Are you hiding your own magnificence under lock and key?  Do you feel like you have so much more you want to do and express in your life?  You feel the “there is so much more for me than this” feeling? 

You know that changes need to be made but at the same time you feel AFRAID–and this stops you in your tracks.  You start to:

*Procrastinate

*Doubt yourself

*Overeat

*Waste time

*Get scattered

*Worry about someone else

*Get sidetracked with someone else’s agenda

*Get sick or have an accident

Why are you afraid of your Potential–of being all that you came here to be— expressing your gifts and Life Purpose full out?

 Here is what I have discovered are at the core of this Fear for people:

 1. I’m afraid of really being SEEN because if I am visible I will be: hurt, judged, told I am a fake, told I don’t know what I am talking about, told I am bad, told I am wrong for what I am doing, lightning may even strike me:)

2. I’m afraid that my life will change and that I won’t like it:  I won’t be as close to my family, my partner and I will grow apart, I won’t have enough time with my kids,  I won’t have any free time, I will lose what I love in my life

 3. I’m afraid things will change and others close to me won’t like it: my partner will leave, my kids will get angry with me, my friends will be resentful, my family will judge me

 4. I’m afraid I won’t know what to do–I will be overwhelmed with the new and will feel lost: what if I can’t do it, what if I fall flat on my face, what if I’m just not talented enough, what if I make a fool out of myself?

 5. I am afraid I am not ready now I have to: go back to school, take another class, learn this new process, practice some more (maybe a few more years:), I have to wait until I am not afraid,  I’m plain just not ready now! 

 6. I am afraid that the Universe and other people won’t support me: The Universe is against me, other people will not support me, I’m doing this all alone–it feels so big and I feel small, as I move forward I will get resistance rather than support.

 Can you see yourself in some of these fears?  These are the core fears of you holding yourself back from your Potential and Dreams. 

 In my next newsletter I will go through each of these fears and give you tools to transcend these fears so you can finally STEP into your Potential with Love and Grace—rather running from it in fear!  Not signed up for the newsletter yet?  Go here to sign up.

“There is no certainty on this earth, only opportunity”  Douglas MacArthur

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” Albert Einstein

Do you have things going on in your life that lead you to feel uncertain and afraid?   Have you lost a job, is a relationship changing–is there some transition going on in your life?  With so much change happening in the world right now–we can take different perspectives on what is happening.  We can say to ourselves “Everything is crumbling around me, the world is falling apart” or we can say “What is no longer serving my higher growth is fading from my life–opening up an even better path for me to travel.”

What if the Uncertainty is a gateway to even better things in your Life?  What if it moves you into examining yourself on a deeper level—helps you to get clear about your true values and priorities—helps you to ask the ever important question “Why are you here—how do you want to use your very precious time on the planet?”

Here are some other Gifts and Opportunities of Uncertainty:

1. Helps you to deepen your connection with yourself

2. Allows you to pull forth strength and courage from inside of you that you never even knew you had

3. Helps you to loosen your dependence on outer structures and people for your sense of security (question yourself–what outside of me do I rely on for a sense of safety and security?)  The shaking of this is to gently remind you that you have incredible resources in your own Spirit that can be called upon and relied upon in any situation–plus your own Spiritual Connection–whatever that is for you.

4. Allows you to develop your faith and trust in the Spiritual realm which is where you come from—being that you are a Spiritual Being having a human experience.  When there is nothing to hold onto for certainty in the physical realm–we can have our deepest experiences of connection with the Divine.

5. Opens you up to new paths that you would have never considered if you were back in your old “certain” world.

6. Gives you practice to embrace change with faith and trust—rather than dropping into fear (a priceless ability that you will carry with you forever)

7. Gives you the opportunity to move into a deeper level of Authencity with who you are (drop pretending to be something other than who you are) and to finally line up with your Authentic Dreams and Life Purpose

8. Helps you to WAKE UP rather than live life on auto-pilot.

Have you played lately?  Really played?  One of the things that I encourage all of my clients to do is to “play more”.  One of the symptoms of the disconnection from our Authentic Self is that we don’t play. 

Many people stop playing when they are a young child–because they had to “grow up fast” to deal with the challenging issues going on in their home.  Or they were shamed for the natural playing that they did do with messages like “Stop making so much noise” “Stop acting so stupid” “Stop living in a fantasy world”.  

Or it just was not safe to play because of the harsh, critical energy coming from their parents.  So part of the healing process is opening up again to your natural capacity for joyful play. 

 Here are some tips to begin to open up to playing more today!
1. Create safety inside of yourself to play by releasing any self-judgments of yourself you may have when you play.  Part the energy of play is experimenting with new things, being creative and being more in the flow of the present moment.  If you begin to judge yourself you will immediately stop this natural flow.
2. Give yourself permission to look silly and to make mistakes.   In my Joy Workshops–where we play A LOT–I encourage the participants to actively try to “make a fool of themselves”.  When permission is given to flub up and do it wrong- it creates an incredible opening for your natural, joyful player to emerge.
3. Ask your Inner Child what she/he would like to do to play more.  Your own inner child is a big time fun machine and has a ton of ideas of things to do that would be fun.  So tune and ask this part of you “What would you love to do that would be really fun for you?”  If you don’t get any answers right away–keep asking with an intention to really listen and learn from this sweet, fun, playful part of you. 

