Debra Kasowski

EPISODE 474 – Say YES to The Right Things

by Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

In this podcast, Debra Kasowski encourages you to tune in and start staying Yes to the right things like meaningful opportunities, connections, and collaborations. There is transformative power in saying YES!

Grab a listen to my podcast when you are on moving or relaxing wherever you are! Don’t forget to subscribe to get notified of every video that is released!

Debra Kasowski is the charismatic podcast host of The Millionaire Woman Show, 3X Best Selling Author, Speaker, and Certified Executive Coach. She interviews incredible speakers, authors, CEO, Business and Organizational Leaders and drops solo episodes with tips, strategies, and techniques for your success.

***GET YOUR GIFT*** Go to www.debrakasowski.com for your FREE 10 pg PDF of Reset Your Mindset download when you sign up for our Success Secrets Newsletter. Book your Complimentary Discovery Session with Debra today!

 1. Connect with Debra Kasowski on social media https://www.youtube.com/user/debrakasowski https://www.instagram.com/debrakasowski https://www.facebook.com/debrakasowskiinternational https://www.twitter.com/debrakasowski

2. SUBSCRIBE to The Millionaire Woman Show podcast on iTunes

3. PURCHASE Debra’s books – Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your favourite bookstore GPS Your Best Life – Debra Kasowski & Charmaine Hammond The Entrepreneurial Mom’s Guide to Growing a Business, Raising a Family, and Creating a Life You Love Let’s Be Curious: Ask the Right Questions Get Better Answers, and Create What You Want

EPISODE 158 – Paralysis by Analysis

by Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWQUWzuUBkk[/embedyt]

I believe it’s strikingly important to remember that when you know better, you can do better. With higher levels of awareness, you can make smarter choices. And the more clarity you get as to who you want to become, the quicker you can start making the choices need to get you there.
– Robin S. Sharma

We have all the choices around us to create our best in life, business, and our organizations yet seeking the perfect choice can lead to disaster. It can lead to paralysis by analysis. You would think choice leads to freedom. Choices can give us freedom yet for having too many choices can lead to anxiety. Sometimes that anxiety comes from worrying about what others will think. You may have heard the phrase, “What others think of you is none of your business.”, so don’t stress over it. When there is an unlimited amount of choices or an overload of options to choose from it can lead to the inability to make a decision. Weighing the pros and the cons of a choice can be exhausting and anxiety provoking.

Anxiety puts us on guard and directs us to play it safe. A little bit of anxiety or nervousness is not always a bad thing. It alerts you to pay attention to details and your intuition. However, sometimes being too cautious can hold you back. The front part of your brain, prefrontal cortex is responsible for decision-making – weighing the consequences and processing your thoughts. The prefrontal cortex helps release some of the emotional steam from decision making by calming the amygdala, a small part of the brain responsible for instinct (the flight or fight response), impulsiveness, and fear. When emotions are high, the amygdala goes into high gear by reacting to protect versus calmly responding. Decision-making can be impaired when emotions are high as rationale thought tends to go out the window. Focus moves from facts to feelings.

Paralysis tends to occur when there are too many choices. You may have even narrowed the choices down and now you are worried that you are going to make the wrong choice. Chances are if you were able to narrow it down that neither choice would be the wrong choice. What if you made a decision that no choice would be a bad one or the wrong one?
There are some things you can do before you get caught up in paralysis by analysis – basically overthinking things.

Practice Mindfulness.

When you practice being mindfulness, you pay attention to everything around you. You can pickup on things that are that may add to anxiety such as distractions and clutter. You can eliminate or avoid those distractions so you can feel confident in your decision-making.

Identify Your Triggers.

What triggers you to feel anxious about making a choice? How is the anxiety influencing your decision right now? Where is this trigger coming from? Past events. Childhood.

Slow Down to Be Self-Aware.

What feelings come up for you? Remember when emotions are high, rationale thought is low. What thoughts are you having?

Be Intentional with Your Actions.

Self-awareness is important. Your thoughts and feelings impact your behaviour and the actions you take impacting your results. How what you think and feel about your results impact your next set of actions.

Act As IF.

Why not act as if you were making decisions and handling situations with ease? Your subconscious mind does not recognize the difference between reality and your imagination. Better yet, think to yourself, “What would my mentor or someone I admire do? How would they respond to this situation?” Act as if and soon enough you will.

