I was recently researching an article on Madonna, yes The Madonna, and the personal branding lessons we could learn from her. In my research, I realised that while most would consist Madonna extremely successful. There have been a few times and movie projects which didn't seem to gain the same results. I realised that effectively these flops occurred when Madonna moved away from her brand and that she was out of flow.
In reviewing my own results and projects I decided to revisit my Wealth Dynamics Profile developed by Roger Hamilton. Eureka! I had myself moved out of my flow. I was slightly off brand, and not working to my strengths. It was great to re-evaluate my to do list, marketing plan and proposed projects. End result? I have been on a recruiting blitz to out source and delegate those areas which are not my strengths and have me out of flow.
If the concept of flow has you curious read the article by Roger Hamilton below. It provides a terrific insight to how you can simplify your life. One important aspect of your personal brand is knowin who you are and who you are not. This personality profile is extremely valuable in highlighting how your strengths can impact on your wealth generation.
Read more insights on transforming your life below. ARE YOU IN FLOW?
Let me know what profile you are and whether it rings true for you. I know it did for me.
FINDING OUR PLACE IN A FAST CHANGING WORLD ( Extract from Roger Hamilton's Article Insights on Transformation)
Feeling lost? Overwhelmed? Excited about what the future holds but privately anxious about what will happen if things go wrong? Today’s paradox is that in a global sea of information, it’s as easy to sink as to swim. It’s easier to be empowered, but also easier to be unsure. More noise means more chance of losing our way. More distraction means more chance of losing ourselves. Learn more about what our year has install for us and catch the next wave.
What’s the solution? My work over the last ten years has been on the middle path: Not to sink or swim, but to surf. The Wealth Dynamics profiling system I created works like a lighthouse, illuminating both the rocks and safe passage in stormy seas. Over 60,000 people around the world have taken the test, and from the data we’ve collected I’ve drawn insights that I think you’ll find interesting.
Here are three insights on transformation I’d like to share:
INSIGHT 1 - Life is flow: Follow your path of least resistance
The idea that life is flow seems obvious. Health is about mastering the flow within our body and wealth is about mastering the flow in our markets. Yet many of us are doing things that feel like hard work. We take for granted our strengths, and spend our time working on things that we are weakest at.
One of the biggest insights that people - from students to speakers and from entrepreneurs to experts - say when they learn their Wealth Dynamics profile, is that they finally have true clarity and certainty on who they are and who they are not. Like tuning in to a radio station, the music becomes clear and the static disappears.
“We treasure what we measure”
Most of us want to find our flow - where things occur with effortless ease - but don’t assess our actions, environment and relationships based on flow. We use other criteria, such as ideas of success, trade-offs and being busy.
Incremental change comes from measuring our change. Transformational change comes from changing our measure. When we measure all our actions and plans based on “Does this add positively to the flow?” whether it is our health, wealth, passion, purpose, relationships or any other part of our life, a true transformation occurs.
There is a unity between our health, our wealth and our relationships that is set alight the moment we follow our natural path.
INSIGHT 2 - Life is a game: Master the rules to play
In a football game, the great footballer isn’t thinking about his flow. He’s thinking about the flow of the ball. He doesn’t try to chase the ball and he doesn’t worry about obstacles. He is simply focused at being at the best position at every moment to create openings and add to the flow of play. Too many of us are not living with this same elegance. It’s too easy to forget the ball and lose our way. It’s too easy to forget we have a limited time in which to play this magical game.
Life is a game. As with all games, that means it must be fun, and you need to know the rules. The reason Wealth Dynamics (and all personality tests that are of value) resonates with so many people is because it is based on 5,000 years of history - originating from the first book in human history, the Chinese I Ching.
In the I Ching there are eight ‘trigrams’ that are organised on a square with sides that represent the four seasons of time. These in turn are made up of the opposites in how we think (intuitive and sensory) and the opposites of how we act (extrovert and introvert). There are eight wealth dynamics profiles that represent these trigrams. You have a natural path based on your natural thinking dynamic and action dynamic. Dreams become reality by turning thought into action, and it occurs naturally when you know the rules to the game.
For example, if you discover you’re a Creator Profile, naturally intuitive with your head in the clouds, great at starting things and terrible at finishing things, you can stop beating yourself up for constantly taking on too much or missing the detail. You can be inspired by other Creators from Einstein and Edison to Steve Jobs and Branson. You can see that they got criticised for exactly the same weaknesses that you have, but kept focused at their natural path and achieved flow through it.
With the enormous amount of advice and stories we are bombarded with each week (often where experts are giving conflicting advice, both which appear to work), it’s now more important than ever to have a lighthouse to light the way and give us a reference point so we don’t get lost at sea or on the rocks.
INSIGHT 3 - From flow comes fortune: Your life purpose
Ultimately, we end up following our true path not based on what we say yes to, but what we say no to. Like the footballer who plays one position in the team by not trying to play all the others, and the music we hear by tuning in to one channel and not trying to listen to all the others, we are saying no to all else to give the space for one. This is a new experience for most people - even focused people - who are still trying to keep too many channels open out of fear of missing out.
When we follow our natural path we begin to tune in to our own rhythm and harmony. When we stay tuned in, a magic resonance begins. The I Ching calls this your fortune. Our English word ‘Fortune’ means three things. It means our material wealth, our luck, and our legacy. The word comes from the Greek Goddess ‘Fortuna’, who is the goddess of luck.
We all ask the big question: "What’s our purpose while we're here?" There’s a temptation to want clarity before we try and get in to flow. But like a muddy pool of water, the easiest way to clear the mud is to flow water through it. Clarity doesn’t lead to flow. Flow leads to clarity. The greatest phenomenon I have seen time and again is the three stage process for those that that take the Wealth Dynamics test and then commit to following their natural path.
First, when you follow your path, you find it easier to connect to their personal health and wealth. Then, you begin to find luck on your side, with synchronicity and magic being attracted on a daily basis. Finally, while you are in flow, your life purpose suddenly becomes clear. I believe it’s the process of letting go, as you must do to get into the flow of a river, that allows this to happen.
I always see that clarity on life purpose arrive at that magic moment when you stop creating the flow and the flow creates you.
That’s when your life literally sweeps you off your feet.
That’s surfing.