Susan Zimmerman

No April's Fools: Financial Literacy Month

April is Financial Literacy month - that's no "April Fools" joke! You may not think of yourself as a money mentor, but if you're a parent, you're a money mentor.

Just as we all have different money styles due to upbringing and life experience, we all have different parenting styles. These two style factors merge and sometimes clash the instant you gaze into the eyes of your newborn baby.

Spending and planning issues flash before you on a daily basis. Everything from clothing to cribs to college savings can turn that divine bliss into an angry hiss over money matters!

Meanwhile, that baby grows and grows, noticing all kinds of things about you. Even how you handle your money.

Let's call this merged parental identity "Money Model" because that's what kids remember most. I'll never forget a psychology professor of mine saying, "Kids are wonderful observers but lousy interpreters." Here are some examples.

Confusing Messages

A parent tells kids it's important to live within their means. That's good advice. But if the kids are young, they have no idea what that means, do they? Somewhat older kids may know what living within your means signifies. But perhaps they've seen credit cards used for years and have noticed piles of credit card bills at home. Which message sticks? Live within your means, or debt is ok? More than likely, rather than living within their means when they grow up, they think, "No problem. If I don't have the money to buy something, I'll charge it." 

And what if those credit cards are actually used for convenience only? You pay off the entire balance every month. Great discipline. Maybe it even brings a wealth of frequent flyer miles or other incentives! But how do your kids know? You must tell them. Share your wisdom about money in a coaching style. There are ways to teach and coach them even if you don't want them to know your specific numbers.

Remember, as the professor said, children are 'lousy' interpreters. They make up conclusions as they go. More often than not, those conclusions have errors, especially if they've never been taught how credit cards or other lending works. Next thing you know, they're grown up, guided by their mistaken interpretations and they don't even realize it.

The best combination is to be both "Money Mentor" and "Money Model" - coaching good basic financial principles and modeling them as well.

For older kids, have them guess how many dollars in interest would be charged on a $1000 credit card balance at 18% if only the minimum due is paid. Here's where you can tell them how much of that is for groceries, gas for the car, and new shoes for the summer. How long would it take to pay it off assuming a $40 per month payment (4% of $1000)?

Some credit cards only charge 2% for their monthly minimum payment. What is the interest charge, then, if only the minimum payment is made? Again, have them make a guess. Then show them the results - you can use online calculators like Creditkarma.com, or many others.

Answers to the above credit card payoff questions:

On a $1000 balance, paying $40/month at 18% interest (with no additional charges):

It would take 32 months to pay it off

The interest charges would be $263

On the same $1000 balance, paying half the above amount, so $20/month at 18% interest:

(Logic might say, half as much is being paid so it would take twice as long, right?)

WRONG!

It would take 94 months to pay it off (vs. 32 months) - nearly triple the time.

The interest charges would be $862 (vs. $263) - more than triple the dollars!

Financial Education for High School Students

In teaching a basic financial principles class to about 7000 local high school seniors over 11 years, NONE of them knew this credit card reality of how compound interest can work against you. It was the topic they most often mentioned as being very helpful afterwards.

Try out additional scenarios using online calculators so your young mentees can see the big differences. Show paying higher amounts to see how much less the interest charges are and how much more quickly it's paid off.

These credit card calculations with positive coaching can make a HUGE difference for kids' futures. It motivates most people to make higher payments toward getting rid of the debt. It sheds a new light on spending decisions, too. And that's more than an ounce of prevention!

April's Financial Literacy Month

We can all help raise the financial literacy of young people by sharing a few helpful lessons. It's a great reinforcement for our own mindfully good habits with money, too. Teaching about adequate savings is also important. Keeping spending in control is the key to being able to create savings. Without that, all too often savings doesn't happen at all.

Preventing credit card debt is a great place to start as a money mentor/coach. Why not celebrate finishing your taxes by doing a little mentoring?

When you've got a computer as your teaching and mentoring tool, it's a powerful ally. Kids are more likely to "listen" to it in a meaningful way, especially if they participate in the interactions. 

Best wishes as a learner and a mentor during April - financial literacy month!

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Got Murk? Get Clarity.

 
Murk may not leave the white mustache of the old "Got Milk" ad campaign, but it does leave a fog that keeps us from seeing things we may need to see. This article's goal is to bring a sparkle of mindful mental health about money.

Money issues can sure get murky. Sometimes it's a challenge just trying to keep track of what is coming in and where it's going. Then there's all the complexities of taxes, spending, saving, fluctuating income, investments and projections of future growth or expenditures.

