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The Big Shift is a podcast, a community, and a movement. It is our aim to help those who want to make a difference, have success in carrying out their mission. The goal of our podcast is to inspire heart-centered entrepreneurs to create their dream business, do what they love, and make the world a better place in the process.

We will help you get there by sharing with you the best marketing, sales/enrollment and mindset practices known to humankind today… All of these practices are tested and come from the people who are the very best at utilizing and teaching them. These will be some of the most extraordinary people on this planet. Get ready for your Big Shift!


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It’s Time To Fire Your Inner Perfectionist

March 4 by 1 Comment

Imperfect action

I’ve got a wish.

I wish I could erase a word from your vocabulary. That word is perfection.

I know I am being dramatic here and it’s not really the word I want to erase, but I do want to erase the baggage that comes along with it.

When were attached to perfection:

  • We spend a lot of time learning, and not much time implementing
  • We procrastinate and procrastinate
  • We spend too much time making it just right (and its still not perfect anyway!)

Heres the thing – whatever you’re doing will never be “perfect” until you try it out in real life with real people.

So heres my favorite motto: Imperfect action is better than no action.

Taking lots of imperfect action is what gets us new clients and new business.

I want to share a success story to inspire you to imperfect action.

Last month I was teaching the art of mastering enrolling conversations on a coaching call.  I gave a participant a basic script for what to say in a sales conversation.

Instead of waiting months to get the script perfect and after almost “wimping out in the last moment,” she leapt into imperfect action right away and used the script with a prospective client. She stayed open and relied on her curiosity to get connected to her prospect. And by the end of the conversation, it was her prospect who asked if she had any packages she could offer her!

YES, this imperfect conversation turned into her client committing to working with her for the next 5 months. This imperfect action not only resulted in a long-term client, it also renewed her confidence in her business and her ability to enroll other prospects into her business.

Here are a few lessons for enrolling new clients and overcoming your desire for perfection:

Imperfect Action Is Better Than No Action: Stop waiting for the perfect time, the perfect idea or the perfect package. Use what you have and “just do it”. You can always improve on what you have later but by if you don’t put it out there in the first place you’ll never make anything happen

“Perfection” Is Not A One Time Event – Its A Process of Trial and Error: Try something out (such as a sales conversation script), learn from every time you use it, and make an improvement every time.

Be Honest: Honesty is always the best policy. During enrolling conversations don’t fret about following the right steps or losing the prospect. Be in your element, show genuine interest in your prospect and trust your instincts. When you are honest and passionate about who you are and what you do the rest will fall into place

Celebrate All Victories: By trying to be perfect all the time, we forget the small things we accomplish. Instead of just focusing on the things she forgot to do, I asked my client to celebrate the fact that her client ASKED for her services. What a great success!

ARE YOU READY? LET ME KNOW BELOW IN THE COMMENTS
If you’re a perfectionist and my ode to imperfect action inspired you, I’d like to ask you to share an imperfect action you’re willing to take in the next 7 days in the comments below.

Filed Under: Business, Coaching, Creativity, Getting Clients, Success, Time Management

Make the “Big Income Shift” in Your Business in 2010

January 14 by Leave a Comment

(Let me know if you think this “Big Income Shift” is totally on target – or way off base – in the comments below!)

This shift is going to help you get unstuck from your current income level and breaking through invisible ceilings to significantly increasing your revenue.

A big mistake many of you are making is you’re either not setting your income intention at all for 2010, or you’re not setting it high enough.

Were going to solve this problem with the Big Income Shift.
Its very simple, and were going to do it together right now.

(1) Start by writing down your income goal for 2010.
Get out a pen and write it down somewhere where you can see it. If you havent planned your income goal for 2010, then take a moment to choose a number that feels right to you now.

In fact, if you’re at this point in the year and you don’t already have a clear income goal formed for 2010, then committing to an intention is already a shift for you.

I have a question for you. Most business owners approach the new year with a plan to try to maintain the same income they had the year before. Or the set a goal that is slightly higher.

Heres the problem – if you set a goal thats the same or slightly higher than last year, you’re not going to expand your business!

If you want to have a big shift in your income, you have to set a bigger goal for 2010!

(2) OK, do you have your income goal? Now what I want you to do is double it.
So if your income goal is $50,000, then cross out $50,000 and write down $100,000.
If your goal is $100,000, make it $200,000.
If your goal is $200,000, make it $400,000.

