Life changing coaching for women who are ready to achieve more!

5 Keys to Your Visibility Plan

January 31st, 2012 by Joanna

No matter who you are or what your soul-centered project is – entrepreneur, writer, teacher, artist, etc (even if your project is attracting a romantic partner!) – a powerful visibility plan is essential to being able to get seen, be prosperous and get what you want.

When you don’t have an effective visibility plan, then chances are you are under-earning, not getting the acclaim or acknowledgment you want, or doing work that doesn’t fully satisfy you.

I hear this time and time again from women who come to me for help – you have a service, product, artwork, idea that you are in LOVE with. Yet, the clients aren’t coming, or the agents aren’t coming, or the press isn’t coming, or the prospective employers aren’t coming. And here’s what usually happens next: you start beating yourself up, or judging yourself, or feeling victimized or in despair. Not a great way to move forward!

Instead of re-acting in these ways, I want you to take action! And the best way to take action is to create a visibility plan that is effective, soul-centered and powerful.

For my business, as well as the businesses, career changes, creative careers, and world-changing initiatives that I support women with, your visibility plan is one of the most important foundations for success.

Here are 5 Keys to creating & executing a powerful visibility plan:

Have a plan in advance: Ok, I know for some of you this might be obvious, but it is important to mention. You need a plan. Not just a plan in your head, but an actual, concrete visibility plan that you’ve written down, plotted and calendared out. My recommendation is to plan out at least 6 months in advance (but no more than 12 months in advance) so that you have time to prepare, time for contingency, and time to re-work any new ideas into the mix.
If you don’t plan in advance, you’re going to find you’re always rushing to catch up, or two days too late for that conference application, press release submission, networking event, or community email.

Make it Personal: I meet way too many rising leaders out there who write marketing copy, create video or prepare talks that speak to what they think people are looking for and what they assume people might want from them. Instead, I want you to share your message from a place of what is true and authentic for you and who you are, as well as speak directly and personally to your audience.

Your clients, viewers, readers, and press will be much more likely to walk through your door if you reveal YOURSELF through your marketing and speak directly to their hearts and souls (not their minds).

Choose Visibility Strategies that Match Your Strengths: There are so many awesome visibility strategies out there: newsletters, email, video, in-person workshops, Facebook, networking meetings, blogs, audio, referral program, Twitter – this list goes on and on. This is one of the things I absolutely love about visibility and marketing: the sky’s the limit on your creativity and how you choose to make yourself known, and nothing is pre-set or cookie cutter.

But here is an important tip: choose those strategies that make the most sense for you and your soul-centered project. For example, if your newsletter and blog are your biggest visibility strategies, but you just hate writing and it takes you hours to write a paragraph – choose a different strategy! Or, if you’ve been mainly focusing on social media, but you’re the type of person that folks are immediately attracted to when they meet you in person, go to more networking events or do in-person presentations. The most effective visibility strategies are the ones that match how you show up best as well as how your ideal clients HEAR your message best.

Enlist Partners: You can’t bring your big message and vision to the world alone. There is not one single person (unless they’ve already reached Oprah status) who has so many people in their sphere of influence that they can attract in visibility without creating partnerships and joint ventures.

Partnerships are one of the best visibility tools out there. When you enlist other individuals, organizations and businesses to help promote you and spread the word about your project, your ability to reach your ideal client increases exponentially.

Activate “P.C.A.”: P.C.A is a beloved Soulful Coaching acronym for Persistent and Consistent Action. P.C.A can make the difference between a successful and non-successful plan.

Consistent Action = taking at least 3 actions towards your visibility strategies each working day. If you aren’t taking consistent action, then even the best laid plan in the world isn’t going to work. Think about it in terms of a flower: you need to water that flower regularly in order to keep it alive and see it grow.

Persistent Action = following-up. I know – for some of you, this is the “F” word of marketing. It feels way too scary to follow-up on an email you sent out with a call to action or a talk you gave where you want to send folks more info about your work. Yet, often times folks don’t “buy” or “connect in” on the first bit, so follow-up is 100% necessary in order to reach your visibility goals.

Now that you’ve got the 5 Soul-Centered Keys for Visibility, have fun letting the world know about your sacred purpose and message!