 Sometimes the lid has been on this part of you for so long that it doesn’t really trust that you really want to know what ideas it has.
4. Find people to play with.  Think of everyone you know and identify who you feel the most comfortable “playing” with?  Spend time with this person and experiment with playing.  You may be the catalyst for play in the relationship–and that is OK. 

 One of my friends says to me “I love spending time with you because you are the friend I have the most fun with.”  It is because I have set an intention to have fun with everyone I spend time with.  If you don’t have anyone in your life that feels safe enough to play with–set an intention to meet new people who are fun, safe and loving.
5. Plan at least one fun thing to do a day–ideally two or three things.  Make fun and play a priority in your life.  So often we let our responsibilities take over and we don’t leave any time for the things that truly nurture our Spirits—like play. 

 So re-prioritize your day and put fun at the TOP of your list–rather than the bottom.  Surprisingly—and this happens over and over for my clients–the more fun they have–the more they end up getting done!  How wonderful is that!
So open up again to the natural, joyful and playful energy that is inside of you— letting the child in you finally be FREE!

“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things”                      Dennis Diderot

I have gotten the question lately “Can I really make money at my life purpose–my passion?”  And my answer is YES!  I remember hearing about a study that compared people who followed a career path to strictly make money vs. people who followed their passion. At the end of their careers the people that had followed their passion made more money overall than the folks who had pursued a career just for the money.

  I remember when I was contemplating what to study in college—my own fears had initially prevented me from pursuing the counseling field because of fears of not being able to make money.  I had watched my Mom struggle financially as a single parent and I did not want to have that same kind of experience. 

 After getting my degree in business–I decided after a long process of soul searching to follow my passion of being a psychotherapist.  Every step of the way since then I have continued to follow my passion–in the face of someone saying I could make more money doing it a different way.

 An example of this is when I was contemplating graduate schools I had 3 choices–getting a degree in psychology, counseling or social work.  Everyone advised me to get my degree in social work because it would be more “marketable” and insurance companies would be more apt to reimburse someone with this degree.  I looked at the content of all of the programs and decided the counseling program was more in alignment with what I was looking for.  It was hands on—with lots of practice counseling.  The social work program didn’t have as much of this and focused more on social policy. 

 I decided to do what felt intuitively right to do and I am so glad I did!  The counseling program that I went to was a perfect fit for me–I loved the program, my classmates and I met one of my most important mentors, Pat Robertson.

 What is ironic now is that the issue of being able to accept insurance is a mute point because I have never directly billed out for insurance.  My practice for the last 10 years has been all self-pay.  I know now that I am making more money now than I ever would have made following my business path–and even if I would have gotten my degree in social work and billed insurance!

 There is something inside of us–in our Authentic Self that is aligned with our true path.  When we follow this we will be supported.  It means keeping ourselves inwardly focused and making decisions on what feels intuitively right to us.  It took me a year of personal growth work after I had gotten my business degree to connect deeply with my Authentic Self.  Once I did and got clear about my path I took action and never looked back.

Here are some tips on how to make money at your Life Purpose:

1. Stay with it and persevere.  If it is your passion you are more likely to hang in there and do the work you need to do to be successful.  And best of all, because it is your passion–it won’t feel like work:)

2. If you have a full-time job and want to pursue your passion start developing it part-time and once you are making enough money with you passion you can quit your job!

3. Be willing to learn from others who are successful doing what your passion is.  If you say—there is no way I could make money at my passion—I bet there is someone out there who is—find them and learn from them.

4. Be willing to invest in your personal growth as you pursue your passion.  The more you let go of limiting, conditioned beliefs the more your career will flourish.

5. Be willing to release limiting beliefs around money.  Read books, take workshops to help yourself be free of beliefs that limit how much money you make.  The only limits are what you place on yourself.

6. Be willing to develop skills as a business person if you are pursuing your passion as a business.  Treat it like a business and learn all the aspects of what it takes to run a successful business.  

7. Be willing to self-promote.  Let people know what your passion is and that you are good at it.  Believe in yourself and your gifts—-you have them for a reason—and that is to share these gifts with others.

8. As your business expands, hire an assistant.  Don’t try to do it all yourself—get support for yourself.

 Here is to you following your passion AND being prosperous!

You will learn:

• Why there is so much fear when you try to make positive changes in your life (once you really understand this–it will make moving forward SO much easier).
• 5 signals that tell you that fear is keeping you from your dreams
• Specific techniques to release your fears
• 4 things that will Inpsire you to take the leap into your dreams–and to not look back!

