RHG Magazine & TV Guide TM - Summer 2018 © All rights reserved.
Navigating the Summer Stars
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For me, summer is always a time to connect with nature in full bloom. I love to take in all the
details of the scents in the air, the color and shape of tiny flower petals, every perfectly-
formed leaf on the giant trees, the distinct songs of the birds. There is a sense of deliberate
pleasure in each sight, sound, taste, smell and luscious feeling.
Just as thrilling is what happens on nature’s bigger stage - the stars that come out in a
summer sky. On late summer evenings, I sit on a bench or lie on the grass and take in the vast,
velvet black of the sky and the myriad pinpricks of light in their magical patterns – just asking
to be seen. I find it fascinating to think that since the beginning of time, mariners have looked
to this same sky to navigate the seas and reach their destination even without land markers.
Nature gives us that same kind of guidance for our journey toward making our vision a
reality.
In the spring we planted and nourished the seeds of our vision for the year. We took the
steps needed to bring life and depth to our vision. Now we begin to see how our business or
movement is growing, and how we can help it blossom and flourish. The activity of summer
supports us as we allow our creativity to be free and flowing. We begin to see the finish line,
the fruits of our efforts.
But, wait, how do we get there? What is our course? What are our next steps?
I find my answer in noticing how the
balance of nature works in the luscious
richness of summer.
Looking to your North Star
As choreographer Tristan MacManus
said to Valerie Harper as they were
rehearsing (on Dancing with the Stars):
“Don’t keep looking at the ground -
there is nothing there for ye.” To me
this means that instead of keeping
your eyes on the ground as you
navigate your vision, look up to the
stars. Why?
Think of the North Star and how it
as guided travelers for centuries.
our North Star is your vision - for your
business, your movement, your time to
be a star in your own life. Setting
milestones based on major star patterns expands your vision. You see that there are as many possibilities as stars in the sky. If you keep looking at the ground, you may miss those opportunities. Especially when things get “stormy” along the way (and they will, as that is part of the journey), what I often say to my clients is…
“Remember to stop and look at where your focus is. Is it on your beautiful vision or on the mud at your feet?”
When you navigate with your eye on the ground, your sight can be very limited. Here is a cautionary tale to illustrate what I mean:
I was an Executive Officer of a basic training company in the U.S. Army. We were making plans to take our troops to the field for a two-day (and night) exercise. One part was to simulate a “nuclear attack,” which would take place at night and, basically, involve a blinding flash of light to be sent at the troops. What do you think would happen to your night vision? Right - it would be destroyed. And the group still was going to have to move over an open field to a very narrow opening in the trees which led to our next destination.
As “cadre” my Sergeants and I had walked the course ahead of time; we knew there were reflectors on the trees to help us navigate the march - my Corporal did not.
During the exercise, I told her that she would be leading us into the opening. She trusted me implicitly. The blinding flash of light appeared. Disoriented but undaunted, she proceeded to move over the field to find our opening. Suddenly I heard a crash followed by a scream of pain. Oops – she had been so concerned about not running into anything on the ground, that she completely forgot to look ahead. If she had kept her eyes up rather than down she would have seen the reflectors and missed those huge trees flanking the opening. Lesson learned!
Now, you can also spend all your time looking up at the sky and miss things that are right under your feet. Like the time I was on Maui, taking my early morning walk around the resort. It was a glorious summer day and my eyes were up watching the sky, the birds, and the bright green foliage of the trees. When suddenly I heard a loud “crunch” followed by “Yuck - that’s gross!” behind me. When I turned around and looked down, I saw on the path a very VERY large snail, crushed and oozing. Had I been monitoring the path while enjoying the sky, I would have been able to step around it, not on it.
The moral: Stay aware and keep your balance
As growers of gardens, of movements, of businesses, we need to be aware of all that is around us. We build our star chart to give us the course we need to take to reach our vision. This gives us infinite ways to go and doesn’t tie us down to a linear path from A to Z. For those of us who are creative, this is what we need to be able to have the boldest, most amazing success with our ventures.
