Dawn Nocera

Category: Coaching & Mentoring

  • How To Overcome The Fear Of Writing

    How To Overcome The Fear Of Writing

    I remember being so afraid of words and writing.   Communicating what was on my mind felt like wrestling tigers.  No joke!  

    I studied engineering in college so I wouldn’t have to write, or speak.  When I started creating my first website back in 1999, I added content to it daily.  Mostly lists, and resources for high school girls, not so much writing.  I didn’t force myself to create, I wanted to added value.  I looked for ways I could help my site’s visitors have resources they needed.  This was pre-google.

    I didn’t sit down with a to-do list and say, this is what I’m going to do today.  I just sat down and did something… daily.

    I forgot how effortless it was to create from that space.

    My point is that as I wrote a sentence or two to introduce the list or the resources I was sharing, I WAS writing and the more I wrote the more confidence I had to write more.  At first just a sentence, then a paragraph, and when people started to email me and ask me questions, I wrote them back.  At the time I wasn’t making any money from that website, however I was practicing writing by doing it.  And I was learning a lot about website development, which is what I was doing to make money at the time.   And the more I practiced writing the more confident I was to share more of my thoughts and opinions.

    I realized that people really don’t care if I misspell a word, or if they have to read a sentence two or three time to understand what I am saying.   They care that I care about them and what they go through.

    I’m an author now, and doubts still bubble up around my ability to write well, however when I bring my attention back to me and the value I can add, and away from other people I may be comapring myself to, it is so much easier to write.

    My fear of writing faded the more I wrote and my doubts fade the more I focus on the value I’m adding.

    I see my value in the world and I enjoy sharing that value with my empire.

    Focus on how you can help your empire and begin writing from that aligned space within you.   Most importantly, Share!  Share your opinions, your thoughts, your ideas.  Give people a view of your depth, not just something you heard someone else say.  Allow yourself to be seen through your writing, this is the path of the luminary.

  • Systems Are Great Except When They Are Not

    Systems Are Great Except When They Are Not

    I was reading something from one of my mentors today about systems and how important they are to our life and our business and I couldn’t agree more.  However what I’ve found is that most entrepreneurs find themselves trying to create systems for the wrong things in business at the wrong time.   And luminary entrepreneurs have a hard time with systems because “systems” can feel so soulless.   

    There are 2 big challenges that we face when creating systems and once you learn to recognize which challenge you face, you can begin to use systems to help you move your life and your business in the direction YOU want to go.

    Challenge #1 Is Not Creating A System From Where You Are

    We love getting ahead of ourselves, especially as entrepreneurs.  We see the vision and create systems that we think will support us when we have fully manifested the vision.  HOWEVER, we have no idea what systems we will actually need when we have fully manifested the vision.  I’ve done this.  I’ve seen colleagues and clients do this.  We want the world to think we are Rock Stars, without us knowing how to sing, or how to book a gig, or how to play an instrument.

    I was listening to a podcast where a serial entrepreneur was asked about the systems he created for the many businesses he built and sold.  His response was something like this, “We create systems for the details, to make sure calls get made, we sell something, we get out there.  As we grow it becomes apparent where we need systems to sustain our growth and we build them as we go.”  He was a super creative entrepreneur with a system for building and selling businesses, and he brought on people to help identify the systems within the businesses he built before going public.

    Most entrepreneurs as not there yet, so guess what?  Focus on creating systems around the things that you value in your business.  If you value sales, create a system.  If you value depth of relationship with your empire, create a system for that.  YOU get to decide what is important to your business.  Having a system ensures that the things that are important to you are taken care of.

    Challenge #2 is Not Understanding The Consciousness Of Systems

    This challenge is the complete opposite of the first challenge.   If you don’t understand what systems can do for your business, you might dismiss them when you are just starting out and try to build your business without any systems at all.

    I remember doing this as a young mother who was still somewhat of a rebel.   I had a new born baby and didn’t want to be tied down to the house with systems and times for everything that would limit me in any way, so I didn’t have ANY systems.  And things got out of hand pretty fast.  It is amazing how chaotic things can get in a short time when there are not systems in place.  It only took a few months (yes, months) for me to figure out that my daughter had a natural 7:30pm bed time and if I wasn’t at home putting her in bed by 7:15 she screamed the next 3 hours.   I soon learned that I had a small window of opportunity to get her in bed with ease or she would fight sleep for 3 hours straight.   I learned quickly that having a system didn’t take away from my free time, they actually expanded it!   

    It goes deeper than this to really understand systems.

