Dreaming of Starting Your Own Business? Would Coaching Help You?

As coach for entrepreneurs it is a delight to be part of clients turning dreams into reality. Carrie is one of the top designers in her field. If you watch either movies of TV you have seen her incredible designs.


"I found Eli at the perfect time for me. After being laid off from my job as an Art Director she has helped to transform the way
I work with myself and others. She helped me to shift a potential tragic situation into an amazing opportunity to reinvent and re establish myself and my career.

I have accomplished everything I had wanted to for the last 3 years with her in just 2 months.

We are still working together as I step into starting my own business, writing a book, and coaching creatives. We have unblocked
issues that have help me back my entire life along with embracing and expressing all of my skills and talents. She has truly been a blessing for me in manifesting my dreams.

Her positive energy is infectious and she makes the process fun and manageable.
I would love to see her energy and gifts shared with as many people as possible."

Carrie Henkle
CEO, The Creative Company
Los Angeles, Ca

Small Businenss Owner: How Are Layoffs Affecting Your Teams

As a women small business owner, the current environment is a perfect storm of stress. It is just as tough on your employees. 40% of employees in a recent Harris Interactive poll said their productivity was negatively impacted by layoffs. Sixty-six percent said that morale has suffered and people are less motivated, and 64% report that there’s too much work and not enough people to do it.

Watson Wyatt/World at Work’s 2009/2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey found:

* 41% of employees think changes the business made has had an adverse impact on quality/customer service.
* 44% of employees said there’s been a negative impact on productivity.
* 79% of employers said there’s been a negative impact on employee workloads.
* 64% of employers felt employee work-life balance has been adversely impacted.
* 69% of employers said cost-cutting made managing work-related stress worse.

As tough as it is, aren't you glad that you are the boss?

Small Businenss Owner: Where Should You Invest Your Hard Earned Money ?

Here I am with Nicole Dunn. We are at a jet launch. This is going to be a heck of a year.

As a coach, I see the power of coaching in my own life. One assignments I got from my coach was to "make numbers your friend."
Here are some tips from fellow Huffington Post columnist Loral Langermeir

"It's still a little scary out there, I know. Where should I look for those good rates of return? How can I turn my mattressed money into a cash machine?

1. Real Estate: this is news to most people, but the real estate market cycles. It goes up, then down, then up again: it always has, and it always will. As the population is growing, people will need land. Right now the price of land is at garage sale prices that will not be seen again for years. By now, sell high.

2. Bankrupt Businesses: the credit crunch and depression have driven many businesses into bankruptcy. Not because they were necessarily bad businesses, but because the owners didn't really understand the business conversation. Buy a business, and build yourself a cash machine better than any bank can offer.

3. Invest in Ideas: if you or someone in your family has a great idea for a new service or product, don't shove that under the mattress with the rest of your money. Get out there and make something of it. Find a coach who can help you turn that concept into cash.

4. Spot your Skills: what can you do that someone else would pay you to do? You have a skill, either a talent that you have developed or something that's been trained, that can become your new cash machine. "

As you know I am a huge believer in investing in your skills! You deserve to invest in you!

Small Business Owners Diet Tips

For many entrepreneurs, taking care of their health is the very last thing on their 'to do' list. Time and time again I see coaching clients sacrifice their well being to meet the demands of their business.

Since women business owners juggle both work and home , it is even harder. Watching Oprah's battle with weight shows how tough it is for women leaders to put their health first.For many women entrepreneurs, losing weight will be one of life's most difficult challenges.

Ladies! Don't be discouraged if you've tried losing weight in the past and you weren't able to -- or you lost weight but gained it all back. Studies at the Mayo clinic show that any people experiment with several different weight-loss plans before they find an approach that works.

Here Are Some Success Strategies To Help

• Focus your thoughts on the positive outcome for losing weight. Think of your new lifestyle as positive experience, not a negative one.
• Recent studies show that approaching weight loss with a positive attitude will help you succeed.
• Cut your goal in half. Most small business owners are used to setting very difficult goals, and then driving themselves to achieve them.
•
• In order to set realistic expectations for yourself, take your weight loss in 5 pound increments.
•
• Focus on behavioral changes and don't focus too much on weight changes.
• Use turnaround techniques. What have been the challenges in the past? Write down the obstacles, and come up with strategies for dealing with those obstacles.
• Make small, not drastic, changes to your lifestyle. Adjustments that are too intense or vigorous can make you uncomfortable and cause you to give up.

