Chris Guillebeau hanging out with a couple of friends in Thailand

If you’ve been going through life as a sleepwalker, it’s time to wake up.
The journey begins right now.

~ Chris Guillebeau
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You’ve gotta love a guy who has made it his mission to visit all 193 countries on the planet before his 35th birthday and who’s got a cat named Libby (short for “The Liberator”) for his office assistant.

But Chris Guillebeau is also genuinely devoted to helping people succeed in bringing more freedom into their life, especially when it comes to work.

I first became familiar with Chris when I signed up for his “Empire Building Kit” two years ago. I can testify that experience made a huge difference in my life and it inspired me to start The Liberated Life Project. Later that year, Chris’s first book, The Art of Nonconformity, was published.

This month, Chris’s second book is out:  The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future. This new book is filled to the brim with all kinds of great information distilled from a survey that Chris did with 1,500 individuals who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a modest investment (in many cases, $100 or less). In Chris’s words, it’s a “blueprint for change and action.” And it’s getting rave reviews.

Chris was kind enough to give me an “interview-ette” to celebrate the launch of The $100 Startup and to share some of his thoughts about freedom and liberation.

Interview with Chris

Maia: Last month on the Liberated Life Project, we explored the idea of creating a “liberation-based livelihood,” which I defined as one in which your work is an expression of your core intention. Chris, what would you say is your core intention or your mission statement for your life?

Chris: I like your definition. For me, the core intention would be to live a life of grateful adventure. I want to challenge myself to learn, live, and give more. I want to love what I do and say yes to things that excite me. I want to be a part of something significant, and I want to create.

Maia: How do you define liberation or freedom in your own life?

Chris: Continuously improving myself. Making choices based on my own preferences and priorities, while also actively working toward something that makes the world a better place.

Maia: Back when you started up your first business, what were the biggest hurdles you had to get over — both internal (like your own fears or other thoughts and emotions) and external? How did you get beyond these?

Chris: Internal obstacles are always the most challenging. When I first started my own business, I didn’t know I was “going into business”—I just needed a way to pay the bills, and I wasn’t a good employee. So I was scared, yes, but I removed all other options. It simply had to work. When you shift to that imperative, funny enough, many of the obstacles are no longer relevant.

Maia: What would you say to someone who is now in that same position and starting on their own path toward more liberated work? What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about taking a first step toward a more liberating work situation?

Chris: Most people won’t be in the situation I was in, at least not at first. Most people are more like those who write in from a cubicle and say, “I hate my job but I’m afraid to leave it.” In those cases, my advice is, OK, fine–don’t leave it.

But if you really want to create your own freedom, spend your free time working on the business or liberating work situation. We all make time for what’s important to us, and everyone is busy. So if it matters, take those steps. Brainstorm your idea. Develop it into a specific offer as soon as possible. Get a one-page website up, even if it’s terrible. Just do something.

Maia: Thank you, Chris!

How to Win a Copy of The $100 Startup

I’ve got a copy of The $100 Startup that I’m excited to give to a lucky reader.

As Chris said, the first step toward a more liberated livelihood is to simply take that first step. And perhaps that’s entering this contest and getting this great book.

Here’s how it works. You can get up to three entries in this contest:

1) Write a comment below and let me know what your biggest question is about finding more freedom in your own work situation. Or just tell me how you think Chris’s book might help you.

2) If you want an extra chance to win, sign up to be a member of “Team Liberation” here, and then leave a comment below to let me know you’ve done that. If you’re already a subscriber, leave a comment to that effect.

3) And if you want an extra-extra chance to win, tweet the following: RT @LLProject Win a copy of #$100Startup by @chrisguillebeau Enter here! http://wp.me/p1fuuV-Le And then leave a comment below to let me know you tweeted.

Contest deadline: Sunday, May 20, 6 pm (EST). I’ll choose the winner in a random drawing from all the comments below, and ship the book to you within a week. If you’re not a winner or if you’re eager to get the book now, you can order it here. Good luck!

I’ve been churning a lot of words out lately, so this week I’m inspired to be quiet and share with you this beautiful creation from Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo.

