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Time To Recconnect With Abundance

If you weren’t aware of scarcity and abundance mindsets before you started your business, you probably are now!  That was one of my first lessons in business.  I’d honestly never heard of scarcity and abundance mindsets before, but I recognized it in my life immediately.  I’d spent my entire life feeling like there wasn’t enough.  I went from spending most of my time in scarcity, with occasional glimpses into abundance beliefs, to now spending most of my time in abundance, with occasional falls into scarcity.  Yesterday was one of those falls into scarcity, and this morning was a chance to pull myself back out.  I’d love to share with you how I recognize, and adjust what type of mindset I am having.

It’s not just about money

Scarcity is not just about money.  It’s about time, relationships, love of self, connection with Diety, and even health.  Scarcity doesn’t always creep in through the money door.  Yesterday for me it started with time.  I am getting ready to go out of town, we are not packed or ready and I have a lot of business related tasks to do before we go.  Then I started thinking about how little time we have before we move and not being ready for that.  Then I started feeling like I didn’t have enough help.  Then I started worrying about our sales and the cost of moving.  Before I knew it I was stressed, bummed, and in full on scarcity.  Notice how money was the last thing that came in this downward spiral?  Usually when I am feeling scarce about money it started somewhere else.  In this case, it was time and support.  Those two things needed to be addressed before I could shift how I felt about money.  Next time you feel scarcity creep in, track the downward spiral.  Where did it start?  Address that first and you will find, the money part adjusts pretty quickly.

Look for evidence of abundance

Evidence of scarcity is everywhere.  It’s in the news, it’s in conversation with your friends, family and team members.  I don’t have to look for it, it seems to hunt me down wanting to pull me back into the starving flock fighting for the few specks of grass that are left behind.

Abundance is everywhere as well, but it isn’t as loud.  It is a quiet reminder that there is enough.  I look to nature to remind me that this world was created out of abundance.  This morning, I looked out my window and started looking at each individual leaf on my neighbor’s tree.  Then I looked at all the other trees I can see on my street and then looked beyond to the mountains around my house and imagined all of the trees there.  No one knows how many leaves are in the world.  In fact most quantities in nature are abundant.  Blades of grass, sand, water molecules, flowers, ants… I could go on and on.  Look for abundance.  Love and money come through people.  They are everywhere.  Go to a busy place and just look at all of the opportunity that is around you on a daily basis.

Abundance flows when spiritual connection flows

Whenever I slip into scarcity, I track back my thoughts and emotions and they almost always lead to the same start.  I unplugged from my Source.  Sometimes it is a little unplug, like being repetitive and thoughtless with my prayers.  Sometimes it is a larger disconnect and something in how I am living my life is out of harmony with my belief system.  But I know that when I am spiritually connected, I feel loved and at peace.  When that connection is low, I feel stressed and unsupported.  Those emotions are like the perfect food for scarcity.

I encourage you to take some time this week and determine where you are at.  Start looking for abundance everywhere you go!  Go deeper with your spiritual connection so you can tap into the source for all abundance!  Share your success stories with us on our Facebook page!  We would love to hear from you! For more details: amy walker consulting.

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Times in my life I felt passionate:

• The morning I boarded a plane to go teach English in Russia for 5 months
• The night I told my husband I loved him for the first time
• Engagement day and wedding day
• The day I peed on my first stick that told me I was going to be a mom
• The moment I held each of my babies for the first time
• When the inspiration came to start my company

Those were all amazing moments.  I can still picture each one of them in my mind.  I wish I could bottle the emotion!  They were the highest of highs.  And yet, none of those were enough on their own.  You see, they each came with less passionate moments, days, sometimes even weeks, months, maybe even years.

• The morning I boarded a plane to go teach English in Russia for 5 months à 24 hours later when I was tired, hungry, scared, and thought I might die on the bus ride to my city.
• The night I told my husband I loved him for the first time à the first time we fought
• Engagement day and wedding day à the times we worried and feared together that we weren’t going to be able to make ends meet.
• The day I peed on my first stick that told me I was going to be a mom à This morning when my baby pooped in the tub… while he was showering with me.
• The moment I held each of my babies for the first time à The moments they yell at me in anger
• When the inspiration came to start my company à The days when I want to cry and quit

Passion is a powerful emotion.  But it’s not enough.  It’s inconsistent.  It doesn’t determine success.  I have an amazing marriage, and I can’t wait to spend time with my husband.  But the reality is that our lives range from passion, to friendship, to co-workers, to individuals that are driving each other crazy, to hurt and back again.  What if I only pursued growth in my marriage WHEN I felt the passion?  That would be a disaster.

I know there are times in business when you are just not feeling it.  Work anyway.  Work when you are not passionate because you will generate results that will re-kindle your passion.   I like to think of commitment and passion as my two body guards.  I have to have one with me at all times if I am going to survive this crazy world of business!  They are both equally important, one just happens to be more fun to hang out with.

If you are in the midst of being crazy passionate about your business right now, ride the wave!  Use that momentum to create as much growth as you can!  When passion leaves the room, make sure commitment takes his place immediately!  Enjoy the journey! See more...>>>>>

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The Fourth Wave of Feminism

Feminism is a hot topic right now, especially in my circles. It’s also a topic that gets people very emotional. I recognize in writing this that many people will disagree. Some will be angry. Others will discount what I have to say because I am not an active member of any feminist communities or an academic. I have members of my own family that will disagree on both sides of the issue with what I have to say.