Tags: business success strategies, Goals, joanna lindenbaum, key to visibility, plan, planning, Productivity, soulful coach, time management, visibility
Posted in Goals, Productivity, Success, time management | No Comments »

Let Your Anger Flow, Let it Flow, Let it Flow

December 19th, 2011 by Joanna

As a soul-centered leader and entrepreneur, as a healer, as a mother and a daughter and wife, as a friend, as a woman – I will be the first one in line to tell you the importance of love and compassion and patience and forgiveness. In this day and age, with all of the wonderful spiritual and self-development teachings we have, the idea of cultivating Love (with a capitol “L”) is nearly a given. Of course, of course, of course – this is a vital Woman Wisdom principle that is essential for success, forward movement and happiness.

However, there is another Woman Wisdom principle that is foundational when it comes to being happy as well as highly successful in your business, not-for-profit, artwork, or anything else you’re pursuing.

The principle: Connect in with your Anger, and let if flow.

Now, this Woman Wisdom principle is, unfortunately, often overlooked. It’s barely spoken about in all of those books about self-development, spirituality, and success. And if it is actually mentioned, it is shunned, rejected, and judged. Anger has become the hidden step-child, veiled in the shadows of Love. But in actuality – and most successful soul-centered leaders know this – Anger goes hand in hand with Love, and learning how to connect in with your anger can actually help you become more calm, grounded, and cultivate love that much more quickly. Learning how to connect with your anger will make you a much more effective business owner, leader, and parent because it allows you to know yourself and love yourself deeply, and be very clear on the boundaries you set up for yourself.

I know this might sound radical (and indeed it is), so let me explain a little more: Anger, just like Love or Joy or Peace, is a natural emotion and energy that all human beings experience from time to time. And just like any other energy – it needs to be expressed and allowed to flow through your body. So in fact, it is actually HEALTHY to get angry.

Healthy expression of anger allows you to:

Be in touch with your emotions and impulses
Set aligned & firm boundaries for yourself & others (for those of you who are yogis out there, think about Warrior Poses: they are all about setting healthy boundaries)
Release self-judgment or shame because of the anger
Unlock energy in your body that was getting stopped up because of the stuck anger
Connect in with your innate power
Create clarity so that you make decisions that are aligned with your highest self

There are circumstances that cause human beings to become angry. It’s just a fact. People mis-behave and sometimes betray or take advantage of you. Losses happen. Frustrating situations occur. If you don’t allow yourself to experience that anger consciously and allow it to flow through you, the anger just gets stuck in your body, and that’s when illness, self-sabotage, and self-destruction happen. Or, if you don’t allow your anger to flow, it festers and festers inside of you like a covered pot of boiling water, until it explodes all over the place, causing hurt feelings or destruction or pain.

Here are some examples of hidden anger that you might know for yourself:

A good friend arrives late for meetings time and time again. Instead of letting her know that it angers you when she’s late and being clear about your time boundaries, you act passive-aggressively and end up in an argument about something unrelated.
Growing up, your parents showed you love but they also did a lot of things to damage your sense of confidence and freedom in the world. There’s a part of you that’s angry about this, but you don’t acknowledge it because you fear it means you won’t love your parents anymore or you don’t want them to feel guilty. The result is that you end up parenting similarly to how they did. Or perhaps you unconsciously distance yourselves from your parents.
You had a bad day at work. Everything went wrong, and your boss acted like a jerk. Instead of creating some private time and space to let off some steam, you stuff it all in. But it comes out without your control as you scream at the top of your lungs at the dog that evening for chewing your slippers.
A colleague betrays you in a very terrible way. Instead of connecting in with your anger at this colleague and safely letting it flow through your body, you notice that you start berating yourself harshly for being “naïve”, “stupid”, “not good enough” and a “pushover”

So, why don’t we allow ourselves to get angry?

Because society has deemed Anger a “wrong” or “inappropriate” emotion – particularly for women, who are traditionally expected to be quiet, demure, and ever-compliant – it has become feared, judged, and hidden from view. As a result, we pretend like we’re not angry, or we become angry but are too embarrassed to let others know we’re angry, or we don’t even realize we’re angry, but take it out somewhere else.

Now, just to be clear: when I invite you to “Let Your Anger Flow”, I don’t mean to scream at someone else or to physically hurt someone else or yourself. Allowing yourself to connect with your anger and experience means doing it in safe and sacred ways – alone or with a group of supportive individuals, and creating a space where you can release the anger from your body, spirit, and mind in transformative, healing and protected ways. If you don’t have a practice of allowing your anger to be expressed and flow, I recommend working with a coach or other professional who can help you unlock it in safe ways that support you in opening up your body and energy level, get clear on your boundaries, and help you make aligned decisions for yourself.

