In lieu of a full blog post, I wanted to share with you a recent post I wrote on Facebook.
I was scared to hit post on it because I know it’s a little controversial….
and I wasn’t sure if it would trigger some people…
but I ultimately decided to post it because I feel so strongly about it.
It’s about coaching & coaching skills & ethics & so much more.
You’ll see it got some attention and a lot of folks commented very passionately on it.
Here it is: https://www.facebook.com/joanna.lindenbaum/posts/10155812738623437
Would love to hear your thoughts!
A few years ago, while I was leading a group call with nearly 30 women, my parents telephoned me on both my home phone and my cell phone 4 times within about 2 minutes.
I could feel my heart start beating faster as I was coaching. My mother has had MS for 30 years, and there have been many emergencies, hospital visits, and even life-support situations over the years.
A version of me 3 years ago would have tried to ignore her calls until I was done teaching — yet be scared & un-present to my teaching the entire time — because I wouldn’t want to come off as unprofessional.
An even older version of myself would have freaked out completely, told the folks on the call that I needed to reschedule, and then go on to deal with whatever was happening.
Last week, instead, at an appropriate pause in between spotlight coaching moments, I let the women on the call know that my parents had called 4 times and that I was concerned enough to feel I should call back, but that it would only take a moment. I asked everyone on the call to hold for just a minute and quickly called my mom. There was a slight emergency situation, but nothing very serious. I was able to get off the phone in under 90 seconds, return to my clients with full presence, and then take care of the situation at an appropriate time.
A few times a year, I have the honor and privilege of training 25 world-changing leaders on how to align your life and business with the seasons and cycles so that you are more successful, more in-the-flow, and all-around happier. (If you’re interested in being at the next training, let me know!).
Whenever I teach this, the room is blown away by the power of living and working in attunement to the Earth.
It is life-changing.
And inevitably there is also some initial disbelief on what the cold, dark, bare Winter could ever teach about life and business.
Most folks shun the Winter and the dark, anxiously waiting for the warm, pastel days of Spring. READ MORE
In this moment, I can’t actually think of any client I’ve ever worked with that hasn’t at some point wondered or (most likely) agonized over what to charge. And I confess, I certainly have grappled with this many times in the past as well.
The question about where to set your rates brings up a whole slew of internal questions and judgments:
How valuable is my work?
What will people think when they hear my rates?
What are other people in my industry charging?
Will anyone buy from me at all?
Am I undercharging?
Am I overcharging?
I get deeply annoyed and sometimes angry when I see “gurus” pretending that their lives and businesses are perfect because…NO ONE’s life or business is perfect. We all have our challenges, our frustrations, and I am pretty sure we all make our fair share of mistakes.
I always strive to be as transparent as I can with YOU (my beloved community!) because I know that your personal and business growth will accelerate if you know that you are in very good company when things don’t go your way — it will help you refrain from beating up on yourself, comparing yourself, and judging yourself… all things that slow down your growth.
So here’s what you need to know:
I make mistakes.
Lots of them.
Sometimes, after I’ve made them, they are seriously painful.
They may cost me time or money or opportunity or peace of mind.
Recently, I had the honor and privilege of training 25 world-changing leaders on how to align your life and business with the seasons and cycles so that you are more successful, more in-the-flow, and all-around happier. (If you’re interested in being at the next training, let me know & we’ll set a time to speak – they sell out quickly!).
Whenever I teach this, the room is blown away by the power of living and working in attunement to the Earth. It is life-changing.
And inevitably there is also some initial disbelief on what the cold, dark, bare Winter could ever teach about life and business.
Most folks shun the Winter and the dark, anxiously waiting for the warm, pastel days of Spring. READ MORE
Whether you live in the US or not, considering everything that is going on in the world right now, this is the perfect week to connect deeply into gratitude and being thankful for all that you have.
While I don’t have all the answers to how we can change our world, I do know one important component of the healing of the world: YOU.
YOU have a sacred responsibility to love yourself deeply.
You have a sacred responsibility to approach yourself with tenderness and with care and with full acceptance for your beauty AND for your imperfection.
You have a sacred responsibility to hold yourself sacred and to have compassion for all of the things about yourself that you don’t always like.
Last week, while I was leading a group call with nearly 30 women, my parents telephoned me on both my home phone and my cellphone 4 times within about 2 minutes.
I could feel my heart start beating faster as I was coaching. My mother has had MS for 30 years, and there have been many emergencies, hospital visits, and even life-support situations over the years.
A version of me 3 years ago would have tried to ignore her calls until I was done teaching — yet be scared & un-present to my teaching the entire time — because I wouldn’t want to come off as unprofessional.
An even older version of myself would have freaked out completely, told the folks on the call that I needed to reschedule, and then go on to deal with whatever was happening.
Last week, instead, at an appropriate pause in between spotlight coaching moments, I let the women on the call know that my parents had called 4 times and that I was concerned enough to feel I should call back, but that it would only take a moment. I asked everyone on the call to hold for just a minute and quickly called my mom. There was a slight emergency situation, but nothing very serious. I was able to get off the phone in under 90 seconds, return to my clients with full presence, and then take care of the situation at an appropriate time.
I recently posted this on Facebook, and it received such an overwhelming response that it felt important to share with you as well. It’s a short article, but a VERY important one!
The last 15 months with a baby and a 1st grader and a business and a sick mom who lives far away and…well, just life and all that comes with it…has been really hard at times.
In terms of business, there has been massive, massive growth on some levels, and on other levels I’m moving way slower than ever before. I thought my re-brand would be done and ready to go by last January. Ha! I’m hoping now for end of September. I thought my Sacred Archetype Assessment would have been ready by last December. I released it in July. I had plans for writing my book and creating some really, really huge marketing moments this last Spring. That hasn’t fully happened yet.
I’m sharing this for a couple of reasons:
1) I could have easily beaten myself up through all of this, judged myself for being lazy or too slow, compared myself to others, etc. But instead I chose to honor my pace, to honor that my business is NOT my first priority in life, to honor that I choose to make time for my children FIRST, and for my business to fit in with my life and not the other way around.
