A Wish From the Heart

One day, I just couldn’t take it anymore. Life was becoming too hard to bear. I felt I couldn’t take it anymore, so I prayed a prayer I’ve never said before. It went like this…

“God, things are just too hard for me right now. I know you are there and you know I am here. Please give me a sign. Give me a sign to let me know that you love me and you will take care of me.”

Then the day went on. I forgot I prayed this prayer.

I ended up having an awesome day. I haven’t had a day like that before. My husband took me out on a date, bought us some bikes, and ended the day with ice cream.

We want back home and he took a nap. A knock on the door.

It was my neighbor with a handful of daffodils in her hand. She said she’s been meaning to say hi, but haven’t had the chance out of being busy as well as honestly sharing being afraid to reach out. But today, she said that she just had to knock on my door. She had been cooking and was in the middle of things, but she said she just felt she had to drop everything and knock on my door.

She gave me the daffodils. I shared how I was having a hard time.

Then she prayed for me.

A strong wind came out of nowhere as she put her hand on my shoulder to pray for me.

I was amazed.

She gave me a very long healing hug and at that moment, I remembered my prayer earlier that day.

A prayer answered. =)

My eyes became open to everything around me, and I wrote the song below because I was completely inspired by the situation.

A Love Beyond Compare

Sometimes we need a little help from

Those that are round us to lift us up

From the ground, to the sky, then to the sun above

 

I know that our lives may seem like it’s so full

I know that it seems we have so little time

To give thanks, to laugh, to take a break sometimes

 

Look at the trees they just stand right there

Sway with the wind without a little care

So tall, so strong, so faithful to the world

 

Look all around you there’s a glimpse of

Something beyond the things you think of

From a smile, a hug, a love beyond compare

How to start making your dreams come true

Is there something you want to do? Is there an idea that is stirring in your heart and mind that would just not leave you alone? What if you learned some simple ways to begin? Would you do it?

From abstract to concrete

This post is all about teaching you how to make something abstract into something concrete and manageable.

Almost 2 years ago, I had an idea. An idea that I wanted to sing, write, lead, and motivate. At that time, I was on my final streak of career pursuits that I wasn’t made for. It took hitting rock bottom to realize this.

Left with no money, a need to get any job, and a dream, I had to make some decisions. I took up any part-time jobs I could get. I worked at a coffeehouse and at a retail store. On my free time, before and after work, I spent time doing the things I really wanted to do.

“How do you start making your dreams come true? You start right now without any permission.” @LnLRevolution

You start because you said so and don’t let anyone stop you from doing so.

Get yourself out there

I wanted to sing, so I wrote songs and shared them at open mics before I thought they were “good enough.” You just have to get yourself out there. I wanted to write, so I started writing a book. Those attempts eventually led to the current “real” book I’m writing now. I wanted to motivate, so I created a speech and submitted it for a local Ted talk.

Start out of nowhere

How you make your dreams into something concrete is by starting. When you start somewhere, seemingly out of nowhere, you learn, you discover. You learn more about what it is that you want to do. You get better. You start to refine your goals. You enable yourself to know more when you get into the nitty gritty of doing it.

Here’s my question to you:

What is something you dream of doing? What is something simple you can start today?

I would love to hear!

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Set yourself free

What I learned this week is that we can try to control ourselves so much at times that we fail to ever realize our potential, maybe an energy we never thought we had. A liveliness that we could have only ever imagined we could experience.

Yes, control in life is good, but of course too much is not good either. Then how do we know where the sweet spot is between both? We just live and figure it out.

This can be scary for people who have held such a tight grip on their lives that letting go is as scary as going skydiving (if you’re afraid of heights). But we all hear of stories of people who have gone skydiving. They were terrified of jumping out of the plane, but once they did, oh boy was it amazingly thrilling!

Now I’m not saying to lose control, but allow yourself to live and figure it out. Don’t hold back so much that you never discover a type of freedom that you could have only experienced if you let go.

Set yourself free.

Inspired again!

