What if you could feel like you’re in love EVERY DAY of your life? And what if you could dissolve any heartache, pain, or emptiness and experience the ecstasy of an open heart?

You can. . . by learning how to Love for No Reason.

In her extraordinary new book Love For No Reason: 7 Steps to Creating a Life of Unconditional Love, my friend and colleague Marci Shimoff, #1 New York Times bestselling author, shows you how to experience a deep and lasting state of love that doesn’t depend on another person, situation, or romantic partner.  You’ll be able to:

• Open your heart and be a magnet for love.
• Enjoy more fulfilling relationships with others AND yourself.
• Turn off your body’s stress response and turn on your body’s love response for better health and well-being.
• Experience more success and satisfaction.
• Help your family, community, and the world.

Marci’s onto something BIG.  I’m heartily recommending this breakthrough book to everyone, giving it two VERY enthusiastic thumbs up!

Get it TODAY, and you’ll also receive the exclusive “Love For No Reason Gift Package” as a BONUS.  Click here:

http://www.thelovebook.com

P.S.  If Marci’s name sounds familiar. . .it should!  She’s the author of the international bestseller Happy for No Reason, six top titles in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and a teacher in the hit film The Secret.  Now, in Love for No Reason, Marci shares the most important life-changing message of all. I urge you to get a copy today! http://www.thelovebook.com

Performance reviews are a great opportunity to highlight your accomplishments and talk about your contribution to the organization. Always be prepared. The worst thing you can do is to walk into a performance review cold.

Here are some simple tips  to set the stage for a great review that showcases your talent and value.

1. Outline your progress over the last year. If you have been journaling about your accomplishments, you have already started an ongoing performance review. This journal gives you the hard data you need to show what you have done. Start a journal NOW, in preparation for your review.
2. Don’t let your manager control the entire review and do all the talking. Make sure that you are prepared to tell your boss what you want him/her to hear. When you are prepared, you can present yourself in the most positive manner.
3. Think of your review as an opportunity to speak about your value to the company and your unique talent.
4. Create a conversational message that summarizes all your accomplishments and gives specific examples.
5. Graciously accept compliments. Do NOT deflect any praise that comes your way. Do NOT put yourself down. Present yourself as a valuable person who deserves the credit for the good work you’ve done.
6. Don’t be defensive if some negative comments come up. Just acknowledge and focus on your strengths.
7. Practice your message beforehand.
8. Smile. This is your opportunity to shine.

Need practice with your positive self-talk? Check out the Friday morning breakfast brag club or enroll now in the May teleclass.

Our thoughts have the ability to create our reality and it is our daily challenge to put aside negativity and focus on a positive attitude.

There are many techniques that people use to re-frame the negative into positive affirmations and with consistent practice, these methods help us to create the positive life we desire.

Controlling our negative thoughts is not an easy task. One method I suggest is the use of language. When we use positive powerful words, these words can affect our subconscious mind and help to reprogram  our negative beliefs. Word choices such as “I will” instead of “I’ll try” for instance make a powerful statement of intent.

Positive self talk is an important vehicle to building self-esteem and self-confidence. Often we are more comfortable dismissing praise and putting ourselves down.  What do these negative statements do to our self-esteem? Why not practice positive self-talk instead?

Follow this routine for 30 days and I guarantee that you will begin to see the difference in your self-confidence.

1. Begin with journaling. Make daily entries about your accomplishments, big and small.
2. Answer these questions. “What makes me unique?”. “What are my strengths?”  “How have these strengths helped me in the past or in my current job?”
3. Review your journal entries of recent accomplishments to connect with your talent and value.  What can you truly brag about? What do these successes say about you?
4. Create a personal “bragging” statement. Be authentic and positive. Print out the statement and keep it visible so that you can refer to it often. Recite it out loud daily. “This is me.” “This is what makes me special.”

Positive self-talk is an important component to successful self-promotion.

Practice the above mentioned routine daily for 30 days and see the difference it will make in your self-esteem and self-confidence.

