Within you there’s a story about who you are–we commonly call that an identity. That story is based on your life experience, what you were told about who you could be as you were growing up, and what you decided about what was possible for you–probably at a very early age. The degree to which you know that story, and your relationship to it, determines the degree of your freedom, and your ability to create what you want in your life.

And there’s a story inside about what’s possible for you, usually based on what people told you, and even more, what people showed you through their own lives, was possible when you were a kid.

(Or in another life–well, that’s another story.)

Maybe, probably, you’ve changed that as you’ve grown up, yet vestiges of it are still here, unbeknownst to you. The story about what’s possible. It lies deep within. And it organizes and orchestrates what you think is possible. Kinda creepy, huh?

And then there’s your vision.

Like you want to double or triple your income this year. Or you want to attract ten new clients at a higher rate. Or you want to create a new business, or take your existing one to the next level.

You might have a vision for an expansion in your lifestyle–a new home, a new car, a better vacation, more and better time with your kids. Or maybe it has to do with your health or relationships. Whatever your vision, your dream of something bigger and better–in some way–than what you’ve experienced before. You dream it. You want it. You long for it. You can almost taste it. You make plans to create it. You hire people like me to help you manifest it. You enroll your beloveds in your vision. You take steps to make it happen.

And what happens?

Well, that depends on your story. There’s the story you know about. And there’s the story you don’t know about.

And it’s the one you don’t know about that often determines what happens next. Because it operates from below the level of your awareness–it’s part of the air that you breathe and you don’t even know it’s there. You just see the affects of it in your results, in what happens.

And if your story matches your vision, then your vision manifests. And if your vision doesn’t, well, then it’s slow going, or a struggle, no going at all, or go and then stop. Or you might find that some things come easily and others are like trying to dig through a cement wall with a popsicle stick.

Does any of that sound familiar?

So what can you do? I know when I first started creating vision boards, I was so excited to create my vision with images and words in this visual way. It was fun, creative, and inspiring. And uneven. Some things were easy. Others seemingly impossible. And still others, it was like the collage was speaking to me.

Things I did not consciously intend later jumped out of the collage as they manifested in my life in surprising ways. It was like Spirit was speaking to me through my pictures as much as I was speaking to Spirit with my intentions. And the more I began to listen and observe as well as intend and create, the more I got out of the process because it became a dialogue that gave me information about myself that I didn’t already have. And that helped me get at the story I didn’t know was there.

Getting at that story is important.

Take a look at your results. What story are you living inside of? Your life (like my life, we are the same) is a cosmic drama. Who is the director? Who is on center stage most of the time?

Of course the story takes on a particular flavor through your experience. And yet our stories are largely the same deep inside. So go inside. Take a look. Make a collage. Let it speak to you. Be honest with yourself about your story. Bring it to the surface so you can decide if you want to keep living inside of it, or if you want to change it. Because you can’t change it until you see it. As disconcerting as that might be, it’s well worth the effort.

You can only be unconsciously written by your story until you become aware of it. You CAN rewrite your story once you own it. And then you can match your story to your vision. And when you do, it’s like magic. Because the inside–the deep inside–matches your dream, and you can get emotionally involved in the two together. Then your actions gain traction, you begin to see and act upon new opportunities, synchronicities increase. You begin to really live what is already true: The universe is conspiring in your favor. And that’s leverage with power of which is beyond your imagining.

Are you choosing to go broke?

Now I know you are saying: “No, of course not!”

Yet it amazes me how often I watch people go through all of their savings, go through all of their unemployment, and depend on their partner while their work and money are falling away. Then when they have nothing, or almost nothing, left, they reach out for help. Then they take action. Maybe.

It does not have to be that way.

You can choose right now to build within you the motivation you need to take action to create the life and the business you want today.

You can wait until you lose your job. You can wait until your spouse or partner loses his or her job. You can wait until you have to get another job because you business is not sustainable.

That’s what I did. I waited until my husband lost his main client, the income from which is what we were living on. I was working on my business. I had made progress, moving from in-person sessions to phone and internet work. But I was holding back, too. Now I see it, though I didn’t at the time.

