What's Your Work of Heart? (A Behind the Scenes Look at Mine!)

All summer I’ve been teaching Unlock Your Soul’s Calling. It’s a work of heart. The goal of the course is to help people who are being called to make a difference on the planet, to figure out WHAT they are called to do – so that they can go and do it!

Did you know it’s been in development for 20 years?

Let me share the history of how this course began. Over twenty years ago, I had a physical reaction reading Barbara Sher’s, Teamworks. I had goosebumps and my heart started to beat faster and I got a little dizzy. That’s a clear signal for me that I have to do whatever caused that reaction. I started a small group in my living room. Barbara called them Success Teams – but I called mine a Dream Team – because I decided that this group was going to help people figure out what they wanted – something that I’d never known.  I ran this group for three years. It was my deep practice facilitating. I loved facilitating the group, and I loved seeing all the changes that each person made in their lives….including me….I started to believe that I was born to do this work.

But I wondered if I’d ever be able to do get paid for doing this.

When I was downsized and finally took the self-employment risk I started working as an Outplacement Consultant facilitating groups and coaching downsized employees. Magically I was doing everything that I’d done in my living room and more – and I was being well paid for it! That’s not chance by the way, that was my intention – and I didn’t force it, I just kept following the soul signals about what to do, who to contact and I was clear about what I wanted even if I didn’t know that it existed or was possible.

I created a “Find Your Purpose” class then – that I offered. It was fun to create and try out, but it didn’t give me goosebumps.

When I started an on-line coaching business - ten years ago, I gradually started incorporating the notion of finding your purpose or calling into my work. I had a yearning to help people who were suffering because they were stuck in the wrong job and had no idea what else they could do…..because that had been me! I was drawn to people who had no idea who they were because they’d spent their lives trying to fit in….and then ended up in the wrong work and the wrong life. And I wanted to work with people who wanted to make changes.

I had the goosebumps feeling again. I knew that my people were lost in their work and their lives and didn’t know what to do to find their way.

So, I created a one-year course – Find Your Calling No Matter What.

I’d say it was average – not a resounding success. I learned that a monthly course wasn’t enough interaction – that we had to start over every month. Facilitating had good moments, but it felt more like work than fun.

I started doing “find your calling” work one-on-one. I learned that people had so many other issues to resolve before they found their calling, that it was easy to rapidly start coaching on the problem of the day.  The client often didn’t end up learning what they needed to learn to find their purpose. Doing purpose work one on one didn’t give me goosebumps.

I started doing group coaching classes for Life Coaches. One that worked fabulously was the Coaches Cocoon. I put the steps in place to help new Life Coaches transition from their corporate work to their dream of coaching.

I loved doing it, but I felt that something was missing. This was a positive experience but not positive enough. No goosebumps. I didn’t think that the coaches made the shifts that I’d hoped they would make, so I scrapped that program after giving it several times. I needed more connection and I think my participants needed that too.

Then I realized I needed to do this work live and in-person.

But I was terrified.

Maybe no one would sign up. That would mean that I would never be able to do what I believed I was born to do.  I was afraid that it wouldn’t work.

So, I did it with a partner and we called the retreat Do Your Thing and Shine. Not the best name but we had lots of laughs about it!

And then I knew.

I had full body goosebumps at the retreat. I knew I had to do this work – live, and I’d found a way that worked.

I was no longer afraid to do it by myself, to claim this as my work of heart!

That’s when I took a group to Mexico, then California, the Nordic Spa in Ottawa/Gatineau and my retreat finally morphed into the Unique Genius Retreat and Soul Sisterhood Mastermind.

BINGO!

Goosebumps, gratitude, heart-racing dizziness

I found it.

This was it!  This was how people finally started seeing and claiming themselves. This was how they discovered their purpose and started doing it! In community, in a structured yet accepting group. This was how I thrived. Facilitating groups live – with all the unknown and the magic. This was where I got to showcase my genius, my ability to SEE people and share my visions.

I’d found my work of Heart – what I love to do, in the way I love to do It, helping the people I love to help, in places that I love to be.

But then……I wanted to help more people figure out their purpose.

Suppose someone couldn’t come to a retreat, couldn’t afford the expense or couldn’t leave their environment for some reason. There had to be a way to do this work with the best of the retreat and the convenience of working from home.

And that’s when technology stepped in.

I created an on-line course on the Kajabi platform of my website – which is an integrated suite that houses beautiful on-line courses. I put in all the structure that I know is necessary when doing this work – all aligned with my Soul’s Calling Roadmap and I decided to work with a partner, Nicole Croizier – who I’d also endorsed as a Soul’s Calling Coach who is just as passionate about this process as I am.

I tried out everything I’d learned about structuring the course and the content of the course and offered it.

Goosebumps, gratitude, heart-racing dizziness…..AGAIN!

It has been amazing. People have found their purpose and they have translated that into something concrete and useful.  They have discovered WHAT they want to do in the world and now they are creating that!

I have all kinds of changes and tweaks and improvements to make the Unlock Your Soul’s Calling Course even better the next time around. And I have all kinds of ideas about what people need after the course and that development is going ahead full steam!

The point of this post is to tell you this:

1. You have to do before you know. You can’t have a perfectly planned out process in front of you before you start. Embodying your soul’s calling doesn’t work that way.
2. You can do this. Yes. You. Can!
3. Creating a work of heart can take years. Just start. I never thought I’d love facilitating an on-line course! I adore it!
4. Listen to your body signals. Your body will tell you when you are on the right track. It might not be goosebumps, gratitude and heart-racing dizziness – you’ll have your own signals. Listen to them.
5. Tweaking, testing, trying, is all part of the process. Do this until you have an inner knowing that it’s right. No one will be able to tell you that it’s right but you!
6. You’ll make mistakes. You’ll drop things, start over, re-jig. It’s not a linear path. Keep listening to your heart and soul.
7. It’s a journey. It would be nice to stop somewhere and do one thing forever, but that isn’t going to happen. Expect to continue to create and keep listening for inspiration and goosebumps!

Big love,