Are you ready for an entrepreneurial revolution that’s fueled by you expressing your beautifully authentic self?

No more playing small. No more Should Gremlins cramping your style. No more waiting for your time to come–it’s here.

In other words…

Are you ready for the era of the Natural Professional?

If you want to:

• realize crazy amazing success in more dimensions than you ever thought possible,
• streamline your efforts to kick butt in the world and stay in a delicious space, and
• be a part of creating a new work ethic

…then you’ll be ready for the big change that’s coming up.

Big, BIG NEWS

New year, new direction: I’m closing the chapter that has been Project Simplify and will be devoting my efforts to developing the Natural Professional.

This may come as a big surprise (unless, of course, you read the most recent newsletter!), but it makes perfect sense. Check it out:

For a few years now, I’ve been flirting with the Natural Professional concept. In my heart, I’ve known that bringing it to the world is where my destiny’s been leading. The question that eluded me was how.

With Project Simplify, we’ve been focusing on simplifying as a means to focus on what’s important to you. This has been good, and it’s time to go great!

Based on the premise that “the era of struggle is over,” the Natural Professional takes simplifying to a whole new plane by asserting that not only can you make your work flow smoothly and easily, you are a vital player in the entrepreneurial revolution. 

I know I’m almost sounding political here, but we’re not talking about occupying Wall Street, we’re talking about ”occupying” your right to create a happy existence based on sane, healthful priorities.

Supporting you and your business for this means cultivating tools to:

• make confident, solid decisions quickly;
• be productive with constantly shifting priorities;
• be a positive change agent, sustainably;
• navigate stormy times with ease; and
• uncover and share more of your gifts through business.

Here is the Natural Professional mini-manifesto…

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We, the Natural Professionals, are bringing human values back into the equation of our success. Work is easier because we are flowing rather than pushing and we act in line with our values. 

We have greater economy of effort because we use intuition for guidance. We gain greater satisfaction because we’re making decisions based on respect for the whole.

How are we going to do this?

Being in this unprecedented time in history, we are in the perfect position to create a new way of working. 

We’ve rejected corporate values in favor of an entrepreneurial lifestyle, now it’s time to reject the habits and stress that seemed inherent in the corporate world.

The Natural Professional as a business is dedicated to supporting you in developing a personal navigation system that, no matter what situation you find yourself in:

• supports you in sharing your True Genius with the world,
• recognizes and short-circuits self-sabotage, and
• helps you confidently make the best decisions for your long-term health and success.

You’ll get access to the three-part Natural Professional Program:

• Mastering Your 21st Century Workflow organizational system in step-by-step video format for *free*.
• Cultivating Your Flame ’shops and e-courses to reconnect and solidify your purpose and passion.
• Bathing in Bliss ’shops and e-courses to realize and revel in your full potential.

If you’ve dug Project Simplify, you’ll love the new direction of the Natural Professional.

We will change history, my friend. (Especially yours!)

Declare your intention to boogie down on the Natural Professional journey by signing up for Natural Professional updates in the form above or by clicking here.

Then grab your groovy garb and get ready to roll!

XO

Shawn Tuttle
Natural Professional

Fine print:

• The new Natural Professional site is scheduled to go live on January 20th.
• The Simplifier newsletter and podcast will cease to be published.
• Posts on the Project Simplify website will become archive info.
• The Weekly Review and Planning Sessions will continue under the NP banner. (Haven’t heard of the Weekly RAP Sessions? check it out here)
• You must opt-in to receive the Natural Professional’s New WOW updates. I want to know that the folks on this list want to be on it!

For many people, this was quite an uncomfortable process because we were pushed to declare what was important to us–how else can you know what to keep and what to let go of?

Those who took seriously the urge to slim down on the irrelevant and minimize distractions, this final push in 2011 to “let go” of anything that didn’t serve them came easier. Those who resisted and instead insisted on bumbled forward without discretion had a much harder time of it.

Personally, my year was, well, kind of chunky. It didn’t feel all that fluid, truth be known. However, once I ‘fessed up to myself why that was in December, you might say the water started a-flowin’ with a passion!

