Discovering Your Way

Mindfulness: New Mexico edition of “Why Am I So Happy?”

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I’ve been living in New Mexico for almost 3 weeks now. The entire transition went beautifully. Everything from lots of packing help – when does that happen – to just the right amount of boxes to receiving my full deposit back from my apartment within a week when they told me it would take up to 8 weeks.

My casita is more beautiful and light-filled than I had even imagined. The drive into Santa Fe is short, gorgeous and peaceful. I have a wonderful new yoga studio and am trying lots of great coffee shops to find my favorite. I’m unpacked and found everything.

One of the amazing sunsets I get to see every day!

One of the amazing sunsets I get to see every day!

 

Why am I so happy?

  • I took a risk.
  • I’m creating more of the life I desire – a retreat life.
  • The quiet, oh, the quiet.
  • I live in the most gorgeous light.
  • I do some of my work outside on my patio.
  • I am planted in 360 degree beauty.
  • Every day is a new sunset.
  • The moon and the stars keep me company every night.
  • I now get to host clients for retreat in this beautiful, spacious, contemplative place.
  • My strength of Connectedness is soooo happy to be this connected to nature.
  • My strength of Empathy is thrilled to be surrounded by less people.
  • My Maximizer is overjoyed to be in the perfect place and perfect home for me (and she does not use the word “perfect” often).
  • My Individualization is tickled to be surrounded by people marching to the beat of their own drummer.

What is on the horizon for you? I had wanted to make this move for several years and always had reasons I couldn’t. How can I inspire you to take the next big step for you?

Post your comments, insights and progress below.

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

What’s Yearning to Be Discovered?

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Happy gorgeous autumn!

I adore this time of year. When the light becomes more clear and the mornings and evenings are cooler, my mind slows down a bit.  Almost instinctively, I reflect more in the mornings.  It’s as if my psyche begins to take stock of what is in the storehouse and root cellar.

This year my focus has turned to New Mexico, the home of my soul.  I lived north of Taos for two years in 1999 and 2000.  It was a magical time.  I fell in love with the land and the sky and the sage and the rocks.  And the spaciousness . . .  And the light and the moon and the sun.  I moved back to Denver as I was separating from my then-husband and needed to reinvigorate my business.

New Mexico landscape
The Rio Grande River just south of Taos,
as the season is turning to autumn.

It feels like it is time to live there again.  I have been looking at places since the beginning of August and wonderful casitas keep calling me and then their owners rent to someone else.  I finally took that as a sign that maybe now wasn’t the time.

And then I got another nudge. So I am going down to Lamy, NM (20 minutes northeast of Santa Fe) to look at another beautiful casita.  Once again I am excited to see what I will discover!

I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, what about you?  What is yearning to be discovered in your gorgeous autumn?

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Strong from Within . . .

If you are feeling called to go beyond some of your seeming limitations and would like coaching support, let’s have a conversation to explore if the one-on-one Strong from Within coaching program would be a good fit for you.

If it fits for you, we will do some of the coaching sitting on a wonderful New Mexico porch!

Porch in New Mexico

Ah, the transformative coaching we will do
on a porch like this!

Click here to schedule your conversation.

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

 

How Might Whole Use of Empathy Look?

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Earlier this week, I passed my oral exam and officially became a Certified Strengths Strategy Coach!  I’ve never been certified in anything before. So this is significant because of how strongly I believe in the value of going deeper with the Gallup StrengthsFinder™ assessment.

While all 34 strengths are created equal, a few seem to create more havoc AND, when used at an optimal “volume” create extraordinary outcomes. 

Empathy tops that list.  I know this one from personal experience – Empathy is my 2nd strength and in the top 5 for dozens of my clients, friends and colleagues.

flowers in a field

My Empathy loves feeling these sunflowers
and evergreens in the mist!

 

And what I’ve noticed over the years:  whole use of Empathy, optimal volume of Empathy, involves two things: mindfulness and boundaries with Empathy for those around us and a practice of Empathy for ourselves.

