Your Guide To Handling Burnout

Your Guide To Handling Burnout

Burnout- we’ve all experienced it – whether or not you recognized it at the time. Even if you’re doing a job that you’re deeply passionate about and enjoy, you’re not immune to experiencing burnout.  Burnout is the mental and physical fatigue that occurs when the demands of your job constantly surpass the amount of energy you have available.

Here are some signs of burnout, outlined by scientists Freudenberger and Gail North, who coined the term. 

The Twelve Signs Of Burnout 

  1. The compulsion to prove oneself
  2. Working harder
  3. Neglecting personal needs
  4. Displacement of conflict
  5. Revision of values (work to the exclusion of all else)
  6. Denial of emerging problems
  7. Withdrawal (typically accompanied by self-medicating)
  8. Odd behavioral changes
  9. Depersonalization (unable to connect with others or one’s own needs)
  10. Inner emptiness
  11. Depression
  12. Burnout syndrome

Some early signs of burnout include: 

  • Anxiety
  • Sleep
  • Fatigue
  • Pessimism 

There are different types of burnout that you can experience, and recognizing the type of burnout you’re experiencing can be just as instrumental to your healing process as recognizing the symptoms of burnout. 

The Three Types Of Burnout

Overload Burnout

This is the type of burnout that most people think of when they hear the term burnout. It occurs when you take up a workload that’s too heavy and/ or work at an unsustainable pace. 

Under-Challenged Burnout

A high workload may cause burnout, but a lack of stimulating tasks can also cause it. People need to feel stimulated and involved to be happy in their jobs. If there’s no passion for their job, they will lose interest and become despondent.

Neglect Burnout

People feel powerless at work when they lack a feeling of purpose and agency. It’s difficult to stay interested when you feel like nothing you do matters.  Employees will not only burn out if they believe their task is too difficult or simply too much to accomplish, but also if they become indifferent or bored at their work for prolonged periods.

How To Avoid Burnout

Whether you noticed the warning symptoms of oncoming burnout or if you’ve already reached your limit, pushing through the fatigue and going on as you have will only bring more mental and physical harm. Now is the moment to take a breather to reset yourself by learning how to help yourself overcome burnout and feel mentally and physically healthy again.

Pay Attention To Your Feelings / Find your ‘Center’

Burnout is intimately connected to emotion, and emotions are strong indicators of the things we value. Paying attention to your emotions and when they occur can help you manage anger, irritation, and disappointment before they become burnout. Using the breath and looking inward is necessary in finding your ‘center’. Being centered replenishes the feeling of calm and can ward off burnout. 

Forge Strong Relationships With Your Co-Workers

Dr. Maslach identified a lack of community as one of the major things that led to burnout. Developing relationships at work provides a sense of community access to resources and makes asking for help easier as you have people to turn to. Developing relationships outside of work is equally important, it offers a balance between work and life.

Set Boundaries Between Your Home And Work 

Set — and keep to — a work schedule that allows you to balance your personal and work life. You may even try setting physical limits, such as closing your office door at the end of the day or erasing business email accounts from personal devices.

Remember to Keep Moving. 

Physical exercise increases the feel-good hormones and makes a huge difference in mental wellness. Burnout can be held at bay by nourishing your mind through physical movement.

Problems at the organizational level can cause burnout, but it can just as easily be solved with good leadership, and good human resources that embrace a wellness culture.  Company leadership makes a significant impact on how employees see their workplace.

The Positive Change Group strives to help leaders and employees by making ease to implement resources available to you. In many cases, you are not the only one facing difficulties, and a positive transformation in your workplace culture will lead to healthier staff, and healthier profits!

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Investing in your team: Ways to grow revenue

Team members of an organization hold growing seedlings

Your employees are your biggest asset and in the current climate companies have had to expand in how they invest in their teams. A business is only as good as its employees’ weakest link and that’s why you need to consistently invest in your team. It’s impossible to grow revenue without a strong team of knowledgeable, dedicated employees. Investing in your team is also crucial at the leadership and management level.

There’s more to it than simply planning a team building day. You need to create a healthy environment and culture where your employees can perform their best daily. Here are the five major elements that you need to focus on.

Training

For entrepreneurs wishing to invest in their team, training is one of the most important places to start.

Statistics show that training is a key motivator for employees.

When on-boarding new workers, it is important to have an extensive training program. This should include a thorough orientation, process manuals, or video tutorials including the soft and hard skills needed to do the job. Employee success is dependent on how extensive your training is, so you need to ensure that you go in-depth and cover the full scope of their responsibilities.