What choice have you been deliberating on? Go through these steps to help you move through making the choice you need to so you can feel the freedom you need. The peace of mind knowing that you made a good decision and no matter what you have the skills and ability to move through your decisions with grace and resilience, if needed. Let anxiety you have guide you into making the “perfect choice” for you in that moment.

Don’t overthink it…make a decision…take action…and follow through.

We would love to have you subscribe to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get my just release FREE e-book about the 21 Habits High Achievers Kick to Achieve Success. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free e-book download today! www.debrakasowski.com

I Can See Clearly Now

by Leave a Comment

I am in the midst of obtaining my certification in Emotional Intelligence and we were discussing the downsides of possessing too much of a strong characteristic. It got me thinking about a blog post I recently wrote called Time to Shift from Challenges to Opportunity. I am not second guessing what I wrote, however, I can see how people may see me as somewhat of a Pollyanna or someone wearing rose coloured glasses or even a blue sky thinker.

I do believe that you can create some of your circumstances with the power of your mind and how you respond to situation. In the Emotional Intelligence psychometric tool (EQi 2.0), there is a sub-scale or competency called reality testing. According to Stein and Book (2006), “The best simple-sentence definition of reality testing is that it is capacity to see things objectively, the way things are, rather than the way we wish or fear them to be.” Reality testing is important but I do not think it should stop people from dreaming and creating a business, shifting the culture of an industry, or creating a life you love.

Courtesy of Scott Chan/freedigitalphotos.net
Courtesy of Scott Chan/freedigitalphotos.net

Develop Clarity. It is important for you to assess where you are and know where it is you want to go. Once you develop clarity about what it is you want, you will be able to start seeing the “how” in which you wish to get there.

Be Open to Opportunity. I cannot stress this enough from the previous blog post. I want you to know no matter what circumstances you find yourself in that you always have choices and options. You can either choose to do something differently or the situation may force you into doing something different. How do I know this? Think about all the choices you have made to get you to where you are today.

Watch the Words You Use. Your thoughts, feelings, and behavior affect the actions that you take. If you focus on challenges, you may miss the opportunity waiting in the wings.

Ask Others for Their Insight but Make Your Own Decision. You probably have heard the saying, “You are so close to the situation, you cannot see the forest through the trees.” When you are the the midst of a situation, it may be difficult for you to either see the situation for what it is or the big picture as to how it impacts yourself or others. You may have exhausted ideas and hit the wall and do not know where to turn.

Some people think asking for assistance is a weakness, whereas, I see it as one of the powerful things a person can do. Asking others for their perspective can help you challenge assumptions and perhaps see a different perspective. A story I love to share is one I read long ago in an Anthony Robbins book where Walt Disney asked his employees input into a dilemma or creative idea. Employees submitted idea after idea. Not only did he empower his employees, he reviewed all these ideas and it helped him become one of the innovative leaders of the century.

If you are facing a challenge, try testing your reality. Do you see one of the challenges you face as a true fact or do you see as an opportunity to do something differently? Believe me, I catch myself when I start viewing situations as challenges and setbacks. I also need to remind myself to look at the possibilities and opportunities before me. Situations are temporary – both positive and negative. I will start to plan, prepare, and challenge myself to rise above the situation and you can too.

Courtesy of graur codrin/freedigitalphotos.net
Courtesy of graur codrin/freedigitalphotos.net

I can see clearly now – I chose to look at the bright side. When you focus on the strengths and the clear vision you have for yourself, opportunities will start to present themselves.

What do you see? What choice will you make?

Share this blog post with others so they too can see clearly now.

Stein, Steven J. and Book, Howard E. (2006) The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success. 3rd edition.John Wiley & Sons Canada. Mississauga, Ontario.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Dream Stealing Excuses Keeping You from Living Your Best Life

by Leave a Comment

Everyone has a choice to create the happiness and the life of their dreams. Yet, few will take the initiative to actually make things happen. They come up with all the reasons they can not have what they want.

There are many excuses everything from: the dog to the kids, to my spouse or partner, to heap load of debt or no money, to I have a headache or I need to wash my hair. Think about your excuses.

