March 5, 2024 • 38 mins
The episode features a compelling conversation with our special guest, Dalene Allen, the Executive Director of BNI in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI. Dalene shares her personal journey using affirmation cards and provides an insight into the power of recognizing personal pains, standing against limiting beliefs, and stepping out of comfort zones.
In a deep dive into positive affirmations, we hear life-changing stories of people moving from worry and negativity to an uplifted state of happiness and positivity. Dalene shares a chance encounter with affirmation cards that shaped her mindset and led her to a successful career full of love for life. Learn the power of affirmations to transform views on money, happiness, attitude, beliefs, and commitment in our lives.
This enlightening journey is a perfect guide for anyone striving for daily inspiration, a positive outlook, or curious about the power of affirmation cards. Don't miss an episode full of inspiring narratives, essential tips, transformative lessons, and more!
Do you have questions or comments? Your feedback ensures that we continue to give you content that adds value to you, fuelling our commitment to providing high-quality content and fostering a community of informed and successful entrepreneurs. Leave your voice note here
Connect with the guest, Dalene Allen:
Podcast: https://networknetworth.buzzsprout.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bnimaritimes/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bnimaritimes/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bnimaritimes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BNIMaritimeslatest
Connect with the host, Ola Williams:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Work on your optimism is like taking a bath or a shower. You got to do it daily.
But you need to be able to focus on the thing. So I have my vision board that I can see.
I have my goals that I can see. I have to have those visuals.
I have things taped to bathroom mirrors.
It's got to be a lot. It needs to be behind me. I have dream and believe.
(00:22):
You know, I have things that when I look in my wall, I have a mirror over there. It's a heart.
I have a mirror that is a rainbow. Bo, I surround myself with happy messages.
Are you starting a small business or buying an existing business?
This podcast, Small Business Startup School, shares perspectives using the psychology
(00:42):
of retail and financial awareness, all with a reasonable dose of optimism.
The show promises to give startup solopreneurs insightful strategies and practical
solutions that support the mindset to execute business projects.
My name is Ola Williams, your host on the show. I encourage you to join us to
(01:02):
learn with positivity and great exchange of ideas.
Welcome everyone to a special episode of Small Business Startup School.
Today, we're diving deep into the world of affirmation and manifestation cards.
And I have with me here, Dailin Hallin. Dailin is the Executive Director of
BNI Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI.
(01:25):
Dailin is known for being a master networker. She has developed countless contacts
over 30 years of running her own very successful referrer-based business.
Dailin is passionate about connecting local business people and seeing the productive
relationships that develop.
And she has started a new business networking naturally to teach people how
(01:47):
to network to create a dream team of referrer partners.
Imagine having people actively finding your business with a better quality referrer
that becomes a repeat client faster and generates more revenue.
Dillion, it's fantastic to have you here with me again on the show.
Always refreshing to listen to your perspectives.
(02:09):
I would like you to tell us a little bit more about your business networking
Thank you for having me on your podcast, Ola Williams.
I love spending time with you. So when I started my very first business,
I had a dream and I had a goal, but I also had a ton of fear and handing out
a business card for me was physically difficult.
(02:33):
And emotionally upsetting. And so that's not a good way to start your businesses.
I think I had a major dose of imposter syndrome. So I needed touch points.
And those touch points, I have your cards next to my desk.
And I like to look at one every day and ponder those great thoughts that you have put on those cards.
(02:55):
So I have all kinds of little things around my desk, task, touch points.
I don't know if you've ever heard the story of eat a frog.
No, that means when you make your list the night before you go to bed, so you'll sleep better.
And when you look at that list, when you get up in the morning,
do the thing that you're dreading the most to do first.
Because frog's legs are great, the whole frog, not maybe so tasty.
(03:17):
I have a frog next to my desk and most people when they go, why is that frog
there? Because it looks like a little child's toy.
But that reminds me, get over, get done the thing you don't want to do first.
So that's one of the first things I see every morning. And then I have all kinds of different quotes.
I love those calendars where you peel a page off a day. Because I don't know
(03:38):
about you folks, sometimes you're trying to write an email.
Sometimes you've got to write some information for somebody.
You're looking at a blank paper, Ola. It's not inspiring, is it?
Now I go to ChatGPT because that gives me great ideas.
But I have a lot of things that either have been gifts, but I have a little
saying that it says, hustle and hurt will set you apart.
(04:01):
And I look at that every morning because it's like, okay, if I make one more
phone call, if I make one more new connection, right?
I'm a big believer in little things will take care of the big things.
What do you do? Because you've got some great tips to share. Right.
That's all. I just love listening to you talk about how you talk about connecting with people.
(04:22):
You make it sound so easy.
That's why I love listening to you talk about it because anytime I talk to you
about connecting with people, I want to connect with some more people because
I'm thinking, I can do it. I can definitely.
You can, but here's the thing. For many of us, me included, I'm living proof that my mind is,
(04:43):
and my mindset weren't my best friends, right?
Because that subconscious, like you say, it's kind of like the optimism and
the pessimism. They're always going to be there.
But I'm a big believer in, because I love the way Ola thinks.
Ola's a serial entrepreneur. You got to follow this woman. She's creating some
(05:03):
magical things to help people.
The fear of public speaking ranks higher than the fear of death in the Guinness World Book of Records.
So for every single person here, you're introverts especially,
you are normal in feeling the way you feel when it comes to talking to a stranger.
So what I learned was they're likely not any more comfortable than I am.
(05:24):
If I focused on what could I do to help that person feel more comfortable,
it helped me get over my fear of me in talking to people.
And so usually a great thing to start with is a compliment. woman,
Ola, I love your red lipstick. You're a girl after my own heart.
Thank you. Well, but here's the thing. Something as little as that can help
(05:49):
people make eye contact with you because it draws the attention.
We all like to look at fancy shoes, but let me tell you, I don't want people talking to my feet.
I want them to talk to my face. So usually a scarf around your lipstick.
Eyeshadow, if you wore something in your hair, just little things that somebody
Somebody could say, oh, I love your glasses.
(06:10):
I do not wear these glasses when I do not want to talk to people.
I just wanted to say glasses because I love yours, Darlene.
It's definitely a conversation starter.
Well, and watch. I think the first time I met you, you had beautiful pink glasses.
And I said, I love your glasses. I did.
As whether we're extroverted or introverted, if you do something like glasses, it could be a brooch.
(06:33):
It could be a name card for your business.
Are you making it easy for people to talk to you? Right? And so I have little
purple highlights in my hair.
Those are just little clip-ins. But again, I love talking to kids because children are rarely alone.
They're usually with their parents. And so if a child comes up and will say
something like, are you a unicorn lady? lady. They sing.
(06:55):
Is that funny? Between this and this. And I go, well, actually,
no. But do you like my glasses or hair?
I met my godson's soccer practice the other night. They're 12.
And four boys came up to me to talk to me. I'm sitting on the steps waiting
for them to go into the gym. And they go, we love your glasses.
And we love your purple hair. Now, normally, 12-year-old boys would not do that.
(07:18):
But they were so funny, they wanted to talk to me. And I'm kind of thinking,
get, okay, so how do you like soccer?
Who's your favorite player? Because I know my godson's favorite players.
Suddenly we had this amazing conversation going and the coach said afterwards,
how'd you get them to talk to you?
They normally don't talk. And I kind of went, I don't know.
That was amazing what I just witnessed. And so are you approachable?
(07:40):
Are you making it easy for people to talk to you?
But let's backtrack because really we need to talk about the optimism and the pessimism, don't we?
We do. Yeah, we really do. And you mentioned it a bit there. Yeah.
Yeah. So what are some of the things that get you out of bed in the morning?
I used to have a clock radio. I no longer have that, but I had it set so that
(08:03):
it would play my favorite song when the alarm went off instead of alarm,
which was get out of your bed, get dressed.
