Posts Tagged ‘purpose’

Last week, I wrote about the first of the 5 Secrets of Energy and Money, The Energy of Purpose. This week I’m writing about the Energy of Intention.

Money in any amount, spent on anything, acts as a carrier of energy and intent.

In my first attempt at writing this article, I began by trying to define intention. Struggling with the writing, I took a break and read a passage in the amazing book, The Soul of Money: Reclaiming the Wealth of Our Inner Resources by Lynne Twist, a veteran global activist and fundraiser for The Hunger Project. Her book is an inspiring and wise perspective on the connection between money and a fulfilling life.

She shares the story of a woman from Harlem, barely above the poverty level herself, contributing $50 to the poor and hungry. As the woman gave her the money, she said to Twist, money is a lot like water. For some folks it rushes through their life like a raging river. Money comes through my life like a little trickle. But I want to pass it on in a way that does the most good for the most folks. I see that as my right and as my responsibility. It’s also my joy.

Earlier in the day she had received a check for $50,000 from a corporation, the largest she had ever received. But it had been a public relations ploy, a way to raise their image. It did not come from a place of joy. The $50 meant more to Twist, because of the intention behind the giving. She ended up sending the large check back to the CEO, explaining that she wanted commitment to end hunger from those who contributed. It was a powerful lesson.

How you choose to spend or give your money carries the intention of your soul energy. If you hoard and save in fear that there isn’t and never will be enough, or you fear losing what you have, when the flow of money goes out from you, as it will in some form, it will carry that energy with it.

If you appreciate and recognize that you have what you need or more than you need, and focus on money as an expression of gratitude and purpose, it will carry that intention with it.

Do you know the flow of money in your life? How does it come in, and where does it go out? When you look at the way money flows through your life, you can see where you are in your relationship with it.

If you aren’t sure of your priorities in life, or you want to take a closer look at who you are and what you care about, look at your checkbook, your credit card bills, or your bank statement.

Does your money come at a cost, or does it come with joy and ease? Does it come in ways that fill you, or deplete you? On the other side of the flow, do you consciously choose ways to spend it, paying attention to its impact on other people or the environment?

When you look at your relationship with money, look with no blame. Witness how it comes to you, and how you spend it, save it, invest it, or give it away. In this examination, you will see the flow as a reflection of your values. If it is not a fit with who you think you are, then change it. Without judgment of good or bad, knowing the flow will give you the ability to make conscious choices to align your spending with your highest self.

Then put THAT intention into every interaction with money. It takes courage to redirect the flow, but each time you do, you invest in the world as you envision it.

If your intention is to lift and empower, invest in ways that nourish yours and others inner lives. If your intention is to support the well-being of our children and communities, spend money on companies whose products and people support that intent.

The experience of true wealth comes from sharing. Return to the soul of money as a carrier of your intentions, as energy, as a currency of love for the nourishment of those things you care most about.

Imbue your money with the energy of your soul as you send it out into the world. Be conscious of what you are spending it on. When you are engaged soulfully and authentically, the commitments you make with money can and do nourish the world.

Blessings!
Marilyn Schwader
www.clarityofvision.com
www.theshamanicpath.com
Blog: www.theshamanicpath.com/blog
503-913-5784

The 5 Steps From Purpose and Passion to Prosperity
Starts November 3rd!

To register for this telecourse, go to www.getclaritynow.com

Attn: Soul Centered Entrepreneurs, Healers and anyone ready to take a huge leap in life!

• How do you want to spend the rest of your life?
• Are you living with purpose and following your passion - AND getting paid fabulously for it?
• Is there something else that you know you want to do in life – but just not sure what exactly it is or even how to create it?

I’m Katana Abbott. I am a Midlife Millionaire Coach and Certified Financial Planner and I am inviting you to join me and my colleague, Marilyn Schwader, who has joined me in creating an amazing 5 week journey that could change your life. It’s called Get Clarity Now and it begin in just a few days…

***Those who register before Midnight tonight (Friday, October 28th) will also receive a one hour Private Strategy Session either during or at the end of the course …Priceless!

Click here to learn about the course and to register now!  I hope you join us on this amazing journey!

For the next five weeks, I will be writing about each of these energy principles. The first, and most important is the Energy of Purpose.

Just today I read a quote by Michael Dell, founder of Dell computers. It was in an article about 5 entrepreneurs under the age of 25 who had amassed great wealth. When Dell was 19 he made his first million. Today he is a billionaire. What he said was, “You have to be passionate about what you are doing. I think people that look for great ideas to make money aren’t nearly as successful as those who say, ‘Okay, what do I really love to do? What am I excited about?’ ”

When you know your purpose, it doesn’t matter what amount of money you make. It’s the excitement of doing something you love, that you are brilliant at, and that makes a difference in the world. It’s what makes you excited to get out of bed every day.