Then he lost that client and his income–our main income–went from $9000 per month to zero. Over night. It was not a pretty picture.

What it did do was wake me up–and Soul Signature Marketing was born. And I went from $3000 per month to $12,000 per month in four months. Now I have a multiple-six figure business. So the wake-up call worked!

But it was stressful, way more stressful than it needed to be.

You don’t have to wait until the crisis comes like I did. You can change what you are doing today. Right now. Immediately.

In this aisle there is no waiting.

Because when you allow inertia, fear, confusion or uncertainty to control you, you are in fact choosing to go broke. You are giving your power and authority away to seemingly external circumstances and watching your life-force drain away like rain running down a hill.

Now I know that “choosing” is a funny word in this context because you may not realize you are choosing. You don’t feel empowered so you don’t think you have a choice. That’s victim consciousness. I know, you don’t like that word. I don’t like it either. Nevertheless it’s accurate. Because when you perceive yourself as at the mercy of outside forces, you are perceiving the world like a victim.

That’s what I was doing when I was resisting doing what was right in front of me all the time. I was beating my head against a wall of my own making–ouch! I didn’t realize what I was doing–even though my coach had pointed it out to me. I was too stuck in my head to see what I was creating.

So it’s not your “fault” in the sense that it’s anyone’s “fault.” It’s not about blame! That’s just more victim and perpetrator paradigm thinking. But it is your responsibility because you are a powerful creator of your own experience. That is a spiritual and universal truth.

When you truly take responsibility, you own yourself and your experiences, and you realize that on some level you are choosing what happens. That does not mean it’s your fault, you are to blame and all that.

By realizing you always have choice, you empower yourself. Forgive yourself for choices you’ve made in the past, consciously or unconsciously, and move forward.

To become empowered you need to take action. If you’ve been waiting, then stop waiting. Do something different. Allow yourself to become creative. Allow yourself to become inspired.

Business is a creative process. You cannot sit and think your way through a creative process. You have to start, take the next step, then the next and see what happens. It has to unfold. You have to have faith. You have to trust. You have to go into the unknown boldly knowing that help is available. Even though you can’t see it. Trusting on some level that what you need is already here and will arrive step by step. And then it does.

That’s exactly what happened to me. Because after I created the business I’m doing now, enrolling students for my programs and clients to work with me became easier than it ever had been before. Amazing!

In this aisle there is no waiting.

What step can you take in your business today that will move you forward? What fear can you face, what hurdle can you jump as an affirmation of your power and your life-force energy? Who can you call? What can you write? What determination can you make and then take action upon?

Decide what to do, and jump over to the blog and tell us all so we can hold that affirmation for you!! Then come back and let us know what happened so we can celebrate with you.

Go ahead–do it now. There is no other time than now. Do the marketing. Make the calls. Reach out and ask people to work with you.

You can make a different choice–right now!

Business is all about positioning.  How you put yourself into the marketplace.  Because that’s how you come into focus.  That’s how people can see who you are, and can learn what you can do for them.

It does not have to be us vs. them, although that is a time-tested strategy in marketing.  Just take a look at how well Steve Jobs of Apple Computer worked that angle in relation to Microsoft.  It can be ME compared to, or as different from, others, but it doesn’t even need to be that.

It does need to be clear, specific, and it’s best with your own special flavor.  How you position yourself has everything to do with creating your Village, as I like to call it, of people who know who you are, who know and are interested in what you do, some of whom will buy from you, now and into the future.

I talk with clients a lot about this, and this was a major topic for me at my TAKE COMMAND EVENT last week.

Let me tell you what I mean.

You were probably trained to do something—a specific healing modality, or particular kind of coaching or teaching, or a certain service profession (like Pilates, floral design, or accounting).  When you present yourself as a practitioner of this particular form—let’s say a massage therapist, a life coach, or a student of Non-Violent Communication or Byron Katie—you are positioning yourself BEHIND that modality or practice.

You have what I call a “Modality Shield.”
(Yes, I know, it sounds like a contraceptive device!)

The modality is out front and you are in effect hidden behind it.  Now of course your energy matters, and how you express yourself, etc.  Yes, all that matters.  But there’s really not much of YOU in that.

