Living with intention is a way of tuning into your own desires, needs and goals and not letting yourself be swept away by the goals and desires of others. 

In my years of working as a sales professional and teaching sales at a Fortune 500 company, I've seen people held back by their own self-diagnosed assessments that they 'can't sell' or don't know 'how to sell'. 

I now coach people who are promoting their small businesses or in career transition and I've seen trends that can make a big impact to your personal sales process (whether selling your skills, product or service).

Having systems in your business is like having healthy eating habits...once they're established they contribute to longevity, vitality and create a solid foundation for great things to happen - such as growth in your business.

If you were to take a survey of Business Owners and ask them why they went into business, many would say one of their top reasons was for flexibility and freedom.

However, when the business gets going and you are juggling all the different roles, it feels like you have everything BUT flexibility and freedom. 

This chance encounter was not so 'by chance'. And, it reinforced a concept that I learned early on in my sales career...

I've been in a number of conversations with professionals/business owners who want better for themselves - who are striving to put their talents and skills to better or more constructive use, who want to feel fulfilled each day, or who want to step into their own leadership skills and lead with confidence.

This power is not to be underestimated.

Your Intention can make profound things happen. It can create changes or actions that may feel small at the time but can have a big impact on how your life events unfold.

Like the cylinders in a car or cogs in a wheel, your business has components that make it run well.

Just like your car's engine, your healthy body, or a puzzle, when one component isn't working, your entire business begins to struggle to keep up....

I've been thinking about the relationship between intent and behaviour.  

In life, so many of us have goals - to eat better, to increase our exercise, to be present at home more...

I'm guessing you can relate to the idea of intending to eat well and then making a poor choice of snack. Or, intending to get more sleep, yet, making the decision to check your social media accounts late into the night.

When it comes to your business or career, we also set goals and then find ourselves making poor decisions that don't get us close.....

I always find it interesting to look at our behaviours towards those goals because it tells us what our relationship is to them, and it can reveal something deeper at play....

We are a culmination of our experiences and environment.

We are the main protagonist in our story. We hold on to our stories of who we've been and they become our identity.

But, what happens when a part of our story no longer serves us? What happens when we hold onto a part of our story that actually limits our future growth and success?

I've noticed that when we plan to accomplish a goal and create our actions, there's a piece missing that can de-rail so many of us.  Setting the goal and determining how we'll get there is only a piece of the puzzle...

Accounting for that 'thing' that has the potential to de-rail us could be an important component of your next goal setting and action planning exercise.....

Starting your business – the one that you’ve thought of, explored and now finally launched out into the world, is a huge accomplishment.

What comes next is no easy task.

Finding people to work with: Clients. Customers.

A decision so powerful it changes the course of things.

At first, it’s not visible on the surface, to anyone else.

He proceeded to tell me his story of working in the financial industry and how he became so dissatisfied that it significantly impacted him professionally and personally. He said that he almost became a different person. 

Between blogging, booking yourself into networking events, focussing on one product/service offering or the next....how do you know where to focus your time and energy?

Something else was calling to me and I just couldn't figure it out.

There’s an event that takes place around this time of year that can fill us with a mixture of both positive anticipation and dread.

If you’re having trouble moving forward, figuring out the next step in your life – whether it be your career, your business, or your personal life and you feel that you just don’t know which way to take things, looking to your past could offer up clues....

I've been thinking lately about acceptance & strength.

Acceptance of what you ask?