She was a president of a national health care company, but she was not happy!
She was so caught up in the title, in the money and was stuck in doing something she didn’t really enjoy. Simply, she wasn’t listening to her heart.
So, she decided to hire a coach. The coach knew that her mother passed away, and that she was dealing with the loss of her mother. And at the same time she wanted to quit her unfulfilling job, but she was scared.
One day, the coach asked her, “Where are you now?”
“I’m in my office”, she replied.
“Isn’t there where you said you’ve a picture of your mother?”, the coach asked.
“Yes”.
“I request you to turn around, look to that picture and ask your mother if she wants you to stay in a job where you’re miserable, or does she want you to do your own thing?!”
That was a powerful question that made her answer instantaneously through a lot of tears.
The coach helped her tap into what was inside her heart. And in her heart, she knew that she wanted to work with people from all around the world, she knew that she wanted to assist and serve, and eventually she realized that she wanted to COACH.
The transformational point in her life was when she started coaching and gave up her former J.O.B.
And now, Terri Levine is a bestselling author of 10 books, has more than 30 years of business experience, and coached more than 5,000 business owners in 239 industries to boost their businesses to success.
I was honored to interview Terri back in 2007 about her story of success and transformation. And in this post, I would like to share with you some of the insights from Terri’s success story.
Here are the biggest three blocks that stand between you and your heart
- Money
Terri was afraid to leave her job and not having enough money. But she overcame this challenge by identifying the worst case scenario and be prepared for it. She was ready to fallback and may be work at McDonald — asking people if they want french fries with their order — if things went wrong!
Moreover, she started setting a side money. She took her paycheck and tried to live off of the littlest amount possible, then she put the rest of the money in a fund that she called “my future business fund”. In other words, she practiced minimalism or simple living!
When she had enough money in that fund — that little bit of cushion or safety net — she went ahead and quit her job.
- Sales-ability
“What if I couldn’t sell people?”, Terri wondered. She was worried about her ability to find clients, sell them something and ask them for money. But, when she started to spread her message and tell people that she was a coach, people started to ask her to coach them! It was as simple as that. You just need to go out and let your heart speak. Tell everyone you know about your passion and your offer. Passion attracts abundance.
- Confidence
Terri lacked confidence in her skills and ability to coach people. And the only way to get over lack of confidence is to practice more. In her case, she did more and more coaching, until she became VERY CONFIDENT.
Here are three important things you need to do, in order to honor your heart’s desires and live your passion
- Networking
You need to network with people who are above where you currently at. They could be above you by income, by experience, by knowledge, by skills, by talents or by who they know. Network with people who are doing better than you are. If you only network with people on the same level, you can’t grow.
You can simply do that by stepping up and asking people. Pick up the phone and connect with influential people in your field. Most people are afraid to connect with successful people, because they are afraid of looking foolish, unintelligent, or worthless.
In my upcoming course, StoryNetworking, I will show you how to connect with the most influential and successful people in your field using the power of storytelling.
- Mastermind
Follow Napoleon Hill’s advice in Think And Grow Rich and do a formal mastermind. Get to gather with people above you on a regular basis, and mastermind. Share best practices and brainstorm ideas to help each other grow your passion business.
- Flow
Everything in life is about flow. There are highs, lows and bumps, and you just flow with things. Don’t push against things and don’t resist. When you live from flow, you’ll be successful in all areas of your life. Because you’ll be allowing IN your life, instead of resisting your life.
Terri believes that if you go with your most passionate goal, you’ll achieve multiple goals at once in different areas of your life.
So, again … Terri is a living proof that passion is KING!
Tap into your heart, not the things that you think you should do, could do or somebody else wants for you. Your life needs to come from your heart. Your legacy is there within your heart. It is not driven by anything external. You will know what your legacy is when you listen to your heart, be still and get quiet.
This is the only way you can make a huge imprint in this world.
Image by paul bica
Mohamed Tohami is a bestselling author and the creator of “The P.A.S. Technique: The World’s Easiest Way To Find Your Passion and Purpose In Life”. Visit hisTransformational Motivation blog now to grab your free copy of his special report 4 Steps to a Life of Passion and enjoy a unique, easy, expansive and lively motivational reading experience.
