Dear One, There Is Nothing Wrong with You

In the last week, three clients shared with me that they thought there was something wrong with them.

One woman thought she was depressed when she had simply lost sight of her purpose and mission. Another thought she was greedy for receiving a loan for her business. In fact, she was simply taking care of herself and her business. And, yet another kept getting upset with herself for not making more money in the past few months. She’s now developing a lower priced product that fits better for this new economy.

I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with them and there is nothing wrong with you. We are living in a radical new normal. And we still have the power to choose where we put our focus.

If you notice your thoughts tending toward, “There must be something wrong with me,” then close your eyes and take a deep breath. Now take another deep breath.

What can you focus on now that would be more life-affirming for you? Who can you connect with to bring some brightness to both your days? What can you do to take better care of yourself?

And please know that regardless of what you think about yourself, there is nothing wrong with you. You’re human. As a human, you are allowed to think less than helpful thoughts without believing the thoughts.

Dear One, There Is Nothing Wrong with You

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you witness those thoughts that you’re thinking, you might also notice that there are two of you. The human you who is thinking the thoughts and the Divine you who is holding you and witnessing the thoughts.

There truly is nothing wrong with you.

Strong You, Strong Work

In the past few weeks, I’ve needed more support than usual from my own coach. And, most of my clients have needed more support from me. One day last week, I received two frantic emails in one day. The subject line of one of them was: Help!

In the 20 years I’ve been coaching, I’d never received a “Help!” email before that. I’ve been wondering what’s in the air.

And then I realized what might be more productive: let you know a bit about how I can help.

AStrong-Buffalo

Buffalo medicine includes abundance, manifestation, generosity, protection and courage.
Artist Karen Windchild. In Eldorado, New Mexico.

 

Whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you:


StrengthsFinder

1. Strong Work:
I can’t believe I get paid to do this! audio program

Imagine spending more of your work time fully engaged and feeling fulfilled . . .
When you focus and leverage your strengths, you’ll advance your career or get clients to hire you! Click to learn more.

2. Strong Couple
StrengthsFinder Coaching with me

What would it be like to enjoy more peace, love and understanding in your romantic relationship? When you each know and honor your own and each others’ strengths, that’s exactly what happens. Click to learn more.


Coaching

3. Strong from Within Transformation Forum, group program
How would your life be different if your strongest relationship was the one with yourself? When you focus on yourself, all areas of your life and business improve. Give yourself and the world the gift of more of you! Click to learn more.

4. Work with me one-on-one.
(For established coaches and business owners.)

I have a limited number of coaching opportunities available for established coaches and business owners who want to make more of an impact. When you commit to your greatest contribution, miracles happen. If this sounds like you, email me at Ann@AnnStrong.com, put One-on-One in the subject line and tell me about your Big Dream. I’ll reply to schedule a Coaching Conversation for us to determine if we’d be a good fit.

What about you? Have you needed more support? Been supporting more? What are you noticing?

As always, post your comments, experiences and insights below …

What If You Didn’t Hate to Sell?

Right now, several of my clients are looking at how to sign up more clients.  They all feel challenged because they either hate to sell, wish they didn’t have to sell or both.  Maybe you can relate?

So, we’re looking at their love of deep meaningful conversation.  We’re coaching around how they love to know what’s really going on for potential clients.  We’re diving deep into how those people’s lives and businesses would change, even transform, if they hired my client.

So what about you?  If you reconsidered selling as a deep, meaningful conversation, what might shift for you?  If you realized that finding out what’s really going on for someone might be an opportunity to offer your help, how would that feel to you?

What If You Didn’t Hate to Sell?

Photo credit: Harli Marten on Unsplash.com

If you had these wonderful conversations with your whole focus on the other person and her world, might that help take your self-conscious focus off your feelings about “selling”?

As always, post your comments, experiences and insights below . . .

