All posts by Elizabeth Knapp

Time Poor Or Time Rich?

By Amira Alvarez Yesterday I flew to beautiful Cape Cod, MA to host my Spirit of Wealth Mastermind and Masterclass retreat. Sitting in first class, the man next to me is talking on the phone to his assistant. He’s got this intense energy and is a bit agitated. I overhear something I feel…
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Business, Coaching, Creating Easy, Goals, Inspiration,

Yesterday I flew to beautiful Cape Cod, MA to host my Spirit of Wealth Mastermind and Masterclass retreat. Sitting in first class, the man next to me is talking on the phone to his assistant. He’s got this intense energy and is a bit agitated. I overhear something I feel like I can help him with, so I share a service recommendation and it leads to us talking about business.

All good. But here’s the thing I noticed though… when the plane stops at the gate, he jumps out of his seat and is really stressed to get his bag out of the overhead compartment. He’s immediately in a rush… but there’s no place to go.

We’re in the second row of first class and the door is still closed! The stress isn’t going to make that door open any quicker. There’s no one to elbow in front of. There’s no need to be agitated.

Now, I admit, I don’t know what’s going on for him. It could have been a crazy day… but in this experience what I saw was that he was behaving in a way that was very time poor, despite having a lot of money.

Let me just say, I noticed this because I used to be the same way! I used to have that same kind of response pattern…

I must stress, stress, stress and rush, rush, rush.

I’m proud of (mostly) not being like that anymore. But here’s the thing…

The change for me didn’t come as a result of making more money.

It wasn’t like the money changed me and I instantly became a chill person. Nope.

What happened was that I asked myself… What kind of person do I want to be? How do I want to live my life?

I didn’t want to be someone who lived in scarcity… whether that’s time scarcity or money scarcity.

You’re either going to be a frenetic human in the world who believes you don’t have time…

Or you’re going to be a creative agent in the world who determines how you want to show up in each and every moment. You know what I choose. ;-)

And this choice doesn’t have anything to do with how much money you’re making. Money just amplifies who you already are. So who are you going to be?

YOU are a creative agent and YOU get to choose how you show up.

Amira

Where To Focus Your Marketing Efforts

By Amira Alvarez One of the biggest places entrepreneurs get spun out is getting lost in the details of... what should I focus on?! Should I do videos or write posts? Should I do Facebook lives or pre-record them? Do I need to be on all the social media profiles or just a…
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Coaching, , ,

One of the biggest places entrepreneurs get spun out is getting lost in the details of… what should I focus on?! Should I do videos or write posts? Should I do Facebook lives or pre-record them? Do I need to be on all the social media profiles or just a few?

I get it, there are a lot of places we can put our time and attention that may give us more impact, engagement, and reach… but it doesn’t really matter if you’re wasting your time worrying about where to start rather than just getting started.

Here’s how to simplify it…

  • First, write down the things that you ENJOY doing and that are EASY for you.
  • Second, look at your RESULTS for what you’re already doing (or have done in the past). Really dig in. What do the numbers tell you? What of those things is WORKING? What’s not?
  • Lastly, DO MORE of the things you enjoy, and find easy, that also have a proven track record.

Do you like doing Facebook lives and see engagement and response from them?

Awesome! Make a list of topics and schedule time to do them each week.

Do you enjoy creating instagram graphics with written content?

Great! What needs to happen for you to do them more frequently?

Do you prefer to talk and create audios on topics your audience needs?

Perfect! Start a podcast, but keep it simple so you don’t get hung up on the tech.

It really doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing,  or how many options you have at your literal fingertips.

It matters what’s EASY and ALIGNED for YOU, and… MOST IMPORTANTLY… what WORKS.

Just DECIDE what it is that you’re doing and COMMIT to doing it.

Then be sure to track your numbers so you know what works and what doesn’t.

