…..because it scientifically validated what we’ve been teaching for so long – how the mind and body are connected, how our thoughts affect our physiology and our physiology affects our thoughts, and ultimately how both impact our success in life and in business.

This research has proven that we can learn how to have a powerful positive impact on others by learning how to utilize body language to get the result we want. Whether you like it or not the moment someone sees you they make a split second decision about you.

As a leader you want to…..

…..be in control of how people perceive you. Do they see you as a powerful leader? Or do they see your insecurities and inadequacies? Most people just accept the way they’re feeling and put no thought into preparing themselves mentally, emotionally and physically before interacting with others. 

This video is a great reminder of how it is a learned skill for many and how quickly and easily we can prepare ourselves in a way that will create a positive impression with others.

This isn’t about whether you have it naturally or not…..

…..it’s about being able to conjure it up when you need it, and knowing how to do that. This skill impacts us personally and professionally and as we’ve heard many times, you never have a second chance to make a first impression.

Take a look at this video and see how you can change an outcome by two minutes of simple preparation. 

Video on Non Verbal Communication Through Body Language

This is so powerful and one of the reasons we include non-verbal communication in our Breakthrough Leadership Program. It’s something that has to be experienced to gain the full benefit of maximizing your non verbal communication through body language.

Overwhelm is something that many of us are faced with.  There seems to be more and more we’re required to do.  Between our personal life, family, and work, it’s becoming very challenging to fit everything in and maintain our sanity.  We’re also being bombarded constantly with information overload.  I was reminded of this when I was working with a client yesterday who is understaffed and overworked which resulted in complete overwhelm.

Action:

The first thing we did was get focused.  We took all the projects running around in his head and wrote them down. Remove the clutter from your mind. The second step was to organize and prioritize the tasks, the third step was to assign the tasks.  The last step was to compose emails to each person listing the task and the due date.  He was then free to work on his responsibilities feeling more focused and in control.

Tip:

Sometimes we don’t stop long enough to get focused and nothing gets completed.  If you find yourself talking about the same problems weeks or months on end, it’s time to take charge, make a plan and take action.  Often we think it takes too much time to delegate and it’s just as easy to do it yourself.  That is not true.  If you take the time to clarify your expectation with others and then diarize the follow-up if necessary, eventually with your consistent actions, you’ll instill consistency in others.  It may take more time in the beginning, and ultimately you’ll save time and will be much more efficient. And then you can get on with what you do best as a leader.

That’s true leadership.

Steps to alleviate overwhelm:

1. Get focused
2. Write down projects and tasks
3. Organize and prioritize your list
4. Assign responsibility to each item on your list
5. Contact each person giving specific responsibilities and assign a completion date and/or time.
6. Diarize and follow-up

They believe the only way to recover is to cut back on spending.

I realized every business owner is faced with the same question. Not only are we faced with it in terms of our business, but also whether or not to invest in ourselves in order to grow and move forward.

How are you approaching your economic situation?

Perhaps the answer is that there is no standard procedure and that it’s more important to have a strategy to evaluate each opportunity based on your specific goals and criteria. There will be times when it’s important to invest in your business and yourself and other times when it’s not. Only you know the right decision for you.

As a leader, you need to:

• do what it takes to get the job done
• believe in yourself
• trust your decisions
• be willing to pay the consequences
• overcome whatever obstacles get in your way

We all know how important it is to take a break and yet it’s easier said then done.

How do you find the time when life is so busy already.  I don’t know about you, but I find that things just seem to keep speeding up. There’s always more to do and I can never seem to get caught up.

Last week we got a call from our very good friends inviting us to their cabin in a secluded area of the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.  Their cabin is surrounded by acres of old growth forest, on the ocean, accessible only by boat.  It is the most amazing tranquil place you can imagine.  For the last few years it’s been an annual event.

This year I found myself hesitating, thinking I couldn’t afford the time.  Right now we’re making so many changes in the business.  I’ve hired a number of people to help me and still we’re swamped.

I felt torn.

Finally I decided to go.  When I was telling a client about it they asked me how I had come to the decision, because it seems to be a common dilemma.

It wasn’t easy.  But, what I realized, is there would never be a good time to get away.  When you’re in business, you’re always busy and that’s the way it should be.  If it’s a slow time in terms of revenue, you have to work on increasing your revenue and when revenue is good, it’s a matter of maintaining and always being one step ahead.

It really comes down to your beliefs and values.

