Listening to your heart...and french toast!

Received from the 'Notes from the Universe' today:

"The only way to get what you really want, is to know what you really want.

And the only way to know what you really want, is to know yourself.

And the only way to know yourself, is to be yourself.

And the only way to be yourself, Donna, is to listen to your heart.

I do,
The Universe

Thoughts become things... choose the good ones! ®
© www.tut.com ®

French toast every now and then might help, too, Donna. "

What's your heart telling you about your business today?

Love

Donna.x

You Simply Must Practice

In the final module of the latest class, one of our participants came up with this GEM of a quote:

“You simply must practice, there’s no better way” Said Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh.

Couldn’t have said it better myself!

Love

Donna.x

"Being in Service of"

I am reading The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist. She has a vast experience and deep understanding of people and money through direct and intimate experiences over four decades of fund-raising and work in four major global initiatives: to end world hunger; to protect the rain forest; to improve health, economic, and political conditions for women; and to advance the scientific understanding of human consciousness.

In her first 45 pages, Lynne talks about the deep, soul-felt reasons that she does what she does. Those reasons seem to impel her forward in her life and career. She feels deeply committed.

Here are some of her phrases that may stimulate a sense of recognition in you and trigger a desire for a further look at your 'being in service of' statement. I will rephrase them into statements.

I am here to help myself and others discover startling truths about our human nature and human potential.
I open my heart with deep commitment to compassion and love for all.
I am a shining and visible example of the power of commitment to............
I am in service of the principles of personal transformation and empowering self-inquiry.
I am becoming a powerful instrument of what's wanted and needed for the affirmation of human life.
I help people to reconnect with their own higher calling, or soulful longing, to be the kind of people they want to be.
I provide a safe place and opportunity for people to discover and engage in their greatness.

In the beginning of her career, Lynne probably couldn't have verbalized these inner urges/feelings as well as she does now. She may have changed the words as she allowed the feelings to come up and be observed. She does admit to changing many of her beliefs as time passed and this book is really about changing our core beliefs about money and the impact that it has on the world's social, economic, and political development. Lynne Twist's wide perspective on this and much more is not to be missed!

We are each a unique and valuable piece of this puzzle we call the World. Without each and every one of us, the world would be incomplete, a lesser place.

Love,

Barbara

International Happiness Day - July 10!

More info at: http://www.InternationalHappinessDay.com

I thought you all would like to know about the first International Happiness Day. Their tag line is “ Happiness is an inside job”, which I love.

The goal: Get 1,000,000 people or more to choose to experience deep inner happiness starting on July 10th. 194 countries will be participating!

There is great power in joining with the energy of others to make a difference. This should raise our vibration and that of the Earth substantially.

See you, feel you, on July 10 as we make a commitment together to be happy!
This is a ‘no-brainer’ for me!

Love,

Barbara

You Do Not Have To Be Good

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes, 

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 

the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place 

in the family of things.

from: Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems, Volume One

This is your natural way, and mine.

Love,

Barbara

To say Yes to this, say No to that

As you are finding Your Natural Way, you will find philosophies that 'fit' your way of being and others that frankly, do not! I was chatting to a client today about 'motivational' e-mails and how they always make him feel bad! My personal style is inspiration, not motivation - if you have to push me to complete something, why am I doing it at all?

Anyway, if it's not Your Natural Way, if it's not feeling good, if it's not feeling easy...bin it! Why keep reading things that make you feel bad? Remember that Your Natural Way is absolutely valid for YOU. Not everyone in the world will agree, and nor do they need to! And the more you cull the things that DON'T work for you, the more space you will have for things that DO work.

Love

Donna.x

Radical Responsibility

Radical responsibility - what does this mean? Sounds kind of scary! Well, it is both liberating and scary, I guess. We know that to be responsible is to pay your bills on time, to pick up the children on time, to walk our talk, to be truthful, to commit and follow up, and more. Here is the dictionary meaning of responsible.
1. answerable or accountable, as for something within one's power, control, or management...

