Tag Archives: retirement

Be unrealistic about age and get what you want

Posted on by
Reply
Tiffany Eckhardt, Certified Life Coach helping women believe their best years are ahead. Be unrealistic and get what you want.
“You are never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis

Now that you’ve entered the season labeled midlife, do you fear it’s unrealistic to create something new at your age?  

Many clients of mine share a fear that age limits their ability to create something new.  I believe the opposite.  Your best years are ahead.  Finding yourself at the end of one season is an exciting opportunity to make decisions about life in the next season.   

Of course you are capable of learning new things and creating your life as you would like it to be.  

According to Marie Forleo, “Everything is figure-outable.”  

What if being unrealistic IS the answer to creating something new?  

What is the first thing your mind offers when you decide to create something new?  All the reasons it can’t work, all the reasons it isn’t a good idea and all the reasons it isn’t reasonable.  Yep, your mind is very clever in keeping you safe and secure. 

When you spend your time considering all that your brain offers, you fail ahead of time.  You stop yourself before you even get started.

So, trick you brain.  Agree with it.  Don’t give it anything to argue with.  

Agree with your brain that your new idea might not work, there will be obstacles and it could be completely unrealistic.  Decide to appreciate all the lessons and proceed anyways.    

Remind your brain the only way to create anything new is through trail and error.  

The fail factor

Should we fail on purpose?  Of course not!   

Brooke Castillo teaches in her eight week Business Course there are two different types of failures, escape failures and worthy failures.  

Escape failures 

Are you curios about why you don’t keep your word or follow through with your decisions?  Escape failures are a form of avoiding what is needed to realize your new creation and choosing to fail ahead of time.  

Examples:

  • Making excuses for not following through with a commitment
  • Indulging in confusion about the next step
  • Changing your mind
  • Not planning ahead of time, protecting your calendar
  • Any form of perfection is an escape failure
  • Waiting until your ready or have learned every aspect  

Worthy failures

Worthy failures are not caused by inaction, but by taking a step forward.

“We were never taught to fail.  We are taught that F’s are bad growing up.  This programming has contributed to steering away from starting things and changing,”  Brooke Castillo.  

For example, this past week I conducted my first FREE workshop on Self Appreciation.  I spent hours deciding what to teach, gathering information, putting it into an understandable form, etc.  I enthusiastically marketed the workshop, but only had a couple people show up to the live event.  Was that a failure?  NO!  No, it was not a failure.  I learned better ways to approach the next workshop and will continue to market the replay, which will reach untold amount of women.  

You can check our my Self Appreciation Workshop by clicking here: SELF APPRECIATION WORKSHOP

Never tried.

Ever failed.

No matter.

Try again.

Fail again.

Fail better.

Samuel Beckett

Get crystal clear

There will never be an age limit to creating something meaningful, but take time to get crystal clear about what you wish to create.  

  • Define: What does it feel like once you create it?  Who will benefit from your creation?  
  • Objections: What makes it unrealistic?  Go ahead and let your mind offer you the objections.  
  • Solutions:  Then answer the objections with, “That objection is true, but…”  What skills will you need to create it?  

Basically, allow your mind to define what you want to create, the obstacles in your way, and strategies to solve them ahead of time.  

BE unrealistic, a challenge

Let’s be honest, being a little unrealistic sounds like a fun challenge.   

I’d like to challenge you to a worthy fail.  Well, not just one.  I’d like to challenge you to write out 25 worthy failures you are willing to take action on.  First brainstorm all the ways you could take action that will likely fail.  From the brainstorm, pick 25 that you will commit to and then put the 25 worthy fails on your calendar.    

Taking this challenge will inspire you to take the first step.  By simply taking action, you will learn everything is figure-outable!  

Let me help you!

I love working with midlife women who are ready to believe their best years are ahead.  It is not a time to avoid the hard things, it is a time to embrace them with the self confidence earned at this age.

This past week I had the privilege to coach a beautiful spunky woman in her sixties who was was considering a new idea.  We worked through her thoughts, feelings and actions around the idea.  Afterwards I asked her what she thought she would be creating as a result.  She lit up and said, “a new career!”  

Sometimes you just need to be able to work through all the thoughts, feelings and obstacles to believe in the possibility.    

If you are ready to break some of your own limitations, let me help you!  Schedule a FREE mini session.  It’s a 45 minute chat with someone who truly believes in your possibilities.  It is also a great way to see if life coaching is for you.  

