mentorship | Liz Cirelli

Daydream Believers Podcast hosted by Liz Cirelli

Take a leap of faith

I find myself reflecting and contemplating a lot – especially when I’m travelling. For the last two months I’ve been in California – I came out here to attend a music production and licensing retreat hosted by my music production mentor, Gary Gray. When I booked my ticket, I booked it with the intention of going on a ‘music mission’.

I hadn’t really given much thought to the details of how that mission would unfold, but one thing was clear – I wanted the trip to be all about the music – and I wanted to stay out in California long enough to build long-lasting connections and relationships.

Let me backtrack to just before I committed to come out here. I had a little money come my way which meant that for the first time in 10 years, I was able to put something into a savings account. When Gary told me about his retreat, I wanted to go, but the fear of financial lack arose within me like a hungry snarling dog.

I use the analogy of a snarling dog, as that’s what it felt like. The ferocity of this fear was so strong that it almost totally blotted out my desire to go, to follow my heart. I say almost because an instant after I felt the ferocity of this fear, another sensation swooped over me – and this sensation spoke to me louder than the fear. It said: “you have to make this journey, Liz.” I knew this was the voice I had to listen to, not the voice of fear. The snarling dog had to be put in its place.

Despite knowing deep down that I had to say yes to the retreat and to coming to California, I still felt the fear inside me. I had more money than usual, yes – but in practice, not enough to sustain a longterm trip to the States. I didn’t know how this would work, but I knew I had to take the leap of faith.

So I did. I booked myself a one-way ticket to LA, trusting that Lady Luck would support me. Remember what I said earlier about my intention to make the trip a music mission? For it to be all about the music but that I hadn’t really given much thought to the details of how that mission would unfold?

Well, being out here and letting go of my need to be in constant control has been like me diving head first into a cornucopia. Me deliberately taking a step back and not having everything planned down to the finest detail meant that I allowed vital space for Providence to sweep in. On a practical level, I met people – who were initially complete strangers – who welcomed me into their homes and not only offered me a place to stay, but also really looked after me. These people have subsequently become very dear and special friends. Bob – I cannot thank you enough for everything!

On an artistic level, I have met some incredible people who have inspired me and helped me re-focus and redefine my goals as a music artist. New collaborations have been formed and new and very long-lasting connections have been made. I feel like my creative juices have been given a shot of turbo-powered superfood. I’m so excited for what the future holds.

I consider having goals extremely important in any endeavour, but especially when it comes to having a successful career as a creative. At the same time, I consider it important to be flexible with how those goals are achieved, and to also constantly learn and grow along the journey, redefining your goals as you go.

The people I have met, collaborated with and connected with here have reminded me of what inspires me and what my natural gifts are. This has helped me redefine my goals in accordance with what I believe to be my life’s purpose – the call of my higher self rather than the call of my ego.

Of course this means working with music, continuing my own career as a music artist, but doing it from a place of deep connection with my community (if you’re reading this email, it means you’re a part of that!) and working in a way that ultimately inspires other people to follow their dreams. I love seeing people happy, so I want to work in a way that will enable me to help more and more people along the way. I would love to eventually contribute to institutions (or set up my own!) that help children from troubled families follow their dreams of working in the music industry.

I would not have learned the lessons I’ve learned, become clearer on my goals, nor made the beautiful connections I’ve made had I not taken that leap of faith and listened to the voice of my heart over the voice of fear. Your heart will often tell you to do things that may seem crazy to you. You must listen to it. This the voice of wisdom talking to you – the voice that guides you to realise your life’s purpose.

Have the courage to take leaps of faith – it is only when we leap that we discover we’ve had wings all along.

These posts exist to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration and motivation needed to pursue your dreams. If you’d like to have your say on what topics get covered AND have your questions answered by me and/or our expert guests, simply join our community on Patreon. We really look forward to welcoming you to the family.

The importance of being you

20/08/2017 by LizCirelli

Blog, Podcast

achievement, actualisation, art, creative, daydream believers, goals, Liz Cirelli, mentorship, podcast, realisation, self development, self help, truth, wisdom

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Following on from my last post about the danger of comparing ourselves to others, I thought it would be helpful to talk about the importance of being you.

