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Was Last Week’s Email A Mistake?

wrecked car
Last week I sent out an email that was different than most of my regular emails.

It had a bit of a militant tone to it. Demanding, you might say.

But Was It A Mistake?

I’d say yes.

At least that was my first thought, shortly after I had sent it. In fact, I felt sorry for myself for about a day, thinking I had screwed up.

But as I thought about it, and did some work on it, I saw that actually there are two sides to it.

From One Point Of View It Was Not A Great Email

When I looked at it objectively, it was a bit insulting, a bit pushy. For some writers, that’s a great style. But I don’t feel like that’s my preferred way to communicate. It’s not who I am in daily life.

I also found myself in your business a lot as readers. Wanting you to do what I think is best. There’s a disrespect in that. And in that way, I think the email did make me look bad.

These things all point towards failure in my book. But I decided to look beyond my first conclusions.

From Another Point Of View I Found That The Email Was Perfect

Perfect because it exposed my real motives to me. It made it clear to me that I have been wanting to control you. I have been wanting you to become enthusiastic about The Work. And I have been wanting you to be my clients, without asking you more directly.

So I wrote a Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet on you, my readers. And I found that my honest self was quite demanding and needy with regards to you. Most especially with regards to you spending money with me as a facilitator.

I see now that I’ve had this motive all along, but I’ve suppressed it, hoping that I could manipulate my way along.

Last Week’s Email Brought It To The Surface

And this is good news for me, because now I really see it. It makes it really clear to me what my priorities are. I want to be a facilitator. And I want to make a living doing it.

That’s why this week, I’m shifting my priorities towards making a living as a facilitator. I’m shifting the responsibility from your shoulders to mine. I see now that I don’t need you to do anything. But I’ve got my work cut out for me.

I’m going to be making presentations at yoga studios and churches, and hosting workshops in my area. I’m going to be networking with other professionals. And I’m going to be listening more to what you, my readers, need.

Maybe Doing The Work Every Day Is Not What You Need

It’s not even what I need sometimes. That’s just my fanatic nature coming out. Maybe you would prefer just a little professional facilitation when you have to deal with a difficult relationship issue, or a problem at work.

Maybe, my role should not be so much to promote daily practice of The Work. Maybe it is simply to serve, as best I can, to facilitate you when you need it. In fact, anything more than that, and I’m in your business again.

I’ve been hoping in vain that if I write a good newsletter, I will get paying clients. And last week I ran out of patience. I love that I wrote that newsletter last week. I love getting it all out in the open. It makes it easy to simply do what I need to do to make my business work.

So Here It Is Straight And Simple

I invite you to do The Work with me. If you have never done The Work, this is a great way to get familiar with it. And if you are familiar with The Work, I am available for you whenever you need it.

No need to sign-up for a life-long commitment of doing The Work every day. The Work is simply a tool that you can use to deal with any negativity.

Here’s how you can check my schedule, and make an appointment on my website.

https://www.theworkasmeditation.com/appointments/

I will be on vacation for the next two weeks.

Talk to you when I return,

Todd

©2010-2012 Todd Smith, LLC. All rights reserved.

Todd Smith has been doing The Work of Byron Katie on an almost daily basis since 2007. He is just as excited about this simple process of self-inquiry today as he was when he first came across it. He also enjoys writing about The Work, and training others in the subtleties of this meditative process. Join Todd for The Work 101 online course, private sessions, virtual retreats, and his ongoing Inquiry Circle group.