1. business and industrial

How To
Change
The
World:
a guide for
inspired
visionaries
by Lissa Rankin, MD
© 2012 All Rights Reserved
A
Are you a visionary or longing to be one?
are you
a visionary?
Take this little pop quiz to find out.
Y
• Do you sense that something’s wrong with the world and
long to be part of the solution?
Are
• Have you experienced a life-altering event that changed everything for you, and now you want to use that experience to
help others?
You
• Are you fed up with living an unremarkable life where you
trade your soul for a paycheck — and now you’re ready to do
something meaningful with your life?
• Do you have an innovative idea that might make the world a
better place?
• Do you feel called — the way a priest is called to the priesthood or a doctor is called to medicine — to help others heal,
transform, connect, love, create, succeed, and thrive?
If you answered at least one of these questions with a rousing
“Hell yeah,” pat yourself on the back and own it. You’re already
a visionary, even if you haven’t done anything to realize your
vision yet.
Welcome to the club!
a
Visionary
or
Longing
to be
One?
are you
a visionary?
I
If this doesn’t sound like you but you wish it did, don’t worry.
Sometimes the call to be a visionary comes gently in the quiet
of the night, and we don’t hear it at first. But it always comes,
sooner or later.
We’re All In Service To The Same Thing
After years of coaching visionaries and working with them at
OwningPink.com, I grew curious about how we all interconnect. I recognized similar traits, overlapping dreams, a unifying
vibration that weaved us all together into a quilt of Oneness, in
service to the same thing. I’m an artist, so I’m very visual, and as
I was trying to sort out how we all fit together, I sat down with
my sketch pad and I drew this:
2
A
As visionaries, we may feel like we’re out on a bicycle spoke in
our own little category. We may think that a visionary spiritual
leader and a visionary financial advisor empowering women
have nothing in common, that a visionary sexuality teacher and
a visionary career coach couldn’t be related, that a visionary
doctor and a visionary creativity teacher couldn’t possibly be in
service to the same thing.
are you
a visionary
But we’d be dead wrong.
At the center of our service lies something universal that unites
us all.
I am in service to it. Martha Beck is in service to it. My friends
Amy Ahlers, Danielle LaPorte, Kris Carr, Reid Tracy, Alexis
Neely, Lisa Nichols, Jonathan Fields, Linda Sivertsen, Arielle
Ford, Barbara Stanny, and Ryan Lee are in service to it. Fellow
authors and visionaries Bernie Siegel, Nicole Daedone, Christiane Northrup, Gabrielle Bernstein, Shiloh Sophia McCloud,
Mike Robbins, Steve Sisgold, Judith Orloff, Christine Arylo,
Tricia Barrett, Sera Beak, Sheila Kelley, Brian Johnson, Debbie
Rosas, and SARK are all in service to it.
But what is IT?
3
I was sitting on the floor of my friend Mike Robbin’s office
drawing this “Circle of Love” visual with my finger on the floor
while fumbling through explaining this concept to my dear
friend SARK. I kept drawing the circle in the center, saying
“We’re all in service to this thing… you know, this thing in the
middle, this…” (I kept drawing the circle.)
are you
a visionary?
Then, as I drew the circle one more time, SARK’s roommate
piped up, “It’s Oprah! We’re all in service to Oprah.”
We busted out laughing, and I thought, “Yup. We’re getting
close. Whatever Oprah is in service to, it’s that.”
Over time, I have asked more people. I sat around a table and
described this idea to a FemmeMind group of female visionary
leaders (who are also in service to this thingie in the middle,
whatever we want to call it.) As I drew my visual on a sheet of
scrap paper, they began passing it around, transforming it from
a clunky bicycle wheel with spokes into a web, in which we are
all interconnected with each other.
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W
We brainstormed what to call the thingie in the middle. The
self-actualized human? Personal liberation? Empowerment?
Someone said, “We’re all in service to Source.”
are you
a visionary?
Bingo. That’s the closest answer yet.
In her awesome, must-read new book Finding Your Way In A
Wild New World, Martha Beck calls us visionaries in service
to Source “way-finders,” “menders,” and “The Team.” Martha
Beck, Amy Ahlers, and I did an awesome telejam about how to
change the world, talking about visionaries who long to heal
the world. (Listen here!)
Traits of Team members (excerpted from Martha Beck’s Finding Your Way In A Wild New World):
• A sense of having a specific mission or purpose involving a
major transformation in human experience, but being unable to articulate what this change might be.
• A strong sense that the mission, whatever it is, is getting
closer in time.
5
• A compulsion to master certain fields, skills, or professions,
not only for career advancement, but in preparation for this
half-understood personal mission.
• High levels of empathy; a sense of feeling what others feel.
• An urgent desire to lessen or prevent suffering for humans,
animals, or even plants.
are you
a visionary?
• Loneliness stemming from a sense of difference, despite generally high levels of social activity. One woman summed up
this feeling perfectly when she said, “Everybody likes me, but
nobody’s like me.”
Martha Beck noticed other traits The Team exhibited (usually
not all in the same person but present to some degree.)
• High creativity; passion for music, poetry, performance, or
visual arts.
• An intense love of animals, sometimes a desire to communicate with them.
• Difficult early life, often with a history of abuse or childhood
trauma.
• Intense connection to certain types of natural environment,
such as the ocean, mountains, or forest.
• Resistance to orthodox religiosity, paradoxically accompanied by a strong sense of either spiritual purpose or spiritual
yearning.
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• Love of plants and gardening, to the point of feeling empty
or depressed without the chance to be among green things
and/or help them grow.
are you
a visionary?
• Very high emotional sensitivity, often leading to predilections for anxiety, addictions, or eating disorders
• Sense of intense connection with certain cultures, languages,
or geographic regions.
• Disability, often brain-centered (dyslexia, retardation, autism) in oneself or a loved one. Fascination with people who
have intellectual disabilities or mental illness.
• Apparently gregarious personality contrasting with deep
need for periods of solitude; a sense of being drained by social contact and withdrawing to “power up” again.
• Persistent or recurring physical illness, often severe, with
symptoms that fluctuate inexplicably.
• Daydreams (or night dreams) about healing damaged people,
creatures, or places.
You! You! You!
7
If you read that list (like I did) thinking “Check, check, check,”
you’re definitely one of us visionary healer mender way-finders
on The Team in service to this thing-a-ma-bobbie in the
middle.
A
are you
a visionary?
And the world needs you. NOW! As Martha wrote, “If enough
people start mending their true nature in the incredibly interconnected world we’re creating, the cumulative effect really
could begin healing the true nature of, well, everything.”
The Hero’s Journey
Every single one of us visionaries is invited to embark upon
what Joseph Campbell calls “the hero’s journey.”
In The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Campbell writes, “A hero
ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of
supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered
and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this
mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his
fellow man.”
Such is the life of the inspired visionary.
Campbell describes the hero’s journey in a series of steps. The
hero is going about her business, living her ordinary life, unaware that her life is about to change, when suddenly, the metaphorical phone rings. It’s her calling, ringing in. She picks up.
On the other end of the phone line, she receives the message —
the calling, what Campbell calls “the call to adventure.”
8
In his Philosopher’s Notes on Joseph Campbell’s work, Brian
Johnson describes Campbell in this way:
(Soul) Phone rings.
are you
a visionary?
It’s God on the other line.
You just let it ring… and ring… and ring…
Not good.
You stagnate.
All that potential positive energy you would have unleashed on your
hero’s journey? It comes back against you. And destroys you.
Eek.…
Jesus said the same thing, btw: “If you bring forth what is inside you,
what you bring forth will save you. If you don’t bring forth what is
inside you, what you don’t bring forth will destroy you.”
Campbell boils it down. “To refuse the call means stagnation.
What you don’t experience positively you will experience
negatively.”
When the hero accepts the call to adventure, the hero must
then leave the ordinary world and venture out into a strange
new world, leaving behind the safety and comfort of the known
world to experience something new. In this strange new world,
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the hero faces tasks and trials, a series of obstacles to master,
dragons to slay, paths to forge.
are you
a visionary?
In this process, the hero faces great challenges. The challenges
may even threaten the hero’s life. But the hero overcomes the
challenges and, in the process, the hero is granted a precious gift
— the proverbial holy grail of wisdom, riches, love, and other
gifts which the hero must now bring back to the community,
often at the risk of facing even more challenges and when she
does, the community benefits. The world is saved. She proves
her mettle and is deemed the hero.
In other words, she becomes the inspired visionary, the one
brave enough to answer the call, embark upon the adventure,
face and overcome the challenges, and transform what she
learned into the service of others.
What is calling you to adventure? Will you pick up the phone
and, once you do, do you have the guts to embark upon the adventure?
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Finding Your Calling
are you
a visionary?
Do you want to be an inspired visionary but feel unclear about
your calling? Don’t worry. Your time will come. To guide you
along, I asked my friend Gregg Levoy, author of the life-changing book Callings: Finding & Following An Authentic Life, to help
me help you. Here’s what he had to say.
What You Can Do: How To Find Your Calling
by Gregg Levoy
In stone sculpting, an artist taps on a stone lightly with a
hammer to see if it’s “true.” If it emits a dull tone, there are
faults running through it that will crack it apart when you work
on it. But a clear ring, one that hangs in the air for a moment,
means it’s true, has integrity, and, most importantly, will hold
up under repeated blows.
11
This is precisely the information we need to know about our
callings — that they ring true and will hold up under repeated
blows, the kind the world specializes in. And the best way to
find this information is to continually ‘tap in’ and listen with
what St. Benedict called “the ear of the heart.” It’s the core of
what spiritual traditions refer to as the work of discernment,
of clarifying a calling, and it sometimes requires not just pickand-shovel work, but patience on the order of years.
are you
a visionary?
About the best discernment tool I know is talking to yourself.
Having a self-reflective practice of some kind, an ongoing
dialogue with the deep self, and thus a working familiarity with
who you really are at any given moment.
When I was interviewing people for my book Callings, I
was impressed by how many of them talked about having
a practice of some kind, the whole purpose of which was
to strike up a conversation with the part of themselves that
knows what it knows, knows where other people leave off
and they begin, knows the feel of integrity in their lives and
the feel of its absence, and knows precisely what it’s going to
take to make their lives literally “come true.”
The practice could be daily journaling, meditation, therapy,
artwork done in the service of self-discovery, or contemplative reading. It could be dream interpretation, regular short
retreats, regular intimate conversation, or participation in any
kind of group whose members get together for the primary
purpose of waking up in some fashion — a women’s or men’s
group, a 12-step group, a spiritual group, a personal Board of
Advisors.
Once you turn the receiver on, though, you first have to be
willing to hear what you hear and not clamp your hands over
your ears to try and drown out your marching orders because
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they’re scary or inconvenient. And then you have to figure
out what the signs and signals emanating from your listening
practice are trying to tell you.
are you
a visionary?
One of the questions I asked everybody I interviewed for Callings was, “How did you know this was the right path?” “How
did you know if the call was true or false, whether it came
from soul and God and passion or whether it came from ego
and wishful thinking and the desire for financial security and to
show the bums?”
People’s responses were remarkably consistent. Some of the
signs that a calling is true:
• It keeps coming back, no matter how much you ignore it.
• It comes to you from several different directions, like passions and talents and dreams and body symptoms and
things people say to you and the books that mysteriously
make their way onto your night table and the way events
and opportunities unfold in your life. There’s a clustering effect and you’ve got to connect the dots.
• There’s a feeling of just sheer rightness about it. It just feels
right. You can’t quite explain it, but you can’t deny it either.
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• Your enthusiasm for it tends to sustain itself over time, and
doesn’t just peter out after a few weeks or months. You
are you
a visionary?
feel a kind of affinity, even affection, for the mundane work
involved in bringing the call to fruition, and they all have
it. No matter how exalted they seem, every one of them
has its version of licking stamps and stuffing envelopes. If
you’ve ever been in a play or a band, you know that the
percentage of time you spend rehearsing compared to
performing is something like 90/10. But when you’re doing
what you love, you don’t mind that equation, because it’s
all part of getting to do what you love to do.
• It unnerves you a little, or a lot. One woman I interviewed
said that if a call feels safe and easy, it’s probably not the
right path, but if it scares her, it probably is, and suggests
that she’s close to something vital.
• The truth or falseness of a calling is ultimately in the results. In other words, you’ve got to be willing to try them
out, to experiment, to walk down the road a little ways even if you’re not sure it’s the road - and take field notes.
Take a step at a time and look at the feedback your life
gives you. Does your energy expand or contract? Do you
feel more awake or more asleep? What does your body
tell you? Your dreams? Your friends?
So what’s calling YOU?
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It’s Hip To Dream Of Changing The World
are you
a visionary?
According to a recent survey, 97% of Gen Y people seeking
employment are looking for work that allows them “to have
an impact on the world.” The 1980’s are over. No longer are
people satisfied with the achievement of material wealth and
consumerism as primary life goals. The flower children of the
1960’s have made their indelible mark on the world, and the
next generation wants to make a difference.