How does it feel to expand your income goal so much? Do you feel some excitement? Do you feel some fear too? If you’re feeling some fear, thats good, it means you’re pushing out of a comfort zone. If you’re totally comfortable with your current goal, its too low.

Would you be able to do this level of income? Could you save money toward a house? Could you radically reduce any debts?

Now this idea of doubling your income right now might seem like a fantasy.
But by trying on this new level of income thinking, youll be able to break through any limiting beliefs or old ways of thinking that held you back in 2009.

I want to give you an example of one of my clients.
We did this exercise, and at first he was a little shell-shocked by the idea of doing this big income shift. But in just one session, we were able to map out how he could change his services and his business model to give his clients a lot more value, and how he could serve a lot more people too. He also started thinking about high-level partnerships he had never thought of before. All of these possibilities for expanding his business opened up in one conversation. And it all happened by making this one shift in his mind.

So the Big Income shift is the first step is to significantly increase your income goal in 2010. Because when you do, youll start to attract the people, the ideas, and the resources to make it happen. Can you imagine if all of us on this call made a huge shift to our income goal right now, and we worked together to help each other achieve it? We would all be able to chart a course for doing business in a bigger way, and be bold about helping a lot more people.

When you begin to make this big income shift, your confidence grows, your income begins to grow and accelerate. And yes, it feels great.

Now if you want to turn your Big Income Shift into reality, join us for The Big Shift Experience LIVE event in San Francisco!

Filed Under: Business, Coaching, Getting Clients, Success

The Business Secrets of a Poker Player

September 24 by 1 Comment

“If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things.” – Vincent Van Gogh

Why is mastery important?

There is a difference between knowing how to do something and being a master of it. There is a difference between dabbling in something and being a master of that pursuit.

I know how instrumental this mind shift has been for me in my life.
And naturally, I just want to share with you some of what I’ve learned.

Here’s an example – my path towards mastering getting clients:

  • I learned to see the whole picture of what it takes to get clients anytime, anywhere (my system)
  • I committed myself to a relentless pursuit of learning everything that’s relevant for me on that subject (pieces of the puzzle)
  • I learned to say no to other things while I was in the throws of my pursuit (focus)
  • I also gave absolutely all of me while I was with my clients and always put them first (it’s not about me)
  • I never gave up even when it seemed like I was going to fail (perseverance)

There have been tremendous tangible benefits to this pursuit. I have an overflowing practice and a coaching company with 5 successful coaches. I now know what works and what doesn’t work as far as getting and keeping clients. I have the confidence that I can get clients. The freedom that gives me is huge. And most importantly to me, I now have intimate knowledge of the mechanics of success and the confidence that I can be successful with anything I commit myself to.

What I learned by playing poker

I have recently got into playing poker. I love the game. There are a lot of moving parts and it takes a lot to master. I have to know the cards. I have to know myself. I have to know the people I playing with. I have to know the situation. It’s complicated and I love it.

I can talk about poker all day, but one important thing I have noticed is that many of the top players were once champions and winners at other games/sports – chess, backgammon, bridge and even basketball.

In this past World Series of Poker, Jordan Farmar, a point guard for the Lakers basketball team, made it to Day 3 of the event. I have played in the tournament and I know how difficult it is to get to Day 3.

What’s remarkable about Farmer’s great poker run is that he learned to play poker just a few days prior to the tournament. He already knows what it takes to win. He knows what it takes to be a masterful point guard. And he converted that to doing well at the World Series of Poker.

When you commit to mastering one thing, you commit to being successful.

Another example of this is Josh Waitzkin. He was a Junior chess champion and now he is a Martial Arts champion. I’ve heard him mention in interviews that he sees no difference for himself between chess and martial arts. He understands mastery and the rest is simply picking what he wants to be a master of.

“There’s this wonderful buddhist story, an ancient Indian story, and basically the parable is this: If a man wants to walk across the Earth, and the Earth is covered with thorns, he has two answers, he has two possible solutions: He can cover the entire Earth with leather, which will take a lot of time – that’s the external solution – or he can make sandals, that’s the internal solution. And I really believe in making sandals.” – Josh Waitzkin

So when you commit to mastery, you don’t just master that one thing, you learn how to master anything… and thorns will not stand in your way.

When you can make a mindshift from attaining your goals to being a master of what you chose to take on, not only do your goals come to you more effortlessly, but you learn how turn anything you want into gold.

What can you do now?

