My Dream Isn’t Taking Off, Do I Give Up?

“I am in need of some advice, hope and guidance.  I have read all of the books in the Conversations with God series which are truly remarkable. The trouble I have is I have hit the proverbial rock bottom in every part of my life, except my beautiful wife and daughter. I decided to leave my job after 19 years in a large company where I had worked my way up to the top because my boss was not the man I thought he was and had become greedy, money and power driven. This was at the expense of employees, clients and staff’s families. I decided that I had to make a change and moved out with the support of my wife and family.  Shortly after I wrote a book geared towards helping others and gave public talks to empower people to live their true nature and find their own passion and purpose.  The challenge is 6 months later it is not taking the way I expected and I am running out of money to pay the bills and support my family. I feel like I have failed my family and myself. I am feeling despondent and lost and I don’t know how not to be at this point. Please help as I truly wish to make a difference in the world with people, and the last thing I want to do is give up on my dream. ”

Edward, Vancouver 

Hi Edward,

First of all, I’d like to applaud you for your integrity in making the choice to leave a toxic work environment, and choosing to listen to and act on your own truth in that situation.  I’d also like to commend you for taking the opportunity to hone in on your purpose and boldly take it to the world – a very courageous act, and I get that you are very good at what you do.

I also get that it’s scary to take such a risk, especially when you’re not seeing the results you’d like as quickly and you’ve got a family depending on you.  And it’s hard when you feel lost, confused, and unsure of what to do next.  With that said, I have some thoughts for you, some directions to point you in.

When we find ourselves in a place of deep worry, fear, anxiety, doubt, etc., it is impossible to find/create a viable solution from that place – in other words, you can’t solve a problem from inside the problem.  In order to access the answers that are inside you, or from God, for that matter, you need to raise your vibration a bit, get connected and in alignment again, which means stepping away from the worry.  Worry is like praying for what you don’t want, and although it’s certainly understandable why we as humans do it, it is completely unnecessary in that it serves no purpose.  So, what I would suggest regarding this and before you make any major decisions, is to take some steps to get quiet, reconnected to that place inside of yourself that knows.  That place inside of you that wrote your wonderful book.  What that looks like depends on you, but a few suggestions are meditation, practicing daily gratitudes, and journaling.  Another hugely impactful practice that in my opinion is vastly under-utilized is making room for play, fun and enjoyment every day. Often times those of us who venture out on our own, whose priority is to serve others, forget to implement this part on a consistent basis and experience burnout, which leads to worry, fear and anxiety taking the lead.  And that isn’t good for anyone.

However you decide to do it, connecting within is something that is vital to do regularly, as in every day. Because the fact that you show up for yourself in this way each and every day provides the space for you to go within and connect to the truth of your being, and has the added benefit of making you less “shakeable” to external circumstances and allowing you to stay clear on your path more often than not.

The other thing I want to point you to is in regards to the story you are telling about yourself and your life.  I sense that you still have some strong feelings about what happened with your former boss, that there may be some unfinished business there that could be holding you back.  What can you do to release that story, the story of your horrible boss doing unspeakable things within his company, to you and to your fellow employees?  The story of you as the victim and he as the villain?  That’s not to say that it isn’t all true, or to discount the pain and struggle you experienced within this context.  It’s to point to the fact that it may be time to tell a new story, a new truth, one where there are no victims or villains, and where you are truly in control of your experience.  As you probably already know but may have temporarily forgotten amidst the intense circumstances of the past months and maybe even years, our thoughts and words are creative, and as long as we keep having the same thoughts and using the same words about the experience we are not happy with, they’ll keep coming.  Here’s a wonderful exercise I learned from another CWG Coach to help you do this:

~ Write a letter to your boss, one you will never send, expressing everything you feel without censoring it or holding back, because it will never be sent.  Write a second draft, where you can do some “editing”, choosing the language and sentiments that accurately convey how you’d like to feel about the whole thing.  This second letter is the opportunity to heal the issues and move on.

And finally, don’t give up on your dream, your purpose.  We need people like you in this world.  And although 6 months may seem like a long time when you’ve got so much pressure to succeed, it is too short of a period of time to give up.  Your priority as a light-worker, as someone who is clearly here to serve and assist others on their life journeys, is to maintain your inner being, your alignment, your connection to All That Is.  It is in the focusing on your “being” first and allowing the “doing” to follow that the key lies.  The rest will come, and in the meantime there are many ways to access/create income now; get into alignment first and I’m willing to bet some ideas will pop up for you.

I’ll leave you with this: remember that before every break-through, occurs a break-down.  That is, a breaking down of old systems, beliefs, and patterns that no longer serve us, so that they may be re-built to support the next highest version of the grandest vision you ever held about Who You Really Are.  The light is coming, Edward.

(Nova Wightman is a CWG Life Coach, as well as the owner and operator of Go Within Life Coaching, www.gowithincoaching.com, specializing in helping individuals blend their spirituality with their humanity in a way that makes life more enjoyable, easy, and fulfilling.  She can be reached at Nova@theglobalconversation.com. )

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