I recently re-read “Make a Name for Yourself: 8 Steps Every Woman Needs To Create A Personal Brand Strategy For Success” by Robin Fisher Roffer (Broadway Books, 2000) as part of the Entrepreneurial Superstars Business Book Club for Women (www.entrepreneurialsuperstars.com) and right near the beginning of the book is a paragraph that succinctly states how women view success differently than men.  Here it is:

“Women desire success as much as any man-just not at the expense of our unique emotional value systems or our spiritual selves-not in business, not in life.  Most women I know in the corporate world are about cooperation and balance.  It’s in our nature to seek consensus, to promote peace, and yet we often end up trading personal fulfillment, joy, or generosity for prosperity.  And we shouldn’t have to.

Today’s working women are waking up to their spiritual needs to live authentically, to be true to their heart’s desires and their moral sensibilities, to feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment, and to feel right with their path and how they navigate that path.”

Robin Roffer goes on to write a very clear and powerfully practical book on personal branding and I highly recommend it!

What really resonates for me about the above quote are three things that validate what I have been saying for a long time: women do business differently than men, women “give away” prosperity and women are desiring to bring more spirituality into all areas of their lives, both work and personal.

As part of my deep calling, I devote my coaching to supporting women in the above three areas (among others).  I am passionate about supporting women to bring a sense of greater spirituality, prosperity,  fulfillment of deep desires and success into their lives.

I would love to connect hear what you think about this quote.  Please comment as you are drawn to.

namaste,

Zoey

Zoey Ryan, PCC

coach . catalyst . shakti sage

spiritual life & business coach for women

“Coaching for your heart & soul” 

www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com

Thanks to the social networking site, www.zaadz.com, for posing the question about inspirational quotes in the “questions and reflections” section of the site today.

Here are two of my favs:

“Freedom is actually a bigger game than power.  Power is about what you can control, freedom is about what you can unleash. ” - Harriet Rubin
In this quote, I love the words “freedom” and “unleash”.  I believe that it is the right of every human to live a life of freedom.  Imagine what brilliance, what love, what beauty could be unleashed if this were so.

Here is another one:

“When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must belive that one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid for you to stand upon, or, you will be taught how to fly.”

Patrick Overton (www.patrickoverton.com )
The Leaning Tree 1975
Rebuilding The Front Porch of America, 1997

This quote has great meaning for me personally as it served as inspiration for my faith and trust that I would make it through a major life transition and crisis many years ago.  I have also used this quote in many of the workshops I deliver and it has moved people to tears.  There seems to be a deep resonance to it!

namaste,

Zoey

Zoey Ryan, PCC

coach . catalyst . shakti sage

life & business coach for women

“Coaching for your heart & soul”

http://www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com/

http://www.entrepreneurialsuperstars.com/

It’s a game of connection, of transformation, it’s the game of engaging your body, mind and spirit. It’s the game of life and I am your personal coach, Zoey Ryan.

Join us monthly for commentary, tips, activities, quotes and homeplay exercises all designed to re-connect you with your place of power, your wisdom, your essence, or, in other words “go inrageous” so that you may then go positively outrageously into the world.

With the game, I acknowledge and draw on the work of a variety of authors and visionairies including Catherine Ingram, Byron Katie, Joan Boryshenko, Eckhart Tolle, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Esther and Jerry Hicks, Jack Kornfield, Christiane Northrup and Carolyn Myss.

The work of these authors has informed my coaching and inspired me for years.  Visit the book club in the tea room to purchase your own copy of some of these books.

Many women, and I include myself in this, want to do good things in the world and help people. It is my observation that often women try to “save the world” without first “saving themselves”. They are off volunteering and helping, supporting and giving while internally they are feeling disconnected, perhaps ungrounded and uncentered and lack clarity about their own lives. Their personal relationships are falling apart and they are unhappy. Their “good works” may be a distraction from the reality of their lives. Again, I can include myself in this!

It is my opinion, that the most important “work” a woman can do is to know herself well, develop a strong foundation of inner resources and care for herself well. It is from this place of wholeness and balance that we can go outward into our relationships and life. This game has been developed to support you in developing a strong foundation, to be grounded, centered, whole and balanced.
The Rules of the Game:

1. Keep the words self-care, nourishment and inspiration top of mind.
2. Play the game with a spirit of lightness.
3. Use heart language. So, as you listen to the podcast, sink into your heart centre, feel your heart softening, opening and melting. Listen with your heart.
4. Be “body centered”. Through out the month, bring awareness to your body and engage in some form of yoga or body centered practice.
5. Start each day with a short remembering of the good work you are doing.
6. Live in the present moment!

Each month, the podcast will be based on a theme and will include quotes, in-rageous activities, outrageous activities, visualizations and affirmations.

A Great Quote

Vicki Noble says in her book “Shakti Woman” …What does seem necessary is for each of us women to pull her focus back inside herself and to begin actively and intelligently to create the world we want. This may sound abstract, simple, and impossible at the same time since it seems so easy to focus on oneself and so impossible to change the world. But neither is true. For a woman actively to re-possess herself and to center there is a monumental talk, taking years of difficult, painstaking work. This is the work I am calling female shamanism, a gradual mastery of oneself, and a healing or recovery from the chronic dis-ease of our time. Once a woman has done the work of remembering herself, she is much more able to change the world effectively.”

Let’s “remember ourselves” and change the world!  Come and play!  Check it out at:http://www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com/thepowgame.htm or download from itunes.

namaste.

Zoey

coach . catalyst . shakti sage

life & business coach for women

www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com

Quote: 

“In fact, there can be no invention in business or technology without human consciousness.  What is consciousness? I use the term in the spiritual sense, to mean presence or alertness – the awareness, the willingness to observe without attachment, the gleam of Spirit that animates humanity.”