When you look at people who have accomplished significant things in their lives, you might think you don’t have what it takes to make a difference in your life. But the truth is that the only real difference between you and those people is that they have a clearly defined life purpose that they selected for themselves and then embraced with dedication and determination.

Now, finding and following your divine purpose is different from setting your goals. A goal is a tangible desire with an end result. But your divine purpose is really a way of living.

For example, I might have a goal of learning how to play the guitar. However, my divine purpose would be to bring joy to others through music.

Your purpose is the reason why you are here, both the being and doing. The questions to ask are “Who am I meant to be? and “What am I meant to do?

Typically, when I ask clients these questions, the response is from an ego-based place, which is based in fear. To do what you are meant to do and be who you are meant to be will bring up challenges to your stability, the one thing the ego is set on maintaining. The trick is to maintain your ego and connect with your trusted source — whether internal, universal, or personal — to uncover what your purpose is.

Katana and I will be diving deep into accessing what you are meant to be in the world in the first week of our telecourse. When you know your true purpose — not what others have told you to be or what you do to be safe — and put structures in place to support that, the universe will respond with synchronicities, the right people, specific tools, and yes — money — to support you.

Next week — The Energy of Intention.Blessings!
Marilyn Schwader
www.clarityofvision.com

I have always been interested in history, cultures, art, languages and travel, so when I found out that my Mormon ancestors had tracked our roots on my grandfather’s side into the 1700s I could not wait to learn more. Much to my surprise, I found out more that I ever dreamed.

My Great Aunt, Belle and Grandmother, Mary

My grandfather’s name is Wiley Galbraith, and he was born in Windsor and married my Grandmother, Mary Irvine McDonald in Windsor and later moved accross the Detroit River in the early 1900s and bought a home in Hazel Park just north of 8 Mile Rd.  He became a banker and continued to work even through the Great Depression.  My grandmother took a job working at the Book Cadillac Hotel as a switch board operator, and used her paycheck to pay thier two story home off in just 18 months. Imagine that!

Sunday night I decided to pull all the documents out regarding our ancestry.  It was already midnight when I got started, but I logged on to Ancestory.com to see how it worked.  Three hours later, I had traced my ancestors on the d side back to the 1700s and found our first ancestor who had emigrated here from Glascow, Scotland, James and his son Walter Galbraith in 1769.

I also located our family castle, Culcreuch Castle in Stirling, Loch Lomond, Scotland.  Yes we have a castle now the home of Hercules and Janet n of Culcreuch, Baron and Baroness of Culcreuch.  It had been the home of Barons of Culcreuch since 1699, but before this was the ancestral fortalice of the Galbraiths and indeed the Clan Castle of the Galbraith chiefs for over thee centuries (from 1320 to 1630). 

Culcreuch Castle is now a bed and breakfast/hotel, so we plan on having a family reunion next summer! It’s been described as a ‘gem of outstanding beauty’, and yet is situated within twenty miles of Stirling, Loch Lomond, Callender, The Trossachs and Glasgow, and is but an hour’s drive from the city of Edinburgh.

This is our family crest.  Apparently the GalbraithClan were pretty warlike, even rising up against the the Scottish Crown. This is our family crest – wolf!  Well, I just wanted to share with you some of the history I dug up on my ancestors.  Between my Mormon relatives and ancestory.com, creating an extensive family tree was not only fun but very easy.

In addition, they allow you to invite collaborators to join and fill in their branches of the tree. Please share with me below what your experiences have been with seeking out your family heritage. If history, culture, travel, anthropology, languages are your hobbies, you may enjoy learning about your own past using this tool.

What are you passions and hobbies?  Do you make time for them? Are you encouraging others to join you?

On October 14th, my partner, Marilyn Schwader and I will be offering a wonderful free teleseminar, “Purpose and Passion into Prosperity”.  Let me know if you want to join us and I’ll send you her free ebook on Purpose and Passion, written by Marilyn…she’s a fabulous author!  Just send me a note at katana@katanaabbott.com  See you on the radio show today at 11 am EST!

If you would like a lesson in following your passion and living authentically, then you have to watch this video with violinest, Nigel Kennedy, playing Purple Haze.  About 6 1/2 mintutes it goes a bit crazy.  Watch how he engages the audience and the orchestra. 

My husband, Mark, is in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, so I have had the pleasure of watching/hearing Nigel Kennedy perform live here in Detroit and he alway surprises us with something totally unexpected.

How can you express yourself more authentically in your work and in your personal life, so you are fully engaged and expressing yourself fully?  When was the last time you were feeling really powerful, joyful and authentically you?  What were you doing and what was that experience like?  Share you comments here.