Tags: anger, anxiety, better decisions, empower, Empowerment, inner wisdom, Intuition, joanna lindenbaum, Personal Development, soulful coaching
Posted in Empowerment, Intuition, Stress management, fear | 5 Comments »

Guest Post - Lessons of Gratitude

December 1st, 2011 by Joanna

Yesterday, I announced that we still have some inspiration posts on the topic of gratitude. Why should November get all the glory? We’re grateful in December, too! Rebecca Ramirez is a blogger at Everything Goes With Pink. She is a stay-at-home-mother to 3 daughters and is expecting her 4th daughter in January. She’s an educated mother who has a passion for writing about family life, her varied interests, and the occasional intellectual topics ranging from philosophy to social consciousness - it’s a good thing she’s a freelance writer! Rebecca is determined to raise her 4 daughters with all the care and dedication that they deserve, and is focused on helping them to be the best individuals they can be. Learn more about Rebecca by joining her on Facebook, Twitter , and her blog, Everything Goes With Pink.

Lessons of Gratitude
by Rebecca Ramirez
In this hectic, fast-paced life, it is easy to get lost in the inexorable negative experiences we will face. No person will escape some form of suffering in their life, and many people will continually experience suffering and hardships on what seems like a never-ending basis. Although we cannot always avoid these potentially personally devastating occurrences, what we can do however, is find it within ourselves to harness the power and wisdom to allow ourselves to experience gratitude, despite the situation in which we find ourselves.

While it also takes wisdom to find gratitude in many of life’s positive experiences, finding the silver lining of one’s raincloud can be quite the liberating experience. We do, in fact, already possess within ourselves the mental capacity to choose whether we will allow a certain situation to invoke a paralyzing sense of victim-hood, or whether we use the energy and convert it into a more favorable experience, be it on a psychological, emotional, or a spiritual basis.

One may not be able to avoid the platforms from which suffering presents itself, such as personal illnesses, detrimental acts of others, or the daily hassles of life, but this should not equate to our lack of control when it comes to how we respond to these events.

There is a lesson of gratitude to be found in all suffering.

While it may not always offer the immediate comfort one would hope for, there is still always room for finding a way to experience some form of gratitude. For the mother who has lost her child, no amount of gratitude can erase the pain, but in this experience, she can still look to the lesson of suffering and be thankful for the love she was able to experience that only a mother could understand. For the individual who is forced to deal with illness, it is in these moments of sometimes agonizing pain that we most appreciate the delicate frailty of life and the peace of mind that comes with good health. Should this individual persevere through their bout with a physical affliction, it is highly doubtful that much in life will be taken for granted.

It is through a lesson of suffering that we can grow to appreciate and have gratitude for the most important things in life. This wisdom of gratitude can transform our thinking on a daily basis, and we can grow to appreciate much more of the simple beauty that life has to offer us all.

Tags: gratitude, Guest Post, lessons
Posted in Empowerment, Guest Post | 2 Comments »

Guest Post - Gratitude for the Little Things

November 30th, 2011 by Joanna

The Gratitude Project may be completed but I still have some very inspirational stories left to share! I love getting the chance to showcase new voices on my blog and I am so excited to introduce you to Debbie Mc Loughlin. She is the owner of Africa’s Blog, which can be found at www.africasblog.com. She’s a 30-something Soul African exPat living in Minnesota who enjoys blogging about life and whatever comes her way! As a permanent American resident, she has a unique view on life. Debbie is also a hockey player, hockey referee, CPA, CMA, MBA student, blogger, mommy to 2 fur babies (min pins) and is happily leaving in the mid-west with her partner. You can connect with Debbie through Facebook and Twitter!

Gratitude for the Little Things
by Debbie Mc Loughlin
As I’ve aged, and yes I’m only 31 but still, I’ve realized that in life there are so many things to hold dear, so many things to cherish and so many things for which one should show their gratitude. I’ve definitely learned that this gratitude thing should not only be thought of once a year during Thanksgiving week, but that we should really value all that we have on a daily basis.

I think we often sit and think of the things for which we should be grateful and we default to our families, our life partners, our children, etc. What I have started to do is to let these “big picture” individuals know that I am extremely grateful they are in my life, and for all they do or have done for me, as often as I can.

