Virtual Regeneration

The Art of Visualization - What I am learning from My Trees

Still with me?  You are probably thinking I have lost my mind right....actually seeing my future office, with a huge tree and stream in it no less.   Trust me - kind of freaked me out too.  But stay with me, it will eventually start to make sense.

In my posting on Oct. 29th, I told you about a tree that I look at pretty much every day.  I had no clue how that tree would play such a big part in my vision planning and be used as such a huge metaphor for my business.  Until a few days ago.

I'm standing at the bus stop waiting for my daughter like every other day, looking around, and there it was - like a smack upside the head, or a light bulb going off - a different tree! 

Where I stand, I face the street.  Behind me is a house.  This house has a beautiful tree in its front yard.  Has been there for many years.  So why am I seeing it for the first time just now?  And why another tree?

The differences between this tree and my original tree are so dead on to where I am at in my business and in life, that it truly gives me chills at times.

As a reference point, the original tree, I now cal Future Tree.  The new tree I just realized was there is my Current Tree.

Future Tree has a thicker trunk that is lower to the ground.  From there, three thick branches go off in different directions leading to more branches and eventually leaves.

Current Tree has a thinner, taller trunk, with a few thick branches going off to tiny branches then leaves.

To any "normal person" this would not be a big deal.  To me - I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  My business is the Current Tree.  I am the trunk that goes up high off the ground, my team is the thicker branches and our clients are the leaves.  What this signifies is that I am still doing the majority of the work, my team is supporting me pretty well, and there are healthy clients.  But my intention has always been to step away from the day-to-day operations and simply "run the business". 

 The Future Tree, with the "team branches" closer to the ground, signifies what I want my business to grow into.  Where my team is supporting more of my business.

 

Needless to say I had to run home and call Coach Ginny with this "a-ha" moment!

In my next post I will go into what else I have learned about the differences in these two trees and how they represent my life just as much as they do my business.

Open Letter to Verizon Wireless

To Verizon Wireless:

I just got off the phone with your customer support.  I am trying to give you money and she is telling me she cant take it because my upgrade month is not here. What?

I want the new Droid phone.  I am willing to pay the $199.99 and an additional $29.99 per month (for the unlimited data plan) in order to do it. But she is telling me I cant because my month (04/2010) is not here.

Do you realize that you are turning down money because you wont allow people to switch phones in the middle of their contract.  

I am UPGRADING, not downgrading.  I am trying to give you money not take it away.

You really need to re-think your plan rules and customer service on this one.

-Kristi Pavlik-

The Art of Visualization - Taking a metaphor and making it more realistic

So how do you take a vision, or a part of it, and make it into something less metaphoric and more realistic?  To be honest, I didn't have a clue.  How was "my tree" going to help me with building a vision for what I wanted my business to look like in 5-years?

Time for another visualization exercise......

This time around, Coach Ginny had me focusing on what exactly did I want my business to look like.  The hardest part about doing this exercise is getting out my own way.  It's not easy planning out something, doing the "what if time and money were not a factor" game.  I always want to say, yeah, but.... Forcing myself to not go there is not as easy as one might thing.  I work with my clients all the time to help them to see the bigger-picture for their businesses, why is it so hard to do it for myself? (I'm sure there is another blog post in this sentence alone.)

 I like using visualization as a technique because it does allow me to think on a bigger scale.  Once I really start to put myself out there and allow for bigger-picture thinking, it amazes me what I see.   This time around I could actually see the reception area to my physical office space.  Now this got my attention, as I work virtually, from home.  Never crossed my mind to have an actual office building.

In my vision, when you walk into Adonai Business Solutions, LLC you are transformed to a place of tranquility, calmness, "all is right with the world" type feeling.  There is a real stream and yes, a very real tree just off to the left.  You can sit by the tree if you choose, or simply just bask in its glory. 

When walking up to the receptionist desk (which is large and curved - not sure how that plays in to all of this, but thought I would mention that anyway) you notice a mural of a tree on the wall behind her.  The branches and leaves are words that encompass what Adonai and our clients are all about.  There is a bible verse towards the bottom of the trunk - John 15:5.  My favorite painter, Thomas Kinkade, painted this one-of-a-kind mural for me.  If you know anything about his paintings, you know that this mural is full of life and light. 

To the left of the receptionist desk is a hallway that winds around the building.  The various offices are down this hall.  However, this particular vision exercise did not reveal what the rest of my office building looks like.  Maybe I'm just not ready to go there yet. 

In my next post I will go into what I have learned about "my tree" since the last visualization exercise with Coach Ginny and what I learned about myself that I hadn't realized before.

The Art of Visualization - Seeing things from a different point of view

As I talked about in my first few posts, Coach Ginny took me through a visualization exercise that showed me and my family by a stream.  If you recall, I saw myself sitting, leaning up against a tree.  My initial vision was a close-up view, so all I could see was a small portion of the trunk of the tree.

Before I go any further with this, I need to back up and share with you how every day I sit at the bus stop, waiting for the kids, and stare directly at this huge tree.  I have been doing this two times a day for six-years now. 

I love this tree - in the summer it has lots of leaves, full of life.  In the fall it is absolutely beautiful with the bright orange and red colors. In the winter you can see all the limbs and how they intertwine with each other. And in the spring, the tree "pops" and starts to come back to life. 