Ongoing training is essential as every employee needs professional development linked to their current role. Essentially you need to set your team up for success by giving them the proper tools. This ongoing training is an activity that you should tailor to the needs of your business. Providing ongoing training is crucial if you want to grow revenue. 

Benefits

“Benefits” is a phrase that has changed subtly over the years and continues to evolve as workers demand change. As a business owner, you’ve certainly seen what other workplaces offer, and there’s a chance you’ve contemplated offering the same benefits so you don’t lose your competitive edge.

Recently, several employee benefits packages have been upgraded to include perks such as increased vacation time or remote work options. Benefits need to include support for mental health as we have seen this on a critical scale in today’s workforce. This can include wellness workshops, mindful coaching, wellness days and stress management tools.

The benefits you offer should represent the values that you and your employees share, as this will increase productivity and motivation. Bonus side effect; grow revenue.

Motivation

You can motivate your employees to perform their best in various ways, and money isn’t necessarily at the top of the list. Of course, you need to pay your employees what they’re worth and at a competitive rate if you want to retain them. However, what frequently inspires employees is a sense of belonging that stems from an authentic business culture where they feel appreciated.

Investing in your team should include learning about individual team members and finding methods to recognize and celebrate their accomplishments. It is critical to motivating them.

You can’t engage your team if you don’t get to know them, so investing in your team requires learning about them. Investing in your team and creating a culture of motivation can also simply include the leaders and management taking time throughout the day to interact with employees. 

One of the most effective methods to engage employees is to be interested in their motivations, families, hobbies, and so on. This creates a work environment where they will feel valued, appreciated and part of a community and that is when they’ll do their best work! 

Even something as simple as monthly accomplishment awards can alter the workplace and take on new significance when you invest in them. When you know your team, you can personalize their rewards to match their objectives and needs rather than generic awards that are meaningless in the long run.

Culture

The three elements mentioned above are all critical, but if they do not accurately reflect the culture of your workplace, they’re all meaningless. Integrity is one of the most important principles in establishing a solid corporate culture. This will hold all employees accountable including you as the leader to do what you say. It doesn’t matter whether it is a small promise like honoring a meeting time to a big promise such as a pay increase in an employee review. The key is when you have integrity as part of the corporate culture it builds everyone’s trust which will have a positive effect on revenue growth.  

Having 3 to 5 company core values is a great way to set the culture. A good team building experience is to get your team involved in coming up with these core values if you don’t already have them, or reviewing the current ones you have and updating them. This participation in your company’s core values will create ‘buy-in’ to reaching a common goal..

A connection formed from mutual respect with your workers contributes to developing a stable and healthy work culture. A business culture that enables employees to be a part of the bigger vision and feel like they make a difference promotes employee engagement and helps you grow revenue.

The Positive Change Group is here to help you grow as a leader. Julie Cass will help you wholistically work towards your goals. Everything you’ve ever wanted is within your reach. Learn more about how you can achieve them today!

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Empower Yourself to Reach your Goals

Personal empowerment

Do you ever feel like you have no control over your life and work? Perhaps you feel dominated by your colleagues or overwhelmed by the demands of your job. Or is your time outside the workplace spent tending to other people’s needs at the expense of your own?  

This sense of powerlessness can be immensely frustrating. But, no matter what personal challenges you face, you can always make choices that give you back control in any environment. Understanding this is the essence of self-empowerment.  

In this article, we examine personal empowerment in more detail and explore the tools and techniques that you can use to achieve your goals. 

What Is Personal Empowerment?  

Personal empowerment is about taking control of your own life and making positive changes based on what you want.  

It’s closely linked to attributes like self-esteem, but true empowerment comes when you convert intention into action.  

Personal empowerment means permitting yourself to succeed, because you believe in yourself.   

Remember that “empowerment” is not the same as “entitlement.” People who feel entitled tend to believe that benefits and privileges should come to them automatically, while empowered people achieve success through their actions, reflection, and cooperation.  

How To Achieve Self-Empowerment  

Unhappiness is usually from unfulfilled desires, for you and others. You desperately want to feel stronger and make a bigger impact, but how do you do it?  

Consider this four-step process for self-empowerment to reach your goals and get what you want. 

Stage One: Get Clear on What you Want  

When you feel that you lack power, your confidence and self-esteem can take a knock, too. Developing your self-awareness depends on the extent to which you believe that you are the master of your own destiny or that external forces, people, or events determine your outcomes.  