I can't remember what the song was, but it was catchy.
And it was like, yeah, I'm getting out out of bed because it's an opportunity today.
So that little thing at least started my day off on the right track. I'm a list maker.
I may make it in my computer calendar, matched up to my phone,
(08:26):
but a lot of times I still do it on paper.
Last thing before I go to bed at night, I write down everything that I could
pat myself on the back for. I called it my daily win.
And that way you go to bed feeling better. Some days it's hard to do that,
but if you will start in that habit.
It's very good because I'm talking to a CPA here.
Ola Williams is a very talented accountant. So that if I write down at the end
(08:51):
of every day, every place I went and every person I talked to,
that's going to help me at income tax time, isn't it, Ola? Right.
It's also patting yourself on the back. We are so hard on ourselves.
Because here's what usually would happen prior to me having a friend share about daily wins.
We would go to bed and I would dream all night in the loop of that one person
(09:11):
who said something that really ticked me off.
That is not getting us ahead, but that's feeding the pessimism, which is easier.
Okay. So instead, I don't even write that down. I only write the good.
And so when you get up in the morning again, eat the frog, because at that point,
you're so far ahead because most of us will procrastinate, clean off the desk,
(09:33):
answer emails, anything to avoid doing that.
So I kind of get the worst thing out of the way. So anything I do after that's
kind of a bonus, but that's also where my calendar, what is that message today?
Because it's usually a positive affirmation. And then, or I look at some of
my cards and kind of, you know, if I don't like the first First one,
I'll kind of go through and say, okay, this is something I could talk about today in a positive way.
(09:56):
So then if I'm posting something on social media, I could post a picture of
the card and say, now, how would you respond to that?
Which means you're getting people to talk and you say positive messages only, please.
And so you're starting a conversation with some other people that maybe you're
feeling the way you are feeling.
And suddenly you feel better because you help somebody else feel better, right?
(10:17):
I like when you said it's not always easy. And that's one of the things I want
us to really zoom in because we are here today.
We want to dive into the world of affirmation and manifestation cards.
And some people may be thinking, well, you know.
So I have read that pessimism is usually easier for people to deal with because it's more seductive.
(10:45):
It captures more attention. And how you know is if there's a bad news on the
TV, more people are going to tune in.
I remember watching a movie where they were trying to reinforce this message
where a guy would go on like a live screen and start doing some really bad things.
(11:08):
And he got more viewers. The moment he stopped doing those things,
the viewers start to drop. So the core thing here is people are naturally attracted to pessimism.
So now I think, I'm thinking for me, how do you, because I heard you say that it's not easy.
(11:29):
And so I have a concept where I say, okay, maybe be reasonable,
optimistic, where it's part of what you said there that do the hard things first, like eat the frog.
So I think that's being reasonable optimistic, right?
You do the hard thing first and then easy things become like a bonus.
(11:52):
Exactly. So you don't ignore your reality at the same time you believe that
things are going to be better.
For one week, I would suggest to people that you do only respond or only post
about something something positive and start to watch the people that follow
you with that because they're your kind of people.
(12:14):
I rarely post anything political.
Right. Like to me, if I'm going to go on Facebook and I want people to really
know me, I try very hard to be positive and to congratulate people and to share
because I want somebody to do that for me.
So if you start off with, OK, who can I make feel better, make their day a little bit better?
(12:36):
Or I like to read all those cards every day.
Right. To me, work on your optimism is like taking a bath or a shower. You got to do it daily.
But you need to be able to focus on the thing. So I have my vision board that I can see.
I have my goals that I can see. I have to have those visuals.
I have things taped to bathroom mirrors.
(12:57):
It's got to be a lot. It needs to be behind me. I have dream and believe.
You know, I have things that when I look in my wall, I have a mirror over there. It's a heart.
I have a mirror that is a rainbow. I surround myself with happy messages. insidious.
And so again, you got to kind of weave it in to a daily practice of what gets me going in the morning.
(13:21):
Well, usually again, you know, I could get up in the morning and say, I need to clean my desk.
Well, that's not making me any more money. But it's the avoidance.
So watch for a week and go, if what I'm doing right now is not adding to my
life in a positive way, put it down, go to something positive, but it is constant.
That makes it sound like it's really drudgery. But what I think you'll find,
(13:44):
again, reading all those wonderful cards, that if you look at that and say,
there's a silver lining, there's an opportunity here.
Because I'm a big believer, there are no dead ends.
There are U-turns, there turn left, turn right, there's yield,
there's all kinds of other stuff, but no dead ends.
But I don't talk about dead ends. I talk Talk about when I'm standing in the
(14:08):
middle of something going, okay, look to my left, look to my right,
turn around. Okay, where's the silver lining?
Coming up with a daily mantra.
Also feel very important for a long time because I'm a worrier, right?
I go through the loop, right? That person said that, well, I would have said
that. You know yourself, what do you do, Ola?
I just find a message when I start my day.
(14:32):
I find a positive message and I say, okay, I'm going to zoom in on this today.
That helps me a lot. And sometimes I may just be on my social media or attending
an event and then I get passed along a card and it sounds like a sign or an
answer to what I have been kind of searching for.
(14:54):
So those are things I like to pay attention to as well.
I want us to talk about, so if I can ask Darlene, how did you first discover
the power of affirmation card?
Well, I have to say that my mother said when I was born, I was the third child
and she said, you were always happy, right?
(15:15):
So I don't know whether that was the disposition because my two older brothers,
one of them was never happy.
And so maybe it was because our astrological sign, our karmic debt or whatever
else you want to call it. But she said, I just was happy.
And one of the things, because we went on, they went on to have six more daughters.
So there were nine of us. So I was the oldest girl.
(15:36):
So of course, some responsibility was put on me, which as a child you don't want.
But I remember thinking, okay, my mother depends upon me. I do want to help her.
So maybe I was also born with an attitude of helping because it wasn't like it was drudgery.
And in fact, because of that, I learned leadership skills.
So, you know, my parents likely like your parents. I could blame them.
(15:59):
I could say they did the very best job they possibly could.
And so when you remove sort of blame and shame, that I think is the first way to start.
And that it is listening to podcasts, those daily reminders of what it is.
And it can be a happy song.
What's a song that really inspires you? Make sure it's on your phone and play it on a daily basis.
(16:24):
So you're having a cup of tea and maybe trying to come up with some thoughts.
Go to those cards, go to the triggers, go to, I have another thing back here,
ABC, Attitude, Belief, and Commitment.
Which am I focusing on that today? An attitude determines everything, right?
It's not what happens to us. It's how we respond to it.
(16:46):
But if you were to come into my house, I mean, the minute you walk in the door,
there's likely 20 things because a lot of people notice, oh, isn't that neat?
Oh, I really like that. I like that because I'm surrounded by positive messages.
And that is something I did to enhance the daily bath that I need to take to
keep my my attitude, right?
(17:06):
And here's the thing. Is it good all the time? No.
But I tell you, since I took on the attitude of things will always work out
and you take a few deep breaths, maybe have a cup of tea, play that song,
read something positive.
I have several books of also quotes from people that I really admire.
And usually I can get out of a funk a lot easier than I used to because first I recognize it.
(17:31):
Second, I try to do something about it. I have suffered from panic attacks and claustrophobia.
I have likely taken every course ever to set boundaries, say no, whatever.
And you know what they teach you, Ola? Every single one of those, yeah.
Breathing techniques so if you take a couple
of and with a panic attack usually you start talking really
fast and it's just your whole body
(17:54):
goes into the fear flight or freeze well it's usually freeze but if you start
breathing slowly you can calm yourself down right and so again something as
little as an elastic i've had lots of years of therapy like that elastic when
you have a a negative thought,
replace it with a positive one, or read one of all those wonderful cards,
(18:15):
you know, or look at one of those messages that you have, right?
So I know we all like to resonate with stories, Darlene.
