Success Happens - The Magic of Alignment

As we look out across the landscape of success and see the many who have reached the heights of what we might imagine is success, we so often think that success just happens. We sometimes get caught in the illusion that people get famous, successful or rich over night. Now there is no such thing as overnight success, unless you get on Australia's Got Talent or win at the lottery, and even then most people have been working all there lives to achieve the success that they finally receive.  However in some small way over night success can happen. In some respects there is a truth to this seemingly immediate success, there is some magic that can and does happen when the planets align.

In most cases those that reach success have been working at it for a very long time. They have fought through rejection after rejection trying to get someone of influence to recognise their talent. Be it a book they have written, a song they have sung or a program they champion, most of those that have reached success have worked hard at it. However there is a faster way to reach success, or at least to assist the process of the climb to fame and fortune.

There are a lot of things that need to come together for success to manifest, right product, right place, right time, right meeting, right connection, right attitude, right mindset, it can seem endless. In most cases there are a lot of things that need to line up for the magic of manifestation to deliver the success that you desire. In some respects when all the things that need to happen align, then often dreams do come true. Often when alignment happens dreams come true very quickly. This is the touch point that we are so very often exposed to since the advent of the internet and reality TV. 

So can we influence alignment or is it just right place and right time?

What if we could influence the planets aligning, train the ducks to get in a row and hit a bulls eye each time we through the dart? In my experience alignment comes down to four things.

Mindset

Is our ability to get clear and focussed, to be able to control those negative thoughts, emotions and feelings so that we can push through belief and self doubt. It demands that we have belief in our selves our product and the dream that we are aspiring towards.

Action

Is our ability to get off our back side and get moving and do what we need to do to get the job done. In most cases things don't manifest because people are waiting for it to happen... We make it happen by getting out there and facing the fear but doing it anyway.

Energy

Harnessing our energy and engaging in who we are and what we do at the deepest level allows us to attract all manner of good fortune towards us. Aligning our energy to the thing we are being called to do, that book, that song, that program, you know the one that sits there under the surface dying to get out. How we are being effects everything we are, or are not receiving. How we engage with the world will inevitably determine what we get from the world.

Potential

Unleash your true potential and believe in yourself, hell no one else is going to. Make things happen from that deeper part of who you are and live up to yourself, you only have now!

As we align it's like a rainbow appears, all the conditions are just right for all of the colours of the palette to shine, and when they do there is always a pot of gold at the end...

Have a great week and may all the instant success be yours, after all the work is done...

Cheers Marcus

A Tribute to Steve Jobs

Love him or hate him Steve Jobs built some of the most admired, well known and most successful organisations in the world. From Apple to Pixar, Steve developed businesses that have touched the lives of billions of people world wide. From Toy Story to the Ipod his dedication to developing innovative yet 'sexy' products was endless. This week however his journey came to an end as I am sure we are all aware.

For me Steve and his organisations have been a great inspiration and a lesson in the success of congruence. The 'sexy' nature of the products that these organisations delivered have lead to a passionate following of customers. To the degree that many of these customers fall in love with the products. Regardless of price these products have stood out in a very full market place and have commanded loyalty and a dedicated following. More on this next time...

Apart from his corporate life which some may see as ruthless and hard nosed, Steve had a tough fight with Liver disease and then Pancreatic cancer, which eventually led to his dimise. Along this journey he connected with the deep wisdom that lies inside all of us. At many of my workshops, and also with my clients I often ask them to write there message to the world. What would you tell the world if you knew you were going to die tomorrow? What wisdom, life lessons would you impart to the rest of us before you left this life? Well Steve got his opportunity when he presented his version of Message to the World at Stanford University. If you have not seen this very different key note speech it is worth watching.


So here is Steve's Message to the World.

I hope you enjoy, until next time live like it is your last day because one day it will be!

Cheer Marcus

Finding your 'Inner Guru', it might just change your life…

I have spent the last few days, apart from trying to have a long weekend, downloading the video from my last Extraordinary Practice workshop that helps practitioners to Double their Clients and their Income in 90 Days. One of the main themes of this amazing, if I do say so myself, workshop program is the concept of inner guru. A lot of people screw up their face when I talk about the inner guru but if you can get yourself past the word ‘guru’ which, I use on purpose because it does cause many to rile up, then you might get to understand where I am coming from.

It might seem that most people move through life never looking for or finding their inner guru. Living lives that are not fully expressed or where full potential is not realized for without engaging with the inner guru it is not possible to reach or live your full potential.

Often we are told time and time again that it is not possible to find let alone connect and engage with the inner guru. The education system, our parents, our society all of which is not designed to help us to enter into this pilgrimage to find the inner guru. Some are lucky enough to fall into or over the inner guru. I remember a sister of an ex girlfriend of mine who when I knew her was only 10 years of age. Ever since the family could remember she said she wanted to be a Vet. She continually talked about it, dreamt about it and embedded this desire. In some respects she had already found her inner guru. I am pleased to say that now in her late twenties she is a qualified Vet living her inner guru. Unfortunately most of us are not as lucky.

For me I think I found my inner guru in my early twenties, however due to what i thought others expected of me I did not truly connect with it. it wasn't until I came down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that I began to search, connect with and own my inner guru.

There are examples scattered all over the world that most can only envy. Every young singer who has been discovered on YouTube, just for living their inner guru. Every young adult who decided to build an Internet program to stay connect with their university friends, or every young entrepreneur who started a record label just because they had a passion. We look on with awe to these successful, seemingly enigmas of our society. But they are not different to us for they are just like all of us with one little difference, they had the good fortune, courage and luck to find and engage with their inner guru.

I have noticed, during my time as a coach and healer, that when people connect with and live this inner guru-ness magic happens. All manner of manifestation appears that helps them to become successful, abundant and often famous. I have also noticed that people want to be associated with those that are living their inner guru. They become magnetic, or gravitational for those that have been to my workshops, and attract all manner of good fortune.

