How to Know If It's Time To Pivot

How to Know If It's Time To Pivot ©2017 Joan M. Newcomb, CPC

You know when things just suck and you want to throw in the towel? Or maybe you're at a breaking point. Or maybe you are done, like, "stick a fork in me, I'm done!" kind of done.

Or maybe you've been stuck in indecision, or maybe you're stuck in persistence. That is, trying so hard for so long, but not wanting to give up trying.

How do you know if you need to keep slogging at it, or pivot in another direction?

Sometimes decisions require immediate action, and sometimes a solution needs to emerge.

Several months ago I felt like I was at a turning point. I felt burned out with what I was doing. I was wondering whether to quit this and become a hospice chaplain. I'd actually applied for chaplaincy training back in 2001 and backed out at the last minute. It's something I could do now, as a 'real world job' that wouldn't take the same energy my current calling requires. Or so I thought.

Then I got chosen to give a talk at Ignite Seattle,  out of *lots* of applicants. Which felt like a nudge to continue.

Ignite Seattle happened just before a scheduled trip to Europe to visit my son, so I decided to let my decision "float" while I was gone. I thought I'd get inspiration while I was on vacation.

Instead, I came back to the same issue. The same feeling of burnout and frustration.

And then this week my 15 year old Corgi was diagnosed with cancer and we've been doing doggie home hospice for her. It's brought up a ton of feelings from 2013 when I helped our other dog, and both my parents, each die at home. And I got really clear about that part of the decision.

Emma dying on my kitchen floor helps me shut that door. No way do I want to work in hospice. Or hospitals, actually. So ditch that idea (what was I thinking)?!?

This reminds me of times where something happens that is the turning point, the straw that breaks the camel's back, when I wouldn't have let go or given up until then.

So instead of doing a summer chaplaincy training, I'm midwifing my dog to spirit. That's requiring a lot of focus, but it won't need to be sustained for a long time.

I still get energized by speaking and teaching, I'm still passionate about helping people transform. But the way I've been doing it needs to change.

In the old days a door would have slammed shut. In the old days bridges would have burned.

Navigating in this new Consciousness, is a more gentle way. Simply releasing the past and allowing the new path to appear.

So if you're struggling, if you feel like you are spinning your wheels, if you are stuck in a traffic jam or hitting a brick wall, stop. You don't have to blow up the blocks.

Just step back and let the scenario change. Or step into a parallel universe where it's already different.

Act Before You're Ready

Act Before You're Ready ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I'm scheduling Meetups in December and January and, boy, am I exhausted! Which is pretty funny, because I haven't left my desk all day.

When you plan to do something, a part of you goes out and does it. As Consciousness you're not fettered by time and space so anything you imagine you instantaneously experience - as Consciousness.

Visualization is great but another step needs to happen.

In actually scheduling these meetups (as opposed to just thinking about them), I've set an intention and set energy in motion for them to actually happen. As Consciousness I can go everywhere, do anything, be anything, but nothing comes into form unless action is taken.

In order for us to expand into a new experience, we have to move beyond our comfort zone.  We don't do that if we wait until we are ready. We'll never be ready when we stay where we are.

Giving ourselves a deadline, putting it on our calendar, provides an anchor point for the manifestation to happen. It also initiates inner growth.

We don't have to be ready when we schedule something. We'll be ready when it happens.

Don't let fear deter you. Our bodies feel fearful of the future, because they only exist in the present moment.  Non-existence equals death to bodies, so when we try to drag them into our future planning, they feel like they're gonna die!

Don't let your mind take you out. You brain has a collection of cells responsible for organizing your life, and holds such boundaries like 'don't cross the street without holding your mom's hand'.  You may be 56 years old, but your mind is still trying to keep you safe that way.  It will come up with all sorts of reasons why it's a bad idea, especially if you are taking a bold step towards happiness and freedom.

This doesn't mean you have to leap without looking, or dive in without any preparation (although that tends to be my way of doing things; I'm going title my autobiography 'Belly-Flopping Through Life')!
You can plan before you're ready, too.

Great visions are just grandiose dreams without solid plans of actions.  But you can paralyze yourself by wanting to do things perfectly.  Nobody ever leapt out of the womb tap dancing. We all had to crawl before we walked. Sometimes you just have to get started.

"Imperfect action beats perfect inaction every time." Harry Truman

As you've been reading this, ideas have been running through your mind. Books you want to write, career changes you want to explore, countries you'd like to visit.

Get started.  Do the first step. Take the first micro-action.  Put it on your calendar, research it on the internet. Start to make it real.

Try this for the next 7 days and see what happens!

The Pow in Power

The Pow in Power ©2014 Joan M. Newcomb

Years ago, when I was in my 20's, I got into a conversation with an old man (who must have been in his 40's).  I was taking a women's meditation class, and I said to him, 'women have twice as much energy as men'!

He responded with a story about how he'd been able to push someone across the room with the force of energy from his hands.

And there you have it.

What I'd learned in my class was that female bodies generate twice as much energy as men.  They're biologically programmed to create entire other bodies.

He'd heard it as twice a powerful, and told a story of how he was able to exert external power.

Two different perspectives on how to use energy.

Women can create bodies from within their bodies, for another being.  There's a natural merging that occurs for a few years, while the being figures out how to operate the new body.  But at some point that being gets to move forward without help.

Energy held within your own space (regardless of the gender of your body) is more energetically powerful than energy focused outside your space, into someone else's space.

It's easy to think that someone with external influence is more powerful.  Someone who is very loud, will seem to have control over the environment.  People who 'throw energy' can appear powerful when you're on the receiving end of their whack.

Inner power is often not recognized by those involved with external power games.  It appears as a soft power.

Inner power is strength and stability.  It is having your own authority and seniority around those playing games.

It is holding your own power while giving space to others going through difficult times, in "weakened" positions.

Sometimes the most powerful action is not using your power at all.

Things to think about as we move forward into this New Year and time.