How to Turn Resolutions Into Goals You Can Achieve

(From left, Marbeth Dunn, Erika Firenczi, Jolie Glassman, Joanne Burgess, Alexandra Figueredo)

Most people start of the year motivated by ambitious resolutions, whether it's starting a new fitness routine, a new business venture or some other big dream. Oftentimes, their goals fizzle away within weeks.

January’s signature meeting of the Greater Miami Holistic Chamber of Commerce tackled this topic of turning those resolutions into real, achievable goals all year round. A distinguished panel of success experts shed light on this subject and shared their best tips and strategies to achieve those goals once and for all:

- Joanne Burgess, certified life coach, master NLP practitioner and founder of Flight of Minds, overcame several challenges to get to where she is today, including moving from another country (England) and growing up with dyslexia. She believes the most important part of achieving success is to focus. “What you focus on, you create,” she said. To that end, she suggests limiting distractions as well as negative people in one’s life. Also, language is very powerful and she advises being aware of the words you’re using and focusing on.

- Jolie Glassman, founder of South Beach Boxing, a local gym that earns over $1 million in revenue per year, doesn’t believe in excuses. She shares her three keys to success. First, be totally immersed in one’s goal, making it an obsession and living within purpose. Second, make education a priority, constantly learning and growing by making time for personal and professional development. Third, play up on one’s strengths, motivating rather than discouraging oneself.

- Erika Ferenczi is a business and wealth mindset mentor and founder of Profits for Freedom and the Unstoppable Female. Growing up in a divorced household and then facing a diminishing marriage as an adult, she quickly realized she needed to do whatever it takes to become financially independent. “It’s not about the money, but what the money allows you to do when you get it. It is all about freedom and choice,” she said. She suggests three ways to achieving one’s goals. First, reach the point of “enough is enough” and attach success either to a lot of pleasure, or to a lot of pain if not achieved. Next, become aware of secret thoughts in one’s head and be honest about those. Lastly, set yourself up for success, asking yourself what steps are you actually taking, are you being the person that achieves success and are you making your life your legacy?

- Marbeth Dunn, The Joy To Abundance Strategist and creator of Spiritual Wealth Activation System, overcame abandonment and abuse as a child that carried over into her adult life to now help others overcome their own challenges. “In our challenges there are so many blessings. These roadblocks are our teachers,” she said. When she finally realized her thoughts have power, everything shifted for her. No matter how much you plan for success, if your thoughts are creating resistance, you won’t effectively manifest your desires. When the voices or “committees” in our head get crazy, she recommends stepping back, being present and not judging oneself for these thoughts. One can release resistance by first becoming aware of it and then allowing oneself to intensify those feelings until they begin to dissipate. It may help to seek counsel from a coach, hypnotist, EFT practitioner, therapist or another practitioner trained in helping release baggage and saboteurs.

In conclusion, in order to create sustainable, lasting success in any area of one’s life, we must get clear and focus on what we desire, have a can-do, no-excuses attitude that takes action, ignore the negative self talk, people and distractions, and clear the subconscious mindset blocks that may sabotage our success. So what’s your big goal for the year?

Alexandra Figueredo is president of Greater Miami Holistic Chamber of Commerce and founder of Mission Based Branding Institute, a full-service communications agency and training platform dedicated to helping mission-driven individuals and businesses. Contact her at alexandra@missionbasedbranding.com or 305-209-5886.

Lemongrass Spa is #OnAMission to Spread Awareness of All Natural Skincare Products

Alexandra having fun interviewing Lemongrass Spa founder Heidi Leist

Last weekend I had the honor of attending convention of a company very special to me: Lemongrass Spa, a mission-driven company whose mission is to spread awareness of all natural and organic handmade products and provide the very highest quality products possible (Disclaimer: I am a consultant for Lemongrass Spa, which is a direct sales company. To learn more about the company and products, click here). 

Apart from meeting the founders Heidi and Bryan Leist, a heart-centered couple that is highly accessible, networking and bonding with other Lemongrass Spa consultants, I learned quite a bit about sales and business that is relevant to everyone.

