How to Reinvent Your Life, As You Ride The Ups & Downs

Will Holder, my Great Grandfather, would understand the chaos of today’s marketplace.  His sailmaking business in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, went through many changes.  As the age of sailing ships declined, he developed new opportunities for custom awnings and tarps.  He also embraced technological changes by bringing the first sewing machine into a sail loft in Canada.  

 At the age of 95, looking back at his many years as an entrepreneur, he described his life philosophy with these simple words:

“One time you’re down, another time you’re up, 
then you’re down again and you come up again.”

In the spirit of my Great Grandfather I too embrace never ending change to address the never ending ups and downs of life.

A Simple Way to Find Ideas to take you from “Down to UP!”  A simple approach to finding a way from “down to up,” in your personal or professional life is to use “Free Writing” to think deeply about your challenges and frustrations.  It is similar to brainstorming, but your insights and ideas are written in sentence form without stopping.  To get started think like a newspaper reporter describing the WHAT, WHY, HOW, WHO of the challenge you face.  Write continuously until you have nothing left to say.  Then put the writing away and a few hours or the next morning, come back to it.

Read Your Writing Out Loud:  Take what you wrote and read it out loud in a full voice.  Then write it all over again on a fresh piece of paper or computer screen.  Repeat the process of writing – letting the subconscious work – read out loud and then write again. 

Why This Process Works:  Three things make this process work:  1) Writing continuously identifies real and concrete insights and ideas that are in your head, 2) Pausing and putting away your writing for a period of time allows time for your subconscious mind to make fresh connections and 3) Research indicates that reading your writing out loud in a full voice gives you new insights into what you are saying AND how you are communicating it.

Cheers

Doug Hall 

Founder – Eureka! Ranch
Co-Founder – Dexter Bourbon Company from the Brain Brew Distillery
Co-Founder – Eureka! Ranch Distilled Spirits Group

Click to learn more about:  DOUG’S Bio     DOUG’S Services     DOUG’S Books

Click to SEND DOUG A MESSAGE