Ellen Whitehurst is the CEO and Founder of The Empowered Lifestyle. A monthly marquee columnist for Redbook magazine, Ellen’s first book, Make Your Lucky Day,is now going into Fourth printing and she is currently working on her second book. Ellen also writes a daily tip for iVillage.com as well as contributing to other myriad media agendas, including now John Edward’s new site, InfiniteQuest.com as well lifestyle blogging for The Huffington Post. She is also one of DoctorOz.com’s alternative/complementary/holistic healthcare providers in their new Web 3.0 sharecare program. For more information on Ellen and what sort of fortune and luck this month has in store for you log onto www.ellenwhitehurst.com.
Her definition of “passion”? “That thing, that essence that animates me, that makes me smile, and makes my heart and my soul smile.”
Her biggest passions: Her son. Feng shui, mystical, metaphysics. And cooking and serving with food (she’s writing her second book on this topic!).
Summary quote: “There is no one less likely to have made a success of a brand than me. And I’ve done it. And if I can do it, anyone can”!
Biggest challenges along the road: Feeling scared and lonely after her 20-year marriage ended and deciding to pursue fully her passion for feng shui. Says Ellen, “I so firmly believe that if you follow your passion, if you find what it is that you love, it makes it so much easier to be persistent about it. And persistence is the key to everything on this planet, I swear to you. You have to have a real well of persistence to get over the obstacles because the obstacles are…really opportunities to learn. And at the time you may think that something that is crushing and disappointing is the end of the road. And I will personally guarantee -I will put money behind it - that that end of the road is simply bringing you to another new road that’s going to bring you closer to what your dreams are.”
How do you know when it’s a boulder to go over or a sign to take another path? She says, “ for me, if you have a passion towards achieving or accomplishing a particular or specific goal, you’ll never get a boulder that will push you off of the path. You’re never going the wrong way, you are going where you need to be. If, however, you’re not that passionate about it…you don’t feel it in the seat of your soul…that’s where the concept of trust comes in. You have to trust that you will be shown. …Ask your higher power, whatever that is for you, ‘Am I on the right road?’ And then be open to receive the answers. That’s about as trite as it gets, it’s as banal as it gets, but it’s also as real as it gets. If you can quiet your being and can, from your heart, from emotion, ask your higher power if you’re on the right road, I can tell you that, within 48 hours, you’ll get…confirmation.”
Natural talents/gifts: “I came in with an ability to write.”
What didn’t/doesn’t come naturally: … “the ability to get in front of people and speak”; not having a business background
How does someone balance commitments & responsibilities with pursuing their passions? “It’s really important that when you have responsiblities, when you have commitments and you’re embarking on doing something, obviously if you feel the need to keep your 9 to 5, to keep your paycheck, temporarily, you still need to push energy forward on some level towards what you’re passionate about. …The same sort of commitment that you have to paying the bills, to taking care of your parents, or to taking care of the kid’s tuition…that same sort of commitment has to translate into a commitment to what your passion is. And pretty soon, before you even know it, the passion will overtake whatever the 9 – 5 is, and you will find opportunities flying at you to engage yourself in whatever it is that you’re truly interested in, and will leave the 9-5 behind.”
Definition of “prosperity” and how she is experiencing it. “I’m going to be a capitalist and say that I define it as something with a dollar sign in front of it. I could really throw out the line that prosperity is abundance, and I do believe that secondarily. …I define prosperity as feeling comfortable; as not ever worrying where the next dime is going to come from, or where the next pair of shoes is going to come from, or where the next car payment is going to come from.”
Tip on handling fears: “…You can spend time laying awake in bed at night…and thinking ‘How am I supposed to make the car payment?’ That time that you’re spending worrying about it is in fact, what we call ‘feeding the hungry monster’.” She suggests that, instead of worrying about it, you can choose to spend the time imagining all of the ways that money COULD come in to cover the car payment. “Are you going to lay in bed and worry, or are you going to construct a visualization that has you paying it…..either way it’s a fantasy,” she notes. “Why not choose the one that’s positive?”
…”If you feed your fear with fatted worry you’re just creating more of the same. So don’t feed the fear.”
Her next big milestone: A second book, focusing on food and cooking; a television show
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