Creative Women Can Rocket In Business 02/14/2012
I'm excited to let you know that registrations are now open for the 2012 Creative Women Can Summit with the theme this year Creative Women Can Rocket In Business! Here's a short message I've just recorded to tell you about the Summit. We've got some amazing and inspirational speakers coming on board and I can't wait to share them with you. Please share this video with your network of wonderful Creative Women who Can! Add Comment What Is Personal Leadership? 02/02/2012
The sort of feelings and experiences I described are also signs that you're off track and not honouring yourself in an empowering way. Time to get back to what it means to be you, and to take charge as the leader of your life, business, career and go out and grab your vision and squeeze it so tight it just melts into you as a divine reality Personal leadership is, as you may think from it's name, a very personal experience. My expression of personal leadership will be different to your expression as will the outcomes for both of us. That is, I think, part of what makes personal leadership so empowering I'll be back soon with more on this fascinating topic so until next time I wish you succulent, effortless success Shannon
As I mentioned in yesterday's post I spent an brilliant day at a workshop all day and have so many things to share that I (almost) don't know where to start. This morning I had the absolute pleasure and honour of facilitating an inspiring morning of what I call 'Creative Visioning' as a team building exercise for a group of relatively innovative people who work in an environment that traditionally lacks innovation and creativity. The reason I mention this is that yesterday one of things I was reminded of strongly was that without clarity our visions aren't necessarily going to get us where we want to go and without imagination we are destined to limit ourselves in a bit way The Italian Master Michelangelo said that "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low we reach it.” That's a really powerful statement and considering it was shared in the 1500's that's a really innovative, insightful insight into human potential, something I like to think of as 'Creative Possibility' How often have you spent time writing goals, creating a vision board or adding to your vision book, only to review it at some stage down the track and see that you 'sort of' met your goals? I know I've done it. I know friends who've done it and I see clients do it all the time. In fact I often have people say to me something like "I don't believe in goal setting / vision boards / vision books / setting intentions / creating visions because they never come true!" That is a pretty powerful claim to make. What I tend to see and understand as I delve deeper into this statement and put some probing, curiosity driven questions out there is that the goal, etc did in fact become true. Sometimes right down to the finest detail What's the problem then? The problem is that the goal (or whatever we are referring to) wasn't clear. It wasn't clear and consice and detailed enough to really capture what the person setting the goal was wanting and it was also, often, limited in imagination. What was 'captured' and what was dreamed were poles apart. There is incongruency all over the place. If you want something to become a reality then you need to be really, really clear on what it is that you want. Actively engage your imagination and then write it out with as much detail as you can and ensure that you engage all your senses as you go. Tap into what it will look like, sound like, feel like, be like when the goal has come true. Capture where you will be, who will be with you, and anything else you feel captures the moment that your goal transforms from a dream into reality. Simple huh? It can be. Choosing the path of ease as you travel through life can start with allowing yourself to get really clear, to imagine, to stretch your dreams and to express your dreams, your visions as boldly and clearly as possible Your innovation challenge for today is to consider one dream you have, one goal, one vision, and to create a clarity filled goal to express it as though it is already a reality. Let your imagination run wild with vision and clarity Wishing you succulent, effortless success Shannon 
