By Christine Kloser
For most of my life I’ve been conditioned to march to the beat of a familiar drum… the drum that says, “fall into line, don’t break the mold, do what everyone else is doing, follow the pack, don’t make waves, fit in with the crowd, etc.” The beat of this drum had become so familiar to me that I didn’t even notice it was beating in the background of my life.
In all honesty, that familiar beat had been running my life. Yes, I stepped out of the usual nine-to-five corporate mold that society teaches us is what success looks like. But, I stepped into an entrepreneurial mold that had a similar beat… “Do what everyone else is doing.” And, so I did – for several years – until I realized that I didn’t want to be marching to the beat of that drum anymore.
And, so the quest began to march to the beat of my own drum… to do the deep inner work to discover what is true and right for me. I have made much progress on my quest. I’ve discovered so much more certainty within myself, while also feeling less certainty on the external level. The beauty is that I’m finding comfort in the “I don’t know.” Because what I DO know, is that I’m beginning to march to the beat of my own drum. And, with certainty like that, it makes any external uncertainty a non-issue.
So, what does it take to march to the beat of your own drum?
Opening Your Eyes
First, you’ve got to open your eyes to the truth of what is happening within you and around you. You must raise your level of consciousness and become keenly aware of your own thoughts, feelings, motivations, etc. It’s only when you begin to open your eyes to the truth (and allow yourself to see it and feel it) that you can begin to shift what isn’t working. For many years I had an inner inkling that something wasn’t quite right with a part of my business. And, it wasn’t until I looked into those dark corners that I could see for the first time what I wanted to shift, how I wanted to shift and what had been holding me back from a life of total freedom. And, it had nothing to do with my business, but everything to do with ME!
So, step one is to take a look and see if there’s anything you’ve been staying blind to that it’s time for you to see.
Compassion
Please, please, please… have compassion for yourself on this journey. I used to think that every time I saw something unpleasant about myself, my life or my business that I was “supposed” to use it to beat myself up. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you open your eyes and begin to see things… you must learn to have compassion for yourself as you become more conscious and free yourself at a deeper level. Marching to the beat of your own drum requires that you LOVE yourself forward (that’s a fabulous phrase I got from my spiritual teacher), not that you beat yourself up. So, as you do the work to find YOUR unique rhythm, have compassion for yourself and who you have been up until now. You have always only done the best you could with what you knew at the time.
So, step two is to allow yourself to see something that isn’t working for you and have compassion for yourself as you see it.
Commitment
I love the word commitment! I learned many years ago, at the very first personal development program I attended in 1995, that commitment equals freedom! At first, I thought the trainer was crazy, but the more I thought about it the more I saw the truth in this. When you are totally committed to something (in this case, your authentic expression in the world) you don’t have any other options. Your choices of being “less than your best authentic self” get taken away. And, that’s a good thing! Why would you want to be committed to anything less than pursuing your authentic expression in the world 100%?! It makes no sense. So, if you’re going to walk on this journey of marching to the beat of your own drum… COMMIT to it! And, let it take you where you’re meant to go.
So, step three is to make a commitment to yourself right now that you will do whatever it takes to release the “should’s” from your life and learn to march to the beat of your own drum!
© 2010 Christine Kloser
Would you like to use this article? You may as long as you include the following information along with the article: Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps entrepreneurs put soul in their business and money in the bank. If you want to thrive in your purpose-driven, profitable business (while enjoying a soul-satisfying life), send for my special report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Most Conscious Entrepreneurs and my audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know... Before Writing a Word, both of which you get (at no charge) when you request my Conscious Business Success Kit at www.LoveYourLife.com.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Truth About What’s Really Running Your Business
By Christine Kloser
There’s a silent epidemic happening for entrepreneurs world-wide. It’s not a pretty epidemic, nor is it fun… but it’s an epidemic that can be eradicated by each and every entrepreneur who has been affected by it.
I was personally impacted by this epidemic for many, many years in my business without having any conscious awareness that it was happening, that it had its hold on me. And, I’m hearing more and more about this epidemic as entrepreneurs are waking up and beginning to realize what’s really happening in their businesses.
And, the epidemic is this…. I call it the “Unconscious, Conscious Entrepreneur” syndrome. I can hear you already saying, “What?” “What does it mean to be an “unconscious, conscious entrepreneur?” Right? If you’re reading this ezine and believe in a conscious approach to business, how could you be unconsciousness?
