All posts by Amira Alvarez

5 Unconventional Ways to Easily (and Consistently) Create Great Content

By Amira Alvarez Part of running a successful business is putting out great content consistently. Whether you're creating video training courses, writing newsletters, submitting articles to magazine or developing presentations or pitches to JV partners, Boards of Trustees, or investors... you need to be able to produce great content and you need to…
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Creating Easy

Part of running a successful business is putting out great content consistently.

Whether you’re creating video training courses, writing newsletters, submitting articles to magazine or developing presentations or pitches to JV partners, Boards of Trustees, or investors… you need to be able to produce great content and you need to be able to do it easily.

Not being able to do this can really hang you up, take up a huge amount of time, and generally spin you out.

(If you’re spinning out about this or anything else in your business, I offer you a 5 minute mindset tool that will completely stop your spinout. Get it here.)

We don’t want that. Instead of struggling with this, let’s figure out how to approach this necessary component of your business with ease.

I’ve compiled five of my favorite, unconventional strategies for creating your content easily. They’re unconventional because they go against some of the tried and true methods that are out there. They are my own particular twists and innovations that I’ve used to make my creative production faster, easier, and more true to my own spirit and message.  

Since I believe in creating ease in my business, I pay attention to when things are easier for me. That’s where many of my innovations often start and this leads us to tip #1…

Tip #1: Pay attention to when things are easy for you.    

There is so much to learn by simply paying attention to when things are easy for you. You’ll notice all sorts of patterns. 

How do you find it’s easiest for you to write your blog posts, do your videos, draft your courses, finish your book, build your powerpoint presentations?

For me, I’m super creative and alive in the mornings. It’s when I do my best writing and content creation. It just all spills out so easily. The creative downloads pour in and it appears that I just channel the info and viola, out it comes. Easily.  

For you, is it after you’ve meditated? Is it following a great inspiring conversation with someone? Is it during a walk? (I often compose entire pieces in my head while walking and talk them into my phone for editing later.)

Conventional wisdom says work needs to be hard and a struggle. I believe we can always find an easy (or easier) approach that works for us. 

Tip #2: Know your daily rhythms and energy cycles and work with them, rather than against them. 

For instance, it often feels like an uphill struggle for me to do my big content creation in the afternoons. That’s not when my energy is conducive to creative expression, so I don’t do that anymore. 

For a long time though, I tried to force myself to create content whenever I had time, including the afternoons. Conventional wisdom says make use of ever free moment you have.

Yet, I found that it actually took me longer and was depleting to do this kind of work in the afternoons. This in turn created an even larger energy drain and thus had many negative follow-on repercussions. 

Tip #3: Set up your schedule to support what works for you. 

For me this means getting up early and having 4 hours of uninterrupted me time before my first client call. I don’t book any calls prior to 9:30 in the morning. Conventional wisdom says make yourself widely (always) available to clients so you don’t “lose the sale.” But in actuality, you do everyone a disservice by not creating space for your important business development work.

[By the way, not all of that time is content creation time… there’s breakfast, walks with the dog, and the mindset practices and centering rituals I use for myself. This is part of how I set myself up for success every day. The point is, I consciously created my schedule this way. I developed it to work for me, rather than being fear driven or reactive to what I think others may want.]

Another example of this is that I used to think that I needed to set aside a whole day for content creation or block out a weekend to create a month’s worth of newsletters, for instance. I’m seduced by this idea. It makes so much sense, yet it never works for me. (It might for you though!) That’s not how it’s easy for me to create content. It feels like a struggle and I don’t want that struggle energy in my business or my content. Instead, I chose a structure that works for me. What structure would work for you?

Tip #4: Pay attention to the ideas and interactions that strike you throughout the day. 

For instance, this series of tips was sparked by a comment in one of the threads in my Facebook group a few days ago. I had a distinct thought… “Oh, I could share my experience with her” and today, it popped in my mind again… so I followed it. Easy. 

What’s hard for me is going back to a list of titles or ideas I’ve got written down that no longer have a spark for me. This works for some people (and is suggested by many experts) but I tried it and it didn’t work for me. (If it works for you, do it!) 

However you work best with your inspirations, do that! The key point is to pay attention to those ideas… don’t blow them off. They’re beautiful gifts!

