3 Milestones to Achieve Your Authentic Success
Activate your courage to move from "ordinary" to "extraordinary"
How to build your success from the inside out
For many of us, we follow the path that was modeled for us growing up (whether subconsciously or not). For example, I was raised in a Jewish home where, as you might imagine, the two most venerated career paths were for “doctor” and “lawyer”.
For me, neither of these options felt right.
My career path has winded across a wide trajectory and creative exploration, which has provided me many opportunities to challenge the status quo. Which sounds fun, right?
Who wouldn’t want to study interior design, and later leverage this design expertise to create helpful ways for organizations & teams to thrive?
Who wouldn’t want to re-invent new ways to help people shine at work while meeting project milestones?
Who wouldn’t find it interesting to create organizational culture initiatives to expand mutual respect and kindness that lead to an increased bottom line?
While it’s exciting to think about waking up in the morning knowing you have created a life that fulfills you on every level, know that the path to get there often stirs up inner resistance.
Uncertainty as we define our unique vision can feel daunting. Especially if it’s moving us beyond our current levels of comfort and familiarity. As you walk a path that is uniquely yours, you will likely need to call on deep courage.
Your life may be absolutely “fine”. However, is this enough? Often your calling asks you to be bigger, to live wider, and fulfill a sweeter purpose for living than you could have ever dreamed.
To minimize the uncertainty, here are three milestones you can refer to as you navigate and create the life most aligned with your true purpose.
Milestone 1: Your calling is calling you
One of the first stops along the path to your authentic life is knowing that your calling is calling you.
All may be totally fine in your life. Your kids are going to band practice. You and your honey are going on an amazing anniversary trip to Cancun. You keep getting promoted at work.
And then perhaps unexpectedly your grandmother starts battling cancer. Or someone close to you passes. And suddenly you are faced with the limited nature of time.
You remember the love that you had when you were younger for mapping the course of ants along the ground. For seeing the stars at night. And you remember the bigger mystery that you are a part of.
You ponder, “Do I still have time to pursue my love of nature photography?”. Or, “Is it too late to study astronomy so I can explore the cosmos?”
Know that the calling in your heart is starting to call you.
Milestone 2: Listen to the pause
After years of running on autopilot, you may feel burned out at the core. You are tired of all the late nights and tending to everyone else’s’ needs but your own. You wake up (again) at 3:00 in the morning and wonder if you’re wasting your life.
Wow. Can you give yourself permission to be with your feelings?
Be in the space of uncertainty (allow the fear and breathe.)
Know that there is something more for you to do, to be, to express. You have a purpose that is intimately tied with the magic of the stars and the pull of the ocean tides. It is unique to why you are you and why you are here at this time.
Give yourself the grace to feel anything in this pause moment. Often there is grief in the loss of time spent doing what lights you up. Allow the ache that yearns for the simple pleasures you once enjoyed. Be with this.
Milestone 3: Dig to the root
As you honor the pause, you may question your current path. Know that there is a reason you choose your patterns and trajectories. For example:
Did you choose to go into law because it’s the family business?
Did you move in to tech leadership to make your parents proud?
Is your incessant over-protection of your kids a compensation for an inner fear that you are not doing enough?
Likely as not, the path you are on is serving you quite well in many ways. The success you’ve achieved, the kids you’re raising, the career accomplishments. These are all valid.
The trick is looking for the underlying motivation to see if these accomplishments are wholly feeding your inner purpose.
Many of us inherit patterns that encourage us to maintain the status quo and keep us from our true passions. Be fearless in understanding your why. For example:
Are you over-giving at work because you don’t want to face your inner critic which arises when you pursue your purpose?
Are you over-achieving to hide a fear that you are not enough?
Do you procrastinate putting in the time on your passions because you fear people will think you’re crazy?
Clear the path
Honor these milestones of knowing that your calling is calling you, listening to the pause, and digging to the root. Without a deep inner dissatisfaction, many of us would keep going with the late work nights, the tendency to overachieve or overprotect, and keep ourselves distracted from our true wisdom.
If we ignore the invitation to look within, however, we lose access to our truest joy and fulfillment. Here are a few examples of how I’ve leveraged these steps in my path to greater alignment and fulfillment.
Milestone 1: As a single mother, my calling led me to my creative heart. As I honored this, I was guided to go back to school for interior design, which offered a doorway to creative expression at work.
Milestone 2: Later, while leading a marketing department in a tech company, I listened to a pause. This highlighted to me how dissatisfied I was with internal backbiting politics, which instigated a career pivot into organizational change.
Milestone 3: As I left a “stable” role for the uncertainty of being my own boss, I dug into the roots of the value of a steady paycheck. I thus became free to map a path to greater wealth, freedom and flexibility.
Through this process, walked many times, I now live a life based on my purpose. I get to inspire people in their growth, express my creativity, and bring people and teams together for mutual collaboration and innovation. All of this feeds my joy and has inspired me to move past “ordinary” into “extraordinary.”
My invitation to you is to honor your steps into your true calling. Accept the discomfort. Embrace the uncertainty. Be brave. Move beyond the ordinary to create the life you most deserve and cherish.
If you would like support as you define your path of greater purpose and fulfillment, schedule a complimentary Clarity Consult . Together, let’s map your path forward!
About me
I am a “Life Path Maverick”. I inspire mission-driven leaders, innovators, and teams to move from stuck to thriving success whether through careers pivots, businesses shifts, mid-life changes, or crises of vision.
I leverage my 30+ years’ experience - including being a CTI trained coach and Certified Intuitive Practitioner - along with my over 15 years’ experience in business, organizational change and development, and communications, to help people thrive!
I offer a Dreamweaver Program to help you take a major leap forward with your calling, so you can build a more fulfilling, rich, and heart-align path. Let’s discuss your goals and how to get you there faster!
I live in Northern California where I enjoy hiking, biking, learning, and cooking delicious meals to share with friends!
Download my FREE “6 Steps to Activate Your True Calling – and THRIVE” Guide for insights to help you align with your deeper calling and activate it faster.