Recently I spent some time in Sydney Australia with some colleagues as we were speaking for Christopher Howard’s Ultimate Marketing Seminar.

After three days of being completely upside down in my time zones and presenting at this conference of over 700 people, I was exhausted. But I was committed to enjoying some of local Sydney life before I had to leave for Melbourne.

I headed out for the day with some of my colleagues, Stan Dahl and John Carlton of www.marketingrebel.com. We hit the zoo, had drinks and dinner by the water, played some pool then hit a local jazz club. By then I’m snoring at my table (jazz just isn’t my thing).

So my new found friends proclaim it’s SPA TIME!

What? Spa time? At 11:30 at night? OK, I’m in.

So John gets us a taxi and we head to the seedy part of town (aka strip clubs, adult book stores and god knows what else) where we find an onslaught of Thai massages. And no, not the ones with the happy endings.

What I found was a real gem of an awesome Thai Massage called Sabai (if you are ever in the area check it out at 145 Oxford Street in Darlinghurst. It’s open from 10 am to 2 am. Geez, when DO they sleep? LOL.)

First I had to change into my massage outfit (again, a bit apprehensive at 12 am in the morning but I’m going with it.) It’s a loose fitting icky green shirt and pants. Since I was in jeans I’m very happy.

Then I have to lay down on a mat on the floor and the work begins. Now I have to be honest here. I was fast asleep (again) within 10 minutes so I don’t really remember most of it. But I woke up an hour later feeling totally relaxed. And John and Stan raved.

The sign of a great massage for me — I want to go back! I swear I tried to find another 2 hrs so I could go again. I’m keeping the brochure just in case I’m in Sydney again soon.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been to one of my favorites…The Marriott Desert Hot Springs Spa Resort in Palm Desert, California.

As a spa junkie, I love that this beautiful resort is very close to Los Angeles (in the “leer-cecedes” it only takes 90 minutes to get there.) Knowing that I desperately needed a little get away from my CEO & entrepreneurial duties to some sunshine and pampering, my new beau booked us a 3 day retreat.

Now I’m a seasoned spa’er but my new beau was going for the first time. After the 2nd day of sun worshipping at the private spa pool area, with the staff waiting on us hand & foot, then getting an amazing spa treatment in the beautifully new renovated spa, his words were “Oh yeah….I can get addicted to his life.”

Could it have been the beautiful view of the lake and golf course or the soothing spa music they pipe in all day? Maybe the boat ride around the lake to our Japanese style dinner at Mikado? It was the perfect end to the perfect day in this little slice of paradise.

Now here is some incentive to head to the property.

Right now there are some great packages you can take advantage of. For instance, we got the “Spa Package” which included our breakfasts and 2 treatments at the spa. You can also get a “Golf Package” if that’s your passion. And as the summer gets hotter, the packages get better.

We also happened to meet the Marriott New Property Sales Diva who conveniently “jumped us” on the way out with an opportunity to stay there for FOUR days anytime we want for just $199 — which included a $100 spa certificate. Of course we said yes!

A few considerations if you are going:

1. Consider going during the week vs. the weekend. It’s quite crowded and a pick up scene at the pool during the weekend. Unless that’s your thing of course.
2. Be sure to let them know if you are celebrating a special event. They are very accommodating with the “upgrades.” (hint hint.)
3. Book your session at the spa in advance to get the best times. The spa does book up very quickly.
4. Check into the resort fee to make sure you get the fitness center and internet covered. It’s better to pay in advance then at the resort separately for everything.

Happy get-aways! And be sure to let me know if you decide to go!

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I’ve been more aware of the power of gratitude. I’m going to be sharing some of the things I’m grateful for in my life and I’d love to hear about what you’re grateful for. I’ll start with my ** fun ** list.

Here’s my top 8 for today

I am grateful…

1. That election campaigns are over so we can get back to the “real news”

2. That So Cal rarely gets below 72 degrees (and yes…we pay for that luxury)

3. For my delete button that easily eliminates spam and over-zealous internet marketer emails

4. For online traffic school for those *rare* occasions when I get sloppy and break a traffic rule.:)

5. For Twitter, Facebook and some days Myspace for being a brand new compulsion/addiction for me to force myself to delegate.

6. For all of the great friends and colleagues I reconnected with recently at 2 amazing events.

7. For a team that supports my vision and encourages me to be the leader and CEO I need to be to make this business exactly what I want.

8. Chocolate. That’s it. I’m just grateful for chocolate. And for the wonderful chocolate gifts I start getting around this time of year. (PS truffles are my favorite in case you are wondering. Chocolate-covered strawberries are 2nd.)

NOW, share your list of 8!

