by Baeth Davis, Your Prosperity Purpose Mentor

My divorce finalized in late August. Divorce is brutal. My divorce, while relatively amicable, broke my heart, ripped up my ego’s notions of security and ‘forever,’ and set me on a path to deep self-forgiveness and compassion.

People ask me what happened. I have many responses but no answers. I have processed many emotions and thoughts in the 18 months since we parted. I feel freedom, elation, relief, grief, remorse, shame, guilt, fear, and shock in tiny fleeting waves that hit me like a poorly placed acupuncture needle.

I can only imagine what my former husband is feeling. We speak from time to time but the ache of our broken dream can be felt in every word. We still love one another and always will. It wasn’t for lack of love or appreciation or support that we parted. The time had simply come that our own life purposes demanded more of us apart than together. Without sufficient connection, our bond began to disintegrate and shift into another form. My terror of living my life without someone to share it with crept back in.

Some people fear ending up as a bag lady and others fear being unloved. Some fear both. Some fear heights, spiders, confrontation, loss, success, failure, responsibility, parenthood… the list never ends. Anything that exists is likely a source of fear for someone on this planet.

I’m in the School of Love. In your hands, there are four possible schools: Peace, Wisdom, Love and Service. You can think of your Life School as the base camp you train at before actually climbing the Mt. Everest that is your life. You are put through trial and error exercises to build up your stamina and street-smarts.

In the School of Love, the Core Fear is the “loss of love.” I don’t have bag lady fears nor am I particularly flummoxed by spiders, rats or snakes. I can literally handle them all – and have! My fear is that I would go my whole life and never find anyone to love me as much as I am able to love. I sometimes feel that my capacity to love is so overpowering that I weep, wrapped in a blanket of Earth’s pain, seeing the suffering children, men, women, animals and plants, the abused, the neglected, the victims of war and rape… thinking it is all so pointless and avoidable when love is the only reason. And then I wonder, do I really know how to love at all? It’s a torturous inner see-saw.

Lest you think I’m a morose person, I am quite certain I was a joyful sexual priestess for many lifetimes. I was not married, I owned my own property and no one owned me. Like my life now. I dance nearly three times a week at ecstatic dance class, hike the gorgeous hills behind my home, walk the beach, sing loud in the car and share gut shaking laughter with my team and friends. My work is my mission. My life surprises me in its color and dimensions. I feel extraordinarily blessed…

… and yet… the TERROR looms. I know that everything I want is on the other side of the terror barrier. Perhaps my story that no one can match my love is just a cleverly disguised bit of pride designed to keep me from getting too close, too deep, too hurt. I get it. I’m paying attention to these inner games!

My intention is to find a partner who can love me as deep as I know I can love – and for me to let the love in as deep as my heart can tolerate… I open to the Universe. I surrender and receive.

I was speaking with my master mind co-leader, Pamelah Landers, today. She shared her money fears and I shared my love fears. We laughed, realizing that our own desire to keep moving forward, while feeling the terror, was our goal. This determination to move through terror also was a major instigator in our desire to work together.

We created our year long training program, the “Sex, Love and Money Master Mind,” to create a place to help our clients face their own terror barriers and move through them to the other side.

Everything – EVERYTHING – you truly want, desire and crave is on the other side of that blasted, dirty rat terror barrier. No point in going for your purpose if you are not committed and persistent. Terror separates the courageous from the fearful every time. Heart warriors are not stopped by terror – terror is their ally. Terror means success is very very close – as close as the beating of your desirous, passionate heart. Terror means you want it. How much do YOU want it???

Mentor’s Challenge: Divide a piece of paper into two columns. In the left column, list your 10 WORST terrors. In the right column, list your 10 GREATEST desires. Now, pick 3 desires and go for it. The challenge? When the TERROR comes (and it ALWAYS comes), keep going. Terror doesn’t mean stop. Terror means your soul’s life blood depends upon you getting to the other side.

Featuring 3 Intuition Gift Markings

By Baeth Davis, Your Prosperity Purpose Mentor

The “Magician,” Card I in the Rider-Waite tarot deck

The Magician card represents you as a fully realized being in her authentic essence and expression. You are dressed up for the occasion that is your life – dressed like the goddess you are. Your right hand reaches up to the heavens for inspiration while your left hand points down to the earth so you stay grounded and can manifest your ideas into reality. On your table, you have your ‘magic’ elements: pentacles (earth), cups (water), wands (fire) and swords (air). Infinity (the number eight turned on its side) hovers just above your head and you are surrounded by lush blooming vegetation. You can create what you desire, provided you work in harmony with yourself, your environment and the elements.

