From Doormat to Sweet Empowerment

Hello All!  Here is the introduction to my book.  It is in the publishing process and should be ready to print in just a few weeks!  Yipppee!
~Kristen Brown

Introduction

 

My Dearest Readers,

After I experienced a deeply profound betrayal and upset in my life that started in August of 2009, I made the conscious, dedicated, directed decision to claim victory over my circumstance.  I set course to heal and not only did I heal, my entire life began to transform right before my eyes.  I learned how my false beliefs about myself and my past behavioral patterns were creating repeating, negative scenarios in my life.  I discovered that the only power we have is the power to change ourselves no matter what anyone has done or is doing to us.  I awakened to a higher consciousness, a deeper connection to Source and my soul’s calling.  I call this new awareness “awakening to self-worth.” 

Although I have always been a “seeker”, it was a distinct two year period of time that awakened me to the understanding of how we can claim our worth and personal power at any given time if we fully commit to do so.  Even though I continue to evolve every day, I call those specific two years “The College of Kristen” because not unlike academic college, they were a time of concentrated learning, struggle, fear, balance and evolution.   It’s important to know and understand that it does not have to take a major life crisis to break you open or redirect your path!  You can make that decision right here, right now!

I call From Doormat to Sweet Empowerment a spiritual guide, because I refer to a Higher Power often.  I interchange what I call this Power throughout the text because in my estimation, there really is no name that embodies all of what He/She/It is.  I will use names such as: God, Spirit, Holy Spirit, Source, Source Energy, Universe, Universal Intelligence, Loving Essence and Higher Power.  Please understand that with any name I use, I am always referring to the Superpower of the universe as I know and understand it… All Loving and All Good.  I believe we co-create our experience with this Energy to learn love, compassion and forgiveness and to live more peacefully while we make manifest our desires.  I believe that God/Source/Spirit is pure love and anything outside of that is illusion/fear/ego.  When I refer to our “Higher Self”, I am referring to the times we are connected to Source, our Light within, Truth.  When I use the term “lower self”, I am referring to the times we are identifying with our egoic, smaller mind - the fearful disclaimer that tries to sabotage our expansion and healing.  You can also choose to view the Higher Self and lower self as the proverbial angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.  I don’t claim to be a guru or master of anything nor do I claim to know all there is to know about this Power.  I only know that through experience and trial, It is real and here to guide us on our journey.

Chapter One is the only purposefully placed chapter in this book because Connecting With [My] Divinity is where my transformation began.  In this chapter I share my personal story to better acquaint you with whom I am, where I’ve been and how my transformation from doormat to empowerment began.  After Chapter One, feel free to read the chapters in any order that speaks to you.  Honor your soul by doing what feels right and true for you.  This is your journey.  The concepts and ideas of each chapter were all congruent themes running at the same time during my healing.  I didn’t stop one to begin another.  Additionally, they are the exact same concepts and ideas I continue to practice and strengthen in myself each and every day.  Each concept aligns with adopting a new way of thinking, feeling, acting and being that is consistent and supportive of self-love and self-worth.  You might also notice that some material might tend to overlap.  This is because all the models within are directly connected by the same universal laws.  I believe without a doubt that when we love ourselves first, wholly and Holy, all else falls into place.  When our highest value becomes our well-being, our life begins to shift in the most fascinating, unexpected and wonderful ways.  The path to empowerment is all about changing oneself first in order to create change in one’s life. 

The stories and excerpts within are true life situations of my own, my coaching/mentoring clients, my friends and family.  All names have been changed in order to protect and respect the privacy of others.  This book was written to spread light, awareness and to promote healing to its readers.  Although I now passionately teach the wisdom and knowledge I’ve acquired, I continue daily to learn, grow and expand my consciousness.  Self-love and personal empowerment is not a destination; it is a way of living.

My invitation to you is to read the content of this book with an open mind and heart.  Be willing to discover, uncover and own what is yours to learn and grow from and discard anything that does not ring true in your soul.  You might identify with every word in every chapter or we may have been brought together to validate a change you are already in process of.  Whatever your purpose for being here is, know it is correct and perfect for you at this time.  You found this book (or this book found you) for a Divine reason.  There are no coincidences. 

The greatest step we can ever make regarding our personal well-being and healing is the first one!  I honor the seeker in you and bow to your quest to improve the quality of your life and relationships.  I will not give you the false impression it will always be easy.  The journey to empowerment will take courage, commitment and time. The fact that you are here, however, tells me you are ready to transform your life and reclaim your personal power, confidence and joy.  Taking the first step in any recovery is the hardest and you have already done it!  I honor and congratulate you!

In closing, always remember that life is a process.  Change is a process.  Be gentle with yourself while on your journey.  Stay your course, encourage and congratulate yourself often and most importantly honor yourself for the beautiful, unique soul that you are!

With love,

Kristen Brown

Article by Cory Treffiletti- His Coaching Experience

Put Me In, Coach, I'm Ready To Play By Cory Treffiletti

Unbeknownst to you, many of the executives you know engage with a business and/or life coach. These coaches are there to help make sense of the chaos that is everyday life, and can help execs learn the best way to address career issues, maintain work/life balance, and even mentor the employees who work for or with them. Coaches are valuable and effective -- and if you ever get the opportunity to work with one, I certainly recommend you do it.

