Guest post by by Cass Mullane, Accountability Coach, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

I recently had to face disappointment. I’d been associated with a group and their events for many years, but I did not get asked to participate this year. Was I sad? Of course. Did I let it stop me? Of course not!

The first thing I did was to learn why I was not invited to the party. It all made sense. I took a look at what I’d submitted and I realized that the group’s needs were the same old needs and my work and what I had to offer had evolved. This is part of the “lessons learned” aspect of business.

I realized that I’d been comfortably coasting along with these peeps for quite a few years. Then it hit me: I had grown and, in reality, these were no longer my peeps. Clearly the Universe knew, but I had not quite gotten the message. That was a real surprise! And that revelation is what went into my Cool Stuff Jar™ on a really cool piece of art paper.

The uber cool thing was when one door closed, another opened immediately… weird how that happens. I was offered the opportunity to participate at a national level on an exciting program that marries up art and business in local communities in a supremely sustainable way. Pretty scary, because it has high national visibility. But scary in a very good way. How perfect is that!

What happens when you face disappointment? Do you curl up in a ball and call it quits? Or, when you hit the wall, do you open a window?

Here are a few tips to help get through disappointment and get back to doing what you do best:

1. Be careful about assuming anything.
Don’t take for granted that what you’ve always done will always work. Things change, you change and tuning into changes is a key to remaining viable. Building flexibility into your plan is essential.

2. Make sure you have multiple opportunities in the hopper.
It’s a good practice to keep your sales funnel filled. That way when an opportunity does not come through, there are plenty of other opportunities there in the wings awaiting your exploration.

3. Be sad if you need to, then pull out your Big Hairy Audacious Goals and get back on your horse.
Make sure you have your big goals in front of you at all times, whether on a Vision Board or in your Right-Brain Business Plan®. These are not the items on your To Do list, these are the juicy, compelling goals that make you get up, dust yourself off and get back in the saddle.

4. Have a plan in place so you can see where to go next.
Your plan is essential to overcoming obstacles, including disappointment. There is no quicker way to getting back on track than to look at your plan and see what’s next. Knowing the next step will save you hours of your precious time and energy when things get tough.

5. Keep an eye out for the awesome stuff that surrounds you.
Opportunities are everywhere and you have to be open to seeing them. If you can’t see them, you cannot capitalize on them. Make a practice of spotting opportunities and then deciding which make sense to add to your plan and to go after.

Happy hunting!

Cass Mullane’s calm, comfortable approach consistently yields positive results for clients. Her business and personal coaching practice, www.ProsperCreatively.com, specializes in delivering solid left brain business skills to right brainers and creatives in a fun, visual way. She’s a best selling author, textile and mixed media artist and creator of the Cool Stuff Jar™ coaching program. You can also visit Cass on Facebook!

Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Ho’omalamalama Brown

Hello Soul Beauty! I’m hoping that you spoil yourself with something wonderful & spectacular. You’re truly irreplaceable and you bring value to everyone around. Just in case you forgot here’s a reminder, “Three [3] things you can do for yourself today.”

1. SMILE because it makes you look lovely 😉

2. WRITE down one thing you like about yourself. “I like how I ______ .”
3. SAY it to three other people. Self talk is great but audible self talk is powerful.
The challenge creative entrepreneurs face is to make time for themselves. I’m sure many of you stand out in your community as artistic, poetic, heart centered individuals. Your unique business structure changes lives for the better but what about you? What are your needs and are they being met?

This year I’ll be sharing some thoughts, prompts and doodles, keeping in touch with your soul beauty. As you reach for the stars or slide down a rainbow know that we are on this work/life balance together. If you have tips or ideas to help other creatives leave a comment or share it on the RBBP Facebook page.

