by Julia Felton | Aug 24, 2016
Are you living a life of no regrets? No seriously, are you. What do you have on your bucket list of things to do that you’ve been putting off either because of lack of time and/or resources? Maybe it’s a business idea that you haven’t pursued to its natural conclusion, maybe it’s a location you want to travel to or maybe it’s a hobby you haven’t taken up yet. All too often in life we put off things saying I’ll do that when I’m older, have more money etc and yet what happens if this time never arrives. I don’t want to go out of this world wishing there were things I had done, but failed to do because of fear, lack of resources or my failure to take action.
The phrase a life of no regrets is something I’ve coined from a mentor of mine Deri Llewellyn-Davies (aka The Strategy Man). Deri was inspired to live a life of no regrets after listening to the parting words of his father. Since that time Deri has been an adventurous daredevil climbing many of the words highest mountains. He was even on Mount Everest when the earthquake struck last year. You can listen to his incredible story in his TedEx talk F*** the Fear.
This year my own mortality has been brought sharply into focus as I’ve lost two good friends (very unexpectedly) and as my mum goes through cancer treatment again. My good friend Jacqs who terribly passed away after a car crash last weekend certainly lived life to the full. She was always the life and soul of the party and designed her life the way she wanted to – she lived life on her terms. I first met Jacqs when I was working at Andersen and she offered me a refuge when I split with my boyfriend. We had a wild time living together in London as she knew how to have fun. And it is Jacqs that I have to thank for my current business and lifestyle as she persuaded me to go on a ranching holiday with her back in 2000 and that re-ignited my passion for horses and then the eventual purchase of Toby my first horse.
Jacqs was committed to designing and living her life her way. After our time wrangling as cowgirls in Wyoming she decided she wanted to go and live in the US. Within a year she had managed to get her employer Deutsche Bank to transfer her to their New York office and she moved there just after 9/11. I’ll fondly remember that Christmas sitting in her New York apartment surrounded by packing boxes.
Then she decided she wanted to live in Montana. So blow me down that is what she does. She buys a property there and then persuades Deutsche Bank she can work remotely and in the process she gets promoted to Deutsche Bank’s Global Head of Supervisory Analysts. On paper you would never have imagined such a global firm would allow such a senior position to work remotely, let alone in Montana, and yet that is what happened. If she had allowed her logical brain to determine what was possible she might never had tried to make her dream come true. But Jacqs was resilient, steely, determined and tenacious and never had any doubt that this outcome was possible.
So what restrictions are you putting on your life? Where are you holding back and not doing what you want because you think it’s not possible. Jacqs is an example to us all that if you really desire something you can achieve it, however impossible it might initially seem.
Go forth and be the designer of your own life and share in the Facebook group what you want you life to be like, so that we can all support you on your journey.
by Julia Felton | Aug 17, 2016
Have you ever considered that your success is determined by the attitude of the people you spend the most time with? Just think about that for a moment. If you surround yourself with successful positive people it stands to reason that you too will gravitate to their level.
We have witnessed this phenomenon during the Olympics and none more so than on Sensational Sunday, when the UK won 5 gold medals. The best result for the team in any Olympics held abroad. What is even more amazing about the feat is that two of the gold medals occurred in gymnastics, a sport that the UK has never won a gold medal in before.
Over the last decade, led by Louis Smith, the sport has grown in popularity and attracted new talent in the shape of Max Whitlock – who went on to win two gold medals. Part of Whitlock’s success is in no small part to the trailblazing that Louis did for the sport and the fact that he won a silver medal in the 2012 Olympics and a bronze in the Beijing Olympics.
We’ve also witnessed similar success in the Velodrome where the success of an initial handful of riders has rubbed off on the team and at the time of writing this the UK has secured 4 gold medals and 3 silver medals in the cycling events. An incredible feat again considering that two decades ago the sport was barely visible in the UK.
I experienced my own mini-version of how surrounding yourself with successful people helps you up your game and become more successful when I was out running on Sunday. At one point during my run a lady overtook me as I was coming down the hill near my house. She then proceeded to run past me continuing on the same track that I was planning on following. There was something about following her (or was I chasing her!) that helped me up my game and go much faster than usual. The result was that I covered the longest distance I have ever done in 30 mins and not surprisingly in the fastest time.
Personally I was really amazed at the impact that her presence had had on me and how it had helped me improve my performance beyond what I thought I was capable of. And that’s the power of surrounding yourself with people more successful than you. They can help you achieve levels that you may have previously thought were impossible. They encourage you to reach for the stars and be your best as they model what is possible.
