Change of blog location

Just a quick post to let you know that I am moving my blog, if you have this one saved, or subscribe to the RSS feed, please change to this site http://www.helenleathers.com/blog/ ?

Why? Well, I'm revamping things online and have a very exciting new project in the offing. Do keep in touch via my new blog, on Facebook or on twitter (@HelenLeathers)  to find out what I'm up to and make sure you don't miss out on anything!

Bright Blessings
Helen

Crystals for creativity

Following on from my last blog I though I might suggest some crystals that could enhance your creativity. I love crystals and find they have a powerful impact on me and what's going on around me. If you've never used them, why not give it a go?

Creativity is associated with the 2nd, or sacral chakra, just below the belly button. The traditional colour for this chakra is orange, so most orange-coloured crystals will help with your creativity. But I also think it's worth looking at some that might help to open up the third eye or brow chakra as this are associated with visualisation and 'seeing' new ideas as well as inspiration.

Suggested crystals for creativity are:
Aventurine to release blocked creative flow and activate your imagination.
Moonstone to release blocked creative flow and to connect with intuition and goddess energy.
Amber promotes creative self expression.
Tiger's eye helps released blocked creativity and in recognising one's own natural talents and abilities.
Green tourmaline rejuvenates and inspires creativity and draws the wearer towards prosperity and abundance.
Citrine is associated with creativity, abundance and opening up to intuition. It also enhances individuality and self-expression and encourages you to explore new things and move forward.
Amethyst helps you to open up to new realities and assimilate new ideas. It helps to stimulate the 3rd eye chakra, increase intuition and enhance visualisation.
For a really potent mix, try Ametrine which combines amethyst and citrine and all the qualities they bring in ti one powerful stone.

You can use these crystals as tumblestones and simply keep them in a pocket, purse or handbag. Or you could wear them in a piece of jewellry.

If you wanted to create a 'creative' area you could place these stones, or a selection of them around a candle of yellow or orange. This may be a good place to meditate on your own ideas or creative thoughts. Make sure you keep some paper and a pen handy though as you just never know what might spring to mind!

Bright Blessings
Helen

Get creative

Spring is on its way and we can start to see new growth on the trees and plants, and green shoots coming from the earth. This is most certainly a time when we can see and feel the creativity of the earth. I think it's also a great time to look at your own creativity and to encourage it.

Creativity isn't just about about all things artistic, although that is one element, it is about how we see the world and how we interact with it. Especially when challenges present themselves. In the past I'd never really considered myself particularly creative, especially in office environments. When I had a traditional job I would cringe at those brainstorming meeting where we had to come up with innovative new ideas for the team or the company. I really wasn't any good at it. Or maybe I just didn't care. I say this because I later discovered that I could come up with creative ways of helping others, or to help others' help themselves. I could see solutions for people and situations I cared about. And when I was inspired to write I was most certainly being creative.

Being creative is about introducing new ideas and concepts, finding different ways of thinking and being as well as actually creating things in a more traditional sense, whether it's inventions, artwork, music, clothing, poetry etc.

Everyone is creative. Your beliefs may tell you otherwise, but if you let yourself be, release your mind from the restrictions of what you tell yourself, you will be creative too.

Equally you can't force creativity out, it must be coaxed gently, and then given freedom to come to you in its own time. Creativity must flow naturally.

Top tips to being more creative

1. A bit of what you fancy - Forget about what others think and just give it a go. If you want to paint, draw, sing, write, dance, decorate, bake.... or anything else, just try it. Don't think about the 'what if's', don't worry about being good or bad at, just try it.

2. Spending time in nature - a walk in the park, a hill climb, a picnic, watch the sunset, or the moon rise, however you choose to do it this can encourage your creativity.

3. Quiet time – meditation, yoga even pilates, activities that quieten the mind will encourage our creativity out form its hiding place within.

4. Adrenalin rush – do something different, amazing, exciting or scary. It will make you see the world a little differently, and then who knows what might happen?

5. Have a long chat with a good friend, especially if you're looking for a creative solution to a situation. Talking things through can really give you clarity and understanding and a fresh point of view is also helpful.

6. Map your mind – If you want to be more creative, get a big sheet of paper and write, 'how to be more creative' in the middle. Now write down lots of ideas and thoughts about creativity, what it means and how you could embrace it, make you mind map colourful and decorative if you want. Put down everything, even if your conscious mind says it's silly. Spend a good length of time on this and then sit back and take a look. What thoughts and feelings do have about being more creative now? What actions could you take?

7. Stay hydrated and get plenty of sleep, you cannot be creative if you're body isn't happy or you're too tired.

Be patient – don't give yourself a hard time, enjoy yourself, have some fun and at some point you'll suddenly realise you creative self is wide awake and hammering to be heard.

Bright Blessings

Helen

When do you hear your intuition the best?

Here are the top ten things that I have found help me to hear my inner intuitive voice. Some people may think of it as inspiration, god, intuition, gut instinct. Whatever you call it, and whatever background or faith you are from, I believe all of these will help you to connect and hear it. They create a space in which to hear the voice or to allow the voice to make itself known. These are just the things that I've found work for me, I'd love to hear yours.

