Where are you in the pecking order of your life? Are you above or below the "measuring up to" rung you hoped to be on at this moment in time? Where are you in the heirarchy through which you define your life achievement; your sense of self-worth and accomplishment?
If you had answers to those question in the form of higher than or lower than you are on a ladder to nowhere fast. To map your place in this world, know where you stand, you constantly measure by means of more or less than what you believe to be the ideal, the model of who you 'should' be. From this vantage point you can make sense of the world. Nonsense!
Those who define themselves according to a self-imposed pecking order will never experience satisfaction and a life well lived. There will always be someone who seems to be better than, have a life richer than, they are. Like the dog chasing a car, life is a long exhausting chase. Even if the car is caught, the high rung achieved, there will be the search for what to do next.
"I can't get no satisfaction." - Mick Jagger
What is this pecking order anyway? It is an arrangement of things (objects, names, values, categories, etc.), in which the things are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another. Those who live by the pecking order are constantly fighting for a higher position or defending themselves against a lower position. Validation fluctuates depending upon the rung of the moment achieved. The heirarchy of other things and people determine one's self-esteem.
The truth is you are here to be you. Your purpose in life is to express your full potential, develop and expand your own unique gifts, your talent, what you bring forth into this world, without exception. This is your birthright. The only ladder, the only pecking order to consider in the expression of an authentic life is where you are, or are not, in integrity with your truth. The only place of measurement is within. Nothing external can deliver your unique voice, your creative contribution. Only you.
"The best thing you can do is get good at being you!" - Denis the Menace
To seek validation from the position of others is to hold yourself hostage, a victim, to the perceived 'rankings' of others. You give up your personal power, your truth, in exchange for the power you think others have and can give you. Think of the shopaholic who runs out to buy the latest Louis Vuitton purse or Rolex watch because she thinks that if she has that item she will move up a rung or two on the status pecking order. There is a moment of shear joy at the point of purchase but very quickly sights are set on the next bling that will deliver that elusive rung. Shopping is what people do because they think it will take them from who they are to who they want to be. More nonsense! There is a clear distinction between buying a Prada bag because you enjoy its beauty and utility and buying it to make you feel better about yourself.
You are you. You have always been you. If there is any part of you that you are unsatisfied with it is because you are not expressing your full potential in that area. You are holding yourself back and no one else. So stop all this measuring; looking outside of you to define yourself. Look within. Honor your authenticity; your uniqueness. Ask what your Higher Being would want to do and express and act positively upon that direction!
"Be who you are and say what you feel. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
The One Step Remedy for Anxiety
Anxiety! It has power. It has the power to stop you cold, in your tracks, as you freeze in your attempt to move forward in your life. Your anxiety gets in the way of you being, doing and having what you want in life.
What is anxiety? The dictionary will tell you that anxiety is a sense of apprehension and fear either real or imagined, resulting from anticipation of a threatening event or situation. Often states of anxiety are marked by physical symptoms such as sweating, tension, and increased heart rate.
Do you want to know the surefire way to relieve anxiety? Do the thing that makes you nervous!
Events in and of themselves do not cause stress. It is the meanings you attach to those events that creates your stress and anxiety. Worrying about some event is nothing more than adding layers upon layer upon layers of made-up meanings, imagined possibilities (not probabilities) that might deliver an untoward experience. Even these seemingly unfortunate experiences are merely events that you will have or will attach meaning to.
For example, if you are anxious, stressed out over giving a presentation, auditioning, standing proverbially naked in front of someone who can sit in judgment of you, you have added several layers to the mere event of being in front of people showing yourself and your work. First, you assume that you and what you present are one and the same. Then you add a layer of what you present will not be received well. And you top it off with layers of certain humiliation or a life ruined. Bollocks! Made up nonsense!
Let's say your deepest fear is realized. You are booed off the stage. In that moment you have a choice. You can sink to the lowest pit in your stomach and remain there for eternity. Quit your dream of becoming whatever it was that you were seeking to accomplish with your performance and live out your life in quiet desperation or restless agitation filling your days with stress and anxiety over what could have been.
OR -
You can take a deep breath and embrace your humanity. You were born to fully express your potential. It's why you were given the tools of a burning desire, a passion, and unique raw talent. These gifts are your birthright. Developing these gifts takes a bit of practice. With practice comes trial and error. Errors, mistakes, and downright bellyflops are all part of the natural learning process. These 'events' can be perceived as disastrous, life-ending. Or they can be viewed as life-affirming opportunities to grow and expand your authentic expression, bring forth your passion into reality. The way you see the problem is the problem. Every morning you have two choices, continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase your dreams. The choice is yours.
"A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery." ~ James Joyce, Ulysses
It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has created it. You can't shrink your way to greatness. What you fear, what you resist, is what your heart is calling you to become. If you have the courage to step outside of your comfort zone, you will not only be amazed by the new and inspiring possibility and potential of the world, but also with the wonder and amazing power that lays deep within yourself. Once this new vision and awareness has taken hold, it has to be trusted, it has to be given complete faith. To turn away from it and to engage in self-destructive acts of attached meanings, anxiety and stress is perilous. You don't have to get it right. You just have to get it going.
Let go of the hold you have on your own life through your anxiety. Stop getting in your own way of your success and life fulfillment. Let go of your attachment to the meanings you have created to become the ties that bind you. Let go and flow.
"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." -- Lao Tzu
Act and speak in the direction of your dreams. Don't just dream it. Be it. Put yourself out there. Do the thing that you resist the most. If you fall you will learn how to walk your walk better the next time. To reach your destination you must be willing to put one front of the other and take each step that will deliver you to your heart's desire.
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
What is anxiety? The dictionary will tell you that anxiety is a sense of apprehension and fear either real or imagined, resulting from anticipation of a threatening event or situation. Often states of anxiety are marked by physical symptoms such as sweating, tension, and increased heart rate.
Do you want to know the surefire way to relieve anxiety? Do the thing that makes you nervous!
Events in and of themselves do not cause stress. It is the meanings you attach to those events that creates your stress and anxiety. Worrying about some event is nothing more than adding layers upon layer upon layers of made-up meanings, imagined possibilities (not probabilities) that might deliver an untoward experience. Even these seemingly unfortunate experiences are merely events that you will have or will attach meaning to.
For example, if you are anxious, stressed out over giving a presentation, auditioning, standing proverbially naked in front of someone who can sit in judgment of you, you have added several layers to the mere event of being in front of people showing yourself and your work. First, you assume that you and what you present are one and the same. Then you add a layer of what you present will not be received well. And you top it off with layers of certain humiliation or a life ruined. Bollocks! Made up nonsense!
Let's say your deepest fear is realized. You are booed off the stage. In that moment you have a choice. You can sink to the lowest pit in your stomach and remain there for eternity. Quit your dream of becoming whatever it was that you were seeking to accomplish with your performance and live out your life in quiet desperation or restless agitation filling your days with stress and anxiety over what could have been.
