As a multi-talent, you have many interests, many things you enjoy, many things you are good at – so the questions comes up, what works for me?  When you are looking at a career, a job, or a business there are several approaches you can take.

Look at your many talents and interests and find the common thread.  The common thread can be connected to a feeling or a value.  Thus there does not have to be a “logical” connection.  It is also like connecting the dots in a dot to dot picture.  Each individual dot does not let you see the pattern of the picture.  However, as you connect the dots the big picture comes into focus.

To not be confined you can use A talent as your income stream and have a variety of avocational interests you explore – different days of the week, one a month, or one every 2-3 years – whatever works for you.

You can also delve into a certain area for a certain period of time and then make a change and plan for just that.  This can be a totally different area that you immerse yourself in or stepping stones that are connected.

You can look at a company, an environment or a situation and ask, how can I contribute to the betterment or expansion?  You can also ask what other talents can I use in different ways to expand my opportunities or involvement of where I am.  This can translate to being a linch pin as described by Seth Godin, a person who leads from within.

Looking beyond job titles is important.  Looking at the skill sets and talents you enjoy using so that you can combine interests.  You can do what you do well and do it in an environment that elicits other interests you have.  Such as an accountant in the Forest Service – combining being good with numbers and the love of the outdoors.  Open yourself to a broader perspective to create the opportunity for a stimulating enjoyable environment for you to contribute.

What can you create – opportunities, environments, businesses, products, services, art by combining your many talents and meet your needs and those of others.   Think about.  Comment below and join the Teleclass on March 14^th!!  (Details for the teleclass are in the newsletter).

Capt. Ackison describes – a slip as a slight deviation from the plan or a mistake that is not consistent with the end goal.  A lapse is a series of slips, and a collapse… well… that is back on the couch.  As Capt. Ackison says, if we quickly identify the slips we avoid both lapses and collapses and not derail our goals.

To correct slips (and yes even lapses and collapses) it is important to know the why of our goal.  The why is the intrinsic motivation.  The why is what value and benefit reaching/completing the goal has for us.  Are the benefits greater than the concerns?  The concerns can be time, money, energy, fears (yes, being scared to take the next step in the unknown), or even a simple as disrupting our current routing.  The benefits – the value to move forward – are our reasons for doing it  (not anyone else’s’ reasons).

Even with strong motivation staying on track can be a challenge.  Fear and survival kick in.  It is tough to do the uncomfortable or the unknown because that may not be “safe”.  Our self-protection is initiated and dissuades us from taking the next step because we are unsure what the result may be.  It is scary and the “what ifs” raise their ugly faces.  As in the SMART goal system you need to be specific.  In addition, breaking the goal down into steps a backwards flow plan.  Asking what has to be done right before the goal is achieved and before that – who, what, when, where – needs to be done to the tiniest step that you can do today.  A little step is easy to see as being doable.  Fear is out-smarted and you can take a step.  Forward movement creates an energizing effect that perpetuates movement.  Hooray!

Another challenge that can interrupt our movement and dissipate our commitment is feeling all alone in our pursuit.  We are humans and connections make a difference.  Having a buddy or a support team provides encouragement and accountability.  Someone to take the journey with us provides the opportunity to – be understood as we struggle;  be held accountable; have a celebration for progress; brainstorm ides for obstacles; and for you to do the same.

Yet, a side trip may have its advantages also.  First recognize you are off the most direct path.  Then look at the factors surrounding the change in route.  Is it fear, hesitation, lack of energy; or is it curiosity, new interest, an augmentation to the goal, a more fined tuned niche, an unexpected connection, or a leap in the goals direction?  If it is one of the latter, integrate it into your plan and run with it or define it further seeing where it takes you.  Parallel paths are acceptable.  Refining the goal and pathway is part of the journey.

Remember slipping, lapsing, and collapsing are not an end all.  Heighten your awareness and your strategies, and keep stepping.  What goals are you working on?  Who is your support?  What is your plan?  What is your next step today?

Stephanie Tolen in “Change your story, Change your life” talks about the event where high ability children talked, argued, debated the beginning of the story and the next section with no conversation was shared in sequence of the children with no further discussion –telepathy?  The concept of Indigo children, label given to children who are claimed to possess special, unusual and/or supernatural traits or abilities, And different experiences described for children are also described by adults.  We may not understand it, but it is and has happened.

Science and Magic – the first is factual and the second is imaginary.  Is that true?  The Science depends on the point of view.  The scientific method is to determine “facts” that can be repeated and consistent.  The Magic is where science begins – not understanding how things are or imagining how things can be.

