Welcome! Today you're listening to Episode 6, Expand Your Power Circles. This is the final step of this special 6-episode series entitled Unveiled Voices, Releasing the Power of Your Calling. I gave a review of the last 5 steps in Episode 5, so make sure you listen to that if you need a quick review of the process.
So far, you've uncovered your value, defined your voice, and last week, you stepped out into your vision by shining your spotlight strength. I'm curious, have you been following along for the previous 5 steps? What aha moments have you had? What steps seemed far too difficult for you to work through?
What step was the easiest? Where are you stuck in the process? That's probably the most important thing. And where do you feel you might need a little more help?
I'd love to know. Get on our Facebook page, there's a link in the show notes, and share with me where you're at in the process and what you might need help with. Remember to be kind to yourself and full of grace. It's a process for a reason.
Otherwise, I would call it the how to be an overnight success plan. But very rarely is there truly such thing as an overnight success. While it may appear that someone became a success overnight, what you don't see are the months, perhaps years of preparation, successes, and failures that person has already endured. Keep that in perspective as you look at your own journey of success.
Today's episode is step six. This last step is sometimes scary. Now you've got the vision, you've stayed in your lane, and it's time to take it to the next level. I call it expanding your power circles.
If your vision only requires action on your part, your vision isn't big enough. That's just a plan. Your vision should be so big that unless other people are needed to step in and make things happen or introduce you to someone else or some person of influence that can help take your dream to the next level, your vision isn't big enough. And on top of that, your vision should be so stinking big that it can only happen if God steps in and does all of the heavy lift.
By that, I mean providing divine connections, resources, and opportunities. Now, you will still have to be disciplined and do the work, but you also know that it's so much bigger than just you. Then you know you have a big vision that requires connecting to other people. Seek out other people with either similar or complementary visions.
Intentionally get outside of your normal circles and look for someone who is already accomplishing big things and learn all you can from them, either formally or informally. What I mean by that is I have a lot of people who have mentored me over the years, and they don't even know it. I listen to podcasts. I go to conferences.
I listen to webinars. I do a lot of different things. I read books just because I want information, and I need to know, and I want them to mention me, and I can do that from afar. And sometimes it comes in the form of a coach that you've hired.
Sometimes it comes from someone who just wants to pour into your life. But make sure that you just look for people who are already doing those things that you want to be doing. Also look for partnerships that help you grow your vision and your impact and influence. Don't ever compromise your vision for the sake of notoriety, though.
Remain true to your vision and keep it constantly aligned with your values that we uncovered in the first step. Remember to write the vision, make it visible to all, send the right message, and keep it in front of you at all times. Put the vision board together and then take a photo of that vision board and carry it with you in your planner so that you can always see it. Your vision will begin to expand as you partner and learn from others, and constantly seek wisdom and understanding as you ask God to direct your path.
I have found that in this process there may be a lot of good ideas or good connections, but what I want to ask God is to only connect me towards great connections. I've often asked him to not only show me the best connections and the best partnerships, but to quickly close the doors on connections that are not in my best interest of time or treasure. You see, my time is valuable and so is God's, so I don't want to waste a moment of it on things that were never meant for me to be associated with. Does that make sense to you?
I hope so. I've seen way too many people align themselves with someone or some other organization because it appeared to quickly boost their credibility, or it would perhaps gain them instant fame and fortune, or it compromised their core values, and it tanked. Now they are in a worse situation or feel so defeated that they stop believing altogether in the dream. Always use discernment and keep your values, beliefs, and goals in front of you.
Use them like a funnel to filter out your opportunities. Make sure they are all in total alignment, or at just point won't stand the test of time. It could also save you a lot of money in the long run. And if you're ever confused or not sure about a situation, wait.
Just wait. God is not a God of confusion. He is a God of peace. There is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting if you are not sure about a given situation.
And now wisdom, though. You have to use wisdom because wisdom is knowing when to act and when to wait, and it is a delicate balance sometimes. But that's why it's so important to set up your foundation and strategic plan from the beginning so that you don't waste precious time down the road. And your plan can be fluid, but you need to have a plan and a strategy in place.
You can adjust it and make corrections as you go. Just don't lose sight of the goal. Most big visions take a team to ultimately carry out the vision to completion. Seek expertise where you need it.
