How Language Makes You Stuck

How Language Makes You Stuck!

This past weekend I was having a BIG come apart and feeling extremely sorry for myself. All I could think about was what I wasn’t able to achieve in my life and business because of my circumstances.  I’m sure you have never done that?? But just in case you have, I spent some time reflecting on my current mindset so I could figure out specifically what was going on.  Finally, I realized my negative outlook was the result of my language and self-talk. I was using seemingly innocent words to sabotage myself.

1.     The FIRST thing I noticed was that I was using, “I am”.  For example…“I am helpless.” or “I am angry.” Using  “I am” is like placing an equal sign between you and the emotion - you equal whatever emotion you are experiencing. In my case, I equaled helpless and anger.  But in reality I wasn’t anger or helpless.  I decided to make a major mind shift and now when I am feeling helpless or feeling any emotion - I instead replace it with, “I am choosing to hold onto anger instead of I am angry”.  That left me with the choice to continue or to stop holding onto whatever emotion I was experiencing.  This reframe allowed me to let go of an emotion at will, instead of claiming it as a constant state of mind.

2.     The SECOND thing I was using were “why” questions.  For example, “Why did this happen to me?” and “Why can’t I be stronger?” Other questions I have heard past clients ask are, “Why can’t I lose weight?”, “Why can’t I motivate myself?” and  “Why can’t I make more money?” All of these statements are problem focused, without an answer or solution - keeping us stuck in the overriding question of  “why”.  For example, the statement, “Why can’t I lose weight.” – makes the mind then think – hummm I can’t lose weight because…and we then answer our own question through our current mindset – and if we aren’t in a great place we may respond with….because I can’t achieve anything in life – because I am a loser – and the negative answers will keep coming up and not help us lose weight because the self-talk is not solution based. Try using the word HOW instead.    Ask yourself…”HOW can I lose weight?” “HOW can I be stronger?” “HOW can I not focus on my circumstances?”  HOW, focuses on solutions, things you can do about the statement. Solutions that will put you into motion.

The moral of the story – reframe your self-talk and you will be able to break free of what’s holding you back and move into an action based, positive mindset.  A clearer vision and focus will give you no choice but to have your best year ever in 2017! The Year of the SKY…

What's your ONE WORD for 2017?

What's Your ONE WORD for 2017? 

       It was Christmas Eve, the sun had set and my grandchildren were opening gifts. Katie, my stepdaughter, whispered to me that Hunter, her first grader, had been questioning the validity of Santa Claus.  I was sad to hear the news.
       A short time later my son-in-law, Steve, decided to check out if the lake in front of our house was completely frozen. He asked Hunter to tag along, which, of course, he enthusiastically agreed.
      What they didn't know was that earlier in the day my son, Theodore who was visiting from California, had been fooling around on the dock and had decided to walk on the lake and test out if it was frozen.  It had snowed part of the day so Theodore's little experiment had left fresh footprints in the snow on the surface of the lake.
      When Steve and Hunter arrived at the end of the dock Hunter saw the footprints and screamed, "Santa was here - look at the footprints and the sled marks! It's unbelievable, Santa was here."
       Steve not knowing quite what to say, said nothing, thank goodness. He played along with Hunter's excitement and they both came running back into the house looking for a cell phone so they could take photos of Santa's tracks and show them to us.
       Once they retrieved copies of the photos from the printer Hunter began running and jumping around showing everyone Santa's footprints, while at the same time pointing his finger toward the huge window that overlooks the lake. Miraculously, at that very moment an airplane with flashing lights was flying over the lake preparing to land at Toledo  Express.
      Hunter became completely overwhelmed with joy, "It's Santa it's Santa - look, he's headed this way. It's unbelievable - I need to go home and put out cookies and milk. Come on mom we need to leave now! This is unbelievable."
      The gift from this story? Hunter will believe in Santa one more year. How wonderful! The moral of the story?  Don't let anyone convince you otherwise about the validity of your beliefs or your dreams.
      Because of Hunter's rediscovery of the magic of Santa Claus and how "unbelievable" it was for him, I have chosen UNBELIEVABLE as my One Word for 2017! 

