How to make money while working with purpose

When I was 12 years old, my father became the CEO of the Belgian branch of a U.S. company listed on the American Stock Exchange. We’re talking 1987, the year Madonna revolutionized the music industry with the hit song “Who’s That Girl”, and by doing so made millions of us want to go and see the movie with the same title, too.

While I was enjoying that pretty harmless tune on my Walkman – for those of you born after 1990, that’s a portable cassette-tape player – one of the first things my father had to do as the brand new CEO of that company was to lay off quite a lot of people. I remember it (almost) as if it was yesterday, despite my young age. Although I can’t recall how we ended up talking about the lay-offs, I do remember a specific conversation we had about it. In that conversation, my father tried to explain the principles of business to me – that is, the obligations of CEOs of companies owned by shareholders, and the pressure that comes from an ever-growing need to make more financial profit. I remember not understanding. So, when my father told me that he needed to lay off people because the company wasn’t making enough money, I asked him if the company needed money – to which he said no, the shareholders just wanted more. That’s when I thought I’d found the solution, and told my father to simply tell everyone that they had enough already. And to share the money evenly among everyone, so nobody needed to be laid off.

Of course, this is not how things unfolded. My father laid off people when he started working at that company, and did so many times after that. Until, finally, he was laid off, too. Many years later, when he had given his all to that company, and done so many things that didn’t align with his personal values.

And this misalignment between values and business is precisely what I want to talk about with you today.

We live in a world that is ever changing, and where new opportunities emerge alongside new knowledge of how things can be done, including business. If you’re reading this post, chances are you’ve watched Simon Sinek’s talk inspiring millions to Start With Why, but if you haven’t, I invite you to do so to understand how working with purpose can help change the way we do things in business, and in life, too. And although this talk is not specifically about doing good, or upholding specific humanistic values when it comes to business, I believe the mechanics are the same.

And they are important. Because this focus on purpose is allowing a new kind of entrepreneurs to emerge from the masses.

Often, they are called social entrepreneurs, but I’ve seen mentions of do-gooders, bottom-liners (I kind of like this one), and disrupters of the status quo, as well as, even, change sustainers (this one’s not bad, either). Now, overall, I think labels are kind of limiting, and in this case I find that ‘social entrepreneur’ is a difficult one to deal with. It sounds as if anyone who is not a social entrepreneur is in business solely for personal gain or profit.

OK, I’ll admit, that’s probably the case for a great deal of corporations, but I don’t believe it’s the case for the solopreneur (there, another label) or for the freelancers and small business owners among us.

That’s why I prefer the idea of spiritual entrepreneur, and I define this as being in business for more than personal gain or profit, answering to something that is greater than ourselves, and upholding spiritual values that we believe in. In short, having a mission of doing good through business. Or better yet, making the world a better place while making money – aka the double bottom-line.

Now, the point of all this is that we can all – and I mean everyone – become do-good entrepreneurs, running spiritual businesses. You don’t have to have spent years in an Ashram in India to do this, or meditate three times a day, or be a vegetarian (although that might be good for the planet, too!). Whatever your business, whatever your background, whatever your beliefs, you can make a difference through your business. The only thing a do-good business is, is a business where the bottom-line is not only measured in terms of financial profit, but also in terms of social and environmental benefits.

So, here are 3 simple ways to get started:

1. Start with why

Being in business for the money alone is not very satisfying in many cases. At first, it might feel good to make money, and to create your own future and sense of freedom, but after a while, you might start to feel something is missing. If this is your case, why not go back to the drawing boards, figure out what your why is, and rethink your business from there.

2. Define what your core values are, and infuse your business with them.

Imagine that respect for and the wellbeing of your employees is part of your core values. If that’s the case, think of ways to make sure that those values become part of how you do business. Perhaps by asking your employees regularly how they’re doing, or by making sure that every voice is heard, or even by making a week or two a year off mandatory – and paid – for the entire staff, so everyone can enjoy time with their family and friends, away from work.

3. Assess the impact that your business currently has on the world, and see where you can make improvements.

Questions you can ask yourself to assess the environmental and social impact of your business include: How much waste are we producing? How much good are we doing in the community? Are we giving back? Are our products or services helping the world or harming it? Whatever the answers to these questions, there is always something more you can do. Changing the world doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t stress over everything at once. Just think of one thing that you could change, to make the world a better place. Then do it.

