In Your Success Zone Blog

Guiding Questions

 

I spent Inauguration Day in front of the television, watching history unfold in Washington, DC and working on my 2009 collage and Mind Maps for my intentions for the year. Our first snow of the winter blanketed the ground and trees, creating a perfect cocoon for some dreaming and scheming. 

I have 3 "umbrella" intentions for 2009. They are big - expansive even.

My intentions for 2009 are

1. I am powerful and prosperous
2. I create and contribute with love 
3. I love my life fully 

I don't know how these possibilities will present themselves. I don't know how I will have to grow to meet them. 

I do know that by year end, I will have many opportunities to grow, expand, and develop my capacity in each of the areas that are important to me.

To get more concrete about my actions for the year ahead, I did a Mind Map for each intention on my list. I now have a visual representation of what I can do to expand into my 2009 intentions.

At the end of each Mind Map, I wrote a Guiding Question that I can ask myself to "true" myself up to my goals and intentions for the year. 

I find these questions very helpful and want to share them with you so that you can think of your own Guiding Questions for the year. You are Creative after all, so creating your year is very much in your realm of possibilities!

My Guiding Questions for 2009:

1. Does this thought, belief or action contribute to Power and Prosperity (for myself and others)?
2. Is this action create and contribute love? 
3. Does this thought, belief or action expand my possibilities? 

What questions are guiding you as you create your 2009? 

Resolutions or Intentions to Create?

 

It's that time again! Making up the list of Resolutions for the New Year is as much a part of the holiday  season as parties, gifts, and reconnecting with family and friends.

Well, I'm not doing it. I'm not making a Resolutions list any more - it's too durn much like going on a diet - which is almost always on everyone's Resolutions list and gets shuttled by the end of January. 

Nope, I'm making a "What I Intend to Create in 2009" list. It just is more fun and inviting. And I know I will actually do what is on that list.

As I look back on my Intentions to Create list from 2008, I find I have achieved everyone of my intentions. On my (very short on purpose) list were

1. I write daily
2. I love myself and others 
3. I actively engage in my life  

I didn't know how these intentions would show up or what I would have to do to become the person that does these things. But this year Life has offered my opportunities to grow in each of the areas listed. And I have found ways to respond so that I am writing, loving, and engaging more now than a year ago.

So I'm upping the ante for 2009 and going bigger. Here's my list of what I Intend to Create in 2009:

1. I am powerful and prosperous 
2. I create and contribute 
3. I love life fully  

Yep, it'll be a stretch, but I know that Life and I will work it out.

How about you? What do you intend to create in 2009? 

On the Ride

In the summer of 2007 I cruised in Atlantic Canada with my family. We were docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia when the remnants of a tropical storm came blowing in. We left Halifax in the late afternoon and sailed into high seas and strong winds. 

It was "Lobster Night" on board the ship. Unfortunately many passengers and staff headed for their cabins to ride out the storm instead making it to the dining room. My family clung on to hand rails to take our table several stories above the rocking sea. 

At first I was frightened as the ship dipped and rose with the ocean. The ups and downs got worse as we left the protection of barrier islands and made our way into open sea.

As my fear mounted, I realized what a ridiculous situation we were in. We were having an elegant dinner on a beautiful, multimillion dollar ship. If the captain thought we were going to capsize, he would have kept the ship in port. Obviously his navigation devices and experience on the sea told him it was safe to proceed.

And really, it was the best thrill ride I could have had without getting on a roller coaster. Plus it was Lobster Night! 

So I decided to put my fear on pause and enjoy this surreal experience with my family. We ate dinner, I enjoyed my new-found perspective, and we had a pleasant evening on board ship.

The seas calmed, and we awoke the next morning at Bar Harbor, Maine to the most beautiful day there in months. 

I tell you this story, dear Creative Entrepreneur, because I sense that we are on a ship in a tropical storm right now. In America we will soon learn who will serve as our next President; the economy is beginning to stabilize, but still looking shaky with warnings ahead; and uncertainty rides high.

I invite you to consider this turbulent time a thrill ride. The ups and downs are extreme, but there just  may be an Intelligence in the background making sure that we all get to the next port in good shape. That's the story I'm telling myself so that I enjoy the ride, too!

It's Not about the Money

Have you seen T. Boone Pickens's ads about energy independence? He has recently spent millions to talk to Americans about how to give up our dependency on foreign oil. More here.

He's for wind and natural gas. And yes, he owns natural gas fields and is building a huge wind farm.

But it's not about the money.

Pickens is the chairman and CEO of BP Capital and has been a billionaire for several years now. He's 80 years old and probably could not spend all his money even if he tried really hard.

It's about being alive while he's alive, contributing, and leaving a legacy. Now that's inspiring!

Running Down the Path of Fear

If you are a creative person, you may be a very good worrier - busily imagining a myriad of bad consequences and getting tangled up in them instead of experiencing what you really want.

