Tag: owning your greatness

7 Steps to Own Your Gifts and Greatness– Blog Challenge Post 16

7 Steps to Owning Your Greatness and Gifts and the Contribution You Came Here to Make!

What is it about touching on that sweet pulsing center of who we really are, what we came here to do, and stepping up into our magnificence that turns us into shy and retiring wallflowers? Why do we back pedal — fast — away from our heart’s desire and what we say or think or feel we most want? Why do we retreat double time when a little sliver of a spotlight heads in our direction?  “No, I couldn’t possibly put even a little finger into that limelight,” we resolutely claim.

Some say it’s fear of failure. We are reticent about taking our deepest and most precious dreams and passions and art and creations out there into a tough, cold, cruel, and harsh world. We don’t want our hearts broken — yet again — when our creations and messages don’t find a place in the marketplace of ideas and messages screaming for attention.

Others say it’s fear of success. We fear shining the very light that we came here to shine. We fear our brilliance because it might mean a shift in the status quo. Suddenly we are more visible than we ever have been before. And what if there’s positive response? What then? Do we  fear success and shining our light because of old programming and shame? Do we have a familiar comfort in the smallness?

No matter the cause, whether fear of success or fear of failure, we so often fail to act on our own behalf. Some advise big steps, giant strides, quantum leaps.  Such approaches are seductive and tempting — just make the leap. Such a process may work for some. For others, the very bigness of the endeavor becomes a recipe for staying frozen, for blocking, for sheer terror at the cliff’s edge.

Baby steps are what Julia Cameron advises in this classic collection of her three books, The Complete Artist’s Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice. Baby steps can create new habits, literally new neural pathways that can create vast and positive internal shifts. But we have to take the time to put the new habits into practice. Over millennia, the Grand Canyon was cut through by the patient waters of the Colorado River. There’s visible power in that river channel. We are stunned by the breathtaking results. But in our lifetime, we don’t have the kind of time it took to carve out the Grand Canyon.

Perhaps there is a third way. Living on the “third coast” of the Great Lakes and their freshwater foam, in Chicago, roughly the middle of our country, I’m especially fond of alternatives, third ways, the golden mean of Greek philosophy, (and similar notions from Confucius and the Middle Way of Buddhism).  Mapping a confident path through the the impatience of taking baby steps and along the cliff edge of quantum leaps, I have developed a seven-step process for owning your gifts and greatness.

The Write Synergies Path to Owning Your Greatness requires a series of back and forths, alternating inner work, then outer work; inner, then outer. The inner journey work builds the foundation. But we live in the physical world. Without action in the outer spheres, little happens and our visions and gifts do not come to fruition. So consider the following seven steps (and the eighth, the bonus and result of following this path). And, although these are process steps, there are sweet results and outcomes by incorporating each one, so stay tuned.

Over the next few days, I will expand on these seven steps.

  1. Awaken Awareness
  2. Add Accountability
  3. Build Momentum
  4. Create and Implement
  5. Delight your People–your tribe/circle/audience/community/
  6. Embrace the heart and soul of your project, creation, and message
  7. Embody Excellence

Following the path through this process, one piece of the Write Synergies Vision Quest, you’ll arrive at the 8th step–your result, the bonus, outcome, and reason you are here: Living Your Legacy.  (I’ve talked about this before a bit. See related post at the link. And watch for more to come.)

Thanks once again to all the wonderful colleagues and conversations at #blog3o.


Wisdom from Unexpected Places

Tamora Pierce’s character, Niklaren Goldeye, a mage in the Circle of Magic Quartet, serves as inspiration and role model for The Write Synergies Guru, Bobbye Middendorf.

I’m a huge fan of author Tamora Pierce.  Her powerful female characters serve as role models for younger readers and older ones alike.  Her  young adult series, The Circle of Magic — Sandry’s Book (Circle of Magic, Book 1) (No. 2)
–features  a finicky older mage, (gosh, about my age) a brilliant and educated seer and foreteller, Master Niklaren Goldeye, (Niko), who has a visioning gift for seeing so deeply that he can uncover magical gifts where other — more traditional mages — have never detected magic. Tamora Pierce on Amazon

As the series opens, Niko’s “foretellings” have sent him hither and yon to rescue four young, undiscovered mages just in the nick of time and right from death’s door. Niko, as one of the teachers of the young mages, plays a prominent role in the Circle of Magic Quartet. He personally mentors one of the students, and the other three connect with teachers who specialize in their particular brand of magic.

