A Mosaic Grid

As I lay daydreaming one day on Venice beach, I saw the galaxy float around me in the shape of a grid. Imagine a parking garage made of golden filament stretching in all directions, north, south, east and west – an “infinite grid” of possibility.

Quantum physicists can’t agree if the observer and the observed aren’t actually the same thing, if existence is actually one giant web that stretches forever and if within that web resides all possibilities, all outcomes, all experiences, forever. Some scientists even suspect that consciousness seeks to know itself by experiencing EVERYTHING, which, of course, would take forever… and would imply that YOUR consciousness seeks to know everything as well. That’s a whole lotta life times! It seems that life without end is more than a philosophical or religious concept.

Michael Talbot, in his book The Holographic Universe shares scientific studies about OBEs (out of body experiences), NDEs (near death experiences) and PLEs (past life experiences) among the monster compilation of research he’s assembled. What is striking is that individuals returning from these altered states of consciousness report very similar experiences, regardless of background, ethnicity, income level, and just about every other demographic marker you can think of.

These time travelers report that there is a ‘room’ you enter, in between lives, where your entire life is played back for you in 360-degree surround sound. You experience every thought, feeling, and memory you’ve ever had as well as the feelings of the other people who’ve played important roles in your life. You feel what they felt – in lightning speed.

Then the angels consult with you about what you learned this life and your plan for your next life. The angels don’t seem to be concerned with your morality, your religion or your achievements. They are interested in two things: Did you do everything with love and did you continually seek self-knowledge and understanding?

Imagine that the ‘goal’ of your life is to do everything with love and to continually discover the depths of who you are? That’s it. Everything else is designed to serve those purposes. Your bank account, your popular associations, your striving – not interesting to the angels. Love and knowledge… those are the reasons.

Now imagine you are consulting with the angels for your next life. You decide that you want to be a healer who has to overcome low self-worth and paralyzing fears of rejection in order to bring forth an innovative healing technique on planet Earth (it’s possible you might choose another planet, of course).

This “life plan” also appears in your fingerprints, as if to provide you with a map and a reminder of your destiny. Your fingerprints form between the 14^th and 16^th week of in uterine development and don’t change. However, whether you fulfill the plan you created is up to you.

As an observer observing the world from my limited one-person perspective, I offer you this: there is an urgency to fulfill this plan for this is your one shot – in this body. But… if at first you don’t succeed, you can always try again. You have eternity, after all.

I send out a kiss to your hands, your toes, your beautiful face, your lovely hair, your tender heart, your deep mind, your bright consciousness. Bless you for choosing to come here to Earth to keep this creation experiment unfolding. Remember to breathe if you start to get ahead of yourself or feel overwhelmed, trapped, anxious or scared. This life is just a chapter in the never ending story.

A toast to YOU this Thanks Giving! May you complete your chapter with gusto… it makes the reading so much richer!

“The Empress Has NO Clothes! Yes, My Naked Confession.”

The Empress “Looking Back” Over 2009

Recently, one of my Phenomenal Entrepreneur Coaching Circle clients reminded me of the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen. Two weavers promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that are invisible to others deemed “unfit for their positions or incompetent.” As the Emperor is outfitted in his ‘invisible’ clothes by miming attendants, he hesitates to question his nakedness so he doesn’t appear unfit for his position or incompetent.

Later, when the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”

The key character in the story is the child who points out the naked truth while the others either refuse to see or deny the obvious.

Discovering the naked truth in my business this year has been both a revelation and, at times, a shock…

By stripping myself of my illusions, fantasies and unrealistic expectations, I have discovered some remarkable things about myself and my business that are part of my soul’s truth. This process of stripping my soul bare and admitting my nakedness and vulnerability is part of my commitment to living my Life Purpose, full out, no excuses, regardless of the expectations of others.

This commitment gifted me some of my highest highs and lowest lows this year. My intention is to share them with you as a confession, and hopefully, a revelation.

#1 All Things Pass: Endings and Beginnings

Last week, we put down our beloved dog, Sam. He was a rescue dog and had been with us for six years. He joined the family shortly after our Golden Retriever, Maggie, died at age 16. What shocked me most amidst my conflicted feelings was realizing how fleeting life is. One moment, Sam was here, the next moment he was gone. He relaxed into the vet’s loving hands, without a struggle or protest. Did he know he was going to die? I doubt it. If he did, I think he would have run away. That thought stirs the most sadness in me. He trusted us so much that he allowed us to send him on his next journey in the same way he would receive a stroke on his soft black head. He trusted us absolutely to do what was best for him.

