Your Language IS You

"I am an Amazon." Which definition(s) I choose to describe myself will drive my self-esteem and my beliefs in my possibilities for action, for success, and my ability to connect with others.

Amazon: noun
1. a member of a legendary race of female warriors believed by the ancient Greeks to exist in Scythia (near the Black Sea in modern Russia) or elsewhere on the edge of the known world.



2. a tall and strong or athletic woman.

3. a parrot, typically green and with a broad rounded tail, found in Central and South America. • Genus Amazona, family Psittacidae: numerous species.

4. a river in South America that flows more than 4,150 miles (6,683 km) through Peru, Colombia, and Brazil into the Atlantic Ocean. It drains two-fifths of the continent and, in terms of water-flow, is the largest river in the world.

I may choose to be a courageous, confident, athletic woman,

flowing powerfully and joyfully through life.

I may choose to define myself as

too big, too manly, too goofy, too uncontrollable.

Each definition will activate me, but in profoundly different ways.

What steps are you taking to identify and forge a successful new career?

Are you looking for a new career? Determined to find one that fits YOU? Here are some questions that I recommend you ask yourself as well as friends, family and colleagues you trust who will be thoughtfully honest with you.

1. What topics, events, people, places motivate you? 

2. What frustrates or demoralizes you?

3. What happens when you walk into a room? What to do people see, sense?

4. What should you start to do that you aren't doing? Stop doing that you are doing? Continue doing? 

Taken together, such answers will help you learn more about how you and others perceive you. What skills, values, interests arise? What might you bring to a career, what might you want to leave behind? Armed with this information, you'll undoubtedly expand your options for identifying and forging a successful career. 

Welcome to Opening Eyes, LLC!

Dana's blog is intended to explore, learn and share information and experiences regarding two areas:

Personal and Professional Goals 

and

Microfinance

My first issue combines both my passions: How does one forge ahead on a project or conversation despite one's fear? I had that opportunity when I learned about microfinance and decided to get involved by writing a book (Transforming Lives $40 at a Time) about microentrepreneurs. The only thing stopping me was my HUGE fear about whether I, someone who was not a trained photojournalist, could possibly capture the essence of these individuals' lives in photos and words. A key to opening my lock was when I finally let my passion for the project over-ride my rational arguments of what I was and was not capable of. I never could have guessed that facing my fear and taking this project on despite it, would transform my life so significantly that I launched a new career -  personal and professional coaching -  to help others move forward in any area of their lives! 

So here are a few follow-up questions: Where are you stuck? What holds you back? What helps you move forward? I look forward to having a conversation with you.