Look for someone who can speak into your vision and see things that you perhaps can't see. One of the best exercises I ever participated in during a workshop was having successful, like-minded businesswomen each share a business idea or a process they were working on. Each member of the group was then supposed to intentionally poke holes in the idea and think of worst-case scenarios or potential blind spots that might come up. This might sound like a crazy self-defeating exercise, but it actually had the opposite effect on me.
It helped me see any chinks in the armor, so to speak, and gave me a better understanding of how someone else might perceive the process. Oftentimes, we can become so in love with an ideal that we have a myopic vision. The value of either doing this in a mastermind or just any kind of a group setting is priceless. First and foremost, let me say that I went into this with a group of trusted and very successful business owners where I knew they only had my best interest in mind.
They also had a variety of gifts, insights, and experience from other industries. They could see things I couldn't, and their suggestions were invaluable. It also helped me to be prepared for other scenarios that might arise so that I could have a contingency plan in place. While I truly believe it is better to have objective eyes on this type of process, if you find yourself needing to do this alone, try to wear two hats and be your best supporter and most difficult client at the same time.
It is so much easier to work out some of these details before releasing a new business, service, product, or idea. It will save you a lot of time and heartache in the long run. Power circles come in all different types, and frankly, I would like to see you have multiple power circles to tap into. Here are a few of my favorite ones that have worked the best for me.
The first one I call resources power circles. This might include networking groups that have services you need. Start learning from and making connections in different types of groups, though, so you can get a broad spectrum of resources. It's also a great way to create relationships with people that your potential clients might need to connect with.
Nothing is better and more trusted than a personal referral from someone you know and admire. Don't join every group. You can't possibly spend your time going to every group there is and still get work done. Go with a guest to some and choose wisely into what groups to join and become active in.
Don't just be another name on the poster, though. Use your gifts to help and increase your visibility. The second type of power circle I call spiritual or prayer support power circles. This one for me has really been crucial to my ongoing success, and I wouldn't do without it.
I meet with someone once a week for an hour by phone. We discuss what's going on in our businesses and our lives, work through any business issues we're needing help with, and then we not only list our prayer requests for the week, but we actually spend time right then and there in prayer. I suggest you do this with one to three people max. It should be your innermost trusted confidants and prayer warriors.
Sharon Hill of oncallprayer.org, I have a link in the show notes, has a great free teaching on what she calls her prayer shield of three people. You can download it from her website. We set up our structure in the beginning so that we knew how we wanted that hour to go, and we stick to only an hour at the same time each week, and if we find we need additional time to work something through, we schedule that for a later date. We also have given each other permission to text back and forth during the week as needed.
You will have to find what works for you, but I highly recommend putting this type of power circle to your life. When God's daughters pray with intention together, he moves mountains and shows up in ways I would have never imagined. The third type of power circle is called accountability power circles. Now this might be a weekly or monthly circle that you form to help you stick to your goals by having to be accountable to a group for what you want to accomplish.
This can be simply texting each other to say you've accomplished a task, or it can be an email that you send each other on a routine basis, or even a private Facebook group. It's really up to you to envision what this would look like for you, but let me tell you what it must not be. It can't be your best friend who loves everything you do and will never challenge you on anything. That's a cheerleader, and we all need a cheerleader in our life, but that is not an accountability circle, and frankly, that would be just a waste of your time.
So make sure that you look for some women and or men who will hold you accountable and help you reach your goals because you've given them permission to speak into your life in a way that will move you forward. I suggest limiting this type of group to a very small number or only with those who are just as serious about the commitment as you are. My fourth favorite type of power circle is a mastermind group. Now I'll be honest, I haven't had much success with mastermind groups overall, but some of them have been very helpful.
My advice is that you define exactly what you are looking for in a mastermind group. Do your research and try a few out. It needs to be a good fit for you, and in my opinion, should include people who are much further along than you so that you can not only learn from your peers, but learn from someone who is already successful in that arena. And for me, that sometimes is harder to find, but I do think a mastermind power circle can work if you know what you need and you know who is all in the group.
For me, I personally like a mastermind group that has a strong leader and is topic oriented so that each session includes some type of teaching and then open for sharing and discussion, but that's me. So again, define what you're looking for in a mastermind and do your own research on what's out there. Decide if you need in-person meetings or are okay with virtual connecting. Also, make sure you have something to contribute to the group.
It won't work if you are always taking and never giving. Think about defining your own power circles and then go out and get involved. I will tell you this, and it's critical to your success. With any kind of power connection or power circle, be intentional and strategic.
