MEMES IN YOUR MAP Why does or doesn't drawing pictures of the things you want more of, help you manifest them in your life, AND how can you accelerate that process? This is my ultimate quest: make change easier.  I downloaded Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's new book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention and he is examining what creativity is and how you can enhance it in yourself and your workplace. In the early part of his book he talks about memes and how they influence and alter a domain (like music, science, art) and subsequently shift culture. He writes, "Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one. And the definition of a creative person is: someone whose thoughts or actions change a domain, or establish a new domain. It is important to remember, however, that a domain cannot be changed without the explicit or implicit consent of a field responsible for it."  His theory is that new ideas change and alter the environment in which they are created, but only if they are adopted by that domain's field. I became fascinated with this idea when applying his theory to the Vision to Reality maps you and I have been drawing to help us make change. In my most recent TEDxRainier salon talk, an audience member asked, "You talk about the things that do change, but what about the ones that you want to happen, that don't?" I started thinking... what if your brain is one of these "domains" that Mihaly is describing?  If your brain isn't tricked into adopting that new reality you want, it won't embed itself into the culture. On a recent map I drew after I had landed in Portland, in my desired new reality side, there were "new partners" & "keynotes in EU, China or exotica" (aka exotic places).  I also wrote and drew a "new studio person", because I left my secret weapon, Scott Ward, in Seattle. ;-( and he's pretty busy now with his new store, so I have to face the fact that I need someone local. Let's talk about the results, just two weeks later. Speaking in exotic places? New Zealand emailed (CHECK!) and Francine Read here in Oregon has out of the blue started beating the bushes for local and national speaking work. Someone turned me on to OYF, an awesome interactive training company here, so looks like I'll be meetings some potential new partners. (CHECK!) That brings us to the studio artist. I have complete interference here. So this meme is not yet being adopted by the culture of my brain. DO YOU have things you say you want in your life or your work, that you haven't firmly adopted?  I thought so.  SO..What NOW? Unpack that meme.  On a new piece of paper, look at this one element.  Look at what's happening now (in words and pictures on the left side of your paper) what's challenging, what's going well with your progress with it. Then ask yourself, "How do I want this to be different 3 months from today, best case scenario?"  Draw and write it out on the right side of that paper.  Then close your eyes and ask, "What's the boldest step I can take to get myself from here to there?"  See what you learn.  Send me YOUR RESULTS! "Today many American corporations spend a great deal of money and time trying to increase the originality of their employees, hoping thereby to get a competitive edge in the marketplace. But such programs make no difference unless management also learns to recognize the valuable ideas among the many novel ones, and then finds ways of implementing them." - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Uh yah.  I'm guessing the same goes for your work world.  HAPPY AUTUMN!     ICE BREAKER DRAW YOUR AVATAR Tired of same old introductions? Ask that group of people to draw their avatar and add a super power or stupor power (something that in a facilitated session puts them into a stupor) as their opening check in.  #superfun TEDXRAINIER SALON ULTIMATE VOLUNTEERISM Just a big shout out to Andre Golard & TEAM! The TEDx events are a fantastic way to find out about new ideas and people like Andre put in dedicated hours to make these rock. #thanksvolunteers! SHOUT OUT CORNER THANKS FOR COMING Without an audience...it would be one hand clapping Thanks for coming toTEDxRainier Salon

