I almost didn’t write this blog

But, as is the case with my life and the way information comes to me, I was inspired by a couple of seemingly random events.

The first was my VA, Girl Friday and all-around good friend, Tami. I told her I was going to skip this one because there wasn’t much of a difference between Taking Your Power Back (a blog I had just written) and Claiming Your Power. Tami disagreed, she said she thought they were two different things. I told her I would take it under advisement.

But the next day a new client contacted me. When I asked her what she needed help with, she said “well this whole idea of claiming your power”.

I see you Spirit…ok…time to write the blog.

Claiming your power is really about living the life you want to live rather than the life that others think you should. It’s about claiming your right to make your own decisions based upon your own inner guidance and wisdom.

In other words…it’s about quieting the voices in your head, stopping all the “should’s” and “have to’s” and listening to your intuition.

It’s about owning your life, and accepting responsibility for the quality of it.

Taking your power back is about leaving the opinions of others to them, claiming your power is about accepting that your opinion about your life matters more than anyone else’s.

Some would say it’s about following your bliss

But before you can do that…you have to be able to hear your inner wisdom.

That means that your first step is to quiet the monkey mind, and getting your brain to shut the fuck up already.

I used to suffer from this! My brain was in overdrive, I would latch onto a thought and then my brain would take off! It was so incredibly exasperating! And the funny thing is…now that I’ve mastered the monkey brain, I can’t remember the last time it ever gained any kind of traction.

That’s not to say that I don’t have weird ass, random, “you’re not good enough” thoughts! They still pop up from time to time. The difference is that they don’t stay. The difference is that I control my thoughts, I laugh at the ridiculous ones, honor the injured ones and transform the negative ones.

The truth is, when it comes to my practice and my coaching, there is an incredible variety of issues and problems people come to me for: family issues, finding a man, reaching goals, marriage and relationship stuff; starting a business. While the details are different, the solution always comes down to the same thing, settling the voices in your head, getting control of your thoughts and transforming them so that you can make your own clear decision.

So, this is where we start, how to still the thoughts in your head in 4 (easy?) steps.

1) Notice them – The goal is ALWAYS awareness. If you ignore something, you have no power over it. Once you turn and look at a situation or a thought, you can do something about it. Don’t fight with the thought, just notice it. Practice this for a bit before you move to step 2, just notice the thought, know that you can change it if you want to.

2) Question them – Now we get into the discovery phase…you’ve noticed them, it’s time to start asking some questions…like:

* Is the voice your voice? Could it be the voice of a parent, sibling? Ex? Where did the voice come from?

* Is it true (hint…No, it’s usually not)

* If you think it’s true…can you change it?

* What happened right before you had this thought?

3) Transform them – here are a few methods that you can try:

1. Say out loud “cancel, clear delete” when a negative thought comes in, you can even make a swishing motion with your hands if it helps

2. Clap your hands and say “doubt out” then put your hands over your heart and say “faith in its place”

3. Write it down and transform it…

a) Write down “yesterday I believed______________” (the negative thought)

b) Then write out the thought you want it to replace it with “today I know_______________”

c) Example “Yesterday I believed that I am too slow, today I know that I am divinely led and allowed to move at a pace that’s comfortable for me”

4) Practice, Practice, Practice – you won’t change this overnight, it takes diligence and determination and IT CAN BE DONE!

A few things to remember:

Keep at it! Be patient with yourself. Give yourself a break, literally. Take a few moments several times a day to just focus on your breath. When you do that, it gives your brain something to do and will stop the monkey mind for a bit. This is called mindfulness and there are several techniques out there, but first, just focus on your breath!

Give yourself a hug! This is work, it’s not hard, but it’s challenging and it’s a new thing, so celebrate every single tiny step you take towards claiming your power!