Tip #5: Have a very distinct and friendly audience in mind. 

For instance, I often start my writing on Facebook with the female entrepreneurs in my group as my audience. I know them well through all our interactions, so writing becomes like a conversation. I then take it and use it elsewhere. I augment it and develop it. This is a tool that helps me get over any formality blocks that tend to come up for me and block my creative expression. 

Conventional wisdom says to speak directly to your ideal client. It’s great advice… but not if it causes writer’s block or keeps you from actually creatively expressing yourself. Take the pressure off and imagine a very friendly audience who “gets you.”

Maybe you it’s your BFF that you pretend to speak to when you do your video? Maybe you could imagine presenting to your networking group that you know well when you do your podcast? Maybe you imagine a room full of your enthusiastic ideal clients reading your content on their laptops? Maybe it’s the always supportive board member who’s got your back?

Keep a well-known, friendly audience in mind and speak directly to them as you create your content. When you imagine speaking to a friendly audience, you quickly get over the fear of “saying it wrong.” You have rapport with them and know they understand you and are forgiving. 

There you go… 5 somewhat unconventional tips to get you in the flow and consistently producing your great content.

This is how I’ve made creating content something that gives me energy rather than saps me of energy. 

Some of these ideas goes against the tried and true advice that’s out there. But you know what? I’d rather do it my way and have it be easier. You too?

Figure out what works for you and do that!

Amirablack xoxo

 

 

Are you in the maybe??

By Amira Alvarez Commitment is part of what makes the quantum leap possible. Are you wholly embracing and showing up for what you want? When you're not fully in the YES of what you want, then you're in the maybe or the no. 'Maybe' doesn't cut it. It's the 'maybe' that gets us…
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Inspiration

Commitment is part of what makes the quantum leap possible.

Are you wholly embracing and showing up for what you want?

When you’re not fully in the YES of what you want, then you’re in the maybe or the no.

‘Maybe’ doesn’t cut it.

It’s the ‘maybe’ that gets us in trouble.

It’s the wanting but not stepping into the actualizing of your dream or goal.

Its a “sort of” liminal land that hurts and is painful. Sometimes we hang out here a long time. Sometimes for a lifetime. (This feels like crap. Don’t do this.)

We fence sit in rationale decisions and safe choices.

But it hurts. Good gawd it hurts. It’s that painful feeling in your heart when you want something but deny it to yourself.

It’s the dashing of dreams, the saying… “No, you can’t have what you want.”

You’ll survive it. But it hurts. And that discontent? It doesn’t really get better until you fully embrace your desire.

This does NOT mean stopping at “I have a goal” or “I have a dream” or “This is what I want.”

That’s the beginning, yet that is not enough.

You need to COMMIT through your choices and actions, through how you show up every day.

It means taking action in alignment with your desires consistently.

This looks like showing up everyday and taking action toward achieving your desire. Not frenetic action. Clear, aligned action.

This means making CHOICES that move your toward your desire… not away, not more of the same.

This means investing resources, your time and money, into your dream.

Sometimes this means making a bold decision, something that scares the pants off of you, yet it forces you to step into your dream.

And when you do this, when you step up and commit, you activate the processes involved in making the quantum leap in your business.

You are making a bold stand for what you want.

You are saying loudly and clearly YES and it resonates for the world to hear.

With love and light, ease and grace,

Amira

 

 

Take the Risk, Step into the Unknown

By Amira Alvarez If you want to move forward in your business and you see your next step, what do you do? You take it. That seems obvious. Yet often the next step is moving into the unknown. It's doing something new, something that we have no experience with (yet), that we're not…
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Inspiration

If you want to move forward in your business and you see your next step, what do you do?

You take it. That seems obvious.

Yet often the next step is moving into the unknown.

It’s doing something new, something that we have no experience with (yet), that we’re not sure of.

New = change. Change = risk. Risk = danger. Danger = potential for hurt, pain, death.

And down the rabbit hole we go.

This is where we stop ourselves. This is how we deny ourselves our dreams.

The answer lies in part in acting in faith instead. Acting on what we consciously want and desire. Taking that step, despite the unknowns, the risks, the potential for hurt.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

You need to take that risk and step into the unknown (on the daily) in order to GROW your business. There’s no other way.

