Intuition and success

See It To Create It

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Working hard can create success and it does not need to be that way. I work with business owners and professionals who say they are exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated, or that success is coming too slow or at a cost to their health and their lives.

Meditate/Reflect

My question is always the same. What is your vision for your business or your career? Their answers may vary slightly, but a common one is, “I just want to make money.” Most of them are making money.

Whatever we imagine we are creating. Often, owners are creating what they see. What they did not realize was that they were not focused on or did not have a vision of what they really wanted.

We often use the term vision when discussing businesses or careers; it applies to all our lives. Vision means to see. In this context, it refers to seeing with your mind’s eye. Imagine what success looks like. Imagine what the life you desire looks like. Can you see it?

Some people do not have the ability to imagine, called aphantasia, meaning without imagination. The other side of that coin is hyperphantasia which is having vivid imagery. While scientists struggle to explain our ability to imagine, most of us have the ability to see in our mind’s eye. It is intuitive.

What we see or imagine is being created. So in the case of the frustrated business owner, he was creating what he imagined – making money. He also believed that he had to work hard to make money, so he created that.

The other day, I met a new client with a successful business, but too much of it relies on him – his choice. He believes that no one can do it how he can, so he creates his business to depend on him.

I asked him why he imagined it that way. His belief was that having employees was hard work and, in fact, more work. I asked why he imagined that to be true. He hired a GM, and it turned out to be more work, and he said, “I knew that would happen.” I suggested he imagined it happening that way and created it that way. We worked together to help him see clearly what he really wanted, to see a different outcome in his business and his life.

What we imagine is what we are creating. Most people just work hard every day. They think that everything would be different if they did more of something like marketing or worked harder. That is never the answer.

Business owners and professionals who take the time to see clearly in their mind’s eye the business, career, and life they desire begin to experience changes that lead them to that vision. This is not logical, but it is very intuitive.

So what do you imagine? Not for the future but for what you want now. Follow these steps.

  • Find a quiet place and give yourself the time to meditate or reflect.
  • Take a deep breath and calm your body.
  • Stop thinking and instead imagine what you want in your work and your life.
  • See yourself having it.

Do this often, as it may take time to get out of your unproductive thinking and align with your vision. Change can take time but begins with knowing what you see in all aspects of your life. What you imagine is being created.

Nothing is Wrong

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Upset woman

A simple explanation for why everything feels wrong. Perhaps you are not in present time. I know this is not logical, but it is not meant to be. From an intuitive perspective, when we are fully in present time we understand what is and decide what to create at that moment. When we are not in present time, then it feels like things are happening to us, and we do not have control.

When we are not in present time, we are mostly likely lost in thought, thinking and over thinking. Our mind and thoughts create stories based on our worries, our fears, complaints, judgment of things and other negative perspectives. The judging mind is different from our creative mind that works with us to create otherwise we are in our judging mind.

These perspectives on the mind and our thinking may be new to you, and perhaps you never noticed how your mind works. We are always in it, thinking, thinking and thinking. It is addictive and habitual. When we come out of our mind and allow ourselves to be deeply present at the moment, our perspective on everything is different.

In present time, we do not judge. We observe. We decide and create. Accepting what is in present time allows us to see more clearly where we want to be and move in that way. Conversely, when we are in our mind complaining and judging where we are then we go more deeply into the circumstance we are resisting.

Because this is not logical, it is intuitive. Intuitive concepts are not understood by the mind. Intuitive concepts are understood through awareness and experience so try this.

  • Notice a problem you are IN.
  • Stop thinking about it and come deeply into present time. To come into present time focus deeply on yourself and what you are experiencing (not thinking) at this moment.
  • Once you are deeply present, then observe the problem. Don’t think about it or argue with yourself about it. Just observe it.
  • Observe the problem. Be intuitive. Imagine pulling yourself out of the problem. See it as something you can observe.
  • Imagine pulling your energy out of it.
  • When you feel separate enough from it, then decide to allow it to be.
  • Take your attention off the problem. Focus on yourself. Decide how you want to be in present time and be there.

Learning how to come into present time when a problem presents itself creates the most amazing results. So before you react to any problem, give this a try then notice how you choose to respond in present time.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

Your Power to Create

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

iStock_000040644216MediumIntuition is widely discussed these days though few know how to use this ability. Most references to intuition relate to our ability to pick up on things, to know, to read and to trust our gut. These describe the receiving side of intuition. Few know about or understand the other side, our power to create.

Creative intuition is not a logical discussion so you will have to open to your intuition. Our thoughts create. A short and simple statement that cannot be understood by the mind. Quantum Physics has provided the science behind this long known ability to have to create, manifest and change our reality simply by placing our attention on it. Quantum physics states that the observer has a direct impact on whatever they have their attention on.

A simpler way of saying this is, “Our thoughts are creative.” As a coach and consultant, this is in my awareness all the time. I pay attention to the words my clients use, the thoughts they express, the attitude they have. Those who are successful are optimistic, positive, have a strong vision, are problem solvers and are determined. You never hear a negative word or thought come from them.

Joyce is a new client and a business owner. At first she presents a friendly, positive perspective but my sense was behind that persona is a lot of negative energies. Joyce started coaching because her eight-year business is barely breaking even. She wants success. I know that success and failure are not coincidental. I could feel intuitively how tightly she held things, anger deep inside her. Her energy did not flow. That showed up in her business by money not flowing; relationships were not flowing, and difficulty getting clients to reorder.

After a couple of pleasant coaching sessions, Joyce let down her guard showing how negative she is, seeing everything as a problem, not keeping clients, not having money, etc. My efforts to encourage her to look at things from a different perspective fell on deaf ears. She was set in her ways, so our coaching ended.

Knowing that thoughts are creative I felt awful that Joyce was creating her business failure but could not see it. She felt her struggles were due to circumstances outside herself, the competition, the Internet, and so on.

On the other hand, I have clients who understand that they create. They guard what they say. When they have a crisis, they see it as something they can fix so that they can continue to focus on their vision of success. They are kind to those around them, seeing the best in them. My successful clients have a positive outlook and setbacks are just seen as part of life and move on. They keep their vision in mind all the time and work from their passion to get there. Failure is not in their mind.

Thoughts are creative. Notice what you think. Keep your highest vision in mind and see yourself there. Stay away from negative people, stories, conversations, thoughts, statements, and experiences. Take control of your space meaning keep your energy high so that energy is moving. Take control of your thinking so that every thought you entertain is one that builds your vision of success.

Notice how things are different for you when you see yourself creating your vision of success.  Knowing that your thoughts create, what are you creating now?

Notice how things are different for you when you see yourself creating your vision of success. Knowing that your thoughts create, what are you creating now?

Never From NEED!

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

0032PhotonicaOne of the biggest mistakes a business owner makes is when they have a desperate need then makes decisions from that energy.

The energy of need comes deep within us in fear.  When we are in fear, all our energy leaves our upper chakras and our rational mind. Instead, our energy goes directly to the first chakra where we manage survival and fear. In some ways, this is helpful because it creates energies and physiological responses that can set us into strong action – fight or flight.
One area that commonly we may not have a clear perspective is the people we need to help us. When we hire from the energy of need, we forgo our intuition, hiring someone who can do the job without considering if they are a good fit for the company. Making decisions this way is always a disaster because we look from only one perspective – can they do the job. As we know, we need more than skill sets from our staff. The energy of need in the first chakra causes us to lose this perspective.  “I need someone who can do the job and I need them NOW!”  When we hear ourselves feeling this way we need to stop.  We are in fear.

Operating from the energy of need happens also when we have a staff person who is negative, bored, unhappy with their job, not performing well, causing disruption, etc. but we NEED them. When we are in the energy of need, we believe that we need them to do the job as if there was no one else in the world who could.  This is not true but when we are in need and fear we believe it.  Our life depends on it.   It is always true that letting go of an unhappy or unpleasant employee will improve your company no matter how much you believe you need them.

Hiring and supporting staff that support you and your vision are critical to your success. The common phrase, hire slow and fire fast, is one of the best pieces of advice I have heard. To hire slow gives you the opportunity to decide not only the skills the applicant has, but also how he/she feels to you and what your intuition tells you about how they will represent your brand and fit into the culture of your business. That same intuition tells you that someone on your staff is disrupting the energy of your business as well as the culture and brand you have worked hard to create.

When we are in the energy of NEED, it disrupts our decision-making and distorts our perspective. This blog talks mostly about staff though the energy of NEED can affect any decision that we make. When making a decision take the time to notice the energy you are making it from. If you feel that urgency in your body or the energy of NEED, take some time to step back, calm down, clear your thinking, come out of fear (lower chakras) to find a more neutral perspective (upper chakras).  It will change your perspective and you will make better decisions.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

 

 

Goal Not Happening

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

What goal is still not being achieved?  What part of your vision is not manifesting? This is frustrating when we are achieving goals and manifesting our vision in all areas except here.  If there was a logical solution you would have found it by now so let’s take an intuitive approach.  What is it within you that’s in the way?   Knowing that thoughts are creative, as are emotions, find out what you believe.

dreamstimefree_138882 Karen, Attorney at Law

One of my clients is an attorney with a fast growing practice.   Karen decided to change from having a law practice to having a law business.  We worked together to make this shift. This means she is more than an attorney.  She is a business owner. With the enthusiasm of this change Karen brought in many new clients and was in heaven.   After the glow (high energy) of this change wore off Karen started to hit a wall.  She was not meeting her financial targets and began to doubt herself.

