Whether you are stuck in an outdated job, a dissatisfying relationship, or an unsuitable living environment, sometimes all the justifiable reasons in the world don’t alleviate the feeling of being trapped. To prevent yourself from sliding into a depression, you keep withdrawing your presence from your current reality and projecting yourself into some idealistic future, pinning all your hopes on th...

Is that even real? It’s a knee-jerk response most of us now have to any sort of remarkable media, be it aired on conventional channels or posted via social platforms. The prevalence of AI is making us lose our already tenuous grip on reality. However, I am going to argue this is a good thing. When we blur the lines of what’s “real”, it moves us beyond our fixed limitations and opens us to new pote...

This week I celebrate the anniversary of The New School for Inspired Work. I birthed this particular expression of my work just over 16 years ago. Back then, the idea of a “new paradigm” of work was so unheard of that when I spoke of it outside my inner circle, I mostly received looks of pity from others. They worried for my sanity. Inwardly, I worried for theirs. I could see what was coming. I’ve...

There is a poignant moment we all reach in our inspired work journey when we realize that our work is not about us. It is for us and of us, but it’s not actually about us. It is about those we are meant to serve.

Within each of us, there is so much fear bound up in our work. We fear failure. We fear success. We fear being unsupported. We fear being judged. We fear that we are incapable. We fear t...

Right off the top, I want to be clear. In general, I do not use the word “work” derogatorily. My view is that there is no distinction between the concepts of “work” and “inspired work”. When what we do in the world is aligned with who we are within, then I perceive them to be the same. However, for the sake of making my point in this post, I will use the individual word “work” here in the disparag...

One of the most common doubts I encounter in those I work with is “What if what I have to offer the world is not enough?”

Because folks seek me out in order to discover what work they want to create in the world, their deepest fear is that they will actually discover they have nothing of value to offer. Hidden within the dark recesses of their mind is shame around their own unworthiness, which pa...

If you’ve been with me for awhile, you already know I have a slightly different perspective of work than is conventional. Most people see work as an application of effort. While it is true that work does involve action, it does not require effort. In fact, if you find yourself efforting, it is an indicator you are not doing your “real” work.

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Earlier this summer, I stepped away from my office...

She raised her hands to cover her flaming pink cheeks. “Oh my god,” she said, “I’m a dream killer.” As a class, we had been discussing the value of dreaming and how most people snuff out the true power of their dreams because they equate them with goals. But dreams are not goals, they are the origin of all new creation. In the course of our conversation, the student recognized she had been consist...

Because I have lived in a northern temperate rainforest my entire adult life, I am used to the air being heavy with damp and cold, especially in the winter months. These days, however, I am noticing something different clouding the atmosphere – a sense of despair. Throughout much of the public discourse there seeps a subtle, yet pervasive, anxiety about our future. There are even whispers of the “...

I suppose it’s somewhat apropos that as I attempt to write an article about burnout, I find myself propping my head up with my hands, barely able to stifle a yawn. My energy is spent. I am still recovering from being exposed to a diabolical strain of the flu. It was the first time I’ve been sick in almost four years so it seemed to ravage my immune system with extra oomph.

Of course, as the gods ...

A few years ago, I attended my university 25th-year reunion from when I attained my degree in chemical engineering. Before the event, I was hesitant to go. During my time in the program, I always felt like a bit of an outsider, and that’s saying something given it’s a group of people who often already felt on the edges of society. Having said that, I enjoyed my stint at university and did make som...

Because of the pandemic, I ended up having to close our fledgling adventure business. My partner and I had dedicated three years to building the business and we were just on the verge of having our breakthrough season when it all came screeching to a halt. For a moment, I felt panicky and got caught up in fear and limitation. However, after being an entrepreneur for over 20 years, I am used to flo...