Have you seen the Inner Christmas Movie, yet? Watch this 5 minute movie and discover a new way to celebrate a deeply personal Christmas - one bringing gifts of renewed meaning, wonder and wisdom to your life.
Enjoy and Happy Holidays to you all!
Inner Samurai
December 28, 2009
May 20, 2009
Team Leadership: Are You a Motivator or Inspirator?
Have you ever given much thought to the energetic difference between motivation and inspiration?
Not many people do.
However, one of my clients recently asked about the difference when I asked her if she wanted to lead her team to success via inspiration or via motivation.
That question stopped her short.
"What's the difference," she asked?
Often we use the two words interchangeably, though energetically they are quite different.
Motivation is when we are pushed forward, from behind, toward a desired outcome. This usually happens when someone other than yourself is using his or her thoughts and words to influence your behavior.
These thoughts and words can belong to a real, live, external person, like a boss, sister, or mother, or they can belong to the voice inside your head that is telling you what you should and ought to do.
Guilt is the biggest source of motivation, whether it comes from the voice inside your head or from someone outside of you.
Inspiration, on the other hand, has a whole 'nuther feel to it. Inspiration feels as if you are being magnetically drawn toward doing something or being someone from an inner inspired source. With inspiration, there's no voice inside your head telling you what you should do. Neither is there the feeling of guilt if you do not. Instead, there is an inner inspired joy that bubbles up, connecting you and igniting you toward.
It's rather like the energetic carrot out in front beckoning you onward, inspiring you to success and greater fulfillment in your life.
When my client and I talked about what leadership style she wanted to use with her team, which one do you think she decided upon?
"Drawn toward or pushed forward, which feels better," I asked?
She knew, right away, that she would rather be inspired to success rather than motivated for success. Especially after she looked up the synonyms for motivation and inspiration:
Motivation-incite, provoke, trigger, make, push, shove, goad, and bring on.
Inspiration-sparkling, stirring, awakening, passion, eagerness, brightness, and my favorite . . . muse.
Weigh-in. Which are you? Are you a motivator or Inspirator? Which do you prefer?
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
May 08, 2009
The Element Earth and the Inner Samurai
Are you familiar with the four elements?
You know, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water?
This is the last blog of a four-part blog series on the four elements and their transformational power and importance to the Accidental Pren-her. If you would like to get caught up by reading about the first three elements, you can do so by following these links:
Last up--earth!
The alchemical process associated with earth is conjunction, because all matter results from some sort of conjoining, or coming together. It is the final step in the transformational process and is the most nurturing and creative.
Earth is the archetypal element representing divine fertility and sustenance. Coming into contact with earth means encountering immense creative power, and is best done with humility and humbleness. (The word humility comes from "humus," meaning earth.)
Whether we are walking upon the earth, planting in the earth, or making mud pies from the earth, coming into contact with the earth is an act of co-creation. Psychologically, the conjunction of two things occurs in order to create a new state of consciousness. According to alchemist Dennis William Hauck in The Emerald Tablet: “From an individual’s viewpoint, conjunction is the birth of a new reality through the union of thought and action that [creates] a completely new way of looking at things.”
Conjunction is the final step that we all take along the path from Accidental Pren-her to spiritually conscious businesswoman and with it comes the permanent state of enlightment of our Inner Samurai. The first step, fire, forms the foundation, the second step, water, forms the inner wisdom, and the third step, air, forms the inner truth of our Inner Samurai. With the final step, earth, a co-creative partnership with all the rest of the elements completes the transformational process, thus forming the philosopher’s stone of our Accidental Pren-her.
Often preceded by an activating or life-changing event, conjunction is the natural process that occurs when we have taken in and fully integrated all that has happened along our journey. As a result, the life-changing event that rocked our world and turned everything upside down becomes the instrument of change that transmutes our lead into gold. As a result, we have been changed from the inside out and in the process become more of who we really are.
Have you had a life-changing event that rocked your world?
What was the transformation process like for you?
If you’ve had a life-changing event, or are currently having one--this is the place to talk about it.
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
May 07, 2009
The Element Air and the Inner Samurai
Are you familiar with the four elements?
You know, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water?
This is the third blog of a four-part blog series on the four elements and their transformational power and importance to the Accidental Pren-her. If you would like to get caught up by reading about the first two elements, you can do so by following these links:
Third up--Air!
The alchemical process associated with air is separation. It is the third step in the transformational process, and often the one that is the most severe.
Air is the archetypal element of the wind, and, like the wind, has always been associated with spiritual forces. Air is the life force itself, the primordial chi in Taoist philosophy. Psychologically, separation represents the discernment of what is important and of value in your life from what is not. According to alchemist Dennis William Hauck, “if we do not reject old habits and beliefs when confronted with the possibility of a better way of being, we end up imprisoned by a tyrannical ego complex that will perpetuate any illusion just to keep control.”
Separation It is the third step that we all take along the path from Accidental Pren-her to spiritually conscious businesswoman and forms the inner truth of our Inner Samurai. With the first step, fire, forming the foundation of the Inner Samurai, and the second step, water, forming the inner wisdom of our Inner Samurai, this third step, air, brings us closer to the transformational completion of the philosopher’s stone of the Accidental Pren-her.
Often preceded by an activating or life-changing event, separation is the natural process that happens as part of the inner discovery of what is true and right for us in our lives. Effecting our finances, relationships, health, family, work, career, and living situations, the air of separation helps us to find our inner truth, so we can go beyond what was, in order to become what is.
Have you had a life-changing event that rocked your world?
What was the inner discernment process like for you?
If you’ve had a life-changing event, or are currently having one--this is the place to talk about it.
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
May 06, 2009
The Element Water and the Inner Samurai
Are you familiar with the four elements?
You know, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water?
This is the second blog of a four-part blog series on the four elements and their transformational power and importance to the Accidental Pren-her. If you would like to get caught up by reading about the first element, you can do so by following this link:
Second up--Water!
The alchemical process associated with water is dissolution. It is the second step in the transformational process, and often the one that is the most empowering.
Water represents the unconscious and is symbolic of the impermanence of all things, and the glorious power of change. Psychologically, dissolution represents the cleansing and dissolving away of the old, outmoded ideas and ways of being that no longer serve us. Water provides the important transformational element needed to let go of the old in order to make way for the new.
It is the second step that we all take along the path from Accidental Pren-her to spiritually conscious business woman and forms the inner wisdom of our Inner Samurai. With the first step, fire, forming the foundation of the Inner Samurai, and the second step, water, forming the inner wisdom of our Inner Samurai, this is the first half of a transformational process that will eventually form the philosopher’s stone of the Accidental Pren-her.
Often preceded by an activating or life-changing event, dissolution is the natural process that happens as part of the integration process we all go through after the occurrence of a major life event. Effecting our finances, relationships, health, family, work, career, and living situations, the water of dissolution helps us to let go of what was, in order to become what is.
Have you had a life-changing event that rocked your world?