Thanks for this wonderful information again! You really give the reader the ability to think more among your writing , again thanks a lot . You absolutely did a great job in here!
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Mohamed Tohami Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 5:40 am
Thanks a lot Candice. I’m glad you like it. What is your biggest take away from Tim’s success story?
Mohamed Tohami invites you to read… The StoryNetworking Contest – Everyone Wins Something!
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Confidence does matter very much.In every company you will need to have ability of sales.it is very necessary for everyone.this post is very informative.
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Mohamed Tohami Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 5:42 am
Sales is important in order to be able to sustain your message. If you don’t turn your passion into meaningful money, it will have limited impact and it will be turned into a just a hobby.
Mohamed Tohami invites you to read… The StoryNetworking Contest – Everyone Wins Something!
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Quitting your job and diving head first into your passion can be scary but if done right it can be pretty painless. I agree with the points made here especially the flow. You have to allow yourself to succeed and to allow opportunities to come your way.
Sometimes when we try and do something for ourselves and we feel that we might succeed, we actually fear the success that may come. Maybe worried about the work load it will bring or that it will force us way out of our comfort zone.
I think everyone should give up their job if it isn’t fulfilling. We all have our passions so we should all be doing everything to make our goals real.
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Mohamed Tohami Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 5:45 am
Hi Jamie,
You’re right. There are countless number of resources that can help you safely quit your job nowadays. So, it is not risky anymore. Fear of success is very dangerous, because usually people aren’t aware of this type of fears.
We should follow our passions, because this is the only way to become STRONG and FULFILLED.
Mohamed Tohami invites you to read… The StoryNetworking Contest – Everyone Wins Something!
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Hey, very inspirational. It’s a very tough decision to make and is not for the feint of heart. More so if you have a family to take care of.
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I agree that in my field I have done a lot of practice soon become confident adviser.I followed the principle ” practice makes a man perfect “.
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Mohamed Tohami Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 5:46 am
That’s great Azam. Too many people lose patience very quickly, and never spend enough time practicing their passions.
Mohamed Tohami invites you to read… The StoryNetworking Contest – Everyone Wins Something!
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Hi there, this info you share in here was really great and to be honest this is really helpful to me…
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Mohamed Tohami Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 5:47 am
Thank you so much Fatima. I’m glad you like this post and found it to be useful for you. What is your biggest takeaway?
Mohamed Tohami invites you to read… The StoryNetworking Contest – Everyone Wins Something!
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Great article, although I had to supplement certain phrases like “Job” with “no Job”, “money’ with “no money” and so forth. In my mind, there are so many factors to success on the internet, but really only one major one: are you on the first page of google or not? I just read the other day that 96% of all people who use google for search click on a link on the first page, most of that number goes to the top 3 listed. Therefore, if you are on the second page, you’re basically invisible. Backlinks, networking, producing content…all this is a means to an end, and the end being the top of google’s search. Once you get there and multiply your traffic by an absurd amount, then you can allow the natural effects of traffic to take place. People start building your backlinks for you, start social networking for you, basically you just have to tweet once in a while and put out a few articles a week. It’s all about momentum and traction.
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Hi Mohammed
I have not had a job since I was much younger. I have had my own businesses for most of my working life. I therefore do not really know what it feels like to leave my job.
I have changed the work I do a few times and that has it’s own scary elements. Like leaving working as a CPA to go marketing
I love the points in this article.
Sue
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That is a scary thing to do Mohamed but I appreciate you sharing Terri’s story with us. See, if she can do this then anyone can if you know you’re unhappy and have a passion to do something else with your life. Making that change and moving into the unknown is scary but now look at how long she’s been doing this and I bet she’s still happier for having made that decision.
~Adrienne
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Hi Mohamed,
wow, what an amazing story. I agree that the transition from a job that feeds us but doesn’t fulfill us to something that does fulfill us can be scary. I only know that too well because I am leaving the financial services industry at the moment, being spoiled by huge commissions paid upfront, navigating into the complete unknown. I am facing the exact same questions you list here.
I also agree that this question is very powerful !
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Best,
Oliver
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Your post is awesome! So many people are afraid of losing their security and stepping out of the box.
I feel this post is not only informative but very inspirational. I for sure will be returning to read more.
Thanks
Carol
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Excellent article and advice, Mohamed.