Radical responsibility is accepting that you are 100% answerable and accountable for everything that is happening in your life. That would mean that everything in your life is within your power, control, or management. Further, that would mean that you have chosen and can continue to choose in each moment, how your life expresses through you in the world.

Nothing happens to you. You are not a victim of circumstance. Somewhere, someplace, sometime, you chose that circumstance. No blaming someone or something else allowed. It all comes down to you.

Kind of liberating and scary, eh?

Love,

Barbara

Useful or Useless?

I love hardware stores and gadgets. I can spend hours browsing through building stores looking at everything that would make a job easier, from knee pads (mine are purple!) to fruit ripeners to plant moisture measurers. I'm fascinated by what the human mind can conjure up. I just know that someone was in the middle of a job and a light bulb went on as they thought of that tool to make their life easier.

We seem to naturally move toward what is easier for us. I use a tool for making decisions and choices easier. I ask myself, " Is this useful or useless?"

Is it useful or useless to buy the multi-tasking tool that is so cool looking and easy to store but the handle gets in the way when you use the screw driving attachment? Is it useful or useless for me to subscribe to 5 different newsletters on marketing my coaching business? Is it useful or useless to focus on what feels good and move in that direction? Is it useful or useless to buy my dog booties to keep her feet warm when she hates anything touching her feet? (they are soooo cute!)

Give this little tool a try. I find it very useful!

Love,

Barbara

'You' Are What You Are Selling

"All the resources you will ever want or need are at your fingertips. All you have to do is identify what you want to do with it , and then practise the feeling-place of what it will feel like when that happens. There is nothing you cannot be or do or have. ... There is nothing holding you back, other than your own contradictory thought. And your emotion tells you you're doing that. Life is supposed to be fun - it is supposed to feel good!...Savour more: fix less. Laugh more; cry less. Anticipate positively more; anticipate negatively less. Nothing is more important than you feel good. Just practise that and watch what happens..."

- Abraham/Hicks  March 2003

How many contradictory thoughts have you had about getting clients? Is that nasty word 'should' part of your self-talk? 

Take a moment and close your eyes and get the feeling you have when you remember why you are doing what you are doing. Hold that for a moment. What could you do to hold that good feeling longer? What action could you take now that would make you feel good about you and your business? How does that feel in your body compass?

'You' are what you are selling. And when you feel good about yourself and your business, you are very, very attractive to clients. How more natural and easy can it be?

Love,  Barbara

Your Natural Self

Many of us were brought up to think that being an adult means doing a lot of things we don't want to do. This does not have to be true. We can fulfil our responsibilities and still evolve by being  true to ourselves,  clearly focusing on what is meaningful and natural to us, and following that path. It's about you being you and being comfortable with that.

Being true to ourselves allows us to have more clarity around our intrinsic gifts and how to use them in the world. We can listen to our bodies for cues as to whether we feel comfortable with what is happening so that we can choose to stay or to make a change. We can notice our feelings about a situation and the people we are with, and decide whether to be there or not, or listen to our intuition about how to change it. We can detach from outcomes and find the gifts in our experiences. Then, we will have a conduit into our own profound wisdom - that which is true for ourselves.

This is not selfish. This is self-centred in the best possible way. This frees us to be all we can be. This allows us to fully contribute those attributes that are uniquely ours. This allows us to listen carefully to others with a reduction of self-talk in the background, because we are listening to only one voice, our own. This is living from the inside out. This is freedom. And this is the place from where we can be truly responsible and do everything we choose to do, in our natural way.

Love,

Barbara

"The question isn't who is going to let me, it's who is going to stop me."

- Ayn Rand    author of Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and more.

