“There are no problems to be fixed, only more truth to be revealed.” Jeffrey Van Dyk, Entrepreneur, Spiritual Business Coach
It seems like so many experts are advising and giving their opinions about HOW to be an entrepreneur, HOW to sell more stuff, HOW to build your platform/audience, which is important stuff to know. Don’t get me wrong.
But there are more pressing questions for many of us creative entrepreneurs, and I’d say one of them is what to do when you feel like you’re doing everything you can and your results are still not what you expected them to be. I’ve had this scenario many times this year. In spite of some big successes this year (65 attendees at my Pacifica Graduate Institute workshop and 3 amazing beta Prosperous Creativity participants), I began to feel like everything I was doing was wrong.
And then I found myself asking the wrong questions.
“Why is my business broken?”
And …
“Who can fix my business?”
We live in a world of imperfections. Sometimes we feel as if we are broken, not enough, bad, stupid, ridiculous … and on and on goes the list. Instead of pointing the mean, blaming finger at ourselves, which is abusive, wouldn’t it be better to accept that this is not a perfect world and sometimes we need to just be and do nothing. Accept for the moment that we’re not sure what the hell is going on, but in our hearts be gentle with ourselves.
Since we all have the power of story, that’s our birthright, what can we do to change this?
I say, let’s start by reframing these two not-so-great questions.
“Why am I [or my business] broken?” —> change this to: “How can I step fully into my true calling, my greatness and joy?”
And …
“Who can fix me [or my business]?” —> change this to: “Who can support me as I experience this change/transition into my fullest self?”
Beginner’s Mind
Start from zero. I love this Rumi poem:
Be helpless, dumbfounded,
Unable to say yes or no.
Then a stretcher will come from grace
to gather us up.
We are too dull-eyed to see that beauty.
If we say we can, we’re lying.
If we say No, we don’t see it,
That No will behead us
And shut tight our window onto spirit.
So let us rather not be sure of anything,
Beside ourselves, and only that, so
Miraculous beings come running to help.
Crazed, lying in a zero circle, mute,
We shall be saying finally,
With tremendous eloquence, Lead us.
When we have totally surrendered to that beauty,
We shall be a mighty kindness.
We are all experts in our life experiences, studies, skills and talents. However, when we try to solve problems from the “expert’s” point-of-view we get stuck.
It is when we stop *trying* to do something and walk away from it … take a walk, make a cup of tea, do some yoga or sweat it out on the dancefloor … that the answers fall gracefully into our minds. Softly, as if they’ve been there all along.
Stop trying. Start being. Your book, screenplay, project, invention, sales page, website will thank you for it.
My challenge for you is this: think of where you are stuck in your life or business and stop trying to solve the problem. Pretend you’ve never experienced this conundrum before, in fact, go so far as to imagine that you’re totally inexperienced in everything. Maybe you’ve beamed down from another galaxy and don’t even know the physical laws of Earth. Approach the situation with fresh eyes and an open mind. Tell a story about it. Not the facts, but from your feelings and imagination. Write multiple endings on separate pieces of paper. Put them in a bowl and pull one out randomly. And do that.
Or something totally different that pops into your mind!
Tell me what you experienced during this imaginative playtime in the comments below.
I know you are a guilty pleasure for at least one person in the world. Revel in that thought! Claim your irresistibility.
I believe that using myth and story in your marketing can transform and heal the masses. And, in the end, attract a lot more clients and ultimately bring in more cashflow.
Story is the most profound way to make an impact in a noisy marketplace … AND in your audience’s lives.
A good story moves us to make a decision or take action. It’s been proven that we make decisions based on how we feel. If you believe that you make decisions rationally, think again. (Just read Dan Ariely’s books)
I know that when you discover your good story that will inspire others to not just buy your stuff or buy into your ideas, but to become avid fans hanging on your every word. Clamoring to work with you, buy your book. Waiting in anticipation for what you’re going to do next.
