's just not possible. #2: Your default is work. You have a couple of free hours here or there and you directly go to work. I see this a lot in my entrepreneurial clients. You then have a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon free, so what do you decide to do? You decide to work. You're always turning to work rather than other things. How this hurts you: When your default is work, that's the thing that consumes most of your time and your energy, rather than the other things. You’ll be off balance and without rest you’ll get burnt out. #3: Your fun and recreation part of life is lacking. If we look at the “Wheel of Life” (I do a wheel with 10 different areas) and your fun and recreation part is lacking, it means you're not having fun. You don't have hobbies or other interests you get to enjoy. How this hurts you: The issue is you're now looking to your “work area” for all your fulfillment. You're not growing as a person in other ways. You're not able to just chill out and have fun and develop yourself. But when you don't have enough fun and recreation, then it feels scary to take time off. One of my clients in the past had a really hard time booking time off because with no fun and recreation, she was worried wondering, “What am I going to do when I'm not at work?” #4: You're always thinking about work. Let’s say you're at a dinner with girlfriends, but you're thinking about work. You could be hanging out with your kids, but you're thinking about work. You are on vacation, but you're thinking about work.  How this hurts you: Your brain is always at work. It just doesn't get time off. It doesn't have that opportunity to say, “Okay, work is over, so I can move into fun, and be present with my family.” Work is always running through your mind in the background. That's stressful. This can cause high-level of cortisol to be pumping in your system and the adrenal glands to be overworked, that can lead to the next problem. #5: Your stress is high. Whether you are feeling it physically, mentally or emotionally, stress is detrimental. How this hurts you: When your stress is high cortisol levels are high, your adrenal glands are pushing. This causes you to hold weight. I'm not a doctor, but I've gone through this myself. When your stress is high, you're getting headaches or body pains. You're maybe getting sick more because your body doesn't have time to rest and your mind doesn't have that time to be off. This can cause anxiety, panic attacks and for you to shut down. #6: You don't take proper vacations. Have you taken a 10-day vacation or a one-week vacation? What I've seen in clients is they will book time off, and they will fill those days catching up on work or planning for the next quarter. That's not the intention of a vacation. That's not the intention of taking time off. Time off means having time not ON your work. Maybe you’re thinking, “Yeah, I like working.” Well, maybe if you had the opportunity to lay on a beach, go on an adventure, take a cruise, go sightseeing, learn how to cook Thai food, or do a yoga retreat, then you'd allow yourself to have a proper vacation and you'd enjoy it. How this hurts you: When we don't have complete time off, it's hard to feel rested. You don’t have something to look forward to. You don't have new memories to reflect on. What I found in my recent vacation was I was able to connect more fully with who I am as a person, which was really amazing. #7: You choose work over personal commitments. Maybe on a Friday, you see you have a doctor's appointment, but there's a report you want to work on a little bit more, so you skip your doctor's appointment. Or maybe you're not even booking doctor's appointments at all. Or you're not giving yourself the opportunity to go to the gym because you have work to do. You're not doing date nights. You're not going to your kids’ events that are happening through school because you're choosing work. Maybe on the weekends you miss out on special events because you choose to work rather than choose to do the things in your life that are more personal and important to you in that regard because you're choosing work now. How this hurts you: Well, it's kind of obvious with the doctor stuff. Maybe you're in pain and you need to do physio or get a massage and now you're not, so now you're hurting even more. You're also telling yourself that you don't matter as much as work does, and you're going to push these things aside because they don't matter to you. Your circle and your bubble of life and experiences get very, very, very small. #8: You even work when you are sick or hurting. I'll admit I've been guilty of this. I had a speaking engagement, and I had food poisoning the night before and so the whole night I was hugging the toilet bowl (not literally). I still showered in the morning, got ready, and off I went. Not ideal. I did push through but it was for that specific occasion.  But when I got COVID, I took a week and a half off. Reduced my hours. I canceled things. I didn't push through and any other time now that I'm sick or hurt, I really try hard not to work. How this hurts you: When you do that, you risk the chance of (1) making others sick and (2) you’re going to extend the life of that illness or sickness or injury because you're not resting. #9: You work through your lunch. Lunch? What's lunch? I just sit and eat at my desk. I'm super guilty of this. It happens. How this hurts you: Some people are even guilty of skipping a meal which is not good for your energy levels and health. When you don't take a break, your brain doesn't have time to reset and have quiet time. You fatigue a lot faster when you don't have that break. Plus, it's not good for your eyes and your brain to be staring at a computer or doing whatever you're doing repetitively, or over and over again, without having that moment of rest. #10: You have a hard time unplugging from work Anyone guilty of that? Anyone been out and receiving messages? Or kind of sneak off to the bathroom at dinner to try and take a work call? Or are you like, “Oh, I just have to send this email” or “I have to do this thing” and it turns into more. How this hurts you: When you have a hard time unplugging from work, it means you're always plugged in. When you're always plugged in, you're too easily accessible. People get access to you. People are constantly in your space, and you don't have any time to just let everything go to reset, to recharge, and to rejuvenate. You're always ON. Wrapping Up In these 10, which ones do you have the most trouble with? I'd love to hear from you. In my next blog, I will talk about some solutions you can use to get over them. (FYI - Also when you let me know which ones are the hardest for you to get rid of and the ones you want some more strategy around. I can create some specific training videos on how to get rid of those specific aspects of being a workaholic.) Again, here’s my FREE quiz How Much of A Workaholic Are You. It’s going to show you how much of a workaholic you are. That's kind of important because you're going to know if it is a problem for you or if you just have to keep on top of it. It's going to give you some really great insight.  