The million-dollar question is: What is the BREAKTHROUGH OPPORTUNITY you are not seeing or acting upon right now? If you’d like my help in answering it, I’d love to help!

I work very fast and very intuitively so expect some quick answers and on the money questions. I won’t  tiptoe around  you as I regard your  time as precious and my motto is  - Make a Decision and Take Action.

Email me your BURNING question in advance in no more than 50 words to support@fionaharrold.com. I shall only be answering questions if you are on the call.  Simply call the number below and you will be straight through to me for the price of a local area phone call. There are a limited number of lines available, so to be in with a chance of getting on the call, please call in early,  no later than 5 minutes before 7, or you may not get on the call.  Can’t wait to connect with you! Here’s the numbers:

This is a little feedback from Friday’s Coaching & Cocktails evening:

A wonderful and fun night of inspiration and information.  Fiona, you and the team were on top form and looked amazing!  Whatever you’ve been doing, I want some of it!! Jo West

I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank you for inviting me to your Breakthrough event.  The evening was truly inspirational and I left feeling very positive and focused on achieving my personal goals. The main one being writing my book.   You are an outstanding person and I hope can take some leaves out of your books and enrich my life. Rowshonara Miah

To YOUR 2012 Breakthrough Success

Are you ready to be challenged by a bold Coach who is known for helping her clients get results (fast!) and you’d love to be part of an amazing community?

Is 2012 the year you MUST Make Change?

Then you’re in the right place. In my most affordable programme ever, month by month during 2012, I’ll teach you the latest strategies for success, how to makeover your mindset, fine-tune your methods and apply ancient metaphysical methods in your everyday life to attract and achieve the changes you HAVE to make.

MY BREAKTHROUGH YEAR CLUB – 2012

You’ll also have the opportunity to put your  BURNING questions to me personally…. all for less than the cost of your daily latte!  AND – because we’ve changed the date of our first call due to technical challenges …we’re giving you the first month for just £1 so, your lattes are on me!  AND, if you’re one of the first 30 to join, you’ll also get a ticket to join me for an entire day in person in a group workshop to accelerate your progress. The value of this is £175 –and it’s my Bonus Gift if you’re quick. Jump here to  join and find out more.

12 WAYS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE IN 2012

If you simply can’t wait to get started in My Breakthrough Year Club here’s my top tips to get you started and make 2012 YOUR year!

1/ Name your ‘Impossible Dream’. What’s the WOW! Goal that, if you achieved it, would transform your life? What are you willing to do anything to achieve and would involve masses of challenge and fun getting there?

2/ Fire up your motivation. How important is it for you to create change? If you don’t, how will your life look 6 months from now? How does that feel? And, if you do create change, how might your life look 6 months from now? Excited, thrilled, terrified? You must be all of these – otherwise your motivation just isn’t firing enough.

3/Tell no one. Your Big Dream is sacred to you. It’s precious and delicate, especially in the early stages. Give it time to grow and get off the ground before allowing others to see it. Better to get on with the work of bringing it to life. Others will notice in time.

4/ Get a mentor. The one person to share your dreams and plans with is someone who will feed your morale, spur you on and believe in you when you don’t. Choose this person with great care as they will and should have great influence over you. Ensure they are living their own dream life.

5/ Root out toxic friends. Who is shaping your thinking? Who is keeping you small or stamping on your dreams? Pinpoint your peer pressure and be discerning about who you give space to in your head. Have a clear-out if necessary and carefully select the people who are right for you, right now.

6/ Enhance your Integrity. YOU need to have the highest regard for yourself. How? By choosing to live up to principles you can be proud of. Monitor your behaviour so you can say, hand on heart, I like myself. Embodying principles that are beyond reproach will allow you to see and feel yourself to be someone of honour – and truly deserving of good things.

7/ Think Better. Choose to be the most creative and resourceful thinker you know. Train your brain to spot solutions faster than anyone, to see opportunities that are invisible to others, to find the gift in the garbage. It’s always there.

