Spiritual Growth: More Fully Present

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After writing last week about how to live on 24 hours a day, I learned that the 43-year-old sister of one of my former clients had died unexpectedly.

What a poignant, bittersweet, neon-sign reminder to live each moment fully.  I had never met her sister, but my client talked of her often.  She had two sisters, I have three.  We often shared about our activities and trips with our sisters.

Ann Strong and sisters, Jenny, Cathy, Julie. Spiritual growth: capturing more beautiful present moments . . .

Me and my sisters on one of our annual Sister’s Ski Weekends – maybe 8 or 10 years ago. (Left to right: Jenny, Cathy, Julie, Ann.) 2010 was our 19th year. I had gotten out of the habit of taking pictures. My spiritual growth: I am now rededicating myself to capturing more beautiful present moments . . .

I can only imagine the depth of her grief.  My heart goes our to her. And, I immediately called my own sisters to touch base and tell them how much I love them.

In the days since then, I have been so aware of the importance of our relationships.  Our love for, caring about and connection to others defines the quality of our lives.

I have rededicated myself to my spiritual growth of being more fully present with the precious gift of whomever is right in front of me – one of my sisters, a client, my sweetheart, a friend, my barista, a stranger on the street corner, a new acquaintance at a meeting . . .

I have also rededicated myself to reaching out more. Loving more.  Letting go of anger in a moment, rather than days later.  Choosing to replace judgment with compassion.  

Here’s to living each moment more fully present to the love that I am and taking the time to recognize the love in those around me . . .

Spiritual Growth: How to Live on 24 Hours a Day

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“You wake up in the morning, and lo!  Your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the magic tissue of the universe of your life.  No one can take it from you.  No one receives either more or less than you receive.  Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you.  Moreover, you cannot draw on the future.  Impossible to get into debt.  You can only waste the passing moment.  You cannot waste tomorrow.  It is kept for you.”
– Arnold Bennett
  From the book, “How to Live on 24 Hours a Day”

Spiritual growth gems in the book "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day" by Arnold Bennett

Spiritual growth gems in the book “How to Live on 24 Hours a Day” by Arnold Bennett

After hearing myself say one too many times, “I would love to, but I don’t have the time,” I decided there must be a better way.  So, I am in the process of applying powerful spiritual growth gems from this little book written a century ago and still completely applicable to our spiritual growth today.

Here’s a couple of his spiritual growth gems I’d like to share with you now.

Get Out of Bed Early
Wake up a bit earlier than has been your habit and capture the quiet, creative, clear-mind energy.  Through the summer, I’ve been getting up an hour to two hours early.  I am often more inspired and get more done in that time than I do the rest of the day!

Concentrate Your Mind
What would you like more of in your life?  Love?  Wealth?  Happiness?  Great work? Fun? Vibrant health?  Then bring your mind to bear on that one thing more frequently.  

Strengthen your focus on love.  Think about love.  Behave lovingly.  Notice and express gratitude for love.  Be love.  Write love.  Live love.  Eat, sleep, drink love.  Love what you’re drinking.  Love what you don’t love.  See only love.  Be only love.

Same with wealth, happiness, great work, fun, vibrant health or anything else you’d like to engage in with your precious 24 hours!  Allow this concentrated spiritual growth to transform any area of your life.

Here’s to living opulently on your precious 24 hours a day . . .

Your Coaching Business: Get Out of the Office

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This weekend I attended a one-day event in Boulder with one of my mentors, David Neagle, and one of his clients, Suzanne Evans.

They are calling it the More Life Tour.  Boulder was city number two of eight.  I highly recommend you attend one of the remaining.

The whole day is about helping coaches and other service professionals exponentially grow their businesses.

I was a little concerned that the low ticket price of $57 would mean a day-long, back-of-the-room sales fest.  They did sell at the back of the room AND they delivered fantastic, usable content.  And, I met some wonderful people – including David and Suzanne!

Ann Strong with David Neagle and Suzanne Evans - building your coaching business at the More Life event.

Ann Strong with David Neagle and Suzanne Evans at the More Life event in Boulder, Colorado.  July 31, 2010.

