I’m not one to throw around words like “magical.”
But time and again I’ve seen what happens when people step into their dreams.
The smallest step can lead to pure magic.
Take Stephanie.
We were barely into our Find My Perfect Business coaching session when Stephanie made an off-handed reference to a dream she’d long abandoned.
That’s when I learned of her decades-long fascination with the world of public policy – an interest sparked by her high school boyfriend.
The topic continued to tug at her heart… and so did the old boyfriend.
As she talked, Stephanie’s entire voice changed. She was animated, excited… happy.
I was instantly reminded of something renowned mythology scholar Joseph Campbell said…
“The way to find out about your happiness
is to keep your mind on those moments when
you feel most happy, when you are really happy
– not excited, not just thrilled, but deeply happy.”
But Stephanie followed a different path and spent the last twenty years in the mental health field.
She was convinced it was just too late to transition into policy making. For starters she really didn’t want to go back to school for yet another masters’ degree.
Besides, even if she could break in, she lives in the Midwest and the vast majority of policy jobs are in Washington DC.
Stephanie was not opposed to moving. It’s just that her other lifelong dream was to live by a lake.
Neither of Stephanie’s dreams looked promising. Or so she thought…
I challenged Stephanie to back up her discouragement with actual facts by researching the question, “how to get into public policy.”
To further light a fire under her I issued a two week deadline.
Stephanie sprang into action!
She began reading books and articles.
She called think tanks and set up multiple informational interviews with people working in the field.
She found, and then promptly joined, a public policy group that advocates on behalf of people touched by mental illness.
Not only was a pricey public policy degree not necessary to enter this field, but her new peers were so impressed with Stephanie’s mental health credentials; they invited her to chair the group!
It gets better!
Stephanie also discovered a prestigious public policy center located two hours from home – and it’s on a lake!
And in another remarkable twist of fate, after not seeing her old high school boyfriend for decades Stephanie bumped into him in a parking lot!
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote,
“At The Moment Of Commitment The Entire Universe Conspires To Assist You.”
Goethe understood amazing things happen when you stop wishing and start acting.
Confusion makes way for the gift of clarity…
People come out of the woodwork to help you…
Answers that eluded you for years suddenly appear…
Experiences you never imagined possible are now available…
I am living proof.
I started the Changing Course newsletter in 1995 with a whopping two subscribers!
In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined where my business would take me.
That I’d sit down for an intimate Q&A with billionaire social entrepreneur and adventure seeker Sir Richard Branson.
Or that while in Los Angeles I’d attend a star-studded fundraiser Branson hosted called Rock the Kasbah.
(I managed to snap this photo of Branson chatting with Sharon Stone and this one of Paula Abdul.)
There were other stars on hand – stars in the coaching and online world. People like Ali Brown and Mari Smith, Eban Paegan, Joe Polish and Yanik Silver.
Starting out I could have never imaged meeting Gary Vaynerchuk (known to his 1.11 million Twitter followers as Gary Vee) at a New York cafe and picking his amazing entrepreneurial brain – something his corporate clients gladly pay $75,000 to be able to do.
Or that Arianna Huffington would personally email me to ask me to blog for the Huffington Post or that Forbes magazine editor Steve Forbes’ office would call for a signed copy of my book.
When I stood up to give my first very shaky public talk it was simply inconceivable that major corporations and universities like IBM, Procter & Gamble, Boeing, Harvard and Stanford would later pay me thousands of dollars to speak for a single hour.
Or that I’d land a six-figure book deal or that my book would go on to be published in five languages – including Russian.
Starting out – none of these things seemed possible. Now I know better.
“At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you.”
And it all began with taking one small step.
Why not make today the day you step into your dream and see for yourself how even the smallest step can lead to pure magic.
And speaking of magic…
You still have two days to join the enthusiastic tribe of change seekers from as far away as New Zealand and Egypt who already signed on for the first-ever Work @ What You Love Virtual Weekend Workshop.
Join us live online. Or take the workshop on your own schedule. Your choice.
Either way, it’s an incredibly low cost way to open the door and let a little magic into your life!
