The Enneagram is the most powerful personal and professional development tool I have ever used to get at core motivations and understand why we do the things we do.

Having worked extensively with the Enneagram for the past couple of years and trained with Ginger Lapid-Bogda, a world class leader in using the Enneagram in the workplace, I’m excited to share my passion for it with you.

I could write thousands of blogposts but for this post I’d like to focus on why I love the Enneagram and what learning more about it can do for you.

Here are 7 great ways the Enneagram can rock your 2013:

1. Accelerates your personal growth.
Learning about the patterns of your type helps you see the big picture of who you are – the qualities that energize you and make you great as well as your blind spots and subconscious triggers that hold you back.

By shining a big spotlight on the patterns of behavior that lurk below the surface, you’re able to pinpoint the ones driving you crazy and on the flip, lead with the patterns that lead to your success and alakazam – your potential for growth is limitless.

2. Provides a fabulous foundation for strategic decision-making.
Knowing your type helps you make better choices and decisions when you understand your core motivations and intrinsic drivers to what you want.  You also learn how to draw on additional centers of intelligence to make informed decisions and take action from a centered and grounded position.

3. Helps you build stronger relationships.
First and foremost, the Enneagram helps you improve the relationship you have with yourself but also with friends, family, kids, colleagues, bosses and clients.

Knowledge of the Enneagram helps you understand the way people view the world and filter information differently than you providing insight, objectivity and compassion for those most important to you so you can alter your stance, draw out their strengths and cut them slack in areas that trigger them.

4. Improves your communication skills
Knowing your type helps you understand the way you’re perceived with laser like precision.  You gain insight into how you influence others.   Working with this information helps you adjust your communication style to your audience and increase your circle of influence.

5. Become a more effective Leader
Effective leadership starts with understanding the big picture of who you are – leading with your strengths as well as being aware of how you tend to get derailed so you can develop a more authentic leadership style.

The Enneagram also helps you understand the different needs of your people, to identify their strengths and know which areas they need to develop so you can empower them and stretch their performance in ways they can succeed and grow.

6. Handle change with finesse
Without question, life is full of change and with change comes anxiety and the emergence of our worst personality traits.

The Enneagram gives us insight into each types’ defense mechanisms so you’re in a much better position to anticipate people’s reactions and communicate approaches based on different needs.

7. Provides perspective.
The most beautiful thing about the enneagram — you gain perspective into why we do the things so you can depersonalize situations and develop strategic approaches for the way you think and interact with people who think and act differently than you do and develop an appreciation for their perspectives.

Click here to learn more about the Enneagram and discovering your type.  On this page you’ll find a brief intro and several coaching packages for individuals, teams and leaders as well recommended resources and an introductory podcast you can download for free.

Over the course of 2013, I’ll be blogging regularly on how others have applied the knowledge of the Enneagram to personal and professional challenges.  Sign up for my newsletter below to stay posted.

Wishing you the very best in 2013!

I was recently interviewed by Laura Gevanter, a great colleague and fellow coach on the topic of Finding Your Why on BlogTalkRadio.

We had a lot fun exploring the topic and it generated a bit of buzz — in the first week it was downloaded more than 1000 times — so I’d like to share the interview as well as provide highlights and the resources I mentioned with the hope that it will help you too.

In the interview, I provide perspective on:

• The definition of your Why
• What knowing your Why can do for you and why it’s important
• Brain science on why it’s hard to pinpoint
• The Enneagram and how knowing your type helps you understand your Why
• Examples of how knowing your Why can help you find clarity in direction to more fulfilling work and satisfaction in your life

Click to Listen

Interview References and Resources

• Book: True North: Discovering Your Authentic Leadership Style by Bill George – in reference to defining moments or crucibles.
• Movie: MoneyBall – the evolution of Billie Bean’s Why and living in and out of integrity with his purpose
• Online Course: Why University — Simon Sinek self study materials to find you Why
• Book: Wisdom of the Enneagram — excellent reference book
• Video: The Hedgehog Concept by Jim Collins
• Related posts
• Post: 5 Reasons Why to Seriously Consider Finding Your Why
• Post: The Enneagram in Action – the Wonder of Perspective
• Post: Jack of All Trades — Master of None
• Post: The Missing Link to Deep Satisfaction and Finding Your Why

For more information on the Find Your Why Intensive, click here.