P.S. Remember…gratitude focus helps you attract more of what you DO want. =-)

If you want to find out how to set up systems that make your success inevitable, how to hire a winning team, or how to leverage speaking to increase your visibility and your bottom line check out http://tinyurl.com/mygratitudesale right now!

Today I heard four words that almost made me weep tears of joy.

We were having a bit of a challenge with some online technology. We have this fancy form that we are asking people to fill out in order to get a Jump Start session with one of my coaches. Hopefully by the time you read this it will be working: http://www.successconnections.com/jumpstart/

And every 2 or 3 times someone filled it out something wouldn’t work. Argh!

My team had tried very hard to handle it without me. But alas, someone found me on a site and said, “Help, I can’t get this form to work!”

So being the diligent problem solver that I am, I started to troubleshoot and test the system to see what the problem was.

I called my Marketing Manager, explained the problem and said, “OK I’ll call [my virtual assistant] and see what needs to happen.” 

My Marketing Manager uttered these four words that almost made me weep… 

“I’ll take care of it!” Ahhh…..the relief in knowing that someone else is in charge. 

As a visionary, creative and leader of my empire, the last thing I need to be doing is solving technology problems. Thank goodness my team has been trained well in “owning” the problem and keeping me out of the middle. 

It’s what I call the grown up business model. It’s one where I do what I do best and leave the rest to the experts on my team. And this is the strategy that separates the “empire builders” from the rest – being able to let go and let others take charge. 

So what’s your gig – where do you get caught up in solving problems that suck your time and energy away from what you really should be doing? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

I have so many exciting new plans for helping you reach all of your business goals in the coming year that I can barely contain myself - one of which is going to be the most incredible LIVE event I have ever done. I will be sharing proven strategies that I’ve been using for years to build a million dollar business and integrating them with information that will literally blow your mind and make you look at your business in a whole new way. (More to come on that!)

But, in an effort to make sure that this LIVE event meets YOUR needs, I put together quick survey http://www.successconnections.com/survey/ so that you can let me know what you want. And, to show you how much I value your time, in exchange for completing this survey I am going to give you 2 audio interviews where some outrageously successful entrepreneurs like Tim Ferris, David Allen and yours truly discuss how to accomplish more in your business by increasing your productivity and
leveraging your resources. There are some serious gems in these interviews you won’t want to miss. 

All you have to do is hop on over to http://www.successconnections.com/survey/and complete the quick survey. You’ll be given the link to the audios immediately. 

Then, once I receive all of your valuable feedback, I can get busy creating the best Lifestyle Business building event of the year. 

Thank you!

Melanie

I received an interesting question from one of my Fast-Track to 6 & 7 Figure Lifestyle Business Mastermind members the other day. I thought I’d share it as I’m sure many of you have an opinion or personal experience to share here.

I just listened to the interview you had with Murray [Marder]. Great call.

Actually while listening to your story I thought about the following and I would love to hear your point of view:

You mentioned that you weren’t doing so well in the beginning, you were making less than 1000/month but this got you the kick to create something that is bigger than you ever thought it would be. And you know a lot of these successful entrepreneurs that have started from below zero and created a very successful business.

What do you think, is it necessary to been “down” there to be able to create something SO successful? Do you have to have been there to really know what it means to be an entrepreneur and have the energy to come out of the crisis and rise higher and higher?

I’d be really interested to know what you think about that. When I listen to all these entrepreneurs, then I hear that most of them started from no where or they were quite successful and then lost everything.

What if you haven’t been there and you don’t really know what it means not to know how to pay the bills etc? Do you think they don’t have it in them to succeed the same way?

looking forward to hearing from you.

Actually, I don’t believe that it is essential to fall apart, hit the bottom and go bankrupt to be a huge success. There are many people who have huge successes by simply applying a proven process and surrounding themselves with the right people, team, resources, etc.

The reason why I think we hear so much about the “breakdown-breakthrough to success” process is because typically humans are motivated more by moving away from pain than they are by pursuing pleasure. I think that is partly why those of us that hit bottom go so much higher — we can’t wait to get away from that feeling of falling apart.

What I ‘ve noticed in my eight years of coaching is that many entrepreneurs, service professionals and small business owners are not WILLING to make themselves uncomfortable to grow quickly. And playing in a comfortable place usually means limited growth. So if you haven’t gotten into a bad place, you may not have that same level of motivation.

By being at the bottom, you only have one direction to go — up!  Life in general is made up of a myriad of challenges to move through. People who are in the personal development world typically find themselves addressing their own stuff then later finding a passion to give it back to the world. So, hence, we have been to the “bottom” before we can be successful and teach/mentor/guide others.