1. Do the washing up by hand – I know this is an odd one but you have no idea how many things come to me when I do the washing up. You go in to a bit of a trance-like state (provided you're on your own and not nattering away to a friend or the kids). I know I'm not the only one this happens to and this suggestion is dedicated to my lovely friend Christina for reminding me of it.
2. Meditation – A time to switch off the conscious part of your mind, meditation isn't as hard as you might think. With regular practice you will find that it not only refreshes your mind but you will get inspired with new ideas and thoughts as a result.

3. Yoga – I suppose this is similar to meditation in many ways but I think it also reinforces our energetic and mind/body/spirit connection not just within ourself but with others and the universe as a whole.

4. Brisk walk or a run out in nature - especially when you get in to the zone (although it takes time and a level of fitness) where your body just goes and you're conscious mind switches off. Again it creates a trance-like state that allows you to access the intuitive side of yourself.

5. Find your creativity – whatever it might be,writing, poetry, acting, dance, crafts, knitting, painting, drawing or any variation along this theme. I believe everyone has something creative that they can do and somehow tapping in to the creative part of your mind helps you to find inspiration and intuition too.

6. Don't over-indulge – If you eat too much at mealtimes or feel uncomfortable in your body, the focus of your mind can become very much your physical self. When I am neither hungry or full, and feel hydrated and healthy, that is when I can be more intuitive.

7. Drive in silence – I do a lot of driving and I usually listen to local radio, music or personal development CDs. Sometimes this and the constant road noise just gets too much for me so I turn off the radio/CD player and drive in silence. It's weird at first but then you start to have ideas, or thoughts and find that solutions pop in to your head etc. You don't need to try, just be silent or a while.

8. Healing or energy work. If you know how, give yourself healing. If not, get some healing or energy work done by someone else. This is an amazing way to connect with your inner voice.

9. Get an early night – and not just one, if you're sleeping well you will find that you hear your inner voice better generally. But also I find that I'm more likely to have an intiutive flash as I go to sleep or as I'm waking up, or I'll wake up with fabulous ideas in the middle of the night. (Keep a pen and paper by your bed otherwise you won't remember in the morning.

10. Talk it through – If you have someone who you can talk to about spiritual thoughts and philosophy, do it. It's amazing how you can start chatting about something and have no real concept of what your personal thoughts are on the subject, and after a while of discussion, you are having amazing moments of inspired thought and formulating great ideas and beliefs. (Christina and Diane thank you for all the moments just like this.)

I hope these have inspired you and that you will go on to re-connect with your inner-knowledge in whatever way you discover works for you,

bright blessings

Helen

Hello intuition, I've missed you!

Don't worry, it's still there, honest!

If you haven't been listening, or things have been too busy, or too noisy, or emotions have been running high, you would be forgiven for thinking that your intuition has deserted you. It hasn't. You don't always hear your heart do you? But it's still beating. I believe that intuition is just as much of an integral part of you as your heart is. The irony is that when we need our intuition most, that's when we quite often block it out, often due to panic in some form or another.

So how do we reconnect?

Here's a quick exercise to get you thinking. (You will probably want to read through before trying it so you know what to look for).

Find somewhere quiet to sit uninterrupted for 5 to 10 minutes. Take a deep breath and close your eyes.

Now think of something that you love to do, or that you've always wanted to do, something that is positive and a bit exciting. Imagine your friend has just said, that this weekend everything has been sorted, diary cleared, family looked after, and you are going to go and do that 'thing'. Allow yourself to be happy, pleased, excited, to look forward to the positive experience. What do you feel, see or hear when you experience this? Whatever you experience is right for you.

• How does that feel? Where in your body do you feel what you feel. Is it warm or cold, heavy or light? Does it have a colour, a movement, a shape?
  
• What do you see in your mind's eye? Where do you see it? Is it a shape, colour, does it move around?
  
• If you hear sounds associated with it, what type of sounds are they, where do they come from? Are they loud or quiet? Flowing or jarring?
  

Make a mental note of what you get. Then, when you are ready, open your eyes. You may want to make some notes.

Now close your eyes again and take a deep breath. Think of something that you don't enjoy, or don't want to do or dislike. It might be something to do with work, or a task that you dread doing, a place or person that you don't enjoy visiting. Imagine that your friend has told you that your weekend plans are cancelled and you must go and do this thing. What do you feel, see or hear when you experience this? When you're ready open you eyes and make some notes.

If you struggle to think of a scenario that you like or dislike, then do this exercise by repeating the words 'Yes' for the positive experience, and 'No' for the negative experience in your mind and make notes on how each word makes you feel, what you see, or what you hear.

My positive response is light, large and clear, I feel it around my solar plexus and it has a lot of movement. Not dissimilar to 'butterflies'. My negative response if heavier, sits down in my lower abdomen and is darker, more dense with no movement.

Now that I have calibrated my positive and negative responses, when I have a choice to make and need to listen to my intuition I can analyse the feelings and sensations in my body and can judge whether I should go with it, or not depending on that response.