OR -
You can take a deep breath and embrace your humanity. You were born to fully express your potential. It's why you were given the tools of a burning desire, a passion, and unique raw talent. These gifts are your birthright. Developing these gifts takes a bit of practice. With practice comes trial and error. Errors, mistakes, and downright bellyflops are all part of the natural learning process. These 'events' can be perceived as disastrous, life-ending. Or they can be viewed as life-affirming opportunities to grow and expand your authentic expression, bring forth your passion into reality. The way you see the problem is the problem. Every morning you have two choices, continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase your dreams. The choice is yours.
"A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery." ~ James Joyce, Ulysses
It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has created it. You can't shrink your way to greatness. What you fear, what you resist, is what your heart is calling you to become. If you have the courage to step outside of your comfort zone, you will not only be amazed by the new and inspiring possibility and potential of the world, but also with the wonder and amazing power that lays deep within yourself. Once this new vision and awareness has taken hold, it has to be trusted, it has to be given complete faith. To turn away from it and to engage in self-destructive acts of attached meanings, anxiety and stress is perilous. You don't have to get it right. You just have to get it going.
Let go of the hold you have on your own life through your anxiety. Stop getting in your own way of your success and life fulfillment. Let go of your attachment to the meanings you have created to become the ties that bind you. Let go and flow.
"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." -- Lao Tzu
Act and speak in the direction of your dreams. Don't just dream it. Be it. Put yourself out there. Do the thing that you resist the most. If you fall you will learn how to walk your walk better the next time. To reach your destination you must be willing to put one front of the other and take each step that will deliver you to your heart's desire.
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Show Up Aligned With Your Dream to Turn it Into Reality
"Eighty percent of success is just showing up." — Woody Allen
Showing up in your life is, indeed, an ingredient to success in any endeavor. How you show up, what your state of being is, defines what it is you succeed in creating, experiencing. Do you show up insecure, doubtful, full of fear or do you show up present, standing centered in the truth of who you are, fully engaged in your dreams, your desires? Both states of being succeed in creating an outcome. The former creates more experiences of your insecurity, doubts and fear. The latter creates the actualization of all that you desire.
"It's the vibes man!"
We live in a vibrational universe. As Albert Einstein said, "Nothing happens until something moves". Living things have a vibrational quality as do what you perceive to be solid, man-made. Put anything under a super duper microscope and you will see tiny atoms and molecules moving about. Energy. Everything is made up of this vibrational energy. Including you.
“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” - Aristotle
Vibration is the language of this Universe. Sound is a vibration. Vibrate and there is a responding vibration. A communication; an understanding between vibrations. You've seen how this works. Put two tuning forks together, strike one to generate a sound and the other will begin to vibrate with a matching tone. Place two pendulums together, strike them randomly and they will soon begin to sway back and forth in unison in the same direction. If you've ever been to a concert and the audience applauds for an encore, it is not long before the entire audience is clapping in unison, matching the vibration of an imperceptible leader.
As the creator of your experiences you emit a vibration through your thoughts and feelings that reflects a matching experience back to you. Therefore, it is not what you say that delivers what you want, it's how you feel that manifests your outcomes. This is why affirmations do not work unless you believe what it is that you are saying. For example, in your best Stuart Smalley imitation (from Saturday Night Live) you affirm "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!" and your next thought is "Yeah, right! Who am I kidding" and feel less than what you affirmed, what you are communicating to the Universe you want to experience is more outcomes that will continue to affirm your feeling, your vibration, of being less than good enough, smart enough and likable.
To show up in your day, in your life, in alignment with all that you desire you must hold the vibration of that experience. What would it feel like to accomplish your highest goals? Who would you be, what would you do, what would you have? How would you feel if you achieved all that? Feel it with every bone, every atom and molecule within your body and hold that energy within you. Focus your actions, your choices, on that vibrational energy. It is a way of acting as if what you desire has already been delivered to you and you are enjoying it at this very moment. This present moment.
It is in your moments of now that you create your future outcomes, whether it be one minute from now or ten years or more. Holding the vibration of your past experiences that you did not want will only serve to create more experiences of that which you do not want. Holding the vibration of what you worry for your future will create outcomes that match what you worry about.
There is an easy way to tell what you are emitting vibrationally. Check in with how you feel. If you feel rotten, reach for a thought, or a series of thoughts, that will make you feel better about yourself and your current experience. If you feel good, build and act upon that good feeling to create more experiences to feel good about. It's really that simple. Be mindful of how you feel, your vibration. Check in to focus and align your vibration so that it matches your deepest desires.
“Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.” - Denis Waitley
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Showing up in your life is, indeed, an ingredient to success in any endeavor. How you show up, what your state of being is, defines what it is you succeed in creating, experiencing. Do you show up insecure, doubtful, full of fear or do you show up present, standing centered in the truth of who you are, fully engaged in your dreams, your desires? Both states of being succeed in creating an outcome. The former creates more experiences of your insecurity, doubts and fear. The latter creates the actualization of all that you desire.
"It's the vibes man!"
We live in a vibrational universe. As Albert Einstein said, "Nothing happens until something moves". Living things have a vibrational quality as do what you perceive to be solid, man-made. Put anything under a super duper microscope and you will see tiny atoms and molecules moving about. Energy. Everything is made up of this vibrational energy. Including you.
“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” - Aristotle
Vibration is the language of this Universe. Sound is a vibration. Vibrate and there is a responding vibration. A communication; an understanding between vibrations. You've seen how this works. Put two tuning forks together, strike one to generate a sound and the other will begin to vibrate with a matching tone. Place two pendulums together, strike them randomly and they will soon begin to sway back and forth in unison in the same direction. If you've ever been to a concert and the audience applauds for an encore, it is not long before the entire audience is clapping in unison, matching the vibration of an imperceptible leader.
As the creator of your experiences you emit a vibration through your thoughts and feelings that reflects a matching experience back to you. Therefore, it is not what you say that delivers what you want, it's how you feel that manifests your outcomes. This is why affirmations do not work unless you believe what it is that you are saying. For example, in your best Stuart Smalley imitation (from Saturday Night Live) you affirm "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!" and your next thought is "Yeah, right! Who am I kidding" and feel less than what you affirmed, what you are communicating to the Universe you want to experience is more outcomes that will continue to affirm your feeling, your vibration, of being less than good enough, smart enough and likable.
To show up in your day, in your life, in alignment with all that you desire you must hold the vibration of that experience. What would it feel like to accomplish your highest goals? Who would you be, what would you do, what would you have? How would you feel if you achieved all that? Feel it with every bone, every atom and molecule within your body and hold that energy within you. Focus your actions, your choices, on that vibrational energy. It is a way of acting as if what you desire has already been delivered to you and you are enjoying it at this very moment. This present moment.
It is in your moments of now that you create your future outcomes, whether it be one minute from now or ten years or more. Holding the vibration of your past experiences that you did not want will only serve to create more experiences of that which you do not want. Holding the vibration of what you worry for your future will create outcomes that match what you worry about.