Leslie is an artist who works in the medium of silk appliqué thangkas (Buddhist images on fabric). She is one of the only Westerners trained in this form, and she creates beautiful pieces of art that also express her Tibetan Buddhist practice. And she happens to be a member of Team Liberation.

A while back, I interviewed Leslie about her life, her livelihood, and her art –  soon I’ll share some of that interview here on the Liberated Life Project.

You can learn more about Leslie’s work here: http://threadsofawakening.com/

So go ahead and soak this one up, let the quote from Marianne Williamson speak to your heart… and I’ll see you next week!

NOTE: Updated May 5th — We have a winner for the giveaway… thanks to everyone who entered! Stay tuned for another book giveaway on May 15th.

Danielle LaPorte is a tantric master.

Actually, I don’t know that for a fact. But my experience of reading her new book, The Fire Starter Sessions: A Soulful + Practical Guide to Creating Success on Your Own Terms, felt like a tantric exercise.

Let me s’plain (as Ricky Ricardo might have said).

Tantra is a Tibetan Buddhist path that invites the practitioner to go deep into the heart of desire, so deep that you transcend the suffering-inducing attachment that usually goes along with desire. (In this context, this means desire of all kinds, not simply sexual desire.)

Instead, you come out the other end with pure gold, because you’ve touched into your true nature through the vehicle of your desire.

That’s what this book will do for you. Think of it as your guidebook to liberation.

Danielle writes that, “Happiness is creative tension.” The whole book invites you to dive into one creative tension after another, as a way to get at the root of your unique genius.

The Fire Starter Sessions is organized into three parts: Mojo, Moxie, and Results. Each section has sessions that focus on things like “Visioneering,” “The Metrics of Ease,” and “Money: More is More, Enough is Plenty.” There are powerful questions and worksheets throughout this book – you can’t read The Fire Starter Sessions without having a lot of fun and getting fully engaged.

In these questions and exercises, some of the things Danielle will challenge you to do include:

• Approve of your weaknesses
• Remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be
• Choose “easy” (but the quality kind of easy, not the cheap kind) and get out of your own way

If you already love Danielle writing on her blog, you probably don’t need any convincing to get this book. If you don’t know her work, you’re in for a mind- and heart-opening experience.

And one last thing – this is a magic book, or at least it was for me. The first night I started to read it, I made it through the first 37 pages then put it down by my bedside and fell asleep. I had vivid dreams throughout the night, weaving in some of the most beloved people in my life. When I awoke, one phrase from my dream was crystal clear: The world needs you to radiate.

Read this book and remember your own capacity to radiate.

Keep reading for a chance to win this book, or if you want to go ahead and order it for yourself or a friend, you can pick it up here.

Win a copy of The Fire Starter Sessions!

Here’s how much I like this book—I’ve decided to keep my review copy and not give it away! But… I still want to give one lucky person a copy of The FSS to support you on your journey to freedom. So I’ll buy another copy and ship you that one.

There are three ways you can enter… if you do all three, you have three chances you have to win. Deadline to enter is this 12 noon, EST, this Saturday, May 5. Then I’ll choose the winner in a random drawing and get the book sent to her/him.

UPDATE: Contest has ended and we now have a winner. Thanks to all who entered! You can order you copy of The Fire Starter Sessions here.

1) Leave a comment below. You can say anything you want in your comment, but if you need some inspiration, give your own answer to one of the “burning questions” that Danielle asks in the book: What would your life be like if you only did what was easy?

2) If you’re not already a member of Team Liberation, sign up to receive posts from the Liberated Life Project via email. If you’re already a subscriber, you don’t need to do so again… by leaving a comment below, you’ll automatically have two entries.

3) Tweet about it… post this on your Twitter feed:  RT @LLProject Fire Starter Sessions book giveaway: enter here! http://wp.me/p1fuuV-LW #FSS

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The author under arrest, March 2003 (photo by Charlie Jenks)

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten
that we belong to each other.
—Mother Teresa
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This post is offered as part of a wave of articles coming out today inspired by the theme “My Most Beautiful Thing.” Fiona Robyn of Writing Your Way Home is the catalyst for this event, and she’s offering her new novel of the same name for free today as part of this celebration. You can find out more here.

When I look back on my life, one moment stands out to me because of the courage and beauty I experienced that day – and yes, the feeling of liberation.