Like an old friend, no grudges are held, just welcome intiution back in to your life, sit and have a cuppa together, you'll soon remember how good it feels. It will be like you were never apart, because, actually, you weren't.

Bright Blessings.

Living intuitively

I recently did a quick survey and discovered that the majority of people know that they are intuitive, but don't always go with their gut instinct. In most cases they then wish that they had as their intuition is always right. However, there were a few people who didn't feel that they were particularly intuitive, and would like to be more so.

Very few people always go with their intuition 100% of the time (myself included). Why is that when they know it's always been right in the past? Here's my take; sometimes our intuition tells us things we would rather not know, such as, we shouldn't trust someone. That may be put us in a difficult position, or we may reject our gut reaction because we always want to see the best in people and give them a chance (I'm guilty of this). Or we weigh things up sensibly and rationally and HAVE to go with the 'wrong' (non-intuitive) option because we can't 'justify' doing anything else (I've learnt not to do this). Another reason is (and it pains me to admit, but I am definitely guilty of this) our intuition tells us something but we know we can't prove it, so we ignore it in case we're wrong.

We also find that sometimes the world is too noisy for us to hear our intuition, or we're too busy, or we've forgotten what it sounds like. We are no-longer totally reliant on our wits or awareness to remain safe and alive as our ancient ancestors would have been while living outside and hunting for example.

It's the weekend, maybe you will get time to start listening again, some quiet to hear, some space to re-connect. I'm going to do the same, and make a little apology to myself for all the times I've ignored that feeling, seen but pushed it away, silenced that inner voice, or even those huge great alarm bells that have been clanging.

And next time, I'm going to write about re-building that intuitive connection with ourself again.

Bright Blessings

Searching for the answers....

I think that it's really interesting that in many aspects of life, especially spiritual and psychic development, people very often look outside of themselves for the answers. They search for a label that describes them, they look for tools that they can use and paths that they can follow to develop and formulate their skills, beliefs, morality and often to justify their action, or, in all too many cases, inaction. They seek to journey far and wide, to 'find' themselves.

I'm not saying that this is wrong, but I do believe that it's only a part of the process. That's because ultimately, everything you ever need is within you. Inner guidance, intuition, prayer and answers obtained through it, signs from the universe, psychic abilities, whatever you want to call it, when something is right, or something is wrong, you know it instinctively.

However, sometimes our instincts get driven undercover, become discoloured or influenced by other things that go on in our lives. I am going to go in to these concepts in more depth in my next few blogs but for now, a message from...who knows, but it came to me this morning.

“Live intuitively, use your skills, with inner guidance, and that of your guides, and in time you won't need any tools.

Live in congruence, be your true self, be ethical, gentle, but firm when necessary.

Be you, but be the best version of you you can be and your inner talents will flow outwards. You will touch and affect others, you won't even need to try. When you try, you impede the flow.

Live for you, live at your highest vibration in this moment, everything will be perfect for you: timing, knowledge, contacts, development.

Live your life knowing that you are serving the purpose you intended to be here for, even if you don't know what that is, and smile.”

Bright blessings to you.

See yourself in a more positive frame

It's widely known in personal development circles that the phrase, 'I am' is one of the most powerful starts to a sentence that you can make. However, what matters, perhaps more, is what you say next.

Negative self talk leads to all sorts of problems, self-limiting beliefs, poor self-image and low self esteem. It can reinforce negative things that others say or have said about you, and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Examples of this are...
'I am fat'
'I am stupid'
'I am shy'
'I am rubbish at public speaking'
...the list goes on.

Even if you feel that you're stating a truism at that moment in time you will be creating a hurdle in your own mind for future development & adventures and reinforcing any dislikes, fears and phobias. It always seems so much more socially acceptable to put ourselves down than make a positive statement about ourselves. Part of us recoils at saying that we're good at something, as though we're becoming big-headed or arrogant. However, when you follow the statement 'I am' with a positive, your mind is encouraged and begins to make changes from within that allows this statement to become accurate. Also, it's not a crime to make a positive statement about yourself!
Examples of positive 'I am's are...
'I am learning'
'I am confident'
'I am fun'
'I am strong'

The law of attraction states that like attracts like, so by stating a positive 'I am' on a regular basis, you will create the right conditions within your own mind for a new, more positive you. This is because what you think about yourself, you start to say about yourself, your words then translate in to actions and actions, repeated often enough, become habits. Habits create the you that you are in any given moment. So, if you want to change yourself, you need to change the things you think and say about yourself and watch the knock-on effect.

