Put Me In Coach Vol 1

Put Me in Coach Volume I The World’s Leading Coaches and Entrepreneurs TOP STRATEGIES For the Game of Life and Business

Jeremy DeMerchant Burt L. Burnett Robert Read Craig Sweet Dylan E. Raymond Beverly Howard Marsha Lecour Naomi Barr Cosmina Balu

Copyright Š 2015 T. Allen Hanes Publishing All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced--mechanically, electronically, or by any other means without the expressed written permission of the authors except as provided by the United States of America copyright law.

Published by T. Allen Hanes Publishing Group, Houston, TX The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this book.

This book is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and financial fields.

In practical advice books, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to rely on their own judgment about their individual circumstances and to act accordingly.

While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, the Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or organizations are unintentional.

First Edition.

Manufactured & Printed in the United States of America.

Put Me In Coach VOL I is a trademark of T. Allen Hanes & Associates Editor: James Scholes, Lori Snyder Cover Design: vikiana Cover Photo Credit: vikiana Publisher: T. Allen Hanes Publishing Group

1

DEDICATION

"Coaching is a conversation, a dialogue, whereby the coach and the individual interact in a dynamic exchange to achieve goals, enhance performance and move the individual forward to greater success." Zeus and Skiffington I dedicate this book to all people who are brave enough to step out of their comfort zone and boldly face the challenges in the world. In order to fulfill one’s dreams and aspirations it is important to have the boldness and brevity to risk everything so as to achieve your dreams, follow your ambitions, and pursue happiness. This is the only way you will proudly state that you lived life to the full. It doesn’t matter whether your dreams seem unachievable or like a distant dream, but just as a popular saying goes “If you can dream it then you can achieve it.”

This book contains lots of material gathered and authored from different coaches around the world. It is aimed at inspiring you to rise up after the fall, wakeup from the deep slumber, or just smell the coffee. You only need to start believing in yourself, build confidence, and follow the motivational tips contained therein. This will help you create the right impact in not only your life but also your business. The book will guide you on how to improve your health, deal with social problems, and improve your worldview. In so doing, you will be able to find solutions to problems related to Health, Law, Travel, Mindset, Sales, Speaking and much more.

2

Are you daring enough to take on life’s challenges? Do you desire to kick start your life? Or are you looking for some inspiration to deal with life’s problems? Well, if you are then you will certainly find this book worthwhile. It will help you turn your dreams into reality, chase your dreams confidently, and also inspire the world around you. You will also understand that at times you need to risk everything to make the ever elusive breakthrough. This entails giving up your comfort, security and safety.

Make the bold step today and create the necessary impact in your life, community as well as the world. Are many professionals who owe a portion, if not most of, their success in business, sports or life to their coaches.

3

JEREMY DEMERCHANT

Sales Coach Permission to Sell Consulting Group Ltd. Fredericton, New Brunswick

You Have Permission to Sell

1

Jeremy’s first experience in entrepreneurship was when he started a commission sales job selling life insurance at age 22. He learned that even working 14 hour days, without the right sales strategy your success is far from guaranteed. The moment when he decided his future was in the personal development space was in February of 2007. Jeremy had the opportunity to see Tony Robbins live. He recalls, “At one point he asked the entire audience to rise to their feet, and jump in unison. The energy in the room was like nothing I had ever experienced. It was right then and there that I decided I needed to be making this kind of impact in people's lives.�

When he first launched his business, Jeremy was fired up about the freedom of working for himself, and terrified about the rejection that would inevitably come from self-promotion.

The best thing he did was hire a coach from day one. Actually before day one. He found someone who had been through the journey he was about to embark on, and leveraged his experience to get a head start in his business. He still made his own mistakes along the way. Exploring new ways to deliver value to his clients did not always pan out the way he had hoped. He learned one very important lesson. The amount of a client's investment is directly proportional to the level of commitment they have to achieving the result.

Jeremy created a program called Permission to Sell Academy, where he shows coaches how to build their business to support their desired lifestyle, including their desired schedule and income level. The core focus is shifting the way coaches think about sales. This mindset is key to transitioning your business from exhausting to exhilarating.

1

Conversation with Jeremy DeMerchant Taking that first step from a secure job into entrepreneurship can be difficult, when did you know starting your business was the right thing to do?

Jeremy DeMerchant: I remember the very day. I was at a golf tournament hosted by my local chamber of commerce. This was the first networking event I had attended since deciding to create a business around sales coaching. I decided I had to make it all real to myself, and commit to it publicly. The first time another participant came up and asked "what are you doing now?"

I replied "I just launched my own sales coaching business." That first conversation turned into a meeting for a $15,000 proposal.

I knew I had made the right move.

You picked a great place to launch your business; a lot of business is done on golf courses around the world.

Tell me a little more about Permission to Sell Academy and the types of people you help.

Jeremy DeMerchant: Permission to Sell is really a coaching and consulting company. I help both coaches and sales professionals achieve their targets and goals. I have started leaning more towards coaches and consultants because I find that this particular audience is even more driven to prove their own skills.

The ideal client for me, whether it’s a sales professional or a coach, is someone who is motivated to achieve results. They understand that sometimes a second set of eyes can help a situation, and they understand that investing in their own professional and personal development is the best investment they can make.

In the beginning it can be very overwhelming for the people you help. When they’re stripped of that identity, besides being at a loss of what to call themselves, have you found a great deal of the confidence that they may have carried in life was also tied to that identity?

Most of the truly great coaches credit a mentor or someone who inspired them to succeed, who inspired you and when?

Jeremy DeMerchant: I realized that this is where I needed to be when I saw Tony Robbins live. He was in Halifax and he had the entire auditorium on their feet, jumping up and down in unison. The energy made me realize that if I really want to impact a lot of people, I need to get into this transformational space to be able to help people connect, achieve goals of a higher level for themselves and then help others as well.

If you had to sum up exactly what your clients achieve, what would it be?

Jeremy DeMerchant: I’m going to help them achieve sales targets and make more money. At the end of the day, it ultimately comes down to having better conversations and setting up business structures that help them better leverage their time.

So, make more money and work less.

Your passion is obvious, was there a particular moment when you fell in love with sales and knew this was what you wanted to do?

2

Jeremy DeMerchant: I made my first sale when I was about 14 years old. I was a cashier at a convenience store and this package of lottery tickets came in. I was too young to buy them but they had a brand of a local billiards hall. So I got really excited about it, and a customer walked in, and because I was excited, I shared it with them and thought that they should buy one. And they said yes. And I realized that I could influence somebody’s buying decisions based on if I believed that there is some value and if I could share my excitement with them. It was just a parttime job. By the end of the weekend, I had sold all of the lottery tickets in just over 2 days. I was kind of hooked at that point.

So you got an early taste of success. What drives you now?

Jeremy DeMerchant: At the end of the day, I believe that the world doesn’t start turning until a sale is made. I find that the sales industry has earned such a bad reputation because of a lot of stereotypes and because of some very bad sales practices in the past. Now; however, the industry is shifting in such a way that you can’t always go in and you can’t always be closing. All of these traditional strategies and techniques that used to be the be-all-end-all are now out of date.

Consumers are a lot more educated. I also want to help people realize the value that they offer to their market. Specifically when I work with coaches and consultants, most of them have a challenge selling their own services and they have a challenge pricing themselves at an accurate level. They underprice themselves because they don’t believe that they offer the level of value that they do. When they undercut themselves, they underprice themselves, they actually take away from the perceived value in their client’s mind. My desire is to fix both of those, for instance: First, to make sales much more acceptable industry; 3

and second, to make people in the transformational business, like coaches, consultants, speakers, trainers, and authors, comfortable stepping up and charging what they want for their services instead of worrying about what they think somebody will pay.

That’s extremely powerful. How do you get those people over that hump or past their negative impression of sales?

Jeremy DeMerchant: The key is really around mindset. The whole concept behind my brand, Permission to Sell, is that before you ever get permission to sell a client, before you get that permission from them, you need to first give it to yourself. The mindset piece is around these pre-conceived notions, the stereotypes that we’ve heard, maybe around personal experiences.

For example, when you were a child if you saw your Mom go to the door and there was a salesman there, and they were pushing really hard and really wanted to get in to do a presentation; who was just going for the close right from the start. Next you saw your Mom walk away from the door in tears really upset, whether or not she made a purchase didn’t matter, but that day can sit in the back of your mind as your first experience with a sales professional. Going forward, you might spend your time not wanting to be like that guy. I don’t want to come across like that. I never want to make anybody feel that way. You can spend more time worrying about avoiding that instead of focusing on delivering value to your client.

Nice. I remember as a kid when the Rainbow Vacuum Cleaner guy came knocking on the door, he had some hard closes for sure.

4

What is the most common problem you see holding your clients back?

Jeremy DeMerchant: The biggest challenge is fear of rejection. It all comes back to that. So when people are nervous about pushing a sale, they think, well, if I don’t push that hard and they say no, it’s not a big deal. But if they really go all in and really give it their all and get rejected, they can take it personally. Or when it comes to coaches, consultants, speakers, trainers, and authors, they can be worried that if they ask for what they think they’re worth and somebody says no, they’ll take it personally.

Then they start to question their own value and get discouraged and might back off from their business a little bit and everything goes sideways.

Do you have a strategy you recommend for overcoming that fear?

Jeremy DeMerchant: Well, there’s a few different ways.

There is one strategy that I’ve had work very well for me and that is to actually go for the no, and I believe there’s actually a book written on it. You detach yourself from the outcome. As an example, if I make an offer to somebody, and I don’t offer something to everybody. I want to make sure they’re the right fit. If I do make an offer, mentally, I’m not attached to the outcome. Of course there is positive if they say yes and they take advantage of it, but if they say no, I do not take that personally.

If you can detach yourself from that, then you can approach the entire sales process from a much better posture, a much better position of power. When people truly feel you’re not pushing them for the sale and that you’re truly trying to work with them to add more value, which makes them want to work with you 5

more. I’ve had people that I’ve said no to and they’ve come back and asked again to work with me. It shifts that feeling. As soon as they don’t feel like they’re being sold, they’re more open to buy.

Do you find that your clients have misconceptions about sales?

Jeremy DeMerchant: Yes. A lot of the perception around sales is that if you’re a good salesman that means you’re a hard core salesman and a hard closer and that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the sale. That might mean manipulating situations. That might mean promising things that you can’t deliver. It might mean straight out lying. And those are the pieces that really give salespeople a bad name. But those strategies don’t work anymore. As educated as consumers are now, they can tell very easily how realistic the outcome is that you can offer and they can tell how sincere you are. I actually just did a presentation for a group purely on the topic that sales wasn’t a bad thing. I had a friend of mine who said to me a few days ago that sales isn’t necessarily the most ethical industry. I took these people in this presentation through the process that I go through to convert big ticket sales; to open them up and understand that there’s nothing unethical about what I do. I just help people realize a need, if it’s there.

You mentioned something earlier about helping your clients have better conversations. That intrigues me, could you tell me more about what that involves?

Jeremy DeMerchant: My favorite challenge to help with is actually around conversations. A lot of people are trained in very 6

traditional sales techniques, about how to control a call or a conversation, whether it’s face-to-face or on the phone, it doesn’t matter, and they feel like they need to lead the potential client down a certain path. Sometimes, that involves some kind of leading in a direction that might not be authentic to the need of the client. Then you end up going for a hard sell and a hard close, where you ask somebody to make a purchase for something that they’re not ready for or might not be a good fit. The biggest challenge in that is because you’ve taken that approach with the close-ended questions and guiding them through it and you haven’t allowed the objection or the problem to become apparent to the consumer themselves or the potential client, you actually could lose the sale.

There could be a completely valid need for your product or service, but if they feel like you’re directing them through the sales process instead of them feeling like they’re leading it, then they can put up walls and just say no purely because they’re worried about being “sold”. Alternatively, if you go through an openended question process, not necessarily about the income, or the outcome, both, I guess, and you shift things so that the true goal isn’t about making the sale, it’s about identifying a need for the client, and then if there’s a way that your product or service can fit to solve that need, then great. If there’s not, you could be okay with that, too. Being focused on closing the sale, you come across what I call “commission breath”. All you want is that sale and people can tell. That approach doesn’t work out for most salespeople long-term.

That makes a lot of sense. Do you have a brief example or case study you could tell us about?

7

Jeremy DeMerchant: I worked with one client who was a sales rep in the insurance industry, and she was great face-toface but had some challenges having the same level of connection with a client over the phone. So we worked on how she manages that call over the phone; worked on some general kind of loose scripting approaches, and really helped her dig in and make the clients open up more. I shouldn’t say make, but invite them to open up more, and allow them a comfort level to be able to share openly with somebody that they’ve earned some trust with about the true concerns and problems they have. People weren’t saying no and saying it was because of price when it wasn’t. The normal common objections that you get are time and money. The reality is most of them are actually based in fear, typically fear of failure of some sort. You need to build that level of trust with somebody before they’re going to be comfortable telling you that. That’s a big part of what I help people work with; building that rapport using open-ended questions to build the trust and digging really deep, just sincerely trying to identify what the person’s challenge is.

That’s a key point. Trust is critical. Do you have any resources you would recommend to help people who want to have better conversations with prospects?

Jeremy DeMerchant: I would recommend they go to permissiontosell.com and get my free download. It’s right on the homepage and it’s the 5 C’s of successful sales conversations.

That’s going to be the starting point to help people really dig in to the mindset of the new sales process and help them be more comfortable with what they’re going to go through as far as conversations with clients. The information is so they’re not so worried about not coming across like that vacuum salesman or 8

the current salesman or whatever stereotype we want to use there. They can then focus and realize that they’re really digging down and identifying a core need before they’re going to make an offer for some kind of solution I know you have a lot of success stories, is there one that stands out for you?

Jeremy DeMerchant: Let me think of a good one. I worked with a gentleman who was a trader accountant working for a company, but deep down inside, he wanted to be a coach. He wasn’t sure what steps to take, he was teaching some courses on the side but wasn’t really in a state of commitment to it. It was a good paying job that he had during the day and there was a high level of security there. Therefore, he was really nervous, but he reached out to me and said, you know what, it’s my time.

It’s time to move forward and stop building somebody else’s dream and start building my own. The goal was for him to give his resignation by the end of month 4 of us working together.

What actually happened was he made his first 5-figure sale in week 3 and gave his resignation at the end of that week. He was able to avoid being stuck in a job forever that he wasn’t truly passionate about. That company is actually in the process of considering having him come back and do coaching with the team.

After he left, he spoke to the CEO of the company, and the CEO asked, “Why did it take you so long?”

That’s a great success story.

9

As you know, there will be people from a wide range of industries reading this, do you have any advice that would apply to everyone?

Jeremy DeMerchant: You need to know your why. You need to truly understand why you’re in it. The reason why sales professionals and entrepreneurs are coaches, they’re almost the same market because there are so many similarities. In both cases, there’s an entrepreneur rollercoaster. When you’re in sales, it’s the same thing. It’s a commission rollercoaster, in some cases. And there’s going to be tough times. There’s going to be times when you start to wonder whether or not this is right for you. And the only thing that may keep you on track is knowing exactly why you started in the first place. So for some people, you know, they make it about income, but it really isn’t. Often, they associate an income to a lifestyle that they want.

For me, I started because I always said I either want to be in a position to work for a company that would pay to fly me all over the world or make enough money so I could fly all over the world on my own. Now, I’ve just shifted it so that that company that I work for is my own, and so I’ve combined the two. The purpose behind it, is the lifestyle piece, but what else can you do with that lifestyle? A lot of people want to do things to help their family. I know for me, I want to help pay my Dad’s house off.

Determine what can you put on a goal sheet or a vision board or whatever works for you, so that when you look at it, you say, yes, this is why I’m here, this is why I’m doing it. Because there will be days when you’re ready to tap out, you need that extra burst, that extra fire to keep you going. Without it, it may take a very small failure of some sort to really discourage you and really change, go back to the job, the traditional, secure income. It can really eliminate some opportunities for you.

10

Once they know their “Why”, what would be next?

Jeremy DeMerchant: Know what you’re good at. Some salespeople can go and sell pretty well anything, and I used to be that guy. But the truth is, you’re going to do much better when you believe in it and when you can back it up. There’s a reason why people that work for Apple come in having used Apple products as a consumer first. You want to be able to walk in and not just sell something but be an evangelist to it and speak about the experience. Figure out what area you’re passionate about, that you’re willing to spend extra hours doing research in, so you can figure out how to best serve the market. Whether it’s sales or whether it’s coaching, you need to know where you can be the expert. What demographic, what industry, what segment can you really call yourself the expert in and become the go-to person? With both sales and entrepreneurship, you can do it. I’ll give an example, specifically, with mothers who have children under the age of 2 who want to achieve a certain health goal or weight goal or such. You can get very specific. From a sales perspective, I ended up going into the education space, worked at a couple of online universities and I really love learning anyway.

I was always doing my own personal development and was even in the process of doing my own university degree and I believed in what I was selling, so I could speak about my own experiences. One thing that I definitely recommend is if you’re selling something for a company, buy the product yourself first.

Because if you aren’t willing to buy the product, then you’re going to have a hard time convincing somebody else to. And on the coaching side, another piece around that, on the same thought process is if you are going to start telling people they need a coach, you better have a coach yourself. You’ve got to practice what you preach.

11

When people do not have the experience of a coach to guide them, they can make some pretty big mistakes. What is a common Do-it-Yourself mistake you see people make?

Jeremy DeMerchant: A lot of people start off by offering free coaching sessions to attract new clients. This does not work. This often leads to investing hours with unqualified people, and then getting burned out when those sessions don't convert to paying clients. This is often a primary cause of someone throwing in the towel.

So having that “Guide on the Side” to avoid things like that can actually make or break a business.

What are some of the benefits your clients get from working with you?

Jeremy DeMerchant: The number one thing is gaining confidence. One of the first things that I do is help people realize the value that they offer their clients. Whether its salesperson or coach or whatever it may be, I help them shift their perception of what it is that they’re offering. For example, you talked about the vacuum salesman. Let’s use the scenario of some kid who’s fresh out of university and gets the job as a vacuum salesman; their friends are going to harass them a bit about it. I actually have a friend who is a vacuum salesman. If you’re going into a home and what you’re offering is truly going to add value to their life and give a return on investment based on the amount that they’re going to need to invest for the product, then it’s a winwin. You make a sale; they get great product. You need to shift how you think about it.

12

In the coaching business, you’ll say well, I don’t know if I would pay this much for this kind of program. Then you didn’t ask them like what would it mean? What would it mean to you, to your life, to your business if you had this service being offered to you? What’s the value? I’ve had clients take pricing, as far as in the development of their coaching programs, from $97 a month to $997 a month just by shifting the way they were looking at the value they were delivering, and they are still able to sell it.

I’ve learned a lot just from talking with you in this short interview, I know there will be a lot of people reading this who will want to work with you. What is the process for becoming a client?

Jeremy DeMerchant: The first step is to go right to my website, permissiontosell.com, and book a strategy session. The sessions are risk-free. I ask for an investment just to identify people that are serious, but it’s risk-free. So if you’re not getting the value from the session, you get a refund. At the end of the session, if we decide to move forward and you’re a good fit to work with me, I’ll apply that investment towards one of the programs.