Featured keynote speaker Belinda Ellsworth has decades worth of experience in direct sales companies. Here are the key takeaways from Belinda as well as other speakers from the weekend:

Priorities of a Successful Leader by Belinda Ellsworth

• Goal Setting/Vision: Only 13% of people set goals and 3% have any big picture vision for their life. Furthermore, only 1% of individuals have the natural ability to be born leaders and build vision in others. Leaders must set goals for themselves and others, have a big picture vision, and learn/emulate from other leaders. If you do this, you will be in the top percentile of leaders in your industry.
• Schedule Your Day/Week: Try this exercise: for a week write down EVERYTHING you do in your day. Chances are you will find you waste a ton of time on things that are not furthering your business or personal growth. Instead, try scheduling your day and week in advance. And most importantly, stick to it. At the end of the day, check your progress and see where you've been spending most of your time. Discipline is a muscle, you need to practice it.
• Create the Spark: Everywhere you go, create passion around your mission and business.

5 D's of Success by Belinda Ellsworth:

• Decision: decide what you want
• Desire: continues to build/grow
• Details: Daily to do lists builds your discipline, make sure to set reasonable expectations of what you can do
• Destination: make sure to reach it
• Determination: decide what you want, follow through, never lose sight of the end result and keep going

5 Gifts of Direct Selling by Belinda Ellsworth:

• Financial Freedom
• Flexibility of Time
• Friendships
• Recognition
• Personal Growth & Self Esteem

Other Keys to Success:

• Set your day into 15-minute increments of income producing activities
• Focus on your business 4 days a week
• People will mirror what you put out
• Commitment: Keep your commitments
• Consistent: follow through on the mundane tasks even if you don't want to do them.
• Organization: Keep all your sales leads in one folder.
• Make booking calls when you're on fire, not when you're desperate for leads! Your confidence will shine through!
• Follow up: follow up, follow up!
• Focus on why people love your product/service and focus on that.
• Never pre-judge your clients or prospects. You never know what someone is going through that could lead them to want to work with you. Always do the sales talk no matter what. Invite them to be your client, they may be waiting for you.
• Ideal Client: envision your ideal client
• Share: Love for your product/service, integrity of the company, friendships/comraderie
• Goal setting: create a sense of urgency
• Customer Care: follow up, follow up.
• Pushy people aren't afraid to be pushy. OFFER, don't push.
• Take the time to pray before a call or meeting to be of service to your clients and to prepare their hearts to be open to your product/service.
• Remember to have fun!

Check out a short interview with founder and CEO Heidi Leist on her mission and advice she provides for Missionpreneurs:

Taking Responsibility for Your Actions

[Note: Before I forget, my next 4-Week Accelerated Coaching Program starts in a few weeks...are you ready for BIG transformation results in your career? Achieve your dream biz goal in just weeks, space is limited so check it out now! Here's to your success! ~Alex]

Image: Facebook.com/RyanSLochte

Hopefully most of you have been watching the Olympics and seen my favorite Gator swimmer Ryan Lochte win a few Olympic medals, including 2 golds. Lochte stars in a commercial from AT&T in which he says "Luck didn't get me to London, I swam here."

That is so powerful. (And not just because he's a gold medal winning Olympic champion and world record breaking swimmer!) Instead of leaving it up to luck or destiny, hard work, discipline, persistence and commitment will get you results. 

Very successful people realize they are in control and take ownership of the results in their lives. They are decisive and confident in their decisions. 

On the other hand, it is very common for most of us to see ourselves with blinders and not realize how we act or our role in our decisions and actions. We give lame excuses that involve everyone and everything other than ourselves.

Last week I mentioned that many people use the term "I can't" very loosely. Be very clear about what you can and cannot do.

Are you holding yourself accountable for all your decisions and actions? Blaming other people such as your family, boss and other external sources is a common way to avoid taking responsibility. Instead of looking at your role in a situation, many of us think thoughts like "if only he/she/they would do/say/be..." things would be better. 

If you're not getting the success you want in your life, you may need to take a step back and assess your thoughts and behaviors. 

Taking full responsibility for your life is extremely empowering... and will lead you down the path toward success. Blaming outside forces (or even holding on to our own shortcomings) is irresponsible and will keep you stuck in the same status. 

Action Step: Notice the next time you say "I can't" or blame other people or outside forces for the events and results you get in your life. Catch yourself before you say these words. Instead of
"I can't" use terms such as "I choose" or "I prioritize." When something you are working on does not pan out, acknowledge your role and that you can try harder or try a different approach. You'll be on your way to Empowerment! 