Nine years ago, in March 2003, I took part in an act of civil disobedience along with 53 other people in Western Massachusetts.

It was, as you may remember, the onset of the war in Iraq. On the day after spring started, and three days after the war officially began, our group walked to the entrance of Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, MA. We were accompanied by more than 2,000 people who were raising their voices for peace as the drums of war were being sounded by the U.S. government. Westover was one of the bases from which heavy equipment was being sent to Iraq to enable the war.

I was pretty scared. I’d never done anything like that before.

While we were well prepared from hours of training in nonviolence and equipped with information and support if we were arrested (phone number of lawyers to call, friends in our affinity group who promised to feed our pets and water our plants if need be), you never know what will really happen when you put yourself in a position of being subject to police action. All kinds of questions were buzzing in my mind… what would actually happen to us in jail? how long would we have to stay? how would having an arrest on my record affect my future ability to get jobs or housing?

As we walked through the neighborhood that surrounded the Air Force base, we got a mixed reception from the residents, many of whom were friends or family of those stationed at the base. Some cheered our signs and our presence, others were clearly displeased and gave us the finger or worse. I drew on every ounce of my meditation and lovingkindness practice to meet whatever the reaction we encountered with compassion and understanding. It wasn’t easy.

By the time we got to the entrance gate of the base, the gravity of what we were about to do began to sink in.

We had once last chance to make a decision about how far we wanted to engage in this action.  Ultimately 54 of us committed to actually sitting on the road, blocking the way in to the base. Our commitment to each other was to stay there, practicing nonviolence, no matter what.

At first, I could feel my heart fluttering with fear and I felt tentative about taking part in this action. But as we sat down next to each other, a song started to well up… “Ain’t Gonna Study War No More.” All 54 of us began to sing and we were joined by our 2,000 friends on the sidelines who stood in support of us. Courage began to grow.

After a while, the police captain picked up his megaphone and gave us the obligatory warning – if we did not move in 5 minutes, we would be subject to arrest. Our singing only grew louder. Someone had a ball of thread and began passing it around the group, and we created a web of connection between each other.

Fear started to be replaced by something else… a feeling I don’t think I’ve ever had before or since.

When I say it was a feeling of liberation, I don’t use that word lightly. Something huge broke open in me as we all continued to sit there on the pavement and sing together, no matter what the consequences.

We faced a wall of police officers, batons held upright, handcuffs ready to be used. And yet we sang.

I remembered some of the lines from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s letter from the Birmingham jail:

I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

As each of us was arrested and put into the school bus that served as our paddy wagon, the crowd let out a cheer.

This was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever experienced in my life, surrounded and embraced by a community of people who were unified in their commitment to peace and justice for all.

The hours that followed were tedious rather than exciting. But it didn’t matter because it felt like something essential inside of me had shifted.

Those of us under arrest were corralled into the cold, concrete basement garage at the police station and waited our turn for processing. The high point of that portion of the day for me was sitting next to the Buddhist monks and nuns from the Peace Pagoda, who were also arrested, and learning how to fold paper peace cranes with them.

By the time I was released (I opted to post bail and return for a hearing later), it was near midnight, more than 14 hours after we started our walk that morning. Friends were waiting for me, and one gave me a button that I still have: “I was arrested for disturbing the war.” It was another moment of great gratitude and connection.

More recently I’ve decided to engage in civil disobedience again, this time in the form of withholding a portion of my taxes as a way to protest how much of our tax money goes toward military expenses. You can see the letter I sent to the IRS here.

I’m taking a political stand in this post, but my intention is not to exclude you if your politics aren’t the same as mine. Nor does it mean that you have to do exactly the same thing that I did. Civil disobedience is not for everyone.

What I want to share here is the sense of liberation that comes when you commit to a deeply held value and follow this commitment through, no matter where it leads.

Often it entails some kind of sacrifice, because so much of the way our society is constructed is at odds with those values.

We get things mixed up. We think that we’re “free” because we’re not in a literal prison, because we can go shopping whenever we want, we can get in a car and drive wherever we want. What we are missing is that we are actually imprisoned by a set of subtle and often invisible conditions that keep us complicit with systems that deprive us of our connection to each other, our creativity, our innate beauty, and our sense of agency.

