Hello,
Welcome.
My name is Lew Redman.
Thank you for listening.
I don't even know who I am anymore.
I said these words to myself recently.
As someone who helps others discover themselves,
You'd think I'd have this figured out.
I thought I had.
Yet this year,
As business slowed down and opportunities evaporated,
The identity around my work feels like sand slipping through my fingers.
There is a part of me that questions whether my best work is behind me.
I've longed for a burst of inspiration with clarity around the next step,
Project,
Or focus.
It hasn't come yet.
I'm in the desert.
I've been reexamining my purpose.
What is my unique genius?
Who am I here to serve?
How am I meant to lead?
I hired a business coach thinking it would help.
He had a lot of knowledge and gave immense support,
Yet when I followed some of the marketing,
Something felt inauthentic.
In business,
We get to create our own world,
Crafting the ecosystem and shaping it to evoke a certain feeling.
In this way,
Business becomes art.
Yet if we use someone else's formula,
Where's the creativity in that?
Yes,
There are best practices to follow,
But the elders I look up to and leaders I respect most don't have a business strategy.
Or better put,
Their strategy is to devote themselves to their own self-development and follow their creative spirit in the most heartfelt and authentic way.
When I think of any lasting success I've had,
It's come from that.
Whatever I put out in my universe,
I want it to have the flavor of transparency,
Inspiration,
And possibility.
In doing so,
I trust that I don't need the perfect copy to sell and offer.
I just need to tell the truth.
Perhaps I'm naive.
Maybe I won't achieve the success I desire unless I follow the tactics.
Who knows?
I'm willing to push my chips in the pot of human connection and go out like Frank Sinatra,
Doing it my way.
When I reflect on the need to have a big creative project,
It stems from a resistance to being in the desert of no inspiration.
Can I love myself where I am,
For who I am,
And not glean my sense of value from achievement?
Recently one of my clients,
Shout out to Ren,
Said something that I needed to hear.
That our greatest creative project is ourselves.
It's a reminder that the real work,
And best business strategy if that's your thing,
Is growing into our self-awareness,
Presence,
And wholeness.
Everything we seek,
We already possess.
The work as spiritual sojourners is about clearing the gunk that stands in the way of the current of well-being that is always present.
When we are connected,
Everything unfolds how it should.
Part of my identity crisis has me asking,
Am I holding space for transformation or as a creative business mentor?
And I come back to the answer of both end.
That I love in my work that I get to help people realize that they have everything they need inside of them.
To work through any blockages for their realization of this truth.
And when they're feeling that,
What often happens is their creativity opens up.
Their desire to contribute in a new way opens up.
And that can lead into some sort of business,
Some sort of ways that they're bringing their gifts in the world.
It doesn't always have to.
But I do love this balance of inner work and then the outer work,
The gifts that we give from doing our own inner healing work.
Another question I'm contemplating,
Am I pursuing my dreams or just helping others achieve theirs?
Or are those the same thing?
I don't want to be a coach on the sidelines.
I'm in the arena with you,
Pushing my comfort zone,
Failing and getting back up.
For me,
That means speaking to larger audiences and really putting myself out there in new ways.
I'm developing a new keynote speech to present to companies and looking for companies actively and trying to find ways that I can be out in the arena of my life so that I can come back to hear,
To share what I've learned,
To explain and explore the fears that come up and hopefully help you achieve your dreams in the same process.
So how could two opposing things be true?
How can I share about the people that I work with and what I am working on at the same time proclaim that I don't even know who I am?
The paradox of being human is that we are constantly dancing with the known and unknown.
In this way,
We can let go of needing to hold on to anything and surrender to the many forms life may take.
I've worn many identities,
Writer,
Speaker,
Coach,
Meditation artist,
Creator,
Business mentor,
Podcaster,
Mindfulness teacher,
Spiritual guide,
Yoga teacher,
And many more.
Today I spoke so I'm a speaker.
Tomorrow I'll coach so I'll be a coach.
Through it all,
I let go of attachment to the form my gifts take and cultivate a well-being uncaused and unaffected by circumstance.
That is the work and it is never done.
Maybe you're like me,
A multi-passionate creative who loves all things spirituality and personal growth.
Or maybe you're just trying to do the best you can with the life you have.
Whoever you are,
Thanks for being here.
I mean it when I say I'm rooting for you.
Let me know how this landed by leaving a comment or a review.
I look forward to connecting with you again very soon.
Take care.