Now that you know about the dissolution process that occurs after such an event, what were some of the things that you had to let go of in order to become who you now are?
What was that letting go process like for you?
If you’ve had a life-changing event, or are currently having one--this is the place to talk about it.
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
May 05, 2009
The Element Fire and the Inner Samurai
Are you familiar with the four elements?
You know, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water?
Starting today, and for the next three days I'll be introducing each of the four elements and how their transformational power are importance to the Accidental Pren-her.
First up--Fire!
The alchemical process associated with fire is called calcination. It is the first step in the transformational process, and is often the most painful.
According to The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy of Personal Transformation by Dennis William Hauck: "Calcination is the reduction of a substance to ashes, and it requires an intense flame to succeed.” Psychologically, calcination is the burning off of the Ego and its material attachments in order to reveal one’s true, inner, authentic self.
It is the first step that we all take along the path from Accidental Pren-her to spiritually conscious businesswoman and forms the foundation of our Inner Samurai.
Often called an activating or a life-changing event, calcination is a natural process that is brought on by a major life event such as a death of a loved one, major health crisis, a significant relationship shift, natural disaster, change of work situation, an accident, or spiritual awakening. It happens to all of us and most often when we least expect it.
The reason reason why a life-changing event is so important is that it generally ends up being the catalyst for starting up our small business.
How many of you have had a life-changing event?
An event so strong and all consuming that felt as if you were the proverbial Phoenix going up in flames only to be reduced to ashes?
If you’ve had an event, or are currently having one--please share it with our blog community for by doing so, we are all validated.
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
May 04, 2009
Are you Going Through a Life Transition?
In 2004 I went through a huge life transition. For awhile after my spiritual awakening I was able to function and operate in the world just fine, then it became all too much for me and I crashed in on myself.
Within a short time, I quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, grieved the passing of both my parents, and wrote my book. The only two things that remained the same were my cat and where I lived. Other than that, my spiritual, financial, romantic, physical, and emotional worlds all want through monumental changes.
During that time I read a lot of books to help me make sense of the overhauling transition going in, around, and through me. One of the most helpful books was When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd. You may already know Sue Monk Kidd as the author of The Secret Life of Bees. (Wonderful book, BTW!)
When the Heart Waits is an intensely personal book. Having gone through a life transition herself and speaking from the vantage and wisdom born of a "been there, done that" perspective, Kidd openly talks about her own personal life journey and midlife experience. In it, she grapples with the sacred questions of life, her own emotional transformational process, how it almost did her in, and how she made it through to the other side.
Throughout the book are lots of powerful antidotes, helpful suggestions, and golden nuggets Kidd mined from her own transformational journey. One that I took to heart was the reminder . . . to wait. To wait and allow the process to unfold.
Why do we need to wait?
As Kidd says, so that, "the passionate and contemplative crucible in which new life and
spiritual wholeness can be birthed."
Transformation is very much part of the inner Samurai journey. It comes when we least expect it, and, seemingly, unasked for. It's as if we are summoned to an inner transformation, to a crossing over from one identity to another. From what to what may be unknown. Though, the call is unmistakable. The calling is to undertake a new passage along our spiritual journey.
If you are going through a life transition, whether it be a career change, divorce, loss of parents or significant other, a natural disaster, or physical illness, Sue Monk Kidd's When The Heart Waits will be a helpful book for you to read.
If for no other reason than you'll be reminded to . . . wait.
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
March 24, 2009
How to Connect Your Business to Your Inner Samurai
This question came in from on of our readers. She asked:
I appreciate your advice to start a small business from 'the inside out.' However, I have been working for myself for years without ever having done any of the preparatory work you talk about. I’m sure I’d be further along and more established if I had. What are the most important things for me to do now that I’ve already gotten my business going “from the outside in?
A: Not everyone gets the opportunity to be intentional about starting their business from the inside out, or, as I like to put it, from your Inner Samurai. So the next best thing is to grow your business from the inside out.
Here are the top five things you can do now to more deeply connect your business to your inner knowing:
- Review your vision and mission statements. Make sure they reveal your best inner vision and inner-inspired action.
- Remain nimble in your thinking. Make sure you have not become so attached to any one belief that you cannot see past it to another possibility.
- Affirm that your business is safe, that your business needs are always taken care of, and that you trust the process of life.
- Imagine what you want your business to be like. See your business and your life through the eyes of Source.
- Focus on prosperity. Take your mind off sales.
Have a pressing business startup question?
I'll be glad to answer it or find someone who can. Ask a Question.
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
March 10, 2009
The Head Does Not Hear Until the Heart Has Listened
Twentieth
century Irish poet and storyteller James Stephens really gets it. He
knows the value and importance of listening to your heart, to your
inner voice . . . to what I call, your Inner Samurai.
The head does not hear anything until the heart has listened, and what the heart knows today the head will understand tomorrow.
What do you think about this quotation? Agree? Disagree? Does it resonate within you?
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
December 29, 2008
December 22, 2008
December 16, 2008
The Secret to Building Your Business Inner Samurai Style
As a woman entrepreneur, have you ever wondered what the secret is for building business success?
Sure, it’s important to have a mission statement, a business plan, and a product or service that meets the needs of your niche market. It’s also essential that you have funding to back your venture, a support system in place to guide and mentor you along your journey, and savvy business acumen.
What is the key to business success for women? The secret is to build your business from the inside out. From a place inside that you as a woman intuitively know and understand. From your Inner Samurai. The key to your business success is to connect with your Inner Samurai.
Connect with my Inner Samurai? What’s that? Connecting to your Inner Samurai means connecting to your inner knower. This will empower you with the strength you will need on your journey as you build a successful business.
All You Need to Know about Your Inner Samurai
- Who? Your Inner Samurai is known by many names. It has been called the voice within, the inner knower, the still small voice, God Self, Soul, God Within, and Spirit, to name a few.
- What? Your Inner Samurai is best defined by describing its opposite — the voice inside the head, the monkey mind, the ego. By contrast, your Inner Samurai is the inner voice, the voice within. It is the quiet, sure, confident, strong, vast, and powerful voice of inner knowing.
- Where? Your Inner Samurai is aptly named because it is the voice within. Inner because the voice is deep within your being (to distinguish it from the voice inside your head) and Samurai because of how strong and powerful it is.
- Why? Everyone has an inner voice. It is that part of us that is the repository of all our life experiences, hopes, and dreams. It’s so important to get in touch with our Inner Samurai because it is our greatest source of strength and knowing. It is the seat of our wisdom. It is the place of our extraordinary uniqueness. It exists to remind us of who we are.
- How? The most challenging part of connecting with your Inner Samurai is realizing how it communicates with you. Your Inner Samurai has a gentle, yet very recognizable, way of doing so — I like to call it “pulsing.” When you go inward and ask your Inner Samurai a question, you will feel a pulse answering you. This pulse will have one of two distinct qualities. It will feel like either a yes or a no.
