And The Winner Is…

 

Entrepreneurial Quote of the Day:

“Love is the time and space where ‘I’ give myself the right to be extraordinary.” ~Julia Kristeva

Hello Fabulous Women!

Welcome to the You Totally Rock! Awards.  (Also known as the Most Long Overdue Awards.)

So put on your virtual tiara and have a seat.  It’s finally time…

“And the Winner is…”

A hush falls over the crowd.

Presenter Ann Hession, looking ravishing in her virtual designer gown, opens the envelope and looks inside.

She grins.

“And the winner is …. YOU!”

The audience erupts, everyone eager to show you how much they agree, you are the winner, because you, my friend and fellow fabulous woman, you TOTALLY ROCK!

And it’s about time you get acknowledged for it!

Here’s what your reviews say:

You rock because you listen.  You really listen.

You rock because you take the extra time to do it right, whether anyone notices or not.

You rock because you make the people in your life smile when they think of you.

You rock because you do the right thing even when others don’t, and that makes a difference.

You rock because you have the courage to recreate yourself, to push yourself to grow and develop every day. Or at least most days!

You rock because you won’t settle for second best for the people you love. 

You rock because you are honest, caring and kind, even when things aren’t going your way, and that is a huge gift to everyone who knows you.

You rock because you take a stand for people, even when they won’t for themselves.

You rock because, when you are with them, people know they matter.

You rock because you are YOU, the best darn you the world has ever seen, precious, irreplaceable, and long overdue for this acknowledgement.

So get up on that stage, girlfriend, and accept this YOU TOTALLY ROCK! Award.  Yes, that’s right, you with the virtual tiara on your head, walk up there now and take it, it’s yours.

Take it in.  As a friend of mine says, “Let the love in, and let the love out.”  You deserve this award, and so much more.

Have a fabulous, rocking good day, and don’t forget to pass it on and let the precious people in your life know that they totally rock, too.  Let the love in, let the love out.  What a great way to start your weekend!

Thanks, you’ve been great! (Exit music plays…)

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose Coaching, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

The Power of Purpose

Entrepreneurial Quotes of the Day:

“Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission.” ~Zig Ziglar

“What mankind wants is not talent; it is purpose.” ~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton 

Hello Fabulous Women!

I am passionate and committed about the value and power of coaching, and here’s why.

One of the most common things I hear from the women who contact me about my business coaching services is that they are suffering from a lack of clarity.  And I do mean suffering – I can hear it in their voices. 

They say, “I just wish I knew what I really wanted.” 

And to make matters worse, they are usually blaming themselves for not knowing what they want – there’s this feeling that they are supposed to know what they want, and so they think there must be something wrong with them if they don’t.  (There isn’t!)

Interestingly, sometimes even those women who tell me they do know what they want are not truly any more clear.  I know that because, when I probe a bit further with them, they often can’t give me any clear details about what they want.  They say that they want more money, more success, less stress, but they can’t create a clear picture of what that would look like or what it means to them.

I strongly believe that this lack of clarity is the biggest obstacle in most people’s lives, including their business lives.  It’s the “something missing” that would make all the difference in the world if it were present.

I also believe that what creates clarity, and the only thing that creates clarity on a lasting basis, is Purpose.  Having a strong sense of personal purpose, knowing not only what you want but why you want it, feeling connected to what matters to you the most in life – that creates a clarity and power that can withstand anything that life throws at you.

Sometimes when I talk about this with prospective clients, it resonates with them immediately.  They seem to recognize that what I’m talking about is truly what has been missing for them.  Others, frankly, shy away from the idea of having a personal sense of purpose.  They say that there must be some other, better, easier way to get clear and know what they really want.

Maybe they are right, but if so, I have yet to see the evidence of it.  Everything I have experienced as a coach and in my life tells me that there is nothing more essential and foundational to having a fulfilling and successful life than having a strong sense of purpose.  It’s a declaration to yourself and to the world of why you are here on this planet. 

That is why my coaching – yes, my business coaching – involves helping each and every client create and declare a powerful and succinct personal statement of purpose.  And I promise you this: any business you create or career you pursue that is created out of that sense of personal purpose will be a business or career that will give you not only success but also joy and fulfillment in your life. 