Simply click the link below and choose a date on my calendar.  It really is that simple!

~Tiffany

And the birds fluttered around her writing “YES” in the sky!

Tiffany Eckhardt, Certified Life Coach

3 Mistakes Choosing An Exit Strategy

Posted on by
Reply

Does your current circumstances have you feeling caged in a life you didn’t choose?  Do you have an exit strategy?  Let me share what I believe are 3 mistakes choosing a working exit strategy.

A few reasons you might not even have an exit strategy.

  1. You love the life you created
  2. You don’t believe there is a choice
  3. You have a pattern of self-sabotage
  4. You are telling yourself stories about your abilities
  5. It’s not the right time to try something new
  6. There isn’t enough money to explore dreams
  7. I don’t have support from family or friends
  8. I’m too old
  9. I’m too young
  10. I need to be perfect

There are infinite reasons to excuse yourself from living the life you want to create.  I believe we all have limiting beliefs that keep us caged.  It is important to recognize the storyline you’ve created for the life you currently have.

A working exit strategy?

According to a recent Forbes article on retirement by Robert Laura,

increasing number of baby boomers are disenchanted with their current careers.  They’re worn-out from years of the corporate grind and don’t feel the connection between their job and the people it impacts outside their office walls or company grounds.  They’re shifting their focus from accumulating a giant nest egg to a desire to be part of something bigger and better… to have a positive effect on others… and working in retirement.

This concept can be applied to any segment of society.  You don’t have to be a baby boomer to wake up and realize you aren’t satisfied with your current trajectory.  An exist strategy is a shift in focus.

I don’t profess to have all the answers.  God blessed me with a tenacious spirit, bent on sharing my imperfect journey with the world.

I “woke up” a couple of years ago after a series of unfortunate health issues.  My journey is committed to promoting wellness and entrepreneurship.  In the process, I chose to leave a traditional business model (my store.)  I’m now apart of a “clean” movement in wine and wellness.  I’ve embraced social selling and enjoy developing leaders who want to have an impact on the world.

A business model for personal growth with a compensation plan.  ~Bob Heilig

I know you love lists!  Here are the top ten benefits of developing the social selling business model.

  1. Low investment
  2. No overhead
  3. Shipping, product development, customer service is handled
  4. Can be part-time
  5. Freedom to work from anywhere
  6. Contribute to a movement
  7. Personal development
  8. Passive income
  9. Impact helping change people’s stories
  10. Surrounding your life with enthusiastic people

3 mistakes in choosing a working exit strategy.

I’ve been teetering a learning curve for the past two years.  I’ve approached this new journey several different ways.  Here’s what I know to be important…

1. Product

You must have a product you believe in.  The product could be a life changing consumable, fun clothing, fitness related, wellness related, education, coaching or technology.  There are a gazillion options.

You don’t need to become an evangelist to be excited about a product.  I think endless product pushing has given the social selling business model a bad name.  Unfortunately, I’ve been guilty of being over zealous for the products I represent.  Rather, choose a lifestyle product and join a bigger movement.

2. Company

Is the company apart of the Direct Sales Association?  I would say that most companies are reputable.  It doesn’t hurt to check.

What is the company’s mission?  What is their outlook for future growth?  Does the company have a plan to help you succeed in the first ninety days?  Is there continual product education and personal development?

3. Leadership

Ideally you will be working closely with the people who invite you to join a company.  What investment will they make into your success?

The leader who invites you to join the company should be committed to growth.  Do they treat the opportunity like a business or a hobby?  Can they clearly articulate their exit strategy?

Are they interested in your goals and dreams?  Do they know the reason you want an exit strategy?  Leaders who are serious about your success will check in regularly to encourage you and offer experienced perspective.  Remember, the success of your leader depends on their investment of time and resources in developing you as a leader.

The beauty of social selling is community support.  Does the leader foster community space to share ideas, successes and failures?  Do they offer consistent opportunities to interact in Facebook groups, monthly meetings and special events?

Do you have an exit strategy?

Flown The Coop has always been dedicated to those who can’t be caged.  I am committed to helping entrepreneurs, makers and creatives.

Side note:  Please remember to support your friends who are blazing a trail.  These entrepreneurs are the new “Mom & Pops” fighting the Amazons of the world.  And they have more of an impact in their communities!

Have you considered your options, questioned your beliefs and/or contemplated your dreams for the future?  Does an exit strategy excited you?  Let’s chat!

~Tiffany

And the birds fluttered around her writing “YES” in the sky!