Gifted, high ability, multi-talented individuals experience and discover things differently – is it science or magic?   The expansive way we observe, feel, connect our internal and external environments are the foundation for leaps in concepts, ideology and the coincidental connections.

Everyday genius with a heightened awareness and attunement with internal and external environments will provide for increased chance connections and synchronicity.  Being open to ideas and possibilities, allows you to see a broader perspective and make those connections.

It is factor that what is happening simultaneously in your era of time, your environment, and community influences the opportunities.  However, if your eyes are not open you will not see.  If your ears are not unplugged you will not hear.  Your mind and heart must also be unobstructed.

Approaching life with: how can I be of service, how can I be true to myself, how can I give and receive, and how can I create … will lead to connections without rhyme or reason.  To the unknown becoming known.

Why then do I have this gnawing inside me – like I know there is more, but what is it?  Or I keep having nudges of old ideas and dreams and know that is not possible – I am making it.  I meet the everyday standards for a successful life, why am I not content?  I am being me or what is expected of me, yet, I don’t feel like me.  Does it sound like I am talking in circles?  I feel like I am going in circles.  I had big dreams and nothing has happened.  The days and years have passed.  I am making it, but I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.  I have made lots of decisions by default, what was the responsible thing to do, what was expected, what was available and I can do that, or what I thought others would want.

I know I am smart and can do anything I put my mind to.  I have learned much in many different areas.  I have solved problems.  I have created long lasting events, entities, and contributed to many companies and organizations.  I have started anew many times and achieved results.  I have dreamed, but not really accomplished my dreams.

I have layer upon layers of me.  I have many masks I wear depending on the situation, the environment and the triggers I am responding to.  All the masks I wear, all the roles I play are connected by who I am – and who is that?  I want to take the many masks I wear and recognize the idiosyncrasy of each one.   I want to recognize the common foundation.  I want to create an integrated image that shouts this is me.  I want to express my talents and abilities, leaving a legacy.  I want to make a contribution that keeps on giving.  I want to experience joy and not hold back because of the down that follows.  I want to be comfortable being in my flow more consistently, knowing it signifies my difference and that is ok.  I want to soar with the owl – observing and acting in the dark and in the light.

I want to be me, that child that dances and shouts for joy about the little things.  I want to see the world with awe and wonder and not through filters of should.   I want to be comfortable in crying, singing, quiet, and zealous verbosity.  I want to put the puzzle pieces together for the problems for which I see solutions.   I want to create my story – fantasy and all.  I want to flit and flight from one thing to another.  I want to pursue an endless bucket list.  I want to be a whirlwind of activity and a roller coaster of emotions.

It is time I understood who I am.  It is time I broke out of the parameters of expectations and habits that bind me.  It is time I achieve mastery of my chosen potential.   It is time I expressed my multi-talents with elegance and continuance.  It is time I connected through my multi-talents with others of like mind and integrally with those around me.  It is time I connected the pattern of dots I can see and make that my reality.

Are you making it?  Are you feeling and incongruence?  Is it time for you to be?

So the starting point is to answer my own question.  What expression brings me the greatest joy?   My delight is in providing the impetus for self-identification and “how to” manifest/implement dreams, desires, expressions, passions of multi-talented individuals.  I am exuberant when others gain their “aha” and lay out the next steps for the big picture.    The truth be – anyone that sees who they are and can be and goes forward is very exciting to me.

I am a sponge for information and resources – love to learn, explore, discover.   Then to be able to pass on tidbits or guidance for others to know “how to” versus trying to decide if they can or can’t, is who I am.  I do not know all the answers and enjoy finding out the next surprise, option, possibility.  However, I do know how to find answers and that is where one of my talents lies.

To teach – be able to provide information that stimulates others to think or they can integrate into their puzzle is gratifying.  My mind collects information; makes connections; is stimulated by puzzles, challenges, problems, and questions.  The result is the synaptic connection of stored information and experiences to be shared as questions or starting points.  Yes, a creative process that is a synergetic interaction.

So as I write, teach, listen, observe, share, collaborate, I am experiencing my flow with exuberance.  What about you?  What expression of your abilities brings you the most joy?

As a coping strategy, I shoot for maintaining a neutral viewpoint.  The results will be what they will be.  I have put forth my best effort.  True everything is not perfect, but I have applied myself diligently toward excellence.   You see that way whatever the outcome I am to accept it gracefully without an emotional reaction.

