Tag: gifts

Heart and the Art of Marketing

Marketing is a way of getting the word out and building relationships.  To take it to a grander scale, marketing is all about building community.  If you feel challenged in expressing your gifts, if marketing is a dirty word, or at least it doesn’t come naturally, then here’s help.

Express your gifts’ value to others authentically, align your marketing messages with who you really are, and you will be creating the connections that resonate with your perfect readers (audience/clients/customers). That authentic connection is what your perfect people are seeking.

Think about it: What if they can only hear it from you? Now is the time to hone and refine your message and your voice to make the connections that your audience needs to hear–as only you can do it — from YOUR heart.

Authentic artful and heart-full communications that resonate with your perfect clients, customers, readers, and listeners are like the “magic wand” that can magnetically attract your perfect audience.

The art of marketing communication (copywriting, strategy, relationship-building) success hinges on you excavating and honing your authentic voice with a message that is aligned with who you are, expresses the heart of your project, and then can connect with your perfect audience.

It starts with a simple realization: All things being equal, people generally choose to do business with people they know, like, and trust.  In fact, they are often most attracted to people most like themselves.  What this means is that the more clearly you express YOU, the heart and soul of your venture or project, then the more likely you’ll connect with your perfect people.

If you are a visionary conscious creator, writer, soul-preneur, author, speaker, artist, or healer, then getting clear on who you are and what makes you tick can be the single greatest and most profound piece of marketing you can do to ensure your success and the long-term success of your project.

Sometimes it’s a gem of truth

Molly Gordon wrote in her ezine today about how we don’t have to be superheroes and how to address our tendency to think we need to be.  Using the power of daily ritual is one way to keep the stress of superheroine roles out of our bodies.  Molly is expressing from her own deep truth of experience a great wisdom here — with a wink of fun tossed in for good measure. (Keep the crown, Molly. You deserve it!)

Seth Godin‘s post today on “winning” ended with this sentence: “What if the win is the ability to give a true gift?” It was one of those phrases that raised goosebumps, often for me an indicator of a powerful truth.

The gifts and creations (books, businesses, ventures, artworks, practices, creative projects) that you are bringing out to the world are created from the deepest heart of you. Coming from this fiery heart of creation, fueled by your passion for expressing your gift, you have a sacred trust to this, your creation and brainchild.

How can you maintain the purity of your intent as your creative project makes its way in the world? How can you preserve authenticity and integrity? How do you prevent it from becoming corrupted by the eddies and currents of the everyday and the toxic approaches that seem the common currencies?

This was one of the most powerful lessons from my recent retreat with the Dreams Alive and Relax-Online partners, Paul Bauer and Susan Castle. This powerful circle embodied the sacred and gave each of us the impetus to embrace our own sacred truth and creation while bringing it to life.

Your creations come from the heart and carry a sacred message. To speak that message in a way that connects with your perfect people (tribe, community, readers, clients, customers) requires a similarly sacred approach.  Isn’t it time for sharing the sacred stories in a way that your people can really get it?

Claim It with Love

Own Your Greatness. Claim the name of your being and purpose. Why you are here. Your gifts. Your vision. Your greatness. Maybe it’s sleeping or lying dormant. And the way to claim it is in the name of love. Wake it up. Wake up the power and capability sleeping within. Claim your name. It is time for Owning Your Greatness.

Do whatever it is at the root of your being with great love and care. Do it with love for the words you use in the creation and about and around the creation. Do it with love for the backstory behind the creation. Do it out of love for the challenge you address. Love the problems you solve, because those “problems, issues or challenges” are the gifts that have tested you through the fire to create the person you are today. And love the solutions and answers and suggestions and approaches you can offer to others out of the fire of your own experience.

Of course you do it out of love and care and compassion for the people in your circle and community, the ones who can only hear it from you. You love your peeps! They are the reason you do all that you do.

Awaken yourself. Claim your own true self that emerges from your deepest love and compassion.