However, I now also take time out of my day to think of the “little things” I have in my life to show gratitude for. There are so many things and without daily (I try to do it daily) reflection time I wouldn’t remember to be grateful that I have remained injury free with regards to my playing/officiating hockey, that although my little dogs barking is annoying it means that they are healthy and love me enough to want to protect me, and that after a long hard day in the office, a friendly chat with a stranger on my way to the car can really brighten up the evening!!

These are just examples of the “little things” in my life, but I really do feel that our lives are much happier when we take time out of our busy lives to truly reflect on all that we in our lives that we really should be showing gratitude for.

Tags: gratitude, Guest Post, values
Posted in Guest Post, Productivity | 2 Comments »

Guest Post - Gratitude on Life’s Terms

November 22nd, 2011 by Joanna

Today I want to introduce you to one of my dearest friends and mentors, ALisa Starkweather. She is the founder of the Red Tent Temple Movement, Daughters of the Earth Gathering, Priestess Path Apprenticeship, the Women’s Belly and Womb Conferences and co-founders of Women in Power; Initiating Ourselves to the Predator Within. She is a contributor in the newly published anthology, Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership; Where Grace Meets Power and is working on launching her new internet show, She Loves Life. She is featured in the upcoming documentary, Things We Don’t Talk About. This springtime ALisa is hosting a teleseminar among the wisdomkeepers to bring women and men together in a global dialogue of “It’s Time for a New Story”. According to ALisa, I am one of her “most beloved and treasured sisters on the path of life.” What a HUGE compliment! I’m so excited for her to share her wisdom today. To connect with ALisa, follow her on Facebook. You can also follow the Red Tent Temple Movement on Facebook. You can experience ALisa’s programs by visiting www.alisastarkweather.com.

Gratitude on Life’s Terms
By ALisa Starkweather

Life, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…

As a young teen I once read that if I woke up every morning and began to say thank you until sleep it would never be enough time to count my blessings. Now that was a gratitude lesson into wide-awake consciousness. Why? Because a couple of things dawned on me pretty quickly; the likelihood of following through with this practice of a chorus of thank yous echoing in my mind as a backdrop to my senses seemed a remote possibility. Also I did the math and realized that with my present viewpoint, I would run out of good things to say pretty quickly. That is, unless I changed my perspective on what I was appreciating about life. This pivotal moment however woke me up as a teenager to what we likely take for granted when we are not noticing the dawn, our ability to breathe, our constant beating heart, the vibrant colors or the things in my lifetime that I would not yet know were ephemeral like the abundance of songbirds, the honeybees, and with the birds and the bees, the ending of my virginity. By seventeen I became the single-parent mother giving birth to this magnificent gift of life while being on my own to discover where one finds good when life turns into hardships.

Yes as you can imagine, poverty, lack of continuing education, low self-esteem, depression became the internal dumping grounds in my psyche where my dreams were trashed. Did that ever happen to you too I wonder in some way? I would go there and pick over little chards of who I once was or wanted to be and bring them home again with a deeper sense now of what it means to find treasures in life in the most forgotten places inside. Gratitude was no longer a good idea for a spiritual practice or a learned courtesy of “hey thanks” but an actual means of survival where one remembers that no matter how hard things become to live at all, to breathe at all, to be part of this mad horrific beauty is everything…. everything. Unlike the generations to come, my life then was not about stuff that I materially desired but rather a simpler ground of do I have the courage and the faith and the will to live this day? Each moment of “thank you for this life and all the beauty, all the miracles, all the tiny triumphs” gifted me with the next ability to face hardship graciously and strengthened my resolve to live into the wisdom that would become my bedrock as the mature woman in my fifties today.

Little did I know then that by walking that path, anchoring to the wisdom of gratitude I would later be a teacher for women’s empowerment and on the path of the ecstatic wild woman where sleeping on the floor of a cave with dripping waters flowing off rock walls is a phenomenal experience that I say wholeheartedly, “Wow. Thank you. What an unforgettable night!”. Or dealing with whom many might consider a difficult personality in my work has me exclaim sincerely, “What a great woman. What a teacher for me to examine my own vulnerabilities!” I admit that sometimes I am like the baby of life who wants to spit out the mouthful of food that it spoonfeeds me while saying that it is yummy. I am not going to lie to you because you know as well as I do that it doesn’t all taste good. What is remarkable however that with choice, with finding our ground for digesting life on its terms, we have the opportunity to take the energy life gives us and do some amazing turn-arounds if we choose to.

