I support people to do what they love and be their best so that they make a real difference in the world. That’s who I am when I am at my best. That’s my why.

Everyone has a why.  When we articulate our purpose and take steps every day to live and be that purpose, our lives change dramatically.  No longer is our job, profession or business just something we do.  There is a fire or passion within us because we know why we get out of bed in the morning and how we can be of service to others.

When we are in service to self only, we may experience moments of happiness.  Happiness is a dopamine hit. It’s the feeling we get when we buy a new home or car, have dinner with a good friend or hug someone we love. Happiness is real and yet it is fleeting.

Fulfillment, feeling content and on purpose is different. 

Feeling fulfilled is an oxytocin hit. It’s the high we feel when we help others, when we make a difference in someone else’s life, often in what appears to be small ways.  It can be as simple as sharing a smile or as daring as rescuing children from a burning home. 

Fulfillment runs deep and is long lasting. It is a deep, heartfelt experience that does not leave us.

As a child and in my youth, I lived a very safe, sheltered middle-class life. When I was 17, we experienced a  calamity, a storm that stretched from Alabama to Canada, spawning 148 tornadoes nationwide, 27 of them in my home state of Kentucky.

And within that disaster, I felt and experienced fulfillment for the first time in my life, that I could make a difference in the world. I could give and receive selflessly, having no agenda other that to help and be of service, and that changed me.

The experience opened the doors of my heart to a new way of being. This may sound dramatic and huge, even though the actual story may not seem like much to you. What happens on the outside is not always indicative of what it feels like on the inside. We give meaning to all kinds of things in our lives, and those meanings can support and uplift us or drag us down and keep us small.

It was a strange day. First there were beautiful blue skies, then rolling clouds of darkness, then sirens blaring warning of an emergency, then a quiet eerie silence.

It was a hot summer’s day, and I can remember standing next to my mother and looking outside through sliding glass doors that lead to our back yard. We were oblivious to the danger of standing inches from the glass, peering inquisitively towards the sky.

My home was spared, but a few blocks away neighborhoods were damaged and destroyed. Roofs were blown off houses. Fronts and sides of building were gone. Debris was everywhere. The destruction was shocking, unfathomable.

I remember going for a walk into the neighborhood next to ours, knocking on the door of a home that had lost its roof, and asking the middle-aged woman who opened the door if she needed some help.

She did. We spent the day packing dishes and her valuables into boxes. 

This small experience was profound for me. For the first time, I felt like I had done something that really mattered. I felt the joy of giving. My heart was open and full. A seemingly small experience of selfless service opened me up in a profound way to acceptance, unconditional love and belonging.

I know I'm not alone.  We've all had these moments.  We've all felt the joy of giving back. We've all felt the gratitude of receiving a helping hand when we needed one.

Knowing our why is about selfless service, and that opens us up to the abundance of the Universe and, if we allow it, fills our cup with love. 

We feel successful when we know and live our why because it no longer 'all about me'. It’s about 'Let Us': Let us create a life, communities, a world where we are there for each other, where we have each others' back, where everyone contributes what they can, when we know that we’re never ever alone.

Imagine living in a world where everyone was their own purpose expert, where everyone was living their own unique why, where everyone felt and knew that together is better.

Imagine the contentment and joy of knowing and living our why in this world!

Every time we tap into our why, every time we live from this space in our hearts, every time we give for the joy of giving, we fill ourselves up with contentment and joy. 

Every time we love the kids inside of us that have been yearning for our love, wrapping our loving arms around them, we support ourselves in living our why, we nurture ourselves so that we have the ability to give back from a full and overflowing heart.

And even though the world that we live in often focuses on fear, lack and limitation, focuses on what separates us, our differences, we can choose to focus on what unites us, our similarities.

We can choose to focus on what makes our hearts sing, what brings joy and contentment into our lives and how we can best model that for others. 

As we embrace our why and share our passion for being on purpose, we plant the seeds that others might  discover their purpose no matter where they're living on the planet.

The energy of our excitement is there for the taking, just like when many people around the world discover something new about the same time.  It's somehow there for ones open to it to come to a new knowing, to have an 'ah ha' moment and be open to more abundance and love.

We can make a difference by how we bring ourselves to the world.  We never know how our heartfelt purpose ripples out and touches the lives of others.

