Tag Archives: entrepreneur

The right balance in life is not too much thinking, but just enough

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Imagine using what you consider a disability to your advantage?  If you play it well, say by underplaying it, it could become your biggest asset.
A slight attention deficit disorder is not the end of the world and has advantages you might not have though of.  For instance, it can make you be able to jump lines of thinking quickly.  This is a key factor in leading innovation, creativity and innovative thinking.   I bet you didn’t know that typically, dyslexic people have better peripheral vision than most?   In a public environment, say when speaking to a large group, you are more aware of looks your attendance shows.  For instance you can catch glimpse of boredom, surprise, restlessness and other cues that help you keep their attention engaged.  , and have learned to respond to these in real time.  In other words, dyslexia makes you more sensitive to people’s facial and body language and use to to decode the messages.
Another lesser known fact is that people with Aspergers Syndrome, AS are natural observers and can become great executives who can see the greater picture in a dispassionate way, then figure out what works and what doesn’t. If people with AS have a hard time connecting to others, they are great at getting others to connect.  This is also another  key aspect of leadership.  You stutter?  Then you can develop a deep, reflective, halting style to not only compensate, but also make you look thoughtful and deliberate.  The list goes on and on.
And if you don’t suffer from ADD and other a la mode symptoms, than look at what you don’t like about yourself, then turn into a quality.  If you need help, I highly recommend reading Steve Job’s biography by Walter Isaacson.  I promise you will see the great Job in a different light than you already do.  As Dave Logan author of Tribal Leadership and The Three Laws of Performance  said, when done properly, the truth is that self-reinvention, when done properly, is embracing your innermost self. Only partial or flawed reinvention is changing what you don’t like.  I couldn’t have said it any better.

Finding your personal solution to your personal questions

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Nicolas Zart, ACCWhat most people truly want is to find their personal solutions to their problems.  What most people ask for are ready made answers and for someone to just give them what to do.

As a certified Coach, I get approached with concerns and problems followed by being asked what should the person do.  Without going into details about what Coaching is and isn’t, my first reaction is to find out what this person is really asking for and what does she or he really need.  The first question is a little tricky and will involve asking more questions to find if the person is asking a straight forward question or is there more behind and beneath the surface.

For instance, the most common concern is that of not being happy at work.  A consultant or adviser would jump at the invitation to advise on how to get out of a specific career followed by finding another job.  Yet, this doesn’t address the deeper issue at heart.  Why is this person unhappy with what once excited them?  What is missing here?  Further questioning usually reveals something has changed and most of the time that change is from within.  While sometimes we just outgrow our careers and turn to other ambitions, most of the time rekindling the passion within our current positions is as simple as taking a little distance and getting an overall view of the situation.

The second part is easier and consists of finding out what the person needs.  In both cases however, you will notice that only that specific person has the right amount of intimate knowledge of the overall situation to make the proper decisions.  After all, who knows you more and better than yourself?

Lastly, letting someone find their own answers and solutions is of vital importance.  It fosters confidence, creates greater awareness around who they are and how they function.  It mostly gives them the satisfaction that they know best who they are, can serve themselves and finally give enough confidence to take on life’s many challenges head on.

The only help anyone needs is finding their own unique ways of reaching those personal solutions.  This is where a professionally trained Coach proves to be of great value.

How to enjoy marketing yourself

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Enjoy marketing yourself againHi everyone,

As a business owner I also have had a hard time marketing myself in the past.  Thankfully, this has changed and I now not only fully enjoy it but also play with it.  In the meantime, take the opportunity from the Shift Network that is offering yet another powerful event.

I want to invite you to tomorrow’s free teleseminar on “5 Keys to Giving Your Gift to the Shift (How to Feel Good about Marketing Yourself and Make a Great Living Doing What You Love!)”.

The call is this tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31st, and features top conscious business leaders and marketing experts — Lisa Sasevich, Alexis Neely, Lisa Cherney, Michele PW and George Kao — all sharing their proven methods for getting your gift out there in an authentic, non-salesy and successful way.

You can get more details and sign up here.

This free call is an opportunity for you to take your business or soul work to the next level. Learn how you can enjoy the process of marketing yourself, and make an abundant living while you’re doing what you love.

You can sign up even if you can’t attend live, and you’ll be sent the recording.  You can register here for free.

See you tomorrow, Nicolas

Failure is not necessarily a sign of failure

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Chemicals or natural products?It might be hard to conceive failure as anything but complete and total failure.  After all, we live in a quick result oriented society.  However, failure does not automatically mean failure.

The gist is it’s up to us, ultimately to turn our experiences into something concrete.  We have the choice to try, experience, construct, build and watch our visions fulfill themselves or tumble.  While we may have little to say about the results, we certainly have more control over what we make of them.

Fear of Failure.  We only have fear to fear.  Rarely have wiser words been uttered, and the fear of failing is what holds us back form the great success we envision and deserve.  We work hard.  We build many scenarios.  Some become reality, others fail.  When they become reality, we see it as natural.  When they fail, it is the end of the world and we get discouraged.  Thankfully, we are freed from these silly notions as babies struggling to master our awkward bodies. So what can we do now?