For Laura’s followers, I offered a special discount for Enneagram Discovery, the precursor to Finding Your Why and I’d like to extend that offer to you too. To take advantage of the discount, sign up by October 15, 2012 by clicking here.

Feedback

If you have a question on this topic, email me, I’d love to hear from you.  Or please feel free to share your comments below.

If you often feel ungrounded in your work and yearn for greater meaning and purpose in your life, chances are you haven’t identified your Why. 

Defining one’s cause and pinpointing inner motivations is something many people struggle with.

Studies indicate more than 80% of the US population isn’t flourishing.  They’re going through the motions every day without a sense of higher purpose or direction. 

Many people get a glimpse of their Why momentarily surfacing only to disappear into the abyss with the changing tides and dramas in our lives.

Before I dived into doing this work, I had a constant nagging feeling something was missing in my career as well as my life.  I was accomplished but never relished my achievements.  I lacked deep satisfaction and I always seemed to be on a quest for the next best thing.

Finding my Why has done more for my personal and professional development than any other training, book or coaching approach I ever tried.

The people I work with tend to agree.  The day after one client found her Why, she wrote, “This morning, I woke up feeling more whole and complete than I ever remember.”

Who doesn’t want to feel like that?

Just in case, here are 5 additional reasons why you want to consider Finding Your Why:

1.  It grounds you in who you are and who you are becoming. 

Finding Your Why allows you to see the choices you’ve made throughout your life in a whole new light.  You get the big picture.  You not only gain perspective on your strengths and weaknesses but also how they’ve played out and made you who you are today.

One client shared:

“I had no idea just how much this work would amp up self love. I mean, I knew it probably would – but I had no idea it’d be THIS much!! And talk about seeing everything through a light of love … it transformed some of my old stories like I never imagined possible.  I feel like I have a whole new relationship with myself.” 

2.  It gives you the power and authority to lead your life knowing what you stand for. 

When you uncover your Why, it also reveals your inner motivations and what is most important to you.  This allows you to stand up for what you believe in from a position of strength knowing exactly who you are and what you stand for.

One client struggling with writing the content for her new website wrote, “Clarifying my WHY was an essential part of my work to get my web site launched, and I was amazed at just how much easier that happened was once I was clear.”

3.  You become a more effective communicator and leader.

When you talk about why you do what you do, people who believe what you believe will be drawn to you.

How many politicians have failed because they couldn’t rally the support for their cause?  If you can’t communicate why you are doing what you’re doing, it’s hard for people to support you.

Contrast this with someone who inspires you to stretch and grow.  Chances are high, they’ve shared their convictions with you and you believe in their cause.

4. It helps you build resiliency in times of change.

When you are deeply connected to who you are and understand why you do the things you do, you can take a step back in stressful conditions and gain perspective before acting.

By accepting and honoring your weaknesses and leading with your strengths, you radiate authenticity and are less likely to be drawn into battle with colleagues, friends and family.    Through awareness, you gain objectivity and reduce reactivity.

5. It gives you direction and clarity in decision-making.

When you know what is important to you and why, it provides a solid foundation for making decisions.  You are able to start each day doing what you love and what you want to do because the decisions you make – from where you spend your time, energy and money to the way you work are all aligned with your why and the conditions in which you thrive.

In short, your Why is what drives you, gives you energy, deeper satisfaction and ultimately, your reason for being that gives you direction and serves as a guiding light allowing you to be all the you can be. 

If you’d like to hear more about the Finding Your Why process and some of the brain science behind it, I welcome you to sign up for an introductory call Wednesday, September 26^th at 12pm ET.  For more details, click here.

The Enneagram ~ original work in porcelain by Andrea Sinclair, artist

If you’d like to gain perspective on your strengths and challenges, the Enneagram may be the tool of choice to accelerate your growth. 

If you are not familiar, the Enneagram is a great personality system and learning tool to help us understand what makes us tick, how we view reality and why we do the things we do by highlighting 9 distinct ways people think, behave and filter information.

When you identify your type, you gain a deeper understanding of your intrinsic drivers and motivations teaching you to lead with the ones that strengthen you and modify the ones that derail you.

