By Christine Kloser

I’ve always loved the phrase, “everything happens for a reason.”  It’s been a motto of mine for many years.  Whether it was something outrageously fantastic like my wedding day, or something more challenging like suffering a miscarriage… I’ve always had a core belief that everything really does happen for a reason.

But, goodness knows, there have been moments in which LIVING this statement proved to be much more challenging than simply saying it.  I’ve cried many tears, doubted many things, and asked “why me” many times before… feeling as if everyone had a charmed life, except for me. 

You see, I think there was a surface part of me that wanted the “reason” to feel good!  I wanted to believe that everything happened for the reason of me feeling happy, satisfied, fulfilled, on purpose, blessed, safe, loved, protected, connected, trusting, and joyful. 

But, that’s not how the Universe works.  Everything happens to lead you to your highest good, yet, many times, that can feel like walking through fire.  Things always DO happen for a reason, but often times that reason is for your healing, for releasing, for letting go, for taking responsibility, for digging deeper into the core of who you are.  And, it doesn’t always feel good in the process.  If you’ve ever felt like the Universe is testing you to see what you’re really made of, you know what I’m talking about here.

How can you begin to surrender (in the moment) and release the struggle so you can more gracefully discover the true and highest reason for what is happening?  I’d like to share two tips that help me when I’m in this place of looking for the gift (the reason) in the middle of a challenge.

First, whatever you do, don’t obsess about the experience that has shown up for you.  Obsessing about it, and getting all worked up about it is only going to contract your energy, which will make a peaceful resolution much more challenging.  Believe me, I know about this one.  When I had a difficult challenge with a client last year, my knee-jerk reaction was to contract like crazy because it brought up a lot of fear in me.  With help and support, I was able to release the contraction, speak my truth, have honest communications with this client, and find a resolution to the challenge that would work for both of us.  Had I stayed focused on the fear of the challenge, I can assure you the peaceful resolution would not have unfolded as it did.   

So, the next time something “happens” and you want to discover the gifts from the challenges… breathe!  Yes, breathe and release your emotional grip on the situation.  This will allow you to open some space within yourself for the gifts, blessings and resolution to surface. 

And, my second tips is one of the great questions my spiritual teacher has offered for contemplation.  The question is to ask, “What is the highest?”  In other words, look at the situation that’s causing your contraction/challenge, and in the moment allow yourself to contemplate what the highest may be out of that situation.  How could this situation be serving the absolute HIGHEST in you?

With the client I mentioned earlier, at first it was quite a challenge to see the highest.  Quite honestly, with that situation all I saw was fear in the beginning.  But, then as I handled it from a more spiritually mature perspective, I began to see that this challenging experience was teaching me so much about the types of clients I wanted to work with, what work I really wanted to be doing, where I had compromised myself, not listened to my intuition, not spoken my truth, etc.  I could probably write a book about all of the gifts I received through this challenge.

So, the next time you’re faced with a challenge (no matter how big or small), ask yourself what the highest possible outcome could be.  And, then take aligned action based on that understanding.  Just “one step at a time” toward your highest good will make a big difference in shifting your outcome… and help you discover the reason why the situation showed up in the first place.

© 2010 Christine Kloser

Would you like to use this article?  You may as long as you include the following information along with the article:  Christine Kloser is the award-winning author of The Freedom Formula and Conscious Entrepreneurs.  She is widely recognized as an expert in the field of conscious entrepreneurship having spoken alongside such luminaries as Neale Donald Walsch, Dr. Joe Vitale, Arielle Ford, James Twyman and Marianne Williamson. Christine works with entrepreneurs to embrace a new paradigm of success… helping them experience true freedom and fulfillment in their life and their business.  Get a F R E E chapter of her award-winning book, The Freedom Formula at www.thefreedomformula.com/freechapter. 

The Freedom Formula:  How to Put Soul in Your Business and Money in Your Bank
By Christine Kloser

Entrepreneurs want freedom.  Freedom to make a difference in the world; freedom to make as much money as you desire; freedom to do what you want, when you want; freedom to be…YOU!  But, on your quest for entrepreneurial freedom, it’s pretty likely that no one told you how to realize the freedom you’re looking for, until now!  This book reveals exactly how to have it all by putting SOUL in your business and… MONEY in your bank.

