about the word can’t.
In my internal dictionary, can’t has at least four meanings.
can’t: I am facing a roadblock.
can’t: I am powerless.
can’t: I am without the skills.
can’t: I am unwilling.
I wonder how often I know which of my own definitions I’m using.
Can’t is a contraction.
It seems to make me smaller.
DAWUD MIRACLE asked me (and you),
What’s one, core thing that makes your heart sing? Could be anything. But something that really blows your heart wide open.
Aw, Dawud, that’s too easy . . . I love the view from outer space and from inside your computer.
All of my life I’ve been about people. There’s you, Chris, Sandy, Wendy, Lorelle who knows Chrisg, my essential man, Terry, Sean R., Jeff, a BawldGuy Talking, and so many more.
and how they learn. I’ve been teaching since I was ten. Put that together with love of relationships — connections in information and connections between people and you’re getting close to who I am.
Of course I love my family. I love music. I love dancing.
But I’m a saturation kind of a person. I dedicate myself to one thing. When I do something I don’t just pick it up. I don’t get just involved. I go on a quest. What makes my heart beat and gets my head focused is . . . is building things, playing with strategies and concepts, focusing visions, getting rid of the muck and showing folks how to unstuck and helping people chose their customers and attract them.
I especially love helping folks who aren’t sure what they should be doing.
It’s fun to help people discover where their passion lies. I guess it appeals to the a teacher in me. Just let me start with a question. Then I get to do go looking for relationships while I’m listening to another person talking — two of my favorite things.
I keep asking questions and in the words I hear folks describe the people and ideas that they would love to spend their waking hours with.
By the time I start mentioning what I’m observing, I’ve already got a big smile on my face. It’s so fun to say, “hey, did you hear that? It was beautiful what you just said. Did you notice how many times you’ve talked about . . .? You seem to be really into . . .?” And to hear back, “Oh yean, I guess I am.”
That’s when it gets just like two kids playing.
And they call this my work.
How could I not be jazzed!
I that that would be what makes my heart sing.
Everyone else, what makes YOUR heart sing?
And since this is a one2one conversation… to Dawud, (and you too)
What’s the the part of business, besidss relationships, that you look forward to doing more of?
If you’re reading this, I’d love to hear your answer too. –ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.
One2One is a cross-blog conversation. You can see the entire One-2-One Conversation series on the Successful Series page.
We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.
CHRISBROGAN knows where to begin.
Buzzoodle thinks it’s time we take stock.
A Politically Incorrect Entrepreneur has a trick to entertain us, as well as our readers.
ifthenelse has a 50sec clip of their “award-winning gorgeous.” [noun unnecessary]
Spooky Action tells the advantages of adventure mode.
Make It Great! relates a compelling story of power and positivity.
Creative Think has a thirst for (and reviews) the lastest technology.
Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.
Have a great weekend!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
about sunlight through a bedroom window.
It’s a clear memory — sunlight streaming through my bedroom window when I was six years old. I watched for the longest time.
I thought that the dust I saw dancing in the air on that light was coming straight from the sun.
My brother said that dust was everywhere. I didn’t believe him. I believed in what I was seeing.
It was magical — no denying that. Magical things were delivered on rays of sunshine.
Not a bad way to see things.
Designers would say to look in the negative spaces. That’s way too clinical.
I’ll just find one sun ray bringing magical dust from the universe to me.
Magical dust never needs cleaning. It’s healing.
We can make magic just by choosing what we’re seeing and believing.
Every six year old knows that. Wonder if I can do that again . . .
Whether you work at home or in an office, some changes that come from the top — new client, new boss, new owner — might not seem like changes at first, but they are.
When a new “boss†enters your job life, change happens in one fell swoop. No matter how nice, how good, how competent the new entity might be, he, she, or it, isn’t the one from the past. This is important to know.
Doing what worked with the last “commander†could be exactly right again or it could be the most wrong thing you might do. For the sake of making the conversation easier, lets call the new arrival Commander New, a guy (to avoid having to use him, her, or it continuously.)
Everyone will meet Commander New several times in his or her business career. You might play the role a few times yourself. Whenever Commander New comes on the scene, change is the deal. That’s the way it is. An experienced Commander will manage change to a positive end, but every Commander knows that he is a de facto change just by being there. Some will try to share their priorities fast. Some will try to get to know yours first.
When Commander New arrives, you can expect these events.
Some folks don’t realize that any commander who’s been around knows that people are doing this.
Commander New has been asked to assess the new team he has. That means everyone is on a kind of preliminary probation again. New clients of home businesses do this too.
There is no cure for youth, but experience.
Eventually Commander New isn’t new anymore. People know him and what he expects. He knows them and what they’re good at. If you’re still working with The Commander and thriving, you might have a new role with more exciting responsibilities. That would be because you understand.
When the change is a new boss, new client, new owner,
you have just started a new job.
The desk that you sit at and your coworkers might look the same, but the job description is not.
Have you ever gotten a new job in this way, only to find you had to look for a new job? Yeah. Me, too.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.
Authenticity. It’s not easy to be authentic. I wonder whether anyone can. Maybe it’s a self-actualizing quest. Maybe it’s a journey, not a destination.
Yet.
An authentic world of transparent events, where fear of oneself no longer exists, has the potential beauty and productivity of any phenomenon nature ever made.
Yet.
As I look back at those who have walked to their calling, or at the tiny ones I taught who knew their own truth, I see they both found some rocky walking as they made their way along their paths. It’s my experience, too, that as I find my feet — as I know which direction is mine and which place to stand — some folks find it a duty to tell me what my role is and to follow the path that they set.
No.
“Choose wisely. Choose wisely, but choose your own path,” my father said. So did my friends. “Choose not for others, but always hold your choice for yourself.”
The choice is the action. The choice is the hope. The choice is the relationship and the place where you’ll go. The choice is the chance to know your head and your heart as they become your life. It is the choice that honors your self and the people you respect and love.
Only you know which is the right choice.
Say, “no.” When they say, “be someone other.”
Say, “no.” When they ask you to do what they won’t.
Say, “no.” Unless your heart and your head say “this is where my feet need to go.”
Authenticity knows how to choose its own path.
Authenticity is having faith in ourselves.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss