Flashback 2019 – the year of Masterminding (mostly)

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”

Some say it’s an African proverb, I’m not sure about that. But that’s not the point – the point is what does it mean or how does it apply in our lives?

For me, personally, this meant that if I wanted to grow my business and get further, I had to change the way I thought about it. I decided at the end of 2018 that I needed more support to achieve what I had envisioned.

Initially my outlook for 2019 was

• Keep on, keep on blogging – and with a little help from my friend’s and content coach, Judith “Sympatexter” Peters, I’m sure I’ll manage – mostly on track, although have not written nearly as much as I could have or wanted to. 
• A four-week online course for women struggling in midlife – let the rebel out – not quite, but I did run an online course – more later
• Find a new hobby – maybe take up swimming again.. Ähm, nooo. So I guess that is on the books for the new decade – 2020 here I come
• Vacation to some exotic island – it’s amazing how time flies, and so, no, this didn’t happen either

My vision for the next 3 – 5 years was to support menopausal women to unearth a new side of themselves or re-invent for the better.

What I discovered along the way was that I wasn’t attracting menopausal women, but younger women under 30 who were suffering from all sorts of symptoms: from bulimia to panic attacks to self-worth issues. Most of them were severely traumatized – and had a LOT of suppressed ANGER.

This meant either my messaging wasn’t clear enough, or I wasn’t clear on what I was offering. Or maybe they saw me as a mother-figure. I felt honored to be able to support and inspire them, so I took on that challenge or adventure.

And then I was unsure of what language I should operate in. English? German?

All these questions resulted in me having to make a decision. 

I decided I was going to work in English – as having two languages means updating two websites – which if you didn’t know, is a crap load of work on your own – unless you have a team.

Without realizing it, my year turned out to be about growing my confidence, visibility and learning to “trust the process”. It was filled with Masterminding and group coaching – almost to the extent that that’s almost all that happened. Well, not really, but you get my drift.

The first of many to come started off in March where my buddies and I all met in Berlin for a 3 day weekend.

Next up was Zürich, then Hamburg and last but not least Bern (which was very special – as we spoke to a horse and got some insights to our business).

Other highlights of the year were:

• 51st Birthday – Duh, why not 50th? and our Crappy Christmas Party
• Painting Workshop offline – to the 5 Chinese elements
• Online painting course – also to the 5 chinese elements
• Sigrun Live
• Hypnosis convention in Zürich
• Attract your dream client workshop in Drent with Esther

The year of masterminding started in Berlin.

As everyone was arriving at different times we had the chance to do a little sightseeing and window shopping.

Some of the highlights were La Fayette – a wonderful shopping Gallery – if not for shopping (as I was travelling with only hand-luggage) at least a feast for the eye.

We even experienced the first international “Fridays for Future” that took place in Berlin on March 15th, 2019  which was attended by more than 2000 towns and cities in 125 countries. Well over a million young people worldwide took to the streets together to demonstrate for consistent climate protection.

We also had the pleasure of visiting Rausch’s Schokoladenhaus – another feast for the eyes (and stomach) – except I’m not a chocoholic so I didn’t indulge in those sweet temptations. And their chocolate sculptures are impressive to say the least.

Over the course of the weekend we did several vision exercises and it became clear in which direction I wanted to go. Women, intuitive painting, lightness, fun and transformation. My mastermind friends literally forced me into planning an offline workshop on intuitive painting.

Said and done – well not quite, because May was just around the corner and I needed to get my shit together i.e. organise all the materials needed and get the meditation ready – and not to forget work on my mindset of offering this course.

And so, the first workshop of many to come had been birthed.

Expressing emotions and discovering a healthy outlet for suppressed feelings.

The idea behind Connect Artfully was to connect with the heart using art. It’s an Intuitive, intentional and creative practice. It allows to identify and transform negative emotions into positive on a deeper level. Finding inner peace through creativity, rediscovering satisfaction and joy in everyday life and nurturing a long-forgotten side of oneself that is essential to wholeness, happiness and personal fulfillment.

