Category Archives: Intentions

by | April 21, 2011 · 8:30 am

This is MY Dream….

I fell in love (for the first time) with “Alice in Wonderland” this week. When I enjoyed the Disney film decades ago, it was fanciful and faguely interestiing. Today I’m very interested in the role of intention to the outcomes of our lives, and I’m a new groupy to the ALICE “cult”.

OK, just kidding, sort of. In the course of the film, Alice says “Ever since I fell down the rabbit hole, I’ve been told what I must do and who I must be. This is my dream and I will decide where it goes from here”.

In the sequel to the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know”, titled “Down the Rabbit Hole” the producers continue their discussion of how much the role of intention plays in the outcome of each person’s individually lived movie.

I never understood why they would call the sequel that. Now I do. Ever since I was born, I, too have been told what I must do (keep your knees together and if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all) and who I must be (wife, mother, successful, hard worker, femme fatale – but not too fatale).

This really is my dream, and I am deciding where it goes from here. I love working, and I love being feminine, and I love being successful – that’s my dream. What’s yours?

Written by Sheryl Eldene, MA, MBA

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by | April 13, 2011 · 10:00 am

Social Media Success Begins with Clear Intention

By Gail Z. Martin
When you log onto Facebook for your business, do you have a clear intention in your mind of what you hope to achieve?

Without a clear intention, you’re likely to lose your way. Facebook and other social media sites are full of distractions, from comments by old friends to videos of cute kittens. If you’re not completely sure what your mission is when you log onto Facebook to promote your business, you can drift, dawdle, and find that you’ve wasted several hours.

The key to having a clear intention is to keep your top business goal in mind. Next, remind yourself who your key target audience . That audience will help you achieve your goal, and that’s who you’re on social media to meet.

Go armed with content that you’ve already written that targets the needs, interests and concerns of your target audience. Provide tips, ideas and expert suggestions that showcase your expertise and, most importantly, provide something of value for your target audience.

Take the time to make a personal connection to just two of your current friends. Comment on one of their recent posts, ask a question, share an interesting link. Then invite 5 – 10 people to friend you and “like” your fan page by selecting people who are part of one of Facebook’s many groups dedicated to a topic that relates to your expertise.

With a clear intention, your time on Facebook will translate into a stream of new prospects and qualified traffic to your web site.

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by | April 7, 2011 · 4:39 pm

Reality Check, Please

By Sheryl Eldene, MBA, MA

As we begin the second quarter of the year – it is finally Spring, after all – I’m inviting us to do a reality check on where we are compared to our original intentions. Whatever you are doing now with the majority of your day, is that what you wanted to be doing when you started this endeavor? For most of us, what we do with the majority of our day is a job or a business – what we do with our energy and our time in exchange for assets/money. Of these four types of intentions, where did you start, and where have you ended up:

  1. IT’S A JOB. When I started this job/business, my intention was to make money to support the lifestyle of my dreams. I wanted this job to be lucrative and to provide security. I wanted those two results as a result of using my skills and talents and possibly learning new skills along the way.
  2. IT’S A CAREER. When I started on this track, I intended to create a path that I could follow over many years. I hoped that it would create wealth (“Do what you love and the money will follow”), but my main intention was to engage in a field that would bring me passion and joy just in the doing of it.
  3. IT’S A CALLING. When I started this endeavor, I felt called by the Spirit that helps direct my life. I felt that my engaging in life in this way would fulfill a greater mission and would serve my family, my community, my world, my contribution to heaven-on-earth for all of us.
  4. IT’S DEEP SATISFACTION. When I started this work, I imagined that it would complete my heart. Although I do not have a sense of a ‘Calling’, this work felt like something that I have always longed to do, and succeeding at this endeavor would be the high point in my life.

This month is all about setting intentions. What intentions did you set, and how has that progressed for you, or did you unconsciously shift your focus from, say ‘satisfaction’ to ‘a job’, or from ‘a job’ to ‘a calling’?

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Filed under Business Planning, Coaching, Dreams, Intentions, Passion & Potential, Sheryl Eldene

by | March 24, 2011 · 4:06 pm

Building trust through C’s

By Sheryl Eldene, MA, MBA

As we all prepare our plans for second quarter, I thought this might be a good time to think about the essence of personal marketing.  Since marketing is about relationship, here are eight key areas to think about as you build trust into those relationships:
What are the top three character traits you look for to build trust in business relationships?

