Your Sacred Space
By Cindy Ashton
We all experience some degree of stress, fear or worry on a daily basis - these monsters may be stopping you from living your most fulfilled life. If you have done a lot of spiritual work already, you are probably already aware of them but may need to go deeper to release them quicker. If you are at the beginning of your path to living consciously, those monsters may be huge and you may not even be aware of them. Creating time to be still and connect with ourselves is key in helping us hear our thoughts, recognize our feelings and take immediate positive action.
We truly house all the knowledge and power within ourselves to find the guidance and answers we are seeking to kiss those monsters! Many of us though (myself included at times), struggle to create that sacred time and space needed. Here are the top reasons why:
- We don't trust ourselves enough to follow that quiet but strong and still voice within.
- We are afraid to face ourselves. If we are present, then we are forced to hear our thoughts, feelings, fears, prejudices, anger, self criticism, etc. As a result, we keep distracted. We always have someone around us (kids, partner, co-worker) or keep ourselves busy - we always have something to do. Even when eating, cleaning or doing something where we can be in the moment, we make sure the radio is on or we are on the phone.
I know some of you are resisting finding your sacred space so here is the deal...there will always be challenges and monsters that will need releasing. You have 2 choices:
- Ignore your sacred space and continue to have the same patterns, worries and fears repeating in your life. Stay stuck, always longing for a better life, with the same crap happening over and over.
- Go within your sacred space and be willing to listen. Be honest with yourself and you will discover the root of your monsters and patterns. Although it may be tough to face at times, you will be able to release what is blocking the path to your greatest life. As time goes by and you continue to face yourself, you will notice miracles happen in your life.
You may think you lack the courage to really go within but you are already acting courageously everyday with your current challenges. Now all you need to do is be willing to shift where you direct your courage. Just being born gives you the divine right to be on this planet. You have all the infinite supply within yourself. I believe in you. Now choose to make that shift if you haven't already.
For now, simply notice your patterns - are you always busy, do your trust yourself to go within, do you make sure to find that sacred space?
Next article will be tools to develop moment to moment presence and sacred space.
Building Your Success Team
By Cindy Ashton
Interview any super-successful person and they will tell you that they have a success team behind them - also known as a mastermind group. Similar to friends in that we have them to share our lives and call in times of need and happiness, this group is a powerhouse of resources and support, helping you to achieve your desires.
What is Mastermind Team?
A group of 5-6 people who meet on a weekly or bi-weekly basis whose mission is to help each other create outrageous success in all areas of their lives. They could also do conferences calls. In each meeting, specific time is allotted to focus on each person's needs.
What happens in the meetings?
- Brainstorming Solutions: Imagine having all those brilliant and creative minds coming up with solutions to any blocks or problems you are encountering. It is great to get the feedback of others who often see things from an outside perspective - something you may not see when you are caught up in situation. It is easy to create excuses as to why you can not when you are trying to accomplish a huge goal. The mastermind group is there to brainstorm how you can achieve what you desire - stretching you beyond your limited box of what you know.
- Celebrating Success: It feels great to share successes and be celebrated as it strengthens our confidence and self esteem. It is great to know that you have a group of people who are genuinely thrilled for you when you accomplish something.
- Creating Accountability: After brainstorming the solution and coming up with an action plan as a group, you may sometimes feel afraid to follow through. If you know that you have people to report to and who will hold you accountable, you will most likely take that action. And if you don't, then at the next meeting the group can help you discover what is blocking you or perhaps brainstorm a better action plan for you.
What makes a great team?
- People who are trustworthy and will honour confidentiality.
- When someone is blocked, a group that will respond from a place of compassion and non-judgment and are willing to be lovingly yet brutally honest.
- Each person should bring a different strength and skill set to the team. They need to be more successful than the others in some way so they can pull the rest of the group up to their level in that aspect. For example, one person may be money savvy and can teach others about this part; another may be super creative and bring fresh ideas; another may have excellent marketing know how, etc.
- People who want to genuinely see each other succeed. In other words, they have worked on their issues and won't be behaving with jealously or competitively.
How do you find your dream team?
You want to make sure you have the right team so take your time. It took me 6 months to find mine. I don't think there is a magic formula for this. I would suggest that you look at the people you already know and go through your rolodex. Look online for networking events, go out and meet new people. As you do this, list the people who seem to be positive, focused and ambitious. Review the qualities of what a great team is and ask yourself who would be the best fit. Perhaps one of the people you recruit may have people they know that would fit in as well. You may discover that you find a group and then do some adjustments - subbing people in and out until the perfect team develops.
Watch out for the pitfall...
A mastermind group is not there to solve your problems and save you. They are there to support you and get you to achievement at a quicker rate. You still need to be willing to do the inner work and take the action. If you are in the victim stage in your life and are looking for saviours, you will attract a group of people like you. Guess what happens? ALL of you will be stuck in that stage and end up feeding each other's neediness. So make sure you are looking for a success team for the right reasons.
***Check out Chapter 46 (mastermind your way to success) in Jack Canfield's The Success Principles if you want even more detail! It is an outstanding book.
