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5 Ways to Get to Success

September 26, 2016 by Jane Boyd

mountain-top-983890_1920

It’s the week after the official book launch for Anything You Put Your Mind To. For more than a year, Liz and I were working toward September 21, 2016. Toward the day we would get to share Alice, Larry and the dog with the world.

And . . . now we are here — with the published book in hand.

Since then, I’ve been reflecting on success. In particular, I’ve been thinking about the things I’ve been learning and working toward over the last year. Below are 5 of the ways I’ve been using to get to success — not only for the book launch and GeniusShared — but in all areas of my life. Perhaps some of these ways will be helpful for you too.

1. Be Patient

No matter what you are trying to do in life or where you are trying to go — be patient. Getting to success takes patience. Not only with yourself — but with others too. Each of us express our thoughts differently. And we all come from different perspectives. Sometimes our definitions of success are different. From getting our laundry done to completing that big project at work — each of us have different ways of doing things. Be patient with yourself when you are trying to learn new ways, skills or strategies. Be patient with others when they are trying to understand you. And be patient with how you approach next steps and the execution of new ideas.

Understand that patience is an essential ingredient of success.

2. Learn and Keep Learning

Remember when you were a kid and you thought your parents knew everything. And then when you found out they didn’t. Guess what? There’s no one person that knows it all. Every single person has the opportunity to learn new things. It takes curiosity, an open mind and a desire to be better at something. Be open. And do everything you can to keep learning. Expose yourself to new ideas, to new people and to different opportunities.

Learning opens your horizons in a way that allows you to sail toward success more easily.

3. Change the Stories You Tell Yourself — Change Your Life

If you’ve read Anything Your Put Your Mind To — well then you’ll understand why this one matters so much. How many times do we tell ourselves we can’t do something? That we’re not good enough? Or that something is just not meant to be? Getting to success requires you to break out of your old ways of thinking, to take calculated risks and to execute on things that sometimes make you feel uncomfortable. This is okay.

Eliminate the stories that hold you back and you will find success in ways you previously thought impossible.

4. Surround Yourself With the Right People

I’ve written about this before — but it just can’t be said enough. Your success in life, at work and in everything you do is very dependant upon the people you have around you. Let go of the people who don’t believe in you, those who are constantly negative or who have values that are in conflict with yours. When you surround yourself with the right people they will become invested in seeing you succeed. And they will help you get to the places you seek. It takes trust, hard conversations and commitment — but it’s always worth it.

The right people won’t let you fail. They will help you on your journey toward success — however you have defined that success.

5. Know It’s a Marathon — Not a Sprint

Midway through the book launch a wise friend said to me — “Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint.” And how right they were. Now that we’ve launched the book, I know the quest is not over — it’s just farther along. We have met a major goal but — there’s still more to do. More to create. More to understand. And that’s as it should be. It’s important to remember that success takes pacing. And — over time — the way you define success will likely evolve. As will your projects, plans and the people you meet along the way.

Commit to the long haul — the marathon. Spend your time and energy wisely as you seek your definition of success.

Remember . . .

There are many ways we each get to success. Find the ways that work best for you and actively practice them on a daily basis — in all areas of your life.

Put Your Mind To It

Spend some time thinking about just one of the ways listed in this article about getting to success. Choose just one thing to work on over the next week that will move you toward the success you seek in life.

Further Reading on Successful-Blog About Success

Define Success, Then You Can Find It

Why Successful People In Business Lean On Their Friends

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Filed Under: Leadership, Motivation Tagged With: achieving success, success

Jane Boyd discusses being a Story Editor – Ep. 2

September 20, 2016 by Jane Boyd

Keeping Curious Podcast Artwork_2

Welcome to Episode 2 of Keeping Curious, the GeniusShared Podcast where each week Liz Strauss or Jane Boyd meets with Gigi Peterkin to discuss business, life & all things GeniusShared.

In Episode 2 Jane and Gigi discuss Jane’s role as Story Editor of Liz’s new book Anything You Put Your Mind To. The paperback version was released a few days ahead of schedule and the eBook version is set to be released September 21, 2016. The book can be purchased on Amazon.

Highlights of Ep. 2

  • 1:36 – How Jane came to be the Story Editor of Anything You Put Your Mind To
  • 6:18 – Gigi and Jane discuss the Story Editor role.
  • 10:55 – Gigi asks how working on the book has influenced and changes the stories Jane tell herself personally.
  • 17:32 – The character in the book Jane likes the most.
  • 25:35 – What Jane suggests listeners put their mind to this week.

Liz Strauss discusses her new book – Ep. 1

September 19, 2016 by Jane Boyd

Keeping Curious Podcast Artwork_2
Welcome to Episode 1 of Keeping Curious, the GeniusShared Podcast where each week Liz Strauss or Jane Boyd meets with Gigi Peterkin to discuss business, life & all things GeniusShared.

In Episode 1 Liz  and Gigi discuss Anything You Put Your Mind To, the new book written by Liz and published by GeniusShared Press. The paperback version was released a few days ahead of schedule and the eBook version is set to be released September 21, 2016 on Amazon.

Liz Strauss discusses her new book – Ep. 1Jane Boyd
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https://www.successful-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/KCep120Sept16.mp3

Highlights from Keeping Curious – Ep. 1

  • How Liz came up with the idea of the book — 1:27
  • Gigi asks Liz about the idea of “running in your mind” and how Larry came to be — 5:24
  • Why Anything You Put Your Mind To is a book that only Liz Strauss could write and why Liz didn’t write a business book first – 9:14
  • Gigi and Liz discuss fear and Liz’s return online after “a very hellish experience of dealing with Cancer that actually took my voice for several months and took my energy for longer than that because of complications and broken bones and things . . . ” – 14:40
  • How Liz thinks people will react to the book – 18:01
  • What Liz suggests listeners put their mind to this week – 21:15

Anything You Put Your Mind To

Order the paperback of Anything You Put Your Mind To today!

 

Anything You Put Your Mind To – Paperback Released Early #LizBook

September 18, 2016 by Jane Boyd

Anything Books

GeniusShared Press is excited to announce that the paperback version of Anything You Put Your Mind To by Liz Strauss has been released early! You can be one of the first people to hold Liz’s incredible new book in your hands by ordering today!


Anything You Put Your Mind To

An adventure in remembering

we decide the stories

that decide our lives

by Liz Strauss

with Foreward by Jane Boyd, Story Editor


 

by Liz Strauss

What People Are Saying . . .

In Anything You Put Your Mind To, Liz uncovers one of the great secrets of success in both business and life: the potential of narrative to forge one’s own path. People underestimate storytelling, but its power is infinite: the stories we tell ourselves constitute our reality.

With verve and clarity, Anything You Put Your Mind To brings home the importance of reconnecting with our stories, and demonstrates how anyone can follow Liz’s lead and bring direction back to their self-narratives. The verities of this book–that the roads to every kind of both success and failure start inside our own heads–are striking, challenging, but ultimately liberating. Liz’s account is searingly honest and her writing is compelling and lyrical. I loved how she skillfully manifests the clamoring forces we all internally wrestle with on a daily basis. Larry and the dog, the central characters of the book, are rendered with the weight and force of a fable. Every last word is heavy with the power of Liz’s personal investment in her vision. No one else could have written this book.

Anything You Put Your Mind To will benefit anyone who wants to tell themselves better stories; that is, anyone who wants to change their life. Knowing which of our narratives to discard, which to alter, which to champion–this is the road to so much of what we call prosperity. This book is rich with the hard-won wisdom of one who has walked this road, and returned to tell the tale. Start reading. Now.

— AJ Leon, Founder of Misfit and author of The Life and Times of a Remarkable Misfit

There is no one like Liz Strauss. Liz is living insight, jumping over boundaries. Conversations with Liz are legendary for dizzying changes in perspective, unexpected connections, and bright ideas. This book is like a conversation with Liz, only portable. And more intense.

— Becky McCray, Entrepreneur and author of Small Town Rules

Liz Strauss is a world-renowned storyteller, so it is only fitting that she would use stories as both the framework and roadmap to help you to achieve success and everything that you want out of life. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a busy professional, or someone who’s just asking, “what’s next,” Liz’s unique, humorous, and insightful parable provides the perfect inspiration.

— Carol Roth, Billion-dollar dealmaker, Judge on TBS’s America’s Greatest Makers, and author of the New York Times bestseller The Entrepreneur Equation

Liz Strauss shares stories that illuminate who she is and at the same time will help you understand who you can become. This book will twist, bend, and batter your reality and that’s a good thing. All of us need to make great leaps in our mind, and yours will start when you read the first chapter.

— Tim Sanders, Author of Love Is the Killer App: How To Win Business and Influence Friends

It would have been easy for Liz Strauss to pump out a business book. Or an inspirational book about conquering cancer. Or a series of ebooks on social media marketing.

Instead of taking the expected path, Liz zigged when she might have zagged. She’s written a beautiful, jaw-droppingly original story that calls to mind Og Mandino, or perhaps Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Her unique and incisive perspective shines through, hitting the reader right between the eyes by becoming fully vulnerable. If you’ve ever caught yourself “hiding in your thoughts,” looking for human connection, or seeking to be understood, this book will become a treasured keepsake.

You’ll understand what I mean when you read it. And you must read it.

— Rosemary O’Neill, Co-Founder, Social Strata

“Wouldn’t that be cool?” Whenever I’d hear Liz Strauss utter those words, I knew I had just been given a gift from a dear friend–a tiny but yet oh so significant tidbit of wisdom that had been processed, analyzed, and delivered from one of the most brilliant minds I have, or will, ever encounter. So it was with great anticipation and pleasure that I dove into Liz’s new book, Anything You Put Your Mind To.

It’s a book that reveals the emotional and personal heart of this “65th Crayon”–a poignant and unflinching glimpse into a fertile and wondrous imagination, revealing rich textures of insight, wonder, and in the end, many simple truths we can take with us to guide and instruct our own lives.

She takes us on this personal journey with her “time machine”–a rich musical and lyrical accompaniment, a library of touching stories from her childhood, and two special friends–Larry and the dog.

And, there’s the sky, where Liz gazes up and finds her place and part in the universe. The truths that she so eloquently notes ultimately leads to a larger life lesson–the way to find yourself is to look back, AND up–and just BE, with child-like curiosity and a reflective innocence.
Experience this wisdom yourself by reading this wonderful story, and then embark on your own journey of personal discovery. Wouldn’t that be cool?

— Terry St. Marie, Portland, Oregon

A seemingly simple awakening of personal growth–set in modern day. Readers will meet the woman who is an “everyman”: successful but unsure, loving yet controlling, happy and unbalanced, as well as righteously hypocritical. She is we.

The writer’s distinguished intelligence and prose tell us her story in a wax-on, wax-off parable that is rich with clever insights and self-deprecating humor, which beckons the reader to relate and then question our own place in this world. All this is accomplished with introduction of a mysterious character named Larry and his dog.

As a reader, I cherished each word and chapter. This is a book you take your time with because, just like the main character, you will have to stop, pause, and listen to your inner voice. That voice might be telling you to address your buried Freudian issues, learn self-love, as well as how to give and receive, before you can enjoy your success.

Anything You Put Your Mind To will become the contemporary life-lessons business allegory for the 2010s; just like The Alchemist and The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant were for the late 90s and early 2000s. I will regularly pick this book up, again and again, to reread chapters, especially Liz Strauss’ explanation of the “65th Crayon.” I highly recommend this book for anyone who thinks they might be stuck, or who thinks that they already “have it all,” or maybe they just want to reach further in their career.

