I was working with a client, Zoe, who was feeling really stressed about money. She’d been working in her coaching business for several years, and had dealt with a lot of sticky, old, negative feelings, perceptions and self-sabotages around herself and the ‘enoughness’ of her work. While she thought she’d dealt with this, it was resurfacing again, as she embarked on a new way of working in her business.
As well as feeling stressed about money, Zoe had been going through a period of comparing herself to her industry peers, especially people who’d she deemed ‘had it easy’, who seemed to always have everything (launching programs, bringing in money, receiving clients and media mentions) down so easily.
(Of course, this was Zoe’s perception, and the story she was telling herself. It’s very likely her industry peers were also working their activewear-clad butts off, just like she was.)
Zoe was worried about all kinds of bills, including an upcoming tax bill, and how she’d bring in enough new clients to pay for these bills, as well as her regular living and business expenses. She said to me, ‘Strangely enough, I don’t feel like I’m doubting my abilities, but I know I’m doubting myself, if that makes sense … doubting that I can bring in more money easily, doubting that I’ll know what to do next, and that it’ll be a good decision for me. I’m just feeling really stuck. I know what I want to work towards, but it feels like nothing is happening!’
Zoe admitted that she thought this period in her business would be easier, or at least there’d be more movement and momentum, because of how excited she was feeling about her work and how hard she’d been working, but that she also felt a bit stuck as to how to express and communicate her work. She said, ‘I already feel like I’m blocking people, even though I know my work is so helpful.’
While she had confidence in her coaching, there was also an underlying fear of, ‘Ugh, why would they bother? There are better people, programs and prices to choose from. There are too many obstacles, why choose me?’
Zoe felt like she didn’t know how to proceed (her feeling of ‘stuckness’). Yet she also knew that to move forwards meant to take action in a way that felt easy and aligned; to stay open and excited about her work; and most importantly, to be herself. She trusted her work and her offerings; now she had to trust and back herself.
She said it always felt like there was a block in relation to the growth of her business. When I asked her why she felt that, she said she wasn’t sure, even though she knew she was good enough. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘perhaps my perfectionism is flaring up.’ We laughed, took sips of our tea, then got down to business.
We did some coaching and energetic clearing work around releasing her two specific fears and worries. The first was fear of coming across as ‘too coachy’—she didn’t want to be perceived as a pushy coach, a cookie-cutter coach, or a ‘hustle to burnout’ coach. I assured her that this would never happen, if she stayed in alignment with herself and her dreams and goals. ‘How can you promote a way of living and working, if you don’t live or work like that yourself?’ I asked her.
Her second worry was a (perceived) negative thought that it was easier for everyone else. This made her feel she’d never be able to experience ease in her business. Her false idea that other people have some ‘secret sauce’ to success was holding her back, keeping her stuck in a cycle of victimhood and negative thoughts.
Zoe would look at people who’d done it before and see the external ease they portrayed. But of course, she had very little insight into the hours of work, love, sweat and tears they had put into their work. She also couldn’t see how others perceived her; others may well have been thinking that Zoe had what they were working towards. While stuck in this pattern of thinking, she wasn’t looking at what she’d already created, achieved and accomplished in her own life and business.
To clear this, and to stay in her own lane, she had to do a few things:
Here are the goals we aligned Zoe to:
What came up first were two blocks in her chakras. The first was in her Crown chakra, which relates to feeling guided and supported by a higher power, as well as trusting in abundance. When I asked her to tap into what that meant for her, she said it was about listening to guidance, and knowing she was supported. Deep down, she knew she was being looked after—she knew more clients were always on their way, and that she could always receive more money. She got the message: Keep going now, to create and receive more ease later.
The second block came up around her Third Eye chakra, which relates to intuition, foresight, clarity and bigger vision. The message was simple: Keep doing this work now, and you’ll receive; thisis all in line with your bigger vision. This was about her staying on her path towards her bigger vision and what she envisioned for her life and business. She knew this stage was important for the foundations of her future, and that the only way ahead was to keep moving forwards.
I pulled three cards for her, and they related to communication (inviting her to continue to speak up for desired results in her business), rest (to prepare for what she was about to receive), and her Base chakra (building a strong foundation by consciously creating).
The message for Zoe in a nutshell: keeping up communication and speaking up about her message and her work; resting and restoring her energy; and continuing to create, to further develop her base. What a great plan.
We added in one more goal:
Then an essence came up, in relation to her kinesiology balance: the Australian bush flower essence, Kapok Bush. The energy of this essence is all about responding to life’s challenges with perseverance and commitment, by taking control of your life and applying yourself.
Energetically, it relates to the Solar Plexus chakra (supporting your confidence and personal power); the Heart chakra (allowing you to give and receive love—in relation to this balance, we can also see this as giving and receiving money); and the Water element (which relates to allowing yourself to flow, and releasing fear and anxiety).
All of this awareness helped Zoe to clear the sense of stuckness she felt, and create a stronger foundation on which to grow and expand her business. And altogether, this balance was deeply comforting. It was the epitome of becoming aligned and unstoppable: it helped Zoe to become aligned and unstoppable in what she was creating, while allowing her to receive along the way.
You will be the one who creates your reality, consciously. So take the time you need to gather any unhelpful, low-vibrational, energy-sucking thoughts that are holding you back from expanding, from taking action, and from knowing your worth.
You will be the one who can do this for yourself. You will be the one to discard those old thoughts, decide on your new ones, and take action on them.
You won’t always know how things will work out, but you’ll know you’re capable of creating, of honouring your gifts, and of showing up. And that’s what matters.
Take some time to do this now. Write down some of the old, negative, fearful thoughts that are currently swirling through your mind and energy. (I know you’ve done this in an earlier chapter, but this is how you build a practice of knowing yourself, clearing away fears, and taking aligned action.) I find putting them down on paper gives them a place to live that doesn’t use your oxygen, or your life force.
Thank those thoughts—they truly think they’re keeping you safe. But where you are right now is safe, and where you want to go will be safe too … because you are what is safe. So thank the old thoughts, and welcome in the new.
What are the new, uplifting, positive, confident thoughts you wish to embody and align to, that’ll help you move towards what you’re creating? Focus on those. The other thoughts might linger, and that’s okay. They might come back, and that’s okay. They might morph into different fears or thoughts, and that’s okay too.
If there’s one thing I remember from Year 9 science, it’s that energy can’t be destroyed—it can only change form. Our goal isn’t to destroy negative thoughts, but to transmute and transform their energy into something positive, powerful and uplifting.
The point is not to banish your fear, but to feed your courage. This is where your victory, your confidence, and your focus lives and breathes. This is how you become aligned and unstoppable.
How might your day play out, if you were focused on powerful, positive and uplifting thoughts (instead of listening to your inner critic/negative thoughts)?
I easily create positive, powerful and uplifting thoughts that transmute and transform all that no longer serves me, feeding my courage, strengthening my confidence and supporting me in becoming aligned and unstoppable.