  Enjoy!

 http://radiantlifecounseling.com/services/groups/life-purpose-in-90-days/

When I work with people to connect with their Authentic Self and align with their Life Purpose–their lives get better and better. 

A big challenge can be letting all of this good in and getting comfortable with it.   A recent example of this was client of mine, Karen, (not her real name.) 

Karen had connected deeply with her Authentic Self and got clarity about her Life Purpose.  She took the courageous steps to align with and follow her Life Purpose.

She was so surprised to find the more she followed her true purpose–the better things got in every area of her life–including her finances.  She was able to do what she loved and was making three times what used to make at a job she hated! 

She was flying high until she attended a recent party of one of her friends.  One person after another complained about the economy or how much stress they had at a job they didn’t even like.

Karen began to feel guilty for all of the joy and abundance she was experiencing.  She said “I felt ashamed–like I was bad for having it so good–who am I to have all of this when others are struggling so much?”

I explained to her that what she was experiencing was what EVERYONE is meant to be experiencing–a connection with their true self, loving connections with others and work that they love–including amazing abundance. 

I shared it was her own commitment and investment in her own growth that had paved the way for what she was experiencing.  “Karen, every person at that party can experience what you are—it is up to them to love themselves enough to invest their time, energy and money in their growth—like you did” I said to her.

Karen nodded her head as she listened to me.  “But what about the money—I can’t believe I am earning so much money for doing what I love—it seems like it is too good to be true!” she questioned.

“Again, Karen, this is how it is meant to be for everyone.  Abundance flows to us when we are aligned with our True Life Purpose.  The other people at the party are struggling so much because they aren’t aligning with their true path.  They are instead chasing security—but true security and abundance comes from doing what you love and what you are meant to be doing on the planet.  That is what you are experiencing now.”

Karen said “When you explain it that way—it makes so much sense.  I feel so joyful and happy—I want everyone to be experiencing what I am!”

“And Karen, everyone can experience what you are experiencing but it is up to them to make the choice to invest the time and energy to explore just what their true path is—and then take the steps to align with it.  Then their life is not ‘too good to be true’ but what their life was meant to be like all along— incredibly joyful and abundant.”

“An Inspired Life Can’t be Planned.

“We are Spirits housed in human bodies.  There are things that fuel our bodies and things that fuel our Spirit.  If you neglect feeding your Spirit –you will feel drained and like you are a robot going through life.  

Being inspired is a powerful way of nourishing and uplifting your Spirit.  What inspires you?  How often are you around the things and people that inspire you?  Just reflecting on what inspires you and making sure you are surrounding yourself with these things will lift your Spirit and energize you.

Tips To Get Inspired

1. Who are the people in your life that inspire you.  What about them inspires you?  This is a quality that you value and more than likely possess yourself but maybe you aren’t expressing in your life. Use this to open up more to this quality in your own life.  Make sure the people you have in your life inspire you.

2. What music inspires you?  What about the music uplifts you—is it the voice of the singer—the words–the rhythm?  Do you like music that you can dance to or music that is calm and soothing?

3. What things visually inspire you?  Is it certain things in nature—the ocean, mountains, trees?  Is it certain colors?  Is it certain architecture of buildings?

4. Which restaurants inspire you?  What food do you love?  What decor do you find appealing?  Do you make sure to go to restaurants that inspire you.  I love going to Cafe’ Mario’s because I love how they have decorated it, the music they play (Andrea Bocelli–my favorite:), the smells of the food, the laughter and connection that happens there.

5. What books do you find inspirational?  What words uplift you?  What authors inspire you?

6. What creative activity inspires you?  Dancing, painting, playing music, singing, making jewelry.

7. Do you inspire yourself?  Are you daring to live your dreams, express your creativity–living with passion?  Are you committed to a vibrant, inspired life?  Like the quote above–an inspired life can’t be planned.  Are you willing to let go and allow yourself to be inspired—and more importantly to act on these inspirational impulses?

8. What geographic areas inspire you?  Does your Spirit lift just thinking about Italy, Hawaii, Alaska or the California coast?  Make a plan to travel to the areas that inspire you.  There is a reason you are drawn to that area—it is a place that will feed your soul.  If you can’t travel there just yet, put up pictures of that area that you can see every day.

9. What movies inspire you?  Look for movies that inspire you—don’t settle for anything less than that . For those of you who have read my  ”What Do You Really Want Workbook”, I mentioned one of my favorite inspirational movies, “Miss Potter”, about the amazing life of Beatrice Potter (the artist who created Peter Rabbit).  

10. Talk to your friends and family about what inspires them—you will deepen your connection with them from having this discussion.  Ask them “What inspires you?”

11. Surround yourself with things that inspire you.  When you look around your home—are you inspired?  Put up pictures that uplift you–buy art work that inspires you.  Buy flowers that you love.

Open up to feeding your Spirit with all of the things that inspire you—and watch your energy level soar and your life expand into grand new possibilities!

I would love to hear what Inspires YOU.  Please share this below: