Dynamism at Work

Done with Boring? Research shows that talking heads and voluminous slide decks won't get you to innovation when you want to create strategy.  Sadly, your team will only regurgitate old ideas out of that deadly brain fog. No need to get depressed, now YOU can... Create Dynamism! We've been percolating & testing new ways to Up Your Creative Genius in team workshops for some time. This week we launched our Building A Dynamic Workshop board game that you can use to create your offsite and come up with awesome and engaging design!  I use it every chance I get.  This week, I worked with a leader using the game to design a 1/2 day session with her leaders that used a variation on the board game Clue to up their detective skills so they could solve the mysteries of their management structure!    Designing your next strategy, vision, process improvement or conversation-filled offsite should be engaging and fun. This board game helps you involve your client design team in the design and delivery of each part of your team workshop. Why not bring out and build the creative genius in everyone? This is a perfect tool for learning and development, HR, OD, or admin/associates and business consultants!  Don't let your eyes roll back in your head when the event planning falls on your shoulders!  Arm yourself with an awesome Creative Genius Toolkit! You can do it!  I believe in YOU!   Create a Dynamic Workshop   ON SALE NOW! $250   This digital, downloadable kit will raise your acumen in developing highly engaging meetings, through a step-by-step guide. You’ll create amazing, hands-on workshops that will leave your participants wanting more! Get ready to show up as the Creative Genius you are. Tip of the Week   Ageing Is The New Black Aging is the new black. As you age, you come into yourself and learn to live life to the fullest, embracing everything you are. How AWESOME is that? No matter what age you are now, embrace the ageing process, and recognise yourself as the beautiful person you are. #CreativeGeniusYOU Creative Genius YOU Medallions! Wondering what to get your team or team mate for the holidays? Why not a Creative Genius YOU medallion? These talisman's are each hand-crafted from sterling silver by Sandra Lewis.

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The Space to Believe

The Space to Believe Each of us has our own set of beliefs about the world; why we exist, what makes up a good breakfast, what’s the correct way to greet a stranger or say hello to a dog you don’t know yet. The great news is that there is plenty of room to form (and test) your own beliefs.  You can try a belief on for a day or a lifetime to see if it fits you.  The place we get into trouble is when we try to force our beliefs onto other people.  Sharing your beliefs is one thing, trying to make people believe what you do is another. This week revisit some beliefs that you have formed – beliefs about yourself, about your family, your loved ones, your co-workers or team. What do you think about them? How are they working for you? Shaking up your own beliefs is difficult. The basal ganglia likes the routine of patterns and when you disrupt that, YIKES, it shoots a little alarm into your system. Yet beliefs can change over time, so making space to revisit the beliefs you hold about yourself will help you shift into the new you that is evolving in this moment. You are an evolutionary being, so when things start to feel stagnant, rather than telling yourself the story that it’s time to “buckle down” and stick with whatever you think you’re supposed to do, try something new. Try uncoupling yourself from the Should of your dilemma and take a walk with your What if? self. The What if? self utilizes your imagination to formulate new theories, or experiment with new parts of you and new beliefs. Listen to the subtle nuanced ideas the What If? self serves up. Try on some new beliefs about yourself – like maybe you are perfect just the way you are.  Or how about the belief that everything will be okay, no matter which way it turns out. Beliefs shape our world and what you believe is entirely up to you. Experiment. I love this picture I was sent of a group's current and future state. They agreed that all they need to do is travel that road, with kindness, love and respect and they'll be fine. What does your vision to reality map look like? Send it to us. info@upyourcreativegenius.com Tip of the Week If there's something bugging you this week, no matter how small it is, do something about it. Don't wait for somebody else to fix it, do it yourself and reap the rewards! Watch More Icon Guide Have you downloaded your free icon guide yet? It's filled with ideas to get you inspired so you can Draw Your Future. Download Now $99 Toolkit The Snapshot of the Big Picture is still on sale for just $99. Ready to step your Creative Genius up to the next level? This toolkit contains everything you need to lead change in your organization, or with your clients.   Get It Today