The reality is there is a lot of self-doubt.  Will my presentation relate to the audience?  Will people understand what I am trying to say?  Will I achieve my intended goal?  Am I really as smart as I think I am and others say I am?  Ok, is this just ordinary fear stepping in?  Does everyone have this experience?  Am I just human?

Another factor to the neutral approach is that it minimizes the exuberance or the devastation of the outcome.  Now there is nothing neutral about that.  It is intense.  The neutral approach is the result of shutting down the intensity of feeling anything and everything.  It is like riding a roller coaster with the breaks on all the time.  This takes a lot of energy to maintain and can be quite exhausting.  It is hard work.  It would be much easier to let the roller coaster go full tilt.  Then we come full cycle – how will others react?  I need to fit in, too.  Enter the Imposter syndrome into the experience.

Knowing this will be what I will go through with whatever I try strengthens my basic resistance for trying anything or going for a goal.  Keep it safe, keep it simple, just do my job.  That will be a lot easier; boring, not as much fun, but less energy generating or draining.  Will I take the risk?  Will I maintain the wall around the emotions?

I so want to be like Happy Feet – lead from within; acknowledge the strength in my differences and DANCE!  This will take courage.  It is not the easy road.  It is the road less traveled.

How can I go forth and embrace me and my accomplishments?   I need to understand, honor, and acknowledge who I am.  I need to not do it alone.  I need to connect with others of like mind and establish a support team.  Yes there is power in numbers even to conquer internal fear and resistance.  Courage to act – for action speaks the loudest.  So I will proceed.

That does not mean the trepidation has vanished.  However, I am moving beyond neutral and will DANCE, knowing that others’ reactions will vary and be theirs.  I will be supported and know exuberance in my expression of who I am.

And what about you???????

We have dreams, ideas and many interests.  We have things we want to try, to do, to explore.  We have things we want to accomplish, create, share, and build.  It is easy to see all these things, identify what could be, and imagine possibilities.  Yet, it many times is very difficult to actually make it happen.

Our standards and expectations can be an asset or a barrier to our attempting, accomplishing, or completing anything.  Standards and expectations can motivate us to do our best or stop us in our tracks because it won’t be perfect.

Perfection is an ideal that does not exist in nature or in anything we attempt.  To maneuver around the focus on perfection decide what is the bottom line you can accept.  What will meet the minimum requirements.  Now compare the minimum requirements with your picture of perfection.  What is excellent – somewhere between the bottom line and perfection; that which is achievable, meets the need, solves the problem, creates the desired result.

Another factor that enters into achievement is the fear of the unknown, an internal resistance.  We have difficulty planning or taking the next step.  Mother nature for survival purposes has given us an internal warning system to keep us safe.  Going into the unknown, taking that next step can be scary.  We will want to retreat to stay safe.  Knowing this we can identify the next smallest step possible to move toward our goal.  By making it small it can feel safe because we have a pretty good idea what  the outcome will be.  Tiny steps, one at a time, keeps us moving.

In addition to fear, we need to value the outcome to go through the challenge of change.  The creation needs to coincide with what is important to us in life.  The benefits we gain from taking the steps, making the change, has to be greater then our concerns or the benefits of staying the same.   We need to want the outcome, experience the adventure with our heart and soul.  That’s that little critter called intrinsic motivation.

Yet another facet of being human is trying to do it all ourselves.  We can feel discouraged, hopeless, or frustrated.  We see the goal.  We are not making progress sufficiently or quickly enough.  We become overwhelmed.  We play the what if game with ourselves.  Something as simple as having a buddy that we can check in with makes a huge difference.  The mastermind group process, the team process, the buddy system show that much can be accomplished when not going it alone.  Connect with someone and commit to support each other in the steps to achieving excellence!

For more information and connecting with others join us at the teleclass on February 15th.  Sign up for the newsletter to get the details.  Have some questions or ideas share them in the comments below.

Flower Essences are potentized herbal extracts that directly address emotional aspects of wellness.  They act as powerful catalysts in the journey of self-awareness and health of body and soul.  They help us traverse our inner journey.

We experience a variety of emotions with different intensity daily.  Sometimes our sensitivity interferes with our ability to see the larger picture.  We spin in circles and are overwhelmed, not able to move through the experience and take the next steps.  Other times out of survival we wall off the emotions and sensitivities to such a degree that we do not feel.  We want to release the block or intensity, experience the emotion as it happens and move on to the next experience and feeling.