Excellent! Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to leave with us before we end?

Jeremy DeMerchant: You must first truly understand the needs of your prospect before proposing a solution. You must ask great questions.

Perfect. Thank you very much.

13

WEBSITE: www.permissiontosell.com EMAIL: jeremy@permissiontosell.com LOCATION: Fredericton, New Brunswick LINKEDIN: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jdemerchant

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/jeremy.demerchant TWITTER: https://twitter.com/jdemerchant

14

BURT L. BURNETT

Board Certified Trial Attorney and Trial Master The Burnett Law Firm, PLLC Licensed to Practice in Texas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania www.BurtBurnett.com

Having The Right Attorney is Key to a Good Outcome

Burt L. Burnett was raised as a seventh generation son of farmers and ranchers. When he was 5 years old he began hoeing weeds in his family’s cotton fields, tromping cotton in cotton trailers and moving irrigation pipe. As he grew older that evolved into driving tractors, plowing, hauling hay and other farm and ranch related activities. Ultimately, he purchased his own land while in high school and started his own herd of beef cattle to help pay educational expenses.

The practice of law and trial of cases captured his interest purely by coincidence. After graduating from college summa cum laude in 3 1/2 years as the Outstanding Graduate of the School of Arts and Sciences, Burt was awaiting the start of medical school. He had been admitted to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School which started in the fall of 1989.

He was selected by random drawing to serve as a juror in a civil case resulting from the death of two young boys who were struck and killed by a pickup while riding a three wheeler all-terrain vehicle. Burt was selected foreman of the jury. That service provided a spark for his legal education, training and success as a trial attorney helping thousands of injured persons and families of persons killed wrongfully by the negligence of others. In the course of pursuing that course, he developed a successful proprietary trial technique which was his first serious venture into entrepreneurship.

16

Conversation with Burt L. Burnett You were ready to go to medical school and you ended up in Law school how did that happen?

Burt L. Burnett: The practice of law and trial of cases captured my interest purely by coincidence. After graduating Summa Cum Laude as the Outstanding Graduate of the School of Arts and Sciences in 3 ½ years of college, I was awaiting the start of medical school. I had been admitted to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas which was to start in the Fall of 1989. I was randomly selected for jury duty in a civil case which resulted from the death of two young boys from my home town who were killed when a pickup truck struck the three-wheeler all-terrain vehicle they were riding. Even though I was the jury foreman, I was the only juror who sided with the boys’ families. This experience afforded me the opportunity to view a trial from the perspective of a juror. This gave rise to a belief that if I obtained the education and skills necessary to try cases, I could do a better job than the lawyers who tried the case. I followed that path which led to my legal career in which I have won many trials and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for my clients. Along the way, I successfully developed proprietary case management tools and trial techniques. The combination of these constituted my first entrepreneurial venture to accumulate wealth on a large scale.

It seems contrarian to when people think, “I’m going to go into business for myself, because I’m good at what I do and I can help people in a way others may not be able to help. I know I need to stand out so people will choose me.”

17

There can be a wealth of wisdom in the stories of other entrepreneurs. Would you tell us your story about your rise from green entrepreneur to where you are now?

Burt L. Burnett: I started my law practice with a very experienced trial lawyer who was in his 60’s. He and I had a handshake agreement that lasted until he retired nearly nine years later.

Our agreement was that if our operating bank account was ever exhausted we would close up shop and go our separate ways.

When we started in 1994, we only represented seven clients and none of their cases was particularly compelling to me at that early stage of my career. Now, 22 years later my firm and I currently represent over 900 clients in more than 200 injury and death cases. We recover millions of dollars yearly for our clients and earn millions of dollars annually for our firm by simply helping people. Back when I started practicing law, I would become frustrated because I felt that we did not have what I thought were “big” cases.

My old partner would tell me that first of all, every client’s case is a big case to the client and second, if I wanted a million dollar case, all I had to do was go grab a file out of our file room , work on it and make it a million dollar case. He was teaching me to focus on the root rather than the fruit in the practice of law. When I started practicing law the author Malcolm Gladwell had not discovered or written that the mastery of a skill requires at least 10,000 hours of practice to develop that particular skill.

However, I quickly realized that the best means by which to learn trial techniques was to prepare and try cases to juries, repeatedly.

Fate was kind and I was able to learn to prepare, develop and try many cases to a jury before I had the opportunity to handle large and complicated cases which required the mastery of all of 18

the nuances that I had previously learned to successfully address in simpler cases. By that time, I had invested more than 10,000 hours in perfecting my trial skills and knowledge before being on the big stage. This formula led to the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. A large number of those clients had cases that were rejected by other firms as “losers”, “dog cases” or “worthless.” Those are the cases I am most proud of winning, because other attorneys would not even talk to those clients or told the clients they had no case. Despite being discouraged, those clients put their faith and trust in us. We were not only able to give them hope but deliver victory. I tell clients that like the scriptures say, “Seeds sown in tears are reaped in joy.” If clients will sow the seeds of faith in our firm in handling their case, even though they are at the darkest point in their lives, in the end they will joyfully and victoriously reap the harvest.

This philosophy and formula resulted in my becoming a Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Attorney, a Trial Master Attorney, a Top 100 Trial Attorney in Texas, a 2014 Trial Attorney of the Year, a Multi-Million Dollar Advocate, and most importantly a Top Ten Law Firm for Client Satisfaction. If we focus on the root rather than the fruit, our clients and we will reach heights that the clients never dreamed possible when they first sowed the seeds of faith and trust in our firm.

You describe how people work so much harder to blend in and don’t get results, versus being their natural selves, which requires far less work. When they let that happen – some remarkable things occur.

Can you go into some more detail about what you do and the types of people that you help?

19

Burt L. Burnett: I help clients that have been seriously injured or their family members have been killed due to the neglect or gross neglect of a third party which is usually a corporation or a person who is covered by insurance. We represent these normal everyday people in cases without regard to the insurance company or corporation’s size, influence, or wealth. We have successfully sued the largest corporations in the world, including the largest explosives manufacture in the world, the largest mobile office leasing corporation in the world, and the largest private penitentiary corporation in the world. We have also sued the United States Government and the State of Texas just to name a few. These experiences allow me to confirm the old sayings that you better not show up for a gunfight with a knife and you cannot fight a big dog and bite like a puppy. Such cases take a tremendous amount of skill, time, effort and most importantly money on the part of the law firm.

The requirement of monetary resources is crucial because we want for the jury to see and hear the most distinguished and qualified experts in the field of the particular case we are trying.

For example, the surgeon who invented the surgical tool that surgeons use all over the world to perform shoulder surgeries testified for our client in a car wreck case this year. Even though our client did not seek medical treatment for over a year following the wreck and only after he hired us, we were able to win the case. The jury’s verdict was seven times the insurance company’s offer before trial. The terms of a confidentiality agreement prohibit me from providing specific figures. Our firm advances litigation expenses so that the client does not have to pay these expenses during a time when they do not have the resources to pay. If we do not win, we do not get paid any attorney’s fees and we are not reimbursed for these out of

20

pocket expenses. So if we want to keep providing for our own families, as a firm we had better win.

As an example, the most recent case I tried to a jury was a case in which our client suffered a “mild” head injury according to the medical records and doctor’s testimony. Our client was involved in a car wreck but was never admitted to a hospital and only received medical treatment for scratches and bruises at the emergency room on the day of the wreck. The defendant insurance company offered $20,000 before trial. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury awarded our client over $2.1 million.

Do you feel like you have a calling to do what you do, why did you chose this field?

Burt L. Burnett: That is a good question that I have contemplated many times through the years. Why is this part of my life’s purpose? Easier means of making money certainly exist and trial law is very demanding personally. I came to the conclusion that I enjoy and am fulfilled by helping the disenfranchised, powerless, and penniless. I have always at least questioned authority and most of the time resented authority anytime certain groups of people are treated differently or as second rate citizens just because they are different, not well connected or without power and resources. Representing and speaking for these people against power still gets my competitive juices flowing. Nothing that I have experienced even approaches the feeling I get when a jury, by its verdict, tells our client we are right and the big fish is wrong.

Through your life and entrepreneur journey has there been inspiration or motivation along the way from someone in particular?

21

Burt L. Burnett: My motivation came from a real life experience rather than a book or movie. When I decided to change my path from a medical career to a legal career, I asked and at times nearly begged for law firms to allow me to work for free in their offices to make sure I wanted to be an attorney. You see I had never spent any time in a law office. No lawyers, bankers, doctors or other professionals existed in my family. In fact, my father was the only one to attend college in my family’s previous generations. We had no absolutely no powerful connections and limited resources, so I could not rely upon anyone but myself in seeking this opportunity. Even though I applied to over 100 firms, only one solo practitioner let me through the door to work in his office. Most of the firms did not even respond to my calls or letters. I never got past a receptionist at the firms I visited in person. I promised myself then that when I was a trial lawyer, I would remember those firms and I would not lose a case in which those firms were involved. Fortunately, I have kept that promise to myself thus far, and if we simply execute our trial strategies, we will continue winning.

Having a Law Firm such as yours demands lots of time and commitment because people’s futures are literally placed in your hands. What drives you? Why do you have a passion to help people?

Burt L. Burnett: I have always been a sucker for a sad story, sometimes to a fault, but over the course of nearly 22 years representing families, at the lowest points of their lives, with no job, missing limbs, dead family members and other tragic circumstances, it is impossible not to feel for them. I want to do

22

everything in my power to help them even if that means spending large amounts of our money on the case, committing a tremendous amount of time on their case and sacrificing personally such as occasionally missing my children’s school functions, birthday parties and other events. Fortunately, I have a wonderfully understanding family including my wife and kids who share this compassionate attitude about our clients. My family and I understand that many times our firm is the only barrier between our clients and a lifetime of poverty and misery. Our clients only have one shot to be restored to the financial position in which they would have been had their tragic incident not occurred.

That one shot is a jury trial, so we must be prepared for that opportunity. I always feel that unless we help them, no one will.

That’s great you have an understanding family that supports you and understands how you impact people’s lives.

What do you see as the most common obstacles preventing someone from choosing the right attorney for their case?

Burt L. Burnett: The main challenge for clients is finding their way to our firm rather than other firms. Clients are bombarded with advertisements of attorneys who purport to be “trial lawyers.” Many of these lawyers have never successfully tried a case to a jury. Some have never even tried a case to a jury period. Unfortunately, no laws or ethical rules prevent such advertising. The result is harm to clients who only realize they have made a poor decision regarding their attorney after it is too late. It is like golf. I know golfers who have golfed for 40 years, play every day the course is open and have never shot a score under 100 strokes, yet they call themselves golfers. Contrast that with a Tiger Woods, Jordan Speith or Rory McElroy. Now 23

those are golfers. Saying you are a trial lawyer does not make you one no matter how you say it, how many times you say it or however creative a nickname you give yourself.

Definitely!

Do you find that people have misconceptions about attorneys?

Burt L. Burnett: One misconception is that because an attorney is license to practice law, the lawyer possesses the knowledge and competency to handle any type of case. If someone calls me to handle their bankruptcy case, I will not represent them, because I am not an expert at bankruptcy. However, many lawyers have a business model in which they take clients’ personal injury or death cases with the intent to settle the cases for whatever the insurance company offers while knowing full well they do not understand how to handle a personal injury or death case or how to try such a case to a jury. As a result, the clients only recover a fraction of what their cases are worth. This business model may be great for the lawyers, but it is devastating for the clients. The main pitfall for such clients is trusting the representations of the lawyers in their advertisements or otherwise. Clients should do their research and make sure that the lawyer is board certified in personal injury trial law and has successfully tried many cases to juries before hiring them. The clients should not necessarily rely upon the results of cases a lawyer settles. For example, a lawyer can settle a million dollar case for $100,000 without knowing what he or she is doing. A trial master may get a million dollar verdict when most other attorneys could only recover 100,000 in the case. The object is to maximize the client’s recovery by obtaining outlier results.

That is a great point.

24

What can people in this situation do where they find themselves looking for the right attorney so they can avoid those obstacles that you just described?

Burt L. Burnett: Number one, they need to call or email our firm, regardless of their location. It does not matter what state they are in we are able to help them. We represent clients all over the U.S. and in Mexico. Even if we cannot represent you, we will get you to the most highly qualified and competent attorney in the area.

Can you give an example, obviously without naming any names, but describe how you have been able to help certain people that others would not help?

Burt L. Burnett: Sure. I represented the surviving widow and three children of a plumber who was electrocuted on the job.

Four law firms rejected the case and told the clients they were wasting their time before the clients called me. The plumber was working on a jobsite connecting the plumbing underneath a mobile office at the time he was electrocuted. He died instantly.

The combined negligence of the world’s largest mobile office leasing company and a master electrician caused his death. You see even though the leasing company had policies and procedures in place that required them to make sure the office was in good shape before sending it to the next customer, the leasing company failed to check the electric circuitry before delivering the mobile office to the next customer.

As a result, the mobile office leasing company failed to detect a screw that had been inserted through the aluminum siding of the office and into the electrical wiring going to the air conditioning. After the mobile office was delivered to the work site of the 25

new customer, the master electrician was supposed to drive an eight foot steel ground rod into the soil to ground the electricity to the office. Unfortunately, the electrician and his helper were hot and hungry at noon on that July day. So instead of driving the 8 foot ground rod into he cut the steel rod to 18 inches, drove it into the hard West Texas soil and went to lunch. Shortly thereafter when the plumber was under the trailer connecting the plumbing, the secretary inside the office turned the air conditioning on inside the mobile office which energized the mobile office’s frame and aluminum siding.

The plumber’s elbow contacted the office’s metal frame and he was electrocuted. The family was tormented with questions about how this could have occurred. Discovering the facts required an intensive and costly investigation, but we finally discovered the cause of the electrocution and were not only able to provide the family peace of mind, but also settle the case before trial for $4.5 million.

Wow that’s amazing! That really shows your commitment to find the facts.

What would be your best piece of advice to someone who’s wondering if they have a case?

Burt L. Burnett: I suggest they call us. Even if they ultimately do not want us to help them or we can’t help them for some reason, we will steer them in the right direction. If for some reason we cannot represent the client, we will get them to someone who can represent them and do a very fine job.

My firm is typically paid only in the event we win the client's case and on a percentage of the recovery. Of course, the client decides whether the settlement offer is acceptable based upon 26

our advice. Our customary fee is one third of the client's settlement if the case is settled without filing a lawsuit and 40% of the client's recovery if a lawsuit must be filed. Of course we advance all expenses associated with the case and if we do not recover money for the client, the client owes us nothing. If a potential client contacts us as a result of reading about our firm in this book and we accept the case, we will reduce our fee to 25 percent of the settlement if the case is settled without filing suit and one third of the recovery if a lawsuit is required.

That’s a generous offer.

Could you explain some of the benefits of working with your firm?

Burt L. Burnett: Yes, because that takes the randomness or chance of the client being taken advantage of by the sort of firm I described above. We do not force prospective clients to pay or do anything other than tell us about the facts of their case such as what caused their injuries and the type and extent of their injuries. We then tell them what we believe we can do to help.

It’s all free if they do not feel comfortable with our firm, we thank them for contacting us and giving us the opportunity to communicate with them. So they are right back to the position they were in before they called us and are free to hire any other firm they choose.

Can you describe some situations that people might be in that you can help them with?

Burt L. Burnett: Yes. Number one, if they had been involved in a motor vehicle wreck, especially with a truck we can help. If 27

they have suffered a work-related injury we can help. In nearly any kind of an injury or death case, they need to call us because we can usually help. It’s important to remember that the insurance companies profit from people who attempt to handle their own claims. The law often fails to follow common sense. So it would be like me trying to build a house. I do not know the intricacies of how to build a house so if I tried the results would be poor. To build a house I would need to consult with and hire a master contractor who is a master at every aspect of home building from the foundation to the finishing or detail work. The same thing is true for client’s cases. They should entrust their case to a master trial attorney.

I know most people would not think about the importance of finding the correct trial attorney. How can someone find out more about how to be represented?

Burt L. Burnett: They can go to Burt@BurtBurnett.com where they can get information, results and fill out and submit their information. We will review it and call them back to discuss their case. It’s as simple as that, no pressure and no hassle, just straight talk. If they need us to come to them because they are unable to travel or in the hospital we have a jet available that allows us to travel to wherever they are located.

And if someone feels that they need to speak to you immediately, they can contact you by phone?

Burt L. Burnett: Sure at any time. I am the only lawyer I have known that puts his cell phone number on his business card. Anyone that needs legal help can call me at our offices by calling

28

(325)673-4357 or toll-free 1-800-501-2091 If they wish to call me on my cell, it is (325)320-4731.

29

WEBSITE: www.BurtBurnett.com EMAIL: burtlburnett@yahoo.com LOCATION: Abilene, TX Phone: 325.320.4731

30

ROBERT READ

Transformational Coach EEE Corporate Coaching LLC Sydney, Australia www.eeecorporatecoaching.com

Targeted Focus and Ongoing Reflective-Practice to Achieve Your Goals and Dreams

31

Robert’s entry point to entrepreneurialism was identifying and acknowledging his collective attributes outside of normal income generating teaching profession; and how these inherent skills and attributes can positively impact like-minded individuals.

The first, time he caught the entrepreneurial bug was at a 3day networking event that was both inspiring and instilled selfbelief. This was the catalyst for his personal development journey which led to a second event that had a salient impact on him; and in turn, he was able to positively impact others around him in a nurturing fashion. The eyes are the gateway to the soul, and he could see the sincere gratitude in people's eyes that gave their thanks for the value of service.

Robert’s entrepreneurial journey began at an event called ‘Three Days to Cash’ by the ‘Live Out Loud Community’. The workshop offered a holistic approach from personal-mindset to financial-execution; and offering many role-plays within a reallife micro-economy to make money at the actual 3-day event.

He had to find a way to connect to the masses, have a positive impact, change lives and generate money along the way.

Therefore, for him the crossover point was taking tangible-action in preparation and construction of an e-book for a third event called ‘Making New Money’. He made a decision there and then that he will impact others without having the luxury and the nurture of face-to-face contact.

As a personal development advocate, he would like to offer personal or corporate-coaching for those individuals who would like more scope, targeted focus and ongoing reflective-practice to achieve their goals and dreams. His magic is the ability to listen and consolidate a probable solution that is both malleable and transforming.

32

Conversation with Robert Read Tell me about your business and the types of customers you help?

Robert Read: Certainly. My business and valued clientele, is about individual and corporate coaching for personal development transformation. What this entails as a coach is very important. Firstly, we must holistically ascertain the clients current circumstance i.e. where they are at the moment and as to where we can take them. So it’s about enlightening, empowering and educating our valued client to move from a particular circumstance to a prescribed situation that will either resolve an issue or attain their desired intentions or dedicated goals.

What led you to this field?