I created my own statement of purpose nearly three years ago.  My purpose in life is to inspire and empower people to discover and fulfill their purpose in life, with passion, ease and joy! 

Now let me tell you something else:  I created that statement of purpose approximately 30 seconds before I declared that I was a coach.  After thinking about being a coach for years, that clarity of purpose is what gave me the power to declare it and make it so. 

And that clarity of purpose is the same reason why I had my first three coaching clients in less than a month after that declaration.  Nothing else changed.  I didn’t suddenly have more training or preparation, I didn’t know anything more than before.  The only difference was, I created and declared my purpose, and that transformed me from someone who was stuck thinking about something – for years – into someone who was unstoppable in making it happen.

And here’s something else for you to know.  Less than nine months later, if you typed “women’s business coach” into Google, you would have found me on the first page, at the #9 spot.  Not too shabby!  Today, by the way, I’m at #1 on Google for those keywords, and have been for over a year.  That’s the Power of Purpose, in life and in business.

So my question for each of you today is, What Is Your Purpose?  Why are you here?  No one else in the world has the right to declare an answer to that question except you.  How will you answer it?

I know that some of you have an answer to that question, because I was working with you when you created it!  Others may have a partial answer, and some may feel that they have no idea at all. 

If you, like many women I talk to, are feeling that painful lack of clarity, I hope that this has helped you to see what is missing, and to know that do you have it in your power to create it for yourself. 

If I can do it, so can you.  You can create it for yourself, but it doesn’t have to be by yourself – I know I couldn’t have created my purpose on my own.  It took someone really pushing me and coaching me, believe me!  That’s what coaching provides, and that is literally what I am here on this planet to do.  For you.

If you are feeling that “something’s missing,” then take on answering this question, “What Is My Purpose?”  Whether you do it through coaching or not, consider that your life does depend on it.  Not your existence – after all, many people exist for many years without ever knowing their purpose.  Having a life is much more than having an existence. 

And if you have ever thought about coaching but never taken action, make today the day.  Take advantage of my free 45 minute coaching call.  When you really think about it, isn’t it a bit absurd to spend a lifetime here on this earth and never declare for yourself why?

Have a fabulous, purposeful day,

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

Help for That Stiff Neck and Those Aching Shoulders

Entrepreneurial Quote of the Day:

“There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to deal with them.” ~ Phyllis Battome

Hello Fabulous Women!

Spending hours in front of the computer and typing and clicking until your neck hurts, your shoulders ache and your fingers cramp up can be a reality of working in today’s world.  I want to share a couple of great stretches/exercises with you all, to help relieve strain and pain in your neck and shoulders and upper back. 

I have chronic pain in my neck and shoulders, largely as a result of having been a massage therapist myself for many years, and now exacerbated by all the time I spend on the computer.  I’m afraid that I have quite a bit of repetitive strain injury, primarily on the right side, but the left is not so great either!

Hopefully none of you has quite the level of discomfort that I do, but I expect it’s a pretty safe bet that a fair number of you have at least some pain and stiffness on a regular basis. 

There are two stretches/exercise that I highly recommend.  Now, before you ask yourself why I’m still in pain when I have these two great techniques, let me just confess a little something.  I know these two stretches work extremely well, but I can’t even remember the last time I did them. 

Yes, that’s right, another sterling example of the fact that knowing what to do and actually doing it are not the same thing. 

Today I got straight with myself about the fact that I am not taking care of myself anyway near the way I know how to, and committed to a fresh new start with these poor, much abused neck and shoulders of mine.  How about you?  Ready to make a change and provide your body with some relief?

Here are the two most effective stretches I have yet to come across:

The Eagle – Amplified:

The first is a modified version of a yoga pose usually known as the Eagle.  Standing up, bend your elbows and hold your hands in front of your face, palms facing each other, fingers pointing up.  Keeping your fingers pointing up, cross your left elbow over your right elbow.  As best you can, bring your right hand toward your body, and wrap it around your left forearm, laying your right palm on the inside of your left wrist or even partway up onto your left palm, as far as you can.  Here is a picture:

Some of you will be able to do this with some ease, others may only be able to do a small part to start – don’t worry, whatever you can do will work to begin stretching you to the next level.

