rainbowsoverruins

Money and Opportunity are Everywhere

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A young acquaintance recently posted on Facebook that she has been going through some challenging times. She and the man in her life have been focused on getting their financial lives in order, but as chance would have it, they have their eggs in a controversial basket – making an honest living providing Uber services. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, something did and now they have to rebuild their finances again. This young woman came to mind this morning because of a question she put out into the universe: Who would hire a woman so far along in her pregnancy? I might have passed over this comment, however, there’s an important teaching moment in this.

You see, you and I, in fact, everyone has a negative mental default setting. Until we take the time to retrain our brains, they automatically go there whenever we face something new and unknown, or out of our comfort zone. It stops most of us from ever taking any risks or examining potential ideas that could bring a positive change into our lives.

Now, I’m not saying that there are plenty of employers looking to hire someone who is about to go on maternity leave. Rather, I am suggesting that she might recognize that she is going to a negative place without exploring what she could do to keep her financial life on track over the next 6 months or so. That would give her enough time to have the baby and a comfortable period with her new child before she decides what she wants to do next.

If you are in this kind of a position, the key question to ask is what product or service can I provide that is of value to others? What do I like to do – that I can do part time or at home – that others need? What am I willing to do just to have an income for the next 6 months? Are friends or neighbors telling me about something or are there classified ads in the free penny saver newspapers? Is there something online?

Put aside all your negative thoughts about money and work while you allow yourself to recognize that money and opportunity are everywhere if your eyes are open to see and your ears open to hear.

When I was facing economic challenges, I gave myself permission to take any kind of work I could that would bring an immediate source of income requiring no start up fees. For a very brief period of time, I provided telemarketing services for an hourly minimum wage, paid weekly. It wasn’t much, but it gave me money for food and gasoline in my car which then gave me enough to travel for other opportunities.

These jobs exist in any number of places. Think back to the women who provided simple services to people in town to earn money for their families. At the most basic, they might take in laundry, mend clothes, babysit, open a boarding house and provide personal services running errands for friends and neighbors for a fee. Now that we have phones and Internet, we are able to do so much more – telemarketing, network marketing and Internet marketing. You can open a virtual store from home and there are virtual job options like elance.com and fiverr.com where you can use your skills from the comfort of home to help someone else.

Who knows? The uncomfortable situation that caused you to explore these possibilities might be the beginning of a whole new line of work that is much more lucrative and pleasant that working for someone else. It is certainly gives you more options than collecting the small amounts available through government assistance.

The New Year is almost upon us. If you are looking for extra or any income, take these few days to think about it. Look at yourself. If money and opportunity are everywhere, how can you take advantage of that?

And while you’re at it, let’s develop a new, more positive thought routine for 2015.

To Your Success,

Susan

5 STEPS TO PLAN YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS NOW

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No doubt about it, the holidays are in full swing in my life. Home and Family has just taped the Holiday Special which will air on Hallmark Channel Monday evening, November 24th at 8:00pm E/7p Central. We had over 40 guests on the show ranging from our daily hosts and family members to stars from Hallmark movies and American Idol, Acro Army and Aria. We cook and DIY, sing and break bread with one another in a wonderful celebration. Tune in if you can. We had a great deal of fun pulling this together for you.

On a more personal note, the holidays remind me to take a fresh look at my personal goals for the coming season and my New Year’s resolutions. It’s been a fabulous year and I am extremely grateful for the sense of joy and accomplishment I feel. If I were to create a blessings tree, I’d weave in thoughts of my book Rainbows Over Ruins, the foreword so generously written by Noah St. John, Noah’s live conferences, our appearance on the show to discuss the power of afformations, Home and Family’s second Daytime Emmy nomination, a most wonderful birthday celebration with good friends, family visits, hiring assistants, my virtual blog tour and being asked to be a guest blogger on CoffeyTalk.com.

Ironically, in the midst of all this, I felt a sense of completion. The activities that filled my spring and summer continue, however, the milestone map I had originally created to guide me along the path to publish had done its job. The next steps on the map were too vague and all encompassing. The result was that I felt a lack of forward momentum. I was confused about the specific actions that needed to be taken.