Creation and Commitment

“Love is the continuous birth of creativity within and between us.”
–John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

On the near side of the bridge, where you are looking across and seeing your circle or community across the gap of where the bridge needs to be, there with you, on your side of the bridge, is your creation.

How is it doing? How is your book coming? How is your business thriving? Are the paintings being painted? Are you teaching the classes, connecting with the clients, creating from the heart?

Does your creation have your full commitment behind it?

Yes, it’s two more Cs for the near side of the bridge. Are you creating your creation, your creative project? And are you fully committed to creating it and imbuing it fully with your gifts?

Fully committing to your creation means nurturing it with love, with passion, and with dogged determination sometimes.

I just watched  The Road this evening with my son. It’s a dystopian future as envisioned by Cormac McCarthy.  It is love clothed in a dogged determination of the father to care for his son, even when all else  fails.

Somehow the sense of commitment to his child, even in the midst of a flat, colorless and sometimes horrific world, is the level of commitment that we too are called to bring to our creations.

We create out of love, because creation is the nature of love. We commit to create, then we love and nurture our creation into manifestation. The act of creation strengthens us, as creators. It strengthens our community. It draws forth the creation itself, as it sings into the world something new.

Have you measured your commitment to your creation today?

Focus on what is mine to do

“Focus on what is mine to do.” —Tomar Levine

Your Time to Bloom: Tomar Levine has a gracious online home at this link. Her voice is gentle and her toolbox is extensive. It’s especially yummy for those with creative yearnings who feel they haven’t lived into their fullness — yet.

Tomar and I have been in online classes together here and there over the years. We share a passion for learning and maybe a bit of reticence in “putting ourselves out there.”

In an email note that followed up a recent phone conversation the other day, she said this. “Focus on what is mine to do.” How timely. That’s exactly where I am too.  Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity talks about “just showing up on the page.” That, I realize, is part of what is mine to do.  (Hence how good for me is this blog challenge!)

I’ve latched onto Tomar’s simple phrase that is so rich in reverberations. It sounds more grounded and less grandiose than “Owning Your Greatness.” But it tills much the same ground.

Both frame a way of Being that taps into life purpose, into the reason why we are here. They speak to the ongoing process of giving our gifts, of manifesting and embodying the service we are here to do with the people we are meant to help, the contribution that our creation is meant to make.

Whether you approach it in a matter-of-fact way (“Focus on what is mine to do.”) or in an expansive and out-there “Owning Your Greatness” sort of way, the bottom line is to  generate from the root of our Being the tasks of Doing in the world. Being comes first, the foundation. Then the doing, the action.

By doing the doing, by taking the action, even imperfect action, we create shifts. We make things happen. It’s time to pull back the curtain of reticence. The proponents who advise listening to the still small voice speak perhaps more softly than some others. That doesn’t mean the message is any less important than the ones who “shout.”

In fact, you might consider that the opposite is true. I acknowledge Tomar for the inspiration that started this post.  And thanks also for this 30 Day Blog Challenge. It  is helping me show up, take action, be on the page, as I  build the bridge for myself and my tribe.

Write Synergies: What It Means — Blog Challenge Post 25

Write Synergies. It’s the name of this blog. (Oh yes, along with copywriting. We’re getting to that tomorrow…with the case of the missing keyword…Watch for it!)

Write Synergies: It’s the name of the book that’s under construction, the process, the sub-processes, even the author, who calls herself (for heaven’s sake) the Write Synergies Guru. More on gurus coming too.

Needing to write a blog post to explain what Write Synergies means indicates that the name isn’t ideal.  Maybe the people in the #blog30 challenge have been especially kind and have kept an open mind to explore such a non-keyword-named blog.  (thank you.)

As I pondered how to reinvent myself once again –to rename this body of work, at one coach’s suggestion — (I’ve been doing reinventing rather regularly. To hear about my lifelong commitment to reset, listen to my BlogTalkRadio interview with Nina Price on her show, Push the Reset Button.) — What happened?  A client said, “You know, that word synergies, it’s a perfect description of how it was, what happened, what you did, when you worked with me.” Whoa.

