Posted on Dec. 04, 2009 by Baeth.

“Let It Go”

My Life Purpose, from my fingerprints (aka my “spiritual blueprint”), is “Successful Businesswoman and Spiritual Teacher with a Special Message for a Large Audience - With Heart.”

My core message is this: “You have a unique purpose on this planet. It’s ‘your purpose - in your hands.’ Only YOU have the power to unleash this inner potency and make it manifest in the world. Doing so is the greatest thing you could ever do.”

And while my message compels me, impels me passionately forward, there is a constant winnowing process occurring where I must let go of outmoded ways of being to embrace a new way of being. If I resist this process of letting go, the lessons come faster - and harder.

Ironically, the hardest lesson this year has been letting go.

Here’s a light-hearted example. Recently, I received the infamous “Facebook spank” and my account was disabled. I think it was because I had an increase in friend requests going out from my account. I had exported my personal mailing list and was requesting folks who weren’t already  ‘friends.’ I think the powers that be suspected my account was hacked (it wasn’t).

I may or may not get my account reinstated, but silly me - Facebook is free! I should have - if I’d been smart - backed up my friends’ list AND all the content I posted on there. Did I? No, I didn’t. I don’t own my Facebook info (and you don’t own yours either) - Facebook does. They can do whatever they want with your posted info. Not the greatest customer service policy if you ask me, but they haven’t responded yet. There is no one to talk to or call at their headquarters. Email after email request has gone unanswered. So what can I do?

“Let it go.” What will be, will be. (Put out some good energy for me, okay? I like communicating with y’all on there! And there’s always Twitter!)

The same goes for interpersonal relationships.

I went out with some friends last Friday night. We had such a good time, we decided to go out again Saturday night. Unfortunately, expectations being what they are, Saturday night was a pale reflection of Friday night. Late night pancakes lightened the mood slightly, but I was astounded at how irritated I was that the evening had not unfolded in an order to my liking.

This may not seem like much, but for me, it was a spiritual comeuppance. Broken “expectations” are usually a sign that I’m holding on way too tight to a particular mood, feeling, outcome or ambition.

These two experiences - a Facebook disappearance and a disappointing evening - seemed to be trying to tell me something. Um, maybe it’s time to “let it go.”

And let go of what else? On the physical level, I cut off four inches of my hair (right before my karaoke adventure!) and died it dark espresso with gold streaks. Ditched a lot of weight around my middle thanks to my encouraging and merciless physical trainer, Zach. Let go of tons of clothes that I no longer wear, gave our king-size custom-made futon bed to our daughter and ordered a custom-made Westin Heavenly Bed (the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on!). Replacing our carpet with hardwood flooring, replacing old vanities with new ones (hopefully, just the ones in our bathrooms!), and finally furnishing our barren living room.

On the internal level, I’ve embraced my Life’s Purpose more deeply. That means that the tasks I undertake on a daily level aim to express my truth and my heart. Everything I do needs to express my highest self to the best of my ability. I have released anxiety and replaced it with the quest for excellence. Doing things well, in my own way, on my own schedule is just fine. I’ve let go of being ‘good’ and accepting ‘good enough.’ I’ve let go of thinking ‘I know’ what’s going to happen. I have a vision but how that vision unfolds is part of the mystery and the joy of living.

Most of all, when the day ends, it’s time to just wrap it up and let it go. Off to slumber land, surrendered, relaxed and ready for the next adventure!

Are you surrendered to your Life’s Purpose? If not now, when? To YOUR Purpose - it’s in YOUR hands!

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Posted on Nov. 27, 2009 by Baeth.

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!

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Posted on Nov. 13, 2009 by Baeth.

“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.

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“3 Strategies To Go From One-On-One Coaching To PUBLIC IMPACT In Your Business”

Posted on Nov. 06, 2009 by Baeth.

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

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“5 Tips To Be A Powerful Mentor and Healer in the Spotlight”

Posted on Oct. 23, 2009 by Baeth.

by Baeth Davis, “The Palm Pilot for the Soul of Your Business^TM“

Baeth Davis and Karen Schachter at Baeth’s 2009 Life Purpose Spiritual Summit

Karen Schachter’s Life Purpose is “Powerful Mentor and Healer in the Spotlight.” We can also call her Life Purpose the “Visionary Mentor Making a Public Impact in the Healing Arts.”