P.S. If you're thinking,”Diane, well, I'd love to not be a workaholic. I just have so much work” then please know that we do have the Virtual Assistant Made Easy Program where I hire a virtual assistant for you from the Philippines. I then help you and your VA figure out what to delegate, what to pass off, how to train them, and all the tools. Some of the results my clients have included sales, more leads, positive feedback from their circle and being invited to do a speaking engagement. I've had a client get three new clients in one week! Another client in the program finished their book! Another client made their first course! There are so many opportunities to stop being a workaholic by passing off some work. Send me an email at diane@dianerolston.com to know more. If you would like to pass off your social media content creation and social media management through scheduling of your posts, then read on. We have a new program we’re getting ready to launch, where we take a piece of your anchor content and we repurpose it for all of your social media and we can even schedule it for you. Join the waitlist here to get first access to it as spots will be limited. Read my other blogs here:
Are you wanting to stand out in your business? Do you feel like you need to reinvent yourself to be able to catch up to the competition? Last year, I went on a road trip through Route 66 with my family, and I learned a bunch of lessons about how to stand out in your business just like Route 66.  A little background Let me give you a little bit of context first. My family and I flew into Vegas for a holiday before my mastermind. From the airport we rented a car and since it was night we started to drive towards our first hotel on Route 66. When we woke up the next day, we were able to head off to Arizona, and our starting point was Kingman. The goal was to go along the old Route 66, which decades earlier, used to be so busy with 10,000 cars a day going along it. When the new highway was created, it was in danger of becoming a ghost town. Some changes were made to make the little locations tourist destinations, and so it didn't lose its life. I'll get into that a little bit later. Because of these changes I really wanted to take my kids and my husband on Route 66 on our way to the Grand Canyon. On my trip, I saw so many cool things that businesses were doing that I felt I should share with you and you and your business can benefit too! A Short History of Route 66 I picked up a brochure from what used to be an old barber shop called Angel and Vilma's Original Route 66 Gift Shop and it has a little bit of backstory. “For 50 years, Route 66 was the main thoroughfare through Northern Arizona and brought much commerce to the town of Seligman. But on September 22, 1978 the newly constructed Interstate 40 bypassed Seligman and replaced the section of Route 66 that had brought the traffic of thousands of cars through town on a daily basis.” Just imagine all of those restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, gift shops, and attractions, their livelihood shut down in a day. Could you imagine your business having an outside source or new technology shut down your business? It’s like owning a Blockbuster, who did VHS rental, and then all of a sudden all video is digital. Things in business can happen so quickly that we can get bypassed just like this new highway literally bypassed those businesses! “The livelihood of the businesses in Seligman disappeared in one day. All the travelers who had one stop to eat, get fuel and stay the night were now quickly driving by just two miles south. For 10 long years, the residents learned to live on very little. Businesses closed down. People moved. Buildings were abandoned.” Isn't that crazy? Super crazy! Then Angel Delgadillo, a barber and proprietor of the town, didn't want this to happen. He didn't want his town to die. Just like maybe you've had times in your business where you've thought,
Long story short, Angel didn’t give up and kept writing letters and raising money. One of the ways he raised money was he sold souvenirs about Route 66. Eventually, it became a historic route. The state of Arizona christened it Historic Route 66, from Kingman, to Seligman. Isn't that amazing? Now, rather than a place that people just went through on their way to somewhere else, Las Vegas or wherever they were going, instead, it now became a really cool touristy destination and adventure. It completely shifted the purpose. Then it actually continued on into California and all these other places as well, based on the route, the work of Angel, the barber. 3 ways to stand out What happened to Route 66 could very well be happening to your business. There could be:
If you’re in that space, then here are 3 things that can help you. (If you feel like your business is doing good, then great! Just take a look at these ideas and see if you want to add any of them to your business) 1. Reinvention Maybe it’s time in your business for reinvention. For Route 66, it went from just a thoroughfare to a landmark and a destination place. Maybe you need something new to draw people in. In this reinvention, it wasn't just, “We've got great burgers” or “We've got great souvenirs.” It then became “Look what we have on the outside.” There is a place on Route 66 that has Giganticus Headicus. It's this big green head and makes no sense to me why it was there. Except it made us stop for a photo…then go in the shop. I chatted with the guy there, probably the owner, who said his friend made it about 10 or 20 years ago, and it is drawing people into his shop. It catches their attention. It's an Instagram moment!  