I once read that creative people worry more than people who are not so imaginative. Makes sense to me. If you are creative, you are always coming up with ideas, trying new things, going here and there in your imagination. A by-product of being creative can be the penchant to run down the path of fear. I confess to being a very good worrier. If there were a "Dream Up Really Stunning Negative Consequences" event at the Olympics, I would have been a contendor.

In 1996 I was introduced to Abraham,  a group of non-physical beings who speak through Esther Hicks about the Law of Attraction (like attracts like). You may have seen Esther Hicks in The Secret (Original Edition) or read her excellent book Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires.

Listening to Abraham talk about the Law of Attraction, I realized that by imagining the worst case scenario, I was directing my energy in the direction of what I don't want! I then noticed that directing my attention to what I do want was tricky because the bad stuff seemed so compelling and "real" - it just demanded my attention!

With clients, I notice the same thing. It takes deliberate effort to get off the subject of "What's Wrong" and on to the subject of "What I Really Want". Part of the difficulty has to do with our wiring for survival. It's more important for species viability to realize that there is sabertooth tiger lurking in the grass and run (awareness of danger) than blissfully consider a dandelion and get eaten by said tiger (lack of awareness and severe negative consequence).

Now that sabertooth tigers pose a minimal threat, this run to the negative consequence also has to do with choice and feeling able to make a difference in how your life goes. An excellent practice to develop when you find yourself mid-sprint on the path of fear is to ask yourself, "Is this what I really want?" If yes, keep running. If not, stop and consider what you do want and begin to meander down that path instead.

A break in the pattern may not be easy (I'm still practicing!), but it opens up new opportunities for you - ones that you may like much better than what's at the end of the path of fear. Now that's a creative act!

Alicia Sacramone's Comeback

Earlier today I wondered what Alicia Sacramone of the US Women's Gymnastics Team would chose for herself after her disappointing performance in the team finals. In her interview with Chris Collinsworth on NBC, Alicia called her falls on the beam and the floor event "uncharacteristic mistakes". And that's when I knew that Alicia has decided she is a winner.

Tonight she competed in the Women's Individual Vault event, put in a good performance, and finished 4th. No medal, but Alicia is a champion.

And she is getting a lot of hits on Facebook where she is considered hot. So all in all, a good Olympics for Alicia. Brava!

Michael Phelps's Intention List

Michael Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, talked with Bob Costas on NBC tonight about Michael's amazing Olympic experience, winning 8 gold medals in 8 swimming events. If you have been watching the Olympic coverage, you've seen Michael everywhere.

Michael and Bob Bowman said that Michael accomplished pretty much everything on his Intention List for the Olympics. They created it together and went for it.

More than once this past week, Michael Phelps has said that the key to his success has been to "dream big and use my imagination". Tonight I heard Bob Bowman confirm that dreaming big and using his imagination brought Michael to this amazing level of success.

Of course hours in the pool, great physical gifts and skills, top-level coaching, and a myriad of other factors that have colluded on Michael Phelps's behalf.

And that's just the point. By dreaming big and using his imagination, Michael Phelps has allowed the Universe, the fates, the Olympic gods to bring him to the pinnacle of athletic success.

I am duly impressed. I am creating my "Dream Big and Use My Imagination" Intention List.

How about you?

Win or Lose - You Decide

How about those Olympics!?! I've been glued to the tube all week and am so inspired by the incredible athletes, the venues in Beijing, and the stories that have emerged.

I have seen athletes realizing their Olympic dreams:

Michael Phelps winning 8 for 8 gold medals,
Dora Torres taking 2 silver medals literally back to back at age 41, and
Usain "Lightning" Bolt cruising to a win in the 100 m to become the fastest man on earth.

I've also seen the athletes whose dreams have been dashed:

Alicia Sacramone falling off the balance beam and likely costing the US Women's Gymnastics Team the gold medal,
British champion Paula Radcliffe dragging herself over the finish line of the Women's Marathon in 23rd place,
and Aussie hopeful Eamon Sullivan failing to win gold at the Water Cube.

Win or lose, each of these amazing athletes will have to wake up tomorrow and decide his or her future.

To what will Michael Phelps devote himself now?
How will Dara Torres channel her incredible competitive spirit and body?
What else can Usain Bolt accomplish?

Will Alicia Sacramone forgive herself and move on to accomplish other goals in her life?
How will Paula Radcliffe handle not winning an Olympic medal?
Will Eamon Sullivan continue to compete or turn his attention elsewhere?

These question got me to thinking about the decisions we mere mortals (non-Olympians) must answer every day - will I win or lose today? And then I thought about what the game is.

The Game of Life is what we are playing. And each of us has our special events.

My field is the Emotions and my events are Acknowledging and Healing My Emotions and Using My Power for Good.

Your field may be Creativity and your events may be Following Your Inspiration and Allowing Money into Your Experience.

Or perhaps your field is Parenting and your events may be Learning from Your Children and Healing Your Past as You Parent.

I leave you with these questions for Olympians and the rest of us:

What is the field of your endeavor?

What is winning to you?

What are you deciding to do today about winning in your Game of LIfe?