The Only New Year’s Resolution You’ll Need
What makes you come alive? As parents and caregivers, the question is worth pondering as we move into a new year. That’s why nationally recognized life balance author/speaker/coach Renée Trudeau shared the following guest post with Girls That Create.
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.
~ Howard Thurman, author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader
The last three years have been some of the happiest of my life. I’m living in a gorgeous rural area near the oldest mountain range in the world, I’ve chosen a more creative work path that is deeply aligned with my passions, I’m stretching myself personally and professionally, I’ve simplified and streamlined my material possessions and every morning when I wake up I ask:
What would make me come alive today? And I follow this creative impulse.
What Makes You Come Alive?
This the question I ask my client, family and friends every time we meet for a walk or a front porch tea or glass of wine. It gets us right to the good stuff. I love watching their faces light up when they hear this question and ponder what is setting their hearts and bodies on fire right now.
The last three years have everyone re-assessing where to live and how they want to work, what values they want to embrace, what is truly important to their families, how they want to educate their kids, and what relationships and activities fuel them and drain them.
These last few years have been called “the great disruptor,”—but this time has also served as a huge catalyst and a wake-up call. I believe we’re finally starting to see some of the gifts from this time of great challenge.
Inner Spark
For 18 years, I ran a boutique career coaching firm and assisted countless clients in integrating who they are with what they do in the world. The ones who were most happy, engaged, energized, and creatively fulfilled were those who had said “YES!” to that which makes them come alive.
They didn’t play it safe, worry about their 401k, or take the well-trodden path. They followed their hearts and paid attention to that inner spark that was begging to alight. In this wonderful book Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, my colleague Gregg Levoy said, “Generally, people won’t pursue their callings until the fear of doing so is finally exceeded by the pain of not doing so. But it’s amazing how high their tolerance is for this type of pain.”
In my most recent book Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Find Peace in Everyday Life, chapter nine challenges us to examine how we’ve set up our lives and asks if we’re ready to make hard choices to create more inner and outer alignment. Part of coming into alignment has to do with simplifying, living from the inside out, and embracing ways to do it differently. I believe this approach helps us create the inner space to connect with what makes us come alive.
What If?
Are you contemplating this question and having all kinds of excuses pop up for why this won’t work for you? Many of us tend to complicate things. I know I do.
Yesterday I was talking to my husband and reflecting on the level of activity we used to manage a couple of years ago when we lived in Austin. We got exhausted just thinking about it! Now, I’m learning that living in a more rural area where there are fewer choices, things are less complex, and I’m more connected to nature—has an enormous impact on my mood, outlook, and overall well-being.
This new year, get curious, stay open, and play, “What if…?” I challenge you every day to keep asking and answering: What makes me come alive? And then go do that.
This week when you circle up at the dinner table, ask your friends and family what makes them come alive. And prepare to see fireworks. Perhaps together, you’ll spark something in one another that is just waiting to be born.
Renée Trudeau
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Subscribe to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by Renée, and click here to learn about upcoming speaking engagements (including online). Renée is the author of two books on life balance, including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal.
Top photo by Viktoria for Pexels.
Second photo by Edgar Colomba for Pexels.
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