- When? Once you know who, what, where, why, and how, the last thing you need to know is when. When is the best time to tune in and feel for the pulse of your Inner Samurai? The answer is: always. Make your Inner Samurai the primary voice you listen to. Turn to others for support. Turn inward for guidance. When in doubt between your feelings and thoughts, go with the pulse. Your Inner Samurai will never lead you astray, do you wrong, or leave you hanging. Your Inner Samurai pulse is right 100% of the time.
So, enjoy writing your mission statement and your business plan. Get creative making your product or service the best it can be. Develop positive relationships with your investors and supporters. And don’t forget the most important relationship of all — the relationship with your Inner Samurai.
What do you think? As a woman, do you think that the key to building your business success is getting in touch with your Inner Samurai? Or, not?
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
December 02, 2008
Who or What Hooked You on Blogging?
Blogging is one of the most liberating things I have done for my Inner Samurai and ranks up there with
one of the most powerfully expressive things I’ve ever done for myself.
Besides being wildly easy and fun, blogging creates a wonderful sense
of community.
How did you first become a blogger?
I first became a blogger seven months ago when I signed-up for Andy Wibbel's (author of Blogwild!) Write Your Book in 45 Days teleseminar. It was one of those marathon writing seminars where a bunch of crazed writers all got together for a weekly call, then went off on their own to write in isolation. Some of us rented cabins in the mountains for weeks at a time, others of us took a month off from work, and still others of us hammered it out between 3-5a each morning before going off to our day job. The one thing, though, that all of us had in common was our sacred writer’s blog space, created specifically for our class.
Here, from an absolutely impoverished place of writer’s isolation, too many days spent staring glassy-eyed at the computer screen, and a week’s worth of half-eaten take out in my ‘fridge, I began my blogging career. Driven from the need to connect, and with absolutely no prior instruction and a great amount of intrepidation, I wrote “Alkamae” in the ‘post a comment’ name box. “So far so good,” I thought as I typed something scholarly in the body of the post like, “help, anyone out there?” Then, I warily clicked ‘post’ and . . . eureka, our community of book writers was born!
Seven months later, I had my own blog site and have been blogging steadily ever since.
So, what's your blogging story? When did you begin blogging? What the experience been like for you? Let us know . . . we'd love to hear.
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
November 25, 2008
What do You Know About Lateral Thinking?
Today . . . I am thinking about a daily tips post I received from IMC
(Institute of Management Consultants). Like most people, I subscribe to
a couple of daily email sites that pop professionally relevant and/or
personally inspiring thoughts into my inbox each morning.
This one came in on the topic of lateral thinking.
Do you know what lateral thinking is?
Ever heard of it before?
Lateral thinking helps you think outside the box - laterally - for solutions and answers. Why would you want to do this? So you can engage your powerful, Inner Samurai - to creatively assist in finding a solution to your problem. Here's what IMC's daily tips post had to say about lateral thinking:
The phrase lateral thinking is often attributed to psychologist Edward de Bono in the late 1960s. Defined simply, lateral thinking is the act of attempting to solve problems by employing alternative methods rather than the more conventional approaches of linear and logical thinking. De Bono points out that, in day to day life, we often assume, accept without question and readily employ preconceptions about a particular problem even though they are not explicitly stated. Lateral thinking demonstrates that we often need to look past or challenge these preconceived and accepted notions in order to derive the correct solution.
Here is an example of a well known lateral thinking puzzle:
You're riding a white horse. To your immediate right is an imposing cliff. In front of you is a large grey elephant traveling at the very same pace that you are. No matter how hard you try, you can't seem to pass that elephant. To make matters worse, to your immediate left is a hippopotamus running at the very same speed as you. Directly behind you, there appears to be a fierce-looking lion giving you chase. Now you are frightened! How can you escape to safety?
Answer: Wait until the ride is over and get off the merry-go-round!
So, what do you think about lateral thinking? Do you see it as something you can use? Something you have used?
Let us know your thoughts and experiences with lateral thinking.
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
October 23, 2008
Explore the World of the Woman Entrepreneur
Explore the world of the woman entrepreneur. Find out what inspires her, drives her, and is the key to her success. Watch this short, 3-minute, video and discover how important discovering your Inner Samurai is to building your business from the inside out.
October 21, 2008
The Mechanics of Manifestation
Have you ever wondered why you've not been able to consistently manifest what you want? Okay, granted. Sometimes you do. Then again, sometimes you don't.
Have you tried everything you know how to manifest what you want? Read all the books? Said positive affirmations until you are blue in the face?
There is so much hype and misguided information when it comes to using the Law of Attraction to manifest what you want, it's no wonder it's hit or miss for most people.
Miss no more.
Finally, the building blocks to manifestation are revealed. And, what conditioned mindset most people have that is getting in the way of their manifestation.
4 Steps to Manifestation
1. Begin with an end result, held clearly in mind.
This is the key to the mechanics of manifestation - it's also the one most difficult to grasp. Manifestation must first be seen in the mind's eye before it can be seen by the physical eyes.
What makes this most challenging is that most of us have a conditioned mindset of, "I'll believe it when I see it." This is just the opposite of how manifestation occurs. The manifestation mindset is, "I'll see it when I believe it."
2. Take action physically, in the general direction of your manifestation.
This is another challenging aspect of manifestation based on another conditioned mindset. The mindset of: wait and see.
To best illustrate this, I'll use the example of someone coming for a visit. If you are like most people, if you knew that a friend of yours was coming for a visit later today, you would make certain preparations for her visit. If, on the other hand, you weren't sure your friend was coming, you might wait to make preparations until after you knew for certain if she was coming.
For manifestation to occur, you must not fall into the conditioned mind trap of waiting to see. Instead, you must take physical action in preparation for its manifestation. You must make ready for it. You must be ready for it. You must anticipate its arrival . . . as if you know it for sure.
3. Understand that progress is usually invisible to the physical eyes.
Sure, you may get little clues that manifestation is occurring. After all, the Universe goes to work immediately when the end result is held clearly in mind. However, most people don't think any progress is occurring when evidence of what they want does not manifest quickly.
If you're practicing the manifestation mindset manifesto, "I'll see it when I believe it," then you know it's just a matter of time, not a matter of if your manifestation will occur. You know that all manifestation occurs in non-physical, first. You know it's there, coalescing for manifestation in the physical.
If, however, you're holding firmly to the conditioned mindset of, "I'll believe it when I see it," then you'll soon begin to doubt that manifestation will ever occur . . . and it won't,
4. You can derail the entire manifestation process by focusing on the hows.
Focusing on "how" you can make something manifest, or on how impossible it is for something to manifest because you can't figure out how it can happen will sabotage the manifestation process. The "hows" are not your job. How something manifests is the job of the Universe.
Your job is to focus on what you want, to figure out what physical steps you can take in the direction of your manifestation, make ready for it, and to keep the faith when progress is not visible to your physical eyes.