Robert Read: That’s a good question. As I awake each morning, I give thanks and also write down my 12 daily affirmations; and as part of this ritual, my mindset is focused on whose life will I transform today through love or humility? You see, I think with my open and transparent personality, I generally find by building genuine rapport, people naturally gravitate towards a friendly temperament, particularly for problem solving; whether its colleagues at work, whether it’s family members, friends or associates, they usually ask for my opinion. This led me to start transformational coaching. I certainly enjoy the two way collaborative dialogue to find a workable resolution, especially by learning the valuable skill to listen very carefully!

I find by methodically probing, I’m able to dig in; I’m able to prompt the person to get to the next level and try to find an attainable and tangible solution. Generally, I find nine times out 33

of ten, believe it or not, the client actually has the probable solution. They know what it is, what it takes, and what it requires resolving that issue, yet it’s just carefully nurturing them into that next step. It’s really all about being ‘other people centred’.

Similarly, it’s a wonderful discovery to find these attributes are just something naturally inherent in me and it’s more of a nurturing thing as a father and as a husband. I suppose you naturally do that with your own family; likewise, I find it’s quite refreshing to take that outside the context of home and share it with others who are essentially strangers or people that you don’t normally associate with behind closed doors.

When people want to hire a coach, a lot of times, their mindset is “I need to hire someone to be accountable for my results, for my actions.”

Is there any particular story or specific time or event when you caught the bug to do what you do?

Robert Read: Probably the 3-day networking event. It was held by a company called ‘Live Out Loud’. You know, the whole objective of this Live Out Loud community was basically to get you a bit uncomfortable. We all live in our little comfort zone, we do what we do, we get to work, we come home, but rather than the normal rigmarole, it was about really stretching the cognition a bit. So, the event is titled 3 Days to Cash and it is designed to find out what it is that you’re really good at, what can you impart or teach others, how could you lead them; and by the same token resolve an issue or a problem they may have?

That was the first time I think I really caught the ‘bug’; and wanted to share my new skill acquisition to positively influence others.

34

It definitely does. In the business world, it would be like comparing an employee with an entrepreneur. Even successful CEOs still ultimately have someone telling them what to do, where to do it, what needs to be done, and providing that framework. The consequence of not working within that framework is unemployment.

As you come to realize your gift was there a book or a movie or a person that specifically inspired you or was it simply that event?

Robert Read: I think it’s collective in nature and the culmination of many books that I’ve read over the years. One in particular that inspires me the most is not really a book; it’s actually a ‘Mind Study’ course by the Master himself John Kehoe which talks about mind powers. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that particular gentleman or not; he has a holistic look at the entire thinking process; and this particular course had an irreversible and profound effect on me and my family. I was able to apply that to my everyday life and then what it did for me was to eloquently incorporate all the other books that I’ve read in the past. It was like a huge jigsaw puzzle that finally fit together and made a real holistic picture for me. So it’s not particularly pointed at one particular thing but rather a multitude of personal development channels.

The results from the people that you work with speak volumes to your method. The accountability aspect is probably one of the most significant pieces. You stated that ultimately they’re accountable to themselves. You are really there to guide them along their path, whatever that is.

35

Can you be specific on those books? You mentioned one, are there any others that come to mind?

Robert Read: Yes, certainly, fundamental books like ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill: How to Win Friends and Influence People: Millionaire Maker and Yes Energy both by Loral Langemeier: also Re-Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins; and You-Inc by John McGrath. It’s really a multitude of all of them collectively put together. I can’t really specifically say one is better over the other; as they all have totally different attributes and they all contribute to a holistic picture for me.

Awesome. Talk about what drives you and provides you the passion to do what you do and help the people you help.

Robert Read: Sure, as I mentioned earlier, my mindset is focused on whose life will I transform today through patience, love and humility? You see, for me, it’s all about the reason ‘why’ rather than how or what; and my reason why is, as a young man I wasn’t given the opportunity for personal development or, to think in terms outside our norm i.e. what I would call mediocrity!

We were told and drummed into our psyche that we must get a good job. We were told to be faithful to our employer and give our best service. I wasn’t given the opportunity to discover entrepreneurism and I have nobody to blame but myself as I didn’t know any better. So for me to be able to inspire others to look outside the norm gives me a tremendous sense of personal satisfaction. That’s what draws me to see fruitful blessed outcomes; and it’s certainly the satisfaction of giving and inspiring a profound positive impact on others. That’s what drives me the most.

Excellent. What are some of the most common obstacles preventing someone from achieving the outcome that you provide?

36

Robert Read: In my book I’ve dedicated several chapters with a specific primary focus on resolving ‘procrastination’. And really the chapters are basically all about shifting the thinking processes to bring about ‘daily’ actions that shape your long-term HABITS. A lot of people procrastinate in varying degrees and it’s about shaping that ‘daily’ attitude, how you think about it, how you sustainably apply it on an ongoing basis. It’s not a one-off.

It’s not just for 1 week or 1 month but rather, a continual ongoing compounding process. I find a lot of people have procrastination challenges including me; and hence my own motivation that now passionately drives me to write my upcoming book titled “Mind Mastery – Master Your Microsteps: Transform Procrastination to Prosperity”.

Great, what would be the biggest misconception that someone may have about achieving the outcome that you’re trying to provide for them?

Robert Read: The Biggest misconception is that a client temporarily changing habits in the short term is a permanent fix.

They think that applying it 1 or 2 days or 1 or 2 weeks is a longterm cure or a long-term solution. However, that’s not the case.

It is a enormous wholesale change of mind, a change of rationalism, a change of philosophy, a change of thinking that brings about habitual change and it’s those habits that bring about real actions that will resolve their procrastination. It takes a lot of ‘unlearning’, particularly limiting beliefs and habits!

Can you give an example of that?

Robert Read: Certainly. For example, one might want to change a tap washer on a leaking tap and they might think, oh 37

look that’s okay, I’ll do that next week sometime and next week comes around, oh look, I’m really, really busy right now, I’ll do that the following week. And so this can go on, and on, and on, and it doesn’t actually resolve because it’s not a priority. However, if they understood the underlying issues of the leaking tap, how much wastage there is or how much it’s costing them financially, because this could go on for months and years and we look back and think, well, I could have done something about it. Does that make sense?

Yes, could you tie that in to the thought processes or why is it that they’re procrastinating in the first place. Go a little bit deeper on that.

Robert Read: Sure. Firstly, allow me to define ‘value’ in this context. Values are distinctly different from beliefs; values are where you spend your valuable time, energy and money. I think for a lot of people and including me, I speak from experience, it is not assigning true value. More than anything else, it is not putting value to that particular task or they may have put it in the “too-hard” basket; and so your mind tells you, oh look, don’t worry about it, we can do that in the future. It’s not important now. In reality, it is important. So you’ve got this internal battle between both your subconscious and conscious mind battling this thing out, and most often, it’s your subconscious that triumphs because it’s part of your programming, part of your conditioning, part of who you are. It could be many, many years of that sort of conditioning. So, there needs to be time when you start hit that mental ‘reset’ button, stopping, reprogramming what you value. Particularly your time, because time is a commodity you’ll never get back and when you start to self-observe what you are doing and realize what value you bring to 38

yourself, then you start to change. You start to process and then put a strategy in place where you can change that old thinking, and when you change that thinking, then you change the old language of how you speak. When you change the language of how you speak, you change the results. It is a ‘process’ but you’ve got to identify it in the first place and if you can’t put any value to it, what’s the point of doing it?

What would be one of the biggest pitfalls that a client or the reader may not be aware of when it comes to procrastination?

Robert Read: There are four distinct pitfalls. 1. Goals with conflicting values 2. An uncertain focus 3. No action strategy and 4. Mental obstacles. These four pitfalls overlap and interweave but, the biggest is no action strategies; and it sticks out like a sore thumb. That is, it is easy ‘to do’ and on the other hand it’s also easy ‘not to do’. So, it’s those little minute changes that you make each and every day; they don’t seem significant; they don’t seem to circum to much at all and so you don’t worry about it.

It’s like eating a cheeseburger that’s very high in saturated fat.

You can eat it today but you’re not going to drop dead, though, if there was an immediate threat, then you’re probably not going to be eating it. However, it’s the prolonged exposure to that sort of diet that will have adverse effects. So getting back to the original question, it’s easy ‘to do’ and it’s easy ‘not to do’. A lot of people overlook and think, oh look, don’t worry about it. It’s insignificant. I’m not going to worry about it today. Tomorrow comes, it’s still insignificant. I’m not going to worry about it, and that’s what they overlook. If they would have compounded those small achievements day-in day-out, it would amass to quite a substantial change.

39

So the key is to stay consistent in the changes, correct?

Robert Read: Absolutely each and every day. Then it becomes habitual. It’s almost a ritual more than anything else that you challenge yourself each day to find something that you can reflect on at the end of the day. Look, I achieved this today. This was my aim, I achieved it, wonderful, and I’ll put it down in my journal. Can you imagine one night going through your journal and you’ve got nothing to say to yourself i.e. I didn’t achieve anything on any level today? So it’s important to start the day with a clear affirmation or a clear contemplation that this is what I need to do and because you give it value, you give it some urgency, you reaffirm it to yourself, the language that you speak will now lead you to that action and it might be more than one action in that particular day, but then you’ve got something at the end of the day that you can reflect on and say, next time this is what I’m going to do to make it better or next time, perhaps I should consider this or that. But it’s having that starting point because it is useless having a map if you don’t know where you are positioned on that map. That’s what the early coaching advantage gives you, position, a direction, and you can now ascertain where you are in that map right now. You can ask: am I getting closer, have I hit a pitfall, have I got an obstacle, how do I overcome that? So I think for me, definitely would be that consistency must be motivated by something and that motivation each and every day is understanding the compounding benefits of those daily actions that you take. If you don’t understand that, then you don’t value it; and if you don’t value it, you’re just not going to overcome procrastination because you’re just going to put it off for another day, another day, and another day. But what’s important at each achievement, is that you reward yourself when you do overcome that, it’s a real sense of purpose, a 40

real sense of accomplishment. So it is those daily little actions that you take. I don’t know if you noticed in that chapter, the opening first sentence was, in our Lord’s Prayer we say: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, and that really personifies prosperity each and every day. That little step that we take each and every day that compounds to something wonderful.

How can people avoid or overcome this obstacle of procrastination to successfully achieve the outcome. You mentioned some earlier but could you go a little bit deeper into that?

Robert Read: Yes, sure. For this to really happen, you need to know all about the thinking processes and the thinking processes are basically understanding what is real and what is not.

What is real is what we see, touch and feel. What is not real is inside our imagination which is fueled by our consciousness. And our consciousness is where we play the game, should I or shouldn’t I. But what people don’t realize is that it’s an unfair game because the subconscious always wins. It has been programmed all your life, who you listen to, what TV shows you watch, the music that you might play, people you associate with.

It’s like a built-in thermostat that’s set and each time you try to go above or below that thermostat, the subconscious just brings you safely back to what you think you are valued at. And so, you move on to the next step and actually look at the subconscious itself. What is absolutely amazing about it is the subconscious doesn’t know what fact is and what is not. It is similar to a computer program. You can put the program in, it will compute exactly what you want, nothing more, and nothing less. So with the subconscious mind it’s about reprogramming what your values are, what your beliefs are, and how that can shape your future direction. And it’s only then when you’ve realized, “hang on, I can actually change that program and use some very simple 41

methods to do that”, it’s when you start looking at visualisation thoughts. And when you’re visualising a thought, it’s about seeing and projecting what you’re going to do in the future. It’s a vivid vision of what’s actually going to happen. It’s like watching a movie I presume more than anything else, and then once you can see that, you move on to the next stage which is seeding thoughts. Seeding is not seeing but rather feeling the results. So now it becomes a more emotional reality of where you’re heading and the more you do this, the more you affirm it to yourself, the more that it becomes engrained into your subconscious and actually starts the reprogramming process. Therefore, by affirming to yourself, when you’re visualizing and when you’re seeding, when you’re speaking that language, then that’s when you start to manifest exactly what you’re after. Once you understand that process then you can start to change the way you think about procrastination. Remember, values are where you spend your valuable time, energy and money. You can start to think how you can put value, and that’s really what it’s all about, the value that you can put towards resolving those issues because if you don’t value them why did you attempt to fix them in the first place.

Does that make sense?

Yes. Excellent. Can you describe how you’ve helped a customer or a client overcome this obstacle?

Robert Read: Yes, certainly. One of my clients lacked the power to make definitive decisions due to low self-esteem and limited confidence. So for me it was just nurturing a solution. I could see a lot of anxiety causing their hesitancy to take on a resolution; and this impacted their health. It was a slow process whereby we had to first identify who they really are; and strip all mental barriers away, then they had to pretty much divorce 42

what they thought was right and marry the actual truth. In other words, strip away what they actually thought of themselves and what other people and peers thought of them, basically all these external influences that were negatively influencing this particular person. By removing these collective mental barriers and, hitting the reset button, we were able to look at their true values, attributes and power they have over themselves.

Then by the use of positive language substitution, visualisation and seeding techniques, we then worked on building their existing strengths rather than their weaknesses. With some reflective practice procedures they built their confidence; and they understood that some of these things that they can do themselves, other things could be delegated to other people, because they neither had the knowledge nor the intellect or the expertise to resolve these issues rather than just leaving it in a big bucket for “one day, look I’ll get to it” type of procrastination.

More than anything else, this client expressed shear gratitude because we were able to assist in identifying her unique attributes. She realized, okay, yes I can do this, no I can’t. It was a definitive yes and no and there was nothing going on in between; and it was quite refreshing and liberating for that person to finally get to the point where they didn’t have to hide anymore.

They knew exactly what they could and could not do, and the things they couldn’t do were delegated to other people. It was a win-win. They will get their precious time back and now won’t worry because the anxiety that was building up in this person actually affected their overall health, and that was their biggest long term concern. Using this strategy we were able to offer a holistic solution more than anything else.

Great! You mentioned holistic before, could you go in a little bit deeper into that, exactly what you mean by holistic.

43

Robert Read: Certainly. For example, one might want to change a tap washer on a leaking tap and they might think, oh look that’s okay, I’ll do that next week sometime and next week comes around, oh look, I’m really, really busy right now, I’ll do that the following week. And so this can go on, and on, and on, and it doesn’t actually resolve because it’s not a priority. However, if they understood the underlying issues of the leaking tap, how much wastage there is or how much it’s costing them financially, because this could go on for months and years and we look back and think, well, I could have done something about it. Does that make sense?

Great! You mentioned holistic before, could you go in a little bit deeper into that, exactly what you mean by holistic.

Robert Read: Sure. Look, when we talk about holistic, it’s a combination of metaphysical, spiritual, and physical all rolled into one. What I mean by that is that you may want to make a change mentally but how does your body cope with that change, particularly physical. For example you may positively decide today to go for a run, but not have the stamina or fitness. Similarly, from a health perspective, are you able to consume energy the way that you should. Is your body devoting too much time to your lack of health (disease) rather than focusing on what you should be focusing on. So when we talk about holistic it’s about getting enough sleep, eating the right nutrition, getting the correct exercise, because all of that is tied to the body and at the end of the day, your body is nothing more than an instrument to your mind, nothing more. Your mind does everything and your body is just ensuring that. In order to make things efficient, when we say holistic, we start to look at your overall health. By adding nutrition and better exercise, you are able to concentrate 44

more, you are able to consume energy better and more importantly give out energy better as well. And that puts you in a very good state. Does that make sense?

Yes it does, thank you. What would be your best piece of advice to your client or to the reader who’s considering making a change and preventing issues like procrastination?

Robert Read: The best advice I could possibly give them?

Well, like I said, a coach has to identify where a person is on their journey if they even have one! So the best advice I could possibly give anybody is to find out where they are at right now. It could take a day or two, a month, who knows. But you really need to know where the starting point is before you can even project where you want to be. You just can’t be haphazard. You can’t be a leaf in the wind and just blow whichever direction or be impressionable by whoever speaks to you or whatever you watch or what other people talk to you about. You just need to stop, literally hit that reset button and stop living in a state of constant reaction. Therefore, need to take over control of your own power. Just think, right, enough is enough, where am I right now, strip away everything, and look at the sheer, unadulterated truth, where are you really at. When you can do that, then you can start. That would be my absolute best advice to anyone.

What does that process look like when you hit the reset button? How do you take somebody from where they’re at to getting them to reset?

Robert Read: Good question. It’s just simple analogy. If you were to go for a job interview today or tomorrow, what would be the first thing an employer would ask for? They would ask 45

for, is your previous history. They would look at how long you’ve been in the job, what kind of job it was, they’d ask for character references because they know whatever you’re going to say that you’re going to do in the future is not valid. What they do know that’s valid is where your journey has been, where your path has been. In other words your HABITS. So, by knowing exactly where they’ve been, what they have been doing because you’ve always often heard this, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. So for them, we would have to look at their past, what actions they took 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 1 year ago, and what it did for them. If this is what they want, they may continue on that path. If it is not what they want, then we look at how we resolve this. What actions can we take to change direction?

Excellent. What would be some common reasons that your prospects or clients could easily benefit from working with you.

Robert Read: Another good question. Even the most successful people on this planet, don’t limit themselves to one coach, but rather, have many coaches that identify several attributes that require polishing, honing, because it is very difficult to see your own problems. And well, you may see them but you may not be able to perfect them without the seasoned or trained eye. So again, a coach is there to see where you are and where you’re going to head. Therefore, by working with someone who is professional, who is seasoned, who is learned in that field, potentially could save months and years of financial stress, emotional stress or anything to do with relationship or health. It pretty much accelerates and leverages your time, and at the end of the day, we all speak the same language; time is money. If you can see the benefits of accelerated growth then you can put 46

that towards a purposeful goal or help others or pay it forward.

Or you might be so inspired that you advocate it to other people, you just don’t know where it’s going to. By working with someone like me or someone in our profession, it really does nurture progression because they can see where you are, where you want to head to, and have that connection. We’ll hold your hand and do that.

So then on the flipside, what would be the reason why somebody might not choose to work with you? What would be an example of that? Could it be price, could it be time commitment, what would that look like?

Robert Read: At the end of the day, everything does come at a price, and if they didn’t choose me, then it’s basically my fault and nobody else’s. I always live with conviction. But because I truly believe that I can resolve this, it would be entirely up to the discretion of the person whether they believe my conviction.

And at the end of the day, I can’t make anybody do anything, and all I can do is show my passion. ‘You can count how many seeds are in an apple; however, you cannot count how many apples are in the nurture of a seed’. Therefore, working with coaches who are truly passionate about total transformation, you will acquire the tools for confidence and commitment; and ultimately transform the world around you, by paying it forward to others in need of your unique individualism.

Excellent. What would be some common reasons that your prospects or clients could easily benefit from working with you.

Robert Read: Another good question. Even the most successful people on this planet, don’t limit themselves to one 47

coach, but rather, have many coaches that identify several attributes that require polishing, honing, because it is very difficult to see your own problems. And well, you may see them but you may not be able to perfect them without the seasoned or trained eye. So again, a coach is there to see where you are and where you’re going to head. Therefore, by working with someone who is professional, who is seasoned, who is learned in that field, potentially could save months and years of financial stress, emotional stress or anything to do with relationship or health. It pretty much accelerates and leverages your time, and at the end of the day, we all speak the same language; time is money. If you can see the benefits of accelerated growth then you can put that towards a purposeful goal or help others or pay it forward.

