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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Mindy, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Mindy Audlin: Absolutely.  This is Mindy Audlin, and I am the author of What If It All Goes Right?  Creating a New World of Peace, Prosperity, and Possibility.

Toni: I love that title!  So this is going to be … I think inspiration might be really tough for you to answer, but …

Mindy: That’s what it’s all about.

Toni: Mindy, when you think about inspiration, who do you inspire, and how does that happen?

Mindy: Well, I think it begins with ourselves.  We have to keep ourselves inspired, and then as we inspire ourselves, then our life becomes, you know, the inspiration for other people.  So I think the journey … what I teach people is, you know, it starts from within.  How do we use our own imagination to get ourselves inspired about what we’re doing, and then we do it, and then people look at that and say “Wow, if you can do that, then I can do that” and it sends out these wonderful waves and ripples of possibility into the world.

Toni: Can you give me an example of how someone might use their imagination to inspire themselves?

Mindy: Yes.  Well, we always use that wonderful little phrase “what if?” because people use those two words … use their imagination in ways that can really uninspire them.  What if it doesn’t work?  What if it’s a disaster, and it’s like, oh, the inspiration disappears.  We teach people how to use “what if?” in a way that builds the inspiration.  So what if it’s easy, and what if it’s possible?

And it can be anything from, you know … I’ve had people who have been laid off and are feeling really down.  “How do I take that next step?  I don’t know what to do.”  We “what if?”  “What if this is a perfect time in your life to reinvent yourself?  What if you’re getting more in tune with your values than ever before?”

I’ve had people who have had illness who have used “what if?” to reframe how they are relating to that illness.  You know, “What if this is an opportunity for me to slow down?  What if this is a chance for me to appreciate my life more?”  And it helps them go through the healing process more gracefully and without it being something that takes them down, but something that actually lifts them up and pulls them forward in their life.  There’s really no limit to the way that you can use the question “what if?” to inspire yourself.

Toni: How does that help someone explore their potential?

Mindy: Well, I think that once we unlock our imagination, the potential is already there.  We are … in my belief, we are spiritual beings, and we are here to grow and to expand and to evolve, and our imagination is really what lets us do that.  So we’re unlocking the imagination and letting people really take wings to see what is possible, and then taking from those ideas moving into our wisdom to know “What is it that’s mine to do? “

Toni: I would imagine that there’s a bit of courage that comes along with this?

Mindy: Yeah, it’s really interesting.  For different people, they respond to it differently.  A lot of people, we’ve been so ingrained in “what if down” thinking, that to even step into the possibility that, what if it does go right?  You know, “What if I am worthy of this?  What if this calling that is mine is really something that I can do?”  I think it does take a leap of courage to really entertain those thoughts, and at the same time it’s such an exciting thing to get reacquainted with who we are.

So many of us are so … you know, we’re so far from who we are when we start thinking, you know, what if it doesn’t work?  And course, you know, these ideas that we have that our imagination can take us so far off course that when we do decide “Okay, you know what, I’m not going to do that anymore.  What if today is the day I do something different?  What if today is the day I get back on track with expressing who I am and living authentically?”

That is a courageous act, and it’s an exciting thing to do, so it’s kind of fun to have all those feelings and emotions happening at the same time with all that going on.  Really, miracles start showing up for people.  It’s exciting.

Toni: I like that – miracles start to show up.  What inspires you?

Mindy: I am inspired by my three-year-old little girl who is absolutely gorgeous, and I see her and the way she interacts with the world, and it inspires me to want to make a greater difference in the world.  I’m inspired by nature.  I love taking hikes and being out and seeing the natural order of things and seeing how beautiful it is.  I’m inspired by my husband, who is such a great supporter, and we love to brainstorm together.  We inspire each other.

I’m inspired by, like you said, the courage from people that I meet, just of all ages, from all backgrounds.  People that come together and they say “You know, what if we really can make a difference?  What if I do something I’ve never done before?  What if it really does matter that we show up when the calling is ours?”

Toni: Mindy, have you always shown up this way?  Have you always been a “what if?” possibilities thinker?

Mindy: I’ve always been a happy person.  People have always wondered what kind of weird thing I’m trying to cover up for because I always seem so happy.  Once people get to know me, like, wait, that’s actually … that’s pretty much accurate.   I have a pretty optimistic point of view, so I’m very, very grateful for that because I really think that once we can look at opportunities in everything … once we can look at everything that happens in our life, that’s … you know, we all have ups and downs and struggles and triumphs.