Here’s a photo of me picking the nose of this big head because that is exactly what my son did before he ran off to go to the bathroom! Now, how are you catching the attention of people that are driving by, walking by, or scrolling by? The way they're doing this on Route 66 is with colorful old car signs and other pieces of art. This is the area that inspired the Disney movie Cars. Angel, the barber, was interviewed in his barber shop for three days by the eventual writer of Cars and that's where Cars and Radiator Springs and the whole idea was born. They have other ways to catch people’s attention. There are dinosaurs in the Grand Canyon Caverns. Things are also interactive like in Kingman, they have a massive drive-thru sign. You can drive through, have your car sit there, get out and take some photos. There’s also a train where you can go inside and take a photo. If you're thinking of things like having booths at markets or if you have a storefront, what are you doing to draw people in or to have people be interested? That's what I was thinking about because of the big green head. I asked myself, “Well, what's happening here? This place looks interesting and I need to stop by.” So what are you doing in a physical space with people in person to draw them in? Next, ask yourself or ask your team about your website: “What am I doing to draw people in, to catch their attention, and to keep them on my website longer than seven seconds?” The last thing is when they're scrolling by on social media, what are you doing to capture their attention and to have them stop? There might be some reinvention that needs to happen for you as a person or maybe for you and your business. Even just wearing my hair curly, I've had so much positive feedback. That small change in my hair could be a little bit of a reinvention because it's drawing more attention and having people stop. 2. The Route 66 Passport They have a Passport for Route 66. If you can imagine a little guidebook showing you all the cool places to stop. Well, they've done that. but they also added in the ability to get a cool stamp at each location. They’ve gamified the drive and sightseeing. My kids had so much fun going through the book and getting the different stamps. Even if there wasn’t much to stop for, it gave us a reason to. Ask yourself, “Is there something in my business that I could gamify? Something that I could do to connect one piece of the journey to the next and encourage my clients/customers to continue?” Because I'll tell you, we followed the Route 66 passport that day and we stopped at places we probably would have just driven by because the stamp was there, that interactive piece of it and the milestones. It gives people the purpose to complete it. Also, is there a way you could connect with other businesses and do something similar? It got me thinking about my client journey and all the services and programs that I offer. Could I have my own passport where my clients can mark off how far they have gotten and then I send them something in the mail to celebrate their journey? It might not be the stamps, but it could be something else. I really liked the idea of this passport. What's even more clever is I had to pay for it. I paid $1.75 US for it, which I was like, “Oh, that's so cheap.” But how many times do you go to a visitor center and you get a map, marking off the places to go or a little guidebook for free? They're making money off of this as well, which I just thought was genius! There are also so many other sections to it: the western section, the central section, then there's the eastern section which encourages you to keep going, even if you hadn’t planned on it. Then at the back of the passport, there were extra pages for any other stamps you got. There was even a PRIZE! They have a passport redemption coupon. When you get seven stamps, you're entitled to a special certificate. It’s just made of paper, but it’s a motivator and a reward. You can also mail it in, which I think is clever. Do you know what's also clever for them? You have to send in the passport redemption survey, which asks for your demographics and so they learn more about their ideal customer. 3. Having some charm, humor, and wackiness It kind of blew me away how quirky all of these places are and it’s like they're playing this up. They've got some people working in these different places who are like historians, sharing the history of Route 66. When I was at the barber shop or the Original Route 66 Gift Shop, it was so amazing. The woman there was sharing lots of cool info and encouraging us to experience the shop, “Hey, go sit in the barber seat” and then we noticed a big cardboard cutout of Angel and so in a photo it looked like he was cutting your hair. My son sat in the chair, and he loved it! Then at another place, there’s a whole wall where people stuck dollar bills or different denominations and currency. It has people's names on it and so many things stuck on that wall, like license plates. As we were there, a real ambassador was chatting with us. He even encouraged us to all sit up at the fake diner counter and he’ll take our picture. They're really encouraging these types of connections. That charm, that humor, that wackiness is there, but also that ambassadorship. I want you to think, how are you showing up? Are you just showing up as someone in their business? Or are you really embodying what you're wanting for your business?  Let me give you another example. There's a place called Delgadillo's Snowcap Diner. I think it was actually run or started by Angel as well. They do burgers and fries, and fried foods. I'll tell you though, their shakes are amazing. We went there, and their place is like one of those hole-in-the-wall sort of place. You have to sit outside. But it had so much character. Even the backyard area, it was like the bathroom was an outhouse, but it was all done up inside, almost like you were in Pee Wee's Playhouse. It was so wacky. There was a fake TV that was playing music and all these funny signs. But as we're going to order, the woman there pulls out a mustard bottle and shoots my kids with it. They all jumped back. It was one of those fake gag mustard bottles and only a yellow string touched them. We all had a good laugh. The other thing is to get in, there are two doorknobs. I went to open the doorknob on the right because I'm right-handed, but that wasn't the doorknob. It was the doorknob on the left. It was quite funny. We had a giggle and even funnier when I went to leave and