Are you sending the message “I am not a good investment.”?

Terri — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:55:37 +0000

In a blog post earlier this week, titled ‘The Natural Habitat of Winners’ Barbara Winter said, “When you are willing to spend your time and money to expose yourself to new ideas, new techniques for doing things, and new people who can add their enthusiasm to your dreams, you’re also sending a strong message to your subconscious mind about your own worth.”

The past couple of weeks, I’ve been receiving emails from readers saying they’d love to attend the Inspired Livelihood Workshop in Sedona but don’t have (or think they should spend) the money right now.

When I had my last retail business, my friends with neighboring shops used to complain about how slow business was and when they asked why I was doing so well, I cited advertising as one reason I had more customers and better sales. Of course, these merchants would complain that they didn’t have enough money to spend on advertising because business was slow. They also didn’t have fresh, timely merchandise because they wouldn’t spend the money to attend trade shows and keep up on current trends. This thinking made no sense to me as I watched many of them go out of business. When things are slow, that’s when it’s most important to spend money to make them better.

“In times of change,” said Eric Hoffer, “learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.“

The *Early Bird price of the workshop is $397. That’s for 2 days of focus on your business in a small group with three entrepreneurs who’ve made a career of making a living without a job by investing time and money in lifelong learning. While those who use lack of funds as a reason to not invest in themselves are still stuck in unsatisfying careers, even in what the media calls a weak economy, weekend workshops with price tags of $3000. are full with hundreds of attendees. I’ve met entrepreneurs at those workshops who “couldn’t afford the tuition but couldn’t afford NOT to attend.” It’s no coincidence that the following year, those same entrepreneurs who knew they were worth the investment were back with stories of prosperity and satisfaction.

Not investing this way also sends a strong message. As Sondra Ray says, “When you say, ‘I don’t have enough money to go to that self-improvement seminar or buy that book, it’s almost like saying, ‘I am not a good investment.’ The best way to make money is to invest in yourself.

Are you worth it?

Barbara knows, “If you truly want to join the winner’s circle, take advantage of every resource you can find. You never know what might happen if you do.

You could be sitting in a roomful of strangers and suddenly meet yourself.”
Read Barbara’s full article here

Thanks for caring about the planet we share.
Terri

PS *After March 15, the price of the workshop goes up to $497
learn more about the event HERE

Rediscover Forgotten Dreams, Rekindle your Passion, Renew an Old Relationship

Terri — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:47:03 +0000

Bookstores and the internet are chock full of resources to help you find your passion and rediscover yourself. Most of us over a certain age have shelves lined with “rediscovering yourself in the second half of life” and bookmarked sites for “finding your true direction”. They’re all valuable tools and combined with live workshops and one-on -one coaching, people do often discover what makes them tick and develop a mission. But if you really want to get back in touch with forgotten dreams, the best source is an old friend, someone who knew you before you unlearned what you already knew, before you traded in that innate wisdom for the knowledge of conformity.

I’m not talking about a sibling or life long friend you’ve kept in touch with over the years. Their image of you is who you’ve become. The most valuable source for getting back in touch with your core values is someone you shared secrets and dreams with before you you became the responsible, practical adult who put your own dreams on the back burner. If you’re fortunate enough to renew that relationship, you’ll likely uncover some precious pieces of the YOU that have been eluding you.

In the past year, thanks to the internet, several friends from my youth have contacted me. Since I use social networking sites mainly for business relationships, I don’t expect to see faces from long ago and definitely don’t go searching them out, so it’s a delightful surprise to hear from these long lost friends.

Because I had supportive parents and wasn’t pressured into being something I’m not, I believed I’d stayed pretty true to my core values and hadn’t really lost touch with my dreams. But decades of marriage and motherhood do change our focus and I also put everyone’s happiness and well being ahead of my own. I think it’s genetic programing. Even self actualized, liberated women can lose a piece of themselves while holding together a family. And connecting with people who knew you before career, mortgage and taxes skewed your life view, can trigger memories of buried dreams.

In recent months, I’ve had the fortune of hearing from a childhood friend, a high school buddy and a college room mate, all people I was close to but lost touch with in adulthood. These are people who knew me when listening to my heart and holding fast to my convictions was still a given.

Two weeks ago I returned from “Follow Through Camp” with Barbara Winter, Alice Barry, Sandy Dempsey and my tribe of inspired change agents, fired up to recharge the part of my business I’m most passionate about. As if to confirm that it’s time to focus on that dream, I found in my mailbox a Facebook message from someone I hadn’t spoken with in over 30 years, a friend who knew me when I still thought of myself as an artist, a teacher and saw life as an enormous canvas on which I would color a better world . The most valuable insights have been though late night emails about what mattered then.

I’m not referring to romance here but to two people who are reminding each other of who they each were when making a living, making a life and making a difference was a given not an option.

If you’re fortunate to have had a friend who knew you then, when your goals were to live from the inside out, find that friend. If they don’t offer it up, ask questions. What do they remember you talking about? Do they remember something you got so excited about that you could think of nothing else? Ask then to describe the essence of the YOU they remember.

Short of finding your childhood diaries, this is the sharpest lens on who you were and the most direct road back to finding your true north.

» workshops

Are you sending the message “I am not a good investment.”?

Rediscover Forgotten Dreams, Rekindle your Passion, Renew an Old Relationship