An Entrepreneur’s Life

An Entrepreneur’s Life

It’s the 1st March and I’m wondering what happened to summer. In the past day or so the weather has turned cooler at night. Our cotton blankets suddenly pulled up to our chins at 3am when we feel the autumnal chill.

Every year at this time I feel like I blinked and missed summer. I’ve worked through the last few hot seasons, not pausing for breath. An occasional day off but mostly work while others take well-earned breaks and chill by the pool. For me it’s the joys of the entrepreneurial life that drive me on during these periods. Although joy may not always be apt description.

Being an entrepreneur is hard work. Yes, this is where I would kindly advise another writer to change ‘hard’ to ‘challenging’ as the latter implies that it can be surmounted. The former suggests only difficulty. But sometimes being an entrepreneur is difficult and that is the truth. You need to live, you need to work, you need clients, you need to do your marketing, and on and on it goes.

It is easier to simply work for an organisation but there are costs with that choice too – you become cog in a larger wheel that will continue to turn long after you leave. You will be replaced by another cog. That is not a bad thing. These days it’s rare for anyone to stay in one job for decades. But nevertheless, you will ultimately be replaced as the organisation, an ever-growing organism, continues to expand and you move on.

Periodically, I return to being a cog. In my business it can be feast or famine and sometimes you need the consistency of a J.O.B. to get you through the fallow times.

Being an entrepreneur means you don’t want to be just another cog, instead you want to create something new, something that is yours. Not everyone will understand why you continue to drive yourself when it would be easier to simply slip back into the mainstream, full-time and give your dreams away.

But dreams are precious and when brought into reality, they transform the world and make it so much better than it was before.

If the entrepreneurial spirit flickers in your chest, find ways to stoke the fire, no matter how difficult it gets.

When you feel like it’s hopeless, go back to the source of your creative inspiration and begin again – that is where the ideas and the energy will flourish and be reborn if only you pay attention.

Trust yourself and fall forward into your perceived failures. Keep learning and talking to people about your passions. Rest for a while and take that J.O.B. if you need to and know that you’re allowed to pause and take a breath before you forge ahead again. Be kind to yourself.

Above all, when people tell you it can’t be done or when they treat you as if you are a deluded dreamer, remember this:

Deluded dreamers can change the world when they refuse to believe the realists.  

Lucretia Ackfield is an author, psychic channel, and communications and engagement specialist who helps women to develop epic self-trust and harness their intuition so they can create change and serve humanity.

Your Time Is Now

Your Time Is Now

Whenever I speak to someone who is passionate about their Calling in life – their Mission or Purpose – it is in those moments that the now is transcended and instead a light is shone upon what is possible (not what is probable).

I am sitting in Italy as I write this – a country that has called me back again and again – and one of its most magnetic features is the passion of its people.

Italians for the most part are passionate about life. They are compelled to express themselves verbally, emotionally and physically. The man on the mobile phone, waving his arms around as he sits in the front seat of his car, parked for a moment to better carry on the conversation. The lovers entwined in the parks for all to see. The sister gesticulating and loudly telling off her brother while gathered at a restaurant with family and friends.

It is all passionate self-expression. It is not constrained by sensibility or what others believe you should or must do. No. It is the opposite. It is an all out, hands waving, emotions flowing, words crashing through the maze of any pretense of mediocrity.

It was this passion that first pulled me into Italy’s grasp. Like a sorcerer’s potion, it was the passion for life and expression that bewitched me and held me fast. And as I wandered around town today I remembered my initial attraction, the spell I was placed under oh so many years ago. I recalled why passion is significant, transformative and so incredibly important.

When you have passion, you can transform the impossible into the miraculously self-evident; you can find a way through that others do not see; and you can move a person, a community or the world to an entirely new level of consciousness about an issue.

In so many ways we seem to avoid this passion. It has no real place to reside in a world where we seek to control what we do, what others do and how we live. Control is the enemy of passion.

But passion is the engine that transforms indifference to compassion. It is the lifeblood that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Passion has stopped repression, lifted scientific discoveries beyond the known, and has created change where there was only stagnation of hearts and minds.

For me, passion resides in Italy. But I know it is elsewhere too. I have seen it; glimpsed it in random conversations with strangers, new acquaintances and friends who want to change the world and make it better. But too often it is dampened down by desires for acceptance, fear of judgement, a simple lack of emotional support or devaluing of self.

But the ones with passion are the ones I am passionate about. I see you all. I feel your desire for change and the stymying of your gifts as you try to twist yourself into molds of another’s making.

I call ENOUGH!!

