Lamisha Serf-Walls

Beta Isn’t So Bad…

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Perfect

When it comes to doing things we are passionate about, many of us strive for optimal perfection.  We work, analyze, plan, and strategically lay out the action steps and pieces that need to come together for our vision to be just right.  As it begins to take shape we may notice areas that need more work, attention, and focus only to find our vision of perfection is always slightly out of reach.  There is always something else that can be added, tweaked, and changed to make it better and if you are like me, you may find yourself pondering how to make it better or frozen as you wait for the perfect idea to make it well, perfect.

I found myself in the perfectionist conundrum over the last few weeks as I began over thinking the necessary pieces that need to fall into place in order to have the perfect launch for my business.  In my mind I had to have what many other coaches offered on their websites in order to do it the right way and to be successful and while I knew that comparing my business vision with others was a sure-fire way to lose my confidence, I still felt like certain pieces had to be just right before I could move forward.

I realized I was very wrong.

As I was reading this weekend, I stumbled across an idea that was exactly what I needed to read at that moment.  In a book called The Gift of Adversity by Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D., I read a chapter that focused on the idea of perfection.  According to Rosenthal, most things don’t have to be perfect to do what you want them to do.  For instance, many companies will knowingly release a product that still has some bugs to be worked out as long as the bugs don’t compromise the integrity of the product known as a beta version.  The beta version is somewhat of a tester that can be improved along the way.  That is why we have so many versions of apps, phones, and computers.  No matter what product you have purchased it is likely a work in progress since developers are always working on the next best thing.

You may be asking yourself how this applies to your dreams and my business vision.

Well, here’s how I see it.  My business (and ultimately your dreams, goals, and aspirations) are always in transition.  Life is nothing but a constant change of events and circumstances, so nothing ever remains the same.  With that said, as I create my business intentions, services, and products I now realize whatever I create will not be what I offer for the entire life of my business.  Just as I will continue to evolve as a person, so will my ideas, creations, and my business.

So, if what I begin with isn’t exactly perfect, that’s ok.  I am sure there will be some mistakes and lessons along the way, but I will also learn a lot as my business progresses and I will likely learn many lessons I couldn’t learn if I wasn’t simply taking the leap.  In fact, I have always been far better at on the job training that pre-training with the expectation that I just know it all.  So, why should this be any different?

It shouldn’t.

I would venture a guess you too have struggled with your own progression toward your dreams/goals because you feel not ready enough.  Maybe you feel like you need more classes, more training, more knowledge, or more life experience.  Well I am here to tell you that’s not true.  You will learn far more by moving toward your goals than you will sitting back and planning them.  If you are inspired to do something, do it whether it feels perfect or not.

Beta versions aren’t all that bad, because when you think about it, aren’t we all just beta versions growing, learning, and evolving all the time?

 

Dreamer Highlight: Mike Dooley: Founder of TUT (Totally Unique Thoughts)

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dream2

Happy Monday!  Let me begin by apologizing for my disappearing act at the end of last week.  Things got a little crazy with family in town and a short trip this weekend, but I am back on track this week with another Dreamer Highlight.

I first heard about TUT when someone mentioned “A Note From The Universe” which at the time was a very profound and inspiration quote.  I of course had to check it out for myself.  Turns out the notes are delivered daily to your inbox when you sign up here.

Notes like the one below appear in my inbox every week day and I have to say they are a great way to begin the day.

 

Have you noticed, Lamisha, how lacking clarity is clarity itself?

How, if you aren’t sure about something, that alone, has meaning?

Honor uncertainty. It’s the womb from which all-knowingness comes.

Clearly,
The Universe

But, that’s not all there is to TUT, to check out all the wonderfully inspiring articles, interviews, and so much more, check out their website here.

Instead of focusing on the actual website, I want to talk a little bit about Mike Dooley, the dreamer.  I am including him in this week’s Dreamer Highlight post not because of his corporate business experience and success, but because of the faith he had in himself and the Universe to achieve a life full of passion, purpose, and vision.

What he did:  After working in accounting and traveling the world, Mike moved to FL to be closer to family and to achieve a new dream.  He wanted to start his own company, but wasn’t sure what type of company he wanted to create.  After a few months he joined efforts with his mother and brother to create TUT (Totally Unique T-shirts) that displayed various quotes and sayings on them and after selling over one million t-shirts he moved to something greater.  He decided to share his knowledge and experience in creating the life of his dreams in his first audio program “Infinite Possibilities:  The Art of Living Your Dreams”.  Since then, he has gone on to speak in front of large and small audiences, written several books, and been featured in the movie The Secret to share his knowledge far and wide and to help others find the power within to live the life of their dreams.

How he did it:  Mike Dooley started with a vision.  An intentional purpose to better understand the world and to be able to share that information with others.  All he had to do to make it happen was listen to his intuition and act on it when the time was right.  The truth is, Mike knew that he had the ability to do whatever he wanted and that as long as his intentions were lined up and he allowed his dreams to take shape, his dreams would come true.  (To read more about Mike’s journey check out his about page here.)