There is an easy way to tell what you are emitting vibrationally. Check in with how you feel. If you feel rotten, reach for a thought, or a series of thoughts, that will make you feel better about yourself and your current experience. If you feel good, build and act upon that good feeling to create more experiences to feel good about. It's really that simple. Be mindful of how you feel, your vibration. Check in to focus and align your vibration so that it matches your deepest desires.
“Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.” - Denis Waitley
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Let Go of Being Right to Get What You Want
Your Inner Critic, that nagging internal voice of self-doubt and fear loves to be right! Being right, to that egoistic nagger, is associated with being worthy. In order to feel worthy you have to be right! At the expense of everything else you want in life. Would you rather be right or happy?
Being right is an either/or equation for most. “Either I’m right or your right? If you’re right then what does that make me?” And the Inner Critic responds with “not good (or smart) enough”. So you fight for your rightness to feel better about yourself. You see people fighting to be right in your personal and professional life. Heck, turn on the television and you’ll find lots of people pontificating on their rightness on talk shows and news programs. Much of the comedy programming you see is based on a character trying to prove he is right about some inane thing.
"Don't find fault. Find a remedy." - Henry Ford
The truth is, it isn’t an either/or world. It’s an AND world! You can be right AND let the other person be right too! You can get your viewpoint communicated effectively without making the other person wrong. This ability is one of the key secrets to turning your dreams into reality. Here’s an example.
A man runs to the local FedEx station with three golf clubs tied together, wrapped in brown paper, with a proper shipping label pasted around the middle of the package. He’s rushing because the last pick-up of the day is in another minute or two and he has to get these clubs to his brother in another state no later than tomorrow morning.
The FedEx employee says they can’t ship those clubs packaged this way and he will have to bring them back in packaged in a proper FedEx box. So the man screams and yells at the employee “These clubs are very securely wrapped and you can easily read the label to see where they have to go! You’re just wasting my time over your stupid rules! I’ve got to get these clubs to my brother tomorrow morning or he won’t be able to play in the tournament! You’re going to ruin his life! FedEx s*#ks!” Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea of where this conversation is going.
As the two men continue to argue, the last scheduled pick-up of the day comes and goes without the golf clubs. The man was right; it would be easy to ship the clubs as they were. So, who won? Nobody. The man didn’t get the clubs shipped to his brother on time. FedEx lost a customer that day.
How else could this scenario have played out that would still allow the man to be right AND get the clubs shipped out with the last pick-up?
When told that he needs to have the clubs packaged in a proper FedEx box he could have responded: “I understand (allowing the FedEx employee to be right) and here’s my problem. If I don’t get these clubs to my brother by tomorrow morning he won’t be able to play in the tournament he’s dreamed about his whole life!” With the acknowledgement that he was right, the FedEx employee now has good feelings about the man in front of him and wants to help him. People do want to help others when they can. He replies “I see, fill out this new shipping label while I run out back and tell the pick-up guy to wait a minute. I think we have an extra box in the back somewhere that you can use.”
FedEx employee is right. Man gets the clubs to his brother on time and is happy, goal accomplished!
“The first duty of a wise advocate is to convince his opponents that he understands their arguments, and sympathizes with their just feelings” - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Let go of being right. It is your ego, your Inner Critic, that thrives from being right all the time. Focus on what you want. The man in the above example wanted to ship the clubs to his brother that day. Without making the FedEx employee, or himself, wrong he got what he wanted. He allowed them both to be right!
Try this approach in your daily life. See how letting go of being right by making others wrong delivers more of the good experiences you want to have and less of the bad experiences. Allowing others to be right, too, empowers you!
“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument is an exchange of ignorance” - Robert Quillen
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Being right is an either/or equation for most. “Either I’m right or your right? If you’re right then what does that make me?” And the Inner Critic responds with “not good (or smart) enough”. So you fight for your rightness to feel better about yourself. You see people fighting to be right in your personal and professional life. Heck, turn on the television and you’ll find lots of people pontificating on their rightness on talk shows and news programs. Much of the comedy programming you see is based on a character trying to prove he is right about some inane thing.
"Don't find fault. Find a remedy." - Henry Ford
The truth is, it isn’t an either/or world. It’s an AND world! You can be right AND let the other person be right too! You can get your viewpoint communicated effectively without making the other person wrong. This ability is one of the key secrets to turning your dreams into reality. Here’s an example.
A man runs to the local FedEx station with three golf clubs tied together, wrapped in brown paper, with a proper shipping label pasted around the middle of the package. He’s rushing because the last pick-up of the day is in another minute or two and he has to get these clubs to his brother in another state no later than tomorrow morning.
The FedEx employee says they can’t ship those clubs packaged this way and he will have to bring them back in packaged in a proper FedEx box. So the man screams and yells at the employee “These clubs are very securely wrapped and you can easily read the label to see where they have to go! You’re just wasting my time over your stupid rules! I’ve got to get these clubs to my brother tomorrow morning or he won’t be able to play in the tournament! You’re going to ruin his life! FedEx s*#ks!” Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea of where this conversation is going.
As the two men continue to argue, the last scheduled pick-up of the day comes and goes without the golf clubs. The man was right; it would be easy to ship the clubs as they were. So, who won? Nobody. The man didn’t get the clubs shipped to his brother on time. FedEx lost a customer that day.
How else could this scenario have played out that would still allow the man to be right AND get the clubs shipped out with the last pick-up?
When told that he needs to have the clubs packaged in a proper FedEx box he could have responded: “I understand (allowing the FedEx employee to be right) and here’s my problem. If I don’t get these clubs to my brother by tomorrow morning he won’t be able to play in the tournament he’s dreamed about his whole life!” With the acknowledgement that he was right, the FedEx employee now has good feelings about the man in front of him and wants to help him. People do want to help others when they can. He replies “I see, fill out this new shipping label while I run out back and tell the pick-up guy to wait a minute. I think we have an extra box in the back somewhere that you can use.”
FedEx employee is right. Man gets the clubs to his brother on time and is happy, goal accomplished!
“The first duty of a wise advocate is to convince his opponents that he understands their arguments, and sympathizes with their just feelings” - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Let go of being right. It is your ego, your Inner Critic, that thrives from being right all the time. Focus on what you want. The man in the above example wanted to ship the clubs to his brother that day. Without making the FedEx employee, or himself, wrong he got what he wanted. He allowed them both to be right!
Try this approach in your daily life. See how letting go of being right by making others wrong delivers more of the good experiences you want to have and less of the bad experiences. Allowing others to be right, too, empowers you!
“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument is an exchange of ignorance” - Robert Quillen
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Key Driver of Creative Success
What drives you to succeed as a creative person? Is it the dream of fame, wealth and recognition? Is the thought of seeing your name up in lights what propels you out of bed in the morning? Having such a strong and clear goal is a definite motivator and, if you work hard and pay your dues, you can absolutely achieve that goal. However, if you want to be successful without the feeling that you are battling your way through life your motivation to get out of that comfy bed in the morning has to come from somewhere else. There must be an even bigger motivating driver.