I just got the book Platform by Michael Hyatt, and I am inspired again. I started to settle on my big dreams and he reminded me to remember what my original vision was. I created this video just several months ago. Rewatching it helped me remember my passion and clarity. I’m gonna get back to making it happen exactly how I envisioned it.

Here’s the description of the video I posted on YouTube several months ago:

My talk is about inspiring people to do the one thing they are passionate about and being strategic about it. The way I do that is through my music. My set is called Wake Up and Live with Jamie and I’ve been performing this for a little over a year now. I inspire people by sharing my story, struggle, and success. I start with talking about living a life that I wasn’t excited about, then sharing the moment when I decided to pursue my passion, then I end with how I did it and what success I’ve achieved so far. The framework I use for my talk include information from 3 books that have been instrumental in guiding this new venture of mine. “The One Thing” by Gary Keller, “The Charge” by Brendan Burchard, and “Uncertainty” by Jonathan Fields. Gary’s book focuses on talking about the importance of cutting through all the clutter of information we have by focusing on the one thing you’re passionate about. Brendan’s book focuses on the need to be strategic about pursuing your passion. Jonathan’s book guides people on how to be relentless in pivoting your passion until it’s a viable course of action.

My life started when I finally let myself admit to the one thing I’m passionate about…music. I took the leap of faith and started putting in the hard work it takes to become successful in it. Brendan’s book helped me learn the need to be strategic about success in music instead of hoping I succeed by chance. I’ve created a 5 year plan, yearly plan for each of those years, and then monthly and weekly plans. I’ve already completed by first year’s plans; for this month of October, completed the first several weeks; and just two days ago, checked off another goal for this month to book and play at my first Kalamazoo gig by October 31st.

In the end, I talk about how some people may get turned off because of misconceptions that pursuing your passion shouldn’t be hard work and should just be fun. I turn that around by saying that:

“When you put in the hard work and intentionality towards your passion, you come to life and have the best time of your life. @LnLRevolution” (click to tweet)

What’s your one thing? Wake up and live and go after it.

Monday Storytelling: I took a road trip

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I believe there is a constant war going on in our soul. It’s the war between shrinking back or rising up to the challenges that come our way. One day I took a much need road trip because this war was just becoming a little too much for me. I needed to get away and figure things out.

You see, I’m normally someone who doesn’t have the best habits or discipline; however, lately, I’ve been doing really well. I have a couple of awesome jobs I really like. On top of that, I’m pursuing my dreams and using my gifts and talents. Things are going great. When things go great, I notice that I sometimes I want to change things up. I don’t get this.

I’m also someone who likes to control things and I wanted to figure out why I do this so I can eliminate this problem in my life. In essence, I wanted to figure out a formula to control life. Because truth is, life can be messy. If you don’t experience struggle or hardship in life, you’re probably living life in a bubble and not growing, challenging, and reaching your potential.

The thing is: “There is no solution to life. The only way to go through life is to live it. To go through the ups and downs and learn from it. @LnLRevolution.” To grow into knowing more and more of yourself, so you can learn to master your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths.

I wrote this song, War, after my road trip. Once I realized I couldn’t figure out how to avoid the struggle, pain, and drama in life, I realized that’s just life…we experience struggle, pain, and drama. However, I’m not going to leave it there because that’s not the main point.

The main point is that we can decide to either shrink back or rise up to the challenge to whatever life throws our way. We are more powerful than we think and if we decide to use the powerful spirit and mind we all have, we can win this war in life by becoming stronger and wiser and becoming exactly the amazing and talented person we were meant to be.

Lyrics to the song:

Another day the sun is rising
Hit the road
Turn on my tune
On the radio

Wide open space feel like I’m free
Hit the gas
No place to go
Just drive to anywhere

Taking time
Need a break from myself
There’s a war inside
Ready to break out again

This war
Will last all of my life
Need a way to getaway
From the insanity

Woah…there’s a war inside my very soul
Woah…constant drama for the rest of my life

I’ve wondered what is wrong with me
Am I going crazy
Losing it
Or acting out

They told me it’s all in my mind
Go to bed
When you wake up
It will all be fine

But all hell broke loose for me
All my guts
Spilled on the floor
Could not contain myself