  • Clarity (People trust the clear and mistrust the ambiguous)
  • Compassion (People put faith in those who care beyond themselves)
  • Character (People notice those who do what is right over what is easy)
  • Competency (People have confidence in those who stay fresh, relevant and capable)
  • Commitment (People believe in those who stand through adversity)
  • Connection (People want to follow, buy from, and be around friends)
  • Contribution (People immediately respond to results)
  • Consistency (People love to see the little things done consistently)

Happy Spring to you all as you set those intentions for Spring.  Let us know what characteristics are important to you….

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Filed under Image & Identity, Intentions, Marketing, Sheryl Eldene

by | March 17, 2011 · 3:50 pm

“WHY is so yesterday, but What?” said the Cheshire cat

By Sheryl Eldene, MA, MBA, PCC

Recently, I heard someone ask the question, “What would you attempt to do if you knew that you couldn’t fail?”

I LOVE questions because when you ask a question, you MUST give yourself an answer. It’s not negotiable. As that question kicks around in your head – you inevitably decide on the answer.

The problems come when you ask yourself the wrong question. What’s the wrong question? WHY IS THE WRONG QUESTION.

WHY will inevitably take you to a place of self judgement – so let go of that one. It doesn’t matter WHY. It is probably way too late to fix WHY anyway.

  • Why should I care?
  • Why haven’t I done this already?
  • Why is this taking so long?
  • Why can others accomplish this goal, and I’m have such a hard time?
  • Why doesn’t anyone help me?
  • Why doesn’t my partner support me?………

So let’s get back to WHAT would you attempt if you knew you couldn’t fail?

Do you remember your dreams when you were little? One of my dreams was to be a surgeon! Later, I decided I wanted to be Homecoming Queen! When I was little, everything seemed possible. As children, we are natural masters at the Law of Attraction. Remember allowing your dreams to expand and fill your days with wonder? I lived in a neighborhood where there was a lot of home construction going on. My friends and I spent hours in those open building pretending that we were queens, presidents, big wig bosses and we’d act out all those dreams. I even had the lingo, the walk, the imagined wardrobe – enormous clarity around my dream.

My dreams of surgeon and Queen went away not due to lack of crystal clarity, but the failure to marry those dreams to action plans. Of course, I forgive my eight year old self for not creating an action plan toward medical school and my ten year old self for not having a clue how to become a queen.

Today I’m older and wiser. My dream of connecting my newest published book to those thousands of people who are looking for that wisdom is very clear, as is my action plan toward that vision. Here’s some questions that might help you turn your wonderful dreams into reality:

  1. What is my goal?
  2. What is my plan?
  3. What will I do today to get inspired?
  4. What specific steps will I take today toward that goal?
  5. What am I willing to do today, assuming I will be successful?
  6. How will I reward myself today for staying with my plan?

Add your voice the the conversation, what will you do today to get inspired?

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by | March 9, 2011 · 10:03 am

Civility

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by Gail Z. Martin

The whole civility topic has stayed with me.  All the anger spewed by talk radio and politicians, and all the fear that makes for news show ratings is making us sick—and I mean that literally.

We know that stress is a big contributor to disease.  Stress contributes to cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, auto-immune disorders, sleep problems, overeating, substance abuse and domestic violence.  Life has unavoidable stresses, but we can choose to eliminate the phony ones by refusing to listen to radio and TV personalities shout at each other, by withdrawing support when politicians act like middle school bullies, and by being watchful of the tone of the conversation that is allowed in our minds and in our homes.

What does this have to do with marketing and business?  Everything.  When people are afraid, they spend less money on goods and services.  Businesses horde extra cash instead of hiring, “just in case.”  Investors pull out of markets.  Lenders refuse to lend.  It’s all based on a mindset of scarcity, the fear that there isn’t enough to go around.

What happens if we change the channel?  What happens when we focus on gratitude instead of fear, on building instead of scarcity?  It changes everything—personally and in business.

When you focus on gratitude, your intuition will feel like the volume has been turned up.  Suddenly, you’re highly receptive to other people—and they’re receptive to you.  Your intuition seems to speak to you more often when your mind isn’t blocked by anger and fear.  You’ll see new business opportunities, forge new partnerships and take risks to grow.  Not only that, but a business approach based on gratitude (with some intuitive hints along the way) will make you attractive to people who see you as an oasis of calm and confidence.

What are you grateful for in the New Year?  In your business?

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by | March 3, 2011 · 6:12 pm

Timid or Careful?

by Sheryl Eldene, MA, MBA, PCC

A forty five year old software engineer finally found employment after being laid off for 18 months. Her boss asks her to alter the financial reporting programs in a way that feels unethical to her. She’s been on the job for only two months, and doesn’t know the hierarchy in her new company and if what she is being asked to do is consistent with company policy, or is being done on the Q-T. She decides to work slower than usual on the project while she does some canvassing to find out what the legitimacy of this request really is. Is she being timid or careful?

