Journey out of Being Stuck

I got stuck. Business stalled, my satisfaction level took a dive and the feelings of hopelessness began to creep in around the edges. I started to doubt myself and my abilities and even to my horror began entertaining the thought of returning to work for someone else.

So, I went on a journey. I am on a journey I should say - one that is taking me inside myself and peeling away old beliefs and patterns like the layers of an onion.

The first belief I uncovered was: Speaking my truth and being fully expressive will result in shame, humiliation and people shunning me.

Yuck! I'd become familiar with this belief over time, but I had no idea that it packed such a life-limiting punch.

Well - that one's gotta go. So, I replaced it with: Speaking my truth and being fully expressive will result in attracting just the right people to me.

OK, good start. Now I realized I had to put that into action. I began to see opportunities everywhere for me to speak truthfully and express myself. Sometimes I jumped on them, sometimes I missed them and sometimes they were still a bit scary, but here's what I did:

• Shared more with my husband about my decisions and ask for feedback
• Became the 'client' in a class I am instructing and shared this belief and process with my students so they can practice on me
• Shared this process as a client in a coaching class
• Had conversations in public about opinions, beliefs and things that would normally make me uncomfortable
• Write about this right now in this blog!

What are your limiting beliefs? How do they impact your life? If you did not have these beliefs who would you be, what would you be doing?

We all have times in our lives that we get stuck or are hung up by something that is limiting us. My Coach has been masterful in asking the right questions to help me move forward.

If you need someone to ask the right questions to uncover what limits you, consider a Coach. I can offer you a sample coaching session at www.coachbalance.com

The Way to Live Life

I got a birthday card last week that spoke loudly to me.

live with intention.
walk to the edge.
listen hard.
practice wellness.
play with abandon.
laugh.
choose with no regret.
continue to learn.
appreciate your friends.
do what you love.
live as if this is all there is.

- mary anne radmacher

What if we actually lived our lives this way? Who would we be? These words really resonated with me right now because I'm in a process of uncovering a deeper level of myself.

Old patterns and beliefs are being revealed and I'm stunned at the grip that they have had on my life.

I'll tell you more about this discovery and what I am learning as time goes on, so stay tuned.

Free Classes This Week

Balanced Life Coaching has a couple of great opportunities happening this week that I don't want you to miss.

Wise Womens Circle - Free Introductory Call

This call is for a woman who is interested in group coaching and is wondering if it is right for her. Come to this call to get all your questions answered and learn:

• How group coaching creates amazing change in its members
  
• The power of women in a circle and how you can benefit from this power
• Whether or not being in a group coaching circle is right for you
• What types of goals or topics women work on in the Wise Women's Circle
• How you can get great coaching and save money

Thursday, Aug 25 - 12pm Hawaiian, 3pm Pacific, & 6pm Eastern
To register contact Coach Catherine at (808) 263-1244 or Catherine@coachbalance.com

A new Wise Womens Circle will be launching in Sept and the women on this call will determine the date and time - so be on the call to participate in this decision!

How Full is Your Bucket - Creating Time and Energy for Busy Women

This introductory free teleclass is designed specifically for the woman who is managing multiple responsibilities in her life and who feels tired and drained from juggling a ‘to do’ list as long as her arm.

In this class you will learn:

• Your regular level of energy
• How your energy level impacts your ability to get things done
• How to become more efficient by using your energy
• How time and energy are related
• Specific ways to increase your energy
• What will quickly increase your energy in a hurry

Friday Aug 26 - 2pm Hawaiian, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern
This fantastic teleclass is part of the Older Wiser Womens Celebration and you can register for this class and many others at www.olderwiserwomen.com

This month long celebration is amazing and when you register you can participate in a multitude of outstanding teleclasses and have a chance to win cool bonuses and gifts.

I have a bonus at the Celebration! Register, plan to attend the Friday teleclass and once you sign up for the bonus you are eligible to win the 4-week teleclass series that follows the Friday call - so you can learn ALL the tips and tricks of creating energy and time! Who wouldn't want to know that?

I look forward to 'seeing' you on the calls!

My Own Personal Celebration of Aging

I'm singin' a little song this morning and looking forward to a day filled with fun and celebration. Why? Because it's my birthday! Yay!

I'm turning 44 today and celebrating every moment of my age. Sure, there are things hanging in new places and I can't seem to get my eyes to focus at all without glasses and things with waistbands fit a little tighter, but in my opinion the benefits of being an aging women far outweigh the costs.

