I recently experienced one of the highlights of my life.
If any of you know me at all, then you'll know that meeting Richard Branson has been one of my biggest dreams. He's been a true source of inspiration to me and it's all because of how he defines business and entrepreneurship.
It used to be that the only things that defined success were money and the number of people working under you. Well, with Branson, that's not it at all. For him the definition of business means being ethical in all that you do, treating your employees right, and mostly -- having fun. Lots of it.
So how did I end up on his private island?
Alright, so back to my dream of meeting Richard Branson. I honestly thought it would take me 5 or even 10 years to do this. You know, to build up credibility and success as an entrepreneur, the typical way to meet anybody famous and wildly successful. Read More…
Listen. Every major player in history and business has this one thing in common:
a healthy abundance mindset.
I can personally attest to this. When I started FinerMinds' parent company, MindValley, business was slow. I hate to admit it but that's the truth. No matter what I did, how many articles or books I read on running a business, nothing was happening. Until I had a shift in my abundance mindset. From that moment on, FinerMinds skyrocketed and so did my personal growth.
So until your mind is geared towards abundance, nothing will happen for you. It's time for you to remove those mental blocks and let the Universe and you come together to welcome wealth and success.
So back to your super hero council, I mentioned earlier. Remember when you were young and you thought how awesome it would be to have Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman at your side, guiding you and of course helping you fight crime? Now picture this:
Having over 12 of the most brilliant minds in the fields of abundance and success in your room, just hanging out with you, brainstorming never-before-thought-of ideas, and telling you the secrets to achieving every financial, spiritual, and emotional goal you've ever dreamed of.
Sounds a little too good to be true doesn't it. Well, pinch yourself, it's real... Read More…
We all know how powerful the mind is. But what we often fail to remember is that our minds are also our number one allies when it comes to building wealth and abundance.
I found this awesome article that breaks down the how-tos and whys of acquiring a healthy wealthy mindset.
One particular quote I really love and can be applied to all aspects of our lives is this one:
Believing you can accomplish something is the first step in actually doing it.
I wish this simple concept was instilled in our minds from birth and in our education system. But it's never too late to start and now is better than anytime.
In this article you will learn:
• What a wealth and prosperity mindset is
• Why it’s essential to have one if you want success in your life
• How to expand your mindset for wealth and prosperity
Enjoy! And let me know if you have any tips on gaining a mindset for wealth and success.
David Wood with FinerMinds Co-Founder, Vishen Lakhiani
David Wood is back by popular demand. His video blog post entitled "Are You An Undercover Coach? Take The 1 Min Test" still holds the record for the #1 most commented blog post on FinerMinds with over 185 comments.
This time however, he's not back with another video blog post.
He's back with a teleseminar and given his popularity at FinerMinds, it's sure to be a major hit.
If you took David's quiz already, and scored at least 4 out of 7, click on the big link below immediately, and register for his upcoming teleseminar with Brian Wong of QuanLife.
This live broadcast will give you answers you'll need to know to start your own coaching practice from scratch.
For those of you who didn't take David's fun and quick video quiz, do so now.
You might discover that you have some hidden coaching qualities that you could take advantage of to improve the lives of others and boost your own self-awareness.
Watch the video below, leave your quiz results and then register for the teleseminar if you scored 4 or higher.
Hope you scored at least 4 out of 7. If that's the case, then see you at the teleseminar!
It will be held on Thursday June 25th, 9pm US Eastern Time. The lines fill up fast so register early!
I recently wrote a post explaining the importance of following your passion and doing what you love.
Well, FinerMinds' parent company, MindValley, is looking for people who want to do just that. We are hiring people who are out to get their dreams, achieve their goals, and believe in personal growth and development.
These guys have helped loads of people in terms of changing their lives around and getting them to attract incredible wealth and success. And not to mention they're hilarious.