You’ll remember that I reported in the last newsletter that I was about to begin working with a coach. . .

All I can say is, “Oh My.” Well, I have a little more to say, like, “Wow.”

There are a few changes afoot that you should know about because they affect you directly!

After an impressive run of six + years, Project Simplify and the Simplifier newsletter are, as I write this, in their final days. In fact, this is the last issue of this fine publication. Zoinks!

Logical next question: Is this IT?? Am I done with my work?

Logical next answer: Hell No!!! (Pardon my french.)

Watch your email inbox tomorrow for the unrolling of the next phase… (Which, if you’ve been reading for a while, isn’t all that surprising. Hint: 2 words. The first starts with a N and the second with a P, Yeehaw!!)

Which means that this is an adieu to the completion of a phase of my life that has been so incredibly rewarding and so amazingly affirming.

Even more importantly, it’s a perfect opportunity to say, Thank You! You are the reason for exploring new ways to simplify and discover easier ways of working. I am so grateful for your interest in this work and these ideas–I hope to continue the journey with you for a long time.

I also want to thank the ever-versatile Lance Brown, who has been a columnist for this newsletter, and had a presence in The Simplifier from the beginning. In fact, if it weren’t for him prodding me toward the first newsletter all those years ago, I may have been too chicken-s#*t to ever get it going. From idea-man, to coder, to editor, to columnist, his digital fingerprints are on just about every part of the Project Simplify website and newsletter.

So it’s with a twinge of nostalgia and a lightening bolt of excitement that I’ll wrap up this note to you.

Well, almost. How about one more thing to touch back to what I wrote above about the energy flowing once I ‘fessed up.

There have been a ton of posts and newsletters flying around talking about goals, goal setting, and the one I prefer, a word (or three) for the upcoming year.

However you decide to set the tone and intention for the year, my encouragement to you is to do it honestly. And the person to be most truly, deeply and radically honest with is yourself.

Listen to the little hints and messages your spirit is sharing with you. Denying them the attention they deserve is a sure source of chunkiness, a fact I did my best to deny for a good part of the year.

Listen, trust, fly! Booya!!

We drink in the confident energy of the woman on stage, beaming face helping us feel seen. We obediently filled out the worksheets in the guidebook. We play along with the dancing at the end of each break. Life in the Banquet Hall can get pretty surreal…

On the second morning, we’re ready for a breakthrough of some sort.

She’s encourages us to expand. We do an exercise to identify what’s keeping us small and preventing us from believing in the value of our services.

It’s a touchy subject. From one perspective, you could say this is the real reason we’re all there. A fear of claiming the value of what we give our clients. It was mine, in any case.

She walks us through the steps that get me to quickly identify an experience from 6th grade that has quietly held me prisoner for the last 30 years. (Am I really going to write this?!? Crikety.) Ok, here goes.

The Incident.

In the 6th grade I started wearing a training bra. It really was just for practice because there was nothing there. It was awkward, embarrassing. I was sure everyone would notice.

It doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, but please understand that I was painfully shy and terribly insecure then. I was the youngest and smallest kid in the class. Always the last one picked for kickball. I had changed schools in 4th grade and had never found my place in my new class. I ate lunch by myself every day. That was me.

So during recess, another girl in class saw one of the straps peaking out from under my shirt on my shoulder. This girl wore a real bra, no training variety necessary for her. She was totally comfortable with it—it was no big deal.

I clearly remember her towering over me. With a big smile and maternal pride on her face she said, “You’re growing up!” and she reached over to tuck the strap back under my shirt.

I was M-O-R-T-I-F-I-E-D.

Not only did someone see my training bra strap, she called attention to it. Deer caught in headlights—Wham! I shrunk into the smallest hole I could possibly find. My worst self-conscious fear had been realized. I was ready to die right there on the spot.

A part of me has been arrested in that moment for the last 30 years. Irrational? Entirely. Impactful? OMG.

There, in the Banquet Room of the Holiday Inn, images start flying across the screen of my mind. 30 years worth of experiences contorted to protect this humiliated little girl.

The problem with being small.

Simple. When we play small, we cannot realize our full potential.