I believe that for me to achieve what I want in my life and my business I need to be rested, focused and have clarity of direction.  I believe that if I want to perform optimally, I have to have a way to replenish myself. Sometimes the best way to get the job done means taking a break so I can approach things with a fresh perspective.  And from the personal side, I value time spent with my friends.

I don’t believe their are any hard and fast rules.

Every time we’re faced with options, we have to apply our decision making strategy to that specific situation.  That way when you make the decision, you know it’s the right one.

So I’m now back, feeling refreshed and ready to go.  And the bonus for me was that because nature inspires me,  I even came up with a strategy for my video products as I walked through the forest chatting with my friend.

Creating a balance between work and play is very important. If we want to see growth in our business,we do need to make choices that keep our life balanced, even when work feels more important at the time. When we do we will see the benefits in every area of our life.

When we’re young and innocent, we see the world as a place of possibility and at some point, for many people, that changes.

We just spent the afternoon at our granddaughter’s school concert. She was so excited about the concert. She was in the choir. She has been practising and practising and couldn’t wait to perform.

The best part was that she was telling her mom what a good singer she is, really good. And because she felt good about being a good singer, she sang her heart out.

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When did it stop being ok to be proud of what we can do well? And to tell other people that we’re good? When did we begin to hear the words “it’s not good to brag” or “don’t be conceited”. Why is it only ok when we’re very young? So many teens lack self-confidence and have low self-esteem, which often stays with them into adulthood. What if we continued to encourage them to share when they feel good about an accomplishment?

Why do we have to play small and hide our joy and pride in our abilities to do well?

When I was in my teens, I was Miss BC Lions. I didn’t invite anyone to the event when I was chosen, not even my family. It was years before I would tell anyone about being Miss BC Lions because it would have sounded as if I was bragging. How sad. I was so conditioned that even now I think twice about it after alllll…….. these years. No I won’t tell you how many.

What would our world be like if we could share our accomplishments that bring us joy, as well as our challenges. Imagine the confidence we would build within ourselves when we could acknowledge our own wins. Who says it’s not ok. Everyone has things they’re proud of. We all have different natural abilities and skills. Why hide your greatness.

The more you acknowledge your greatness the more you’re able to acknowledge other people’s greatness. That is one of the indicators of high self-esteem.

What are you proud of? What accomplishments have you achieved that you really want to share? It doesn’t have to be something big, just something that makes you feel good when you think about it.

I’d love to hear some of the things that you really feel good about and haven’t felt right about sharing.

Communication is the most overlooked reason for failing to achieve our outcomes and goals. Rapport is a word which is often misused and seldom given the respect it deserves. It is one of the most important elements in successful communication. Our ability to connect with people, to inspire, motive or influence people is based on our ability to build rapport. When people have trouble communicating, they most often struggle for more words to prove their point or stand their ground. The words won’t help if rapport is missing.

What is rapport? Rapport is an unconscious process which at times happens naturally and at other times must be skillfully established.

When we have rapport, we have trust, acceptance of ideas and openness and receptivity to our ideas.

People often think that they can build rapport by chatting about common experiences. This is only one small element. Your tone of voice and your physiology are the major components of rapport.

In our NLP Practitioner training we have participants do an exercise which is in 2 parts. The first part is sitting with someone and discussing a topic which you both agree on and as you discuss this topic, you pay no attention to the person you’re speaking to. You deliberately look around the room, check your phone, tie your shoe any number of distracting things. We call this mismatching your physiology. The second part of of the exercise is finding a topic you both disagree on and during this discussion, you match the body posture of each other. At the end of the exercise we ask participants which one did they feel most comfortable and connected in. In every instance it was the second part. Even though their opinion differed, they felt connected and were interested in the other person’s opinion. Matching physiology is very powerful.

The reason for this is that a large part of building rapport is matching our body posture and the second part is matching our tone of voice and the least important part is the words you speak.

Whether you want to sell yourself, your ideas, or your product, you will only be successful if you have established rapport first. It is also important to be aware that , just because you establish rapport initially, doesn’t mean it’s there for the duration of the conversation. Not only do you have to establish it, you have to maintain it throughout the conversation. Agreement presupposes rapport. The moment you disagree, rapport has been lost and you’ll find that your physiology and tonality are no longer aligned with that person. It’s a natural result. Before going any farther, you must stop promoting your idea, go back in the conversation to the point you had agreement, reestablish rapport and then you can continue moving forward and be in a position of influence.

By developing skills that build rapport, you’ll be amazed at how much this will positively impact the bottom line of your business. If you’re serious about your business, get serious about building rapport.