May Group Teleclass: The Power of Positive Self-Talk

In this fun and interactive group class series you will:

• Explore your limiting beliefs around positive self-talk. What holds you back?
• Connect with your own value and talent. What makes you unique?
• Practice positive self-talk to build self-esteem and self-confidence. It really works!

Classes will be held consecutive Tuesday evenings 7-8pm EDT starting May 5th.

$125 for three one hour sessions. Workbook included.

Register online: http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/services/group-coaching

]]> http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/2009/04/the-power-of-positive-self-talk/feed/ 1 http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/2009/03/how-to-stay-marketable-in-a-down-economy/ http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/2009/03/how-to-stay-marketable-in-a-down-economy/#comments Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:24:05 +0000 Bonnie Marcus http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/?p=723

How do you stay marketable in a down economy? Promote your personal brand.

When it comes to selling yourself, you should follow the same guidelines that you use when selling any product or service. Take an objective point of view, do an assessment of the product (you), create an effective pitch, and develop a sales plan.

1.  Know Your Product.

Do an assessment of yourself and get to know yourself as the “product”.

What are your strengths?

List 3-5 personality pluses and how these traits have helped you in your current and past positions.

List 3-5 recent accomplishments. What do these accomplishments say about you?

2. What is your sales pitch for your product?

Create your own personal pitch.

Answer these questions:

What is my story? my history?

What differentiates me? What special qualities do I have and why are they marketable?

How have these qualities helped me be successful in the past?

What are my features and benefits?

i.e. I am tenacious and what that means to my employer is that they can count on me to stay focused and complete my assigned projects.

3. Create Your Sales Plan

What is your career goal for the next 6-12 months?

Create action items to help you reach your goal.

Identify people you need to be in front of consistently. How will you accomplish that? Set timeframes and identify resources needed  if any.

What organizations should you join/attend? What committee should you volunteer for?

What special projects should you take on?

4.  Go out there and sell yourself.

Always be prepared 24/7 to talk about your accomplishments.

Consistently work your sales plan and stay in front of your “web of influence”, your important contacts.

Stay visible. Stay positive. Stay focused.

Approach selling yourself and your own personal brand with the enthusiasm and confidence your “product” deserves. You are the best possible “product”. Go out there and let everyone know what you’ve got!

Want to practice your positive self-talk?

NEW Group staring in April

Friday morning Breakfast Brag Club (TGIF)

Thank Goodness I’m Fabulous!!!

8-8:30 am EDT every Friday morning

check it out:  http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/services/group-coaching/

]]> http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/2009/03/how-to-stay-marketable-in-a-down-economy/feed/ 0 http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/2008/10/take-charge-of-your-money/ http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/2008/10/take-charge-of-your-money/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:28:45 +0000 Bonnie Marcus http://www.ltdstaging.com/clientsite/uncategorized/2008/10/take-charge-of-your-money/

I don’t know how any one can avoid the topic of money and personal finances today. Everything you hear from the media on TV, in newspapers, or on-line focuses our attention on the financial crisis and what that means to the average “Joe” or “Josephine”. Most of us are in a panic over our hard earned 401K’s and savings accounts as we watch them dwindle away daily. We are riding the current emotional wave of the ups and downs of the stock market.

Are you feeling paralyzed, depressed, victimized or just plain out of control when it comes to your personal finances? Now is a great time to reflect on what your relationship is to money and think about how your inner beliefs about money may be influencing the way you are reacting to the current financial situation.

Here are some thought provoking questions to consider.

1. What did your parents tell you about money?
2. Do you feel you deserve to have a lot of money?
3. If you feel you can’t control what’s going on with the current financial crisis, do you feel why should I bother managing my money?
4. Do you believe you won’t be able to make money doing what you love?
5. Do you believe you will never have enough money?
6. Do you believe that if your competitor is doing well financially that you will not be able to make money too?

Were your responses to these questions positive or negative? Focusing on the lack of money and abundance will, in fact, bring you the lack of money and abundance. These negative beliefs strip your power and leave you victimized by the economy. You may not be able to control the world economy but you can control your thoughts and feelings.