One of the things I love about Mike’s story is that he is proof that you don’t have to just have one dream, you can have many.  Once you achieve one, you build your confidence to be able to move onto something bigger.  Something greater than you ever imagined.  Life is meant to be savored, enjoyed, and experienced and once we realize the power we all have (you included) to create the life of your dreams, the possibilities are endless.

So, what are you waiting for, start now.

Line Up And Watch It Unfold

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I have reached an epiphany of sorts.  Actually I have reached this epiphany several times in my life about various things and yet each time it seems new.  It doesn’t mean that I am a slow learner necessarily, but it does mean that I am always learning new things.  Lucky for me I am an avid student in the classroom of life looking to absorb whatever enlightening information I can.  I also love sharing that knowledge with others, hence me taking on a coaching/writer/teacher role in many areas of my life.

The grand epiphany is this…

Set the intention, line up with it, and watch it unfold.

Before you actually do anything you have a thought.  You think about what you want to do or many times you have an emotional reaction that causes the thought to take form.  For instance, you may realize you really don’t like the job you are in.  You have an emotional response to the job which leads to thoughts of what you can do about it, which later leads to action.

Thought is also used to set an intention.  In the above example the intention would be to leave the unhappy job to find one that is better.  Easy enough right?

But then what???

You have to line yourself up with your intention and this doesn’t necessarily mean line up with it through action.  I have found inspired action is the best way to move forward toward our goals and dreams.  It seems to be the path of least resistance in some ways and feels better overall.  However, if you are like me (a bit of a controller), you may find yourself losing patience with the next inspired step as you try to force it to happen.  I have found that generally doesn’t work and if it does work, it makes it seem very difficult.

Lining up with your intention means to put yourself in a space that allows you to be inspired both physically and energetically.  It may involve you meditation, doing yoga, or writing.  It might also involve you making a conscious choice about who you spend your time with.  You may decide a certain person or group of people bring you out of your positive alignment and can become the voice of your Dream Crusher.  If this is the case, find others that will uplift and inspire you.  If you don’t know anyone, spending time alone can also create the space you need for Divine Inspiration to move you.  Some other ideas may include visualizing your intention, practicing positive affirmations, reading inspiring books, listening to inspirational music, or getting creative.  The key is to keep your focus positive and to protect your intention as much as you can.

As you begin to line up with your intentions in a positive way, you will likely experience some amazing synchronicity and your intention will begin to take shape almost effortlessly as you follow your inspired thoughts.  For instance, in the job scenario I described above, you might get a call from a friend seemingly out of the blue telling you about a new job that you are the perfect fit for.  You may find yourself “stumbling” across articles, people, and other resources that lead you to the very next step in your journey and you weren’t actively looking for it.  I like to call these inspirational nuggets.  They are the little crumbs that effortlessly lead you along your path and when you continually line up with your intentions, you begin to realize your dreams can and will unfold perfectly.

This grand idea of letting go and lining up with your intentions is not new news.  It should be common knowledge, however I often find myself wanting to move things along much faster and in doing so, I create more frustration than I need.  When I consistently get out of my own way by lining up with what I want, things unfold almost magically.  And while I have seen evidence of this time and time again, I am almost certain there will be other situations where I find myself re-learning this lesson.

I would love to hear how you allow yourself to line up with your intentions.  What do you do to allow things to unfold naturally?  Please share in the comments below.

Dream Discovery Pt. 2- Exercises

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Yesterday I talked about the two types of people that generally have trouble defining their dreams; the Reality Seekers and the Survivors.  Today, I want to give you some exercises that anyone can use to help get your imagination going in order to make room for your aha moment.

4 Ways To Find Your Passion

Set Your Intention:  Sometimes all it takes is mentally setting the intention to find your passion.  Maybe you want to write it down as a formal goal or create an affirmation that states you want to remain open to discovering your dreams.  However you choose to set the intention, do it.  Simply deciding that you want to do something sets the energy in motion enough that seemingly miraculous events take place to catapult you toward what you desire.

Meditate:  I know I have talked about the benefits of meditation, but I have to mention it again.  Meditation allows you to calm your mind and be open to inspirational ideas, thoughts, and inklings that will guide you along your journey.  If you aren’t sure how to meditate or find it difficult to sit still for even 5 minutes, check out guided meditations online.  You can find some really great videos and information that will help you get to a regular meditation practice.  Often when our minds are so cluttered with day-to-day responsibilities, we don’t hear the little voice inside that is giving us the information we need.  When you quiet your mind, you release the resistant thoughts that keep your inspiration at bay.