I said there she goes again
Here’s to the cycle
Of the circus
Playing in my mind

Awkward Beginnings and Proving Them Wrong

My dream is to see a world where the norm is for people to pursue their life’s work. This is my dream because I’m a very observant and sensitive person and I see so many people who are stressed out and unhappy. This really makes me sad. Working in customer service where I talk to so many people and come across so many people, a common observation I have when having small talk with people is that many of them had similar things to say. In response to “What are you up to today?” A common response is to first sigh and then say, “Oh I have work.” Or a response to how are you doing is something along the lines of sarcastically saying, “Living the dream.” I know it’s just small talk, but being a sensitive person and person that hopes so much for people, this isn’t okay for me. Something needs to be done.

Fear of beginning

So the dream I wish to see…I’m taking on the job to make it a reality in the world. I just recorded my first training video ever and I was extremely afraid to do it. I didn’t understand why I was so afraid because I have been on a roll in doing what I love to do and not feeling afraid. I realize now that was the case because I started getting in the habit of doing what I was doing. Now, I was doing something for the first time again. I had to get back to the knowledge I learned on how to do something you’re afraid of for the first time.

Fear is a good sign

I went back to the framework I wrote. In terms of fear, learned from Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art, fear is an indicator that that’s the next work you need to do. In my Make The Switch Framework, I write that you will always know the next thing to do. This video was it for me. So remembering Pressfield’s advice and my framework, I decided to just do it. Looking back, I realized I was afraid because I thought I had to wait for someone to give me the permission to do something I really wanted to do. I quickly learned that that permission wasn’t coming and that I have to give myself the permission to just begin. Another reason I was so afraid was thinking, “Who am I to do this work? I’m a nobody…what am I thinking.” Wrong, I am a somebody with a specific set of gifts and talents that I’m meant to give to the world.

You can figure it out

There’s this belief that holds back so many people that when you start off you should be an instant success, that you shouldn’t have unpromising beginnings or awkward starting moments. This is untrue because upon 2 years of studying people who do their life’s work, almost every single one of them had to begin unknown, awkwardly, and figure it out. So the most common way of realizing your dreams is actually just beginning smack dab where you are and figuring it out. In my framework, I write about how people have a powerful mind that can figure anything out. The majority of people just don’t know this though because they haven’t used their mind in this way before. You’ll surprise yourself. You’ll be able to figure everything out step by step. The process is begin, learn, and grow and then fail, learn, and begin again. In this way, failure as we knew it is no longer an end, but a beginning to the next upward step towards realizing your dreams.

Prove them wrong

With the end of Super Bowl, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson totally inspired me. In reading about his story, he could’ve gone pro in baseball. Everyone advised him to do baseball, but he had this fire in him that wanted to do football. Being 5’11, it makes it very hard to succeed in football, let alone convince a team that you would be an asset, but against all odds he did it. He said he went for football because he wanted to prove everyone wrong.

Don’t let anything stop you from pursuing that burning desire in your heart. There is no type of work that is better than the other. The best work that helps you and the whole wide world is only the work that in your heart you really want to create in the world. Don’t listen to anything or anyone but your heart. You have a powerful mind, you can figure it out. You have strength of character that you never knew you have, you can stand against fear and all other things that get in your way.

I want to see a world where people fulfill their dreams and do their life’s work because it’s so possible. It’s my job to spread the awareness of the limitless possibilities.

Jamie Pennelly is the founder of Live and Love Again Revolution that spreads the message to “Live your best life and love what you do.” Her newest work is the Make The Switch Framework on how to make the switch from “just getting a job” to “doing your life’s work.” To learn more about the work she does and social media platforms visit: https://liveandloveagainrevolution.wordpress.com/about-me/.

A message of hope for the world

Lately I’ve been thinking about how awesome the world could be for people. What I have noticed is that we have such an amazing and obvious resource that we have forgotten to utilize in our time. With the rise of unprecedented technology, we have had our eyes on technology to make the world a better place, yet we are seeing that technology maybe isn’t our only hope or our best hope.

