Where do we find the physical, mental and spiritual energy to create and sustain our business and stay true to our vision? Besides the obvious advice about diet, exercise and minimizing stress, there's a whole different area of energy that we can benefit from. That's the creative vital power of our personal vision and the way we bring it out to the world. Everything is energy. Even things we think of as solid and immovable, such as rocks and dirt, are chock full of energy. The more alive the energy, the more power that's manifested. That goes for anything from tsunami waves to megastar personalities. It's all a matter of freeing up the energy and expressing our innate talents and strengths. The key is to be able to find ways to nurture and keep expanding our creative energy. When we start out with our inspiration for our business or career we're often exuberantly excited and inspired. If we see it clearly and put our full energy behind it, we can create a great expression of who we truly are. Over time with daily repetition and stress, our vision and creative energy can fade. With constant demands of meeting deadlines and making sales and profit goals, dealing with customers, employees and competition, the daily grind of business wears us down. While we may have enough energy to keep up with daily tasks, it's hard to stay inspired. We're challenged to stay true to our vision and keep growing with integrity. Our work life can start to feel like a straightjacket. We may ask ourselves "Beyond just surviving, what's the point of all this?" How do we free up our energy again? Better yet, how do we stay fresh and excited and open? How do we continually create something greater? What would it take to be in a constant state of free flowing creative energy? From my perspective, there's a number of highly effective ways to nurture and expand our creative energy. One technique is one that a few very savvy entrepreneurs use. It's destroying everything that you were unwilling to let go of that you created the day before. Letting go of your success as well as your failure. In a September 2003 Inc. magazine article Robert Redford talks about running the Sundance Film Institute by "Not resting on my laurels. Not repeating myself." By constantly creating from a new place. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be transformed. If we destroy what we were unwilling to let go of that we created the day before, our business doesn't disappear. What happens is the energy of our business is freed up to become something greater. You have to empty your cup before you can completely fill it again. That's how to clear away distractions and connect with who you are. That's when you begin to have the power to create what would truly fulfill you. Conversely when we keep repeating ourselves, not only are we not innovating, our energy stagnates. When our business innovation stands still we're an easier target for our competition. Constantly doing without an ongoing source of creative energy and inspiration is draining. Being open and willing to receive inspiration is envigorating and sustaining. You can ask yourself. ask colleagues, ask the universe for fresh inspiration and energy. When we invite new possibilities into our life, there's always a response if we're open and willing to receive it. Try asking this simple powerful question as you start your day, "What would it feel like for me to destroy everything that I was unwilling to let go of that I created with my business yesterday? What new energy, new ideas, new choices would I like to create my business with today?" You can still continue to expand on what you created the day before. You just start with greater openess and freshness. If that feels light and expansive to you, choose it and see what greater possibilities show up for you. This may seem scary at first. Be with that scariness. Are you really scared or are you more aware, more excited? When we face the unknown with awareness and wonder, we wake up our creative power. To quote Albert Einstein, "One of our greatest capacities is the ability to be exhilarated in the face of the unknown". This article was inspired by the pioneering work of Gary Douglas, founder of Access Energy Transformation. Copyright 2006 Rich Atkinson |