The first step to reaching goals is to get clarity on what you want. Understanding that creating empowerment and creating anything stems from a desire. Desires are a nudge from your higher self and the more you listen the more powerful you will become. It’s the first step in adopting a winning mindset. Listing all of the things that you’re good at – and that you could be great at – can be hugely empowering in itself. Building on those strengths and knowing how to deal with your limitations can give you an even bigger boost.  

Understanding yourself better is a core aspect of emotional intelligence, and a qualified counselor or coach can help you identify these areas.  

Focus on the desires that mean the most to you and correspond with your personal values, and heart.  

Stage Two: Beliefs  

In order for any desire to come true, we need to believe that it can. Your beliefs turbo-charge your desires and make them take shape and manifest. Without belief your desires are just a wish.  

Positively charge your beliefs and you positively charge your desires into motion.  Like many things, this is a process because most of us have been living by limiting beliefs our whole life.   

These limiting beliefs have created most of the dialogue in our heads which has created the outcomes in our lives.  These limiting beliefs have been cycled down through the generations and most generations have added new limiting beliefs to the pile.  You have the power to break this cycle.  You are greater than any limiting belief you have adopted.   

Break the Cycle of Limiting Beliefs  

For every limiting belief you can create an unlimiting belief.  Every time your mind drifts to the limiting belief, you stop the thought and replace it with the non limiting belief.  Feel the difference in your body when you really repeat and let the non limiting belief vibrate through.  

Stage Three: Power of the Mind 

Persistence And Resilience 

Celebrating small achievements is important for building confidence and self-love. Keeping a record of your progress enables you to see how far you’ve come – and to consider where you went wrong. 

Restructuring your mind enables you to see the consequences of negative thought patterns and become more optimistic.  

Affirmations 

Affirmations are a powerful tool that can help to encourage you to keep the power of your mind positive. Repeat affirmations daily, write affirmations down as your commitment to yourself. 

Examples of affirmations:

“I am worthy”

“There is always opportunity’

“I am abundant and prosperous”

Coaching

We all need a personal cheerleader, someone who believes in you. Hiring an empowerment coach helps enable you to make positive decisions and to take action that will bring you closer to achieving your goals and ambitions.  

Stage 4 – Inspired Actions and Results 

What action steps are you called to do? This should feel effortless because it comes from a place of empowerment and alignment with your desires, rather than from fear. 

Take your first few steps! Then review and reflect on your achievements so far. Check yourself for feedback, because only you know how well you are progressing in this inner work. You might even hear from the people around you on the positive changes they see. 

Personal empowerment helps you achieve your goals because you gain control of your life. It enables you to make positive decisions and take action to bring you closer to achieving your goals and ambitions. 
The Positive Change Group is here to guide you through your journey of personal empowerment.  Learn more about how we can help tap into your pure potential

Your Guide To Becoming Your Own Boss

smiling lady at laptop with mug starting her own business

Is this the year to become your own boss?  

The Covid pandemic led to over 114 million people losing their jobs worldwide. This means that the current job market is volatile, so now’s the best time to become an entrepreneur.  After all, you can’t get fired when you don’t have a boss. There are also a lot of new opportunities for innovation.   

There’s a lot you need to consider before you can succeed as your own boss.  

But before we talk about the steps you need to take to succeed, let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurship.  

Advantages of Being An Entrepreneur  

Your Profits Are Yours  

There is no limit on how much you can earn when you’re the person in charge of your business. Imagine not needing to rely on anyone for a promotion or beg a boss for a raise. When you succeed as your own boss, you get paid first, and your profits belong to you.   

Doesn’t that sound good?   

You own your schedule   

If you’re someone who hates working 9-5, then becoming an entrepreneur could change your life. When you’re an entrepreneur, you choose your schedule, so you can pick the hours where you work the most efficiently. Are you a night owl? Start your own business, and you’ll be able to sleep as late as you want.   

You are the creator   

When you work for someone else, you follow their lead. You execute your job the way they want you to instead of how you feel best. For a lot of people, this suffocates their creativity. When you succeed as your own boss, you get to bring your vision to life.   

So, you get to control your profits, build your schedule, and escape the soul-sucking repetitiveness of a 9-5. 

What’s the downside?  Well, there’re a few.  

Disadvantages of Being An Entrepreneur  

You Lose The Security Of A Scheduled Paycheck   

The most significant disadvantage of being an entrepreneur is losing your steady paycheck.  You have to be a risk-taker to succeed. Entrepreneurship is a risky business, and you won’t have a safety net. If you aren’t willing to give up the guarantee that you’ll receive money at a specific time monthly, then being a full-time entrepreneur isn’t for you.  

