I held a teleseminar recently that explored the concept of redefining financial success as a spiritual journey. This redefinition is about becoming professionally and personally “fulfilled,” which involves a spiritual quest of recapturing or discovering – sometimes for the first time – your dreams, and money is the higher purpose that helps you foster this fuller, more balanced life. Money is the by-product of values-based ambition, which is all about living out your authentic values and beliefs. It’s what I refer to as “Wealth of the Self” and what moves you from success to significance.

My guest, online visibility expert Nancy Marmolejo of Viva Visibility, and I covered a lot of information in 45 minutes (okay it was actually 52 minutes, but I really, really tried to keep it to the promised 45), and one of the most important areas we focused on was the one key thing that needs to happen before you can move from success to significance. This one key thing is non-negotiable. There’s no way around it. Think of it as the foundation that must be poured before you can build a house. It’s what anchors you to the life you want to live.

That one key thing is becoming empowered. It’s giving yourself permission to take the risks and make the changes you want and need to make.

I know that sounds really simple. And you’re probably thinking: “You’ve got to be kidding me? That’s it?!” But the reality is that for so many women – including women in high-level positions and women who own their own businesses – there are places in our lives where we don’t stand in our own power.

Whether it’s being afraid to speak up, doubting our capabilities or denying the things we long for, allowing ourselves to be mistreated, feeling like an imposter or fraud in our professional life, resisting the truth, or acting in ways that go against our values – disempowerment is at the root of the problem.

When we feel powerless:

• We think of ourselves as small and ineffective, more like victims of circumstance than the strong, capable women we are.
• We find it difficult to make positive, lasting change. We vacillate. We’re ambivalent.
• We spend too much time needing acceptance and validation from others rather than trusting that we know the answers that are best for us.

When we’re empowered, however:

• We’re able to access our own abilities, strengths and gifts.
• We’re able to draw upon the host of internal and external resources that are available to us, and we know how to put these resources to our best use.
• We’re able to say “Yes!” to change and welcome transition because we trust ourselves to be able to handle any challenge that comes along.

Take a moment and think about those times in your life when you felt truly empowered – what kind of decisions were you able to make? How did they impact your life and your choices?

Now compare that to those times when you felt powerless – how were the decisions you made different? How did they impact your life and your choices?

A critical part of redefining your life means going from breakdown to breakthrough in terms of discovering your authentic power. Not “perceived” power that can often feel aggressive, and is largely situational and transitory, but true power that is strong without being forceful, and that doesn’t come and go depending on the moment.

When you stand firm in your own true power in both your professional and your personal life it’s like you are a tree with its roots firmly, deeply embedded in the earth. It’s from this base of knowledge that your life branches out to embrace infinite possibilities.

Part of your journey in going from breakdown to breakthrough includes working to uncover the hidden landscape of habits, beliefs and patterns that underlie and sometimes subvert how you live your life and how you own your power.

I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about. Have you found yourself at one time or another:

• Hanging on to a job that is physically, emotionally and psychologically draining because it provided you with a substantial amount of money, good health benefits and a retirement plan?

• Holding on to a relationship because it provided you with financial security, even though it was clear to you that separation would be best for your emotional and spiritual well-being?

• Being surrounded by all kinds of information, advice and resources, and yet something stopped you from using any of it?

As a “breakthrough” woman, you must be willing to do the things you sometimes don’t want to do. There are many things that keep women in business from making changes, especially if we’re making a healthy income. The promise of money, or the threat of losing it, induces us to tolerate or make concessions. I say this without the slightest hint of judgment or reproach, because I am a woman who tolerated things at different points in my life that my more actualized self would never allow now.

Refusing to make changes when you know in your core that you’re doing yourself a disservice is a clear sign you’re not empowered. Give yourself permission. Say “Yes!” to what it is you truly want. That’s your first step on your journey to living a life of significance.

