I attended a fantastic one day Sales Rally yesterday with 3 amazing speakers and one focus - SALES! (PS: they have some great sales training have a look at www.youronlinesalesmanager.com)

One of the strategies taught by an amazing Speaker, Anoop Anchal, was to create a Vision Diary.

Now we have all heard of the Secret, and that is great and there are some great ideas we have all learnt from there, from affirmations to vision boards, however I had never heard of a Vision Diary.

So I sat there intensely listening and taking notes.

So what is a Vision Diary?

A vision diary, is a diary that you write in every night, just before you go to sleep. Our minds are extremely powerful, so if I ask you NOT to think of a pink elephant with spots, guess what... you will!

I don't think there's one entrepreneurial business person that I have met, that has ever not felt fear when stepping out into a new business venture, ever.

I spoke to someone a few days ago and she was deciding to put together quite a size able event, in a relatively short space of time, however with the right strategic alliances and marketing, it certainly could have gone ahead with huge success. I am not sure of the outcome at the time of righting this, but it made me wonder, Y do we let FEAR stop us?

What are we ACTUALLY afraid of? 

That a creature from out of space might come down and eat us?

No seriously, what are we ACTUALLY afraid of?

When you dig deep, whats the real reason we are scared to move forward and take our place in this universe. Most people would say its fear of being judged and that we might actually fail and people will then say, "see I told you you couldn't do it!"

If you stop and think about it, what is the worse that could happen?

The sun will still come up tomorrow, the paper will still get delivered on your neighbours lawn instead of yours, even though you pay the bill, your teenage son will still leave his room messy and not notice it (or maybe that's just mine!), my point is, LIFE WILL STILL GO ON!

I am sure you have heard the saying "FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY!".

Its great reading all these quotes, but did you know that just reading them is NOT ENOUGH! You do need to actually feel the fear and do it anyway!

That's if you want to achieve your Y.

If you don't then that's fine, sit back relax and watch others take your place in life and be happy doing what your doing for ever and a day.....

OR

Surround yourself with people who 'have your back' and can help you feel your free and do it anyway.

Over my many years of owning businesses and being in senior corporate positions around the globe, I have had many people say "Shar you can't do this role, let someone else do it, or, you can't open a Spa in the desert of the UAE, no one will come!" If I had listened, and don't get me wrong, I had moments over many months, where the challenges were so great that I did nearly pack up and stay at home and be a kept wife (for my friends reading this, you know how impossible that is for me!), but I didn't.

I felt the fear, met people who I needed on my team and that spoke the local language and set my intention of creating a spa that would attract the royals and gain free press in the best magazine.

I can assure you, I had MANY sleepless nights and my hubby can vouch for that, but I FELT THE FEAR AND DID IT ANYWAY.  I am sure he remembers me drumming my fingers on his forehead when I couldn't sleep and wanted to talk, and if that didn't work, I would write a question mark on his forehead with my finger and the dot is what eventually woke him up!

If it doesn't kill you, I can promise you it will make you stronger. My spa attracted royals, was featured in all the top magazines in the UAE for free and the National Airline contracted me to open my brand of Spa for their 4,500 cabin crew to use.

Was it worth it? Ooh yeah baby!

So think right now as you read this (hopefully your still reading), what is it you want to do right now that you are not doing because of FEAR?

Ask yourself, Y do I want to do this and if it is for genuine reasons and a great cause, Y not surround yourself with at least 6 people who will support you and set your intentions and goals and GO FOR IT!

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

I would love to hear about it if you do go for it, or if you have already done this, please share it with us at www.facebook.com/YMagTSNG.

I am so glad I have taken the chances I have in my life and I know there will be many more coming and I welcome them.

Promise me, you will at least think about it?

Life is too short to not step up and take our place on this planet.

As my friends Alli & Genine say "Pull up your big girls panties and go for it!" (Awesome site check it out www.alliandgenine.com)

Good luck and until next time,

Have a stylish day,

Shar

YWoman

Editor in Chief of YMag

Founder of TSNG

www.thestylenetworkgroup.com.au

For years now I have heard people talk about Blogs... I blogged today, or I'm a blogger. A blog here and a blog there and for years I have listened to people talk about the importance of writing a blog and how its a great tool for your readers to learn more about you and to be able to connect with them at a different level to just posting on Facebook, or liking their profile.

Yeah, but honestly, I said to myself, I don't have time to sit down everyday and write something and who would read it anyway. I also felt that who would want to read the thoughts that run around my ahead from day to day, as most days I'm sick of them, so surely no one else would want to hear them out loud.

Statistics have proved me wrong, yet again! Tens of thousands of people write blogs and tens of thousands (probably millions but I'm still getting my head around this, so work with me here ok!) read them. People are clicking to follow blogs all the time!

And now look......years later, here I am! Sitting in front of my computer in my home office, on blogger, writing my first ever blog! Who would have thought....well as the saying goes, if you can't beat em, join em!

Not I am sure there are some experiences bloggers out there, who will read this and be blogfully ashamed at how bad it is (not sure that thats a word, but it is now!), but you have to start somewhere.