I did the exact same thing. Then after we ordered the shake, she goes, “Straw?” I said yes and she went to pass me a handful of actual straw from a farm rather than a straw you would drink from. So again, we all had a giggle. This is the charm, humor, and wackiness. It makes me think of my business, “Where can I take it up a notch?” She could have just shown up and been like, “Okay, what do you want to eat? Okay, here's your food. Thank you. Bye.” So how could you show up differently in your business as someone more charming, humorous, wacky, like an ambassador, or a historian? All of these people had different ways of being, but so endearing. I really enjoyed my interactions with them. It has me now telling you about it. Maybe it wasn't the best nuggets and fries for my kids. Maybe they weren't the best souvenir shops. But I'll tell you, they left a mark on me. You have to think, how many times in your life have you bought something that's not as good as something else because you liked the person? Or do you continue to shop or buy somewhere because you just love what they stand for? Or do you continue to go to a certain hotel or a certain coffee shop because of their reward system? It's so interesting how a few hours on Route 66 caused all of this in my head. I'm curious for you, out of these three, which ones are new for you or which ones are you going to implement? Has one of them made you think, “Oh yeah, maybe I could do that?” Because what would Route 66, and all the small towns be, if they didn't do these things? They'd be like certain companies out there that didn't evolve, that didn't change. I know you care about your business, and you love your business, or at least you want it to succeed, so one day you can sell it or pass on the legacy to your family, or just enjoy life while you're doing it. I hope that you take at least one little piece of what I shared and look differently at your business, and possibly your life. P.S. If you want to receive tools, tips, and truth about all things life and business, sign up here for free! Read my other blogs here:
Are you feeling like you want to increase your revenue and decrease your expenses? I went on vacation last year to Mexico with a friend. I stayed at a beautiful resort called Vidanta where I learned three ways how you can increase your revenue, lower your expenses, and bring in more clients.  (Think about your business and your business model as I go through these.) #1 - Share resources between different customers At the resort, there are five different hotels under the same brand. Those hotels share all the different services, events, locations, lounges, pools, and staff. For instance, there is entertainment on most nights. People from all five hotels can come and enjoy. The resort pays for one event, one band, one set of musicians, or one form of entertainment. All the resort guests can come no matter their level. Now, where in your business could you have multiple customers from different priced offers share the same service or the same event on different platforms? Where in your business could you have the same resources or assets offered to different customers or different clients under different packages? I've seen this work so well at the resort because for example, if the staff are busy in some location, rather than the shuttles just sitting there waiting for one hotel, the shuttles are going around for all the different hotels - such great savings. Also, the customers who paid more get access to more pools and offerings. Where in your business could you include lower package benefits to higher paying clients, even as bonuses? #2 - Create a desire for a higher-end product The five hotels have different levels of experience, different decorations, and different levels of luxury. Some have different pools just right outside your door. Some are full suites with your own butler. How do they create this exclusivity? The higher-level hotel guests can go to any of the pools and any of the locations and do all the activities. But if you were at a lower-end hotel, which is still amazing, you only get specific ones Guests know which hotels are better than others and since everyone also wears bracelets that shows which people have access to which locations. Imagine this in your business. You're creating a desire for the higher-end product because some of your clients are seeing what other clients get - what perks, bonuses, or offerings are given to your higher-end customers or clients. If they buy a certain package, they get these additional experiences.  I was on the app the resort has, looking through the events and special activities they offered and thought, “Oh, I can attend this one, but I can't attend that one because that's at the super exclusive place.” It makes you covet the ones you can’t have, yearn for them, want them. It makes you walk past certain places and go, “I wish I could go in there.” If you have a platform for your courses or an app where your clients access their materials and additional ones are there but locked it may make your customer think, “I'm going to move up to that. I'm going to one day buy into that when I can afford that” or “I'm going to prioritize that because I want that experience.” Maybe it's “I want that VIP experience” or “I want those opportunities.” #3 - Opportunities to Upgrade There are opportunities during my experience at the resort to upgrade. So not only to upgrade to maybe a higher-level hotel but also opportunities to expand the package like “Do you want to add on this piece?” I know you might be like, “Oh, God, I don't want to go to those sales things.” But think of this in your business. How can you have your clients move up in their package while they are still working with you? Or how can you have them expand to do add-ons? It could be additional:
Whatever it may be. They already love you, right? Just like the people walking around the resort, they already love the resort. Here’s a bonus tip. When your customers are in the moment of loving working with you, that's when you invite them to upgrade. That's when they might add on because they're in the moment of appreciating the experience or the results you provide, and they see the benefit. If you ask them,
 And their response is, “Oh, it’s great”, then that's the time to see if they would like more or to expand their package. Which of the three ways to grow your revenue will you try? Let me quickly go through them again.