On the face of it, she was doing all the right things so what happened?  Karen is self-aware so she knew to look within.   Karen found that at her core she believed that she could not run a business that she was just an attorney.  There are lots of reasons for this limited belief but more importantly Karen found it was her own thinking that was putting on the brakes.  Armed with this awareness she became determined to release the limiting thoughts and hold her vision to create a successful law business.  And she is.

Confident business womanSarah, Realtor

Sarah is a realtor.  She is young and would like a family but sincerely believes that if she wants to be successful in her career it will take all her time, hard work and attention.  This means she will have to put off her vision for being married.  When she told this to me I asked her why she was creating her reality this way.  It was precisely what she did not want to happen but believed it firmly.   I asked Sarah if she could imagine being a successful realtor, having a relationship and being married.   Sarah looked surprised.  She had spent so much of her time struggling with her own thinking that said either/or that she did not even consider the possibility of having both.   When Sarah realized it was her own thinking in her way it changed everything for her.

dreamstimefree_129031Max, Bakery owner

Max owns a bakery.  He works 24/7 or so it feels that way.  When Max called me he was at his wit’s end and about to give up his store.  I asked him the same question.  Why are you creating your business this way?  Can you imagine another way?  With that Max came up with a list of reasons: can’t find good help, can’t trust others to do it as well as he can, can’t afford to hire enough people, etc.  His list was long.  Knowing that thoughts are creative I asked Max why he chose to hold these thoughts as the basis for his business.  These beliefs will destroy his business.  Max never considered that he was the cause of his unhappiness and was not familiar with the notion that thoughts are creative.

Max was willing to try anything to save his business.  He agreed to learn meditation as a way to become self-aware, clear his thinking and create a new vision of success that more aligned to what he valued.   Max was able to imagine his bakery running successfully with the help of staff and soon after fired a handful of people who share his vision.  His business is thriving without him being there 24/7.

What About You?

What part of your vision is not manifesting?  What goals seem to elude you?  Now become aware of your thoughts creating this.   Clear your thinking.  Imagine your vision and goals manifesting.  Allow things to change and your vision to manifest.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

How are your thoughts in your way?

You Created It!

~ Kay Robinson ~ 1 Comment

dreamstimefree_138882Life happens and we act and react to what comes our way.  That is an atheist view.  What if every thing that happens manifests through our own thinking about things?  This is truer but hard to grasp because it is not logical though it is very intuitive.  The proof falls in line when we see ourselves.  Let me share a story of one of my clients who learned that her thinking about things matters.

Susan – The Failed Leader

Susan is a  new director of a large research laboratory.  Under her is an array of doctors each a specialist in their field. Susie called me because she was trying to bring her team of doctors together for monthly department meeting.  To date some doctors never came, others came and controlled the meeting with their own banter, etc.  She was frustrated, felt disrespected and that her leadership was not recognized in the way that she wanted.  When I met with her I could see clearly how she was creating this scenario through her own thinking.

No One To Blame

Typically we look outside ourselves for why something is not going well.  In this case, Susan believed the doctors were being arrogant, had their egos in the way, etc.  This was what she believed and saw the problem was with them.  From an intuitive perspective I had her not focus outside herself but to be aware that she was creating this reality.   I saw her thinking was in her way.  Susan could not imagine bringing the doctors together under her leadership and to work collaboratively.  She feared their egos were stronger than hers that they would run her over and disregard her role so that is exactly what she created and experienced.  At first Susan argued that she was not creating this because it was not what she wanted.

Change Others or Go Within

Susan came up with many suggestions on how to make the doctors come to the meetings, follow her agenda, etc.  These were possible solutions though intuitively I knew they would not work until she changed her thoughts and pictures about her relationship to her staff.  Susan agreed to a guided meditation in which she could become aware of her thinking and vision of the lab.

 A New Vision

In meditation Susan began to imagine the research lab operating in a successful, supportive and collaborative way.  When she became aware of her thoughts about this person or another being in the way she cleared those thoughts and created a new perspective.  Susan meditated on the monthly staff meeting imagining it in a new way.  She began to see her team of doctors coming together, seeing value in collaboration, sharing expertise and generally enjoying the time together.  As she meditated on this she became aware of how much energy she had in resistance to the monthly meeting herself and released that energy from her space.   She was also aware of her fear that the doctors did not value her leadership and cleared those fears.   We continued in this fashion until she could see clearly all the doctors being in communication and support of the success of the lab.

Everyone Is Intuitive

A couple of intuitive points helped Susan understand how she was affecting her ability to be a leader.  Everyone is intuitive and the doctors simply picked up on Susan’s energy  (fear and uncertainty) and reacted in kind.   They intuitive read her pictures especially the one about doctors not wanting to follow her leadership and so they did not.  From an intuitive perspective be aware that people pick up on the energy and pictures in our space and react more to that than what we say.

 A New Reality

Once Susan cleared her thinking and released the energies in her space, I had her begin to see herself as a leader with a clear working relationship with all of her team, leading, setting the tone, being in communication and having fun.

In this meditation Susan changed her perspective and energy about the lab, her staff and specifically the monthly staff meeting.  Not surprising Susan reported that everything changed immediately.  She found herself approaching her communication with everyone in a new way resulting in a new response from each person.  They seemed to sense her clarity and certainty.  All the doctors attended the next monthly staff meeting, and she led them in a lively and productive case discussion.  It was clear to Susan the change was within her.  The staff sensed her clarity as a leader and the change in her perspective.

Clear Your Thinking 

What surprised Susan was she did not have to make her staff change though that seemed to happen.   Susan understood that she was in her own way.  Her thoughts about her staff, her fears about her own abilities and how she saw herself as the leader were manifesting in her reality. That has changed.   Susan committed to regularly assessing the thoughts and concepts she has in her space and on her mind and to meditate to find this clarity.

From an intuitive perspective we create our reality through our thoughts, fears and concepts.  Change your thinking and watch your reality change.  If there is a situation in your life or your work that is not as you would like it to be then stop to see what your thoughts are about it.   It is never the other person or the situation.  It is always manifesting from within us so meditate because the answer may not always be logical.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

Meditate – Everyone is Doing It!

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

dreamstime_5775817  Things don’t have to be this way.  They are this way because it is what we believe.  I know this is hard to hear especially if you are busy in your life and don’t have the time to stop thinking, solving and working.

From an intuitive perspective I can see how we are creating what we have and what we experience now.  It is not a mystery except to ask, “Why do I think that things are this way?”  Or “Why do I believe this (your experiences) to be true?”

All Gone Wrong

The only way to find that answer from my perspective is to stop, get quiet and meditate because the answer is not a logical one.   I was telling my daughter what a tough time I was having last week.  My staff was not showing up, my clients were cancelling, etc.  It felt all-wrong and there was not logical explanation so I stopped stressing and decided to mediate.  In meditation I can get quiet, pull my energy out of the problem, my thoughts about it, the stories I was making up in my mind, get my space back and get back to the way I truly like to be.

Now I cannot explain to you why things got so out of whack because in my mediation I was aware that it was not one thing but a series of things that I reacted to and collectively they altered my energy and, therefore, my reality.   Within an hour of that meditation (which was simply to become aware of myself in present time) everything seemed to turn around 180 degrees.  This is not logical but it is very intuitive.

Use Both Sides of Your Brain

We can work mostly from our logic, work hard, solve problems, stress about what is not as we want it to be or we can use both of our abilities – logic and intuition.  To benefit from our intuition we have to quiet the body (which is so loud and demanding) and clear our thinking (stop being logical for a moment).  It is hard to stop our thinking, our logic< and get quiet enough to meditate but that is where the miracle happens.

FastCompany

FastCompany magazine November 2013, “Want Success? Meditate.  The centuries old practice has its skeptics, but science confirms it: Meditation, advocated by an increasing number of successful business people, leads to a happier, more productive, and more creative life.  This deep dive exposes how the process affects our brains, from weakening our capacity for anxiety to dramatically improving our ability to fitter out distractions and retain new facts.”

Ray Dalio on Meditation

Meditation is becoming a common tool successful business owners use and are talk about more and more.  This is not surprising to me because once you create the practice you experience the change immediately but it requires taking the time to try.  Ray Dalio, Hedge Fund Genius, says meditation is secret to his success.

Find Your Style

There are many forms of meditation. I use an intuitive form of meditation because I work with people who have big visions and this style works in manifesting visions.   Any form of meditation has value so pick one that suits you and start.

This morning my week looked grim so I meditated and by noon my companies had two new contracts out of blue or I should say, “Out of my meditation.”  My recommendation – meditate every day.  It will make all the difference.

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

Meditation for Business Owners and Professionals.

