Ann Strong

Spiritual inspiriation: From the Fullness of You

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“Pushed out of ourselves, we leave space for
Mystery, for the healing alchemy of God.”

– Sue Monk Kidd
From the book, When the Heart Waits

I have been sitting with this concept this week.
I love the idea of leaving space for Mystery,
yet I cannot seem to embody “the emptiness of me.”
I get it intellectually, yet the knowing of it
escapes me. So, I wrote this meditation focus / affirmative prayer
to solidify a bit of what I do know!

From the Fullness of You

Take time each day
to pull yourself away
from the madness and mayhem of the world,
from the relentless piles and to-do lists
and go within to recharge.

Skip through the park.
Talk with your God.
Commune with the trees.
Listen to the stars.
Play with your children.
Walk with your dog.
Write a poem.
Journal your sorrow.
Eat lunch with attention.

Be here.
Be here now.
From the fullness of you.

When you return to your lists and piles,
return from the fullness of you.

Be with your lists.
Be with your piles.

From the fullness of you.

Bringing to your lists and your piles:
Your God, the trees, the stars, your children and the dog.
Your poem, your sorrow and your attention.

From the fullness of you.

 

 

Marketing coaching: Answering the question, “How much do you charge?”

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One of my coaching clients recently asked:

As I start my coaching practice and tell people what I am doing, sometimes right in the beginning of our conversation I get the question, “How much do you charge so I can tell my friends?”

I know that a lot of coaches don’t discuss fees until they have an introductory session and/or discussion so I’m wondering how you handle this sort of question upfront? Do you just tell them? Or do you tell them that you’ll discuss it with prospective clients as they schedule an intro session with you?

Thanks in advance for any insight or advice you can lend!

And, I answered:

That is such a great question!

It’s important to give the person in front of you a real answer so they feel comfortable telling their friend something.  And, it’s important to not just give one number that might sound hairy-scary.

So, I give a range, saying something like, “It totally depends which coaching program fits them best.  Anywhere from a self-study program at $59, to a group program at $195/mo to working directly with me one-on-one for $595/mo.”

For some reason, people really like the idea of “coaching programs.”  I think it helps them see coaching as tangible.  So, the $59 self-study e-seminar is one coaching program, the $195/month 90-day course and group coaching is a second coaching program and coaching with me one-on-one for $545 or $595/mo (depending on if they choose to pay for 6 months in advance or by the month) is a third coaching program.

Spiritual inspiration: My personal essence statement

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A few months ago, I wrote a “guiding light” for me and how I serve the world. It has brought me so much comfort, always reassuring me about the essence of me and what I have to offer.

I’m sharing it with you now, so that if you feel inspired you may use my personal essence statement “template” for spiritual inspiration and write your own.

Here’s mine:

Ann’s essence statement

I am fully present with:

  • My Self
  • My beloved
  • Loved ones
  • Clients
  • Those I encounter
  • All of nature that calls to me

With my:

  • Love
  • Clarity
  • Generosity
  • Playfulness
  • Focus
  • Grounding
  • Beauty ways
  • Inspiration
  • Truth
  • Empowerment
  • and Strength.

I am present
to the energy
of each of us
and our combined energy;
where it’s flowing
and where it’s stagnant.

In each moment,
I discern
what’s called for
to more fully experience
Love,
presence,
and flow . . .

Now it’s your turn

To write yours, fill in the blanks:

I am fully present with:
(Fill in who and what you most love to be present with.)

With my:
(Fill in your best qualities.)

I am present to:
(Fill in the way(s) you love to engage and serve.)

In each moment:
(Fill in what you naturally do consistently that is almost always helpful to the situation.)

Have fun with this! And, after you write yours, do post it here to share with others . . .

 

Positive mental attitude: presence or absence?

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While listening to my daily dose of Michael Beckwith earlier, I realized, once again, that my positive mental attitude is a choice.  Maybe not always an easy choice, yet and still: a choice.

In this moment when I think I have too much to do, do I chose the presence or absence of a positive mental attitude? 

Do I choose to be present with myself, these ideas I’m sharing with you, the sun streaming into my office and my fingers on the keyboard? Or, do I choose to be absent from this glorious moment, lost inside a swirl of habitual thoughts and familiar anxiety? 

Do I choose the positive mental attitude that all is well when I am present or do I choose to be absent and feel lost?

What about you?

Are you willing to give yourself the precious gift of your positive mental attitude in this present moment?

You say you want to, but you can’t right now because you don’t have enough money?  Or enough health?  Or enough time? 

Or, you’ll have a positive mental attitude after you lose some weight?  Or get a new client?  Or a new lover? 

Okay, I hear you. 

And, in the meantime, would you be willing to give yourself one precious minute right now? 

Would you be willing to take a great big, deep breath right into the full presence of your positive mental attitude?  Would you be willing to be with you for this moment?  Would you be willing to notice that, indeed, all is well right now?  Would you be willing to feel the unseen support that holds you in this moment?