Or you might be so inspired that you advocate it to other people, you just don’t know where it’s going to. By working with someone like me or someone in our profession, it really does nurture progression because they can see where you are, where you want to head to, and have that connection. We’ll hold your hand and do that.

So then on the flipside, what would be the reason why somebody might not choose to work with you? What would be an example of that? What would that look like?

Robert Read: At the end of the day, everything does come at a price, and if they didn’t choose me, then it’s basically my fault and nobody else’s. I always live with conviction. But because I truly believe that I can resolve this, it would be entirely up to the discretion of the person whether they believe my conviction.

And at the end of the day, I can’t make anybody do anything, and all I can do is show my passion. ‘You can count how many seeds are in an apple; however, you cannot count how many apples 48

are in the nurture of a seed’. Therefore, working with coaches who are truly passionate about total transformation, you will acquire the tools for confidence and commitment; and ultimately transform the world around you, by paying it forward to others in need of your unique individualism.

How can the reader find out more about how to reset?

Robert Read: There are a multitude of books out there; there are so many. We live in the information age and you could just Google anything and find whatever you want. So why do people still have these problems? It is because they don’t value that particular information. They actually need someone to nurture them, explain, unfold, flourish, and really make it apply to their personal needs & experience; really make it apply to how it will change their life. There is so much information out there and to discern whether it’s applicable to you or not is very difficult if you’re not trained in that particular field. Educate yourself but then avoid ‘analysis paralysis’; and get assistance to take it to the next level? That’s what’s super important that you have someone coaching you, nurturing you, kicking your butt, giving you encouraging gratitude, and whatever it may be to get you from A to B. What would be the best way for the reader or potential clients to learn more about what you do and how you can help them?

Robert Read: By looking at similar testimonies, looking at other people with similar problems. How they were able to resolve them. Because then that will give them a more educated purpose regarding whether they go down this path or not. It’s like ‘try’ before you ‘buy’ basically, it’s nurturing. You can’t say I’m going to do something if you don’t know what the original 49

problem is. And so we follow this simple philosophy called ‘asktell-ask’. You are basically asking the client how we can resolve this. What is your actual problem? That’s the ‘ask’ bit. Then you tell them or you reiterate that you understand exactly what the problem is. And the last bit which is ‘tell’, you actually tell them how to resolve it. So it’s a cycle of ask-tell-ask. What you’re doing is trying to find a deficit, or trying to find a need, what we call a needs analysis and then from there you may or may not be able to help. And quite often you can help. But if you can’t, then at least you’ve got the decency to refer them to the best person who would cater their individual needs.

If the reader thinks that they might be ready to connect with you, how can they do that? Do you have a free report or a website, how could they connect with you?

Robert Read: Yes, we are building the upcoming corporate website will soon have a multitude of helpful links and strategies.

You will find us on, www.eeecorporatecoaching.com And that concludes the interview. You did a great job.

Robert Read: Yes, we are building the upcoming corporate website will soon have a multitude of helpful links and strategies.

You will find us on

50

WEBSITE: www.eeecorporatecoaching.com EMAIL: eeeservices1@gmail.com Phone +61 400 382 111 LOCATION: Sydney, Australia FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/robert.read

51

52

DYLAN E.RAYMOND

Military Transition Coach Rucksack to Briefcase, LLC Manvel, Texas Director Public Speakers Association

Transition from Military to Civilian Can be a Smooth Operation

Dylan entered the world of entrepreneurialism as an independent sales representative for a Network Marketing company called American Communications Network more than 20 years ago. The concept made sense to him, build a business by sharing 53

the opportunity and inviting others to partner with you. You also offer products and services and benefit by word of mouth advertising. He caught the “entrepreneur bug” after being introduced to network marketing. He was looking for a way out of that good Job that he had. At the time Dylan was working with the New York City Transit Authority which is probably one of the better jobs in New York City. He was in his early 20's. Dylan started out as a cleaner cleaning the subways and did that for 4-months. And was promoted to conductor, then to tower operator and then big time as a motorman. This all happened in a short few years span of time. Time flew by and he had reached 8 years with the system.

The thing that frightened him the most was in order to qualify for a full pension, he needed to complete 30 years of service and be 62 years of age. That means because he was in his early 20's he had to do 40 years of service, just to get 1/2 of pay and maybe a watch for dedication of service. What really hit home was he had no freedom to take personal days off when he most needed them. Dylan’s bank was full of sick and personal days. He vividly remembers requesting to take two consecutive Saturdays off and the supervisor pulled out the employee log book and she went on to say they reached the limit for the amount of people that could take off for the day. He was #10 standby on the list one Saturday and #15 for the other day. He knew something had to give.

Dylan was introduced to network marketing and they were selling communication services and everyone needed what they were selling. They made sales based on relationships. They built a business through introducing the business to other people and it was easy for him to tell people about something that just made sense and besides they were already using the product. He set a goal of another 2 years until he reached 10 years of service then

54

Dylan would, freeze his pension and then work his business full time.

Needless to say after talking to countless people who said they had 15, 20, 25 years of service he knew he could not see himself doing that for so long. Things began to happen, his organization grew exponentially across the country and after earning his initial investment back he was all in.

As a young African American born into poverty, living in public housing projects with 5 boys in a 2 bedroom apartment in Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn, Dylan was hoping that great job would be the ticket out of the hood since he did not have a person who was successful in business in his family to model after.

Things started to happen for him in a short period of time in his business as an independent representative, he had a vision, a dream, set goals, traveled and met the most amazing people during that time. After the supervisor told him, he was on standby that was enough for him so he asked the supervisor how do I quit. He did not know how to quit. So after 8 years with the New York City Transit system he quit his job. Dylan’s family and some friends thought he was crazy to walk away from a good job. No one understood the passion, purpose and desire he had to build a business, and that he could be rewarded for his hard work.

55

Conversation with Dylan E. Raymond Welcome Dylan, thank you for generously sharing your time with us today. Would you start by telling us about your business and who you help?

Dylan E. Raymond: My Company is Rucksack to Briefcase. I help transitioning service members or those that have previously served, transitioned from active service into civilian-type employment or entrepreneurship. I take them from where they are and move them through a process, which enables them to take inventory of the things that they’ve done and align their skillsets with corporate America needs. I also help those that are interested in starting their own business.

Talk about that attachment, because here’s where the struggle is. You’ve gone through the struggles. You say your first diet started when you were ten years old and a lot of people can connect with that and recall their first diet. No one’s ever gone on one diet, lost the weight and there it is – it’s done.

Can you tell us about your rise from green entrepreneur to where you are now?

Dylan E. Raymond: I had the pleasure of training with some very intelligent people who I am still in contact with today across the country. When I started in the world as an entrepreneur I did not know what I did not know until I knew I did not know. I was very hungry and coachable. I soaked in all the knowledge. I consider myself as one who takes on a calculated risk. I get the information and process it to see what the benefits, risks are and if it makes sense I go for it. It reminds of when I was a Drill Sergeant with the Army teaching Soldiers how to fire their weapon.

I instructed them to look through their rear sight post, get a good 56

sight picture, put the front sight post center mass on the target and squeeze the trigger. If you miss you can always take another shot at it.

I was selected to be a recruiter in NYC in which I probably should have got a combat patch for that tour. I used what I learned as independent representative in my role as a recruiter and consistently stayed in the top recruiter category. When I attended our quarterly and annual trainings I needed a shopping cart to hold all of the awards that I received. Others wanted to know what I was doing to be successful. I used my entrepreneurial spirit and closed the sales. The Army provided me with the tools to run my own business cell phone, laptop, office, car, expense allowance and all I had to do was get new customers every month. I am seasoned and learned from my mistakes. I identified what worked well and ran with it and stopped doing what did not work.

Did you have a crossover point from “I’m going to be” to “I am” an entrepreneur?

Dylan E. Raymond: The crossover point for me from I am going to be an entrepreneur to I am an entrepreneur was when I started out as an independent representative. Quite honestly the line and transition was so smooth that it just happened. As an entrepreneur it’s about your mindset. You are either an employer or employee the power of choice belongs to you.

The magic that I offer is translating the skillset of highly skilled and talented US service members and their families. I walk them through how their skills fit into and solve Corporate America needs and put the two parties together to solve each other needs.

57

To a lot of people, food is almost like a drug. It seems like there’s a point in every meal where it stops being fuel for the body and becomes pure entertainment.

What is the skillset you possess that lets you look a person or business owner in the eye and say “I can help you accomplish that� and how did you discover this magic?

Dylan E. Raymond: I help companies of all sizes find and understand the skill set of Service members and how they can positively affect the bottom-line of their future organization even if it is not apparent in the resume. I personally discovered that skill after going through 4 months of unemployment. I was a senior soldier in the US Army at the time, and when I returned home to find work did not know how to translate my skills to solve employer problems. After working on sharpening my saw, commitment to developing my skills, I became the subject matter expert proven and documented to help employers and Service members with understanding one another.

The biggest problem is Service members do not know how to package their talent, skills and abilities and present them to the marketplace and win the job offer. They do not know how to sell themselves to employers. That is because serving in the military where they do just about everything for us, tell us how much we will get paid based on rank and years of service, also tell you what base you will be stationed at and how long.

1) The first thing is the service member must do is take ownership of the transition process. Transition is a full contact sport and no one will do for you better than you will do for yourself. The transition is an individual task.

Just like getting ready for a physical fitness test they have to do the work prior to the actual event.

2) Do a skills inventory to identify soft and hard skills 58

then figure out how they can solve their potential employer’s problem 3) You do not necessarily have to stay in the field that you were doing in the military. For example I had a lot of people tell me I am just an Infantryman, what can I do. Well let’s look at this for a moment Just an infantryman. Well you have been tasked to go into a sector with your team. The area of responsibility is 100 square miles. You have 100% of the market share however the enemy plays in that space as well and comes in a grab 20% of your market share what do you do?

You get with the intelligence (G2) group to find out what activities are going on in the area, determine if the enemy was wearing military uniforms, civilian clothes, you ask about trend analysis in the area devise a plan and strategy to go in and regain your loss market share. Now I ask are you just an infantryman or are you a businessman? This is just one example.

When you work with a client, what do you provide?

Dylan E. Raymond: Working with me you will develop and enhance your skills and abilities resulting in a confident and successful transition. I provide you with tools, skills, critiques to make you more competitive. Help you narrow your focus if you don’t have a target by helping you prioritize your interests, wants and needs.

And you said something that’s very important when you said that people are different. Everyone’s different. And a lot of people, when they think about weight loss, they may think, “Oh, here’s another diet or here’s another program.”

59

What led you to this field and how did you know this was the path for you?

Dylan E. Raymond: I’m a veteran with 25 years of service in the military. The experience that started this ball rolling was back in 2005. I deployed in 2004 to Iraq and returned in 2005. I was a senior enlisted personnel with a lot of experience, similar to civilian mid management level. I came off active military duty and was all set to transition and walk right in to corporate America, so I thought, I was prepared to land that successful job. It was a rude awakening because I spent 4 months unemployed and it was painful during that time. I had children that were looking at me for food to eat. I had a wife and family that were looking at me to provide for them. I thought, hey, let me develop myself and figure out how to navigate this process because all I knew was the military. I knew how to serve; I knew how to do a lot of things and never really had to deal with anyone asking me to provide them with a resume or go on interviews. I knew I had to find some help. So I solicited the help of mentors, coach and people that knew how to navigate this process. This was a painful time for me. It’s that pain that me to publish the book Rucksack to Briefcase. I knew writing this transitional guide was what I needed for myself. I also knew I could help other service members overcome their hurdles.

Did you have a source of inspiration for your work? What drives you to help veterans?

Dylan E. Raymond: I guess myself, because I served and wanted to give back. My inspiration came from desperation and pain, of being unemployed for 4 months. That is what inspired me to move forward in a direction, take action and do something 60

about my current situation. Out the experience and pain I was feeling, I was empowered to help other service members and their families.

That passion was one that drove me to stay the course and find a way to use it to serve others when I found myself stuck in that position, of not succeeding like I was used to, I’d gone out interviewing and I thought I would immediately walk right into corporate America, until I got the rude awakening. I would get asked “so tell me what would you like to do” and my response was “well whatever it is that you need done”, because in the military, you’re so used to doing so many different things and It was hard to narrow my focus. Then what I did was remembered my training, of when I was firing a weapon, for instance, I had to go by and do certain principles on basic rifle marksmanship to be able to get that round to engage the target. So that’s when I tightened my shot groups up and that motivation led me to a successful conclusion. I vowed not to ever allow myself to get caught like that again. After going through the transition process, I could see that the military really don’t prepare us well to make the civilian transition. That was one of the things I knew I wanted to give back and to serve others with my knowledge. To coach others through the process.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions people might have when they transition from the military?

Dylan E. Raymond: The biggest misconception that service members will have is that because they have deployed and because they decided to serve in the military, they would immediately come out and corporate America would give them a job. The misconception is, yes, they served the military and they have actually deployed several times into combat zones; therefore, it’s somewhat of an expectation that someone’s going 61

to give them something. So, that’s one big misconception. Another misconception is that the HR Representative will match a job up to the service member’s skillset. I witness this frequently when I attend job fairs. I ask the veteran a question, “What is it that you want to do?” The answer is typically “Well, I will do, I just want a job”. Next, question when asked “where would you like to work?” the response is typically “Anywhere, wherever the job is.” HR representatives quite honestly do not have the time to match you to a job. You will be ahead of the game is you come to the table after research of the company and have a general idea of what you want to do.

Have you discovered some common pitfalls that keep service members from making a smooth transition?

Dylan E. Raymond: It’s preparation, and the biggest pitfall is not preparing because every soldier, every service member will transition. My question is, when and will they be ready?

With the military downsizing now, you have to be prepared and stay ready. Consider it like preparing for a deployment, I will call it deployment to the civilian side. Don’t depend so much on having you a retirement and serving X amount of years and not preparing yourself. Lean on somebody that has been through the process, has done it before successfully. I think the real challenge here comes from the fact in the military we were taught to suck it up, to drive on, be hard, and make it happen.

Humble yourself and be willing to ask for help in this new civilian t r a n s i t i o n situation. There are people out there that will help.

Do you have recommendations to achieve the best transition?

Dylan E. Raymond: How can they achieve it? Well, the first thing I would recommend by demonstration for example. I’ll go 62

back to the basic rifle marksmanship training. It is an individual task just like transitioning you don’t have to do it alone. When you’re firing a weapon, there is a coach to help you make sure you are practicing good fundamentals. Another example would be when you’re doing the physical fitness test, you have people present that are encouraging you to be successful. Look at any NBA or professional a t h l e t e and you will see that t h e y have personal coaches such as a shooting c o a c h , b a t t i n g c o a c h , c o n d i t i o n i n g c o a c h in order f o r t h e m to be prepared for the opportunity, you need to prepare for it. So I recommend that you lean on, get feedback from.

It’s important to have someone that can stand by their side, encourage them, help them to be able to do an skills inventory check, identify what they have, what they may not have and what they need to work on. What to do to be successful at the end of the day. That makes complete sense. You have obviously figured out a way to do that.

What is your strategy for doing this?

Dylan E. Raymond: I provide a step-by-step, word-for-word tailor made strategy to meet their specific needs. I walk service members through the entire process. I try to find out what their backgrounds are by asking what do you do.” I might hear “I’m an infantry man” and they believe that is all they can do; however, I’m able to share with them how an infantry man is I think is as a businessman. When an individual is given a task, they may take their unit and go in and cover say maybe 20 square miles or 50 square miles, whatever the distance may be, and they go in and they have 100% of the market share. But then the enemy plays in that space too, so they come in and they take 20% of the market share. So what do you do? I teach them that you go in and you evaluate what’s happening in that 63

area, you look at the trend analysis, you find out what the enemy is wearing, is it military clothes or civilian. You devise a plan, you go back in, and you regain the market share. So I take that infantry person or any job that’s in the military and help that individual or group, step-by-step, coaching them to move in the direction to get what they’re looking for, or to be able to solve the employer’s problem based on them solving their own problem.

When someone comes on with you as a new client, what is the process?

Dylan E. Raymond: Yes, that’s a good question. The first thing I start off and make sure that they separate themselves.

They have to find out what it is that they want to do. That’s step number one. If you don’t decide on what you want to do, you won’t be able to understand how to apply what you’ve learned to fill or satisfy the needs of the customer. Then we walk through to the next step where we look at the skill set and we figure out how or what you’ve done in the military is going to satisfy what the employer need. I’ll give you an example. An electrician is an electrician is an electrician. I mean, an electrician should be able to trouble shoot; they should be able to read schematics; they should be able to work on a project; they should be able to work safely. With those things, it’s no secret, all you have to do is know your skills, know your craft, and be able to connect the dots with the individual that has the problem which is the hiring manager of the company.

We then continue to do it over again and again until the individual gets it and it becomes their 30- to 40-second commercial. They build up confidence in this manner. So really what I do is help build up their confidence for them to believe in themselves and to be able to apply the information that they already know to solve the employer’s problem. In perspective, one of the down things with the military is to determine how 64

much they want to get paid. In the service you get paid based on your rank and years of service, for example you have 3-5 years of service, and your rank is an E-6 then X amount of dollars is your pay and no negotiation. You are also told when and where you are going to move and how long you will serve at a particular location. I challenge them to take ownership of the transition process and seek a coach to help you through.

In the military, being a veteran myself, I realize that there are also collateral duties involved with your assignment. And, you know, you’re always a sailor first and then you’re a specialist second. You acquire lots of skills along the way that are collateral such as being assigned to a repair locker or you’re assigned to the armory or something similar. I can see where veterans coming out of the military are not quite sure how those skills apply to the civilian sector. So you’re there to help them with that. Can you describe the result that your business helped them achieve and/or the unpleasant consequences you help them avoid?

Dylan E. Raymond: Yes, not only do I help individuals succeed in finding relevant employment that’s going to be similar to what they have done, we help them find employment that matters.

What I do is make sure they understand their value and how they’re going to apply it as it pertains to a new level of responsibility. Typically what I see is a service member that will market himself very, very low or below what the market rate will be because they’re just not sure of their true value. What I teach is how to show an employer how they can save, do a job safely, and in return, the company is going to make money. If the former military member goes on their own path it could be painful until they decide to seek help or do it on their own and figure it out the hard way. At what point did you finally 65

figure this out and put all the pieces of the puzzle together and have a map?

Excellent. What would be your best advice to the reader who is facing transitioning from the military to a civilian job?

Dylan E. Raymond: I educate the individual to start planning as soon as they make their decision they’re going to be transitioning or they’re going to be retiring, you know, look for individuals like myself that will be able to help and coach them in the direction and help them to be successful. The best time to look for work is when you have work. I educate and advise them to do their work while they are getting a pay check and get skills, so when they do transition, they’ll be able to transition smoothly and successfully within a new role.

You mentioned, as long as you have a paying job, as long as you’re getting a check, you should start preparing yourself for the transition you know is coming. So what would be the first thing that you would recommend?