How fun to meet my online mentor in person . . .

Do something great for yourself, your business and those incoming clients just waiting for you and get yourself to one of these events.

Sign up today to be one of the first 25.  I did and the VIP reception was a fantastic Q & A with David and Suzanne – more than worth the price of admission . . .

Step out from behind the computer, dear one!

A question to ponder – ask yourself:
“Who would I need to be to exponentially increase my coaching business income?”  Ask yourself each morning upon waking and each evening as you fall asleep and listen for guidance. 

Take that new awareness to the More Life event that you attend.  I’d love to hear your experience . . .

Spiritual Awareness: Authentic self vs. Authentic Self

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Recently, I’ve had no patience for conversations about authentic marketing, authenticity in social media or authenticity as a value.  This seemed strange to me since I deeply value living and working authentically.

So, I got curious about finding the disconnect.

And, I am thrilled to have been richly rewarded.  

At the beginning of my recent mid-summer trip to Phoenix, I complained bitterly to all who would listen about the oppressive wall of heat.  Then, I met one of my clients, Doug Hecker, for lunch.  He politely and firmly told me, “We don’t talk about the heat.  There’s nothing we can do about it, so we ignore it and focus on what we like.”

Eureka!

And, how great to have clients who teach me so much!

Let me explain: The authenticity of my personality required me to complain about the heat because I am a person who hates heat.  

The authenticity of my Self, the part of me who’s made in the image and likeness of God, involves focusing on the good and a positive mental attitude. 

My main purpose for going to Phoenix: to meet my coach,
Stephen McGhee’s, coach Steve Hardison – one of the most remarkably authentic people I’ve ever met – more than worth all my heat discomfort.  And, oh, the delicious chilled cilantro-lime crab dip at The Herb Box and  the yummy sweet potato and zucchini fries at ZinBurger.  And the amazing people I got to spend time with – including two married couples who have been married more than three decades and still adore each other and love spending time together!  And, oh, the gorgeous desert views from my friend,
Judy Flynn’s rooftop – which I enjoyed each morning at sunrise when it was only a cool 90 degrees!

More spiritual awareness from a warm rooftop!
What a powerful spiritual awareness to realize that the most authentic me comes from my Higher Self, not my personality! How freeing to enjoy this stupendous view from Judy’s rooftop deck in Scottsdale even though I think I feel too hot!

Wow! Did I get a visceral experience of choosing my authenticity from a higher place!  Who knew there even was such a thing?

I’d love to hear your experiences.  In what specific situation might you have noticed yourself living authentically from your personality rather than your Higher Self?  In that kind of situation in the future, how can you shift to living authentically from your Self?  

Spiritual Awareness: To Serve as Me

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“You must swing to lead. I was sitting at a baseball game last week and something became intuitively obvious. Sitting back and playing it safe is for sissies! I think that’s especially true in a tough economy. The more constricted a leader, the further constrained his/her business.”
– Stephen McGhee

Dad pitches to his son
Most of us didn’t receive the spiritual awareness or learning as we grew up that the joy and freedom of the game far outweighs the risk of losing or looking silly.

Playing it safe IS for sissies!  Thank you, Stephen, for pointing out the intuitively obvious.

As my spiritual awareness increases, I’ve noticed for myself that as I have gotten comfortable with being uncomfortable – A LOT – then eventually I have become comfortable in what used to be uncomfortable.  And then, there is the next level of discomfort to get comfortable in . . .  Can you follow that?!

My swings only turn into home runs as I am willing to be vulnerable to possibly failing, looking stupid or feeling terrifyingly inadequate.

How is your own spiritual awareness growing?  Where in your life do you feel scared to step up to the plate?  

Creating a new business program?  Letting go of a power struggle with a relative?  Surrendering into unconditional love of your partner?  Telling the truth about yourself when admitting a weakness?

I tend to jump in with both feet.  I am actively engaged in all of the above right now!  And, I have never felt more alive.  Or more myself. Or more scared at times.

Let the next game begin . . .