I may not be an active feminist, I am however an active proponent of women and passionate about assisting them to love themselves and reach their fullest potential. My life’s work is to strengthen women. I was recently invited to a feminist group and joined thinking that it would be a great fit because I am all about empowering women. It wasn’t a great fit. I left the group a few days later. But it really did get me thinking about feminism, what it has given us and how it has hurt us. And I do see that it has done both. The truth is many of us don’t know a lot about feminism. Whenever we have strong opinions on something we know very little about, it is never a good thing.

Here is my VERY simplified description of the 3 waves of feminism.

The first wave was primarily focused on suffrage, the right to vote, marriage laws, and property laws. The second wave started in the 60’s and 70’s. This wave fought for social equality for women and men, equal rights and equal pay. The third wave of feminism started in the 80’s and 90’s and integrated different cultures and socio-economic standards.

I am all for the first wave of feminism. I am grateful to my sisters who sacrificed their time and energy so that I have the rights I have. I am grateful for parts of the second wave and third wave. I am grateful that we are closer to equal pay. I am grateful that women can use their time and talents in many professions that were not options previously. I am grateful that marriage rape laws have been changed. I am grateful that there are women fighting against human trafficking, child marriage laws, and other important women’s issues.

If you look around in the world, there are a lot of pendulum moments. We swing really far to one side and then when we see the shortcomings, we swing really far to the other side. When I look at the feminists of the 60’s and 70’s fighting for equality, it seems like we started chasing masculinity. Equality meant the same instead of equally valuable and different. When women started to want to be recognized for their femininity, we swung the other direction. I hate the double standard of sex as much as anyone. There was a time when a sexually active girl was a slut, and a sexually active boy was a hero. That still exists in many parts of the world. However, sexual freedom has led to a culture where a woman’s sexual appeal is often considered her most important feature. We are so primed for this. I actively promote healthy body image in women and girls, and yet when I look at Hillary Clinton, I am likely first to look at how wrinkly she is looking and second I wonder what she is talking about.

There are books written on the ways feminism has helped us and the ways it has hurt us. But I want to focus on a few that I see. For more details: amy walker personal coaching.

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Women in Business

Corporate America is not all it’s cracked up to be. As women we desire success in the workplace and success at home. We need the flexibility to be able to be in two places at once. We are tired of men earning more and occupying the top positions. We want to be amazing mothers and wives and we desire more. We desire to make an impact on the world. We desire success.

Owning your own business could be the key to the life you want. Across the nation, women are starting and running successful companies. We are intelligent, capable and driven. But let’s be clear, it is not easy! As a wife, mother and business coach, I understand the challenge you face because I live it every day! It requires skill! Your business does not grow because you have passion and vision. Those are extremely important, but on their own they will not generate results. You need to match that with skill and activity.

Whether you are new in business, struggling in business or just looking to go to the next level, you will need to tighten up your skills. In my programs you will learn about:

• Sales
• Marketing
• Business Systems
• Leadership
• Management
• Finance
• Time management

Fun stats about women in business.

(Source National Association of Women Business Owners)

Women Owned Business in the United States

• 8.6 million firms are owned by women, employing nearly 7.8 million people, and generating $1.3 trillion in sales as of 2013.
• Women-owned firms (50% or more) account for 30% of all privately held firms and contribute 14% of employment and 11% of revenues.
• Over the past six years, since the depth of the U.S. recession, the only businesses that have provided a net increase in employment are large, publicly traded corporations… and privately held majority women-owned firms. In all other privately held firms, employment has declined over the 2007–2013 period. For more details: http://amywalkerconsulting.com

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My “secret” for beating the Holiday Stress

That is my scaled down Holiday to do list.  It started out about twice as long.  Not only do I have the fun Holiday activities, I’m also trying to close out my end of the year sales and stretching to reach my goal.  And I really want it all done by December 20th so that when all 5 boys are home and crazed up on Christmas excitement that I can unplug and craze with them!  I LOVE this time of year, and if I am not careful it can quickly become EXTREMELY stressful!

So I want to share with you my big “secret” to beating the holiday stress.  Are you ready for it?  I just don’t stress.

If we skip the Church Christmas Party, we skip it.  If I only get half of my decorations up, so be it. If I don’t bake for the neighbors then I’ll take them cookies at Valentine’s Day.  If we can enjoy our Anniversary more by celebrating in January, we do that.  

I have a very low key approach to the Holidays.  Really all I want to create is fun, meaningful connection with my family.  And if I get so wrapped up in everything being perfect, quite often nothing is fun.

About 7 years ago I learned this lesson on Easter weekend.  We had 3 little kiddos.  1 was a baby.  We had just moved into a new house, my husband was working like 85 hours a week.  He literally came home slept for a few hours, went to his job, then slept in his car for a few hours before his second job.  I was determined to create the perfect Easter.  On Saturday I dyed eggs with the kids.  We read stories about Easter.  I took them to an activity for kids at the Library.  On Sunday morning I didn’t let the kids touch their baskets until their Dad got home from work.  I made him stay up to watch the kids hunt for eggs and then he went to bed.  I made a big breakfast that no one ate.  I spent the day cooking a big Easter feast and then we took the kids to church.  At the time we had church from 2-5.  My husband came home early to get some sleep and I told him to throw everything in the oven and turn it on.  We got home and the oven had not been turned on.  There was no Easter feast.  There was one stressed out mom who was so exhausted from trying to create the perfect holiday that she missed the whole spiritual celebration of Easter.  And there were 3 kiddos who would have been just has happy with ¼ of the effort. Most of what we stress about this month is self-inflicted and will be completely forgotten in a month.  For more details you can visit here : amy walker consulting.