I’d love to hear which of these you’ve tried or which you will be bringing into your business. P.S. Are you a member of the Dynamic Women Global Community? It’s a free community for female business leaders to come together to connect, share, grow, and be inspired. Join today so you won’t miss out on any of our programs and events! Read my other blogs here:
My goal with this series is to give you clarity before you have to make decisions (last week’s blog), make decision-making easier in the moment (this blog), and after you make the decision you will stay strong and confident in it (next week).  In the Moment of Making a Decision When you are in that moment of decision-making, you’re probably asking yourself…
I've got you covered with these three questions. Even if you haven't done the “In advance” work from the last blog of having that ideal life designed, your life purpose and knowing your goals, you can still use these three techniques. 1. How do you feel? If someone asks you…
Or you have to make a decision on whether to apply for a certain job… you have to ask yourself…
It's either going to be a strong, “Yes” or “meh”. A lot of times if it's a strong “Yes”, I say go for it. This is definitely in alignment with what you're wanting. But if you get an email, and you're like, “Man, I don't know…” A lot of times that “meh feeling” means you're not really excited about it, so your decision is probably a no. Now, this is not to be confused with that feeling of “Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous. I don't think I can do this. That's out of my comfort zone.” That's a very different feeling. That's like anxiety, worry or a little fear about “Can I do this?” Which is based on your limiting beliefs. Not every decision is a clear “yes” or “no”. Instead, there could be two or more options. It could be a fun decision, for example, “Should we go to Bali or Egypt for our trip?” Or something more permanent, it could be, “Do I want to have another child or not? We've got a couple of children, and our life is really in a good place, but now's the time to make a decision if we have another one”. It might be a decision of, “Do we move to this new place because we can have a slower lifestyle or do we stay here because this is where the work is?” You might have two options that are really good, but it's going to change your life. So this is where we go to the next two techniques. 2. Connecting to your values This is an activity you would do with a coach. It’s one I take clients through and they get a lot of insight from it. Knowing what your values are and being able to connect to your values in decision-making is so powerful. Because when you look at your values and you ask yourself, “Does this decision put me in alignment with my values?” and that's the case, then you're going to have more energy or a more soul-connected feeling that it’s the right decision.  But if you look at your values and that decision is going to have you dishonor your values, then it's going to be pretty obvious that the decision is a no. Let's look at one of the decisions that you could make in life. It could be to take on a project or take on a new role in a company. After some further discussion, you realize the company cares more about the bottom line than it does its customers. You've heard and read on the internet about times where the company has really screwed over the customer or client in order to take more profit. If your value is respect for others or fairness, then you see that in working with this company (especially if that would be part of your role) would mean you would strongly be going against your values. That would be so horrible. You'd be in dissonance (void of energy, or negative)most of your job. It's easy in that case to see “Wow, I don't want to take this role because it would be going against my values.” This can also help you in choosing a relationship like a partnership, employee, collaboration, etc. When you look at your values and their values, you have to make sure they're in alignment. Because you saying “Yes” to an opportunity, might stop you from being able to honor your own values. If you are very strong in your values with leadership or creativity and you know that in this new project you're not going to be able to do either of those then it might be better to say no. If it’s short-term, you could be OK with it, but if it’s going to go on for years, then it’s not going to be a good fit for you. 3. Take the decision and cross-check it with your goals You can ask yourself a very simple question: Does this move me toward my goals or away from my goals? I've had clients come to me with a really amazing opportunity. For example, to have a radio show. If they came to me with that type of opportunity, then I'd ask them…
If the answer is “Yes” and you gave a reason like…
 Then it could be a great opportunity for you. But if your goal this year is to write a book, or to spend more time with your family, or focus on your health, and this was just going to be one more thing on your plate, then it's not going to move you towards your goals so it should be a no. Next year, it might be a great choice because your goals have changed. But for right now you have to check any decision-making against your current goals. I often have to go back to my goals when I'm presented with a fabulous opportunity or one that I feel like, “Oh, I've got some obligation here. I should probably do it.” When I go to my goals and I know what I'm trying to accomplish and the amount of time energy and money I need to do it, it helps me to respond with, “As amazing as it is, I have to say ‘No’ because I need to say ‘Yes’ to my current goals.” Those are the three things that you can do in the moment of making decisions. In my next blog, I will share with you what you can do AFTER you make the decision so you can stay strong and confident in it. P.S. Get your FREE copy of my ebook “Key 2 Success” so you can stop facing 3 dangerous trends that keep professional women overworked, overwhelmed, and pulled in a million directions.
