Diva’s Resurrected: Local Mastermind Group Reconvenes

August 20, 2009 at 5:35 am (Career, Mastermind Group, Work, business, work as worship)

A few years ago, I and two of my friends decided to form a mastermind group.  (For those who don’t know what this is, I refer you to this site for an explanation.)  Basically, we were three women who had dreams and aspirations, but who wanted “a little something extra” to help us reach those dreams sooner. 

We started meeting every two weeks at various coffee shops.  Each person had 20-30 minutes to report on their progress, specifically addressing their status on concrete goals set by them the previous week.  It gave us something invaluable – accountability!  (Also known as “a swift kick in the pants!”)  When it was working well, it was fabulous, and we all made great strides towards our goals. 

Unfortunately, life kind of got in the way earlier this year and we stopped meeting.

Thankfully, as of this morning, we managed to fire it back up!  And this time we have at least one new member, possibly two, which will only make the experience that much richer.

I thought I was doing pretty well on my own, but the group reminded me of several things that I had forgotten needed doing.  As soon as I got back to my office, I had a burst of productivity, and I remembered why we had started the group in the first place. 

If you have big audacious goals, but you aren’t progressing as quickly as you’d like, consider starting a Mastermind Group of your own.  It’s not nearly as hard as you might think - all you need are a few friends, colleagues, or even acquaintances who also have big dreams.  

Think about it…  and then do something about it!

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Update on Service vs. Service

April 8, 2009 at 5:23 am (Baha'i, Career, Faith, Service, Verdanta, audiobooks, business, life balance, volunteering)

In a recent blog, I was conflicted because I felt like one area of service in my life was competing with another. It didn’t help when my beloved ABM (Auxiliary Board Member) reminded me that the 4 core activities are THE most important thing we should be working on right now.    

Well, as of today, with the help of my ATC (Area Teaching Committee) Secretary, I’ve offloaded a significant portion of my responsibility.  I will continue to support the core activities through tutoring, teaching, etc…, but I will do it within clearly defined time slots.  (A discipline issue on my part.)

But the biggest update for me is that I’ve finally uncovered the one detail that I missed when I originally wrote this blog entry: if I weren’t working on Verdanta, I would be working somewhere else, and it probably wouldn’t have ANYTHING to do with the Baha’i Faith, nor would it be as flexible or fulfilling as Verdanta.

It’s all going to work out just fine.  I knew it would.  Didn’t you?

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The beginning

September 22, 2008 at 5:13 am (Baha'i, Career, Entrepreneur, Faith, Humanity, Mystery, Religion, Ruhi, Work, spirituality)

As difficult as it is to identify a beginning in the middle of a spiderweb, I’m going to try.

A few years ago, I started taking Ruhi Book 1.  (It’s the first class in a series designed to help anyone interested – Baha’i or not – to learn about the Baha’i Faith.)  I had been wanting to for a long time, and the manifestation of that desire was everything I wanted it to be:  A weekly dip in the ocean of God’s grace, fertilizer to grow the spiritual connections among members of my community, and a spiritual fix to help me make it through days weighed down by materialsm and ego.  

I loved it so much, I looked for other ways to increase my spiritual connection to the Word.  I looked for Baha’i Audiobooks, but found none.  Then one day, a substitute tutor happened to mention some recorded lectures by Adib Tahirzadeh on CD.  That was all I needed to know.  I looked them up as soon as I arrived home and ordered a set.  They were wonderful!  I could (and did) listen to each of the 11 CD’s several times over, learning something new each time I did. 

When I finally finished them, I looked for more.  This time, I found the website that contained all the books on tape recorded many years ago by Services for the Blind, available for free download.  I thought I had found heaven!  I loaded Paris Talks onto my iPod and went for a long walk.  

It was intensely anticlimactic. 

I like to think that I’m a tolerant person, especially when it comes to individual efforts within the Baha’i Faith.  It turns out that when it comes to audiobooks, I am very intolerant.  