It's been a big week for me already which, I might add, is absolutely awesome. After yesterday's celebrating the new (and by the way I have decided to keep my new stuff to myself for now as it just seems more appropriate while the 'magic' happens) I spent time today at a workshop and got aha after aha moment which left me feeling energised and more alive than I have felt in a long time. There was so much covered and I thought of so many inspiring things that I can share with you all that for the next week I'm going to pick one thing a day to share as part of the innovation challenge Today's big learning opportunity and innovation challenge is related to something I'm calling the cost of action. The reflection I invite you to take is to consider what the cost is for you to take action on your dreams. It's action, with a good dose of strategy, that will make THE difference between wether your dreams stay dreams or become reality. Beautiful, bold, exciting, motivating, inspiring, day in, day out, lived experience, reality! What do I mean by the cost of action? I mean what it will literally and figuratively cost you to take action. Start by writing down a clear summary of the one dream you've been resisting. It's the one thing that keeps coming up, time and time again. The one that, no matter how much you try to ignore it, it keeps knocking at the door asking to be embraced and to become reality. Yep..... it's THAT dream! Next break it down into small steps. Ask yourself, "What's the first step I could take to bring me one step closer to this dream of mine becoming reality?" and write down your answer Then ask the question again but in a slightly different way, "What's the next step I could take, that stretches me a little from the previous step, and that brings me closer to my dream becoming reality?" and again write down your answer Keep going until you have about 8-10 steps. The next part is about looking at the costs you stand to incur. Think about the costs in financial and emotional terms. You could even create 2 columns and write your thoughts next to each step. The really cool thing is that you may well discover (as I did when I looked at the costs of my 2012 visions) that there is no cost involved at all with many of the steps. All there is in terms of a consequence is lots of wonderful gain. That made me realise that I have nothing to hold me back. There is nothing in the way of my taking action except me! Truthfully, this process has the power to empower you to take action in a big, bold, daring way. Once you know the cost of something and you can see clearly what lies before you it's hard to keep putting obstacles in the way and hold back and that is, quite simply, transformational That was your innovation challenge for today! Wishing you succulent, effortless success Shannon 
Today is the Chinese New Year and we welcome in the year of the water dragon. You'll probably see lots of articles about what that means and how to celebrate. Did you also know that it is a new moon? Now I'm not going to get all spiritual on you here but I do want to point out that this is a very auspicious time to welcome in and celebrate the new that you want to manifest this year It's well into the first month of the year and if you've not yet set your intentions today's the day. Forget the resolutions and instead focus on what it is you want that's new in your life. You could write yourself a letter, create a list, paint it, make a collage or even create a ritual or ceremony to acknowledge and celebrate what is about to happen this year for you. Doing this is your innovation challenge for today It's only a quick post today... I've got new things to celebrate. As always, feel free to share by adding a comment below. Maybe tomorrow I'll share some of what I'm intending for this year Be back tomorrow with the next innovation challenge! Wishing you succulent effortless success, Shannon P.S. Can I also make a suggestion... as you get clear on the new you want think about the following question: "How can this be easy?" and keep that in mind as you celebrate your new!
Instead what I hope to do is to help you get clear on why you have held back in pursuing your dreams till now, or why you've thought more about giving up than breaking through. I hope to highlight, loud and clear, why this is the best time for you to empower your visions, transform your life and create the masterpiece the world is waiting for - you!
Let's just dive in...... Back in December I hosted free training Webinar called Seal Your Success in 2012. It was so popular that there was a repeat performance last week and hundreds of people signed up to hear me share key strategies that will, if you implement them, set you up to make 2012 your best year yet (if you missed it you can view the replay here) Now during Seal Your Success I revealed a really powerful reflection that I want to ask you now. After i've asked the question I'd love you to start writing your answer right away, without pausing, without hesitation, trusting in what is flowing forth from you, knowing that your inner leader is guiding you here Ok here it is......