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Is this you?

Your business feels as much like a calling and a mission as it does a business. The noble part of you feels strongly that your business is about so much more than a paycheck. But you still have those nagging bills that require you to earn a paycheck. You don’t want to be all about the sales and the numbers because you don’t want to lose sight of the people. You love what you do so much you would do it for free. But doing it for free means that you would have to maintain another job and you would be too strapped for cash to invest in your business and really create the impact you desire. So you watch the numbers and the sales, but secretly wish you didn’t have to.

Does that sound familiar? If so you are a Faith-prenuer. And you are probably struggling to find the balance between business and ministry. I get you because I am you. Business has always been a mission for me. My mission is to empower business owners to take their missions and inspiration and build a business model around it that is profitable while maintaining family balance and strengthening homes. I push people to live their best life and to create positive contribution in the world around them.

It is a mission, and I am committed to it. And because I am 100% committed to the cause, I am also 100% committed to the long term success of it. That means I manage my numbers, watch the business, track the sales and make sure everything is working. And my faith is what binds it all together.

Here are my best tips for being a successful Faith-preneur:

1. Keep inspiration flowing at all times. I invest about an hour a day to talking with God and getting ideas for my business. That is my most important time spent in my business. I don’t just kneel down and ask for my business to be blessed and then get up and get to work. I sit down with a pen and paper. I ask questions, and I listen and then write down the inspiration that flows into my mind. I have journals and journals of guidance and direction. I owe all of my success to those pages of inspiration usually written in the early morning hours. But here is the essential part of this relationship. I take action on the inspiration. I see far too may Faith-prenuers who get overwhelmed with the scope of their mission and they do not take small simple daily action steps to create momentum. It’s a very simple formula. Ask- Listen-Write-Act. Try it!
2. Teach Principles in the market place. At the heart of all religions are true principles. Some Faith-preneurs create a very small niche for themselves because they have not learned to separate out the principles form the religion. If your target market shares your same religious beliefs, then you can keep the two constantly connected. I am very clear that my message is meant for more than just those who share my religious beliefs. So I teach principles, but not religion. I remember once teaching about forgiveness to a room of anti-religion people. I was teaching principles that are found in Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian faiths. Had I taught the power of forgiveness from a religious perspective the message would not have been received. But because I taught from a place of principle, we had a beautiful, transformational experience.

3. 

   Do not dilute your message.

   Be bold with your truths. I am so tired of us trying to attract everyone. Your message is not for everyone so stop diluting it to attract in people who don’t want what you offer. Be bold in declaring what you believe. Be bold in stating your views on the issues you are trying to solve. The world is full of loud voices spreading messages of fear, anger, resentment and blame. Why not be a loud voice spreading messages of hope, love, truth, and courage?
4. Never compromise your faith. If you ever find yourself in situations where you could advance your business but it would compromise your belief, walk away. A few months ago I made a commitment to increase my commitment to making Sundays a day for faith and family only. The following week I received 2 invitations to do virtual speaking engagements on Sundays. I wouldn’t have to travel, and I would only be away from my family for an hour. But my answer was still no. The cost of compromise is never worth the small gain you get by doing things out of integrity with your beliefs.
5. Maintain balance with your faith. When your business is an extension of your personal mission, it is very easy to get so engaged with your cause that you start letting it take over your life. I recently told someone I really respect how much I was willing to travel and he asked me, “Well what is going to happen when a group you are extremely passionate about teaching asks you to speak to them, and it doesn’t fit in your schedule? I know you, and I know you’ll feel the calling.” He is right, I will feel the calling. And I will still maintain my balance. My faith is not a single faceted experience. My faith does not just apply to my business. It weaves into my family, my community service, my view of life, my personal time, and my religious experience. I need to make sure I have balance between all of those for my business and family to truly thrive. For more details you can visit here : amy walker radio host.

Amy Walker executive business coach

Continuing Education

I have invested over $30,000 in my business education and 15 years of my life. I would love to shorten your learning process. Amy Walker Consulting is an education company that teaches women the skills to grow a strong business, while balancing their family. I am passionate about helping women succeed. I have created programs for every schedule and every budget. You can learn through:

• Audio recordings
• Video recordings
• Live webinars
• Live trainings
• Group Coaching
• Personal Coaching

You know your learning style.  My team and I are here to assist you!

For More Details Visit..... Amy Walke executive business coach

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You Have What It Takes 

Have you ever found yourself feeling guilty about not being with your family enough, not making enough, not working when you know you should, not exercising enough, not eating healthy enough, not being skinny enough…?

Do you find yourself putting your needs last?  Are you frequently overwhelmed and feeling stretched too thin?

If this shoe fits, don’t worry you are not the only one wearing it.  I find many of my clients struggle in these areas.  This does not have to be your story!

As you learn to treat yourself like the MVP of your life, you will find you have more energy and more capacity to serve in your home and produce in your business.  You are enough.  You can do this!  You are worth investing in!  If you want to succeed, you need to be at your best.

Learn to:

• Claim and create what you want in life
• Increase your personal value
• Release negative emotions, beliefs, and experiences
• Improve your self talk
• Make self care a priority
• Love yourself

For More Details Visit.....  amy walker business coach

Amy Walker International Business Coach

Rock Your Biz, Rock Your Marriage

Starting and growing a business can put extra stress on your relationship, but it doesn’t have to. Now is a great time to re-evaluate your communication. Do you have strategies for your marriage or are you just living your life and hoping for the best?

Every time you up level, you will go through a period of chaos. The strategies and systems you used at the previous level don’t work any more. You have to create new strategies and systems to work for the new level. It makes sense with business. Of course, the way you took care of 10 clients isn’t going to work with 10,000 clients. But when we feel this chaos in our home, many of us take it as a sign that we should do less in business. Settle back into the old routine and wait for a better time. There is never a better time! You will have to go through this process whenever you choose to grow!

I suggest you learn to grow together instead of apart and reach a new level of happiness in your core relationship. For More Details Visit..... Amy walker international business coach

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Mom-preneur

Welcome to the best job on the planet!  I truly love raising a family and growing my businesses.  I have been an entrepreneur since I was 19 years old.  I have given birth, nursed my babies and raised every one of my 5 sons while running a business.

I remember early on in my career when it seemed like I was on a sick see saw.  When my numbers in business were up, I felt like everything was falling apart at home.  Then I would jump into my mommy role and all of the sudden we were good at home, but production was falling.  It was so stressful on my family!  They never knew what to expect from me.  I was constantly asking them to sacrifice in the short term so we could live the life we wanted in the long run.  The problem was, with all of the see saw action, I was not progressing in either side of my life.

Fortunately I learned a better way!  I thank The Lord daily for giving me the talents and skills I need to raise 5 boys and run 2 companies.  I am a better daughter of God, wife, and mother because of the skills I have learned in business.  My relationships with my kids are strong and they are each amazing.  They believe that anything is possible with hard work.  They see first hand that mom sets goals, works hard, sometimes makes it, and sometimes misses.  They see me get back up when I fail.  They see me forgive and love myself when I mess up.  And they see me give gratitude to God when I succeed.  They are better because I am in business.

Do not buy the story that you can’t do both, that is an expensive story!  I do not believe that every woman needs to have a business to be fulfilled.  But I do believe that every woman has a greater purpose and mission in this life.  When you live that purpose is when you will be the best mom possible.  For many of us, we live that purpose through our businesses.

I want to be EXTREMELY successful, but not at the cost of my family.  That price is too high!.............. Read more.....>>>>>  amy walker personal coaching

amy walker international business coach

Attracting Clients: When to Push and When to Pull

I love hearing people talk about attracting in clients. We all love when new clients show up! And I do have some miraculous stories of the right person showing up at the right time. The stars aligned, and I found myself with that wonderful new client. But not all the time.

Unfortunately there is no special client attraction cologne or perfume. There is no magic formula for how to go viral with a video. I’ve looked.

There are times when you have to push your message, product or agenda, to get it in front of the right people. And there are times when you use the energy of what you have created to pull in people. It’s like a dance. And to do it masterfully you need to know when to make the right move.

Times to push: Push marketing is when you are pushing to get your product or service in front of potential clients. Examples would be:

1. Trade Shows/Expo Booths
2. Holding classes or product demonstrations
3. Finding retail locations to sell your products
4. Webinars
5. Email Marketing

Almost all businesses need to be engaged in push marketing when they are in start up mode. It is the quickest way to get to the point of sale and it is usually the least expensive. Anytime cash flow is slow,you need to be engaged in push marketing campaigns. May-August and the month of December are slow times in my industry. You better believe I will be engaged in push marketing during all of those months. The first year and a half of my business, I was VERY engaged in push marketing. We needed to build a client base, and I wanted to build it quickly. If you are looking for fast growth, definitely time to push.

Time to Pull: Pull marketing is when you draw clients to you. Examples would be:

1. Referrals from Existing clients
2. Public Relations and Media appearances
3. Radio Shows
4. Advertising in radio, television, or print. (Direct mailers would be push)
5. Sales and discounts
6. Customer relations and internal upsales

In order for pull marketing to work, you have to have some people in the flow, or some cash in the flow. It requires resources. When you have an established client base, and cash in your budget pull marketing will help you take the business to the next level. Pull marketing can build your brand recognition and help you spread your reach.

Bottom line, you should always be pulling and pushing, just in the right proportions. For new businesses or old businesses that aren’t profitable yet, I recommend that the majority or your time and marketing budget be spent on push marketing. Once you are profitable adjust that number and start to invest in the right type of advertising and PR. But, I’ve yet to reach, or see any of my clients reach the point that they don’t benefit from some good old push marketing!

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Business Advice Only an Idiot Would Give You

If you’ve been in business for a while you know that you get a lot of advice, from a lot of people.  And not a lot of them are actually qualified to give you advice!

You know what I’m talking about, you’re at the family reunion and Aunt Sally asks, “So how’s that business of yours going?”  With that sympathetic/pained look on her face.  “Well you know, most businesses go under in the first few years so you better make sure you …”

Or you are at a networking meeting and “That Guy” that goes to every meeting and tries to make himself seem like the most important person in the meeting, but is oozing, “I’m flat broke” energy says to you, “I’m doing this great new thing.  It’s taking off like gangbusters.  You should absolutely stop doing (XYZ business strategy that takes work but is producing for you) and start doing (quick and easy get rich overnight scheme.)

Then there are your friends who have never run a business in their lives.  “I read in an article last week at the doctor’s office about how you can start a crowd funding campaign and earn like $500,000 to get your business going.  You should do that.  You would be so much less stressed!”

We don’t get too off track with that type of advice because it is so apparently naïve and ridiculous.  But then there is other advice that seems smarter at first glance.  It seems smart, and safe and can be some of the most dangerous advice to listen to. Here’s is some of the WORST advice I have gotten while being in business!

1. “You don’t have to do so much, just slow down and scale back so you won’t feel so stressed.” Slow down and be less stressed?  It sounds amazing right?  WRONG!  You are not stressed because you are in business, you are stressed because you are a member of the human race.  You felt stress before you started your business.  You will feel it while you are in business, and you will feel it long after you retire from your business. Often times stress comes when I am at that final push to finish a project, or reach a goal.  If I stop every time I get overwhelmed and stressed, I will never finish my race!  The good advice you need to give yourself during these moments is, “You can do this.  It is hard now, but it won’t be forever. You are so close.  All I’m asking for you to do is take it one day at a time.  And you’ve got this!  Let’s go baby!”
2. “You don’t need to hire someone to do that! I have a friend who can do that for free.”  I am all about controlling costs and being a good steward of my financial resources.  I love spending my money on things that will make me more money.  I hate wasting money.  However, free or cheap labor often times ends up generating cheap, low quality results.  I someone is willing to do your website for free, they are not building you a high quality site.  If they will do your headshots for free, they are not likely to be professional quality.  The one exception to this rule is interns who want to work in your industry and are dying for an opportunity.  Even that labor is not free.  You pay for it with your time you spend training them.
3. “You don’t need help with that. You can do that on your own.”  Hint: This one often comes from yourself.  The unwillingness to hire is one of the biggest hindrances to businesses.  If you are the perpetual solo-prenuer who must learn everything on your own, you will have a very hard time getting much past 6 figures.  Your business will max out because you can’t possibly work any harder.  You will get burnt out because you get tired of never being able to take a break.  I would never design my own website.  I am sure that I could.  It would be hard, it would take me a lot of time.  It probably wouldn’t look great when it was all said and done.  But none of those are the reason I wouldn’t do it.  I would NEVER design my own website, because in the months it would take me to build that website, I would lose out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales.  You must know where you are valuable to your company, and be willing to spend the majority of your time in those areas.

Trust me on these ones!  Save yourself the struggle and avoid my top 3 mistakes waiting to happen!  Be willing to get help!  Be willing to spend.  Choose to spend wisely.  Don’t try to do everything on your own!  My motto is, I am not Superwoman!  I don’t look good in spandex and I don’t want to do it all on my own.  I need help to make my business run.  That is not a sign of weakness, it is a strength that I recognize it.  You have tremendous potential in your business!  Avoid these common mistakes and you will thank me for it! See more: amy walker corporate sales trainer. 

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YOU Have Been On My Mind…

About a month and a half ago, I made some changes in my schedule and opened up time to start talking personally with perspective clients again.  It has re-infused me with love for YOU!

YOU are the reason I love my job and my life.  YOU inspire me.  YOUR struggles, YOUR fears, YOUR triumphs and YOUR passion all make me smile.  I truly love being involved with your journey.  Every week I get to talk to clients and potential clients about their highs and their lows.  We celebrate the good.  And we dissect the failures.  Sometimes I care more about your success than you do.

YOU might be used to living where you are living.  YOU might be used to making what you are making.  YOU might be used to the current state of your relationships.  YOU might have even resigned yourself to settling for less than you once dreamed of.  But I have a different perspective.  I love YOUR journey, because it was MY journey as well.  I know what it is like to hope that there is more in store for your future.  I know what it is like to work hard and not get ahead.  I know what it is like the moment you find the missing link in your brain that connects you to the path of success.  I know what it is like to break through mediocrity and live the life you always dreamed of.

A few months ago I was talking with my beautiful, successful, longtime friend Kim Duncan.  She said, “Do you ever just look at your life and think, I can’t believe I get to live this life?”  I said, “Yes, but at the same time, this life feels so much more natural to me.  When I think back to where we were, that is the part that feels foreign.”

Speaking with so many of you over the last few months has been like reliving my journey.  I see in YOU where I was.  And I see where YOU are going.  The BEST is yet to come!

I am guessing you can relate to one of these three scenarios.

1. You are working hard. You do everything you are taught to do.  Daily you are working on the skills and tasks required to succeed.  You get results, but it never seems to bump past that line of success you have dreamed of.  You are not sure why it seems to work for others, but it doesn’t work for you.  You sometimes doubt if you will ever get there.
2. You have the vision! You have the belief!  You have the faith!  You KNOW that success is in your future.  But you lack the detailed business plan for what will get you there.
3. You know what to do. You have read all the books.  You have the mindset tools.  But you struggle to show up and do the work.  Something always gets in the way.  You know that if you could just be disciplined, it would all come together.  You can’t figure out why it’s so hard to discipline yourself and you spend more time than you would like to admit beating yourself up for not working harder.

Which one can you relate to?  Don’t worry you are not alone.  About 90 percent of the people I talk to can relate to one or more of these scenarios.  I can relate to all of them at different times in my career.