    So what is the consciousness of a system?

    When I think of consciousness, I think of awareness and the relationship between the parts.  So being conscious or having self-consciousness means that you are aware of the relationship between your thoughts, feelings, actions, and the results that you intend.  If you have God-Consciousness you have awareness of your relationship with God.  The consciousness of your business is the awareness of the relationship between your business, your life, and those you serve through your busienss.

    The conscousness of a system is the awareness the system has of the relationship that happens within the parts of a system.   I believe there is a consciousness or a relationship that wants to emerge between all things.   The purpose of a system is to move the energy through your busienss.    The consciousness of a system would be the awareness within the system itself that is has the purpose of moving energy.  What energy am I referring to?  The energy of money.  The energy of creation and production.   A system that works has a structure and steps that when taken in sequence move enery from one form to another.   A successful sales system moves the energy of prospects into the energy of buyers.    Systems are all about the movement of energy.

    Many luminaries hesitate to create systems because they feel they are soulless, however when you think of systems in terms of consciousness of the energy moving through your business, you can easily see where you can benefit from having a system.   Think of where the energy (Money, clients, referrals, etc) are stuck in your business, then look to create a system that helps the energy flow.

    I’m great at helping others identify what systems are needed for where they are in their business.   I have a sixth sense about the movement of energy in all types of business.  However I still need help identifying systems that will help me at home.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t blessed with a lot of domestic desires or skills, so I’m always on the look out for new ideas and new systems to keep the energy moving in our home to support the family’s growth and expansion.

    What Does This Have To Do With The Work Of Self-Appreciation?

    I’m so glad you asked!

    We can’t create systems until we appreciate what they do to help support our lives and our business.  Well, you can, but the system will be full of un-aligned energy which only lowers the frequencies of the energy that moves through it.  And you want to raise the vibration of the energy that moves through your system.

    Systems are one of the most self-loving, self-appreciating things we have in our lives.  You have a system for brushing your teeth each day, becuase you love taking care of your oral hygeine.  Add a bit of conscious awareness to brushing your teeth and appreciate yourself for taking care of your teeth and gums so beautifully.  With more consciousness, the more attention to add to the act of brushing, the more attention you add to brushing, the more you feel the benefits of brushing your teeth, the more you are aware of the relationship between you, your toothbrush, the toothpaste, the water, everything.

    In life the system is there to support the relationship between you and what you are doing, by adding the value of increased energy and higher and higher frequencies that are easier to maintain.    Having systems is so self-loving and self-appreciating because they assist you in raising your vibration and embody new versions of yourself.

    The same is true for business systems, they support the business by adding the value of increased energy and higher frequencies to the business that are easier to maintain.  The support the evolution of your business.

    If the system isn’t increasing the energy of the the system by trasmuting it from a lower vibration to a higher vibration, then the system is not worth the time or money to implement.

    What do you think?   Do you know where your business could benefit from a new system?

    Hint:  A Social Media System is only successful if it moves energy to a definite end.

     

  • Happy Valentine’s Day

    Happy Valentine’s Day

    Happy Valentine'sDay

    Valentine’s Day is the day you open your heart to yourself and your desires.

    Most people are living out other people’s expectations and doing what they think they should be doing instead of discovering what they really and truly want to do for themselves.

    True self-love and deep appreciation for yourself starts by exploring the desires of your heart. I’m not talking about the physical desires to get something or have something from someone else.  True desires come from an inner yearning to BE something, to BE yourself and to know what that means to you, not how other peole believe you are.

    Real worthiness to be loved comes from your courage to love yourself first so you feel the freedom that comes from BEING YOU.

    Happy Valentine’s Day!

  • Stop Trying To Figure This Out

    Stop Trying To Figure This Out

    Dearest Luminary Entrepreneur,  The hardest thing you’ll ever do is to stop trying to fix it. (whatever “it” is.) There is nothing to fix, or figure out. Your expansion and alignment come from being at peace with where you are. Feel yourself feel those feelings. Transmute the thoughts of “I should be farther along than this!” to “Look how far I’ve come!”

    Please, stop trying to figure out what is wrong with you. There is NOTHING wrong with you. I appreciate you. The only work you need to do is appreciate yourself. And when the ego says, “I could never do that!” That is when you dive deep and learn to appreciate yourself the most. In ALL of my years of learning, praying, growing, studying, mastering the mind, writing, then teaching, and training, and coaching, and speaking, and creating, NOTHING has made as big of an impact on my life than the work of self-appreciation. This is not just true for me, it is true for the people I’ve shared the sacred art of self-appreciation with. You can’t own your greatness until you accept and appreciate yourself where you are.

