Authoritti5.0 Magazine - Issue #58

EDITOR'S NOTE

When I started my coaching business in 2015, almost every digital marketer had one common message and that was to find a niche.

To be honest, I struggled with that idea because why would you find a niche. If you are starting a business, wouldn’t you already know your niche?

I really challenged this paradigm and through listening to hundreds of these gurus, I realised that many of them were selling the notion that to become a successful coach all you had to do was find a hungry niche, read three or four books and sell a course to that hungry niche that will result in a 6 figure+ coaching business. Unfortunately, this is still happening to this day.

There is a fundamental flaw to this approach because (a) it is a get rich scheme and (b) the fake it ‘til you make it approach is well and truly done.

Clients are smart. They do their research, they will follow you on

By Mary Henderson | Photo by Melinda Hird

social media for months, they will do a competitive analysis and ask you the right questions to find the right person who can absolutely solve a problem.

Circling back to the digital gurus, there is truth in niches but there is better way to approach it It’s called micro niches owned by micro specialist.

Micro specialists are experts in one area they know for sure and they are very clear on what they do, who they serve and what they promise. Therefore, finding their niche is easy because they already serve these people in some way They understand how to solve complex problems and can deliver an end to end solution without a shadow of a doubt. They do not need to solve every moving part in a macro problem, they just need to solve one micro part as THE specialist

Think about it like this. If you had a circle that represented the macro overarching problem and cut it into 8 pieces, each piece would represent one micro part that needs to be solved within the macro.

That means, you would need 8 different specialists to merge their genius to solve one intelligent outcome

Micro specialists like Dana Mantilia, who is featured on the front cover, is an expert in digital marketing and exclusively serves SME’s in the Cyber Security industry She has an end to end solution that can solve one micro problem. Her featured story represents micro niching beautifully and succinctly

As we move into a fully digitised society and competition becomes more and more noisy, we need to find ways to stand out to be seen and heard as the authority in our area of specialisation. Micro niching is a great way to own a small piece of the digital real estate and establish yourself as an authority so you can build a 6,7,8+ figure business.

Enjoy this issue

Authoritti5.0.

MANTILIA DANA

Mary

Welcome to Authoritti5.0. I cannot wait to talk to our guests on a topic that's very close to my heart. I'm sure for many of you this topic has been one of the biggest pain points in your business. Dana Mantilia has been in the business world for over 27 years, running large multimillion dollar companies for over two decades. Her entire life has been dedicated to developing a multitude of creative marketing strategies to grow sales. One of the most successful of those strategies was for her family’s car dealership. Dana opened up an insurance agency in 2005, and one of the services Dana wanted to offer her clients and the general public was identity theft protection

It was an issue that was close to her heart, and Dana partnered with a California based software company to launch a product called Identron Identron monitors and alerts users to credit activity associated with their social security number and personal information detected on the dark web While introducing Identron to the market, Dana quickly realized many people lacked knowledge about identity theft, cyber crimes, and scams. So her next challenge was to find a way to get in front of folks and help educate them about these issues. There were a few limitations along the way, of course. First, Dana did not have the budget to advertise, and she was also not a technical person in that field. She also had very few followers on LinkedIn or social media. But despite these limitations, Dana decided to create online videos with tips and takeaways that people could implement to protect themselves and their families from ID theft and cyber attacks.

The knowledge didn't need to be too technical to actually add immense value As Dana was posting her educational videos and building her LinkedIn following, she started her education in cyber security and ID theft That journey led to a Harvard University certification as a Certified Identity Protection Advisor, which I believe is what you got, Dana, at the Identity Management Institute® (IMI) Dana went on to attend a great Bootcamp led by one of the best LinkedIn content leaders All of that helped her further develop her content, understand the LinkedIn algorithm, and learn social media best practices for maximum visibility. Her LinkedIn videos now have over 3.5 million views, and that does not include her YouTube exposure. Since this issue of Authoritti5.0 is all about micro niches, I think I found the perfect person to take us on her journey.

Dana, welcome to Authoritti5.0!

Dana

Mary

You are the perfect person for this interview specifically around this topic, which is very close to my heart because I truly believe the power is in micro And when I think of micro, I always think of a pebble dropping into a pond and the ripple effect it creates To me, a micro niche is the same What I love about your approach is first, you could see a gap that you could close with your software product at the time, Identron Then you started educational videos using social media platforms like LinkedIn to position yourself as the go to person And then you realized that there is a bigger audience that you can serve. Now, I know a lot of people will be very interested in this interview because in a crowded market, across every industry, the only way to stand out is to find your micro niche. And the only way to make money is to know your micro specialization. Was it easy for you to self realize that you are actually sitting on a gold mine? And what was the first thing you actioned when you realized the opportunity?

Thank you for having me, Mary.

WE HAVE TO TRAIN THE PEOPLE, AND NOTHING IS GOING TO IMPROVE UNTIL WE ACTUALLY GET TO THAT.

,,,, ,,,,

Dana

Well, as you just mentioned, at first I had no credibility whatsoever, so I had to do something. I started just thinking about regular people needing help with identity theft, scammers, and cyber situations that can affect everybody, but we really didn't understand much about it. So I thought it was a good thing for me to start my message on LinkedIn. I just started speaking to regular people who have older parents and showing them some things they could do to protect them. I also talked about what some kids would say on Snapchat and all the stuff on their phones that they're doing.

And then because I speak in layman's terms, I started doing cybersecurity training for non technical audiences, which is a huge area because people are causing problems when it comes to cybersecurity It's not just putting this widget in place, and then not needing to worry about cybersecurity We have to train the people, and nothing is going to improve until we actually get to that.

There are a lot of things that business owners probably take for granted about what their employees are doing or not doing, and people started asking me specifically about the Department of Defense’s new cyber security regulation, wondering if I was going to get involved in it.

And I thought, well, I'm not a technical person, but I thought maybe I could interview these amazing cyber security professionals, and that's what I do over on my YouTube channel And it started taking off because those folks are very smart, even though they're not always very good at marketing I realized there was something here I could do I had a bunch of different clients, MSPs data, encryption companies, etc And some of them were in the CMMC space I just talked to them about the basics of putting together a social media program that would give them great content for a year, making sure that they knew whom they were talking to because just like I have my niche, they needed to find theirs.

Of course, a lot of cyber security professionals say that everybody needs cyber security, so they can help everybody. And I would say they’re probably right, but it's a lot easier to speak to one audience on social media. And I always use the weight loss coach example where somebody says as a weight loss coach, they can help anybody lose weight. But you can't message to people on social media like that. You need to be more specific, like saying you work with men who are between 50 and 60 years old, who have been working out, but have that last 10 pounds they really need to lose So, you only speak directly to them and give them food and exercise tips. They are going to listen and hang on every word.

And that's exactly what I'm trying to do with my marketing towards cyber security and IT professionals. It’s what they need to do when they're trying to go after SMBs or whoever they want as a client for their cybersecurity services. So, you're absolutely right It's all in the niche

B V I O U S L Y W E A L L H A V E S E L F D O U B T W I T H H O W I T ' S

O I N G T O C O M E A C R O S S , B U T

A L W A Y S T E L L P E O P L E T O

DO IT.

,, ,,,,

Mary

Absolutely, but putting yourself out there is hard for a lot of people, Dana. Now, granted, you are very funny and you bring humor into your videos, but you get your message across to your audience and your content is in context It’s exactly what you were just talking about with the weight loss analogy Did you have to overcome any limitations or self doubt when you decided you were going to put yourself out there, no matter what? Or did you feel that there's an industry that really needs your help and you knew you could provide a solution?

Dana

Well, first of all, it's terrifying to start doing videos and posting them on LinkedIn, especially when you don't have many followers. I got no love, no likes, no comments, no nothing. And some of my videos were a little goofy, so I had no credibility with those videos. I had a software product, but I was sure they were going to say, ''This lady has a product that's going to protect us? You gotta be kidding me.'' It was a very fine balance, especially while I was building the audience So yes, obviously we all have self doubt about how it's going to come across, but I always tell people to just do it

And don't look for the likes or comments, because there won't be any there when you first start. But there's a huge opportunity to speak to whomever your niche is going to be and become the authority in that little area. And when you're practicing creating the videos, remember that you're the only one who knows that they exist, so you could always delete one if you think it's terrible.

Mary

I love it. Would you say a feedback loop is critical when focusing on a micro niche? I'm imagining that you've spent a lot of time dissecting the comments in your post engagements, especially when your engagements started to increase If people start to gravitate and resonate with your messaging, they will start to engage in the actual post. So, did you find that you were using the engagement commentary as a feedback loop to further fine tune your content and give the audience specifically what they wanted?

Dana

Well, for me, the number one thing on social media is you have to show your true self. You have to just let your personality come through because eventually it's going to anyway. And if you start doing all your videos and you're very proper, and then the casualness starts to kick in, your audience is going to wonder who the phony baloney is So, showing that you are a real person who cares about real issues is a huge thing

When I got comments, I would respond to every single one. And I'd even send anyone who just liked my post a message and say, ''Hey, thank you so much for taking time to check out my post. I really appreciate that. I'm trying to spread an important message here to help people better protect themselves. And that just really helps me.'' So, when they saw my next post, they'd want to know what I had to say again because they knew I'm just a regular person who took the time to message them to say thank you And that's just how it works, at least my experience

Mary

Absolutely. Let's just talk about LinkedIn for a moment, which is obviously your primary platform

Your content has to this day had over 3 5 million views There are no signs of your audience going away If anything, they love what you give them What is your approach to content creation? Are you an educator? Are you an entertainer?

Are you both? I mean, what advice would you give other people who have just found their micro niche?

They're getting on LinkedIn to be seen and to be heard. How do they know what type of content to create?

Dana

Well, I would try to visualize who your ideal is now that this is the lane, you're going to stay in. Who is the decision maker at the end of that who's going to be looking and making the decision on whether to choose to do business with you?

What are 10 fears that this person might have? And what are 10 tips that you could give this person? You can make an individual video, or text post or photo post on each one of those things. They will know that you're speaking directly to them and that you can also repurpose purpose that information. When I do a video, this is literally the whole process I go through.

I will focus on just one of these tips, and I try to keep it as short as possible. And I try to always layman's terms, never any techie terms with anything. After that, I might write it out a little bit, and see if there’s anywhere, I can add a little bit of humor. You can't force humor, because that doesn't go over well But sometimes if you can do something like the '80s video I did, where I wore this big, crazy wig I was talking about being a kid in the

'80s; I had the white Princess phone that my brother and I would fight over at the end of the night to see who could get the last phone call in Of course, the kids nowadays can't relate to the Princess phone stuck to the wall, but I knew everybody that was my age would understand that

Mary

Oh, I’m laughing! And I do recommend that everyone go and see Dana's videos. You know, you go from grandma to the blow up Susie doll. It's just very funny. But based on your experience, Dana, what do you think are the three things that most business owners are actually not leveraging, that potentially are game changers, especially on a platform like LinkedIn?