One of your greatest “sword” powers is your intuition. When you trust your intuition, you are guided by inner wisdom. This is the part of you that knows what is right for you, despite what outer appearances reveal or what others say. It is part of the ‘magic’ available to you in your everyday life. Using your sword of intuition, you cut through the clutter to find your truth.

In the hands, there are seven primary intuition gift markings. We’ll briefly look at three of them. Here are some ground rules for gift markings*:

1. A gift marking indicates you have a special talent.
2. If you have a special talent, you need to use it.
3. If you don’t use your gift, you experience the penalty of the gift.
4. Gift markings appear on both right and left hands.
5. Approximately 10% of the general population has gift markings.
6. Approximately 5% of the general population has two or more gift markings.
7. If you have multiple markings of one type of gift, that puts you in 1% of the population!
8. In the “Your Purpose” community, about 97% of our clients have gift markings! (Could it be that the most gifted amongst us are also the most spiritually curious about our lives? Or are we suffering more than most from all the penalties of our unused gifts? Maybe a little bit of both?)
9. Gift markings can appear – bringing with them the penalties. Gift markings can also disappear when you’ve integrated the gift so fully that you no longer need the penalty to remind you to use it! I’ve read the hands of people who I intuitively knew had many gifts and spelled those gifts out to them, though they didn’t have the marking.
10. If the below descriptions resonate for you, chances are likely you experience the gift being described, whether you have the marking or not! Please don’t envy people with lots of gift markings – they also have lots of penalties. MOST people I read for – thousands and thousands to date – are typically in penalty with their gifts, and not aligned with their purpose.
11. Your Purpose is the direction of your life – the gifts are HOW you get there. I invite you to think of them as your day-to-day action check list. Your gifts are ESSENTIAL for the full realization of your Life Purpose. I cannot overstate this. It is almost impossible to realize the full potential of your purpose if you avoid using your gifts. Of course, it becomes very possible to realize your purpose when you do use your gifts – the gifts are meant to help you, not hold you back!

Intuition Gift: Medical Stigmata = The Gifted Healer

Indicated by a series of four or more vertical lines in the palm just about an 1/8^th of an inch or more beneath the little finger, this gift indicates you are a growth catalyst for the people in your life. You create a safe space – through conversation, coaching, touch therapy and other modalities – for your client to find their center and their truth.

How Intuition Factors In: As a healer, you likely download good ‘prescriptions’ for your clients – whether it’s a better question, a bit of wisdom, some good advice or a coach’s challenge. Perhaps you actually prescribe a remedy based upon your healing training.

What is essential here is that you allow the energy of your client to inform your inner knowing – and trust it. You can test out your intuition by saying to your client, “This is what I’m hearing/feeling/seeing. Does this resonate for you?” The more you do this, the more you’ll be able to gauge what is accurate intuitive guidance and what is just mind chatter.

Penalty: As a healer, if you are not doing your own inner healing work, your inner guidance begins to shut down. Where you’ll feel the communication challenges most painfully are in your romantic life because intimate partnership can only thrive in an atmosphere of open and honest communication. If you are denying or hiding from your own truth, how can you make space to hear your partner’s truth or trust they are interested in hearing yours?

At GIFTED, you’ll discover what ALL the vertical lines of the healer gift marking represent and how to monetize this gift so you are healing and helping yourself as you help your IDEAL clients thrive and flourish!

Intuition Gift: The Line of Clairvoyance = The Spiritual Teacher

This is one of those rare and lovely gifts that we see from time to time here at Your Purpose Headquarters. On the fleshy mound of the palm beneath the little finger, known as the ‘Mount of the Moon’ extending down to your wrist, there sometimes appears a crescent, ‘half-moon’ line that encircles this mound, known as a ‘Line of Clairvoyance.’

How Intuition Factors In: If you own the unusual Line of Clairvoyance, it works as a bridge between the intuitive center of your brain and the rest of your faculties. You are pulling not only from all your senses: touch, taste, scent, hearing, vision and gut knowing, but integrating all this information at a rapid pace with your life experiences, emotions, thoughts, book knowledge and environment. You can quickly assess hidden agendas, hidden players, secrets and strategies. You know who’s who and what’s what. The thing is – do you use this incredible intuitive 007 power for yourself?!

Penalty: If you have this kind of ability to nimbly navigate life but refuse to listen and act upon the guidance you receive, your life will begin to stagnate. Owners of the Line of Clairvoyance are here to learn about life by adapting rapidly to new information and expanding into the changes required of them. You are then required to share what you discover with others as a “spiritual teacher.” In this context, “spiritual” means developing your self-awareness. By teaching others from your own discoveries, you grow faster and your clients flourish, because you save them time, energy, and money.