I am a firm believer in positive affirmations, especially when combined with positive action to move towards where you want to be. However, sometimes, when you aren't quite feeling in a positive frame of mind it can be really tough to come up with a positive affirmation about yourself. Your mind just goes blank. I know, I've had days (and weeks) like that. So, I came up with the idea of an 'I am' board, full of wonderful positive statements about me that I could put in my office and look at whenever I needed a lift. I can choose one statement from it to keep in mind each day and repeat to myself whenever I need to encourage myself.
I wanted to make this simple tool available on my website and when I was writing about it in one of my books I realised that when you said 'I am board' out loud, it wasn't a particularly positive statement! So, in a moment of inspiration I changed it slightly and decided it should be an 'I am mirror', reflecting the perfect you.
Click on 'I am Mirror' and you will be taken to my website, you will find a link of the same name towards the bottom of the page.
By putting a lovely picture of yourself in the middle of the mirror, you reinforce that the positive statements are about you. Feel free to download this pdf and print it out. Stick a picture of yourself in the middle – make sure that it's a favourite picture of you. Place your 'I am mirror on a wall somewhere that you can see it whenever you want. You could even add your own words or stick small images such as stars or butterflies, on or around it to make it your own. Look at it everyday. Read the positive words about you. Pick one of them that fits for you today and keep it in mind, maybe write it down on a sticky note and put it in your diary, purse or wallet. Throughout the day refer to your positive statement, repeating it whenever you need a boost.
Some days you may just look at your 'I am mirror' and smile, because you know that you are perfect.

Ever just need some headspace?

Tired, worn out, run down, not achieving the things you'd like to? Never got any time for you?

Wonder where all of your energy goes? Have a think about where you put your energy, and whether it's worth it. Here are some common mis-uses of our energy:

So many times we find ourselves thinking about 'what if..?' scenarios. Come on, I know it can't be just me. All the time that we spend having that conversation in our heads, making things up that may or may not happen, is wasted time and energy.

Focussing your attention on others, wondering why on earth they behave in THAT way is another place that we give our energy away to. I know that sometimes we don't realise we're doing it, or are so baffled by another's behaviour that we can't seem to help ourselves, but the outcome is the same.

Worrying about others, again, I get it. I was always told I was a born worrier. It's taken me years to stop about worrying about the things I can't change and focus on the things I may be able to. Even so, there are still times that I focus all my energy on pointless worrying.

At an extreme, jealousy, anger, hatred, even fear all cause us to give our energy away. And then we wonder why we have none left for ourself. Mad isn't it?

Maybe it's because we're human. We have the power to think, so why shouldn't we? Maybe it's because we care, perhaps a little too much?

Maybe, if we focussed on ourself for a change we would have more energy to help the people and situations that we could do something about? Now there IS a thought.

But how? Here's an exercise that will help.

Next time you find yourself thinking, worrying, making stuff up in your head, any of the above in fact, as soon as you notice that you're doing it, STOP. Take a breath, stand up and feel your contact with the floor or the ground through your feet. Bend your knees slightly & rock gently backwards and forwards until you feel completely in balance. (You can be subtle about this so no-one really notices.)

Now look to the skies. Watch the clouds pass by, look for a rainbow, observe the stars, allow your mind to take in the extent of the universe. And breathe!

After two or three minutes your awareness will naturally come back to the present time. Ask yourself what is the most productive thing you can do now? What's next?

This is you time. It will lift your thoughts and help you to think more clearly & be more productive.

Enjoy

How sharp is your saw?

On Wednesday I was telling a fellow trainer that at the end of the week I was heading off to Scotland on an NLP practitioner training course.
"I’m not sure why I’m doing it or how I’m going to use it", I told him, "I just think that it will enhance everything that I already do. And may inspire me to do other things too." "Ah", he said, "you’re sharpening your saw!". "Yes, I am", I replied.
I would suggest that the majority of people overhearing that conversation would have thought, ‘What are they talking about?!’ at this exchange. But we knew…

In his book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People‘, Stephen Covey talks about the importance of self renewal. He refers to it as ‘sharpening the saw‘. He tells a story about a man who is so busy attempting to saw down a tree that he doesn’t have time to stop and sharpen the saw that he’s using. A false economy that may be obvious to the outside observor, but do we notice when we’re too busy being busy to stop and sharpen our saw?

So what does sharpening the saw really mean?

It’s about re-balancing yourself, renewing your energy, your zest for life, keeping healthy, keeping happy, keeping your mind sharp.

It’s about ensuring that you have balance in the 4 areas of your life:

• physical (keeping your body healthy),
• mental (learning new things, reading, writing, teaching others)
  
• emotional (or socially, making new and meaningful connections with people)
• spiritual (expanding your spiritual side, spending time in nature or meditating, or providing service or charitable work to others)

By doing this you'll find that you stay fresh and rejuvenated, it will be easier to keep up your energy levels and it will encourage growth and positive change. You will be more inspired, more productive and more able to deal with the challenges that life can throw at us from time to time.

In short, you will create a more effective lifestyle.

Tomorrow is the first day of my intensive NLP course and I’m really looking forward to it. i'm off to do some sharpening. What about you?

(Written partly on a train to Glasgow & finished in a hotel room in the city.)