Excellent! 

And guess what?!  In that one minute, you achieved at least two of your goals – you lightened up and received the new lover that is you!

I’d love to hear about any other goals you achieved . . . 

Who do I love? This StrengthsFinder™ coach loves Sweet Action!

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Yesterday, I overheard at the coffee shop that we have a new ice cream store in the neighborhood called Sweet Action. For some reason, this has stuck with me today. I love the sound, feel and idea of sweet action – for ice cream and for life and work!

As I started my work this morning, I was wondering, “what is my sweet action?”  I felt inspired to write a new page about about my newest area of coaching, check it out: StrengthsFinder™ small business mentor.

How ’bout you? Where’s your sweet action? What’s your sweet action?

My on-going spiritual coach training: the antidote to fear

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Recently a client asked me, “what is the opposite of fear?”  I used to think it was love.  While I still believe that’s part of the answer, the meaty answer that gives us something to work with is: trust.

Let’s try it on.

If I fear my neighbor is going to make my life miserable, I’m not trusting myself to handle the situation.  If I trust I can resolve an issue with him, let go of the issue or even move to a better place for me, then I have nothing to fear.

If I fear the Earth is getting too hot, and I hate heat and I have no where to go, then I don’t trust that God never gives me more than I can handle or my ability to keep myself cool or acclimate to heat.

If I fear I won’t have enough clients next month or next year, I have the opportunity to trust my ability to attract clients, to reach out to new potential clients and to serve from my heart.  I also need to trust that regardless of how many clients I have at any given moment, I am creative, resourceful and whole and I have an entire Universe on my side conspiring for my good!

If I fear my memory isn’t good enough to keep track of all that’s important, I’m not trusting the inherent messiness of life.  I have the opportunity to trust I’ll remember what I need or have a way to retrieve something when I need it.  

If I fear I won’t ever meet my beloved sweetheart / life partner, I have the opportunity to trust myself to first be in great relationship with myself and my friends and loved ones.  Then, I have the opportunity to follow my intuition about inspired action as to when or where I might meet him. And, I get to trust the process and God in the process.

I realize that in every one of these situations, I have many “opportunities” to trust.  Because of my life-long commitment to my own spiritual growth and spiritual coach training, I’m going to take on these opportunities as sacred callings.  It’s too easy to let opportunities slip by.  Of course, my life becomes so much richer and more fulfilling the more I answer a sacred calling, yet sometimes it seems easier not to answer.  Today, I commit/recommit to answering! 

What about you?  Where in your own life is trust the antidote to fear?  I’d love to hear from you.

Positive mental attitude by releasing what doesn’t serve (day 21)

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Today is day 21 of my 21-day commitment to focusing on strengthening my spiritual foundation and sharing my process with you.

The time has flown by.

And, at the same time, I feel like I’ve always been in this process of strengthening my spiritual foundation.  What that tells me: yes, I would love this to be a natural, daily part of my life!

For the last couple of days, I’ve gotten back to a practice that I used daily years ago.  The original idea sprung from Julia Cameron’s morning pages and I adapted the process to make it my own. 

Each morning before I started my day, I would write long-hand two or three pages of whatever came to mind.  I started with writing all the ideas in my head that weren’t serving me.  I got them out of my head and onto the paper.

Then, somewhere in about the middle of the writing, ideas would spring to mind.  Ideas for how to best do my day that day and ideas for projects down the road.

Basically, I cleared the junk out of my head and then the good stuff had some space in which to flow.  And, I loved having a record of the great ideas.  I then transfered them from those pages to wherever they best fit in my planner and I got rid of the pages.

All that remained were ideas that could serve.  And, often by the end of the day one or more of those fresh ideas had already been implemented.  How cool is that? 

Positive mental attitude in spite of myself (day 19)

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Wow, so one of the best things about committing to doing something for 21 days involves having that focus even though “I don’t feel like it.”

I’ve had a challenging day with too many tech issues.  Some haven’t resolve.  Heck, some may never resolve!  And, because I promised myself in front of you all to keep a spiritual focus for 21 days, I press myself to get out the door and over to the park.

And then I start to feel better.  Those tech issues take a lesser role in the great big stage of my life as I walk through open space, lovingly greeted by friendly trees, a cool breeze and warm sun.

Praise God and Gaia . . . 

Spiritual inspiration: from within (day 18)

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This morning as I was listening to a Michael Beckwith recording I noticed myself scanning his ideas for something to spark my blog post.  Then, I read an ezine from my friend, Tama, with the same thought in the back of my head.

Finally I noticed the spot of anxiety inside me.  Instead of taking in Michael and Tama as nourishment for my soul, I was busy looking for something amazing to share with you.  As if that amazing thing had to come from outside of me.  As if nourishing me isn’t enough.

The anxiety has subsided as I realize offering you a slice of my process is way more than enough!  Please enjoy this slice as you revel in YOU being way more than enough . . .