Kathleen Cameron, entrepreneur, author, and coach, discusses the transformative impact of manifestation and how changing your mindset can help you live a life of meaning.
Tell us about yourself:
I’m a registered nurse by background. At the peak of my nursing career, I was working as a director in health-care administration, but I felt like there was more for me. I kept seeing these women entrepreneurs who were running a business while still being home with their kids, and here I was, commuting for an hour and sitting in meetings all day. So I decided to start a digital marketing company and began developing my social media and branding myself. And that company grew so much that I was able to quit my nursing career in June 2019.
Then in September of that year, I learned about manifestation from Bob Proctor, who I believe is one of the all-time greatest teachers on human potential. He taught me about the law of attraction, which states that your thoughts tangibly impact the people and opportunities your energy attracts. I began to write down things I wanted—and, amazingly, they would happen. For instance, I noted that I desired to be a best-selling author, and then somebody asked me to write a chapter in a book. I did, and the book became a bestseller. After that, my life just exploded and my business doubled.
I soon began talking about what I learned from Proctor on social media; from there, everything naturally switched over to teaching others about manifestation. And the more I taught it, the more I embodied it. In January 2020, I launched my coaching business, Diamond Academy Coaching Inc., generating a million dollars in revenue within seven months. We did 3.3 million total in that first year, and now four years in, we’re approaching 30 million. I’ve also gone on to write two books of my own, Becoming the One and The Best of Yourself, which just came out in January.
What is manifestation?
Manifestation is all about becoming aware of a version of yourself that has always existed but that you probably just haven’t experienced yet. This involves considering what kind of life you want. What experiences do you yearn for? What are you putting on your vision board? As you work to answer those questions, you have to think about who you need to be in order to manifest those dreams. I help people figure out what their ideal life is, and then they do the personal growth and development required to make it a reality. Such a permanent change has the power to transform someone’s entire life, which is something I think everyone can benefit from experiencing.
What are some ways of manifesting your ideal life?
A lot of manifestation is transforming your personal identity, specifically the way you think about yourself. That narrative has a profound impact on the actions you take. If you change your perspective of yourself for the good, you will begin to see your life differently as well. And the more identity work you do, the more transformation you’ll experience in all areas of your life. In fact, you will actually physically start to manifest positive effects like better relationships, more money, success, and business growth, and even improved health.
One key component of this is embodiment. It’s not enough to just read about manifestation—you must put it into practice. In The Best of Yourself, I end each chapter with a journal prompt to challenge people to live what they’re reading. The act of journaling can help you embody the information you’re taking in and start to know it through experience.
I’ve found that the things we value will often grow as a result of us giving them a loving energy—and vice versa. If a client expressed any disappointment or frustration about their business or job, for example, I’d advise them to stop judging it by what they’re unhappy with and instead look at how much they’ve gained from it. How has it grown over the years? What successes have they already had? What are they thankful for about it today? When they look at their situation with love, they can then begin to manifest and attract even more good things they can be grateful for.
How can others begin to change their perspectives?
It’s really about finding yourself first: who you are, what brings you joy, what you’re good at, and what you’re passionate about. When you do that, you may end up finding your life’s true meaning. For instance, I have a client who’s a real estate agent, meaning she helps people buy and sell houses. And for years, that’s exactly what she said she did. But then the other day, she reached out to me and told me that she’d found her meaning—to help make peoples’ dreams come true. She said that a house is often the number one thing on someone’s vision board, and when their current home no longer fits their dreams, she assists them in finding a new one that does. The thing is, this meaning and purpose were always there for her; she just wasn’t aware of them.
Instead of trying to find the meaning of life in the grand sense, I think we have to find the specific meaning of our individual lives. For me, it’s teaching people and supporting them in their own ascensions. Discovering this meaning added a whole facet of enjoyment, pleasure, and power to my life that I’d never had before. Without it, I had questioned what all of it was for, and now I have something to hold on to. My meaning has given me a passion. It’s given me a purpose. And when times get tough, it’s allowed me to hang on, have hope, and keep moving forward.