The great feeling of liberation I experienced on that day in 2003 came from that moment when I could see clearly through all that to what really mattered and break out of the prison of my own fear. And that was one beautiful moment.

How about you? What are you willing to stand up for? What prison are you ready to break out of?

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We’ve spent the past month exploring the idea of a liberation-based livelihood. That’s as about pragmatic as it gets. We all have to live in this world and making a living.

So today I am going to confound you. Part of my role here on the LLP to support you with tools for living on this planet in a liberated way, and also to remind you that there is a bigger truth. That can be confounding, I suppose.

So here is the other side of the truth: none of this matters.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter what you do for a living, it doesn’t matter if you are “successful” in a conventional sense.

In the end, true liberation is about letting go of all that. It’s about being content with exactly what is, whatever it is.

This is why the LLP is actually a no-self, no-improvement blog.

My friend Lynette recently posted a song that I absolutely loved when I was a kid. I’m sharing with you at the bottom of this post. Listening to it now, I realize that it’s the perfect vehicle to remind us of this truth – what you have is exactly enough. Nothing else is required.

Consider this:

…Don’t spend your time lookin’ around
For something you want that can’t be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin’ about it
I’ll tell you something true

The bare necessities of life will come to you

Freedom is an inside job. If you haven’t “achieved” a liberation-based livelihood yet, no problem. In fact, if you are striving for it too much, that is a problem. What matters most is that you can live happily exactly where you are, no matter where that is.

My wish for you: may you enjoy your life, just as it is!

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If you appreciated this article, please consider signing up for a free membership to “Team Liberation” to receive these posts by email, plus other goodies from the Liberated Life Project.

Over the past three weeks, we’ve been exploring what it means to create a “liberation-based livelihood” (also known as an ‘LBL’).

If you search the Internet, you’ll find literally thousands of resources related to creating a business. But I want to save you the trouble of sorting the wheat from the chaff. For this final post of the series, I asked number of colleagues what has supported their own journey toward LBL.

The result is a collection of high quality resources generated by people that I trust (and from me as well). The list is divided into three sections:

• Inspiration (stories to show you what’s possible)
• Creating New Belief Systems
• Information (tools to help you get there)

INSPIRATION

Stories from and about people who have successfully made the shift to LBL:

• Leo Babauta on: “Can’t Find a Dream Job? Create Your Own”
• Chris Guillebeau on: “279 Days to Overnight Success”
• Pamela Slim on:  “Time to Quit Your Day Job: The Story of Tawnya Sutherland”

Here’s a list of people who have inspired Marianne Elliot (who is an inspiration to me!):

• Alessandra Pigni: Mindfulness for NGOs
• Jen Louden: The Savor & Serve experiment
• Tara Mohr: Wise Living
• Tara Gentile: The Art of Earning
• Susannah Conway: Unraveling

And — some visual goodies to motivate you:

• TED talk on “Turning Fear Into Fuel” from Jonathan Fields
• “Your Declaration of Independence” from Pamela Slim

CREATING NEW BELIEF SYSTEMS

There are certain belief systems that can get in the way of creating an LBL. The following resources can help you identify and transform them:

• Limiting Beliefs

Wendy Appel is a coach and cultural anthropologist who has created a number of resources “to help you find your inner solid ground so that no matter what you face in life, you’ll have contact with your inner compass to steer you through life’s twists and turns; to help bring out your best self and to access your unique gifts.” Check out her Enneagram Typing Cards, Insight to Action workshops, and her book, InsideOut Enneagram. All are available on Wendy’s website.

In this short by powerful article on “The 5 Lies of Entrepreneurship,” talented copywriter and editor Sonia Simone identifies five myths that hold many people back from starting their own business.

• Fear and Uncertainty

My blogging buddy Nathan Thompson recommends this Podcast Interview with Jonathan Fields (as well as a few more resources below). Nathan writes, “Influenced by Buddhist teachings, Fields talks about the role of uncertainty, fear and doubt in the creative process.”

