Focus: Your "How"

Musing…

“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Charise’s Turn:

There’s a lot of talk about knowing your “why”, which is a useful way to talk about what drives you. However, in coaching training, we are steered away from asking “why” and encouraged to look at “what" and “how". “Why” is looking for an answer, and that answer needs more inquiry with “how”. For example, say the “why” of my interest in publishing poetry is to gain credibility as a poet. “How does that serve me?” “How does that align with my values?” “How important is credibility to me?” Okay, now I have to dig deeper. I believe credibility will give me more opportunity to write and to share my writing and to connect with other poets. Basically, I’m an outsider in the field – I’m not in the academic circle, my masters degrees are not in Poetry or English, and I’ve spent the last thirty years of my life in the helping profession. 

Surprised that my mother is showing up in this blog, but here she is: she once told me that if you believe in something strongly enough, it will happen. Magical thinking? I must admit as a nine year old, I thought she meant power or spell casting, but something about the way she said it sounded true. There’s a value in her statement – a value in the possibility of change, about how it’s possible to organize your energy and desire in a pointed way to make change. I’ve made a chink in the wall of the established poetry world with the acceptance of my stanza in The American Scholar. I’m not discouraged by other rejections on submissions; I trust my muse and the forcefulness of her wish to have a voice.

Get Fired Up:

If there is something you want, ask yourself: "how do I know this is what I want?" and “how is this important?” You may not have answers right away. Allow reflection, carry the questions with you for a while, jot down what surfaces. Knowing your "how" will give you know-how to succeed.

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