Dana

Well, very few people on LinkedIn are posting content So, there's a huge opportunity here And a lot of people are doing Google pay per click ads, but they're just over there competing on keywords, which is not that exciting If they look at where the opportunity is on LinkedIn to start posting, if they look around and they see what their competitors are doing, they’ll probably see that their competitors are not doing much. So, no matter what industry you're in, you can do something. If you're in nutrition, you could do little tips on nutrition. If you're a financial advisor, you could talk about retirement plans and just explain a little bit. That's something that a regular person's going to stop and watch. But as soon as it starts to get too much and they don't understand, they'll turn it off.

That's what all my cybersecurity people do Sometimes that people just tune out because they don't even know what we're talking about anymore

And at the end of it, the company’s going to have a lot of great content that’s going to be aimed at the right audience. It’ll be content that scrollers stop and read, and a commercial, the kind of stuff that people probably don't even think about because they don't know what to do with social media. They just throw stuff out there and do it hoping something sticks. And that is never going to work.

Mary

People feel more Pcomfortable eople feel more comfortable knowing you've helped kother nowing you've helped other people who are in their psame eople who are in their same exact eboat xact boat

,,,, ,,,,

Mary

I agree with you. Understanding the audience and matching it, especially on LinkedIn, is critical. If I'm correct, only about 3% of the 850 million members on LinkedIn actually post content. That's ridiculous. And a lot of it is rubbish as well, so there is an opportunity You've helped a lot of people in the cybersecurity sector and you have now decided to create an online program called Cyber Social Now you can scale and introduce a one to many model, something that I'm very passionate about Why did you make that move?

Dana

I was going through all these steps with all of my clients and it got repetitive, so I thought I'm saying the same thing, we're creating the same things, and it's the same process everybody's going through. And I knew I could definitely reach a lot more people. Of course, because there's only so much time in the day, I could only have so many clients at one time. But if I could create it so they would be watching the videos, doing the activities, and then we would be meeting and having coaching calls, I could definitely help a lot more people out with this. And it's very specific.

I think just going back to scaling into an online program environment, one of the great things about that is that when you recognize that you can serve a micro niche, there's true expertise in that. It's very different from being a little bit of everything I could say I'm a weight loss coach because I read five books and I lost 20 pounds Now, suddenly I'm the world's greatest weight loss expert, or I consider myself a weight loss expert But then I've got somebody here who's a sports scientist or nutritionist, with 35 years of experience, focusing on women going through menopause a true micro niche

Now we have two very different people who claim to be experts in weight loss, but what it comes down to are the believability and the trust factor. And when you start wrapping around all of these solutions, like an online program to serve that micro audience, there is real expertise behind all of that. It's not a one size fits all. It's not something that I have learned just by taking a course. I actually am living, breathing, eating, sleeping this and have been for years and years and years. That's what is so special about a micro niche. And I think that your audience sees you like that. You have your YouTube channel, you have your history in running businesses, and you have the product that you developed many years ago in your insurance company.

So you have the believability factor and the trust factor working for you, which to me is your currency If you don't own that, if you're not believable and trustworthy, your brand has no currency Let's just talk about that for a moment, Dana, because it's a different type of conversation Maybe just walk us through when you speak to a potential client: What is that like for you, knowing that you have all these ticks, the background, and this program and that you have a genuine solution that can solve a problem from A to Z that is outcome driven?

Dana

First and foremost, I would never recommend somebody trying to teach something that they don't completely know like the back of their hand because they're just going to get in trouble doing that. And I know that my program works. I've seen it tried and true, which helps me when I'm explaining exactly what the program’s methodology is and how it’s worked.

Mary

When you are selling the solution to a client, that conviction and understanding of your area of expertise make it a lot easier to sell it because you understand the methodology from A to Z You know that your program is outcome driven What is the experience like when you know you have the expertise and you're selling it to a client?

Dana

Well, it's very confident from my side, but what I also want to say is that I think people feel more comfortable knowing you've helped other people who are in the same exact boat. And I mean really in their same boat because I work with IT and cybersecurity companies. People like to know that whomever they're dealing with has already dealt with other people like them. They're not going to be the Guinea pig here, thinking she’s never worked with a company like this before. And, they can check with some of those other people to see what the experience was like.

STAYING IN YOUR LANE

Mary

Yeah, absolutely. I guess, given your background, in building multimillion dollar businesses, you understand that a business without assets can potentially have a short life. And I want to explore this with you because I think that a lot of people don't understand this. You have social media, you have your content creation, you have your messaging, and you have your solution. But now we also need to build assets in the business. It's not just an informational product that's living somewhere in the cloud, s here today, gone tomorrow. This is an understanding of what it means to build assets Because if you don't, I truly believe that your business has a short life This is why I love creating online programs because I see online programs as an asset You could sell your online program tomorrow, Dana, without you and call it a day if you wanted to Most people don't get this concept And I noticed that you have the Cyber Dana Academy Is this the start of building multiple online training programs for the cybersecurity industry?

Oh yes, it is. There is much to come here, and I can't wait to get the rest of these courses on there. And it’s going to be covering a multitude of topics, one of them being ''The Sales Presentation.'' I know that's something that people sometimes struggle with. They just start talking to others about what they're doing now or what they have in place, but too often they're having a conversation with somebody who doesn't understand the technical stuff. And the technical person is trying to ask them what they're doing, and it's like talking in different languages

Dana

IT'S EASIER TO FOCUS ON WHO YOU NEED TO GO AFTER, WHO YOU NEED TO TRY TO MEET AND TRY TO GET IN FRONT OF

THINK I'M A VERY PLAIN SPEAK KIND OF PERSON. AND I THINK EVERYTHING I DO WITH MY BRANDING IS VERY SIMILAR. I TRY TO SAY MORE WITH FEWER WORDS.

,,

Another topic is going to be ''How to Do an Annual Service and Systems and Services Review.'' That way, every year you can say this is what we're doing for your current products and employees. This is the lifespan of this stuff, and we’re making sure that every year you're going over all that. And it also gives you an opportunity because there are new things developing every day, so you could then provide another service for those clients

Mary

Well, this is the power of systemizing your area of expertise, which is my absolute passion. You can then create aspects of that system in training programs, and you can cater for the entire niche from end to end, not just one part of it. What you've just shared with us is the power of systemizing your expertise and the benefit it has for the end user, the potential clients or the clients. And the content that you create on LinkedIn or other social media platforms is so refined and defined that it speaks to me, not at me. I think that creating these online programs and this trajectory that you're on is just such a powerful path

I think one of the greatest opportunities when focusing on micro niches, Dana, is your ability to create an entire brand around it

The brand is you, Dana, not the name of your online program It is so much easier to do this when you are focused on one industry or sector or niche, and I call this staying in your lane. How have you approached your personal brand and how has that impacted your brand reach online and offline?

Dana

Well, it's helped me because I think some people just start, oh, well, I can do that. And I can help somebody with that. And that's not staying in your lane. And if you do stay in your lane, it does wind up getting a lot deeper. It's thin, but it's deeper. So, you start reaching more and more people Then you start getting involved with some of the organizations that my world MSPs belong to And I think my online network is growing that way

Offline, some of the organizations that I'm involved with get to know even more of these people. I'm in the Northeast CMMC Coalition, which we help for the Department of Defense's Cyber Security Regulation. But something we always need to be thinking about is by staying in your lane, it's also easier to focus on who you need to go after, who you need to try to meet and try to get in front of. Otherwise, you could go talk to these people or to those people, taking time away from where if you really focused you'd be able to get a lot further.

Mary

But, Dana, the look and feel of your branding also is wrapped around your messaging And for those listening to this or reading this, check out Dana's website cyberdana com You’ll see that the messaging is very powerful. Of course, Cyber Dana, your whole branding is all around avatars, which makes sense.

So, people come to your website and see lots of very colorful avatars Why? Because they're relatable And even with your branding and your logo, you've gone with Cyber Dana, which is really clever. Then you've leveraged that Cyber Dana Academy with your signature program Cyber Social. The alignment is wonderfully sublime, because it's just memorable. It makes sense. It's believable; it's congruent. And this is the key with micro niches: The congruency is really important. Was that something that you considered as you were on this trajectory?

Dana Well, yes, Mary, it is, especially after I met you Mary

But you are the brand behind it, Dana, and that's the key here And the power behind the brand has just been so amazing It's a standout And looking at it now, what are your thoughts?

Dana

Well, about my brand? It's kind of weird to talk about my brand. I think I'm a very plain speak kind of person. And I think everything I do with my branding is very similar. I try to say more with fewer words. I know the people that I'm working with don't have time to dillydally. They're very busy. They need to know that we're going to get this done. They don't want to sit and chat for half an hour about whatever; they want to just make sure that what they're doing is going to accomplish whatever the end result is And I think that comes across with my brand

Mary

And even your messaging is exactly like that. It's to the point. It's black and white, because you understand your audience so well. And if they need more, they get on a call with you because you are the sort of person who gets to the point, but you also understand your audience So, looking at micro niches this is for people reading this you have to understand the mindset of your audience, so you can actually give them what they want in the way that they want to consume it. And this is why your videos and content do so well, Dana. You give them exactly what they want without wasting time.

So, when we are looking at micro niches, what advice would you give someone who can't get their messaging right? Maybe they're confused or they aren't specific about who it is that they can serve.

Dana

First you need to figure out who their decision maker is going to be with whatever you're selling or offering

Who is the person that will be listening to your messaging and deciding whether they want to do business with you? And once you've identified who that person is, really look at them as a specific person. Is it a man? A woman? Are they in their 30s or 60s? What kind of social media platforms do they use? What do they like to do after work? Really get an idea of who they are as a human being, because it's going to be a lot easier when you clearly visualize that person.

Then come up with 10 fears they likely have and 10 tips of whatever service you provide that would help them. That's the most basic thing to really focus on to figure out what your brand is going to be. And then you'll feel better about yourself because you got that done and you can create some content about it. You can build upon that.

Mary

I think, Dana, when we are looking at the whole notion behind micro niches, micro is wrapped around your micro specialization When we

are talking about micro specialization, we're not saying that you are just a little bit of something bigger It is simply about the one thing that you absolutely know for sure Maybe you can walk us through the ability to systemize that micro specialization into a process that can walk the target audience through a step by step, logical conversation. It will also be emotional because they can feel that you can solve the problem. How has that helped you walk people through a process of elimination?