So what is your inner guru asking you to do? Do you have the courage to go looking and engage with this inner guru? Some might call this destiny or passion or what you are meant to be doing, either way it is not only important for you but also for our society as a whole. If we were all living this inner guru we would all be fulfilled and in doing so be content with our lives. This would lead to greater health, wealth and prosperity, less depression, anger and anguish.

So this topic is important…no imperative!

It is time to entertain this idea so please don’t waste another moment…Age, colour, race any excuse is no barrier.

A client of mine sent me this video of a speech given by Sir Ken Robinson who echo’s this sentiment better they I can. His focus is around education and how this kills 'The Element' as he calls it. It is a very entertaining and funny talk, take a look...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJAL21IE9fY

So I hope you enjoy it and I hope you will think about what it might mean to find your inner guru…

Have a great week…May the inner guru be with you!

Regards Marcus

The Onsen and the importance of living your passion…

Two years ago I went skiing in Japan, Niseko to be exact, and experienced an Onsen for the first time. Now, those of you not familiar with the concept, an Onsen is a term for hot springs in Japanese though the term is often used to describe bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs.  


Apart from the amazing skiing in Japan and the awesome food and the wonderfully friendly people the Onsen is a real treat, especially after a hard days skiing the powder, as these monkey's will attest to.

Unfortunately I was not skiing in Japan over the weekend but I did spend it in Sorrento for some well-deserved R & R. 

So Friday night we headed off to Sorrento primarily to rest and rejuvenate but also so that Stephanie could introduce me to the soothing treat she had found a few weeks earlier. Believe it or not right here in Victoria on the peninsula are some of our very own hot springs. These hot springs are amazing with pools ranging from 37 degrees up 43 degrees and the water is amazingly good for the health.

Ok so maybe you don’t want to hear about my wonderful weekend bathing in the hot springs, I feel fantastic by the way and my skin, smooooooth. What was impressive is what the owners have built there. As an excerpt from their web site describes how it all happened…

‘Peninsula Hot Springs was founded by brothers Charles & Richard Davidson and Norm Cleland’.

‘The inspiration for the project began when Charles visited several hot springs while living in Japan in 1992. This sparked off several years of touring and studying hot springs around the world’.

‘In 1996 Charles heard a rumor that hot geothermal water had been discovered on the Mornington Peninsula in 1979, and a search of Department of Minerals and Energy records substantiated it’.

‘In 1997 the two brothers formed a partnership and they bought the 42 acre site on which the hot springs now stand. It took several more years of hard work to design the facility, secure the water license, obtain a planning permit, and drill a bore some 637 meter deep to a plentiful aquifer of 54 degree C natural hot minerals waters. The Davidson brothers then found an investor, in the form of Norm Cleland and his family, and together proceeded to build the Stage one Spa Dreaming Centre facility, which opened in June 2005. In December 2009 the second stage Bath House centre penned vastly increasing the number of bathing experiences and providing a area for children and families. Future plans include an increase in bathing experiences, accommodation, a restaurant and more wellness focused facilities’.

For me, both as a business mentor and personal development coach, it is amazing to see what they have built. The passion that has gone into the project is obvious and truly inspirational. No expense has been spared and the experience for the patrons is top notch. It is fascinating to see that it has taken them since 1997 to build what we see today. In a world of fast food and instant gratification it is important to remember that sometimes dreams take time, especially big dreams. To see the persistence, dedication and commitment that must have gone into the making of the bathes is worth writing about and also worth the drive to experience.

Noting that it took several years just to secure licenses to design and build the premises and drill the bore. I know for me I sometimes expect that things will be perfect right now and that success should happen yesterday. But in truth it takes persistence, determination and a real commitment to see the project through. This is where passion comes in, for without it, chances are you will quit before it has even got off the ground.

Passion is the driving force behind many of the world’s great projects, companies and individuals. Many things have gone by the wayside just because the passion was not there. The world would be a colder place without the passion that has driven these amazing things. Therefore it is important that we follow are passion. When we do we are twice as likely to have the success that we have dreamt of, experience twice the fun and realize twice the joy. At the end of the day that’s what life is about…Joy!

So what are you passionate about? What is it going to take for you to go and make it happen? When do you get the courage to seek help, to find mentors in those that have been there and are now living their passion fully?

If you can’t connect with your passion or the fear is too deep, just for a moment entertain the possibility that your passion could be made known to you. What if it was possible to know your passion? What if it was possible to live that passion fully?

Passion is the hot spring of life, it gives meaning, it gives energy and it heals the lost soul. So go out into your world and be passionate about what ever you do, even if for the moment it is not your true passion. Living passionately will bring you more joy, success and the possibility that you too can live an abundant and full life.

Have a great week and may the passion be with you…Oh and don’t forget to visit the hot springs next time you are on the peninsula it is well worth it. Check out the web site: 

http://www.peninsulahotsprings.com

Regards Marcus

Finding the truth at an airport!

I am sitting at Hobart airport, here's the photo to prove it, waiting for my flight back to Melbourne after a great morning coaching. Nice suite and tie Marcus!

If I had a dollar for every hour that I have spent in airports I would be writing this blog from some exotic ski resort. Well maybe not writing this blog but skiing and sharing all the tales from the snow.

Apart from being with my family theres an image of what I would be doing!

But alas I am in another airport just waiting, oh well it give’s you time to think if nothing else.

So a blog... what to write about this week? Well I have just spent the morning discussing the truth. The truth about our own individual lives and how we are very good at clouding the truth and in turn having us convince ourselves of what is real and what is not. This then leads us into what we think we want and often has us diving into things that are not really what we do want. We unfortunately often don’t find this out until years later only to create the same decision time and time again.