—Jon-David, Author of 9 Amazon ebooks, and a world-leading social media expert in the Salon Industry

It doesn’t take long to recognize the truth behind Liz’s recommendation, “Be curious about everything.” In this dazzling, rippling adventure tale we are given the ride of a life. The secret ingredient propelling this story of stories is the thirst for knowledge driven by an unquenchable curiosity. Ever questing, Liz offers us a path to reflection and self-understanding both accessible and divorced from the step-driven, self-help of the past.

Through Liz’s passion, her vision, and her unbridled willingness to explore we are offered a model for making and remaking ourselves. For those who know Liz and her work, this is a welcome glimpse into “the Way of Liz” and offers revelations and surprises of all sorts. With wit she disarms and with wonder she instructs. All you have to do is keep up with this Alice in the wonderland that is her imagination.

— Andrew [Drew] Marshall, CEO, Primed Consulting, LLC

The best stories let you get lost in them and come out with new insights and actionable ideas; Liz creates that journey for you with this book.  Liz has been an amazing friend and mentor for almost 10 years and I know that conversations with her can stretch your mind and open your eyes to opportunities you would have never seen otherwise.  The sooner you read this book the sooner you can begin to live your new, exciting life stories.

—Mark J. Carter, Founder of ONE80 and creator of Idea Climbing™

About Anything You Put Your Mind To

In Anything You Put Your Mind To, master storyteller Liz Strauss hooks us into an adventure of remembering that we decide our future. We discover that by deciding the stories we believe about ourselves we decide our lives. Strauss offers a fresh energy and approach, bringing something new to the topic and keeping us engaged. Along the way, she offers snippets of insight and wisdom on the human condition that take us beyond the theme, helping us find “our own normal,” and making the experience memorable worth returning to again and again.

Alice, a quirky, intelligent, and outright funny book editor, who is on quest because her job isn’t working for her and she has “edited out” the rest of her life. She’s seeking out a new purpose by going “running” through her mind, revisiting stories she believes about herself to get her back to a life she wants to live. While running through her mind, she meets two strangers — a guy and his dog — who already seem to know exactly who she is. Who are they? How did they get in her mind? They join Alice’s quest, asking questions, lending support and compassion. Will these two, seemingly invented, characters give her the clarity she needs to find her way or send her on a trip through Wonderland? And where does the Lone Ranger fit in all of this?

Authored by Liz Strauss
Designed by eBookDesignWorks.com
Foreword by Jane Boyd
Drawings by Jackie Lea Shelley
Cover design or artwork by eBookDesignWorks.com
Consultant editor Richard Balkwill
General editor Jane Boyd
Edition: First Edition

Filed Under: #LizBook, Announcements Tagged With: Anything You Put Your Mind To, GeniusShared Press, Jane Boyd, Liz-Strauss, LizBook

How I changed the story I was telling myself

August 15, 2016 by Jane Boyd

On Stories & Taking Risk

It was another day of meetings — the last — of what had been three full days for an important advisory committee I was serving on. We were in the wrap up stage of the day; the time where each member of the committee was to share key closing thoughts and advice for government officials.

Luckily — or perhaps unluckily — the feedback started at the opposite side of the room. This meant that I would be close to the last to share my thoughts. I knew that I had things to share; critical feedback. Ideas and suggestions that would help the key officials who were there to listen. I believed my words could make a difference.

Yet, as I listened to those who were speaking before me — I became concerned that my feedback would not be “good enough.” Even worse, I began telling myself that there was no way I was as smart or as informed as all the others who were at the same table I was.

By the time, it was my turn to speak — the story I was telling myself — was that my expertise was non existent. And that the words I wanted to share — my words — were of little importance. Amazingly I still, somehow, managed to stumble through my thoughts and get my words out. As I did this, I was overwhelmed with fear. And, silently, I began comparing every word I spoke out loud to all the others words that had already been said. As you might imagine, nothing profound emerged from me. And my words sort of hung in the room with what seemed like an eternal silence, long after the fact. Nobody said anything. In fact, I was sure I saw a few sideways glances between folks. To say it was awful — just doesn’t begin to describe how I felt.

On that day, I left that meeting room with the story I had told myself — that I was not as smart or as informed as all the others — fully cemented in my mind. And guess what? I chose to let that story stick with me — for more than 10 years. It hung over me every time I went into meetings that were with more than a few people. It was with me when I met in team meetings with clients. And when I attended other committees I was also serving on. In time, I began avoiding such meetings — and narrowing my circle of clients — as well as friends and colleagues. I did all this — because of a story I told myself.

I carried that story — and all the subsequent thinking that came with it — until the winter of 2011. It was then; that something happened and that made me realize the story I had been telling myself was a lie. And that I — Jane Boyd — was every bit as smart and informed as the next person — and — that yes, my words and my voice mattered. In fact, they mattered a whole lot.

So — what happened? What made me realize I had been telling myself a story that was a lie?

In hindsight — it seems so simple — but here it is:

I got tired of being quiet. Of not saying what was truly in my mind. So I took a risk.

I decided to stop being quiet.

What followed, set me on a journey that led to me learning about the power of the stories we tell ourselves. And that eventually enabled me to slay a great many of the stories that had been holding me back. The more stories I eliminated and reframed — the stronger my voice and my words became. Not only in person, but in writing too.

The truest stories are the ones that don’t hold you back or keep you quiet. They are the ones that not only empower you — but — reinforce all the good things about the very person you are.

Be brave,

Jane

Put Your Mind to It

Think of a moment when you began telling yourself a particular story.

  • What is the story?
  • Is it beneficial to you?
  • Is it really your true story?

Life affords us the opportunity to keep, reframe or throw away every story we tell ourselves. What do you want to do with this particular story?

More from Successful-Blog. . .

about Stories & Taking Risk

You’re not “just” anything. Dare to dream.

  • by Rosemary O’Neill, Co-Founder/President of Social Strata, Managing Editor of Successful-Blog and GeniusShared community member.

Jane Boyd is a Partner in GeniusShared. She is also the CEO of 45 Conversations Media & Education Ltd, a Canadian education and training company based just outside of Vancouver Canada. She works with educators, business, community and government in the areas of early learning, work-life, community development and employee engagement.

Filed Under: P2020, Personal Development, Sharing Genius Tagged With: risk, story, story we tell ourselves

Trusting myself enough to decide to take the first step

August 1, 2016 by Jane Boyd

Make the decision to take the first step toward claiming your voice.
For more on decisions, trust and claiming your voice — signup for our weekly newsletter.

It started with a decision. And it was a simple decision at that. To park my car and get out. To get out of my car and go in. To go in and meet people. To meet people and share my voice. Yes — to share my voice – with people I didn’t know, at a conference I had never been to before.

Looking back on that day, I realize I learned something very important. Getting to the next place in life always begins with a decision. In my case, I had been quietly hesitant about sharing my voice for a long time. I lacked trust in myself and in what it was that my voice could lend to the world. And because of that I had chosen to circle the block — literally and figuratively — in a great many areas of my life.

Parking the car and getting out was all I needed to do. Get out of the car without stopping or stepping back. Sure — it was easy enough — but in reality it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

From that moment on, I was on a journey. I came to understand that in order to truly share my voice I have to claim it first. And claiming my voice always begins with trusting myself. Trusting myself enough to decide to take the first step.

Put Your Mind to It

Is there anything holding you back from claiming your voice? Are you circling the block in certain parts of your life? The next time you realize you are having difficulty making a decision — challenge yourself to actually decide — especially if it relates to claiming and sharing your voice. Decide to trust yourself.

Related Posts on Decision Making & Trust

Trust is being who you are 

My experience with cliffs and decisions

Filed Under: GeniusShared Newsletter Read, Personal Development Tagged With: claiming your voice, decisions, trusting myself

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