Lifestyle Online

Breathing new life into business. I provide social media campaigns for small business owners & entrepreneurs to help increase their followers, advocates and leads using social media.

Tags: Cardiff Boardroom, helping you to think differently doing business.Business Mentoring, LifestyleOnline, Moving minds, Re Energise
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Mean what you say

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

Exploring this message “A strong personal brand has a reputation of meaning what they say!”, I want to ask you this open question:

Do we get our message right?

When we feel stale and reach a plateau ( a great example of this is, when we are trying to lose weight ) it generally means we have arrived at a natural place in our cycle. I thought I’d explore this phase and list some positive triggers to help you shift up a gear.

Here’s a wonderful quote from personal branding and peak performance mastermind Sunil Bali in his blog called Shift :

‘By changing the pain and pleasure you associate with certain actions, your emotions will automatically drive you to take action, which you can’t achieve by using logic alone.

If you want to get better results, perhaps it’s time to change your cerebral gear?’

His lesson clearly shows that with the right help, you can move things to another level, if you choose to.

Here are a few of my tips to help you move up a gear.

1. Sift through time wasters, energy drainer’s contacts and circles. Make a choice to limit non-supportive interactions that don’t energize you.

2. Integrate activities. Socialise with connections that are like-minded. Find people in your network who share common interests and develop your creative side around people and activities you love.

3. Objectively stand back and check how you can improve your brand message, so that you can move it up a level.

4. Be an active listener, this highly necessary skill affords us a new ‘insight’ that shapes our brand message to reach new customers.

5. Be an active learner: You would think learning takes more time from you, but actually there are so many new tools and new ways of doing things that can free us up.

6. Lighten up! Spend time that for you is productive and fun.

7. Rekindle your creative flare.

8. Perception. Your fresh take on life and work with a different perspective, releases new energy.

Here’s a quote that can be your mantra:

“All difficulties can become opportunities”

Acting on this quote and shift we can then look forward to that next phase.

Are there any changes you can make? Can I help you make them?

My e-mail address is : carolyn@cardiffboardroom.co.uk

Carolyn Williams

Breathing new life into business. I provide social media campaigns for small business owners & entrepreneurs to help increase their followers, advocates and leads using social media.

Tags: Cardiff Boardroom, Clarity of purpose, Focus mentoring, helping you to think differently doing business, LifestyleOnline, Moving minds, Think differently
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Mind set possibilities

Friday, January 25th, 2013

Yesterday, I had this enormous urge to support my home town football team Swansea City was playing Chelsea in the semi-final. It was a 19.45pm kick off. Around 3-4pm the impossible happened, it snowed heavily, cutting off minor roads, villages and it brought parts of the M4 to a standstill. The Swansea City head groundsman was interviewed on BBC Wales, saying “there would be no cancellation, the ground had under cover heating”.

So a well thought out ‘under cover heating plan’ brought about a successful match between Swansea City v Chelsea, with Swansea City, a small club, getting through to the final at Wembley. The final to be played on February 24th.

When Swansea City first got into the premiership at Wembley, we saw the following headlines: ‘Would the last person leaving Swansea, please remember to shut the door’ brought a knowing smile to anyone associated with the Swans. The club has an incredible loyal fan base, so much so, all seats in the stadium are taken.

So there I was, wondering how could I cheer the #SWANS from my kitchen, only a few miles away. I searched the internet and found Radio 5 Live was indeed LIVE from the Liberty Stadium, so I sat, glued to my home seat, listening while John Hartson commentated on the match and I was able to join the snow flaked covered fans, cheering on the home side for a win/win.

I posted this blog ” Nothing Is Impossible“, reading about Swansea City’s smallest player, Nathan Dyer’s dream was to play in the final at Wembley. His dream came true.

Just look at these Swansea City players body language?

Photo courtesy of Getty images.

Carolyn Williams

Breathing new life into business. I provide social media campaigns for small business owners & entrepreneurs to help increase their followers, advocates and leads using social media.

