photo courtesy of Steve W Lee via Flckr

I was speaking with a client recently who is a life coach in the situation that many people I work with are:  she’s working a full-time job just for the paycheck while trying to build her business on the side.  I spent a fair amount of time in this situation when I first started my business and I know what a difficult situation it is.  Unfortunately at the time, I had no idea that there was another interpretation of what I was going through other than pain and suffering.

As the saying goes–I wish I knew then what I know now.  Things would have been a lot easier– but then again, going through that experience is one of the things that allows me to have empathy and to assist my clients who are in that situation.

I have learned a few things over the past couple of years and one of the most valuable is:
Wherever you find yourself in life is not a mistake or punishment.

You might just be on the bridge.

Sometimes the bridge connects us to something concrete like a better job or a new relationship–but it may also be connecting us to something inside–our strength, wisdom or perseverance–qualities we need to realize our heart’s desire.

And Usually it’s the place we want to be the least that has the most to offer.

Not fun I know– but true.

And the sooner we’re able to get comfortable with what’s uncomfortable, the sooner we’re on our way to moving through it.

The Definition of a Miracle Is a Shift In Perception

If you’re in a job that’s ahem…how can I put it–not a place where you can use your gifts or doing what you consider to be meaningless work–I urge you to look a little deeper.

In the case of my client, she’s being exposed to people through her job that she would not be able to meet otherwise.  People who could potentially have a big impact on her business.  So she’s making connections for her business while someone else’s payroll.

In my last job I had the opportunity to learn a lot about search engine optimization–knowledge that gives any business a huge advantage.  Of course at the time I wasn’t interested–it’s boring! Since then I’ve spent a lot of time learning about it when I could have done it in my last job.

I was also cultivating the qualities of patience and perseverance.  Both of which are extremely important for what I’m doing now.

Almost everyone I work with who is still working at a job is in this situation.  They’re getting the opportunity to either make contacts for their business, learn skills, or develop qualities that they need to do their work in the world.  It’s because they’re so fixated (as I was) on the idea that they’re not able to focus on their business full-time that they’re missing the opportunities that are right in front of them.

Everything is an opportunity for growth.

Your situation is not a detour, you’re just on the bridge.

I invite you to look for the opportunities that are available in your current situation.  Feel free to share your stories here.

Happy Spring!  While I was working on this newsletter, I got a wonderful question from one of my Yoga Of Marketing students and I decided to answer it here.  This is a big issue for many people and I hope if it’s yours, you get some inspiration from what I’ve written here.

Photo courtesy of Mukumbura via Flickr

Hi Cathy,

I keep running into a problem in my head and I thought of you, wondering if you have written a blog on this subject, or if you have a couple of words of inspiration for me from your uniquely motivating insight.
My problem:  Even though I know I have a special way with people, and am gifted and intuitive..and even though I know how to align with universal Energy and let it flow into my work, I GET TOTALLY DISCOURAGED about even trying to “put myself out there” when I read all the wonderful flyers and emails of OTHER people doing similar work..using the same language I use, such as healing, aligning with Universal Energy, the power of now, manifesting your desires etc…and especially if they seem to have more impressive credentials…I feel as if there wouldn’t be room for me!
Thought you would understand…
thanks for listening.
Signed
Feeling Very Intimidated Right Now

Dear Intimidated,
First let me say you are so not alone–everyone I’ve ever worked with has struggled with this and so have I. It’s a very big obstacle in the path of someone who is in the service business.

Because of the internet, we’re constantly exposed to other people’s businesses so it’s very tough tough not to get distracted and caught up in what other people are doing.

I did this all the time in my first year of business and the toxic message I would give myself was “look at so and so, they’re doing what I want to do but bigger, better, and faster.”

I can tell you from experience that if you want to move into despair and totally shut yourself down, this is one of the fastest ways to do it!

It kept me from my great work and more importantly, it kept my great work from getting to the people who really needed it because I was wasting time comparing two things that actually have no comparison.

No One’s Talking About Their Break

Everything looks better from the outside.  When you see other people’s stuff you immediately assume that they’re doing better than you but the truth is you really have no idea what’s going on behind the website.  People can polish their business and make it look as shiny as they want but that doesn’t mean they’re making money or that they’re successful.

