I work as a coach and one of my many 'recharge' hobbies is cooking. I consider a meal very similar to a work of art and am concerned not only with the tastes but the presentation. My goal is to get a 'wow' from my dinner guests and I'm most often successful. My style of cooking is very creative and I usually just follow my instincts and intuition with good results (mostly).
However, after a while my 'make it up as you go' style of cooking becomes a routine. I have a set number of culinary ideas and skills and I need to go outside for inspiration and education. I watch TV shows on cooking, read magazines and look online for ideas and to learn more about cooking. I even, and this is the shocker, use someone else's recipes now and then!
Life and business is like this model of cooking. You have a set number of ideas and intuition and you can follow them into any venture with varying levels of success; you may even get some 'wows'. You may even tap into the many sources of inspiration, creativity, training and resources available to keep you growing. This model and method can be useful and helpful and may be all you ever need to be fulfilled and happy in your endeavors.
But, if you are looking for growth, for breakthroughs and the biggest possible future for you and your business you may want to find an expert and follow their 'recipe' for success. In fact, the closer you follow a recipe, as in the cooking model, the more often you'll be able to replicate your successes and create a sustainable, repeatable model for growth and success.
Consider a recipe: ingredients, preparation, baking or cooking time, special instructions and a desired result. If your end result isn't exactly what you wanted then you can make notes and adjustments for the next time. You add an ingredient for a new or more textured flavor, vary baking or cooking time according to your oven, practice some of your preparation techniques, consult a more experienced cook and, in general re-think your recipe. You don't give up eating just because your cake was a bit dry any more than you'd quit your business because you had a few bad sales weeks or divorce your spouse or family because life had gotten a little boring or you're in a rut. So let's take on something that you're interested in causing a breakthrough in as if it was a recipe.
Let's revisit a little: you're going to have a breakthrough in mind. You'll list what you need, what actions to take and how long it will take for the result. Along the way you can 'tweak' the recipe if you're not getting the next step the way you want it and you'll be asking for help along the way. If you find that your result is not perfect you won't give up or throw out the recipe and start from scratch, you'll adjust, fine tune, add or vary ingredients and try again and again. At the end, you'll aim to 'taste' success and to 'serve up' a 'wow'.
So now, get in the kitchen and get out of the 'hunger' phase. Thinking about a cake or pie doesn't make it appear; you have to roll up your sleeves and knead the dough. Spend your time looking for inspiration, education and new ideas and reduce everything to its ingredients and step by step instructions so that you can adjust, tweak, spice and fine tune until you get exactly the results you want.
Following this model will help you create awareness and awareness is key to making any lasting changes or building a successful model or enterprise. Who knows, you may wind up writing your own recipe book for the benefit of others!
Here's my offer: I'm available to you and to anyone at either 'Star of Your Own Life' (www.starofyourownlife.com) or 'JM Lynch Training and Consulting' either by email or phone and will come do one free session with any group, anywhere in the world, to help you get started on what you're passionate about, what you're doing to feed your soul or to set the table for your community with abundance and prosperity. Contact me and I'll arrange it with you -- I love to 'cook'.
By the way, my 'cook book' is written, The Hamlet Secret: A self-directed workbook for living a passionate, joy-filled life, (http://www.amazon.com/Hamlet-Secret-Self-Directed-Shakespearean-Passionate/dp/1438960662/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250693366&sr=1-1) and is full of 'do it yourself' recipes for enjoying and savoring life for the tasty dish it can be.
Bon appetit!
Follow James M. Lynch on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JamesLynchCoach
Brilliant! You ARE a master chef! And as for cooking that special Sunday dinner for your wife, can we clone you?
I loved this post and your idea of using cooking as a metaphor for the creative process. It's so true..... magic happens in the kitchen when the cook unleashes his or her passion for new ways to combine flavors and honor eating as a sacred event.
Life is a sacred event. If we come to it with the mindset of a chef, using all the ingredients at our disposal to craft a "meal" worthy of who we are, magic happens.
Many thanks for turning up the flame on this conversation!
Love,
Judith
PS- Would love a little "head's up" notification when you post so I can be sure to come and comment. I don't always know when you're posting these days.
Your last comment first: you're right about my posting being off. A bit of vacation, etc., so I'll keep you posted on my postings.
I LOVE to do the special breakfast for my wife each week and the effect is not lost on her; that makes it worth it. I really get the lesson from cooking that I can trust my instincts and learn from the ingredients in a way I only used to understand from making art.
Life, Art, Cooking, Love,
Let's keep it all 'hot' and tasty.
See you,
James.
Yummy.
Be well,
James
I love your post and what a great way to combine cooking with coaching. Part of the joy of cooking for me is that coming into the present moment as I put ingredients together. There is also a certain magic in planning the meal I wish to share with friends.
Many moons ago, I created an International Cookery Book incorporating Guinness. Although the book did not go ahead to publication, it taught me the qualities I enjoyed using, which I subsequently transferred into working with people. Instead of creating recipes, I created workshops and trainings. The intention was the same: to give nourishment, pleasure and joy.
I appreciate what you have shared here - thank you!
With love,
Anne
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. A cookbook using Guiness? Sounds like a best seller to me! I have been making a special brunch meal for my wife (kids get something special too but it's my wife who I'm spoiling) every Sunday. She started taking photos of them because I pay so much attention to presentation and we've got such a great collection that I'm going to publish them with their recipes on a family level. I do consider, like you do, cooking, coaching, workshops and all as ways to serve others and do all with relish (pardon the pun).
Cheers!
James.