To have ambition and want to be successful is a fine thing but it isn't enough. Ambition and want are just words that describe desire. To understand WHY you have such desires is quite another thing. True genius, true art in any form, comes from passion. Great actors aren't great because of their technique. Anyone can learn technique. They move an audience as great actors because of their passion. Passion is the driver that motivates every bone and breath in your body to achieve.
"My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose." - Bette Davis
If your desires are not in alignment with your passion you can be successful but you will not be fulfilled, satisfied. You will live a rich famous life and still yearn for the elusive thing. You will get up in the morning wondering what is wrong with you. You have all that you desired yet you feel that there is still something missing. You are missing the nourishment that feeds your soul, your heart.
Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it. Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart. When work, dedicated commitment, and pleasure unite to become one and you reach into that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible. Through the experience of devoted passion you will reap richer stores of knowledge than any text-book or course of study can give you.
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
This dedication to authentic passion always and absolutely carries a demand and a responsibility. It is up to you to honor and stand centered in the truth of who you are. Speak and act in the direction of your innermost passions. If you do not, you are betraying your own authenticity. If you are Finding Excuses And Reasons (F.E.A.R.) why you cannot pursue your passion you are hiding your true estate. You are acting in bad faith. You are 'dissing' you.
Now it must be said that passion without action is just a dream. You actualize your passion, bring forth the dream into the world, you must do something! This is where the Inner Critic can, and often does, step in to hold you back. What if you really put yourself 'out there' and stood naked to the world boldly following your heart's desire and fail? What will happen then? Will you just whither and die? If not, who will you be? Very scary thoughts!
You will not die. Your commitment to your truth and passion will motivate you to respect your actions and your reaction to the opinions of others. Failure is just a stepping stone on the road to success. Your passion will motivate you to look at the proverbial rocks you tripped over, examine them, and overcome whatever obstacles that get in your way. You will love the process of making mistakes, learning and growing as you expand and fully express your passion and talents that are your birthright. Whatever struggles you encounter will be met enthusiastically for they are definitely worth the ride of your life!
“Our passions are the winds that propel our vessel. Our reason is the pilot that steers her. Without winds the vessel would not move and without a pilot she would be lost.” - Proverb
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
To have ambition and want to be successful is a fine thing but it isn't enough. Ambition and want are just words that describe desire. To understand WHY you have such desires is quite another thing. True genius, true art in any form, comes from passion. Great actors aren't great because of their technique. Anyone can learn technique. They move an audience as great actors because of their passion. Passion is the driver that motivates every bone and breath in your body to achieve.
"My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose." - Bette Davis
If your desires are not in alignment with your passion you can be successful but you will not be fulfilled, satisfied. You will live a rich famous life and still yearn for the elusive thing. You will get up in the morning wondering what is wrong with you. You have all that you desired yet you feel that there is still something missing. You are missing the nourishment that feeds your soul, your heart.
Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it. Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart. When work, dedicated commitment, and pleasure unite to become one and you reach into that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible. Through the experience of devoted passion you will reap richer stores of knowledge than any text-book or course of study can give you.
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
This dedication to authentic passion always and absolutely carries a demand and a responsibility. It is up to you to honor and stand centered in the truth of who you are. Speak and act in the direction of your innermost passions. If you do not, you are betraying your own authenticity. If you are Finding Excuses And Reasons (F.E.A.R.) why you cannot pursue your passion you are hiding your true estate. You are acting in bad faith. You are 'dissing' you.
Now it must be said that passion without action is just a dream. You actualize your passion, bring forth the dream into the world, you must do something! This is where the Inner Critic can, and often does, step in to hold you back. What if you really put yourself 'out there' and stood naked to the world boldly following your heart's desire and fail? What will happen then? Will you just whither and die? If not, who will you be? Very scary thoughts!
You will not die. Your commitment to your truth and passion will motivate you to respect your actions and your reaction to the opinions of others. Failure is just a stepping stone on the road to success. Your passion will motivate you to look at the proverbial rocks you tripped over, examine them, and overcome whatever obstacles that get in your way. You will love the process of making mistakes, learning and growing as you expand and fully express your passion and talents that are your birthright. Whatever struggles you encounter will be met enthusiastically for they are definitely worth the ride of your life!
“Our passions are the winds that propel our vessel. Our reason is the pilot that steers her. Without winds the vessel would not move and without a pilot she would be lost.” - Proverb
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Hidden Enemy of Talent
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. When you act out of fear, you create what you fear. All of my clients have been praised and admired for their talent. You'd think that they have plenty of self-confidence and assurance in their abilities. Unfortunately the exact opposite is true. They believe that they are supposed to live up to some ideal image and whenever they don't think they've measured up to this self-imposed standard they suffer from shame, anxiety or depression.
You were born with a special gift, a unique talent that is yours and yours alone. Each person has this call of the power to do something magnificently and uniquely and no other person has this exact same gift. Nurturing, expanding and applying your talent seems effortless to you even if it appears arduous to others. Obstacles are merely playful invitations to use your talent more expansively to overcome them. And you do.
Your achievement is exactly proportioned to the extent of your trust and belief in the power of your talent that is your birthright. And since the skill comes easily for you, you think that it comes easily for everyone. You are blind to the fact that you have exceptional talent. Too often, brilliantly talented people live in fear that they will be found out for the fraud that they think they are. "It's only a matter of time before they realize I'm not as good, as talented, as they think I am."
"I believe that traditional wisdom is incomplete. A composer can have all the talent of Mozart and a passionate desire to succeed, but if he believes he cannot compose music, he will come to nothing. He will not try hard enough. He will give up too soon when the elusive right melody takes too long to materialize." ~ Martin Seligma
The world is filled with talented and gifted people who produce nothing. They are frozen in unwarranted and misguided fear. Too often the response to this internal fear comes in the form of self-sabotage, creative blocks or procrastination. When you fear you hold back your fullest expression of your talent. You say NO to who you are. You reject yourself. You start beating the drum of you're not whatever enough. This Inner Critic of yours loves to be right so he will create an experience, a self-imposed belly flop, to provide further evidence that, indeed, you are not enough! Ya See! I told you so! What were you thinking?
Yes, who are you to think that you are extraordinarily talented? And you shrink back into the safety zone of mediocrity where there are no expectations.
"Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?" ~ Benjamin Franklin
It's not whether or not you are talented enough. You are talented enough. There is no greater waste of creative energy than to worry about whether or not you've really got the chops in your craft. You do. Expressing this talent to your fullest potential is what you are here to do. You are passionate about your purpose in life. You become physically and emotionally ill when you disconnect from this purpose. So devote not another nanosecond to whether or not you are talented. You are.
The truth is, your deepest fear is not that you are incompetent or unqualified for the work that you do, the dreams and aspirations that make your heart sing. Your deepest fear is that you are, absolutely, the powerful and enormous talent that you know you are at your deepest core. With all of that power comes tremendous responsibility and that's enough to scare the living daylights out of most.