When this happens after an intense flurry of activity, we need to do some strategic planning on inner levels and work from the inside out. What’s that entail?

  1. Sit down and think about your vision of your dream project. Appreciate anything in your daily life that supports your vision. Challenge yourself to find 10 examples each day.
  2. Holding your vision, allow a movie to play across your mind. Ask yourself questions. If you achieve your dreams, what will it look and feel like? Why is it important to you? What are some potential strategies you might pursue? What could the next steps and levels be?
  3. Choosing from a variety of techniques, allow yourself to be guided to deeper subconscious levels. These techniques can range from contemplation, meditation, sitting for ideas, centered prayer, hypnosis, guided imagery, to quantum jumps. The technique is less important than the result – achieving a deeper state where your conscious mind is more still.
  4. Once you return to normal consciousness, be sure to write down any ideas you received. They may be clues to your options, specific ways to find resources and research, as well as descriptions of how to “chunk down” or “step out” a specific milestone you are seeking to achieve. Start to take these actions as soon as you can.
  5. As you go back to regular activity, be mindful about what is showing up around you. Next steps tend to emerge out of your daily activities or, as Thomas Troward suggested, they proceed in an orderly fashion from that which has gone before.

Things do show up around you, often from unexpected places. For instance, the other day I had a conversation with a friend who has been working with me on the show since it began. He revealed that it was not easy to grasp my grand dream, because he could not see how to receive any potential return on investment. I would have to be able to communicate that before he would consider taking action.

Wow! What a wakeup call! My ability to communicate my vision held a key to my success. My idea could be inspiring, however, it would be important to demonstrate to others how they get their money back (i.e., return on investment) or see a different return that helps them achieve their personal goals (such as seeing potential improvement in their own lives or the lives of others). This perspective shared by a friend raised my awareness that whether we are marketing to a client, pitching to a buyer or a financier, we need to know enough to tailor our presentation to their Why before they can see its value to them and take the action we are requesting.

This insight from a random conversation contributes to my strategic planning as I pursue my next steps to create presentations and content. I firmly believe that no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we can use the power of our minds to improve them. My task is to get the message out. This year’s New Year’s resolutions will reflect these next steps that support my goals.

If you can make the time to do some inner strategic planning around your goals, by the time New Year’s rolls around, you may have created resolutions that support them as well. They are the kind of resolutions we are all more likely to pursue until they are achieved, no matter what.

I hope you will take some time to define your strategic New Year’s resolutions. If so, we’re going to have another fabulous year, all together.

To Your Success,

Susan

The Joy of a 3 Day Weekend

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I really needed this fabulous weekend. The past couple weeks have been stressful as we strive to create great shows, while facing the challenge to bring the season in “on time and on budget.” So, it has felt great to kick back, curled up to finish a novel I’ve been slowly reading. I had planned to do things around the house and to promote Rainbows Over Ruins.

If you haven’t read my book yet, the story focuses on my growing awareness that there is a creative thought process that makes it possible to identify what you truly desire, choose actions that support it and get the results you want. Since my entire career has centered on producing, facilitating, and supporting the unfettered creative spirit, coaching this process in order to achieve our creative potential is a natural outgrowth. The book has been a first step in that direction.

Anyway, a funny thing happened on the way to making progress on my To-Do list. One of those items was to focus on the needs and desires of my target audience. Because the book is about our recovery after a landslide destroyed our home, I was looking for people who have to change for any number of reasons or survive difficult situations as I have done. They will have to prepare to transition to new opportunities, develop their outer game by setting goals and taking positive actions as they rethink, redefine and reignite their purpose. If they are developing businesses (and a significant number are), they will engage in strategic planning, team building, and deal with conflict resolution. It will be easier if they ask for help.

As I meandered through the Internet doing a Google search, the keyword I liked most was the word “creativity.” When you are in recovery mode, you benefit from the ability to access your creative potential. This involves the inner game, connected to limitless possibilities. As new creative techniques are learned and applied to common life and workplace challenges, an entirely different energy emerges. It yields a positive outlook and forward looking capacity, even in the face of adversity. It energizes the creative spirit and makes all things possible. If you learn how to flip your thinking, pop paradigms, ask better questions and use power habits, you find your creative self and reap the full benefit of the creative process for personal development and business projects.