For a quick snapshot, here are the common drivers and worldviews for each of the 9 types: 

• Enneagram 1’s are driven by perfection and improving themselves and their environments.
• 2’s thrive on connecting and often define themselves through service to others.
• 3’s are driven to achieve, measuring their value by what they are able to accomplish.
• 4’s thrive on meaning and purpose and feel most alive when they authentically express their personal experiences and feelings.
• 5’s thirst for knowledge and seek to conserve their energy, time and resources.
• 6’s seek security, driven to anticipate worst case scenarios so they feel prepared for whatever might come their way.
• 7’s thrive on the stimulation of new ideas, people and places, seeing a world full of possibilities — compelled to keep their options open.
• 8’s seek power, action and truth, striving to keep things under control while minimizing their weaknesses.
• 9’s seek harmony and peace, avoid conflict, ease tension and promote positive mutual regard.

The easiest way to understand their worldviews is to see them in action.

Let’s explore how each of the types might approach getting a book out of the library, specifically on developing communication skills.

An Enneagram type 1 might approach this task by looking for a proven process, outlining practical principles to approach communication.  Since 1’s are motivated to perfect themselves and their environment, they would be looking for rules of thumb and standards from credible and validated sources of information.

Because a type 2 is driven to connect with others, they might look for a book that explores the interpersonal dynamics of communication and how to bring out the best in others.  They’d also want to find resources they can give to their peers to help them improve their communication.

A type 3 would have a goal in mind before even stepping foot in the library.  They will have researched several different approaches to improving communication and selected the book that can help them achieve their goals as efficiently as possible.  They may have already made sure the book is in and probably reserved it so they can get in and get out of the library and start digging in.

A type 4 will look for innovative approaches to improve communication that standout from all the others.  Because 4’s are driven for meaning and purpose, they’ll look for books that have depth in content and possibly personal narratives that showcase how the author has improved their communication skills.

A 5 will search for experts who have great depth of understanding and provide the theory behind communication development, based in logic and rational thinking.  As ardent fact finders, they may want several books so they can go deep into the material and become an expert themselves in their quest for understanding.

A 6 will search for authors who are trustworthy and make sure there are no hidden agendas such as books written to get you to buy more expensive communication development tools.   They might read what others have written about the book to validate credibility and authenticity of the authors work.  6’s will also want the author to explore different scenarios to apply communication approaches so they understand the full range of application and outcomes.

A 7 will enter the library and likely pick out several books on different topics that may be unrelated to communication, knowing they have the ability to connect the dots and come up with creative approaches that’ll inspire others to improve their communication skills.

An 8 will gravitate to authors who write with authority and provide the big picture.  8’s want to find resources that help them get a better handle on communicating so they can maintain their powerful presence.

A 9 will select books that provide communication skills and exercises that are easy to relate to and appeal to many different perspectives.   They’d be attracted to authors who are fair-minded and have every intention of fostering community and connection through improving communication.

Although the task is the same, the motivations behind each person’s quest differ depending on their worldview and the way they filter information.

At this point you may be resonating with one of the types, finding all this information intriguing but wonder what is the practical application.

I firmly believe the more you understand why you do what you do and how you best contribute, the better you are able to communicate this to others and seek ways to align what you to do to your strengths and what lights you up.

The Enneagram helps you develop a greater awareness of who you are and why you do the things you do so you can make strategic choices that lead to greater satisfaction especially when they are aligned with what you do best. 

Based on understanding individual differences, how does this give you more perspective about your strengths and challenges?

To learn more about discovering your Enneagram type, click here.

If you’d like an infusion of fun innovative energy and to create unabashedly, take 10 minutes to check out this series of videos, guaranteed to draw you in and make you smile.

The first video was created by Harvard University’s Baseball Team doing their rendition of Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. Their parody spurred a movement among college baseball teams and other club sport across the country to create their own renditions.

The second video was created by Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and friends. The homemade feel and their willingness to make this song their own is refreshing. For a group of performers who are used to major productions and very aware of their public image, it’s freeing to see them let loose and have fun.

The last video, by the original artist, brings us back to a time of innocence and freedom.  It showcases the vulnerability and intensity of emotion felt with high school crushes almost like the validation we so often look for when embarking on a new path or starting something new.

What I love about these parodies is the energy you feel watching these kids come together to creatively express themselves and make it their own.  The videos are fun, upbeat, collaborative and automatically draw you in.

Think back now, can you say the same about the last project you initiated?