From Abraham Hicks Daily Quote (sign up at www.abraham-hicks.com)
Everyone doesn’t have to be the same. Most say, “Well, it’s so much easier if we’re all the same.” And we say, it is not easier when you’re all the same; conformity is the thing that thwarts you most. That massive wanting to get you to conform—to all think the same way and want the same things—is what is causing the revolt that is happening within you. You are determined to be freedom-seekers in a Mass Consciousness society that is determined to make you the same.

Excerpted from a workshop in Asheville, NC on Saturday, October 25th, 2003

All Is Well
Abraham Hicks

Be the freedom-seeker in your business. You don't have to be the same as everyone else.

Love

Donna.x

Is it Easy or Not?

I thought of Your Natural Way when I read this blog post by Stacy Brice:

Some relationships simply aren't meant to be, for any number of reasons. You'll know one of them when things are hard, all the time, or even most of the time. Great relationships are full of ease. And while that's not to say that great relationships never have rough spots to be worked through, it's because they're fundamentally easy that working through the rough spot is - you got it!- easy (or, at least, easier).

When it's just too hard, and everything you do seems to be a mistake, see the sign for what it is...a chance to make things in your business better... and get off that gerbil wheel you've been running on. Graciously (and quickly) say what's so to your client, ..... part company, and move on without giving it another thought! Better clients for you are waiting to avail themselves of your mad skills and overall fabulousness! 

-Virtual Moxie, April 16, 2008 

Forcing things through acts of will are a habitual not natural way of being.  

What relationships are you struggling in? Would you and your client be better off working with someone else?

What would it feel like to let go of that struggle? 

Love,

Barbara  

   

What I know for Sure

What do you Know for Sure about your business?

What does the voice of inspiration whisper to you?

Hint: this is not the loud voice in your head that says 'you suck'!

When was the last time you took the time to connect with your inner wisdom?

Because, you know, you have all the answers...it's just a matter of being still enough to hear them.

Love

Donna.x

What's the Point of Meeting People if You Don't Stay In Touch?

Let's say you go to one networking event every week, and you meet 20 people at each one.

80 people a month.

Of which, only 2 were ready for your services right now.

What about the other 78? You just write them off?

Or do you keep in touch with them, knowing that you can be of service to them...and when they are ready, the chances are good that they will look to you?

You don't have to bombard them with phone calls or e-mails, you can simply stay in touch with them from a place of service.

If you're not sure how - look at how you like people to stay in touch with you, and how much more likely you are to buy from them months (even years) down the line when they have been in touch and in service of your needs.

Love

Donna.x

Who Would I Be If I Weren't Somebody Else?

Stephen Covey says:

"To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you are going, so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction."

This is not me. Statements like this have always intimidated me. I don't really understand them except on an intellectual level. My destination has never been clear. The view has always seemed a bit obscured. I thought I should know where I'm going and suffered a lot of guilt and self-judgment as a result of the seeming randomness of my life. Imagining myself in different jobs and roles never gave me a lift or a sense of destiny. I felt as if this was a great failing on my part to be so much like a paper floating on a stream. Who would I be if I weren't somebody else?

When I relaxed into my more natural self, I realised that I had been doing what I was meant to do and being who I was supposed to be from an early age. With the 'shoulds' pushed aside, I could see myself more clearly. As I made choices based on my values instead of on what somebody else was doing, I discovered my natural way. Living a value-driven life allows me to make choices from my own context and the somebody I become is truly me - naturally! And the path before me is less of a minefield and more of an easy journey of self-affirmation.

I am somebody and that somebody is ME!

"You are always in a universe of choices. Any moment of your life can go in any direction you choose."

-Luis Alberto Urrea in The Hummingbird's Daughter

Love,

Barbara

The Obligation to be Yourself

Eleanor Roosevelt:

Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.

I Don't Want Your Happiness, I Want Your Money

How do you react to that subject line? Do you feel a warm fuzzy feeling toward me? Do you think 'yes, of course, let me get my credit card'? Or do you feel a little taken aback, somewhat soiled, even revolted?

