“Creating a Mindset for Uncommon Success!”

Stephanie Staples has a passion for personal development. She is a highly-acclaimed, international inspirational speaker and writer who helps people find the time, energy and motivation to live their life with full gusto! As the founder of Your Life, Unlimited, Stephanie shares her expertise weekly hosting on both radio and TV. She is the author of When Enlightening Strikes – Creating a Mindset for Uncommon Success and Your Life, Unlimited – A Guided Journal as well as numerous audio programs used world-wide to encourage and support those on a quest for their own personal best.

Stephanie is a regular print and online columnist and has been quoted and featured in publications globally. She is known for her Life Support retreats and uplifting keynotes that have been proven to increase feelings of hope, happiness & empowerment for participants. Her 20 year background as a nurse supports her desire to help others.

MO: You’ve founded three businesses so far. Have you always had an entrepreneurial spirit?

Stephanie: Well, I didn’t think so, I thought that I just ‘stumbled upon’ it, but now that you mention it I did have puppet shows in my back yard that I sold tickets for when I was a kid! Maybe I did have the spirit and just was unaware of it. One of my businesses was a flop though. It was a great idea, it had a hungry market, but I had no passion for it – and that’s a recipe for failure. Self- employment is too hard if you don’t love, love, love what you are doing! As a social entrepreneur, I have really found my fit because success is not just measured in dollars and cents, it’s also measured by the positive returns to society. I like that.

MO: What inspired you to become a coach, consultant and motivational speaker for the healthcare industry?

Stephanie: I had a number of wake up calls that led me down this winding path. I experienced the first when my Dad died and I realize I was not living the life I wanted to live, so I decided to begin creating a better version of me. The next big one was experiencing burnout when I was nursing. It could have been a total catastrophe in my life, as my children were involved, but luckily everything turned out ok. That changed my life in another way and made me realize that I could help others, especially healthcare workers who so deserve self-care and life enrichment strategies. I am happy to work with anyone to grow their life but introducing healthcare professionals to the powers of personal growth has special meaning to me because I am one of them.

MO: What are some steps that individuals can take to re-inspire, re-energize and re-engage with life?

Stephanie: Personal growth. I encourage people to work harder on themselves than on anything else. We must ask ourselves what does a happy, fulfilling, satisfied life look like, what’s stopping us from getting it, what small steps can we take to begin leaning into what we want and deserve. We must look in the mirror and stop blaming our circumstances or other people. We must empower ourselves and create what we want. If we continue to wait for a ‘better time,’ we will have a long, long wait!

MO: What makes your motivational seminars unique? How does your message redefine the typical approach to wellness?

Stephanie: Most people think of wellness as eating better, sleeping better and physical activity. Of course those play a huge role – but my approach to wellness, is personal growth and perspective shifting. The most common thing I hear people say is, “I never thought of it that way.” You can almost feel the shift in the room as people start to get excited about the ideas and concepts. My sessions are not canned, impersonal events. They are more like an energizing conversation with a good friend. We laugh, we cry, we learn, and inspire and encourage each other. It works as according to an independent assessor, a pre- & post-event survey showed that my participants perceived statistically significant increases in feelings of: happiness, hopefulness, control, empowerment to make necessary changes, empowerment to create positive change in the world, and their knowledge of strategies to deal with stressors & challenges in their lives after their time with me. I’m pretty excited about that!

MO: Can you provide our readers with one free practical tip or technique that will help them improve the course of their lives, personally or professionally?

Stephanie: Kaizen and Cues – 2 little miracles for personal growth! Kaizen means small, ongoing improvement – it’s so powerful because we tend to get overwhelmed with information overload, there is too much coming at us too fast – we get engulfed with information and end up doing nothing. Kaizen gives us permission to slowly and slightly lean into the direction we want to go – be it healthier or happier or whatever else we want to be. Pick one thing, that’s it, just one thing and do it for a month, you will see success gradually building and them momentum will kick it, then add one more thing! Having cues reminds us of the little Kaizens we put into place and when are exposed to our cues – we implement our Kaizens. For example, try doing some pushups first thing in the morning when you get out of bed. Push up – even if you can only do one at first is your kaizen, getting out of bed is your cue. Keep doing this everyday for the entire month. I can guarantee you that you will be doing a lot more pushups by day 30 and you will feel better about yourself. You see, it’s not just about doing more push-ups, it’s about what it says to your mind. It says, I’m strong, I’m dedicated, I’m determined, I do what I say I’m going to do. It’s about creating a mindset for uncommon success. It’s better than not going to the gym 5 days a week and telling yourself what a failure you are, how you never stick to anything, that you don’t have time to exercise etc., etc., etc. Eventually, the little things add up and mean a lot. Try it, it works and it’s fun!

MO: Can you tell us a little about your book, When Enlightening Strikes and why you decided to launch it at a funeral home?

Stephanie:  The book is about turning everyday opportunities in to moments that matter, moments that can provide a life-lesson to help you on your journey. It is about applying the lessons and growing yourself stronger, more resilient, more confident. It’ a book about wins, losses, struggles and successes. It’s light and funny but will probably make you cry, too. I think you will like it, there is something for everyone drama, lust, a police chase! The first section is called, “Confessions of a Motivational Speaker” – people are quite shocked and appreciative of my candor here, I really lay it on the line. The second section is called, “The Re-invention Begins” and the third section is called “Your Life, Unlimited.” It’s poignant and important. Everyone should read it – my mother said so!

Because the book is about living life better, now I thought, it would be appropriate to have it at a place that would remind us we don’t have forever to make this happen. What better way to hammer home the point that we can’t keep waiting for a better time to be happier, healthier, etc., because soon we will run out of time and we will be in the funeral home for a different reason. We really had a fabulous time celebrating life during the launch and the 100+ people that were there said it was the best time that they’d ever had at a funeral home!