R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs made a phenomenal contribution to the whole world! Not just by providing us with elegant user friendly technology. He was a major inspiration to all the "crazies" and all that's crazy and brilliant in each of us. The torch has been passed. Are you ready to accept the challenge and demand that you be the 'insanely great' genius YOU truly are??

photo by fallingrock

What is getting your creative juices flowing and why would you
want to? Being creative is your natural state. As a being, you
were meant to live with ease, joy and the exuberant expression of
who you are. You were not meant to live a life of dull routine,
fearful limitations or judgments about who you are or who other
people are.

Not only is being creative and expressing yourself exuberantly
natural and fun, it adds to your money flows. Money is attracted
to happiness and joy. It’s not attracted to sadness and
heaviness.

What does it take for you to get your creative juices flowing?
Here are some tips and approaches to get in the flow of your
creative power.

The most powerful way to start the flow is to be open and vulnerable to receive from everywhere and everything. On weekend edition this past Saturday, Scott Simon interviewed lead singer Anthony Keidis of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s. Scott Simon asked Keidis how the band stays creative after being together for 30 years. He responded that being more aware of  your surroundings can give you energy and ideas.

“I remember being very depressed driving on my way to the studio…” and then “looking out my window and seeing all this beautiful life on the sidewalk, in the buildings. In the trees, kids running around and riding bikes. And I just remembered: It’s very important to keep your eyes open, even when you’re going through a routine.”

What keeps us from receiving energy and information from all
around us are the judgments we use to try to defend ourselves by
separating from others and gaurding against being disappointed.

When you aren’t judging, you can be in a state of bouyancy and
fluidity. You feel confident and comfortable in your own skin as
you’re interacting and receiving from the environment around you.

A big part of the work I do as a business coach is helping
business owners and entrepreneurs get out of reaction and
resistance to the environment and challenges and opportunities
that are coming at them. It’s really a matter of shifting from
judgment and reaction and negativity to a state of ease and joy
with your embodiment.

Your body is not just something that you push around like a slave
or a mechanical extension of you, your body actually has it’s own
consciousness and awareness that can contribute to you.

By engaging with your environment with and through your body as a
living instrument rather than a mechanical extension of your
will, you foster aliveness and sensuality in all your actions.

Why do I say the word sensuality. That may seem inappropriate
especially in a business environment. Well actually, sensuality
is the enjoyment of your body and your surroundings in everything
you do.  Have you ever been around a really stiff and self-
conscious executive? Did you really want to do business with
them?

In contrast when you interact with someone who is comfortable in
their body and who enjoys being present and alive and joyful in
their interactions. Doesn’t that make you want to work with them?
As long as you know they know what they’re doing?

There’s a greater variety and depth of creativity and power that
you can bring to your career or business by getting your creative
juices flowing. You do that by being who you truly are and not
judging yourself. Judgment kills creativity and communication.

Children live in the energies of flow. They’re constantly playing – enjoying and exploring their body and their surroundings. You can promote  that in many ways – by getting massage, practicing yoga,  attending an improv class dance class, or by simply giving yourself permission to be silly and play with the moment.

When you stop judging yourself and allow yourself free expression
in everything you do, you can create greater possibilities. You can actually bring more money and success to your career or business.

Would you be willing to get more of your creative juices flowing
so that you’re enjoying exuberant expression of you in everything
you do? What will your life look like if you don’t? What will
your life look like if you do?

I went to a Toastmaster's Leadership training in Berkeley last night. What a great experience! Toastmasters International is totally dedicated to empowering you to be confident and effective speaking in public. At very little cost to you other than a couple hours a week. There's a club in just about every town in every country around the world. If you're looking to get experience and support speaking in public, check it out! http://www.toastmasters.org/

Toastmasters is something I really enjoy participating in and supporting others as a contribution to the community.

In my coaching and consulting, I facilitate entrepreneurs and independent professionals to overcome whatever keeps them from achieving the success they're looking for and greater.