Obviously it's fairly rare that someone will say that (or write it) aloud...but if that's their intention, can you feel it anyway? Can you feel when someone just wants to sell to you, whether you want or need their product or service or not? Do you buy from those people?

Have you checked which side you are 'coming from' intentionally lately? Do you want the money, or do you want people to experience what you do and have their lives improve as a result? I am not saying you can't make money by just being after the client's cash - double glazing salesmen do it all the time - but it is much easier to 'get' a client if you are serving them, not your bank account.

Love

Donna.x

Always Serving

What are you 'in service of' in the world? What is your driving ideal? What would you love to change about the world?

Did you know you are ALWAYS serving that ideal? Not just with your clients, but with yourself, your family and friends, everyone you interact with.

This doesn't mean you need to become a pulpit basher! But it does suggest that if you are conscious of what you are serving, you will be able to serve consciously and more effectively...always. All Ways.

Love

Donna.x

Easy Gardening

If you take a look at nature, grass doesn't 'try' to grow, it just grows. Flowers don't struggle to bloom, they just bloom. The sun doesn't try to force itself up in the middle of the night, it comes up with ease when the time is right for it to do so.

What could you and your business learn from this? What are you 'trying', 'struggling' or 'forcing'? What would you change if you saw it as a natural process? There may still be some action, after all, we need to sow the seed, feed and nurture the plant, and create the right conditions for it to happen.

But there's no trying, struggling or forcing involved.

What is the next natural step for your business?

Love

Donna.x

Being Yourself is a Lifelong Experiment

Here at Your Natural Way, we run courses and group coaching programs that run for 4-12 months, but we don't expect that in that time you will stop learning about yourself. After 3 years of Your Natural Way, I am still deepening my learning about MY natural way and finding ever easier and ever more fun ways to be fully myself.

Humans are like onions...layers.

Keep peeling back the layers of the authentic you. For always.

Love

Donna.x

Take what works for you

I heard something the other day that seemed to embody the YNW philosophy:

"Whatever you read, hear or see, take what works for you and leave the rest behind."

What resonates with you is likely to be part of your natural way, so take that. What does not resonate is likely to be part of someone else's natural way, let them get on with it and get on with YOUR natural way.

Love

Donna.x

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy..."

A big part of the Your Natural Way to Get Clients teleclass is the module "Being in Service of". We start thinking about this in module 4 and, gradually, over the remaining time and modules, we come to some statement about what we are 'in service of' in our life and business. It may be a sentence or two that only we understand. But the great thing is that we do understand what it means to us.

Being in service is not something that I thought about concretely until I took the YNW class. I don't know why - I was kind, generous, and helpful to others but without specific intention. What I do know is that having my 'in service' statement taped on my computer monitor makes a difference to how I set my intention for the day, and to how I interact with others. Somehow in the process of determining what I am being in service of, I started to realize that I can and do make a difference in this world. My life became more meaningful as I defined my intention of being in service and how I will be in service. I feel more focused and resolute, more goal-oriented in a less materialistic way. There is something within me that is satisfied by saying my service statement out loud and having it witnessed by my coach and my classmates. It gives that intention power and I feel more empowered in my life. By giving meaning and purpose to my life and business, I feel happy. When I feel happy, I am more effective and creative, more expansive. Life becomes joy.

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy."  -  Rabindranath Tagore

Love,

Barbara 

The Best Belief

Hi guys

Thought I would share with you my favourite tool for changing beliefs:

The thought: Eg I don't know how to get clients
A slightly better thought: Eg I can find out how to get clients
An even bettter thought: Eg I am learning more about getting clients every day
The best thought I can think today: Eg I know in my heart exactly what to do to attract the people who are right for me. be myself - as I am a magnet for those few it is perfect and natural for me to connect with.

Love

Donna.x

Shopping for Beliefs

Ok, today we are going shopping. Woo hoo!!! I already bought some red shoes and some jaffa cakes, so now I'm ready for a different sort of shopping.