How to Love Putting Yourself Out There Even If You’ve Hated It Before

Most coaches, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs and small business owners hate marketing and sales. And, it doesn’t take long for them to no longer be in business.

The ones who stick with it and grow a thriving business realize that great marketing and sales isn’t about them, their company or their service. The same is true for you. Your super effective marketing and sales is not about you. Let me repeat that: it’s not about you.

When all of your marketing, sales and conversations with potential clients focuses on them – the potential clients – you may just find yourself having a great time.

Why did you start your business in the first place? What do you want, really want, for your clients? Why do they want what you have to offer? How does your service or product make their life better? Way better?

How to Love Putting Yourself Out There Even If You've Hated It Before

If you notice you’re talking about yourself, your training, your awards, your invention, your process, your program, your cool product or your excellent price point, stop yourself mid-sentence. Apologize. Then start over and ask them about their problem, needs, hopes and desires.

After you’ve had all potential client conversations that way for awhile, then let me know how you feel about marketing and sales . . .

As always, post your comments, experiences and insights below …

This Will Make You Get Your Business Back on Track Now

If you don’t get your business running smoothly, which is worse, you not making the unique contribution you are here to make or your potential clients not getting the value of your unique contribution? Who wants to have to answer that question?!?

So here’s the thing.

When you can articulate with crystal clarity WHY you do what you do, your WHY will push, pull and drag you to resolve whatever’s in the way of your thriving business.

My WHY:
Inspiring and urging us to freedom
from our innocently self-created prisons
so that we may be more fully ourselves
and make our unique contributions to the planet.

Many of our self-created prisons were innocently created at a time of unresolved loss. Sometime when we were super young and felt abandoned, unloved or worthless. Other times, later in life around a break-up or a death.

If you’ve experienced a recent break-up, death or loss, that certainly doesn’t mean it’s unresolved. You’re grieving and have the opportunity even in the grief to find the good.

So what about you? Do you know, absolutely know, your business can be more, serve more?

If so, I’d love to offer you a Business Back on Track breakthrough session. There’s no charge for this session ~ it’s my gift. Click here now to book and apply.

We’ll get on the phone for 45 – 60 minutes and specifically look at where you are now and where you’d like to be.

If I feel you might be a great candidate for my brand new 10-week Business Back on Track by Receiving the Gift of Loss program, we can talk about that at the end of your session.

This Will Make You Get Your Business Back on Track Now

Because it isn’t for everyone.

I help business owners who:

  • Do extraordinary work, providing a needed service.
  • Approach life and work in a light, playful, open and deep way, even through broken-heartedness.
  • Are decisive and committed to their own transformation and making the greatest contribution of their business, while using updated technology like eGoldFax providing e-faxing services for their enterprise.

If you believe it’s possible to find the genuine gifts in challenge and/or loss and allow them to transform you and your business, then book and apply to be considered for one of the Business Back on Track breakthrough session.

As always, post your comments and experiences below …

What Do Your Clients Really Want?

As professionals, we have a tendency to talk about our services in terms of our tools and processes. Our clients don’t care about how we do what we do. They want to know that we can help them get to what they desire. And to the deeper desire under that desire.

The more you deeply listen to what your potential clients and clients tell you, the more clearly and accurately you will understand their desires and their deepest desires under those desires.

If you’re a business coach, your clients might talk about making more money, doing more fulfilling work or getting more focused. For each client, what is beneath those desires? There are as many answers as there are clients.

Maybe one client wants to make more money to ensure her daughter can go to the college of her choice. Why is that important to her? Maybe she feels it’s her job to do all she can to set her daughter up for success.

Maybe another client wants to make more money to retire sooner. Why is that important to him? Maybe he would love to devote more time to his passion of restoring old trucks.

Maybe another client wants to make more money because she’s single and she wants to take good care of herself.

What Do Your Clients Really Want?

I have a deep desire to make more money so that I can spend even more time with my family and friends in beautiful, spacious natural environments.  (Taken Jan 18, 2017 from the top of Beaver Creek ski area on my 25th annual ski trip with my 3 sisters.)