I hope this post has inspired you to look at your business and the impact that you can have on the world differently. I believe that we can all make a difference – and that we should. What do you think?

Creativity as a spiritual practice

I believe that we are all creative beings, and I believe that women especially are constantly called upon to create, or to birth, so to speak. It’s in our DNA, it’s part of our nature, it’s one of those things that makes us human: our imagination and what we do with it.

I also believe that we are spiritual beings, and I believe that we are all in search of purpose, and want to be part of something greater than ourselves. You know, the search for the meaning in life.

In my own quest for meaning and purpose, and in the discovery of my own creativity and my imagination, I have come to realize that being creative is, or at least definitely can serve as, a spiritual practice. I believe that creativity is a powerful force that is greater than us, moves through us, and creates with us. Creativity takes us beyond our own limits and beyond ourselves in a way that can be called spiritual.

The creative process seems to emerge inside of us, from a place of knowing that is difficult to grasp, and yet connects with life and the human experience in incredible ways. As such, listening to the creative call, and allowing it to express itself through you, requires you to slow down and listen. And in the world we live in, that’s a hard thing to do.

To me, this type of contemplative awareness is what a spiritual practice is all about. It’s a search for greater meaning in your life, it’s a pause that asks you to think about the mystery of life, and it’s a way to create space for stillness and for a different kind of human experience.

But what makes creativity a spiritual practice? Or better yet, how can you use creativity as a spiritual practice?

I believe it begins with breaking out of the limits that our world forces onto us. Limits about ourselves and who we are, limits about what is possible in the world, limits about who we believe we can be and what we believe we can achieve. And to break out of those limits, you have to allow yourself to think differently. And to do that, I believe you need to trust your imagination and allow it to go to many different places.

Cultivating such a wandering mind, where possibility is the word of the day, requires you to unleash the power of your imagination. Again, a very hard thing to do in a media-driven world that doesn’t ask you to really think at all, but rather loves to serve you its preferred version of everything instead.

So, it’s hard to do, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. And it is something that can be achieved through the creative process.

1. Don’t be afraid to create. 

Imagination is unleashed through the creative process, not through the final product. It’s about expressing yourself in new and different ways, and learning new creative languages. In a way, a spiritual practice is the same. It’s the journey that matters, for there is no destination.

2. Use the creative process to learn about yourself. 

What comes easy to you, and what is hard? These are pathways to discovery about who you are and what you stand for. In a spiritual practice, the same happens. You might find it really hard to meditate, or to not feel frustrated with something or someone. These events tell you new things about yourself (and not about others, as we often believe!), so use them to dig deeper and find out more about who you truly are.

3. Use your creative practice to connect with something bigger than yourself.

One of my spiritual mentors taught me the benefits of discipline, and how having a consistent spiritual practice and doing the work can forge a relationship between me and that which is greater than myself. I believe the same is true of a creative practice. By surrendering over and over again to creative impulses that ask to be unleashed, it becomes easier to connect with the divine, the life force, the mystery that makes everything possible. And this is precisely what a spiritual practice aims to do, as well.

Finally, besides being a spiritual practice, creativity is also a way to live a richer and more colorful life – a life of exploration and discovery, a life of change and growth.

So, don’t miss out, and especially not by thinking you’re not an artist or that you’re not the creative type. Creativity and imagination run through all of us. Just like the divine mysteries of life. All it takes is for you to pay attention.

In the comments below, tell me… what are you called to create?

Gratitude as a pathway to success

Very often, we turn to science for help when we want to achieve something. Or medicine, for that matter. Sometimes it seems there is a pill for everything, or when there isn’t, we wish there was. Many of us look outside of ourselves for things that will make us feel better, gain more self-esteem, sleep better, be happier, be more productive, and so on. The list is endless.

And in all this, we forget the things that are closest to ourselves – within ourselves – and that cost us nothing to use or practice. Like gratitude.

There’s a lot of research that shows the many benefits of having an attitude of gratitude – an attitude defined by the simple act of being thankful: for your life, for your work, for what you have, for your health, for your friends and family members… for being alive. And for realizing what a miracle that is, and how fortunate you are for being able to experience it.

