Are you clear about who you are?

This is the newsletter that went out to my subscribers the week of August 10, 2009.

Enjoy!

The Inner Genius Zone Newsletter!

Are you clear about who you are?

Please forgive me for not getting this newsletter out earlier in the week. I had a busy week with those that took me up on my offer for a complimentary strategy coaching session. Make sure you do not miss out on your opportunity: http://www.budurl.com/accw

This week in the Inner Genius Zone we are talking about clarity.

The last couple of weeks, I focused on a couple of client profiles. This week I would like to talk about myself just so you can get a first hand feel for what the clarity process looked like for me as I transitioned out of the practice of law for 20 years. I do not mean to be egotistical by talking about myself. Think of me as another client profile because I was my first client.

Clarity is about getting clear and focused on who you are and what you want.

Every professional woman wants to get into the annual habit of taking stock around all six pillars of her life:

~Physical and body;

~Emotional life;

~Spiritual life;

~Financial life;

~Mental life; and

~Relationships.

Each of these areas have a sub area. For instance, in my mental life, I would look at my learning and my creativity. So do not leave out your creativity. In addition, I would look at my learning. Steven Covey calls it, “sharpening the saw.”

Now, I did not do this entire process for many years.

Once I became an attorney, I thought I had done all my hard work. I thought that it would now be smooth sailing so I focused on finding the best way to move forward in my career. I worked at a couple of jobs and after a few years, I started my own law firm.

I soon discovered that I was petrified of courthouses! Can you believe that? I get hives just driving past a court house. I had a couple of “disastrous encounters” in court and although the cases turned out ok, I did not! I developed this fear of litigation.

Well, now from coaching, I know that the fear was an indication that this was not the area to focus my career on. I discovered that I was not high functioning in an adversarial situation. Instead, I discovered I love transactions. I love bringing people together and helping them negotiate and create harmonious results where everyone got what they wanted. I was good at that. I really enjoy win – win encounters.

So I did it. For about 20 years, I worked as a transactional attorney. I was busy. I was an over achiever. I enjoyed owning a law firm of my own. With real employees and other lawyers. I enjoyed having clients that I served. I loved my freedom.

When I look back, I was not happy but I did not even know it.

Are you happy? Genuinely Happy? Do you have multiple belly laughs each day? Do you have moments of day dreaming about what is going fabulous in your life? Do you enjoy relaxing?

Well, I did not.

I just kept pushing myself further trying to make my practice a success. I gained weight. I got into debt. I divorced my first husband. I went to church and I went out for dinner with friends but I was not happy.

Then my dad died. I thought the world had come to an end. I was devastated. He was such a loving wonderful man. I love, love, love my dad. I still do. Then my mother died! Too much! I loved my mother. She was the smartest person I ever met. Brilliant Genius.

I felt that I lost my true North. I felt that I had no focus. I then came into the realization that I was unhappy; in a chronic way.

I got married again and my sweetie was by my side when I lost both my parents. He was amazing! If I ever complain about him, ignore me. He was with my mom when she took her last breath.

As I watched lives that meant so much to me slip away from me, I was able to begin to take stock of my life:

I was able to confront the fact that my work had become routine and non-challenging.

I was unfulfilled in my work life. As I started to look at my values, or should I say rediscover my values, I realized that my business was not crafted around my values.

As the economy declined, I got into so much fear about meeting payroll and keeping the business overhead. As I talked to my sweetie about it, he said, “Babe, the business is an albatross around your neck. What do you really want to do?”

I felt obligated to practice law because that education cost so much money, it would be a waste to not practice law. It felt like I was throwing away money. I made a choice to follow my heart instead of that limiting belief. Who knows, I may chose to practice law later. But, seriously, I really do not care whether or not I do.

My Sweetie pointed me in the direction of clarity.

I hired a coach and she helped me get clarity.

As I got clear about who I am and what my purpose is, I got clarity.

She kept asking me, “What do you want to do with your life?”

I realized that I did not feel that I was contributing to others in a significant way.

I realized that I had some baggage to unload like relationships, personal and professional where we no longer served each other.

I realized that I felt my business was not aligned with my spiritual values.

I realized that I had developed an unhealthy attachment to the label of “attorney.”

I realized that I expected that I would have reached a certain level of success by a certain age.

I realized that I did not define that level of success; others did.

Looking back, I was so blessed to have an amazing family and an amazing spouse that helped me see that I was unhappy and that the ball was in my court to create more happiness in my life.

