Business Mission: 3 Steps to your own that gives you freedom, profit and meaning

 

IBR offers marketing coaching and “online product launch” services that help high-achieving experts with life-affirming messages to become sought-after leaders for change so that they can grow businesses that allow for greater contributions, income, fun and long-term financial security while giving them personal freedom and a place for creative expression of their unique gifts.

Ok, that’s the mission statement for Inspired Business Resources.  How does that translate into freedom, profit and meaning for the entire team at IBR?  

1. Let’ start with freedom.  While I defined the mission statement, I had to make a some tough decisions.  What will we be coaching (the “How to” service of my company) and what am I willing to work on a project-by-project basis (the “Done for you” service of my company) and will I also offer Implementation classes (”Get it done NOW” services)?  

Do you know how I defined it?

Easy, I looked at my values and knew that having the personal freedom to have down-time, to read, to work out, to ride my mustang, to play with my girls, to cook, etc. was important to me and as I found out, to my team too. 
That meant, we had to limit our offers.  We had to say No to request for help in formats we don’t currently offer.  We had to leave some money on the table.  But we did this consciously… 

 

Call for action to you, the reader: Clearly define what you love doing, how much you love doing and where you will say No.  Limit your offers and become a master at those.  Refer to others for the rest of the possible services.

 

2. Let’s address profit.  Even though we are all so eager to make a difference, to contribute with our gifts, to live on purpose, we need and want to make a profit.  How does your mission statement help you here?  I did it by defining who I wanted work with.  I only work with pragmatic dreamers committed to seeing their vision through, all the way through.  

What does that mean for profit? Again, pretty simple.  By working with these kind of clients I see their successes come to life, they are making more money, having a bigger impact while loving their work.  They are the ones referring others to me, they have money for my more customized services.

Also, by clearly defining what my company offers, I can become the best in the field in that narrow niche.  For example, I just signed up for a $25,000 intense certification course in “Online Product Launches”.  I am studying daily and continue read about other related information to become great at what I do.  If I didn’t limit my offer though, I would be spreading too thin, with not enough money left for training courses.  My brand AND profit would suffer.

 

Call for Action: Define your client very clearly.  Interview potential clients, make sure they are committed to paying you without much of a sacrifice.  Stick to your client profile and be courageous in saying No when you don’t get the sense that there is staying power.  Limit your niche until you feel that you can become the best in the field, then go out and learn all you can.  Become the best and get paid the most!

 

3. Aaaahhh, meaning.  Your business mission should give you a sense of purpose, a clear expression of why you do what you do.  How will your business make the world a better place? How will your clients be better served by you? Find that element in your business mission that keeps you going when you get tired.  

For us, it’s creating leaders for change.  I want to see the world changed and the best way I can do that is by empowering entrepreneurs with life-affirming messages to transform themselves from experts to leaders with a mission.  I also want to see them live with financial peace-of-mind because I KNOW how money worries can “kill” passion very fast.  

 

Call for Action: What is it that brings meaning into your work? What are you here for? What is the bigger impact you can possibly make with your business? Define it and then put it all together.  The why, the who, the how, the outcome. Write it up and pin it on the wall above your computer.  Read it every day and let it guide you to FREEDOM, PROFIT and MEANING.

 

As a special request, I would love for you to post your mission statement in the comment section below.  Let us know what you do.  Let us rejoice in your mission for change.  Let us find YOU!

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3 Steps For Turning Your Challenges Into Amazing Opportunities

 

 

If you are in business for yourself you know that challenges are part of your path.  You have gotten used to them, still don’t like them but… you know they are there, plenty of them.  

 

What’s if each of those challenges could just be turned from “straw” into “gold”?  Sometimes, into real gold like more money, sometimes mental gold and more often than not into spiritual gold.  

What do I mean  by that?

You see, in the last months I had worked long hours, feeling a tremendous sense of excitement and “power” within me.  I loved getting up early and start checking emails, I loved thinking about work on my walks, I talked about work wherever I went.  Results came pouring in, giving me confirmation that I was on the right path (the right path in terms of business-growth that is).

And then the perfect storm started brewing…

…first my kids complained about me not being interested enough in their lives, then my ex-husband accused me of “neglecting” the kids and then even the love-of-my-live, my ever-patient, always-understanding Robert started acting weird.

Long story short…

…conflict was breaking out everywhere I looked.  First I couldn’t understand it, then I got frustrated, I wanted all of this to go away, I wanted harmony back, I wanted THEM to back off, I wanted THEM to understand, I wanted THEM to hear me…and…and…and…

Yet, one quiet morning last week, I was reading a chapter in “A Path With Heart” by the renowned Insight Meditation master Jack Kornfield and he challenged me in this meditation:

“Think of a diffuclty that you face in your life.  As you sense this difficulty, notice how it affects your body, heart and mind.  Feeling it carefully, begin to ask yourself a few questions, listening inwardly to the answers.

How have I treated this difficulty so far?

How have I suffered by own response and reaction to it?

What does this problem ask me to let go of?  

He posed some more questions but I stopped right here.  Stunned by realizing how harshly I had judged others, how defensive I had been about my work and how isolated I had myself in my self-righteous way, I put the book down and thought about my life…

I don’t want to bore you with details (after all this article is for YOU) but needless to say that I realized that I needed to let go of my “addiction” to success, to work, to self-development.  That the excitement and drive I had felt had partly been fueled by real addiction because once I let go off this need,  I realized how much I missed the connection to everybody I love….

Also needless to say that I had a lovely week with my girls, with Robert and even with my ex-husband (while all the work still got done).

