change

Is Your Motor Running on Idle?

October 31, 2011 By Cara Lumen

I have just played hooky from my regular routine and didn’t understand my unwillingness to do most of the things I could/should be doing. Then I realized I was running my motor on idle and that was actually a good thing.

You idle before you change gears

Now that I’ve had my mental and physical break from working my business I see that backing off from your routine gives you a new perspective. Taking time to focus on another aspect of your life like entertainment or physical activity or friendship brings the value of those pursuits back into focus and gives you the space to make some more conscious choices. Idling is about preparing for change. It’s not about making decisions; it’s about backing off so you can look ahead with a new perspective.

Those darn “should’s”

If you’re like me there are a zillion things you should do to make your business bigger, better, and more lucrative. There are so many choices that even the contemplation of those choices can make you weary. As I come out of my idle time I can take a better look at what I think I should be doing in the first place. Do I really need or want to write that many blog posts – is that becoming a chore rather than a joy? How many coaching clients do I really want? Do I want my days swamped in service or do I need some balance? Look carefully at what you decided someplace along the line that you should do and see if that still holds true. Make some new choices. Release what no longer brings you pleasure and makes room for more nourishing activities.

Those exciting could’s

Here’s where a lot of us really get into trouble, we see a lot of exciting possibilities and want to try for most of them. Coming out of idle I realize I would like to live with less pressure. Since I’m the one making up the deadlines I choose for myself I’m also the one that can change them. There is a course I want to teach but if I decide on a specific deadline some of the joy of creation will be taken away as I have to push myself to get it ready by a certain time. My coming out of idle decision is that I want more time to focus on fitness and play so my choice is that that course will be written whenever it gets written and offered whenever it gets offered. The whole point of doing our business is to have a great time doing it. How will the could’s you are considering affect your daily life experience?

Choose your priorities

What are your priorities at this particular point in your life? How in balance or out of balance is your current schedule? I used to work my business pretty much all the time. I love to create so I was always working a new project with a deadline as well as maintaining my coaching clients. There was no time for much else. Now I want to take time to watch a sunset, or walk in the sunshine, or read a good novel. I choose more simplicity in my life and more serenity. I want to write more philosophical posts. I want time to take myself gently into this next phase of my life. I want time for me.

Slow down

My five days on idle revolved around doing jigsaw puzzles. Your mind is active but you know the outcome. I didn’t have to plan or meet a deadline or work on my next book. I just sorted our little pieces of cardboard – for days. It obviously met a need or I wouldn’t have been so reluctant to return to work. I played hooky. I changed my rhythm. I stopped the pressure. I zoned out. I backed off. I put my motor on idle while I allowed my subconscious to rearrange my priorities and help me realize the new choices I want to make. There will now be regular yoga, consistent and ever-lengthening walks. There will be much gazing out the window at the sunsets. There will be writing my “How to Craft series” but at whatever speed those books unfold that gives me pleasure in doing them. I want my life to be active but I want to eliminate as many self inflicted deadlines as possible. I want to take pleasure in what I do; I want to savor the joy of crafting an article or completing another ebook or helping a client take a giant step. I want to savor my life. That’s what I learned when my motor went on idle.

Are You Reading the Signs?

August 1, 2011 By Cara Lumen

The Universe has an interesting way to offer us guidance. It sends signs. Sometimes those signs are about bumping into someone on the street that creates an opportunity you hadn’t considered before. Sometimes it is a phone call or an email suggesting collaboration. It may be a surge of interest in a particular product or service you offer. And it may be an idea that simple floats in out of nowhere. These signs indicate an interest from somewhere directed at you and what you offer. They are worth considering.

Signs that say change direction

I’ve been moving steadily in one direction for about eight years. Before that I was going in another direction. What’s currently showing up are people interested in that original niche – those initial products and services that I still offer on my website. I’m wondering and watching. Part of me feels that if I moved back to that old niche it would feel like going backwards. Another part says maybe I’ve learned all I can from the niche I am in and have something more to contribute to my original niche. Since learning new things is more important to me than just about anything in the world I need to find the place where I can keep learning and be in service while I do. So the question becomes how can I approach this former niche and make a new type of product and service around it.