What can you say yes to today in faith despite the uncertainty of not knowing how it’s going to play out and in honor of your desires for your business and your SELF?

Small or large, what is this?

Amira

 

 

Clarity = Cash Flow

By Amira Alvarez Clarity is so important. It's the state you want to be in to get the results you want in your business. Confusion leads to haziness, doubt, worry, fear, "stuckness", inaction, and not achieving the results you say you want. Confusion is NOT the same as not knowing. You can be…
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Tips of the Trade

Clarity is so important. It’s the state you want to be in to get the results you want in your business.

Confusion leads to haziness, doubt, worry, fear, “stuckness”, inaction, and not achieving the results you say you want.

Confusion is NOT the same as not knowing.

You can be in a state of not knowing without being confused. Simply not knowing is a peaceful, allowing state, of not having the answer yet. It is a clear state and it brings in answers. There is no mental or emotional noise.

Confusion is the noise.

It vibrates at a different level than clarity. You can feel the difference.

If you want to have different results in your business (more money, more clients, more sales, more ease, more free time, etc) and don’t have them, you are confused about something.

Do what you need to to clear up your confusion.

Dig. Think. Get help.

Ask…

What am I unclear about? What is causing this confusion? Where is the internal conflict?

You’ll probably want to ask this numerous times, digging ever deeper.

If you don’t see the point of confusion for yourself, that’s not uncommon.

The confusion or blind spot in your thinking often sits squarely in a place that’s wrapped up in our deeply engrained mindsets (thinking) of how the world works, of how business works, of what we must do, of what’s possible… so we don’t see it ourselves.

This keeps us from making quantum leaps in our business.

My advice to you?

Keep seeking clarity wherever there is confusion.

This is what I do with my clients because when you’re clear, right action comes easily and the results you want happen. And quickly.

The clarity piece though is the heavy lifting. I won’t kid you.

This takes focused, yet gentle and respectful attention. It takes commitment. It’s an investment.

Yet, one that’s so worth it.

It requires staying in the room and continuing to ask “what is not clear here?” until you get to the source.

Stay committed to this and you’ll see your results (including your cash flow) skyrocket.

Amira

 

 

It’s kind of obvious… now take action…

By Amira Alvarez The action comes before the receiving. That's the order of events. It seems kind of obvious... if we want dinner, we make dinner. If we want to go to the library, we walk or drive there. There is some sort of action that takes place *before* we get what we…
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Tips of the Trade

The action comes before the receiving. That’s the order of events.

It seems kind of obvious… if we want dinner, we make dinner. If we want to go to the library, we walk or drive there. There is some sort of action that takes place *before* we get what we want.

Sometimes it’s a very easy and automatic action, like the two examples above.

You already are someone who cooks and walks, so you just do it. It’s obvious. We don’t even think about it as “doing” something. But we have most definitely done something. There is action.

But let’s say you want something that you’ve never experienced before where the action isn’t as known or automatic.

Maybe you want an amazingly intimate and passionate relationship or you want to TRIPLE your income or you want that new position at work, something that you desire, but have never had or done before?

You still have to take action. Kind of obvious when we put it like this.

Yet so often we take action that is not associated with our desired result, but with our current experience.

We keep doing the same thing we’ve always done and we expect different results.

We assume that our desire for it is enough. That our partner will make the first step, that our boss will recognize our potential, that people will flock to our business.

This isn’t how it works.

You have to BE the person who does the kind of actions associated with this desire. (Not actions associated with another desire or your current experience.)

You have to BE an intimate and passionate partner. You have to BE the person who has that position at work. You need to BE the person who makes three times what she is making now.

This new way of being is what leads to the action that leads to the actual result you want.

So how do you BE in a way that you haven’t up until now? Or in a way that you have limited experience with?

You ACT AS IF.

You BE THE CHANGE.

Ask yourself, who would I need to be to be someone who has… (what you desire)?

What comes up for you? What’s her life like? What is she doing? What is she saying? How is she acting? What is her energy? What is her environment? How is she interacting with her environment? What are her daily habits? How does she show up?

Get really clear about that. See it. Feel it. Know it.

This is what you need to BE now.

Start to create this in your life now. Start acting like that person.

This change in BEING is what comes first. It leads to the actions and the results.