I guess I don’t believe that you have to fall apart before you can be successful. By learning, studying and following the tools & resources from people like me you can save yourself a ton of time, money and energy by learning what works (aka I did all the heavy lifting for you.) However you may find that tough times give you more momentum — there is something bigger at stake!

I’m curious to hear other people’s thoughts?

From my weekly Dan Kennedy email. I thought it might be inspiring for some of us who get caught up in the “down economy” message that the media is focused on right now.

Said the little red rooster, “Gosh all hemlock. Things are tough.
Seems worms are getting scarcer, and I cannot find enough.
What’s become of all those fat ones is a mystery to me;
There were thousands through that rainy spell – now where can they be?

The Old Black Hen who heard him didn’t grumble or complain,
She had gone through lots of dry spells, she had lived through floods of rain,
So she flew upon the grindstone, and she gave her claws a whet,
As she said “I’ve never seen the time that there weren’t worms to get.”

She picked a new and un-dug spot; the earth was hard and firm.
The little rooster jeered, “New ground? That’s no place for a worm!”
The Old Black Hen just spread her feet, and she dug both fast and free…
“I must go to the worms,” she said, “the worms won’t come to me.”

The rooster vainly spent his day, through habit, by the ways
where fat round worms had passed in squads back in the rainy days.
When nightfall found him supper-less, he growled in accents rough,
“I’m as hungry as a fowl can be. Conditions sure are tough.”
He turned to the Old Black Hen and said, “It’s even worse with you.
For you’re not only hungry, but you must be tired too.

I rested while I watched for worms, so I feel fairly pert;
But how are you? Without worms too? And after all that work?”

The Old Black Hen hopped to her perch and drooped her eyes to sleep,
and murmured in a drowsy tone, “Young man, hear this and weep:
I’m full of worms and happy, for I’ve dined both long and well.
The worms are there as always – but I had to dig like hell!”

Oh, here and there red roosters still, are holding sales positions.
They cannot do much business now because of ‘poor conditions’,
but soon as ‘things’ get right again, they’ll sell a hundred firms –
meanwhile the old black hens are out and gobbling up the worms.

This week I had a lot of tough decisions to make. In my Platinum Inner Circle program we call this “putting your big girl panties on.” (Sorry guys, it was on a magnet that someone gave me and it just stuck.) As a business and lifestyle coach, I see it as my main duty to follow the advice I give my clients.

I realized that there were some things piling up that were starting to get toxic and very distracting. Constantly I was ruminating in my head how to handle the situation. And yes, I even was a bit concerned about some of the decisions from a financial perspective — if I do this, will I lose this client — kinda thing.

But at the end of the day, I had to do what was best for me, my clients and the world around us. I call it the win-win-win decisions. If one person is losing in that equation then on some level we are all losing.

What I realized throughout this process was that I’m a business owner and every day I’m going to be faced with challenges. How I DECIDE to handle the challenges will dictate my experience. If I ruminate and worry, I’ll feel bad and my energy will go down the drain. If I “buck up” and make the best decision I can from a place of love, compassion and integrity while doing what I need for my business, then everyone wins — whether they realize it or not.

So far I’m through 5 of the 8 big decisions. I’ve got a few more to go. I choose to handle a few of the yucky ones first to get them handled and clear the energy. I’ve got another yucky conversation tomorrow and then a couple of scary-exciting decisions as I add someone to my team to manage my business development and map out some really big financial incentives for this role.

Interestingly enough as I have tackled these “yucky” situations I feel like someone is lifting rocks off my head. The pressure of what could happen is being replaced with victorious wins for both parties. Not once did someone yell at me or even feel angry but rather all concerned felt relieved and excited about the decisions.

It’s amazing what we make up in our head and project about what could happen vs. staying present to what is real.

I call this being a grown up business owner. We have to be willing to make the tough choices that continually align us with our desired outcomes and release the people, situations and opportunities that are not in alignment. Even when you want to run and hide…tackling the decision head on actually gives you more energy and power.

Here are a few questions that might help you make the decision:

• What is it costing you to keep this situation/person in your life? Money? Time? Energy? Lost opportunities?
• What is the worst case scenario? Best case scenario?
• What are the pros and cons of the situation? Are you willing to live with the cons in order to have the pros?
• If you had a million dollars, what decision would you make today?
• What would your [mentor/coach/role model] do to solve this problem?

So what tough decision do you need to make that will free up some energy and momentum? Would love have you share it here…

Not to long ago I signed up for a 9 week course that a friend of mine was putting on. I had all the best intentions to download the course and follow along…but I didn’t. Over the weekend I finally finished downloading all the materials …and…then nothing. I got sidetracked again.

