Your Values, Feel Valued, Give Value & Matching Values
May 10, 2010 | Posted in Leading Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Comments Off on Your Values, Feel Valued, Give Value & Matching Values
There’s a lot of talk about value these days. Whether it’s knowing your own priority of values, feeling valued by others, adding value to a sale or service,s or matching values with your partner or your workplace. Is there alignment with your values and those you choose to deal with in your work and home life?
If we don’t feel valued, we walk. Whether it’s in our personal life or in our professional life. If our partner isn’t valuing us or our values don’t match with them, there is a good chance the relationship will fizzle or you will walk away before the big downward spiral.
In business, it’s the same thing. If we don’t feel valued as a client or customer by the service, attitude or inferior products or behavior – we take our business elsewhere. If we’re mistreated, not honored, patronized, ignored, spoken to in a rude manner, experience unacceptable or sub-par service, we walk. It takes just one person in the service delivery chain to really screw things up for a business owner or company. Your font line is your bottom line where the rubber meets the road in customer retention and one surly, sour receptionist/cashier/call center rep/sales person can ruin it for you. And there goes the lifetime value of that customer.
It pays you dividends many times over to train your team in the manner you wish to be treated and wish them to treat your customers. It starts at the top – how they are treated is how they will treat your clients. Value your team and they will be more likely to value your consumers. It sure helps to hire them with positive dispositions in the first place. You can train skills, but it’s much harder to train attitude and outlook.
Matching your values to your workplace or to your preferred providers of service is critical in maintaining a long-term happy partnership. Before deciding upon a career path, job or personal or business to business provider, get clear on how your values match the values of that other business. If there is a big discrepancy, then it will create tension, strife, frustration and ultimately a deterioration of the connection. It is not a pretty sight. If you can determine some of the foundational values of your chosen business, then you’re one step ahead of the game.
Clues as to what a company values is in their marketing materials, how they treat their team members, how they treat their customers, what type of business they are in and who is running the show. Make sure there is a good match between what you value and who you spend your time and money with to ensure smoother sailing in future endeavors.
How are you offering value to your customers, your employees or business partners? How do your personal values spill over to your work? How about your friends, family, loved ones? Is there a good match between what you hold in high value and what they hold in high value? If not, there may need to be some tough decisions ahead.
Is there an alignment with your values and what you do for a living? Or your values and how you treat your customers? If things are out of alignment, you will know something isn’t right. Take stock of your values and how that colors your choices in your personal and professional life and make changes to align them to feel more energized.
Mind Your Mindset in the Moment & Enjoy the Flow
May 5, 2010 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
As a former Recreation Professional (yes we got paid to play); we knew that it wasn’t just about the leisure activity we provided that provided the benefits to our participants, it was their mindset when they were participating.
Come to think of it, I’m not sure ‘former’ is appropriate, maybe ‘recovering’ would be a better term. I will always have a recreation and leisure outlook on life and will always embrace the importance of play, fun, re-creating, re-charging and renewing my mind, body and spirit.
I digress…. You see, we can be gardening, playing in the garden or working in the garden. It can be the same activity, but our mindset while we are doing it can be very different and thus create very different outcomes. Is cooking a joy and a creative experience to show love or is it a chore you must do to get fed? What is your mindset towards your activities?
What once was a joy can become a burden simply because of your mindset. Sort of like what attracted you to a person, may become annoying? Sound familiar? Minding our mindset when we are involved in the moment, in an activity can influence our material outcomes and our emotional/stress management outcomes as well.
Are you in the flow and in the moment? Are you fully aware and experiencing what you’re doing in that moment, or are you distracted, pre-occupied, thinking in the future or worrying about the past, or just not into it? Being in the flow, where the challenge meets our skills and time disappears is renewing, refreshing and fun.
If you’re doing an activity and finding yourself in a negative mindset, then you’re likely not reaping the benefits of your actions. If you’re just going through the motions, you may need to find another motion that’s more fulfilling or building more resilience to stress, rather than producing stress.
