Who are you being in 2014?

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Who are you being in 2014?

Let me start by wishing you a belated but very sincere Happy New Year!

Belated because after an extended Christmas break in my “spiritual home” of South Goa I seem to be running about 2 weeks behind on everything! And you know, I’m secretly a little proud of myself for that. Sometimes it’s the right thing to do to push and make things happen. Sometimes it’s the right thing to slow down, take a breath and trust that my business won’t collapse just because I drop below the radar for a while.

My time in Goa was a period of reflection for me. A time to look back on and celebrate my successes in 2013, and also to think deeply about what to create in 2014.

The flurry of emails in my inbox at the beginning of January encouraging me to “Get going!”, “Take Action” and “Put Myself in the Game” helped me to realise that my big question this year is not so much “What am I Doing?”, but “Who am I Being?”

Now, don’t get me wrong – there is definitely a time for “doing”, for working hard and making things happen. Sometimes a burst of hard work and focus is just what you need to help you clamber out of the treacle of inertia and get some momentum going.

2013 was one of those years for me. After a long year of frustration where I didn’t achieve what I was fully capable of, where I was held back by inner blocks and “little voices” that wanted to keep me safe, I finally “put the pedal to the metal”. I got working, I focused like a demon and I grew my business.

In 2013 I formally launched my “Get More Clients Saying Yes!” online programme and taught 81 heart-centred business owners how to have authentic yet effective sales conversations.

I ran my first big live event – “Selling from the Heart Live”

I designed and delivered two new live weekend training courses – “Selling from Speaking” and “Webinar Success Blueprint”.

I launched my first private mentoring group – Business from the Heart. To my delight and amazement it sold out. I launched the second. That one also sold out. I’m now officially “closed” to private mentoring clients until at least September.

So by all outward accounts it was a very successful year and I feel totally blessed to have finally created the business that I’d been dreaming of, and to have attracted such a fabulous community of wonderful clients who are out there making a difference to the world. If you are one of them then I thank you for having put your faith in me.

But let me tell you – it was also damn hard work, and I don’t want to gloss over that. Yes, I was in flow much of the time (that’s what happens when you are fully on purpose) but it wasn’t all “easy”. There was a lot of fear, a lot of work and a whole bunch of days weren’t much fun at all. I worked long days and weekends and I made sacrifices in my personal life.

The analogy I use is that my “business baby” was in its first full year of life, and I put everything on hold to tend to it.

But like a baby a business has to grow up.

So after a year of hard work and huge achievements 2014 for me is about something very different.

It is all about who I am Being.

And that’s what I want you to reflect on. Because it’s not just about what you are “doing” but also who are you “being” in business.

How do you want to “be” in your day to day life?

What are the qualities and values that are important to you?

What do you want to be known for?

What sort of role model to you want to be?

What won’t you compromise on for money or success?

So I have closed my doors to new clients for the time being and I’m working on creating more “space” in my life and business.

More space to just “be”, to connect with spirit, to connect with nature, to connect with friends and family and less time being a “worker bee”.

It also means focusing on a key theme for me – Authenticity.

Authenticity is one of my highest values and it is a principle I try to live by in everything I do. But I don’t always succeed.

I find it’s easy to be authentic if I’m paying someone a compliment, telling them how much I appreciate them or sharing my story from stage. But if being true to myself means telling someone something that they don’t want to hear or doing something that might offend someone more often than not I shy away.

But if I’m to serve myself AND my clients fully I need to step into being fully authentic. even when it’s not so comfortable. That means saying “No” to people and collaborations that don’t feel right, even if I risk upsetting someone or rejecting attractive opportunities. It means being direct with clients even if I’m telling them things they don’t want to hear. It means saying “No” to those people that don’t feel like a perfect fit for me, or who are asking of me more than I’m able to give. It means walking my talk. Because being Authentic goes way beyond being nice. It is also about protecting our own boundaries and taking a stand for what we know is important.

So for me 2014 is all about who I am being – about “space” in my life for connection and growth, and about being fully authentic so that I can become a role model for my clients, not just in terms of business growth and success, but also in terms of the person I am and the way that I live my life.