Here's what I'm celebrating:

• the ability to say NO and stick to it
• deep connection with other women
• a relationship with myself that is truly satisfying
• love that grows incredibly with my husband
• living life on my terms and unhooking from others expectations
• feeling my intuition getting stronger every day
• being a model for women younger than me
• comfort in my own skin - no matter what it looks like
• exploring the depth of my wisdom
• having a plethora of older women in my life who have shown me aging is wonderful
• not being in my 20s any longer - fun, but wrought with angst
• knowing how to take care of myself
• telling my truth - even when getting angry or self righteous would be more fun
• being fabulous!

Celebrate with me! What are those things that you are celebrating about yourself right now?

Resource for Women with Virtual Businesses

Most of my business is virtual - meaning I work with my clients over the magic waves of the phone, cyberspace, and other technological means. I love it!

My guess is that since you are reading this, you have some familiarity with life online and business in the virtual realm. If that's the case, then I have the business resource for you!

The International Virtual Womens Chamber of Commerce is a fabulous organization headed by one dynamo of a virtual business woman - Jerrilynn Thomas.

I have been a member of this organization since December of 2004 and it is my lifeline to the virtual business world. I can't tell you how many wonderful women I have met - in person, on the phone, and through online networking - who have informed and inspired me personally and professionally.

If it wasn't for the IVWCC I wouldn't have learned about blogging, podcasts, web conference rooms, SEO, RSS, and all the teachers, trainers and resources that can bring a boost to my biz.

It is the one place that I know if I put a question out there - whether it be how to manage a glitch in my Outlook, to organizing my time better - I will get it answered, quickly and often with an offer to help.

The IVWCC is undergoing some profound changes right now and is morphing, under Jerrilynn's tutelage, into a premier business portal for womens virtual business. I'm sooooo excited about some of the changes - I can't wait.

I want you to check out this great opportunity because you definitely want to get in on the outstanding deal of joining this amazing group. You can learn about the benefits of the new and improved IVWCC and see for yourself that it is simply a no brainer to join us in creating abundance and success for ourselves and each other.

That's what women are about, right? Community, support, creation, success!

Older Wiser Women Celebration!

If you are a mid or later-life woman then there's a month long celebration that starts this week just for you! Barbara Phillips, the creator of Older Wiser Women has put together a bevy of fabulous opportunities for us aging wise women.

You can participate in a multitude of teleclasses covering everything from bio-identical hormones to feng shui. And, there are gifts and bonuses for you to win.

The best thing is it's all for free!

Run on over to www.olderwiserwomen.com and register, so you can participate and perhaps win a terrific Mid-Life Adventure for 4-days in Mt. Hood Oregon by eating chocolate and drinking coffee and tea. Sounds terrific, doesn't it?

Check out the awesome mid-life movie to get a taste of the amazing adventure you could win. Ready to change your life?

And, guess who's offering a presentation and a bonus? Yes, me! Join me on Aug 26 to learn how to Create More Time and Energy for Busy Women. I bet you'd like some of that. And, by participating you are eligible to win a free 4-week teleclass series that follows this introduction - that's a $129 value!

It's free, it's fabulous and you belong there!

Paralyzing Perfection

I just heard Maria Shriver say something brilliant:

"Well behaved women never make history"

What she means by this is that when you are afraid of making a mistake, then you become paralyzed and your gifts do not become a part of the world.

How does fear of making a mistake get in your way? Do you feel like you need to be perfect?

Sometimes us women feel that if we 'misbehave' then we are labelled in an unflattering way. Perhaps, that is so.

Think about the women you admire and why. Did they ever make a mistake in order to bring their gift to the world. Probably.

We all make mistakes. And, our mistakes can be our greatest teachers and our greatest gifts.

If fear is stopping you from acting in the world on your deepest heart's desire, you're denying the rest of us your gift.

TV Makeovers

I've mentioned before, I looooovvve reality TV. I guess it's the voyeur in me and why I choose as my profession to work with people - I get to peer into their personal living rooms!

So I admit it. I like makeover shows. Not those 'extreme' shows where the person comes out on the other end completely unrecognizable to their family and friends, but the ones where the makeoveree is enhanced and polished to their truest potential. What I like is watching a person go through a process that allows them to really step into themselves and match their inside with their outside.

It makes me teary to see this shiny polished person stand in front of the mirror and say 'now I feel like me' or 'I was so scared to do this and now I feel like a million bucks'. What a release! What a joy to be acknowledged as a person who is important enough to take the time to look great!

The point is not to make YOU different, it's to make YOU the best you can possibly be. Not such a bad goal is it?

You deserve to be your best. How's that going to happen for you?

