What’s Your Priority?
Incorporating a new activity into our daily lives presents many challenges. New activities come prepackaged with a host of very cheap and easy excuses to hide behind. Starting a business introduces a variety of new activities all at once, many of which we have no prior experience with. It is no wonder so many new businesses fail.
I have found that every excuse is merely a tactic for avoiding something I was overwhelmed or intimidated by. Eventually I landed on one idea that was compelling enough to triumph over the tyrannical reign of excuses. That compelling idea became my priority, and excuses which had once seemed so impenetrable evaporated into the thin air from which they arose. I was finally able to create my first product.
On the other side of that experience, the process of creating became much more clear. That clarity paved the way for more products and services as I honed the skill of establishing priorities. Now, it is no longer a question of success, but simply a matter of figuring out the activities that will make up that success, and setting those activities as my priority. It is now entirely about sincerity: how do I most want to be of service?
When your ideas successfully become your priority, no excuse will stand in the way of your success.
Watch Your Step
Stepping, and the space in which a step occurs, are inextricable.
Liberation is inevitable as awareness shifts from the former to the latter.
Bouyant
We float when we stop struggling.
Home
Shhh. Quiet. Listen.
There is a stillness that is always here. Can you sense it? Even as sirens blare, that stillness remains undisturbed.
Listen. That stillness will lead you home.
The Bliss of Hardship
Be grateful for hardship: it pushes you to dig deeper. If life were a non-stop bliss picnic, bliss itself would become the hardship from which we sought reprieve.
When we stop trying to escape hardship, when we turn and face it head on and genuinely ask how we can help, only then do we tap into the bliss which precedes and pervades seeming hardships.
Stop angling for the win, and just revel in the fact that you are breathing. Life is a failing proposition when your primary goal is to defy the odds or carve out “me” time. Those “lucky” few who manage to defy those odds discover the emptiness and hardships contained within that win.
Everything here is set up to crush you. Submitting to this fate allows for the liberating discovery of that inescapable part of you which is uncrushable. Only then can we begin to explore and experience true bliss.
Trailblazers
An idealist looks at life through a lens of self: through a lens of hopes, dreams, and skepticism harvested from a field of experiences rooted in his innate disposition. He sees various configurations of his success and failure, and angles for what he believes are his highest possible opportunities. The key word there is “possible”: he may in fact see other higher opportunities, but he won’t angle for those he does not believe he can achieve.
A visionary looks at life through the lens of universal patterns: patterns rooted in the beginning of time and revealing themselves in this singular moment. He fearlessly sees an inevitable outcome, and lives his life in alignment with that insight. It is not about his hopes and dreams, or the reality he most wants or fears. This stabilizing viewpoint allows him to glide more effortlessly and effectively through his daily life, as he is not bogged down by “what if’s” and “why’s”.
I encourage you to let go of ideals: not forever, just for a moment. Only when you can see the limitations they contain should you pick them up again. From this vantage point, you no longer have the capacity to blame anyone but yourself for the limitations you perceive.
The alternative is to leave those ideals on the altar of society, and refocus your highly developed lens to find the patterns at work both in the world and in your daily life. Once discovered, you naturally align with them. You diverge from society’s vision and blaze your own trail.
Deeply Grateful
Each time I receive a notice that some brave soul added themselves to my blog, I get a fleeting rush of stage fright. For just a moment, I feel terrified of writing a single word, and want to shut the blog down entirely. That notice touches the nerve of an old, conditioned worldview of “worthlessness” that carried me through the first four decades of my life.
As this new energy courses through that old nerve, it pulses and feels a bit like labor pains. Having learned to simply allow this sensation without needing to remedy it, I am able to breathe through the discomfort and begin writing anyway. Each time it gets easier, and each time I am born just a bit more fully into the world.
Truly at this point, that initial sense of terror is quickly being transformed into a deep sense of thrill. Having sat with this feeling enough times now, I know it to be a signal of great things to come.
So thank you, Tony, for helping me further rewire those old neural pathways today.
