Getting Back to Basics

I am sitting here nursing my son and reflecting on my first day of training yesterday. I have three more full days and I am beginning to see how I needed to begin again and get back to the basic of rebuilding my business after taking some time off to be with my son.

Earlier this week we decided to inject a base amount to cover the next six months worth of expenses as a loan to the company. My intention is to build a strong enough marketing plan to provide a full client base by October 1 and then I can begin repaying the loan back with a goal of a repayment period of a year.

This has been an interesting exercise since I am having to balance caring for my son and two dogs with the business research and planning. Not the easiest when we are stilling getting him into a sleeping schedule etc. But I will survive :)

I made the decision last night that in order to make sure I get enough practice of what I am learning this weekend to offer free craniosacral sessions to the local LWL members. This acts two fold - obviously - one to gain practice hours in and two give exposure of one skill set to potential clients. Within an hour I had four women email and request a booking. So this makes me both excited and nervous all at the same time. I have a woman who will come over and look after the baby and dogs while in these sessions but the doors have not been installed and the 'decorating' of the practicum room has been on hold due to giving birth. The benefit of these four appointments is it will act as motivation to make changes in there weekly to ensure as more members come and then discuss with each other their experiences they will be noticing the changes to the environment as well. I am confident more women will be contacting me to take advantage of the offer. I am excited as this one step/approach has me fulfilling at least three goals I have set.

Jumping on twitter https://twitter.com/kmkleinwort has forced me to really become aware of how I am spending time - thanks twitter! Please follow me by the way and I will follow you too! I have decided because of this new found awareness that my blog postings will begin to be and need to be more of what my original intentions were - focus on the building of my business - what is new and exciting while giving some of my business wisdom away and offering tidbits of guidance on how to handle change in our lives.

My goal is to keep these short as well. So until next time ... embrace your inner wisdom!

Thanks for reading.

Namaste,
Karen

Ah … the June New Moon … time for establishing new aspirations and manifestations?

Hmmm … well I was able to get 50% accomplished and manifested since the last new moon which I had set for myself which considering my parents were visiting for two weeks of this time period and I am still get use to the idea of being a new mum … I am proud of myself. So needless to say these next four weeks until the next new moon on July 3 I will hold a few of the same intentions:

Let’s see … accomplishments … definitely the manicure/pedicure is on there; hair getting cut – yep it too stays; the blogging attempts will remain the same; the work outs increase to four times per week; the walking the dogs stays the same but now it will be 3 days walking and 2 days running with them; the invites stay on since they were put on the back burner; Caden’s sleeping schedule; and coffee with the girls is a must to be on the list.

What am I going to manifest? I am … going to be adding one new reoccurring client; receiving full financial amount which is outstanding from a previous client; expanding my networking circle by eight new individuals; and 10 pounds lighter than today.

Setting goals can be fun but disconcerting as well. I always enjoy setting goals but it is finding the fine line between what takes us slightly out of our comfort zone but is truly attainable and what might be setting ourselves up for failure. If we set too many goals then the feelings of failure come from not meeting the majority of them or if we set the goals so high then the feelings of failure come from not being good enough. If we are able to set goals and reach at least 50% of them on an ongoing basis then it means we are definitely stretching ourselves and expanding our comfort zones. When we set goals and meet more than 90% of them on an ongoing basis then we have set the goals too low where they are not challenging us enough and empowering us to stretch out of our comfort zone. Appropriate goal setting is not easy and in most cases individuals need the help of a support system/structure to accomplish certain goals. Setting aside our fears of asking for help is the first step in being able to accomplish goals and manifesting the life we desire. It is because of this I started Therapy in Transition … to help individuals set appropriate goals and empower people to reach and attain their goals.

Thanks for reading and until next time embrace your inner wisdom.

Namaste,
Karen

What's in a name?

This posting is one in which I would like to express and air my discontent regarding an issue I seem to be facing and most certainly am having challenges with. What’s in a name? It amazes me how engrained society is with names and how it is assumed and expected the wife will take the husband’s last name. More women marry later and therefore are creating an individual identity for themselves with their maiden names in business and social networks. Before Jerry and I got married envelopes were addressed to Mr. Jerry Artache and Ms. Karen Kleinwort then when Jerry and I got married everyone, business associates, family and friends, who were told I kept my maiden name got all twisted and nervous about how to address envelopes and packages now. Nothing changes regarding mailings; the government now just sees us as one entity instead of two separate individuals. The government has no question as to how to address mailings to us but society in general goes into a frenzy of ‘what now!’ When packages, cards or letters arrive I am always surprised at how people jump into the peer pressure and general society rules when addressing these communications. So to set the record straight; if you would like to send something to us you can address it to one of the following – Mr. Jerry Artache and Ms. Karen Kleinwort; Mr. Artache and Ms. Kleinwort; or The Artache & Kleinwort Family. Whenever I see an envelope addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Artache or Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Artache the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I have to take some really deep breathes to let go of the feelings my identity is slipping away. My issue … most definitely it is my issue and is one I keep working on but my individual identity is really important to me so it is one which will most likely I will work on till my last breathe in this life journey. I know my husband takes issue when something gets mailed to ‘The Kleinwort Family’ which happens from company’s who are trying to get me to buy or try their baby products. Why? Because as the man of the house it has been engrained in him that his last name is the name of the house and so everyone should just already know that but company’s only know me as my name so they are therefore jumping to the conclusion that Kleinwort is my married name and therefore the name of the household. I do my best to intercept these types of mailings because I know and understand his feelings.

Now that we have a child with a hyphenated last name I am beginning to see the frenzy swirling out of control, hair loss is on a rise and all sorts of different labels being used. When it came to naming our son the first name was easy where we came into the challenge is what would his last name be? I kept my maiden name which was already adding confusion and we settled, Jerry conceded actually – thank you honey!, to have Caden use a hyphenated last name … Artache-Kleinwort. With this added to the mix people are extra confused regarding how to send mailings. So to make life simple and everyone happy just send things to “The Artache & Kleinwort Family”; want to send something just to Caden, address it to “Caden Artache-Kleinwort,” to me? “Karen Kleinwort,” Jerry? “Jerry Artache.” Does that make things simple? Or is it still confusing?

Alright enough purging, the questions of naming I believe really come down to labels and titles for us, so what is in a name? I personally believe names are so important because society in 1st world countries tie everything about us as individuals to these labels and until recently (in respect to the calendar year timeline being 2008) women had no rights and therefore their identity was tied to that of their husbands. But now in the 21st century is it really not too much of a stretch to believe more women will want to keep their individual identities. At what point or under what circumstances would it be for the husband to take the wife’s name? I would definitely be interested in hearing other people’s thoughts on this topic.

Thanks for listening. Until next time … embrace your inner wisdom!

Namaste,
Karen