Great marketing delivers just as much as your product or service does. Your audience desires nothing less. Give them what they want. Unforgettable experiences. Unforgettable stories.
Become a guilty pleasure for your tribe by telling the story that you’ve been holding back. I want to tell more of your stories in this newsletter, so let me know if you’d like to share. As a yummy goody, I’ll give you a free Muse Session (1 hour to talk to me about any project, your business, etc. to get more inspired ideas). Send me an email if you’re interested in playing!
My mission around sharing your stories is to empower you to step into your irresistible healing capabilities. Great stories heal you as well as your listeners. Truly. Why else would people pay a therapist to listen to their stories for an hour?
Speaking of good stories and guilty pleasures … tune in tonight at 5:30-7:00pm Pacific time for a Google Hangout, Awaken Sleeping Beauty: Marketing to Wake up the Masses. As I know you’ve heard me say before, marketing is a golden opportunity for healing. Never before in all of history has online entrepreneurship exploded like this. Opportunities to jump in and promote are endless, but I want to see more of these opportunities awaken people to their highest potential for love and healing. I do not advocate fear and low self-esteem based marketing tactics. And I know you are with me on this!
Visit the announcement page for our Google Hangout, Awaken Sleeping Beauty to learn more about the panelists, sign up for reminders and announcements of future Hangouts you can participate in.
Client Story: Lisa Beck, Lisa Beck Living, Panzumo
Dancer, Choreographer, Musician, Writer, Entrepreneur.
Lisa’s a true quintuple threat, sings like an angel and drums like a woman-on-fire.
Her favorite characters are …
Mary Poppins–because she’s smart, pretty, calm and collected, put together, magical;
Maria (from The Sound of Music)–because she’s creative, musical, inventive, courageous, falls in love, finds her truth;
Cat in the Hat–because he’s silly, mischievious, different, witty;
Cinderella–because she’s the underdog, connected to animals, imagination, has a fairy godmother, won her man;
Dorothy (from The Wizard of Oz)–because she’s an animal lover, kind and sweet, pretty and a heroine (she saves the day!).
I’m always amazed when I read about who my clients’ favorite characters are and why because I see them in the characters’ qualities so clearly.
Our stories, which we can also call our personal mythology, are woven into and by our favorite characters from novels, myths, film, comics and TV.
Sit down and think about your favorite characters and see if you can find the themes they represented flowing through parts of your life today. It’s uncanny how it works.
Lisa was kind enough to be one of my first Beta clients (she said “I’ll be your guinea pig!”) which I’ll be forever grateful for. I learned so much working with her the past three months. It truly has been a joy and a privilege for me.
When I asked her to tell me the top 10 results she got out of working with me in my Prosperous Creativity 90-day marketing immersion she didn’t hesitate:
1. New ideas for offerings (and new ways to present them) 2. Email marketing / social media ideas and expertise 3. Greater trust in myself 4. Increase in the amount of love, joy and purpose I feel as an entrepreneur! 5. Re-connection with my younger self through writing and imagining 6. Clarity about who I truly am and who I serve (my audience) 7. Greater confidence in my work and my gifts 8. Copy writing skills 9. Greater connection to and clarity about my unique personal myth and magic 10. Momentum! Getting that gentle push and support that I need!
Lisa is generously offering you the first two chapters of her wellness eBook, which has great writing prompts to get in tune with what you need to feel healthy and strong. Plus you can read her good story of how she embarked on her journey to embodiment, physical well-being and a joy-filled life. She has so much wisdom to share.
At Pacifica Graduate Institute’s Writer’s Journey gathering this past weekend, storyteller Michael Meade talked about the Muse.
He mentioned how his Muse tended to wake him up at 4am … and that eventually he realized that maybe he should see if his Muse could come visit at a more, eh, appropriate hour, like 6:30am. And She obliged.
Can you relate?
I can! I have the same early morning Muse who comes to visit me. She really wants me to finish my book and write a song for my Mermaid album.
“But I have to finish this website.”
“But I have to finish my (very late) taxes.”
