Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Cass Mullane
I’m in the midst of creating my first new media book, Cool Stuff Jar, and related products. It’s amazing how all the pieces are suddenly falling into place after about 14 months of pondering, planning and doing. There’s something about persistence and resilience and putting it out there that pays off over time. Guess the message is: keep going, all in, no matter what!
Last week my copy of Jennifer Lee’s new book, Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way: Sustainable Success for the Creative Entrepreneur, arrived at my studio. What a thrill it was to see my artwork and my Cool Stuff Jar featured! Definitely a happy dance and another card in my CS Jar. In August I’ll have a chapter in Succeeding Through Doubt, Fear and Crisis which will release at the eWomen Network Annual Conference in Dallas. Then videos and an audio and other exciting happenings… did I say that everything was suddenly starting to fall into place?
I’ve also found that the more I develop this project, the simpler it is to stand in my own space and be who I am: happy, curvy, funny, smart, creative, colorful, authentic. I’ll admit that at first it was pretty scary to even tell anyone what I was dreaming up. I worried about acceptance, approval, etc., etc., etc. What an energy waster! So I decided to throw those negative mind monkeys a banana and move ahead with the project… all in, no matter what!
As part of taking stock of what was most important to me, I had to make some hard decisions about what was going to stay on my plate and what was going to have to come off. For example, I’m a Board Member of the Southern Women’s Chamber of Commerce, a group I’ve been part of for years. I take my leadership role very seriously because I’m one of those “all in” kind of people. But when I took an objective look at my time and what I needed to get accomplished in a compressed timeframe, I could see that I had to step back from that role. So effective this month, I’m on hiatus. I’ve had to do the same thing with two other large projects that are near and dear to me. Not easy, but absolutely necessary to keep moving ahead with the Cool Stuff Jar project.
Finally, I’ve found that fully embracing this Cool Stuff Jar project is getting really easy because stepping into my gifts is what’s really important here. I feel lighter, refreshed and rejuvenated. I have more space, I have a clearer head and I’m really focused on where I’m going. And that’s a fabulous way to start each day!
So, here are a few questions for you:
• What projects are really important to you? Do you have something that’s just sitting there that you’re itching to get to work on?
• Are you making room for this project in your world? What needs to come off your plate to bring your project to life?
• How does it make you feel when you think about the possibilities? What’s keeping you from standing in your space and claiming your gifts?
I encourage you to take a close look at what’s really important to you, then make the decision to step into your greatness and go All In!
