The Power of Engagement Part 7 — Your Point of Purposeful Power
One of my favorite New Thought writers, Alan Cohen, made a valuable distinction that will help you know when you’re on the mark with a new Purpose Project. In A Deep Breath of Life, he writes,
I have a formula for knowing if the next step in the right one: If you feel both excited and scared, that is it. If you’re just excited and not afraid, there is no challenge, no stretching, no initiation; you are still in your safe zone, and growth is unavailable. If you’re just afraid, there is no positive motivation. Why walk through a fear unless there is something you are walking toward? But if you are simultaneously turned on and frightened, do it and watch your growth skyrocket.
He goes on to write:
“You owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and your clients to stay on your cutting edge. If your career or relationship is a bore, step back and ask yourself what it would take to make it exciting. Then ask yourself what it would take to make it scary. The intersection of the two answers is your point of power.”
Exchanging Energy Thru Action
Of course, we know that nothing happens to bring our visions into physical reality without action. This goes back to the Insight + Action = Growth and Development formula. What actions will you take and by when?
Life as a Conversation
Many years ago when I started working with my first coach — back in my veterinary practice days — she introduced me to a perspective that I found very freeing in my work. The idea was to view my “business as a conversation.” I’m now suggesting you view your life as a conversation — more specifically your life on purpose as a conversation.
What do you see about life and living it on purpose when you view it this way? Before proceeding, take just a minute or two to ponder upon this and write down any insights you see.
Here are a few insights I’d like to add to your pondering about life on purpose of being a conversation. First off, conversations are flexible and malleable. I’m not sure we always view life as being this way. Often times it seems to be pretty hard and even inflexible. But what if it really isn’t so rigid? What if, like conversations, living on purpose is a more organic process. Aren’t conversations organic? We often don’t know exactly what we’re going to say until we say it, then we listen to the other person, then we shape our next piece of the conversation in a dance with what they said.
The second point I invite you to try on is that what we say and how we say it has a lot to do with how our life unfolds. Consider this quote:
Be impeccable with your word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Don Miguel Ruiz
When we use the power of our word (and words) in the direction of truth and love, we’re taking major steps along the path of Mastery. But how do we practice this in our everyday lives? I admit, it’s not always easy, and sometimes it’s downright hard, but I have found that it’s well worth the effort. Does this mean I never slip or fail in being impeccable with my word? Not at all. I fail on a fairly regular basis, but like most failures, these times are perfect learning opportunities, and with enough learning opportunities we can all get better and stronger at being true to our word and ourselves.
So, let me introduce one other distinction that I believe will help us all move in the right direction. It’s Congruent Creativity.
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W. Bradford Swift has enjoyed a combo career as a writer and life coach for over thirty years and now coaches aspiring authors to write that someday, one day book TODAY. http://wbradfordswift.com/writing-coach/
