My Boomerang Got Bigger
If you’ve been following this article series, you know that I’ve been relating the personal revelations coming from my 13×4 experience. I started during the first week of January 2012, and it’s been an amazing year so far.
In my last installment, Choosing Healing And Peace Of Mind, I told you about how all the components of the 13×4 are intricately tied together – that they cross-pollinate each other in unexpected ways. I also discussed my third focus area Everything’s Perfect, which has to do specifically with healing my body since I want to avoid surgery.
The Attitude
In my next focus area, I found that I didn’t fully realize the deeper implications of why it’s so powerful until I started really noticing. In the FAST™ Method, which helps you to adhere to the goals you set up in your 13×4 System, the “A” is where you explain what this focus area means to you. You explore what your attitudinal relationship is to it and why you are choosing it.
Knowing your attitude to the focus area is critical for choosing what is best aligned with you. Rather than merely choosing something that looks and sounds good because you saw it on someone else’s 13×4 Wheel™ or were told that you should focus on it, you are called to really think about your reason for choosing it. In ascribing a meaning to it that is personal to you, you own it more fully. You set yourself up for greater success in attaining what you desire.
When I chose my next focus area, I thought it was important to me because it feels good to do it. That is still the case, but now it means more…
Focus Area #4
F-ocus: Give First
A-ttitude: What is my approach to this focus area – what do I/we want it to be?
For me, I have noticed that Give First is attraction energy. At first, it was about giving because it feels good to give. However, my attitude about giving first has shifted somewhat. It still makes me feel good, of course, but now I realize that what I give out comes back to me tenfold (and more). I give in ways that affect others positively. As that energy moves around, it picks up or attracts abundance. It enlarges and then returns to me like a boomerang. When I Give First, I get back more than I originally gave.
S-tory: What is a story that illustrates the power of having this focus in my life?
I have always incorporated the practice of Giving First (without specific expectations of reward) into my life because it makes me feel good to give and to be of value and service to others. What I have always thought that I get back from doing this is a sense of purpose and good feeling. This particular week was mostly about increasing my awareness of Giving First, and then later I realized there was more going on besides mere good feelings. There were many giving moments that later increased in the inflow back to me, but here are a few examples:
I met with several new “networking friends” over coffee… One was an aspiring author who later wrote to me that she was inspired by our meeting to move forward with her dreams. Another told me he was at a crossroads about his next career steps. He later emailed me to say that he was pursuing the bigger vision of these two possible scenarios and that there was some definite movement forward on that road. These two people gave back by reinforcing my chosen work as someone who helps others realize their dreams.
I treated a friend to lunch for her birthday. During our conversation, she gave me some new knowledge about an area that I’d been curious about for years. This new knowledge gave me extra insight into a personal experience I’d had in December. I received way more than I gave… and this was just supposed to be a “fun lunch with a friend”!
I created goodwill in the human resources community by giving away job search advice during a presentation, and the word was spread about my consulting business. I gave a colleague a jumpstart in her career by hosting a program for her – she has since sent much encouragement to me in support of my own programs and has said many nice things about me to others.
During this week I noticed that each boomerang I sent out got bigger. And I didn’t know what it would look like until it came back and how well it would serve me until I received it. THAT was fun!
T-ool: What is a tool I/we can use to maintain this focus area?
Each day at noon, a question would pop up on my calendar asking me: “What are you giving first today?” And then I noticed…
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Click HERE for the next article in this series. –>
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Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they bring who they are to what they do in life. http://angelaloeb.com
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