As I wrap up 2009 I feel it’s important for me to acknowledge a turning point in my career. I’ve made my year-end accomplishment lists, acknowledged the gifts that 2009 brought to me and feel complete with it. I’m sharing these five lessons with you because this last year was one of the most transformational times of my life. It wasn’t all rosy and perfect—it was down right excruciating and painful. But these challenges and frustrations also brought me gifts.

I think one of the big disservices many “experts and gurus” do in this industry is hide their real situations until they can turn them into a great marketing story. Trust me, I’ve been tempted to do that.

Part of my own “Get Real Revolution” has been to be as transparent as possible. Why? First, I want you to know that if you are struggling you aren’t alone. Second, because struggling is optional. At every turning point you can take an obstacle and turn it into a powerful teaching tool. That’s what I had to remember to do every step of the way.

Often it felt impossible.

Mostly I hated it.

Every day I’ve become more of the leader and visionary I’m meant to be by turning the obstacles into opportunities.

I share my five biggest lessons from 2009 with you to pave the way for many of us to shed what’s holding us back, what we judge as a problem and turn it into an opportunity to grow.

1. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS (Always)

This has been a big lesson for me this year. The only times I made mistakes this year was when I did not listen to my gut instinct. The more I did listen – even if I didn’t know what it meant – the happier I’ve been.

One place I totally trusted my instincts to move forward was starting The Get Real Revolution Show. I felt it in every fiber of my being that it was necessary for people to hear from the “gurus” and peers what is really going on inside of our heads and hearts. It’s been challenging yet exhilarating to put on a weekly radio show. The feedback from people on how it has been a powerful catalyst in their own life makes it all worthwhile.

When I didn’t listen to a few hunches I lost a boatload of money. Typically it came in the form of trusting someone else’s input over my own inner wisdom. Ouch. Those lessons are always painful. From a bookkeeping service to a costly marketing expert to a painful loss in a big project (we’re talking almost $50k here).

Each of these mistakes was preceded by an internal message, “This doesn’t feel right.” But for some reason I dismissed it and plunged forward anyway. You’d think I learned this one already.

Got it now. Lesson #1 learned. Always listen to my hunches.

2. A STRENGTH OVERUSED BECOMES YOUR GREATEST WEAKNESS

I am a collaborator and connector at heart. I thrive when playing with other people. I love bringing major players together to make something happen that’s much bigger than I might have accomplished on my own. This is a great strength for me.

I realized this year that I have over-relied on collaboration. It created a dependency for me (oh how saying this makes my stomach turn) that caused me great angst. I could probably even use the term “co-dependent” – I over relied on some key people to lift me up at the expense of my own needs. I gave to others when I most needed to honor my own needs first.

Lesson #2 learned. Remember the purpose of collaboration: align with people to balance strengths not overcompensate for a weakness.

3. KNOW WHEN TO PULL THE PLUG

Timing is everything. Knowing when to stop doing something is just as important as knowing when to start. Having mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs, I’ve seen the struggle of “when” over and over again in these areas:

- When to let someone on the team go

- When to stop offering a program

- When to extract from a partnership

- When to exit a business

- When do you give up vs. plunge past a barrier

This year I held off on pulling the plug on some expensive resources because of loyalty and a deep belief that I could make it work. This is where Taurus stubborn tendencies get in my way. I waited too long and it not only hurt me but hurt others involved. Damn. Trying to do the right thing can become the wrong thing when it’s not for the right reasons.

It’s hard to even write this one. I intellectually get that a failure is nothing more than feedback. But when it happens in a massive, Perfect Storm kind of way it’s really difficult to take your own advice. Feeling like I might let someone down is my kryptonite (I’m working on this one.) It sucks me into a black hole that’s hard to get out of.

I let some “failures” really affect me this year. I went down a rabbit hole and had a hard time getting back out. I lost my vision, my mojo and my motivation for awhile. I’m pretty resilient with one or two big set backs. But more than ten – I guess that’s my threshold.

Luckily I’m surrounded by amazing friends who weren’t willing to let me stay in that rabbit hole. Thanks to the power of values alignments (Robert Hirsch reminded me to go back to the basics) and NLP (Stephan Stavrakis is brilliant NLP mentor) I shifted my thinking back into place.