To have the change (the result you want), you need to BE the change.

Amira

 

 

5 Ways To Snap Out Of Money Anxiety Fast

By Amira Alvarez Personal story here, I get struck by a serious case of money anxiety sometimes. Not to brag or be bigger than thou or anything like that, but I’m doing fine financially. I've got a nice little nest egg. Everything is going to work out. So, this money anxiety was mental…
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Tips of the Trade

Personal story here, I get struck by a serious case of money anxiety sometimes.

Not to brag or be bigger than thou or anything like that, but I’m doing fine financially. I’ve got a nice little nest egg. Everything is going to work out.

So, this money anxiety was mental shift of energy, a mindset shift and it was completely effing up my business.

I got out of it quickly and today I want to take you through the 5 steps I took to immediately snap out of my money anxiety.

 

 

Video Transcript – 5 Ways to Snap Out of Money Anxiety Fast

I was stopping the flow. No money was coming in. What’s was up? This was really driving me crazy.

And not only that, but my husband was also triggered. He was in money anxiety as well. So, the two of us together had this cray-cray energy around money and scarcity. This wasn’t like me and it wasn’t like how I like to show up in the world and it wasn’t so productive, not at all.

So, I reached out and got help from my mastermind, coaches, colleagues, friends, you name it. I got some great tips and they’re all tips that I have given people myself, that I’ve coached people with myself… and I thought, “What the hey! If I wasn’t seeing exactly what I needed to do in the moment and I have coached people on this, this must be something that everyone needs to hear again and again and again.”

So, some of the stuff might be new to you, but I want you to approach it with a beginner’s mind, an open mindset, and an open heart, especially if you’re in the money anxiety right now. I just want you to take it in. Take in these five steps and start acting on them. These little shifts of energy will help you tremendously. And, if these ideas are new to you, great. I’d love push you along and move you through your path a little bit quicker here by introducing them to you.

Okay, so, without further ado, the five steps to snapping out of your money anxiety quickly. Because you know what? I got out of this in an hour yesterday. I boom, done, complete and you can do this too.

Step #1: Forgiveness

Your first step is forgiveness. This is a concept that many people teach. I teach my clients forgiveness in-depth. We use it very specifically to move through issues. But, in this case around the money anxiety, really quickly, I just want you to articulate in your mind, (and I like to use a pad and pen also as it helps me focus and clarify) who you’re blaming for your money anxiety.

Is it your husband? Your mother? Your father? Your uncle who didn’t pay the loan back? The babysitter that charges too much, the taxes that you have to pay, the clients who have not shown up, the clients who’ve shown up but haven’t paid?

Whatever it is that you are triggered by I want you to write out a list and forgive them, just forgive them. You’re not saying that it’s right. You are not saying that it’s great. You’re not saying you want more of it. You’re just saying, “I release you.” Okay. That’s all it is.

I also want you to forgive yourself. Forgive yourself for holding on to this blame or whatever part you’ve played in creating this money anxiety for yourself.

For instance, for me yesterday, I had to forgive myself for not paying my tax bill right away. I made a lot more money last year in my business and so my tax bill was a lot higher. I tripled my income last year and I was holding off paying my tax bill. We did our taxes months ago but I was holding off paying my tax bill because I felt like “I need to hold onto the money, like we shouldn’t spend that yet. Let’s hold off.” This was something that my husband was really keen on doing. “Let’s wait. Let’s wait. Let’s wait.” And I just went along with it.

I had to forgive myself agreeing to that, making that decision, choosing that as my path because it completely wonked up my energy around money. Why? Because every time I thought about our money situation, I thought of our tax bill, this big debt that we owed and that was completely counter-productive to how I want to show up in the world and the energy associated with bringing money in, flow, and abundance.

To stay focused on the scarcity and the debt is just completely counter to your flow. So, forgiveness is step number one. Do not pass go forgiveness. You have to do this. So, for me, I had to forgive my husband. I had to forgive myself. I had to forgive what I was making it mean, all of that.

Step #2: EFT

Step number two is EFT. A lot of people practice this. Here is a link to the EFT tapping script that I used yesterday. It’s a brilliant one. It’s beautiful. I’m not an EFT specialist so I’m going to leave that to the experts. And in that link you’ll see someone doing a great tapping script.