“But I have to read this book by {name of author} who knows a helluva lot more than me about {marketing/social media/PR/blogging}.”
In spite of my litany of excuses, She consistently forgives me and keeps showing up. So, what would happen if someday She just gave up and stopped coming around? Not a happy thought.
This seems like a much bigger problem than not knowing everything about Pinterest!
When confronted with the impulse to honor your overwhelming list of responsibilities over worshipping your Muse, take a deep breath and just stop. You may very well have good reason to take care of the mundane as soon as possible (because the IRS cometh with audit forms and the like), but can you negotiate with your Muse?
“Dear Muse: I promise to give you an hour (or two) today, but I really need to finish my taxes too.”
Respect and love up your Muse every day and she’ll reward you with a constant stream of creative ideas that will illuminate you and possibly the world. Part of your job is to just show up for Her. Put off the have-to-dos for an hour or two and dive into the creative world of your Muse. You’ll show up much stronger in the mundane world if you worship at the altar of Creativity/Imagination first.
And, if it’s been awhile since you’ve had a visit from your Muse, here are a few tips to lure her back into your life:
Pick a spot in your home or outside in nature where you will be relatively undisturbed for an hour or more.
Pick an image, statue or an object from nature and focus a lot of love onto it. Pray over it even. Make it a morning ritual to just sit in your sacred space of making and ask your Muse to return.
Dust off your journal/notebook and begin doodling spirals or anything random on the page. Or, do the Julia Cameron thing: Artist’s Way Morning Pages. Write 3 pages of “stuff” and let it pour out uncensored. Unblock the dam and the new thoughts and ideas will begin to flow.
Consistently sit with your Muse at the same time each day. She’ll hear the call and will pay you a visit.
You may sit around for a few days or weeks wondering if She’ll really come back. Do not doubt. She will return. Like your Guardian Angels, you and your Muse have a sacred contract. If you keep your end of the bargain, She’ll keep hers.
If you could use a Muse in the physical realm, come play with me! I’d love to be your inspirational Mer-muse for that project you’re drawn to do but feel stuck from moving forward with. Be it a book, an album, a film or an inkling of a project. Sometimes you just need that unconditional, non-judgemental sounding board to help you take the next step.
Join me and a panel of magical marketing mavens for an hour and a half long conversation about empowering the masses to create healing change on the planet through divine entrepreneurship.
It’s going to be one helluva party. (Oh, and you can win prizes too!)
Sofia Wren, Fantasy Writer, Magic Teacher, Massage Therapist. 1. Magic, flow and passion are always speaking if we listen.
2. Meditation must be fit into my busy schedule to be sane.
3. Living without a voice or purpose isn’t living at all. http://www.sofiawren.com
Twitter: @SofiaWren
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WrenDoloro
Nicky Tillyer, Artist, Creative Ninja, Teacher. 1. That outcome doesn’t always matter when you embrace your creativity and play.
2. That if you wait until you can afford the right supplies you’ll never start creating.
3. That you need to make a commitment to make time to be creative…there will never be time…you’re too busy. You have to MAKE it.
Website: http://www.artfulgenius.com
Twitter: @NickyTillyer
Facebook page: http://facebook.com/artfulgenius.nickytillyer
Prizes! Yay! Email me the answers to the questions during the Hangout and you may be a lucky winner.
(3) 1-hour Muse Sessions with Kris Oster (valued at $165 each). Need some inspiration or next steps for your big book or business idea? The Muse Session will help you get there.
1 free VITAL eVolution from Nicky Tillyer (valued at $17). Take the 21 day Vibrant Imaginative Thinking for Artful Living eVolution and rediscover your artful playful self.
(5) “Decode the Unique Magic Language of Your Relaxation” with Sofia Wren (valued at $59.99 each)
Kris Oster, Hostess, Mermaid-inspired Mentor, Writer, Drummer.
Sofia Wren, Fantasy Writer, Magic Teacher, Massage Therapist.
Nicky Tillyer, Artist, Creative Ninja, Teacher.