Image by Jared Erondu. Used under a creative commons zero licence
I made a scary phone call this morning.
On the surface it looked like a pretty innocuous phone call, but it was so much more than that. It was a big deal for me.
I could see what it meant to me, because I put it off for at least 2 hours.
Read MoreAfter creating a vision, you need a PLAN.
I KNOW this is where we can get really stuck, so in this week's video I share the tool I use to map out the next steps, including how to work out what to do NOW to progress towards your goals.
Read MoreImage by Noah Kuhn. Used under a creative commons zero licence.
A big bear that used to hunt me (no, not a real one) was:
What if I fail?
Say you're in a reasonably good position as you are. You have a job, maybe some money in the bank. Your co-workers are alright. You’ve got a nice-ish place.
Why would you risk it all for some…pipe dream?
Read MoreImage by Julia Ceasar. Used under a creative commons license.
I used to feel disheartened with my teachers when I would show them my work and they said: "Great, but can you do this and make it even better?"
And I would look at them and think:
“I’ve put all my effort into this and you’re wanting MORE?"
Read MoreImage by Davide Ragusa. Used under a creative commons zero license.
I did hundreds and hundreds of exercises, read very many books and spent years changing careers before creating the vision of what I wanted.
There are two major sticking points in a person’s quest to finding work they love.
The first is working out what you want. (Over and over people tell me what they DON’T want, but you have to turn that on its head and get specific).
Read MoreI hopped on the train to Florence yesterday to meet a new friend and fellow business owner, Nicole. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, followed by a little tub of sweet gelato sitting on the steps of the Uffizi gallery, bathing in the warm sunshine. We wandered round the city, stopping here and there to inspect this and that, relishing the classical architecture and hum of Italian voices around us. I realised how much my soul had craved this kind of love. The inspiration love. The artistic love. The enjoyment love.
And how we often get it backwards.
Read MoreImage by David Marcu. Used under a creative commons zero licence.
And we thought that was just supposed to be a pep talk.
But we CAN. Do anything.
Read MoreImage by Amanda Sandlin. Used under a creative commons zero licence.
We wish our dreams weren’t quite so, well, way out there.
We think we’re even a little crazy for having this dream. We've had a lot of those reactions whenever we say something that’s a little off-piste, that is, compared to everyone else.
We wonder if we’re just selfish.
We’re not. Oh, we’re so not.
Read MoreWe look at people we admire and we envy them. We want their lives, their ways of being, their mindsets. We’re envious.
Envy is one of those annoying, uncomfortable feelings which you feel you ‘shouldn’t’ have.
I have some exciting news I want to share with you... In just under 2 months, I’ll be moving to Italy!
Read MoreLast week we talked about positioning ourselves for change. So I'm wondering, if I asked you, could you tell me specifically what you want to change to? Exactly? In detail? No? Why not?
Read MoreI used to work in a shoe shop and, although, I would only work during holidays, I would occasionally be involved in the stock take. A stock take is a methodical appraisal of what you have at any moment in time compared to what you think you have - identifying discrepancies between your inventory and the physical goods you hold. We use the phrase ‘taking stock’ as an expression to describe the moment where you assess the situation, working out where things are.
Read MoreIf I asked you, do you know what your vision for your life is? The one that will move people, touch lives, make things better?
If not, is it because you have lost it? Is it because you're scared? Because you'll be disappointed if you can't have it? What about if you don't try to reach it? Will you be disappointed then?
Where your dissatisfaction with where you are now becomes a yearning that you can't get rid of, explore it. Investigate the anger you feel. Work through the pain. Look at the injustice you're outraged by. Pinpoint your feelings.
Why?
Why not just squash it down inside of you? Why not keep your mouth shut, ignore it, and hope it goes away?
Why?
Why not adhere to the people who say: "Can't you just get over it? Live a peaceful life and not bother anyone. Be happy with what you have."
Why?
We need that dream.
We need your gifts.
We need your commitment to hard work that manifests itself as laziness because at the moment you're just scared. Your laziness will melt away in the face of your excitement.
We need your vision that isn't yet defined because you're fearful it won't happen. We need it to inspire us and keep us going. Keep fighting the fear.
We need your compassion - the one that makes you stay and talk even though you need to make your deadline. Don't berate yourself for choosing to stay, know what value it has for them, the person who needs to talk. We need it to help us when we're feeling horrible.
We need your organisational skills - because they will to help make our dreams work. We need The Stationery Queen. We need it to make our businesses run more smoothly and our dreams to be realised.
We need the well-driller in you. We need the house builder. The artist. The facilitator. The events manager. The one inside you, that you don't dare yet to be or even think of. The one you long for.
We need your dream. Your big dream.
You want to say something rude. You've given your all, you know you are sacrificing health and time with your family but someone has to come along, just rock up and throw in their five pence. Just stop for a second and think. I heard once that anger is almost always anger at yourself, for overreacting to something, for allowing yourself to lose control in a situation, for your own inaction. Now, when it happens to me, I can usually trace it back. Now, I can identify what it is. It makes it so much easier to get over it.
Taking responsibility for that which you can change, and having the courage to search yourself and find those things that are causing this explosion in you is the best way to freedom in your own mind. Yes, circumstances happen. No, it's not everyone else's fault.
There's always the @theventservice to take out the anger on if you're not ready for that yet.
...I didn't either. It's not as though I wasn't smart enough to have ambition. I was. And I 'looked' the type to be ambitious. And I went to a school that people assume is full of ambitious children. And I suppose it was to some extent. But there were exceptions. Like me.
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