Change Required

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

dreamstime_4244380Success is not elusive.  Achieving goals is not a mystery.  Nothing is impossible when we can see clearly and get out of our own way.

What does that mean?

There are a few essential steps to assure success and while the basics are the same (know your vision, see it clearly in your mind’s eye and take determined action to move in that direction), I find that I add elements to this list for each person I coach.  It might be to:

  • Clear their thinking about _______
  • Change routine way of doing ______
  • Or wherever  else I see intuitively you are getting in your way.

Sometimes people can hear what I see and sometimes they cannot.  It depends on how attached someone is  familiar ways of being, doing or thinking.  We can be unconscious to ourselves.

If we want something new or different then change is required.  That change can be on a number of levels.  It could be a change in our thinking, our routine, habits, pastime ways of doing things and wherever we are set in our ways.

Working with business owners and professionals we name everything they do that supports their success and what they do that gets in their way.  It is fascinating to unravel this. Mostly we don’t realize that we are in our own way.  Our way of being is just so much a part of our unconsciousness.

The most common way that we get in our own way (and it is becoming more prevalent) is our attachment to email and social media.   A large part of our time can get lost in these two places taking our attention off our vision and our goals and placing it squarely on what others have to say, want from us or something that we find interesting.

The Keys.

  • Know your vision of success.
  • See it clearly in your mind’s eye (meditate on it because seeing is different than thinking).
  • Take determined action.
  • Then I add my suggestions specific to you. It may be getting focused because there is too much grabbing your attention.
  • You are multitasking and not achieving your goals.
  • Maybe I’ll see that you are really really busy but not achieving your vision of success.  Busy does not create success.

There are others ways as well but I would have to talk with you to know what those are for you.  You probably know some of them but not all because you are unconscious to them.

Most important is to know you must change!  How you are now, how you think, how you spend your time and the energy level you do it from is creating precisely what you have in present time which may be fine but if you want something different then your energy and patterns have to change.

How are you getting in your own way?  Know the changes you can make to support your success.

I saw two videos recently that for me show these dichotomies.  One is a dancer.  He reminds me to let energy move, let things change, lighten up and let go.

The other is much more serious report on how distorted our thinking can become.  How we can work without awareness. Here they are.  Enjoy!

Dance

Five Monkeys

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

Inspired Success Coaching and EMyth Business Coaching.

Don’t Get in The Way of Your Leadership

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Paris SkyScrapers
Leader

This week was a look at how easy it is for business owners to get in the way of their success.  Here is the story of one business owner getting in his own way. Jake has owned a large heating and air conditioning installation company for 18 yr. and suddenly it is about to go under.

Jake

Jake turned over the day-to-day operations of his company two years ago to two of his key staff.  In general day-to-day operations is the function of managers and so that was a good strategy.  On the other hand, Jake also stepped out, and unknowingly gave them the leadership of his company and this was his mistake.

Setting The Tone

For a business to succeed someone, typically the owner or CEO, sets the vision, values and the tone of the company. Staff, vendors and customers come to know this as the company’s brand which becomes how they feel about the company and what they expect in terms of customer service and product/service quality.

Abdicated Leadership

For two years,  Jake trusted these employees, thought they were doing a good job and left them to run the business while he found new projects/customers to serve.  This year Jake’s intuition told him he better come back as the leader of the company.   He felt compelled by his intuition to ask for financial reports.   With that both men quit leaving Jake with huge debt and little knowledge of the day-to-day operations, staff, vendors, customers and current operational procedures.

Admit Mistakes

Jake made several mistakes as a business owner but the one that harmed him the most was he gave up leadership of his company.

Jake had not been providing leadership from which all work would be done.  One person has to define the vision for the company, the values they hold, the products and services provided and the way everyone will interact with each other,  clients, vendors, investors, etc.  When Jake gave up leadership, the two lead staff took over setting their own vision, imposing their own values and setting the tone for working with everyone. This change resulted in financial mismanagement, decreased quality and delivery of their products and services as well as relationships altered.

Now What?

When these two men left Jake had a crisis on his hands.  He was in enormous debt, could not service his contracts, did not have qualified staff or systems in place, all the knowledge about the operations was held by the two that left and he had lost the faith of his bankers, staff, vendors and clients.

Jake’s Fears

How did Jake get into this mess?  It was simple and could easily happen to any of us.  Jake is educated and smart, but like all of us he does not know what he does not know as a business owner.  Two years ago he felt like he did not know enough to keep his business going so rather than admit his uncertainty and finding a way to learn how to take his business to the next level he abdicated his business to others.  Jake’s greatest weakness as a business owner is his fear of not knowing.  His greatest strength is his knowledge of his industry and the high values that he brings to his business.  His greatest fear, stated by him, is that he is not a leader.  Jake is clearly a leader in his family of 14 children and his local community where he works to inspire youth to get an education and sees his role as helping others to be employed and productive.   That sense of leadership is missing in his business.

Intuitive Perspective

Jake belongs to a very conservative religion that values humility and allowing others to be senior to them.  This affects his ability to set his crown at a leadership vibration.   Leadership from the crown chakra is different from the control and command form of leadership which comes from the third Chakra below the sternum.

From an intuitive perspective leadership vibrates in an energy center on the top of the head called the crown Chakra.  When you hold your head high and straighten your spine, you experience an energy change.  Try it. Suddenly you feel more certain. The crown Chakra sets the energy for our space.    We can use this energy center to set the tone in any situation.    Notice for yourself.  Those who hold their head high show the energy of leadership, seniority and certainty.  We notice, listen and pay attention to them.   Those who hold their head low, bowed or below others give off the impression of not knowing, not being important, being weaker and certainly not a leader.

Be Willing to Learn and Change

Jake created a successful company for 16 years based on the information he had available to him then he hit his limit.  He did not know how to manage or grow his $6 mil. company.  In his fear of not knowing, he gave up leadership.

When Jake came back into the company and realized how desperate the situation was he called to discuss business coaching.  He was willing to admit that he did not know what it would take to turn things around.  After working with Jake for a month I realized it would not work.  Jake’s greatest weakness he was his inability to plan and prepare both of which are essential qualities of a business owner and a leader.  It is, in fact, the most important ability, to work on the business rather than doing the work of the business.  He was simply unwilling to spend the time to create the vision of his company, define the brand he wanted to impart, to develop a financial or organizational plan and all the other foundational components of a successful business.  He admitted he hates planning and preparing.

As an intuitive, I see Jake was stuck in an old energy pattern or routine that is familiar and comfortable even if it is not serving him.  He was in resistance to changing his space, energy or focus.  So if nothing changes within us then nothing changes in our lives or in our creations.  In the end we stopped coaching as Jake admitted he could not take the time to plan.  He would try to put band aids on his problems for now.

Being willing to lead, admit what we don’t know and to change ourselves first are essential components of success.

As always, your comments and experiences are appreciated.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

Business Coaching

Business Outside the Box

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

ImageWhat do you do when you cannot define what you do?  Sounds confusing and for those in this dilemma it is.  I have noticed an interesting trend among many small business owners.  They cannot decide what they do and from my perspective that is the wrong question.  The question is who am I and what do I bring forward?

Yesterday I visited a business owner at her office and noticed that she had three different businesses named on her door.  Have you met a business owner who hands you two or three different business cards for what they do?  I experience this quite often and have done it myself.

When I first met Dave I asked him what he did.  He was hard pressed to tell me specifically.  My impression was he helped with marketing your business but I was not sure how.  His company did website design, made videos, took photos, helped with mobile marketing, social media, etc.  I had another client who needed marketing support so I wanted to know so I could put them together.

Another client, Marcia, is struggling to define her niche.  She is an artist (sells her art), an interior designer for high-end clients, web designer, stager for fund-raising house tours, develops landscape designs, etc.  Her question is how to market herself. Stacy is the business owner with three business signs on her door and a long list of coaching certifications to define her business.

I work with business owners to define the business they are creating when it is not so much a brick and mortar business like my other clients, i.e., a very successful heating and air conditioning installation business.  Even my client, Kim, who owns a CPA firm, which seems pretty specific, is struggling to define her services and target market. She sees herself as more than a CPA.

This same dilemma can happen with professionals. Nicole has been a CFO for years and is looking for a change.  She spoke about her passion for motorcycles and teaching.   To her these are all different parts of her life.   Working with her I suggested that she not see them as separate but all that she is.  In the end she took a job as a CFO for a company that sells motorcycles and a job description that involved teaching and mentoring financial staff in each division.

From an intuitive perspective there is a new brand of businesses and professionals emerging that cannot be placed in a box.    All of these business owners have one thing in common.  They are all very intuitive whether they would define it that way or not.   They each have an intuitive sense about their area of focus.  For example, Dave is very good at “reading” a business and a business owner to decide the best way to set up communication between the company and possible customers.  Dave knows about online & mobile communications but his real talent is an intuitive sense of how to create communication.  What box does that fit in?  So if you ask Dave what he does, he is not a web designer, a video producers, a photographer, an apps developer, etc. though he does all those things.  Dave establishes communication.

