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I woke up to Kelly Clarkson’s  song,  “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger” this morning and I thought, what a perfect song title and how timely to have shown up in my life right now.   I don’t claim to know all the lyrics; however, those 7 lyrics in the title are more than just “catchy lyrics” or a “catchy metaphor”, they are truth for me…and here is why:

It was a rainy evening back in April 2001 and my honey and I were getting ready to head to a club to listen to a great band.  My Uncle and his friend were visiting my parents and I was excited to stop by and see them along the way; however, that never happened.  During our drive, I saw a “white flash” and heard this horrific noise and everything was spinning.  Once the spinning stopped, I thought to myself, “am I the one making that noise”?  Breathe Annie, breathe, I told myself.  I had gotten the wind knocked out of me.  I yelled for my honey and he didn’t answer.  I did a mental body check.  My chest hurt, I could finally breathe, I wiggled my fingers, I wiggled my toes and I could only wiggle the left ones.  I attempted to lift my right leg and the lower half just dangled there swaying back and forth.  You guessed it, it was broken.

I spent the next several months in a wheel chair.  I developed blood clots from the blunt force trauma I suffered on my leg and for numerous reasons I knew my life wasn’t going to be the same.  I’m not being overly dramatic here because medically speaking, there are just certain things you can no longer do/use when you’ve had blood clots.

There is way more to this story and perhaps I’ll capture it in another BLOG post; however, I want to get to the nitty gritty of why this made me stronger.

First and foremost, I didn’t get killed!  Whew!  Seeing the pictures and reading the witness statements make me wonder how I ever survived that accident.  So, to that point…I CELEBRATE LIFE.  I am forever grateful that I am alive.  I believe I was put on this earth (and kept here) for a greater purpose.

The second thing that made me stronger was in my relationship with my honey and with my parents (whom I hadn’t lived with in over 10 years).  I was forced to put my trust in them while they bathed me, wiped my bottom, and gave me blood thinner shots.  I was not allowed to do anything by myself.  Those simple acts of kindness and loving care forced me to look at myself and somehow made me see where I could do a better job of trusting myself.

The third thing that made me stronger is the realization that I want to live life to the fullest.  Not in some cliché sort of way that may sound fluffy and gooey.  I no longer say, “I’ll tell him I love him tomorrow”…I do it now.  I no longer put off what brings me joy, I find joy every day and do things every day that bring me joy.  Do I get confused and does it sometimes feel like effort?  Hell yeah, but I know joy is all around me and not far out of my reach. I no longer wait for retirement to travel, I travel now.  Finally, I no longer make excuses for who I am…My name is Ann Boland, kindred spirit and daughter…connected to the core of mother earth and I have come here to rock this world.

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Do you watch the show Chopped?  It’s a great show where the Chef’s are required to take funky ingredients, re-purpose them, and turn them into a palatable dish.  It got me thinking….that’s a lot like what I do with people.  I guide people on their own journey, take the ingredients they already have cooking in their life (drama, joy, sadness, frustration, emotionally spent, spicy, jubilant etc.) and help them repurpose those ingredients into a powerful life.  In other words, I help people who want to make a new dish with their current ingredients.

Some people have hot peppers, some have “fillers” (like pink slime), some have gooey shit and some ingredients are expired.  We take those ingredients, toss out the expired “no-good for you” ingredients and play with the rest by stretching them, forming them, rewire the mixer (your inner leader) so it works at full power and kneeding out the lumps.  Then, we re-plate them in a new way showing its magnificence using the original ingredients. (except the expired ones because they will make you sick)

So, what’s in your pantry?

1. Take an inventory of the thoughts/habits/stories you make up that are getting old and no longer palatable and smell like sour milk.  (Hint:  Look for places where you say “I can’t…..” or “I’ll never….”
2. Put them in the oven (figuratively of course).  What does “Putting in the oven” look like?

• Declare 3 compelling reasons to let go of old ingredients (they no longer serve, they don’t bring joy, they give me diarrhea etc.)
• Commit to yourself and to a close friend or mentor that you are getting rid of them
• Let them burn.  The simple act of deciding to let something go is very powerful

3.  Replace with a new ingredient

For example, if you have a habit of creating drama in your life.  A compelling reason to get rid of it might be: “I want to spend that time and energy I am spending on drama…on fun things or on peace or joy.  Commit to this in your meditation practice or in your journal and then tell someone.  Finally, commit to replacing that drama with joy-filled things or fun and excitement.  Remember, people would rather see you or hear about your fresh and inviting ingredients which are more palatable than to always hear about your sour milk.

As a personal development junkie, I thrive on finding my inner voice and helping others do the same.  Today, I want to talk about finding Your Outer Voice.  What do you think that outer voice is?  It’s about the way you communicate with others which sometime you are successful at and sometimes you crash and burn the relationship bridge.

