Give more gifts!

When this week started I was not feeling very well. It was mainly Monday and Tuesday. I started thinking about it probably towards the end of Tuesday and I found out what was happening. I was not being a Linchpin, I was not drawing my own map, I was not giving enough gifts, I was not pushing any art. Instead, I was sitting in meetings with little action and art and that was giving me some anxiety.

I believe that being able to understand why we feel how we feel is key in our path to success and happiness. Understanding when we feel good about something to do more of that is as important as understanding what things we don't enjoy so that next time we do less of those. But what I also understood as I was finishing “Linchpin”, is that it takes courage and skill to see the world as it is and take action not by blaming others but by changing our behavior in a way that we would benefit from.

So, on Wednesday morning, I decided to see the world as it is and I understood that there are times where I need to sit through those meetings, where I can’t push my art and that is ok. But at the same time, I draw my map (my priorities), I circled the ones I enjoy more and I decided to intentionally prioritize those and do more of them on a weekly basis. I also decided to give more gifts, acknowledge people more for their work, say hi and smile, say thank you and something else to make people feel good and appreciated. And I also decided to write this third story because this makes me feel good. I enjoy writing and I hope that some day my stories represent a gift for someone.

This week I also finished “Linchpin”, the book that inspired me to start this blog. I am happy I was able to finish the book fairly quickly and I am now looking forward to revisiting the key parts of the book to reinforce some concepts and to start drafting my interviews. I am also happy I am sitting here writing, persevering and showing up to continue in search of my art, the one that can make me indispensable. It is now so evident what the lizard brain and the resistance could do. I have to beat them again and really keep this going, draft that interview, do the first one and publish. That is the next step on my map and that is the next gift I have to ship.