Self Mastery

Ya Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do

Posted on February 3, 2010 Written by Cara Lumen

Don’t you love your intuition – that inner knowing that helps you make decisions? When I decided to move from California to be around my family in Kansas I decided in a nano-second. There was a knowing, a certainty that it was the perfect step to take. And within two hours I had given notice to my landlord, called my daughter to say I was coming and got on line to check out places to live. That kind of certainty makes decision making easy.

But what if you are not so sure?

Cultivate your inner knowing
You need to learn to trust your inner wisdom. So check it out. Listen to those silent words you hear, or the sudden feeling that gives you a clue, and test it out. Keep testing until you are comfortable with how you are interpreting those signs.

Ask for signs
I love this one because it’s rather like going on an adventure. Ask the Universe for a sign that the step you are considering is the right one and watch what happens. Periodically I have to say, “OK Universe, what am I to do now?” And I read something that gives me a great idea, or I talk to someone on the phone and explain something to them and there is my answer, or someone is explaining their thoughts and I get the one that’s applicable to me.

Know what you really want
If you keep looking deep enough you’ll find what is at the core of your passion. I have gotten as far as learning and teaching as my passion but beneath that is a need to organize – thoughts, ideas, learning procedures. And one of the signs I keep getting is people asking me to create exercises for their books. I create great systems for myself and I share them with others in my courses and in my coaching. My latest thought is to make a collection of worksheets that simplify and clarify any project. Keep defining your passion and see what others recognize in you. You have to know what you are good at but you have to be willing to experiment and keep trying things until you find a way to make it work.

Do your research
Sometimes we can’t take a step because we don’t have enough information. Gathering information doesn’t mean you have to do it, it simply means you can make an informed decision. Go exploring. Get more information. Find out what others are doing. See what you can offer that other’s are not. See if what you find appeals to you. What do you want to do? What do you want to offer? What are you not willing to do? Listen to your intuition and inner knowing and follow your passion. Then make your choice.

Take action
Nothing’s going to happen if you don’t start. Make an outline, devise some steps. Start. Take one step at a time. Remember that business is a series of projects so divide your idea into measurable steps and congratulate yourself when you get one completed.

Do what ya gotta do
Life is a series of choices. The more aware we are of our passion, our desires, and our strengths, the more on-target our choices will be. Look, listen and choose and go do what ya gotta do.

How to Learn More When You Feel Full Up

Posted on January 30, 2010 Written by Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

I’ve had it. I’ve been discovering wonderful new information all day and I’m mentally shutting down. I’m writing a new course which I love to do, and every time I research a new aspect of it I get excited about what I learn. But I’m just plain full up. So I sat down to give myself some advice about what to do when you’d like to learn more but are just plain full up.

Take a Break

This is obvious, and I’m going to do that as soon as I sort out my own ideas on what to do next by writing this post. And it doesn’t need to be a food break – it needs to be a tension-breaking break – a change of pace break. Whether you have to take deep breaths, do a few yoga stretches, look out the window or go for a walk, change your position and give your mind a break.

Be selective

That’s the major decision I have reached for the action to take when I’m feeling full up of information. I simply can’t absorb any more so I get to choose what I want to learn and more importantly for what I’m doing today – what I want to teach. I have come across three new blogs to subscribe to. And I already subscribe to quite a few. So I’m going to start unsubscribing to those that I don’t read. The ones I want to read are surfacing.

You’ll learn it when you are ready

I’m putting a lot of great material in this course I am creating and people who take the course may not be ready for all of it this first time around, but it will be there for them to review when they are ready for another pass through the material. I went through Product Factory five times, three times as a team leader and each time I either learned something new or was ready to take another step in my own work. Be kind to yourself and learn what you can. Then go back for more at a later date.

Honor your goals

I have gotten so many ideas of things I can do in my own business while writing this course. My list is growing and my head is spinning. But I can’t do them all right this minute so I have to look at what my goals are and use those to help me select what I need to learn and put in place next.