Could you share like one of your stories, maybe a personal story, if you can,
of the last time you used an affirmation card or a manifestation station card
and what specific or profound impact that had.
(18:40):
I would like to listen to that story.
Well, first of all, I would say very early on in my life, I learned a couple
of lessons that have been invaluable.
And when I was really maybe five, six, my godparents took me to a country fair.
I'd had a Ferris wheel and some other things, little kiddie rides.
(19:03):
And so they were, of course, pampering me with all kinds of stuff.
And they said, we'll give you some money or we'll spend some money on you today.
And I said, well, can I have the money? And it was a $2 bill.
And I put it in my pocket and I lost it.
And I was so upset. Now, they, of course, were very kind to me and said,
no, no, we'll give you two more dollars.
But I was like, no, I lost that money.
(19:26):
So one of the things that I learned early on was you don't put money in your pocket.
You put it in someplace a little safer, right? And I didn't realize until later
in life that that was something that.
I held, right? And that because all of us have a fear of money or a lack thereof.
(19:48):
And so since then, I have a whole lot more respect, right? Now my husband's
sitting in the background laughing, going, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I never balanced my bank account. He would balance it to the penny.
But I always in my head knew that, right?
But I also used to say, but I still have checks back in the day when we were
up. And he would go, if there's not money in the account, the check doesn't work to lean.
(20:08):
And it was like, that didn't seem to bother me because I always had never overdraft
a bank, but I was cognizant of money from an early age.
And I think many people, it's a feeling that's in the subconscious.
And until you bring it to the surface, likely has an effect on your ability to make money.
And money does not buy health or happiness.
(20:29):
But if you think of how many arguments people have and how much stress,
it's usually money money related.
And that's where the first set of cards I ever got had to do with money. Wow.
And so it was American bills and they were just small, but they would have a message about money.
And then on the other side, a question to ask yourself how you felt about money.
(20:51):
And I truly believe that those cards set me on a path to know that money was
the measure of the pleasure I would would send into the lives of others if I was of service.
So that I didn't think transactional of I got to make money.
It was a pleasure I was helping people with.
(21:11):
And again, until we address some of those things, especially money and how we
were talked about money has a limiting belief.
And that's why same thing, even though I feel like I am positive.
We've all, you know, it's like angel on one shoulder, devil on the other shoulder,
not to really refer to that optimism and pessimism. It's never going away.
(21:33):
But snap that, that elastic, have something that's a touch point that brings
you back to, you know what, this is temporary. I can move through this.
There's an answer. There's a solution. If this show is helpful to you,
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(21:53):
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Thanks very much. So did you buy those cards?
Oh, yes. Yeah. So at what age did you?
I was in my early 20s when I found a company. I was at a trade fair or something,
(22:15):
and somebody was selling these.
They were selling a whole bunch of stuff. But these were affirmations about money.
So did you think about the amounts that, oh, it didn't matter how much you were
selling, were they affordable, those cards? Oh, definitely.
Well, and here's the thing that I did about that. Only because the minute I saw those,
it was like, this is a way I'm able to talk to people in my business that I'm
(22:37):
working with to understand whether they believe they had the ability to have
a quality life with the ability to earn money to fulfill the dreams and goals
that they had in their life.
That money is sort of a starting factor, it's not everything,
but if our head's not right with the money.
And so I would hand them out to people. And what I'd say to somebody,
(22:58):
because I love handing out your cards and people are really enjoying them,
that I would say, I want you to have a look at these cards and let's have a discussion about this.
So these were people, again, that I knew and I worked with that were in my company
and say, because if we talk about this, I want to know how you feel about money
because this is going to impact everything in your life and your business.
(23:19):
And boy, let me tell you, there were some great discussions that my parents brought us up with.
There's no trust funds for you, okay?
But there wasn't anything we couldn't do in life if we were willing to work
and that money was what you traded for your time.
And it should be something that you enjoyed, which was an amazing message when you think about it.
(23:42):
Because I've heard other people say, well, we may not be rich,
but at least we're honest.
And you think, oh, what does that mean? Or money doesn't grow on trees.
No. But we've all heard some of these messages. So it's been programmed.
So just like rebooting your computer, you can reprogram your message.
But I'm going to sell anybody here, it is a a lifelong journey.
(24:06):
And then a quote that I use or a hashtag I use on social media when I post things is, I love my life.
But it's a life that I have spent daily creating.
And you have the ability to create what you want, but hopefully it is in the
support of others so that you are are enjoying the human connection.
(24:28):
In your everyday actions. I've seen that post, Darlene, where,
and anytime I see you post, I love my life, I smile.
I said, I love this. So that connects with me as well.
Do you still have those cards?
Oh, well, I still have a few around. I haven't ordered them in a while because
they're from an American company.
I prefer supporting somebody local like you, but I'll find a couple and I'll
(24:53):
photocopy them and send them to you so you can kind of share.
That would be so interesting. I'm sure if you Googled motivational cards,
money related, maybe Warren Buffett, I don't know if he's made cards,
but you know, somebody who you admire what they've done and even look for some
of their quotes, because I have a couple of books of interesting people,
whole compilation of positive quotes.
(25:15):
It's like, okay, well, what would this person do? Or what would that person
do? Or I've been like to say, what's all the posting today? Because it's always positive. Yeah.
I want to zoom in on it. So you said when you bought those cars at a trade fair,
did you make a couple of, you know, repeat purchases? purchases?
Well, actually, they weren't that expensive. And only because I saw the value
(25:36):
and what I could teach somebody, I likely bought a dozen sets.
They might have been $10 a set. They weren't expensive, but it was like,
wow, I've never seen these before. I happen to be in the US.
So it was easier to buy them than necessarily ship.
So every year at a conference that I went to, this company was usually there.
So I would usually buy extras.
But I like to hand out all kinds of cards.
(25:57):
If I can find a nice set of cards and it's got a nice message,
I'll sometimes hand one of those out with a business card.
And people go, oh, what's this? I said, well, it's just a nice little positive
message. I hope you enjoy it.
And it's kind of cute because sometimes I'll fan out the card and say,
I'll say, now, if you pick one, read it. You don't like it, put it back in.
We'll work on this till we find one that resonates with you.
But it's kind of fun. Talking about resonation, you have used,
(26:22):
lots of cards at prison. So there must be some of those cards that did not resonate with you.
Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
So which ones don't resonate with you? Like you don't just like them.
Okay. Well, I likely didn't buy them. Louisa Hay has some amazing books and
tapes and things like that.
(26:43):
I love her. You can heal your life because if you have a pain in your your body
and you really understand with
that book, you kind of read about why is there a pain in your shoulder?
Why does your right leg, your sciatic nerve help? That usually means that you're
not willing to make a change that you need to, right?
So I likely wouldn't have bought any of them if they at least didn't resonate with me.
(27:04):
In fact, I can't think of a set that I ever really didn't like because they're
usually pretty good at giving you some description of what they are.
But yes, exactly what you're saying, Ola, it has to be something that our listeners
resonate with. So you're a game.
But if you Google positive affirmations, I'm sure there's a ton that you could
even just bring up a daily quote.
(27:26):
I have a couple of things on social media, which are motivational quotes.
There's another person, what is his name? He posts a positive message every day.
So a lot of times when I'm going into social media, I see he's in my feed because
of course I follow him and I'll like and share and then add something that I
believe, you know, was a quote that somebody also resonated with me.
(27:47):
So it kind of keeps you, because if you're only posting positive,
you know that most of the people that are going to follow you are positive too, right?
I try not to post anything, although I did make a mistake the other day.
Like, oh, oh, look, at an award ceremony.
Yes, my opinion, I have opinions, but I'm not going to share my opinions that
(28:07):
I think will attract those pessimists.
I want to only share my,
what is positive, right? Right.
So out of all the cards in your possession, which one do you find yourself going
to the most? Well, my daily calendar.
