It was just a normal day, and I was perusing in a Facebook group. I saw a post by a woman asking for advice on her website redesign. Even though I was a life coach, having experience as a web designer, I was drawn to help out. I took a look and saw immediately this woman’s uniqueness and what she should play up on her new site. I loved looking into who she was and thinking about how that could translate into words, images and colors. It was huge fun for me. I wrote her a quick note about what I saw and got an amazingly grateful response back. This moment and this way of helping was so big in my mind. The yearning to do that again was enormous. But fear held me back.

This seemed like a difficult thing to do – help people see themselves so they can build an online presence. I didn’t want to limit my coaching and I was scared I couldn’t provide it. But it was there was this unexamined longing to do it.

After many months, I’ve finally gotten clear and realized that “branding” is truly what I want to do. I get that all of my skills and my natural gifts add up to branding work. I’ve worked in advertising, graphic design and helping others see their purpose. All of these truly lead to helping mission-based entrepreneurs state what they offer and what makes them special in a short clear way. I’m now moving forward, so inspired and excited to help people brand their unique genius.

It was fear holding me back. Do you have some of the same fears around getting clear on what you do?

1) Fear that if you get too specific, no one will hire you.

The truth is, if you don’t get specific, no one will remember you and recommend you.

2) Fear that even though your soul is yearning to do a thing, you won’t be able to deliver.

Know that if your heart wants something, you were given the gifts to do that exact thing. You may need some training, to read some book, but trust me, you have those skills within you.

3) Fear that you’ll miss out if you only do one thing.

Do you want to transform people or solve broad emotional problems? Great, but there’s so much work in the small areas. You can use all of your coaching skills in a tiny area where people need help. And you can get really good at that one thing because you will have seen it and coached on it many times before.

4) Fear that if you pick one thing to do, you are stuck with that forever.

Know that change is the constant. Only as you start doing something will you know if it’s right for you. Websites and taglines are quite easy to change. But first, you have to pick.
Ready to admit what your soul is yearning to do within your business? What’s niggling in the back of your mind as really fun to do? What would you do if you couldn’t fail?

SaveSave

The post Is Fear Holding You Back From Getting Clear? appeared first on Wild Practical Life.

“Your office is a mess,” she says. “You should have your pencils perfectly lined up. All your books and papers are just clutter.”

“You have to know the whole strategy for your business and follow it perfectly,” she commands in my ear. “You have to attract a ton of clients right now and know the formula for success. Look at that successful person. She knows exactly what to do. You have to be like that.”

Her words make me freeze. I start spinning and spinning and don’t know which direction to go. Each thing I think of isn’t perfect enough in my little perfectionist’s eyes so I do nothing.

She wags her little finger in front of my face, daring me to have all of the right answers right now.

The endless circles my thinking brain has taken me in finally tire me out. I take a deep breath and a different way comes to mind. What if I embrace the imperfect mystery? What if I thank my little perfectionist, give her a gentle pat on her head, and feel into the messy, beautiful glory of building something from my soul’s wisdom? What if I enjoy the struggles and the uncertainty?

What if I take whatever beautiful, messy action that feels like joy to me today?

I realize that each day of glorious, muddled, risky activity adds up.

I make a nice, little pink bed for my perfectionist, thank her for her hard work and settle her into sleep.

Today I choose imperfect.

The post I Choose Imperfect appeared first on Wild Practical Life.

Then they really got excited and starting flinging poo, as monkeys like to do. The poo clearly signaled that I belong covered in excrement and should just go get a real job. I can’t stick to anything and am worthless. Then they screamed some more about how everyone at an upcoming meeting is going to see me as small and incompetent. My monkeys were having a grand time.

I was seized by their loud screaming and flinging for a long time and wasn’t able to get back to sleep. Eventually, a wiser voice spoke up. It was quiet and I had to work hard to hear it over all of that wailing, but I knew it was important.

You are running a business meant to help others, it said. There’s a deeper purpose to what you do.

Keep Going, it said with a deep, resonant whisper.

It said that being in business by yourself and promising the intangible is going to be hard.

Keep Going, it said.

When I took a few more peaceful breaths and listened again it said that my energy, excitement, and confidence in my business will be like a spiral. It won’t be a straight line of more and more enthusiasm, but will go up, down and around like the whorls in a sea shell.

Keep Going, it said.

Your monkeys will scream and fling poo, it said. Pet them on the head

And Keep Going.

Remember that hint of a beautiful vision you see for your business twenty years down the pike. Hold on to that.

And Keep Going.

Your work to help others is part of a bigger mission in this world, connected to all of the other beautiful souls doing their own part. It is needed.

Keep Going.

The post Are Screaming Monkeys Drowning Out Your Mission? appeared first on Wild Practical Life.

I took a trip this week and I love flying, especially the take off. I hadn’t quite examined why until recently I read a book called “The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters” by Emily Esfahani Smith. In it, she puts forth 4 pillars of meaning and the last is transcendence, feeling very small yet also connected to others. This can occur on a spiritual level when you feel connected to a higher power or on a secular level when you see a beautiful sunset. It also happens to astronauts high above the Earth, viewing it from space.

Can you remember moments of transcendence in your life? Maybe viewing a stunning painting or listening to music? These moments can bring meaning to our lives, a sense of connection to others and the order of things.

Can you find time to gain more transcendent moments? Plan to watch a sunset, be out in nature, or go to a museum perhaps? These moments can be key memories that sustain us all our lives.

The post Can You Fly Above It All? appeared first on Wild Practical Life.

Let’s get planning, the Wild Practical Life way.

How to Spend Your Time

First, you only have so many hours in the day, so you can consciously decide what to do during those hours or you can let the world fling you about. Because being flung around usually isn’t very productive, let’s choose to consciously decide what to spend our time on.

Now, how to choose what to do each day? Now most people might say do what makes you the most money, or what can get you the most exposure for your business. In life, they might say to choose what will make you most productive, look the best or be the most connected. These are all choices of the ego. That’s not the Wild Practical way.

Connect to Your Inner Self

In Wild Practical planning, we first connect to our inner self, our soul, and decide what tasks we want to tackle. Connecting to your inner soul can be tricky, you have to be quiet and connected. Perhaps you’ll use meditation, check in with your body, or use oracle cards. Go through your task list while connected to your authentic, inner self, and choose the tasks that you feel the most positive and energetic about.

Trust

The tasks that your soul is telling you to choose will lead to the most joy, connection, and amazing life. Trust it.

The post Can You Imagine Planning Your Day Using Your Intuition? appeared first on Wild Practical Life.

Courage and Happiness

I now realize that choosing to be an attorney didn’t come from any strong life purpose or inner guidance. It came from a desire for ego candy like recognition, respect, money and from not listening to my true self. It’s taken real courage for me to step off that ego-candy path and step into a life guided by my inner self. And you know what? I was miserable as an attorney. However, now I do my coaching work, incredulous that something that makes me feel so amazing is mine.

What is a Wild Practical Life?

What are we really talking about at Wild Practical Life? It’s about helping you see that the path that has traditionally led to respect and recognition, the one you think that others expect of you, is what has made you dissatisfied, unhappy and stuck. It’s about helping you find an energetic, happy life led by the guidance of your inner voice.

How to Live A Life From Soul

What does it mean to live a life from soul, from your inner self? It means:

• Being aware of your thoughts
• Being aware of your feelings and your body
• Figuring out what’s blocking you from happiness
• Finding tools to check in with your inner self for guidance in how to live your life
• Following the joy and energy to find your path, always trusting that the next step will appear
• And finding the courage, each and every day, to step off the traditional path of chasing money and recognition, and take the path of soul towards a Wild Practical Life

Something Worth Having

I wish I could show you the way to living a life from the inner self in one short blog post, but like anything worth having, it takes time, curiosity, knowledge and help. At Wild Practical Life, we’re working on the most creative, innovative solutions to get you on the path to a joyful life.

The post The Secret to a Deep, Happy, Fulfilling Life appeared first on Wild Practical Life.

As you prepare and eat your meal today, settle into the connection to women around the country and to those who have come before you. Feel the connection to your mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Or perhaps to ancestors who have prepared food. See them sitting around a fire or a in a mustard yellow kitchen. Appreciate the simple goodness of the human tradition of preparing food. The cutting, the chopping, the stripping, the mixing, the cooking – all can be meditative movements to connect us to the long line of women before us. Feel the power of the sisterhood, owning, appreciating and taking comfort in it.

If, as a woman, you feel an objection rising up about the unfairness of women given the task of the manual labor, I understand. I feel that too. Feel that part of your nature and honor it. But also realize the power you can gain from the feminine aspect of interconnectedness on this day.

Thanksgiving can be a time of stress of many different personalities coming together. Take this time to consider each person at the table as a soul struggling to do their best, just as you are. Feel the love and connection to your fellow humans. Be open to truly seeing the others around you.

Also be open to letting them see you. Relax into your comfortable, natural self (perhaps with a few deep breaths) and let others see you for your gifts. Connect to them from your inner self.

Plugging in to history, to family and to those sitting around the table with you all can fill you with the simple, necessary pleasure of connection.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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Are there things in your head and heart that you hide from the world?
Are there visions and dreams that you don’t act on out of fear?

How to stop playing small?
In small continuous ways.

First, dig deep and connect to that quiet part of you that knows your truth.
Listen to what it wants to say.
Connect to its beautiful magic and creativity.
Decide how to bring that out into the world.

Each step will be scary.
Each step will make you worry about what others will think.
But if there’s excitement on the other side of the fear, take the step anyway.

Repeating that step with another variation will be so much easier the next time.
So aim for a slightly bigger step in the world.
And push past fear again to the excitement.

There will always be bigger steps and always be fear.
But if you don’t start on the road with each careful, small step
You will never get to where you need to go.
Take your wild, beautiful, creative, colorful steps.
They are needed in this world.

The post Playing Small? appeared first on Wild Practical Life.

It echoes a storm within me.
So many things are being stirred up
And the feeling of a power
Building up that no longer can be contained.

The need to fight for what I believe in.
The winds blowing to uncover that which was complacent.

What storms are brewing in you?
What hidden discontents need to be uncovered?
What power do you have that you must start to own
In order to live your best, biggest, fully-aligned life?

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How do you find this elusive lion? How do you embrace it so you can have what’s on the other side of fear?

First, know that by being brave and facing your fears is the way to tremendous growth. Know that if you don’t push your fears aside to live your life, you will become stagnant and much smaller.

Second, focus on what’s beyond the fear. Focus on just how much you want that and how great it would be to have it.

Bravery. Dig deep and find yours. It’s worth it.

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