So who are you surrounding yourself with? Are they people that will help propel you and your business to the next level, or are they folks who are doubting you, putting you down and quashing your dreams.? Recognising this is the first step in helping you change your environment to one that is more positive and supportive to your growth.
I really look forward to hearing about what changes you make as a result of reading this weeks Wednesday Wisdom.
by Julia Felton | Aug 10, 2016
This weeks Wednesday Wisdom has been inspired by David Neagle who mentors many of the world’s leading coaches. I first met David in Arizona two years ago when I heard him speak on how to break through your income glass ceiling. I was impacted by his straight talking and practical approach to business, yet with a very real understanding of the universal laws and how nature impacts all that we do.
This week David reminded me of the importance of Universal Law No 6 – The Law of Cause and Effect. In essence this law states that for every action there is a re-action or an impact, so if you are not getting the results that you want you need to examine what you are doing. How are you causing the results you are getting.?
Specifically every effect you see in your outside or physical world has a very specific cause which has its origin in your inner or mental world. This is the essence of thought power. Every one of your thoughts, words or actions sets a specific effect in motion which will come to materialize over time. To become the master of your destiny, you must master your mind for everything in your reality is a mental creation. Know that there is nothing like chance or luck. They are simply terms used by humanity in ignorance of this Law.
Therefore, if you desire more income and that is not manifesting then maybe you are not taking enough action and you are not congruent in really wanting this. Maybe you need to be having more sales conversations, meeting more people or writing more compelling sales copy etc. The universe is always giving us feedback so it is important to listen to this and then review what is happening.
Be really honest with yourself at this point. Where are you holding yourself back and not fully engaging in the process? What are you resisting doing that if you did would change the trajectory of your business. We all have areas of resistance, its only human. Just acknowledge these and then in the words of Susan Jeffers “feel the fear and do it anyway”. It is through accurate action that you impress your desire on The Universe so that it can provide what you desire.
My horses are great levelers at providing me with feedback and again this week eloquently demonstrated the law of cause and effect working. Recently I have been spending a few days a week in London with a client, and so the horses have not been getting as much time from me as usual. They are clearly unimpressed and so have been re-dressing the situation by getting in all kinds of scrapes resulting in some minor injuries and breaking through the electric tape in the field. Of course when these things happen I am forced to spend more time with them treating their ailments and re-fencing the field.
The great thing is that I now know when they feel they need some more TLC and so can adjust my schedule to provide them what they need. This is why I spent all Saturday with them. It was a lovely day, very relaxing which is also what I needed.
So this weeks question is how is the law of cause and effect impacting your results. What do you need to do differently and what do you need to embrace in order to get the real outcome that you truly desire?. As always let me know in the Facebook group.
Until next time I wish you amazing Unbridled Success in all you do
by Julia Felton | Aug 3, 2016
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom has been inspired by my horses as we have been involved in a number of near “misses” over the last few weeks, which could have gone spectacularly wrong and had a very different outcome if the horses hadn’t stayed calm when their emotions got high.
Charlie was the first to demonstrate the importance of staying calm in a crisis because what tends to happen is that when our emotions get high – through either fear or joy – then our rationale brain can stop working and we forget to think logically about what is happening, and as a result intelligence goes down.
At this time of year the grass has been growing quite fast so some areas of the horses paddock are fenced off with electric tape to prevent them entering the area. Within my two fields I had an area that needed reseeding so I had put up some electric tape (although it wasn’t electrified) to enable the grass to grow.
As I went into the field to get the horses for an event with a private client I saw Charlie had his head over the electric tape in an attempt to get the lush grass on the other side. Immediately, however I saw the problem. He had also managed to step over the bottom electric tape meaning that the tape was between his front feet. As I entered the field he stepped backwards but forget to lift his front foot up. The result was that the electric tape was wrapped round his foot.
I saw the panic rise in his eyes and calmly I told him to stand still. There was a urgency and directness in my tone and bless him he stood still so I could try and remove the tape. The challenge was the tape was so taut that I could not release it. (Now I know why cowboys carry knives!). It was exasperating trying to figure out a way to help him. In that moment I had to keep my emotions in check so that I could use all my intelligence to help find a solution to release him. The obvious solution would be to get him to walk forward and so slacken off the rope but Charlie was literally sitting on the floor with all his weight pulling against the rope. Luckily I managed to pull up some of the posts which gave me enough slack to get the rope off his foot. What a relief.
