It all started on an unusually warm, winter morning. A friend and I were sitting outside at a cafe, preparing to share a lovely breakfast.

Suddenly it seemed we were under attack.

The sound of automatic weaponry filled the air, the crowd looked nervous, and I leapt up to take cover inside.

My friend, on the other hand, ran into the middle of the street to investigate.

Seriously.

At first I was miffed and wondered how anyone could be so dumb. I envisioned his insides splattered on the ground, an unsightly mess, and me having to call his mom to explain why he was dead.

But as my imagination got the best of me, I slowly realized what was really happening.

Turns out the restaurant next door was celebrating the lunar New Year with an explosion of firecrackers.

Sometimes things seem life threatening, but turn out to be nothing but a joyful celebration.

For instance, how many people are terrified of public speaking, or going public with a website?

Due to the nature of my work, I know a lot of people who fear both.

For some people, public speaking and having a website are two of the scariest things they can imagine doing.

If you’re one of them, or if you have a similar fear about being in the public eye, you might be interested to know that these are not “monster in the closet” fears, but truly life threatening situations.

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

When it comes to growing lifework, most of the things that might scare you, like public speaking, having a website, or coming out as a service provider who specializes in somewhat “woo-woo” stuff, require that you face the death of who you are now in order to grow into who are you becoming.

And that feels like death.

It feels unnerving.

Scary.

Maybe terrifying.

Unfortunately, when many people feel this way they freeze and stay stuck.

And when we’re stuck, no matter how badly we want clients, or buyers, or new collaborators, nothing happens because we’ve unconsciously planted our feet at the foot of a significant threshold, the gates to death.

In the hero’s journey this gate is the threshold from the known to the unknown, and crossing it forces us to face our fears.

When we don’t cross it we stay stuck in a sort of purgatory which can feel like living in hell. When we’re in this place, things feel less than satisfying. They are truly frustrating. Worse of all, we know we’re not living up to our potential.

So if this happens to you, you have three choices:

1)  Stay stuck by going about your normal routine; never take chances and risk always feeling that something isn’t quite right.

2)  Stay stuck by shifting your lifework focus because you think you’ve found a new, better direction. (Don’t kid yourself. I see people doing this all the time and it is usually, but not always, a way to avoid facing that metaphoric death and taking their work to the next level.)

or

3)  Consciously cross the threshold, confront your inner demons (which look like external events, people and situations) and move beyond it.

As mythologist Joseph Campbell said so eloquently, “‎You have to be willing to give up the life you’ve planned for in order to live the life that’s waiting for you.”

So what is your preferred option for dealing with metaphoric death?

If you constantly choose 3, then you are probably feeling fully aligned with your life and on top of the world.

If, however, you usually opt for choice 1 or 2 you may want to investigate why.

Also, you may need to find someone to help guide you into the new territory. In the hero’s journey, the heroine always has a helper. In growing lifework you need a helper too. It’s much easier to face fears when you have a support system to help you through them.

I’m certainly available to help you through spiritual guidance or lifework direction. Email to find out more details.

What does it take to feed a village (or just yourself?)

Imagine you’re a hunter and your role is to feed an entire village.

What would you do?

Would you aimlessly shoot your arrow into a forest and hope to hit something?

Would you go about your day and assume an animal would present itself to you, simply saying, “Here I am. Go ahead and shoot.”

If you did this your village would starve!

Instead, you’d carefully prepare for your hunt.

You’d pray and ask for guidance.

You’d take time to discover where the deer live, and how and when to find them.

Then you’d gather your hunting party and venture off toward your destination.

Each step of the way you’d remain focused on one thing, deer.

You’d look for prints.

Look for scat (ok. Deer poop.)

You’d look for any imaginable sign of deer.

And when you spotted what you were looking for, you’d remain still and silent, keeping your eye on your prey the entire time.

Then you might move along slowly in order to get closer.

Or perhaps you’d quickly draw your bow and arrow.

Whatever you’d do, you’d be sure to shoot straight.

In other words, you’d shoot to kill.

Those were the instructions I was given in my dream. Essentially, in the dream an elder shaman sits me down for a vision quest and says, “When the first animal arrives, shoot to kill.”

