We're happy to share yet another edition of the Ivy SeaZine with you, in hopes that you'll find insight, inspiration and ideas that energize and propel you on your authentic path. In fact, this issue of SeaZine focuses on just that: authenticity.

Here's the brain-and-soul-food that you'll find in this issue of Ivy SeaZine:

** Conscious Communication: Communicating authentically, yet skillfully

** Big-Vision Entrepreneuring: Authentic Marketing

** Mindset Mastery: The magic of courage and clear intention

** Telephone Consultations: The power of idea-dialogues

** Ivy Sea Online: Common dilemmas for new entrepreneurs, steps for creating what you envision, moving from anxiety to mastery, and more

** Great Quotations: Wise words for the journey

** About Ivy Sea, Inc., the SeaZine, subscribing and unsubscribing

[Ivy SeaZine is a voluntarily received, "by request" subscriber-only publication. If you've received this issue, you subscribed at our web site or someone else has subscribed using your email address. You can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time; just follow the instructions at the end of the SeaZine.]

Conscious Communication:
Communicating authentically, yet skillfully

A quotation attributed to Richard Needham that says that those who prefer brutal honesty often seem to enjoy the brutality more than the honesty. There is also a concept called "radical honesty" that, in practice, can seem to emphasize the brutality over the necessity of the communication.

Both of these highlight the fine line between communication that's authentic and communication that seems unnecessarily brutal, rude, and unskillful. This is one of the reasons that many people fear communicating honestly and authentically — because it's very easy to move from authenticity to rudeness. What makes the difference? Skillfulness. And skillfulness can be learned with courage, humility, and practice.

Authenticity basically means being truthful with yourself, and sharing the "true you" with others. In other words, if you want to say "no", you say "no." Or if you want to share an additional opinion or perspective, you do so. If you're a naturally effervescent person, you don't hide your vibrancy. If you're more reserved and thoughtful, you don't feel the need to fake being "more bubbly." Ideally, authenticity is a sharing of our unique imprint and gifts.

Doing so skillfully is the key. Too often, people who want to be authentic simply blurt something out "because it's the truth." But being skillful includes the realization that our truth isn't always THE only truth (it may not be any truth at all!), so we present it as our truth.

The basics of skillful communication — adept listening, inquiry, groundedness, and receptivity — allow us to contribute our authenticity and communicate authentically. Deepened skillfulness in all of these areas is within your reach. Indeed, these are skills that are ongoing, rather than ones people "get" once and for all, because we're always presented with different situations, people, personalities, and dynamics.

Reflection Questions:
• Do you communicate and otherwise present yourself authentically?
• When do you hold back your authenticity?
• Do you do so because you're unsure of how to be skillfully authentic?
• How would an ability to be skillfully authentic add to your life?

For more tips on conscious communication and interpersonal skillfulness, start with our Ivy Sea Online Wisdom and Mastery Portal.

Big-Vision Entrepreneuring:
Authentic Marketing

Soloists and micro-enterprise entrepreneurs frequently have stumbling blocks when it comes to sales and marketing. Why? Because, for many, the traditional approaches to sales and marketing feel inauthentic. Some people even find themselves repulsed by traditional sales and marketing approaches, which, to them, seem shallow or even somewhat unethical.

In extreme cases, some business owners see spirituality, right livelihood, or nobility of purpose as being in conflict with making a profit, and since sales and marketing are "bottom line" functions that are required for a sustainable enterprise, that presents a problem. Nothing brings up "money issues" like operating a business!

For conscious, big-vision entrepreneurs, authenticity, honesty and sustainability are often top priorities. For a vibrant, sustainable enterprise, sales and marketing are a necessity. But they don't have to be a "necessary evil."

Sales and marketing are simply concepts; the approach we take — and whether it's honest, authentic, and ethical — depends completely on our own integrity and intention. Yes, sales and marketing often seem dishonest because many companies hold less-than-honest intentions, and more than a few actually — and routinely — lie and mislead or purposely manipulate the public.

But that doesn't have to be the case; it can be a case study by which you find an honest, authentic approach that works for you and honors your customers.

Authentic marketing starts with a clear, authentic vision of your enterprise and its purpose in the world. With that defined, a sales and marketing approach that conveys you and your enterprise — in all of their uniqueness and authenticity — isn't just the smartest route, it's ultimately the most effective and enjoyable. Potential customers are not those "who are being sold a bill of goods," but are those who need and can be well-served by the services and products you offer, and who will benefit from and enjoy the uniqueness of your manner.

