Keep Calm and Make It Work by Simply Sarah Crafts

Now that I got the rest of my schmemo treatments on the books, I set out to look at my schedule with a fresh pair of eyes, and what I found there made my head thisclose from exploding. See, last fall, I scheduled out the majority of my 2012 “launches”: when I’ll start new rounds of Operations, when I’ll host my 4th Annual Scholarship (which I loooooove doing to correlate with my entrepreneuriversay in March), yada yada yada. Ah, the best laid plans, amIright? So taking a look at what was already planned through April started some heart palpatations and hyperventilating until I had a lightbulb moment:

Nobody knows about this calendar but me. I can cancel/change around anything I want, and I can do it in a way that’ll work for me now, not last fall.

So, I took off the Operations! that I wanted to have this spring/summer and left the ones that’ll start in August. I moved the Scholarship to July, but came up with a new celebration to, um, celebrate my 2nd Entrepreneuriversary (teaser alert: mark your calendars for Mon 3/19 from 1-2:30p Eastern for a super amazeballs event times two!). I even took off the space I keep in my calendar for consultation calls and sessions through July 31st, as I have no idea what my boob recovery’s gonna be like after my mid-May surgery, and I just don’t want the pressure. Read the rest of this entry »

decide what to be and go be it by letterhappy

This is a guest post from Tara Gentile, cheerleader for The You Economy and overall smartypants.

“How do you react when someone says ‘you’re ambitious?’”

I posed that question to my community last week. Read the rest of this entry »

Be Yourself (Ralph Waldo Emerson) by Art by Erin Leigh

The ABC’s of Self-Love is a Blog Crawl hosted by Molly Mahar of Stratejoy. She believes in the transformational power of truly adoring ourselves and so do I. Find out more about The ABC’s of Self Love Blog Crawl + Treasure Hunt here (you can win a free spot in the Fierce Love course!)

A few weeks ago, I breathed deep, freaked out, made my husband and great friend read and re-read what I spent hours writing, breathed again, and hit the button to schedule Yup. 3 Sign-Ups. (aka How I Screwed Up Majorly, and What I’m Doing To Fix It). While I felt it was important to do, and I hoped it would start a much-needed discussion on how everyone doesn’t make a million dollars when they launch a product/service (as well as revealing The (Wo)Man Behind The Curtain as opposed to The Great Oz herself ), I was scared to death of outing myself and my “failed” launch. I heard my Dad in the back of my head, who chastised me as a very very early blog writer for writing how many clients I was working with, as it disclosed how much money I was making. I heard my Vampire (that’s what I call the voices in our heads that suck the good stuff outta us) saying that it would make lots of people run away from my Clubhouse, never allowing it to grow and not allowing that community to blossom. But the more I heard those voices and the more I wrote and re-wrote that post (it literally took hours), the more I felt excited and scared.

Excited and Scared is what I live for. When my clients describe feeling it in almost-equal doses, I start doing the happy dance. It always means that you’re on the right track, which is not synonomous for Things Working Out or Being Wildly Successful. But it does mean that you care about whatever it is that’s giving you that feeling, and that’s something’s at stake.  More excited than scared probably means you’re about to have fun, and that’s great but there’s nothing to care about there. More scared than exciting is what I call The Uh-Oh Feeling, and you should probably get outta that situation and how. But equally scared and excited? It means you’re guaranteed to learn, to grow, to take away – and that is always The Right Track. Read the rest of this entry »

Suck Less by est1986

Last week, I woke up Angry At The World (which you would think would happen fairly often because of this whole boob cancer thing and whatnot, but honestly, it’s a rarity). But ya know what? This annoyingly optimistic life coach embraced it, and said Suck It to everything that day.  I’m cold because the window’s open? “Suck It, Window!” I have to walk behind 4 kids taking up the entire sidewalk?  ”Suck It, stupid high school kids!” Luke and I texted back and forth about everything that made us mad that day – boring meetings, Fed Ex, not wanting to get up when you have to pee, ineffective people, being taught things you already know…and it actually brightened my day.