Other than looking at this tree and watching it go through its seasonal changes year after year, I never really gave it another thought.  That was until one day last year it dawned on me - wow!  the changes this tree goes through is very similar to what my business goes through.  Professionally I am hopping in the summer, really shine in the fall, but start to fizzle out in the winter.  Then in the spring, things start to pick up again. 

In my second and into my third session with Coach Ginny, I was telling her about this tree and how it was a visual metaphor of what my business goes through.  The really cool thing about this is that my stream vision, the one where I am leaning against a tree - well, you guessed it.....once Ginny had me take a look at my vision from a higher view (looking down on the bigger picture) I was leaning against that very same tree.  The business component to my vision was there all along - I simply had to look at it from a different point of view.

In my next post I will go into how Coach Ginny and I took the "tree component" of my vision and moved it inside, to a physical office space.  And how Thomas Kinkade (yes the painter) has a starring role in my vision.

A Must Have New Technology Flow Chart

The Art of Visualization - Session 2

Towards the end of session 1 and into session 2, Coach Ginny and I really dove into what my vision of the stream meant and what steps I needed to put into place in order to make that peaceful setting my reality. 

I needed to make some changes in my daily schedule, say no to some things, say yes to others (like "Kristi time"), and to create an atmosphere where I was more disciplined in shutting the home office door at the end of the day and not opening it again until  the appropriate time on the next day.  In essence, we mapped out a life-plan --- what I wanted my life to look like 1-year down the road.  Then we put some action steps in place to get me there. 

So where am I at with my life plan right now?  Well, some days are better than others.  I still struggle with keeping my own boundaries, but I am getting better at it.  I am better at being "just mom" when the kids come home from school.  I am better at doing some quick household chores first thing in the morning before getting the kids off to the bus. But the "Kristi time" is still not happening. 

Making time for myself is something I have never been good at.  Not sure if that is a "woman thing", a "mom thing" or simply part of my personality.  I suspect is a combination of all three.  I understand the value in down time.  I know that I am more productive in the long run when I embrace this concept. So why don't I practice it on a regular basis?  But that is for another blog topic......

In my next post I will go into what my visualization exercise showed me once I stepped back from the stream and looked at it from a different view. 

The Art of Visualization - Session 1

My first session with my coach came at a time where I was trying to get clear on the direction of my business.  I am struggling with trying to run a business, being a mom & wife, and keeping up with the housework.  I have issues with boundaries - specifically switching from business owner to mom when the kids come home from school.  It's too easy to slip back into my office to finish up that one thing. My clients keep my boundaries much better than I do.

After the traditional formalities were out of the way, Coach Ginny and I dove right in.  She had me go to a quite place in my house, shut off all that was a potential distraction, and try to relax. She had me close my eyes and then proceeded to talk me through a visualization exercise.  Now I have done this type of things before, so the concept was nothing new. In fact, I was eager for it - I love these types of things.

What transpired over the next few minutes was me actually seeing myself sitting by a stream, leaning up against a tree, just watching the water go by . It was quiet, peaceful, relaxing, tranquil.  My vision started out with me being the only one in it. As we went further into the exercise, my family then joined me by the stream.  It was wonderful - no outside influence, no gadgets, no one else - just me, my husband and our two kids.  

At the close of our session, what struck me as interesting was that my vision was about my family, and not my business.  I could not see anything pertaining to where I wanted my business to be in 5-years like I had thought we were going to get into. Or so I thought.......

Over the next few posts I will share how this one vision grows into something bigger and how it all ties into where my business is going, how it affects my family, and all that I have learned about myself (not all glamorous by the way), and what I am still learning every day.

Stay tuned....

 

The Art of Visualization

I have always been a believer in visualization - you know, when you close your eyes and envision something happening.  We have all heard about the star basketball player visioning himself making the winning shot, or how Tiger Woods sees himself swing the club, hitting the ball, seeing that same ball soar hundreds of yards, bouncing into the hole.  Its' said that he does this as part of his regular routine. 

Over the past few weeks I have been working with a coach, doing the very same thing, visualizing what my business looks like 5-years down the road.  Notice I didn't say "what it WILL look like".  Part of visualization is seeing things in present tense, seeing my business as it IS, as though it has already happened. 

I am amazed at what has come out of these sessions and what has carried over into my everyday life.  I invite you to join me as I continue down my path of transforming my business into what my vision showed me it to be, 5-years down the road. 

I will be posting results of each of my sessions, what great things come out of them, and all the really awesome little things that are popping up all over the place that fall in line with my vision. In the mean time, I would love to hear about how visualization has helped you. Maybe together we can encourage others who are struggling to get a clear picture of what they want their businesses to look like.

Funny for the Day

Sorry fellas, but this one actually made me laugh out loud.

The Business of Being Virtual Series

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Business of Being Virtual TeleSummit Schedule:

Niche Your Way to VA Success
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009  (Today!)
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Featuring: Pam Ivey

Online Business Manager
Date: Thursday, October 8, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Featuring: Tina Forsyth

Business and Marketing Mindset
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Featuring: Cindy Greenway

Managing Your Client's Perceptions
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Featuring: Lauren Pibworth

Affiliate and Passive Income
Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Featuring: Erin Blaskie

Systems for Success
Date: Thursday, October 22, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Featuring: Kristi Pavlik

Marketing Your VA Business
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Featuring: Jody Gabourie

The Multi-VA Business
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Featuring: Michelle Jamison