How to see the aura

Last weekend I had the pleasure of running a workshop for some lovely ladies interested in energy work and psychic development. This was the first time I'd run a full day workshop in this format, I'd previously run evening sessions of a couple of hours. It worked really well and I've had some great feedback.
The fun bit (for me anyway) is 'how to see auras'. I love teaching this to people as they can discover their abilities to 'see' the colours of others' auras very quickly.
The aura that we typically see is that of the astral or emotional energetic body. This is the 'bit' of us that exists at a higher vibrational level and kind of overlays our physical being. (There's a lot more to the theory of energy bodies but I want to share the practical stuff.) The aura given off by this energy body can be 'read' and seeing colours is one way that sensitive people can 'see' what is going on for someone. Colours mean different things to everyone but let's leave analysis for another time too. (This is a picture taken of my aura a few years ago.)
Another way that we can 'read' the aura of another person is by having a feeling. Standing next to someone means that your auras intermingle and, if you're aware enough you can often get a sense of what's going on for them, or what emotional state they're in.


So, how do you 'see' the aura?

• Have a go with a friend. (Don't do this to someone without their permission as they will find it intrusive.) One of you should stand in front of a plain pale wall. (I put sheets of flip chart paper in the wall to assist with this.)
• The other should stand a few feet away and allow their eyes to go out of focus. Gaze at your friend's shoulder, and then just pass it. Try gazing around their head too. Eventually you may start to see a thickening of the air just an inch or so around them. This is the etheric aura and is usually colourless. (It's like the Ready-Brek glow if you remember the adverts.)
  
• As you continue to let your eyes wander, softly out of focus, you may start to see colour around your friend. This is the aura. Congratulations.
  

This can take practice so don't be too disappointed if it doesn't happen straight away. Swap over and see if your friend can do it. You can practise with plants and animals too.

One of the reasons I love teaching others to see auric colours is that, actually, I very rarely see them. I do however sense them and you might find that this happens to you instead. Sometimes I 'hear' the name of the colour or just know that it's there, and whereabouts around the person it is. It provides a lesson in self-belief when this happens as you often think you're just making it up or imagining it. Once you learn to translate the colours into information or readings for the person you're working with, you soon get positive feedback that what you're sensing is correct.
Why not give it a go?

My 5, no, 6 top tips for empowering yourself

My husband says that I think too much. And maybe he's right, but last week I was asked to present at a company training about how I'd built my business. I though about it and realised that I'd mainly just been myself. That's not very helpful is it? So, I started to think about what being myself meant and how I went about that.

When life is working really well, everything is flowing, I am happy and have a sense of achievement, I feel empowered. I feel that anything is possible, absolutely anything. So I asked myself why is that? What happens, or what do I do that leads to that feeling? And I came up with the following top 5 tips. Then I though of another one so I added that too.

1. Be honest & ethical – now everyone may have different ideas of what this means but I try to treat others how I would like to be treated. I also have to voice my opinion or thoughts if I feel that not doing so would make me feel, or appear to be, dishonest. Basically I have to be able to sleep at night and not feel as though I've done someone a disservice, or that someone has taken advantage of me. It cuts both ways.

2. Look out for opportunities for others, put people together where you see or feel there is a connection or some synergy in what they do, or how they think. Network for others and they will network for you.

3. Credit where credit's due – whether its a pat on the back, an acknowledgement of a job well done, a thank you or telling someone how much they've improved, or how good they are at something, don't keep it to yourself (or just tell you friends and family about it). That's nice but even better is to tell the person concerned. All too often people only get feedback when they've done something wrong. Even the little things count and a thank you goes a long way.

4. Accept praise – When someone does tell you how great you are at something, don't deny it. Even if it wasn't up to your standards, they felt it was great enough to tell you. Don't dismiss their feelings on the subject. If you don't know what to say, just say 'thanks'. The first few times you do this you will feel strange and uncomfortable, but you'll get used to it. It does boost your confidence and it validates the other person too. So it's a win -win scenario.

5. Don't try to be someone else, but do aim to be the best version of you that you can possibly be.

Oh, and the 6^th one? Leading on from number 4, it's absolutely okay to say that you're good at something! Yes, it is! We are too quick to accept our own failings and shortcomings and nowhere near quick enough to accept the things that we are good at. And we're all good at something. Don't be arrogant about it, accept it and know it. And if asked, let it be known that actually you're good at that thing.

I wish I'd known, accepted and put these in to practice a long time ago. I may have done it unconsciously but as I've learnt them consciously throughout my life they have had a massive impact. I hope that maybe you can take something from them and feel empowered too. And maybe even help to empower others.

This post was adapted at too-early o'clock this morning from a presentation I did last Sunday.

Bowler hats...A sign from the universe or a new fashion trend?

