The more you see yourself and your life as successful, the more success you will experience and attract, Do the following as see for yourself.

Acknowledge all the small successes in the process. Count your “wins” daily. Wins are all those things that go your way in a given day—the letter you wrote, the VIP you finally got hold of, the parking ticket you eluded, the compliment you received.

Smile. Both psychologically and physiologically, this simple, easy action improves our well-being, which improves our outlook, which prepares us for all the great things we are expecting to happen to us. To become fit and healthy from a success standpoint, give your smile muscles a workout just like the rest of your body.

Hold your success attitude in your body. Stand up straight, raise your chin up, keep your shoulders back and feet firmly planted. Feel the power of personal success in every cell in your body.

Create a compelling success image in your mind. See yourself as a success magnet, Imagine it vividly and in detail—what are you doing, where are you, what are you wearing? Make your success as real as possible in your mind, so your magnetism is even stronger and, as a result, your actions even bigger.

Do affirmations. I like to call them “intentions.” State to yourself over and over what you intend to create in your life. State your intentions verbally, out loud to yourself; state them silently, in your mind; and record them on a cassette tape so that you can listen to yourself stating what you are magnetizing into your life.
You will only manifest in your life what you first manifest in your mind.

Be bold. Do all those things today that you know you will do when you are more successful. That is how you will attract and create the success you desire in your personal and professional life.

Greet every day with the belief that good things are going to happen to you. Expect to be successful with your calls, appointments and projects. Your life will be enriched; you will take more risks, make more requests, and seize more opportunities. That will result in a better life, and that is what success is all about.

Caterina is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit.
Download your free audio on Ten Steps to Using Speaking to Make your Business Thrive at
www.soughtafterspeaker.com Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or cat@caterinarando.com.

If this sounds like you, you may have been exposed to someone or something that gave you a bit of The Blahs. What you need is a little internal revitalization to soothe your spirit, nurture your soul, and rev up your belief in yourself.

Be A Little Irresponsible
That’s right. Play hooky from work, take in a matinée movie, go to afternoon tea, let the laundry pile up, the mail go unread, the phone calls go unreturned, and the dishes sit in the sink. Let all your responsibilities go until YOU WANT TO attend to them, instead of racing around being responsible because you feel that YOU HAVE TO.

Reconnect
Great relationships are one of the best things life has to offer.  Even with all our advanced technology, it’s easy to lose touch with people during the rush to get so many things done before the New Year arrives. Contact all the wonderful people you love to be with but whom you haven’t seen or heard from in a while, tell them you miss them, and catch up with all their news. Consider inviting them over to share a meal. Don’t be afraid to go potluck, or to order out for pizza and use paper plates. The easier, the better.

Be Kind to You
I know you may not have sent your holiday cards off early enough. And maybe you forgot to write down your goals before the strike of Millennium Midnight. Guess what? It’s OK.

Give Yourself a Break
Be kind to you. Gentle self-talk is soothing. Make sure the words you speak to yourself every day are loving. Leave the negative self-talk to those who mistakenly think that’s the way to keep themselves motivated.

Get Rid of It
We accumulate so much junk, Chuck it out! Make room for more good stuff. Or, better yet, make room for nothing, Yes, nothing. Sometimes a drawer, a closet, or a room with nothing in it can be refreshing. Make room for more good “nothing” in your living space.

Be Selfish
Go on. You can do it. Try it for a day. Say “no” when you want to. Go where you want to. Do what you want to do, and don’t explain yourself to anyone. I bet it will feel so good, you’ll want to do it more often. Serve yourself first for a change, spend some money on yourself for a change, go to the movie you want to see for a change, put your feet up on the coffee table and read a magazine cover-to-cover for a change. You go, girl!

In the future when The Blahs come around, if you apply these ideas they won’t get you down. Because now you know how to bring yourself back up.
Caterina is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit.
Download your free audio on Ten Steps to Using Speaking to Make your Business Thrive at
www.soughtafterspeaker.com Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or cat@caterinarando.com.

You are responsible for making sure you are served up a full helping in life. No one else can go to the buffet line for you. You won’t get what you want if you let anyone or anything else select the main course of your life.

