PURPOSE

1st Week Challenge: Sketching Your Map

When we’re children we know–we know!–what we want to do in life. And then we grow up. For most of us, where we end up doesn’t look much like what we envisioned as kids. More importantly, we often feel disconnected from something important. Something we’re meant to do. We refer to that as a calling. Our purpose. Where our dreams meet reality. Except for too many people, their dreams never quite meet reality. They don’t tap into their calling. They remain unfulfilled. They feel disconnected from that childhood eagerness for making a BIG difference! We get it. Boy, do we get it. Just a few years ago that’s where we were.

Would you permit us to save you some pain and heartache? Yes? Excellent! Carve out a little time this week, maybe an hour or so, if you can manage it. Grab a notebook or journal. Read through our power-packed little guide, “Reclaim Your Dream” (link below). Reflect on what it says. Consider what you’re feeling, what you’re thinking. Write it all down. Give yourself permission to recognize what is important to you, and maybe even what you want your life to stand for.

Here’s Why This Is Important

What legacy do you want to leave behind? You might feel regret that you aren’t already on this journey of living your purpose. That’s OK. Be kind to yourself. You are in good company. Then smile! Because now, right now, start. Start your journey at fulfilling your life’s deeper purpose. When we aren’t living our purpose we feel dried out. Our whitepaper dives into the 10 simple steps to empower you to Prepare for Rain in your life. Download here: Yes, please!

2nd Week Challenge: Getting Your Fuel

Isn’t it crazy how often you make plans and then life goes kind of sideways? While we’re not quite convinced there is a universal law at work, like gravity, there is a common experience that when you choose to really get after whatever has been burning within you–singing, writing, a career-change, world-travel, whatever–your choice gets tested. One or two of the people around you may offer an opinion. It is not unheard of that, sometimes, they’ll offer it rather hard. Here’s guidance on what to do when that happens. Because it almost certainly will. But you’ll get through when you have the launch codes. And if you are already experiencing this type of challenge, skim through our blogs about black crabs. Unless you have gone crabbing along the beach, most people have no idea how crabs behave toward other crabs trying to break through to freedom.

3rd Week Challenge: Getting Yourself Organized

The chances are pretty good that you’ll need to get a better handle on your time. Few of us are born with a natural gift for being highly productive. Which means getting more done in the same amount of time is one of your early challenges. This is because, unless you are independently wealthy, you need to keep your day job while developing your passion. In our pursuit of achieving difficult goals, we’ve learned a bunch by scouring the interwebs, read a lot of books, gone through hundreds of hours of training, and picked the brains of high-achieving friends and mentors. We’ve adopted many of their suggestions, installed apps, read books, listened to many (MANY!) podcasts, webinars, telecasts, and conferences. And…we created a power list of what works exceptionally well. Check it out here: Top 10 Best Tools For Getting Things Done.

4th Week Challenge: Getting Your Vision Clear

Now that you’re making progress on discovering your passion and purpose, with your launch codes stuffed in your back pocket, and the top 10 tools for being more productive posted next to your computer, it’s time to get serious about where your journey is heading. Many people get to this stage…and falter. This is normal. Because it’s a new thing you are doing, or you are doing new things to get you moving, right? Well, you still have your life. It can become quickly overwhelming. Do I do this first? Or that? Is it more important to stop doing _____ or start doing ______?

Becoming super-efficient at doing things you don’t care much about is not a recipe for living your purpose. But it feels so much safer to stay in your comfort zone. Sometimes people end up taking baby steps (a good thing) in circles (you’re-not-getting-very-far thing). So, where are you going? Did you know that a lot of major corporations, as well as small companies, don’t have a vision and mission statement? And those that do often have super-flowery language without much substance? For you to get up to a jogging pace, you must be crystal clear about your “why.” We have a tool we use with our coaching clients that gets them started. You can use it, too: Your Vision & Mission.

5th Week Challenge: Getting Productive

You are doing awesome! Good on you. Now that you are clear on your vision and mission, armed with tools to keep you focused and productive, you’ve reached the stage where it helps to use a list to keep you that way: focused and productive. In an age of digital everything, with screens to stare at, it can be difficult to feel like you had a productive day by the time you reach the end of it.

Have you ever fallen into bed, exhausted, wondering “What exactly happened today, anyway?”

Yeah. We get it. This will help: Productivity Planner.

6th Week Challenge: Getting Your Rhythm

Alrighty! You’re cooking with gas now. You’re finding your stride, most of the time. But it can be hard to maintain.

Worse, you might try too hard to make up for what seems like lost time. But it’s ok.

Relax. We believe nothing about all those life lessons you have accumulated are wasted. In fact, integrating all of that into living your purpose is what makes it so important to others.

Find your pace, through a little trial and error. It all counts: Finding Your Rhythm.

7th Week Challenge: Getting to Share

Awesome. You’re amazing! By now, you are probably feeling empowered, hopeful and strong. A wonderful way to deepen that experience is to share with others, to help them live into their purpose. Especially when you are sharing with those you love and influence. Here’s an example.Our daughter watched her parents struggle with transitioning from a stable and predictable job to building a company from scratch. Wasn’t pretty most of the time. But she was learning. She was paying close attention. Gratefully, the outcome was good. She discovered she had some deeply held aspirations of her own. With a little nurturing from her folks (OK, sometimes a lot of nurturing), she became a published author at age 17. Then she won awards for her novel a few months later.Here are the steps we took, some of them accidentally, that influenced her path.

Our daughter has watched her parents struggle with transitioning from a stable and predictable job to building a company from scratch. It hasn’t been pretty to watch, most of the time. When you have held back from pursuing your most deeply held dreams, it can be scary and threatening to start going after them in mid-life. But she was learning. She was paying close attention. Gratefully, the outcome was good. She discovered she had some deeply held aspirations of her own. With a little nurturing from her folks (OK, sometimes a lot of nurturing), she became a published author at age 17. Then she won awards for her novel a few months later. Here are the key steps we took, some of them accidentally, that influenced her path: Nurturing creative genius in others.

8th Week Challenge: Getting Aligned

For some, living into their purpose is what they are thrilled to do outside of their work life. They volunteer on the weekends at a shelter or soup kitchen, for instance. They might take a hobby and turn it into a side business. Or they finally become diligent about doing what they love. One example: a stay at home mom who feels called to write, gets serious about writing every day instead of when she “feels like it.”

For others, the experience of living their purpose is more like being yanked in a different direction than where they are. Often, it means changing their workplace. Even changing what they do for a living. Which is cool! And also a big deal. And for some, finding the pathway to their purpose might be as simple as changing the position they are in where they already work. Have you heard the business phrase about “being on the right seat on the bus”? In 2014, we discovered a wonderful tool for getting clear on our natural entrepreneurial giftedness. We want to share it with you. It’s free. It’s quick. And it’s powerful. Just know these things before you discover your entrepreneurial DNA profile:

• Although it feels like a personality profile, it’s not. Your “eDNA” is the decision lens you look through when making decisions about work, whether you are a solopreneur mom building a bakery business on the side or a mad scientist inventing the next great invention in the basement. And your decision lens is just as strong whether you work as a cashier or you are the Chief Financial Officer.
• Like all profiles, some questions (there are only 10) will seem to give you four great answers to pick from. If that happens, pick the one that is most like you most of the time. One or two questions might leave you scratching your head, “Huh? I don’t relate to any of these answers.” If this happens, pick the answer that is the least unlike you, or the one you think could be you some time in the future.

Discover your profile here: My eDNA. Let us know what you learn! Leave a comment below so we can celebrate you.

9th Week Challenge: Getting Empowered

You may reach a point when you’re ready for more: more growth, more speed, more impact. That’s a great time to get help. You can do all of the transformation work on your own. But it can get hard to maintain your motivation. It’s even harder to hold yourself accountable. There are many things that can sidetrack you.

So, when you’re ready to step up, let us know. We’re happy to chat. And there’s no pressure. You’ll know if it’s the right time and we’re the right coach for you. Give yourself about 30-60 minutes to tell us where you are, where you’ve been and where you want to go. We’ll get together by phone and talk about it. Click here to schedule a chat and give us a peek into your purpose: Coaching Interest Call.

10th Week Celebration: Whoo Hoo!

Congratulations! You’ve made it. Thank you for trusting us enough–and you enough–to take these easy steps toward living your purpose.

We hope they’ve helped.

We’d be honored to hear your stories. Please share on our PFR Living Your Purpose Facebook group.