Lots of the people I felt envious of I later found out had a full time job and were running their business on the side.  And there’s nothing wrong with that, but they never let on to anyone that was the case.  Or the twenty testimonials they had on their site were from friends or from freebie sessions they’d given away.  The dozens of blog comments I’d see on their blogs were from their friends who they’d made a pact with to comment on every blog post that each of them had written.  It looked from the outside like things were booming when in fact no money was being exchanged at all.

You have no idea what that other person’s business is really like when you’re on the outside.  People only show the world what they want them to see.

And even if you do, there’s no point in comparing yours to theirs because you don’t know what their path was.  Many of these people got a lucky break.  Some of the examples of people who have a situation or circumstance that has helped elevate their business:

They’ve written a book (often about something from an earlier career) that gave them a huge platform to leverage an audience for their current work

They got help from someone who is in a very high place that they are connected to through family or a personal relationship

They worked for a company before they started their business that enabled them to meet influential people who helped them or build an audience for their work

And some of them have just been great at what they do and worked their butts off.  Instead of thinking if they’re at the top then I can’t be, you should be thinking

IF THEY CAN DO IT SO CAN I.

Because the truth is that it’s a really big world and there’s more than enough for all of us.

And any marketing class will tell you that if there’s someone else doing the same thing you do and they’re successful then that means there’s a market for your business.

It’s actually a good thing.

Turning Obstruction Into Opportunity

When it becomes not a good thing is when we turn it around and use it against ourselves.  Thinking that because someone is doing what you do and therefore you have nothing to offer is an opportunity to look at the ways you are not on your own team and the painful stories you tell yourself.

When you really don’t know this person, or their work why would you automatically assume that what they do is better than what you do?

But there’s a deeper issue–on some level, you don’t feel totally confident in your work.  You have some doubt, some insecurity, some hole in the foundation.

Feeling insecure about your work when you see what other people are doing is just the Universe’s way of letting you know that you’ve got some work to do.  Without an unshakeable belief in your own abilities along with the belief that you’re meant to do what you’re doing–that you’re on a  path–every person you pass on the road will be a distraction and possibly an obstruction.

As always, it’s not really about them, it’s about you.

You can turn the obstruction into an opportunity to affirm your belief in what you do and why you do it.  Some of us feel we were born to do what we’re doing.

My advice to you is to align with your bigger picture–to what you’re in service to.  What is the thing you want your clients to know, experience, or feel about themselves or the world around them after working with you?

When you realize that your work is part of a bigger plan to make the world a better place you see everyone else as on the same team, and not the competition.

We’re all in this together.

And we’re all working to create the shift and bring help and healing to the planet.

It’s about cooperation not competition.

When you know with every fiber of your being that the work you do is your purpose in the world then you don’t feel threatened by what anyone else is doing.

But it’s easy to forget that and to get caught up in all the shiny businesses that are out there.

So come back to what you’re in service to and let LOVE lead the way.

If you have any stories you’d like to share about competition, intimidation, or isolating your awesomsauce feel free to leave a comment below.

Everything here will be held with love and respect.

Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite word in the whole wide world is YES.

I’ve written extensively about saying yes to yourself, to your dreams, to just living the YES.

But today I want to talk about NO.

Not the part about saying no, the part about hearing no.

In business and in life, moving forward requires taking chances, stepping out on a limb, or asking for something.
I know so many people who aren’t moving forward in their businesses because they can’t bear the disappointment of hearing No. It makes them feel like a failure.

They tolerate the pain of staying stuck and not getting what they want because the pain of hearing No is too much to bear.
It hurts my heart when I see this–mostly because I did the very same thing for a long time.

We assume it’s about us when in fact it can be about a million other things.

The No could be making space for something better.

The No could be a marker leading you away from what’s not on your path to what is.

All information is neutral, it’s our mind that creates the meaning.

This is a new series I’ll be doing on the blog twice a month where I talk to cool entrepreneurs who are running lifestyle businesses about what they do and how they got to where they are. It’s my hope that you’ll learn something about the path of entrepreneurship and get to know about some interesting people who turned their passions into a successful business.

Linden Schaffer, owner of Pravassa

The first in the series is an interview with Linden Schaffer, owner of Pravassa.

CW: So Linden, tell us a little bit about your company.

Pravassa is a wellness company that started in 2009. Our mission is to offer ways to live well in your daily life and while you are on vacation. We offer wellness tips and challenges on our website, highlight wellness properties around the world, review fitness classes and spas as well as offer healthy vacations around the world.

