You might recall that this client decided to let self-sabotaging talk have free reign each morning after a quiet time of meditation, writing down each self-sabotaging thought and determining to let such thoughts go for the rest of the day. In the meditation itself, he began to ask for guidance about his life’s work. You also might remember that he is unemployed, having suddenly been laid off from a position due to funding cuts.

Stepping out, speaking your dreams, and taking concrete action will always lead to changes in circumstance and energy. Two months later, look at all that has happened!

• Freelance work (found by consistently talking to his contacts) has given him a small income of $2300 a month. It’s not enough, but it’s a solid start to beginning his own successful business. By acting in faith that he could create work rather than telling himself the economy is bad, he has manifested money.
  
• His meditation time has given him a certain knowledge that he wants to use the work experience and skills he has, but in his own business rather than working for others. He gets energy and passion from being around creative professionals, so his target market (which we are still narrowing down) is men who are established in the arts – painters, writers, silversmiths, independent filmmakers, and musicians. He feels completely enthused and passionate about serving this group.
  
• He is almost completely free of the self-sabotaging talk!   He reports, “I listen each morning for the voice, ready to write down what it says. I realized the other day that almost all the time now, nothing comes!”  He is both delighted and amazed.
  

Even more amazing things have come along.   He began to say that he wanted to attend a conference with other entrepreneurs, although he had no money to do so.   One of his friends offered him a ticket to a high -visibility event across the country, a ticket worth $2000.  The friend hooked him up with a roommate to cut hotel costs, and a family member heard of the opportunity and gave an early birthday gift of an airline ticket.  Off he went on a trip to somewhere he’d never been before (he wanted to travel, remember?).  As we talked about this trip and how it just opened up before him, I reminded him that speaking our desires always puts energy toward our desires into play.

The golden nugget he got from this event was believing that he could, in fact, create a six-figure business. With eyes glistening, he told me, “I was standing there talking to guys who were millionaires! And what I could not believe was that they were just like me!”   He got it that these men had all created their millions, not by being born rich but by actively working toward their dream.  He is so stoked up by seeing this!  His face is glowing, his energy is higher, even his dress and grooming are improved.

As for his dream of seeing Africa, he decided to search the Internet one night and found a volunteer program he that gives a week’s tour in South Africa in return for two weeks of volunteer work there.  His passport pictures are made, and he is applying for a spot. Instead of thinking it would be years or maybe never that he saw Africa, he may actually go within six months!

Stay tuned for more about this man and the amazing life he is creating – all because he was willing to open himself to guidance, coaching, and facing his fears.   To make a difference, BE different.  Even the smallest step will start you on your path.

(c) Sue Painter

Over the past few years I’ve consciously removed myself from exposure to blatantly violent images.  It’s interesting that once I did this, my senses became sharpened to lesser forms of violence, too.  For instance, I don’t want to watch arguments on TV, or constant sniping.  It doesn’t serve me to watch Judge Judy, for instance.  It doesn’t serve me to watch a sit-com where the women are always talking in degrading ways about their husbands, or the husbands are always treating their wives as people to be manipulated and lied to.  I’ve noticed that a lot of what is available to watch on TV is demeaning – as is much of reality TV.

The Law of Exposure states that over time, we become our thoughts and actions.  As I write this, it shocks me to suddenly recall that my father often repeated a quote that went something like “we will rise, fall, or remain the same according to our greatest thoughts and deeds.”  That’s not exact, and I can’t find the original quote or who said it, but whomever it was, long ago, understood the Law of Exposure.

It’s my experience in working with hundreds of clients that entrepreneurs need a very enriching and conscious diet for their brains.  The books we read, the movies we watch, the teachers we follow – these feed our gray matter, our spirits, and our souls.  We are, in my opinion, literally called to do our work.  If you are feeling sluggish, bored, unsuccessful, or otherwise stuck take 15 minutes to reflect on what you’ve lately been feeding your brain.  And while you are at it, reflect on what your own brain has been feeding others as you speak and act.  Trash in, trash out – that’s a powerful thought, no?

(c) Sue Painter

1. You are so committed to your sport, in such a disciplined, focused way, that it is literally visible in and around you, at least to me.  How did you come to grow such a great ability to focus?
2. When you are playing golf, it seems to me that each moment of the game is your sole purpose for being.  Focusing only on what you are about in that moment, giving it your sole attention and purpose, puts you into a space of heightened awareness that gives you an edge.  Would you agree?
3. When we know our soul purpose, we have the ability to step into that purpose with great energy and even love.  We feel a passion for what we do, and an ability to surrender to the flow.  It’s as if our soul takes over and runs things, is the driver (no pun intended, Tiger) until we step out to do something else.  What do you think about golf being your soul’s purpose?
4. When we surrender to our soul’s purpose, everything in our life comes into alignment to support what we have dedicated ourselves to.  I believe that healing from your surgery as well as you did, and coming back so strongly, is connected to your living in your purpose.  Instead of the surgery and your recuperation being the story, it was only a sidebar, a support to your main story of being one of the world’s greatest golfers, ever.  Your deeper focus was getting back to playing, and recuperation was just a part of staying in the game.  Do you see it that way, too?