Public speaking is one of the greatest fears many people have. In fact, a lot of people who fear speaking in public actually have a message to share with the world, but they have been so judged so much for it they won't take action. What message do you have that could change the world? And dynamically expand your life and business? Would you willing to do what it took to share it?

If you would like to find how you can overcome any fear or self-doubt that keeps you from fully expressing all your talents and strengths, enter your name and email in the opt in box to the upper right.

 Did you watch Piers Morgan's interview last night with news reporter Christiane Anampour? It was fascinating to watch. She's an amazing woman of power and joy. If you watched you would have seen another side to her that you don't normally see when she's reporting the news. In the interview she was alive and flowing  with earthy fun, self confidence and a lively sense of humor. Very few people I've seen have her incredible raw aliveness along with such powerful dedication to bringing the truth to light and changing the world. 

Most people don't express that amount of power and joy. They seem to feel that they can't be powerful and joyful at the same time. Actually it's the joy and presence that makes for potent change. If there's no joy, then power if just force. Joy comes from letting go of controlling yourself with judgments and conclusions about doing things the right way. Instead of being magnificently present and available to the moment.  

 
Is it possible that your life is less successful because you're controlling how you express yourself? Are you holding back the full power and joyful expression of you? 

 
Christiane Amanpour seems to have no stops to her power and joy. And it's not narcissistic or greedy for attention. She's fully confident and alive. And she brings that power to all her actions. Whether she's confronting a head of state with the truth or relaxed and just being herself with an interviewer. 

It's not based on a need to be right. It's a total presence and openess to the possibilities of the moment. Most people seem to feel the need to be right instead of fully being ourselves. It's based on some judgment or conclusion that requires them to prove something. 

The result is we distort and weaken the results we can get. It doesn't invite or inspire people to enroll in our ideas. 

You don't get the greatest success out of each moment from trying to use force over self-judgments like so many people try to do. That just creates a seriousness and lack of appeal that turns people off. You have to let go of whatever doesn't allow you to be fully in the moment.  

 
One of the major reasons Amanpour is so successful is that she is so fully present and available to the moment. 

She's a potent catalyst for change because she is totally willing to bring all that she is to the moment to change whatever is not working. 

 
Have you ever seen a truly powerful performance by an actor? What makes great actors so exciting to watch is that there's no separation between what they're acting and the way they  present it. It's totally raw and real. That power and freedom of expression can set something free in you. 

 
It's what acting coach, Harold Guskin talks about in his book "How to Stop Acting" .  He's worked with very successful actors like Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, James Gandolfini and Steve Martin. He advises his students  to "discover what makes you tick as an actor. Use what works and discard whatever gets in the way, no matter how sound the concept." As a result, they are completely being the energy of the thoughts and emotions they are portraying in each moment. Great actor's  performances like Marlon Brando in "Apocalypse Now" surprise you with their rawness  because they invent that moment with full power. That doesn't come from thinking, it comes from being fully willing and available to bring forth greatness in that moment. 

 
Great actors aren't trying to follow some formula or do it the right way. Not in those moments that they let go and they express something fresh and real.  There's an abandonment of control when you're fully present and available to the moment that allows you to fully express your power and abilities. What ever is required for the greatest results comes forth. Done well, there's no fear or judgment about how they appear; no expectation or anticipation of a response from the audience. It's very powerful and very cathartic to see. 

 
Watching Christiane Amanpour  was freeing after seeing so many people limiting their powerful expression. There's tremendous power in fully being with whatever is happening without judging it, trying to control it or expecting 

something from it.

 
What if you stopped controlling your creative expression? How much more expansive could your life be if you were that 'out of control' with your joy and power powerful expression instead of trying to do things the right way and the acceptable way?

 
Would you be willing to see what is truly posssible if you are out of control, out of judgment and out of expectation expressing you and your full power and joy?

To grow your business happily and successfully, you have to use your talent and strengths at peak performance. To do that, you have to function with greater power and awareness.