So what can you do about it?  Simple,  train it, nurture it and strengthen it?  I’m not a voice coach, but I am a coach who can help you uncover hidden challenges in communicating with others, help you develop a crystal clear picture of ideal relationships (either personal or work related), help you navigate through tough conversations and develop a sure-fire way to communicate more effectively.

Click here to get  started with your FREE  “Relationship Rehab –  Finding Your Outer Voice”  1 on 1 coaching session.  As a communications specialist, trainer and coach, I have helped many people gain more confidence, courage and success at communicating and I am waiting to help you.

One of the ways to find your true north is to reconnect with your soul. A great way to do this, which is no more than the price of a latte, is watch this video and listen to this download. http://www.faceyourtruth.com/music-and-products/


As an avid outdoorsy kind of gal, I am always intrigued by the navigational instruments I use when hiking, canoeing and traveling.  I remember one time, about 7 years ago, Greg and I were navigating in a creek (in the dark), which opened up into a bog, attempting to find that “sweet duck-hunting” spot he’d used several times.  We powered our canoe using paddles, our flashlight was packed away, we couldn’t see a map if we wanted to, we had no GPS (yes, people did things differently in the olden days) and we were on our own using some very creative resources and ultimately, we found our truth north. Can you guess what we did?  If so, hold that thought.  I’ll finish the story in a moment but in this blog post, I want to share what finding your true north means, “at least” 3 ways to find it and finally what to watch for on that journey.

What does finding your true north mean?  In Bill George’s book, True North, he says, “it’s the internal compass that guides you successfully through life.  It is your orienting point – your fixed point in a spinning world – that helps you stay on track…It’s based on what is most important to you, your most cherished values, your passions and motivations and the sources of satisfaction in your life.”

So finding it, (knowing it and understanding it) means you’ve got something internally that you can trust to keep you grounded.  Now that we know what it is, let’s chat about some ways we can find it.

1. Knowing or exploring your life purpose or values:  While that might sound fluffy to some people, here is where knowing your purpose and values will pay off: If you know what you stand for and what values are most important to you and make decisions based on them, you will be a great leader, great boss, great advisor, parent etc.  According to Brenda Barnes, CEO of the Sara Lee Company, “The most important thing about <your> leadership is your character and the values that guide your life.”  Companies long for people who know their values and stand in them.
2. Knowing and trusting your instincts:  Oh boy, this is a tough one.  In a world of failed promises and deals – it’s tough to know who to trust.  It’s a muscle that needs to be strengthened over and over again.  How do you know you can trust yourself?  I have a cool assessment I give people to help them identify their trustability level and how to strengthen it. In a world of constantly being forced to put our trust in others – the assessment is an eye-opener.  Take a peak at the free class I have coming up where you can take the assessment
3. Using the resources you already have – both internal and external.  That’s what Greg and I did when we navigated that channel in the dark.  There were overhung trees, a muddy and shallow bottom and even a “pick it up and take it over” (portage)….all done in the dark.  I felt like we were on the show Man Woman Wild.  We used our senses (I heard you giggling but what I mean is sight, sound, touch etc.), we used our paddles to press down on the bottom of the creek and trail to avoid any sink holes and we could sense the feel of a wide open space which told us we made it to the bigger part of the bog.  All at once, a new navigational tool showed up.  It was the north star.

Once on the bigger bog, the north star was very clear and honestly, it was the first time I’d ever seen multi-colored northern lights.  It was beautiful.  Because we had spotted the north star and because we knew if we headed north we’d bump in to our “sweet hunting spot”, we moved forward.  Always keeping that star in front of us.  Instead of worrying or focusing on what might go wrong, we focused on “what else”.  What else could help us get to where we want to be?  What things are we encountering and recognizing and how can we use them to help guide us. We followed the urge to trust ourselves and all the navigational tools we had.  Ultimately, we always kept our eyes open on the journey, always looking for new tools to use.

Ultimately, Greg and I trusted ourselves enough to get to our destination because we held on to and were focused on our truth north.  What do you do to stay connected to your true north?

The art of Staying is about “being with” a process/thing in your life and trusting you’ll know what to do.

I had no idea that simple, yet difficult act would pay off or impact my life.  Tell me if you’ve ever had this experience.

In July of this year I purchased a service which should have provided me promotion and advertisement for my key note speaking services.  In other words, I was offered promise that by hiring them it would save me time, energy, and money and I wouldn’t have to worry about promoting that part of my business ever again.  After all, who doesn’t want to save time, energy, and money, right?  I did my due diligence and researched both the company and it’s customers and intuitively made the decision to hire them…and then, 2 days later, it all fell to pieces.  They received my money and it seemed like they dropped off the face of the earth.  Where were my promises I was made?  Why couldn’t I reach the person who said she’d stay by my side and “promote the hell” out of me?