Minding our mindsets can help us fully engage in our lives, fully express and experience our activities and fully be in the moment without regard to the outside influences. Being conscious of our mindset throughout our day, whether work or play (or is it all play?) can help us reap greater rewards for a richer life.
Put Yourself on a Time Out to Increase Your Energy
May 4, 2010 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Time outs are not only for unruly children. I believe we all need to call a time out once in a while for our sanity. Taking time to take care of ourselves, our loved ones, our business, our physical bodies, our emotional well-being, our homes, our life or just to enjoy our surroundings near or far, here or on vacations.
I’ve written in prior posts about taking holi-moments when we can’t take holidays. Taking some time for yourself is critical for being the best we can be for ourselves, our work and others. If we are burned-out, rusted-out, worn-out and about to give-out, then we are not any good for others. We can’t give what we don’t have. And that includes our energy.
We must guard our appointments with ourselves to amp up our energy as fiercely as we guard our appointments with other important people such as doctors, clients, family and friends. It’s all about balance and giving ourselves permission to do what feels right and knowing when we need to take ourselves out of the game for a period of time. Call an adult swim and take 10 minutes, or 10 hours, 10 days or 10 months if you need it to come back refreshed and renewed. That’s what sabbaticals are for, or as I call them self-batticals.
One friend calls them ‘rewind days’ where she just takes care of life – bills, laundry, cleaning, letters and other catch-up stuff. I call a housekeeper to do that! 🙂 You may set aside time for physical activity, meditation, dreaming, scheduling, journaling, writing or other rituals that recharge you.
We must serve and take care of ourselves so we can attract others who want to do the same. Our health, wealth and vitality vibrate and resonate with others who are feeling similarly. If you want to attract healthy, vibrant clients, be healthy, vibrant and vital. We attract who we are and not what we want.
I recently gave myself a permission slip to mourn the loss of my only child, my dog Madison. She was my first and only. She was my muse, my heart, my joy, my model and a legend in my greeting card business. She was my daily ritual, my time-out. Even when I wasn’t quite ready for a time-out, she would ever so gently paw at me or just look at me with that face to let me know I’d spent too much time on the computer and it was time to walk and play.
I took a time out last week to allow her play time and allow me to mourn and celebrate her life. We had the ultimate last day for a doggie day: went to the dog park, played squeaky, romped in the people park, drove with the windows down and the wind in our ears, and then took the last drive to doggie heaven. Her spirit is all around and I am reminded to take time out and enjoy the day, take time out for myself even though I don’t have that little reminder nudging me. I took off last week to renew my spirit after she passed and I do it without feeling guilty.
In loving memory of Madison, my puppy-mill-rescued little girl. Take some time out for yourself and go play.
Merging Money, Meaning & Life Purpose: Free Training Course
May 2, 2010 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
Comments Off on Merging Money, Meaning & Life Purpose: Free Training Course
Put Your Purpose to Work: FREE Interactive Training
April 27, 2010 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Comments Off on Put Your Purpose to Work: FREE Interactive Training
Are you doing ‘work you love’ – work that you believe is your “purpose” but you’re not making much – if any money at it? Or maybe you’re stuck in the “daily grind” doing meaningless work just to pay the bills – and it’s sucking you dry.
If you’re like me, you love to feel the juice of being PAID for work you love, to be PAID for you PASSIONS – and making enough money to live the life you want to live! I’ve known since college that doing work you love, what’s in your heart is the way to go. Meaningless work just for the paycheck never held attraction for me. I’ve personally walked the path of passion and profit for most of my life, and have also walked off the path a few times just for the cash flow or for the shiny object of opportunity. It kills your soul and it doesn’t work for long.
What I discovered from Baeth, was that I indeed was walking mostly on my right path. It just felt right. She told me what was written in my fingerprints, what is written in all our fingerprints, our life purpose. It gave me validation and expanded my awareness of EXACTLY what it was I am supposed to do with my life.
She not only divulges your purpose, but your life lessons – the thing(s) that hold you back, kicks your ass, challenges you, so when it shows up you recognize it and move around it. She helps you chart your course, so you know when you’re on the right path. Once you are on purpose, the Universe conspires in your favor.