Karen is a licensed clinical social worker, certified health counselor, and founder of “Dishing With Your Daughter,” which offers a variety of programs for girls and women.   As a psychology of eating expert, Karen is especially passionate about helping the next generation of girls experience nourishment, peace and deliciousness in food, eating and their bodies so they can live a healthy, authentic life.

Karen says, “Enough of the angst and struggle!” Karen believes in the value of the mom-daughter relationship as a powerful vehicle for creating change. Combining her years of psychotherapy experience and her knowledge of nutrition, Karen’s programs and services inspire and support girls and women to value themselves, tune into their intuition, and nourish their bodies, their minds and their spirits.

Karen found her way to this work spoonful by spoonful, after struggling with her own ‘disordered’ eating. She wanted to make sure that her own daughter didn’t inherit the challenges that she spent so many years working through. However, Karen’s challenges are the precise challenges any mentor and healer is likely to face in claiming their power and stepping in front of their unique and appreciative audience.

Using Karen’s story as our guide, I want to share with you the 5 TOP Tips I’ve observed about being a powerful mentor and healer in the spotlight after working with thousands of clients over the past 11 years in business.

Tip #1: Healer Heal Thyself

In order to be a model of inspiration for others, YOU need to feel inspired. This isn’t likely to happen if you’re overworked, overweight or overwhelmed. Are you willing to dig really, really deep and find out what is REALLY ailing you? It could be a bad tooth, a bad back or depression. It could be sleeplessness, anxiety or fear. It could even be boredom, apathy or arrogance. What has got you caught? If you are willing to be honest with yourself, the healing can begin. One of the best ways to do this is to ASK FOR HELP. Find a practitioner, coach, doctor or advisor who can truly help you facilitate your own healing and begin the road to authentic recovery and genuine vitality.

Karen writes, “What a year it’s been! As a member of Baeth’s Phenomenal Entrepreneur Coaching Circle, which began in January 2009, I’ve experienced an incredible sense of personal and professional growth. Coming into the program at the beginning of the year, I wasn’t sure what to expect, although I knew I needed a coach like Baeth to give me a gentle, loving push toward my future and toward the vision I had for myself, yet somehow couldn’t figure out how to reach.

As it turned out, I got more than I bargained for!  I knew that things felt “murky” for me in my business, but didn’t realize just how much. As a psychotherapist and health counselor in private practice, I loved my work, yet knew I wasn’t expressing the full nature of my passion. I was restless and knew there was something more I wanted to be doing.

Although it felt a little like giving birth at times, Baeth and the group urged me to claim my passion and my purpose, and nudged me (ok, gave me a swift kick) toward stepping into it in a bigger, bolder way.”

Tip #2:  Engage With Your REAL PASSION

Karen continues:  “As a result [of this commitment to my own growth], I still have my private practice (although I’m charging significantly more than I was a year ago!), yet I’ve also stepped into my real passion:  helping to change the consciousness around food, eating and body image for the next generation of girls, and using the incredible power of the mom-daughter relationship to help create this change.”

Your ‘real passion’ is the thing you would do for free but still appreciate the money you receive for giving to your clients. Your ‘real passion’ is clearly obvious in your everyday life. Perhaps you envy a famous author. Hint: you’re an author in hiding. Perhaps you dream of winning an Oscar. Hint: you’re a performing artist in hiding. Perhaps Wayne Dyer and Marianne Williamson make your soul tingle with delight. Hint: Probably NOT hiding. You’re officially a Visionary Mentor Making A Public Impact in the Healing Arts.

I recommend that you don’t demand that your real passion make money instantly. This can cripple your creativity. Find other sources of revenue until your creativity has grown legs strong enough to walk on its own. Karen still has a private practice as she grows the other revenue streams in her business. We don’t demand that babies run marathons; we shouldn’t demand that our fledgling or growing businesses rival Richard Branson or Martha Stewart. One day, if that kind of business is what your soul desires, you will live your way into that achievement.