  • Decide if mastery is important to you
  • Pick something that you want to master
  • Commit to getting on the road to mastering that which you just picked
  • Identify what the first step is on the road to mastery
  • Start walking

“Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.” – Albert Einstein

Here’s to mastery!!

Filed Under: Business, Customer Experience, Marketing, Prosperity, Success

Constraint Driven Creativity

October 16 by Leave a Comment

I usually give myself an hour to read blogs and write my own posts Monday through Thursday.

I have two different types of days of blogging:

1. I feel no pressure. I settle into the hour, read and allow whatever comes out of the time to naturally evolve. I enjoy my time. I am often happy with the result.

2. I begin the hour already worried that 1 hour is simply not enough time to read my favorite blogs and create a post worthy of my own inner critic. I feel rushed and often produce very little that I can even contemplate posting to my blog.

I am now in minute 21 of my hour. I am still feeling the pressure. My limiting belief is that I can’t get out of this pressure in this sitting. My desire is to simply write what is and allow myself to snap out of this mode.

Yes, our relationship with our constraints is the secret doorway to unlimited creativity. As that relationship grows, matures and becomes effortless, so enters our creativity.

Kathy Sierra has a take on it:

“What if you needed to build a powerful web app, but you had only ten hours a week for programming? What if you wanted to write a novel, but you had to do it in 30 days? What if you wanted to create a computer game, but you had only 48 hours? What if you had to write, shoot, and edit a short film in 24 hours? Constraints can be your enemy, but when it comes to creative breakthroughs, they can be your best friend.

Constraint-driven creativity is not just about inspiring (or forcing) creativity, it’s also about getting something done. How many of us keep planning to get around to writing that book… once we’ve got some free time? How many projects stay on the back burner forever because we just can’t seem to make it happen?”

We can look at our constraints as the walls of our prison cells or we can look at our constraints as simply borders of our canvas. So let’s pick up our brushes and let’s freely paint within the borders of constraints.

Yes, you can write that book in 45 days.
Yes, you can create this website for $5000.
Yes, you can build this widget with lighter materials.
Yes, you can run a successful business while working 30 hours per week.

What project do you have that you want to try this with?
What constraints do you have in this project?
What will help you feel the freedom in the constraints not despite them?

This is what Jack White of White Stripes has to say about it (from Tom Guariello’s book — Work Different: Design For The Rest of Us)

“A lot about the White Stripes is about constriction and keeping us boxed in. Being extremely stripped down to the most minimal components, mostly revolving around the number 3. You see that [we use] three colors: red, white and black. But also vocal, guitar and drums, or vocal, piano and drums; and, keeping ourselves limited. I think there’s more creativity where there’s less opportunity. Instead of trying to bring more musicians into the band or more tracks when we record or more time spent in the studio, it’s best to explore the creativity with limited means. You get more out of it; something more interesting happens.”

(40 minutes to complete this post from start to finish)

Filed Under: Creativity, Success, Time Management

Piss People Off

September 28 by Leave a Comment

This technology from HP pisses me off. Does that mean that it won’t be successful?

This automatic slimming feature is going to be a huge hit despite the fact it may turn off some of the people. Personally, I like photographs that reflect the reality of each moment captured. I don’t want to look like I’ve lost 15 pounds unless I’ve really lost 15 pounds. I’m simply not their ideal customer.

Are there others out there that don’t share this opinion of mine?

Don’t be afraid to alienate or piss people off. If they are not part of your audience, pissing them off may mean that you’re doing something right.
Filed Under: Business, Marketing, Success

Certain Uncertainty

September 27 by Leave a Comment

Business is uncertain. Anyone who begins to think that their success is a certainty is simply fooling him or herself.

We create promises to ourselves that create our motivations to get things done. We consciously or unconsciously say to ourselves, if I start to make calls to my perspective clients, my business will grow and I can be successful. I can increase the certainty for prosperity.

There simply is no certainty. Change your thinking away from wanting security. Begin to be comfortable in the uncertainty. Simply be aware.

Awareness and curiosity are the states that will lead you to business and personal success.

Business is not a mechanical process. It constantly and organically changes. Trends change. Your competition changes. Your relationship to your business changes. Market conditions change. Uncertainty is constant.

Keep your eyes open and practice unbridled awareness. This state of being and not doing will allow you to get as close to your own definition of success as possible at any given moment.

There is no dogma. There is no security. There’s only aware exploration. Not all successful entrepreneurs know this. Most fulfilled and contented ones do.

Filed Under: Coaching, Prosperity, Success
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