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BRIDGING THE GAP - Simple strategies for moving from desires to
results
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ISSN 1948-1489
August 27, 2009
Volume 1, Issue 11
Published on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays by Cindy Hillsey and Virtual
Partnering. 

Please add cindy@virtualpartnering.com to your whitelist or address
book in your email program, so you won't have any trouble receiving
future issues.


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A NOTE FROM CINDY
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Hi ,

The waning days of August. I can feel fall in the air here in
West Michigan. I would rather be outside laying on the grass
watching the clouds float by! I will get a chance to do just that
in a few weeks. My mom is coming to visit for 10 days in
September. I plan to take most of that time off, enjoy the time
with her, and the fall weather. I hope you are enjoying your last
few weeks of August.

Do you find yourself spending time looking for resources to help
you in your business? If so, take a look at my Resource Guide. It
has everything you need to help you in your business, and has
been recently updated. The Guide now has over 800 clickable
links. For only $37 (I decided to keep the introductory price),
you can save yourself some time and money by not having to hunt
high and low for these resources. Also, updates are FREE to those
who purchase the Guide.  Click here
[http://www.virtualpartnering.com/ebook] to purchase your Guide
today.

A big welcome to those of you who are new subscribers. I'm
excited to have you on board with me!


To your success,

Cindy 

I would love to connect with you via the following:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cindyhillsey
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cindyhillsey
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/cindyhillsey

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FEATURE ARTICLE
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Fear and How to Move Through It
by Cindy Hillsey

You may remember when you signed up for this ezine being asked a
question. I've been gathering your responses over the past 6
months (there is a method to my madness!), and I've found three
large over-arching themes. Over the next three (3) ezines, I'm
going to be discussing these themes. Today we'll start with
Fear.

Believe it or not, the word "fear" appears in over 40% of the
answers I've received! Fear of failure, fear of success, and
fear of staying in the same place. That's an awful lot of fear.
All of us are aware of what fear does to us. Fear blocks us from
doing what we know we can do, and many times what we want to do.
It inhibits us. Makes us timid. Clouds our judgement. That's
not a very pleasant list to look at, is it?

So how do we move beyond this thing called fear? The first step
is to look at the fear from a distance (dispassionately). By
doing this, the fear begins to shrink to its appropriate size.
The second step is to express that fear either out loud to
yourself, your cat, or another person. That, too, shrinks the
fear. Many times just hearing the fear allows us to more
effectively deal with it. The third step is to confront the fear,
thereby dissolving it.

The most common fear is the fear of failure. If we take this
common fear and put it through the above three steps what would
it look like? I'll use myself as an example, ok? (I heard you
all breathe a sigh of relief that I didn't pick you! *wink*)

When I was setting up ChatsOnDemand.com
[http://www.chatsondemand.com] (COD), I thought to myself what if
this doesn't work (fear of failure)? I took a step back from
the situation and took another look at what I wanted to do with
COD, and instead of looking through fear-based eyes, I looked at
it through confident eyes. At that point, I realized my fear had
a large ego-component attached to it (it was, after all, MY
idea). The other thing I realized was that my fear was irrational
- there was no basis for being afraid. So what if I did fail? I
would learn something in the process that would help me when I
tried again.

The second step was to go to Michael (husband) and Miko (cat) to
voice my fear about COD. Would it work? Would anyone use it? Why
would they use it? Will it be successful? By asking these
questions out loud, I felt the fear diminish a little more, and
the questions began to sound more like "how can I make this work"
rather than "will this work?" (I want you to know Miko agreed
with me on all counts. LOL).

The third step, which was easier after the first two steps, was
to look directly at the fear and realize that my fear was nothing
more than a normal concern and a "gut-check" to review my
objectives and methods. I realized at this point it was the
irrational component that was the real block. In realizing this,
I found it very easy to now be able to move forward.

The fear of success is as prevalent as the fear of failure. It,
too, deserves the three-step treatment. Unfortunately, this is
one of the more overlooked fears, as most people think this is
counter-intuitive.

The fear of staying in the same place is the other side of the
fear of being passed by. In both cases, putting them through the
three-step process has the additional benefit of often suggesting
the methods and ways to prevent being stuck, i.e., staying in the
same place.

In the next ezine, I'll talk about the theme of being
"overwhelmed."

Want to comment on this article? Have a thought to share? If so,
you can  post it on my blog
[http://www.virtualpartnering.com/vp-blog].

Are you ready to hire a coach? Want to explore the possiblities?
If you would like to schedule a 20-minute pre-qualifying call,
please email me at cindy@virtualpartnering.com
[mailto:cindy@virtualpartnering.com],

or

If you just need that quick 30-minute laser coaching session,
head over to www.chatsondemand.com [http://www.chatsondemand.com]
and get signed up! "Chat" with you soon.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You are free to use material from the Bridging the Gap ezine as
long as you include complete attribution, including live website
link. The attribution should read: "By Cindy Hillsey of Virtual
Partnering. Please visit www.virtualpartnering.com
(http://www.virtualpartnering.com) for additional
information."

==========================================
CINDY RECOMMENDS
==========================================
Below are some of the products and services I've used in my
business. I highly recommend each of them without hesitation.
Please check them out and see how they can benefit you and your
business!

Internet Resources for the Busy Entrepreneur!
(http://www.virtualpartnering.com/ebook) - 
This Guide provides 800+ useful websites broken down into 10 
different sections and is designed specifically for those who 
work on-line.

Practice Pay Solutions
(http://www.profcs.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=896220) - You need a
merchant account so your clients can pay by credit card. I use
these guys.

Data Deposit Box
(http://www.datadepositbox.com/?friend=2e943f801180) - Online
backup. Remember, it's not if but when your computer will fail.
They've saved my bacon a few times.

AWeber 
(http://aweber.com/?307586) - I use them for my ezine and for
autoresponders. Highly recommend them.
 
Ali Brown 
(http://www.netofficetoolbox.com/app/?af=891446) - The Ezine Queen.
If you are looking for help on how to put out an
ezine, Ali wrote the ebook!

Robert Middleton 
(http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=893311) -
He's a Marketing Guru. Excellent information on marketing, and how
to put together a website that sells. 

Alicia Forest 
(http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=875837) - Want to learn how
to attract more clients, create profit-making products and
services, and make more sales? Take a look and see if she can help
you!

VA Classroom
Are you a VA who wants to learn more about Internet Marketing or
Social Media for your clients? If so, check these guys out.
Excellent materials at an affordable cost. They offer Certified
Internet Marketing VA training
(http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?A=148)and
Social Media Marketing Specialist
training.(http://www.vaclassroom.com/socialmarketing/cmd.asp?af=9462
87)

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ABOUT CINDY
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I am a Small Business Specialist Coach, and I *love* to work with
Virtual Assistants, Coaches, and other Solopreneurs who are either
in the start-up stage or have been in business a few years. As the
founder of Virtual Partnering, my passion is to be: able to
brainstorm with you on those terrific ideas, a mentor/coach who has
been there and knows what you are going through, someone you can
strategize with in a safe place, and keep you accountable while
simultaneously moving forward toward your goals.

Have questions, or just want to reach out to me?
cindy@virtualpartnering.com (mailto:cindy@virtualpartnering.com)
877-215-5661

Thanks for reading! If you know someone who could benefit from
Bridging The Gap, feel free to forward it to them. We always
appreciate your referrals! 

Not a subscriber yet? Sign up to get future issues delivered
straight to you.
http://www.virtualpartnering.com


(c)2009 Cindy Hillsey and Virtual Partnering. All rights reserved.