As Goeffrey James so beautifully says in this Inc.com article about the benefits of a gratitude muscle:

People who approach life with a sense of gratitude are constantly aware of what’s wonderful in their life. Because they enjoy the fruits of their successes, they seek out more success. And when things don’t go as planned, people who are grateful can put failure into perspective.

On the other hand, people who approach life with a negative attitude will approach success and failure in a completely different way, too, and will never be able to truly enjoy what they have worked for, or to cope well and overcome the failures that are inevitably part of life, and business, in a way that helps them to grow and move forward.

If this is true, and I believe that it is, the real question is: how can we remember to be grateful? And, how do we live with an attitude of gratitude?

In the prep program that I’ve designed to get clear on what you want and to turn that into actionable actions towards your goals (accessible for free to the members of The Boho Loft, by the way), there’s a section about gratitude and the importance of keeping a gratitude list.

During one of the group coaching calls, though, one of my students asked how to stay motivated to write down such a list “when nothing much happens in your life”. I thanked my student for this question, as this is something that has been hard for me to deal with at times, too. We live in a world where everything needs to be big and grand it seems, but gratitude doesn’t work that way. At least, not if you want a sustainable practice.

So, how do you keep an attitude of gratitude, whatever your day looks like?

1. Celebrate the little things

You don’t need be superwoman to be grateful. Look around you – at your life, at yourself. There are so many things to be grateful for, most of which go by unnoticed. Did you have comfy shoes on today (okay, that one might be tricky for some women, I admit), or did you have a beautiful pair on (there, that’s probably more like it)? Be grateful! Do you have a roof over your head, and enough food to eat? Be grateful. Is it warm enough where you are? Is the Sun shining? Be grateful. Did you see a flower today? Did someone smile at you? Be grateful. These are just a few of the many experiences and things we encounter on a daily basis in our lives, and yet we feel to recognize them for the blessings that they are. So, make sure to include the little things in your gratitude practice. Believe me, there is plenty to be thankful for.

2. Don’t be afraid to say ‘thank you’

I have found that saying ‘thank you’ to those around you for all that they do for you, and for what they mean to you, really helps to put you in an attitude of gratitude. And the added benefit is that you’re spreading the love and gratitude around at the same time. I have never seen anyone remain unhappy after someone thanked them from the heart. On the contrary, thanking someone almost always lifts the mood of that person, and of the one saying ‘thank you’, too. It’s one of the best remedies I know to get myself into a state of happiness. Try it, and you’ll see. Oh, and smile – that’s a good one, too, I promise.

3. Check in with yourself and count your blessings

Hectic moments can sometimes follow one another for days on end, without giving us enough time to even catch our breath, it seems. In the midst of chaos, take a moment to check in with yourself and remember something that you’re grateful for. It can be a little thing, or a big thing. Whatever you want, really. It might help you to keep a note on your phone, or on a card with a list of things you’re grateful for. Then, when it’s time to check in with yourself, just read the list and say “Thank you”.

4. Keep a gratitude journal

Writing things down is often more powerful than reading things, or even saying them out loud (it’s not me saying this; it’s research!). I cannot recommend anything more than for you to keep a gratitude journal. Journaling in general is a very efficient way to get to know your deepest thoughts and desires, and when you’re focused on gratitude, journaling becomes a way to see all the beautiful things in your life. Journaling doesn’t need to take long either; you can choose how long you want to spend writing. But I encourage you to try, and feel the benefits for yourself.

Ultimately, every day is a new opportunity for you to say ‘thank you’. And in the comments below, I’d love to know what it is you’re grateful for.

On the importance of a holistic approach to health

Traditional medicine – and to a larger extent traditional science, too – come from a very masculine place of measuring and testing, where the body – the medical subject – is regarded as something that can exist in perfect health, whatever the state of existence of the subject inhabiting it. What I mean by this is that traditional medicine looks at people and their health in a very narrow way, with regards for the physical aspects only, and without taking into consideration the mental, emotional, or spiritual state of a person.

From this approach, curing someone or maintaining a healthy body is purely a matter of applying scientific knowledge to the physical body. But, I hear you say, what about all the research that shows how body and mind are undeniably connected, how our emotions influence our physical state, how our mindset can have a positive or negative impact on curing disease, and so on?

Indeed, what about all that? What about Dr. Lissa Rankin’s “bold” statement that caring for your body is actually the least important part of your health?

