This is the year you’ve decided that you’re going to live your dreams, accomplish those set-aside career aspirations and strengthen your relationships. But if you have a need to please – especially at work – it ain’t gonna happen. Know the signs of a People Pleaser at work. If you recognize yourself in the following examples, it’s time to stop. It’s time to change your reactions. It’s time to remember what you really want for yourself.

When you…

• Say yes to practically any task anyone needs done just to be “liked.”

It’s happening all around you. People are losing their jobs. Is it about to happen to you next?  You can wait for the dreaded phone call or the email that you’re wanted in your manager’s office. Or you can become proactive and tune in to see if a pink slip is in your future.

Here Are Some Signs You Might be Laid off or Fired soon…

When you…

• Absolutely dread going into work and can't wait to leave.

• Complain about your job duties, your co-workers, your boss and the company to anyone who will listen.

I decided to share some of my tips, suggestions, and advice about searching for a job.

To see more inspiring video’s visit Vickie Champion’s YouTube Channel

 
If you have money problems, contact Vickie Champion for a complimentary life coaching and consulting session.

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I have had the honor of filming a few of my coaching clients to get their advice, suggestions, tips, and insights on what they wish they knew in their 20s about careers.
 
Participants in Part II are Kimber Lambeth, Diane Bolden, JoAnne Musolf, Lucinda Lintz, Alita Kalgaard, Connie Phillips-Eary, Kelly Loeffler, Kathy Church, and Michelle Evard.

To see more inspiring video’s visit Vickie Champion’s YouTube Channel

 
Contact Vickie Champion for a complimentary life coaching and consulting session.

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I have had the honor of being a business and life coach to realtor, Alita Kalgaard.  I really admire how she worked through her resistance to change with her work situation. Below is her story of how she got out of fear of making that transition. 

Alita was struggling with a should-I-stay or should-I-go situation in her real estate business. It was nearly paralyzing but she did overcome the fear of change.

Here’s how, she…

• Took stock of where she was at. Was this a situation that she could stay in a little longer? No. She was miserable, dreaded going to work and “my clients were sensing my fear,” she said.

I have had the honor of filming several of my coaching clients to get their tips, suggestions, advice, and insights on what they wish they knew in their 20’s about money including savings, spending, earning, budgeting and debt.
 
Participants in Part II are Ericka Young, Sonja Haller, Lucinda Lintz, Alita Kalgaard, Darrell Merrick, Debbie Frank, Ketan Patel, Connie Phillips-Eary, Kelly Loeffler, Sally Marks, and Kathy Church.
 

 
To see more inspiring video’s visit Vickie Champion’s YouTube Channel.

 
Contact Vickie Champion for a complimentary life coaching and consulting session.

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I have had the honor of filming a few of my coaching clients to get their advice, suggestions, tips, and insights on what they wish they knew in their 20s about health.
 
Participants in Part II are Cindy Dillard, Lucinda Lintz, Alita Kalgaard, Darrell Merrick, Debbie Frank, Ketan Patel, Connie Phillips-Eary, Kelly Loeffler, and Kathy Church.
 

 
To see more inspiring video’s visit Vickie Champion’s YouTube Channel.
 
Contact Vickie Champion for a complimentary life coaching and consulting session.

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I have had the honor of filming a few of my coaching clients to get their advice, suggestions, tips, and insights on what they wish they knew in their 20s about careers.

Participants in Part I are Darrell Merrick, Ericka Young, Cindy Dillard, Sally Marks, Margaret Burnison, Jody Owen, Kimber Lambeth, Sonja Haller, Ketan Patel and Debbie Frank.
 

 
To see more inspiring video’s visit Vickie Champion’s YouTube Channel.
 
Contact Vickie Champion for a complimentary life coaching and consulting session.
 

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I have had the honor of being a life coach to Sonja Haller.  I really admire how she handled this situation. Below is her story of how she got out of fear of interacting with others. 