You can probably see that if you resist the call to change in your own life, you’ll have little to offer others. In extreme cases, this can lead to a spiritual crisis where you question your existence, the meaning of your life and whether or not it’s worth it to continue.

Intuition Gift: The Star of Neptune = The Hospice Worker

A six-pointed star marking that appears in the center of the palm just at your wrist, this gift indicates you have a tremendous capacity to help people who are the midst of big emotional transitions: illness, impending death, divorce, marriage, birth, moving to a new place. Your empathy is profound, hence the title ‘hospice worker.’

A dear friend, let’s call her Amelia, works with clients who have terminal cancer. She also is the proud owner of a Star of Neptune. I said, “Does it get depressing?” She said, “Rarely, only if I don’t make enough space to take care of myself and my own emotional process. Otherwise, I find it beautiful and fascinating to be with people who are so very alive, alive as perhaps they have never been before, with death approaching.”

How Intuition Factors In: If you own the Star of Neptune, life will offer you situations requiring a non-judgmental, calming presence (you!), able to simply hold the space for all the swirling emotions without commentary or fanfare. This is an instance where silence is golden. These opportunities require you to sort out your feelings from those of the people around you, otherwise the penalty can kick in.

Penalty: The challenge with the Star of Neptune is to not drown in the emotions of others, becoming so paralyzed with sadness and grief that you can’t move forward. Being curious about the emotional transitions you are witnessing rather than feeling you must take responsibility for others’ feelings can go a long way toward freeing you to be in your gift, rather than consumed by it.

At our upcoming event, “Gifted,” we are going to explore your GIFTS and monetize them. How would an Intuitive Goddess treat her gifts? Would an Intuitive Goddess celebrate and share her gifts? Are you a GIFTED GODDESS (or GOD!)? If YES, please JOIN US!

Prosperity Purpose Mentor’s Challenge: Join us at “Gifted” and release those penalties! See the NEW GIFTED MOVIE HERE!

*Gift marking statistics courtesy of Master Hand Analysts Richard Unger and Pamelah Landers

by Baeth Davis, Your Prosperity Purpose Mentor

In the palms of your hands, the fleshy mount at the base of your thumb is the Mount of Venus. Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, was known as Aphroditein the Greek pantheon. Aphrodite means “foam born” as she emerged from the foam of the sea, the child of her father, Uranus’s, castrated genitals. She is the archetype of passionate expression, sexuality, femininity, beauty and ecstasy.

In reading thousands of hands, I have found that both men and women are often Venus deprived. Here are some common symptoms of ‘Venus deprivation:’

	The inability to remember what ‘play’ means
	The inability to remember the last time you played
	Engaging in excessive task-oriented work with few breaks or sufficient rest
	Last vacation occurred when the Bay City Rollers were working their way up the pop charts
	Persistent crankiness, irritation, or numbness
	When you laugh out loud, the sound startles you
	Regularly dressing in dark colors
	Issues of adornment, which could include: lack of an attractive haircut, flattering make up, manicured nails, or jewelry that you love; living in sweat pants and baggy tee shirts; persistent desire to wear ugly, ‘comfortable’ shoes; wearing a fanny pack (only suitable for hiking!) or any pair of ‘mom jeans’ with an elasticized waist
	You’re upset I slammed on ‘comfortable’ shoes

I want to help you get your Venus back and that means allowing the concept of ecstasy into your life. Ecstasy is fleeting and precious. It happens in moments of abandon and thus, it requires us to be fully present to EACH moment, for each moment holds the seed of ecstasy within it.

Perhaps these tips will help you revive your ecstasy. They are the same tips I used to recover my Aphrodite when she’d disappeared from my life

Ecstasy Tip #1: Embrace FUN

Fun is not a four-letter word. Fun is Feeling Unleashed Now. If you’ve forgotten what fun is, here are some simple, low-cost ways to get your groove back:

	Take your morning brew out on the porch or patio and write about anything for 20 minutes in your journal
	Go for a walk and see how many animals you can spot
	Lay on your bed and listen to a record album while reading the liner notes and lyrics
	Bake cupcakes with purple frosting
	Take your kids, nieces, nephews, or cousins to the park for a picnic – on a weekday!
	Hold a concert at your house for a local musical act and invite all your neighbors
	Organize the neighborhood block party
	Decide on Friday afternoon that you’re going to have a potluck dinner Friday night and invite all the neighbors you actually like
	Clean out your car and worst-offender closet while listening to your favorite music on your i-Pod, give all the good stuff to Goodwill (recycle or toss the rest!) and go buy yourself something you’ve been wanting for a while
	Go dancing, take a pottery class, or call an old friend and talk for hours
	Take up surfing, belly dancing, pole dancing, Tai Chi or anything else physical that just looks fun, silly, ridiculous, sexy or exciting
	Lose weight by committing to moving your body every day but only in ways that are fun for you: sex, dancing, biking, walking, etc.