Thank you also to Tom, Robin, Amy, and Don for your roles in this evolution. I am deeply grateful for the privilege of sharing myself and my story with you. You help me see myself more clearly, and I hope that my insights and stories somehow do the same for each of you.
Stepping Anyway
A painter does not wait for the painting to be perfect before first dipping the brush into the paint.
Go!
The only place to start is here.
The only day to start is today.
The only time to start is now.
The only way to start is to start.
Let go of the concerns of how and what and who and why: these answers will be revealed in perfect order and right on cue.
Thrashing is unavoidable as you hack through the dense jungle of uncertainty: embrace the thrashing. Your willingness to learn in the open positions you for greatest success.
Make something happen. Learn something new. Share your gifts.
Why are you still reading? Go!
Pristine Innocence
Only when we sense the inherent perfection of a situation can we effectively bring change. We no longer try to change a situation for the “good” of the world. In seeing the beauty and significance of the weed, the ultimate good has already happened. The thing that needed changing first was our mind.
Disengaging from the battle for justice, we become the innocent field upon which that battle is fought. We draw nutrients from the blood being spilled, and make good use of the decaying bodies buried beneath our surface.
Having detached from the need to change anything, we are now free to change, or not change, those situations that penetrate our awareness. And whichever throne we choose to serve, we are not wrong. Each choice has an inherent perfection in alignment with the whole. The choice arises from sheer inspiration: not to make right, but to discover.
The result: Pristine innocence steers innate wisdom in response to a greater knowing than our own.
No Question
A seed does not ask, “What do I want to do when I grow up?” or “Who do I most want to serve?” A seed is simply aligned with the environment and the innate wisdom which gave rise to it being here in the first place. In this, the seed most effectively serves to support life’s fullest potential, whether that means growing strong or nourishing another.
Thriving
A new mother cannot force the milk from her breast in order to nourish her newborn. Thoughts that the process is not happening how and when we feel it should succeeds only in creating stress and interferes with the process. Allowing life to unfold naturally is the surest path to a plump and healthy infant, providing him with his greatest chance to thrive.
Perhaps the reason labor is so taxing is so that the well-intentioned mother will not have the capacity to interfere with the natural order of things. She is compassionately forced into a natural state of surrender.
Trust life. Resigning from the struggle to make life unfold according to our ideas or on our time schedule provides us with our greatest chance to thrive. The milk will flow, and be far more sweet.
Innately Wise
Our body knows exactly what to do after we eat. It doesn’t waffle with indecision about the pros and cons of digesting the food, what is the best way of digesting, or procrastinate digesting because it doesn’t “feel” like doing it now.
Our body responds in concert with a wide spectrum of inner and outer environmental conditions. Our body’s innate wisdom allows it to masterfully adapt and thrive even when toxins are introduced. Because our bodies are unwaveringly surrendered to what is contained in this moment, they can use available resources most efficiently and rise above insurmountable odds.
When we are aligned with the fullest possible expression of ourselves in this moment, our whole lives can be like that. Each action can be one of perfect precision, and because we have the added bonus of sentience, we can reflect on that dance with amazement and joy.
What would your day be like if you knew exactly what to do in any given situation? How would your life be transformed if there was no question about what step to take next? This is the promise of personal mastery.
Unassuming Lifeline
Unhappiness and fulfillment are not mutually exclusive.
We can’t experience happiness or unhappiness without having first experienced fulfillment. Fulfillment precedes, and therefore contains, both happiness and unhappiness. When this sinks in deeply enough, our entire worldview expands, and excited curiosity replaces misguided fear.
A huge shift occurred for me when I stopped trying to solve my unhappiness and started learning from it instead. I placed my unhappiness at the head of the classroom, and whenever it spoke, I listened and took note: not about what I should change, but about what amazing parts of my life I was blinding myself to.
With enough practice, unhappiness became my lifeline to authentic fulfillment. Rather than needing things to change in my life in order to feel fulfilled, fulfillment preceded the need to make any changes. Now if I do take a step in the direction of change, it is not in search of fulfillment, but an expression of fulfillment.
Mindful Reminder: “Breathe”
There is only ever this next step.