Discover how to go about choosing your ON WORD for 2017.

Do Your Goals Have Specificity?

Do Your Goals have Specificity? 

December is the season for reflection, remembrance and rejuvenation...For gratitude, giving, grace and goals.

Recently at a So Now Networking event we were asked, "What is the one thing you would do or goal you would set for 2017, if you knew you couldn't fail?"

Many shared their exciting goals: Improved networking, increased membership, start a business, consistent exercise, financial stability, more focus, better vision, fulfill spiritual needs, abundant success, life happiness......and the list went on.

What I noticed though was that my goal, like everyone else, lacked one very important ingredient: SPECIFICITY.

In other words, specifically how increased membership, more focus, life happiness or abundant success could be achieved.  The specific plan for.....
>What we were willing to do and when.
>What our doable steps were.
>And how to break those steps down into what needed to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month.  

So I went back to the drawing board and faced my big goal head on.  First, I identified what the most important 6 parts of my goal were. Second, I identified 5 overall steps what I thought each of the 6 parts would require.  Third and finally, I set a deadline to each of those 6 steps. 

Do your goals have specificity? Apply these 3 steps to your goals and your 2017 will be wildly successful.

1 Peter 4:10
"God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another."

Many Christmas Blessings, Jenn

Newsletter - December 2016

Share Tweet Forward For Women Who Want More The Hotest Headlines from So Now Coaching Helping 20,000 Women LEAP into their Best Life! 14,065 Leaps - 5,935 To Go

Do Your Goals have Specificity?  December is the season for reflection, remembrance and rejuvenation...For gratitude, giving, grace and goals. Recently at a So Now Networking event we were asked, "What is the one thing you would do or goal you would set for 2017, if you knew you couldn't fail?" Many shared their exciting goals: Improved networking, increased membership, start a business, consistent exercise, financial stability, more focus, better vision, fulfill spiritual needs, abundant success, life happiness......and the list went on. What I noticed though was that my goal, like everyone else, lacked one very important ingredient: SPECIFICITY. In other words, specifically how increased membership, more focus, life happiness or abundant success could be achieved.  The specific plan for..... >What we were willing to do and when. >What our doable steps were. >And how to break those steps down into what needed to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month.   So I went back to the drawing board and faced my big goal head on.  First, I identified what the most important 6 parts of my goal were. Second, I identified 5 overall steps what I thought each of the 6 parts would require.  Third and finally, I set a deadline to each of those 6 steps.  Do your goals have specificity? Apply these 3 steps to your goals and your 2017 will be wildly successful. 1 Peter 4:10 "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another." Many Christmas Blessings, Jenn December Leadership Tip  5 Steps to a Winning Social Media Marketing Plan  2016 by Sarah Vaughn "Maybe by now, you think you’ve read everything there is to know about a good, or heck — even the best — social media plan for your brand or business. On the other hand, maybe you stumbled onto our blog as you are just now realizing there is more to do than just posting that company-wide newsletter to Facebook. In either case, you have struck gold because we are about to teach you how to create a brilliant, winning social media marketing plan in just five steps. Let us dive in, shall we?"   1. Listen This is one of the vastly underused and underrated social superpowers that many strategies skip right over. There are two ways you should be listening. First, create an RSS feed of at least 20 different social media expert blogs and the major social channels, themselves. You want to understand the latest changes, best practices and demographics for each channel. Second, listen to what your customer base and other experts are saying about your industry. You can do this by setting up search alerts in HootSuite or another social management platform. 2. Plan Based on the discoveries you glean, define goals, channels, metrics, the tools you will use to measure them and, of course, your budget. = 3. Do a SWOT. While the Strategy, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat quadrant was originally meant for social media’s slightly stodgier cousin — public relations — it can and should be applied to any company starting off, upping its marketing efforts, or going through a rebrand. It’s helpful to think of each element regarding both internal and external possibilities. 4. Create Your Strategy Campaigns, hashtags, content types and messaging (including crisis response messaging and plan). Creative and informative pieces of content are key. Give more than you ask for and point to as much original content (housed on your website) as possible. 5. Analysis Measure and tweak every month. Doing it more than this isn’t allowing your campaign to take root and grow legs and doing it less could mean you’re missing out on opportunities to grow and improve ROI and ROE. The 3 D's to a DAZZLING December!   1. Delight in the beauty behind the reason for the season. 2. Devote time to contemplate whether you are honoring and featuring your special gifts in your business and life. 3. Dream BIG and map out an action plan for the New Year and share it with two people.   HELP!  I'm stuck! Are you ready to put the pieces of your life puzzle together and highlight your best self? Are you STUCK and looking for a way out? Have your dreams been shattered and you want help picking up the pieces. Jenn was diagnosed with ALS in 2013 and is finally speaking out about her rugged path and internal demand to live a fulfilled life in spite of ALS. Stop by each month and discover Jenn's insight on how to love life in spite of the path it may be on. December Insight: Squash Negative Self Talk   Grab Jenn's Chapter Here!     "The Soul of Success" Jenn teamed-up with Jack Canfield and several leading experts from various industries and captured the core strategies to their heart of Health, Wealth and Success. Download Jenn's chapter   So Now Professional Network for Women Join us in Sylvania, Maumee, Lima, & Findlay, Ohio. We declared 2017 as "The Year of the Sky!" Paint the sky - Make it yours! Visit our Facebook™ Page for Updates Register for Networking Events   Market Your Workshops with Ease!   Looking for a workshop topic that appeals to your crowd? Confused about how to market and fill your workshop with excited participants? Find out how at your Complimentary Business Strategy Session. Email JennWenzke@jennwenzke.com and Jenn will schedule a  Session with you.

