comfort zone – Ali Soleil

Jun

Woohoo! Thank YOU!

Posted in Articles, gratitude, happiness, Life Challenges.

I would like to say an enormous heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone for voting for me in the Women Inspiring Women National Awards! As you know, I was nominated, then shortlisted for ‘Woman’s Advocate /Role Model Award’ and on Saturday night, I travelled up to the Crown Plaza, Birmingham NEC for a night of sparkle and celebration. What a night!

As the names and photographs of shortlisted ladies were flashed up on the big screen, I could feel the energy and wonder rising in the room. There were cheers, clapping and anticipation… When it came to the category I was shortlisted for, I watched the names flash up of those who I admire so much – and then the gold envelope was opened “And the award goes to….” “Ali Soleil!” I couldn’t believe it! I was shocked and elated at the same time! As I walked to the stage and climbed the steps I thought in true Oscar’s style “Oh no! I’m going to cry!” I didn’t though. Phew! Funny now, looking back a few days later but I was so overwhelmed and feeling a deep sense of gratitude for all the support I’d received. The journey hasn’t always been so smooth.

I remember just less than a year and a half ago, sitting on the edge of a wall with my partner, looking out across the sea to St Michaels Mount in Cornwall, wondering if and when my business was going to take off. It was a struggle and a seed of doubt had crept in and was festering and growing. Was I going to make it? You see my business is my passion, it’s part of who I am. Have you ever felt like this? The thought of giving up on my dream wasn’t appealing and looking for a fulfilling job just didn’t seem an option. It’s funny how it’s so often said that you get the ‘break-down before the break-through’ because it is so true. It’s all most like a divine test, to see if you’re committed to your purpose, if you can hold your nerve – and fortunately I did. Even though the seed of doubt had crept in, I still had faith it would work out and decided to get out of doubt and back into purpose. Serving women in their greatness is my passion, what’s yours?

Since sitting on the wall and making that decision, my business has grown fast – and so have I! Getting out of my comfort zone and giving talks, making videos, setting up Fab Friends Network, starting a second group, working with clients individually and also in my higher level mentoring group. It’s been hard at times, just like ‘growing pains’ but overall a joyful experience – because my passion is supporting women to step into their truth, know their passions in life, discover their purpose – and often to support them to monetise this in an expansive and fabulous business. I guess, just as I have done for myself. There have been some huge mind shifts along the way, some big blocks have now thankfully gone, some new clarity gained.

And this has been a very special year so far, and I am so hugely grateful for all the support, belief and love that I’ve received from so many including my partner, clients, friends and family, my mentor Carly Hope and to Lucie Bradbury and the fabulous team behind Women Inspiring Women National Awards. So a really big thank you to you all.

And if you’re still sat on ‘your wall’ wondering, dig a little deeper, how committed are you to your desire? Banish doubt and get on purpose. Does it feel like your souls mission? If it is, breathe, get ready for the inner calling, be ready to receive the bursts of inspiration that you will come from your souls divine source, hear them and take the inspired action and a giant leap of faith. The world needs beautiful YOU!

Love and sunshine

Ali xx

Tagged ali soleil, awards, carly hope, comfort zone, divine purpose, doubt, fab friends network, inner calling, lucie bradbury, passion, purpose, sparkle and celebration, struggle, women inspiring women | Comments (8)

Jun

Are You Ready To Live In Abundance?

Posted in Articles, Perfect Days, Personal Development, Setting up a business.

Have you noticed how easy it is to get comfortable being uncomfortable? Wishing your life and business were more abundant and not knowing how to move toward getting what you want? It’s like there is something in-built that stops us from reaching out and living the life of our dreams and we’re kept on the side lines, playing small and thinking “one day it’ll be different” but knowing deep down that something has to change in our thinking before it could happen and time is ticking on….

Martin Luther King said “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” And yet, when we don’t feel it’s something we can realistically achieve, the first step up, can just seem a bit too high and we abandon the dream to stick with being comfortable, in our comfort zone settling for second best. And our life just plods on.