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CELEBRATE YOUR FREEDOM ON LABOR DAY  Why do we celebrate Labor Day?  In 1894 workers in the company town of Pullman, Illinois went on strike. In Pullman, everyone worked for the Pullman Railway Car Company. Where you lived in town was based on what you did: the workers lived in row houses, the managers in modest victorians and George Pullman himself lived in the opulent hotel where his business contacts stayed while in town. There were town stores and a town bank. Rents were automatically deducted from your paycheck.  A national depression in 1893 forced Pullman to layoff hundreds of workers and reduce wages for those remaining, but living costs remained the same, and were deducted off the tops of their checks. Oh that sounds fun. The workers went on strike and were joined by the American Railway Union. National transportation and mail deliveries came to a standstill, and riots broke out. President Cleveland called out 12,000 troops to suppress the chaos and declared the strike illegal. In the chaos that ensued, two men were killed by Deputy Marshals in Kensington, Illinois before the strike was finally over. Shocked by the violence, people created an anti-Cleveland demonstration (boy this sounds familiar). Congress stepped in to quickly pass an act making the first Monday in September a national holiday,  Labor Day. This day was to celebrate American workers; their productivity and contributions to society and the economy. If you are wondering what to celebrate over that ice cold beverage and awesome barbecue this Monday, here's an idea...because of this and other early labor strikes, you and I got to go to school as children and play during summer months. (Remember that when your neighbor's children wake you from your nap by shrieking while running through the sprinklers!) That's still not a luxury for children insome parts of the world. Many of you reading are entrepreneurs running your own businesses. That's an amazing thing to celebrate! But if you aren't working for yourself, thanks for what you do to make the world a better place. PS you might end up looking like this guy in the Cliff Merritt labor cartoon books series:  #hunk Whatever you end up doing this Labor Day, celebrate that you are unique. You and only you bring your perspective, value, talent, skill and humor to the world.  You are free to make your own choices and decide where to put your energy and enthusiasm to your piece of the world. If you choose to call it labor, remember it's a labor of love.  If you or someone you know are feeling a lack of freedom and want to shift what you are doing, go Draw Your Future, and catapult yourself into the "labor" that's right for you. Special thanks to those who went before us and paved the way to our freedom!  Have a Happy Labor Day! GENIUS TOOLKITS #CREATIVEGENIUSYOU We are coming out with some awesome downloadable toolkits to help you be the creative genius at your offsite. To get in on the early bird special pricing email us atinfo@upyourcreativegenius.com ENVISION WALL MAKE A SPACE FOR INTERACTIVITY What to do with that extra wall space? Put up a blank sheet of paper and put some pens by it. Let your team interact with you. Or let us help you at your next all hands meeting. We'll capture key comments in a picture so they last longer than a word cloud. ;-)  SHOUT OUT LIVEYOURDREAM.ORG if you are looking for a place to help make a difference for girls around the world, here it is: Live Your Dream a self-motivated community of people who wish to support women and girls in their quest to lead a better life, while gaining inspiration in their own lives.  Check them out and do something today!

APPRECIATING THE LITTLE GUY IN ALL OF US This week I was traveling for a conference and I had to take a cab to the airport. If you don’t travel a lot, you may not know that there’s a current war on between the black car service drivers and taxicab drivers. Companies like Uber have figured out a way to make black car cushy transport easier. I’ve tried it and I realized I prefer riding with the cab drivers because they seem like the little guy in this situation. Many cab drivers are new to our the country and are learning their way around. I want to help. So when I walked out of my hotel and a black car drove up and told me he would give me the same price for a ride as the taxicab, I waved him on and got into the taxicab behind him.  The black car driver got mad about it, but he was waiting in a taxicab station, which isn't allowed.  When I told the cabbie why I passed up that black car to ride with him, naturally we became fast friends! I found out my new friend was originally from Antigua. Then we proceeded to have the GREATEST conversation.  We talked about traffic and how it tests you to see if you’ll do the “right thing” or not.  My driver told me a story about how he wouldn’t let a woman cut into line in front of him and almost got beat him for it. (and he was a big guy).I shared about the time someone behind me got so tired of cars cutting into line at the last minute (while the rest of us had been waiting for an hour), that he pulled over into that lane and simply stopped traffic, forcing them to creep along with the rest of us. We laughed and admitted that we'd been those cars cutting in too, sometimes. Then our conversation went from great to fantastic. He and I began listing all the career paths we had taken and we found that many of the industries we'd worked in overlapped - #business, #healthcare, #art.  We’d walked over so much common ground that we both became giddy appreciating our timely connection. In the last few moments, he turned his mirror so he could look me in the eyes and confided that he felt he had never really been able to reach what he was capable of and didn’t know why. This was soul to soul, sharing truth. Well, you can guess what happened next; naturally I shared the vision to reality process with him. I handed him my business card so he’d know how to watch that TEDx talk #DrawYourFuture, and a HUcard fell out of my wallet at the same time. That must have been meant for him too, so I handed it to him as well.  “When you feel down, or worried, sing HU”, I explained, “it’s a sacred word as old as time that will help to remind you that you are a spiritual being, capable of anything you desire.” We parted ways with a profound appreciation for each other’s gifts and stories, and for that wonderful thread that weaves through everything, connecting us to new friends everywhere, in every moment.   This week take time to appreciate the little guys in your world (that means you too) and honor those interactions as an opportunity for connection. Wherever you go,#lead the charge and give love, be love. Thanks for reading #creativegeniusyou, Love, Patti CREATIVITY SYMPOSIUM FREMONT ABBEY ARTS CENTER Join me June 7th from 10AM - 3PM The Creativity Symposium for Puget Sound Entrepreneurial Women is a one day conference event for entrepreneurial women to unleash their joy and creativity through speakers, workshops, mastermind circles, and networking. #womencreativesunite HEALTHCARE EDUCATORS ROCKIN' H2P CONSORTIUM When educators get together to get things done, things happen. Thanks for inviting me to illustrate your brilliance. You are amazing and thank you for transforming education. #educationtransformation SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL 43RD BIENNIAL CONVENTION Early warning!  I'll be speaking in Vancouver at this event! If you don't know about the amazing things the Soroptimist International are doing for women around the world, now is the time to get online and find out.They are a force to be supported. Send your friends to draw their dreams into reality in Canada!