Their courage to be seen and willingness to drop the need to create a polished image and perfect their execution provides us with inspiration to:

• Be more creative in our work
• Overcome fears of taking risks
• Experiment with new modalities
• Collaborate with others in new ways
• Lighten up and have some fun

Whether you are leading an initiative, embarking on a new career path, starting new work or invigorating an established project, I encourage you to think of these kids and employ some of their strategies.

I guarantee people will be drawn to your energy, readiness to stretch and put yourself out there.

Ready to try?  I’d love to hear your experiences.

Addendum:  check out this one!

Have you ever felt an incredible desire to change something at work or in your personal life but backed down because it just seemed too hard?

I know in the past, I’ve retreated more times than I’d like to admit from taking on leadership roles.  I turned them down because I didn’t feel like I had the skills, the backing, the time or the energy.

I guess that’s why I’ve been fascinated and drawn to the movie, “The Help.”  Each time I see it, I feel more inspired and uplifted by the messages of courage and transformation.

Set in Jackson, Mississippi during the Civil Right’s Movement, the story revolves around a very strong and resilient group of women who fight the status quo of the domestic servitude, the culture they were born into.

The character that resonates with me the most is Abileen, a black maid who belongs to a long line of women who’ve raised dozens of children born to repressive white socialites.  She teaches these children the values of appreciation, respect and unconditional love, virtues that are not reciprocated by the families she serves.

Abileen desperately wants to speak up against the manipulation, intimidation and abuse she and her community have endured, especially after her 24-year-old son dies as a result of negligence at the hands of her oppressors.  But she hesitates.  She pushes down her desire to take initiative for fear of repercussions.

Abileen is what I call a reluctant leader.

When Skeeter, an aspiring journalist and rebellious white socialite approaches her to tell her story, at first Abileen won’t even consider it.  She fears speaking out against the people she and her family have been working for generations.  She’s afraid of what they might do.

But most importantly, she’s afraid no one will be listen.  She’s been treated as if she were invisible all her life.

When she does start writing and sharing her stories, she finds she has a voice and powerful lessons to share too.  She starts talking with her community, women who have supported each other in hardship and celebration.  They want to join her too.

They want to expose the travesties they have endured at the hands of their oppressors.  They want to expose them for who they are.  They want to be heard.

Without even realizing, Abileen becomes the leader within her community by taking the first step to share her stories.  She then empowers them by creating the vehicle to join forces and speak up for what they know is right.

Together, they create a movement that has power and energy to change not only the way they are treated but the way others around the country are treated too.

In this clip, Abileen is seen owning her voice as a writer and standing up to the lead antagonist in the moview and her manipulative tactics.

As Abileen’s preacher says, “Courage isn’t just about being brave.  It’s about overcoming fear and daring to do what is right for your fellow man.”

This is how reluctant leaders change the world.

It starts with standing up for what you believe and know is right for you,  your family or your company.

How about you?  What’s your first step?

Do you ever feel like your life is a series of chain reactions and your role is to simply stay one step ahead so you don’t drown in overwhelm?

I used to feel that way all the time.  I was so busy and focused on building my family, my career, my life — running from one project, activity, role to another that I felt like a zombie being sucked into the daily grind.

I was just going through the motions in a constant state of stress.

I suffered from “zombie hamster syndrome” — on a fast moving treadmill, just running from one thing to another. Sweating the small stuff.  My entire identity felt tied up in my work and my family.  I didn’t know what I wanted and I was clueless about what really mattered to me anymore.  I felt numb and disconnected.  I wasn’t enjoying my life and I couldn’t take it anymore.

I hit a wall.  I asked myself, “is this what life is really all about?” 

But how could I get off, I didn’t know where to begin.  And that my friend is the first step to overcoming zombie hamster overwhelm.

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” John Pierpont Morgan

I wanted off the treadmill.  

The next step was to figure out what I wanted to change starting with what I didn’t want.

I was in a toxic business relationship that had become unbearable.  My daughter had just gone off to college and I found myself working more to avoid the loss of her not being around.  I literally didn’t know how to relax.  There was little play in my life.  I was just the hamster, going and going and going.

Once I identified the things I wanted to change, then I could start imagining what was most important to me, how I wanted to feel and how I wanted to lead each day.

I knew the toxic work environment was the kick in the pants I needed to start my own business.  I wanted autonomy. I wanted freedom.  I wanted to be my own boss.