So there you have it, folks - the mechanics of manifestation. Practice the manifestation mindset of "I'll see it when I believe it" and you will become more consistent in your physical manifestations of what you want. Then, let us know how this process has worked for you.
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
October 14, 2008
Top 5 Things to Connect Your Business to Your Inner Samurai
This question came in from on of our readers. She asked:
I appreciate your advice to start a small business from 'the inside out.' However, I have been working for myself for years without ever having done any of the preparatory work you talk about. I’m sure I’d be further along and more established if I had. What are the most important things for me to do now that I’ve already gotten my business going “from the outside in?
A: Not everyone gets the opportunity to be intentional about starting their business from the inside out, or, as I like to put it, from your Inner Samurai. So the next best thing is to grow your business from the inside out.
Here are the top five things you can do now to more deeply connect your business to your inner knowing:
- Review your vision and mission statements. Make sure they reveal your best inner vision and inner-inspired action.
- Remain nimble in your thinking. Make sure you have not become so attached to any one belief that you cannot see past it to another possibility.
- Affirm that your business is safe, that your business needs are always taken care of, and that you trust the process of life.
- Imagine what you want your business to be like. See your business and your life through the eyes of Source.
- Focus on prosperity. Take your mind off sales.
Have a pressing business startup question?
I'll be glad to answer it or find someone who can. Ask a Question.
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
September 30, 2008
Rilke Knew His Inner Samurai
This inspiration for this blog comes from painter, Robert Genn. He writes "Twice-Weekly Letters" for his Painter’s Key blog that I find quite interesting, inspiring, and fresh. He graciously gave his permission for me to share his musings on Rilke with you. Rilke’s words are very much at the heart of the Inner Samurai. Enjoy!
In 1903, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke
responded by letter to a young man seeking his advice. Rilke eventually
wrote ten letters now collectively known and much published as Letters to a Young Poet.
They are heartfelt advice from a successful (though still struggling)
artist to another who was deeply mired in self-doubt. The classic
language of these letters soars in beauty as well as lofty good sense.
His idealism is applicable today to all who might pursue any sort of
creative activity. Here, partly in direct quotation and partly in
condensed summation, are some of Rilke's ideas:
- Your work needs to be independent of others' work.
- You must not compare yourself to others.
- No one can help you. You have to help yourself.
- Criticism leads to misunderstandings and defeatism.
- Work from necessity and your compulsion to do it.
- Work on what you know and what you are sure you love.
- Don't observe yourself too closely, just let it happen.
- Don't let yourself be controlled by too much irony.
- Live in and love the activity of your work.
- Be free of thoughts of sin, guilt and misgiving.
- Be touched by the beautiful anxiety of life.
- Be patient with the unresolved in your heart.
- Try to be in love with the questions themselves.
- Love your solitude and try to sing with its pain.
- Be gentle to all of those who stay behind.
- Your inner self is worth your entire concentration.
- Allow your art to make extraordinary demands on you.
- Bear your sadness with greater trust than your joy.
- Do not persecute yourself with how things are going.
- It's good to be solitary, because solitude is difficult.
- It's good to love, because love is difficult.
- You are not a prisoner of anything or anyone.
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was born in Czechoslovakia and died in Switzerland. Dogged by fragile health and the constant search for inexpensive and healthful accommodation, he anxiously moved from one climate to another. Considered the greatest modern poet in the German language, Rilke counseled the young poet, known only as Mr. Kappus, over a five-year period. No evidence exists that they ever met.
Are you as much a fan of Rilke as I am? Were you inspired by his advice to the young poet? Let us know.
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
September 23, 2008
How to Access Your Inner Samurai
Have you ever wondered about how to access your Inner Samurai? What
kind of questions to ask? How your Inner Samurai will respond?
Well, the first thing to know is that your Inner Samurai will always answer you. However, you do need to know what to listen for, because the difference between how the voice inside your head answers you and the way your wise inner voice -- your Inner Samurai -- answers you is the difference between night and day.
First . . . how to ask your Inner Samurai a question. The best way is to frame a question in this manner, "Is this (what ever you want to know about) in my highest good and greatest wellbeing right now." Since your Inner Samurai only exists in the now, this type of question is the perfect way to get in touch with your Inner Samurai response. Asking questions in the future will get you a response from the voice inside your head. So stay in the now with how you frame your questions.
Second . . . the response you are waiting to experience is a pulse from within. Unlike the voice inside your head, which will rationalize, explain, convince, cajole, criticize, and chew on things over and over, your Inner Samurai voice will simply pulse "yes" or "no." That's it. No chatter. No erudite reasoning. No verbose discourse.
Just an inner pulse of "yes" or "no."
Let's try this out with these three pictures.
Ask: "Is it in my highest good and greatest wellbeing to pursue a career as a ballerina, right now?"
Listen or feel for the pulse. Did you get a "yes" or "no?"
Ask: "Is it in my highest good and greatest wellbeing to take that fire fighter job offer, right now?"
Listen or feel for your Inner Samurai pulse. What did you get?
Ask: "Is what I am currently doing for a living in my highest good and greatest wellbeing, right now."
What was your Inner Samurai pulse on that one? Good question, isn't it, for all you would be Accidental Pren-hers!
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
September 18, 2008
Inner Samurai Book Trailer
Explore the world of the woman entrepreneur. Find out what inspires her, drives her, and is the key to her success. Watch this short, 3-minute, video and discover how important discovering your Inner Samurai is to building your business from the inside out.
September 11, 2008
Inner Samurai Video
Explore the world of the woman entrepreneur. Find out what inspires her, drives her, and is the key to her success. Watch this short, 3-minute, video and discover how important discovering your Inner Samurai is to building your business from the inside out.
August 28, 2008
Abraham on the Power of Thoughts
I've been an Abe devotee for over 10 years. One of the earliest teaching on the power of thoughts that made a big impact on me is expressed in this 5 minute video.
When you find a thought of something wanted, and you hold that thought purely for as little as 17 seconds, another thought of the same vibrational equivalent joins it, and when these two thoughts come together, there is a powerful explosion.
17 seconds of thought = 2000 action hours.
34 seconds of thought = 20,000 action hours.
68 seconds = 200,000 action hours.
What do you think folks? Let us know!
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
August 19, 2008
August 12, 2008
July 29, 2008
Mike Dooley Knows His Inner Samurai
I am a Mike Dooley fan and of his TUT emails that arrive in my inbox each morning. This one just blew me away!
This is the answer to Inner Samurai creation and manifestation!
When your dreams or "end results" are stated generally, in broad brush strokes, like wealth and abundance, friends and laughter, health and harmony, then please, by all means attach yourself to them. Attach, attach, attach. There is no limit to what you can have and no reason to expect anything less.
But when your end results are specific, like the ultimate car, a hot date, or a home in the country, do not attach, do not attach, do not attach.