8/ Meditate. Sitting in silence will allow you to hear your own internal knowing and build your intuitive wisdom. As a wise man said, ‘the busier I am, the more I need to meditate.’ and another, ‘empty vessels make most noise!’ Elegance and wisdom come from developing a strong internal source of calm and self-reliance. The more ambitious your plans, the stronger foundation you’ll need. Practise turning to yourself first before running to others.

9/ Cultivate courage. The single most important quality you need in make your life AMAZING in 2012 is courage. Ask yourself, Where am I being cowardly in my life right now? If I replaced cowardice with courage, what change might that bring about? You’ll need courage to ask the question and courage to follow through.

10/ Blame no one. Take 100% responsibility for the life you want to create. Blaming others from the past or present gives you the excuse to bottle out or play small. If it’s someone else’s fault that you can’t do or be all that you can be, you won’t even be trying. Everything that’s happened could make you the most creative, capable, resourceful and determined person you know. Couldn’t it? It could.

11/ Upscale your earnings. The money is there right now in the opportunity that you are either not seeing or not acting on. Everything you need is already here and waiting for you to say YES! to the opportunity. Be more now to take advantage of the opportunity. Step into the shoes and fill the shoes of that bigger person. Say YES!

12/ Make 2012 YOUR BREAKTHROUGH YEAR. Take the decision, right now, that you will ensure that this is the year that takes your life to its next level. Do you need to alter the entire course of your life or simply make a few bold changes? You decide. But, whatever you do, make that decision. Remember, if you change nothing, nothing will change. To get a different result this year, you’ll have to think and act differently.

It’s been a busy week here so a huge thank you to my team for keeping the wheels in motion. I’m looking forward to our Launch Night on Friday and you can always catch up with what we’re up to on facebook, twitter.

Thanks so much for your enthusiastic response to my new no-cost, weekly service, Ask Fiona.

Your comments and the many questions that have poured in are really wonderful to receive and I’m delighted to be of service.

This week’s question comes from Katarina in Amsterdam.

Question:

How can I make money from my hobby?

I’ve almost ditched all the limiting beliefs about work that I grew up with: go for the best-paying job within the scope of your academic qualifications and do creative, “frivolous” things in your leisure time.

My full-time job as a systems administrator has been pretty stressful recently and to stay on top of things emotionally I’ve been devoting a lot of time to my hobbies (writing, drawing a cartoon character, photography). I have now reached the point of seriously contemplating “doing something more” with my hobbies. Now that I’ve gotten this far, I’d appreciate a checklist of things to consider when turning one’s hobby into a paid sideline.

To start with the issue of pricing: I’ve simply no idea what would be reasonable.  For example, a significant number of my most admired photos were simply a question of “right place, right time.  In fact, I would happily have paid for the opportunity to take them. I’d like to offer something that’s a bit different, but that makes it all the trickier to price due to lack of comparable products/services on the market. So how do I figure out what to charge?

So far I have been pursuing my hobbies for my own relaxation and enjoyment, and informally sharing the results with family, friends and colleagues.  However, I’m wondering whether my creativity and enthusiasm would continue to flourish in the face of working to order?

Katarina, Amsterdam.

Answer:

You need to make some major mindset shifts otherwise you’ll struggle to make money from doing what you love.

First off, your concept of work being ‘work’ and our true creativity finding expression in our spare time through hobbies is outdated and simply untrue. You’ll have absorbed this from your parents who passed on their understanding of the world as it was then. So- you may be operating with a guide to ‘The World’ that is 50 years out of date! 

Imagine finding a map from the 1950’s showing the routes between London and Birmingham or Amsterdam and Antwerp. It would reflect the landscape and roads available then, but it wouldn’t be an accurate guide for your journey now or reflect the present terrain. Your parents handed you a guide to travelling through the world that was relevant THEN.

You need an up to date guide that reflects the world YOU are facing RIGHT NOW.

There has never been an easier time to express yourself in the world through the work you do. Your life is a work of art and your task is to sculpt it into a shape that pleases you and others. Your life is a great big lump of clay and what you make with it is in your hands. You have the talents and innate skills to mould it into something wonderful and joyous that you can be proud of and you are fortunate to be living in a plentiful part of the planet awash with people able to pay for your goods and services.