Six habits of remarkably likable people

Tags: Cardiff Boardroom, Moving minds helping you to think differently in business mentoring. LifestyleOnline
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The ‘C’ word

Monday, January 21st, 2013

The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. Here I am staring at a blank canvas, with a clear decision to:

Commit to doing something different.
Do one thing different that nourishes me.
Think differently.
Declutter old negatives that no longer serve me or my business.
Continue to meditate daily.

Mindful meditation helps me to commit.

During advent and the build up to Christmas, how many times have you seen the word upgrade? ‘The term upgrade refers to the replacement of a product with a newer version of the same product’. So with upgrading in mind have you consciously done something different?

Have you consciously changed the way you think about your:

Brand
Work
Finances
Relationship
Personal Development
Leisure/Hobby

If you’re stuck in a rut and want to change your thinking pattern three things will help you commit to changing your ‘not so good’ habits.

Cue
Routine
Reward

I have been reading, writing, and changing habits by looking at remarkable engaging individuals. ‘Too many people when they first meet engage in some form of penis-measuring contest’

‘Remarkably likeable people are masters at Social Jiu-Jitsu, the ancient art of getting you to talk about yourself without you ever knowing it happened. They whip out their social jiu-jitsu. They whip out something genuine’.

Everyone is better than you at something (Yes, that’s true even for you) let them be better than you.

Are you running away from yourself or toward acceptance that you have the answers?

Remarkable people accept that changing habitual rituals is not easy.

Have you committed to changing one thing this month?

Do you re-energise your clients?

Carolyn Williams

Breathing new life into business. I provide social media campaigns for small business owners & entrepreneurs to help increase their followers, advocates and leads using social media.

Tags: Create, Helping yopu to think differently mentoring. Commit, Inspire, Mentoring, Moving minds helping you do business differently
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What conversations have helped you in your business?

Friday, January 11th, 2013

The World Café

The origins of The World Café (shaping our futures through conversations that matter) were explained to me by Kevin Watson kjcoach, trainer & consultant delivering leadership and team development programmes for the 21st century.

I connected with Kevin on LinkedIn and later invited to meet with him for a one to one conversation at Morgan’s Hotel, in Swansea. During our second meeting, Kevin lent me his edition of The World Café book. The World Café is a flexible, easy-to-use process for fostering collaborative dialogue, sharing mutual knowledge and discovering new opportunities for action.

The book

” Using seven design principles and a simple method, the World Café is a powerful social technology for engaging people in conversations that matter, offering an effective antidote to the fast-paced fragmentation and lack of connection in today’s world.

Based on the understanding that conversation is the core process that drives personal, business, and organizational life, the World Café is more than a method, a process, or technique – it’s a way of thinking and being together sourced in a philosophy of conversational leadership”.

This philosophy again, summed up by ˜John Seeley Brown who said:

“It’s never enough just to tell people about some new insight. Rather, you have to get them to experience it in a way that evokes its power and possibility. Instead of pouring knowledge into people’s heads, you need to help them grind a new set of eyeglasses so they can see the world in a new way.”

Several magical collective wisdom style conversations later, arranged at both Morgans Hotel, Miskin Manor and on Skype, I am able to share great insights from conversations with other strategists, who I believe help people to see the world in a more connected way.

You can follow more of my café style conversations on Breathing for Business scoop.it. I’d love to hear what conversations have helped you in your business?

Meanwhile, I’ll continue to invite people to share their insights and wisdom for a café style conversation.

Carolyn Williams

Breathing new life into business. I provide social media campaigns for small business owners & entrepreneurs to help increase their followers, advocates and leads using social media.

Tags: Business Mentoring, Café conversations, Cardiff Boardroom, Shaping our futures through conversations that matter
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Proving nothing is impossible

Thursday, January 10th, 2013

Something John Murray said, all the way in Afghanistan sparked this post……

When I grow up, I want to be … Childhood dream jobs

Train drivers, vets and footballers – our childhood dreams remain the same, so can revisiting them help our careers now? Frances Booth asked a class of children to draw their ideal jobs”.