For the moment, I’m back to this word that no one understands–Synergies.

So, for the down and dirty explanation:  Synergies = Energies + Synthesis.  Synergies means energetically putting something together that’s greater than the sum of the parts. It encompasses the energies around bringing things together in new ways. (Remember the equation: thesis –>antithesis–>synthesis.)  It brings together the opposites to create something brand new.

Bottling up the synergies magic through and with words.
Those hidden (or not so hidden) synergies are what I help people uncover in their own creative vision.   Sometimes it’s something they didn’t even know was there.

The Write Synergies process supports conscious creators at any place along the spectrum of the creative process: in tapping their vision; in writing and polishing up their creations; with their copy, the message of the creation, so it connects;  in their communicating and outreach to their tribes; even in finding and connecting to the tribes…And to do that, I write. I listen and write. Write and listen.

For people looking for the courage to call themselves writers and authors, who want help, mentoring, support, inspiration, and encouragement in their own writing process, I serve as coach, teacher, and guide.

I write for people and about their projects and creations. We collaborate on writing so my conscious creator clients build the strong inner foundation that will support their outer work of bringing their creation, book, web site, newsletter, or healing venture fully into the world.

I use words, written words primarily, to help my people generate results greater than the sum of the parts. I help people bring their creations to life and to light. I listen and write souls (and their gifts) into authentic expression. (To do this, I have an extensive toolkit of expertise and experience. Again, a topic for another day.)

No matter where you are in a process of writing and conscious creation, you may need support, a sounding board, someone whose expertise resides in all the many manifestations of the written word.

Write Synergies is an alchemical, transformative process that moves with you along the path of your heart and soul, to where you really want to go. I love being your guide, joining you on your creative journey.

And for my new friends from the 30-day blog challenge, #blog30 on Twitter, I want to acknowledge all the gifts and greatness of your expressions and messages in the conversations over this past month. Thank you. You are truly owning your greatness in the world with the unique manifestation of YOU!

Embrace Your Vision — Project, Message, People — Blog Challenge Post 23

Embrace your vision even if it sometimes feels like you are hugging an elephant.

Embrace the heart and soul of your Vision.

Why would you not? Well, sometimes it’s the very bigness of it. The profound meaning it holds for you goes right into your bones. Or owning that the vision really is yours — it’s  your project, venture, or creation; it’s your message, and it’s all directed to your tribe, community, circle — this is just more than you can take in, especially when you are feeling small, depleted, or lacking in self-esteem or self-confidence. (Or, as my colleague Evelyn Roberts Brooks in the #blog30 challenge pointed out, “Hey I’m feeling fragile today.“)

Sometimes it’s like trying to get your arms around an elephant. It’s impossible. It’s too big. You’ll get trampled. It hurts. A million reasons to not embrace the big vision that unfolds along with the purpose for why you are here.

To embrace the vision, we have to own the bigness and greatness of ourselves, to stand in owning our gifts and greatness AND the greatness of the project we are here to create.  We have to be strong enough, big enough, flexible and adaptable enough to be able to open our hearts and wrap our arms around the big vision. Hug it. Cherish it. Encircle and enclose it.  Welcome it. Call it forth into the greater whole of our lives. It lives inside as the gift of our expression we are meant to bring out into the world as our service to our people.

It’s important to embrace these three elements that make up the vision, so as not fail it or yourself or your greater purpose.

First, you need to create the thing, the creation –the “art” as Seth Godin would call it in Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?. That is, the business, the painting, the writing, the project, the novel, the web site, the passion for service however it plays out in your world. Your need and desire to create it? Driven by love, a profound love for the project.

Second, you need to be willing to share the creation, to find a way to communicate the essence of what you have created. It’s the message of the creation, the ways that it can transform the lives of the people you have created it for.  This second step is the bridge between what you create and the people it is meant to serve. It means sharing the story of the creation. It means loving the telling of the project’s story.