Resilience is Key  

Succeeding as your own boss requires a lot of dedication. You’ll have to do a lot yourself, even the grunt work. Getting your business off the ground can be a struggle when you’re just starting out. You’ll have to: 

  • Establish Your Business 
  • Build A Loyal Customer Network 
  • Design A Website 
  • Build A Portfolio 
  • And More

You have to be willing to tough it out if you want your business to succeed.   

Everything Is Dependent On You  

Entrepreneurship is a thrilling experience, especially when everything is going well. 

The success of your business is entirely dependent on you. Work begins and ends when you want it to. Taking a sick day or going on a vacation means bringing everything to a halt. Hold yourself accountable to get your business off the ground. Procrastination can have devastating effects on your company’s productivity.   

Steps To Succeed As Your Own Boss  

Having weighed the pros and cons, is entrepreneurship for you? 

If you’re ready to boss up, here are some steps you need to take to succeed as your own boss.  

Develop Your Business Idea and Connect it to your Passion  

What type of business do you want to start? It is always easier to do what you love. 

If you already have a solid idea, great. If you don’t, no problem. You just need to do some research to help you develop the perfect idea to take the world by storm. This will require some soul searching.  

Idea And Market Evaluation   

Validating your business is the process of assessing if there’s a place for your business in the current market. You must analyze if your concept is viable and research the market you wish to join. So basically, ask yourself, can I do it? And if I did it, who would want it, who’s my customer?  

If it doesn’t currently exist on the market, you need to figure out why that is. It’s not uncommon for a fantastic-sounding idea to be implausible.   

Is your idea realistic, in-demand, and profitable? 

If yes, then you may just have the next big thing.   

Market Research  

Market research is the process of learning about your potential customers and competitors.   It helps: 

  • Define your customer personas, 
  • Define your target market, 
  • Understand the feasibility of your business. 

When you know your customer’s challenges, needs, and current solutions, you’ll know the best way to serve them. That enables you to optimize your product or service.  

Keep the Momentum Going  

Inspiration is easy in the beginning and keeping it going long-term is necessary in order to succeed. This is why it is so important to understand “why” you chose the business and how you anchored it into your vision. Make a vision board and place it where you can easily see and visualize your success!  

The Positive Change Group commits to helping business leaders and entrepreneurs like you to maximize their potential by teaching them to take a ‘wholistic’ approach. Our goal is to help you succeed on your own. For additional details on how to succeed in a new biz, and keeping the momentum going, check out our online course so you can learn more about how we can help you today! 

How Corporate Wellness Boosts Profits

business employees stretch break

What defines the success of your business? Is it profits, customer satisfaction, or impact on the community? The more you break it down, the more you realize all these factors have one thing in common. You can’t define your success without a happy workforce to make it happen.

Leave your workstation, and let’s go for a little retreat. It’s time to show you why corporate wellness is more important than you think!

What is Corporate Wellness?

To understand the benefits of a corporate wellness strategy, we must understand what it entails. Corporate Wellness is any activity or policy within the workplace that improves the health & wellness of employees. 

An effective wellness policy must encourage workers to adopt healthy habits, encourage teamwork and increase productivity without leading to burnout.

Why does corporate wellness matter?

Employees spend the majority of their lives at work. With more employees working from home than ever before, the work-life balance has shifted negatively towards a busier and more stressful lifestyle. 

High levels of inflation have also put a damper on our ability to reap the rewards of our hard work, while supply chains have crippled, making some sales targets hard to reach. This is the reality of many businesses today, but there are ways to help our treasured staff rise above the issues at hand.

Here are the Facts

  • For every dollar spent on wellness programs, workers spend less time absent and less money on healthcare. 1
  • Long working hours leads to an increased risk of heart disease 2
  • Stressed workers cost the US over 300 billion dollars every year 3

How to make your workplace fit for work?

An effective corporate wellness program can make a huge difference in your staff’s productivity and overall wellbeing. You may also notice a positive return on your investment as workers spend less time sick, less time exhausted and more time creating quality products and services.

Focus on Movement

One of the most popular corporate wellness techniques is to create an environment focused on the fitness of your staff. Establishing a gym at the office or incentivizing staff with a free gym membership may encourage them to stay on top of their game and keep healthy without breaking their pocket. Allow employees 15 minutes per day to take a walk as a health initiative.

