Say YES to a Happy Holiday Season

Thanksgiving is the official kick-off to the holiday season; or to some people holiday madness. If you feel like running away while trying to juggle your business or career with the shopping, the eating, the decorating and the people, then you will love the following strategies!

Set your mind that you are going to have a happy, easy and fun holiday. Say YES to this. Start each day with an affirmation such as “I am energized as I enjoy my happy, easy and fun holiday season” or “It is easy to create my happy and fun holiday season.”

Say NO to the things that are going to get in your way of a happy holiday – and here is a list of what to say no to including suggested actions:

• Trying to attend every holiday activity – You can’t attend everything without feeling the consequences. Pick and choose wisely.
• Feeling the pressure of buying gifts – shop early, online purchases, decrease gift-giving or give to a needy family instead.
• Scheduling meetings and projects around the holidays – Do these really need to get done at this time? Productivity is a little lower; can you have shorter and more effective meetings? Can timelines be adjusted?
• Rushing to meet year-end quotas – Learn from this and next year set realistic goals and create an enlightened action plan. Re-work your numbers for this year; what can you achieve to support your goals?
• Overspending and overusing credit cards – Don’t! Set a budget and stick with it. Avoid credit cards and on January 2 begin a private little savings account for holiday spending next year. Make friends with your money and don’t abuse it.
• Allowing family drama to bring you down – Remember the holidays are time for connecting. Don’t become engaged in conversations that don’t support you; smile, change the subject or walk away. Make a decision not to attend a function that supports stress.
• Working –Schedule some time off and have fun! Spend a day with family or friends. This goes for solopreneurs too!
• Decorating everything in sight – Okay, this can be fun and may be your thing, but if you feel stretched, then cut down on the tinsel-hanging. Less can be more!
• Cooking and baking – Support local bakeries and food stores! Make only one type of cookie instead of ten.
• Rushing – The holidays are not just for kids. Slow down, enjoy them and take in the sights, sounds and smells of this creative time. Remember what your holiday means to you. Give money or goods to a local charity.
• Putting everyone else first – Remember you have to put your own oxygen mask on first. Take time out for you: pamper yourself, rest, go to a spa, read an inspiring book or buy yourself something special.
• Being a Scrooge – The holidays can bring out the best and the worst in all of us. Spreading yourself too thin, rushing and unrealistic expectations can make one crabby and inpatient. Change your attitude to one that supports enjoying this time. It may be time to start new traditions; travel, new friends or different adventures.

It is possible to have a holiday season that is easy, creative and fun – you only need to choose to do so.

Jeanette Eleff

Visit www.FocusedVitality.com to register for your free articles and receive your lessons on Creating a Life Filled with Vitality!

What I Learned from Laryngitis!

Mr. Laryngitis visited me last week and hit me hard. He was different this time. He usually follows after I suffer from cold symptoms – this time he came first and knocked me out for five days.

Being the forever optimistic person that I am, I used my own recommendations and found some things that I actually learned while being visited by Mr. Laryngitis:

• You can have too much chicken noodle soup
• Ditto to tea, honey and lemon
• People still try to make you talk, causing you pain and strain
• You learn to never answer the phone – never
• You cannot get those things accomplished that you think you can when you stay home sick
• Your hair grows very fast and suddenly your roots show their true color – ugh
• You give thanks to the makers of soft tissues
• You find that coffee does not taste good
• You decide it is time to go to the doctor
• Grunge becomes your new look
• You realize that you can get mashed potatoes stuck in your throat
• You are happy to have insurance that paid for most of the antibiotics
• You see that any movie is a good movie
• Snuggling  with dogs and cats do bring healing to you
• You gain a new found respect for good health and want more of it

Have a healthy week and a wonderful Thanksgiving. May you be able to keep Mr. Laryngitis away!

Jeanette Eleff

Receive more articles by Jeanette by registering at www.FocusedVitality.com

Are You Always in a Hurry?

If you feel like you are always in a hurry…if being impatient with others is becoming a way of life…if you just never feel good about a project you just completed…if you feel there is never enough time inyour day…then it’s time to slow down!

It’s easy to get in the habit of rushing from one thing to the next. Perhaps you don’t want to disappoint someone, you have no one to
delegate to, or you have a natural tendency to pile up the work. Regardless of the reason, this style can lead to dissatisfaction, poor relationships, lost revenues and health problems.

There is some good news; you can change from always-being-in-a-hurry feeling to I-feel-pretty-good-about-my-day attitude. You just need to incorporate a few strategies into each day.