I also knew I needed to reinvest the energy I had spent with my daughter looking for colleges and getting prepared for her next phase of life — in myself.  I wanted to cultivate hobbies and activities that I enjoyed and learn to relax.

I wanted to connect with nature and experience the awe and wonder of it all. I wanted to connect with myself, to experience joy and learn to appreciate my life.

I wanted to add more elements of fun and play to each and every day.

Once I figured out what I wanted, I tuned into how I really felt about different aspects of my life and what was holding me back.

I experimented with new ideas, options, things.  I tried new daily regimens and practices.

I learned to lead with what really lights me up and eliminated the things that didn’t.  I began leading with my strengths while releasing the need to perfect my weaknesses.

I acknowledged my fears and learned strategies to push through them instead of retreating from them.

Most importantly, I learned to connect with who I am, who I am becoming and what’s most important to me.

But the ultimate key in this process was taking the time to invest in myself, to explore the different aspects of my life so I could start living the life I wanted.

Oh and I must say, I’m still learning.  Definitely a work in progress but now I’m enjoying the journey and can honestly say, I’ve overcome “zombie hamster syndrome.”

How about you?  Do you have a hamster syndrome too?

If you are interested in learning some of the strategies to live Life Beyond the Hamster Treadmill, check a new telecourse I’m offering that starts next week.  Registration ends Friday, January 13th.

Are you sick of starting off the New Year with empty resolutions that quickly fizzle by mid January?

Why not start 2012 brainstorming ways you can gain greater fulfillment every day?

Would you be surprised to learn it’s not about the money?

We’re socially conditioned to focus on the external rewards of our work — the money, the raises, the promotions, the titles — as a measure of our success and key to greater happiness in our lives.

However, psychologists, sociologists and even economists have repeatedly shown that satisfaction at work is not derived from these external factors as eloquently presented by Dan Pink, author of Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us.

The key to greater fulfillment and satisfaction every day results from doing work that you enjoy; has greater meaning and purpose to you than just a paycheck and is important to who you are on an intrinsic level.

Here are 6 ways you might consider adopting in 2012 to add greater satisfaction to your work.

1. Align your work with your core values

When we get entrenched in the daily grind, it’s easy to lose site of our values. We become complacent, drained or frustrated with the dramas of the day.

When you are closely aligned with your core values, you are able to prioritize what’s most important and let others know what matters most to you.

If integrity is a core value and you are being asked to compromise, let others know where you stand. If teaching is a core value and it’s not part of your role, find ways to incorporate it into your day.

The first step is identifying your core values and then finding ways to honor them throughout your day.

2. Focus on the bigger picture

Try focusing on the ultimate reason why you are doing the work in the first place – to provide service to people in need, to create products that will help others or to improve the way we live our lives.

When you know what you are doing goes far beyond just making a living, daily setbacks such as unhappy customers or dissatisfied colleagues have less significance.

3. Get clear on what you want

Is this job a means to an end? Do you have bigger aspirations for your role? Are you gaining skillsets that will help you for your next endeavor?

Getting clearer on what you aspire to do and knowing what you would like to achieve are great ways to stay focused on what’s most important to you and give you a sense of greater purpose.

4. Simplify what you’d like to accomplish each day

We all have task list that carry over each day. It’s not unusual for me to have a to do list that exceeds 10 to 15 items. But research has shown we underestimate the time involved with completing each task, leading to greater dissatisfaction and demotivation.

Try starting 2012 with a list of your top 2 – 3 priorities each day and reward yourself with each accomplishment.

5. Challenge yourself

The best way to enter the zone or what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “a state of flow” is by doing something that intrinsically motivates you and stretching yourself beyond your current skill level.

The struggle of reaching beyond your current ability with a clear focus or target in mind is important to achieving that wonderful feeling of elation, complete engagement and a sense of wholeness.

Wouldn’t you like to do more of that in 2012?

6. Build an awesome board of champions 

We are wired to connect with others and it’s been proven that we exchange emotions back and forth throughout the day. Make sure that exchange is springboard for your success and not an energy drain.

Become more aware of the people surrounding you each day. Do they motivate and support you or do they bring you down? Limit the contact you have with the energy drainers and increase the time with those who uplift you. Seek out mentors and colleagues who provide encouragement and advice that inspires you.

The key to each of these recommendations is self-awareness – taking time to figure out what’s important to you and what lights you up then finding ways to lead with what matters most.