Add to that the sometimes unconscious meanings we've given to money, and the murkiness is quite impressive! Without being consciously aware of the meanings we've given money over our unique lifetimes, it's impossible NOT to have a fuzzy view somewhere along the line.

In the mountain photo above we see those in the forefront most clearly and the murky, hazy ones lie farther in the distance (if you can't see the photo, right click on 'x' in the box above).

Our money lives are similar to this mountain terrain. Typically, we're more clear about our money in the near-view, or present picture. Even there, the details can be hidden from view which can be costly.

This is true whether we're living as a single person, a member of a big family, or anywhere in between. As we try to visualize the more distant future, it gets murky like the more distant mountains.

How do we clear away the murk? Seek prosperity clarity. Prosperity means a thriving condition, so it's much more than just stashing money. Take these steps:

The first step is to focus in chunks of time. You can't master the past, present, and future simultaneously.

The Past: The best thing to do with the past is to learn from it but not live in it. At times, the murk exists because of consequences brought on by incorrect information or money mistakes that take longer to fix than it did to make them in the first place.

If you've never made a money mistake, skip to the article about perfection!

Otherwise if you're like the rest of us, keep the GEM process in mind to clear out any murkiness with your cognitive habits about money. Our thoughts guide us whether we're conscious of them or not. Often they need some murk-clearing exercises. Use the GEM steps for that:

1. Gather Essential Memories
2. Gain Enlightened Meanings
3. Generate Empowered Movement

Essential memories are those that are vivid and stand out. Ones from childhood, especially, may have left you with an inaccurate conclusion of their meaning. There are infinite examples of these about money.

Many clients who've done the GEM process with me are happy to share them in our newsletter.  We can all learn from the experience of others and I'm happy to have created a process that makes it easier to do on your own once you learn how to move through it.

You can uncover amazing insights by reflecting on your life experience using this structure. 
Don't forget this important sub-GEM in the process:
Graciously Embrace Mistakes.

What does that mean? It means acknowledge your mistakes and be compassionate in your correction of them. It's not useful or productive to beat yourself up repeatedly over mistakes. Embrace the lessons they teach so they can serve to prevent recurrences. Create your modified plan using your new and improved rules to live by.

The Present: Increase conscious awareness about our materialistic culture. Has it gotten you caught up in excess spending? Try the RIP acronym: Resist Impulse Purchases. They rip off your future security and they're like sugar - the more you have it, the more you crave it!

Learn to discern. As basic as it sounds, it's important to consistently discern the difference between wants and needs. Remember, frugality helps with environmental sustainability also.

The Future: If your retirement projection analysis shows a shortage in your future, change your old rules and habits to new ones to start making up that shortage. It is highly stressful to be old and out of money. That impulse buy of today, saved instead of spent could be the future plane ticket you can afford to buy to visit your new grandchild. Small money is bigger money if it's saved for the future. You'll need it!

Start making a written note of any item you've been tempted to buy on impulse. Refuse to buy it. Wait 24-48 hours and reflect on it from a true need and true affordability standpoint. Most items actually fit into the "Want" category. After a cooling off period, you can more easily Resist Impulse Purchases.

Treat your money well today so it does the same for you in the future!

Changing a Fool Rule

Eureka! Discover a gem from your memories! In preparing for a workshop years ago about empowering change, I revisited an old memory. It was from a time I was punished for talking about money when I was in elementary school.

The experience was so frightening, that it left me with the impression that money should never be talked about - with anyone. That was a distorted conclusion, and thankfully I finally realized it in early adulthood. But throughout my twenties, I thought I was somehow supposed to operate silently on the subject of money management.

Here's the little rhyme that succinctly tells that tale:

"You're not supposed to talk about money!"

I felt his fury; this wasn't funny.

So I kept quiet for 20 years,

And buried my puzzling money fears.

Then came a day I knew I must speak,

For silence just took me up a creek.

I'd followed a very stupid rule,

That left me feeling like a fool.

The great thing was I could change it now;

I found my voice and pursued the "know how."

There's grace in learning, even from a mistake;

Forgive self and others; live fully awake.

You can learn to "inspire a rewire" of your own patterns of operation. This is critical for lifelong learning, personal and professional growth. The GEM process helps your internal and external prosperity by outlining three steps to reprogram your brain and emotions. Memories, Meaning, and Movement are all discussed in the e-book, Mindful Prosperity: GEM Guide to Mental Wealth.