That's hopeful and encouraging.

That sheds new light on how we bring ourselves to the world, what we choose to focus on, and the excitement and passion we bring to life.

How do you feel about your job or your business or your profession. Does it light up your life?  Is your heart singing? 

It can feel really challenging, even frightening, to change or make a move.  I made a change from family law to commercial law as an established attorney. But I did so after being hit by a two-by-four on the side of the head, not so wise or kind to self!

I was primarily a family lawyer, which can be difficult and draining.  You are not dealing with people at their best. They are often stressed, anxious and have unreasonable expectations. Sometimes they try to put their children in the middle instead of considering their best interests.  Sometimes there are legitimate concerns of alcohol, drug abuse or addiction are involved.

Dealing with people who were going through a major life change wasn’t the problem.  It was a few highly successful family lawyers who were creating a toxic environment for us all, and the judges were allowing them to get away with behavior which should have been banned as unbefitting the legal profession. But it wasn't.

I was stressed and overwhelmed, and it was taking a toll on my health. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when an alcoholic client filed a grievance against me. I represented her in a hotly contested child custody case in which she imploded and turned to the bottle after years of abstinence.

The grievance was ultimately dismissed, but it was a costly, time-consuming, life-changing experience and I knew in my gut that I had to make a change.

I had a small commercial law practice and decided to focus exclusively on that.  I was excited and scared, with no guarantees, a solo practitioner and, a single parent with a young son.

It looked crazy to change from the outside.  When we decide to make a big change, sometimes the universe works in strange ways. The week after I decided to no longer accept new family law cases, I received more phone calls from new clients than I had in the past 3 months!  It was like the universe was asking me, “Are you sure? Are you really sure you want to do this?"

Some people might have used this as a sign that they were making a mistake and change their mind. I didn’t.  What I learned was when you follow your heart, your gut knowing, you are tested; you are presented with something that seems too good to be true and it probably is.

So, follow your heart and don’t wait to be smacked upside the head the way I was.  When you have an inspiration to do something differently, to make a change, to let something go, to start something new, everything that is not about your new way forward is going to present for you to let go of.

So, let go with gratitude, appreciate the journey you’ve been on, all that you’ve learned, even negative learning of what not to do, and acknowledge how you’ve grown from what you've done up till now. 

You have to let go of the old to make way for the new.  Your choices are going to have challenges. You're probably going to have some bumps and unexpected turns in the road.  Go with the flow and be open to all possibilities; it’s about letting go of the need to control everything and have certainty.

Listen to that still small voice inside. Listen when opportunities present that resonate with you that you would love to step towards because they feel right and take that step.  Every moment is an opportunity to choose to follow your inner compass and listen to your gut or not. 

Are you ready to embrace the road less traveled?  Is it calling to you?

You want to reach a goal, complete a project, make a change that affects your relationships, your health, your work, your life. Where do you start?

When you want to achieve something, the starting point is always to have a burning desire to make your goal a reality.  This burning desire is much more than a hope or a wish. It’s something that’s ALWAYS with you, a dream that you constantly hold in your heart.  You may be working or working out, socializing, or relaxing at home, but this goal, this dream, this change is always there with you.

You will succeed not because you got a break but because you chose a definite goal and then you placed ally our energy, effort and willpower towards achieving that goal.  You must have clear, definite, written goals.

Humility is also a vital part of success, knowing how far you have come, your strengths, and how far you still have to go. those not-so-shiny bits, while being in complete acceptance of where you find yourself now.

Success may mean starting at the bottom or doing some things, some tasks. taking on some responsibilities that you would prefer not to do or to delegate.

And it doesn’t matter what other people think.  They can see your goal as an impossible dream.   Provided you already know it’s happening now, you imagine it, see, feel, and know it to be true, success is ultimately guaranteed.  Just don’t be attached to when it happens (no urgency!) or how it comes to pass (the packaging could be different than expected).

Stake all your energy, focus and commitment, your entire future, on your ability to make your burning desire a reality.

How do you do this?

The 6 steps are clearly laid out for you in Napoleon’s Hill’ classic, Think and Grow Rich.

First:  Fix in your mind exactly what you desire. Be definite, clear and specific.