As Founder & CEO of Evelyn Kalinosky LLC, Evelyn’s coaching practice specializes in working with women executives, professional women and women entrepreneurs who want to achieve a more sacred kind of success. The goal is a search for significance, a journey to uncover the wealth of the self, a rite of passage to their highest purpose, and to a life that is as unique as their fingerprint. Evelyn is also a speaker, consultant and published author, who is currently working on a book about women navigating through midlife.

Want to spend the next 12-months moving from success to significance within a sacred space created just for you? Check out my Wealth of the Self mentoring-on-the-go program to learn more: http://www.evelynkalinosky.com/wealth.

***Note from the Author, Suzanne Evans: In all of my advice please take note that if anyone has a child under the age of 18 you have an obligation to take care of that child’s needs before all else, so please do not send me emails about the need to feed your children. Feed your children first.***

Are you choosing to fail?

I get all types of messages all the time from people facing the cycle of quitting. Recently, someone wrote me that they barely had the money for groceries and gas and certainly not coaching. I am sure they thought my response would be, “I understand.”

I don’t.

I believe that coaching is more valuable than gas and groceries. Neither can help you make more money. Coaching can. Coaching can help you buy more gas and groceries. I have a reputation for being a straight shooter and if I were shooting straight here would be the facts, the truths, and the only path to success, or the path to choosing coaching over gas:

1) Sacrifice.

Over and Over. My definition of sacrifice is doing something you have never done to get something you have never had. Sacrifice is not giving something up, it is doing something more.

2) Stop blaming.

In the last 24 hours I have had emails blaming low temperatures, pets, children, and technology (just to name a few) for what has not been accomplished. If you want success you have to take 100% responsibility for every single part of your life.

3) Lack vs. Life.

People do not attract lack. God is good all the time. God does not send lack to people. People attract life not lack. Life is a series of hiccups, imperfections, and traumas. That happens to everyone evenly. What you do with it and how you react to it creates your destiny.

4) Give up on the miracle.

No one is going to discover you, rush to give you a TV show, make you rich, and save you from having to get clients. Sorry to kill the dream. YOU are your miracle. Do the marketing. Master the mindset. Take the action. That is the miracle.

5) Broke is a Joke.

Oh… this one is going to sting for some of you. Here goes (all in love). If you are broke building a business for you will be a joke. Everyone must finance their dream. I sold things on Ebay and worked 60 hours a week; some clients used credit cards; Sly Stone sold his wife’s rings. If you are broke with no plan or desire to make money to finance mentoring and your business you are on the hallucination train. Get off, get a job, and finance your business.

6) Prioritize the truth.

This is where gas, groceries, and coaching come in. I know you have to eat (believe me, I love to eat) and I know we all have basic needs, but the truth is if you can barely afford gas money then you are not prioritizing the truth. Truth is that we live in an abundant Universe where all our financial needs are met as easily as air. But, it does take a decision. It does take the commitment to doing whatever it takes to do both — gas/groceries and coaching.

7) Ask how bad?

How bad do you want it? How important is it to you? Failure is not an option which means sleep, time, money, skill set, weight, race, sex, sexual orientation, appearance, disability, and education will not keep me from my business. How bad do you want this? I recently met a multi-millionaire who came from nothing. He said he used to have to decide between groceries and business growth. He said he learned to eat off of $15 a week because he was hungrier for his dream than for food.

Sacrifice is doing something you have never done to get something you have never had.

About the Author:

Suzanne Evans of HelpMorePeople.com, mentors heart-centered helping professionals and entrepreneurs to build thriving, prosperous businesses that also create positive, lasting change. She recently released the Movement Marketing Movie, to help solo-business owners reconnect with the hope, the potential and the energy that prompted them to go into business in the first place. You can view it 24-hours a day, at http://www.MovementMarketingMovie.com

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"Just one more certification, then I swear I'll quit!"

I hung up the phone in frustration and a bit of sadness. I’d just had a conversation with a coach who was clearly unhappy with her business, wasn’t making the money she wanted, and SAID she needed help. But when it came to taking action, she balked.

