In the News

Posted on 04/2/12 4:51 PM by Stacey Shrout

The EMC published an article last week about me. The article is titled One woman’s story of achieving her dreams now – not at retirement. It was nice to be able to share my story, hoping that I can inspire others to follow their dreams. Thanks to Marla Shook for the interview and writing the story.

Early New Years Resolutions

Posted on 11/23/11 3:08 PM by Stacey Shrout

Every year between Christmas and New Years I sit down with one of my good friends and we create our vision boards for the year. Last year I decided to add a picture of a house to my vision board. Afterwards I asked myself why I had done this. If you read my previous blog Buying vs. Renting you will understand why I questioned this photo appearing on my 2011 board. As a long time renter, I kept piling my money into my RRSP and paying the landlord their monthly rent.

I let all of this go and carried on knowing that what will be will be and if it is time then it will happen. Sure enough, this summer we decided to buy our first home. I work for the builder and I know the reputation that Neilcorp Homes has so it was an easier decision than I had thought it would have been. RRSP’s aren’t doing much these days, space is getting tight in our apartment and the country life was calling my name. So I gave in and dove into being a first time home owner. We are now two days away from getting the keys to our new home and I’m finding myself feeling like it’s Christmas.

Since Christmas has come early for us and I’m feeling the winds of change I’ve decided to set some goals for the new year now. My list starts with the following:

- Teach others what I’ve learned

- Build a successful yoga practice in the Almonte area

- Enjoy the ski season(when I’m not down south)

- Appreciate something every day

- Seize opportunities for growth

- Remember that with risk there is reward

I still look forward to my vision board session over the Christmas holidays but for now I’ve got a focus. Why not start early? I’ve always been told the early bird gets the worm!

Cleansing Your Finances

Posted on 08/15/11 5:09 PM by Stacey Shrout

Don’t miss our upcoming workshop Cleansing Your Finances October 1, 2011 in beautiful Wakefield, QC.

A day of clarity for your finances:

9:30 – Welcome

10:00 – Yoga

11:00 – Let’s Dream

12:00 – Lunch provided

1:15 – Goals and Dreams in Action

2:30 – Yoga

3:00 – Survive/Thrive Budget

4:00 – Questions, Wrap Up, Meditation

Step away from the everyday and find clarity in beautiful Wakefield:

Clear your mind using yoga and meditation
Set goals
Take an honest look at your spending
Turn your budget from surviving to thriving
Learn Financial tools for setting plans into action
Live your dreams by managing your money
Develop a clear course of action
Start getting ahead

Stacey Shrout, owner of Balance Accounting & Financial, is joined by Financial Planner Catherine James-Zelney and bookkeeper Laura Shrout. All three are certified yoga instructors.

SPACE IS LIMITED TO 20 PARTICIPANTS

Contact service@balancebusinessonline.com or 613-818-7150.

YIN Mondays

Posted on 03/28/11 6:09 PM by Stacey Shrout

I have always wanted to work part time. I never understood this nine to-five rat race we place upon ourselves. When I entered the business world my biggest struggle was Sunday evenings. I always hated them. They were the end of a weekend and the beginning of another five day work week. Why all of this suffering?

After working for myself for over five years now, I found myself working almost six days a week, which was tiring. The Monday blended into the Sunday and I began not enjoying any day of the week. Finally I decided, it was time to take charge. I’ve reduced my client base and decided to focus on happiness instead of the financial return. This shift has left me with a handful of clients I enjoy working with and enough money to live a comfortable, contented life.

But, then the guilt set in. I started waking up on Mondays with an overwhelming feeling of
guilt—I should be at work, I should be productive. How could I just sit on the couch, it’s Monday. That feeling reminded me of my high school days, when I would skip school and hide out at my friends’ house. It is an awful feeling, worse than having to work because it made me feel unsatisfied.

One Monday morning, after signing into Facebook, I realized I had to change this mindset. There were comments on my friends’ walls saying how awful Mondays were. Their feelings about this dreaded day are exactly how I’d felt most of my life.

That Monday, during my coaching session, I brought up my guilt. As we talked through the issues I realized that Mondays needed to be my Savasana for the week. For people who don’t practice yoga, Savasana is a relaxing posture intended to rejuvenate the body, mind, and spirit by lying on the floor in a corpse position. Because of my yoga training I could understand the importance of Savasana and I needed to transfer it into my everyday life. Tim Stringer, my coach, explained the whole yin and yang theory and how we need to have yin to balance out the yang. He suggested I look at Mondays as the yin that balances out the rest of my week that is very much yang. The light bulb went on. That afternoon, I sat on my couch and read a book. No guilt, no computer.

Because I am the type of person who likes to have a plan, I’ve decided that Mondays are YIN Mondays and I will plan to relax. Reading, sitting in stillness, and enjoying that balance will help me to fully enjoy my life.

Business Communication 101

Posted on 03/9/11 4:34 PM by Stacey Shrout

Exactly when did we start communicating with each other? By some estimates, the earliest forms of speech communication took place about 200,000 years ago. Only 30,000 years ago, symbols appeared as a form of mass communication, and finally about 7,000 ago a first written language. How did we communicate with each other at the beginning? Perhaps there was a scream, followed by clubbing or a hand slap. This is something that we do not know much about, since the earliest humans were not very keen on keeping detailed records.

Communication has since become a scientific field in its own right. Also, we take communication for granted because it is partly intuitive. No one really taught us how to laugh or cry, how to express gratitude or sorrow, or how to be happy or angry. There is a purpose behind every communication, whether we want to convey information, ask for help, influence, or entertain someone. Also, there is a feedback or a response from whomever we communicate with. It is not just a form of good etiquette, but also a part of our basic human nature to be responsive. Therefore, communication is not just talking, writing and gesticulating, but also listening, reading and observing. Today’s communication has to follow today’s lifestyle—it has to be fast. In order to be fast it has to be good and clear.

Workplace communication is manly focused on efficiency and it is structured around a particular hierarchy. Communication boundaries will be set and changed in accordance with the strict set of guidelines as opposed to the personal or family communication. Principles of the business communication are set to prevent confusion and unnecessary loss of time which in turn would affect efficiency.

Communicating is much harder than talking about it, but there are countless books sold and seminars offered to those interested. Communication is much like us, human beings–it works best if it is properly maintained. Once neglected, it requires drastic measures to be repaired. We should try building functional relationships through seminars and training or collective brainstorming sessions. One of the most important things is developing trust and respect between coworkers. It is all very human to make a mistake, and it takes a responsible worker to admit it. Otherwise, dishonesty will eventually lead to resentment and conflict is inevitable. Conflict at the workplace is a very, very delicate and potentially dangerous situation. Besides legal issues and possible firing of an employee or employees, there were situations were disgruntled employees did actually fire on their coworkers.

Client communication is the one that brings the money in, and failure to properly communicate might send your client someplace else. This aspect of the business communication is more complex and sensitive, due to the high level of potential legal and/or financial liability. Trust, respect and responsibility are key aspects of the successful client relationship. Clients would also like to know that we are sensitive to their needs and one of the best ways to express that is a face-to-face meeting. You will most likely learn more about your client and offer more than by email and phone only. Skype offers a great alternative to face-to-face meetings. Prepare properly before any appointment and make sure that you have up-to-date information beforehand. Make sure that all of your emails and letters are proofread, and address your clients properly. Above all—treat all of your clients as human beings with feelings, and most likely you will be treated the same.

More on communication next time around—in my next blog. There is simply so much to say. In the meantime, practice your communication skills any time you can—doing it right will benefit everyone involved.

Wishing you a very good communicative health,

Stacey