I’m starting a new blog series where I’ll answer questions from readers about building a healing practice. If you have a question, if you’re facing a challenge, if you need help with something, submit your question and I’ll answer it right here on the blog.

When I answer your question, I’ll include your name, and a link to your web site or blog. If you’d like to remain anonymous, that’s fine too

Please e-mail your questions. When I receive your e-mail, I’ll respond to your question via e-mail and let you know when your question will appear on the blog.

I was reading Adam Kayce’s blog this week, and something he said inspired me to think about my own authenticity. He said: “…when you don’t open up to others because you’re afraid of not being loved, you end up not being loved nearly as much as you could, because you’re practically invisible.”

WHOA.

That stopped me in my tracks. As someone who has had huge issues with fear of rejection and the like, I am acutely aware of how to make myself invisible in certain situations… and no, I don’t have an invisibility cloak

But, how many times have you not said what you wanted to say, or not done something that you really wanted to do, because you were worried about what people would think?

How many times while building your practice have you let other’s opinions and judgments sway you? How many times have you made excuses due to fear?

I always say, nothing brings out all of your self-esteem demons like building a healing practice!

I think the worst way this manifests is, as Adam writes about in his post, when we need help. We can be so fearful of showing our vulnerability that we don’t even ask for help - when it’s sitting right in front of us.

I’ve had people want so badly to talk to me about coaching, but they’re afraid to approach me because they don’t want anyone to know that they need help. Yikes. The reason I know that, is because more than one client has confessed that to me.

Hey - I’m a coach - and even I need help! Yes - I too, work with a coach.

We can’t do it alone. If we could, this human experience would be pretty boring.

I can look back over my recent past and see times when I was extremely successful… and times when I was pushing and pulling so hard - taking every action I knew how to take and STILL nothing was working.

And, every single time, the successes came when I was standing powerfully inside myself. When I wasn’t afraid to listen to my heart, and just really be me.

I loved Adam’s quote because it really resonated for me. I’ve been going through some healing these last couple of weeks - healing some stuff from my past. And that quote was just such a great reminder to be fearlessly me

I talk to people all the time about newsletters, and how they benefit a business.

Maybe you’ve kicked around the idea of starting a newsletter. It sounds like a great idea, lots of other businesses seem to do it, and it’s a great way to stay in front of your potential clients. But it also seems a little overwhelming, and really, what would you write anyway?

The other thing I hear practitioners worry about is, they feel they may be pestering people by sending them something on a regular basis.

As long as you don’t over-do your newsletter (meaning sending something excessively), the risk of pestering people is minimal.

If you have a way for them to “opt-in,” it’s their choice whether they sign up or not. Also, if you’re up front about how often you’ll be in touch, people will know what to expect when they sign up for your newsletter.

The truth is, people want that connection from you.

A newsletter serves more purpose than just being a vehicle for your upcoming workshops and services. A newsletter is the perfect way to help you make a strong, deep connection with your potential clients. By staying in front of your audience regularly, they get to know you, and they get to have a small sampling of how you work.

The people that say they want your newsletter are telling you that they want more of you – they want to hear from you regularly, because they’re interested in how you can serve them. And, they want to deepen the connection with you.

This might be sounding like a lot of work - but I promise you, it’s really not all that bad. 

Your newsletter can be exactly what you want it to be – exactly what fits into your life, your schedule and your business.

Here are three essential things to include:

1. Include a personal touch – like the Note from Jenn above, adding something personal allows your subscribers to connect with you on a deeper level. They see things they may have in common with you aside from your business. They get to know the you outside of your office.

2. Provide something valuable – people love to have tid-bits of information that will help them in their lives. Give your readers handy tips, write articles, give recipes – whatever your potential clients think is valuable is fair game for your newsletter. Just remember to keep it simple so you don’t overwhelm them.

3. Tell us what ya got – make sure to include information about how you can serve your clients. Again, they’ve subscribed to your newsletter because they’re interested in how you can serve them. Definitely include information about your services and products.

Questions for discussion:

Do you have a newsletter? Why, or why not?

Do you have questions about newsletters? What are they? We’d love to help!

What is your biggest newsletter pet peeve?

I was just reading a post by Dawud Miracle about how to get the most out of your Monday Morning. And it’s funny, because I sat down at my desk today thinking about this EXACT thing!

I always struggle with Mondays. Drew’s Barber Shop is closed on Mondays, so he’s around. And believe me - he is extremely supportive of my business, but without even knowing it, he is the cause of my interruption in my day. Ya know, he doesn’t mean to do it. But inevitably, he’ll come into the office asking if I’ve seen something he’s looking for. Then, 10 minutes later, he’s back to tell me a funny story. Half-hour after that, he’s back to tell me what errands he’s going to run… I love him, but I’ve given up on Monday’s being uber productive!