Ecstasy Tip #2: Replace A Life of Working With A Life That Works!

Seriously, are you going to look back on your life and wish you’d worked more?No, you will look back and wish you’d been more daring… if only you knew then that death was imminent and your fears so unimportant.

When working, focus on the tasks that move you forward the quickest.These tasks usually involve focused planning, marketing, sales, product creation and delivery. The rest of the work is usually unimportant or can be delegated.

I recommend scheduling your vacations every year BEFORE scheduling anything else. I typically schedule August and December as ‘off’ from client calls so I can focus on developing new products, services or programs as well as claim some alone time to contemplate and reflect.

Ecstasy Tip #3: Regularly Bond With Members of The Same Sex

I am convinced that men need men’s groups and women need ‘girl time’ no less than twice per month (more is better). Why? Spending joyful, heart-opening time with members of the same sex helps us feel less alone in our struggles and more connected to our inner experience. It also rebalances the male/female polarity so that when we are with members of the opposite sex, we can contribute to one another’s experience in a balanced and cooperative way, instead of either becoming too forceful or too passive. This is especially important in intimate work and love relationships.

Ecstasy Tip #4: Get In Touch With Your Body

Fully clothed tantric classes are extremely powerful for aligning your breath, spine and energy levels. You can take these classes alone or with a partner. There are deeper level classes that further explore your sexuality, but I recommend starting simple and learning to breathe properly. Most folks in the Western world are shallow breathers, one of the major contributors to poor health. These classes are most definitely fun and you will be amazed at how all your senses begin to awaken to the delights that surround you every day.

I highly recommend the work of Charu Morgan. Her next “Evening of Awakening” is Saturday, August 13th in Los Angeles, California. You can find out more about this unique experience HERE.

Ecstasy Tip #5: Remember YOU Are The Goddess (or God)!

How would your Goddess dress for work, dinner, bed time? What would your Goddess eat and drink? Where would your Goddess go on vacation, take time alone to meditate, or go for a walk? What kind of hobbies would your Goddess engage in? How much love, money, energy and affection would you invest in your Goddess?

At our upcoming event, “Gifted,” we are going to explore your GIFTS and monetize them. How would a Goddess treat her gifts? Would a Goddess celebrate and share her gifts? Are you a GIFTED GODDESS? If YES, please JOIN US!

Prosperity Purpose Mentor’s Challenge: Print out the above 5 tips and make a light-hearted, fun commitment to follow through on each of them in the next 5 months. Let me know what happens for you at support@yourpurpose.com!

By Baeth Davis, Your Purpose Mentor

Ever have one of those epiphanies that captures your heart and mind for a very long moment?

Recently, at a networking mixer, I was sharing with a friend about my dismay with people seeking short cuts. I couldn’t understand what they thought could possibly come of that. As we dug deeper, we realized that the core issue had to do with low self-esteem. And this low self-esteem manifests as some gnarly issues. These particular issues not only mess up your financial life, but your capacity to fully live your Life Purpose.

Let’s look at these 3 wealth saboteurs and how you might ‘map’ your way of them toward financial health.

Money Saboteur #1: Addiction

By definition, if you’re addicted, you’re seeking a quick fix. You may have a low tolerance for emotional pain, confusion or ambiguity. You seek the easy way out through alcohol, sugar, television, sex, drugs, work… pick your poison.

I disagree that addiction is an ‘illness.’ It may lead to an illness, but having had extensive personal experience with addiction in my family history, I can tell you it’s a person’s choice to simply not deal with life.

The compassionate piece in this is that an addict doesn’t believe in themselves or their worth, so they feel helpless to improve their conditions. This leads to a desire for escape, in some cases total annihilation.

De facto, if you are addicted, your Life Purpose is out of reach.

Money Saboteur #2: Blame

Instant evidence of low self-worth: “Well, it’s easy for you – you came from a rich family.” “Oh, it’s easy for you – you went to an Ivy League college.” “Oh, it’s easy for you because you are smarter, richer, faster, luckier.” “Oh, he was lucky.”

The minute you hear these sad sack stories combined with the mention of ‘luck,’ you know your listening to a victim seeking someone to blame for their struggles. Why?

If you have low self-esteem, you don’t feel you can overcome your struggles. And there must be some reason, right? The world is against you and it’s not your fault. How tiring for the victim in the blame cycle.

I suggest you drop ALL blame and criticism forever and watch your life turn around. I have never, ever met a wealthy ‘victim’ who actually made their money through their own efforts. Sure, I’ve met wealthy victims who inherited money, but never the person who created it through their own efforts.

