Once you have found your life purpose, how do you stay true to it? What if living your life purpose does not enable you to make a living? How do you stay the course of the journey when your life purpose does not produce enough visible money to enable you to pay your bills?
Often people wonder how they can pursue their passion and meet their financial obligations with ease. One approach to achieving this goal is to begin doing what you are passionate about as a part-time venture while still maintaining your full time employment. Look for opportunities to free lance or do work on a contract basis. This way you test the waters instead of plunging headfirst.
Also, network with people already in the industry you want to enter. You can find out how others made their passion profitable. Do not be timid about asking others for advice. People like talking about their successes. You may also learn about opportunities you can take advantage of without ‘quitting your day job’ just yet.
As my business as a storyteller got more profitable, I stopped doing birthday parties, coffee houses and other small venues because the clients had limited funds and my work was shaping up to be more suitable for larger venues. At the time, I knew a budding storyteller and I passed those gigs on to her. Not only did she get an opportunity to make money at her passion, but also with a recommendation from me, clients who may not have given a newcomer a shot, were now ringing her phone.
Another approach to ensuring that your life purpose is profitable is to be certain not to narrowly define your life purpose. Brainstorm different ways you can do the work you love. Think about non-traditional avenues to pursue your passion. Explore unconventional methods. Let’s say your passion is to have your own therapy practice. If you define your purpose that narrowly (own my own therapy practice) then you limit the opportunities available to you. Define your purpose more broadly such as:
“My life purpose is to use my skills as a mental health practitioner to help couples and families live happier, healthier lives.”
Do you see how other avenues become possible with this broadly defined purpose? You could conduct workshops on parenting. You could write articles for industry publications. You could do weekend seminars on subjects related to families and relationships.
To assist you in defining your life purpose and to allow for maximum opportunities, you should write a mission statement. This statement should define what you want to do; for whom you want to do it; and why you want to do it. In our example above:
What = use my skills as a mental health practitioner
For whom = couples and families
Why = to help them live happier and healthier
Having a mission statement also gives you clarity about your life purpose. Your mission statement can be your beacon of light to help you stay the course on your journey to purpose.
To summarize, to make your passion profitable:
• Begin with a part-time venture
• Network to find out how others did it
• Look for unconventional methods
• Broadly define a mission statement of your purpose
Consistently apply these tactics. Stay positive. Keep the faith. Soon you will find that the profits begin to roll in.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Gratitude from the Inside-Out
Being grateful for the good already in your life is a transformative energy that can bring more good your way. Often referred to as the Attitude of Gratitude, it activates the universal principle, the Law of Attraction, which states, “Like attracts like.” By putting your attention on the abundance already in your life, you draw to you more abundance.
However, when most people put their focus on existing prosperity, they usually list such things as family, friends, home, food etc. This type of gratitude list consists of things external to the individual. What are often omitted from such lists are those things internal to the individual. I call it Gratitude from the Inside-Out. This type of gratitude is as powerful(if not more so) than having thanksgiving for external things.
Quiets Negative Self Talk
I find that beginning my gratitude list with identifying my internal abundance ignites a powerful sense of self worth and self awareness. So often, we have within us an ongoing internal dialogue about the things we do not like about ourselves. I call this voice the Internal Critic. Internally, we berate ourselves for not being good enough, not having enough, or not being deserving. Listing the positive qualities that make you feel prosperous builds a strong counter-argument to the Internal Critic. The Gratitude from the Inside-Out List provides proof-positive that within you there is good. It is a testimony that you are worthy and deserving.
Connects You to the Divine
Gratitude from the Inside-Out strengthens your connection to the Divine. Each one of us is an individual manifestation of the Divine. Isn’t that what is meant by: “Man is made in the image and likeness of God?”
The qualities of the Divine are also within in the individual. Think of it this way: The Divine is the ocean. You are a drop of water from that ocean. That drop of water contains the same properties found in the ocean. The droplet is not as powerful as the ocean but contains similar qualities. So the argument follows that if you express appreciation for what is within you, you are also expressing appreciation for the Divine.
Additionally, the highest energy vibration is love. Love is the energy that brings you closest to the Divine. Gratitude from the Inside-Out is an expression of self- love. Love of self is just as important as love of another.
