Yearly Archives: 2016


TED Talk Tuesday 6th December 2016

This week’s TED Talk clip is from an independent TEDx event:
The success formula to drive extraordinary change | Frederique Murphy | TEDxTallaght

Ever felt like a change but not sure how to drive it? In this raw, personal and passionate talk, mindset strategist Frederique Murphy shares with you how, at the worst time of her life, she stumbled upon a success formula that led her to extraordinary change. She uses science to help you create a winning neural pathway in your brain, so that you too can hit the jackpot!

Clip length: 9 mins 17 secs

Prefer to watch via YouTube? In that case you’ll need to click here.

Frederique has been a regular guest poster here on this blog for many years. To read some of her previous guest posts click here


I Would Love to Share a Little NLP Trick I Learned

In this week’s guest post coach Chris Atley uses some of her experience and knowledge. Many coaches run their coaching business as a solo-entrepreneur but what happens if they fall ill?

I Would Love to Share a Little NLP Trick I Learned

By Chris Atley

'I Would Love to Share a Little NLP Trick I Learned" by Chris Atley

So I don’t typically share NLP techniques for health related issues, as I tend to focus on the blocks preventing entrepreneurs from growing their businesses, but since all areas of our lives are intertwined, I want to share this with you. Even if it seems unrelated to business it is.

This ear infection caused excruciating pain. Like crying and moaning type of pain. I know, not pretty, but it’s what was happening. During one night it was so painful that I couldn’t fall back to sleep and was maxed out on the painkillers I was able to take. So I started listening to Gabrielle Bernstein’s “The Universe Has Your Back” book on audio (in my “good” ear of course). She was taking the reader though a visualization where we were to visualize what we wanted. I chose peace and love, so I was breathing in peace and visualizing what that looked like, and then breathing out love and what that looked like. I did this for several breaths and started to feel a little better. I suddenly remembered an NLP exercise one of my mentors took a classmate through way back when we were doing our training years ago. This classmate had been suffering from a terrible toothache and it was preventing her from being present in class.

This is what I did. I created an image of what the earache looked like in my mind. I pictured it all around my ear. For me, it was a red ball of energy – slightly transparent. It was about a half a foot x half a foot in dimension. I pictured it moving from my ear and out in front of me. This was tough at first because it wanted to keep coming back to my ear and inside of me (associated perspective). The goal was to become dissociated – where I could see it outside of myself instead of experiencing it. It took several tries, and what I realized was that I had to stay with it and actually move with it, if that makes sense. I couldn’t just see it in front of me. So I moved with it and followed it until it was out front. It was then about 5 feet in front of me. I did this exercise several times. And poof!! The pain was gone. It was outside of me and 5 feet in front of me. I could feel that the infection was still there, but the pain was numb. It was the exact feeling the drugs had done. Numb the pain.

Isn’t that amazing?! I just love this stuff.

This enabled me to fall back to sleep, and this whole process only took a few minutes. I share this with you so that you can use it too. It works for heavy emotions as well. Give it a try and I would love to know how it goes for you.

Here are a few other tips and tricks for handing your business when you are ill.

#1. Have the right team in place. Hire for your weaknesses. Hire people who are good at what you are not. Get them in place asap if you don’t have them in place already. Identify what is the most helpful for you to get off your plate now and that is what you need to hire someone to do. Even if you don’t have the time to train them, do it anyway. It will be worth it afterward.

Look at who you can hire in your personal life too. What is going to make your life easier? A housekeeper, someone to do the laundry, a nanny, etc. Warning – this is where a lot of limiting beliefs come up that just aren’t true. Help is good – we can’t possibly do it all.

#2. Have your team create systems. Systems and procedures for everything you do. So that if you need them to jump in and take over on something else – or if you need to onboard more people – they can jump in much more easily.

#3. Get to the root cause of the illness. Whatever we create externally, this includes our bodies, is a reflection of what is going on inside. It’s a result of our thoughts. Dis-ease means exactly that. You are not in ease. Why not? Ask it what it is trying to tell you? What is the lesson? It’s always about some type of healing (not physical). For me it was another reminder to slow down. I had taken on too much. With extra fundraising projects for the kids school, speaking and a husband travelling more, something had to give and get me to slow down. Bingo you have an ear infection. This is with someone who believes whole-heartedly in self-care and practices it. It still crept in and happened. I am constantly trying to better myself and my family, and this in turn has invited in a conversation as to what systems need to be implemented, where we need to strengthen boundaries, and where we can increase our support level. It was the next step in my own growth.

The reality is, things are going to happen. Life is going to happen. We’re still human creating a human experience. It’s all in how we deal with it that counts. It invites growth and opportunity to live a more peaceful and loving life. Old patterns die-hard and sometimes it takes the universe hitting us over the head with a 2×4 to finally get the lesson. We can be proactive or reactive, the choice is ours.