The solution I offered her was simple, uncomplicated, and proven to get results. It wasn’t terribly costly, so I don’t even think price was an issue. It was an “Easy YES” that she declined.

As I reflected, I pieced together a pattern that I noticed not just in this conversation but in several others.

She decided that instead of moving forward with a strategy that could make her great money very soon while claiming and prospering from her Profitable Essence, she opted to enroll in a certification program to become a  ______ (fill in the blank) coach.

“Once I have that, I’ll be ready to do the work with you.”

Say what?

I asked some questions around this, because honestly it puzzled me. If someone says she desperately needs money, has incredible talents, and has proof of amazing results, then why does she need to wait for yet another certification? Plus she was being handed a solution that could take her out of her frustration.

What will that certification (which won’t be completed for 6 months) give her that she can’t do now?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m a lifelong learner. The day we stop learning is the day we cease to exist. But too many gifted, amazing coaches, healers, and heart based business owners are simply lying to themselves if they think they aren’t READY and need to jump through yet another loop or get another set of letters to follow their name.

If you notice yourself signing up for class after class or certification after certification and you’re still not seeing results, or a part of you feels resistance to moving forward with a big leap in your business because you’re not sure if you’re “ready”, then PLEASE read and follow these tips.

1. Repeat After Me: “I’m Ready”

Say this to yourself, realize it, embrace it. You are ready. You’re not a fraud for doing what you do and even though you haven’t been on Oprah or you don’t have a New York Times Bestseller, you are ready. If you know this but still can’t take action, then find a colleague or professional who does mindset work and start digging away at why you won’t give yourself permission to take action.

2. You Hold Medicine, and The World Needs It

Don’t you wish it was all about you? Well, guess what? It’s not. As a soul-driven entrepreneur, you were given a mission to complete. And the way that manifests in your talents, gifts, and inspiration is what I call your “medicine”. (Medicine in the Native American spiritual sense, not the pharmaceutical) You weren’t given that bundle to hide it.

3. It’s OK to Earn While You Learn

Who said you can’t start making money until you’re done learning? When I started my coach training several years ago, I went out and found clients. I did group coaching before I ever took a class on group coaching. My clients got huge value from our work, I helped them, and they thanked me with money and appreciation.

You can earn while you learn.  Your ideal clients want results- they don’t want to read a list of all the certifications you have.

4. Craft an Offer That Puts it All Together

One of the modules of “Discover Your Profitable Essence” is called Getting People to Buy It. It’s not too complicated- I teach you how to put together your services and expertise in a way that gets people to say “YES” easily.

75% of the problem is mindset, 25% is technical. Give yourself the permission you need to move forward and bolster it with an “Easy YES” offer. You’ll then have exactly what you need to make the money you want doing what you LOVE and feel called to do.

Remember: the world is waiting for you… now let’s get your talents out there.

Kathy Santini, Savvy About Success

Wondering how successful people do it? Look no further, here are 10 qualities found in successful people.

1. They look for and find opportunities where others see nothing.

2. They find a lesson while others only see a problem.

3. They are solution focused.

4. They consciously and methodically create their own success, while others hope success will find them.

5. They are fearful like everyone else, but they are not controlled or limited by fear.

6. They ask the right questions – the ones which put them in a productive, creative, positive mindset and emotional state.

7. They rarely complain (waste of energy). All complaining does is put the complainer in a negative and unproductive state.

8. They don’t blame (what’s the point?). They take complete responsibility for their actions and outcomes (or lack thereof).

9. While they are not necessarily more talented than the majority, they always find a way to maximise their potential. They get more out of themselves. They use what they have more effectively.

10. They are busy, productive and proactive. While others are planning, over-thinking, sitting on their hands and generally going around in circles, they are out there getting things done.

About the author:

Kathy Santini, CEO of Savvy About Success, knows that success leaves clues, and that people can become more successful by learning what successful people know and do. She teaches success-oriented individuals how via her FREE special report, blog, telesummits and coaching programs.  As a former war correspondent and thriving cancer survivor, she’s seen success on all levels. Read her blog for more inspiring stories.