5 Invisible Barriers to Success

...for Smart Women Leaders

If you want to be more effective as a leader, take a close look at your inner leadership game. 

"To be effective leaders, we must first understand the field, or inner space, from which we are operating." ~Otto Scharmer, Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges 

Be candid with yourself and identify what really gets in your way. For smart business women it is often one of these hidden culprits.

1. The feeling that while you deserve what you want, it would be unfair to others if you had it.
2. The need to deliver on your expectation that only perfection is enough.
3. A sinking feeling that you do not have what it takes to lead your team or business to the success you envision.
4. The belief that to be smart, engaged, energetic, happy, and enlightened you have to be 'superwoman'.

5. Deep-seated reluctance to ask for and accept the help you need to achieve your ambitious goals.

Leadership Limitations

Unexamined beliefs, feelings and frustrations only have power if you give it to them. So take back your inner leadership power with this simple exercise.

• What belief, feeling or frustration gets in your leadership way?
• If you were free of that belief, feeling or frustration, what would be better for you as a leader?
• What do you gain - if anything - by not letting go of it?
• Who would you be as a leader without it?
• What 3 small steps could you take - starting now - to release your leadership limitation?

Decide to take immediate action. With each step consciously let go of the limitations lurking in your leadership blind spot. Your awareness of new possibilities will increase. This creates more space for you to play a bigger inner leadership game.

"Successful leadership depends on the quality of attention and intention that the leader brings to any situation." ~Otto Scharmer

The Success You Seek is Also Seeking You

Several weeks ago I shared with you that I was using my blog to write an ebook. The irony is when I searched my 1 year worth of blog posts, I already had a surprising amount of content. Naturally, this inspired to complete what I thought would be a short ebook. 36 pages later, my ebook is now ready for prime time.

I was able to write Reclaim Your Love for Life & Work: 10 1-Minute Life Balance Practices in just two weeks. The writing was painless and effortless because the ebook I felt compelled to write already existed within me. Given that this is my first ebook, clearly it wanted to be written.

That is why this is only the third blog post about my ebook. It is also why you can read a preview of the introduction and first two chapters at: 1 Minute Life Balance.

Be sure to let me know what you think. And remember, the success you seek is also seeking you.

When it comes to sustainable success, business owners who have built and run thriving enterprises share these 10 entrepreneurial characteristics.

1. Set and play by their own rules
2. Easily and seemingly effortlessly overcome obstacles
3. Turn negatives into positives
4. Persistence, focus, and unstoppable drive
5. Strong values of integrity and ethics
6. Belief and commitment
7. Risk taking
8. Fearlessness
9. Listen to their intuition
10. Seek mastery

Benchmark your entrepreneurial spirit using a scale of 1 to 5 - with 5 being the highest - and see where you net out as a savvy business owner.

Is This You?

 If you feel out of control, you are not just out of balance – you are out of harmony...with yourself, your loved ones, your work and the rest of your life. What to do? Well, start by taking a fresh look at where you are. Ask yourself: "Where in my body, mind and spirit do I feel out of balance?" Then notice what your body, mind, and spirit have to say. Listen and learn.

This “I am here” perspective makes it easier to see what small steps can lead you back to balance. Playful 1-minute practices can make a real difference in how balanced you feel. Ultra-busy highly effective leaders know this.

My clients – high powered and high potential women entrepreneurs, executives, and nonprofit leaders – routinely engage in simple balance practices that led them to sustainable success with greater ease at work, home and play. In this e-book I share with you 10 one-minute life balance practices my clients find to be the most useful, effective and easiest to practice, practice, practice.

If you are ready for more satisfying life balance, you are not alone. And…you are in excellent and exceptional company.

Is This You?

Your Body, Mind & Spirit Are Out of Harmony When...