Signs that inspire new work

I began my online presence as a spiritual counselor. Then I decided to take that metaphysical approach out into the world as I helped people develop their online business. I became a business coach, curriculum developer and an educator. The spiritual part has always been in my work. The current signs are about increasing the spiritual work. I’m observing and thinking and considering.

I feel that a lot of my earlier work was about teaching what I had learned from others in my own unique interpretation – which is pretty much what we all do. But I have now developed what feels like a relatively original idea and would love to find more of those. However, my unique viewpoint has changed because I am more knowledgeable and experienced so if I went “back” to offering more spiritually oriented products they would be different than what I produced ten years ago. That’s a good thing.

I learn when I teach and since I’m going through an introspective period in my own life, I plan to write a new teleclass that will give people tools for self-exploration. That’s quite different from the practical courses I’ve been teaching. My target community is certainly going to be surprised!

What ideas are coming to you that seem a little off the beaten path that you would be interested in exploring?

Signs that a change is in the air

My Passionately on Purpose blog has always been a mix of practical and philosophical – like me. In the past year, I have written more personal development posts than practical ones. That was a conscious decision as well as an organic one. It seems that the Universe has been steadilly laying the groundwork for this possible change. Look at what you’ve been doing the past six months. What has changed? Is there a new direction being suggested?

Signs that suggest new relationships

Some of the signs are coming to me in the form of the people that are showing up to be coached and the products that they are buying – the older spiritual ones. As I examine the world around me, I see major, major changes and as I look carefully at what people want it seems like hope would be at the top of their list. Hope, spiritual awareness and a way to get control of their lives at least internally since, at the moment, the physical plane seem skewed. I could do that.

New people are also showing up who would like to collaborate. People are showing up for coaching who not only want practical guidance but help in defining their values and their passion and their deepest place of service. The people who are seeking me out are coming because they feel a spiritual connection. That’s always been that way it works but these people are expressing it in those terms. Who is showing up in your life that you are immediately drawn to, or who seek you out with collaboration in mind?

Signs that you should take the leap

I haven’t made this leap yet. I’m just reading signs. And I also realize it doesn’t have to be a complete leap, it doesn’t have to be an abandonment of what I do now. It can just be an addition to what already exists. I have to look at what I want right now. What do I want to learn? What do I want to write about? What do I want to teach? Who do I want to coach? And what do I want to help them to accomplish? I can offer a personal development class alongside a business class. It would be a stronger position if I stuck with one or the other but I’m just going to let it unfold. It may also mean that this is the beginning of a gradual transition. Are you being nudged to change directions? How does that feel?

Are you noticing the signs?

What signs are showing up for you? What are people asking you to do for them? What new need do you see out in the world that you would like to meet? How does your present focus need to expand or change in order to continue to be relevant and necessary? Read the signs and see if it’s time for change.

Hovering Above Change

June 6, 2011 By Cara Lumen

I am organically repositioning myself in my life and my business and I haven’t landed yet. I feel suspended between here and there – wherever "there" turns out to be.

Like a butterfly emerging, I don’t know what color I’ll be, so I simply let myself evolve.

And like the butterfly it all has to come from within – an internal change that ultimately appears on the physical plane.

Listen from within

As new ideas emerge test them out. See how they feel to you. See what additional ideas they stimulate. When I decided to focus much of my coaching work on helping people develop information products it stimulated a great many ideas. I taught my Magnetic Content Development System in a six week course that made me organize those ideas into a teachable format. I founded the free Magnetic Signature Products Guild which is an entirely new niche for me. I started writing the “How to Craft” Series of ebooks. With that one shift to a narrower niche it was like fireworks, the ideas and projects came rapidly. What idea are you exploring that feels like it’s going to pop?

Look for the signs

My signs appeared as full blown ideas that fell into place so easily there was no hesitation on my part to put them into action. Names like the “Guild” set the tone. I realized my system of teaching content development was unique. I was excited about teaching it. It was a direction I HAD to take it was that compelling. What signs continue to show up in your life that point you in a new direction?

Have patience

I get inklings of what is possible. I go exploring to see what catches my eye. And I wait – never pushing or prodding. I simply stay open to the infinite possibilities. I listen intuitively and suddenly find treasures that steadily lead me forward on this new adventure. Start journaling about what you are feeling and thinking. Capture your ideas on paper. See what shows up and consider it.

