Does this happen to you too?
Every day’s headlines make me tear up. And some days it’s more than just tearing up; it’s a full out big cry that, if I actually wore mascara, would make it stream down my face.
The fires. The hurricanes. The pandemic. The needless and unjust killings. And beyond.
It’s a lot. (This is an understatement). READ MORE
Birthdays are an important moment – they can become a potent marker of time and of your personal evolution.
So, every year on my birthday I make time for this sacred and soulful ritual. It helps me make meaningful time and space on my special day just for ME. It connects me to my truest self and desires and helps me celebrate in deep ways. It also allows me to gracefully and joyfully let go of one year and powerfully move on to the next.
The ritual is simple, but really quite profound. Here is what I do: READ MORE
Last week was Autumn Equinox which — among other things — is all about the energy of Balance.
During the time of the Equinox, the daytime hours are exactly as long as the night-time hours. The Earth is in a beautiful moment of balance between light and dark, Winter and Summer, inner and outer energy.
So this is a wonderful moment to reflect upon how you are creating balance in your life and in your business.
Balance is one of the most important elements of any successful and happy business. And when things aren’t in balance, you feel off, resentful and most likely are not creating what you want. For example:
–Working so much that you don’t have enough time for rest, self-care, family or the other priorities in your life
READ MORE
Autumn is the perfect time to clean out and let go of what no longer serves you in your life. And letting go through ritual can be very powerful!
Look around and notice that the days are getting shorter and the leaves are falling from the trees. Soon, there will be less bounty and abundance being offered from the flowers and plants. Nature is letting go of excess and stripping down to the essentials – to what is really necessary to get through the long, dark winter. These cues from nature are beautiful invitations to help you in identifying, releasing, and letting go of the excess. Nature is signaling that it’s time to let go of the things that are perhaps weighing you down in your life.
It’s important to “clean house” on an inner level every now and again, and take stock of what you’re holding onto.
So often, you hold on to old fears, resentments, habits, patterns, limiting beliefs, and ways of being because they FEEL comfortable, but that’s only because you’ve been holding on to them for so long. However, when you take a closer look, you can begin to see that these things no longer serve you, and in fact are standing in the way of your moving forward.
The tree metaphor applies here: imagine what might happen if trees never shed their leaves? Yes, they might not ever look bare, and there is comfort in always looking full and abundant. However, if the trees never shed their leaves, they would never have a chance to grow new leaves – new ideas, new projects, new beliefs, new opportunities. See where I’m going with this?
I’ve created a simple and special autumn ritual to be able to identify and let go of the things in your life that are ready to be released for you:
Autumn Ritual for Release
First, reserve some special time for yourself. Go to an outdoor place that feels sacred to you: a park, a stream, a path in the woods. Any place that feels safe and supportive for you. Bring paper and a pen.
In sacred outdoor space, sit down in a comfortable place. Connect with nature. Feel your seat on the ground, and take a couple of nice, deep breaths in – taking in the autumn air and feeling the energy of releasing and letting go.
Next, use your paper and pen and answer the following questions. Take some time to really feel into these questions:
Review your answers, and create a list of 3 things that you know you are really ready to let go of. This list should be things that you know in your heart are no longer serving you, even though they might feel comfortable for you.
Next, find 3 rocks or pebbles. Each of these rocks will represent one thing that you are ready to release, surrender, and let go of. Be clear for yourself what each rock represents. Take a moment as you pick up each rock or pebble from the ground, close your eyes, feel the rock in your hand and say to yourself, “this rock represents my fear of success,” or “this rock represents my addiction to sugar” or “this rock represents my relationship with my boyfriend.” Allow each rock to truly take on the energy of each thing you want to release.
Then, go on a mindful walk with your three rocks. On this walk, observe all the ways that each of your “rocks” have hindered your happiness and success. Then, as you are ready, let each rock go, one by one. Drop them to the ground, really feeling that you are symbolically letting go of each. If you are near water, you can throw each rock into the water, listening to the splash each rock makes as it hits the surface and sinks down. Then take a moment to notice how it feels in your body to commit to releasing each of these things.