We started with a guided meditation based on the 5 Chinese elements. During the workshop, the participants were taken on a journey through a relaxing meditation and visualisation technique to activate their thought awareness as well as their emotions and any other physical sensations. 

After the meditation they were then free to express whatever came up first using a dominant colour for a while to stay in a relaxed, meditative state. This was then followed by whatever colours called them.

Being in this meditative state allowed them to go with the flow. To not be in their heads and just allow what needed to come out. They described it as a peaceful, rewarding and satisfying time.

Some went deeper and deeper not being able to stop, others were done quickly. Some tweaked their paintings more and more not wanting it to end.

This workshop was a journey designed to help clear out obstacles and bring balance. Their inner dialogue became obvious and they had the opportunity to allow themselves to change it. It empowered some of them to shift emotional trauma, feelings of insecurity and process emotions for insightful value rather than avoid them as uncomfortable. Everyone felt a sense of release and also commented on how painting a wonderful medium is to get things flowing.

What a wonderful successful workshop and the feedback was amazing.

After the great success of the offline workshop the idea was borne to take it online – enter Somba Summer School. 

Luckily this was just around the corner and the perfect opportunity to test the waters and do a beta round.

The outcome blew my socks off – this was WAY more exciting and transforming than I could ever have imagined.

The participants were so engaged and motivated and joined our weekly calls from all over the world – India, Seychelles, UK, Germany, Italy, Ireland to mention just a few. 

The transformation was also incredible.

Anger, fear, deep hurt were all acknowledged and allowed to be expressed on canvas. Although this course was like an “anti-art” some of the participants made extraordinary paintings – so much talent – even though it was not about that…

And as one thing leads to another in life the next mastermind was on the cards – this time in Hamburg.

I seriously can’t remember what profound insights we had, but obviously food was at the centre… – check mastermind buddies…

Somba – Be inspired, think big, take action

When you finish a training or further education as an adult, most often you are not given the tools to build a business. Yes, you’re now self-employed or an entrepreneur, but most often have no idea what the next steps are. Where was I going, what I was doing and most importantly what did I want to achieve?

I was clueless! I had a website, was on facebook and instagram – but apparently that was not what was needed to get me any traction.

I am forever grateful to have discovered this amazing coach. Without her I would have given up my business as a Kinesiologist and Hypnotherapist 2 years ago. 

Not only having discovered Sigrun and her group coaching, it has opened my world to so many amazing people, whether entrepreneurs or therapists. 

I can highly recommend a mastermind or a coach for anyone in business. The added value is simply priceless.

To top it all,  I was accepted to be a mentor in her online course. This was a sign of trust in my capabilities and potential.

Hypnosis Convention November 2019

Seriously peeps (I know of someone who hates this word – and maybe you do too – but I don’t really like to say guys or girls/gals – so this is kind of gender neutral – and people, well, that also sucks…)

If you have done any kind of further education in whatever area it is – I can only recommend attending workshops or conventions or training days that they offer for further motivation, insights or inspiration!

This was soo aaaamazzzing. Thank you Hansruedi Wipf and your team for facilitating such an awesome, well organised thought through conference!

I attended some really inspiring classes with

Tanja Klaus – Hypnose und ätherische Öle
Bruno Erni – Jenseits der Logik? – Ja logisch
Eva Reich – Trauma Klienten noch besser unterstützen und begleiten

amongst others – and met many new aspiring hypnotists as well as seasoned therapists.

Mastermind Bern was really a turnaround.

The interesting part about this weekend was the coaching

One of my mastermind partners, Selen, has a special gift. She can communicate with animals. Now if your imagination is running wild and you’re seeing pictures of talking horses or dogs, it is not. 😉 What she does is more on a subliminal level. I think there are different terms for it depending on how you express yourself. Some call it telepathy, others call it reading body language and micro-expressions, for some it is communication with the subconscious … I’ll leave it up to you what you call it.

As a teenager I had ridden horses, BUT then one day we went on a trip with a couple of families and horse riding was on the agenda. Well F*ck this took the adventure or experience to another level.