Inside The Freedom Formula®, you’ll discover how to:   

• Build a solid business based on the powerful combination of spiritual principles and proven business strategies.   
• Receive more of everything you desire… so easily that you better be careful what you wish for! 
• Banish procrastination forever and take immediate action to realize your dreams 
• Trust in the Divine Plan for your business… and your LIFE. 
• Make “competition” evaporate the natural way, simply by being more of who YOU are!

This book is the definitive answer to the question, “Can I really have it all?”  Yes, you can!  And, it’s easier than you think!   

Get Your Copy Today at www.TheFreedomFormula.com

“I left the retreat as a new person!  Because, I was lovingly pushed over the edge I had been standing at for years.”

“I’ve been a dentist working successfully in my dental office in Neutraubling, Germany  since 1991.  The last couple of years were very transformational for me as a business owner, but most of all as a human being. I had to ask myself a lot of essential questions about my life… and I was blessed to find the answers! But… one question remained unanswered - the most important one, “Why am I here on this earth, what is my life purpose?” I was still searching…

As I got the email from Christine inviting me to participate in the Freedom Retreat my inner voice whispered immediately - you have to go there, this will help you a lot!  So I flew 8000 miles from Munich to Washington over the ocean… then to Baltimore.

And there I was at Gramercy Mansion, an incredible and sacred place hidden in the woods with very powerful and peaceful energy.  And there were the other people called to this retreat - amazing women, all standing on the crossways seeking the answers of important questions in their lives.

What happened during the event was and is beyond any expectations we all had!!

Christine is blessed by the Divine with the ability to create sacred space where every soul feels at home - guided, supported, unconditionally loved, really at home…
I left the retreat as a new person.  I was lovingly pushed over the edge I had been standing at for years.  I can fly now, f r e e as a bird into the sky, knowing exactly why I am here on this planet!  Do you want to feel the same way and be able to fly, too?!  So, let me ask you the one question - What are you waiting for?!”  

Dr. Madlena Kantscheff, Dentist, Neutraubling, Germany

To find out more about my next All-Inclusive Freedom Retreat coming up June 14-17, please visit www.LoveYourLife.com/retreats.

I’m preparing to head out of town tomorrow for a spiritual retreat with my teacher in Sedona, along with 24 fellow soul travelers… including my wonderful husband!  As with any work like this, things seem to accelerate and intensify leading into the event.  And, that’s exactly what’s happening with me.

What I used to know “for sure”, I don’t know is true anymore.  How I used to make decisions in my life (and in my business) is no longer serving me.  Some of what I’ve done in my business in the past, doesn’t feel totally aligned anymore.  How I used to show up in relationships isn’t serving me or others in the highest.  Who I used to be, I’m not anymore.  Can you relate?

Now, the “old” me would be freakin’ out right about now; trying to figure out what’s changing, trying to cause a particular future outcome, trying to wrap my head around what’s breaking down and what’s breaking through, trying to create something that would make me feel like I am still in control, trying to get a firm understanding of exactly what’s happening and how it will unfold.

But, none of that is happening.  Rather, I’m finding peace simply BEING with what is so.  I’m excited and embracing the change that I can feel happening within myself.  I’m letting go of my fear of the unknown, and allowing Spirit to take me on a journey beyond anything I could dream for myself.  And, I’m holding the intention that whatever is meant to unfold for me will unfold with ease and grace. 

So much has already been unfolding, with an abundance of blessings showing up out of “nowhere.” There are too many to write about here, but it is so good to see the numerous signs that I am on the right path, doing the right work, and being prepared for something currently unknown to me.  And, I look forward to having it unfold here with you.

By Christine Kloser

For most of my life I’ve been conditioned to march to the beat of a familiar drum… the drum that says, “fall into line, don’t break the mold, do what everyone else is doing, follow the pack, don’t make waves, fit in with the crowd, etc.”  The beat of this drum had become so familiar to me that I didn’t even notice it was beating in the background of my life.

In all honesty, that familiar beat had been running my life.  Yes, I stepped out of the usual nine-to-five corporate mold that society teaches us is what success looks like.  But, I stepped into an entrepreneurial mold that had a similar beat… “Do what everyone else is doing.”  And, so I did – for several years – until I realized that I didn’t want to be marching to the beat of that drum anymore.