Does gravitate towards them? Yeah. Well, if you've ever bought their boat four
(28:29):
by four square, a calendar, I usually get one every year that has positive message, right?
So that's one of the first things I look at. And then I'm thinking,
okay, how could I use that if I like that.
I used to read my horoscope every day.
And I don't know whether you do that. I stopped doing it because sometimes I
would be in the middle of a day because I read the horoscope first thing in
(28:50):
the morning and it maybe was a little negative.
And I thought, okay, what's my day like?
And I'd say, now, am I having a bad day because I read my horoscope?
Is this really a bad day? I need to change my focus, right?
And so again, that's where try to identify.
And that's an elastic that you, it's sort of like tapping if you've ever done tapping.
So it resonates when you do that elastic, make sure it's not so tight that your hand turns blue.
(29:13):
Right. But you, you just pull that and then say, cancel, cancel, here's something else.
Right. So I don't use one. I use several.
I guess the, one of the reasons you go to the one with the calendar is because
because it has the dates on it, right?
So, I mean, I have a calendar in my office as well. It's the Cornish's Variety Calendar.
(29:35):
You know, it's those calendars that you put on the wall and they have little boxes in them.
And I love it because I can put things I want to be able to see quickly when
I get into the store. So I put them in those boxes.
That's really, and apart from horoscopes, I'm not into horoscope reading.
Sometimes I pick a newspaper up and then I see it And I glance at it because
(29:56):
I look at quotes in the newspaper and I just, but I don't have a daily practice of going into it.
Well, I would not suggest it because a lot of times it can be negative.
That's where it's your choice of what.
You decide you're going to make your day. And that here's the thing.
Sometimes people think they really don't have as many options as they do.
(30:17):
You have 50,000 thoughts a day.
And because of the pessimism being the easy that it's like, so I see my goals
on a corkboard right in front of me, my goals.
I know I backtrack from my goals. I know what I need to do on a daily daily
basis, based on my law of averages, what I need to do to accomplish my goals.
(30:39):
You know, sometimes people just stop dreaming and stop setting goals,
and your goals and dreams must align.
But I would suggest to anybody listening, think of just something nice this week that could happen.
Think of a person that maybe you haven't talked to in a while.
Think of the next time you're in a parking lot, say, I'm going to find a great spot.
I'm going to find a great spot. And keep doing it until a spot opens up.
(31:01):
And you'll be surprised, but it actually will. You can practice with little things.
Like last night, I had to go downtown Halifax, which number one,
it's got to be a good event for me to go downtown Halifax because parking now,
they've taken away so many parking spots.
It was minus four and I was freezing and wore a raincoat because it was supposed
to rain, which wasn't exactly warm.
(31:22):
And I managed to find in rush hour traffic, a parking spot one block away from where I was going.
That was like winning the lotto in
my opinion last night but it was did i have to go
around yeah i went around three times third time
there was that spot but i'm saying all the time someone's going to be moving
(31:43):
someone's going to be moving someone's going to be moving right i like the attitude
not giving up and then you found your spot let's talk about gift giving dealing
have you ever given affirmation or manifestation cards to someone as a gift before for.
The single best gift I believe you could ever get, right? Or a book on.
(32:05):
In fact, I bought a bunch of books for happy birthday and congratulations.
Only you have a wholesale company. You can go to the big gift show that happens in April in Halifax.
The reason I bought those, number one, they were on sale for an unbelievable
price at this wholesale company.
And the happy birthday one, I put a little inscription in the front of it,
wrap it in tissue, put it in a nice little bag, but it is 365 days of them sharing
(32:31):
birthday quotes. It's beautiful.
So it's kind of like a gift you give somebody for the whole year so they can keep it on their desk.
And sometimes I'll have people who go, Delene, I read my quote today from my
book that you gave me for my birthday last year. This may be six months later.
I love it. And then congratulations on your achievement because sometimes cards
are a little bit expensive. of yours are a phenomenal price.
(32:53):
But when I open the congratulations on your achievement, again,
it's a whole year of positive quotes.
So there's more than just cards that you can give. And anybody that I've ever
given those books to, because I think I bought 50 of each of them at the time.
So I've been handing them out for years.
And I don't hand them out to everybody, but to somebody I think that really
appreciates it is they saved them.
(33:14):
It's like I was in a person's house the other day and they posted notes and
instead of a nice flat book, it now is like this.
Well, it's like, I'm in there all the time to leave.
So yes, a gift, you know, cards or something with beautiful quotes can really change a person's life.
If you kind of maybe put the message in every time I read one of these quotes, I think of you.
(33:37):
Now, don't you'd want to go in that book and go, which one she thinks I am. Right. I want to.
That's so incredible. Thank you so much, Dylan.
I always, I'm a big believer in learning. If I can ask, what are you learning
now, Dylan? then. Oh my goodness.
I am learning that COVID either propelled people ahead or stopped them in their tracks.
(34:03):
But because we're coming out of COVID, there's people who were really willing
to step out of their comfort zone.
I'm amazed at how many people opened restaurants in the middle of COVID when the world shut down.
Now that's courage, but that's also passion and goal setting.
But what I'm seeing are people wanting, those introverts, those people who maybe
(34:27):
are not as courageous as perhaps you or I or as passionate about a goal because
of some limiting beliefs,
that they want to get connected again.
And I think it's a beautiful thing and that we're coming into a new way of living.
We can love our life. We can appreciate the people we come in contact with and
(34:50):
spread some joy right right you could all love our lives.
Absolutely. So what would you like to learn?
Well, I learn from every person that ever comes in contact with me.
I'm a curious person by nature, and I want to hear their stories.
So if you're an introvert networking, you could start off with,
(35:11):
please tell me all about you. And usually when I say that to people,
I just got off a Zoom meeting.
And when I said that, the person said, well, what do you want me to tell you
about? I said, tell me about what you're most excited about.
And this person's going to be in a dinner theater singing.
Number one, they're a tech person. They would work behind the scenes at a play
(35:33):
or a concert. They would never be on the stage.
But I truly believe, knowing what
that person grew up with, He was always meant to sing and be on stage.
But somewhere there was a limiting belief, but he wanted to be around those
creative types by doing the lighting and the things behind stage.
So I learned some really valuable lessons about that. that because when I was
(35:59):
about seven years old, I had started school in Quebec.
My dad was in the military. And because of the difference between when you started
school in Nova Scotia and when you started school in Ontario,
Nova Scotia at the time, we started at five.
In Ontario, you started at six, unless you were born before the end of October.
I was born on November 1st. I was almost seven when I started school,
(36:23):
so I was taller and bigger and likely louder than any child in that school,
and I went to a convent where nuns taught, and she wanted me to be the Blessed
Virgin Mary instead of being in the choir.
Because she thought I sang to laugh, okay? So as the blessing birthed in there,
(36:43):
I had the audience racking up.
My mother said I put on a display that she was just killing herself laughing.
Of course, I'm a daughter. She's a little biased.
But everybody in the audience, because this was a big school, right?
They're killing themselves laughing. And my mother said to the teacher afterwards,
right? You told my daughter not to be in the choir, and you got what you deserved.
(37:08):
My mother took up for me really well. That nun, she said, if you give my daughter
a hard time for that, I'm going to report you to the principal or something. She made it known.
You picked my daughter to be the Blessed Virgin Mary, and you got what you deserved.
My mom wouldn't have done it that way. But I got a message that my mom stuck up for me. Okay.
But anyway, so whenever I think of singing, I still think of that nun and I'm
(37:33):
not about to sing in public.
Okay. But after listening to this guy today, I might actually try it.
What an inspiring story and message that someone that is supposedly an introvert
could actually inspire you that way. That's awesome.
Thank you so much, Deline. Thank you. you.
(37:55):
I don't think I've ever told anybody that story, Ola.
There you go. Thank you. It's been so wonderful listening to you and having
this conversation today.