* Moving Past Adversity

My friend and local economy expert Vicki Pozzebon reminded me of how powerful Danielle LaPorte’s writing can be. Vicki points out Danielle’s post on “Falling Into Joy” that even provides you with a soundtrack for inspiration when you need it most. And that prompted me to remember this one: “Decide to Rise.”

• Assumptions about Money

Backwards: Why Common Abundance Manifestation Approaches Are Sabotaging Your Success by Mark Silver
Nathan writes: “I have never believed in the Law of Attraction and other such narratives. They’re simply too simplistic, and don’t recognize the complex ways in which we are all interconnected. I like this little e-book by Mark Silver because he takes on the Law of Attraction and offers something deeper.”

• The Big Picture

“The Story of the Commons” (from Yes! magazine)
This also comes from Nathan, who notes that in order to create a more sustainable and equitable society, “We have to liberate ourselves from the ‘ownership society’ narrative.”

INFORMATION

All of the resources listed below will give you solid and specific information to start you on your path (or help you continue and improve your results). Some are free; some will require an investment on your part. Some of these are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase that book or course I’ll get a small commission (which helps to sustain the Liberated Life Project).

• Articles

You may want to start by reading this post that I wrote in the early days of the Liberated Life Project: “5 Steps to a More Liberated Way of Working.”

Then check out these two incredibly helpful posts on Chris Guillebeau’s Art of Nonconformity blog:

• “Getting Started Working for Yourself“
• “First Steps to Working for Yourself“

• Books

Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur by Pamela Slim

Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love by Jonathan Fields

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau (coming in May 2012)

The Zero Hour Workweek by Jonathan Mead (free e-book).
Again, a recommendation from Nathan, who writes, “I love the energetic spirit of his writing, as well as his impassioned desire to see people live out their life callings.”

• Courses

Chris Guillebeau’s Empire Building Kit will take you through an entire year of learning and taking action on building your own business. You can read my review of it here.

Chris also has another excellent resource for those starting on the path of LBL: The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself.

Pamela Slim offers a great online course on “Power Teaching” to help you hone your teaching skills.

• Coaches

At some point it may make sense for you to work one-to-one with a skilled coach who can help you make greater progress toward achieving your livelihood-related goals. Here are a few great ones:

• Aysha Griffin
• Tara Gentile
• Lynn Fang

• How to Find Funding for Your Idea

Take a look at this great article from the Social Media Examiner: 11 Tips for Crowdfunding. It tells you everything you need to know about how to choose and make the most of sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, plus more.

• How to Market Yourself

George Kao has been my social media and business coach. Everything George does is based in integrity and kindness… combine that with his encyclopedic knowledge of social media and online marketing and you’ve got a fantastic resource person on your side. Sign up here to get George’s monthly free Q&A calls. By subscribing to George’s list, you’ll also get the list of tools that he uses to build his true livelihood.

Fully Engaged! is the marketing toolkit that I created to help small nonprofits increase engagement among their supporters, but it also has lots of great information for anyone starting up a small business.

Please add your own resources to the “Comment” section below!

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Photo by Dysign via Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dysign/)

“To practice Right Livelihood, you have to find a way to earn your living without transgressing your ideals of love and compassion. The way you support yourself can be an expression of your deepest self, or it can be a source of suffering for you and others.”

~ Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh
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Over the past two weeks we’ve been digging into “liberation-based livelihood” – a phrase that came to me as I reflected on my own meandering professional path. Let’s call it LBL for short.

In the first post in this series, I shared the story of my work history and offered a definition of liberation-based livelihood. Then last week, we looked at how to create a personal mission statement, a key ingredient to LBL.

Once you’ve got your mission statement, you’ll have what you need to consider three possible paths to LBL:

1) You can change your attitude toward your current job.

There’s a wonderful saying I’ve heard yoga practitioners use to describe how a minor adjustment in posture can make a major impact:

“The difference between heaven and hell is half an inch.”

This is an example of that principle.

You can bring more awareness of your intention, embedded in your personal mission statement, to your current job. That’s really all it takes – in that moment, you are embodying liberation-based livelihood.

You may be in a job that has apparently no connection with your life’s mission. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to pay rent and keep food on the table, right?