Authentic marketing defines how to best reach your potential customers, and how to most authentically convey who you are and what you offer in a way that allows them to determine that you are the most aligned partner for them.

Reflection Question:
• Have you wrestled with issues of authenticity, profitability, sales and marketing?
• Have you found a way in which you can approach those functions authentically?

For more tips on big-vision entrepreneuring and conscious enterprise, start with our Conscious Enterprise Portal.

Mindset Mastery:
The magic of courage and clear intention

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that "Courage is an inner resolution to go forward in spite of obstacles and frightening situations; courage breeds creative self-affirmation."

When we combine courage with clear vision, or clear intention, we have a powerful force for creating the experiences and circumstances that add joy and meaning to our lives. Often, we might hear someone say that the thing that they most want to bring about — whether a specific livelihood, an entrepreneurial endeavor, a relationship, or other scenario — has somehow eluded them. Or we might even find ourselves saying such a thing.

If that is the case, chances are excellent that either courage or clear intention are lacking, and we need to revisit our vision or particular goal. It may well be that our intention is not clear at all, we just assumed that it was. It may be that, while we hold an intellectual concept of a thing, we hadn't truly envisioned it with any depth or clarity.

We may also find that the goal that eludes us isn't something that is authentic to us — it may be an expectation we've adopted because it's meaningful to someone else. Or we may have faltered in our courage when opportunities arose for us to manifest the goal.

But if a particular vision or goal is truly aligned for us, and we intend and envision it clearly, and then find our courage as opportunities arise, we find ourselves in awe as partners of the dance of co-creativity with the forces of the Universe.

Reflection question:
• Is there something that seems to be eluding you, and do you have the opportunity to clarify your intention and shore up your courage to see your life's dreams or highest potential manifest?

For more big-vision entrepreneur and balance tips and inspiration, visit our Small-Business portal.

Tele-Consultations: The power of idea-dialogues and thought-partners

Building and working from a place of clear and authentic vision, and then marketing authentically, are the foundations of conscious, big-vision entrepreneurship.

For these types of things, you don't always need to hire a consultant on retainer or for a big project, but you would find it idea to have an idea-and-dialogue partner with whom to discuss challenges, ideas, options, skill-building tips, and possibilities.

Because we've received so many requests for just that, Ivy Sea has added telephone and email consultations to our roster of services available to clients. Some clients choose biweekly check-ins, while others prefer monthly or bimonthly tele-consultations with email support in between.

If you'd like to explore how to put the power of idea-dialoguing to work for you as you deepen skillfulness, explore self-employment, envision and maintain an existing enterprise, and market yourself authentically, connect with us to explore what might work best for you and your budget.

We welcome your inquiry.

Wise Words for the Journey

** "Truth is a gem that is found at a great depth; whilst on the surface of this world, all things are weighed by the false scale of custom." ~ Lord Byron

** "If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way." ~ Emile Zola

** "I don't tell the truth any more to those who can't make use of it. I tell it mostly to myself, because it always changes me. " ~ Anais Nin

** "They who in every least thing are wholly honest with the spirit of life, find life supporting them in all things." ~ Charles Johnson

** "Truth is within ourselves, it takes no rise from outward things." ~ Robert Browning

** "A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life." ~ James Allen

Ivy Sea's Skill-Building PDF Tip Kits and Workbooks

Along with the many feature articles, tip sheets, and resource portals at Ivy Sea Online, we've also got several new PDF Tip and Skill- Builder Kits in our PDF Resource Store for you to use for you own or your group's skill development.

** Workplace Communication for Managers Tip Kit
** Big-Vision Livelihood & Conscious Enterprise Workbook and Tip Kit
** Vision Clinic Tip Kit
** Skillful Listening Essentials Tip Kit
** Big-Vision SOHO's Quantum-Leap Tip Kit and Workbook

Check out these and other Ivy Sea skill-building PDF guides and workbooks at our Resource Store.

Until Next Month

Thank you for reading with us. Wishing you a wonderful, courageous, true-you month ahead.

Sincerely,

Jamie S. Walters
Founder, Ivy Sea, Inc.,
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Ivy Sea Online &
Author, Big Vision, Small Business

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