- From “Megatrends 2010” by Patricia Aburdene

Question:

Based on the quote above, how does your level of “consciousness” affect your life?  Please share your comments with us.

namaste,

Zoey

coach . catalyst . shakti sage

life & business coach for women

www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com

 

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the immensity of the task facing all of us, to save our beautiful planet.  When I feel this way, I remember some simple daily actions that I can take to tread lightly on the earth.  Here are my favourites:

1.  Remembering to take my re-useable grocery bags with me to the store and using them instead of plastic bags.

2.  Driving my car as little as possible.  This includes clustering appointments and scheduling trips to reduce the frequency of longer drives.

3. Composting!

4.  Making meals “from scratch” as much as possible; this reduces our use of packaging.

5.  Using natural based cosmetics and personal care items made from renewable resources.

6. Shopping locally.

7. Exchanging and recycling my clothes with friends or by donating unused clothes to thrift stores.

8.  Applying critical thinking to everything and educating myself on the issues to better understand the implications of my actions.
9.  Talking with my kids about what they think, know and believe about sustainability.

10.  Considering greener ways of travelling and vacationing.

11. Using the library and the internet instead of buying books and magazines.

12.  Feeling gratitude towards Mother Earth and all her resources.
13.  Meditating daily.  I find this has a tremendous impact as it helps me to see clearly the absolute futility of “wanting and craving” and brings me inner peace and tranquility with “what is” and clarity as to my place in the world.
namaste,

Zoey

Zoey Ryan

coach . catalyst . shakti sage

life & business coach for women

www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com

I have been involved in many discussions recently on the topic of “women, money, profit and prosperity and abundance”.   It has become clear that many women, given our socio-cultural and economic history, do not have a comfortable relationship with money and discussions about money.  Talking about money, profit, prosperity seems like a taboo subject! Also, many adult women today were brought up by parents who lived through the depression and hence there has been significant childhood imprinting saying “there is never enough”.  Throw in wage inequality, the “glass ceiling” and parenting issues and it occurs to me that women may have a unique distribution of “woundings” around money issues.  In an effort to help identify “money wounds”, contribute to healing and support increased prosperity and abundance for women, I share the following excellent resources:

“Earn What You Deserve” by Jerrold Mundis

“Secrets of Six Figure Women” and “Overcoming Underearning” by Barbara Stanny

“Spiritual Economics” by Eric Butterworth

“The Soul Of Money” by Lynne Twist

Each of these books talks about money from different perspectives and combined bring practical and powerful information and education to the reader.

I would love to hear your thoughts about women and money!

namaste,

Zoey

coach . catalyst . shakti sage

life & business coach for women

www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com

Book Review: Cash Flow Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom

By Robert Kiyosaki

A group of women entrepreneurs recently discussed this book for the  Entrepreneurial Superstars “Business Book Book Club”, (facilitated by myself and Pamela Chatry) and the book was well received by the group.

We found the book interesting and easy to read, perhaps too easy to read in that some of us found the repetition of concepts frustrating.

The major themes of “rich people” having a different way of looking at and managing money and business, which forms the basis of all of Robert Kiyosaki’s books were carried over and well explained with case study type examples.

It is very clear which “quadrant” is felt to be the best by the author, given the basis of the book which is about making money work for you.  A part of the book, which could have been expanded in my opinion as a coach, is the acknowledgement that for some people, given their values and life purpose, being in a job, or owning a job may be just fine.

As a group, we most loved the very clear reminder  of the three qualities that folks who moved from poverty into wealth exhibited:

1. They maintained a long term vision and plan.
2. They believed in delayed gratification.
3. They used the power of compounding in their favour.

This is a book that is a “must read” for anyone entrepreneur who wants to shift their net worth upwards and enjoy more “downtime”.

namaste,

Zoey

Zoey Ryan

coach . catalyst . shakti sage

Life & Business Coach for Women

www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com

Anita Roddick passed over recently.  She had a great impact on my life and the lives of many other women!

I still wear a favorite t-shirt from the Body Shop even though it is raggedy and has quite a few holes.  I still wear it for one reason and that is the bold, bright and beautiful quote on the back of the shirt.  This quote is by Walt Whitman and reads:

“Re-examine all you have been told…Dismiss what insults you soul”.

This quote and the other values that Anita Roddick and The Body Shop exemplified have long served as inspirations for my life.

I had the great pleasure of hearing Anita Roddick speak in Vancouver in the late 90’s.  She walked on stage, wearing a funky understated outfit and totally captivated the audience of over 2000 women.  She modeled her personal values and essence to me by standing fully in her powerful presence.  It was clear to me then as it has been in the ensuing years that she “wore her skin well”, that she knew who she was and what she stood for and that this “knowing” informed all of her actions.

 

I attempt to live my life and operate my business in the same way; from a sense of knowing who I am; from a foundation of a clear vision and the values of integrity, authenticity, freedom and respect; from understanding that one’s heart and soul need to be nourished through their life and work as well as their work meeting the needs of their clients; from an understanding that one’s uniqueness  is an attribute to be brought forward and exalted, not hidden.  I love the quote by Anita Roddick’s mother (page 33, “Business As Unusual”), “And my mother taught me how important personalities are in business.  She made me realize that you can’t be a nondescript person or you will have a nondescript product.  Be special she would always say.  Be anything but mediocre.”

So, my encouragement to you as a woman is to go forward boldly and courageously in your life and business and be special, be anything but mediocre!

namaste,

Zoey

coach . catalyst . shakti sage

life & business coach for women

www.positivelyoutrageouswomen.com