Belief Shopping.

You need to make a list of what beliefs you need. To do this, imagine that you have the business you really want to have (you know what that looks like, right?). What beliefs do you have in this ideal business? EG the belief that client getting is easy or the belief that you ARE good enough to do this.

Make a shopping list of the beliefs you don't yet have that you need.

Now go shopping!

Love

Donna.x

Nothing Big Required - You Are Enough!

"Most of us have the feeling that we are here to accomplish something big in our lives, and if we haven't done something that fits the bill, we may feel as if we are waiting. We may feel incomplete, or empty, as if our lives don't yet make sense to us, because they don't line up with our idea of major accomplishment. In some cases, this may be because we really are meant to do something that we haven't yet done. But, in most cases, we can let ourselves off the hook with the realization that just being here, being ourselves, is enough.

As we live our lives in this world, we share our energy and our spirit with the people around us in numerous ways. Our influence touches their lives and, through them, touches many more people. When we strive to live our lives to the fullest and to become our true (natural) selves, we are doing something big on an inner level, and that is more than enough to make sense of our being here on this planet at this time. There is no need to hold ourselves to an old idea in the back of our minds that we need to make headlines or single-handedly save the world in order to validate our existence.

We can each look within our hearts to discover what is true for us, what gives our lives meaning, and what excites us. We can release ourselves from any pressure to perform that comes from outside of our inner sense of purpose. Staying in tune with our own values and living our lives in tune with our own vision is all we need in order to fulfill our time here...we can trust that this is enough."

From: today@dailyom.com (DailyOM)

What is meaningful to you? Is your natural way enough? Any beliefs in there that may be sabotaging your faith in your way? What do you think?

Love,  Barbara

Don't Follow the Herd

Doing things Your Natural Way means that you will be striking out on your own sometimes. While 'everyone else' is busy being 'everyone else', you will be doing something different, being you. Being You. Your Way. In your life and in your business.

So don't worry about what the herd are doing - they couldn't be you if they tried so you will be out on your own sometimes. Let them do what they are doing, and be yourself.

Love

Donna.x

100th post!!!

Wow - 100 posts! It's a milestone. Thank you for being with us and reading this blog - we couldn't do it without you!

So, as it's post number 100, i thought I would just do a quick reminder about the whole point of Your Natural Way.

Your natural, authentic self is your most compelling self.

And being this natural self will draw business to you. Doing the things that are natural to you will make the whole business of client getting fun and easy.

Experiment with being your natural self in your business and just see what happens.

Love

Donna.x

A quick test to see if it's working

1. Does it feel good?
2. Are you getting the results you want?
3. Does it feel good?

3 yes's - it's definitely working
2 yes's - maybe there's something that would make it work better
1 yes - what would make this feel good AS WELL AS getting the results you want.

No yes's - why are you doing it again?

Love

Donna.x

The Quest

"The quest for a meaningful life is unending". (This is a quote that I picked up and forgot to acknowledge the author. My apologies!) This is much the same as knowing that the journey of life is what is important, not the conclusion. Though, at the end of my life, I would like to be remembered for my better qualities and deeds :-).

Questing has been an honoured activity for centuries. Looking for the Holy Grail, trolling the seas for hidden treasure, completing tasks that fulfill a dream (as seen in many fairy tales), the Greek myths, finding the treasure buried by the Knights Templar; these are examples of great quests through the ages.

This is what is interesting to me. The 'treasure' that was at the end of the quest transforms as the journey progresses. The quester becomes more self-aware. The outer institutions that seemed to instigate the quest may seem no longer important or seen in a different light. The core of knowing and confidence, the noticing of what worked and what didn't, the building of the questers' natural way of being in the world through the choices they make and the experiences they allow, the determination to be themselves no matter what, the taking of personal responsibility; this is the ever-expanding treasure. This is the beginning, the middle, and the end.