Your business will really POP when you position yourself out front.  You have gifts, talents and skills—and life experience—that only you have that you bring to whatever it is that you do.  In my Soul Signature work with clients and students I guide you to bring forth that which is within you so that it SHINES forth as only you can do.

You have to remember that there are people who will only hear the message from you.  And you need to position yourself so that they can hear it.

I did a VSP day (Very Special Person, as my daughter says) recently with a woman with a rich life full of experience, expertise, and passion.  Yet she was struggling to know how to move out of her job and into a business that meant something to her.  In three hours we got clear on her business name, her intention statement (how she answers the question “what do you do”), who her people are, her pricing and packages, how she’s going to rewrite her free offer, and how to develop her first program.

We did this by positioning HER at the front and in the center of her business, not the various things she’s been trained in.  She now stands out, and she can speak directly to who her people are because she knows what they want and need as well.  She started the day confused.  She ended the day with a clear vision and a business.

I’ve been guiding the clients in my introductory Creating Money Program to bring out their unique stories.  With one woman, she has a very powerful story about healing her relationship with food, and underneath that healing her relationship with herself.  Even though she wants to help people with their food, she has been sharing this story.  Why?  Because she’s shy about that, even ashamed.  And I exclaimed—that’s exactly WHY you need to share it!!  Because other people are ashamed, too.  And when you have to courage to share your story—including the parts that are not so pretty, and how you’ve healed and evolved through that to a new place of peace and wisdom—it creates connection with your potential clients and helps liberate them from what’s holding them back.  Now THAT is powerful.

Including her story makes her business POP!  NOW we know why she is an expert who can help guide you through healing your relationship with food—because she’s done it, too.  No longer simply a presenter of modalities, this client can position herself as someone who KNOWS from her own life experience, and who can guide you through the transformation you long for.

So how are you positioning yourself?  Are you in front or behind in your messaging and marketing?  Are you bringing together the richness that is you and creating a unique and compelling presentation that can only be you?  Are you willing to be visible, to be seen, to tell your empowering story, so that those who need you can hear and see you?

What can you do, right now this week, that will make your business POP and position you as the go-to person about what you are offering?  Let us know in the comments below!

I find that it particularly afflicts intelligent, capable women. Because hey, we (I count myself among this group, though I am in recovery) are smart, we hold families together, we can excel in jobs, we know how to figure things out. It’s a survival skill that most of us are particularly proud of–and attached to.

It also holds us back and makes us uncoachable. And that is a huge shame.

It starts out as programming. And it starts early, usually at school.

• Don’t look at other people’s papers.
• Do your own work.
• Take your test by yourself.
• Write your paper by yourself.
• Don’t cheat!

And all around you, you hear the mantra:

• You should be able to do it on your own.
• You’re weak if you need help.
• If you share, you’ll get screwed–someone will steal your secrets!
• You can’t really count on (or trust) anyone else.

The conditioning goes deep. It’s old, it’s cultural, and it’s programmed in. But it is so not true. So then why do we believe this if it’s not true?

As a recovering academic and literary historian (yes, I really was that at one time), I would say the short answer is that industrial society required the separation of workers from their families and communities to work in factories, mines, and cities. And unfortunately our educational system became a training house for children to become workers as adults. These conditions typically required people to prioritize work over other relationships and responsibilities.

What does all of this have to do with you? Well, it has to do with your conditioning. Because if you went to school in a Western country, and if you’ve ever had a job, you most likely have experienced what I’m talking about here. You think you have to do everything on your own. (Or you’re weak. Or you’re cheating. Or my family won’t love me.) I hear it all the time. Not in so many words, of course.

I was just talking with a woman recently who said to me at least three times: I’m not sure what I’m doing. I’m going around in circles. I’m not sure what I want to be doing with my business.

And I said I could help with that. I know how to help you get clear about what you want, what your soul purpose is, and then how to create a marketing plan and business structure so that you can create money.

And she said, I know what to do. I just need to do it.

And I said, do you have a marketing plan? Do you know what your business offerings are going to be? Do you know how build your business structure so that you can actually make money?

And she said, no, but I think I can figure it out. I just need to do some soul searching.

