Wise Lessons From A Diplomat & Entrepreneur

The thoughts and images which we have about ourselves determine how far we can elevate to another level of growth and fulfillment. Society has created a certain image for us to follow, and this puts pressure for us to conform. This causes us to stifle our own creativity and can stop us from reaching our full potential. With confidence in yourself and in your own uniqueness, you can break out of this mould. 

Nakinda Daniel

Nakinda Daniel, a mother of two is a transformational coach dedicated to helping ambitious men and women grow in their careers, businesses and relationships. With 10 years’ experience as a diplomat and working in international relations, Nakinda Daniel helps her clients to find the clarity they need to make positive changes and build lasting confidence. This process is rooted to the client’s goals and to their own vision of their ideal life.

With a young family, demanding career and business, Nakinda Daniel has experienced high, lows and overwhelm.  She found that the key is to continually improve yourself, and the rest will follow.  Nakinda Daniel has been studying personal development for as long as she has been working in international relations, and she believes in the power of positive self-talk. 

‘’Over the past decade alone, there has been incredible global advancement in technology, and education. Countries are working together to spread the benefits of these as wide as possible.  However, society does not demand that you take good care of your health or that you have a positive attitude towards yourself and others.  Society does not force you to be successful or happy.  These are personal decisions that we must all make.’’

You’re coaching clients to find their own path to personal empowerment, how do you do this? 

A change in our circumstances can only happen when we take personal responsibility for our lives.  I help my clients to take an objective look at their current situation on one hand, and their goals on the other hand.  This personal assessment enables the client to see what actions must be taken to transition from the present situation and the ideal circumstances.  

I call it a personal path because each person’s idea of success is different.  We all have different starting points and different aspirations.  Sure, we all generally want good health and happiness.  But for one person this could mean six-pack abs and monthly income of £10,000.00.  For another person, success could involve a job promotion or learning how to be more assertive.

It seems obvious that if you want to build muscles you lift weights at the gym; if you want to be healthier, you change your diet; if you want your ideas heard you start speaking up for yourself.   

However, lack of confidence and low self-esteen can often prevent us from making the necessary changes.  To make lasting change, we need to first dislodge limiting beliefs and recondition our thinking and expectation.  Therefore, my transformational coaching also guides the client to develop positive mindsets, attitudes and beliefs.

My job is to help my clients to recognise their starting point, to discover their action plan and to remain accountable for their empowerment.  This is the individual journey.  This is when the shift happens. 

I help individuals who have made that crucial decision to ‘do more’ and to ‘be more’ to development the right attitude to take control of their lives and to confidently pursue their goals.

Now it’s the first time we interview a diplomat, can you explain to us what being a diplomat is, for those who don’t know?

I am from Dominica (not Dominican Republic) and over the last 10 years it has been my privilege to represent Dominica in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Some of my diplomatic duties include maintaining Dominica’s foreign relations with other countries and with international organisations like the Commonwealth Secretariat, the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations in Geneva.  It also involves providing information and guidance on tourism, trade and investment in Dominica.

I have been told that diplomats tend to be energetic, confident, and optimistic. In addition to these, my intuition and congeniality has been tremendous assets in the world of diplomacy.

Each of us must take personal responsible to set our own standards and create a better life for ourselves.    I am using the skills I have developed as a diplomat to help empower others through my coaching. 

What 5 steps would you advise and give our ladies who are working towards becoming an entrepreneur? 

1. Be absolutely clear of your reasons and goals for starting your business.  Clarity of goals will give you the energy and motivation when you need to push yourself.  This is necessary so that short term frustration doesn’t derail your progress.
2. Identify your strengths and use them.  Identity your weaknesses and outsource.  This simple strategy saves on time, reduces stress and allows you to concentrate on the things that will build your business faster. 
3. Commit to continuous education.  Keep learning and refining your skills so you provide more value to your clients.   Read the books, take the online classes and join the networks.  I am currently taking an online ‘Showit’ class so that I can learn how to make minor updates when my website goes live and I love Amazon for building up my library.
4. Identify people in your field who are already successful.  What do you admire or like about them?  We all need heroes and icons who we can learn from.
5. Start now.  Find out all you can about your business, but do not wait for all conditions to be perfect – all the traffic lights are never green at the same time.  Procrastination will rob you of your energy so start where you are even if it’s with the small things like shortlisting potential names for your business, registering a domain name for your website or identifying suppliers.  Unless you take action, your wish for starting your business will remain a wish.
   