FYI- The first time I heard the term Soul Beauty was from my Aunt Ka’uhane Lee, a healer & activist in Hawaii. Everytime she comments or shares it with me I feel it, don’t you. I hope to create a community of Soul Beauties with you. See you on the next post.
PEACE be the Journey, Ho’omālamalama

Enlighten and brighten is the Hawaiian translation of Ho’omalamalama. As a performing artist and instructor of Polynesian culture Ho’o (ho-Oh) found her calling in the health and wellness realm. Today she extends that light into creative coaching utilizing the RBBP method, an effective way to help other creative entrepreneurs succeed. You can find Ho’o here: http://www.hoomalamalama.com/
Ho’o is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.

Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator and Associate Coach Kiala Givehand

“It doesn’t matter what others call you. What matters is what name you answer to.” — African Proverb

When I begin working with a client I ask them to tell me several things: who they serve, what they call themselves, and what their business looks like behind the scenes. These three questions help me uncover whether or not they truly see themselves as business owners. 

One of the first steps to owning a business, is owning the fact that you own a business. An entrepreneur thinks, plans, and implements differently than an employee or contractor. Unhealthy thinking keeps many creative entreprenuers in a perpetual state of uncertainty about their businesses. It’s this kind of thinking that feeds into the cylce of frustration around money, marketing, and managing the day to day of a business. It’s this kind of thinking that separates the business owner from the dabbling hobbyist.

Here are three ways you can shift your mindset today and take your business to the next level. 

OWN IT
When someone asks you what you do for a living, your reaction is just as important as your response. Notice how that question makes you feel? Do you get excited when someone asks or do you want to tell them something like: 

• “It’s complicated.”
• “It’s a long story.”
• “I dabble in lots of things.”

Or do you feel energized to share how you are using your gifts, talents, and passions with the world? The next time someone asks you what you do, have your answer ready — rehearsed — and rightfully own the fact that you are a business owner. Try saying something like: 
“I own a business where I help people…” or “I’m an entrepreneur.” or “I own a __________________ business.” Say it with pride and clarity and notice how that feels in your body, heart, and mind. 

BE CLEAR ON WHO YOU SERVE
I can’t stress this one enough — you must be clear on who you intend to serve. Who are your perfect customers? Not in a general sense, but in specific, detailed way that helps you grow a business quickly and easily. I say this from experience. When I started my first real business in 1999 I had no idea what a perfect customer was, I just knew I needed to make some money. So I started telling everyone what I was doing (editing websites, books, and any other written materials). It was okay at first, but because I wasn’t clear on who I really wanted to work with, I eventually got some really off-the-wall clients who I didn’t enjoy working with and whose work I didn’t want to edit after actually reading it. 

Fast forward to today…I am extremely clear about who my perfect customers are and while it took me some time to get clear, now that I have, everything I do is about being of value to them and only them. Knowing my perfect customer makes my marketing stress-free, helps me be more intentional about my networking, speaking gigs, and the professional organizations I join. And believe it or not, knowing my perfect customer makes is so much easier to say no to clients when I know in my heart they are not a right fit for me and I’m not a right fit for them. 

I wrote a two guest blog posts about knowing your perfect customer. If you are struggling in this area, you might find them helpful. The first one is here http://bit.ly/rbbb-pc and part two is here http://bit.ly/rbbp-pc2.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR OWN BEHIND THE SCENES
This probably sounds like it should be common sense, but even if it is, it’s worth saying here to remind you or to confirm for you that you are doing the right things. Many creative entrepreneurs want to see how everyone else is running their businesses behind the scenes. I’m guilty of wanting sneak peaks under the hood of successful businesses so trust me when I say, you need to do the same for your own business and with the same excitement you feel when you get to see behind the curtain of someone else’s operation. 

This means you MUST get clear on your numbers. It means you have to know what money is coming in and what’s going out. It means you have to be really clear on the number of people on your lists (email, social media, etc.). And YES, it means you have to stop creating sometimes so that you can see what’s happening behind the creative vision of your business. The logistics of your business are just as important as the actual work you do to serve your perfect customers. 

