A very curious question came out of nowhere after my meditation yesterday. I knew it was in response to some “journal thinking” I’ve been doing about what new projects to undertake in my business this year. I knew it was important because it startled me.

I drew it in my journal so I could visualize it and get a feel for it.

The question was: “What is in the space of Passion, Permission, Focus, and Authenticity?”

As I slowly drew each of the letters, my meaning of the words became clear to me.

Passion is the raw energy from which I create.

Permission is the mandate I give myself to get outside the box of the proven, familiar, and expected.

Focus is the thinking that ignites and catalyzes the energy of passion into clear intention and inspired action.

Authenticity is my inner compass of alignment with my true self.

For the whole of my business life, I’ve operated in the success paradigm of “Passion and a lot of hard work are enough.” And, they are required.

Turns out they are enough. Enough to kill my spirit and and stop me in my tracks. Enough to turn my dreams into “To Do Lists”.

When I look back at my business past, it is littered with incomplete, passionate projects that I worked very hard on.

I’ve always been a rebel and a renegade at heart, but when I started my own business, I went with the conventional business wisdom and held myself accountable to it.

Because of this fine question, I now realize that, for me, passion and hard work aren’t enough. And hard work isn’t required, either. How’s that for heresy?

When I look at my brightest and most fulfilling business successes, they were inspired and they contributed huge value to my clients. There was a lot of action, but it never felt like hard work. It was joyful and felt effortless.

I don’t have the answers yet about which projects are a ‘go’ this year, but I am very clear about the criteria.

1. I must be passionate about any undertaking. This isn’t difficult for me; I have a lot of things I’m passionate about. It’s the next three criteria that are the breakthrough for me.

2. I must give myself permission to break the rules of proven success. Otherwise, I’ll hold myself back in the Safe Zone and I’ll get bored.

3. I must sustain my focus on the thinking part of the work long enough so action is easy, enjoyable, and effective. To others, this looks like procrastination. For me, it is ‘imagining something into place.’

4. I must sponsor my own authenticity, and do it my way.

And, oh, P.S., when I look back at this drawing in my journal, I notice something that’s clear on the 8.5″ X 11″ journal page, and not so much in the thumbnail here.

The blue is not space, as I originally assumed. It’s a swirling vortex of energy.

There’s an alchemy in the mixing together of Passion, Permission, Focus, and Authenticity. I can feel the power of it. It’s undeniable and compelling.

Filed under: Being a Reinventer, Adventures of a Reinventer, Lynne's Reinvention Journey on January 24th, 2009