I'm a great advocate for following your intuition and keeping an eye out for signs from the universe that indicate a particular direction I should take in life or to confirm I'm on the right track. But I'm really aware that I have to be careful not read too much into things (my husband told me, yet again, yesterday that I think too much).
When we see signs, symbols, repetitive messages in our life or even perhaps if we have an odd deam, we really want to know what on earth it could all possibly mean for us. I got a text from a friend today saying that she had seen two people in different situations on the same day, sporting bowler hats. Hmm, unusual. What could that mean?
I believe that signs, dreams and symbols are very personal and should always be related back to the person they're for. Yes, there are 'traditional' symbols and age old meanings and we can always look up someone else's definition in a book or dictionary of dream or symbol analysis. But the most important thing to ask is, what does it mean to you?
One symbol can have a hundred interpretations if you speak to 100 people. We all have our own associations, memories, experiences and frame of reference. So I don't think someone else can literally translate your signs for you. They can facilitate their translation though.
My friend and I had an extensive exchange of texts about bowler hats which rapidly went from the sublime to the ridiculous, attempting to fathom the meaning of her fashion-based message. It made us laugh which is always a positive outcome. And maybe she could take something from it. Or maybe they're simply making a comeback..?
(Inspired by my lovely friend DM and written on my blackberry while standing in the queue at my local Post Office, it was a long queue)

"Help! I need somebody"

I've discovered that I have what is known as a portfolio career. I didn't know that until last week, but apparently that is what I have. For others who haven't heard of it before, it is one whereby you do a variety of different jobs or skills, all of which you should love (otherwise you might as well just to do one thing you hate full time!)

The common theme through my 'portfolio' is that of helping people. While pondering this I realised that while we all like to help people we usually wait to be asked. And one thing we tend not to do is ask for help when we need it. Hm... a bit of tricky situation there then.

I do a fair amount of business networking to help my businesses grow and develop. The main questions we ask of our networking colleagues are, 'How can I help you?' and 'What are you looking for to help you develop your business?'

How many people right now could do with some help in their job, career or business venture? Would they tell you if they did need help? Would they ask you for help directly? Probably not. But I'm sure that if you knew more about what they did you would be more than happy to refer people to them who could benefit from what they offer.

Would you rather a large corporate, or even a small business owner who is a complete stranger to you benefit from your custom? Or would you prefer to help a friend out in their business? How would you feel if a friend was struggling, or worse, lost their business or job, and then you realised that whatever they were involved in, you could have helped them out by using them instead of another company, tradesperson etc.?

As a trainer with a major network marketing company I, and my colleagues often find a common theme of discussion at trainings. That discussion centres around individuals wondering why on earth some of their nearest and dearest won't try the services they are offering, when they will so clearly benefit from them. They feel as though some of their closest friends and family are saying that they don't trust them when they recommend what we have to offer. This doesn't just happen in our business, or even in our industry, it can be just the same for employed people. To be honest, many people don't even know what their friends or family actually do for a living, let alone know whether they could give them their custom.

For anyone who has ever been in this situation, in any type of business or job, I would like to set your mind at rest as to why it might be that someone close to you isn't one of your customers even when you have explained how it could benefit them. I have heard it said many times by a very eloquent speaker that I know and have the pleasure of working with, “No-one wants to be a part of your experiment” and this may be one explanation, especially if you are just starting out. However, I think that in some cases it can be that no-one wants to be a part of your failure. Now that isn't to say that if you're just starting out in a new venture, or even if you have been in business or your job a while, that you are going to be a failure. It simply means that they are thinking,
'As your parent/sibling/friend, I don't want to use you for XYZ or buy your product because if you were to fail in this venture, I would have been a part of it and as I'd been a customer of yours I would have been endorsing your failure. That would hurt me because I care about you too much so I'd rather not be involved at all'
To be honest this is probably very subconscious and they don't even realise they are thinking it.

Sometimes it can be quite different however. Chatting with a friend in my networking team a couple of months ago he told me an interesting story about a friend of his who he fell out with. My colleague had started working in our business and wanted to help this friend out by showing him how he could save some money at home. The friend took umbrage at this and thought it was terrible that he was 'selling' to friends. Interesting, he would rather pay through the nose for something to a large faceless corporate stranger than save some money and see his friend be successful in his business? Wow!

I think it's time to have a re-think. I think that we should encourage and support our friends and family and do all we can to help them succeed, especially in such trying economic times. We probably do just this in daily life and family stuff anyway, we just don't think about it from a work or business point of view.

So here's the challenge: We are coming up to a time when alot of socialising is done. You will probably meet up with people you haven't seen for a long time and maybe meet new people at Christmas and new year events. You will undoubtedly ask them how work is going, and do you think some people might be having a tough time,whether they are self employed, a business owner or an employee? Would you like to be a part of their success?

Why not make the time to ask your friend or relative to tell you more about what they do and how they are looking to grow their business in 2011. Then ask them questions such as:
'How can I help you?'
'What would be your ideal customer?'
'What type of business are you looking for?'
'Maybe I might know someone or could keep an eye out for opportunities for you, let me take a couple of your cards or your email address so that I can let you know if I do'.

Maybe this person could help you out now, or at some point in the future. Can you support them in their business or job by giving them your custom?

Wouldn't it be nice to know that you could be a part of helping them through a tough time. Wouldn't it be nice for them to know that you care? Wouldn't you rather help them to succeed than a stranger?

Let's help each other to be more successful.

What did you say?

On December 10th 2010 a phenomenon known as 'mercury retrograde' starts. It continues until December 29th. This is a time where, from our position on Earth, Mercury appears to be moving backwards on its path across the sky.

Personally I have found that this can cause problems so I'm just giving you a heads up. Whether you believe in astrological influences or not, it's worth making a note.

