Vera: Chi-to-be! Unusual name but reportedly a very powerful mastery system. What is this system and how did you come by it?
Stacey: Chi’ means energy and Chi-To-Be! means ‘the energy to be’ whatever we choose to be, such as energized, powerful, successful, etc. Within this #1 best-selling book, I share the 11 simple daily practices I was given through Divine inspirations in response to a desperate plea to God to assist me in recovering from a 2-and-a-half-year debilitating illness which I developed following the HUGE success of my 1st book. In exchange for receiving these 11 practices, I promised I would write them down and share them with others. And, that is how this 2nd book came to be…it includes the best information from my first book, plus all the valuable insights I received about how to sustain success without sacrificing one’s wellness and energy.
Vera: You’re referred to as the ‘’business coach with a heart’’ How does ‘’heart’’ manifest in business and in what ways can business leaders cultivate more of this?
Stacey: Our heart is our source of our self-balance. Our heart aligns our spiritual body with our mental body, our emotional body, and our physical body. We require all of these bodies to work in harmony with each other to accomplish any and all goals we set for our self to achieve. Notice that the word ‘achieve’ contains the word ‘chi.’ The 11 daily practices, which I call ‘Energy Surges,’ shared in my book are effective when practiced by one’s self and also even more effective when practiced by groups or teams of people to achieve their goals together.
Vera: Stress is no doubt one of the challenges of our times as people go non-stop in the belief that they need to keep up. What would to say to that person who is relentlessly pursuing their dreams and ready to snap?
Stacey: I was one of those people. I burnt myself out and into bed for more than 2 years with adrenal fatigue because I always felt that ‘time was running out’ and I had to ‘beat the clock’ every day. Practicing the 11 daily Energy Surges. I learned how to attract what I required to achieve my goals with velocity and ease. So, one of the guarantees I make to those who read and practice the 11 daily Energy Surges is that it “will reduce the stress of those who are feeling stretched and stressed to the snapping point.” The experience of being “in the flow” takes over and we naturally slow down and enjoy the ride on the ‘Chi.’
Vera: One of your specialisms is helping people sustain their success. What are some of the most ridiculous myths about success you’ve heard and how does your work help?
Stacey: One myth that I often hear from my clients during their first session with me is that they believe they are afraid of failure. I ask them to tell me about all of their successes. Instead they tell me all about their failures. At which point, I explain to them that they are not afraid of failure…they fail all the time. If they were actually afraid of failure, they would be succeeding all the time. And, then I support them in identifying the earliest experience they can recall of failing. Once they understand that they formed a belief system at an early age that has kept them from succeeding, then they have the opportunity to choose a new belief system. These 11 Energy Surges support them in developing a success belief system.
Vera: A lot of what you teach/share now is as a result of what you learnt from your own overwhelming ‘’depletion’’ over a decade ago. How does one avoid such a ‘’breakdown’’ in the first place?
Stacey: If I had known that Accountability means ‘what I choose to count on myself to achieve’ rather than being accountable to someone else, I would definitely had made other choices which would have sustained my wellness and my success. If I had known that the source of most stress is believing that we ‘should’ be doing something, or being something, to please others, I would also have made other choices which would have sustained my wellness and my success. The ability to set one’s own direction, and make choices about what moves us forward on that path – or further away – is the source of our personally-generated power.
Vera: You urge people to stop ‘’shoulding’’ on themselves as you did in a TEDTalk. What are the most damaging/distracting ‘’shoulds’’ you’ve seen/heard and what’s the antidote to those?
Stacey: Great question. All ‘shoulds’ and ‘have-to’s’ are damaging because they lower our energy and we allow our self to be transformed into a victim rather than seeing life as a series of choices. These are real examples I have heard…
*I could not be on time, because I felt I should finish listening to my friend who called and kept going on and on.
*I have to go to my child’s school so I can’t attend the meeting.
*I did n’t achieve my goal this month, because I had to take care of my mother who is ill.
What is the antidote? It is to make powerful choices about what we will and will not do.
If we choose to be on time for an appointment, then we either don’t pick up the phone or we let the other person know that we will call them back when we have more time to talk. If we choose to go to our child’s school, then choose powerfully to do so.
