It’s Your Stinking Thinking!

Today is the final day to answer questions in response to my upcoming free teleclass, “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?” The teleclass is this Saturday, September 25th at 7pm EST. Click HERE to register.

I want to thank everyone who submitted questions and comments here and on the BWP Meetup page as well as those who took the online survey. I am very appreciative of your responses. My passion and purpose in life is to journey with women in transition who are looking to create new life stories.

While an overwhelming 62% said they know what they want to do with their lives; a whopping 50% said they were not living their desired lives. This is very typical, yet very sad. We allow so much to stand in the way of our dreams and desires and the main obstacle is ourselves; or more to the point, our thinking. Unfortunately, we don’t believe we can have the lives we desire. If we truly believed we could have the life of our dreams, then nothing would stop us from living that life.

Any thoughts?

Rut or Grave?

This week (and last week), I am addressing some of the questions I have received from the BWP Community in response to the free teleclass coming up on Saturday, September 25th. The teleclass is “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?”

Click HERE to register for the teleclass.

Here’s today’s burning question. I welcome you to chime in and add to the conversation.

“How can I get out of my rut....and back feeling motivated to achieve some of my goals?”

This is an interesting question and one that is quite common. First, what is the difference between a rut and a grave?

The dimensions!

What is a rut? A rut is a depression or groove worn into a road or path.

If you have grooved a rut for yourself, it is not much different than digging your own grave. Sorry to sound so harsh, but there it is. Let’s look at an analogy.

Think of freshly fallen snow. See it? Pretty, isn’t it? Then, someone walks through and leaves a trail. The next person who needs to walk through will most likely walk in the trail that has already been blazed. Until soon, it is a full path to walk.

Now, since that path is already set, it is very easy to continue walking along it. It would be a bit tricky to walk along another path that hasn’t been blazed. In order for you to walk along another path, it would have to be a pretty deep groove.

If you have been taking small, consistent action steps toward your goals all along, then you have blazed the path and it is easy to continue along that path. But if you have done nothing towards your goals, then your path is to do nothing – which is pretty deep by now.

The only way out of a rut is to create another trail; a trail of something that you want, and not something that you don’t want. When you are in a rut, it is an unconscious choice to continue doing the same thing that you have always done. When you do the same thing you have always done, you get the same thing you have always gotten! Got it?

So, what do you do? Make the conscious choice to do something different. If you have goals and intentions, how committed are you to achieving them? If you are, then create small, inspired actions steps to make your goals a reality. And if you are not, well…

What are your thoughts?

Letting Go of the Past

This week (and last week), I am addressing some of the questions I have received from the BWP Community in response to the free teleclass coming up on Saturday, September 25th. The teleclass is “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?”

Click HERE to register for the teleclass.

Here’s today’s burning question. I welcome you to chime in and add to the conversation.

“How do I let go of my past?”

This is a question I heard quite often; and still it baffles me. If your past was wonderful, then why would you want to let it go? And if your past was so awful, why are you hanging on to it?

Think about this: have you ever gone to a movie and it was really awful? I mean, the acting was bad, the dialogue was crummy, the cinematography just sucked! It was bad! I am sure we have all had this experience at one time or another.

Now, let me ask you: Would you keep going back to see that really bad movie? You probably answered, “No flippin’ way!” (I’m being kind here!)

Yet, if your past is like that bad movie, then why do you continuously replay it over again and again in your mind? Like the bad movie, just let it go and move on! Unfortunately, there is no miracle cure or magic bullet here. If you want to let something go, you must make the decision to simply let it go.

Take from your past your lessons and your blessings and move on. Stop judging your past because it is past and you can do nothing about it. If you need to forgive, then forgive – especially yourself – and let it go! Like you cannot change what you had for breakfast this morning, so too you cannot change your past.

If you want to let go, then make the decision to let go!

What are your thoughts?

The Voice of Doubt

This week (and last week), I am addressing some of the questions I have received from the BWP Community in response to the free teleclass coming up on Saturday, September 25th. The teleclass is “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?”

Click HERE to register for the teleclass.

Today, I would like to address a topic that has come up over and over again, especially in the online survey. I asked the question what stops you from living your life on purpose, an overwhelming majority said DOUBT. So, I think it fitting to address this sinister voice called doubt.

