Dream Project Challenge



What if the thing you thought would take your whole life could be done in ten months, in half an hour a day? What would you do then?

Consider the possibility that everything is much, much, much easier than it seems. I have this theory that everything is easy. It’s just our way of looking at things that makes them seem as they seem.

I’ll get into the history and origins in a minute; first, here are the guidelines of the Challenge itself:

Dream Project Challenge Guidelines

1. Be a busy, successful person, with lots of great stuff happening in your life
2. Think of or recall a Dream Project, one you’ve had shelved for a long time, or never really thought you would be able to do, or perhaps never thought you would have time for
3. Commit half an hour a day to that project – think where you could find half an hour a day, if you really wanted to, if that meant this Dream Project could become reality
4. Do half an hour each day, each day thinking what is the best use of that half hour to move the project forward
5. At the end of the half hour, stop! Experience the magic of what can be achieved in a tiny amount of time, once you allow it

Then rinse and repeat. You can miss one day if you need to, but never two in a row – the magic is in reconnecting with the project daily, even if that’s just talking about it to a friend, a colleague or a stranger…

And then, would you do me a favour?

There are a couple of extra things I’d love you to do, once you get into the challenge itself: first, let me know what you’re up to – I’m collecting stories for a book, and I’d love to hear yours. Email me with your project, and update me with your progress. If you like I’ll add you to the Facebook group, so you can share what you are doing with others.

And second, issue the challenge yourself, personally, to the people you know who have bigger dreams, bigger capacity than they are currently living, people who could do more, love more, change the world faster than perhaps even they know is possible. They might already be doing huge, amazing things, and you know they would love the challenge to do more, in a different way. Send them to this page, and tell them to get going!

So how did it all start?

I was on the train back from the airport yesterday. My husband, daughter and I had spent a few days in Florence looking at art.

Paul was asking me about my New Universe, how it works, and I was describing the idea of projects in the new paradigm, not problem-based, but creating without historic constraints. In the New Universe, as I see it, we create whatever we can dream of, according to positive constraints we set ourselves.

So here’s what I said.

“You need to get people’s minds to shift, to see how things can be easy. If you put people in the same office, working the same hours, they’ll continue to work the same way – you can give them a new job title but nothing fundamental will change. You have to change something fundamental – like tell them they’ve only got half an hour a day to work on a project. Then they’ll do something different.”

“And you’ve tried this, you’ve tried it out on people?”

At this point I got grumpy. “I’ve done it myself, with my books. And I’ve suggested it to people. But no, I haven’t conducted any kind of systematic experiment.” I stared out the train window, feeling inadequate.

And then I thought, why not? Why not conduct a systematic experiment? There are plenty of people I could ask who would rise to the challenge. I’m looking for the examples that push the envelope – what’s possible, not what’s guaranteed. It’s easy, like everything – issue the challenge, let people be inspired by what they themselves can achieve.

So here I am, issuing the challenge. What could you achieve in half a hour a day? Why not try it, see for yourself, and then let the whole world know about it?

Let me know about your Dream Project by email, or message me via Facebook and if you’d like information on how to get personal support, see the Dream Projects page.



 

Life at full speed




It seems that all my life, people have been telling me to tone it down, pull it back, lighten up, not be so intense…

Nah, not doing it.

Watch out, world, maximum expression and speed is on its way, is here. Accelerating today, terrifying tomorrow. Get used to it.

Anyone care to join me?



Life, marketing and sales made easy




Amongst the many wild theories I am known to expound at length any time someone or something sets me off, is that everything is easy, and in many cases, things are far, far, far easier than they seem.

People seem to like this idea. They take enough interest to stay with me as I fizz with enthusiasm, and tell some of my stories of when this has been the case for me.

The vision of Project Flow Days

Dining room, Cobham Hall

We did our first Project Flow Day on Saturday, a glorious day, filled with sparks and flashes of inspiration, of vision, and of seeing how those projects could be easy, too. For me, being in that beautiful room, with those beautiful people, being part of that flowering of life and purpose, was in itself a vision come true – I’d seen it, experienced it, in moments of daydream – to the point that I surprised myself when I remembered I had not actually lived such a day before.

Relative speed

I was also surprised when someone pointed out to me how quickly the day had come to fruition. “You were only talking about it three weeks ago, as an idea, and now here you are!” My head tilted to the side as I considered this. In my world three weeks is a long time, but their surprise that something could happen so quickly triggered curiosity in me. How had it happened? What made it so easy?

Well, it just was easy. We set a date, my co-host Dave Kibby called someone he knew who had a stately home library for hire, and we started inviting people.

First Project Flow Day, Library, Cobham Hall

What is it for you?

I already knew the idea captured people’s attention, because for the few weeks before, I’d been asking everyone I met: “What is it for you? What is that you know in your heart you need to be doing?” and seen their faces go pale, or light up, or their mouths drop open. I knew people knew what they wanted and needed to do, I was pretty sure the offer of space to do it would be attractive and I knew, deep down, it was a good thing to do.

And as soon as we started talking about the day online, people started taking notice, sharing it, talking about it, and then they started booking to come.

Vision unfolding

From there, what? My vision was of a day of space, for people to work on their projects away from their everyday lives. The plan of how the day would unfold came to me complete, easy. It took me five minutes to write it down. I had some thoughts of what to say at the start, about how life is easy for me, and had a chat to my friend Stuart, who knows about these things, about how to introduce Dave so that his genius and vision would flow easily from there. All easy.