What’s really stopping you? I think it’s your thinking. Let straighten a few things out:

1/ Creativity vs Commerce. You think that once money enters the equation, artistic freedom vanishes – or is compromised. Not necessarily. You can charge anything you like for a privately commissioned photo (I have a client setting up a website offering only privately commissioned works of art and design) and you can charge a lower rate for the mass-market prints.

2/ Creativity vs Structure. You worry that your enthusiasm may wane under the pressure of a routine. Not necessarily. You could insist that you outsource the parts that drain you, leaving you free to do the work that only you can and should be doing.

3/ Creativity vs Value. You ask how much to charge. You say you want to offer something truly unique. Go for being distinctive instead. Pinpoint your Ideal Client and offer them something brilliant and life-enhancing. What are they currently paying for something similar? Set your price. Decide on your ‘diffusion’ mass-market products and apply the same criteria.

Good Luck!

Fiona xx

PS. You’ll need inspiration, motivation, a plan, heaps of encouragement and accountability to get this going.

PPS. My new My Breakthrough Year Club will give you all of that and we’re starting very soon! Jump here to find out more:

Ask Fiona is a weekly no-cost programme that is open to everyone!  Each week, I’ll select and personally respond to one question that I feel will help the most people. (You may choose to remain anonymous if you wish, with our full support.)

May I ask you to help me spread the word about this programme? Is there someone you care for who is stuck, or struggling, or lost, or unhappy? Because if so, I would very much like to help. No matter their question, no matter their predicament, if they would like to ask for help via Ask Fiona, my Team and I will do our very best to provide that help.  Just email support@fionaharrold.com with your question.

I want to celebrate by inviting YOU to a small gathering where I will personally coach YOU to spot your Big Breakthrough for 2012 and the change you MUST make.

I am immensely grateful for the life that I live, doing work that I love and feeling truly fulfilled. I am living the life of myDreams and it would give me immense joy to help you do the same.

I’d like to invite you to join me for a FREE evening of COACHING and COCKTAILS and the OFFICIAL LAUNCH of my brand-new My Breakthrough Year Club – 2012 at my favourite London spot, myhotel, Chelsea on Friday 27th January at 7.00pm.

I want to help you achieve razor sharp focus and absolute clarity around your Big Breakthrough. Therefore -  I’m offering refreshing non-alcoholic cocktails so that everyone has a sober and clear head! And, you can always celebrate in the bar afterwards!

This is going to be a great evening and me and my team are pulling out all the stops to make sure you keep on track for 2012.

I’m going to openly coach a small number of individuals during the evening so if you want to be in with a chance of being one of them, email us your BURNING challenge and if you’re among one of the first to email us you’ll be in the spotlight to receive laser coaching and guidance from me.

As this is my birthday GIFT to you and it’s FREE, tickets are on a first come first served basis and places are very limited.

Click here now to reserve your place and we’ll email you shortly to let you know if you’ve been lucky enough to receive a ticket. You’ll have to hurry, this event will FILL UP very quickly.

See you on the 27th,

to your brilliant 2012  success
Fiona x

ps,  one lucky person is going to receive a special Birthday Bonus on the night!

The energy and renewed vigour from the holiday break disappears very quickly, doesn’t it? And sometimes it feels like you have never had a holiday at all!

Last week I opened up the opportunity for 10 ambitious and determined individuals to work alongside me and my Director of Coaching to ensure they have a clear strategy for their big goals in 2012 and the right support in place to implement their plan.

PPS. Email us to book your Image consultation with Gloria! She’s brilliant!

I have worked in scientific publishing for 25 years, for the last 10 years I have worked from home. I realize that the past 10 years have been a stagnant time for me. I have worked on the same 5 journals for those 10 years. I have made no new contacts and I have secured no new work. Now I am DEVASTATED that at least two, and possibly all five, journals are being discontinued. I am 50 years old and I feel that I am on the scrap heap. I have no idea how to find employment, I have no idea how to replace the revenue I have lost and I have no idea what to do now.

Can you help?

Lynne, Sussex

Answer:

What is it that you want? What is it the direction you want to move forward in? How do you really want to live your life?

