- Feature Article: "Your Relationship with Money - 5 lessons you need to learn."

- Special Guest Article: "Get Past Procrastination and Into Client Attraction: My 5 Steps to Getting Things Done"

- SOS Update: Steve, where have you been?

- Steve Sez: "Did you hear an ECHO out there?"

Please add "coaching@sosimpact.com" to your whitelist or address book in your e-mail program, so that you have no trouble receiving future issues!

September 4th, 2007

Vol. I, Issue 10

Published every two weeks. To change your subscription, see the links at the end of this email.

Sign me up for the "The LifeLine"

Steve, where have you been?

Steve O'Sullivan vs Velociraptor

Sorry it's been so long since the last issue of The LifeLine (nearly a month), but I've had my hands full. As you can see on the right, Brentwood is getting dangerous!

OK, enough excuses, here's why August kept me away from publishing.

First, I had my second oral surgery on August 15th. Not so puffy as last time (see TheLifeLineIssue4.html if you missed that update) but it kept me down for a few days.

Second, I've been putting a lot of time into my partnerships in ECHO (go to www.echohealing.org for a taste of that) and Secrets of Business Mastery 2.0 (website coming soon). I'm very excited about both groups as each has so much to offer to a diverse cross section of the community. Classes have been put off until October for Secrets of Business Mastery 2.0, but I'll have all the details for you in the next issue of The LifeLine.

Not to mention spending plenty of time taking care of my awesome coaching clients as well as keeping my hand in some web development and graphics design work. Yes, Steve's been a busy boy!

OK, two more things then we'll get to the meat of this Issue. My daughter Katie just headed back to New York for her second year at Sarah Lawrence College, wow, the summer sure went quick! Also I spent a weekend at a great workshop called "The Dynamics of Money and Relationships". What an eye opener! So I've decided to write this month's article called "Your Relationship with Money". Scroll down and read it now!

Make it a Healthy and Productive Week,

"Your Relationship with Money - 5 lessons you need to learn."

by Steve O'Sullivan

So what's your story around money? Everybody's got one. Frankly, I'm amazed at how different people's views are on this touchy subject.

Often in relationships each member of the couple has a very different view on 'the green stuff', what they want to do with it, how they want to save or spend it and what it means about them as a person.

Just for the sake of simplicity, I'll skip over the part about the relationship with your spouse or partner, and keep the focus on you. And in order to make some real changes you have to go deep into your past and check out the root beliefs you have about money. Ask yourself what you were taught about money, what you saw your family do with money, how they talked about it and how this tied in to your self esteem or self worth.

Some common things you may have heard as a child are; "Money doesn't grow on trees", "What do you think, I'm made of money?", "We can't afford that!", and umpteen other negative money affirmations. Here's my personal favorite prosperity killer, "There are only two sure things in life, death and taxes." WOW! That last one makes you associate paying your taxes with dying. Ugh! No wonder we balk at writing that check to Uncle Sam every quarter.

The point of all this? Most people associate something negative with money, perhaps not consciously, but subconsciously at least. Of course not everyone was raised this way, I'm sure Donald Trump's kids heard a very different story about money.

Also along the way your personal feelings about money have co-mingled with your peers, the media and your relationships that have involved dealing with cash. If you are a man, do you feel obligated to pick up the check when you are out with a lady? If you are a woman, are you uncomfortable being the bread winner in the family? Take a second and think about your gut reactions to these questions. Are there other topics relating to the subject that put a knot in your stomach?

Have you Adapted or Adopted?

Now take a look at your feelings about money, and compare them to the results you have created in your life. Have you adopted your parents mindset regarding earning and spending, that is, do you do what they did? If so, has this created the prosperity you want in life?

Or have you adapted to the world and taken the best of what you learned as a kid and added the best lessons of life and created your own model of how to meet and beat your financial wants and needs? I hope the latter is the case. If not, you still have time to correct the course you are on and achieve the prosperity that you crave.

Here are 5 lessons you need to learn to overcome the scarcity in you life.

