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My Colorado Calliope

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Guest post by by Cass Mullane, Accountability Coach, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

I was out on the deck early one morning watching the birds at the feeders. The hummingbirds had arrived at our altitude and I watched them dance through the air. I was entranced by their ability to just hold their space so delicately, yet so completely.

Then I spotted a Calliope hummer sparkling in the sunshine. He cruised over to the feeder, had some nectar, then took up residence on the tip of a branch in a nearby scrub oak and began preening.

As I studied him taking care of those gloriously brilliant feathers, I marveled at the way he was able to flex and reach most of the feathers with his long bill and use his feet to preen around his neck and the back of his head. He was so thoroughly engaged in his task he appeared oblivious to what was going on around him as lots of other birds came to the feeder while he was a mere six feet away preening.

When a Rufous hummer came by, my tiny little Calliope immediately zoomed over to defend the feeder against the typically more aggressive Rufous. Their wheeling battle was loud and short. When he’d dispatched the invader, he returned to his perch and continued preening. After a while, he gave his feathers a final ruffle and luxuriously stretched out his wings. I think he was ready to catch some rays.

When I looked at the clock, I realized that I had been sitting there watching my Calliope for over20 minutes and I needed to hustle to get to the studio on time. How did that happen? The answer is I was so completely present in that moment that I excluded all other distractions. I became part of the scene before me. And the bonus for being so present…I can remember every delicious color drenched detail!

When was the last time you were so fully present that you were part of the scene? When was the last time you were so fully present that you can remember something to the most delicious detail?

Being present, whether with a client or a customer or with nature on the hiking trail, is an art. You have to learn how to turn off the distractions and how to turn on your focus. It’s that time when your mind is calm, it’s that wonderful state of flow, when everything comes easily and moves smoothly from one spot to the next.

For your clients and customers, being fully present means listening, really listening to them. It means paying attention to the nuances, the expressions, the body language. It means, taking care not to develop a response until they’ve finished talking to you. It means, putting your devices on mute so a conversation can happen. After all, you know how nice it is to feel like you’ve been heard. Intentionally extend that same courtesy to your clients and customers.

I think about my Calliope.He was fully present when he was preening. He was fully present when he swooped over to defend his feeder. He was fully present when he returned to his preening. I guess his lesson is that you can get a lot done as long as you’re fully present in each task.

So practice being fully present, whether it’s working with your clients and customers, walking the trails or watching the hummers.

Cass Mullane is an artist with an MBA. Cass’ calm, comfortable approach consistently yields positive results for clients. Her business and personal coaching practice, www.ProsperCreatively.com, specializes in delivering solid left brain business skills to right brainers and creatives in a fun, visual way. She’s a best selling author, textile and mixed media artist and creator of the Cool Stuff Jar™ coaching program. You can also visit Cass on Facebook!

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