by Ann Evanston | Jan 22, 2014 | Mental Mind Shifts
This is my last cup of caffeine… for six weeks! Yeah sounds crazy doesn’t it! Last year my husband and I did a cleanse for three days and I missed my morning cup of coffee more than anything (even a glass of wine, and if you know me, I love my wine and bubble!). This year we have actually decided to do a very strict six week cleanse. It actually doesn’t officially start until next Tuesday when we return from vacation, but I knew I needed to get the coffee out of the house so I wasn’t tempted! It might not be a good idea to start the withdrawals before we go away, LOL, but I have done it. As I am writing this I am sipping on the last cup.
Why a six weeks cleanse you might ask? Because I believe to hit the next level of success I have to challenge myself: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Some would argue that a cleanse like this is a physical challenge, I would argue that it will encompass all four areas.
Where do you discipline your self to make changes that will be a challenge and allow you to break through to next level success?
Where do you have to have mind over body and spirit in order to achieve something different in yourself and life?
Sometimes doing something this radical and different is exactly what you need to prove to yourself that you are capable of what you want to achieve. I have tremendous excess in my life and business but I want to take it to the next level. I believe that a cleanse like this will help us do so.
What is the cleanse you ask? It’s “Eat to Live” by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. You are welcome to take a look it. for six weeks no animal, dairy, caffeine, salt, sugar, alcohol or added fats oils and butters.
What will you do to challenge yourself to get to the next level success? Are you willing to do something truly difficult?
by Ann Evanston | Jan 2, 2014 | Influence Factor
I meet, throughout my journeys so many women who struggle with her influential voice because deep down inside, like a whisper, they think they’re a fraud. They start their businesses, they are inspired to do the work they do, and somewhere a voice whispers, “you’re a fraud.”
What makes so many think they are a fraud? Or maybe the better question is what made you think that you could do the work you do to begin with? There must’ve been something that made you know that you are capable, strong, and able to do the work you offer. But still a voice whispers, “you’re a fraud.”
How can you stand with your influential voice and call your tribe if what you hear inside is “you’re a fraud”?
I think the most important thing to realize is that often we choose the work that we do because of the introspective journey our warrior had to take, the fear and terror we had to confront – and we want others to know they can do it, and how to do it. For many, they are still on the journey while they teach it. That doesn’t make you a fraud.
So many of us have struggled just like the people that we want to serve! And sometimes we transform back to our old selves, and our bad habits, and that is why we so relate to what our clients go through. That does not make you a fraud. That makes you real. Human. Relatable.
When were you told that you had to be perfect in order to teach it to others? Doesn’t authenticity mean that you are able to share your struggle, journey, and travels on the same path that our clients are on? Wouldn’t your influential voice be powerful with the people you want to serve if you were able to honestly and openly share our own journey in the process? And aren’t you more effective if you are able to demonstrate to your clients that this is a journey NOT a destination?
Wouldn’t your influential voice be able to tell that whisper to SHUT THE HELL UP if you did?
I am giving you this great content and it doesn’t cost you a PENNY! At the same time, it isn’t free! Here is what I ask:
#1. I want you to tell me a story about a time when you heard that whisper and it stopped you from achieving something in your business. Tell me what you changed, and how it helped you. Leave a comment. Share anything you can that you think will benefit the Warrior-Preneur community.
#2. Do you have a friend who you think hears the whisper “you’re a fraud?” Someone like a life coach, a social media marketing expert, or anyone that offers products and services? Send them a link to this article.
I’m giving you this valuable information to encourage you to step into your Bad-Assery business success! It doesn’t cost you one single cent, but if you find it valuable I ask that you share it with 3 friends (email, facebook, or your social media choice) with 3 friends in exchange for payment.
by Ann Evanston | Nov 27, 2013 | Mental Mind Shifts
Why is it so difficult for us to share our accomplishments? The things that we have achieved and done in life? Is that just a feminine thing or do men struggle with it too? Now that I write that, I realize even my humble yet very accomplished husband struggles with it!
I have achieved so many things in my 20+ years since graduating college (let alone what happened before that!) and in my career that allows me to stand where I stand and yet at the same time I rarely share them! I guess it’s because our culture feels that when we share our accomplishments it is some form of insecurity or calls it “bragging” which is inappropriate? It seems silly to me when our accomplishments are what make us credible and allow us the strength and character to what we do.
For example I started in Toastmasters in the seventh grade ok, yes, that is BEFORE college, but relevant to what I do!! The story as to WY I did is for a different time, but because of that I competed in oratory in high school, and in 1985 spoke on the stage with 10,000 people in the Tacoma Dome with the Rev. Jesse Jackson! Since then, speaking has taken me all over the world! I actually made a choice to slow down the amount of travel and speaking I do because my family and being home mattered to me.
Another interesting little thing about me? I’ve always been good at sales, LOL! My first job was as a waitress, and I worked food service through graduate school. Every upsell contest we would have I was one of the top two performers! And in the 90s I was a speaker for Career track, Fred Pryor Seminars, and National Seminars Groups. And I was in the top 1% of sales speakers in the nation for them.(What we called “BOR”, back-of-room sales…sound familiar in the speaking world these days huh?) Fred Pryor seminars even asked me to teach how to “sell with sizzle” to other speakers!
My ability to teach others to speak and sell comes from a process many would say is “natural” for me. But having it become a system was really the key to teaching and selling it with success. My intuitive ability wasn’t enough…so the accomplishments give me credibility, yet the system is what sells.
Oh my list could go on and on just like yours could, so I’m curious what is something that you’ve achieved, that you should take credit for, that helps you to be successful in your business, that you don’t share?
Let’s share our accomplishments below… I’d love to know!
by Ann Evanston | Nov 21, 2013 | Influence Factor
If you want an influential voice in your marketing and brand message this is one of the most important tips to walk away with. “What you love will attract your tribe and sell your offers with ease.”
Read that sentence again!
If you want an influential voice in your business, understanding that your passions, where your heart pounds, where your soul is at, will attract your tribe. Stop shopping your business at people every second of the day! Share from your heart who you are and what you’re passionate about and watch what happens instead. Come on, admit it, aren’t you TIRED of “What do you do” at every networking event you go to…especially since they really aren’t listening?
I would argue they really don’t care.
This is often the hardest lesson from my clients to learn. Marketing begins with first a level of vulnerability, then credibility. Credentials are easy; establishing that you know what you’re talking about is easy. Heck, many people just stealing from others to show their “credible”!
Being truly vulnerable, to share parts of yourself and your own journey to get where you’re at is a whole other level of being. Especially if you believe that you are in the business of changing people’s lives. And guess what? Most of us are in the business of changing people’s lives when we really get down to it! Even my natural handcrafted soap makers want people to change their lives and stop putting chemicals on their body and in their systems!
So have they told the story of why they use natural products?
If you are a coach, have you shared your journey and challenges?
Just today I shared with a client that there is ALWAYS a “next level”, and my struggle to get to the one I have recently transcended to. I share with her how I felt like everywhere I went EVERY ONE did what I did, which shattered my self- confidence. At least enough for me to GET to the “next-level.”
Then I had the opportunity to be around a collective group of people at the next level…and guess what? We ALL did the SAME thing! Just wrapped in our unique messaging. And my message, my story attracts my tribe.
Are you ready to attract yours? What do you need to share to build your influential voice with them?
by Ann Evanston | Nov 20, 2013 | Women Inspire
I happen to love homemade soup! There’s nothing like a great bowl of soup for lunch. Every time I buy canned soup I’m always disappointed! So I enjoy making a big pot of soup on Sunday, and eating it throughout the week.
I’m one of these creative’s in the kitchen so homemade soup is more of trial and error than a recipe. My husband says I should be on the TV show Chopped! Often I’ll take something that I’ve tried before and play around and turn it into my “own thing”. As I do with so many of my soups, asking for a recipe is hard, but I can tell you what’s in them! I love making carrot soup, tomato soup, kale soup, even a great cabbage soup! I use lots of veggies from my garden!
People often ask me for recipes but I just don’t have one since I make it up as I go. They key to great homemade soup? Allowing the flavors to develop. Start with your base flavors: onions, garlic, curry, whatever the spices are that your choosing and let them sauté and soften first. Then add a next layer of flavor: carrots, or tomatoes for example. If you allow the flavors to build first before you add your broth you’ll have a better soup down the road!
Do you have a favorite homemade soup you like to make?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
This is my last cup of caffeine… for six weeks! Yeah sounds crazy doesn’t it! Last year my husband and I did a cleanse for three days and I missed my morning cup of coffee more than anything (even a glass of wine, and if you know me, I love my wine and bubble!). This year we have actually decided to do a very strict six week cleanse. It actually doesn’t officially start until next Tuesday when we return from vacation, but I knew I needed to get the coffee out of the house so I wasn’t tempted! It might not be a good idea to start the withdrawals before we go away, LOL, but I have done it. As I am writing this I am sipping on the last cup.