I realized this wasn’t the first time for me. I did the same thing with Mark Joyner’s Simpleology. I also never finished listening to all the CDs from Nido Quebin (they got kind of boring so that’s my story on that one.) And I’m sure there are a few more somewhere that got started and never finished. And its not like this is a $25 book I buy from Barnes & Nobles on a whim that never gets read. These programs can be quite a chunk of change!

And then it occurred to me.

This is what happens to 90% of people who invest in some kind of self-study or virtual learning. We invest with all the right intentions but then we get busy with life and forget to follow through. 17 binders of information products later, they sit, stacked on a shelf or in boxes in a corner of our office, waiting for that day when we actually have time to do something with it.

The funniest story I ever heard was from a woman who had invested in my Virtual Team Building program. She was feeling “buyers remorse” with yet another purchase. She explained that she had invested in over $20k worth of programs in the last 2 years and recently just put them all on ebay and sold them. After helping her see some ways to break that pattern by actually implementing our program…she agreed not to put mine on ebay. =-)

Why do people invest in programs they never use? What is this compulsion we have to learn more stuff? What keeps people from following through on their commitments in an online program?

What I realized is that most self study type programs are not designed to keep people engaged. When you consider the avalanche of emails that we receive daily to the constant fires that we encounter that must be handled immediately, spending time on a self guided program tends to fall by the way side.

So what can you do as a participant to keep yourself engaged so you actually get a good return on your investment? Here are 4 insights I discovered by running my own experiment:

1. Get reconnected to the why. Why did you originally invest in it? What was the problem you wanted solved? I’m sure that didn’t go away magically.
2. Create a schedule to complete the program. If you paid $10k for an MBA would you not go to class? Well, if you went to San Diego State you might not but that’s not the point. Treat it like a class you have to attend live every week in order to “pass” and you’ll create a stronger connection to completing it.
3. Set up accountability. Too often the program shows up in the mail but there is no guidance or support for it. Get a business or success coach to hold you accountable or get a buddy to support you with weekly commitments. One of the ways we support our clients is we include a membership in our coaching community so they can get access to live support.
4. Delegate it. Just because you bought it doesn’t mean you have to learn it. I’ve given members of my team different programs that I want them to learn. If they are responsible for the strategy they might as well benefit from your investment too.

The most important thing is to not let too much time go by. The more time that passes the less painful the cost of not completing it. Its too easy to forget that you wasted that money. MAs the Nike commerical says, “Just do it!” Get going. Take yourself to coffee for an hour and just start the program. You’ll be glad you did later.

I keep seeing these funny articles in different magazines like “What does Carrie Underwood listen to?” or “What’s on Matt Lauer’s IPOD?” It struck me as kind of funny until the other day when someone asked me, “Melanie, what do you listen to that helps you have a success mindset?

For me, it happens in multiple ways. I’m a big proponent of creating a success environment that pulls you towards your goals. I can’t always be with my mastermind so I find ways to create that energy with or without them. Listening to audio programs helps!

Two of my favorite audio programs right now are:

• David Neagle’s Art of Success CDs. David is a very powerful wealth accelerator and has a way to teaching the Law of Attraction so it actually works!
• Zig Ziglar’s Closing Secrets. I love how he tells stories to help build rapport and connect with your prospect.
• ULTIMATE Wealth & Success Circle CDs. I actually do listen to my own CD series…I hear things from my monthly wealth experts that I often miss the first time.

I’m also a BIG music person and I have over 10,000 songs on my IPOD. I’ve got the monster big 80 G video IPOD and even though it’s a bit large I love it. I take it everywhere…in the car driving errands, to the gym or when I walking on my treadmill at home and even on planes or any time that I’m just chilling out.

Because music is so important to me, a cool song can get me hyped up and back on track too. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

• My new favorite song by Natasha Beddingfeld, “Pocketful of Sunshine”. I’ve been listening to this on french fry days. The days when things are getting a bit frustrating and you are wondering if it would be easier to just go tend the counter at McDonald’s.
• “New Soul” by Yael Naim. I love this cool little song that explores what it must be like to figure out how to be human and deal with each other’s idiosyncrasies.
• “Clumsy” by Fergie. I don’t know what it is but I just love her…maybe because she has such a smokin hot body and she has over come a lot of bad influences from her past. She has a real spiritual side to her which I like.
• Anything disco…I know, I know…but for some reason it just makes me want to dance and that lightens my mind immediately.

I also have all of my meditation CDs and the Goal-Setting and Procrastination Release tools from my ULTIMATE Success Generator loaded up. I listen to a track from these every morning to set my day in the right direction.

So what’s on YOUR IPOD that gets your head in the right place? What gets you motivated and ready for action? Feel free to share by posting your comments here.