Namaste friends xo

About Chris Atley

Chris Atley shows entrepreneurs how to discover their true worth and increase their personal wealth. Chris inspires thousands of entrepreneurs internationally through her writing, speaking and coaching programs. She has been an expert resource for various media outlets on radio, television, and both online and offline publications. Chris is a certified Belief Breakthrough Coach, NLP-Practitioner and has a BA in Psychology.

Chris has a unique ability to identify the obstacles that keep business owners stuck – that they often aren’t even aware of! She helps people go deep to shift their blocks, and then shows them how to use their own resources to make different decisions and create lasting change. Chris is a wiz at helping business owners get results fast – often during their first call!

Connet with Chris online

Website: http://chrisatley.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chrissy.atley
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-atley/6/56a/428
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrissyatley
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLL1qtX-n8-7Tuw7LdJQURw

 

Article Source: I Would Love to Share a Little NLP Trick I Learned

Ezinearticles expert page: Chris Atley

 


The Psychology of Pricing

Every coach who charges for their services has to decide upon a price. In today’s guest post Kim L. Price shares some of hir expertise and experience as she focuses on:

The Psychology of Pricing

By Kim L. Price
"The Psychology of Pricing' by Kim L. Clark

Have you ever wondered why whenever you buy something at the store, every store, the price is always something like $6.99 or $7,4.95 and never $7.00 or $75.00? Maybe you guessed it’s because of some psychological theory and if that’s what you thought, you were right. Pricing strategy is influenced by much more than the cost to produce the item or provide the service. Those who determine prices, whether self-employed Solopreneurs or corporate marketers, are advised to be attuned to the prevailing psychological inclinations of their prospective customers when considering how to price products and services.

There is a compelling reason that in every retail outlet, the prices nearly always end in .99, .98, or 95 and almost never end in .00. The reason for this unusual practice is based on the discipline called number psychology. Research in this area has persuasively shown that buyers—that is, your customers—do not like zeros. As a result, the vast majority of retail stores will not sell items for $100.00, they instead sell them for $99.95. Why? Because number psychology studies have shown that customers associate zeros with premium prices that they’d rather not pay.

At work here is an intriguing phenomenon known as the left digit effect. The effect causes our brains to (mis)interpret that $99.95 price tag as having a value closer to $99.00, instead of $100.00. Lindsay van Thoen, columnist for The Freelancer’s Union, says that our clients are like any other consumers and that when pricing contract proposals, Solopreneur consultants should keep the left digit effect in mind, follow the lead of retailers and banish zeros from our proposals, to make it easier for clients to agree to our prices.

When we are invited to submit a proposal, it is a good day. Here comes money! The last thing we want to do is to wind up in a wrestling match with a client who wants to nickel and dime us over the price. Unfortunately, clients sometimes feel that Solopreneurs inflate price quotes, even when an itemized accounting is provided. A figure that does not appear to be rounded-off, but rather seems to be specifically customized to the services requested, and contains few zeros, is said by number psychology experts to counteract the feeling that a project fee has been “rounded-up.” A price quote that contains whole numbers is more trust-inspiring and believable to certain clients.

In other words, avoid pricing a project at $5,000.00, because there are too many zeros involved. Number psychology research indicates that we’re better off pricing at $4,825.00 or even $5,175.00.

Pricing pundit Rafi Mohammed, founder and CEO of the consulting firm Pricing for Profit in Cambridge, MA, offers two more pieces of advice to keep in mind about pricing. First, our prices must reflect the value that clients place on the requested service and second, different clients place different value on given services. Other ways to make it more palatable for clients to accept our proposals are:

1) Ask the client to specify the project budget and work with him/her to provide services that you can afford to provide within that amount.

2) Provide three levels of service: good, better and best, so that clients can choose services according to their needs and budget and in a way that reflects the value placed.

A good pricing strategy is an important part of the marketing plan. It sets the stage for building a profitable enterprise. It is imperative to set prices that reflect the client’s value of what we sell and, equally important, to help clients agree that you and your prices are trustworthy.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

About Kim L. Clark

Kim L. Clark is an external strategy and marketing consultant who brings agile talent to the for-profit and not-for-profit organization leaders with whom she works. To learn how your organization can benefit when you work with Kim, please visit http://polishedprofessionalsboston.com.

Article Source:  The Psychology of Pricing

Ezinearticles Expert Page: Kim L. Price

 

 

 


How to Set Up For Successful Meditation

Kevin Schoeninger specialises in mind-body training, in today’s guest post he shares some of his expertise and experience in:

How to Set Up For Successful Meditation

By Kevin Schoeninger

"How to Set Up For Successful Meditation" By Kevin Schoeninger

What is the current status of your meditation practice? Is it in the idea stage, waiting to be implemented at the right time? Maybe you know it’s something that would be good for you, but haven’t yet clicked into doing it as a daily routine?