Enough of making yourself small. It’s time to let your Soul fly and your Passion breathe. It’s time for you to change your world. Start small, think big. It is possible if you believe, if you try, if you unleash what resides within you.

Your passionate self-expression is needed, craved by a world that sometimes seems to be sliding into an abyss of mediocrity, ignorant leadership and a compassion deficit of epic proportions. When I look around, I see what is wrong and I ask, “Where are they? Where are those who are willing to rise up and change the world? When will they start?”

You are the “they” I speak of. If you read this and you feel the call, it is you.

Cast out all the pain and suffering and rejection of before. Pull out every single arrow that has pierced your heart and throat and self-worth. Pull them out and throw them to the ground to be absorbed back into the earth.

It’s time for you to show your passion again. It’s time for you to rise and do what you came to do. Your Soul is ready and the Universe is calling you on.

It’s time for your passion to fuel the changes we need today. Not tomorrow, not next week, next year or the next decade. It’s time now.

Bring your passion, bring your desire, bring your love and let all else fall away. It is time.

It is you.

It is now.

If you are ready to vanquish those obstacles that have been blocking Your Path and Your Calling then it’s time for us to work together. My intensive, three-month program Rock Your Inner Channel, is designed to help you clear out your energetic blocks and the negative, untrue stories that are holding you back, connect to your intuition and step into YOUR DIVINE LIFE PURPOSE.

ARE YOU READY TO LIVE YOUR PASSION?

Self-discovery: What if I go inside and there’s nothing there?

Self-discovery: What if I go inside and there’s nothing there?

‘What if I go inside and there’s nothing there?’ a good friend asked me today. She’s on the edge of making a major change in her career and knows she needs to go within to get clear about what she truly wants to do. But she’s terrified that she won’t find anything inside. ‘What if I can’t work out what I want?’ she added. ‘What if I can’t do it?’

When she asked me these questions I had a flashback to myself a few years ago when I asked someone else the same questions about me. I too was on the edge of a whole lot of change in my life and truly beginning my journey of self-awareness. I too was terrified that, if I began looking inside myself, there would be nothing but an echoing void.

Fortunately, I discovered there was something inside and it was ‘me’. What’s followed is a journey of self-exploration that is liberating, exhausting and brings many insights about who I am and what I’m on this planet to do.

‘There is something inside,’ I told my friend. ‘It’s you. And she is a beautiful person who is just being a little suffocated because you won’t give her any air. So go within and get to know her because she’s fabulous.’ I also shared my story with her as well.

A lot of us can be too scared to look at ourselves closely. We’ll worry there’s nothing inside or that we’ll uncover parts of ourselves we don’t like. We’ll worry that if we bring those deepest parts of us into the light then we’ll have to take some action and do what we truly want to do…and that might change how things are.

I won’t lie, some of those things will probably happen. You will have to look at the shadowy parts of yourself and acknowledge they are part of who you are (then ‘get real’ on how to manage them). And yes, if you bring those things you truly desire into the light then you will probably need to make some changes. You will feel compelled to do so because you’ll realise you can’t stay where you are. These things will make you feel uncomfortable, unsettled and may upset people who want you to stay the way you’ve always been.

But the journey is really worth it because there are so many positives that come from the experience too. For example, you’ll start to understand what truly makes you happy and will make choices that align with those things. You’ll also connect more strongly with those lighter parts of you that bring so much joy into the world. You’ll be challenged but you’ll grow more than you ever thought possible.

And above all, you will discover (as I have) that there definitely is something inside…and it’s you.

Would you like some support during your voyage of self-discovery? My intuitive mentoring program can help get you started.

The Students

thumbI love them at that age
The uni age.

They stand on the edge of possibilities
Earnest, cavalier, hopeful, dedicated, struggling
Peering into the yawning chasm before them
And mostly, eagerly
Stepping, jumping even, into the depths.

Of course they are, like many adults
Stalked by their insecurities
But usually, hopefully, life’s petty blows
Have not yet pulled them down
Into permanent jaded perspectives
Reliant on cynical world views
And embedded resistance to change.

Some feel the weight of choices
Indecision chases their every move
Not wanting to make a mistake, they stall
Sway a little in place
At each turning
This way?
Is this the way to go?

And what of their peers
Their influence positive and negative
Within moments
Competitiveness, support, undermining
Pressure to conform and pressure to be different
Which way?
Which choice?

Choices between the ‘cool’ or the ‘interesting’
Accepted paths and grooves
Or revolution.

What to wear
What to say
Who to be

Group pressure
Sometimes unhealthy
Yet insidiously active
Glimpsed on the edges
Before it slips back into the shadows
Taking its discontent with peace along with it.

