The Passions and Possibilities® Network
People, Planet, and Profit for Next Gens.
Each week, you’ll receive a brief, 3-minute Passioneering Video Moment on the month’s theme. January’s theme is Vision, and this week’s moment is on Visioning – how to use the powerful technique of visioning to catch and hold the highest good for your life. For more on visioning, check out our 30-minute visioning meditation/exercise or our visioning FAQ.
Happy Passioneering!
We recently interviewed Beth Buelow, CEO and founder of The Introvert Entrepreneur
. She is a professional speaker and leadership coach who helps introverts understand, own and leverage their strengths. She challenges the introvert stereotypes and is on a mission to bridge the communication gap between the “strong, silent” types and the “loud and proud.” Her business, The Introvert Entrepreneur, provides products and services that are designed for introverts who want to be wildly successful while still being authentic. Listen to her PodBlast at the bottom of this post.
Sue. What are the biggest challenges that budding Passioneers who are introverts face?
Beth:
Sue: What are your top three tips for these Passioneers to outrageously thrive as they give back?
Beth: All three of these are ways to protect your energy as your success becomes more present and pronounced.
Sue: What three resources do you recommend for these Passioneers to check out?
Beth:
Sue: Anything else?
Beth: I have a few resources designed specifically to support introverts and introvert entrepreneurs:
Blog, Podcast, Coaching, Workshops, Etc: www.TheIntrovertEntrepreneur.com
Facebook Community: www.Facebook.com/TheIntrovertEntrepreneur
Twitter: @coachbethb
Final Words (Beth):
Practice using a “beginner’s mind” approach to your work. Introverts are generally good at research and have a “need to know.” Practice spending some time in the “not knowing.” Experience things with a beginner’s mind and eye, allowing yourself to notice what’s happening not just with your mind, but with your body. Be open to the opportunities that arise when you remove the pressure to be perfect or to be an expert.
Thanks Beth and Happy Passioneering!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Since December 2008, I’ve had the honor and joy to interview over 300 bold, inspiring leaders and entrepreneurs who are leaping vibrantly
and passionately into making big, positive contributions in the world. I call them Passioneers® and have been featuring their stories in a variety of venues, including radio interviews and blog posts, to share this very simple and powerful message: When you do what you love AND give back, the rest does follow. The vision is to bring these thriving Passioneers together to inspire and support budding Passioneers so they too can pay it forward. Think “pay it forward” multiplied many times over.
The journeys are vividly unique and poignant, yet I have discovered a common thread of twelve qualities that weaves itself throughout – a kind of Passioneering “lifeline” for what it really takes to make big impacts in the world AND remain vibrant and prosperous along the journey. Below are the twelve Passioneering Essences, which are now making their way into a new book (January 2011 launch) and upcoming blog posts:
Cheers and Happy Passioneering!
If you’re a social or spiritual entrepreneur who wants to thrive at giving back and you missed our November 2010 PassionCast, it’s 
not too late! Tune into the high-vibin’ dialogue among 14 panelists and our fabulous guests about REAL, relevant topics on thriving at what you love.
The MP3 recordings from the four sessions are now available below! Enjoy and Happy Passioneering!
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE MP3s!
Enjoy and Happy Passioneering!
Stephanie A. Jones, J.D., LL.M., M.P.H., is the Founder of GeekNerdWonk Charitable Foundation (“GNW”) (www.geeknerdwonk,org – under construction!)
Stephanie, raised in Los Angeles, began her training as multi-disciplinary social and political scientist, taking degrees from Yale (Sociology, with specialty in Political Science, cum laude) and Columbia (Masters of Public Heath, in Ethics and History of Public Health, in Socio-medical Science), as well as a doctorate (J.D., University of Cincinnati, College of Law, American Jurisprudence Award, Law Review) and a post-doctorate degree in law (LL.M) in Mental Health Policy.
A life long scholar, Stephanie went to medical school for a few years - abandoned over fury of health care waste, and institutionalized, socio-cultural, systemic conditions that guarantee health care disparities in marginalized and vulnerable populations. She’s studied graduate level Bioethics at the University of Dayon, Death Penalty with Cornell’s Law School in Paris, International Human Rights with Gonzaga’s law school in Florence. Graduate psychology studies at Columbia in Neuroscience, Stigma and Social Marketing complimented her training at Stanford’s Political Psychology Institute, and in Johns Hopkins’ Department of Psychiatry. She’s published in multiple venues, and works across the US and in Africa for marginalized, vulnerable and discriminated against populations, often doing work where multiple stigmatized statuses operate synergistically. She thinks of herself as an educator, researcher and writer.