The problem with the tapes were that:

  1. Each track was 45 minutes long, based on the length of the side of a cassette tape
  2. The readers occasionally turned their head away from the mic making it impossible to hear
  3. When a reader stumbled on a passage, they didn’t delete and do a retake, they just kept going.
  4. Page numbers were read aloud
  5. The table of contents was read aloud
  6. The sound was muffled sounding

For me, that was too many strikes.  Every time I tried to listen, I’d find myself chanting “I could do this better.  I could do this better.  I could do this so much better.” 

Then one day, the chant of “I could really do this better” was answered with ”Well, why not try?”  Of course, that first thought was immediately followed with “Yeah right!”  But over the course of several more walks on several more days, the same sequence repeated itself.  Then one day, I stopped walking, looked at the sky and asked flat out, “Wait, are you saying you want me to try to do this?”  I was immediately filled with such an overwhelming feeling of joy that I fairly floated home. 

And that was the very beginning.  Or one of them.  So once again, Darrel was correct.  Verdanta was created for one purpose: to create professional quality recordings of the Baha’i writings and make them available to as many people throughout the world as is possible. 

It’s been an exciting journey so far, but lonely at times.   I created this blog so I wouldn’t have to walk that journey alone.   If you are, like me, always searching for more ways to incorporate the Word into your life, then perhaps you will accompany me, and together we can administer the healing prescription of Baha’u'llah throughout the world.

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Mystery revealed

September 18, 2008 at 5:45 am (Baha'i, Career, Mystery, audiobooks, life balance)

Well folks, it’s true.  Darrell wins the prize!  He figured out that I’m going to produce audiobooks.  I’m still waiting for someone to guess what kind of audiobooks I’m going to produce, but that can wait.

Now I can FINALLY start talking about what I’m actually doing!

The question is, should I start with the beginning and walk through each step?  Or just catch everyone up on where I am today?

Choices, choices, choices. 

The beginning it is!  I’ve left a trail of breadcrumbs; now I’ll draw you a map. 

It all started… well… hmmm…  I guess you could say it was…  When did it start? It could have been this spring, it could have been last fall, or it could have been back in 1997 when I decided to get a Master’s in something other than engineering. 

It’s funny, when you stand still in the present and look out towards the future, it’s a murky, somewhat scary proposition.  What will I do? Where will I go?  Who will I go with?  Nothing but questions, leading into an enormous labyrinth of possibilities.

But when you stand and look back toward the past, you can see how all the crazy twists and turns that your life took now appear to be laid out in a perfectly straight path leading you inevitably to the exact spot on which you stand.  It makes perfect sense.  For example, if I hadn’t joined Toastmasters, I wouldn’t have developed leadership skills, which helped me build my skills and self-confidence.  WIthout Toastmasters, I never would have met DK, MA or RK, all of whom have helped me plant and nurture this seedling called Verdanta.   Without self-confidence and a network of supportive friends, I never would have thought “Yeah, sure, I can start a business.”  Do you see what I’m getting at?  How do you jump into the middle of a life journey and call it the beginning? 

I’m going to have to give this some thought and get back to you…

Stay tuned!

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Mystery Job: Clues to date

September 9, 2008 at 12:34 am (Baha'i, Bliss, Career, Entrepreneur, Faith, Humanity, Mystery, Prayer, Reading, Religion, Service, audiobooks, business, life balance, spirituality, work as worship)

I thought I would summarize the breadcrumbs (aka “clues”) I have dropped so far, so you could see the trail of where I’ve already been laid out more clearly.  There have been a few hints I’ve dropped without labeling them as such, so we’ll see if you were paying attention!

  1. I’m a Baha’i
  2. I love to learn
  3. I love to read
  4. This new career involves at least one activity that requires “mushin”
  5. It allows me total freedom to set my schedule
  6. It lets me use my unique talents (public speaking, organization, leadership and communication) 
  7. It lets me serve humanity through the Baha’i Faith
  8. Books on CD
  9. It fills a need which I have identified in the world
  10. My mission through Verdanta is to “be always occupied with the mention of Baha’u'llah.”
  11. It involves building a business that aligns with the teachings of the Baha’i Faith
  12. My success depends on persistent, consistent, constant action.
  13. I have used the five steps described in “The Power of Prayer” to get where I am today.

That’s it so far.  I’ll even toss out one more:

  14.  It requires the purchase of quite a bit of equipment that must be installed, configured, and learned.

Has anyone figured it out yet?  Drop me a comment and let me know your guess!

