Women of the World
Personal Freedom Through Clarity & Vision
By Joni Lerner
In my work, I hear questions similar to these: “I often feel somewhat helpless to change things at work, home, and family. What can I do?” Or, “I know I am meant to do something great in this life, but I just can’t figure out how to do it. How do I get there?” That’s what we are going to do together. We are going to learn to change what you can change and know what you can’t. You will also learn and practice how to create clarity and a strong plan for success.
“Remember, people don’t change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change, OR, when the WHY is powerful enough to drive their passion to the unknown.“
In this workshop on Personal Freedom through CLARITY & VISION, you will be doing what we call, “Navigating the Unknown.” In other words, you will explore what your personal freedom & vision for your life are and how and what you will need to achieve it. We will do this from a perspective of “not already knowing” in order to discover your authentic truth…your destiny, if you will.
How will you do that you may be wondering? You will be asked a series of probing questions that will help you uncover and discover what you are truly meant to do here on planet earth. To do this, we will present ideas and essential information coupled with exercises to help you discover and integrate what you learn experientially with the intention of promoting lasting change.
You might find it helpful to keep a Success Journal or notebook. This is the place where you will write down your work, inspirations, ideas and next steps toward your personal freedom plan.
I am going to be very honest here. It may take some time depending on how in depth you are able to go and how many of the exercises you do, or you may breeze through it. However you decide to do it, you are a winner already. Just by reading the information, you will plant seeds and create some level of change.
Having said that, I sincerely invite you to really commit to yourself and your future by being willing to do what it takes to create permanent change.
WHAT ARE YOUR PURPOSE AND VISION?
Before we do a deep die into that questions, there is a powerful quote I want to share with you:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be...
In other words, it is up to us to really step into our own lives and not wait for anyone to tell us it’s ok. It is also important that we stay out of our own way.
If you are to be happy and content but not complacent, you must always strive to be better. You have the ability to awaken to your potential and your power. Your personal freedom as women must come from taking a stand for the equality of your life and bring responsible for discovering and creating your very best existence. Not in spite of being a woman, but because you are a powerful, capable, human being regardless of gender.
The feminine is powerful in its juxtaposition to the masculine but we do have gender challenges in this patriarchal world. We honor the men (or partners) in our lives but we must first honor ourselves. You owe it to yourself as a woman, to be the very best you can be. You must emerge as your greatest self – first for you, then your family, your bosses, and your employees.
Are you ready to take that journey?
In this part, we will ask three critical questions in order to help you get clarity in the area of your Purpose and Vision. We must “navigate the unknown” to unlock our greatest desires and power. This means that the answers do not currently exist in your thoughts or you would have done this already.
How do you know what your purpose and vision are? They are interconnected and it’s different for everyone. I am going to ask you three questions:
1. WHAT do you want? 2. WHY do you want it? 3. HOW do you make that happen?
QUESTION #1 - "WHAT do you want?"
Have you ever actually sat down and asked yourself what do YOU want? Not what you think you are supposed to want. Not what your parents or partner thinks you should want.
Here are some thought provoking questions that you will use to uncover and discover what you want. Use your journal or notebook to compile your work for future reference as well. You are going to use the following graph to fill in the pieces of life’s pie with what you want.
Read through the following questions to prompt you then read the directions at the end of the questions and begin.
- How do you want your life, your world, to look in each category?
- How much money would you have in the bank?
- How would your body and health look?
- Would you be your own boss?
- Make a certain amount per year?
- Be an entrepreneur?
- What about travel?
- Hobbies?
- Relationships?
- What would bring you joy in each section?
- What does life need to look like to know you are fulfilling your destiny?
Answer the questions with a partner or buddy. It can be a man or a woman (the feminine and masculine energies have their own synergistic powers to elicit powerful insights and responses).
Let your partner know what you are doing and have them ask these and additional questions that come up as you explore. You can even have them write it down for you if you prefer, so you are free to brainstorm.
Do not judge the writing that flows forth. You will have some powerful new information if you can keep your mind (your thinking and old beliefs) from taking over by allowing the flow of thoughts and ideas to naturally unfold.
Then, you can do the same thing for your buddy. Ask them the same questions. You will be amazed and delighted at what appears.
Read what was written and share it with each other. Really getting excited about it and attaching powerful emotion to it will anchor it in your body and will make feel real. This will insure success. Add it to the success pie graph and keep it in your journal. If you are unable to get a partner, do it in written form.
Write it all down. Do not censor yourself. Let yourself dream big. Words have power. Even if you don’t know how you are going to get there! Then take a few words from your answers to fill in the pie graph.
QUESTION #2 - "WHY do you want what you want?"
This is such a powerful question. This question asks the WHY for the WHAT. The reason behind what we want is the emotional power that will propel us toward success. This is where you can really get the leverage on yourself (the push) for you to manifest and make what you want happen.
What do I mean by leverage? It is the sense of urgency that can fuel whatever goal or dream we have. Whether it is losing five pounds or saving the world. It is the ‘Why” that will empower you. It is the “Why” that carries the energy and need for success. In order to anchor the “What” you want and get leverage on yourself, you MUST know the “Why.”
You can start by asking yourself, what are the feelings you will have when what you want manifests? Literally imagine your future feelings.
Remember, people don’t change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change, OR, when the WHY is powerful enough to drive their passion to the unknown.
We have the power to change our thoughts which is critical if we want to change our future. If we do not change what we are thinking or doing, nothing will ever change. How could it? So let’s look at our thoughts regarding why.
