Michelle Engelsman, Olympic swimmer, experienced this in 2008. She had at one time been ranked as #1 in the world, had travelled extensively for her country (Australia) and was a finalist in the 2004 Olympics.

Then as the Beijing Olympic trials approached, she felt deeply challenged. “I’d always been motivated by creating a more equal society and now I felt split between achievement and my awareness of the human rights abuses in China. I really felt the universe saying to me: ‘Yes, you’re good at this… but we need you elsewhere now’. I’d had the opportunity to engage with people through following my sporting dreams – and now felt my energy was needed in a different arena: a politically campaigning arena”.

Although most of you reading this aren’t Olympic athletes, many of us can identify with the feeing of achieving highly in our profession and yet feeling pulled in a different direction – one which aligns more fully with our values and with our bigger-picture purpose. For Michelle, it was time to say: “I love what I do… but I’m ready for something else”. She retired from professional swimming after the World Championships. “It wasn’t that I wanted to leave. I had a great time doing what I did. It was that I was ready for a new challenge, a new horizon.”

With extra time on her hands, she volunteered to help Amnesty, briefing Olympic governing bodies on human rights abuses. She also completed her Masters degree in International Studies and lent her voice to aid organisation Bodhi. She went on to land a full-time role at Greenpeace, campaigning on issues like GM food, whales and climate change – work that she says brought all her passions together.

Fast-forward to what she’s doing now: living in Cambridge, England (having relocated to be with her partner) where she is the tireless campaign manager for Green Party MP candidate Tony Juniper. As we enter Election week, she says: “It was impossible not to jump at this opportunity. I am so inspired by putting my efforts in to someone who exemplifies what matters deeply to me and who actually represents my voice. In a time when politics can be very depressing and disingenuous, I’m proud to be behind someone who lives what he says and is taking my values and priority issues back in to parliament.”

Do you find yourself at a crossroads, called in a different direction? Perhaps it is less risky than you think to hear that call and respond to it. You may well find, like Michelle, that there is a clear bridge between your current work and where you want to go next. Although on paper an elite athlete and a political campaigner seem worlds apart, Michelle has found there to be more similarities than differences: “Both involve strategic planning, discipline, motivation, team work, and continually building momentum towards an immoveable target date”.

What would it be like to transfer your skills to a new challenge? To apply them to a different form of work, that is deeply fulfilling to you? Perhaps it is time to ask yourself: What else am I passionate about? What other directions have my experiences and studies been nudging me in? What other ways of earning an income could align with my deepest-held values?

Michelle believes there’s a point where it’s more of a risk to stay put; when “staying a bud is more painful than turning into a flower”. Maybe you sense it’s time for you to do something different – time to be brave, time for a change.

The World Needs Your Passion, So…

1) Whether you’re in employment or self-employment, how is your current role working out for you? How aligned do you feel with it? Make a list of the reasons you are staying in your current role. You might list aspects of your role that you love and/or fears of what would happen if you left. Now: what’s it like to look at that list? What feelings come up?

2) If there’s been a nagging sense that it’s time for a change, what other directions are calling you? Michelle loved swimming; she was also passionate about international politics. What are the areas where your attention is being drawn? What feels like it aligns most clearly with your values?

3) Make a list of next possible action steps in a new direction. Speak with someone? Research a possible training course? Negotiate to part-time hours? Take one of those steps today.

4) Leave a comment on this blog post, letting us know: What’s it like to achieve highly in one field and now consider different directions? What’s it like to hear the call – and either respond or resist? What have been your experiences in the past, when you’ve gone in a direction you’ve felt called by? And when you haven’t?

Have you heard the call but are finding it hard to make the shift?

Whether it’s lack of confidence or uncertainty about how you would earn money by taking a different path, book a consultation to discuss how you could be supported in following your passion. Click here > >

© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2010

Want to receive these blog posts direct to your inbox, plus hear about special offers? Simply subscribe for free here > >

Photo credits: Angelo Gargaglione & Jean-Luc Benazet (with thanks).

Often, acting from passion of conviction takes us into the unknown. We take actions blind, not knowing whether they’ll have impact or even if they’ll feel good. And yet these actions can take us down avenues we’d never have dreamed of and can lead us to unimagined bounties.

Ruthie Collins, who founded Positiveworld Studios in Cambridge, shares with us her experience of what can emerge when you do what you believe in:

“Two years ago I made a pledge to stop buying fashion from the High Street because I couldn’t go on supporting the manufacturing of clothing in sweatshops. I care about gorgeous clothes. Frivolous, yes. Uncommon in young women, no. And I also care about staying true to your principles and following your passions – and I believe what you wear is… well, political.

I started it as a six month experiment; it felt a bit like going on a diet… exciting, liberating, with that dizzying sense of possibility. Only with my new diet of sweatshop-free fashion, far from feeling denied, what actually happened was that a whole new world of uber-green style and abundance opened up to me. It was one of the best moves I’ve ever made.