Self Acceptance: Follow Your Excitement

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When you feel overwhelmed, with too many options, how do you choose?  Try following your excitement.  When you look at all of your choices, which one excites you the most?  Which one makes you feel the most alive, the most energized?

Deep inside, you know what is best for you.  One of the ways our intuition communicates with us involves the energy of our excitement.  Pay attention to what things energize you and what things drain you.  Notice when you are thriving and when you are wilting.  Then, move toward what energizes you, causes you to thrive and away from what drains you, causes you to wilt.  It really is that simple. 

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You naturally increase your self acceptance
as you make choices most true to you.

Now, at first it may not seem easy.  You may feel concerned about hurting someone’s feelings or you may not want to renegotiate a commitment.  Give yourself permission to take care of yourself before you take care of others.  As you take better care of yourself, you’ll increase your capacity to spend time with others in meaningful ways, rather than out of obligation.

As you more consistently follow your excitement, you’ll have more energy, you’ll feel more peaceful and you’ll experience greater happiness because you have chosen to honor your true path.  

Would you willingly risk not satisfying the perceived expectations of others to gain the deep contentment that comes from living life in the best way for you?

Self-Improvement: Choosing a Bigger You

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Recently, I heard myself saying, “I’m an emotional person.  That’s just who I am.”  I gave this justification during an intense, messy situation with a friend.  I would have felt happier if I could have responded in a detached, intellectual manner. 

The next day, I heard one of my clients saying, “I make things hard.  I’ve always been that way.”  Imagine how much easier her life would be if she routinely told people, “Things are easy for me.  It’s always been like that.”

I believe I’m an emotional person.  My client believes she
makes things difficult.  As committed as we both are to
those concepts, they’re just concepts.  If we make a conscious choice, we can change them this moment.  

How would my life improve if I believe I am an emotional person who knows how to detach in certain situations?  How would my client’s life improve if she believed she also sometimes knows how to do things the easy way?  And, isn’t it actually more accurate?  I do detach in certain situations.  My client does do some things the easy way.

woman peeking out of box
In what ways do you put yourself in a box?  What labels are
you attached to?  What are your three favorite ways to describe yourself?  Would you be willing to play with expanding each of those three identities this week?

Say you describe yourself as “outgoing,” would you like to find out what it feels like to observe or allow others to approach you first?  If you believe you’re someone who can’t pick one thing because you have many interests, would you be willing to experiment for a few days with picking one thing or picking two things and noticing what that’s like for you?  When you hear yourself saying, “I can’t, I’m not athletic,” would you be willing to join the softball game anyway?

Enjoy the exploration as you hold yourself a bit more lightly!

Your Coaching Business: The Cost of Real Courage

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The cost of growing a thriving coaching business is high.

It requires that you give up your need to:

  • look good
  • please others
  • politely avoid the truth
  • constantly be nice

And, it requires that you give up your natural inclination to spend too much time focused on yourself, concerned about:

  • not looking perfect
  • not being good enough
  • not knowing how . . .

The cost of growing a thriving coaching business: consistently choosing real courage even when you:

  • feel self-conscious
  • think you aren’t good enough
  • fear you don’t know what you’re doing

wisdom and courage

The cost of growing a thriving coaching business: giving up the idea of unattainable perfection and replacing it with:

  • walking your talk
  • consistently doing your own inner work
  • telling the truth to yourself and to your clients, even when it’s uncomfortable
  • hiring your own coach

If you haven’t been consistently doing your own inner work, walking your talk or working your own coach, and yet you still know to the depth of your being that you are here to serve by coaching, then commit in this moment to doing what it takes to choose courage.

That choice and commitment makes you the kind of person that others would like to learn from, be supported by . . .

If you can’t or won’t walk your own talk, do your own inner work or hire your own coach right now, then be compassionate with yourself.

But don’t lie to yourself.

Tell yourself the truth.  Kindly and firmly.  And, then choose to do something else right now.

The cost of being a thriving coach is high. 
It involves real courage.
Every day.

Choosing and committing again and again . . .

What can you do in this very moment to choose and commit and then take action?