It’s not meant to be this way! You are meant to stand out and shine!

Often when I ask my clients what they would really love to have, become or do they struggle… they feel uncomfortable. Sometimes they are embarrassed to express what they’d really love, because they feel undeserving, selfish or that it just could never happen to them… if they see someone else living their dream and they say they feel envious of those experiencing what they wish they could be experiencing – has it happened to you too?

And how do I know all this? Because I was there, in that place not so long ago. And now I’ve discovered that following my passions, has lead me to my purpose and by building a business around my purpose with support of mentors, I’ve broken though the glass ceilings that my limiting beliefs had created and my life is changing magically! It really has become abundant! Would you like that too?

Are you ready to make the big shift and harvest your desires? Would you like to break through your glass ceiling? Even to build a business around your desires and purpose – and monetise it in such a way that feels fabulous, exciting and effortless? Part Two of my blog will follow tomorrow, so do come back to find out how you too can make this happen!

Sunshine and smiles

Ali xx

Tagged Abundance, ali soleil, Bucks, comfort zone, faith, glass ceiling, High Wycombe, limiting beliefs, living the dream, Martin Luther King, passion, purpose, struggle, womens mentor and coach | Comments (0)

Nov

Opportunity Knocks – Will You Let It In?

Posted in Goal Setting, happiness, Life Challenges, Networking, Personal Development, self esteem.

When opportunity knocks on your door – what happens for you?

If it’s something you’ve been wanting, you may feel an urge to “woohoo!” I know I do!

But what if it’s an opportunity that feels so fantastic it feels beyond your reach? What happens then? When you feel the stretch, do you feel butterflies stirring in your stomach? The dreaded inner gremlin telling you, you don’t deserve? A sense of mixed emotion like a tug of war – of wanting but not wanting to fail? To look stupid or to make a mistake?

Sometimes that old feeling of not feeling quite good enough, or not deserving enough can creep into your thinking and you have to stop in your tracks and ask yourself what is really going on. Do you do that too? Sometimes it maybe money; the opportunity is there but money isn’t? You attract what you focus on – not having enough, means you stay in lack. When you step up and show up – you grow. When you embrace opportunity, more opportunities show up and this often includes the money you desire and so on. ”If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.”

What is fear anyway? A negative emotion, False Evidence Appearing Real? How real is it? What I know is, that often it skips along in our minds with the inner gremlin. It keeps you small, keeps you shrinking, fitting in, and dabbling around the edges of your greatness.

You are here to Shine, to Stand Out, Embrace Life, Make a Difference and Grow!

Does it make you shut out the opportunity? Or welcome it with open arms?

So, who would you or I be without fear? How much more could you achieve? How much more could you become? Enjoy? Share? What could taking the the big leap mean to you? What if you didn’t fail but spectacularly rose to the top? When we focus on what we want – or what we don’t want, we get it – so when opportunity strikes, grab it, go for it, celebrate it and GROW!

2011 has been a massive year of growth personally for me, how about you? This year, I’ve been leaping out of my comfort zone, stepping up and achieving so many of my own desires and dreams. I’ve also had my fair share of knock backs too and I’ve got back up again and brushed myself down. Those lessons have been hugely valuable for me, lessons to do things differently so I’ll get different results next time. Now, when I feel the butterflies of fear creeping in when I’m presented with an opportunity, I remind myself this is just excitement and go for it! There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. You’re worth it, right? Make this lifetime the BEST it can be! Why wouldn’t you?

Love and sunshine

Ali xx

Tagged ali soleil, comfort zone, fab friends network, fear, life coach, mentor, Opportunity, personal growth, womens personal development, womens self development | Comments (0)

Sep

It is time to take a leap of faith

Posted in Life Challenges, Perfect Days, Personal Development, self esteem.

