by Tara Joyce | Mar 4, 2014 | Cultural Creativity
It is a way of being that prevents connection.
It is presenting a false story about myself and my life in order to control others perception of me.
It’s a form of marketing or more specifically advertising, and it’s neither mindful nor empowering.
While in my pretense, I’m not valuing my contributions fully nor am I fully valuing the contributions others.
I am not being honest about who I am. I am determining certain elements of me are better and more desirable.
How does it feel to hide parts of myself?
My pretense is like my own beer commercial where I see blondes in bikinis drinking delicious beer, having fun and playing volleyball with awesome dudes.
Everything looks perfect, I’m trying hard to show you that it’s perfect, and I’m displaying my finest acting and contortionism so you don’t see the sand in my bum and the dimples in my thighs.
Does the need for pretense grow with the acquisition of power?
Probably not. But the acquisition of power does make it easier to hide and pretend.
But why do I hide and pretend? Is it about my relationship with power?
What am I communicating when I do pretend?
I am expressing that I need to try and control perceptions of me. Yours and mine. It’s about my power.
I need to appear more or less perfect than I already am.
Why am I not enough?
photo credit: SalFalko
by Tara Joyce | Feb 21, 2014 | Pay What It's Worth Pricing, Personal Branding
Value-For-Value
Pay What You Want
Pay What You Value
Gift Economy
Pay What It’s Worth
Collections of words. Collections of words that intend something similar, and yet different.
They all describe a concept. That you trust your customers to determine the value they receive from your work, and to give accordingly.
You can describe this concept, and your belief in it in many ways.
Value-For-Value
Pay What You Want
Pay What You Value
Gift Economy
Pay What It’s Worth
The words you use are a choice in how you design your communications. It’s your brand. Your experience.
What do you want and need to be valued in the exchange? How do you communicate your intent and the result you desire?
Value-For-Value
Pay What You Want
Pay What You Value
Gift Economy
Pay What It’s Worth
In the end, these terms may differ in their meaning but they describe one truth in their action. That you are a business that is choosing to create it’s own economy.
You’re criticizing the current economic system by creating your own system for valuing products and services. And it’s changing things.
Just as your life choices are creating the world you live in, your business choices are creating the economy you work and exchange in.
In trusting me to value you fairly, we’re creating an economy together where we step out of lack, and into a fair exchange of value, respect and love.
Value-For-Value
Pay What You Want
Pay What You Value
Gift Economy
Pay What It’s Worth
To start creating your economy, it starts with the ask. The intention of your action.
What do you intend to build with the economy you are creating? And how can you best express it?
What lies within the art of your ask?
photo credit: Iwan Gabovitch
for an inspiring talk on “The Art of Asking”, please watch: Amanda Palmer’s TED talk
by Tara Joyce | Feb 14, 2014 | Cultural Creativity
The most noble competitor I have ever encountered is within Me.
I suppose I could look externally for my competition, seeking people out there to better and beat.
I could spend my time and energy determining how I could excel in the ways they do.
I could focus on how they are better, and how I could be like them… And diminish Me in the process.
I could spend my time and energy identifying where their weaknesses lie, and how I could benefit and better from them.
I could focus on how they are worse, and how I am not like them… And inflate Me in the process.
I could focus on the other, rather than myself.
What I’d rather do, however, is be the most fierce competitor of myself. Always challenging myself to be the best Me I can be.
I don’t need to compare myself to anyone external to me. I don’t need to be better than You.
I only need to be the best Me.
When I allow myself to be the best Me, I become free to let you be your best You. I don’t need to compete or compare with you, for I don’t feel like I am lacking.
I am recognizing my own special unique energies, and the value they create. I am feeling okay with me, and that leaves me okay to be no better, or worse, than you.
When I allow myself to see Me completely, I stop fearfully focusing on what is external to me, and instead focus on my truth — that I am totally equal and unique to You. There is no competition.
If I truly want to improve and grow, I need only look inside for how that can be achieved.
And to You, I can look for support.
photo credit: oscarandtara
by Tara Joyce | Jan 27, 2014 | Pay What It's Worth Pricing, Self/Business Growth
It’s taken me a while to see it. And how it limits me.
I’ve always wanted exactly what I need. Nothing more.
I didn’t necessarily get enough as a child, despite their being lots around, and getting exactly what I needed seemed like a decent (and perhaps lofty) enough goal.
Exactly what I needed. Nothing more.
Love. Money. It didn’t matter. Never too much. Only what I needed. Never more than I needed.
Or thought I needed.
I wanted what was sufficient, not ample. Nothing extra. Just enough.
Plenty of Love, Plenty of Money
But here’s the thing. What I actually need is to have more than what I need. What I need is to have plenty. To be ample.
Ample in money, ample in love. I need to swim in it. I need to flow with it.
To accept anything less than plenty is to deny my true wealth. To want exactly enough is me restricting it.
To be truly wise with money and with love, I must learn to receive them with grace.
Supporting the Flow
I’ve been playing with plenty and how I can support this flow of expression and energy in reaching me — and how I can be more conscious of when I am restricting it.
This led me to my relationship with Rise of the Innerpreneur, and how I receive from it. And by playing with plenty I saw that there was more space for it within the value I create here.
In light of this, you now have more options for expressing the value you receive from Rise of the Innerpreneur.
As always, you have the option to share your love with your words by writing me. And now you have the option to share your love with a value payment.
I’ve created an option on ROTI for you to make a single Pay What It’s Worth payment if you feel moved to express to the value you receive, and for loyal readers, I’ve also created a Pay What It’s Worth monthly subscription option.
I look forward to playing with plenty with you.
photo credit: francescobellu
inspiration credits: Brain Pickings by Maria Popova (got me thinking about reader giving), Wild Money by Luna Jaffe (got me thinking about needing more than enough)
by Tara Joyce | Jan 13, 2014 | Self/Business Growth
What stops you dead in your tracks?
One thing that stops me is thinking about my performance. Whether it is before, during, or after an action in which I want to perform and do it well, thinking about my performance paralyzes me.
For what I am really doing in that moment is judging my performance, but more specifically, what I am really, really doing is jumping to (very negative) conclusions about my performance.
I am deciding I know exactly what You think about it.
Except every single time You are actually Me, as my worst version of myself.
Quick, what’s the absolute worst thing you could say about this totally piece-o-shit performance? Ha ha, nice! Burn. And so true!
Is it any wonder I find myself paralyzed?
What’s cool though is now that I see how my reaction looks — how I jump to conclusions and paralyze myself — I can begin shifting my thinking around this behaviour.
In recognizing it, I now have a choice if I want to continue engaging with it, or if I want to respond to my mind, and it’s harsh paralyzing judgements, with an understanding awareness and a willingness to let them pass. I don’t need to hold on to them. They aren’t helping.
I like the power in this, and with practice, I trust I can create the mental freedom I desire. Because in the end, I perform because I need and want to, and nothing, not even my own harsh judgements, are going to stop me from doing what I love.
photo credit: Crashmaster