Marcia helps you make your world more beautiful in any way that you that you want. Stacy helps you know who you are and what is important in your life.  Kim helps her clients get out of fear of money.  This is the truth of what they do.  This is not your typical business elevator pitch nor does it fit the traditional perspective that says you must fit into a box.  I am sure they wish that they could and want to but that box does not fit for them.

So the first question is not “What do I do?”  The trend toward out of the box businesses comes from the business owner knowing who they are, what is important to them and what they want to bring into the world then creating their business. Taking all that we are and seeing it as a whole and not apart brings us to a new place.  We can get a job, do work or create a business OR we can express who we are through what we do in our work or in our business.  It is a journey in self-awareness.  It is a new way of thinking about what we do.  It is more than the skills that we have.  It is who we are.

If you are going to work in a job or create a business why not chose to create one that reflects who you are even if it is out of the box.  The culture of business is changing and this is one of those ways.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

Intuition in Marketing

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

dreamstime_5775817Marketing is such an interesting area to an intuitive.  You can approach marketing logically and decide what you want to happen.  This is a hard sell approach and it may bounce off your potential clients.  My perspective is intuitive.  An intuitive approach involves reading your potential clients and what they want versus telling them about you, your business, products and services.  They may or may not be interested.  Telling them about your business does nothing to motivate them to do business with you or use your product.  They don’t care.  They don’t want to be programmed.

As an intuitive I work with business owners to use their intuition to read their potential clients, see where their attention is and how you can grab it.  This is no place for logic.  Be intuitive.

One of my clients is starting a new business selling high-end good quality delicious chocolates.  He has partnered with expert chocolate makers to distribute their products.  I read the quality of the product, the energy of the business itself, the business name, the chocolatiers who designed the chocolate, the manufacturers, his business coach, the office, his communication with the distributors for Whole Foods and other locations.  Finally I read the packaging of their first product.

In the end it was the packaging of the product that was out of sync.  The packaging was very nice, well designed and I saw that it would be entirely invisible in the stores.  For the success of this business I saw they needed to take a risk and design packaging that would stand out and not get lost on the overly stocked shelves of very popular stores.  Now this is not true for all products and services but it is true in this case.

Using intuition in marketing is simple.  It begins by stepping back from all the logic and the energy of everyone working on the product. This means getting out of your analyzer and to stop thinking.  Find a space of quiet and begin to imagine your product and your target customers.  What will bring them together?  Don’t be logical.  Be intuitive.

Being intuitive involves using your mind’s eye to see from the perspective of the buyer and the consumer.  Where is their attention and how do you grab it?   People love it when something grabs their attention.  When you can see that clearly in your mind’s eye you have the answer to your successful marketing plan.

Best wishes on your success!

Kay

Staff Supporting Your Vision

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

????????????????????????????????????????Karen owns an interior design company and when I first met her she was working out of a large one-room office in Berkeley with another designer in a one-room office in Concord.  She had an office manager and two part-time designers.  She rented space to another designer to help pay the bills.

Karen’s work was well respected and her clients liked working with her but she was not making enough money to create the kind of company she wanted. We worked on her vision.  She was able to dream big and  was not afraid to face her demons, the pictures and energy that  were in her way.

The first step was to use meditation as a tool to clear her thinking, to clarify her vision and to get out of fear.  Karen wanted to approach her business from an intuitive perspective so meditation was an easy fit for her.

One of  Karen’s big obstacles was her staff.  They did not share her vision.  Something had to change so the next step was to bring staff into alignment with her vision or let them go.  It was a rocky time as Karen is a healer meaning she wants to help people.  This hurt her business.  Her rates were low and she gave more to her staff than they gave to her business.  Her Berkeley staff decided to leave and subsequent hires did not go well as Karen hired people she felt compassion for.  They call came and went.

In meditation Karen released her need to heal the people that she hired. Finally she was able to find enough neutrality to hire highly qualified  staff that supported her vision and who she did not have to heal.  This changed everything.

With this new staff Karen felt comfortable changing her rates to the level that supported her value and the value of her company.  To make this work Karen had her lead staff receive coaching as well with the goal that each of them would own their department, set goals, clear their thinking and have a strong vision of success in their area of responsibility.

Did I mention “departments”?   Yes, her company in its new design has departments, home design, office design and sales.  Her staff is in agreement with her vision; see their role in creating success and use meditation as a way to stay clear and focused.

This year Karen opened her third office in Marin and expanded her offices in Berkeley and Concord.  She was able to do this because she was willing to get out of her own way, to see where she was stuck, release energy and create a clear vision.  Inviting her staff to share in her vision and her practice of using intuition and meditation strengthened this.  Karen’s greatest challenge is to not let fear stop her and to watch when she is healing everyone.  She is eager to be self-aware and how she is creating her success.  This year with strong staff in place her focus is on her personal life so that her business serves her life.

Having a vision is powerful. Having your staff share your vision is more powerful.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

Your Routine is Killing Your Success

~ Kay Robinson ~ 1 Comment

RoutineYour routine could be killing your success.  I was taught to get into a groove or a good routine.  There is value in this if you want to truly keep the things as they are in your life.  From an intuitive perspective routine holds them in place.  It sets your thinking, energy and actions in a particular way so that your actions and experiences repeat with the same outcome.

Success or Change

Then there is your vision of success, goals you have and a change you want to make.  This is where your routine can get in your way.  When we want to create anything we don’t currently have then change happens and happens on a number of levels.

Set in Your Ways

Your thoughts, actions and your energy as they are now create precisely what you have and experience in your life at this moment.  If you want something different or you want a change then something – and perhaps everything – has to change.  If nothing changes then nothings changes.  I love the term “set in your ways” as a reference to people who have a certain way of thinking or acting. We know they are not going to change.  They are set.

Not Getting Our Goals

Well, in truth, most of us are “set in our ways”.  Some more so than others.  The first step to manifesting, creating or having something you don’t currently have is to get uncomfortable meaning get out of your routine.  Get out of your comfort zone.  What is amazing to me is how we stay in a routine or pattern even if it does not achieve the goals we want.  We do it because it is our routine and it is familiar even if it does not create what we want.  That’s nuts!  Actually that’s routine.

Change is Not Easy

Getting out of our routine sounds like a simple thing to do but it is not.  When I talk about routine I am talking about more than your schedule and what you do in your day.  I am referring to being conscious about how you are in body, mind and spirit.  How do you set your energy?  How are you in your body?  How do you think?

Sara

I have a new assistant.  Her last job was in an atmosphere where everyone complained, acted in self-interest and in competition with each other.  An awful work environment but not uncommon.  After working there for many years she got into a routine, along with everyone else, of complaining, having a negative perspective and approaching everything as a problem.  Why did I hire her you ask?  I hired her because she is smart, experienced, high energy at her core, works independently and was continually promoted.  My intuition said she  is one really talented young woman who got into a routine of negativity.   My office is set at a high vibration of creativity and success so when she started I noticed she approached everything as a problem.  When I pointed this out to her she did not know she was doing this.  She was unconscious to her routine.

Routines Get in the Way

Our routines can be destroying what we are trying to create and we are not aware of this because routines make us unconscious.  We don’t think.  We are not aware of how we are being in the moment.  We act and react automatically.  So the first step is to notice our routines, meaning our automatic ways of being in our lives and in situations.  Notice do you always feel angry when you are about to do a particular activity.  Change it.  What is your usual energy level?  Notice.  Change it.  To create change your energy has to be high enough.  Its physics.  Raise your vibration as the first change.  Enjoy everything.  If you cannot then you are in a routine of not enjoying. Change it.

Create Change

If you want something different than what you have then get out of your routine in body, mind and spirit not just once but moving forward.  Change your schedule.  Change your thinking about things.  Change your energy (attitude).  Raise your vibration.  Place your attention on what you do want rather than what you have or what you don’t want.  There are so many ways to change.  The most important are your thinking and your energy and starting now.

Get out of your routine and focus on creating your vision of success.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

Consultations available.

Setting the Energy for Success

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

During October we focused on setting the energy for success. What does it mean to set energy? Quantum physics demonstrates  what we have known for a long time that we have an effect on everything by where we place our attention.  But it is more than placing our attention.  We can create change through our attention.  In doing so we can make things better or worse so being conscious and aware of where we place our attention is an important ability to develop.

Whatever thought we dwell on becomes our reality.  Scary thought if we are not paying attention.  For example, it is not a coincidence that something happens to you right after spending some time dwelling on it.  Dwelling on it is the same as focusing on it.  We have a thought and we begin to imagine what it would be like, adding our energy to the thought.  Poof!  It manifests.   I was working with a client and she worried that she would be laid off.  There was no evidence to that effect but she got stuck on that thought, worried about it (adding energy), imagined what she would do if she was laid off (expanded the picture in her mind) then became anxious (adding more energy).   As imagined she was laid off and to this day I know her supervisor is wondering why they laid off someone so capable.

My efforts to have her take her attention off her fear of being laid off fell on deaf ears.  She could have just as easily dwelled on and imagined being successful in her job, being enthusiastic about that (adding energy to that concept) then that thought would have manifested.  We have free will to create whatever we choose so be careful what you dwell on.