    There is a lot of talk about ‘gratitude,’ however I’ve found that gratitude misses the mark for me and I practed gratitude (still do to some extent) consistently for 10 years. Gratitude says, “Thanks for being in my life. I like having you here.” Appreciation says, “I see the VALUE in your presence in my life. I get you. You increase who I am.” Discovering the value of yourself is the work of self-appreciation. You don’t see it all at once, however when you practice appreciating yourself daily, through writing, sharing with others how you appreciate yourself, you release all of the “shoulds” in your life and you find your authentic desires. The law of desire sets in an you can’t help but grow with more ease and grace. You have more faith in your direction, a clearer mind, an open heart, and you become aware that everything you’ve been looking for is right there inside of you all the time.

    I hear you asking for help to find what is broken in you. The only thing that is broken is your ability to love and appreciate yourself.

    You think your abilty to manifest is broken? No, just your ability to appreciate yourself. You think your confidence is broken? No, just your ability to authentically appreciate yourself. You think your relationship is broken? No, just your ability to appreciate yourself. You think your finances are broken? Appreciate yourself!   YOU are your point of attraction. YOU are the center of YOUR universe. YOU are the light you seek. YOU are not and never have been broken.

    I know there is nothing I can do to convince you that BIG changes come from this simple practice. You just have to try it for yourself. And let me know how the work of self-appreciation works for you.

  • Consciousness of a Mastermind Group

    Consciousness of a Mastermind Group

    “Dawn I enjoyed your comments at our meeting, especially your comment about the founding fathers of our country being a mastermind group, I agree.  Perhaps you could elaborate on their actions and the sacrifices they made.”  D.S.


    I’m in deep appreciation for all that our Founding Fathers had to do to birth this great nation we live in where freedom and the pursuit of happiness are the container that they created for us to fill as we wish.

    Your questio    n is about the action and sacrifices they made and I hope my answer adds more understanding to a mastermind group that is living in a world that was molded by the Desire for more freedom for all.

    Our founding fathers lived in an environment that was threatening to their sense of freedom and with every action they took they had to embody their own inner independence in order for them to experience independence as a nation. This is really important to note. They sacrificed their ‘ego-self’ for the love of independence of generations to come.

    Our current environment is one where each of us has the freedom to pursue happiness and freedom in so many different ways. We can choose to help others in as many ways as we can imagine. We no longer have an environment of oppression only the energetic memory of oppression that we project onto the world when we are not owning our own freedom to be who we truly are. (Note to self:  Read this again a few times and let it sink into your heart.)

    Each of our founding fathers had to sacrifice who they were as members of British Coloines to become who they truly were as an Independent Nation. They had to move forward and find their individual answers to their deepest questions of what does it mean for “me” to have my sovereignty.

    Our founding fathers created the environment and consciousness that we now live in.  Any mastermind we participate in now is creating an environment and a consciousness for those in the group to embody.   Our willingness to OWN the expanded consciousness that is created within the mastermind group and help others just by being the expanded version of ourselves and own our personal freedom is the only action we are required to “do” as we move from one moment to another.

    The Mastermind is like the collective Will, it creates a new environment and consciousness for a new level of freedom and consciousness to emerge.

    I love the sacrifieces our Founding Fathers made but we don’t have to sacrifice in the same way they did. However many of us do and have sacrificed so much to become who we are. We have let go of the past, burned bridges, etc. to be free in our own way.  

  • How to Prepare for Success

    How to Prepare for Success

    How to prepare for success?

    Have you ever wondered why success looks so easy to a small select few and the masses seem to struggle to get by?

    Those few people seem to expect success no matter what they do.

    Do you want to know their secret…

    They prepare to succeed, by mastering the only thing on earth that can be mastered, …the self, and more specifically, the mind.

    When I was young, my dad would take me for long drives along the waterfront, and we would drive through the most exclusive neighborhoods.    He would point to the million dollar estates and say, “Dawn, if you want to be successful in life, find out what these people do and do it!”  He was a doer and the only way he could imagine the owners of the big houses getting there was by doing something different than he did.

    As I grew older, I wanted to know more about what people did to become successful.  I soon found out that they were not all doctors and lawyers or engineers with advanced degrees as I had been told.   They were artists, authors, a plumber, and a woman whose husband died and left her with nothing and she did what she knew how to do, she baked!  And she baked her way to the big house on the water.   I was young, and it made a huge impact on me to see that these people were just like I was.  They were curious, creative, and full of possibility.   Eventually, I realized if I wanted to be successful, I had to find out what successful people think and then spend the rest of my life aligning my thoughts with those thoughts.   The real magic for me was learning not to think like them, but learning to think for myself.

