Then what?

Do you have the courage to course-correct?

To step back?

To stop?

Or do you feel you need to stay consistent with what you thought and said you would do?

Certainly it depends.

If people are relying on you; if you have a moral or legal obligation; if you’re in a position where changing plans would do more harm than good, it’s a different story.

But what if none of those is the case?

In my experience, very few people have the courage to pause, rethink and redirect.

Most plow forward, dismissing their concerns as either invalid, unimportant, or “limiting beliefs” they need to overcome.

One person who did have the courage to pause, however, is Renee Fink.

Renee is both a Rocker (someone who’s come through my Rock The Room® programs) and a Risk Forward® Special Experience member… a series I hosted this past year for entrepreneurs, artists, consultants, lawyers and executives.

Renee had planned to launch a new course and online community.

It was a project that looked and sounded good on the outside and even at first to Renee.

It was also a project that would require a ton of time and financial resources.

As Renee proceeded, she kept running into blocks and lack of focus.

More importantly though, Renee’s excitement had turned to dread.

It was at this point in time that she signed up for the Risk Forward® experience I was hosting.

In one of our early sessions, after I took people through a series of questions designed to help them reconnect with their Throughline and Inner Current™, Renee took a step back and realized she didn’t want to continue with the project.

It was very clear.

And once she made that decision and told her team it was—in her words—as if a boulder had been lifted.

According to Renee’s estimate, the time, effort and resources to follow through on the project would have cost her company about $2 million in revenue from other clients she would have brought on instead.

What decisions might be unnecessarily costing you time, energy, money focus and/or joy? Please let me know in the comments.

And if you want more insights like this, you’re invited to my next livestream event. It’s free. You can register here.

Risk Forward and Rock On,

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This is a talk for the rest of us.

Many of us live in a world that is obsessed with goal setting, achieving and decisiveness.

But what do you do when you’re not sure what’s next?

When you’re in a time of transition and not knowing?

These periods of uncertainty, when a path or a project is not yet clear, are fertile and full of promise.

They are to be respected and honored.

And the key to finding your way is to Risk Forward.

Watch the talk to learn more.

Big hug,

P.S. My book, Risk Forward is now available! Unlock your hidden genius and achieve remarkable results. Click here to get your copy.

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There’s a lot of “goal setting” going on.

But there’s a little problem, which is this:

It’s not uncommon — as we all know — for people to achieve their goals but to be stressed along the way striving and pushing…or not quite as happy and fulfilled (as they anticipated they’d be) once they actually get there.

One approach to avoid that problem is this…

Rather than think only of your intended outcomes/goals/activities, think also of how you want to FEEL along the way…and after.

What do you want the EXPERIENCE to be like?

When I teach performance, communication and presentation skills, one of the core tenants I share is that the biggest mistake I see people make (in meetings, workshops, consultations or keynotes) is that they focus too much on the information they want to convey and not enough on the experience they want to create.

I think the same is true in life.

We often get so focused on everything we want to accomplish that we forget to consider how we want to feel along the way.

So as you look to 2017, take a moment to ask yourself,

“How do I want to feel? How do I want to feel as I’m moving in the direction of these goals and activities?”

Connected? Vibrant? Peaceful? Creative? Joyful? Inspired?

And including these as part of your process will go a long way in making your year what you truly want it to be.

Rock ‘n Roll,

P.S.

• • If you’re in a period of uncertainty or transition where next year’s plans and your “goals” are not yet clear, you might enjoy my TEDx talk on this topic.
  • If you want to take your communication and presentation talents to new heights, check out the Rock The Room® Performance System

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Labor Day.

Here in the United States, today is a turning point in the calendar year — a holiday marking the end of summer and the start of fall.

Since 2000, during this window of time, I’ve hosted a creative retreat in the Adirondack mountains.

For approximately 10 days, I gather close friends in the arts: filmmakers, directors, writers, painters, performers, playwrights, producers, and creative entrepreneurs.

We meet at a house on a lake — a home once owned by a relative of mine — and it is always a spectacular time.

Aside from it being a stunning location, what makes the time away so special are the people.

Everyone is smart.

Everyone is humble.

Everyone has a huge heart.

We were a total of 16 people this year, and the late night conversations sitting around the living room’s long leather sofas ranged from creative risk taking to how our lives led us to places we never expected…

…how some of us had initially set out with a plan for one profession, but a series of events unfolded and we each Risked Forward and took a chance and ended up on a path to a place we could never have imagined.

Attending the retreat this year were Emmy winning performers and Oscar winning movie directors, best selling authors and writers for TV shows.

What struck me as a common theme was that in each person’s case, they’d taken that unexpected risk — often based simply on a few encounters that led them to feel: “This job seems like fun…”

or

“I like what person X or company Y is all about.”

or

“This interests and excites me. I’m going to check it out.”

For my own part, this entire retreat was born from a wisp of an idea.

When I was in my 20s, I thought it might be fun to host an artist’s retreat. And at one point, being a fan the northeast coast and ocean vibe, I’d considered buying and renovating an old abandoned fishing cannery up in Maine.

There were only two problems.

One: I didn’t have the money.

Two: I don’t like renovating.

The following year my mother mentioned…

…that my great aunt’s house was available for a few days if I wanted to go with a few friends.

And I thought, “Hmmm. It’s not Maine…it’s not on the ocean…but it is available. And it’s available now.”

So quite tentatively, I invited a few creative colleagues.

I wasn’t sure this would even work.

…or that I could pull it off.

It felt like a big risk.

Was this even a good idea?  Was the house too far away (a 5-hour drive from NYC)? Was it too rustic?

But 5 people said YES.

And sixteen years later, we are going strong.

This afternoon, as my husband and I stood arm in arm and waved goodbye to the last of our guests, I thought about how many of them had said with tears in their eyes, “This is the highlight of our year. Not just of our summer…but of our YEAR. We can’t thank you enough.”

In that moment, I realized how glad I am that (back in 2000), I said yes to a wisp of an idea.

And how glad I am that I didn’t hold firm to the Maine cannery concept. If I had, this retreat might never have happened.

It might have died as an idea…

…or I might still be holding out, thinking “One day, I’m going to…”

So I encourage you to:

1)    Start…even if it’s small.

2)    Select your people carefully – whether in life, in collaboration or in business. The people you deal with are everything.

And…

3)    The next time you sense that, “This might be fun” feeling or “This could be cool” I encourage you to give it a whirl — whether for your book, blog or work project…a choice in your life to take a class or start a new project…or a story, bit or sequence that you might want to try out on stage, in a meeting or on video.

(For those of you who have been to Rock The Room, you know how much these wisps, these creative ideas, are your genius at work….)

“Trust the Idea that Can Lead to the Idea”

…because you never know where it could take you

…or how many other people’s lives will be better because you took that risk.

With all my best,

P.S. What’s a wisp of an idea you’ve always wanted to try out?

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