EFT, if you don’t know about, it is Emotional Freedom Technique and it’s fabulous. It helps shift your energy around whatever issue you’re having. It works on the meridians, the energy meridians of your body. It’s a little woo woo but I find that it really works. So, take a look at that. That’s step number two.

Step #3: Change Your Focus

Step number three is to focus on what’s working. Focus on what you want. Focus on the positive aspect of money in your life. Where do you have it? Where do you actually have it?

I actually have a ton of money saved, tons, okay. Again, not to show off or anything, but there was no reason to be in a money scarcity place. Focus on what you do have. Focus on what is working.

If you don’t have any money, okay, then focus on the things in your life that represent money, that are good, positive, abundant things in your life.

For instance, do have a house over your head? Do you have good relationships? Do you have lots of people who are engaging with you and could be in your sphere of influence and coming your way to be clients or customers? Things like that. Even things like, focusing on what you’re doing in your business that is leading to money, is a great place to focus.

This is just a shift of focus. If over here is scarcity and you’re thinking “I don’t have. I don’t have. I don’t have.” Or, “It’s not working. It’s not working. It’s not working.” You just want to do a 180° and shift your focus. “Here I am. I’m only focusing on this, what’s working.”

Step #4: Build a Bubble

This brings us to step number four, build a bubble. Okay, the logic people in the audience watching this are going to be like, “That’s not rational. That’s not right.” But I want you to build a bubble around yourself and only surround yourself with positive, supportive ideas and concepts.

One thing that I just cannot stand is fear based marketing. A lot of people out there support this kind of marketing and they make you afraid that you’re not keeping up, that you’re not doing enough, that things aren’t right in your world and that creates this energy of scarcity.
So I really want you to build a bubble and just surround yourself with super, super, super positive inputs, okay. This might mean not reading the newspapers. This might mean only surrounding yourself with people who are abundant energetically. I’m not saying you can only hang out with rich people. That’s not at all what I’m saying. I want you to build a bubble so that all you are engaged in are things that support your financial abundant mindset. So, if something is not working in your life you either solve it or you build a bubble around it because your energy right now is very fragile.

If you’re in a whole scarcity mindset thing, you need to be extra, extra careful around your energy and protecting it. We all, myself included, we can be triggered really, really quickly. So, don’t let that happen, okay?

So for me, yesterday my husband’s reaction totally triggered me. And, I couldn’t build a bubble around my husband, right? I couldn’t like say, “get out of my life. I don’t see you.” But I could build an energetic bubble.  I could think, “You know what, he’s doing great actually. He’s taking care of himself. He’s dealing with it as best he can.” That was the bubble I put around him and you know what, he snapped out of it by the end of the day, a little slower than me but he did snap out of it by the end of the day which was fantastic.

Step #5: Aligned Action

Step number five, aligned action. It’s time to take aligned action.

The fastest way to get out of your scarcity mindset is to stop wallowing and start acting. This doesn’t mean, let me clarify, let me be really, really, really, really super, super, super, super clear…. This does not mean that frenetic, frantic, kind of action. No way, no how.

This is about really grounding into your energy, really grounding into your being-ness and taking aligned action… action that moves you towards income generating activities. Taking action that is income generating from a place grounded in your being-ness.

So this is not about doing the big project that’s fifteen steps and will take three weeks to act on. This is about taking action to bring in money right now, the fastest, quickest, most specific action you can take right now. You want it to align with yourself and you want to make sure that you’re not in a frenetic scarcity mode. You want to really ground into your being-ness, your confidence, your knowledge of who you are.

So, those are my five ways to snap out of money anxiety fast. First one is forgiveness. Second one is EFT. Third one was focus on what you want and have already. Fourth was build a bubble. Inoculate yourself, kind of like surround yourself with only the good stuff and fifth, take aligned action.

Bonus Tip: Pay Your Bills

Here’s a little bonus tip. This has to do with taking aligned action… pay your bills.

Back to the first story that I told you about the tax bill that I had to pay. The moment we paid that, boom, freed up our energy and opened the channel. So, pay your bills. If you can’t pay your bills, pay some of your bills. Do something towards taking care of your money issues.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this. Thanks for watching. Mwah. Bye.

Amira