The first animal to show up was one of my animal spirit guides whose mission it is to help me with my soul purpose. Needless to say, I plan to take the dream seriously. I will approach my lifework like a hunter

How to “Shoot to Kill” Your Soul Purpose

Shooting to kill may sound like a violent approach to growing lifework, but the metaphor is really about transforming.

Transforming ideas into real live services (or products, classes, books, etc.).

Transforming services into income.

Transforming income into sustenance (food, clothing, shelter … books).

The goal in “shooting to kill your soul purpose” is to define your mission, pay attention and then act.

How to Define Your Mission

Question: What is the overall purpose or theme for your lifework?

Mine is helping women retrieve lost parts of themselves so they can more easily take their work into the world. There are many ways I do this, through counseling, web design, marketing, dream work, etc.

When you define your mission or purpose or intention, you give yourself boundaries you can use to stay focused. The more focus you have, the easier it is to pay attention to what will help you and what will get in your way.

How to Pay Attention

When the hunter hunts, she does not lose sight of her goal. She stays alert, with all of her senses – sight, sound, touch, smell, taste and intuition – in a fully awakened mode.

As you go about your daily affairs, notice what’s happening around you. Every interaction, every thought, every idea may carry clues about what you intend to create.

Question: What meaningful coincidences capture your attention?

Question: What idea-flutters might be an indication that you need to shift direction? Hint: an “idea-flutter” is idea that continually pops into your mind, but one you brush aside in order to focus on more “important” things. Don’t dismiss those flutters…they are often hugely significant.

How to Act on Purpose

When it comes to lifework, shooting to kill is a metaphor about focusing solely on your theme or mission, not necessarily on one project. In other words, I’m not suggesting you work on one project from beginning to end before you start another one.

Instead, it’s helpful to work where the energy moves you, which may mean working on one project today and another one tomorrow. But only work on projects that are aligned with your mission. It will make your life flow more easily.

Hint: if you are asked to work on projects that support other people’s missions and purposes, reflect on your purpose and mission statement in order to assess whether or not you want to take on the project.

Question: What projects are you currently engaged in that are aligned with your purpose or mission?

Question: What projects are not in alignment with your purpose or mission? How does this impact your lifework?

Here’s a summary of all the questions in this post:

Question: What is the overall purpose or theme for your lifework?

Question: What meaningful coincidences capture your attention?

Question: What idea-flutters might be an indication that you need to shift direction?

Question: What projects are you currently engaged in that are aligned with your purpose or mission?

Question: What projects are not in alignment with your purpose or mission? How does this impact your lifework?

Feel free to share in the comments section below.

Want to learn more

If you’re interested in learning more about how working with dreams and spirit guides to grow your lifework, stay tuned for more information.

In the next day or two I’ll let you know about a program I’m offering called the Dream Compass. It’s one part dream group and one part mastermind, and I guarantee there is nothing like this in existence and it is going to be FUN, FUN, FUN!

In the meantime, hop on over to The DreamTribe (my other site) and read another article inspired by the same dream. It focuses on the 3 Types of Dreams That Guide Your Lifework

The intention of these autumn Holy days is not only to celebrate, but to also ask for forgiveness for past transgressions.

It’s a period of letting go; a time to shed the past and prepare the way for new life.

Whether or not you’re Jewish, autumn is a great time of year to release.

Release guilt.

Release shame.

Release fear.

Release judgment.

Release whatever it is that’s holding you back.

As Rabbi Gershon Winkler, author of Magic of the Ordinary, Recovering the Shamanic in Judaism, says, “The leaves of autumn do not fall, they are released. And in so doing they make way for new growth on the twigs above and merge with the earth to create new life below.”

So in honor of the Ten Days of Repentance and the invitation to release that which we no longer need, I invite you to join me in this releasing ritual.

The Ritual

Feel the Sensations in Your Body

Sit quietly for as long as you need to and feel any out-of-balanced sensations in your body.

Where is there tension?

Where is there tightness?

Where is there pain?

If you need to move to feel more sensations, feel free to do so. You might even put on some dance music and dance yourself into acute awareness of the sensations in your body.