Second: Decide what you will give in return. There is no such thing as something for nothing.

Third: Decide when you will achieve your desire.

Fourth: Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once. It doesn’t matter whether you feel ready or not, start now.

Fifth: Write out a clear, concise statement of what you desire, when you will have it, what you will give back in return, and how you plan to attain it.

Sixth: Read this statement aloud every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to sleep. AND See, feel and believe yourself to be already in possession of it.

A great Think and Grow Rich success story is Bruce Lee, who read and followed the example of Napoleon Hill.

"My Definite Chief Aim, By Bruce Lee, January 1969"

"I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States.  In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor.  Starting in 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000.  I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness."

Biography of Bruce Lee in Video

“Bruce Lee brought something magical to his performances that no one has been able to replicate.  His passion, professionalism and burning desire touched the lives of many and opened doors for martial artists, Orientals, and others in the film industry.”

End notes

These 6 steps to success are not rocket science . . . they are simple, easy-to-follow instructions for success.

And remember, you must give in order to receive.  Make sure that what you are bringing to the world is something you can be proud of, something you would recommend to those closest to you, and that your motivation to serve is what keeps moving you forward.

And enjoy your success!

Meditation has been scientifically proven to: 

Improve Your Health - better immune function, less pain & inflammation.

Increase Your Contentment - more positive thoughts & feelings, less stress & anxiety.

Boost Your Self-Confidence - easier to accel & do your best.

Boost Your Productivity - more focused & creative, easier to multi-task & problem-solve.

Then why don’t we take that time for ourselves to relax, let go, breathe more deeply and go within? Maybe the personality bit of us would rather lay on the couch and watch Netflix or HBO or anything.  If it's not a priority, if something hasn't happened in our lives that makes it imperative to make the change and find this quiet time for ourselves, we're likely to remain the same, even if we know it's 'good for us' or could lower our stress and cortisol levels. 

We need to ask ourselves:  Are we ready and willing to change? 

Sometimes, we know that something is bad for us, but we keep doing it anyway.  One example is smoking.  I had a friend, Evan.  He's a great guy, a vegetarian, a non-drinker.  Watches what kind of food he puts in his body.  And he hates pollution.  He talks on and on about pollution even though he's been polluting his own air and lungs for years. Evan, until quite recently was a smoker.  He smoked 1.5 packs of cigarettes a day. Knew it was bad for him. Knew it was going to kill him, but he didn't stop smoking.  He's been having respiratory conditions for years connected with cigarette smokers, and recently went to a Naturopath for some iridology.  The Naturopath told Evan that he had some spots on the lungs. Evan looked up spots on the lungs and decided to see a Western medical doctor.  He hadn't been to see one in 10 years.  The doctor found that Evan had the beginning stages of emphysema.  Evan quit smoking cold turkey and hasn't had a cigarette in over 6 months. 

What happened?  Evan not only knew in his head that cigarettes were going to kill him, he became aware that cigarettes were actually killing him, and he allowed change to move through him and become a non-smoker. 

What's the correlation? We may feel stressed, tired, overwhelmed, out of sorts and know that something needs to change in our lives, like having a meditation practice, and do nothing.  When it hits home that the stress, fatigue, and other physical ailments that we are experiencing with increasing frequency and intensity are not going away, are starting to control our lives, it's no longer a theory, and we allow change to move through us. We make changes in our lives to feel more calm, quiet, centered, balanced and peaceful. 

Why wait till our stress levels or physical symptom reach epic proportions?  Our society has some unrealistic ideas about meditation, like you must sit cross legged on the floor with your spine straight and eyes closed and chant or breathe deeply for hours to meditate. 

No, not true.  We can meditate in motion like chi gong or tai chi.  We can sit quietly and breathe and be for 5 minutes.  Some physical activities can be a meditative experience, like swimming, running, walking, hiking and skiing.  It's about being fully present in the moment and in our hearts, grounded in our bodies, experiencing calm assurance and serenity. 

There's not a one-size-fits-all for meditation, we can start small and build from there.  We can experience the benefits with our short, focused meditation time, our time to rest and rejuvenate, our time to relax and refuel.  It's important to be kind to ourselves and fill ourselves with the love of self-care; when we do so, we bring more of our best self to whatever else we do.