For example: you are a healer and yet you are working the cash register at the local grocery store. Even so, if you enter that job with the right frame of mind and stay focused on your core intention, you have a liberation-based livelihood. As that healer working in the grocery store, you can consciously meet every person you encounter with an energy of compassion and kindness. By doing so, you are bringing that healing quality to that job.

The challenge of this path is that your own passions and priorities may often have to take a backseat to the requirements of your job and your schedule. Conventional jobs usually eat away at the time that you want to spend on your own creative pursuits, travel, or spending more time with those you love.

You can mitigate this to some degree if you can negotiate working conditions that are more supportive of what’s important to you. This is easiest to do if you have a long relationship with your employer and he/she knows how invaluable you are. If that’s the case, think about what would most serve you – maybe it’s being able to work at home one day a week rather than coming into the office. Then make your case to your boss. If you need a little more back-up, you can share this study that indicates that telecommuters are more productive (and happier) than their office counterparts.

If this the path you’re on, you may also want to refer to a guest post by Shana Montesol Johnson on “How to Love Your Job” that appeared on the LLP last year.

2) You may need to get out of your current job to be in alignment with your soul.

Traditional Buddhist teachings offer the concept of “right livelihood” and are quite specific about what does not fall in that category. The five professions that were designated as harmful and therefore not right livelihood back in the days of the Buddha were: “Business in weapons, business in human beings [as in slave trade], business in meat, business in intoxicants, and business in poison.”

In a similar vein, if you find yourself in an occupation that directly contradicts your values, get out as quickly as you can. There is no minor adjustment that can resolve that dissonance with your integrity.

Some people believe they can work for change from the inside the belly of the beast. I can tell you from personal experience that this path can be very grueling. There are exceptional people who can do this, like Ed Winchester who founded the Pentagon Meditation Group. If you’re one of those folks, that’s fantastic. But those kinds of environments will wear most of us down to the point that we’re unable to care for ourselves effectively and therefore we are unable to be of service.

If this describes where you’re at, I encourage you to find a way out of your current job situation as soon as possible and move toward either the first or third path described here.

3) You may want (or need) to create your own work environment.

This is where it gets really interesting.

As I’ve written before, we live in fascinating times. If you’re able to move beyond fear about how everything is changing and even falling apart, you’ll find a world that is also filled with opportunities.

When we try to fit ourselves into job definitions that may no longer exist, when we spend weeks on job searches that bear no fruit, we are missing the opportunity right in front of us to create our own work reality.

Creating your own work is not for everyone. In this article from the out-of-the-box business magazine Fast Company, Robert Safian writes about what he calls “Generation Flux.” This is not an age-based demographic, so you don’t have to worry that you’re too old. Safian notes, “To thrive in this climate requires a whole new approach…What defines GenFlux is a mind-set that embraces instability, that tolerates–and even enjoys–recalibrating careers, business models, and assumptions.”

If you’re the kind of person who has the capacity to embrace change rather than run from it, this may be the path for you.

The first step on this path is to identify what you can offer in exchange for money. If you can directly connect that service or product to your personal mission statement, wonderful!

Note this can take a number of different forms – it’s not limited to what you might typically think of as being a consultant or self-employed. Here are some possibilities:

• a service (like helping someone organize their papers)
• a product you create (like selling hats you knit on Etsy)
• a product you have on hand (like selling your used books on Amazon)
• an idea or skill that you can teach to others (like coaching a group of new nonprofit executives how to effectively fundraise for their organization)

The Internet opens up infinite possibilities for the form that your new business can take, and enables you to connect with people from all over the world who would be interested in your skill or product – not just those in your hometown. (More on this next week in the concluding post in this series.)

Finally, I want to share you with a story about someone who is on this third path toward LBL.

Several years ago, I become familiar with Nathan Thompson through his Buddhist blog, Dangerous Harvests. Though we’ve never met in person, he seems to me to be someone of deep integrity.

Nathan’s career path has been one of being in service and working for progressive social change as a community organizer, educator, and writer in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region. Now, he has a vision of creating an organization dedicated to the health and wellness of low income, traditionally under-served populations, particularly immigrants and refugees.

