Category: determination

change, commitment, determination, work, yoga

Leap: There is Always a Path of Less Resistance

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

Have you ever felt like you’re drowning in tiny tasks that somehow grew out-of-control overnight?

That’s how I recently felt with Compass Yoga teacher scheduling. Almost a year ago, I started to get requests from more library branches that wanted a regular yoga class in their programming. They had heard about the wonderful classes at the Bloomingdale Branch and once the word spread to one branch, many others piled on.

Of course, I was thrilled by the requests and wanted to fill them all. At the time, I thought the best idea was to find a lot of teachers who would be willing to teach these free classes to get experience. In New York City, there is no shortage of new teachers who need and want experience. So that people wouldn’t feel too overwhelmed by a regular weekly class, I decided to put together rotating rosters of teachers who would share the load at each branch. I also thought this would give the students a variety of teaching styles to keep them engaged in the practice.

These are really nice ideas and they kind of worked, but I completely underestimated the challenges. First, I did a very good job of driving myself crazy as I coordinated the schedules of 17 (!) teachers and then often hunted for last-minute subs. Second, teachers wanted to feel more connected with the students on a regular basis and having a regular weekly class helped them schedule their own lives more efficiently. Third, students wanted to get to know a teacher better rather than seeing 3 or 4 different teachers per month.

I was well aware of the first challenge but didn’t know about the other two. As a result, I began to wonder if we’d have to scale back the library program altogether in an effort to restore my sanity. I wrestled with this idea for weeks, changing my mind every other day. Then a really interesting idea surfaced once I found out about the second and third challenges described above: each branch of the library could have a lead teacher. That teacher may not be able to teach every week and may need to sub out occasionally, but the relative consistency would help me tremendously and would be more helpful to the teachers and students.

In the end, we didn’t need to scale back the library program. We just needed to find a smarter way to manage it. And now with this simpler teacher scheduling structure, we can grow to more branches to help more people. Every challenge has a solution and many times it’s far simpler than we realize. Once we have the will to make something happen (or change), the way opens.

adventure, change, community, determination, work

Leap: Rise Up to Meet Difficulties and Change Them Into Opportunities

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest.com

“There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties or you alter the way you meet them.” ~ Phyllis Bottome

Challenges and difficulties abound in our lives and in the world. We can run from them for a while, but they’re patient. They will wait us out with dogged determination. They never get tired. They never give up. They are relentless.

Eventually, we have no choice but to get moving, to chip away at them bit by bit until they reach a manageable size. This work of whittling is incredibly important. Do not underestimate it.You may think you aren’t doing enough; you make think that you are one person fighting to turn a much larger tide. Don’t give up. Something amazing is about to happen.

You have to start somewhere and the miraculous thing is that once you start to work on a challenge, you will find that there are other people in the world working on the same difficulty. You can then join forces and the whittling begins to move faster. Many hands make light the load. And there’s no shortage of loads in this world that need more hands, and hearts. Find the one that draws you in and just do your part. I promise you that it is enough.

commitment, courage, determination, fear, meditation

Leap: Meditation Teaches Us About Fear and Perseverance

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“It’s okay to have emotions. Just make sure they don’t have you.” ~ Sarah Platt-Finger, ISHTA Yoga Senior Teacher

So, it happened. Over the past month since I gave notice at my corporate job and took the leap into working for myself, I have been amazed by how little fear has risen to the surface. Actually, it hasn’t risen up at all. Yesterday while in my meditation in my training class, it surprised me as it rose up and expressed itself with a sound akin to “Ah!”And then it passed away just as quickly, and as surprisingly, as it rose up.

The moment and its lessons were not lost on me. In that one second, I learned a lot about fear and perseverance:

1.) Fear is like an air bubble. It wants to be recognized and have a chance to express itself. The more we resist it and deny it, the larger that bubble becomes. If we can get ourselves into a neutral state (I recommend meditation to help with this), then the bubble can rise up to the surface and dissipate. Let fear come, but then let it go.

