In the Garden
Planting Seeds and Watching Them Grow
Now and then I like to feature the progress of readers who are actively
pursuing their dream of self-bossing. The people you're about to meet
attended a
Work
at What You Love Workshop & Retreat with me here at my home in
scenic Montague, Massachusetts.
Each returned home raring to put the plan they began at the workshop
into place. I think you'll be as inspired as I was at the incredible
progress each has made in a matter of months...
Trust Your Gut
Gail Ruth of Alaska didn't have a booth at
the Alaska State Fair. Yet a powerful inner voice kept telling her to go
to the fair -- and bring her exquisite hand painted silk scarves with
her.
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Workshop
participants model Gail's scarves - that's Gail standing next to
me |
I'd seen Gail's scarves because, at my
urging, she brought a sampling to the Work at What You Love Workshop &
Retreat workshop in January, and I can tell you they are both fashion
and art. Since attending the workshop, she's gotten a lot done,
including setting up a website
www.GailRuth.com -- something that can take others years!
Even Gail knew it made no "logical" sense
to tote her wares to a place where she was not even a vendor. But being
deeply spiritual, she is not one to ignore a calling. So she crafted a
special specially made over-the shoulder case, tossed a scarf around her
neck, and headed to the fair not knowing what to expect but open to the
infinite possibility of life.
Sure enough, the owner of a local gift
store who was a vendor noticed her scarf. Imagine the owner's
surprise when Gail responded by opening her bag to display dozens more!
The owner immediately asked her to be the store's featured artist for
October.
The very next week a different group
invited Gail to display her scarves at a two day spiritual retreat. Gail
completely sold out of all 35 scarves by noon the first day! Cha ching!
A Space of One's Own
If you've ever yearned for your own
separate workspace, you'll love this photo of Judy from Rhode Island
standing in her newly leased 1,000 square foot "idea incubation and
creative exploration" studio. Very cool!
As Judy explained, "I wanted to experience
having a dedicated space (something I always wanted to have) and the
synergy I would get from the collaborative atmosphere, as opposed to
working alone at home." Adding, "The site markets itself as a
‘collaborative for artists and entrepreneurs’, and that mix fits my
profile exactly."
She has lots of plans for the studio.
Among them is having a place to house her growing library of reference
materials she can absorb while lounging on comfy furniture.
Judy also plans to have fun with her own
creative activities including adult puppetry (she has 40 puppets & a
stage/theater) and designing and constructing fabric art in the form of
high-end vests, handbags, and shawls.
As Judy herself looks ahead to retirement,
she also plans to actively explore developing corporate employee
programs relating to pre-retirement planning.
And despite currently being a rather
uncreative corporate job, Judy also plans to use her creative background
to create in-house expressive arts programs as a way to reduce stress
reduction and encourage innovation among employees.
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Judy,
"Yak-Yak," and Serena |
Find a Teacher
The big news from Serena in San Francisco
is -- drum roll please -- she quit her corporate job on October 1st!
"It's been great," she said.
"I feel so much more focused and energized, like a weight has been
lifted off me. My job was robbing me of my joy."
Serena is making good on the goal she set
at the workshop to double her monthly eBay income from $1,000 to $2,000!
To get there she continued to invest in her education by attending an
eBay training boot camp and working with an eBay coach who helped her
rethink how to streamline her business selling of all things, stuffed
animals.
One of the things we talked
a lot about at the retreat was Serena's passion for thinking up stories
involving her own stuffed animal collection. So I connected her with the
Institute for Children's Literature, and thanks to the training and
one-on-one feedback from her instructor, Joyce Hansen, things are taking
off faster than she'd dreamed.
"My instructor really liked
my second assignment, a short story, that I turned in, and thinks that
with a few, minor changes, it is ready to be submitted to a periodical
for consideration! That was a big boost to my confidence," says Serena.
It's wonderful that Serena
is poised to become a published writer. However what is even more
exciting is that's after long last, she's found her gift.
"When I've sat down to
write, the words have just come," says Serena. "I am still in awe
because almost everything I've ever done, including my eBay business,
has been a struggle, one way or another. My friends tell me that this is
a sign that I have this writing gift and that I'm doing what I'm
supposed to be doing. For that, I have you to thank for kicking me into
gear with my writing!"
Serena is not the only one to dump her day
job after attending the workshop...
"Recovering attorney" Melissa also made
good on her promise to walk away from her high stress job at a law firm.
From here she applied and got accepted into a program at MIT. It's all
part of Melissa's larger plan to use her law degree to work for social
justice in Latin America.
And in a similar vein, Ashley from Toronto
put her massage practice on hold to realize a long held dream to move to
Latin America to explore what the future may hold for her in a place she
loved as a child. (Hint: If you're still searching for your calling look
to your childhood as Ashley did.)
There are many more success stories I
could share. The point is, growing a dream is a lot like growing a
garden. It starts with the desire for growth.
Then, just as you would ready the soil for
planting, you must prepare your mind by believing that you deserve to be
happy, that it's okay to both want to make good money and find your
work enjoyable, too, and that it really is possible to live life on your
own terms.
Next, you must plant the seeds. Seeds come
in different forms including the essential seed of hope. When you hear
about an idea, learn a new piece of information, or meet people like
these who are taking action, suddenly you see the world in an entirely
different way.
Most important of all is to realize that
your dream requires tending in order to bear fruit. Brainstorming,
information-gathering, reading, coaching, education, and finding support
are all good ways to nourish to a dream.
If you are ready to step
into your life and realize big results,
join me at the next live
"Work at What You Love" workshop and retreat happening November
12-14 -- or if travel is an issue, register for the
Virtual retreat
beginning December 3-5.
Is it an investment? Yes. But as you can
see, it is an investment that will pay you back many times over.
Because I strictly limit the number of
participants, and set up a system for ongoing support, the people who
attend this workshop make more progress in a few short months than most
people do in their entire lives! It's also the reason I am comfortable
saying it truly is a life changing experience.
To learn how you can put yourself on track
to be my next success story,
click here.
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live life on purpose 
A week later I was in Albany
speaking on the same topic at a conference aimed primarily at
women at IBM. I knew it went well.
But even I was surprised when the conference organizer wrote to
say, "Your
workshop was OVERWHELMINGLY the most well received content of
the event!" Talk about feeling flattered!
The
real discovery was that Paula is a savvy mom-preneur with a knack for
spotting the next big thing. Coming up with something unexpected like
fried butter and fried jelly netted her tons of
No
matter what business you're in, there's probably a way to do your thing
-- but in a different medium. Sculptor
Someone
else attracting a big crowd at the fair was former automotive designer
turned children's book author Joan Klatil Creamer. Joan wrote and
illustrated a fun line of books based on The Magic Scepter.