I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Dr. Rankin last year in Portland, and I have to say that, ever since, my understanding of health and wellbeing has really expanded. I’ve come to understand that health is a global concept, with an infinite number of parts working together or against one another. Trying to stay healthy by looking after your physical body only is just addressing a part of the story, and will never allow you to be truly healthy.

According to Dr. Rankin (and many others in her field of holistic medicine and health), besides a well-functioning body, to be healthy, among other things, we need a positive and resilient mindset, more positive than negative emotions, and a sense of purpose and belonging to something which is greater than ourselves. Without this – and more – our physical bodies can suffer, and sustainable and profound health is much harder, if not impossible, to attain.

Now, I’m not a doctor, and of course I’m not making any medical claims with this post, but as a human being concerned about her health and that of others, I believe that there is more to health than just the body. That’s why, in this post, I want to address what are commonly known as five distinct, yet intertwined, aspects of holistic health: the mental, emotional, physical, environmental, and spiritual elements.

So, let’s take a slightly closer look at these five aspects, and see how they can influence our wellbeing.

1. Mental wellbeing

The way you think about things, the way you look at life and at yourself, at your achievements, and at your potential, is not only essential for your growth and happiness, but it also influences your health, in every aspect, all the way down to your physical body. And that is what your mental wellbeing is all about. To become more resilient, you can work on having a positive – and growth – mindset, as we’ve explored in The Boho Loft.

1. Emotional wellbeing

Your emotional wellbeing is everything that has to do with you feeling good about yourself and your life. Feeling good about themselves and their lives enables people to be part of society in a meaningful way, and to deal with all that they have to do in their everyday lives. Things that can influence your emotional wellbeing include: self-esteem and self-confidence, your relationships, your work/life balance, and even your financial security.

1. Physical wellbeing

Traditionally, talking about health would be more or less all talk about the body. In this case, however, following the bold statement from Dr. Rankin above, we’ve decided to take a holistic approach to health, and to see our physical wellbeing as one of the five main aspects of our health, and not the primary one.

When we talk about physical wellbeing, the first thing that comes to mind is, of course, taking good care of your body. This is what many of us know most about, simply because this is what we traditionally have been taught by our doctors and the medical profession, in general. More and more, however, the importance of nutrition – what we put into our bodies every day – is being recognized as an essential part of not only physical, but also mental and even emotional, wellbeing.

Then there is movement, and rest. The sleep revolution, started by Arianna Huffington, who made it her mission to get the world more sleep, even claims that if you want to succeed in your life and your career or business, guess what? You need more sleep! What a beautiful example of how health is being redefined.

1. Environmental wellbeing

An aspect of health that is very often undervalued is the environment that we live and work in. This environment should be peaceful, the air should be clean, and the surroundings should exist in accordance with Nature and should invite you to want to be a part of it, and to want to live there and work there.

There are two aspects to every environment we find ourselves in: an internal aspect and an external aspect. What I mean by this is that you have the spaces you live in and then you have the external environments which those spaces are built on. What you want is to have a healthy indoor environment, and a healthy outdoor one, too. If one of these two (or both) is not positive and healthy, this can be harmful to your health.

And ‘healthy’ here again must be looked at holistically, so it doesn’t mean just the air you breath, or what your walls are made of (although that’s important, too). But more important than these elements are things such as: whether your home or work environment is inviting, and safe, or whether it has enough light or is quiet enough, and etc.…

1. Spiritual wellbeing

I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll surely mention it again. When you feel you’re part of something greater than yourself, you’re happier, and you feel good and grounded. Thanks to these feelings and that connection, you know you have a purpose in life, and each morning you wake up with a reason, and hopefully also with awareness of your own uniqueness as part of the bigger mystery.

Feeling spiritually connected like this is important to being healthy, and there are many ways to gain a greater spiritual awareness and connection to the divine mystery: meditation, mindfulness, stillness, creativity, and so much more. But what my spiritual mentors have really taught me in recent years” is that a spiritual practice requires discipline. You need to do the work in order to reap the benefits.

This is only an overview of the different aspects that matter for us to be healthy. In The Boho Loft, we go into much greater detail about each aspect, with an audio lecture, additional resources, reading material, and so on. As part of that, there are downloadable worksheets to help you learn more about yourself, and your health, too.

And here’s a link for you to a bonus download from the resources section of the membership site: natural remedies to lift you up – whatever mood you’re in!