As you may know, I was given the huge privilege of being asked to speak on a radio show in the north of England. Salford City Radio’s host of the Feel Good Show, Sara Lou-Ann Jones, asked me if I would like to come along and speak about going from Fed Up to Fabulous and give self esteem raising tips.

My first thought was – “I can’t do that!”

My second thought was – “Of course you can and you’re going to email back straightway!”.

Isn’t it funny how you can initially think you are not capable of doing something new, something different and something that stretches you? But when you decide to decide and break down your own barriers you can surprise yourself! It just takes a leap of faith in yourself, that is all.

The show went very well, I enjoyed it tremendously and all the feedback has been very positive. I can’t wait to do another one! You know don’t you, that when you step outside your comfort zone although initially it can feel uncomfortable, it feels amazing once you’re on the other side! That is where the magic begins! You can hear my interview (and conquering another personal challenge!). Click here to listen

So what have you not felt capable or good enough to do? I’m sure you are already more than capable, more than good enough… you are ready. This is your time, your time to shine. Do something this week which stretches you a little and also gives you a big boost! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Go for it girlfriend! And don’t forget to email me and let me know what you chose to do!

Quote of the day

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” Benjamin Spocks

Ali xx

Ali Soleil – Feminine Self Esteem Mentor

www.DaringDamsels.com

Tagged challenge, comfort zone, daring damsels, Fed Up to Fabulous, guest, interview, leap of faith, radio, Salford, self esteem, tips | Comments (0)

Apr

Volcanic ash versus the travellers

Posted in Life Challenges, Personal Development, self esteem.

The news last week about the volcano and its billowing ash cloud was such a surprise to say the least. Was there some warning that I missed? It seemed that it sprung a surprise on the airlines and the passengers so quickly. For the thousands of travellers who are not where they want to be it’s not only a frustrating time, it’s also an expensive one.

The stories I am reading on Facebook and hear from friends tell of cancelled holidays, workers who had gone abroad for meetings have been stranded abroad without extra clothing and essentials – desperate to return to loved ones, relatives who cannot get to weddings – weddings being postponed, elders who have run out of their medication, hours of queuing in line for a train tickets, even Witney Huston being forced to catch a car ferry to Ireland for her Dublin O2 gig… all land and sea transport being used to the full. And the airlines losing millions of pounds each day with their planes waiting for the all clear to fly again.

The Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull has a lot to answer for – a natural occurring crisis affecting Europe, yes a volcano – it seems surreal.

I wonder how many of us have been on a fantastic holiday and imagined how wonderful it would be to find ourselves without the choice of returning home for another week or so. Maybe it’s just me? Of course the novelty of the situation would soon wear off as the reality of restricted freedom kicked in.

Often in life, so many of us choose the easy option – the one which feels easy, makes the most sense. I guess some people are ‘allowing’ this crisis to happen to them – victims of circumstance – feeling powerless and stuck where they are unhappily outside of their comfort zone. They will be getting used to living a different life for a week or so ‘making the best of it’, their personal world shaping up differently, waiting for some news of how they will be getting back home.

When the chips are down and there is no easy solution to the challenges, isn’t it amazing how others will look for another way of finding their way home? The determination and desire to be back on home soil with loved ones – or work is immense.

Stepping into their adventure zone, weighing up options, looking for alternative accommodation, checking out various ways to catch cross country trains and getting to ferries. I know many travellers have run out of money and the trains and ferries are booked up – I read of stories of people grouping together to then look into hiring coaches and cars which are now extortionately priced because of greed and scarcity.

Everyone will have a different story to tell of their adventures. Everyone will have had their comfort zones stretched in one way and another. Every situation will be drawing on each person’s inner resources and courage. I hope this situation is soon improved so everyone can happily get to where they want to be – my heart goes out to them.