It’s really … I believe the quality of our life is determined by how we chose to perceive those events.  How do we choose to perceive the challenges and how do we perceive the triumphs?  And if we can see that we’re growing and that we’re on purpose and that we get to truly follow our bliss and follow our heart and be who we feel called to be, then that’s a joy-filled life, and I think that’s really ultimately what we all want.

Toni: It’s interesting, with the Get Inspired! Project a lot of people talk about passion and purpose, and not really … there are many people that don’t know what their purpose is, and I go back to one of the best things I’ve ever heard, just simply stated, Danielle LaPorte – I’m going to give her the credit for this, that’s who I heard it from – she said once, “What do people thank you for?”

Mindy: Oh, that’s a good question.

Toni: And if you can answer that, you might begin to unravel what your purpose is.

Mindy: Oh, that’s a great question, yes.

Toni: And so do you have any advice or any statements to that question of “What is my purpose?” and “Do I need to know what my purpose is?”  How do you come at that?

Mindy: Right.  Well, I think ultimately our purpose is to live in joy, to live life, and live it abundantly.  I think that’s what we’re here to do.  And how that shows up, it could be a billion different ways.  And I think that we each discover it for ourselves.

I think what happens a lot of times is that we think we’re supposed to know it right now, and so when we don’t know it right now, we kind of beat ourselves up.  “Oh, I see all these other people and they know their purpose, and I don’t know my purpose.  I wish I knew my passion like that person knows their passion.”  So we kind of get down on ourselves because we don’t have it as fast as someone else, or it’s not as clear as maybe we see it in other people.

One of the things I write about in my book is not getting attached to the process and actually loving where you are, because when you can love where you are, it just nurtures the process.  It gives us more fertile soil to create what we want.

So if we can say “You know, I may not have the clarity right now, but I know that I’m on track.  I know that I’m on my way, and I can love being in the unfolding of it, because I know that it’s leading me to that passion and purpose.  And I know I’m going to get there.  I’m going to look back and I’m going to appreciate the whole journey – not just the end destination, but the whole journey.”

The sooner we can get that, the sooner we put ourselves on that fast track to be able to have that purpose-filled, passionate life.

Toni: So what do you do now to explore your own potential?

Mindy: Well, I teach and I write and I blog.  I spend a lot of time in nature and a lot of time playing.  That’s the great thing about being a mom, I get to play a lot.  And really, I think creativity is so much a part of our nature that any opportunity to stretch our minds and put ourselves in new environments … I go to the zoo, I go to the museums.  I try to do lots of different things to just kind of stay alive and alert and see new possibilities.

Toni: Well thank you so much for all the information that you have given.  You can hear how happy you are in your voice, and I love the title of your book.  We will have a link to be able to find more information about you at the end of the transcript, and for just showing up today and being present with to the Get Inspired! Project, we cannot thank you enough.

Mindy: Thank you.  It’s been an absolute delight.  Thank you, Toni.

Toni: Take care, Mindy.

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For more information about Mindy Audlin:  www.whatifup.com, www.mindyaudlin.com

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Paula, for agreeing to do this interview for us, and before we go into the questions, I’m going to ask if you could introduce yourself and tell us what you do?

Paula Harvey: Okay, my name is Paula Harvey, and I’m a life transition coach, and I help people to identify and align with their passions.

Toni: Okay, well that leads us great into the very first question, and that question is, the work that you do, who do you inspire and how do you do that?

Paula: Well, you know, it’s really interesting.  As I was looking at these questions and thinking about it, it not only is my clients, but friends, family, anyone I work with, and it’s kind of on two levels.  I hope to inspire by just being who I am and being an example in how I’m being in the world; and when I’m working with my clients, I inspire them by helping them to identify their passions and then to really connect with them from their heart, not just their head.

It’s an amazing process to watch them go through that and begin to really see the possibilities that are out there for them when they go, “Oh, wow, you know, that has been something I’ve always wanted to do”, or “I just love that.”  So helping them to really connect with that energy and then work from that place of inspiration is what I like to do.

Toni: Can you tell me or explain just a little bit of how you go about that, when you’re trying to connect — whether it’s your relationships or your clients and you’re connecting with not only their head, but their heart, and being able to identify those possibilities with them — can you give an example of how you do that?