What are you doing to live with more purpose, passion and prosperity and how can you tie this into making a difference in the world that you live in? Good question, eh? Well, this must just be part of my DNA, because ever since I was a small child, I have been doing some sort of fundraising, helping the less fortunate and following my passion.

Learning to give back: As a y0ung girl, I attended a four room parochial school where we were constantly asked to go door to door selling things like Texas fruit cakes, boxes of Florida oranges, candy and even zip code books. My mother was the mastermind behind all of this. When we were asked to sell zip code books, for example, my mother took me to each of the local businesses in town, and had me introduce myself as, “Wiley Galbraith’s granddaughter.” My grandfather was the manager of the local bank in town, so this carried a lot of clout. Also, since businesses new they would soon need to be using zip codes, I ended up selling more than everyone else in the school combined. I still remember getting up on the stage to collect first prize which was a clock radio! This was back in the early 70s, so a clock radio was very cool.

School of lifelong learning: In addition to selling things, I also went door to door every holiday collecting “holiday dollars” for the poor and the needy. I was like the “Kirby Vacuum Salesperson”. My mom would drop my friend Brenda and me off at one end of the street and allow us to canvas the entire street with my brothers doing the opposite side of the street. This was during a Michigan winter where it was dark, cold and snowy. I had lots of doors shut in my face, many who would peek out and not even answer the door, but many more who gladly gave me a dollar. In fact, one man actually gave me a $20 bill once! This one experience had a huge impace on my future confidence when I really needed to “stretch”. For years, I would come back to the church with at least $100 for the evening’s work. This is just one way that I learned to make a difference as a child.

Volunteering: Another way was after church on Saturday (I was raised Seventh Day Adventist) we would go to nursing homes or to visit “shut-ins”. Shut-ins were normally members of the church who did not have family and were unable to get out of the house anymore. For years, I remember going to visit Nettie Harp, Mrs. Little and Fidelle offering to help them with chores like cleaning house, gardening, laundry and cooking.

What does all of this have to do with Living on Purpose while Making a Difference? For me it has everything to do with it. All my early childhood experiences have given me the tools to do what I need to accomplish during this lifetime–My Life Mission. It’s just up to me to take those experiences and take action today.

What I learned as a child:

• helped me strive to do my best
• gave me the confidence to take risks
• to handle rejection
• and to enjoy helping others.

In all my jobs, I tied these experiences and passions of helping others and making a difference into my work. I believe this is what helped me to become successful, and also helped me to move on to the next level when the time was right.

Living with Purpose and Passion means you are living authentically within your values system. When you can tie your values and passions into the way you generate income you not only will enjoy your work much more, but most of the time, you will end up earning more money because the energy you are sending out will be very positive, and in return, you will attract abundance back into your life.

What are you doing in your life today that allows you to live with passion, follow your purpose, attract abundance while giving back? Let me give you some examples:

• Help someone else and by utilizing a long lost hobby: (My mother is an artist, and had stopped painting after being diagnosed with dementia…I used to paint 25 years ago before my daughters were born.) I started painting with her on Sundays at my home, and guess what? I found I was a wonderful artist too and I found absolute join in painting AND spending more time with my mom. I found my passion, by helping her!
  

  My first painting with mom!

• Find out how to tie your passion into what you do for a living: After 20 years as a Certified Financial Planner, I felt a tugging to create new programs for women in transition, but was hampered by compliance and SEC regulations. I was able to walk through my fear of “losing my financial security” to start Smart Women’s Coaching where I could write, create and lead programs specifically for helping women live with more purpose, passion AND prosperity. As a financial planner, I could only help people who were already wealthy…now I could help people learn how to create wealth based on their purpose, while following their passions.
• Take a painful experience and use that experience to help others: During the first 20 years of my life, I experienced my fathers death at six years old, saw my mother struggle as a widow and then marry an abusive husband who left her homeless with cancer. I then married at 19 and found myself abused and in the hospital. These experiences helped me not only become a much better financial planner, but inspired me to start a foundation to help disadvantaged women and girls. It’s called, Smart Women Empowerment and we have partnered with the HAVEN, a domestic violence shelter, to coach four women this next year.
• Make a committment to yourself and others: I married a Detroit Symphony French Horn Player, and love classical music . To ensure I make time to go to concerts, I purchase season tickets with two of my former financial planning clients who are widows. We all win! Beth who is 90 could not attend if I did not drive, I share her wonderful box seats that she has had for decades, we have a blast sharing stories on our drive to and from the concert, they are mentors to me by sharing their life lessons.
  

  Beth, Katana and Amal at DSO concert

Spend some time thinking about ways you can bring more joy into your life and the life of others. You may end up with some very pleasant surprises just like have. Tell me, what are you doing to live with more purpose, passion and prosperity while making a difference in the world?