Leadership

Effortless Action

2009-07-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Are you struggling to achieve something at the moment?
Do you find yourself trying to force something to happen?

Would you like things to happen effortlessly? Would you like to be inspired by creative action?

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Very often, we have ideas about how things should happen... and we get busy 'making' things happen according to our plan. Our society has taught us that to achieve, we must be motivated, take action, make sacrifices and work hard. Yes, it is true AND we also need to remember when to let go.

I was reminded of this recently when I was determined to make something happen. I wanted to print some leaflets for my business and I exerted a huge amount of effort trying to force it all to happen on time. I decided that I wanted them for a specific weekend yet it seemed that at every turn, I encountered a block... an obstacle... Nothing seemed to be flowing. The printers couldn't view my email, the document then became corrupted, the logo wouldn't appear correctly, the printers wouldn't be able to deliver it on time... and so on.

I had the insight to stop a couple of times and question - perhaps this just isn't meant to be - yet my overriding 'achieving self' (the ego) continued on and pushed and pulled in every direction. I could feel myself forcing it to happen... my intuition sensed that perhaps it was time to let go ... but no, on I continued.

The outcome? I finally had the 100 leaflets printed, only to realise at the very instant I collected the package that I was not supposed to use the logo in question. Ironic? Coincidence? I simply found myself laughing at the irony of the situation. How had I not realised this earlier? How had I overlooked such a simple fact?

The truth is that we do this all the time in life. In short, we (our ego) gets in our own way.

If you notice something is not flowing in your life right now, my invitation to you is to simply stop and let go.

There is great wisdom in knowing when to effort and when to let go. Great leaders delicately balance this paradox. They set a clear intention and apply the effort required, yet they also know when to let go ... when to allow things to flow naturally.

Life is like that. If you observe nature, you will see the natural rhythm of life. Everything ebbs and flows. There is a time for ideas to be planted, effort to be applied and then there is also time to let go and watch it come to fruition. It is also the same with exercise - we set our intentions, we take action and apply the necessary effort, then we need to relax and let go - to give time for the body to rest and adjust.

Imagine that you are growing a flower from a seed. Do you sit and watch it continuously, forcing it to grow? Do you over water it to try and make it grow faster? Do you get really frustrated as you want it to happen NOW? No, that would be ridiculous right?! The seed is just growing at its natural pace, in natural flow. If you over water, you're likely to drown it. Your frustration or over-efforting does not make it grow faster either!! All that happens is that you waste your energy in the process.

So the invitation is to stop and apply the same formula to your business.

Set your intention
Apply the necessary effort
.... then let go.

Things may not necessarily go according to your exact plan. In fact, if we just relax, there's usually a reason things don't go exactly to plan... in hindsight, we see that it transpired into something better.

The question is are you willing to be flexible and get out of your own way?

Remember that as with all intentions we set, we need to be open to the possibility:

This intention... OR something better.

Have a great week,

Kristina

www.kristinahart.com
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2086188

Setting Clear Intentions

2009-07-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

Are you clear about what your intentions are with your business, your life?

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Now I am not referring to vague goals or ideas about what you 'wish' for... but clear and specific intentions. When we intend to do something, it's a very powerful statement. Consider the following statements:

My goal is to grow my business.

I intend to grow my business.

Do you feel the difference in those statements? I do. I was curious about the literal meaning of goal vs intention. According to the Oxford Dictionary:

- a goal is defined as "an aim or desired result'' vs
- an intention is defined as ''intention (!) or purpose. Determined to do''.

Note the subtle difference here - the use of the word ''determined'' is very strong against ''aim'' which can sound like some lofty dream far into the future.

Wayne Dyer, a fantastic guru in the field of personal development takes this one step further and describes intention as an underlying force that exists in the universe; where it comes to you and sets up the path for attainment. Our job is really only to decide what we want and then let go. Leave the how up to magic and inspired action! If you are forcing something to happen, you'll know what I mean here (more on that in my next blog entry)!

Whatever you choose to believe, one thing is for sure - it works! It works because it gives an instruction for the subconscious mind to follow. It gives the mind a job to do.

Wouldn't you prefer to instruct your mind to ''intend'' something rather than let it fill that empty space with negative mind-talk?! I certainly would.

Do you keep a record of your intentions? If not, I recommend that you do. In my experience it is even more powerful if we get really specific and put a timeline against it. For example:

I intend to grow my business to a turnover of x by 31 July 2010.

There is no time like the present. So begin now. Take a pen and paper and write down what your intentions are for your business and/or your personal life. I believe it is good to work with both areas because I truly believe a successful life is one where we are fulfilled on all levels of being. To live well, work well, love well. That is really true success.

Happy Intending!

Let me know if this was valuable to you.

Till next time...

Permission to Fail

2009-06-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

How often do we give ourselves permission to fail... to get it wrong, to get it less than perfect, to be ... well, human?

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I have just recently completed the Visionary Leadership Programme and as I am reflecting on the course, I recall one of the areas we looked at in the first module. It was the big one for me - Failure. This was not exactly what I expected (or particularly wanted) to cover I can assure you. I had kindof hoped to avoid this actually... and yet there it was, showing up in my face. I guess you could say this was my first realisation. I REALLY didn't want to fail. I wanted to be a Success! I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted to get it right. How often do you find yourself doing the same?

Of course, I had read plenty of quotes and books about great Entrepreneurs and successful businessmen (and women) that suggested in order to succeed, one must first fail and then try again. Still, somewhere inside me, I thought that perhaps if I read about all of these people, learnt from their mistakes and gained more knowledge, I would somehow avoid the feeling of failure. Sound familiar?

What can we learn? That to not try is the greatest failure of all.

What did I discover? That I have the courage to fail, to get it wrong, to screw it up completely even! Actually, in giving myself permission to fail and in having the courage to meet the fear of failure, 'success' comes more naturally.

Just for today, give yourself a break - I invite you to fail bigtime! Give yourself permission to just do it all wrong - and do it spectacularly wrong!

After all, what's the worst that can happen?