Who we are is precisely what is stamped down, squashed, belittled and ridiculed in so many of us, that most of us have no clue who we really are – which then leads us to become severed from that most precious of gifts – our very own unique essence.

Once this occurs, we become weak – and fall prey to the pull of fear. This is fuelled by the barrage of negativity fed to us by the mainstream media. On a daily basis, several times a day we are told that we are somehow inadequate.

We are sold an illusion of glamour, fame and fortune – but it is nothing more than that – an illusion. A lie.

We buy into this non-reality they sell us, believing with each passing day that we are more and more inadequate. We try to fill that void through external stimulus.

Unsurprisingly, nothing works – because the paraphernalia we are surrounding ourselves with, or the excess we are consuming, is not the remedy.

Answering the call of your heart is. And this takes courage. It takes resilience, determination, commitment, dedication and perseverance. It requires us to act right in the face of our fears.

These qualities only start to shine once we get in touch – and become comfortable with who we really are. Because they require humility.

Once we humble ourselves, we are able to be ourselves. And when this happens our special unique gifts that we were made to share with the world, start emerging from us.

It’s not about what you play or how well you play it, it’s about expressing YOU in your art. Expressing the essence you were born to express. You will meet resistance in the quest to achieving this. A lot of it. Carry on, through the resistance.

Successful artists are successful because they have committed to doing the hard work that allows them to express what they were meant to express. One artist’s expression is not the same as your expression.

The most damaging thing you can do on the journey to uncovering your own unique expression is to compare yourself to others. Stop doing this. Instead, start focussing on honing your own craft, in your own way. On a daily basis.

In our ongoing quest to discover gems of wisdom, love and goodness that help us all to live better, be better, think better and do better in life, we all have to remember one simple, yet not easy to obtain thing about ourselves.

We will do, say and live almost every way possible before we will look in the mirror one blessed day, and be able to say with full and beautiful confidence, “I am perfect just as I am.”

On that most beautiful of all days in our lives, we will begin unfolding all of the mysteries of this thing that we call life. Everything will begin to magically unfold for us.

We will be able to actually love someone again. We will be able to move mountains if that is our destiny. We will write the novel, sing the song, build the building, and absolutely and positively be able to do exactly what we set out to do.

In this most magical of moments within our existence, all of our demons, our self doubt, our indecision, our fear, our uncertainty of all things in our life will magically disappear, and we will once again be able to tap into the ebb and flow of the universe and live exactly the way that we were intended to live.

Once this starts to occur, we begin to experience an inner peace and joy that nothing else can match.

No Boundaries, No Limits, No Fear, No Holding Us Back!

We Are Perfect Just As We Are!

And what a beautiful thing this is!

The danger of comparing yourself to others

13/08/2017 by LizCirelli

Blog, Podcast

achievement, art, comparison, creativity, daydream believers, expression, goals, Liz Cirelli, mentorship, personal development, podcast, struggle

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This week I’d love to share with you my thoughts on the danger of comparing yourself to others.

I’d like to begin by establishing the fact that what one man or woman can do, another man or woman can do!

In life, we seem to take heros in all shapes and forms. We seem to believe that someone is better than us, stronger than us, smarter than us, more talented than us and everyone is so much better than we can ever hope to be.

This type of thinking is not only damaging, it is just not true.

The one thing that separates us from anyone else is US – it’s what goes on inside our minds! We all are the same, despite convincing ourselves that we are all so different. We all have talents, creativity, passion, gifts, traits, emotions – and all the other great things that make us unique, also make us the same!

What One Man or Woman Can Do Another Man or Woman Can Do!

Of course there are creative geniuses in the world, or are there really? Are there just people who are willing to dig just a little bit deeper within themselves to find that little piece of creativity that others miss?

Are there people that live differently because they are chosen? Or, is it just that they are willing to do what none of the rest of us are willing to do to find that one special piece of the missing puzzle that will mean the difference between success and failure?

We all have special talents. The trick is that we have to KNOW that we have those talents somewhere within us. Too often, we are constricted by drama, bad thoughts, negative thinking patterns, negative habits and all the rest of the human drama that we are too clouded in. These distractions prevent us from making a difference in our life.