If you used the power of your determination to achieve your tasks, how would things be different? How often do you go the extra mile? If you had to be somewhere would you travel all night in a taxi (if you had the money and the taxi available) would you do it? How far is too far? When you’re looking for a job how far will you travel? How about a new home, a night out, a trip to see something interesting? What restrictions do you put on yourself? What are these restrictions costing you in choice and adventure? How much more fun, fulfilled, fabulous would your life be if you allowed yourself some additional freedom? How much courage would you need to find? Not much I bet, it just takes a decision. When are you going to get out of your own way?

I work with women who have decided enough is enough. They are fed up with the frustrations of their life and want to fast track to fabulous. I work with them to raise their self esteem, master their psychology so they can begin to speak their truth with courage and live a happier life they never dreamt possible. Can you relate to this? Would you like to know more? Message me below or email me in confidence ali@daringdamsels.com I’m so looking forward to hearing from you.

Ali xx

Tagged adventure zone, airlines, choice, comfort zone, courage, crisis, Eyjafjallajökull, fabulous, Facebook, freedom, fulfilled, fun, inner resouces, powerless, self esteem, victims, volcano | Comments (0)

Jan

Have you checked out your ‘Super Powers’ lately?

Posted in Goal Setting, gratitude, Personal Development.

Wow, the big freeze continues to chill the UK – more snow to come tonight and sub zero temperatures.

Isn’t it wonderful how when we’re in crisis everyone pulls together for the greater good? There was on old lady of 89 years on the television last night saying how neighbours had been checking in on her, making sure she had everything. She said how marvelous it was – “I didn’t realise people were bothered about me until now.” It warms my heart. I only hope that these neighbours keep up the contact once the thaw sets in and beyond.

Also, what warms my heart are the stories I hear on the news about villagers helping out their neighbours getting an extra loaf or pint of milk for each other, the stamina of the guys gritting our roads, the shops that are keeping open to serve the local people, the power line workers repairing the frozen power supply ‘things’ to get the power back to thousands of homes – the meals on wheels co-ordinators/delivery people ensuring those less able are still receiving their hot meals. The roadside assistance heroes, emergency services – these people must be the most welcome of sights when you’re cold and in trouble. My postman has continued delivering letters everyday – he walks 4 miles to the post office before he starts his round. Pushing the trolley of letters he says is challenging in the snow, but he keeps on. I feel an immense sense of gratitude for the kindness and stamina of these ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Isn’t it amazing what we can achieve when the chips are down? How the combined spirit of challenge makes the mountain that needs climbing seem less daunting? How we can go the extra mile when we’re tired, if we really want to? Sometimes we get a ‘second wind’. Often when we feel like we’re facing an uphill challenge, it’s easier not to bother and quit. When you push through your comfort zone you find it stretches further and further out – like a balloon that one’s expanded the first time never shrinks to its original size. Within each and everyone of us we have massive inner strength – yes, all of us. These are like our own ‘Super Powers’ – we can achieve much more than we think we can! When we know a job has to be done, we draw on these powers and the good news is – we don’t have to wear our pants on the outside of our trousers we just become unstoppable! Isn’t it great? I admire these ladies and gentlemen for their courage, determination and inner strength. What wonderful stories they will be telling future generations about the extreme winter of 2009/2010!

When you’re working towards achieving your goals, how will you cope with the challenges that lay ahead? When will you draw on your ’Super Powers’? What will you be saying to yourself? How will you find the strength to keep going? How important are your goals? Who will you help along the way? Who can help you? Who can encourage you to go the extra mile? If I can help – message me or go to www.daringdamsels.com or www.alisoleil.com for more information!

Sending you all a big warm hug on this bitterly cold day!

Tagged comfort zone, courage, crisis, determination, emergency services, goals, gratitude, gritters, help, hug, ice, inner strength, neighbours, snow, stamina, sub zero, super powers, winter | Comments (1)

Nov

Feeling productive

Posted in Perfect Days.

