LISA BERKOVITZ ~ Inspired Lifestyle Design

What a fun and fabulous conversation with my fun and fabulous guest, Jen Sincero! 

Bottom line: If you're looking to do good in the world, you've GOT to get over the money thing!! It will take learning some new things, letting go of some cherished beliefs, maybe even letting go of some people in your life, but it's worth it if you've got something to accomplish here on the planet. 

Jen did it, and she explains how in this interview. She was a copywriter for CBS records, in a punk rock band, a best-selling author, a nationally syndicated 'sexpert' travelling all over North America, appearing on national media including The Howard Stern Show - yet she was BROKE. One day, she decided enough was finally enough.

Today, Jen is thriving, travelling the world, about to write her third book, and coaches people on how to "Write Your Damn Book Already!" in her "Write Your Book Proposal In A Week" bookcamp (there's one coming up this month), as well as on how to solve the money thing, fulfill any dream or make life changes in any important areas of their lives. 

Enjoy the interview, and let me know your feedback, questions and/or who else you want to hear from in this interview series. I want it to be of the greatest value to you and your shift into your own Sweet Spot.

There's something magnificent in the air since we moved into 2012. Can you feel it?

There are some TOTALLY cool things going on in my business since we moved into new year that I'm excited to share. The last quarter of 2011 was a lot about cleaning up loose ends, letting go of what was no longer in alignment, and incubating new ideas. That paved the way for all the new creation that's happening now. 

Here are just a few of the things that are happening right now:

1. I'm in the process of designing a whole new web site that is about to be launched. The site you're on has been good to me, but it was originally built to be temporary, and it's time to evolve to my next level of expression. The new one is going to be hot!

2. I'm officially launching Project Sweet Spot with the new site! If you don't know about it, check out the blog post I wrote about it here: 


http://www.lisaberkovitz.com/1/post/2011/06/project-sweet-spot-is-born.html

I am conducting my first interview for Project Sweet Spot this week, with a role model who's been on my 'wish list' of role models for quite some time already. Things are getting juicy around here - stay tuned!

3. I've just started writing a new column for Upmarket, the new online business magazine founded by Seth Godin and his team at Squidoo. The column is also called "Project Sweet Spot" and will share a key nugget learned from the role models who are interviewed as part of the over project. 

4. I've just put together a very limited-time special offer for my coaching services for a handful of visionary entrepreneurs who are ready to make 2012 the year they bring their vision to life and step into their own sweet spots. Check out the details here and act quickly if you feel pulled (offer expires Friday, January 27th, midnight PST):

http://www.stepintoyoursweetspot.com/

There's no better time time to step up and shine in what you are meant to do on the planet, and I'd love to support you in that. What are YOU going to create in 2012?

I can't believe it's been two months since I last wrote. I've noticed this on the path to fulfilling your purpose: sometimes you need to pause (even though you feel like you want to keep moving forward!). 

Project Sweet Spot started to take form and flight, and I then found myself naturally taking a pause. A pause to feel into my next step. There are so many ways that one can tell good stories, yet which one feels like the best fit for the stories that I want to tell? 
It takes some discipline to trust that everything has its right timing, and you need to trust the feeling inside (it's sometimes pulling you forward in a certain direction and sometimes it stands still) even when your mind doesn't fully understand. 

Telling people's stories is something I'm drawn to do because I've noticed how valuable it's been to me. Learning by studying the theory or model of how something works is useful, but only to a point. We all know that it isn't until you act on that learning that it becomes wisdom. 

Reading or hearing other people's stories of how they created a result that you, yourself, want to create is definitely one of the most effective forms of learning on the planet. You get to hear how they turned knowledge into wisdom, an insight into a tangible outcome. 

The last couple of months have been devoted to looking at how different people that I respect are choosing to tell the stories of, and share the wisdom gained by, living examples of the message that's important to them. I'm listening and learning, both from the content shared and by observing the business models they are using. More on that in future posts!

For now, I have so thoroughly enjoyed the people I've "met" through these interviews, I wanted to pass these awesome resources along to you:

The Rise to the Top with David Siteman Garland 
With a following of over 200,000 people, David does awesome and inspiring business and lifestyle-related interviews with various "mediapreneurs", a term he uses to describe Internet-based entrepreneurs that have created a business around creating media/broadcasting.This includes podcaster, web TV hosts, video bloggers and bloggers. David's style is fun and the good energy is infectious (I can actually say that about each of these hosts listed here). 

Check out David's great work here: http://www.therisetothetop.com/

The Aware Show with Lisa GarrLisa Garr hosts this very popular talk radio program that features best-selling authors and experts in the fields of natural health and personal growth. She is considered an expert in the field of lifestyle and transformational programming. I am currently listening to an interview she did with Bo Rinaldi, who teaches people how to eat a more plant-based diet to increase your energy and your focus, optimize your well-being and eradicate disease (fascinating!!). 