Paula: Well, there’s a number of ways through the coaching process.  Obviously, they are asking very powerful questions to them, as well as I have a process that I take them through that’s called The Passion Test, and it’s a very powerful process where they list out the things that are important to them, and then I take them through a process to actually pick their top 5, and it’s really interesting for them.   I have people that say, “Oh, I know what they are,” but I go, “Well, let’s just go through the process” and it comes out differently after we go through the process and they are surprised.

As I take them through the process, I encourage them; I know it’s not always easy to get out of their head, and I take them into their body and say, “Okay, when I’m asking you these questions, where do you feel it in your body,” so that they are connecting to their whole person, if you will, not just their head; so that they can answer from a different place than where their mind may think they should be.

Toni: Oh, I see, okay … and then through that inspiration process of identifying where their passion lies — going through this test that you use in identifying the top passions — how does that, and does it, work with how you help them explore their potential?

Paula: Yes, that definitely, because so many times … well number one, at least for me … my experience was that I never really thought about what I was passionate about, and the idea of working or following those passions was just kind of foreign to me.  That number one is an eye opener to a lot of people, and then to actually help them see that there are possibilities to follow those passions; number one by helping them get clearer on it.  I help them see the possibilities, and we do that by just brainstorming.  What would this look like when they’re done, when they were actually living there?  Then keeping them in that possibility place rather than the “how to” because people always want to jump right to the how to.  I really want to connect them to that energy of feeling what it would be like when they are actually living that without attaching to any form of what that might look like.

Toni: Okay.  So, from your perspective then, how would you define the difference between possibilities and potential?

Paula: Hmmm, good question.  Right off the top of my head what’s coming up for me is potential is, I would say, what people believe about themselves; and possibilities are everything that is out there.  So to me, potential is what’s within you, and do you believe in that potential that’s within you.

Toni: And therefore, that opens the door to the possibility, which is what your process then does; it takes them through the possibilities into their potential.

Paula: Correct.

Toni: Fantastic!  Paula, what do you need to be inspired?  Where do you seek inspiration?

Paula: For me, my inspiration — and I just love the word inspiration by the way — that’s been a mantra for me for quite some time, the word inspiration.  For me, it’s just a much more comfortable place than willing myself to do something; and for me, my inspiration comes from me connecting my own passions and working with my clients, and also for me connecting with spirit.  What really gets me inspired is when I’m working with my clients and they see, they get an “ah-ha!” and they start to really believe that this is possible, and it inspires me to continue on my path to help others.

It’s really hard to explain; it’s like a whole body experience, I just get giddy and excited.  I’m inspired by them and their willingness to be open to their own personal growth to their potential, to the possibilities.  So it just really … it’s really been hard to explain, but as I said, it’s a whole body experience and keeps me going.  It feeds me; we feed each other through the process.

Toni: I want to clarify one of the statements that you made because, and then you said it again, which is the willingness; so to you, do you put, when someone is inspired, that that opens up their willingness?

Paula: It’s both.  They have to be in a place to be willing to open to the possibilities, and then it’s kind of a two-fold thing — be willing to explore — and then when they start their exploration, be willing to open.  So it’s a group process.

Toni: Right.  And so, when you’re inspiring someone, it is kind of feeding the fuel for the willingness.

Paula: Absolutely.  It is absolutely feeding that, yes.

Toni: So when you are absolutely inspired by the clients that you’re working with, and when they have that “ah-ha!” moment, do you seek other sources and resources and tools for inspiration when you’re looking for it or you need when you’re not working with your clients?

Paula: Oh yes, for myself.  I’m … what do I want to say …. a self-growth aficionado or whatever, but I love exploring how I think, how I function.  And I’m continually delving deeper into who I am and really understanding how I function and how I can be more of who I am; so I’m always looking for new tools and hearing someone say something a certain way or doing readings, taking courses.  I meditate.

I do a number of things that keep me centered in who I am, and my goal is to love life no matter what’s going on in my life, and to be in a very peaceful, centered place during whatever is occurring, whether it’s …  Life is life, so there’s chaotic times, there’s times where things go smoothly, and I would like to go through those times as peaceful and centered as possible.  So it’s a continual journey for me to learn as things come up and, believe me, I have lots of times to practice.  Life is life!

Toni: Yes it is, isn’t it?  When you are seeking inspiration and you’re looking at the self-growth and, you know, trying to live in this peaceful existence and love your life no matter what, at those times do you find that you’re exploring your own potential, that by looking for inspiration and centering yourself that that also allows you to open your own potential?