Make sure to comment and let me know how you approach your health, and what you think is the most important part of being and staying healthy.

How to overcome the mental blocks that keep you from taking action

Through my work as a coach, I come across many women who want to achieve great things, but who fail to see things through, get stuck in a rut, or simply lack the motivation to keep at it until their goals are achieved. In many cases, the reason that these women don’t achieve what they set themselves out to do is based in their fear and limiting beliefs.

There are all kinds of fears and beliefs like this which can prevent women of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures from doing what they are passionate about.

And today I want to address the subject of fear, as I believe this is the number one mental block that keeps many women from achieving their dreams.

Before we take a good look at fear, I want to say up front that, to me, overcoming fear does not mean being totally absent of fear. Being fearless is not the absence of fear; rather, it’s having moved through fear, or past fear, based on the assumption that the result of taking action outweighs the uneasiness involved in doing so. So being fearless does not mean that you live without fear. Instead, it means you’re able to live with your fears – to really look at them and get to know them, and then befriend them on your journey towards accomplishing your goals.

Being afraid of something is human and, in many situations, a necessary and life-saving reflex. In the evolution of humankind, fear has helped our species stay alive and evolve into the intelligent and advanced societies and cultures we live in today. Unfortunately, although we don’t need all of those “fight or flight” reflexes anymore, fear is still a part of who we are.

Fear has evolved with us, provoking psychological, emotional, and even physical reactions that are separate from our surroundings. That is where the problem lies. We can be lying in bed or on the couch – protected, warm, having nothing to fear – and yet, in our heads, we are afraid and anxious. As a consequence, our bodies experience the stress reactions caused by fear. And, in turn, that causes mental blocks that keep us from taking action.

In order to recognize these fears for what they really are and learn how to overcome your mental blocks, I invite you to try the following exercise. Whenever fear is holding you back, I want you to…

1. Review your fears

A powerful question that has helped me and many of my clients is: What’s the worst that can happen? Whenever you experience fear, ask yourself this question and write down everything you can possibly think of. When your list is ready, review the items and try to identify the worst outcome. Now compare that worst outcome with the life you’ll have if you don’t pursue your passion, goals, or dreams.

2. Embrace your fears

After you realize that your worst outcome is probably still much better than the unhappiness and unfulfilled life that might lie ahead of you if you don’t follow your passions, it is important to accept the fact that answering your calling will be scary sometimes, both now and in the future. But that is perfectly OK, and something we all experience. This is why befriending your fears and accepting them is really powerful, especially when you’re undertaking new and exciting things.

3. Transform your fears

A great way to live with your fears and make them work for you is to channel them into something empowering. Transform your negative, limiting beliefs into positive mantras that you repeat to yourself daily and your fears will change in your favor. This might be something as simple as starting to say “I can” instead of “I can’t”, or “yes, why not?” instead of “no, not me”.

Avoid letting fear shut you down
Whatever you do when you experience fear, I want you to take action and do whatever it takes to avoid shutting down. The simplest way to accomplish this, and get going again when fear hits you, is to sit with your fears and “do it anyway”. There’s no really easy way to do this, except through practice. Yet, by using fear as a trigger for this practice, you’ll diffuse it from the start and it will get easier.

4. Don’t let fear guide you

I’ll be the first to admit that fear is very powerful. If left alone and free to play games with your mind, fear will eventually lead you away from your dreams and desires, cloud your judgment, and drag you down. The first step to avoid this happening is recognizing your fears and knowing when they try to lead you. Being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and emotions will help you to stand against fear, and not let it guide you.

5. Prevent fear from deciding for you

Fear is not only powerful, but it’s also very deceiving. If a fear stays with you for too long and you don’t challenge it enough, it will become part of your belief system. When that happens, fear starts to dictate your decisions and even give direction to your life, career, and business. Prevent fears from becoming familiar by habitually questioning your belief system and turning inwards. Doing this is essential to knowing what really makes you happy, and to giving your life the direction you really want.

By befriending fear and accepting it as a part of my life, I became a happier, more fulfilled, and also a much more productive person. And I believe that by befriending fear and overcoming the mental blocks which stop you from taking action, so can you.

And so, tell me, what is the number one thing that keeps you from taking action or seeing things through?

