I am thrilled to announce that SimplyFearless.com has launched!  It is an on-line community dedicated to helping you design, create, and live:

Your Simply Fearless Life!

We are currently looking for contributors to submit articles in the following categories:

• Health & Humanity
• Fun & Friends
• Family & Parenting
• Solopreneurs & Blogging
• Home & Office Design
• Love & Romance
• Spirituality & God

If you’d like to contribute an article (even one you’ve already written & published!), then send me an email at Cassandra@SimplyFearless.com.

“I am not afraid”

Click here to visit my up-to-date-blog and keep reading to hear about the past year…

Hello there ~

How the heck are you? What an amazing journey this whole coaching thing is, eh? When I look back on when I first started, I see a woman who thought she knew exactly where she was going and exactly how she would get there.  And then she took all of those precise, planned steps that took her exactly nowhere.

Yeah, Life has a way of letting you know when you need to go a different direction.  It’s called no clients.

But, the cool thing about dead ends is that they always mark the beginning of a new adventure.  Okay, well not always.  But, they can, if you allow them to.

So 2008 was a year of allowing myself to end and begin again about a thousand times.  Yes, I am exaggerating a little bit, but seriously there were times when I wanted to walk away from coaching completely.  But, something kept me holding on – it’s called an ultra-supportive husband who has always seen my potential even when I feel like the biggest loser.  How cool is he?!

Anyhow, I didn’t give up.  I continually sought out new ways to receive support.  I incubated through Ladies Who Launch.  I tried out 5 new churches.  I took the Know Your Purpose teleseminar.  I reconnected with an ICA friend and we have a weekly call to check in.  And probably about half a dozen other things to help me grow both personally and professionally.

It has so paid off!

And here are all the links for you to check out all my projects and/or stay connected:

My Facebook Profile

Personal Twitter

Simply Fearless Twitter

CassandraRae.com {my personal blog}

SimpleWaysCoaching.com {my website}

My Private Client Center

And if you can believe this, I’ve got a brand new web community about to launch.  I will definitely post here again when it’s ready because there will be an opportunity for you to publish your articles there!

Please post a comment and let me know how you are doing.  I’d love to hear from you.

Simply Fearless ~

I have been under the weather for almost two weeks now! And boy has it taken its toll on me. I could really benefit from some positive words of encouragement. So I’m here today to ask for your help with a project. I would like to put together some inspirational quotes and messages so that any time I’m feeling down I can simply pull up a website with encouraging messages from you! All you need to do is post a comment here with a supportive message. It can be a quote, a few words of encouragement, or an empowering perspective that has helped you get through the tough times. Here, I’ll go first:

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”
~ Jim Rohn

I’m looking forward to receiving your inspirational messages! And once we have collected a few, I will create the webpage and post the link.

Thank you so much for your help!

Yesterday I went out to a couple of high schools to give a presentation and talk to the administration about my work with parents and teens. Today during my reflection time I received this message and thought I would share it with you:

“You don’t need to prove yourself. You do need to know clearly what you have to offer. Yes, there are unknowns. You don’t know what the outcomes will be. That’s okay. You don’t have to know that piece. You need to know your value, your offering. What are you bringing to the table? People need to understand their role in your work. What are you requesting of them? Focus on your stuff and allow them to be where they’re at. You have work to do and trying to prove yourself to others will take you away from that work.”

The truth is I’m a little bit afraid of the work I’m called to do. At times, it feels so much bigger than me. I’m reminded of what my mentor coach, Karen Cappello, told me last week. She said that the fear means I care. There is fear in the stretch and growth. In fact, when there’s no fear, it’s not big enough. So today I accept the fear with the understanding that I care deeply about my work with parents and teens! Now I’ve got to go because I’ve got work to do!

I have been struggling with my coaching practice development recently and it’s been tough. I needed support and encouragement, so I attended the ICA alumni call this afternoon. I gathered some inspirational messages from other coaches and I thought it would be cool to share them with you. Here goes:

“Listen to your instincts.”

“Your niche will find you.”

“Your hobbies are clues for you.”

“The coaching goes on…”

“It’s not how everyone does it. But, it’s how I do it!”

“No one can tell your story better than you!”

“Speak to people about coach related topics such as life balance.”

“Tell personal stories to demonstrate your perspective.”

“You already know things that you can’t articulate…yet.”

So keep the faith, Coaches! There are valuable messages to be heard and lessons to be learned from exactly where you are right now. I am simply going to trust that this is true!

