Archives for: Law of Attraction

Good Grief, Charlie Brown

Posted on October 5, 2011 by sheryl

What’s the difference between “good grief” and a pity party? As a business decision, I closed my massage practice of 17 years last week. I knew it was the right decision, but I’ve been grieving the loss of my connection to many wonderful people, and my chance to contribute to their lives.

I really wanted to avoid the pity party, but in doing so, I also ignored a very real emotion that was welling up, and I found myself with a lump in my throat that I even tried to imagine was a cold coming on!

“Good Grief” for me this week is self-care:

  1. Crying when I need to
  2. Sleeping when I want to
  3. Staying in meditation as long as I can
  4. Allowing a wound to heal

It made me think, that if I were cut, I’d take care of the wound, keep it clean, keep it safe from any further tearing, and spend very little time in a pity party. I’m learning a lot about good grief.

What resources do you use to give space for grief while honoring your own integrity and intention toward your future?

Posted in Business Strategy, Create your Business, Just Stuck, Law of Attraction | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Event + Response = Outcome

Posted on September 27, 2011 by sheryl

I’m in the creek, and I need a paddle. I’m up to my ankles in water actually, and having an interesting time with the response part of the formula.

Here’s my story. I had planned a delightful virtual birthday party with friends from all over the country. I purchased a lovely birthday bouquet of flowers and balloons to make the event festive, and showed up at my office, where I wanted to make that call at 9am, Sunday morning, 9/11/11. When I walked through the door, my toilet had malfunctioned, and had delivered gallons and gallons of clean water (thank goodness) to my office, to my neighbor’s office and to the courtyard out front.

Keeping my priorities straight, I continued with my friends, never letting them know that I was standing in water.  We had a wonderful virtual party, which I’m looking forward to doing again.

My insurance company has been wonderful (Hartford, if you need a good commercial policy), I’ll get a new carpet, freshly painted walls, new linoleum in the bathroom, a new toilet and a new start when the repairs are complete.  I’m choosing colors that match my branding and doing a lot of clearing out of old debris, both physical and emotional in the process.

What’s been interesting for me is how people are so sympathetic, so sorry, so eager to join what they assume is my own pity party, but, I’m just not there.

Yes, there were many intense hours, trying to salvage my furniture, files and equipment from damage, lining up contractors, evaluating my business vision going forward, and finding ways to meet the needs of my clients while I’m out of business.

The biggest gift is that I have to trust the universe to be orchestrating all that is needed to create the life of my dreams – a life that is full of opportunities to fulfill my mission which is to inspire and empower people to live from their deepest selves. Right now, the most important “people” I have to inspire and empower is me.

In retrospect, the events following my own private 9/11 are strangely shamanic, and, were I to describe each piece, it sounds like a dream with its own meaning.

What events in your life demanded a powerful response?  Is that response the one you really want to use to create the outcome you desire?  Sometimes a response is reactive and habitual as in “Why me, Lord?” “It can’t get worse than this, maybe I’ll quit my business” and, my personal best “#$%^@,   @#$%@,   &*@%#”  (of course anger and swearing help oh so little!).

Do leave a comment and let us know what events you have responded to recently and how that worked out for you.  I’m turning this birthday party turned pity party into my celebration party of a brand new beginning, care to join me?

Posted in Business Strategy, Create your Business, Law of Attraction | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

“Dem Bones, Dem Bones”

Posted on August 3, 2011 by sheryl

Remember those cute minnows swirling around your feet as you wade out into the ocean? They have intact backbones and really aren’t succeeding. Neither are the jellyfish stranded on the sand in the outgoing tide. Many people understand that BACKBONE, will, drive, Hard Work and discipline are critical to success.

As we look at obstacles to business success, consider the obstacle of no WISHBONE – no time to set vision, create focus and intention. Yes, we talk about annually an quarterly stepping back to create vision and specific strategies, but have you considered bringiing that practice into the month, the week, the day, or even the next hour?  Setting vision for the day or the hour, is more like setting your intention for this day to be _______(productive, nurturing, energized, giving, fulfilling – fill in the blank) and holding that intention as you take on your action steps for that day.

What I see happening so often, is sitting down at my desk, with a carefully prepared list of action steps that may or may not match my strategy, then working very HARD with all my drive, will, discipline until my neck hurts, I’m cranky and I know, from my work on professional burn-out, that I’m on my way down that path, fighting the tide and finally ending up as food for the big players. [OK, that's a little dramatice, but you get the point].

To bring joy, success, as well as long term contribution in my field, I engage both bones. Here’s my check list:

  • Is what I’m about to do consistent with my intention for the day?
  • Is what I’m about to do consistent with my strategy for the quarter?
  • Do I have the energy to do this with my full attention and my full heart?
  • Can I do this from a place of power and energy, or from a place of just surviving?

No to any one of these questions may suggest that I’m driving and striving, just like those little minnows and maybe I’ll still be fighting the ocean when the day is done.  As you look at what obstacles may be limiting your success, consider the marriage of both your will and your self-discipline (BACKBONE) with your visioning, your intentions, and your heart (WISHBONE). This is the essence of linking the Law of Attraction to the Law of Action – and that marriage real Olympic Gold.

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