With thoughts about creativity tumbling around my mind, I felt a call to look over the draft of my business plan. If you’ve read the book, you know that I have a dream to create a center where people can learn these skills, as well as writing an additional book about the creative workplace. Turning again to the draft proposal, I was reminded of one of my Dad’s stories. It was a bit of a horror story, really, about the tragic ends to doctoral students who could not answer one key question when they went before the panel for their doctoral review: What is the benefit of this work for individuals and businesses? What is the value? In the case of the business plan, the questions would be: Why do we need a Center? Why do we need to improve our creativity?

So my last day off is being spent answering those questions. It has been very helpful to turn to the work of Bruce Nussbaum, author of Creative Intelligence. (I had picked up a copy of his book several months ago in one of those serendipitous moments – a Godwink – when an entire table at Barnes and Noble was dedicated to books on creativity.)

It feels good to hear my own words validated on his pages. We are all creative, even when we are just doing our jobs, even if we don’t think of ourselves that way. But Nussbaum also makes two points that address the question if this work has value to others. Of course, he believes it does.

From a needs perspective, everyone feels the effects of a rapidly changing world. We live in what the military calls VUCA, a time that is “volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.” Nussbaum observes his students coping with this by an awareness that they need to create their own opportunities “in order to survive, and they [want] to learn how.” (Creative Intelligence, p. 16). Of course, it isn’t just the students who face this. All of us do. “We need to prepare ourselves for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, to solve problems that we haven’t recognized” (CI, p. 33).

This affects anyone in transition or any form of life crisis. Just as the rug is pulled out from under them, they face the need to redefine and recreate themselves in a new world they barely understand. They need a way to raise their awareness that there are creative skills they can learn so that they have the means to face these issues in a proactive way.

But the joy of this work – and I’m all about joy and well-being – does not center on the needs aspect. Bruce Nussbaum also mentions Sonia Manchanda, of IDIOM (India), who asks: “Why not focus on aspirations – dreams that we may not believe are even possible?” (CI, p. 29)

Remember, within each crisis is opportunity. Each of us has the chance to learn to focus our ideas into creations that have value and bring us joy, a sense of accomplishment, and the chance to help others. Great potential comes from strong aspirations coupled with the willingness to flip one’s counterproductive thoughts, develop power habits and direct them toward successful results.

I may not have a center yet, however, thanks to a strange meandering 3 day weekend, I am centered on its value. May you find similar times to discover your aspirations and begin to see them unfold.

To Your Success,

Susan

Waiting to Inhale

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Easter weekend and I am enjoying a quiet weekend at home. It is as if I am waiting to inhale. Within the past couple weeks, I moved from what is called “production” to “distribution” status on my book, Rainbows Over Ruins. As I pressed the start button for the fax machine to send my final approval form to the publisher, my heart skipped a beat.

It has taken time to write and edit. Now, the dream will be a reality. My mind races with questions. Who will I tell about the book? How will I tell them about it? Why will it be of value to others? Thankfully, Balboa Press has a solid marketing staff who are there to help me through the process.

I also just returned from one of Noah St. John’s training sessions in Ohio. It was so much fun to meet with other coaches who are using power habits and afformations with clients. We each came home with an extra added feature – a diagnostic test we can use to evaluate what may be holding our clients back from achieving their ambitions.

Not only that, but on the flight home, I picked up a copy of April’s Spirit Magazine. I rarely read inflight magazines, but the cover story was so compelling. “Van Phillips asked three questions that changed the world. You can ask them too.”

What an incredible coincidence! I was returning from the Ohio training with the man who had introduced me to the power of Afformations, positive questions that can provide breakthrough transformations. They certainly have for me and I now incorporate them into my coaching and writing.