What We Think Is What We Become

You may have heard all of the positive thinking gurus in life talking about being positive. You may think that is a ploy to sell yet another book. Whilst this might be the case for some, there is truth in what they are trying to sell. What we think is exactly what we will become in our life. Think good, happy, peaceful and loving thoughts – approach life with an attitude of gratitude – and guess what you will get?

Good, happy, peaceful, loving and abundant life!

I know life is not always sunshine and lollipops – I’ve been to some really dark places throughout my life, some of which I couldn’t see the way out of at the time. But – life’s challenges are sent to help us grow. If we are able to surrender to the lessons being presented to us, rather than resist them, we evolve, we learn, we grow.

There is something extraordinarily magical about the universe – and tapping into this magic can fortify our lives with an eternal flow of goodness and beauty . It is simple to do: it’s just a matter of choosing the way that we are going to think and live, and the way that we will design the fabric of our existence while here on this planet in order for it to make a positive difference. Not just to us, but to everyone around us – and to the rest of humanity.

We all have to have our heros, but do we really? We are always busy thinking that someone is so much better, stronger, braver and better able to handle this crazy wonderful thing called life. But do heros exist? Actually, they do, but only if we allow them to be visible to us. A hero is someone that we think or believe can do something that we cannot do. If you have been following this summary at all, you will know this…

What One Man or Woman Can Do, Another Man or Woman Can Do

This is not some glorified theory. This is an absolute fact. All that we have to do to be able to do this is to believe it. This is as simple, and as complicated as life is. To be able to live this way, investing every single iota of our energy into the unshakable belief in possibility, it will make a profound impact upon your life – and in how our lives are seen by others.

Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!

Henry David Thoreau, a great thinker, philosopher, evolutionary and creative mind, was a master at making statements such as this. In reality, this statement is the very core of everything that can be the deciding difference in the way that we live.

There is nothing at all complicated about life. Life simply is. We complicate life by the way that we think. Therefore, since we have already discovered that our thinking is something that we CAN control, then the trajectory of our life is something we can also control.

Simply lose the bad, the negative, the unnecessary, the drama and all the heavy stuff, and get to the very core of you. Here, you will uncover the most rare and precious of all gifts. You will discover YOU. And what a beautiful discovery that will be in your life. Finally, after all the toil, struggle, strain and drama, you will unlock the very secret that people search for, and never find.

YOU!

Am I good enough?

30/07/2017 by LizCirelli

Blog, Podcast

art, blog, creation, creativity, daydream believers, determination, focus, guidance, insecurity, Liz Cirelli, mentorship, podcast, realisation, success, truth

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Big dreams, big visions. Most, if not all of us, have them. But why do seemingly so few of us see these dreams come true?

There are of course myriad reasons as to why, but for this post, I’m going to focus on the concept of being ‘good enough’.

A lot of us get stuck on our projects because we either want what we deliver to be as good as it can be, or we don’t consider ourselves to be good enough to put ourselves out there.

Of course, we all need to deliver material that is going to be pleasurable for our audience to receive, but we must not let ourselves get tripped up by this concept of everything having to be perfect.

Perfectionism is in itself a form of egoism – but I’ll be talking more about that in a few weeks!

So many times I’ve not taken action on something because I haven’t found the perfect way of delivering it, or I’ve felt that I wasn’t good enough to do it just yet. For example, I stopped singing for 10 years because I thought my voice sounded horrible and that I couldn’t sing properly. It’s taken me that long to gain the confidence to start singing again.

In thinking along these lines, I decided to really tap into the main reasons that we feel, or act like we are not good enough to pursue, or become involved in some activity that vitally interests us.

Lets look at some of what I believe to be, the most relevant reasons that we do not feel good enough to pursue our passions.

We have been through most of our lives being told by others that we must follow a certain ritual, or believe in certain ways before we will be socially acceptable to others.
We have listened to others who are critical of us in ways that are not conducive to our growth or progression. This type of criticism is usually delivered to us to deliberately stop us in our tracks. If we listen to this pessimistic view, we allow it to have authority over us – and inevitably it holds us back in pursuing our goals and passions. Don’t get me wrong – good constructive criticism – the type that helps you become better at what you do – is vital, but non-constructive criticism that is meant for no other reason than to put you down, should be discarded immediately!
We have not bought into ourselves fully and completely. We have been told that we were good by others, but deep down inside, we just do not believe that it could be true about us.
Throughout our entire lives we have handed over our personal responsibilities to some type of authority who has dominion over us. This causes major conflict within ourselves, as we think we know what is best for us, but the authorities inside our being are always telling us this is not the case.
We are not listening to our inner voice. Our inner voice, the essence of who we are in the physical world, is , or should be, our perfect guide and counsellor. Too often, we do not listen, nor respond to what that inner voice is telling us. Therefore, the conflict begins.

