Intuitive Plan » Body Wisdom for Entrepreneurs

Intuitive Plan » Body Wisdom for Entrepreneurs http://www.intuitiveplan.com for small business owners aiming to make a big difference Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:31:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Recognize investments and expenses. http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2010/01/recognize-investments-and-expenses/ http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2010/01/recognize-investments-and-expenses/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:41:03 +0000 Rosemary Senjem http://www.intuitiveplan.com/?p=746 Entrepreneurs sort spending this way:

Expense: Spend this on a regular basis to cover the basics of running the business. I see the value of creating stability by laying a foundation of spending for regular operating expenses.
Investment: This spending could create more value later. I see strong enough growth potential for results that I value. These results may be money, resources, referrals, market share, and more.

Julie is debating whether or not to rent an office in town for her consulting work. Her clients are all over the nation, so there is no obvious benefit to them if she moves. In fact, she might be less accessible to her clients, because her home office allows her to be available at all hours. Yet, the isolation she feels in her rural home office is not nurturing her and she is noticing that she is losing enthusiasm for her work. She takes pride in being frugal and feels smart in taking a tax deduction for her home office. She wonders if it would be a waste of money to move her office to town, and then have expenses for rent and commuting. What would you advise her to do? How do the concepts of investment and expense come to play here? Julie needs to run the numbers, including her Body Wisdom numbers. She needs to evaluate the real costs and benefits of where her office is now for her, her company, and her family. Then she needs to evaluate the potential costs and benefits of moving her office to town. Thinking of the move as an investment at first, with a potential pay-off later, helps her to open up to the idea that moving her office could be a way to grow a local group of clients for a new service she dreams of offering. Her mind is then freed up to map out how her expenses would change as her business changed.]]> http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2010/01/recognize-investments-and-expenses/feed/ 0 Listen to Desire, Body Wisdom, and Inspiration. http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2009/09/listen-to-desire-body-wisdom-and-inspiration/ http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2009/09/listen-to-desire-body-wisdom-and-inspiration/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:24:28 +0000 Rosemary Senjem http://www.intuitiveplan.com/?p=735 unstoppable. Wherever you are, find a way to pretend with me for a moment while we create two physical experiences for you to compare. 1^st Experience to Compare:

Think of a task that you do have no desire to do, yet, you feel that you should do it. (Be sure to choose something that most definitely fits this description.)
Pretend that in a few moments you are going to go do that thing that you do have no desire to do and that you feel you should do. Really feel the combination of feeling you should do it AND no desire to do it. Close your eyes if that helps.
What do you physically feel in your body? What do you notice? Quickly jot down your noticings here: ________________________________________

IMPORTANT Transition: Now shake that out. Literally shake your body. Feelings are indeed chemical. A quick antidote to the chemistry you just felt is to shake it out. Shake your hands, feet, and head. Shake your bootie, too. 2^nd Experience to Compare:

Find a task that you have great desire to do. It is very important that you find a task that is free and clear of obligation and feels like it is fed purely by Desire – no strings attached. (If you don’t think of something right away, let it be simple. Ask your body what it desires right now. Maybe it is as simple as take a nap, or eat a meal prepared by someone who loves you. ) Have you got something? Good.
Pretend that in a few moments you are going to go do exactly that thing that you desire. Really feel the intensity and clarity of your desire. Close your eyes if that helps.
What do you physically feel in your body? What do you notice? Quickly jot down your noticings here: ________________________________________

IMPORTANT Non-Ending: Savor this experience in your body. Let this chemistry support your health and well-being! These noticings are a source for understanding your own body’s wisdom about what is best for you in a given moment. Your noticings change like a barometer with the winds of your mind.

What do other people experience?

I have conducted this comparison exercise with hundreds of people, individually and with large crowds.

In the first experience, people notice a consistent range of body data that indicates physical stress: heaviness on the shoulders, tightness in the chest, clenched jaw or fist, shallow breathing, sudden feeling of weight gain, tension in the neck, upset stomach, pain in the gut, shoulders, or head.
In the second experience, people notice a consistent range of body data that indicates well being: great increase in physical energy, lightness of body, relaxation in the torso and neck, excitement, and sometimes even uncontrollable grinning and giggling.