Now, SQuire Rushnell would not call this a coincidence at all. He would call it a God Wink, an unopened gift that has been placed right in front of us, tying the bow so to speak on a package, emphasizing an aspect of our experience. Even knowing about God Winks is a God Wink for Rushnell has appeared on our show a few times, but I have never met him.

Anyway, the article’s author, Warren Berger, is not just covering a news story on Van Phillips’ incredible accomplishments creating the new generation of prosthetic limbs. Nor is he writing about how to make “conversation interesting” as he put it. Berger is talking about “beautiful questions” that have the potential to cause change. After learning about Van Phillips, Berger asked himself “what if we kept asking why and what if?” Berger’s life direction changed. He now participates with the Right Question Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts to promote more curiosity in school and businesses.

Like Noah St. John, Berger talks about how the answer is in the question. I imagine he felt the same enthusiasm I felt when I first heard about Afformations. For me, it was seeing a connection between what Noah wrote and the Biblical statement: “Ask and it is given.” My mind whirled. What if questions are the answer? What if how we ask is important? What if the Why game was the most important game we could ever play with our children, even if it exhausted us?

Van Phillips is still asking questions. He wants to know why it is possible to provide these state-of-the-art prosthetics to land mine victims in war zones. Berger is suggesting that we ask beautiful questions of ourselves and participate through rightquestion.org and amorebeautifulquestion.com. He’s also written a book, “A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas.” St. John is educating others on the power of positive Why questions at noahstjohn.com. His new book, “The Power of Afformations” even includes a few words of my story in it.

To learn more about how I am incorporating these questions into guiding others on the creative process most effectively, keep watching this blog for news about when Rainbows Over Ruins is available and where you can obtain it.

As new activities ready to kick into gear, that momentary pause between breaths shifts and my mind begins to whirl around a new set of beautiful questions. Have a lovely holiday weekend and ask yourself some beautiful questions.

To Your Success,

Susan

What if you had a “piano teacher” for your mind?

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Sharing the creative process and being what Noah St. John calls a “loving mirror” to others is similar to developing a pianist or fine athlete.  A piano teacher or athletic coach offers principles and techniques designed to teach you to make music or play a winning game. Similarly, a piano teacher for your mind teaches and offers constructive guidance to help you improve your life or achieve your dreams.

Do you remember those early lessons? Scales repeated every day, reaching for chords that stretched the flexibility of hands, learning to read the notes on the page, and beginning to discover the voice and tempo of a simple composition from clues written on the sheet music… In the beginning, it seemed mundane and arduous; a chore set before you by parents and teachers alike. 

Yet over time, with much daily practice and many weekly classes, we developed a certain agility. Our hands flowed more smoothly over the keys. We made fewer jarring mistakes and we made music. People noticed the improvement and started to appreciate what we were doing.

As long as we kept practicing to maintain these skills and get into the rhythmic feeling of the compositions, the piano yielded its treasures. We mastered them first for ourselves, then gradually shared them with our families, a school band or concert orchestra.  Perhaps we expanded our reach and participated in plays, on a team, or made movies.  We developed resiliency and strength to perform under the pressure of public presentation.

Why do others care about our music or creativity? Why do they come to watch or listen to our performances? Why do they value it? It’s my contention that we express our feelings through our craft and the audience listens because they like the way we make them feel.  And in return, we value the appreciation we feel when they respond to our work.

Our piano teacher is often the first one to guide us to this experience, supporting us through the early developmental stages, providing constructive criticism to help us improve and cheering us on as we achieve new milestones and try our hands at something new.

The analogy here is that the way we think needs to be nurtured in much the same way. We have a mind and we go to school to learn skills that we can use throughout life to help us survive and live a comfortable life. If we grow up in a spiritual home, we learn to pray, attend services or meetings with others and come to value service to our fellow beings.

But without the guidance of a “piano teacher of the mind,” we may not be fully aware of how we may coordinate these two aspects of the mind to create the life we desire. A teacher would help raise our awareness of the qualities of the conscious and non- or subconscious mind. In the materialistic world we do not always recognize the value of the subconscious mind – its open, receptive nature and ability to connect with what quantum physics calls fields of all possibility.  A teacher can help us learn techniques like afformations in order to collaborate with the subconscious mind’s inherent nature and obtain desired results. Anyone who can ask a question can learn to do this.