I was fortunate enough to have my company pay for coaching earlier in my career, and in addition I've had my own coach for many, many years now. I've learned a lot; among my most important lessons is s one thing I learned a while back that has helped me through many difficult times: "No matter what decision you make when faced with a difficult situation, the decision you made was the right decision for that moment in time."
It may sound a bit existential, or even a bit new-agey, but that one statement has helped me many times to get out of the downward spiral that can occur when you start second-guessing yourself and rethinking your past decisions. Being human means you're empowered with cognitive thought, but that can also be a debilitating thing. Human beings, and especially executives in mid- to large-sized companies, are constantly forced to make hard decisions. When you find yourself spending time and energy rehashing old situations, you have to catch yourself and realize that if you hadn't made the decision you made, then you wouldn't necessarily have the information you have now!
What that means is, every decision, whether in retrospect was "right" or "wrong," leads you to an outcome -- and that outcome is a learning experience. When you make the "right" decision, you see the benefits. When you make the "wrong" decision, you learn from it - and hopefully that makes you smarter for the next similar situation that may arise. If you had made the opposing decision, you never would have had the benefit of the outcome that taught you what you needed to know.
Sometimes coaches are the most useful when they help you identify the learning experiences that come from making the "wrong" decision, which you may not have noticed yourself. Life is a series of experiences that help shape you into becoming the person you want to be. If those experiences are in a professional environment, then they shape the kind of professional you're going to be. If they are on a personal level, they have the same effect. What's most difficult is not keeping these two worlds separate, but rather identifying where learning from one world can and should be applied to the other.
The decisions that executives make, like hiring, firing, changing direction or going all in on a product idea; these are very heavy decisions. In almost all of these situations a human being is affected, and the executives are human beings so rarely do they take these decisions lightly. Inevitably the person making the decision will have to choose, and someone wins and someone loses. That's business, and that's life, but no one does it alone -- and a coach of some form can certainly help you to work with all the right information.

Sweet Empowerment Life Coaching

SWEET EMPOWERMENT LIFE COACHING

by Kristen Brown

Are you seeking a better life, but unsure of where to start?

Have you found yourself creating the same mistakes or patterns in your life?

Do you feel "stuck" in your life or current situation?

Do you have blocks or fears that have continually held you back?

Through a sacred relationship between coach and client and the amazing process of transformational life coaching, you can move beyond your blocks and create a life full of joy, passion and purpose!   Your best life is waiting for you!  It is your time for empowerment and creation of an exciting, amazing path forward!   I believe you have all the answers within and we will work together to transform your life into the sweet life you were meant to live.

Please visit:  www.sweetempowerment.com   

or call  602.918.9634  and get started today!

To Rescue or not to Rescue?

     

     It is one of the most difficult things to watch...  someone we love going through a painful situation.  Whether it be divorce, a difficult job, a bad relationship or a multitude of other issues.  The first thing we want to do is jump in and rescue them!  To save our loved one from pain and save ourselves from having to watch it. 
     Providing a platform of love means going beyond the sometimes "bad" decisions that people make and allowing them to make those decisions with no judgment.  It's about loving them no matter what.  Unconditionally.  It's knowing that this is their path and not yours.  People need to make their own mistakes.   You may notice that some people can catch a "bad" decision before they make it and some people have to recreate the same "bad" decision over and over in their life until they get it.  It is a very hard thing to stand by and watch.  Sometimes, we as observers, can see things so clearly (or so we think) that we want to shake our loved ones and say, "What are you doing?  Don't you get it?  Do this!  Do that! Then all will be fine in your world."
     The truth is, do we really know what will make everything fine in their world?  Are we that powerful that if they just follow our instructions their life will be perfect?  Sorry, but no.  It may appear a certain action may clear up the current problem, but to rescue someone from their own growth and evolution just makes it so they are not learning their own lessons and we in turn have become an enabler.
     It is beautiful and wonderful that we love our friends and family so much that we don't want them to suffer unnecessarily, but is it really unnecessary?  Or is it possible that once they finally learn the lesson, all on their own, they will learn it hard and deep and most likely will never have to learn that lesson again?
     When I was 17 I dated a guy who was 19.  He was every parent's nightmare.  He had a drinking problem, dealt drugs prior to knowing me, he cheated on me constantly and was physically abusive.   I was so young and naive, I made so many excuses for him.  I also thought that my love was special love and I had the power to make him change.  Yeah, no.  I kept this a secret from my family because I knew that his behavior was not ok by any means, but I was not ready to cut my ties with him yet.  Fortunately, nothing major happened to me (except a deviated septum) and I grew stronger and stronger every day.  I eventually did leave him and when I did, I was ready!  I left that relationship with so many valuable lessons that if someone were to have stepped in and rescued me, I may have repeated this in future relationships.  To this day, I have not repeated that type of relationship.  I learned.  I learned a very painful and hard lesson, but I learned!  I walked away empowered, more confident and wiser than I was going in.
    I later learned that my best friend was going through the exact same thing simultaneously as I was!  I remember clearly to this day saying to her.  "You do what you need to do.  Only you can decide where you need to be.  I will not judge you if you stay with him.  I will be here if you should need me."  I said those words not to soon after I was successful in my departure from my boyfriend.  I knew on some level (even being so young) that she had to do this for herself.  It is painful to watch someone going through something difficult!  Painful!  But we can only truly provide a platform of love until they are ready to ask for and receive help.  Forcing growth on someone does no good.  It's kind of like feeding a baby with a spoon.  Do we continue to do it until they are an adult?  No, we eventually give them the spoon and allow them to make a total mess.  Eventually, they figure it out all on their own.  It takes peace, strength and love to step back allow growth to happen.