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Slowing Life Down: Learning to Appreciate the Tortoise

September 4, 2008 at 8:01 pm (Baha'i, Career, Entrepreneur, Faith, Reading, Religion, Work, business, livelihood, work as worship)

You’ve heard the story of the tortoise and the hare?  In the past, I’ve always been the hare.  I’d get excited about something I’d read, and dive in.  The smell of burning rubber hung in the air as I hurled myself into a furious, frantic frenzy of activity.  The problem was, as soon as my momentum petered out, I had nothing left.  I’d quit with nothing to show for it. 

Eventually, a wise man (my husband) pointed out that it’s never as easy as the books say, and if I wanted to pursue something new, great, but I had to do my homework.  I had to ask hard questions of lots of people, including myself.  That is when I began to learn the wisdom of the tortoise.

The tortoise plods along, with patience and persistence, passing each milestone in turn, without rushing, without panicking, without stopping.  When the idea first came to me to start this business, I was at a complete loss.  I had never started a business or worked anywhere except corporate America.  I was the anti-entrepreneur.  And there were a lot of new skills I needed, skills I had never even contemplated acquiring.  It was very intimidating.  I had no reason to believe I could do it.  I only knew I had a very strong feeling that it needed to be done, and that I ought to try to do it. 

So I did. 

I started to do research on the Internet.  I started checking books out from the library.  I began talking to people.  I began (shudder) networking.  When I started, I knew nothing about anything,  but I kept on reading and talking and listening.  Slowly, ploddingly, I have learned many many new things.  I have also found many wonderful (human) resources along the way.  (My thanks to all of you – you are a gift and a treasure to me!)

One resource I found available to anyone in the United States is an organization called SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives).  It is a volunteer agency within the Small Business Administration.  They offer free counseling services to anyone wanting to start a business.  They have given me a much needed reality check, helped me write a business plan, and given me a lot of encouragement along the way.  Writing a business plan is not for the feint of heart!  It’s a long, drawn out process requiring much patience, and if you’re wise, much help. 

Throughout this journey, I have learned the importance of not rushing things.  If it’s a good idea today, it will be a good idea tomorrow.  If it is God’s Will that I do this thing, then it will happen.  All I have to do is keep moving forward, keep exerting effort, keep identifying the next thing that could/should be done, and doing it.  If I get stalled on one front, then I start chipping away at a different front.  All things happen in God’s time, not ours, so we must patiently wait for Him to bring to us that which we need.  And we must be detached enough to recognize it when it appears. 

(Of course, if it is not God’s Will that I do this thing, then I don’t want to do it anyway, and I trust that He will block the way forward, pushing me in a different direction.)

Life in general is so much more pleasant as a tortoise.  I’m more relaxed and forgiving with everyone, particularly my children.  The truth is, patience comes more easily when you realize there is no need to rush. 

If nothing else comes of this venture, I am grateful for what I have already gained from it.  Thank goodness I’ve discovered the joys of being a tortoise!

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The new business model – Baha’i style

August 31, 2008 at 6:34 am (Baha'i, Career, Entrepreneur, Faith, Humanity, Mystery, Work, business, life balance, livelihood, work as worship)
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Oh, if only it were that easy!   :-)

In my last blog, I explored the idea of service to the Faith within the structure of a for-profit business.  I tentatively concluded that yes, this was an acceptable thing.  But that’s not the end of it, is it?  Obviously, many traditional ”old world” business practices would be inappropriate in an enterprise that endeavours to spread the word about Baha’u'llah. 

What would be appropriate?  Now that is an interesting puzzle indeed!

I have actually been working on a business plan for Verdanta, and in it I was asked to describe the corporate culture.  What would it be like to work there?  So this isn’t just a pie out of the clear blue sky question.  I really want to know, what makes a Baha’i business different?

Two things spring immediately to mind: the first is operating the business based on the writings of Baha’u'llah and Abdu’l-Baha.  The second is the spiritual consequences of doing it wrong.  I guess the place to start is exploring what they have to say that’s relevant to the situation. 