Nathan is using the website Indiegogo to share his story and invite people to support him in making his vision a reality. This is a wonderful example of this new way of creating your own livelihood and collaborating with others to do so. Here is how Nathan describes it on his blog:

While it may seem like things are dire, the current economic crisis is also an amazing opportunity to reassess how it is that we work and live together. To challenge the stories we have about what is valuable and what isn’t. And to learn to come together in renewed, more interconnected ways...

And so, a few days ago, I started a month long fundraising campaign. It is based upon the idea of being an independent community re-development worker. Instead of being tied to a single social service agency or non-profit organization, I have been freely investing time in three different communities that I am passionate about. It is an experiment in giving that I hope will inspire others.

…The beauty of microfinancing is that no one person or organization needs to foot the bulk of the bill. Just as we are all naturally interconnected through space and time, through microfinancing, the work we are all doing becomes a more visible demonstration of that interconnectedness.

Nathan is a great inspiration for forging innovative and revolutionary paths to creating work that feeds our soul and engages our community. (And he did such a good job of inspiring me that I donated to his cause!)

How about you? Which path are you on? Do you see another pathway that’s not included here?

Next week we’ll wrap up this series with: The Liberation-Based Livelihood Resource List

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Photo from Flickr Creative Commons: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccstb/

Knowing what you want is only half the journey—
knowing what’s driving you is the half that will get you there.

~ Danielle LaPorte

Last week, I shared a bit of my story and how it illustrates what I call “liberation-based livelihood.” I defined this as one in which you consistently return to your core intention and see how what you are doing for work is in some way an expression of that intention.

So how do you find your core intention? How can you discern your passion and purpose on the planet? One fun way to do this is by identifying one or two qualities that make up the very core of who you are, and then use those to create your own mission statement. Because having a personal mission statement is such an important part of so many dimensions of a liberated life – including livelihood – how to create one is the focus of today’s post.

Let’s begin with this simple exercise. Look at the list of verbs below. As you look at each word, say it aloud and allow a full minute to absorb how much you resonate with that particular quality. Then write a number next to that word, using a rating scale of 1 to 5. If you feel nothing at all about the word, give it a 1. If you’re ready to jump out of your chair because you feel so in tune with that quality, give it a 5.

• Bridging
• Brightening
• Communicating
• Connecting
• Creating
• Discovering
• Embracing
• Encouraging
• Giving
• Healing
• Integrating
• Leading
• Learning
• Loving
• Organizing
• Relating
• Remembering
• Restoring
• Teaching

And you may find there are some powerful verbs not included on this list that you want to add. Go for it!

Now look at your numbers – every word that you’ve rated with a 4 or 5 should make it into your mission statement. As I shared in my story from last week, my key words are “discovering” and “connecting.” These words describe both what makes me feel most alive as well as how I am here to serve others. I am at my best when I embody discovery and connection and when I am helping other people to discover and connect.

These words can become the foundation of your personal mission statement. You can go deeper into this exercise and play with this “Mission Statement Builder” on the Franklin Covey website – you’ll be guided through a series of 10 questions and at the end it will generate your personal mission statement.

Once you’ve come up with your mission statement, consider how much your current work situation allows you to experience these qualities. If your answer is a resounding “yes,” you’re on the right path and have successfully created liberation-based livelihood. If it’s not so clear how your work is related to your mission statement, it’s likely that you may be feeling in a rut or in need of a change. If there is no presence of it, you’re probably feeling burned out.

I really love what Pamela Slim says in this post about having a “deep commitment to a cause or problem that is bigger than any job title or profession or business.” That is exactly what a personal mission statement is meant to help you do. Pam offers two examples of women who got clear on their life mission and then translated it into inspiring work. One defined her purpose to strengthen the bond between parents and children; the other is making the world more accessible to more people.

See what magic you can do in your life once you get clear on your mission – I think you’ll be amazed.

Next week: Three Pathways to Liberation-Based Livelihood.

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The author and Roshi Joan Halifax on ordination day (photo by Mitsue Nagase)

Last week, in a beautiful ceremony that took place at Upaya Zen Center here in Santa Fe where I live, I was ordained as a Buddhist chaplain by my longtime friend, colleague, and root teacher Roshi Joan Halifax.

This milestone marked the end point of a two-year journey in chaplaincy training but the beginning of yet another new phase of my life. A number of you have asked me to share what this means and what I plan to do with this new title.

