Last month I had the privilege of attending a conference with 500 other entrepreneurial women from around the world. We were there to focus on developing a life of purpose to serve in a greater way. It was an incredible experience, being in an environment with all of these other powerful women who are charging ahead, through their own fears and doubts, to make this world a better place.
It was a rather transformational event for me and I learned lots of great stuff to carry forward into my business, but I also learned an awful lot about myself and living a life of purpose. This month I'll be focusing on Discovering Your Distinct Purpose with just a sliver of some of the lessons I learned during those 3 days!
I promised myself that if I was going to invest the time, money and energy to go all the way to San Diego to attend this conference, I was going to be "all in". No hiding in the shadows. I was true to this promise when within the first hour, the conference leader asked for a volunteer to demonstrate an exercise. I looked over my shoulder and about 3 feet away from me was a microphone, so I jumped up to it!
The exercise had to do with understanding how we are holding ourselves back. Here I was with 300 other women looking at me in this room, as well as about 200 more watching me on live stream, a spotlight in my face and this multi-million dollar mentor talking directly to me!!! Now, some would never have even attempted stepping up, but I did. Why? Because I made that decision to play all out before I even walked into that conference ballroom.
I didn't die. Sure, I was nervous, but I also had so many women come up to me afterward and say how much they appreciated what I shared and that it impacted them as well. That's part of what I wanted to accomplish at that conference - that is part of living a life of purpose!
During the course of the demonstration, the conference leader helped me see how making decisions can be a struggle for me and the negative ramifications of that. She taught all of us that we can say we're going to do something all we want, but it must start with a decision. Until you make a firm decision, nothing changes. For example, you can say you want to get healthy, but nothing's going to change for you until you have food in front of you and you make a healthy choice.
This principle ran through the entire conference for me. I had a BIG decision to make. It's a decision that I know will move me forward in living my life of purpose. I was terrified of making it. I knew I wanted to. But fear has been holding me back for about 2 months now.
Ever had that feeling? It's paralyzing. You get stuck in the "Should I?" or "Shouldn't I?" game. All that leads to is anxiety and beating yourself up. In reflecting back over my life, this has been an ongoing pattern.
I usually have an inner knowing of what the right decision is for me, but I'm too afraid to make it. I don't want someone to be mad at me. I don't want people to think I'm irresponsible. I don't want to be judged. But if I say "No" to the opportunity for one of those reasons, I'm not honoring myself and my calling. It's done out of fear and a little piece of me dies.
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of this! I'm tired of half living, tip toeing around fears of what other people think and just going through the motions!
So here's your Vibrantly Live challenge for this week: Each of us has a limited amount of time we've been blessed with on this Earth. I don't want to just take up space. God's given me and He's given you a very special and unique purpose. We are either moving toward that life of purpose or away from it every day with the little decisions we make.
What's a decision you've been wrestling with? I want you to take just a couple of minutes and be honest with yourself. What are you afraid of? Is it like me - where you're afraid of being judged? Are you afraid of messing up? Are you afraid of looking silly? What is it? But keep drilling down until you've found the core fear. Once you have that, I want you to imagine that fear couldn't happen. Now, what would you do? What options open up for you? Spend some time really feeling what life could be like if you stepped outside of that fear and then ask yourself, "What am I going to choose today?" To stay in fear or step into the possibility of a life of purpose?
Be sure to share your decision below. Until next time - get out there and vibrantly live! Bye!
Do you feel guilty about not being the wife/mom you want to be? Are you tired of saying "yes" to things you don't want to do? Do you know there's got to be more to life, but can't find it? Visit http://www.VibrantlyLive.com for more great info on how to enjoy your life and your family more.
Be sure to pick up my free report: Stop Trying to be Perfect! 4 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Life while you're there as well!
By Alyssa Johnson, LCSW.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alyssa_Johnson
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