Love,  Barbara

"We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of our exploring will be to arrive back at the beginning, and know the place for the first time." - T.S. Eliot

Your Natural Clients

So, if you are being fully, completely and wonderfully yourself, who are the people you would love to be working with? Are you working with them right now?

If not, is that because you are not being fully, completely and wonderfully yourself?

Love

Donna.x

Live Full Out, Change the World

Are you living full out? Are you 100% your natural, joyful, beautiful self?

Did you know if you live full out, you change the world?

Your perception of your world changes, and other people cannot help but be affected by your authentic energy.

Wow, I can feel your starshine over here!

Love

Donna.x

Our Worst Fear

"Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our Light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous!"

Actually, who are you, not to be!

You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the Glory of God within us.

It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone, and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson (quoted by Nelson Mandala)

How are you hiding your light? What beliefs do you have about standing out in a crowd, about being the best you can be? Are those beliefs true?

Love,

Barbara

Your Ripeness Monitor

How do you know if a client is 'ripe'? What factors do you take into account? Or do you try to yank them of the tree before they are ready? Or worse still, leave them on the tree to rot.

Quick, get a piece of paper and jot down 5 things that tell you that someone is ready to work with you or buy your product...go!

Love

Donna.x
PS If you don't 'know', please go to the realm of your imagination...that's what it is for!

Remember that You have Your Answers

It is really easy to be pulled off track by 'other people' - you know, those 'other people' who know it all, who've been there, done that, and worn the t-shirt. But is the t-shirt one that you would wear? Is the t-shirt worn in a style that works for you? Or are you going to be out there in costume, feeling inauthentic, and not taking the 'right' action and feeling like a failure?

There's a simple test. Are you doing it in Your Natural Way, or their natural way? I know lots of people who've filled their business through networking, speaking, being very bee-ish and contacting people. It never worked for me! What worked for me was going about my business, working on myself, and writing.

Trust that you know exactly what to do...and then go do it! Learn from my mistakes - i tried everyone else's way first, then came back (after 2 years, I'm a slow learner!) and did what I knew to do in the first place!

Love

Donna.x

Check your Intention

What is your intention for your business? What is your intention for this week? This month? This year? Is that intention consistent? Or do you start the month intending to attract 10 clients, and end the month intending 1? What happens to your intention as time goes by? Does it remain crystal clear or does it get cloudy?

Check your intentions regularly. By the way, your results will tell you if your intention is crystal clear or not. Remember, no judgement, no blame - it's just data!

Love

Donna.x

A Transformative Leap

2008 is a Leap Year.
Why not make a Transformative Leap this year?
Leap from ‘learning’ about yourself into ‘discovering’ yourself.

How many times have you learned the same lesson over and over again?
The learning curve, the plodding, the baggage attached.

Shift your focus into discovery:
The adventure, the anticipation, the self-awareness.

Which feels lighter?
Learning or discovering?

Practice by changing the word ‘learn’ to ‘discover’ in all your conversations, writing, and thinking. This small step will lead to a great leap into the joy of discovery and the joy of living your life authentically, your natural way.

Love

Barbara

Strong Foundations

Excitement! We had an earthquake in the UK last night - hats off to those of you who live in areas of high earthquake activity - earthquakes FREAK ME OUT!

Anyway, it's got me thinking today about strong foundations. And the foundation of Your Natural Way is that you are unique. There is only one of you in all of time. Are you being yourself? Do you know who you are? Who are you?

When you're being fully authentically you, you know it! It feels wonderful. (oh, and it's great for your business too!)