Tip #3: The Thing That Challenges YOU Is Usually Your Greatest Gift To Others

You’ve probably heard the expression, “We teach others what we are here to learn.” In other words, “Your Life LESSON is the KEY to your Life Purpose.”

Karen’s Life Lesson is to learn how to curb her tendency to sacrifice her goals for her family’s goals. Instead, she discovers how to be a great mom by living a life of purpose and passion. Her commitment to her work makes her a role model to her children rather than a role martyr. As her mentoring and healing business grows, she finds ways to both support herself and her family without feeling she is sacrificing one for the other.

Karen says, “As a mom myself (and as a daughter of a mom), I know firsthand how important we moms are to our daughters. I also know, from my work and my own personal experiences, how challenging this task can sometimes be. My work now includes creating programs for girls, programs for moms, and programs for moms AND daughters together.”

Tip #4: DECIDE To Step Into Your Life Purpose

Those of you have been reading this newsletter for a while know that one of my simple answers for success is to DECIDE and not back down from that decision. While everyone certainly has the right to change their mind, it’s important to know the ramifications of making decisions and either keeping them or not keeping them. Honoring our decisions increases not only our self-worth but our spiritual power to create an authentic life on our own terms. Spiritual power is not about money, status or approval. Spiritual power comes from knowing who you are and living a life of decisive determination and commitment.

Karen continues, “[My work with moms AND daughters] is exactly where my heart is, and Baeth has given me the courage to step into that.“

Tip #5: Find Your Audience and Communicate With Them

In order to reach your ideal audience, you must communicate with them regularly. Today, there is no excuse for not reaching more and more ideal clients as technology has made it possible to communicate our message all over the world - from the comfort of our own home!

Is it time to put up that new web site, write that blog or book or get that internet radio or TV show in production?

Karen shares her recent success, “In addition to creating powerful programs, I am also working on a book for moms on this very topic.  I’ve always wanted to write a book and now I finally have something that I really want to say (and know a lot about)! I’m thrilled to be taking on this challenge; and knowing that it’s my Life Purpose has given me the drive and motivation to stay the course (despite occasional bouts of fear).

Baeth brings powerful groups of people together. With her insights and the synergy of the group, it feels like anything is possible!”

Coach’s Challenge: Put your hand on your heart right now and ask your heart what it wants. Then allow that guidance to help you select you next activity. Ultimately, your INNER GUIDANCE will show you the way. When will you decide to listen to your higher self rather than everything outside of you? (I’m going out for a bike ride right after I send out this issue!)

To learn more about Karen Schacter’s upcoming FREE teleclass “The 7-Step Recipe To Connect With Your Daughter and Guide Her Toward Healthy Eating, a Strong Self-Esteem, and a Positive Body Image…so she can live a big, full, meaningful life,” please click here. If you’re a mom of a daughter, I’d love for you to join Karen on October 29th for this exciting call!

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“Why You HAVE To Pay” (… or you’ll keep paying and paying and paying!)

Posted on Oct. 08, 2009 by Baeth.

First and foremost, when it comes to your relationship with money in the world, it needs to reflect your integrity, your value system and your code of ethics. For example, if you feel your clients should honor their agreements with you and show up on time and pay on time, you MUST do the same in your agreements or else you are ‘out’ of integrity energetically. You may have the occasional client who flakes out and doesn’t pay but generally speaking, you’ll probably find that your clients gladly pay - when YOU gladly pay. This exchange of payment keeps the energy (and the money) flowing.

If you find yourself as the coach who isn’t being paid, what is the message for you? When this situation has happened to me, I’ve found that it usually means I have to overcome my Life Lesson of wanting people to like me and instead, hold the client to the contract. It is uncomfortable but necessary so I can live with myself and not feel like a chump. At other times, it simply alerts me that I’m not doing work that is totally aligned with my Life Purpose and a course correction is needed.

Maybe for you, clients aren’t paying because you have not paid someone. Or perhaps, you never had a written contract in the first place? Where in your money agreements have you become lax, inattentive or simply fearful?