Running a business is not all fun and games. There’s some hard work involved in the day-to-day operations of a business. That’s why you need to know things like:

• where you are loosing money,
• if you have clients who are unhappy or behind on paying you,
• which systems are you ignoring
• and on, and on, and on…

Basically, you have to know how things run behind the scenes of your business, even if you have a team of folks surrounding you and helping keep things running smoothly, YOU need to at least know why you all do what you do in the background. What if an employee or team member leaves? Will you be able to keep going without them? You don’t have to do it all by yourself, but you do need to know what’s being done, why, and have a surface understanding of how it all happens. 

Do these three things — Own It, Be Clear On Who You Serve, and Pay Attention to Your Own Behind the Scenes — to help you on your journey to moving from being a hobbyist to being a business owner. In the end, you must make a commitment to either making a real go at being in business or you have to declare it a hobby and keep yourself out of debt for something you only want to dabble in. It’s a hard truth that many don’t want to face. Are you facing your truth? Are you a business owner or a hobbyist? 

Kiala Givehand, EdS, MFA, MA is the founder of Giving Hands Creative, Generations Literary Press, and HowToArtJournal.com. She has a unique perspective on what it means to be a multi-passionate business owner. As business strategist for creative female entrepreneurs, introverts, writers, & artists, Kiala uses her fierce energy to help her clients identify and embrace their gifts so they can empower their lives with passion and intentional success. You can visit her on her Website. Kiala is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan:registered: Facilitators and a Right Brain Business Plan Associate Coach.

Guest post by by Cass Mullane, Accountability Coach, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

Do you live like you mean it?

When you wake up in the morning do you eagerly anticipate what the day is going to bring? Do you look forward to your daily routines as well as the surprises?
Do you treat each day as a new adventure?

Living like you mean it requires you to be authentic. You have to be comfortable with who you are and where you’ve chosen to focus your energies. You have to know your passions and not be afraid to own them.

You don’t spend your time looking back, you spend it consistently showing up and being fully present. You work hard at what’s important to you and do not quit when obstacles show up or the going gets a little rough. You have equipped yourself to make the hard decisions and to take responsibility for your actions.

You also know to keep an eye on the future.

When you do live like you mean it, you will find yourself in the unique position of having the opportunity to make a much greater impact in your world. You show up consistently and fully engaged as a business person and a creative. You are better equipped to take on the “big” things and see them through. This gives you an innate power and brings forth confidence. And the people you interact with will immediately sense it.

I want to tell you about someone I know who lives like she means it. Her name is Jane Beeder and she is a wonderful jewelry artist and business woman. She grew up in Virginia, Iran and Lebanon and developed a love of beads early on in her life. She is a world traveler, well read, politically savvy and a lifelong learner. She’s a seasoned professional who has done her art for decades, yet she is equally comfortable being a complete beginner and taking classes outside her medium.

She is consistently busy making and selling her art and actively engaging people that wander into her studio with conversations about the state of our world, art, music, politics, business, whatever strikes their fancy. Each time I see her she is intriguing, whether it’s the clothing she’s wearing or the expression on her face, and I wonder what delightful conversation we’ll have that day. She is a woman who is comfortable in her skin and who is ready to take on whatever comes her way. She inspires me. Oh, did I mention that she is 80 years old?

Or should I say, was 80. She died a few weeks ago. Now she is one of the many invisible creative cohorts who continue to have an impact on me. She reminds me to be strong, to be confident and to simply enjoy being me.

Jane Beeder lived like she meant it, every day.

Go out and live like you mean it!

That success is the first slip of paper in my Cool Stuff Jar for 2015. So now I’m kicking off my Best Year Ever!

Cass Mullane’s calm, comfortable approach consistently yields positive results for clients. Her business and personal coaching practice, www.ProsperCreatively.com, specializes in delivering solid left brain business skills to right brainers and creatives in a fun, visual way. She’s a best selling author, textile and mixed media artist and creator of the Cool Stuff Jar™ coaching program. You can also visit Cass on Facebook!