And blame insults the person who is successful, whether they’ve had lots of support or struggled mightily for it. We never ever know another person’s path. We can only take responsibility for our own.

Money Saboteur #3: Dismissive of Things You Don’t Understand

I offered an interesting business idea to the host of the networking mixer. She instantly caught what I was suggesting and said, “Wow, that’s a good idea. We have to talk. I’ll set up a hand reading with you after my vacation.”

Later, my self-worth researcher and myself noted how pleasant that interaction was. She then said, “If you offer that to a person with low self-esteem, they may say something like… ‘how do you know that?’ ‘prove it to me?’ ‘what if it doesn’t work?’ ‘there’s no value in that because I don’t understand what you are saying.’”

Low self-worth becomes more evident the more suspicious, untrusting, and devaluing the person is toward others and the ideas of others.

Now, on the bright side, I bet some of this resonates with you. I’ve suffered all three of these saboteurs either as the giver or receiver – which is basically the same thing.

How to get out of it?

I want to suggest that self-worth is created through effort expended toward an aim that makes you genuinely happy and satisfied.

At our upcoming event, “Gifted,” we are going to create “money maps” to help you use your GIFTS and monetize them. What’s wonderful about this is that even when the saboteur hits – sending you for the chocolate, the blame, the devaluation… you stop before it sets in and say, “Now, wait a minute… wasn’t I working toward the manifestation of my gifts?”

Mentor’s Challenge: What ARE your top 3 gifts as you understand them today?
(At Gifted, we’ll map them all out for you!) When was the last time you used these gifts?
What is your new goal for each of these gifts? Now set a deadline for those goals… and get busy! (And if you are truly suffering from a substance addiction, please please get professional help. Your health could be at risk and you need professional support to get well. There is no shame in asking for help – that takes courage, but don’t further lower your self-worth by avoiding your pain.)

By Baeth Davis, Your Purpose Mentor

Did you read about the illegal Hollywood gambling ring that just got busted?

You’d think the rich and famous would know better, but this issue isn’t about intelligence or common sense. It’s about our addiction to financial agony.

What’s your financial agony?

Bounced checks, unpaid bills, money due, money owed, money you resent, money you aspire to, money you feel others have that you don’t, too much money you think you don’t deserve, lotto winnings, lotto losses, business wins, business failures, marriage collapses, jobs lost, the IRS, deaths endured…

No matter what we do, money touches every part of our lives. You’ve heard that money is energy. Simply put, everything in the universe is energy moving at different frequencies.

But we often act as if money is an energy that we ‘get’ from outside of us, rather than something we are. Our relationship to money perfectly reflects our relationship to ourselves and to the world around us. As Esther Hicks says, “Every time, no exceptions.”

That’s infuriating, right? Especially on those days when you’re sure it’s not your fault, when you’re sure it’s ‘their’ fault, when you are sure you did everything right.

I can relate. I’ve lost big sums of money when I was sure it was the best choice, the most generous choice, the logical choice. I’ve also made money with ease and joy. And I think I’ve actually figured out what creates the difference between financial agony and financial ease. I’ll do my best to share this epiphany with you in 3 simple steps.

Step #1 Get Real With Your Self

This isn’t about what the legal system says is fair, or what you feel emotionally, or even what’s the win/win. This is about what’s in the best interest of your HIGHEST self. Your highest self isn’t interested in winning, being right, playing a victim, or being angry. Your highest self wants you to walk the path that leads you to your highest potential, the self-realization of your life purpose.

Sometimes your highest self may be required to do the following:

1. Walk away from the loss. It’s not worth it. Just walk away and let it go. You have more important goals to work towards.
2. Defend what’s yours. You’ve been acting like a doormat and enough is enough.
3. Pay up and move on. Those lingering debts are designed to keep you stuck and frustrated.
4. Stop hanging out with other addicts – at the bar, the casino, the pity party.
5. Get a job – or three – so that you have the money you need. For most individuals in Western society, we have such a sense of entitlement that the energy used to fight ‘the system’ could be used in so many other positive ways.
6. Don’t declare bankruptcy. Confess your situation to a few people who are successful financially and see what your options are. (Most bankruptcies I see could be avoided if the person wasn’t crippled with shame and simply asked for guidance and help.)
7. Declare bankruptcy but make a deal with yourself to pay back every penny you owe. The legal system may say your debts are clear, but are they? Only you know. If you do this as a habit, you have an addiction. Then again, you may have been drained by the legal system or medical system to such a point that you truly have no other option. That’s what bankruptcy is designed for – unfair indebtedness… not consumer excess.

