One Sick Child - Leads to a clear plan for success?

Happy New Year to all of you and I hope you had a great Christmas break, if you got a break that is?

I want to start the year off with a more personal blog and to set a tone of letting you into my life and also into my business life. I want to lead more by example rather than just through knowledge and a façade that we all put on sometimes. I want to be a little more ‘naked’ with my blog. So I hope the following mutterings help.

There were two reasons that I became a business coach, the first is because it is the one thing that allows me to express all of my skills, from business to counseling through to healing. The second was because of lifestyle and a desire to be there for my family…

So here is a story of our New Years holiday that thankfully has a happy ending…

We had a fairly quiet Christmas break together with the traditional family get togethers; lots of wonderful food, great company and many laughs. Once the Christmas craziness was over, and the dishes had all been done and the house once again back to a more ‘normal’ mess as apposed to a ‘crazy’ Christmas mess we decided to get away for the New Year. Having a house up at Mt Buller and a number of friends choosing to spend their New Years eve celebrations at one of the highest points in Victoria we decided to get away.

So on the Thursday we decided to pack up the car and the kid, just Lucy as the other two were with their dad, and off we went.  Now those of you that don’t know me that well I have three children, two beautiful step children Claudia 10 and Brendan 7 and one of our own little Lucy 2. So with Lucy in the car we headed off with a scheduled stop at Lake Eildon to visit some friends who have a houseboat there. I was hoping to water ski for the first time in over ten years, unfortunately the water was too rough much to my disappointment. Anyway after a nice day on the water jet skiing and general splashing about, Lucy loves the water, we headed on up to Buller.

On the way up the mountain Lucy began to become sick and half way up the mountain she threw up. Now this is not the best of stories to start the year but it is what happened and the moral of the story makes all this worth while. By the time we got to the top of the mountain Lucy was quiet unwell. Now our history of going to Mt Buller over the last year has not been a good one. I think we have had at least one sick child on nearly ever trip, so you can imagine our delight at the prospects of another sick one.

After two days of no sleep, Lucy being very unwell and a less than enjoyable New Years Eve for all concerned we decided to head back home early on the Saturday. When we go home Lucy had some concerning symptoms that seemed to be getting worse not better. The poor little thing lay on the couch not talking looking so sad and sultry with a high fever and not wanting to drink or eat. Lucy is normally such an animated kid and loves to talk and play and talk and play… So once again we head off to the Royal Children’s Hospital. I say once again as we had Lucy at the hospital a couple of times during September for an unrelated illness. Now I am not good with my children being sick, which, is quiet different from my normal way of being around sick people. I have spent most of my life helping sick and injured people; be it with a physical or mental illness, get better. Especially in acute situations where I am the person you want around. However when it comes to my little girl I am a bit of a mess. I just hate seeing her suffering and my heart just cried that day. Anyway we sat in the hospital for five hours while they did tests, rehydrated and observed her. After some water a cool lemonade icepole, and don’t icepoles just cure anything, she thankfully seemed to pick up and we were allowed to go home. It was a little worrying for the next 24 hours but I am pleased to say that she has now made a full recovery and back to her normal happy, laughing, dancing and talkative self.

I believe that there are lessons in all of life’s challenges and I think this one highlighted a few. When things are going well we can sometimes forget the ‘specialness’ of life and of the lives of those around us. In some respect it is why I decided to start my own business, so that I could be nearer those that I love most. To be there to see all the little changes, the new words, the new expressions, but mostly to be present when I am truly needed. Now I know we often make the excuse of starting our own businesses to get out of the 9 to 5 rut, working for the ‘boss’ but at the end of the day isn’t it about being closer to the ones we love? Isn’t it about having the freedom to choose when and where we operate our business?

At the end of last year I was stressed, over working and driving myself too hard. I find that it is easy to get caught up in my business, giving it far to much emphasis and energy. I also understand that this is sometimes a difficult balancing act especially for a male as we have the primal hunter-gatherer gene driving us to provide for our families. Now this is not to undervalue the feminine contribution it is just a primal programming that males have, it’s not real in our modern world but unfortunately still affects some of us.

At the end of the day life is all about balance. The business aspect of that balance is driven by the ability to build something, to be the master of our own destiny but most importantly giving us the time and freedom to be with the people we love most. Now January is a great time to get organized and to plan the year ahead. To take stock of the past year, learn from the mistakes, to celebrate the wins and to take the learning’s of all that has been. To then set clear intentions for a wonderful, connected and successful year ahead.