    In order to be successful we must think of ourself as successful.

    And still few of us know how to change our thoughts so we can prepare ourselves for continuous growth and success.

    Learning how to think so your thoughts guide your feelings and your actions is the most important thing you can do for yourself. You do this by developing your mind.

    “…your mind is equipped with mental muscles, just as yourbody is equipped with physical muscles. You already know how to develop your body’s physical muscles through exercise to develop your mind, you need to develop your “mental muscles,” which are your “intellectual faculties.” excerpt from 7 Keys to Freedom: The Ultimate Guide to Developing the Mind

    Think of your ability to think as the ultimate tool box to help you succeed regardless of the circumstances, situations, or events in your life.  Regardless of the people you come in contact with.

    You have the power to form and mold your mind to match whatever reality you choose to create.  That is the power of thinking purposefully, powerfully, and joyfully.

    The only thing you have exclusive control over in your life is the way you think.

    Start now, develop your mind and prepare to succeed.

    You’ll be surprised by all the wonderful benefits you’ll discover once you do!

    Visit the paperback or kindle version of 7 Keys to Freedom: The Ultimate Guide to Developing The Mind here on Amazon.com.

    Until next time,

    BE Grateful, Think BIG, Take INSPIRED Action, and ENJOY the Journey!

  • Let Freedom Ring

    Let Freedom Ring

    It seems lately I’m obsessed! I’m obsessed with freedom in all forms.

    Last week, I took a road trip to Philadelphia and the theme for me was freedom.

    My husband will tell you that my theme has always been freedom.  It is what it is.

    I value freedom above, pretty much everything.  Which is why I get so excited when someone I know pursues a crazy dream or makes a wild purchase that makes no sense to anyone but them.  This is why I get excited when I hear of a neighbor taking a line dancing class, or a stay at home mom learning to scuba dive, just because she wants to.

    Freedom is that internal ring that lies deep inside your heart that says,  “Sing! Dance!”

    What do you do to let freedom ring in your life?

  • So What Do You Want?

    So What Do You Want?

    The One Question You Need to Ask Yourself Often, “So What Do I Want?”

    Life is wonderful! The kids are back in school and my time is truly mine for the first time in 11 years. Up until now, I have been working early mornings, late nights, and have had a few coaching calls during the day when I could count on an hour of peace here and there. Now that I have all this free time, I needed to ask myself this one question before moving forward, “So, what do I want?” For me it is simple, I want to help as many people achieve their goals as possible in the most efficient manner possible. This one question sets my course.

    But what happens when you don’t know what you want?

    Get busy deciding what you do want! One of the reasons why many people don’t get what they want is because they haven’t defined it. There are so many options out there, it is a wonder we can make up our mind about anything. Many people don’t make up their mind, they let other people decide for them! Don’t let this happen to you, be decisive. Practice making decisions by asking yourself honestly, “What do I want?”

    Switch your focus from what you don’t want to what you do want.

    Most of the time when people are in a negative state of mind or not feeling up to par, they have been focusing on what they don’t want more than on what they do want. Stop for a moment and ask yourself, “How do I feel?” If you feel good, you are probably focusing on what you want. Congratulations!

    If you feel bad, you might want to make a shift and focus on what you want.

    Get Clear on What You Want

    Getting clear on what you want from life is a process. It requires you to know yourself more deeply than your current understanding. I have included a journaling exercise that should help you get clear on what you want in the major areas of your life, that way, you will know where you are heading and feel good along the way!

    EXERCISE:
    Get your journal or a blank sheet of paper and at the top write “Finances” and draw a line down the middle. At the top of one side write, “I Don’t’ Want” and on the top of the other side write, “I Do Want.” and just write. Write everything that comes to your mind about what you don’t like and about what you do like. When you are finished with it, take your “Don’t Want’s” and turn them into “Do Wants”. For example, if you wrote, “I don’t want to retire broke,” cross it out and write, “I do want to retire financially free.” The goal is to have a long list of things you do want. “I want a net worth of…” “I want to buy a…”

    Now that you have done it with your finances, write your wants for your relationships, your environment, your work/career, your service to others, and don’t forget your body.

    Spend time getting to know what you want from life and watch in amazement as those things start appearing in your life!