The short answer is, I really don’t know.

The longer answer is embedded in the way I think about livelihood and what it means to create liberated work in these times in which we live.

“Buddhist chaplain” is one in a long line of identities and job titles that I’ve held over my lifetime. I’m not alone in this. On average, a U.S. worker has been in his or her current job 4.4 years, a dramatic drop from the the 1970s when it wasn’t unusual for people to have careers 15 or 20 years long. (See this article in Fast Company magazine for more on this phenomenon.)

Studies now indicate that over our lifetime, each of us will hold somewhere between 10 to 11 jobs. My particular spread goes like this, working backwards from the present:

• Buddhist chaplain
• Freelance writer and editor
• Organizational consultant
• Magazine editor
• Communications director
• Nonprofit Executive Director
• Research Director
• Anthropologist
• Bookseller
• Mental Health Counselor
• Music Therapist
• Administrative assistant
• Alfalfa sprout picker
• Kentucky Fried Chicken counterperson

And I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few jobs.

How in the world do I make sense out of that list? Without a big view, I could look at it and think, wow, what the hell am I doing with my life? I’m all over the map… how could I possibly leave a legacy with a mash-up like that?

When I fall into the trap of comparing myself to others whom I perceive as having more stability and focus, I feel that I’ve skimmed the surface of too many occupations, that I’ve not stayed with anything long enough to be an “expert.”

A more positive way to frame this is what fellow blogger Emilie Wapnick calls being a “multi-potentialite.” And I like what Fast Company says about creating careers in the 21^st century – it’s less about the job title and more about the life mission that we’ve discerned for ourselves.

The myriad jobs that I have had are all really manifestations of one thing – a deep desire to help people discover and connect. (Though I’m not sure how the alfalfa sprout job would fit…)

It took me a long time to unearth that intention. Only in the last few years have I been conscious of it and tried to craft my work in alignment with that intention. Before that, my career trajectory was hit or miss. A good clue that there was a ‘miss’ was when I found myself in jobs that held no passion for me and felt adrift in my life.

This latest title, Buddhist chaplain, is a bit of a mystery to me—in a good way.

My Buddhist path has been precious to me for almost 20 years now. And I’ve long had a desire to be of service (though it’s taken a long time to sort that out from unhealthy co-dependency).

So two years ago when I had the opportunity to take the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Program, I felt it would help me to deepen my understanding of both streams – dharma and service.

I didn’t have a goal to find a job as a Buddhist chaplain at the end of the training and I still don’t. Rather, I see it as a vehicle for continuing to express that core intention: helping people to discover and connect. In this case, it means helping people to discover the resilience and spark that is deep inside of them, and supporting them to connect with others who will see and value them for who they truly are. I try to do that in all my work, whether I’m editing an article for someone or guiding an organization through a change process.  I feel that this blog is a creative expression of that intention as well. So in a way, I get to show up as a Buddhist chaplain right here on the Liberated Life Project.

The way I see it, creating a liberation-based livelihood means that you are consciously connecting your intention to your work.

Contrary to what you may read on other blogs, this doesn’t require that you be self-employed (though in my experience that helps), nor does it guarantee that you will receive a lot of money for what you do (though it’s certainly possible). It does mean that you are not stumbling along blindly from one job to another (or one project to another if you are self-employed) without a sense of cohesion or meaning or, worse yet, in a job that is in opposition to your deepest held values.

Liberation-based livelihood means that in every moment, you are able to return to your core intention and see how what you are doing for work is in some way an expression of that intention.

During our week of chaplaincy training, we were graced by a virtual visit from Ram Dass. During our evening Skype call, he shared this piece of wisdom in relation to the idea of ‘helping’ and ‘chaplaincy’ — “Identify with the soul, not the role.”

I can’t think of a better way to say it.

Next week: How to craft a liberation-based livelihood.

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If you appreciated this article, please consider signing up for a free membership to “Team Liberation” to receive these posts by email, plus other goodies from the Liberated Life Project.

Photo by Kara Allyson (Flickr Creative Commons)

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If you appreciated this article, please consider signing up for a free membership to “Team Liberation” to receive these posts by email, plus other goodies from the Liberated Life Project.