I reconnected to the truth about my set backs (my support systems helped me see something I couldn’t see when everything was rosy) and strengthen my ability as a mentor to support others who are scared or feeling beaten down.

As I began to embrace the real purpose of these setbacks I encountered friend after friend sharing their own excruciating journey this year with failure, disconnect and a loss of their way. It gave me courage and reminded me none of us are alone.

Oh, and the truth about failure is this: A set back doesn’t define who I am. It is a teaching tool to make better choices in the future.

5. BE OPEN TO SUCCESS LOOKING DIFFERENT

This last one probably should be #1. This year I experienced some very big successes that I didn’t recognize at first. The first one is that I met the love of my life. This is so big to me is because I could have missed out on it. Quite honestly, he didn’t really appear to look like my “criteria.” He’s not from this industry, had no idea people paid $15,000 to get mentored and had a J.O.B.. He has become my rock, I adore him, and he is so much more than I could have asked for. I have a true partner who is just as committed to personal growth, financial success and making a difference as I am. It just shows up differently. He’s involved in real estate investing and construction. Who knew?

Success is defined by a state of being. Success is feeling aligned with what’s important. The key is recognizing the difference between getting what is aligned with my truth vs. a very surface list of needs. In business, we often pursue our glory list (that aligns us with some very surface and ego-based needs) at the expense of what will really make us happy.

It was a great lesson in recognizing true success often comes in a package that doesn’t immediately look like what we wanted. But when you peel back the wrapping, the core is exactly what we need.

2009 did not exactly look like I thought it would. In a lot of ways I’m disappointed. I choose to use this experience to strengthen my resolve, to go deeper into my truth, create a stronger anchor for growth and make 2010 happier, funner and more rewarding by not defining ME by my business. =-) Feels good even writing that!

Lesson #5 done. Being happy and feeling successful breeds more happiness and success.

I love to hear what your biggest lessons from 2009 have been. How have they been your teacher…your catalyst to grow and leave behind mediocre for greatness?

A big step in reinventing your success in 2010 will be simplifying the way you run your business. There are many different approaches that we cover in the Fast Track to Lifestyle Business coaching program (like eliminating unprofitable products or services to streamlining your systems.)

Here are three areas I recently up leveled:

Merchant Account
This might not seem like an obvious area to simplify but not having the right merchant account can cause massive bookkeeping challenges or cause delays to your revenues hitting your bank account. About eight months ago I started noticing that our merchant account would take 5 – 7 days from time of processing an order till the time it hit our bank account. That is just unacceptable.

So we made the switch to a new merchant account that understands our industry, has 24 hour processing time and bases their transaction cap on our request, not their industry standard. Their fees are much lower too which makes for a sweet deal.

Customer Information Management
For three years my team struggled with having three separate technologies to keep up to date – the online shopping cart, the contact management system and our project management tool. Information was constantly being “lost”, duplication of effort was expensive and frustrating, and the ability to actually follow up properly with a prospect was a pie in the sky idea.

After learning of InfusionSoft, we decided to make the switch (and not without quite a bit of due diligence.) Here are the ways InfusionSoft simplifies our operations:

- I can now look at a contact in InfusionSoft and know every product purchased, email received or contact with my company

- I can process orders, customize a sale price or unique transaction request much more efficiently

- Follow up sequences can be customized to include phone calls, direct mail or attachments (can’t do this in 1SC or Aweber.)

- Deliverability rates are much better

- InfusionSoft integrates with my Outlook so any tasks or calendar items assigned can by synced to my desktop. I can also send an email through my Outlook and tag it to the record in InfusionSoft (no extra steps.)

- I can segment my list to target people who have not bought a product or service with the click of two buttons (rather than manually unsubscribing people.)

- The affiliate system is customizable by product so we can run multiple affiliate campaigns.

Now all of this does mean that some changes need to happen:
- You need someone who knows InfusionSoft to transition your current system and maintain it

- There are a lot of ways to use the system so you’ll need some coaching/guidance (we documented all of our set up to share with our InfusionSoft clients.)