Dylan E. Raymond: Start networking. Networking is the key.

Start building relationships in the area you would like to go into and find individuals you can develop your skills with and hone your craft with a coach like me.Your clients are certainly grateful that you are not keeping this to yourself and that you have shared this.

What are some other important things they should think about if they’re about to transition?

66

Dylan E. Raymond: What they want to do is find an individual like me that has already been successful, that can relate to them being from the military, and have someone that’s going to challenge them and be an accountability partner but also help them to achieve their goals. It’s one of those things you need to make a decision on. When you decide to transition, you want to decide to consider a coach or get somebody that’s going to help you through this process.

Your service doesn’t just help people that are retiring, you help people that are maybe just in a 4-year stint or just a basic tour and they don’t have to be in a retirement status, correct?

Dylan E. Raymond You’re right. Anywhere in the service spectrum, whether you did 1 day or you did 20 years or even if you are already out and you want to transition into a new career, this include Family members as well. I cover all gamut’s, all areas of the transition process including civilians that are transitioning as well. I have the key to make that bridge between your current locations and your future destination.

How can a reader find out more about how to work with you?

Dylan E. Raymond: They can connect with me on my website.

I am on various social media platforms, I’m on twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Rallypoint. I do a lot of presentations and training for individuals locally and virtually. Make sure they get a copy and read the book Rucksack to Briefcase that I previously wrote for transitioning military.

And where can they find your book?

Dylan E. Raymond: My book is on Amazon.com. It’s called Rucksack to Briefcase and it is a transition guide for service members and their families. You can also obtain it on my website at www.dylaneraymond.com.

67

Do you give away a report or additional information?

Dylan E. Raymond: Right. We have some additional resources where an individual can do some research as it pertains to behavior-based interview questions, salary and just to kind of get an idea of the resources that’s available that will at least get you started to where you’re heading. You can find those on my website, www.dylaneraymond.com.

If somebody’s ready to go right know, how could they how could they connect with you immediately?

Dylan E. Raymond: To connect with me immediately give me a call. I can be reached at (832) 301-5110 or you can also visit my website at www.dylaneraymond.com. Go to the contact page, where you will find a couple of questions that help me understand where you’re at, where you want to go and develop a training plan to ensure that would move them in the direction of success.

To wrap this up, do you have any other further comments on successfully transitioning from the military to a civilian job?

Dylan E. Raymond: Yes, but again it’s probably too much to cover in this one section but it starts with ownership. The individual must go ahead, get started and head in the direction that they want to go. I’ll use the example of a compass. Even if you’re off a couple of degrees, you’re still in the general area, you know, you have to do something to take action, and then you can always adjust if you’re not in the area you want to be in.

Awesome. Thank you very much for spending the time with us and educating our audience on how you can help them transition from the military to the civilian workforce.

68

Dylan E. Raymond : You’re welcome. Thank you for the opportunity to share my experience

69

WEBSITE: www.dylaneraymond.com EMAIL: dylan@dylanEraymond.com LOCATION: Houston, TX. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/dylan.raymond.39 LINKEDIN: https://www.likedin.com/in/dylanraymond.com TWITTER https://twitter.com/iamdylanraymond PHONE 832.301.5110 RALLYPOINT www.rallypoint.com/join/cw3-dylan-e-raymond-phr

70

CRAIG SWEET

Travel Coach World Ventures Duncanville, Texas

Helping You Travel the World

Craig was raised in a small town, population less than 12,000.

He was taught like most people growing up, get a good education and find a great job. After leaving Sweetwater, Texas, he ventured off to college in pursuit of his dreams and goals. After

finishing school Craig was offered what was considered an opportunity of a life time. He was employed by a top 10 Fortune 100 company, Xerox Corporation. After working there for over 15 years, he began a new journey in the world of Multi-Level Marketing (MLM). In less than 60 days, he reached his first milestone of doubling his annual income. Needless to say, this provided him an avenue for retirement from Xerox. His Living Legacy was born at this time. Finally, he was able to break the chains and shackles of working traditionally; trading hours for dollars. Over the past years, He has served as a Top Income Earner, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, International Trainer and Partner of a successful Network Marketing Company.

But overall, the most rewarding result from entrepreneurialism is being a field representative working, inspiring and empowering to the masses. This is where he is at his best: leading, coaching and mentoring.

Craig had a breakthrough happen on a Friday afternoon while driving home from work. Working at Xerox was no longer fun.

He dreaded the thought of returning to work the following Monday. He became sick and tired of being sick and tired. Trading hours for dollars was no longer an option for him. He made a decision to be open to change. And change is exactly what he experienced. Craig walked away from his job and career to independent financial success.

He quickly became a Top Income Earner and that was great.

However, he was motivated one early morning entering the bathroom and experiencing “mirror, mirror on the wall�. For the first time in a long time, he truly saw himself. Craig was not pleased with what he seen. Over time, he had gained so much weight. Craig tipped the scale at 505 pounds. Regardless of success, what he seen in the mirror that day made him M.A.D. Not angry but M.A.D. He Made a Decision (M.A.D.) to lose weight.

72

He realized that day that if he could inspire, motivate and cultivate individuals to financial freedom, he could also do it for his own weight loss. In order to have something different, Craig had to do something different. By the Grace of God, without surgery, pills or magic juices, he began to experience real results. Within a couple of years of hard work and change in his diet and exercise routine, he was able to drop over 230 pounds.

The Power of Belief was the catalyst that initiated his transition from corporate America to non-traditional financial success.

He completely stepped out on faith and believed that God had something greater in store for him even when he was told that he was crazy, it would never work and it’s a pyramid scheme.

God provided the vehicle, talent and gifts for me to live out my destiny. Craig has never looked back. Now, he helps, encourages and empowers others to realize the same success and financial freedom.

73

Conversation with Craig Sweet Craig, set the stage for us, tell us about your business and who you help.

Craig Sweet: My business is travel. I’m a representative of the largest travel club in the World, a billion dollar company, doing business in 29 countries. My target audience is Global. We cater to everyone anywhere and we are known as a lifestyle club.

Craig, what is different about what your business has to offer?

Craig Sweet: Travel is the largest industry on the planet. It’s an 8.2 trillion dollar industry and growing. We no longer depend on brick and mortar travel agents. Everything is driven by the internet allowing individuals to book their own travel. Our lifestyle club provides unbelievable destinations at incredible prices. That’s a very powerful thought that a lot of people don’t consider when they are making those kinds of decisions. It’s clear to why you’re so successful at helping others become successful.

And you’re talking to your target audience.

Craig Sweet: You’re absolutely correct. We cater to everyone. Yes, but it’s far beyond the dollars and cents signs. That’s what most people are looking for and that’s what most people consider to be true, true wealth.

How did you get started with this travel program?

Craig Sweet: I was attracted to the fun, freedom and fulfillment concept. I liked the fact that this program is just a simple lifestyle club that accommodates average people. Word of 74

mouth is the primary marketing strategy. I travel with my family and friends, have fun and make money all at the same time.

What an awesome concept.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Being able to do that is a lot of people’s goal. I got to do it by traveling in the military and I’m looking for ways to do that again very efficiently.

Craig Sweet: I agree. This worldwide travel club affords you and so many others to create memories of a life time.

That’s awesome! How did you know this was the right path for you?

Craig Sweet: A meeting at the home of Johnny Wimbrey, my mentor, inspired me to be a part of this exclusive lifestyle club. I was immediately sold on the people, concepts and rewards of being successful in this company.

Nice. Was there any book or person that inspired you along the way?

Craig Sweet: I’ve been very Blessed to have had many coaches and mentors to assist me on this journey. To name a few, from the founders of this travel club, Wayne Nugent and Mike Ascue, to my partners in success Johnny Wimbrey, Matt Morris, Jefferson Santos, in addition to Holton Buggs, the number one income earner in the world in MLM, each has paved an incredible path and created the blueprint for me to follow for Success and Greatness. My favorite book of all times is “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. My personal friend, Les Brown has also inspired and motivated my success.

75

You spoke a little bit about what drove you to this or got you to take action because you didn’t want to go back to your job on Monday morning. But right now, what drives you? What’s your passion to do what you do to help people make that transition by being a part of the travel industry?

Craig Sweet: My main motivation is bigger than me. I now understand the true definition of financial freedom. Consistently, I hear the two primary issues of most people are the lack of time and lack of money. I have found the solution to resolve both. We inspire people to make a living, living. My passion is to help, mentor and serve others who are in the same or similar situations I was in at Xerox because I was that guy. By most people’s standards, I had a good title and position on my job. They had no clue that I was living the same lie; broke from the lack of time and money. I was in a place that I did not want to be. With that being said, I now have the opportunity to change lives, circumstances and futures. I have created the G.P.S. (Goals, Plans, Systems) to Success which allows individuals to navigate from where they are to their appointed destinations.

What are some of the most common obstacles you see that keep people from achieving the lifestyle they want?

Craig Sweet: The most common obstacle is getting started.

Additional challenges include fear of change, lack of knowledge, identifying their “why” and self-confidence. For example, most people are comfortable with their traditional employment and tend to settle for mediocrity. Due to the lack of understanding and self-confidence, often people miss opportunities that can positively impact their financial future. Many individuals cannot pinpoint their purpose for change. A person’s “why” needs to 76

be strong enough to make them cry in order to overcome all stumbling blocks to achieve their desired goals. Sometimes stepping out on faith and breaking through your comfort zone is the answer.

Do you have any strategies for overcoming those?

Craig Sweet: I’m glad you asked that question. The solution is the G.P.S. to Success. Usually, a G.P.S., navigation system is used for the purpose of directing people from one location to their desired location. The G.P.S. to Success was created to do the same thing. The first step in the G.P.S to Success is to identify where you are currently. Secondly, you have to be specific in choosing your destination and goals. In order for the navigation system to be effective, the starting location and ending destination must be entered. The plan is to have a coach to mentor and provide a roadmap to assist and steer you toward where you are headed. Become systems dependent not people dependent.

People aren't consistent enough, systems never let you down on the road to Success.

Unfortunately, many never reach their final destination to success and financial freedom due to ego and pride. The G.P.S. to Success is in place because it has been proven to be successful at navigating through setting goals, planning, coaching and mentoring to reaching the ultimate destinations.

Our readers probably have misconceptions of the travel industry or how they could possibly have fun and do the things that you described. Can you clarify?

Craig Sweet: Travel is bigger than most people think. Some perceive travel as going far away, long vacations, holidays or 77

cruising. Travel can be done locally as well. Such as renting a car, staying in a hotel, theme and water parks are all examples of traveling. It doesn’t have to always be extravagant or expensive. It is what people do globally. When entering the industry, I coined a phrase “get paid to do what you already do”. The ultimate getaway and escape can easily be planned and booked by becoming a member of this exclusive travel club. Booking travel online has now become the running giant.

It sounds like a great business model, how does it work?

Craig Sweet: A gentleman once told me the formula to success is P + S = O. That translates to Problem plus Solutions equals Opportunity. Assisting people in achieving life peak moments has been our secret weapon. Our business model is very similar to a Costco or Sam’s Club. Their concept has been to gain members by entering the store to highly discounted products that has been purchased with bulk buying. These discounted products are passed on to the consumer or club member. The difference is that we negotiate prices with our travel vendors by reducing the cost of our travel destinations. Club membership allows members to purchase a 4-5 star destination trip at 2-3 star prices. Regardless of economics, people are going to travel.

Why not get paid to do what you're already doing and invite family and friends to go along? Our Dreamtrip program is designed to gather members globally to one destination. We are experiencing in excess of 5000 Dreamtrips being offered to our member per year and growing exponentially.

Can you describe how you helped others do what you do or how you’ve changed people’s lives?

78

Craig Sweet: I will share a personal story that is near and dear to me. I was able to take my best friend, Efrom Moore on a Dreamtrip. Efrom had just lost his daughter to suicide. Needless to say, Efrom was not in a good place. He was introduced to other Dreamtripper’s on the first night of the cruise. Everyone shared their personal story and his story resonated to everyone’s heart. Later that night, Efrom approached me, looks me in my eyes and says “Craig, I think I found my purpose in life”. God does love me. At that very moment, I realized that this lifestyle club was way bigger than I ever imagined. It was an opportunity for me to open a door that had been closed. This was a life changing moment for both of us. This truly impacted our lives forever.

Powerful story. What would be the best advice that you would give to someone who’s considering entering a travel referral type program?

Craig Sweet: My advice is to just take a look. Look at it with an open mind. Understand the simplicity of the concept of traveling at discounted pricing and getting paid to do what you already do. And most importantly, get M.A.D. (Make a Decision) to get started. Trust in the systems that are in place and be coachable, trainable and teachable.

What would be the first thing that the reader should do if they’re ready to participate in a travel program or learn how to do what you do?

Craig Sweet: Visit www.bookitwithsweet.com and watch all three (3) videos. To join the team, click the sign up button. Enter my sponsoring ID number 151517. Select flag to your country 79

and follow the directions that are provided. If you can count to 3, then, you can do what I do. For any questions, please call me at 214-727-7154. I will answer any questions you may have. I would love to personally coach and mentor you to success. Join the Sweet Team, today! I will see you on the beaches of the world with your little blue sign that’s gone viral saying “You Should Be Here”.

Wonderful information. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Craig Sweet: Thank you for this opportunity. God Bless you and God Bless the World.

80

WEBSITE: www.bookitwithsweet.com EMAIL: bookitwithsweet@gmail.com FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/craig.sweet.75 LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/pub/craig-sweet/74/934/826 PHONE 214-727-7154 LOCATION: Duncanville, Texas

81

82

BEVERLY HOWARD

Certified World Class Speaking Coach Beverly Howard International New York, NY

Become a Toastmasters World Champion

83

In 2010 Beverly Howard became a Certified World Class Speaking Coach. Beverly immediately applied what she had learned helping Toastmaster members place in the top three in speech competitions. Her most notable accomplishment was coaching someone to win Toastmasters' World Champion Public Speaking Semi-Finals Competition.

One of her mentees called to tell her that she wasn't prepared to work on the speech she was scheduled to deliver the next day.

Beverly encouraged her come anyway. Beverly assured her that by the time she left she'd be prepared. They worked on her 5-7 minute Toastmaster speech for an hour. The next day she won the best speaker ribbon. She has not stopped speaking since that win. Her speaking skills have gotten increasing better.

She currently offers 1 on 1 Coaching. Helping speaking professionals turn okay speeches into winning speeches and presentations. Beverly helps speakers present and deliver memorable speeches that audience members talk about years later.

84

Conversation with Beverly Howard Tell me about your business, your business name and the types of customers you help.

Beverly Howard: My Company is Beverly Howard International. I'm a public speaking and presentation skills coach. I help speakers, business professionals, and entrepreneurs to improve their speaking and presentation skills in record time and have fun while doing it. I've had tremendous success working with Toastmasters and I specialize in helping speakers, completing in Toastmasters International Speech contests, to craft and deliver a speeches that will potentially put them in a position to be Toastmasters' next World Championship of Public Speaking. I have helped Toastmasters place first, second, and third place at various levels of compétitions. I also present presentation skills workshops to organizations.

That’s awesome. So, what is the outcome generally or the result that your business does for your customers. I know you’ve mentioned it a little bit, but what is the outcome when people bring you on as their coach.

Beverly Howard: Well, I’ll use Toastmasters' competing in the International speech contests as an example again. The speakers come to me to help them craft and deliver winning speeches. I could never guarantee that a speaker will win. However, what I can do is provide them with the coaching that will result in a more polished speech. The speaker is more engaging, they connect better with their audience, and as a bonus, they are better speakers and presenters.

85

Why would they want to achieve this outcome to be a better speaker or to win a contest?

Beverly Howard: I believe it's because of the huge sense of accomplishment and the status that accompanies it. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Toastmasters but once you win the World Championship of Public Speaking many doors open up to the you. You're invited to speak at many speaking engagements throughout the country, and in many cases, around the world.

I've seen speakers increase their income almost immediately after winning. So it’s that prestige. I'm not interested in being a world champion but many Toastmasters around the world are.

One of the remarkable things is that you have corporations – big, multi-million dollar, billion-dollar corporations – that have the luxury of spending money when they’re looking at marketing and when they’re looking at selling their services. When they’re looking at positioning themselves to the world, they hire companies that aren’t just about writing copy or making pretty ads.

Wow. That’s excellent. I am familiar with Toastmasters and with getting that title as a world champion in that arena; it has got to be a very, very prestigious award.

Beverly Howard: It is. In 2012 I had the opportunity to coach one of my clients to win at semifinals level, he advanced to the Finals and competed against nine other Toastmasters for the title of World Champion of Public Speaking. Unfortunately, he didn’t’t place in the finals but when he won the semifinals he was a hero for a day. Well, even beyond that. The following year when he decided to compete again for the championship the other Toastmasters in our District looked at him as the one to beat.

86

That’s awesome. Toastmasters have their own little niche and how they teach speakers and from my standpoint in the Public Speakers Association and the National Speakers Association, they all have their expertise on how they teach speakers. Basically, if you are a speaker and you have that as part of your work like in corporate America, if you’re working for somebody else and part of your job is speaking, we could actually help those people as well. It would not necessarily be doing a contest and trying to get that world title, but that’s interesting. I never realized that and I’m going to put that on my list. Those contests, are they held locally or how does that work?

Beverly Howard: Each year Toastmasters clubs around the world hold Humorous speech and International Speech contests.

Contest begin at the club level, then the speakers move to the area level, the division level, the district level, the semi-finals level, and finally, to the Finals. The top ten contestants from around the world make it on the international stage to compete for the title. Competitions are narrowed down from the tens of thousands of speakers who started the process to be top ten. So it’s local until the semi-finals. In August of this year the contest will be held in Las Vegas.

Each year these clubs from around the world begin the process. When does it start and how long does the contest last?

Beverly Howard: I believe it's a six month process. The club contests start around February and it ends in August at the Toastmasters International Convention.

Okay, so if I was reading this book and I wanted to take those steps, I would be projecting February, of next year.

87

Beverly Howard: That's correct. Speakers should start crafting and rehearsing their speech prior to February so they'll be prepared to win at the club level.

I run into people all the time that are in Toastmasters and I have a colleague that was one of my clients; she’s a former CNN anchor in Atlanta. She runs the Toastmasters’ event in Atlanta and I run into those guys all the time, so I have a different understanding of Toastmasters just in our little conversation we’ve had now so that’s awesome.

Beverly Howard: Two weeks ago, before leaving for a business trip to Singapore, two Toastmasters members contacted me about coaching. During our strategy session they expressed a strong desire for coaching. One of them was fairly new to Toastmasters and came to me via referral. The other has been a Toastmaster for several years.

I think you’ve got an awesome package there, and like I said, I’m around a lot of Toastmasters and of course, with you participating in this book, you get exposure. If you’re not doing Toastmasters who would you coach? Just anybody speaking or are you micro-niched? Is your message “I teach Toastmasters to get to the world championship.” That’s awesome.

Beverly Howard: I never looked at it that way. I think I'm in that niche by default. However, my coaching is not limited to Toastmasters. I've presented a presentation skills workshop to an organization and I've worked with business professionals to help them represent their company in a positive way. I will be a

88

co-presenter of a storytelling workshop at my District's Spring Conference in May. I'm looking forward to that.

