The Balanced Living Journal

Practical information for busy women from Women's Success Coach Catherine Bruns. Visit me also at www.coachbalance.com

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Just Say No to Overwhelm

Yeehaw! Podcast #2 is on the airwaves.

Nancy and I had a kickin' time talking about overwhelm and how to get it on out of your life.

Go listen for yourself at Coaching A Go Go

And look in the left hand sidebar for instructions to use iPodder to magically add our podcast to your portable MP3 player while you sleep. I love technology!

Stay posted for #3 when we will share with you the secrets of getting along with just about anyone in your life. Don't want to miss that, now do you?

Monday, September 26, 2005

Creating Wild Business Success

  • Is your revenue decreasing – or are you afraid to run the numbers?
  • Are you feeling like you keep running into the same problem over and over again?
  • Are you losing clients or sales?
  • Ever feel like you are working hard in your business, but not really getting anywhere

  • If you’re saying YES, YES, YES and are a woman in a home-based or virtual business, there is a solution! Join the Creating Wild Business Success seminar to break the barriers to your success.

    In this dynamic seminar join other business women and learn how to move past the obstacles that are keeping you stuck, so that the money, the clients, and the creativity flow.

    This group which is limited to 8 women will meet on the phone:
    Tuesdays, Oct 11, 18, 25 & Nov 1, 8
    2pm Hawaiian (3pm in Nov), 5pm Pacific & 8pm Eastern

    For more information and registration go to: www.coachbalance.com

    Thursday, September 22, 2005

    I'm a Podcaster!

    The podcasts are coming, the podcasts are coming!

    No, you don't need to go running in fear - it's just technology rushing in to provide you with even more options to conveniently get the information that is just right for you.

    My Coach pal Nancy Marmolejo of Comadre Coaching and I are now airing a regular podcast called Coaching A Go Go, which you can connect to and download at www.coachingagogo.blogspot.com. It's nothing fancy, but we promise great information for you in our ever so spontaneous and authentic way.

    You can easily subscribe so that our coaches words of wisdom automatically transfer to your Ipod or other portable MP3 player. More on that later if you're not sure how that works.

    For now, get on over to Coaching A Go Go and hear us talk a bit about getting unstuck!

    Brought to you by Balanced Life Coaching

    Thursday, September 15, 2005

    Getting Unstuck

    I spent this summer watching my business fall away. What was happening? My mood was plummeting, my husband wondered why I was so cranky and I began to wonder if I was really making the right choices in my life. As I panicked and looked for the hole in the dike to put my finger in I realized I couldn’t blame employees, or bureaucracy or poor systems. Since I’m the only one in my biz, it had to be about me. Finally I realized I was stuck in a familiar quagmire that was actually rather predictable for me. Once I realized that the changes needed to come from the inside, I went on a very purposeful mission to learn what was keeping me stuck and how the heck to get out of it. I’m happy to say I was quite successful and now full of energy, action, creativity and possibility. I want to share with you what I’ve learned, because I imagine that you’ve experienced stuck too. I’ll give you a roadmap to follow right out of the quicksand.

    Read the rest of this article and other great information in my September edition of Living in Balance.

    Tuesday, September 13, 2005

    Words of Wisdom for Women

    A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
    a set of screwdrivers,
    a cordless drill,
    and a black lace bra...

    A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
    one friend who always
    makes her laugh...
    and one who lets her cry...

    A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
    a good piece of furniture
    not previously owned by
    anyone else in her family...

    A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
    eight matching plates,
    wine glasses with stems,
    and a recipe for a meal that will make
    her guests feel honored..

    A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
    a feeling of control over
    her destiny...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    how to fall in love
    without losing herself...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    how to quit a job,
    break up with a lover,
    and confront a friend
    without ruining the friendship...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    when to try harder... and
    WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    that she can't change the
    length of her calves,
    the width of her hips,
    or the nature of her parents..

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    that her childhood may
    not have been perfect..
    but its
    over...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    what she would and
    wouldn't do for love or more...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    how to live alone...
    even if she doesn't like it...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    whom she can trust,
    whom she can't,
    and why she shouldn't
    take it personally...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    where to go..
    be it to he best friend's kitchen table...
    or a charming inn in the woods...
    when her soul needs soothing...

    EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
    what she can and can't
    accomplish in a day...
    a month...
    and a year...

    Sunday, September 11, 2005

    The Power is in the Present

    My Coach pal Nancy Marmolejo at Comadre Coaching sent me this wonderful little video several months ago. I keep it in my email inbox and watch it periodically when I need a bit of a pick me up and a reminder to pay attention to right now. I think we could all use a pick me up these days!

    Check it out - it's lovely and inspiring. Don't forget to turn on your speakers.

    The Power is in the Present

    Thursday, September 08, 2005

    Learning to Tolerate Emotions

    I have been so absent from my blog! This deep exploration process that I've been doing has been fantastic, and it has consumed my thoughts, energy and time.

    And, I really want to share with you what I've learned.

    I wrote previously about my limiting belief. The overpowering fear that came with that belief was public humiliation. Not something I think anyone wants to experience, but it also didn't really add up related to what my life is all about.

    What I realized is that there was a sticky, gooey, yucky feeling underneath that felt so bad and my fear and belief were actually simply trying to divert me from that feeling. So, the belief in action actually protected me from going deeply into feelings that were hard for me to tolerate.

    Ah! I just learned a technique to deal with this. Dave Buck of Coachville calls this 'feeling gym'. Here's how I did it:
    • Get into a quiet place - which for me meant my upstairs lanai in the dark.
    • Bring the feeling up - I focused on feeling publicly humiliated.
    • Locate the feeling in the body - for me it began in my solar plexus and moved up to the bottom of my throat.
    • Investigate the body feeling - it was black and gooey and blobbish and seemed to move around and occupy a lot of space
    • Stay with the body feeling and go deeply to the core, the central nugget - I just stayed with the feeling and visualized burrowing deeper and deeper into the center. .
    • Note what happens - it shifted and moved into several different body parts, like it was trying to escape, but I just followed along. Interestingly,it was not uncomfortable at all to stay there once I got through the intial yuck.
    • Repeat this process whenever an uncomfortable feeling comes up - I did this when I would practice speaking my truth and the anxiety came up.
    In this way I expanded my ability to tolerate the feeling that came with my limiting belief.

    Wow! It's amazing how this belief and the accompanying anxiety and fear is almost eliminated. The way I can tell is that I have had many long years of having trepidation of calling people on the phone. No good reason and kinda weird, but it fit right into this pattern. Now, I pick up the phone easily and call all kinds of folks. Yay!

    What types of uncomforatble feelings are your beliefs protecting you from? Try the process above and stick with it until you increase your tolerance. If you need some help, let me know. I'm pretty good at it now!

    www.coachbalance.com