Amira

 

Exposing Exhaustion – Part Three

By Amira Alvarez “The degree to which a person can grow is in direct proportion to the amount of truth that he can accept about himself without running away.” ~Leland val van de wall As some of you know, I’ve been experiencing a lot of exhaustion. There’s a physical cause to it. Yes,…
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Coaching, Creating Easy,

“The degree to which a person can grow is in direct proportion to the amount of truth that he can accept about himself without running away.” ~Leland val van de wall

As some of you know, I’ve been experiencing a lot of exhaustion. There’s a physical cause to it. Yes, I’m working with a practitioner. All of that is real and true, yet, even so, I’m always looking for how we’re manifesting our current experiences.

This morning I asked myself: “if we create our outcomes because we’re always first cause… what am I doing to create this? How am I causing this?”

To answer this, first I look at are my results. What’s actually happening right now? What are my actual results right now?

I step out of the story and go super neutral with myself.

When I asked myself this, I identified many results, BUT the thing that dropped in for me was this: I was getting attention from being exhausted.

Now isn’t that interesting?! ;-)

It caused me to recognize a whole pattern from my childhood where, when I got physically ill, I got attention from my father. It wasn’t obvious until I really looked at what the result was from this current exhaustion. “Look at that! I’m getting attention. Interesting!!”

Zero judgment, zero shame, zero guilt. (All of that just keeps your patterns locked in place and doesn’t allow you to change them.)

Now, what do you do with it once you recognize the pattern?

You act differently and immediately.

You can still get the outcome that you want but you don’t have to be beholden to the patterns.

In this case, I will take different actions to build connection, which is what I truly want. I won’t use the exhaustion as a tool for that now that I’m consciously aware of it.

Yet you’re only able to do this when you get truly honest with yourself and look at your results. How much truth are you willing to accept? How much growth do you want? ;-)

Amira

 

This Shift Changed Everything For Me.

By Amira Alvarez I tell my ‘come to Jesus’ story all the time. How I used to work ass off, on the floor of my office, while cuddling with my dog (aka, covered in dog hair in a ratty tee-shirt and my too big pajama pants from the night before). How it was…
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Business, Coaching, Creating Easy, Desire

I tell my ‘come to Jesus’ story all the time.

How I used to work ass off, on the floor of my office, while cuddling with my dog (aka, covered in dog hair in a ratty tee-shirt and my too big pajama pants from the night before).

How it was 7pm when my then husband called up to me asking if I was going to come down for dinner. I hadn’t showered or brushed my teeth. I wanted to get just one more thing done.

Now? What’s the “after” picture?

It’s not that I don’t work diligently, because I do… but it’s no longer a grind-it-out, hustle-myself-into-the-ground, burnout kind of work.

I still work (often A LOT), but the energy behind it is one of… delight.

I still hustle and jam, but the energy behind it is that of… yes! I love this!

How do I do that?

I made this shift: I started to consciously choose how I approach my work. (You can do this too. ;-)

See… it’s not the work itself that is a cause of the overwhelm, the hard, the struggle…

It’s how you’re thinking about it. What kind of attitude do you bring to it?

What I’m saying is that it’s the energy behind your work that matters.

This choice is what allows me to have a BLAST while showing up every single day.

How do I help this along? Well, I set myself up for success.

I shower, put on my makeup, and wear a cute dress or my favorite designer jeans… even if NO ONE is going to see me. I do it FOR MYSELF. To feel great.

I also take more breaks… walking instead of driving places, spending time traveling for work and pleasure while staying at luxurious resorts… eating delicious food… getting out on the town… exercising… MAKING TIME FOR MY LIFE.

So, my friend, the next time you’re feeling like you’re on the verge of burnout, or maybe you’re just cranky and frustrated and not feeling all that delightful about your business… DO SOMETHING to change that energy immediately.

  • Laugh.
  • Take a shower and put on some makeup.
  • Exercise and move your body.
  • Express gratitude for all the things, good and bad.
  • Take some time for yourself and your family or friends.
  • Heck, you could even meditate. :)

The choice is yours… practice CHOOSING to be DELIGHTED about your life and business. It’ll pay dividends in your bottom line.