SZO: What’s your definition of “passion”?
Passion is living one’s one unrepeatable life wrung dry.
SZO: What have been the key factors in your success and what one word best describes it?
The key factors in success are both the possession of and a reputation for the possession of unimpeachable integrity, over-generosity of time, talent, resources and work ethic; and a certain St. Bernard-ish slobbery enthusiasm for every conceivable person met or subject broached. And get up EARLY!
SZO: What has been your biggest challenge(s) in leaping into your passions, and how you have addressed them?
I belong to many of the marginalized groups for which I work, and it is my speaking openly about my overcoming and/or the managing of these challenges which motivates my work. I live with severe bipolar disorder and I am recovered from alcoholism, anorexia, and severe domestic violence. Most who possess such stigmatized statuses do not live in a time in which there exist finely tuned psychotropic medication, to which I am neurobiologically responsive and 100% medication compliant for the best medical care one can buy.
As an adult, after marriage, children, a divorce, and heterosexually dating, I happened to fall in love with a woman. Therefore, I live with what could be imposed upon me, were I to allow it, multiple, synergistically-operating stigmatized statuses.
Most who possess such stigmatized identities have not my sheer dumb luck of having been born as a white American Citizen, with the unearned gifts of private and Ivy league schools, and having had a debutante ball, hailing from a family dating back (in America) to the Colonial Wars. This social capital TRUMPS my would-be stigmatized statuses. These psychotropic drugs have enabled me to dance in the black of Aristotle’s “genius/madman” ledger, have enabled me to obtain a preposterously superb education, and enabled me to earn professional credibility and authority. It is my calling to speak out for and work on behalf of those who are not so blessed as I, who are too frightened to get help for the types of synergistically operating stigmas one might want to put on me.
SZO: Who or what inspired you to leap into your passion?
My mother, who is unconditional love, wisdom, and tenacity personified; and who taught me that one can indeed have one best friend for an entire lifetime.
Sir Winston Churchill, who, like me, suffered a mind besieged by bipolar disorder, at a time in which there was no medical help to assuage his pain, while insisting “Never, never, never give up.” And he never, never, never gave up.
SZO: Do you have a quote that you would like to share that speaks of you and your passion?
“Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny” – Tyron Edwards
“The first quality needed is audacity.” – Sir Winston Churchill.
SZO: What do you hope people would say about you when you’re gone?
“She left everything on the field.”
SZO: What three brief tips can you give to somebody making the leap into their passion?
1) You must be prepared to work harder than you can conceivably imagine. That means a 9-5 job to keep a roof over your head, and another 6 hours per day devoted to your true passion and/or volunteering, to whatever feels most authentic to you. If you do not work 14-16 hours a day you will never escape your 9-5 job, when the goal is to be so successful at your authentic job you can do IT alone for 14-16 hours a day.
2) There is no vacancy waiting for you. You have to claim your space. There is no room at the top just waiting for your particular brilliance, ready and willing to step to the side to enable your joining the hallowed ranks. Educate yourself, give of yourself, establish your credibility, and then march in and claim your space. Then work twice as hard to maintain your right to be there.
3) If you tell the truth. 100% of the time, you never have to remember anything you have ever said.
Gary Mantz was twelve years old when he surreptitiously read Flying Saucers Serious Business by Frank Edwards in an art class where he discovered he was a truly terrible artist. As it turns out, his art is painting word pictures on The Gary Mantz Show Sundays 7-9pm on Alternative Talk 1150. He can be reached at www.garymantz.com. Suzanne Mitchell grew up in Chicago and graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. As producer and co-host of The Gary Mantz Show, Suzanne uses her proficiency in business matters to organize the elements of show production and sometimes jumps into the on-air conversations.
SZO: What’s your definition of “passion”? The thing you do when all your duties are handled and you are free to do as you please.
