by Ann Evanston | Aug 12, 2015 | Business Strategy, Mental Mind Shifts
Desire is so incredibly important to have success. I find that many entrepreneurs think they have it. But do you? Really? In a previous blog on Obtaining Strong Desire I shared important insight into what desire really is. I also promised I would share with you the five things, mindsets, which I believe it takes to truly have it. As you read these rate yourself: how strong is your mindset?
- You must know your purpose. Your WHY. WHY is more than “pay my bills” or “feed my family.” WHY is about your calling, what put you on this earth. Most entrepreneurs I work with have this part. They know their true calling, their purpose for being here. YAY! We got this part. What else does it take to have strong desire?
- There can only be Plan A. Your purpose, your organized knowledge must be your primary focus EVERY Now, I get it, some of you are completely afraid to quit Plan B and just go for it. If that’s true though, Plan A is where your energy and effort is every day. Your desire to make it successful overrides “tired”, “not enough time”, and other responsibilities. Having strong desire means you will (not must) spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day, every day on Plan A.
- You have to believe with everything in you that you deserve success. Yes, I have talked about the fear of success before. If somewhere in you, you don’t think you deserve it, your desire isn’t strong enough. And I am planning MORE on this….coming soon, so stay tuned!
- You know that there are parts of creating business success that you have to shift your thinking about (negative autosuggestion) because they are necessary for your business to thrive. For example, marketing, budgeting, speaking, sales…not necessarily your purpose huh? But necessary if you want that purpose to make money! I recently heard a woman call that stuff “mundane” (negative autosuggestion.) I have heard others say they hate it, or it’s a necessary evil. Those negative autosuggestions will DRAIN DESIRE. Shift your language around them.
For example, I have such strong desire to achieve success that I see all of those things as a blessing, an opportunity, and the catalyst to being what I am meant to be in the world. It is so much easier to do those things when you shift your thinking.
- Fifth, and probably most important. My epiphany from Women, Wine and Wisdom that I mentioned in my previous blog. You have to be willing to NEVER SETTLE. Strong desire requires this. When you settle, the energy of “it’s good enough” destroys desire.
Now this is important: never settle isn’t about self-worth. It isn’t beating up on yourself. Never settle isn’t about perfectionism. Perfectionists fail to LEAP. People with a never settle mind set leap all the time. They do one simple concept I am known for:
Be at 10 then raise the bar and be a 10 again.
The concept of never settle means you are continuously looking at what you so passionately do and wanting it to be better. You are always asking yourself, what went well with….my marketing, presentation, blog post, webinar? What can be better next time?
These are the 5 things it takes to have strong desire. And you know what? It will be true for all areas of your life. This mindset applies to relationship success too. If you want a powerful, loving, amazing relationship you can never think “it’s good enough”. The desire to make it better (never good enough) will keep you from settling, will make sure you contribute, will encourage you to get what you need.
Build desire to grow rich. That’s what Napoleon Hill says. These 5 things are truly what separates me from others who struggle. Where did you rate yourself?
by Ann Evanston | Aug 6, 2015 | Speaking Strategy
Your speaker introduction, that thing that is read by somebody else prior to you giving your talk, (webinar, radio, telesummit, or on stage) is a critical step towards invigorating buyers (Step 5 in my Bad-Assery Business™ MasterMind program).
Too often, when we get ready to get “onstage”, “someone” reads a list of credentials that we think will help us have credibility and influence with the audience.
And honestly, the audience could care less! If you are doing that, you are a big ol’ yawn, before you ever get on stage! Shouldn’t your goal be getting them liking you with that valuable time? YES!! And if your talk is short, you just lost valuable minutes that you could’ve used to get them ready to buy!
I teach my MasterMind clients to think about that introduction strategically as valuable “presentation time” that sets up the audience to know, like and trust you, as well as subliminally hear an offer with ever selling them!
Here are 4 simple steps to include in your speaker introduction?
- Humor is wildly powerful in a speaker intro. How can you add humor? Something funny about yourself is the best way. When you write it, you need to do that in a way that allows the person who’s going to read it to know that it’s meant to be funny.
- You only want 10 to 20 words maximum about why you’re an expert. A simple one-liner to reinforce why you are qualified to talk to them is all the credentials you need at this point.
- Most importantly, your speaker intro needs to emotionally connect the buyer to you. So turn it into a story. What happened to you personally that you’ve learned about what you now are expert at? How can you be relate-able to them in a way that shows them you understand what they are going through?
- And lastly, you want to make sure that your program, your offer, is clearly named at the very end…just before you come “on stage”. You want them to say something like: “Today, Ann will be sharing with us Step Five in her program on Becoming a Compelling Speaker before you ever Get on stage!”
This is the key to a good speaker introduction. Make sure those components are present and you will be launching them towards being buyers!
One last tidbit. Prepare the person who is going to READ it!
- Ask them to read it in advance, this makes you both look fabulous!
- Share clearly what you want: humor, energy, but these words, not something else.
- Ensure they have a copy that’s big enough for them to read easily! 10 to 12 point is typically too small for most people!
This 30-60 seconds sets up sales success, without being salesy and allowing you to connect before you EVER speak—-now that’s compelling strategy!
by Ann Evanston | Aug 2, 2015 | Business Strategy
I am constantly thinking about how to improve the work I do for my clients. I want them to be full. Well okay, maybe that’s the Italian in me, LOL. But really, I want them satisfied, inspired, challenged. More importantly, and I think it’s my psychology background, I am constantly digging deeper into what makes some people fail, struggle and other soar and succeed.
I am constantly looking at how to train the mind to change your life.
I use many concepts from Napoleon Hill’s book: “Think and Grow Rich” in my work. One thing he repeats continuously is the word desire. I guess it isn’t the word desire, it is the concept of desire. He says in order to achieve the riches we want through our “power” (i.e. “organized knowledge” is power) we MUST have strong desire.
I am sure you are similar to my clients in that when I ask: “Do you have desire?” The answer is ALWAYS yes.
But what is the concept of desire? Do you really have it? Or do you hear the word and just think you have it?
Reality is this: to achieve the success you deserve, DESIRE, strong desire is necessary and required. Napoleon Hill says: “The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.”
I had an epiphany in a small networking MasterMind group I run called “Women, Wine and Wisdom.” It was about desire and what traits it takes to REALLY have it. To have the kind of strong desire Napoleon Hill talks about. The kind that turns your power to riches. Who would think that for $25 and with a glass of wine you could learn so much about yourself and your business, LOL! MasterMind is that process…oh wait, I digress, that’s for another time.
Desire. Strong desire. We NEED it to have the success. Not just the feeling of desire, but embracing the concept of desire through your actions and mindset. I believe there are 5 core concepts you need to develop that desire.
And I am going to share them with you in next week’s blog! Until then, grab a copy of Napoleon Hills book. Reflect on how desire shows up for you every day (or not) and come back to read more about it!
by Ann Evanston | Jun 25, 2015 | Business Strategy
June 8 I made a commitment to getting back in shape. My severe back injury and chronic pain has not gone away by not exercising. So we are back at the gym, 3 times a week, 30 minutes high intensity. I believe when you decide…you DO. So, Biggest Loser style, I am at it (and honestly the last 3 years, I have had little if no real exercise.) On the 5th day in this process we did 15 minute rounds of 50 jump rope, 20 squats, and 50 punches. Then two 6 minute rounds of back and biceps. (Days one through four were not that different!) No excuses no whining, no quitting.
Is it hard? HELL YES.
Was I in pain? (not back pain, exercise pain)HELL YES.
Did I feel light headed? HELL YES.
Did I do what I said I would do? HELL YES.
[Tweet “This mindset is critical for business success. I guess we could call it the HELL YES mindset.”]
LOL! It is really about committing to your plan, even when it is HARD. Trust me, being in business isn’t just about putting out to the world what you love. There is so much more to it. And there will be times when you will think it’s just too hard, it’s painful, maybe even a little light headed!
With my clients, we work on the 5 Fundamentals of a Bad-Assery Business, one of them being “Vision of Self”. Mindset is a big part of this fundamental. Above I talk about training my body. Guess what though, you have to train your mind to change your life. That is why the biggest battle is within. (hell yes!)
by Ann Evanston | Jun 18, 2015 | Business Strategy
If you garden, there’s nothing quite like the first ripe tomato of the summer. Okay, if you don’t garden you probably know how fabulous summer tomatoes are fresh from the garden! That first tomato though, for a gardener, is a symbol of accomplishment. There’s nothing more powerful than picking it, realizing that you nurtured and cultivated something to grow, that now you get the pleasure of enjoying!
Then you get to make a decision about how you’re going to eat that first tomato! Right from the vine still warm from the sun, in a salad, with some mozzarella, or just a little salt!
[Tweet “Interestingly, I think that first tomato is just like getting your first customer in your business!”]
You nurtured and cultivated something powerful and they bought it! You can’t wait to show the customer everything you have to offer. You’re excited about what you will do with them. You’re available, ready, and willing! It’s a beautiful relationship.
Then, just like my tomatoes, you will have lots of them, sometimes it’s even overwhelming (in a good way of course!) deciding just what to do with them! As is your plan in your successful business, clients will grow, more come! Guess what? Thinking about how you will WOW multiple customers without having to individually manage each one of them is part of the growth struggle you will have. How will you excite and delight each customer as they come on?
How will you make sure they feel just as special as the first one?
This is why when I work with clients we talk about the “5 Fundamentals of a Bad-Assery Business”. Customer WOW is one of those five fundamentals. If you start to put pieces in place now as you’re growing your business to have greater success, later when more customers come on you’ll be ready. How do you want to WOW them and make them feel like the first? What steps are you taking to be organized and ready, without delay?