If we choose to take care of an ill relative, then choose powerfully to do so.
The more we choose what we will do, the more we feel we are in control of our lives, which leads to greater success in all areas of our lives.
Vera: You reckon that success is attraction (not pursuit). How does one make that paradigm shift though because it certainly seems easier to go after one’s goals etc?
Stacey: First, let’s release the need to have a ‘why’ we are doing something. The concept of the ‘Big Why’ that many motivational authors feel is so important is actually a limiting belief. All ‘whys’ refer back to something that happened in the past. We do ‘y’ because ‘x’ happened in the past. And, usually what happened in the past was something negative, so we set out to right a wrong. Seems very noble, but every time we think of our ‘Big Why’ we are reminded again of the negative experience.
I encourage my clients instead to set their sights on a goal to be achieved in the future – free of any past associations – simply because it is something they are inspired to achieve. Then, each day and as often as possible, I encourage them to focus on all the aspects, what is required to achieve that goal…all the people who will be required and all the activities to be accomplished along the way to achieving that goal.
The more we focus on the goal’s achievement with as much specificity as possible, the faster we attract the people with whom to accomplish the activities which achieve the goal. The process for focusing on the goal is what I call my ‘Strategic Attraction Planning Process’ which is described in detail in ‘Chi-To-Be!’ book and at www.BeAnAttractionMaster.com
Vera: In an organizational setting where a lot of stress is, how does an organization effectively address corporate stress in a sustained way?
Stacey: I don’t believe in ‘corporate stress.’ There is only stress that is experienced by each person in the organization. Each person who is under stress is not stressed because of the company. They are stressed because of a limiting belief system, a fear, that they will fail in some way and which dates back to a very early experience or multiple similar experiences. How they participate in the company is how they participate in all the relationships in their life.
Some people are unable to more forward because of that fear; they are blocked. Other people believe they are motivated by that stress to do better and will ultimately sacrifice their relationships and their wellness to prove their worthiness to the company so their success is not sustainable.
Very few people are actually grounded, focused, and balanced enough to think clearly and appropriately in any group situation. I support teams in how to use the 11 Energy Surges to create goals which support the corporate goals and then for each person on the team to be personally accountable to managing their own stress in effective and appropriate ways, which takes the responsibility off the company.
Vera: You are also a ‘’team retention ‘’ expert. What is involved in retaining teams vis a vis retaining individual employees?
Stacey: The response to the question immediately above is the answer. When teams co-create their own goals based on each member’s strengths and personal accountability, those members are experiencing fulfillment and self-satisfaction, which is the #1 motivator for employees based on many corporate surveys.
Vera: So you’ve learnt your lesson from overstretching yourself. What are some of the specific things you do now to stay sane and to achieve your ultimate B-All?
Stacey: Every morning, I wake up focusing on the goal I choose to achieve and I envision all the people I am in the process of attracting to support me in achieving that goal. Every month before the 5th of the month, I schedule on my calendar all my personal appointments and activities to take care of my wellness in various ways before sharing my energy with other people. I also schedule at that time conversations with other people about projects which I am clear the result of those conversations will be mutually beneficial and will move me closer to the achievement of my goals.
I leave enough time on my calendar to accommodate opportunities and activities which result from the activities I previously scheduled. And, at the end of every day, I express appreciation to myself for everything I accomplished that day rather than focusing on what did not get accomplished. This day-end practice boosts my confidence and provides the daily proof that I am moving forward towards the achievement of my B-All, End-All goals.
Stacey’s profile
Stacey Hall is a bestselling author, Attraction catalyst and TEDx presenter. As a Business Coach, Stacey saves the lives of overwhelmed and out of balance business owners by helping them boost their energy and increase their personal power to attract more clients, make more money and spend more time with their loved ones. Her “Chi-To-Be. Energy Surges System” has helped many people avoid mental, emotional and physical stress, to re-energize and catalyze them to achieving success their way. More from www.staceyhallattractioncatalyst.com
*Written permission is required from Stacey Hall for reproduction of any parts of this interview in any and all formats.
For more information on Vera Ng’oma’s work and resources in leadership, personal and career development and excellence building, click here.