The end of the year is upon us. As residents of this lush spacecraft called Earth, we have traveled around the sun one more time.
And in doing so, we each traveled our own orbit. Did you change yours at all? Did you adjust your gravitational force or your velocity to take your journey into new desired territories? Did you realize how one choice can change the entire trajectory of your journey?
It did for me. It began as a career ‘’gift’. I booked a small but juicy role on Dennis Quaid’s show ‘Vegas’. I never auditioned. I was booked solely off of my demo reel. The shoot went amazing but when it aired my performance was one note. I felt such acute disappointment at throwing away an opportunity. So I swallowed my pride and made a choice: I emailed an acting coach I had worked with and enrolled in his scene study class. From there, I was paired up with this actor who happened to be deeply immersed in Eastern Spirituality. His views on life and his love of South East Asia spilled onto me, inspiring me to finally decide on a location for the anniversary trip my husband and I had been trying to plan for the better part of 9 months. Now I had the strong feeling – we should go to Asia. And we did. This trip to Asia ended up being so fulfilling, adventurous and magical that it inspired me to finally have the courage to do something that I had wanted to do for a long time — sell our house -– change the ‘way’ we lived.
My husband and I weren’t the same people as when we had bought our suburban little house and we wanted a new place to reflect our evolving life. We wanted to rent a cool loft, walk to places, be ‘urbanites’. And 3 months to the day of our return to the US, our house was sold in the upswing of the market and we were unpacked and basking in the sunset from our loft in the Marina. But the universe wasn’t done with me yet.
Having redefined my ‘space’ I had an aching sense that it was time to face my career, deal with the jumbled mess that it was, projects unfinished, acting seemingly stalled, not having booked any new work. Though expensive and daunting, I enrolled in ‘Playing Big’, a course put on by a career coach and writer who I had been following for two years: Tara Sophia Mohr. I enrolled off a last minute email blast. It was a leap. I’ve never done anything like that before. And lo and behold an unexpected situation arose not two weeks into the course that I would not have been able to handle and ultimately turn into a positive event, had it not been for the wisdom and guidance I had already received through the seminar. Then I made a decision and asked for something that I normally wouldn’t have that culminated in me booking a big national commercial. And now I approach 2014 with exciting projects on the horizon, a new found confidence in my work and a great new team around me who believes in my talent. So thank you universe for gifting me the Vegas roll and letting its energy alter my orbit.
That’s my little inspiring story for you. But I don’t think I would have been able to take this crazy journey and have the confidence to make all those choices along the way if I hadn’t been doing personal growth work over the past few years. I spend A LOT of time doing visualization work, writing morning pages and soaking in as much ‘self help’ info as I can and then distilling it into applicable food for thought. Thus I wanted to share with you a few ideas and people that will help you kick-start your journey into 2014:
1. Write your own horoscope.
You know when you read your horoscope, just because its there in the back of a US Weekly at the nail salon? You read how mid month is going to be a good time for a job change and that on the 5th you should put on a sexy dress and hit the town with the girls. Even though you think it’s all a bunch of crap, in the back of your mind, you put those things in motion. I bet you mull over planning a girls night, or analyze what is going on career wise that could allow you to make a change.
Sometimes you need to be given permission to make big life decisions and your dreams.
So I invite you to write your horoscope for 2014! Write the horoscope that you would love to read every month of this upcoming year — if it’s already in writing in front of you, you have no choice but to make it happen. For example:
2014 is going to be a thrilling adventure!
Old patterns that hold you back (i.e. procrastinating on the shopping websites) will finally be shed in January!
Have your closet cleaned and ready as you will be invited to awards and events in your industry in February!
Hard work pays off in March as two projects close to your heart will take flight!
— etc etc. Do you see what I mean?
2. Imagine and then write down what a really good day FIVE YEARS from now will be like.
You know those really good days? Not when you win an Academy Award or your child is born — those are big milestone moments — but a good day where you were busy, productive, running from a great meeting to a fun audition, connecting with an old friend, getting good news… at the end of it you feel happy and fulfilled, both from career and life? An old acting coach of mine had us write down what a ‘good day’ looked like five years in the future. We had to write a page of text describing from start to finish this good. It had a huge impact on me.
So start imagining. Where do you wake up, who is there, what you eat, what you do, what are the projects you are working with, who are the amazing people that you are surrounded by. See yourself living the goals that you think are out of reach today. And most importantly, write down what you feel – how this life 5 years from now is making you feel.
3. Now… Write down your really good day ONE YEAR from now.
Now that you know what your life Five Years ahead can look like, do it for one year from now. The things that you do in that day are precursors to your future successes. So see them now. Get that ball rolling. What does a great day, 365 days from today look like? See yourself there, describe it in detail, the more human the better, and reflect in that image the way you got there. And don’t forget how it feels. Can you bring that feeling into your life today? That will bring you one step closer.
4. Write your fortune cookie.
This is basically the abbreviated version of #1. I love to have little quotes and mantras around me that inspire and ground me. They often include the word ‘Breathe!’. Yes… just breathe.
There is so much goodness available online to help guide you beyond these four exercises and inspire your journey. Here is just a small sampling of where I venture:
1. Tara Sophia Mohr. Career coach, inspiring writer and poet. Playing Big might possibly have changed my life.
2. Marie Forleo. Kickass entrepreneurial career coach with infectious videos every Tuesday. (hat tip to Ms. In the Biz founder Helenna for turning me on to Marie!)
3. Danielle LaPorte. Career and Life coach. I discovered her through Marie – her work on ‘goals with soul’ and ‘feeling your future’ is fantastic. Watch this video.
4. Steven Pressfield. He is a phenomenal fiction writer but ‘ Turning Pro’ and ‘Do The Work’ have been huge motivators for me.
5. Seth Godin – Gives great motivating words of wisdom on life and career in his daily emails.
6. Jason Silva – He’s not a career coach by any means, but his ‘Shots of Awe’ series are a huge inspiration to me and give voice to my feelings on existence and our near future. He adds another dimension to work and purpose and I think he might for you as well.
7. TED TALKS – they are online, all of them, food for thought from some of the world’s best minds and kindest hearts.
So go forth, paint the life of your dreams, and then leap, both feet forward, into it.
If you have other sites that help guide you on your journey please share! I wish each and every one of you a magical transition into 2014, filled with love and purpose.