When your hard work pays off

When something good happens, how do you respond?

Do you take it in, knowing it’s meant for you, or do you wave it away?

It’s important to RECEIVE what you’re given, even compliments, as the gifts they are. Meant for you because you deserve them.

When you receive, it welcomes more goodness into your life. It sends the message that you’re ready.

And you want to be ready, don’t you? You wouldn’t be trying so hard, working with such focus, if you didn’t want to be recognized, valued and appreciated for what you uniquely bring.

So when the acknowledgement of your work comes through, make sure you take it in.

“This means a lot to me,” are the words I practiced in my car on the way to receiving a Hudson Valley Magazine Women in Business Award last week.

I needed a way to take in what was being given and be present for it. Present for myself.

After all, the award does mean a lot! It celebrates the Hudson Valley Women in Business community I founded five years ago with nearly 3,000 womxn doing business differently, and it’s also proof that it’s possible to do what you love and be recognized for it.

It’s possible to do what YOU love and be recognized for it, too.

Chances are your contributions are already being recognized by others. Someone, I bet a number of people, are thanking you, complimenting you, raving about you. Make sure you let it in.

How can you receive more openly in your own life?

I highly recommend the response: “this means a lot to me.”

Feeling stuck?

Need direction?

That’s what I’ve heard from more than one client lately, so if you feel that way too you’re not alone.

If you’re like most of them, you’ve made the best of your work situation for a while—even years. You are really good at seeing the silver lining and finding new projects to keep your interest, so you kept hoping one or both of those would make things better.

All that extra work takes its toll though until you finally admit to feeling stuck. It’s unsettling.

Why is this situation different? Why are all your usual strategies not working this time?

Then something big happens that makes it imperative to do something NOW. It can be a loved one’s sickness, a surprise pregnancy or the new year’s fast approach. Whatever the reason, it feels like it’s time to figure it out.

Then comes the A student due diligence of reviewing coach websites and blogs, and reading or listening to my books. If you’re doing this, you want to choose the right partner.

Halfway through our phone consultation, the real questions surface:

First: Can I help?

Yes, I tell clients, I’m confident we can help you feel more clear. Whether that means moving onto another career or changing your business to make it work more profitably for you, our conversations will help you find the answer you’re looking for and a renewed surge of energy.

And second: Will it work?

We all want a sure thing. In order to invest the time, money and energy into something this important, you have to know it’ll be worth it.

I offer to put them in touch with previous clients, and send them testimonials from my website and LinkedIn profile, but it’s something deeper they are asking.

As we speak further it’s clear they already trust me. They wouldn’t have scheduled the call if they didn’t.

It’s that all the effort of trying hard to make it work where they are now is wearing on them—and their confidence. They don’t trust themselves. Or they don’t trust that there is a better option than the one they’re in now.

They wonder if they wait a little longer, if they’ll “get over it.” As if feeling stuck is a phase that they will grow out of once they find something else to focus their attention on.

But what they’re really afraid of is that at the end of our work, they may feel as stuck as they did before—that our work could fail—and that is more exhausting, unsettling and frightening than continuing to make the best of where they are.

Here’s what I say to them:

It will work. You will feel clearer and more confident. You’ll know better what you want, and why. You’ll remove roadblocks getting in your way of thinking. The answer may be different than either of us imagined going into our coaching, and sometimes that’s the best part. The delightful surprise when things start falling into place, and you realize you’re on the path. It’s already working. You’ll feel excited again. Your energy and drive will return, and the stuckness will feel like ancient history.

I can say that with certainty because I’ve seen it happen with clients just like you.

If these are the questions you’re sorting through right now as you prepare for the start of another year, and a new decade, let’s get on the phone.

Schedule a consultation and we’ll talk through what’s missing and what you want next. I’m happy to suggest resources you might try, other coaches who could be a good fit, or share my coaching process so you can make the right choice for you.

And if you’re still in the research phase, my first book, I’m scared & doing it anyway, is now on Audible so I can come along with you over the river and through the woods to your grandmother’s house this season.

I believe in you, and in what’s possible when we work together.