Your Purpose Mentor’s Challenge: What is the spiritual truth about your financial situation? By ‘spiritual truth,’ I mean the higher purpose of your current financial dilemma. You’ll know you’ve hit your truth when you feel a sense of calm and relief. A rightness will flow through your body. And you’ll also notice in many instances that if there is another party involved, they stop running interference with you.

Step #2 Create A Financial Plan

This does not need to be complicated! This is what I do:

1. Set my yearly income goal
2. Set my monthly income goal (yearly goal divided by 12)
3. Set my weekly income goal (monthly goal divided by 4)
4. Set my daily income goal (weekly goal divided by 5 work days)
5. Create a plan of what you will give in return for the money. This is your map of your products and services. You need to figure out what to charge and what to deliver so that you can do your work well, make a profit and not exhaust yourself in the process. NOTE for ease and joy: ONLY create products, programs and services that you will love delivering. If you need a job to supplement things, manifest a job that best supports your goals.

Your Purpose Mentor’s Challenge: Get out pencil and paper to track your results. Keep this tracking page by your desk and track your daily income to be sure you are hitting your marks.

Step # 3 Figure Out What You Owe and Make A Plan to Pay It Off

If you are honest about your financial reality and you’ve made a plan to create more income, you will have the resources to pay off your debts. I recommend making a list of everything you owe. Determine how much money you can put aside each month toward debt, then put the biggest chunk toward your highest interest credit card or other debt. Put the rest of your repayment funds toward the minimums on the other debts. The next highest interest rate debt moves to the top of the list as each debt is paid off.

The ultimate insight I’ve had about money is that it likes when you pay attention to it consciously but without emotion or drama. Simply look at what is, look at how you would like it to be, and begin working in that direction. Your ease will come from dropping the story and just getting busy!

Money issues trigger our survival fears but we can’t be creative and proactive when we are in fear. Get yourself conscious and organized about your money and you will find that peace of mind becomes yours more and more frequently.

If you have a financial story of agony to triumph and you’d be willing to share it with our readers, I will share these stories over the coming months. Drop us a line atsupport@YourPurpose.com to share your story. Thank you!

By Baeth Davis, Your Purpose Mentor

Zainab Salbi, founder and CEO of www.womenforwomen.org, was our recent guest speaker at the NYC meeting of our “Claim Your Spotlight Training Program.” Salbi shared how hersimple idea generated a worldwide organization with over 750 employees, 10 international offices, a voice at the UN and 10 appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show. This same organization, “Women for Women International,” has helped nearly 300,000 women and 1.6 million families in war-torn nations find healing and economic stability. This month celebrates 18 years since Salbi and her co-founder put this simple idea into action after a late-night discussion at a Denny’s Restaurant in New York City.

Salbi spoke at our meeting about what it takes to be a successful philanthropist and entrepreneur. She shared three keys to her success that you can begin to apply immediately to your own personal and professional life.

Key #1: Keep It Simple and Clear

The one simple idea that created Women for Women International was this: one woman with a few extra dollars would sponsor another woman in a war-torn country for $30/month for one year. They would exchange pictures and letters. At the end of the year, the sponsored woman would have completed communication, health, financial and job training, leading to job placement. (If you would like to become a monthly sponsor with Women for Women International, go here now to join: http://bit.ly/30aMonthforFreedom)

Salbi once secured $15 million from Mayor Bloomberg, one of the world’s brightest business minds. Before she landed the largest donation in charity history for a women’s organization, Salbi had to present to the two men who would sign the check. She made an elaborate presentation and the guys said, “Zainab, what is this? Let us tell you our key to business success: SIMPLE and CLEAR. Go back to your roots and tell us the story.” Salbi shared her Denny’s story and the donation was secured!

Salbi’s simple idea – one woman sponsoring another with a monthly $30 donation and open correspondence – founded her organization and is still the same idea that sustains her organization today.

Mentor’s Challenge: What is the ONE SIMPLE IDEA of your business?

Here at the YourPurpose.com commmunity, our simple idea is this: “We help spirited entrepreneurs find their Life Purposes and then we train them to help others find theirs.” It’s a pay-it-forward model. Our goal is to help 1 million people know and live their purpose worldwide in the next two to five years.

Key #2: Passion

A member of the Spotlight Program asked Salbi,“What do you think is the #1 Key to your success?” Salbi replied, “Passion. If you have passion, everything becomes possible. Without passion, don’t bother.” The group nodded and chuckled because the day previous, I asked them, “What is the most important aspect of your talk?” They came up with all sorts of answers – an irresistible offer, a good structure, good testimonials. While all of those things are important, I said,“Passion. Passion trumps everything. If YOU believe, we will believe.”

Mentor’s Challenge: Where is your TRUE PASSION? Is your business and life built on passion? Or not?

