Do you remember to summon?

When you begin your important work, do you remember to summon?

Do you ask for the crackling electricity of your genius to manifest through you as you work?

Do you envision greatness springing from your fingertips?

When you sit to write that legal argument do you invoke the fullness of your powers?

When you settle in to practice that presentation/talk/song/skill, do you gather the forces at your command?

Invoke!

Ask!

As always, as ever, this post is to remind myself — in a way that will be useful for you too. Too often I rush into my work without taking that nano-moment to summon my best. Too often I come into my work scattered. Never in the history of humankind has this born good fruit. What I want to ripen grows naturally from single-pointed immersion.

I have a simple new mantra now, one that is handy for the multiplicity of endeavors we engage in a day:

Joy through me.

Genius through me.

You know this to be true. There is free-flowing jazz-sipping delight-bringing energy within that can be called forth. You can infuse it into your work, cast it outward into the product of your focus.

Whether you are going into a meeting or entering a Pilates class, you can summon your best. It’s there, waiting to be released.

Unleashing the creative spirit within is simplicity itself. It’s accomplished in a focusing moment. You activate it by request.

Simply.

Earnestly.

(Impishly delivers too. Your inner spirit is playful, devilish even.)

When I sit down fingertips at the ready on my laptop, I whisper to myself: Joy through me. Genius through me.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s aloud or in the quietude of my mind. It matters only that I am narrowing my attention to the matter at hand —

By doing this I am connecting to the essence of what I most want coursing through me as I engage in the activity before me.

You’ve seen the pitcher rotating the baseball in his hand before winding up. You’ve watched the tennis pro bounce the ball twice before tossing it aloft to serve. You’ve witnessed the chef sharpening knives–

It’s all in the service of what is to come.

The same is true for you and me. If we take a nano-moment to prepare ourselves, we can more easily access the best within us.

Summon . . .

Request . . .

Envision . . .

The clarity alone will be your bridge to the kind of work you wish to put out into the world.