When things don't go as expected... We can choose to react and go into a crisis mode. Or we can choose to respond and figure out what we can do now. The more we practice choosing the latter, the better we get at it.
A few questions that help... "What is the one thing I need to do today that I am afraid to do?" This question brings the spotlight on the thing that's most likely to be procrastinated/avoided. And once we answer this question, we can choose to make it the only thing
Identity creates leverage. Trying to change our actions/habits while our identity remains contrary to the change becomes an uphill battle. On the other hand, if we start by changing our identity with intent, we create leverage and make the change easier. The hard work is to let go of the existing identity
Rest is underrated... …and so is happiness. Being a professional doesn’t mean we say no to life. We can learn to make space for the work that matters while also taking care of our well-being and happiness.
Open to possibility. If we let go of our need for certainty, we can open ourselves to engaging with possibility. The skill lies in embracing the way things are and then figuring out what we can invent now that can help us move forward.
Fear of none Bad can lead to good. None won't. A bad dance performance can lead to another bad performance can lead to a good one. Instead of fearing the bad performance, can we choose to fear not performing? And learn to embrace the bad instead.
What would it look like... ...if it was easier? ...if it was fun? ...if it was effortless? Asking these questions can help us see our projects in a different light. Hard work for the sake of hard work isn't productive.
Pushing through resistance. Resistance does not go away on its own. If we listen to it, it will push us away from our work. And the more we listen, the more powerful it becomes. The only way to counter this is to push through resistance, to get something tangible done. The more we
Money and emotions. Earning money is a skill. A skill that involves creating the conditions with intent that lead to consistent and sufficient income. Allocating or spending money is a different skill, one that requires us to prioritise investment over expenses and build a system that helps us do this in a sane
Being a contribution. From The Art of Possibility by Ben & Rosamund Zander Strolling along the edge of the sea, a man catches sight of a young woman who appears to be engaged in a ritual dance. She stoops down, then straightens to her full height, casting her arm out in an arc.
Decoding stress. Stress is a sign of trying to force change the way things are. How can we instead embrace the way things are? How can we be aligned with the way things are, including our feelings about the way things are?
Early signs. We have a tendency to ignore the early signs: A not-so-loud noise that starts coming from the car engine. A flicker in the overhead light that happens every now and then. A general sense of being out of creative and productive juice when we sit down to work. A subtle
Sunk costs. Decisions made in the past are not relevant to the decisions to be made in the present or in the future. It's imperative to choose to decide based on the facts that we know right now and where we are going. We can choose to ignore everything else
Do what you can. Some days can be hard. Emotions can get the best of us. What we can do on those days is to do what we can. If we keep doing that, we are more likely than not to get back on the boat. ...the metaphor “out of the boat” signifies more
Even if you don't feel like it... Waiting for inspiration is a luxury a professional can’t afford. That belongs to the amateur. The professional gets done what's expected of her, even if she doesn't feel like it, especially when she doesn’t feel like it.
Letting go of assumptions. Assumptions can hold us back from opening ourselves to possibility. The more we invest in them, the more they can turn into attachments. But, when we choose to let go of them, when we can look at them without judgement, we can act and create the conditions for what we
Doing the creative work first. As we work on our creative projects, all kinds of urgencies tend to pop up on a recurring basis. The tendency to cater to the urgencies and then try to come back to the work is very tempting. But it becomes an uphill climb. Better to do the work first.
Assuming that there's no child story. The strongest child story is to assume that there is no child story. The biggest resistance is to assume that there is no resistance. We can’t work on a problem we are not willing to accept we have. …and all the while you, like everyone else, take pride in
Bird by bird. “...I also remember a story that I know I’ve told elsewhere but that over and over helps me to get a grip: thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had
Getting good at projects... If a project fails, it doesn't do your work or your idea justice. Getting good at projects give you the freedom to do your work. ~ Seth Godin Check out Seth's course on getting good at projects below. Get It Done: Complete Projects that Matter with Seth
Emotions and decision making. Emotional decisions are different from those made based on intuition. They have a different texture too. We can identify whether our decisions are based on emotions or intuition based on the intensity behind them. When emotions make us go ahead with decisions, they are led by our child parts. They
Possibility lies beyond fear. "This might not work." ~ Seth Godin When we are too afraid to let go of what was, or what could have been, our actions get driven by fear and insecurity. The child parts in us take over and they seek certainty because for them this is all about
Safe is risky. The voice of fear is cunning and it persuades us to always choose the safer option, the option that lets things stay the way they are. And so, things remain as they are. For a professional, for a change-maker, possibility and growth are the only options. The last thing we
Thinking is Resistance's territory... ...and so is talking. But writing, and that too, writing with intent, is where Resistance is at its weakest. When we sit down to write what needs to get done and then move forward to get it done, we take the power away from Resistance. Most of us have two