Once you have gotten into the position as best you can, you can vastly increase the effectiveness of this stretch by moving around in the following ways while still holding the pose:

First, raise your hands and arms slowly toward the ceiling, keeping the post intact.  Hold for a few seconds and then return to the original position.

Second, unbend your elbows slightly, pushing your hands out away from your body, still held together in pose.  Return to original position.

Third, push elbows slowly out away from your body, pulling hands toward your face, while at the same time bending slowly forward from the waist.  You should feel a great stretch along the sides of your body from your lower spine right up to your shoulders. Return.

Fourth, swing your arms, in position, toward the right, twisting slowly at the waist, up the spine and through the shoulders.  Do the same to the left. Return.

When you are done, repeat the whole sequence beginning with getting into the pose with your right elbow crossing over on top of your left one.  Once you have done this a few times and know what you are doing, you can go through the whole sequence, once on each side, in only 2-3 minutes.

The Wall Waist Squeeze

This exercise is the best thing I know for opening up the front of your shoulders and chest, counteracting all the time we spend hunched forward.  A lot of pain and tension that you feel in the back of your shoulders is actually caused by tightness in the muscles in the front, and a particular muscle (pectoralis minor) that connects the front and back of your shoulders.

It’s very simple:

Stand with your back against a wall, with your head, shoulders and buttocks all touching the wall.  Raise your arms straight out to your sides and bend your elbows so your hands are pointing up, and press your whole arms against the wall, so that your shoulders, elbows and the back of your hands are all touching the wall.

Now, keeping your head, shoulders, arms, hands and buttocks all in continuous contact with the wall, slowly squeeze your elbows down toward your waist.  *Be sure to keep everything still touching the wall – if you are not paying attention, some parts of your body will come forward and you will lose the effectiveness of this exercise.*

Squeeze your elbows down to your waist as far as you can while still maintaining full contact with the wall, then return to the starting position. Repeat at least ten times, working up to doing fifty squeezes in a row.

Well, I had to do all of those several times to make sure I was describing them all correctly, and I do feel much better!  So will you – give them a try!  The more often you do them, the better you will feel.  I have committed to doing them at least once a day before I start work, and I have a reminder set on my computer so I won’t forget – how about you?

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

That Name Tag Guy…

Entrepreneurial Quote of the Day:

“How are you branding your honesty? It’s so rare that it’s become remarkable. Make it what you’re known for. Lead with honesty.” ~Scott Ginsberg, Name Tag Scott

Hello Fabulous Women!

I want to make you aware of Scott Ginsberg, aka Name Tag Scott.  Why is he called that?  Well, Scott is the only person in the world who wears a name tag 24/7.  And no, he’s not crazy, he’s on a mission to help people and companies all over the world to “become more approachable, unforgettable and make a name for yourself.”  And he is very very good at it.

Both for myself and as a women’s business coach, I love to read Scott’s advice, and his website is full of articles that are pure gold.  He is also the author of several books, including “HELLO, My Name Is Scott,” “The Power of Approachability,” “How To Be That Guy,” and “Make A Name For Yourself.”

Scott has so many articles I may never read them all, but each and every one I’ve read is full of practical, insightful, straight to the point information you can use, right now, today, to make yourself and your business unforgettable, appealing and unique. 

Here’s a great quote from one of my favorite articles of his:

“The secret is: Don’t be different; be unique. ‘Different’ is something you do intentionally; unique is something you are inherently.  Being ‘different’ is for amateurs.  Extract and magnify your uniqueness.”

Ain’t it the truth!  All the successes in my business have been from me being my own unique self, and I’ve never had any great result from simply trying to be different.  In fact, trying to be different for the sake of being different usually creates rather than solves problems.  Like he said, for amateurs!

