Tag Archives: Dr. Seuss

10 THINGS YOU KNOW (EVEN IF YOU DON’T KNOW YOU KNOW) – OR – 10 THINGS TO KNOW MORE ABOUT IN 2012! (PART 2)

6). Know The Power of “No” Which Can Really Be A “Yes.”

Life is all about saying yes. But sometimes we have to say no to something externally, but which internally, is an affirmative (“yes!”) declaration of self.

But we’re so often scared to say no to someone because we think they won’t like us or we’ll be rejected for doing so. So we end up compromising our ideals, our integrity, and disregard our inner voice’s knowing, all because of what we think others will think if we follow it. Saying no can be healthy, empowering and self-affirming.

Those people who we’re scared to say no to are not the people who really care for us anyway. So trust your inner voice. Be brave and say no. Look at how often you’re expending energy toward wanting people to “like you.” Spend less time trying to be liked by others and like yourself more.

As Dr. Seuss would say, “Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

7). Know That It’s Up To You.

The things you want to see happen in your life require you to make the first move. It’s not up to your mom or dad or teacher or sister or spouse. You have to take the step, and when you do, there are all sorts of unforeseen magical forces that will come to your aid. All sorts of synchronicities and information and dynamic relationships will unfold and become available to you but you first have to take the step.

Lao Tzu said it best, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

8). The Moment Always Wants To Show Us The Truth.

The moment always wants to show us the truth because the moment is truth. But often, we don’t look at what the moment is really trying to show us. That’s understandable. We feel we’re not equipped to face it or it’s too scary or we’re not strong enough. But those are just the conditioned ramblings of our left brain that want to keep us stuck and cut off from the real power we possess that the moment, ironically, is trying to forge out of us.

9). The Moment Always Wants To Show Us The Truth, But Sometimes You Have To Wait For It.

The other part of this is that sometimes it takes a while for us to catch up with what the deeper part of us already knows. The voices in our head are so loud and disconnected that they often don’t allow us to simply be with our feelings and express them. So be patient and wait for the head noise to quiet down and when it does, be brave enough to express the real feeling that’s going on for you. It’s rarely what our head was telling us it was.

10). Know That All Of Your Knowing Comes From Stepping Into The Unknown.

All of your victories in life have come by you stepping into something unfamiliar, uncomfortable, new. When you get to the other side of what the unknowingness is, you then have experience (which Einstein said), equals knowledge. But that’s gained by stepping into the complete unknown.

We’re naturally hardwired to do this, but as we get older we start to avoid that which is unknown because our ego tells us it’s unsafe.

Think of babies. They are seekers, adventurers, curious explorers. They’re not scared of the unknown. They just play and explore millions of mysterious micro-worlds. But what happens as adults is we start seeking comfort, safety, familiarity – we become seduced by what we know and that’s a sort of death. We stop playing.

Everything you want is in there. So step into the unknown more often. Get back to the spirit of who you were as a child. You wanted to seek. You wanted to play. You didn’t care about failure or how things looked.

The unknown wasn’t scary. It was home.

“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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#28 – The Agent/Manager Question

The answer to everything you are up against in life is. . . well. . . you.
Or rather, you hold the answers to all your questions.

But in order to access them, you have to ask different questions that require you to express your needs.

Why is this so hard for us? Why are we so scared to ask for what we deserve?
Especially when it comes to agents and managers?

You’re repped by someone and haven’t gone out in six months and yet you’re too scared to have a conversation. It might “rock the boat,” or “mess up a good thing.”

You’re not repped so you take the brain drain train and think to yourself, “I’m not good enough,” or “No one is ever going to want me,” simply because you’ve been rejected in the past.

Our fears are tied to our own childhood images of self-worth. We think if we express our truth we’ll be abandoned, or punished, or lose.

But here’s the irony.  If we’re in a relationship that isn’t working (we’re being taken advantage of, or we aren’t respected or we aren’t having our needs met) it’s never going to change unless we communicate.

Even though in the short term our worst fears might be realized – we break-up, or our agent drops us — in the long run, those actions spurn us toward where we ultimately want to go.

Homeostasis = Stagnation. Stagnation = No Growth.

Here’s this week’s homework:
1). If you have a great agent/manager relationship – you’re auditioning and you talk regularly with them — thank them for the wonderful job they’re doing! Do you know how rare it is for them to hear a client say “thank you” just because? They work hard. Let them know you appreciate them. Not just when you book.

2). If you haven’t talked to your agent/manager in months and have had zero auditions, call them. Start a dialogue. Communicate your needs. Find out how you can help. If it’s not a match, let it go so something new can come into your life.

3). If you don’t have an agent/manager. Find one. And don’t stop until you do.

“Today you are you, this is truer than true, there is no one alive, who is youer than you.” — Dr. Seuss

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# 20 – What You’re Looking For You Already Have

The experiences we are looking for in the world seem to show up out there.

They might be in the form of getting a girlfriend or booking a job or going on a cruise or getting an agent.

But what they really represent is the feeling you are looking for (and actually already possess) inside you.

We think that getting “the thing” is what we need to finally be who we are.

In actuality, who we naturally are already is – ironically – how we get the things we desire.

Life is a circle. It’s not a horizontal line leading to somewhere out there in the future. It’s a journey of coming back to you. As adults we’re trying to get back to that core essence of who we were (and still are) as children. The part of us that is nonjudgmental, innocent, fully-expressed, free, emotionally connected, playful, committed, fearless.

And as children, we don’t wait for “events” to give us permission to express ourselves. We express ourselves fully moment-to-moment in each moment.

Just because we’ve grown up, or gained twenty pounds or have gray hair or seem to have lost our way, doesn’t mean we’ve lost that eternal part of us that is yearning to be expressed again. We just have to reconnect to it and let it show us how to play.

Homework: This week, give yourself the permission to express yourself in a way you normally shut down, control, edit or don’t allow. Just do it.

And remember. Child-like is not childish.

“Adults are obsolete children.” – Dr. Seuss

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