So whats this Y blog all about. Well I am affectionately known around the traps as the YWoman. Y you ask? Well my life changed when I watched a video from Simon Sinek a year ago and he talked about Y people do things and that people believe what you believe.

Here is the link: http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html Well worth a watch if you haven't already, by the way!

So it got me thinking, well Y do we do what we do? And I realised, no one had ever really asked me that. So I started to wonder if other people had never been asked too. Most people I asked, had never been asked and worse still, even their loved ones and business partners, didn't actually know their Y.

I thought, that's a crime! Something has to change! And as I live by the saying "Be the change you would like to see in the world" I started asking people their Y at my business networking events. What happened next was amazing!!!

You see, when people are asking something that is so close to their heart, emotions can come up. For example one of my members and dear friend has a mortgage broking business now and her Y is because years ago with 5 screaming (she will tell you there were gorgeous, but lets go with screaming as theres 5 of them remember!) she fronted up to a bank to buy an investment property and the bank said.....you guessed it, NO! "You have 5 children, you can't afford another property!" My friend had done all the research and they could well afford it. Well this friend of mine is not someone you really want to say that word too, I am even scared to say it to her. So she went on a mission to get her property and ended up in the hands of a competent mortgage broker who did of course get her the loan.

So you see, her passion for starting her own mortgage broking business came through her own personal story and you can imagine how determined she is now in her business to help as many clients as she can. (for anyone needing a loan based in Australia, definitely check her out www.simplemortgages.com.au) PS: Don't tell her about the 5 screaming kids :-)

When we take the time to ask the question and then really listen to the answer, you will see the invisible mask that a lot of us (me including until a few years ago) wear to protect ourselves and project the image we want the world to see.

Have you ever had a nightmare of a morning, either kids screaming, running late, cat vomits on your shoe, traffic and the can't find a park, yet you walk into a meeting or your office, or a networking event with a big Cheshire cat smile from ear to ear and shake someones hand, hand over your business card and pretend the world is your friend? Be honest, have you? I have done this so many times, it became who I was for a while.

Then the Y video changed me... I realised that everyone had a Y, its just some people might have put in on a shelf (along side our business plans) and because no one had asked for it for a while (like our business plan!) they had forgotten.

We implemented this strategy at my events and what happened was amazing. Everyone had 1 minute to share their Y with the group and 30-40 people were revealing their story, letting people know what was behind the business card and fancy logo. People were getting excited, crying, laughing - it was like a release for them as their deep burning passion was finally allowed out!

This strategy became so popular that I am convinced that now after many months, some of our members come to our 2 1/2 event, just for this 1 minute, which is ALL about them! (Ok and maybe the scones and cream which are Divine by the way!)

So I guess after all my ramblings (and here I was worried I wouldn't have enough to write, but for those that know me personally, you probably thought this would be ten pages long haha!) do you know Y you do what you do, and if so, when was the last time you told someone?

Here is my challenge to you (as who knows when I might right another blog, I might be a 1 hit wonder). Sit down with a drink (tea/coffee/water/wine/champagne) and really ask yourself Y do you do what you do.

2 things will happen:

1. You will get great answers and cant stop writing all the reasons Y - you are on the right path.

2. You will start drawing little pictures and distracting yourself and then giving yourself all the excuses like, I'm probably just tired that's Y I cant think now, blah blah blah

Let me tell you something! From my experience with this, and I still have my training wheels on, but if it doesn't immediately come to you, there are 2 things happening:

1. You are filling your days doing something you are not passionate about, that is just keeping you busy or paying the bills, but doesn't light your flame, OR

2. You have never been asked, so your not sure if your Y is actually your Y or a maybe in disguise.

Now what?

Well that's up to you. If you have even bothered to read this far (most of you probably fell asleep already from my writing skills) but for those 1 or 2 of you (probably my husband and sister) who are still reading, ask yourself this.....

When you pass away and move to the big palace in the sky, what would you like to be remembered for? Would you like to be known as the funny one, or the smart one, or even the quiet one.

Or would you like people to say "Wow, didn't Bob live every day to the fullest and once he knew his Y, he made changes in his life and created a business around it and look at the legacy he has left behind for generations to come. Wish there were more Bobs in the world, he will be sadly missed"

There is no wrong or right answer, there just is. Our life is not a dress rehearsal, this is it!

For me personally, I have had MANY lessons in my life, from being hurt through love, and family, financially, and in business and I am grateful for all of them (well nearly all of them) as each one has taught me something about myself and I have grown stronger each time.

I am living my Y now, at aged 41 and a half, with an amazing family, a successful business and my Y, an Orphanage in Thailand only a few years away. My legacy will be opening Orphanages in Asia for young underprivelidged children, as I believe that EVERY child deserves a chance to choose their future.

I wish you luck on your path to your Y and would love to hear your Y story.  Share it on our Facebook page and inspire us with your passion.

Until next time (hopefully there will be one!)

Shar

YWoman

www.facebook.com/YMagTSNG

www.thestylenetworkgroup.com.au