CW: Wow, that’s great for those of us who go on vacation and go off the reservation if you know what I mean. My eating and exercise usually ends up going out the window when I’m away.

LS: Then you’re exactly our target customer.

Our vacations range from a weekends to 10-day trips. We go to places like Aruba, Bali, Italy, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Our trips are focused on wellness and include things like yoga, coaching, and healthy cooking along with cultural exploration of whatever place we’re visiting.

CW: Take us through a typical day on a trip.

LS: First of all our trips are limited to no more than 20 people.

You rise in the morning and either have a meditation or a yoga practice, then there’s breakfast. During the day there’s some type of activity such as hiking, biking, or a culture expedition and then there’s a second round of classes around 5pm.

Most nights we have dinner as a group and then afterward people can do whatever they want. All classes are optional. We want people to be comfortable and experience their vacation in their own way.

If our vacation is food focused, we’ll have a holistic health coach or chef who does healthy cooking demos as part of the meals. One of the great things about the healthy cooking is that people return home with a new way of thinking about food and they often make significant changes to the way they eat because of what they’ve learned on our trips. This is really what it’s all about for me–seeing people incorporate something new they’ve learned into their wellness routine because of what they’ve experienced on one of our trips.

Yoga in Bali

CW: That’s what I love about what you do, everything is optional so you’re still on a vacation and not on a retreat because they’re very different.

LS: Right–there are retreats where you do eight hours of yoga a day but that’s not what we’re doing. We’re providing healthy options for people to participate in at their discretion. It’s a lifestyle vacation based on health and wellness.

CW: Do you go on the Pravassa trips?

LS: Yes, either myself of someone from Pravassa is on-site for every vacation that we lead. I set-up the business so that we can be the client’s contact from the moment they decide to book their trip to the time they arrive home. Coming from a sales background, I understand how important customer service is and setting someone up on a trip and then waving good-bye at the airport isn’t the same as seeing it through to the end.

CW: So a lot of your work is being in exotic locales, taking yoga classes, eating healthy food and being on beaches. I think everyone reading this is very envious of you right now.

CW: What made you choose this business?

LS: Pravassa is a combination of all the things I love to do. I come from a fashion industry background where I had a successful and fulfilling career. One of the benefits of my job was that I was able to travel all over the world. But I noticed that I was always scrambling on my business trips to find a place to take a yoga class or work out so that I could keep up my exercise routine and my mental clarity. Pravassa came together through my love of travel, my practice of yoga, and my realization that there were small ways I could add to my wellness every day.

CW: Did you do any research on this or did you have your heart set on a particular business vision?

LS: I’m an Aries so I’m a planner. I did a lot of research to make sure that there was a viable market. There were some other companies out there already offering a portion of what Pravassa aims to offer so I understood that there was a need for what I envisioned. The yoga community as a whole was really open and accepting and I was able to get a lot of my questions answered before I set up my company.

CW: How did you come up with the name Pravassa?

Because my heart is in Yoga, I wanted the name to be a Sanskrit word, but I didn’t want it to be something you couldn’t pronounce, or was really long. I wanted it to be simple and one word. I complied a list of 10 names and sent it out to about 50 people and asked them to read it out loud and see what sounded best to them. Some people said they weren’t sure how to choose because they didn’t know what any of the words meant but I wanted them to pick what sounded best. And it ended up working out really well because Pravassa in Sanskrit means journey.

CW: What do you offer that’s different from other companies that do this?

LS: The point of this company is to bring people together from all different walks of life who are interested in living well and who are interested in trying something new–something that would improve their health.

Pravassa is a one-stop shop for everything that you need to book a healthy vacation. A lot of companies provide some things and not others.

A cooking class on a Pravassa trip

I want our clients to think of us as a wellness concierge.

In addition to bundling the classes and activities with the lodging and meals we provide all the information that you might need about the destination right on our website. From what type of clothing and accessories to bring, to what the exchange rate is for the currency, to whether to use credit cards, to what type of documents you need for travel, to what airport to fly into, to where to get the best price for your flights. You never have to do any research on your own. The whole idea is that Pravassa appeals to people who don’t have time to plan on their own. Everything you need to know about the vacation and the locale is there and all you have to do is pay for it—and then we take care of the rest—from the time you land to the time you leave.

Linden’s Journey in Business

CW: What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started your business?

