This is part four in my series on how to develop and nurture your voice.
This is our final discussion question week. Next week, we’re going to wrap everything up and share with you how to make this all your own. As well as unveiling the awesome announcement I’m working on.
Watch this space.
As we mentioned in last weeks article, our discussion question this week is:
What sets your soul on fire?
Not gonna lie, this one took a while to crack. I knew I wanted to write about passion and of the importance of taking action being all in with your goals, and then taking action from being all in with your goals.
I was stumped until I got this text message late last Thursday…
“Are you in the city tomorrow by any chance?”
That message came from my friend and fellow wordsmith Agnes. And honestly, it totally caught me off guard.
I knew something more was available. My own soul was screaming to me! But I didn’t know what I was listening for.
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Agnes came into my life this past spring. We took a seminar together at Landmark Worldwide – the personal development and transformation company. They’re famous for the Landmark Forum (of which I have taken and written about.)
It’s been a while since I have made this kind of connection so quickly with someone. But my friendship and connection with Agnes were instantaneous.
Shortly after our relationship began, she got accepted into a three-week, residential writing retreat in Alaska. Surrounded by nothing but wilderness, apparently an outhouse with an actual working toilet, and the uber rare bear sighting.
It’s like Gilligan’s Island, but with bears…and in Alaska. Y’know…like Robinson Caruso, it’s as primitive as can be. Though I understand that there are lights…and bear spray. (I’m not lettin’ that bear thing go!)
No phones, though. Nor motor cars to my understanding.
Back to the message. Agnes’ invitation was to a picnic that she and some friends had for her in Central Park. Truthfully, I had no intention of going into the City that Friday night, but I made the effort.
Seeing someone I care about who has that all-in passion for herself and her dreams is inspiring as hell to me.
Now, I use Agnes’ story and what she’s taking on to move her dream forward to illustrate my discussion question for this week.
What sets your soul on fire?
The thing I’m present to in Agnes’ story, and the thing I want to ask you this week, is this.
Do you set your own soul on fire?
It’s been clear since the moment that we met that she’s all in on her literary dreams and aspirations. Because – not unlike me – words and language ignite her soul.
As a coach I tend to gravitate toward a certain kind of people. They’re willing to take on the deep inner work that they need to take on so that they can make their big dreams their big reality. Their soul calls to them, but they may not know what they’re listening for.
King Ryan speaks from deep experience here.
This is how I ended up hiring my very first coach back in 2014. I knew something more was available. My own soul was screaming to me! But I didn’t know what I was listening for.
I took a big action when I hired this woman I only knew from the internet – and only her public persona at that. But that big action paid off as five months later, I finished the first draft of Written in the Stone – my first novel.
Side note: this week I celebrate the third publication anniversary of my baby. A celebration I wouldn’t have been able to have if I didn’t send the email I did early in February 2014.
Same thing with Agnes. She’s uprooting her life in New York for a month to go all in on her writing dreams.
Will it get her the results she wants? I don’t know. But I do know she’s got the passion and the talent to make it happen – however it looks.
By the way, you WILL see her on shelves one day. She’s good, y’all.
Big action yields big results. That’s a stone fact. I’m seeing it every day.
Let’s look at my own life lately. I’m taking big action everywhere, and I’m starting to see results.
- I participated in the Writer’s Hotel conference back in June. And I have complete confidence that I can make my own literary dreams become reality. This is all from the relationships I developed that week. That was a big risk.
- I’m taking on a six-week body transformation challenge. I put some money on the line and if I can lose 25 pounds and/or 6% body fat, then I get the money back. And by my scale, I’m already 20 pounds down in a little over 2 weeks. In other words, I’m crushing it! That was a big risk, and it’s paying off.
- As long-time readers of this space may know, I’ve gotten back in the dating game lately. The mere fact that I write that sentence with no hesitation is a big risk in and of itself. And I’m seeing results there.
My point is this, do you have the passion in your own soul to take the big risks to make big realities happen? Only you can answer this question.
Do you have the passion in your own soul to take the big risks to make big realities happen? Only you can answer this question.
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I invite you to take a look at your own life. Where do you feel resistance? Where do you hesitate to pull the trigger on those big choices? Where are you holding back taking those big actions?
Y’all, I still have big choices in my life that I’m scared to make. What if I’m wrong? What if I fall? What if I fail? Who will catch me when I do fall.
I mean, there’s a big one staring me in the face in my dating game. I know the choice I need to make. I’m just terrified to make it.
We all have stuff in the way. Y’all, I’ve been working on this stuff for years and I still see this in my own life. But will this
What’s in the way? What’s in the way of pulling the trigger on these big choices? Do you have enough passion in yourself and what you want to just say “fuck it! I’m gonna live with bears for a month and write.”
I’d love to support you in blasting down those barriers so that you can take the big actions in your own life. Email me at [email protected] so that we can schedule a sample coaching session.
- What is your truth?
- Who or what inspires you?
- Who or what do you love?
- What sets your soul on fire?
Those four questions are how you can nurture and develop your own special Voice. And next week’s column is going to pull all of these together into a beautiful little package.
To reflect on the first piece in this series, when you see the offering I’ve got for you, you’ll be able to – as Leo McGarry on The West Wing once said:
“You’re gonna open your mouth and lift houses off the ground. Whole houses clear off the ground.”
Kings – now’s the time to speak up. You’ve got a voice, now use it!
Photo by Gabriel Barletta on Unsplash