I’m starting to come to the realization that I see life a
whole lot differently than most people.
I’m an insatiably happy person.
When I was four years old, I knew exactly who I was going to
be, and I was bright, positive and carefree. I insisted on piano lessons, loved
them, and wanted to be center of attention. By eight I was singing, dancing and
starring in plays. I would look out at the ocean and feel my future destiny. By
sixteen I knew my gifts, felt confident, won more acting roles, and became vice
president of the student union at school. I was playing piano, coming up with
compositions used the living room as my stage to sing all my songs, as if I was
already on the world stage. By eighteen I was on a plane to Europe to discover
the world, having already been selected at a university (I took a year off to
travel). After college, at twenty one I was living in new York feeling the
amazing Broadway energy in my veins. By thirty I had lived half way round the
world and was now in Los Angeles living my dream.
I’ve been living my dream my whole life and it hasn’t
stopped.
I’ve always been an optimist. I’ve always felt confident in
my abilities, and even when I didn’t know something, I, at least, had an
adventurous streak to try something new and see where it took me. I’ve always
had a “go get ‘em mentality”.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had my fair share of adversity.
Probably more than most, too. The obstacles I’ve had to overcome physically
(medically), emotionally (relationships), mentally (living in hardship in
various times of my life), economically, and literally (changing countries as
my home, as one example), could have all broken me.
But they didn’t. I saw every adversity as an opportunity for
growth and a new way of being. I look back and say, “wow, look what I have
achieved”. This allows me to look forward to the ocean of opportunity in front
of me, all the time.
That’s why, along with being an artist, I enjoy coaching
other artists, and running Songsalive! the non-profit songwriters community.
That’s why I write books, with titles like “I AM a Professional Artist” and “
Just Get Out There”, and
conduct workshops. My songs are usually about self-empowerment (“I’m Alive”, “I
Can Feel”, “Woman!”)
I love to inspire
others to see it through my rose colored glasses.
Put me in a pool of mud, and I’ll see it as a warm, blue
ocean to frolic in.
But not everyone sees it
the way I see it. Not everyone feels it
the way I feel it. Many have to work at it to develop the craft of getting to bliss, for it just doesn’t come naturally to them
like it does for me. Many only see the adversity, and stop there.
Today I’m pondering this with a tad of bittersweet. I wish
everyone saw it the way I do, and just lived their lives with a spring in their
step. But I can’t force others to feel it the way I do, or approach it the way
I have. Some people just innately, or mentally, or physically, wake up sad, tired, overwhelmed, despondent, in-confident, insecure or frazzled.
So, for those that don’t live that A Type “I love my life”
day, or for those who have felt it once but have seemed to have lost it,…
perhaps I can offer some ideas on getting to that place. You all know I wrote a
book called “
Just Get Out There”.
I do encourage you get a copy if you are creative because it has such a wealth
of tips and resources to become empowered and successful. I have other writings
too, on my website
blog, and I
offer
one-on-one coaching as well.
Want that perpetual joy, optimism and courage?
Here are my “Getting to Bliss” strategies:
1.
It’s all about making a SHIFT with your
mindset – a lot happens around us, good and bad. It’s up to us as to how we
respond to it that makes all the difference. Ease into responding with joy,
hope and curiosity. Every time you have that negative inner voice barking in
your ear, learn to tune it out and think of the positive sides.
2.
Understand
your process – You may be one of those types who like to be super organized
with your agenda, deadlines and to do lists. But some people like to be more whimsical
and spontaneous, with no lists, agenda nor deadlines. If this is you, that’s
ok. It’s good to give yourself boundaries for all pistons to fire and not be on
a rollercoaster, but follow that creative muse when it comes, and learn to ride
the waves of the ups and downs and…. Stillness.
3.
Do the
things that are important to you – Much of our frustration comes from
having to do things that we don’t want to do, or don’t like to do. It’s time to
discard what no longer serves you (tasks, things, people, and even old outdated
dreams) and focus on what is important to you and what makes you happy. This can be a hard process, but
well worth it.
4.
Find
reason to do less, yet achieve so much more – It’s never about how hard you
work, or how much you work, but how efficiently you work. If you can master the
art of working in 3 hours a day, and playing the rest, you have found bliss.
Just because others are slaves to their jobs, doesn’t mean you have to be.
Focus hard on the tasks at hand, and get them done. Then go play in the sand.
You’ll be surprised at how much you actually achieve when there’s balance in
your life. But it doesn’t come without proper, diligent, focus when you are “switched
on”. I call that “mini deep diving”. Dive in deep, complete, then play.
5.
Do the
things you need to do, but have fun in it, it’s all creative – When you don’t
feel like doing “Work” or tasks, or music business stuff, think of it as a
creative opportunity. I find business and marketing very creative if I just see
it that way. Getting on Twitter, or creating a newsletter to promote my latest
release, or writing emails to business folks, can be exciting when you cream of
the possibilities of the outcomes. Think outside the box, come up with new ways
to do things, and enjoy the sunshine along the way.
