What’s Your Spire?

I don’t know about you, but I notice as the end of the year draws closer, I tend to slow down.   I slow down, take stock, and sometimes, freak out about where this is all going and what the next year is going to look like.   This year, that’s just not the case, and I’m going to share the powerful, simple reason why.

It’s easy to feel a bit fuzzy this time of year – it lacks the go-go-go of the Fall and Spring, yet the focus on your business and life is incredibly intense.   I’ve spent the last few weeks doing my own deep dive, mapping out how I want my business to grow, which is when I came across an incredible, powerful metaphor that changed everything for me.

I was hanging out with a few of my smartie pants lady friends – women who are no stranger to doing what scares them and going after their dreams.  We were chatting about Focus + The Future, and Elle Griffin, who is the absolute queen of living in feminine flow, and Editor in Chief of Over The Moon Magazine, laid this beauty on us.

You should think about your work as your cathedral.  Cathedrals have tons of rooms, but they all connect and lead to the spire, which soars up into the world.  Your spire is your big THING.  It’s the core of what you do.  It’s the thing everything else connects to, and it’s how it shoots out into the world.  

I was immediately obsessed.  And imagined this bright, colorful cathedral as the home for my work.  Look how that gold toped spire SOARS up into the sky?  Such a perfect visual for this metaphor.

Your SPIRE is your big, big impact.  It’s bigger than your blog, it’s bigger than your services, it’s the impact of all of you out into the world, and it helps you focus, and understand yourself and your work in new, really clear ways.  All of your work is connected to it,  which is helpful to see how all the parts of your work are related.

It also acts as a guiding light and focus for making future business decisions.  Like a personalized Bat Signal, if I can mix metaphors here.

So for me, my spire is clarity.  All the work that I do helps people get more clear, on their businesses or their lives.  I also clear the way, through money clearings, or through seeing through blocks and helping find a clear, simple path towards your big dreams.  It all goes back to clarity.

And bam, with that super powerful metaphor and re-focused understanding of my work in the world, I’ve been able to majorly hit the gas.  My planning for next year has been a breeze because it all comes back to helping people achieve clarity.  The focus has been tremendous.  It’s really enabled me to dig deep and create new things that speak to me, and let me do what I do, which is explain things in a simple and clear way, that lead people to ‘ahh-haas’ and ‘holy crap’ breakthroughs.

So what’s YOUR spire?

Here are some ways to think about it, and when you decide what your spire is, I’d LOVE to hear about it in the comments or on social media!

• What’s the undercurrent of your work? What’s a through line that weaves through all aspects of it?
• What’s your superpower? People consistently say to me “I’ve never thought about it like that! It’s so simple!” And for the longest time I didn’t realize this was special or a big deal.  We are generally blind to our zone of genius, because it’s so normal to us.  So think about it, what’s the thing people say to you all the time?
• What’s the impact of your work? How are people changes by working with or talking to you?

Exciting announcement!

I only have 3 spots left for one on one work in 2014.  One of my happy clients just shared:

“I had the honor of speaking with Ellen yesterday about my business and my plans for 2015 and long term. I’ve never felt so understood and heard by anyone before.”

If you’ve been wanting to work with me, and start your 2015 clear, focused, with an understanding of your spire and strategized to blow it out of the water, let’s talk.

Photo via flickr.