Will most of those people choose revolutionary lives, carry
picket signs, buck the status quo, and make a stand for what
they believe? Nope. Even among those who feel a yearning to
make their life matter, most will still wind up punching time
cards, having 2.5 kids because they’re “supposed to,” building
white picket fences to separate themselves from the neighbors,
watching mindless television, eating Cheetos and drinking wine,
gaining weight, and slowly, sadly letting go of the idea of ever
making a real difference in the world.
But not you. You’re different. That’s why you’re reading this,
because something in you knows there’s got to be a better way
to live.
15
Why Being A Visionary ROCKS
are you
a visionary?
The majority of people live lives of quiet desperation, never having a clue what their life purpose might be. When you ask them
if they have a calling, they stare at you blankly, grab another
drink, and change the subject. If you ask whether they love their
job, they either roll their eyes in a way that lets you know they
don’t, or they start talking about their six figure salary or their
pension or their 401K or last year’s bonus in a way that suggests
that at least the money’s good, even if the work doesn’t exactly
light their fire. If they’re lucky, their job taps into their natural
gifts, lets them express themselves creatively, and rewards them
financially, even if they’re not exactly changing the world.
{Visionaries Have Purpose}
But visionaries are different. When you ask us about what we’re
here on this earth to accomplish, our eyes light up. We know
what we’re here to do—and we’re raring to make it happen—not
at some distant point in the future, but yesterday!
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Many of us became visionaries the hard way and learned our life
lessons through the school of hard knocks. Often, we endured
traumas, suffered indignities, made big phat mistakes, and experienced loss. In the process of learning what we’re here on this
earth to do, many of us felt alone, misunderstood, and victimized before our experiences launched us (often against our will)
are you
a visionary?
onto a path of awakening to a better way, a way that revolutionized our lives. Much of what fuels us as visionaries is an intense
desire to use what we’ve learned to serve other people and usher
them through the process of recovering from misfortunes and
thriving in all aspects of their lives.
{Visionaries Are Sexy}
Visionaries tend to be compelling. People are fascinated with
how we dream of changing the world. Because we’re so passionate about what we’re here on this earth to do, visionaries
are more than a little bit sexy. We’re on fire not just because we
love what we do. We also exude a confidence that radiates like a
superhero’s magnetic force field that attracts positive vibes and
fabulous people. We tend to have charisma, and people have a
tendency to check us out and think “I’ll have what she’s having.”
{Visionaries Are Well-Loved}
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Visionaries may come across as “popular” or “famous” or part
of the “in crowd,” but being a visionary has nothing to do with
popularity, fame, or affirmation from the outside world. It’s
about living your truth, being unapologetically YOU, and letting
your freak flag fly as you do what you love. Who doesn’t want to
be around people who are passionate about what they do? The
people you attract come to you not because you have good hair
are you
a visionary?
or flat abs or a great rack. They come to you because they share
your vision and you inspire them. It’s all about building your
tribe, so the people who share your vision can become ambassadors for the greater good you all seek to spread.
{Visionaries Are Divinely Guided}
When you’re a visionary genuinely committed to serving the
highest good (rather than your own ego or self-interest), the
Universe tends to smile upon you. The perfect people flow into
your life just when you need them. The bill gets paid just in the
nick of time. The clients show up. The ideas channel through
you. The signs from the Universe conk you on the head. The
book practically writes itself.
Why? Because the Universe wants us to succeed! When our visions utilize our natural gifts and unique life experience in service to helping millions of others become more healthy, happy,
and whole, everybody wins. The Universe knows this. We become vessels for Divine work on earth.
{Visionaries Are Abundantly Rewarded}
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Visionaries who attract an audience and spread their message
may actually become quite wealthy, when they’re motivated
by service, rather than by greed. While money is never the sole
goal that fuels visionaries, it is a necessary part of promoting
are you
a visionary?
the vision. You can’t serve your mission if you’re depleted emotionally, physically, mentally, or financially. When you’re truly
aligned with your vision, the old cliché is true—you do what you
love and the money will follow. Many of the wealthiest people
in the world are visionaries. While the risk of being a visionary
is greater, the blessings and monetary rewards can also be more
abundant.
{Visionaries Are Happy}
Those who are doing work they love, reaching those they seek to
help, getting paid handsomely for what they do, and witnessing
the results of their vision in action are happier than those who
either don’t have a vision or aren’t seeing their vision fulfilled.
Dare I say that realizing your vision can also lead to better
health, more intimate relationships, a rocking sex life, freeflowing creativity, a deeper relationship with a spiritual source,
and a radiant feeling of aliveness?
When you’re doing what you love, changing the world in the
process, connecting with others who share your vision, and getting well paid for what you do, life is pretty damn awesome.
19
Visionaries feel radiantly alive, and aside from the awesomeness
of making your mark on the world, who doesn’t want to feel
alive, with all the real, pure, raw emotion that accompanies such
vitality?
The Challenges Of Being A Visionary
are you
a visionary?
But the visionary life isn’t for everyone. Some genuinely aren’t
interested in changing the world, and others who long to simply
can’t stomach the risk visionary work requires - and that’s okay.
Because there is a shadow side to being a visionary that few
people talk about.
Most of us don’t exactly choose to become visionaries. Our visions choose us, and once they do, we feel beholden to them.
But that comes at a price.
Being a visionary often commands big change and big risk.
We’re more likely to quit stable jobs, leave unhappy marriages,
move across the country or travel the world, and avoid having
children or leave the kids at home while we doggedly pursue our
visions. Our visionary ideas may lead us to sell the house, liquidate the retirement account, borrow money, and still wind up
broke. We may also be rejected, discriminated against, cast out,
or burned at the stake because of our visions.
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The road to realizing a vision is not always golden. Once we get
clear on our vision, many years may elapse before our vision
begins to bear fruit and manifest in the real world as cold, hard
results. During that “waiting and becoming” time, visionaries
may get exceedingly frustrated, depressed, and disillusioned.
Once you know what you’re here on this earth to do, you may
are you
a visionary?
want it to happen yesterday. Impatience tends to run rampant
among frustrated visionaries whose visions are taking too long
to come true while we watch our bank accounts dry up and find
ourselves face to face with those in our lives who are losing faith
in us.
While we’re waiting to effectively deliver our messages to the
people we might ultimately help, we may encounter resistance
that shows up with many faces. You might have a hard time accessing the people you want to help. Your tribe might not show
up. Even if you reach your ideal audience, you might discover
that they have absolutely no awareness about the problem you
seek to help them solve. Or they may be so resistant to making the changes you might suggest they make that they turn on
their heels and walk away, leaving you wondering what the hell
you did wrong.
If you’ve been successful in reaching your audience, you might
get pissed off at them for being so unaware. After all, once you
know the nirvana they can experience, you assume everybody
will want what you have to offer.
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Being a visionary requires boatloads of courage, stamina, and
what my husband calls “stick-tuitiveness.” While some visions
may easily find widespread support, others may face roadblock
after roadblock. Just think about the early abolitionists or
suffragettes or civil rights activists. Look at the gay marriage
are you
a visionary?
advocates of today. Being a visionary may mean picket signs
and assassinations and hate mail. You might be cut off by your
family, alienated from your friends, and fired from your job
when you put your neck on the line for a cause you believe in.
Some people just aren’t cut out for putting themselves in the
line of fire in this way.
Plus, there’s the whole issue of money. You may start out all
gung ho about your vision, only to discover that you’ve used up
all your money, your spouse is breathing down your neck, you’ve
never actually written a business plan, and you have no idea
how to replenish your funds.
Some visionaries give up before their dreams have been realized,
and when they do, a heart-wrenching pain replaces the excitement of the vision. Once you recognize an injustice in the world
that you have the skills to help rectify, once you identify a way in
which you might improve the world, once The Universe delivers your calling, you open a whole can of worms and it becomes
impossible to put the lid back on. If you give up on your dream,
the real suffering may begin.
The most certain path to unhappiness is turning your back on
your calling. Once you know what you’re here on this earth to
do, you MUST do it. To choose otherwise is to guarantee a life
of quiet desperation.
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What Inspired Me To Write This Manifesto
what
INspired me
TO WRITE
This
manifesto
I know all this intimately because I am one of these visionaries.
At 7 years old, I felt called to become a healer. I spent my young
life rescuing, and nurturing back to health, injured baby squirrels (22 in total) until I was old enough to go to medical school
and learn the skills I needed to start using my healing gift on
humans. In service to my calling, I went to school for twelve
years and spent eight years as a full partner in an OB/GYN practice only to realize that the health care system was so out of
alignment with my vision and integrity that I didn’t feel capable
of practicing the kind of medicine I dreamed of practicing back
when I was an idealistic child. I became so frustrated and disillusioned that I did something really radical. With no back-up plan,
no safety net, an unemployed spouse, and a newborn daughter, I
left medicine, thinking I would never go back.
After selling my ocean-view house in San Diego to pay the sixfigure malpractice tail that would fund my freedom (long story),
I moved to the country with my husband and daughter to lick
the wounds of my shattered idealism and heal my heart. Not
until nine months later did I realize that you can quit your job,
but you can’t quit your calling.
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It took me two more years to get clear on what I felt called to do
and another two years to get up the nerve to actually start doing it. My vision has morphed over time, but it became clear to
what
INspired me
TO WRITE
This
manifesto
me that it’s my life purpose to change the face of health care as
we know it. I feel called to help others expand the definition of
health to include, not just physical and mental health, but also
interpersonal, professional, spiritual, creative, sexual, environmental, and financial health. This model for what I call “whole
health” is largely missing from medicine, along with the best
medicine of all—love. My mission is to feminize the broken,
outdated, patriarchal health care system, reclaim love as a healing practice, bring spirituality back to medicine, encourage patient/healer collaboration, empower patients to heal themselves,
and change how we deliver and receive health care. I call it “Pink
Medicine” and invite others­—patients and healers alike—to become Pink Medicine Revolutionaries with me.
When I first heard the whispers of my life purpose, I totally
freaked out. Like “Who? Me?” I didn’t want that job! After all, I
left medicine because I was done. I mean, ALL DONE. I wanted
to have nothing to do with medicine — ever. I wanted to be an
artist and a writer and retreat to a safe haven somewhere in the
woods where I’d never have to face another physician ever again.
I was so wounded by the trauma of working within the health
care system that I wanted OUT.
But the calling wouldn’t go away. In fact, it only crystallized over
time.
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what
INspired me
TO WRITE
This
manifesto
I
I became very clear that promoting health without encouraging
others to seek wholeness is an exercise in futility. Not until we
realize that our bodies are mirrors of our interpersonal, spiritual,
professional, sexual, creative, financial, environmental, mental,
and emotional health will we truly heal. But in this realization, I
was faced with a dilemma. As an OB/GYN physician, I consider
myself an expert in health and sexuality. And as a professional
artist and author, I’m pretty hip on helping people with their
creativity, as well. But I’m not an expert in spirituality or business or personal finances or romance, all of which are clearly key
to whole life health.
So very early on, I learned that collaboration would be the key
to helping me realize my vision. Why should I try to become an
expert in all these various niches when so many others are called
to rock it in these other aspects of whole health?
Enter OwningPink.com, which started as my personal blog
and quickly became a community platform for fellow visionaries committed to helping others heal, connect, and thrive in all
aspects of their lives.
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As my vision became clear, the path to bringing my vision to
life appeared before me, one baby step at a time. Along the
way, I learned the key steps to being a happy, fulfilled, peaceful,
successful, financially-viable visionary. And, though I’ve learned
many valuable lessons in my life, I tend to learn them the hard
what
INspired me
TO WRITE
This
manifesto
way. And like all good visionaries who learn lessons the hard
way, I’m passionate about helping other visionaries avoid the
mistakes I made and facilitating the success of others who share
similar visions.
Now that I am finally on the path to realizing my vision, I feel
another calling coming on. I want to help other inspired visionaries realize their visions.
What I’ve learned is that most inspired visionaries are in service
to the same goal. Abraham Maslow said, “Musicians must make
music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be,
they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need
we may call self-actualization… It refers to man’s desire for selffulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become actually
what he is potentially: to become everything one is capable of
becoming.”
Amen, brother!
Most of us, I find, are in service to this self-actualized person. We
want to help others realize their full potential, and in doing so,
realize our own.
No biggie.
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what
INspired me
TO WRITE
This
manifesto
T
That is what I want for you. I want you to realize your own potential, and I want to help you assist others in achieving the
same goal. When I serve you, I serve those I feel called to serve.
We are all spokes on the same wheel, serving a hub where our
visions all overlap. When I serve you, you serve me. When you
serve your clients, you serve my clients. Individually and collectively, we can change the world, if only in our own small way.