I’ve discovered that the truths and insights from fiction can shed uncommon light on our own situations. I realize that what I do for my clients is not unlike the magic embodied by the fictional Niklaren Goldeye.  As implied in his taking Goldeye as his mage name, Niko is a seer who recognizes the deeply hidden and buried gifts and gold of these four young mages even when the children themselves or their families do not.

Sometimes we have to be  the “seers of gifts” within ourselves, being the Niko to our own hidden greatness. Tamora Pierce develops this character (and so many others) in a way that allows the gifts of the characters to resonate within readers like a gong’s reverberations shiver right into the bones.

Recognizing a fellow traveler in Niko, I am strengthened in myself. Recognizing myself in Pierce’s telling of his gifts, I can acknowledge similar gifts within myself.  Part of the magic I bring into client collaborations and conversations is an uncanny (some might say magical) gift of seeing (and hearing) from deep within them the gifts they don’t always fully understand nor yet embrace for themselves.

What is the magic within you that you are not owning? What gifts and greatness and contributions have so far gone unexpressed?

30-Day Blog Challenge Day 9/ follow our progress on Twitter #blog30
Follow me on Twitter  @bobbyemiddendor

Shine Your Light In Words–Blog Challenge Day 4

You want to make a difference. How best to do that?

Pondering this, I came synchronistically to the following quote from Neale Donald Walsch:
“Money is not the issue. Having the courage to give your highest gift is the issue.”

The Write Synergies process starts with the understanding that we all have gifts to give.  Most of us still  need to fully own (as in acknowledge to ourselves) the greatness of our being, our inner power, as well as the great contributions that we can give — via our creative projects, ventures, books, talks, web presences. We came here to make a difference, to make our corner of the world a better place by expressing the authenticity of our being. The only way we can do that is to step out of our own way. I have trouble with this too, tripping myself up endlessly.

That’s the beauty of using writing to unearth an inner process, to uncover the depths of our capabilities. Then comes the exhilaration of taking the next step and moving the writing into the outer path, following the trail of words out into the manifest world, giving birth to our creative brainchildren and helping them find their place and their people.

There are souls yearning to awaken to share their gifts and greatness.  This Write Synergies process is one path to help people get from the “in here” to the “out there” with grace and wisdom. It’s the path for those willing to use words to shine their light and share their gifts.  You make a difference just by being who you are, but learning to feel at ease telling your own story lets you magnify your light.

Shine on!

(follow the 30-Day Blog Challenge on Twitter at #blog30)

How Can Write Synergies Copywriting Best Support YOU?

“Focus instead on how you can help people. Make your reader the center of your blog, and find ways to help your reader succeed (at whatever you’re teaching). The rest — stats and money and all that — will come later.”  So says Leo Baubata in point #13 in  Write to Done, the question, “What’s the most important blogging question I’m not asking? A: You should be asking, “How can I most help my reader?”

So for readers of Write Synergies Copywriting, all of you Conscious Creators,
Visionary writers, authors, publishers, speakers, artists, caregivers, and healers, I ask:
What can I do to support you on your journey?
What are you looking for to help get your message out there?
What would encourage you to step up in Owning Your Greatness?
(And the greatness of your book, project, or venture?)
What support do you need in expressing your gifts and connecting with your audience?
What would your life look like if you were Living Your Legacy?

Let me know!

Writers: Smart Start Tips for 2010

Writers, what’s on your list for 2010?  Is this the year you will complete the book, start the novel or memoir, really put your writing self “out there?”

Beware of trying to do everything at once—or biting off a big project only to see it fizzle before it ignites!  Many experts recommend that you make changes slowly and work to make positive habits a permanent part of your life.

Try this!
Select your top writing or other creative project.  Commit to make small but consistent progress toward a mini-goal.  Consider a doable “page a day” to build momentum on your book. (Many days, you’ll continue beyond a page!) If you want to, use the comments here at Write Synergies Copywriting to report on your progress.

You’ll experience permanent shifts by creating new habits in your writing process.  By creating do-able positive new habits, over a period of 2-3 months, you’ll see progress.  Think of these as baby steps to reach that mini-milestone you’ve identified.

Yes, you do need the big vision goal as the powerhouse and ultimate destination. But tied to that, you need daily do-able actions. These can be most effective when you take a “process” approach. As Dan Millman once said, “A little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing.” With writing, this is more than just a truism.