Thank you for my mother’s criticism and shaming remarks that helped me to learn the importance of kindness and how to create safe containers for people to know unconditional love. Thank you for my father’s rage that taught me the importance of patience, tolerance and how not to blame or project on others when one is innocent. Thank you for disempowerment and the feminization of poverty that brought me to my work with women so that I could lift them up and ask them to believe in their power and their worth. Thank you for the places I have been violated as a woman because I found my compassion for others, my leadership, my strength, my courage and resolve to stand up and to fight for women and children around the world. Thank you for the ones I have loved and lost through cancer and illness because it has taught me to value every second that I have with anyone I have ever loved. Thank you biased media for the altering the reputations of brave global citizens who fight for their families and children because you taught me to discern for myself the goodness of who you diminish. Thank you for my broken heart and betrayals in past relationships that brought me to experience the truest of loves. Thank you for my son who is my master teacher of how to persevere. Thank you for living now at a time in human history when we are faced with our own extinction because it helps us all collectively to wake up and not take anything, even our tomorrows, for granted. Thank you, thank you, thank you…

Tags: ALisa Starkweather, gratitude, Guest Post
Posted in Empowerment, Guest Post, Personal Development | No Comments »

Lessons of Gratitude from My Doorman

November 18th, 2011 by Joanna

Meet Gerald. Gerald is the doorman of my Brooklyn apartment building. Gerald travels over an hour on the subway, six days of the week from Queens to Brooklyn to get to work, and then an hour back again many hours later. He gets back home close to midnight. His job is sometimes monotonous and also sometimes strenuous – lifting strollers up stairways, moving heavy boxes, opening doors even when it’s super cold outside.

And yet, despite all that there is always a smile on Gerald’s face. There’s always a spring in his step. And, he always remembers if you’ve gone away on vacation, or if you weren’t feeling well, or if your child has a birthday is coming up.

I am in awe of this man.

Not only does he take pride in his work, but he has shared with me that he is deeply grateful to be able to do his work, and that is what allows him to show up fully for the residents of my building.

Why is he grateful?
Simply, because he is. It’s his way of moving through the world.

He is grateful because he has a job in this economy. He is grateful because he gets to read the paper during his subway ride. He is grateful because he enjoys the residents of the building. He is grateful because he gets to watch the children here grow over the years from babies into young adults.

Gerald is grateful that he receives Christmas gifts from many of the families. He is grateful because the transistor radio and tiny little black and white TV at his doorman desk work. He is grateful because he doesn’t have to think about what to wear to work – it’s always the same uniform.

It’s his gratitude that shines through in his actions.

And here’s one of the best parts: Gerald makes a HUGE difference in the world. How? Well, when your doorman smiles at you and kindly asks how you’re doing as you leave your building. More times than not you’re naturally going to be in a better mood and take that out into your day. And when your doorman offers to help with your groceries or ask how work was, more times than not, you’ll continue to unlock your door and greet your kids with a smile. And then your kids are happier too.

In my coaching practice, I meet a lot of folks who are working on HUGE levels to change the world. They’re doing amazing things. They’re making a difference. And yet, often when they first come to me, they are unhappy. They expect the worst. Things aren’t going for them the way the want it to. They’re not enjoying life OR making a difference.

They just need to take a look at my doorman: he knows how to cultivate gratitude and feel it deeply to his core.

What do you sense might happen if you committed to feel gratitude deep in your heart, if you committed to decide that it’s more important than lack, if you committed to loving thoroughly all that you have? Imagine, just imagine, how YOUR life might be different if you made gratitude a priority. And imagine, just imagine, how the world might be different if you made gratitude a priority.

Pretty amazing, don’t you think?

Tags: appreciation, blog summit, Empowerment, gratitude, Gratitude Project, joanna lindenbaum, joy
Posted in Gratitude Project, Personal Development | No Comments »

Blog Summit - Day 8 - Gratitude, Thankfulness, and Grace

November 17th, 2011 by Joanna

We’re nearing the end of the Gratitude Project Blog Summit but we’re SO much closer to the BIG day! Are you taking part in tomorrow’s revolutionary call-in? There’s still plenty of time to register! Even if you only have a few minutes at the start of each hour, I urge you to spend it with the Soulful Coaching community as we exercise and practice these powerful gratitude rituals! Take a few moments to look at the agenda for tomorrow by clicking here.