You see reality is not all it is cracked up to be! Our reality is shaped from our left-brain point of view as this is what we have all be trained to trust, how so you ask. Thanks for asking! As some of you may know we have two hemispheres of our brain the right and the left, anyone know what they do? That’s right the left is all about analytical, strategy, systematic and linier function. In learns in words, process and structure. It lives in the past and the future and is concerned with keeping us safe. The right brain on the other hand is all about abstract, feelings and takes in its data through the senses of our being. It lives in the eternal moment of now. The issue with reality is that in our left-brain dominant world, which we have all been trained to trust more than anything else, we create a feedback loop system that creates false reality.

How it does this is that the further we move from an event in our lives the less truthful it becomes. Take a memory from your early childhood; remember what happened and the feelings that it gave you. Now I bet if you asked a sibling or a parent their memory of this shared experience they would tell you a different story. Now what is real and who is right? The answer is no one and everyone as all these realities are only past perceived realities.  The further we move from the event the more it becomes a perceived reality rather than a true reality of what actually happened. Now if we come back to today all these past-perceived realities are projected into the immediate future creating a future perceived reality, which then creates a now perceived reality. None of which are necessarily the truth. Confused yet?

It’s ok because half of the confusion comes from thinking of reality from the left-brain which can’t actually understand reality on it’s own. In steps the right brain that only lives in the moment of now. You see reality only lives in the moment of now. From a left-brain point of view the past might have us believe that we are not worthy, not good enough and what we should or should not do. This reality then leads us into doing things that are not truly aligned with our truth. Now we believe that we are doing our truth based on the left-brain view of the world and past-perceived reality creating future perceived reality creating a now perceived reality none of which is the truth. When we take the same image and overlay the right brain we find that all the drama associated with an event or situation is allowed to disperse. The right brain helps us to step out of the perceived reality space and actually connect with the truth. Once we have this truth we can use the left-brain to create actions that move us forward into the new reality, the truth.

So that’s all well and good but how do you know the truth. Well that my friend is a journey of delving into the depth of who you are. The first step is to become conscious of the truth and how your past and future are creating your now. The secret to this is to look at the dramas in your life. It is the perceived reality that often creates drama. To then look at the truth of this reality, this drama and decide which is true and which is not. Once you know this authentic truth it is time to become congruent and to take this congruence out into the world a bit like taking your new puppy for its first walk. It’s a little scary, a little unsure, a little unstable and a lot of faith that this is the right thing to do.

Accessing the right brain will help you to connect with what is really going on. Some may call it intuition others a knowing and for some it is gut feel. In a lot of cases it helps to get someone external to help you to connect with the truth for once you connect it is easier to keep the connection. If you can connect to your knowing, check in and try and identify your drama. What is the perceived reality that you have created for yourself? Is it your ultimate truth?

So go out into the world and find your truth, see where you are deceiving yourself with a perceived reality and make the truth, your truth, real!

Thanks for reading until next week, Nanoo Nanoo, for all those eighties kids. For those who don’t know what this is check out channel 11 and the old re-runs of Mork and Mindy.

P.S: if you want some help to find your truth drop me a line marcus@intrinsicsuccess.com

P.P.S: if you want to know more about the brain check out this video from the TED website it is well worth it! http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

Your Story is Worth it!

I spent the weekend at the National Speakers Association of Australia convention and had some very eye opening moments. There was so much good stuff I heard, so much I learnt and a whole lot of amazing speakers that not only inspired but also gave me lots of great ideas to spice up my performances. I also got to hear from and speak to some very successful authors who shared some great wisdom. Now I could write a whole swag load of blog’s from the convention, which I might just well do, however today or tonight as the case maybe I have to pick just one.

So what topic shall I pick, so much good fodder, so many memorable moments, mmmm! So I just choose to go with whatever inspires the heart and in this case it came up with the title ‘Your story is worth it’

It is amazing at how many people love to hear my story and how reluctant I often am to share it. But it is our stories that help people to feel closer to us and inspires them to connect to us. This connection is the most important thing that we can focus on, as it is connection that more than often has people buying our product or service. It does not mater if we run our own business or work for someone else, connection is the most important thing you can foster. We all prefer to deal with people we like or have things in common with. The more intimate we feel with someone the better we think we know them. It helps us to feel the authenticity of that person and this authenticity allows us to connect deeply.

The more we connect the more we want to do business with that person and as that connection grows, the more we are likely we are to refer them to others. Now it is one thing to get business from the people we know it is another to get them to refer us to the people that they know. This is how we build a successful business or career, by getting others to refer us. We would all rather do business with someone that has been referred to us. So connection is imperative if we are to be successful and receive referrals.

So what is your story? Do you feel comfortable sharing it? A lot of the people I speak to, including myself, are hesitant to share their story. Maybe it was all the times we were told as kids not to big note, brag or stand out. Maybe it’s just part of the Australian collective conscious which commands that you don’t stick your head up too high as tall poppies get cut down. But then again maybe it’s not about this at all but rather just finding the courage to share honestly and openly your amazing story.

We all have one, a story that is heart felt, touching and real. As humans we all have experiences that are happy, sad, distressing, uplifting, depressing, devastating, painful and joyful. All these emotions have value to each other as sharing helps us to feel normal and builds a kinship with others. These stories also have great lessons and teachings weaved throughout them. These lessons have value for others and are likely to positively touch and intern change another’s life. We may not see its effect or the results of that wisdom but it’s there and its important.

Finding the courage to share your story is often half the battle. Moving past the ‘who would care about my story’, ‘its just not that interesting’ and ‘I’m scared what people will think’ may just help another more than you will ever know. Maybe it’s time to stop all this rot and start to share more of yourselves, through your story.

So your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write out your unique story. To then share it with one person that may not know it.

‘Share more of who you really are through the experiences that you have really had’.

Remember your story is worth it. Own it, believe in it, share it with passion!

If you feel moved to share it with me I would love to receive them.

Thanks for reading until next week, share your story with passion!

The $1,000,000 dollar challenge! One great love, an enlightening dinner party, and two clarity defining breakfast meetings.