Setting energy is a way to consciously focus your attention and your energy on precisely what you would like to see happen and experience.  Being intentional is a far better practice than dwelling on what we fear or resist.

During this month we focused on some specific areas we can set energy.  You can do this as well. Try understanding your ability to set energy in the following areas.

  • Your Space & Your Success: How do you want to be?  How are you being in your work? Everyone is intuitive so how do others experience you? How would you like them to experience you?  Set your space in a way that supports your success.
  • Your Office or Workspace: How do you feel when you are in your office or workspace?  Are you inspired or do you feel irritated?  Identify what irritates you.  It could be someone, something, the energy level, etc.  Make changes to raise the energy level of your workspace so that you feel inspired.  Clear the clutter, rearrange the space, fix what is broken, move away from someone negative, etc.
  • Communication: Communication is more than words.  It is an intuitive experience.  Take the time to notice how you want to be when in communication with someone.  Remember that everyone is intuitive so what are they picking up from you? What is the goal of your communication?  What is on your mind?  Clear your thinking. What energy is in your space?  You can’t hide it so change it to the vibration you want others to experience from you.
  • Achieve A Goal: Setting energy to meet a particular goal.  You have a goal.   Can  you see it in your mind’s eye?  Notice how you react to your goal.  What are your thoughts about it?  How do you feel (your energy level) when you put your attention on this goal?  Now clear your thinking and change your energy so that your goal can manifest in the way you desire.

There are recorded meditations on each of these areas if interested in learning more about how to set energy for success.  Series is “Setting Energy for Success” To  buy.

Best wishes on your success,

Kay

Self-Expression: the Power Behind Your Success

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

How comfortable are you with self-expression?  Self-expression can be the engine that drives your success.   You may find yourself doing a job, working hard yet not considering even for a moment if you are expressing who you are.  If you find you are irritable, complaining or disappointed about some aspect of your life or your work, notice if you’re lacking the room for self-expression.

Often we give our energies to our job or our work.  That is very different from creating our work spaces from a place of self-expression.  Without analyzing this, I’ll describe the difference as I see it intuitively.

When you put all of your energy (life force energy, creative energy, physical energy, emotional energy, etc.) into your work, then all of your energy leaves your space.  That seems effective at first – until you just don’t feel right and you start to experience a lack of vitality.  You’re not sure exactly what’s wrong, but you know there’s some kind of problem with your work space.

On the other hand, when you see your work as a vehicle for self-expression, your energy level goes up, and you run your life force, creative, physical, and emotional energies in your space as you work.  You feel inspired, creative and enthusiastic. Your energy is moving in your space and its level is high.

These are the mechanics of the power of self-expression. But what is self-expression?  It is simply awareness of self from within, and expressing, showing, experiencing that self in your work, play, life, relationships and all the other aspects of your life

Tapping into your true self, communicating it, and showing it to others requires you to become more aware and to get out of old patterns. It may even feel scary or strange.   Our fear of how others might react to how we express ourselves often keeps us from taking this risk.  Knowing that self-expression is not about seeking approval or validation from others helps change those expectations.

Self-expression may feel risky but the benefits are well worth it.  Making self-expression the driving force in your life changes everything.

If it does not feel right…

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

One of my client’s is making a serious effort to double her revenue.  Claire was inspired by how easily she increased her revenue by 30% this year.  (She did use the word easy in hindsight.)  With this new goal in mind Claire developed a marketing strategy that takes advantage of all the new ways of marketing.  Most of this plan is out of her comfort zone so she looked for experts in a variety of areas to carry out her plan.

Claire is clear about her new marketing strategy.  She has done her homework.  Her task is to find the right people.  At first she was drawn to professionals she has used in the past and who are loyal to her and her company.  She thinks they could do some of it including her sister who is a professional writer.  Recently a PR expert at a networking event approached Claire.  She agreed to hear what she had to offer.   Finally she received recommendations from myself and other trusted advisors of professionals she may want to interview.

Before she began the process of finding a team she took the time to meditate on her vision of success, which for this upcoming year meant doubling her revenue.  She felt if she could not see this clearly then how could she navigate a team toward this goal.  Claire meditated until she cleared her thinking and could see clearly doubling her revenue.  She then meditated and imagined a team of experts who would help bring in new clients with specific demographics, a team that would work together, enthusiastically and collaborate to achieve her vision of success.

My task was to watch intuitively to see what was driving Claire’s choices so that loyalty did not trump skill and strong salesmanship did not talk her into something that was not a good fit.

As Claire sorted through her options, she used both a logical and intuitive approach.  She checked credentials, looked at samples of everyone’s work, interviewed writers, social media experts, PR professionals, graphic designers, etc.  Her most difficult decision came when her intuition told her not to use the writer and marketing person she used in the past.   This was not a logical decision.  She just felt intuitively that they were not the right fit for the level of growth she envisioned.   Claire did stay with her graphics team who are young, inspired and push her to think in new ways.  They stayed on the team!

The PR person had a strong presence and was very interested in helping Claire increase the visibility of her business but in the end something just did not feel right.  Claire found herself finding fault with the proposal, their communication, etc. then she realized that she did not need to find fault.   The PR company just did not feel right.  It was not logical. She stopped trying to find fault (logic) and simply decided not pursue this strategy at this time. It was intuitive.

Finally, she needed a social media expert.  This is a new and growing field in which an expert is not well-defined.  She decided in the end to interview three of the five people on her list of possible experts.   Her choice of the three was intuitive and she was correct.  In those interviews she found someone who described an approach that fit for Claire and how she saw her brand.

Coincidentally, immediately after Claire and I met to finalize her marketing plan and the team she would be hiring, her phones were ringing off the hook.  Three new-targeted clients called and scheduled appointments.  Claire felt that was a miracle!   From my perspective is was Claire’s vision of success beginning to manifest.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

Let me know if you would like an review of your marketing strategy from an intuitive perspective.  kay@insightintuitiveconsulting.com

Taking Control of Our Thinking

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Watching very capable business owners and professionals for the past 20+ years has brought me to the same conclusion many have said before.  Thoughts are creative.

Those who see clearly what they are creating, stay focused and determined succeed.   Some do not have a clear vision and so nothing is manifesting.  This is not difficult to understand.  Imagine that you are the creator.  If you do not have a clear idea of what you want to create then nothing manifests.  Still others have a clear vision followed by a great many thoughts that tell them why what they envision cannot happen and so it does not.

This brought me to a very clear understanding of how we manifest.  It sounds easy but it is not.  The most difficult task before us is to control our thinking.  When we stay focused on our vision, align our thinking and our feelings to support our vision it will manifest.  On the other hand if we let our thinking drift to argue against our success then what we are creating comes to a stop because we thought so.

As an intuitive I can see this clearly.  We always have either a vision or a thought.  Something is on our mind. It can be something we want or something we do not want.  It is all the same. Our energy begins to form around that picture (vision or thought) and once enough energy gathers it becomes a physical reality.

With this in mind, I work with people who focus on success (personal or professional) to clear their thinking, notice what they are thinking and stay focused on a very clear vision.

I find that some of us  are set in our ways, have a certain way of thinking and believe what we think. If we are not accustomed to change then nothing changes.  Dwelling in negative thoughts, unable to imagine a new reality, don’t believe their vision can manifest are some of the more common forms of thinking that get in the way of success.

Success comes from a clear vision, focusing all our thoughts, feelings and actions to that end.   Do not be deterred. Don’t see problems but only solutions.  Keep moving forward even if you do not know precisely how to get there.

When we can become conscious and aware of our thinking, take control of it so that we don’t dwell on thoughts that negate our vision and work hard to change our thinking about things success comes easily.   We read stories all the time of people who tells the story of how they imagined success in a very particular way then it manifested.  Kate Winslett tells about standing in front of a mirror practicing her Academy Award acceptance speech while she was in college.

I recommend meditation though that is not the only way to clear our thinking and open our awareness.  I work with business owners and professionals every day to clear their thinking and create a strong vision they can manifest as success.

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

www.insightintuitiveconsulting.com

Achieving Goals Won’t Get You There

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Getting your goals won’t do it.  When I began working with people some 20+ years ago I was all about goals.  I knew how to get people to meet them.  I had a strategy that worked. Over time I found that my clients were achieving goals and faster than they expected but complained that they were not satisfied nor any happier.

From an intuitive perspective I saw that they focused on achieving goals but did not have a vision for themselves.  What was the life they imagined for themselves? What was the bigger picture they wanted to create?   What did their goals have to do with that?

Since that time I  focus on making sure my clients have a clear vision of their life, work, health, wealth, etc.  I have found that once we have a clear vision then we can create goals to move in that direction.  That creates the next obstacle.  I observed that most people take their goals very seriously and perhaps you should.  I suggest that you focus on your goals but focus more on your vision.

Goals are a good way to direct our actions while not making them more important than our vision.  Let me explain.   Your vision is paramount.  Your goals are simply the actions you believe you need to take to get there.  It is your best guess at the moment.  Often our vision begins to manifest in unexpected ways and faster than we expected.   If we are so focused on our goals we can actually get in our own way and keep our vision from manifesting.

