Written by: Hedi Schaefer, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The longing for authenticity, for living according to one's values, and rules is urgent for many these days.
And I can't tell you how many times, I've heard the phrase "But I don't know who I really am and what I’m capable of."
And: How long I felt the pain about this lack of clarity called“identity crisis”, myself, keeping me in unnecessary limbo, doubt, and overwhelmed. Knowing who you are, what you are capable of, and what you are worth is the foundation for living authentically and truly fulfilled. And for making the changes. For getting into a flow state and turning the "busy-ness" into "bliss-ness". But how to take action when you are clueless about where to start?
Here are the three steps to start your creation process
Of course, every person is different and unique. Nevertheless, these are concrete strategies that help you get to the core and into the clarity you need for the creation process of your bliss-ness, the business you will love. Sure, you can open up the next online business for coaching and leadership. But, what is it made of? What are YOU truly made of? Few people can answer that question and give up after the first failed launch or hurdle, that, for sure will come up during times of growth and creation. So to start your creation process successfully, you need to gain clarity on these 3 bliss-ness ingredients: Your why (= purpose), your hows (=values), and your where tos (=visions). This is your backbone strategy to increase focus and motivation. And it is, as one of my treasured clients once said: “the treasure hunt towards yourself”.
Step 1: Find the clarity on your purpose
or, in other words: the reason to say “Yayy!” every morning, jump out of bed and feel motivated to create that post, work on that launch, or connect to strangers on the internet. Your why is fundamental when communicating about your bliss-ness, because people don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do what you do. Important for finding clarity around your purpose is questioning:
your passions
your skills
and the wisdom that you've gained from former life crises
To get closer to the purpose today, query each point above by making a list of one to three keywords each. Then choose. How? Let your heart speak! Your intuition is so much smarter than your mind.
Ask yourself: Does one of your answers make me feel excited or at peace? Do I start smiling or get goosebumps? Then you know: You’ve nailed it!
After finding your purpose, feel free to complete the sentence structure and take it home: “I am here to. ” i.e. “light up the world”. Some people moan at that point: "But this is intangible, how to create action steps around my purpose?" Well, you don't stop here! Move forward and into the value and vision creation(steps 2 and 3) and from the overall clarity abstract your action steps. If you have a purpose to for example "light up the world" you would need to become visible at some point. Otherwise, how can you possibly reach people globally? So, action steps could include working on your message, creating a keynote, and getting speaking engagements. Your imagination and creativity are not limited here, but all comes back to why you do what you do. So: From today onwards, align your business endeavors accordingly. And remind yourself of your why when times get a little harder. This will help you surf the waves, and not get crushed by them anymore.
Step 2: Find the clarity on your values
or, in other words, the quality standards for how you want to run and present your business. The clarity on your values will affect the speed and quality of your decision-making from this day forward, i.e. about the projects you choose, and the kind of people you work with. How you communicate, and the branding that represents you. I experimented to get to the most efficient way of creating core values for over 10 years. My VPP, the Value-Pinpoint-Process to get to the essence, is not about writing down the values that were instilled into your head to be "good". Those don't necessarily give you bliss, ease, and flow. But can make you twist and turn yourself for outside recognition and fitting-in purposes, only. You therefore might create shallow, fluffy, and intagible word creations. But that does not help but will lead to more confusion and frustration in the creation process. VPP instead is all about your personal energy, the greatest, smartest, and: most honest indicator you have, when it comes bliss. So ask:
"What gives me energy?!!
“And what drains my energy?”
Write down at least three bullet points for each of them. And then ask yourself: What value does that bullet point represent?
For example: “Conflicts and powerplay are my number one energy drainer.” And what is behind and an incredibly important value to me: It’s “peace”. Or “Creating something useful together with others is my number one energy giver”.And I’d say the value behind that is “collaboration.”
Makes sense? After creating the list of values, choose three to five that are most important to you and represent the bliss-ness you wish to create, i.e. collaboration, peace or even peaceful collaboration, joy, and authenticity. If you have completed this work, as many of my clients report, decisions become much easier, you become more focused, motivated, and speed up your processes by 10 X.
Step 3: Find the clarity about your visions
Most people know where and what they want to get out of. But not where they want to move towards. Causing them to get stuck in their heads - or in victim mode – waiting for something outside to happen. And thus, keeping them from the necessary creator mode: able to MAKE things HAPPEN! Often this void and the disappointment over the lack of progress is difficult to bear, so many people throw themselves into headless and desperate actions. Creating more chaos, stress, fear and triggering a state of survival.
To switch into thriving and progress, however, visions are key.
But what are successful visions made of?
And what not? Visions are not pipe dreams or fluffy marketing slogans, like: “Make your dreams come true”.
Visions are very concrete and tangible, feelable and almost “tastable” images for each part of your business – like
the type of clients you want to serve,i.e. highly coachable, kind-hearted visionaries
the impact you want to create within the next 5 years, i.e. serving 10.000 clients across the globe
or the visibility you want to accomplish, i.e. 2 best-selling books and a speaking engagement at an international conference.
Beyond that, a successful business vision process includes clarity about the work-life-style you want to accomplish. Where your busy-ness no longer dictates the way you live. But where the bliss-ness is a beautiful and integrated part of your work-life-balance. So, ask yourself here and in addition:
How does my perfect workday look like? What is ideally happening during the morning, lunchtime, afternoon, and evening?
Where am I working from and what is my ideal work surrounding? What do I see, feel, and experience here?
Paint your day in your mind and even better: on paper, as vividly as possible. Allow yourself to be limitless and to get excited about your future. Feelings will accelerate your motivation and progress.
Make sure to come back to your visions, purpose, and values daily, to spark the next idea and steps towards them accordingly. Your brain is like a Google machine wanting to find solutions for the visions you feed it with and concentrate on most.
Then create your new reality one step at a time. It is never about the big fat leap, but about the small and continuous steps that shape the business to finally live authentically and fulfilled.
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Hedi Schaefer, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Hedi Schaefer is a leader in work-life innovation through identity work, and future skills. An identity crisis and depression made her question herself and work-lifestyle as a jet-setting innovation consultant. She understood that to create a business and life based on true passion, purpose, ease, and flow, the key is inner work. Hedi created strategies to shift dramatically and turn everything around. She has since dedicated her life to helping others do the same and become the authentic changemaker and creative leader they wish to be. She is CEO of the Hedi Schaefer Academy, the online hub for Work-Life Innovation, an author, and a speaker. Her mission: Light up and lead! inspires people across the globe.