Third, you have to love the people, your people, the ones who can only hear it from you. Without all three, all powered by love as the bottom line, the vision does not stand strong out in the world. This is all another way of reiterating the importance of embracing these elements as part of your foundation

We have been taught, in every situation, to play small. We’ve been admonished — from the time we were great spirits inhabiting small bodies — not to be “too big fer yer britches.” I officially deem it’s time to bust the seams on those too small britches. You are WAY too big to play small. Your project, creation, and message are far too important to the people you came here to serve, the people who need to hear it from you. Britches be damned.

Go ahead. Hug the elephant.

Post 23 in the 30 day blogging challenge, #blog30 on Twitter.

Create and Implement

Create and Implement: Sounds simple. And it’s the heart of the matter, isn’t it? If you are a visionary author, writer, messenger, thought leader, or conscious creator with a mission to heal, the idea is to get the work (and its healing results) out there into the world, to start serving the people you came here to serve.

I just read a review for a creativity process book over at Amazon, and there are now comments on the comments. One of those subcomments really struck home. Do these creativity process books help you take action on making your art (whatever it may be)? Or does the process lull you into endless loops of reflecting on the process?

It’s a fine line, I think. Because the inner journey, as discussed in prior posts, is important to building a strong foundation for the outer expression of your work and gifts and greatness in the world. But at a certain  point, it’s time to just do the work, to build the house, write the book, call the clients. How can you use these “process” approaches to launch you into the doing of the actual work (art) you came here to do (make) — and not as an excuse for endless procrastination and preparation?

Note to self: Is this a potential danger of the Write Synergies Path work that I am creating? How may I structure this “process” so it’s more about moving my people forward with doing whatever is the important work/art/creation/venture?  How do I prevent myself and others from falling into the thrall of something completely impractical and tail-chasing as an excuse to avoid the work of creating?  How can I make sure there is practical traction?

My personal challenge IS in doing my “own work,” whatever that may look like. It looked for a time like poetry. And for time it looked a lot like collage/assemblage. Then photography. Now it seems to want to shape itself into a book. Or several. And collaborating with visionary thought leader clients to support and mentor them in creating their most important writing projects.

This post, “create and implement,” is really all about encouraging you in the doing of your work. To do full justice to “create and implement,” it really calls for more detail than a  single blog post here.

You ask, “Do I just start creating?”  Yes. Sometimes you just start. Sometimes, instead, the creation “starts” you–its call is so persistent that it seeps out of your pores and your pen or across the keyboard without your even being full aware of it. This is the luscious process of what I call “divine dictation.” Something comes out, flows out the pen and onto the page.  I know I wrote it, but I don’t have a clue where it came from. These are the moments of the gift. It’s important to grab the gift moments, treasure them, and build on them. They are the gold.

Then there are the other moments, when the engine is cold and it’s tough to start. These are the times when the “Just do it,” motto comes in handy. Times that call for the admonishment to be willing to write what Anne Lamott calls, the “shitty first draft.” Get something out there. Pen to paper even when you don’t really “feel like it.” (And here, a perfect time for acknowledging the gift of the 30 day blog challenge, to get stuff done and out in spite of resistance, procrastination. So thanks #blog30 community!)

Remember: It’s a stronger house with a foundation, and it’s a stronger creation when it has the grounding and foundation of having done the inner work first, tapping into the vision and building on your authenticity, gifts, and greatness.

Be grateful for the gifts and moments of golden flow. But keep on writing (creating) anyway, even if you feel like you are plugging along up a steep incline. Think of the view when you get to the top. Just make sure you are climbing the right mountain!

Add Accountability–Blog Challenge Post 19

On the Write Synergies Path to Owning Your Greatness, the first step, awakening awareness, is an  inner movement. To balance that, the second step is an outer movement, add accountability.