Consciously Slow Down

When you realize you are rushing, your heart rate is high or you’re clenching your jaw, make yourself stop and take a few deep breaths. Silently tell yourself to slow down, relax, take it easy… Sit down or slow your pace of walking. Enjoy a drink of water and drink it slowly.

Pay Attention

If you find yourself in a meeting or a conversation where you are daydreaming or worrying about the next thing on your schedule, bring your attention to the matter at hand. Actually pay attention to what is being said, repeat some of the conversation in your head or take notes. Stay focused on the situation so you don’t miss some important information that may make you rush around later. Use this same technique when working on a project. Totally immerse yourself in the details. Be mindful of your actions and thoughts.

Remember the Good Things

One reason you get caught up in the business of every day is because you don’t take time to remember why you selected that career or business in the first place – to support your bigger goals, to be of service, to find adventure or to have fun. Take time out to remember your good goals and the good things in your life. Good thoughts lead to more things to feel good about.

Make it Easy

Forget the blame-game, you may actually be the one making things harder. When faced with the hurry-up syndrome, ask yourself How can I make this easier? Then be still for a few moments and see what answer pops up. You may actually decide
not to do something, to change the project so it is easier, or to delegate it to someone else.

Practice Daily Pampering

Sometimes you just don’t do nice things for yourself because you fall in the trap of being too busy. When you put yourself first you
have more energy and more creativity. Do one great thing every day for you: exercise, walk in nature, read a good book, meditate, sing, dance, or get a manicure.

The smallest things can have the greatest rewards – and you don’t need to rush around to enjoy them.

 Jeanette

I am honored you would like to use this article either in part or whole.  Please credit with this language:

Success Coach Jeanette Eleff shows women leaders in their careers or their businesses how they can have “more success with less stress”.  Get her FREE inspiring articles at www.FocusedVitality.com

Connecting With Success!

Join me this month for my fr*ee call Connecting With Success. I’ll be discussing and coaching around “Saying a Big YES!”

Participate in this call and find out how you can really get in touch with what you want to be saying YES to in your business, your career and your life. Learn why saying no more frequently is the one thing that can propel you towards your dream!

Wednesday, October 19

7:00 – 8:00 PM

Call in number – 712-429-0690 PIN 312873#

I look forward to having you on this call!

To your big success with less stress!

Jeanette

Receieve my lively articles by registering at www.FocusedVitality.com

Are You Ready to Create More Success in Your Life?

Lately I have been talking with many women about aligning their energies so they can create the type of success they want in their lives. What do I mean by aligning energy? I mean getting out of your own way. Realizing that you have been harboring feelings like overwhelm, frustration, boredom, being a victim, or blame. Emotions like these and others can keep you stuck and prevent you from achieving the wonderful success that you dream of for your life, businessand/or career.

There is some good news – You can get out of your own way. Success does not have to be hard, sacrificing or a struggle. You can define success your way – with balance, excitement and fun. Plus you get to add your style of spunk and spirit to the
mix!

I have designed my upcoming seven-session Success Circle teleclass to help you:

• Get very clear about your definition of success in all areas of your life
• Align yourself with energy-raising strategies
• Celebrate your personal style of leadership
• Receive support and accountability for your Vitality Project – that one thing you want to energize during this program
• Add more balance and fun to your life
• Live and work with focused intention

The Success Circle begins October 18 and will be held weekly for seven sessions 7:30PM-8:15PM EST.

This program includes:

Seven tele-classes

A recording of each call

A membership site, where participants can support each other and exchange thoughts

Fabulous resources to help you stay focused and raise your creative energy level

One private coaching session with me

Opportunities to have an accountability partner to help you stay focused

Each Success Circle teleclass will be conducted in my own personal style of wisdom sharing, mentoring and coaching.

The cost of the Success Circle is $225 with a two-payment option of $137 each.

Feeling stuck, frustrated, bored? I know how you feel. I have been there. Join this Success Circle and let me share with you my steps for getting unstuck, for beating the overwhelm and for achieving the success that you really want.

Register immediately and join me on a bonus introductory call on October 11 at 7:30 PM.

You can get out of your way. You can create anything you want in your life.

This Success Circle teleclass is limited to 10 women.

While we are creating the systems for this program, please email me immediately if you are interested and want to reserve your spot. Remember, this Success Circle is limited to 10 women. Email me at Jeanette@FocusedVitality.com

To your big success with less stress and more spirit!