Accept the fact that you'll have setbacks. Believe in yourself. Instead of giving up entirely, simply start fresh the next day.

8 Ways To Lower Stress

In my coaching practice I am seeing more and more burnout.

Our bodies do give us messages, sometimes early warning signs. How can we read them? Here are some suggestions for you to consider: These are utterly terrific tips from fellow Huffington Post blogger, Anne Naylor. http://web.mac.com/annenaylor/iWeb/Anne%20Naylor/Welcome.html. It was so darn good, I had to share it with you.

1. Stop The Stress

Go to a quiet place where you are undisturbed. It could be a place in nature; a room in your home which is peaceful for you; a walk by a river, an art gallery, a church building. Find somewhere you can switch off the busy-ness of the day and simply be with yourself.

2. Breathe Into The Condition

To slow down further, take in a few deep breaths. Breathe the spirit of wellness into your dis-ease or whatever it is that is causing you discomfort. Expand out of and beyond the tightness and tension, the issues that are painful for you. Leave them behind with your out breaths. Allow yourself to feel the peace within you.

3. Be Quiet - And Listen

What is your condition telling you about your life and the way you are living? Are you taking care of yourself in the best ways, or do you need to be doing things differently? What are you yearning for that you are not allowing into your life? What might you be resisting? What could you let go of that has been troubling you?

4. Dialogue With Your Condition... ... in writing.

This simple technique can go deeper for you. Be willing to not know and not have the answers. Not knowing seems to open the door to the understanding and information you need. Strange how this seems to work, but in my experience it does. Be open to the knowledge that you have within you.

Get a pad of paper and a ballpoint pen. Write your name on the left hand side and open your dialogue. Call your condition by a name that has a positive note - for example: Courageous Friend. Write it down and let it speak to you.

Allow yourself to write spontaneously. Ask whatever you want. Be aware of the insights that can promote your healing.

5. Free Yourself ..

.. forgive the judgments - guilt, resentment, blame, shame, anger. Judgments cast a shadow over the spirit within you that can promote your healing.

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you."
Philip Yancey

6. Allow Time...

... for your healing to take place. In this time, nurture yourself and do what it takes to nourish the spirit in you towards your greater health. Be open to the resources that can assist you. Learn to love yourself, unconditionally. Take time to simply rest.

7. Express Thanks...... for the lessons learned and the healing that occurs.

"All complete healing is activated through love and gratitude."
Dr John Demartini

8. Celebrate The New You!

Let others witness and learn from you and your process. Share more of your spirit that one other might find inspiration and encouragement on their journey. Have a party. The spirit in you is characterized by joy. Joy is contagious - a sign of good health.

"We are all in the same boat and if we start learning from each other and sharing what we have learned with others, perhaps we can get to where we are going faster."
Anonymous

Do you have an inspiring story to tell about a healing process you have experienced? What did you learn? How was your life amplified through a health crisis? You never know when your story might spark an ember of courage in someone who could really benefit by it.

How To Survive Crazy Office Politics (Part 3)

Here is a continuation of a story from a session with one of my clients.

Earlier, you see that she was passed over for a job promotion. A 'navy buddy' with no experience got the job. He was a drunk and was terminated. She applied again. Nope. The job went to a womanizer. Now it is round three.

"But no, the phone call came and yet another man was selected to replace her.

So the new Director arrived, and so did his baggage...a couple of google searches showed that he was currently unemployed after damaging articles about his job performance in his old hometown.

She continued to smile, work hard and tried not to show how much this betrayal had hurt her...feeling that she was given the work, but never the job or the perks that went with it. (As an executive coach I see woman often "Grin and Bear It" rather than speak up.)

"They hired three incompetent men, and not me - obviously, they just don't want me!" To add insult to injury, the current City newspaper started printing articles about this man's dubious past, along with his current salary of $145K.

Seeing that he was paid significantly more than she had been paid for the same job put her anger over the top. She went home, slammed the front page paper on the kitchen table, and started telling her oldest son of her frustration.

He calmly looked at her and spoke "But mom...you have forgotten the most important factor. You are just a girl, and remember, girls have to work harder and still get paid less than men".

Knowing that he was kidding, she laughed and said "You are right...I forgot about the chromosome factor". At this point, the woman knew that it was time to move on.

Tomorrow we will dissect this tale to get coaching tips that you can use in your career.


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