1. Follow the energy! I tell people this all the time and yet here I was completely oblivious!  Each time I tried to force myself to take action I was shut down – no – slammed to the ground!  I would schedule writing time then sit at the computer staring at a blank screen.  I would make ridiculous promises to my coach and mentor, only to completely blow them away.  I would get frustrated and forget the very things I teach.  Finally a good friend of mine gave me a wake up call, pointing me back to one of my own blog posts as she rather sternly reminded me to let go of the “shoulds” and follow the energy.  And when I finally did oh boy did things start to pop!  I’d wake up in the middle of the night full of inspiration and run to the computer to fire off a few pages of material.  I was talking to a friend who offhandedly mentioned something that completely solved a technical problem I’d been having.  My mic for recording audio, which had been MIA for weeks, mysteriously appeared right on my night stand.  I could list a million other things but you get the idea.  Go with the flow and ALLOW things in…and they will come!
2. Don’t put the cart before the horse. I’m very logical by nature so it’s my tendency to plan ahead a few moves (made me a really good chess player as a teenager).  So here I was at the very beginning, stages of the project and already thinking about format, how to record the audio, marketing, and all that other stuff.  Yes these things are important – in their own time.  But when I hadn’t even put a word on the page yet it was pointless to think I had to know how to set up a shopping cart or make cool pictures for my sales page.  What I eventually did was use my own process to ASK the Universe to show me the way in the proper time and by golly it happened :)
3. Getting caught up in negative self talk. Everyone succumbs to this sometimes and I am no exception.  There were times, especially when I was putting the cart before the horse or trying to swim upstream, that I found myself feeling inadequate.  Questions like “what if everyone hates this course,” and “what if no one ever buys it,” loomed in my mind.  A couple times I felt like just throwing in the towel because it seemed an impossible task.  Again I turned to the tried and true methods I’ve used in the past to get out of the rut and back on track.  And you know what…I’m glad I did because the finished product is something I’m proud of!

So what about you? Are these insights helpful?  And what additional insights can you share from the big projects in your life?

Oh yeah, if you want details on the finished course check out the products page above or click here to go directly to the course page.

This morning, while avoiding doing anything meaningful once again the idea hit me to make a list.  I am a real go-with-the-flow kind of gal so lists aren’t something I do much of these days.  But when I feel that little nudge from my inner being I listen so I started jotting things down.

Very quickly I had 21 things to do, most of which were small things that could be done in just a few minutes.  And as I read over the list, I realized there were also a few things that I’d really been avoiding doing – and they’d turned into huge monsters in my mind.

Seeing what I had to do in black and white made something shift and almost immediately I was motivated to take care of a couple small things.  Then I did one of the big things I’d been avoiding.  It took less than 15 minutes to complete and once I was done it was like a huge weight had been lifted.  Now I’m almost a third done with the list, and I have a stack by the front door for the “errands” section which I am doing next.

The point is that sometimes getting stuff out of your head and onto paper clears the way for inspired, focused action.  And the act of crossing things off the list is empowering and energizing!

How about you?  Do you find lists helpful when you’re feeling stuck or lack direction? I’d love to hear what gets you moving again.