Tag Archives | goal-setting

The four essential elements of your right idea + a free download

Larah wrote this · Share your thoughts in the Comments { 1 }

When you put yourself out there as the right person for a job, the right people will always take notice.

When I put myself out there as someone who can help build a life you love by building a business you love, I expected to have a few people sending me “can you help me start this business?” type emails. And I do get quite a bit of those.

But I also get a whole lot of something harder.

I get a lot of this…

I so want a simpler life where I can do work I love and feel like I’m the one in control of where I spend my time & energy. I want my life to be about the things I care about. But I don’t know what to do! I have no idea how to find the right business for me. I don’t know what kind of business I could start that I would love. Can you help me?!

Can we have a group hug of genuine empathy?!

That space is so.hard. When you know that you want a different life, but you can’t quite define or describe that different life….yeah that. It’s like psychologically and emotionally gasping for air.

If you’re there or you’ve been there, you know. It plays tricks with your psyche in so many tortuous ways. And this is all you want to hear…

I can help!

First. Breathe. Don’t panic. Don’t rush this.

I know it feels like there’s no air in the room, but I assure you there is. Close your eyes & take a deep breath to remind yourself of that whenever you need to.

You don’t want to rush this because you don’t want to build this amazing, ideal life you’ve envisioned on top of something that simply can’t support it. You want to build it on top of the right business for you.

You don’t need a bright idea. You need the right idea.

The right idea will lead you to a business that is sustainable, evolvable, compelling and transformative….for you.

No wonder this is so hard!

I want to give you a shortcut.

The four essential elements of your right idea.

(Click on the poster to see it full size!)

The right idea doesn’t have to be brand new and innovative.

You don’t have to re-invent the wheel to re-invent your life. You just have to find the thing that combines these four essential elements in a way that makes your heart sing and your brain buzz with possibilities.

The poster is a great start, but if you want to get serious about this idea-finding thing, you want the free companion workbook.

Go get your workbook!

Click the image to get your free workbook!

I don’t often make promises

The work I do doesn’t lend itself to many guarantees or promises. Everyone’s experiences and outcomes are different. For example, I can’t promise that your right idea will come shooting out of your brain today or tomorrow.

But, I will promise you this:

If you hear me out, I can turn that suffocating feeling of hope peppered with utter confusion into possibility, clarity, freedom, and momentum.

I’ll even go out on a limb and make one more promise.

I promise, when you find that thing you’re searching for, you’ll discover it’s been inside you all along.

It always is. It always surprises people. There are always tears. But it’s there. I promise.

Go ahead, download your workbook. Let’s start moving forward.

Your words of wisdom are welcome!

If you’re in that airless place, I’d love to read your comments about that. And if you’ve been there before, I’m sure everyone who is there now, would love to hear your words of wisdom. Please feel free to reach out to each other…and to me…in the comments below.

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Why you suck at goal-setting and why you should do it anyway.

Larah wrote this · Share your thoughts in the Comments { 2 }

Goal-setting sucks! How the hell am I supposed to know what I want three years from now?! I don’t even know what the world will look like then!

I hear these words so, so often from my wonderfully amazing and oh-so-talented clients. Ahh….the love.

And ya know what? They’re right.

Kinda.

Nope, you don’t know what the world will look like in three years…or one…or even in 6 months. Neither do I.

But that doesn’t mean goal-setting sucks. It means you’re doin’ it wrong.

You suck at goal-setting.

You see, we tend to think of setting a goal…starting a business…living that life we love…as a finite thing. Something with a beginning and an end.

Oh, but the only thing finite about life is the end. Like…the real end. Until then, your life is anything but finite.

It’s an organic, dynamic, ever-changing journey. With moving destinations that evolve and improve over time.

You Horizon Changes

Let me explain.

<< Imagine you’re here.

From here you can clearly see that you want to go over there….to that hill with the tree.

The shade, the apples, the cool green grass.

The land of Overthere is clearly a nicer place than the land of Overhere.

So, you head out on your journey.

You’re happy, motivated, focused and so excited as you travel and imagine what life will be like in the beautiful Overthere.

Finally, you reach the top of the hill, only steps from your beautiful amazing tree.

You take a deep, satisfied breath and glance out over the horizon.

And your heart sinks.

<< You can now see a new horizon.

From here, you can see Thatplace. And it makes your tree in Overthere seem pretty small and petty.

Thatplace is amazing and oh…wow! You never even knew a place like that existed!

Annndddd…

You start to feel shitty about being in Overthere, when Thatplace is clearly so superior.

You start to doubt your abilities. You feel overwhelmed that there is so much traveling still to do.

And you can’t even see the path to Thatplace.

You are a failure.

I have some special, encouraging words that I share with clients who find themselves in this no-good, awful place.

Are you fucking kidding me?!

Turn around. No, really…turn the fuck around and look at the miles and miles of treacherous landscape behind you.

Not too long ago, you were stuck in that awful place that you can barely see from this beautiful hill you’re standing on today.

You did that. You saw this place you wanted to be and you started walking toward it.

You are not a failure.

You’re sitting here, right now in the shade, on the cool grass, eating an apple. This is beautiful!!

The only thing that changed is your horizon.

Today, enjoy the place where you are. Acknowledge the achievement of the progress you’ve made.

Relax and breathe. This is an amazing place. And you came here. On purpose.

You can now see where tomorrow’s journey will take you. That is also a wonderful gift.

Enjoy dreaming about the new place. Have fun planning the journey. And, when you’re ready, start walking toward Thatplace.

But rest assured, when you reach the top of that hill, your horizon will change again.

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The Life Cycle for Revolutionaries

Larah wrote this · Share your thoughts in the Comments { 4 }

You want a different life. You want to live in a world of your own design.

