22/11/2011 by Ann.

I was reading an interview in a Sunday paper the other week in which Richard Branson and his mother, Eve, told of his upbringing.

The one thing that stood out for me in this came in the following words of his mother:

‘The thing about Richard was that, 99% of the time he was pretty hopeless, but he always had that 1% spark.’

When you think that she is talking about one of the most successful businessmen that the UK has ever seen, I found this extremely intriguing.

Let’s face it, Richard was not academic and only began doing better at school after he damaged his knee playing rugby and was unable to play sports as much as he used to. This meant that he finally knuckled down to some work, but he didn’t go on to University as you might have expected.

Successful people don’t always come from privileged backgrounds either and you only have to look at someone such as Oprah to see that. Despite all the disadvantages she had, she has become hugely successful.

You see, there are no real limitations when it comes to success; your ability to succeed really does depend very much on mindset and your belief and motivation to do what it takes, as we spoke about a few weeks ago, in relation to Paul McKenna and Anne McKevitt.

The question to ask yourself is ‘Why not me?’

Others will try and give you plenty of reasons why you can’t, and your job is to focus on what you want and to do everything you can to fulfil your purpose.

In just the same way that you have no right to make decisions on behalf of others (e.g. what your clients can afford to pay you) then you are the one who has the right to decide your own path in life.

What are you going to do with your one percent?

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15/11/2011 by Ann.

I went to Wembley on Saturday to watch England play Spain in a friendly match. I took my friend Maureen as my brother was unable to use his tickets, so kindly offered them to me.

So, we watched the match, commented to each other on the play and the one goal and had a very nice time and went home.

Imagine my surprise when I read the newspaper reports the next day about the match: they bore no resemblance to the match we had watched the day before! The reporters were commenting on how well England had played to not only keep play away from Spain but ensure they had very few shots at goal. This was interesting as, from our view, England had tended to get the ball when Spain made an error or a bad pass. It seemed to us that it wasn’t England who were playing well but Spain who were playing pretty badly and the ball very rarely went into the penalty area at either end.  We were really surprised when England scored!

Of course it was  a great reminder about how we map out the world to our own personal viewpoints and so, millions will watch a match and there are just as many opinions over what exactly went on. All of these are based on our programming, beliefs and prejudices.

It can be very useful to reflect on your own standpoint, how it differs from that of others and what may have contributed to this; after all, there is always another point of view and it can be very useful to consider this in order to grow and develop.

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08/11/2011 by Ann.

I was reading an interview with Gary Barlow (best known for being the main singer and songwriter in boy band Take That and now appearing on the UK ‘X-Factor’ TV show) and in it he made a very interesting observation.

Gary said that he writes one hit song in every twenty-five. That is just a four per cent success rate.

‘Wow’ I thought. That changed a lot of stuff for me: certainly it spoke to me about perseverance and also knowing yourself and your market.

It told me that Gary must write a heck of a lot of songs bearing in mind how many successful songs he has written for the band, and for some other people during their hiatus.

It also made me wonder if Gary is setting himself a limiting belief, and maybe he could change that and write a hit song in every ten or even five songs? That could be an interesting challenge!

What I was most taken by is the fact that Gary still believes he can write more hits and he just keeps on keeping on; writing and writing until something comes up that sells like crazy and goes to the top of the charts.

It’s the same for your business: Ali Brown once said that when a product for her business doesn’t sell as much as she anticipated, she knows that is because there is something better that is going to come along, and this is just one of the steps to getting there.

It is very important to remember these two stories from highly successful people when you are working on your business. You may not get it perfect this time but you have endless opportunities in the future and it is this perseverance that will bring you success. As David Neagle says ‘People don’t fail – they choose to quit!’

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27/10/2011 by Ann.

Inpiration comes in all shapes and forms, but it is great to have someone to inspire you.

I remember when I was younger (and mad about horses) being inspired by various people. Ann Moore and her horse Psalm were my absolute idols and I was very lucky that she answered all my letters about her horses.

When it comes to transforming your life into a business that you love and which rewards you on many levels, who do you think of?

I have two people that I find absolutely fascinating: Paul McKenna and Anne McKevitt (strange they are both ‘Mc- something!). I find their stories absolutely inspiring as they have really transformed their lives.

Paul McKenna runs a very successful coaching and hypnotherapy business and has sold many CDs and books around themes such as ‘I Can Make You Rich’ and ‘I Can Make You Thin’. His work uses hypnotherapy as well as NLP techniques, and he has positioned them without any of the jargon. Instead has has relied on the results he gets by using them in his work with clients.

What I find fascinating about Paul is that I remember him from when I was in my twenties. Do you know what he was doing then? He was a radio DJ on a London station called Capital. He just disappeared one day and then, a few years later, was doing a stage act based on hypnosis, before transforming into one of the best known life coaches with many appearances on popular television programmes.

Let’s look at Anne McKevitt. Anne is a highly successful entrepreneur and philanthropist who has worked with top business people such as Donald Trump and Richard Branson and advised various governments. She also runs a millionaire’s club to take people to the next level. She resides in Australia and has mentored other top coaches such as Ali Brown.