Flower Essences allow us to flow with the emotional experience no matter what the emotion is and let us live life with full expression.  They are a tool to help us clarify what we are experiencing and facilitate the flow without the dam.  Emotions are powerful like water and can be constructive or destructive.  Both “positive” and “negative” emotions are building blocks.  Through the observers role we can increase our awareness of our emotional experiences.  Using Flower Essences as a tool we can manage the ebb and rise of the emotions.  The intent is not to have the emotions, but to flow with the experience and to know ourselves.

Flower Essences through the Flower Essence Society utilize the 38 identified by Dr. Edward Bach and 103 additionally identified in North American flowers.  If you are experiencing anger you have 9-11 remedies to choose from.  This requires clarifying the composition of the anger.  The process of clarification itself provides greater awareness and support for coping.   Emotional experiences are continuous, there source, intensity, and make-up change and thus the effective essence changes.  This is an internal journey which enhances the external interaction with life.  As long as we are alive we will always face challenges, and will always have the need to learn and evolve in the school of life.  Flower Essences are a tool to bring balance and management to the extremes and enhance our daily interactions.

What questions do you have?  What experience have you had with Flower Essences?  Ask and share in the comment session.  Join us at the free teleclass on Jan 18^th, 2012.  Sign up for the newsletter and get the details.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do you enjoy exploring, trying, discovering new things?  Do you have curiosity about how things work or the wonders of nature?  Do you have a list of things you want to do, see, experience, hear?  Do you have an insatiable desire to explore, experience, and learn?

I  do!  The video shows my most recent venture to try something new – indoor skydiving.  It was a little challenging to figure out how to shape the body to maximize the wind flow.  Then the determination to do it “right” kicked in (perfectionism).  Reminded by the instructors to relax and enjoy.  There was the rush of going up and down through around 20 feet (not the 1000s of feet from a plane, but still impressive).

Lots of things for me are a onetime event.  I try or do something and I have had the experience.  I visit or see something, with oohs and ahhs, into each nook and cranny, ask lots of questions, read lots of info and ready to move on to the next adventure.  Doing something new and different adventures is in my blood.  Yes, I do have topics/areas on delve into with great intensity and detail.  However, I enjoy the challenge and childlike wonder of first time experiences and exploration.

Routines and status quo has its place.  I need that also.  Things, places, and people I can depend on and that bring order out of the chaos.  The stimulation of the new is something I thrive on.  It is the foundation for my creativity.  It counteracts boredom.  It keeps me feeling alive.

The adventures can be through reading or virtual.  However, the hands on experience – to see, touch, feel, experience directly is vibrant and results in exuberance.  What is your next adventure? Share below, an exchange of things to do, see, experience……

You apply yourself diligently and deliberately with extreme focus and yet manage the rest of life’s demands.  The point comes of exhaustion.  The question arises does it matter?  Is it worth the effort?  Should you continue?  Will it really matter? Why are you doing it?  Are you limiting yourself with such a focus and dedication?

It is enough! No more!  I quit!  And yet, the tendrils of passion and desire have a strong hold.  Do you want to give up on yourself?  You are so close to a major breakthrough, a significant accomplishment.

You push and push to make things happen.  Obstacles and detours come into play.  You take a deep breath and push on.  It all takes its toll.  Enough is enough.  After all you have tried.  The cliché comes to mind “when things get tough the tough get going”.   So you question yourself and ask are you a quitter?

You no longer want to go the road alone.  However, who will understand the inner war you are experiencing?  You are so tired.  Do you have the energy and the desire to reach out, to risk not being understood?

Does this have value to me?  Who will benefit?  What will be the benefit?  Can I take the next step?

Yes the pattern has cycled around again.  This is not the first time on this journey that you have reached this point.  What do you do to move – forward?

• Take a deep breath.
• Take time out – a little R & R can make a big difference.
• Change the activity for a moment, a day, or a week.
• Do call a friend, a buddy, a master mind colleague, a success team member, a mentor, or an advisor.
• Journal – let you mind and heart pour itself out on paper in words or pictures.  Let go and let flow – meditation, hot springs, massage, body work, nature hike, a swim, or…..
• Recognize, acknowledge the cycle and the progress to date.
• Give yourself that pat on the back.  Plan a little so you can see the next little steps for continued movement.

Dance with happy feet.  The spiral is turning the upward corner!  Quit can be part of your vocabulary and not part of your habits.

What is your experience with quitting and moving on?  Share in the comments.