Well, Baha’u'llah told us that ”Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues,” so that’s probably a good place to start.  A Baha’i business must be impeccably honest.  Dealing honestly with suppliers, customers and employees, paying bills on time, and following through on commitments all fall within that maxim.  But so do not fudging numbers, not lying by omission, and not taking questionable “gray area” tax deductions. 

Abdu’l-Baha has said that “With education [the inner reality of man] can achieve all excellence; devoid of education it will stay on, at the lowest point of imperfection,” so constant and continuous education must be built into the structure of a Baha’i business.  Everyone in the organization should be allowed – and encouraged – to learn about new things, to gain new skills, and develop latent talents.  Personally, I can say that starting a business is a completely new thing for me, and I learn so much every day that my head hurts from all the neural pathway construction!

Baha’u'llah has also stated that “Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship.”  I don’t know about anyone else, but if the work I do is equivalent to worship, then I’m going to make darn sure I’m working to the absolute utmost of my ability.  Which means excellence and perfection must be the norm, not only for the members of the organization, but also for all products produced by them. 

And since unity is the central principle of the Baha’i Faith, unity must also be a primary goal within the organization.  Most companies today have no clue what that might look like, let alone harbor any realistic expectations of achieving it.  But if you can’t think it, you can’t achieve it.  Fortunately, “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illumine the whole earth.” And where unity is the expectation, it can be accomplished.   

Of course, backbiting would have no place within a healthy Baha’i business, because “backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul.” The company culture should be shaped such that everyone knows backbiting is unacceptable. 

I could go on and on, but what I notice in writing this is that a Baha’i business must strive for the same spiritual perfections that individual Baha’is strive for. 

Hmmm.  One last quote comes to mind, and that is ”Bring thyself to account each day, ere thou art summoned to a reckoning.”  It seems that I must not only bring myself to account each day, I must also bring to account the dealings of my business, for they ultimately reflect back on me and my spiritual progress. 

Wow.  How different would the world be today if all our leaders felt that way?

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Exploring for-profit service: Does profit negate the service?

August 30, 2008 at 6:00 am (Baha'i, Career, Faith, Humanity, Mystery, Prayer, Religion, Service, Work, livelihood, perception, work as worship)
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Inside my head

I’m struggling with a conundrum: does “service” necessarily imply “without compensation?”  Must all service rendered to the Baha’i Faith be for free, or can one serve the Faith and earn a living from that service?   I believe there exists in our community a perception that service to the Faith should be offered up voluntarily, without compensation.  I admit to feeling that way myself.  But then I had the idea for this venture, and suddenly I was no longer sure that the matter was so black and white.  Here is why: there are some things which are simply too big for one person (or even a group of people)  to undertake solely on a volunteer basis.  Which means that if the job that needs to be done costs too much in the way of time, money or effort, it simply won’t get done.  I’ve spoken with several people who think that what I propose to do is very important to the Baha’i community.  Many before me have felt the same way.  They tried but failed.  (I’ve spoken to five people myself.)  I’m guessing that the reason they failed is because they wanted to do it “as a service to the community,” aka “for free.”  But those people had jobs and lives which didn’t leave them with enough time/money/energy to see the project through to the end. 

I’m very fortunate because at the moment, I have all these resources and a supportive (non-Baha’i) husband who is willing to let me give it a go.  However, if things don’t work out, I will eventually have to go find a paying job, which will doom my efforts as well. 

I really want to see this venture succeed.  Not for my sake, but for the sake of all the people who could potentially hear the name of Baha’u'llah through it.  But that can only happen if Verdanta can pay for itself, with a little left over to contribute to the support of my family.  Knowing all this, I am at peace running this business as a for-profit business. 

Enter: “others” 

I recently received an email from a colleague whose comment I thought meant he felt service to the Faith should be offered up for free.  (I apologize if I’m misrepresenting his feelings on this; I may be projecting my own confliction onto him).  The issue is, should this perception prove prevalent, it could cripple Verdanta  before it even gets off the ground.

Baha’u'llah tells us to strive to ”render service to the world of humanity.”   He also tells us that earning a livelihood “is a duty which, in this most great Revelation, hath been prescribed unto every one, and is accounted in the sight of God as a goodly deed.” 

