• Shannon McCaffery
    Attitude,  Challenges,  Clients & Customers,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Mindset,  Motivation

    Aligning Your Work & Life with Your Deepest Values

    Let me tell you a quick story – (Adapted from Melody Beattie’s More Language of Letting Go.) Two monks were walking along the sidewalk during a heavy rainstorm. They came across a nicely dressed young woman stranded because she couldn’t cross the street without getting soaked.  One monk, without hesitation, picked her up and carried her over the puddles to the other side of the street. The other monk was furious that he did that. They have a vow of celibacy and not having contact with women. The monk who carried the woman replied: “I left that girl back on the corner. Are you still carrying her?”  At the heart…

  • Redefine success with your writing
    Attitude,  Challenges,  Coaching,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Mindset,  Motivation,  New Year

    Let’s Redefine your success in 2024: Insights, Connection, and Inspiration Await!

    And just like that – poof – it’s the New Year – Welcome 2024! How are you? How were your holidays? I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. I decided that this year, I would dig deep into the well of my experience and learning. I will pull out all the stops to inspire, encourage, and propel you to success, whatever that looks like for you. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure of what it will all look like over the next 12 months. I can promise you that it will be the most valuable stuff I’ve delivered to date. My focus is on Soulful Marketing principles (authenticity, engagement, and…

  • Balance,  Coaching,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Motivation

    Do You Measure the Gap?

    Something that’s been ingrained in me from my dad and my mentors has always been setting my goals for the year. The one thing that always tripped me up was how I measured my success. I always did that based on the goals I accomplished. Often, I found myself being perpetually dissatisfied with my progress because I wasn’t accomplishing all of them. Some of my goals just felt so big and too far away to achieve them. What I didn’t understand is that the problem wasn’t in my success at achieving the goals. The problem was how I measured them. The challenge is that you can be so busy looking at…

  • Attitude,  Balance,  Goals

    Let’s make a pact to stop doing this…

    I took on a very big launch project six weeks ago. It was for a company that I helped launch two of their other docuseries very successfully back in 2017 – 2018. They had a change in management and reached out to me for a relaunch project. It was one of those decisions I had to think about because I was moving away from big client launches and working on a one-to-many strategy by teaching many people how to create Successful Soulful marketing launches. Have you ever had to make a decision like that? I ended up thinking about it for a bit, then finally decided to do it for a couple…

  • Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Motivation,  Productivity

    How to set yourself up for success everyday

    It’s officially six months into the year. It’s half over, or as I like to look at it – there’s half the year left. 🙂 It’s also a terrific time to pause for a moment, reflect, and reevaluate where you are regarding your goals this year. The calls I’ve been on lately with clients have been focused on wanting guidance to boost their productivity and being better at meeting their project deadlines. Plus, they also want a better work-life balance. Is that why you became an entrepreneur? To plan your calendar, manage your time as yours, and work on things you love? I’ve written before about productivity. This time, I…

  • Challenges,  Clients & Customers,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Implementation,  Marketing,  New Year,  Overcoming Obstacles,  Prospects,  Questions

    The fascinating adventures of Refrigerator Shopping… (Part 1)

    It’s the beginning of 2023, and for me, it’s been a bit of a rocky start – with my New Year’s Eve CVD positive test, the cyclone rain bombs (and it’s still raining btw). And, finally, getting my Mom on a plane home… It was the best of times and the worse of times… 😉 I’m doing as much self-care as I can and focusing on what I’m grateful for… And one of those things is you! That’s why I wanted to share with you my spouse and I’s fascinating adventure of shopping for a refrigerator. I promise there will be some interesting lessons that will apply to your business.…

  • Balance,  Challenges,  Goals,  Implementation,  Motivation,  New Year,  Productivity

    Jumpstart your vision, best laid plans, and cosmic jokes…

    Happy January 2023! How are you feeling? The first couple of weeks of January always feels like a bit of a blur to me. All the anticipation, shopping, presents, and prep for the holidays and New Year’s leaves me spinning. So at the beginning of the month, I always try to take it slow. It’s kind of nice to ease into the New Year. Especially this year for me because the holidays were not at all how I envisioned or planned them. It felt more like a cosmic joke filled with everyone getting some type of illness, from the C virus (Spam filters won’t let me spell it out –…

  • Attitude,  Goals,  Implementation,  Motivation,  New Year,  Overcoming Obstacles

    It’s about the little things…

    When I recently presented to a group of 17 people about how to create your intention and vision for the New Year, I got some feedback that totally blew me away. Not because it was about me or my teaching. 🙂 Their comments about this exercise blew me away because I thought everyone knew these types of concepts. In my presentation, I mainly wanted to get everyone connecting together and answer some questions as a type of assessment for this year. I learned this exercise from my amazing coaches – Debbie Phillips and Rob Berkley, and I have done this process for 12 years. It’s called The Great Start Program. I don’t believe in…