So what I want us all to do is to list all the most important things in your life and to schedule them into your business plans and business calendar. To not forget the real reason you decided to get into your own business, whether that was because of wanting to be closer to your children, animals or friends. To be able to spend more time with your significant other. To be able to spend more time on yourself or just because you had a burning desire to prove your tenth grade teacher that he was wrong! So apart from the business essentials, marketing, networking, finance, sales, product development and admin, place some emphasis on all those other much more important things in your life. Make the most out of them through the ability to organize your business around your life. Remember that if you don’t design your business then your business will design you. It is the same with your life, if you don’t design your life then life will design you.

So take charge of what you truly want to have happen this year. Make a plan to make time for the most important things in your life, in my case my family. And build a solid business plan to have the most successful year of your life, in all areas and in all ways! Oh and if your business is not allowing you the opportunity to have more time, more money and a greater quality of life then maybe you need a business coach…..if I can help you or anyone else you know give me a call marcus@intrinsicsuccess.com.

Here’s to a great year…. CHEERS!

Even the best need a coach!

I was interested to receive the following video the other day where Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, talks about the need to have a business coach. It just goes to prove that even when your at your peak you still need a coach...

Regards Marcus

Planning for Success!

Having consulted to and coached hundreds of business leaders over the past 18 years I am constantly amazed at how many businesses don’t have a business plan or any plan for that matter. If they do have a plan it is held in the vault of the brain of the business owner. There is some loose map that the business owner is following, but in most cases businesses just bump along with the turbulence of the environment hoping to reach a destination that is desirable. If we are not clear about our destination then surely it will be hard to meet that destination.

We would not build a house without a plan? We go to the building site, meet the builder and suggest that we build a wall here, have a bathroom there and maybe we can put the kitchen over there. Can you imagine how the building would come out let alone the extra cost to build it, and this is the crux of the matter. When we don’t know where we are going it often costs us twice as much to find out. This is where a business plan comes in!

A business plan allows you to identify where it is that you want to end up and how you are going to end up there. Starting with your vision and mission and ending with a clear picture of the market, how to find them and encourage them to buy your product or service. There are many steps along this journey but all of them are aimed at providing you with more clarity and sense of purpose the most cost effective way possible. It is amazing to watch clients get into action once they have found a clear purpose for doing what they are doing.

So do you have a clear purpose? Are you excited to execute it every day? A business plan will allow you to identify a clear purpose, help you to ignite your passion for what you started to do and provide you with hope. These things will inevitably lead to a desire to take positive action to have your plan come true.

So start with a clear vision, set an inspiring mission, be clear about who your customers are, what they buy and off whom, why they buy and how you are going to differentiate yourself. Identify how you are going to position yourself in your market. Look at how you are going to inform these people of your product or service, what will inspire them to come and see you and how you are going to deliver it to them. Then make clear plans on direction, marketing, your finances, and inevitably your exit strategy. Yes, your exit strategy!

Most business owners don’t have a clear exit strategy. There is one thing we can be sure of in life and that is that everything is going to end. At some point in the future you are going to finish your business, whether that is selling it, closing it down or gifting it away to the next generation. How you design your business today can be influenced by the exit strategy that you have.

A business plan, regardless of how big it is and some of the best plans are the shortest most concise ones, will help you to find your way allowing you to make cost effective decisions. Clarity of purpose and identification of direction leads to a saving in time, money and nervous energy.

So create your dream, have a clear vision and give your business the best chance of success by developing a clear and concise business plan. Oh and if you need help give me a call!

Marcus is the winner of the Australian Moot Corp Business Planning awards and runner up in the international Moot Corp Business Planning Awards. He is the developer of the One Page Business Plan a dynamic and easy business planning tool kit for small businesses.

Engagement Part 1: What has WELLBEING got to do with business?

It would seem like everything according to the Gallup organization, who have been tracking wellbeing from around the world since the mid 20^th century. In fact they track the wellbeing of the US on a daily basis. So what’s all the fuss about and how can it help us in business and career?

Wellbeing is not just about being happy but rather having a full life: according to Gallup ‘wellbeing is a combination of our love for what we do each day, the quality of our relationships, the security of our finances, the vibrancy of our physical health, and the pride we take in what we have contributed to our communities’. According to dictionary.com wellbeing is: a good condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness and prosperity.

So how is your health, happiness and prosperity?