Ola, I love talking to you too. So to all you folks out there,
follow this woman and watch the other things that she's creating because it's
(38:19):
amazing. Amazing. Thanks for listening.
Hopefully that added value to you. I do like to say that the show aims to highlight
broad business patterns that are considered same as ever.
However, I also acknowledge that personal circumstances may differ.
So please apply the lessons in line with your context and seek professional
(38:39):
guidance as may be applicable to your business. Until next episode.
Please do share the show so value is added to others as well.
And remember, let's continue to learn together and be encouraged to keep on connecting.
Work on your optimism is like taking a bath or a shower. You got to do it daily.
But you need to be able to focus on the thing. So I have my vision board that I can see.
I have my goals that I can see. I have to have those visuals.
I have things taped to bathroom mirrors.
It's got to be a lot. It needs to be behind me. I have dream and believe.
(00:22):
You know, I have things that when I look in my wall, I have a mirror over there. It's a heart.
I have a mirror that is a rainbow. Bo, I surround myself with happy messages.
Are you starting a small business or buying an existing business?
This podcast, Small Business Startup School, shares perspectives using the psychology
(00:42):
of retail and financial awareness, all with a reasonable dose of optimism.
The show promises to give startup solopreneurs insightful strategies and practical
solutions that support the mindset to execute business projects.
My name is Ola Williams, your host on the show. I encourage you to join us to
(01:02):
learn with positivity and great exchange of ideas.
Welcome everyone to a special episode of Small Business Startup School.
Today, we're diving deep into the world of affirmation and manifestation cards.
And I have with me here, Dailin Hallin. Dailin is the Executive Director of
BNI Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI.
(01:25):
Dailin is known for being a master networker. She has developed countless contacts
over 30 years of running her own very successful referrer-based business.
Dailin is passionate about connecting local business people and seeing the productive
relationships that develop.
And she has started a new business networking naturally to teach people how
(01:47):
to network to create a dream team of referrer partners.
Imagine having people actively finding your business with a better quality referrer
that becomes a repeat client faster and generates more revenue.
Dillion, it's fantastic to have you here with me again on the show.
Always refreshing to listen to your perspectives.
(02:09):
I would like you to tell us a little bit more about your business networking
Thank you for having me on your podcast, Ola Williams.
I love spending time with you. So when I started my very first business,
I had a dream and I had a goal, but I also had a ton of fear and handing out
a business card for me was physically difficult.
(02:33):
And emotionally upsetting. And so that's not a good way to start your businesses.
I think I had a major dose of imposter syndrome. So I needed touch points.
And those touch points, I have your cards next to my desk.
And I like to look at one every day and ponder those great thoughts that you have put on those cards.
(02:55):
So I have all kinds of little things around my desk, task, touch points.
I don't know if you've ever heard the story of eat a frog.
No, that means when you make your list the night before you go to bed, so you'll sleep better.
And when you look at that list, when you get up in the morning,
do the thing that you're dreading the most to do first.
Because frog's legs are great, the whole frog, not maybe so tasty.
(03:17):
I have a frog next to my desk and most people when they go, why is that frog
there? Because it looks like a little child's toy.
But that reminds me, get over, get done the thing you don't want to do first.
So that's one of the first things I see every morning. And then I have all kinds of different quotes.
I love those calendars where you peel a page off a day. Because I don't know
(03:38):
about you folks, sometimes you're trying to write an email.
Sometimes you've got to write some information for somebody.
You're looking at a blank paper, Ola. It's not inspiring, is it?
Now I go to ChatGPT because that gives me great ideas.
But I have a lot of things that either have been gifts, but I have a little
saying that it says, hustle and hurt will set you apart.
(04:01):
And I look at that every morning because it's like, okay, if I make one more
phone call, if I make one more new connection, right?
I'm a big believer in little things will take care of the big things.
What do you do? Because you've got some great tips to share. Right.
That's all. I just love listening to you talk about how you talk about connecting with people.
(04:22):
You make it sound so easy.
That's why I love listening to you talk about it because anytime I talk to you
about connecting with people, I want to connect with some more people because
I'm thinking, I can do it. I can definitely.
You can, but here's the thing. For many of us, me included, I'm living proof that my mind is,
(04:43):
and my mindset weren't my best friends, right?
Because that subconscious, like you say, it's kind of like the optimism and
the pessimism. They're always going to be there.
But I'm a big believer in, because I love the way Ola thinks.
Ola's a serial entrepreneur. You got to follow this woman. She's creating some
(05:03):
magical things to help people.
The fear of public speaking ranks higher than the fear of death in the Guinness World Book of Records.
So for every single person here, you're introverts especially,
you are normal in feeling the way you feel when it comes to talking to a stranger.
So what I learned was they're likely not any more comfortable than I am.
(05:24):
If I focused on what could I do to help that person feel more comfortable,
it helped me get over my fear of me in talking to people.
And so usually a great thing to start with is a compliment. woman,
Ola, I love your red lipstick. You're a girl after my own heart.
Thank you. Well, but here's the thing. Something as little as that can help
(05:49):
people make eye contact with you because it draws the attention.
We all like to look at fancy shoes, but let me tell you, I don't want people talking to my feet.
I want them to talk to my face. So usually a scarf around your lipstick.
Eyeshadow, if you wore something in your hair, just little things that somebody
Somebody could say, oh, I love your glasses.
(06:10):
I do not wear these glasses when I do not want to talk to people.
I just wanted to say glasses because I love yours, Darlene.
It's definitely a conversation starter.
Well, and watch. I think the first time I met you, you had beautiful pink glasses.
And I said, I love your glasses. I did.
As whether we're extroverted or introverted, if you do something like glasses, it could be a brooch.
(06:33):
It could be a name card for your business.
Are you making it easy for people to talk to you? Right? And so I have little
purple highlights in my hair.
Those are just little clip-ins. But again, I love talking to kids because children are rarely alone.
They're usually with their parents. And so if a child comes up and will say
something like, are you a unicorn lady? lady. They sing.
(06:55):
Is that funny? Between this and this. And I go, well, actually,
no. But do you like my glasses or hair?
I met my godson's soccer practice the other night. They're 12.
And four boys came up to me to talk to me. I'm sitting on the steps waiting
for them to go into the gym. And they go, we love your glasses.
And we love your purple hair. Now, normally, 12-year-old boys would not do that.
(07:18):
But they were so funny, they wanted to talk to me. And I'm kind of thinking,
get, okay, so how do you like soccer?
Who's your favorite player? Because I know my godson's favorite players.
Suddenly we had this amazing conversation going and the coach said afterwards,
how'd you get them to talk to you?
They normally don't talk. And I kind of went, I don't know.
That was amazing what I just witnessed. And so are you approachable?
(07:40):
Are you making it easy for people to talk to you?
But let's backtrack because really we need to talk about the optimism and the pessimism, don't we?
We do. Yeah, we really do. And you mentioned it a bit there. Yeah.
Yeah. So what are some of the things that get you out of bed in the morning?
I used to have a clock radio. I no longer have that, but I had it set so that
(08:03):
it would play my favorite song when the alarm went off instead of alarm,
which was get out of your bed, get dressed.
I can't remember what the song was, but it was catchy.
And it was like, yeah, I'm getting out out of bed because it's an opportunity today.
So that little thing at least started my day off on the right track. I'm a list maker.
I may make it in my computer calendar, matched up to my phone,
(08:26):
but a lot of times I still do it on paper.
Last thing before I go to bed at night, I write down everything that I could
pat myself on the back for. I called it my daily win.
And that way you go to bed feeling better. Some days it's hard to do that,
but if you will start in that habit.
It's very good because I'm talking to a CPA here.
Ola Williams is a very talented accountant. So that if I write down at the end
(08:51):
of every day, every place I went and every person I talked to,
that's going to help me at income tax time, isn't it, Ola? Right.