So I’m sitting here in a café somewhere in Melbourne contemplating the week that was and the weekend that still is. I know it’s Monday morning and I’m running behind with my blog and my Monday morning inspiration to my clients and its all for a good reason.

So I’m letting go of the anxiety that is building inside me that I have to meet expectations. Expectations of others, of what I think needs to happen and of the expectations that I have set up for myself. All playing into the great wounding, the great baggage game that we all carry from our childhood, past lives into our future hopes and dreams. In fact it is often the future that activates the past wounding and creates urgency, pain and unfulfilled dreams in the now.

Over the last twenty-four hours I have had an enlightening journey with my partner Stephanie, and enlightening dinner party with friends and finally this morning two enlightening business meetings with friends. Through all this I discover that I have allowed the dark to cover me yet again! It is funny how sometimes the dark comes disguised as the light only to appear as the dark right when you are in the middle of it. Now let me clarify the ‘dark’ as it is not some kind of spooky Hollywood Nightmare on Elm Street blockbuster but rather those things that we let get in the way of our success.

Maybe all this is not making any sense but right now I am just going with what is coming. The dark comes to show you everything that you are not! I have seen many hundreds of clients over my time as a kinesiologist, counsellor and coach and when I ask clients what they want they inevitably start by telling me all the things that they don’t want. In a funny way this is the purpose of the dark, to show you what you don’t want or in this case what you are not. In this way the dark actually appears to help you to see the light that you are. The dark is just energy like everything in the universe. All of which is aimed at growing the light of having us move into the biggest most beautiful and radiant version of ourselves.

Which brings me to today’s blog, how to turn a fake million dollar note into a real million dollars. It’s a challenge that was set for me last night by my beautiful friends Duncan and Fiona. I set Duncan a challenge for his blog a few weeks ago, which was to complete the title ‘greed is good’. Being a spiritual warrior it was potentially a challenge as sometimes we see greed as bad and certainly the popular media would have us believe so. Anyway Duncan did an amazing job, you can check it out at http://www.kidneycoach.com , so now to my challenge to blog about how to turn a fake million dollar note into a real million dollars! Well not actually just a blog but rather a real life challenged based on the guy who swapped a paperclip for a house.

Do I know how I am going to do it, no way, so where to from here? This is where I step into my power and become radiant and manifest the reality that this is possible. Money, like everything in the universe, is just energy and certainly not real. Money is just paper, or plastic and in most cases is just thin air travelling from one account to another never really seeing the light of day. So what is the reality of money? If money is not real and our society is just built on make believe, so to speak, then why not manifest a real million dollars out of a fake million dollars. The funny thing is that this fake million dollar note cost $7.00 to buy so someone is actually making money from that fake million dollar note. One of the reasons this challenge has come about is that part of my father wounding revolves around money and my limiting belief about not being good enough to have it, keep it and love it. So if money is not real then my wounding starts to disintegrate. This challenge was also manifested because of the gentleman who swapped a red paperclip for a house in 16 trades. He went onto ebay asking someone to swap a paperclip for something and a person swapped a pen. He then swapped the pen for something else and it got bigger and bigger until one day he had a house. If you have not heard of this guy, Kyle MacDonald, check it out at http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/ as he now has a web site, a book, he’s a speaker and the list goes on all because of one crazy idea. He broke through the mindset that his goal was crazy, not real or achievable.

So how to swap a fake million dollar note for a real million dollars, this is my challenge and I take it with both hands and move forward towards that reality. So anyone want to swap a fake million-dollar note, in pristine condition for something else? I have set up a blog site dedicated to this journey at http://themilliondollarnote.blogspot.com/ so you can follow me and I’ll also set up a web site so when it is up I’ll send you the link and lets see what happens.

At the end of the day the dinner conversation revolved around mindset and it’s power to influence how we succeed or don’t succeed in life. My recent mindset has lead me to fall back into the darkness, in an effort to help everyone else learn from the experience I am sure, so that I can now wake up again and move back into the light. So where is your mindset and how is it hindering or helping you to manifest what you want, deserve and need? Where is your baggage or the darkness hindering you manifesting the brightest future for yourself and your family?

This challenge is similar to the premise of manifesting a car space. I’m famous for manifesting rock star car spaces. I do it EVERY time without fail so why should a million dollars be any different? The short answer is IT’S NOT so here we go, want to come for the ride and see what happens?

Thanks for reading, have a great week and don’t forget to be radiant in everything you do….you might just manifest a million dollars!

Regards Marcus

P.S Thanks Stephanie, Duncan, Fiona, Karen and Chris for your wise words, deep questioning and loving challenge. 

Engagement - A Life Changing Experience

Well another week has gone by and this week I have been playing Mr Mum and Mr Dad as Stephanie has been away in northern NSW working as an assistant on the Shamanic Midwifery course. Thankfully I have had lots of help from my Mum, yea for mums, and what a great help she has been thanks Mum. Now trying to juggle family and the extra responsibilities with an already busy work schedule has not been easy and as I sit here on Sunday night I am a little tired.

I was watching Undercover Boss last night, one of my favorite reality shows, and I could not help but to be dragged into the emotion of it all. It was a particularly emotional show with a boss who connected deeply to his staff and had some very big awakenings. I can’t help but be moved by the deep connection that was felt by all and the life changing results that this connection achieved. It made me think about the whole connection and engagement theories that we talk about but often give lip services to. As I have said before, and no doubt will again, engagement is the key to success or more importantly how we engage. It makes sense that the more we engage and the deeper that engagement we have with anything the more success we are likely to receive. So how are you engaging with your business and your world?