Goals can stop change

If I decide a particular idea needs to be a book, I might miss the opportunity to consider it should begin as a teleclass or a video or even an article. Stay flexible. Stay open. Have a broad goal like “I want to change lives with what I teach.” Then let the way you do that unfold organically.

You can’t hurry change

Opening up this new niche is like starting my business over. I have a new web site, a new blog which people have to find. I am still learning how to manage the membership software. I have fourteen ebooks I know I am going to write and I’m on number three. And each product needs a landing page, a shopping cart set up, a cover and promotion. There is so much to do to let people know these great resources exist. It can’t be rushed. It just needs to be done one step at a time.

Learn as you go

The beautiful thing about writing so many information products is that I get to test my own system over and over again. Sometimes in my process I create a new worksheet that I add to the system. As I write I keep discovering new phrases that convey my message even better than the ones I have already used. As I coach new people I see that I can apply my unique decision making process to those who are starting up a new business or beginning any project. Wherever there is a decision-making process I can help.

Watch for leveraging

One idea can be presented in many ways. A new client showed up that allowed me to apply my decision-making process to the establishment of her new business. As I worked with her I created new processes to guide her. I will include what I discovered and created in future information products. I’ve already taught full blown teleclasses in crafting articles, teleclasses and how to books. Does that material become another ebook series that cover each step? Do they become special interest coaching groups? Can I do a VIP day? As your ideas emerge see how they can be put to use in different formats.

Trust

I have an idea where I am headed but with every step I take I look and listen and feel to be certain it is aligned with my passion and that it excites me as I make it happen. I know I’m growing, I’m expanding my vision, and my expectations are changing. I’m simply allowing a newer version of me to emerging knowing that whatever it looks and feels like will be absolutely perfect for my here and now.

Don’t you just love hovering above change?

Checking Yourself for Change

February 15, 2011 By Cara Lumen

I looked at one of my own web pages recently and thought “What were you thinking?” So much had changed in such a short space of time that I had forgotten to check what needed to be changed in my blogs and web site to reflect my new direction. There was a lot to be done.

Change is gradual

Change sneaks up on us. It can be so unobtrusive that we are suddenly someplace else and don’t know how we got there. And that’s great, unless you are advertising on the internet and telling people what you offer only to find that what you have written is no longer true.

I tweaked my niche. I went from coaching people in whatever aspect of their business they were in to focusing on helping people craft powerful information products that help them reach and teach their target community and that changed the demographics of my community and the purpose of my blogs. I had to redefine and rewrite everything.

Have you changed direction?

We constantly change. New opportunities show up that we either take or don’t take and that alters our direction. We learn new skills that enable us to add new elements to what we offer. That may tweak our intended destination. Like any trip, side trips can be rewarding, but have you gone done the side road too long? Is it time to get back on the super highway?

I’ve added something new to my business mix. My new Magnetic Content Development System contains a powerful decision-making technique for organizing your ideas into meaningful content. It can be used to help focus any unformulated idea you may have. So for every product I create or new service I decide to offer, I ask myself a series of questions that lets me determine where I am going and what results I want my readers to experience. Having made that core decision I can then thoughtfully design the contents to make certain I reach my chosen destination. Build into your schedule a periodic check to see if you have organically changed your destination. Then go back and be sure your landing pages still point visitors in the right direction.

People change

The problems of your target community will gradually change. You need to regularly re-examine their needs. What do they need now that you might provide? What have you been offering that is no longer needed or could be tweaked to give more value? Are you still willing to offer what you’ve been offering? You change just as others change. Be certain you are still serving your target community well and are having a good time doing it.

For instance, when the economy first did its downward dip I took a hard look at what I thought people were still willing to buy. I know that knowledge is always a good investment because it constantly increases in value. That prompted me to shift my business into helping people teach what they know through their own Success Library of Signature Information Products. Ebooks and telecourses and teaching videos have no start up costs, very few if any production costs and only take the investment of your time. And information products open up the opportunity for passive recurring income and increased expert status.

Are you still the best choice to deliver this product or service?

I bet you’ve added some credentials and experience since the last time you posted your bio or wrote your “Work with Me” landing page. I recently learned to put my ebook on Kindle. That’s some training I can now pass on to my clients and that will add a benefit to my coaching page. Keep an eye out for new skills you have added that increase your value to your target community. It doesn’t have to be a major certification, but do keep a watch out for how you continue to be the best choice to deliver your products and services.

