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Struggling with Sacred Success? 4 Reasons Why.

Written by Barbara Huson

First a quick review.

Earlier I wrote about the 3 Levels of Financial Success: Survival, Stability, and Affluence. (see Let me introduce you to Sacred Success )

The 3rd stage, Affluence, is where most women get stuck. Why? Because  once a woman is financially stable, she’s rarely motivated by money.

That means women must approach level 3 with a different mindset—money is no longer the goal; Sacred Success is.

What does that mean?  Sacred Success® has 4 Prerequisites, 4 shifts in mindset that must occur. If these 4 traits aren’t firmly intact, your efforts to achieve and maintain affluence will likely become an exercise in struggle:

1.    A healthy respect for your value (You’ve had the click—you know you deserve to earn more for no other reason than you’re worth it—without which,  Sacred Success  is impossible)

2.    A healthy respect for money (which means obeying the  4 Rules of Money: Spend Less; Save More; Invest Wisely; Give Generously—in that order!)

3.    A strong profit motive (you’ve given yourself permission to prosper without conflict or ambivalence)

4.    A willingness to be uncomfortable (you actually welcome discomfort by actively looking for ways to stretch)

Check-in with yourself to make sure these 4 traits are integrated into your thinking. And in the future, whenever you flip into scarcity, feel like you’re stuck or find yourself struggling, immediately revisit these 4 to find the weak link. Sacred Success is not about being perfect…it’s about being persistent.

What is Greatness?

Written by Barbara Huson

This one had me stumped.  I liked the sound of those words: “The Primary Goal for Sacred Success™ is Achieving Greatness” (see my last blog entry).  But admittedly, I was also intimidated by them.  

I thought of women I considered models of Greatness: Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt,  Betty Friedan.  But I also thought of my daughters—one an organic farmer, another a nursery school teacher, and the oldest a stay-at-home mom. I may be a bit biased, but I honestly see my girls going for Greatness, each in their own way.

So I began asking myself–“what does Greatness mean?”  According to Merriam-Webster, Greatness describes someone who is “remarkable in magnitude, degree or effectiveness.”

Every one of us is capable of remarkable feats. We don’t need to be anything extraordinary.  We do, however,  need to play full out.

Here are what I see as the 15 traits of Greatness:

1.      Greatness refuses to be limited or controlled in any way by fear. (Fear is to greatness what ants are to a picnic… annoying, inevitable, and best ignored)

2.      Greatness follows ideas that come from seemingly nowhere.

3.      Greatness doesn’t act alone. It has partners, collaborators, a team.

4.      Greatness is humble, not to be confused with Grandiosity. Grandiosity comes from the ego and is, as A Course in Miracles tells us, “always a cover for despair.”  Greatness is sourced from the soul and is always a desire to do what it came to earth to do.

5.      Greatness sees the world as it’s playground and every problem as part of The Game…a lawsuit is no more serious that losing a stapler.

6.      Greatness takes its mission (not itself) very seriously, and always puts that mission first.

7.      Greatness truly enjoys Greatness, not just for itself, but for its positive effect on others.

8.      Greatness  respects and appreciates money… sufficient income is necessary to eliminate any distractions for achieving its goals.

9.      Greatness isn’t perfect, and is more than willing not to be. Greatness feeds on self trust (the definition to self-trust: knowing you can clean up what you mess up!).

10. When pain enters Greatness, it’s meant to be a wake-up call.

11. Greatness is kind, but tough, and politely endures criticism.  While Greatness doesn’t need be liked, it demands to be respected.

12. The Arc of Greatness involves many mistakes, failures, wrong turns…they are the steppingstones to  Greatness.

13. Greatness is passion made manifest.  The biggest pitfall to Greatness–doing what you should vs. what you love.

14. Greatness requires responsibility, rejects mediocrity, and resides in the unknown.

15. When Greatness dies, it doesn’t go away. Greatness always leaves a legacy behind.

Anything you’d like to add???