We were set up with horse on a farm/stable thingi. My horse decided he needed to put his hoof on my foot – and that was it folks – it was deemed for catastrophe. HE STOOD ON MY FOOT! and wouldn’t lift his leg or give way. Have you ever had a horse stand on your foot? 

You can imagine what happened next. As I obviously had no more control and he knew it – he ran away with me in the woods – and seriously peeps – i had a friggin fit. That was it – get that “monster” away from me!

So now our mastermind in Bern was coming up and I was nervous about meeting the horse. How would I react, how would he react? Turned out he was quite chilled – check him out having a laugh (or was it a yawn?)

We each had the chance to present a question and lead the horse around an obstacle course. The horse gave signals through his behaviour and attitude, reflecting how we felt about the situation. Selen helped interpret his behaviour into something we could understand.

Other highlights of the year

Self hypnosis at the vocational school for Dental Assistants

As part of her exams my daughter did her final assignment on hypnosis. And as a kind of joke I asked her if her teacher and class would be interested in a group self-hypnosis demonstration.

I never for the life of me thought that the response would be positive. I nearly shat myself, and was soo nervous to present in front of a class of 22 young ladies. Would they laugh at me, be rude or indifferent?

The outcome was not at all what I expected! They were friendly (if not a little shy), interested and totally game.

Thank you ladies for being so open and being part of a wonderful workshop!

Omni hypnosis turns 40

You know you’re part of a great stable institution when they get to celebrate their 40th birthday and you get party with them. OMNI stands for solid hypnotherapy.

Gerald F. Kein founded the OMNI Hypnosis Training Center in Florida, USA in 1979.  In 2012 this process was also further refined by Hansruedi Wipf and was certified according to ISO 9001 as the worldwide first hypnosis process ever in March 2015.

No matter where in the world you take part in an OMNI training, you get the same learning contents of highest quality. Each trainer has his/her own style but we are united by a joint identification with OMNI as brand and its philosophy.

Organisation operation – Digitalisation and more

Theoretically – I love structure, organisation and planning – implementing is another thing..⁣
In my life as a back-office manager I was used to planning, organising and structuring everything for the business and everyone else.⁣
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Practically – since becoming self-employed it has kind of gotten out of hand.⁣
Having said that, I still haven’t found the perfect tool where everything fits into one spot. I guess there isn’t.⁣
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Sharing a calendar with the whole family and one for clients and other private events can be quite a daunting challenge. I use google calendar, outlook calendar, an online booking tool for client’s appointments (connected with gmail).⁣
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Client dossiers old fashion on paper and then filed in a cabinet for vertical hanging files. Need a solution there – like a CRM where the docs are digital and invoices/receipts, contacts etc are all in one place⁣
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Social media planning: excel for blog articles, sometimes later.com for Instagram posts that are not spontaneous or longer, facebook posts are a bit on the back burner.⁣
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Trello for daily/monthly project to-do’s⁣
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Projects on the to-do-list:⁣
Digitalisation of office docs/invoices etc – getting all the relevant (important) docs scanned and saved in the cloud – and really only keeping the most crucial docs in files.⁣
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Decluttering all the thousands of notes that I take on mastermind calls and other interesting podcasts or videos. I’m thinking of investing in a rocketbook and making all my notes digital on evernote.⁣

Overwhelmed? Me too!⁣

I bought new bookshelves with doors as the old ones were over 20 years old and showing their age – so all of the files that were kept are hidden “behind closed doors”.

As for going digital – I was way too optimistic and instead of doing things parallel I went straight to eliminating the paper docs which resulted in total chaos and many unpaid bills. Well, I didn’t really eliminate the paperwork because a little voice in the back of my head was telling me to “maybe” save them for just incase..

Thank goodness – I was almost up shit creek without a paddle. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had shredded all those invoices? Yeah, reminders and inevitably dunning letters.

Survived – but, that is a HUGE project that I will need to tackle next year.

Live workshop in Eext with Esther

It’s wonderful when you can meet up with people that you’ve only met online in real life. It just makes the relationship that you’ve established so much stronger.