Self Love should not be confused with selfishness. The latter is a derivative of the ego while the former derives from the heart. The Gratitude from the Inside-Out is not about boasting and bragging. This gratitude list is about acknowledging and accentuating this truth:
Sample Gratitude from Inside-Out List
So what might such a list look like? Here is a snippet of my Gratitude from the Inside Out List:
• I give thanks for my compassion for others
• I am grateful I am a good listener
• I am thankful I am caring
• I am grateful that my mind and body are strong
• I am thankful I am a good provider for my daughter
To intensify the transformative energy that this gratitude list can create in your life, write the list and then speak it aloud while looking in a mirror. Be sure to look directly into your eyes as you recite the list aloud. This exercise often can be very moving and healing.
Here again are the benefits of the Gratitude from the Inside-Out List:
• Activates the Law of Attraction
• Attracts More Abundance
• Quiets Negative Internal Voice
• Reinforces your Connection to the Divine
• Promotes Self Love
In gratitude,
T. Dorsey
However, when most people put their focus on existing prosperity, they usually list such things as family, friends, home, food etc. This type of gratitude list consists of things external to the individual. What are often omitted from such lists are those things internal to the individual. I call it Gratitude from the Inside-Out. This type of gratitude is as powerful(if not more so) than having thanksgiving for external things.
Quiets Negative Self Talk
I find that beginning my gratitude list with identifying my internal abundance ignites a powerful sense of self worth and self awareness. So often, we have within us an ongoing internal dialogue about the things we do not like about ourselves. I call this voice the Internal Critic. Internally, we berate ourselves for not being good enough, not having enough, or not being deserving. Listing the positive qualities that make you feel prosperous builds a strong counter-argument to the Internal Critic. The Gratitude from the Inside-Out List provides proof-positive that within you there is good. It is a testimony that you are worthy and deserving.
Connects You to the Divine
Gratitude from the Inside-Out strengthens your connection to the Divine. Each one of us is an individual manifestation of the Divine. Isn’t that what is meant by: “Man is made in the image and likeness of God?”
The qualities of the Divine are also within in the individual. Think of it this way: The Divine is the ocean. You are a drop of water from that ocean. That drop of water contains the same properties found in the ocean. The droplet is not as powerful as the ocean but contains similar qualities. So the argument follows that if you express appreciation for what is within you, you are also expressing appreciation for the Divine.
Additionally, the highest energy vibration is love. Love is the energy that brings you closest to the Divine. Gratitude from the Inside-Out is an expression of self- love. Love of self is just as important as love of another.
Self Love should not be confused with selfishness. The latter is a derivative of the ego while the former derives from the heart. The Gratitude from the Inside-Out is not about boasting and bragging. This gratitude list is about acknowledging and accentuating this truth:
There is good in each one of us.
Sample Gratitude from Inside-Out List
So what might such a list look like? Here is a snippet of my Gratitude from the Inside Out List:
• I give thanks for my compassion for others
• I am grateful I am a good listener
• I am thankful I am caring
• I am grateful that my mind and body are strong
• I am thankful I am a good provider for my daughter
To intensify the transformative energy that this gratitude list can create in your life, write the list and then speak it aloud while looking in a mirror. Be sure to look directly into your eyes as you recite the list aloud. This exercise often can be very moving and healing.
Here again are the benefits of the Gratitude from the Inside-Out List:
• Activates the Law of Attraction
• Attracts More Abundance
• Quiets Negative Internal Voice
• Reinforces your Connection to the Divine
• Promotes Self Love
In gratitude,
T. Dorsey
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Journey to . . . Life Purpose
Does each of us have a life purpose? Is there such a thing as right livelihood? ? What does it mean to live a purpose-driven life? Is it possible to love what you do and have others to pay you well to do it?
The first three questions may be too esoteric and your initial response to them may be “No.” The last question may seem more palatable. Yet, all four questions speak to the same desire. The desire is to live a life that is joyous and abundant in every area, especially in your career path. Is the age-old question posed to all children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
In Paulo Coelho’s extraordinary classic novel, The Alchemist, he refers to this desire as your Personal Legend. Coelho describes your Personal Legend,
For me, the “mysterious force” was not very mysterious but man it was powerful. My grandmother was that force. When I came to her bright-eyed and full of hope announcing, “I am going to be a poet when I grow up!” Her response was “You better grow up and get a job.”