Here’s a link to that particular article in its entirety:

11 Brand-Building Lessons Learned From Wearing a Name Tag 24/7 For 3,000 Days

I highly recommend that you go to Scott’s website and pick a few of his articles to read and use in your business today.  Pick a problem you have been struggling with – a client you want to work with, an associate you have had trouble with, an area where communication has been a problem, you name it, and I guarantee that you will find a new idea, a solution, a new way to look at and approach your problem from one of Scott’s articles.  Most likely you’ll find several and wonder why you didn’t think of at least one of them yourself, when he came up with so many!  Yes, he really is that good, and not only that, he’s funny and extremely readable as well. 

And if you were wondering how someone could actually wear a name tag 24/7, check out this interview of Scott on 20/20, and you’ll see for yourself what he means.

The Name Tag Guy on 20/20

Have a fabulous day!

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

Three Things

Entrepreneurial Quote of the Day:

“Do not fear mistakes, there are none.” ~Miles Davis

Hello Fabulous Women!

I have a great challenge for you today!  Take this one on and you will be delighted with what happens.

First, let me tell you what this came from.  A couple of weeks ago, I had some time on my hands as I was waiting for someone, and I pulled out a piece of paper and started to make a list of projects at home that I wanted to get done.  Just the little things, things I could do myself.

For those of you who are homeowners, and perhaps also for those who aren’t, you won’t be surprised to hear that I had at least 20 items on that list within about 5 minutes.  Re-caulk the shower, touch up the paint where it chipped, reorganize that cupboard, put contact paper on those two shelves, scrape the paint off the glass panes on the door we re-painted two years ago but never cleaned off the excess paint – etc.

All little things, most of which take 30 minutes or less to do, some of which have needed doing for literally years, but which I had somehow NOT DONE.

I got inspired and decided to pick a few and just do them.  I didn’t have to readjust my life, I didn’t have to let something else go undone, all I had to do was just decide to do them and go.

So my shower is re-caulked, my bathroom re-painted, the paint is off the glass, the ivy is trimmed back, and so on. 

There’s plenty more, believe me, but I have gotten on a roll and I’m not stopping.  And the reason I’m not stopping is that, not only am I happier with my home, but the fact is, as soon as I started completing all these little projects around my house, things started to shift in my business as well.

Almost like magic, new women’s business coaching clients started to show up, previous clients reappeared and hired me for further coaching, business contacts called me with ideas and help for marketing and development. 

All of this without me doing anything different in the realm of my business at all. 

Now, I can’t tell you that I know for a fact that these things are connected, but I do know that this is not the first time I have experienced this is my life.  It seems to me that every time I have started to create order and progress in one part of my life, it has always had this kind of ripple effect. 

When we get ourselves “unstuck” in one area, it spreads to the rest of our lives as well, and new opportunities and connections begin to show up all over the place.

Okay, ladies, whether you are now thinking that you know exactly what I mean, or if you are thinking that this is all a little too “woo woo” for you, it doesn’t matter, my challenge to you is the same:

Sit yourself down and make a list of unfinished/unstarted projects.  Little things, things that are easily do-able if you just decided to do them.  It doesn’t have to be household stuff, it can be in any area of your life, but I do suggest the home, because our home environments have an enormous impact on us.  Those unfinished things at home are draining your energy every time you look at them, I guarantee it.

Make your list, and then pick three things on the list and just do them.  Now, today, over the weekend, whatever makes sense for the size of the project, but just do them.

Go ahead, take it on.  The absolute worst thing that could happen is that you will be very happy to have those three projects completed.  You’ll smile and feel energized every time you walk past that newly painted trim or that beautifully organized closet. 

Even better, you’ll probably find, as I have, that things start to happen elsewhere as well – new business, new ideas, new opportunities showing up. 

So get in action on your three things.

And then keep your eye out for that ripple effect.  Who knows what will show up?

Have a fabulous day!

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

I Like Mike

Entrepreneurial Quote of the Day:

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” ~ George Eliot

Hello Fabulous Women!

I like Mike a lot – Mike Litman, that is.  Mike is a coach and trainer and I love reading his blogs.  He has a great way with words and a gift for taking an important concept and bottom lining it in a way that has a palpable impact. 