If you want to have no regrets at the end of your life that means you have to live each day of your life with no regrets. To do that begin a lifestyle of proactive living. This involves doing what you want to do, going where you want to go, and being who you want to be. You know you are living and working without regrets when you are fully engaged, alert, alive, enthusiastic and in action in your life.

What could be possible for you in you were living a proactive life? Would you go back to school and study ballroom dancing or Buddhism, travel through Europe on a bike, risk that new romance, start a new business?

Where in life are you proactive and where do you need a jolt to get you going?
To create a more proactive lifestyle where you can squeeze more juice out of everyday do the following:

1. Commit Yourself to Proactive Living
Right now this is the only life you have. Make an agreement with yourself that you are not going to sit this one out, commit to being a participant, not an observer. Commit yourself to the process of finding and following your dreams, wants and desires.

2. Identify Proactive People
Make a list of ten people you are acquainted with that you believe live life proactively. These are the people you want to spend time with, collaborate with, pioneer with, play with.

3. Jot it Out
Keep a journal for a week and notice when you are feeling the most proactive. Write these things down and then at the end of the week reread your journal and see if there are any common threads or directions that need further investigation.

4. Try New Things
Make a list of all the things you would like to do. Add to the list everyday. Once a week for six weeks try something new. Living without regrets means trying everything you want to try.

5. Get Into Action.
Once you commit to proactive living, the only thing left to do is get moving, get going. Write out all the big and small action items necessary to get you living your proactive lifestyle. Start small with little steps, and as momentum builds you will find yourself naturally engaging fully in life, naturally not holding back.

As you become more proactive, watch closely as you quickly become a person with no regrets.

Caterina Rando, MA, MCC is a San Francisco based success coach, international success speaker and writer. She is author of the audio program Success with Ease- How to Find Fulfillment in a Fast Paced World – www.caterinar.com/swe.htm

Caterina is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit.
Download your free audio on Ten Steps to Using Speaking to Make your Business Thrive at
www.soughtafterspeaker.com. Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or cat@caterinarando.com

Susan recently told me, a few years back, her boss told her to do some business writing. This request caused her to fear for her job, instead of letting her fear and feelings of inadequacy win, she took action and signed up for a nonfiction writing class at her community college. After only the first meeting of the class she went back to work and wrote a case study for her employer that ended up running in the Harvard Business Review. Today Susan is a sought-after freelance business writer.

The day she decided to go to class was the day she set her professional life on a new course. Our willingness to believe that we can figure out how to do whatever it is we need to, to get the result we want, is a powerful part of living a full life and providing ourselves with unexpected life-altering adventures.

To add more power to your life every day, consider the following:

Say Yes to Any Opportunity Coming From the Right Direction
Be open to all the possibilities that come your way. Opportunities lead to other opportunities. You never know where a “yes” will take you. A “yes” to a luncheon invitation could lead to new client or job offer, a “yes” to a party could lead to a new relationship; a “yes” to help a friend clean out her closets could lead to a whole closet full of clothes for you. Right now, ask yourself–where do you need to answer “yes”?

Employ the Power of Exploration
Make it a weekly practice to do something new, something even unusual, simply for the freshness and uniqueness of it. Start with a list of the things you have never done that you would like to do. On your list put artistic activities, like throwing, and list mental activities like going to a lecture on brain function, include physical activities like yoga or salsa dancing; and put things on you list to feed your spiritual self, like trying meditation. Every week, pick an activity. Your world will get bigger, your mind will be broader, and your soul will be fuller.

Stop Tolerating It
Ask yourself what you are tolerating. It might be a stressful relationship, a disorganized office, or broken picture frame on your desk. Pay attention to what you are tolerating, make a list and begin to eliminate one item after another. This will free up your time, improve your clarity and increase your sense of well-being.

Even if you are not sure if something you do will result in a significant push in the right direction, do it anyway and watch what happens. Action makes all the difference.