SURPRISE YOURSELF THIS YEAR This month I have met the most amazing people, some I expected to meet and others, wow, just showed up. CHILDREN'S STOREFRONT At the edge of Harlem is a school where I went to teach Visual Goal Setting two weeks ago, to the students in grades 2nd - 8th. I met the Board President in a restaurant in upstate NY, in one of those "chance encounters" while working for PepsiCo.  He asked if I would come teach his students my process.  So I volunteered to go and it was a complete BLAST! That's not to say it was not challenging,  In a radio interview with the ever fabulous Serene Mastrianni fromRadio2Women, she asked what did I hope for in my experience there?  I said, "To be relevant."  Honestly that's the goal with every audience, but in this case, I knew the kids might possibly be the hardest. Was I ever surprised! They challenged me and loved me into bringing 500% of myself. Here's a little about this amazing community at CS: it’s a place of genuine hope for the families of this Harlem neighborhood. The landscape of New York City is ever changing and continually presents new challenges. The Children’s Storefront prepares young people to rise to those challenges and to expand their ideas of what is possible for them.   These kids were ON FIRE so I expected the best from them and they delivered.   The biggest surprise was that on the day I arrived, the Canadian Tenors were also at the school.  YES!  When my last class finished, I got to go down and be treated to the most amazing experience.  The Tenors singing with the Children's Storefront choir. SURPRISE! super thanks to Principal Wendy Reynoso and Ray Cameron, Board President for making this happen. Why Surprising Yourself is Important Whether you like it or not, you can get stuck in a rut in your thinking. It's the way that pattern making machine of a brain works.  Taking risks, doing something unexpected gets the neurons firing in your brain, makes you more resilient to change, ups your serotonin level and shows you new aspects of your true self. Getting in the Church I was also invited to lead the morning services and also a workshop at the Seattle Unity church.  Here, thanks to Rymii Kaio, I was able to talk about what's outside that 10% box that we know about how our brain works and speak to the 90% unknown. This was a great experience.  If you are interested in having me at your church, please pass this video on to your events coordinator.  It begins with some lovely music by the fantastic Erin McGaughan and friends, then leads into my talk, so listen and enjoy. COMING UP there are some exciting things happening that have come from meeting you.  I'll be presenting with OD expert Julie Boardman on Accelerating Change Using a Visual for the Junior League in Seattle, I'm speaking at the National Governors Association Meeting in DC, (thanks to lobbyist Lee Cowen who I met on a plane) and getting ready to go to Denver to do a workshop at the Annual Women's Conference.  I hope our paths cross and until they do, remember -  you create your own reality by how you respond to what is happening. Challenge yourself to be all that you are so you can step beyond what you already know into who you truly are. GOAL SETTING SEATTLE UNITY CHURCH Congregations and friends learn the power of visual goal setting using Drawing Solutions, Visual Goalsetting.  If you want to get revitalized or realigned, this 90 minute workshop  is a perfect way to do it! CHILDREN'S STOREFRONT VISUAL GOAL SETTING Have you been drawing your dreams into reality?It's not too late, nor too early to get started!   TRUEBLUE SALES CONFERENCE 2013 One of my favorite clients is TrueBlue. This company puts people to work and changes lives everyday.  If you want to create a visual that will help you tell your story to employees, to your clients, to the world, we can help you.

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU Make This Year Count Every turn of the year offers an opportunity to bring your best self to life.  It's a chance to set goals from the highest place, from the part of you that sees beyond what you make or have to the deeper reason for why you are here in the world right now.  Why you?  Why now?  Simon Sinek, in his book, Start With Why,writes,"It all starts with clarity. You have to know WHY you do WHAT you do. If people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it, so it follows that if you don’t know WHY you do WHAT you do, how will anyone else?"  While Simon is writing about your business, your products or services, in this new year why not ask that of yourself?  Why am I here?  Why me, why now? This is a time of unprecedented opportunity and people around the world are shifting their focus to align what they do to something that matters, something that fulfills their passion, their purpose.  I recently read that there are so many non profits in existence that it would take you 3 days to simply scroll through their names on the internet.  Our young people are playing a major part in this sea change to embrace all of life and consider some of the inequities or imbalances part of our responsibility. Why you?  Why now?  You are here on the planet at this time for a reason.  It's a new year, so as you begin to thing about how you want to step into 2013, try this: Close your eyes, block out the outside stimuli and get quiet.  Ask yourself, "What is my purpose right now and why am I here?  Why me? Why now?  What can I do this year to bring all of who I am to life?" Listen, then write down the first things that come to you.  Draw a simple icon to help you solidify it into memory. In his recent best selling book, Proof of Heaven, Eben Alexander III, MD, neurosurgeon, writes of his powerful near death experience.  He shares that soul, or our innate nature, knows far faster than our brain does what our next choice should be.  Trust that part of you to guide you into this New Year, New You. I will be leading a number of workshops this year (see below) to help you set your goals using  the power of the visual.  If your business, organization, church or child's school wants to learn more about visual goal setting, email me here.  I look forward to stepping into this New Year together.   NEW YEAR NEW YOU: Spiritual Goal Setting to Help You Lead Your Best Life SEATTLE UNITY CHURCH Join me Sunday, January 6th, from 1-3PM. I will be speaking at both their 9AM & 11AM Sunday services, then leading a visual goal setting workshop. $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Make this year count! CLASSES LEARN TO GRAPHIC RECORD Anyone can learn the basic skills of graphic recording.  A simple 5 hour class can get you and your HR/OD/Facilitation team started. Contact us. HOLIDAY GIFT GIFT THE GIFT OF CHANGE The odds against you making change in your life are 9 to 1.  This bookwill show you how to beat those odds.  Give a copy to a friend, relative, co-worker who wants to make a change but isn't sure how.