Warmly ~
Coach Cassandra
Coach@CassandraRae.com

I can’t believe it’s been more than two months since I’ve written here! I’ve missed you guys so I thought I would post an update…

Earlier this week I was on the ICA alumni call and we were all sharing one thing about ourselves that we wanted the other coaches to know about where we are at. The one thing that really struck me was how almost everyone had shifted and changed their focus and niche since graduation. What a relief to know that I’m not alone in the struggle to determine who I am here to serve!

This past summer truly has been a soul-searching-journey for me. I actually began the summer tightly niched and confident. Through a series of events I lost access to the confidence and each month I broadened my focus to attract more clients. What I learned is that moving away from my calling feels terrible! And guess what? I’m right back at my original niche serving parents of teens and tweens! The journey away from my calling was so valuable because I learned what it feels like and how to return to it. Today my confidence has returned and I am excited to share with you what I am investing my energy in:

CassandraRae.com
I have just finished re-vamping my website and I absolutely love it! It simply feels right. I invite you to check it out and email me your feedforward (focused on what’s working).

My Photage
I created this site to share my love for photography and to pass along tid-bits of information to support parents through the teen years. I like to post here daily and I share a lot about my personal process, what I am going through, and how I get through it. Even if you aren’t a parent, there is a lot of valuable information about family and relationships.

The Coaching Quiz
This is a tool for people to use to find out if coaching is right for them. I would love for you to take the quiz and provide me with your awesome insights!

Change the World Community
Coach Jean Paul invited me to join Zaadz, which is all about connecting people who want to change the world! I totally love it and invite you to join as well. If you do, be sure to add me as a friend :~)

American Chronicle Writer
I am a contributing writer to the American Chronicle. It is so cool to get my message out to others who might not have even heard of coaching before!

Free Coaching On-line Group for Parents of Teens & Tweens
I just created an on-line group for parents of teens and tweens to receive and offer support, connect with other parents, and build a database of resources. This is one of my newest projects and I’m looking forward to growing it.

As you can see I have a lot going on! I have found that staying connected to other ICA coaches is an integral part of my support system, coming up with new ideas, and furthering my development. I invite you to attend our weekly ICA alumni coffee break calls and monthly alumni calls hosted by Karen Cappello (please see the ICA bulletin and calendar for details).

Oh and speaking of Karen Cappello, I am thoroughly enjoying and reaping the benefits of being a part of one of her coaching groups. It is absolutely amazing and my experience with the group is one of the leading factors in my recent growth spurt and development. One of the best parts of this experience is that I am learning how to facilitate and lead coaching groups myself. It is similar to our classes at ICA, but at a deeper level.

Well, it’s been nice reconnecting with you! I invite you to post a comment with an update on where you are at. Although I’m not sure when I will be posting here again, I do know that I enjoy connecting with all of you. I look forward to continuing to learn and grow together.

Warmly ~
Coach Cassandra

Hello there ~

As you know, I recently graduated as a Certified Professional Coach. I have worked for 2+ years on crafting my skills, designing my programs, and clarifying my vision. I’m finally at a place where I know what I have to offer and who I am here to serve. The problem is…how do I let people know I’m here?! After preparing, graduating, and opening my office I thought the clients would just be lining up down the hall! But, the truth is I have two clients and A LOT of room to grow…which is why I am writing to you. You see, I am on a mission to grow my coaching practice and I know that I can accomplish it faster and better by working together with other coaches! So here’s what I’m doing…

I have met with and asked Karen Cappello to facilitate and lead a coaching group for aspiring coaches. Karen is an amazing mentor coach. She specializes in helping people “create a highly successful coaching practice with ease and joy!” Karen has already been an incredible part of my process as she was one of my instructors at the International Coaching Academy. I know first-hand the power of coaching with Karen and I am ready to harness that power into my own coaching practice! I want to:

· Grow my coaching practice

· Receive support

· Connect with other coaches facing similar challenges

· All at an affordable cost

If this sounds like something that would support and benefit you as well, then please join us for a free information call on Tuesday, August 14th at 1pm EST. To register send an email to kccasgc@aweber.com. You will receive an email back with a link to click on and once you do, you will receive the phone number for the call.

And in the meantime, you are invited to check out Karen’s website at KarenCappello.com and my website at CassandraRae.com. I look forward to the opportunity to meet you, learn with you, and create successful coaching practices together!

