Feel like a 5 step Passion Diagram?

I was reading a magazine a few months ago and read how a man had used a Venn diagram to help clarify his passions and to find new ways to combine and reconfigure them. 

Wow, I thought.

It was an inspiration to me, perhaps because I used to be a maths teacher and find mathematics beautiful and perhaps because it was so simple and clear and didn't involve pages of journalling.

Either way, when I committed myself to the process it was an inspiring hour that turned up in my life unexpectedly and led me to commit to some dreams (hiking in NZ with some like-minded Mamas, creative garden design).

Here's a photo of my original diagram from that day:

Essentially, this is a three-set Venn diagram that looks at the intersection of your skills, beliefs and interests. From these my passions naturally arose, particularly where the circles intersect with one another.

Id love to share this heart-expanding process with you Mama Mias, so....

Here are some loving little instructions so you can make your own passion diagram:

1. On a large, lovely piece of paper draw three intersecting circles (see my photo above if you're not sure how to lay them out). Be sure to overlap the circles well so there's room to write ideas in the intersections.

2. Label each circle; 'Interests', 'Skills' and 'Beliefs'.

3. Brainstorm ideas for each category. Take some quiet time it do this, or even better, take several days and add to it over time. Just a hint here Mamas - I found the beliefs circle required the most thought, but was also the catalyst for some unusual and original ideas to arise.

4. Now take some time to look at the intersections of each two circles and then the central intersection. What do you get when you put these things together? What new combinations come up? How can you look differently at your life and think outside the circle?

5. And now, action-time! Take whatever actions you can, with whatever you have to start making the most exciting ideas come true.

Passionate and purposeful wishes to you,

Carolyn xx

MBM review: A Month of Thankyou's

Gratitude....

Ever wondered how gratitude works in your life? How it helps you to manifest those awesome dreams? How it fits in with your passions?

Well. Here's the deal.

Gratitude is the glue that holds all those affirmations, manifestations, dreams, desires, passions and purpose together. It's the part where you say thank-you for what you have and thank-you for what you don't yet have. It's the part where you assume that your going to get what you want, and more, and you give thanks for it.

To say that it's an important part of a healthy, happy, purposeful Mama's life is really an understatement.

Having said all that I'm sometimes not that good at being grateful, especially in the heat of things with my girls. And so I have a few little rituals that help my family and I to focus on what's good.

My favourite little gratitude treat at the moment is a pack of 30 of Lori Portka's beautiful 'A month of thankyous' gratitude cards. I've given most of these away now with little love notes on the back - to friends, family and others I'm grateful for and they have been a great little pick-me-up when I've been feeling out of sorts and struggling to feel like my life if a blessing. As a mama you would know that this can strike quite suddenly or take up an entire day when things don't go to plan....and a little pocket of gratitude in there can go a long way.

Other family rituals for gratitude include a silent minute together with my girls in the mornings when we first get up, a 'blessing' of our food at dinner time and our 'favourite thing of the day' that we all say during dinner each night. These don't always happen - sometimes we forget and sometimes we're distracted, but my intention is to be grateful as a family and as a mama, and it's with this persistence and intention that my grateful life takes form.

In the spirit of gratitude today I'd like to offer you some special post-Easter Passion Test coaching.

Check out my coaching page for more information about the Passion Test and my longer-term Mama on Purpose coaching programs, however for next week I'm offering

Passion Test coaching sessions for 5 Mamas via phone from Margaret River, WA. - one each afternoon/evening AEST - for $99 for a one hour session and follow up email support in the coming weeks. 

Those dates, just to be clear, are Monday 21/4 through until Friday 25/4 2014.

As you know we're slow travelling around Australia at the moment so coaching opportunities are limited, but I want to help you discover your passions mamas, to help you be clear on what they really are, and to guide you to your purpose, so I'm making time happen while we're travelling.

Contact me at mountbeautymama@gmail.com to secure your place,

Carolyn xx

MBM review: Seven Principles to Living a Passionate Life

For the next few weeks, as our family journeys around Australia, we'll be reviewing some inspiration for following your passions and finding your purpose here at Mount Beauty Mama. First up are these 7 principles by Chris and Janet Attwood, authors of The Passion Test book and programs.

Honest disclaimer: This isn't a random list that I've pulled off the internet. I've trained with Chris and Janet as a Passion Test facilitator in London. Interest in this list, and in following your passions and finding your purpose directly benefits when when you sign up for my coaching. I've shared these principles from the resources I have access to as a facilitator.
Just wanted to be fully transparent with you Mama. Oh, and I recommend these because Chris and Janet are authentic people - I trust their wisdom.

Here are the 7 principles (words in italics are my own - to get ya thinkin'):

1. Commitment - choose in favour of your passions every day, and soon you'll discover you are living a passionate life.

Choose passionate thoughts, passionate actions, a passionate reality.

2. Clarity - when you are clear what you want will show up in your life, and only to the extent the that you are clear.

Be crystal clear. Look within. Dream big.

3. Attention - what you put your attention on grows stronger in your life.

What are you focussing on? Look to the positive. Be grateful.

4. Stay open - stay open to your dreams showing up differently than you plan, there is nothing that can stop you.

Embrace vulnerability. Shift your perspective. Release old identities.

5. Integrity - be as true to yourself as you are to others, and as true to others as you are to yourself.

Kind thoughts. Kind words. Kind actions.

6. Persistence - Fulfillment belongs to those who stay the course.

Stick with it. Lean in. Act like you got it Mama.

7. Follow Your Heart - when in doubt, follow your heart. Passion arises from the heart. The mind will only complicate matters.

Pour your heart out. Listen to your soul. Follow your calling.

Important ideas these. I mean, if we're not here to follow our passions, to find and live out our purpose in life then what are we here for? I say, Mama, that a life without passion and purpose is not a life - it's survival.

And we're way more important and special than that.

Xx