Mercury is a planet relating to communication and when it's in retrograde this is where there are problems. Computers, the internet and phones will go funky, emails won't arrive, travel arrangements will go pear-shaped and miscommunications can occur.

Now I used to ignore all of this thinking that it wouldn't affect me if I didn't acknowledge it. Unfortunately that didn't work so I had to learn to go with the natural flow of things and be more understanding of it.

How? Well. allow more time for journeys, jobs and projects. Save computer backups regularly (mercury retrograde can often see us having to do the same work more than once), clarify points of discussion and instruction with others to avoid misunderstandings and miscommunication. Write down instructions or have them emailed to you(if your email is working).

Sometimes mercury retrograde causes our perception or interpretation of an event or conversation to be skewed so don't rush into an arguement, seek clarity first until you understand the situation or facts fully.

Being more in the moment and focussing more fully on what you're doing will help greatly, and could in fact be the very lesson to take from this time. Along with being slow to judge, react or jump to conclusions which are all positive traits that we could do well to adopt and take forward on a daily basis as mercury begins to move forward again.

Use this time also to reorganise, reassess and reflect on your life and prepare for the year ahead.

And for those of you thinking that you've already noticed some of mercury's little tricks lately you'd be right. The affects of mercury retrograde started around the 22nd November and will continue in what's known as its 'post-retrograde shadow' until about the 18th January 2011, albeit with a lessening degree of influence.

There are loads of astrology sites and blogs which go into loads more detail if you want find out more. For now, tread carefully, be observant and take your time. Go with the flow of the universe and learn its lessons along the way.

Bright Blessings
Helen
x

Rave Review!

We've just had fantastic news that our book, 'Help! I Think I Might Be Psychic' has had a brilliant reader review in 'Spirit & Destiny' magazine.
Giving it 4 stars out of 5 the reader, an executive coach from Northampton was wonderfully complimentary. Her comments were completely in line with the way we wanted the book to come across to our readers:
"a style that's easy to dip into",
"comprehensive and concise, it's a practical and lively read",
"a good stepping stone to other areas", and the best bit,
"A highly readable guide which captured my interest and answered alot of questions I had with warmth and enthusiasm"

It's exciting to see our own work in print, it's wonderful that our book sells every month through the world wide web, but to see the positive impact that we can have and get feedback confirming that we have achieved what we set out to is the pinnacle as far as we are concerned.

Best get on with the next one now!

Leverage - make the most out of what you've got!

I was privileged to join a number of lovely ladies at a Wire networking meeting yesterday in Penkridge, Staffs. I talked to them briefly about something that I'd discovered and I thought, in the spirit of the talk I would share it on here too. I was talking about leverage. While this can be focussed on small business owners or the self-employed, I think that it's also useful for individuals. We all need to earn a living don't we? We need to pay our bills and also to live, to have a fulfilling life and maybe to contribute back to society too. So, I'm going to talk about money for a while, hope that's ok.

Alot of businesses are struggling, alot of households will also find things get tougher over the next few months, and possibly, for some, years. So, I believe leverage is a key to help anyone not only ride out the tough times, but also, help themselves to have a better life all round.

Could you do with an additional income in to your home, or your business?

Who is in a position where they work for an hour, get paid for an hour? Do the job once, get paid once? Unfortunately that means that you limit your income. You do, you limit your income to the number of hours you can work, or by the number of products/jobs you can do. Unless you get a pay rise,or increase the cost of your products, but your income is still limited by these factors.

Who is in a position where they are time poor?
Who is in a position where they have something they want to share with the world and don't know where to start or how to do it? Are you limiting yourself to sharing something wonderful with only a handful of people? Would you like to reach a larger market?

If any of these apply to you, then please, ask yourself this question:

HOW CAN I LEVERAGE MY TIME, KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERTISE?
The following questions may help you to answer it.

Have I got something that I've already done or produced that could be turned into something else? Such as articles, newsletters, presentations, talks, handbooks, leaflets, artwork, random scribblings.

What am I an expert in?

What do I have knowledge of or a passion for?

What would I really like to share with the world?

One way to leverage your time is to become involved with a network marketing business. This is recommended by Donald Trump, Robert Kyosaki and many others who are very wealthy individuals in their own right. But you have to find the one that's right for you. Personally I am involved with TelecomPlus plc which is service based not product based so you don't have to keep re-selling product but you still generate a passive monthly income. I get paid whether I work or not. I believe in the company and the service that it offers and find it extremely ethical. Saving people money in the current economy is a no brainer if you ask me. (If you would like to know more take a look at this
website and click on 'earn with us' for a short video presentation - UK only)

Another is to create products that you can sell online. Lets have a look at some these options:

The Written word
Books – leaflets – downloads of valuable information or advice & e-books

The Spoken Word
podcasts, audio books, mp3 downloads, cd's

Workshops /Talks/ Presentations - do you do any of these? Can you turn them into videos to promote yourself, podcasts or other audio products. Can you sell other products in the room when you're putting on these events.