That was almost 5 months ago and I “stayed”.  I stayed with the questions, “Why was my intuition so strong to hire them and yet they’ve kept none of their promises?” and “What am I supposed to be learning in this whole mess?” and “Will I ever get my non-refundable (according to them) $525 back?”  Because I stayed, I got the answers to those questions and continued to trust (even though it had been 5 months) that all would work out. And it did.

Do you ever have stuff happen like this where it is so clear that you should do something and then it seemingly backfires?  I’d love to hear what you do about it or how you “be with” it.

My final thoughts – there is such power in the art of staying with a process, learning from it and trusting that something beautiful will come out of it.

A Couple Minutes Can Change the Course of a Day.   Did you know that professional athletes take time every day and visualize themselves winning their event?  They hold that victory in the forefront of their minds.  Why do they do this and what do you suppose they know that…..read more

Workshop in a box is Coming Soon!  Check out this Q&A session I had!

Interviewer:  What is this and why did you create it? 

Ann:  The short, sweet and to the point answer is this:  People have busy lives and time and money are HUGE factors in their decisions.  Because people are looking for ways to cut costs – they cut the things out that bring them rejuvenation, relaxation and growth.  Workshop in a Box series takes rest, relaxation and growth to THEM in the comfort of their own home and is a fraction of the cost.  No travel costs, no long hours in a workshop sitting in stiff chairs, and no “locked in” time commitment.  Do it whenever and wherever you are!

Here is the longer answer for a behind the scenes look:  I used to work in a corporate job and understand the pull between “putting in all my hours and getting my projects done” and taking some much needed time off.  When I finally did take time off, I always felt like I needed a vacation when I came back from vacation.  I guess the bottom line was, I wasn’t getting….or probably a better word is I wasn’t “TAKING” that time for rest, relaxation and rejuvenation that I needed.  I simply didn’t have time to do everything that I loved.  So, to answer the question, I created this series because it is an entire workshop designed to help people plug back in and get that rest, relaxation and even motivation that we need in order to re-energize.    It is designed for people with busy lives who otherwise wouldn’t commit time, energy and money into going to a workshop.

Interviewer:  When will the series launch and how can we get our hands on it?

Ann:  The launch is scheduled for September 15th.  Digitally, it will be available on CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon and some other cool places.  You can pre-order here (without any payment obligation right now) http://www.faceyourtruth.com/contact/.  Fill in your information and in the subject line or message field simply state Workshop In A Box.

Interveiwer:  Tell me a little bit about who you are and why you are so passionate about helping people get reconnected with themselves? 

Ann:  That is a loaded question and I will keep it short, sweet and to the point.  I am a lover of life, a lover of the outdoors and my stake in life….or some may use the language “my calling in life” is to help people discover their own personal and powerful truth and unique abilities. I use nature and the outdoors as a playground to teach people about their strengths and gifts.  The cool thing is and this sometimes trips people up…., you don’t have to be outside in nature to learn about yourself through nature.  I guess the only other thing I would say is, I’ve experienced the hustle and bustle of corporate America and the hustle and bustle of building a business and I get it AND…I don’t care who you are, if you don’t take time to refuel yourself,  you will crash.  My favorite quote comes from the thousands of flight attendants across the world and it goes something like this:  “In the event of loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will appear.  Please secure YOUR MASK before assisting anyone else’s”.  They are asking you to take care of yourself before taking care of others because…if you are dead – you will be no good to those you tried to help.  I’m giving you a cost-effective way to do this.  The free gifts you’ll get out of it is more time, more money, more energy and the list goes on.

Interviewer:  What’s Next? 

Ann: I have a couple things coming up.  I am creating a Retreat in a Box series which is like this CD but on steroids.  I am also partnering with some brilliant women on a new project they are working on which will be sort of like a 1-stop shop for your spiritual growth.  I am really excited for this to launch so stay tuned.

Interviewer:  Do you ever have any special offerings? 

Ann:  Absolutely!  I take 4 clients a quarter and work with them one on one and we dive WAY deeper into their personal growth for the sake of their own leadership.  Anyone who books now gets $300 off AND….the Workshop In A Box downloads for free.

When you think of the word TRUST…what comes to mind?  For some, they look at it from the “Trusting Others’” perspective.  In other words, how can I put my trust in another person.   For others, they can’t look at all because the person/deity they worship is the only one they can trust.  (A friend from college told me she believes this and it was a very powerful and reverent statement for her as she stood in her values).

What is equally powerful is the place I am asking you to look - which is what would it look like to trust yourself?  Click here http://ow.ly/68OlA for the audio.