Jeanette

Sign up for my lively articles and receive your free Vitality Lessons! Act now, soon these Vitality Lessons will be unavailable in this free form!

Harnessing Your Creativity

Lately I have been speaking a lot about shifting your energy to a more creative place. You can manifest anything you want in your life when you harness your creative spirit. Sometimes you cannot get to your creative spirit because you get stuck in the lower vibration energy emotions like boredom, frustration, blame, overwhelm and discouragement. Follow these four
steps to get out of the slump and back into creating your fabulous life, business and career!

Awareness

Become aware that you are experiencing an emotion that is keeping you stuck: jealousy, blame, victim, overwhelm, anger, etc. Sometimes this is felt as a big “ah-ha” moment such as “I am blaming him for all of my problems!”

Non-judgment

Be compassionate with yourself and avoid judging yourself. It is natural to have emotions. It becomes non-productive to your happiness when you dwell in that place of feeling bad – when you become stuck.

Explore

Spend a few minutes asking yourself “Why am I continuing to feel like a victim in this situation?” See what comes up for you. Or, schedule yourself some time to journal about your feelings and decide what actions you will take to raise your energy around certain situations. You want to acknowledge your feelings. You don’t want to have major outbursts of these feelings repeatedly.

Shift

Do or be something different to move your energy to higher vibration feelings like happiness, excitement, hopefulness, empowerment, etc. This can be:

Taking a deep breath

Drinking some water

Going outside

Exercising

Changing your mind to a positive thought

Journal

Reading something inspirational

Talking about it with a trusted friend, mentor or coach

The key is to get into action. You can’t think a negative thought and a positive thought at the same time. Once you begin noticing your low-energy emotions and reminding yourself how non-productive they are, you will find yourself staying in these types of emotional slumps less and less. You have the wonderful power of creating anything you want in your life. Now go out there and make it happen!

Stay tuned for more information about an upcoming Success Circle program where we will explore in more depth how you can shift your energy to include more creativity, balance, success and fun into your life.

 Jeanette

Follow me at www.FocusedVitality.com and receive free on-line lessons for creating more vitality in your life!

Tapping Into Your Creative Power – Again!

Hello all,

Well, sometimes you just have to capitalize on a mistake. In my previous post I announced my September 20 Connecting With Success call. This morning I realized that this call was actually scheduled for September 21! Somehow I had two different success calls scheduled on two different nights and got them mixed up. Oh well.

I held tonight’s call and had a good time with the participants. I plan on repeating my Connecting With Success session on Wednesday, September 21 7 PM EST. The topic is Tapping Into Your Creative Power.

I hope you can make it!  Join this call and learn how I shift my energy from feelings of blame and discouragement to those of happiness and creativity. You will walk away with a plan to be more creative yourself!

Wednesday, September 21

7:00 PM EST

Call in number 712-429-0690 CODE 312873

CLICK HERE FOR THE HANDOUT

If you are tired of feeling drained and unhappy, then you must attend this session! I look forward to your participation.

Jeanette

Receive my free and fun articles at www.FocusedVitality.com

Connecting with Success Call

Join me on my next Connecting with Success call on Tuesday, September 20 at 7 PM EST (4 PM PT) where I’ll be discussing how you can Tap into Your Creative Energy!

Are there times you feel drained, non-productive, unhappy, unbalanced, like a victim, like it’s every body’s fault?  I can relate to all of these feelings.

When you want to create anything – success, less-stress, balance, happy family, leadership, fun times – you want to tap into your  feelings of being fulfilled, loving and creative. How do you do this? Join me on this Connecting with Success call and hear what is working for me.

Tuesday,September 20                     7 PM EST

        Call in number – 712-429-0690  PIN 312873

I look forward to your participation. Start thinking about that one thing that is keeping you from being as successful as you want to be!

To your big success and small stress!

Jeanette

Register for my free, fun and inspiring articles at www.FocusedVitality.com where I show you how to have more success with less stress!

More Success with Less Stress

I love the tag line I have started using this past year – More Success with Less Stress in Your Business, Career and Your Life! But, what do I really mean when say this?

Join me Wednesday, May 11 at 2 pm Eastern Time for my fr*ee Connecting with Success call where I will talk about just that – More Success with Less Stress!

During this 60 minute conversation, I will share some wisdom around what it does take to have success your way – with less stress.

• You get to define what success means to you
• You will get very clear about the barriers that are getting in your way
• You can create a focused plan for achieving the success you really want, your way!

Come prepared to discuss what success means to you – what you really want out of your business, career and life.