If you’re a chiropractor or massage therapist, your clients might talk about feeling better or paying more attention to their bodies. What’s underneath that desire right now? Maybe they’ve had a health scare, maybe they want a health partner rather than trying to figure things out on their own or maybe they want to be more pro-active and self-sufficient by learning more about their health.

The more you ask potential clients and clients something like, “Tell me more about why that’s important to you,” the more you can understand their deepest desire and the more you can help them fulfill them.

What’s your sense of how you might go deeper with learning what your clients desire? I’d love your comments and insights below.

What Is the Best Way to Easily Sign More Clients?

Shift your focus.

Inevitably, when I get into the nitty gritty with one of my clients about what’s in the way of them signing new clients, the root of the issue is some variation of self-focus and self-consciousness.

I hear things like:
“I don’t like to ask them to become a client.”
“If they want to hire me, they’ll ask me.”
“I’m not good at sales.”
“I don’t want to ask them to pay now because their first session isn’t until Thursday.”
“I don’t have my website up yet.”

Where is the focus? I, me, my concerns, my ideas.

What Is the Best Way to Easily Sign More Clients?

As the sun does not concern itself with whether or not it feels like rising today, so too can we show up and serve without concern about nonsensical internal chatter.
(Photo credit: Eric Saltmarsh, Eldorado at Santa Fe)

What if we shift the focus of ourselves and onto the potential client?

Why might the client need us to ask them to become a client? Because change is scary. They are hiring us to support them in making changes. What happens if we start supporting them now by asking them to become a client so they can receive support throughout the change process?

What happens for the client if we wait for them to ask to become a client? They find many clever ways to procrastinate, forget, resist and wander away from the very changes they would love to make.

What if you quit thinking about how good or not good you are at sales and instead put your focus on serving the client? Would it serve them to sign up with you now? Then sign them up.

If the person in front of you has told you they want to become a client and scheduled their first session for Thursday, then have them seal their commitment to themselves by having them pay now.

A client is not signed up until they pay. No exceptions.

And, if they aren’t signed up, they’ll find many reasons to change their mind about meeting Thursday. Take that fretting of the table for them. Now.

And, what does having your website up have to do with your clients’ needs? If someone is in front of you now, ready to change, sign them up. Whether you have a website or went for your walk this morning.

If you would love to serve more clients and make more money in the process, then take your focus off yourself. Put your focus on the needs and concerns of the people in front of you. Be prepared to be amazed by how many new clients you sign!

As always, I’d love your thoughts and comments below.

Where Is the Sweet Spot for Growing Your Business?

Last week I attended an “Intentional Connections For Business” in Albuquerque with two of my friends who are also coaches. When we left the event, I realized that the focus had been deeper conversations, which had been wonderful.

What was missing was an easy way to stay connected and further the conversation. The event had been billed as the opposite of typical networking. To make sure we understood, the flyer included a graphic of a business card with a red circle with a slash through it to communicate “business card–free zone.”

While I understood the intent, I knew it had gone too far to the other extreme when I saw my friend, Karin, writing people’s contact info on the edge of a handout. I took a different approach and didn’t exchange info with anyone because I thought we weren’t “suppose to.” Despite it being a no card exchange place, I did manage to get the name of Catdi Printing which is a business card printing company from one of the businesses. If you are not into the idea how about Metal Business Kards where you can exchange high-quality handouts with the information about you and your business. 

As we drove home that evening, we all three realized we’d received value from the deeper connection and mindful structure of the event and felt stifled by the artificial boundary around networking and business cards. 

102616astrongblogpost400x22

I find the sweet spot in growing my business often tends to be the beautiful mix of two extremes.

We want to do business in an authentic way with people who have similar values and we want it to be easy and natural to continue the conversation. That lead to a rich conversation among the three of us about how we could each grow our businesses in a heartfelt and effective way. We spoke about many companies which inadvertently led me to mention this https://www.linkedin.com/company/gds-group Linkedin profile of the company which I’d hired to do all my marketing.