Note the Locations and Feelings on a Piece of Paper

As you feel the sensations, make a note of them on a piece of paper. Draw a simple diagram of your body (stick figures will do) and mark where you feel something and a short description of what it is (e.g. anxiety).

You do not have to understand what is causing the sensations (e.g. where the guilt comes from), however you may recognize their origins. For instance, you may associate a certain feeling with fear. Or another one with guilt from an old relationship. If you do, make note of these, along with the location of the sensations, on a piece of paper.

Create a Talisman with Organic Material

When you are done, go outside and gather sticks and leaves, earth and anything organic that can be buried in the earth to decompose. (Use sticks and leaves that have already fallen to the ground.)

Then create a talisman that captures the essence of the sensations you felt during the earlier exercise.

When you are done creating the talisman, sit with it and imagine infusing it with the out-of-balanced sensations you recorded on your paper. If you can, wear the talisman for awhile.

Prepare to Bury the Talisman

Go outside and dig a hole. If you do not live on private property, consider a trek to the woods or alternatively, use a potted plant.

Say a Prayer of Release

Before you bury the talisman, it is a good idea to say a prayer of release. You can ask God or the Earth or whatever you feel called to invoke to help you release this old, unneeded stuff.

Speak from the heart and hold the talisman as you do this.

If you can, remember what the out-of-balanced sensations felt like in your body. Move gently or dance wildly to feel the sensations again.

Bury the Talisman

When you are ready, bury the talisman in the hole and release the outmoded sensations into the earth.  Cover the talisman with earth.

The earth will cause the talisman to decompose and as it does, your old self will decompose with it.

This can be a powerful ritual when done with reverence, and the cleansing feeling can be empowering.

I’ll even pay you for it.

Here’s the story:

I know from personal experience what it’s like to crave soul-satisfying work that is of service to others, but simultaneously feel stuck or unsure of how to move forward.

Sadly, there are too many healers, guides, coaches, counselors, etc., who are frustrated because they have no idea how to turn their gifts into a viable practice.

In light of this, I’m making a self-guided program that will help service providers get focused and get clear on the many ways they can grow their work.

And I want to make my new program available to as many service providers as possible. But of course, I only know so many people, and that’s where you come in.

First, though, I want to say that I realize you may not need this program yourself …

You may already have a practice overflowing with clients and an income that meets (or supersedes) your needs. If that’s the case, then yippee! (And maybe you’d like to write a guest post for Grow Your Lifework?)

But you might know people who do need help …

Do you? It’s entirely possible that you know other service providers who are having a tough time getting clear, attracting clients, earning an income, etc.

Maybe you even went to an interfaith seminary like the one I went to (the Chaplaincy Institute), or a coaching program, healing program, counseling program or something similar, and maybe your classmates – now your colleagues – are struggling to get going. Or maybe your clients need extra help.

I don’t know about you, but I’m completely committed to helping them get started or grow bigger and bolder practices.

Not just because I want them to have right livelihood (I want that, too, of course), but also because there are people who need their help.

There are a lot of

• hurting people who need counseling
• directionless people who need direction
• stressed people who need relaxing
• sick people who need healing
• cluttered people who need organizing
• engaged couples who need marrying(!)

and the only way they’ll get the help they need is if these service providers are more visible.

So one way I plan to help is by offering the program at a ridiculously low rate for its value … because maybe you agree with me that it’s disheartening to see our friends and colleagues feeling stuck over their next move and that if many of them had just a bit of help, they’d be able to move mountains, or at least help more people.

Not only might it feel great to help people, you can make money doing it.

If you’re open to helping me spread the word about what I’m doing, I’ll give you 50% of the program fee for every referral you send who signs up. (Although I’m selling this for a reasonable rate, even if you only inspired one person to purchase this program you’d be able to buy a dozen mocha cappuccinos from Starbucks or an iPod shuffle or … .)

So if you’re interested in helping your friends and colleagues, maybe even your clients, grow their practices and earn some side income as a result, simply email me amy@amybrucker.com and let me know.

Those who respond will eventually get details and a set of emails from me to help you promote the program once it’s ready.

Until that time, here’s to growing somewhere great!
Amy

P.S. If you have questions feel free to email me. Just email me: amy@amybrucker.com