What can we expect from your upcoming website? 

www.nakindadaniel.com is a contemporary fresh website with exciting free resources like my Attitude Analysis which is a self-test which shows how attitudes affects our circumstances.    Anyone interested in building their confidence and raising their game, will be able to sign up for our newsletter and blog where we share tips for building self-esteem. 

Visitors can use the online platform to book a free 30 minute consultation to see which coaching programme is right for them. 

I am an experience speaker who has presented before several international organisations, as well as local community events.  Through my web portal, clients can book me for speaking engagements and to facilitate empowerment workshops to bring inspiration and motivation to their audiences.

Can you share us 1 great advice with us that you share with your clients? 

Building your competency is one of the greatest ways of building self-confidence.  If you’re a teacher, then be the best teacher your students could ask for.  If you’re a caterer, go the extra mile with exceptional customer service.  

Understand that you must be constantly learning and refining your skills.  When you are sure of the value you bring to the table then you can graciously accept compliments, you can remain open to feedback, and you can be stronger against any criticism.  

I encourage my clients to live by the line ‘’No half measures here– keep raising your competency so you can keep increasing the value you bring.’’

What is the one advice that has impacted you the most?

Stop letting life happen to you, instead, become an active participant in it.  This advice comes from my YouTube mentor Jim Rohn. He said, if you don’t like it, change it.  My translation is that it’s time to get off the spectator benches, get on the field and start kicking towards goal.  

How do you think modern women can be more fulfilled in their lives?

Understand that time management is self-management – We all live busy lives and have lots of things to juggle.  Learning to focus on one thing at a time will keep you balanced and efficient.

When you are working on a business or career task, focus on that.  When you are spending time with your children, family or friends, put your full attention on them and enjoy the time.  When you are exercising or meditating, learn to immerse yourself fully in these experiences.

Or course, multitasking has its place.  You can cook while chatting on the phone (speaker phone of course) read while having a pedicure or listen to audio book while driving. 

I have two small children, a demanding job and a coaching business.  I completely understand that it’s not always easy to concentrate on one thing when there is so much demand on your attention.    I have tired playing with the baby, helping my son with his homework and writing a report all at the same time – we all ended up crying!

To avoid becoming overwhelmed it is essential to prioritise, to concentrate on the important things and choose to give then your full attention – one at a time.  You will find more joy and fulfilment in your day.  

Through transformational coaching, I guide my clients to discovers his/her own path to a more empowered life.  

What steps do you take when you want to get through a less of a good business day?

When things do not go as planned, I use my self-care routine to help me to reflect, recharge and refocus my energy.  It’s important for us to get over the hurt or disappointment so that we can continue tomorrow.  If you allow yourself to become bitter, then your bad mood and low vibration will affect other areas of your life. 

Self-care gives me the space to recharge, and I do this with some very simple and quick things:

• Breathing exercises – you will be amazed by how this will calm you
• Practising positive affirmations- remind yourself that you are not defined by this setback.  
• Planning and Journaling – writing down the lessons you learnt, and asking yourself how you would handle this next time. This simple act will ensure that you learn the lesson and put them into your plan. It will also help you zoom in on your goals.

Do you believe in destiny or do you think you can control your fate?

I believe several outcomes are possible and we have all been given free will with which to make decisions.  Therefore, we should use our power of choice and power of thought to make improvements, to learn and to change course.  

This is not to say that all decisions are easy to make, but we definitely influence our circumstances through attitudes, our mentality and the action which we decide to take.  

Tell us about your proudest achievement? 

I am proud that I took the leap of faith to start my business, as it’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  It took courage as I had no client list, and no idea as to how to book speaking engagements.  But I was confident that I was providing a valuable service to my clients, so I started – I found a business coach to guide me and web site designer.  The result brings so much fulfilment and spurs me on to continue to provide exceptional service and value to my clients.