One of my longtime career and life coaching clients that I admire is Margaret Burnison.  Very seldom do I see people get out of their fear, ignore what others think, and treat their career like an adventure like she did.  
 
I recently asked Margaret to tell her story of overcoming the fear with her profession. This is it.
 

Life and business coaching is rewarding work. It’s not for everyone, but when it’s a fit I can’t think of a better job. My colleagues and the best in the business agree.
 

The Best Thing About Being a Coach is…

“The ability to engage with others in meaningful conversations about critically important topics is the best thing about being a life coach.  I feel honored and privileged to do this important work.  I get a tremendous sense of accomplishment and gratification from seeing my clients' create environments with greater authenticity, trust, transparency and alignment.  Environments where everyone is in the right role, doing the right work, using the right strengths accomplishing the right results.”
 
Katharine Halpin
CEO & Executive Coach
Phoenix, AZ 85012
HalpinCompany.com
 
 

I get calls all the time from people thinking about becoming either a life or business coach. It’s rewarding, life-changing work. What could be better than helping people be their best selves? Like any profession, it must suit a person’s personality. Here is some straight talk about what to consider before becoming a coach.   
 

The Worst Thing About Being a Coach is…

“The risk of isolation.  Working 90 percent on the telephone in my home office can be lonely.  I love the freedom to take a walk during the day and dress comfortably but I miss the water-cooler conversation.”
 
Katharine Halpin
CEO & Executive Coach
Phoenix, AZ 85012
HalpinCompany.com

When staying in a job that is no longer right for you, you can feel listless, uninspired, depressed and angry at loved ones. So why are you still there? What’s stopping you?

 

We stay in our current job, when we…

1 Are scared that nothing will replace the much needed pay check.

2 Wait for another job offer first.

3 Would feel like a failure if we did leave.

4 Are making too much money and the benefits are too good.

5 Want toprove to the management team we are good at what we do and they would miss us.

One of the best reasons to pursue your dream job is the impact you make on other people. The ability to make a difference and improve people’s lives, I know from experience, is heightened if you love what you are doing.
 
I got this letter today from a student of mine many years ago and wanted to share it with you.
 
Hi Vickie,

I was talking the other night with friends and we were discussing a college assignment one of their husband’s gives his students.  It was to explain the most profound experience in your life that you feel made you who you are today. 

After twenty-some years in the publishing and printing business, I was getting little hints (I call this my intuition or gut feelings) my career was going to change.

• The actual work became “ho mum.”

• I started running into a lot of obstacles, whether it was complications in meeting deadlines, missed communications, or playing endless phone tag with customers and vendors.

• I noticed more and more I could think of dozens of things I much rather be doing than working.

• It was hard to concentrate, which was very unusual for me.

You don’t have to be stuck with that churning feeling in your gut called guilt. Many times we don’t even consider whether guilt is something we can overcome. We just assume we must live with it like a bad haircut. But guilt can be transformed.
 
Warning! Before you read this blog, you might want to read the blog on “What is Guilt?” so this will make more sense.
 
Remember guilt is nothing more than making up a rule or belief we think we need to follow and then breaking it.
 

Feeling poorly about yourself? Like you could and should do better? Maybe it’s guilt. Guilt acts as a negative detour in your life, prohibiting you from taking care of yourself, being kind to yourself and pursuing your dreams, among other things.
 

Here are Nine Reasons my Life and Business Coaching Clients Give for Feeling Guilty…

1  Filing bankruptcy.

2  Not doing it all, being the super mom or dad.

3  Getting divorced.

4  Ending a relationship.

5  Gaining weight.

6  Not caring for your elderly parents properly.

7  Cheating on your spouse.

Hey, you know that unsettled feeling in your stomach? The hang-your-head, slink-away, don’t-even-look-at-me feeling? It’s guilt. You know it when you feel it and you may even know what’s causing it. But do you know what guilt is?
 