Finally, write down a next action step for each of your items. For example, if one of your items is your addiction to sugar, a next action step might be to cut sugar out after 7pm. Bring your action sheet home, and keep it somewhere convenient, where you’ll be reminded of these steps often.
Action follows intention. This autumn ritual is a great way to partner your inner and outer energy to create positive change in your life!
I’ve always been what I call an “over-responsibility” person. I used to feel that I had to make other people happy, had to meet their needs, no matter what. Regardless of what it might cost me.
When I first started my coaching practice, I did anything for any client – I charged ridiculously low rates, and I would meet them anytime, anywhere. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but in the beginning, I charged just $15 for a 45-minute session. I agreed to sessions at 6:30 AM. I did 11:00 PM sessions. I traveled to clients an hour each way, and still only charged $15 for the session – no charge for my travel time. As you can guess, that did not work! Not only was I under-earning, but I also had no time for marketing to grow my business, or for taking care of myself. I was stressed, exhausted, and often annoyed at my clients. But it wasn’t their fault I felt this way. The fault was mine – because I wasn’t setting any boundaries.
I’m sure many of you can see yourselves in my story. So, so, so many entrepreneurs, artists, and leaders have trouble with boundaries around time. Typical problems include:
Once you realize that you’re dishonoring your time and dishonoring yourself, it’s time to sit down and get really clear on what you need. I have formulated a series of exercises that will enable you to establish a schedule that allows you time and freedom to accomplish your business and personal goals, and a series of healthy boundaries to serve as a framework for your success. With these boundaries, you can stop feeling overwhelmed, taken advantage of, or scared. You can stop worrying that you’re over-worked and start stepping into time and energy well-spent.
How you spend your time is how you live your life.
In this first section of How to Honor & Protect Your Time, let’s look at scheduling and prioritizing, because setting boundaries for yourself begins with time management.
First, get clear on the top two or three things you don’t have enough time for because of unhealthy boundaries. Is it marketing? Is it self-care? Is it time to write?
What are you losing out on because you’re not honoring your time?
Create Your Ideal Schedule
Creating an ideal schedule is KEY to setting time boundaries for yourself. The more clear you are on your schedule, on what you’d like to be doing at what moments, the easier it will be to honor your time, your energy, and what’s important to you.
To create your ideal schedule:
1) Draw a grid with a column for each day of the week, and a row for each hour of the day.
2) Assign work time and personal time.
3)Get more specific: Identify what you need to do and when you need to do it. Start with Monday – Friday, or Tuesday – Saturday, or whatever works for you. Include each thing you would be doing each day throughout the week, and at what time. Block out time with clients, marketing time, travel time, shopping for supplies time, yoga time, family time. Include team meetings, networking events, even dentist appointments. When you can see that on your schedule, you’ve begun to create boundaries for yourself. The more you get clear on your schedule, the less scattered you are, and the more you are able to open time for yourself.
Determine Necessary Tasks
The next tool you need is to be able to get clear on what tasks you do that are worth your while. This is so important to being able to honor your time because it allows you to really prioritize what is most important and stick to it.
For this, make a running list of every single thing you do for one week – start today. Once you’ve followed yourself and your activities for a week, the next step is to categorize your activities this way:
Be honest with yourself. You’ll see some important things as you mark your tasks in this way. You might see that you need an intern or a team member. Or maybe there are things you’re spending time on that aren’t benefiting you. When you compare your actual schedule with your ideal schedule, you can apply the task categories to bring the actual schedule closer to your ideal.
Look for How to Honor & Protect Your Time, Part 2 next week, in which we’ll examine specific tactics and conversations to have for boundary-setting around time!
I’m still settling into my new home in NC, but wanted to give you a heads up on a gift in honor of my birthday, which is TODAY. (Any other Virgos in the house?)
I love my birthday, and love to give to others on it, so I always gift the Soulful Coaching community with a special something this time of year.
This gift is designed to move you OUT of:
And move you into:
Here’s what one graduate of the program said:
“If you have your burning dream and are just starting out with it, not quite sure where to begin, how to focus or how to get your message out there, this program is the vital first step in helping you to clarify and put steps into place to make this happen. You WILL move forward on this program, there is no way not to. We cover so much ground corresponding to the main areas that need to be put in place to create a successful business.