In my last blog, I shared with you three of the things that are stopping you from being organized in your life. Today, I will share with you the other two as well as the solutions you need! The Last 2 Things Stopping You from Being Organized in Your Life FOURTH: No plan or process to follow You have goals, right? You're feeling like, “I know what I want to achieve.” But then you don't have a process or a plan to follow. Being organized is having a system, a plan, or a process to follow. If you're disorganized and you don't have a plan or a process, then you're just grabbing at straws… you're doing whatever pops up in your mind. Which is often reactive and doesn’t give you a great result.  There's no timeline. There are no milestones. There's nothing helping you to make sure you stay on track so that by the end of the year, or by the end of a certain realistic amount of time you've completed the action… you've completed that goal. FIFTH: No accountability to reach your goals. You may have goals, then you may have a plan. But do you have the accountability to ensure you get there? The accountability to push you through the hard times? The accountability to help you to see the celebrations, to see the wins and help you celebrate them? Do you have accountability to know the right strategy to put in place? Do you have the accountability just for those check-ins, checking points, and milestones? You will be more organized when someone else is looking at what you're doing, or when you have to be accountable to someone else.  Now, why is this happening? Why are we feeling disorganized? Well, because we're busy. We are ambitious. There are lots of things that we want to do. But we need to have these things in place, right? Let’s recap.
To make it even easier… these 5 Solutions can be put all together in one to make you more organized and balanced. But did you know that the #1 desire I hear from my clients, friends and business colleagues is that everyone is searching for the elusive Balance! (You too?)Being Perfect in every area of our life is not possible. (I know I've tried!) And because they don’t have balance, they are burnt out, overwhelmed and feel like they’re on a hamster wheel.  Something will always be OFF Balance. AND being balanced is not the only goal. You also want to feel satisfied, have your success be accelerated and live a life around what YOU truly want. And I know how to make it easily possible... But first, what's the cause of this problem? The cause is women may have a business plan, but they don't have a LIFE plan. Specifically, they don't have a DYNAMIC LIFE BLUEPRINT. The Dynamic Life Blueprint has been extremely important for my success and the success of my clients. It’s a 3-Phase process so you have clarity on your foundation for balance and satisfaction, you’ll have confidence in your ideal vision for your business and your life, and you’ll get into action on your Dynamic Goals with clear focus, tools and techniques to ensure you have success. And when followed the results are phenomenal:
Bottom line… you need to know how to properly create it and then how to use it. I will show you both in Dynamic Success Accelerator. This program will help you increase your success, money, and happiness by having your Dynamic Life Blueprint. PLUS… There is new content and many free bonuses for you - like being in a book with me! Learn more about it here. Read my other blogs here:  If you are one of those high-achieving, Type A, smart, and successful women, ask yourself these questions:
 This could be because you’re doing it all yourself. Or maybe, you KNOW that you can’t do it all yourself, and you have support, but doing things yourself is still affecting you in ways you didn’t realize. This is one of the common mistakes or missed opportunities that I see in women that I’ve met. Who is going it alone? It's usually the women who are most capable. It's also women who don't feel like they're enough and then asking for help would just confirm that they aren't excelling in every area. It’s also solopreneurs, entrepreneurs and small business owners. A lot of times it’s the women in high-up positions in the corporate world. They believe that they need to be a lone wolf… that they need to do it alone. But the thing is, women are meant to be in a group. We're meant to be in a community with others. If you look at the stories of successful people, it came from support from others. It came from a team. Why do we keep trying to be a Superwoman? Most of us suffer from Superwoman syndrome, where not only do we have to be amazing in our career, but now we feel pressure to be amazing wives, amazing sisters, amazing friends, amazing moms, and to also volunteer, leave a legacy, etc.  It's ridiculous. I keep having to check myself by asking, “Am I trying to do too much?” But what I'm noticing is that people are not only trying to be a superwoman, where you try to do everything and be awesome in every area, but now we're trying to be superheroes, where we want to be awesome in every area and with every title, but we now also will save everyone in the process. This means:
You might disagree and say that you’ve hired people and you’ve got a team around you, but then:
Here are the three things that could be holding you back and causing you to struggle alone: 1. Your skills and talents You are a talented woman and can figure things out, but you don’t have specific training in certain areas like accounting, funnel building or investing. I have coached women who don’t know how to make a financial budget. I've coached women who don't know how to do simple things with technology. They try to do it themselves by spending time trying to figure it out, watching YouTube, buying programs when it would have served them to hire someone to do it for them. Even if they did figure it out, the time used was more than an expert and the results were often not as good. Plus, did they even enjoy doing it? More than likely, not. Their time would have been better used on their core competencies and income producing activities. 2. Our lack of experience How can you step up to do something when you haven't had experience doing it? For example, closing a big deal, speaking on stage, or firing someone. So yes, you can figure it out. Yes, you can fake it till you make it. But that can be super stressful. It can be harder than it needs to be. Having a mentor or coach walk you through it, give you tips on what you need to do or watch out for and support you is crucial to your growth and success. 3. Our limiting beliefs The saboteur. The Gremlin. The shadow. Whatever you want to call it. It’s that negative self-talk and when we are alone it can circle around in our heads until we believe it. That then changes our thoughts and actions. Slowing us down or stopping us in our tracks. This is where having others around us is integral to cheer us on, call us on our BS and push us towards our goals. These are the things that are holding us back from moving forward. The first two are kind of simple. We could hire someone who has the skills and talents that we don't have, or we're not willing to learn. We should hire people who have experienced things that we want to be able to experience so that they can teach us.  But what happens when it comes down to limiting beliefs? When you try to do it all yourself, you don't have someone to point things out to you to ask you the questions that help you come up with the solutions. As Les Brown said, “You can’t see the picture when you’re in the frame.” We can walk around our whole day with broccoli in our teeth or a piece of toilet paper on our shoe. It's not until someone else points it out or until later in the day that we finally see ourselves in the mirror and we’re mortified and wonder, “How long did I go through life, not realizing that?” How many instances with others did I mess up because I didn't know about the negative thing that was affecting me? Since we can have these three things that hold us back, it's really important that we don't try to do it all ourselves. In my next blog, I will walk you through your options so you can stop going it alone. For now, I invite you to join the Dynamic Women Global Community to meet other dynamic women who are wanting to support one another.
