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purpose and prosperity coaching for wedding photographers and creative entrepreneurs

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Part Two: (go back to my last post and read part ONE if you missed it!) .
So, what is it that makes you feel the most alive? Are you allowing yourself to do those things that light you up? Are you honoring your value to this world? Do you feel in alignment with joy and abundance? Does life seem to flow when you follow your heart or are you feeling resistance and guilt towards the things you want? Are you feeling a bit lost on connecting with your truest self and would like some additional support with how to let go of limiting beliefs? I always offer 30 minute complimentary sessions for interested people to see if coaching is for them, and for February only I’m doubling these discovery calls to one hour, (a $300 value!!). And if you live in Buffalo, I’ll treat you to coffee at my favorite local coffee shop, @rootscoffeeandtea. If you’ve been feeling interested in learning more about coaching or how it can help align you with your purpose and abundance, I’d love to sit down and meet you this month! And if you leave the meeting feeling like you have enough to kick start a big change, then my work is done 🙌🏼 You can email me directly at Christina@alignedandkind.com to learn more and schedule a time 💫 photo by the fabulous @darcybenincosa .
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#alignment #lifecoach #abundnace #thepowerofnow #alignmentcoaching #followjoy #followyourjoy #sparkjoy #sparkjoychallenge2019 #buffalove #coachingforphotographers #businesscoaching #smallbusiness

Part One: 10 years ago, with just a camera, a lot of curiosity, and a bit of ambition, I created and launched my first business while working nights and weekends around my, “real” 9-5 job.
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18 months later, I left that job to follow my heart completely and I entered the world of creative entrepreneurship. 9 months later, (against the advice of some close family and friends), my husband left his 9-5 too, became part owner with me at our photography business, and we soon found our creative endeavors financially sustaining both us and our family. .
My biggest dream has always been to have a joy filled and abundant life where I got to spend lots and lots of time with my family while doing work that I loved, and inspiring and encouraging others to do the same. By following my heart, I was able to have that life, and much, much more.
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I believe you also deserve a life filled with joy and abundance—and I’m not talking about money and things, (though, when you are in alignment with your truest self, those seem to flow in naturally as a perk). You deserve a life filled with inner abundance that comes from doing whatever makes you feel the most alive and whatever brings you the most meaning in your life. The secret is, only YOU know what that is. No one; not a parent, nor sibling, nor friend, nor self help book, nor mentor or coach, nor social media, nor what Susie over there says, can KNOW for you. Only you ❤️ photo by the one and only @darcybenincosa

8 months ago I found this book in one of the free library’s in our neighborhood. I had heard it referenced in other books I’ve read before and I was very curious! I took it home and read a couple of chapters before shelving it - it didn’t seem to really apply to what I was currently going through. (I was pre-pregnant, feeling great and feeling super in alignment!)
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Then, this week a friend (thank you @eyesxo ) posted about starting a book club centered around THIS book and asked if anyone wanted to join. Intuitively, I felt an immediate yes! So I dusted the book of the shelf and I haven’t been able to put it down since a few days ago. Every word is speaking to me, as if I’m a completely different person that the one who picked it up 8 months ago. And it’s not that I’m “really” much different than 8 months ago, (other than I’m now carrying a baby the size of a head of celery around in my belly). BUT in these past 8 months, with hormone changes, body shifts, and now a diet shift when I least expected it, a lot of surprising thoughts and old limiting beliefs rose to the surface and they rose pretty fast. (Want to uncover some uncomfortable stuff really quick? Remove sugar from your diet for a week 👻). .
For the past 35 years, these old beliefs and thoughts were always there, hidden well and serving me, (and seemingly well for a while), with protection and feeling safe, excuses for why things were the way they were and why I was the way I am, and a complete comfort level with the familiar. Until now, when the same thoughts stopped serving me and started to make me feel anxious, sick and tired instead. .
And now, this book is presenting itself at exactly the right time. (I love when serendipitous things like this happen! Don’t you?) A time to dig a little deeper, release the “old stuff” that isn’t serving me any longer and make room for the new. .
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@hayhouseinc
#bookreccomendations #selfhelp #youcanhealyourlife #limitingbeliefs #louisehay #hayhouse #hayhouseradio #affirmations #positiveaffirmations

