Tuning the Station to Stillness

Tuning the Station to Stillness Life is about falling down and getting back up again. Just when you think you have it all together, something happens to derail you. You miss an important client call, or you accidentally forget to pay a bill.  Suddenly in a swirl of activity, your world gets turned upside down. It’s at that moment that you have a choice: Panic or heightened listening. I have erred on the side of panic so many times it’s beyond embarrassing. When panic hits we do things we shouldn’t. We overeat or overspend. We call our friends and wear their ears out with the ranting and railing.  Exhausted we finally throw ourselves down and then, in our un-ego filled state, we can actually listen. The interesting thing is that help generally can come a lot sooner if, when the world turns topsy-turvy, we choose to tune in and calm down. It’s not the first thing that comes to mind when you feel stressed out and overwrought by your phone or your email or your schedule or your life. However, with practice you can make it your default choice and the most awesome option to choose. This week, try it. When you start to feel your adrenaline rising because of x,y or z, take a deep breath. Close your eyes (unless you are driving) and take another deep breath. Then quietly ask, what is the best thing for me to do right now? Now here’s the key. You have to keep your inner chatter quiet and let the stillness overtake you. You want to listen, really listen beyond your ego’s rant, beyond the suck of desire for things, beyond the edge of panic. Listen to that deep inner calling, that wave of simple stillness.  And imagine riding in on that wave is the answer to your question, to your dilemma, to your panic. Let it wash right over you and into you and through you. You don’t need to have “heard” something. You can just let the stillness deepen you, expand into you, soothe you. Stay with that stillness as long as you can. Then open your eyes, keep going on with your day, but add to it the knowingness that this issue you are panicking about it will be and is being handled. Because it is and it will be. Until next time, big love to you Creative Genius. Tip of the Week   Dress It Up Are you feeling stuck in your routine? A fun way to break out is to dress it up! Throw on your nice clothes, and take yourself out. Want to go one step further? Do what this person did and dress up your car to boot! ‪ View More Learn a New Skill! Visual Storytelling Class Seattle WA Walk into almost any office and you’ll see people furiously writing away on whiteboards, frosted glass walls, and erasable table tops. According to The Wall Street Journal, the late Steve Jobs and Seattle’s own Jeff Bezos have both been hailed as whiteboard virtuosi. So, the idea of working through problems and storytelling using a whiteboard is definitely not new. What is new, is making the art and science of visual storytelling teachable. And teach it we shall. Sign Up CreativeGenius Bundle offer! For a limited time  Get $200 off when you buy the Snapshot of the Big Picture, and Create a Dynamic Workshop toolkits together! Use coupon code cr8bundle at checkout. Buy Now

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How to Spot a Confident Facilitator

How to Spot a Confident Facilitator Last week I got to be the human highlighter in the room as I supported two awesome facilitators as their graphic recorder. About half way through the session, I looked down and noted that one of the facilitators was barefoot! Wow, I thought, she has got to be SUPER confident! and...yep, she was!  Then I began looking more closely and discovered both facilitators shared, what I consider to be... The Top Five Traits of a Confident Facilitator: 1.  Listens more and talks less. When there is a moment of free air time, a confident facilitator turns the question back on you instead of filling the air time with their own opinions. ;-) 2.  Keeps you in dialogue, even when it gets sticky. After years of being the human punching bag in post layoff facilitation sessions, I've seen that when participants were given a chance to talk things out, they worked it out.  A confident facilitator strives to patient, listen, ask open ended questions, let participants find their way, with gentle prodding. 3.  Is flexible with the agenda, but delivers the goods. A confident facilitator is continuously weighing other possible interactive tools that may help your team explore a topic or come to a deeper understanding. When something isn't working, they reach into their bag of tricks for tool to steer you through the muck to the original outcomes you desired. 4.  Brings his or her authentic self into the room. No matter where you go, there you are. When a facilitator feels comfortable enough to go barefoot in the room, it says something. It makes the space for you to embrace your authentic self and bring more of it into the room as well. 5.  Engages all of your senses. A confident facilitator will not be put off by the CEO who tries to talk you out of doing game storming in your session. Participants will be grateful, because in the end, it will be fun, funny, filled with games, drawing, music, visuals, and rock solid deliverables. Afterwards they will say things like "I don't know what the #@%&* you did in there, but it was awesome!" When you are looking for a facilitator for one of your sessions, keep this checklist handy and if you are a facilitator - be bold, be brave, and above all, be you! Please send us any of your creative genius tips about facilitation.  We'd love to hear from you and post them to our readers. #creativegeniusyou

Get Busy Drawing If you are a graphic recorder wanna be,email us to sign up for fall classes.  Who said you couldn't make money as an artist? ;-) Genius Toolkits We are coming out with some awesome downloadable toolkits to help you be the creative genius at the offset. To get in on the early-bird special pricing, e-mail us here. Special Shout Out I have had the great honor to facilitate numerous sessions for the Global Libraries team at the BMGF.  As their program comes to a close, I want to say thank you for being my secret think tank for new ideas. #awesomeyou

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