What do you have new to offer?

I have created this really great system for organizing your ideas into powerful content. I created it as a teleclass. Now I’m going to translate it into a series of detailed ebook/workbooks. And of course it prompted the creation of a new blog site www.magneticsignatureproductsguild.com . All that happened in three months. No wonder I have to rewrite a lot of what I have up on my web site and “Work with Me Pages.”

I might plan to offer a new information product every quarter. That is not a heavy schedule. That would make creating the product fun and pressure-less to produce. And I would have something new to offer every three months. That keeps me from inundating my community with offers but continues to give them real value throughout the year. What do you plan to offer new to your target community” And when?

Where do you want to go next?

Life is an adventure, there is always something new to explore and learn. I want to craft some teaching videos around my Magnetic Content Development System. That means there are a few technical things I need to learn as well as content to create. Now that I have two blogs to support I will be writing more and I have my whole new ebook/workbook series to write. One step at a time works for me. What do you want to learn next? What do you want to produce next? Pick one project and make some decisions about what you want to do for your target community. Then produce one new product a quarter. At the end of each quarter, check to see if you have ended up where you meant to go and what you need to change in your promotional material to match where you are now. Keep checking yourself for change – and keep it documented on your web site.

How to Push Through the Hard Stuff

August 4, 2010 By Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

It takes courage and persistence to learn something that seems hard, or figure out something that has never been easy for you before. But there are times we simply have to push through.

Decide why it is important

A 74 year old friend of mine is getting a divorce after 35 years of marriage and every day is a challenge for her because, as sometimes happens with women in that age group, she relied heavily on her husband to make the decisions and understand the finances. And now he is out of the picture.

Suddenly being on your on can come in a variety of ways, including the sudden loss of a job. You find yourself faced with challenges you never expected to have to meet.

How do you push through that kind of an in-your-face challenge?

First of all you start looking within yourself to find out what is important to you. What do you need in your life right now? What has been missing in the situation that has just changed and how would you like to see this next part of your life be different?

Is it important that you get a new job? Is it important that you find a new place to live? Is it important for you to change your health habits? What is important to you and in what order? Is it health – the stamina and energy to go do the interesting things you want to do? Is it safety – food, shelter, being solvent? Is it love – giving, receiving, and accepting love? Is it feeling worthy – valued, knowing you have made a difference? Or is it something else? What is the most important change you need to make right now?

Explore what you need to know in order to make it happen

My friend suddenly finds herself dealing with real estate agents and loans and setting up her own bank accounts and figuring out her new budget. It has been overwhelming for her since she has never before made an attempt to understand these things. But she is gradually doing it. It’s been stressful but she continues to work to figure out what she needs to know.

In the change you have chosen to make, what do you need to learn in order to make it happen? Do you need to take a course, read a book, or get some coaching? Take that next step that leads you toward your goal.

Get help at the speed you are prepared to accept it

Ask for help. And make the person helping you give you the information at the level and speed that you need in order to own it. Yes, own it. None of this I-sort-of-got-it excuses. If it’s important to you it’s important to understand how to make it happen. Learn what you need to know in order to make it happen.

As I watch my friend work to figure out her options I see that sometimes she doesn’t even understand the basics. She gets swamped and frustrated with the jargon that she has not explored and needs the information to be brought down to its most basic components. Know that might be the case when you are learning something new and make certain you understand what they are saying before you move on. Build a strong foundation for this new information you are gathering. Ask the questions you need to have answered.

Take small steps and acknowledge yourself

Don’t beat yourself up with the I-don’t-understand’s. Pat yourself on the back with the I-got-it’s!!!! Acknowledging yourself is one of the most important things you can do when you are pushing through a perceived obstacle. Create an acknowledgement list and write in at the end of every day. Listen to the encouragement the people around you offer. Thank the people who help you learn what you need to know. Give gratitude for your progress – for each and every step you take.

Stick with it till you’ve got it

Be the little engine who could – I think I can, I think I can. Because you can. Whatever it is you set out to do you can do it. Did you know that when an idea or an opportunity presents itself it will be of the size and shape that you have the ability to handle. Sure it might stretch you a bit. It might make you wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into, but if you had the idea and you decided to make it happen, everything you need to bring it to fruition will show up in the perfect time. So stick with it till you’ve got it.

And then go on the next step!!!

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