Aligned + Kind, The Podcast got approved this week on iTunes which means its time for me to start getting down to business and recording. First, I want to spend sometime getting more clear on my why, which is always evolving as I create. Why am I starting a podcast? Who do I want to attract as guests? Who am I trying to reach/inspire/serve? What are the topics I want to explore? .
It’s easy to start and launch something but I realized that if I can have a more tangible why, it will keep me encouraged to keep going as I move along through this journey.
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For creative and fun research purposes only, when I do eventually get @oprah on my
Podcast, what is the one thing you’d want to ask her? (So many of you responding to my stories about who I should interview first with Oprah’s name, so, I promise I’ll save these questions and ask her all of them when the day comes!)

Do you have a “word” for 2019? I always admired people who did and shared their words. I’d hear their word and I’d think, “oooh, that’s a good word. I should get a word!” All of the sudden I’d find myself, mid-February, wordless, coddling myself, “it’s okay, you can get a word next year!”
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This year, I missed the boat again. But, In the past two weeks, the word “uncomfortable” came up in three situations, knocking me in the face, and reminding me its never too late to find a word I want to embrace. There’s no deadline or infinite contract on choosing your word! And also, noted, the words will find me if I’m paying close enough attention.
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The “comfort zone,” is actually where I like to hang most days in sweats and a top knot, but recently, I realized I may be getting stuck there. When I visualize all of my dreams + changes I’d like to make for my life, they seem to exist right outside of my comfort zone; including dreams like eating sushi in Japan and vacationing in Hawaii one day. (I’m very uncomfortable flying and have avoided it for almost 5 years!).
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So, cheers to 2019. The year I have a word before mid February, lean into uncomfortable, and get on a plane again, and start crossing off some dreams on the bucket list! .
What are some of your dreams and changes you’d like to create for yourself? Do they exist in the comfort zone or right outside of it? And is the fear of discomfort stoping you from taking a step forward? .
#uncomfortable #comfortZone #lifecoaching #embracediscomfort #smallstepforward #newyearsresolution #2019word #2019wordoftheyear

One of my clients posed the question : what was your biggest shift for you in the last year? And I absolutely loved answering it! So I’m asking it here, to you. What was your biggest shift for you in 2018?
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The biggest shift for me (besides having a toddler always grabbing at my @slipclayware coffee cup in the morning), was an intentional mindset shift to abundant thinking. It’s something I’ve practiced on and off for years, but 2018 was the year I committed to turning worry filled thoughts around and focused on a belief that If I continue to show up and give who I am to this world, the world will give back to me. .
And it has. I have healthier and deeper relationships, more clients that are perfect fits that come along serendipitously, more time and energy to get things that excite me finished, and full gratitude lists to prove it. .
While I’m far from perfecting it, I’m practicing daily, and you can too! An abundant mindset notices and holds gratitude for the small and simple things and it only takes a second to turn on. Notice the sunrise, the snowflakes, the sounds, the surprises, the surplus in every day things. Notice the friendships you have encouraging you, the inquiry that came in from a referral singing you praises,
the kind words from the stranger at the store, the “love you” before you end a phone conversation, the good Samaritan that returned your lost check you dropped on the floor in wegmans 🙈 Send gratitude towards those subtle moments full of so much wonder that make up every day. Shifting your focus to gratitude for how much there already is creates abundant feelings, and carrying around the abundant feelings attracts more abundance your way. I’d love to hear about your shifts below! Photo by @darcybenincosa
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#abundantthinking #mindset #coach #lifecoach #brandphotos #sucesscoach #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #hatchgal #mindsetcoach #powerofpositivity

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Photos of Christina taken by D’Arcy Benincosa

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