It helps me that I’m gathering all this information for a specific course so I don’t wander too far afield. What I’m learning is going to make this blog better. So I’ll put in place what I can, and do another layer later. And most of all, I’ll tell the students in my new course to go through the steps they are asked to take to get set up, do what they can and then review the content of how to do it at several points in the coming year. They’ll learn it as they should – one step at a time.

The Push Pin Tale by Sebastian

Posted on January 28, 2010 Written by Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

This is a story about how to leverage an idea.

I looked up to see my 11 month old Tabby cat Sebastian, diligently pulling the push pins out of my bulletin board. He had to work at it a bit but he persisted and of course when he finally pulled it out, the papers it was holding up fell in a fascinating flurry behind a chest that will make them hard for me to get to. But he loved that push pin and proudly carried it away as if he had just made a major jungle kill and was bringing it home to feed his family. What a sense of satisfaction he seemed to have over a job well done. But it also turned into a skill building exercise as he turned it into a toy – to push around and pounce on and chase under and around things as he batted it around. He even shared it with his sister Sabrina to have even more fun with it. What a lot of mileage he got from his one push pin.

So here’s what I learned from watching Sebastian and his push pin.

Be Curious
You can find ideas everywhere. You just have to notice what is around you. Be aware. Look beyond the obvious into the possibilities. Do something simply because it is there to do. Examine everything for possibilities. Get creative about how you go about gaining access to what interests you.

Be Persistent
If you want something, keep at it. Approach it one way and then another. Use a soft touch. Use a hard touch. Come at it from several angles. Just stick with it.

See infinite possibilities in every situation
You may think you have figured out how to put something to use, but stay open to the other possibilities that show up. Can it be tweaked to go another direction? Can it be combined with something else to become have an entirely new purpose? Do you need to share it with someone to make it really interesting?

Know there is something excitingly glorious in everything
Everything has potential. Everything has a message, an opportunity, and an insight. Look at what seems ordinary and look beyond how you already know to use it. Look for new ways to put it to work, new ways to share it, unusual ways to approach it.

As Sebastian settles down for his morning nap there is a message there to. A tail by any other name is another tale all together. And that’s what Sebastian taught me today.

Believe You Can

Posted on January 25, 2010 Written by Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

Someplace in all this we have to have a belief system that carries us through. We have to believe in ourselves. We have to believe in our ideas. We have to believe in our intuition. And we have to keep our eyes open for those wonderful ever-present signs that show us we are being guided and guarded by the Universal Mind, the Grand Plan. We have to believe that our part in the overall web of life is so important that we have to be alert to do our very best, to show up where we are needed, and to do what we are supposed to do.

So how do we do that?

Watch for the Signs

The other day I was typing an email to a friend I’ve collaborated with in the past. I had some suggestions for his new project and suddenly the whole email simply wasn’t there anymore. It had been deleted and I couldn’t retrieve it. So I took that as a sign. If I had offered those suggestions 1) maybe they weren’t wanted and 2) it might pull me into his project rather than my continuing on my own projects. I read it as the latter – that the two courses I am working on are important and needed and mine to do and that I don’t need to volunteer or get involved with anything else right now.

Listen to your hunches

Call it impulse if you will, but listen to your instincts to do or not do something. I was doing some introspective sorting out of my own over the weekend and as I got clearer I knew I had something to share with you. So this post is for me as much as much as it is for you. Be aware of your own discovery process, be aware of the many ideas that pass your way every day – either through something you read, something you say, or something you hear. And if you have the urge to act – do it.

Answer the call from others

This is a fascinating way to receive a sign from the Universe. What do people ask you to do? I was asked by an author friend to create the exercises for her soon to be published book. As it turns out her editor really liked them. I said to her, “If you have the opportunity, tell him I’m available to do that for others.” Now I don’t know whether that will happen or not, but I got the message and stepped up to the plate.

Believe you can

If the idea has come to you, if someone asks you for it, if you have the impulse to do it – it is yours to do. If you want to. So start looking at those unexpected invitations, those signs from the Universe and see them as an opportunity for you to take another step. Believe you can because the Universe has just invited you to and will be by your side every step of the way.