Material details and specifics are always "how" to get to a grander picture of your life and are never important in and of themselves. They're "cursed hows" disguised as end results. Steps disguised as destinations. By all means, think of them, put them in your scrapbook or on your vision board to remind yourself of the kind of possessions and adventures that are your birthright, but do not give them an importance, through attachment, greater than what you are truly after: a fuller, richer life with all cups running over, the details of which will take care of themselves, when this is your end result.
Know the "wows" not the "hows."
— The Universe
Did this just blow you away, too? Here's the secret to all creation!
Weigh in and let me know what you think!
Jambo!
The original Accidental Pren-her™Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
July 15, 2008
George Carlin Knew His Inner Samurai
George Carlin had a unique way of seeing the world. Whether it was his memorable Religion is Bullshit monologue or his comedic word-smithing, George's take on things will continue to challenge us to look within for our own answers and meaning of things.
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
- Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.
- Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
- Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. An idle mind is the devil's workshop. And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
- Enjoy the simple things.
- Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
- The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
- Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
- Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
- Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
- Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
What do you think about George Carlin's thoughts on staying young? Do you agree? Did George know his Inner Samurai?
The original Accidental Pren-her™Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
July 04, 2008
June 24, 2008
What the Heck is an Inner Samurai?
Known by many names, it has been called the voice within, the inner
knower, God Self, Soul, God Within, and Spirit, to name a few. When I
was younger, I used to call it “my still small voice.” Then, when I was
in my 30s, “the voice within.” In my 40s, it became “my inner knower,”
and now it is “my Inner Samurai.”
I began calling it my Inner Samurai when I realized how strong, vast, and powerful my inner voice is. Inner because the voice is deep within my being (to distinguish it from the voice inside my head) and Samurai because of how strong and powerful it is. Inner Samurais can move mountains, leap over tall buildings in a single bound, and stop charging wildebeests in their tracks. One of my clients calls her Inner Samurai her Inner Super Woman. I like that!
No matter what you call it, everyone has an inner voice. It is that part of you that is the repository of all your life experiences and all your hopes and dreams. Alchemized over the years from lead into pure gold, your Inner Samurai is your greatest source of strength and knowing. It is the seat of your wisdom. It is also the place of your extraordinary uniqueness.
The interesting thing about your Inner Samurai is that it speaks to you. Well, maybe not speaks. “Pulses” is a better word. Your Inner Samurai has a gentle, yet very recognizable, way of communicating with you. I like to call it “pulsing.” When you go inward and ask your Inner Samurai a question, you will feel a “pulse” answering you. This pulse will have one of two distinct qualities. It will feel like either a “yes” or a “no.”
Can you distingush the difference between the voice inside your head and the voice within? What do you call your inner voice?
The original Accidental Pren-her™Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
June 10, 2008
How Important is Intuition to You?
Have you ever really thought about what intuition is?
- Intuition, intuitive, intuit are all derived from the same Latin word intueri meaning to see within.
- Webster’s defines it as “direct perception of truth, fact, independent of any reasoning process; a keen and quick insight.”
What is intuition to you?
Is it an instinctive knowing? An impression? A hunch or a suspicion?
Or, is it more of an absolute knowing.
No matter how you describe intuition, we all have it. We are all intuitive. We have all had intuitive experiences — the kinds of experience when we suddenly get an insight or information about something without clear reason. Sometimes we refer to it as a gut feeling. Other times, a different kind of knowing.
One thing I’ve come to know is that intuition is something quite different from the reasoning process of the mind. In fact, intuition seems to bypass the mind, completely, to access a direct knowing without rational thought interference.
I call it our Inner Samurai. Inner meaning within us all and Samurai meaning strength. Together, our Inner Samurai points the way, guides us from within, and is the real deal.
How important is your intuition? Do you depend on your intuition to guide and you all the time, some of the time, or not at all? ? How do you know when you're following your intuition, and not something else?
The original Accidental Pren-her™Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
June 03, 2008
Richard Dadd - Creativity or Madness
Victorian painter, Richard Dadd is one of the most interesting painters of the 19th century.
Depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule detail are hallmarks of his style.
Most of the works for which he is best known were created while
he was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital. He painted his best known work, The Fairy Fellow's Master Stroke (as seen to the right) in a mental hospital where he was declared insane after murdering his father. It took him 9 years to complete.
There is a fine line between creativity and madness, don't you agree?
Several years ago, I attended a Creativity and Madness Conference in Santa Fe, NM with my dad. My father went as a clinical psychologist, interested in knowing about the inner workings of the mind, and I went a professor of music, interested in understanding more about the creative spark.
What we both found out is that one person's genius is another's psychosis.
From your Inner Samurai's perspective, the question isn't whether you are creative or mad, it's what you do with your creativity or madness that counts.
How many times have you known what was right for you yet made
another choice - one that was wrong for you? How many times have you
gone against your inner knowing? How many times have you heard yourself
say, 'I knew I should have gone that way, done that thing, or spoken my
truth?' Some would call that madness.
On the flip side, how many times have you stuck with something that you knew was right, despite all evidence to the contrary? Would that be madness? Would it make a difference if you succeeded? Then, would people applaud your for your vision, tenacity, and inventiveness?
What would happen if you failed?
What do you think? Was Richard Dadd psychotically mad or was he a creative genius. If you had just spent nine years painting a picture of fairies in an insane asylum, what would people consider you? I'm interested to read your thoughts.
April 29, 2008
Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.
The way she describes her expansion into and one with all resonates with my spiritual awakening experience in 2004. See if it resonates with you, too.
This video is 18 minutes long and well worth every minute.
See if you are absorbed in Jill's explanation and description as I was. Then let me know what you think.
Continue reading " Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight" »
April 22, 2008
Finding Who You Truly Are
Like hundreds of thousands of people, I've been tuning in and listening to Oprah's
worldwide, groundbreaking web event on Monday evenings (9p eastern). Over the course of 10 weeks, spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and Oprah are co-teaching a 10-week
free course on Eckhart's newest book A New Earth, on Oprah.com. For Oprah, it’s a step forward in her mission
"to lead people to their highest selves." For Eckhart, it's a humanizing way to broadcast his message to the world.
Each week corresponds to a chapter in Eckhart's book. I'm just now listening to last week's topic: Finding Who You Truly Are.
Below is the quotation that Oprah pulled out from page 186 that helped us to focus on the topic of finding who you truly are.
Knowing yourself deeply has nothing to do with whatever ideas are floating around in your mind. Knowing yourself is to be rooted in Being, instead of lost in your mind.
Eckhart outlined the three levels to any situation that can help you distinguish between who you think you are and who you truly are:
Level 1 - Whatever external situation is disturbing you.
Level 2 - Your physical, mental, emotional reaction to the external situation.
Level 3 - Your awareness of both these levels. Eckhart described this as "the awareness that there is myself being the aware space for the external triggering event and my reaction to it."
Eckhart goes on to say that if you recognize yourself as the awareness that is aware of the thing that is happening out there and of the thing that is reacting inside, then this is who you truly are. Once you observe that you are not what is disturbing you and not your reaction to it, then you can let go of any concept you have about yourself. This is the beginning of freedom from who you think you are.
