I went to a wonderful talk by Natasha Golding, of PrettySmart and although she was talking about Websites, her nuggets are worth noting for anything we do and stand for. Her three questions can form the basis of any self-enquiry whether it be on 'how do I market my business' to 'what is my Life Purpose?'
The key is in beginning with your authenticity. Who are you, and how are you remarkable? This is the first question and basically asks you to think about your talents and gifts - what makes you who you are, and when people meet you, how would they 'remark' about you to others? What are the things that other people say about you that make you stand out in their mind?
For example, there are many Reiki Masters in Singapore but I feel I am remarkable in that I offer a down to earth version of Reiki which is very accessible to people entering the 'holistic' field for the first time. I offer an approach that allows for a great deal of flexibility and for people to choose how best to incorporate Reiki into their existing lifestyle without demanding any rigidity of thinking, beliefs or lifestyle changes. Having identified this as my 'remark'able asset I know that in all my communications, my blogging, my website, my talks I need to reinforce this and have it obviously show up in everything I do. In this way, people often comment that what they read on this website is exactly what they get when they meet me, and that to me is a success!
So the first wonderful question to ponder is "What do you do, and how is it Remarkable?" Natasha says this inspired question comes from Seth Goldin, marketing guru and avid author of many books with strange titles.
The second great question is "Who do you do it for?" The question of your ideal client (which is also echoed in great books like Michael Port's 'Book Yourself Solid' and Smith and Assaraf 'The Answer') is a much deeper question than it first appears. Often we think that any client is good, as long as they pay the bills, and even the bad bill payers are better than nothing. Actually if we look at the amount of time we spend on our bottom 20% of clients we'll notice that the energy we put into our non-ideal clients actually stop us from servicing our ideal clients properly. This is the case in everything we do. When I was training and even sometimes in my Reiki talks, I would find myself focusing on the skeptics or the people who seemed the least interested in what I was saying, and it was both exhausting and demoralizing. Once I found ways to refocus on those who found what I was saying relevant and of value, I found it much more satisfying for me, and for them. The skeptics would always be skeptics, the disinterested would always be disinterested - no matter how much energy I poured their way! Once you figure out who your ideal client is, it is much easier to attract them and also much easier to release those clients who are not serving you (believe me, if they are not serving you, you are also not serving them). This is not only a business gem by the way, I modify this question to attract my perfect friends, interactions and colleagues too!
The final question is "Why do you do what you do?" As I said, these questions can really be used for anything - including Life Purpose. Why do you do what you do? Is it just for the money? Is it simply a means to an end? Are you treading water, waiting? Or do you have a deep and meaningful reason that drives you out of bed every morning? Find the underlying driving force for what you do and you will find both your motivation, and your life's work. Honestly, I do what I do because I get to experience the phenomenal power of human spirit every day. I watch in awe as people transform their lives, their beliefs, their illness. I get to applaud as people remember themselves, their life's passion and their inner courage. Its awesome and I do it for purely selfish reasons!
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