Guilt is nothing more than making up a rule we think we need to follow and then breaking it.

Examples are:

• The rule might be “In order to lose weight, I have to stay on this diet.” Then you break the rule buying eating a piece of chocolate. This causes enormous guilt.

Here’s what Vickie Champion talks about in this video…

INTRODUCTION
Hi! I’m Vickie Champion. I am a business and life coach who helps people listen to their “intuition.”

This is one of the videos in a series called “Is this your Intuition?” One of my assistants will describe a common scenario and then ask you if the person used their intuition or not? Then I’ll tell you my answer and explain “why” I came to that conclusion.
 

A COMMON SCENARIO- ACCEPTING A JOB

Not many small business owners realize there are different methods of motivation. Some get responses quickly but are short lived and others are the foundations of a healthy, strong business.

There are Three Ways to Motivate Yourself and Your Employees. You can be…

1 Motivated by Fear

This is the ability to prompt yourself or your staff to action because you fear what will happen if you don’t.

2 Motivated by Profit

Profits and wealth fuel this desire by you and your staff.

3 Motivated by Purpose

The other day I caught myself being defensive about adding color on my website. What would make me go off like that? Any time I'm that adamant, I know there is some hidden treasure I can learn from it.

Here's Some of the Advantages of Being Defensive at Work...

We can...

• Avoid changing our mindset or behaviors.
• Pretend it makes us a strong leader.
• Hide our doubts and the fear of losing control.
• Take full advantage of using excuses.
• Camouflage our oversensitivity.
• Keep ourselves busy constantly defending our position.

It surprises me that so many people want to ignore, deny or sabotage their dreams.

Here are Some Ways to Kill Your Dreams...

• Pretend you don't know what your dreams are.

• Brainwash yourself into thinking you are not good enough to ever achieve your dreams.

• Keep your habit of impulse buying so you can tell others you don't have enough money to go for your dreams.

• Wait for the perfect time to start working on your dreams, maybe after the kids are grown, or when you have all the bills paid off.

Obviously, working from home is not for everybody. With my business and career coaching clients, I listen to my intuition and often suggest they either find a new  job or change their thoughts and behaviors to create a better environment at the old job.

Here are some Disadvantages of Working from Home...

We can...

• No longer use our commuting time as our think time or time to wind down and relax.

• Have difficulty getting motivated without someone to impress.

• Overeat because no one's noticing.

• Work too little because of our flexible schedule.

We can set our own hours, get a massage in the middle of the afternoon and avoid the hovering boss. This much we know about working from home. But working from home has some subtle, not-so-obvious perks as well. Though small and even overlooked these advantages can influence our mental, physical and emotional health.

Here are Some Not-so-Obvious Advantages of Working from Home...

We can...

• Multi-task during boring conference calls.

• Provide companionship to our pets.

• Go shopping when we don't have to wait in lines.

• Forget what terms like office pod means.

When I started my own business years ago, I noticed quite a difference from working in an office environment and working from home. I was use to the hustle and bustle of a busy office with the phoning ringing off the hook, unproductive meetings and my team constantly wanting something or another.

Here is What I Think are Advantages of Working from Home...

We can...

• Save hours a day in commuting time.

• Relax. No one's looking over our shoulder, monitoring our every move.

• Eat healthier.

• Schedule dentist and doctor appointments easier.

I just put a job opening for an appointment setter out on Craigslist. A guy responded that was recently laid off from a restaurant stove cleaning service in California. He made calls to set up appointments in Orange County from his home in Phoenix. He said he did quiet well, and was let go only because this was the stove cleaning business slow season in Orange County. One thing led to another and I ended up doing a career coaching session to help him think outside the box with his job hunting search.

When is it Time to Rethink Your Job Hunting Search...

When you...

Part of my job as a business coach and consultant is detective work. A client presents me with a problem. It’s a lack of making sales problem. It’s a manufacturing problem. It’s a cash flow problem. We begin to talk about said problem. But after some probing and investigation I realize it’s not any of those things at all. Rather, it’s a relationship problem. I think we give our relationship problems many disguises either because we believe we must tolerate difficult business relationships or can avoid them altogether.

Here are Some of the Reasons Why we WOULDN'T Want to Improve a Business Relationship...

When we...

There are some people who would not profit from hiring a business coach. It would waste time and money. A business coach would only serve to rob them of   hours away from doing the work they love and helping others.

Here are Some Signs you DON'T Need to Hire a Business Coach...

• You wake up every morning and can't wait to get started on your work day and at night have to literally pry yourself away.
• You have more passion for your work than you did on your first day.
• You have more than enough clients or job opportunities.

For more than a decade now, I have suggested affirmations as a tool to solve just about any problem. I have seen them work at increasing sales, making peace in relationships and kicking bad habits. Out of the hundreds of workshop attendees and business coaching and life coaching clients I've had, I have yet to see anyone who did affirmations on a consistent basis who did not benefit from them.

Here are Some of the Many Advantages of Doing Affirmations...

• We see quick RESULTS with little effort.
• They help us achieve our DREAMS.
• Affirmations build CONFIDENCE and SELF-ESTEEM.

A yoga mat is just a foam platform and of no benefit to you if it isn’t used the way it was intended. Likewise, LinkedIn isn’t a social networking platform driving clients to your business if it’s not used in the right way. Both platforms can be transformative or they can fail to deliver any marked benefits if used in an infrequent, sloppy manor. First, let’s look at how you’re using LinkedIn ineffectively and failing to grow your business.

Here's how to use LinkedIn ineffectively...

1  Don't bother posting your photo or if you do include the one of you and your pet posing together.

I was thinking the other day how easy it is to put money on a pedestal and treat it as the cure for any problem. If we had money, we think, we could achieve our dreams, mend our relationships, improve our appearance, and essentially get everything we always wanted.

Here's Some Signs We Worship Money...

When we...

• Make decisions based on how much money something costs or how much money it will make us.
• Put most, if not all, our attention on ways to get more of it.
• Set money goals -- how much we want and by what date.

You have invested in yourself and hired a business coach. As a result, you’ve saved countless hours of learning the hard way and your career has progressed by leaps and bounds. Now your momentum has slowed. Your enthusiasm has waned. And your sense of purpose has drifted.

You’ve switched hair stylists. You’ve switched investment advisors. You’ve switched child care providers. When your intuition, your heart and the face in the mirror told you the timing was right you’ve switched professionals. Could it be time to switch business coaches?

Here are some signs it’s time to change business coaches…

When you find yourself…

Public speaking is, by far, my greatest fear. I was completely and utterly terrified of speaking in a group. I would even forgo attending meetings and workshops if I knew I would have to announce my name to the group.

Fortunately, my intuition gave me a way to move past this fear. Each and every one of the 800 or so times I’ve done public speaking, I speak to (God, universe, source, inner guide, higher self, whatever you identify with) first. I tell God, “this is your event – let me speak your words, hear with your ears, see with your eyes, and touch with your hands and let me not judge anything that happens.” This “letting go and letting God” releases the fear every time.

Everyone says go for your dreams.  But if you haven’t first dealt with your sabotaging beliefs, your dreams will stay at the starting gate instead of manifesting in your life.

Here are 9 Good Reasons to Keep Your Dreams on the Back Burner-

I believe…

• My dreams aren’t really that important.
• It takes money to achieve my dreams.
• I don’t have time to pursue my dreams.
• It’s more difficult to go for my dreams because I have a family.
• If I achieve my dreams, my relationships will change for the worse.

In the 11 years that I have been a business coach, I have noticed some disadvantages that women business owners face far more often than men. It must be the way we were raised and a belief system we bought into. I think these are among the primary reasons we aren’t as successful as a whole in business as men.

