An art teacher once divided his class into two groups.
The first group’s assignment? Create a masterpiece. They were told they had three weeks to develop their brilliant ideas into perfectly polished pieces worthy of the finest museums and galleries.
The second group’s assignment? Work steadily for three weeks. Don’t worry about perfection. Be curious and have fun. Trust your intuition, follow your energy. Try anything and everything that occurs to you without judging it good or bad. Learn from your experience and keep going. THERE ARE NO MISTAKES.
At the end of the three weeks, the first group came in exhausted and dejected, carrying pieces that were half-completed and nowhere near masterpiece status. They had started with big ideas, but grown frustrated and discouraged by their perceived inability to execute them fully right away and had given up.
The second group arrived enthusiastic and full of life, many of them carrying what could easily be considered masterpieces. They had allowed the creative process to move through them. They had experimented and had fun. They had experienced the power of taking Baby Steps and celebrating every result for the learning it provided.
Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb before he finally succeeded. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. I didn’t fail even once. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
Look at where his invention has taken us. I’d say those 1,000 steps were well worth it.
When we let go of our FEAR of “making mistakes and failing,” we accelerate our ability to learn quickly and free ourselves to create Masterpieces in all walks of Life. Figuring out what doesn’t work is essential to figuring out what does.
What great possibilities will you begin birthing today because you know you can’t fail?
© Copyright 2012 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.
P.S. For your convenience, below is the link to the recording of this week’s new episode from my VoiceAmerica Radio Show, “Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life!” You may listen online or download to your PC, phone or other mp3 player to listen on the go. In each week’s blog post, I’ll include the recording link for that week’s new Episode.
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© Copyright 2013 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.
About djwlifecoach
I am retired from 40+ years of helping individuals and teams build lives and organizations they love. One of the great joys of my retirement from professional practice is having greater bandwidth to donate my professional and creative talents to support and promote animal and social welfare charities.
During my 30 years as an organization transformation consultant, I served as a senior partner in four of the world’s largest, most prestigious global professional services firms. In 2005, I took a five-year sabbatical to find healing and peace because non-stop work had taken its toll.
My recovery from burnout led to finding my purpose guiding others on their journeys. As a board-certified coach, author, consultant, radio host, Reiki Master and EFT/tapping practitioner, I share hope, possibilities and empowerment with the world.
111419 DJW Sid CH Pet Corner Photo ShootI help clients achieve rapid, extraordinary, sustainable results by connecting who they are with what they do, a connection often lost through stress and the sheer busy-ness of daily life. Courageous self-awareness and unconditional self-love lead to honest choices based on priorities that nurture you and those around you on a journey to wholeness.
Decades in coaching, consulting, change management, organization development, human resources and mixed media artistic expression honed my business sense, professionalism, creativity, intuition, leadership and communication skills. The result? Practical tools that help you become more insightful, creative, committed, productive and fulfilled.
Even the most dedicated and hard-working individuals can shift from frustration to a sense of futility when their values, passion, work, and lives become disconnected. One of the problems with not taking care of our health is that the effects of ignoring it are often slow to show up. We continue to juggle family responsibilities, work and finances until we lose ourselves, waking up one day 50 pounds heavier in body and soul—no good to ourselves or anyone else.
I love working with people who are ready to take life-changing action to make their dreams a reality. At each moment, you have inside you all the wisdom you seek to choose your life and your way of showing up. Limiting thoughts, beliefs and feelings can block you from moving forward. An absence of love and concern for yourself can result in negative head talk that holds you back with discouraging messages about who you are and what you can do.
By listening and caring deeply, I guide you in connecting with your own inner wisdom. We identify the way you’d like to live. We determine what’s blocking you and release you from the hold those blocks have over you—unleashing the positive energy that will fuel you forward. Together we develop a plan to move you closer to your heart’s desire.
My books, blog, radio show and signature coaching programs help individuals and organizations harness the transformative energy of love to turn unexplored possibilities into fulfilling realities and step into their greatness. What’s love got to do with it? Everything! My book, Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life! (Hay House/ Balboa Press 2013) shares my story and the stories of 10 of my clients along with my signature Discovery Framework.
For fun, I love reading, sewing, knitting, yin yoga, afternoon tea, opera and movies. I live in Williamsburg, Virginia with my spouse, Wilson Abney, and the cat who runs our life, Maisy Jane.
Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life! 