The answer is this. There are ways of being, old habits, default patterns that you aren’t even aware of that are running your business, and your life. While you are likely working very hard (like I did) not to let these old beliefs and behaviors take over… they are so insidious, they can’t help but creep in.
Here are a two of the most common ways this epidemic shows up, and my personal experience with each:
I’m Not Good Enough
If somewhere in your psyche, you have a belief that you are not “good enough” (which is very common for us overachieving entrepreneurs), no matter how much you take action and do things in your business to feel good enough, there will always be an empty space inside of you that can never be filled no matter how much you achieve. Feeling like “enough” has to come from inside of you… it can never come from anything outside of yourself.
How this core belief showed up in me was in my ambitious drive to excel, achieve, and accomplish. While I was connected to really wanting to help people, there had been this underlying “frenetic” feeling that I always had to be doing more. At the time I wasn’t aware that my ambition and my drive to excel was being fueled by a feeling of not being “good enough.” Once I shifted away from being an “unconscious, conscious entrepreneur” and opened my eyes to what was really happening inside of myself, everything changed.
So, I invite you to simply notice if you have an underlying feeling of “not being good enough.” If you do, allow yourself to see how this belief (which is not really the truth of who you are) plays out in your life and your business. With this new awareness, now stay “awake” to it and you’ll see you can begin to make some new choices.
I’m Worried About What Others Think
This is another biggy! Be honest with yourself, and ask yourself if you’re ever done something (or not done something) because of what someone else might think? Did you launch a program you really didn’t want to do, just because your coach or a colleague told you to do it? Have you ever said “yes” to something you wanted to say “no” to because you didn’t want to let down the other person? Chances are you’ve done these things because you allow what others think about you to have an influence on you.
This was another big learning area for me. I used to worry about what others thought about me and what I did or didn’t do (in fact, to be honest, every now and then I still feel this old thought pattern creeping in). But, once I realized how much I had been sacrificing my own joy trying to fit into someone else’s idea of me – someone else’s “box” – I have been working hard within myself to not worry so much about what other people think about me. It’s a tough lesson to learn, especially when you care about others and don’t want to make waves or cause anyone to be upset. However, the most important person to not upset or make waves with is yourself!
So, beginning today, let yourself see if you have been worried about what other people think of you. And, begin to imagine what would be possible if you thought most about what you thought of you. As one of my friends likes to say, “What you think of me is none of my business.”
© 2010 Christine Kloser
Would you like to use this article? You may as long as you include the following information along with the article: Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps entrepreneurs put soul in their business and money in the bank. If you want to thrive in your purpose-driven, profitable business (while enjoying a soul-satisfying life), send for my special report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Most Conscious Entrepreneurs and my audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know... Before Writing a Word, both of which you get (at no charge) when you request my Conscious Business Success Kit at www.LoveYourLife.com.
There’s a silent epidemic happening for entrepreneurs world-wide. It’s not a pretty epidemic, nor is it fun… but it’s an epidemic that can be eradicated by each and every entrepreneur who has been affected by it.
I was personally impacted by this epidemic for many, many years in my business without having any conscious awareness that it was happening, that it had its hold on me. And, I’m hearing more and more about this epidemic as entrepreneurs are waking up and beginning to realize what’s really happening in their businesses.
And, the epidemic is this…. I call it the “Unconscious, Conscious Entrepreneur” syndrome. I can hear you already saying, “What?” “What does it mean to be an “unconscious, conscious entrepreneur?” Right? If you’re reading this ezine and believe in a conscious approach to business, how could you be unconsciousness?
The answer is this. There are ways of being, old habits, default patterns that you aren’t even aware of that are running your business, and your life. While you are likely working very hard (like I did) not to let these old beliefs and behaviors take over… they are so insidious, they can’t help but creep in.
Here are a two of the most common ways this epidemic shows up, and my personal experience with each:
I’m Not Good Enough
If somewhere in your psyche, you have a belief that you are not “good enough” (which is very common for us overachieving entrepreneurs), no matter how much you take action and do things in your business to feel good enough, there will always be an empty space inside of you that can never be filled no matter how much you achieve. Feeling like “enough” has to come from inside of you… it can never come from anything outside of yourself.
How this core belief showed up in me was in my ambitious drive to excel, achieve, and accomplish. While I was connected to really wanting to help people, there had been this underlying “frenetic” feeling that I always had to be doing more. At the time I wasn’t aware that my ambition and my drive to excel was being fueled by a feeling of not being “good enough.” Once I shifted away from being an “unconscious, conscious entrepreneur” and opened my eyes to what was really happening inside of myself, everything changed.