The difference:

The energy for the work now came fueled by the love I once again felt for everybody and from everybody, including my pets.  Nothing really changed expect the SOURCE OF ENERGY.  It was like my world had become brighter, more cheerful and way more fun.  By letting go of the need to achieve, to “make it”, to “show them” and by refocusing on LOVE, I changed not only my world but also those around me.  
 

The lesson learned for all of us, I hope, is that challenges (whether internal or external) can be our best teachers…if we stop and reflect.  If we stay honest, if we welcome them and are willing to transform them into “gold”.  Being an entrepreneur brings daily challenges and with it daily opportunities for growth.  It exposes our weaknesses, only to give us an chance to create strength.  

I feel blessed to be allowed to do what I love, challenged to do it with grace and mindfulness…learning to think big and stay grounded.

May you offer your challenges a few minutes of reflection and honor their potential to be your most amazing teachers,

Your humbled leader,

Christiane

P.S. Please take a minute right now and tell us all about your challenges and your successes in turning them into beautiful spiritual gold.  Just use the comment space right below.

Effective Branding based on Magazine Values

 

 The first session of our 3-month Tele-Adventure “101 Days to a Business That Matters” was a full success as we were able to develop several strategies for enhancing our entrepreneurial mindset.  In preparation of next week’s meeting, I posted this question to the members of the coaching course:

I encourage you to make your way through module 2 of our Inspired Business Success Blueprint, in particular to find your voice and your values.  Once you clarify your values, I have a fun challenge for you.

I am currently reading about a chain of hotels where each boutique hotel is “branded” based on a magazine. For example, one hotel in Phoenix is branded after Rolling Stones Magazine, using words such “funky, cool, young-at-heart, adventurous, and irreverent.”  

Without knowing about this hotel chain, I had done the same with Inspired Business Resources ™.  I branded it after the magazine “Body and Soul”.  Here are the values I based it on:
Purposeful, practical, colorful, mindful, authentic, consideration for the world at large, effective (I even used their font and similar colors for the logo)…

So, what about having some fun this week?

Either go through the exercise first and match it to the magazine that seems to present similar values or go to the newsstand first and pick a magazine that really speaks to you. Go through it and discover the values it represents.  

Magazines are meant to be aspirational mirrors of how we feel on our best day.  So should your business.

And yes, on my BEST days I do feel purposeful, practical, colorful, mindful, authentic, considerate and HIGHLY effective.  

Ready for the challenge?
Let me know what you come up with.  My email is always there for you.

Love Christiane

P.S. Leave your examples below.  Each comment helps another entrepreneur.

Thinking Big While Staying Purposefully Humble…

With all the publicity around Michael Port’s new book: “Think Big Manifesto“, it’s hard for me not to write about what I so believe in.  Never before (thanks to readily-available technology) have we seen this type of equal opportunity for business success. 

I realize more and more that the degree of success, impact and passion ONLY depend on me, my thoughts, my habits and ability to tolerate perceived risk.  The moment I decided that it’s time to stop playing small, the world opened up.

 Profit, Creativity, Joy, Passion, Love for my work, it all skyrockets because of the way  I think.

Don’t believe it?  Well, I didn’t either.  Why?  Because in my eyes, thinking this big took a BIG ego, a big self-centered, idea of the “magnificent” ME.  Over the last year or so, I realized though that the only reason I could not think big AND be authentic to who I am, was that I didn’t integrate both aspect of myself.  

I didn’t allow myself to have fun, to create outside the box, to be rebellious, to challenge the norm without feeling like a huge “showoff”.

Lesson learned:

You can be both humble and high-achieving.  It might take a bit of practice but I can tell you that it’s highly rewarding.

I (and my faithful team) have been tirelessly working on brainstorming and creating a huge launch event (stretching over almost 4 months) for our new Global Association of Conscious Women Entrepreneurs.  

It is fun, creative, joyful, will put my business, my staff and me on the map…

…all while I take some time every day to make sure that my focus is on YOU, not me (even though I have a blast working for you)…and that is really the beauty of all of this:

You CAN have fun, do it differently from everybody else, enjoy your gifts AND be of service.  

So, action step for today: Ask yourself these questions:

1. What do I want to be remembered by? What is my destiny?

2. What habits would I need to cultivate and what would i have to jettison from my present life to live out my true life purpose?

3. What are the most important personal accomplishments I can image in my life?

For me, question 3 really got me.  I realized right then and there that I was stopping myself from dreaming bigger.  At first,  I couldn’t really come up with anything…and when I did, I felt selfish, grandiose and ego-driven.  

But then I thought again…and I realized that my biggest wish is to speak and to connect with 1,000+ women at a conference as the keynote speaker on “How to transform marketing into the highest acts of self-expression” and how I would love to see the audience faces light up, sighs escaping their lips, shoulders dropping into relaxation because I just took a HUGE burden off their shoulders.
And then, right then, as I envisioned the audience, I knew I HAD to think this big.  

I had to do whatever it took to get there.  I had to transcend my own fears because if I didn’t, who would?  My coach recently called me an “Inspired Rebel” and I think that fits.  I am inspired, inspired to help, inspired to empower and a rebel because I refuse to market like everybody else.  A rebel because I refuse to fit the mold, a rebel because I push myself beyond the self I am today.
Come join me (and Michael Port) to think bigger, to transcend your limitations and to maximize the good you can offer the world, all while you have FUN, FUN and FUN.

Ok, enough cheerleading for today (even though it felt great )

Send me your thoughts or comment on the blog,

Love you all,
Christiane