In my business, I am re-discovering some things I love to share with my clients and releasing some things that no longer serve. Although expanding into the new direction is thrilling, I can feel the anxiety of letting go, not unlike knowing Sam was ready to leave. Being ready to change is not the same as wanting to change. Does anyone want to die? Mostly not except in those cases when the person is really ready and really done here. Are we sometimes ready to die to one part of ourselves so another can be born? The continual cycle of death and life, endings and beginnings, is eternal.

And that realization is the death of anxiety, because our consciousness is eternal and this life is merely a chapter in the unfolding life of the infinite Universe. We are part of something so much larger than we can possibly conceive. We are part of an ever-changing, ever-growing unknowable whole. It is awe inspiring.

#2 Stand Your Ground and Don’t Back Down

Our ego – the part of our brain concerned with self-preservation and separation – lives to be ‘right.’ It feeds on drama, gossip, and negativity. It loves intrigue, suspicion and craves dissatisfaction. It is a part of all of us, stronger in some than in others, but a part of all of us, for even the most enlightened must contend with the rapacious ego.

To wrestle one’s ego into submission is as simple as taking a deep breath and asking, “What is wrong in this moment?” Usually, nothing. As you bring your attention to this moment, this relationship, this breath, enlightenment just is. You are you, without a mask, defenses, posturing or the need to be right.

This year, I’ve watched my ego struggle the most when I’ve had to stand my ground to stay in integrity with myself, even if those around me disagreed. It has taken nearly all my will to turn away from those who do not support me in doing what I must to honor myself. My ego has desperately wanted their approval, approbation and forgiveness even amidst my desire to be free and true to myself. Talk about contradiction! I’ve had to discover the very fine line between honoring my integrity and my ego’s need to be right.

I can tell if I need to be right if I’m seeking approval or reassurance in my decision. I can tell if it’s my true soul’s purpose if there is no one to consult but my higher self and the legacy I wish to leave behind. I am discovering that what others say about me is none of my business. It is about them, not about me. Just as anything I might say about someone else – positively or negatively – is about me, not them. (Who else would it be about? It’s coming through my own filter of perception.) These are fine distinctions, but necessary for my self-discovery.

I have learned to stand my ground and not back down when every fiber of my being simply knows what is best – not for others, for myself. Recently, I had to do this with a friend. I do believe she is doing what she feels is right and that is her choice. I, of course, must do the same. While our choices might conflict, I trust a higher order is working to teach us exactly what it needs to teach us. For me, the lesson is “stand my ground and don’t back down.”

The fact that it is a friend whom I cherish and who can play the friendship card makes this the ultimate test for me. I am blessed to have such a good teacher. This test is helping me to be clear in EVERY relationship in my life, both personal and professional. I am currently doing a ‘boundary inventory’ and cleaning up every relationship that needs some fine-tuning.

#3 Embrace The Love That Is

Each of us instinctively loves others in the way we wish to be loved. It flows from our core values. I have a list of core values typed up and framed on my desk, last updated 4/22/03, 10 days after my wedding. It reads like this:

1. LOVE = with myself, with Mark (my husband), with others, with life

2. HEALTH = exercise, eating well, ample rest & relaxation

3. “WATER” = source of life, ease, peace, emotional authenticity & safety (water represents emotion)

4. TRIBE = friendship with family and friends

5. CONNECTION TO THE DIVINE = meditation, prayer

As I look at these values (I have a list of about 10 more that are very meaningful to me), I am reminded of what truly motivates my actions, day in and day out. I enjoy giving and receiving love. I enjoy feeling vital, energized and healthy. Water is my source of solace and I like to let the water of my emotions move through me effortlessly. My tribe are my people – my family, friends and treasured clients. My connection to the divine is the source of my inner peace and my greatest teacher.

As I have come to know myself, I have discovered that my desire for “everyone to like me” comes from being in the School of Love (the hands have four schools: peace, wisdom, love and service). If you look at my values above, there is a deep theme of “connection” running through them.

I fear the ‘loss of love’ or loss of connection – so that the experience of someone withdrawing their love from me feels like someone cutting out my heart. I ‘know’ intellectually that I am the source of my own love, but when someone disconnects, I feel I am somehow less than and must win that approval back to be okay. If this isn’t your lesson, you know as you read this. If it IS your test, you also know – deep in your heart.