When conducting this activity with a large crowd indoors, I will often ask, “While you are continuing to feel this desire so intensely, how easy would it be for me to distract you at the door and keep you from your desire? Could I side track you? Could I stop you?” Every time the answer is swift and strong, “No! You better get out of my way! I’m going to do this!” And that is the magic of Desire. It feels like plugging yourself into the Great Battery Pack of your own life.

Some people have a habit of quickly converting the first experience to make it more comfortable. They are well-practiced at converting a “should” by finding some shred of desire to attach to it, so they can move forward despite the negative physical affects of should. This is an effective and useful coping mechanism. But that is not the point of this comparative exercise. I am asking you to let yourself feel any discomfort that the first experience brings, just long enough to notice the clear affects of “should-ing” yourself in order to contrast that experience with the clear affects of unfettered desire.

After years of studying this phenomenon, it is clear to me that:

A desire that is unclouded by obligation gives a person exponentially more energy, than a desire that has a “should” attached to it.
Some people get confused and think this is about will power, or the will, which is a fundamental experience of leading with personal energy. The overwhelming experience of Desire is following.
Desire often acts as an Inspirational Compass. It points us in an important satisfying direction. An unclouded desire is a clue that will lead you further on your life’s adventure and support you in ways that are better than you could have imagined. You do not need to know why you have a desire, in order for it to give you great energy. Sometimes after you have followed its lead, you will get a clue about why it came to you.
What are we following? I have come to believe that clear, unfettered Desire is a gift from the Divine. Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi hilariously and aptly demonstrate the passion of this Element in The Blues Brothers film, when they declare, “We’re on a mission from God!” When we use Natural Entrepreneurial Thinking, the excitement of following the Great Mystery is palpable.
Some confuse Desire with addictive thoughts. Been there, done that – I’m not naïve on this one either. Desire seeks satisfaction. Addictive thoughts are well-organized coping mechanisms to help us mask true Desire. (I'll write more about this later...)