It's also patting yourself on the back. We are so hard on ourselves.
Because here's what usually would happen prior to me having a friend share about daily wins.
We would go to bed and I would dream all night in the loop of that one person
(09:11):
who said something that really ticked me off.
That is not getting us ahead, but that's feeding the pessimism, which is easier.
Okay. So instead, I don't even write that down. I only write the good.
And so when you get up in the morning again, eat the frog, because at that point,
you're so far ahead because most of us will procrastinate, clean off the desk,
(09:33):
answer emails, anything to avoid doing that.
So I kind of get the worst thing out of the way. So anything I do after that's
kind of a bonus, but that's also where my calendar, what is that message today?
Because it's usually a positive affirmation. And then, or I look at some of
my cards and kind of, you know, if I don't like the first First one,
I'll kind of go through and say, okay, this is something I could talk about today in a positive way.
(09:56):
So then if I'm posting something on social media, I could post a picture of
the card and say, now, how would you respond to that?
Which means you're getting people to talk and you say positive messages only, please.
And so you're starting a conversation with some other people that maybe you're
feeling the way you are feeling.
And suddenly you feel better because you help somebody else feel better, right?
(10:17):
I like when you said it's not always easy. And that's one of the things I want
us to really zoom in because we are here today.
We want to dive into the world of affirmation and manifestation cards.
And some people may be thinking, well, you know.
So I have read that pessimism is usually easier for people to deal with because it's more seductive.
(10:45):
It captures more attention. And how you know is if there's a bad news on the
TV, more people are going to tune in.
I remember watching a movie where they were trying to reinforce this message
where a guy would go on like a live screen and start doing some really bad things.
(11:08):
And he got more viewers. The moment he stopped doing those things,
the viewers start to drop. So the core thing here is people are naturally attracted to pessimism.
So now I think, I'm thinking for me, how do you, because I heard you say that it's not easy.
(11:29):
And so I have a concept where I say, okay, maybe be reasonable,
optimistic, where it's part of what you said there that do the hard things first, like eat the frog.
So I think that's being reasonable optimistic, right?
You do the hard thing first and then easy things become like a bonus.
(11:52):
Exactly. So you don't ignore your reality at the same time you believe that
things are going to be better.
For one week, I would suggest to people that you do only respond or only post
about something something positive and start to watch the people that follow
you with that because they're your kind of people.
(12:14):
I rarely post anything political.
Right. Like to me, if I'm going to go on Facebook and I want people to really
know me, I try very hard to be positive and to congratulate people and to share
because I want somebody to do that for me.
So if you start off with, OK, who can I make feel better, make their day a little bit better?
(12:36):
Or I like to read all those cards every day.
Right. To me, work on your optimism is like taking a bath or a shower. You got to do it daily.
But you need to be able to focus on the thing. So I have my vision board that I can see.
I have my goals that I can see. I have to have those visuals.
I have things taped to bathroom mirrors.
(12:57):
It's got to be a lot. It needs to be behind me. I have dream and believe.
You know, I have things that when I look in my wall, I have a mirror over there. It's a heart.
I have a mirror that is a rainbow. I surround myself with happy messages. insidious.
And so again, you got to kind of weave it in to a daily practice of what gets me going in the morning.
(13:21):
Well, usually again, you know, I could get up in the morning and say, I need to clean my desk.
Well, that's not making me any more money. But it's the avoidance.
So watch for a week and go, if what I'm doing right now is not adding to my
life in a positive way, put it down, go to something positive, but it is constant.
That makes it sound like it's really drudgery. But what I think you'll find,
(13:44):
again, reading all those wonderful cards, that if you look at that and say,
there's a silver lining, there's an opportunity here.
Because I'm a big believer, there are no dead ends.
There are U-turns, there turn left, turn right, there's yield,
there's all kinds of other stuff, but no dead ends.
But I don't talk about dead ends. I talk Talk about when I'm standing in the
(14:08):
middle of something going, okay, look to my left, look to my right,
turn around. Okay, where's the silver lining?
Coming up with a daily mantra.
Also feel very important for a long time because I'm a worrier, right?
I go through the loop, right? That person said that, well, I would have said
that. You know yourself, what do you do, Ola?
I just find a message when I start my day.
(14:32):
I find a positive message and I say, okay, I'm going to zoom in on this today.
That helps me a lot. And sometimes I may just be on my social media or attending
an event and then I get passed along a card and it sounds like a sign or an
answer to what I have been kind of searching for.
(14:54):
So those are things I like to pay attention to as well.
I want us to talk about, so if I can ask Darlene, how did you first discover
the power of affirmation card?
Well, I have to say that my mother said when I was born, I was the third child
and she said, you were always happy, right?
(15:15):
So I don't know whether that was the disposition because my two older brothers,
one of them was never happy.
And so maybe it was because our astrological sign, our karmic debt or whatever
else you want to call it. But she said, I just was happy.
And one of the things, because we went on, they went on to have six more daughters.
So there were nine of us. So I was the oldest girl.
(15:36):
So of course, some responsibility was put on me, which as a child you don't want.
But I remember thinking, okay, my mother depends upon me. I do want to help her.
So maybe I was also born with an attitude of helping because it wasn't like it was drudgery.
And in fact, because of that, I learned leadership skills.
So, you know, my parents likely like your parents. I could blame them.
(15:59):
I could say they did the very best job they possibly could.
And so when you remove sort of blame and shame, that I think is the first way to start.
And that it is listening to podcasts, those daily reminders of what it is.
And it can be a happy song.
What's a song that really inspires you? Make sure it's on your phone and play it on a daily basis.
(16:24):
So you're having a cup of tea and maybe trying to come up with some thoughts.
Go to those cards, go to the triggers, go to, I have another thing back here,
ABC, Attitude, Belief, and Commitment.
Which am I focusing on that today? An attitude determines everything, right?
It's not what happens to us. It's how we respond to it.
(16:46):
But if you were to come into my house, I mean, the minute you walk in the door,
there's likely 20 things because a lot of people notice, oh, isn't that neat?
Oh, I really like that. I like that because I'm surrounded by positive messages.
And that is something I did to enhance the daily bath that I need to take to
keep my my attitude, right?
(17:06):
And here's the thing. Is it good all the time? No.
But I tell you, since I took on the attitude of things will always work out
and you take a few deep breaths, maybe have a cup of tea, play that song,
read something positive.
I have several books of also quotes from people that I really admire.
And usually I can get out of a funk a lot easier than I used to because first I recognize it.
(17:31):
Second, I try to do something about it. I have suffered from panic attacks and claustrophobia.
I have likely taken every course ever to set boundaries, say no, whatever.
And you know what they teach you, Ola? Every single one of those, yeah.
Breathing techniques so if you take a couple
of and with a panic attack usually you start talking really
fast and it's just your whole body
(17:54):
goes into the fear flight or freeze well it's usually freeze but if you start
breathing slowly you can calm yourself down right and so again something as
little as an elastic i've had lots of years of therapy like that elastic when
you have a a negative thought,
replace it with a positive one, or read one of all those wonderful cards,
(18:15):
you know, or look at one of those messages that you have, right?
So I know we all like to resonate with stories, Darlene.
Could you share like one of your stories, maybe a personal story, if you can,
of the last time you used an affirmation card or a manifestation station card
and what specific or profound impact that had.
(18:40):
I would like to listen to that story.
Well, first of all, I would say very early on in my life, I learned a couple
of lessons that have been invaluable.
And when I was really maybe five, six, my godparents took me to a country fair.
I'd had a Ferris wheel and some other things, little kiddie rides.
(19:03):
And so they were, of course, pampering me with all kinds of stuff.
And they said, we'll give you some money or we'll spend some money on you today.
And I said, well, can I have the money? And it was a $2 bill.
And I put it in my pocket and I lost it.
And I was so upset. Now, they, of course, were very kind to me and said,
no, no, we'll give you two more dollars.
