Integrity First, Strategy Second

Like a thunderbolt to the psyche, those four words.

I wish I could take credit for them, but I heard them in an interview between Kate Swoboda and Danielle LaPorte last year (at about 12:19, if you're wondering). They jumped out at me; I've had them on my whiteboard ever since.

Integrity first, strategy second.

~ Danielle LaPorte

Whether you're sitting in a corporate cube, struggling to get your business off the ground, or managing a Fortune 500 company: integrity first, strategy second.

At least in my book, naïve as it may be.

I'm in the midst of a regroup, a refocus of sorts. I've been coveting strategy for the past several months, trying to ship out, write good copy, come up with a good minimum viable product, essentially, make money.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money, nor is there anything wrong with wanting to ship out, write copy, or develop a minimum viable product. In fact, I still intend to do all of those.

To fulfill my personal definition of meaningful work, they must be built on a solid foundation of truth – my truth (notice I didn't say the truth, here). So I'm taking a bit of a step back to make sure that's what's happening.

Integrity first, strategy second.

Woman Sitting, Blue (prints available here)

Living my truth in business means extending parts of me in a way that sits well in my gut, if you'll pardon the visual. In a way that feels right.

It means providing the best content I can provide – whether that's on my blog, my online shop or to my mailing list, and being the best colleague/acquaintance/service provider/collaborator/person I can be.

It doesn't mean I avoid selling or marketing my products, or strategy altogether for that matter. It means I do it deliberately, picking and choosing the pieces of the formula that work for me and replacing the ones that don't with something else.

Integrity first, strategy second. It means all of that.

Thank you Ms LaPorte for articulating it so succinctly.

~~~

If you haven't entered my bloggiversary giveaway yet, there may still be time! The deadline is 6pm EST, Tuesday, January 29th. Enter here for a chance to win a print of your choice from the shop.

On stillness, work, and insights...

Bit by bit I'm getting increasingly clear insights on the projects and products I'd like to create this year to continue the work transition I started in 2011*. I'm not sure they'll all come to fruition, but I certainly can't deny their presence.

* For all posts related to my work transition journey, click here.

Words, titles, and images are asking to be acknowledged.

tea and candlelight: tools for creative biz planning

One morning journalling session produced an outline for an entire online course or program; another revealed an idea for a new booklet. An evening dedicated to business planning saw me complete the sentence "2013 will be the year that..." with "... I create and submit a book proposal."

WTF?

I also keep coming back to a series of mantras, or tenets, to guide my creative biz work this year. These are short phrases I can't seem to shake, so for now I'm choosing to go with them. (Stay tuned for another post, specifically on these tenets.)

The moral of this story, you ask? Two things jump out at me:

Insights, guidance and even more prodding questions come when we take time to be still, ask the questions, listen for the answers, and acknowledge them.

Some insights call for swift movement and adrenalin-filled action; others may ask for a more gentle approach, with more value gained by letting them percolate, or taking small, next right actions to see what unfolds.

Either way, we move forward.

~~~

What practices do you have in place to receive insight and guidance?

Are any of your ideas or projects calling for quick completion? On the flip side, are any of them calling for a more gentle approach?

Work Transition Checkpoint: Just Over a Year In (In Which I Allow Myself Space to Regroup)

As she gazed into the distance she stood vulnerable
yet solid in her knowing that good things were to come.

(available in print and card formats in the shop)

~~~

I feel a sense of optimism and renewal.

I am buoyed by my writings at this time last year, where the options were endless and the excitement high.

I am regrouping, re-evaluating, re-dreaming. Readying myself for renewed focus in the new year.

It feels good. It feels right.

Work Transition Checkpoint: 11 & 1/2 Months In (In Which I Discover a Limiting Core Belief)

The other day I caught myself smack dab in the middle of a limiting core belief. When chatting with my sister about how I'd successfully used one of my productivity tips back at the office (I'm back three days a week after a year away), I exclaimed "Yeah, isn't it cool that it works in the real world too?"

Um, real world?

Wow.

All this time, during my work transition, it seems I still held a belief that a 9-5 job was the real world, which means that the opposite, the soul-supporting work I'm trying to create, must be the unreal - or dream - world.

I dug deeper and realized that I carry negative connotations for both:

real world = practical, pragmatic, soul-sapping, not fun, paying my dues, grind, responsible, fulfilling an obligation, struggle, weighty, the only viable option...

dream world = flighty, irresponsible, unrealistic, a passing phase, unfounded, unsustainable, escape, narcissistic, money is no object - nor is it necessary, free pass, temporary...

Whoa.

I am so ready to let go of that.

I came up with another kind of world that might serve me better:

true world = grounded, intuitive, self-sustaining (including financially), soul-supporting, aware, believing in possibility AND responsibility (not either/or), taking action, introspective, fostering growth through challenge, ease and flow, dreaming big, understanding my current circumstances, stretching out of my comfort zone, being present, making choices that feel right, contribution...

I could go on.

Mm. Yes, I suspect I'll like living in a true world much better.

The journey continues...

~~~

When you hear the term real world, what comes to mind? What about dream world?

What would a true world look like for you?

Where I'm At

"She didn't always know what the Universe was trying to tell her, but she trusted it,

knowing that it was perfectly stitched together, just for her."

(prints available here, cards here)

I have three draft posts ready to go, but none of them seems fitting. Instead, I offer you a glimpse into my headspace these days. Thank you for letting me indulge.

~ I am drawn to images, colour and space. To visuals that entice me to step inside and get lost in the breath of possibility and the surreal.

~ I feel a need to let my right brain take over for a while and give my left brain a rest. I feel called to soften my approach: less striving, more unfolding.

~ I want to make art and make it available, to deliver colour to those who seek it.

~ I want to be still, and receive. During the past three weeks, I've added a meditation practice of sorts to my morning pages ritual. It's provided me with insights - some practical, some bewildering, all welcome.

~ I feel an urge to express myself in words and images: time at the art table and at the keyboard, braindumps of words and ideas flowing from my fingertips. So many things are bubbling at the surface.

~ I am not sure how to deal with my return to 9-5 work, three days a week. I welcome the promise of a paycheck. I fear the break in freedom of time and space that I've enjoyed during the past 11 months.

~ I am taking stock, re-visiting my priorities, solidifying my definition of meaningful work, making sure that what I am building supports the life I want to create overall.

~ I trust that all will be well. Deeply.