SZO: What have been the key factors in your success and what one word best describes it? Gary: curiosity Suzanne: persistence
SZO: What has been your biggest challenge(s) in leaping into your passions, and how you have addressed them?
Gary: overcoming the intransigence of those who considerate their professional duty to hold me back by dogged determination and a belief in a higher power Suzanne: wanting to do more things than time permits and having to let some things go
SZO: Who or what inspired you to leap into your passion?
Gary: Vin Scully & Art Bell, two giants of broadcasting Suzanne: Gary
SZO Do you have a quote that you would like to share that speaks of you and your passion?
Gary: do it or don’t do it; you’re going to die anyway, so how would you like to spend the rest of yours days? You’ve got to choose. Suzanne: allow the unexpected.
SZO What do you hope people would say about you when you’re gone?
Gary: He did what he most loved to do and he did it pretty well. Suzanne: I miss her.
SZO: What three brief tips can you give to somebody making the leap into their passion?
A: ignore the people that tell you you can’t do it because of your age, race, religion, or any social category that excludes you. B: nurture your passion privately until you’re ready to go public C: let your passion be tempered with gradualness. Be enthusiastic and methodical at the same time.
Thanks Gary and Suzanne and Happy Passioneering!
Lissa Rankin is an OB/GYN physician, an author, a nationally-represented professional artist, as well as the founder of Owning Pink, a website and series of workshops committed to building authentic community and empowering others to get their mojo back. She is currently redefining health at the Owning Pink Center, her practice in Mill Valley, California. She is the author What’s Up Down There: Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend (St. Martin’s Press). She currently lives in Northern California with her husband and fellow artist, Matt Klein, and their daughter, Siena.
Lissa’s Passioneer Questionnaire:
SZO: What’s your definition of “passion”?
The word we use for that in the Owning Pink community is “mojo” or MOre JOy. It’s that joie de vivre, the feeling of complete aliveness coursing through your veins, rocking out in all areas of your life – physical health, relationships, spirituality, creativity, sexuality, etc. It’s all about owning who you are and being all you, all the time. That kind of vitality is infectious and inspiring.
SZO: What have been the key factors in your success and what one word best describes it?
That word would be Pleap (that’s a “Pink leap of faith” in our community). For the past four years, my life has been about taking one giant leap of faith after another. I’ve listened to signs from the Universe and done what has been in my heart, even if it made no sense at the time. The series of Pleaps began when I quit my job as a full time OB/GYN in a busy managed care practice where I was expected to see 40 patients a day. Subsequent Pleaps have included moving my family hundreds of miles (twice), starting OwningPink.com, opening my own wellness center, writing two books, and countless other things that seemed insane at the time, but ended up being exactly what I needed.
SZO: What has been your biggest challenge(s) in leaping into your passions, and how you have addressed them?
The signs from the Universe have not always pointed me in directions I necessarily wanted to go. The decisions I’ve needed to make have been far from convenient, and definitely not easy. For example, I was working in an integrative medical center last year, when I began receiving signs that it was time to leave and start my own wellness center (the Owning Pink Center). I reeeeally didn’t want to accept this, as it would take me way out of my comfort zone and pose challenges I didn’t know if I was ready to undertake. Whenever I’ve felt a calling like that, it’s always come with a whole host of objections from the part of me that just wants things to be easy and straightforward. But I’ve never once regretted answering the call.
SZO: Who or what inspired you to leap into your passion?
After what I call my “perfect storm,” where I gave birth to my daughter, my dog died, my brother ended up in liver failure (he’s okay now), and my beloved father died – all within two weeks – I decided that I couldn’t continue living life in a way that didn’t feel authentic. I decided then and there that it was time to be all me, all the time, and let the chips fall where they may. As I said, the first step was quitting my job, and a miraculous series of events unfolded (and keep unfolding) from there.
SZO: Do you have a quote that you would like to share that speaks of you and your passion?
“To be what you must, you must give up what you are.” That’s from a song by Yusaf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens). We can’t get too attached to things as they are. Life is ever-changing. As I learned from my perfect storm, your world can get turned upside down in the space of a few weeks. If we hold too tightly to what we think we’re supposed to be, life will do a number on us. I’ve found that letting go of fixed ideas about anything helps me to move forward with an open heart. I’ve surrendered to the Universe’s master plan, and know that that is full of surprises. I need to be open to whatever life is asking of me, which requires a lot of flexibility and willingness to change.