So, I invite you to simply notice if you have an underlying feeling of “not being good enough.” If you do, allow yourself to see how this belief (which is not really the truth of who you are) plays out in your life and your business. With this new awareness, now stay “awake” to it and you’ll see you can begin to make some new choices.
I’m Worried About What Others Think
This is another biggy! Be honest with yourself, and ask yourself if you’re ever done something (or not done something) because of what someone else might think? Did you launch a program you really didn’t want to do, just because your coach or a colleague told you to do it? Have you ever said “yes” to something you wanted to say “no” to because you didn’t want to let down the other person? Chances are you’ve done these things because you allow what others think about you to have an influence on you.
This was another big learning area for me. I used to worry about what others thought about me and what I did or didn’t do (in fact, to be honest, every now and then I still feel this old thought pattern creeping in). But, once I realized how much I had been sacrificing my own joy trying to fit into someone else’s idea of me – someone else’s “box” – I have been working hard within myself to not worry so much about what other people think about me. It’s a tough lesson to learn, especially when you care about others and don’t want to make waves or cause anyone to be upset. However, the most important person to not upset or make waves with is yourself!
So, beginning today, let yourself see if you have been worried about what other people think of you. And, begin to imagine what would be possible if you thought most about what you thought of you. As one of my friends likes to say, “What you think of me is none of my business.”
© 2010 Christine Kloser
Would you like to use this article? You may as long as you include the following information along with the article: Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps entrepreneurs put soul in their business and money in the bank. If you want to thrive in your purpose-driven, profitable business (while enjoying a soul-satisfying life), send for my special report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Most Conscious Entrepreneurs and my audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know... Before Writing a Word, both of which you get (at no charge) when you request my Conscious Business Success Kit at www.LoveYourLife.com.
The Truth About What’s Really Running Your Business
There’s a silent epidemic happening for entrepreneurs world-wide. It’s not a pretty epidemic, nor is it fun… but it’s an epidemic that can be eradicated by each and every entrepreneur who has been affected by it.
I was personally impacted by this epidemic for many, many years in my business without having any conscious awareness that it was happening, that it had its hold on me. And, I’m hearing more and more about this epidemic as entrepreneurs are waking up and beginning to realize what’s really happening in their businesses.
And, the epidemic is this…. I call it the “Unconscious, Conscious Entrepreneur” syndrome. I can hear you already saying, “What?” “What does it mean to be an “unconscious, conscious entrepreneur?” Right? If you’re reading this ezine and believe in a conscious approach to business, how could you be unconsciousness?
The answer is this. There are ways of being, old habits, default patterns that you aren’t even aware of that are running your business, and your life. While you are likely working very hard (like I did) not to let these old beliefs and behaviors take over… they are so insidious, they can’t help but creep in.
Here are a two of the most common ways this epidemic shows up, and my personal experience with each:
I’m Not Good Enough
If somewhere in your psyche, you have a belief that you are not “good enough” (which is very common for us overachieving entrepreneurs), no matter how much you take action and do things in your business to feel good enough, there will always be an empty space inside of you that can never be filled no matter how much you achieve. Feeling like “enough” has to come from inside of you… it can never come from anything outside of yourself.
How this core belief showed up in me was in my ambitious drive to excel, achieve, and accomplish. While I was connected to really wanting to help people, there had been this underlying “frenetic” feeling that I always had to be doing more. At the time I wasn’t aware that my ambition and my drive to excel was being fueled by a feeling of not being “good enough.” Once I shifted away from being an “unconscious, conscious entrepreneur” and opened my eyes to what was really happening inside of myself, everything changed.
So, I invite you to simply notice if you have an underlying feeling of “not being good enough.” If you do, allow yourself to see how this belief (which is not really the truth of who you are) plays out in your life and your business. With this new awareness, now stay “awake” to it and you’ll see you can begin to make some new choices.
I’m Worried About What Others Think
This is another biggy! Be honest with yourself, and ask yourself if you’re ever done something (or not done something) because of what someone else might think? Did you launch a program you really didn’t want to do, just because your coach or a colleague told you to do it? Have you ever said “yes” to something you wanted to say “no” to because you didn’t want to let down the other person? Chances are you’ve done these things because you allow what others think about you to have an influence on you.