I’m sure that at least one point in your life you’ve had a teacher, mentor, or guide who helped you reach a certain goal, become a better person, or simply learn more about yourself.

You may not even realize it, but you’re probably that guide to someone else, too. We make a meaningful impact on others through how we show up in our lives and work.

Last week I learned that my book coach, Jan King, passed away. I met Jan at a conference several years ago. On the plane home from that event, I declared in my journal that I would become a published author. Jan played an instrumental role in helping me land a publisher for my first book and patiently held my novice author’s hand as I wrote The Right-Brain Business Plan. I’m so grateful for all the wisdom and sage advice she shared with me during that intense process of giving birth to a book for the first time. I know there were many other authors who she helped get published, too. And those authors influence and help so many others through their books, so Jan’s impact continues to ripple out.

In 2011, right when I kicked off my first Video Summit, my yoga certification teacher Larry Schultz, founder of It’s Yoga, passed away. I can still hear Larry saying, “Where are your hands and feet?” as he walked around with his yard stick making sure we were paying attention to our alignment. He helped me improve my practice on and off the mat, especially when he unexpectedly invited me to lead my Dream Box workshops as part of his teacher training. What an incredible experience!

Even though I hadn’t been in touch with either of these mentors around the time of their passing, I had been and still am touched by their teachings to this day. Their legacies live on.

I know it can seem like a morbid and taboo topic to be talking about death, and yet looking at our limited time on earth helps us explore some deep, purposeful questions like:

• Are you fully living the life you want to live?
• What impact are you making through your work and life?
• Whose lives are you making an indelible impression on now?
• What legacy will you leave behind?

Don’t think that your legacy needs to be some big, lofty, solve-world-hunger type of goal. You’re creating your legacy through the every-day actions that you take. Perhaps you’re touching the lives of your family, your local community, the people you serve through your work, or even strangers who you’ve crossed paths with in some small way.

With that in mind, are doing what you can to have the meaningful impact you want to make? If not, what conscious and courageous actions can you take now to live a life on purpose? How will you leave the world a better place?

Remember, the world needs you and your unique gifts!

Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator and Associate Coach Kiala Givehand

As soon as the clock strikes midnight on January 1st, there is a cloud of expectation that looms over the small business owner. If we aren’t mindful, that cloud can stay with us for the better part of the year. For some, the cloud is a reminder of everything they didn’t get done in the previous year (which the business owner then tacks onto the New Year to-do list). For others, that cloud is weighted with expectations of what they must make happen over the next 12 months. And then there are still others who find the silver lining in their New Year cloud by treating it as if it carries buckets filled with refreshing rain that will wash away all of their failures or provide a clean slate for what’s to come.

Regardless of which of these you identify with, the result is often a feeling of overwhelm. You’ve heard of good stress, right? Well the New Year can be both a burden and a blessing, but in the end, it creates a stress that can often set the tone for the rest of the year.

Here are seven ways to deal with feelings of overwhelm…

1. Stop Comparing — One of the most detrimental things you can do as a business owner is compare yourself to others. The 2nd most detrimental thing is comparing yourself today, to your past self. This can be heartbreaking. This is true in your personal life as well. Comparison breeds negativity and negativity leads to feelings of overwhelm. Make a conscious decision NOT to compare yourself to anyone — not even to yourself. Use the past as a guide, not a measuring stick.

2. Consciously Choose Silence — Take at least one day out of your week where you go about your day with the intention of being silent and being in silence. This can be difficult for many reasons (family, job, it’s new to you, etc.), but give it a try and see what comes up and out when you spend the day with your own thoughts, dreams, desires, fears, and hopes. Want to really make a mindset shift? Try this for a week. Turn off the radio in the car. Don’t watch television. It’s harder than you might think if you’ve never done it before, but the results can be astonishing.