Skip The New Math - Most of us like to use The New Math when we compare our results to our goals and desires. Here's an example.

The New Math

No result or a bad result ( I don't have it!)

+ A darn good story about it (What happened 'to' me.)

= A good result (Telling my story will surely fix it.)

The lesson here is to stop telling your story about what's not working or what is going wrong. That will never make things better! Shift your focus to what is good and what is going right. Keep your focus on what you want and not the lack of it.
Get it?

You have an insatiable appetite - Human beings are built to consume, and there is nothing wrong with that! Just because you eat dinner tonight doesn't mean you won't be hungry tomorrow. Simply recognize that you need to stop pouring when your cup is full. Also, remember to enjoy the process, the wanting is almost sweeter that the having. Besides after you get that thing you 'couldn't live without', the luster will wear off and be replaced by another 'want'.
My Value does not equal my bank account - Somehow many of us have decided that what I have or how much money I have is equal to my personal value. I'm here to tell you that's dead wrong! You can be an awesome parent without money. You can be an inspired artist without money. Mother Theresa didn't have much of a bankroll, but I'm pretty sure she passed muster. Do you hear me? I'll take integrity over cash any day. Of course, you don't have to choose, you can have both. All that being said, you are worthy of all the money you want, it's up to you.
Money is a mindset - How you think about money is how you bring money into your experience. If you don't have what you want in your life, try shifting your thinking about money and prosperity. Remember that money is just a tool and money is energy. A $20 bill is printed with the same ink and on the same paper that a $1 bill is. So it's just our perceived value that makes it different. Be sure to perceive your value as very high!
Communication is the Key - The biggest reason for money woes in America today is not talking about it. Sweeping it under the rug. Ignoring the subject. Talk to your business partner, spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. If you're solo, I give you permission to talk to yourself here. Discuss your financial situation, your feelings, your hopes and your dreams. Find a way to deal with it, and set the emotion aside. The money doesn't care if you love it or hate it, it will be happy to find someone else who will take care of it.

Finally, be joyful and grateful for everything you have, but don't be satisfied. Schools, Churches and Museums don't get built without serious capital. Money is your friend, you deserve more of it. Invite it in, focus on what you really want, and enjoy the journey.

And as Zig Ziglar says "Money isn't everything, but it's reasonably close to oxygen."

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE?

You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

Business Productivity Coach, Speaker and Expert Author Steve O'Sullivan is the publisher of 'The LifeLine' bi-weekly small biz improvement ezine. If you're ready to make a serious impact on your business, make more money, and get more done in less time, get your FR*EE productivity tips and tools now at www.SOSimpact.com

Get Past Procrastination and Into Client Attraction: My 5 Steps to Getting Things Done

by Fabienne Fredrickson

Have you ever looked at your to-do list and just wanted to run away? Sometimes, procrastination gets the best of us self-employed people. It seems that everything is priority and we tend to put some things on the back burner. The thing is, if the items on your to-do list have to do with marketing and Client Attraction, then you don’t want to ignore them (if you do, your pipeline of prospects will be empty in 6 months).

Procrastination creeps its ugly head in my business every now and then. Personally, I think it’s more overwhelm than procrastination and the list can be so overwhelming that I tend to go in avoidance/denial mode, preferring to just not deal with it. (Has that ever happened to you too?)

Realistically, you can’t ignore having to market yourself, so you sometimes just have to bite the bullet and do what it takes. Here’s my personal action checklist to take me from procrastination to massive action:

Prioritize: Your list may be a mile long or just a half page long. Either way, the best way to get into action is to sort out what your return on investment is going to be for each item on your list (financially, time-wise, resource-wise) and then sort them by the one that will reap the most benefits (e.g., clients and revenue) from the littlest output on your part. You’ll start with that one.
What’s getting in the way? Sometimes, I find procrastination is more about something getting in the way than anything else. It could be you don’t have every piece of the puzzle to be able to move forward into accomplishing something. It could be you don’t know how to do ONE aspect of it. It could also be that this is a SHOULD and isn’t absolutely necessary to your success. Whatever’s holding you back, just get clear on it.
How long will it REALLY take: I’ve found that often, I delay on a marketing task (or any task, for that matter) because I anticipate it taking a lot longer than it really will. To get past this, look at a task and ask yourself how long it will realistically take to get done. Then, take out the to-do list and write down the time it will take you to accomplish it next to each item (15 minutes, 2 hours, etc.).
Schedule it: Look at your calendar and find time slots that correspond to the time allotment for each task you did above and schedule them, as if they were client appointments you were unable to cancel.
Just do it: Once you’ve got the “task appointments” scheduled in your book, just do them. You’ll power through them like you’ve never done before. It’s actually pretty cool.

Your Assignment:

When marketing yourself, take notice of when you start slipping into procrastination mode (it happens to most everyone, believe me). Prioritize the tasks on your list to focus on the ones that will get you the highest return on investment, notice what’s getting in the way or what piece is missing, and solve the issue accordingly, establish how long it will take to get done, and then schedule it in your calendar. You’ll have no excuse not to do it.

Remember, there’s never a point at which you can say (about marketing), “I’m successful now, I might as well take a nap.” Notice the very successful entrepreneurs you look up to. They never stop marketing. In fact, they’re always adding new things to their existing marketing plans. Do the same. Get past your procrastination and into Client Attraction. ALWAYS BE MARKETING and you’ll always have clients (especially if you have systems in place).

You may be wondering WHAT to do to market your business that’ll give you the most returns with little effort on your part. If so, I recommend getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid marketing systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Expert, is founder of the Client Attraction System™, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To receive your freebie audio CD by mail and sign up for her weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

"Did you here an ECHO out there?

Are you interested in learning more about your physical, emotional and spiritual health? Well then, go check out www.ECHOhealing.org, ECHO's new website (still working on it, but it's a start) addressing Holistic health and related matters.

Our blogs are also up, and we invite you to speak your mind, make a comment or ask questions about our posts. Visit our Community Blog at http://echohealing.blogspot.com and our Article Blog at http://echoessence.blogspot.com. No cost of course!

Also, we are offering advertising opportunities for all business who are interested in reaching this audience. We will be placing printed copies in various business lobbies and waiting rooms in the Brentwood, Antioch and Oakley area. If you are interested in getting your message out to our community, contact Chris@ECHOhealing.org.

If you'd like to subscribe to "The Essence", here is the link. Subscribe to the Essence or drop an email to essence@ECHOhealing.org and request to be added to our mailing list. We invite you to pass this along and invite your friends and family to participate in this much needed organization.

September CD Special -

Just 1 Simple Step To Achieve A Meditative State And Tap Into The Law Of Attraction

It's The Chi of Love Meditation CD

A multi level composition created to help you easily enter a meditative state and to simultaneously vibrate at the frequency of love.

It has been said that love is the highest state that we can attain, and that The Law of Attraction is also known as The Law of Love.

Risk it, This CD WILL change your life!

Don't Wait another Minute, Order Now.

www.The Chi of Love CD.com

The Chi of Love is, by far, the best we have used!

"My partner and I have a healing practice in energy medicine. We have used many CD's to help our clients relax and drop into the meditative state that will allow them to connect to their healing. The Chi of Love is, by far, the best we have used! It is moving and touching, and slows down the mind - allowing that meditative vibration to occur. It is also beautiful to listen to when we want to relax. Thank you, Steve!" Chris Krohn and Dani Burling

Chris Krohn and Dani Burling
The Emerging Soul
www.theemergingsoul.com
Brentwood, CA

Steve O'Sullivan - SOS Impact Coaching and Training

The LifeLine Vol. I, Issue 10

The LifeLine is a bi-monthly newsletter for Small Business Owners and Solo-preneurs. Steve O'Sullivan is a productivity coach and President of SOS Impact Coaching and Training. www.SOSimpact.com

Contact Steve at Coaching@SOSimpact.com