Caterina is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit.
Download your free audio on Ten Steps to Using Speaking to Make your Business Thrive at
www.soughtafterspeaker.com. Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or cat@caterinarando.com

Every day, every moment you have a choice, a choice to be passionate or ambivalent in your life. You are responsible for making sure you are served up a full helping of passion in life. Only you can figure out what you are passionate about and only you can decide what will reignite it.

When you are passionate about your life problems are seen as possibilities, obstacles as opportunities to learn and grow. The only thing standing between you and a life filled with overflowing passion is you.

To lead a lifestyle of passionate living read on:

Strategies for Passionate Living

1. Commit Yourself to Passionate Living
Right now this is the only life you have. Make an agreement with yourself that you are not going to sit this one out, commit to being a participant, not an observer. Commit yourself to the process of finding and following your passion.

2. Ask Around
Ask people who have known you for a few years what they think you are passionate about. Ask family members, friends and people you respect that have know you for many years what they remember you being passionate about years ago.

3. Know Your Strengths
Make a list of all the things you are good at. When you run out of ideas leave the list and come back to it everyday for a week. During this time notice when you are doing something that is easy for you. Ask five people that know you to write a list of what they think you are good at.

4. Identify Passionate People
Make a list of ten people you are acquainted with that you believe have a life filled with passion.  Call them up or get together with them and ask them what a life of passion looks like and how they went about identifying their passion.

5. Try New Things
Make a list of all the things you would like to do. Add to the list everyday. Once a week, for six weeks try something new. In addition to having new experiences and perhaps finding some new passions, in the process of doing new things you will get your creative juices going and might change your perspective for a change.

6. Get Into Action
When you get clear about what you want, what you are passionate, about the only thing left to do is get moving. Start small with little steps, and as momentum builds you will find your reignited passion turn into a firestorm fueling your fulfillment success.

From this day forward commit yourself to live from a place of passion. As you begin this new lifestyle, watch closely and notice what is different. You will find life to be more fun, filled with more laughter and more purpose.

During your process of reigniting your passion, if there comes a fleeting moment, when, only for an instant you doubt whether or not it is worth it- all the effort and action, remember the words of the 20th century philosopher, Mae West.
“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.”

Caterina Rando, MA, MCC is an international success speaker, master coach and writer she is author of “Power Thinking” and the audiocassette program: “Success with Ease- How to Find Fulfillment in a Fast Paced World.” She has also written several special reports for business and life success. To sign up for Caterina’s monthly success newsletter or to find out more about how Caterina can contribute to your success go to www.caterinar.com, or email her at email: cpr@caterinar.com.

Caterina is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit.
Download your free audio on Ten Steps to Using Speaking to Make your Business Thrive at
www.soughtafterspeaker.com. Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or cat@caterinarando.com

Get ready for a revelation- we create the struggle in our lives.

We all have different Struggle Strategies that we unknowingly use in our lives and business that make things more difficult than they have to be.

Take a look at some of the different Struggle Strategies. Choose which one is making things harder on you and make a change.

Timing
One of the biggest causes of struggle in our lives is that we want what we want when we want it. A full book of clients, a seamless team supporting us or even your new computer may not land on your lap exactly when you want it. Things do not always come in the time frame we would prefer. Stay focused on what you want and keep working at it, often you will find, as the old adage goes – better late than never.

Expectations
We often expect ourselves and others to get so much done—so quickly, or to complete everything perfectly. When things do not go the way we expect them to, we can stress out. Recognize that you and everyone else may make mistakes and that other people will not always do things the way you would do them. Know that the world will not always act according to your predetermined script, embrace this idea and you will be a lot happier every day.

New Priorities – Old Life
Our priorities change. There might have been a time when all that mattered was your career or your family or vice-versa. You created a life to reflect those priorities. When your priorities change, your life has to change to reflect those new priorities. Ask yourself if your day-to-day life reflects your priorities? If not, make some shifts.

No Fun
Sure you might take a vacation or two every year, still, that is not enough. Life is a lot better when you are having some fun everyday. Take a mini vacation every day. Find a short period of time daily to have a great time, take in lunch on the lake, a skate in the park, twenty minutes with your favorite novel, a dance around your living room. Enjoy yourself. If you don’t, no one else will.

Envy
You will turn green thinking about what everyone else has, how easy they have got it, how everything just seems to fall in their lap. No matter what your skin tone envy green is not a very attractive color on you. When you see all the success and prosperity in other people’s lives, take it as an affirmation that the world is abundant and there are plenty of good things coming your way. Then put your attention back on your life and figure out how you are going to get what you want.

Recognizing which Struggle Strategy you are currently using often or even infrequently and decide what you are going to do to let that struggle strategy go. Take action to make things easier on you follow this up with attention on other changes you can make to add even more ease and enjoyment to your business and whole life.

Caterina is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit.
Download your free audio on Ten Steps to Using Speaking to Make your Business Thrive at
www.soughtafterspeaker.com. Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or cat@caterinarando.com

You know it would serve you to stop worrying, but trying to do so can be challenging. For most of us, this concept is a great idea that is very difficult to implement. Many women seem to have been born with a worry gene. Instead of trying to eliminate all worry, try a different approach.

1. Start with Awareness
Start to become more aware of when you are worrying. By becoming conscious of it, you can begin to change your behavior. When you notice you are worrying, take a deep breath and then let it out to relax you a bit.

2. Be Present Now
When you become aware that you are worrying, ask yourself if what you are worrying about is related to today. For example, if you are worrying about a speech, a business meeting or a potential opportunity, is that something that is going to happen today? If the answer is no, then you are not allowed to worry about it.

3. Take Action
If what you’re worrying about is something that is happening today, then reframe your worry thoughts into planning thoughts. Instead of worried thinking like “I hope my business presentation goes well this afternoon,” reframe that into a planning thought: “Is there anything I can do to improve my business presentation and ensure I am successful tonight?” If the answer is yes, do it. If you have already done everything there is to do, then there is nothing to worry about.

4. Plan
When you find yourself worrying about ongoing issues like , financial difficulty or difficult relationship, make a pact with yourself to stop worrying and engage in some planning time. By asking yourself powerful questions instead of staying stuck in the worrying rut, you can improve your situation. Then, of course, follow up your planning with consistent action.

5. Ask Powerful Questions
The powerful questions you might ask yourself are “What would it take for me to stop worrying about this?”; “Is there a different choice I can make that will provide me with more well-being?”; or “Is there something I can say or do right now so I can stop worrying about this?”

6. Trust Yourself
Life will go the way it goes. There is much we cannot control. We cannot control the weather, other people or even if parking will be available when we get to our destination. Recognize that you can only control yourself and the choices you make.

Remind yourself that you are capable and competent and that you have the power to affect your life to the extent it is possible to do so. If you cannot control a situation, it does you no good to worry about it, so simply let it go.

“Let it go” is the key to wringing out worry. When you notice you are worrying about things outside of your control, let go of these thoughts and think about something you can impact. Soon you will find more positive and powerful thoughts filling your mind.
Caterina Rando, is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit.
Download your free audio on Ten Steps to Using Speaking to Make your Business Thrive at
www.soughtafterspeaker.com. Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or cat@caterinarando.com

Many of us believe that we have to work hard from before sun up to after sun down to accomplish anything. This is not living, it’s existing and doing it too long will strip you of your joy for life and passion for your work.

There are ways of living and thinking that promote ease and support you. Success with ease is taking a stand for the way you work, committing to having your work contribute to you as much as it contributes to others. Success with ease is enjoying your work, the process and the results while enjoying yourself and the other aspects of your life. Adopt some of these ideas to add more ease to your work and the rest of your life.

Expect Ease
Release old ideas that pain and suffering are necessary to achieve success. Reprogram your thinking throughout the day with these statements “Success comes to me with ease.” “I move through my life with ease.”

De-Clutter Your Life
Do you have too much stuff in too many places? If so, get rid of it. It takes up precious space, causes confusion and sucks the energy out of you. Clean your closets, your desk drawers, your pantry and every other place that is in disarray.

Plan Breaks in Advance
Sometimes we think that the sky will fall if we take a vacation, go away for a long weekend or even take an afternoon off. If you plan for time away, you will easily be able to get away, without having to reschedule, cancel, juggle, delegate and rush to get things done. Take a stand for yourself and give yourself needed breaks.

Don’t Worry
We spend too much time worrying about the future and the past. Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a truly gift. That is why they call it the present.” Put your attention and thinking on what you can change. Release worrisome thoughts. They do you no service and can create mental and emotional havoc that makes no contribution to your life.

Create Support
We can all use more support. Support comes in many forms. Support can be a walk with a friend, a cup of tea in the afternoon with a colleague, a neighborhood teenager who mows your lawn, takes your dog for a walk or takes your boxes to charity. Support is getting a massage once a month, hiring an assistant, or a bookkeeper, getting your groceries delivered to your door. Where can you use more support? Go get it!

You can be more successful and have more ease by putting your attention on these ease-enhancing ideas. Watch the ease begin to flow in your life.

Caterina Rando, is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit.
Download your free audio on Ten Steps to Using Speaking to Make your Business Thrive at
www.soughtafterspeaker.com. Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or cat@caterinarando.com

If the 80/20 rule is true, we should have all the time we need to accomplish what is most important for us. So why aren’t women in business thriving? Because most of us spend too much time on less important activities. We are often too busy with insignificant tasks that the time allotted to the most important activities is cut short.

Be strategic about how you spend your time. Remember, effort does not automatically produce results. In fact, hard work may have a negative effect on productivity since hard work depletes your energy and erodes your enthusiasm. In your business focus on doing those things that only you can do. Leave the rest for your team. Don’t have a team? Time to get one—no business can grow without one. Plus when you have a team you are freed up to do those revenue-producing things that only you can do.

Begin to focus each day on those things that provide the most value to your business. Begin to see what are you spending time on that is not serving your business. Begin to see where you can create a system on a process that you can document so someone else can do it.

For one week track your time, what are you doing and for how long? Keep a log and at the end of the week see where you are spending your time. The log will not lie. See how much time you are spending on things that are accelerating your business and how much time you are spending on insignificant things that others can do. By concentrating on these activities, you will be spending time on the 20 percent that produces 80 percent of your results and your business will thrive even more.

Caterina Rando shows ambitious women how to be loud and proud about the value they bring in order to make their businesses thrive. She is a master certified coach, business strategist and creator of the Sought After Speaker Summit  and The Business Breakthrough Summit. Check these sites for more business building ideas.

You can reach Caterina at (415) 668-4535 or via email at info@caterinspeaks.com.

This article will outline for you how you can use Google Alerts to your advantage and make your website even more successful.

The following are tips you can use to make Google Alerts work for you:

• Make a List of Keywords and Phrases
  Make a list of keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business. For example: If you are a coach and you’re looking to learn about what is happening within your line of business, you don’t want to receive e-mail alerts from Google Alerts about the fashion industry.

• Sign up for Google Alerts
  Google Alerts will notify you by e-mail about news pages and web pages that match the keywords and phrases that you chose. If news articles find their way into the top 10 results, you will be alerted. If web pages make it into the top 20 results in Google web search results, you will be notified. You will also be notified when new posts make it into the top fifty of Google Groups. To get all of this, you go to www.google.com/alerts and sign up for news alerts, group alerts, and web alerts.

• Be Sure to Repeat the Process
  For each keyword or phrase, you have to repeat the process. Every single time a new keyword or phrase comes to mind, be sure to add those to your Google Alerts.

• Use Advanced Search Features
  Google Alerts gives you the opportunity to be more detailed in your search through using the “More Options” button. You can then use the “Advanced” button next to the search term you wish to be more detailed about.

• Use the “Link Search” Option
  You will find this option under “Special Searches,” which is on the advanced search page. This allows you to explore a website that you are interested in. This is also a great way to see what kind of people are linking to your own website. You can even use this option in addition to HTML feeds that you have set up on the feed settings page. This allows you to see any new links to your site.

An even greater feature of Google Alerts is that it is a free tool that any webmaster can use. That is why you should visit Google Alerts today and sign up to receive alerts specific to your industry. It is like having your own set of spies without having to pay them a dime.