2.) Fear is like quicksand. If we begin to flail around in quicksand, it will swallow us whole. Remain still and we float to shore. The same is true for fear. When it comes upon us, we may feel the need “to do.” And by that I mean we may feel the need to do anything because we feel that doing anything is much better than doing nothing. It’s hard to be afraid and stay still, but that’s exactly what is needed if we want to find our way to the other side of fear, which is freedom.

3.) We have all the tools we need to banish fear. This is the most amazing insight that came from my panic moment. My meditation allowed the fear to surface and ask me, “Hey, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” In the stillness that the meditation induced in my mind and body, the answer clearly and quickly rose up – “Yes.” And in an instant the fear faded. It got the answer it needed.

This is the brilliance of meditation: it lets us face our fears but also gives us the tools to effectively and efficiently release them. We let go of fear (and every other thing that no longer serves us) because we ourselves let go. For a few moments every day, we stop doing and in those moments we feel the deep strength and wisdom that we always carry within us. Tap into that, and we find that we already have every answer to every challenge we will ever face. Go in and we find that it is this inner strength that allows us to rise.

determination, India, nature, travel

Leap: A Tree Grows in India, Where Everything is Possible

Christa Avampato
Tree growing on mountainside in Munnar, Kerala. India.

This picture is one of my favorite photos from India. After a torrential downpour high in the mountains of Munnar, Kerala, the sun came out and lit up the entire valley as my incredible driver and guide, Jose, wound us safely down toward the hotel. We pulled over to the side of the road to take in the pastures down below and the mountains up above.

On the side of the mountain, we found this tree. The roots entirely exposed and yet solid as a rock, healthy and strong. Jose said it had been in that state for years, monsoon season after monsoon season.

“How is that possible?” I asked, thinking of all of the tree that are routinely knocked down by storms in New York City’s Central Park.

“Miss Rose, this is India. Here everything is possible.”

As we made our way toward the hotel, Jose told me about his plans to leave his current job and start up his own bike tour business when his contract is up at the end of the year. He has been leading mountain bike tours all over southern India as a side business.

He’s become so passionate about it, that he’s undertaking his venture full-time. He sees the upside of this risk and wants to capitalize on it. The worst that will happen is that it won’t work and he’ll easily go back to working for a tour company because he is so sought after for his knowledge and expertise on everything South India.

Here I am fretting about my upcoming leap when we have so many more advantages here in the U.S. to change our lives for the better. Meeting Jose was certainly the Universe speaking to me loud and clear. “Go and see what you find. Learn. Explore. Do. Everything is possible. It’s up to us.”

adventure, career, decision-making, determination, inspiration

Leap: A Daily Can-Do Mantra

Christa Avampato

I found this image on Pinterest. I immediately hung it up at my desk to read out loud any time I get scared as I begin this new adventure to merge my career with my personal values. It makes me feel strong. I hope it helps you, too.

determination, entrepreneurship

Leap: The Training of an Entrepreneur

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/oliviawickens/

“It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.” ~ Confucius

My friend, Poornima, recently explained to me that entrepreneurship is like regularly getting punched in the face and getting up again for more. And still I was not deterred. Neither is she.

As I think about every wonderful experience in my life, I’m reminded that all of them required their fair share of punches. Some times, the punches came in bunches and that expedited the process. Some times, those rounds of punches happened over a long stretch of time. Nothing was ever easy for me, and now I understand why. I needed to build my stamina for the journey I’m on today.

We’re a culture addicted to over night success, to the belief that everyone we admire woke up more morning with a brilliant idea and suddenly became a sensation. But it’s not that way. Beneath all successes worth having, there is a long, long list of things that didn’t work out, opportunities missed and lost, and a map that shows how we often take a step forward only to take two steps back. We should not be discouraged.We need the conditioning.