As I worked my way through school, that force grew in it’s intensity and power as well-meaning teachers echoed my grandmother’s sentiments. Soon, I shifted my focus from creative writing to journalism: a more acceptable and respectable aspiration in the eyes of the grown-ups in my life.
All through college, I tried to convince myself that I wanted to be a journalist. While all along inside of me, a battle was raging as I longed to be more creative with my gift of writing.
After college, I landed a couple of respectful corporate positions largely due to my writing but far outside the world of journalism. The insurance industry is where I settled. The battle raging within me finally convinced me that journalism was not for me. But instead of returning to what I loved, I allowed myself to be shuttled into a career the way a farmer shuttles cattle into the stable. I simply followed the pack instead of following my heart. My focus became making a living rather than making a life.
A series of significant events transpired that finally got me back on track to pursuing my dream a being a creative writer. Those events were the death of my father, birth of my daughter and the disintegration of my marriage. The last two events happening within the same year was the proverbial straw that reignited my desire to live a meaningful life. A single mother and new homeowner, I quit my corporate job and became a full time professional storyteller and poet.
It’s funny that as children we simply follow our hearts and gravitate towards the activities that make us happy. When children think about the future there is little fear or worry. We believe we can have what ever we dream about. Until . . . some well-meaning grown-up who knows better steers us in a different direction or stop us all together.
Takeaways:
• You already know your life purpose/personal legend. If you are not sure what it is any more, spend time journaling about what you dreamt about as a child. You can spend time in quiet reflection answering the question, “What would I do if there was not chance I could fail?”
• The goal is to make a life not simply make a living. Ask yourself, “What do I enjoy doing even if I don’t get paid for it?”
• Don’t be dissuaded by the naysayer. When someone offers you advice on how you should live your life and that advice does not leave you feeling encouraged. Remember: Free advice is worth the price you pay.
To your success!
The first three questions may be too esoteric and your initial response to them may be “No.” The last question may seem more palatable. Yet, all four questions speak to the same desire. The desire is to live a life that is joyous and abundant in every area, especially in your career path. Is the age-old question posed to all children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
In Paulo Coelho’s extraordinary classic novel, The Alchemist, he refers to this desire as your Personal Legend. Coelho describes your Personal Legend,
“It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend.”
For me, the “mysterious force” was not very mysterious but man it was powerful. My grandmother was that force. When I came to her bright-eyed and full of hope announcing, “I am going to be a poet when I grow up!” Her response was “You better grow up and get a job.”
As I worked my way through school, that force grew in it’s intensity and power as well-meaning teachers echoed my grandmother’s sentiments. Soon, I shifted my focus from creative writing to journalism: a more acceptable and respectable aspiration in the eyes of the grown-ups in my life.
All through college, I tried to convince myself that I wanted to be a journalist. While all along inside of me, a battle was raging as I longed to be more creative with my gift of writing.
After college, I landed a couple of respectful corporate positions largely due to my writing but far outside the world of journalism. The insurance industry is where I settled. The battle raging within me finally convinced me that journalism was not for me. But instead of returning to what I loved, I allowed myself to be shuttled into a career the way a farmer shuttles cattle into the stable. I simply followed the pack instead of following my heart. My focus became making a living rather than making a life.
A series of significant events transpired that finally got me back on track to pursuing my dream a being a creative writer. Those events were the death of my father, birth of my daughter and the disintegration of my marriage. The last two events happening within the same year was the proverbial straw that reignited my desire to live a meaningful life. A single mother and new homeowner, I quit my corporate job and became a full time professional storyteller and poet.
It’s funny that as children we simply follow our hearts and gravitate towards the activities that make us happy. When children think about the future there is little fear or worry. We believe we can have what ever we dream about. Until . . . some well-meaning grown-up who knows better steers us in a different direction or stop us all together.
Takeaways:
• You already know your life purpose/personal legend. If you are not sure what it is any more, spend time journaling about what you dreamt about as a child. You can spend time in quiet reflection answering the question, “What would I do if there was not chance I could fail?”
• The goal is to make a life not simply make a living. Ask yourself, “What do I enjoy doing even if I don’t get paid for it?”
• Don’t be dissuaded by the naysayer. When someone offers you advice on how you should live your life and that advice does not leave you feeling encouraged. Remember: Free advice is worth the price you pay.
To your success!
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