So that’s what I’m here to do - help you to help others. Part of
my business now includes helping inspired visionaries realize
their potential so they can help others realize theirs. It’s a
beautiful job. I’m so passionate about it I get all antsy sometimes
because the visions of my clients are so beautiful, I’m moved to
tears constantly. I want their dreams to come true yesterday!
But I’ve learned to surrender to divine timing. I can help my
clients gather the tools they’ll need in order to realize their
visions, and then I have to sit back and trust that everything is
happening just as it should. I’m sure the same is true of your
dream.
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If you’re one of these inspired visionaries seeking to bring your
vision to life, this manifesto is my gift to you. In the process of
realizing my own vision and working with visionary mentors
and clients, I have distilled down what I’ve learned into a few
core skills every visionary needs in order to be successful. I hope
they help you tap into your inner strength and recognize how
you can fully step into your greatest potential. (I know you have
it! The world needs you now!)
what
INspired me
TO WRITE
This
manifesto
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If you don’t feel you already have these traits, don’t worry. Most
visionaries are not born with these skills; they actively cultivate
them.
So here you go - my thoughts on the traits of inspired visionaries
and how you can supercharge these gifts in your own visionary
journey.
{Attribute #1 COURAGE}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
If you let the inevitable fears that accompany the visionary life
run the show, I guarantee you will fail to realize your vision. You
will never completely silence the scaredy-cat voice of The Gremlin that whispers evil nothings from within all of us. Eliminating
fear is not the goal.
The goal is to dissociate from The Gremlin’s voice, to realize that
this voice originates from your primordial brainstem (the lizard
brain). The Gremlin is an evolutionary construct whose singular
goal is to keep you safe. When you’re being chased by a cave bear,
this voice says, “GET THE HELL OUTTA DODGE!” When a tornado is racing your way, The Gremlin yells, “RUN! Get inside!”
When the clan is down to its last berry and eating its last piece of
moose meat, The Gremlin whines, “There’s not enough! Go hunt
for more!”
When this voice in your brainstem starts prattling on, the body
releases cortisol and adrenaline, and any smart human who
wants to stay alive will run from that cave bear, find shelter from
that tornado, and go hunting for more moose meat.
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But when you think about answering the call of your vision and
accepting the challenge of bringing your vision to life, I’d venture
to guess there is no cave bear, no tornado, and plenty of moose
meat and berries to get you through today. In other words, no
need to sound the alarm. Right here, right now, you are safe.
W
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
When your fears threaten to hold you back, they probably
take the form of worry about the future. Maybe there won’t
be enough money. Maybe someone else is better suited than
you. Maybe you’re not strong enough/ talented enough/ young
enough/ whatever enough to pull this off. Maybe someone will
criticize or reject you for standing for what you believe. Maybe
you’ll lose the security of your comfort zone. Maybe….[fill in
your blank.]
But are these fears true? Or are they weak, limiting, self-sabotaging beliefs aimed at keeping you safe, beliefs that will only hold
you back?
You know the answer. In other words, SILENCE, GREMLIN!
Successful visionaries learn to stare down The Gremlin, without
letting The Gremlin rule their decision-making. In other words,
they feel the fear and do it anyway.
They’ve trained themselves to recognize the voice of The Gremlin, dissociate from it, and transform negative thoughts into
positive ones.
Gandhi said, “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with
their dirty feet.”
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In my own visionary journey, The Gremlin was my dirty feet,
and at one point, I realized it was time for spring-cleaning.
Does The Gremlin traipse through your mind with his dirty feet?
Here are some tips for how to recognize when The Gremlin is up
to his nasty tricks again.
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
What You Can Do: How To Recognize The Dirty Feet
Of The Gremlin
1. Worst case scenario thoughts. One of the most dangerous
thoughts The Gremlin uses to muddy our minds is the worst case
scenario. Something in your visionary journey doesn’t go as planned,
and The Gremlin spews “See! You’re a total failure. Who are you to
think you can do this? You might as well give up before this gets any
uglier.” Ouch! Remember, The Gremlin can’t predict the future, so
silence him. Shut him up. Feed him grapes. Send him to time out.
2. Always or nothing thoughts. You’ve heard it before. “I always miss
deadlines.” “I can never sell anything.” “I always choke when the
pressure’s on.” “I never follow through when I say I will.” If you slip
up even once, The Gremlin is going to pounce on you. “I promised
to blog three times a week and I didn’t this week, so I should just
scrap the whole thing because I can’t follow through on anything.” “I
got rejected by that first agent, so I might as well throw in the towel.”
Bullshit! You can do this!
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3. Victim thoughts. These thoughts blame everybody else for whatever isn’t going your way. “The world doesn’t appreciate what I have
{Recognizing The Dirty Feet of the Gremlin}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
to offer.” “I’d be more successful if only the competition wasn’t dissing me.” “This [insert bad thing] wouldn’t be happening if only my
mother hadn’t screwed me up.” You create your own reality. Ditch
the victim thoughts and accept responsibility for your part in the life
you create.
4. Payback thoughts. The Gremlin knows exactly how to make you
feel shitty. “It’s all my fault that I’m broke because I’m a bad person
for divorcing my husband and this is my payback.” The Universe
doesn’t work that way!
5. Glass half empty thoughts. The Gremlin is no Pollyanna and will
focus on the negative, even when all signs are pointing towards the
positive. “Even though I got ten new clients this month, it was just a
fluke and it won’t last.” “Sure, I got a lucky break this time, but it was
just an accident and next time, I’ll fall flat on my face.” Ick! Glass half
full, baby!
6. Name calling thoughts. The Gremlin is like those kids in the schoolyard who love to call you dirty names. “You should have a big ‘L’ on
your forehead, because you’re such a loser.” “You’re a stupid, fat,
worthless narcissist and nobody loves you.” Ouch. See what a meany that Gremlin is?
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W
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When you notice The Gremlin prattling on, recognize that this
is merely The Gremlin’s dirty feet rather than the real truth. The
first step to changing your mind is identifying the damaging
thoughts that can affect your visionary path in profound ways.
Inspired visionaries are BRAVE. They put themselves out there
and take fearless risks others might consider crazy. They fly in
the face of conventional wisdom. They break rules. They ignore
the fearful voices of those who threaten to hold them back. They
make brave choice after brave choice after brave choice, even
when there’s no objective evidence that things will turn out well.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “God will not have his work made
manifest by cowards.”
Do you have what it takes?
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{Attribute #2 OPTIMISM}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
Inspired visionaries have an inexplicable faith that they will
always land butter side up, even when the chips are down. They
view every twist and turn of the visionary journey as divinely
guided and perfectly timed, even when they make “mistakes” or
“fail.”
If, deep down, you don’t believe with 100% certainty that you
will achieve your goals, you won’t.
Words of Wisdom From The Masters
“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live
in a friendly or hostile universe.” –Albert Einstein
“Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.”
–The Buddha
“All that is required to become an optimist is to have the goal and
to practice it. The more you rehearse optimistic thoughts, the more
‘natural’ and ‘ingrained’ they become. With time, they will be part
of you, and you will have made yourself into an altogether different
person.” –Sonja Lyubormirsky
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“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our
present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation
of our mind.” –The Dhammapada
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visionary
I
Inspired visionaries refuse to see themselves as victims. They
know they create their own reality, so they consciously choose
to believe that they will succeed as long as they are aligned with
their integrity, that anything is possible, and that the Universe is
a friendly place, conspiring to help them help others.
What You Can Do: How To Be More Optimistic
1. Avoid activities that drain your energy. If you engage in activities
that make you feel pessimistic (like reading the news), it’s no wonder you see the world in a glass-half-empty way.
2. Lift up your mind. Fill your mind with positive affirmations like the
ones Louise Hay spouts like a free-flowing fountain. (Follow her on
Facebook for daily optimism).
3. Own your choices. Don’t ever let yourself feel like a victim. Remember that you always have a choice how you react, even if you
can’t choose what happens. Wanna be grumpy? Fine. But don’t
be surprised when you don’t feel optimistic.
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4. Surround yourself with optimists. If you surround yourself with
negative, low vibration complainers, no wonder you feel down.
Be discerning about who you hang out with. Choose to surround
yourself with those who help you see the glass as half (or even all
the way) full.
{optimism}
{optimism}
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visionary
5. Fly your freak flag. When you feel like you have to be something
you’re not, you’ll start to feel like the world is conspiring against
you. But when you’re being unapologetically YOU — and feeling
affirmed for doing so — the world suddenly becomes safer and
more positive.
6. Get your giggle on. It’s hard to feel pessimistic when you’re laughing. Find your sense of humor. Let it lift you up.
7. Practice gratitude. Wake up every morning and before you even
get out of bed, remind yourself of three things for which you’re
grateful.
8. Be generous. Give of yourself. Express your gifts. Watch people
light up when you give. Check out 29Gifts.org to practice generosity in small ways. It’ll remind you how beautiful the world is.
9. Move your ass. One word — endorphins.
10.Feed yourself. When you’re running on empty, it’s no wonder
the glass looks empty too. Fill yourself and you’ll see the world
differently.
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{Attribute #3 SELF-CARE}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
Inspired visionaries fill themselves first so they can make the
world a better place. Although it’s tempting to deplete ourselves
in the process of serving the world, doing so serves no one.
I know this intimately. I grew up in a family where the greatest
virtue was to give until you were sucked dry. If you gave until
you were depleted, you were a good person.
But visionaries with big missions can’t sustain such giving. It’s
not scalable. You can only give so much without filling your own
cup. If you give to the point of depletion, you limit your power
to change the world.
To be a successful visionary, you must be healthy in your body,
mind, relationships, professional life, sex life, environment, spiritual life, and creative life. In other words, you must heal yourself so you can heal the world.
Boundaries are key when you’re an inspired visionary. When
you’re a change agent, you’ll attract needy people like a magnet,
and because you’re a good person who wants to change the
world, you’ll be jonesing to help every single one of them —
without getting anything in return. You’ll be tempted to help
people without pay, serve them without sleep, and sacrifice until
you have nothing left.
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Don’t. Resist the urge.
15 Attributes
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I know it sounds noble to give until you’re depleted, but you’ll
never serve your mission if you’re broke, sick, exhausted, and
miserable.
You can, however, help millions when you’re so overflowing
with life force, joy, money, and compassion that your extra
abundance flows over and serves the world.
How do you fill yourself with life force?
What You Can Do: 10 Tips For Filling Yourself First
1. Cleanse your body. Regularly do a detox cleanse like
the one I practice every three months and teach here with
Tricia Barrett. In between cleanses, feed your body living,
green nutrition.
2. Go to spas or get massages and other bodywork.
3. Meditate at least twenty minutes per day.
4. Spend time with high vibration people and fellow
visionaries who lift you up.
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5. Practice pleasure. Do what you love. Create. Relish what
feels good. Revel in the juicy goodness of painting, writing,
skiing, dancing, cooking, reading, or whatever!
{self care}
{self care}
6. Move your body. Hike, do yoga, try Nia dance, find your
erotic creature by dancing on a pole with S Factor, or find
what resonates with you.
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
7. Enjoy regular orgasms, whether in partnership or by
yourself.
8. Take time for yourself. Go on solo retreats to fill yourself
back up. Take vacations with your beloved. Spend an hour
a day recharging in whatever way fills you up.
9. Practice gratitude.
10. Invest in personal growth. Spend time with a life coach,
therapist, spiritual counselor, creativity coach, business
consultant, sexuality teacher, or whatever else you need to
help you feel balanced, full, and whole.
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{Attribute #4 COMPASSION}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
It should be obvious that anyone who is trying to make the
world a better place must have compassion for those they are
trying to serve. But you’d be surprised how many wanna-be visionaries forget this key piece of the visionary puzzle!
Love and compassion for those you hope to serve lie at the soul
of any visionary work. The minute you start resenting those you
serve, it’s all over, baby. If that happens, it means you’re not engaging in enough self-care. You’ve let yourself get depleted and
you’ve slid down the dangerous path of feeling like a victim.
Been there. Done that.
I remember taking a 48 hour call shift in the hospital (did I
tell you I’m a doctor?) and then seeing 40 patients in the office
the next day. I feel called to help people heal and only made it
through twelve years of medical school because of my visionary
dreams. But in that instance, I hadn’t slept a wink and was running on empty.
When one of my patients started whining about her PMS, I
found myself pissed off at her. After all, I had just saved two
lives in the past two days. What did I care about her bloating
and cranky mood?
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I
If you find yourself feeling that way, it’s time to reevaluate, because you’ve fallen off the inspired visionary path.
15 Attributes
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successful
visionary
Most visionaries suffer from a bit of a Savior complex. After all,
we want to change the world! Kinda comes with the territory!
But when we give and give and give - without filling ourselves
first, we wind up running on empty, and then we feel victimized, often by the very people we seek to serve. From this victim
place, we wind up becoming the villain. We lash out. We stop
listening. We lose compassion. We hurt when we seek to heal.