And, so the quest began to march to the beat of my own drum… to do the deep inner work to discover what is true and right for me.  I have made much progress on my quest.  I’ve discovered so much more certainty within myself, while also feeling less certainty on the external level.  The beauty is that I’m finding comfort in the “I don’t know.”  Because what I DO know, is that I’m beginning to march to the beat of my own drum.  And, with certainty like that, it makes any external uncertainty a non-issue.

So, what does it take to march to the beat of your own drum?

Opening Your Eyes
First, you’ve got to open your eyes to the truth of what is happening within you and around you.  You must raise your level of consciousness and become keenly aware of your own thoughts, feelings, motivations, etc.  It’s only when you begin to open your eyes to the truth (and allow yourself to see it and feel it) that you can begin to shift what isn’t working.  For many years I had an inner inkling that something wasn’t quite right with a part of my business.  And, it wasn’t until I looked into those dark corners that I could see for the first time what I wanted to shift, how I wanted to shift and what had been holding me back from a life of total freedom.   And, it had nothing to do with my business, but everything to do with ME! 

So, step one is to take a look and see if there’s anything you’ve been staying blind to that it’s time for you to see.

Compassion
Please, please, please… have compassion for yourself on this journey.  I used to think that every time I saw something unpleasant about myself, my life or my business that I was “supposed” to use it to beat myself up.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  When you open your eyes and begin to see things… you must learn to have compassion for yourself as you become more conscious and fr*ee yourself at a deeper level.   Marching to the beat of your own drum requires that you LOVE yourself forward (that’s a fabulous phrase I got from my spiritual teacher), not that you beat yourself up.  So, as you do the work to find YOUR unique rhythm, have compassion for yourself and who you have been up until now.  You have always only done the best you could with what you knew at the time. 

So, step two is to allow yourself to see something that isn’t working for you and have compassion for yourself as you see it.

Commitment
I love the word commitment!  I learned many years ago, at the very first personal development program I attended in 1995, that commitment equals freedom!  At first, I thought the trainer was crazy, but the more I thought about it the more I saw the truth in this.  When you are totally committed to something (in this case, your authentic expression in the world) you don’t have any other options.  Your choices of being “less than your best authentic self” get taken away.  And, that’s a good thing!  Why would you want to be committed to anything less than pursuing your authentic expression in the world 100%?!  It makes no sense.  So, if you’re going to walk on this journey of marching to the beat of your own drum… COMMIT to it!  And, let it take you where you’re meant to go. 

So, step three is to make a commitment to yourself right now that you will do whatever it takes to release the “should’s” from your life and learn to march to the beat of your own drum!

Would you like to use this article?  You may as long as you include the following information along with the article:  Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps entrepreneurs put soul in their business and money in the bank.  If you want to thrive in your purpose-driven, profitable business (while enjoying a soul-satisfying life), send for my special report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Most Conscious Entrepreneurs and my audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know… Before Writing a Word, both of which you get (at no charge) when you request my Conscious Business Success Kit at www.LoveYourLife.com.  

Christine Kloser delivers a keynote teleseminar presentation on “Conscious Entrepreneurship for Authors” for the International Association of Conscious & Creative Writers (IACCW).

Thursday 4th March 2010
11:00 EST / 16:00 GMT 

Are you ready to discover your road to fulfillment and freedom through a conscious approach to the business of published authorship?

It is time now for author entrepreneurs everywhere to understand fully the depth of what it means to be a Conscious Entrepreneur and to benefit at every level from applying this approach to their own writing journey.

So don’t miss this oppor^tunity to learn about the shifts you need to make to transform your vision of published authorship into reality.

Want to listen to this teleseminar interview for F R E E but not yet an IACCW member?

Find out how to do so and discover the other benefits of becoming a member of the International Association of Conscious & Creative Writers (IACCW)

“The Freedom Retreat was the catalyst that finally allowed me to step into my true purpose and passion, and gave me the freedom and courage to simply be ME.”

Participating in Christine’s Freedom Retreat in November, 2009, was exactly what I needed at that moment, and I can honestly say it is the best investment I ever made in my Self. It was the catalyst that finally allowed me to step into my true purpose and passion, and gave me the freedom and courage to simply be ME.