For more info, visit kathleencameronofficial.com
TAKE ACTION:
Write down one or two dreams for yourself and your business, and determine how changing your perspective may help you achieve them.
Every business faces its own set of risks, making having the proper insurance coverage an absolute necessity. Regardless of the type of business you own, it can potentially mitigate the costs of damages and lawsuits, safeguarding the livelihood you’ve invested significant time, effort, and money into building and maintaining.
Because there are many ways to configure your insurance coverage, you may need more than one policy, and the ones you choose will depend on factors such as your industry and number of employees. Here are some of the most common options to review with a licensed insurance agent to get a better sense of which may suit your needs best.
BOP is essentially the umbrella policy for business property and general liability insurance, both of which can help protect your business from financial loss due to various events. Each of these coverages can also be purchased as separate policies as desired.
Business property/hazard insurance
Although many states do not require businesses to carry hazard insurance, it is still an essential policy to have since it may cover the replacement costs for equipment and inventory due to theft, fire, wind, lightning, or other natural disasters. (If you’re a home-based business, be aware that your private homeowners insurance may not provide enough coverage for these events.)
General liability insurance (GLI)
GLI, also known as business liability insurance, provides coverage for claims made against you. These could involve allegations of bodily harm, property damage, reputational harm, privacy violations, or advertising injury like copyright infringement.
This policy operates as business interruption insurance, aiming to compensate for lost income in the event of a temporary closure caused by an incident that hinders your business’s ability to operate, such as theft or fire, smoke, or water damage. The coverage lends financial support to pay your mortgage or rent, taxes, or other loan payments until you’re able to reopen.
You should consider obtaining a commercial auto policy if your company utilizes company-owned or leased vehicles driven by employees, if an employee uses their personal vehicle for business purposes on behalf of your company, or if you frequently need to rent a car for business-related activities. An especially valuable coverage to get is personal injury protection, which covers accidents irrespective of fault. For instance, should an employee accidentally injure someone in a car accident while driving the company car, your insurance may assist in paying for any medical bills.
Your business is at greater risk of being hacked if it handles sensitive data like credit cards, health records, or other personal customer information. Data breach insurance acts as a safety net for your company should any of this data be stolen or lost. It may cover crucial expenses like investigations, credit monitoring for victims, or legal defense against possible lawsuits, helping protect your business’s financial well-being and reputation.
While not mandatory, EPLI can potentially mitigate significant out-of-pocket costs due to lawsuits filed against you or your company by job candidates or current or former employees. Such grievances could include allegations of sex, age, or race discrimination, harassment, or wrongful termination.
Smaller or newer businesses in particular should strongly consider getting EPLI; because they lack the in-house legal support and comprehensive employee handbooks common in larger corporations, they often face increased vulnerability to legal claims. This policy could help them surmount the financial challenges associated with securing legal representation should it be needed.
Also known as errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, this type of policy provides coverage if you’re taken to court over alleged mistakes or negligence in your professional services. For instance, a client may sue you for misrepresentation, meaning they believe you gave information or advice that caused them financial loss or harm. An outside company could also sue you for an injury such as copyright infringement, claiming that your business used their protected work without permission. E&O insurance may assist with legal fees, settlements, and other expenses in any of these instances.
Most state laws require businesses to have workers’ compensation insurance for work-related injuries or illnesses. These policies help pay for some of the employee’s lost wages, medical care, and ancillary services that assist in their recovery. In addition, the coverage may provide disability benefits for those in need of more time to recoup and contribute to an employee’s funeral expenses as applicable.
Providing a safety net for your company with business insurance is critical. It’s not just about financial protection—it’s about safeguarding your reputation, your employees, and the future of your business.
TAKE ACTION:
Contact a certified insurance agent, who can assist you in understanding and exploring the diverse array of plans to identify the ones that align with the needs of your business.
