5 Steps to Discovering Possibilities and Potential

In my work with clients, and my workbook, these 5 steps come up all the time.  The steps are not always linear, but they all are necessary as you reach for possibilities and tap into your potential.  Here I will share each and how it has shown up in my own growth:

1 – Gain Awareness

Awareness comes up over and over again as I move through the growth of my business.  It means paying attention to what works and what doesn’t, allowing me to make slight shifts along the way.  Awareness keeps my life in balance.

2 – Clarify Your Direction

When we made our move to NC from NY, we had to know what we were looking for to help us decide where we wanted to move.  We clarified our needs and wants; and what we wanted our new community to feel like, look like and be like.  We sure found it!

3 – Get Unstuck

Whenever I feel stuck in my business, I immediately call upon one of my mastermind partners.  They are always ready with new ideas, new strategies and new challenges.  Often I choose one idea that makes me feel slightly (or more than slightly) uncomfortable so I know I am truly growing by choosing it.

4 – Get Started

To start painting again after an almost 20 year hiatus, I attended a one day class that had me painting for several hours.  This one day got me started, and over the “someday I’ll pick it back up again” thought.

5 – Make a Commitment

This is the greater challenge I have experienced with my painting, commiting to a regular practice.  What helps me?  I converted my spare bedroom into a “studio” with space to paint and I create projects to get me painting.

Take a look at your own life and your own growth and see where/how these steps have shown up.  I would love for you to share your experiences!

Beauty in my own backyard

Taking pictures is one of my favorite things to do, especially when I am able to capture beauty.  Using a digital camera makes that easy since I take hundreds of picutures there are always several that come out wonderful.

How often to I take pictures?  Not often enough for me.  I realized that I tend to wait until I am going somewhere picturesque, like the beach, a park or public garden to take out my camera.

This weekend I decided to see my own backyard from a new perspective.  What prompted me was a nest of baby birds in a tree right next to my deck.  I grabbed my camera and captured this beautiful shot. 

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I then decided to “see” my yard through my camera’s eye and started to focus on the details…. a lone flower in bloom, butterflies, a magnolia blossom.   It felt great – peace, presence… and all a few steps outside of my door.

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What is in your own “backyard” that you don’t truly “see”?

Slow Change

Most change happens slowly, sometimes almost imperceptibly.   Even the change we think happens overnight (like when we experience a sudden loss of a job or change in our health) did not truly happen suddenly.  There were things in motion under the surface, or under our radar that were putting that change into effect.

Slow change is something that frustrates us.  I know it frustrates me personally as well as some of the clients I work with.   When we make up our mind that we want something – to be different than it presently is, to learn or add something new, etc, we want it to happen NOW.   Most recently I was experiencing this frustration with getting up to speed with social media.  I felt like there was so much to learn, so much to set up, and so much to maintain that it was overwhelming.

When I realized I was the one overwhelming myself with the “need to hurry up the change” I slowed down.  I evaluated why I was getting involved with social media, how incremental steps taken consistently was not only more productive but more fun, and that there is really no finish line to rush toward.  This is a process that will continually be evolving.

When we put small action into motion, change happens.  It often first happens under the surface and in the bakground – in ways we can’t always see.   Like when we begin to exercise and eat healthier our bodies are reacting to this new nourishment before we feel or see a noticable difference.

So next time you are wishing to hurry change along, slow down.  Believe that every action you take, nomatter how small, is contributing to the change you seek.  Relax into the process and enjoy it!