For me the sweet spot involves sharing and serving freely, generously having conversations to see if coaching with me is a great fit and directly asking for the business if it is.

What about you? What specifics create your sweet spot?
If you haven’t thought about it like this, what might help you gain clarity?

I’d love your thoughts and comments below.

(Excerpted from my forthcoming book, “Strong from Within: Simple perceptions and practices for transforming stress and overwhelm into clarity and purpose“)

And Then There Were Eight

Thank you so much to all of you who wrote to me after I sent out the piece, “One.” I felt far less alone after hearing from you! If you missed that piece, you can read it here . . .


And Then There Were Eight

Last Saturday I went to my first meeting of the Women Entrepreneurs Santa Fe Network. And now I know 7 more women in Santa Fe!!! And, we have so much in common. Of course there is the obvious – we all have our own businesses. All very cool businesses, I might add. And, several of the women are new to Santa Fe in the last few months.

I am far less alone today than I was one week ago. This morning I had coffee with Cinny, an artisan dressmaker. She introduced me to a wonderful new bakery and coffee shop, Dulce. And now I know who will begin my custom wardrobe in the near future!

Ah . . . the process of bringing new dreams into reality . . . Sometimes I’m very impatient. I think I’m not interested in the process of making new friends. I just want the result of having new friends.

Yet somehow sharing a bit about the process with you has reflected back to me the sweetness in the process – the baby steps, the daily victories, the subtle shaping of a new life, a new me . . .

So, what about you? In what areas of your life or work would you like to bring more of what you were born for into reality? How can I inspire you to savor the journey?

Post your comments, insights and progress below.

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I’m so excited – the new website is live!!!
Win a solo retreat in Santa Fe (A $1900 value)!!!!!

We have been hard at work for months and are so happy to share the new beautiful, spacious website!

We were sad because we were not able to bring the comments on the blog to the new site when we made the move. I have figured out a way to remedy that!

Between now and Jan 1, 2015, if you will take the time to look at the blog and make a comment on 10 or more of the blog posts, I will enter you into a drawing for a facilitated solo retreat with me in New Mexico.
Read all about the retreats at: http://annstrong.com/retreats/

We will announce the winner of the retreat in the Jan 7th newsletter . . .

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My book, “Thriving Work” is now available
on Kindle at Amazon for just $3.99:
Click here to order

Discovering Your Way: Strong Me, Strong You, for Heaven’s Sake!

 

I need your help!

Since 1989, I have been publishing a newsletter.  That was back in the day when it was printed, stamped and mailed – through the post office!

Human evolution must be speeding up.  The first three newsletters, Taplight, Success Notebook and Sacred Space Notebook, all had good runs for many years.  Similar content about being the Light that we are, with slightly different focuses.  Then, Sacred Space Notebook morphed into G Notes last year. Yet the “G” never settled down: Genius, Godness, Goddess, Grace . . .

Last week, Born-for-This Notes wanted a turn.  The idea is accurate, yet it does not roll off the tongue.  G Notes rolls off the tongue, but which G?  I’m both amused and a little bit embarrassed that I’m doing my marketing testing right before your very eyes!

pink flower

May the name of the newsletter/ezine be as
clear and radiant as this flower I encountered
on my walk yesterday!

People have been asking me for two decades why my business isn’t named Strong Coaching.  And, this was before I had started working with StrengthsFinder.™  The coaching isn’t about me and it seemed too corny.  Thus, I created a community, Thriving Coaches, and wrote a book, “Thriving Work.” My blog has been “Strong You, Strong Biz” since February 2009.

This week, the newsletter/ezine is “Strong-You Notes.”  I would love to settle into a name for this ezine.  And, I’m holding that desire lightly!

Has something jumped out for you?  I would love your help!

Post your comments and your vote below.