Hope, Magic and the Future of Our Work
These are tough times for us all, and especially for the self-employed. Like many self-employed people, over the past half year, the methods you relied on to successfully market yourself has begun to fail. What now? You’ve probably tried many alternatives: new marketing platforms, free material, podcasts, interviews, social media, workshops, talks. You’re busy exploring all these ways and so far, nothing’s happened.
I’m not here to tell you I have the answer to this new problem so many of us have. What I do want to talk about though is hope and magic.
I used to believe that magic was something impossible or mysterious and definitely unnatural. I don’t believe that anymore. Magic for me now is the birthing of something brand new from materials – physical or mental – that are critical to it but aren’t it. If this is magic, then it happens all around us, every second of every day. In fact, our world is abundant with magic.
With that in mind, how can you tap into that abundance to revitalize your business?
One thing might be to change your focus. If your current focus is to attract people you know you can help, how could you alter that focus to bring it more in line with creating something new that attracts you as well?
What attracts you, and keeps you getting up every day with a sense of hope, is also true for the clients you work best with. What feeds your spirit and gives you a lot of energy to do the hard stuff – the planning, strategizing, and all the legwork that goes into building and growing your business? That also feeds the spirit of the clients you want to attract.
You may have heard aspects of this before. The difference this time is that I am inviting you to reach beyond the approach you’ve been taking. I am inviting you to generate something brand new that is as attractive to the people you want to attract, and to yourself, as nectar is to a bee.
It will take imagination, courage to step into something new, and discipline to stay the course. One of the things that might trap you is procrastination.
Procrastination can get in the way for most of us. It can happen when you take on too much and become overwhelmed, or when you go for something that is unrealistic and get bogged down in the reality of the situation. If this is true for you, check in regularly to see if what you’re aiming for continues to be doable in the timeline you’ve chosen, and to change what is needed to make sure it continues to be so. Most importantly, does it continue to excite you? Because if that’s lost, then so is the energy and motivation – and the possibility to create magic.
Quote of the Week
The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.
― J M Barrie
The four technologies of magic
Announcements
Maryanne Nicholls is a Registered Psychotherapist. To find out more, gain access to her weekly newsletter, meditations and programs, sign up at www.thejoyofliving.co .
If you’re interested in the topic of avoiding burnout for people who do too much, you may be interested in checking out my youtube channel.