Dana

Well, that's extremely important, and knowing how that decision maker thinks is critical: What type of a thinker are they? What do they usually use to make decisions? Do they have to collaborate with other people? Do they just want to know that this is what it is? Do they just make the decision and move on? You really have to identify that because that's how you have to set up your whole system when you're talking to them And when you're explaining how your system works, it has to be something that makes sense to them.

There are lots of different audiences, and you just need to really know yours. And it's not how you want to tell them; it's how they want to hear your message. What you have to always remember is that people are thinking, ''This is how my program is.'' Well, if that's how your program is, and it doesn't resonate with who you're talking to, it’s not going to work. It is not about you; it's about how your decision maker's going to understand what you're saying

Mary is an internationally recognised Personal Branding and Online Specialist who helps industry experts turn their knowledge, wisdom and skills into a 6 figure+ online business and become a recognised brand in their niche or industry Mary is also the founder of Lights.Cameras.Action an end to end coaching program designed to get industry experts to commercialisation in 24 weeks. She is also the founder and Editor in Chief of Authoritti5.0 Magazine.

Mary, this is a dangerous question. I'm going to say would ask him if he ever really knew what his path into and the number of lives that he was going to affe

Mary

That would be a very interesting conversation. Dana, thank you so much for being my guest. I really appreciate you. You are a trailblazer, somebody whom I admire and have massive respect for, and I've been fortunate enough to get to know you.

You can contact Dana here:

How A Fractional COO Helps You Scale Business

By John Knotts

So many people think that scaling a business is a pretty simple activity. Do a little of this, and do a little of that, and “poof” …magicbusinessscale!

If it were that easy, then why do so many people talk about it all the time? When everyone is talking about something, then I believe very few actually know howtodoit!

Imagine this: We have been discussing employee satisfaction since the 1930s –now term du jour is employee engagement – yet today businesses are struggling with things like the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting. Yet there has been more published on this business challenge than any othertopic!

How can so many people be talking about something for so longanditisstillanissue?

Honestly … I do not think most people know what they are talkingabout!

Business scale is one of those topics that many people are talking about and very few people actually know anything about. Most people believe “business scale” is just another typeof“businessgrowth.”

Thisisidiotic!

This is business growth and there is business scale. They are inherently, two totally different concepts.

Scaling without growing provides preparation for businessgrowth.

Growing without scaling ensures businessdisaster!

That’s why, for the past year and a half, I have been writing this monthly column on growing, scaling,andimprovingbusiness.

But what does it take to understand the difference between growth and scale (not to mention improvement)? Who really knows how to scale a businessandwhyitworks?

You rely on someone that has worked with hundreds of organizations to lead your businessthroughscaling!

But, wait John! Who has done this?

The answer is … a Fractional ChiefOperatingOfficer(COO).

WhyaFractionalCOO?

Wait!WhatisaFractionalCOO?

That is right … most people have not even heard of a Fractional COO. In fact, when I wrote my Forbes article, Is a Fractional COO Right for Your Business Today, no one was talking about this concept. That was back in August 2020 only two years ago!

That is why that article shot up to the number one slot on Google searches with the search term “Fractional COO.” In the past two short years, the concept of Interim Executives has become a big deal in the freelancemarket.

However, what is the difference when it comes to a Fractional COO?

A Fractional COO is a “been there, done that, got the t shirt” kind of person. If a typical COO normally comes with ten to fifteen years of multi-focused business experience, then you can imagine what it is like to engage the services of a Fractional COO. They typically are in the later year of their professional lives, and they have close to thirty (or more) yearsofexperience!

When it comes to growing, scaling, and improving business, this is a COO’s bread and butter. However, business scale is still the most elusive of the three business focus areas that I wrote about. This is because business scale is not a simple one-and-done activity that sees immediate results. No, business scale is always strategic and long-term in nature.

So, this gets us back to the question, “Why a Fractional COO?”

Let us be honest, when a business starts out, the owner, president, or CEO is typically the driving entity of the business. They find themselves “working in the business and not on the business.” Even when they start to hire people to get themselves out of working in the business, they still struggle with the pull to stayworkinginthebusiness.

The number one solution to get you out of working in the business and onto working on the business is to literally duplicate yourself. Your duplicateisyourCOO!

A Fractional COO, however is someone that has worked with many businesses and knows everything the owner, president, or CEO knows and WAY MORE!

This is because their job is literally to work in the business so you can focus working on the business!

See, this is the job of the COO. They are the right hand of the CEO – the second in charge. Their job is to do everything the CEO did before, so the CEO can focus on the future. A huge part of this effort is focused on growing, scaling, and improving thebusiness.

Most importantly, the COO’s role is 100% focused on scale. No one else in the company has this solefocus.

WRITER'S

SowhyaFractionalCOO?

Well, for starters, if you have a COO, that person is probably already handling this role. If they are not, then perhaps they need a good Fractional COO to coach them.

However, more than likely,yourbusinessdoes not have a COO position and you are not in a financial position to hire one full-time. This is where a Fractional COO can come in and double or triple your profit so youcanactuallyhireone.

Today is the day that you take your business to the nextlevel!

As a personal and professional business coach and consultant, John Knotts has been growing, scaling, and improving businesses for over 25 years. John portrays himself as a Success Incubator with his company Crosscutter

Enterprises His deep thought leadership on #business and #success can be found on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and his website, www crossctr com

CONTACT

JOHN:

@successincubator

FIND A FRACTIONAL COO THAT WILL HELP YOU QUICKLY GROW, SCALE, AND IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS!

YOU WANT TO BE AN AMAZING LEADER?

BE A BMENTOR E A MENTOR

The unseen benefits of mentoring relationships for mentors and mentees

By: Gina Riley

THE MORE TYOU HE MORE YOU DDEVELOP EVELOP YOUR YCAREER, OUR CAREER, YOU YNEED OU NEED MORE MOUTSIDE ORE OUTSIDE PPERSPECTIVE ERSPECTIVE

NOT –LESS NOT LESS

,,

As a senior leader, is mentorship missing in your professional development? Are you a mentor now? Do you have mentors yourself?

Mentorship is relevant at each career stage and integral to professional development no matter your level in an organization If designed with purpose, the mentor and mentee relationship is proven to be mutually beneficial for senior leaders and professionals early in their careers.

I welcome you to read my interview with Lisa Fain as we explore the reasons why we never outgrow the need for mentorship as well as the benefits one experiences mentoring others in later stages of one’s career.

Lisa Fain is the CEO of the Center for Mentoring Excellence, an expert in mentoring and inclusion, a global speaker, and an executive coach. The Center for Mentoring Excellence provides facilitation, training, and guidance to organizations of all sizes around the globe to help them create more inclusive cultures through mentoring A former employment attorney, Fain was formerly Senior Director of the diversity and inclusion function at Outerwall Inc (former parent company to automated retail giants Redbox and Coinstar)

LET'S START WITH THIS –WHAT IS A MENTOR?

LISA FAIN

A mentor is not a 'sage on the stage who tells you what your journey should be based on what they have accomplished. Instead, a mentor is a 'guide on the side' and facilitator of learning who helps you determine where your best developmental path is and provides additional perspective They invest in your learning and development by creating a reciprocal relationship

WHY DO LEADERS NEED MENTORS IN THE LATER STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS?

While I think it is obvious why those early in their career might need a mentor, I would say one never outgrows the need for one. Notice I have not mentioned a mentor needs to be somebody senior to you? The more you develop your career, you need more outside perspective not less. You need somebody to ask if you've considered other viewpoints. Mentors share what has worked for them and challenge you to think through who else you could talk with to gain a better perspective.

CEO, CENTER FOR MENTORING EXCELLENCE

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS IS THAT IT HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR MENTORS WITH DIFFERENT FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF EXPERTISE OR PEOPLE IN OTHER INDUSTRIES.

Absolutely! I think peer mentoring is incredibly powerful. I'm excited about the idea of what we call Complementary Mentoring. Many people call it reverse mentoring, but I'm not a fan of the term because I think there's an implicit suggestion in the word ‘reverse’ because a junior person might be able to mentor someone senior. Both people in a mentoring relationship have something to offer to each other. In Complementary Mentoring, mentors offer intergenerational, interdisciplinary, and intercultural perspectives that create a reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationship.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A MENTOR, A SPONSOR, AND A COACH?

With mentoring, I think about three characteristics. There is reciprocity, learning, and co creation. Reciprocity is where both mentors and mentees each benefit and have a relationship focused on learning. Co creation means that both parties create the terms of the relationship together. The job of a mentor is to invest in the mentee's development in a way that is reciprocal and creates a safe space where the mentee can share the challenges they are working on and where they want to develop.

A sponsor's job is to be an advocate or a champion for the sponsee (sometimes called the protégé) when they are not in the room and to help create exposure to opportunities It's not that a mentor can't create exposure to opportunities, but it's not their explicit function in the way it is for a sponsor

Mentees need a safe space to share all their problems and challenges so they can seek help and guidance to work through them This enables them to hitch their wagon up to a sponsor so they can advocate for them Many mentees don't want to show up for a sponsor sharing all their warts because they might not be as receptive to advocate for them. In fact, it can compromise the function of a sponsor and lessen the likelihood that they will champion them for new opportunities. That said, a mentor can and should create opportunities for exposure for their mentees, too.

Having mentors and sponsors is important, but one person does not need to serve both functions. It is particularly important and critical for people who have been traditionally

marginalized in the workplace to find a sponsor who can be a champion for their advancement because these sponsorship relationships happen less organically

I am most asked about the differences between a mentor and a coach, and I say they are sisters or cousins to each other All mentors are coaches, but not all coaches are mentors Coaches use the skill of appreciative inquiry, which is the skill of asking questions and curiosity. Also, coaching is not necessarily a reciprocal relationship. Mentoring is driven by the mentee and is about learning and development based on a particular performance element. Coaching is driven by the coach and the coachee's needs. The coach brings the tools and process, whereas the mentoring process is more about co creation.

I'VE NOTICED PEOPLE STRUGGLE WITH HOW TO IDENTIFY A MENTOR AND ASK FOR A MENTORING RELATIONSHIP. WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND TO PEOPLE TO OVERCOME THIS MENTAL HURDLE?

The struggle often comes from people asking the question “Who?” before they ask the question “What?” Don’t start by asking who should be your mentor The first question is “What do I want to learn?” Steer clear of being attracted to a personality over learning needs You might cut off possibilities that could be fruitful Think about who would be a great learning fit

All this requires introspection Think about what you want to learn and then back into the qualities you want in a mentor Then, ask yourself, “Whom might I know who might fulfill those qualities?” or “Whom might I know who could introduce me to the right people?”

The other thing that intimidates people is how to make the ask. The answer is you don't do that initially, just like you don't ask somebody to marry you on the first date. People love to be asked for their expertise! Let them know you want to learn about a specific area they've been successful in and if they would be willing to discuss it. Tell them you are trying to learn and educate yourself.

I don't recommend saying you are looking for a mentor right off the bat because the two of you have not determined if you are a good fit yet You need to warm up the relationship a bit Maybe follow up on the first conversation with a second Let them know your takeaways and how you are putting them into practice Ask if it is okay to follow up in a couple of months

DRIVEN BY THE MENTEE AND IS ABOUT LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT BASED ON A PARTICULAR PERFORMANCE ELEMENT

MENTORING ,,, , ,,, ,

THIS IS A GREAT TACTIC THAT HELPS PEOPLE DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS. I ADVISE A SIMILAR APPROACH FOR FOLKS TO NETWORK AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS VERSUS DIRECTLY TALKING ABOUT JOB OPPORTUNITIES. DON'T START BY HANDING YOUR RESUME OVER AND ASKING FOR TIME TO TALK.

Some people may not be willing or able to engage in a coaching relationship. It is worth testing the waters first, which is less intimidating. This means you will not find a mentor tomorrow, and it will take some introspection, planning, and work before you start this process.

WHAT SHOULD A MENTEE SEEK IN THE RELATIONSHIP?

Mentees need to first establish the guardrails for the relationship How often do you want to meet? Every couple of weeks? Monthly? What will you talk about? What are your expectations? Will you meet at a convenient coffee shop or do a walk and talk? You will need to clarify this, so you both know what you anticipate getting from the relationship.

This exercise will help a mentee make a specific ask when they approach a prospective mentor to formalize the mentoring relationship.

This is not a drive by conversation; instead, it's one with purpose and measurable progress against stated goals. Ask your mentor how you can determine if the mentoring relationship is successful. I like to say that you keep the main thing the main thing. Keep learning and goal achievement at the forefront. The primary purpose of the mentoring relationship is development.

HOW DOES ONE ENCOURAGE A PROSPECTIVE MENTOR TO INVEST TIME IN YOU? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR THE MENTOR?

The benefit for mentors is that they have an opportunity to enhance their leadership and communication skills Sometimes, mentees will think they are burdening their mentor; however, if the relationship is developed properly and best practices are implemented, the mentor will gain as much or more than the mentee The data shows mentors become better leaders, gain additional perspective, and have greater career satisfaction.

How do you encourage a prospective mentor to say yes? Be somebody who takes ownership of the relationship, owns their learning, is willing to be reflective, and steps out of their comfort zone.

When we train mentees, we say there are four things that mentors want to see in their perspective mentees. They want to know they're ready to learn. They want to know they are open and trusting. They want to know they are willing to step out of their comfort zone. And finally, they want to know they are a good listener.

There are many ways to demonstrate all four things and show a prospective mentor you are worth the investment.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED TO BE READY TO EXPLAIN HOW YOU WILL SHOW UP ON THE FRONT END, MAKING IT CLEAR WHAT THEY MIGHT BE GETTING INTO. THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A MENTEE VERSUS A MENTOR?

The mentee drives the relationship and needs to be learning and following up No mentor wants to chase after their mentee, and nobody knows better the needs of the mentee than the mentee themselves. Some mentees might say they don't know where they want to go; however, the answer is still within you, not the mentor.

So, what is the role of a mentor? Ask great questions, be a great listener, and be ready to learn alongside the mentee. You won't have all the answers. Many mentors feel a little nervous about not having all the answers to mentees' questions. Your job is to share your perspective, knowing it is not the whole truth. Mentors need to set the tone for sharing, being vulnerable, and being willing to co create the terms of the mentoring relationship.

YOUR BOOK BRIDGING DIFFERENCES FOR BETTER MENTORING DESCRIBES FOUR PHASES OF A MENTORING RELATIONSHIP. WOULD YOU WALK ME THROUGH THE PHASES?

First, I want to credit my co author, Lois Zachary, for creating this model, which she first introduced in her book The Mentor’s Guide, years ago. We just completed a Third Edition of that book together. The first phase is preparation and getting yourself ready for the relationship. Take time for self awareness and connection. I like to say connection before content. Don't dive right in. Meet first, get to know each other, and set some initial goals. You need to build a relationship so that you can be vulnerable together.

The next phase is negotiating the terms of the mentoring relationship. Sometimes, we get pushback on the term negotiation because it sounds awfully legalistic and formal. But that term is important because what we are talking about is making an agreement You are co creating your terms of working together What will this relationship look like? What are your ground rules for success? What are the logistics, boundaries, and confidentiality agreements? What are the goals we will work towards?

Some people struggle with this because it feels overly formal, yet if you miss this, you are very likely to have your relationship go off track because you have not set the parameters for working together.

IT SOUNDS VERY FOUNDATIONAL.

It is! Many people feel like they should be able to be more casual, and they don't need to do this step. I've talked to many people whose relationships have fizzled or gone off track, and I ask them to revisit their agreements. They usually say they didn't create them in the first place or forgot about them.

The next phase is enabling growth, which is a goal getting phase of the mentoring cycle, and this is the heart of the relationship

Finally, there is the closure phase, which people often skip, and their relationship fizzles Closure isn't necessarily about closing out the relationship; rather, it’s a closure conversation about accomplishments and what you have both learned over the course of the year thanking each other for investing time in the relationship and maybe having a celebration of sorts for coming across a finish line Then, you may decide to continue the relationship, which takes you back to phase one.

HOW DO MENTEES PREPARE AND PLAN FOR MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS? WHAT IS THE MENTEE'S ROLE? WHAT ARE WAYS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERACTIONS?

Set an agenda, take notes to remember what happened the last time, and stay focused on your goals I also encourage mentees to finish each meeting with takeaways and commitments What did you learn during the mentoring session? What are you committing to doing before you meet again? Send the meeting notes and a recap of your takeaways to your mentor and thank them for the session

Preparation is key Don't come to a mentoring meeting and say I don't have much to talk about today. Spend time on your goals and take the time to prepare for mentoring conversations. Mentees need to drive this.

WILL BE WILLING TO INVEST IN THEIR OWN LEARNING IF THEY SEE YOU DOING IT, TOO. LEADERS NEED TO MODEL THIS BEHAVIOR.

,,,, ,,,,

WHAT ARE WAYS THE MENTEE CAN OFFER FEEDBACK TO THEIR MENTOR?

I want to emphasize that feedback doesn't need to be negative so long as it is specific and helps a mentor improve as a leader

HOW CAN MENTORS AND MENTEES CO-CREATE A TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP?

I recommend connecting in ways that help you find similarities, get to know your differences, and be curious about each other This trust building process takes time and doesn't all happen in the first meeting Sometimes, we recommend mentors and mentees use a power question which is a deeper question both will ask and answer We’ve got a list of power questions you can download for free on our website (www.centerformentoring.com).

Also, showing up prepared and demonstrating you care about the relationship is essential. Build trust by reflecting on what you have learned. Maintain confidentiality. Stay in the relationship between meetings. Send a text or email and share information you think would be of interest to them.

WE DON'T ALWAYS SEE EYE TO EYE WITH PEOPLE. WHAT ARE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS TO MENTORS AND MENTEES TO BRIDGE GAPS OR APPROACHES BASED ON OUR WORLDVIEW?

Lead with curiosity. Ask them to share their thinking process You could say that you are struggling to understand a

,, ,,

THE MENTEE DRIVES THE RELATIONSHIP AND NEEDS TO BE LEARNING AND FOLLOWING UP. NO MENTOR WANTS TO CHASE AFTER THEIR MENTEE, AND NOBODY KNOWS BETTER THE NEEDS OF THE MENTEE THAN THE MENTEE THEMSELVES.

particular perspective and would love to hear theirs. Ask what led them to their conclusions, and do not try to create an argument You don't have to convince your mentoring partner to believe in your worldview One of the most exciting things about a mentoring relationship is to learn and develop an appreciation of different perspectives

Demonstrate inclusive behavior

Acknowledge without judgment that your journey and your truth may not be their journey or their truth. Most of all, ask about and respect each other’s worldviews. Some say worldviews and even political views are all rooted in values. So, if you learn more about people's values, you open an interesting conversation.

I LOVE THAT. I BELIEVE VALUES ARE THE HEART SOURCE AND THE THING THAT ATTRACTS OR REPELS US IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS, HELPS US THRIVE, OR SUPPRESSES US FROM BEING OUR BEST SELVES.

WHAT IS A GOOD MEETING CADENCE THAT HELPS SUSTAIN MOMENTUM AND MAXIMIZE GROWTH?

Most mentoring relationships are nine to twelve months It's helpful to start with biweekly meetings during the first two or three months and then reassess and switch over to monthly meetings It would help if you met more frequently at first to gain momentum and establish a trusting relationship Then, you can spread meetings out a little less frequently so that mentees have a chance to follow up on some of the commitments.

I ADVISE PEOPLE TO CONSIDER HAVING MULTIPLE MENTORS OR DEVELOP A PERSONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO GET A DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT AND PERSPECTIVES. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

I think having multiple mentors is important, but takes a lot of intentionality You can have different mentors throughout your personal and professional life because there are many ways for us to develop ourselves. It is also great to have a sponsor. Absolutely assemble a board of advisors and people who are invested in your growth in different ways and can add different perspectives. It is so worthwhile to invest in your learning.

I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO A PERSON IN THEIR TWENTIES IF THEY TOOK THIS APPROACH AND THOUGHT ABOUT MENTORSHIP IN THIS WAY. WHAT IF THEY WERE MORE STRATEGIC ABOUT WHO THEY WANTED TO LEARN FROM AND WHAT THEY WANTED TO LEARN? IT WOULD BE AN INCREDIBLE SET OF BUILDING BLOCKS TO PROPEL THEM THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS.

Yes! And nurturing those relationships over time I think back to how I handled or didn't handle those relationships in my twenties and thirties I treated them as if they were transactional There were people I wanted to learn from, so we had one or two meetings, which was the end of it I can see that I squandered some relationships in those early years of my career because I wasn't forward thinking about nurturing those relationships and what a difference it could have made.

I'VE HAD THE SAME THOUGHTS. I LOOK BACK AND THINK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT CERTAIN PEOPLE WERE TO MY DEVELOPMENT, BUT I DID NOT KEEP IN TOUCH. IT IS A SHAME.

HOW CAN LEADERS DEVELOP A CULTURE OF MENTORING?

Remember, learning is the fundamental part of mentoring As Lois Zachary says, learning is the purpose, the process, and the product of mentoring. We can't create a mentoring culture unless we have a learning culture.