It's available in the resources tab of www.mindfulplanning.com. You'll also find an online assessment that will reveal your eight money motives with a customized report to guide you on your journey. Have a look - you'll find new sparkle from the gems in your life!

 

The Heart of Your Money Personality: Keep it Ticking for Good

 

 

February is American Heart Month. I love speaking about how to engage your money personality for mental wealth and prosperity. When you uncover your core drivers, you can steer them to achieve lasting healthy habits with finances and other important decisions. It gets your choices naturally aligned with the heart of your values. And when aligned, your results come more easily and are lasting (instead of fleeting). In other words, "keep it ticking for good."   

I'll always remember a poster that hung above my desk when I was in my twenties. Maybe it was the big, lazy, relaxing gorilla that made it stick in my head. But I think it was the sheer truth of the poster's posed question that really did it. It read:

"Just when I knew all the answers, they changed all the questions!"

Leave it to a 20-something to even think for a moment they "knew all the answers." But beyond that, the truth seemed like it would be true forever. And thus far, it has been.

I'd modify the gorilla's wisdom a bit today. "Just when I knew a few answers, they changed all the questions!" The point is, we can never stop adapting to change.

This is true in your money life and in your deep money mindsets that direct important decisions for your life. At the heart of your money personality is the meanings you've assigned to money and its relationship to you.

As you continue maturing, take a peek inside your style drivers. Be a little bit brave and a lot honest. Do you have past memories or experiences that have misguided you? Perhaps you misinterpreted the meanings in some of your life experience.

A common one is in the assignment of personal worth to your net worth. Do you feel more valuable when you're making more money? Do you feel less valuable when you're making less money? Stand back and decide it's time to keep these two things separate.

Your human value has nothing to do with money. Yes, money can open opportunities and reduce certain financial stressors. But your self worth comes from within. Keep it ticking for good.

Know your human assets and embrace them. These are your:

• natural talents,
• important relationships,
• health and energy,
• values and integrity

Your human assets should guide what you do with your financial assets. When the two are in alignment, you'll be better able to overcome obstacles, achieve goals, and enjoy life. Keep boldly changing the questions. You'll find more of your heart that way. It'll keep you from being like the lazy gorilla. Because your energy will be fresh and fit the true you.

One of the definitions of heart is courage. It takes courage to continually pursue what's in your heart. The rewards are lasting and joyful. When you keep it ticking for good, it expands beyond your own life and brings lasting treasures into the lives of others as well. Keep it. Ticking. For Good!

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This is a popular seminar topic. If you'd like me to present it at your event, call 952-432-4666 or email [email protected].

 

 

Motivated Asset Pattern - Sample MAP Personality Summary Page

 

Money Motive Descriptions

NOTE: This page provides an abbreviated summary of the eight money motive styles. Be sure to read your additional report pages showing your top scoring personality styles for additional information and strategies. They will provide further guidance and strategies for integrating this information into your financial planning.

Prestige Motives seek achievement and a quality of life that provides them with the freedom to spend on upscale items and have success recognized. This causes them to avoid mediocrity – anything perceived to be of poor quality or image. This may drive a pattern of spending that leads to the stress of debt and eventual loss of adequate financial resources needed for future necessities.

Spontaneity Motives seek to be free from feeling constrained or deprived. Natural at embracing pleasure and living for the moment, this style may avoid internalizing the benefits of longer-term savings.  This tends to drive an imbalance of impulse purchases or a lack of discipline in other money management decisions.  If loss or debt occurs, it can cause a feeling of discouragement that perpetuates the cycle rather than making needed adjustments.

Peace Motives seek calm and freedom from conflict, yet they often feel conflicted about money due to their own clashing desires or goals. Peace seeking usually motivates a cooperative and flexible style. The preference to avoid conflict, however, may drive inconsistent choices with money. This can be in several categories: spending vs. saving; long-term vs. short-term; high vs. low risk tolerance; slow and consistent vs. rushed and unpredictable.

Simplicity Motives seek uncomplicated clarity and ease. They avoid details often due to overloaded schedules and perception of demands. With money management, this often drives shortcut methods that seem to work well in the short term, but may result in procrastination or errors over longer times. This motive pattern creates an impressive focus on many interests that compete with optimal money management.

Virtue Motives seek moral excellence, even superiority at times. They will typically avoid materialism and feel concerned that wealth creates negative consequences such as greed. The behavior this can drive is choosing more modest income and reluctance to grow higher net worth. Financial abundance may trigger uneasiness or guilt and cause actions that sabotage financial growth or security.