I know many people feel it’s an expensive system but actually its not. They have eliminated the upfront fee and now your monthly fee is based on what modules you use. I’m paying the same amount I was paying for Professional Cart Solutions and calendar/contact manager in WebEx.

Team Management
One of the areas many entrepreneurs struggle with is balancing having people to get projects done with the energy it requires to manage all those people and projects. If you are a creative, results-oriented person you may not be well suited for management.

Eliminate the confusion, frustration and overwhelm in getting projects done by having someone else manage them. For instance, if you have a team of employees or contractors, you might want to explore these three options:

1. Use better tracking software like Central Desktop, BaseCamp or SmartSheets. By having a way to assign and track deliverables it eliminates mis-communication and dropped tasks.

2. Hire a project or business manager to oversee this function in the business. Remember, you are the visionary and creative – don’t get caught up on the weeds of managing implementation if you can help it.

3. Outsource your operations to an Online Business Manager. You may want to keep things simple and have someone else who is an expert manage your business for you through their team. It can keep your costs down and increase efficiencies.

I’ve made several adjustments over the last couple of years to remove me more and more from the day to day operations so I can focus on the vision, strategic alliances and delivering programs.

Keep in mind that having a smooth running business is actually just as important as having leads and clients. If you are looking for ways to achieve your big vision faster as an entrepreneur, check out the Fast Track to Lifestyle Business program starting January. You’ll be shocked at how much you grow by simplifying how you get there.

What are some of the ways that you have simplified? Be sure to share them in the comments below.

Have you ever felt like no matter how hard you are working you are not getting where you want to be fast enough?

It’s a gut-wrenching, mind-bending situation to be in. You try EVERYTHING you can think of, investing thousands of dollars in products, marketing strategies, fancy social media techniques, and nothing…it’s not working.

Why? Because you are NOT in alignment with your truth.

Success is not what most people think it is. It’s not what anyone else determines for you by following THEIR cookie-cutter approach. It’s not about achieving “millionaire” status (although it’s very alluring to think so). And it’s not about what people think about you.

Success is about spending every day being in alignment with your truth. It’s about…

- Deciding to be real no matter what
- Spending your days do what’s important
- Standing for what you value most
- Having the freedom to spend your days how you want
- Being happy, fulfilled and peaceful

The world around you knows when you are disconnected from your truth…whether you consciously realize it or not. For those who have a business based on your service, you can not afford to be disconnected from your truth. Yet more than 75% of entrepreneurs have no idea what their truth is. They pursue other people’s dreams at the expense of their own, completely losing sight of who they are to create another entrepreneur’s dream.

Tackling being “out of alignment” is crucial to taking your business to new levels of success. Here are three of the alignment areas that you must explore (we go through this process in the Fast Track to a Lifestyle Business program too.)

• Mindset: Is our thinking, beliefs and attitude aligned with the outcomes we want from our business? If we think believe that having a six figure business is too hard then we will undoubtedly reinforce that belief through our actions and have a business that is hard to run.

• Values and Passions: Are we spending time doing what we love? Are we saying YES to the opportunities that lead to more of what we want? Maybe…or maybe not. Getting burned out, overwhelmed or hitting “the wall” are all signs you are not in as much alignment as you think.

• Business Model: Is the way we currently offer our programs going to deliver the results we desire? I don’t just mean money here either. I mean having the level of impact on the world, the time freedom and the financial means to live the life we want.

If you are feeling out of alignment, start by going back to the basics. Make a list of your top five values and priorities (priorities might be short term needs vs. what’s important over your lifetime.)

Now notice how many of your values and priorities are actually present in your day to day life. How much time do you really spend doing what you love?

How much longer will you allow yourself to endure spending your days disconnected from what’s important?

Here is my 2010 success challenge for you: Make a decision today to get realigned with your truth. If you need help with this process, then join the Fast Track to Lifestyle Business program. Hundreds of graduates have found their real success by following this system. Will you?

P.S. 2009 pricing expires December 31st at noon (Fast Track goes up to $1800 on Saturday so don’t delay.)