You may also be in an extremely RARE CATEGORY – you are doing work that you love (or at least once loved) and are getting paid for it. BUT you may have nagging desire for MORE alignment with who you really are, MORE IMPACT in the world – MORE Purpose.
You can release yourself from the bondage of not enough money, or working only for money, or feeling stuck once you you connect with one of the most brilliant teachers of authentic success I have yet to come across – Baeth Davis, founder of YourPurpose.com. Baeth has created a SHORT VIDEO that will identify if you have any of the 7 Early Warning Signs of Being Stuck in Meaningless Work. Baeth has also created an unprecedented, totally FREE content-rich INTERACTIVE ONLINE TRAINING for stepping out of stuck, broke and meaningless once and for all.
Not Knowing the Precise Plan, the Blueprint, for YOUR specific Life Purpose – and, (this is extremely important) >> > exactly how to use this information to have the success you desire in business and life. Here’s a peek at her work.
Baeth’s brilliant work is based on a system that unlocks the information of your soul in a way that is objective and scientific. Once you have this information, your life can literally open up to you in ways you cannot even imagine. You’ll CONQUER “broke” on all levels forever and be on your way to authentic success in no time, the kind of success Baeth has created in her own business and life. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this CONTENT-RICH 3-PART INTERACTIVE TRAINING!
You can join Baeth here for FREE right now, but only for a limited time (the next 7 days in fact) after which it comes down for good. I can whole-heartedly endorse Baeth’s work, as it has unlocked several doors that I didn’t even know existed. Now knowing I am an Artist and Messenger in the Community Spotlight gives me the green light to get my message out, create community and enjoy the spotlight. One of the reasons I just inked a deal for an internet radio show called The Energized Entrepreneur and created aFacebook Group of the same name. It gives you permission.
How much longer will you wait? You have my permission to check it out –click here. (but only for a limited time!). Here’s to knowing your life purpose and living it for greater passion and profit in your life!
Think “Give” vs. “Get” in (Social) Networking
April 25, 2010 | Posted in Leading Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
If you’re an entrepreneur worth your salt, you’ve no doubt attended gazillions of live networking events and at least dipped your toe in the social networking waters. What confounds me at nearly every event is the brashness and ‘in-your-faceness’ of so many business owners, who I would like to think are well-intended but come off as desperate and smarmy as they shove their card in your hand without a conversation and are off to the next ‘victim’.
One recent event found us ladies once again in the powder room line. One woman who was not having any real conversation whatsoever was ‘working the line’ passing out flyers to whom she deemed good targets for her weight-loss boot camp. As you can imagine, she only sought out those she considered in need of shedding some poundage. When she got down to her last few flyers, she got more particular in asking if her intended were even interested. The rest she just shoved in their face and kept on going down the line since were were, after all, a captive audience.
Back in the general session room, we returned to find our tables covered in propaganda from other attendees – a result of the spray and pray method of scatter-shotting your marketing materials in hopes somebody would pick it up. It was appalling.
May I be so bold as to suggest we all have an honest, decent, real conversation with others and genuinely seek out what they do and how best we can be of service or be able to refer them, or keep them in mind if we meet others in need of their service. Be attentive first to the needs of others and figure out how you can help them and ask for their card for future follow up. The giving means giving value, not just giving your card and getting theirs. Give a good listen to others, give referrals, give eye contact, give good conversation and give genuinely before you give your card.
Politeness and eye contact count. Running around the room, or cyberspace with automated trashy, irrelevent, ‘join farmville’ status updates and shoving your card or your postings in other’s hands doesn’t really count as networking; it counts as annoying, disingenuous and networthless. Focus on the relationship part of relationship marketing to get better results. People want human contact – not to be treated as a number.
Just my seven cents on being a giver so networking works and so it makes sense. We’re supposed to be helping each other prosper. Whether social or business networking, as Ivan Meisner of Business Networking International so aptly states, “givers gain”. Be conscious, be appropriate and be relevant online and off.
