One of my favorite authors and life coaches is Martha Beck. I completed her 8-month life coach training program in 2007. She’s wise, whip smart, hilariously funny, irreverent and able to discuss woo woo and scientific studies in the same breath.
With three degrees from Harvard she has respectable credentials and is no stranger to thinking way outside the conventional box. I like the way her mind works. I’ve been a fan since her first book and I’ve read every book she’s written since.
In Martha’s latest book, Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaim Your True Nature to Create the Life You Want, she discusses how we are now living in a world that is changing at a dizzying pace.
She says that, “Even professional futurists have no idea what the world will look like in the coming decades…” However, they do believe there are some notable trends. With many of our economic structures collapsing and changing form in unprecedented ways, huge numbers of people have been displaced from jobs and careers they once thought were safe.
While this has created a certain level of chaos, it has also created a unique opportunity. The choice here is to fight this reality and continually try to find a similar job that may no longer exist, or to discover your true nature and forge a new, more authentic path.
While this choice may sound very challenging, sometimes there is simply no other way to go. Martha explains that one of the new trends in our changing world is the high value placed on authenticity and that authentic self-expression will lead to success and prosperity.
Finding one’s authentic self-expression and figuring out how to make a living at it takes courage and often some support and deep healing.
Yet, many folks are being called to do this like never before. I see this daily with the clients I work with. Many have lost jobs and careers over the past 5-6 years and are feeling a deep need and urge to do something new, something they can’t quite explain or put into words.
Essentially they want to live lives with deeper meaning, make a valuable contribution, and bring their gifts more fully into the world. This frequently takes the form of self-employment which may be the only true “security” in this wild new world we now find ourselves living in.
Martha refers to these folks with this deep calling as part of “The Team.” She describes this Team as being made up of individuals who often feel somehow different or out of place, unclear about what they are meant to do, but feel an urgent pull to figure it out and make their contribution.
Apparently the Team members are here to help heal the earth and its inhabitants at this difficult time and to assist in the great transition we find ourselves going through. She also refers to these Team members as way finders. Wayfinders are compelled to heal themselves so they can help heal others and the planet as a whole.
Martha lists several characteristics of a Team member or wayfinder. Here are a few. See if you can relate:
- A sense of having a specific mission or purpose involving a major transformation in human experience, but being unable to articulate what this change might be.
- A strong sense that the mission, whatever it is, is getting closer in time.
- A compulsion to master certain fields, skills, or professions, not only for career advancement, but in preparation for this half-understood personal mission.
- Loneliness stemming from a sense of difference, despite high levels of social activity.
- Very high levels of emotional sensitivity, often leading to predilections for anxiety, addiction, or eating disorders.
- Difficult early life, often with a history of abuse or childhood trauma.
- High creativity; passion for music, poetry, performance, or visual arts.
- Intense connection to certain types of natural environments, such as the ocean, mountains, or forest.
There are 10 more traits that she lists as being common for members of the Team. I encourage you to read the book for the rest.
How do you relate? Are you on the Team?
I know I am. I find it comforting to know this is a trend and that, if on the Team, we are not alone.
If you are still reading this, you may be on the Team. Where are you on your path to authentic self-expression? Do not feel dismayed if you feel lost and confused. It is a challenging path. There is help available from other Team members who may be further along than you.
Don’t hesitate to reach out and find the help you need to find your path. The world is waiting for your gifts and contribution.
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