Tag Archives: writing

The Importance of Reading and Keeping Your Mind OPEN

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset by

mocha moments

My cousin’s oldest daughter does not read anything except that which she must! She is 14. Knowing that I am an avid reader, on a recent trip Trinidad, my cousin asked me to have a chat with her about her dislike for reading. Now I learned long ago from Dale Carnegie – that a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still so my approach wasn’t to convince her to read but to share some of the benefits of reading: seeing how others strung words together, seeing different styles, increasing ones vocabulary, discovering new ways to use words you thought you knew.

Yesterday I came across a blog post by Jonathan Fields called How to Get Your Mojo Back and Do Big Things TODAY. He saved me a ton of work organizing my own thoughts about the steps that we all must take on this journey called life if we want to live our best and give our best. But it was the blog post WITHIN the blog post that had the biggest impact. Jonathan said:

Things like mission statements, painted pictures, perfect-day exercises, outcome visualizations, they can all help you understand where you’re going and what your personal metrics for success are.

But, when you’re in the part of any quest I call The Thrash, ,<—-(this is the post within the post :) ) you often don’t yet have a clear beat on your metrics for success. But you still need something to strive for. To measure. To know if you’re moving forward, backward or sideways.

This is the first time I’ve seen anywhere a description of what it feels like on this journey to greatness – where you keep pushing your boundaries, exorcising your fears and oftentimes not knowing what the F you’re doing!

In Jonathan’s words:

So, here’s the interesting thing about the early days of any visionary journey, there’s a whole lot of thrashing that goes on.

It needs to go on. But most visionaries don’t talk about that “dark” time. Because it’s not sexy. It doesn’t feel good or look good to others. Nor do the great creators tend to get any public attention until after the thrash yields a clear enough vision for them to become unwavering pulled toward a quest. The spotlight loves heroes and legends, not WTFs…

We feel bad when we’re in the thrash because all the luminaries we place on pedestals seem to have their stuff so together, seem to be so insanely focused on the one and only thing that matters. And dammit why can’t we be them? Thing is, those same people thrashed mightily before arriving in a place of mission. And they will again.

The thrash needs to happen. Hiding the conversation around this part of every visionary creator’s epic journey makes those currently in the thrash feel inadequate. You look at your heroes and assume “they never thrashed, so what’s wrong with me?”

Which is why READING is so important. We don’t know everything. I have been experiencing the THRASH yet did not have a name for it and of course thought that I was the only person with this experience. How wrong I was!

This is how we learn, how we unlearn, how we integrate new ideas, throw out things that no longer serve us – through the written word! Some may argue that you can just talk to people to find out what’s going on with them. That coaches and teachers will always give you the 411. I think that people tend to be a little more comfortable writing about the “dark” patches versus talking about it out loud. When you’re in a one and one – people want to project the BEST aspects of any situation and skim quickly over the murky, less palatable areas in summary sentences. Writing allows a person to explore in depth, so you get the REAL-ness of the situation.

My advice to my cousin’s daughter was to find books about things that were interesting to her and to get summaries for the less interesting but important topics. Experiment with her choices.

I agree that my way is not THE way but I certainly could not do the work I do without all the reading that I expose myself to. Instead of creating with just one or two  ideas, I have a surfeit thanks to the courage of those willing to organize and put words on paper and then of course share them through books, articles, and blog posts. Thank you all writers in the world!

Reading these books at the moment -

robert-greene-masterybroken-open-how-difficult-times-can-help-us-growshare

2012 in review

Posted in Contribution by

Just a quick post to say “thank you” for your support.

Writing can sometimes be a lonely journey but then people reach out, comment and let you know that something you said is helping them along the way.

I am truly grateful for the ability to shape my thoughts into paragraphs of words that sometimes make sense! :)

Seth Godin echos my sentiments best “It turns out that I don’t just write for you. I also write to remind myself of what I’m hoping to become as well”

Have a super 2013!

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 11 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Success is…

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset, Practicing Self Mastery by

Well first I want to talk a bit about synchronicity. You see life ALWAYS delivers. Thoughts are so powerful. You think a question in your head and voila! the answer shows up in someone’s blog post, or in a conversation that you’re overhearing or in a sitcom. You never know where you answer will come from which adds to life’s mystery and excitement.

And so it was for me regarding success. I ask myself all the time – “why aren’t you doing what you know you supposed to be doing? why do you always seem to sabotage yourself? are you afraid of success?” Sounds so simple. I am afraid of success and that’s why I haven’t been successful so far in my life.

But Molly Gordon, in her blog post today, digs deeper – how do YOU define success? If what you’re pursuing is not in congruence with your own definition then you will always find success elusive.

Yesterday I had a conversation with my sister. She was sharing with me her thoughts on my writing  – that it was insightful, accessible, friendly, open and kind…that she was really proud of me.

Feedback is VERY important and for a writer doubly so because not often do people provide feedback. You are in isolation as to if they’re reading or not and whether what you are writing is in fact affecting them in any way.

But feedback should be like icing on the cake.

Recognition and reward is an important value for me. I DO want to be recognized for my work and my contribution but what I realized after reading Molly’s article was that I need to define success in my own words so that I could identify and be aware of it when it does show up. If not then I might be passing it by, while pursuing someone’s  definition of it, never to truly FEEL as if I’m accomplishing anything – while telling myself  – perhaps you’re afraid of success.