I’m giving you a gift of giving and sending out some cards, my treat at www.BizBuilderCards.com – I’ll pay for the cards and the postage so you can send somebody a nice note.
Watch this video on the power of gratitude and giving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi5kxE57Oio&list=PLtUVv9eXCdIKmF4MMCOVMBuzeZ1nrrUQF
AND another on the amazing affects of giving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQqtVobx1oI&list=PLtUVv9eXCdIKmF4MMCOVMBuzeZ1nrrUQF
Delays, Detours & Re-routings: Go with the Flow
April 24, 2010 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
In light of the recent Icelandic ash incident and all the news about stranded travelers; it reminds me that we have little control over what happens to us. It’s what we do about what happens to us that really makes the difference. The news was filled with irate travelers who were ‘stuck’ in Vegas for a few extra days. Hmmmm, millions dream of being here, yet some were outraged they had to spend some extra time here. Maybe they were out of money. It’s all about managing your expectations.
Being a seasoned traveler as a Professional Speaker and former Outdoor Adventure Director in Europe, I was on the road or in the air 3-8 times per month every single month for over 20 years. I’ve had my share of delays and detours. As an experienced entrepreneur for about 14 years, I’ve had my share of re-routings in that arena as well.
The best advice I can give comes from a couple friends. One said to me, if I was planning on traveling to Rome, had my heart set on it, packed for it, learned some Italian phrases and bought the guidebooks. And my flight was re-routed to Paris and I ended up spending the trip in France instead, what would I do.
Would I spend the entire time in Paris lamenting that I wasn’t in Rome, or would I re-group, assess the situation and remind myself I’m in a wonderful place on a wonderful adventure and then start enjoying Paris on the fly and be more spontaneous and figure it out as I went, asking for help, directions and recommendations as I went along.
It’s the same way with being an entrepreneur, we can’t have every single flight path planned out before we even start. We need to loosen our grip, go with the flow, enjoy Paris if that’s where our path leads us, even though we may have had our sites set on Rome. Enjoy the journey, make course corrections when we can, have a plan, but scrap it if it isn’t working. Delays and detours are bound to happen, we need to just be fluid to them and keep moving forward.
Another friend once said she saddles the horse in the direction it’s going. It’s much easier to work with what is moving in that direction, preferably forward. As a former horse owner, I also know it’s much easier to put the saddle on correctly and sit facing forward – the views are much better.
So the next time your path takes you off course, ask for directions, be spontaneous enough to figure it out and enjoy the views while you’re there. You just may discover something new and exciting that you were supposed to learn.
Energized Entrepreneurs & Execs Trust the Way & Know as They Go
April 14, 2010 | Posted in Leading Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
It may seem like a huge leap to jump from a W-2 to the life of an entrepreneur. One of the biggest leaps of faith is to have faith in yourself. There won’t be anybody giving your evaluations like you may be used to. Oh, there will be evaluations, just not coming in the form you expected.
And there won’t be a tidy game plan, organizational chart or operations manual or supervisor to show you the way. You make your own way. You trust your own self and your own way. You just know as you go, and you build it as you go.
Coming from corporate or moving from a j-o-b that demanded you have everything figured out before you started a project is a far cry from how many entrepreneurs operate in a more fluid way. If an emerging entrepreneur waited to have everything figured out before they started, they would never get going.
It’s a complete mind-shift to just knowing the right people, tools and resources will show up when you need them. It’s faith in yourself and the Universe that you (or somebody or something) will figure it out when it is most needed. Trusting yourself that you will get the help you need when you need it may relieve some of the anxiety to be all-knowing before you go. If you don’t go first, you will never know.
So start going right now in the direction your heart is taking you. Get ready, get good and get going. Just know that the bridge will be built as you walk. Your way will be shown as you move forward. Like a shark, just keep moving forward to stay alive. You will know if you just go.
Now go claim your FREE 50-page Special Report on Energizing Your Work, Wealth, Workplace & Well-being and let me know how I can help you get going.