Taking the time to look back over what I have accomplished as a result of the program reveals layer upon layer which doesn’t cease to amaze me! On an inner level my confidence in myself, my knowledge, education and what I want to share with the world has hugely increased. On an outer level I have put in place a solid foundation on which to build and market my programs and business.” –Caroline Cain, CarolineCain.dk
If you’re ready, NOW is the time. We’re over 50% full, and this special discount will last only until Friday at midnight.
If the program is right for you, but you want to talk about it to make sure, go ahead and reserve your spot at the discounted rate, and then let us know you’d like to talk. If after we speak, you feel the program isn’t for you, we’ll refund you in full right away.
Again, the link to register is: http://www.soulfulcoach.com/wwlp-birthday.php
With love,
Joanna
p.s. – My team manager, Sophie, shares the same birthday with me! So it’s a double birthday special!
Don’t Hide!
Years ago, Audre Lorde wrote: “We fear the visibility without which we cannot truly live.”
She was right about visibility in so many ways, and especially when it comes to making your dreams a reality. You need visibility to thrive and to create success. Yet being seen in the world can sometimes be scary or overwhelming.
It certainly was for me.
Be visible!!
Two years ago, I presented at a conference to over 200 women. It was my job to inspire the women to a place where they could love themselves deeply to reveal their soul and spirit to themselves and the world. The problem was that I wasn’t loving myself that day. Post-baby, I looked exhausted because I was nursing. I couldn’t get my hair to do anything I wanted. I didn’t fit in any of my clothes. The morning of the event, I wanted so much to hide from the world that I put makeup on in the dark and avoided the mirror at all costs.
Fortunately, I managed to inspire and deeply transform the women that day, but the truth is that I almost didn’t make it on stage! I almost backed out at the last minute because I didn’t want a single person to see me. Sadly, the fear of being seen – whether it’s because you don’t like the way that you look or you’re scared of being rejected or you don’t have enough confidence in your message – rears its head often for many soul-centered visionaries out there. The result is often self-sabotage, or hiding out or quitting … or simply feeling tortured with each marketing or PR step you take.
I don’t want you to miss out on the visibility you want any longer.
To help you learn how to create visibility for yourself and your Soul-Centered project, I’m going to teach you what I’ve learned about visibility since that conference 2 years ago.
At BE SEEN, we’ll be together in–person for a powerful and groundbreaking afternoon. You’ll receive:
Part content-rich business workshop, part internal excavation & transformation, this totally unique event is not to be missed!
Register NOW at http://soulfulcoach.com/be-seen.php.
We’re already 50% full, and it’s so important that you be there. I don’t want you to go another month or year hiding out from the world and keeping your message a secret.
Wishing you wild success and joy,
Joanna
p.s. I’ve overcome so many of my struggles with visibility … AND as I evolve, sometimes new visibility fears come up. The latest has been a huge block to creating videos of myself & a message to share with others. In honor of BE SEEN, I blew that fear out of the water and created a video just for you. Check it out here: http://soulfulcoach.com/be-seen.php
This is a fact: If you haven’t created visibility for your Soul-Centered Project (your book, your business, your organization, your artwork), then you are having trouble creating success and income.
But here’s an even more important fact: If you haven’t created visibility for your Soul-Centered Project, then the world is missing out on your brilliance, on your message, and on the opportunity to be transformed by you.
And I don’t know about you, but that makes me very, very sad.
Creating visibility for yourself is of the utmost importance when it comes to success, to income generation, to your ability to help heal the world, and to your personal satisfaction level.
Here are some of my favorite strategies to help you increase your visibility for yourself and your sacred message:
1) Create Joint Venture Partnerships: JV partnerships are relationships with like-minded visionaries & business owners who believe in the work that you do and want to help you promote your work to their communities. Ideally, you want the folks in their community to be similar to your ideal client. Even if you don’t have any of these relationships yet, not to worry! Thanks to the internet age, you can create them quite easily. (I’ll go into the details of this in another article.)
Joint Venture partnerships help get the word out about your event, book, website and/or program to many new people who haven’t yet “seen” you.