Paula: Yes, absolutely, because it’s at those times when I’m calling on that potential within me, and I’m getting this “ah-ha!” like “Wow, I didn’t know I had this in me.”  And it’s a great feeling because I think that lots of times, at least I know myself and I know others, we tend to underestimate our own potential; and when we’re faced with some things that are adversity or whatever, that potential just comes out.

Toni: And are there certain tools or techniques that you would call upon or look for when you are in that place and when you might be underestimating your own potential, that you would go to particular sources and look a little deeper?

Paula: Oh yes.  For me, one of the biggest and best tools that I use is “The Work” by Byron Katie.   My father passed a couple years ago, and I have to say that The Work was a big piece in helping me go through that.  He was sick for a year, and it really helped me deal with that and go through it in a much different space than I would have a number of years ago.

Toni: And what was this specific work?

Paula: It’s called “The Work” by Byron Katie, and it’s all about examining our thoughts.  And that’s what I’m finding very true for me is that our thoughts cause us distress, and so by examining those thoughts, we can find a different place and go “That’s a thought.”  And it’s all about being in the moment.  “In this moment, I’m okay.  It’s that thought that’s causing me stress in this moment.”

Toni: So I’m understanding from what you’ve given during this interview today that the work that you do with others — to help them understand their own potential that they can then drive a belief to what’s possible — and that the work you do with yourself — which is calling on your own potential and at times you might underestimate your potential also drives the belief to what’s possible for you and to stay in that moment — which then, I believe, then transfers to how you’re helping others identify their passion, keeping the possibilities open, and keeping them very powerful.  So the way that it has come across to me in this interview is that the work that you do for yourself in that self-growth and potential and possibilities is what leads you to help others find their passion.

Paula: I couldn’t have said it better!

Toni: Well, I’ll tell you, Paula, thank you so very much  for providing this insight into your approaches to inspiration and exploration and also what you need so that others can learn and benefit by it, and I can’t thank you enough for participating in this project.

Paula: Oh, thank you very much.  I’m really excited about your project, so I’m glad I’m a part of it.

Toni: Thank you very much and hopefully we’ll talk soon.

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For more information about Paula Harvey:  www.DesigningAPassionateLife.com

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Toni Reece: Before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Joyce Dowling: I’m Joyce Dowling, and I’m a community activist, Unitarian Universalist activist, a website developer, and a substitute teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Toni: Oh my goodness, that’s a lot of things that you do, Joyce.

Joyce: In the past I’ve had other titles as well.  I like a varied life, and I kind of go with the flow as to how I’m inspired.

Toni: Well, that leads us into the very first question, Joyce, which is with all of the hats that you wear and all the things that you do, who do you think you inspire and how do you do that?

Joyce: Well, I think I inspire other Unitarian Universalists because I work very closely with them.  I inspire some other community activists in the county.  I believe in thinking globally and acting locally, so I’m involved in community organizations.  And so I think when I work with people that I inspire them by modeling action and that I’m inspired.  I think my inspiration helps to inspire other people.

Toni: So, Joyce, when you say that by modeling action, can you give an example of how you do that that might inspire others to do the same or to take initiative in other areas?

Joyce: Well, when I first became, I would say, inspired … because previously I had a low self-esteem and thought, “Oh, the only people I could affect were people very close to me like my family.”  And I could be a good mother, but I was working as a home child care provider also, taking care of children — which I absolutely love to do — and people would call me on the phone begging me to care for their babies because they heard I was a good child care provider and they had trouble finding good child care providers.

So I realized there was a problem, and then I realized that I had some ability to affect change in that area and I worked with a family child care organization and it took a while.  When I first became a member of that organization, they were more like a club and not doing the kind of action work that I was interested in doing with them.  Eventually after months of my prodding them along to do action … I mean it was the best for us all, it was best for our children which we all cared about.  I really believed in it and eventually they did too, and we got a lot of work done.  So that’s one way.  By my working, I help inspire other people to work.

Toni: So that is your modeling action that you spoke about as far as what you do to inspire others, plus what I heard you say is that, you know, you started out years ago with a bit of low self-esteem and you were naturally doing something, taking care of children, recognized the problem and then where it became big for you was the realization that you could affect change.  And was it that realization that boosted the self-esteem that led to the possibilities and then led to the community activism?