THESE STORIES MAY BE A PART OF YOUR PAST, BUT THEY DO NOT HAVE TO DEFINE YOUR FUTURE!

There is a HUGE need for mentorship right now! I’ve been mentoring and coaching business owners for 13 years!  I have always hated having to turn people away who want and need help, but can’t afford it.  It tugs at my heart every time.  Because I WAS there.  I still remember when I was in Kim Duncan’s basement being in the middle of financial crisis, and feeling hopeless because I knew I needed mentoring and couldn’t afford it.  That day, she changed my life, by giving me what I needed for $100.

Today I want to pass that on to you!  A few months ago I was invited to be a mentor with the Conscious Creators Mentoring Network by Strongbrook.  I would put my content into the Vault with other mentors from across the world.  Mentors like Les Brown, Kris Krohn, Gerald Rogers, Ann Webb, Leslie Householder and others all put in their amazing training.  And you can access all of it for $99 a month.  I am so grateful to be a part of this and to share it with YOU!

Amy walker business coach

4 Myths About Living Life On Your Own Terms.

In the entrepreneur world we talk a lot about creating the life we desire.  We talk about financial freedom and time freedom.  We have a rosy picture of living life on your own terms.  And we talk about it as though it is something we will achieve.  It’s a moment of arrival.  The moment when we can look around and say, “This is the life I always dreamed of.”

Many dream the dream, few achieve the dream.  I’ve coached many people as they transition into the life they want.  Some were already highly successful in terms of paycheck, but were not living the life they wanted.  Some were dirt poor and created financial success.  Some started poor and ended poor.  Some started with more money and ended with less.  How can that be possible?  It’s pretty simple, money is not the ultimate indicator of success.

As a coach I see a few BIG misconceptions that keep people from the life they want.  When you subscribe to these philosophies, you are likely to find yourself feeling like you are on a rat race, constantly chasing a life that is always out of reach.

Fiction: Having enough money will allow me to live the life I want.

Fact: Money is a magnifier. If you are already living life on your own terms, money will enhance that.  If you are not, it will also enhance that.  For example, if family time is a high priority for you, but you are working too much, more money to you will look like more responsibility and still not enough family time.  You can find yourself feeling like you can’t take time off because your business or job requires so much of you.  And you can’t walk away from the paycheck because the family needs you to provide for them.  You’ve created the golden handcuffs. The trouble is, you made your money living out of your values so you created a system that requires you to stay out of your values.

Fiction: I have to earn living life on my own terms.

Fact: We choose to live life on our own terms.  At some point every person who is truly living a life according to their own rules wakes up and chooses to live life that way.  It always involves risk.  It always involves change.  It always involves breaking the status quo.  Most of the truly wealthy people I know made that change long before their fortunes showed up.  In fact, they created their fortunes through an intense determination to create the life they wanted.  It’s not about how many years you work in corporate America before you branch out on your own.  Last week I spoke to a college Senior who is finishing up her last semester of college and is NOT looking for a job because she is launching her business.  And you know what, she is already making more money than MANY experienced entrepreneurs.  She didn’t earn that, she chose it, and created it.

Fiction: Living life on my own terms is easier than following someone else’s plan.

Fact: (Lets just laugh for a moment at how silly that myth is hahahahahahahaha!  Okay now back to the reality.)  If it was easier, everyone would be doing it.  It’s hard to say, these are my priorities, these are my boundaries, and no, I will not chase dollars to get by.  All successful people are willing to fail.  We don’t like to fail, we don’t do it often.  But we are all willing.  We said goodbye to our safety nets a long time ago. (check out my popular blog post on getting rid of safety nets.) For more details or Amy walker coaching services.

amy walker

I am an amazing starter!  Back in the day when I only had one kid, I loved the fabric store.  I mean honestly, there are very few things more fun than finding a cool pattern or the perfect fabric for new curtains, or some home décor project.  I LOVED envisioning the project and making the initial decisions.  I enjoyed the first 25% of the work.  I endured the middle 50% of the work, and I despised the last 25%!  I was a great starter.  Finishing was another story and as a result I had a chest full of started projects.  At one point I started a quilt made from our old denim.  I moved that unfinished quilt to 3 different houses before it mysteriously disappeared!  It’s annoying in my crafting, it’s downright detrimental in my business!

I see this behavior all of the time in certain clients.  This may or may not ring true for you.  But even if you are an awesome finisher, at some point, you will get a starter on your team.  I’ll even take it a step further to say that if you are a finisher, you should look for a starter to be on your team!  Starters are visionaries, innovators, creative thinkers, and problem solvers.  They are genius in these areas. However, their vision for what they are creating is so strong, that they feel the sense of accomplishment well before the task is finished and they mentally and emotionally move on.  Then the drive they felt to start the project disappears, and the discipline to finish the project can be a challenge.  Sometimes it is a big challenge!

You may be a starter if… (Read this in your best Jeff Foxworthy voice)

• You have 10 different products and programs to sell, but your business sales are struggling.
• You’ve been working on your book for more than a year.
• You are on revision number 52 of your website, but it still hasn’t launched.
• You never seem to get around to your marketing implementation because you are still working on the master plan, which by the way will change lives and probably the world because it is so amazing.
• You LOVE meeting new people and talking with perspective clients, but have to staple your head to the phone in order to accomplish any follow up.

