The
Three Doors to Success
(Excerpt
from Prosperity Lessons,
Part of the Feng Shui Fuzion Series)
by
Ralph & Lahni DeAmicis
Most people want recognition. What we call 'Career' expresses the human
need for professional visibility, but the nature of that esteem, the
ingredients that make up that particular bundle of ideas are not universal.
Different people need different things. For instance, a low visibility
politician is a contradiction in terms, but a high visibility thief
may suffer from a lack of professional longevity.
When
you put your Feng Shui hat on and set out to improve someone's career
you need to know their favorite flavor. There are three major stages
in a career and most people will choose to focus on making their living
in one over the other two. The three benchmarks are "What you know",
"How you're known", and "Who you know".
The
journey into career begins with "What you know". This is the time when
you go away from family and learn the foreign or specialized languages
of your profession. Consultants, professors, healers, advocates and
professional travelers continue their focus in this realm. The transition
to "How you're known", where you establish your reputation, is made
by putting away the back pack and buying the uniform of your career,
interview suit and the attendant dry cleaning bills.
It
is about showing up and climbing the ladder of success responsibly.
Politicians, company presidents and public figures are drawn to this
expensive pursuit. Arriving at "Who you know" is often the financial
reward for all of that study and professional diligence. As the old
adage goes "It's not what you know but who you know that makes you money."
It's true!
We
might be the world's greatest consultants but if we don't know anybody
it doesn't make us a dime. "In chaos there is profit" and the barely
controlled confusion of the marketplace is the natural territory of
those marketers, innovators and networkers that enjoy business and the
sense of professional community. In this day of home based, online commerce
gone are the business suits in favor of bathrobes and fuzzy slippers.
In
Renuka's article on gardens in the July 2000 issue, she explored the
importance of the front garden. How right she was to draw attention
to this often neglected part of our lives. As people pass your home
or office they paint their impressions upon this most visible expression
of your social position. If what they see inspires and impresses them,
that is the energy they project. When you open your front door you let
that energy in. What if you never use that front door?
The
formal front door is the single most important career point. This is
a particular problem in suburban American because everyone enters through
the garage. If you continually ignore career in favor of back door convenience,
your personal life consumes you and social visibility withers away.
A
classic example was a consultation for four professional women sharing
a large, fancy home with a dramatic front door they never used. To open
the door from inside required moving a rug and forcing the stuck door
to open on squeaky hinges. Then we jumped over a puddle on the front
step and gazed at twin burned out coach lamps and an overgrown walk.
Although their personal lives were rich, they all suffered a serious
lack of career recognition! So use that front door and attract attention
to it with strong color, sound and movement.
Hang
a large chime directly on the inside of the door and ring it often.
This tells your spirit to focus on career and recognition. Make sure
business signs are clear and at least chest height. If you have a home
office, placing a sign on your office door speeds up your transition
from your personal to professional activities and establishes necessary
boundaries.
Let's
come back to the three stages of careers and how the placement of the
front door creates that program. Now don't worry, you're probably not
going to need sledgehammers and carpenters when you finish reading this.
We just want you to understand what your door is telling the world about
your career choices. When you are standing outside looking at the front
of your building, the door will be in one of three places; To the right
of center, directly in the center, or to the left of center.
The
door placement programs the building with a particular career signature,
explaining why a career change often follows a house move. Graphic The
door to the right of center programs you for "What you know". The center
door emphasizes the "How you're known". The door to the left focuses
your career on "Who you know". The reason this works this way is a combination
of human energetic physiology combined with the characteristic structure
in which Chi fills the volume of a building. Imagine your building as
a wind instrument.
It
creates a unique sound based upon its shape and volume, combined with
the geometry formed by the openings between the mouth piece (or front
door) and the various air holes. So the question becomes, is your building
singing in harmony with the career tune you've chosen? This doesn't
mean that a travel agency can't work with a door in the "Who you know"
section rather than the more typical travelers "What you know". It just
may be a more chaotic, although potentially more profitable business
than the norm.
We
find physicians and advocates unsurprisingly prefer the "What you know"
door. While traditional upscale department stores lean towards that
prestigious "How you're known" central entrance, their discount retail
competitors are often found with the egalitarian "Who you know" entrance.
The cutting edge and often time eccentric computer firms also like their
doorway left of center. It's important to remember that activating your
front door will boost that particular aspect of your life.