I know this because when I feel small, it physically hurts. It shows up as a constriction in my chest area. My shoulders pull forward in a little hunch of protection. There’s a tightness in my throat—representing the desperate desire to sing my song loudly and beautifully to the world! Instead, I’m squeaking out some pathetic noises under my breath.

Signs point to the reality that I’m good at what I do. In fact, I know I’m good. BUT that immature part of me insists that I’m not yet ready, my stuff isn’t developed enough. Therefore, people won’t find it helpful. They’ll skim through it, discard it, and feel like it was a waste of money.

This voice keeps me small (surprise!) It prevents me from setting a date for the online version of my program. It prevents me from even working on converting it to its new form. I move at a snail’s pace.

Every day I hang back, my gifts stay with me. My arms are tired of carrying them. The bountiful baskets in my imagination aren’t so pretty anymore. The fruit is rotting, the cheese is molding, the bread is getting stale. Everyone who would benefit from my bounty is denied.

It is so ridiculously and tragically ironic. The flame of my passion to help people work differently burns—yah, burns and scars my hands rather than lighting the sacred cauldron in the Temple of my Purpose, blazing strong and bright as a beacon to others.

Tools to let that crap go.

The beauty of that kind of childhood trauma is that, once dealt with, it becomes a deep pool of goodness to share with others—empathy, compassion, understanding, a different point of view.

How to let it go? Here are the steps I followed. And wow, did I feel relieved once I had done this! These are a combination of steps from the class I took with Vrinda and my work with Dr. Don.

1. Identify the situation.
2. Forgive any other people involved.
3. Forgive myself for reacting in the way I did.
4. Identify the lessons learned, and/or
5. Identify the gifts received from the whole situation.
6. Wish the other people involved well and then imagine them walking away.
7. Come up with a replacement phrase/vision to neutralize the old memories.

A few final thoughts on the replacement phrase: I use mine whenever that sneaky, habitual Gremlin attempts to creep in and sabotage my work. It helps me stand tall, in my skin, and courageous enough to proceed in the face of lurking insecurity.

The world does not benefit from your playing small.

What’s YOUR training bra incident? How is it holding you back (no pun intended)? Maybe it’s time to stop being victimized by it?

Be Big
Be BOLD.
BE DELICIOUS!

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Photo credits:
Bra by saturn ♄

Just think, instead of being the subject no one wants to talk about for their business, it could be a scintillating and fresh topic du jour.

I mean systems are what run the business, allow you to delegate, and know that you can take off for the weekend with a clean conscience.

Why wouldn’t you want to talk about them? I know, I know, working on systems isn’t actually billable time.

HOWEVER, people, they are what allow you to grow your business. Really, now, enough said.

So if systems talk were sexy then you’d want to talk about it all the time. Which might be a bit much, but, as far as I’ve noticed, people refrain from talking too much sexy talk during business hours so I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

The question is how?

Imagine a breathy, low, silky voice saying, “Oooh, guess what I revised today? My client intake system! Mmmmm.” Yah, Baby! Do it!

What makes sexy talk so appealing? Well, it makes us feel yummy, fills the head with visions of naughtiness, and provokes fun responses from others.

Applying this to systems talk… (“OMG,” I can hear you wondering, “is she really going to do this??!” heh heh heh)

I know it can be done. How do I know? Lemme tell ya:

My boyfriend is a glass blower and he’s in the process of building a studio. There are lots of questions and lots of stuff to figure out so he spends a lot of time perusing glass forums. While they do joke around at times, there is a lot of word count dedicated to tech specs, materials, heating elements and the like.

Now, if his forum perusing has gone on for just about forever in an evening, I’ll lean over his shoulder and whisper in his ear as I read whatever happens to be on the screen. That’s right, imagine the following delivered in a low, sultry, suggestive voice:

“I’ve devised a method to create kiln-formed cylinders to pick up warm and blow out. They’re good sized-4″ diameter x 9″ tall x 5/8″ thick. I also make a ‘cookie’ that’s the same diameter and thickness fashioned the likeness of the cylinder to attach to the end which seals-off the cylinder and makes quite a large bubble.”