My most recent tactic has been just to make Monday’s a light day - sort of an unplanned day. I’ll do some online networking, take client calls, and just sort of putz around the office.

Today however, this strategy doesn’t really feel productive to me, and that’s bugging me. I sat down without a plan today, and now - it’s mid-day and I feel like I’ve gotten nothing accomplished. I’m not fond of that feeling because I know it has the potential to put me in a panic when I wake up tomorrow it just doesn’t set a good tone…

Anyway, Dawud says that he uses Monday mornings to plan the rest of his week. And he uses Monday afternoons to work ON his business. That’s a great idea.

I like the idea of planning on Monday mornings. That way, I don’t have to fret if I walk into the office without a specific plan. And, I don’t have to feel like I should work on Sunday - just to make a plan.

I’d love to know what Monday’s look like for you. And as my plan takes shape, I’ll let you know what I’m up to.

We all know that scent plays a very important role in our daily lives. We connect to so many things through scent. For example, how does it make you feel when you smell your grandmother’s favorite perfume? How about cookies baking?

You can use scent in your work space to help you stay motivated, help you de-stress, help you think more clearly, and help you learn better.

I use essential oils in my workspace quite a bit. I have a diffuser on top of my hutch, and depending on my mood, I fill it with a variety of blends. Not only does it help my mood, but it makes the air in my office feel clean and fresh.

Here are some of my favorites:

Relax
10 drops Lavender
2 drops Ylang Ylang
2 drops Rose Geranium

Get Moving
2 drops Peppermint
10 drops Lemon

Energize
10 drops Grapefruit
5 drops Lavender

A good friend of mine, Lisa Hunter is a fellow coach, and her specialty is helping extraordinary women thrive… and she particularly specializes in helping those of us who are driven to really make a difference - driven hard enough to either not know when to stop, or not know how to stop.

Each week, she puts out this amazing e-zine - The Three Minute Miracle Launcher. If you’re a spirited go-getting woman who has trouble slowing down for self-care - you MUST check out Lisa’s work. She’s not going to tell you all that blah stuff about carving time out of your schedule, and talking to yourself gently - she gives solutions for self-care that are unbelievably profound, and are effective - and best of all - easy to integrate into a schedule that’s already tight, and you can’t possibly squeeze anything else into. Go here to get in on it.

This week, in Lisa’s Miracle Launcher, she talked about the hard edges in your business. Hard edges are those things that create definition for you. So, from a business perspective, these would be things like deadlines,  or goals, or appointments. Lisa says that hard edges are good because without them, things become unfocused and muddy.

But - she also says they can turn harmful when you start slamming yourself up against them.

Boy have I been there. I’ve slammed myself up against my share of deadlines for sure. And I’ve also slammed myself against goals that were way too aggressive *ahem* that would be why I didn’t sleep well on Sunday night…

And I’m also really good at beating myself up with my hard edges - I can be REALLY hard on myself - OUCH!

Where are the hard edges for you?

I love what Lisa says this week when dealing with hard edges. She says to bring an element of softness in - in other words, be gentle with yourself. And she says to envision yourself wrapped in a cahsmere blanket or immersed in a bubble bath - get really into that vision - and THEN think about your hard edges.

Cool huh?

When you try that technique - what happens for you?

I’ll chime in to the comments section in a few days and let you know what happened for me. *Hint* I got a really good night sleep for starters

There is so much technology out there for web sites. It can be confusing and overwhelming to know exactly what to include.

In your opinion, what are the really important pieces to a web site? What is absolutely necessary and what isn’t?

I was just reading this post over at Astrid Lee’s blog.  The whole post is centered around 7 Secrets to Eliminate Chaos and Gain Peace and Prosperity.

The piece I was most intrigued by was the second secret - Create Time Boundaries. I’ve just recently become very good at this.

Ok, raise your hands - how many of you multi-task and think that’s an effective way to get things done?

See, I used to think that too. Being a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a business owner - good grief - how do you fit it all in?!? Balance… but that’s a topic for a later date.

The real way to fit it all in is to STOP MULTI-TASKING, and start setting and keeping your boundaries.

There have been studies that have proven that multi-tasking doesn’t work. And that makes sense because when you’re trying to fit 100 tasks into a 15 minute time-frame, there can’t possibly be depth and conscious in anything that you’re trying to accomplish.

If you become focused. Do one thing at a time. You will find peace, balance, and quality in your life.

Where are the places in your life that you are multi-tasking? What boundaries do you have? Do you honor your boundaries? Do you have fear around setting boundaries?