Self Mastery

Have You Invested In Yourself Lately?

Posted on September 29, 2010 Written by Cara Lumen

Wherever you are in your life there is a next step coming. It could be about personal growth, it could be business development, it could be about relationships, but you are always changing and there is always something you need to learn. To keep yourself moving along, you need to continually invest in yourself.

Invest in yourself through awareness

The first step in investing in the outcome of your future is to know what you want. That means being observant about what you love to do, what you don’t so much like to do, what’s working, what’s not, and that long look inside to determine that you are following your passion. Then you make your choices.

Invest in yourself by learning

I love to learn. Whether it’s through a book, a course, a conversation, or exploration, learning something new keeps me interested and interesting. What are you doing to continue your learning?

Sometimes even while reading a novel I find a phrase that sparks a blog post. In reading the blog posts of others I get ideas for my own next steps. A conversation with an interesting entrepreneur gives me inspiration. And sometimes I simply say “I want to learn more about that” and go do it.

Invest in yourself through play

When we take time to tune into our own rhythm, we heal, we balance, we restore ourselves. And we have to slow down in order to find that rhythm. If your days are so full of have-to’s and should’s, you’ll never hear your body say, “let’s take a nap.” If you are too busy you won’t hear the call of your children, or significant other and take time to receive the special gifts only they can give. And if you don’t slow down you won’t take time to make new friends that will nourish and encourage you. Take time to play, to honor your own needs and rhythm.

Invest in yourself self care

I have a friend who does not take care of herself. She doesn’t cook for herself. She doesn’t keep her home very tidy. It’s as if she’s saying, “I don’t count.” If you don’t take care of yourself, who will? If you don’t love and honor yourself, who will? Invest in your self – in your care, your nourishment, your development, your insights, your pleasure, and your spiritual growth.

Get the help you need

Whether you need coaching, or a course, or a coach, or a friend, get the help you need to increase your personal awareness, increase your learning, deepen your relationships, care for yourself and follow your passion. Whether that helps is from the inner or outer makes no difference, just ask for help and it will be there.

How to Get More Done in Less Time

Posted on September 27, 2010 Written by Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

Do you ever get to the end of the day and feel you have gotten nothing done? Has a month gone by and you’re no further along on a project than you were? I’ll bet you can also list a zillion little things that you did that pulled you off target. Would you like a way to get more done in less time? Of even just get more done – period?

Look for the big picture

First of all you have to have a big picture. What is the over-all goal here? For instance, one of the things I set out to do beginning last fall was to strengthen my platform. I bought a great home study course and then didn’t start it. So I was beating myself up for that. Until I realized that my big objective was to strengthen my platform and I had 1) taken a blog course, 2) upleveled the number of blog posts to five a week, and 3) had subscribed to five blogs that will teach me more about blogging. And I had 4) invested in an SEO program to make the post stronger. And I 5) kept doing little things that the bloggers suggested I do. Oh yes, and I was having a great time with my radio show. (6) So guess what – I am working to improve my platform. I just haven’t taken that one particular course yet. I felt like improving my platform was going to ask me to confront some of the things that are not so easy for me and it still may be the case, but meanwhile, I’ve found my own way toward my goal and until I saw it as part of my big picture, I didn’t realize I had accomplished so much toward making it happen.

Know what your big objective is. Then stay open to how you reach it.

Chose and focus

Stay on target. Keep focused on what your big objective is and continue making choices around it. There are always exciting new ideas showing up but if I have decided in a thoughtful moment that my objective is to build my platform, then I must keep on making choices that further that goal. Leo Babauta in his book Zen Habits suggests we create only one significant work a year. Wouldn’t that be wonderful – just one significant work a year. Significant is the operative word here. Choose something that will make a difference in your business, in the lives of others, in the world. How would you feel if you could make that happen?

Leo goes on to suggest that we break that significant work into smaller projects. Life and business are really about doing one project at a time. Think how great it will feel to see the beginning, middle and end of a project. And the third suggestion in Zen Habits is to choose three tasks every day that will help you complete the project and do them – but only during your working hours.