For
instance, let's say you're in a very traditional, staid profession (if
there are any of those left anymore) and you move into an office with
a front door in the innovative "Who you know" section. Now some well
meaning Feng Shui practitioner activates that door with a wreath, chimes
and lights. You'd better hold onto your bowler because the unpredictable
and innovative part of your professional life just got kicked up a notch.
On
the other hand, if you're nested in the happy chaos of commerce and
your spouse paints your front door in the adventurous "What you know"
section bright red, you better go shopping for some new luggage. Why?
Because there's a good chance someone's going to be on the road again
searching for new possibilities, trading partners and translators who
know the Balinese word for laptop!
Remember
change is good, but part of the art is recognizing that certain buildings
sing the themes of certain professions better. Many people say they
want to focus on career while meaning that they really want more money.
Well, the front part of the house that relates to income (not wealth
and resources) is that "Who you know" section. Money always comes from
our contact with other people. If your front door isn't located there,
improvise. Place something decorative there, like a gorgeous plant,
a sculpture, or a highly reflective metal wind chime.
Yes,
apartment dwellers and cubicle inhabitants, we hear you. What if the
landlord or boss won't cooperate? Then place objects or pictures on
the interior wall. The wall that includes the primary entrance to home
or workspace is still your face upon the world and powerfully programs
your aura. For a simple solution, place a mirror face up in that section
to boost the flow of energy into the upper or future part of the space.
While the lower part of the wall relates to the past, the middle is
the present and the upper section is the future.
The
North is another place to activate to improve career but precisely where
in the North depends upon the flavor of recognition you desire. If reputation
is your aim, place a large crystal or obelisk in the true North of your
space. If scholarship and adventure is more to your liking, place it
in the North by North West. If commerce is your program, place it North
by North East.
Finally,
remember that career depends upon strong foundations. Everything has
its polarities. The fame point in the Asian Bagua is found along the
back wall of the house. The words "Fame" and "Family" come from the
same source. In both the Asian and Western worlds, fame and career were
traditionally based upon which family you came from. The family is the
polarity of the social career. ( note: The east is sometimes referred
to as the family but in the western perspective it more properly translates
as the genetics or bloodline)
So
when you place an emphasis on the front door, don't forget the back
door. If you hang a Yang chime on the front, hang a Yin chime on the
other. If you boost the frequency along the front wall, place something
grounding and stabilizing along the polarity wall. It's the differences
in life that keep energies moving and it's the structure of polarities
that maintains order within the movement.
Career
is one of the most structured parts of our lives and movement through
the stages is what keeps a career fresh and inspiring. Make your changes
in your career areas with that intention and the success you experience
will stimulate your mind, feed your soul and warm your heart. A note
about directions: The directions here are true directions rather than
magnetic. They are based upon celestial energies and the quality of
light.
Depending
where you are in the world you will need to determine the variation
between magnetic and true north. Nine Important Points
1.
To increase career visibility use your front door. There's nothing like
human energy to activate and area.
2.
Place a chime inside every door to the outside but make sure the front
door has the dominant one.
3.
Business signs, names and titles need to be prominent, at least heart
height and should lead you inside.
4.
When you sit at your desk be very aware of what you're looking at. Choose
images that program your unconscious for success.
5.
The compass direction your desk faces makes a difference. East is aggressive,
west is conciliatory, north is ambitious, and south is satisfying. Which
does your profession require.
6.
The floor your office is on makes a difference. A basement office focuses
on fundamentals, Main floor on the current day, upstairs on the future.
7.
A home office needs a sign on the door marking it as your business space.
8.
The wall that includes the main door to your office is your career wall.
Be very careful what you hang on it.
9.
Write your career goals on a piece of paper in red ink and place it
in one of the three north career points depending upon the flavor of
success you desire.
10.
Hang a prominent picture related to wealth in the "Who I Know" section
of your office to stimulate income.
Drs.
Ralph and Lahni DeAmicis were directors of one of America's largest
and most modern professional Feng Shui practitioner programs, based
in Philadelphia. Their books Feng Shui and the Tango, Happiness
Lessons and Prosperity Lessons, from the Feng Shui Fuzion
Series are transforming the practical applications of environmental
design in America. For a complete directory of their articles and a
catalog of their books and other products, visit www.SpaceAndTime.com.
Copyright 2002 Ralph and Lahni DeAmicis
Editors
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