When I got clear about my values, I could no longer hold on to the law practice as it was. I had lost the zeal that it takes to run such a business from a place of integrity. Integrity is one of my important values. This is what I discovered about myself.

I have very strong values around self expression.

I have to write everyday. I wish I can tell you how my fingers are flying as I type this. It is nothing for me to write my newsletters. They flow from my brian like water gushing out of a fountain. It just gushes out of me ~ easily and happily.

I love helping others.

I love helping others know their value and that what they want is valuable and wonderful.

I love reminding others that they are God’s children.

I love learning.

I love sharing what I learn with others.

I love putting stuff I have learned together.

I love talking to people and connecting with them.

Notice, these are core things in me that I can even trace back to my childhood? None of these things have anything to do with a $100,000 education from Georgetown University Law School.

When I got clear that this is core of who I am, I had to embrace me. It had nothing to do with practicing law. So, getting clear on who you are, has nothing to do with your educational background.

Today, I can tell you that I know who I am and I am completely and totally in love with myself. I like me. I like my company. I like what I do. I like how I spend my time and I like who I am. I love what I do professionally. The highest honor in my life is for a client to be unmasked with me and her heart is genuinely open and I help her see her beauty and her power.

Please do not get me wrong. I do not have any regrets about having my own law firm. It was wonderful and gratifying and I am proud of myself for what I have made with my life.

However, I am glad that at this time, I have chosen to look at what makes my heart sing and create a life around my purpose.

With clarity, you have the power of choice.

Gaining clarity helps you make choices wisely and remember that not making a choice is a choice in itself.

I made a choice to retire from law because I could not figure out a single thing that I really wanted to do as a lawyer.

I made a choice to work from home and not deal with the over head of the office.

I made a choice to be a life coach that helps executive and business boomers just like you get that clarity, refocus on their life purpose and create a powerful life.

I have done it and so can you.

As I discovered my Inner Genius, I got clear and I am living a much more fulfilling life coaching wonderful amazing people just like yourself.

How clear do you feel in your life?

Do you want to gain more clarity in your life?

What specific step are you going to take to gain more clarity?

Here is an opportunity for you:

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Wanna gain more clarity in your life?

Well, I have a special offer for you.

Are you ready to unleash your Inner Genius to create passion, purpose, profit and power in your life?

Here is how it works:

Schedule a complimentary one hour strategy session in one of the two time slots on:

Tuesday: August 18, 2009 from 10am, 11 am 12 noon, 1 pm, 2 pm Eastern

Wednesday: August 19, 2009 from 3 pm, 4 pm, 5 pm, 6 pm, 7 pm Eastern.

Go here right now to reserve your spot:

http://www.budurl.com/accw

All sessions times are available on a first come-first serve basis.

In this strategy session, we will talk about your goals and outline your course of action to accomplish these goals.

With the Inner Genius process, you will be amazed how you gain more control of your life and maintain emotional mastery over yourself. You discover your purpose and experience more happiness.

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Other stuff I am cooking up just for you…..

Join me on my blog at http://www.AuthenticChangeCoach.com where we are having a wonderful time this past week exploring laughter and clarity.

Guys, if you want to have a conversation around such issues as addressed in this ezine, please join me on the blog. I post a couple of times a week and it is also a valuable coaching resource for you.

Make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed and it will even email you the blog posts when they show up.

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Also, most Thursdays, I have an hour long radio show at 12 noon Eastern.

Please join us or listen to the archives at my radio show.

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If you have gotten a benefit from this ezine, the greatest compliment you can pay me is to forward this ezine to as many people as you know.

Thank you!

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About Iyabo:

Iyabo Asani is a Business and Executive Life Coach, and founder of Authentic Change Coaching. She loves helping her clients discover their passions and create a purposeful marketplace presence by teaching them how to harness the energy of attraction and discover their Inner Genius.

Trained by Leadership University and the B-Coach program, Iyabo, brings a unique coaching perspective to the lives of her clients by loving them, believing in them and helping them create the space for miracles in their lives.

After twenty years of practicing law and being involved in helping clients resolve legal problems, Iyabo discovered that she was particularly gifted about helping her clients discover the energy patterns that led to the manifestation of the legal issues. Once the clients experienced epiphanies about the underlying energetic templates and patterns of thinking, their legal issues resolved themselves easily.

Naturally, her law practice flowed into a coaching practice as she crafted her coaching practice around her passions and purpose.