Love

Donna.x

Your Natural Way and the Comfort Zone

"A goal or a dream that doesn't challenge the dreamer to become more than they've ever been, to go where they've never gone, or to feel things they've never felt, is actually like wishing for a giant "life snooze button." TUT

Your natural way is not all about staying in your comfort zone. While we want life and business to be easy, and we want to follow the downstream flow of our life, there are those periods of our life where we feel restless, as if we are dissatisfied with someone, something, or everything. By noticing how we are feeling, we can use these feelings as a fertile ground to move forward, to alert us that we are ready to choose the next thing that will not only make us feel good, but may challenge us as we evolve. If cruising feels good, then that is where we can rest for a while. When dissatisfaction and restlessness appear, don’t blame your partner or the weather; take it for the message it is, a ‘heads up’ to reach within to your mind and heart for the next step on your adventure called life.

Love

Barbara

Mysterious Beginnings

Taken from the DailyOm

"As any gardener knows, the bulbs that contain the beautiful flowers of spring and summer—daffodils, irises, tulips, gladiolas—cannot bloom until they have endured a period of cold. Held in the dark earth during the frigid winter months, they undergo internal adjustments and changes invisible to our eyes. Like babies gestating in the lightless, watery wombs of their mothers, they are fully engaged in the process of preparing to be born. So many of the greatest mysteries of life begin this way, with a powerful urge for growth enclosed in a small, dark space.

We humans have a tendency to yearn for the light, for the coming of spring, and for the more visible phase of growth that all things express in coming to be. In our love for what we can see with our eyes we sometimes lose patience for, and interest in, the world of darkness that nurtures and protects the seeds, bulbs, and babies of the world for such an important part of their life cycles. It is a perilous and mysterious phase of growth, and one that we have little control over, and perhaps that is why we don’t celebrate it with quite the same passion as we do the lighter and brighter phases of life. Nevertheless, we ourselves endure similar periods of developing in the darkness throughout our lives.

Meditating on the image of a bulb, a seed, or an embryo, can bring us into alignment with the side of our own natures that is like the earth in winter—seemingly asleep but busily attending to details of growth that create the pattern for the children, flowers, and creative expressions to come. Touching down on this place in ourselves, we may feel at once peaceful and activated, utterly still and yet fully creative, quietly in tune with the dark and mysterious beginnings of life.
What do you think?"

How does this relate to your business? What are you missing while you are looking for the spring of your business to come?

Love

Donna.x

It Happens for a Reason

Ever had a situation where things didn't go as you planned? Perhaps a seed who doesn't become a client? A course that didn't go ahead? A business venture that went bad ways?

One of the key concepts in Your Natural Way is unattachment - detach from your story about how things 'should' be and what 'should' happen and notice what HAS happened. What is happening? Why is this a good thing? Why might this be the best thing for you?

Sometimes what we think will be the best thing, won't. Imagine for a minute that this is a friendly universe, and this has happened for a good reason. What is good?

Love

Donna.x

Question Everything

Once you've decided that something is absolutely true (or untrue!), you've closed your mind on it. A closed mind has nowhere to go.

Question Everything.

Is it really true that you can't get the clients you want?

Is it really true that you 'have to' do certain things to get clients?

Is it really true that there are obstacles in your way?Is it really true that marketing is difficult?

What if it wasn't?

What if questioning that 'truth' revealed a greater truth?

That you can do it, that it can be easy, that you can do what you love and get clients.

The 'truth'? Most of your obstacles are put in your way by you!

Love

Donna.x

I'm OK and You're OK

I remember in the 60’s or 70’s, during the time of the love/peace movement, a book called I’m OK, You’re OK. I didn’t read it as I was young and knew everything already anyway. But the title stuck with me and over the years, in conjunction with what I was exploring at the time, it would occasionally pop up into my consciousness.

I now think that this is a Truth and certainly, a Truth at Your Natural Way. I am OK and you are OK and everyone is OK in his or her uniqueness and difference.

When I accept this – that I’m OK just as I am in my natural way of being – it allows me to accept the uniqueness and differences in others and to give up comparing and competing in ways that get me nowhere.

