Growth

Growth is a return on the investments of patience and nurturing that occurs every second of each day. Growth happens so slowly in the present moment, yet so quickly when reflected upon.

Photo by: Autumn Mott Rodeheaver @autumnmott

Making a plan or setting a goal is filled with hopefulness and provides a sense of being in control. Once a plan is put into action the momentum is alive with small positive achievements leading the way. What happens next can be a breaking point as things begin shifting around and the efforts start taking shape. Why is this so uncomfortable? The past may be the answer. Fear sabotages many starting points that were put into action only to get squashed before any results could transpire. Think back to a time when you backed out of or quit something and got zero or worse results from when you started. Staying uncomfortable being out of full control will lead to an, “I’ll take my toys and go home,” reaction. This moment is an opportunity to practice patience and trust in the whole process. It can be stressful to remain uncomfortable for what feels like an eternity, but the alternative would be never seeing the outcome of your intentions and efforts. Imagine if you ripped seeds from the ground before they had time to germinate, no flowers or goals met. The growth process includes the setbacks that will occur and create delays in your expected timeframe. Use this phrase to get through these rough moments, “Right now, as the process is working for me and because of me, I am feeling discouraged as the natural balance wavers back and forth. I have to be comfortable with what seems like a setback to benefit from the growth. I promise myself to see it through with patience and trust in the myself and the process.”

Financial Wellness

Photo by: Pawel Czerwinski @pawel_czerwinski

Creating a financial plan is gobbledygook wrapped in gibberish to a right brainer. I cannot confess how many times I’ve called a financial institution and prefaced my call with an apology and a warning that they are dealing with a creative person, so they will need lots of patience.

Of course the goal is to be debt free, have an emergency fund, a retirement fund, investments, property(ies) and spend less than you earn, oh yeah, and don’t forget to pay yourself and donate a percentage to charitable causes. Did I get it all? It should have been imperative to learn healthy financial management in school. Sadly, it’s a life skill could save lives, literally. Going dark for a minute. Financial issues contribute to a high number of suicide deaths each year. We learn our money management skills from our upbringing. If our guardians had poor money management or used limiting terms such as; “we can’t afford that,” “what do you think I’m made of money,” or “money doesn’t grow on tree.” If you’ve heard any of those statements growing up and developed healthy financial habits, then you should be very proud of yourself. You broke a generational cycle that could have plagued your descendants.

The most important first step in creating financial wellness is to understand your relationship with money.

• How it makes you feel, what does your inner voice say when the topic of money arises in conversations and how does money impact your life on a daily basis?

• What words surrounding money did you hear as a child? Are your behaviors with money self-sabotaging or did you make a hard pact with yourself as a young person to create wealth and never worry about money?

• Do you see money as an energetic exchange?

Writing out these answers will help to work through any residual mental money issues. The answers that come out on paper may surprise you and most likely expose some areas that need fine tuning on your financial planning. Financial wellness is a work in progress regardless of how much you currently have or not. Find gratitude for everything you posses in this very moment and know that your quality of life is not defined by your bank statements and upward facing arrows. It’s rich in the love you have for your family and friends and the memories created. Yes, money makes life easier, however, if you’re happy, you’re happy rich or poor.

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MORE GOOD STUFF:

• Financials for Creatives is a financial coaching website I found that deserves further exploring. I love how Jenny gears her financial coaching toward the creative entrepreneur.

• The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-8255 available 24 hours.

Maintenance & Growth

Photo by: Markus Spiske @markusspiske

Maintenance, plateaus and stillness between growth spurts are essential to every process.

Each of these phases provides opportunities for rest and changes to occur. Patience has a shining moment to be activated or cultivated. Trust in any process’ twists and turns will keep you present at each stage and open to for growth. Embrace all of the phases because the end game is comprised of the shortest lived segment of an entire process.

Expansion

EXPANSION

Photo by: Kyle Glenn @kyleglenn

Expansion can been seen, felt and experienced in an emotional sense. Those qualities make discussing and describing expansion so much easier. In this instance, expansion is going to identify an emotion that leads to an absolute YES, straight from the gut. Sometimes we are asked to do a favor we find unpleasant and say a verbal yeah when our full bodies scream no. Why do we do this? It may be that we want to help and be a good friend so we “take one for the team” either returning the favor or assuming it will be returned when you need something. It could also be part people pleaser tendency, which will be a much longer post for a different day. If it’s the latter, start with some reformed people pleasing training wheels and say, “I’ll get back to you after I check my schedule,” to stall for more time. This will provided you some time to create a compromise or come up with another creative solution where you feel good about helping while rather than inconvenienced. No one wants to feel bitter while doing a nice thing for someone.

Back to expansion with a resounding, YES! When we are faced with a question or decision that require action, taking time to pause is essential. Taking a moment to pause and tune into how the body feels is important for staying true to who we are and living from our hearts. Check in with the all-knowing gut for final answers before blurting out a begrudged “yes.” Let’s keep our heads up high and consider our needs and wants rather than handing over our personal autonomy so quickly. During an expansive yes, the chest, face and shoulders physically expand as if the sun is pulling us up in a gravity defying movement. It’s a great feeling and sensation. Let’s have more of these expansive yeses.