REMEMBER, LEARNING IS THE FUNDAMENTAL PART OF MENTORING. AS LOIS ZACHARY SAYS, LEARNING IS THE PURPOSE, THE PROCESS AND THE PRODUCT OF MENTORING. WE CAN'T CREATE A MENTORING CULTURE UNLESS WE HAVE A LEARNING CULTURE.

There are many ways to create a mentoring culture within an organization. The primary or pivotal way is to invest in and encourage learning among the people in your organization. What are the leaders doing to invest in their learning, and how are they sharing they are doing this? People will be willing to invest in their learning if they see you doing it, too. Leaders need to model this behavior.

Then I would ask, how are you holding your people accountable for what they are learning? Are they sharing it? You can also add these investments to people's performance reviews Are you honoring, appreciating, and publicly celebrating developmental milestones in all hands meetings or other company communications? Another thing companies can do is set up the expectation that leaders will also be mentors

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD MENTORING AND GOOD MANAGEMENT?

There is a lot of overlap between the skills of mentors and managers.

Good mentoring is both a role and a skill. Good managers should have mentoring skills, which are the investment in and development of people. This requires being curious and open to new perspectives. Ultimately, managers are accountable for their team's performance and the organization's success in what they are trying to deliver.

When we restrict mentoring relationships to only our manager or our vertical, we risk not recognizing the true developmental needs of people on the team. Those needs might be met with perspectives externally or from another vertical Also, some employees might find it challenging to be mentored by their manager and feel vulnerable because they evaluate them

ANY OTHER TOP TIPS OR TAKEAWAYS?

Let's go back to the board of advisors because I think it is something we are both passionate about. If you are wondering who needs to be on your board of advisors, first think about the various roles you play in your life and what you want to learn in each of those areas. It starts with self-awareness, and this is a great reflection exercise before setting out to find a mentor. Perhaps you are a parent, a spouse, an entrepreneur, and a thought leader in your industry. You might want to develop yourself in each of these areas.

I haven't followed this tip for myself lately, but I'm going to as soon as we're done with this conversation!

Also, remember it is a relationship and not a transaction Use your relationship development skills and help a mentor see that it would be a good investment of time and benefit them, too

WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU, LISA, AND HOW CAN PEOPLE REACH YOU?

The 3rd edition of The Mentor's Guide came out on June 15, 2022, and I am super proud of it We are spending a lot of time getting the word out It is a handbook for mentors and program administrators to help make the most of mentoring relationships.

We also have a book that came out in 2020 called Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring. I spend a lot of time talking to organizations about how to create inclusive work environments through mentoring.

These books and more resources can be found on our website at CenterForMentoring.com. You can also find a spot there to download a list of power questions that will help you connect with your mentoring partner.

I'm also on all social media handles.

Gina Riley Consulting & creator of the Career Velocity™ System. She is a career transition coach who helps leaders customize their career stories to land jobs where they can leave a legacy. She is an Executive Search Consultant for Talence Group.

HOW TO TAME YOUR

BY OMOZUA ISIRAMEN

Are you in control of your brain or is it in control of you?

Does it run like a hamster on a wheel with thoughts rushing around your head, demanding your attention, when you are trying to finish a report for work that's due tomorrow, or when you're bone tired and just want to go to sleep?

You have no idea how to stop the incessant negative mental chatter and feel frustrated, exhausted, and stressed out

Sound familiar?

You may think that "this is just the way it is" or "this is the price of success" and that there's nothing you can do to calm your mind and stop the flood of thoughts, but there is. If fearful, anxious, worrisome, regretful, stressful, "what if" thoughts are familiar intruders, always barging their way rudely into your head, making it difficult to focus and get anything done much less relax and feel a little peace, I want you to know that you can change this.

You can calm your busy mind and tame your brain for improved focus and well being by learning to consciously guide your attention.

CONTROLLING YOUR ATTENTION CONTROLS YOUR BRAIN

Directing your attention is the answer to calming an overactive brain that jumps around from one worrisome thought to another because when you don't intentionally focus your mind, your thoughts are largely determined by your subconscious. Your brain’s subconscious material is primarily made up of mostly negative implicit memories and fears from your childhood and past These are mostly below your conscious awareness and cannot easily be measured or retrieved. But you feel them as anxious, negative mind chatter. Over time and left uninterrupted, this subconscious material becomes the default for your brain as it carves patterns that heavily influence your ability to concentrate, happiness, and relationships It largely contributes to psychological disorders like anxiety, depression, and PTSD

In order to change your subconscious chatter, you have to change your brain’s normal patterns of operation. Luckily, you already have everything you need to do that

You sculpt your brain with your attention

You can think of your attention as your brain’s steering wheel. Wherever your attention goes, the rest of your brain follows. It is the gate through which all sensory information enters your conscious experience. Because of this, it influences your perception, and, in turn, your mental health

Believe it or not, studies showed that your mind is not even engaged with what is right in front of you 47 percent of the time. That means about half of the time you are not paying attention, being unproductive, and not focusing on what you're doing. That is incredibly frustrating enough for most of us in our daily lives and jobs but think about instances where the repercussions could be very serious and mean life or death That means surgeons, airplane pilots, and judges are not paying attention about half of the time. Do you want a surgeon operating on you who can't focus their mind? That's just plain scary! Lucky for us, controlling and guiding your attention is a skill you can build Attention is the most essential mental resource for any living organism because it determines which aspects of the environment they deal with. Most of the time, automatic, subconscious brain processes running in the background determine what makes it through to your conscious awareness This means that at any given time, millions of neurons in your

brain is constantly monitoring your environment without you being aware of it So, conscious attention is a limited resource in your brain It involves working memory and filtering out all the extraneous information and distractions as much as it involves selectively sustaining focus.

Regardless of your intent to focus on something, your attentional space may be giving priority to anything that it considers threatening in your current environment, which is why so many of us found it harder to focus during the COVID pandemic. Whatever happens, your brain is processing and filtering through all of the information it has right then, deciding if it’s essential, and whether to file it away for your safety or let it go While most of this information processing is below your conscious awareness, it still impacts how you feel and think That’s why there may be times when you really need and want to pay attention, but your brain just does not cooperate.

Unfortunately, it has only gotten harder to pay attention and tame the chatter in our heads in today's 24 hour, fast paced, multi media, pandemic world But there are proven ways that you can learn to calm and focus your brain, with effort and practice

BUILD TRUST

Learning to calm your brain and dire attention is the answer to help an anx settle down and focus Being able and sustain your attention to a specif place is the foundation of chan default brain patterns through ex dependent neuroplasticity. By trai brain to pay attention, over time, you new, healthier pathways in your increase your ability to sustain focus

Just as you can work out to build u you can exercise areas of your brai your attention skills through practices. You can change your increase your focus in any of the ways:

STOP TRYING TO MULTI-TA

Multi tasking is a myth The multitasking was originally used to describe a computer’s parallel processing capabilities and has become shorthand for our brains attempting to do many things simultaneously. However, your brain doesn’t work that way. Even when you think you’re multitasking, you’re not

Our brains are biologically incapable of processing more than one attention requiring input at a time. What’s really happening when you think you’re multitasking is that you are switching your attention back and forth and using short term memory. Studies have shown that, while the brain can keep track of more than one thing at a time, it cannot actually execute two distinct tasks at once Studies show that when your brain is constantly switching between tasks, you are less efficient and more likely to make mistakes. The science clearly shows that we are wired to be mono taskers and multitasking actually impairs thinking

PRACTICE MINDFULNESS

The opposite of a stressed, busy brain is a mindful one Very simply, mindfulness is a way of thinking It means being aware and being aware of your awareness It's paying attention on purpose Mindfulness trains your brain to focus and notice what’s happening as it’s happening. It’s learning to direct your attention to your present experience.

Mindfulness is not just a concept It’s an active practice In your brain, mindfulness asks that you deliberately shift control of your thoughts and actions from your limbic system, the ancient instinctual, emotional part of your brain, to the conscious awareness of your frontal lobe. The frontal lobe of your brain is where your more complex cognitive processes take place. This is also where mindfulness happens The middle of the frontal lobe, the prefrontal cortex, is highly integrated and literally one synapse away from the cortex, limbic area, and brain stem That’s important because it allows the frontal cortex to influence the other more primitive brain regions. In other words, it can insert rational thinking, calm them down, and take control.

TRAIN YOUR BRAIN WITH MEDITATION

Just like you can work out to build muscle, you can exercise areas of your brain to build attention skills with meditation One study showed that just three months of meditation practice significantly affected attention and brain function. One type of meditation, in particular, focused attention meditation, showed higher levels of activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortices. Go here to learn how to do it.

The benefits of meditation and mindfulness for your brain are because of neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity is the capability of your brain to change its form and function in response to experience. Over time, consistently practicing meditation or mindful thinking resets your brain patterns and default mode network because you are repetitively altering the way you use your brain This is how you physically change your brain to be healthier and happier

The good news is that even though your brain is naturally wired to be cluttered and on edge, you can calm and focus your brain by learning to guide your attention

routinely directing your attention, you calm your brain’s fear center and strengthen your attention muscles while consciously engaging your thinking brain. Over time, with regular practice, and because of neuroplasticity, your brain can actually physically change its connections and patterns so that calm and focused become the default.

Omozua Isiramen is a Neuroscience Transformation & Peak Performance Specialist who provides sales professionals, business consultants, executives, and leaders with a comprehensive methodology to decode their own unique brain signatures so they can elevate their personal and professional lives in

areas by attaining neuro agility and emotional mastery.

Programs, Brainification and The ManYOUfest Code help individuals and teams to develop brain fitness and mental flexibility

have a fast, flexible, and focused mind to

5TIPSTOGROWYOUR YOUTUBECHANNELFAST

BYLINHPODETTI

1.

YOUTUBE OPTIMIZATION

Youtube optimization involves techniques that help make your channel more visible to your potential audience and easier for the algorithm to recognize your video.

Some things you can do in addition to creating great content.

A film with adequate lighting, a tidy background, and a clear voice Create engaging thumbnails and catchy keyword-researched titles Don’t use clickbait as it may result in low retention which will negatively impact your growth.

Youtube is the second highest visited website after its parent company Google, and it is no wonder that many businesses have been able to build a strong brand and drive increased traffic, and profit to their businesses. However, growing a YouTube channel organically takes time, effort, patience, and dedication. Here are 5 tips you can take to improve your chance for success.

2.

CREATE PILLAR CONTENT

As a content creator on YouTube, your primary aim must be to deliver quality content that can benefit your audience. Pillar content is quality videos that can provide beneficial information and education which remain searchable and valuable to your audience for years to come.

What you need to focus on is to:

Provide well-researched information that solves a problem your audience is facing Create videos for a specific niche to establish yourself as a credible and reliable source of information

Create how-to tutorials, listicle videos, or educational videos.

STICK TO A CONSISTENT POSTING SCHEDULE3.

The ideal posting schedule for YouTube would be one video in a week. But if producing one video is time-consuming and dreadful for you, you don’t have to follow this schedule. You can post according to any schedule that you prefer. What’s important is consistency.

Consistency helps your audience know when to expect a new video from you. The key to achieving consistency is to bank with videos on days you are feeling creative. Plan ahead. You can write scripts in bulk. Create, shoot, and edit as many videos as you can on a dedicated day. Then you can upload multiple videos at a single time but use YouTube’s scheduling tool to publish videos on a consistent schedule.

The YouTube algorithm rewards consistency by pushing them higher on recommended and search lists. This is because YouTube is a business that earns by promoting ads. If you produce high-quality and consistent content, then you are making your videos more viable for YouTube to generate revenue, and thus it will push it forward to a wider audience.

UPLOAD YOUTUBE SHORTS4.

One of YouTube’s newest features is YouTube Shorts. YouTube Shorts enables users to produce vertical short-form videos up to 60seconds long, catering to audiences’ preference for shorter videos with bite-sized content.

You can use Shorts to create entertaining videos, quick tutorials, or step-by-step videos around your niche. The best thing about YouTube shorts is that they can get more exposure and drive subscribers to your channel. The YouTube Shorts of a channel will be visible to YouTube users with only a simple swipe, and the subscribe button is conveniently placed for easy access!

Shorts also help you to navigate YouTube’s algorithm because your channel will see an increase in engagement, one of the key ranking factors for how YouTube prioritizes content.

REPURPOSE CONTENT ON TIKTOK5.

A lot of people may feel intimidated when it comes to creating content on TikTok but the TikTok algorithm is an amazing tool you have to take advantage of!

At this time, TikTok has tons of great and informative content creators like licensed dieticians, doctors, licensed therapists, make-up artists, and more who share valuable content. The amazing part is, TikTok has a great algorithm that makes it easier for your content to get pushed further and get watched by more people. The algorithm even prioritizes content from new creators. When you use popular music, and tailor-fit the trends according to your niche, the community will love it.

Think of YouTube’s algorithm as more viewer-based. YouTube structures the suggested videos and recommendations according to the viewer’s preferences – the goal of the platform is to make the user stay for as long as possible. On TikTok, it’s more creator-based. It pushes new videos from new creators to a wider audience and incorporates diversity on each user’s “For You Page”, which means TikTok aims to introduce as many creators to their viewers as possible. This is why it’s easy to go viral.

When you accumulate followers and interest on TikTok by uploading educational and authentic videos that show you're behind the scenes, there’s a guaranteed chance that some of those people will spill over to your YouTube Channel.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER'S PROFILE

CONCLUSION

A combination of all of these five tips can help you get steady growth on your YouTube channel. Make sure to start incorporating them to start seeing results. If you are a YouTuber or business owner struggling with content creation, editing, or growing your channel, don’t worry! My company, Dawn Media Productions, can help you optimize, strategize, and produce videos for your YouTube channel

Linh Podetti is a serial entrepreneur, currently the founder of Outsourcing Angel, a virtual assistants agency and the co founder of Dawn Media Productions, a video marketing agency. Linh is passionate in helping entrepreneurs achieve freedom by empowering them to build a business that will free up their time to be with their loved ones.

THE LANGUAGE DETECTIVE

Your language reveals a great deal about both who you are and your mindset. For example, consider how often do you say, 'Did you hear about XYZ? Everyone is talking about it.' It is a great way to draw people into a conversation.

But what is the truth of the situation? Who specifically is talking about this subject?

Why are they talking about it?

What is the tangible outcome of the conversation?

Or is it merely gossip?

Unravel the details, and you will get a meaningful insight into what is being spoken about

What you say and how you say it offers an insight into how you process and relay information Sweeping generalizations suggest a lack of detail and focus, while over reliance on self promotion might be an indication of fixed intelligence.

FIXED INTELLIGENCE

Imagine you meet someone at a networking event who is keen to impress and who continually self-promotes with the use of 'I' and 'my' pronouns. (If ‘my’ is referring to a group of people you are in good company, if not this might be a red flag). When used excessively ‘I’ and ‘my’ can be indicators of a fixed intelligence where self protection is prioritized over the protection and nurturing of a wider team.

As Török, Szabó, & Orosz observe,

'HOLDING MORE OF A FIXED INTELLIGENCE THEORY MAKES ONE VULNERABLE TO RESORTING TO SELFPROTECTIVE MECHANISMS SUCH AS SELF-HANDICAPPING, WHILE GROWTH INTELLIGENCE MINDSET CAN SERVE AS A PROTECTIVE FACTOR ' . (2022)

By contrast, a growth mindset is one where language serves to include and respect the contribution of others.

Language gives clues about your mindset and in turn, your mindset affects your language. Imagine a leader who believes themselves as magnificent. If the way, they speak to others is patronizing it indicates a level of insecurity as well as a lack of emotional intelligence. The language that lacks empathy exposes a level of vulnerability hence the impact of aggressive language.

For positive change to occur:

* a solution seeking language needs to be present; * an inclusive ‘our’ must form part of each project; * a language of gratitude needs to be engaged; *rehearsal of positive language enhances self esteem and mindset when it comes to self talk;

Add to that actions that support your health and well-being and positive empowering language is more likely to emanate from you as you regain control.

By not responding instantly and compliantly to every request for your time and skills, you give yourself thinking time and agency. When you set and maintain boundaries concerning your language pattern changes, an observation David Butt explores in his book, Talking and Thinking the Patterns of Behaviour.

There are physiological benefits too in this modification of language and action. The language you use underscores your feelings, so rather than identify that you feel stressed, which is a broad definition, specify precisely what it is you find upsetting When you do that, you psychologically help to contain negative feelings A stress reduction enables you to participate naturally in decision making and strategic action As a result, sleep, time to recharge, diet and exercise improve which offsets stress induced health issues like IBS As Dr Lin Chang, Associate Professor at UCLA Medical School observes,

'BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL STRESSES CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF IBS. EXTERNAL STRESSES INCLUDE ABUSE DURING CHILDHOOD AND OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESSES, WHICH ALSO STRESS RESPONSIVENESS AND MAKE A PREDISPOSITION INDIVIDUAL MORE VULNERABLE TO DEVELOPING IBS. LATER IN LIFE, INFECTIONS COVER SURGERY, ANTIBIOTICS, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESSES CAN ALL CONTRIBUTE TO IBS ONSET AND EXASPERATION.'

As Dr Chang suggests, when underlying emotional stress is ignored, it will find another way of showing up in the body Let us address a key cause of stress: money

THE LANGUAGE OF MONEY

As evidenced already the language we use to describe our world holds many clues for us as to our own and other people’s psychological states However, our native language can also reveal our emotional relationship with money

The Behavioural Economist Keith Chen posits there is a link between the language we speak and our propensity to save He observes,

‘ENGLISH IS THE ONLY GERMANIC LANGUAGE THAT REQUIRES US TO DIVIDE UP THE TIME SPECTRUM. GERMAN LANGUAGE SPEAKERS FEEL COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE TALKING ABOUT RAIN TOMORROW BY SAYING MORGEN REGNET ES I.E. IT RAIN TOMORROW. HOWEVER, GRAMMATICALLY IN ENGLISH, SUCH A SENTENCE IS INCORRECT.

YET, HOW YOU SPEAK ABOUT TIME FORCES YOU TO THINK ABOUT TIME. WHEN YOU DISASSOCIATE THE FUTURE FROM THE PRESENT, THE FUTURE FEELS MORE DISTANT AND DIFFERENT FROM THE PRESENT THAT'S GOING TO MAKE IT HARDER TO SAVE.’

This partly explains why England and the United States are among the bottom three of thirty three In the GDP % of Savings graph of 1985-2010. (Data taken from the graph on Chen’s TED Talk.) It is also an indicator that awareness of what we do now impacts the future. Yes, it would be great to own something beyond your means now - but are you putting the future you in debt to make that happen?

Put more simply, as the character of Jin Kyeong comments in the Netflix series The Extraordinary Attorney Woo ‘There is nothing weaker than the human mind in the face of money.

who

how

LANGUAGE

McDonnell-Hockley

in overcoming issues of fear and anxiety. She is a heart centered coach who thrives on human transformation and witnessing people fulfil their dreams.

In the last couple of months, we ’ ve seen a huge shift in the industry, especially in the way that people buy and sell and in this article, I want to talk about a completely new sales paradigm

Better yet a completely new way of selling for new types of people

Let me explain

It’s been evident in the market, for some time now, that the way we ’ ve been taught to do sales doesn’t fit a LOT of people.

I can’t tell you how many coaches, consultants, and online business owners came into my “Messenger Revolution Accelerator” program this year feeling like failures as salespeople and as humans to the point of completely self sabotaging sales calls and DM conversations

When I talk about sales calls or communicating in DMs, it’s important that you understand that both are SALES CONVERSATIONS on different mediums.

So, in a nutshell, a lot of people in the market now despise sales conversations, even though they know and understand that having sales conversations is the most important thing that their business needs

They came to my program without any self esteem, feeling as if they are frauds, feeling ashamed and guilty and most of them felt like they just want to give up on their businesses because sales conversations bring SO MUCH PRESSURE.

Why is this happening?

A couple of years back, I notice the same thing about myself

I joined high level sales programs in hopes I will become a better salesperson (even though I was a pretty good one), only to leave those programs feeling exactly like my clients did. I dreaded sales calls or talking to people in DMs, had a huge impostor syndrome and I just wanted to crawl up in a hole and die.

I blamed myself I watched all these other people in the program “crushing” their sales calls, coming back with these BIG numbers and wins and I couldn’t close a new sale if my life depended on it

The more others in the programs won, the more I felt like a failure

At one point I just didn’t want to do it anymore I focused on “creating content that will get people to talk to me ” , but that was actually just another story gooroos were starting to preach, seizing the opportunity in the market to go for all the broken, disappointed people like myself, promising us another BIG dream.

Did it work?

Of course not.

If you ’ ve been following my articles, then you understand that the “path of the agreement” means leading your audience through all the different stages of a sales process

People, especially today, need more than just reading your content In a time when their grocery bills are going sky high and recession is knocking on their doors, they are much more careful about the programs they invest in

They need more reassurance, less risk, and more guarantees

They want to not only see what you teach and your clients' results they want to FEEL who you are as a person and what you are about

Unfortunately, you can’t get that across with content only you need to actively start sales conversations.

And you know it.

So, what can you do to stop feeling like a failure and start being confident in your sales conversations to the point of wanting to have them again?