This article is derived from Ch. 2 on Creating a Powerful Mindset from Sculpt Your Life From Sketch to Masterpiece(TM). This success program presents the 12 most powerful strategies for success and is designed to motivate you to increase your productivity, reach your goals and ultimately fulfill your purpose toward your masterpiece life!

How to Develop your "Olympic Mindset" to Achieve Big Results

Okay so it's Olympic time, and I'm already getting inspired. Who doesn't feel inspired by this image of Michael Phelps with his gold medals?

In fact, it was 4 years ago that Michael Phelps inspired my weightloss journey, helping me lose 15 pounds in 6 weeks as I trekked up and down the stairs of my building up to 5 times (20 flights of stairs) two times a day, in addition to my regular workouts. Was I insane? Yes! But I wanted it badly enough. Before then, I thought I would never lose weight and was hopeless. I had to master my MIND first, before I could master my body. 

The same goes for any professional endeavor you have. In fact, I realized that I really perform at my peak when I break down my goals in short fragments and then FOCUS on them... for example, these are some of the things I was able to accomplish in just 4 weeks or less: write my book Sculpt Your Life From Sketch to Masterpiece(TM); started a business from scratch; got a professional industry certification; applied for and started my Master's; figured out the "sales game" to double my sales without being "salesy"; just to name a few. 

In my own experience and that of my clients, and taking numerous high-performance courses and training seminars, I've learned and now know what it takes to succeed. That's why I became a Success Coach, so I could help my clients succeed in their endeavors. People used to tell me I should be a professional cheerleader because I'm such a positive motivator...but I'm glad I became a certified Coach instead!

So here are the top 8 Characteristics of Winning Olympians that get them to win the MIND game and achieve their goals...and you can develop them too:

1. Desire: you need to want to achieve your goal badly enough!

2. Focus: be clear about what you want 

3. Handle Pressure (with Grace): have the courage to step up and don't crack under pressure

4. Overcome Mistakes/Hurdles: probably the thing I admire most about athletes is their ability to "forget" the mistakes they made yesterday and focus on today

5. Discipline: yes, you have to actual work! But no Pain, no Gain, as the saying goes

6. Persistence: Keep going, never give up even when you want to quit!

7. Get a Coach/Support: Every great athlete has a great coach. A coach hones your strengths and helps mitigate your weaknesses. Plus of course, you simply cannot perform at your peak if you don't have the support.

8. Commitment: An Olympian commits to a goal, and sees it through to completion. Even if they "fail", they commit to improve themselves and train harder.

Well there you have it. If you're interested in help with your own "Olympic Goal" transformation with rapid results, check out my next 4-Week Accelerated Coaching Program! If you're ready for BIG transformation results in just a few weeks, developing a high performance mindset to achieve your dream biz goal, check it out! Are you ready to develop your "Olympic Mindset"?

Give it Your Very Best Every Time

[Note: Before I forget, my next 4-Week Accelerated Coaching Program starts in a few weeks...are you ready for BIG transformation results in your career? Achieve your dream biz goal in just weeks, space is limited so check it out now! Here's to your success! ~Alex]

Image from The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

 Some people have been kind enough to call me a fine artist. I’ve always called
myself an illustrator. I’m not sure what the difference is. All I know is that
whatever type of work I do, I try to give it my very best. Art has been my life.
~Norman Rockwell 

It is my philosophy that if you are going to have a goal, give it your very best and aim for as high as you can possibly conceive. Not that I ALWAYS do that, but certainly I have enough proof that I have aimed and reached most of the professional goals I set over the last 5 years. Some of them, like my book and success program Sculpt Your Life™,  went from a sketch to a masterpiece in only a few months! And now I still have many more lofty goals I’d love to accomplish over the next couple of years.

You see, I’m in the process of creating and planning a really awesome event that I know you will all love, and I’m really excited about it! I want it to be BIG, with BIG speakers and a lot of guests that are willing to act BIG. When I mentioned it to some of my family members initially, everyone was supportive except for one “Negateer” who politely said that for my first event of this kind, I should aim for a much smaller venue with fewer people than I was originally planning.

For a second, my “Confined Mind” as I call it, kicked in and thought maybe she was right. But then I realized that was just my own discomfort with the situation because this is a lofty goal—it’s definitely an intimidating event, but definitely something I can handle. And I also knew that it was her “Confined Mind” talking as well, either from her own insecurity or because she doesn't want me to fail...but either way she is not supporting me (or herself) to dream BIG.