Warmly ~
Cassandra

Disappointment

Deflated

Doubt

Fear

Rejected

These are all things I feel as I sit in the truth of being told no. You see, recently I created a flyer for my upcoming parenting program and submitted it for approval to be distributed at a local school district. If approved, it would reach thousands of parents. Wow! But, it didn’t get approved. I was told that the district has a policy that flyer distribution is only for non-profits. I was crushed when I received the news. I wanted to crawl in a whole and give up. I thought, “How could they say no? How could they deny the parents of their district the opportunity to learn of a program designed to support them during some of the toughest parenting years and challenges?” In one turn down I have created a “me versus them” perspective that truly isn’t supporting me. But, the truth is I feel like it’s me versus them. Like the public school district is an opponent to overcome. And even though I feel this way I also know that it isn’t helping me reach more parents. So here is what I’m going to do:

I’M GOING TO LET IT GO!!!!!!

I’m not giving up. I’m simply going to let it go.

I let go of the need to be accepted and helped by the school district. I let go of the attachment to the outcome of my marketing efforts. And in this new, free space I embrace my intention of supporting people in creating the family relationships of their heart’s desire. I let go of the work in marketing and I embrace the fun and joy in sharing my message. And the first thing I’m going to do to honor my process is to spend some time with myself out in nature, which is one of my favorite things to do. I am going to support myself by reading and doing the exercises in Menu Item #7 in Martha Beck’s The Joy Diet. Today is the perfect day to re-center myself in:

LOVE

TRUST

FAITH

HOPE

ABUNDANCE

COMPASSION

GRATITUDE

COURAGE

For quite some time now I have felt inspired to run a teleseminar for my fellow coaches around picking a niche. I wasn’t sure why I felt so strongly about it or if it was a wise investment of my time and energy as it is not the main focus in my own practice development. So I put it off under the very reasonable rationalization that I needed to be doing other things towards developing my practice. But, the idea kept popping up and the inspiration didn’t go away. So finally one day after journaling about it I decided it was time I honored the inspiration and set a date.

Today it’s been a couple of week’s since the teleseminar and I want to share what I’ve learned. Hey! I just realized that I have a strong desire to continually share what I learn and maybe that’s where the inspiration for the teleseminar came from in the first place. Oh my! I just realized that maybe sharing what I learn actually keeps the learning going. And maybe sharing my life lessons is part of my life purpose?! Wow! I totally just experienced Aha! moment after Aha! moment! That was really cool! Okay, back to the topic at hand…Here is what I’ve learned about picking a niche:

• Life provides:
o The challenges
o The talents
o The calling
o The opportunities

• We must:
o Learn the life lessons
o Use our talents
o Answer the calling
o Gain the skills we need to craft our art

• When we do:
o We feel a deep sense of purpose and meaning
o We have an abundance of energy – we receive energy from what we spend it on
o The universe works on our behalf and we are in the “right place” at the “right time” and meet the “right people”
o We build confidence, trust, and a solid belief in ourselves and our value
o Fear can’t stop us!
o We experience success beyond our wildest dreams!

It all makes sense now. I needed this teleseminar to learn about life purpose and calling. I needed this teleseminar to honor my own inspiration even when it doesn’t make perfectly clear sense at the time. I needed this teleseminar to practice facilitating one (this was my first solo one!) And I needed this teleseminar to show me that I’m on the right path with my own niche and focus.

Thank you so much to all of the amazing coaches who joined me for this teleseminar! It was through your willingness to come together, to learn, and to share your experiences, challenges, and feedback that I have learned so much! My hope is that you gained just as much from our time together as I did.

Today is a celebration! Today I celebrate my dedication, my accomplishment, and my certification as a coach! I also celebrate everyone who comes together to create the ICA community. Thank you for providing a safe space for me to learn, to grow, to share my personal process, and to mess up in! A place to be beautifully human in!

Today I also celebrate my mentor coach Susan Liddy who saw my potential before I could and consistently challenges me to shine my light brightly!

I would also like to celebrate all of my friends and family who have honored me by sharing their process and allowing me to coach them!

I celebrate my Mom, Dad, and Sisters who have all lifted me up for success. I have never felt as supported by my family of origin as I do now. Thank you for believing in me.

Finally, I celebrate my daughter Carina and my partner Will who on a daily basis love me, support me, and tell me when I’ve worked too hard! I love you!

Thank you.