Julie Johnson - Stepping into Success: The 7 Essential Moves to Bring Your Business to Life

Title Page

STEPPING INTO SUCCESS

The Seven Essential Moves To Bring Your Business To Life

By

Julie Johnson

Publisher Information

2 Stepping Into Success

First edition published in 2012

Julie Johnson Copyright 2012

Digital edition converted and

Distributed in 2012 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

The right of Julie Johnson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book, as of the date of publication, nothing herein should be construed as giving advice. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not of MX Publishing.

Published in the UK by MX Publishing

335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive, London, N11 3GX

www.mxpublishing.co.uk (UK & Europe)

www.mxpublishing.com (USA)

Cover design by www.staunch.com

Acknowledgements

To my parents, John and Margaret Miller - you individually and collectively allowed me the space to grow, to make mistakes, and to develop in the certain knowledge that I am always loved. This is a precious gift and I thank you both for it.

To my brother Anthony Miller - thank you for the inspiration you provide through who you are and how you live your life.

To my husband Richard - I am so thankful every day that Ive been able to share my life with such a wonderful human being as you. You intuitively know what I want and need and are there to offer emotional as well as practical support. Yours is a true love that never restricts, and your total acceptance of and absolute belief in me has given me the freedom to fully express myself as an entrepreneur, and now as an author - to be heard and to be seen as ME. Thank You.

To my children Natalie and Chris - my love for you is the real inspiration behind this book - that and my desire to be the best role model possible. My hope in turn, is that I can inspire you to fully express who you are as wonderful, amazing and special human beings.

Thank you also to the many coaches, mentors and colleagues whove helped me in my business (you know who you are!) And to my friends, family and clients whove offered great encouragement, feedback and practical support during the writing and editing of this book - particularly Eileen, Julie, Jo, my editor Gary, and publisher Steve.

Special thanks go to a star mentor, Alexandra Watson, for your gentle challenge to me to write this book, for your belief in me and for your ongoing support.

Special thanks also to Jean Hill, a true friend, who responded promptly to my numerous requests from first draft through to final editing, with thoughtful and thorough feedback and positive encouragement.

Introduction

Your Guide To Success

Congratulations. Wherever you are, or more importantly, wherever you feel you are on the success scale - from 1 not successful to 10 super successful - this book will help you understand why you are where you are and help you learn how to move up the scale.

How can I make this claim?

Because Ive created a system that as well as helping you explore where you really are now, why youre here, and where you really want to be - will also help you truly define success for yourself, so that success is more meaningful and fulfilling to you.

Because success is personal I believe that you cant separate yourself from your business, or separate your business from your life. They are intertwined in a way that is unique and personal to you. More than that - I believe trying to separate each of these is actually detrimental to your success, because it segments your life, your business, and yourself.

It has taken me some time and a lot of heartache and soul searching to figure out that in order to bring my business back to life I needed to bring my whole self to my business and to embrace my business fully into my life.

This involved moving out of my head. By this I mean that instead of intellectually analysing the best way for me to move forward I accessed my inner knowing, my feelings, and intuition about what is right for me. Coming from this inner place, accessed through my physical body, made the way forward simple.

Thats what you get with this success guide - a simple yet extremely effective system to connect you to all the different parts of you that form the whole and bring the whole you centre stage in your business to bring your business to life.

My Route To Success - The Feminine Way

Over the past 10 years Ive made decisions to move from full- time to part time employment in other peoples businesses through self-employment to part time employment in my own business. Ive also been a wife, mother, sister, aunt, dancer, friend, confidante, club member, coach, trainer, director, supplier and colleague - to name some of the many and varied roles I fulfil in my life and my business.

Both my life and my business have thrived throughout this period and, at various points throughout those years, I thought I had it all worked out. Id figured out what success meant to me and was living it on a daily basis. Thats not to say that there were no changes in any of those areas over the ten year period - there were more than a few. But I did have a system that had worked for me (even if I wasnt consciously aware of it at the time) and Id been able to adapt it in ways that continued to work for me... that is until my business results hit a plateau and then declined.

This was at a time of economic downturn and I noticed that many were experiencing similar results to me, but I also noticed that some people and businesses seemed to be bucking the trend. Many of these were women - heart centred women entrepreneurs who seemed to me to be fully authentic, and this was exhibited beautifully in the way they were connected to and comfortable with themselves as individual members of society, as family members and as business leaders. They seemed to be doing business congruently and with integrity. I call this the feminine way to success as it is noticeably different, much more real and true and genuinely attractive to me both as a woman and as a consumer.

The masculine way (which by the way I dont believe is wrong, I just believe its not right for many women) seemed more overtly powerful but not necessarily authentic, and there appeared to be little connection emotionally with their business, their customers or even themselves. Showing vulnerability, authenticity, and emotional connection seemed to be viewed as a sign of weakness by large businesses in particular, and I believe this view has contributed to the lack of trust now displayed towards many business owners.

As a woman I feel very emotionally invested in my business. I see it as an expression of me not on a superficial level, but on a deeply connected level. In my opinion, thats where many women entrepreneurs are different to many men - they think and feel about their businesses in a different way. It may also be why it feels so difficult for women to be truly authentic in their business - it just feels so personal and emotional.

Against this backdrop of major world economic upheaval and my (equally major to me) business predicament, I was also feeling that I wanted to be and do more in my business, to play a bigger game and to play full out. And Id also been feeling that something was out of kilter or not quite right in me.