You know those days where you feel really productive and you’ve so much energy to get on and get all those jobs done that have been hanging about? Well, today is one of those days for me…. and I’m feeling good – as Nina Simone said once or twice! I guess, my younger daughter wasn’t too impressed about my recent painting purchase as we are working towards our re-location to the seaside… and its money we could be putting towards the big push… mmm… she could be right. So I’m more focused and more determined than ever to achieve this goal… June 2010 Brighton here we come!

I’ve decided to produce some raising self esteem and goal setting workshops for women – under my www.daringdamsels.com name. Today I’ve produced the rough outline of the day, what message I’m going to be conveying, who my market audience will be and how I will let them know all about it! Oh, exciting times!!! I’ve been contacting various venues to get prices for rooms to hire, this is a happening thing baby!

Isn’t it great when a plan comes together? This is a big leap out of my comfort zone and a leap out of my own way – and I can’t wait! I’m walking the talk and pushing myself even further. Someone told me that our comfort zone is like a balloon… once you’ve inflated it, it never returns to the original size… so here goes!

What could you do which would stretch your comfort zone? What would it mean to you to achieve this? When are you going to decide to go for it?

Tagged comfort zone, goals, productive, venues, workshop | Comments (2)

Nov

Dreams v Reality = Adventure Zone

Posted in Personal Development.

So, for years now… my girls and I have imagined living in Brighton. Living within a city for the first time – a place so diverse and alive. And by the seaside… I love the sea, having always lived one hour 30 mins from the nearest coastal spot, it’s a novelty and gives me a rush of energy and new perspectives when I see it.

We have sat countless times on the pebble beach looking out on the twinkling sea which always draws us close. We conjure up whilst we much our sandwiches (actually we have been known to buy a box of chocolates and consume them on the beach too! I digress) how life could be living there. We’ve even imagined running a small boutique hotel on the sea front - my younger daughter having picked out an old hotel, looking like it needs a new lease of life and some love put into it. But really, I think living in Brighton as a life coach/NLP Practitioner would be fabulous – afterall, with the wonders of the internet and telephone – I can coach anywhere!

A close friend of mine suggested that ‘Brighton is the grave yard of ambition’. At the time, I was a little disgruntled – to his obvious amusement… however on reflection – that makes Brighton the perfect place to be a coach. There are people all over the world - not just Brighton who have had dreams but who have been talked out of them and they lie dormant waiting to see daylight once more. I’d love to move to Brighton and assist people with evoking their dreams and making them reality – how fabulous would that be?

So, my dream… to move to Brighton June 2010 with my daughter who is 16 years old. My elder daughter will be spreading her wings and will be off to Uni or another path – so will not be living with us then.

In order to achieve this dream – I need to pull out all the stops. It feels daunting right now, but I know that is just my unconscious mind trying to protect me – keep me in my comfort zone. So I must push through this barrier and break into my adventure zone…

My daughter is so excited about making this dream a reality; so this week we have been to Brighton to the sixth form college’s open evening. Afterall, you have to fake it til you make it, right? By going to the open evening, we have set our intention… we have made a commitment to ourselves to make this dream our reality. Soon after the drama of finding somewhere to park we walked up some roads towards the college. It was a magical experience. We looked at the long white terraces of houses and flats and wondered which one we’d be living in. It’s an exciting feeling moving to the unknown. I can feel the excitement but I can also feel the resistance… it feels slightly scary, but that’s a good thing – it means I know I can do it and it’s out of my comfort zone.

I have made a dream board with some pictures of Brighton, some seaside pictures, I have the sound of the sea and the cry of the seagulls in my head and the taste of crepes from the pier in my memory… it’s all about focusing on what you want – really feeling it as if you have it already. It’s about setting the date of when you know you’ve achieved it, setting steps to reach the goal, committing and taking action!

What are your dreams? How committed are you to making them your reality? How does breaking into your ‘adventure zone’ make you feel? What difference to your life will it make when you’ve achieve your goal? What will happen if you don’t? What’s the first step you need to take? If you need some help with achieving your goal – message me

Tagged Brighton, Coaching, comfort zone, commitment, dreams, goals, reality, sandwiches | Comments (4)

Nov

Coaching makes change happen quicker!