The Promise of Success.  It’s all quite simple in the end.  Despite what we might have experienced in the past, as I look around, I notice successful people are resolute in their way of looking at life and in their pursue of anything they set out to do.  So simply enough, rework the old synapses and say with resolute intensity: “Failure means I must re-evaluate!”

If you’re fine with the traditional notion of failure and the experiences work for you, then go ahead.  When you are tired of it, realize there isn’t anything constructive in it, come and talk to me.  How?  Simply click on the Oovoo button or send an email.

Let’s go viral with kindness, respect and compassion

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Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you know about another great opportunity tomorrow to tap into the full power of your heart and kindle qualities such as kindness, respect and compassion to go viral in the world.

This FREE teleclass called “Harnessing Your Heart Power,” next tomorrow, Tuesday, January 24th, is led by top leaders of HeartMath, a scientific organization focused on the powers of the heart for greater joy and less stressful living.  You can get more details and sign up for free here.

What you’ll find on this call, is to learn about powerful tools to navigate these changing times with calm and ease, deepen your relationships, reduce stress, feel more connected to your purpose and many more benefits. When you’re in tune with your heart power, you hold a new frequency of love and calm for others, helping spread a wave of heart coherence around the world.  It should be amazing. I hope you can join me there.

Keeping that New Year’s Resolution momentum going

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Failure turned to success

Failure is the greatest success tacher

There is probably nothing harder, more discouraging than the way we perceive how to carry out New Year’s Resolutions.

Last year I wrote about how many choose copious amounts of resolution and apply a ruthless military strategy keeping them, eventually burning themselves out.  I also suggested a very simple and effective way to choose only a few, group them into a few category and boil them down to 3, no more.  After all, it’s simpler to keep 3 resolution than the national average of 10.

Now that we know this, we must also look at the other irritating factor, that of burning out.  Usually by the end of January, we realize we took on too many and have dropped a few, if not all.  The good is… we can pick up new resolutions at any time and don’t have to wait for year’s end!

In my case, I’m witnessing an interesting twist.  My resolutions boiled down to the fact I am a thrill seeker, always looking for the next best thing, a typical 7 according to the Enneagram.  What I need to do is be more in the present.  “Being more in the present” means different things to different people and in my case, it simply means being more aware and enjoying this moment.  This also leads me to better meditation time.

What I didn’t take into consideration is that being in the moment means different things at different points of our lives.  For instance, being in the moment meant slowing down in the beginning of January for me.  It now means to not get caught up in the bubbling amount of projects I am currently working on.

Resolutions are simple if you make them simple and keep a very flexible mind around.  Dropping them is no sign of failure, just that it wasn’t the right one or the approach was off.  By dropping one, we often consider it to be a negative thing but that same negative experience is what tells us if we are on the right track or not.  If we are not, then nothing stops us from dropping it and choosing another, or tweaking it.

So I’m adding “being more flexible” to my resolutions :)

Fascinating 2012 myth!

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Kali,change of time

End of the world could be end of an era

It’s easy to get caught up in the intrigue and commercialism of 2012.  It’s meaning is often mired in distorted interpretations, yet most, if not all serious translators, interpreters and Mayan calendar researchers agree to say 2012 is not what it is made out to be.  Good news for us.

The gist is the end of the world, brashly announced by fanatics eager to assert their might on others, those fear spreading zealots are most probably and certainly wrong.  The “end of the world” is not going to happen.  At least, the way it is depicted.

Run Away!  If you are to listen to the vulgarization of interpretations of the Mayan calendar, and other interpretations, the end of the world is now, or 2012, or even the end of 2012.  You chose, whichever scares you most.  However, a deeper look into the Maya calendar community reveals a few interesting points.  Technically, this is as far as the Mayan calendar goes, which explains how it is to be reset to 0 next year.  It could be just a technical limitation with no other meaning than that.  The end of this era is set to officially be over December 27th 2012.

Some of the more serious interpretations talk about, not so much an end of the world but as to an end to this current era.  This last point makes more sense as it is backed by many astrologists and even more interesting, ancient Indian philosophies that depict the passing of time periods as Yugas.  According to the ancient Indian calendar, we are at the tail end of the darkest moment of human history, the Kali Yuga.  Kali is the Goddess associated with change.  Offered referred to as the “black one”, meaning dark times, she is also the consort of Shiva, also known as Kala, the bright one.

This Yuga, or period of time is all about change, going deep down, removing the old and “ugly”, heralding the new “bronze age” where humanity thrusts itself into brighter times.  The Kali Yuga is the shortest of these periods, thankfully and the next one will be longer culminating into an era of pure light, reason and wisdom, to then again continue the cycle back into a descent to darkness.  The Mayan calendar hints at the same.  It is not the end of the world, just the much welcomed end to an era that no longer satisfies us.

So what can we do?  One thing we can do is to keep that notion clear in mind, that this is just the passing of time, no more, no less.  Yes, there might be earthquakes, floods, viruses and wars, but time goes by invariably.  By keeping in mind clear what works, what would like to see become a positive reality, you activate the so-called “law of attraction” that works in a no-miracle way, that which is alike, attracts alike.  Shunning what doesn’t work and negative thoughts, we can let go of that weight, concentrating on building a positive future.   Basically, be mindful of you mind, voice and action by keeping with what works and see it unfold without resistance.