I’ve discovered the joys of supporting small ethical fashion designers, knowing that my custom makes a difference. I’ve researched sustainable fashion blogs, books, campaigns, portals, writers and magazines and discovered the sheer joy of thrift shops in New York. I’ve found myself at workshops at the London College of Fashion – offered free to anyone interested in sustainable fashion. I’ve been invited to take part in a fashion show as a model and go on the telly to take part in a massive live clothes swap. I was even offered a little PR work for an eco-shoe designer AND the chance to write for the Ethical Fashion Forum’s soon-to-be-launched online magazine, Source.

I had no idea that any of this would happen when I made my pledge. I just did it.

Whatever injustice is unsettling you, you can do something about it. You might not feel that baby steps can smash the system but without them, change will simply flutter off out of your grasp. My boycott has taught me that the best way to change something in the world is to start with yourself. Revolutions start from within.”

Look at the language Ruthie uses – “discovered” “found myself” “was invited” “was offered” “a chance”. Once she made a pledge in line with her principles and when she allowed herself to be driven forward by her passion, opportunities she couldn’t have planned for came her way.

If we can leap without a net… If we can bear the unknown and the unplanned… If we can trust that what our heart tells us to do is the right thing to do… then we break away from the tyranny of having to know how it’s all going to work out before we start.

We are then on our very own treasure hunt; we pick up the first clue in front of us and trust that it will lead us to the next and then the next and so we find that we are on our path.

The World Needs Your Passion, So…

1) What is your impulse? What has been playing on your mind? What do you want to just do – without being strategic and without an ‘end goal’ in mind? Consider these questions now.

2) Trust in that passion enough to take one step. Notice what happens – what the first clue is that you stumble upon and where that clue then leads you.

3) Leave a comment on this blog, letting us know about times when you’ve acted from your passion and principles and what the outcome was. Also let us know: How are you with the unknown? What stops you from taking that first step?

© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2010

Want to receive these blog posts direct to your inbox, plus hear about special offers? Simply subscribe for free here.

Kickstart Your Own Treasure Hunt

What are you passionate about? What’s that seed idea, that one clue you’re holding in your hand but not yet making any moves about because you can’t see the end goal?

The Kickstart Your Venture workshop has been designed to both bring your end goal more clearly into focus AND to build upon your passion at this starting point. It’s next taking place on Saturday 24th April in Cambridge.

For more information and to book your place, click here.

It was very thought provoking indeed – I was surprised at the extent to which it expanded my idea. I could actually have left at lunch time and been satisfied! I’m now a lot further down the development process and feel a lot more confident about it being a viable idea. I felt reluctant to leave, I don’t ever want to go back to where I was before today.

– Ben Marsh, South East London, Archive & Technical Assistant at the British Board of Film Classification

We used to sleep in the loft. The previous owners had it converted into a beautiful bedroom space that many our visitors have made appreciative noises about. However, the designers neglected to include heating so for four years we shivered through cold winter nights. This week we finally admitted that much as we’d tried, it just wasn’t working for us. It was time for a change, time to take ownership so we pulled the bed apart and moved it down to the first floor. Other rooms had to be gutted and rearranged to compensate which was hard work but very much worth it. Our primary goal has been attained – we’re cosier and more comfortable – and there have been extra benefits too. We want to invite people round more, it’s better for our relationship, and I’ve got a more organised office space.The house just makes more sense this way round, with rooms having more appropriate roles, and we’ve felt much more inclined to tidy and clean (I’ve turned into a super-proud domestic goddess, in fact).

Change isn’t always easy, pleasant or beautiful. Sometimes we have to create a mess before we get things in order. If you’d taken a snapshot of us trying to squeeze the mattress down our spiralling staircase or the two of us attempting a four-burly-men reassembly job, then you’d have thought we were worse off than if we’d still been in that cold bedroom. My clients experience this too. Sometimes they risk a change and things don’t go brilliantly at first: a new kind of work is far more exhausting than the previous one, they take brave moves and others don’t respond well or they sell their house and the eco-community they dreamed of finding doesn’t emerge.

This is why it’s so important to remember that finding and following our passion is a journey. There will be wrong turns… and also right turns which go up hills before we can sail down the other side. There may be chaos initially and things can look worse before they get better. This is why I love the metaphor of a sliding puzzle which you’ll see as the image above. The picture could look 90% right but if we want the picture to be complete, something has to give. We have to change some thing, make the move and risk dismantling and rearranging if we want to really go for what we want.

The World Needs Your Passion, so…

What one thing could you change? What could be reallocated or rearranged to get things moving in the direction you want? For example, reallocating ten minutes of your day to meditation or planning, asking to reduce your employed hours to four days a week or turning the corner of a room into a mini home office. Make a list of options and then do one. What happens when you change one thing? Let us know….