What do you wanna tell to Suck It?

I know, I know, this is supposed to be a question tied into Valentine’s Day and romance and love and yada yada yada, but my schmemo (not a typo – it’s what I’m calling chemo) today and I’m just more in a Suck It mood. Apologies for the anger, but honestly, telling the schmemo to Suck It helps! Read the rest of this entry »

Let Go of Disappointments by Parada Creations

Ooh, more juicy questions coming from my sessions! Whether it’s a false truth or a pessimistic perspective or something literal….

What do you need to let go of? (or, What’s no longer serving you?) Read the rest of this entry »

High Five Cross Stitch by Gracey May

I torture one of my Operations groups with their very first piece of homework: an exercise I call Friends and Family Findings. Just one week into our sessions, they have to send an email to at least 3 people and ask them how they inspire the other person, why the other person keeps ‘em around, and the like. It’s scary. It’s anxiety-producing. And it results in feelings similar to birthday wishes and Christmas mornings, with heaps of kudos and compliments and soul-bearing truth rained upon the client (figuratively, of course). What always comes from this is seeing – in black and white – how people view your strengths, your offerings, your uniquity. Some are surprised by the reflection that their friends and family hold up to them, and other get reinforcement that what they’re putting into the world has been received. But often, it leads my clients to say, “Huh. I thought everyone can do that. I guess I’m more than just OK at it.”

What can you give yourself credit for that you normally don’t acknowledge (that you’ve done today, that others tell you that you rock at, etc)?

—– Read the rest of this entry »

When there’s yin, there’s yang. When there’s black, there’s white. When there’s low Clubhouse numbers, there’s…a book deal!

Back in the fall, Jessica Swift was approached by Tonia, an Acquisitions Manager at North Light Craft Books (they published Kelly Rae Roberts!), asking if she’d be interested in writing a book for them. She responded, “Why yes, yes I would. Also, I have already kinda wrote one with my friend Michelle. Here it is, in case it interests you.” (Ain’t she sweet?!)

To back it up, a few months prior, we got an email sent to us straight from our Contact page, asking if we’d wanna make The Declaration of You into “a book-book”. After a round of “Duh please!”, that publisher (different from this one) pitched us to her boss. We’re not sure exactly what he said, but it prompted her to give us this feedback:

“My publisher felt you might want to consider approaching young adult houses. I’m not sure if that fits with your goals, but for what it’s worth, that’s an idea.” Read the rest of this entry »

You Proved Us All Wrong – Congratulations Card from Colette Paperie

At the Golden Globes, Jean Dujardin (did you see him in The Artist? You must, you must!) said that when he was first starting out, an agent told him he’d never work in movies because his face was too expressive. When he accepted his award, he said, “Thank you for giving me the chance to prove him wrong.”

Who will you prove wrong?

————- Read the rest of this entry »

It’s really, really odd to have boob cancer as your muse…but here’s another tune with Lucille and a very special guest – my husband, Luke! He’s a champ and a half times infinity:

Y’all have been so sweet with your continued good thoughts and juju and gifts and cards and donations and “how are ya?”s. As a quick update, I’m not sure yet exactly when my treatment will start, but it’ll definitely consist of 4 rounds of chemo (one every 3 weeks) and 6 weeks of radiation. Yes, it’s not gonna be fun, but it really is honestly The Best of the Worst, and I might even get to keep my hair! Promise to let ya know more as soon as my plan’s in place and I have a definitive timeline. ‘Til then, I’ll keep writin’ and strummin’!

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OK, OK, this is kind of a promotional-based question, but I can’t help it. My Clubhouse is open today and I couldn’t wait ’til tomorrow to give ya the goods!

I’ve been cooking up The Clubhouse for months, even when I didn’t know what it was. It’s The Answer to how I can give you personal attention and do my work as a coach (it is what I do best, after all) and be more hands-off (boob cancer treatment awaits!) and offer it all starting at $27 a month. Of course, I just had to write a song about it to tell ya more:

Read the rest of this entry »