There are more of those out there, trust me. I’m excited for your business. Let’s keep going and get the back story. What led you to this field or how did you get started in this business?

Beverly Howard: I joined Toastmasters in December 1998. In no time I feel in love with evaluating speeches. I told the speakers what they did well and offered suggestions for improvement.

Before I knew it I was mentoring and coaching my fellow members. I knew that if I wanted to properly serve my members I needed to really study the art of public speaking. I began studying the art and I haven't stopped. In 2010 I completed my speaker coach certification and became a certified world class speaking coach. I believe that it's my passion and the study of public speaking that threw me into wanting to do this.

Here’s the million dollar question: You say you’ve got somebody to the semifinals. Has anybody actually won under your coaching?

Beverly Howard: Not yet. My client won at the semi-finals, that’s the level before the finals. Prior to that, I coached someone who placed second at the district level, which is the level before you get to the semifinals. Toastmasters' also compete in a humorous speech contest which ends at the District level. I coached someone to place third the first year they competed and second the second time they competed.

Okay, awesome.

89

Beverly Howard: I only coached the speaker who placed second and third for about three hours before competition.

Following one completion where the speaker placed third, she told me, "if we spent more time together I could have taken first place". Given the short amount of time, I was surprised she placed at all. That experience opened my eyes the power of the coaching.

Have you ever thought about moving into TED Talks or preparing people for TED Talks?

Beverly Howard: I have had an opportunity to advise a fellow Toastmaster who was preparing for a TEDX talk and I truly enjoyed the experience. TED Talks are vastly different from a Toastmasters 5-7 minute contest speech but the skills required are no different.

That is the ultimate authority positioning if you have a TED Talk under your belt and, in fact, I talked to a guy that was interested in being in our book. He was on a Ted Talk in Atlanta and he’s coaching dads and fathers and such. That might be something for you do more of. You have results from Toastmasters so Toastmasters trumps TED Talks by authority in my mind because Toastmasters has been around longer. It’s an internationally recognized name. TED Talks are pretty much new to the street but that could be another area that could open up for you.

Beverly Howard: I have had an opportunity to advise a fellow Toastmaster who was preparing for a TEDX talk and I truly enjoyed the experience. TED Talks are vastly different from a Toastmasters 5-7 minute contest speech but the skills required are no different.

90

That is the ultimate authority positioning if you have a TED Talk under your belt and, in fact, I talked to a guy that was interested in being in our book. He was on a Ted Talk in Atlanta and he’s coaching dads and fathers and such. That might be something for you do more of. You have results from Toastmasters so Toastmasters trumps TED Talks by authority in my mind because Toastmasters has been around longer. It’s an internationally recognized name. TED Talks are pretty much new to the street but that could be another area that could open up for you.

Beverly Howard: I'm definitely adding it to my repertoire.

Anyway, when we get done, I’ll have some recommendations for you. Was there a specific time that you can remember and you can tell me a short story or an event that defines when you caught the bug to do this, to do what you’re actually doing?

Beverly Howard: I think, after I received certification in 2010.

I wanted to utilize what I learned so I coached a fellow Toastmaster, I like to call him my guinea pig. At first he was very resistant and wouldn't apply what I was teaching him. He didn’t want to listen and he wasn't willing to accept my guidance. As time went on, he slowly let his guards down and started doing one thing I told him to do, then another until he started seeing the results.

That's when he said, "alright, you know what you’re talking about let me do what you’re telling me to do." I became more confident in my coaching skills and the blueprint that I got from my certification. He was my first client, he made it to the district level and he placed second in the International Speech Contest.

Toastmasters who knew him prior to that win wanted to know how he was able to compete for the first time and place second.

91

Instead of celebrating his victory, he felt that he disappointed me by not placing first. I told him it's not about me and I'm proud of him and his achievement. He began to stand out in other speaking engagements and other Toastmasters wanted to know what the secret to his success was. That's when other Toastmasters began to look to me for speech contest advice.

That’s awesome.

Beverly Howard: Yes, I was so proud of him and his obvious growth.

Very nice. Now we are going to talk about your passion, but first, was there a book or a movie or a person that’s inspired you along the way?

Beverly Howard: Yes, the person that inspired me and the one I received my certification under, is a world champion of public speaking, 1999 world champion Craig Valentine. When I saw him speak at a district conference, I loved the way he was able to engage the audience. He had great humor; he had great delivery. He had all the elements that I admire in a speaker. At the end of his talk, he was selling his product on storytelling. I asked him, "is this something that I’m really going to benefit from or is it something that I’m going to put on the shelf to collect dust with all of the other programs that I’ve invested in over the years?" He reassured me that it was going to be a great investment. I decided that if I learned the techniques he incorporated in his speech, then it had to be good. Since then I've purchased practically all of his products. He was the one that gave me the assurance and the skills to do what I do...help people become better speakers.

92

That’s awesome.

Beverly Howard: I've learned from other world champions, but Craig is first one to give me the tools to help speakers do well in Toastmasters Contests.

What drives you and gives you passion to do what you do to help the people that you help.

Beverly Howard: Just seeing my client's development. I have two examples. In Toastmasters we have a mentor/mentee relationships. One of my many mentees was scheduled to give a speech the next day. She called me and says, "I’m not prepared, I can’t do this." I convinced her to come see me anyway. She came in and I did not allow her to make any excuses. We worked on the speech for about two hours. The next day, she went to the club, she gave her speech, and she won the "best speaker" ribbon. She hasn’t stopped talking yet. The following month we were at a dinner together and her husband says, "I want to thank you for what you did for my wife, she has really changed; her speaking skills have improved and I just want to thank you for that." That’s just one story. The other one has to do with my client who came in third in the Humorous Speech Contest at the district level. During our three hour coaching session, she said, "this is the first time that I’m having fun speaking." I enjoy working with speakers and I love showing them that speaking can be fun. I tell them, "have fun, let down your guard and just do the work. Take the attention off yourself, think about your audience and your message, and you'll be a more effective speaker and you'll have more fun doing it." Those are the 2 examples I have.

What is the most common obstacle preventing someone in toastmasters from achieving the outcome that you provide?

93

Beverly Howard: When I think about the first person I discussed above, I believe it was fear. I believe she was afraid that she didn't speak well enough and fearful of being vulnerable in front of strangers. I also believe that she was afraid of not being perceived as a great speaker. Most people are just fearful of public speaking.

Well, that’s the number one fear of everybody. Its fear, so they come to you and they want you to coach them to get as far as they can in a contest, so are these raw individuals with no speaking experience or are these experienced speakers?

Beverly Howard: They're mostly experienced and inexperienced Toastmasters. A relatively new toastmaster contacted me about helping him craft a winning speech for next year's International Speech Contest. He had just lost the club contest and wanted to ride the momentum and get coached. He also felt that the 5-7 minute speech should be made into a keynote speech and wanted coaching in that area too. Several experienced toastmasters have asked me to review their speeches and advise them on how they could turn it into a winning speech.

When a Toastmaster wants to become the next World Champion of Public Speaking, all they want to know is, "how can I make this a winning speech?"

Wow, that’s interesting.

Beverly Howard: That’s their main question they ask me. I believe it's because of the results that I had with the person who won at the semifinals; since then a few Toastmasters have come

94

to me and asked, “well, okay Bev, can you look over my speech and give me some advice?"

What’s the biggest misconception that they may have about achieving the championship?

Beverly Howard: Wow, that’s a good question. They must understand that in any competition, there will only be one winner. No coach should have the added pressure of helping them come up with a winning speech. They should merely expect the coach to help them craft and deliver the best speech they possibly can and winning will be the icing on the cake. There are no guarantees.

Nice. What’s the biggest pitfall that somebody might not be aware of when they’re trying to reach the status of champion in Toastmasters? What would be the biggest pitfall that they are not aware of?

Beverly Howard: The biggest pitfall that I think most Toastmasters make not aware of is that there might be favoritism and bias in competitions. Even though judges aren’t supposed to be biased, and they sign they sign a document stating that they won't be, some are. It's not right but it exists. If someone is popular or the favorite on that day, then even if someone else's speech is better, the favorite is going to win. As an example, we just had a competition about 3 weeks ago and the winner had won the previous year. I had coached the person who placed second. When I spoke to the winner afterwards, he told me that he thought he'd stolen my client's trophy. However, he was happy that he won because it gave him the opportunity to tweak his speech and make it better in order to in increase his chances of 95

winning at the next level. So one the biggest pitfall is that there may be favoritism and bias. Contestants just have to be strong and understanding that there can only be one winner and it may not be them, even though they gave the best speech that you could at that time.

Perfect. How can your reader, the client, avoid or overcome the some of the obstacles to successfully achieve the outcome that you just described.

Beverly Howard: I can give the example of the person who came in second in the last example; because she had competed for the past 3 years and her goal this time was to finally make it past the district level which is the next round of competitions in May. When she placed second and did not advance to the district, she felt terrible. She, and many people in the audience, felt she was the better speaker that evening. I told her not to beat himself up over it and to be grateful she placed second. I also advised her to not spend too much time focusing on the loss.

Second place is not bad and there's always next year.

Once you win, do you get to compete again or you have to sit out or what is the next step?

Beverly Howard: No, once you win at one level you advance to the next one. My client placed second at the division level.

Contestants compete at the club, the area, the division, the district, the semi-finals, and the finals. Each contestant delivers the same speech from club level to the semi-finals. For the finals, you must deliver a new speech.

96

Okay, so they go all the way to the top and they compete and they win. Can they go back and reenter and do it again the next year?

Beverly Howard: Once you become a World Champion, I don’t think you’re allowed to compete again. There’s really no need. I've never seen a world champion compete more than once. You can always get to the finals, not win, and compete again. I believe one of the world champions competed several times over a 20 year period before he finally won.

He didn’t have a coach, did he?

Beverly Howard: It probably took a while for him to realize he might need to invest in a coach in order to win.

Kind of like a lifetime achievement award.

Beverly Howard: Yeah. I believe one of the world champions competed three consecutive years before he won. Again, you can compete year after year until you win; but I don’t think anyone has ever competed after they've become a world champion.

Is there a cost or a fee that they have to pay to participate?

Beverly Howard: No, you just have to be a member of Toastmasters.

Toastmasters is free, right?

Beverly Howard: No, we have to pay club dues and pay dues to Toastmasters International. Currently, we pay $72 a year to Toastmasters International. I belong two clubs, the dues for one 97

club is $102 annually and the other is $108 annually. Dues vary from club to club depending on their circumstances. For instance, some clubs dues may be much higher because they have to pay for their meeting space.

Awesome. What would be the best piece of advice that you would give to your reader who is considering competing to become a world champion Beverly Howard: Earlier this week I had a conversation with a fellow Toastmaster and he asked me, "what do I need to do to get better/to be a better speaker?" I told him, "you can attend Toastmasters meetings every week or every 2 weeks, depending on how often your club meets, and you can pick up a piece of information here and a piece of information there; and over a number of years, you will become a better speaker." However, I believe that in order to really to become a better speaker, faster, you really need to get a coach. I’m not saying that because I am a coach, I’m saying it because relying solely on the Toastmasters program, isn't the best way to do it. It can be done, but it’s going to take several years.

With a coach, you can take years of information and condense it down, and you will see improvement in a year or less. I've seen improvement in my clients after several hours of coaching and even greater improvement within three months. I think the one thing Toastmasters' fail to do is study the art of public speaking.

Because they’re not studying it, they’re not really grasping it; they’re not picking it up well enough to apply it. If you're not interested in investing in a coach, I recommend that you really invest in studying the art and apply what you learn until you become the speaker you aspire to be. Again, it will probably take several years but you will achieve your goals. If you don’t want to do it on your own, I recommend that you get a coach to help 98

you achieve your goals faster. This applies to non- Toastmasters too.

What would be the first thing they should do if they’re ready to become a world champion in Toastmasters?

Beverly Howard: That’s a loaded question. Toastmasters should know that their first priority is to complete 6 of your their first 10 speeches to be eligible to compete in the International speech contest. I recommend that speakers complete all ten speeches. Once completed they will have learned the equivalent of Public Speaking 101. They'll know how to organize their speech, how to use vocal variety, what to do with their body, how to use visual aids, and how to inspire their audience, among others valuable skills. Upon completion of the ten speeches and really mastering the basics, they should be able to apply that information to come up with at least two well-crafted and wellrehearsed speeches that will get them to the finals. However, most of the world champions that I've studied didn't win until they invested in a coach.

Alright, great. So what would be some common reasons that clients or prospects could easily benefit from working with you.

Beverly Howard: I think they would benefit from working with me because I've studied, and continue to study, the art of public speaking and I've helped speakers become better speakers in record time. I believe my gifts are helping speakers to craft their speeches and presentation; helping them to deliver their speeches where they’re connecting and engaging their audience while delivering a message that adds value to the lives of that audience.

99

Perfect. How can the reader find out more about how to become a world champion in Toastmasters and what’s the best way for the reader to learn more about your programs?

Beverly Howard: To learn about becoming a world champion, they should first join Toastmasters. They can learn about it from their club members and they can probably find some information about it at Toastmasters International's website at www.toastmasters.org. They can always Google Toastmasters world champions of public speaking to get information about them. They can also order DVDs of previous contests and study the world champions. I will have my website up soon at: beverlyhoward.com, and I will have a Facebook page shortly. People can connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, my website, and by phone.

Okay, if somebody is ready to get started now, what’s the best way they could get hold of you? Give you a call or email you or connect with you on LinkedIn, how would they do that?

Beverly Howard: Right now, all three methods are good. My phone number and email is: 917-535-9384 and beverly@beverlyhoward.com.

Perfect. Well, I’m excited for you Beverly. I’m so glad you’re part of this program and you’re a perfect fit for a put-me-in coach and I’m excited for you and thank you very much.

Beverly Howard: Thank you.

100

SKYPE: bevhow123 EMAIL: beverly@beverlyhoward.com.

LOCATION: New York, NY PHONE 917-535-9384 FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beverly-Howard-Certified-WorldClass-Speaking-Coach/911874172189640 LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/pub/beverly-howard/18/64b/190

101

102

MARSHA LECOUR

Health Coach Toronto, Ontario www.marshalecour.com

The Ageless Advocate on Life after a Major Illness

When Marsha made her first sale at 3Days2Cash, an event by Loral Langemeier, she knew she had made a major breakthrough. She just did her first public motivational speaking gig a few weeks prior. Marsha had been a former high school teacher with 30+ years of successful teaching. She really missed the art of teaching. With this first speaking gig, she shared her story with 103

the audience of how she had consciously chosen to rise up after completing 48 weeks of intense medical treatment to eliminate hepatitis C as a result of a blood transfusion. She really felt the energy from the audience and realized in that moment that she had missed the art of teaching. I knew then that I wanted to teach others from the stage as an entrepreneur to empower others to shift from surviving to thriving with their health.

After my first motivational talk with my mess (hep C) as my message, I knew that I wanted to teach others and support others emotionally through their journey with a serious illness. I had gone through it, I had learned a lot and had developed tools and strategies to thrive significantly. She wanted to share this with others.

Marsha currently offers support, teaches and empowers others who have overcome a major illness to reclaim their lives, to rise up and thrive with joy, power and ease.

She does this through a six month group coaching programme of emotional support around accountability, new ways of thinking and acting to shift to thriving.

104

Conversation with Marsha Lecour Tell me about your business and what types of customers you help and describe those clients, if you could.

Marsha Lecour: Okay, this is a new business that I’m launching and the people that I have been working with and helping to date are people that have had some kind of issue where they have been mentally and emotionally beaten down, and most of them were in that situation through a health issue. Every day, for example, I have a group, a membership group, where I send out daily emails of tips and tools and audios for a membership a month, and these people are empowered and supported., It’s like a daily accountability system that I’ve created for them, so that they can be reminded without interfering in their daily routine, that health is foundational to anything else. All the money in the world, all the cars, don’t really mean anything unless you have your health. That’s one aspect of the business that I operate.

Okay. Good. Go ahead, please elaborate...

Marsha Lecour: There is another venture as well. I’ve started to do motivational speaking based on my journey of having overcome Hepatitis C that I had contracted through a blood transfusion. The blood transfusion probably contained contaminated blood. That would be the probable source of where Hepatitis C came from. Certainly that was an interesting journey of having to live with Hepatitis C and then finally getting cured.

Having experienced that personally, I feel like I really have a deep empathy where people are coming from, as a result. They don’t have to have Hep C, but perhaps have experienced some kind of 105

physical or emotional limiting event. Right now, I’m doing motivational speaking, talking about my journey and demonstrating how to use the elements of never giving up; finding and having support; and being proactive for what you want. Those are the 3 components that I bring to the table from my unique perspective. After this I want to start doing workshops for people who want to overcome adversity, who don’t really know how to get going once they’ve been cleared of cancer or heart disease or some other malady. I find a lot of people get in the mindset once they’ve gone through some kind of a treatment of ‘Oh my God, what if it comes back?’. Well, it could come back again but you can’t spend the rest of the time that you have on this planet thinking about what if it comes back. The chances of you getting hit by a car are likely much greater than the possibility of dying from what you had.

Okay, so that leads into the back story question. You spoke about it a little bit, but what led you to this field and how did you get started in this type of business?

Marsha Lecour: Basically, when I was born, I was born with an opening in my heart and the family physician told my mother that I would need open heart surgery at age 4 and he recommended a heart surgeon, Dr. Fraser Mustard, in Canada. He was one of Canada’s leading physicians and he had this particular form of surgery for open heart surgery that was very successful.

He performed that the surgery with his technique and the surgery went well. At the same time, I needed a blood transfusion.

He administered that, and through regular, systematic blood work that I was doing with my family doctor years later, he discovered something sort of abnormal in my blood. It was determined there was something happening with the liver. The 106

surgeon then sent me to a liver doctor, hepatologist, and it was then I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C; a long time ago.

What were the effects and how did you overcome them?

Marsha Lecour: Hepatitis C is a virus that attacks the liver and it normally has slow deterioration of the liver until the liver finally stops functioning. When I went to the liver doctor, he said ‘You will become a candidate for a liver transplant.’ I was completely flabbergasted. I didn’t know I had Hep C. I asked him “what do you mean a liver transplant” and he said, ‘you will receive a pig’s liver.’ I said, ‘Doctor, no, I won’t, because I’m a vegetarian, so no one is giving me a pig’s liver.’ Well, they don’t do pig’s livers today and I’m not a candidate. I did treatment last year for 48 weeks and now I am cured of Hep C. What would be your perspective client’s biggest or most common problem?

Marsha Lecour: My prospect's most common problem is not knowing what simple steps to take to reclaim their lives so they can live once again with ease and joy after a serious illness.

Start walking daily now to the end of your driveway and back to begin a habit of daily movement.

Then repeat.

Then walk back to the end of your block and back.

Then walk around your block....

Do this daily for about 20 minutes 107

Awesome, an amazing journey to this point. What’s your passion and purpose to help others?

Marsha Lecour: My passion and purpose is to empower others to make their health their number 1 priority.