Danielle Bishop is new to the Soulful Coaching community and I’m really excited to introduce you to her because she has a really great story to tell on gratitude. Danielle is a blogger over at We Have It All - she’s married and a great mom to five kids with another on the way! By day she’s a childcare provider and by night she’s a freelance writer! She’s a Christian mama who enjoys writing about parenting, family life, and even has time for some amazing product reviews! She’s doing her best to stay sane in a world of chaos and she’s grateful for that ability! Keep up with Danielle by following her on Facebook, Twitter, and even WhatToExpect.com!

Gratitude, Thankfulness, and Grace
by Danielle Bishop

When I think of the word “gratitude” the word “thankful” comes to mind. The word “grace” follows.

What am I thankful for?

I could fill up a notebook, line by line, with the little things like a cup of coffee before bed, the quilts laying in every room of my house, a shower *alone*, open windows throughout the house on beautiful days, all of the neighborhood kids playing in my backyard… and the list could go on until the end of eternity. Or I could list the big things like the love of my amazing husband and 5 fantastic kids, our health, having both of my parents still, having a roof over my head and food on the table… and again, this list could also go on and on.

But in reality, these things are are not things that have just ‘fallen’ in my path. These things are all provided by God.

Ever since my kids were little and we prayed together, I’ve always taught them to begin their conversation with God by thanking Him. Thank Him for what He has blessed you with. If it were not for Him, where would we be?

And I’ve often thought to myself,

“If tomorrow came and you woke up with only what you had thanked God for today, what would you be left with?”

So what am I really thankful for?

God’s Grace and Love.

God’s unmerited favor that I do not deserve. I could nothing to ‘earn’ His love and His Hand on mine guiding me along through my valleys and struggles.

There have been days in my past when I did not know what I was going to feed my kids that night for dinner. Those same days where an acquaintance would show up at my door and say, “We won’t eat this stuff, but I was hoping you and your kids will”.

There have been days in my past where I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel… but then out of the darkness appeared His light. His hand outstretched telling me, “Grab on to my hand and I will lead you”

I have done none of this within myself. Of course I have always tried my best to do what was right but ultimately I have done nothing without God.

Romans 7:18 says, “I know that nothing good lives in me – I mean, nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them”.

It was always God by my side.

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.”

It was always God. It was Him that has had our lives in the palm of His hands. And I am so thankful for His love and mercy and grace.

Look at what he has blessed me with:

Life, Love and Heath.

I can not look at this photo and not see what God has done for us.

I have so much to thank Him for.

Tags: appreciation, Danielle Bishop, Gratitude Project, Guest Post, heart-centered, Personal Development, religion
Posted in Gratitude Project, Guest Post | 5 Comments »

Blog Summit - Day 8 - Gratitude Integrated

November 17th, 2011 by Joanna

The BIG day is almost here - have you registered? The Gratitude Project is going to be revolutionary and I hope you’ll take part in it! Imagine how much better your life, your business, and your soul would be if you took a few minutes every day to be grateful. For the past week, we’ve read posts from people of all walks of life - everyone has a different view on gratitude. What’s yours?

My good friend, Shelley Hawkins, MS, has another perspective on gratitude. As a Teacher, Author and Intuitive, Shelley coaches professional men and women who are ready to break through the inner obstacles that hold them back and keep them repeating the same frustrating patterns–in relationships, business, work, health, wealth and in who they are being—to create their soul-driven lives intentionally and LIVE their radical selves. To apply for Private Coaching with Shelley at The Self Connection™, click here. Subscribe to The Self Connection™ award winning Ezine and Monday Wisdoms™ for F.R.E.E. energy transformation and inspiration to support you in your soul-driven, intentional life. Coming soon, The Self Connection™ Live Yourself™ Breakthrough Experience. To connect with Shelley, you can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Gratitude Integrated©
by Shelley Hawkins, MS
One of the paradoxes of transformation is that gratitude for both what you love and the presence of what you don’t love are both a way of saying, “Yes”, to Life. The paradox being that acceptance, like forgiveness, is not condoning the condition; it is a way of evolving through it.

Gratitude is like driving your stake deep in the ground and saying, “this is where I stand”. You are validating your very existence, your cosmic necessity to and with the whole, and your ability to create with it. Your gratitude says, “Yes, I’m willing to participate with Life with my unique genius from what I know and where I am right now in the giving and receiving of Life.” It becomes the attraction for all that you desire and the transformation of what you do not.