Acknowledging and accepting the responsibility to honor yourself is the key to your freedom. It opens the door to fulfillment, satisfaction and pure joy. Cherish your gift, embrace your talent. Honor yourself by saying YES to who you are. Withholding your talent doesn't serve the world. You are meant to shine your magnificent light.
And when you shine your light upon yourself, as you express your unique talent, centered in the truth of who you are, you are a shining example for others to do the same.
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~ Erma Bombeck
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. When you act out of fear, you create what you fear. All of my clients have been praised and admired for their talent. You'd think that they have plenty of self-confidence and assurance in their abilities. Unfortunately the exact opposite is true. They believe that they are supposed to live up to some ideal image and whenever they don't think they've measured up to this self-imposed standard they suffer from shame, anxiety or depression.
You were born with a special gift, a unique talent that is yours and yours alone. Each person has this call of the power to do something magnificently and uniquely and no other person has this exact same gift. Nurturing, expanding and applying your talent seems effortless to you even if it appears arduous to others. Obstacles are merely playful invitations to use your talent more expansively to overcome them. And you do.
Your achievement is exactly proportioned to the extent of your trust and belief in the power of your talent that is your birthright. And since the skill comes easily for you, you think that it comes easily for everyone. You are blind to the fact that you have exceptional talent. Too often, brilliantly talented people live in fear that they will be found out for the fraud that they think they are. "It's only a matter of time before they realize I'm not as good, as talented, as they think I am."
"I believe that traditional wisdom is incomplete. A composer can have all the talent of Mozart and a passionate desire to succeed, but if he believes he cannot compose music, he will come to nothing. He will not try hard enough. He will give up too soon when the elusive right melody takes too long to materialize." ~ Martin Seligma
The world is filled with talented and gifted people who produce nothing. They are frozen in unwarranted and misguided fear. Too often the response to this internal fear comes in the form of self-sabotage, creative blocks or procrastination. When you fear you hold back your fullest expression of your talent. You say NO to who you are. You reject yourself. You start beating the drum of you're not whatever enough. This Inner Critic of yours loves to be right so he will create an experience, a self-imposed belly flop, to provide further evidence that, indeed, you are not enough! Ya See! I told you so! What were you thinking?
Yes, who are you to think that you are extraordinarily talented? And you shrink back into the safety zone of mediocrity where there are no expectations.
"Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?" ~ Benjamin Franklin
It's not whether or not you are talented enough. You are talented enough. There is no greater waste of creative energy than to worry about whether or not you've really got the chops in your craft. You do. Expressing this talent to your fullest potential is what you are here to do. You are passionate about your purpose in life. You become physically and emotionally ill when you disconnect from this purpose. So devote not another nanosecond to whether or not you are talented. You are.
The truth is, your deepest fear is not that you are incompetent or unqualified for the work that you do, the dreams and aspirations that make your heart sing. Your deepest fear is that you are, absolutely, the powerful and enormous talent that you know you are at your deepest core. With all of that power comes tremendous responsibility and that's enough to scare the living daylights out of most.
Acknowledging and accepting the responsibility to honor yourself is the key to your freedom. It opens the door to fulfillment, satisfaction and pure joy. Cherish your gift, embrace your talent. Honor yourself by saying YES to who you are. Withholding your talent doesn't serve the world. You are meant to shine your magnificent light.
And when you shine your light upon yourself, as you express your unique talent, centered in the truth of who you are, you are a shining example for others to do the same.
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~ Erma Bombeck
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Why Successful Actors Self-Sabotage
I opened up Sunday's Parade Magazine and read an article about "The Mixed-Up Life of Shia LaBeouf" written by Dotson Rader. Shia is a 23-year old wildly successful actor who's latest film is "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". I saw the irony in the title of the article and the title of the movie.
Like many people, successful or not, Shia is searching to find his place in and the meaning of life. He is struggling with honoring his own authenticity and has no answers about who he is and what he is here to contribute. Already at such a young age Shia has achieved the holy grail of wealth and fame. So how can someone who has achieved so much, has the recognition and financial freedom most people long for, be in such emotional pain?
According to Rader, “I don’t handle fame well,” LaBeouf says. “Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy. I have no idea where this insecurity comes from, but it’s a God-sized hole. If I knew, I’d fill it, and I’d be on my way.” Already a self-proclaimed alcoholic, Shia says he doesn't know what he's doing as an actor or why people like him. Shia thinks acting is a con game of luck and ambition. Shia became an actor for the money only to discover that the money, abundant as it is, doesn't satisfy the deeper fulfillment that can only come from self-awareness.
Shia's total self-worth is wrapped in whether or not people on the street recognize him. He desperately seeks validation from the opinion of others. If the flame of fame is extinguished who would he be? If Shia believes that he is not worthy of the wealth and fame he has received then he will continue to self-sabotage until he has no more wealth and fame.
A person who self-sabotages has the mindset of a victim. If you're identity and self-esteem is dependent upon others in any way then you live the life of a victim. A victim's life can only be one of desperation and anxiety.
Victims do not take responsibility for their own life experiences. Victims surrender their personal power over to other people or other things. "It's the economy, the glass ceiling, or 'the system'" is a typical mantra of the victim. Something outside of them is the reason the victim lives a seemingly meaningless and often destructive life. Wallowing in feeling victimized can be appealing. Being a victim can be used to attract attention to oneself. If your self-worth is tied to the amount of attention you get from others then you have set the stage for a lifetime of victimization - mostly generated from yourself!
"I have never been contained except when I made the prison." - Mary Evans, 1888-1976, British Actress
The moment you give up your personal power to someone else is the moment you become a victim of rather than the creator of your life. Each and every person has the power to create what he or she wants to be, do or have in life. How you show up in life determines your life experience.
People with a victim mentality feel powerless to make changes in their lives because they think that the elements of their lives are out of their control. People with a victim mentality often self-sabotage to provide further evidence of their victimization. A victim points at someone else or some other thing as being responsible for all his or her pleasure and/or anguish. People with a victim mentality think their actions are justified because of what others have done to them. What a victim does not realize is that he is only a victim to his own thoughts and belief system, not anyone else.
The victim shows up in life as a victim and is, therefore, victimized. If not by others then by himself. He becomes victimized by his own woefully misguided Inner Critic. The Inner Critic is a byproduct of your conditioning, compulsions and secret agendas. People who self-sabotage surrender to this inner tyranny. Such a victim is unable to see objectively into the nature of reality and into the nature of his own authentic inner being. When you are not fully conscious to what you are experiencing you won't fully realize the extent to which negative impressions are infiltrating your life with which you are acting upon.
To transition from the life of a victim to the life of a powerful being who deliberately creates the life experiences she chooses you must discover and honor who you are at your innermost core. Your thoughts and actions must be in alignment with this truth. You must stand centered in this truth of who you are. Eliminating self-sabotage depends upon your integrity with your truth. You must end the internal war between what is often called your Higher Self and your Inner Critic with the Higher Self prevailing. You must take full responsibility for the life you live, appreciate the gifts in the lessons learned from your mistakes, and passionately pursue your authentic dreams for that is what you are here to do.