Corporate entities may also offer cash incentives to employees that meet their personal fitness goals. This gives each worker a motivational boost, knowing that their company cares about their own wellness beyond the workplace.

Clear the Air

Smoking is one of the most lethal habits in workplace culture. Workers who smoke are more likely to spend more on health-related expenses and spend less time on the job. Heavy smokers may also have a lower life expectancy, which increases the turnover rate within the workforce in the worst way.

Smoke Cessation corporate wellness programs aim to reduce the number of employees who smoke through lifestyle coaching, special incentives for quitting, and medical support to keep them away from cigarettes. 

This simple strategy also boosts the public perception of your company as one that focuses on a healthy and happy workforce.

Team Sports

No need to wait for the next Olympics. You can host your own series of games from the comfort of your workplace. When workers are encouraged to take part in corporate wellness activities outside of the usual workflow, they may work better as a team, get a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and show more initiative.

This can be as simple as a paper toss challenge or complex as a multi-level tournament for a cash prize. Teamwork makes the dream work, after all.

Retreats

It’s easy to lose focus on what’s important when we’re always on the grind. One of the most effective corporate wellness programs is a timely company-sponsored retreat. Releasing your workforce from the usual hustle and bustle for a week and experiencing something new together can do wonders for staff morale. 

A well-planned retreat may also encourage new idea development, increasing the company’s offerings and boosting profits in the future.

Encourage Breaks

A burnt-out staff is never a good thing. It’s important to create an environment where workers feel comfortable moving at a pace that yields the best results. An effective corporate wellness program should encourage staff to take a breather every now and then, without worrying about the pause in productivity affecting their performance review. 

Some large-scale companies offer nap rooms where workers can take a moment to decompress before continuing with the day’s activities. Google famously has sleep pods across the campus for this very same reason.

Lunch Luxuries

Food is one of the greatest motivators in the world. A healthy, tasty, and filling lunch program can significantly reduce stress, improve the diet and incentivize the workplace.

Corporate wellness programs should focus on the dietary needs of their workers and encourage a healthier and happier lifestyle. Many tech companies offer free snacks, beverages, and even meals at any given time of the day. Some companies may even deliver healthy snacks directly to your office.

Wellness Works

It’s easy to build a corporate wellness program within your workplace. Work within your budget and start building today for a better, happier & healthier workplace tomorrow.

5 simple ways to become your best self

5 simple ways to become your best self

Do you really know everything about yourself? Our lives are a collection of memories, moments, mistakes, and magical adventures, but here’s the truth; none of this defines who we truly are inside.

Follow us on this journey as we show you the proven ways to be your best self in 5 simple steps!

What does your best self look like?

We all have our own paths to follow throughout life; that’s the beauty of being human. The best version of yourself may look different based on who you’re talking to. The most important thing is making your best self truly be a reflection of your own desires and not a cookie-cutter copy of someone else. This brings us to the first step:

1. Free your mind from distractions

It’s time to take an audit of everything that influences you. The next time you decide to change your wardrobe, pursue a new venture or take advice from someone, ask yourself first. Am I really doing this for me or for someone else?

Your best self only comes from an internal place of happiness, which can be easily twisted by the influence of others. Focusing on making yourself happy and breaking away from the mould that others may try to force you in.

Are you complacent?

How many times do you say ‘no’ to new opportunities? That one class you never bothered to enroll in, that one trip with your girlfriends to a new country, or that one recipe that looked a little too complicated? If you find yourself constantly rejecting new experiences, it may be time to…  

2. Get out of your Comfort Zone

Here’s the harsh truth. Time is constant, and the things we passed on may never happen again. Our second life hack to becoming your best self is to rethink the way we look at ‘risks’ as ‘moments worth exploring.’ 

It’s easy to get caught up in a routine, but our human nature craves progression and upliftment. Life is fluid and ever-changing, and you are too. Treat every new moment like a ‘One Night Only’ Concert. All you have to do is show up and enjoy the ride, wherever it takes you! 

What’s on your plate? 

Did you know that your diet and fitness have a significant impact on our happiness? It’s one thing to be stressed in your mind, but it’s another to be stressed all over your body.

3. Healthy Habits Help

If you’re feeling groggy all the time, slouchy, or demotivated, here’s the perfect opportunity  to become your best self. Start your day with a healthy breakfast, go for a little walk around your community and get some fresh air pumping throughout your body. 

It’s also important to acknowledge your unhealthy habits. Smoking and heavy drinking have creeping impacts that affect you more than you think. Becoming your best self begins with pursuing your best health.