Perhaps you, too, have been reading the book
and listening to the web casts? What did you think of this week's
discussion on the being who you truly are?
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
April 15, 2008
What Are You Putting Off Until Next Lifetime?
Is there something you want to do that you've put off doing for quite some time? No, I'm not talking about losing weight. I'm talking about something so wanted that you've only dared whisper it to your most trusted confidants?. Something you know would bring you such inner joy? Such delight? Such fulfillment?
You know what I'm talking about. We all have something so desired. For some it might be to learn to play the piano. For others it might be to fly a plane. For me, it was to paint.
When I was eight, my mother enrolled me in the Saturday children's art program at the Pittsburgh Art Institute. One day we all went for a walk along the inner city streets looking for something to draw. I spotted a wrought-iron fence in front of a brick house, sat down, opened up my sketchbook and began to draw.
As I was merrily sketching away, my teacher came by and made some corrections. Came back around again and made some more corrections. Then stood over me, watching as I anxiously tried to copy what she had done. Next thing I knew, she proclaimed that I was no good at drawing and with a decisive flourish, took my sketchbook from me and told me to sit quietly while the other children in my class finished sketching.
I was devastated. My cheeks burned with shame. Tears flowed, unchecked. And I never drew again.
As I grew older, I used to tell people that when God was passing out talents, my brother got artist and I, musician. That single experience had made such an indelible impression on me that for well over 40 years I held the belief that I couldn't draw, and would never be an artist.
But deep down inside . . . I really wanted to draw. Really, really wanted to paint. I dreamed of working with oils and painting on large canvases.
So at the beginning of 2008 I decided to stop telling myself that next lifetime I wanted to come back as an artist and enrolled in an acrylics class at a local community college. My first painting was a disaster; I did not despair. The second, barely recognizable; I was the worst in the class. Then, I allowed my Inner Artist to come forth and painted this wolf. And when I did, I could feel my little eight-year-old wrought-iron-fence-challenged girl begin to thaw. Although she had been frozen in time for over 40 years, I recognized, at once, her inner glow and joy at being allowed to flow forth.
My Inner Artist is my Inner Samurai. She is my inner muse. She is the repository of all my creative expression, eagerly bubbling to the surface.
What inner muse have you kept frozen in time? Wrapped up tight, protected like a mummy? What is it that you've been putting off until next lifetime to do? Will you allow her to bubble forth?
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
March 11, 2008
What Purpose Does Life Have For You?
Like hundreds of thousands of people, I tuned in to listen to Oprah's worldwide, groundbreaking web event last Monday. For the next nine weeks, spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle is co-teaching a 10-week
free course on his newest book, A New Earth, on Oprah.com
with none other than Oprah herself. For Oprah, it’s a step forward in her mission
"to lead people to their highest selves." For Eckhart, it's a humanizing way to broadcast his message to the world.
One of the things that most struck me while watching the web cast -- besides the fact that Eckhart was the most animated I've ever seen him, and that's not saying much -- was the statement they focused on from his book: Ask life . . . what purpose does it have for you.
With so many people struggling with the answers to the questions: who are you and what is your purpose, I found Eckhart's approach to finding those answers quite fascinating.
Asking life what purpose it has for you is the same as going inward to access the inner knowing voice we all have, what I like to call your Inner Samurai, with the question: what is in my highest good and greatest well being to do now.
When I ask my Inner Samurai: What purpose does life have for me, I feel the same expansive opening in my heart chakra. I feel the same wideness, vastness, and greater connection to an inner, greater knowing. I experience the bypassing of my mental processing to a direct link with my inner knower.
Try it for yourself.
Sit, take a couple of deep breaths to center yourself, then ask, What purpose does life have for me? Then wait and see what comes to you. You may immediately know an answer to your question. Then again, you may need to wait a period of time as the answer comes to you. Either way you will know the answer by the infusion of clarity and knowing that comes to you.
So what was your experience when you asked the question? What came to you?
February 05, 2008
Meet Your Inner Samurai
Known by many names, it has been called the voice within, the inner
knower, God Self, Soul, God Within, and Spirit, to name a few. When I
was younger, I used to call it “my still small voice.” Then, when I was
in my 30s, “the voice within.” In my 40s, it became “my inner knower,”
and now it is “my Inner Samurai.”
I began calling it my Inner Samurai when I realized how strong, vast, and powerful my inner voice is. Inner because the voice is deep within my being (to distinguish it from the voice inside my head) and Samurai because of how strong and powerful it is. Inner Samurais can move mountains, leap over tall buildings in a single bound, and stop charging wildebeests in their tracks. One of my clients calls her Inner Samurai her Inner Super Woman. I like that!
No matter what you call it, everyone has an inner voice. It is that part of you that is the repository of all your life experiences and all your hopes and dreams. Alchemized over the years from lead into pure gold, your Inner Samurai is your greatest source of strength and knowing. It is the seat of your wisdom. It is also the place of your extraordinary uniqueness.
The interesting thing about your Inner Samurai is that it speaks to you. Well, maybe not speaks. “Pulses” is a better word. Your Inner Samurai has a gentle, yet very recognizable, way of communicating with you. I like to call it “pulsing.” When you go inward and ask your Inner Samurai a question, you will feel a “pulse” answering you. This pulse will have one of two distinct qualities. It will feel like either a “yes” or a “no.”
Can you distingush the difference between the voice inside your head and the voice within? What do you call your inner voice?
January 29, 2008
Inner Samurai Wisdom from Tom Brady
Love the New England Patriots or hate them, they've done something that no other football team has ever done . . . they've have a perfect season, going 18-0.One reason for their success is quarterback, Tom Brady's inner knowing, his Inner Samurai strength. His quotation below says it all:
Don't let other people tell you what you're capable of. As long as you believe in yourself and work hard to achieve whatever you set your mind to, you just keep plugging away. It may not be up to your timetable, but you can get it done.
One of the things I like about this quotation is that he does not allow other people to define him. He determines what he is capable of, what he can do. That's Inner Samurai conviction.
What part of Tom's quote do you like best?
January 22, 2008
January 15, 2008
January 01, 2008
Happy New Year!
2008 is an energetically fast year for all of us, ushering in great personal and business success.
Make it great!
Happy New Year from my Inner Samurai to yours.
December 18, 2007
The Secret to Building Your Business Inner Samurai Style
As a woman entrepreneur, have you ever wondered what the secret is for building business success?
Sure, it’s important to have a mission statement, a business plan, and a product or service that meets the needs of your niche market. It’s also essential that you have funding to back your venture, a support system in place to guide and mentor you along your journey, and savvy business acumen.
What is the key to business success for women? The secret is to build your business from the inside out. From a place inside that you as a woman intuitively know and understand. From your Inner Samurai. The key to your business success is to connect with your Inner Samurai.