Charlie suffered a mild rope burn to his fetlock, just above his hoof, but when I think what could have happened we were so lucky. Charlie clearly demonstrated that in a difficult situation he could contain his emotions and trusted me enough to allow me to help him. He kept his intelligence in the face of adversity.
Bracken too has had her fair share of challenges over this last week. The first was during a demo I was holding for a group of local business owners. As we often do we start with a herd observation exercise where the group observe the horses and figure out which horses they are most drawn to and why. The horses were in the arena and as usual there were a number of obstacles in the arena for use in other exercises were doing that morning.
As we observed the herd Bracken decided that it would be a great idea to go and rub her backside on a jump wing that was holding up a pole. Everyone was laughing at her as she played her usual joker role and entertained the crowds. Not unsurprisingly the pole fell to the ground. No worries there but then the terror came over me at what happened next. Bracken has a really big, bushy tail and in rubbing her butt on the jump stand she got the jump cup that the role rests on stuck in her tail. So as she moved away from the jump post she dragged it with her. My heart leapt to mouth as I knew the consequences of what could happen. If Bracken panicked and started running she would think she was being chased by the jump stand and all hell could let loose. Thankfully again I called to Bracken to stand still and she did. Then as I approached she started moving but thankfully the jump cup became disentangled from her tail and fell away. Another serious accident – one none of us could have foreseen – averted.
Contrast this with her sheer joy this morning at being able to get into the field with lush grass. As some of you might remember from my previous post Sometimes You Need A Different Perspective, the horses currently have to really think to find the exit from their field. This morning Bracken and Toby couldn’t figure out that they needed to retreat 50 metres into the field to get onto the other side of some other electric fence so they could and then get out the field. So I went and caught Bracken and Toby and led them back into the field so I could lead them out into the lush grass. As we turned the corner Bracken immediately realised she could get the lush grass. It was just 50 metres ahead of her. What she forget in her sheer excitement was that she had a halter on and I was on the end of the rope. In that moment of her emotional high all her intelligence left her as she decided to try and run away and the dance on two back feet!. Not very clearly. I calmly asked her to stand still and dropped my energy so as to calm her. She stood still but when we started to walk she decided to run again. I asked her to stop and we stood still. It took a long time to reach that lush grass simply because in her excitement she had lost all perspective and intelligence and forgotten how to behave.
So my question to you today is how do you respond when things don’t go to plan?. Do you panic and forget any logical reasoning as your intelligence drops or can you regulate your emotions, stay calm and react in methodical way.
I love how my horses are always teaching me new things and this week I learnt how I can stay calm in an emergency and respond in a measured way that keeps everyone safe. I also learnt how by calming my energy I can help my horses manage their emotions. Plus I also love how much my horses trust my judgment in these challenging situations and know that I am there to help them.
As always share your thoughts with me on facebook or email me and let me know how this post has impacted you and you can put into place what you have learnt in the workplace.
Wishing you a flow filled week.
by Julia Felton | Jul 20, 2016
The last few weeks have seen some major shifts happen in the UK and that has left many feeling very uncertain as to the future. It’s natural to feel anxiety when we don’t know what is happening, however, this is a trend that I see happen more and more frequently as the world that we live in never stays still. It changes at lightening pace.
Who had ever heard of Pokemon Go two weeks ago and yet now it is a worldwide phenomenon. I even read about how it triggered a road rage incident in Yorkshire! No-one could have predicted this and whilst we can’t control the rapid change happening around us we can control how we respond to the situations that confront us.
And that’s the same with the entrepreneurial journey. The one certainty is that when you become an entrepreneur your business will have ups and downs and it is how we respond to the down times that ultimately determines our success.
Typically when we launch our business we are ecstatic and highly motivated. We are excited and that passion and excitement spills out into everything we do. The people around us get excited too. Then inevitably, at some point, something doesn’t go to plan and we become disheartened. This is the time that many people give up, complaining things are too hard. But if you stick at it then things start to improve and you get on a high again, only later to have those feelings dashed. This is the roller coaster of business. A continual ebb and flow of highs and lows.
The important thing to focus on at these times is how you rebound because just like the ocean the tide comes in and goes out and so does the success of your business. This is the law of rhythm. And if you think about most of nature has an ebb and flow to it. The flowers grow in the Spring, bloom in the summer and the rest and die off in the winter. The seasons all have an rhythm too. Even your heartbeat has a rhythm. And the rhythm is required to allow time to rest and recuperate.