Was there a book or a person that’s inspired you in your life along the way?

Marsha Lecour: I think one of the books that I really think about a lot is Think and Grow Rich. Are you familiar with that book?

Yes, absolutely.

Marsha Lecour: Read about all those people that he came to discover through the interview that there was a system in place for people to think and grow rich. It is a science. It is an art. And there are systems that they have followed and people have this proper mindset, and the realization people can have abundance, not just financially, but on all levels. That’s what I want for my life, not just for the little self, but I think the more I expand myself on all levels, the more I can contribute to the world on a bigger level, from a philanthropic point of view.

Great perspective. That author was Napoleon Hill. That book has impacted lots and lots of people. That’s good. Next, please talk about what drives you and your passion to do what you do to help the people that you help.

Marsha Lecour: Well, funny that you should ask that. I was a high school teacher for 36 years and had planned to retire in 108

June of 2014. I had started planning in June of 2009. I had a 5year window to get all my finances in place and I was going to accomplish some self-development. Why was I taking self-development one might ask? Because I had been teaching in a parochial Catholic school and the mind set in a Catholic school has an element of being very focused and looking at the world through the prism of religion, specifically Catholicism. I didn’t want to retire and be left with that mindset. Coupled with that is my desire to support.

One of the ways I refer to myself is as the “Ageless Advocate”.

I’m 63 but I’m really 63 going on 33. I don’t look my age. I don’t act my age. Many people today, the older they get, the more narrow-minded they become, the chronologically-older they become, the more they sort of shut down. They start to narrow their view. Their life experience expands but their willingness to try new things, their willingness to step outside their comfort zone shrinks. It narrows down as they grow older. Coupled with that is my desire support people to enhance their health and at the same time I’m helping them to expand who they are, what they have and what they can do. Be, do and have. If you want more, if you want to do more, you have to have more and, therefore, foundationally, have to be more. So for me, for people to rise up in their health really helps them to develop themselves personally in the area of personal development. It scares me when I see Baby Boomers or senior citizens or older people just losing the drive to want to do new things. They seem to give up on it, especially people who have had a serious illness. They just want to shut down and they give up. There’s life after illness. Believe me. I mean a year later, I’m going to the Grand Canyon, you know. Who would’ve thought?

109

That’s awesome. I’ve experienced that first-hand. My father was diagnosed with cancer and he basically gave up. But the doctor didn’t help either by saying this is going to take your life.

Marsha Lecour: Oh gee!

You are on a good mission, for sure. What is the most common obstacle preventing someone from achieving this outcome of life after illness, or life after disease?

Marsha Lecour: Let me give you an example. I went to a support group last night for the Canadian Liver Foundation and it was peer support for people who have any kind of liver disease.

Basically, people who have come through an illness still have the mind set of being a victim of ‘oh, it might come back’, ‘oh, poor me’. As long as people remain in that victim mind-set, that victim mentality, they’re stuck. They can’t move forward. That mindset is why I see my role as one helping people to develop the belief and conviction that they can get past that victim mind-set that they can expand themselves. They can begin again to eat nutritionally and they can begin again to exercise. Now I don’t mean going to the gym and lifting weights, but just walking 20 minutes a day. You can’t be depressed and walking at the same time. The two are mutually exclusive. Walking and depression are not compatible friends. I want to get them off the couch, because when you sit down on the couch, you just intrinsically become lazy and may find yourself going into the mindset of I don't feel like it. For me, I don’t want to go there again. I was there and it’s dangerous.

What is the biggest misconception that someone has about achieving that outcome of life after disease or life after illness?

110

Marsha Lecour: I think the biggest misconception is that people have a myth, they have this false belief that once you’ve had an illness and even if you have risen above it, for instance, let’s say you’ve had cancer and now you’re “in remission”, that it can always come back. People have two feet in two camps: one foot in the camp of life and one foot in the camp of pending death.

Sure, it can come back. Sure, I can contract Hepatitis C again, but I don’t live with the fear of ‘oh, what happens if…’ No, you've got to keep going. You have to create your life by design. You can’t live your life by default and just think that your time is up. Now, if you’re 63, I might have 30 years ahead of me, you know, and I’m going to make those 30 years the best 30 years yet.

That’s exactly what we’re looking for because a lot of this is mind-set.

Marsha Lecour: Yes it is.

And people are so programmed to think “OH God” and throw their hands up, feeling like it’s over.

Marsha Lecour: Yes, exactly.

They don’t realize that, this is getting pretty deep; you can heal yourself using your mind and positive thought, right? That’s what you’re teaching.

Marsha Lecour: Just let me qualify that. The mind can heal the body. I would agree. Now for example, for Hepatitis C, it’s a very unusual disease in that I have not known anyone who has cured themselves through the mind only. I think everyone that 111

I’ve known has had to go through the conventional treatment. I have heard of people that had cancer and they cured themselves through the mind, but I don’t know anyone first hand who has cured themselves of Hep C. I will say this; the mind plays an important and significant role in maintaining the cure, maintaining the state of being cured. So what does that mean? For example, if somebody has breast cancer, for example, there’s always a chance that something could come back. But if they have a positive mind-set and they create their life moving forward in such a way that they eat better, they practice positive affirmations, they meditate, they exercise daily, they eat the right food, then personally, I think that they are reducing the probability and possibility of them having cancer again.

Yes. What about gratitude? Do you talk about the power of daily gratitude?

Marsha Lecour: Oh, yes. I do a gratitude journal everyday, every single morning. I have a whole morning ritual system and there’s gratitude in there, then I meditate, do my wheatgrass, and my green juice. It’s an hour of power!

I understand. Fantastic!

Marsha Lecour: This system just really sets me off in the right direction; sets my day off. And I will do that when I’m hiking the Grand Canyon. It doesn’t matter where I am. It may not be an hour but I’ll do some form of it with all the elements.

How can someone avoid or overcome the obstacles that you just described to successfully achieve the outcome of life after an illness? You described some of the obstacles, mind-set and the 112

negative always thinking of I’m going to get it back again attitude. How can they avoid that or overcome those?

Marsha Lecour: I can give you and the reader some practical tools right now that they can actually implement on the spot from the inside out, like healing always starts from the inside out. For example, there’s the mirror exercise. I do this every night before I go to bed. I actually sit up in bed, I hold a mirror and I look at myself, I get focused on looking at myself in the mirror, my own reflection, self-reflection, and I say out loud, looking at myself in the mirror, “I love you, Marsha, unconditionally.” I accept and love myself just as I am. And I do that every night. That sets up the mind-set and creates those neuro-pathways where one will start to appreciate oneself automatically by default in a positive light. I think we’re conditioned to always have this inner critic within our mind. You know our parents always said to us and the teachers always said to us, ‘Don’t do that.

You can’t go here. No, no, no, no, no. You’re not good enough.

You had 92 in Math, what happened to the other 8 marks?” I think the mirror exercise is one. Another thing people can do is start adding a raw green salad every single day. Now I’m not saying people to take off weight, or stop eating sugar and all that.

Just start having a raw green salad every day and start walking every day. Start with 5 minutes for a week, then add another 5 minutes, until you’re up to 20 minutes a day and do that 7 days a week. Recapping: performing the mirror exercise, eating a daily raw green salad, and doing 20 minutes of walking every day will help people start overcoming that mind-set we spoke of where they say “I can’t get better, it might come back.” My methods will start turning things around for them.

113

Can you give us an example of someone that you’ve helped?

How you helped them overcome did it?

Marsha Lecour: There was a woman who had a stage 4 cancer and she did not want to go through conventional treatment.

She chose for herself to do wheatgrass and a raw food diet which finally resulted in her being clear of cancer for about 6 months.

She reached out to me and she said, ‘I’ve been watching your videos on Facebook and I’ve been reading your posts. I’ve seen you from time-to-time at different events.’ Then she said, ‘Can you be my accountability partner, or my accountability mentor?’ and I said sure. She reaches out to me whenever she feels a need for support. She’s been reaching out to me 3 or 4 times a week for the past 2 months, and just telling me what she’s been doing, what she’s been eating, what kind of exercise she’s been doing and so on. That routine has kept her in remission for these past 2 months.

That’s awesome! What would be your best piece of advice to someone who’s considering getting out of this situation that they’re in or who is being negative about their illness and that they can’t have life after an illness? What would be the best piece of advice that you’d give them?

Marsha Lecour: My first piece of advice would be for them to get a notebook and start keeping a journal of what they’re grateful for, and they can start with self-appreciation. Every day, write 5 statements. I appreciate myself or I love myself for getting out of bed this morning. I appreciate myself for brushing my teeth. Just really basic, simple things. Do that 5 times, 5 statements every day. And not on a computer, write them up,

114

because when a person puts pencil to paper, there’s more engagement of the brain. As a former high school teacher, I saw this clearly. I had students who were in Special Ed and when they did their writing, they retained the information better and they were more engaged in the process, as opposed to just using a computer. Self-appreciation every day with a notebook is a good way to start.

Yes, I like that. You talked about appreciation for brushing teeth and things like that, so your advice is to get very specific on the gratefulness. Can you go a little bit deeper on that?

Marsha Lecour: What that means is we all take ourselves for granted in what we can do every day and what we do every day. Brushing our teeth every day is an achievement. As an example, if you’ve been bed-ridden for 48 weeks for the treatment of cancer or another ailment and you’ve been feeling like crap, you’re just not mindful of who you are and what you can do. In this instance, you appreciate that you can brush your teeth whether or not you’re on treatment. Start taking the moment to appreciate that you are brushing your teeth even though you feel like crap. That starts to create the habit of being mindful and in the now of whom and what you are and of what you can do based on where you are right now. I’m not saying go out and run a 26-mile marathon. No, I’m saying show your appreciation for yourself right now for the fact that you can brush your teeth. So it starts with that simple act of self-love. Self-love is so important.

Self-love, absolutely. That conquers a lot of things too.

Marsha Lecour: Yes, and let me just add a piece here. Coupled with self-love is the whole idea of self-care. So when you 115

show gratitude to yourself for brushing your teeth that is a foundational piece of self-care, which builds on the whole platform of self-love. And we don’t hear too much in our society about self-love. People don’t talk about it. People have this belief that, oh if I love myself, I’m being selfish. Well, if you fly anywhere in the world, the flight attendant doesn’t say to you, okay, help your daughter put her oxygen mask on first. No, the instruction is you put your oxygen mask on first and then, and only then, are you in a position to help other people put their oxygen mask on.

The same with self-love. It’s the same application. It’s the same principle. No different.

That is a great analogy. What would be some good reasons for the readers to easily benefit from working with you?

Marsha Lecour: One thing that comes to mind is I’ve walked the talk and I’ve been there. I’ve been in their shoes I’m not just going to be theoretically saying this is what you can do; this is what I think you can do. I have the personal experience and I had to go through it myself to see what works and what doesn’t work. So having walked that path, I have created the blueprint for people to get the same results that I’ve created. My teaching background really lends itself to being a very successful teacher and having coached many students, too, in high school. Some had weight issues and I was able to help them with that. I’ve worked with some adults to help them work on some issues. In my life experience, and by that I mean being chronologically older, there is a real asset to that. That’s a real advantage because of the life experience that one who is chronologically older brings to the table.

Some people think that having Hepatitis C is a death sentence.

Obviously you’ve proven the fact that it isn’t.

116

Marsha Lecour: Well, one thing that comes to mind is I’ve walked the talk and I’ve been there. I’ve been in their shoes I’m not just going to be theoretically saying this is what you can do; this is what I think you can do. I have the personal experience and I had to go through it myself to see what works and what doesn’t work. So having walked that path, I have created the blueprint for people to get the same results that I’ve created. My teaching background really lends itself to being a very successful teacher and having coached many students, too, in high school.

Some had weight issues and I was able to help them with that.

I’ve worked with some adults to help them work on some issues.

In my life experience, and by that I mean being chronologically older, there is a real asset to that. That’s a real advantage because of the life experience that one who is chronologically older brings to the table.

Some people think that having Hepatitis C is a death sentence.

Obviously you’ve proven the fact that it isn’t.

Marsha Lecour: Correct, for example, I’m hiking the Grand Canyon on Saturday. That is a testimony right there in itself.

And you’ve never tried to do anything like that before?

Marsha Lecour: Not to this extent, no. No. How can the reader find out more about how to overcome these obstacles and live a life of abundance?

Marsha Lecour: People can go to my website www.marshalecour.com 117

Do you have any content on there that they can download or view or any videos?

Marsha Lecour: It’s interesting that you should ask that. Yes, I’m revamping my website as we speak. So there will be a free download report. When they op-in, they’ll get a free report titled 'Five Simple Steps to Reclaim Your Health Now’.

Very good. That’s very interesting. I’ve enjoyed the conversation.

Marsha Lecour: Okay, Mr. Hanes. Thank you so much.

118

WEBSITE: www.marshalecour.com EMAIL: Marsha@marshalecour.com LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario PHONE 647.280.1584 FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/MarshaLecour TWITTER www.twitter.com/MarshaLecour

119

120

NAOMI BARR

Fitness Coach Lifetime Racer Fitness Lombard, Illinois

Lifetime Racer Helping You Make Lifetime Beach Body Changes

Naomi was introduced to entrepreneurialism at a young age.

Her parents sold vitamins and mini-trampolines as she was growing up. She started in her first direct sales company when she was 18 years old. Naomi has always been interested in finding ways to help people whether it is with someone else’s products

or from showing her own creations at the local county fair. Naomi entered the Direct Sales arena as a Mary Kay consultant. For a fresh 18 year old who didn’t wear make-up or wash her face every day, it was a very interesting product to sell. To say the least, she admits really dabbling in the business because she was not committed to the product – she had enrolled to help out her sister and to make a little bit of money. Eventually she moved on from Mary Kay to sell Tupperware. While she enjoyed the product, she was not crazy about the parties you had to do to sell the product. She did okay with her Tupperware business but added on Avon to increase my money making opportunities. She stopped working both companies when she went to work at Disney World on the College Program.

When she returned from Disney, she continued her Tupperware business and worked it for additional income every now and then while still looking for other companies that she might be interested in working.

Naomi partnered up as a Lia Sophia advisor because she loved the jewelry, the money making potential, and the concept that she could help women feel better about themselves by accessorizing with jewelry.

She liked the opportunity to become a Team Beach body coach, she took the chance to change her health and her future.

Naomi is still creating her story and building her health and fitness business through Team Beach body.

122

Conversation with Naomi Barr Tell me about your business, your business name, and the types of customers you help. Basically, describe the clients you work with.

Naomi Barr: My business name is Lifetime Racer Fitness. Part of the reason why I selected that name based on my love of doing 5Ks. I've actually completed a half marathon as a part of Team in Training and raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As I’ve reflected on events in my life, I’ve realized that as part of the human race, it takes a lifetime to complete the journey. Take into consideration the caterpillar and the transformation that occurs on its journey of becoming a butterfly. I combined these concepts into my business – my love of racing, a lifetime of journey and my focus on health and fitness.

My clientele that I seek to help are people that are wanting to change any aspect of their health and fitness, whether it's losing weight, changing their nutrition plan, eating cleaner, or focusing on trying out different kinds of eating plans, such as vegan or vegetarian or checking out Paleo, but it's specific to each individual person and what their needs and goals actually are. If they want the fitness component then we'll work with them to determine the proper workout program that will get them their best results.

What led you to this type of work and how did you get started in this business?

Naomi Barr: I grew up as 1 of 7 children with a stay-at-home mom who focused on feeding us healthier food. We walked to and from school which was a half mile each way and we always played outside year round. I was never one who was really into 123

sports – partly because there was not much money available to be able to try out different kinds of sports due to the size of our family. I know I really wanted to try out dance classes but it was frowned upon due to our family’s religious beliefs. I do remember doing some gymnastic classes through the park district but my lack of self-confidence and issues with my weight prevented me from being as successful as I could have been.

I have had weight issues myself due to a traumatic event that happened in my past, but by working through it my experience I've managed to keep working on creating a better person including reducing my weight. I know that I’m not at my goal weight yet but I focus on little things on a daily basis to move me closer to it. My parents also had mini home-based businesses throughout the years in the fitness industry that introduced me entrepreneurship at an early age.

My older sister started doing 5K races and with her husband at the time, and I was like, "Oh, that's really fun. That would be something fun to do." Sometimes when you go and do the 5Ks, you're also helping out a good cause. I have that helping and serving nature in me and because of that I was like, "Oh, OK. Let me go and do these 5Ks for various causes." It kind of led from one thing to another, and then you see the informationals on TV and you're like, "Oh, that's a really cool program." Being the entrepreneurial person I am, I'm like, "Man that would be so cool if you could sell that program for that company." Well, at the time they didn't have that. Fast forward 5 years later after I said that, I found out that they had become a network marketing company.

Oh really?

124

Naomi Barr: When I found out about the opportunity, I was like, "Oh my gosh. I want to be part of this." It's melding my love of helping people and was a way to help myself work through my weight loss journey, because through my weight loss journey-I'll be able to help other people too. Just meld them together and be part of the health and wellness community and help people better their lives.

Who has inspired you along the way is there a book or a movie or a person that inspired you on your journey?

Naomi Barr: I love the movie “Chariots of Fire” based on the true story of Scottish Olympian, Eric Liddell. He was the racer who didn't run on Sundays because of his faith. He qualified for the 1924 Olympics and won a gold medal in the 200 meter race.

O love the Chariots of Fire movie theme song. It is one of my go to songs on my playlist when I do 5Ks. I typically play as I'm coming across the finish line.

That's cool.

Naomi Barr: Yes, it is. I pumps me full of endorphins and I imagine myself winning a medal. One of my racing inspirations is John “The Penguin” Bingham. He is known in the racing world for his odd running methods – similar to Eric Liddell. He is one of the reasons that I really started participating in 5ks because it’s not about winning the race, it’s about finishing it.

What else drives you or gives you the passion to do what you do to help people?

125

Naomi Barr: I think it's my nature to help people. It’s part of my personality. I've always had that nurturing touch. Like I said, I am 1 of 7 kids, and there was about a 1-and-a-half to 3 year gap between each child from 1 to 6 and I'm number 6. There's a 7and-a-half year gap between me and my baby sister. So here I am, 7-and-a-half years old and I have a baby sister. I basically feel like I was the mother hen of her. Not that my mom wasn't there, but I was always taking care of her and watching out for her as we grew up, so it's just become my nature as I've gotten older to find other people that I can go and try to help or take care of or push towards finding what their goal is and helping them in accomplishing that goal.

What would be some of the most common obstacles preventing people from obtaining good health or being able to run a marathon?

Naomi Barr: I think the biggest obstacle in anybody's life is their mindset, because if their mindset isn't there and they're not fully committed to what it is they're going after, they're not going to get there. They can say ’til they're blue in the face "I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm going to do fill in the blank" but it's always the "I'm going to, I'm trying to." They have to change their mindset to "I am" and then finish that statement, and they have to commit to stick to accomplishing the goal.

That's the biggest obstacle, and then when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, the rest of it is excuses. We all have the same 24 hours a day to accomplish our goals, and how we spend it shapes the decisions that we make. If we focus on prioritizing those things that move us closer to our goal, we’ll become more successful and be able to crush our goals and go for bigger and better things in our life.

