I was washing eggs this morning – 5 dozen collected over the past week from our generous girly-birds –  and had a new download for the upcoming Leverage Your Language class.

Can’t be an accident, I’m thinking: While up to my elbows in eggs, a symbol of creation and new life, my own creativity kicked in and brought new life to an offering I’m passionate about.

These sparks of new life often show up  for me when several “threads” of thought connect, with a resulting aha or even,  “Eureka!”

Here’s what mean:

Thread #1:

One of the participants in the 2010 Leverage Language class shared that she would have liked more on how to use teaching stories with coaching clients. That awareness has been percolating in the background for me over this past year.

 

Thread #2:

Some coaching clients lovelovelove their story, the details and drama of their situation . They want to tell it, retell it and sometimes get caught in a loop with it. During the coaching session, the client may be so “in their story,” they aren’t able to be present in the moment with the coach (or for that matter, with themselves). For the past ten years, I’ve been teaching coaches how to deal with this effectively.

 

Thread #3:

Becoming aware of the stories we tell ourselves is foundational to living in choice. Using emotional reactions as a gateway to an underlying story can tell you a lot about what you’re holding as Truth that may not be so. It can show you where you have been enslaved to a belief.

 

Thread #4:

I’ve heard Soul Mapper, Lissa Boles, offer a powerful reframe by asking, “Instead of telling your story, what does the story want to tell you?” Think about it.

 

Thread #5:

People learn through stories. Your clients can learn new concepts and make shifts more easily when they connect with a teaching point through the experience a story provides. Your prospects can more quickly appreciate the value you offer when you create a deeper connection with them through the use of appropriate stories.

 

Thread #6:

How you relate to your personal story is critical. The story is not wrong and neither is the fact that you have a story about something, no matter how negative that may be. Coaches, as you develop your capacity for being present to your own stories, you will bring this to your work with clients. The result? Truly effective coaching. Far less need to get to an outcome. Freedom to experiment with creative coaching approaches. Deeper, richer exploration. The kind that leads to growth.

 

These six threads had been waving in the breeze, calling my attention to each of them separately. And while I was washing eggs, they connected quite spontaneously, followed by immediate clarity on how they can work together to augment part of the Leverage Your Language class. Or maybe even to become a stand-alone offering.

What is SO delicious about this is how it changed my story about the task of washing eggs, and the inner chant of, “I should be doing something else.” I got, at a really visceral level, how being in the space of these mundane tasks can be a powerful part of my creative expression, vs. just something to get through so I can get to what I really want to do.

While I first saw this concept many years ago in the book, Chop Wood, Carry Water, I now understand this in a new way because I experienced the fruitfulness of the mundane task in the moment. You see, I had been on my way to the office when first the dishes and then the eggs called for my attention.

I wondered if I were using these tasks to avoid being in the office. Now I see – and feel very deeply – how it is not about “being in the office” or “being at work.” The point is, I believe, being in flow because everything else, including blog postings and class announcements, follows from this.

When we surrender to flowing in the moment, it takes us out of the polarized perspective of “work vs. rest of your life.” It’s all about creating, which occurs most powerfully  (wait for it….) when we are in the flowing of each unfolding moment.

Next time I have a posting to write or a marketing blurb to generate, I’ll have this experience to remind me to follow the calling in the moment while holding clear intentionality about desired outcomes.

If you love leveraging your language, time and energy, join me at this intersection of relaxfocused intention and conscious allowing. You’ll meet more than personal peace there; you may also encounter your next big launch!