Gallup found that the number one contributing factor to overall wellbeing is career wellbeing. Whether you are an employee or you own your own business the amount of enjoyment we get from our work has an enormous effect on the wellbeing of all other areas of our life. In fact people with high career wellbeing are twice as likely to be thriving in their lives overall. Not only does high career wellbeing help us to have ‘thriving lives’ it may also help us to live longer. The Gallup study also shows that high career wellbeing reduces blood pressure and the potential of head disease and also reduces anxiety and the likely hood of depression.

Now this is all well and good but how is this going to help us in business? Besides the obvious health and overall life enjoyment benefits it may also be good for our businesses health. There is a direct correlation between wellbeing and engagement. If you have employees you, as the business owner, can have an impact not only on their health but also the way that they engage with the business. I have a saying and that is ‘the more engaged we are with anything the more likely we are to be successful at that thing’. We tend to put more effort in into that thing and want to spend time and energy on that thing. We have a desire to become better at that thing and therefore are more conscientious. The more engaged we are with our career the more successful we are likely to be. This is why the most successful business people seem also to be the most passionate and engaged in what they are doing. In turn the more that you are engaged with your work the greater your wellbeing will be.

It is also true that those with careers where they get to use their strengths and do what they love are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs and three times more likely to have a great quality of life. Therefore what you do, and the love you have for what you do, will help you to be more successful and could help you to live longer. Gallup conducted an ‘old age study’ and found that those who enjoyed what they did so much and did not retire until they where eighty lived until at least 95 years of age.

So loving what you do has a great impact on your health and overall wellbeing. It also has a direct correlation to your level of engagement with what you do. Therefore the more we can help ourselves and employees to engage with our business the more successful we are likely to be.

Maybe we need to have some focus on our wellbeing? Our life might just depend on it!

In part two, next week, I will discuss how we can assist the engagement process both providing practical steps to increase the wellbeing of ourselves and our organisation.

If you would like to increase the success of you or your organisation call me to discuss engagement and wellbeing in business.

Fatigue and the Busi-ness of Life?

I came to the end of another busy week feeling tired, exhausted and fatigued. Pushing myself from one meeting to another in a flurry of action, and as I came to a stop on Saturday morning I realized the pattern. Caught in a pattern that I have been running for many years now, flat out making it happen or fatigued to a stop. A wave of sadness came over me as I realized that my true self is the stillness that resides inside me. That peaceful self that meditates the wisdom of my life, and yet still I run.

It got me thinking of the sub-scripts that the subconscious brain runs that I often talk about with my clients. Those damn beliefs, patterns and fears that we choose to agree with over our lifetime. Now manifesting as a negative interference pattern. And I tell my clients that once you have a consciousness about a thing you can then decide to change that thing….right? Well as we all know it is not as easy as it seems and sometimes that comes down to the level or depth of consciousness we have about that thing. In my case I had some consciousness about it but not enough to completely shift my external experience of that thing, until today!

We had my nieces seventh birthday at a gymnastic centre followed by lunch at my brothers. It was a wonderful day, I got to run and play with my little girl Lucy and see our other two children, Claudia and Brendan, play with her. The love and care they have for her and each other whilst in a group of children is wonderful. Anyway when we got to my brothers the rest of the family had assembled including my Dad. Now I love my Dad but for most of my life he has been the one that I am trying to free myself from and today he gave me an insight. Now when I mean free myself please don’t get me wrong my Dad is a wonderful man, generous, caring and has supported me and my brother far and beyond most fathers. However like most boys and certainly first sons, I have the father wounding that I am trying to heal. So today was another chance but did I take it?

At one stage throughout the day, Dad I had a chance to chat alone for a few moments and in true form he asked me how business was going and again, true to form, I picked all the most positive points to tell him. The opportunities, the excitement of new clients and the underlining message of how well I was doing. At that moment I looked at him and noticed how far away he was from me. It was as if he had not heard anything that I had said. Oh there was the obligatory nod of the head and rhetorical murmurings of agreement and understanding but at the end of the day he was not there. Here I was sharing exciting news that things were going well and he had chosen to disappear. Now the disappearing is not the important part of this story, hell we all have those moments when we disappear from a conversation. No, it was the need I felt to once again prove that I was worthy and valuable….

Here was the driving force behind my need to run flat out and why it is not possible to keep up the pace. In truth this keeping up of the pace is me not living the truth of who I am but rather in the shadow of approval and acceptance of what my father might think is good. Sure like most I can keep up the pace with the best of them however I have had chronic fatigue so energy or the lack there of is my specialty. It is my calling, the reading of energy and sensing the state of myself and others, so now what to do with it…?