So WHY? Why should I change what I am doing or how I am being? So that I may create different and more powerful results. You want to get clear on why you want to put the energy and time into what you say you want? In fact, why do you want what you say you want?
Examples:
- Because you will feel empowered and therefore more powerful in everything you do?
- Because your family will be proud of what and who you become?
- Because your family will be proud of what and who you become?
- Because your health will improve and you will feel aliveness and energized?
- Because you will not live in stress and anxiety?
Remember, what are the feelings associated with the why? If we anchor a feeling to what we want, we have created a powerful synergy within ourselves that will motivate us and drive us.
- Because you will feel empowered and therefore more powerful in everything you do?
- Because your family will be proud of what and who you become?
- Because your family will be proud of what and who you become?
- Because your health will improve and you will feel aliveness and energized?
- Because you will not live in stress and anxiety?
Exercise:
If you are working with a partner as you did in the first section, answer the questions with each other and share your revelations. Have the partner write the answers down for you. If you are working alone, spend 10-20 minutes answering the “WHY?”
Here are some examples – The reason I want _________________ is because __________________and I will feel______________________(don’t censor it, let if flow). The reason I want _________________ is because __________________and I will feel______________________(don’t censor it, let if flow).
Example – The reason I want more money is because I can make my family’s life easier and give them experiences I was not able to have and I will feel happy and grateful.”
Example – Why I want to get that promotion is I will have more autonomy and will be able to implement my ideas and this will bring me recognition and more money and I will feel powerful and passionate about my work.
Finish by writing a quick reference list of the Whys.
Example – The reason I want more money is because I can make my family’s life easier and give them experiences I was not able to have and I will feel happy and grateful.”
Example – Why I want to get that promotion is I will have more autonomy and will be able to implement my ideas and this will bring me recognition and more money and I will feel powerful and passionate about my work.
Question Summary
Congratulations! Even if you’re not TOTALLY CLEAR, I’m sure many things are sharper but you still have a burning Question to answer – How do I do it?
QUESTION #3 - “HOW Do I Manifest My Personal Freedom?”
So you have examined the “What” and “Why”. Let’s delve into the “How.” This will be done in two parts, so be ready to do some serious work that will change your life!
There is no one answer to this as it will be specific to your chosen path of personal freedom. In a few moments, we are going to do an exercise to uncover your game plan. There is a very auspicious number that we are going to work with here. It is the number of birth, marriage and death. It represents strength, mystical abilities, spiritual magnetism and creativity. It is the number 3. Let’s use it to lend power to figuring out the “How” of your Personal Freedom Plan.
Let’s talk about the next exercise for a minute. This is the third and final question for finding your Vision and Purpose.
We are going to ask you to answer questions again to help you navigate and figure out the “How” part of getting to your goals. If you are doing it solo, write down your answers but again, if you are working with someone, have your partner ask you these questions and just start talking. Again, one of you needs to take notes.
Come up with your own questions as well. We will provide some questions to get you started.
HOW will you reach your goals?:
- Do you take classes or workshops?
- Get a new degree?
- Buy new equipment?
- Scale back?
- Add to?
- Fire people who are not aligned with your vision?
- Move to a new company that respects you and your talents?
- Take better care of your health so that you have more energy?
- Meditate on your break?
- Eat more energy producing foods?
- Stop smoking?
- Get a coach or a mentor?
- Move to a different city or closer to work or your company?
- Read a book about subjects related to your interests or success?
- How would you like life to be?
- What would you be doing differently?
Now that you have all of this information gathered, how do you make sense of it and organize it in a way that you can utilize it?
Sift through your notes and come up with your top three priorities of what you want (What) that will bring Personal Freedom. Then under each, write three objectives that will get you there and the timeline of completion. Then under the objectives, write three To Do’s to support that.
Use the following graph example to organize your thoughts. You can create several graphs to cover all areas you want to change.
Let’s continue with HOW do you organize your detailed work in such a way that you are able to more easily make it happen? There are two possibilities. One is called an Achievement Funnel and the other uses a standard Achievement Pie Graph
The “Achievement Funnel” starts with a VISION, connect a GOAL to that vision, then connect STRATEGIES of how to achieve the GOAL, then connect ACTIVITIES to each STRATEGY and finally connect RESULTS (milestones and measurements) to each ACTIVITY.
Heres a specific example of an Achievement Funnel:
Here is an example of the second organizational tool:
- 3 What you want?
- 3 Objectives (to get what you want)
- 3 “To Dos” (to get to the objectives)
Summary
You have done some spectacular work so far. You have thoroughly explored the What, Why and How of your Personal Freedom to gain clarity.
Now, go back to the WHY section and write the three biggest Whys (in the present tense) that you discovered that drive your desires for Personal Freedom and success.
EXAMPLE: WHY?
- Becuase I am living my purpose and making a difference.
- I am changing lives and I feel useful.
- I am healthy and vibrant.
Use these whys in all areas of your life. They are affirmations that will propel and serve you on your journey. Put them up on the wall, your mirror, or a post-it in your car. Look at it daily. It will insure that you live a life that is meaningful to you. If you live from that place, you will naturally create remarkable results.
I am incredibly proud of you for sticking with this and doing the work necessary to make a huge change in your life.
You should now have a great deal of clarity and knowledge and with that, Power.
Spread the word
Bonus: Chakra Meditation