LS: (a lot of laughter here…and then a big sigh).

The biggest thing I think is that it costs way more money than you think to start a business. I had a certain budget set aside which was my entire savings and that ended up going really fast. So that was a good learning experience.

Also my husband’s advice which that it was imperative I start a blog right away. I was really resistant to that at first because I’m not a writer but it turns out he was right, I see how blogging and social media brings people to your site over and over again.

CW: If you had it to do over again, is there anything you would do differently?

LS: Well, I try to live my life so I don’t have any regrets and I look at everything as a learning opportunity. The longer you’re in the wellness community the more sensitive you become to other people’s energy. I noticed that in the beginning I was doing things in business because I thought I had to do them–partnering with certain people because it seemed like a good business opportunity. But now I realize that if I don’t have the right connection with someone, if I don’t feel good about them in my gut, there’s no point in moving forward with them. Everything I do now is based on relationships. I’ve learned that I need to not just be strategic, but to always be conscious of the connection or lack thereof… That’s something I wasn’t really aware of in the beginning.

CW: What has kept you going when it’s been really hard?

LS: My support system. I’m very close with my family and my husband and I have been together for thirteen years. He’s always there for me when things get rough. Also, I come from a family of talkers–we don’t hold anything in. If I’m having a bad day I can call my parents and tell them I’ve had a bad day and get some advice from them.

CW: You started your business in 2009 right in the middle of the recession. What made you start then and not wait it out one more year?

LS: I tried to wait it out but I couldn’t. In the beginning I tried to do my business and work my corporate job. Pravassa is mainly an online business so I thought I could do it nights and weekends. It got to the point where I was traveling to Europe for 10-14 days at a clip for my job so I no longer had nights and weekends and I had to make a decision.

My husband really supported me in stepping out and starting the business. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. I decided to take that leap and trust it was going to work out. I was able to manage my expectations and know that the first year was just going to be getting set-up, networking and making connections and getting the word out. Because of the timing of starting the business, I knew I wasn’t going to make a profit for the first one to two years. I knew I’d be giving more than I’d be getting, but I was OK with that.

CW: I think that’s one of the most important parts of determining if your first year of business is going to be pleasant or painful. We all know it’s going to be hard but if your expectations are unrealistic then it’s also going to be painful. I see this with so many of my clients in the first year, they want to be making money right away and it’s just not how it usually goes.

CW: Do you have any advice for someone just starting out?

LS: Yes, absolutely…we live in an online world and the biggest resistance that I see is people who refuse to get online. It’s a big hindrance to your business. As a business you have to have an online presence even if it’s purely informational. The first thing you do when you meet someone is to go home and Google them. The other thing is that you should have a professional e-mail address that leads back to your website–your name@your website.com

Paddleboarding on a Pravassa trip

CW: What’s your least favorite thing that you do for your business?

LS: The accounting.

CW: Tell us about your upcoming trips

LS: Currently we’re in Bali for 2 different 10-day trips full of yoga, healing and culture. At the end of March we’re participating in the Bali Spirit Festival, which is a 5-day festival focusing on dance, music and yoga. Then we come back to the Caribbean for three fabulous beach trips to Aruba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. We head to Italy in the Fall for yoga, t’ai chi and life coaching and then November brings us full circle back to Bali

CW: Wow, that sounds great. Thanks Linden, for letting us into the world of Pravassa. I’m hoping to be on one of your trips very soon. If you want to learn more about upcoming trips go to: http://pravassa.com/

photo courtesy of Nemii Villaneuva via Flickr

At the end  of the day, it’s not strategy that’s going to move your business forward, it’s love.

When I spoke last month about Power Networking, the basic premise was that going to networking events for the sole purpose of getting business and clients is really missing out on a much bigger piece of the pie.

Potential business is only one aspect of networking event.

There are three other types of opportunities in the room when you attend networking events.

They are:
Resources – the people who provide services for your business or for your clients: graphic designers, accountants, lawyers, etc.  It’s important to have good service providers not just for your business but also to refer your clients to.  Do not underestimate the power of good resources.

Referral Sources or Gate Keepers- people who have access to large numbers of your target audience and can refer business to you.  Meeting someone who is a source of referral is way more valuable than getting a client or two.

Strategic Partners- Those people in your niche/industry who serve the same audience you do but who have a much broader reach and bigger business.  These people/companies are KEY.

