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The Path of
Purpose: Awakening to Personal and Corporate
Brilliance
by Diane Fleck |
A funny thing happened on the way to
….
I guess you could say, it just sort of crept up on
me. I was minding my own business, working hard, raising
a family, trying to keep my head above water, when I
started feeling like something wasn’t quite right. I
felt disconnected from work and my life. I felt like
something was missing, but I didn’t know what!
At that time, I had worked for 18 years in Corporate
America. Most days I was just going through the motions
of what was expected and not paying attention to how I
really felt about the job I was doing. I just didn’t
have the commitment or passion that some of my
colleagues had.
Years later I realized that what I was feeling and
thinking was not uncommon. In fact, almost everyone has
these feelings of discontent at sometime during their
lives. I like to refer to that time in my life as waking
up to divine discontent.
This discontent signaled the beginning of a fantastic
journey. A journey of the soul. One minute you’re
making the grocery list and the next minute your life
begins to travel down another path. This path is filled
with twists and turns, ups and downs and yes … humor,
love, peace and joy.
It was during this time in my life that a friend
introduced me to new ways of seeing the world. I began
my search with lots of questions and no one to give me
the answers I was seeking. It seemed like a path was
opening up before me but I had no idea where it would
lead. I guess you could say, I was on a mission! I
wanted to know what all this was about. I wanted to
understand and know my life purpose.
Once you begin this journey, your life changes. You
change. The people around you may change. Everyone’s
journey to the soul is similar but different. The energy
of change has occurred and you will never see the world
the same again. It’s like Mr. Toad’s wild ride. All
you can do is hang on, learn and go with the flow.
That sounds easier than it really is. Remember that
this journey is also an adventure. You can choose to
learn in a new way or get caught in the undertow of
times past. We tend to bounce back and forth on this
journey. Some days are better than others. That’s all
part of the plan. I call it the universal plan to awaken
to your own brilliance, to the light and spirit of who
you really are. The path of purpose is the gateway to
your soul.
Values, Meaning and Intent.
Whether it’s working with my consulting clients,
giving corporate leadership workshops or acting as a
spiritual guide, the questions are still the same. What
gives you a sense of meaning? What’s important to you?
In other words, defining your passion and purpose gives
you a sense of meaning. It’s the big picture, the why
of your life.
It sounds so easy! Yet, the answers can be elusive.
It takes some deep soul searching to feel like you’ve
found the answers to these questions. I’ve often said
that it’s not the answers you’re really looking for,
but the right questions that will ultimately lead you to
the path of purpose.
I suggest that you begin to look closely at what you
value or what’s really important to you. When defining
your values you can look at what you enjoy doing and
why. Pay attention to what you do for fun or on your
time off. What cause or associations do you belong to?
Create a list of 20 things that you value and then look
for the common denominator.
Your values serve as a foundation. It stirs the fire
of creativity and enthusiasm. It’s from your values
that you’ll find your passion. The energy of passion
is explosive and full of fire. This energy must have an
outlet. It must move. When looking at your list, what
gives you a sense of high energy?
Your purpose is the overriding why of your life, so
it needs to be big enough to hold the energy for work
and play. Experiment with writing a purpose or mission
statement. This statement may change several times
before you feel that you’ve captured just the right
feeling, verbiage and nuance of your spirit.
This statement is very important. It will help you
stay focused and give you a lens big enough to view not
only your spirit but how you fit into the world and the
natural progression that I’ll address later in this
article.
Let me illustrate my purpose statement with you.
" I ignite passion, purpose and spirit." This
statement is big enough for both my work and personal
life. I consult, coach and teach how to achieve your
highest potential while living from an authentic soulful
place. The energy of the word ignite gives fire to the
passion and encourages others to be who they really are.
Whenever I’m looking at a new project or endeavor,
I always run it by my statement first to see if I’m
coming from an authentic and soulful place. This also
allows an outlet for other planes of expression and
personality. In other words, my uniqueness, talents and
abilities can shine through without obstruction.
I can see clearly now, the pain is
gone.
Getting to this core issue of purpose and the why of
your life sets off all kinds of alarms in the psyche.
The ego starts to act up and feel threatened. You may go
into confusion and doubt.
Your world may be turning upside down and inside out.
That’s exactly what you are to be feeling. What’s
happening is that you are learning to go inside to get
your own answers rather than rely on others. You’re
learning who you are, and only you have the answers.
For some this journey to the soul may take 6 months
for others 6 to 10 years. There is no one way or right
way. There is only your way. What can help is to find
others who have traveled down their path and who can
share their experiences openly and honestly.
I believe this to be the most honored and important
process or commitment anyone can undertake. I encourage
others who have gone before to hold out their hand and
support their fellow soul travelers. We are all playing
an important part in the evolution of the human species.
Then one day, you wake up and say ah, I can see
clearly now, the pain is gone. I must admit, that song
kept coming into my head. I think Carly Simon sang it
years ago. Oops, I must be dating myself.
But honestly, just when you think you’ll never get
it – all of a sudden things start to click. You start
to think about coming back to the world again. You’ve
gone through the dark night of the soul and have come
back to live again. You wake up to a new day and a new
soulful brilliance of who you really are.
The Natural Progression … and the
big picture.
Just like individuals, corporations list their
statement of purpose, values and vision. However, I’ve
found that there’s a link between the personal and the
professional or company statements. This link is
directly connected to productivity, personal meaning,
integrity and a sense of contributing something of value
to the world around us.
When individuals start to wake up to their brilliance
they will in turn wake up corporate brilliance and the
living link between the two shall remain strong.
When living from an authentic place, individuals will
automatically shift to a more global and interconnected
sense of being. The natural progression will be one of
service and global community.
When you step back far enough to see the big picture
in context to the world around you, you realize how
important this step is. By being true to who you are,
living from a place of purpose and giving of your
talents and abilities to the world around you, you give
back in service what you came to share with others……
your spirit.
© Diane Fleck. 2000.
Diane Fleck is President of
Fleck and Associates, a consulting and training company specializing
in igniting passion, purpose and spirit!
Diane’s area of
expertise is the people side of business. She helps
individuals and organizations realize their area of
greatness and their people potential.
Fleck and Associates
provides consulting, coaching and training services.
Flecks workshops include executive development,
leadership, team building and personal growth seminars.
Through her 20 years
of corporate experience, research, training, business
and behavior psychology, Diane is a sought after expert
in the field of maximizing human potential.
She believes that
continuous learning and self-awareness is the key to
personal success and well being. By Unleashing your
individual potential, you bring more of who you really
are to everything you do.
Her specific
application of "how to" workshops focus on the
interaction and dynamics of human behavior –
one-on-one, in a team environment and individual
awareness for living an authentic life.
Her unique flair of
humor and practical experience encourages others to go
beyond the norm and reach for the stars.
Her clients include
fortune 500 executives, entrepreneurs, financial
institutes, non-profit organizations, healthcare and the
communications field. She’s delivered management
workshops through the Newspaper Satellite Network, an
affiliate of the American Press Institute and the
Newspaper Association of America. She currently serves
as Vice President Membership for the American Society
for Training and Development in Northern California.
Fleck also serves as keynote speaker, seminar leader,
executive coach and spiritual guide.
Her new book "The
Path of Purpose – Awakening to Personal and Corporate
Brilliance will publish in the fall of 2001. Her new
2001 seminar series, "Seminars for the Soul"
gives tips, techniques and tools to nurture the soul
within.
For more information
you can call (707) 421-9376 or email dfleck@itswithin.com.
Visit our web site at http://www.itswithin.com
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