Since I am still at the beginning of what I expect to be a great coaching career, this really spoke to me personally.
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This is an awesome points with some very valid points. I often follow people who are where i want to be. It gives me a measuring tool to make sure that I’m on the right track. I also network and communicate with them.
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Hi, Mohamed! That was a slick coach
Well, I guess that’s why they’re paid for: to be slick and manipulate people for their sake 
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What I like most about this story is that she changed her state of thinking and what her blueprint in life should be. Instead of expecting to make tons of money, she appreciated what her true abilities were and used that to propel her business to what it is today. Good for her! This post offered wonderful advice and something everyone should apply. Thanks for sharing this story.
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Thank you for sharing Terri’s story here Mohammed. She is a true inspiration to us all. I went through the same process of leaving the corporate world some 10 years ago. I particularly like what you say about going with the flow… “Because you’ll be allowing IN your life, instead of resisting your life.” This is so true. I also found that taking one step at a time worked for me, and not worrying about the following steps, or you end up way too scared to take the first step.
Thanks again
Louise
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Mohammed, boy oh boy, do I remember when I was close to seeing a layoff moment at my job. Yes, fear showed its head but then I went into preparation mode. I asked myself what I need to do to make it without a job. Once I started to do that, I began to feel better and the weight of fear began to subside!
These tips you’ve shared here are exactly what I did (mostly) and continue to do so that I don’t experience that situation again with “jobs” – as we all know they are not guaranteed! Here’s to all of us living a life that comes from the heart
~Kesha
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I think that confidence really is the key for all of us to realise our potential, get out there and really do what makes us happy! confidence and a bit of luck. Nice post, thanks!
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Very good article. Our jobs often define us – I think that is why people cling to something they may not enjoy. For example, a disgruntled company president, is still a president, which may be the thing he likes to define himself as.
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Mohamed, After the banking crisis, many people who have worked in this industry have lost their high paying jobs, some are also choosing to seek something a little more enlightening for their next job and changing career completely. It makes such a difference if you can be happy in your job.
Chris invites you to read… What You Should Think About When Changing Jobs
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If is very easy to lose sight of what is important especially in a day when most of us have to work day and night to afford our expenses. I would love to take the time with my children, but instead I work away. Thank you for reminding me that the bills will get paid, but my children will only be small for a very short period of time. I am going to put down the computer now and play with my children. Thanks for the wonderful life lessons.
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Hi Mohamed
In this economic climate, many people are having to leave jobs through redundancy, I think having a job you enjoy really is the ultimate prize for many people. It is difficult to achieve though when you are out of work.
Sometimes, any job will do. It is easier to find a job you love when you are employed as you can be picky about what you apply for.
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What an inspiring story! I always think that making that kind of transformation requires a lot of willpower to make it a success. It is not very easy to leave your comfort zone and venture into the realms of the unknown. I think making this kind of transformation always requires some extreme trigger, like death or a complete emotional or financial breakdown although there are people who make a conscious decision. Terri Levine might have felt she was making a conscious decision to completely transform her life while in the real sense she was simply reacting to a “crisis”-the death of her mother.
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I’ve been self employed since I left high school. Owned various businesses and when some failed I actually contemplated making a move into the corporate world. One day I went for an interview and as I saw all the poor people sitting there in cubicles I realize this was no way to live life. Let’s face it, even working at McDonalds is better than sitting in a cubicle and getting paper cuts everyday. I truly hope more people can read and appreciate this post for what it is. A guide to being a free spirit!
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Awesome article with an amazing uplifting finish. It’s great to see someone that can just plan prepare and succeed. These same things can also be put to use when you are looking for work in a job or a career. Building yourself to have enough confidence to quit a job is just as important on the flip side building the confidence to go and get that job. Great post again it shows that for all those wanting to get out of our jobs there are ways to do it and ways into the career you want.
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What a novel idea, worrying more about the imprint that you leave on the world over the money that you accumulate. In a time when it really doesn’t matter how hard you try, you can’t get ahead, maybe it is time for us all to switch gears and realize that maybe it isn’t about the money we earn, but the respect we earn from the things that we do in this life. I think if we all saw things under a different perspective, we might all live a happier, and more rewarding life. Thanks for the suggestion, I hope you can accumulate a lot of followers to your quest.
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