The Essential Feminine Company - Empowering Women to Create Successful Businesses and Lives

We are often overwhelmed by the world around us and wonder how we as individuals could make a difference.  Our world isn’t the way we would like it to be; what can we do?  I believe that the only true way to change the world around us is to change our inner world as it is reflected in what we attract from the outer world.  As women we are fortunate to have powerful natural attributes and talents that can help us source success.  We need to become aware of our attributes and give them the value they deserve in our lives so that they grow. 

Think about the inner resources that we naturally hold such as a deep understanding of the whole, a natural ability for care and compassion, and a deep innate wisdom to be able to see through the outer surface of things.  If we find ways to integrate these into our lives in a way that enhances our personal power and our ability to pull from our own resources and depth our lives would become more successful (from the inside out).

The way that we do this is by creating a deep and meaningful inner life.  When we come to realize that quiet contemplation is equal and more important than active doing, success and happiness takes on a new meaning.

How do we create our inner world so that it can be reflected in our outer world?  Creating a daily practice is one way to create a strong connection between your outer world (desires and intentions) and your inner world (your contemplation, deep reflection and where you are “informed”).  Some create a daily practice through claiming quiet time in the morning to re-group, set intentions and gather themselves together before facing the busy day.  This allows for an opportunity to start the day with clarity and intention.  It’s also useful to clear time in the evening before closing your eyes from the day’s busyness to set intentions for the next day or even for a good night’s sleep.  It’s not so important what the specific practice is as long as it aligns with your values and beliefs and feeds your soul, providing you with a chance for renewal and conscious choice about your life.  Life is rich if we embrace it with an open mind and an open heart.  It’s our choice as to how we fill our waking hours.  Make some choices about how you would like to create your inner and outer life alignment going forward.  Join us for more discussion on this exciting topic on August 25th at The Essential Feminine Living Room.  We will be joined by Camille Maurine, an internationally renowned creator of the transformational Moving Theater process and author of Meditation Secrets for Women and Meditation 24/7.  Please register for this complimentary webinar at:   https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/987535361

Last year despite the economic crisis we were experiencing the 5^th annual Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society was held in Deauville, France in October.  They called it Women’s Forum – Think again, think ahead! It is time for action, change and hope.  In December 2009, a review by * Julia Harrison, Managing Partner of FD Blueprint (FD Blueprint is a leading EU public affairs company) and Member Founding Committee of Women’s Forum (Belgium).came out in the European Business Review which you may have missed. 

The contents of her article and the Forum are worth noting.  While the economic crisis of last year threatened holding the conference, a factor in favor of holding forum, according to Ms. Harrison, was “…the recognition that women’s role in all aspects of society and the economy is now more relevant than ever.”  She goes on to state, “Although recent studies have not been able to show categorically that companies perform better if women are present in substantial numbers at board level, they do show that the quality and soundness of decision making improves dramatically in diverse senior teams and that many aspects of performance improve.”

In conclusion her article stated, “What clearly emerged from the Women’s Forum in 2009 is the insight that with global economic crisis come global issues that are so complex and intertwined, no one party can hand off responsibility to another.  Business, professionals, academics, innovators, entrepreneurs, governments and public bodies alike have to care and have to take up these challenges practically. We need to find different models for social and economic progress or face repercussions and continued cyclical economic time bombs.  The Women’s Forum put women at the centre of this challenge and the heart of the solution. Time well spent.”

In order for us to meet this challenge, we women must understand and rely on our feminine attributes; attributes that include: collaboration, relationship building, verbal agility and intuition.  These are the gifts we have that will discover the “different models for social and economic progress” that are so needed in today’s world and in the world of the future.  Notice in your life when you are using these gifts and when you could rely on them even more.  Cultivate them and let them blossom.  As they grow, your life and business will grow.  You will be empowering your relationships and empowering your success.  You will truly become women influencing now.

For over 20 years, I have successfully mentored powerful women leaders from around the globe to create and expand innovative businesses that authentically reflect their core values. I have steadfastly based my work on my strong belief that our emerging world culture needs, and is now demanding, that women step into their rightful power and leadership roles. The imbalance in our world between the masculine and feminine principles is causing the anxiety, unrest and upheaval we see around us. Our world society is based on power and control, the masculine principle and the suppression of the feminine attributes we all possess.  Hope for the world lies in bringing forth the feminine principal and creating a balance of the masculine and feminine.