Check out Lisa's great work here: http://www.theawareshow.com/ 

Healing with the Masters with Jennifer MacLeanJennifer MacLean created and hosts this widely-acclaimed teleseminar series that features prominent healers and thought leaders that are devoted to supporting the process of raising personal and global consciousness. Always fun and enlightening. 

Check out Jennifer's great work here: http://www.healingwiththemasters.com/

WISH (Women's International Summit for Health) Teleseminar Series 

I recently discovered Tera Warner and her site http://www.terawarner.com/. Her main work is focused on raw food cleansing and detoxification for women. She created a special teleseminar series called WISH, the Women's International Summit for Health, 40 interviews with leading health experts. If you sign up at her web site, you'll receive one interview per day (all free). These interviews are incredibly informative, I've been listening and learning so much from the range of experts she's showcased. Highly recommended.

Check out Tera's great work here: http://www.terawarner.com/

Soul Art TV Season 2: Thriving as a Creative Spiritual Entrepreneur
Laura Hollick is a gifted artist and coach (I've met her and she's delightful!) who is about to launch her second season of interviews with a series of accomplished creative spiritual entrepreneurs, interviewing them on how they thrive in their life and businesses doing what they are meant to be doing on this planet. Starting October 4th, you can sign up for the series at her web site. Everything Laura does is infused with beauty so you receive not only invaluable content, but you enjoy a feast for the eyes at the same time. 

Check out Laura's great work here: http://www.soulartstudio.com/

Enjoy, and let me know how you like any and all of these that you check out for yourself! :)

I promised to write more about my Eden Unplugged event experience as it integrated, and there's been little chance to do that over the past few weeks. Things have really been accelerating. 

One of the greatest gifts I received from that event was the Tribal Marketplace Game. Each of us who attended had the opportunity to present a workshop to all the other entrepreneurs there based on whatever new product, service or business idea we wanted to offer to the marketplace. 

We each had 1 minute to present our workshop topic for a limited number of workshop slots. Anyone who was not presenting a workshop idea would listen to the initial 1 minute presentations, and after everyone had presented, participants would simply go stand next to the person who was offering the workshop they most wanted to attend. Pretty simple but very powerful to get that immediate and physical feedback from the tribe.

I presented a workshop called "Project Sweet Spot" - an interactive discussion of the shift from the old paradigm of work and business (hard work, struggle, long hours and limited funds) to the new paradigm of work and business, which I am calling the Sweet Spot: greater ease, flow, fun and financial well-being. I had also invited two thriving entrepreneurs who struck me as living examples of working in their Sweet Spots to be on my panel and who I would interview as part of the workshop, Kendra Thornbury (http://www.kendrathornbury.com) and Rebecca Astara (http://www.destinationbliss.com) 

The response was phenomenal, as person after person came to stand next me indicating their desire to come and listen to my workshop! When we actually conducted it, participants listened attentively, asked powerful and relevant questions, and heard the experiences of our panel members and what kinds of lessons they learned along the way of stepping into their own sweet spots. Here are just some of the dozens of lessons that emerged as part of that conversation.

When you are in your Sweet Spot, you will: 
1. Lose track of time
2. Be energized by it no matter how long you are "working"
3. Feel like it comes very naturally to you
4. Feel like you are just being yourself
5. Find challenges are a lot easier to handle than they have been in the past

If you want to move into your Sweet Spot but are not there yet, you can expect you will need to: 
1. Cultivate your faith and trust the process, even you don't have the answers or see the results you want yet
2. Do the necessary inner work and clear the inner blocks to allowing your good to come you
3. Make peace inside yourself that there will be people who do not understand why you are pursuing the path you are on and will tell you you're being unrealistic
4. Give yourself permission to experience joy daily 
5. Be ultra aware of the signs and synchronicities affirming your direction and keep moving forward

What was most amazing about it for me was that I truly felt that I was in my own Sweet Spot as I led this workshop and interviewed Rebecca and Kendra. It was as easy and natural as breathing. And so I intend to be doing a LOT more interviews and events of this type! 

If you are someone who is in your Sweet Spot, or know someone who is, please nominate them to be a person that I interview for Project Sweet Spot. My intent is to gather as many stories as I possibly can of people from all walks of life thriving in their Sweet Spots so we begin to build a critical mass, others can see and feel what it looks like, and they can learn how to move into their own unique Sweet Spots too. Everybody has one! 

You can comment below or I've created a page on Facebook where you can nominate people you think I should interview here: facebook.com/ProjectSweetSpot (and if you feel inspired, please "Like" the page too!)

