The authors of the Forbes article, Meghan Casserly and Jenna Goudreau, state:

No one can succeed on her own. Even the savviest women need help along the way. To that end, with the help of the ForbesWoman community, we’ve searched the Web for the most dynamic, inspiring and helpful websites for women. We’re delighted to present this list of ForbesWoman’s Top 100 Websites for Women.

To determine which sites and blogs made the cut we looked for compelling and decidedly female-oriented content, outstanding design, an active community and frequent updates. In short, sheer clickyness.”

Click here to read the article.

A heroine is a woman who is willing to stretch herself, who comes out of her “comfort zone” on a regular basis to try new things, risk, challenge herself, do what she has to do even if it scares her – even if it scares her a lot.

If this describes you then know you’re on a journey that has been undertaken by many women before you.  You might know it as The Hero’s Journey, the term coined by Joseph Campbell, the famous author and mythologist, and others to describe the pattern or storyline discovered in myths and legends down through the ages and in stories and film today.

The hero or heroine’s journey story goes like this.  The heroine is in “ordinary life”.  Things are running along as they usually do, until something happens…there’s a “call”. This can be an event, a person seeking her out, an inner urging…a call to leave “ordinary life” and to enter an “unknown world”, an “adventure”. The heroine crosses the “threshold” and is out of her comfort zone and into the new world – what ever that might be.

A “mentor” appears, – someone who guides her, helps her, gives her encouragement and she continues on.  Stuff happens – good and bad.  Campbell called this part the “belly of the whale.”  It’s tough.  The heroine is tempted to quit but she doesn’t.

The heroine has many tests and challenges on her journey.  These are tests of her courage, her resolve, her belief in her own ability.  Ultimately, she is confronting her fears (her dragons) and she has to make it through, slay her dragons in order to really grow, to be transformed, to develop into a more actualized human being. 

After the heroine has completed her tests, she returns home, back over the “return threshold” to her normal life, but she’s changed.  She’s wiser and has gained gifts that she can then share with others.  Her transformation will affect all those around her.

Do you recognize you in this storyline?  I hope so because all these stories, legends, movies, myths are written to emphasize the fact that this is, indeed, the story of human growth and development.  This is your life!  This is how we come into ourselves – by stretching and venturing out into the unknown.  It’s frightening to leave what we feel is safe but when we leave and test our abilities we learn that we are our own safety.

If you’re looking for empowerment, confidence, a boost to your self-esteem, then adopt the heroine’s journey as a lens through which to view your life.  Life isn’t a bunch of random moments, – it’s the time-honored heroine’s journey!  It all has a purpose – to get you to grow, to stretch those believe-in-yourself muscles and realize that you’re important, needed, a heroine who has gifts to share with the rest of us.  And if you share them, the world will be a better place.

Please wake up to your own “bigness”!  The world needs all the heroines it can get!

Please visit my web site Retreat Calendar for information on The Heroine’s Journey Retreat…Connect with Your Power.  Bonnie and I will be co-facilitating this retreat in October in beautiful Kennebunk, Maine.

How do they accomplish this? Well, almost all professional athletes work with coaches to re-program their thinking. Successful athletes think positively and use positive self-talk and affirmations to build their self esteem and confidence.

Athletes, like many of us, are subject to memories of previous events where they fell short in some fashion. These memories of past failures affect the present state of mind and cause us to believe that we will repeat the failure when presented with the same type of scenario. Sports coaches helps athletes to recall early images of success and focus on the positive to build basic confidence. They often assist athletes with creating positive self-talk and affirmations to counter the negative thoughts and feelings. This helps athletes to believe in themselves and stay focused on success.

We can use the same methodology to be successful. When you work on your own positive self-talk and affirmations stay focused on the immediate goals at hand and stay in the present. Recognize the negative thoughts when they occur and reprogram your internal dialogue to positive statements.

Give yourself a pep talk and you will achieve your goals. Focus on your previous successes and believe that you will win again.

It’s not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it. ~ from the television show The Golden Girls

This post today is to honor all my clients, colleagues, friends, and family who are mothers. Words can barely express my admiration for all the wonderful talented women that I have the good fortune of knowing through business and pleasure.