Make a List: Sometimes when we aren’t sure what we want it helps to create a clarity list*.  It is very easy to do and can provide a ton of information for what you really want in your life.  Simple take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.  On the left side include things you don’t want and on the right side list what you do want.  Using your life experience, make a list of items you don’t want. For instance, if you are looking for a passionate career, you might say “I don’t want a boss that is a micro-manager” and that might mean “I want to be my own boss or have the freedom to do my work independently”.  Make the list as long as you need to in order to provide some clarity to what you want.  Once it is complete fold the paper back and look at the items you have listed for what you want.  Now you have a starting point for your discovery process.
*This exercise is one Michael Losier uses in his Law of Attraction books.  For more information click here.*

Have Fun: You may be wondering how having fun can lead you to a life of your dreams, however if you are like me, when I am trying to figure something out, I can get a little obsessive about it.  I find myself searching and thinking and worrying about it far more than I should.  This only creates more resistance in your thought process and can inhibit your inspiration completely.  Sometimes to gain momentum you have to not try so hard.  That can be difficult for some of us to learn since we have been taught that if you want something you have to work really hard at it.  That’s not always (or mostly) true.  Often when you are having fun and thinking about something entirely different, you get a major aha moment that sparks your interest and inspiration.  So if you find yourself thinking about this too much, take a step back and go do something else.

While these exercises may seem pretty simple you will be amazed at what they can do.  I hope they help you move toward the discovery of your dreams and if there is anything I can do to help let me know!

Happy Dreaming!

Dream Discovery: Start Where You Are

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Since I started my blog, many of my posts have been aimed at readers that have defined what they want to achieve and may need a little inspiration and insight to get them moving.  I have posted inspirational links, dreamer highlights, and general motivational tips for when things feel slow-going.  And while I think that information is beneficial , I realized this week that I hadn’t really touched on how to find your dream.  So, today I want to take a step back and start at the beginning with some tips to help you define your dream.

People who have yet to define their dreams generally fall into two categories.  There are those that deep down know what they want to achieve, but have written it off as impossible and unrealistic, and others who have been so focused on simply surviving life, that they haven’t taken time out to allow themselves to want anything more than they truly need.

If you fall into the first category or as I like to call them the ” Reality Seekers”, you have probably thought of several things you wanted to do in your life, but there is a little voice telling you that for some reason or another it is unachievable.  You have a long list of reasons why it could never happen, yet there is still an underlying urge to do it.  Maybe you want to perform in a Broadway show, but the idea of doing it seems so “out there” that you can’t even imagine how it might happen, so you have resolved the situation by only dreaming the achievable dream.

My advice for you: Start where you are.  Visualize a life where you can have, be, or do anything under the sun.  Imagine you have a magic wand and can grant your ultimate dream wish.  What would that look like?  How would it feel?  Is it a dream career?  A once in a lifetime experience?  Would you travel the world?

You don’t have to have just a singular dream.  In fact the more you have the better.  The key is to get you to think beyond what you deem is reality and get into the magical realm of ultimate possibilities.  Is it still hard for you to get out of that reality box?  Try thinking of all the things in your past that really got your fire going.  The things that made you light up and made your soul sing.  For me, it was dancing, creating, and working with people.  Helping others to achieve their goals and celebrating with them when they learned something new.

The key for the “Reality Seekers”, is to move you more into a space of imagination and possibility.  Think magic.  Think ultimate possibility.  Imagine a life full of free-flowing energy, freedom to do what you want, and a life full of fun and passion.  Don’t worry about how you will achieve it, just milk it for all the inspiration that you can.  You will be amazed at what you come up with and you might find your dream was there all along.

The second group is a group I like to call the “Survivors”.  They have been living a life just making it through the next day.  Working, paying bills, taking care of every day necessities without ever really thinking about a thriving life.  They often believe what they are experiencing in life is all there is and when asked what is their dream, they have absolutely no idea.

If you fall into this category never fear, there are plenty of things to do to get your inspiration and dream discovery process going.  Understand that the life you have lived up to now has served you as it needed to, but the fact that you are looking forward toward a thriving, passionate, and wonderfully happy life is a step in the right direction.

Don’t know where to start?  Start where you are.  Look back at where you have been and use it as information for your future.  While you may have been more focused on surviving, chances are you had moments of daydreaming and thinking “if only….happened, I could finally be happy.”  Can you tap into what those things were?  Maybe they weren’t specific dreams, but it will get you moving in the right direction.

If that doesn’t work, try making a list of descriptive words that you want for your future.  Words like abundant, happy, free-flowing, freedom, ease etc. can begin to move you away from the “survivor” mindset into a more peaceful and inspirational state of being.  As your mind ponders the various feelings you want in your future, you may begin seeing specific situations, careers, opportunities that create those feelings.  If so, write them down and don’t discount anything.

You are beginning a journey into the unknown.  A space that you haven’t often ventured into and it may seem foreign at first, but no matter what keep going.  Keep thinking, imagining, visualizing, and feeling what your dream future feels like.  You might also want to do some research about various careers that offer those same feelings.  Maybe you want to look at dream vacations, read inspirational stories, or watch programs of other survivor’s reaching their goals.  You might even find it beneficial to work with a dream (or life) coach to help you through your process.  (Of course I would love to work with you if you are interested in some one-on-one coaching.  If so, please feel free to contact me and we can chat about how I can assist you.)

No matter where you find yourself in the dream discovery phase, the most important thing to remember is to start where you are.  Whether you are taking baby steps or flying leaps to your dreams, you will get there when the time is right for you.  Everyone’s journey is different so don’t feel like you have to be as fast or as slow as someone else.  Enjoy the ride because as you move into the space of your imagination and inspiration there is so much to enjoy!