These are a few reasons to think about in the coming days, weeks and months. We can, and should always be, the captain of our souls, and the masters of our own fate.

How did I get over my feelings of not being good enough? By continuously and tirelessly working as hard as I can at my art – and by reaching out for support.

I now work with an incredible music production mentor, Gary Gray – who not only identifies and destroys the lies that are holding me back, but also offers me incredible tuition to help me grow and develop my skills as a music maker. I do my singing practice every single day, and I spend countless hours in the studio – learning, experimenting – and doing so with patience, perseverance and with pure, pure passion.

The more familiar we become with our art, the longer we spend honing and nurturing our craft, the more our confidence grows. And as our confidence grows, so the feelings of not being good enough dwindle.

It is time for us to realise our full potentials, and begin to listen to ourselves for a change, and never to the outside forces that choose to hinder our progress!

Overcoming fear – part 1

09/07/2017 by LizCirelli

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community, creative, daydream believers, fear, follow your dreams, help, inspire, Liz Cirelli, mentorship, overcome, podcast

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Last week I touched on where I consider fear to come from in spiritual terms: from my perspective, it is a method employed by the darker forces at play on this planet to keep us from expressing our creative gifts. Why? Because our creative expression is also the gateway to our empowerment – and I’m talking experientially when I say that!

I’ve had to overcome quite the collection of fears in order to start achieving my dream of working in music full time. There was the fear of financial lack, fear of failure, fear of judgement, fear of not being good enough, it was all fear fear fear!

I tried all sorts of tactics to overcome fear – feeling it as excitement made sense to me, but it didn’t work – all I felt was still fear. Paralysing fear. Another way to overcome fear is to do it anyway – and this appealed to me, but the fear I felt was so paralysing I literally couldn’t move beyond it.

What finally freed me from the clutches of fear was entertaining the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was something greater than me trying to manipulate my thoughts and keep me paralysed in fear, because by doing so it had my energy – and without it, it could not survive.

This belief made me become more resolute than ever to follow my dreams and I finally found the courage to put everything I had into music. And I mean everything: money, time, energy, patience, resilience, determination, dedication – all of it got thrown at music.

Once I had plucked up enough courage to do the very thing I was so fearful of doing, the fear melted away – not just in regards to my creativity, but throughout my entire life.

Of course I still feel fear because I’m a human being, but now I have the will to plough right on through it.

We must remember that the thing we are most afraid of doing – especially regarding our creativity – is often where our magic lies – or where our life’s purpose resides, so it’s really important we act in spite of our fears. And when we do, we realise there is actually nothing really there to be afraid of. It’s just an illusion of shadows.

Perhaps regarding fear as an outside force trying to manipulate your thoughts seems zany. It might be. But what I’m interested in is getting to the very bottom of the root of what causes that thought, that then triggers that emotion. And I’m talking deeper than a set of circumstances that happened to you as a child, or the result of social programming.

I found it fascinating that, simply by convincing myself that the fear was not mine so to speak, it somehow gave me the courage to overcome the fear. This therefore suggests to me that we can overcome fears simply by choosing to entertain another way of thinking – and believing in that. So my suggestion to you is to investigate new beliefs that will change your way of thinking and eventually liberate you from the bondage of fear.

If this way of thinking doesn’t resonate with you, but you struggle to overcome your fears by just doing it anyway, there is another nifty little trick you can use to overcome fear – and that’s to actually flip it on its head and use fear as motivational fuel.

Let’s say you’re a procrastinator and always find other things to do than working on your dream. So try this: set yourself a daily or weekly goal and tell a few friends about it – then tell them you’ll pay them each £100 if you don’t get it done. Give that a go and see what happens! I’ve got a few more little tricks up my sleeve to help you overcome fear – I’ll be back with more in the next coming weeks!