Liz, Author at Successful Blog Page

Owning Your Voice

July 22, 2016 by Liz

Owning your voice isn’t about the ability to make sound.

It happened so quickly. I could talk one day. Then I couldn’t. Radiation treatments to kill the tumor on my vocal cord had taken my voice. My ability to make sound was injured so severely that someone had to talk for me when friends (or insurance companies) called on the phone.

In private, I tried making noises or simply saying “hello.” All that came was weaker than a whisper. I felt caught in a horrible dream. If I screamed for help, no one would hear me. No one would know.

It was frightening.

Without a voice, sharing thoughts was grueling. So I stopped sharing them. Unable to share, I lost my desire to learn. My curiosity dissolved. Without a voice to share my thoughts, I lost my mind’s voice — the words in my head that helped me form them. So I stopped having thoughts. I got to know what it’s like think nothing at all.

By the time I started to get my voice back, I had lost the art of conversation. My world had become so small I had nothing to talk about. I had to find the purpose for my voice again. I started reading and listening to what others were saying. I started trying on points of view to find where my mind stood on topics people were talking about.

And as my own thoughts returned, I realized that this time I had learned the hard way what I had stumbled across my first time around. Owning your voice isn’t about owning the ability to make sound. It’s about owning your own thoughts.

Be Irresistible,

Liz

Put Your Mind to It

Ask yourself what you believe about who you are and where you’re going. Think about it daily, so that the next time someone asks you can answer with your clear, strong voice. Next time you’re asked what you think, be sure the voice you answer with is your own.

More from Liz . . .
about Owning Your Voice:

Do You Own What You Know?

How Often Do You Listen to Yourself?

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A SOBCon Ending

April 4, 2014 by Liz

A Letter to the SOBCon Community

Anyone who has been around me in these past few months knows how much I have been looking forward to SOBCon this year. A fabulous and hard-working team of volunteers stepped up to help make our SOBCon goals real. A most impressive group of speakers committed to start the conversations that would drive the mastermind team discussions. I was thrilled and humbled to be planning such a big deal.

With the initial ticket sales and the enthusiastic response on social networks, it seemed that SOBCon LEVERAGE had real traction. Not only were so many returning, but folks who had been hearing about SOBCon for years were buying tickets too!

Then SOBCon faced a crucial challenge, we had not had to overcome before. We were hit hard by sponsor-partnerships that didn’t materialize. Despite a deep commitment to “make it happen through sheer force of belief and a will to serve,” we couldn’t find new sponsor-partners on short notice to replace what we lost.

Suddenly the momentum of a great start to ticket sales and social network buzz, wasn’t enough to make a SOBCon experience that you love. An experience that

is focused on the audience and giving time to meet and discuss how the great ideas they’re hearing can be custom-fit to their business
allows every voice in the room to add value,
is more than exchanging business cards, that gives the chance to sit with, work with, and learn from every person in the room.
is single-strand content plan that brings the latest questions and answers in serving customers and growing a business.
is fabulous food, great venues for conversation, and the best wifi.

because every event experience should be worth far more than the cost of getting there and packed with ideas and relationships that keep delivering for years after the event. The SOBCon community is unforgettably supportive and, as we all know, filled with lifelong friends. But, as much as it is a labor both love and business, I need to be realistic. I can’t pursue an endeavor that puts my business and personal life seriously at risk.

Unfortunately, this year hasn’t generated enough resources to do that. Despite the great planning and the support of so many, I sadly must report that SOBCon 2014 won’t happen.

If you are one of the great folks who purchased a ticket or reserved a seat, I’ll contact you next week about refunds.

In truth and trust and with so much gratitude,
Liz

Thanks to Week 381 SOBs

February 2, 2013 by Liz

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.
I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. The award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Thanks to Week 380 SOBs

January 26, 2013 by Liz

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.