]]> http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2009/09/listen-to-desire-body-wisdom-and-inspiration/feed/ 0 10 things learned in the past year http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2009/08/10-things-learned-in-the-past-year/ http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2009/08/10-things-learned-in-the-past-year/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:28:59 +0000 Rosemary Senjem http://www.intuitiveplan.com/?p=124 1 ~ When life happens, roll with it: Around this time last year a chain of unforeseeable events started in my personal life. By the time I got to the end of that chain, 5 months later, it felt like I’d been hit by a tidal wave. When the first challenge came, I pressed on, determined to be unshaken. By the time the rest of the challenges stacked up, I felt as if I had died and wasn’t sure what mattered anymore. I was shaken, stirred and on an odyssey to rediscover everything. When I let go and rolled with it, I found deep gratitude for all the lessons that came my way. 2 ~ Perspective is paramount: I know by now you’re guessing it was the economy. Actually, the news of Wall Street was mostly background noise to the challenges I faced, which included hospitals, the death of loved ones, accepting that I would not be having children of my own, and wondering if anyone really wanted to learn what I wanted to share (self-doubt is so syrupy isn’t it?). My “tidal wave” was a mere ripple in comparison to what some people have experienced in the past 12 months. I am so grateful for the way these events got me to step back and take a long slow look at it all. I softened my focus, widened my view, and tried on other people’s ideas. This practice helped me let go even more, saved me from getting stuck in grief, and opened me up to new possibilities. 3 ~ Being a beginner is transformational: In the midst of my odyssey, I began to embrace beginnings in a general way. I came home one day from a funeral and decided we needed more life in our house, so we adopted two kittens. They changed our household instantly from a chamber that memorialized life recently gone to training new life that needed direction and love. I rediscovered my sense of wonder at a Ki-Aikido demonstration and enrolled in the beginners program. I found more energy, more focus, more ease in that class. Now, as I start the beginners program for the fourth time (1-2-3-4), I continue to learn these simple things more deeply. I collaborated with a loyal customer to learn more about online stores and translating successful strategies to the internet. This led to an intense body of knowledge, which I am now delighted to share in a course offered through Incubator, Inc., a private business school. I now understand Goethe’s words in a whole new way: “Whatever you dare to do, begin it!” 4 ~ “Boldness has genius power and magic in it.” (Yes, that’s Goethe, too.) As many of you know, I’m a great fan of boldness. Sometimes I’m bold just for the sake of being bold. This time, I’m learning a fine point of being bold. I have been writing a book for 5 years. I’ve done research. I’ve done pre-writing. I’ve taken long vacations just to write. Still, it all mostly sat in a big box in the corner of my office – until now. Here’s the fine point: When boldness is combined with a different perspective and a new beginning, the genius and magic wake up with a great force. Now, I am writing a book proposal. Suddenly this new perspective and approach is raising this first book from the dead and I’m enjoying the work! 5 ~ Really having big feelings helps them move out of the way. Grief is an amazing teacher about all feelings. Its like the big Kahuna – an all powerful medicine man of the tribe of Emotions. It sneaks up on you for your own good, and then lifts you up by your clothes and shakes the bejesus out of you, releasing voodoo you’ve been clinging to. There’s no escaping it. When its done with you, it just leaves you in a heap, looking bewildered and feeling … better. I learned that the trick is to let it have its way with you. I mean really have it. Follow it. Express it fully. When I did that, each visit from this Kahuna was more brief than the last. I’ve learned that this holds true for all big emotions. Go have them. As my mother used to say when we played too rough indoors, “Go get that out of your system!” My brother built a three-story tree house as a teenager, getting big anger out of his system. Today he is one of the most laid back people you will ever meet. The hammer can be so satisfying. 6 ~ There is great power in lightness. I used to notice power most when served with a heavy hand. Force and power are not the same. Power without force is even more potent – and easy. Ki-Aikido is a marvelous experiential education in noticing oneness with the Universe and where my mind is. It is quite common for the instructor to say things like, “Do less” or “Relax completely.” Somehow, it is also a martial art that leaves attackers laughing on the floor, wondering how they got there. What’s that they say in InterPlay circles? Oh yeah, “Life doesn’t have to be so hard.” 7 ~ Firmness brings clarity and that is really helpful to people. When I’m wishy-washy or ridiculously patient to the point of following when I could be leading, it drives people nuts. When I’m firm and create structure that people can lean against or push on, they express thanks and we move together with ease. I get more benefit from being firm and clear because others are more engaged with me. That’s the way I like it. 8 ~ Shedding Shoulds and inviting Desire releases immeasurable JOY. I’ve created many dream boards and goals. Many of them helped me manifest quite a few things and experiences in my life. And yet somehow, I had never dared to truly let it all hang out and say what I really wanted, no matter how outrageous or silly, until Grief had had its way with me. Only then did I find a personal focus that takes no effort to remember and brings up spontaneous giggling. For me this happened while working with James Ray’s audio program, The Science of Success. This personal focus statement is for me. It doesn’t need to make sense to anyone else. It is helping me relax completely, be productive, and centered. 9 ~ I have more energy in the moment when I relax completely. It was my third time up the narrow ladder to the trapeze platform. The first two times I was a bit terrified and unconsciously gripped the rungs with white knuckles. Now I was tired and I really wanted to have one more swing, to feel flight again. Then I remembered to relax completely, as I was taught in Ki-Aikido. My muscles let go, yet my limbs became more graceful and smooth as I ascended. At the platform, I felt refreshed instead of exhausted, ready to really fly. What a difference! 10 ~ True goodness satisfies when I notice it. This lesson shows up in many ways for me and it all started here: I don’t eat sugar (or any other sweetener) any more, besides certain whole fruits. I can hear you thinking, “Gasp! What about chocolate?” I use unsweetened cocoa in unsweetened soy milk and absolutely love it. “You’re kidding! That sounds disgusting.” No, I’m not kidding. Somehow when sugar left my life, the strange, unnamable anxiety that was its companion left as well. Now I know “when sugar left my life” must sound strange. I have the profound impression that I was possessed by it and the demon has left me. Go figure. I’m not one to believe in devils. Convenience store shelves of candy don’t talk to me anymore. And the television no longer beckons me to hang out with it. Somehow that left with the sugar. Now I notice amazing things that have been there all along: flowers, funky bugs, sun, kids, air quality, eating good food slowly, and listening – really listening. The weirdest thing is that when I’m hungry, I don’t need to rush then either. A big delicious drink of water helps me have patience to find what I really want to take into my body.]]> http://www.intuitiveplan.com/2009/08/10-things-learned-in-the-past-year/feed/ 0