by Lulu | Mindset
A week has flown by and I arrive here at Day 7 – 15 Days to Freedom Blog Challenge. Natalie Sisson speaks passionately about singular focus and the results that can come from this.
She asks, “How thin can I spread myself”?
Thin, very thin, extremely thin, well even to the point of being nearly invisible.
Has this ever served me?
NO
I say again NO !
I understand this concept of singular focus. And have even marvelled when I read how some writers have produced a finished manuscript or book in two weeks through this same singular focus. I say Bravo !
Then the justifications rush in, who cooks their food, do they have children, what about the dishes, the laundry, the dog, don’t they have weeds in their gardens, what about sleep, sex, exercise. How is it possible, really is this possible?!
So right upfront, I want to say that singular focus is the one thing that does not fit comfortably for me, a mother, a Gemini, (the twins in the Astrological signs) hell I’ve got energy enough for two, and I might as well keep them busy rather than idle. And then there is the deep essence of me that I call The Kaleidoscope Woman, like a kaleidoscope many fractured pieces, quite imperfect in their individualness, but with the delight, the dance of light, become quite spectacular. I love lots and lots of things, I am delighted, excited and want to be in the experience of them all. The sign outside my home reads “Single focus does not live here.”
So here is where the light bulb turns on.
A traditional kaleidoscope, has many fractured pieces, color; great color, reflection and light and ……..
…….. Aha, ONE chamber !
One chamber to view it all. Yes One, only One, Just One, the chamber focuses your One eye to view the dance of light and color and the beauty transform you to a magical place. A place of wonder.
This is how the story continues …… The Kaleidoscope Warrioress steps forward holding high her tool of direction, the kaleidoscope. Her other hand, held out in front, all fingers bent in except one, one finger strong, straight and indicated her resolve, pointing upward indicating the number ONE and the commitment to one action.
At her feet now you can see the stacks of books she has bought in to form and her smile is broad, the era 2015 AD.
“We are all writing our own stories, and it is best to make it up as you go along from a place of delight” Kaleidoscope Woman
by Lulu | Inspiration, Mindset
Day 6 of 15 Days to Freedom Blog Challenge. It’s all about Business models. We are reminded not to create just a JOB. But to create a business that supports our lifestyle. As a Mum and wife this is important to me.
There are two main models, active revenue streams or residual revenue streams or a combo of both. Natalie brings the two factors that help assist us with getting really clear about our business model and they are our personality and lifestyle.
I love intimate groups of people, I share and feel lit up by working with women, and probably ones in the 3rd decade of life and beyond. My business model would include both revenue streams. My books will have an artistic component to them. I would have a few online course, I played with one many years ago and I want to reignite that one and to write a new one that is bubbling up within me now. The technology just overwhelms me, and does not light me up at all. Working on content both written and artistic does. And meeting small group of women, in real time and visually through video feed, allowing authentic sharing and supporting them, truly lights me up.
“Connection gives purpose and meaning to our lives.“ – Brene Brown
To do this I need a team of people to support me with what I do not want to use my energy on, (technology) allowing me focus, creativity and to come from my place of genius and shine that outwards.
by Lulu | Creativity, Mindset
Natalie Sisson is guiding us with clarity through the 15 Days to Freedom Blog Challenge. Day 5 is about habits and surrounding ourselves with inspiring people.
I have heard the formula about the 66 days to form a new habit once or twice before. Although I have mainly used the model of 21 and 30 days in the past. And wondered why the new habit has not stuck!
So I first commit to using this as my new measure.
I have been using the model written about in Expectation Hangover, for weeding out and replanting that which is more aligned to my heart’s desire for a while now. Here is an overview – you have 3 columns with the headings
Remove, Modify and Add.
I do this at the start of each week and write one thing in each column. It is simple, highly effective and not overwhelming.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” Aristotle
I have been surrounding myself with more inspiring people in the past 12 months. Leaving my home country 3 years ago to set up life on the other side of the world at 50 years old, requires many changes and reassessments. Although uncomfortable at times, it has also helped me to shake of some outdated ways of being in the world, that no longer serve me. I have also had difficult yet transforming conversations with some who have been in my life a long time and well seem to suck the life and light out of me. And using a tool called Perception Checking has helped with achieving deeper and richer understanding with many people.
Last year I made a worthwhile investment in myself, with life coaching. My coach Christine Hassler is a speaker, author and inspirational leader. I choose her because I wanted to work with someone that is truly walking her talk and prepared to be vulnerable and share the good, the bad, the ugly. I no longer want to hold anyone on a pedestal, because often it comes from a place of thinking ‘I am less than’ and I also do not want to think ‘I am better than’. Comparisons stop action. Following others that are leading the way is a smart move, it helps navigate the bumps and pitfalls along the path. I have also found that creating a team of cheerleaders is vital. I have never been the type to sit around with friends and talk about our Woe Poor Me Stories or Bitch about others, this is a slippery path indeed, and I have noticed how some need to ‘win’ the saddest/worst story each time. Living my life from not wanting to be a gossip or emotional dumper has sometimes not won me friends, but has helped me not to get caught up in others dramas. This is a blessing. I am also extending my Cheerleader Team continuously and would like to add a Mastermind Group and a Positive Playful People Team also to my life. Because all work and no play makes Lulu no fun at all!