Posted in Personal Development.

I’ve been on a new journey since my last blog – adding to my existing NLP tools – I’ve now become a Practitioner of Time Line Therapy™ and Hypnosis!

It’s been an exciting journey with new experiences, new destinations and plenty of revelations and laughs along the way. Being a life coach means being equipped to help my clients find the right path for them. Facilitating the changes they choose to make. NLP, TLT™ and Hypnosis are wonderful set of techniques – or tools for my ‘coaching tool bag’!

I guess prior to 2004, I had so many limiting beliefs, so much ‘stuff’ was holding me back – I didn’t know what to do for the best, I felt truly ‘stuck’ in life… it felt like I had no options, hadn’t a clue what to do to push forward. During that dark time one of my best friends Helen, told me about an interview she’d heard on LBC radio station. A guy called Andy Harrington had been speaking about ‘creating the life you desire’ and she’d chosen to go to an event called Fire Your Desire – similar to Antony Robbins UPW. I was so excited to hear how well it had gone for her and how she had had some huge emotional shifts and had made some positive decisions about how she was going to live the rest of her life. I was excited for her and felt compelled to go on the next event for myself! I had no idea what coaching or NLP was at that stage, they weren’t words in my world.

On the 3 day FYD in London we (200 people) all worked on our own ‘stuff’, with Andy guiding us through each day and really playing hard ball with our resistance at times. We all chose to walk a 25 feet fire walk – which was an awesome experience – and showed as all how we could survive stretching our ‘comfort zones’ and make a choice to live a bit more on the outside – in our ‘adventure zones’. Many of the techniques were used that long weekend were NLP and Coaching… wow… it began to wet my desire.

From that moment, my world expanded. I began to choose what I did, and began looking at the world through a different pair of eyes. I can’t say that by going on a 3 day workshop I was completely changed or that I made better decisions generally, but I did choose to learn from the feedback of those decisions and not repeat them! I also learned that you need to take responsibility for what you have in your life – you have attracted all you have by the thoughts you have. By one or two things changing… it was like the domino effect… other things began to shift. Sometimes I would shock myself by the way I reacted to something said or experienced – I would realise I’d handled it in a completely new way – and give myself a metaphorical pat on the back! :) It also helped me to have a friend who was also on this journey of personal development, someone who encouraged me to be positive, make choices and take responsibility for those choices – good or bad – she was my coach.

Life isn’t always easy, but that doesn’t mean we should lie down and take it… we need to change our strategies for success and push through the pain barrier. It’s so worth it.

So now in 2009, I am now able to work with clients on a one to one basis (workshops coming in the new year) helping them to ‘un-stick’ themselves, helping them to design the life they would really like to have, breaking down the invisible barriers of thought that have kept them down or prevented them from having what they really want. Supporting and championing them, listening to them carefully and then asking the questions they have not asked themselves (or have not wanted to answer before). Sometimes, we keep doing the same things, getting the same results and think we don’t know how to do things differently. Coaching speeds the process up, releases you from the cage you’re trapped in…

This is an exciting time – what would you like from 2010? It’s not far away now… if you are wanting more from life, or have a goal you want to achieve but could do with someone to encourage you – believe in you – contact me. If you have a negative voice in your head telling you ‘I can’t do it’ or words to that effect – contact me, we can change that voice for something far more empowering!

Tagged Antony Robbins, Coaching, comfort zone, encourage, living, NLP, supporting and championing | Comments (0)

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Woohoo! Thank YOU!

Are You Ready To Live In Abundance?

Opportunity Knocks – Will You Let It In?

It is time to take a leap of faith

Volcanic ash versus the travellers

Have you checked out your ‘Super Powers’ lately?

Feeling productive

Dreams v Reality = Adventure Zone

Coaching makes change happen quicker!



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