In addition, we need to be aware of what is right at our feet. If a gardener only looked at the sky, even if it were to figure out the weather patterns affecting the plants, she might miss their needs right in front of her. What if you didn’t see all the weeds choking your plants or the aphids eating up your roses or the cute bunnies munching on your vegetables? What would your harvest look like come fall? Would you have realized your vision, or ended up with something totally different?
Like the mariners who navigate by the stars to get to their destination, look up and ahead to keep your “eyes on the prize” to achieve your vision. Just remember also that being grounded to Mother Earth will provide the nourishment necessary for you to shine!
start to develop a vision for the movement, by imagining what the result will look like, not how you’ll get there (for now) but what it can become. Write your vision statement, which will be the underpinning for your journey to a thriving movement, by following these 4 steps.
1. This is the time for personal reflection. You need to go deep into your core to bring up what your values are, and how they translate into your movement. They will become the passion, purpose and clarity you’ll need to carry you through any challenges you may face.
2. Look at your own strengths – are they in writing, speaking, inspiring people, raising money, taking photographs? The gardener considers what she has to work with to create her garden, i.e., soil, water availability, wind protection, her own ability to work the land, perhaps CA natives or certain species of fruit will thrive better than others and still get the desired results she envisions.
Tip: If recognizing your strengths does not come easily to you, then talk to the people who know you best – close friends, family, trusted colleagues. They will definitely have insight into areas of strength to which you are blind.
3. Then create that mental picture. Allow your imagination to run free, picturing all possibilities! Get specific so you can really give energy to it and get a clear picture of what you want to accomplish.
As an example, here is what I see in the movement that I am growing: I see a vision of being in an intimate retreat with women who know they are meant to bring big change to the world and want the blueprint to make it happen. I also see myself standing on a stage before a standing-room-only crowd, passionately speaking on my movement.
4. Embed your vision into all five senses. This is a powerful step that really engrains the vision into your subconscious so that it is out there looking for opportunities for you. Through the mental picture you are writing down, answer:
“What do you see?” Picture the change you want to see - even gather pictures that represent what that looks like. Keep them with you to refer to and inspire you every day. When I was working to earn the reward of a cruise to Alaska, I had photos of the ship and maps of the route we would take everywhere - mirrors, screensavers, doors, in the car!
“What do you hear?” The gardener may imagine birds twittering in the shrubs or the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of people touring the property. I had the John Denver song Alaska and me as my cellphone ringtone (don’t laugh - it worked, I won the trip!).
“What do you taste and smell?” Georgia peaches for the gardener, cedar-smoked salmon for me. Get creative - what would it be for your movement vision?
“What do you feel?” This is a beautiful one for impassioned change. Awe for the amazing people who have come together to work with you; satisfaction in the fruits of your labors; happy faces and love from the people whose lives you influenced?
Then leadership come in
But is a strong vision enough? No, this is where leadership comes in - as Warren Bennis says, “translating vision into reality.”
Back to our garden metaphor, the beautiful garden is a result of the gardener’s work of preparing the soil, buying the seedlings, planting, weeding, watering consistently, deadheading, pruning, harvesting - you get the idea!
Your vision is only the first step in creating a thriving garden or business or movement. Now it’s time to call in your power, those strengths you have identified, and get more specific about the roadmap you will follow to create this movement.
As you further develop your vision statement, here are three tips to bring the “THRIVE” into it:
Include specific goals, what you would like to achieve over this next year; how you want to be known by others who are involved in the movement with you.
Ensure that the end result reflects your core values and identify how they align with your life’s purpose.
Consider how you want your future to be regarding health, wealth, relationships, family, spirit. Ensure that your vision brings balance and focus to these areas.
"A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them." - Liberty Hyde Bailey
Just as a garden requires effort and attention, so do your vision and the leadership activities that will take you forward. A clear, aligned, powerful vision statement will create a strong foundation for all your efforts to grow a thriving movement and impact others in a global way!