Showing Up

Did you ever consider how you’re showing up in your life and your business?  They’re connected, you know. 

A couple of weeks ago we talked about the ABC’s of Great Leadership.  How about the ABC’s of Having a Great Life and Business?  Authenticity, belief system and compassion are key components of living a fulfilled life and doing great work. 

Our lives begin in complete authenticity and freedom.  As children we make choices totally based on our own fulfillment.  And then the world happens to us, and we get conditioned to live based on other people’s choices for us.  It’s natural and has to happen to some degree to protect us and so that we can function in society.  At some point, though, we all have to reconnect with ourselves… rediscover ourselves… get back to the core of who we are and choose the beliefs that support the highest and best of ourselves.

I work with small business owners all the time who talk about potential – the business has potential, their staff has potential, this new idea has potential.  Reading between the lines of what isn’t being said, what I hear is “we could be successful if only…..”  I would be rich if only I could win the lottery Saturday night.  Does that kind of thinking help us confidently spring into action, or does it cause us to resist doing anything because we think we aren’t enough, don’t have enough and don’t believe enough to get it done? 

To be authentic and to show up that way, we need only to focus on now and recognize that we have everything we need at this moment to do what we can do today.  Then do it.  We are free to choose a belief system based our growing capacity instead of an “if only” potential mindset.  Show yourself some compassion – accept and love who you are.  You are the only person in the world who can do what you do in the way that you do it. 

When you can show up in your life and your business as the best YOU that you can be, the world will happen for you.

What's Bacon Got to Do With It?

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My sweet husband only gets his favorite breakfast on the weekends.  It's not my favorite, but he loves it and I love to make him smile, so I figure over the course of 16 years I've made over 800 bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches.  A nice deli sandwich bun, lightly spread with canola margarine and broiled to a lovely light brown...topped with a hard fried egg covered with shredded cheddar cheese (melted, of course)...finished off with crispy strips of bacon.  Man's favorite food.

Bacon has risen to rock-star status over the last couple of years.  Bacon doughnuts, bacon flavored lip gloss, pork belly this and that all over the Food Network.  So wouldn't you think there would be some quality control?  This is what drives me crazy.

My sister-in-law uses the "dump it all in the pan and it'll work itself out" strategy.  I like to prepare the bacon in the microwave - it's super crispy, not greasy, and I feel it's somewhat healthier, somehow.  But in order for me to achieve bacon perfection, I need to be able to get the dang stuff out of the package in nice, neat little strips.  I've tried every brand...expensive, on-sale, store brand, out of the butcher's case...and still I find skinny little strips mixed in with super thick strips.  Either they won't come apart in the first place, or they don't cook evenly, and my husband's perfect breakfast is spoiled by the expletives coming out of the kitchen.

What would happen to all of us in our businesses if sometimes we did things consistently and sometimes we just cut things a little skinny?  What if the 16 oz. package really didn't hold a pound of bacon?  The latest bacon incident - fresh in my mind because it was just this morning - got me thinking about the parallels.  If there's no quality control in bacon, what's next?  There are whole restaurants focused on bacon - there's one here in Boise.  Wonder if they feel my pain?

I guess the only thing to do is raise my own bacon.  No, that won't work.  I know me. And I could never convince the neighbors it was a bulldog.  What do you feed live bacon anyway?

What About NOW?

It’s hard to believe it’s almost the end of January!  How are you doing with your goals so far this year?  Are you making progress?  Are you feeling stuck?   How are you talking to yourself?

Dictionary.com defines catalyst as “a person or thing that precipitates an event or change”.  Be a catalyst for your own growth! 

Rather than get caught up in thinking about what you don’t have that’s keeping you stuck, focus on the resources available to you right now – today – and use them to your advantage.  Acknowledge your skills and experience.  Remember challenges you’ve overcome in the past.  Stay connected with your support networks and others who are invested in your success.

Most importantly, when limiting thoughts pop up and have you convinced that you can’t achieve your goals, ask yourself this question.  “What evidence do I have today to prove that I can’t?”  I bet there is no concrete evidence.
  

Keeping your focus on what you can do today will help you be a catalyst for positive growth in your own life and the lives of those you touch.  You can do it!

Related articles

• The Catalyst (xtonycz.wordpress.com)
• Catalyst to Inspiration (lizawrites.wordpress.com)

How do you create lasting connections?

Becky McKinstry of Open Lines visited today with Carolyn Holly of KTVB about creating connections to build your business and help your customers build their businesses, too!

Check it out here!