Meet our New Community Brand Partner, The Scotiabank Women Initiative
From advancing diversity and inclusion to structuring capital for your organization to managing your investments, The Scotiabank Women Initiative® is a signature program designed to break down barriers and help women pursue their best professional and financial futures.
From advancing diversity and inclusion to structuring capital for your organization to managing your investments, The Scotiabank Women Initiative® is a signature program designed to break down barriers and help women pursue their best professional and financial futures. Our program helps advance women-led businesses through three key pillars: access to capital and tailored solutions, specialized education, and mentorship and advice.
To date, the program has deployed more than $6BN in capital to women-led businesses across Canada and has engaged more than 14,000 women with mentorship and networking opportunities. We continue to keep our program participants informed with resources and expert advice through events co-hosted with valuable partners who know your business. Through The Scotiabank Women Initiative, you can also tap into exclusive offers that will help you drive your businesses forward. In 2022, we launch The Scotiabank Women Initiative Mentor Program, where mentors provide coaching and business advice to mentees at every stage of business growth.
We invite all women and non-binary people to enroll in our program, access tools, resources, and events that aim to break down barriers.
Join the program today.
DIGITAL HUB | MAIN WEBSITE | TELL ME MORE FORM
This month we’d like to share details about an upcoming opportunity for all business owners & entrepreneurs!
On March 3rd, 2022, StrikeUp brings women-led businesses together for a free digital conference that unites a vision of equity and inclusive economic growth through entrepreneurship.
We’ve personally attended some of the workshops last year and ended up building some amazing connections and learnt so much throughout the day. We hope to see you there and that you gain as much value as we did from attending! - YBB Team
How Your Ego Is Getting In Your Way! - Juli Wenger
Have you ever tried to make a change or create a new habit only to realize that after just a few days you're feeling so much resistance that you're ready to just give up?
Photo Credit: Christina Louise
Have you ever tried to make a change or create a new habit only to realize that after just a few days you're feeling so much resistance that you're ready to just give up?
Well, say hello to your ego. No, no, not the “I think I'm the bomb.com” kind of ego. The ego I'm talking about is your sense of self, your perceptions, and your “programming”.
Our ego is made up of all of our upbringing, conditioning, and the “rules” we have learned along the way about how to be loved and accepted in the world - how to get our needs met. And ultimately it's about ONE thing - keeping you SAFE, which in ego talk means staying the same and staying in your comfort zone.
This is why making a change often comes with A LOT of internal pushback. It’s your ego trying to keep you in the same seemingly comfortable place that you've always been. It keeps you repeating the same old patterns on auto-pilot, so when you disrupt a pattern, you better believe your ego is gonna show up and have something to say about it!
This is where that feeling of being “stuck” comes from. You're thinking new thoughts and attempting new things while your ego is holding up a big red stop sign and screaming “Danger! Danger!” because this newness is not part of your programming. It feels unsafe to your ego EVEN IF it is the right thing for you.
If you are stuck in your stuckness, let me be very clear…you’re not feeling stuck because you are weak, or not good enough, or not confident enough or not brave enough. You’re feeling stuck because there is literally a tug-of-war going on between your conscious mind (the part that wants to change and knows it’s right) and your subconscious mind (where your ego and self-protective patterns live).
Photo Credit: Christina Louise
We DEEPLY desire transformation. That's consistent for all of us. We all want to be our best and most joy-filled selves. So we try and try to create change, only to fail more than we succeed. And every time we fail, we give ourselves proof that this BS belief that WE ARE a failure is true. (psych term = confirmation bias) But here’s the really sh*tty part, we take that failure on as an identity.
But your performance is not a direct line to who you are. Your performance is a reflection of your ego and subconscious patterns that are trying to keep you safe and the same. Your identity exists above all of that.
So the question then becomes - beyond my ego fears, who am I? What is my identity?