So, tune out the news to some degree. Don’t get caught up in all the doom and gloom.Take charge of your money and adopt a new view of wealth and abundance. This empowering new outlook will help you to create the beliefs and behaviors that will contribute to you making more money.

What do you have to lose?

What are your inner beliefs about money? I would love to hear from you.

One thing that all successful people have in common no matter what their career or talent is that they see themselves as successful and they have an abundance of positive energy.

Do you realize that you can CHOOSE to be successful?

Do you realize that your thoughts create your reality and that if you believe  you will be successful, you WILL be successful?

OK. If this is true you ask, then why isn’t everyone successful? Herein lies the challenge. It is simply not that easy for many of us to BELIEVE that we can be successful, that we have the ability, the talent, the experience, the temperament, the drive for success. For in our minds, we believe the opposite, and therefore, we consistently sabotage our efforts. If our thoughts create our reality, then our self-doubt will keep us from achieving our goals.

The very first step to success is to plant the positive thought in your mind and embrace this thought wholeheartedly. Again, this is easier said then done. Why? Because we have so much negative chatter going on in our conscious mind that we drown out the positive thoughts.

If this is true for you, then it is extremely important to be aware of all the negativity and self-doubt.

Changing our language helps to change our thoughts over time. Here are some tips for putting a more positive spin on the “put-downs” in your head.

1. Be aware of your language. Eliminate phrases such as “I’ll try” or “I’ll attempt that” or “I’ll do the best I can”. What are you saying after all when you use this language? that you will stop short somewhere BEFORE you are successful? Eliminate the word TRY and replace it with WILL and see how powerful that sounds.
2. Eliminate vague language such as “kind of” when speaking about your goals and actions. Show your commitment and feel the power of using “I will”.
3. Speak in the present tense when speaking about your intentions. Embrace the feeling that you have achieved your goals.
4. Be decisive. Instead of “I would like to get that done this week”, use “I will complete that project this week”.
5. Ditch all the negative statements such as “I hate making cold calls”. These statements are limiting your behavior and therefore sabotaging your success. Reverse the negative statements so that they work for you in a positive way. You have the CHOICE. “I know that making cold calls is part of my responsibility and I choose to do this well as it will open up doors that will lead to more revenue and more commission. I like having this opportunity to be successful”.

We all have the choice to be successful. Once we realize that we often make the choice to limit ourselves with self-doubt and negativity, we can move forward and CHOOSE success.

How often-even before we began-have we declared a task “impossible”? And how often have we construed a picture of ourselves as being inadequate?….A great deal depends upon the thought patterns we choose and on the persistence with which we affirm them.
–Piero Ferrucci

Much has been said recently about the Laws of Attraction and the power of positive thinking. You cannot escape the hype these days about “The Secret” and how you have the ability to attract whatever you want in your life. The basic premise of both the Laws of Attraction and The Secret is that you can change your life by creating positive intentions around what you want instead of focusing on what you do not have. There have actually been some scientific studies that demonstrate how positive thinking effects your brain and thought patterns.

So, what’s with all the negative thoughts? Why do we persist in
putting ourselves down and sabotaging our efforts to achieve success?
We have seen the evidence that positive thinking leads to more success
and fulfillment.

Most of us are full of self doubt and programmed to be negative
about ourselves. When does it all start? At birth? As a teenager? As an
adult? No one can say for sure when that little voice starts to annoy
us with the negative chatter that undermines our behavior. What’s
really important is how can we silence that internal dialogue. How can
we program ourselves to ignore the harmful banter?

The first step in working through the negativity is to recognize
that it exists! Trite as it may seem, it’s the glass half empty/ half
full attitude. Once you become aware of the negative thoughts and their
impact on your behavior, it is much easier to shift your energy and
focus to the opposite. My favorite question to ask myself whenever that
little voice pops into my head telling me that I can’t do something is
to say, “What if the opposite were true? Then what would happen?” Those
questions alone can shift my focus to the positive.

Next time that little voice tries to sabotage you, try it and in
time you will learn to recognize the negative thoughts and ignore them.