If you are a sole trader or small business owner you might want to look at how you are engaging with each of the domains, or in our language, the pillars of your business. How are you engaging with the finances, the marketing, the sales or in the structure of your files and records? I can bet that the areas that you dislike engaging in are the things that need the most attention. Unfortunately when you are a sole trader you have to be the HR manager, the finance manager, the marketing manager, the sales manager, pretty much everything. Now if you just can’t engage with any of these areas because you just dislike them, like me with my finances, then get someone in who loves engaging in that particular area to help. If you can’t afford it then learn to engage by listing the benefits of engaging in that area and then apply that to your passion. So how is engaging with your finances going to help you to build a successful coaching practice, as in my case. Sometimes we need to segway our engagement so that we can engage in those things that at first thought we can’t stand.

Now if you are in a larger organization where you have employees who report to you or you happen to own a business that has employees then engagement becomes critical to the bottom line. Employee and staffing costs are often the most expense outgoings in any business, so making sure that they are performing is essential if you want to make a profit. It goes without saying, so I’ll say it anyway, that the more engaged employees are the better they will perform. Engaged employees also cost less from a sick leave and turnover point of view. A recent statistic that I read said that over 80% of employees do not like what they do. A scary statistic to think that 80% of staff are disengaged with what they are doing.

I have a theory called motion theory, which states that everything in the universe is constantly in motion. Employees are no different in that employees are either moving towards or away from your business. Those that are moving towards the business are engaged and therefore perform better, have fewer sick days, greater loyalty and have a happier and more enthusiastic demeanor. Now this has to be good for business as an engaged employee is more likely to engage with customers in a positive way. On the other hand those that are moving away from the business and disengaging are more likely to have higher sick leave, less company loyalty and will be less enthusiastic or happy. Now I don’t need to tell you how this comes across to customers just take the supermarket check out person, ‘Hi, how are you’ in a drool monotone voice reading from the employee training manual. Just for fun, change it up a gear next time you meet one of these employees, there not just in supermarkets, and give them a response that is not in the manual.

In all seriousness we have three categories that we place employees into, they are either - Advocates, Fence Sitters or Detractors. Advocates are those that are moving towards the business and engage. These are the employees that enjoy coming to work, are passionate about what they do and the company they work for and the group that we are likely to get the most out of. The second type of employee is the Fence Sitter, these are the employees who are there to do there job and rarely put in over and above but seem to like where they work. These employees are however easily swayed. The third group is the Detractors, these are employees that are in the process of or have disengaged from the business. These employees, depending on the distance of disengagement, don’t like where they work and at the extreme can become toxic to the organisation. These employees hate to be alone and will try to recruit other employees to join their cause. This is where the Fence Sitters can be influenced to join them, which can turn into a mutiny if not taken care of quickly. I am sure we have all been a part of one or all of these groups at some time I know I have. Now both the Fence Sitters and the Detractors, as long as they have not moved too far, can be turned around and encouraged to become Advocates. In fact it is possible to have a company full of advocates. If you don’t believe me check this site out http://www.zapposinsights.com/main/ Zappos is an online business, which started out selling shoes and has now moved into a wide range of merchandise. Their employees are primarily all call centre staff, but a call centre with a very big difference, all their employees are Advocates and moving towards the business. Some of the most engaged employees I have ever seen. They are so successful at employee engagement that they now take tours and run workshops for other organizations that want to learn their secrets.

Engagement is crucial if we want to have a more successful business and successful life. So this week I challenge you to take a look at how you are engaging with your world, identify where you could engage deeper and make an engagement plan. Learn how to love what you do and if you can’t go find and then live your passion, the world will be a better place for it…

Thanks for reading…

P.S: As the Gallup organization have found:

The world's top-performing organizations understand that employee engagement is a force that drives performance outcomes. In the best organizations, engagement is more than a human resources initiative -- it is a strategic foundation for the way they do business.

Research by Gallup and others shows that engaged employees are more productive. They are more profitable, more customer-focused, safer, and more likely to withstand temptations to leave. The best-performing companies know that an employee engagement improvement strategy linked to the achievement of corporate goals will help them win in the marketplace.

P.P.S: Now you don’t have to go to the USA to get extreme employee engagement you just need to call us. If you want to engage more with your small business or have your employees engage more with your organisation the benefits are far and beyond increased profit. Why not give us a call to see how our Engagement Success Technologies can help you to have greater success. It does not cost anything to get an evaluation…

Make Passion a Priority

Well it’s been a long two weeks since I posted a blog, I had planned to post every week however this last fortnight has been a little tough. Over the past few months I have done a great job of posting a regular blog every week. However last week I was recovering from my weekend workshop, Double Your Clients, which as usual challenged me as much as it challenged my participants.

After the weekend I did not have the energy or motivation to write the blog. I was drained and perplexed at the lessons the weekend threw me.  Now I am not going to go into all of them today I’ll save that for another post, suffice to say that on the Monday I wanted to give up. I wanted to throw the preverbal towel in and go back to my old corporate world, you know the one that is safe, secure and you get a regular income for a regular commitment week in week out. So what turned me around?

Well I started to read a book called The Passion Test by authors Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood, it’s a New York best seller. I was reluctantly driven to read the book and I have to say I am glad I did as it has put me back on track. I had been getting more and more frustrated that things were not going the way I wanted them too. I began to push against the natural flow of my own intuitive nature and the universe itself. (There is a natural flow to the universe…) I was becoming a grumpy old man…not that I’m that old, not now anyway. It’s funny how books just appear when you need them. A friend and client of mine passed on an email that had appeared in her in box and she thought it might be of interest to me, and it was.

In the book they take you through a great process for identifying your passion and a systematic way of having those passions become a reality. Now some of the stuff that they talk about is stuff that I often ask clients to do, identify an inspiring vision or in this case passion, put together a vision board etc. However there are some very unique processes that Janet and Chris have developed that I found to be of great help. Identifying your top five passions and the way they question you to identify your real passions. Finding your markers so that you know it is happening, developing a vision board based on the five passions then writing a page on how life will be like when you are living your passions. Then they ask you to write out your 100^th birthday speech, which I found was a positive spin on the message to the world speech I often get clients to do, same objective just a little more positive. Then getting into action and trusting in the passion plus a lot more wonderful insights, quotes and stories. As they say:

'When you are clear, what you want will show up in your life, and only to the extent that you are clear'

Now this is just a small snap shot of some of the exercises in the book. The most inspiring part of the book for me is the stories of both Janet and some of the most famous authors on the planet, all talking about living your passion and the overwhelming benefits that come from living a life with passion.