Or maybe, you’ve done it at times, but either been frustrated by the results or lost interest? Or perhaps, you love to meditate and would like to gain some insights about how to go even deeper or make it even more effective?

In this article, we explore 4 Steps to Setup a Successful Meditation Session.

1. Set Up a Meditative Space

Whether it’s a spare room, a closet, or a part of your bedroom, define a space that you dedicate to meditation. You can mark this space with a rug, a meditation bench, chair, or cushion.

By meditating in the same space consistently it comes to represent “meditation” to you, and thereby becomes a space that supports you moving into a meditative state. After a period of time, just sitting in this space will relax you.

Another way to enhance the atmosphere of your meditation space is to set up an “altar” that represents what is important to you in your practice and your life.

If the idea of having an altar inspires you, it can take any form that is pleasing and motivating to you. It can include photos, symbols, candles, flowers, offering bowls, statues, quotes, and so on. The basic idea is to put significant items there-ones that put you in the right mindset for meditating and remind you WHY you are taking time to practice.

If you use meditation to support a religious faith, place images or items that represent your faith on your altar. Personally, I have symbols of several different spiritual traditions in my space to represent the Universal Spirituality underlying all faiths and traditions. I also have family pictures and quotes that remind me of my higher intentions. The most important quality of your altar is that it represents what is important to you.

Once you’ve meditated in your sacred space for a while and used it to grow your inner skills, you’ll be able to take your meditation on the road and do it virtually anytime, anywhere-no matter what is going on around you. This is when your meditation becomes truly powerful. Yet, even then, you’ll probably really appreciate and value those times when you get to meditate in your sacred space.

2. Create a Ritual Around Your Practice

Set a regular time for meditation and create a consistent routine that moves you into your practice.

One way to support regular practice is to make meditation a part of an established routine that you already do. For most people, the best way is to integrate meditation into their morning routine. This encourages you to start your day from a relaxed, present, intentional perspective-and it insures that you meditate before other events in the day get in the way.

Once you’ve decided on the time you will meditate, plan your day accordingly. If you are meditating first thing, make sure you go to bed early enough that you can comfortably wake up early enough to practice without rushing. Set your alarm to wake you up with plenty of time.

Once you get up, have a routine to move you into your practice. For example, I first massage around my eyes and back of my head while still lying in bed. I then massage the bottoms of my feet with some tennis balls that are at the foot of my bed when I sit up. I use the toilet, then splash water on my face and massage my scalp. Then, I do some stretches to limber up before I stand in my standing meditation posture. All of this awakens and loosens me up and prepares me for a good practice session.

After standing meditation, I do a seated meditation, then I shake out my whole body, and finish with prayers for my family and the whole planet at my altar.

Having a routine that includes how I wake up, makes the movement into my practice seamless and reliable. Over the years, I have adapted and grown my routine as needs, insights, and new learning have guided me. Yet, the basic idea of having a ritual sequence has made waking up something that I look forward to and moving into my practice easy and natural.

3. Adjust Your Posture

If you search for photos of people meditating, nine times out of ten you’ll find them seated in a cross-legged position. Unfortunately, this gives many people the impression that this is THE WAY to meditate. I heartily disagree.

In fact, unless you’ve grown up in a culture in which that is the way you normally sit, I encourage you to sit on a chair, bench, or bed that puts the soles of your feet flat on the floor and parallel with each other, with your hips level with or slightly above your knees.

Having the soles of your feet flat on the floor and parallel to each other puts you in a “grounded” position that also bio-mechanically aligns your feet, knees, and hips. This position is easy on your joints.

There are many acceptable hand positions for meditation-each with their own purpose. A basic starting position is to place your hands palms-down on your legs. This position is relaxing, while it also supports upright posture and alert attention. Finer points are “softening” your hands and lowering your shoulders to release tension and having a slight space under your armpits to encourage an open, expansive, spacious feeling in your body.

Next, imagine a string attached to the top of your head, drawing your spine into an upright position. Tuck your chin slightly to lengthen the back of your neck and put a subtle smile on your lips to encourage a calm, accepting, positive attitude.

Lightly close your eyes to support you in focusing inwardly. Unless you are using a technique that focuses on energy above your head, direct your gaze slightly downward. After practicing a while, you may notice that your eyes naturally open just slightly, with a soft focus to the outer environment.

Finally, sit forward on the front edge of your seat. Sit far enough forward so you feel some weight in your feet, which encourages a grounded, present feeling in your body. Sitting without back support also aligns and strengthens your spine, which has an empowering affect.

As you align and strengthen your spine, you are more likely to stay aligned with your higher intentions and feel strong in following them, rather than getting distracted and swayed by less important desires. You develop a strong “backbone.”