Everything that needs done will get done.
Breathe.
Poetic Pause: “Lightening”
Wandering in the darkness, enjoying the sultry sound of solitude.
Directionless, but not scared the way I once was.
Awareness of the fine golden thread woven throughout the scene.
Plucking that thread will break it: Dancing with it instead.
Echoes of joyful sincerity, openness, and willingness carry this weary traveler in full surrender to its beautiful music.
BAM! Lightening!
In that flash, the next sign post stands revealed, and I am off running once more!
Empowering Connection
I had a decision to make yesterday.
The “one and only” Seth Godin had announced he was doing a live online QnA for the 5000+ students participating in his new SkillShare workshop on Modern Marketing. He’s like a rock star to me right now, so you can imagine my excitement!
The thing is, the live event was on Thursday: the same day local legend, Bonny Boice of BGB Consulting, had graciously agreed to meet with me and share some insights into her path to success.
I could only arrange to do one or the other. The decision was a no-brainer. A face-to-face conversation with a real person ranks miles above a limited online exchange any day of the week.
When we connect with someone directly in genuine conversation, we are transformed in the process. We are able to see ourselves in a way we couldn’t otherwise, especially if we or they are skilled in the art of asking empowering questions. When we engage in an extended dialogue, whether it be with a friend or paid professional, we have the opportunity to gain insight into our inner workings. Those insights can empower us to step more boldly into the fullest possible expression of ourselves.
If you ever reach a point where you feel you’d like some support or companionship on your journey, I do hope you’ll drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you.
Leveling Up
Achieving our goals can be a double-edged sword if we head out onto that path equipped with only our ideals. There is an experience of life awaiting us beyond our ideas of what experiences we want our life to contain. As long as we are chasing our dreams, we are trampling over the intention that got us to where we are right now. It’s a losing battle, and we end up exhausting ourselves in the process of fighting ghosts.
When we step from a place of fulfillment, the war ends.
Stepping from a place of fulfillment becomes possible once we have taken responsibility for the decisions we have made to this point. We “own” our choices, and discover how each choice contains within it the fullness of life. We no longer feel compelled to try and filter out the undesirable aspects of our choices, and instead discover the goodness woven throughout all aspects of our choices.
Stepping from a place of fulfillment means we are not trying to attain something, but are simply open to discovery. It indicates we are in alignment with the fullest expression of ourselves in this moment. By disengaging from the need to “level up”, leveling up can occur naturally and without stress or crisis. We let go of what that “upper level” looks like, and are able to experience the fulfillment inherent in every step along our journey.
If you ever reach a point where you feel you’d like some support or companionship on your journey, I do hope you’ll drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you.
Break Through
Life feels heavy sometimes. Really heavy. When we are weary of digging, that is precisely when we need to dig the most. To throw in the towel right in the moment of despair is to deny yourself the opportunity to discover what is just on the other side.
The wall seems so dense, like we have not made even an inch of progress, yet in that moment the wall is paper thin. One more swing of the pickaxe and we will break through to the glorious stream of light just on the other side. But if we pull back, if we hesitate for even just a moment, the wall grows thick once more.
Stay with it. Surrender to the digging. There is joy woven throughout the weariness if you just know what to look for.
If you ever reach a point where you feel you’d like some support or companionship on your journey, I do hope you’ll drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you.
The Art of Transformation
A couple of years ago a mission statement formed for my life: “To fully explore, experience, and express creativity and insight.”
Right now my mission is taking me into the realm of leadership. I am inspired to guide others in the art of transformation. I have become an expert of transformation in my own life, though I know my strategies won’t resonate with everyone.
For an elite few, however, those strategies will prove highly effective at unseating obstinate willpower, allowing them to achieve an enduring sense of personal mastery in some or all aspects of their lives.
I am curious what your experience with transformation has been. You have undoubtedly achieved some degree of success in your life, yet I suspect there remains an intangible sense of restlessness that keeps you digging ever deeper for empowering answers so you can stand fully clear in your life.
If you ever reach a point where you feel you’d like some support or companionship on your journey, I do hope you’ll drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you.