But I was like, no, I lost that money.
(19:26):
So one of the things that I learned early on was you don't put money in your pocket.
You put it in someplace a little safer, right? And I didn't realize until later
in life that that was something that.
I held, right? And that because all of us have a fear of money or a lack thereof.
(19:48):
And so since then, I have a whole lot more respect, right? Now my husband's
sitting in the background laughing, going, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I never balanced my bank account. He would balance it to the penny.
But I always in my head knew that, right?
But I also used to say, but I still have checks back in the day when we were
up. And he would go, if there's not money in the account, the check doesn't work to lean.
(20:08):
And it was like, that didn't seem to bother me because I always had never overdraft
a bank, but I was cognizant of money from an early age.
And I think many people, it's a feeling that's in the subconscious.
And until you bring it to the surface, likely has an effect on your ability to make money.
And money does not buy health or happiness.
(20:29):
But if you think of how many arguments people have and how much stress,
it's usually money money related.
And that's where the first set of cards I ever got had to do with money. Wow.
And so it was American bills and they were just small, but they would have a message about money.
And then on the other side, a question to ask yourself how you felt about money.
(20:51):
And I truly believe that those cards set me on a path to know that money was
the measure of the pleasure I would would send into the lives of others if I was of service.
So that I didn't think transactional of I got to make money.
It was a pleasure I was helping people with.
(21:11):
And again, until we address some of those things, especially money and how we
were talked about money has a limiting belief.
And that's why same thing, even though I feel like I am positive.
We've all, you know, it's like angel on one shoulder, devil on the other shoulder,
not to really refer to that optimism and pessimism. It's never going away.
(21:33):
But snap that, that elastic, have something that's a touch point that brings
you back to, you know what, this is temporary. I can move through this.
There's an answer. There's a solution. If this show is helpful to you,
please do subscribe and share with others.
That way, we are supported to continue to bring you helpful content.
(21:53):
And please, we do like to hear from you. We encourage you to use the Voice Note
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Thanks very much. So did you buy those cards?
Oh, yes. Yeah. So at what age did you?
I was in my early 20s when I found a company. I was at a trade fair or something,
(22:15):
and somebody was selling these.
They were selling a whole bunch of stuff. But these were affirmations about money.
So did you think about the amounts that, oh, it didn't matter how much you were
selling, were they affordable, those cards? Oh, definitely.
Well, and here's the thing that I did about that. Only because the minute I saw those,
it was like, this is a way I'm able to talk to people in my business that I'm
(22:37):
working with to understand whether they believe they had the ability to have
a quality life with the ability to earn money to fulfill the dreams and goals
that they had in their life.
That money is sort of a starting factor, it's not everything,
but if our head's not right with the money.
And so I would hand them out to people. And what I'd say to somebody,
(22:58):
because I love handing out your cards and people are really enjoying them,
that I would say, I want you to have a look at these cards and let's have a discussion about this.
So these were people, again, that I knew and I worked with that were in my company
and say, because if we talk about this, I want to know how you feel about money
because this is going to impact everything in your life and your business.
(23:19):
And boy, let me tell you, there were some great discussions that my parents brought us up with.
There's no trust funds for you, okay?
But there wasn't anything we couldn't do in life if we were willing to work
and that money was what you traded for your time.
And it should be something that you enjoyed, which was an amazing message when you think about it.
(23:42):
Because I've heard other people say, well, we may not be rich,
but at least we're honest.
And you think, oh, what does that mean? Or money doesn't grow on trees.
No. But we've all heard some of these messages. So it's been programmed.
So just like rebooting your computer, you can reprogram your message.
But I'm going to sell anybody here, it is a a lifelong journey.
(24:06):
And then a quote that I use or a hashtag I use on social media when I post things is, I love my life.
But it's a life that I have spent daily creating.
And you have the ability to create what you want, but hopefully it is in the
support of others so that you are are enjoying the human connection.
(24:28):
In your everyday actions. I've seen that post, Darlene, where,
and anytime I see you post, I love my life, I smile.
I said, I love this. So that connects with me as well.
Do you still have those cards?
Oh, well, I still have a few around. I haven't ordered them in a while because
they're from an American company.
I prefer supporting somebody local like you, but I'll find a couple and I'll
(24:53):
photocopy them and send them to you so you can kind of share.
That would be so interesting. I'm sure if you Googled motivational cards,
money related, maybe Warren Buffett, I don't know if he's made cards,
but you know, somebody who you admire what they've done and even look for some
of their quotes, because I have a couple of books of interesting people,
whole compilation of positive quotes.
(25:15):
It's like, okay, well, what would this person do? Or what would that person
do? Or I've been like to say, what's all the posting today? Because it's always positive. Yeah.
I want to zoom in on it. So you said when you bought those cars at a trade fair,
did you make a couple of, you know, repeat purchases? purchases?
Well, actually, they weren't that expensive. And only because I saw the value
(25:36):
and what I could teach somebody, I likely bought a dozen sets.
They might have been $10 a set. They weren't expensive, but it was like,
wow, I've never seen these before. I happen to be in the US.
So it was easier to buy them than necessarily ship.
So every year at a conference that I went to, this company was usually there.
So I would usually buy extras.
But I like to hand out all kinds of cards.
(25:57):
If I can find a nice set of cards and it's got a nice message,
I'll sometimes hand one of those out with a business card.
And people go, oh, what's this? I said, well, it's just a nice little positive
message. I hope you enjoy it.
And it's kind of cute because sometimes I'll fan out the card and say,
I'll say, now, if you pick one, read it. You don't like it, put it back in.
We'll work on this till we find one that resonates with you.
But it's kind of fun. Talking about resonation, you have used,
(26:22):
lots of cards at prison. So there must be some of those cards that did not resonate with you.
Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
So which ones don't resonate with you? Like you don't just like them.
Okay. Well, I likely didn't buy them. Louisa Hay has some amazing books and
tapes and things like that.
(26:43):
I love her. You can heal your life because if you have a pain in your your body
and you really understand with
that book, you kind of read about why is there a pain in your shoulder?
Why does your right leg, your sciatic nerve help? That usually means that you're
not willing to make a change that you need to, right?
So I likely wouldn't have bought any of them if they at least didn't resonate with me.
(27:04):
In fact, I can't think of a set that I ever really didn't like because they're
usually pretty good at giving you some description of what they are.
But yes, exactly what you're saying, Ola, it has to be something that our listeners
resonate with. So you're a game.
But if you Google positive affirmations, I'm sure there's a ton that you could
even just bring up a daily quote.
(27:26):
I have a couple of things on social media, which are motivational quotes.
There's another person, what is his name? He posts a positive message every day.
So a lot of times when I'm going into social media, I see he's in my feed because
of course I follow him and I'll like and share and then add something that I
believe, you know, was a quote that somebody also resonated with me.
(27:47):
So it kind of keeps you, because if you're only posting positive,
you know that most of the people that are going to follow you are positive too, right?
I try not to post anything, although I did make a mistake the other day.
Like, oh, oh, look, at an award ceremony.
Yes, my opinion, I have opinions, but I'm not going to share my opinions that
(28:07):
I think will attract those pessimists.
I want to only share my,
what is positive, right? Right.
So out of all the cards in your possession, which one do you find yourself going
to the most? Well, my daily calendar.
Does gravitate towards them? Yeah. Well, if you've ever bought their boat four
(28:29):
by four square, a calendar, I usually get one every year that has positive message, right?
So that's one of the first things I look at. And then I'm thinking,
okay, how could I use that if I like that.
I used to read my horoscope every day.
And I don't know whether you do that. I stopped doing it because sometimes I
would be in the middle of a day because I read the horoscope first thing in
(28:50):
the morning and it maybe was a little negative.
And I thought, okay, what's my day like?
And I'd say, now, am I having a bad day because I read my horoscope?
