The Way of Nowhere: Eight Questions to Release Our Creative Potential. Nick Udall
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our nose!
The incorporation process continues unfolding after our quest. Traditionally, a year later, we return to the spot where we undertook our quest to look at the extent to which our purpose has moved from an external aspiration to a state of oneness between who we are and what we do. This gives us a chance to marvel at how we have become one with our purpose and to appreciate what it means to stand in our magic.
personal PurposeQuests
an experience … by a leadership consultant
My PurposeQuest took place in Crete, but the process began earlier with a saturation into my history while holding the question ‘Where have I come from?’ and writing a short autobiography.
Important patterns emerged, the most persistent of which I chose to ignore. I'd imagined some ethereal insight into a deeply hidden self would emerge, but the important stuff was so obvious I could hardly see it.
Once on Crete, we undertook various ceremonies for letting go of our past before we walked onto the mountain, into the wilderness, alone to discover our purpose.
Before dawn I climbed up the valley, eager to see the sun rise. Sunrise had become an important symbol of my new beginning. As the sky grew lighter, although the sun had yet to appear, I figured I'd headed in the wrong direction. Walking on, disappointed, I felt my foot suddenly hurt. I stopped. A yellow butterfly led me to a rock. I adjusted my boot, then looked up … to see the sun rise behind the mountain.
I kept tripping over the blindingly obvious – being forced to stop and notice what was under my nose. Turning to look at a goat, I fell and hurt my back. Sitting up slowly, I discovered a curious chrysalis on a rock, which would have passed unnoticed without the fall. Through the quest the chrysalis became a metaphor for how I needed to be.
At times I pursued goals, like reaching the top of the mountain or finding a stream. These pursuits became difficult and stressful, whereas when meandering and exploring, my energy was playful and light. I was enchanted by the surprise discovery of a yellow flower or being locked in eye contact with a mountain goat.
The next day, reflecting on these insights and preparing for the final ceremony, where we would embody and declare our purpose, it became clear to me that spontaneity was a vital source of my energy, and being present and open to whatever might emerge created surprise and excitement. No wonder the years I had spent in business planning had felt so arduous and unfulfilling.
Inspired by my purpose, I've now developed a consulting practice working with teams and individuals to help them unlock energy and passion in themselves and their organizations.
It's not always easy to be ‘on purpose’, but it's a guiding light that has helped me align who I am with what I do and to live an energized and adventurous life.
holding a breakthrough question
a micro-skill
A breakthrough question leads us into the unknown, generates excitement, enthusiasm and momentum, and reminds us of and links us back to our unique purpose. Here are some ways to ‘hold’ a breakthrough question:
Create an opportunity to slow down and review what is most important or what difference would make the greatest difference.
Reframe your insights as questions.
Seek out the fundamental question that unlocks the rest.
Refine the question until it sparks your energy and enthusiasm and sets you on a journey of discovery – ‘how’ questions are much more likely to achieve this than ‘why’, ‘what’ or ‘when’ questions.
Keep refining until it feels ‘right’.
Hold and walk this question until insights start to emerge.
Hold the question lightly, as it may need to transform into a new, more potent question.
Put the question where you will see it several times a day.
Examples
How can I trust more and let go of needing so much input…?
How can I create a healthier work/life balance…?
Why am I here…?
a medicine walk
a micro-skill
A medicine walk (sometimes referred to as an intuition walk) is a process to quieten the everyday rational and conscious mind, a way of learning to listen more fully to our intuitive and unconscious self.
Hold your breakthrough question.
Go for a walk on your own in silence, attending to all your perceptions.
Trust that whatever stands out to you on your walk is there to tell you something.
Capture your insights in a journal (see page 83).
Look for repetitions, patterns, coincidences and shifts in your energy.
Use this feedback to gain insight into your breakthrough question.
Can be used…
To gather intuitive data about a critical question.
Without a question just to see what arises.
Prior to a creative dialogue (see our page 83) by inviting everyone to go a medicine walk holding the same breakthrough question, thereby charging the dialogue with a greater sense of creative energy and potentiality.
summary
what is my unique purpose… ?
Our unique purpose is a vital source of our inspiration and our creativity. At key points in our lives we can derive huge benefit from reconnecting with that source. Similarly we can also feel its absence. How strongly is your purpose energizing and powering your life's journey?
We need to give quality time to key life transitions and use our intuitive as well as our analytical intelligence to gain insight into them. The content of these insights can have a profound influence on us, as can the insight experience itself, becoming a powerful resource we can tap into at will. To what extent does your sense of your unique purpose inspire you? Can you remember the moment you understood it?
We can become overly attached to our expertise or social position and in doing so lose our connection with people who do not share this expertise or who may differ from us. Think of the people whose opinions you value. How diverse and eclectic are they? How do you react when someone starts talking to you about something you are very experienced in or very inexperienced in?
It is important to pay particular attention to the people and groups that we are a part of. To what extent are the people and groups that you are part of using their sense of purpose as a wellspring of inspiration and creativity?
how am I releasing the magic of the moment…?
presence
form to essence lights