Does this sound familiar?  If you are a starter, here are 5 simple tips to increase your ability to finish.  And if you are a finisher, going crazy trying to lead a starter, you may want to forward this message on!

1. Stop beating yourself up for starting things and not finishing.  Honor the creative genius you are and take inventory of all of the amazing things you have created.
2. Make friends with discipline.  He’s not a bad guy that makes you do things you don’t want to do.  He is your really muscular best friend that is on your team to do your bidding and make all your dreams come true.  Try some declarations to support this new belief.
3. Get some finishers on your team.  Some people love nothing more than finishing projects.  And they struggle to create the vision so celebrate your perfect pairing.
4. Plan awesome rewards.  Knowing you have something to celebrate at the end of the completion of the project can pull even the most distracted starter through.  We are good visualizers, so we can spend our creative energy visualizing the reward, which keeps the passion for the project alive.
5. Keep an idea folder.  I have a page in my personal tracker just for creative ideas.  I choose when to implement them.  But until it’s time and my team and I have the capacity to accomplish that idea, it gets to hang out in the big ideas page!  

Starters, it’s time to grow some grit.  Stop letting yourself off the hook and just hang in there to see it through.  Nothing is more frustrating to a starter than looking around their life and realizing that what they envision is nowhere to be seen because they haven’t acted on their creative ideas. That does not have to be your story.  Your vision is too amazing not to happen.  

For more details you can visit here : executive business coach.

amy walker international business coach

5 tips for the best Holiday Sales EVER!

Can you believe it is November already?  Before we know it we’ll be eating turkey, decorating trees, going to party’s and ringing in the new year.  And between now and December 31st, more money will be spent than any other months of the year.  The question is, will people be spending it with you?

When you are an entrepreneur, there can be challenges with the end of the year sales.  People are busy.  Unless you sell a product that they see as a great fit for Christmas gifts, they often times want to put you off until January.

“I’m just so busy right now with the Holidays.  Can you follow up with me in January?”

“I would love to get this, but all of my money is going to Christmas gifts right now.”

“We’ve already spent our 2015 budget, get back with us the beginning of next year and we can talk about your services.”

Do any of those sound familiar?

You can have an amazing Holiday Selling Season.  You simply need to have a SOLID strategy!

1. Modify the amount of time you are asking for from potential clients. Maybe your ideal is to have your clients attend an hour long presentation.  During the Holidays why not see if you can get that down to 15-20 minutes.  You can still ask for the longer amount of time, but if they don’t have it to give you, ask for just a few minutes of their time!
2. Position your products as relevant. November and December are months that my spending is primarily focused on gifts for my boys, parents, husband, and siblings. I your product doesn’t fit for those people, I’m not thinking about purchasing them.  However that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t.  Maybe you sell business services.  Make yourself relevant by helping people take advantage of year-end tax write offs.  Think outside the box and make sure you and your product are relevant!
3. Make sure your holiday is scheduled out! Think about all of the parties, concerts, school events and cookie exchanges that will happen before the end of the year.  Add to it shopping, wrapping, mailing, baking and decorating.  That is a LOT of distraction.  When you lack focus, naturally your business produces less results.  Create space in your calendar for focused work and for Holiday fun.
4. Be willing to ask more people. Even with adjusting your time commitments, positioning and having a great schedule.  You will have people just not want it work with you until the new year.  That does not mean you can’t reach your year-end goals, it just means you might need to ask a few more people to get there.  That means your marketing is going to be essential for the next few months.  You might need more leads than normal.
5. Create a rock solid plan! This is not a time of year that you can coast through without a plan in place!   Join me on Thursday November 19th for my Annual Hot for the Holidays: Business Strategy Session.  Give me one hour of your time, and I’ll give you a Holiday Plan to run with!Register now and share with your friends, team members, and colleagues. Read More...>>>>

Amy Walker Corporate Sales Trainer

Last week the hubs and I went on an early 15thanniversary trip to The Dominican Republic.  It was Ah-MAZING!  I went with a few goals in mind. I wanted to connect with my honey, rest and relax, but I also wanted to experience a breakthrough.  I wanted to come home in a better state of mind than I left, more ready to reach my goals and experience success.

The day before we came home, we went on an excursion to Adventure Park in Punta Cana.  I highly recommend it, the people were great!  I love adventure so we chose to forego the Segway tour and chose the extreme zipline and ropes course. They were challenging!  It’s a good thing I’ve had toddlers to carry around for the last few years because that was the only thing contributing to my upper body strength.  It was hard, but I was working from determination and strategy.  I had a guide who would go ahead and show me what to do.  He was there if I needed him.  When I struggled he would give me encouraging words in Spanish.  I may not have understood them, but I appreciated them!  I was sweaty, and tired, but pleased with my accomplishments. Then we got to the end of the course and he said in a thick accent “Walk the plank.”  I looked around trying to figure out the next set of ropes we were going to climb and he said, “No, no.  Walk the Plank.”  And he pointed to a board, 50 feet in the air that I was supposed to jump off of.  And this time, he didn’t offer to go first.  I froze!