 Over the past few months I've written a lot about effortless success. It's a great vision of mine, to see others experience their version of success with great ease and joy and to see that success become something significant, sustained and effortless. I feel great sadness when I see and hear others struggling and I am committed to doing what I can, by sharing my knowledge, experience and wisdom as far and wide as possible to teach others the tools and strategies I've learnt and developed over a significant period of time so that effortless success can be something real for more and more people every day At this time of year there are so many things happening around us, in our external world. We have lots of social events to attend, friends and family to see, shopping to do, things to prepare, activity all around us. There is also a lot happening for us internally, whether you realise it it not. Quite often we are not consciously aware of how much time we invest in reflecting, looking inward, wondering how things could be different, better, easier, free-er.... This is therefore a powerful time to deeply reflect inward on the year that's been. Within that reflection space is an opportunity to review your goals and intentions for the past year and to evaluate how well you succeeded in achieving them. Wether this is something you do formally or something informal, it's not uncommon to be left feeling less than satisfied about your achievements I think we are too quick to focus on what we haven't achieved rather than celebrating what we have succeeded with and in, no matter how big or small those successes are. A wise mentor of mine always says "big or small, we celebrate them all" when it comes to reflecting on our personal successes and accomplishments which is such a richly rewarding way to exist Right now I'd like you to check in and ask yourself the following 9 Power Questions. They are designed to go deep into reflection on what the past year has been and to open you to begin thinking about what you'd need for next year and beyond to shimmer with effortless success 1. How are you feeling right now as you reflect back on the past year? 2. How has 2011 been for you, truthfully? 3. Was it all you wished for and better than you could have hoped? 4. Whats one significant goal you were certain you'd achieve that you didn't? 5. If you didn't achieve at the rate you'd hoped to then how do you feel about that? (flat, disappointed, frustrated, tired, poor and overwhelmed are the most common responses I hear from people unsatisfied with their performance at this time if year) 6. Are you now vowing that next year will not be a repeat of this past year? 7. What steps are you going to out into place to ensure that 2012 is not a repeat of 2011? 8. Did you ask for help in 2011? Stretch yourself? Learn new skills? Shift limiting beliefs that were holding you back and replace self sabotaging behaviors with supportive, forward momentum actions? 9. What sort of support are you willing to invest in to ensure that 2012 is your best year yet? How did you go? Were you surprised about the responses you got? Were you truly honest with yourself as you answered each questions? (more questions I know, sorry, but they need to be asked!) Because so many people let themselves get into a situation this time of year where they start to feel less than satisfied (this is where that unhelpful often negative self talk kicks in and makes us feel quite frankly like we're just not good enkugh) even though they shouldn't, I've decided to hold a complimentary training webinar next week to share with you the secrets to sealing your success in 2012 so that everything about you and you're life shimmer and shine and you can really thrive not just survive! You can find out more and register for this event here I can't wait to share the empowering content with you and help you on your way to an awesome new year next year and every year after! The extra good news is that the strategy and steps I'm going to share are far easier than you might think. Remember, my intention for you is effortless success from this point forward Register for the training Webinar and I'll see you there Celebrate What You Love 11/21/2011
 I've just returned from an inspiring time away with my husband, my parents and his parents to celebrate my father in law's 70th birthday early in November. It was a truely amazing time as we travelled through South Africa with our parents and as a bonus there was a few extra special days for my husband James and I to spend with one of our best friends in Cape Town. While we were away I was reminded daily of the importance of celebrating what you love. This time away and sharing with some of the most important people in my life was something I will never forget. It was more than a holiday, it was a reminder to me that too often we can take for granted those who are most dear to us and forget to let them know how important they are, and an opportunity to re-focus my inner lead-HER-ship from this point forward I've had such a busy year which has been fabulous, but it's also meant that some of the people and things that I treasure the most have not had as much of my time as they deserve, or that I deserve. Therefore as I approach the final month of 2011 and think about what sort of year I want 2012 to be I see a gift in the time I have just had away as it's made me stop and reflect on what's really important and how I can ensure that what I love is celebrated at every possible moment Here's the 3 biggest lessons I learnt from this time away;
1. I always have a choice about how I use my time One of the many reasons I went into business was to be able to work a schedule that fitted my needs best. At time's it's been easy to achieve and at other's I've found it a struggle to maintain the balance I know is essential to my being the best I can be for my clients, my peers, my family, my friends and most importantly myself. The lesson I learnt by taking time out is that when it comes to creating the balance I crave, I always have a choice about how I use my time  Creative Flow and teaching women like you to create more flow in their lives is one of my great passions. Just this morning I was interviewed by Becky McCleery, host of the Healing Superwoman Syndrome Virtual Retreat on this very topic. It's so dear to my heart because it's a great way for us to be able to actively be the leader in our lives, which as you may have heard me say before, is the ultimate in empowerment and empowerment is the key to living your visionary life rather than it just staying a vision  Today I am going to share with you a little about 'creative flow' so you can start to embrace this self-honouring, nurturing opportunity to celebrate yourself every day and avoid the stagnation, stuck, trapped, contracted, locked down feelings that are the opposite of flow
| CategoriesAll ArchivesFebruary 2012 |
Creative Possibility | Empowering Visions, Transforming Lives
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