This year, I’ve been both the receiver and giver of disconnection – sometimes with the same person! Funny that. It has broken me wide open and laid me flat. I am better for it because I am discovering that there is great love all around me. While I’m busy wasting time trying to regain what is lost, done, complete, the love that IS is just waiting for me, there for the asking.

Which begs the question – if I’m longing after love lost, then maybe I’m really afraid of the intimacy that comes with true connection? Ah, why? Because if I REALLY love someone all the way – and something happens – I fear total emotional devastation. So better to be distracted by a faulty connection than to plug in full force to the connection that will transcend my own ego. I confess – I am willing to fully plug in and be seen and known and see and know others.

Alright already! That’s enough confession for today! I figure things out by writing about them (and talking about them, too!). I’ll be back next week with some more… Please share your thoughts – and your confessions here – if you dare! – by clicking on the comment icon on this page.

Kimberly Schneider, “The Manifestation Maven”
Photo by Lindsay A. Miller

Maybe you deeply enjoy, as I do, one-on-one coaching. However, if you do ‘too much’ one-on-one coaching, you may discover some interesting things. Perhaps you need to scale back and do less one-on-one coaching so you can explore other directions that fulfill different aspects of your Life Purpose. Perhaps you discovered you actually don’t enjoy one-on-one coaching (that can be a shocker for some business owners to admit!) but are unsure of what to do instead. Perhaps coaching is opening up other opportunities but you don’t want to let your coaching clients go.

What is a dedicated service provider to do?…

Kimberly Schneider, the Manifestation Maven, is a successful example of a how a business woman called to be both a one-on-one coach and a messenger in the spotlight is making a public impact in the healing arts by creating her business, HER WAY.

Today’s article explores 3 strategies you might consider in expanding your business to include not only one-on-one coaching but greater public impact, reach, influence, or spotlight, as your Life Purpose requires (not all purposes require a public forum).

Kim says, “My Life Purpose is ‘Public Impact in the Healing Arts with Heart.’ 

When I met Baeth I was coaching one-on-one and in small groups, helping people overcome unconscious limiting beliefs that sabotaged their wealth and success. 

After my hand analysis session with Baeth, I shifted my business model in order to work with larger groups of people. She accurately pointed out that challenges around my Life Lesson of Emotional Authenticity kept me from stepping out in a bigger way. I was scared about what others would think of me if I expressed my truth. [This is a BIG obstacle for many people!]

Baeth also told me that my head line [your thinking style] indicated I am a gifted problem solver with a global message. With this gift, if I don’t allow my mind to work on large, complex issues, my mind will create big problems for me to solve in my personal life (did that ever explain some things!).

Hearing my Life Purpose affirmed gave me the courage I needed to quit dreaming about what I would do someday and just make it happen. Five months after I hired Baeth as my coach, I promoted my first large-scale event — and over 160 people registered! When my husband saw the registration page for my event, he had tears in his eyes. Hearing him say to me, “You are doing exactly what you are here to do,” was icing on the cake.” 

Since Kimberly sent me that testimony, she launched and now hosts Conscious Manifesting on WebtalkRadio.net with over 6,000 downloads per week and is a regular contributor on the Great Day St. Louis TV show. Kimberly also writes a monthly column for The Healthy Planet and she is the author of Beyond Abundance, a home study course on her Cornucopia Method of Manifestation. She is currently writing her forthcoming book MORE:  Shattering the 5 Illusions that Keep You Stuck as well as a volume of poetry.

Kimberly’s bio provides ample ideas of how to expand your public impact, but I’ll elaborate a bit.

#1 Go Bigger and Wider

Become a TV and radio show guest or start your own show, using the internet and public access television. There are numerous resources online for doing this. The first step is to make the decision to reach more people. You will need a press kit, a target audience and a core message that you wish to share. For example, Kimberly is the Manifestation Maven, Awakening Entrepreneurs and Other Extraordinary Individuals to the Power of Conscious Manifestation and the Joy of Meaningful Work.

For your press kit, you’ll want to have a hard copy and digital copy with a good, high quality head shot, media resume, press samples, a timely press release and a cover letter. Numerous books and web sites can help you craft the specifics of your PR package.

#2 Create Higher-Priced, More Exclusive Offerings For Your Coaching Clients

Perhaps you want to provide some one-on-one coaching but not have your days filled with phone calls. If that’s the case, you might want to consider creating a premium coaching experience where you gather two to three times per year for two or more days with 10 to 12 clients and help them brainstorm solutions for their businesses and/or personal lives. You can include some personal coaching, group calls, an online forum, and other benefits to amplify the quality of the program. The investment for these programs usually runs anywhere from $9000 to $100,000 a year, depending on the level of one-on-one contact with you, the quality of results your clients experience and the experience level of the clients themselves in their respective professions.

Kimberly created a program called “The Alchemy of Business” and brought together 12 of her crème de la crème clients for big business breakthroughs. She reduced her coaching load and was able to provide a richer service that resulted in stunning results for her clients at the truly reasonable investment of $15,000 per year, per person. You can do the math on that one.

#3 Bring Your Creativity Into Your Business

Kimberly is not only a gifted coach, healer, teacher, writer and speaker, she is an artist, too. She is a trained dancer and a wildly talented poet. She is bringing her artistic gifts into her coaching work with great success. What creative talents do you have that perhaps you think ‘don’t fit’ with your business? I bet they do! Floral design? Jewelry design? Painting? Horseback riding? Disco dancing? You get the idea.

Here is one of Kim’s latest poems (I suggest you sit down and savor this one – she’s THAT good!):

I Need A Sky that Moves

I need a sky that moves.

Clouds churning over the
wild Atlantic;
soft blue surrendering to the incandescent
salmon of a Missouri sunset;
a new moon slipping behind
the Catalina mountains.

I need a sky that moves.

Whoever imagined Paradise as an unchanging
landscape? My heaven holds
a shooting star;
a double rainbow after the storm;
a crimson leaf spinning in a
blustery October breeze.

I need a sky that moves.

For something tells me
my soul can only be known against
the vast unfolding drama of a living
universe.

Crawl on your belly to the edge
of the world at the cliffs on Dun Aengus and
answer me this:

Don’t the old ones whisper to you
from the misty horizon?

Don’t the waves crashing
against the rocks below
call out
as if to say:

that even you, in all your
insignificance
have something
to give,

that what you declare here
matters,

and that who you are
in any given

moment changes
    everything.

I need a sky that moves.

©2009, Kimberly V. Schneider

 
If Kim inspires you as she continues to inspire me, go ahead and ”BE,” as Gandhi said, “the change you want to see in the world.” It’s not about playing a role, or being perfect, or knowing ‘what to do,’ it’s about BEING present, in the moment, simply you, simply real. There is nobody out there any way – I’m you, you are me, and we are one. But you knew that.

My bonus tip for getting ‘out there in a big way?’ Remember that there is no competition for your Life Purpose and nobody to prove anything to or anyone to disappoint. It’s about being connected to who you are, in this place, at this time, and letting your soul soar in your joy and glory. So be it! Forgive yourself for your missteps, stumbles, shortcomings, slights, slips of the tongue and silliness. That’s part of what your soul wants, too. Your soul wants to EXPERIENCE it all. Your soul doesn’t know ‘good’ and ‘bad’ – your soul only knows ‘experience.’ And this lifetime is merely one sliver of that experience. We want to and we do experience it all – in good time. Infinite time. Just breathe, receive and ENJOY! It’s your purpose – in YOUR hands™. Now go live it, full out, no excuses. You chose it. Claim it – it’s YOURS!

A Little Bit More About Kimberly Schneider

What happens when you take a body with the soul of a poet, the mind of a scholar and the heart of a healer… and turn her into a trial lawyer? Existential Crisis and more graduate school.  Throw in a marriage and two extraordinary children and you wind up with Kimberly Schneider, The Manifestation Maven.  Kimberly is the host of Conscious Manifesting on WebtalkRadio.net and a regular contributor on Great Day St. Louis TV show.  Kimberly writes a monthly column for The Healthy Planet and she is the author of Beyond Abundance, a home study course on her Cornucopia Method of Manifestation, as well as the forthcoming book MORE:  Shattering the 5 Illusions that Keep You Stuck and a volume of poetry. Find out more about how Kimberly’s coaching programs and seminars can help you & your organization create more of what you want (and less of what you don’t). kimberlyschneider.com  Kimberly Schneider Communications, LLC Awakening Entrepreneurs and Other Extraordinary Individuals to the Power of Conscious Manifestation and the Joy of Meaningful Work.

Have a listen to Kim’s show, “Conscious Manifesting,” where she interviews me about “Money In Your Hands:” 

http://tinyurl.com/yhjmjd9