Without the ability to both think things through intellectually AND to feel into our choices, decision-making is impaired and may not lead to actions that are ultimately right for us. This is something we see over and over in our Now What?® work – people who have followed a path that “made sense” but discounted or ignored the part of them that knew how they truly felt about their choices.
How Only Being Able to Use Logic to Make Decisions Destroyed a Man’s Life
Take a look at these 50 signs and see how many apply to you. Might it be time to follow that entrepreneurial venture that you’ve dreamt of?
Your resume only tells you so much. That’s why, when the winds of change are blowing, it’s best to look at your entire life story for guidance. I don’t mean the 500+ page tell-all you might write someday.This is a two or three-page bulleted version with snapshot moments from throughout the decades. That’s a quick description of the Life Story, a central exercise from the Now What?® program.
It’s an atypical coaching assignment because it looks back in time instead of forward, however it’s not done with a psychoanalytic eye, but rather an intuitive one. The opportunity is to look back with great reverence, allowing the wisdom of your life to speak to you. Have you ever reflected on your life that way?
It Might Surprise You
As you can imagine, all kinds of things come up when you review the story of your life. Things you’ve classified as successes, failures, great times, and dark periods. Things that you’d put in the plus or minus column if you were keeping score. In the Now What?® program, we use the life story to find Clues to Clarity. One way to do this is to identify the Golden Threads.
These are themes and patterns that run throughout your life. Some threads are right on the surface while others are more embedded. Quite often the gold is found in surprising places. Kim, an executive and legal professional, realized that the impact of being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in her early adult life is that it gives her good balance and reminds her about moderation.
This observation, pieced together with other golden threads in her life story, helped Kim identify her core purpose: to be the voice of reason. Having this purpose affirmed is something that continues to inform Kim’s professional contributions, parenting style, and life choices. (2) Jobs you hated and jobs you loved. Places you’ve lived and people who influenced you. Beginnings, endings, and everything you’ve experienced.
Nothing is ever a waste if you mine for the gold. What did you learn? Who have you become? How can that guide you now? That’s gold.
Golden threads are interwoven through every phase of your life. In addition to your peak experiences, what if some of your toughest challenges were there to serve you, 
teach you, form you, and move you forward? Maybe it’s all gold.
Remember this song? It’s still catchy, good one for the playlist.
Originally published for In the Current blog
As is so often the case, a personal need (or disaster, in this case), led to the invention of a product. A product needed by many, even beyond the intended “target market.” Sales tripled in the first year alone as the founders scrambled to keep up. What great idea do you have that is dying to be born?
“How a Near-Death Mountain Climb Launched One of the Adventure World’s Best-Known Brands.”
Think again! Don’t let these myths stop you in your tracks before you even set out to give it your best shot. Here’s the good news – it is NOT too late!
Lisa Anselmo had attained her dream job in publishing. But after two years of layoffs and reorganization at her company, which left her career a fragment of its former self, she found herself at a crossroads. She loved her job, but suddenly it wasn’t enough.
Already on a journey of self-exploration after the death of her mother from breast cancer that left her asking, “now what?” she began coaching with Laura Berman Fortgang to work past her fear of change and understand what her next chapter might be.
That coaching led to her new book, My (Part-Time) Paris Life, due out October 11, 2016, and a web series of the same name. Her series: part travelogue and part inspiration, features Parisians and expats who, like Lisa, have taken a risk to follow their dreams—and have found success and happiness. Enjoy the debut episode here:
“My (Part-Time) Paris Life: Episode One ©2016 Lisa Anselmo and ©2016 Nomadic Frames.”