Each year I put together the annual calendar that some think is pretty cool and others get a laugh from it. The Victorious Woman Project, of [...]]]> It’s been eight years since I submitted the paperwork to get International Victorious Woman Month included in the “most comprehensive and authoritative” reference book, McGraw-Hill’s Chase’s Calendar of Events.

Each year I put together the annual calendar that some think is pretty cool and others get a laugh from it. The Victorious Woman Project, of which I’m the founder, sponsors a writing contest and a networking event that grows each year; since 2011, it’s been a fundraiser.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that others around the globe are celebrating International Victorious Woman Month. Just last year, thanks to an alert, I found out that a woman in Africa received an award from her community and a Brooklyn New York business woman was honored for her service, both in honor of Victorious Woman Month.

Victorious Woman Month is a great time to stop and recognize your victories – those times when you stretched out of your comfort zone and did something that helped you become that greater, fuller expression of the wonderful woman – the Victorious Woman – you are, have always been, and will be more of in the future.

Happy Victorious Woman Month!

When I finally spoke up, it felt scary but good; I kept going. When I first [...]]]> Being a “recovering good girl” has given me an interesting perspective. While I wasn’t particularly subdued at home, I was shy and quiet outside the home. And, no matter where I was, I had the need to please.

When I finally spoke up, it felt scary but good; I kept going. When I first stood up for myself with an abusive sibling (in my twenties!), it was exhausting but powerful; I kept doing it until I felt safe.

Finding your voice can take a long time because it’s woven together with finding your SELF. Maybe that’s why I so like the wisdom of this quote by author Shannon L. Alder:

“Putting a voice to your soul helps you to let go of the negative energy of fear and regret.”

1. Speak not with a forked tongue: Act like someone who deserves to be trusted

2. Get personal: Let people know who you are (see also my article on building rapport)

3. Get specific: Make [...]]]> Forbes.com posted this article by Mike Myatt last spring. Here are his “top ten secrets” with my quickie summaries:

1. Speak not with a forked tongue: Act like someone who deserves to be trusted

2. Get personal: Let people know who you are (see also my article on building rapport)

3. Get specific: Make your words clear and concise. Eliminate the chance for ambiguity. As one of my teachers used to say, “forget the peas and potatoes, just give me the meat.”

4. Focus on the leave-behinds not the take-aways: Think about what the other person needs and wants and not just your agenda.

5. Have an open mind: It’s OK if people disagree and challenge you. Learn how to have a healthy debate. It’s the way you get to stretch yourself.

6. Shut-up and listen: this is the one that reminds us we have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

7. Replace ego with empathy: Listen to needs and disagreements with your heart. If you understand where the other person is coming from, you

8. Read between the lines: Understand what isn’t said AND what isn’t said. We miss a lot that’s implied or presumed.

9. When you speak, know what you’re talking about: No fudging about what you know and how much of it you know. You can’t BS with your expertise and get away with it forever.

10. Speak to groups as individuals: “Knowing how to work a room and establish credibility, trust, and rapport are keys to successful interactions.”

Read the whole article at Forbes.com: Ten Communication Secrets of Great Leaders

Event Date: June 6 Cost: $35.00

You’ve heard about the Law of Attraction for creating the life you want. Now it’s time to get busy and start using it. Vision Boards are powerful tools for [...]]]> Event Date: June 6
Cost: $35

Learn how to Use Vision Boards to
Create the Life of Your Dreams

Event Date: June 6
Cost: $35.00

You’ve heard about the Law of Attraction for creating the life you want. Now it’s time to get busy and start using it. Vision Boards are powerful tools for that can magnetize your personal and professional goals, reinventing your life or getting that “one thing” – car, house, lover – you dream about having.
This webinar is both informative and FUN!

Why Wait?
Start attracting the life of your dreams now!

In this one-hour webinar, will you learn:

• What a Vision Board is and how it works
• Kinds of Vision Boards
• How to avoid common Vision Board mistakes
• The most effective ways to use a Vision Board for Success

Register Now!

