Releasing the old to welcome the new. I began to notice lately that I’d been doing this, so in the spirit of adventure and of progress, I decided to embrace it and it became kind of a theme for the past few weeks. I think it started with the realisation that I had some beliefs about my work that weren’t serving me, but has by now extended to many different areas of my life, and I thought by sharing here I might inspire someone to make a similar shift.
To be clear, releasing the old doesn’t mean discarding, disrespecting or diminishing any part of yourself or another. It means consciously honouring what has been and choosing to believe that you have gained from these experiences what you needed to and that you can now peacefully and hopefully move forwards into your future. With that said, here are the most impactful things I have been working through…
MUSIC
I want to be the most beautiful singer in the world and create incredibly beautiful music.
As a perfectionist, in the past I have had real resistance to publishing some of my music. The problem for me was that as soon as I finished a project, I knew I’d learned so much from it that I knew I was already at a higher standard than I was at the time of that recording. So I wanted to wait until next time, then I’d happily publish.
I know that the most beautiful singer in the world doesn’t have this problem, so if I AM that singer then I need to publish my music, even the recordings that are definitely imperfect. By publishing I release the old and welcome new opportunities for performing and recording into my life. And I also build a stronger and more interesting portfolio and reach more fans (um, kind of essential). This is how I become that singer. By being that singer. I could say so much more on this, but for now I’ll move on…
CLOTHES (and other items)
The best version of me
wears beautiful clothes that I feel great in. Personal presentation really affects your energy and I knew I needed a high energy for everything I want to get through. So I need to feel great. So I need to feel great in what I wear. So I needed to get rid of the clothes and other items in my home that didn’t make me feel great anymore.
This one is tricky for me, as I associate physical items with memories of people, places, experiences, periods in my life when… It was hard to set aside a dress or a coat that used to make me feel fantastic. But I was pretty ruthless. If it no longer makes me feel great, it’s going on ebay. Items that weren’t good enough for ebay (WHY would I have ANYTHING around me that wouldn’t be good enough for ebay??) went in the bin. And since ebay listing is not my happy place, I cut a deal with a friend to kindly take care of that for me.
Another note on that… I decided that a dress making me feel fantastic was too reactive for me. Objects do have energy, but an item can’t make me feel anything. I choose how I feel about something. The dress had great memories attached to it, but it didn’t hold any power of its own. All the power and strength from a certain memory is within me.
And releasing the physical memento from a memory isn’t rejecting or diminishing the experience, it’s trusting that I’ve taken from that whatever I needed to, and can move forwards smarter, more mature, expanded. Plus, I create space to make new memories – new experiences and opportunities that will come along when I’m wearing a beautiful new dress!
The very practical side of this is that I now have physical space for the new things I’m buying. My wardrobe was crammed full of things I would no longer even have considered wearing, now I look in there and see beautiful things I’m delighted to choose from and that’s such a pleasure!
RELATIONSHIPS
I allow myself to be thankful for beautiful memories, an expanded capacity for love and a renewed compassion for the world, for people and their dreams and struggles.
Sometimes you need to slow down and spend some time looking within to move forwards. That way you come out stronger and also more compassionate, towards both yourself and others. And this way you’ll be ready to welcome great new people into your life at the right time 🙂
CLIENTS (this one is about old beliefs, not old clients!)
I want to work with the best clients!
For me, that means highly motivated people who are prepared to go all-in to create the business and the life they want. They are courageous, they are open to possibilities, they dare to dream BIG and they have that glint in their eye, where they thrive on the game and can’t wait to see what they can do with their life.
Guess what – that’s who I work with. I didn’t do the whole who-is-available-that-maybe-I-can-help-then-some-day-I’ll-get-someone-a-bit-better-then-eventually-I’ll-work-with-who-I-really-want-to-work-with. NO, I skipped that part and started working with the clients I really wanted. I released the belief that I had to wait (wait for what, anyway?). The truth is that you don’t have to wait to be or do something you really want. You can just decide it then act accordingly. As a man (or woman!) thinks, so he is. When I decided to apply this ancient principle to my biz it was a major uplevel for me.
On a practical level, I had some client projects waiting to be completed. They got finished this weekend and are all sent away. I’m releasing the old work so I have time for new exciting projects.
IDEAS
Release old ideas in the form of actions and welcome new ideas and possibilities into your life!
We all have ideas every day for posts, articles, projects, programmes, services, offers, adventures, things we want to say, share, places we want to visit, etc. Isn’t it so tempting to say wait! I’ll do these when I’m ready. Another day. When it’s a better time, when I have more experience, more money, more support, when this or that project is out of the way, when I think it all through and make the idea better… Wrong.
Ideas (like opportunities) are living, breathing things. You need to act on them or they fade out and go looking for someone who will act on them.
And hoarding ideas reveals a scarcity mentality. On some level, you believe that you aren’t enough to carry them out and/or that by carrying them out, your moment of glory will pass too soon and you’ll be left with nothing in its place. Not true. When you act on an idea, your capacity for creating expands. You gain experience, knowledge, connections, opportunities, all things you only got because you acted. All these outcomes in turn inspire MORE ideas. So don’t believe that you should wait, you def shouldn’t wait. As a creative being, it’s your responsibility to act on ideas you are given. When something is in your head or in your heart, that’s the moment to act.
In the past week I have acted on ideas for music videos, newsletters, blogs, fb posts, an accountability partnership, skype chats, lunch dates, a free offer, new places to market my work, and more besides. Whether or not I felt ‘ready,’ I had faith that my ideas were good enough to be acted on, that I was good enough to fulfil them and that by acting on these ideas I would be given many more.
And today I’m releasing these thoughts to welcome new thoughts! I’m sharing with the community to inspire someone else to make a transformation their life – ideas can do that! YOU can do that!
My challenge to you – What are you hoping to welcome into your life and what do you need to release in order to make that happen??
Much love,
Rhoda