For me the greatest benefit has been getting back to basics, the realigning of my self, getting back into a discipline and routine that I had left behind some years ago. I used to meditate every day and reconnect with my centre, to recharge and realign myself to myself. The book inspired me to go back to basics to first start with the most important thing ME! To reconnect and stay connected even in the middle of fear, anxiety, panic, anger and all the other things that go on in our day-to-day world. To not be dragged into the drama. Their saying of Intention - Attention - No-tension has led me to taking out the tension part. I have had the intention and have given plenty of attention but it was all with an enormous amount of tension. To the point that my family was ready to disown me… A grumpy, distant unhappy person was the general gist of their feelings. However and I am so excited to say that within a week I had the most wonderful comment from Stephanie. She said to me, that was one of the best weekends, speaking of the one just gone, I feel you are so much more present with the family, you did so much and did not mention being tired or complaining. It was music to my ears and I even went out socializing on Saturday night after spending a lot of the day gardening. This may not sound epic to most of you but for me who has lived the ‘I’m suffering from chronic fatigue’ story it was big. The big part was the fear that I moved through to actually go out. As I say in my workshop ‘choose’ to make it happen and as the fear appears keep choosing, and I did.

This process has helped me to find my centre again, to be able to sit in the fear but to do it anyway, to once again live the teachings I pass on to participants of my workshops and my clients. I feel whole again, connect and listening to the wisdom that is within me and within all of us. I actually feel a sense of happiness, which I have not felt for a while, even in the face of fear, maybe that is one way to conquer fear laugh at it....

There are many quotes in the book this one is one of my favourites:

‘Your life is created first in your mind, then in the world’

So when do you choose to live a passionate life…fully. I know there are a lot of people half living their passion in the middle of transition. I know that there has to be a practical pragmatic side to life of making sure the bills are paid and that there is food on the table. However when you get on track and begin to commit to living a life of passion all manner of things will show up to make it possible. So if you are not currently living you passion full time or at all, or you want to realign and get clear on what it is then I highly recommend The Passion Test. Oh and we are going to run some of the Passion Test workshops which run for four hours and are a great way to get started, aligned and in action to make it happen. I have been in contact with one of the amazing Passion Test facilitators in Australia, Ruth Donald and she has agreed to come to Melbourne and run a few of the workshops.

If you are interested please drop me a line.

Thanks for reading see you next Monday…

P.S. If you want to find out more or get a copy of the book just click here http://www.thepassiontest.com/?af=86141

Late nights, sick kids and living your passion?

So Stephanie and I, mostly Stephanie, spent most of last night with our little Lucy who woke at some crazy hour complaining of a sore tummy…still. This is the third night in a row and the poor little thing was moaning with pain, it just breaks your heart. After Stephanie gave her an essential oil massage, some homeopathics and a large serving of of love she is settled back to sleep.

I was in a deep sleep when her pain began and the coughing started and I can remember trying to fight it. ‘I have to go to work in the morning and I’m already tired how am I going to cope’ I fought with myself. ‘If only she would go back to sleep….I cant do this’ I cried under my breath. In the case of children you eventually learn to give into what ever is going on and go with the flow of what is happening. In this way the outcome is always better. She feels more love, I feel more love and the whole event seems to heal quicker than if I continued to fight it.

This experience may just hold some hidden secrets to the manifestation of the things we desire. I am reading an interesting book at the moment on living your passion called The Passion Test. it is funny how this has been the main theme coming across my desk this week. In the book they had an interesting take on the manifestation process of intention, attention and no-tension. The part that interested me the most was the no-tension. Last night was a great example of applying no-tension, rather just allowing what was at the time. I know when I have been trying to achieve something, living my passion, building a business or working for success, that I often get so busy trying to make it happen that I inadvertently exhaust myself in the desperate trying. Sometimes we just need to go with the flow and follow the energy as it presents.

The energy of passion, which is the theme of my week, is about following the passion and allowing it to happen with no-tension. In respect to last night it was about following the love and passion I have for my kids and letting go to the process. Life is about how we engage with situations that present. Sometimes stuff just happens, a sick child, a cancelled meeting or the death of a friend, all of which happened last week. In these moments if we let go and have no-tension it becomes less about what is happening and more about how we are engaging with what is happening. We are allowed to feel and experience the event at a deeper level. Now sometimes we just want to run away from the event, as the pain seems all too great, as in the death of a friend, however if we do not face and feel our experiences these experiences become trauma in our lives. This trauma is then imprinted on our physical being and allowed to manifest.

Success in life can be measured by the level of engagement we have with life. The deeper and more fully we engage with life the more we get out of it. The same is true for our businesses or our career or our relationships. When we don’t like what we do or find little inspiration from it we begin to disengage. Disengagement from our career has a detrimental affect on our health and wellbeing.

The Gallup organisation has been doing a lot of research into wellbeing, especially career wellbeing. The definition of wellbeing is the ability to be happier, healthier and more prosperous. Gallup found that only 20% of people like what they do each day. A landmark study published in The Economic Journal found that our wellbeing actually recovers more rapidly from the death of a spouse than it does from a sustained period of unemployment. Proving just how important career is to our identity and our overall wellbeing.

Gallup also ran a study to determine the effects of engagement or disengagement at work on heart rate, stress levels, and various emotions throughout the day. They examined the difference between those that were engaged and those that were not. Now if your not engaged in what you do at present you may not want to read any further.