Getting Organized and Staying that Way

Are you organized? What does that mean anyway? It really means many different things to different people with different levels of tolerance, but the key issue with organization is energy. How does your level of organization help you preserve your energy for more important things in life? Or, on the other hand, how much of your energy is leaking (or pouring) out of you because you can’t find the important document you need, miss deadlines, can’t keep track of appointments, not to mention your keys, have late charges because your bills go in late, and on and on. Disorganization can be a huge energy drain, but unless you have a compulsive hoarding problem, the news is good - you can tackle your disorganization and increase your energy!

Read the rest of this article in my August edition of Living in Balance.

Be Spontaneous

My husband and I were sitting around on Sunday, doing our regular Sunday stuff and the next thing you know, we've got a long weekend in Portland planned.

Whoa! What happened?

We're not the most spontaneous couple in the world, though we don't live our life by a schedule. But, 4 days in Portland next week?

I'm thrilled! I'm excited! And my energy has gone way up because of that. It doesn't hurt that my wonderful stepson lives in Portland and so we have a fun visit to look forward to, but I think what is most exciting for me was the spontaneity.

There's something delicious about having a dose of fun and possibility dropped in my lap. And, I even enjoyed the couple of hours I spent researching our travel plans.

I know if you're a planner, then spontaneous activity may not be to your liking. But, the rest of you should give it a try once in a while.

When was the last time you were wonderfully spontaneous?

Becoming What You Believe

Yesterday I heard something from Oprah that made me get up off the couch, run to my desk and write furiously so I would not lose the intense wisdom that had just occurred. Oprah said:

"You don't become what you want. You become what you believe."

Wow! Not that I didn't already know that, but somehow it just hit me like a mack truck yesterday. Which got me to wondering, what is it that I believe about me? And, am I satisfied creating those beliefs?

Beliefs are so powerful and often lurking in those messy closets in our mind that remain unopened. There's a whole theoretical perspective in psychology, called Cognitive Behavioral, which puts forth that everything about us is created by our thinking.

We have such incredible power over our thoughts and beliefs (most of the time), so how do we use that power? To build ourselves up and make ourselves whole and full? Wonderful!

Often though, our beliefs and thoughts may be repetitions of hurtful and demeaning words we've heard in the past, or coping methods that we've learned from others that no longer serve us.

What do you believe about yourself and how does that serve you? The woman on Oprah yesterday believed that she was not good enough for her husband and that he would leave her. And, that's exactly what she was unconsciously creating.

How can you change your belief so that it creates a shining beacon of light for you? For the Oprah women, her challenge was to begin to believe that her husband was lucky to have her.

What are the beliefs that are holding you back from the best you possible? What beliefs are serving you in being your best? Pull out your polish cloth and shine up your beliefs and tell us how you're doing that.

Deep Rejuvination

I belong to a group of women that gathers monthly to connect and celebrate our shared spiritual connection with the feminine Divine. I can't even begin to share how this group of women has impacted me at the deepest levels over the last 12 years.

A few months ago we travelled to the Big Island (the island of Hawaii) for our 3rd annual Goddess retreat, which not only includes the celebration of the feminine spirit, but a bunch o' fun. Rituals, relaxation, good food, connection, massage, soul searching and a whole lot of wine fill up our retreat days.


Here we are at the beginning of our trip (minus two) - so excited to be away, to be together and to be at the start of our grand goddess adventure!

This annual Spring retreat has become such a highlight for our group that it becomes an emphatic topic of conversation around the end of year holidays. The enjoyment of our trip this year was so deep, that we decided we need to do it twice a year.

The enjoyment of these few days away is so powerful for a number of reasons. All of us are women with full lives and many roles and responsibilities - mothers, business owners, caretakers, creators, nurturers, holders of the space - and to completely step out of those roles to simply be ourselves is rejuvination on the deepest level. We are allowed during this time to be who we are without care or judgement, which feels like soaring effortlessly above the earth.

How often do you get to simply be you, without the mantle of responsibility or a role to fulfill?

One of the things that we marvel at each year is how easy and effortless our time together is. The dishes need to be washed - someone does it. Flowers magically arrive in the common area. The schedule needs to be adjusted because someone scheduled a massage - OK. Our attachment to outcome vanishes and we allow ourselves to be carried along in the flow of our connection - to ourselves, to each other, and to the Divine that we so cherish.

The short flight home is always very different than the raucous, crackling energy of the flight over. Returning home, we are filled, we are peaceful, we are ready to resume our responsible lives and bring what we have learned to bear in our daily existence. And, we're always ready to go again!

How do you deeply rejuvinate yourself? Is it alone or in connection with others? Tell us about how you return to the center of you.