Most of the time I’ve no idea what I’m saying. But I tell ya, it Just Doesn’t Matter.

So until I figure out how to make the Content of systems more conducive to sexy talk, I guess we’ll just have to settle for delivery options.

Give it a try. If nothing else, you’ll surely get a good giggle out of it.

XO

Which means this is as good a time as any to announce the refocusing of this Project Simplify blog on the foundation topics for the Natural Professional.

By foundation I mean the workflow subjects like organization, time/mind management, digitizing the office, office/home management. All the not-so-pretty words.

[as opposed to Natural Professional topics of framework and fulfillment in which we dive into the life you are creating for yourself]

We’ll see how it plays out, but my goal is a topic per week. Some posts might include resources, some ideas, and then culminate in one How To. Like I said, we’ll see how it plays out—usually isn’t like I originally think =)

OK, on to topic of the week: Where to store ideas for projects whose time hasn’t come yet. (Heh heh. Might as well jump right into the bubbling, frothing cauldron of potential!);

Not for my household trash. Waste Management, Inc already does that.

I want someone (something?) to come take all the crap out of my head on a regular basis. This crap consists of:

• chatterbrain tendencies that fill my head with noise.for example: The constant commentary telling me things like I’m looking at a chair with nine holes in its back which is the same style I used to have but in white and it’s not all that comfortable but how much is from Ikea and by the way I don’t remember if it’s stackable, but I do know that it reminds me of the unnamed person who I got the chairs with and shit I just thought of her again. OMG. Who. Bloody, Cares?!?!? As if mental calm, peace and quiet were some terrible, horrible disease to be avoided at all costs.
• compelling urges that trick me into reading useless informationfor example: Reading the back of Mark’s “green apple shampoo” container in the shower. Really? You want me to compare this weird chemical smell to green apples? Why not red apples? or fuji apples? Why do these cheap shampoo companies insist on abusing fruit in this way? Is that neon green color helping hair? Why did I read it AGAIN??
• victim thoughts that get me unfairly comparing myself to role models and that demands unnatural feats of completionfor example: Getting down on myself for not being able to finish my video course project. Yeah, who cares that it’s actually a huge project traversing all kinds of unknown (for me) territory on a shoestring budget. It should’ve been done already, like two years ago at least, damn it!

I could go on—I know that lists of 10 are always popular, even though oftentimes the author really only has eight or nine and thus tries to hide a couple of slackers in around numbers 5 and 6—but we’ll hold it to three and get on with it already.

Am I alone in being so incredibly disgusted with this crap? I’m seriously distressed and frustrated by it.

It shapes my perspective into an incredibly boring, predictable and pathetic experience that makes me want to cry or go crazy which is then magnified exponentially at the thought of living with this inane story for the next 40 years. (A frustration which is, of course, disturbingly ironic.)

It makes me want to re-enact a scene from a movie I saw some 15 years ago, Pi (I’m pretty sure this was it). I don’t remember much anything of the storyline or the main character’s motivation. All I recall from the movie, actually, is a single image (I closed my eyes for the scene) of the main dude taking a drill to his head. I think he wanted to stop the voices. Which is how I feel when flooded by above crap. But I’m not going to hurt myself.

It’s about this point (or several paragraphs previous) that this post should turn into 10 Ways to Turn the Mental Crap Off. I’ll write down the ideas I have on the subject, count them, and then name the list appropriately, even if it ends up being something odd like four.

1. Meditation, a long-term solution. As a still-novice sitter, it’s too long to be super helpful in intensely rough patches of mental hijacking as the disturbed mind will make mincemeat out of the deep, calm pools I’m attempting to return to. It still is worth keeping with as a daily practice as all of those 20 minute sessions do wield some influence over the unwieldy mind.
2. Altruistic acts, a medium-term solution. Definitely a challenge to get this one going as the above condition is decidedly 100% self-serving, self-indulgent and completely lacking in discipline. It’s been shown that people who suffer from depression are relieved of symptoms when they serve others.
3. Routine, a short-term solution. This one’s power lies in switching gears or throwing a wrench in the pattern—your choice of metaphor. It helps stop the downward spiral of the self-indulgent environment that mind-hijacking thrives in by getting your mind onto another train of pattern. The power of repetition is that you have another pattern to resort to—your only job here is to make sure the substitute pattern is taking you in the right direction.