Event Date: June 6
Cost: $35.00

NOTE: All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time (Philadelphia PA)
Convert time to your location here: International Time Converter

Does your life SIZZLE with Satisfaction or feel like it’s wilting away, day by day?

Author and Victory Coach Annmarie Kelly will show you:

It’s the same thing with profiles on networking [...]]]> Between facebook, twitter and texting, we sometimes think that sound bites, shared links, winks and 140 character tweets are communication. But while clever phrases and social media quickies can convey an update or a sentiment (or a snipe), they do nothing to make a real connection.

It’s the same thing with profiles on networking sites. Reading some carefully crafted description of someone is like reading a product description for new software – you learn about functionality but can’t tell if you’ll like it. You won’t really get a feel for the program – or the person – until you interact with it.

That’s where your real communication skills come into play. Communication enables you to develop rapport. That means you have a feeling for and about the other person that is marked by harmony, conformity, affinity. Rapport’s synonyms include fellowship, camaraderie, and understanding.

In my life I notice rapport happens easily when I take walks with people. There’s something about walking next to somebody for a few miles that is a natural rapport-builder. Rapport also happens fast when I meet someone from Havertown, where I grew up. When we talk about the scrumptious smells that wafted through the air in the blocks around the old Bubble Gum factory at 5 o’clock and how we still miss Weinberg’s in the Manoa Shopping Center, we connect at a level that could take longer with someone else.

You can build rapport around travel, music, certain kinds of books, ideology, common interests, common problems, food and hundreds of other things. The secret is in your ability to find that one thing, that bridge that leads to rapport. And sometimes that one thing can be a shared love of social media. But social media itself…it just doesn’t do the trick.

Without real communication you don’t have rapport. Without rapport, you don’t have connection. Without connection, relationships are empty and meaningless. Being in rapport will make you feel safe enough to listen to each other and trust that you can resolve a conflict when you disagree. Rapport is the glue that helps us stick together.

So, if you aren’t happy with something that’s going on with the people in your life or career and you want to interact more effectively in the workplace, or be a good leader, or have better relationships with your loved ones and friends, find that one place of common ground, talk about it face to face, and use it to build rapport.

Is your life SAVVY or sappy?

Does your life SIZZLE with Satisfaction or feel like it’s wilting away, day by day?

Author and Victory Coach Annmarie Kelly will show you:

Margaret Thatcher 1991

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of England, died today of a stroke at 87.

When she was first elected to office in 1979, I was old enough to notice but young enough not to pay much attention to anything political. Thatcher was the first woman and longest serving Prime Minister [...]]]>

Margaret Thatcher 1991

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of England, died today of a stroke at 87.

When she was first elected to office in 1979, I was old enough to notice but young enough not to pay much attention to anything political. Thatcher was the first woman and longest serving Prime Minister of Great Britain. She was staunchly and unapologetically conservative, yet challenged the status quo of her own party. She transformed her country with policies which, as one commentator put it today, “put the GREAT back in Great Britain.” She was often criticized, especially for her foreign policies. And Thatcher heard a lot of trash-talk. She was called everything from (affectionately) Maggie to (mockingly) Attila the Hen. The nickname that stuck was The Iron Lady.

After leaving office in 1990, Margaret Thatcher was active on the speaking circuit until she retired about 10 years ago. She was widowed in 1993 after fifty years of marriage. The once Iron Lady became frail through her last years when age and dementia took its toll.

I’ve come to admire what she did and how she did it. Margaret Thatcher ignored her numerous, vociferous critics as she stood up for what she believed was right for her country; I guess she let the results speak for themselves. Thatcher’s legacy includes many interesting quotes. I didn’t like some of them but this one makes me smile: “If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.” However, my favorite Margaret Thatcher quote is one that spouses a philosophy that I learned in my twenties. I believe it embraces life, promotes personal growth and tickles the law of attraction.

“Watch your thoughts for they become words.
Watch your words for they become actions.
Watch your actions for they become habits.
Watch your habits for they become your character.
And watch your character for it becomes your destiny.
What we think, we become.”

May we each have a bit of The Iron Lady as we victory our way to our own successes!