The first step... It's the most exciting and scary moment. It's the moment when you become aware of the problem... And...
Business from the inside out
Self/Business Growth Articles
The Heart of Self-Worth
"Thoughts become things," Mike Dooley says. You don't get what you deserve, you get what you think you deserve. Life...
Getting What You Want Without Knowing What You Need
In our Modern culture, we are encouraged to be unbalanced in our doing, in our esteem. We're taught to believe we have...
A Magical Time of Year
I love Christmas.
[tweetmeme]It is a really important time of year to me. It’s a time when I reflect and I honour all the learning of the past year. And it’s a time when I celebrate the love in my life.
I love walking the streets of Toronto at Christmas-time. There’s something really special in the air. And I revel in the feeling. Toronto’s kinda-like-the-world-holding-hands, it’s a cultural mosaic, apparently the most multi-cultural gathering of people in the world, and all around me, on the streets, I can feel magic in the air.
Faux Restraints or Why the Elephants Don’t Lose Their Shit and Break Free
[tweetmeme] Ever wonder how the circus manages to keep elephants captive? After all, elephants are crazy strong, being the largest mammal in the world, and all.
Why don’t the elephants lose their shit and escape? Why do they just stand there? Why don’t they create some crazy elephant hubbub, squishing cars and shit? They have the power to.
You’re My Kind of Whackjob
[tweetmeme] After a year and a half of writing this blog, it still seems odd to me that I share my most personal thoughts with world. See, I’ve always considered myself a private person, as I keep my feelings close to my chest, dealing them out only to those few, dear people closest to me. I’ve never really felt safe opening up to people, and I felt a sense of contentment with my story staying mine, alone.
5 Tips for Finding Your Signal and Creating a Web Presence to Support It
[tweetmeme] I wrote this post for my friend and fellow Innerpreneur, Tim Bursh. He blogs on Social Impact, Social Media and Community. I encourage you to read the article in it’s entirety.
5 Tips for Finding Your Signal
- Accept that there is no demand for your message.
- Express your point-of-view.
- The more valuable your signal, the stronger it will be.
- It’s a table for two.
- Share.
Looking for more guidance than this? Read the whole article. The context around these 5 tips is what really matters.
photo credit: Andres Rueda
The Truth About Compromise
[tweetmeme] I’ve noticed that people often use the word “compromise” not in relation to a mutual concession or a trade, but to describe the betrayal of their principles, the surrender of their belief to the groundless claim of another.
A “compromise” in this instance could be a wife’s surrender to her husband’s irrational demands for social conformity or pretended religious observance. Or a writer creating books to please “the public”, against their own judgment and standards.
Let’s make a deal
A compromise, by definition, is an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. That means both parties in the compromise have some valid claims and some value to offer each other.
Thinking You Need to Accept It? That’s So Conventional.
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Door A: “Either” accept the world as it is
This is conventional thinking. It’s a self-reinforcing lesson that life is about accepting unattractive and unpleasant trade-offs.
e.g., Either you are an artist and know little about business or you are an economist and have no understanding of creativity, art, culture and growth.
Door B: “Or” accept the world as it is
This is conventional thinking. It’s seeing all aspects of life as an “either/or” exchange. Life is full of dichotomies, and you just need to pick the lesser of two evils.
Discover Your Future One Day At A Time
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There’s a whole lot of shit that you can’t control, but you can control how you respond to it. Adaptability is more than simply rolling with the punches — it’s about being able to calmly, intelligently and readily respond to circumstances. As a business owner, it’s important for you to be able to collect yourself and take control of whatever situation your way. A self-sustaining business is one that is proactive. Don’t wait for all the chips to fall before reacting.
But keep your eyes on the prize
Keep your long-term goals in mind,
Quite simply how your business can work best
It wasn’t so long ago that I thought…
I came from a Modern upbringing where art was appreciated but certainly never encouraged as a profession. I attended business school, worked in corporate marketing (albeit in tech, music and the performing arts) and was driven to write only when my world seemed to be falling apart.
Until a little over a year ago, I would have never identified my Self as Creative for I felt I lacked the talent, the ideas, the whimsy. I saw my Self as level-headed and practical girl and because I was basically good at everything, I felt I had a gift for nothing.
Focusing on the Process, Not the Product
Hanging my success on outcomes
I have a hard time not focusing on the end product of my writing. I often think about its outcome — an outcome that I have determined as the hallmark for my success as a writer — publication.
But wait, don’t I publish already? Of course I do, but it is on my own accord, and for some reason I have told my Self that my writing is only as good as the literary professionals who want to publish it. Only when I have a book published with my name on it will I truly be a writer.
I’m giving away my power
I’m attaching my personal success or failure to the outcome of publication, thus setting my Self up to be continually looking into the future and judging my present actions against this idealized outcome.