And I thought, oh jeez, she’s got the “I-must-do-it-on-my-own” disease. Can’t she see she doesn’t know what she’s doing?

And I said, I think you have the “I-must-do-it-on-my-own” disease.

She laughed, and she said I just need some time to figure it out. She was determined not to receive help, and she made herself uncoachable.

Such a shame, really. I see people waste more time, energy and money trying to figure out how to build a business on their own. And you know how I can spot it. Because I did it, too.

I thought: hey, I’m smart, I should be able to figure this out. I mean it’s not brain science. With 26 years of formal education (I said I am a recovering academic, remember?) I should be able to figure this out. Two years later I had made a little headway. But I hadn’t figured it out. Not at all. I had not increased my income, extended my reach, created programs, or provided more service. I was pretty much in the same place. A bit more knowledge from listening to free teleseminars (come on, you do that, too, don’t you?). But not really any farther along, not really.

And just over a year of working with a coach and my mastermind colleagues I went from basically zero in a new business to over $200,000 in revenue.

So when I hear people say–I know what to do. I have the knowledge. I can do this on my own. I don’t need help. I feel so sad–because I know how much it’s costing them in time, energy, and money to hold onto that attitude. Yet sometimes they hold onto it, because in their subconscious that equates with survival.

Let me ask you: are you trying do it on your own? How is that working for you? How long have you been doing that? Have you built your business yet? Have you created the income and the lifestyle you truly desire? Are you still struggling or feeling confused? You really do not need to.

Because all of that really is possible–if you are willing to reach out and then receive support. Be in community, find mentors, learn from others, do things together, and stop going it alone. Human beings are fundamentally communal, and we got off track somewhere along the way. You don’t need to be part of the fall out. You could be part of the solution instead!

Sounds like a loaded question, doesn’t it?

What are you worth?

Most commonly this phrase would be used to describe your net worth—your assets minus your liabilities.

In this case, I’m asking about something else.

It’s related to your rate.  As my coach, Suzanne Evans, says:  “Your rate is your announcement of your self worth.”

Your rate does transmit to your potential clients what you think your services are worth.  When coaching my clients, I advise:  “Step into a rate that stretches you, and that you can own at the same time.  You need to be able to own it, or you won’t believe it and no one else will either.  But pretty much everyone undercharges, so you need to stretch beyond what you are comfortable with.”

Chances are that you are not valuing yourself, and your work, to the degree that both deserve. 

• Part of that is personal—stemming from being told as a kid not to “toot your own horn” and not to brag.  This is particularly the case for women.
• Part of it is cultural—transformational work has not been deemed as financially valuable as professional work, like that of medical doctors, lawyers and accountants.
• Part of it is historical and religious—if you are spiritually and healing focused in your work, you are likely carrying religious programming that you should give away your services to those less fortunate than yourself.

All of it is BS—Belief System crap. 

Because the truth is—if people’s lives change for the better as a result of working with you—and I know that many people’s lives change DRAMATICALLY for the better—then your work has tremendous worth.

And so do you.  Because your work comes through you, and it can only happen because of you.  No one else does what you do, regardless of what you’ve been trained and certified in.  No one else has your Soul Signature—the specific gifts, talents, skills and experience that make you totally unique.

Have you bought into the conditioning that says you’re not valuable, not worthy, not good enough to deserve high financial reward for what you do?

Now is the time to Take Command, to seize the opportunity to create a new paradigm and a new economy in which you and your services—your life affirming and life transforming services—are as well rewarded as any other professional.

Healers, spiritual teachers, transformational leaders—and women in particular—without money is an old story.  It’s the old paradigm.  It’s time to change that as we create the New World Age now emerging here on the threshold of 2013.

And the change must begin with you.

It must begin with you owning yourself, owning your worth, announcing it to others, standing strong in it.  Because as you do, you stand as leader of a new paradigm, a new economy, that fosters vitality, creativity, and spiritual growth.

Want to change the planet?

Begin at home by appreciating and owning your true worth. 

Go here to watch me on video in my most unplugged Maggie moment to date talking about this very subject:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCDWXoSnunU&feature=autoshare