Make sure you start with clear goals in mind and always keep your strategic plan in front of you. Make a vision board. Clearly define three annual goals, whatever you need to do to have a plan and keep it in front of you. Your time is valuable, and in order to stay on track with your vision, you will need to be selective and strategic with every opportunity.
Now, that might sound harsh for some of you, especially you heart-centered business people, but the larger the vision, the less time you have available, so you need to be a good steward of your time and resources. Only connect if it falls into alignment with your plan and it gives you energy when you're there. Time wasted is a huge energy drain. I frequently gauge my energy when I'm discerning what power circles to either form or connect to.
It's a great indicator of success for me. If something absolutely exhausts me and I start making excuses about not wanting to participate or the people involved make me feel very low energy, I know it's not a good fit for me. That doesn't mean it's a bad group. It just means it's not a good fit for me at this time.
Now, that's not to say everything is always happy and rosy either, but you need to know yourself and your vision well enough to discern the difference between a healthy challenge that has the potential to propel you forward and a situation that will keep you stuck and deplete all your energy. Here's a little bonus idea. Regardless of how social you are, you simply don't have the time to have coffee with everyone. Be strategic with that, too.
If you meet someone and you want to connect with them later but aren't sure where it might lead, suggest meeting up together at another event that you both might be interested in and you're already attending. That way you can still get to know the person better, but you're also accomplishing more with your time. I also block out only one day a week that I'm available for lunch or casual networking. The rest of my time has to be dedicated to project work, clients, and other strategic partnering.
Simply put, it's about return on investment or ROI. And that is, frankly, how a leader needs to think. I know that might rub some of you the wrong way, but if you doubt that, take a look at the people you admire the most who get the most done. They are always very strategic with their time, talents, and resources.
That doesn't mean they're not always generous with it. It just means they're strategic. We each only have so much juice to get us through the day, so guard it carefully and use wisdom. One final way to expand your power circles that has worked extremely well for me is to connect myself to social entrepreneurship in a variety of ways.
You can do that by donating a portion of your revenue to a charity of your choice and also volunteer with specific organizations that interest you. I have made probably some of the best long-lasting and fruitful connections simply by giving my resources and donating my time to social causes that interest me and help me feel like I'm making a difference in some small way. And I truly believe that. I mean, seriously, I have had connections that maybe that specific organization wasn't the place I was supposed to be, but some random meeting at that organization connected me with a person that was definitely the next person I was supposed to be connected with.
Everyone you meet there already has a common interest because you're there, and it takes the pressure off of why you want to connect with them. It is the healthiest and most organic process I can think of to form new friendships and to grow your power circles. Now, you have to be careful that you're not stalking someone. You have to be sincere.
But just find a way to give away your money or your time to an organization or cause that really stirs your passions and that you will instantly be in the same company of other incredible human beings. Maybe it's a local animal shelter, pregnancy crisis shelter, food shelf, after-school mentoring program. The possibilities are endless. Just pick something that you truly care about, and the rest will fall into place with the people you come in contact with.
It's in the giving that you will get the most in return. Expand your power circles. Connect your strength to others in collective engagement, and enlarge your initial vision as the possibilities unfold. It will activate and accelerate the vision.
Forming partnerships will not only strengthen the depth and breadth of your dream, but it's in the power of your relationships that big dreams become bigger and the impossible becomes attainable because it's not just about you. It's about the dreams of God that form when relationships strengthen, and together you can carry the vision forward towards success. No woman left behind. That's what we need to remember this year.
We will leave no woman in her God-sized dreams left behind. We will forge them out together, armed in the truth of God's word and connected to the heart of his purposes in love. Show up and be diligent. That's all you need to do.
The call of God is always to go, to get up and go into all the world. Be faithful with a little, and God will make you ruler over much. And now my favorite part, the word unveiled. From Matthew 18, verse 20, it says, When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action.
Are you ready to connect with your Father in heaven and watch him go into action? Get ready to set up your power circles. I think you need to have a number of different power circles. Look at the examples that I gave you, and then even create some of your own.
Here's your action challenge. Identify one person or one social service organization this week that you want to connect with, and then make that call, send that email, find out how you can volunteer, and then see where it leads. You never know until you try. Aim high and be strategic with your time, treasure, and talent.
Be teachable and willing to give back. This has been Women Infused Radio, connecting women around the globe with purpose and spirit, and we want to connect with you. Get your free gift, unveiled voices, six things you need to do to define your value, voice, and vision. For more information on the free gift, and links to join the conversation on social media, visit us at chrissylinnolson.com.