Knowing what pace you should grow is something very few entrepreneurs actually know. You just move at the speed you’ve always traveled hoping you’ll get there.

What if you knew that to achieve real sustainable success (you know, the kind that doesn’t blow up in your face or you don’t have to chase all the time) you might need to change what speed you grow at?

Here’s what I mean. In my Fast Track to 6 Figure Lifestyle Business coaching program, one of the leverage topics I train on is “Results Acceleration.” As a success coach to entrepreneurs all over the world, I’ve found that knowing what speed to implement to match the pace of your desired growth is key to sustainable growth.

These three speeds are:

Bull in the China Shop: You are reckless and tend to break a lot of things in your “take no prisoner’s approach to getting what you want quickly. Because you leap then think through what needs to be done, you often miss important implementation steps that cause havoc for your team and your clients.”

Turtle. As the name implies, you move so slow that time feels like its standing still. By the time you actually make a decision the opportunity is gone. Because you are looking for the “perfect time” you typically never achieve your goals.

Cougar. Quick, decisive and effective, you move at an optimum speed to capitalize on opportunities while minimizing costly breakdowns. You are able to achieve continuous, momentous results in record time.

So…which speed are you traveling at? Do you like that speed? Is it working for you? Love to hear your comments on this one below.

To change your speed you’ll need to address some areas of your business such as: systems, automation, delegation, time management, prioritization and your prime motivation.

If you are interested in accelerating your revenue, accomplishing more of your big leap goal and having more enthusiasm for your work again, you may need to implement one of my “Results Acceleration” strategies in the Fast Track to 6 Figure Lifestyle Business.

Jason was dog-tired. As an entrepreneur, he spent the last 2 years building his small business thinking he’d done all the right things with less-than-desirable results. Then Jason read an article somewhere about how hiring a mentor who had demonstrated significant success could help short-cut his path and eliminate the frustration of doing the wrong things so he began the process of searching for a success coach.

Months later Jason was still without a mentor. When I asked Jason why he had not yet hired a coach he exclaimed, “There are SOOOO many coaches out there! How do I know who to pick? Who can I really trust?”

Knowing HOW to pick a mentor or coach can be the most important decision you make this year. Having someone who can eliminate the guesswork, brainstorm new solutions assist you in prioritizing what to do in what order is essential to accelerating results. But you do want to make sure the person you hire is a good match for you.

1. Proof is in the Pudding

The most important tip to finding a mentor is picking someone who has achieved a lifestyle and business you admire. And I don’t just mean financially. Success is also about who they are being, how well they are respected, how they treat people, and what they stand for in the world.

When you are mentored by someone you are linked to them. You want to pick someone you would feel proud to be associated with and desire your life and business to end up like theirs.

2. Coach and Mentor

There is a big difference between a coach and a mentor. A mentor is someone who can teach you how to do what they did. A coach is (hopefully) trained to help you align proven strategies with what’s important to you. If you are lucky, you’ll find someone who is both.

One of the pitfalls I’ve witnessed of working with a mentor who is NOT a trained coach is they do not know how to get you out of your own way. They just know how to tell you how to do what THEY did. It’s why many entrepreneurs who invest in a guru’s miracle system fail. Find someone who has a proven system AND knows how to customize it to your needs, skills and values.

3. Follow Their Work

A fast way to find out if you align with someone is to buy one of their books, read their articles or take a course from them. I’ve found that some of my best clients have hired me on the spot after they took Virtual Team Building or attended a preview call for Fast Track.

During your initial experience, do you find yourself thinking “Wow, they totally get me,” or “They have been exactly where I am now but have achieved the success that I want!” That’s an excellent sign that you’ll be a good fit. But, and this is an important note, don’t select on this one aspect alone! Follow all the tips here to ensure all the elements for a successful coaching relationship are in place.

4. Due Diligence

Check out what other people have experienced from this expert. You never want to rely on hearsay alone cause not everyone is a good fit for each mentor. But if you hear a common theme of “I liked their marketing but they didn’t deliver” or “They were never available to conduct my coaching sessions” then I’d steer clear.

