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4 Steps to Sacred Success

Written by Barbara Huson

 

 

I’m back to blogging about  Sacred Success® . Though I never actually deviated from it. All my recent posts have  directly stemmed from my new discoveries regarding this topic.

Now, however,  I’m ready to dive right in  and  share with you specific steps for achieving Sacred Success.

First, a review for those who never read my post Let me introduce you to Sacred Success

  • Sacred Success is the next step after overcoming underearning.
  • Sacred Success is the game being played by women who are making millions (a very different game from the one most successful men are playing).
  • Sacred Success merges higher incomes with a higher calling.
  • Sacred Success means following your soul’s path, for your own bliss and the benefit of others, while being richly rewarded .
  • Sacred Success begins with a strong profit motive, and then requires that you give up profit as your primary goal.
  • The Primary Goal for Sacred Success is Achieving Greatness.

 

Sacred Success follows a 4- step process.  I can only describe this process as a combination of getting your head clear and your hands dirty, or as an Irish saying puts it:  “pray for potatoes with a hoe in your hand.”  That pretty much describes the 4 step process, a process that is both sacred and mundane, that is divinely guided while grounded in action.

Here are the 4 steps:

Step 1.  Receive consciously, surrendering to what is

Step 2.  Pursue your highest purpose according to your deepest truths

Step 3.  Exercise Mental Discipline

Step 4.  Leave a legacy by modeling Greatness

Stay tuned.  I’ll describe each of these steps in upcoming blogs. (I’ve actually discussed Step #1 at length in  The Beginners Guide to Surrender-in 6 Simple Steps )

The “I” Word

Written by Barbara Huson

While we’re discussing my beliefs (see True Confessions), I’ll add another  to the pot.  This belief is a biggie for me, and growing stronger by the second…due to  recent events.

I believe our financial foundation is only as strong as our individual integrity.

I am convinced the economic meltdown was a direct result of a lack of integrity,  among consumers and institutions alike.  The same applies to all the problems we’re witnessing today. Think: Tiger, Toyota, BP…to name a few. They all are, in large part, crisis that occurred when people acted out of  integrity.

I believe that every crisis comes with critical lessons. So instead of reacting solely with fury, frustration or a deep sense of futility—which I tend to do—I remind myself to treat each crisis as a teacher.

Take the oil spill, for example. Maybe I can’t do anything personally to protect the pelicans, but I can learn (and share) the lesson this crisis is offering me. For me, it’s all about integrity.

The word integrity comes from the latin root, meaning wholeness or entirety. Integrity demands  that our words and deeds  consistently reflect our deepest truths, highest aspirations,  and most cherished values.

Now, more than ever,  I believe we all need to ask ourselves 2 questions, on a daily basis:

  • Where am I out of integrity?
  • How can I correct that?

None of us are too big to fail. Nor are we too small to soar.  The difference, I believe, rests largely on our level of integrity…and our courage to act on it.

True Confessions

Written by Barbara Huson

I’m coming out of the closet…and perhaps going out on a limb.  I’m going to tell you something I’ve never really shared out loud, in public, so explicitly.

For those who know me, what I’m about to say will come as no surprise.  And if you’ve read my latest blogs, it’ll probably seem obvious. But I feel compelled to confess my deepest conviction…

I firmly believe that financial success is a spiritual journey; that financial abundance is a divine right and a divine duty; and that financial accountability is a sacred responsibility.

I share this for a reason. I believe looking at money from this perspective makes the often overwhelming task of making more and managing it wisely seem easier and definitely more meaningful. It sure did for me.

I’ve come to believe, from my own experience, that money (respecting and appreciating it) is a vital tool for doing what we were put on this earth to do.

I’ve always believed that we are here to do God’s work. But we cannot possibly follow our God-given destiny, if we’re drowning in debt or struggling to make ends meet.

However, disciplined spending, ample earnings, habitual savings, and prudent investing are sacred tools for not only living our best life but improving the lives of others.

Money  is power. Everyone knows that. But I take it one step further.  Money, I believe, is God made visible.

Do you think I’m way off here????

Struggling with Sacred Success? 4 Reasons Why.

Written by Barbara Huson

First a quick review.

Earlier I wrote about the 3 Levels of Financial Success: Survival, Stability, and Affluence. (see Let me introduce you to Sacred Success )

The 3rd stage, Affluence, is where most women get stuck. Why? Because  once a woman is financially stable, she’s rarely motivated by money.

That means women must approach level 3 with a different mindset—money is no longer the goal; Sacred Success is.