Are you feeling absolutely ready to say goodbye to 2021? I get it. I see it. I hear it everywhere. Everyone's just ready for 2021 to be done and to start 2022 with new energy, new possibilities and positivity. I get that this year almost feels like last year. Time is just running into itself. These past two years have had their own share of struggles, but as always in closing off one year and starting another, we can feel like we get a fresh start on January 1. Picture a dog coming out of the water. What does it do? Shake! Yes! It shakes off all the water and you don't want to be nearby when it does because you'll be sure to get wet. But it's that feeling of release, freshness and shaking off what you don’t need anymore.  So how can we properly shake off 2021 and close it off in the right way so that you feel prepared for 2022? Maybe you need a RESET! I’ll share with you the 3 benefits of doing a proper goodbye to 2021 AND I’m gifting you the chance to do it together to properly ring in the New Year. I really want to speak about the importance of doing this because so often we just get wrapped up in the holidays. We are so excited about Christmas and family and maybe we overindulge. I totally overindulge in chocolates, festive drinks, mulled wine and all the lovely foods. Benefit #1: We need closure The first reason why we need to be able to close off 2021 properly is closure. We always need closure. Even if some bad things happened in your life, like tarnished friendships, being fired from a job, or some unsaid business, there can still be closure. You can't watch a movie and turn it off 10 minutes before the end and not know what happens. There's a part of our minds that knows it’s not finished. The same goes for the year. When you give proper closure to 2021, it means you can open up a new year. By closing off one thing, you can open up another. There's often a saying around, you have to close one door to be able to open another and this is the exact same reason. We need closure from 2021. Benefit #2: We need release The second thing about saying goodbye to 2021 is to release us from what 2021 held over us, and what it did to us. Maybe the sadness, grief, disappointment, or frustration.  Have you ever jumped into a cold pool on a hot day? Then you know that refreshing feeling. It makes you feel alive, you feel awake, you drop the feeling of heaviness and are instantly refreshed. You release the bad as if it’s a bag you’ve been carrying around and can step more boldly into the New Year. Benefit #3: We need to feel complete Here's the third and final reason that will help you tie a bow on 2021. You need to say goodbye in order to be able to walk away and feel like, “Okay, that's done and I'm okay with how it ended.” If you don’t have closure and you’ve not been able to release, you won't feel complete. You'll feel that there’s a little piece sticking with you and it's taking up space you. It could make you worry or feel stressed. By properly tying a bow on 2021, you're going to be able to walk into 2022 feeling so much better. Even if you had an awesome year, you still need to say bye to it! Here’s my gift. Let's do the 5 Day Reset together, so you can have closure, release 2021 and feel complete and ready for 2022. The five-day reset is a complimentary mini-course. It’s mini because it's the holiday time and so it has a small commitment, but it’ll have a huge impact for you. I've been doing this for many years, and the hundreds if not thousands of women that have gone through this with me have said how profound it was, how simple and easy it was to do and yet so meaningful and impactful. I have to warn you… don’t jump into setting any goals yet. AND Don’t jump into your resolutions, until we do these five steps first. So together, we're going to build your foundation so that you're ready to kick butt in 2022. Even if you don't have the energy to kick butt, at least you’ll feel more confident, and more comfortable moving into 2022. Here are the steps to join!
The 5 Day Reset is going to give you these benefits:
I look forward to seeing you in the 5 Day Reset so that we can close off 2021 and get into an awesome 2022. Wishing you the best.