I met Esther at Sigrun live in 2018 and as part of our mini mastermind session, she really spoke to my heart. Being or becoming the rebel that was deep inside. Getting out there with my message. It’s only taken me like a year to kind of let that sink in and appreciate what that means for me and my business.

This workshop was about being a brave entrepreneur. Learning about personal branding: what components are important – and maybe already present, or what still needs to be implemented. And not just about having a website or a logo. How do we show up daily and how do we consciously differentiate ourselves from our peers. What is our zone of genius and

Esther is the Founder of Brave Branding. She’s famous for co-creating unapologetically authentic unique Brave Brands for her clients as an international Personal Brave Branding Queen, business soul whisperer and author.

To quote her: “Do you fear that people see you as different, weird, loud, too soft, too outspoken too colorful! Congratulations 🎊 When you have something Important to say being different is the best thing that can happen to you! Personal Branding is all about differentiation. To stand out amongst your peers.⠀So, please show up! Not when you’re perfect (cause perfect is boooring) but right now! TODAY!!⠀Feeling ‘Weird’ – the real you – is the best, most effective marketing material you’ve got!⠀⁣⁣You are way to awesome to hide”

Bravo Esther for being the real deal, originally authentically wonderfully weird! Love you the way you are.

Paper and digital notebooks – a game changer

Well heck, I’m a note-taker. And so I have post-its all over the place, notes written on blocks, filed in files, in notebooks and on the computer or wherever – and the thing is, they all get jumbled together somewhere and never looked at again.

SOOOOO, I decided to invest in a Rocketbook which I mentioned in my operation organisation post.

OMG I’m stoked! Amazing how small things can change your “life”…

So now I can write to my heart’s content, decide where it’s going and scan it to my drive – whichever one for whichever content.. I guess not for everyone that wants to go digital.

But otherwise, I can only recommend this. Even if you never look at your notes or scribbles again – it still helps to keep the environment a little friendly and green.

My conclusions from 2019

The year just seemed to race by. They say that time flies when you’re having fun.

I spent soo much time on my business. Learning, researching, masterminding and planning – and less on really executing and working in the business.

I had the courage to invest in myself, was part (and still am) of an awesome mastermind group. Learned to become more visible despite the love/hate relationship with social media. Learning to #trusttheprocess and that I am worthy and capable.

Outlook for 2020

• What I want for 2020 amongst other things.

Time – to do the things I love – whether it’s running a business or exploring new hobbies e.g. pottery or painting.
Home – a place to live wherever I chose to – in a moderate climate, at the sea or in the mountains – I’m dreaming BEACHES.
Money  – to be able to support families that might need health care support or are struggling financially and need a kickstart.

At the end of the day may there be more sales… because without sales we have no money and without money we cannot live. We can only give in abundance if we have an abundance ourselves. 

• Selfmade Summit with Sigrun – the conference of the year 2020 for female online entrepreneurs. This is going to be EPIC!
  Want to join me and hundreds of other female entrepreneurs? Sign up here

My word for 2020 – PEACE

Inner peace – peace of mind, freedom from fear, less stress and anxiety, less worry, harmony in personal relationships.

 

 

You want more?

Here are more year reviews 2019 from other women entrepreneurs! Women who dare to dream big and take action!

English:

Sigrun: 2019, A Year in Review
Michelle Petit: 2019 You have made me been seen!

German:

Judith “Sympatexter” Peters: Mein Jahresrückblick 2019: the minor fall(s), the major lift
Anne Retter: Schöpfergeists Jahresrückblick 2019: Mein Online-Business aufbauen
Michaela Schächner: Mein Jahr 2019, Das Aufdecken meines eigenen WARUM hat mir Flügel verliehen
Ingrid Angehrn Dewulf: 2019, du warst eine Achterbahnfahrt!
Daniela Persike: 2010 bis 2019. Menschenskinders, ihr wart vielleicht aufregend. Der Dekadenrücklick einer Jobreisenden.
Maria Busque: Mein Jahresrückblick 2019: ein einziges Experiment
Marta Thut: Körbechliebe: 2019 – Ein Jahresrückblick

How was your year? Do you want to featured here? You are also welcome to link to your own review of the year 2019 in the comments. 🙂