Now I remember Anne as someone who grew up in a very poor part of Scotland and I first came across her when she was a presenter on a television programme called ‘Home Front’ which would do house makeovers.

Anne left the show to go to America and I heard nothing about her for years. In fact not until I was listening to a call with Ali Brown and heard Anne’s name mentioned. I went investigating what she had been up to on the internet and boy, was I impressed!

Despite their pretty humble beginnings, Anne and Paul have gone on to create amazing businesses around their passions and to earn millions from doing so. Now, I imagine some people cannot believe what they did and probably discouraged them from taking risks in giving up their earlier careers, yet they both were focussed and followed their path.

It is exactly the same for you and me: no matter where we are in our businesses it is important to know that we are doing what we want to do, and that we have to continue to do so and ignore the people who want to keep us in the place where they feel most comfortable.

Anne is my current big inspiration: she has let nothing stop her, not even a serious injury, and I keep thinking about her when I focus on what I want for my business. There is no one that I can think of that hasn’t had to face adversity and set backs in their business to get to where they are today (Richard Branson, David Neagle and Kendall Summerhawk are others that also inspire me).

Who is your inspiration for your business?

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08/10/2011 by Ann.

I was listening to a David Neagle and Ali Brown CD on my way home yesterday in which they talked about sacrifice and how it is about letting go of something of a lower nature in order to let in something of a higher nature.

It came back into my mind this morning as I watched the England rugby team go crashing out of the World Cup in the quarter finals against France.

I was speaking with my brother about the England players and their motivation; mainly on how much they really wanted to win. They have not had the best of press for their sexist remarks to hotel staff or going out clubbing and behaving in a manner more suited to a stag party than a bunch of professional athletes. I was asking my brother if he thought that our highly successful rowers and cyclists would be out boozing and partying in the middle of a tournament and he said ‘No’ after listening to an interview with Sir Chris Hoy. Now his attitude is that when he is having a tough training session, instead of knocking off a minute early he will ask himself how he would feel if he lost a race by 1/1000th of a second because he left one minute early? I am sure Mark Cavendish has a similar attitude.

So I have to ask why, if the rugby team (and also let’s include our highly paid footballers here too) are really serious about their world cup, would they not do EVERYTHING they can to win and that includes giving up alcohol, which is known to affect performance.

Maybe they just didn’t really want it enough? Perhaps being so highly paid means you lose some of your will to win because you still have a nice lifestyle and get paid for turning up?

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26/09/2011 by Ann.

It’s tricky when you first get started in business; you often feel like a fraud and everyone, simply everyone, seems to know how to do it better than you.

Or do they?

Perhaps they are just better at acting than you are?

One of the best ways of developing confidence is acting ‘as if’. So, as a coach,  you would act as if you are the best coach in the world, or as Kendall Summerhawk suggests to her clients: ‘Ask yourself what a millionaire coach would do’. Just insert your chosen profession for the word ‘coach’ and see what a difference that makes.

The main thing to remember is that everyone had to start at the beginning; and that includes Richard Branson and Oprah. They had to learn how to run a business and made mistakes along the way, but they had the belief in themselves and the passion for their business to behave in a way that made the people around them believe that they could do it.

I’m going to be blunt here; women are great at apologising for lacking experience, talent, etc.  This is where you need to use a more masculine approach and focus on your talents and what you are great at, not focus on what you are not so good at. False modesty never made anyone a great success.

So, act as if you are already the most successful business woman/man in your area. If you are still struggling think of someone who you really admire and ask yourself the question ‘What would xxx do?’  By taking the emotion out of it, and focussing on someone else, you begin to feel and act in a more confident way and your belief increases which makes you more attractive to your prospects. It really is that simple.

Start doing that today and notice the difference it makes to you and your business.

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23/09/2011 by Ann.

Most of us believe that blocks are a bad thing; they stifle our creativity and stop us from achieving what we want and, to top it all, they are really frustrating and drive us crazy! But, there are times when blocks are the best thing that can happen to you.

Not convinced? Perhaps that is because we are talking about different things!

The blocks I am talking about are blocks of time where you get to focus on ONE THING and I mean just that. No distractions with Twitter, Facebook, emails or telephone calls. Instead you take yourself away and work on just one thing that will be of benefit to you. It may be calling potential clients or focussing on the copy for your website.

In fact it is something I have started doing in recent months myself. Rather than pen a newsletter whenever I need a new one, I set aside some time (usually when I am up at my mother’s) to write as many as I can in a few hours or, over a couple of days. You see that fits in perfectly with what is going on for me and I can shut myself away upstairs and just get on with it. In fact you can use other multiple blocks of time as real opportunities:

A few weeks ago I was waiting for my car to have its brakes checked. I was on an industrial estate, so there was not much entertainment close by and it could have been a little frustrating. However, I didn’t watch the TV in the reception area or read the paper. Instead I brainstormed titles for my newsletters which would inspire me to write about a particular subject and came up with over thirty in that space of time. That task meant I now have lots of titles to choose from when it comes to writing my newsletters, so I have no excuse not to take action and get down to it.