I am at a place of stepping into a new ME that is ready to emerge. My husband and I work from home, whilst this gives us many freedoms, especially intimate interludes during the day, or a power siesta, it sometimes is frustrating when we want to stay in the zone. I like the 25/5 technique. Focus for 25 minutes then have a 5 minute break. And stealing a kiss is top on the list, even after 24 years of marriage. Then dancing. Then walking out in my garden.
“The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands” Anne Frank
by Lulu | Mindset
Day 4, What will I stop getting distracted by??
This is a great flow on from my blog yesterday when I was overwhelmed by the technology and sought my refuge in a tidying job to bring “zen” back into my mind. There is of course a difference in stepping to the side and taking ‘time out’ to help clear your thoughts and being sucked into some void, that we know is distracting us.
Even though housework is my least favorite way to spend my time, I get some of my best ideas and story themes by diving into a job, being fully engaged in it, knowing that within this task there is a start and a completion. I like that.
Distractions are another beast all together. They have the way of sucking the time and energy out of you, leaving you disheveled and chastising yourself for the waste of it all.
” By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination” Christopher Columbus
I know often when I decide to undertake a new direction, life throws many a curved ball to check my commitment and to make sure that I am really ready and focused.
Just knowing that challenges will come and then probably I will find a way or two, to distract myself helps. The centering practices at the beginning of my day helps to focus my day. I feel that I could incorporate a centering process within my day, this I will think on for now. I feel something brewing!
So whilst I continue to look at this screen, I commit to taking up the practise of minimizing FB time. After writing for one hour in the morning, I will set my clock for 1/2 an hour to view FB. Because that is the one beast that has nearly taken up residence in my life. My Husband says I am a FB spammer, I can add more posts than a fence builder in 10 minutes he he
I will do the same for email, 1/2 hour maximum per day. And both I am committing to doing after 11am each day and before 7pm. I also commit to no computer time after 7pm on weekends.
Slaying this beast, and stepping forward courageously.
“Wonder knows that while you cannot look at the light, you cannot look at anything else without it. It is not exhausted by childhood, but finds its key there. It is a journey like a walk through the woods over the obstacles and around the common distractions while the voice of direction leads, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it” Ravi Zacharias
by Lulu | Creativity, Inspiration, Mindset
I find myself here on Day 3 of the15 Days To Freedom Blog Challenge, we have been asked to share the tools we use to enhance our productivity.
Hhhmmm!
I looked into the ones that were mentioned, and readily skip across many webpages having a little look. After an hour our more I was well aware of the stress and unsettledness I was feeling. So I walked away.
Sometimes you just gotta walk away.
I turned my focus to a wardrobe spring clean. Yes it is the middle of winter here, but after completing two 60 day Wardrobe Challenges, I need to bring a little ‘ZEN’ back into my wardrobe. I had a productive few hours. So the question still is, what tool does a new blogger use to be productive?
The ones that are working for me right now are numerous color coded folders, the physical kind that make that great click when you open the rings to file your stuff! I have my computer and a nifty little pen my husband let’s me borrow, that allows me to record and write some pointers in the specially designed book and flag where the recording is at. I don’t know what it is called but I like that I can listen to a whole conversation again and collect my thoughts when I do.
Or I can talk to myself.
And recall later what I was saying!
by Lulu | Mindset
MIA is a military term used when a personnel is missing in action, usually a casualty classification, for personnel who have been killed, wounded, are a prisoner of war or have deserted.
No longer can we be Missing in Action in our own lives
I am a peace lover, so a military term is slightly jarring. So this is why I need to reframe it first. I find when I reframe situations, interactions and thought in my life, a whole new level of awareness opens up, deeper acceptance, unimagined possibility and this ‘gifts’ me because of my new perspective. We, as humans, tend towards being ‘meaning making machines,’ and are overly attached to our opinions and points of view.
Think about it, this is why wars are still raging the world over!
Let’s move away from this war talk now and step into purposeful action.
Here is the reframe. MIA = Most Important Action. Taking conscience, committed purposeful action with small steps each day.
Here is where the rubber hits the road. I commit myself each day, for the next 15 days to add to my course ‘playing’ manual, dedicating a inner sense of lightness in a one hour full burst of creativity, writing, allowing and dancing with the creative force that is, to get my ideas out of my head and down in black and white. Or multicolor, what ever takes my fancy. This easy to follow ‘playing life’ manual, will live out of my truth and experience, and when shared with others, it will touch them with a profound resonance, like a seed of love bursting forth from within them.
Commit to your inner light each day, you are so deserving