I can guarantee investing the time to adopt any one or all of these tips will reap you rewards not only in satisfaction but also greater well-being.  And doesn’t that sound like a great way to rock your work in 2012?

If you’ve found these tips helpful, check out a new telecourse I’m offering

Life Beyond the Hamster Treadmill

to develop skills that help you tune into what’s most important to you so you can start living the life you want now.

I wish you Happy New Year and cheers to an awesome 2012!

Today I’m being featured on Bliss Habits, a site crafted by Kathy Sprinkle who is conducting an experiment on how to add more bliss to everyday life.   She’s approaching this task with a high degree of playfulness which I absolutely love and don’t we all deserve a little more bliss in our lives?

Kathy asked me to share insights on a virtue that is near and dear to both of our hearts — inquiry — aka curiosity, a core value for me.  I wrote about how to transport yourself out of stuck mode through curiosity.  

I hope you enjoy the post and learning more about Bliss Habits.

Have you ever wished you could wave a magic wand when you’re spinning on a frustrating situation and instantly transport yourself out of stuck mode?

Did you know that the way you behave when you get stuck is the opposite of how you behave when you are a state of flow.

Curious? Let me give you an example.

Recently I was struggling to write content for my website to introduce a new seminar on discovering your hidden potential. I was really excited about this offering.

But every time I sat down to write, I got stuck.

Instead of writing, I started sorting through my inbox. I walked my dog. I surfed Facebook and YouTube. I cleaned my office.

By the time I got serious, half the day was gone. I needed to get this intro page done and now I felt a time crunch.

We’ve all been there – the art of procrastination.

After wasting most of the day, you would think my next logical step would be to sit down and write the damn page right?

Wrong! Next, I started to……..For more, keep reading on Bliss Habit 

Once in a while, a great story comes along that resonates with you on such a core level, you can’t ignore its message.

For me, it started with a soul-sucking task paired with the soundtrack from the City of Angels.

In a previous work life, I was required to send a weekly assessment of my activity that was an objective report, filled with numbers and devoid of any real significance.

I’m sure you can relate.  Just imagine the most mundane task that you’ve HAD to do that fell way short on the satisfaction meter.

Every week was drudgery.  I would wait until the last minute to send it, belaboring over what I should report on.

How could the success stories and the heartfelt interactions with my customers possibly be measured through a set of simple numbers?

Certainly, the numbers were not what got me out of bed in the morning.

What was important to me was how my work really impacted people’s lives, something that wasn’t captured in this report.

My only salvation was belting out the lyrics to the song “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls as I struggled to write.

And I don’t want the world to see me 
Cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am 

The lyrics haunted me.

This report didn’t represent my work and it certainly didn’t represent me.  I knew there was so much more to what I was doing.  I felt like a fraud.

I was selling my soul by doing work that wasn’t valued for my true impact.

And I don’t want the world to see me, cause I don’t think that they’d understand 

The song Iris awakened a fire in me that I had forgotten and could no longer push down.

Each week, the agony got worse.  The report had nothing to do with what was important to me and the pain and frustration built up to the point I felt like I was going to explode.

When you bleed just to know you’re alive

I was in the wrong job and I knew it.  What was my problem?  After all it was great pay, great people, great work — for someone else.

The song continued to resonate in my heart and soul.  I had been numbing what I was feeling, submerged into the abyss of my subconscious but the lyrics awakened them.

I just want you to know who I am 

Fortunately with each agony there is a silver lining. 

It’s the pain we experience that fires us up and ignites our passion to do more and change.  The conflict feeds our desire and highlights what we don’t want so we can begin to explore what we do.

When we’re caught in this feeling of despair, frustration, anxiety, it can be hard to see, but it’s the torment of your heart and soul that brings clarity to what’s most important to you.

After what seemed an eternity of this soul-wrenching task, the dread fueled my fire to explore what I wanted.

My intense desire to be challenged and have impact motivated me to go after and get a promotion.  I emerged from the fog and awakened to the possibilities through this song.

When you find yourself in a situation that feels like you’re selling your soul, remember there is gold to be gleaned from each awakening.   Use the fire that’s been stirred to help you define what you want.

Ultimately, it’s the accumulation of struggle and pent up energy that serves as a powerful catalyst to help you lead with what most important to you.

I just want you to know who I AM