 In a recent ezine article, Sanjay Kali points out that “The rise of womanhood is closely attached with awakening the feminine in all of us. The lead in this direction has to come from the womenfolk. Only if you come together as one unified force can we think about the rise of a new era based on the feminine principle of life. You are the natural carrier of the feminine principle. Mother Nature has bestowed women with the feminine energy of love, compassion, nurturing and healing which leads to unification of every aspect of life whether at the individual level or at the larger level of the world.”    http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sanjay_Kali

This is the core of my personal self-discovery, research and work with women.   I am so excited to be getting information out to women on this subject. I realize that we often live from not knowing our feminine strengths or demeaning them. I look forward to the day that we own our strengths and special gifts so that the world will be different. I’ve been working on a new webinar “Creating and Living with Influence and Success from the Feminine Perspective” to help women discover their strengths. We are collaborative, caring, compassionate, and powerful. We now need to live and lead with these gifts. I am excited about the day that we will see feminine attributes in all forms of leadership and power. Trust me, the world will be a wonderful place. I have decided to give a complimentary webinar as a sneak preview to some of the work that I will be launching next year. Join me October 21 at 12 noon PDT for “Creating and Living with Influence and Success from the Feminine Perspective.” Email me at Maureen@maureensimon.com for log in information.

1.Take yourself seriously.   Take an inventory of your assets and strengths, claim them, share them, and live proudly with them.

2. Surround yourself with great mentors and teachers that can allow you to both grow and learn. Notice the ways that you are most inspired, notice the times that you feel most in need of greater knowledge.

3. Read, ask questions and read. Stay current on topics that interest you most, notice trends break downs, and areas where you can make a contribution.

4. Do more of what you love. Surround yourself with work and play that is both satisfying and enriching. Use your heart, soul, and voice in equal measure.

5. Go within and listen for what is right to you. Integrate these things ideas and feelings follow them, speak about them.

Several years ago in a blog entitled “Are Women In The US Really Leading?”, I commented on a global survey ranking women in the area of gender equality that was compiled by “The White House Project”.  The survey stated that “The United States ranks 22nd out of 115 countries.”  The report utilized 4 measurement standards: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.  We came in first for Health and Survival, and third for Economic Opportunity.  But, we received our lowest score for Political Empowerment, coming in 66th. 

I wondered about our progress since that time and went looking for an updated report.  I discovered a thought provoking and heart touching blog written by Mary C. Wilson for “The White House Project Blog”, entitled A False Divide Between Head and Heart: What I Learned From Robert McNamara.  It is well worth reading in its entirety.

As for the report, she states in her blog, “Women are still vastly underrepresented in the halls of power. As the soon-to-be-released “White House Project Report: Benchmarking Women’s Leadership” has found, women are far from parity in every sector, from business and politics to sports and religion. Projections show that it will take decades to reach even a critical mass in many of these arenas; and the women who do make it into positions of power often do so at great sacrifice.”

 Do we have decades?

 Becoming leaders takes courage and determination and most of all a willingness to step forward.  It can not and will not be done for us.  Though, each of us must take that step for ourselves, we need not do it alone.

 

 

“An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding; and it is not to be found in a foreign land, but in the heart itself.” Robert Louis Stevenson I guess I’ve always been pretty clear about why I’m here. My journey began years back at seventeen years of age when I chose to study human services and community organization. My heart has always been with people. My dream has always been to be a part of maximizing human potential in every possible way. I have dedicated my life to this aim. However, each day and each year of my life sure as to what the best way for me to achieve this aim would be. But I always kept the question alive. I am convinced that the answer does lie in our heart, not in a foreign land, and it’s our personal responsibility to embark upon that exploration. As I’ve written many times, I believe each of us is here for a very specific purpose that no one else could fulfill. Some days the clarity of that purpose feels very far away, but we owe it to ourselves to stay conscious and inquisitive. You are a very special part of a whole. Without you, things would be very different. “What is your aim?” “Can you look in your heart and trust that the answer is to be found there?”

Maureen Simon

Maureen@maureensimon.com

www.maureensimon.com

www.theessentialfeminine.com

“ I had been raised to assume all power was outside myself, but they (men) had been raised to place power almost nowhere but within themselves.  Often, they were suffering, too.  Just as the fantasy of no control was the enemy of my self-esteem, the fantasy of total control was the enemy of theirs.  For both of us, the goal should have been a point of balance in between: a back-and-forth between the self and others, uniqueness and unity, the planned and the accidental, our internal selves and the universe.  As wise women and men in every culture tell us:  the art of life is not controlling what happens to us, but using what happens to us.”

Gloria Steinem  “Revolution From Within”

When we think about our influence and our sense of self, the idea of power becomes a central theme.  Women have been a part of cultures that place power over her, as opposed to power with or next to her, for far too long.  We need to realize that only if we recognize and claim it will our personal power becomes truly enlivened in our lives.  This sense of strength manifests through our competence, our voice and our excitement towards living.  Use your past experiences to guide your strength going forward.  Never be victim to the challenging days that have passed but as Gloria says, use them to your benefit and advantage today. 

Maureen Simon

www.maureensimon.com

http://globaldialoguecenter.blogs.com/women/