That’s all I got today. Three, not 10 Ways to reign in the mind and get it to observe some moderately acceptable social manners.

PHOTO CREDITS

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Photo credits:
When is trash pick-up? by 4nitsirk

Photo credits:
Let me out by David Chartier

Photo credits:
Tracks by Chang’r

Our most recent assignment was to brag about some things we’d done. Here’s part of my assignment—just the part that relates to this blog:

It’s a simple technology that’s been around for over a decade (eons in computer time!) Amateur web designers will probably sniff in my general direction at this feat of minuscule proportions. They might even roll their eyes while exhaling heavily. “Newbie” they’ll think for a split second before turning to more important matters like the tepid coffee pooling at the bottom of their cup.

Be that as it may, I still beam a smile wide and proud as the majestic Mississippi River. Enabled by online tutorials, empowered by free time on a Sunday afternoon, driven by the challenge to succeed… I did it! I created an animated gif in Photoshop and posted it on my website! A whole new frontier doth open and bloom before me…

(It’s at the top of the sidebar to the right.)

Today I did an afternoon skimming session as I was feeling pretty heady and was having a hard time getting anything done. I don’t typically blog these writing sessions because it’s usually a bunch of nonsense that, somehow, results in reaching some clarity.

What particularly cracked me up in this one was the idea of creating a job description for my ego.

Left unchecked, it’ll create havoc in the name of protecting me from perceived threats that may or may not exist. That’s somehow what it thinks it should be doing.

What resulted was a “conversation” between my Self (intuition/Guide) and my self (ego) that began after sensing some fear about where I’m headed with my business (read: unknown territory = threat). It went something like this:

Self: Are you scared little ego?

ego: It’s different—I wouldn’t say scared… anyone would have trepidation going into a new place.

Self: Certainly. So we’ll go one step at a time and check in all the while, ok?

ego: I smell something sneaky, like you’d LEAP given the opportunity.

Self: Well, you got me on that one. But remember the ropes course we did? We leapt and were safe. Cutting off from C was a Big-Huge scary leap and all is ok. We’re fine, right?

ego: Yes.

Self: If you think about it, it was actually the slow small steps that got us in that terrible mess with C in the first place, right? Admit it.

ego: Yes. I was just doing my job.

Self: Indeed. So what say we update your job description?

ego: Sounds good.

Reports to: Shawn’s Self

Duties:

• Support Shawn’s visions and subsequent goals for realizing them. Wait for representation of vision before acting.
• Get creative in manifesting projects.
• Be gracious, polite, friendly and professional with others at all times.
• Actively seek ways to make things easier without compromising quality or integrity.
• Look for ways to include others in a mutually supportive way.
• Keep an eye out for signs of lack of integrity in others and in others’ work.
• Have fun.
• Enjoy life.
• Accept and give graciously and generously.

Self: That’s actually a huge job. Think you’re up to it?

ego: Gulp. What if I fail?

Self: Here’s the thing. It isn’t all up to you. We’re a team. You can ask for help and I’ll keep an eye out for when it looks like you might benefit from help. It’s a team effort. I’ve got your back. I’ll do whatever I can to ensure your success and I’m already on the success track which makes your job sooo much easier. How about it?

ego: Uhhhhh

Self: Still a little nervous? Tell me this. What’ll happen if you fail?

ego: I’ll feel like crap.

Self: And?

ego: I’ll feel like a loser.

Self: And?

ego: Nothing really. You can’t fire me, I’ve got job security.

Self: From past experience I’ve noticed your resilience in the face of set back is quite impressive.

ego: Yes, I pride myself on being able to bounce back and continue strongly.

Self: So the only thing that can happen if you fail at my proposed job description is that you’ll feel like crap and like a loser?

ego: I guess so.

Self: And how long would that feeling last?

ego: Probably a week or two, three at the most.