Now I know the truth – I AM afraid of success that is not uniquely mine.

Read Molly’s post and then do yourself a favor – define your own success!

image from http://www.essentialkeystrokes.com

Get your business abuzz with a buzz piece

Posted in Contribution by

Any business owner, who has had more than ten minutes of conversation with me, knows that I usually suggest they create a special report or something free and dowloadable on their Web sites so customers can give their name and email in exchange for this information. Surprisingly no one has taken my advice.

I have created free reports for several customers but they still have not used it in the way I recommended and that is to offer it in exchange for a name and email address. My thinking is, if someone visits your site, and does not want what you’re offering now, how are you going to know they stopped by and how will you follow up with them until they may be ready to do business with you? With a topical buzz piece, you have your first point of engagement.

Read the rest here…

Giselle’s column is published every Thursday in the Business Newsday

Photo from http://www.brisbaneinsectss.com

The importance of writing stuff down

Posted in Developing the Possibilities Mindset, Practicing Self Mastery by

Nowadays with the Internet and email, writing, as with a pen or pencil in ones hand seems so archaic, so farfetched – “write it down?” you ask incredulously? Yes start a journal…start writing stuff down.

Richard Branson keeps notebooks upon notebooks of his ideas, thoughts and other observations daily. He is never without a notebook. Paul J. Meyer built an empire of leadership and learning combining listening, reading and writing.

There is something about writing – almost as if you’re doing so, not on paper but directly on the brain. When you write things down, you tend to remember them.

Many of us avoid writing in journals because writing produces a tangible result where we will be unable to conveniently forget what we’ve discovered as well as it  provides evidence that we cannot later change as our mood becomes less introspective or as fear creeps in to try to taint the results we’ve obtained.

When we have written down things we are less able to late user rationalization and self justification to soften the edges of our discoveries.

Don’t be so scared of failure and disappointment that you fail to dream and take note of the ideas that ‘appear’ in your head from time to time.

Be open and ready always to take note of thoughts as they show up. Write them down immediately, lest you forget them. Resist complacency and doing things as you’ve always done.

Think about these words by Gibran “The lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul.”

Critics will come and go but hold onto your God given dreams…write them down…give them life…give them the air of possibility…who knows what’s going to come out of all your jottings.

Start writing things down. You’ll be happy that you did!

Photo courtesy Simon Howden @ freedigitalphoto.net

Are you tired of starting from Zero every month?

Posted in Practicing Self Mastery by

Why does building business momentum seem so elusive? Do you feel at times as if you are wading through a vat of molasses or as in young people speak – “yuh sticking?” Many business owners could well attest to peaks and troughs in their business but I am describing not even feast or famine but rather a decent meal followed by a long period of famine!

Deep down we all know or at the very least, suspect that there are systems and ways to make  our business truly support us but exactly what is required to get to this level and once there, to maintain it? Are you required to be a genius in your particular sector or maybe proficient in another skill like say – writing – in order to make this happen?

Momentum seems to build when there is strategy, structure and passion. For those business owners who have either volunteered the information or that I have interviewed informally, passion seems significantly absent! There is a lot of focus on getting the strategies and structures in place but this is more of a rigid, disciplined, this-is-a-hell-of-a-lot-of-work – approach devoid of any joy.

Think back to when you first started up. You were excited about developing your business to meet some need of a fairly large client base that would benefit by using your product or service exclusively! I mean – COME ON – you were flat out excited and you felt in your heart of hearts that this was it! You believed in your idea, and you pictured endless people buying from you, while you whistled a happy tune all the way to the bank.

Then reality struck. This was not as much fun as you thought it would be. In fact running a business was turning out to be downright stressful, requiring your ability to cope with anxiety, deal with fear and lug doubt around like a constant companion, wondering whether it was really possible to continue your initial venture.

I believe at this point you had to face up to who you really were. You needed to accept that you had weaknesses and to admit that you needed to ask for help. Some of us have, but I want to talk to those of you, who haven’t yet and are walking around in pain, sticking with “this stinking business” just to save face. Why are you still on the fence? Aren’t you tired of starting from zero EVERY month?

What if you really identified your own uniqueness and that of your business in a way that banished doubt and fear, and attracted just the right people you liked working with to it? What if your customers bought from you way beyond a second purchase and continued to do so – over and over again? What if you were able to offer just the right combination of products and services to your clients?

Too many businesses out there are looking and sounding the same. I call them “ME TOO” companies. If your business does not have a personality then it has no soul. Think about how you connect with those companies that you do business with and like? It’s more than just the product or service isn’t it? Those companies have defined why they are unique and they have a very powerful attraction component that cannot be duplicated. Stop looking at what others are doing.

What are your values and beliefs? All these words have been so bandied about by big-business without substance or essence that when you read them you glaze over and steups. That however does not make them unimportant or that you should disregard the significance of focusing on how you make customers feel. Do they understand your world? Do you take the time to nurture and to communicate your “worldview”?

If you’re tired of the “lil bit of food” followed by days of being hungry then take a second look at your business. Go back to why you started this business in the first place. Think about how you can help your customers walk through your business without obstacles or unnecessary delays. Go back to your principles; revisit your processes and your own theories. And then finally help them apply what you do so that they can live in the part of the world that you’ve created for their full benefit and reward!