Harnessing the Power of the Unknown: Move from Repeating the Past to Re-inventing the FutureWritten by Connie Butler
The Unknown - it is scary territory for many, something to be avoided for others and shameful for those who feel they are supposed to know everything. What is your relationship with Unknown? Take a moment to ponder it because your attitude towards and experience of this is what governs your ability to create, to innovate and truly bring more of yourself out into world - in short to be successful. If you are going to create something new in your life – in your career, your relationships and your creative endeavors you will be walking into unknown territory. Learning how to navigate this territory effectively and with power is what makes difference between having a full, rich experience of life and work you enjoy, relishing adventure of every day or living in frustration wondering why same thing keeps occurring repeatedly. Many of us have been taught to be afraid of what we don’t know. It’s threatening, “bad” things happen in unknown, if you don’t know answer it means you are stupid. You have been taught over and over again that remaining with what you know will ensure your security and your success. But you can see repeatedly that this attitude gives birth to bigotry, prevents you from taking informed risks that could improve your life and often creates a life of boredom and fatigue. In truth each moment is a new one. It is your habit of carrying past forward that keeps you repeating same old patterns both in business and in your personal lives. This is not to say that experience doesn’t develop discrimination. It does and discrimination is a valuable tool for us. The question is when is it blocking you? I can’t tell you how many times in working with clients they say some variation of following – Why even try a new approach, it will fail as it has in past, Why risk a new relationship, it won’t work out anyway, Why reach for next level of success and challenge myself I am fine here. But what I know is that if you are not moving into new territory, you are not being as truly alive as is possible and your businesses are not as creative and successful as they could be. You are holding yourself back from what is possible in your life and in your profession. And because of that you suffer personally and professionally. Unknown territory is birthplace of all possibility, all real support and is a very exciting space in which to operate. There are many things that keep us from exploring new territory: fear, lack of self-esteem or confidence, lack of support, and misuse of imagination are a few. This misuse of imagination is one of trickiest to detect. Many people feel that imagination is province of children and artists. That of course is true but each of you uses your imagination constantly; however, many of you don’t recognize you are doing this. Every time you think you know what is going to happen you are using your imagination. Are you using it against yourself or for yourself and your goals? If you are imagining repetition of past you are using it negatively and not allowing a brand new thought, solution or step to emerge. When you walk into a business meeting and your anxiety rises you are using your imagination “knowing” you won’t close deal – you are seeing worst possible outcome. When you won’t take a reasonable, calculated risk you are likely using negative imagination to keep you in sphere of known. You imagine you won’t be safe in unknown territory. But Unknown is territory of possibility, creativity, your own real pathway and therefore success. Who really knows what will happen next?
| | The Benefits of Eating from the Jar of Honey!Written by Nancy D. Bishop
June is month of "honey" moon. Custom holds that this is best time to harvest honey from hives. In some traditions, honey symbolizes love and fertility. During first month of married life, newlyweds were given food and beverages containing honey to encourage love and fertility. Today, we honor this tradition with "honeymoon", which is celebrated immediately after wedding ceremony. Newlyweds or not, we could all benefit from more of this golden elixir in celebration of life and love. Try adding some to your tea or toast this month or give jars of it away to your friends, family, newlywed couples or anyone that could use a little sweetness in their life. I think that we all need reminders, from time to time, that there is a greater purpose to our lives than working 50-60 hours a week (or more) to pay bills. I believe that given choice most people really want to live according to their priorities. However, when reviewing where their time is spent it is often out of alignment with what is important to them. One reason I think that many continue to live out of integrity, with their priorities, is that we have been hypnotized by our culture to believe that this is "just way it is," "we have to," or "we can't." We no longer feel we have control over our time or, right to make decisions based on what is important to us. It takes courage to be conscious of our choices and to take action to bring our lives back into integrity. After all, we may risk people not liking us. We may even risk losing a job if we tell our employers that we can no longer sacrifice ourselves to work. Still, there are many people who have paid a high price in lost families and loved ones because they were too busy making a living and not living a life.
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