What I’m about to share changed the game for me BIG TIME

At one point, I realized I am not like the “ yo bros” and “boss babes”

I don’t want luxury cars and ten houses, my dreams are different.

I want a lot of things, but I really don’t care about expansive stuff.

I want to build a farm, for example so I can grow a huge sustainable garden and take control of what I drink and eat

I want to invest my money in renewable sources of energy.

I care about making this world a better place.

I care about connecting with people and leaving them in a better energetic state than when they came to me

I care about the truth, and I am an empath

Once I realized that I understood I needed a different way of selling.

The way sales have been taught never resonated with me, and instead of putting myself in “ yo bro” and “boss babe” cubicle and trying to sell their way...

I realized I need a different way of selling a way that fits me as a person and resonates with who I am

There is nothing wrong with you If you are an empath, if you want different things, or if you just don’t feel aligned with the way you ’ ve been taught sales you are okay.

It is normal. YOU are normal.

The only reason you saw yourself as a failure is that the “ yo bro” way of selling is SO different from who you are

And the problem is not you

The problem is the fact that there aren’t a lot of programs (if any) that teach how to have sales conversations and do sales based on emotion and vibration vs outcome under all means necessary.

What we ’ re going to see in the market is a shift in the paradigm or at least an option for all of your who feel like you “suck "at sales

Today’s article is about giving you permission to be you and sell from the heart. Follow your gut. Sell through your intuition. And a couple of tips for you...

You don’t have to be anyone or act like anyone. You don’t need a script.

All you need to do is focus on how your body feels while you are having sales conversations

Feel like crap today? Don’t do content, don’t do calls, and don’t do DMs.

Skip it and go do something that will make you feel good and aligned. You can’t always be on top of things 24/7. Look at nature and see where the sun shines 24/7 it’s called a desert.

You need to recharge don’t push yourself it will take the amount of time it needs.

If you feel good, do your sales activities. Write content, and do sales calls and DMs but focus on how you feel and what state you are in.

People don’t perceive words, they perceive VIBRATION and the state you are in does the selling, not what you say or the questions you ask

When on sales calls, make sure you feel good. About to ask a question that makes you cringe? Don’t if you cringe when you have to ask “how much you are making in your business?”, the person receiving the question will cringe also

We communicate through vibration and emotional state in every conversation and sales conversations are no exception

Start to focus on what feels GOOD to talk about in a sales conversation There are a million ways you can get the answer to the question you are interested in

I teach my clients one important thing don’t focus on the questions you want to ask, focus on the answer you want to receive. If you do that, you’ll get your brain to start to be creative around different things it can ask to get to the answer.

Another thing context is KING.

You can uncover so many things if you open the space for a conversation and focus on asking things around the CONTEXT of your potential client's business or lifestyle

For example instead of asking “How much is your business making?”, you can ask “What was the coolest place you ’ ve taken your team for team building this year?”

See what I did there?

I asked a question in a way that is not risky for the person to chat about while giving me answers I want to uncover:

1 Do they have a team or not

2 If they have a team how are they treating the team? If their team is important to them, that tells me a lot about the person I am talking to and if we ’ re a fit to work together

3 Do they have the money to take their team to a team building retreat? That will give me a ballpark of how much they’re making in their business 4. The place they are taking their team to a team building retreat will give me an even better idea of their revenue and business lifestyle.

This is just ONE simple question and it doesn’t feel so cringy to ask, right?

What is really important is that you understand that it’s okay that “ yo bro” and “boss babe” programs don’t work for you.

But, it’s essential for you to understand that you can and will sell in a different way a way that's aligned with you and how you vibrate

Don’t give up and start focusing on HOW IT FEELS when you are in sales conversations, improve on that feeling and forget everything else.

If you are the kind of person (like me) that really cares...you’ll never fit in that cubicle.

You need to focus on your intuition and keep your vibration balanced and that will bring in all the sales you need

In the next article, I’ll go deeper into explaining some of the strategies I use to sell aligned to my vibration and who I am as a person

Until then keep your chin high and your vibration aligned to who you are.

When we look up at night, up at the sky covered in stars, it’s illuminating! We have a visceral response. There is something pure, natural, magical even. Something bigger than ourselves At that moment, we are transported to possibilities and potential.

The first star looking planet we see is Venus. Venus shines her light so brightly that is the first star we see in the night sky. Venus is the star that corresponds with the way we love.

We also see other planets from Earth, and although they are technically not stars, they are just as magical and symbolic

Mars is the planet that corresponds with inspired action. Pluto is the planet corresponding with karma. Saturn corresponds with learning and lessons. It’s considered the taskmaster of planetary wisdom. Uranus isn’t always visible, but it’s a great planet to spot you might need an app to do so. Uranus corresponds to dreams and spirituality.

Jupiter is the planet that corresponds with manifestation and “good luck.” It’s

also my favourite planet to work with when doing manifesting rituals. If you want to manifest money and prosperity, and expand your world for more, work with Jupiter

This is my favourite Jupiter ritual. It’s an altar for manifestation. The altar is a devotional practice, a discipline to the beauty available in the world. If you want to give it a try, just follow this step by step process.

Set an intention.

First, set a clear intention. What do I want to devote this altar to? What am I calling in? What am I manifesting? Write it on a piece of paper. Hold this intention while you collect the objects for your altar and while you build it.

Set up an altar with Jupiter Correspondences.

These include a unicorn, something purple – I have a purple fluorite unicorn, so that goes on my altar four lavender flowers from your garden. Four is the number associated with Jupiter and also corresponds with home and the solid square, offering foundational core support. I add my Goddess Fortuna statue to my altar I invoke her energy and ask for her support for the magic I’m calling in. I also place an image of the Jupiter glyph on the altar.

Place a purple candle on your altar and light it for 30 days.

This step is about giving your magic, light. Remember to place your written intention on the altar.

Say the following prayer.

After you have everything properly set up, say this blessing:

“Jupiter, the planet of good fortune, prosperity, hope, ruling the skies.

I offer this place of beauty, commitment, dedication, and inspiration to you as a path to open to greater things.

I offer you light and blessings so that I can be of greater service.

Guide me, show me with my daily practice Protect me Support me

I am here as a servant to the greater good. Bring me riches beyond measure so that I am able to share and fulfill this mission as I do the work I am here to do. Blessings to all. Amen, Aho, and so it is.”

Now it’s time for you to do your Planetary Star Magic!

Imagine if the sky was the limit. What would you create? Would the stars light your path? Wishing upon a star is a good way to begin. Continuing to journey the starlight brightly lit path in our human egoic, earthbound existence is met with resistance, control, and effort to essentially remain the same.

Why? Because staying the same is safe and secure, and it’s what we know. We know what we know until we know something else, right?

How do we build a bridge from here, this earthbound, to the potential of a star filled existence? We openly seek with

filled existence? We openly seek with curiosity the next steps. We ask daily: “Use me, guide me, show me how I can be of service for the highest good of all.”

We practice grace. Give gratitude daily for the things we have and those that we will receive. Gratitude opens our hearts to receive more. To contribute more. To be supported and be of support.

We forgive. We forgive ourselves, and we forgive others. This way, we clear the path of the old. We cleanse our cells. We release toxins on a cellular physical plain. We make room.

When we tap into something bigger than ourselves, we tap into faith, hope, and trust. That’s inner peace.

When we look up, we see that the universe is vast We are a mere speck in the line of infinity and beyond. Do we matter? Yes, absolutely, because when you matter, I matter. Collective consciousness becomes a part of us all.

BY LOUISE TAYLORuncontained uncontained

Have you ever looked for a needle in a haystack?

If you really want to find the needle, you’ll go searching for it

Think about when you have really needed something you research. You pay attention. You continue to seek after it. You don’t stop your pursuit until you find it.

When someone wants what you have they will find you.

Isn’t that a great reframe? Takes off all the pressure.

Finding your micro niche requires focus, clarity, and courage. And if someone is really looking for the one unique thing you offer, they need to know that it's there!

Standing out as a Brand, and finding your niche, requires you to fully understand and have clarity about what you offer.

I used to feel like I had to be all inclusive about my target niche. I felt like I would miss out if I didn’t sell to ‘everyone’.

Here’s what I learned about niching and how to get in the flow of a 7 figure business.

BE UNCONTAINED

I was at a conference with a good friend of mine, Evelyn Wilton, and she wrote a word down on a page in my notebook The word was ‘uncontained’

Something sparked up in me when I saw this word I began to realize what being ‘uncontained’ actually meant

For me being ‘uncontained’ means that you are ready to express everything within you. That you don’t hold back. That you share all the thoughts, beliefs, philosophy, and stories behind the scenes.

It’s about not holding back for fear of what others will think or perceive about you.

What being uncontained meant for me was to begin to publicly share what I was seeing spiritually in addition to sharing my commercial gifts.

So one day I began to share about the spiritual side of the business. I began to prophesy (which means sharing the visions, insights, spiritual intelligence, models, and metaphors I heard from God).

I began to have more and more dreams about business models, marketing, sales, and commercial models which married with the knowledge and expertise I had as a business consultant

It was so much fun flowing in the spiritual rather than keeping this hidden or feeling like I had to reframe my language to suit the audience

I had for many years been using my spiritual intelligence to help companies with strategy, sales, and leadership, but now I was expressing this at a new level

This was the beginning of creating an online business to scale, as a vehicle and getting into the flow of creating 6 figure days (we call it catching $100k and $ 1 million whales)

When you begin to be uncontained there is an ease and a joy in what you do It uses less energy, and the sales flow faster

When you hold back who you truly are, you live your life in frustration, and lack of joy Feeling weighed down Working too hard for what you receive You feel unheard and unseen

Where might you be holding back? What is inside you that needs to be expressed?

do people fear niching so much?

few questions to ask yourself:

FOMO Do you worry that if you don’t spread the net wide enough, you won't have enough clients?

LACK OF CLARITY Do you know your potential client deep down? Are you sure your message is truly connecting? Do you actually work with the clients you want to work with? Can you articulate in one sentence the exact client you want?

FEAR OF REJECTION: when people say no to us, we tend to shrink back Let's face it we are tribal We want to belong and feel accepted I’ve experienced this personally in the past It's impossible to create a 7 figure business without experiencing the ‘no’s It’s not the no that matters, it's how you learn to reframe ‘after the no’

LACK OF CONFIDENCE TO ARTICULATE YOUR TRUE SELF: We are conditioned and taught ‘not to stand out To wait for someone to approve what we say or do This is like being stuck inside a chained ‘pen’ Never fully releasing all the gifts, words, thoughts, and dreams within you What has to happen for you to finally come to a place where you begin to be true to your self? What has to happen for you to let go of the internal voices or perceived rejection from people around you who you most likely have outgrown in certain ways?