Often I see my clients get so focused on a goal that they do not see the opportunity in front of them. One of my clients, Tim,  is the Director of Health Care for a mid-west medical system.  He had a strong vision for his facility.  He created goals that included staff changes.  There was one doctor he wanted on his staff because he was convinced he would help achieve his vision.  He created a series of five goals that he felt he needed to achieve to bring on this prominent doctor and it would take a year.  Tim continued to meditate on his vision.   A week or two later another highly regarded doctor became available.  Tim could not see that this doctor would help him get his vision for the facility because he was so focused on the goals he had set.  I suggested Tim take his energy out of his goals and focus on his vision, that perhaps this new doctor is the way to meet his vision.  Tim meditated on this, cleared his thinking and realized would be the asset he needed.  He hired him.  Over the past month they have increased their patient population and brought new visibility to the facility.  Tim is well on his way to achieving his vision for the year in the first six months.

Create your vision.  Create goals too.  Notice how your vision is manifesting.  Don’t get stuck in your goals or make them more important than your vision.  Meditate.  See your vision. Constantly notice where you are and be willing to let go and be in present time.

Best wishes on your success,

Kay

Free Q&A each Monday at 5 PM Pacific.  Call (218) 862-7200  Access 299398.  Ask a question and listen to the conversation.

Manifesting our goals the hard way

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Mandy has been working with me to make a career change.  She has a good job that pays well and is a leader in her industry but it is not what she wants to be doing.

When we created a plan to transition to a new career or an old career revisited she got cold feet and worried that she needed her current job because she couldn’t imagine actually creating a new career at this time in her life.  Mandy continued to imagine a change, made some attempts then turned around and tried to find ways to connect with her current job.

From an intuitive perspective we are always getting our goals until we decide that we are not.  Mandy never gave up her goal so I knew it was manifesting.  I also knew that her goal would manifest gracefully if she was proactive or not so gracefully if she was not.

This is not logical but it is very intuitive.

So her was her vision. Mandy wanted out of her job and onto a new career.   She could not take the steps to make it happen.  The only way for her goal to manifest in this scenario is to lose her job. That is exactly what happened.  She was laid off so now she has to create the change she desired all along.   She is getting her goal though not very gracefully.

This same scenario played out for Mary.  She was a top executive in a large organization, was paid well and had a lot of visibility but it was not the job she wanted.  Over and over again she decided to quit and each time she thought about it her company gave her a raise.  As a single mom she could not imagine quitting a good paying job so she stayed all the while visualizing her next step.  Her vision manifested when one day she was suddenly laid off.  At first she was angry then she realized that she had visualized a job change for a long time.

My best counsel is to take charge of the change you visualize because it is going to happen with (gracefully) or without your guidance (not so gracefully).

Best wishes on your success,

Kay

Join Free Q&A each Monday 5- 5:30 PM  1 (218) 862-7200  Access 299398.  Ask a question, hear insights  and listen to others.

Staying on Track with Your Goals for the Year

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

  It paid off to trust my intuition yesterday when I gave a presentation to a group of women business owners.  The topic of the presentation was “Staying on Track with Your Goals for the Year”.  It was the end of the first quarter, an important marker for businesses to evaluate how they are doing in achieving the goals for the year.  This is something you want to know early though many businesses neglect to take advantage of opportunity and regret it later. When you take the time now to assess where you are you can make adjustments, get unstuck and move forward to meet your goals.

Goals Not Being Met

As an intuitive business consultant I know that progress in achieving our goals is not always logical.  Some things move along nicely, one step leads to another.  Other goals languish on our strategic plan, list of targets or goals we have established.  I would guess that some of these have been on our list year after year. From my perspective, if there were a logical solution to unmet goals they would have been accomplished by now.  Sometimes what gets in the way of our goals can be determined more from an intuitive perspective than analyzing the problem.  This is where I started with this group of business owners and this is the approach I use with all of my clients.  Use your intuition.  Stop thinking and see clearly.

Vision of Success

I had them begin by revisiting their  vision of success.  The most successful people in any field are those who have the strongest vision.  I find that we are good at setting goals but goals absent a vision are just a lot of hard work.  So I had them write their vision of success.  Some knew it and felt good writing it down.  Others had never looked at their business in this way.  They had a business plan and a business model that guided their decisions but not a vision.

Now Determine if the Goals Fit the Vision

Once you have a clear vision of success then everything else falls into place. This is not logical but it is very intuitive.  With a clear vision, look at your goals to see if they now fit to carry out your vision.  If not then change them now before you get to far into the year.

A vision is different from a thought or a plan.  Vision is something you see in your mind’s eye.  You know and see what success is for you.  It is an intuitive ability to know for certain.    The best way I know to do this is in meditation.  Meditation is simply quieting the body and clearing the mind so that you can open to more awareness and to see more clearly.

Exercise: Try this for yourself.

  • Sit in a comfortable and quiet place.
  • Begin to quiet the body.  Take a deep breath and release all the tension and energy you are holding in your body.  Relax.
  • Now clear your mind.  Stop thinking and instead just be aware of yourself.
  • Be present in the moment.  Imagine calling your energy and attention back from where ever it is outside you.  Have all your attention right here in this moment.  Notice yourself and your immediate surroundings.
  • With your eyes closed imagine a red rose.  This keeps you from thinking and opens your intuition using your mind’s eye.
  • Meditate on this rose as you ask what is your vision of success.  Don’t think just imagine what success is to you.  Get to know this for yourself. Imagine what it looks like, feels like, etc.  It may not be what you think it is for you. Take a deep breath and let go of others ideas of success, “you should”, ego, etc.

Meditate

It often takes several meditations to get clear enough so say that is it.  That’s my vision of success.  It feels right.

My surprise was how eager the business owners embraced this exercise and the insight each person got from their meditation.  I expected them to roll their eyes and want something logical, linear and practical.  That approach works too but when it doesn’t access the other side of your brain.  Be intuitive.

Meditation is essential.  We all need time to stop clear our space and our thinking so that we regain our perspective otherwise we make the wrong decision, don’t see clearly and get off track of where we want to be.  Meditate.

Next Step: Get your staff to buy into your vision.  Watch for this on another blog.

Best wishes on your success,

Kay

More information on meditation

Consultation achieving your vision of success

Business Feels Like It Is Dying – At least it feels that way today

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

      At times our business feels dead.  It fees this way  when the energy has stopped moving or the energy is too low.  There are many causes of this.  Analyzing that is far less important than getting the energy moving.

How do motivate yourself or your staff is a question that has been asked and answered a thousand times.   Motivation is a common term that means, “How do I get the energy moving or raise the energy of my business?” I want to jump into the conversation with an intuitive perspective on this old question because it is so important to us.

An a intuitive business consultant I am always looking at the energy level of the people, products, websites, marketing, etc. because the energy of each of these can make or break a business and its success.  In the same way I look at the energy level that inspires us as we work.  The answer is simple.  When the energy level is high we are inspired, creative, enthusiastic and things are happening.  When our energy level is low we are in boredom, apathy and not creative.  This slowing of energy affects success personally, professionally and in our business.

So the challenge becomes how to raise the energy level for ourselves, our staff and our business.  It is important to stop and change the energy .  Here are some of the ways to raise the energy level:

  • Get physical = Some like to use exercise to get energy moving in the body and raise the energy level in their space.  Companies that have work out spaces on site can attest to the benefits they see when staff take the time to get energy moving in their bodies.
  • Be Creative – When you or your staff are engaged in something they find creative it turns on creative energy in the body and great things happen.
  • Focus on a goal – When you or your staff are working to achieve a challenge or a goal, this effort turns on the energy in the body, raises their vibration and great things happen.
  • Be Inspired – Identify something that inspires you and ask your staff what inspires them and put sometime in creating this.
  • Create a change – Get out of routine, rearrange the furniture, change the surroundings, mix things up in any way you can to change old patterns and the energy they create
  • Have fun –  Create opportunities to have fun especially when the energy is dead (too low).  Create a celebration.  Get yourself and everyone out of the dead energy.

Working harder and pushing more when the energy is low does not create success.  It only creates effort.  So when the energy is low or not moving, try the above or other ways you know of to change the energy and raise the vibration.  Success happens from enthusiasm.

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

Other business tips

The energy level of success! Do you have it?

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

My client Cathy called because her business was down last week and she was concerned about meeting her financial goals.

Being successful or failing is never a coincidence and it is not a mystery.   Cathy’s father died two weeks ago and his funeral was last weekend.  The energy of death was in her space.  It affected her business.  Her clients intuitively pick up on her energy as a successful businesswoman and she was not there.  She was in a lower vibration.  This is not logical.  This is intuitive.

Sarah

Another client called because her business had stopped for an entire month!  Sarah was diagnosed with a system infection a month ago and while she did not feel great she felt she was able to work.  Coincidentally from the onset of Sarah’s illness through the four weeks until she was well she received not one single phone call for her services as an interior designer.  Up to that point her business was robust and she has always done well.   Also not coincidentally as soon as she was well again clients started calling again and she is as busy as ever.   Sarah found this remarkable.  How did her clients know she was not well?   I saw intuitively that when Sarah was ill her energy changed.  Her clients intuitively connected to her at a certain energy level  (a highly creative vibration) and Sarah was simply not at that level until she recovered.