So, let’s start at the very beginning… What is doubt?

According to Wiktionary, doubt is uncertainty; to lack confidence in; to disbelieve, question, or suspect.

Wikipedia states that doubt brings into question some notion of a perceived "reality", and may involve delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concerns for mistakes or faults or appropriateness. 

When you are full on and living your heart’s desire, then there is no room for doubt. As Dale Carnegie once said, inaction breeds fear and doubt. Doubt rears its head when you are not doing what you were created to do; because you have no authentic belief in doing what you were never meant to do.

Once you get in alignment with your heart’s desire, and begin taking inspired action steps, you will find that the voice of your doubter starts to get quieter and quieter. Just take the first steps, no matter how small. Just begin it and soon your doubt will be no more.

“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.” ~ Buddha

What are your thoughts?

Paying Purposeful Attention

This week (and last week), I am addressing some of the questions I have received from the BWP Community in response to the free teleclass coming up on Saturday, September 25th. The teleclass is “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?”

Click HERE to register for the teleclass.

Here’s today’s burning question. I welcome you to chime in and add to the conversation.

“If G-d could send me a message as to what my life's purpose is?”

I will answer this with a story.

A farmer is in Iowa during a flood. The river is overflowing. Water is surrounding the farmer’s home up to his front porch. As he is standing there, a boat comes up. The man in the boat says, “Jump in, and I’ll take you to safety.”

The farmer crosses his arms and says stubbornly, “Oh no thanks, I put my trust in God.” The boat goes away. The water rises to the second story. Another boat comes up. The man says to the farmer, who is now at the second floor window, “Hurry, jump in. I’ll save you.”

The farmer again says, “Oh, no thanks; I put my trust in God.”

The boat goes away. Now the water is inching over the roof. As the farmer stands on the roof, a helicopter comes over, and drops a ladder. The pilot yells down to the farmer, “I’ll save you. Climb the ladder.”

The farmer yells back, “Oh, no thanks; I put my trust in God.”

The helicopter goes away. The water continues to rise and sweeps the farmer off the roof into the swiftly moving water. Unfortunately, he drowns.

The farmer goes to heaven. God sees him and says, “What are you doing here?”

The farmer says, “I put my trust in you, and you let me down.”

God says, “What do you mean, let you down? I sent you two boats and a helicopter!”

The answer: God didn’t just send you a message; God gave you everything you need to fulfill your life’s purpose. You just aren’t paying attention!

What are your thoughts?

Friday’s Purposeful Question

This week and next week, I will be addressing some of the questions I have received from the BWP Community in response to the free teleclass coming up on Saturday, September 25th. The teleclass is “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?"

Click HERE to register for the teleclass.

Today, I turn the tables to ask you a question. One of the things we talk a lot about here at BWP is mindset and your conscious awareness. So today’s question speaks a bit to this. I welcome you to chime in and add to the conversation.

“If you were to put your thoughts into words, would you regret your words?”

Remember, your thoughts become things – and the things are the results that show up in your life. And yes, they originated from your thoughts.

Watch your thoughts … they become words

Watch your words … they become actions

Watch your actions … they become habits

Watch your habits … they become character

Watch your character … it becomes your destiny;

… which become the results that we see in the world.

What are your thoughts?

Have a purposeful weekend!

Your False Self vs. Your Authentic Self

This week and next week, I will be addressing some of the questions I have received from the BWP Community in response to the free teleclass coming up on Saturday, September 25th. The teleclass is “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?"

Click HERE to register for the teleclass.

Here’s today’s burning question. I welcome you to chime in and add to the conversation.

“Why is it easier to bash oneself than to love oneself?”

This is a great question and one we often overlook on the journey to re-discovering our passions and purpose. We are so busy looking outside of ourselves that we tend to neglect the inner picture. Yet, loving ourselves is critical to both the inner and outer picture.

I believe something very crucial is going on here. First, we have become so lost and so disconnected from our authentic selves that the false self has just taken over. One of my favorite stories is The Magic Story. It speaks of the Plus Entity and the Minus Entity – the two parts that make up the self. When one is dominant, the other is in the distant background; both cannot equally occupy the self at the same time. In the story, because of fear, doubt, and self-loathing, the Minus Entity has become the dominant self. But he meets the Plus Entity who wants to take back the self to be happy and purposeful once again.