And the teachers watching on
What of them?

Come to class
Believe
Seriously, come to class already
Get off your phones and talk to people
The answers to life aren’t on a screen
They’re in your hearts and minds
Create your life
You’re not sheep in a yard jostling for expected position

Talk to strangers
Don’t be shy
Try new stuff
Travel
Open your eyes
This moment will ever come again
So look up
See the possibilities in front of you
They’re right there

Step
Believe
Trust
Reach for it
Move
Believe
It’s possible
It’s true.

I believe in you.

What to do when it’s not working

doing it wroWe can all have those times when things grind to a standstill. We will have plans that aren’t coming to fruition, hopes that aren’t being realised, our creativity will have crashed and burned, and we’re running but making no forward progress at all. It will feel like nothing is working.

It can be really challenging to keep up your motivation and I’ve uncovered a few tricks to help me in these times of need so I thought I’d share them with you today.

  1. Go outside and move your body. Sitting at your desk and glaring at your computer screen with frustration will not force your creativity to appear. Instead your creativity will wander off on its own to have a cup of tea elsewhere. Feeling the sun on your face will remind you how wonderful the natural world is and moving your body will get you out of your head (where over-thinking reigns supreme).
  2. Help someone else. When you feel like your stuff isn’t working, no matter how you try, it’s probably a good time to help someone else. It’s a true maxim that what you get is what you give in this world. So go out there and give just because you can. You’ll make someone else’s life easier and helping someone is a reward in itself.
  3. Take a different perspective. If things are stagnating then maybe you’re just doing it wrong. Take the time to step back and look at your situation from a different perspective. Consider if there is a completely new approach you could take. Ask someone else for their opinion if you think it will help. It could be your roadblock is actually forcing you to get on the right track in another direction.
  4. Take a creativity break and fill up your well. We all have activities that fill us up and make our souls sing. For me, I can walk into an art gallery, read a good book or wander through a library and instantly feel more centred, peaceful and happy. These things don’t cost me a cent either! So if you’re stuck, stop hitting your head against the brick wall (you’re just going to hurt yourself) and do something that fills your soul. Gift yourself an hour or an entire day to do that thing. I guarantee you will come back feeling refreshed and a lot calmer about the situation.
  5. The timing is wrong. Sometimes we’ll really want something to happen but the timing will just be wrong. And it won’t matter what you do, it just won’t happen when you want it to. So, if you’ve done everything you can and it’s still not happening, let it sit. Go and do something else for a while. Things happen when they’re supposed to.

I’m off for a creativity break now!

Is it time to believe in your dream?

DreamsA few days ago I wrote about committing to your dream; making a commitment to yourself about the thing you desire in order manifest it in your life. After all, if you’re not committed to creating that eventuality, it’s never going to show up.

I also suggested that, in order to manifest that thing, you must believe it’s possible. You must believe it, even if all your previous life experiences tell you otherwise.

This is a big call to make.

What if you’ve watched other people try to create what you want, and they’ve failed? How can you think you’ll be any different?

That is the trick though, isn’t it? If you think about the great inventors or leaders of history, they surely looked around at others who had tried before and didn’t make it. Consider Nelson Mandela, a freedom fighter who believed in peace and that apartheid in South Africa could eventually end. How many times was he told, ‘It’s not possible. The odds are too great.’ Yet this one man was instrumental in ending that repression because he believed it was possible.

Consider Leonardo da Vinci. He believed humans could fly and I’m pretty sure he was told repeatedly that it wasn’t possible. Yet today our skies are filled with planes transferring their precious human cargo from one landing strip to the next. Da Vinci believed it was possible and, although he only drew the sketches in his lifetime, today those flying machines are a reality.

Many of us may be persuaded to abandon our dreams because of what other people say and believe. We can think our dreams are unrealistic because it’s all been done before and people have failed.

But if you want to manifest something in your life, you must believe it’s possible even if other people tell you that you’re deluded. You must believe in it with all your heart. There are no half measures with this stuff. You must back yourself 100 percent if you wish to manifest this thing in your life.

And it doesn’t matter what your dream is. It could be big or small. Maybe you want to travel to a foreign country before you die, work in that dream job everyone tells you that you’re not good enough for, or maybe you want to create a home for yourself just the way you like it. Or perhaps it’s to find that one person who makes you feel loved in every part of your soul.

Whatever your dream, whatever your desire, you must believe it’s possible.

So if you want that thing, if you really, really want it, first make that commitment to yourself. Then believe it is possible.

And after that, follow the signs the Universe sends you.