As a business professional, time is one of your most crucial resources. Managing it wisely can open many doors, while mishandling it can have dire consequences for both you and your company. Consider these benefits of effective time management along with some tips for strengthening yours.
Multitasking might seem like an effective way to conquer your tasks, but studies show that working on several projects simultaneously can hinder your performance. In fact, our brains can’t actually handle juggling multiple tasks at once—what we’re really doing is switching rapidly from activity to activity. This prevents us from being able to truly concentrate on any single one, ultimately slowing us down.
Instead, work on a single project at a time, carving out separate blocks of your day to do so. This will enable you to give each one your full attention, in turn helping you to complete more work and at a higher quality. Other useful strategies you can try to strengthen your focus include finding a quiet space to work, relegating activities like answering texts or emails to another period, and silencing notifications and other interruptions to create an optimal working environment.
Learning how to best use your work hours will allow you to finish tasks at a better rate, ensuring you don’t miss deadlines—and even helping you get ahead of them. The key is to prevent your duties from eating up too much of your schedule. As you set time slots for each one, put firm parameters on how many minutes you can spend on them. Otherwise, it may be too easy to become absorbed in minute and unnecessary details, frittering away your time needlessly. Be firm about when you need to move on, and reward yourself as you fulfill your daily responsibilities, such as by taking a few moments to refresh your cup of coffee.
By improving your efficiency, you’ll be more likely to reach your KPIs, enabling you to set new and greater standards for yourself. You can achieve this by carefully planning your objectives, mapping out the steps to achieve them, and scheduling when to work on them. This will show you exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it in order to perform optimally. If you find you have trouble completing all the items on your to-do list, evaluate how many minutes you’re spending on each one, saving this information in a spreadsheet or other document; you could also use a time-tracking app like Clockify or TimeCamp. Then examine the results, being sure to highlight areas where you’ve overinvested your resources—such an assessment can help you avoid focusing too much on any one task in the future so you can get more work accomplished.
Strengthening your time management skills can make it easier to stay on top of your deadlines and decrease, or even potentially eliminate, work-induced anxiety. The Eisenhower matrix, developed by former US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, is one excellent tool you can try. This method involves dividing your tasks into four quadrants: important/urgent, important/not urgent, not important/urgent, and not important/not urgent. Prioritize the items in the first quadrant, do the ones in the second later, delegate the ones in the third, and eliminate those in the fourth. By clearing your plate of distracting tasks that don’t immediately require your attention, you can feel more confident all the necessary work will get done, thus reducing your overall stress.
Wasted time can often result in additional adverse outcomes. For example, if the hours you put into your workdays don’t produce adequate results, you might fruitlessly log even more hours on the clock, forgoing important personal time. In contrast, if you adeptly manage your schedule, you may unearth beneficial moments for yourself—such as opportunities to get up from your desk periodically to stretch your muscles, enjoy a healthy lunch, or even take your vacation days. By stepping away from the office, you can gain the ability to refresh and recharge so you can return to your work with renewed vigor.
TAKE ACTION:
Track your time to discern how you’re spending it and how you can potentially use it more effectively.
The winter holidays are unquestionably the busiest shopping period of the year. Capital One estimates that each American holiday shopper spends about $620 every year on gifts alone, generating an enormous total revenue that’s projected to hit over one trillion dollars by 2030. Such jaw-dropping figures may rouse you to secure your piece of the holiday pie, and you certainly aren’t alone. Businesses in retail and hospitality often depend largely on this spending to buffer their year-round cash flow, and even those outside of timely industries may be eager to jump on this revenue train.
Of course, therein lies the challenge. With so many zealous competitors, how can you attract shoppers and ultimately end the final fiscal quarter with a substantial market share? The key is to strategize your marketing, finances, inventory, and workforce well in advance. Investing in these efforts now may help drive consumer excitement as the holiday season approaches and, in turn, generate record profits to move you into the new year with confidence.