Is this really a bad day? I need to change my focus, right?
And so again, that's where try to identify.
And that's an elastic that you, it's sort of like tapping if you've ever done tapping.
So it resonates when you do that elastic, make sure it's not so tight that your hand turns blue.
(29:13):
Right. But you, you just pull that and then say, cancel, cancel, here's something else.
Right. So I don't use one. I use several.
I guess the, one of the reasons you go to the one with the calendar is because
because it has the dates on it, right?
So, I mean, I have a calendar in my office as well. It's the Cornish's Variety Calendar.
(29:35):
You know, it's those calendars that you put on the wall and they have little boxes in them.
And I love it because I can put things I want to be able to see quickly when
I get into the store. So I put them in those boxes.
That's really, and apart from horoscopes, I'm not into horoscope reading.
Sometimes I pick a newspaper up and then I see it And I glance at it because
(29:56):
I look at quotes in the newspaper and I just, but I don't have a daily practice of going into it.
Well, I would not suggest it because a lot of times it can be negative.
That's where it's your choice of what.
You decide you're going to make your day. And that here's the thing.
Sometimes people think they really don't have as many options as they do.
(30:17):
You have 50,000 thoughts a day.
And because of the pessimism being the easy that it's like, so I see my goals
on a corkboard right in front of me, my goals.
I know I backtrack from my goals. I know what I need to do on a daily daily
basis, based on my law of averages, what I need to do to accomplish my goals.
(30:39):
You know, sometimes people just stop dreaming and stop setting goals,
and your goals and dreams must align.
But I would suggest to anybody listening, think of just something nice this week that could happen.
Think of a person that maybe you haven't talked to in a while.
Think of the next time you're in a parking lot, say, I'm going to find a great spot.
I'm going to find a great spot. And keep doing it until a spot opens up.
(31:01):
And you'll be surprised, but it actually will. You can practice with little things.
Like last night, I had to go downtown Halifax, which number one,
it's got to be a good event for me to go downtown Halifax because parking now,
they've taken away so many parking spots.
It was minus four and I was freezing and wore a raincoat because it was supposed
to rain, which wasn't exactly warm.
(31:22):
And I managed to find in rush hour traffic, a parking spot one block away from where I was going.
That was like winning the lotto in
my opinion last night but it was did i have to go
around yeah i went around three times third time
there was that spot but i'm saying all the time someone's going to be moving
(31:43):
someone's going to be moving someone's going to be moving right i like the attitude
not giving up and then you found your spot let's talk about gift giving dealing
have you ever given affirmation or manifestation cards to someone as a gift before for.
The single best gift I believe you could ever get, right? Or a book on.
(32:05):
In fact, I bought a bunch of books for happy birthday and congratulations.
Only you have a wholesale company. You can go to the big gift show that happens in April in Halifax.
The reason I bought those, number one, they were on sale for an unbelievable
price at this wholesale company.
And the happy birthday one, I put a little inscription in the front of it,
wrap it in tissue, put it in a nice little bag, but it is 365 days of them sharing
(32:31):
birthday quotes. It's beautiful.
So it's kind of like a gift you give somebody for the whole year so they can keep it on their desk.
And sometimes I'll have people who go, Delene, I read my quote today from my
book that you gave me for my birthday last year. This may be six months later.
I love it. And then congratulations on your achievement because sometimes cards
are a little bit expensive. of yours are a phenomenal price.
(32:53):
But when I open the congratulations on your achievement, again,
it's a whole year of positive quotes.
So there's more than just cards that you can give. And anybody that I've ever
given those books to, because I think I bought 50 of each of them at the time.
So I've been handing them out for years.
And I don't hand them out to everybody, but to somebody I think that really
appreciates it is they saved them.
(33:14):
It's like I was in a person's house the other day and they posted notes and
instead of a nice flat book, it now is like this.
Well, it's like, I'm in there all the time to leave.
So yes, a gift, you know, cards or something with beautiful quotes can really change a person's life.
If you kind of maybe put the message in every time I read one of these quotes, I think of you.
(33:37):
Now, don't you'd want to go in that book and go, which one she thinks I am. Right. I want to.
That's so incredible. Thank you so much, Dylan.
I always, I'm a big believer in learning. If I can ask, what are you learning
now, Dylan? then. Oh my goodness.
I am learning that COVID either propelled people ahead or stopped them in their tracks.
(34:03):
But because we're coming out of COVID, there's people who were really willing
to step out of their comfort zone.
I'm amazed at how many people opened restaurants in the middle of COVID when the world shut down.
Now that's courage, but that's also passion and goal setting.
But what I'm seeing are people wanting, those introverts, those people who maybe
(34:27):
are not as courageous as perhaps you or I or as passionate about a goal because
of some limiting beliefs,
that they want to get connected again.
And I think it's a beautiful thing and that we're coming into a new way of living.
We can love our life. We can appreciate the people we come in contact with and
(34:50):
spread some joy right right you could all love our lives.
Absolutely. So what would you like to learn?
Well, I learn from every person that ever comes in contact with me.
I'm a curious person by nature, and I want to hear their stories.
So if you're an introvert networking, you could start off with,
(35:11):
please tell me all about you. And usually when I say that to people,
I just got off a Zoom meeting.
And when I said that, the person said, well, what do you want me to tell you
about? I said, tell me about what you're most excited about.
And this person's going to be in a dinner theater singing.
Number one, they're a tech person. They would work behind the scenes at a play
(35:33):
or a concert. They would never be on the stage.
But I truly believe, knowing what
that person grew up with, He was always meant to sing and be on stage.
But somewhere there was a limiting belief, but he wanted to be around those
creative types by doing the lighting and the things behind stage.
So I learned some really valuable lessons about that. that because when I was
(35:59):
about seven years old, I had started school in Quebec.
My dad was in the military. And because of the difference between when you started
school in Nova Scotia and when you started school in Ontario,
Nova Scotia at the time, we started at five.
In Ontario, you started at six, unless you were born before the end of October.
I was born on November 1st. I was almost seven when I started school,
(36:23):
so I was taller and bigger and likely louder than any child in that school,
and I went to a convent where nuns taught, and she wanted me to be the Blessed
Virgin Mary instead of being in the choir.
Because she thought I sang to laugh, okay? So as the blessing birthed in there,
(36:43):
I had the audience racking up.
My mother said I put on a display that she was just killing herself laughing.
Of course, I'm a daughter. She's a little biased.
But everybody in the audience, because this was a big school, right?
They're killing themselves laughing. And my mother said to the teacher afterwards,
right? You told my daughter not to be in the choir, and you got what you deserved.
(37:08):
My mother took up for me really well. That nun, she said, if you give my daughter
a hard time for that, I'm going to report you to the principal or something. She made it known.
You picked my daughter to be the Blessed Virgin Mary, and you got what you deserved.
My mom wouldn't have done it that way. But I got a message that my mom stuck up for me. Okay.
But anyway, so whenever I think of singing, I still think of that nun and I'm
(37:33):
not about to sing in public.
Okay. But after listening to this guy today, I might actually try it.
What an inspiring story and message that someone that is supposedly an introvert
could actually inspire you that way. That's awesome.
Thank you so much, Deline. Thank you. you.
(37:55):
I don't think I've ever told anybody that story, Ola.
There you go. Thank you. It's been so wonderful listening to you and having
this conversation today.
Ola, I love talking to you too. So to all you folks out there,
follow this woman and watch the other things that she's creating because it's
(38:19):
amazing. Amazing. Thanks for listening.
Hopefully that added value to you. I do like to say that the show aims to highlight
broad business patterns that are considered same as ever.
However, I also acknowledge that personal circumstances may differ.
So please apply the lessons in line with your context and seek professional
(38:39):
guidance as may be applicable to your business. Until next episode.
Please do share the show so value is added to others as well.
And remember, let's continue to learn together and be encouraged to keep on connecting.
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