So What’s the Connection…

Between street crossings and social media? Well, there are times — like this morning — when I go to my computer and feel like I’m on that curbside in Bombay.   So many connections, so much movement and activity that I’m not sure which way to go.

Now, please understand, I absolutely love social media and all the amazing connections that can happen.  Like:

• Finding Deborah Donndelinger through her YouTube videos, which has completely changed my life for the better!
• Discovering  Heart of Business, which has completely changed my relationship to business and money.
• Discovering  Havi’s crazy Dance of Shiva, which is totally rewiring my brain and life patterns.

So the overwhelm is not from the quality of connections that social media facilitates.  Exactly the opposite!  I see so many gifted, creative, deeply spiritual folks who have such amazing gifts to offer that I sometimes  feel overwhelmed by all the available options.

I mean, how do you decide which advice or strategy to follow when it’s all good?  By sorting and sifting and applying some time tested principles.

Know who and where you are

From the cycle of the moon to the tides in the sea, the universe is regulated by cycles, and so are our lives and businesses.  And we need to know where we are before we can get to where we want to be.

For example, if you know that your business is lacking in a specific area, you can connect with others who offer sound advice in that specific business area.  If you’re selective and build connections based on your current life and business cycle, you will have the support and advice you need to move forward.

It also works the other way.  If you know your own gifts and skills and who you are  best able to currently serve, you can create online connections that will be mutually beneficial.

So be aware of your life and business cycles and let them influence and shape your social media activity.

Stay present

No matter how awesome the advice or strategy is, it’s only valuable if it’s relevant to you right now.  If you’re just learning to walk, you need walk training, not marathon training.  The marathon training may be useful for you in the future, but it’s a distraction when you are learning to walk.

Honor where you are now — both in giving and receiving — by being honest and transparent about your present state.

Stay focused

There are hundreds of really great business and personal development models out there.  Which one is right for you?  If you don’t answer that question, you may drown in a sea of information and still not find the tools you need.  Instead, find a path and follow it:

Pick the teaching that picks you and go deep with it — one is quite enough if you see it all the way through. (Adyashanti)

Focus. It’s critical in all areas of learning and development and it’s even more critical with the advent of social media. So, in summary:

• Do the geography — where are you? where is your business? Then build relationships based on your current cycle;
• Stay present — honor your current cycle and build healthy, supportive connections;
• Stay focused —find a model that works for you or your business and follow it through.

And remember to enjoy and appreciate our interconnectedness and the social media venues that allow us to so easily connect with each other.

A room holds more than pictures and furniture; it also holds a myriad of events, memories, feelings,  conversations, and conflicts that people have experienced in that room.  And it holds all this in its’ heart.  Yes,  a room has a heart – one that you can feel and sense  – and so does your website.

Where’s the heart of your website?

You may have all the technical pieces in place but still be missing something.  And that something missing may be the heart of the matter.

Kind of like walking in that room and feeling that something was off, a website can appear to have it all together and still be deader than a doornail!

Ever wonder about this phrase?  I mean, what the heck does deader than a doornail really mean? Although there are various explanations, this one makes a lot of sense to me:

If you hammer a nail through a piece of timber and then flatten the end over on the inside so it can’t be removed again (a technique called clinching), the nail is said to be dead, because you can’t use it again. (from World Wide Words).

Something that’s deader than a doornail, then, is of no further use; it had one shot at glory – to be hammered through that piece of wood – and that’s the end of the story.

If your website is missing your heart, then it is very possible that your visitors will not return.

Why? Because we all are looking for connection – real heart connection – and we move on when we don’t find it.  Conscious of it or not, we want to connect.

Ok, great, but how the heck do you put your heart into a website?

Great question, but the answer is really simpler than you might think — the same way you put your heart and soul into anything.

Mindfulness

Be fully present and centered when you are working on your site, and allow both the creation stage and later the maintenance/updates stage to flow organically and from a centered heart place.  Practically, this means not allowing technical challenges to cause emotional upheaval – much easier said than done – but still possible.

If you’re having trouble figuring out how to set up that new auto-responder and feel yourself getting tense,time to take a break and find your way back to calm. Use whatever method works for you – prayer, meditation, a few minutes of quiet, a short walk outside.  It can be as simple as sitting quietly, focusing on your heart and breath, and bringing peace into that inner space.

I personally use a combination of prayer and meditation, but find something that works well for you and return to the task when you are relaxed and peaceful.

If you are working on a new design with a web designer and the design just isn’t coming together, try to get as clear as you can about what you want. One way to do this is to spend some time looking at other sites, as that will help you clarify what you want AND what you don’t want.

And, write the content for your site from a quite, peaceful heart space.  It really does influence the heart and feel of your site, and people will sense it just as you do when you walk into a room and feel either peaceful or uneasy.

Openness

Share your humanity; it’s what connects us all. That means sharing your knowledge and expertise but from a place of humility and gratitude. Thank those who’ve helped you and share your personal mistakes. Who knows – it might save someone else from making the same mistake.

Genuinnesss

Be yourself. No need for makeup and veneers.  We all want to “prettify” our lives at times, especially when we are in business, but leave some raw, unedited material in your site/life/business. It makes life interesting and helps us CONNECT, which really is the point.