The multi-passionate struggle: when quitting simply means you’re done

Being a multi-passionate person in today’s world can be difficult.  Multi-passionate creative entrepreneurs are often told that they need to pick a thing and stick to it. But as multi-passionate people know, there’s no real way to do that. At least, not without feeling like you’re leaving out so much of your personality, so many of your passions and dreams. If this need to choose wasn’t enough, there’s something else that is equally annoying, or even worse. That’s the guilt accumulated from not seeing things through or finishing what you started.

But before I dive further into this…

What Is a Multi-Passionate Person Really?

The way I see it (I’m not alone in this), being multi-passionate is simply a personality denominator – not unlike being an introvert or an extrovert. It’s something that you need to be aware of and accept as part of who you are in order to be happy.

Just like introverts and extroverts, multi-passionate people have a number of common personality traits that define them. Especially when it comes to the passion part, where attention and distraction will often form a cycle of various stages that the multi-passionate woman goes through. Here’s a 5-stage example:

1. Beginning a Cycle

You’re at the beginning of a cycle, you’ve just found a new passion.

You’re interested, you start doing research, you learn and enjoy this process just for the sake of acquiring new knowledge.

2. Digging Deeper

You dig deeper and become more aware of the subject you’re interested in. 

You might even get a little obsessed. This new subject is all that you can think or care about, you want to know everything there is to know about it.

3. Telling People

You’re starting to tell people about it. 

You’ve mastered enough information, you want to spread the love and passion all around. Whatever it is, you’re talking about it – a lot.

4. Formalizing Knowledge

You want to formalize this knowledge and pass it on. 

You feel the urge to teach others, so you start a project or put something into place that formalizes the way you share information about your new passion.

5. Starting to Lose Interest

People want what you’ve got – you’ve hooked them – but now you’re starting to lose interest. 

You’re not at the end of your learning curve. You’re just at the beginning or in the middle of sharing your knowledge. But here comes something else into your path, you know it’s time to move on. This coming usually at a point where the outside world will call your work unfinished.

Although the entire process is usually amazing, that last stage often comes with a good dose of guilt and negative feelings. Because, for many multi-passionate people, the journey matters more than the outcome. So, things are left unfinished, or interests change and projects are left for later.

To the multi-passionate person herself, this is not a problem. She’s usually happy with the choices that she makes, with where her passion takes her. It’s for those around her that leaving things the way she does is difficult. In turn, this makes things difficult for her.

We Are Raised to Do, to Achieve

A big part of that is finishing things. Projects and other things we creatively undertake. Even the things we want to learn and master, usually have beginnings, middles, ends. Yet, for multi-passionate women, it’s not finishing that matters. It’s cultivating knowledge, learning something new, mastering a new skill…

Many multi-passionate women are often done with that long before their projects are finished. That’s where the issue lies. Although, as a multi-passionate woman, you might feel satisfied and ready to move on, the world around you tells you you’re a failure, or lazy, or that you can never see anything through. You feel guilty.

But I’m here to tell you that there is no reason for you to feel this way!

You Must Finish What You Start

“You must finish what you start” is a common belief that is certainly true for many things, very helpful to getting things done, I have no doubt. When it comes to multi-passionate creatives, in many cases, this is nothing more than a limiting belief holding them back from being who they are.

Don’t understand me wrong here. I’m not saying that nothing ever needs to be finished, or that systematically leaving things undone is always OK. That’s not what I’m after here. What I am saying is that it’s part of the personality of multi-passionate people to have changing interests once the learning is done, or once a skill is acquired. That is perfectly OK, too.

You might find yourself at a crossroads in your life right now. Maybe a hobby doesn’t serve you well anymore, or maybe you’ve learned all that you could from a particular interest. It might also be that you’re contemplating a much more drastic change, like walking away from a PhD program after investing six years of your life in it, or deciding that your online business isn’t cutting it for you anymore.

Those Are Big Moments, Big Decisions

I want to encourage you to think about yourself and your happiness when you make them. Feel through the guilt and the shame, to what lies ahead on the other side of that: freedom to do what you want to do. Don’t listen to the naysayers, accept that very few people will encourage you at this point. Simply because only a few see the world the way you do.

If that’s your case, if you’re at that point right now, I want you to know that I’ve been there, that I know. I’m so very proud of you. I promise you that quitting is not giving up, or giving in, or lacking willpower.

Quitting, at this point, simply means you’re done.