A seventy year old woman with osteoporosis is walking across the street in the rain. She feels unsure of her footing, and is walking slowly, and more stiffly than usual in an attempt to protect herself from falling. Unfortunately, walking with this kind of tenseness increases her chances of losing her footing. Would you say she’s being timid and/or careful?

An entrepreneur whose business has flat lined over the last 24 months is both pleased that she is weathering the recession and nervous that neither her profits nor her market share are growing. She is contemplating a new social media marketing campaign the includes a new blog site, a new branding and new messaging to reach a more specific target market. The cost of creating this move represents about 25% of her current profits. She has had the proposal on her desk for three months now. Is she being timid or careful?

A two year old intently leaves the security of her hold on the end table and teeters toward her mother, slowly and carefully. Falls down, and tries again, holding onto that table for a little longer this time. Is she timid or careful? And clearly determined and focused!

Interestingly,TIMID, CAREFUL, and STUCK can all look the same. How are you doing in your business this quarter? Timid, Careful, Stuck or determined and moving slowly?

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by | February 9, 2011 · 10:00 am

Bare Branches

by Gail Z. Martin

We don’t get a lot of snow here in the Carolinas, but we can get ice.  I love it when I can see every bare twig and branch glittering with ice or dusted with snow.  All of a sudden, the dry, bare, leafless branches don’t look dead or sad.  They’re alive with light, glittering like diamonds.  Until the temperature rises, all those bare trees that wouldn’t have gotten my attention are suddenly miraculous.  I’m suddenly aware of the stark beauty, the symmetry, the complexity.  Something ordinary and unremarkable is breathtaking because the ice makes me see it as if for the first time.

There are some things in my work and life that I need to re-imagine this year.  Right now, those areas seem as bare and fruitless as the branches of the winter trees.  It’s easy to look right past them.  But the ice reminds me that there is hope and beauty in waiting, and that even things that haven’t blossomed yet are worthy of appreciation for their complexity and promise.  So I will try to take a lesson from the ice and apply it to the “bare branches” in my life.

What “bare branches” do you need to re-imagine this year?

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by | January 20, 2011 · 10:15 pm

Setting Your 2011 Intentions

GETTING WHAT YOU REALLY WANT…
If you haven’t yet set your goals for this year, stop here and consider what those might be.

OK, now look over your goals, and write down what you will FEEL when those goals are accomplished. Most of us are mostly interested in that feeling and are making the assumption that whatever we set as our goals will create that feeling. Let’s check that out.

WHAT FEELINGS ARE YOU REALLY AFTER?
Find a place where you are not likely to be disturbed for about 10 minutes, and put on your daydream hat. In your mind, move forward to December 31st, 2011, when all those goals are accomplished. Walk through your day with that vacation memory, that new corner office, that new pay check, your new staff, your new expanded client base, and just check out how that feels. It might feel just wonderful. On one hand, that expanded customer base may mean more commitment to being at the office, less time at home, or it can mean more passion for your work and for the service that you bring forward with a heart full of gratitude.

CREATE YOUR VISION BOARD
This year when you create your vision board (that collection of pictures that visually include your intentions for the year) include pictures that show what feelings you want at year’s end.  An easy way to create that board, is by finding pictures on the internet that you like, copy and past them into a document (I like powerpoint best because it’s easy to move and resize things). Then you can print that out. A web site, www.catalogueofdreams.com also has some helpful ways to create it.

The vision board can help you recall those feeling you’re after and can keep you on track.

To your 2011 Dreams!

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by | January 19, 2011 · 10:00 am

My Resolution List for 2011

by Gail Z. Martin

Happy New Year!  I actually love the whole New Year thing—New Year’s Eve, resolutions, and especially the Tournament of Roses parade.  Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to sit on the couch (preferably in jammies) and watch the Tournament of Roses while I drink a morning cup of hot chocolate or coffee.  What a beautiful and hopeful way to start a brand new year!

And while I’m as imperfect as everyone else at keeping all my New Year resolutions, I enjoy making them, because they encourage me to be better than I would be otherwise.  The big resolutions also make their way onto my vision board, and those have an uncanny way of coming true.

So what’s on my resolution list for 2011?  Here are a few items—

–Make this the year I actually lose the pounds I gained “birthing” my business and books

–Set up speaking engagements in Montreal and Toronto (I don’t know where, when or for whom, but it’s on my vision board!)

–Expand the size and type of organizations for which I present workshops and keynotes

–Spend more time on social media reconnecting

So I’ll put these out to the universe and work behind the scenes to make them happen.

What are your resolutions—business or personal—this year?  I’d like to know.

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