If you’ve watched the television news in the last few months, or listened to the radio, or been on the internet, or looked at a magazine… or even just talked to well… anybody, you must be aware that the general consensus is that this is a time of unprecedented challenge and transition. Economically, that often gets focused onto the United States, but actually in the wider implications, the transition that we are passing through is global.
Many of us endeavor to be a better person and follow what we our heart's belief's and desires... but many of us often find our dreams hampered when the "rules of society" tell us this is not possible.
The late Dame Anita Roddick does not believe so. Cynthia Kersey, author of the bestselling book "Unstoppable", shares this moving story of Anita Roddick with us.
This story will inspire and uplift you to fight for your heart's dreams and desires, even if this means you have to fight the system.
The Creation of a Caring Corporation
If you want to start a successful business
Don’t choose an industry that’s already dominated by several large companies.
Don’t plan on selling products without an advertising campaign.
Don’t mix politics with sales.
Any Harvard Business School graduate can tell you those rules. And that’s exactly why someone from Harvard Business School is the last person Anita Roddick plans to hire.
Anita broke just about every rule in the book when she started The Body Shop to sell naturally based cosmetics. She’s still breaking the rules today. Of course, such irreverence has its consequences. In Anita’s case, the consequences read like this: The Body Shop now has more than 1,500 stores throughout the world, is worth over $500 million, and has influenced the products and marketing of all its chief competitors.
And those are just the consequences in the business arena. The Body Shop is also a powerfully effective vehicle for social and environmental awareness and change; as far as Anita is concerned, that is the most important consequence of all.
From the moment in 1976 when Anita first conceived the idea of opening a shop to sell naturally based cosmetics, she was thinking in a most unbusinesslike manner. Most entrepreneurs set out to establish a company with growth potential that will make them wealthy someday. Anita was just looking for a way to feed herself and her two children, while her husband, also a maverick, was away on a two-year adventure, riding a horse from Argentina to New York.
Her first challenge was to find a cosmetics manufacturer to produce her products. No one she approached had ever heard of jojoba oil or aloe vera gel, and they all thought that cocoa butter had something to do with chocolate. Although she didn’t realize it at the time, Anita had discovered a market just about to explode: young female consumers who would prefer their cosmetics to be produced in a cruelty-free and environmentally responsible manner. When manufacturers failed to have the same foresight, Anita found a small herbalist who could do the work she required.
Since Anita was not the typical entrepreneur, she saw no drawbacks in starting her company with almost no capital. To save money, she bottled her cosmetics in the same inexpensive plastic containers hospitals use for urine samples, encouraging her customers to bring the containers back for refills. Because Anita couldn’t afford to have labels printed, she and some friends hand printed every one. Her packaging couldn’t have turned out better if she’d planned it that way. With the improvised packaging, her product now had the same natural, earthy image as the cosmetics themselves.
Anita opened the first branch of The Body Shop in her hometown of Brighton, England. When she first opened, neighboring proprietors made bets on how long the store would last. Less amused were the owners of local funeral parlors who insisted she change the shop’s name. No one, they complained, would hire a funeral director located near a place called “The Body Shop.” She stuck to her guns and the name stayed.
The first store was only minimally successful. Nevertheless, Anita decided to move ahead with a second one. The bank questioned the wisdom of her plan and refused a loan. So she found a friend of a friend who was willing to lend her the equivalent of $6,400 in exchange for 50 percent ownership of The Body Shop. Today that person is worth $140 million. Signing over half of her business was the only real mistake Anita ever made.
But it wasn’t the only decision that looked like a mistake. Here are three more:
She has never advertised even when she opened shops in the United States. People told her it was suicide to enter a new market without massive advertising support.
She doesn’t sell in any outlet other than The Body Shop stores. (Some of her Asian stores are the only exception and are located within department stores.)
She resolved early on that her shops would be a catalyst for change, not just in the business world, but in the world at large.