Store

I walked into a small local grocery store while traveling and could hardly breathe.   The energy of desperation from the owners of the store was so intense I just wanted out   Clearly they were in financial survival.  I could sense this and as a potential customer I just wanted to run and I did.  I ended up not buying what I came into the store to find.

Everyone is intuitive.   We can support our success by being conscious and aware of the energy level we are being and what  our clients, customers, patients, etc. are experiencing.  What is your energy level or the energy of your business?  Does it support your success?  If not, change it and notice what happens.

Please share your story or experience.

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

Apple, Inc. – An Intuitive Business

~ Kay Robinson ~ 2 Comments

This past week Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple stepping out of his role as the chief designer.  Everyone wonders how his genius will be replaced.  It was not his genius it was in large part his reliance on intuition.  Below you will find some of my favorite quotes by and about Steve Jobs.  Feel free to add yours.

Trip Chowdry, a director at Global Equity Research, said, “Success in the consumer space is not dictated by getting your product 80 percent right, 90 percent right, or 97 percent right,” he said. “The success is defined by the last 2 percent of the product, and I don’t think there’s any other individual on the planet who has the kind of intuition Steve Jobs has to make sure they get the last 2 percent right.”

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” [Steve Jobs The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993]

“The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.” [Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer Inc., May 1999]

In a speech last year at Auburn University, Tim Cook, the new CEO of Apple, urged the audience of young graduates to trust their intuition over logic or plans.  He said it made no sense for him to take a job at Apple in 1998 when the company seemed to be fading.  “But no more than five minutes into my interview with Steve, I wanted to throw caution  and logic to the wind.”

In a commencement speech to students at Stanford University in 2005, Steve Jobs advised, “Much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later.”

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drowned your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

He created everything from personal computers to the iPod,  iPhone, iPad and more. Over the course of his career, Steve Jobs has patented more than 300 groundbreaking products that have made our lives easier and revolutionized the way we interact in the world.

“The thing that drives me and my colleagues at both Apple and Pixar is that you see something very compelling to you, and you don’t quite know how to get to it, but you know, sometimes intuitively, it’s within your grasp. And it’s worth putting in years of your life to make it come into existence.” Steve Jobs

“Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

I would like to add that it takes great courage to follow your intuition.  The difference is success.

Best wishes on your success, Kay

I Don’t Have

~ Kay Robinson ~ 1 Comment

Be careful what you declare or as the saying goes “be careful what you pray for”.  Recently an employee of one of my clients, Clare, quit suddenly.  The employee was very angry for no clear reason but did accuse my client of being wealthy.  Clare heard herself saying in defense, “I’m not wealthy!”.    When Clare relayed this conversation I knew she would experience a hit to her income that week and she did.  So what happened.

From an intuitive perspective it was a perfect example of what happens when a company decides to make a change.  I had worked with Clare on her vision of growing her company by 30% each of the next two years.  It may be surprising but her vision and her plan are completely doable in her industry and the way she positioned her services.  So far this year her company has already grown 20%.  Her business plan was right on target to meet her goal by the end of the year.

When a company changes its vision, its business plan and its goals this has an impact on everyone in the company both practically and on an energy level.  Every company has an energy level.  We feel it and experience it when we interact with them as a customer, vendor, contractor, etc.   If we like the energy (and this may be not be entirely conscious on our part) then we continue our relationship with them.  If we do not then we move on.

In this scenario, the employee was experiencing many personal conflicts among them financial.  Clare was supporting her in every way she could, knowing that she could not solve an employee’s personal issues.   As Clare changed the energy of her company to grow financially by 30% this year it vibrated in the space of this employee.  It made her uncomfortable because the energy in her personal life was the complete opposite.  She was creating “not having” money.

As an intuitive I watch the energy in everyone’s space to see if it supports or gets in the way of achieving goals.  I was not surprised when Clare told me the story of her employee quitting in anger.  The anger was directed at Clare’s “havingness” for financial success because it made the employee uncomfortable because she was creating the opposite.  She was creating not having.   This may not be logical but it is very intuitive.

While Clare is not wealthy at the moment it is her vision and her energy is set to create wealth. When she declared, “I am not wealthy!” she invalidated her vision.  Not coincidentally her income dropped 30% for that week.  I reminded her that words are creative.   She realized this as well and reset her vision of success (wealth).

In the end Clare reached out to the employee offering her the opportunity to continue to work with the company knowing the vision of growth.   Clare owned her vision of wealth and success as she spoke to her former employee who she valued.  In the end the employee returned understanding the success of the company and now being in agreement to support that success.  I saw intuitively this employee will change her personal financial situation by matching the energy of success in this company.

This was a great experience for both owner and employee.  Clare was able to look intuitively at the situation to gain greater understanding and awareness.  This experience helped her grown in her understanding of her vision of success.

Take the time to look intuitively as situations in your workplace and how you might grow in your success.

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

Don’t be afraid to ask

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

There is only one way to get business – ASK.   Ask clients to buy your products.  Ask clients for the contract.  Ask customers to use your services.  And the thing we hate to do the most is ASK.   As a business consultant I am always watching how my clients and others ASK for sales.  It tells me a lot about their success.   Most are comfortable with the indirect ask, i.e. email marketing, print materials, ads, displays, etc.   We spend lots of money making ourselves visible and this is great.  It brings attention to you and your business but then what.

Some of us are comfortable having a face to face meeting, pitching our business, talking about what we do, finding out what our potential or current client needs then we wait and wait.  Nothing.  This is where most sales end.  The next step is the most crucial.  Ask for the sale.  Ask for the contract.  Ask but before you do take a moment to meditate on where you are in all of this.

Your clients and potential clients are intuitive even if they are not aware of it.  They are always reading your energy and your pictures.  So what pictures or thoughts do you have about this sale?   You want it, of course, but do you believe it can happen?  Honestly?   This is where meditation comes in.  Use meditation to know your own thoughts (conscious and unconscious), your emotions and energy about this client and this sale.  Clearing your thinking will make all the difference.  Do this before you ASK!

Intuitive Exercise:

  • Sit in a quiet and comfortable place.  Close your eyes.  Take a deep breath and relax.
  • Place your attention on yourself.
  • Imagine in our minds eye the sale that you are about to ask for.
  • Notice your thoughts about it.
  • Notice how your body and your energy change when you meditate on this sale.
  • Now relax and release the thoughts that do not support your goal, the energy in your space, etc.
  • Finally, meditate on asking for the sale and see it happening.  Keep clearing your thinking and your energy until you can see this happening.

Once you can imagine asking and the client saying yes then you are ready to make the call.  Intuitively they will read your certainty and respond to that.

Here is another perspective on Asking.

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

Be Smarter! Be Intuitive!

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

When we are looking for an answer or solving a problem some of us use our logic.  Others step back and use their intuition.  Who will come up with the creative and open-minded solution?

Working with my clients I can see a difference in the quality of their decision-making and problem solving when they use their logic and when they use their intuition.   One filled with conflicting thoughts, information and emotions.  The other offers a clear perspective that results in decision that includes a sense of certainty.

When we rely on our logic we are looking for information (thoughts, concepts, information, etc.) that we have already stored in our minds including what we have learned, memories, logic we have used before and as always our own thinking about things which may not be correct.

When we are open to our intuition we engage a different way of gathering information that is beyond what we already know. We use intuitive abilities such as clear seeing, knowingness, clear hearing and others.  From this perspective we are not limited to what we already know and believe to be true and are open to a new level of awareness.

Next time you have a problem to solve try this exercise.

  • Sit in a quiet place.  Close your eyes.  Take a deep breath.
  • Feel grounded and centered.
  • Bring your attention into the center of your head and your attention on yourself.  Stop thinking.
  • When you feel quiet and you are not thinking have your attention on yourself.
  • Be aware in the moment.
  • Now imagine the symbol of a rose.  Open your intuition by imagining what a rose looks like.
  • Decide that the rose represents your question or problem.
  • Without thinking meditate on the rose.  Imagine solutions.

Quiet the body and clear the mind to open to your intuitive ability.  Look for solutions from this perspective.

Let me know what you experience or your comments.

Best wishes on your success,

Kay

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Success or Failure – Fact or Fiction

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

 

Thoughts Swirling

Business success or failure is a matter of the mind.  That may not be logical but it is very intuitive.  When we can approach our business from both logical and intuitive perspectives we have the whole picture.

 

As an intuitive business consultant I have worked with business owners and professionals for the past 30 years offering intuitive insight to support their success.

I would like to offer insight into a common situation that determines success or failure of a business or professional.  It has to do with our thoughts.  When we can sort facts from our thoughts about these facts we are able to make decisions and changes that support our success.

Too often our thoughts about a situation lead us down the wrong path.  I have seen many people get lost in their thoughts about a situation that leads to their failure.  For example, one of my clients, Kathy, worked hard to develop a bid for a project she felt she needed to get through the next six months.