In his latest blog post Jonathan Fields talks about the 4 qualities the Buddha promoted loving kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity and how they can grow your business.

That makes perfect sense. In order succeed, you have to have generosity of spirit, understand your customers, appreciate and learn from your competitors and not be afraid of success or failure.

Read Jonathan’s blog and start thinking about what that means for you and your business.. In my next post I’ll talk about how you can use those qualities to transform yourself and grow your business.

How do  you have fun with your business? Well let’s start with attitude. What makes business so difficult and stressful? Usually it’s you. It’s not that it takes a lot of time, dedication and effort. It almost always does. It’s how you handle it that makes all the difference. You can’t really have fun with your business if you cringe at the disappointments and get starry eyed with the successes. Now, being you is fun. Most people experience that at one time or another. And the way to be you and have fun is to receive everything that comes to your life and business with ease and joy and being fully present. Everything. The good, the bad and the ugly.

The key is to not be vested in the outcome. If you’re not vested in the outcome, you don’t live a roller coaster existence of highs and lows dependent upon winning or losing. You keep on expanding as you… continually creating what’s expansive for you. And you’re willing to know and do whatever it takes.

First of all you have to ask if a business or a venture is going to be expansive for you. Get the energy of that first. And if it is, look at what you’re getting into. How much work and resources it’s going to take to make it a success. Then you can choose to do whatever it takes because you have some ‘on the ground’ awareness of what it’s really going to take. How much money you have to invest, how much time, how much you have to know. Who you have to get to help you. And whether that all still feels expansive. Then you can choose to do whatever it takes with ‘real world’ awareness as well as energetic awareness. Anything less than ‘whatever it takes’ won’t work. Creating a successful business may not take very much at all. But you have to be ready and willing to do whatever is required. You have to keep asking ‘what else is required’. Not just sit back and expect things to show up because you thought one awareness was all you needed.

And again the key is if you want to have fun with your business rather than struggle and get stressed out, don’t be vested in the outcome. Don’t do it for a specific reason. What? Why would you have a business if it’s not based on making a lot of money and creating a better life? Because it’s fun and expansive. You can see that it will be expansive. Expansive includes money and accomplishment, but it’s much much greater. It includes so much more that your mind cannot comprehend. Choosing what’s expansive is the only way to really make your business a true expression of you. Otherwise it all depends on the dictates of this reality.

If you’re vested in the outcome, you don’t keep sustaining yourself when bad news comes your way. You get angry, frustrated and depressed.You go into a funk… Breathe! Relax… take a walk. Open your spirit. Let the sunshine in and know it’s a much bigger game. What else is possible? Not just in results, but ‘simply’ being. Being present as you through thick and thin. No matter what. You won’t do your business any favors by not being you.

Ok, let’s say something didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to. Keep going. Don’t get into the stuck energy of having a point of view about what just happened. You’re bigger than that. That’s not an affirmation. That’s what’s true. Find the greatness of you in your awareness and your body. It’s there. Embrace it. Expand it. It’s the space and presence and energy of you. That’s what makes you unstoppable! Not the trying to overcome the setbacks and obstacles. By being that energy of you, you expand out past those limitations. Open and receive what you need to know to generate something joyous, phenomenal, outrageously fun and nurturing to you and everyone you can contribute to!

Empowerment gets better results than motivation because it doesn’t just propel you from point A to point B. It strengthens you all of you to be the dynamic fully integrated business executive or owner you can be. You get peak performance because you are at the peak of your powers.

It’s an energy of peace as well as like a full confident wave of energy that fills you up and carries you rather than pushes you. There’s a sense of peace and  confidence. You have more of you available to yourself as you move forward rather than having the tunnel vision of motivation. You’re like a great wave of being rising up. Instead of being the servant worker bee to some need that has to be satisfied.

Whether you find your own empowerment from within or someone shines the light of their own empowerment on you so you can shine yourself, empowerment comes from recognizing that you are superior to your circumstances.