At YourPurpose.com, our internal brand promise is to “inspire flames of passion”in our customers, clients, vendors, team members and sponsors worldwide. We know that if you feel it, you will make it happen. Passion’s inevitable outcome is success.

Key #3: Trust Your Intuition Above All

Because of the rapid growth of her organization, Salbi is now replacing herself with a CEO who is skilled at structure, organization and leveraging of assets. As Salbi shared, her gifts are inspirational in nature, spreading the message of women helping women worldwide. She is not a bean counter or a spreadsheet gal. To paraphrase Salbi, “I finally realized that it doesn’t matter how someone comes to the same conclusion. If they need two months to prove it statistically what I know intuitively, they can have their two months. The structure people need to learn things in their way and I respect that. What I will say is this, if you always trust your inner guidance above all else, you will be fine.”

Mentor’s Challenge: Do you trust your inner guidance or constantly look outside yourself for proof?

At YourPurpose.com, we strive to do what’s in the best interest of the business and our clients. Many times, this means making hard decisions. These decisions, while not necessarily popular, allow us to continue our mission. If we give into the pressure to be popular, liked or status quo, we are quickly selling our soul for short-term gain and long-term pain.

Become a Women for Women Sponsor by going here.

Zainab Salbi, Founder, Women for Women International

Zainab Salbi is Founder of Women for Women International, a grassroots humanitarian and development organization helping women survivors of wars rebuild their lives. Since 1993, the organization has helped 299,000 women survivors of wars access social and economic opportunities through a program of rights awareness training, vocational skills education and access to income generating opportunities, thereby ultimately contributing to the political and economic health of their communities. In its 18-year history, the organization has distributed more than $95 million in direct aid, micro credit loans, and has impacted more than 1.6 million family members. For its work “alleviating human suffering”, Women for Women International was awarded the 2006 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, becoming the first women’s organization to receive this honor.

Zainab Salbi is the author of two books; a national bestseller “Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam” (with Laurie Becklund) that documents her life under Saddam Hussein’s rule and “The Other Side of War: Women’s Stories of Survival and Hope.” Her work has been featured in major media outlets, including 8 appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.

Zainab Salbi has been honored by Former President Bill Clinton for her work in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993 and was most recently nominated by Former President Clinton as one of the Harper’s Bazaar 21st Century Heroines to honor her actions, faith and determination in making a difference. She is the recipient of the 2010 David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award and was named one of 22 members of the Clinton Global Initiative Lead program, which brings together a select group of accomplished young leaders to develop innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, among many others. Additionally, in 2011 Zainab Salbi was named one of the Top 100 Women: Activists and Campaigners by The Guardian and was highlighted as a Female Faith Heroine by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Zainab Salbi is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and is a member of the UN Secretary General’s Civil Society Advisory Group focusing on the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Zainab Salbi has a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University.

Photo by Rennio Maifredi

“July In Paris” 37”x12”x8”  Lit Plexiglass Collages by Susanna Helman
Photo by Bruce Andrews

Susanna Richter-Helman is an artist. Her Life Purpose (from her fingerprints) is “Artist in the Spotlight with Heart.” Her purpose is to move an audience emotionally through the experience of her creative expression.

As you can see from the above image, Susanna is not only an artist, she is a well-trained, experienced, professional and gifted artist. Her work, “July In Paris,” captures perfectly how I felt on my July trip to Paris in 2008. I’m not sure how she did that, but that’s what artists do – spill their emotions on the canvas so we can FEEL ours. This a valuable and necessary part of the human experience that we often place little value on if it can’t be immediately commercialized like an action movie or high fashion. The work of the artist, whether he or she be a painter, flower designer, interior designer, jewelry maker, photographer, actor, dancer, singer, mime, etcetera, is a food that our soul hungers for. Without art, we don’t have a ‘culture,’ we just have existence without color.

The challenge for so many artists is to find a way to give us their soul food without going hungry!

The “starving artist” stereotype, in my experience, is hardly a stereotype. Most artists I know are broke or very close to the edge financially. There are social and psychological reasons for this…… but it doesn’t have to be this way for the majority of artists I’ve met.

They don’t want to be broke but they also don’t want to kill the inspiration that drove them to create in the first place by trying to ‘commercialize’ their creativity. There is a deep fear in artists of ‘losing the muse’ if they pursue a career that feeds their soul AND their bank account.

I’ve identified 3 ‘secrets’ that can help an artist find their way from broke to bountiful.

But first, here is Susanna’s experience in her own words:

“It was your first reading of my hands over seven years ago that lead me to the ocean.  I have a lot of water energy (‘water energy’ represents emotional sensitivity) in my hands and you suggested being near the water.  We left Colorado to live in Florida by the ocean.  I visit it daily; I love the way the water makes me feel and the inspiration it brings me.

