On April 2nd I turned 59 and I have LOTS to say.

 

 

If you look back at your life and think:

“Where did all that time go?” or

“Oh no, I’ve still got so much to do” or even

“I haven’t done anything really”, you sound like someone who measures ‘success’ by achievement.

 

Notice ‘success’.

 

Well, the bad news is that measuring ‘success’ by achievement is a really hard and unreliable measure. What are you measuring exactly? Whose standards are you using? Think about it: who are you really trying to impress with that PhD/eye-wateringly high salary/1 million followers on TikTok?

 

The GOOD news is that, even if you’re like me and think you’ve achieved nothing in your life, it’s never too late.

 

Oh sorry! I don’t mean it’s never too late to achieve ‘success’, I mean it’s never too late to change your view on what success means to you 🙂

 

If you’re not feeling ‘successful’, it’s not you that’s failing, it’s your criteria for measurement.

 

This is why people achieve the goal they’ve been striving for, yet feel empty shortly afterwards. This is why some lottery winners end up in worse financial situations than they were when they had little money. This is why people can strive all their life for something then, on their deathbed, look back and realise that they missed the point.

 

If you pin your hopes and happiness on something/someone in the future, you are missing the point. The point is to look around and be happy and satisfied NOW. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be striving for success, building a business, creating a family or working at something you believe in at the same time. No, I’m all for ACTION. But I’m also for looking at NOW and adding in happiness and satisfaction.

 

Years ago, I learned to ‘snapshot’ what was going on around me. I suppose it’s a version of mindfulness. I would mentally ‘step out’ of a moment and look at it, as if I were taking a photo. That way, the simple happiness of reading a book, or the rowdy joy of being at a family party, or the weariness of finally rocking a fretting child to sleep are captured. Happiness and satisfaction noticed, in the now.

 

Notice the moments of happiness and contentment now and you’ll be satisfied every day of your life.

 

Let’s now focus on my Triangle of newsletter topics:

Concept: What have I been learning and thinking about?

As ever, there’s been a cascade of learning since I last wrote.

I didn’t even realise I was doing it, but I was

s t r e t c h i n g

out the process of preparing The Wandering Lightbulb programme, which meant I didn’t have to launch just yet. But, even though I can put things off along with the best of them, I didn’t understand why I was hesitating to launch. Pretty much everything was ready. All resources and videos were made and uploaded. The whole TWL programme was improved, re-written and ready to go on the website. But there were just a FEW BITS that I hadn’t got around to finishing off.

 

 

Well, it turns out I didn’t like my own business model. But I didn’t even know it.

Somewhere in my many, MANY books about business I learned a ‘funnel’ model:

offer something small as the hook

demonstrate knowledge and expertise

sell one-off product such as a book or challenge

sell higher value product such as a course or event.

Heh heh, I suppose I did get to the book stage, but I have often used my book as an introduction to what I do, rather than a product. But now, having written The Wandering Lightbulb programme, I realised I was at the ‘higher value product’ stage. I’d stalled at launching the programme because it was meant to be sold at a higher price.

But what price?

£50? $799? £3,415 + ‘free’ resources (etc).

None of it made sense to me. I’m pretty sure that The Wandering Lightbulb programme is valuable, and some people will find it life-changing, but what price could I put on it? Nothing felt right. That indecision was what caused the delay in finishing uploading the course to my website.

But The Wandering Lightbulb programme is now uploaded and ready to go! I solved my dilemma. I made it completely FREE. The whole course, all the videos and pages of extra resources, now all ready and available for anyone to access, use and try for themselves. I’ve even thrown in a couple of 121 sessions chatting with me at key points, just to check-in on progress and satisfaction.

I’m a LOT happier with that outcome 🙂

Click HERE to access the programme and send it to anyone else you think might benefit.

 

System: What have I been making or organising?

 

Some of you are probably aware that I am planning to leave my much-loved, but logistically impractical, job at the school I work in one day a week. The wonderful people at this school, the ethos and the work I have been able to do, have all brought, challenge, meaning and direction to this era of my life, but it is now time for change.

 

I do love change.

 

People have pointed out to me that ‘change’ I instigate may well be enjoyable, but that ‘change’ that’s imposed on me may be less enjoyable. I disagree. But then, my life view may not be the same as other people’s.

 

My view is if change is imposed from external source eg: a job loss, a break-up, an illness, then I view it as a life challenge. Fate, if you like. I have experienced a life that equates challenge with growth. I am more than aware that others don’t feel the same way.

 

I would say it’s the self-imposed change that I doubt the most. What if I’m leaving someone/something that’s good for me? What if this change is the start of a downward spiral in good fortune and I look back and wish I hadn’t made it? What if this change is merely scratching an itch to leave a situation, instead of staying and addressing the underlying issues?

 

I try to make change having considered it from all angles. I think it helps to have an optimistic outlook 🙂

 

So this month I have been doing something I haven’t ever done before: I’m collating all my community art works from YEARS back, and sending targeted enquiries to new places and people I’d like to work with.

 

The research alone is a mammoth task. Then writing individual letters, curating a specific spread of art projects, designing the envelopes, sorting and fielding the responses requires huge vision and commitment.

 

However, I do all this, knowing that it is probably only ‘busy work’ to keep me feeling productive before the next era of my life makes itself known. But then I always say: if you take a step towards the Universe (and by this I mean show the Universe your intention through your actions), then the Universe will take a step towards you …

 

Energy: What have I been inspired or energised by?

 

This is a mad one.

 

Many, many years ago I learned British Sign Language and was bursting with pride when I achieved my BSL Level 1 certificate. But there was no Level 2 training on offer at the time and then, when I moved from east London, I lost touch with the community I had been involved in.

 

But I never lost touch with how I felt about sign language and its relevance and importance to everyone, not just those in the Deaf Community. I believe it’s a language we should all learn and teach all our children. Imagine THAT world!

 

Last Christmas I bought ANOTHER book about sign language and decided that, in this year of change, I was going to hurl improving my sign language skills into the mix. I am beyond excited to be focussing on something that I have been planning to get back into ‘someday’.

 

Watch this space …

 

Thoughts for TWIC April 25:

• Do you dread birthdays? What do they signify to you? That thought you have is only a thought. You can think differently about time passing and birthdays.
• Have you looked back and tallied up all your skills and achievements? Is there a Venn diagram of meaningful occupation in there somewhere? I love education, art and community. My teaching work was a wonderful overlapping combination of these important things in my life.

•     Is there a long-lost skill you have been meaning to brush-up and get back into? Remember the joy it held for you? Maybe there is no better time than today to make a decision to pick it up again.

•     What outdated or irrelevant belief is still lurking about in your thoughts? Our parents’ beliefs are often subconscious influences on our own, and not always because we agreed with them. Money, relationships, and lifestyle are three great topics to explore your own beliefs about. Where have your beliefs come from and, more importantly, are they still rigid, or have they moved and adjusted with time?
•     Daydream what change you would like to make in your life. What’s stopping you? Is a Part of you resisting? Is it time to find out?

 

The next TWIC will be arriving in your inbox on April 5th.

 

I’ll see you there 😉

 

As ever, I’m always available for questions and comments and you can leave your thoughts here or, if you’d like The What If Club delivered fresh into your inbox on the first Saturday of the month, you can join me here. A very warm welcome is always waiting 🙂