©  Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2009

** Want to change something… but scared of failing? **

Every time we change something, there’s a chance we’ll fail. How are you with that possibility? For many of us, failing is not an option we embrace and so we stay stuck, not taking that risk. The impact? Stagnation, abandoned projects, bottom line = not achieving what we want to achieve or being as happy or fulfilled as we know we can be. Click here to find out more about a workshop that will change this for you.

Many of us have been to workshops which engaged only our brains. We’ve sat with paper and pen, talked through relatively superficial questions, and left without knowing each others’ names. When I go to a workshop, I want to be taken on a journey. I want to go from somewhere to somewhere and I want to trust the workshop facilitator to be my guide. I want them to have a map, but not grip on to it too firmly. Katie did this beautifully. There was a flow from one exercise to the next and my whole body was involved through sound, movement, words, drama and more. She stood back and allowed us to explore and then stepped in with her exquisite intuition to nudge us towards new places to look. I left the day with so much serenity, humming contentedly to myself all the way home.

When I go on these journeys, I also want to feel like others are there with me – that’s we’re seeing each other and being seen. I am always blown away by how my fear-of-failure-busting gang connects and supports each other. This group shared hugs and tears, acknowledgements and whoops of celebration. They’ve all swapped emails and are already continuing their conversations. In fact, a couple of them have suggested that they have a six month reunion – and this is a group who spent just six hours with each other.

It is a precious honour to be trusted to guide people through a learning journey and this weekend I’ve been reminded of how equally wonderful it is to find someone, such as Katie, who can do that for me. It’s a true skill to create a space safe enough for a group of strangers to explore an issue such as fear of failure, resistance, self-doubt, and insecurities. After my workshop, one of the more apprehensive participants said to me: “It was amazing how quickly and easily I could open up to people I didn’t know. I realised that we were all in the same boat so no-one was judging anyone else”. If as a workshop facilitator you can set up the expectation of openness and model vulnerability, something sacred is created. It’s a container which allows people to let go and go deep. They can cry and sing and shout – as they did this weekend! – and actually move through a block, rather than merely thinking about it.

The World Needs Your Passion, So…

1) What kind of journey do you already take others on? Fear to freedom? Stress to calm? Overwhelm to simplicity? Unfitness to health? What do you do naturally, just because of who you are? – and are there ways in which you could package this and actually offer that journey as a 1-1 or group process?

2) What journey are you ready for? Where do you want to go from and to? Who can be your guide?

3) Check out Katie’s website, The Rose Window, for her full moon chanting, workshops & upcoming second album launch.

© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2009

** There’s no blog next week so here’s a challenge… If YOU were writing this blog, what would you write about? Where are you noticing yourself doing – or wanting to do – things differently? How could your experiences help others in finding new pathways? **

** Fail workshop coming to London…. June 2009, date and venue tbc. Book early to avoid disappointment**

I started these blog posts on May 2nd 2006. There’s a year of such ponderings archived on my blogspot site reflecting my own journey and the insights I’ve received from family, friends and clients. They represent a year of connections with a group of people who read my words and take something from them.

As you will have noticed, they’ve kind of trailed off in the recent months. I still have plenty to say but the pull to convey them in this format isn’t there anymore. It’s feeling like a chore – and when that happens, I know it’s an alert to look and reassess. There’s a different way to meet the intention that this blog was set up for and I feel drawn to look there.

When we clear what no longer fits us, we make room for what does. Recently I’ve been doing more and more work in person with teenagers – at schools, youth groups, youth conferences etc – and am reminded of how ‘me’ this kind of work is, how ‘me’ it’s always been. It’s time for me to realign with that and have the writing I do connect more specifically with those interactions.

My coach training was really good on the importance of ‘completion’ – on ending things cleanly and with integrity. On saying whatever needs saying in order to put a satisfying full stop at the end of what we’ve been involved with, instead of letting it fade or trickle away.

So in terms of this blog, this is over and out from me. Thank you for ‘Doing Things Differently’ with me – for the comments I’ve received, ideas I’ve been given, simply for the opportunity to write and be read.

I would love for you to be part of the new projects as they arise so I will stay in touch as long as you want me to

Enjoy your final Inquiry & Action and feel free to leave a comment, letting me know what you come up with.

With much love, Corrina

The World Needs Your Passion, So...

1) Inquiry: What have I grown out of?

2) Action: Take an audit of your life. Scan for what is there simply because it’s always been there, or because it feels routine or comfortable. Maybe clothes, people, projects, jobs, ways of doing things, furniture, your home, your car, or the way you travel to college or work. When you’ve identified an aspect of your life you’ve grown out of, consider how you want to complete with it. Is there a conversation to be had? A physical clear out? A change of attitude, or different action to take? Notice what happens for you energetically when you let go of what no longer fits you and make room for what will.