At the end of the day it is not the speed at which one moves that is the issue but rather what is going on inside that counts. It is possible to drive a car at 100 kilometers and hour however if you don’t change gear relative to the speed of the car then you are likely to blow up an engine. To complicate matters the alignment of ones own truth must match the energy so that the external performance matches the internal truth. In other words not only do we have to change gear so as not to blow the engine up but we must also have our gears aligned or we will destroy the gearbox. Now at 100 kilometers an hour that could be life threatening. In my case when my gearbox goes I get fatigued and literally have to stop.

There is a great understanding that comes from deep observation. Observation of your own internal scripts that continually run through your mind and observation of the scripts of those around you. To then bring awareness to how those scripts inter play with each other and the effect that these then have.

My Dad’s script is one of having to be perfect, which plays beautifully into mine, which is one of trying to seek acceptance by having the perfect business, life or what ever. Perfection to me is then played out through what I perceive as positive success, the bigger the positive success the better. This continual expectation is not possible to live up to. It is never possible to live up to others expectations. The only thing you can do is live up to your own, that is to meet your own inner expectation that in this life you will live as your true self as much as you can. That is the only expectation we have of ourselves at a deep level and it’s not really an expectation but rather a mantra, a desire to fulfill ourselves. Those that surrender fully to this internal expectation reap the rewards of a full, content and happy life. Those that don’t have to make do with whatever is left.

It is time to live my internal truth and to slow down, become clear, focused and move forward with grace and ease, regardless of the speed of the vehicle. Now I am going to take some of my own medicine and powerfully choose to make a difference. To live the peace that I am, calm and relaxed regardless of the speed of the outside world. I will allow myself to not have the need to impress, or be good, or be anything except that inner peace.

So how do your sub scripts interfere with your success and affect the living of your truth and, what do you choose now…………….?

So be brave and courageously share a little more of yourself this week. In a work or corporate environment it can be the scariest thing to do….but the most important. As one of my clients discovered last week, when you begin to let go and share your truth others are given permission to share theirs. Out of the darkest places the most amazing light often appears. So go and shine this week and let me know what happens and who else crawls from under the veil of a subconscious sub-script self.

If we were all free to perform from this place the world would certainly be better place…

Regards Marcus

Remember: Perform from your core, your truth and you will unleash your true potential...

The Power Of Energy

I am constantly reminded of the power of one’s energy when trying to manifest or create anything. Just this morning a relatively new client of mine shared the story of her amazing success over the weekend. After three sessions where we identified underlying blocks to her success, empowered a new paradigm and unleashed a new possibility she had the best sales ever in one event. This was all put down to her energy being in the right place.

So what is the energy that you go out into the world with? I see business owners spending thousands of dollars on advertising, hours of effort cold calling, or time sitting waiting for people to walk into their store all to no avail, and why? More often than not it comes down to the energy that we put out into the world. Whether we know it or not we are energy beings having a physical experience, just ask Quantum Physicist if you don’t believe me. We are constantly sending subtle messages out into the world, which is then picked up by others. This is then translated into the first point of approval to engage. If the energy is one of fear then it is less likely that another will engage, who wants’ to engage with fear? If the energy is one of being excited to meet others then we are more likely to want to accept. Now this energy goes deeper than just having a good feeling about others. It is one of those things that we can’t fake and we all have the ability to pick out a fake. So at a deep level it is about aligning with your true energy that gives you the best chance of success.

The most difficult part of getting your energy right is that because it is so subtle in its nature we often don’t see the energy we are portraying. Even if we feel positive, inviting and welcoming there maybe an underlying energy of ‘no not now!’ Now there are three ways we can monitor our energy: 1. Look at what is coming back to us from the outside world. Are we receiving the abundance that we know we deserve or world like? If not you have an energetic mismatch; 2. Have someone else guide us, preferably someone who can read energy and who can guide us back to our true energetic nature; 3. Have the intuitive ability to pick up on our own energy. This is much easier said than done as our own fears, beliefs and blocks often get in the road.

I have been called an energetic intuitive and have spent many years growing my intuitive abilities but I too sometimes need an outside person to connect me back to my core energy and to give me the courage to go live it in the world. I’m luckier than most as I live with another energetic bunny, my life partner Stephanie who helps guide me back. I know that when I am aligned and congruent with whom I truly am, things manifest easily and quickly. It is amazing that even if you have no idea where the next thing is going to come from, becoming aligned will have it emerge from the most unlikely sources.