If this is a hard task for you, let’s talk it over.  I have some experience in that domain :)

What a way to spend New Year’s Eve!

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Goal setting by understanding who you are

Picture by Nick Zart

Sick, with a cold and still went out with friends, which sets me back two days recovery time.

4Th Street Vine, in Long Beach was great and the ambiance matched our moods.  Friends showed up and in a whirlwind, left 15mn before midnights, leaving us feeling empty, alone and awkward.  Go figure what goes through the mind of people, no matter how close they are.

Tuesday now and I’m fighting the urge to constantly cough, which is the natural progression I’m used to with my colds.  First the tonsils, then the nose and finally the lungs.  If it gets worse, it continues the loop.

Things I look forward to this year.  For one thing, I’m making a very conscious effort to be more in the moment and less in anticipation mode, always running after the next thing.  This also implies a will to seek out positive things to do that resonate with my core self.  Having said this, I’ll revamp my Coaching practice and will start to look for more clients.  I’ll also start writing for TorqueNews.com, which I highly recommend you go check out.  Their articles are good quality and after being burned by the Examiner ever dwindling pay, this will be a good change.

A few others things I look forward to are working more closely with Shyam, a wonderful friend I’ve learned to discover over this past year.  He is a long lost brother of sorts, with whom I have much to build during this life time.  We are currently working on a few projects, ranging from websites, including our own about electric cars for enthusiasts, a High-Performance Computing venture and a range of equally fun adventures.  We are offering website for individuals and professionals at a very competitive rate, considering they are customized.

Somewhere along the lines I will finally get around to rewriting and redo my website, a much deserved endeavor.  My website was created very late last century and has barely changed, only added to.

And the list goes on…

Common sense doesn’t mean spending millions

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Find real food at supermarketsThis following story highlights the creativity of man but especially how we can get caught up in the systems we created for ourselves.  Case in point when NASA had to engineer a pen that worked in space, meaning absolute cold, no gravity.  After millions of dollars spent, they had their product.  Russia on the other hand used pencils!

A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside.  This was due to the way the production line was set up.  It is very difficult to have everything happen with timing so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time.  Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket don’t get annoyed and buy another product instead.

Understanding the importance, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem.

The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months and $8 Million later they had a fantastic solution—on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time.  They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should.  The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line.

A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results!  No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place.  Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share.  “That’s some money well spent!,” he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.

It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use.  It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report.  He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct.  The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.

Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed.
A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin.

“Oh, that,” says one of the workers,  “one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over… every time the bell rang.”

Simple coaching techniques anyone can use

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Picture, Nick Zart

Here are some tools you can use with and outside of coaching.  Some of them are free, some of them are available for purchase.

Meditation.  Here is a topic that is so often misunderstood.  While some view meditation in the strict sense of Zen Buddhist, rigid, static, striving for that illusive spontaneous self, other see a way to relax.  The bottom line is that meditation helps you connect back with your self, take scope and regroup.  It’s a must for anyone wanting to reclaim their runaway life and none other than high up successful executive and business owners know its merit all too well.

You can start simply on your own by devoting 15 minutes every day by yourself, with yourself.  Find a secluded spot in your home.  If you can, buy yourself something to shield any lights away from from you.  I found MindFold to be particularly effective and anyone can actually build one from scrap.  You can also use noise cancelling headsets, such as Boses Quiet Comfort or others.  Once comfortably seated, close your eyes, and start by observing yourself.  Observe your breath.  Don’t be disturbed by thoughts coming into to your mind.  Simply, in a detached way, let them slip away.  They are not you, nor do they define you.  The are just thoughts.

Binaural Beats:  Binaural beats are interesting and for those who have been reading this blog, I wrote a little about it a year or so ago.  What they do is put a tone in one ear and another one, slightly off-tune in the other in order to balance both hemispheres.  This allows you to go into deep states of relaxation, meditation and even concentration.

The Monroe Institute pioneered this type of work and perfected it over the decades.  Their CDs are available.  Mark Certo hails himself as a sonic alchemist and worked closely with the Monroe Institute.  His CDs called The Tranquility Training Method (TTM) are fantastic and I’ve particularly enjoyed them.

Soul Contract Reading.  The new tool I added for my practice is called Soul Contract Reading.  The system, also called the Holy Numerology of Moses goes back to millennial and has been “reintroduced” in order to facilitate this forward momentum the human race is experiencing.  By phonetically translating each letter to its Hebrew equivalent, a number and “energy” is given and put on a chart.  This charts helps you understand why your life works the way it down and how to make full use of it.  My initial reading was so fascinating and intense, I felt this would be an amazing tool for coaching.

Listening to your heartbeat is very helpful, so is your breath.  After sometime, you will find that inner peace many speak of.  In these states, everything becomes relative and problem solving is done with great ease.

Those are the basic free, if not at least affordable techniques anyone can use.  Still, nothing replaces a certified, professionally trained Coach.