No, I don’t mean speeding along in a sleek little sportscar! (Although that would be nice, wouldn’t it?)

I’m talking about Zoom, the awesome online communication tool, much like Skype. It’s gaining ground as an alternative to Skype, and does have its pros and cons, just as Skype does, but so far, I’m liking what I see! It’s very easy to set up and launch calls. Recording them is super simple, too, either on your computer or in your online Zoom library, depending on the version you have.

See what you think, and let me know!  https://zoom.us/

by Marilyn Stafford, Guest Blogger

I don’t really think of myself as a mentor. But I am a person who loves to share what I know with others, and I’m always happy to do so. I’m also a believer in the philosophy of “paying it forward.”

I wouldn’t have made it this far in my business without the help of so many wonderful people who provided_­­ me the guidance, training, mentoring and support I needed. So my way of giving back is to pay it forward, and I recently had an awesome opportunity to do just.

A lovely young woman was referred to me by a mutual colleague, asking if I would mind sharing a few tips on what it means to work virtually, and how to get started in the virtual assistant industry. Of course, I was happy…no, excited to give her any tips that I could. Through our discussions over the next several weeks, in trying to simply pay it forward, I accidentally became this lovely person’s mentor! I didn’t set out to be her mentor, and I certainly didn’t see it coming, but she says that’s the role I’m playing in her journey to become an entrepreneur. Who knew!

Two things I’ve learned from this experience with my new friend…

• Sometimes, we don’t realize how much knowledge we possess until we begin to share it with others; and
• We never know how or when we’re going to have an impact on someone else. At some point, we’re all mentors or role models for someone, even when it’s accidental.

It always feel so good to return home after being away. It feels great to be back in my own bed, getting to love on my animals, spending time with my family, and feeling back into the groove of things.

Being at the ranch in California once again was life changing. It always amazes me what the horses are able to teach me about myself. One of my greatest takeaways from this trip was gaining awareness in trusting myself and knowing when to ask for help. Prior to this trip, if anyone would have asked me if I trusted myself, with no hesitation I would have said yes! I thought I did, anyways. However, during two different exercises, on two different days, the lack of trusting myself kept showing up. To share with you what that means I’ll explain where it was most present during one of the exercises.

I chose to pick a horse named Ms. Nikki. She was anxious from the time I haltered her, to placing her in the stall, and as she awaited our turn. I sensed this, but tried to tell myself she was just missing her herd mates or perhaps my energy was up (horses mirror back to us how we’re feeling inside).

When it was my turn to enter the round pen, I went to get Nikki, and saw that she was still excited. I truly tried so hard to remember to take deep breaths, feel my feet on the ground, connect with myself and be present. I tried EVERYTHING I could think of to calm my energy so in turn she would calm down. -Wasn’t happening!

As soon as I took her halter off she pranced around the round pen, raring up, and charging at me. I tried to remain in my body rather than going into my head, but the truth was I felt unsafe. There were a few seconds when she wanted to come stand next to me and my first thought was, how quick before she reacts in the manner she did earlier?

The coach who was working with me did an amazing job of recognizing that I didn’t feel safe and she asked about it. I told her how I was feeling, and all that I was trying to do internally, and it just wasn’t working. As I continued to try to get both myself and Nikki to calm down, the feeling of fear continued to escalate in my body. I kept having the thought of “I need to get the hell out of here” but then another thought of “no, you ‘should’ be able to calm yourself and calm this horse down. You aren’t doing it right.”

I was fighting with my own thoughts and not trusting my instinct of leaving the ring. I was totally battling the “shoulds” game in my head, which I know from what I’ve been taught–that’s not the right thing to do.

So I asked for help. One of the main program facilitators ended up getting in the round pen with me (as coaches, that’s what we do for our clients) and after a few deep breaths and holding on to him, I felt safe again. Nikki calmed and came in to be with us. It ended up being a beautiful experience.

At first, I doubted myself and wanted so badly to feel that I was safe in the pen and that I should be able to calm this situation. After all, the horse was mirroring my feelings and I “should” be able to calm myself, right? When in reality, had I trusted my initial feeling of being unsafe I could have asked for someone to come in with me even if it was just in the beginning and likely could have prevented the experience from being one of fear.

In the end there was a great lesson learned, and that’s what’s so magical about these experiences with horses. Nikki was very excited at the beginning of our session together (as was I) and by the end she was much calmer. She was essentially two different horses from the beginning to the end, and it was okay that I felt fearful in the beginning. My lesson was not only to trust myself and ask for help when I need it, but to also trust my discernment. That feeling in my body never lies.

How do you know when you’re not trusting yourself? Can you feel it in your gut?

How do you know when to ask for help? Is there a time when looking back on things you can see where you could have changed the outcome of something by asking for a little support? Let me know in the comments.

Are you enjoying the last bits of summer? I have to be honest and say there is a part of me that is always a little sad to see the summer end, however, I love what’s next; leaves falling, bonfires, camp outs, more trail riding and the joy of fall weather. My favorite time of year!

I have just recently come across a wonderful tool that I’m excited to share with you. It’s made for online coaches, trainers, and other online teaching professionals. The more I learn about Ruzuku, the better I like it! I hope you do, too!

Ruzuku Makes Online Learning Easy!

One of the greatest challenges for online coaches and trainers is how to get their courses to their students. Finding an online platform that is cost-effective, easy to set up, and easy to manage, from both the admin side and the student side is every coach’s dream!

There are many great platforms available, depending on your needs and budget, but one that has really caught my eye lately is Ruzuku.  Pronounced just the way it looks (Roo-zoo-koo), this particular online teaching platform is unique in that it is so flexible and loaded with amazing features to help you design and manage your online courses with very little effort. And I love how user-friendly it is; you don’t have to be a techy guru to understand it, and you can have your first course up and running in no time at all!

A quick rundown of just a few of the Ruzuku features that I especially like—

• Your courses can be Live (with automatic email notifications); On Demand (aka Evergreen); or Open Access (aka Self-Directed)
• You can accept payments through a variety of payment platforms
• Your courses can be completely customized with subscriptions, price points, and coupons
• Ruzuku integrates with Mailchimp for ease in managing your participant lists
• You’re able to host and stream audio and video, host teleconferences and video broadcasts, all within Ruzuku!