That is not where I started with gratitude. Like most, I suppose, I knew to count my blessings, which evolved into disciplined thankfulness and the power of a positive attitude. A few years later came energy, gratitude lists to build my gratitude muscles, and other tools and disciplines to keep it flowing.

But it became most fun when it penetrated the surface, went beyond what I wanted to create, beyond politeness, beyond my disciplines, beyond avoiding “negative” emotion, and became an integrated way of being—not perfection, mind you—being.

Rachel Naomi Remen said, “Those who nurture the hidden wholeness in those around them become the architects of a new world.” The integration of gratitude acknowledges that wholeness, the invisible—or not so invisible—connections between all that is. Gratitude integrated as a way of being then becomes your path of authenticity, of creative intention, and of wholeness for yourself and a new world.

Tags: blog summit, desires, empower, Empowerment, Gratitude Project, Guest Post, Shelley Hawkins, Success
Posted in Gratitude Project, Guest Post, Personal Development | No Comments »

Blog Summit - Day 7 - How to Transform Your Body into the Body of YOUR Dreams through Gratitude

November 16th, 2011 by Joanna

I’ve been re-reading through all of the amazing posts that have accumulated throughout the Gratitude Project Blog Summit. There have been so many brilliant minds and I am so grateful to each and every one of them for their insight! We have two more days still of the blog summit which means the BIG DAY is so much closer! Have you registered? Take a moment to think about how this world might be better if we were all a little more grateful. We can accomplish a better world together, it all starts with the Gratitude Project!

Ever wondered what your body has to do with gratitude? My good friend, Amanda Moxley, brilliantly explains to connection between the two. Amanda is a Body Transformation Expert and Coach who first transformed her own unhealthy relationship with food, body image and body size from a size 14 to a size 4 naturally and without going to extreme measures. Amanda is a board-certified holistic health coach, yoga teacher, certified social worker (CSW) and an award-winning business owner. She is an avid world traveler, wife and mother. For free gifts and more go to www.AmandaMoxley.com. If you’ve ever struggled with your weight, body image, emotional eating, or self sabotage with food, Amanda’s “Get YOUR Ultimate Body in 30 Days Guided Visualization” and the “Love Your Belly Guided Visualization” will allow you to discover the SOUL root of the issue and get you on track to feeling radiantly healthy, energized and alive. Grab your free mp3’s here.

How to Transform Your Body into the Body of YOUR Dreams through Gratitude
by Amanda Moxley
How often throughout your day do you catch yourself thinking or feeling thoughts about not liking your body, or wishing it looked different, or beating yourself up about not eating the right thing, or being mad at yourself because you let yourself down again by not keeping your commitments and intentions to yourself or calling yourself fat or feeling frustrated because your clothes don’t fit?

Tune in to your inner dialogue today and measure on a scale from 1-10, 10 being your highest how much energy, feelings, thoughts and time you are spending on thinking negatively about your body, body image, size or food.

What’s your number? I’ve coined that number your Body Barrier™ number.

Using the POWER of gratitude, let’s channel your Body Barrier™ number into your heart’s true desires!

Love is the ONLY ABSOLUTE.

Love is the highest VIBRATION.

According to Heart Math Institute the heart is 5000 times more powerful than the brain. Transforming your body requires you to move deeper into LOVE and this can be easily done by being grateful.

Step 1: Think of the body part you may have disowned or that you deeply dislike.

Step 2: Sit in a quiet and safe place. Enjoy some deep nourishing breaths. Conjure up all of the unkind thoughts, feeling and emotions you express to your disowned body part on a daily basis.

Step 3: Think about a person in your life who you LOVE whole heartedly and unconditionally. It could be your child, sister, mother or niece.

Step 4: Imagine saying the mean things you express to yourself habitually every day of your life to your beloved.

Step 5: Can you do it?

Step 6: AH HA! Do you see now? You wouldn’t and couldn’t ever express any of the mean things you say to yourself daily (some of you for 20 plus years) to your beloved. So, why are you doing this to yourself?

Step 7: Place your hands on your disowned or deeply disliked body part and imagine you have white light in your hands, breathe this light into your body.

Step 8: Have a heart to heart with your body. Tell it you are sorry and that you never knew how mean you were being to it. Tell it you love it and will do anything to heal your relationship.

Step 9: What about this particular body part are you grateful for? Mentally or physically write down everything you are grateful for about this body part.