If you are the person unwilling to honor an agreement you made, how do you rationalize this to yourself? Money is tight? You can’t afford it? You can get out of things easily? I find that folks who get in this situation over and over are unrealistic about their current financial situation and somehow think taking on another commitment will reduce, rather than increase, the pressure they are feeling to pay up. They may even feel that paying money to someone will bring them riches as if by osmosis. It is a subtle but common form of sabotage that hurts both parties.

If you have made a commitment and feel a pressure to make the payments, it is probably unwise to take on MORE commitments until that commitment is fulfilled. Your interactions with money reveal your true intentions and how seriously you take your commitments. Honestly, it’s best to make them as if your life depended upon it - because your reputation certainly does. With every broken financial agreement, you damage your reputation, burn a bridge and reveal your true motivations. With every honored agreement, you increase your stature, deepen the connection and reveal your integrity.

If you do hit a financial snag and are HONEST about it, your integrity stays intact and the contract can be renegotiated.

The next important piece about why you must pay (so you don’t “pay and pay” in suffering) is that it actually puts money in your bank account. When you pay for a service and fully enjoy that service, you put out a positive vibration into the world. Maybe a friend commented on your great new haircut. You told them the name of your stylist and they made an appointment for themselves. It turns out that they, too, had a great experience with this stylist and tell all their friends about it.

Now here is where it gets interesting. Your stylist may start referring people to you! And your friends know they can trust your word so they take in interest in supporting you as well. I’ve found that abundance is very much about giving from a place of knowing that there is enough to go around.

Putting money in the bank is also increased by your determination to succeed, your persistence in the face of setbacks and your ability to deliver on what you promise. This is another form of commitment. If you can give someone a great result, they will gladly invest and tell their friends about your work.

However, please don’t give it away for ‘free.’ If you are new in your field, bartering can be a wonderful way to get your work out there (initially) and give you additional experience. If you are seasoned, be sure that your prices reflect the results your clients receive - which is NOT the same as what you think they will pay or what you think they think it’s worth. How do people lose out if you DON’T deliver your service? Think about that when setting your fees.

The best way to PAY is to PAY attention. Mind your store, balance the books and protect your intellectual property. A good intellectual property (IP) attorney can trademark your important branding language and help you patent new inventions. If you know where your money is coming from and where it is going on a DAILY basis with a profit and loss statement, you are in a powerful position to see what projects are winners and which are losers on the balance sheet. This will help you leverage your time toward those projects that bring you the most revenue and satisfaction.

As a side note, I notice some folks start living champagne lifestyles on beer budgets. Sorry, but the math simply does not work. If you cannot pay for your lifestyle with ease, it is an illusion that will catch up with you eventually. There is no one to impress but yourself. Honoring your commitments and living within your means is a sure route to prosperity. Spending money doesn’t make you rich - generating money through your efforts does. There is a BIG difference. Remember this. Touching the hem of the guru’s skirt won’t make you the guru. Doing the inner work makes you the guru. Being around successful people won’t make you successful but acting as successful people act WILL bring you riches. Successful people don’t spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need. Successful people invest: in real estate, stocks, bonds, precious gems and metals, art AND education. Are you a spender or an investor?

Most importantly, PAY yourself first (so you don’t pay in terms of financial struggle) then pay Uncle Sam, then pay everyone else, in that order. But pay you must, no matter what. I believe that even if a person chooses to ‘go for broke,’ every creditor needs to be paid back in full - even if it takes years - because this is about integrity. Without integrity, you end up selling your soul - and THAT is too high a price to pay. As I tell my clients, “You don’t have to show up, but you still have to pay energetically.” So you may as well show up because there is no ‘out’ even if you walk away. The contract lingers in the air until it is mutually negotiated to the satisfaction of both parties.

When you pay others, you get paid. Simple as that. When you pay the piper, you get to hear the sweet music. When you pay yourself, you feel the power of your own value. And when you pay attention to your true motivations, you discover the wealth of your own soul.

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3 Tips to Put the Profit Back in Your Purpose

Posted on Oct. 08, 2009 by Baeth.

Yesterday, a client called me in a panic about the state of her finances. ‘What is causingsuch a talented, experienced, bright woman such money misery?’ I wondered.