What does that mean?  Sacred Success® has 4 Prerequisites, 4 shifts in mindset that must occur. If these 4 traits aren’t firmly intact, your efforts to achieve and maintain affluence will likely become an exercise in struggle:

1.    A healthy respect for your value (You’ve had the click—you know you deserve to earn more for no other reason than you’re worth it—without which,  Sacred Success  is impossible)

2.    A healthy respect for money (which means obeying the  4 Rules of Money: Spend Less; Save More; Invest Wisely; Give Generously—in that order!)

3.    A strong profit motive (you’ve given yourself permission to prosper without conflict or ambivalence)

4.    A willingness to be uncomfortable (you actually welcome discomfort by actively looking for ways to stretch)

Check-in with yourself to make sure these 4 traits are integrated into your thinking. And in the future, whenever you flip into scarcity, feel like you’re stuck or find yourself struggling, immediately revisit these 4 to find the weak link. Sacred Success is not about being perfect…it’s about being persistent.

What’s keeping you from Greatness?

Written by Barbara Huson

“The only thing standing between Greatness and me is me.”

–Woody Allen

Leave it to Woody to state the obvious. But I bet you don’t realize the insidious way countless women (me included) have been keeping ourselves from Achieving Greatness? I call it ATBS–Addicted to Busyness Syndrome.

We women stuff every cranny of our lives with so much activity that we’ve lost touch with what’s really essential and what’s truly irrelevant.

But ask us to lighten our load, actually say no to a task, and we start to panic. As if our world would shatter if we slowed down.  The truth is, we’ve become so controlled by shoulds, oughts, musts, have-tos that we’ve lost sight of what’s honestly important.

As you may know, I’ve spent the last 6 month clearing the clutter from my life. And I’m the first to admit—busyness is a bitch to give up!  Do you know why?  Busyness is the drug of choice for most women.

Without endless activity, we’re left with empty space. And empty space gives rise to painful feelings.  (For me, I felt unproductive, like a failure and a fraud)  Rather than experience the pain, we fill up the spaces. But, as I’ve learned from the last few months, when you stop running from the truth, you start recognizing your power. When you face what you fear, you realize it no longer controls you. When you eliminate the unnecessary, you begin to notice what really matters.

So I ask you….What could you slowly start cutting out of your day?  I’m not telling you to go cold turkey. But I invite you to observe all the needless activities you cram into your life– from constant emailing to extraneous chores.

What if you didn’t load the wash until later in the afternoon? What if you responded to emails only once a day? What if you didn’t answer the phone and instead stared out the window.

Maybe you’ll find what I did. It’s only in stillness that you’ll begin to hear the secrets your soul yearns to share. It’s only in the quiet that you’ll discover the path to Sacred Success™.

What is Greatness?

Written by Barbara Huson

This one had me stumped.  I liked the sound of those words: “The Primary Goal for Sacred Success™ is Achieving Greatness” (see my last blog entry).  But admittedly, I was also intimidated by them.  

I thought of women I considered models of Greatness: Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt,  Betty Friedan.  But I also thought of my daughters—one an organic farmer, another a nursery school teacher, and the oldest a stay-at-home mom. I may be a bit biased, but I honestly see my girls going for Greatness, each in their own way.

So I began asking myself–“what does Greatness mean?”  According to Merriam-Webster, Greatness describes someone who is “remarkable in magnitude, degree or effectiveness.”

Every one of us is capable of remarkable feats. We don’t need to be anything extraordinary.  We do, however,  need to play full out.

Here are what I see as the 15 traits of Greatness:

1.      Greatness refuses to be limited or controlled in any way by fear. (Fear is to greatness what ants are to a picnic… annoying, inevitable, and best ignored)

2.      Greatness follows ideas that come from seemingly nowhere.

3.      Greatness doesn’t act alone. It has partners, collaborators, a team.

4.      Greatness is humble, not to be confused with Grandiosity. Grandiosity comes from the ego and is, as A Course in Miracles tells us, “always a cover for despair.”  Greatness is sourced from the soul and is always a desire to do what it came to earth to do.

5.      Greatness sees the world as it’s playground and every problem as part of The Game…a lawsuit is no more serious that losing a stapler.

6.      Greatness takes its mission (not itself) very seriously, and always puts that mission first.

7.      Greatness truly enjoys Greatness, not just for itself, but for its positive effect on others.

8.      Greatness  respects and appreciates money… sufficient income is necessary to eliminate any distractions for achieving its goals.

9.      Greatness isn’t perfect, and is more than willing not to be. Greatness feeds on self trust (the definition to self-trust: knowing you can clean up what you mess up!).

