In previous blogs I’ve talked about aligning our company purpose but today I want to share why it’s more important to seek our purpose in order to discover true success. In doing so we can really live our life to its fullest.

Many of us will go to our grave without ever really knowing our purpose yet more and more of us are questioning why we are here. We want to know the purpose of our life.

Back in 2016 I attended the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival where I was invited to pitch a concept for a documentary around Modern Slavery at a round table event with TV industry commissioners.

During the few days I was there, I chatted with a lovely man whilst queuing to see one of the film screenings. Richard (not his real name) had carved a successful career in advertising, though now in his late 50’s, had chosen to follow his dream and make documentary films about topics he found interesting. We enjoyed a short conversation before sitting down to watch the film and afterwards he gave me his card and invited me to lunch a couple of weeks later, closer to where we both lived. Aside from a nice lunch and an open conversation, no business or further contact came out of it. He was about to take year out to travel the world with his wife before setting out on his new chosen path.

It was almost a year later when watching the news that I learned that he’d tragically lost his life whilst travelling in India. He never fulfilled his dream. I only had a brief encounter with him but I cried at this news – he had come across as a gentle and kind man who had worked diligently all his life to build a comfortable lifestyle and save enough money to finally do what he wanted to do and he never got the chance. This news deeply saddened me and my heart went out to him and his family and friends. His story has stuck with me to this day.

My pitch at the film festival was unsuccessful though since I’ve always had a curious thinking mind I continued to research this issue. I am fascinated by the human condition and have spent more than 15 years working on my own self development, raising my conscious awareness and emotional intelligence.

What I’ve discovered through various interactions and experiences over the past few years is that, whilst there are many forms of slavery; including the more extreme forms of human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, forced labour and child labour, we are actually all enslaved. We  enslave ourselves emotionally and psychologically by giving our power away rarely looking within to realise our own inner power. We give permission to external people and circumstances to rule our lives, yet our greatest power is our own inner guidance.

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift” Albert Einstein

From an early age we are taught to ask permission from our parents, our teachers, our religious or political authority figures yet the only one we really need permission from is ourselves. When we raise our conscious awareness, we naturally make honourable informed choices that benefit not only ourselves, but whoever we are interacting with as well as society as a whole. We begin to operate out of love rather than fear.

Our current paradigm tells us that ‘success’ means great wealth, material ‘stuff’ and status, yet if that were true, why are so many rich and ‘successful’ people still unhappy?

We define ourselves by our job; seeking more money, more ‘stuff’, suppressing our emotions by investing our time in alcohol, drugs or taking a lover; blinded by the fact that no amount of money or ‘stuff’ ever keeps us in permanent joy and happiness. We read in the media about those at the top of the game being caught up in power struggles, corruption, drug deals, exposed for enslaving or exploiting others, abusing our dear planet and the natural world… the list goes on… Yet, all of these acts are out of fear. Fear that we may not have enough, that someone might ‘take’ what’s ours. We perpetuate this fear down the line, either stripping others of their dignity or engaging them in continuing such heinous behaviour.

The most impactful investment we can make with the biggest return is to invest our time in our own self growth and personal development.

Having made two independent documentary films, of which this small success led me to found my own short film and animation agency, Hart In Media, I believed my purpose was to help raise awareness of some of the social and environmental issues we all face as human beings. I wanted to ‘prove myself’ and be ‘successful’ in this field. I’ll be honest, it’s been an uphill struggle seeking commissions from organisations who understand the business value of sharing their social responsibility stories as well as those who are only starting to recognise this value.

Yet, from those I’ve worked with, the feedback has always been that I hold a safe non-judgemental space for people to share, through engaged listening and validation of their experiences and, I am trusted to discern whether their stories should be adapted for film or animated storytelling that is authentic to those who share their stories.

This realisation has made me stop trying to prove myself and to allow this transitional period to show me where my work is most needed – to support and guide others to get out of their fear based living and step into love. For only love is real.

Fear is not real, it is an opportunity to become a better you.

I can help you and those in your organisation

Face

Everything

And

Rise

through the practice of Emotional Acceptance tools and techniques.

Are you, your leaders or employees struggling with stress, anxiety, depression, feelings of neglect, being unfulfilled or undervalued?

Is this affecting performance, attendance, wellbeing and personality? As a trained EA (Emotional Acceptance) Practitioner, I can help.

Each month I offer 10 FREE 1 hour gift sessions to experience the power of Emotional Acceptance for yourself. This is open to corporations as well as individuals looking for a better work/life balance via video conferencing, face to face or in a group workshop.

When you seek your purpose, you discover true success. Drop me a line and book yours today. I promise it works.