You are feeling scared right now and you are shaken to your core because you have been hiding and avoiding these questions for quite a few years. Your hand is being forced now to face these questions, to come out from hiding and take up your place in the world. You are not alone. There are many others feeling a similar panic in these times of great change. Whether you believe that 2012 heralds a new astrological age, the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, the fact is many of us are experiencing our world being turned upside down and from the inside out.

It’s time for you to have a look on the inside and spot what you need to leave behind as you move forward as your external world is changing. Believe me when I say – you need to leave behind fear, anxiety, not speaking up, not believing in your own abilities. This needs to change and your change of circumstances is pushing you to address the change within you that needs to take place. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself this question. If I wasn’t so fearful, if I DID believe in my abilities, what would become possible?

The more you work on your internal world, the more able you’ll be to handle change in your external world. Everything you haven’t dealt with or avoided up until now is coming to the surface to make a point. You’ve been avoiding change in your work and, and I suspect, in your overall life, and you are now finding that this issue is now forcing itself upon you.

The more stability you have within, the better you will be able to handle change and flux outside.

It’s time to stop battling and to go with this flow of change. You have been unwilling to admit the need for change and you are now being forced to truly get to grips with the truth of your life. It’s uncomfortable for you and it’s now unavoidable. And, if you hadn’t been pushed to do this, you might have ‘stagnated’ for more years. Think about that. How would another 3 or 5 or 10 years of the same feel?

You must become the focus of your life now. You must get back your sense of self, so you are moving forward with your self-worth and self-esteem built up and intact. You must align your life with what YOU really want rather than clinging to an out-of-date notion of security and settling for a way of paying the bills that drains your spirit.

Right now, here’s what to do:

1/ Stop Panicking Yourself. Stop saying, I’M DEVASTATED. You are generating vast amounts of fear and adrenaline when you do this and keeping yourself paralysed in panic.

2/ Admit the truth. Right now, just for 5 minutes, feel the freedom that comes with the truth that you are so glad to be giving up stagnation, and much more that you don’t want, and are free to begin to think about a better future.

3/ Plan for a new future. Life is giving you a breathing space in which you can finally figure out the part you want to play in it. I want you to have the widest conversation and question everything. You need to have this conversation with a great coach who will prize apart your blinkers and show you the possibilities and opportunities in front of you. You need to be pragmatic as well and take stock of all your talents and abilities and how you can turn them into a service others will rush to pay for – and leave you feeling fired up and enthusiastic. My Director of Coaching, Rita Hamill, is a genius at this and would be perfect for you (much gentler than me!). Email her right now, rita@fionaharrold.com

4/ Do Yoga. I’m serious. You need to calm your nervous system, which you have been revving and must be near exhaustion. You need to move your body to exorcise the cocktail of stress hormones you’ve generated in order to feel more able to handle life. Walk, run, lift weights, do yoga. Do something.

5/ Pray. I’m serious! Ask for help from on high. Ask for help with building the qualities of trust, of faith, of courage, of hope, of optimism, of gratitude. Ask for guidance.

You are at a turning point in your life. Make this ‘wake-up call’ the best thing that could have happened. You have that power in your hands. You have the power to choose.

I wish you well.

Very best wishes,

Fiona xx

P.S: Ask Fiona is a weekly no-cost programme that is open to everyone!  Each week, I’ll select and personally respond to one question that I feel will help the most people. (You may choose to remain anonymous if you wish, with our full support.)

P.P.S:  May I ask you to help me spread the word about this programme? Is there someone you care for who is stuck, or struggling, or lost, or unhappy? Because if so, I would very much like to help. No matter their question, no matter their predicament, if they would like to ask for help via Ask Fiona, my Team and I will do our very best to provide that help.  Just email support@fionaharrold.com with your question.

I’ve just written out my plan for this year. It shows me the direction I want to be moving so I can track my course as I go. I’ve also enrolled the support of a great mentor to ensure I make the changes I want to this year (and you’ll be hearing about those changes!).

Would a written plan and the support of a great mentor help ensure you fulfil your goals and dreams? Would you welcome a headstart on the year ahead? Are you keen to start the year fast, focused and fired up?!