How committed are you to your dream of creating a lifestyle of your dreams?

How committed are you to growing a booming well established business?

The top dream stealing excuses I have heard are:

  1. I have no money. You have gotten to where you are right now by the choices you have made. You also have the ability to make a new choice that will empower you to make even better choices. Can you make more money? Can you spend less in other places and invest what you can into your new priorities? Yes, there may be some sacrifices along the way. Here is the deal breaker. You may not like sacrifice. People tend to lower the standard of their dreams based on the amount of sacrifice they are willing to make. Are you willing to sacrifice for the short term to get the long term gain?

2.  It’s too much work or It’s too hard. It is great to share a pipe dream or look at someone and say “Wow, they just have all the luck.” I can guarantee in most cases, luck had nothing to do with it. The work did. Strong work ethic, discipline, and 18534824_mldetermination got them to where they are. No one has died from hard work. I am sure you can not only work hard but you can also work smarter than the next person. You need to create a plan. Get a mentor or hire a coach to help you. Any person who has faced great challenges knows that it takes work and a “never give up attitude” to make ideas happen. Don’t listen to the people who say you can or say “Do you really want to do that? This is your dream. This is your goal. When you decide that your commitment to your dream is stronger than your excuses, you will make your ideas and dream happen.

3. I have a spouse/partner and kids. Yes, so do I. So do many people. Does that mean you push aside your dreams and goals? Can you share your dream with your spouse/partner about your commitment and what you plan to do to make it happen? My guess is that you would probably support theirs – why not yours? Can you be a role model for your children as you chase your passions and teach them about making key decisions? It is an injustice to the world for you to hold back on your dreams. You need to show up in the world. You have a purpose and you are here to make an impact.

There can be many excuses that are holding you back from living the life of your dreams. Make a shift. Debunk the myths about what society implies you must do. Do what you know feels right. Make a decision – What is your why? What do you really want for your life or business? By making a choice to commit to what you feel you are here to do, the “how” often sorts itself out. Don’t steal your own dreams with your excuses. Choose to make the commitment to yourself. Choose to be happy and you will prosper!

How have you challenged your excuses? Please share to help others from stealing their dreams!

 

6 Powerful Reasons to Take Decisive Action NOW

by Leave a Comment

We can all come up with an excuse as to “why” today might not be the right time or place to take action.

I am tired of hearing excuses from people with so much potential to make positive change in the world. Many sit on the sidelines just waiting for life to say “Hello, it’s your turn.” These people have worked hard long hours yet continually postpone their success. Why?

Time stops for no one.

Why wait?

“The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react.” – George Bernard Shaw

You may even challenge my reasons for taking decision action – NOW but that’s okay. That is my intent! When you question, thoughts and beliefs you can gain a whole new perspective and – even get out of the rut you may have found yourself in. Life is way too short not to do something!

  1. You have been getting the same results and feedback over and over. It is hard to gain momentum when you have hit a plateau and you are not going anywhere. This is a time when it is crucial to examine your results and feedback. Discover what is working and not working? Do a little bit research of current best practices. Better yet, get your creative juices going and innovate. 

    Courtesy of stockimages/freedigitalphotos.net
    Courtesy of stockimages/freedigitalphotos.net
  2. You Get What You Put into Life. If you are not taking action with 100% effort, you cannot expect to reap 100% results. You need to plunge into your goals and dreams with heart and passion. Make 100% commitment to achieving them.
  3. It is your life SO do something about it. There are 7 billion people on this planet – who are you going to give your power to? Do not wait for the knight in shining armour, the damsel in distress, or the silver platter handing you success. It’s your life so take control and take 100% responsibility for your actions.
  4. The right time happens when you make the choice to make it so. There never seems to be a right time or place to get what you want. Make the right time your time. You are in control of your choices. Plan, prepare, and decide.
  5. If you decide to quit, you let the competition win. Nothing spurs me on more than rehearsing this statement in my head. Do you really want to give it all away? You have come so far; your success may be a result of your next action. Are you willing to let it all go for temporary defeat?
  6. What you know means nothing unless you do! You can have all the knowledge in the world but nothing really happens until you apply what you learn. 

Now is the perfect time to chart your course and take action. What is your reason for taking massive decisive action TODAY?