So if your business is feeling like it is in an ebb right now, don’t fret. Take a deep breathe, focus on what you can control and remember that in time things will improve if you just stick with it.
I know from my own entrepreneurial journey there have been many highs and lows, and whilst the lows can feel overwhelming at times, I know they build resilience and that in time, if I learn from the situation, my business will bounce back and be stronger than before.
So how can you embrace the rhythm of your business and allow this to support your success rather than hinder it?
I wish you an amazing sunshine filled week.
by Julia Felton | Jul 13, 2016
I’ve recently joined a mastermind group where we are studying the work of Napoleon Hill and Think and Grow Rich. If you have never read this book I highly recommend it as it provides some fascinating insights into how to become rich, in whatever format rich means to you.
The research for the book comes from over 500 interviews that Napolean Hill conducted with wealthy and successful people to determine their formula for success. Although the book was originally published in 1937 the principles it rests on are as relevant today as they ever were.
The first chapter is all about desire and how that is the starting point for all achievement and for me my desire is my reason Why I do what I do. Your desire needs to become a consuming obsession, something you would do anything to achieve. It has to be definite and you have to believe that you can accomplish it.
As the book cites: “Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence, which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.”
What I love above this quote is that it makes the desire actionable by requiring you to create a plan (a strategy) of how you will achieve this and then you need to take consistent action, day in day out to achieve it.
The book then goes on to share a 6 step plan for helping you achieve success:
- Decide exactly what you want to achieve. Be very specific. If it is a financial target then state the exact amount of money
- Decide what you are prepared to give in return for this. (There is no such thing as a free lunch)
- Establish a definite date when you want this to have achieved this
- Create a plan to achieve this desire and immediately get into action, whether you are ready or not.
- Write out a concise statement of what you intend to achieve, by when you will have received it, what you are prepared to exchange in return for it and the plan by which you will achieve this
- Read you statement out loud twice daily – once in the morning and once in the evening. As you read it see, feel and believe that you have already achieved it.
I’d like to invite you to grab a pen right now and do this exercise and then follow it through for the next 40 days, reading every morning and night your statement, and let me know what happens.
I’ll be posting mine in the Facebook group and I’d invite you to do the same. Who knows what you might manifest.
Hope you are having an amazing week.
by Julia Felton | Jun 22, 2016
Tomorrow marks a really important day for the future of the UK with the upcoming referendum on Europe. There has been so much said on the subject and I’m not hear to preach to you on how you vote, but rather my message today is please make a decision and take action to vote for whatever party you deem aligns with your values.
So often in life we fail to take action because we are afraid of the consequences. We are afraid of what will happen, how will others react, what will they think. But the one thing I know to be true is that when fear prevents me from taking action I always feel resentful after the fact. I spend ages wondering what would have happened if I had been courageous enough to do what I wanted to do.
And I don’t just mean for the big things in life. Often times when I look back on my life taking courageous action was easier with the bigger decisions in my life. Like going to live in America or moving to Yorkshire. Sure these massive life changing events were scary and I had some fear and anxiety about what I was doing but I was able to rationalize my decision making by saying that I could always move again if I didn’t like the outcome.
However, what I have observed is that it is often the fear associated with smaller decisions in life that really hold me back. For example, the fear that overcomes me when I have to pick up the phone and make a call to a new client. As it is such a simple act I often overlook how failing to take that action could impact my business. And why didn’t I do it. The simple answer is because I was afraid of the outcome – afraid of what the potential client might say, afraid they might not like me. My fear prevented me from being courageous and potentially experiencing a great conversation and enrolling a new client.
The quote above I think so succinctly summarizes how we need to act in life. It’s easy to overcome fear and be courageous when what we are doing is really important to us. When we are doing work aligned with our purpose, although the fear might still exist, our courage to take action is greater and so we in the words of Nike – Just Do It.
So next time you feel fear just step back, review the situation and see how being courageous and taking that action will get you closer to your goal and help you fulfill your purpose.
by Julia Felton | Jun 1, 2016
Wow, can you believe that today is the 1st June. Where has the year gone. At this time of year I like to take stock of what has occurred and make sure I am on track for the rest of the year. I take time to review what has worked – so I can do more of it – and what hasn’t so that I can refine and amend it. Only by reviewing what has happened are you in a place to make some different decisions about the future course.