Just to be clear, when I talk about networking I mean in-person networking as well as online networking. The same rules apply to both situations:
*Be yourself
*Be genuine
*Be helpful
*Give before Get

If you want to increase your reach, make an impact, and play a much bigger game the only way you’re going to do that quickly is to start creating strategic partnerships.

You need to identify people in your niche who have a much bigger business than you do and find a way to partner with them.

If you’re just being strategic then the way to do it is to research the top people in your niche/industry and start compiling a list of those  you think would make good strategic partners.

But of course, I’m not suggesting that you do that.  Strategy without love is just empty action and at its extreme becomes tedium.

It is my deep belief that you can be successful in business by following your heart and by using love to guide you.

Because if there’s no joy, then what’s the point?

So the first thing to do, is Bring In The Love.

Maybe there are people in your field that you admire, maybe some of them have been a big influence on you.  Maybe you wouldn’t be doing what you do if it weren’t for them.

They’re the ones you start with.

Start with people who have influenced you.
Start with the people you admire.

When you’re really enthusiastic about something or someone, people respond to that energy and you are working with the flow.  You are using real feelings to energize and motivate your actions.  It makes what you’re doing much easier and it feels good!

Let love lead the way.

Time For Due Dilligence

The first thing to do is to start networking your way onto their radar so that you can build a relationship with them.

Be ready to be helpful without expecting anything in return.

It’s not about doing something to get something.  That’s really short sighted. You’re doing things to show your value so the person you’re networking with will want to give you more opportunities to help them.   It’s about showing how really good you are.

The best place to start is with their blog. Comment on their blog posts.  Comment consistently and don’t promote yourself.

“Like” their business page on Facebook and start commenting on their updates and share helpful links–just not to your own stuff.

Follow them on twitter.
Watch their conversations and look at what they talk about, see if they are expressing a need of some kind that maybe you can fill with your services.  If you can’t help them with what they need, maybe you can connect them to someone who can.  People are always grateful for that kind of help.

Buy their books and info products if they have any.

Do a review of their product or book on your blog- tweet a link to the review or post it on your FB page make sure to mention them by name in the tweet or update so they see it.
E-mail them to let them know how much you got out of their product/book and that you reviewed it on your blog.

Love + Taking Action= opening the door to possibilities you never even imagined

You earn their respect. You keep in touch. You do it consistently over time. You stay in it for the long haul.
Relationships take time but I can tell you that in the interim, you don’t know who you’ll meet from hanging around this person and you don’t know how the people you meet on your journey will end up affecting your business or even your life.

When you give, you open yourself to the energy of receiving.

Show up and follow the love to the people and things that have meant something to you.

And then watch where love takes you.

So systems and structures are important but that’s only half of it.

If you are living a conscious life then what shows up in your business is part of the journey of your development. Being a conscious entrepreneur will shine a floodlight on any and all places where you’re shut down emotionally or are limited in your thinking.

What quality or qualities would you need to possess to have peace with the thing you’re struggling with?

Maybe it’s humility, compassion, vulnerability or an unshakable belief that you’re on the right path.

It’s only by going through these situations and coming out the other side that we come to a place in ourselves that we would not have gotten to otherwise.

Maybe our clients are needing to get more of these qualities from us.

And often it’s the thing you’re struggling with that is actually the crux of your work.

Usually the lesson you’re learning is the one you’re meant to teach.

So when the difficulties and roadblocks show up, remember they’re there to deepen you, not to shut you down.

Follow the joy that brought you to doing what you do-

Love,

Cathy

It’s not that you’re not good at what you do.
It’s not that people don’t want it.
Your business just might not be ready.
This is part one of a two part series: Why Clients Aren’t Showing Up.

Here’s a very common scenario that I see a lot. People who are in their first year of business or who have had a practice for a while but have done no marketing who are very frustrated that they’re not getting clients.

When I work with people who have been practicing for a while but have done no marketing, I consider their first year of business to begin when they hire me.

One of the most important distinctions you can make is the one between the work that you do (the service you provide, the modality you work in, or the product or art you produce) and the skill set and knowledge that it takes to run a business.

You may be very accomplished in what you do but completely clueless in business.

And that’s OK, because the two are very separate. And the sooner you see it that way, the easier it will be for you.

People who are good in business may have good instincts in that direction but mostly they’re good at it because they’ve learned how to be.

And the good news is that you can learn also. But it’s important to manage your expectations.