Diane Almost two years since the COVID-19 pandemic started, a lot of people are still struggling without having connections because of the restrictions. Yes, some restrictions may have been lifted, but because of the Omicron variant we’re still far from the normal life that we know. A client shared with me, “I'm struggling without connection because of all the COVID restrictions, how can I connect with others? I feel so isolated.” If this is how you’re feeling too, I'm sorry that you feel isolated. I'm sorry that you feel disconnected. The crazy thing is we can feel isolated or a lack of connection really any time! Even when we have lots of things going on and many people around us, not just in COVID times. My heart goes out to these people, especially the people that live alone or the people who work from home and they're alone, or seniors and they live alone. It's going to take three things to break from the loneliness:
Let me share a little strategy: Strategy #1 Tell people you trust how you feel, like your family, friends, loved ones, connections, even acquaintances because maybe they feel the same way. They might not have told you because they think you're busy or that you have it all together. You sharing first could open up their honesty. One of my friends and I have been terrible at keeping in touch. Absolutely terrible, but we love each other dearly. We're not mad at each other about it, just busy and didn’t call each other. So we made a plan to have phone calls once a week, every Thursday morning. She's driving to work, and I'm walking on the trail, and we have a conversation. What I learnt was that the more you talk with the same person, the more you get rid of the fluff that is at the surface, and the more you're able to actually talk about the real feelings that you have, whether it be isolation, loneliness, disappointment, depression, or anxiety. Strategy #2 If you have some friends, you need to be creative in what you're going to do with them. You can even think creatively.
If you don't have friends, then you need to put yourself out there and start connecting with others. Maybe there is a neighbor that you like who you could invite to go to the park and sit six feet from them. Invite a few people. Maybe there's a local place that is doing virtual wine tastings. You get a bunch of people together and everybody's in their own home trying out the wines. You can also look for places that already have community. There are women's groups like the Dynamic Women community. There are churches. There are other organizations that already have events and groups happening where you can just join in. You can find other people and connect with them. You can go on Meetup.com and see what events are happening because at least some will be virtual and if you prefer you can join some in person events. Some of them might enjoy a hobby that you like. It could be bird watching, video games or great restaurants. Reach out to these types of groups where you know that you're going to focus on a topic that you already like, so you can start to build easy connections that way. You really have to look for ways you can put yourself out there and connect with other people, and then make it a continuous thing that you do. Just like I have with my call with my friend. Be honest about where you're at because if people don't know that you need to hear from them or want to spend time together then nothing happens. And with all of the people you choose to have in your life know that you can also, design relationships, create some boundaries, an of course open up about how you’re doing. Read more of my blogs here:
1. D.R.I.V.E.: 5 Ways to Motivate Yourself 2. The Power of Baby Steps 3. 10 Honestly GOOD habits to have Are you feeling tired and that you can't work like you used to do when you were younger? There is a common problem that I hear from my clients. It’s an issue that affects female leaders, female business owners, and probably lots of men as well.  I was coaching with a group of clients in my She’s Goaled Program. We were reviewing how their goals went that month. One of them said that she felt she wasn’t getting everything done because she wasn’t at her optimum level of health:
I'm guessing you've had those moments, too. Maybe even today! But the next thing she said was, “I have to remember what my age is and not work like I’m 20 years old again.” What it comes down to is how you want your lifestyle and your every day to look like. This is especially true if you're in control of your own time and is important even if you work a nine to five.  It’s not about age. It’s not about your life before kids. It's about how you want to live your life right now.
Answer these questions as the person you are, not even thinking about age. Think about what you want and what you want your life to look like. If you're tired, try asking yourself: What’s the cause?
I had one client who had so much vacation time banked at her company that she basically could take a whole year off! She was a great employee, but she was working herself into the ground. I asked her, “What do you want?” She said she just wants to work less. She was working 80 hours a week. She wants to have a bigger impact in the work she does, but she also needs to rest. She said she wants to be able to take her time off and doesn’t feel she can. She knew she needed to take it, but she worried. She felt like she couldn't have the same impact that she wanted to have if she was to take time off. Surprisingly, since she also worked so much she worried she wouldn’t know what to do with her free time. If you run a business, maybe you think you can't have the results you want if you take some time off. I'm not saying take a whole month off, but if you want to that's totally doable because that's actually what this client of mine did. Not only that, but she continued to take every single August off moving forward. She also took a personal day every so often. It was a day for herself where she would just book a day off with no major plans and just wake up that day and think:
 If you're at a place where you're feeling like you don't like how things are, you can't handle what you used to handle, or you wish things were different, STOP. Take a moment. Really ask yourself:
It's not about comparing to how life was in the past. It's about getting super clear about how you want life to be right now. What do you want to accomplish, what goals do you want to have, and what priorities are in your life? Basically, it comes down to three words: Design your life. You can actually do that. A lot of times people just go with the default or they settle for what's happening in their life. Or they take options that are presented to them. If you want to balance your life better then I’ve got you covered. For the upcoming Black Friday, I’m offering the Ultimate Success Toolkit which contains tools that can help you reach your goals and surpass the feeling of being tired, busy, and overwhelmed! Grab your toolkit here.  |
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