This was another big learning area for me. I used to worry about what others thought about me and what I did or didn’t do (in fact, to be honest, every now and then I still feel this old thought pattern creeping in). But, once I realized how much I had been sacrificing my own joy trying to fit into someone else’s idea of me – someone else’s “box” – I have been working hard within myself to not worry so much about what other people think about me. It’s a tough lesson to learn, especially when you care about others and don’t want to make waves or cause anyone to be upset. However, the most important person to not upset or make waves with is yourself!
So, beginning today, let yourself see if you have been worried about what other people think of you. And, begin to imagine what would be possible if you thought most about what you thought of you. As one of my friends likes to say, “What you think of me is none of my business.”
© 2010 Christine Kloser
Would you like to use this article? You may as long as you include the following information along with the article: Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps entrepreneurs put soul in their business and money in the bank. If you want to thrive in your purpose-driven, profitable business (while enjoying a soul-satisfying life), send for my special report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Most Conscious Entrepreneurs and my audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know... Before Writing a Word, both of which you get (at no charge) when you request my Conscious Business Success Kit at www.LoveYourLife.com.
I was personally impacted by this epidemic for many, many years in my business without having any conscious awareness that it was happening, that it had its hold on me. And, I’m hearing more and more about this epidemic as entrepreneurs are waking up and beginning to realize what’s really happening in their businesses.
And, the epidemic is this…. I call it the “Unconscious, Conscious Entrepreneur” syndrome. I can hear you already saying, “What?” “What does it mean to be an “unconscious, conscious entrepreneur?” Right? If you’re reading this ezine and believe in a conscious approach to business, how could you be unconsciousness?
The answer is this. There are ways of being, old habits, default patterns that you aren’t even aware of that are running your business, and your life. While you are likely working very hard (like I did) not to let these old beliefs and behaviors take over… they are so insidious, they can’t help but creep in.
Here are a two of the most common ways this epidemic shows up, and my personal experience with each:
I’m Not Good Enough
If somewhere in your psyche, you have a belief that you are not “good enough” (which is very common for us overachieving entrepreneurs), no matter how much you take action and do things in your business to feel good enough, there will always be an empty space inside of you that can never be filled no matter how much you achieve. Feeling like “enough” has to come from inside of you… it can never come from anything outside of yourself.
How this core belief showed up in me was in my ambitious drive to excel, achieve, and accomplish. While I was connected to really wanting to help people, there had been this underlying “frenetic” feeling that I always had to be doing more. At the time I wasn’t aware that my ambition and my drive to excel was being fueled by a feeling of not being “good enough.” Once I shifted away from being an “unconscious, conscious entrepreneur” and opened my eyes to what was really happening inside of myself, everything changed.
So, I invite you to simply notice if you have an underlying feeling of “not being good enough.” If you do, allow yourself to see how this belief (which is not really the truth of who you are) plays out in your life and your business. With this new awareness, now stay “awake” to it and you’ll see you can begin to make some new choices.
I’m Worried About What Others Think
This is another biggy! Be honest with yourself, and ask yourself if you’re ever done something (or not done something) because of what someone else might think? Did you launch a program you really didn’t want to do, just because your coach or a colleague told you to do it? Have you ever said “yes” to something you wanted to say “no” to because you didn’t want to let down the other person? Chances are you’ve done these things because you allow what others think about you to have an influence on you.
This was another big learning area for me. I used to worry about what others thought about me and what I did or didn’t do (in fact, to be honest, every now and then I still feel this old thought pattern creeping in). But, once I realized how much I had been sacrificing my own joy trying to fit into someone else’s idea of me – someone else’s “box” – I have been working hard within myself to not worry so much about what other people think about me. It’s a tough lesson to learn, especially when you care about others and don’t want to make waves or cause anyone to be upset. However, the most important person to not upset or make waves with is yourself!
So, beginning today, let yourself see if you have been worried about what other people think of you. And, begin to imagine what would be possible if you thought most about what you thought of you. As one of my friends likes to say, “What you think of me is none of my business.”
© 2010 Christine Kloser
Would you like to use this article? You may as long as you include the following information along with the article: Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps entrepreneurs put soul in their business and money in the bank. If you want to thrive in your purpose-driven, profitable business (while enjoying a soul-satisfying life), send for my special report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Most Conscious Entrepreneurs and my audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know... Before Writing a Word, both of which you get (at no charge) when you request my Conscious Business Success Kit at www.LoveYourLife.com.
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