If you show up in your life in integrity and alignment with your authenticity I promise you a life of fulfillment and utter joy.
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” - Dr. Seuss
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Like many people, successful or not, Shia is searching to find his place in and the meaning of life. He is struggling with honoring his own authenticity and has no answers about who he is and what he is here to contribute. Already at such a young age Shia has achieved the holy grail of wealth and fame. So how can someone who has achieved so much, has the recognition and financial freedom most people long for, be in such emotional pain?
According to Rader, “I don’t handle fame well,” LaBeouf says. “Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy. I have no idea where this insecurity comes from, but it’s a God-sized hole. If I knew, I’d fill it, and I’d be on my way.” Already a self-proclaimed alcoholic, Shia says he doesn't know what he's doing as an actor or why people like him. Shia thinks acting is a con game of luck and ambition. Shia became an actor for the money only to discover that the money, abundant as it is, doesn't satisfy the deeper fulfillment that can only come from self-awareness.
Shia's total self-worth is wrapped in whether or not people on the street recognize him. He desperately seeks validation from the opinion of others. If the flame of fame is extinguished who would he be? If Shia believes that he is not worthy of the wealth and fame he has received then he will continue to self-sabotage until he has no more wealth and fame.
A person who self-sabotages has the mindset of a victim. If you're identity and self-esteem is dependent upon others in any way then you live the life of a victim. A victim's life can only be one of desperation and anxiety.
Victims do not take responsibility for their own life experiences. Victims surrender their personal power over to other people or other things. "It's the economy, the glass ceiling, or 'the system'" is a typical mantra of the victim. Something outside of them is the reason the victim lives a seemingly meaningless and often destructive life. Wallowing in feeling victimized can be appealing. Being a victim can be used to attract attention to oneself. If your self-worth is tied to the amount of attention you get from others then you have set the stage for a lifetime of victimization - mostly generated from yourself!
"I have never been contained except when I made the prison." - Mary Evans, 1888-1976, British Actress
The moment you give up your personal power to someone else is the moment you become a victim of rather than the creator of your life. Each and every person has the power to create what he or she wants to be, do or have in life. How you show up in life determines your life experience.
People with a victim mentality feel powerless to make changes in their lives because they think that the elements of their lives are out of their control. People with a victim mentality often self-sabotage to provide further evidence of their victimization. A victim points at someone else or some other thing as being responsible for all his or her pleasure and/or anguish. People with a victim mentality think their actions are justified because of what others have done to them. What a victim does not realize is that he is only a victim to his own thoughts and belief system, not anyone else.
The victim shows up in life as a victim and is, therefore, victimized. If not by others then by himself. He becomes victimized by his own woefully misguided Inner Critic. The Inner Critic is a byproduct of your conditioning, compulsions and secret agendas. People who self-sabotage surrender to this inner tyranny. Such a victim is unable to see objectively into the nature of reality and into the nature of his own authentic inner being. When you are not fully conscious to what you are experiencing you won't fully realize the extent to which negative impressions are infiltrating your life with which you are acting upon.
To transition from the life of a victim to the life of a powerful being who deliberately creates the life experiences she chooses you must discover and honor who you are at your innermost core. Your thoughts and actions must be in alignment with this truth. You must stand centered in this truth of who you are. Eliminating self-sabotage depends upon your integrity with your truth. You must end the internal war between what is often called your Higher Self and your Inner Critic with the Higher Self prevailing. You must take full responsibility for the life you live, appreciate the gifts in the lessons learned from your mistakes, and passionately pursue your authentic dreams for that is what you are here to do.
If you show up in your life in integrity and alignment with your authenticity I promise you a life of fulfillment and utter joy.
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” - Dr. Seuss
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Friday, June 12, 2009
The Key to Financial Freedom for Artists, Actors, Writers & Musicians
Well-meaning, yet woefully misguided, advice from parents, teachers and other loved ones such as "You'll never make a living as an artist" has become the foundational belief and mantra of the artist's Inner Critic. What's worse is that this also woefully misguided Inner Critic loves to be right and will serve up proof and evidence of this belief and beat you up with it day in and day out to make sure that you do, or not do, what it takes to keep this foundational belief in place. Acting upon the Inner Critic mantra of "You'll never make a living as an artist." your thoughts and actions create the outcome of the starving artist. And the Inner Critic is pleased. This supreme inner entity, this 'knower of all', is doing its job of keeping you safe and small and right!
Except for one thing.......he's WRONG!
Think about it. Look around you. Instead of focusing upon your lack of desired financial resources look to all the actors, artists, writers and musicians who are making boat loads of money! Julian Schnabel, Bono, Annie Leibowitz, Steven Spielburg, Rita Ackerman, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Stephen King, Dave Barry, Mick Jagger, Dave Matthews - the list of wildly successful and wealthy artists of every kind can easily go on and on and on.
What's the difference between the abundantly rich artist and the starving artist? One thing and one thing only: Self-Mastery.
Self-Mastery as the key to financial freedom is not some airy fairy metaphysical woo-woo concept. From the ancient Greeks to modern day philosophers to modern day celebrity icons, all have recognized that the key to whatever you want in life, including wealth, comes from within. How you show up in your life, what the foundational beliefs that motivate you are based upon, deliver the outcomes you experience.
From Socrates:
- "Know thyself."
- "The unexamined life is not worth living."
- "Give me beauty in the inward soul; may the outward and the inward man be at one."
From others throughout the centuries:
- "If money be not they servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him." - Francis Bacon, British Philosopher
- "All riches have their origin in mind. WEALTH is in ideas -- not money." - Robert Collier, American Writer/Publisher
- "I have about concluded that WEALTH is a state of mind, and that anyone can acquire a wealthy state of mind by thinking rich thoughts."- Andrew Young. Civil Rights Activist
- "Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think." - Ayn Rand, Russian Writer, Philosopher
- "All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth." - Napoleon Hill
And:
"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life." - Henry David Thoreau
Where you hold back your fullest expression of your potential as an artist of any kind is where you struggle. Where you doubt your self, your dreams, your worthiness is where you create your poverty. Where you resist your purpose in life, the special gifts that are your birthright, is where you suffer your anxiety.
You are as free, financially and otherwise, as the extent of your ability to acknowledge, honor and master your authenticity and take full responsibility for all of your experiences, good and bad, rich or poor. Those who do not govern themselves are condemned to find other masters to govern over them, including their own Inner Critic.
“I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.” - Madonna
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Except for one thing.......he's WRONG!
Think about it. Look around you. Instead of focusing upon your lack of desired financial resources look to all the actors, artists, writers and musicians who are making boat loads of money! Julian Schnabel, Bono, Annie Leibowitz, Steven Spielburg, Rita Ackerman, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Stephen King, Dave Barry, Mick Jagger, Dave Matthews - the list of wildly successful and wealthy artists of every kind can easily go on and on and on.
What's the difference between the abundantly rich artist and the starving artist? One thing and one thing only: Self-Mastery.