Copyright © 2012 Up your Creative Genius, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you joined at our website! Our mailing address is: Up your Creative Genius 2400 NW 80th Street #138 Seattle, WA 98117 Add us to your address book Contact us: patti@upyourcreativegenius.com

3 TEAM CYCLING TIPS YOU CAN APPLY TO YOUR WORKLIFE

Fall fell here in the Pacific Northwest and that means any of us who are on bike teams are getting back on our bikes to train for another season of bike racing or triathlon or... Training generally starts off slowly and then ramps up over the winter. Yes, you read that right, we ramp up our riding outdoors over the winter. ;-0  Last year I didn't have the bandwidth to train or race, so I just tried to stay as fit as I could despite the book promotion schedule.  This year, however, I have no excuses, so yesterday even though it poured rain outside, I threw on my raingear and headed out to put in some miles.  There are many things I've learned from training that translate well to work life, but these 3 clearly came to the forefront while on my ride: 1.  Keep yourself visible. Sometimes there's a bike lane, sometimes not.  No matter what, stay out into the lane far enough that the guy who is pulling out of the boat supply parking lot still can see and subsequently avoid hitting you.  Looking to be acknowledged for your hard work? Stay visible. Do something different, go beyond the status quo, get up to the whiteboard and start drawing pictures of what people are discussing in your team meeting.  Show up. Ask for feedback and give feedback when merited.   2.  Don't spit on your teammates. When you are riding along, sometimes you just need to, you know, spit.  Don't ask me why, I don't understand how your nose and mouth seem to create so much extra fluid when you are training, but they do.  I have found that you make a lot more friends in the peloton (team riding in a group) when you don't spit on them. ;-)  The same applies to work.  You can blame things on your peers all you want but the truth is, no one likes fingerpointing.  Or as someone wrote in a tweet the other day -  when you point you have 3 fingers pointing back at you.  Find ways to promote the people around you, give credit where it is due. Let others be in the limelight, there is plenty to go around, especially when you hold the light. 3.  Learn to ride in any kind of weather. You can stay inside and ride on your trainer.  I've spent many an icy day doing it.  But even when it's cloudy, you still get vitamin D by riding outdoors, which somehow translates into being a nice person.  For me, even if I just ride back and forth without venturing too far, riding outdoors rain or shine trains my body to cope with cold and I just feel better afterwards. The world is constantly changing.  Period.  You have to ride through it.  Your boss is crabby.  Your co-worker quits unexpectedly and suddenly you have double duty. Your partner has a mid-life crisis.  Ride on.  Keep riding.  This too shall pass. Big thanks to all of you who have been coming to the workshops or talks I have been giving.  Your drawings rock!  Also special shout out to that team in SF I just worked with who shall remain nameless.  I am super intrigued by what you are up to. For those of you who need to KICK START yourself, check out where I am speaking on my website.  OR rewatch the TEDxRainier video, Draw Your Future.  As alwsys, send me a photo of yourself with your map and your story of success so I can post it here. "Life is just a cycle of songs, a melody of extemporania.  Love is a thing that can never go wrong, and I am Marie of Romania." - Dorothy Parker
GOALSETTING: LAKE WASHINGTON  TECHNICAL COLLEGE Staff join me for a goal setting session. I can't wait to hear about their results! They graciously invited me to kick off their school year and strategic planning by giving a keynote on Drawing Solutions, Visual Goalsetting.  If you need your team to get revitalized or realigned, this 45-90 minute key note is a perfect way to do it!	TEAMBUILDING: TEAM SHALL REMAIN  NAMELESS Offsitearama: When you want to get your team to talk honestly and openly about the status quo, take them offsite. Have fun, play, create something, get visual, get messy and set some simple actionable goals to bring everyone back together.  Oh, and make sure you have plenty of opportunities to talk over food and drink.	SHOUT OUT: EVENTS TEAM - BMGF This team makes it happen. For all the hundreds of events that the Gates Foundation hosts around the world for grantees, partners, staff and the public, this is the team that makes it rock. Here they are posing to say goodbye to longtime employee who was leaving the Foundation. I heart you Events Team!

Using Google+Hangouts to Engage With Your Followers

I first experienced the power of Google+ when I met Daria Musk at TEDxRainier.  An overnight success through the use of social media, Daria showed me how amazing Google+'s hangouts can truly be, during her live concert at an corporate event we both presented at last week in Chicago.  At the event, I was able to not only watch her perform, but I could also see the people who had joined her hangout as they shifted in and out of the Google+ screen.  A superb performer, Daria seamlessly interacted with both her live audience (in the room) and her hangout audience (shown on screen behind her in this image).

Stoked by my experience, this week I hosted my first Drawing Solutions:  How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your LIfe hangout.  A great tool  to help you interact with people around the world, in this hangout participants shared with me the challenges they face as entrepreneurs in achieving their goals.   While many of their goals were different, we shared a common belief about the impact a positive attitude and understanding the new brain science can have in helping you find greater success in stepping into your vision.

Want to experiment with a simple new tool to get to know your followers better? I encourage you to try Google+ hangouts and have direct, F2F contact with people around the world. It  was a beautiful forum which, with just the expense of a couple of studio lights, allowed me to show people how to literally "doodle" or draw their dreams into reality.

Here's where you can join and get in on my Google+hangouts that I will continue to host on Mondays.  Times may vary to accommodate participation from Google+ followers in different time zones around the world, but if you add me to your "circles", you can click my name to see when I'll be hosting a hangout next.  If you have any questions about this medium, feel free to email me.  I look forward to seeing you there!