Security Motives seek certainty and protection in their financial matters. This will cause them to avoid loss and perhaps drive spending or investing decisions that are too narrow or limiting.  Since absolute certainty or predictability is hard to come by, they’ll worry about loss at the expense of gain, or feel insecure even when things are going well. Security motives contribute positive traits such as pragmatism and discipline.

Control Motives seek authority to regulate or restrain financial actions that threaten their sense of order. Control styles tend to be organized and precise. Behavior is programmed to avoid perceived chaos or fluctuation in investments because it triggers uneasiness due to concern for maximum future preparedness. This will drive actions to avoid debt and breed reluctance to spend or properly diversify investments.

Growth Motives seek to increase their financial results, especially investment gains and creating a higher net worth. This may cause them to avoid low returns or proper diversification and drive their pursuit of higher returns. Growth motives are quite positive as long as they don’t need constant growth to feel satisfied. That can cause a pattern of losses from choosing poor investments that consistently underperform due to excessive risks.

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For more information about the Motivated Asset Pattern Assessment, email [email protected].

10 Tips to Financial Health

When you “urge to splurge” or “crave to save,” the first trick to assessing whether to act on it is to determine if it’s driven by a belief that may be distorted or unrealistic. We may have received messages from our culture or key people in our lives that have carved out some mischievous traits in our habits. Get the math done that answers the question of “how much” saving and spending is right for you.

 

 

1.   Know your dominant money personality “rascals” and strive for balance.      When one is overly dominant and steering you in the same direction too often, lopsided results happen. Borrow some traits from other types to find balance.

 

2.   Resist Impulse Purchases (RIP) – they rip off the savings you need to build.    Write down the item and refuse to buy it until you’ve had a 48-hour cooling off period. Remember to estimate the true cost of the item (interest earned vs. paid).

 

3.   Use the “Pampered Buck™” & “Dollar Holler™ questions in decision-making.  Ask yourself, “Is this taking good care of my money, so it will take good care of me?” and “What would my healthy money say to me about this decision if it could talk?”

 

4.   Avoid using credit cards to overspend. Run several examples to learn the costs.    Visit www.moneyrascals.com to use the FREE calculators that show how much interest you’ll pay over time. Try several scenarios to see how paying a little bit more each time pays off the balance a lot sooner and saves you tons in interest charges.

 

5.   Be ‘AHA’ driven. Heighten your values-awareness and align actions with them. Your life satisfaction and results will improve when Actions Honor Awareness.

 

6.   Be organized enough to find important records & buy yourself peace of mind. Studies show people who can do that are happier (Roper 2002).

 

7.   Assess and put in place enough life insurance to pay debts & replace lost income. Don’t procrastinate! And don’t guess. Have the amount calculated by a professional, or use programs that build in all the future value and other money factors you need.

 

8.   Contribute to qualified retirement plans so you get a break on income taxes. Make time your ally instead of your enemy. The longer your money grows, the less you have to put in and the sooner you achieve financial freedom.

 

9.   Know what it takes to “get there” by matching your goals with time and money. Social Security is not a retirement plan. Know your future income needs and get the amount you need to save calculated, so you know how to apply savings and spending.

 

10. Use The Power in Your Money Personality/Money Rascals book to get fit for good! Lose your financial baggage & think of changing from the inside out as an adventure.

 

© 2009 Susan Zimmerman, ChFC, LMFT. 14530 Pennock Av, St. Paul, MN 55124. 952-432-4666 for plan help. Published in Speaking of Women’s Health Tips book, Cincinnati, OH, 2004.

Money Rascals: Flasher Rasher Asher Basher Clasher Dasher Casher Stasher

Visit www.mindfulplanning.com , www.mindfulspeaking.com, and www.raysofhope.us. Email [email protected].

Tax Tips for 2010 and 2011

Have you ever noticed that you take great care of people, but if your money could talk, it might whine or complain? A seminar attendee laughed as we did the “dollar holler exercise.” She shared that her money would stomp its feet and yell, “I feel neglected!” That’s when “the money nanny” was born. Good retirement savings advice is like a nurturing nanny who gives your long-term plans a kind dose of discipline. It’s like a little money makeover for financial security down the road.  

Almost any time is a good time to include smart, tax-deductible savings to your financial resolutions. Or perhaps you can give your current savings amount a raise. According to a Money magazine poll conducted recently, saving more money was a top financial goal.  

