Same new, same new

How often do we do the same? We get up at the same time, work the same way, do the same things, see the same people and that’s where the word ‘treadmill’ comes in.
I came across above picture today on dutchcowgirl and man, it’s a complete hila. I started laughing big time.

Truth is: we find it refreshing and invigorating to do something else. Give it a try: instead of approaching work or your partner the same way, twist it. Show up in a hula hula outfit complete with musical instrument (don’t forget the tree) or come to work dressed in one colour only unfolding an umbrella that’s got loud big lettering on it stating: today we changed! You get the picture. It’s not for the lazy. I’ve been postponing to hang wacky artwork at work, truth is I’ll just have to bring some canvasses and attack them with conviction. Turn conventional stuff upside down. Try to make this place more a talk of the town in a good way.

If you find it hard to cocadoodle every day, aim for once a week to do something completely off the wall, to regain your flexibility muscles and to find your originality vibe once again.
Ah viva la revolucion! It can start with just a little pony. Inspired?

Providing value

I have made the decision to thoroughly change the way my website Quality Living is operated. I will turn it into an agency in 3 months opposed to keeping it as a network.

My talent is to CREATE and my time is better spend working on designs and being a creator opposed to setting up a business that is not my passion.

The following text is from Steve Pavlina, entrepreneur on VALUE.

Succeeding by Helping Others Succeed
February 19th, 2009 by Steve Pavlina
(…) How do you know if what you have to share has value? Share it first, and you’ll soon find out. If it provides value, people will tell you. If it doesn’t, people will usually ignore you. As long as you’re getting ignored, keep experimenting by trying to provide value in new and unique ways. The only limits are in your thinking. (…)

I was able to start providing value to others much more quickly because I wasn’t stuck thinking about making money. I focused on the service side. I soon figured out how to use my skills to give people what they need and want.

The most important result to track isn’t how many visitors your website is getting or how much money you’re making. Instead, figure out whether you’re actually making a difference in people’s lives. Are you helping people? Are you providing

strong value? If you’re providing genuine value, time and referrals will take care of most of your other key metrics.

Recently I was talking to a friend in the personal development field. Business-wise he and I both had record years in 2008, and we each expect 2009 to blow it away. We joked about the rest of the economy crashing down around us. Why do we feel so optimistic when so many people are nervous? Because we know that we’re providing real value to people. We know that our skills are aligned with contribution. We also have the capacity to do a lot of good for people who are financially struggling, looking for career changes, or feeling uncertain about the future.

Align your skills with what people need. Helping people grow is a service that’s in very high demand. It doesn’t matter that we’re in a (media-fueled) recession. That just means people are more keen to reduce low-value expenditures, and they’re more sensitive to spending money wisely — on purchases that provide the best bang for buck for them. If you’re providing weak value, you’re on shaky ground during a recession. But if you’re providing solid value that meets human needs, a recession can create even bigger opportunities for you — people will drop the fluff from their lives and seek you out instead.

When your business model is no longer fed by sufficient demand, you can always switch to doing something else. But if there’s one thing humanity needs right now, it’s for more of us to step it up and embrace our true potential instead of settling for the limited roles assigned by our social conditioning. In our current environment, there’s still plenty of room for more people to start businesses based on helping and encouraging others to grow. We’re a long way from being over-saturated in this area"

Helping other grow and supporting them comes naturally to me. I don't even think about it. I will continue to support others but make it a side activity, not a main priority. It's time I got back to doing more fun stuff with my husband, he deserves better. To even have time to (gasp) paint! The world is my oyster haha and I intend to have more laughs about it. You enjoy it too...

New times

Today I wanted to share a shortened version of an article by the blogger and entrepreneur Steve Pavlina. The man is insightful and I can relate to what he says and thought you would too. I thought the topic Exposing Your Uniqueness is amazingly apt. He writes it so well I don't see the point of repeating him as, after all, we are all best to show the uniqueness of who we are and not borrow that of others. You think about it.

On a day when the 44th President of the US has been inaugurated and the Americans take hold of the future before them, it’s time for all of us to look at what we can do for ourselves, but also for others. There’s no more sitting on your hands, waiting for the economy to get better in order to keep your job and secure your finances, it’s literally a new time. Get to it, there’s plenty to be done and it’s up to each of us to make it work. Be done with the old stuff as it no longer serves you. Start afresh and please, be true.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/ posted 15th of Jan 09
"Most people lead with their sameness and hide their uniqueness, so as to maximize their chance of being accepted by others. I prefer to share my uniqueness openly. As you can probably guess, this exposes me to criticism — sometimes a great deal of criticism. But I’d rather be judged for the man that I am than accepted as someone I pretend to be. (…)

Does it bother you to know that if you totally opened up and shared your real self with the world, warts and all, that you’d attract some criticism, judgment, and condemnation? Would it bother you to discover that some of the harshest judgment might come from the very friends and family you keep right now? (…) When you show the world a false front, the world responds with false acceptance. When you show the world your true self, you’ll receive both harsh judgment as well as genuine acceptance. (…)

There’s something really amazing about being around people who love and accept you as you are. This doesn’t mean such people won’t stimulate and challenge you to grow — in fact, they often will. But it means you can feel totally safe in their presence. There’s no need to worry about being rejected or condemned for being who you are. Being nonjudgmental is a step toward unconditional love. A good place to start on this path is to love and accept yourself. Stop beating yourself up for past mistakes. If you can’t love and accept yourself, you’ll have a hard time loving and accepting others, and vice versa. (…)

The road to misery is trying to satisfy other people’s expectations. Instead of trying to please others, decide to live congruently with your own ideals and values, and allow others the freedom to do the same. Some people will accuse you of being selfish for doing so, when in truth you’re performing one of the most important services this planet needs — demonstrating how to live honestly and authentically.

If you cannot share your true self with the world, your life will be filled with shallow, inauthentic connections at best. The relationship you maintain with your inner self, when you’re all alone with your private thoughts, will be very different than what you experience with other people. Your personality will be split between your private persona and your public one. You will probably crave solitude more and more because at least when you’re alone, you’re free to put down your mask and be yourself, without risking the judgment of others. (…)

Imagine what a delightful world this would be if we were all open and honest with each other, while also being completely accepting and nonjudgmental with respect to our differences. This is the reality I wish to experience. I previously shared this vision in my book as the Oneness World exercise, and it’s also reproduced on this site in the article Oneness. (…)"