The trick is of course to keep going. To keep our eyes on the prize. To recognize that no matter how much adversity we face, it’s impossible to beat someone who never gives up. Do not stop.

art, career, commitment, determination, passion, theatre

Beginning: My Only Talent Is My Tenaciousness

Christa Avampato
Paul Newman, the man who never stopped trying

“Acting doesn’t come natural to me. I’m very cerebral about it, unlike Joanne (Woodward), who is an intuitive actor. Acting to me is like dredging a river. It’s a painful experience. I simply do not have the intuitive talent. I worry about acting and constantly complain to myself about my own performance…and this doesn’t fall into the area of self-deprecation. I don’t know the things I have a gift for except tenaciousness…I never felt I had any gift at all to perform but it was something that I wanted badly enough so I kept after it.” ~ Paul Newman, Inside the Actor’s Studio

I had lunch with my dear friend, Trevin, yesterday. Eventually, he will be the Editor of The New York Times Theatre section because he knows just about every historical fact there is to know about the theatre. He tipped me off to the first episode of Inside the Actors Studio, on which Paul Newman was a guest. I found the episode in its entirety on YouTube and for the first time, I heard someone articulate how I feel about my own career and craft. My only real gift is tenaciousness. And I finally stopped feeling badly about that because I’m in good company with Paul Newman.

If I want something badly enough, I will figure out how to make it happen. It was true through all of my schooling, in every job I’ve ever had, in my writing, teaching, and business work. None of it came naturally or easily but I wanted my successes so much that I just refused to give up. And as Babe Ruth famously said, “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” (Incidentally, this is incredibly true for yoga instructors as I wrote about on a post back in May.) I’ve never understood the idea that we should take the road of least resistance. All of the roads before me, if they were even built at all, were riddled with obstacles and resistance. I just decided to get around, over, under, and through them with every tool I could find.

I also tried very hard for my failures. I’ve failed at a good many things in my life, but it was never for lack of trying. Only a lack of truly wanting. I eventually failed at those things because I simply didn’t want to keep trying to get better at them. I found that they just weren’t worth all of the effort I would need to extend to make them happen. I moved on.

People have asked me if this year of beginnings has been frightening or discouraging to me. After all, I purposely put myself in the beginners seat and as if that weren’t enough, I shared all of it every day here on my blog for the entire world to read and judge (if they chose to.) For some I guess this process would have been frightening. For me, it was a year filled with days like all the days of my life.

I started each morning of this year exactly the same way as I’ve started every morning of my life – as someone who had to try very hard at every moment to make my life work the way I wanted it to work. Some days I was successful and some days I failed miserably. When each day was done and I put myself to bed, I was grateful for every single one no matter the outcome.

I am a perpetual beginner: always curious, never satisfied, and in constant search of my edge and my limitations. I guess you could say I’m a professional beginner because it’s the only thing I’ve ever really been. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

commitment, creativity, determination

Beginning: Creativity Needs Conviction

Christa Avampato

Last week I read a reprint of an article from frog design that originally ran in Fortune. It nailed a tiny pet peeve of mine in the world of creativity. Companies and individuals often trumpet themselves as innovative, out-of-the-box, creative thinking “idea people”. It sticks in my craw a bit because there is nothing remarkable about having creative ideas. We all have them. ALL of us. What I think is rare, and much more extraordinary and ultimately valuable, is to be a person of conviction, to be someone who believes so much in a creative idea that she is willing to do whatever it takes to bring it to life and share it with others.

Creative folks get a bad wrap, too-often characterized as lazy, unfocused, and spacey. The most successful creatives I know – meaning their ideas are out in the world and people are benefiting from them – are nothing of the sort. They make a plan and drive to completion. They work hard, have laser-beam focus, and an unbelievable degree of attention. When I’m in their presence, they are there with me 100%. They’re present, aware, and relaxed even under great pressure. Those types of people are the ones I hold up and say, “Yes, that’s it! That’s creative living at its very best.” Conviction is required.