Everyday, I speak with women who are balancing their roles as mother, wife, and business woman. They accomplish this with elegance and grace. Their daily routine of running a household, running a business, and running around to baseball practice and games, piano lessons, hockey, girl scouts, dance lessons etc. seems effortless. They are on auto pilot most of the time and manage to make it through their busy schedules and keep everyone happy. It is truly amazing to see. How do we as mothers manage to focus on our profession and family and do everything so well?

Of course, we are not perfect though we try so hard to achieve perfection. We expend a lot of energy attempting to keep the many different balls in the air and hope that nothing drops. Most of the time, we are as near to perfection as is humanly possible. Super heroines!

Each role that we take on as women whether it’s motherhood or career or relationship partner and spouse is a really a full time job and we are constantly under pressure (though most of it self-directed) to perform all these roles perfectly (or at least to the best of our abilities). We rarely let any one down.

So let’s take the time today to honor our mothers and also to acknowledge OURSELVES  as mothers and give OURSELVES credit for being the amazing women that we are!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Bonnie

Here are some tips to help you prepare for the best possible interview.

1. Thoroughly research the company and the people who will be interviewing you. During the interview, refer to any pertinent information you learned in order to demonstrate your resourcefulness and interest in the company.
2. Go back and review your strengths and accomplishments. Focus on why you are the best person for this job.
3. Write down how your current boss would describe you and incorporate it into your interview.
4. Emphasize your strengths, but don’t stretch the truth.
5. Acknowledge your weak points if asked and be prepared to stress the positive side that outweighs any perceived weakness.
6. Do NOT just recite your resume. Face to face interviews give you so much more opportunity to convey your passion, drive, energy, personality and enthusiasm for the job.
7. Prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the interview. Say to yourself, “I am thrilled to be here and I am so excited to tell you about my experiences. You will definitely want to hire me.”
8. Create memorable messages and stories about yourself to use in the conversation. Is what you’re saying about yourself compelling and interesting? If not, go back and add some passion to your message.
9. Practice a mock interview with a friend.
10. Smile!

Need practice with your positive self-talk?

Join the Friday Breakfast Brag Club

starts this Friday, May 1st at 8-8:30 am EDT

or

enroll in the May Group Teleclass

The Power of Positive Self-Talk.

For more information and to register online:

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

“Boost Your Marketing and Visibility with Internet Radio”
Learn the strategies for hosting your own internet radio show for maximum visibility and revenue
Hosted by Coach Deb Bailey, host of “Women Entrepreneurs-The Secrets of Success” internet radio show
Where: on the phone
Date: Wed. April 22
Time: 08:00 PM to 09:00 PM eastern
Cost: $10
Sign up: http://www.dbaileycoach.com/teleclass_radioshow.html
Teleclass will include:
- Where to promote your shows and how to get on iTunes
- How to find high-profile guests
- What platforms to use to host your show
- How to make your show come across as a “professional” broadcast
- What business models will generate revenue from your show

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/the-case-for-levity/ http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/2009/03/the-case-for-levity/#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:08:22 +0000 Bonnie Marcus http://womenssuccesscoaching.com/?p=758 This is a guest post from my friend and very talented colleague, Katie West.

You know the drill. Head down, nose to the grindstone, work first and play later. Sure, there is merit and reward in focus and drive. They are crucial skills that help us attain our goals. But what happens when we realize that our drive and determination have driven us right into the ground? It is hard to meet our goals or enjoy their achievement if we have been left so ragged by stress and exhaustion that we are barely standing, much less smiling and laughing.

By constantly prioritizing values that drain us, without re-supplying ourselves with values such as joy, play, and fun which serve to energize and rejuvenate us, it becomes increasingly harder to find the power necessary to make significant progress towards our goals.

One way to think of it is to imagine putting your hand very close in front of your face. It is hard to focus on our hand because of how close it is to our eyes. Now, move it out as far as your arm will reach. It becomes much easier to focus on it and discern the details of it, right? The importance of levity in our lives is that it provides that critical distance and perspective we need in order to view our experience. By placing emphasis on lightness, joy, and possibility in our lives, we are able to be more productive, creative, and energetic in our responses to our work and home lives.