Now, many people email me saying that this posture is just too hard and painful to maintain.

The reason for that is tension along the spine, weakness, and misalignment. Meditation practice is actually a powerful way to overcome these issues. First it reveals those issues, then it heals those issues.

During your meditation, you become aware of spinal tension, weakness, and misalignment. And, yes, that doesn’t feel so good, initially. Yet, if you can accept it and observe it without judgment, without fighting it, over time, you’ll notice that the tensions release, the spine adjusts, you come into alignment, and get stronger.

A well-known meditation teacher, Dr. Meares, says that some discomfort when starting to meditate is actually a good thing, because it teaches you to be able to observe discomfort without reacting, judging, or running away from it. As you calmly sit with discomfort, over time, it resolves and changes for the better. This is a powerful lesson to take with you into any uncomfortable situation in life. Be calmly present, relax and observe things non-judgmentally, then notice resolutions as they arise.

All that being said in favor of sitting upright without back support, you might approach this incrementally. Start by sitting forward for just a minute or two, calmly observe any discomfort until it is just too distracting, then sit back against support for the remainder of your practice. Gradually increase the amount of time that you sit in an unsupported upright position. After practicing for a period of time, this will actually become a comfortable, relaxed, and empowered way for you to sit.

One caveat is that some people cannot sit this way due to severe physical impairments. If that is the case, you can use back support or even lie down to meditate. If you do that, simply try to keep your spine as straight as possible by imagining that string extending your spine, tuck your chin slightly, adopt a subtle smile, soften your hands, and lightly close your eyes.

4. Adopt the Three Noble Principles-Good in the Beginning, Good in the Middle, Good at the End

In their book, “Meditation: An In-Depth Guide,” Ian Gawler and Paul Bedson share these three principles for meditation practice.

“Good in the Beginning” means that when you start a meditation session call to mind your intention, your motivation for practicing. You might want to “relax, to be calm, to let go of stress, to be well, to heal. But what is suggested here is that the more we can expand our motivation, the more encompassing our motivation, the more meaningful our meditation becomes, the more we will value it, the more likely we are to do it, and the more benefit it will bring.” (p.69, Meditation: An In-Depth Guide)

Consider how your meditation practice will have a positive impact on your day, on your interactions with others, and even on the collective consciousness of “all of us together.” What if your practice is making a positive contribution not only to your life, but also to the lives of others, and to all life on Earth?

In the Buddhist tradition, the goal of meditation practice is enlightenment, so that we can use our enlightenment to bring enlightenment to all beings. In the Christian contemplative tradition, meditation leads us into deeper communion with God, so that we bring Divine Love and Light into the world. In a mind-body view of meditation, we come into a relaxed, expanded, focused state so that we heal our wounds, grow our inner skills, be more effective in anything we do, and more caring and compassionate with others.

What motivates you to meditate?

“Good in the Middle” has to do with your attitude during meditation. The attitude to practice is calm, present, non-judgmental awareness of whatever happens. Recognize whatever comes up, accept it, release it, and return to your focal cues.

“Good in the End” has to do with how you finish your practice. Rather than rushing off into your day, it’s important to end intentionally and even to dedicate your practice to someone or something beyond yourself. From a meditative state you can more easily visualize positive outcomes for yourself, others, and the planet. You are also in a powerful state from which to pray. You can use your meditation to connect to a greater mission in life, such as being a vessel for Spirit to be more present in the world.

As you end your meditation think of how the skills you developed and the state of being you entered can have a greater impact in the larger whole.

When you Set Up a Meditative Space, Create a Ritual Around Your Practice, Sit with Good Posture, and Adopt the Three Noble Principles, your meditation practice will become much easier and more enjoyable, significant, and successful.

Enjoy your practice!

Looking for a powerful proven technique to quickly shift you into an empowered meditative state? Click Here to download The Core Energy Technique to release anything that holds you back, connect to your heart, and raise your vibration!

About Kevin Schoeninger

Kevin Schoeninger’s lifework is mind-body training through daily practice. He graduated from Villanova University in 1986 with a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and is certified as a Personal Trainer, Qigong Meditation instructor, Life Coach, and Reiki Master Teacher.

Kevin’s published programs include:

  • The Power of Practice Program
  • Learn Qigong Meditation Home Study Course
  • RAISE YOUR VIBRATION: A Guide to Core Energy Meditation
  • The Life You Are Meant To Live Program
  • Holistic Fitness Training Program
  • SpiritualGrowthMonthly.com

His programs are available online through The Mind-Body Training Company: Feel free to email Kevin with your questions through the link on The Power of Practice Home Page:

Connect with Kevin Schoeninger on Social Media

 

 

Article Source: How to Set Up For Successful Meditation

Ezinearticles Expert Page: Kevin Schoeninger