We all have a Plus and Minus Entity within each one of us. I call them the false self and the Authentic Self. We have lived in our false personas for so long, that our Authentic Self is lying dormant in the background and we have lost track of it. Some of the features of the false self are fear, doubt, worry, self-loathing, resentment, unforgiveness, and constrictiveness. These are not stellar characteristics; but neither are they our true characteristics. Yet, we are living in this false persona; and as such, we have come to loathe who we are and what we have become.

That is one reason I call this community and this blog “Becoming a Woman of Purpose.” We are always becoming more than we are in this present moment. Tomorrow we will become something bigger, brighter, bolder, and better. The more we tap into our truth or touch just a portion of our authenticity; we become more of who we were created to be.

What are your thoughts?

Re-member the One Thing

This week and next week, I will be addressing some of the questions I have received from the BWP Community in response to the free teleclass coming up on Saturday, September 25th. The teleclass is “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?

Click HERE to register for the teleclass.

I asked for burning questions and issues on this topic and there was no shortage! Love that! As I will not get to all the questions on the call, I want to at least begin the conversation here on the blog. I welcome you to chime in and add to the conversation.

“How do I deal with the anxiety that I get when I think of everything I want to do?”

This is an interesting question.

You know the old joke: Fellow goes to the doctor and says, “Doc, it hurts every time I move my arm this way.” The doctor looks at him and snaps, “Then stop moving your arm that way!”

Point: Stop thinking of “everything” and you won’t have the anxiety!

On the lighter side: Why is there an “everything” when there need be only the one thing?

I know, we all want so much – we want a better job, a new relationship, more money, and on and on the list goes. But again, I come back to the original question: “What is your heart’s desire?” When you get clear about your heart’s desire, the “everythings” will fall into place, and thus the anxiety will lessen.

This may sound trite, but it is really that simple. Remember, life is not complicated; only we are.

Re-member your heart’s desire. Breathe into that remembrance. Then follow where it takes you.

What are your thoughts?

Your True Purpose

This week and next week, I will be addressing some of the questions I have received from the BWP Community in response to the free teleclass coming up on Saturday, September 25th. The teleclass is “What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?

Click HERE to register.

I asked for burning questions and issues on this topic and there was no shortage! Love that! As I will not get to all the questions on the call, I want to at least begin the conversation here on the blog. I welcome you to chime in and add to the conversation.

“How do I find my true calling?”

This is the most common and basic question, especially for women of purpose! What is my purpose? What am I here to do?

Let me begin by telling you what your true purpose is not.

Your purpose is not your job, your occupation or your career. Now, if you are living your life on purpose, then your career may be the way you choose to express your purpose, but it is not your purpose. I tend to find with most women that although they express the wish to know their purpose, they won’t take the time to re-discover it. Yes, re-discover it! You already know your purpose; you have just lost touch with it.

If you think you are going to divine why and all of a sudden magically know your purpose, then think again! It does take some effort on your part. It is not difficult, unless you drag out the process and make it more difficult than it has to be.

Your purpose, as I define it, is your heart’s desire. It is the thing you incarnated into this physical realm to be, do and have. It was imprinted into your heart before your birth and has been ever since – quietly waiting for you to re-member it. Oh, it does give you loving nudges from time to time, which you thoroughly enjoy. But you still can’t seem to connect.

Then a crisis touches your life in some way. You then recognize the fragility of life and begin your journey of purposeful wonder. This is the time when most people begin to seriously seek out something they think they haven’t got – their heart’s desire.

So, how do you re-member your heart’s desire? First, know that you already know. Then, STOP, TAKE A BREATH, and ASK:

Who am I?

What am I here to do?

What do I truly desire?

I call these the BE/DO/HAVE Questions. Just sit quietly and ask. Wait! You mean, that’s all to it? Well, no. Now, here comes the part that takes the effort – sit and listen for the answers. Ouch!

I told you! Not difficult unless you choose to make it so. The first thing you must do is seriously ask the questions; and ask the questions of your deepest soul – this is where the answers are. The answers are always in the same room with the questions. 

Sacred Scripture teaches us that you have not because you ask not! If you want to know something, simply ask!

What are your thoughts?