Create uninterrupted attention spans

What do you consider your “working hours?” I know that when I sit down to write, time is suspended, I am totally engaged, I am excited and inspired and sometimes amazed at what shows up. Those are magical times and I don’t want them interrupted. I’m finding that during my morning meditation an idea often begins to form and if I move from there to my desk and start writing it is a continuation of my inner unfolding process. I don’t look at email, I don’t look at my action list, I just immerse myself in my thoughts and write. I had a friend with young children who got up at 5 AM to write her play in order to have uninterrupted inspiration time.

When is your best working time? Are you a first-thing-in-the-morning person? Then don’t schedule any meetings or phone calls then. Guard those times as sacred – the times you can focus on your significant work, the times you can contemplate your business goals and write them down, the time you can work on that information product that wants to go out and serve the world. It can be one hour or three. Let’s call it your Significant Work time. It’s a time when you only work on the projects that help complete your Significant Work.

Do not multitask. When you do several things at one time you are not truly enjoying any of the things you are doing. It’s very satisfying to take time to organize your desk but if you do it while on the phone with a friend, both your friend and you are short changed from the pleasure of total engagement. Whatever you are doing, do it will total absorption. Then you will be able to savor its completion.

Acknowledge yourself

Before you end your work day, make a short list of what you accomplished and how you feel about it. “I added two more exercises to my Idea Generator book and I’m very excited about how it is developing.” “I had a phone call from Voice of America Radio asking if I want to host a radio show there. It really stretched my vision of what is possible and opened up a lot of ideas and possibilities for me.” You get the picture, a short period of time to count your blessings if you will. To become aware of the signs and signals and opportunities that were provided and more importantly, what you felt about them and which ideas or conversations you may want to act upon. I have actually created a Magnetic Momentum Builder form that I use on a weekly bases to record these experiences and accomplishments. It helps me see that I am progressing and it also lets me decide how I feel about what I have done – or not yet done.

Choose a Significant Work, divide it into projects and only choose to do things that move those projects forward. When you are totally absorbed and engaged, the work is easily accomplished and time ceases to exist. And you will find you have gotten more done in less time.

How Are You Making a Difference?

Posted on September 8, 2010 Written by Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

Let’s say you are older, a senior citizen if you will, and you find that you cannot or do not want to do things the way you used to. You have reached a point where you need to make some major changes and redefine your life. How do you do that? How do you continue to feel valuable, a contributor to others when your capabilities have changed? That’s a big one.

We all want to feel valuable

I’m at that stage. I’m finally acknowledging that at 77 I’m sort of old. And I’ve recently moved into an independent living environment for seniors. I’m at the completed end of two knee replacement surgeries and I have a new life to define. What do I want most? To feel valuable, to feel that I contribute, and to know that I change lives with what I offer. We all want that wherever we are in our lives. So I’m thinking and listening, and looking around me to see where I am needed and where I want to serve.

Help people learn

My favorite thing to do is to help people learn. I help them develop signature information products, learn to write really great blog posts and support them in creating a profitable online business. But that doesn’t take up all my time.

When I teach something I learn something so my next project is to create a curriculum development system that helps people write focused, powerful, meaningful information products. That will be fun. It means I get to study and learn and create and in a few months I’ll have a great course to teach.

In general I love to learn new things so in this new living environment that gives me access to a community of seniors I’m going to learn more variations of dominos, figure out Mah Jong other than solitaire version online and see what kind of social moments I can create.

What do you want to learn? What do you want to teach others? That’s a good place to start to create a feeling of value for yourself.

Help people change

At this age we have to trust that we have some wisdom to pass along, so one of our gifts can be to offer guidance from our experience. I do that through some of these posts. I write about my process, my concerns and know that some of my readers can identify with this process or problem in their own life. I’ve been a spiritual counselor, I’ve taught holistic systems like Reiki. What insights can you share that will benefit others? Do you give talks? Do you write articles? Do you blog? Do you teach? Do you coach? Do you counsel? Look at what’s important to you and see how you might share it with others to offer them insights and inspiration.

Help people do what they need to do

You can also be physically in service. I’m living in one of the kindest places in the world, where strangers continually offer help with small physical challenges – lifting a grocery bag, stopping by to take out my trash after my surgery. You can deepen the impact of your day if you start looking for small physical things you can do for others. And if you are not in a position to do things physically, give them a smile, a good word, a positive reinforcement.