As I contemplated her situation, my own history with money, and that of the hundreds ofbusiness women I’ve coached over the years, I realized that there is an inner process that must be happening simultaneously with specific, time-tested outward actions if you are going to have BOTH purpose AND profit in your business.

Here are my TOP 3 TIPS for creating more purpose AND profit in your business:

#1 Stop making ‘work’ a four-letter word.

Work gives our lives meaning. For many of us, work is one of the primary ways we expressour life purpose. However, I’ve noticed something very interesting. Here’s the hypothetical scenario: “Julie” is 36 and married, with two young children. She has just started a home-based business selling nutritional products. She is having trouble juggling the schedule of her kids with her own business responsibilities.

As Julie’s coach, I suggest she hire an administrative assistant (easily done by posting an ad on www.CraigsList.com. Hourly rates range from $8 hr - $20 hr). She balks. “How can I afford that? I’m not making much money in my business yet.” I ask her, “How exactly do you make money in your business?” She says, “Well, staying in touch with my current customers and finding new ones.” “Right,” I say, “so where is your time best spent?” Julie responds, “Marketing to my current customers and ideal prospects.” Uh-huh. “So, how about doing that?” I say. ”But it’s so much work,” she says. Uh huh.

When we do the REAL work in our businesses, which consists primarily of delegating tasksthat are not our area of expertise and spending our precious time letting our prospects and customers know about what we’ve created to make their lives easier (that is the goal of EVERY authentic business - making the life of your customer EASIER with a better hand soap, a better vitamin, a better home study course, a better workshop, etc.), we begin to not only PROFIT, we feel more connected to what we are doing and why we are doing it - our PURPOSE.

Are you avoiding the real work of your business with lots of nitpicky tasks? What is thiscosting you? At a deeper level, what does this distraction allow you to do? That’s right, HIDE OUT. When you spend your time creating a new product, publishing a new book or improving your marketing campaign, you are definitely not hiding out. You are showing the world who you really are. And that’s what Julie is afraid of - succeeding and being seen. Which leads me to Tip #2.

#2 Determine your ‘Visibility Edge’ and stretch it

How much spotlight can you handle before you start to retreat? Is your blushing brought on by a simple compliment about your lovely blouse or is it a full-out panic attack about stepping on stage or calling the local TV station for an opportunity to appear on their morning news program? Each of us has a ‘visibility edge’ - the limit to which we will allow others to see, hear and applaud us before we stop doing the necessary ‘work’ to be seen, heard and valued by our target market. (See Tip #1.)

What is one thing you can do today to move your ‘visibility edge’ out a little bit further? (I asked my personal assistant to contact the local radio station about my appearing on Valentine’s Day to do ‘romantic compatibility’ hand analysis readings for the listeners. We’re waiting to hear back and I’m excited. If this one doesn’t pan out, there are always more. BTW - I make up these ideas and pursue them - which takes me to Tip #3.)

#3 ”Ask For Forgiveness, Not Permission”

Grace Murray Hopper, a computer programmer and the inventor of the COBOL program, was quoted as saying, ”It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” I interpret this to mean that, in your business, it is often easier to move forward with your visions and goals when the inspiration hits you than it is to wait around for someone to tell you, “Yes, darling, you can have what you want.”

In Julie’s situation, the nutritional company she represents won’t let her put up her own web site. So instead of asking their permission to create an informational web site on nutrition fundamentals, Julie just did it, with a link that connects people back to the nutritional company. Julie honored the policy of the company but created a solution that not only increases the company’s sales, but creates an additional profit stream for Julie in an area where her purpose as the “Family Healer in the Spotlight” can come alive.

If you are in a financial rut, these are my three challenges to you:

1. Work on the PROFIT tasks and delegate the rest. Do what makes money FIRST each day, not last.
2. Determine your ‘visibility edge’ by writing down the last time you really showed up publicly - whether on a teleclass, a radio or TV program or in print. What is ONE thing you can do before the week is out to bring you and your business some purpose-full publicity?
3. What is the BIG thing you need to give yourself permission to do? What will it take to give yourself permission NOW? What kind of person will you have to become to not wait for someone else’s approval? Set a deadline and go for it!

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