When you have solidified those habits and made progress toward your milestone, pick the next item to address or create a new mini goal in an area you are already working on.  (A blog? A regular ezine? Fiction as well as nonfiction?)

Then repeat the process of introducing simple, do-able steps that will help you make the changes (and your progress toward completion) a permanent and ongoing part of your life.  You are installing and creating new long-term writing habits that naturally lead to your desired results.

By developing new habits that inch you toward your writing goals, you are on the path to be able to share your gifts and greatness.  This is the journey we are on together, “The Write Synergies Path to Owning Your Greatness.” Safe travels!

Owning, Living, and Writing Your Greatness in 2010

Happy New Year!

As the darkness and short year-end days
turn the corner to the lighter and brighter,
I hope you will take this time
to experience the peace, joy, and
opportunity of a fresh start.

What does Owning Your Greatness mean in your
life? In your creative projects? In your business?
What are you yearning to envision, create,
and manifest in 2010? What is the biggest
challenge you face in Owning Your Greatness?

Do you come up with more questions than answers?
Answers are great. And so are the questions.
They can be productive in opening the space for
movement, especially if you are able to share
your questions with a like-minded  and Light-minded
community.

I invite you to email me or post your questions.
I want to understand your biggest challenges —
and support you in addressing them so you can
move forward to truly Own Your Greatness
(and the Greatness of your project or venture) in 2010.

Write Synergies Copywriting addresses the
needs of Conscious Creators. For us, more than most,
it’s crucial to align the inner fire, desire, and intent
with the outer manifestations.  Owning Your Greatness
is the inner work.

The Write Synergies Path to Owning Your Greatness,
the guidebook available on sign-up in the box at the
top of the right-hand column, offers a gentle
process using writing to tap into the heart of your vision.

Yours are the words that start the journey!
You start by Owning Your Greatness first.
Then all the outer manifestations fall into place.

Bring Heart to Your Marketing and
Soul to Your Business in 2010.

With My Best Wishes for a Shiny Fresh New Year
~ Filled with Love, Light, & Laughter,
Bobbye

Let’s all step into being leaders

We are all leaders, and our leadership is needed — now more than ever. Seth Godin said it in Tribes. And so did John Quincy Adams: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you’re a leader.” Step up today, stand in owning your greatness and leading your tribe.

Purpose & Synchronicity

“The ultimate test comes when you try living from your new purpose.”

–True Purpose: 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to Make by Tim Kelley
http://cli.gs/hDtvRP

Enjoy the sheer delight of randomness, but a mindful and intentional randomness that somehow reinforces the process of owning your greatness as you work to live your purpose! Falling into the digital rabbit hole today, connecting with the wisdom of old friends, still trying to make all the digital media connections.  Following my friend’s instructions (below), I came up with the quote (above).

Instructions from my friend Elke Siller Macartney from InspirationU  (http://www.inspirationu.com)

“Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence AS YOUR STATUS. Then POST these instructions in a comment on your status.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST book.”

We find meaning in the random uncovering of what is there waiting for us.  Following the above instructions, a kind of    bibliomancy–divination by means of a book, esp. [but not in this case] the Bible, opened at random to some verse or passage, which is then interpreted.” [from dictionary.com]— I have happened upon something that is meaningful.  But is it meaningful because the book was the nearest one?   Yet consider that the reader found meaning in the 5th sentence on a particular random page.  Such coming up with something meaningful speaks of larger purposes and synchronicities and synergies where we all find meanings greater than the sum of the parts through random walks through the nearest book.  Bravo to bibliomancy!

The Paradigm Shift in Soft Sell Marketing

Enter a dialogue to create a new model of business that reflects your authenticity, connection, community with Judith and Jim at http://bridgingheartandmarketing.com/blog/soft-sell-marketing-as-a-deep-paradigm-shift/

Like it or not, the business paradigm shift is here.  You can always see how far business as usual takes you, although right now I’d characterize that as a  head-in-the-sand approach.

Or you can enter a dialogue to create a new model of business that reflects your authenticity, connection, community.  You can stand up, express your gifts, and own your greatness as part of the Soft Sell Marketing trend.  Judith and Jim are opening the dialogue for Soft Sell Marketers to come together to see how we might consciously co-create this paradigm shift.  See their blog post at:

http://bridgingheartandmarketing.com/blog/soft-sell-marketing-as-a-deep-paradigm-shift/