2) Get Headshots that you REALLY Like: Your headshots are one of the first & biggest impressions that you make. If you have headshots that don’t represent your unique energy & who you are – or, if you don’t have headshots at all! – then I really want you to consider making the investment to get some new photos taken of you. On the day of your shoot, pick clothing that you feel really great in and ask your photographer to experiment with a number of different poses.
I recently wrote a very personal article about the process of getting my most recent headshots. It’s helpful if you have any fears around getting professional photos taken of you: This is the most personal post I ever wrote…
3) Leverage Testimonials: Whether your offering is a product, a service or a concept, requesting testimonials is key to being seen as valuable. Use testimonials on your website, on your packaging and on other marketing materials. If your current Soul-Centered Project is looking for a new job, get recommendations from past employers and colleagues – even if they’re not required for the job you’re interviewing for; they will go a LONG way to help you make a lasting impression.
4) Be Authentic: When you’re being un-authentic, your audience can smell it in an instant, and let you fade into the distance. In your marketing, in your sales conversations, with your clients, with your partners, with your team, and MOST importantly with yourself – BE Authentic. Don’t try and be anyone but yourself, and don’t think you “need” to speak or present a certain way. The more you can activate your authentic self, speak from your heart, connect with your community – whether through speaking, writing, social media or whatever, the more successful and visible you will be.
5) Get Crystal Clear on Your Message: Whether you’re a coach, a massage therapist, a writer, an artist, a revolutionary – you’ve got a message. The more clearly you can articulate and define your message, and then communicate it effectively to your audience, the more you’ll rise to the surface as a star in your field. You’ll get noticed as authentic and people will remember who you are.
Soulful Call to Action
Want more visibility? Join me for BE SEEN: http://soulfulcoach.com/be-seen.php on July 19th.
You’ll walk away with:
I’m pulling out all the stops to give you exactly what you need to take the next steps into greater visibility, value and success. I am keeping this gathering intimate on purpose because I want to provide you with an environment of deep learning and connection, and to give you the opportunity to connect with me personally.
Come learn and grow with me in-person in NYC for BE SEEN: http://soulfulcoach.com/be-seen.php
This will be the last time to see me live in NYC for a while. NOW is the time to take the next steps into greater visibility, greater success, and greater abundance!!!!
Here in Brooklyn, there’s no mistaking that it’s summer time. The heat is on. The sun is strong. The sprinklers are running, and the bathing-suits are out.
As many of you know, I am very conscious of living my life attuned to the earth and the seasons. And for me, summertime is all about investigating and getting to the next level of VISIBILITY. Why? Well, in the summer, the Sun is Queen. It’s all about the Sun. And traditionally, the sun represents being at the center of things, being visible, being seen and heard. Make sense?
So, in honor of the sun and summertime, I’ve prepared a very, very special opportunity just for you – a workshop and women’s circle all about visibility and bringing your sacred message to the world in big ways! I am over-the-moon excited about this event that’s taking place in NYC
on July 19th. It’s called BE SEEN, and it’s 3-hours of jam-packed visibility tools + experiential processes and ritual that will support you in being seen and heard and valued for your work in the world.
Here’s all the skinny on it: http://soulfulcoach.com/be-seen.php
There are lots of reasons why you don’t want to miss this event, and here’s one of the biggest reasons: I’m MOVING!!! Yup, it’s official; Jon, Penina and I will be packing up and moving to Charlotte, North Carolina later this month. So – if you’ve been wanting and waiting to work with me LIVE, here is your last chance for a while. I’m pulling out all the stops to make this a rock-the-house, not-to-be-forgotten event.
Will I see you there? I hope so! http://soulfulcoach.com/be-seen.php
And in the spirit of visibility, take a look at my article from Friday that’s all about creating effective, successful, and soul-centered presentations and talks.
Enjoy!
It’s that time of the year again – holiday season! Next week, many of us will begin a dizzying six weeks of traveling, eating, partying, spending, and being with family. It can be a lot to handle, even for the most balanced and prepared individuals.
Often, by the time the New Year emerges, you can feel drained, exhausted, bloated, and ready to hide out from your friends and family for a while. That’s not the best way to start the new year!
I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to you this holiday season, and you start 2010 with clarity, vitality, and balance. Here are my top seven tips for thriving and enjoying yourself between now and the end of the year (and beyond!): …keep reading