For example, one of my favorite quotes related to creating financial/business success is from Mike:

“Every level of income demands a new you.”  Isn’t that great?  It just cuts to the chase to make the point that to create something new, it’s yourself you have to recreate.  Love it.

I was prompted to direct you all to check out Mike Litman today because of the most recent blog post he wrote, “Why Self Discipline Is Tough And How To Make it Easier.”   Mike writes with his usual honesty and clarity about the realities of making changes in our lives and what makes a difference.

As a women’s business coach, I love what Mike has to say about the importance of creating a vision and the immediate impact that has on our lives here and now.  It inspired me to “go back to the future” and revisit my own five year vision of my life, and believe me, that has already impacted my life today. 

I highly recommend this post to all of you.  As Mike says, put on your Nike’s and run over to his blog to read it: Mike Litman. 

Go ahead, read Mike’s post, and I also highly recommend subscribing to his blog, because if you are looking for inspiration, support and motivation for creating success, Mike is one of the best out there.  Enjoy, and let yourself get inspired!

Have a fabulous day!

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose Coaching, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

The Sisters of Sizzle

Entrepreneurial Quote of the Day:

“Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” ~Oscar Wilde

Hello Fabulous Women!

I absolutely love hearing about all the cool things that you all are up to.   And I also love to spread the word and maybe make some fruitful and fun connections between all the great women out there!  So here’s a shout out for Elise Kloter and Jill Pagano, the Sisters of Sizzle, who have a fabulous radio show called “A Life on Fire.”

“A Life on Fire” is not your average talk radio.  As the Sisters say, “We love connecting you to the people who are living their dreams and helping us to do it too. From finding your joy to finding your soulmate, from great health to great sex, we are here to uncover the secrets and break out of the box, all with laughter, compassion and love.”

So what do they talk about on “A Life on Fire?”  Seems like just about everything from startups to feng shui, from relationships and dating to finding your passion, from women entrepreneurs to personal empowerment.  Jill and Elise hash it all out with humor, insight and straight talk.  They have also created a powerhouse group of regular monthly contributors called Team Sizzle.  Team Sizzle members are people “who serve and improve the lives of others through their passionate businesses.”

Sound like some women you might want to hang out with? Check out their next show!

You can listen to the Sisters of Sizzle live online every Wednesday from 3-4PM Pacific time.  You can also listen to any of their previous broadcasts online, if you miss a show or that time doesn’t work for you.

Upcoming shows:

 September 23, 2009

Team Sizzle: Nicole Ohebshalom, Radiant Living Wellness, www.radiantlivingwellness.com

Featured Guest: Victoria Likes, author of Manage Your Remodel and Save Money. Great (experienced) advice on how to manage a home remodel so your dreams come true without turning into a home remodel nightmare!

September 30, 2009

Team Sizzle: Candice Shutter, of Shine Your Brilliance, www.shineportal.com

Featured Guest: YOU! Call-in show, share your thoughts, ask your questions, lots of giveaways

October 7th, 2009

Guest: Team Sizzle Stylist Kim Crumpler with highlights from fashion week and benefits of creating a style vision board.

Some previous shows you can listen to online include topics such as feng shui, creating life balance, overcoming underearning (!), living fully at any age, wellness and much, much more. So go ahead and check out the Sisters of Sizzle, and let your friends know, too!

One more thing, ladies — think you may be interested in having your product or service featured on the infamous Sizzle List?  Contact Elise or Jill at info@sistersofsizzle.com to find out how!

Let’s get sizzlin’!

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

Make Use Of — Terrific Resource Website!

Entrepreneurial Quote Of The Day:

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”  ~ Albert Einstein

Hello Fabulous Women!

Here’s a quick note to tell you about a wonderful website I discovered recently, Make Use Of.  

As a women’s business coach, I am always looking for new resources for my clients and blog readers.  I discovered Make Use Of (MUO) recently through a Twitter post that recommended this MUO article: “How To Start a Blog That Gets Instant Traffic.”  That title certainly caught my eye, and I found the article to be excellent, which prompted me to explore the rest of Make Use Of.  I was really pleased to find the plethora of information on so many diverse topics, all on one site, and subscribed myself right away.