What do you enjoy?

Do you have a special talent? What about a favorite book? What are some of the positive things people say about you? Why are we asking all these questions? 

4. It’s time to find your purpose

It helps to break out of our comfort zone, but oftentimes our best self can be found in the things we love the most. If you’re struggling to find your purpose in life, it may be hiding in plain sight. 

Take stock of everything and every action that makes you happy. 

Do you like helping others? Focus on that. Do you crave adventure and travel? There’s a purpose in there too. Love listening to music? Ask yourself why and how you can take advantage of the present highs in your life for more happiness in the future.

How do you speak?

Here’s a little exercise. Look through some of your most recent messages, and take account of all the times you used negative words in your speech or downplayed your own achievements.

The way you speak about yourself and others may have a significant impact on your own happiness.

5. Be Constructive

Take a moment out of your day to remind yourself that you are smart, beautiful, and purposeful. 

Trade your ‘I can’t do it’s’ for ‘I’ll give it a try.’ Reconsider the negative ways you respond to people and try to push them in a positive direction. 

A simple change in the way we use our words can make us and everyone else around us happy. 

Your Best Self begins today!

There’s no time like the present to become the best version of yourself. Take the leap, and let’s make positive changes together!

How to Live an Optimized Life

How to Live an Optimized Life
You may have mixed emotions based on life over the past two years. Are you hoping for change and improvement and yet feel disappointed?
If you are tired of feeling frustrated and want to live a fully vibrant life instead, then there are a few key principles that are necessary for us to integrate.
 

Below are tips on how to live an optimized life.

 

Raise your vibration any chance you get:
Pay more attention to how you feel. Your feelings are your roadmap to letting you know if you are living an optimal life.
  • When your conversations feel heavy, then change the subject.
  • If what you are watching doesn’t make you feel good, then change the channel.
  • If what you are listening to doesn’t make you feel good, then change it to something that does.
Raising your vibration is one of the most powerful things you can do to create a happier reality. Use your feelings as your guide and do more of what feels good.
 
 
Focus on what is in your control:
There have been many things that have been out of our control the past couple of years. When we focus our attention on this, we feel heavy and it breeds fear. Instead, focus on what’s in your control as this will heighten your energy and your mood and help you know how to live an optimized life.
 
 
Ask for what you want:
Being clear on what you want to create in 2022 is the first step to manifesting. Being more deliberate in your creations is called being a “conscious creator”. In order to do this:
1. Get clear on what you want.
2. Don’t put any attention on what you don’t want.
Many of us are programed to focus more on what we don’t want and the problem with this is that you create more of what you don’t want.
 
2022 is the perfect time to make these changes and deliberately bring in more of what you do want.
 
 
Let gratitude change your attitude:

 

When we have gratitude for what we have we always feel better. This raises our vibration instantly. Also if we can have gratitude for what we desire and believe it is coming, this is where the true magic happens.
 
Let gratitude for what is and what is to come be your focus this year.
 
 
The Positive Change Group offers an ‘Empowered’ course online, you can check it out HERE.

3 Must Do’s Before Starting Your Own Biz to Propel Your Success!

starting your own business

I have been an entrepreneur for most of my life. I have had the opportunity over the years to start and scale many businesses myself and coach hundreds of my clients on how to do the same. Over the years I have learnt so much on what it takes to be successful in business and how you can fast track your success by understanding how powerful of a creator you are. Looking back when I first started in business, I wish I had a better understanding of why these 3 strategies are so important before even starting. I am going to share with you the 3 things I wish I knew when I was starting my first business.

  1. Crystalize your Dream

Before starting your own business crystalize your idea, crystalize your intent. Like a foundation when you are building a house, it’s what keeps it solid and keeps you on track. The clearer you get the easier it gets. Clarity allows us to speed up how we manifest and create every day. For most people this is the hardest part because they don’t know what they want. You are worth spending time to get really clear on what you want. The following exercise will help you crystalize your dream.