The Paradox of Sacred Success™

Written by Barbara Huson

Sacred Success™ is what my soul had been yearning for.  It just took me a while to figure that out. Perhaps you feel the same. Perhaps, like me and many others, even though you  deeply desire, definitely deserve and will likely reap hefty financial rewards,  you’ve somehow always known there’s more to success than making lots of money.

Sacred Success™ does not require sacrificing financial reward in order to find fulfillment and meaning.  Quite the contrary. Sacred Success™ merges higher incomes with a higher calling. Each successful woman I interviewed explicitly expressed her unshakable desire to increase her earnings. Yet her drive was no longer fueled by making more, more, more. . .

Here’s where I got stuck…until I discovered the  Paradox of Sacred Success™

The Paradox goes like this: In order to play the game of Sacred Success™, you must have a strong profit motive firmly in place….which is essential to overcome underearning and attain financial stability. But…here’s the catch…at this point, you must give up profit as your primary goal.  The Primary Goal for Sacred Success™ is Achieving Greatness.

Next:  exploring Greatness.

Let me introduce you to Sacred Success

Written by Barbara Huson

I spent much of last year pondering this question: Why was I—along with scores of other women who’ve overcome underearning—still having difficulty cracking the code to even higher earnings?

Then, one day, it hit me.

Basically, there are three levels of financial development:

  1. Survival—doing whatever it takes to stay afloat
  2. Stability—generating enough cash flow to meet one’s needs, eliminate debt, and establish future security.
  3. Affluence—accumulating ample disposable income to live the life of one’s dreams.

The women I’d interviewed, who made millions,  were playing a very different game than what I had expected.  That’s because men tend to be highly motivated by profit, perks, and prestige. In the male world, the promise of affluence is a powerful incentive.

But not for women.  Once a woman becomes financially stable, she is no longer motivated by money.   What motivates her is helping others…or as numerous women described it, “ a search for significance.”

These are two very different paths to affluence. “Show me the money” versus “Show me how to help.” Too many women—like me—futilely struggle to navigate the first path, without realizing they have another option.

The latter is what I’ve come to call Scared Success™. It is the journey from stability to affluence…the game that is quietly being played by countless women (and, I might add, quite a few enlightened men!).

Stick around, and I’ll tell you exactly how to play!

Bye, Bye Surrender; Hello, Sacred Success™

Written by Barbara Huson

I suspect my time spent in Surrender is drawing to a close.  I’m walking away with a whole new appreciation for down time and empty space.

But just recently, I’ve been sensing a shift.  My energy seems to be changing.

You know that light at the end of the tunnel I spoke about in Step # 6?  I think I’m there…standing in the light, not looking at it from afar.  The future is finally coming into focus.

I realize now, what I called Surrender was really Gestation. Despite feeling like  ‘nothing’ was happening,  I’ve actually been  quite ‘busy’ birthing a new body of work…which eventually will grow into my next book.

I call this new work Sacred Success™…the next step after overcoming underearning. I stumbled upon Sacred Success™ while interviewing women who made millions.  But I really didn’t put all the pieces together until I surrendered.  Then, it was as if the pieces arranged themselves.

Just last week, like a proud mama, I took my new ‘baby’ out into the world.

I spoke at Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts (www.mamagenas.com)… my first speech in ages.  I told them all about Sacred Success™.  The 200 women in the audience were transfixed.  It was like my soul was speaking directly to theirs.  And they were hungry for what I was saying.  Afterwards, I was deluged by those clamoring to hear more.

Now I’m chomping at the bit to share Sacred Success™ with even more women.  I desire to do it right here on this blog.  So invite your friends.

Discovering Sacred Success has changed my life.  It really has.  I believe it can change yours too.  I’d love you to read my upcoming blogs and let me know what you think.  I genuinely want your feedback.

5 Tips for Getting Paid What You Really Deserve

Written by Barbara Huson

I’ve learned a lot from interviewing high earners. But perhaps the most significant lesson was this:

Even though these women were not driven by money, they demanded to be well compensated because-and here’s the Big Lesson- they felt they were worth it.