Adding accountability is the step where we make promises (like dates and deadlines and word counts) and then develop the systems and support to help us meet the deadlines and keep the promises. By meeting the deadlines and keeping the promises, we are more likely to complete the project, what Seth Godin, in his book,  Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, likes to call “shipping.”  It means getting it done well enough and out the door. Without adding accountability, without a firm commitment along with a system of supports to hold us to our commitments, very little actually gets done.

Seven Ways to Add Accountability and Own Your Greatness

To add accountability, you’ll want to write out your milestones and trail markers. Then you need to share those markers in a public sphere, even if it’s just a one-on-one support system. Here are seven possibilities –  some of the proven ways you can write your list of commitments and grab some accountability. Use one or a combination, or  all seven.

1 Hire a coach.

2 Set up a one-to-one accountability peer partner.

3 Join or create a Mastermind group and then make your commitments within that framework.

4 Sign  up for a course — and do the homework if that will lead you to completing your commitment.

5 Gather a community around your commitment and make it a group challenge. (like our 30-day blogging challenge)

6 Have a deadline and someone expecting your work or project.

7 Make a promise in a public sphere. (to your client list, on your blog, on a radio  interview).

Adding accountability is a crucial step to Owning Your Greatness. Why? Because the promises to ourselves are the ones most often broken. What lies closest to the heart of the matter, what is dearest to your heart, is somehow the thing that is most often overlooked. Promises and intentions to create from our deepest gifts are too often forgotten or overlooked, and our brainchildren become like orphans.

And in the interest of full disclosure, this is one of my weakest links. I help other people and my clients with this all the time. It’s part of the process, but it is the part that I have the most challenges with. My own creative projects have been the ones that regularly get moved to the back burner. That’s what has been so delicious for me with the 30 Day Blogging Challenge. It has been a chance to create my own work within a framework of a community.

Adding accountability is how we can be there for each other.

As we move into the final third of the 30 day blog challenge, it’s a special time to thank all the fellow travelers in #blog30. The accountability of having this group, of making the commitment to play together, of carrying through together and cheering each other on, has been spectacular.  And it also seems an ideal venue for reiterating the importance of adding accountability. In our case, it’s been a process of writing to add accountability.

Follow the blogging challenge on Twitter at #blog30 and #mini7.

How Self Awareness Connects to Owning Your Greatness — Blogging Challenge Post 18

As you go through the process of awakening self awareness, you might ask, “What does this have to do with owning the gifts and greatness I came here to give?”  The exercise of awakening self-awareness as outlined in the previous post did not specifically tie back to the process of owning your greatness.

So where does that come in?

Usually our gifts are hiding in plain sight. Everyone else can see them, but we can’t. We are the fish in water. What does water mean to a fish? It is a given. So, too, our gifts are invisible to us because they are so integral to how and who we are.

We yearn to share our gifts, but we sense they are hidden. So there’s this yearning to express the hidden gifts. We don’t even realize that we can’t help but express them. We have been expressing our deepest gifts (and purpose) every living moment without even being cognizant of it.

So I recommend using this awakening self awareness process to listen to the yearning of our gifts to be heard and brought out into the world.  For all we know, the gifts are hidden. Why?  Because we are not conscious, not aware of how we are expressing those gifts. This process helps bring our gifts and greatness to our conscious attention, thereby healing the yearning.

The free guidebook with meditation — available for no charge when you sign up with your name and email  in the box at the very top of the right sidebar –  goes into more detail on this aspect of awakening self awareness.  The guide/workbook offers perspectives and exercises specifically around using our self awareness exercises for listening to the inner yearning to express our gifts, owning that yearning, healing it, and finally  taking steps to mindfully own and express our gifts and greatness in the work we do in the world.

It’s all there — the gifts, the greatness, the purposeful vision — patiently waiting for us to awaken to what is with us, within us, and has been with us our entire lifetime.

Post #18 in the 30 day blogging challenge from Connie Ragan Green.  Follow us on Twitter #blog3o