Here’s Some of the Disadvantages Being a Woman Entrepreneur-

We have a tendency to…

• Think multi-tasking is normal and pride ourselves at being good at it.
• Have an “I’ll do-it-myself attitude".

Before you charge ahead and start your business, consider the stumbling blocks first. Your business success depends on how well you adjust and resolve these disadvantages.

Here are Some of the Many Disadvantages of Being an Entrepreneur:

• You can’t blame the boss.
• Things constantly change, especially with this economy.
• You’ll have to learn to like marketing and sales, whether you supervise or do it yourself.
• To be successful, you must make and follow a budget.
• You have to make lots of decisions quickly all of the time.

I just heard recently that the Arizona Small Business Association added 700 members in a little over six months. Wow!  Either ASBA has a really effective marketing plan, or there are lots of people sick of job insecurity. Maybe people are lost and just don’t know what else to do but start their own business. Or what I like to believe, lots of people are finally going for their dream jobs.

Here are Some of the Many Advantages of Being an Entrepreneur:

• No one can fire or lay you off.
• There is a variety in your daily work tasks.

Every once in a while I come across someone who I would say is outstanding at networking events. You know, the person who brings the room to life and makes everyone feel good.

Here’s 12 Signs You Are Great at Networking Events-

When you…

• Look forward to them, especially those that don’t have speakers.
• Are the first to say hello.
• Go out of your way to meet new people.
• Often smile and look others in the eye.
• Take time to make genuine compliments.
• Follow-up the next day with new acquaintances.

Maybe you steer clear of networking events because they scare you to death. Or maybe you’re the type who attends a networking occasion believing you’re managing your fear just fine. But time after time you come away with little or no sales. Do one of these profiles fit you?

16 Signs That You Fear Networking Events…

When you…

• DREAD networking events, especially those that don’t have speakers.
• Are reluctant to INITIATE a conversation.
• Almost insist on BRINGING SOMEONE with you to the networking event.
• Mostly hang around people you KNOW.

We’ve all heard about meditation as a way to stay in the moment.  But we can learn to be present in any situation, any time of the day, anywhere with anyone without meditating. An easy opportunity to practice being mindful of the present moment is through travel.

Here’s How to Stay in the Moment When you Travel…

• To be in the present moment the most important thing you can do is release thinking you KNOW what’s going to happen on the trip, when it’s going to happen, how your traveling companions are going to act and how you’re going to react when something does happen.

It’s easy to put your dreams on the back burner during these hard times. Maybe you’ve used the excuse that you need to figure out how to pay the bills this month, get a job or keep the job you have.

But have you ever considered that part of the reason we’re having this economic crisis in the first place is because millions of us have put our dreams on the back burner?

I’ve got a NEW quiz on my website, Are You Ready to Get Your Dreams. See how you score!

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Is your financial situation getting worse by the day? Are you having a hard time finding a job because you aren’t willing to change careers or move to a different city? Is your business suffering because you don’t want to change the way you market or what products you’re selling?

I came to a crossroads several months ago.

Clients were starting to drop off faster than I added them, something I was not use too. The old standbys of networking and asking for referrals were not as effective as before. Other life coaches and business coaches began to buzz about getting clients off the internet.

It’s easy to get distracted just trying to earn a living, and put your dream job on the back burner. We can use several excuses; the economy is in crisis, I’m lucky to have a job, I don’t know what my dream job is, I don’t have the money to get retrained, or I’m waiting until my children graduate from high school. No matter what the excuse or excuses are, there are added benefits to it.

Here are Some of the Benefits of Not Going After Your Dream Job

You can…

I was talking with a student of mine yesterday. She has been looking for a job for several months with no luck. She had a positive perspective, was working at it constantly, read “What Color is Your Parachute?” and answered all the questions, yet… still jobless. She’s feeling blue, and her parachute just isn’t opening as she had hoped. She was baffled about what she was doing wrong.