Psalm 18:32, 35 - "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.  You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great." Tony Gaskins - "If you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs."

Jenn Wenzke Life & Motivational Coach NLP & MBTI Master Practitioner Co-Author w/Jack Canfield, The Soul of Success Founder of So Now Professional Network for Women Copyright © 2015 * So Now Coaching, All rights reserved. P. O. Box 350251 | Toledo, OH 43615  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Be a DUCK!

Be a DUCK!

Recently someone asked me to explain the vision of the So Now Professional Network for Women.  In actual words their vision statement is....To Create an Influential Network that Welcomes Women to Connect and Support each other While Pursuing their Dreams.  Visually though, I was stumped, until one morning I was eating breakfast and looked out the window and saw an eagle circling the lake.

The determined eagle kept swooping down toward the water. Curious, I rolled over to the window and it was then I noticed why.  There was a group of 15-20 ducks huddled together and the eagle was diving toward them hoping to grab one of them for his breakfast.  Every time the eagle circled around the lake and prepared for another dive, the ducks would pull together, flutter their wings and escape under the surface of the water.

Time after time the same thing. Finally the eagle gave up after about 15 minutes and flew away. What struck me was how committed the ducks were to staying connected and supported by one another. Never once did they even think about leaving the group and going it alone. They knew instinctively they were stronger and more powerful together.

Then it hit me - The ducks were reacting just like the women of the So Now Professional Network for Women! When they face a tough spot they hook onto one another, combine their talents and gifts and together they become unstoppable, wiser and more confident.  So much more than when they go it alone. Just like the group of ducks.

I LOVE IT...I now have the perfect story to help others remember the Vision Statement behind the So Now Professional Network for Women. To put it simply...BE A DUCK!

1 Peter 4:10
"God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another."

Many Blessings, Jenn

Newsletter - November 2016

Have an OUTSTANDING October! 7 Pros Share Their #1 Leadership Tip 5 Powerful Tips for Female Professionals Can't Keep Up? Schedule a Complimentary Business Strategy Session www.sonowcoaching.com View this email in your browser

Share Tweet Forward For Women Who Want More The Hotest Headlines from So Now Coaching Helping 20,000 Women LEAP into their Best Life! 13,670 Leaps - 6,330 To Go