Mindfulness and Boundaries with Empathy
for Those around Us
From sheer necessity, I made a deal with Spirit a few years ago:  If it is optimal, I will feel it.  If it isn’t, I won’t.  It took me awhile to come to this specific boundary because I wrestled with optimal for whom.  Eventually my 3rd strength, Connectedness, kicked in to remind me: for all.  Now, when I do feel someone else’s pain, excitement, grief – whatever it is – I often name it or ask about it.  Which then tends to open up life-affirming conversations because that person feels so seen.

Mindfulness and boundaries show up in many different forms.  One of my clients is vigilant about visualizing an energy bubble around herself at all times.  She still feels others, but their feelings don’t come into her own energy field and deplete her.  Another uses her strength of Adaptability to moderate Empathy.  One of my friends believes Empathy is one of his greatest gifts and only occasionally feels the need to take time for himself to re-energize.  I consider him a bit of a saint!

A Practice of Empathy for Ourselves
One of the most powerful and overlooked practices with any and all of our strengths involves using them toward ourselves, in relationship with ourselves.  This tends to be a brand new concept for most of us.

Wow!  Look at all of that untapped potential in the most important relationship of our lives – the one with ourselves.  How different is my experience of my own life when I give myself the gift of Empathy within?!?

This one idea has changed the course of my life.  As I have become more compassionate and less judgmental with myself, I have lessened my internal struggle.  As I have paid attention to how I feel, I have less of a need for others to understand how I feel.  And, I’m better able to communicate my feelings and needs in a way that my loved ones can hear!

What about you?  If Empathy is in your top 5 StrengthsFinder™ strengths, how might you play with it a bit? Even if it isn’t in your top 5 or you haven’t taken the StrengthsFinder asessment, what do you notice about Empathy for you?

Post your comments, insights and progress below.

If you haven’t yet taken the StrengthsFinder™ assessment, I highly recommend it!

It costs $19.99 and takes 30 – 40 minutes to complete.

They will immediately email you your top 5 strengths and a report about them.

I would love to know your to 5 strengths, if you’d like to share them with me!

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Feeling Disoriented or Lost?

If you are feeling disoriented or lost and sense you are being called to a deeper relationship with the Divine, let’s have a conversation to explore if the one-on-one Align with Source coaching program would be a good fit for you.

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

Conscious Choice: The Energy of Freedom!

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What greater freedom is there than truly being me?  And you truly being you? Me in my artsy energy, you in your adventure energy; me loving to eat delicious food, you loving to cook delicious food; me wilting in summer heat, you living for it; and our list goes on . . .

Human/Divine, strong/scared, selfish/selfless, playful/self-conscious, flawed/perfect, you get the idea . . .

I love our US holiday of July 4th, Independence Day.  Our forefathers had a vision of being independent of certain constraints.  And yet today, our country and our world face challenges that our forefathers could never have imagined.  And still, each of us has the opportunity to choose our own freedom in any given moment.

While each of us has a list of certain things that will help us to be free – losing 20 pounds, getting out of debt, getting a new job or relationship or car, making more money, healing our broken leg or broken heart – there is a much more immediate way to be free.  In this moment.

Simply allow yourself to become immersed in the energy of freedom.

fireworks

Ooooo, aaaaah, the energy of freedom!

What does freedom feel like to you?

For me, I’m without concern and judgment, slowed down, excited and alert, and at the same time peaceful and present.

If it’s challenging for you to feel into it like that, then remember a time when you felt fully yourself, fully alive.  Once you remember the event or activity, then remember what it felt like.

That’s the energy of freedom.

No new car purchase or more money in the bank necessary.  Yet, interestingly, the more you live in the energy of freedom, the more whatever you require or whatever you’d like then tends to show up!

Happy Freedom!

Feel free to post your comments or insights below.

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I want to turn you onto my friend Rolf Evenson’s
new digital magazine, “Boomers Rising”

As baby boomers with generous entrepreneurial spirits, we face significant challenges. What to do next with our lives? How to make it work financially? How to create a life that allows us the freedom we crave, while offering opportunities for connection and creative engagement?

Join Boomers Rising Magazine to be an active part of the solution.