So what will you find on Make Use Of?  Here is a sampling of recent articles, in no particular order:

• Create Free Temporary Phone Numbers Easily With INumbr
• 5 Sites to Learn How To Repair Your Own Computer
• Coollector – A Huge Movie Title Database And Collection Organizer
• Cool Websites and Tools (a recurring topic with new resources each time)
• 10 Powerful Productivity Tips For The Outlook 2007
• NeoK12 – An Educational Kids Website That Teaches Your Children
• 4 Websites With LOTS of Completely Free Ebooks That Don’t Suck
• How To Turn Gmail Into A MultiTasking Machine
• 7 Writing Addons for Changing Firefox Into The Ultimate Writer’s Suite
• 15 Popular Codes For Smiley Faces And Their Meanings
• Faux News: 10 Best Websites For Fake News And Satire
• How To Get Rid Of A Trojan Horse Virus That Won’t Go Away
• 10 Free Online Malware And Virus Scanners

I found all of the articles I read to be clear and well written, full of genuinely good information and usually written with a sense of humor as well.

Make Use Of also has a Search function so that you can go there and search for back articles on any topic.  For example, if you are a movie fan and that post about the movie title database caught your eye, you can type “movie” into the search window to search for related posts, and you’ll come up with results like “The Awesome Internet Guide To The Movie Addict,” “Top 6 Sites To Watch Horror Movies Online For Free,”  “5 Ways To Catalog Your Movies Online,” and more.

You can do the same thing with “computer virus,” “productivity,” “networking,” “how to _______” and so on.

So go ahead and check out Make Use Of and see what you can find for yourself and your business today!

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

The Face of Your Franchise – Importance of a Great Professional Headshot

Entrepreneurial Quote of the Day:

“The most important persuasion tool you have in your arsenal is integrity.” ~Zig Ziglar       

Hello Fabulous Women!

There are many of you out there who, like myself, have a business whose primary presence and existence are on the internet and phone, even if you also have a physical business location.  For myself, the great majority of my clients and blog readers are located all over the country, or even the world, and we have never met in person! 

For any service-oriented business, from legal services to design to coaching, from editing to real estate to marketing, prospective customers or clients need to feel a sense of connection and trust and confidence before they will consider doing business with you.  If they meet you in person, you have that chance to connect with them and start to create a relationship.  But what if their first contact with you is not in person, but on your website?

There are many elements involved in starting to create that sense of trust and confidence online.  Simple things, like making sure you have no typos, have a huge impact.  A site that is easy to navigate, copy that makes sense and engages people – all of these elements and others work together to create that critical first impression.

But one of the most important and effective ways to make a connection with your potential clients or customers is to have a great picture of yourself, a picture that captures your personality and draws people in.  This isn’t appropriate for every business, but for many, a great picture of you is a powerful way to start to build rapport. 

Let’s face it, we all are much more likely to do business with people we like than with those we don’t like or don’t feel connected to, and a great picture can instantly create that feeling of affinity, and have us thinking “that looks like someone I’d like to know!”  A bad or boring picture can also be a real turn off.

For myself, as part of my rebranding of my business and website, I recently had professional pictures taken by a wonderful photographer here in the Rhode Island area, Pamela Bhatia.  I had been using a snapshot picture of myself, which had a good feel to it, but was certainly not a high quality, professional picture, and I decided it was high time I went ahead and got the great picture I really wanted for my site. 

That was the easy part – and very fun, Pamela was great to work with!  The hard part is choosing which picture to use.  Since I’ve learned that it is almost impossible to be objective about myself – and especially about the way I look! – I decided to include three of the pictures I am considering using, and am asking you to let me know which one you think would be the best picture for my website. 

I highly recommend that when you are choosing pictures for your website (or any use in your business), you do this as well.  Do not fall into the trap of thinking that you are the best judge of what picture will look best and be most effective.  Even professional photographers and design people will tell you, the hardest thing to be objective about is themselves and their own appearance!

