LifeQuake™
Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor
Dr. Toni Galardi
Dear
Dr. Toni:
I have created a number of different innovative products, owned several
businesses and have been successful at all of them—that is, until I reach
a certain point of boredom and lose interest. Then I take my eye off the
ball and start making mistakes in my management decisions. This pattern
has ultimately been very costly, financially speaking. Truth be told, I
would really like to be a writer but I can make more money as a businessman
than I can as an artist. What do you suggest I do, Dr. Toni, to resolve
my boredom issue?—Frustrated Artist
Dear Frustrated:
Paradoxically enough, boredom is actually an interesting emotion because
it is a transition emotion. If we approach it with curiosity and ask ourselves,
“Where in my life am I not bored,” it can lead to discovering what we are
passionate about now. However, if we judge the feeling and suppress it
through artificial stimulation such as alcohol, drugs, sex, etc., we stay
stuck in a rutted lifestyle until a crisis hits and we are forced to deal
with the issues we haven’t confronted. You say that at some point, you
lose interest in the business and start making bad administrative decisions.
If you want to be a writer, perhaps you don’t really want to be an administrator.
Maybe you like the idea of creating products but don’t really want to be
in charge. Clearly, you are an inventor, which means you already are an
artist. You don’t say what you want to write, but I think your belief that
you can’t make money at writing is really holding you back. If you want
to make lots of money and you have passion for whatever it is you want
to write, tenacity and intention will most likely produce miraculous results.
I would say the secret ingredient to guaranteeing success at anything is
asking one simple question: “How can what I am doing serve the world?”
For example, there are people who write epic novels and never make a dime
and then there are people who write simple stories or self-help books that
make millions. The people who created the Chicken Soup for the Soul series,
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, had a vision of how these simple
stories could make a difference on the planet. They didn’t let publisher
rejections stop them until they finally got a “yes.” You are ahead of the
game because to have been as successful in business as you say you are,
you must know something about marketing. It takes courage to be an entrepreneur.
Use that same courage to make writing a priority. If it helps, pretend
that whatever you have written has been bought. Now sit at your computer
and devise a plan for how you would launch a successful marketing campaign.
And for those of you readers who also have aspirations to write but do
not have marketing skills, take five minutes every day and set an intention
for magnetizing into your life someone who does have these skills. Most
importantly, stop making excuses and hone your craft by writing every day!
Dear Dr. Toni:
I am a gay man in my twenties. I don’t like to go to bars but I feel isolated
and lonely. It would be politically costly for anyone at my work to know
I am gay so where do I go to meet quality people?—D.H.
Dear D.H.:
One of the best ways to meet people, whether you are gay or straight, is
to volunteer your time for an organization that serves a purpose you really
believe in. It may be that the reason neither work nor bars are an answer
for you is that you are meant to step into the consciousness of the global
community. You know the expression, “Think globally, act locally”? By volunteering
at a non-profit organization, you can achieve two goals. You can make the
world a better place and you can meet the kind of person who has similar
values to you. Yes, there are wonderful, quality people just like you who
give back some of their time to make a difference in the lives of others.
Dear Readers:
As this is the New Year, when you make your resolution list, consider this:
before you even get out of bed, create an intention every morning envisioning
peace on our planet. Then look for opportunities in your own life where
there is conflict and declare that a peaceful resolution is forthcoming.
You don’t have to know how it will show up—just believe it is possible.
May 2008 become the year that you transform whatever fears are holding
you back from experiencing your full potential self!
To submit questions for Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor, contact Dr. Toni Galardi
through DrToni@LifeQuake.net (no period after the Dr). For more tips on
discovering your life purpose, the LifeQuake™ Doctor can be seen on You
Tube at www.youtube.com/372706. For those seeking private consultation,
Dr. Toni can be reached at 310-712-2600 or www.LifeQuake.net
To submit questions for Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor, contact Dr. Toni Galardi through DrToni@LifeQuake.net (no period after the Dr). For those seeking private consultation, Dr. Toni can be reached at 310-712-2600 or through her website,
www.LifeQuake.net.