• You go to bed tired and wake up tired.
• Worry keeps you up at night and anxious all day.
• You feel physically tired, mentally exhausted, and emotionally weary.
• You try to manage time, but not your energy.
• You expect to get everything on your "to do" list done.
• What is important at work gets less of your attention than what is urgent but not important.
• Thoughts about work keep you from being fully present with your children, family, and friends.
• Exposure to a daily diet of negative news feeds your negative thinking and conversations - keeping you from noticing how much time you spend with people who drain your energy.
• Fear drives your decisions - you react instead of choosing to be more proactive.
• You worry more than 10 minutes a day.
• You have no quiet alone time - free of your cell phone, computer, and other 24/7 technology.
• Working day and night has become so “normal” you think it is a lifestyle.
• Personal priorities aren’t even on your "to do" list.
• You believe you can actually get everything done.
• Your work is great, yet you don’t feel confident about it or yourself.
• You don’t enjoy life outside your business or work.
• Your business goals are out of sync with your personal values.
• You provide for everyone around you, maintain your motivation to accomplish goals and objectives, and wonder how you can care for yourself and have others reciprocate.

My e-book continues to emerge...(slightly out of sequence)

Get Back to Balance with Ten 1-Minute Practices

This is a scary experiment. I've decided to write an e-book with a series of blog posts. It's a very public way to pull me toward my end goal.

I certainly appreciate you taking this journey with me and welcome your support. Feel free to provide your input, feedback, suggestions, and life balance challenges or solutions in the comment section.

Thanks in advance for walking this path of least resistance with me. The Ten 1-Minute Life Balance Practices I will share in this little (meaning not very long) e-book have survived the rigorous schedules and ultra-busy lives of women entrepreneurs, executives and nonprofit leaders whom I've coached in the last nine years.

Like my beyond-busy clients, you do not need anything else on your "to do" list. That's why these simple practices are fun and easy ways to find your path of least resistance for achieving ambitious business and leadership goals with ease, grace and life balance. If you haven't noticed, little shifts can make a big difference in business, leadership and the rest of your life.

So fasten your seat belts and prepare for take-off. Our blog-to-e-book trip together - no longer a flight of fantasy - has left the terminal and is taxi-ing onto the runway.

Introduction - Balance is Our Natural State

Body Balance...Every second our bodies balance complex changes with what remains constant in our biological functions and automatic feedback systems. Scientists tell us that every 7 days all our cells fully regenerate. Yet we feel out of balance more often then we like to admit. Most of these imbalances are self-induced.

Not enough...

• Sleep
• Exercise
• Healthy Food
• Energy to Do What We Enjoy

Amazingly, with a little consistent effort from us our body shifts back into its naturally dynamic state of balance.

• Drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day cleanses our internal organs and blood stream.
• Eating nutritious food in moderation fuels, renews and gives us more energy.
• Exercising regularly keeps our physical structure and systems in good shape and working order.
• Sleeping at least 7-8 hours a night rests, restores and rejuvenates our entire body - even slowing down the aging process.

Mind Balance...A quietly focused mind is a balanced mind. Paying attention to what is important - instead of what is urgent but not important - engages our mind in highly productive activity. Children absorbed in creating - whether with finger paints, coloring books and crayons, or paper, scissors and glue - show us how our balanced minds work. When we mentally tap into what genuinely interests us, our brains balance mental quickness with slow deliberation to reach clarity and decisiveness.

Spirit Balance...When we feel calm, connected and centered our spirit is balanced. This happens to us in the presence of beauty, stillness and movement in nature. There we feel vibrant - more alive. Next to a rushing waterfuall or giant redwood tree we effortlessly shift back into balance. The ease and grace we feel in those moments are our soul's response to harmony in the natural environment.

Life Balance...Our human experience is dynamic and multi-dimensional. So is the balance we seek. If you want to be a more effective entrepreneur, executive, or leader without sacrificing your needs and values as a human being, balance is essential. Although it may seem counterintuitive, life balance leads us to sustainable success. Life balance is the unique path we travel to get there - not the end goal itself.

In this short e-book - Ten 1-Minute Life Balance Practices - I invite you to find and follow your path of least resistance to life balance. Start by playfully engaging in 2-3 practices that strongly appeal to you. Pay attention to what works best for you.

Practice, practice, practice...Discover how easy it is to begin with balance and end up enjoying all of your precious life.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of this e-book as it emerges.