Once I saw a little red beetle out in the bushland where I live It stood out to me because it was not grey, green, or brown, and was vulnerable in the Australian bushland, where snakes, spiders, and birds roamed freely looking for prey.

I stopped and stared at the beetle, and at that moment God spoke to me. I realized this was what it meant to stand out. To not be boring. To not be watered down. It requires vulnerability. It also gets you noticed by all sorts of people. Those who love you and those who won't. But if you’re a little red beetle, and you’re hiding under a rock no one will ever know you are there and you will never be seen, never have your brand stand out, and never find the clients who love little red beetles! On our Dream Drivers™ Program, I share more about how to use your unique gifts, spiritual, practical, and commercial to stand out and create a micro niche and a brand that is so unique, no one in the world can replicate or compete with it.

Think of an actor or artist you love. Or a famous philosopher you might follow. Think of the great people in history every one of them had something in common they stood for something. They were original. They were pioneers.

Whom do you admire? And why?

If you spread your niche too wide, you’ll be invisible, and frustrated, and you won’t work with the clients you want.

If you are a ‘red beetle’ many won’t understand you. Many will say no to you. BUT…. The people who want you and love what you stand for, believe what you believe, will recognize your uniqueness, and want that unique piece of you that no one in the world carries but you!

You can create a Signature Kingdom Brand™ which is so unique that no one in the world can replicate or compete with you. The smaller your niche is the more you will focus, and be light and salt to the world. A meal without salt is bland.

IT'S TIME TO MICRO NICHE! BE A LITTLE RED BEETLE.

Taylor

globally respected

Peak Performance

Neuro strategist and Creator of Neuro flow™ system, Money Mindfit™, Sales Mindfit™

Clarity

helping individuals

specialises

companies

positive money mindset, emotional

approach

Ways to 4Enhance Ways to Enhance

our Personal Growth

We all eventually find out how difficult life can be. Just while we think we’ve got a hold onto something, it slips through our fingers making us feel out of control, anxious, and in fear. What’s more, we may unknowingly cultivate habits that produce negative results in our lives.

That is why personal development is a crucial part of the life of every human being. When you think of personal development, one thing should run through your mind—selfimprovement.

Indeed it’s about evaluating your personal attributes, skills, and shortcomings in order to make positive changes that will help you lead a more meaningful, happier, and fulfilling life. Personal development can help improve mindfulness in various aspects of your life from work to relationships as well as how you relate with friends and family.

That said, personal development can seem challenging. After all, it will push you out of your comfort zone. However, this is often the only way to experience growth.

It can in turn boost your confidence when you finally start to realize that you can now handle situations that previously seemed difficult.

Another major reason why personal development is important is it’s closely interlinked with self-awareness. You will be taking a closer objective look at yourself to be able to identify your strengths as well as your shortcomings and work on areas that needs improvement.

But where do you start?

Well, you can begin by focusing on the key attributes of personal development.

Attention

Attention in the context of personal development would mean becoming aware of yourself. Understanding your personality, your weaknesses and strengths as well as how you tend to behave under pressure are just some of the factors to consider during self evaluation.

It also means becoming aware of any problems and shortcomings that you may have and how these affect those around you. It’s a major part of emotional intelligence. Attention is thus an important first step to improving yourself in all significant areas of your life. After all, you cannot solve the problem if you don’t first and foremost understand or become aware of the problem.

Without this level of understanding, we are likely to remain in a vicious cycle where we constantly place ourselves in difficult and compromising situations. Often people tend to blame the situation without realizing that it’s their habits and behavior that have led them there.

Many of us are rushing through life. It’s no wonder that we are often having to deal with the aftermath caused by seemingly small mistakes.

For instance, an accountant could be in a habit of not cross-checking their work and end up adding a 0 at the wrong place. At the workplace, a lack of attention to detail can and often is the difference between substandard work and great work. This could end up costing the company huge expenses and may even be his or her job.

This is just one example of how a lack of attention can cause huge negative after-effects in our lives.

Attention is often the first step towards selfawareness. Subsequently, this leads to taking action towards improving oneself. It’s therefore a precursor to personal development. Attention is a crucial attribute to changing and improving yourself into the best version of yourself. After you have grasped the concept of attention, you can then move to the next stage in your self-development—intention.

Intention

Understanding why you are doing what you are doing is a key attribute to personal development and self awareness. This helps focus your energy on the goal or what you are trying to achieve.

Let’s say you’ve decided to improve your knowledge by reading books. You can’t just read any book and very likely the books that you choose to read regularly will help you improve certain skills that you need.

For instance, you may be looking to become a better salesperson. Books that focus on business, deals, and making sales can help instill the right knowledge.

This can help turn you into a better business person.

Similarly, if you want to find out how to deal with certain personality flaws, and improve on your self care, then self-improvement books can provide you with workable strategies that you could use to turn yourself into a better person.

The goal is to define your intention and what you are trying to achieve and then focus your energy on things that will help you achieve your goals.

This brings us to our next point.

Manifestation

A simple way to define manifestation is to bring something from your thoughts and emotions into your physical reality.

Many of us don’t realize that what we focus our actions and attention on is what manifests into our physical reality. And this could be both good and bad. It all depends on where your energy is.

It follows then that if we focus our every on negative habits, we will continue to experience negative results.

Similarly, if we focus our minds and energy on positivity and behaviors that bring fulfillment, we will reap positivity in our lives.

It’s crucial therefore to become self-aware and to focus on positivity and growth. This will mean defining and understanding what we want to achieve in our lives and creating a strategy that helps focus our energy on our goals.

development also encompasses expansion. This involves turning yourself into the best version of yourself and will often include improving on your talents and building on your skills.

many benefits to personal expansion such as improving your employability.

to always keep in mind is that expansion

a lifelong process and is about continuous self improvement.

Final

development can lead to a more fulfilling and happier life.

an important part of self improvement is self awareness. Analyzing your strengths and weaknesses and working towards bettering

is the essence of personal development.

Katira is a professional transformation coach that helps leaders change their habits and thought patterns barring them from their path to holistic success

who participate in her coaching program are positioned to adapt to change and maintain their competitive edge in all the dimensions of life, including spiritual, intellectual, career, finance, love/ relationship, family, social, and health / fitness

The Toolbox AUTHORITTI

PODCASTING PODCASTING PODCASTING PODCASTING MASTERCLASS FOR 2022

by Jan Santos

Consumer interest is at an all time high in audio and video content. This is the perfect time for podcasts to go live. This includes the use of podcasts in business too!

With the revolutionary demands in digital content, podcasts deliver an extraordinary prospect for the growth of businesses. The use of podcasts in business is at an all-time high.

BASIC

BASIC POINTS PODCASTING CAN BENEFIT CYOUR AN BENEFIT YOUR BRAND OR BBUSINESS RAND OR BUSINESS

PODCASTING PODCASTING PODCASTING

PODCASTING HELPS BUILD YOUR BRAND

Many decades ago, businesses relied on traditional means of marketing their business: advertising, mail, brick-and-mortar placement, walk-in traffic, word of mouth, etc. These provided short-form communications of a business’s services and products, expertise, and brand name recognition. The new generation offers new digital solutions such as targeted digital display, digital advertising, content blogs and podcasting.

Podcast benefits allow you to communicate your knowledge and expertise, hence building your credibility. You can share advice, industry insights, tips, and specific work related experiences all of which showcase your knowledge.

PODCASTING

PODCASTING PODCASTING

2. PODCASTING PROVIDES A MORE PERSONAL CONNECTION PODCASTING PODCASTING PODCASTING

Podcasts are typically more informal, free and open. That informality adds to the sense of connection.

When someone hears your voice on a podcast, you become more familiar, approachable, and trustworthy. This is always helpful in attracting new customers and clients and in building rapport with current ones. This is a big factor in building a tribe!

Podcasts are also perfect for storytelling such as talking about specific experiences you’ve had in the industry or clients you’ve worked with. And stories help make meaningful connections with people.

3. PODCASTING IS A POWERFUL CREATIVE CONTENT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

For some brands, coming up with regular social media posts can be challenging. Podcasts give you an opportunity to announce what’s coming, share once it’s posted, and revisit in the future. The ideas that arise in the podcast can be used on social media as creative content.

Better yet, by tagging your guests and encouraging cross promotion, you will reach new eyes and ears.

PODCASTING PODCASTING PODCASTING PODCASTING

is an effective tool to master, for business marketing. It is helpful even if you are already on the digital platform. It just enhances your presence and adds to the growth.

Similarly, if you are a small business or a local venture without a digital presence, podcasts help you start with the first step at digital platforms!

Sounds good?

So, no matter what, do not rule out podcasts as a marketing strategy for your business! It’s trending and you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity for growth!

Jan Santos is a Branding Coach from the Philippines He runs The Creative Talk Podcast on Apple/ITunes and Spotify and YouTube, supporting designers and entrepreneurs to stand out and establish a market competitive edge.

His goal is to solidify ones branding and identity, ensuring the business to be unique and memorable by means of creating a consistent visual style, goal and focus.

Santos

Book Of TheMonth AppOf TheMonth

In Sacred Selfishness: A Guide to Living a Life of Substance, "Harris lays out specific steps readers can take in order to live a life of self-realization, meaning, value, and love...Those seeking a deeper sense of self will heed his message."Publishers Weekly "Bud Harris is a lantern on the pathclear-eyed, big hearted, and illuminating." - Julia Cameron, author, The Artist's Way

While growing up, unselfishness was usually defined as putting the needs of others above our own. As a result, we became outward-directed people, cut off from our inner source of energy and vitality. If we have failed, through the years, to develop our own individuality, eventually we may slide into depression and ill health. It is only after becoming whole again that we can help others and truly renew our society.

In the tradition of Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled and Thomas Moore's The Care of the Soul, Bud Harris shows us to value and love ourselves, to think for ourselves, to have lives of our own, and to be able to love others without losing ourselves. It is only after becoming whole again that we can help others and truly renew our society. This is the path of sacred selfishness.

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Selfishness-Guide-LivingSubstance/dp/0692374086/

FastEasy YOUR PROFESSIONAL FASTING ASSISTANT

Discover how intermittent fasting can help you lose weight and boost your overall health

Take advantage of the method lots of people across the globe have already adopted it’s both healthy and effective!

Achieve your weight objectives regardless of your preferred diet from vegan to keto and take advantage of FastEasy's expert advice and information.

Whatever you need to move towards a healthier life, we’ve got it! Our Fasting Timer, Body Status, and Step Counter are just some of the tools at your disposal Check out our fasting programs for men and women, including the popular 16:8 or 23:1 (“one meal a day”) plans you’ll be a pro in no time.

What are you waiting for? Download FastEasy for free now!

T

TOTHE