* * * *

If you’d like to do something with me:

One-on-One Coaching Opportunity
I will have an opening in September to begin coaching, mentoring, consulting one-on-one with a new client.

Small Group Immersion Coaching, Mentoring, Consulting
I am also starting to have conversations with a few coaches who would like to receive intensive coaching, mentoring, consulting with me for 9 months in a small group of 3 to 5 coaches.

Both of these opportunities require your commitment to courage.  Daily.

Even though the cost is high, the fulfillment is beyond anything you can imagine right now.  Truly.

I am here to teach you how to serve clients so fully and so deeply that you offer them a life-changing experience of themselves that they have never had before.  Serving clients in this way naturally grows your coaching business.

I can tell you from my own personal experience that serving in this way is more than worth the high cost of courage.

If either of these opportunities call to you, let’s talk.  Call me on my direct line at 303.399.8737.

Here’s to thriving – the willingness to be courageous, even when it’s scary!

Lots of love to you!
Ann

P.S.  Even if you’re not sure you’d like to coach with me or join a small coaching group right now, if you feel called to explore Living more courageously, let’s talk.  Call me during my open office hour Fridays, 10 – 11 am MT . . .

Self Acceptance: Wishing You Could Rid Yourself Of Your Ugly Parts?

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Recently, I had a conversation with a potential client who told me that she wanted to “just get rid of my laziness and procrastination.”  Shortly after that I heard myself telling my own coach that I was “sick of going back and forth in my romantic relationship.”  In exasperation, I exclaimed, “Can’t I just get rid of HER?!?”  As if SHE is not me.

Fortunately, I heard myself.  And, I realized that as I quit trying to get rid of HER and actually take the time to listen to her, I not only learn something valuable about me, but I also quit fighting me.  And, as I let go of the internal struggle, I create space to be a better me.

I’m just beginning to get it that as I serve as a sacred witness to all of me, then I naturally evoke more of the best of me!  And, it tends to be so much easier to offer that unconditional compassion and acceptance to my clients rather than to myself.  Luckily, I have this great job in which a big part of my job description involves walking my talk!

What about you?  Which parts of yourself do you tend to wish you could get rid of?  Would you be willing to practice more
self-compassion, self-acceptance, self-love?

Can you imagine what a different world we would live in if every person on the planet were willing to let go of their own internal war?  That’s a world worth moving toward!

Spiritual Retreat: Flowing with the Roaring Fork River

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During my personal spiritual retreat last week, I took a day to drive the three hours to Glenwood Springs to meet with my new coach, Jeff Patterson.  We spent most of our time sitting on rocks at the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers.  Later that day, I spent several hours upstream on the Roaring Fork, taking in her gifts.

I did not consciously know it before sitting there on that beautiful summer day, but I had been starving for the river.

As a child and teenager, I spent a couple weeks of most of my summers playing on the banks of the Crystal, Roaring Fork and Frying Pan Rivers while my dad fished.  I loved wading in the freezing cold water, building forts out of sticks and smashing rocks to smithereens.

Crystal River
The Crystal River near Redstone, Colorado

These Colorado rivers flow swift and powerful with clear water.  My dad taught me to respect their pull and never under estimate how quickly I could be taken down river without my consent.  When I first visited the east coast as a young adult, I was appalled by how lazy the rivers there seemed to me.

And, then I fell in love with the New Mexico desert and only occasionally noticed the Rio Grande River, even though I have spent hundreds of hours within a mile or two of her.  I’ve devoted all my retreat time to the desert and have only ventured to the mountains to ski – again without paying attention to the rivers.

What nourishment had I craved from the river without even knowing?

As a very grounded Taurus, I love being on the land.  Often slow to change, I can sometimes resist flow, preferring  to plan.  The steady roar of the Roaring Fork called me to embrace flow and change with a bit more trust.  I could feel my body relax into the flow of the river, feeling the constancy of change – even feeling excited by it!

For the past few months, I have been in the  middle of a tremendous personal and professional growth spurt.  The mighty flow of the river offered me courage to more fully allow myself to grow and flourish, even as I often feel like a baby beginner . . .