Daily Body Transformation Ritual
Every morning and evening when you are lying in bed, place your hands on your body and breathe love and gratitude into it. Mentally go through every reason why you are grateful for your body. Next, dedicate a special gratitude journal to your body and write 5 ways in which you are grateful for your body today. Please do NOT repeat the same 5 things every day! This will stretch your imagination and your appreciation muscles!

Your body was meant to be healthy and vibrant. Trust the simplicity of this exercise and watch your body transform before your eyes over then next month.

Radiantly yours,
Amanda

Tags: Amanda Moxley, blog summit, body reformation, Empowerment, gratitude, Gratitude Project, guest blog
Posted in Empowerment, Gratitude Project, Guest Post, Personal Development | No Comments »

Blog Summit - Day 7 - How to Be Grateful When Things Piss You Off

November 16th, 2011 by Joanna

Can you believe it’s already Day 7?! That means the Gratitude Project is almost here! I can’t wait to spend the top of each hour with you learn, teaching, and crafting a new way to be grateful! Want to spread the word? I’d love the help! Still on the fence? Take a look at the schedule I’ve set up to help us all experience different waves of gratitude here! I hope to hear you on the call!

Our first guest writer today is one of my favorite advocates of joy, Jennifer Zwiebel. She is an Intuitive Organizer, author, speaker and founder of A Place of Joy™: Inspired Organizing and Business Strategies for Creative Entrepreneurs. Jennifer guides clients to clear out both their inner and outer space, release chaos, and design systems that bring ease, joy and prosperity to their businesses and lives. Join the Place of Joy™ community at www.aplaceofjoy.com, and get started on your own path to clarity and joy with Jennifer’s powerful gift to you at www.aplaceofjoy.com/10minutemiracle. You can also connect with Jennifer via Facebook and Twitter!

How to Be Grateful When Things Piss You Off
by Jennifer Zwiebel
I’ve been consciously practicing gratitude for the last few years and I can see the difference in the way I feel, what I focus on and what I attract. I now walk down the street grateful for the shining sun, for the fact that I get to walk my son to school, for the miraculous baby I hold in my arms. I start my mornings being grateful for the gift of the day that lies ahead of me and end my day listing at least three things for which I am thankful.

This is not to say that there aren’t plenty of things for which I am not so grateful. There are the dirty dishes, the piles of paper, the loads of laundry… I’ve discovered, however, that while it’s less easy to appreciate the things that make you cranky, scared, or pissed off, that’s where the gratitude actually gets more rewarding.

You see, your mind can’t do two things at the same time. Your first instinct may be to get frustrated when something pisses you off, but when you choose to find a reason to be grateful instead, you refocus your mind and veer off in a new direction.

Let me give you an example. One morning I pulled aside the shower curtain and discovered that our bathtub was carpeted in hair. My husband had given himself a haircut and neglected to clean the tub. My first thought was, “Ewwww!” My second thought was, “Why didn’t he clean it up?? Did he not SEE the hair???”

I realized I was quickly heading into a morning full of frustration, and decided to redirect my thoughts. I latched onto the first one that came into my head: “I’m grateful he still has hair.” That worked for about 60 seconds, but then I started cleaning the tub and got all pissed off again.

So I worked harder to pull my mind back onto another track, and this time started thinking about how grateful I was that he’d stayed up the night before with our son who’d developed a fever. This led me to be grateful that he was such a good father, that I had him as a partner, that we were working together to raise our children in a loving, respectful way. By now the thoughts were flowing naturally, and both my mind and heart were in a grounded, grateful place.

This didn’t mean that I forgot about the hair in the tub, but it meant that I could (1) get past the anger and do what needed to be done so I could move forward, (2) tell my husband what I didn’t like and what I needed in the future in a calm way that enabled him to hear me, and (3) regain perspective and spend time being amazed at my real good fortune.

This practice may feel forced in the beginning, and your mind will likely revert quickly back to the initial not-so-grateful feeling. But if you’re willing to keep searching for something else to be grateful for, you’ll be surprised at how quickly your mind expands and fills with reasons to rejoice.

Tags: gratitude, Gratitude Project, Guest Post, Jennifer Zwiebel, Personal Development
Posted in Gratitude Project, Guest Post, Personal Development, Uncategorized | No Comments »

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Blog Summit - Day 7 - How to Be Grateful When Things Piss You Off

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