Abdu’l-Baha told us to “Trust in God and engage in your work and practice economy; the confirmations of God shall descend and you will be enabled to pay off your debts. Be ye occupied always with the mention of Bahá’u'lláh and seek ye no other hope and desire save Him.” (Baha’i World Faith, p. 375)

So earning a living is a goodly deed, and the mission of my proposed occupation is to “be always occupied with the mention of Baha’u'llah.”  Often we think of these things as separate and distinct, but why?  What would Baha’u'llah say about a job that earns money AND serves the Faith?  I’d like to think He would be happy about it. 

The other aspect of service is wanting to serve as many people as possible.  If I do this on a volunteer basis, I will be limited in the number people I will ultimately serve.  Why?  Because I will have to go out and find a paying job, thereby leaving me much less time (and even less energy) to tackle something as ambitious as what I am proposing. 

Service: free or fee?

The culture I live in – America – loves to think of everything in terms of either/or.  But the heart and soul of the Baha’i Faith is based on “both/and.”  Is science right or religion?  They both are.  Jesus or Muhammad?  Both.  So can I serve the Baha’i community and earn a living?   I believe I can, but ultimately, it is up to Baha’u'llah. I lay all my affairs in His capable hands, and I pray that He only let me succeed if He deems this venture good and worthy.

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Overcoming Fear and Doubt on the Road to Success

August 25, 2008 at 11:58 pm (Baha'i, Bliss, Career, Faith, Mystery, Passion, Work, spirituality)
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Earlier this year, when the very first thought of this new career path crossed my mind, I immediately dismissed it.  Why?  Because it was way too scary: too many things I didn’t know, too many people I would need to meet, too many skills I would need to acquire.  But somehow, here I am, well on my way down that new, scary path. 

One of the hardest things to do, regardless of what path you choose, is to overcome fear and doubt, especially when contemplating a new path.  It helps to have a few tools in your tool box to handle them.  One of the tools I use to deal with fear and doubt is faith.  I have faith that the path I am on is the right path for me at this time.  Beyond that, I have faith that if I am on the wrong path, it will be made obvious to me by closed doors and failed opportunities.  It may take me a while to catch on that the door of opportunity has closed, but eventually I will, and then I can start checking for open windows. 

Let me give you an example.  It took me two tries to write a thesis for my Master’s degree.  The first time, I chose a topic that seemed perfect.  But by the end of the second semester, I hated my topic, I hadn’t even completed my lit review, and I had lost three committee members including my chair.  I was miserable, but I persevered, gutting it out to the end of the semester. 

That summer, I threw up my hands and said “That’s it! I give up.  I’m reading what I want to read for a while!”  At the end of the summer, I had found a new topic, one which energized and excited me.  But it was totally different than my original topic.  To switch would mean dumping a years worth of work, and I didn’t really think anyone but me would interested in what I wanted to write about.  Talk about fear and doubt!  Eventually, I did toss that first thesis, starting over completely from scratch.  And was it worth it!  My second thesis was amazing.  I loved writing it, and I loved the final product.  A far cry from my first effort!

What does all that mean?  When making a decision that will affect the direction of your life, choose a path and have faith that it’s the correct one.  Have faith that God, or the Universe, or the Creator, whatever you call that unknowable essence that created us, will correct your path if you’re not where you should be.   Then start looking for open windows!

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Service to Humanity is All About Seeing a Need and Filling it

August 24, 2008 at 6:30 am (Baha'i, Career, Entrepreneur, Humanity, Mystery, Passion, Service, Work)

A few years ago, an animated movie called “Robots” came out.  The kids and I enjoyed it, and one line really stuck with me: “See a need, fill a need.”  That’s what it’s all about in life, isn’t it?  Especially if your goal is to find a way to serve humanity in some way, and thereby help to make the world a better place. 

There are many many ways to do this of course, but I wanted to find the one that met all of my other criteria as well: utilizes my talents, engages my passions, feeds my learning addiction, flexible hours, everything I’ve blogged about so far and more.

Earlier this year, I saw a need.  Ever since then, I’ve been working steadily to find a way to fill that need.  I’m approaching the point in time when my efforts will begin to bear fruit.  Small fruit at first, of course, but fruit nonetheless.

And that is clue #9: My new job will fill a need which I have identified in the world.

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