Memories of that famous child advert that went “When I grow up I WANT TO BE” …a movie star, a world famous singer, song writer, a famous footballer…

Some of us are hooked on singing, dancing or cooking contests on the television. I am glued to Africa and ALL THINGS POSSIBLE.

James Arthur won X-Factor singing Impossible and I helped by consistently voting him in as a WINNER and I am 63. I live and breathe in the Swansea sea air. I watched and welcomed back the Swansea City Football players win their well deserved Swansea City Premier Football League Cup in taking their fight to WEMBLEY.

Swansea City 2 Chelsea 0

Yesterday, I posted SWANS ‘little terrier’ Nathan Dyer’s, announcement (his sheer belief) in dreaming for another Premier Cup at Wembley, proving beyond doubt nothing is impossible.

Since this post our small but determined Swansea City Club, have got through to the final at Wembley. This match will take place on February 24th 2013.

Photo Getty Images

So I’ve learnt to become smart and connect with my inner child.

What is your dream?

Do you re-energise your clients?

Carolyn Williams

Breathing new life into business. I provide social media campaigns for small business owners & entrepreneurs to help increase their followers, advocates and leads using social media.

Tags: #SWANS, Cardiff Boardroom, Helping you do business differently mentoring, LifestyleOnline, Nothing is impossible, Swansea City
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Commit to doing something different

Sunday, January 6th, 2013

Listen and Learn

I was inspired to write this blog in reply to Ivan Misner’s wonderful post “The Secret to Balance”.

Throughout 2012 I disciplined myself, my work and made changes. I decided for me to become more effective, I would meditate daily.

Since that conscious decision I have been helping to move minds, so that you too can do business differently.

Accept responsibility and commit
Accept the now
Accept the signals of your body

Let go of the past

Let go of past hurt

With deepened awareness, you can make new choices, let go of habits that no longer serve you, and commit to doing something different.

Letting Go of resistance for better health, more wealth.

How do you let go of ‘things’ that no longer serve your business?

Do you re-energise your clients?

Carolyn Williams

Breathing new life into business. I provide social media campaigns for small business owners & entrepreneurs to help increase their followers, advocates and leads using social media.

Tags: Business Mentoring, Commit to doing something different, LifestyleOnline Mentoring
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Doing IT Differently

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013

Doing my first exercise this morning, in response to Richard White’s, Sales post:

“A key aspect of sales is action. A person with poor selling skills but who takes lots of action can outsell a master sales person who takes absolutely no action. If you are starting 2014 needing a shot in the arm to get your business moving then forget your business goals for a while and start focusing on your personal goals. This free mini-course will show you how and when you do the exercises you will have your goals all laid out before you. Then start making a plan to start achieving these goals via your business. Write down WOW! inspirational goals, which is the key to getting motivated enough to take serious sales action…..even if you don’t feel like it!

If you manage a sales team then get them to watch this and do a personal goal setting session with them and get them to share their Wow!”

This exercise is easy for me, I am self-motivated.

Here’s my reply, “A great starter for ten Richard”.

I’m naturally self-motivated. Focusing on what is right for me, the most useful tool.

Naysayers constantly say when our goals go wrong or fail – “You’ll never make it!”

Reviewing and Adjusting are most helpful doing words”.

“When things feel like they’re not working out, focus on what’s working right”.

Seasonal calendar changes dictate the need to do things differently. In winter our bodies dictate that we eat warmer fuel and wear warmer clothing.

I am in the process of reviewing all my activities and adjusting them accordingly.

Will any of you join me? I’d love to hear from you if you decide to do anything differently.

Here is a beautiful testimonial from Felix P. Nater, a trusted business #advisor from North Carolina. He said “It’s true Carolyn. Your thoughts are your majesty. You have an innate ability for conveying thoughts with natural beauty”.

Do you re-energise your clients?

Carolyn Williams

Breathing new life into business. I provide social media campaigns for small business owners & entrepreneurs to help increase their followers, advocates and leads using social media.