More fun to follow - stay tuned! :)

Aaron Ross is a cool guy. Check out his bio:

Formerly:
Programmer at NASA
Stanford Civil Engineering (undergrad)
Investment banker (80-100 hrs/wk)
Stanford M.B.A. (decided to drop out)
CEO of Lease Exchange
Generated $100 million in sales at Salesforce.com
Struck a book deal with Wiley
Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Alloy Ventures

And outside work:
Ironman triathlete
28 Day Desert Survival School Course
10 day Vipassana Meditation retreat (10 days of silence and 10+ hrs of meditation/day) - I did that one too...what an experience!)
Travel to more than 40 countries
Motorcycle enthusiast
Creative artist
Knows he's meant to change the world

Today: Founder and CEO of Pebblestorm, his company devoted to helping people "Make Money through Enjoyment" and his "Unique Genius Superhero Program" that walks people through the steps on how to get there.

Can't get cooler than that in my books!

Aaron was stumped in his own life trying to figure out how to combine his apparently divergent interests in capitalism (wealth, creation, satisfying wants) and buddhism (happiness, integrity, acceptance).

They say we teach what we most need to learn - so the next step in Aaron's journey has been learning how to integrate these parts of himself and turn that into a thriving business, and he now teaches that process to others.

You can check out what Aaron's up to on his web sites below. His Unique Genius site has some awesome free videos and downloadable worksheets to help anyone with their first steps to making money through enjoyment.

http://pebblestorm.com/
http://uniquegenius.com/

If you've been following even a few of my posts before now, you'll notice that one of the things I am most committed to is sharing great thinkers as well as useful resources on the subject of living your highest purpose and passion, while making a great living at the same time.

Since our society at large is not yet at the point where people are getting the message on a regular basis to live their passions, nor the tools to do so, I see myself as a tour guide through the growing network of people who've devoted their lives to this message and to assisting others in aligning with their purpose and what most makes them come alive. It is my intent that, by sharing these real-life stories of personal and career transformation, it will make the path for others that much easier.

HEreyet a is a short intro to yet another inspiring role model, Bill Baren. Bill is a coach, speaker, author and entrepreneur whose mission is integrating creativity and life balance with financial success. Bill's story is cool (and so much like many others who, like me, share this mission).

An excerpt from Bill's story:

Perhaps the best way to begin to describe what I do is to share the defining moment in my life that got me to where I am today. I woke up one morning in the summer of 2000 and simply couldn’t get out of bed. I could no longer escape from acknowledging that I was depressed and that my life was no longer working. Though I had at one point enjoyed my career that looked incredible on paper, my heart was no longer in it. It wasn’t enough that I was managing a music distribution company and was constantly around incredible music. It wasn’t enough that I owned a successful record label and had the access to produce and shape the music we were releasing. It wasn’t enough that I had my own business. It wasn’t enough to be fueled by the dreams and desires of my past. I could no longer ignore my intuition that told me that I needed to do something else. I needed to be in a career that allowed my creativity to flourish. I needed to be in an industry where the core values were more linked to my own. I needed to work with people and to continue to grow as a person. So after a year of procrastinating and living in fear of giving up the only career I knew, I finally decided to sell my business and to take the time I needed to figure out where my intuition would lead me.

You can read the rest of Bill's story and check out his web site here: http://www.billbaren.com/about/bill_baren.html

I often quote Seth Godin - highly accomplished entrepreneur and author of Linchpin and other bestselling books - and refer people to  his blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com. He's one of the most compelling voices in business today for breaking out of mediocrity and offering something extraordinary to the world.

Here's Seth's blog post for today, entitled Organizing for Joy:

Traditional corporations, particularly large-scale service and manufacturing businesses, are organized for efficiency. Or consistency. But not joy.

McDonalds, Hertz, Dell and others crank it out. They show up. They lower costs. They use a stopwatch to measure output.

The problem with this mindset is that as you approach the asymptote of maximum efficiency, there's not a lot of room left for improvement. Making a Chicken McNugget for .00001 cents less isn't going to boost your profit a whole lot.

Worse, the nature of the work is inherently un-remarkable. If you fear special requests, if you staff with cogs, if you have to put it all in a manual, then the chances of amazing someone are really quite low.

These organizations have people who will try to patch problems over after the fact, instead of motivated people eager to delight on the spot.

The alternative, it seems, is to organize for joy. These are the companies that give their people the freedom (and yes, the expectation) that they will create, connect and surprise. These are the organizations that embrace someone who makes a difference, as opposed to searching for a clause in the employee handbook that was violated.

While Seth in this case it talking about traditional organizations (rarely my focus), I love his language - organize for joy...motivated people eager to delight on the spot...the freedom to create, connect and surprise - applies just as much, and is as critical to the success and fulfillment of, any entrepreneur.

I've noticed that people who do what they love, instead of what they think will make the most money, automatically infuse whatever they do with these priceless qualities.