Self-Employed choices: There are rules for funding qualified plans for employees when contributing to a retirement plan for yourself. Keep in mind there are penalties if you make withdrawals from most retirement plans before age 59 ½. Below are some of the most common plans for the self-employed that offer deductible contributions and tax-deferred growth (you don’t pay taxes on the earnings until you withdraw the money):

SEP. A Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) may be right for you if you are a solo practitioner with no employees. You can put away up to 25% of your net income, up to a set dollar limit that is periodically raised to keep pace with inflation. For 2010 and 2011, the annual contribution dollar limit for a SEP is $49,000.

SIMPLE. The annual contribution limit for 2010 and 2011 is $11,500 ($14,000 if you are 50 or older). SIMPLE stands for Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees. It requires you to match employees’ contributions up to 3% of pay.

Salary Deferral Plans: If you are not self-employed, your employer may have a 457, 401(k), or 403(b)plan in which you can participate. For 2010 & 2011, the annual contribution limit is $16,500.

IRA: You don’t have to be self-employed to have an Independent Retirement Account (IRA). There are two kinds of IRAs, summarized below:

Traditional IRA: The maximum contribution for 2010 & 2011 is $5000. Deductibility of your IRA if you are a participant in a qualified retirement plan depends on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). Some IRAs are not deductible at all if income is too high, so be sure to assess that at decision and tax time. If you are 50 or older, you can put an additional $1000 into an IRA.

Roth IRA. While not tax-deductible, your money grows tax-free and withdrawals are tax-free in retirement. In 2010&11, the maximum contribution is $5000 ($6000 if you are 50 or older). Not all people are eligible for Roth IRAs, if their joint MAGI exceeds a certain amount. 

Nifty 50. You may have noticed that the plans listed above have catch-up provisions if you are age 50 or older. So there are advantages to growing older! You can put more tax-deductible money away than the younger folks. Now, if you can just find the extra dollars to stash away.

There are many details around retirement plan provisions. Professional guidance from a qualified advisor who can help you consider all your options can be a big help. Even when you know which plan type fits you best for tax and income considerations, choosing the best investment mix is vital to the long-term performance of your accounts. Tax savings combined with good asset allocation makes a big difference in how your money grows over time.

When you take good care of your money now, it takes good care of you later. Don’t let anything cause you to procrastinate. Time can be your best ally when it comes to growing your money.

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Susan Zimmerman is also known as “the fiscal therapist” in her seminars about mindful planning. She is a Licensed Therapist & Chartered Financial Consultant who helps people achieve clarity and financial prosperity. Contact Susan or her partner, Steve Zimmerman, ChFC, CFP, for your plan advice.

Encouragement and Productivity

Encourage means to support; or to inspire with courage and hope. Recently a person who attended my encouragement seminar said she found the stories I shared were "beyond inspiring" - that they gave her confidence to take actions she'd been putting off.

In the opening section of the book by David McNally, Even Eagles Need a Push, the story is told of a mother eagle nudging her offspring to the edge of the nest so they would fly. She pushes them one by one out of the nest...and they soared. It was the PUSH that made all the difference.

He writes of the PUSH, "Sometimes we need it. Sometimes we need to give it." We can all picture the mother eagle and I think one of the most important visuals of that image is to imagine giving yourself that nudge to take flight.

We all need the encouragement of others at certain times in our lives. It is even more vital to learn to encourage ourselves. It is what can make all the difference in certain turning points of life.

To be encouraged means simply to "have courage." Courage is the ability to conquer fear or despair; to face adversity with confidence. We can succeed even if we have to borrow the confidence others may have in us to take important action steps.

You can also turn discouraging times into motivational action. 'Dis' means to deprive of or throw away. Think back on times when you may have been "deprived of or thrown away" courage. What happened? You didn't take the action you needed to, did you? If you think of discouragement with that meaning, it can empower you to take back your courage when you need it most.

Think in terms of "embracing encourAGEment" at every age. When you embrace anything, you encircle and include it. Most of us have more courage than we realize. Trust its existance and you'll discover a whole new universe of productivity.

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"Susan's presentation on encouragement was just what I needed to hear. We all need encouragement to give us that extra push to follow our path. She offered some great tools and handouts that are helpful in my work and family life. I loved her stories and the inspiration!"