We’re all in a hurry. We want clients, we want to get paid, but mostly we want to feel the validation that comes when someone hires us to do our work.

I get it. I was the same way.

When your business is new and you’re just starting to put down the foundations: a website, a newsletter, going to networking events, etc. then the business needs to have a certain amount of structure before clients start showing up. And this is a blessing, not a curse. There’s nothing worse for any business than getting an influx of work that you’re not really equipped to handle.

Most people are so focused on just getting someone in the door that they forget to set up all the structures that are necessary to run a successful business.

And then what ends up happening is they have to do everything on the fly. And because the systems and structures aren’t there, they really can’t support a steady flow of people.

If you’re getting impatient and feel you’re ready for a lot more people to start showing up in your business, then go down this list and see if you have all these elements that I’ve listed because they’re all part of the nuts and bolts that need to be in place.

• Clear Rates for everything you offer

• A Client Agreement that includes:

What the terms are of working together
How you take payment
Your cancellation policy
The policy on rescheduling sessions?
Your refund policy?

All of these things need to be addressed in writing and spelled out to the client before working with them.

You may think that because you see people in person that you don’t need to deal with these details but the first time someone stands you up or cancels at the last minute and doesn’t want to pay for the session, you’ll realize that a structure needs to be in place.

You’ll also need:

A payment system- a way for clients to pay you in advance like Paypal or 1shopping cart.

A List of References – do you have a list of people who have worked with you that will give a reference to potential new clients?

Testimonials – Do you have testimonials from past clients on your website?

Accounting – How will you keep track of the money and do the billing once you start getting clients?
Are you using systems like Fresh books, Quick Books or Quicken?

Content Management System – How will you keep track of the communications you have with clients? Will you use Omni Focus, Solve 360 or another content management system?

While all of these details can be very overwhelming, please know that you don’t have to get everything up and running at once. The most important thing to focus on first is the payment and the client agreement. Once you’ve got both those things in place you can start going down the list one at a time and getting each one done.

You Don’t Have To Figure It Out Alone

Being in business is tough to do alone. If you’re interested in getting support and guidance on this journey with a small group of enlightened entrepreneurs, registration is open for The Yoga Of Marketing: Getting Your Work Out Into the World.

This is a three month program that will help you lay down the foundations of your business, incorporate systems and structures and give you the guidance you need to make the right decisions for your business. The information is below.

There’s also a free preview teleclass on class on April 5th if you’re interested in learning about How To Talk About What You Do So That People Hire You. Click Here to register

You know your work is powerful. You’ve seen amazing things happen with the people who have experienced it but you have a hard time describing exactly what your work is, or the way you describe it isn’t allowing people to connect to it.

I got a lot of response to last week’s newsletter Is It Struggle or Just Hard Work?  One of the responses came in the form of a question so I decided to answer it this week in the hope that it would help others who are having similar issues.

The question is from Nancy White, Owner of The Flower Bar in Larchmont:

Cathy,
Your email this morning really hit home for me.  Everything at The Flower Bar is going well – in our first year of business we broke even!  Our sales were up almost 25% from the previous year. We’ve laid a solid foundation for the future, taking everything one step at a time.  We can see where growth can come from, and where we need to do better controlling costs.

But (and there is always a but) I have been stuck, struggling, to get my email marketing up and running.  I’m letting technology issues stop me but I know a big part of what is going on is my fear that I don’t have anything useful or interesting to share….that people will be annoyed, etc.

So, how do I transform my struggle to something useful?

Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your question.  Just so you know, you are definitely not alone in this issue. The newsletter is where the majority of people get stuck and there are many good reasons for this.

So often we try to push past our resistance to things instead of looking at why we’re avoiding them.

I believe when we resist something, we have a really good reason and if we address those issues rather than trying to push past them, we actually remove the blockage once and for all and can then move forward with ease.

When I first started my business and took a stand for my right people I wanted to help holistic practitioners market their practices so they could be found by the people who needed their services.

As I got further along in my business and got exposed to a lot of amazing people doing incredible things I started to think about my work and how I was actually in service to something bigger.

I realized that while helping holistics to market and grow their businesses, I was actually (along with many other people) in service to multiplying the forces of good and healing on the planet.

When I started thinking about it in those terms I shifted from having my work be something I do to something that moves through me

I joined my business to the energy of something vast, something larger. I connected to a matrix of universal energy and support.

talk about a powerful partnership.