The problem: women, in general, devalue themselves. These women, however, taught me specific ways to strengthen self esteem. Here are 5 tips for pumping up your self-worth along with your net worth.

  1. Think Big, Then Think Even Bigger5 Tips for Getting Paid What You Really Deserve – What most of us do is unwittingly limit our earnings by lowering our expectations. Especially women. The idea is to think in terms of what you are worth, not just what you assume the market will bear.
  2. Do Your Homework – One of the worst negotiating mistakes women make is picking a number out of the air that’s way too low. The smarter ones find out their market value by researching the going rates, then ask for more than is offered so they’ll have room to maneuver.
  3. Take the Initiative – Have tangible evidence of what you bring to the table. Maybe you saved your company x amount of dollars or had an idea that generated so many sales. Every time you accept more responsibility, successfully complete a challenge or create positive changes, document it. Keeping records is an effective means of demonstrating your value to an organization.
  4. Daily Affirmations -Act As If – Affirmations are positive statements expressed as if they’ve already happened. For example: “I have the confidence to ask for what I want.” “I deserve more money in my life.” Write them down. Post them in full view. Say them out loud as often as possible. When you act as if you’re worth a lot, you’ll eventually convince yourself as well as others.
  5. Challenge yourself in other areas – A stretch in any area of life has a ripple effect in other areas as well. If you can’t quite get yourself to volunteer for that tough assignment or ask for a raise, try signing up for an art class or running a marathon. Anything that puts you out of your comfort zone builds confidence and self-worth.

By practicing these tips, you’ll begin to notice a shift in how you feel about yourself. Making more money becomes not something you should do, but something you have to do-because you know in your heart you’re worth it.

If you have other suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

The Secret of SHE

Written by Barbara Huson

I just got an enthusiastic email from a client: “I feel as if I have discovered from you a magic secret of life that nobody else on the planet knows about.”

OK, she may be exaggerating…a bit. But in truth, what she learned IS one of the most powerful, and best kept secret among Successful High Earners (SHEs). It’s also the biggest show-stopper for underearners.

The secret– so utterly simple, yet so profoundly difficult—goes like this: “When you commit to a goal, you don’t have to know how you’ll achieve it. You just need to do what comes next.”

I learned this from my interviews with SHEs. To paraphrase a famous quote, they’d set a goal, jump off the cliff, and build wings on the way down. Conversely, Underearners think they must have a full-blown plan all figured out before they’ll even allow themselves to consider taking a leap.

Here’s a typical conversation (from an actual email):The Secret of SHE

Woman: “When you say we ‘don’t have to figure it all out,’ does that mean I don’t have to figure out exactly how I am going to make the money I want to make?”

Me: “Yep. “

Woman: “Hmmm, that goes against my business school training that taught you have to make a business plan, a marketing plan to achieve your revenue goals.”

She’s right. The secret runs counter to society’s teachings. But the most successful high earners taught me otherwise.

The lesson I learned from them: The HOW is NOT important. I repeat, the HOW is NOT important. What matters most is your degree of commitment.

Here’s how the secret works. Commitments are like magnets. They draw opportunities to you, often disguised as coincidences. You turn on the news, step on the bus, bump into a friend, hear the phone ring, and from absolutely nowhere, someone or something shows up that’s just what you need.

(Warning: If synchronicities aren’t forthcoming, revisit you commitment. There’s a direct correlation between fierceness of commitment and frequency of coincidences.)

That’s how the secret works. Once you commit to a goal and get out of your own way, it’s mind boggling what can happen. Try it, and tell me your results.

Meet Barbara Huson

When a devastating financial crisis rocked her world, Barbara Huson knew she had to get smart about money… and she did. Now, she wants to empower every women to take charge of their money and take charge of their lives! She’s doing just that with her best-selling books, life changing retreats and private financial coaching.

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