Boomers Rising is the world’s leading digital magazine for “encore entrepreneurs” inspired by a vision of passion, prosperity and purpose.

Some of my favorite articles:
– Confidence in Your Business
– Top 10 Food Lies that Keep Us Sick and Fat
– The Tribes We Lead
– Lessons Learned on E Street (Think Bruce!)
– The Illusive Obvious

You can read it on your iphone, ipad or android.

Check it out:
http://www.boomersrising.com

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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!

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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.

Mindfulness: Playing to Play Instead of Playing to Win

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How does it shift your experience of life if you play to play instead of playing to win?

For me the most wonderful and miraculous difference: when I play to play, I allow myself the simple perfection of being in the moment.  When I’m playing to win, I instead experience a subtle, and often not-so-subtle, anxiety about the future.  I also experience nagging thoughts about my worthiness.  If I don’t win, then I’m not good enough, right?  If I do win, how will I keep proving myself?

teamwork

How great is it to be fully present in the moment, playing to play
without self-conscious concern about outcome?

So, with innocent curiosity and without judgment, would you like to experiment for yourself?

If so, for the next 24 hours, simply notice as you go through each of the activities of your day whether you are playing to play or playing to win?  Then, observe your thoughts about how you’re playing and observe what feelings those thoughts are generating.

To living our Radiance . . .

Feel free to post your comments, insights and experiences below.

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STRONG YOU? Are you in the Denver area?

Want to spend an afternoon diving into
your strengths? 

Or diving a bit deeper if you’ve been playing
with yours for awhile?

We have a few spaces left in an experiential
StrengthsFinder workshop on Wed, June 25.

Is one of them yours? Come play with us!
http://www.annstrong.com/strong-you-strong-life

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

Spiritual Clarity: Have You Really Given Up?

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Recently I noticed that some of what I most deeply desire, I keep moving toward no matter what.  And, in other areas of my life where I also truly would love something, I say I would love it, yet my behavior indicates I’ve given up.

In my business, I keep moving toward greater ways to serve and offer more value.  No matter what.  I constantly invest my time, money and focus in growing myself and in growing my business.  If something works well, I leverage it.  If something doesn’t work well, I reassess, look for the learning and consciously choose the next leg of my journey.

When I wanted to lose 20 pounds, I started walking regularly and committed to eating less sugar.  That didn’t work for me.  My perceived sugar deprivation backfired and I ate MORE sugar for awhile. I also didn’t lose any weight.  I wasn’t sure what to do next, but I was still committed.  Shortly after that I felt inspired to begin practicing Kundalini yoga.  Eighteen months later I had lost 23 pounds because I had committed to finding the way that would work for me.

Shortly after I got divorced eight years ago, I realized I wanted to meet and marry my fourth and final husband – my soul mate and beloved life partner.  Today, I still have that desire, yet I haven’t invested my time, money or focus and I haven’t done the inner and outer work to bring that desire into reality.

I now see that I hadn’t made the commitment to do whatever it takes to meet my beloved because I hadn’t believed it could happen.  I had given up.  I hadn’t been willing to give up the short-term gratification relationships that work in a couple of areas for the long-term huge gain of the amazing romantic relationship I sometimes glimpse.  In one of the most important aspects of my life, I’d settled for something being better than nothing.

It’s been hard to admit I had given up.  The good news about finally admitting it is that I now have the real opportunity to commit to what I desire with my beloved in the same way I did with my business and my weight.  So, I am taking the first steps . . .

What about you?  In what area of your life is the reality far from what you desire?  When you take a deep breath and then tell yourself the truth, do you believe it’s possible?  No judgment here, just compassionate reflection.

We all have the opportunity to begin again in this very moment.  In what area of your life have you given up?  Would you be willing to
courageously begin again?
 
Feel free to post your own story in the Comments.

Conscious Choice: Whatever the Question, Love Is the Answer

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“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have the good fortune to live less than a ten-minute walk from the “I Have a Dream Memorial” in City Park here in Denver.  Since I walk by it several times a week on my walks through the park, I often reflect on the short life and huge legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

This weekend at church, I learned something new about his message of love.  He talked about how he didn’t always like someone or like their actions, but he knew he was called to love them. 

