Dear Readers, I hope this newsletter will inspire you to
embrace more
opportunities and say "Yes And..” to a more fulfilling life as you
approach your goals for this fall!
I would like to tell you about a wonderful yet challenging
opportunity I almost passed up, and how I stretched and
adopted new behaviors to embrace this amazing gift. The
irony is that I was asked to send in three articles for a
publisher to choose from. The publisher selected the “Yes
And..” article I wrote about how to open up to more
opportunities. I truly had to walk my talk and use my own
advice from the article to say “Yes And..” to this opportunity!
The opportunity I received was a wonderful invitation to co-
author the book “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life;
Volume 2” with noted authors Jack Canfield, John Gray,
Richard Carlson, Bob Proctor and Alan Cohen.
This invitation came during a very hectic and stressful time
in my business, right on the heels of me launching my
eBook, “Great News for Dating and Mating: Winning
Strategies that Work”, completing several magazine articles
and lengthy business proposals. I was also going to be
traveling extensively and felt the last thing I wanted to do
with my limited time was write and edit another article. So,
how did I get through my initial resistance and rise to the
occasion?
Carefully Evaluate Each Opportunity
I have to carefully evaluate many offers for business and
media opportunities that are presented to me. My assistant
and I did careful research on the publishing company and
some of the authors who would be part of the book. I asked
other authors who had participated in similar projects about
their experiences. I consulted my own coach and trusted
advisors to get an objective view of the potential of the
project. I weighed the time and financial investment against
my long-term publishing goals to see if the ROI would be
worth the output of time and capital. I also checked in with
my intuition and got a positive “Yes” that encouraged me
onward!
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Sometimes it’s hard to see the potential for opportunity
unless we evaluate it in terms of bigger goals. At first, all I
could see was how stressed I was, how I didn’t want to write
any more, what a hassle this whole project might be.
However, I have had a long-term goal of publishing a book
for many years. Even with the significant amount of media
attention I have received, it can still be challenging to enroll
a large publisher in supporting my book projects. When I
thought of my longer term goal, I began to view this project
as a “no-brainer." I sacrificed some short-term comfort and
immediate gratification so I could achieve longer term
results.
Vent and Unleash Your Emotions and Resistance
I really didn’t want to do any more research, writing or take
on another project! I used a wonderful technique I often
encourage my clients to use: When I was feeling like “I don’t
want to do this”, I vented my frustration and irritability! I
allowed myself to vent, complain, express my anger and
release my negative emotions. Once these were cleared, I
felt much better and had more energy to engage in the
project. I could have also asked myself questions such as
“What is your real resistance to this project?” or “What inner
Gremlins are preventing you from taking on this project?” if I
was stuck at a deeper level.
Let Go of Control, Trust More and Delegate
Although I had already strengthened some of my delegation
muscles, I had to now go to the next level of delegation!
Because I had so much on my plate, I asked other coaches/
consultants to write some of my spring newsletters. It was a
win-win as my clients got fabulous new perspectives on their
eating and organizing habits and their relationships with food
and clutter from experts in those arenas. I remembered
delegation was a tool for development of others, so I asked
for more help from family and friends and was rewarded
with a lot of great support! I carefully handed off lower
priority projects, monitored the progress and let go of control
and trusted that everything would get done, and it did! I
created new systems for organization and instituted new
streamlined business procedures that had been waiting on
the
back burner.
Set
Strong Limits and Boundaries
Helping others has always been a very important and
strong core value of mine. I have been a volunteer in some
capacity since I was 15 years old. However, I gracefully said
“No” to requests from others so I could say “Yes” to my
project. I practiced what I preached and felt very guilty, but
did it anyway! I upped my standards for the type of clients I
would take on, and carefully selected the work I assumed.
Each time I said “No” I felt guilty but created more time for
writing and editing. I was disciplined about keeping personal
and professional “to-do” lists so nothing dropped between the
cracks, and carefully prioritized the tasks I had to do. I kept
up the self-care practices that I know are essential to my
well-being: exercise, meditation and 24 hours each week off
of all responsibility and work. I also rewarded myself with
extra treats like massages and facials and fun time with
friends to keep my energy going.
Keeping sight of the above practices can help you take
advantage of the great opportunities with which you will be
presented. I hope you will choose to take advantage of the
opportunity to read this ultimate “how to live” manual from a
wide variety of personal and professional growth experts.
You
can pick up this book every day and within 5 minutes glean
something new to help improve your day.. and your life! Go
to http://www.suzanneblake.com/ for more
information or to
purchase
a copy.