3. Be Here Now — It is no longer last year. It’s today. Right now. That’s all it will ever be, so be here now. Live in the moment of your day. I know, I make it sound so easy. Trust me, I know there are times when it’s not that easy, but that doesn’t make it impossible. Try it. After you read this blog post, step away from your computer and take a walk or stand by a window and look out. Just be in the moment. Allow yourself to take in your surroundings and just be here now. Do this when the world feels like it is spinning out of control around you. Stop. Walk away. Gaze out the window. It’s equal to your mind taking a deep breath.

4. Celebrate Something Small in a Big Way — We celebrate the changing of our year with all sorts of parties, food traditions, ball dropping ceremonies, and fireworks. Find something small and celebrate it like it’s the biggest, most important thing that has ever happened to you. No one else can tell you what to celebrate, but here are a few examples to give you an idea of what could be seen as small but worthy of celebration:
a. Getting a parking space up front at the grocery store.
b. Finding a pair of earrings you thought you lost.
c. Going an entire week without chipping your nail polish.
d. Having a good hair day.
e. Finding a penny on the side walk.
f. Seeing the first flower bloom in your garden.
g. Hearing the song of a bird in the early morning.
h. No traffic on the way home from work.
i. Attending yoga (or the gym) everyday for one week.
j. Going 24 hours without social media.

5. Spend the Day Getting To Know Your Inner Critic — Upon reading this you may be thinking that this sounds like the opposite of ridding yourself of overwhelm. Think about it. We feel overwhelmed we when don’t have control. We give our inner critic a great deal of power over us, but we never actually spend time getting to know it. Take some time and really listen to all of those negative thoughts that come out when you are overwhelmed. Listen to what those thoughts are really saying to you and about you. You can think of the inner critic as separate from you, but the truth is, it’s your defense mechanism — it IS you. It’s that voice that kicks in when we are tired and overworked, or when we are dreaming, hoping, and expecting. Spend the day with those thoughts. Write them down. Dialogue with them. Find out what your inner critic has to say about your New Year cloud, then provide a comforting response that will soothe that critical voice so that you can move on. Take back your power by facing your fears and understanding them better.

6. Nourish Your Creative Spirit — In Building Your Business The Right-Brain Way, Jennifer Lee has you do an exercise where you create a self-care catalog. She places the focus on energy management and nourishing the creative spirit. It’s all about refueling so that you can be your best self. Jenn walks you through the activity in the Embracing Ease chapter on page 205, and even shares a photo of her self-care catalog. Once you create yours, you can use it to remind yourself of all the things you could do to combat the New Year cloud. You can also use it to pick things you want to do each week in order to overcome (or stave off) feelings of being overwhelmed. (Be sure to come back here and share a link to pics of your catalog, I’d love to see them.)

7. Have Fun & Laugh— Whatever fun looks like for you, do more of it. Whatever makes you laugh, do more of it. If you like watching comedy, take a day and binge watch comedy movies. Make sure you do it on a day where you won’t feel regret later or give yourself permission to play hookie from work and just spend the day laughing and having a good time. If you like the library or bookstores, go spend the day around books. If your idea of fun is doing something exhilarating and adventurous, go do that. Maybe fun for you is a day of yoga and meditation or a day of Crossfit, TRX, or Jazzercise — if so, go do that. Just do whatever you need to do to incorporate fun into your life — it’s a surefire remedy for feeling overwhelmed.

So tell me, which one of these can you do right now?

Kiala Givehand, EdS, MFA, MA is the founder of Giving Hands Creative, Generations Literary Press, and HowToArtJournal.com. She has a unique perspective on what it means to be a multi-passionate business owner. As an empowerment & accountability coach for creative female entrepreneurs, introverts, writers, & artists, Kiala uses her fierce energy to help her clients identify and embrace their gifts so they can empower their lives with passion and intentional success. You can visit her on her Website. Kiala is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators and a Right Brain Business Plan Associate Coach.