In the past few weeks, an increase in activity has occurred in my business and my calendar has become conspicuously absent of white space. This is a good thing and not a coincidence, but a matter of law: the law of reciprocity. You can also learn to practice this law.

There are many common expressions used to express this law. Here are some:

o You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.

o Do to others what you would like them to do to you.

o You reap what you sow.

o Do not judge so as not to be judged.

o What comes, goes.

Putting this law to work for you begins with intent. The bad news is that you can’t hide bad intentions from the law (sounds like a line straight out of a low-budget western, right?) It’s true. But the good news is that you can’t hide a good one either.

The law of reciprocity works like the sonar of a submarine. When the captain of a submarine wants to measure its distance from another object, he sends out a sonic ping. The sound wave travels through the water, hits the object in question and bounces back to the captain as an echo. (I watched The Hunt for Red October this week, can you tell?) The captain gets back what he sent out and what comes back serves as a means of measurement by which he can calculate his distance from the target.

The law of reciprocity works the same way. It is something like an energetic sonar. You send an energetic ping. It can be in the form of thoughts, words, actions, or a combination of these and it eventually bounces back to you. Just like the captain, you get what you give and you can know how you are progressing according to your plans.

So what does all this have to do with a full calendar? For the past few months, I have been charting and planning the direction I want my business to take. Here are the steps I took:

o I became very clear about who my ideal client is.

o I became very clear about the things I want to offer my clients.

o I became very clear about the products and services that I do not want to offer to my clients.

o Began to develop a brand identity.

o I identified and joined two networking groups that support the choices I made about my business and actively participated in each.

o I invested in my business by hiring a coach/mentor whose skills, approach, and results resonated with me and my goals.

The result of all this plotting and planning has been an avalanche of clear, unobstructed pings that have begun to find the people and things that reflect my desires and have begun to pick up and fill my schedule.

A word or two about obstructions

An obstruction is anything that intercepts your ping before it can reach its intended target. One of the most common culprits of interference is the Dream Stealing Great White Shark of Negative Thoughts. You’ll know when you’ve met this beast by the sharp drop in enthusiasm and optimism that will reverberate through you on the rebound.

The secret to keeping this beast at bay is in the process of being clear about your goals. This creature can only survive in murky waters. By making the effort to be very clear about your plans, it will not find a suitable habitat in your world. So I encourage you to become your own reciprocity advocate and work your way into the business of your dreams!