126

With that, what would be one of the biggest misconceptions people might have about achieving good health or being able to exercise and maintain fitness?

Naomi Barr: I think a big misconception that's out there is all the information about diets; we have to get out of the mindset that we're going on a diet. You're making a lifestyle change. Basically if you say, "I'm going on a diet," your thought process is going to be, "OK, I'm going on a diet for 60 days." Then once s day 61 hits, and you're done with it, and you're like, "OK, I'm done with that." Then your little habits that you kind of got rid of start to creep back in. Instead, you need to create a better mindset and your terminology of "I'm going on a diet" to "I am making a lifestyle change!” “I am making the choice to eat a cleaner diet limiting my daily sugar intake, increasing my water intake or limiting the amount of caffeine I'm drinking” based on what their body is saying to them. They have to listen to their body.

Can you describe some of the common problems facing your perfect client or describe some of the things you've overcome along the way?

Naomi Barr: I think the number 1 problem most people say is that they don't have time. They don't have time to exercise, they don't have time to meal plan, and they don't have time to prepare their meals.

We devise a plan to conquer the excuses.  Limited workout time – We’ll pair you up with a workout program that takes a shorter timeframe like 10 minutes, 25 minutes, or even a half hour.

127





Nutrition issues? We’ll help you create a meal plan for a week or month at a time. It can be focused on what your nutrition goals are for that week or month and what your daily schedule is going to allow.

Not much to time to prep a meal on a daily basis? We’ll work with you to use a 2-3 hours on the weekend to prep all the meals that you have scheduled for the week – Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, and Snacks – so they are ready for you to pop in the oven, microwave, or your lunch bag.

Pre-planning is vital in that.

Naomi Barr: Absolutely! Planning and scheduling is the key to much success.

OK, when you're speaking to someone, how can they avoid or overcome obstacles to successfully achieve the outcome of being in good health and eating right?

Naomi Barr: If you are planning ahead, you can avoid and overcome most obstacles. When the goal is to lose 20 pounds, you aren’t going to sit around and do nothing and expect the weight to come off – you are going to come up with a plan of attack on how you are going to do it.

The first step is to dig deep and get real with yourself about why you want to lose the 20 pounds. Is it because by losing 20 pounds they’ll be back in their high school jeans? Is it because by losing 20 pounds they’ll be able to have more energy and run with their children instead of huffing and puffing after them? Is it because by losing 20 pounds they’ll gain the self-confidence to go for that promotion at work? They have to set a goal that is 128

smart and they know they're going to be able to achieve it. They have to be specific in what it is that they're willing to achieve.

You can say, "I want to lose weight" but if you're just saying I want to lose weight, it's not going to happen. Say “I want to lose 20 pounds by August 1st because I'm standing up in a wedding and I want to look and feel sexy in my dress! Makes it more realistic a defined time frame and a stronger why.

You have to get real with what your why is and that why should be good enough to help you to stick to it and reach your goal. If you have problems sticking to it and you need accountability, then you need to go and find somebody who's either going to be an accountability partner or you need to find a coach who's going to be with you through the good days, cheering you on, and through the bad days when you're like, "I can't do this anymore" and they're going to be like, "No, really. You can do it!” and “Look how far you've come, look how far you still have to go but you're almost there."

Can you describe how you've helped somebody specifically overcome weight challenges?

Naomi Barr: I have a client, she's on the heavier side, and she's tried to do some exercise and it doesn't always work. She doesn't always get to do it, based on space requirements and things like that. Instead of necessarily focusing on the exercise component, because the exercise component really is only about 20% out of the whole formula and 80% is your nutrition, we're working more on having her eat a cleaner diet, adding spinach smoothies and things like that to her diet to help her to lose the weight. Even though she's not getting as much of the exercise component—she is able to walk her dog—we’re focusing on what she can do, not what she can't do.

129

I had another client who had issues with time to workout. We chose the 10 minute workout program that gave her many options to choose from in a short timeframe. When she did have more time to workout, she stacked several programs together to get a longer, more intense workout.

What would be your best piece of advice to the reader when they're considering changing their diet or getting into the healthy mindset?

Naomi Barr: I would recommend that they find out first why they want to make that change and then determine what course of action it is that they really want to focus on. What is it that is wrong with them? Is it that they don't have a good diet, they're eating a lot of junk food, or consuming a lot of sugar, caffeine, soda, and things like that? You help them consider, "OK, I have a really bad diet. Let me try to clean that up first." Once they've started to clean that up, they're going to start to see that they feel better, they're sleeping better, and then at that point they can always focus on incorporating the exercise component into it unless they're ready to dive in immediately and want to utilize an exercise solution as well as that diet solution.

A lot of people have challenges when they're trying to do this by themselves. What are some common reasons why they should work with you to help them accomplish their goals?

Naomi Barr: If they're working with me as their health and fitness coach, versus not working with anybody, they're going to have that accountability component that they're not going to have when they try to do it on their own. By working with me, they're going to have accountability to keep them doing their 130

workout, watching what they're eating, and working through any other issues that may come up. I'm not a counselor so I wouldn't be counseling, but sometimes if something were to arise like that, I would refer them to seek professional help from a certified counselor. If they just go do it on their own, they're not going to have that accountability component, which is the biggest reason why people have coaches. They're going to get more results than if they just try to do it on their own.

Can you describe some of those areas of accountability that you could help them with?

Naomi Barr: For my clients, we actually put them into a group with other people who are doing similar workout programs, so it's not just me who's helping to keep them accountable; it's actually the other participants in the group that are keeping each other accountable. Sometimes people put questions out there, saying, "I have a question about whether or not I should be eating this or eating that,� and then instead of me always having to answer, my other clients actually help each other by answering from their experiences and knowledge base.

Sometimes somebody has a question about a certain medical condition or issue; I may not have that condition or issue or know somebody who does, but somebody else who has that personal experience or who knows somebody who has that personal experience can chime in and we help support each other through that. The circle of support is very strong – we treat it like a family.

If somebody is not participating in the group, I will reach out to them privately to see what is going on in their life and if they may need any additional private support outside of the group.

131

If somebody is ready to get started, what would be the first step for them to do?

Naomi Barr: The first step for them to get started would be to go to my website and complete “Getting to Know You”. My website is http://lifetimeracerfitness.com.

Is there any download or any kind of ebook available there?

Are there any things where they can get information?

Naomi Barr: Once they have completed “Getting to Know You”, they will be sent my 5 day Clean Eating ebook to help them start on their health and fitness journey. They can also subscribe to my monthly newsletter that will feature various workouts, recipes and other fun topics related to health and fitness.

If they wanted reach out to you immediately, could they do that by calling you, or what's the best way to do that?

Naomi Barr: If they wanted to, they could call or text me. My phone number is (630) 748-4820.

All right, Naomi. That completes our interview.

Naomi Barr: Wonderful! Thank you so much for this opportunity to be able to help more people with my mission to help end the trend of obesity.

Thank you very much.

132

WEBSITE: http://lifetimeracerfitness.com EMAIL: lifetimeracerfitness@gmail.com LOCATION: Lombard, Illinois LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifetimeracer FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LifetimeRacer

133

134

COSMINA BALU

Life Coach Pensez sur mesure Montreal, Quebec www.pensezsurmesure.com

Mentor for Women Living in Conflicting Relationships

Before Cosmina got divorced she was afraid by not being able to have enough money to keep her house and provide her 135

daughter a safe life. She struggled all her life. There was a moment where she knew that if she continued that way she would die. So she started with personal development. Cosmina read a lot, she discovered how to meditate, yoga, and she went to school to become a therapist. Last year, 2014, people around her sought her out for advice. She began to see the changes in their lives.

There was a moment where Cosmina asked herself what was going to be her mission in life? What is my dharma? And the answer come: being of the service of others. This year she could identify with that by being a coach, an inspiration to other women that found themselves in the same situation.

136

Conversation with Cosmina Balu Welcome Cosmina! Thank you for joining me today and sharing your work as a Life Coach. Let’s start by talking about your business and who you serve.

COSMINA BALU: I define myself as a mentor for women living in conflicting relationships. I want to bring women in a place of understanding, understanding that the conflict in a relationship is an opportunity of personal evolution. Each relationship we live mirrors the relationship with ourselves. When a woman lives in relationship in which she feels abandoned by her husband, we discover together how she abandoned herself in the relationship, her lack of self-love. Because today women are still mostly responsible for children’s education, a woman capable of self-love will teach her child how to receive and give love to the self and to the others. I am committed to contribute to cultivate the love in each woman that has the desire to transform the conflict in an opportunity for personal growth. Being originally from Romania but living in Montreal, I love working with Romanian women and help them question the rigid beliefs that our parents or teachers have transmitted from generation to generation, beliefs that do not serve us anymore.

You help them overcome erroneous or inadequate thinking and challenges with conflict. Is that correct?

COSMINA BALU: Yes, in relationships, it doesn’t matter what kind of relationship, with their partner, with their children or with their boss at work.

That is a powerful mission. What led you to this field of work?

137

COSMINA BALU: My personal experience led me to this field of work. The conflict was prevalent in all my past relationships starting with my first caregivers and it was a source of suffering, sadness, frustration and anger. I was convinced that the source of the conflict in my relationship was the other, not me. I used to blame the other, I made him/her responsible for my happiness, I had a lot of expectations, I tried to change my partner (mother, brother, husband, daughter), I controlled and I manipulated others in order to be happy. I spent a lot of effort without obtaining the results I expected. The suffering was always present, until I made the decision that life is more than suffering. I immigrated to Canada where, after years of questioning about life purpose and after discovering that suffering is an experience and it is optional in my life, I transitioned from a traditional culture to challenging tradition, from attachment to finding my selftruth. I discovered how the values and the beliefs that my parents and my teachers at school transmitted to me were not a source of joy but a source of pain.

Was there a specific pivotal event that caused you to realize you could help others with what you’re doing?

COSMINA BALU: Yes, it was a major event in my life, in 2011 when, after twenty years of marriage, I divorced. The pain of separation was extremely harmful to my physical and to my emotional body. I had a brush with death. I lost control of my body; I had the sensation of quitting the body and going to God. I don’t know where I was, but I felt that unconditional love, acceptation, understanding as I never felt here in the physical plane. After returning in my physical body, everything changed: the way I see life, the way I see myself, my daughter, my relationships, my friends. I understood that we are not here to suffer 138

but I didn’t know how to bring the joy, the love and the light in my life. Thus, I started to seek for tools. And slowly, people in my entourage, at home, at work, got in touch with me in order to receive advice to resolve conflict in their relationships.

Did you have other sources of inspiration? To help you transition?

Cosmina Balu: Five women had a major influence in my life: Sophie Gilbert, Inelia Benz, Teal Swan, Byron Katie and Colette Portelance and the film Nosso Lar. They helped me to understand that we are more than a physical body, we are not alone here in this physical plain, the planet Earth, we are powerful and everything is an experience that serves our evolution and universal expansion.

Can you talk about what drives you? What sustains you in this work?

Cosmina Balu: Every individual on planet Earth has a divine talent, a personal mission, a gift to offer by serving others. For several years I have looked for my unique and divine talent, for my purpose in life, I have searched how to serve others. The answer came to me at work when I realized that my colleagues felt secure with me, they opened their heart and asked for advice to the conflict they experienced in their relationships. In their testimonials, those people have told me about the remarkable results they got after talking to me.

Have you discovered a common obstacle people encounter in their relationships?

139

Cosmina Balu: The largest obstacle they have is the lack of self-love and the expectation of others to love them. The conflict in the relationship is a tool to use for our personal growth. In the relationship, when we are afraid to express an emotion or a need that we don't accept, we adopt a defensive attitude which has the role to protect us against fear or other unpleasant emotions.

These attitudes could be: repression, lying, self-punishment, projection, criticism, comparison, control, interpretation, etc.When we adopt those attitudes in a relationship, conflict may appear and the dynamics of the relationship deteriorates, especially if the other feels triggered by his own wounds. I learned to use the conflict in my relationships as an opportunity to learn more about myself, to discover what are my basic needs that I absolutely want to meet in my relationships, what are my desires, my fears. How? I’ll give you an example: My daughter, who is 21 years old and still student, lives with me. One evening she came home few hours after I went to the grocery store, she opened the fridge and said: "There is nothing to eat". In that moment, I react to her attitude. I started to judge her, to compare her with other girls having the same age as her and who do not expect that their mother to prepare food for them; I was not very polite with her. After the conflict passed, I started to ask myself: 1) What has bothered me in its phrase: “there's no food in the fridge”.

2) What wound was awakened?

3) What unpleasant emotion I don’t want to experience?

4) What is the need which is not satisfied in the relationship with my daughter?

140

And the answers popped-up: 1) If there is no food prepared by me, I am not a good mother.

2) Wound of worthlessness.

3) The fear of being judged and be considered as a bad mother.

4) The need of love and being valued.

I did not make my daughter responsible for the satisfaction of my need for love. She is there to show me, in this conflicting situation, my lack of self-love and my inner child’s unhealed wounds.

As a human being, when the fundamental needs are not satisfied, the human psyche is damaged.

And what are those fundamental needs?

Cosmina Balu: The need to be loved, the need for security, the need to be valued or recognized, the need to be listened and accepted, the need to be creative, to be free, to express our-selves.

And what are those fundamental needs?

Cosmina Balu: The need to be loved, the need for security, the need to be valued or recognized, the need to be listened and accepted, the need to be creative, to be free, to express our-selves.

Is there a common misconception people have about their relationships?

141

Cosmina Balu: The biggest misconception people have is to believe that the other person in the relationship is responsible for their suffering.

How can this be overcome?

Cosmina Balu: I think asking for help is step number one, especially when they feel that they are not able to follow a selfdevelopment path by themselves. Then, self-love. Until now I discovered that self-love is the biggest challenge. If we have not been loved in our childhood, we don’t know how to love; we don’t have any idea how to love ourselves or how to receive love.

Do you have an example of someone who overcame this?

Cosmina Balu: Yes. My daughter has a friend that had a lot of difficulties in her relationships with men. In our discussions, I helped her to see that she doesn’t respect herself, she abandoned herself, and she doesn’t totally accept herself as she is.

She discovered that she was not accepted by her parents as she was. Eventually she discovered the false self she created, the mask she wore daily in order to be accepted, in order to be loved by others, in order to satisfy her need to be loved. The more she plays a role, the more she is disappointed because the others “love” the other person, not her. Her low self-esteem attracts men that do not respect her.

So now she can attract the right person?

Cosmina Balu: We always attract the right person, the person that helps us to become whole, to integrate the aspects of ourselves that we suppressed as child, in the name of survival.

142

We deny and we suppress all aspects in ourselves that are not accepted by our primary caregivers. “This self-rejection is the birth of self-hate. The emptiness that we feel is the result of those missing rejected or disowned parts of our self. And the soul wants one thing, to make us whole again” (Teal Swan).

Can you describe some of those areas of accountability that you could help them with?

Cosmina Balu: We always attract the right person, the person that helps us to become whole, to integrate the aspects of ourselves that we suppressed as child, in the name of survival.

We deny and we suppress all aspects in ourselves that are not accepted by our primary caregivers. “This self-rejection is the birth of self-hate. The emptiness that we feel is the result of those missing rejected or disowned parts of our self. And the soul wants one thing, to make us whole again” (Teal Swan).

She learns with me how to listen to her emotions as often as possible when she uses a defensive attitude, especially in the relationships with her parents. She learns to observe her thoughts when she suffers in a relationship. She understood that the partner in the relationship is a mirror of the relation with herself. She learns how to use projection in order to discover things in her partner that she is totally unaware of in herself.

What would be the best advice or the best piece of advice that you would give to someone who is living a conflicting relationship?

Cosmina Balu: The conflict in relationships is an opportunity to turn the spot light to the self, is an opportunity to observe and question the stressful thoughts that causes you suffering.

143

Who should seek to work with you, personally?

Cosmina Balu: The person that wants to find tools that help see the conflict as an opportunity, to have a better understanding about the self and becoming whole again. The person that wants to learn how to improve the quality of his or her relationships. Every situation, every event in our life is an opportunity to evolve. The person who wants to appreciate life and wants to see life as beautiful.

If someone is ready to make a change, what’s the best way to reach out to you?

Cosmina Balu: Just write me an email at contact@cosminabalu.com or call me at (514) 991-8325. Also, my website www.cosminabalu.com will be up soon.

Do you have any resources you recommend?

Cosmina Balu: Yes. I recommend the following books “Shadow before dawn” by Teal Swan, “Interview with a psychic assassin” by Inelia Benz, “Relation d’aide et amour de soi” by Colette Portelance and the Byron Katie’s method that could be found at www.thework.com. By using this method, you learn how to identify and question the thoughts that cause all the suffering in your world.

Cosmina, thank you for this great information. You are doing some very important work and I commend you for the healing you are bringing to so many people.

Cosmina Balu: Thank you very much, it’s been my pleasure 144

WEBSITE: www.cosminabalu.com EMAIL: contact@cosminabalu.com LOCATION: Montreal, Quebec FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/cosmina.balu

145

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER ~~~

T. ALLEN HANES www.immediatecelebritystatus.com Call to action is an inner journey to become something great using the gifts you’ve been given, and Tracy Allen Hanes realizes each person has the potential to “awaken” their gifts for service to others. He understands you have an inherent set of capabilities that can shine to the world if nurtured the right way. With a passion for growth, he assists helping entrepreneurs, business owners, authors, speakers and coaches position themselves as a knowledge epicenter and authority in their respective fields. His colleagues titled him with the name “Mr. Incredible” as he and his team developed over 400+ best-selling authors.

T’s productivity demonstrates his zeal and purpose. Currently the CEO of T. Allen Hanes & Associates, he’s been featured on CBS, CNN, NBC, FOX, ABC, USA Today Video, and became a 5time International Best-Selling Author. Among other media affiliates, he’s been featured on Forbes, The Miami Herald and Small Business Trend Setters.

146

A retired United States Navy Photographer and Video Producer, T has the skills to help you build a professional media profile including podcasts, interviews and testimonials. Every element of your presence must be accounted for and sharpened, a quintessential professional leader.

He created The Authority Syndicate as a success hub; you enter the syndicate and receive the highest level of coaching and mentoring so you can efficiently reach the best-selling author status.

T understands your public persona, opportunities and positioning elevate when you become established as an authority. You command respect, leadership and take on a role that can produce changes in your industry. The network is vast and T exposes you to the strategies necessary to maintain and increase your position. It’s the little things that count and he will guide you every step of the way.

Clients will quickly experience his coaching style as energetic, fiery and uplifting. He challenges you to look inward for the source of your success. Rigorous Authority Breakout sessions make for a ripe self-evaluation that transforms into an action plan you can put to work today.

If you’re seeking a proven, top-grade coach with an extensive skill set, look no further. Contact Tracy and begin your new path to success now. To be considered for the next Put Me In Coach contact us at tracyahanes@gmail.com or call 281-910-8728 View Webinar presentation at www.authorityonfire.com.

147

148

149

150