Next time you wonder what your role in life might be, take a hint from this guy.
And feel free to pass this on to anyone who might need it.
Note: I "lost" this video for a while when Brightcove.tv stopped publishing. Luckily I recently found it again, so I'm happy to be able to post the link here.
If you're like most people I know, you have way too many things you need to track:
So recently I've been attempting to de-clutter all those pockets in my life where the "stuff" has built up.
I have several reasons to simplify – including our desire to become "bi-local" and share our time between California, New Zealand and other ports of travel. But even with such a great reason to get rid of stuff, it's been an interesting challenge, and many times I found myself simply stuck.
As part of the process I decided I was tired of doing a manual back up of my computer data every week or so, and I bought a 2 terabyte hard drive that's supposed to do continual backups.. That was an interesting experience as it took almost 2 weeks to back up the computer, an external drive and our music drive.
And of course everything dropped to a crawl during the backup process. So I learned from that process that the backup drive gets connected at night when I'm not doing anything else & it can hog resources. Not quite what I wanted, but close enough I guess.
Once I had everything backed up, I started reorganizing files and deleting duplicates as well as anything that was way old and no longer needed. An fascinating thing happened – as the space cleared, my energy lifted.
That's when I started hitting gold!! I found several projects that were in various stages of completion, including one that was 3/4 finished when I had to set it aside about 7 years ago to take care of other things.
So I pulled it out and have been working to finish it up. It's amazing how much energy that in itself has created. And now I'm excited about the project again, even if I've changed my focus and it ends up a somewhat different product.
I've also begun to prioritize the other projects I still want to work on, and deciding which ones to let go of. As I complete what's in front of me, it's freeing up more energy to do what I want. Which makes it that much easier to focus on what's important to me now.
The key has always been taking action. Especially when you feel you are stuck. It's isn't always necessary to take massive action, you just have to start somewhere. Your momentum and focus will build as you create the space for them.
Taking those first few steps towards clearing out the clutter in my life has resulted in giving me back the ability to focus.
Some years ago, a friend saw an item for sale and immediately thought, “Yashoda will love this”.
I did. Her gift was a bubble wand – the kind that made huge bubbles! With practice you could even encircle your body with these bubbles! And, if you added glycerin to the soapy water, glorious rainbows filled bubbles as they drifted towards the sky.
The more bubbles I made the more fun I had. I loved the way I could use the wind, gently turning my arms and body in a graceful way which made the bubbles. I knew I wanted to sell bubbles as extra income.
Some time before, another friend and teacher, Leonard Orr, told a group of us “If you are really intelligent, you will create many sources of income – 50 sources of income!” I thought he was daft, that it was easy for him to say because he is fairly well-known and is in many money making adventures. But I remember what else he said: that when we have one main source of income a sort of dependency gets created; along with that comes an unconscious fear of losing that source of income. I also knew of people who were in stifling uncreative jobs for that very reason. So, since I already was selling other things, I decided to broaden to three sources of income.
I called the manufacturer and purchased 200 bubble wands, at about $2.15 each. That was a sizable amount for me at the time, but I had this feeling that I could have fun and make money.
My bubble wands arrived, I put on my best working boots and hat, something colorful and crazy in between, and set off for the Canby County Fair in Canby, Oregon, I rented a space and set up my table, bucket and a simple sign that said: “Mystical, Magical Bubbles…Bubble Your Pleasure, Bubble Your Fun!”
And I did. I had fun. I got so INTO making the bubbles, watching each as a surprising, magical occurrence, that I completely forgot that I was selling! Why, people were asking ME if they could GIVE ME money so they could have their bubble wand.
In three days, I was delightfully wiped out! And substantially filled out in my wallet! I sold the wands for $10 (I knew they retailed for $12) or two for $15. I ordered more and sold them whenever I saw the opportunity, gave some as gifts, traded some, even took some as I traveled to
Leonard also says it is smart to always have something to sell, I learned a valuable secret that has remained with me still:
Apart from my setting up and showing up, this experiment was not only easy, it was effortless because of the fun that I had.
It is intelligent these days for all of us to create many sources of income. There are wonderful products that can be sold person-to-person, services and ideas (giving a workshop or class). That is how money is made: ideas, goods and services. Think about something that “turns you on”, “gives you a hit” or “fires you up”. Get a few and sell them and make a profit. Do you remember how good you feel when you find something that’s fun as well as a bargain? Well you can do the same for people you know or strangers by offering them something that can enhance their pleasure or practicality of life.
Note: No one will do without because you “turn a buck”. It is not true that there is only a limited amount of money in
Susan Deschenes leads classes in clientele building, energy breathing and spiritual purification practice in
(c) 2002 Susan Yoshoda Deschenes
Andy Jenkins wrote a very interesting blog post about Shaun White and lessons from Shaun's gold medal run that can be applied to list building (of all things!). I found it not only an interesting read, but it also inspired me to remember the individual stories I saw unfold during the Olympics and how they affected me. I left the following response on his blog, and decided I wanted to share it with you, challenge you to think about what inspired you, and invite you to share your own inspirations with me.
The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver provided so many amazing athletes and so many lessons! Among my favorites:
My heart goes out to figure skater Joanne Rochette whose mother passed away just 2 days before her event started. Her strength and commitment were obvious in the short program, ultimately resulting in a bronze medal. The closest thing I can think of is how my lamaze lessons kicked in when my daughter was born – even though I was exhausted, I didn’t have to think – my body had been so well trained that it knew what to do and did it. Keep practicing and reinforcing – you will automatically do what’s needed when the time comes.
There’s Shaun White, of course, having obvious fun while doing things most people gasp at. (You can read Andy's take on Shaun – which inspired this post – at his blog.)
There’s Evan Lysacek – the hardest working man in figure skating – whose gold medal shows exactly what happens when you are unstoppable and you put in your time perfecting your gifts. He’s a gentleman who at only 24 showed incredible grace when quizzed about Plushenko’s antics. And he’s gorgeous, too.
Apolo Ohno with 8 medals making him the most decorated winter Olympian from the U.S. Every incremental advance adds up over time.
The U.S. Women’s short track relay team who continued skating despite being so far behind. They ended up with a bronze due to a disqualification of the Korean team – don’t give up, regardless of how dismal it may look, do your best and finish the race.
The U.S. Men’s nordic combined relay team – bringing home the first ever medal in the sport (a silver), a grueling sport that requires stamina, pacing and solid performance.
Team Canada for winning an amazing overtime hockey game against the U.S. – when we had already beaten them once – and giving our good neighbors to the north a stellar finish to their hosted games.
And of course, Steve Holcomb, with record setting runs and a gold medal! A man who nearly lost his eyesight and who looks more like my dear husband than a star athlete. A man who said they were treating the second day like it was a separate race and they just wanted to do it like they had the day before. The lesson – do your best. Then keep repeating the strategies you know are successful.
Every athlete who performed at the Olympics is a hero and an inspiration. No one gets there without commitment, hard work and vision.