Holiday promotions tend to break from the ordinary marketing schemes followed throughout the year—and in ways that extend beyond simply peppering in red ornaments and snowflake iconography. Primarily, you’ll want to pursue leads outside your typical consumer base for one core reason: gifting. Ahead of the holidays, consumers hunt for products that would appeal to their loved ones, neighbors, coworkers, and clients, which often means researching goods outside their personal shopping routines and what appears in their organic ads. For instance, Mary may prefer to splurge on home decor for herself, but looking for gifts for her in-laws may lead her to explore everything from spa packages and hotel rewards to landscaping tools and high-tech cleaning supplies.
Given the breadth of businesses consumers may be perusing, you may need to devise exceptional efforts to further the reach of your messaging and capture their attention. Consider featuring unique imagery or appealing verbiage that breaks the monotony of other “Save, Save, Save!” holiday ads they will encounter throughout these months. Reflect on what makes your brand unique and your products or services superior to your competitors’ offerings; this is fodder for crafting distinct and enticing marketing materials.
No matter what they’re buying or for whom, consumers will always seek great value, so when planning your marketing imagery and copy, aim to advertise discounted prices, a selection of clearance products, free gifts with a purchase, new loyalty-program rewards, or other potential savings. Prove your promotion gives them more for their money, and they may even be willing to buy outside their budget for it.
What if you don’t offer a gift-worthy product or service? Focus instead on demonstrating to your core audience that your offerings are especially valuable this time of year. For example, a financial advisor could turn to messaging such as “Review your budget now to stay on track for your 2025 goals.” In other words, convince your customers that even though they are focused on investing in holiday purchases, they should still set aside some funds for you too. As always, keep the need behind your marketing at the forefront of your messaging: How can you help your consumers feel happier, more secure, or at greater peace during the holidays?
Regardless of the target audience and focus of your marketing, begin game-planning it well ahead of the festive season. Storyboard social media videos, write email newsletters, design print-advertisement mailers, and brainstorm other omnichannel content. By starting the process of organizing competitive marketing campaigns now, you can arrive at a brilliant strategy by November—one that will appeal to a broad swath of the American public and warm up some fresh, cold leads. You may even wish to invest more in your present marketing to increase brand awareness ahead of the season; your holiday sales will seem more appealing if consumers have already become familiar with your business.
Naturally, these campaigns may stretch your standard marketing budget beyond the typical recommendations of between 2 and 5 percent of your revenue. According to Statista, retailers spent up to 40 percent more on average to advertise in December 2022 than in January 2023. To keep up with the competition, you may need to start prepping funds immediately for this drastic uptick in marketing spending, such as by setting aside revenue now. You could also weigh the benefits of opening lines of credit to support this investment.
You will likely need to budget for other expenses in advance of the holiday rush as well. Depending on your industry, this may involve increasing your spending on supply inventory and materials to produce a greater quantity of goods and keep up with consumer demand. Sure, it may sound appealing to create urgency with “Get it before it’s gone!” messaging, but failing to invest in these resources can essentially put a cap on your holiday revenue. Through top-notch promotion, you can create just as great a consumer rush without actually selling out of products.
The final and possibly most essential step to take ahead of holiday sales is building team motivation. Before you’re hit with a festive rush that may be more demanding on your personnel, remind them that each member is a vital component of your organization’s overall success and that by working cohesively, everyone can stand to benefit from a busier holiday season.
Try organizing team-building events like virtual game sessions to improve communication among team members, holding check-in huddles to boost morale, and setting challenging goals to reward top sellers or producers. As you update your marketing initiatives, share the exciting progress with your staff during meetings or in email announcements: “Check out the beautiful postcards our design team has mocked up for the upcoming holiday sale!” When you build internal engagement, you ensure each member of your workforce can help realize your organization’s revenue goals for the holidays.
TAKE ACTION:
Write up a strategy board that includes what you want to accomplish this holiday season and the steps you can take now to achieve these goals.