Recently a new client told me, “I’ve searched high and low for dirt on you and impressively, I couldn’t find anything! All I heard was people singing your praises.” Of course, I felt great pride in that and he’s not the first to say something similar. My point is: check references, do google searches, ask former clients. Feel confident in your decision (but hey…don’t drag on with research forever…it’s just another form of procrastination!)

5. Respectful Stretching

Some people get caught up in feeling like they have to really like their mentor. You don’t. I’d suggest you find someone that makes you nervous as all hell. Why on earth would you spend a boatload of money to have a new best friend? Now I don’t mean hire a coach who shouts, puts you down or doesn’t “get” you.

Hire a mentor who will really stretch you to into a new paradigm. You want to be pushed and challenged to be more than you are now. That’s not going to happen if you are all nice and cozy hanging out with your best friend.

6. Invest High

My last tip is to hire a success coach at a level that hurts. You MUST have some serious skin in the game to experience the level of growth you desire. If you aren’t feeling a pinch then you aren’t being charged enough. Here’s why. When you find your stride you’ll be tempted to back off or slow down. When you are dropping some serious change (and this is at whatever level it hurts for you – could be $200 or $20,000 a month) then you will work a million times harder to ensure you get the return on investment.

My personal experience is that having the right mentor is the best investment you can make in your business. I owe a significant amount of gratitude to my coaches over the years. Each and every one of them has contributed to my ability to get people just like you the best results on the planet.

Want to see if we are a good fit? Start with a Reinvention Business Breakthrough here:

http://extraordinaryresultsfasttrack.com/reinvent/

Melanie

Join me on December 16th, 2009, at 4 pm PT as I interview Bob Jenkins,
also known as ‘Bob The Teacher.’

Have you hosted teleclasses but didn’t get great results? What if you could regularly achieve five and six figure paydays by teaching what you do best from your phone?

Bob Jenkins is going to share how he has built his thriving internet-based business with some simple but highly effective secret techniques for teleclasses.

We’ll cover things like:

• What NOT to do in a teleclass (knowing this can save your butt big time!)
• How a small turn out can be turned into a huge opportunity
• The resources you’ll need to monetize and leverage online trainings
• Bob’s secret weapon for getting a HUGE teleclass turn out (hint: it also helped him get his six figure boost)

This call is FR*EE for all Extraordinary Results Academy (formerly UWSC) members. Members can join us live for Q&A too!

Not a member? Join our trial for just $9.95. Previous UWSC members can re-join today here!

Click here to JOIN NOW to access this call!

To your success,

Melanie Benson Strick
Million Dollar Success Coach

For twenty years I’ve participated in masterminds. A mastermind is a group of people who come together to share ideas, create new opportunities and leverage each other’s brain power.

In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill talks about how Andrew Carnegie tapped into the minds of 50 men who at any time he could ask them for advice or access their resources. Just think…what could happen for you if you did not have to solve every problem or challenge alone!

Beyond the amazing benefits of synergizing ideas through brainstorming, masterminds have become one of the best ways to create strategic partnerships. Think of it like this. Each business owners builds their own power base of resources – clients, marketing channels, expertise, vendors, etc.

If you can utilize what each person has built and exponentially multiply your own resource base without recreating the wheel, then you’ve got business leverage! Now of course most people don’t overtly join a mastermind with a grand plan of each and every person using each other’s resource base.

However it happens very naturally because…

In a mastermind for business owners, you develop an affinity for each other that makes you want to extend your resource base to each other. Some of the ways I’ve been able to tap this power of leverage has been:

* Being invited to speak at coveted events or on teleconferences
* Sharing vendors or contractors not available outside the inner circle
* Tapping expertise or mentoring available to others at top dollar
* Becoming their “referral of choice” for my expertise
* Having insight into their trade secrets they don’t share elsewhere

Obviously there has to be a lot of trust and confidence for a mastermind of this caliber. I’m very selective about who I join a mastermind with and when I host masterminds for my clients, I’m just as picky about who gets in.

As I prepare to kick off my 2010 mastermind programs (which are always a blend of private coaching, cutting-edge performance training and facilitated mastermind experiences) I’m excited to see my clients and community gain the benefit of this powerful growth technique!

Happy Masterminding.