Creative ideas are all well and good. I want something more. I want more creative ideas out of our heads and onto the page, screen, canvas, pottery wheel, and stage. We don’t need permission, a business plan, or even funding to take action. We will figure it out as we go. So much creation is free or close to it thanks to the ludicrous amount of open-source tools that are literally at our fingers. Our only barrier is us. 

Creative ideas stuffed into someone’s mind without an outlet for expression are just clutter. And quite frankly, it’s selfish to keep our ideas to ourselves. If ever the world needed more creative doers to fix the complete wreck we’re making of this world on every level, now is the time. Act, act, act!

creative process, creativity, determination, imagination

Beginning: Thinking Into Being

Christa Avampato

“Our thoughts are forming the world.” ~ Yogi tea bag

Our inner confidence and conviction is more important than we realize. If we see a situation that we want to improve, we do actually have the ability to create the change we wish to see. Our thoughts form companies and organizations; they build programs, products, and services. Everything we touch, see, and experience is the creation of nature or someone’s imagination. Why shouldn’t the world have the gift of your vision, the gift of living up to your expectations?

 

choices, courage, design, determination, dreams

Beginning: Be an Invisionary

Christa Avampato

“Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.” ~ Jonathan Swift

“My favorite place is my imagination.” ~ ME

Every once in a while, I get a real fire under me. I’m not sure where it comes from, though it’s almost always linked to something I read like this quote by Jonathan Swift. And when this fire gets going, I feel the need to crack open my laptop and get this all down because I’m certain that the words I’m about to think are the words that someone somewhere needs to hear, right now at this very moment.

It’s easy to see what is right in front of us. What’s more difficult, though ultimately more rewarding, is to imagine what could be and bring it into being. There’s much talk in the business world about leaders of companies who are “visionaries”, and in business that has largely meant people who see the current situation with a slight twist that vastly improves value. Minimal work for a lot of pay off. There’s nothing wrong with that at all – masters of the 80 / 20 rule, they have been able to steer the companies they run through our economic storms of late.

Though I appreciate the work of visionaries, the people who really inspire me, who really impress me and motivate me, are invisionaries – people who see a whole new way of being to improve their own lot and that of others. They see things that have never even been thought of, much less acted upon. They attack challenges that most people run from. They look at big problems in the world and rather than turning a blind eye, stand firmly rooted into the ground and say, “I can make this better.” They are people of action, people who don’t hesitate. They don’t need all the answers, they just need the next step. They’ll gladly pave the road as they travel it. In actuality, they prefer it that way.

This is who I’m trying to be with the mission of Compass Yoga – an invisionary – and it’s what I want for all of you, too. I don’t want us to be limited by what’s here in front of us. I want us to tear down the walls we see in our lives. Climb over them, plow through them, dig your way underneath if you have to. Need a boost? Let me know, and I’ll gladly offer it up. Just get out there, and live the life you really want.

I know this work isn’t easy. I’m asking a lot of myself, and I’m asking a lot of you, too. And here’s why – there a lot of people who are going to tell you, “You must do X because long ago you decided to do Y.” These people will tell you that no matter what you want to do, you just can’t. Maybe these people are your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, or your boss. I want you to thank them for their opinions and then turn the volume on them off. I’m here to be the voice that tells you to roll the dice; the only thing you have to lose is regret for not living the life you want.

It’s tough to get people to see the world through your mind’s eye; don’t blame them. Many people are not invisionaries, and have no desire to be. They will plod along and be just fine. The people who do something really extraordinary with their lives, who make a difference, are the ones who are in this game every day courageously weaving the fabric of their own lives and the lives of those they want to help. Hold that as your ideal, your model.

Don’t take no for an answer. Open every window, swing open every door, and when all else fails get out your chisel and hammer and make your own way out of the box and into the light. If we can live like this, then we can live lives by our own designs. And what could be more gratifying than that?!