If you have a blog or email group, you can ask your readers to help, but at the very least ask at least ten people to give you their input.  You will almost certainly find that the image others find most compelling is not the one you would have picked!

Here are the three images to choose from (none will have the photographer’s tag on them when used):

                                           

 

 

 

Any of you who are willing, I would love it if you would send me an email to ann@ontrackandonpurpose.com and tell me what your first choice is, 1, 2 or 3.  Take a look at my homepage at www.ontrackandonpurpose.com to see where the picture will be located, which may help you decide which is the best picture for that use (as opposed to just the picture you like best).

Finally, I do want to encourage you all to take the time and invest in a great professional picture of yourself, if you haven’t already done so.  You deserve it, you’ve earned it, and you and your business are worth it! 

For those of you in the Southern New England area, I highly recommend Pamela Bhatia, she is absolutely wonderful and easy to work with and I love her photographs!  Her website is www.pamelabhatia.com.  For those of you in the NYC area, I have had a great recommendation for photographer Judy Schiller, whose work you can see at www.fotoqueen.com.

If any of the rest of you have recommendations for photographers in other locations, please share them with us all by leaving a comment on this blog post or emailing me with the information.  This includes yourself, if any of you are photographers – please let us know!

Thanks in advance to all of you who give me your feedback on which picture to put on my website.  Please know that I’m always happy to reciprocate with quick feedback on aspects of your business you want another opinion on – I confess, opinions are not something I ever run out of!  It’s a girl thing, helping each other out, and it makes the work much more fun and enjoyable to keep those female qualities of connecting and community in the mix, even as we each work on our own endeavors, all over the world!

Have a fabulous day!

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose Coaching, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach

Getting Back On Track

Entrepreneurial Quote of the Day:

“I have to remember to tell the negative committee that meets in my head to sit down and shut up.” ~Kathy Kendall

Hello Fabulous Women!

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am definitely in the middle of my usual end of August, slightly out of control, what am I supposed to be doing now, discombobulated, how can I get back on track syndrome.

Just got back from two weeks of (mostly) vacation, way too many emails to go through, kids go back to school next week (!), house looks like a disaster, realized I forgot to pay the sewer bill back in July, haven’t blogged in weeks, how on earth can there possibly be this much laundry to do – ladies, please tell me I am not alone!  Is this really what being a woman entrepreneur looks like?  Apparently, yes, it is.

Okay, then, this is for all of us.  Let’s take a deep breath and we’ll get through this together.  Ready?

The first step is to step back and get some perspective, take a look at the big picture.  The laundry may be screaming at you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the most important thing to focus on.

Here’s what I’m doing.  To re-establish some perspective and sanity, stop and ask yourself what you want your life/home/business to look like by the end of September.  Not today, not in six months, just in a little over a month.  Be specific, what do you want to have completed, have in process, and so forth.  Here are some examples from me:

By the end of September I want to:

• Have three new ads in place on appropriate websites advertising my business coaching services
• Have my two daughters doing their own laundry (!)
• Have painted my bathroom
• Have blogged consistently 1-2 times per week
• Have two new coaching clients
• Have my bedroom reorganized and decluttered

There are a few more individual items, but those are the main goals. 

Now here’s something interesting.  As soon as I stopped and looked out into the future just a few weeks, and then started writing down some very specific goals, I immediately stopped feeling overwhelmed and started feeling energized and even excited to take on some of those goals.  (That bathroom is really calling to me because I finally picked a color – can’t wait to do it!)

I no longer feel a crazy pressure to get it all done right now, which is impossible and self-defeating, and instead I feel confident that I can get all of that done – and then some – over the next few weeks and I’m ready to get back on track and in action.

So if you are feeling even a little bit the way I was, my challenge and suggestion to you for today is to do the same thing – stop and write down what you want to have accomplished by the end of September, and then get in action. 

On September 30, my life is going to have less laundry in it and more coaching clients.  Not to mention a beautiful teal paint above my black and white bathroom tiles.

And you? What’s your life going to look like on September 30^th? 

Have a fabulous day!

–Ann

On Track and On Purpose Coaching, Business Coaching for Women Entrepreneurs, Business Woman Coach