I’ve been cliff jumping, and bridge jumping, but at least you know you are heading into water.  This time there was nothing except me, my harness, the ground, and a really skinny guy at the bottom saying, “I catch you.”  I could feel the panic creeping in.  The guy at the bottom started tugging on my rope, and I braced myself and pulled back.  The guide I had been with gave me some nudges on my back and I pushed back.  I even tried the count to three method and just screamed on three and still my legs did not move.  This fear caught me totally off guard.  It came out of nowhere!  I’d been high up off the ground the whole day.  I had been doing “scary” things all day.  But for some reason, this plank had my number.   I’d wanted a breakthrough on this trip, and it came in the form of a plank!  You see this plank paralleled exactly what I have been doing in my business and exactly my next step in life!  I LOVE coaches and mentors.  I LOVE having people to follow.  I am so capable of doing hard things, and things that scare other people.  I pride myself on being willing to take every step and just keep moving.   But in that moment, on the plank, the reason my brain was freaking out so much was because I was going to have to go first into the unknown.  There was no one to follow and study how they did it.  It was just me and I had to lead the way.  I remember thinking, “Why can’t Stephen just go first?  I just need to see what I am up against.”  I knew at some point my rigging would slow down my plunge.  But I didn’t know how far I would drop before that happened.  I didn’t know how fast I would be traveling. Or how to brace myself for impact.  And I was terrified. I found the courage, made the jump and immediately thought, “That wasn’t bad!”  I should do that again!  

Here’s what I learned from being frozen in fear.  I need to increase my willingness to step into the unknown.  I love having a plan and aligning with successful people to follow.  But in the past, I have slowed down my growth because I was waiting for someone else to go first.  So I’m increasing my commitment to leading into uncharted territories.  I have just announced to the world my next step in business, and it feels a lot like standing on that plank.  Your planks are all at different levels, but you can probably relate to my challenge.  It’s easy for the guy on the ground to say, “You’ll be fine!”  That guy already knows what the jump looks like.  I do this all of the time with women trying to reach the 6 figure mark.  I know you can do it, because I’ve done it. I like being the guy on the ground! But it is an entirely different experience being the one about to take the plunge into the unknown.

I still had guides and support.  I still had my gear, I still had my plan.  I had just come to the point where I had to make the leap of faith.  I wish I could tell you a step by step process when you are at that point.  But I imagine it’s a little different for everyone.  For me, I reminded myself that the longer I stayed frozen the more the fear would take hold.  And then I flipped the switch from fear to faith that it would all come together.  And that my friends, is exactly what I am doing in business and in my life right now!  Who knew walking the plank could be such a good thing? For more information : Web site: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/ .

Amy Walker Consulting

I am an amazing starter!  Back in the day when I only had one kid, I loved the fabric store.  I mean honestly, there are very few things more fun than finding a cool pattern or the perfect fabric for new curtains, or some home décor project.  I LOVED envisioning the project and making the initial decisions.  I enjoyed the first 25% of the work.  I endured the middle 50% of the work, and I despised the last 25%!  I was a great starter.  Finishing was another story and as a result I had a chest full of started projects.  At one point I started a quilt made from our old denim.  I moved that unfinished quilt to 3 different houses before it mysteriously disappeared!  It’s annoying in my crafting, it’s downright detrimental in my business!

I see this behavior all of the time in certain clients.  This may or may not ring true for you.  But even if you are an awesome finisher, at some point, you will get a starter on your team.  I’ll even take it a step further to say that if you are a finisher, you should look for a starter to be on your team!  Starters are visionaries, innovators, creative thinkers, and problem solvers.  They are genius in these areas. However, their vision for what they are creating is so strong, that they feel the sense of accomplishment well before the task is finished and they mentally and emotionally move on.  Then the drive they felt to start the project disappears, and the discipline to finish the project can be a challenge.  Sometimes it is a big challenge!

You may be a starter if… (Read this in your best Jeff Foxworthy voice)

• You have 10 different products and programs to sell, but your business sales are struggling.
• You’ve been working on your book for more than a year.
• You are on revision number 52 of your website, but it still hasn’t launched.
• You never seem to get around to your marketing implementation because you are still working on the master plan, which by the way will change lives and probably the world because it is so amazing.
• You LOVE meeting new people and talking with perspective clients, but have to staple your head to the phone in order to accomplish any follow up.

Does this sound familiar?  If you are a starter, here are 5 simple tips to increase your ability to finish.  And if you are a finisher, going crazy trying to lead a starter, you may want to forward this message on!

1. Stop beating yourself up for starting things and not finishing.  Honor the creative genius you are and take inventory of all of the amazing things you have created.
2. Make friends with discipline.  He’s not a bad guy that makes you do things you don’t want to do.  He is your really muscular best friend that is on your team to do your bidding and make all your dreams come true.  Try some declarations to support this new belief.
3. Get some finishers on your team.  Some people love nothing more than finishing projects.  And they struggle to create the vision so celebrate your perfect pairing.
4. Plan awesome rewards.  Knowing you have something to celebrate at the end of the completion of the project can pull even the most distracted starter through.  We are good visualizers, so we can spend our creative energy visualizing the reward, which keeps the passion for the project alive.
5. Keep an idea folder.  I have a page in my personal tracker just for creative ideas.  I choose when to implement them.  But until it’s time and my team and I have the capacity to accomplish that idea, it gets to hang out in the big ideas page!  

Starters, it’s time to grow some grit.  Stop letting yourself off the hook and just hang in there to see it through.  Nothing is more frustrating to a starter than looking around their life and realizing that what they envision is nowhere to be seen because they haven’t acted on their creative ideas. That does not have to be your story.  Your vision is too amazing not to happen....  Read More About Amy Walker