As you can imagine those that were engaged in what they did had lower stress levels, more relaxed heart rate, and felt happier throughout the day rather than just at the end of the day. When we work in a job that we are not engaged in our cortisol, which is the stress hormone, levels rise. This then leads us into the flight-fight response and an increase in anxiety. In the long term this can lead to depression and other physical illnesses. They found that people who were not engaged in their career are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression. Stress is also the cause of many other illnesses and diseases. On a happier note if you become more engaged with your career stress levels are reversed. What this shows us is just how important our career is to our overall wellbeing.

So engagement in what we do not only determines our success but also our level of health and wellbeing. So be inspired about what you do and if you’re not or can’t then find what you are passionate about and learn how to make money from it.

Being passionate about something drives us to engage with that something. It inspires us, makes us feel excited, gives us hope and motivates us to do more of it. Imagine for a moment waking up to a job that you are passionate about. How would you get out of bed? How would you feel throughout the day? How would you cope with difficult situations or obstacles?

I am lucky in that I get to do my passion every day, however the interesting part of the last weeks theme is that I realised that I could refine my passion even further. This refining is a bit like a magnify glass trying to start a fire using the sun, the more focussed we are the more likely we are to start the fire. The same is true for our business or career, the more refined our passion the more likely we are going to start a fire within. Passion is that fire, it is a feeling that starts in the belly and moves up into the heart and mind.

We all are attracted to people who are passionate, take the late Steve Irwin, now there was a passionate human. His passion attracted millions around the world, which lead to his amazing success. Take Richard Branson as another shinning example, another passionate individual who has reach extreme success. Passion is not only good for our health and wellbeing it is good for others wellbeing. People want to be close to those that are passionate and hence will tend to engage with and buy more products from those types of people.

So the moral of this story is to find your passion, learn how to live it and then keep refining it until the external world shows you the success that living a passionate life brings.

Remember your health depends on it!

Next week I am going to let you into the secret of how to find your passion, engage deeper with your passion and live a passionate life. If you cant wait until then give me a call at www.intrinsicsuccess.com.

Play from the front foot!

So here I am sitting on top of Mt Buller, the wind howling, the rain bucketing down and the temperature at near winter ranges and you ask why? As a volunteer of the Mt Buller Ski Patrol every now and then we are asked to assist at the National Mountain Bike Championships, and this is the weekend. These bike riders are some of the most committed, courageous and fearless individuals I have met. There is pretty much nothing that will stop them except for the loss of a limb or a comma in the case of the last event in Hobart.

These unique individuals spend most of their life on a bike, some 300km plus a week riding, $8,000 plus for a bike and that's just the start. Here is a great example of engagement in what you are doing, without this level of commitment and engagement in what they are doing there is no chance of success.

When I started Intrinsic Success I was enthusiastic, excited and passionate, then life happened. A few stormy days, a bit of heavy rain and a cold winter chill, which lead to a few knock backs, not reaching the success I had hoped for as soon as I had hoped, and then there were the family issues that are all a part of being a Dad. At some point during the middle of last year I had became complacent, lost and a little disheartened resigning myself to be comfortable but not abundant. The business had been flying but now it was doing just ok by all outside measures it was returning what most might call a good living. However complacency had set in which lasted until the realisation that I could not grow a truly abundant lifestyle spurred on by the fact that we had to move our son into private school so I now had the responsibility for his wellbeing.

It was actually here at Mt Buller where I turned things back around. I was riding a ski lift with a vey good friend of mine who is the owner of companies such as Car Sales .com and I was discussing my troubles and how hard it was finding work and getting myself going again. He gave me some wise advice, "it sounds like you need to stop bitching and start pitching". Interesting, stop bitching and start pitching, I thought to myself I don't bitch or complain I've been working hard, putting in the hours what did he mean? After taking a good hard look at myself I realised that I was doing a lot of peddling but not going anywhere. I realised that I had disengaged from my business no longer doing those things that needed to be done to get the work and do the stuff I love to do, coaching people and business to be, do and have more success. I realised that I needed to find the courage to put myself back on the line, to make the calls, spread the word and get out of my comfort zone and make it happen.

That was eight months ago and since then I have tripled my clients plus, had two amazing individuals sign on board to become Intrinsic Success coaches and help me to build the business and now for the first time I can see the true potential of my business. One might say that I have now opened up to the horizon of possibilities and wow what possibilities.

So have you become complacent, are you peddling but not going anywhere fast, are you not putting it on the line, putting you on the line? Where are you hesitating to make the calls, go to the meetings, take up the speaking opportunities? As I put it with one client last week, where are you not dancing on the tips of your toes, playing from the front foot?

As a tennis player and having played pennant competition tennis for Kooyong Tennis Club, I was taught that you need to play from the front foot on the tips of your toes. If you watched the Australian Open you may have seen players dancing on the tips of their toes waiting to receive a serve. Flat-footed players are slower, not as prepared and not ready for whatever opportunity may come to win the point. In a business it is no different, playing on the front foot on the tips of your toes allows you to be ready to take advantage of the opportunities. There are an abundance of opportunities out there if you are willing to put it on the line and truly see them. Playing on the front foot allows you to make it happen and be prepared to take advantage of those golden opportunities that will come your way. Be fully engaged in your business and in your life. Be prepared to do whatever it takes to make it a success, and most importantly keep peddling even when it seems all up hill as this is all part of running your own business, all part of life.

So the message here is to play from the front foot, be dynamic, ready and excited to hit the next ball. Get into action and be prepared at the start of each week to go out and create the opportunities and be ready to take advantage of them. Reconnect with the reason that you started the business in the first place; realize the importance of your work for you, your family and the planet. Dig deep and find the courage to put yourself on the line and do those things that need to be done and most of all keep peddling. I am always amazed at how fast things can turn around when you get your heart, heart and soul aligned and in action to manifest abundance.

So are you ready to make it happen?

Passion, Purpose, Possibility!

I’ve been sitting here for the last hour trying to write this blog, getting angrier and angrier and now I’m wondering why? My plan was to write about the importance of finding your passion, living your purpose and realizing the possibilities for you, your life and your business, yet I sit here getting angry. Now this is no way to start a Monday morning surely….