Exercise:

  • Have a journal – call it your dream book or idea book. This is your safe place to do brain dumps on all your ideas. Get creative and dream big. Ask yourself and write down your answers to the following:
  • What I really want is . . . (Allow this to be something that you love to do and that does not feel like work because it makes you happy.)
  • My dream business is . . .
  • What does your dream business look like? (Size, number of employees, location, online or in person.)
  1. Define your ‘Why’

Part of the cement that is going to hold your business true and strong for the long run is understanding why you have decided to open a business. It’s an important step that you must go through mentally and emotionally to identify “Why I want this”, because when things get challenging, you want to have a solid footing reminding you why you are starting your own business

Exercise:

  • Dig deep, finding the emotional component gets you closer to your true why. Physically write down your reason. It’s also useful to know what this business will do for you. Be specific and describe how owning this business will make you feel once successful.
  • Take a look at what motivates you to start your own business. In fact, think about what you would be doing in a year from now, if you weren’t starting your business. What career would you be doing otherwise? Fast forward 10 years, and if you didn’t open your business for whatever reason, think about how your life looks like and how it feels?
  1. Align your mind and your heart for success

Now that you have identified your ‘why’ and understand your passion, you must get your mind onboard. Our minds and our beliefs can be our biggest passageway or obstacle to success. The key is to have your mind believe in your success as if it has already happened.

Exercise:

  • To get started, let yourself envision your future self as you manage a successful dream business. Envision that you have clients and that you are making money. Practice this imagery.
  • As you imagine your successful future self, write a paragraph from that place, describing your business. It will become the foundation for what you can tell a client “this is what I do”. The paragraph you write, must be written in the present tense. Do not use phrases such as “I hope to” or “I want to”. It is an affirmation in the present tense. This is part of the process in building and growing and creating the foundations for your business to come into fruition.
  • Have fun with it, be concise, clear, specific and be in the present tense.

In summary it is worth spending some time in the beginning to really crystalize your dream – get clear on what you want, identify your ‘why’ to keep you on track and motivated, and work on your mindset to align with your heart and believe in your success. This is where the true magic will happen!

Want to make the process of starting a business easy? Want to learn all the business fundamentals plus how to achieve a successful mindset to really propel your success?

We have made it simple and accessible for you to start. Join our on line program ‘Leap to Freedom’. It gives you 6 weeks of instructional videos, workbook exercises and downloads to help you navigate from conception to successful launch. It even includes meditations on how to remove money blocks and generate abundance. As a bonus your will get 2, 90-minute business strategy sessions with me to help you fast track success in your new business.

Julie Cass, founder of The Positive Change Group, shares valuable information across media platforms. She has appeared on Global TV, CHCH, and CP24 speaking on issues of physical and emotional health, relationship building, and women’s empowerment.

Julie is awaiting the release of her newly written book and is published in several magazines including Canadian Living and Canadian Business Journal covering topics of leadership and personal fulfillment. She has also made appearances on a variety of podcasts and engaged with audiences at numerous public speaking events.

Pandemic Marathon: How to Finish

How to Make it to the End of a Pandemic Marathon

How to Make it to the End of a Pandemic Marathon

The winter blues are in full swing for many this year and it’s impacting people more than before because of the pandemic. On average during a normal winter, 35% of Canadians are affected by winter blues. This leaves them with a feeling of lethargy, mild level depression and changes in appetite. Now we are adding a marathon of a pandemic with no end in sight.  

How does the average Canadian make it through this pandemic marathon during this winter season? Life’s experiences are all about choices and right now we need to choose wisely.  We need to choose self-care as a priority like we have never before. We are living in unprecedented times and being challenged like never before.  Hence we need to up the ante on our self-care and put ourselves as a priority daily. 

Here are some of my top tips to help beat the winter blues and have stamina for this Pandemic marathon we are in: 

Conserve your Energy

We have to conserve our energy as it is being challenged in ways like never before.  If we do not do this, it is easy to become discouraged, feel defeated and increase anxiety. 

Top tips to conserve your energy:

  1. Take a deep breath when you find yourself in a negative conversation
  2. Create healthy boundaries and limit the time you spend talking with people who may be in fear. 
  3. Limit the information you are consuming about Covid because it can cause fear. 
  4. Focus on what is in your control.  You will drain your energy fast when your thoughts are on what is out of your control.  Bring the mind back when this happens and shift the focus always to what you can do. 

Replenish your Energy 

You can thrive despite what is going on around you, by replenishing your energy. Self-care has always been important but now it is no longer negotiable.  We must daily replenish our energy in order to thrive during these times. 