  • Alchemy,  Attitude,  Balance,  Challenges,  Goals,  Implementation,  Motivation,  New Year,  Overcoming Obstacles

    “Change is good,” she said…

    Have you ever had something happen that you weren’t expecting and just turned your life upside down? Such as losing a big client, getting injured, getting sick, or maybe something happened to a family member. One thing I know — change is just hard, and actually, I’d dare to say, in all honesty – change just sucks… When things happen, you share it with your close circle of supportive people, right? So when I did, that’s when she said — “Change is good.” And then rattled on why… Well, depending on where you are in the process of acceptance, you may want to hug or throttle that person like I…

  • Challenges,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Implementation,  Motivation,  New Year,  Overcoming Obstacles,  Questions

    This one question could make or break your business…

    As an entrepreneur, I know how hard you work at and on your business. Sometimes it can be grueling and stressful, especially if you do it alone. And even if you have some help, it still can be exhausting and challenging. It’s mainly up to you to create a successful business and make money that will keep it running for many years. This brings me to the one question that could make or break your business… Before I ask you, I want you to think back to when you made the decision to start your business and make a go at being your own boss. What was the impetus that…

  • Balance,  Challenges,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Implementation,  Motivation,  Overcoming Obstacles,  Procrastination,  Productivity

    Need a boost of productivity? I gotchu :-)

    This might be the dreaded post here, calling you out on your productivity… Oh wait, that doesn’t sound good… apologies… Let’s reframe that – I want to inspire you with some ways you can boost your productivity. 🙂 How productive are you? Do you feel like you’re not getting enough done in your business? Could you use a boost? Or do you feel like you got it covered? It’s now November, and the holidays that are literally banging down your door won’t distract you from finishing up those last few projects, right? 🙂 Well, if you’re anything like me and have Cheryl’s holiday cut-out cookies, blueberry scones, best Thanksgiving stuffing muffins,…

  • Balance,  Challenges,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Motivation,  Overcoming Obstacles,  Procrastination,  Productivity

    What’s that beeping noise?

    Have you ever been sleeping soundly, only to be woken up by an errant “beep,” then a few seconds later “beep,” and then a weird voice that you can’t make out screeches at you? By that time, you’re wide awake and jumping out of bed, wiping the sleep from your eyes – looking around, trying to figure out what in the heck is beeping and who’s squawking at you. The big question – when will it happen again? I’m standing in the hallway in my PJs, waiting for it to beep again so I can figure out where it’s coming from. In the meantime, the dogs are freaked out by the…

  • Challenges,  Coaching,  Communication,  copywriting,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Implementation,  Marketing,  Overcoming Obstacles,  Product Creation,  Product Launches,  Taking risks

    The Value of Having Another Perspective

    Before I get into today’s topic, I wanted to clarify something from a reader about last week’s blog, “Taming Your Brain.” I had mentioned that if I hadn’t been meditating for many years, I wouldn’t have been able to recognize or be aware of my thoughts to start changing them and taming my mind. The beauty of this is – that it was MY PROCESS. It took me a long time because of ALL the things I let get in my way, like my issues with alcohol, stopping meditating for a while, and more. Then in the past six years of being in recovery, and now my addiction to learning…

  • Alchemy,  Attitude,  Challenges,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Implementation,  Motivation,  Overcoming Obstacles,  Procrastination,  Productivity

    Taming Your Brain

    A bit of a heady mindset topic for this week. Stick with me on this brief journey into your brain and how we work on trying to change your neural pathways to form some fascinating changes in your work and life… Curious? Ready? Let’s go… For the past 20 years, I’ve been taking classes, studying, reading, and practicing meditation and mindfulness. From what I’ve learned – Here’s an example of how the mind works – You’re speaking with someone, and suddenly, something they said hits you weird, and you start to get mad or upset – some feelings start coming up. Do you stop at the moment and notice the emotion bubbling up?…

  • Alchemy,  Entrepreneurs,  Goals,  Motivation,  Overcoming Obstacles,  Productivity

    Put Your Ass Where Your Soul Wants to be…

    Been doing some soul-searching, reading, and connecting lately… That’s the gift of taking time out for me – and I’d highly encourage it. 🙂 It’s given me a better and even more interesting perspective of where my adventures in business will continue to lead and take me moving forward… No big surprise – it led me to this book – Put Your Ass Where Your HEART Wants to Be by Steven Pressfield. (Thanks to a wonderful new accountability partner.) He also wrote a classic for creatives – The War of Art. A different take on The Art of War by Sun Zhu. And I borrowed part of this for the subject of this blog post and exchanged…