Self-Mastery as the key to financial freedom is not some airy fairy metaphysical woo-woo concept. From the ancient Greeks to modern day philosophers to modern day celebrity icons, all have recognized that the key to whatever you want in life, including wealth, comes from within. How you show up in your life, what the foundational beliefs that motivate you are based upon, deliver the outcomes you experience.
From Socrates:
- "Know thyself."
- "The unexamined life is not worth living."
- "Give me beauty in the inward soul; may the outward and the inward man be at one."
From others throughout the centuries:
- "If money be not they servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him." - Francis Bacon, British Philosopher
- "All riches have their origin in mind. WEALTH is in ideas -- not money." - Robert Collier, American Writer/Publisher
- "I have about concluded that WEALTH is a state of mind, and that anyone can acquire a wealthy state of mind by thinking rich thoughts."- Andrew Young. Civil Rights Activist
- "Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think." - Ayn Rand, Russian Writer, Philosopher
- "All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth." - Napoleon Hill
And:
"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life." - Henry David Thoreau
Where you hold back your fullest expression of your potential as an artist of any kind is where you struggle. Where you doubt your self, your dreams, your worthiness is where you create your poverty. Where you resist your purpose in life, the special gifts that are your birthright, is where you suffer your anxiety.
You are as free, financially and otherwise, as the extent of your ability to acknowledge, honor and master your authenticity and take full responsibility for all of your experiences, good and bad, rich or poor. Those who do not govern themselves are condemned to find other masters to govern over them, including their own Inner Critic.
“I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.” - Madonna
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Key To Expressing Full Creative Potential
“Love is a force that connects us to every strand of the universe, an unconditional state that characterizes human nature, a form of knowledge that is always there for us if only we can open ourselves to it” - Emily Hilburn Sell
You were born with a magnificent gift. You came into this physical world bundled with all the wisdom and tools to create; create your life, create your artistic expression. If you are having any difficulty in expressing your full potential in any area of your life you have said NO to this gift that is already within you while at the same time desperately and often painfully search to find it elsewhere.
The life affirming gift that I speak of is unconditional love. Where you struggle, where you hold back your ability to create is where you have let go of unconditional love; unconditional love of self.
Yes, you were born as pure unconditional loving consciousness. As a child you had not yet learned to judge. A child's love of self is simple and pure. A child feels worthy of what she wants and needs. A child is exuberant in expressing love for others. To a young child, the world is an open door to all that is possible. And as a loving consciousness, he seeks to create that which he loves.
As you grew you took on ideas and beliefs largely based on past experiences. You developed expectations and placed conditions on love in ways that a child would never conceive of doing. Conditional love may come and go. You may love a hot dog or a friend today, but not tomorrow. Unconditional love does not come and go. It just is.
"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them." - Thomas Merton
The minute judgment in any form enters the experience of a child, conditions are placed upon love. Without realizing that your very existence has value and is a critical cog in the ecosphere of the Universe you sought to identify your worth, your place, in the physical world. You measured yourself and your contribution as 'more than' or 'less than' others. You misguidedly rated other people and other creations in the same way. And you struggle.
Sometimes you treat yourself like you are an unworthy person taking up space, here slogging your way through your days, your craft, your relationships, in order to prove some sort of worthiness to someone else. It is a futile way of life. You can never feel worthy, good, smart, talented, creative enough if you hold back unconditional love for yourself. Where you judge yourself, you hold back unconditional love.
Your purpose in life is to express your full artistic potential using the bundle of talents, wisdom and tools that are your birthright. You are here to create your contribution to the enrichment and quality of existence. This creative contribution does not depend upon the approval of others. No fully expressed artistic potential will ever be achieved by seeking the approval of others for they all desire different things of you. Your fulfillment and satisfaction as an artist will come from the unconditional love of self that gives birth to and guides the purest actualization of You.
Yes, mistakes will be made. Bad choices will be met with unpleasant experiences. "Should-a, would-a, could-as" will abound. Undesired situations come with great gifts in the valuable transformational lessons that can be learned from them. In all of your trials and tribulations, you are always doing the best you can with the light you have to see.
"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich." —Sarah Bernhardt
Unconditional love of self is the light source. Where there is darkness, unconditional love is withheld; judgment and admonishment has taken its place. Knowing and accepting, at your deepest core, that you are always at the perfect place even if you are experiencing any form of difficulty and anxiety powerfully shines light on any experience so that positive growth springs forth from that place. Shining light on yourself and your experience instead of beating yourself, and others, up in blame, shame and judgment is an act of unconditional love.
The way some people find fault, you'd think there was some kind of reward. There is no reward in judgment; only darkness. One cannot create where there is no light, no energy, no love.
The path to unconditional love of self is understanding that you are always doing the best you can. You do not get out of bed in the morning thinking about how you can screw up your, or other people's, lives that day. You do not deliberately create your bad experiences. You are doing the best you can based on how you view yourself and the world at the time. If you don't like the experiences you are having, if you don't like being stuck or struggling in any area of your life, examine your judgments and expectations of yourself and others. Where are you withholding love? Where are you cutting off authentic expression? Where are you holding back your full potential? Where are you denying, saying NO to you?
"Love is, above all, the gift of oneself." - Jean Anouilh
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
You were born with a magnificent gift. You came into this physical world bundled with all the wisdom and tools to create; create your life, create your artistic expression. If you are having any difficulty in expressing your full potential in any area of your life you have said NO to this gift that is already within you while at the same time desperately and often painfully search to find it elsewhere.
The life affirming gift that I speak of is unconditional love. Where you struggle, where you hold back your ability to create is where you have let go of unconditional love; unconditional love of self.
Yes, you were born as pure unconditional loving consciousness. As a child you had not yet learned to judge. A child's love of self is simple and pure. A child feels worthy of what she wants and needs. A child is exuberant in expressing love for others. To a young child, the world is an open door to all that is possible. And as a loving consciousness, he seeks to create that which he loves.
As you grew you took on ideas and beliefs largely based on past experiences. You developed expectations and placed conditions on love in ways that a child would never conceive of doing. Conditional love may come and go. You may love a hot dog or a friend today, but not tomorrow. Unconditional love does not come and go. It just is.
"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them." - Thomas Merton
The minute judgment in any form enters the experience of a child, conditions are placed upon love. Without realizing that your very existence has value and is a critical cog in the ecosphere of the Universe you sought to identify your worth, your place, in the physical world. You measured yourself and your contribution as 'more than' or 'less than' others. You misguidedly rated other people and other creations in the same way. And you struggle.
Sometimes you treat yourself like you are an unworthy person taking up space, here slogging your way through your days, your craft, your relationships, in order to prove some sort of worthiness to someone else. It is a futile way of life. You can never feel worthy, good, smart, talented, creative enough if you hold back unconditional love for yourself. Where you judge yourself, you hold back unconditional love.
Your purpose in life is to express your full artistic potential using the bundle of talents, wisdom and tools that are your birthright. You are here to create your contribution to the enrichment and quality of existence. This creative contribution does not depend upon the approval of others. No fully expressed artistic potential will ever be achieved by seeking the approval of others for they all desire different things of you. Your fulfillment and satisfaction as an artist will come from the unconditional love of self that gives birth to and guides the purest actualization of You.