SZO: What do you hope people would say about you when you’re gone?
I don’t want them to remember me as any one thing – doctor, artist, writer, mom, daughter, wife – I want them to remember me as a whole, authentic, real, loving human being who inspired others to be whole, to embrace their vitality and to never fear taking leaps of faith. If even one person can say that I was the midwife helping her give birth to herself, I’ll have left the legacy I desire.
SZO: What three brief tips can you give to somebody making the leap into their passion?
Thanks Lissa and Happy Passioneering everyone!
Videos are red hot hot HOT! They allow your audience to connect on a more personal level with you than text and audio, and search engines love them. So creating and posting a few simple, short videos on your website can provide tremendous marketing traction in sharing your Passioneer® story. If you’ve been procrastinating about taking the plunge into videos, the tips below are for you!
Clarify Your Intention
What Makes a Great Video? K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Silly)
Creating a Great Video
Good Luck and Happy Passioneering!
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I am a poster child for perseverance from the day I was born. Perseverance itself was the beginning of my own dawn to pursue human potential, which led to discovering my passion in work.
Persevere, according to Webster means to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement.
I persevere now at a whole new level today, because I have passion for my life, my work, my self, my future, and the service I offer to planetary evolution. But I had a few hoops to jump through first to understand the value and source of passion and of human potential, and looking back I built a very big perseverance muscle which I learned comes easy when you have passion. Early on however, it was about survival.
How it all began you ask? Being raised in an alcoholic single parent home in a small town, living on welfare. My grandparents were millionaires, go figure.
Perseverance then was about showing up for a wounded mother. Most of my family says I raised her. She checked herself into a mental institution when I was three but they threw her out and said she wasn’t crazy enough.
It was about survival and doing what had to be done. I was opening cans of soup by climbing on a chair at the kitchen counter when I was 5. I was allowed to miss school because my mom always got me out of bed at 2 am to listen to her cry to Barry Manilow records about how she was never approved of by her own father, and then she’d fall asleep drunk with a cigarette in her hand. I would routinely transfer my pillow to her crooked neck, put out her cigarette, and crawl gratefully back into bed.
Perseverance then to me was about getting to school, my source of hope out of this cycle. Once I missed 21 days in a row because my mom liked the company. One day the principal came and we played possum and my mom squeezed lemon juice through the mailbox slot when he tried to peek in. Perseverance then was about having enough school supplies, so I stole them. Got escorted home by a nice policeman and had to go visit a probation officer who felt I had to have been wrongly accused, I was “too good”. So we had nice visits for the next 6 months while he scratched his head. Then I was taken away when I was 13 when mom was deemed “unfit.” But arguably in her defense, there was love. I just didn’t ever see her love herself.
Then came the day in psychology class at age 16 where we were introduced to Maslow’s Heirarchy of Self Actualization. I heard a voice and “it” took my pencil tip to the tippy top and said, “you are going HERE.” It was like an angel had given me a road map to life.
Fast forward 20 years of struggle, self loathing, self discovery, and finally consciously coming into my life’s work. It is no wonder I am passionate about sparing the children by helping parents see infertility as an opportunity to awaken to their potential to heal, and to consciously conceive, which leads to conscious parenting and broken destructive family patterns.
Today, I cannot NOT include my story in my current passion for my work. My life and work is ALL about stepping into our highest human potential to become worthy of the children coming into the world. And I wouldn’t change a thing, except maybe my definition of perseverance today: passion in action.
I couldn’t have had a better road map.
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Elisabeth Manning is a Certified Spirit Coach and is a teacher in training at the Foundation for Spiritual Development in San Rafael California. Unlike traditional coaching Elisabeth works at the spirit and energetic levels to get to the root of the issues blocking her clients from achieving their soul purpose and unlimited nature. At this level sustainable healing and growth is achieve whereby the clients become their own guru and healer. She has a practice called Conscious Conception empowering women and couples to co-create fertility in all areas of their lives to regain health and wealth of spirit mind and body, and to prepare to live a mindful parenting path. You can reach her at www.consciousconception.net, and please click here for her radio show interview.[/private][/private]
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