Top tips to Replenish your Energy:

  1. Spend more time in nature.  There is a vibrational energy in nature that will ground and replenish your energy. 
  2. Begin your day with a self-care ritual – this allows you to set the tone of your day rather than the day setting the tone for you.  Before looking at your phone in the morning, take some time for yourself.  Could be journaling, meditating, walking, being present with your morning coffee or tea or all of the above.  Then check your phone once you are in a good mental space.
  3. Eat vibrant foods.  Incorporating more citrus foods with Vitamin C and energy rich foods such as salads, avocados, nuts, lean protein. 
  4. Be mindful of your thoughts.  Think happy, peaceful loving thoughts.  If your mind wanders to negative thinking, then bring it back.  You can control this and become more conscious of what you’re thinking as this will have a huge impact on your mental state and energy levels. 
  5. Move your body daily. Everyday. Not a couple times a week but every day.  We were meant to move and we need to move especially now to get the feel-good neurochemicals; endorphins moving through our body. 

Maintain your Energy 

Consistency is key. We need to incorporate these strategies into daily routines to stay healthy and keep our endurance up.  

Tips to Maintain your Energy and be Consistent:

  1. Book yourself ‘self-care’ appointments into your calendar.  Block schedule this time and make it a priority like you do with other appointments in your day. 
  2. Have a morning ritual.  This will allow for greater consistency as you take care of you first before anything else can get in your way.  
  3. Do a “Mental Rehearsal” – athletes practice this routine all the time.  You visualize your routine in your mind first. You see it play out in your mind like a movie.  EG:  When I wake up I get out of bed, do my mediation right away, then I have a big glass of water, then I do my exercise of choice and then sit and enjoy a coffee before my workday begins.  Once I play this movie in my mind, it becomes easy to choose this when I wake up as it feels like it is already done. 
  4. Tap into the feeling you get when you choose you.  This will be your biggest motivator because we need more of the “feel good’ right now.  So you will choose the feeling you want.  It might not be going for a walk that motivates you but the feeling you get when you do will.  

Remember you are stronger than you think. Rather than draining the tank, choose to fill it up consistently to not only survive, but thrive!

And the blessings that result from your efforts is that this becomes routine.  After winter, after the pandemic, you will likely continue the habit of choosing yourself as a priority; it just feels better to do so!

Free Pandemic Strategy Session

If you would like to book a 30 minute custom call with Julie, to thrive during this pandemic please click HERE.  

Steps to Create Your Vision Board

Steps to Create Your Vision Board

Vision Board

For many of us the Universe is forcing us to slow down right now.  There are many things we cannot do that are part of our normal routine. With this comes opportunities to do things we may not have made time for.

One of the things we are doing as a family is creating vision boards as to what we want our future to look like.

During this “slow down” period this can become a great way to take your attention off the current situation and put energy towards a desired future. A Vision board is a powerful way to prioritize your goals and intentions.  It gives more clarity on your wants and puts these out into the universe to manifest.

You can elevate emotions by looking at pictures of your dream life.  This will help to calm and use your energy in a productive way right now rather than to be in fear.

 

Your life is your Canvas…. What do you want to create? Here is how to create your dream life now!

Supplies Needed:

Glue stick

Scissors

Bristol board or Foam Core board

Magazines and pictures

Picture of yourself printed out

 

  1. Set Goals and Prioritize:

    • Brain Dump: On a piece of paper or in a Journal ask “What are all the things I would like to accomplish or create or complete in my lifetime:
    • Different categories Options:
      • Health
      • Relationships/Love/Family
      • Career or Calling
      • Financial/Abundance
      • Giving back
      • Spiritual or Self Actualization
      • Travel/Fun
    • Narrow down: Star the ones that are the most important and relevant now.
    • Adapting for Children
      • Change “What would you like to achieve or accomplish” instead of career or calling.
      • Abundance – you can explain as what they would like to create or manifest in their lives. Things that they want.

 

  1. Create Structure for your Vision Board

    • Have a Picture of you in the Centre (If doing with partner or family then have a group picture in center)
    • Create your layout on your vision board using a pencil to divide out your different categories. Create boxes or square divides around the picture of you.
    • Write out your goals under each title. (This will be covered with pictures and words images.)
    • On the backside, write today’s date.

 

  1. Find Words and images for your Vision board

    • Clip out magazine pictures and images and words or sayings.
    • Print out images from the internetSteps to Create Your Vision Board
    • Get as many images as you can

 

  1. Sort out and arrange images and pictures

    • Narrow down the images that best represent your feelings and goals.
    • Start placing them over the right sections
    • Add words and sayings

  1. Glue Down

    • Once you are happy with your layout start to glue down the images.
    • Can always add words over-top or some of your own sketches.

 

  1. Hang and Display

    • Put this in a Visual area where you can look at it multiple times a day.
    • Consciously and subconsciously looking at the board will help the manifestation process.

Steps to Create Your Vision Board

Enjoy your Dream Life!