These decisions turned out to be some of the most inspired “mistakes” in the history of retailing. Even though Anita has never paid for advertising, her unconventional ideas have inspired hundreds of articles and interviews generating tremendous publicity. Her first shop in New York was packed with customers from the day it opened. At one point, a thirty-five-year-old woman on roller skates threw up her arms and shouted, “Hallelujah! You’re here at last.” So much for advertising.
A new branch of The Body Shop opens somewhere in the world every two and a half days. Occasionally, Anita has had trouble opening stores in shopping malls. But having a past that was filled with challenges, Anita is accustomed to coming up with creative solutions. For instance, when one mall refused to lease her space, she organized every mail-order customer within a 110-mile radius to write letters to the management of that mall. Within a few months, a branch of The Body Shop was open.
Anita also had this nonconformist idea of putting ideals ahead of profit. From the start, Anita wanted not just to change the faces of her customers but to change the entire face of business. She envisioned a company that was socially responsible and compassionate. “I see the human spirit playing a big role in business. The work does not have to be drudgery, and the sole focus does not have to be on making money. It can be a human enterprise that people feel genuinely good about.”
Some of the raw materials for her products are harvested by groups of people in underdeveloped regions, thus generating an income for them. The Body Shop has launched campaigns to save the whales, ban animal testing in the cosmetics industry, help the homeless, and protect the rain forests. All of these campaigns have been eagerly supported by loyal customers.
Employees of The Body Shop are actively involved in these efforts. Each month, employees receive a half day off with pay to volunteer in the community. Some employees, for example, went to Romania to help rebuild orphanages. In the stores, customers are encouraged to register to vote, recycle their plastic cosmetics containers, and bring their own shopping bags to save paper and plastic. Because of all these activities, people have suggested Anita’s company should really be called “The Body and Soul Shop.” Customers emerge not only looking good but also feeling good.
“Business as usual” isn’t part of Anita Roddick’s make up. But as far as she’s concerned, doing what is not usual has made all the difference.
This story is authored and contributed by Cynthia Kersey, a highly-sought authority on perseverance, peak performance & achieving breakthrough goals, as well as a bestselling author. The story on Anita Roddick is one of the 45 powerful stories from Cynthia's bestselling book, Unstoppable, which sold several hundred thousand copies in 13 languages. Numerous Fortune 500 companies and independent distributors, including Xerox, Johnson & Johnson, Aetna, Home Interiors & Gifts, Jafra, Noevir, Quixtar and Primerica utilize Cynthia's inspiring message and unique strategies. Her message empowers individuals to build and maintain a successful business and to create a rich and meaningful life.
Update: Helene Hadsell's Book and DVD have now Launched. Please visit TheWinningSage.com
We had over 9,500 people sign up for a recent interview with Helene Hadsell. Starting from the moment that the first few people got a chance to listen to Helene's interview, her phone has been ringing off the hook and her inbox has been flooded with emails. I spoke to her this morning and she told me that she still had 350 emails to reply to.
Pic Above: Vishen, Melissa and Mike with Helene Hadsell
I don't know where Helene, who is 84 years old (a correction, in our last post we mentioned she was 83), gets all of that energy from!
I first heard about Helene Hadsell through my friend Kate Roberts. She told me about an out-of-print book Helene had wrote decades ago, and showed me a blog post on her by Joe Vitale. I was intrigued, so I Googled her name to find out everything I could about her life. Somehow I stumbled upon her email address and wrote to her to ask if I could interview her for FinerMinds.
She replied within 24 hours.
That first interview blew me away. Helene's stories mesmerized me. What was supposed to be a one hour interview turned into two solid hours. I decided I had to meet this lady.
Pic Above: Helene at Home
Coincidentally, it turned out Helene lived in Alvarado, Texas. And I was actually going to be in Whitney, Texas in 4 weeks for a charity fundraiser. Whitney and Alvarado are only 35 minutes apart.
And so on a beautiful summer day in September, Mike, our friend Melissa, and I drove to visit Helene. We planned on spending 6 hours with her before flying out to LA.