Motivation is mostly associated with being driven to satisfy an unmet need.

Motivation is a linear process that can blind you to greater power within you and greater possibilities you can  achieve.

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”   ~ Viktor E. Frankl – via Mari Smith, on Facebook.

Whatever is happening, you have the power to act effectively. Victor Frankel was a Jewish psychotherapist who spent four years in Nazi concentration camps. He not only survived, he provided therapy and helped prevent suicide among the other inmates. He knew first hand what it takes to keep your body and spirit alive  under the worst conditions  possible.

No matter what’s going on you can create more of that space inside you to respond with greater ease and freedom from emotional overwhelm. How do you do that?

1.  Stop judging. Instead of reacting aggressively or checking out, look at what’s happening without judgment, without a need to be right. Or wrong.

2. Don’t take it personally. If you experience your life as “this is what’s happening this moment. That’s interesting.”  Rather than “They’re wrong.” Or “I’m wrong!”                                                                                            Doesn’t mean you don’t stand up for yourself. Just don’t go into the drama of rightness and wrongness. Without the charge of being right or wrong, you can respond with greater ease.

3.  Recognize that you essentially are that greater space and freedom. You are not overwhelm. You can choose to be the ease and joy you naturally are.

You’re not the fearful thought or the tightness in your chest. You’re the ease and freedom taking things in, knowing what you need to know and taking effective action. Choose it without knowing how it will show up and start seeing what does show up in your life.

I’d love to hear your response.

There are 3 steps to expand success for yourself. They help you shift away from trying to solve problems to maximize what’s working. Often you can get much better results if you don’t just fix problems, you duplicate successes. I’ve known that intuitively for quite some time in the work I do with business clients. But it’s nice to see somebody write a book about it.

Don’t Solve Problems

In the February issue, Fast Company columnist Chip Heath and Dan Heath, best-selling authors of Made to Stick, write a thought provoking excerpt from their new book Switch: Don’t Solve Problems, Copy Success.

Find the Bright Spots

They tell a great story about how Jerry Sternim, a representative of Save the Children was able to make significant strides in solving malnutrition among children in South Vietnam in just 6 months. He didn’t do institutional studies on the problems like so many people had done before to little or no effect. He looked for bright spots.

Simple Solutions Are Often Best

It turned out that some of the kids were healthier and stronger than the rest. After asking a few questions, Jerry Sternim determined that the solution was just a matter of more frequent meals and a few additions to the diet that were easily available locally. He had the women who were feeding their children that way teach the other women in the village. And that spread to other villages across the country. Within 6 months Sternim had significantly reduced the threat of malnutrition for children in Vietnam.

How to Be Open to Solutions

When it comes to more sophisticated westerners, it’s actually harder for people to overcome ingrained habits of seeing problems and not recognizing successes. We have a tendency to even see problems where there are actually successes. What I’ve found works is to transform the stuck energy of only seeing problems into an energized state of being open to solutions.

The 3 Steps to Expand Success

When you are alive to possibilities and energized to take advantage of them you contribute to your business being successful. Here are 3 ways to enliven your ability to expand successes.

1. Let go of blaming and judging yourself for mistakes. Part of what can get you stuck in problem solving is simply the stuck energy of making yourself or someone else wrong. Let go of making things right or wrong. Start looking for what works and how to expand that!

2. Be grateful for successes and achievements. Gratitude uplifts you and opens you to receive more if for no other reason than you are in the habit of seeing and receiving what expands your life and business.

3. Really perceive and receive what works in an expansive way. When you fully take in the energy of that, you’ll be able to see it faster and duplicate it more easily.

Are you ready to expand successes? Exponentially?

You bring joy  to your business everyday by making your inner life more important than your business. Like any relationship you have to value yourself AND stay engaged with your partner. Only then can you bring new and richer gifts to your business.  Otherwise it becomes a stale and heavy repetition of actions empty of liveliness and fun.