Connect with my Inner Samurai? What’s that? Connecting to your Inner Samurai means connecting to your inner knower. This will empower you with the strength you will need on your journey as you build a successful business.
All You Need to Know about Your Inner Samurai
- Who? Your Inner Samurai is known by many names. It has been called the voice within, the inner knower, the still small voice, God Self, Soul, God Within, and Spirit, to name a few.
- What? Your Inner Samurai is best defined by describing its opposite — the voice inside the head, the monkey mind, the ego. By contrast, your Inner Samurai is the inner voice, the voice within. It is the quiet, sure, confident, strong, vast, and powerful voice of inner knowing.
- Where? Your Inner Samurai is aptly named because it is the voice within. Inner because the voice is deep within your being (to distinguish it from the voice inside your head) and Samurai because of how strong and powerful it is.
- Why? Everyone has an inner voice. It is that part of us that is the repository of all our life experiences, hopes, and dreams. It’s so important to get in touch with our Inner Samurai because it is our greatest source of strength and knowing. It is the seat of our wisdom. It is the place of our extraordinary uniqueness. It exists to remind us of who we are.
- How? The most challenging part of connecting with your Inner Samurai is realizing how it communicates with you. Your Inner Samurai has a gentle, yet very recognizable, way of doing so — I like to call it “pulsing.” When you go inward and ask your Inner Samurai a question, you will feel a pulse answering you. This pulse will have one of two distinct qualities. It will feel like either a yes or a no.
- When? Once you know who, what, where, why, and how, the last thing you need to know is when. When is the best time to tune in and feel for the pulse of your Inner Samurai? The answer is: always. Make your Inner Samurai the primary voice you listen to. Turn to others for support. Turn inward for guidance. When in doubt between your feelings and thoughts, go with the pulse. Your Inner Samurai will never lead you astray, do you wrong, or leave you hanging. Your Inner Samurai pulse is right 100% of the time.
So, enjoy writing your mission statement and your business plan. Get creative making your product or service the best it can be. Develop positive relationships with your investors and supporters. And don’t forget the most important relationship of all — the relationship with your Inner Samurai.
What do you think? As a woman, do you think that the key to building your business success is getting in touch with your Inner Samurai? Or, not?
Continue reading "The Secret to Building Your Business Inner Samurai Style" »
December 04, 2007
How did you Become a Blogger?
Blogging is one of the most liberating things I have done for my Inner Samurai and ranks up there with one of the most powerfully expressive things I’ve ever done for myself. Besides being wildly easy and fun, blogging creates a wonderful sense of community.
How did you first become a blogger?
I first became a blogger seven months ago when I signed-up for Andy Wibbel's (author of Blogwild!) Write Your Book in 45 Days teleseminar. It was one of those marathon writing seminars where a bunch of crazed writers all got together for a weekly call, then went off on their own to write in isolation. Some of us rented cabins in the mountains for weeks at a time, others of us took a month off from work, and still others of us hammered it out between 3-5a each morning before going off to our day job. The one thing, though, that all of us had in common was our sacred writer’s blog space, created specifically for our class.
Here, from an absolutely impoverished place of writer’s isolation, too many days spent staring glassy-eyed at the computer screen, and a week’s worth of half-eaten take out in my ‘fridge, I began my blogging career. Driven from the need to connect, and with absolutely no prior instruction and a great amount of intrepidation, I wrote “Alkamae” in the ‘post a comment’ name box. “So far so good,” I thought as I typed something scholarly in the body of the post like, “help, anyone out there?” Then, I warily clicked ‘post’ and . . . eureka, our community of book writers was born!
Seven months later, I had my own blog site and have been blogging steadily ever since.
So, what's your blogging story? When did you begin blogging? What the experience been like for you? Let us know . . . we'd love to hear.
November 20, 2007
What is Your Inner Samurai?
Known by many names, it has been called the voice within, the inner knower, God Self, Soul, God Within, and Spirit, to name a few. When I was younger, I used to call it “my still small voice.” Then, when I was in my 30s, “the voice within.” In my 40s, it became “my inner knower,” and now it is “my Inner Samurai.”
I began calling it my Inner Samurai when I realized how strong, vast, and powerful my inner voice is. Inner because the voice is deep within my being (to distinguish it from the voice inside my head) and Samurai because of how strong and powerful it is. Inner Samurais can move mountains, leap over tall buildings in a single bound, and stop charging wildebeests in their tracks. One of my clients calls her Inner Samurai her Inner Super Woman. I like that!
No matter what you call it, everyone has an inner voice. It is that part of you that is the repository of all your life experiences and all your hopes and dreams. Alchemized over the years from lead into pure gold, your Inner Samurai is your greatest source of strength and knowing. It is the seat of your wisdom. It is also the place of your extraordinary uniqueness.
The interesting thing about your Inner Samurai is that it speaks to you. Well, maybe not speaks. “Pulses” is a better word. Your Inner Samurai has a gentle, yet very recognizable, way of communicating with you. I like to call it “pulsing.” When you go inward and ask your Inner Samurai a question, you will feel a “pulse” answering you. This pulse will have one of two distinct qualities. It will feel like either a “yes” or a “no.”
Can you distingush the difference between the voice inside your head and the voice within? What do you call your inner voice?
November 13, 2007
Shakira Is In Touch With Her Inner Samurai
My client and book illustrator Dana Weelkey of Nine Tomatoes fame has this 7 minute video on her Bland to Bliss blog. When I watched it, I immediately knew that Shakira was in touch with her Inner Samurai.
Who would have known? Certainly I knew of this beautiful, hip-gyrating, South American cross-over singer, though never would I have imagined that she was so in touch with her Inner Samurai.
This interview of Shakira is a perfect example of a woman in touch with her Inner Samurai. She is clear on who she is, what she is about, and takes inspired action from that knowing. She has the courage to dream big and the conviction to follow through with actions in line with her dream.
This video is 7 minutes long, though flies by in just a few. Take a watch and let us know if you, too, are as impressed as I am about how well connected Shakira is to her Inner Samurai.
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
November 06, 2007
October 31, 2007
Last Day to get in on the Great Halloween Give Away
ONE more day and my book, Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Journey to Business Success will be launched!
I am so excited I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve -- too excited to sleep and trying with all my might to fall asleep so tomorrow will come more quickly!
TODAY is the last day you can get in on the great Halloween Give Away. Yes indeedie folks, this is your last change to order my book at the below $20 price. Below 20 bucks for a business book. Whoo-ee, that's a deal!
To make this super easy for you to say "yes," I've put together a Halloween Give Away that even Charlie Brown would be proud of.
Here's how it goes: If you purchase my book before the stroke of Halloween midnight, you'll receive two book launch gifts made especially for you. And here's the best part . . . absolutely FREE! Free? yep, free!
Hurry, though, you only have until the stroke of Halloween midnight to get this special offer -- how's that for being dramatic?