Susanna Richter-Helman

When we moved, I decided to leave behind the art career that required me to produce over 30 paintings a month to be shown by galleries and reps all over the country, but was unfulfilled because I wasn’t making the kind of work I really wanted to make. The conflict was that I would be taking a loss of income if I stopped, but I did it anyway to be true to myself.
Your last reading of my hands, which stated that I have “the professional artist’s line in both hands and that I must make a lot of money selling my art,” left me initially conflicted and stressed.  I always hoped that that was true, but to hear that it actually was true left me momentarily paralyzed. I struggled with it for many months, feeling like I hit a brick wall, kind of the end where you say, “do or die.”  Knowing that I had to make it happen, because it was a fact, kept me going.  It’s amazing how when you are at the edge, every part of your mind and body tries to stop you from moving forward.

When we were at your Life Purpose Spiritual Summit in Vegas, I was busy rushing around working, and all the sudden, I just started crying and couldn’t stop. Mark [Susanna's brother and Baeth's husband] patted my back and said I was having a breakthrough.  I didn’t really understand what that was or meant until I experienced it.  You explained it to me, but until you have one, you can’t understand how it feels to finally grasp what is right in front of you and allow yourself to accept it.

This experience was truly life changing.  As you said, “Your life is a hologram and you are on the stage acting out your destiny.  Bring in your actors through manifestation and create your own destiny.”  There it was in black and white.  All the pieces finally fit together and the bricks fell away from the wall and reformed into a path which was laid out in front of me.  I was not afraid to ask for what I want, to feel I deserved it, to just say “yes” to my destiny.  To be open to opportunities for giving and sharing what I know.

I woke up at 3 a.m. last week, full of ideas and I went to my studio to work.  I felt anxious and started pacing the floor but I knew exactly what it was: another breakthrough. Truly amazing. Knowing this, I went with it. I was excited at the prospect of having this breakthrough because it meant I was changing and moving forward into something much better than where I was.

I now find myself almost instantly manifesting what I want. Really profound, how it works. At this time I have two major contemporary art museum curators following my career for a future show. This has been a dream and goal of mine since I started making art, to have my work shown at the museum level.

I’m thrilled to have this knowledge and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me figure this out, this wonderful, magical gift. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and your kind heart. I love you.”

Susanna’s testimony reveals the 3 secrets to being a well-paid artist. Can you spot them?

#1 DECIDE. You must make the decision, “do or die.” Many people never achieve their full potential because they live in fantasy land without deciding to do whatever is necessary to make their dream a reality. Once an artist DECIDES to stop going hungry, food is on the way!

#2 TRUST THE PROCESS. Once you’ve made the decision, all the emotions, fears and insecurities that you’ve kept at bay will rise to the surface to be felt and released. Being called to the spotlight to express your creativity brings up enormous fears of rejection and ridicule. This is part of the process. Every artist dislikes a mean critic. But being criticized actually means you are out there, DOING IT, rather than fantasizing about it. You may feel anxious, stuck, frustrated. Keep going anyway.

#3 DO THE WORK and PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE. A real painter paints. A real writer writes. Then, the artist SHARES their work with others. Susanna put together a beautiful portfolio with well-crafted cover letters which she then sent to museum curators around the country that she admired. They took notice – not only of her incredible body of work, but her professional presentation style. She is now on their radar.

Susanna’s next gallery show is November 6 through December 2, 2009 at the Butterfield Garage Gallery in St. Augustine, Florida.

“Glow” Exhibition
Inspired by origami paper, minimal modern sculpture and optical painting (Op Art), nationally exhibited artist, Susanna Richter-Helman, departs from her trademark medium of 15 years, acrylic on metal, to explore a new dimension using light, color and depth.

Displayed in a dimly lit room, these glossy, transparent light boxes illuminate the abstracted arrangement of color.  Each piece has a sense depth created by suspending paper and objects between layers of plexiglass.  Many of these items are meaningful memoirs acquired during Susanna’s travels in Europe and the United States.  Even the seemingly insignificant slivers of paper, such as a subway map from New York City, have meaning and purpose in their placement and content. Originally a Colorado native, Susanna currently lives in St. Augustine, FL.

To view more show images, please visit www.susannarichterhelman.com

Please join us for the opening reception
Friday, November 6, 2009 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
Butterfield Garage Art Gallery
www.butterfieldgarage.com
137 King St # C
St Augustine, FL 32084-4325
(904) 825-4577
Susanna Richter-Helman
www.susannarichterhelman.com
(904)-347-8211

And if YOU want to unleash the Life Purpose in YOUR hands, be sure to claim your own hand analysis session with Baeth before the price goes up this fall! http://www.HandAnalyst.com.