As it turned out her company did not get the project.  Kathy’s thoughts about this had her spiral into levels of pain and panic.  Her thoughts were, “We are doomed.  We won’t make it.  We needed this job.”  She was headed down a dangerous course of thinking and emotions.  This is where we have to sort our thoughts from the facts.  Fact.  She did not win the bid.  Thoughts (not reality) – She is doomed.  Our minds have an amazing ability to make up stories from our thoughts and we believe them!

As I have presented before, thoughts are creative.  If Kathy adds energy to her thoughts they will manifest.  Wherever we put our attention is being created whether we want it or not.  If Kathy can become aware of the thoughts and emotions she is putting energy into, i.e. “We won’t make it” then she can pull her energy out of those pictures and redirect her energy into a creative solution.

Clearly Kathy had not created a plan beyond this important bid so she was at a loss – Fact.  That does not, however, mean she cannot create a solution.   The ability to create a solution comes from clear thinking and intuition not thoughts or emotions.

As an intuitive business consultant, I gave Kathy the following next step.  If she has a clear business plan that gives her the next step then take it.  If she cannot see a solution this is a good time to meditate.  Meditation is a way to quiet the emotions, clear the mind and clear your thinking.  It is a way to gain perspective.

I advised Kathy to:

  • Don’t look for a solution right now
  • Meditate to become aware of and clear thoughts that do not support her success
  • Release fear and other emotions.
  • Allow that she does not have an answer at this time.  Stay out of effort.
  • Once her mind is clear and emotions released then open to a solution using her intuition.
  • Pose your question in your mind’s eye.  Be quiet.  Don’t think.  Allow your answer to come.
  • Do this as often as needed until the next step  is clear.

Kathy meditated daily for two or three days then she received a phone call from an industry publication asking to do a feature on her and her company for their upcoming issue.  They wanted to feature the very service she had outlined in the bid that she lost.  Kathy was relieved.  Her new thought is, “This feature will surely bring me new business!”  And so it shall.

I know this is not logical and that you will only understand this by experiencing it.  So give it a try in any situation where you don’t have a clear answer.

Let me know your comments, questions and experiences.

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

Communication Can Support or Destroy Success

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Communication

Communication is our most important ability and yet we take so little care of it.

In business communication forms the foundation of our success.  Communication with our clients and customers, our staff, vendors, colleagues, etc. is critical.  We take communication for granted and give it little attention.   As a business intuitive I have seen communication support and destroy a business.

Our communication benefits from attention and care.  We collect energy, concepts, thoughts, pictures and attitudes in our communication space and it affects everything.  Here is an example.  Fred, a banker,  made his first phone call of the day to an important customer.   During their conversation this customer became angry with him for no clear reason.    He called me concerned that he was about to lose his biggest client.  I saw intuitively that Fred had a great deal of anger in his space.  I could see it and I could feel it.  I saw that he brought anger to work with him.  He explained that had a fight with his wife before he left for work. He felt badly about it and was still angry.    Everyone is intuitive so his customer unconsciously picked up on the anger, began to feel it and became angry.   I would suspect that his client is probably  wondering why he got angry at Fred and will let it go or will justify why he got angry which will destroy their relationship.   If the customer holds the anger he picked up from Fred then he will stay angry and pass it along to his next contact!

Each of us have had this experience.  We are speaking with someone and are having a strong reaction to them for no clear reason.  This happens all the time because we don’t take care of our communication space.  Clear communication changes everything.   Take care of your communication and see the difference.

Try these intuitive exercises.

After A Conversation

After you complete a conversation clear your space.   Take a minute or two to meditate. Close your eyes.  Take a deep breath.  Notice what is left in your space from that conversation.  What energy are you aware of intuitively? What thoughts are you stuck on?  Be aware of letting go of the energy you picked up from the conversation.  Let go of any thoughts or concepts that are still on your mind.  Clear the energy and concepts from your space.  Finally, meditate on how you want to be the rest of the day.  Reset your space.  How do you want to be in communication?  Reset your communication space. Be conscious and aware of doing this.  When you are clear then you are ready to come out of meditation and back to being yourself.

Before an Important Conversation

Before you communicate with someone clear your space.  Take a minute or two to meditate.  Close your eyes.  Take a deep breath.  Put your attention on yourself.  Be aware.  How are you doing?  What is on your mind?  What energy is in your space?   Clear your mind.  Let go of energy.  Now meditate on the conversation your are about to have.  What is your goal?  How do you imagine the conversation going?  What is in the way?  Clear and let go until you can imagine the conversation the way you would like it to go.

Taking the time to care for our communication space can change everything.

Best wishes on your success,  Kay

Set energy to success!

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Setting Energy

In this blog I look at success from an intuitive perspective.  Intuition involves a set of abilities that we all have but most rarely use or use them unconsciously.  It is my hope that we all open more to our intuition to not only “know” but also realize our ability to create.

Setting Energy

Today’s blog is about setting energy which is one of the core concepts related to intuition.  When we grasp this concept the world is in the palm of our hand.

A Form of Meditation

Setting energy is a form of meditation that can be done each day, meeting, conversation, activity, project, etc.   I can’t imagine engaging in my day without setting energy first.   I can see your minds going a mile a minute trying to wrap your thinking around this.  Well, this is not logical so it is best to stop thinking.  The only way to understand this concept is to experience it.  Meditation is a way to get out of our mind, our logic and open to our intuitive side.

Intuitive Business Consulting

As an intuitive business consultant my time  with all of my clients includes learning this important intuitive technique.  Once you get the knack for it you will see that it changes everything.

Intuitive Exercise

Try this exercise Experience is the only way to grasp this concept.  First choose a conversation you have planned for this week.  You will learn to set the energy for this conversation.

Sit quietly with your feet on the ground.  Be comfortable, close your eyes and begin to allow your body to quiet and begin to clear your mind.

I suggest using the following basic intuitive techniques.  (If you aren’t familiar with them and would like to learn them contact me.) Once you learn these techniques, it takes only minutes to create this space of meditation.

Find Meditation Space

  • Be grounded – energy connection to the planet
  • Be centered – attention and awareness in the center of your head
  • Have your space – aura in around you
  • Be in present time – have all of your energy and awareness in the moment
  • Breathe and release – technique for clearing and healing
  • Hold your head high – positioning the top of your head (crown chakra)

Open Intuition – Set Energy

  • Imagine in your mind’s eye a simple red rose – see it clearly
  • Decide that this rose represents the conversation you selected for this exercise.
  • Meditate on this conversation.   How would you like to experience this conversation?  How do you imagine others will experiencing the conversation?  How would you like to experience the energy : clear, uplifting, cooperative, validating, etc.?
  • Keep clearing your thinking, letting go of memories and emotions, etc. until you can imagine the conversation precisely as you would like it to go.
  • Put your attention back on the rose.  Let the rose change to a color that represents your vision of this conversation.  Now let it go.
  • Take deep breath.  Stretch.

You probably noticed that you had to clear your thinking, remove your fears and decide more clearly what you wanted from the conversation.

You may want to repeat this exercise again before the conversation.

When you have the real conversation notice how to goes.  How similar or different was it from your vision.  Awareness is the key to intuition as not everything is logical.  We are at our best when we use both sides of our brain.

Let me know how this exercise works for you.  I want to hear your story.

Intuition in Sales – It’s all about you!

~ Kay Robinson ~ Leave a comment

Taking Time to Meditate

A successful sale depends heavily on what’s going on with you!

Clients Are Intuitive

Your customers or clients are intuitive.  This means they are reading you, consciously or unconsciously.  What they pick-up from you determines whether they want to do business with you or not.  What do you want your customer or client to pick up from you?

If you had a fight with your secretary before meeting with or speaking with a client, the client may pick-up on this energy and suddenly feel like fighting with you and they are not sure why.

Perhaps you have the concept in your space or a thought on your mind that this client never buys from you so when they meet with you intuitively they pick-up the idea that they never buy from you.  That cannot help your sale!

Successful Sales

How might things be different if you prepared your space before you met with a client?  What could happen if you came into the conversation clear without any unrelated pictures or energy in your space that your client may pick-up on?

How might things be different if you were completely present, focused on this meeting and created a strong vision of the meeting going well?  I suspect the potential client will pick up on your clarity and feel confidence in you.   I suspect the client may also pick-up your vision of a successful sale and respond in kind.

Clear Your Space

Before you meet with a client or speak with them by phone take the time to meditate. Quiet the body and clear the mind. Notice your space.  How are you doing?  What is going on with you? Bring all of your energy and attention into the moment.  Don’t be distracted.  Release and clear anything unrelated to this meeting that is on your mind or in your space.

See Your Success

Now imagine the conversation you are about to have with a client or customer.  See it in your mind’s eye. Clear your thinking and release any limits or fears that may be in the way of you seeing the conversation going precisely as you would like.

Once you can imagine or visualize the meeting being successful then you are ready.

Watch for Part II of Intuition in Sales – Using Your Intuition during the Conversation.  This will be posted in one week.

Best wishes on your success.