This isn't just about money. It's about getting your message across to as many different people as possible, and by using these different methods you can do just that. A busy person on the road all day may not get time to read a book, but would be happy to listen to a CD in the car. So you maximise your market with different types of products. If you've got something worth saying, use today's technology and say it to the world. And if it really is worth sharing then you can earn from it. You have just as much right to a good lifestyle as anyone else. And realistically in the UK, most individuals and households at this moment in time will benefit from any little extra.

"Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness - great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy." - Jim Rohn

So, leverage your time, maybe turn the TV or computer off and go spend that time more wisely by planning how you can put some of this into practise.


web resources that you might find ueful when creating some of the products mentioned:
www.lulu.com for self publishing/Print On Demand/e-books
www.smashwords.com for e-books
cpi- anthony rowe for short runs of books & print on demand publishing
www.lightningsource.com – Print on demand publishing
www.kunaki.com – produce on demand CD's and DVD's
www.thekunakiguy.com – expert in kunaki, free 'how to' guide or he'll do it for you for about $10
www.melodyloops.com – pay per track, royalty free music loops for background music for DVD's and events or presentations

Helen Leathers

you can view my products here

Ever thought you might write a book?

When I get talking to people about the books that I've written, (currently 4 on sale, 1 in the wings and 1 in the process of being written) a very high percentage of those people say something like, 'I've always wanted to write a book'. They (whoever 'they' are) do say that there's a book in everyone, don't 'they'?

So, I thought I'd put some bits together about what helped me to write my books and maybe it will help all of you out there to get writing. You might not ever publish your book, but being creative is about so much more than that. It might be therapeutic or cathartic, or just a big challenge for you to produce something.

One day I just got up and knew I had to write. I was inspired, and I could see, in my head how it had to be. I wrote solidly for three days and wrote the first half of 'The Spiritual and Psychic Development Workbook'. I had never done anything like it before. I didn't think I'd have anything more left to write about but I am continually inspired and haven't stopped writing since. I love it, and I love that my work helps and inspires others.

So what are my top tips? Here you go...

1. I wrote about a subject I loved, felt passionate about, researched, and had practical experience of.
2. I had a strong desire to share my knowledge with others.
3. I allowed the creative process to happen in it’s own way. For me, when I felt inspired to write, I simply took up a pen and wrote.
4. Once I had enough material and a clear outline, I set myself deadlines / a project plan, to ensure that I got finished. But I didn’t force the creative side.
5. I developed a clear picture of my reader.
6. I got serious about it and developed a plan, not only to finish the book but what to do once it was done.
7. As I wrote I often got new ideas, flashes of inspiration about a new project. I simply made a note of them and carried on with the job in hand.
8. I started writing
9. I carried on writing
10. I finished writing
11. I had a clear vision of what I wanted the book to say to the reader, and how I would say it.
12. I asked for feedback from friends, who would be honest, but didn’t change anything unless the changes fitted in better with my vision.
13. I stopped checking for errors, sometimes you just have to finish and get the book out there.
14. I went on a ‘Market Your Book’ workshop that really helped me with my writing and marketing. And in fact, I came up with new ideas, for more books & projects.

Something that I’ve discovered…
“Anyone can start to write a book, it takes a lot of courage to finish one”
Helen Leathers

http://www.stmpublishing.co.uk/

all the small things

I haven't put a blog post up for ages. I 've had a bit of a mental block with it and made it into a much bigger thing that it actually is. And then today I realised that it really isn't a big job to write a blog every now and again, I don't know why I thought it was. It should be short and sweet. While I was doing a bit of preparation for a radio interview next week I was thinking about what the pivotal points in my journey have been. And I realised that it's the little things that count in life, it's the little things that make the big things happen. It's the smallest quote that can have the biggest impact. Big changes follow small moments of clarity or illumination. Life is a series of moments and in every moment change is possible. In every moment is an essence of time that will allow anyone to alter their course, or supercharge their future, or, if they don't see it and make use of it, not. Don't wait for the quantum leap, just do something, anything, however small, but do it now. Keep your mind and eyes open for the moments in your life and who knows where you'll end up?

Lots of little blessings for you

Bright Blessings - Spiritual Thoughts, Inspirational Quotes and Philosophical Observations on Life, From Helen Leathers is a new book with a difference.

We all lead busy lives but making a tiny bit of time for ourselves to think our thoughts and get to know more about ourselves, our hopes and our dreams can have a massive impact on how we see the world and our role within it. Do you truly know, where you have been, where you are now and, most importantly where you are heading? Are you happy? Would you like to be?

This is a collection of articles, observations and quotes which aim to make you stop and think. In amongst all the everyday ‘stuff’, take a few moments to dip in and have a read. Whether you need inspiration, a quiet moment, a focus for meditation, spiritual or philosophical advice or support, or maybe even something different to do this weekend this is the book to have within easy reach.

A percentage of profits from the sale of this book will be donated equally between The National Literacy Trust and The Hunger Project in a bid to help fight illiteracy and poverty in the UK and in developing countries.

Available online and to order at any bookstore, take a look at www.stmpublishing.co.uk