Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with @LPowerfully – Brandy Amstel is an Award Winning Filmmaker; Austin’s Fearless Woman of the Year, creative entrepreneur and was featured in the book, Fearless Women: Visions of a New World. Brandy’s Living Powerfully idea came about through her journey through life experiencing and uncovering areas of life where she had given her power away and now shares those lessons including her survival in the tragic “Sedona Sweatlodge”. Living Powerfully is a WebTV show that explores how people tend to give their power away without realizing it, how to take their power back, how to make informed choices to create a life by their own design and taking responsibility for the environment, the quality of the water we drink and the food we eat. For more information, visit www.livingpowerfully.com
SmallBizLady: How can I be more powerful in my business and the decisions that I make?
Brandy Amstel: Raise your awareness about issues, topics and causes that impact us all, nurture your intuition to know what is right for you individually, and put structures in place that have you take consistent action toward living a created life.
The foundation for your business is YOU and it is critical that you pay attention to all areas of your life to be the best version of yourself. Including your Spiritual/Mental health which is restoring your mind and spirit, connecting with your higher power and tapping into your gifts, skills and talents. Your Well-being/Physical health which is nourishing and healing your body through awareness of Air, Water, Food, Body and Environment so that you are high-performing, functioning at 100%.
Your Love/Relationships, which is empowering your lifestyle with self, others and the world. Your Wealth/Contribution, which is aligning your work, passion and gifts to make a difference in the world while having the resources to experience, all that life has to offer.
SmallBizLady: How can connecting spiritually take my business to the next level?
Brandy Amstel: The answers to all of your questions, the knowledge of how to grow your business and what are the appropriate next steps is all within you. You already know them; all you have to do is quiet the mind and listen to your inner wisdom.
Take time each morning for meditation, then right afterwards, journal the thoughts that come to mind allowing them to free flow. These are your downloads and provide the answers you are looking for. With practice, the messages become clearer and easier to call upon.
SmallBizLady: How does a business owner find their unique value proposition to be more effective?
Brandy Amstel: Do inner work to know your values and explore to find your purpose in life. Figure out what you are really passionate about and gets you excited to wake up each day. Identify and own your gifts that come naturally and easily to you.
When you gain clarity on these important pieces, you will make quicker decisions that are in alignment with what is truly important to you and your business that also gives you fulfillment.
SmallBizLady: How does continuing to expand mentally impact my bottom dollar?
Brandy Amstel: Business owners are either growing and expanding or they are stagnate. We have to continue to learn new information, insights and be open to new ways of thinking. Put a structure in place that has you continue to expand your thinking and your experiences. This can be done through hiring a coach, reading, workshops, seminars, or even putting yourself in a situation that makes you feel uncomfortable. Stretch yourself and create more room for you to grow yourself and your business.
SmallBizLady: What does love have to do with growing a business?
Brandy Amstel: Business is all about relationships and our ability to effectively communicate value, respect, love and passion. In order for business owners to have more to give to their clients, they must first take time to nurture their own relationship with themselves.
And as the CEO & owner of the business, it is critical. You are the backbone of the business and set the tone for all of your employees, vendors, and customers; together you all make an impact on society as a whole.
Taking time to do personal development and the inner work can pay off huge in ways that you never realized. All problems, solutions, failures and success starts with you and your ability to love yourself first.
SmallBizLady: How can I be a better leader in my company?
Brandy Amstel: Inspire others to your vision, and hire people that are tapped into their brilliance and bring strengths that you don’t have. With this combination, you’ll be making magic and your business will flourish. Nurture leaders within your organization and give them space to blossom to ensure you are building yourself a business and not just another job.
Walk your talk and be an example of what is possible for those around you, authentically share your ups and downs, be present with others such that they feel they are the only people in the room, and have a purpose bigger than just you.
SmallBizLady: How do metrics help someone take their business to the next level?
Brandy Amstel: What we track we can impact. Know your metrics for your business, for your health, for your relationships and for the lives you touched. Look at every area of life and determine how you can measure the results.
Until you are in touch with the real “what’s so” in your life, you have very little power to make necessary adjustments or accelerate growth to produce consistent results.
SmallBizLady: How can a business owner be more fulfilled in their business?
Brandy Amstel: Ultimately we all want to know that our life mattered and that we made a difference while we were here on this planet. Incorporate an abundance mentality that there is plenty for everyone and that business is about how you can serve more people today to make a difference for them, for the community and for the world.
Have every action, every decision, every email, and every conversation filter through your purpose in life. Incorporate a practice of acknowledgement and validation with the people you interact with on a daily basis.
Look for ways to lift as you climb. Create visual ways to measure the difference you are making.
SmallBizLady: How do I strengthen my inner guidance system to know what is right for me individually?
Brandy Amstel: As a society we are numb to what is going on around us, we are unhealthy, and fill our bodies with toxins that keep us inflamed and in a state of stress and illness. Most people walk around in a fog, unconscious that there is another level available to them.
We have to strip away the layers of numbness to be able to feel again and know what our gut is telling us, be in tune to what our inner wisdom is directing us to do. The quickest way to do this is to eliminate as many processed foods as possible, eat more vegetables and hydrate your cells by drinking more water.
SmallBizLady: What is one thing that has made the biggest difference for you and your business?
Brandy Amstel: Changing what I eat for breakfast. It’s made a huge difference in the clarity that I have throughout the day, how effective I am in my business and the amount of energy that I have at the end of the day to spend time with my friends and family. So often we get into the mindset that we have to work harder and longer to have our business be successful. What I have found is that we have to take care of ourselves first so that we have more to give.
SmallBizLady: What does changing your breakfast have to do with your business?
Brandy Amstel: Incorporating more micronutrients feeds the body and helps to repair damage to the cells. It helps to balance blood sugar levels to keep energy levels from dipping and spiking throughout the day. Having a smoothie or juice for breakfast helps to decrease inflammation in the body giving you more clarity and less low level chronic pain typically associated with just getting older. It also flushes toxins that cause illness and disease. Changing the way you eat breakfast has you feel more vital, vibrant and alive.
SmallBizLady: What structures or practices can a business owner put in place that will catapult their results?
Brandy Amstel: Most people know what needs to be done; they lack a structure for taking action. Before your feet hit the floor in the morning, practice gratitude for all that you have been given and all that there is to come. Visualize how your day will go, the people you encounter, the money that comes in, the lives that you touch, and the conversations that you have.
Create a structure for taking care of your body, getting it nourished and energized by adding micronutrients from vegetables and fruits. Next get crystal clear the one or two things that will move you closer to your goal and do them first. Often this may seem like the hardest thing to do on your list.
Take back your power to create the day that you intend by only checking your email a couple times a day as opposed to being a slave to the email and the instant gratification of others to the detriment of your goals, dreams and aspirations. Schedule a weekly check in to determine where having a team would accelerate what you are creating, where you can leverage tasks for a bigger gain and where you can make a bigger difference in the world.
If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/1hZeIlz
For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
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