This is YOUR YEAR! Are you celebrating your successes?  "Our essential purpose is to become the-best-version-of-ourselves....Once we discover it and place this purpose at the center of our lives, everything begins to make sense.  Until we discover our essential purpose, nothing makes sense, and we wander around aimlessly, slowly being numbed into lives of quiet desperation."  - The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly WOW...such powerful advice.  I'm in the process of reading Kelly's book and I can't seem to put it down. Kelly goes on to say that there are "FOUR simple steps that will empower you to make a difference in other people’s lives and lead you along the path of greatness. STEP ONE When you wake up tomorrow morning, remind yourself of your goal, your point B, your essential purpose—to become the-best-version-of-yourself. STEP TWO The next step is to ask yourself, “Whose day can I make today?” STEP THREE Now ask yourself, “How can I make that person’s day?” STEP FOUR When you have made these first three steps, shower and have breakfast, but then, just before racing into the day, take a few minutes to plan, reflect, and pray. Find a quiet place, and in that silence visualize how you would like your day to unfold. Make plans to fulfill your legitimate needs physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Take a moment to become aware of, and to appreciate, all you have and all you are, and then you will be ready for the day." I can't wait to incorporate all FOUR steps into my daily life. Many Blessings, Jenn September Leadership Tip  "What Makes a Great Leader? 7 Pros Share Their Views" By Nicole Fallon Taylor, Business News Daily Assistant Managing Editor, March 15, 2016  "Throughout history, much has been written about what it means to be a leader. Ancient Chinese military general and "Art of War" author Sun Tzu described a leader as one who "cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to proper methods and discipline." Nineteenth-century historian Thomas Carlyle believed leaders were born and not made, while English philosopher Herbert Spencer argued that leaders were the result of the society in which they lived. The decades that followed brought countless studies and research reports that detailed a wide variety of leadership skills, styles and characteristics, with researchers identifying distinct leader "types." Some authors even devoted their work to all the personal factors that influence an individual's approach to management. With all of these differing schools of thought, it's clear that there's no single definition of leadership. What works for one leader may not necessarily work for another, depending on the circumstances and personality type. But there's one thing that nearly every academic, historian and even leaders themselves agree upon: A true leader must be able to inspire his or her team. Business News Daily spoke with current business leaders about what leadership means to them, and how leaders can achieve the ultimate goal of inspiring others." 7 Pros Share Their Top Leadership Tip. So Now Professional Network for Women Join us in Sylvania, Maumee, Lima, & Findlay, Ohio. We declared 2016 as "The Year of the Dance!" How will you dance to your unique music in 2016?  Visit our Facebook™ Page for Updates Register for Networking Events The 3 O's to an OUTSTANDING October! 1. Organize what is most important to you by identifying your Top 10 Values.  Design goals around your values and align your life and business according to them.  2. Step OUT of your shoes and INTO the shoes of your future. Are you focusing on the things that will take you to where you truly want to be in life? 3. Optimize your Appreciation....watch the sun rise...smell a flower...experience each stroke inside your favorite painting.  HELP!  I'm stuck! Are you ready to put the pieces of your life puzzle together and highlight your best self? Are you STUCK and looking for a way out? Have your dreams been shattered and you want help picking up the pieces. I was diagnosed with ALS in 2013 and am finally speaking out about my rugged path and internal demand to live a fulfilled life in spite of ALS. (For some reason in the video I mention 2015 as the date I was diagnosed with ALS - it's 2013) Stop by each month and listen to a 2-minute video on Jenn's insight on how to love life in spite of the path it may be on. Wait!  I thought I had a dream   Video 1 Grab Jenn's Chapter Here!   "The Soul of Success" Jenn teamed-up with Jack Canfield and several leading experts from various industries and captured the core strategies to their heart of Health, Wealth and Success. Download Jenn's chapter Life is SHORT, LIVE it! Can't keep up?  Looking for a way to organize your life? Find out how at your Complimentary Business Strategy Session. Email JennWenzke@jennwenzke.com and Jenn will schedule a  Session with you.

Psalm 18:32, 35 - "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.  You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great." Tony Gaskins - "If you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs."

Jenn Wenzke Life & Motivational Coach NLP & MBTI Master Practitioner Co-Author w/Jack Canfield, The Soul of Success Founder of So Now Professional Network for Women Copyright © 2015 * So Now Coaching, All rights reserved. P. O. Box 350251 | Toledo, OH 43615  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list