Do let me know below what crossroads you’re on, or have been on in the past. Where your decisions ultimately led you. I would love to know.

Do you have multiple passions?

We are all born with multiple passions, but many of us lose touch with them as we grow up. We start to think that it’s not possible to have more than one passion at a time. But the truth is, if you want to be successful in business and life, you need to embrace your multi-passions. It will help you become happier and more fulfilled in every aspect of your life.

But what if you're not sure what your passions are? Or if you're afraid of pursuing them because you don't want to fail? That's where private coaching can help. I can help you figure out what your passions are and how to use them to create a successful business.

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Is your money story keeping you broke?

Money is a subject that can be difficult for anyone, and not just multi-passionate, creative women. We’re all born into money stories, and along the way we create our own money stories, too. Our money stories are the things we tell ourselves about money – the beliefs we have about it that make us deal with money in a particular way, feel certain things when we come into contact with money or are in need of it or spending it, and more. Based on the culture and religion that we’re brought up in, we share a number of common money stories, such as our beliefs that:

• You have to work hard to make money.

• There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

• Money is the root of evil.

• It’s selfish to want a lot of money.

• Money doesn’t grow on trees. (Now, although this statement is true, what it implies is still a false belief.)

I don’t believe that any of the statements above are true, really. In my mind, money is not good or bad. It’s just an instrument that is required in life to get a lot of the things we want.

But I was raised with those money stories – and so, for the longest time, they shaped the way I felt about money, how I looked at money, and what I believed money to be. Essentially, I was afraid of money. I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough of it in my life (since it doesn’t grow on trees, you see!), I was afraid I would have to work really hard all my life to have a little (well, because you’ve got to work hard for money), I hated wanting money (because it’s selfish), and, when I had money, I often felt bad about it (because it’s the root of all evil). What a mess!

The thing is, nobody really teaches you about money. The only things that your parents and everyone else has to offer you are their own money stories. And those stories have been passed down from generation to generation, and transformed along the way, based on what those who give them to you have experienced themselves, all the way on until they made their way to you.

Some money stories find their origins in ancient beliefs, and others in more social or cultural norms. But wherever they come from, what most of them are is simply stories. They are not based on facts, or at least not on the cause-effect kind of relationship that proves their statements to be true in the here and now. Yes, they find their source in some sort of truth, but not in the kind that you need to live by. They are more like urban legends that can be traced back to an actual event – at least sometimes – but that, in most cases, are nothing more than fantasy gone wild.

Yet, unconsciously or consciously, we believe and live by many of the money stories that we’re surrounded with. And this limits us. Sometimes in a good way, like when we realize money doesn’t grow on trees, and so we don’t spend it all. But most of the time, our money stories are not that helpful. Like when we’re afraid to invest in ourselves because, well… money doesn’t grow on trees.

To find out if your money story is keeping you broke, I’ve got a few questions lined up for you.

Answering these questions truthfully, and really figuring out what money means to you, will help you to uncover your own money story and to rewrite it. So take out your journal or some paper and a pen, and answer the following questions:

• When you think about money, how do you really feel? Happy, excited, afraid, stressed?

• What was the relationship your parents had with money? Were they savers, spenders? Were they relaxed about money or always worrying?

• In what financial situation did you grow up? How much money was available to you then?

• How do you think you need to be in order to make money?

• How much do you think you’re really worth? How about your time? And your work?

Answering these questions will help you to get a grip on what your money story looks like. But figuring all this out is only half the journey towards a better understanding of your money story.

Now write down your top 5 beliefs about money, based on what you’ve uncovered above, or simply the stories that shape your perception of money the most. And, for each, think about where the story comes from and understand the relativity of it’s truth. Then, rewrite it in a positive and uplifting way that will serve you. Because what I really want you to get out of this is that money can and is anything that you want it to be. If you’re afraid of it, it will not come easy to you; if you think it’s evil, you’ll feel bad about making it; and if you think it’s hard to make, chances are that you’ll wear yourself out at work without enjoying the benefits of that hard labor.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can choose what money is to you, and what your money story looks like. And if you make it a beautiful and uplifting story, making money will come easier, and feeling good about having it and spending it will become second nature.

So, go ahead and give it a try!

PS: To help you along a little bit more, I’ve created a free money affirmation poster for you. Click here to download your copy now and start enjoying the benefits of your new money story.