I want to help you get the results you need and deserve this year. (Four out of five people who make New Year’s resolutions eventually break them and one third won’t even make it to the end of January.) Would you love to have my personal support but you’re on a budget?

I’ve been thinking about how I can help and I have a plan!

WORK WITH FIONA

*How would you like to work with me personally to plan your year and have the one-to-one support of my Director of Coaching to ensure you implement your plan?

*How would you like if you got to ‘check-in’ with me midway through your programme and ‘check-out’ with me when you wrap up?

*How would you like to work with my Director of Coaching on a weekly basis over 3 months and  have my insight and input as well?

Now you can.

I understand that some of my members need a more budget-conscious coaching programme and that’s why I’m so excited to offer you this personal support at a cost that will fit your budget.

You’ll get the ongoing weekly support of a great coach in the form of my Director of Coaching, Rita Hamill (brilliant at getting you to DO what you know you need to) and you’ll also get my insight and experience to get you off the starting blocks.

Here’s what two recent clients said after their initial session with me:

Since my first session with Fiona, I felt understood in a way that I have not experienced before.  She gave me the clarity and focus to see what I needed to do to achieve my goals and after only a few weeks I have already seen huge changes. Since making the changes that Fiona suggested I have seen an increase in new business and a greater clarity for achieving my next set of goals. THANKYOU FIONA! Ryan James, Director ryanjamespr.com

I knew I wanted Fiona to coach me; she had been a guru on my horizon for almost a decade, but I never thought I would be able to afford to engage her. I now realise that there is nothing more important than investing in yourself. Nothing.

Being able to speak to Fiona with complete honesty about my aspirations and fears without judgement was liberating. In just one session she helped me to realise the value of the services I offer and to achieve a clarity that was previously missing. I am completely focused and very excited about my plans for 2012 and have already begun to put into motion my business ideas that will add real tangible benefits to my clients and a dramatic increase to my income. Kimberley Williams, Managing Director  williamswroe.com

Due to the extent of my personal involvement we are only offering this opportunity to 10 indiviuals who are absolutley determined to get 2012 off to a flying start, email us immediately, support@fionaharrold.com with your telephone numbers and we’ll arrange to speak with you straightaway.

To your brilliant 2012 success.  We’ll be there to support you every step of the way over on facebook and twitter.

Sue from Lancashire asks:

I am stuck in a job that, whilst I am good at it, I feel that I have lost the ability to get excited about my achievements, and therefore perform to the best of my abilities.

I recruit and assess suitability of candidates to come onto our training programmes. These candidates are aged from school leavers at age 16 right through to age 64 and beyond; some of these potential candidates are employed in which case I arrange to meet them at their employer’s premises and complete induction and assessment there; others are unemployed and after I confirm suitability, find them employment.

On the face of this it looks like a great job, I think that because I am feeling a bit low at the moment (personal reasons) it has affected my ability to get a buzz out of my job.  I’m a bit lost and deflated and not sure where to find my mojo again.
I think that I want to change my role and move more into training; I have completed qualifications throughout this year that will put me in the right position to do this, but I have concerns that I may be putting myself in a more vulnerable situation, looking for a job.

There have been many changes to the structure of the company over the last 2 years; a new company has been formed and we have had a change in manager

To be successful at my job I need to be on top form, I’ve let it go and am struggling to find my form again. Part of me thinks that I never will and it is time to move on; the scary thing is I can’t afford not to have a job or to start at the bottom. I have tried to have a good talk to myself and give myself advice but…well I did try!

Answer:

Your question will chime with many facing a New Year. And the question that you may be really facing is: am I living a life based on believing in myself or not?

Your ‘problem’ – is that you’ve outgrown your present role. As problems go, that’s not a bad one to have! It shows you’re a dynamic person, keen to grow and take on fresh challenges.  You’re feeling restless and frustrated and there’s an impulse within you to move on to something bigger. You’re feeling the birth pangs of change.

Deep down, you know there’s no more growth left for you in this role. The job is great – you’re just too big for the scope of it now. The fact that you’ve already undertaken training tells us that you’re keen to advance.
Are you probably feeling anxious about your ability to perform in a bigger role? Absolutely. And this is as it should be. If you weren’t, there would be no growth for you to. I have coached many newly appointed CEO’s over the years and most of them felt they weren’t up to the role. The truth for them was that they had to stretch to grow into the role. It will be the same for you.