Amira

Exposing Exhaustion – Part Two

By Amira Alvarez I just got off a Skype call with my brand and marketing manager where she asked me how I was. My response? => "I'm tired." Uffah! But that’s the truth! Then I started laughing hysterically because…  WHAT THE HEY!? I'm so freaking tired it’s ridiculous. It’s totally and utterly laughable…
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Business, Coaching, Goals, Growth, Inspiration, Life Stories

I just got off a Skype call with my brand and marketing manager where she asked me how I was. My response? => “I’m tired.” Uffah! But that’s the truth!

Then I started laughing hysterically because…  WHAT THE HEY!? I’m so freaking tired it’s ridiculous. It’s totally and utterly laughable at this point.

Then it dawned on me… I was laughing about this… how can I be this tired… this exhausted… and still be laughing? How can I be this tired and still be kicking ass as a coach? How can I be this tired and still do amazing things with my life?

Because I am. :)  

I’m still staying unstoppable and I’m still doing my thing… and a big piece of that is staying DELIGHTED despite the exhaustion.

As backstory, on the physical plane, there’s probably some sort of biotoxin in my system. I’m doing all sorts of crazy amazing work and taking supplements to detox that out. It’s a minimum two-month process and I’m all in. This is going to work!

There’s also another aspect to the physical manifestation of exhaustion that we don’t often look at. Sometimes this occurs when you’re in the midst of a huge energetic upgrade in your life. There’s a systems adjustment that has to happen that gets manifested on the physical level in the form of exhaustion.

I’ve had to recognize that there have been HUGE changes in my life recently that may be contributing to this…  I got divorced (positive for both of us), I’ve moved TWICE in the last eight months, I started a new relationship, and I’m growing my business and really expanding in that arena. All this change has been great and it’s been a lot. A big energetic shift.

Is that happening for you? Is there some big growth that you’re going through that you need to allow yourself to catch up with and recalibrate to? I think there’s a lot of truth to that for me.

So to break this down…

Is there a purely physical component to this as well?

Absolutely.

Do I need to adjust to all the change that’s happened in my life?

Yes, definitely.

Can both of those things be contributing to exhaustion at the same time?

Yes, for sure.

And can you laugh regardless?

Turns out the answer is yes!

That’s really the big point I’m making here: how can you laugh? How can you have a good time, regardless of what’s going on? What can you have a better attitude about? What can you approach with a sense of lightness and ease instead of victimhood and poor me? How can you remain unstoppable? What are the things that you can keep doing even in the face of exhaustion?

Now, I’m not advocating for burnout. I just want you to know that you don’t have to be stopped by what’s going on and you don’t have to stop having a damn good life.

Rock it out.

Be unstoppable.

And be sure to laugh!

Amira

 

 

The Biggest Way We Lose Precious Time And Energy

By Amira Alvarez One of the biggest places we lose time is overthinking and being indecisive. So many of my coaching clients talk about this!! And I get it… you don’t want to make the wrong choice. It feels like a lot is riding on what you do or don’t do. It makes…
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Coaching, Creating Easy, Growth

One of the biggest places we lose time is overthinking and being indecisive.

So many of my coaching clients talk about this!!

And I get it… you don’t want to make the wrong choice. It feels like a lot is riding on what you do or don’t do. It makes you feel in control if you know all the pros and cons.

But it’s costing you a lot more than you realize.

It’s taking energy and attention from things that need it.

From the things that move the needle in your business and bank account.

The solution?

Say yes, more quickly.

Say no to the things that are a no, more quickly.

Seriously, that’s it.

Close the gap by being a quick decider.

When an opportunity or decision presents itself, tune in, see what it feels like, and respond. Say yes. Say no. Act accordingly.

If you get different feedback after doing so, you now have that experience and you’ll start learning discernment. You’ll be able to better gauge what’s a true yes and what’s a true no.

But you have to start the process. You have to commit to being more efficient in your life and work by not wasting time and energy on indecision and over thinking.

Sound like a plan?

(Just say yes!)

Amira