Yes, mistakes will be made. Bad choices will be met with unpleasant experiences. "Should-a, would-a, could-as" will abound. Undesired situations come with great gifts in the valuable transformational lessons that can be learned from them. In all of your trials and tribulations, you are always doing the best you can with the light you have to see.
"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich." —Sarah Bernhardt
Unconditional love of self is the light source. Where there is darkness, unconditional love is withheld; judgment and admonishment has taken its place. Knowing and accepting, at your deepest core, that you are always at the perfect place even if you are experiencing any form of difficulty and anxiety powerfully shines light on any experience so that positive growth springs forth from that place. Shining light on yourself and your experience instead of beating yourself, and others, up in blame, shame and judgment is an act of unconditional love.
The way some people find fault, you'd think there was some kind of reward. There is no reward in judgment; only darkness. One cannot create where there is no light, no energy, no love.
The path to unconditional love of self is understanding that you are always doing the best you can. You do not get out of bed in the morning thinking about how you can screw up your, or other people's, lives that day. You do not deliberately create your bad experiences. You are doing the best you can based on how you view yourself and the world at the time. If you don't like the experiences you are having, if you don't like being stuck or struggling in any area of your life, examine your judgments and expectations of yourself and others. Where are you withholding love? Where are you cutting off authentic expression? Where are you holding back your full potential? Where are you denying, saying NO to you?
"Love is, above all, the gift of oneself." - Jean Anouilh
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Empowerment Tips from George Michael - Pop Star
Spending an entire day at an airport dealing with one flight delay after another was once a nightmare for me. I have since learned to look for the gift in every experience. My recent, and much anticipated, trip to Italy began with such an unexpected day. Instead of pouting thinking my entire trip was off to a bad start I decided to look for the gift; and found it.
It was in the music piped through the speakers that permeated every corridor and concourse. Lyrics calling out to me to remind me to stay centered in the truth of who I am, someone who enjoys life and can magically turn lemons into lemonade. This time the message came to me through the voice of pop star, George Michael.
"I think there's something you should know
I think it's time I told you so
There's something deep inside of me
There's someone else I've got to be."
- George Michael "Freedom"
I remembered the 'old me'. Well, it wasn't really me back then. As a child I put who I was so far on the proverbial back burner that I forgot I was there through a good deal of my adulthood. Many of you have been or are in that suppressed place now, pretending to be someone you are not. That state of being simply doesn't work. It doesn't feel good. It's exhausting.
Oh, like you, I was able to Find Excuses And Reasons (F.E.A.R.) why my life wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. It was because of things beyond my control such as the economy, a mad control freak boss, a jerk of a boyfriend, the glass ceiling, the good old boys network. Yeah, right. My life wasn't working out because I was not being true to who I was. I was pretending to be a shark of an analytical corporate executive when I was really a whimsical playful artistic spirit itching to create with my right brain instead of my left.
Facing each day wearing a 'false me' suit sucks the life force right out of you.
"Take back your picture in a frame
Take back your singing in the rain
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man."
- George Michael "Freedom"
The heart of the message is that at any time, in any moment, you can step back into your power and live your life authentically in alignment with your truth, your passions and in tune with what inspires you. You can simply tell that Inner Critic of yours who's been handing you marching orders since you were knee high that you are rewriting the game plan and are fully in charge from this second forward. The Inner Critic will grumble and complain and throw some drama in your way here and there to trip you up. But like the scared little imp it that it is, the Inner Critic will finally settle down and behave. It will grow up and learn how to serve you instead of hide you.
"All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me."
- George Michael "Freedom"
From what I've read from time to time in the headlines, perhaps it's time for George Michael to listen to that voice deep inside of him calling to be something else. As a brilliant and talented singer and musician he has chosen to follow a pattern of self destructive behavior instead of channeling that energy into the magnificent gifts that are his birthright.
"I won't let you down
I will not give you up
Gotta have some faith in the sound
It's the one good thing that I've got
I won't let you down
So please don't give me up
Because I would really, really love to stick around."
- George Michael "Freedom"
Nearly eight hours later I was boarding my flight to Italy dancing down the airplane aisle having turned a lemon day into lemonade.
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can move overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
It was in the music piped through the speakers that permeated every corridor and concourse. Lyrics calling out to me to remind me to stay centered in the truth of who I am, someone who enjoys life and can magically turn lemons into lemonade. This time the message came to me through the voice of pop star, George Michael.
"I think there's something you should know
I think it's time I told you so
There's something deep inside of me
There's someone else I've got to be."
- George Michael "Freedom"
I remembered the 'old me'. Well, it wasn't really me back then. As a child I put who I was so far on the proverbial back burner that I forgot I was there through a good deal of my adulthood. Many of you have been or are in that suppressed place now, pretending to be someone you are not. That state of being simply doesn't work. It doesn't feel good. It's exhausting.
Oh, like you, I was able to Find Excuses And Reasons (F.E.A.R.) why my life wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. It was because of things beyond my control such as the economy, a mad control freak boss, a jerk of a boyfriend, the glass ceiling, the good old boys network. Yeah, right. My life wasn't working out because I was not being true to who I was. I was pretending to be a shark of an analytical corporate executive when I was really a whimsical playful artistic spirit itching to create with my right brain instead of my left.
Facing each day wearing a 'false me' suit sucks the life force right out of you.
"Take back your picture in a frame
Take back your singing in the rain
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man."
- George Michael "Freedom"
The heart of the message is that at any time, in any moment, you can step back into your power and live your life authentically in alignment with your truth, your passions and in tune with what inspires you. You can simply tell that Inner Critic of yours who's been handing you marching orders since you were knee high that you are rewriting the game plan and are fully in charge from this second forward. The Inner Critic will grumble and complain and throw some drama in your way here and there to trip you up. But like the scared little imp it that it is, the Inner Critic will finally settle down and behave. It will grow up and learn how to serve you instead of hide you.
"All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me."
- George Michael "Freedom"
From what I've read from time to time in the headlines, perhaps it's time for George Michael to listen to that voice deep inside of him calling to be something else. As a brilliant and talented singer and musician he has chosen to follow a pattern of self destructive behavior instead of channeling that energy into the magnificent gifts that are his birthright.
"I won't let you down
I will not give you up
Gotta have some faith in the sound
It's the one good thing that I've got
I won't let you down
So please don't give me up
Because I would really, really love to stick around."
- George Michael "Freedom"
Nearly eight hours later I was boarding my flight to Italy dancing down the airplane aisle having turned a lemon day into lemonade.
Valery Satterwhite is an Artist Mindset Mentor who helps creative people get out of their own way so that they can move overcome the struggles that often come packaged with the life of a visual & performing artist. Clients learn how to express their full potential deliberately & responsibly to create more passionately, profoundly, productively and profitably. Empower the Wizard Within to actualize and express your full creative potential. http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get Free "Empower the Wizard Within tips"!
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