I’d never thought about liking and loving that way and it resonated deep within me.  Bringing love to situations that I don’t necessarily like calls me to act from the better part of me.  If I see all of my words and actions on a continuum from the darkest/meanest part of me to the lightest/kindest part of me, then I chose to make a practice of choosing the love end of the spectrum more.

While it certainly isn’t always easy to love someone or some situation that I don’t like, I absolutely know it is worth the spiritual practice and spiritual discipline.  I am deeply and humbly grateful for the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  His message inspires me to do my part in leaving my own legacy of love.

Would you like to join me?  What message is calling you right now?  How can you more fully live something that you value, something that calls to you as yours to do?  Feel free to post your answers in the “Comments.”

Clear Intention: The Gold in the Goal beneath the Goal

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On New Year’s Day 2006, I received a phone call from my beloved then-16-year-old niece, Alisha.  Even though we live a thousand miles apart, we’ve talked on the phone frequently for several years.  At that time, if we’d talked 300 times over the years, I’d made 297 of those calls!  The three times she called me included the day she first met my new infant niece/her cousin, and two of her first days of school.  So her New Year’s Day call intrigued me.

She told me she was calling because she’d made a resolution to call me more.  Touched, I asked her what other resolutions she had made.  She told me she was thinking of a couple, but hadn’t made any definite commitments yet.

What a huge, heart-felt gift she gave me.  She further surprised me by telling me she thought she’d like to call about every 10 days.  I felt like I’d won the lottery!

Fast-forward four years, Alisha did call me more that year.  And these days, she calls as much or more than I do!  And I still feel so very  fortunate to have such a close relationship with her.

Thinking about Alisha back then, inspired me to re-examine how I approach and view my goals and resolutions.  I realized that to make our goals and resolutions more compelling, we must link them to the underlying reason for the goals and/or to helping others reach their dreams.

This year, I have a new financial goal in place.  I realize that one of the reasons I choose to make more money involves going to California more often so that Alisha and I can spend more time together.  Also, if I focus on the transformation that occurs for my clients, I get way more excited about the goal of making more money.

So, for me, I’m keeping my focus on spending more time with Alisha and teaching my clients clarity and confidence around themselves and their businesses.  As I anticipate the joy of spending more time with Alisha and I actually sense my clients loving themselves more and expressing more of themselves in their work, I feel super-charged.  I forget about my self-consciousness about making more money. 

Of course I’ll reach my new financial goals!  And, feel happy and fulfilled along the way . . .

Want to play?

How can you link one of your goals or resolutions to something you hold dear or to how achieving your goal could also help others make their dreams come true?  Feel free to post your answers n the comment section . . .

 

Clear Intention: Make this Year Different, Really!

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Everything you desire, awaits you.  Just beyond your comfort zone.

To bring your 2010 dreams into reality, you will have to step out of your comfort zone.  Okay, take a deep breath.  You can do it.  Especially when you think about the price of not moving forward.  Would you rather feel some discomfort, or live without those new clients,  that passive revenue, your book out in the world, the wonderful man or more radiant health?

If you’re willing to commit in 2010 to becoming comfortable with discomfort, you can have everything you desire.  Would you like to start now? 

I’ve already made that commitment to myself.  And here’s how I’m practicing getting comfortable with the discomfort that change brings: every day I’m setting a clear intention to do something outside of my comfort zone.

Some of my stretches:

  • Asking someone for help.
  • Trying a new food.
  • Pushing myself beyond where I’ve been in my yoga practice.
  • Introducing myself to someone new.
  • Dreaming bigger.
  • Learning a new technical skill.  

To begin, make yourself a list of 20 possible things to do that stretch you.  What goes beyond my comfort zone may be easy-peasy for you.  Then, each day, pick something off your list, take a deep breath and begin to become friends with the unknown – the place where all dreams begin!

Hey, maybe for today’s stretch, would you like to share with us and post your list here on the blog?