And what do you do if you’re not on track? Then I urge you to consider this. Are you simply interested in the goal or are you committed, and I mean really committed to it? I’m interested in losing weight and eating more healthy food but am I committed. If I’m honest no, or else I wouldn’t be eating chocolate bars and take-away meals.
So how do we become committed to something? We ensure that we have motivation for achieving that goal, something that pulls us forward day in and day out. Something that inspires us to get out of bed every day and take action, not because we have to but because we want to.
In my experience I only really get committed to a goal when I have a good reason why I want to do it – a purpose – and that reason is usually something bigger than me. When you can get clear on your purpose then taking action becomes easy because everything is aligned and congruent.
It is as important to have a clear purpose in business as it is in life. Without either you can feel like a rudderless ship that is going round in circles and never getting anywhere. And what a massive waste of time, energy and resources that is.
There are a number of tools that you can use to help get you clear on your purpose but what is imperative is that you write your purpose and goals down. Research by Gayle Matthews from the Dominican University has discovered that writing down your goals increases your chances of success by at least 50%.
This is one of the reasons why Strategy on a Page works so well. It helps you distill onto one page your purpose, values, visions and also the strategic goals and Business Growth Indicators for your business. And by having clarity, focus and accountability clients get incredible results. So if you’re prepared to take action and be committed to your own success, please connect with me and I’ll share how Strategy on a Page could really help you move your business to the next level.
So until next time stay committed to your goals and achieve massive success.
by Julia Felton | Apr 6, 2016
This week I began an 11 day Fat Loss Challenge with one of my former mentors John Assaraf. I love his work about the neuro-science of business and how the brain impacts our success. The great news is that you can re-programme your brain through a series of entrainment exercises and that is what I am doing with my eating patterns.
I met and then mentored with John back in 2009 when I was living in California and his programme “Having It All” was amazing and transformed my life. I’ll always remember his wise words about how to change anything in your life when he said “Inch By Inch It’s a Cinch”.
You see often when we seek to change habits or achieve goals we often think we have to do it all right now. We have become such an instant gratification society that we have begun to fail to appreciate all the small things around us. And yet it is all those small actions that ultimately help us achieve our goals and dreams.
It is dogged determination and persistence day in day out that effects change. It is the daily decisions that I make about exercise and chocolate that will affect how successful I am on this Fat Loss Challenge, after all I know I can’t lose 6kg overnight!!!
As well as consistent action the other thing to do when setting goals is to make sure they inspire you. John bans the word “diet” as that implies lack and none of us want that. The language we use is so important in helping help us stay motivated and focused, so rather than losing weight John talks about releasing weight. There is something in the language that makes me feel that I am making the choice to do this rather than being forced.
So what small action will you take today to move you towards your goals and dreams – maybe it is reaching out to client, having a courageous conversation with your boss or spouse or in my case exercising and making the choice to eat healthier food.
by Julia Felton | Mar 16, 2016
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is inspired by the lions I saw in the African bush. Did you know that on average a pride of lions have only a 30% success rate every time they go for a kill? Do you think they complain and blame each other when they aren’t successful. No. They just try again.
What I have observed in business is that sometimes we don’t try. The fear of failure leaves us stuck and in paralysis. And yet often the thing that we crave is just round the corner, and if we dared maybe we might just be successful. Throughout my childhood I was typically reprimanded if I got things wrong so it is no wonder that as a business owner I have been afraid of failure and getting things wrong. Maybe you can relate to that. And yet the truth is we can never learn and develop if we don’t try new things. Sure we might fail at some of these new ventures, but so long as we have tried and take on board the learning there is no such thing as failure.
My mentor Roger Hamilton once shared this with me “Learning is earning with the L-plates on it” and it is so true. We can only learn by trying new things and as a business owner there is also the opportunity to be paid to do this. So if you are experimenting with something new in your business you can get paid whilst also learning at the same time.
For me only real source of failure in business (and in life) is if you fail to learn from your actions. Being a life long learner is imperative if you are to grow and stay successful because there is one certainty in business and that is change. The world is moving at lightening pace and unless we are open to learn new things then we will never stay competitive in business.
For the lions, and especially the young lion cubs, they learn to hunt and each time they are unsuccessful they keep trying again. After all their survival depends on mastering this skill. At the outset they are beginners but with continued practice they learn to hone their skills until they become very accomplished.
So my question today is what can you do that will develop your skills and provide you with learning opportunities, regardless of whether you succeed or fail. I’d love to hear from you.
