Watch Your Language: 7 Tips for Big Results
by Christine Kane

A few years ago, I was in a car with the promoter of one of my performances. He had picked me up at the airport and was driving me to my hotel. On the way, we talked guitars. We got onto the subject of Olson Guitars, arguably the best guitar in the whole world. At one point, the promoter said, “Yea, well, in my entire life I’ll never own an Olson guitar.”

There was a time when I’d let a remark like this slide on by, even adding my own “me either” to the mix.

Now, I can’t. Yoda steps into my head and says, (in his Yoda voice) “So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done.”

So, I turned to the promoter and said, “You are NOT allowed to say that!”

This is because I know the power of language. When you know that words become things, it’s hard to let language slide.

I can’t help it. I have a rule:
Friends don’t let friends speak crappily.

Language is powerful. Words can create reality. Even if my promoter friend doesn’t know how on earth he’d ever get his guitar, it doesn’t mean he should cut off the possibility with his own words.

If you’re wondering how to begin watching your words, here are 7 practical language principles for becoming a better creator of your life.

1 – Eliminate “never” and “always.”
Never and always are words of hysteria. “I always mess everything up!” “I’ll never figure this out!” “I’ll never get an Olson Guitar.”

First off, it’s not true. If you always messed everything up, you wouldn’t have made it out of the womb.

And second off, extreme words are designed to hook you. It’s just your emotions taking a joyride. You’re more powerful than that.

2 – Use AND instead of BUT.
“But” dismisses the statement before it. “And” includes it. For instance, “That’s a good article, but it needs some editing” isn’t nearly as encouraging as “That’s a good article, AND it needs some editing.”

“I love you, but…” is another great example of the dismissive power of “but.”

3 – Avoid “Should.”
Should is a heinous word for many reasons. It is victim-speak. It disempowers its object. It negates desires, thereby making it harder to make choices. It adds a nebulous energy to the decision making process. Use empowered language instead: “I could…” “I would…” “I am choosing to,” “I would like to,” “I don’t want to,” or “You might consider…”

4 – Stop calling yourself depressed.
Also stop allowing anyone to tell you that you are depressed. When you call yourself “depressed” or “obsessive compulsive” or “ADHD” or whatever – you’re claiming this thing. You’re calling it forth with the most powerful two words in our language: “I am.” That creates very little option for the transformation of this condition.

5 – Delete the word “hate” from your vocabulary.
“Hate” has lots of energy. When you use it, you send lots of energy out into the very thing you “hate.” Even if it’s negative energy, it’s still a powerful force, adding its charge to that thing. You’re also depleting this energy from your own spirit as you say it.

6 – Be “great.” Or “wonderful.”
A disease of the creative temperament is a belief that we must be authentic at all costs. So we can’t answer a simple “How are you?” without delving into an in-depth scan of our emotional temperature.

Try this instead: When people ask you how you’re doing, just say, “I’m great!”

I used to think if I said this, then I better have a good reason for saying it, like I just won the lottery or something. I thought it would make me look suspicious, and people would start to wonder if something was wrong with me. But then I did it. And you know what? Most people don’t care why you’re great. You’re saying it for you.

7 – Pay attention to the music of your speech.
You know how some people? They talk in question marks? And you have no idea why? But it makes you think you shouldn’t really rely on them? And it makes you not want to hire them?
The music of your language says a lot about you. If you let your sentences droop like Eeyore, (”Thanks for noticing me.”) or if you do the uncertain question mark language, take note of what attitudes are causing this. These patterns are created for a reason. Even if it feels like faking it at first, generate confidence as you speak.

About the Author:
Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 8,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.

Lessons Learned During A Year Full of “Growth Opportunities” by Sheri McConnell

This year was an amazing year full of growth opportunities. I know many of you expected me to say challenges, but that truly wasn’t my experience at all. Although I experienced more lessons this year than in some of my previous years online, I welcomed them all as they were coming because I knew my willingness to learn this year would mean I would move even faster once the economy recovered.

Here is a quick inventory of some of the “growth opportunities” I experienced in 2009.

1.  Your Perception of the Economy Is What Matters

Awareness is everything. Your awareness of how you literally have so much potential right inside of you will take you through all economic climates. Sadly, most people just don’t have this awareness yet. All the external factors (our health, our economy, our financial situation) can be perceived in such a way that you can move through them no matter what. It is about being positive and about being aware of the energy and thoughts inside you at any given moment. If in “your world” you perceive you have choices to quit “if this” and “if that” happen, then guess what, you might as well not get started.