As a teaching guide to the mind and conscious creativity, my task is to show you the basics and raise your awareness that the subconscious mind does not judge. It accepts what come to it whether good or bad – and reacts in kind.  Your results depend upon both your conscious thoughts and the effect of your feelings as well.  With regular practice you can learn to use tools and techniques to manage both in order to influence the subconscious for your benefit. You can set up a daily inner routine for the mind that is even more powerful than what you do in your outer activities.

Your personal process requires practice, just like learning to play the piano. It also benefits from regular interaction with the teachers who support your growth and others with similar interests. It is inspired by companionship with those who express their joy and speak of discovering new awareness. It benefits from the presence of others who help us see what we may have missed and then help us adjust.

I have long since lost contact with my first piano teachers and my fingers are not so nimble on the keys these days.  Perhaps if I had stayed in touch, my musical skills would be far better. But I know the value of such teachers and apply it in my daily practice routine for my mind.  And I am grateful for interaction with those who keep my skill set up to date now.

If you want all the benefits to be gained through knowledge of the mind in order to get the results you desire, may I suggest you ask for your piano teacher of the mind, learn the basics of the creative process and practice regularly.  With your loving mirror nearby, you can clear the way and enjoy the full expression of your creativity.  Let me know if I can help.

Do You Know Your Value?

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I was thinking about how to identify the audience who would be interested in my offerings when I listened to what Noah St. John had to say about value – the value we bring to others. It made sense to me that before we can identify an audience, we need to know our value so that we can communicate it. However, this has been challenging to me personally. In fact, that’s part of the reason that my book Rainbows Over Ruins took the form that it did. When I began to write, I believed in the value of the success principles, not necessarily in my personal value. Over time, I learned that sharing my experiences, both positive and negative, as an example of someone applying these principles has a value to others.

So why don’t we always see this easily? Noah explains it simply. We cannot see ourselves without the assistance of a mirror. And when we look for a mirror, we want an honest mirror, not one provided by a funhouse that distorts our image. When it comes to the value we provide others, the mirror is not a physical tool, but rather what is reflected back to us from other people. Noah calls them “loving mirrors.” They are the people around us who believe in us even before we are able to believe in ourselves.

There is a special feeling connected with people who support us this way. I was most aware of it when I was studying psychosynthesis and in other group settings. As we shared thoughts, feelings and experiences together, we understood that our role was to listen and support others as they worked through issues in their lives in confidence. Whatever we heard there stayed there. We could share ways we handled similar situations, perspectives we had gained, behaviors we changed and how we changed them. We did not attack or challenge. What we shared was designed to help, not criticize. As often as possible, we found ways to appreciate others for their shares and the value they brought to our lives.

Because a support group is able to show the value we bring to their lives and to others, we gradually come to believe that we can change, cope, improve or acquire new skills. We come to believe that we have value and feel confident about sharing it with others.

Who are the people you would place on your list? They may or may not come from family and friends, co-workers or superiors. In fact, many people do not believe that they have any people who support them in such a positive way. That’s one of the best reasons to find a coach, mentor, support or mastermind group where you can feel the support you need. Once you do, you will find it easier to go after your goals by eliminating any negativity that works against your success.

Part of my daily routine is to express gratitude for the blessings I experience. Included in that list are an ever growing list of people who provide the support I need to keep reaching for growth, expansion and the creation of something new on a regular basis. I have learned that no matter in what circumstances you find yourself, you can find solutions if you are willing to ask for help, be open to receive the assistance that comes your way and then help others in return.

The thought brings to mind a beautiful image shared in spiritual circles of an individual climbing up a rock surface. One arm is extended up to those above him on the mountain. They help him. He, in return, has his other hand reaching back to assist those below who are also climbing. That’s the way I feel about my own journey. Picture me reaching up to those who have taken this journey before me. Now, I’d love to reach back and help you use the creative process to accomplish your goals. Together, we can climb the mountain.

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