Amazing things happen when we have the discipline and focus to follow through, to practice with sole purpose, and to let our work flow from our own soul’s purpose.  Mine isn’t golf, and probably yours isn’t, either.  But we both do have a soul purpose, and we can be just as great as Tiger Woods if we are dedicated and committed, like him.

(c)  Sue Painter

Soul retrieval has been defined as  “returning the missing pieces of the self.”  If you search for the term on Google, you’ll find many entries for soul retrieval.  There is definitely a connection to the mind and the body, meaning that the experience of reclaiming a missing part of one’s soul will be felt both in the mind (emotion) and in the body.  Besides the “aha” moment, I see the breath change or the structure of the body shift.  Very often, a person’s face will change dramatically, becoming more relaxed, younger, and brighter.

Almost all of us lose pieces of our true self, or our soul, as we go through life.  It happens in many ways, through life choices that take us away from our secret wishes, or painful situations that we handle by closing off a part of our hearts.  I say that I help entrepreneurs and solopreneurs find their soul purpose and then work with them to create satisfying, financially successful work.  I’ve never thought about what I do as soul retrieval, but I can see why Annie said it is.  Even my training and experience have set me up for this – besides a Master’s in rehabilitation counseling, I’m a licensed massage therapist who has studied advanced energy and body work techniques for a dozen years now.  Put those two together with my intuition and my very sharply honed business and marketing skills, and  you’ve got a pretty well versed soul retriever on your hands!

I’m going to think more about Annie’s description of me, and whether I want to use that term in my self-description and marketing.  If you have comments pro or con, I’d love to hear them.  You can comment here, or e-mail me at sue@confidentmarketer.com.

Thank you, Annie.  Whether what I do is soul retrieval or not, it is sacred and live-giving, and I’m honored to be associated with the term.

(c) Sue Painter

Have you ever wondered why you just never get around to doing something that you absolutely know is important in your life?  It’s a rare person who can honestly answer no, LOL!   Here are some of  the things I see when someone asks for my help and who is working off their path:

• Boredom
• Irritation
• Whining
• Excuses
• Unhappiness
• Depression
• Frequent illness (headache, nausea, stomach ache, lack of energy)

It’s too daunting to ask directly “What is your soul’s purpose?”  We can’t approach finding the bare trace of your path in such a forced and quick way.  Instead, we have to search here and there, looking for the barest beginnings of an overgrown, hidden trail.  So here’s how I often start helping someone discover soul’s purpose.  We begin by understanding what it is NOT!  You’ll know what your soul purpose is not by building a list of tolerances.  I often begin my Soul Purpose workshops by having people do this, and we always get a few good surprises and laughs.  Here’s how to do it by yourself:

• Get a few sheets of blank paper or a large sheet of paper from a flip chart.
• Draw a vertical line down the center of the page(s).
• At the top of the left column write “I am tolerating these people and things.”
• List everything you can possibly think of that you put up with and really wish you didn’t have to – a low paycheck, a spouse who never takes out the garbage, a button off your shirt, clothing that is too tight, a snotty co-worker – no matter how big or small the issue is, write it down.  Close your eyes and let the list come, and when you think you are done close your eyes and do some more.  It often takes a while to prime the pump – sometimes people have been tolerating things for so long they are numb to it.
• Now, at the top of the second column (on the right) write “inspiration.”  Pick one or two of the things off your list that really bug you and think about how your life would be without them.  Think about how energizing it would be to quit tolerating these, once and for all.  Feel within yourself the tiny flame of excitement you get at the idea of freedom from these things.

That’s a short and quick version of what we often spend two days doing – questioning, puzzling, and talking our way through list after list of tolerations, and crafting in the opposite column a life based on inspiration instead.  Amazing things happen, one being that people get closer to their purpose.  The weeds and vines in their way begin to get rooted out, or moved aside.  With some commitment and humor and self-reflection a person starts down the path of finding her soul purpose.  And over time, we can take that soul purpose and create work that is financially successful, deeply satisfying, and often joyful.

I believe one of the most critical actions one can do is to find one’s soul purpose.  Taking that and crafting it into successful entrepreneurism is deliciously sweet, like the icing on your birthday cake.  May you find your way to both.

(c) Sue Painter