6.
Don’t get bogged down in specifics - Stay
generic. If you want to complete a project but get too caught up in the
details, this can thwart any momentum of even getting started. Just think of
the overall idea and slowly and easily write down some notes, but don’t feel
like you have to fill in all the blanks on how to make it happen. We usually
don’t know every step to take, so don’t worry. Just START. Be in touch more
with the feeling and desire of it,
rather than the nitty gritty of all the details (that would turn any brain to
mush!)
7.
Let it
happen. ‘law of attraction’ - Have
you heard of the saying “Don’t watch the kettle boil”? It never boils while you
are staring it at it. The minute you walk away the water boils. That’s a good
reference for our lives. Getting bogged down in the minutia and pushing for
outcomes and manifestations usually leads to zero results and just a lot of
frustration. Stop knocking on the door. Step back for a bit and you’ll find the
door will open magically for you without all the fuss. This works by you
letting go of the control a bit and de-focusing on the pushing. Think,
visualize and believe the outcome (what
you want the result to be). Keep focusing on that. Let the universe help you in
getting there. You get what you focus on. Focus on the joy.
8.
Shift
from difficulty to ease – When you feel like you have “writers block” or
your tired and negative, go do something else. Be creative on other things.
Hey, it’s ok to watch your favorite TV show! Spice it up, change it up, and be
prepared to even change your dreams. You are the master of your destiny and
today you can re-invent yourself to be anything you want to be.
9.
Integrate:
I am all of it – When you start to realize you are all of “it”, meaning all
that you are, you do, and be, you will start to take the pressure off yourself
when you feel like you’re not doing what you are “supposed to do”. Who wrote
the rules on what you’re supposed to do anyway? Who said you have to follow
your career in a certain way, or do this or that. Make up your own rules.
Define success on your OWN terms.
Getting to Bliss is about getting to yourself. Be in touch
with who you really are and what you really want, and you’re half way there.
The rest will come to you without you even trying.
Try this “Getting To Bliss” Exercise:
Try changing up this coming week to meet the real needs of you. I guarantee this exercise helps to
cure feeling overwhelmed and be balanced and BLISSFUL.
In doing this exercise, follow the FEELING every moment of
your day. Ask yourself, “How am I feeling right now?”. If it doesn’t feel good:
CHANGE to something else that does. Stay with the feeling more than the
wanting.
Be less specific in your tasks, and more general, giving
yourself time to be with a project or an act of doing, without getting bogged
down in the nitty gritty..
i.
Monday: what are you going to do today? Be
completely open to what you’d like to do. Don’t put any agenda, tasks or to-do
lists in front of you. Just see what happens spontaneously from the moment you
wake up.
ii.
Tues: what are you going to do today? Try narrowing
it more to being totally creative. It usually goes this way. Again, no other
tasks or to-do lists. Live on the wild creative side, early in the week, while
everyone else is laboring over hard work!
iii.
Wed: Today, focus on things that could make you
financially abundant. Set up a to-do list for the day that asks you to focus,
visualize and do things that may bring in financial wealth and/or
opportunities. See where that takes you for the day.
iv.
Thurs: Focus on tasks that share who you are
with the world. This could be marketing your music, or promoting online. Or it
could be picking up the phone or sending emails. Share with us who you are!
v.
Fri: Today, just to “me” day things. Everything
that you do should be all about you, loving yourself, nurturing yourself, and
being with yourself.
(Of course you can change the days of week to start on
weekend if you feel uncomfortable starting creative days on a Monday. But I
think it would be fun to change it up a bit).
Ok, the week has ended… How
did it feel? Did you stay with the feeling? Were you able to get into an
easy flow each day? Were you getting to bliss?
A theory published in 2010 in the journal Thinking Skills
and Creativity “links time management and creativity together as being mutually
beneficial to each other. Basically, if you're good at managing your time and
creating to-do lists, there's a positive correlation to your creative time. The
implication is that you can schedule for and decide to be creative, which is
exactly what we'll be looking how to do…. creating a block of time where you
can let the muse speak. To others, it's more about rescheduling any
problem-solving portions of your day when you're at your creative peak.”(Ref:
link)
Well, as you all know I’ve been talking about this for
years. This is exactly the essence of my artist career coaching, books, and
workshops: being business-minded and organized with your creativity, and all
your creative business aspects, attracts success. This is the essence of the
artist entrepreneur.
How can you get organized? Come work with me, one-on-one.
Face your obstacles and fears, overcome your roadblocks, get clear with who you
are and what you want and create a creative roadmap plan that will help you
realize your life dreams, and GET TO BLISS…
.