And to answer that, we have to start interacting with our fears, patterns, “limiting beliefs”, and stories, which in and of itself can be scary, especially if you’ve never done it before because choosing not to believe them anymore goes against how we've learned to function up until now. (Remember: NEW = SCARY to the ego) It brings up a fear that we humans have been conditioned to listen to that says…"stay safe", “don't rock the boat”, “what will they think?” It's really easy to get stuck here and convince yourself that it is safer to not draw attention to yourself, to not make other people uncomfortable, to not make the change… That's defaulting into old ways of being - aka living your life on autopilot.
No shame here. It's a choice that SO many people make because the process of UNLEARNING and choosing new beliefs, well, it's hard. And autopilot seems easy. That is, when you don't factor in the pain of staying the same anyway. But God calls us to much more than just living on autopilot. He calls us to move beyond all that stuff and be rooted in our identity and purpose.
Here’s the thing, we all have a history. We all have a past. We all have things that have happened to us, some big moments that we may be able to look back at, and combinations of small moments that built up over time. Regardless, we've all built patterns around those moments. We've put up walls. We've created defences. And now your ego is holding on to those patterns for dear life and convincing you that those patterns are you, and that your identity is found in your patterns. (Hint: it’s not true!)
So what do we do? We open our hearts and we get clear on WHO WE ARE, that's what! When we know who we are, our lens on life starts to shift. We can more easily disconnect our behaviour from our value. And then we can start to detach our identity from our behavioural patterns. That's where the soul-searching fun is! (Ok, well, it's mostly fun and also not so fun sometimes, but the transformation gets me all fired up).
How do you do that? Other than call me, which is totally an option, you need to start to answer this question: Who am I without my roles and titles? When I take them all away, what is left?
Start there. Stay curious. See what comes up.
Photo Credit: Christina Louise
Submission by:
Juli Wenger, The author of “Fired-up, Fulfilled, and Free - Know who you are. Get out of your own way. Live Your Purpose” (releasing May 31, 2022), a Certified and Internationally Credentialled Coach, Human Ecologist, Speaker, Podcaster, Certified Breathwork Facilitator, and student of the Enneagram. She is devoted to guiding impact-driven humans through their journeys to powerfully and courageously live out their callings.
Tipsy Tuesday - How to have a winning 4th quarter! - By Coach Lilly Wang
WHY RE-COMMIT to the 4th quarter? Because the 4th quarter is a quarter of your year! And how we treat a year is how we really treat our life… and your life is important. Wouldn’t you agree?
WHY RE-COMMIT to the 4th quarter? Because the 4th quarter is a quarter of your year! And how we treat a year is how we really treat our life… and your life is important. Wouldn’t you agree?
Step 1: acknowledge the good
List out all of the things you’ve accomplished and all of the things that you’re proud of from the summer and early fall.
I’m so proud of myself because…
These can be tangible accomplishments, like I’m so proud of myself for putting my earrings on my online store, or intangible accomplishments, like I’m so proud of myself for being very present at work meetings. As long as you know these to have been truths, then they are important to you and your list.
I would suggest you do this with 2 sub-headings: professional and personal. Therefore you would have tangible and intangible accomplishments for both the professional and the personal subheadings.
Some other examples can look like:
Professional & tangible: I’m so proud that I made 25K between July and September of this year.
Professional & intangible (or less quantified): I’m so proud that I reached out to several mentors and asked for help.
Personal & tangible: I’m so proud of myself for having taken a hike every weekend this summer and fall!
Personal & intangible: I’m really proud of myself for having communicated more vulnerably with my partner.
Now, write these down for yourself! There is no limit or cap to how many you can write, but I would recommend that you write at least 5-8 each for the subcategories of professional & personal.
P.S. to hear me give out mini bits of advice like this, follow me on IG @thelillywang
Step 2: claim what you’d like - your vision
Now comes the part that will require your imagination. When I work with clients, this is when I stretch their limits. We can only get what we want if we ask for it, and life only gets better and better if we ask for newer and bigger things that we haven’t experienced before!
My style is NOT to teach linear growth and just focus small goals… My style is to help you create a beautiful vision, and to commit to the goals that will take you there. This is why instead of getting linear growth based on pre-existing patterns, my students tend to get exponential growth, out of the norm of their old patterns!