10. When pain enters Greatness, it’s meant to be a wake-up call.

11. Greatness is kind, but tough, and politely endures criticism.  While Greatness doesn’t need be liked, it demands to be respected.

12. The Arc of Greatness involves many mistakes, failures, wrong turns…they are the steppingstones to  Greatness.

13. Greatness is passion made manifest.  The biggest pitfall to Greatness–doing what you should vs. what you love.

14. Greatness requires responsibility, rejects mediocrity, and resides in the unknown.

15. When Greatness dies, it doesn’t go away. Greatness always leaves a legacy behind.

Anything you’d like to add???

The Paradox of Sacred Success™

Written by Barbara Huson

Sacred Success™ is what my soul had been yearning for.  It just took me a while to figure that out. Perhaps you feel the same. Perhaps, like me and many others, even though you  deeply desire, definitely deserve and will likely reap hefty financial rewards,  you’ve somehow always known there’s more to success than making lots of money.

Sacred Success™ does not require sacrificing financial reward in order to find fulfillment and meaning.  Quite the contrary. Sacred Success™ merges higher incomes with a higher calling. Each successful woman I interviewed explicitly expressed her unshakable desire to increase her earnings. Yet her drive was no longer fueled by making more, more, more. . .

Here’s where I got stuck…until I discovered the  Paradox of Sacred Success™

The Paradox goes like this: In order to play the game of Sacred Success™, you must have a strong profit motive firmly in place….which is essential to overcome underearning and attain financial stability. But…here’s the catch…at this point, you must give up profit as your primary goal.  The Primary Goal for Sacred Success™ is Achieving Greatness.

Next:  exploring Greatness.

Let me introduce you to Sacred Success

Written by Barbara Huson

I spent much of last year pondering this question: Why was I—along with scores of other women who’ve overcome underearning—still having difficulty cracking the code to even higher earnings?

Then, one day, it hit me.

Basically, there are three levels of financial development:

  1. Survival—doing whatever it takes to stay afloat
  2. Stability—generating enough cash flow to meet one’s needs, eliminate debt, and establish future security.
  3. Affluence—accumulating ample disposable income to live the life of one’s dreams.

The women I’d interviewed, who made millions,  were playing a very different game than what I had expected.  That’s because men tend to be highly motivated by profit, perks, and prestige. In the male world, the promise of affluence is a powerful incentive.

But not for women.  Once a woman becomes financially stable, she is no longer motivated by money.   What motivates her is helping others…or as numerous women described it, “ a search for significance.”

These are two very different paths to affluence. “Show me the money” versus “Show me how to help.” Too many women—like me—futilely struggle to navigate the first path, without realizing they have another option.

The latter is what I’ve come to call Scared Success™. It is the journey from stability to affluence…the game that is quietly being played by countless women (and, I might add, quite a few enlightened men!).

Stick around, and I’ll tell you exactly how to play!

Bye, Bye Surrender; Hello, Sacred Success™

Written by Barbara Huson

I suspect my time spent in Surrender is drawing to a close.  I’m walking away with a whole new appreciation for down time and empty space.

But just recently, I’ve been sensing a shift.  My energy seems to be changing.

You know that light at the end of the tunnel I spoke about in Step # 6?  I think I’m there…standing in the light, not looking at it from afar.  The future is finally coming into focus.

I realize now, what I called Surrender was really Gestation. Despite feeling like  ‘nothing’ was happening,  I’ve actually been  quite ‘busy’ birthing a new body of work…which eventually will grow into my next book.

I call this new work Sacred Success™…the next step after overcoming underearning. I stumbled upon Sacred Success™ while interviewing women who made millions.  But I really didn’t put all the pieces together until I surrendered.  Then, it was as if the pieces arranged themselves.

Just last week, like a proud mama, I took my new ‘baby’ out into the world.

I spoke at Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts (www.mamagenas.com)… my first speech in ages.  I told them all about Sacred Success™.  The 200 women in the audience were transfixed.  It was like my soul was speaking directly to theirs.  And they were hungry for what I was saying.  Afterwards, I was deluged by those clamoring to hear more.

Now I’m chomping at the bit to share Sacred Success™ with even more women.  I desire to do it right here on this blog.  So invite your friends.

Discovering Sacred Success has changed my life.  It really has.  I believe it can change yours too.  I’d love you to read my upcoming blogs and let me know what you think.  I genuinely want your feedback.

Meet Barbara Huson

When a devastating financial crisis rocked her world, Barbara Huson knew she had to get smart about money… and she did. Now, she wants to empower every women to take charge of their money and take charge of their lives! She’s doing just that with her best-selling books, life changing retreats and private financial coaching.

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