Gift # 1 - Special Edition Inner Samurai Journal
Especially designed by the cover illustrator of my book, Dana Weekley of Nine Tomatoes for this final three day Halloween Give Away, this 5”x8”, 160-page journal is a handy, on-the-go size that fits easily in your backpack, briefcase, purse, and on your nightstand. It’s filled with 60 lb book-weight blank paper, and is wire-o-bound, making it perfect for journal keeping, note taking, and drawing. It has a sturdy front and back cover for stability. This journal will be perfect for all your Inner Samurai inspired ideas, notes, and insights.
Gift # 2 – Discovering Your Inner Samurai 2008 Desk Calendar
Perfect for your desk, briefcase, and backpack, this 8”x4” convenient sized calendar is made of premium, 80 lb cardstock with a glossy finish. Asian inspired to go right along with the Inner Samurai book theme, this desk calendar is intended to remind you each month about what’s important – to connect to your inner knowing – what I like to call your Inner Samurai.
If you’d like to read more about my book, look at some sample chapters, listen to an interview, and learn more about how you can get in on the great Halloween Give Away, head over to Alkamae.
And while you are there, pre-order my book at the under $20 sale price!
From my heart to yours, many thanks.
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
October 30, 2007
Halloween Give Away
In two days my very first book will be launched!!!
Yes, blue-light shoppers, there are only two more shopping days left before Discovering Your Inner Samurai book launches, and have I got a deal for you!
Yep, that’s right folks, Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Journey to Business Success is ready to launch, set sail, and fly under her own color -- gold and maroon, as you can see from the picture. I am so over-the-top excited, I can hardly contain myself! This getting ready to launch journey has been so fantastic – made all the more so because of your wonderful support, congratulations, and cheers. Thank you, all.
To celebrate the final two days of my pre-order book launch and to entice all you last minute shoppers to order my book, I have added a Halloween Give Away to sweeten the pot.
Gift # 1 - Special Edition Inner Samurai Journal
Especially designed by the cover illustrator of my book, Dana Weekley of Nine Tomatoes for this final three day Halloween Give Away, this 5”x8”, 160-page journal is a handy, on-the-go size that fits easily in your backpack, briefcase, purse, and on your nightstand. It’s filled with 60 lb book-weight blank paper, and is wire-o-bound, making it perfect for journal keeping, note taking, and drawing. It has a sturdy front and back cover for stability. This journal will be perfect for all your Inner Samurai inspired ideas, notes, and insights.
Perfect for your desk, briefcase, and backpack, this 8”x4” convenient sized calendar is made of premium, 80 lb cardstock with a glossy finish. Asian inspired to go right along with the Inner Samurai book theme, this desk calendar is intended to remind you each month about what’s important – to connect to your inner knowing – what I like to call your Inner Samurai.
If you’d like to read more about my book, look at some sample chapters, listen to an interview, and learn more about how you can get in on the great Halloween Give Away, head over to Alkamae.
And while you are there, pre-order my book at the under $20 sale price!
From my heart to yours, many thanks.
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
October 02, 2007
Asking your Inner Samurai Questions
Have you ever wondered about asking your Inner Samurai questions? What kind of questions to ask? How your Inner Samurai will respond?
Well, the first thing to know is that your Inner Samurai will always answer you. However, you do need to know what to listen for, because the difference between how the voice inside your head answers you and the way your wise inner voice -- your Inner Samurai -- answers you is the difference between night and day.
First . . . how to ask your Inner Samurai a question. The best way is to frame a question in this manner, "Is this (what ever you want to know about) in my highest good and greatest wellbeing right now." Since your Inner Samurai only exists in the now, this type of question is the perfect way to get in touch with your Inner Samurai response. Asking questions in the future will get you a response from the voice inside your head. So stay in the now with how you frame your questions.
Second . . . the response you are waiting to experience is a pulse from within. Unlike the voice inside your head, which will rationalize, explain, convince, cajole, criticize, and chew on things over and over, your Inner Samurai voice will simply pulse "yes" or "no." That's it. No chatter. No erudite reasoning. No verbose discourse.
Just an inner pulse of "yes" or "no."
Let's try this out with these three pictures sent in to me by my good friend Jane DeFee.
Ask: "Is it in my highest good and greatest wellbeing to pursue a career as a ballerina, right now?"
Listen or feel for the pulse. Did you get a "yes" or "no?"
Ask: "Is it in my highest good and greatest wellbeing to take that fire fighter job offer, right now?"
Listen or feel for your Inner Samurai pulse. What did you get?
Ask: "Is what I am currently doing for a living in my highest good and greatest wellbeing, right now."
What was your Inner Samurai pulse on that one? Good question, isn't it, for all you would be Accidental Pren-hers!
Happy listening,
September 25, 2007
What is Your Inner Samurai?
Known by many names, it has been called the voice within, the inner knower, God Self, Soul, God Within, and Spirit, to name a few. When I was younger, I used to call it “my still small voice.” Then, when I was in my 30s, “the voice within.” In my 40s, it became “my inner knower,” and now it is “my Inner Samurai.”
I began calling it my Inner Samurai when I realized how strong, vast, and powerful my inner voice is. Inner because the voice is deep within my being (to distinguish it from the voice inside my head) and Samurai because of how strong and powerful it is. Inner Samurais can move mountains, leap over tall buildings in a single bound, and stop charging wildebeests in their tracks. One of my clients calls her Inner Samurai her Inner Super Woman. I like that!
No matter what you call it, everyone has an inner voice. It is that part of you that is the repository of all your life experiences and all your hopes and dreams. Alchemized over the years from lead into pure gold, your Inner Samurai is your greatest source of strength and knowing. It is the seat of your wisdom. It is also the place of your extraordinary uniqueness.
The interesting thing about your Inner Samurai is that it speaks to you. Well, maybe not speaks. “Pulses” is a better word. Your Inner Samurai has a gentle, yet very recognizable, way of communicating with you. I like to call it “pulsing.” When you go inward and ask your Inner Samurai a question, you will feel a “pulse” answering you. This pulse will have one of two distinct qualities. It will feel like either a “yes” or a “no.”
Can you distingush the difference between the voice inside your head and the voice within? What do you call your inner voice?
September 11, 2007
Your Inner Samurai 's Creative Spirit
Our Inner Samurai is marvelously creative and deliciously fun. This 2 minute video of unusualist, Raymond Crowe doing a hand shadow show beautifully exemplifies our Inner Samurai's creative spirit.
With over 20 years of experience, Raymond Crowe is one of Australia's most sought after entertainers. Watch him deliver an intricately woven tapestry of magical artistry, cheeky humor, and fun.
This video was sent to me by my virtual assistant, Carolyn Freeman. Thanks Carolyn!
So, what did you think? Were you touched? Amazed? Let us know!
August 28, 2007
Inner Samurai Perspective
How about a little political humor on Tuesday morning.
Here's some tongue-n-cheek perspective, Inner Samurai style.
No need for more words . . . the picture tells it all.
It's all about perspective, isn't it?
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