I learned this year that if you really want it, you won’t have excuses. And trust me, they are all excuses. We don’t say no to an opportunity because of lack of money, or too much travel, or lack of time… we say no simply because we just don’t want to move forward. And here is the thing. In my opinion, is it OK to not move forward all the time. Nature tells us that we all must go dormant for a period of time to truly flourish again in the future. Being aware that you are choosing to go dormant is OK.  Having the perception that the external things are the reasons not to grow is not OK. Just know when you are ready to flourish, external reasons are not of your concern and you only need to be “aware” and then commit to be able succeed.

2.  Your Boundaries Help Others Grow

They have to test your boundaries to grow. Did you get that? People don’t test your boundaries to hurt you or to take advantage of you. They test them because they are still growing. And they never stop growing. As you can imagine, if you are a coach or consultant or a “coachsultant”, then be prepared to constantly have your boundaries tested.

How do you grow? Your keep working through your own boundaries and tweaking them until you are happy. Yep, it is that easy to be happy. Here are a few areas that I have found having good boundaries will move you forward the fastest:

• Your physical and mental space
• Advice you take
• Access you give
• Problems you take on
• Results of others that you absorb

3.  Your Customers Want YOU–Mind, Body, and Soul

They want balance. This year I really understood at a deep level how to expand and grow past my comfort zone even more. In the previous ten years, I had spent so much time mastering the mind and soul parts of myself and my business that I had in some ways neglected the body. (Sidenote: I had instead given my body to my four children, but that is another article!) This year I realized I had a been subconsciously telling the people I inspire that you can be successful, but you can’t be balanced. I was “showing” them that you can’t have it all when I wasn’t in shape. Once I began to become more balanced in the “Body” area of my life this year by hiring a trainer and paying better attention to what I ate, my clients literally “felt better” too and began to thank me for my hard work.

Here are just a few ways your customers need you to be balanced:

Mind
They need you to provide good content that helps them detect patterns and learn quickly.

Body
They need you to breathe, move gracefully through struggle, and most of all take care of yourself.

Soul
They need you to help them connect their work to the passions of others so they can experience their own “true meaning”.

4.  Your Customers Are a Part of YOU

We are truly all one.  This year I was able to watch how when we take part in “negativity” at all it shrinks us. Even if we react to negativity as a way to decompress or vent, it shrinks us. Even if we don’t participate in the negativity, but allow the energy of it to fill the air we are breathing, it shrinks us. This year I learned that the only way to run a business and to experience a truly amazing life is to live moment-by-moment in the essence that “we are all one”.

Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Sheri McConnell is the CEO of Sheri McConnell Companies, Inc. and the president and founder of two national organizations, the National Association of Women Writers-NAWW and the Global Institute of Associations-GIA. You can visit Sheri, access her free article archive, and find out more about all four of her companies at www.sherimcconnell.com. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, their four children, a weenie dog, and two cats.

Three Ways To Use The Most Important Business Strategy That Exists

Did you know that there is a under the radar strategy that exists that you can take advantage of right now and it can immediately catapult your success.

That strategy is positioning.

Positioning is the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization.

Re-positioning involves changing the identity of a product, relative to the identity of competing products, in the collective minds of the target market.

At its core, positioning empowers you to take control of your business and use leverage exponentially by leveraging others expertise. The following are three ways you can start changing the way people relate to your company.

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How To Think Big and Lead With Authenticity by Sheri McConnell

Here are six “ways of being” that all authentic and visionary leaders practice. These are leaders that lead with purpose and are strategically creating positive change in the world. These leaders don’t have to focus on the bottom line all the time because their results are so powerful that their business bank account just grows as a result of how attractive their business energy is. Let me explain:

1) Always Be Positive and Grateful

This behavior or this way of being is so powerful and allows you to anchor all lessons and grow from them.  Your ability to see forward movement in every part of your business at every stage is exactly what attracts more success, more money, more exciting experiences, and more amazing people into your world.  No matter what your business or your life looks like today, you must see the lesson in it all and be grateful and welcome it. Genuinely welcome it in. And when you do, you will be rewarded with innovatiive ideas and a ha’s from the universe. On the flip side, if you aren’t positive, you will struggle more just to stand still. Life and business can be effortless or it can be a constant struggle. Know this: You are the core reason whatever you are experiencing right now is happening. Good or bad. Being positive and grateful allows you to see what works and what decisions have been made from ego vs. from the universe that flows through you.