So I politely told her “Thank you, but No! I’m doing a BIG event!”

You see, I’ve already done several events and workshops with dozens of people and online webinars with over a hundred people. I want to do a “BIG event." What type of an example would I be as a coach and businessperson to you and all my clients, friends and family if I played “small”? If I plan for 10,000 and I get 100 people to attend (1%), it is still better than planning for 100 and getting 99 to show up (99%)!

Certainly there is always room to try something once and then adjust and correct later. But many times all you’ve got is one shot, one opportunity, one audition!  

Look at all the successful people whose first books are bestsellers, or who become “stars” after their first performance. Not that they had it easy, but they gave it their very best and it paid off!

We live in this sense of fear that limits us from going all the way. If you’re going to plan something, do it right, and go all the way! I give you permission, and darn it, I support you! Plan and create your “Masterpiece” work the first time and every time. It’s the surest way to accomplish your Masterpiece!

Because of my commitment to a BIG dream, I can proudly say today that I write books, not just articles, and I create BIG events, not just small gatherings. 

What can you do to play BIG and give it your best today? 

And importantly, is there any way I can support you or hold you accountable to live BIG or give it your very best? 

This passage is inspired from Module 6: Creating Masterpiece Work, of my Success Program Sculpt Your Life From Sketch to Masterpiece(TM) designed to help you set and reach your goals and ultimately lead your best, Masterpiece life!

For more FREE success tips and strategies and to get instant access to the "12 Secrets to Success Strategies" video with more great insight from Sculpt Your Life From Sketch to Masterpiece(TM), sign up now (don't worry, I value my client's privacy and never sell information to third parties!):

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'Tis the Season to Set Goals!*

On the journey through your life, goals are like your destination points you map out in advance. The first step in determining your goals is to identify what you desire in life. What are your aspirations? What do you wish to accomplish now and in the future? You must determine this first to know what to reach for! 

The trick to setting goals is making them S.M.A.R.T.**: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound: 

Make Goals Specific: Your goals should be as specific as possible. Start with the 5 W’s: Who, What, Where, Which and Why. For example, specify that you want to own a three-bedroom, beachside vacation condo in Miami Beach, Florida. Try to be as detailed and visual as possible for each goal.

Make Goals Measurable: Each goal should be measurable in order to evaluate whether you have achieved it or not. For example, a goal to “make more money” is not measurable. How much do you really want to earn? Is it $5,000, $50,000 or $500,000 more per year? Notice what a difference just one zero can make to your goal! It’s easiest to measure goals by associating them with numbers. Ask yourself “How Much?” or “How Many?” for each goal.

Make Goals Attainable: When setting goals, I coach my clients that nothing is outside their realm of possibility. At the same time, your goals shouldn’t be outside of your scope of reality. Ask yourself, how will you accomplish each goal? For example, would you like to have your “dream home” or “dream vacation,” but feel it’s only possible by winning the lottery? If so, these are not realistic goals for you. You don’t want to give up on any goal because it’s not feasible or believable in your mind.

Make Goals Relevant: Make your goals relevant and important for you and your life. Let’s assume your goal is to obtain your Master’s degree. Is this something you really want to accomplish or others want for you? Your goals should always be in your best interest.

Make Goals Time-Bound: Setting time limits for your goals helps you direct your attention on how best to accomplish them. Are you to complete your goal in three months or three years? Set a specific time frame for each goal. With a deadline in mind, you can begin to work backward toward obtaining it by focusing on the steps you need to take now to reach your goal.

When you make your goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound, you are more likely to commit to accomplish them.

*'Tis the season to reflect on where you are and where you want to go in your life! If you need a bit more assistance, download my free "Sketch Your Goals" Guide for making 2012 your best year ever!

This article is derived from Ch. 3 on Goals from Sculpt Your Life From Sketch to Masterpiece(TM). This e-book program presents 12 strategies for success and is designed to motivate you to increase your productivity, reach your goals and ultimately fulfill your purpose! 

For more FREE tips and strategies and to get instant access to the "12 Secrets to Success Strategies" video with more great insight from Sculpt Your Life From Sketch to Masterpiece(TM), sign up now:

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**Citation: Doran, George T. “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives.” Management Review, Nov. 1981, Volume 70, Issue 11, p. 35-36.