How Do You Make a Horse Drink?

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink" is an old saying I've heard over and over throughout my life. It's taken on different meanings, too. For example, when I was a teen, it meant my mother despaired of me ever listening to her. When I was a teacher, it told the tale of no matter how hard I tried or cared, I couldn't make the children WANT to learn Algebra or Geometry.

Lately, I've been thinking about it more and more. As you know, my next workshop starts this week, and I've been advertising its availability, features and benefits. I also hired a copy writer for the next set of classes, and will change my advertising program once he is done with his work. Each month, I do something different to get the message of these classes out to the world. This is a continual learning process.

Coincidentally, my business partners and I are developing a writer's workshop, best described as a writer's group on steroids. Not only will our members receive the many benefits writers' groups can offer, but we're expanding it to include physical activity and meditation. In Springfield, however, the problem is: how do we effectively disseminate this information and encourage people to come?

How do I lead the horse to water, and then how do I make it want to drink? In your life, do you find it difficult to communicate your insights to others?

This struggle is common to every solopreneur, parent, teacher, friend, child, counselor, writer, artist, preacher, student and mystic (to name but a few). Each of us -- all of us -- have information, knowledge and gifts that we might wish to share with others, and yet the discovery of the most effective medium of that message eludes us.

Even Ken Blanchard, the time management guru and author of the "One Minute Manager" struggled to communicate his message effectively for years. His first book was self-published and intended as a business card and evidence of his efficiency expertise. Eventually, the book finally caught the eye of a major publisher. The rest, as they say, is history. Like so many others, he labored for years to become an overnight sensation.

Many of us have, as well. So when do we become an overnight sensation? Better yet, when will our children / parents / co-workers / employees / students actually listen to our advice?

Spiritual advisors will tell us that it will happen when we let go of our attachment to the need for success. Mentors will tell you that persistence and consistency is the ticket to success. Ministers will tell you that your reward awaits you in heaven. Pundits will shill offer after offer and sure-fire approaches, insisting that the latest truly is the greatest and will make you the next millionaire on your block. Elders smile, pat your hand, and tell you to stop and smell the roses.

And in the meantime, children surprise you thirty years later when they look at you as if you're insane when you express astonishment that they show evidence of listening to a long-forgotten lecture.

But I don't want to wait thirty years. Do you?

And this, dear readers is the problem, and perhaps the solution. Perhaps the questions we should be asking of ourselves, and the measures by which we evaluate our success need to change.

Maybe we need to ask ourselves if we loved someone today. "Loved" here is defined as willingly gave your wisdom to someone to use as they wish. It may also be defined as willingly opening our hearts to the wisdom of others if the message speaks to us in a way that brings peace and joy to our hearts instead of desperation and frantic hope. One "right" message is worth thousands in avoided costs related to stress. One "right" message can change our lives overnight. One "right" message may save a soul.

If we are willing to heed the messages of our soul as we evaluate others' messages, perhaps others will do the same for ours. If we send out our message to the world with love and the intention to serve the best and highest good, then we must allow that others may or may not hear it.

Is it better to touch one life profoundly or many lives superficially?

Perhaps success (including financial success) is built through one profound change at a time. Perhaps it is better to live our lives fully, and to encourage others to do the same. Perhaps if you relax and act on the guidance your soul provides, you will become that overnight sensation, without the sense of selling your soul. Perhaps we are leading the wrong horse to the water, and simply need to find the right horse.

Perhaps it is all of these things. And perhaps, if we learn what speaks to each of us, then we will learn to speak to those we wish to serve.

Allow yourself to be patient and to be true to yourself. Remember to take at least five minutes every day to simply be by yourself and breathe. Allow yourself to indulge in a moment of thought, reflection, and planning when the mood strikes. It's your life, your choice. Allow yourself to simply succeed on your own terms, to live in peace, abundance, and joy. One day, one decision at a time, remaining aware of your choices and your feelings. You CAN get there.

And, as always, if you need help, I'm available. It's what I do, and it's what I love to do.

Sharon.

Hypnotherapy can help you to think healthier, happier, and more successful thoughts while adding the power of relaxation to your life. As you go through your day, you feel better and perform better.

Contact us to learn more about how hypnotherapy can you propel you toward a healthier, happier lifestyle.

Hypnosis or Hypnotherapy, in any form, does not diagnose, treat or cure mental or emotional problems, and is not a substitute for other professional help.