2) Be Decisive and Act Fast

This behavior is all about energy. Just energy, not good or bad energy, but energy that causes more energy. Energy likes speed because that is how it builds momentum. For business leaders, this energy manifests itself in a profitable way through marketing. Concentrate on delegating energy to your team that people can see (video), feel (direct mail), and hear (teleseminars). The faster you create energy, the faster energy in the form of money flows back to your website and your bank account. Then there is the energy that flows through all of the people you help with your products and results. Flows literally through their hearts and souls because your passionate work is changing their lives. Help people accomplish results quickly and all the money you ever wanted will flow to you effortlessly.

3) Always Think About Positioning

This behavior is about saying “No” if it isn’t a “Hell Yes”. Know this: If and when you compromise in any way whatsoever, you are diminishing your results before you even get started. When we say yes to anything we don’t want to do or we shouldn’t do, we are compromising our souls. You will be amazed at how authentic your life will be when you start to practice this one behavior. And be ready for a lot of people to get upset. This one behavior is harder for others to accept than almost any other behavior I am sharing today because they are receiving your decision as rejection. You can not control how people receive your authentic actions. As a leader, you are helping them grow by leaps and bounds though every time you say no to what isn’t in your best interest.

4) Try to Be An Innovator

This behavior is about doing business your way. It is indeed healthy in business to break rules. It is called innovation. Customers love it and it is one of the single fastest ways to be seen as a leader in your industry. And it is ok if you screw up because innovation is messy. And it is fun and profitable too! Now if this behavior intimidates you, trust me, I get it. Here are a few tips that I have learned over the last ten years as I grew my businesses. 1) Carve out alone time often for brilliance to emerge. 2) Surround yourself with innovation through innovative information and other innovative people. It isn’t hard… however, for some of you, you may need to make lots of changes in your life to do these two things.

5) Plan Ahead

This behavior is about planning ahead and thinking strategically about the return on investment in everything you do in your business and in life. You must be able to see the big picture to plan ahead and also be able to see the many parts of your business at a micro level and understand how they relate to each other because all the parts do affect each other. To motivate your team you will need to be able to communicate the big picture and still be able to brainstorm every part of the business with each of your high-level team members as needed. Your ability to be able to successfully switch between Big and Micro Picture in your business will determine your success more than anything else.

6) Do Not Focus On What You Don’t Have

This behavior is the hardest out of the six behaviors in my opinion because it is dependent on your ability to trust and have faith about your future. You can’t touch or feel your future. But you can visualize it. I encourage you to spend time in the real world and time in the abstract world. Ignore what is for moments each day or at least an hour a week and spend some time acting as if you are already physically in that place that you desire. Successful people spend a lot of time focusing on the future and then they are wise enough to check back into what is also. The easiest way to check back in to your business is to look at Quickbooks. I always say that Quickbooks will never lie to you about your business. The numbers don’t lie. Your job is to know where you are now and where you think you want to go and then focus on the end and use the other five habits above to move yourself forward. Enjoy the journey.

Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Sheri McConnell is the CEO of Sheri McConnell Companies, Inc. and the president and founder of two national organizations, the National Association of Women Writers-NAWW and the Global Institute of Associations-GIA. You can visit Sheri, access her free article archive, and find out more about all four of her companies at www.sherimcconnell.com. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, their four children, a weenie dog, and two cats.

Article Writing Mistakes – 7 To Avoid

Making your articles available for reprints by other ezine publishers and webmasters is the cornerstone strategy in building an avalanche of pre-qualified visitors to your website.

If you want your articles to be picked up and massively distributed by others, here are 7 common mistakes to avoid:

Article Mistake #1 Too many grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.

In addition to having your article proofed by others, you may also want to be sure that you have clearly defined paragraphs. Nothing is worse than a big blob of text with 20 run-on sentences.

Readers no longer read articles in depth and often only ’scan’ your article. They want small bites of information that can be easily digested… also known as “info-snacking.”

Keep your “voice” in the same person throughout the entire article. If you are using the first person voice (I, me) or the second person (you, we, us) or the third person (they, them, he, she)…be consistent by staying in one voice for the entire article.

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