Joyce: Yes, I’d say that really helped, but I also was raised as a Unitarian.  And I think that helped me too, because our seven principles include the belief in worth and dignity of each person, so I believed I had worth and dignity and that helped my self-esteem tremendously, but I carried that belief with me.  I just didn’t know how to use it.  And then I also believed in justice and compassion in relationships, and so that carried over into that work and working to improve the world and the environment of which we’re all a part are principles that have helped me in the work that I do as well.

Toni: When you are doing this type of work, what do you do that you believe can help others explore their own potential with the community work that you do?  You also said you work with deaf children?

Joyce: Well, I was a family child care provider for 12 years, but then I became a religious educator for several years, and then went into internet work — so it was a kind of switch — but I still was doing that work with the same communities.  And I reached out to my geographic community and got more involved in my local geographic community, so … how can I get back to …

Toni: That’s okay; the work that you’ve done then … it sounds as though you’ve taken many, many paths and you went into internet work, and you also said in the beginning of the interview that you work with children still.  And I’m wondering what you do — you may not even realize it — but what do you find yourself doing that you might help others explore their own potential?  Let’s say that you’re dealing with a child that has low self-esteem or you’re in the community work that you’re doing.  You realize that the potential of that cause that you’re working on … how would you explore that potential?  How do you go about that?

Joyce: Well, it’s much easier to see and work with children.  When I was a family child care provider, the first deaf child who came into my daycare was almost 3 years old, and he had absolutely no interest in books.  He was very physical, but I know that deaf children have a hard time learning to read on grade level, so I thought it was important to start at a young age to teach reading so that he could eventually meet grade level, which did happen.  By the age of 6, he was reading on grade level, and the way that I approached that was I saw what he was interested in.  He was interested in trucks and cars and, you know, things that moved.  And so I borrowed books from the library about trucks and cars, and so I went to what interested him to motivate him to become interested in books.  I think that works a little bit on the adult level; it’s a little bit harder sometimes to see where an adult’s interest are, and you also have to look at their strengths and skills to help them find the area in which they’d be most helpful in or most inspired by.

Toni: So basically, with the child you spoke about as an example,  you saw a need and you realized … again had the realization that it needed to change.  So you went and used any resource that you can find, i.e. the library to find the books that this child was interested in to help him read at a grade level.   Again, it repeated itself as far as the realization of what’s possible and impacting change.  I think that’s fascinating.  And when you seek inspiration yourself, Joyce, where do you go?  What do you do, and what do you need to be inspired?

Joyce: Well, remembering all these things that we’ve talked about — that I have had successes, I’ve had wonderful relationships, I’ve affected change — that helps inspire me to continue because I know that it’s possible.  I’ve always been inspired by nature and, as I said, my Unitarian Universalist principles and by other people.  And the internet these days is such an inspiration because you can connect to so many different people, and there are so many different ways of using the tool and the tool keeps changing, and it’s exciting, so that’s very inspirational to me.

Toni: So the tool that you reach for to help you inspire as well — not the only tool — is the internet because of all the information and all the possibilities that exist within the information highway, so to speak, on the internet.  And what you need for inspiration as well is to remember what’s possible and remember the work that you’ve done.  What about when you are exploring your own potential, Joyce?  How do you do that?  What tools might you reach for to continue to explore your own potential?

Joyce: I often look to other people’s feedback, because sometimes I can’t see what I’m doing best and what I can continue to excel in.  I have a meeting with somebody tomorrow who’s helping me to write a grant proposal for a nonprofit organization that I’m trying to form, and a couple of years ago someone else had sent me a link to a grant possibility because they saw that it is something that I am doing, but I have no funds to work with, and developing this nonprofit organization would be a help to my work.  So other people help me to find resources and show me what my potential might be.

Toni: So you reach out to look for not only guidance but what’s out there, what’s possible from other people’s perspective in order to keep you going, to do the work that you do.

Joyce: That’s right.

Toni: It’s been very interesting understanding just this snapshot of your particular journey at being a community activist and the work that you’re doing, how you started, who you inspire and how, and just, I think for me, might take away with your interview is that the realization that things are possible and then action to create that change is what you’ve been doing and what you seek.  And so from that perspective, I see that the people who will listen and read your interview will benefit and learn from you, and I appreciate that, and thank you so very much  for taking part in this project.

Joyce: Well thank you, too.  I think the project sounds magnificent.

Toni: Thank you, Joyce, and I look forward to talking to you soon.

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For more information about Joyce Dowling:  www.joycedowling.com

Thumbnail art for Joyce’s interview by Maia Selene Dowling.

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