Sometimes people still hold firmly to the notion that fun and levity prevent or slow down efficiency. Studies show that the opposite is true. Companies who value fun and play in the workplace, rank higher in surveys of workplace satisfaction. Also, the same companies repeatedly tend to be more successful in their overall goals.

Levity boosts our ability to think outside the box and be able to generate the innovative solutions necessary to solve a problem. We stand out from the crowd. It is an easy choice when we think about it: Either working with someone who complains, uses their intelligence to find flaws, and rarely smiles OR working alongside someone that readily shares their positive spirit, their zest for a particular project, or whose creative ideas inspire you.

How can we bring a little more levity and joy into our lives during such a challenging time in our society?

First step, we have to choose to bring this powerful energy into our lives and this means we are willing to seek it out in full confidence it will help us live our lives better, perform more optimally, and create a climate of wellness within us.

A couple of simple ideas for more joy, possibility, and lightness in our days:

Watch a movie that you find funny.

Practice laughing (it is okay if you are faking it-you still get the happy benefits) on your drive or walk to work by pretending you are listening to something funny on the radio or pretending you are on the phone having a funny conversation.

Call a friend and leave a laughing message on their voice mail and ask them to do the same.

Write 3 things you are grateful for each day.

What ways can you bring levity into your life?

Katie West is The Levity Coach. http://levitycoaching.com

Now, we are starting our own business. We have these wonderful products and/or services to bring to market. We don’t want to miss out on any opportunity to make a sale. So what do we do? Do we go back to Marketing 101 and choose a well-defined niche? Very often, we don’t. We ignore the marketing pundits and cast a really wide net in hopes of being wildly successful right out of the starting gate. We don’t want to turn down any opportunity that may come our way. The problem is that  promoting ourselves without a specific target audience and niche can often backfire. We try to attract everyone, but we end up not attracting the clients we want and we limit our success because we haven’t defined our message so that others can refer business.

The hesitancy to narrow our niche is often fear based. We are fearful that if we limit ourselves we won’t be successful and that when we first start a business we need to take any clients/customers that we can. This  approach can also be true, however, of more experienced entrepreneurs who are still holding on and patiently waiting for their businesses to grow.

The first step to attracting clients is to define your target audience. Who is your ideal client? Gender, age, income, educational background, occupation, geography, hobbies and interests, special needs are all important factors.

Once you clarify the target audience, you need to create a message to promote yourself and  your business that will attract this type of customer/client. Your message should be very specific about what you provide for that target audience and how they will benefit. There should be an emotional component for them to latch on to. Make your message personal and tell your story and your own connection to this product or service.

I have assisted many clients through this process and the results are usually quite remarkable. Once you get over the fear of narrowing your niche and you send a clear message to your network, your business will literally take off. All of a sudden, the light bulb goes on and people get it. They will know someone who needs your services or product and they will refer business.

Your promotional message can be used in any form of media. Now you have the content for any successful promotion whether it’s face to face meetings, radio, print ads, web site, or brochures.

Narrow your niche and you WILL attract more clients.

April Teleclass:  Self-Promotion for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners

Learn what limiting beliefs hold you back from successfully promoting yourself and your business.

Create your own unique compelling message that will help you stand out in a crowd.

This stimulating interactive group class will help any business owner feel comfortable and confident promoting themselves. Workbook included.

NOW ONLY $99 for 3 one hour sessions!

Tuesday evenings, 7-8pm EST. April 7, April 14, April 21

Brand New! Starting in April. Weekly Success Group!

The Friday Breakfast Brag Club (T.G.I.F.)

Thank Goodness I‘m Fabulous!

End your week on a high note. Call in every Friday morning 8-8:30 am EDT and share your successes for the week in a safe and supportive environment. Practice a little bragging.

What went right this week? What does that say about you?

Celebrate YOU every week. What fun!

$29.99 per month. 3 month commitment. Space limited.

Click here for more information on both Group Classes. www.womenssuccesscoaching.com/services/group-coaching

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/

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