Where will we all be - five years from now?

I remember a mentor once telling me to look around at the people I was spending time with – because that is where I would be in five years time. 

I often wondered at the logic behind this. I mean – I have never wanted to be a ‘snob’ - and I believe that everyone has value – so why would I stay away from one person because they did not make a lot of money, or they were not ‘brainiacs’!But there is a spiritual principle that clearly supports my mentor’s advice.

It’s about our morphic field.

A morphic field is the field of energy that radiates from us and surrounds us. (It is much more complicated than this but this is simplified  and according to Mandie) 

Our body is merely the place where our spirit has been planted and functions from in this earthly world. And our spirit is infinite – and does not end where our body ends. We really are much bigger that we could ever imagine!

Can this morphic field be measured?  Yes - scientists can measure the energy we give off.  Can it be seen?  By some - yes.  Just as there are those in our world who can sense things we cannot – we also hear of those who can see our ‘aura’. Sometime when we are in a truly grounded state – connected to source – we too can see the auras of those around us.

Auras are a visual representations of the energy that is not contained within our bodies.  This is where we transfer information to each other without touch or speech.  (Read more about this in my last blog - The Connecting Tree) 

In our everyday language we speak of the ‘vibes’ we get from others. These vibrations and the information in those vibrational frequencies are held in our morphic field.

The energy in that field says a lot about who we are, where we are going and what we believe and expect for the future. You could say that our morphic field carries in it the most powerful parts of who we are that just cannot be contained by several layers of skin!

When we are close to another person, animal, plant – or any thing for that matter, we are in their morphic field – and they are in ours as well. This is where a transfer of information between two masses of energy begin. We can absorb energy from another – and they can also absorb from us.

Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist and author writes about this transfer of information and the continuing connection that occurs in several of his scientific papers and books including The Sense of Being Stared At, And Other Aspects of the Extended Mind and Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals.

His research dating back to the 1980’s is not new – but many of us have failed to show an interest in these magical secrets of our human existence.

More and more, I am beginning to put the pieces together. The wisdom of my mentor's words now begin to make sense. He encouraged me to spend a vast amount of my time with people who had achieved the things I aspired to achieve, to hang around with my ‘heros’. He may not have understood anything about morphic fields – but he did know the principle that was the result of the ‘old world wisdom’ that has existed since the beginning of time.

This changes the way I look at everything. It makes me look deeply at who I am, and what I am about. And when I acknowledge the greatness in myself – I know that I can mentor others who do not yet have my understandings. 

But just as important – in order to grow and become the person I aspire to be – I must find those whom I aspire to be like and ensure that I spend time in their morphic fields as well!

Knowing this, I wonder where I shall be in 5 years time?  

Where will you be?  If you are looking to increase your spirituality in business, and grow as a person, a leader and also as a business owner then spend some time with Mandie.  Mandie won Calgary's Business Woman of the year for 2010 - and coaches and mentors women in business.  To learn more about her coaching contact Mandie here

Easy... easy like Sunday morning...

I may be giving away my age - but the song "Easy like Sunday morning" by Lionel has been playing over and over in my head when I think of the last phone call I had with a supplier.  But first let me begin with....

I am not always easy!  Although I try to be fairly mellow about most things - I know that I am a tough customer. I do my very best to be polite but I expect to be treated with respect as I am purchasing a product – or may be purchasing one – and I would hope that the company I am dealing with would like continue to do business with me.

But lets turn the table. From a business perspective – I wonder – am I easy to do business with? Are you?

Recently, I have had several experiences that taught me a lot about how we can make it easy to do business with us. Let me explain.

This past week, I was doing some business house keeping. Over the holidays I had found several over charges on my credit card, noted some accounts that were being mailed to the wrong address and decided to switch all my business purchases to one credit card. Many of these jobs were quite simple in nature – but added together they took me the better part of a week to get done. Here are some of the issues I encountered:

• One supplier refused to speak on the phone with me. All correspondence had to be done via email. This resulted in 25 emails to get cleared up - because the business overcharged me and I wanted reimbursed. Total time spent for 25 emails – 1.5 hours
• One supplier did not have my account information viewable – so I had to call and leave a message to change my credit card number. Then after I received a call back I was sent a form to fill in and fax back. Total time spent – 35 minutes
• The phone company said they changed my billing address after the first 25 minute call – but one month later I called back – was transferred to 4 different operators who all had to verify who I was and my account number and two pieces of I.D. before they changed the billing address a second time. Total in tow calls 1.25 hours 
• A mail support supplier over billed me by $75 dollars and when I asked for a refund they would credit the card – but they had the incorrect address. To change the address I had to send and email on letterhead to the company. I used the email address they gave me and it bounced. I had to call back and start over. Then they told me it was MY responsibility to check and see if the refund went through. Total time spent – 1.5 hours

These are only a few of the activities that consumed my week. 

The final one was a call to American Express Merchant Services. It was after 5 pm – but I tried calling anyway. I got an operator after pressing zero only one time! (wow!) When I explained that I wanted to close the account - the operator asked me why. I explained – and she offered to reimburse me for 6 months of fees and created a better solution where I would not have monthly fees.  

I did not even ask for a refund -  they offered it!  Then they made it so easy to do business with them - I could not find a reason to leave!

Now that is one SMART company!

In 5 minutes I was refunded 30 dollars and had a pleasant conversation- and remained a customer! Now there was a company that was easy to do business with!  Easy like Sunday morning even!

I thanked the operator and told her how I she had been the easiest call I had all day. She laughed and told me the same was for her – that I had been her easiest call.

The lesson I learned was that even big companies can have customer friendly policies. Most do not – but creating easier ways for a customer to do business with you can make everyone’s day a lot less stressful and enable them to be more efficient!

This opened a whole new door for me to re-examine my policies and determine how I can be easier to do business with. If you are having a lot of push back or difficulties with clients – chances are – you are not that easy to do business with.

Is it time for a change? I mean really – isn’t life complicated enough?  If you are looking to create more customer loyalty, streamline your processes and make it easier for people to do business with you – why not consider a coach? More information on coaching here