It allows me to look at others as individuals with strengths and weaknesses that are as unique to them as mine are to me. It allows me to be open and aware of how my life may be enhanced by a partnership in business, or invention, or life with that other person whose talents complement mine. I could choose to feel ‘less than’, or that I have to ‘prove myself to’, but in knowing that I’m OK just as I am, my choices are different - more open and accepting to what is possible with others.

Such acceptance could stop wars.

Love

Barbara

How May I Serve?

I bang on about service quite a lot. Why? Because it is SO important.

I have been staring blankly at a word document today containing a resource for clients that I am creating – it will be an ebook to sell. My mind was like a sieve. No useful information sticking around long enough to use. Until I heard from a client that this information could really help. Suddenly I have all the motivation in the world. Service.

Next time you’re stuck for motivation, ask yourself this ‘how may I serve?’

Love

Donna.x

Stop Trying So Hard

I've noticed that when I start 'trying hard', I am not in My Natural Way. You see, Your Natural Way has an ease, a flow to it - it doesn't involve 'trying' (unless the meaning is 'experimenting' or 'trying something out'). Noticing that you are 'trying hard' is a great red flag to show you that you are making life more difficult than it needs to be.

I know that you need clients, you need them now, and 'trying hard' is the default way to do it. But is it working? Chances are the answer is 'no' or 'not too well'.

So where can you stop trying so hard and find the ease and flow of Your Natural Way?

Love

Donna.x

100% Growth Guaranteed

Would you like to see your business grow by 100% over the next 6 months? Would you like to learn a proven strategy for doubling your business that you can use again and again? Join us at Your Natural Way for a small group experience that will help you to understand the process YOU use to get clients, smooth this process out for you and make client getting easier and more FUN!

Led by Donna Higton: Donna was Your Natural Way’s first hand-picked leader in 2005. She has been coaching since 2002, and credits Your Natural Way with saving her business. Now, she is passionate about helping others find their natural way and have a business full of clients, ease and joy.
Read more about Donna here

Course begins 18th February at 2pm GMT / 3pm CET / 9am EST
2 one-hour virtual learning calls per month for 6 months, with full follow up and support material. Read more about the course here.

Contact nicola@yournaturalway.com for more information, to set up a conversation with Donna and for bookings

Payment plans available

The Rules of Getting Clients

What rules have you made up about how you get clients?

Eg they cannot be friends, or they cannot pay full price, or they cannot be someone I meet and instantly become a client or they cannot be someone I meet, keep in touch with and become a client after 2 years of knowing me.

Where might your rules be getting in the way of you getting clients?

One of my rules was that clients had to jump through a number of hoops before they could become clients...which made becoming a client a long-winded process for someone who just wanted to be a client, now, with no preamble, no relationship building, no sales pitch, no free sessions, no ... and the list goes on!

Now I have a rule that clients can become clients as fast (or as slow) as they like...and that rule works a lot better!

Love

Donna.x

Serving Me, Serving You, Aha!

When I am serving me, I am totally in acquisition mode. I just want your business, I don't care about your problems. It is win or lose, no middle ground.

The irony is that when I am serving you, interested in your problems (and wanting to solve them), I am more likely to get the business. And even if I don't, I get to help you in some way. Win/win.

Who are you serving? Yourself or your clients?

Love

Donna.x

If You Knew What to Do

Just a quickie today.

If you knew what to do to get more clients, what would you be doing that you're not doing right now?

Remember to trust your wisdom. You do know what to do.

Love

Donna.x

A Successful Equation

Your skills and gifts + someone who wants those skills and gifts and is willing to pay you for them = a great client relationship.

So are you looking for the people who want what you have to offer?

Love

Donna.x

Learning What Works

Remember that it takes time to learn what works, just like it takes time to walk, to talk, what doesn't work!

Give yourself the gift of the time to learn.

Love

Donna.x

Doing What Works

Whenever I have a lull in my business, I notice that for some reason, I have stopped doing the things that I know work! I've talked a bit on this blog about noticing what worked, and the follow up piece of advice is:

DO IT.

Love

Donna.x