You’re either growing or you’re dying - so says one of my mentors, the US Coach, David Neagle. And, right now, you’re resisting your growth. You’re trying to persuade yourself that you simply need to try harder to accept where you are. This will only work short-term.

Think about the role you’d love to move into. See yourself doing it, helping others grow and achieve their dreams. This is the opportunity ahead and to grow and achieve your dream. When you do this, you’ll embody the transformation that your clients want. You’ll be the living, breathing personification of all that you want to give birth to in others.

What do you need to give birth to in yourself right now? You need to birth courage and faith. You need courage to push through your fear and you need faith in yourself and life itself. You need faith in the future you. Know that doubt gets stronger just before a breakthrough. Build this faith everyday by doing everything you can to move towards it. Be bold and decide this is the future you’re claiming for yourself.

There’s a bigger, bolder, YOU pushing through to take its place in the world and have a bigger impact. Don’t resist by magnifying fear and clinging on to the familiar. Keep the faith and keep taking action that will bring you closer to your goal. Spend time every day feeling the excitement of doing what you really want. Push yourself towards it on every level, in thought, feeling and action.

I totally appreciate that you need a job and an income. But, staying small may not be the best way to guarantee this. Fulfilling a bigger role that brings forth the brilliance, cleverness and resourcefulness within you may be a better bet. And, it’s in the going out and getting of this role that will give birth to the bigger YOU that is waiting to emerge.

I wish you all the very best and a wonderful and truly fulfilling 2012.

XX Fiona

P.S: Ask Fiona is a weekly no-cost programme that is open to everyone!  Each week, I’ll select and personally respond to one question that I feel will help the most people. (You may choose to remain anonymous if you wish, with our full support.)

P.P.S:  May I ask you to help me spread the word about this programme? Is there someone you care for who is stuck, or struggling, or lost, or unhappy? Because if so, I would very much like to help. No matter their question, no matter their predicament, if they would like to ask for help via Ask Fiona, my Team and I will do our very best to provide that help.  Just email support@fionaharrold.com with your question.

Here’s an example of how one young man managed it.

I was on a bus a few evenings ago when an elderly lady struggled to find enough change to pay her fare. It was a freezing night. There was a queue of people behind her: the bus wasn’t moving: the driver was getting irritable and there was no happy end in sight. From the back of the bus, a young chap stood up, strode down the length of the bus to the front, clicked his Travel Card on the sensor and paid for her entire journey. As one, we rose to our feet, clapped and burst into song. OK– we didn’t – this is England! But you could feel everyone’s admiration for his generosity and wishing we had been big enough to have done the same thing.

How about all of us joining together to consciously carry out one generous act a day between now and Christmas Day? This Newsletter goes out to nearly 15,000 people – just think of the combined effect we could have, especially if you pass the message on to just one other person!

Let’s go for being the bigger person over the coming days (there’s nothing more attractive!). Let’s go for one Generous Act a Day between now and Sunday. Let’s call it the Xmas One-a-Day and share your actions and ideas here on the blog or facebook. They can be tiny and they can be entirely private.

YOUR VERY SPECIAL GIFT…

Dare to be unconventional in your giving. Push past social norms. Jump on all chances to be generous, large and small. If you’re shy, try to do it anyway. Rise to the opportunities presented.

Give what you can; it doesn’t have to be a lot. Feel the growing sense of abundance it produces, an energy which circulates far and wide. It’ll find its way back to you. Maybe you’ll win a jackpot, or perhaps you’ll just feel better about yourself. However generosity plays out, you can’t lose.

Let’s be mavericks over the days ahead spreading good cheer where we can.  In the spirit of goodwill, watch out for my gift to you. It will be coming to you at 11am, GMT, on Wednesday! Until then, let’s have some fun and spread a little cheer,

I can’t wait to hear your suggestions and actions for the Xmas One-a-Day over on facebook,  twitter and of course here on the blog!  And remember – tomorrow morning 11am GMT!