So why the anger?

I like to sit with any emotion that is coming up from the inside and to distil its meaning for me right now. These emotions don’t just appear because the kids are ratty or that a few business deals didn’t go the right way; no they come up to help to guide us and move us in the right direction. Emotion is just energy in motion or the attempt of the body to get us moving in the right direction, sometimes any direction; just get moving! Now it is true that every now and then, seemingly worse over the school holidays, the kids will get on our nerves and the loss of a few important business deals can get us down but at the end of the day emotions can have great insights for us.

So why the anger, in this moment, for me? There would seem to be a pattern here that every time I get close to or nail my passion and purpose I derail myself, interesting! In this case it is anger that is rising to the surface, but what to tell me? Maybe it is the fear that if I were to live it fully that I may get rejected? Maybe I have been told time and time again that this part of me is not worth it and that conforming is the only way to receive acknowledgement and acceptance, mmmmm!

Now here is a scary thing, insight into the private world of Marcus Bird, deep into the dark chasms of my mind. But guess what, as I write this, the anger is subsiding, so maybe I’m onto something here. Generally when you get to the bottom of the emotion the emotion tends to go. The body has sent the message, it has been received and then understood and now its job is done and it can retire back to the deep dark subconscious world from which it came.

One of the hardest jobs for us on the planet is to do exactly this, to find our passion, live it on purpose and to realise the possibilities, the rewards of abundance that await. In some respects the lack of some or all of this leads one to becoming lost, confused, disheartened and in the worst-case scenario depressed. You see it is imperative that we all have something to live for, some reason for being. As we look into the night sky and see all those billions of stars it is easy to feel the insignificance of life here on planet earth. It is just as easy to look into the smallness of your life, doing the dishes, cleaning up after everyone, going to work same old same old and feel the same way. Once upon a time religion used to play an important part of human life. From the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mayans and Aztecs to the birth of modern religion, religion or the belief in something always played a key role. This belief in a lot of cases answered the question of what is life all about and why am I here. Now that many have moved away from faith the eternal question is not being answered or fulfilled in any meaningful way and finding the answer within has been hard. It is imperative however that we find this answer and give true meaning and purpose to our lives. But ‘why’? I hear me ask.

A few years ago one of my best friends died suddenly but not unexpectedly, you see he had been suffering from alcoholism. One night the drink got the better of him and he had a fatal accident and died alone in his apartment. It was a sad morning that morning but as I said not unexpected. We had tried so many things to get him over it, dragging him to rehab, rescuing him from himself too many times to mention and during these exchanges we had spoken of him dying from this disease and although he said the right things you could see it in his eyes that he had just given up. He had lost his passion, there was no more purpose and he could not see the possibility of getting out of this situation. Now I know there was a lot more to it than that, not being able to live up to others expectations, not being able to rationalize the Father wounding etc…. But his giving up and not being able to connect to these three essential ingredients of life played a role.

I think that finding your passion, living a life of purpose, answering that questions of why am I here and then realising the possibilities that you can be, do and have all you are meant to have is an important if not imperative part of life.

So what are you truly passionate about? What is it that stirs within you that is dying to come out and express itself in the world? Why did you start your business, what was the spark of passion?

I facilitated a planning day workshop for a wonderful client of mine last Friday and had a number of my own realizations during the process. One of these was that there is great importance at coming back to the reason that you started your business. To constantly remind yourself of the passion that ignited the desire to begin. The true purpose for beginning the journey and to see all the amazing possibilities that lay before you. It is so inspiring to see people and businesses connecting to this. Activating the power of this and leaving a workshop, like this one, motivated and excited at the future.

As ‘modern’ humans I think it is important that we all live with passion, know the purpose of our being here right now on the planet and to actualize and activate all the amazing possibilities that expressing this passion has.

I often talk about alignment with my clients and in fact my Double your Clients workshop gives a great deal of focus to this. I believe that when we align with our passion and live life on purpose the universe helps us out in abundance. My amazingly beautiful partner Stephanie is a shining example of this, this week. She has recently found her purpose and aligned herself with it. The interesting thing about finding our purpose is that most times it brings up great fear, “who me, no I couldn’t do all of that, little old me…..” But since she has aligned with her passion and her purpose all manner of things are coming to her. Stephanie is a Shamanic Midwife, Birth Attendant, Kinesiologist and an amazing Mother. It took a while for her to come to the realisation that helping couples, in particular women, get pregnant and give birth was her calling. Her business, Getting Pregnant Giving Birth, was launched recently and wow things are starting to happen. In fact one of her blogs has been quoted on the web site of a lady whose book she is reading at the moment, what a coincidence or maybe a clear sign. There are many more of these amazing signs for her, little confirmations that she is on the right track.

Anyway I think the message here is that identifying your passion, living it on purpose and seeing the possibilities allows us to have feel hope, experience true freedom and have a full life. It is not a replacement for faith, belief in something bigger than ourselves, but rather an awakening to the fact that we have meaning, purpose and value being here. Yes even little old me has a reason for being, a purpose that needs to be realised and expressed so that the rest of the people on the planet can be all they can be.

Like a forest ecosystem each animal, plant and organism only thrives because of the symbiotic relationship to the organism next to it. If any one of these organisms is not truly being everything that it can be then it affects every other organism. The old saying; ‘when you live your truth you give others permission to live there truth,’ highlights the importance of all of us thriving. Living passionately and on purpose is contagious. It has the ability to infect the person next to you. Maybe if we all lived this truth then the planet would be a very different place.

This is the now happy, relaxed and certainly no longer angry Marcus signing out.

 As they say, and to be a little kitsch, ‘go forth and prosper’ or as I say ‘live passionately, on purpose and see those amazing possibilities. You are an amazing, wonderful, incredible human being, now go express it in the world and make this world a better place for you and for all those you infect’.