Write down what it is you WOULD LIKE to get out of this quarter. I call this the VISIONING part.
Make this inspiring, and different, from what you’ve accomplished before.
—> For example, one month* I wrote that I would like to learn how to make $20,000 that month. I ended up earning $30,000. Keep in mind that for the month a year before I had made that goal, I had only earned $2,000 (as was just coming out of having left my previous industry, and out of grief from the passing of my father). Therefore think big. Dream big. Commit big.
—> Another time I wanted to learn how to gain 5 clients that month. I gained 4. The context there was that I was good at helping my existing clients, so they would renew with me (yay!), but when I was honesty with myself, I also knew that that kept me in my comfort zone. I felt that my growth as a business woman required of me the willingness to step outside of my comfort zone and learn how to acquire, and not just keep, clients.
*Keep in mind these are my monthly* goals as I set monthly goals more often than I do quarterly goals, but you get my point!
Why do I share this with you in such an honest and vulnerable way? To show you that I didn’t “start” at an easy place… I started at zero. Every time I’ve chosen to sit down and courageously ask for and claim something new that would stretch my limits, I grew. And my results grew, and my confidence grew, and my faith in this process grew.
So wherever you are, I hope that you’ll sit down right now and practice asking for what you want, courageously.
We call this your vision for this quarter.
To get more support on finishing the year strong, join me at my last event of the year! This is a 3 day workshop that takes place across Oct 19-21 at 9am mountain time. Register and SAVE your spot while tickets are still free here.
I will add inspiration, motivation, and commitment to help you have the best 4th quarter ever! If you have questions about this event, DM "EVENT" to @theLillyWang or send a quick email to lillywangcoaching@gmail.com.
Step 3: break it down
Now that you’ve claimed what you want, let’s break things down into achievable steps. I call these things “goals.” :P
Life always responds to us. So when we set our sights on a new vision, and begin taking action, life responds with experiences, people, and opportunities that will help make our actions fruitful. This is why we’ve got to play a part in our success, by being willing to take action!
By this logic, for instance, if one vision you have for the quarter is to earn your 20K, and this is something you’ve not done before, then you’d have to take some action that you also haven’t done before!
What are a couple things that you feel you should have been doing, but haven’t?
It could be any of the following: sending out emails, creating videos of your product, learning to speak about your product in public, following up with people who have inquired about your product, organizing your weekly schedule, posting on social media more regularly, actually posting about what you do on social media and not just spending time on social media haha, taking a class on xyz, putting in time for personal development, learning how to focus your mindset and manifestation abilities, and so much more!
These are some examples of things that any one of us have been putting off, or have been inconsistent with. You’ll know what’s right for your industry and your line of work.
When you sit down and do this, your intuition will guide you to the answers - and if you feel resistant, please recognize that that is just the protective voice that’s trying to protect you from taking action, should doing anything new places you in harm. This voice serves a purpose, but you mustn’t let it take over… instead, you must let the inspiring voice speak, because it is with this voice that you will begin creating the life of your dreams… starting this quarter.
Once you’ve written down 3-4 of these things, called goals, that will take you closer to your vision, set timelines for said goals and schedule them in. To explain this part would require just about another 12 blogs, so we might have to leave more for the next blog. But I hope I’ve inspired you to start dreaming about the things you want, because every quarter of the year should matter - because you matter!
How did you do with this exercise? Did this blog help you today? Please feel free to take a picture of your notes, and tag us, because we want to hear from you! @thelillywang @ybb.connect
I'm also holding a free workshop finishing the year strong! This workshop takes place on Oct 19-21 at 9am Alberta (MDT) time, for about 90 mins each day.
This is my only event for the remainder of the year, and I am still keeping the tickets free, so don’t miss out - save your seat here.
I’ll be talking about quantum physics, the law of attraction, psychology, and high-performance coaching principles.
Submission By:
Lilly Wang, M.Sc. (London School of Economics)
lillywangcoaching@gmail.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelillywang/
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/successeveryday/
Here’s the thing — delegation isn’t about “less work.” It’s about better work. It’s about creating space for the parts of your business (and life) that actually matter.