This call will be recorded and shared with my followers, but please attend to obtain the benefit of some live coaching and question-answering!

The call-in number is 712-429-0690  PIN 312873#

Wednesday, May 11

2 PM EST

Jeanette

Success Coach, Strategist & Speaker

Connect with adding more vitality in your business, career and life with Jeanette’s complimentary on-line lessons – Register at www.FocusedVitality.com

From Wallflower to Queen of Relationships

One morning I attended a chamber of commerce networking event and was immediately introduced to a woman business owner. The first thing I noticed about her was that she was practically hugging the wall she was standing against and staying away from the main group of participants. I could see she was grateful that I was speaking with her. I chatted with her for awhile and then moved along to meet other networkers. My experience with her reminded me of my early days of attending events and feeling frustrated that I was not making good connections.

As a leader in your business or in your career, networking events can be both fruitful and fun if you apply the following success tips.

 Change your thoughts about “networking”

The word networking can come across as hard, something-I-have-to-do, or too structured. No wonder why some people have difficulty at these events; they enter them like they are in a battle zone equipped with business cards and sales pitches. Dump this image and instead think of connecting, communicating, building relationships and having fun!

Choose your events wisely

Too often you walk away from a meeting feeling frustrated because you did not really connect with anyone. Perhaps the problem is a disconnect between your reason for attending an event and the purpose or membership of the organization. As a business owner become very clear on your ideal client, then hand pick the events where you will find these types of clients or people that work with your type of client. If you are a leader in your career, pick events that will help you reach your goals such as education, resource-sharing, or even career searches. Don’t waste your time on activities that don’t support your goals in your business or career.

Set an intention

A strategy that has really ramped up my relationship building skills is that I set an intention to meet at least three new people at each event. When I walk around thinking of this intention, it makes it easier for me to reach out to begin conversations with new people. 

Be prepared

Make sure you have plenty of business cards and a pen. Telling others that you ran out of cards or left them in the car can sound disorganized and unprofessional. Don’t miss an opportunity to gather information. Use your pen to write some follow-up information on the back of their card and where you met them. Be aware if there is something you need help with – then ask for it. If you have an upcoming event or program be prepared with fliers for people who show an interest in this. Don’t get home and then think “Oh, I wish I would have told people about my retreat!”

Shift your energy

You may feel nervous about attending an event and this is a natural feeling. Take comfort in knowing that there are other people that are also nervous. Do something to shift your energy: deep breathe, drink water, relax your shoulders, and visualize havig fun. Once you talk with one person, nervousness releases.

Begin meaningful conversations

A smile is worth a thousand words. Approach people with a smile, introduce yourself and begin a conversation about something. Avoid the pitch of “I am Jeanette and I am a coach and what do you do?” Instead, begin with a non-business related opening like “Hello, I’m Jeanette Eleff. How are you enjoying all of this rain we have been having?” Connecting events do not need to be filled with robots walking around shoving business cards at each other. You can make it fun and engaging. Get to know the other person by asking questions and offering resources. Write on the back of their card how you can support them. Remember, you want to build relationships because people will remember you, they will want to connect with you and they will want to share information with you.

Avoid spending too much time with people you know

We can fall into the trap of gravitating towards the people we already know during an event – of course, it feesl safe, but you won’t build any new relationships this way. It is okay to acknowledge and talk briefly with people you know, but don’t make this your only source of connections, especially if your intention is to meet at least three new people.

Move along with grace

If your desire is to build relationships and meet new people then you want to keep moving along to meet these new people. I call this the networking dance, but you want to do this with grace. Have meaningful conversations and be absorbed with your conversation. Avoid looking over their shoulder, getting distracted by someone else you want to meet. When you sense you want to move along to your next conversation, say something like “It was nice meeting you, I will follow up with you, and now I am going to move along and see some new people.” If you want someone’s business card, ask for it and wait for someone to ask for your card versus shoving it at them. We need to treat our business cards with respect, like they do in the Japanese business culture.

Follow up immediately

The key to building great relationships that will dub you the relationship queen is in the follow up. When you meet someone that you want to keep in contact with because you found them interesting or you want to share resources, then invite them for coffee or lunch. This is a great time for you both to get to know each other. Don’t make this about you and trying to make a sale or gain a client. As you shown an interest in what the other person is doing, they will show the same interest in you.

 Now, go out there and collect your queen of relationships crown!

To your big success!

Jeanette

 Want a more energy-filled life, career and business? Get your free “How to Create More Vitality” lessons at www.FocusedVitality.com