Self: Then you’d move on to the next job, right?

ego: Yup, like I said, I’m resilient.

Self: And how hellish is feeling like crap and like a loser? How detrimental is it?

ego: It’s embarrassing but I’d get over it.

Self: Cool. So how about it? Accept the new job description as your role in Shawn’s life?

ego: Ok.

Self: Deal.

ego: Done.

SeSelflf: Let’s get to it! Sweet! Welcome aboard.

ego: Ok. Cool.

Skimming this morning, I found myself writing that “it feels good to get back on track”. The warm, fuzzy feeling of satisfaction at having done my yoga/meditation/skimming sessions was immediately extinguished by the thought: “Why were you off track?!”

Wow, it’s hard to have a thought like that and not get trounced by the Inadequacy Gremlin: “you’re supposed to be helping other people stay on track and they probably have more going on than you.” Nasty little punk he is. Always goes for the jugular.

But I’m not going down that easily. Prepare for battle, Gremlin!

I started ticking off what did go well during this bottleneck time:

• still used my To Do/project manager
• avoided scheduling anything during this time unless it was necessary
• let some maintenance stuff go without serious consequences—kitchen floor’s a mess and luckily, no house plants shriveled up during the “drought”
• did a decent job of getting good rest by going to bed at decent time and skimping on morning routine so I could sleep a little longer. (I’m thinking this may be the single reason that I’m not more wasted than I am: Yay for good rest!)

Now for the didn’t-go-so-well perspective. For the most part, preparation for all the big dates went fairly smoothly, Except. There is something. One thing. One thing that came up three times. And it was super disruptive.

Unrealistic expectations with my speech writing.

Since I know my material so well, I wanted to think I was able to identify my speaking points, come up with some stories for illustration, and be done.

Guess what? Honestly, I’m not there (where’s the gremlin I can blame for this one? ha ha.)

How this played out was that preparing for the three speaking gigs was a much thicker, chunkier, and slower process than expected. I labored. My brain churned. It was hard. Preparation took so much longer than I thought it should, and I fell off track because of it.

Actually, the falling off track wasn’t because of the excess time spent. It was a result of the difficulty of the process. A process that wasn’t appropriate.

Kind of like using a kid’s tricycle to make the one-mile trek to the store up the hill instead of using your 24-speed hybrid bicycle. Not only do you not get there very fast, the brain is futilely trying to figure out why it ain’t working. That’s what threw me. Refusing to acknowledge that a tricycle is not a good choice for this trip.

Instead of thinking: “This shouldn’t be so hard!” and then keeping on with the same approach (deadlines! keep going!), I’d have been much better off taking the time to stop, and acknowledge that the process, being so hard, was calling for a shift in approach to my speech prep. (In the interests of wrapping this post up, suffice to say that the solution for next time is to write it out.)

OK. So that didn’t really look like a battle in the traditional sense of the word but I can tell you this: the Inadequacy Gremlin was held at bay and sent home without dessert. Ha!

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Photo credits:
Tricycle by Aslakr

One woman has been reading David Allen’s Getting Things Done but hasn’t taken the plunge. Sounded like she was feeling too freaked out by everything pressing in on her to get it going.

Which completely makes sense. The mindset with which you set up a new Project/To Do list system is not native to the crises-management mindset.

Writing this morning, I kept coming back to the idea of beginning with your Vision. Why? because fundamentally the issue is your mindset, not your lack of a To Do list. The list is a tool. You are so much more than your list.

The vision isn’t necessarily monumental like “what my purpose is” or “what I’m doing with my life”. Negatory. We’re freaked out, right?

Instead, it could be as simple as, “who do I want to be this week?” in the sense of, “how do I want to experience each day and who do I want my family/colleagues to interact with?”

I realize that it can be really hard to do on your own, which is why asking for help can be a good thing.

In David Allen’s newsletter today, he reminds readers that what he typically identifies in the workplace is the need for more visioning—how will the result be wildly successful—not necessarily more planning.

We’re talented. In the efforts for getting it under control, we’ll probably be practicing both at the same time.

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Illustration credit:
Shawn