Endless examples

I was going to talk here about other examples, of similar moments of ease, but I won’t, for now. There’s just one more point I’d like to make: for me it’s passion, excitement and clarity of vision that fuels my choices of what to do. It’s that light in the eyes of another that tells me “Yes, this is it, this is the next thing, this is something that will make a difference.” When I feel that, I don’t even need to think “how will I do this?” – it simply unfolds.

With thanks to Lucy Whittington for her wisdom on “doing your marketing Thing”.



The New Universe


These last few months have been a time of huge personal growth for me, letting go of the last of fear and hesitation, guided and supported and challenged by two exceptional coaches: Dave Kibby, www.davekibby.com and Saskia Clements, www.nzlifecoach.co.nz.

Part of the learning over this time has been of interdependence, and the realisation that two are more powerful than one, many are more powerful than two, and developing the skills to harness and revel in that possibility. I knew this before, in my head; now that learning has reached my body and become an integrated part of who I am.

There came a time a month or so ago when I found myself asking a question: “once we’ve got to that point beyond fear, and are looking at a world of truth, of destiny, of following our true path, what then? How does the world look different from here?” It’s a question I didn’t immediately get an answer to. In fact, it’s a question I couldn’t immediately get people to understand.

Bit by bit, however, the answer is emerging; I get snatches of phrases, glimpses of visions, exhilarating, exciting ideas of how things might be. I see, long term, a world without money, as everyone contributes their unique part with joy. Resources stretch and expand because people only take what they need in the moment, trusting tomorrow for tomorrow, like the lilies of the field.

I see health as distinct from medicine, focusing on the delights of the human body in its flexibility and strength. I’ve been working with Martha Grover at Joie de Vivre, London, on effortlessly creating a body that moves easily, and is a source of joy; and here has been the reinforcement of a truth I’ve suspected, that everything is so much easier than we have believed it to be.

Things can be easy, effortless, if we only open ourselves to that ideal.

Every aspect of life has a new vision in this new universe. I know I’m only just beginning to see. Just running the thought experiment gives me a deep sense of satisfaction, of purpose, that we might have the vision ready when the world as a whole steps forward, and asks how we would like things to be.

Today’s imagining: The beginnings of education in the New Universe… in audio format here, because it’s time I speed up my thoughts, to keep pace with the changing view. (Right click and choose Save link as… to download)

Finding your Flow


Today I’m working on part two of my online course, Flow Your Book, and thinking about all the different ways people find their Flow.

For me personally, there are two ways it happens – it can be my own creative projects, usually writing, when I can go into that state where six hours later I look up and have to work to get the world back into focus. Or it can be sharing ideas, listening to someone who is speaking their truth.

That’s the magic of the work I do, every day – spending time with people who are in that space, who stay in it from the moment we connect to the moment we say goodbye, and hopefully beyond.

I don’t know if it’s just me, if it’s just that my eyes have recently opened, but there seem to be more and more people around me speaking from their hearts. It’s magical. It has a completely different feel to the way things were in the old life, where work was done for money and we were told people wanted to know “What’s in it for me?”

My new world isn’t like that – people give from their hearts, freely. Money might change hands, but that is no longer the central point; what they do and what they say comes from who they are.

I want to take this chance to say thank you to my inspired, inspiring clients, all of whom are living and speaking their truth through their work:

Lucy Whittington, BeingABusinessCelebrity.com

Dave Kibby, who speaks about the nature of reality, DaveKibby.com

Dr. Linda Mallory, TheWhyParent.com, for calm, connected and conscious parenting

Dave Gammon, gorgeous storyteller, regaling us about the ups and downs of dating in middle-age – I’ll update this with details when his new book is released

Sam Russell, The Facebook Oracle, SardineDesign.com

Dion Johnson, helping people love their paid work, FedUpAtWork.com

Sarah Christie, beautifully eloquent on the subject of compassionate leadership, EffectiveOutcomes.com

Thank you all. Working with you is a dream come true.

Creativity from uncertainty


Reading Deepak Chopra’s The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success this weekend, I was enveloped by the statement that creativity comes in a space of uncertainty.

When we create something entirely new, we can’t know in advance what it will be, or how it will come – by definition, if it’s new, it’s something neither we nor anyone else has ever seen or done before.

And the greater the uncertainty, the greater the possibility, creativity, opportunity.

Continue reading

The Inspired State


Distilled wisdom

Everything I have learned about how to live an inspired and fulfilling life has this morning distilled down into one simple principle:

The principle

There are two states we can live from – the Inspired State, and the Other one.

The principle came with a simple set of steps for applying it. If you like, join me in exploring how it works.

The background

Whatever we do from our inspired state will bring us joy, peace and love – all we have to do is find our way there, as often and for as long as possible. Once the see-saw begins to tip, it becomes easier and easier to get there and stay there, and life itself appears to shift.

The symptoms

It’s pretty easy to recognise which one we’re in. Here’s a list of their respective symptoms.

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Is writing too slow for your thoughts?


The world is moving at a faster and faster pace – I don’t mean that in terms of hurry, it can be the opposite – the idea of Slow Time means doing more in less time with less effort, creating a magical sensation of floating through life.

For some people, the idea of writing a book is enticing, but getting their ideas down on the page doesn’t flow well.

My sense is that the reason for this may be simpler than it first appears.

Continue reading

The Amazing Lucy Whittington


I am delighted to be working with Lucy Whittington, Manager of Business Celebrities, www.BeingABusinessCelebrity.com, on her book about finding your Thing and getting famous for it.

As Lucy says, “Your Thing is the Thing you do effortlessly, the Thing that makes you smile, the Thing that is so obvious to you that you hadn’t realised the world was waiting for you to get out there and do it.”

Lucy is inspiring, a genius at helping you find your Thing when it is hiding on the end of your nose.

Watch this space for more information!