Make a difference in your world

It’s been a long time since I volunteered for anything, I’ve been too busy making a living. Not that I couldn’t have done both, but I didn’t. So now I am. My son goes to play with the kittens at the shelter to help socialize them. My daughter has been a Boy Scout Leader for a long time, one of the few women who has. My other son volunteers on the board of a program to bring music to small children the age of his sons. Now it’s my turn to find something. Do I want to use my organizing and computer skills? Possibly not, I do that at home. My writing ability? That would be fun but I do that a lot too. So one of the things I’m looking for is a change of pace for myself. Do I want to do something physically demanding? It would probably be good for me but I’m not up to speed on that at the moment. Do I want to be around people? Absolutely. Do I want to make a difference in my world? You know it, and what does that mean? For me the environment and wildlife preservation come to mind.

What criteria do you want to have for your volunteer work?

Find your place of service

I was told that the Council on Aging will get me busy right away. There are volunteer organizations on line. But the first step is to find out where your own heart is, what would make your life richer as you contribute to the lives of others. Take some time to find your perfect place of service and go make a difference in your world.

You Are the Moulder of Your Day

Posted on September 4, 2010 Written by Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

Our lives are full of transitions – movement from one phase to another, one awareness to a new one. And with each of those transitions we get to make new choices.

I’ve been a metaphysician for a long time and I know how our thoughts create our reality. But so do our actions. When I have something new I want to add to my life I realize I am the sculptor, the molder of my day. My choices, my belief, my expectations will usher in the new opportunity.

What needs to go?

The first step in any making any change is awareness. You need to look at what you have created in your life, what and who you have attracted, how rewarding or unrewarding your life is. Put that on a list to further your awareness.

Then take some time to write down how long you spend doing certain things. For instance, I read 5 or 6 blogs every day and that takes me 45 minutes. I consider that learning and inspiration time. Where I put it in my day is a choice I get to make. I’ve been doing it first thing but in actuality my mind is ready to write first thing so that might be a better choice.

What do you need to add to your day?

My daughter is considering changing her office space at work so she won’t have so many interruptions. They have hired someone new and have to make room for her. If my daughter moves herself to the end of the rows that hold her people it would give her one thing she really craves – fewer interruptions. Look carefully at your day. What do you need to add or subtract? What do you need to change?

This post came about because now that I have had my second knee replacement surgery I want to add movement back into my life. This means the strength building exercises the physical therapist gave me, my incumbent bike which I can do while reading a book, and longer walks outside. I also want to join a Silver Sneakers program and go there several times a week.

My daughter needs to remove herself from her situation. I need to move myself into new interactions.

Has your work load changed?

You really can structure your work load any way that works for you. I schedule my clients on particular days during the week. I use another day for working on my business, not in it. I use another day for writing – blog posts, information products, new courses.

Arrange for uninterrupted time. Arrange for focused time. Narrow your "to do" list to three things every day and get them done. Just three and acknowledge yourself for what you have accomplished.

What are you doing with your spare time? Do you have any spare time?

Naps are good. But to take a nap you have to slow down enough to allow yourself to know you need one and to release whatever else you had in mind so you can take one.

Reading is fun. For years I never read anything but books that taught me more about my business. Now I have a good mix of entertainment and learning.

Are you social enough? I love being alone but do not care to be lonely. Go find someone to hang out with. I’m in a new environment with easy access to people and am going to promote domino and mah jong games and I’m going to the Council on Aging to find some interesting volunteer work that will take me out in my new community.

What do you want to do that you need to make time for?

Oh that list of wanna-do’s. Frustrating, isn’t it. But if you pick just one project and schedule some time to work on it you’ll get excited and encouraged and make it happen. Look at your idea list and choose the one that is currently most relevant and calls to your passion. Then do it.

I love to write so anytime I can find new reasons to do that I will. But what I write is a choice. I am planning a course on curriculum development and have five huge source books to study. It feels hard and it feels exciting. I have a semi-schedule in mind to start it and a deadline for its completion. Now I need to schedule daily work on it. What do you want to do that you need to make time for?

You are the artist

You are the sculptor of your day, of your life, of your experience. Take time to vision your big picture. Examine every choice to see if it takes you toward your vision. Keep moving toward your goal. You’re the boss of your life and its outcome. Make conscious choices that take you where you want to go.