If you haven’t yet aligned with the largest vision for your work, I invite you to try this guided meditation to help connect you.  It only takes about ten minutes.

Start by just taking a few cleansing breaths. AS YOU’re breathing just notice how you’re feeling.  Know that whatever you’re feeling right now is acceptable.  You don’t need to fight with it, there’s already space for things to be exactly as they are right now.  If you’re tired, or overwhelmed, or confused, or peaceful or content whatever it is, there’s space for that.  Just continue to breathe

As you breathe I’d like you to think about the work you do. When you work with someone, what do you want the people your work reaches or the person you’re working with to know, experience, or see about themselves after working with you?

What knowledge do you want them to have about the world around them after working with you?

Whatever answer you came up with is the gift that you give the world through your work.

This is what you are in service to.
This is your mission.
This is your purpose.
This is the prize.

This is also the gift that your clients get to experience when they work with you.  Take a moment to feel how good it feels to give this and how grateful your clients are for getting this help, this healing, this transformation, this way of doing it differently–this gift that you give that comes through you
You are an instrument to heal, help, transform and create change.

This is a gift that you steward that is given by the divine. The gift expresses itself through the work that you do.

Everything comes from The ONE and you are the vehicle for that help, that healing, that change.

This is what you are in service to.

take a moment to just be one with what you are in service to.  This thing that you want to give through your work lives in your heart so bring your attention to your heart and just notice what you feel.

This post was inspired by Mastin Kipp of Thedailylove.com

For many years I viewed life as one big struggle. Every time I wanted to do something I envisioned the obstacles–everything I’d have to overcome to make what I wanted to happen–happen. In my mind there was always someone or something in the way of getting to the destination. It took a long time to realize that there was just one thing in the way. Me.

There’s a big difference between hard work and struggle. I’ve used those words interchangeably for years. But they’re actually quite different. Hard work is putting forth a lot of effort to achieve the desired results. Struggle is hard work that’s complicated by fear and resistance.

Struggle tells a painful story about the ups and downs you encounter on your journey. Struggle says that set backs are harbingers of failure. Struggle is the voice in your head that continually asks the question: “can I really do this?” Struggle says that no matter what you do, it’s going to be hard because “who are you to have it easy?”
Sound familiar?

I’ve always been one of those people with the mindset that nothing is going to happen if I don’t make it happen. I am what you call a worker. To a fault. So when there were set backs or things didn’t go as planned it was very disappointing, heartbreaking even. Eventually I saw that the mis-steps and failures were just information–a chance to course correct. Sometimes not getting what I wanted brought me to a deeper place in myself, a place I would not have accessed if not for that experience.

Sometimes the answer to our prayer, is to not have our prayer answered.

Because the truth is, we don’t know why things don’t work out in the moment when they seem to be the right thing or when we want them so badly.

I’ve noticed for myself that when I’m devastated because something hasn’t worked out it’s because in my heart I don’t believe there’s another chance or another way for that good to enter my life. It’s the ultimate scarcity consciousness– thinking THAT way was my only chance…

Not trusting that something else will come along, something better, something that’s really in-line with what I want.

I had this very situation last year. I was presented with an opportunity that I thought would be a huge boost for my business but shortly after the negotiation started it was clear that it wasn’t going to work out. I was not only disappointed but really angry. I felt I lost out on something really good.

Fast forward half a year later and in comes an opportunity that so outshines the last one, I can hardly believe it. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that the first situation didn’t work out because the better thing, the right thing never would have found me if I took that other opportunity.

There Is More Than One Boat

This quote is from Abraham Hicks and it was sent to me by a dear friend last week, just in time to illustrate exactly what I’m trying to say:

“I worry that I’ll go down to the dock, and that my ship will have already come and gone. I’ll miss my boat.”

And we say, another boat, another boat, another boat. You have no idea how many boats are coming to your dock. It’s a steady stream, and it doesn’t matter how many of them you’ve missed.

The only thing that matters is what are you doing right now in your vibration? And you can tell what you’re doing right now in your vibration by the way you feel.

Oh my lovelies, there are so many boats. And when we can put our best effort forward and then let go and trust knowing that if not this boat, there will be another, and if not that one, then another…

Life becomes so much kinder and hard work isn’t such a struggle…

Wishing you the peace that comes with knowing there will always be another boat-
Love,
Cathy