A few months ago I was attempting to fill up one of my courses and was beginning to get frustrated that all the avenues and cold calls I was doing was leading to nothing. I realized that at some level my energy was blocking people from coming. I did some quick realignment processes and not long after a lady rang who had been given my brochure from a past participant and wanted to book 7 people into the course. Coincidence or the power of energetic alignment?

There are many, many examples just like this one and I am sure you would have your own if you think about it. An exercise that I often get clients to do is to imagine the last time things manifested easily or out of the blue. Try to remember how you were feeling, what was the attitude that you were sending out into the universe. What was the energy you were displaying? Now close your eyes and imagine creating that same energy, the same feeling right now. Now imagine focusing it towards that which you are trying to manifest, more clients, more money, no termites as in my case….but that’s another story for next time.

Remember for the most profound results align your energy with who you are and go live that in the world….It works and is more powerful than any advertising campaign!

If you want help with the identification and alignment of your energy call now 0419 538 320 or email me at marcus@intrinsicsuccess.com.

Intuitive Intelligence Part 2

Often when I speak to people about intuition and Intuitive intelligence I get the feeling that the common belief is that it is some mystical ability granted only to the gifted few. Well this could not be further from the truth. It is a fact that we all have an equal ability to connect with our intuitive intelligence, it is a birth right and an important soft skill that we have. It is a primal sense that we attained so as to survive and not be eaten by wild animals. As we began to gain more and more control over our world our safety and security increased and therefore the need for intuition decreased. Until now! As I discussed in my previous blog, our ever demanding world requires greater skill sets and abilities to stay ahead and be successful, intuition is one of these...

So how does intuition work and how is it that we all have the ability but only few choose to actively utilise this skill?

It might help to give you some background information on brain function and the role this plays in the intuitive process. If you take a look at a human brain you will notice that there a two distinct hemispheres, a right and a left. These two hemispheres are connect via a part of the brain called the corpus colosseum, a collection of millions or neural fibbers that sits low down in the centre of these two hemispheres. The two hemispheres of the brain have very distinctly different functions and working together, help us to do all the things that the human being can do.

There is an amazing video on the website www.ted.com, and if you haven't been on this site I highly recommend it, by a lady called Jill Bolte Taylor. I recommend you have a look at it here: 

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

Ms Taylor is a Neuroscientist who experienced a stroke and in the video she excitedly shares her insights and deeper understanding of brain function. This experience gave her, not just a theoretical understanding of brain function, which she obviously had, but also an experiential understanding of it's function during the stroke. In her video she gives us a view into the complex world of left and right brain function and inadvertently uncovers the brain - intuition connection. 

As an overview the left and right brains function like so...

The left hemisphere of the brain sees the world through organised, systematic steps, process orientated and determined to make sense of the world around us. It is analytical, structured and logic focussed. It tends to use language and words to describe it's relationship to the external world and in our modern day society is valued highly.  The left hemisphere sees us as separate from each other and is the part of the brain that knows me as 'I' and you as 'you'. It has separated and differentiated us from all other things and knows me as an individual alone in the world. It tends to concern itself with the past and the future.

The right hemisphere of the brain on the other hand has its focus in the abstract world preferring to make sense of the world through our sensory perceptions. It tends to use feelings and images to describe its relationship to the external world. It learns kinaesthetically taking in all of the energetic information through the senses so that it can experience its world. It knows us as one with everything, that we are all connected right here right now. It lives in the present moment understanding that there is only now. In this state it is the part of the brain that connects to our intuitive abilities accessing all of our senses both physical and subtle.

It is therefore possible that anyone with a right brain can access and utilise intuition. The issue we face is that we have grown up in a left brain focussed world where IQ is valued higher than all other forms of intelligence. It is a fact that the most academic and educated tend to get the best jobs and make more money. When we are born we tend to rely more heavily on our right brain as our ability to access speech and have ourselves understood by the external world is gained. This ability is then literally beaten out of us as we enter the external conventional world. This I have seen first hand with my children as they enter school and slowly but surely begin to rely less on their own intuitive nature preferring to analyse and quantify their decisions. However if we are to survive and move forward in the world we must reignite the use of our intuitive abilities.

Stay tuned for part 3 - How to consistently access intuitive intelligence... www.intrinsicsuccess.com