Before the retreat, I often felt like I was spinning my wheels. I constantly questioned and doubted myself, worrying about the long list of things I thought I “should” do personally and professionally. I often suppressed my own desires and inner voice, believing I needed the approval or acceptance of others to do what I wanted to do or what I felt “called” to do.

Now I have a deeper understanding and appreciation for who I truly am. With this new-found clarity and confidence, I am stretching beyond my comfort zone more every day. I have allowed my vision for a non-profit to take center stage, releasing the “shoulds” that surrounded my previous business plan. Without a doubt that was the right choice for me because people and resources are showing up so quickly that I can hardly keep up! In addition, my first book is in the works and I have received multiple invitations to write articles, do seminars, and speak at various organizations. I am going places and doing things I would never have dreamed of before, and all with ama^zing results!

So I highly recommend the Freedom Retreat to anyone who wants to move to the next dimension in their life. The entire experience is thoughtfully created by Christine to support and encourage exactly that. From the nurturing environment and carefully selected participants, to the natural flow and graceful feel of the work, Christine has a knack for making you feel pampered and empowered at the same time – a win^ning combination of business, pleasure and inspiration for the soul you won’t want to miss.

AND… I will never forget the heavenly smells from the kitchen of home-baked goodies and the scrumptious, made-to-order breakfast waiting for us every morning! Simply Divine!”

Nancy Lyn Cotter, Founder and CEO Self Worth Coalition www.MySelfWorth.org  

This has been a week of giving myself permission.  Permission to say “no” to things that don’t work for me or fit into my life; permission to enjoy the time and space to get out of “doing” and simply BE with myself and my feelings; permission to trust and surrender at a deeper level that all is happening in Divine right order; permission to speak my truth and share it with others; permission to let go of the grip my ego likes to hold on me.

How about you?  Is there any area in your life that you need to give yourself permission?  Think about it for a moment.  How often do you look outside of yourself to see if you’re doing the “right” thing.  Sometimes this appears in the most subtle ways and is barely detectable… but there, lurking in a dark and dusty corner is the feeling that you need permission to be who you REALLY are.

Too often, on the journey of entrepreneurship, we forget who we are.  It’s easy to do when you’re busy creating programs, marketing your business, building a new website, writing your book, working with clients, making ends meet, meeting JV partners, etc.  So, stop the hamster wheel for a while today and allow yourself to remember the true essence of who you are.  Then, ask yourself, “Is there something I need to grant myself permission to do or to be?”   And, see what shows up for you.

More and more entrepreneurs are waking up to the paradigm shift that is happening now… away from how it “should” be and toward what is RIGHT for their soul.  There is no more powerful journey that this… the journey that leads you to true freedom.

There’s a silent epidemic happening for entrepreneurs world-wide.  It’s not a pretty epidemic, nor is it fun… but it’s an epidemic that can be eradicated by each and every entrepreneur who has been affected by it.

I’m Worried About What Others Think
This is another biggy!  Be honest with yourself, and ask yourself if you’re ever done something (or not done something) because of what someone else might think?  Did you launch a program you really didn’t want to do, just because your coach or a colleague told you to do it?  Have you ever said “yes” to something you wanted to say “no” to because you didn’t want to let down the other person?  Chances are you’ve done these things because you allow what others think about you to have an influence on you.

Would you like to use this article?  You may as long as you include the following information along with the article:  Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps entrepreneurs put soul in their business and money in the bank.  If you want to thrive in your purpose-driven, profitable business (while enjoying a soul-satisfying life), send for my special report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Most Conscious Entrepreneurs and my audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know… Before Writing a Word, both of which you get (at no charge) when you request my Conscious Business Success Kit at www.LoveYourLife.com. 

She Means Business

A friend and colleague of mine, Callan Rush is offering a complimentary teleseminar series for women, by women.

Callan is the CEO of ‘Leader to Luminary Training’ and is a successful, credible, experienced business woman.  She made 6 figures in her first six months in business, and is on her way to 7 figures in her third year.  She’s also a very HEART-CENTRED, ethical woman dedicated to guiding other female entrepreneurs in creating more Cash, Clients, Power and PLEASURE in their businesses!

Click on the link to meet Callan and find out how to get in on the action at no charge:
www.LoveYourLife.com/shemeansbiz