Lynn Koll, Business Owner

"Green Screen" Your Way to Savings

Have you ever vowed to yourself that you’d stop buying on impulse but then found yourself with a cart full of items when you were at the store for a single bottle of shampoo?  Do you feel unmotivated by budgets and "numb to numbers?" If so, you’re not alone.

Besides budget balancing and debt elimination motivation, there is another powerful one you can incorporate into your shopping habits. I call it the “green screen.” And it’s a wonderful way to get out of the red and stay in the black.

The green screen will help you screen your purchases to be environmentally motivated. It will help you eliminate clutter and conserve your money and the earth’s resources at the same time.

A lighter footprint for a more balanced lifestyle

Many of us are on a steep learning curve when it comes to environmental sustainability. When we consider the way the earth's resources are being depleted and damaged, it can be very motivational to control spending so as to leave a "lighter footprint."

In the video, "Story of Stuff" (www.storyofstuff.com) by Annie Leonard, you'll find many easy-to-grasp statistics that are very compelling. Here are just a few:

• In the United States, people spend three to four times more hours shopping than other countries
• Americans have more stuff but are less happy, have less time and less friends than in other countries
• For every single garbage can of stuff you throw out, it took 70 garbage cans of stuff to make it
• Six months after the sale of most products, only 1 percent are still in use
• Landfills can't keep up with the waste

Apply the "green screen" as another thought process when you shop for anything. You’ll incorporate conscientious consuming as a way to reduce purchases for items you don't really need. This saves money and gives you a fresh reason for discerning the difference between wants and needs.

Consider this information provided by Katie Galloway-Thoele, Earth Fund Manager of the Aveda Corporation:

·          Bottled water is no more safe or healthy than tap water in the US

·          Drinking the recommended daily amount of water using bottled water can cost an average of $1,400 per year; drinking the same amount from the tap costs around 49 cents per year.

 

·          40% of bottled water is tap water anyway.

Apply this kind of savings to pay off credit cards or invest in your retirement fund or other savings.  Screen for green an you've got meaningful new motivations to resist impulse buys and create some future financial freedom as well.

To calculate future values, debt payoff and other analysis, go to www.mindfulplanning.com and click on the calculators tab at the top of the page. It’s anonymous, free, and easy!

Hopscotch your way through the slumps

When times get tough in the economy or in your life challenges, shine up your inner gem!  Just when you thought you’d finally gotten in the groove of your life cycle, it all changed and went topsy turvy on you. When circumstances slump, so does your spirit.

How do you shine up your inner gem? Go to the sparkle that’s been there making you unique and wonderful almost forever. Ask yourself what lit up your day when you were about six years old. One sales rep, I’ll call her Kelly, didn’t miss a beat to that question. She yelled, “Hopscotch!” Kelly said she simply adored the charted squares and triangles and delighted in the motions as she progressed along. It was the action, not the reward that kept her going. This vivid memory served her as metaphor to finding renewed enthusiasm for her work.

In her work life, Kelly was in a sales slump, getting discouraged and scared. I asked what she paid attention to the most – her sales or her activities leading up to them. She said it was her sales income that was preoccupying her.

I asked her how much she would have liked hopscotch if she ignored the joy of the hopping motion and was only ever reaching for a score. Her answer made her face light up. She chirped, “That would have taken all the fun out of it!”  Using hopscotch as a metaphor for her current sales life, Kelly began to keep track of her “hops” in a new way. She envisioned each call, contact, or mailing as a hop. The joy of low tech became her new tool. She drew a hopscotch chart on a blank sheet of paper and began ticking off her sales activities on the chart daily. Each time she made a hop, she consciously told herself, “This is fun!”

Perhaps you can guess what happened. Her activity increased and her slump decreased. Instead of aiming her emotional energy on her declining commissions due to a downturn, she focused on the inner sparkle of the game. Her natural joy of positive motion brought renewed enthusiasm to which prospects responded favorably. This, in turn, heightened Kelly’s ability to sharpen her additional sales skills and perform more effectively at all stages of the sale.

We all have infinite gems in our life experience and our natural personality. Sometimes a positive memory can get us back on track when we’ve been derailed. Make the connection and link it to what you need the most. The countless benefits of a new perspective will help both your inner and outer sales process.  

Everyone has a completely unique mosaic of life stories. Revisit them and you’ll likely find new resources right inside your own mighty brain and soul. Learn to process your stories back and forth and you’ll discover a treasure chest of tools for your inner sales sparkle!

Contact Susan about her GEM e-book, so you can Generate Empowered Movement whenever you need it.