You and your business are both evolving. All the time. Always. In every way.

This r-evolution happens in cycles.

The only way to not live within this cycle is to sit still and never change.

But that’s not you. Ohellno.

You are a R-Evolutionary.

Here’s how it works:

Awakening

Every evolution starts here. It begins with a yearning or unease with the current situation and a feeling of untapped potentiality.

Designing

Awakening leads to designing. This is where problem-solving & innovation happen. You begin imagining, dreaming, idea finding and idea sifting.

Building

Once an idea takes hold, then comes building. Things really start to happen here, like creating, planning, defining and researching, clarifying.

Functioning

Here you’re rockin’ & rollin’. Putting all of those plans into action. Generally getting shit done. Making money. Taking names. Loving life. Everything seems to roll toward you.

When we set out, we tend to think of this place as our destination. This is where we’ll find our groove and life fulfillment will have been achieved. And that’s true…sort of.

Because you’re an evolutionary, revolutionary being…you won’t stay there. No matter how amazing it felt to get there.

Growing

All of that rockin’ and rollin’ will inevitably lead you to dream of bigger things. The bar gets raised. You’re horizon changes. The definition of your “ideal life” evolves. And so the cycle continues…

Rinse & Repeat

Growth will always lead you into new awakenings. Which means you get to repeat the cycle. You’ll redefine and reframe your amazing work and your amazing life 100x over…at least.

The best part is every time you repeat the cycle, it gets easier. You get better at the process. You get more clarity each time around.

You begin realize that life fulfillment is to be found in every single step along the way.

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I built a new kind of playground for your brain: in celebration of ideation

Larah wrote this · Share your thoughts in the Comments { 1 }

To dream or not to dream? That’s the new question.

As entrpreneurs, we’re fed a daily dose of contradiction from the experts about having and exploring new ideas. We’re told that we should keep them on the down low. Or get them out in the wild. Or we’re warned against chasing rainbows…told that ideas are useless without action. Then we’re told to never stop dreaming. Argh!!

What’s even more confusing: They’re all right.

Ideas are addictive and rare and plentiful and fragile and indestructible and inspiring and distracting.

We aren’t very nice to our ideas.

We ignore them, push them aside, tell them they’re dumb, keep them hidden away and beat them down until slink away.

But ideas are fuel for a fulfilling, self-made life. Without ideas, we could never change the things we don’t love about our lives or our communities.

We should celebrate ideas…hear them out long enough to see where they’re going. Ideas need a safe place to grow. And we all need a safe place to nurture them.

Which is why I created the in celebration of ideation, a master-your-mind group.

ideation is your own personal think tank.

A brain playground.

How it works

The group size is limited to four people. We’ll collaborate in a weekly online call.

Each week, one of the members will take center stage…so everyone will get center stage once a month. You’ll spend 10 or 15 minutes telling the group about your idea. You’ll be able to talk about it or share docs, pictures, anything to help the group see your vision.

And then, magic happens.

The Think Tank revs up. We’ll all take turns playing the roles of dreamer, architect, devil’s advocate. We’ll take your idea, build it up, tear it down and build it up again.

We’ll dream together. Wonder together. Build together. Grow together.

No pink smoke

We’re here to help you develop your ideas, not to laugh at them or to ooh & aah over them. Even if we LOVE you’re idea, we’ll still poke it with a stick. Because that’s the best way to toughen her up and help her grow into a full fleged project.

“If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” ~Albert Einstein

Not just for business ideas

Bring all of your ideas! Your dream of going on a cross-country, family RV trip or starting a community garden are just as welcome as your inspired new business idea and that just-crazy-enough-to-work new product.

ideation is perfect if you’ve been searching for:

Validation for your ideas before you spend 1000 hours trying to implement them.
A safe, snicker-free place to talk about your wildest and craziest plans where no one expects you to actually do every little thing that pops in your head.
Permission to pay attention to all of your new ideas and tools to strengthen your idea-evaluation muscle.
Open communication with fellow dreamers…in confidence. People who understand that the only way to have a good idea is to have a bunch of them, honor all of them and allow the best ones to rise to the top.

“The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas, and throw the bad ones away” ~ Dr. Linus Pauling

Bonuses included

Tools! With over a decade of experience helping my fellow idea junkies with their habit, I have tons of fun and useful idea evaluation tools & worksheets we can play with. Whenever appropriate, I’ll bring the right tool to the game.

Community! In addition to the weekly calls, the ideation members will have access to a special forum in the BrainyFeet discussion boards. We can continue the conversations there, share resources and incubate those idea chickies until they’re ready to fly.

Answers to your most likely questions

When are the calls?

The calls for the first group are tentatively scheduled for Tuesdays at 1:30-3:00 Pacific, 4:30-6:00 Eastern. Once that group fills up, I’ll open another time slot. Please let me know if that day/time is impossible for you. Everyone in the group must commit to being available for the calls. They’ll be recorded for posterity & review, but your participation is vitally important.

When you register, we’ll start the introductions in the discusson boards. For now, our first call is scheduled for August 8th.

What if someone steals my idea?

For some of you, this may be a real concern. I crafted a beautiful response to this question in which I wax poetic about how thinking isn’t doing and then I present a well-reasoned explaination for the steps I’ve taken to ensure this kind of douchebaggery doesn’t happen. But this isn’t the place for all that. If this is something you’re concerned about, just drop me an email. I will be more than happy to ease your mind by emailing you my eloquent response.

And then there’s this piece of wisdom to consider from Howard Aiken:

“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.”

One last thing

I want to leave you with this thought. I’ve been toying around with the idea of creating this group for a while now. Reading this quote is what pushed me over the edge of thinking and into doing.

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” ~George Bernard Shaw