I know some people who go away on short retreats to get stuff like this done. If you find writing a challenge then you may need to have a more inspiring location around you to get the best out of you and keep you on track.

However, sometimes you just have to do it! No excuses, no procrastination and most of all, no distractions.

Even on a day-to-day basis, blocking out periods of time is a much more productive way of getting things done.

So what are you going to do today?

Ann

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29/08/2011 by Ann.

One of the things that freaks entrepreneurs out more than anything else is  competition.

It brings out all the ‘What if’ statements such as:

What if they are better than me?

What if there aren’t enough customers to go round?

What if my clients go to my competitors instead?

What if they are cheaper than me?

You get my drift!

So let’s bust all those myths once and for all:

1.      What if they are better than me?

How do you know and why do you care? Focus on your target market and do all the things you need to do to help you grow yourself and your business; attend training courses, get a coach, get business advice. Keep learning!

2.      What if there aren’t enough customers to go around?

I live in Alton, Hampshire.  When I first moved here many years ago we had no big supermarket then, eighteen years ago we got one. Now we have two new ones about to be built with other major supermarkets lining up to get into the town and, believe me, the population hasn’t grown very much in the past eighteen years.

Consider coffee shops: how many of those have sprung up near you in recent years? Did it stop at one of the major chains?  I thought not! Your ideal customers will stick with you if you are supplying what they want. I always go to my local Italian coffee shop as I love the staff and the atmosphere as well as the coffee (OK, I really mean the cakes!)

3. What if my clients go to my competitors instead?

Then all that means is that they are not the right clients for you! Focus on targeting people who you really want to work with and accept nothing less. Sure sometimes people move on, but this could be because they need something different from what you have to offer and that is fine; if you sell  Ford cars and your customer decides it is time to upgrade to an Aston Martin, then you are not the car supplier for them. People change all the time, so this frees up space for someone else to come into your life and give you their business.

4. What if they are cheaper than me?

What if they are? People who buy on price alone are always changing suppliers so they are not the kind of customers you want! They tend to be demanding and always asking you for a discount. Let someone else deal with them. Price your goods and services based on quality and value. Focus on people who value what you have to offer enough to pay you for it, because they can see the benefits they are going to get from coming to you.

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26/08/2011 by Ann.

I have spent seven months of this year with my right arm literally stuck to my side due to a frozen shoulder.

 This has made even the most basic of tasks difficult or impossible to do and frustration doesn’t even begin to describe how annoying it has been and the effect it has had upon my life.

But back on July 11^th I finally went into hospital to have it manipulated. I was told that the procedure might not be successful, as it was so severe. When I woke up I had more movement,  but probably only 20-40% of full movement. It was an improvement, but I have to admit I felt disappointed.

I started my physiotherapy on 15^th July and I knew from a friend who had the same procedure that it took three months to get most of the movement back.

But on 10^th August, after only four weeks, the physio signed me off! I had made great progress and had full movement vertically and to the side and it was only putting my hand up behind my back that still has a little way to go. So what caused me to make such rapid progress?

Simple: I did the work! Every exercise the physio asked me to do I did. Not just once but multiple times a day. No matter how much it hurt (and it did!) I carried on with my goal in sight. When I saw the physio I let her push me as hard as she could and again it hurt but, compared to the excruciating pain I had been in before the procedure, it was bearable.

I never stopped and never gave up. I did exactly what I was told by my physio as she is the expert, and I saw the results very quickly. In fact even she was amazed at my progress.

It is the same for your business: When you have a goal to reach make sure you get advice from the experts if it is not your area of expertise and do what they say! Don’t question what they tell you to do, just do it! There is no point in asking for help and then ignoring the advice you are given, but remember to work with people who know what they are doing so that you can emulate their success. After that you can start tweaking things. 

So are you ready to get started? Go to www.redcarpetwealth to book a free strategy session and build a business you love.

Ann

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27/07/2011 by Ann.

I have a neighbour. Every time he comes in or goes out of his house, he locks the back door (we all go out of our back doors to get to the car park). It does not matter if he has come in for the evening or has just decided to pop out the 20 metres to his car to get something. Sometimes, during the evening he can lock and unlock it multiple times as he throws stuff in his refuse bin.

What is going on? If I told you he also keeps the curtains drawn at all times, what conclusion would you come to? That he likes his privacy or would it be something else?

He doesn’t pass the time of day or get into conversations with any of his neighbours either and, not surprisingly, his teenage son behaves in a very similar way.

My take on it is that he lacks trust: he doesn’t trust people to leave his door open. On a warm day like today I always leave my back door open as I love fresh air. I have never had any problems in 20 years. In fact the only time I did have any problems was when the door was locked and I got burgled!

There are lots of theories regarding universal laws and, the law of attraction is that we bring to us what we focus on, so, if you don’t trust then people end up doing the very things you are scared they will do.

So, what are your bad habits that come to you via your beliefs? What are you living in fear of? What are you going to do to change that?

Ann

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