Please don’t let this happen. Keep your cup full. Keep your heart
open. Never forget that at the heart of service lies compassion.
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{compassion}
What You Can Do: How To Be More Compassionate
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
1. Do a loving kindness meditation every morning.
Choose who you want to feel more compassionate towards — your clients, your mother, your partner, your
child, your best friend — and practice sending them love
and kindness. Close your eyes and visualize a pink light
streaming out of your heart and into theirs. Now imagine
another light - a divine light, streaming into the top of your
head and flowing down to your heart. Let that love flow
through your heart and into the other person. Feel the divine love flowing through you. Be the vessel.
2. Practice forgiveness. If someone hurts your feelings or
upsets you practice letting it go. Refuse to hold resentments. Feel your hurt feelings and then let them flow
through you like water. Write letters to those who hurt you.
Express your pain. Then burn them. Bury them. Let them
go. Open your heart. Choose to forgive.
3. Make a home altar. Write the names of people for whom
you want to foster compassion on slips of paper. Place
them on your altar where you’ll see them every day. Say a
prayer for those people whenever you see their names.
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{compassion}
4. Start a morning/night practice. Begin your day setting
intentions about those for whom you wish to feel more
compassion. End your day the same way.
15 Attributes
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successful
visionary
5. See with magical eyes. We all wear masks to protect
ourselves from fear of rejection or repercussion for not
conforming, but underneath those masks lies a pure, radiant light that connects us all. Practice looking past the
masks and seeing the divine (in other words, see YOU)
beneath the masks. At our heart, we are all the same, connected by a common thread that unites us all.
6. Take a moment. When we’re tired, frustrated, hurt, overwhelmed, or depleted, we have a tendency to make snap
judgments and react in snippy ways. When you feel that
tendency, take a deep breath. Pause. Open your heart.
Remember that we’re all just doing the best we can.
Breathe in light, breathe out love. Let it radiate from within
you.
7. Do unto others. If you’re tempted to lash out, think about
how you wish others would treat you. Tap into that genuine need for connection. We all feel it. Be the change you
wish to see in the world.
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{compassion}
15 Attributes
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successful
visionary
8. Love the inner child. When you’re tempted to withhold
compassion, imagine the person as your own child. Yes,
maybe they screwed up. Maybe they did something despicable, even. Maybe they broke your heart or hurt you
deeply. But what if that person was your own child. How
would you treat him or her? See the hurt child in the person
you need to forgive and act from that loving place.
9. Listen generously. Practice just listening. Don’t judge.
Don’t offer advice. Just hold sacred space. That’s all most
of us want. Just open up your heart. Be present. You’ll be
amazed how magical such a simple act can be.
10.Know that we are all one. It’s so tempting to get caught
up in believing that we are separate beings, walking our
own disconnected lives. But this is far from the truth, and
science proves it. Remember that every time you hurt another, you hurt yourself. When you fail to forgive someone,
you are unforgiven. When you judge someone, you judge
yourself. I know it feels abstract, but increasingly, we are
becoming aware that what we do to others, we do to ourselves. Feel the oneness. Let love flow.
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{Attribute #5 PASSION}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
Don’t even think about answering the call and setting off on the
visionary path of adventure unless you’re so freakin’ passionate
about it you can hardly sit still from antsy anticipation. Don’t
get me wrong. Your excitement may not feel like “fun.” Remember, fear and excitement run along the same continuum. The
butterflies you feel are the same.
Think about how you feel when you’re on the rollercoaster
cruising up the hill, and you’re suddenly up at the top, looking
at the big drop down. BUTTERFLIES!
The only difference between fear and excitement is attitude.
Fear makes you shrink back towards safety. Excitement inspires
you to step out onto the ledge and jump.
As my friend Jonathan Fields writes in his book Uncertainty,
“If only we’d learned how to harness and ride rather than hunt
and kill the butterflies that live in the gut of every person who
strives to create something extraordinary from nothing.”
Amen, brother!
Having passion doesn’t mean you won’t feel resistance towards
pursuing your calling. When I first heard mine, I was like “Hell
no! I’m not doing that!”
45
B
But over time, you breathe into it. You lean into it. And at some
point, you know that you’ll be miserable if you don’t stop the
belly-aching and JUST DO IT.
15 Attributes
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visionary
The inspired visionary winds up so passionate about realizing
their vision that their passion becomes contagious. Somewhere
deep down, everyone wants to live a passionate life. We want
to feel something—anything, really­—but we especially want to
feel radically ALIVE. Inspired visionaries radiate. Their passion
makes them sparkle. That sparkle fuels the mission, attracts
the tribe every visionary needs in order to lead a mission, and
warms the visionary, even during dark nights of the soul.
What You Can Do: How To Become More Passionate
1. Live your dreams. Every time you stamp out that fire in
your belly, you dim the light of your passion. Do something
you love. Feel the passion for what brings you joy.
2. Shout it from the rooftops. Don’t squelch your feelings.
Giggle with glee. Cry in agony. Shout with anger. Express
what’s true.
3. Resist the urge to be vanilla. The world wants you to
conform. SAY NO. When you express your truth, it might
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{passion}
{passion}
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visionary
be uncomfortable for others. After all, they’re living vanilla
lives. If you’re suddenly salted caramel cherry chocolate
coconut surprise, they might get all squirrely on you. But
be the surprise. Let your passion flow. You just might find a
whole new flavor nobody else has every tried.
4. Surround yourself with passionate people. Look for
those who speak with their hands. (Italians are great for
this!) Look for laughter and tears. Pay attention to facial
expressions. Notice how you feel. Feel the vibration of the
energy of passionate people. Drink it in. Raise your own
vibration!
5. Be more spiritual. I know, I know. There’s a lot of baggage associated with spirituality. I’m not asking you to be
more religious, but take the time to notice when you feel
super connected to something bigger than yourself. It will
affirm your path, and when you tap in and feel “chosen” to
follow your visionary path, you’ll notice how passionate you
feel.
6. Be unconventional. Give yourself permission to get a little
wild. Want to do cartwheels on the beach at sunset? Do it!
Want to sing while lying on a piano in a nightclub at 4am?
Try it!
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{passion}
7. Determine what you really care about. What do you
stand for? What would you carry a picket sign to protest?
15 Attributes
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8. Be spicy. Wear something daring. Cuss if you feel like
it. Don’t be afraid to delight in what delights you. Be the
hottie in the red dress or the guy in the top hat — but only
if that’s what makes you feel passionate.
9. Employ all of your senses. Taste fully. Smell vitally. See
vibrantly. Hear subtleties. Feel the soft whisper of the wind
on your skin. Notice everything.
10.Laugh often. It’s the fuel for passion’s flames.
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{Attribute #6 VULNERABILITY}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
The world has enough pseudo-gurus, pretending to know it
all when they’re still trying to figure it out for themselves. We
don’t need yet another wanna-be visionary pretending to have
it all together, lying about how many clients they have, making
up fake testimonials, and generally trying to pull the wool over
people’s eyes.
People are attracted to the TRUTH. When you’re first starting
out on the process of trying to realize your vision, it’s okay to
say so. You don’t need to pretend to be something you’re not. In
fact, there’s even more power in being WHO YOU ARE rather
than WHO YOU THINK YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE.
If you want to change the world, be unapologetically YOU.
In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, Brene Brown writes,
“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as
spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and
belonging and joy - the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness
will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
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So own it baby. Don’t make excuses for yourself. Don’t make shit
up. Don’t wear masks. Don’t hide the truth. It will only come
back and bite you in the ass.
Y
15 Attributes
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You have been training for this inspired visionary role your whole
life. Every little thing that makes you YOU — the good, the bad,
the ugly, the powerful, the weak, the courageous, the fearful — all
of it makes you perfectly suited to serve your mission. Not only
is your truth not something to hide, it’s actually the secret sauce
that will skyrocket you to the stratosphere.
When Louise Hay, Cheryl Richardson, and Hay House coowner Reid Tracy led a speaker training for all us Hay House
authors who were speaking at the Hay House “I Can Do It!”
conference, they said, “Touch first. Then teach.” In other words,
tell your story. Share with us your hero’s journey. Be vulnerable,
transparent, and authentic. Tell us how you learned your lessons,
make us trust you, convince us why we should listen up, then
impart the wisdom and gifts you learned on your hero’s journey.
Like rotten fish, people can smell a phony a mile away. Don’t be
one of them. Let us see the radiant beauty of you. Be ALL YOU,
ALL THE TIME, and your tribe will naturally find you. Let what I
call “your Inner Pilot Light” shine.
Your Inner Pilot Light
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Your Inner Pilot Light is that ever-radiant, always-sparkly,
100% authentic, totally effervescent spark that lies at the core
of you. Call it your essential self, your divine spark, your Christ
consciousness, your Buddha nature, your higher self, your soul,
your wise self, your intuition, or your inner healer. The minute
sperm met egg, this part of you ignited, and it’s been glowing
away ever since.
15 Attributes
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visionary
Your Inner Pilot Light is the essence of who you really are. It’s
that part that wants to wear purple peasant skirts, dance to Lady
Gaga, ignore the phone when it’s judgmental ol’ Aunt Gertrude,
laugh in the middle of church, and burp loudly at the Junior
League luncheon. Your Inner Pilot Light isn’t always well behaved, because this is the part of you who hasn’t been socialized
to be any certain way. Your Inner Pilot Light is a bit of a wild
stallion, hard to tame, but easy to ignore if you’re not ready to
face the truth about yourself.
You may worry that your Inner Pilot Light will get you in trouble. After all, if you listen to your Inner Pilot Light, you might
wind up doing something crazy, like leaving that soul-sucking
job you despise or ditching your unfaithful husband or moving
to Hawaii or becoming a full time artist. Your Inner Pilot Light
might instruct you to dance on bartops, play the accordion,
write a tell-all memoir, or liquidate your retirement account so
you can renovate a villa in the south of France.
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You may worry that your Inner Pilot Light can’t be trusted. But
this is where you’re misguided. The truth is that your Inner Pilot
Light knows all the secrets, not just to who you really are, but
to how to help you live a happy, healthy, whole life full of mojo.
A
And this part of you is the golden ticket to realizing your visionary mission in life.
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When you let the authentic truth and vulnerable radiance of
your Inner Pilot Light shine, you can’t help succeeding. Changing the world almost always depends on growing your tribe, and
you won’t grow your tribe if you’re pretending to be something
you’re not.
Be unapologetically YOU. You’ll be happier. You’ll be more successful. You’ll be more magnetic. And you’re 1000% more likely
to realize your vision.
What You Can Do: How To Be More Vulnerable
1. Own your imperfections. Embrace every piece of your
journey as a learning experience that is helping you grow.
2. Banish shame. Guilt may fuel positive change, but shame
has nothing but pain to offer you. Brene Brown describes
the difference between guilt and shame as this: Guilt = I
did something bad. Shame = I am bad. You are never bad.
At your core, deep in the core of your Inner Pilot Light, you
are a perfect reflection of the divine. So there’s no reason
to ever feel shame, no matter how naughty you might be.
Shame will only hold you back and dim your light.
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{vulnerability}
{vulnerability}
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3. Practice self-compassion. Give yourself permission to
make mistakes. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not
risking enough, and if you’re not taking risks, I guarantee
you’ll never achieve your vision. Be kind to yourself when
you’re imperfect.
4. Ditch perfectionism. A healthy desire to do a good job is
one thing. But when it becomes obsessive, it gets in the
way of achievement and happiness. (Miserable visionaries
rarely realize their visions.) Notice your perfectionist tendencies and figure out where you can be more lenient with
yourself and others.
5. Quit caring what “everybody” thinks. Who is
“everybody” after all? In her book Finding Your Own North
Star, Martha Beck has an exercise where she challenges
readers to list who is part of their “everybody.” Is it Great
Aunt Gertrude? Your fifth grade teacher? Your mother?
Your best friend? Your preacher? Usually, “everybody” is
just a few people you may not even like. Even if they’re not
conscious of it, most of your “everybody” wants to hold
you back, because if you shine as brightly as you can,
they’re forced to look at why they’re dimming their own
light. Be very selective about whose opinion you let shape
you.
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{vulnerability}
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6. Release fear of rejection. Being vulnerable is freakin’
scary. What if people learn to know the real you - and they
don’t like what they see? Learn to love yourself enough
that you’re resilient to their judgments. Use your vulnerability as a screen for those who really matter.
7. Strip off the masks. Many of us wear masks to protect
ourselves — a different mask for each social encounter
— the work mask, the church mask, the Mommy mask,
etc. Hiding behind masks makes us feel safe. But there’s
a dark side. Wearing masks keeps us from developing
intimate relationships with friends, family, colleagues or
your visionary community. Stripping off your masks helps
you connect, and from that place of connection, you can
teach what you’re here to teach.
8. Take baby steps. Pick someone safe. Tell them
something you’re embarrassed or ashamed to confess.
Notice how safe you are when you do. Now try something
else. Speak up at work. Write a blog post you’re nervous
to make public. Tell your mother what you’ve been holding
back. One step at a time…
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{vulnerability}
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9. Laugh at yourself. When you’re baring your heart, especially when exposing something that feels particularly raw,
don’t forget to laugh. We all do stupid shit. It’s part of being
human. Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you can poke
fun at yourself while exposing a vulnerability, it gives others
permission to laugh with you, and in that laughter lies belonging, connection, love, and everything else we all want.
10.Speak your truth. The more you allow yourself to be
vulnerable, the more you’ll discover the voice of your truth,
raring to be heard. Once you get over the fear of rejection
that accompanies being vulnerable, you’ll find you have
much more to say—and you’ll find a whole boatload of
people who are dying to listen.
{Attribute #7 PATIENCE/ RESILIENCE}
Being an inspired visionary is not for the faint of heart. And it’s
definitely not for the impatient.
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When you get clear on your calling, you’re going to want to realize your vision NOW. (Or if you’re like me, yesterday.) Then real
life will kick in. You’ll set goals and find yourself meandering
around a lazy river when you were hoping to fire into the rapids
and shoot out like a cannonball.
You’ll dream of having Oprah call tomorrow, but it could take ten
years. You’ll set intentions and wish to see them manifested the
following week. But that might not happen.
Then you’ll sit there, scratching your forehead, wondering
whether you heard the calling all wrong and whether you’re supposed to just throw in the towel and cut your losses.
When I’ve interviewed successful visionaries who are well on
their way to realizing their visions, I realized that none of them
got a lucky break. Not one of them realized their vision overnight. Usually, years passed and they spent many dark nights of
the soul in what my mentor Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen calls “the
narrow place.”
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The Narrow Place
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When you’re trying to bring a vision to life, you may feel very,
very uncomfortable. You’re likely to find yourself feeling very
constricted at some point in your hero’s journey. Remember, the
hero, once she answers the call to adventure, has to go out and
slay the dragons.
Slaying dragons isn’t easy. Or particularly fun.
When you’re in the narrow place, your gut feels tight. Your heart
hurts. You doubt yourself. Your faith is tested. You curl into a
ball. You shrink. It’s like a mini-death.
In the words of Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens, “To be what
you must, you must give up what you are.”
Joseph Campbell says, “We must be willing to get rid of the life
we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
Mourning the loss of your former self HURTS. You must say
goodbye to a part of yourself that will never be the same again.
In the process of answering the call, you are irrevocably changed
— whether you like it or not.
And even if that change is a positive one, every cell in your body
may resist it.
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W
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When heading out on the hero’s journey of our visionary path,
we start out in our usual state — which may be simultaneously
comfortable and miserable. No matter how unhappy you are,
at least it’s a known quantity. And many of us prefer a state of
known unhappiness to something completely unknown that
lies on the other side of a transition.
And so we often stay unhappy, choosing what we know over the
mystery of the unknown — until the pain of staying put exceeds
the fear of the unknown. Or until we get pushed off the cliff
against our will, as happens when someone dies, or we wind
up with cancer, or someone divorces us, or whatever led you to
hear the calling.
When the crisis happens, we begin to transmute. Like the caterpillar becoming the butterfly, we must cocoon into a small
place before expanding into whatever is next. We must squeeze
through the narrow place in order to get to the other side, and
being squished into someplace that small can hurt like the dickens.
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It’s kind of like giving birth. When you’re a fetus, you swim
happily around your home—the womb—until you’re close to
your due date, when you start feeling tight and uncomfortable.
There’s not much room for you anymore, so it’s time to leave
your mother and enter the great big world — perhaps life’s
biggest transition.
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L
Labor begins, probably against your will, and suddenly you are
squished down into the birth canal. The entry into the pelvis
isn’t so bad. You can still move your head from side to side and
kick your legs around during labor - until a certain point. And
suddenly you find yourself in the narrowest part, the part that
you must get beyond if you’re going to make it to the other side
and begin your new life, the part where the walls around you are
so tight you can barely move.
When faced with this narrow, squished place, you may be
tempted to retreat in the opposite direction, back into the tight,
uncomfortable place of the womb. But doing so would be counterproductive. Babies who go too far past their due date outgrow
the life expectancy of the placenta, and the blood vessels that
feed them shrivel up. Ultimately, if the baby isn’t born, it dies.
Going backwards isn’t the answer, no matter how tempting it
is. At some point, the inevitability of the forward movement is
obvious. There is a point of no return, and you simply can’t go
backwards, no matter how much you want to. So you have two
choices: you can surrender into the narrow place and transition
into what’s next, or you can get forever stuck in the small part,
thwarting your destiny and ultimately, dying.
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This happens to some people in transition. They hear the call
and never complete the adventure. Or they answer the call, but
get stuck in the forest. They never find the holy grail and never
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bring what they’ve learned back to the village. By turning their
back on their calling, everyone suffers and unhappiness is assured. Instead of living up to the hero within, they get stuck in
the narrow place, without ever knowing there is this expansive
new world on the other side, if only they’d stick with it.
Getting through the narrow place takes patience, persistence,
and courage. You have to knowingly go someplace that hurts.
You must face the great unknown with no promises of what lies
on the other side.
But a gift lies in the process, a gift we may not recognize when
we’re in the narrows. When you’re stuck in the narrow place,
everything gets boiled down to its essence, and if you pay close
attention, this is where you discover the thread of who you really are and what really matters to you.
When people face death, they talk about having their life flash
before their eyes, and in that moment, many see the thread.
They suddenly realize exactly what matters and why they’re here
on earth. If they make it through the narrow place and avert
death in that moment, they emerge reborn. Only now they hold
a precious gift—the thread.
When you’re in the narrow place, as I have been many times, you
have the opportunity to find your thread.
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I
If you’re brave enough to make it through the narrow place,
you’re certain to be rewarded. For on the other side lies a whole
new life. You will be reborn, but you will now hold a great gift.
In your hands will lie the thread you discovered in the narrow
place. You will know what matters. You will have boiled things
down to their essence.
And the next time you find yourself in the narrow place, you
will be able to hold that thread like a lifeline and pull yourself
out more quickly. Even when your world grows to be more expansive, such that you can spin and dance and cartwheel, you
will still hold that thread.
And you will never again be lost.
So be patient, oh inspired visionary. You will make it through
the narrow place. Your time in the light will come.
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{patience/resiliance}
What You Can Do: How To Survive The Narrow Place
How To Cultivate Patience When You’re In The Narrow
Place
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1. Meditate daily. It will help you tap into your Inner Pilot
Light, so you can discern the signs from the Universe and
stay on track. If you’ve never meditated before, start with
5 minutes. Then increase it to 10. Aim for at least 20 minutes per day. Focus on your breathing and try to calm the
monkey in your mind.
2. Find patience in your body. When we’re feeling
impatient, we tend to clench up, tense our muscles, and
get a nauseous feeling in our belly. We breathe shallowly.
We fidget. Notice these physical sensations, and choose
to let them go. Practicing patience means unclenching,
dropping in, surrendering to gravity, relaxing the belly, and
finding the stillness within.
3. Breathe deeply. Practice patience in everyday life. When
you’re stuck in traffic, breathe and find your inner peace.
When the kids are acting up, breathe and find your inner
peace. When the agent rejects you/ the clients don’t call/
your website crashes, breathe and find your inner peace.
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4. Recite the Serenity Prayer. “God, grant me the serenity to
accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change
the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
{patience/resiliance}
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5. Count to ten. It buys you time before you react. By the
time you get to ten, you’ll notice your breathing slows
down, your body begins to relax, and you’re less likely to
snap.
6. Give yourself space. If you’re feeling impatient, take a
time out. Go out for a run. Read a book for a few minutes.
If impatience is really getting in the way, go on a personal
retreat. Patience requires space.
7. Act out. Impatience leads to frustration, and sometimes,
you just need to let it out. Punch a pillow. Scream at the
top of your lungs. Stomp up and down. Hit a punching
bag. Lie on your back and kick your legs up in the air like
a child having a temper tantrum. Have a good cry. Get
pissed. Get sad. Let it go.
8. Pray for patience. Ask for help.
9. Know that realizing a vision takes time. Every visionary goes through what I call the “waiting and becoming”
time. It’s the gestation that fuels everything that will come in
good time.
10.Trust the process. Know that everything is happening in
divine timing.
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{Attribute #8 COMMITMENT/ PERSISTENCE/
STICK-TUIVENESS}
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No matter how pure, noble, and inspired your vision, you’ll never realize it if you’re not 1000% committed to doing Whatever.
It. Takes. No excuses.
Mt. Everest climbing W. H. Murray said, “Until one is
committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always
ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative and creation.
There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills
countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one
definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All
sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise
have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision
raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen events, meetings
and material assistance which no one could have dreamed
would have come their way. I have learned a deep respect for
one of Goethe’s couplets: ‘Whatever you can do or dream you
can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin
it now!’”
Without commitment, you’ll never realize a vision. If you’re only
putting one foot in, trying to play it safe, I hate to break it to
you, but it just ain’t gonna work. You’ve got to jump in—all the
way—with both feet and all of your heart.
T
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That means doing a lot of what I call the “ass in chair” work. In
other words, you can have awesome intentions, practice all your
law of attraction tools, and pray that your vision comes to life,
but at some point, you’re gonna have to register that URL, write
that book, craft that keynote lecture, get that agent, learn how to
use social media, write that sales letter, fill out that application,
get that degree, write that check, and do whatever else you need
to do in order to make your vision come to life - no excuses.
Doing the “ass in chair” work requires persistence, or what my
hubby calls “stick-tuitiveness.” It means showing up, taking action, and doing whatever it takes because you care that much.
It means deciding to rise, not because you “should” but because
you must.
Vaclav Havel said, “Vision is not enough; it must be combined
with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must
step up the stairs.”
In his wonderful book The Philosopher’s Notes, Brian Johnson
writes about the stonecutter who hits a rock with his sledgehammer and BAM! The stone splits. A passerby thinks, “DUDE!
That guy is really strong! He split that thing with one fell
swoop.” But of course, the stonecutter had been hammering
away at it for weeks.
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P
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People have a tendency to look at other successful visionaries
and chalk their success up to dumb luck. But that’s almost never
the case. Most visionaries have been hammering away at that
rock for years…
What have you been doing? Are you hammering away at your
goals?
If not, make a list of action steps that need to be done. Get started. Hustle. Do what it takes. Decide to rise. Shoo! Quit reading!
Just do it!
What You Can Do: How To Make a Commitment &
Cultivate Stick-Tuitiveness
1. Start with the end in mind. Visualize yourself completing
the task. See yourself crossing the finish line. Keep that vision in mind as you work towards a goal.
2. Practice the law of attraction, but then do the work.
Too many inspired visionaries set intentions, visualize
the end result, and gawk at vision boards, but they
don’t actually build the website, write the first draft, start
tweeting, or film the video. How can you expect those
who will help you realize your vision to find you if you’re still
meditating in your bedroom?
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{commitment/persistence/stick-tuitiveness}
{commitment/persistence/stick-tuitiveness}
3. Schedule “ass in chair” time. Put it on your calendar.
Block it off and protect it.
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4. TURN OFF THE INTERNET. (Unless, of course, what
you’re doing is setting up a Facebook or Twitter page!)
While you’re at it, turn off the television, turn off your
iPhone, and unplug as much as you can until what’s done
is done.
5. Start small. Pick one actionable step you can put on your
calendar. Do it. When you look at the whole picture, it can
be overwhelming, and you might never get started. As
Anne Lamott describes in her awesome book Bird By Bird,
you gotta start somewhere. Pick one “bird” and ROCK
it. Be realistic. Don’t set time goals you’ll never achieve.
(Write a whole book in a week, for example.) Set achievable goals you can realistically achieve so you feel a sense
of completion and accomplishment at the end of the day.
6. Make sure you schedule breaks. You can’t work constantly, and if you try, you’ll paradoxically wind up less productive. Especially if your ass in chair work requires creativity, you’ll need a few minutes here and there to clear your
mind and refocus.
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7. Develop rituals. When I have to write a book, I start
each day by lighting a candle, meditating, and setting
{commitment/persistence/stick-tuitiveness}
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an intention for the day. Develop your own personal rituals
that begin and end your “ass in chair” time. Stimulate your
senses. Make the perfect cup of tea. Light incense. Do three
jumping jacks and a handstand. Whatever floats your boat.
8. Ditch the excuses. Yes, you’re busy. Yes, the kids are distracting you. Yes, you have other work that needs your attention. Yes, it costs money. But suck it up. Stop making
excuses. If you want to realize a vision, you do what it takes.
Figure it out. Make it happen. Decide to rise.
9. Chill out. Stressing about getting your ass in the chair is
counterproductive. Do what needs to be done, but don’t
freak out about it.
10.Reward good behavior on a daily basis. I love hiking —
plus it’s good for me. So taking a hike at the end of a productive day is my reward for a job well done. If I’m on a deadline
and I didn’t accomplish what needed to get done, I skip the
hike and keep working. Find your own rewards — a massage,
a yoga class, a glass of wine, time with your favorite book,
a good movie. What will motivate you to get your ass in the
chair? Celebrate small wins. Don’t wait until you realize your
whole vision. Set achievable goals, and when you achieve
them, scream it from the rooftops! Call your mother. Tell your
best friend. Post it on Facebook. You deserve it!
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{Attribute #9 INTEGRITY}
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The world is full of wanna-be visionaries donning the guise of
“changing the world,” when really, they’re just trying to make
a quick buck and they think wearing the cloak of the visionary
will bring credibility to their shady business dealings.
Don’t be one of them.
The last thing the world needs is another shyster or charlatan
selling snake oil to needy people who are desperate for a quick
fix.
But surely none of you consider yourselves that far out of
integrity.
What you may not realize is that there are much more insidious,
much more subtle ways to be out of integrity, but they’re just
as likely to derail you in your quest to realize a vision. Integrity
is slippery. As soon as you define what it means for yourself, it
starts to slip through your fingers.
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For example, you might create a product you wish to sell online,
and the product is completely in line with your integrity. But
then when you hire someone to help you market it, you realize
that you’re being asked to sell out your integrity, and if you’re
afraid you’ll fail unless you compromise your integrity, you may
be tempted to sell out. (Yes, I made this mistake once. Never
again.)
S
Someone else may break laws because they don’t agree with the
laws. While that might be out of integrity for one person, another might consider it a-okay.
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Another person might think nothing of promising a friend she’ll
keep a secret — then turning around and betraying that secret
because “it’s for her own good.”
Slippery.
The key is to get clear on what integrity means to you. Nobody
else’s rules of integrity will completely apply to you. Integrity
is deeply personal. You don’t have to define your integrity for
anyone but yourself. But draw your own lines. Get super duper
clear. Then never, ever compromise. It’ll only bite you in the
butt.
Remember, karma, baby. Even if you’re the only one who knows
you’ve stepped away from your integrity, it’s bad juju. Don’t do
it.
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While we’re on this topic, let me say one more critical thing
about integrity. Once you achieve clarity about what integrity
means to you, please, do the rest of us a favor. Don’t judge others who don’t share your rules of integrity. Integrity is not black
and white. It’s decidedly gray. Your rules of integrity might lead
you to eat vegan, oppose abortion and gay marriage, donate
half your earnings to charity, and refuse to sell products made
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in China. That’s fine. Kudos to you! But please — I implore you.
Don’t impose your rules on others. Let every individual define
integrity for themselves. If you can’t keep an open mind and an
open heart, you’ll chase away those you seek to help.
What You Can Do: How To Stay True To Your Integrity
Without Losing Your Mind
1. Determine where you lie on the integrity spectrum. We
all have movable lines on a spectrum that runs from 100%
pure integrity to 100% pure sellout. Depending on the circumstance, most of us move that line. Figure out where
yours lie. Are you willing to sell out just a little bit in order to
realize your vision? Most of us are. Be honest with yourself.
Check in with how you feel about that. Does your line need
to be reevaluated? Or are you cool with where it is? What’s
true for you?
2. Know your limits. If you’re very clear that you’ll never be a
corporate spokesperson for any company, no matter how
aligned, don’t let yourself get tempted. Especially when
money is involved, it’s easy to start rationalizing behaviors
that are out of your integrity. Don’t let that happen. I
guarantee you’ll regret it.
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3. Listen to your gut. I once hired a marketing guru who
{integrity}
{integrity}
wrote a sales letter that literally made me vomit. (Yes, I
puked.) If your gut tells you no, say no.
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4. Give yourself permission to set integrity rules that
don’t make sense to anyone but you. But beware of
rationalizations, which can weasel their slippery way into
your integrity rules.
5. Don’t impose your integrity on others. Remember,
integrity is completely personal. What is aligned with your
integrity may not be the same for someone else. There are
few black and white “rights” or “wrongs.” If you want to feel
loved and connected to others you cherish, refrain from
judging anyone who isn’t in line with your personal rules of
integrity.
6. Be aware of the relationship between integrity and
control. Some of us use our integrity as an excuse to be
controlling. Picture this. “I am a vegetarian, and it would be
out of my integrity to serve meat at this business conference
we’re hosting, even though the whole board has all voted
on serving the chicken. So we’re serving veggie lasagna or
I’m resigning from the board.” Integrity? Or control freak?
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7. Follow your heart. Being aligned with your integrity should
feel good. Your heart should warm up. If your integrity increasingly leaves you alone and disconnected, it’s time to
reevaluate.
{integrity}
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8. Avoid using your integrity as an excuse. If you don’t
want to do something, just say no. But don’t brandish your
integrity around as an excuse to say no. Sure, if it’s out of
line with your integrity, say so. But don’t use it as crutch for
not speaking out about how you really feel.
9. Get over your marketing phobias. One of the most
common hurdles I witness my visionary clients bumping
up against is their aversion to asking for money. Whether
you’re fundraising for a nonprofit, dipping your toe in the
waters of online marketing, learning to sell a product that
will help you change the world, recruiting clients, attracting
people to your workshops, selling your public speaking
skills on a cold call, or pitching your TV show to producers,
many visionaries have money issues. BIG TIME. When
faced with their limitations, they cite their integrity as a
stumbling block. But is it really? (Methinks there’s a bigger
story there…)
10.Never compromise your core values. When you do,
you’re acting out of fear. You believe, somewhere deep
down, that you won’t succeed unless you do. But it never
works that way. Ultimately, the visionary who realizes their
vision does so because she stayed true to her principles
and trusted that her needs would be met, even if she had
to say no to a few “sell-out” opportunities along the way.
{Attribute #10 FAITH/ INTUITION}
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Whether you have faith in “Spirit, “Source,” “God,” “The
Universe,” or your “Inner Pilot Light,” faith is a critical part of
the inspired visionary’s path. If you don’t have faith—at least in
yourself—you’ll quickly fall into a downward spiral of fear, and
you’ll never change the world the way you dream of changing
it. Faith and intuition are intimately interconnected. Intuition
requires faith in your own inner wisdom, and you have to
trust that your inner wisdom comes from the divine, wellintentioned, visionary part of you, so in my opinion, the two are
inextricably interlinked.
A huge part of my personal visionary path has depended on listening to my Inner Pilot Light (intuition) and following what I
call “signs from The Universe” (God’s plan for me and my journey.) Without this faith, I would have been lost many times over.
Time and time again, I have unexpectedly arrived at a crossroads, not knowing which way to turn. Rather than wandering
aimlessly, I have always tried to ask for guidance as I stand at the
crossroads. Should I go left? Should I go right? Should I stand
still and see if another road shows up altogether?
How can you hear the signs from the Universe?
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Faith is the opposite of fear. When you have faith that you’re on
the right path, even when you don’t know where you’re going
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(that was my mantra for years!), you need never be afraid. When
you have faith, either in yourself or in a higher power, you never
need to shame yourself when you make “mistakes” or regret
“bad” decisions you might make, because all will teach you
lessons that move you further ahead on the visionary path.
What You Can Do: Tips For Listening To Signs From the
Universe
Pay attention when you notice any of the following:
• Occurrences that you might even call coincidence, except
that the timing is too perfect.
• Dreams that offer you messages or suggestions.
• Books (or blog posts!) that speak directly to where you are
in your life.
• Physical symptoms that signal something deeper (like back
pain when you’re carrying the weight of the world on your
back).
• Roadblocks on your current path. If something seems
much harder than it should, it may be a sign that you’re
supposed to take a fork in the road. When you’re listening
to your calling and in the flow, things can feel effortless.
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{faith/intuition}
{faith/intuition}
• Messages that arise during meditation.
• Gut feelings or instincts you can’t ignore.
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• Something someone says that cuts right to the core of you.
• A sense of inner knowing that something is true,
even though it feels completely crazy, implausible, or
unachievable.
• Song lyrics that pop up over and over again.
• Answers to prayers that direct your path.
• People you attract who share your calling and guide the
way or share the path with you.
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{Attribute #11 DISCERNMENT}
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The tricky part of having faith and listening to the signs from
the Universe comes in discerning how to interpret the signs. If
you trust that your path will be guided if only you pay attention
to the signs, you can trust that you’re following your calling and
staying aligned with what you’re meant to do.
But what if the signs get fuzzy? Or what if they point in the opposite direction of where you want to go?
It’s affirming when you’re “in the flow” and the signs from the
Universe validate everything exactly the way you hoped they
would. You feel like you’re floating on a lavender-scented river,
and everybody and everything you need shows up exactly when
you need it. People put you down the river. An extra raft appears
just when yours hits a log and gets a hole in it. The check shows
up in the mail. The opportunity appears. The perfect partner
calls.
But what about when all doors slam shut? What if you’ve lost
your way? What if the money runs out, you find yourself sinking, your partner leaves, and it appears that the only way to stay
afloat is to sell out your integrity?
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Does this mean you’re on the wrong path and need to give up
your visionary dream? Or is your resolve just being tested? Are
you simply in the narrow place and need to allow yourself to
get squeezed so you can experience the inevitable rebirth on the
other side of the narrow place.
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This is one of the hardest challenges inspired visionaries face.
Usually, when the doors all slam shut, it’s a sign that we got off
track and are supposed to redirect. But sometimes, those closed
doors are just temporary setbacks, and the only way to stay on
the path is to soldier on and beat down doors.
If you’re like most visionaries, you’ll also need discernment in
order to choose which opportunities should make you leap and
which should make you step back. Which partnerships should
make you jump for joy and which should sound the warning
bells? How is your time best spent? Which clients might you be
better off referring elsewhere? When should you say no?
When you’re passionate about realizing your vision, it’s tempting
to say yes to everything. But trust me, I tried that. And it didn’t
serve me well. Some opportunities will be out of your integrity.
Some clients will be out of alignment with you. Some partnerships will be fueled by motivations that don’t serve you or your
vision.
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Learning when to scream a resounding “YES!” and when to politely decline frees you up so you don’t wind up depleted, allowing you to focus on what really matters—changing the world
and being happy and healthy while you do it.
The inspired visionary learns how to trust the process and discern the difference between green lights and red lights. It’s not
always easy. But I swear, it’s possible.
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What You Can Do: How To Be Discerning
1. Understand the difference between being judgmental
and being discerning. Saying yes to everything and
everyone will never serve the inspired visionary. There’s a
time to say yes and a time to say no. You don’t have to
judge a person or opportunity to know it’s not right for you
at the time.
2. Learn to “read the energy.” I know it sounds woo woo,
but people and opportunities have a vibe to them that you
can learn to interpret. If you’re on the fence about saying
yes or no, check in. Close your eyes. Feel the energy.
Do you feel excited and lit up? Does it feel aligned and
energizing? Or does it feel draining? Do you feel deflated
when you think about it? Trust those vibes.
3. Protect your time. Understand that if you say yes to
everything, you’ll wind up depleted — and the depleted
visionary serves no one. Fill your cup and keep it full.
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{discernment}
{discernment}
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4. Ask “What’s in it for me?” Visionaries are big-hearted,
expansive-thinking people, so they’re dying to help others,
even when they have nothing left to give. Up to a certain
point, this can be helpful. Particularly when you’re seeking
out mentors and networking with others who have blazed
the path you’re following, it’s useful to be able to give to
those people without expecting anything in return. It breeds
good will and makes them more likely to say yes when you
one day make the big ask. But you can’t do that all the
time. Think things through. Make sure, at least in some way,
the opportunity serves you as well.
5. Be strategic. Don’t be conniving or slimy, but do think
about how to optimize your chance to spread your message. If someone asks you to be on a radio show or give an
unpaid lecture or collaborate on a project, think it through.
Have a plan. Make sure you’re not giving all your time away
without having a strategy for how it will serve your vision
and grow your business. Remember, there’s a time to say
yes and a time to say no.
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{Attribute #12 FLEXIBILITY/ SURRENDER}
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The inspired visionary walks a fine line between staying 100%
true to integrity and being as flexible as Gumby. Being flexible
doesn’t mean selling out or giving up. It means setting goals
but being unattached to particular outcomes. It means having
direction, but being willing to change course with little notice.
It means being like a rubber band, able to be stretched between
two fingers without losing your shape or snapping.
One of the best pieces of business advice anyone ever gave me
was this, from Sarah Browne, the “guro of new.” Sarah said,
“Owning Pink will tell you what it wants to become, if only you
get out of your own way.”
I have gone back to that nugget of wisdom time and time again.
Your visionary path will tell you where you’re supposed to go, if
only you can get out of your own way.
It’s easy to get attached to how we want things to go down. If
things don’t go our way, we kick ourselves, get pissed off, feel like
we failed, or (God forbid!) give up altogether.
This is not the solution.
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Being flexible is key for inspired visionaries. The path to realizing
your vision may look nothing like you think it will look. That’s
okay. Set goals, but release attachment to outcomes. Be willing
to turn left, when you thought you would turn right. Send your
ego to time out (when you’re trying to change the world, it’s not
all about you!)
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Stay true to your integrity, but be willing to flex. Like the willow
tree, you just might find that your greatest strength lies in your
ability to bend without breaking.
Ultimately, it all comes down to the visionary’s willingness to
surrender. Once you’ve gotten clear on your vision, set your
goals, and done the “ass in chair” work to get your vision out
into the world, there comes a time when what served you well
(the pushing, the “ass in chair” work, the striving) becomes the
very thing that will bite you in the butt.
You can only push your vision forward so far. At some point, the
pushing becomes desperate. Not only does it fail to help you; it
can actually hurt. The desperation becomes palpable. Your tribe
can smell it. This is the time you have to trust that you’ve done
everything within your power—and let go. Trust the process.
Surrender to divine will.
As my friend Dr. Christiane Northrup once said to me when I
was pushing uphill and getting nowhere, “Be less sperm; more
egg.”
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In order for an inspired visionary to realize a vision, there’s a lot
of spermy work that needs to be done. But at some point, you
must let go and be the egg.
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Are you being too spermy? Too eggy? Where on the spectrum do
you lie?
What You Can Do: How To Be Eggy
1. Set goals, but release attachment to outcomes. I know
it’s hard to stay unattached, but sometimes we pray for a
Pinto, when the Universe wants to give us a Rolls Royce.
Be open to possibility.
2. Keep the highest good in mind. You may think you want
something, but what if the thing you want will turn out to
bite you (or someone you love) in the ass? My prayer is
“May [insert your goal] come to fruition if it’s in the highest
good for all beings.” In other words, if it’s just to serve my
own ego, I don’t want it. I want whatever is divinely guided.
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3. Trust that you’ve done enough. You can’t just sit back
and be the egg from the get-go. You gotta do your “ass in
chair” stuff. But once you do, trust that you’ve tried hard
enough. Don’t get stuck in the trap of constant striving. The
answer is rarely to try harder. It’s often to do less and trust
more.
{flexibility/surrender}
{flexibility/surrender}
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4. Make space to be eggy. It’s counterintuitive, but sometimes exactly what you need is to do less. Be more. Take
more breaks. Turn off your computer. Go sit in the hot tub.
Take a long cleansing walk.
5. Have faith in your path. Know that, even if things don’t
work out as you planned, you’re on the right path, learning
what you need to learn, zigging and zagging your way to
your vision.
{Attribute #13 HUMILITY}
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When the Universe pulls out all the stops and everything starts
to line up for you, don’t get all diva on us. It’s critical to have a
strong sense of self, high self-esteem and boatloads of confidence. But if you refuse to eat anything but green M&M’s in the
green room, I guarantee you any divine downloads that have
been fueling your visionary path will be cut off lickety-split.
Being an inspired visionary means becoming a clear channel for
the divine to work through you. As the ancient shamans taught,
you must become a hollow bone. Remove the marrow (the ego)
and leave the shell of the bone through which divine guidance
can flow.
My daily prayer is “Make me a vessel. Abide in me.”
If you can keep your ego in check and make yourself a vessel
for divine awesomeness, you will not only succeed in changing
the world, you will do it with ease and grace. Your time in the
narrow place will be as short as possible and you’ll be on the fast
track to making a real difference in the world.
You’ll never completely rid yourself of your ego. I know. I have
my own.
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I call my ego “Victoria Rochester,” and she’s a total diva who
loves to hog the spotlight, get decked out in silk ball gowns,
talk with a British accent, and send waiters into a tizzy trying to
meet her out of control demands. (She’s a total bitch from hell.
You’d hate her.)
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But Victoria comes in handy from time to time. When I’m
terrified to get up on stage in front of 3,000 people as part of my
visionary path, I call upon Victoria (she’s much less of a scaredycat than Lissa.)
But as soon as I get off that stage, I send Victoria back to her pink
fur-lined cage, where I feed her bon bons until I need her again.
As long as you can keep your ego in check and recognize how
your ego can show up and try to run the show, you can keep
your channel as clear as possible. I believe we all have the power
to be channels for divine yumminess. I imagine God just sitting
there, waiting for a moment when we’ve gotten our egos out
of the way, so pure awesomeness can flow through the hollow
bones of us and we can be the voice, the fingers on the keyboard,
and the embodiment of divine love on the visionary path.
Don’t you want the joy of letting the divine use you as a vessel?
Get clear. And get ready to have your mind blown when something comes through you that you just know is not your own.
When it does, give credit where credit is due. Pat yourself on the
back for showing up, but be humble. Know that you were used
in the most noble of ways. Give thanks.
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Now go and spread the gift that was given to you!
{humility}
What You Can Do: Tips For Staying Grounded & Humble
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1. Resist the urge to take what your fans say personally.
Keep in mind that all of it—the good stuff and the bad
stuff—is merely projection. You hold up a mirror and others
see what they love (or hate) about themselves in the mirror
you hold up. Don’t believe your good press - and don’t let
the bad get you down. It’s not about you.
2. Let your loved ones keep you grounded. Be very
selective about whose opinion you trust, and then give
those people permission to either knock you down a few
notches or lift you up when you need it.
3. Be in your body. An embodied visionary knows in her
bones that she is merely a vessel through which powerful
acts of good channel. Feel it in your belly, your pelvis, your
heart, your toes.
4. Visualize a cord of golden light connecting you to the
core of Mama Earth. Start every day with this visualization
and repeat it anytime you notice you’re getting out of your
body or feeling too spinny.
5. Tame your ego. It’s only human to have an ego, but the
inspired visionary learns to be aware of the ego and take
steps to keep it in check.
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{humility}
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6. Remember we are all one. If you find yourself getting all
full of yourself, remind yourself that you are your neighbor,
your neighbor is you, and we are all interconnected by a
matrix of energy that courses through us all.
7. Meditate. If I sound like I’m repeating myself with the
guidance to meditate, it’s intentional. If you do only one
thing to help you realize your vision, let it be meditation. It’s
that important.
8. Take off your masks. Don’t pretend to have it all together.
Let your family, friends, and fans know that you are human
and like everybody else, you make mistakes.
9. Recognize the divine within. Each of us has the capacity
to be a clear channel for the divine. When you are a clear
channel, you don’t get to claim anything that comes
through. Yes, you showed up and cleared your channel.
But the book you wrote, the blog post that came through,
the song you sang, the product you created—it’s not
yours. So keep your ego out of it.
10.Stay true to your integrity. Your integrity will keep you
grounded.
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{Attribute #14 SUPPORT}
Inspired visionaries never realize their visions alone. We need
LOTS of help, not just professionally, but personally.
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When I embarked upon the visionary path, the first thing I did
was hire a life coach. Over the course of five years, I also sought
the support of two spiritual counselors, a raw foods cleanse expert, three business coaches, an integrative medicine doctor, a
marketing strategist, a virtual assistant, two sexuality coaches,
six editors, three graphic designers, a pleasure coach, two dance
teachers, three massage therapists, four psychics, an astrologer,
and a woman who specializes in helping women attract and
manage money.
In other words, it takes a village to create an inspired visionary.
Every visionary needs at least one mentor to help navigate the
often twisted, circuitous, sometimes terrifying hero’s journey of
the visionary life.
As part of my business, I have taken on the role of mentoring a
few inspired visionaries. Although some of my clients are still
trying to find their calling, most of them already know what they
want to achieve and find themselves bumping up against blocks
or technical hurdles that are getting in the way of them achieving their visions.
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S
Sometimes the blocks are personal. The most common personal
blocks I find in my clients are limiting, self-sabotaging beliefs.
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Common Limiting, Self-Sabotaging Beliefs Held By
Visionaries
• I’m not worthy of achieving my vision
• Being successful [or famous or rich] will ruin my life
• I’ll be burned at the stake if I realize my vision
• I’m not smart enough, young enough, pretty enough, financially solvent enough, brave enough, popular enough, [fill in
your blank] enough
• It’s not safe to shine my light
• Everyone will reject me if I realize my vision
• Everyone will reject me if I don’t realize my vision
• Only bad people make money
• I’m not a good person unless I give [time/energy/money/my
gifts] until I’m depleted
• It’s wrong to charge for the services I provide because people
need me so much
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I
Inspired visionaries also face technical hurdles that keep them
from realizing their visions.
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Areas Where Visionaries Often Need Education &
Support
• How to grow your social media presence so you can spread
your message
• How to attract traffic to your blog
• How to monetize your blog
• How to increase the size of your newsletter list
• How to get a literary agent
• How to write a book proposal that sells for big moolah
• How to get paid for public speaking
• How to get invited to spread your message on television, on
the radio, in print magazines, and all over the internet
• How to network with leaders in your field
• How to attract corporate sponsorships
• How to bring in clients and attract people to your workshops
• How to create and sell informational products on the internet
• How to become a bestselling author
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I
I learned so many lessons the hard and lonely way as I walked
my own visionary path, so I’m super passionate about helping
other visionaries realize their visions with less suffering than
I experienced. I was so desperate for mentorship when I first
embarked upon the visionary path, and I so want to help others
avoid making the mistakes I made. So I now work one-on-one
and in groups to help other inspired visionaries realize their
visions.
Whether you work with me or somebody else, you’ll likely need
multiple people on your support team to help you achieve your
big, powerful, world-changing goals.
But don’t let The Gremlin sabotage your efforts. When you start
telling yourself you can’t afford to invest in realizing your vision,
remember that this is just the fear-based mentality of your primordial lizard brain. The truth is that you can’t NOT invest in
realizing your vision. Remember that the most certain path to a
life of misery is knowing your potential and failing to realize it.
The most certain path to a life of supercharged vitality and joy
is knowing your potential and doing WHATEVER IT TAKES to
realize it.
Don’t let The Gremlin get in the way. Do what it takes and you
can achieve anything you dream of achieving.
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{support}
What You Can Do: Tips For Finding The Right Support
1. Tap into your Inner Pilot Light and ask who you need to
help you realize your vision. Listen to that quiet, still voice.
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2. In case your Inner Pilot Light lights up, you’re officially
invited to work one-on-one with me. Read more about
the work I do with visionaries here.
3. Utilize social media. In my experience, social media is
the law of attraction in action. Put yourself out there. Be
authentic and vulnerable. Ask for what you need. Then be
eggy and wait to see what shows up. You’d be amazed at
the guidance you can find and the networking you can do
on Twitter and Facebook.
4. Ask your visionary colleagues for referrals. Who helped
them most? Who do they go to when they need support?
5. Start a mastermind group. Invite four or five other
visionaries who are aligned with the work you’re doing to
meet once a month (in person or via phone) and take turns
being in the spotlight. Bring up any struggle you’re facing
to the mastermind and let the other visionaries coach you,
while you do the same in return. It’s win-win and costs
nothing if you already know enough visionaries at similar
points on the visionary path.
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{support}
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6. Join a platinum program. If you don’t already know other
visionaries who could support and lift you up, platinum
programs offer you one-on-one coaching with an expert
coach, while also linking you to other visionaries who can
mastermind with you, not just during the program but afterwards if you choose to keep in touch. These programs
often include retreats aimed at helping you realize your vision, as well as teleseminars that teach you what you need
to know in order to succeed.
7. Seek out experts in your field and reach out to them.
Many people are reachable via Twitter or Facebook, and
often, there’s a contact page on a website that will put you
directly in touch with very famous people.
8. Own your worthiness. When you’re reaching out to
someone who appears to have achieved more than you
have, know in your heart that you are worthy of being in
this person’s inner circle. Many visionaries fail to network
with those who achieved something similar to what they
desire because they feel unworthy to dance with the stars.
You’re awesome. You belong up there at the top. OWN IT!
9. Offer to help before you ask for help for yourself.
Remember that these experts are often barraged with
emails and social media messages asking for something.
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{support}
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Start with determining what you have to offer these people
who might help you. In my case, I offer to help them
promote their book launch on OwningPink.com, tweet
and Facebook messages to my community about their
programs, quote them in my books, host teleseminars to
feature them, and otherwise offer myself up in service to
them. After I’ve helped them, they often gratefully offer to
return the favor.
10.Make the ask the right way. When you connect with
other visionaries who might help you, make the ask clear
and brief—two paragraphs max. Want someone to write
the foreword to your book? Say so. Need an endorsement
quote for your product, offer a free copy and ask them to
endorse it if they love it. Want to collaborate on a project,
outline the project clearly and succinctly. If someone says
no, don’t take it personally. It means they’re swamped, not
that you aren’t fabulous.
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{Attribute #15 OPEN-HEARTED COLLABORATION}
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One key lesson I’ve learned along the way is that many of us
visionaries are in service to the same core vision - and the key to
our success is collaboration, rather than competition.
Traditional masculine models of getting ahead in business and
making things happen include such tactics as scoping out and
scooping the competition, creating products and services that
are better than the competition, and then barreling right over
the competition and leaving them in the dust. (SCORE!)
But the secret weapon of many visionaries is a much more feminine approach. Instead of competing, visionaries who share
similar missions collaborate, lifting each other up, rather than
squashing each other down. By doing so, we create win-win
situations.
There’s enough for us all. Inspired visionaries trust that lifting
up a “competitor” will lift up everyone. Thinking abundantly attracts abundance, good will, and an easier path to realizing your
vision.
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The Benefits Of Collaboration
When you collaborate with like-minded visionaries, you:
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• Introduce each other to your respective communities, thereby growing the size of your tribe and growing the reach of
both parties.
• Have the opportunity to compare notes and learn from the
lessons of your fellow visionaries.
• Learn that 1+1 equals much more than 2. Collaborative creations can be exponential in power, vision, reach, and dollars.
• Generate good will.
• Develop relationships that can lead to affiliate relationships
with each others’ programs which offer you the chance to sell
jointly created products, and help you create mutually beneficial personal and professional arrangements.
• Can share resources, tips, support team members, and cost.
• Alleviate the loneliness of leadership. Making friends with
other visionaries can lift you up and help allay the fears, insecurities, and doubts that invariably accompany being on the
front line.
• Model the benefits of collaboration for other visionaries
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Let’s use a few of my visionary girlfriends as hot, inspiring, powerful examples of how collaboration beats competition any day.
First, let me introduce you to some of the coolest people I know:
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Regena Thomashauer (aka “Mama Gena”) — Regena is an
author and the founder of the School of Womanly Arts,
which is all about encouraging women to become Pleasure
Revolutionaries so they can access their pussy power, get in
touch with their desires, express more gratitude, and live
more sexy, fun, pleasurable lives. As part of her Mastery
program, which happens over 5 weekends in New York City
and Miami Beach every year, Regena invites other rock star
female visionaries to speak to her “Sister Goddess” audience.
These visionaries include full-of-awesome women like Dr.
Christiane Northrup (OB/GYN physician, bestselling author of
Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, and frequent Oprah guest
star), Debbie Rosas (co-founder of the Nia technique who is
redefining fitness and helping women more fully inhabit their
bodies), and Marie Forleo (founder of Rich, Happy & Hot, who
helps women rock it in business).
Kris Carr — Kris is a former actress - turned documentary star turned bestselling author of Crazy Sexy Diet, and founder of the
health and wellness website CrazySexyLife.com. Kris has turned
her vision of helping people heal from cancer and other illnesses
through plant-based nutrition into a whole industry. With
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dozens of bloggers collaborating on her website, Kris is helping
elevate the visionary missions of many others, and they, in turn,
are blowing pixie dust beneath her mighty wings so she can skyrocket the stratosphere.
Christine Arylo — The self-professed Queen of Self-Love,
Christine is an inspirational catalyst, spiritual leader, author of
Choosing Me Before We, and a coach who has launched many
successful collaborative programs. She created Inner Mean Girl
Reform School with Amy Ahlers, Wake Up Call life coach and
author of Big Fat Lies Women Tell Themselves. She also developed
the 40 Day Fear Cleanse with Gabrielle Bernstein, spiritual
leader, teacher of A Course In Miracles, and author of Spirit
Junkie. And Christine, Amy, and Shiloh Sophia McCloud have
collaborated on The Great Works program. Christine is a master
at collaboration and everything she touches turns to gold!
Amy Ahlers — Wake Up Call coach and author of Big Fat Lies
Women Tell Themselves, Amy has successfully collaborated on a
whole slew of programs, including multiple telesummits she has
hosted to shine her bright sparkly light on the awesome work
of other teachers. Amy has also collaborated with Christine
Arylo on Inner Mean Girl Reform School and with Christine and
Shiloh Sophia McCloud on The Great Works program. Amy and
I are also joining forces this year to create a program to help inspired visionaries spread their messages and realize their visions.
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Marie Forleo — Marie is an author, power vlogger at
MarieForleo.com, and business coach who also collaborates
with other female visionaries in powerful and lucrative ways
that help her elevate her mission - to inspire women to be Rich,
Happy & Hot in business and in life. To create Rich, Happy &
Hot B School (where women go to make it big online), Marie
collaborated with Laura Roeder. She also created a collaborative
event Selling Your Soul: The How-To’s To Meaningful
Moneymaking, with fellow rock star blogger/author Danielle
LaPorte, author of The Firestarter Sessions.
With whom could you collaborate? How could 1+1=100?
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{open-hearted collaboration}
What You Can Do: Tips For Successful Collaboration
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1. Find the yin to your yang (and vice versa). If you ROCK
social media but lack a big newsletter list, find someone
clueless about social media who has a giant list. If you’re
great on video but lack writing skills, partner with a fabulous writer who is shy in front of the camera. When you find
someone who can round you out, you’ll deliver better programs, create better products, and realize your vision more
successfully.
2. Think outside your niche. I’m a physician, but this year,
I’m offering one program with a spiritual teacher, another
with a financial coach, another with a dance teacher, and
another with a life coach/author with a passion for internet
marketing. All of us are in service to a greater goal—the
self-actualized, empowered person, so there’s plenty of
overlap in the work we do.
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3. Make sure the collaboration benefits you in some
way. If you’re like me, it’s tempting to say yes to every
collaboration because you want to be of service and you
want to help your friends and fans. But you’ll have to be
discerning if you want to avoid burn out. So make sure the
collaboration fills you up in some way. Sadly, some people
will just want to strap themselves to your rising star without
offering much in return. Resist the urge to lift up dead
{open-hearted collaboration}
weight. If it’s purely an energy drain, politely say no. Check
in with how the collaboration feels. If it’s a good fit, you
should feel totally STOKED.
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4. Avoid using collaboration as an excuse to shine your
light. If the spotlight makes you uncomfortable, you may
hide behind collaborations when what you’ll need to do
in order to fully realize your vision is to step firmly into the
spotlight on your own. Own the spotlight. Don’t shy away
from it. Remember, you’re in service to a mission here. Use
your time in the spotlight to shift attention to what matters
most to you. Remember, fame is merely a means to an
end, a way to get your message heard, have influence in
powerful ways, and realize your vision.
5. Don’t wait to be asked. If there’s someone you’re
jonesing to collaborate with, express your desire—and
be specific. When I get vague, fuzzy emails that say “I’d
love to collaborate with you,” I tend to ignore them. How?
When? What kind of offering do you have in mind? How do
you think it might help me realize my vision? Why are you
the one I should collaborate with? What gifts or skills do
you have to offer that I might be lacking? Sell your potential
collaborator on why you’re so awesome that they should
be begging to work with you.
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{open-hearted collaboration}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
6. Plan ahead. A lot of visionaries like me have their
collaboration calendars booked a year in advance, so no
matter how much I might want to work with you, if you only
give me two months notice, I’m going to have to decline.
Get your ducks in a row and plan far in advance.
7. Be generous. A lot of people are so proprietary about their
content that they aren’t willing to share enough to make a
collaboration successful. Don’t agree to collaborate with
someone unless you trust them and are willing to put everything you’ve got into the partnership. Don’t be greedy.
Share money and work load fairly. And don’t set out with
the idea that your collaboration partner is going to steal
your best stuff. Practice generosity and expect it in return.
8. Practice good business. Like any business partnership,
you want to know up front how money will be split, who
will handle payments, how you’ll be dividing up the work,
etc. Contracts, while not always necessary, can be super
helpful as a tool for managing expectations and getting
clear on the partnership and how it will work.
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9. Give yourself permission to switch gears. If you agree
to a collaboration, try it, and if the vibe isn’t quite right,
give yourself permission to say no next time. You know a
collaboration has gone well when everyone feels like they
got the better end of the deal. If you feel like you did all
{open-hearted collaboration}
15 Attributes
of the
successful
visionary
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the work and someone else took advantage of you, don’t
do it again. Remember the cliché- “hurt me once, shame
on you. Hurt me twice, shame on me.” Stand for yourself.
Resist the urge to give until it hurts.
10.Have fun. Collaborations should be a blast. You should
feel lifted up and jazzed about how you lifted someone else
up. Practice laughter, gratitude, and good old fashioned
silliness. Have a great time. ENJOY!
Wrapping Up
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Are you committed to realizing your vision? Will you do
Whatever. It. Takes. or have you put a whole slew of conditions
on your vision. (“I’ll realize my vision—as long as it doesn’t cost
too much.” “I’ll realize my vision—as long as I don’t have to quit
my day job.” “I’ll realize my vision—as long as I don’t have to
sacrifice my popularity.” “I’ll realize my vision - as long as I don’t
have to work too hard.” You get the picture.)
Will you make the changes necessary? Are you committed to investing your time, energy, and resources towards realizing your
vision?
Are you in?
Or are you out?
Joseph Campbell said, “So that’s what destiny is: simply the fulfillment of the potentialites of the energies in your own system.”
As one who made a commitment five years ago to realizing a vision, let me leave you with this one bit of encouragement.
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Until you commit to stepping onto the visionary path and doing
whatever it takes to realize that vision, the inspired visionary has
no idea what lies ahead. Nobody has forged this path for you, because it is your path - and your path alone. Nobody can predict
for you where the path will end, because every twist and turn
wrapping up
of the path will be a surprise, and anything is possible. But one
thing is guaranteed. When you fully commit to the realization
of your vision, unseen forces will conspire to transform your life
from one of numb monotony to one of pure magic. If you have
been called to walk this path, you will not walk it alone. The perfect people will show up to support your journey. The check will
arrive in the mail. The tools you need will be offered to you. The
lessons you must learn will be taught. And when you look back
upon your whole life—the triumphs, the challenges, and everything in between, you’ll discover that you were groomed for this
task your entire life and you—and you alone—are the person
who must carry out this calling, knowing that you will leave this
world all the better for having lived in it and that the Universe
has used you to do God’s work. There is no greater gift in life
than this.
The world is in great need of healing and needs you to do your
part. So please—I beg you—if you’ve been called to help change
the world, don’t shrink from the calling, no matter how scary it
might be.
The world needs you now. Pick up the phone. Answer the call.
Change the world.
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{15 Secrets Of Successful Visionaries}
1. Clarify your vision.
wrapping up
2. Live and teach authentically.
3. Listen to your intuition.
4. Eliminate self-sabotage.
5. Have faith.
6. Attract your tribe and spread the word.
7. Seek the support you’ll need.
8. Invest in your vision.
9. Collaborate with other visionaries.
10. Cultivate courage.
11. Don’t give up.
12. Make peace with risk.
13. Know when to cut your losses.
14. Focus on the highest good.
15. Have a sense of humor.
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Thank You
Bless you for reading and thank you so much for making this
world a better place.
thank you
Share Your Thoughts
Do you feel inspired to share what came up for you after reading
this? Teach us what you’ve learned, share your feedback, and tell
us your vision in the comments here.
Learn How To Realize Your Vision in a BIG Way
If you know what you’re here on this earth to do but feel like
you need support bringing your vision out into the world (and
transforming it into a business you love!), I have good news! My
fellow visionary and friend Amy Ahlers and I put our noodles
together and co-created a program designed just for people like
you who are tired of being the world’s best kept secret and ready
to launch their visions to the stratosphere. For more information, check out Visionary Ignition Switch, the business school
for inspired visionaries program we developed to help you fire
up your message, money, and meaning in the world.
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Please Share This Manifesto
And please, do me a huge favor. If this manifesto lit your fire in
some way, please share it!
thank you
To share via email, direct your peeps here.
To share via Facebook, copy and paste this status update to
Facebook (or feel free to make it your own!) Just read this
awesome manifesto by Lissa Rankin about the 15 key traits of
successful world-changers and how to change the world.
To share via Twitter, tweet this How To Change The World — a
manifesto for visionaries by @LissaRankin
Keep in Touch, Dear Ones!
For more inspiration, I’d love to have you follow me on
Facebook.
And you can tweet me here.
It Takes a Village
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Thank you to Melanie Bates for your brilliant editing and
unending support. Ginormous thanks to my graphic designer
extraordinaire Lori Paquette. Huge hugs to my hubby honey
Matt Klein, for taking care of a thousand little details and
blowing pixie dust beneath my wings when I write. Thank you
to Amy Ahlers, for many stimulating conversations about how
to bring a vision to life. And thank you to my daughter Siena, my
inspiration for making the world a better place.
thank you
And again, thanks to YOU. You’re the reason I wrote this, and I
can’t wait to see how the world transforms because you’re in it.
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