Helene was not happy to hear this. She was under the impression that we were going to stay the night. She had prepared her guesthouse for us and cooked a nice meal. "It's nice to have company," she said.
And then another coincidence struck. Our plans to LA got changed.
Turned out we were spending the night!
We spent all day filming Helene. We shot over 8 hours of footage and our encounter with Helene left us completely transformed. Helene's wisdom and knowledge are so profound and yet so simple and easy to apply to your own life, I was completely stunned.
In between the filming, Mike, Melissa and I each had private sessions with Helene where she told us things about our lives and who we are that only a close friend could have known.
Pic Above: Melissa interviews Helene for the film
She told me things about my son, my career, my way of doing business that were spot on. It was slightly eerie, yet amazing.
We left at 5am the next morning to catch our flights. Helene shakes up your view of "reality". She's an amazingly joyful, loving person. And after you've met her - you never feel the same again. During the trip, Helene shared some of her goals with me. She no longer needs to win contests. Now she's working on a play she wants to get on the Hallmark channel, a new bestselling book she wants to get into Borders, and she's aiming to get on the David Letterman show.
I decided to help her with her book.
The footage we took is going to be turned into a documentary. And we'll be bundling this with her book and some CDs to create a product based on Helene's teachings. She can no longer do seminars. It's too tiring for her. But being able to spread her light via DVD, book and CD is the next best thing.
Pic Above: Mike interviewing Helene
Pic Above: Melissa and Helene
Dec 22 Update: Helene Hadsell's Book and DVD have now Launched. Please visit TheWinningSage.com.
Update: Helene Hadsell's Book and DVD have now Launched. Please visit TheWinningSage.com
Over the past couple of weeks on FinerMinds we’ve introduced you to a remarkable woman: Helene Hadsell. She’s the 83-year-old “Winning Sage” from Alvarado, Texas who literally wins everything she wants in life through contests. Helene is the Law of Attraction in action, and she’s been doing it for 50 years.
In our last piece about Helene we guided you through her life-long winning streak. Today, we want to share with you the story of Carolyn Wilman, “The Contest Queen”, who has learned a tremendous amount from Helene Hadsell.
Carolyn’s approach to entering contests changed radically after she met Helene, and so did her ability to win! Right now Carolyn just got back from enjoying a romantic trip in London with her husband (which she won in a contest, of course!).
Here is Carolyn Wilman’s story, in her own words, of meeting Helene and the how this meeting changed her life:
Hi,
I have studied many motivational, inspirational and spiritual teachers over the past 20 years. I first read about Helene Hadsell, author of The Name It & Claim It Game on Joe Vitale’s blog in the summer of 2007. He talked about how she used her mind to focus her energy and win every contest she ever entered. WOW! As a fellow contest hobbyist and author of You Can’t Win If You Don’t Enter, I wanted to know exactly how she did that. I win a lot, but not every promotion I enter. I began writing an email to her, but for some reason it sat in my Drafts folder for months. While cleaning out my email in June of 2008 I finally completed it and sent that email to Helene. She immediately wrote me back and included her phone number. I rang her. We spoke for over an hour. I felt as if I had met a kindred soul.
During our conversation Helene agreed to be a guest on my online radio show. She was my guest on the August 4th 2008 edition of “From the Contest Queen.” (I include the date as it shows how fast you can manifest your goals, dreams, desires, and wishes into your life if you focus enough energy on them.)
During the show we talked about her entry method versus mine. She would select a prize, find a contest giving away that prize, enter, focus on it, and win. I focused on winning, but entered hundreds of contests on a daily basis. I asked her why I had not yet won a car yet. Helene said, “Dear, why do you disperse your energy over so many contests? Focus on what you really want to win and you will.”
The next day I created a new vision board, wrote up 3x5s with my new goals that I could focus on (I even hung one on the shower door) and changed my entire contest entering system.
