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Event + Response = Outcome

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

Does Burn-out Threaten Your Job?

You may have heard the story about the frog, when put in a pot of cold water settles in happily. When the heat is turned up ever so slightly, so that from one moment to the next there isn’t that much of a change, the frog will stay in that pot until fully cooked. For many, that is a description of their daily grind. It started out very comfortable, pleasant, really. Then over the months and years it seemed to change, but each week looks so much like last week, that you determine it’s you and not the job, and you’d better just stay put in that secure pot. Here’s some questions that might help you to determine if it’s the pot, or you:

  1. Is your energy and enthusiasm for the week’s challenges up or down? Do you drag your heavy behind to the office or do you step eagerly through that door?
  2. Does the prospect of another project make you roll your eyes, or does it trigger your creative juices?
  3. Is Friday an escape day or a day to look forward to the renewal of the weekend?
  4. When your clients or customers come to talk to you, is there a small voice in the back of your head that says “Here’s a quarter, please just call someone who CARES!”

Burn out can sneak up on you on little cat’s feet and undermine your ability to do your best work, as well as your ability to avoid depression and insanity. What are your strategies for getting out of that burn-out pot?

Posted in Create your Business, Create your Career | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Marketing for Introverts

You Might be an Introvert if….

If you’re a creative kind of person, chances are high that you’re also an introvert. On the Myers-Briggs assessment for personality styles, those who are introvert and intuitive are only 1% of the population, so that makes you very, very unique.  After all, to be creative, you must think outside the box, be different than those around you, and, oh yes, enjoy working alone in your studio or office. Because you’re in such a small group, demographically speaking, you probably haven’t seen any models for how to market your product or service in a way that draws on your strengths.
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Posted in Create your Business | Tagged , , | 2 Comments