The 1st Step to Being Empowered

If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?

This weekend, I was in Montreal with hundreds of people at the International Positive Psychology Association conference who dedicate their lives to answering this question.

Karen unexpectedly lost her husband at a young age. She wanted to die with him, but with young children, she knew she had to live. She began reading, meditating, and working on herself, and soon she realized that she could CHOOSE happiness. Wanting more people to realize that they too can make happiness a choice, she created the World Happiness Summit for thousands of people. Everyday, she wears a bracelet to remind her.

Emilia was nearly beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend before she escaped with nothing. She healed through sheer determination, running and deciding to dedicate her life to social justice. In November and December, she's running the length of New Zealand – 1500 miles – to show other survivors that they there's life on the other side of trauma. She wants to “encourage people to reach out for their extraordinary, exceed themselves and become leaders of positive change.”

Talking to them, I was both inspired, and to be honest, I also felt a teeny-tiny bit inadequate. Then I remembered… I'm just like them, and so are you.

These extraordinary people once had ordinary lives, but they woke up one day and made a choice to pursue their purpose. Emilia didn't know how to get sponsors or raise the money, she hadn't run that far, and she was afraid to leave her job, but she made the choice to try.

That's the 1st step to being empowered and living a life of purpose: To make the choice to finally do it. Even if you don't know how, trust you'll figure it out. It's really that simple. The research is super clear about this: Your level of commitment is critical to success.

Yet, many of us are walking-dead. We shuffle through life wanting more, but then get drowned in email and laundry, and before we know it, we're waking up on New Year's Eve wondering where the year went. I'm constantly receiving emails from people who feel “stuck”, “lost”, “unfulfilled”, “exhausted” and “like something's missing.”

If this is how you feel, then something is missing – YOU. Your passions, your strengths, your heart's desires.

Every single one of us is capable of doing something “extra”ordinary. Your purpose doesn't have to be “huge” like Emilia or Karen, but you are worthy of putting your gifts and ideas into the world. In fact, the world NEEDS your gifts. Where would we be if Rosa Parks had held back out of fear? One simple decision of her worth changed civil rights forever.

My client Heather just launched her dream yesterday (see the new “PurposeGirls on Fire” section below for her story) and it's amazing to see how she's already impacting lives with simple social media posts.

Journal on this:

• Which of your heart's ideas you've called crazy, stupid, impossible, impractical, yet they still nag at you and won't go away?
• What issue do you want to contribute to?
• What would make you feel alive?

Or maybe you don't know what you want to do. Then decide that it's time to get help in figuring it out.

Let these extraordinary people who are just like you remind you of what's possible when you make the decision to get unstuck and be empowered.

With so much love,
Carin
(Here's a pic of me speaking about Purpose at the Intl Pos Psych conference! It was such an honor and so much fun! I got to do it because 8 years ago, I made the choice to pursue my purpose no matter what.)

PS: I’m going to have something huge to share with you in a few days: The doors will be opening on Monday for my transformational 4-month coaching program – EMPOWERED! I’ve led EMPOWERED for several years, and it has truly changed the lives of so many women in dramatic ways! As I share with you details about the program I’ll also share stories of some of the amazing women who have gone through the program. They’re truly inspirational, and the opportunity to empower women like them – and like you — is the reason I do what I do. Stay tuned!

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PurposeGirls on Fire – Real success stories of people who are going for it!

As a child, Heather Daniel loved her grandmother's cooking. She wanted to write a cookbook “one day,” but before she knew it, she had two kids, a full-time crazy-busy event planning job, had gained a lot of weight, and was stuck in constant stress and overwhelm. She was turning 30 and knew she had to make a change. Heather came to Goddess Girls Retreat with me and Taylor Strecker and immediately opened up about feeling stuck and wanting more. As she and I began working together, at first one-on-one, and then in my EMPOWERED sisterhood, she focused on getting healthy for her boys. She did Whole 30 and saw amazing results so she continued eating paleo and began taking her kids on walks and in time, she lost 40 lbs. Heather posted all of her delicious paleo recipes on Instagram and people asked for more. She felt ALIVE and excited again about life! So she came back to her dream of a cookbook and I'm SO THRILLED to share that just yesterday Heather launched her new blog, “Sweet Revel“. She's a brilliant healthy chef (mostly Whole30/Paleo) and an expert event planner so you can expect lots of fun, refreshing ideas for meals, mommy-ing, and play. She's got the mom-meal-planning down! She's getting her dream done one blog post at a time. She's lost more than 40 lbs on her own cooking and is so so so inspiring. PLEASE join me in following this awesome mama who's following her true purpose. Click here for Sweet Revel!