The things I decided I wanted most in my life were:
To own a very profitable business
To be a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show
To win a new car
To win a week long romantic trip for two to London UK
To win a week long family trip for four to Walt Disney World
To win a home makeover
To win a backyard makeover
To win an big screen LCD HDTV
To win a Wii
To win a BlackBerry
I focused on each of these goals several times a day for a few weeks. For the month of September, I still won my usual 5-15 prizes that month (apparently, I cannot, not win), but they were very small prizes in both size and dollar value. Where were the big prizes that Helene spoke of? Little Miss Impatient (me) gave up. I missed entering heaps of contests. The hobby wasn’t as fun for me anymore. So I went back to entering heaps of contests every day. I began to have fun again. At the same time, I reassessed my goals. I was entering a lot of contests that offered trips as prizes, so I changed my goal of a trip to London to a romantic trip anywhere. I figured if the Universe saw fit to send me to the Caribbean, who am I to argue? I also stopped focusing on my goals every day.
On November 7th, almost three months to the day of setting my goals, I was notified I was the Grand Prize winner of the Smart Set “Meet Duffy in London” Contest!! I was ecstatic.
The prize included:
A chance to meet Duffy and two tickets to her show
$500 spending money
Roundtrip airfare for two
4 nights hotel accommodation
$500 Smart Set gift card
A copy of Duffy’s Rockferry CD
Two thoughts also went through my head: 1) WOW! This stuff really works and 2) Oh My Gosh, all the other goals I set for myself are on their way!
Hold on! Didn’t I ask for a weeklong trip? This was only 4 nights/5 days. I thought, “Close enough!”, and merrily made travel plans. Well, while making all the travel arrangements with the contest sponsors, Universal Music and Transat Holidays, I was informed we would be flying out December 4th and returning on December 11th. Wait, wasn’t that 6 nights/7 days? Yes. They chose to extend the trip by 2 days. So I got my week after all. I was amazed how well Helene’s SPEC Method (Select it, Project it, Expect it, and Collect it) actually worked! (Also, did you notice? I asked the Universe for what I wanted and it arrived via Universal. COOL!)
The adventure isn’t over yet!
As the information for the trip went back and forth, I realized we were not flying into Heathrow airport, but into Gatwick. (If you have never been to London, Heathrow is close to the city connected by the Underground. Gatwick is fairly far and one must take the train into the city, then changing to the Underground.) I thought OH NO! Not that I minded flying to an airport further out of the city, or even having to take the train, but our luggage is old (I bought it in 1990) and it wouldn’t be very easy to haul on and off trains. I said to my husband, we need new luggage. He started to shop around. In the meantime, I got the final travel documents. I realized Transat Holidays had included transfers to and from the airport to our hotel by car. I told my husband, since we are being chauffeured and with Christmas just around the corner, I thought we could manage another trip with our old luggage and purchase a new set in the New Year. He agreed.
Then on November 30th I got a call from Zellers. I had entered a contest way back in May and I had won. Could I come down to the store today and pick-up my brand new set of luggage? They apologized for taking so long to call me, but they had to wait for the two smaller pieces of luggage to arrive from the other contest sponsor. Incredible! That goal wasn’t even on the original list. The wish for new luggage was an afterthought and it manifested almost immediately.
I have since begun focusing on all the other goals again several times a day. Now, I wonder when my new car will arrive.
As you can well imagine, I highly recommend Helene’s book The Name It & Claim It Game to anyone who is interested in achieving their goals quickly and easily. Although the subject of the book may be based on contests, Helene’s techniques can be applied to any goal you may have: health, wealth, love, etc.
Enjoy!
Carolyn Wilman
NOW YOU CAN ACCESS AN INTERVIEW WITH THE WINNING SAGE, HELENE HADSELL.
Listen. Every major player in history and business has this one thing in common:
We all know how powerful the mind is. But what we often fail to remember is that our minds are also our number one allies when it comes to building wealth and abundance.
I recently wrote a post explaining the importance of following your passion and doing what you love.