In this post, I wanted to talk about the underutilized resource of human beings. We are underutilizing the power, gifts, and talents each human being holds to make the world a better place. I’m talking about empowering human beings for real, for the first time.

I say for the first time because we have not really given thought to the power of each person and the power that creates as the whole human race. We do not have systems that truly discover each person’s individual gifts, then allow that gift grow, and then send them off to do the work they are supposed to do. The system we have in place creates an individual who is not in touch with their gift, their power, who is taught to just follow, and who is taught to be afraid. Afraid of not being able to survive, pay the bills, have enough for retirement, and at last, afraid of death. The system we have in place is a system of fear.

My message of hope for the world is that we can create a system of faith. A system that has faith that we have the resources to survive and thrive in the world. The most important resource we have to enable everyone to survive and thrive are people. Each person has a set of gifts and talents that they are given to make the world a better place. What needs to happen is that people need awareness that they have a set of gifts and talents, they need to be taught how to discover them, then encouraged to start using them to allow it to grow and develop to its potential, and lastly, they need to be supported as they realize their gifts and talents in the world. In rereading the several lines in bold, I realize we do not do this. Instead of support, people are left on their own and even discouraged when they start to think and dream of the beautiful gifts they can give to the world. My message of hope is that this can change. Not for generations to come, today. 

Spend time to discover your gifts and talents.

Start using them in any way to allow it to grow and develop.

Realize your gifts, talents, and dreams in the world. 

Let’s do it together.

Jamie Pennelly is the founder of Live and Love Again Revolution that spreads the message to “Live your best life and love what you do.” Her newest work is the Make The Switch Framework on how to make the switch from “just getting a job” to “doing your life’s work.” To learn more about the work she does and social media platforms visit: https://liveandloveagainrevolution.wordpress.com/about-me/.

What’s your dream?

There was a time where I didn’t enjoy going to work. A time where I didn’t enjoy life. I just felt frustrated and negative all the time. I spent my time numbing the pain from it all by overeating, overworking, and overspending. I had to do it over the top because that was the only way I got the effects of being able to get to a point of no longer being able to feel.

And then through the drama of my life, I realized that perhaps I was ready for a different way of life. The things that I thought made me happy were no longer making me happy. I grew up a little and realized that maybe I wanted to do something real.

It took some time to relearn how to live life and relearn how to feel. After a couple of years, I am at a place I have never been before. I feel healthy, strong, and confident in who I truly am.

I hope you enjoy the new and real me. =)

http://jamiepennelly.bandcamp.com/album/make-the-switch-framework

You have work to do.

We have entered the time to change how we go about work. It’s time to do real work. Real work is based on the purpose you were met to fulfill on earth. Your purpose is as simple as this…to come alive. Nothing else.

To come alive, you have to pursue your biggest dream. No dream is impossible. It’s all possible. You have the mind, talents, and gifts to do it. Many haven’t used or realized that they have these tools. It’s time to do it differently. Pursue your biggest dream. You’ll surprise yourself.

Don’t worry about details. Just start with the first thing you know you need to do. As you do this daily, you will gain momentum and get there at the right time; however, it’s time to no longer delay.

If you want a framework on how to start pursuing your biggest dream, read the complete make the switch framework. It’s available to download for free in the link below. You will receive a free mp3 with an introduction of the framework and a free PDF of the complete framework.

http://jamiepennelly.bandcamp.com/album/make-the-switch-framework

I love to sing! Make The Switch: Framework on how to do the things you love

Hey Everyone!

I love to sing and write songs. Here’s one of my recent songs called “The Best Thing.” At the end of the video, I talk about a framework I used on how to do the things I love as my life’s work. We’re coming across a time where the time has come to do your life’s work. “Just getting a job” no longer applies.

Every single person has a specific purpose to fulfill in their life

Each and every single person, no matter their background, past failings, or level of confidence, has a specific purpose to fulfill in their life. The easy part is that you’ve already been given the gifts, talents, and mind to accomplish that purpose. You’ve had it all along ever since you were born. The hard part knowing that and then making the switch. In the framework, you will learn about the truth of how important your hearts desires are and how to make that switch. I focus on how to make that switch, first in your mind, and then in what you do because it is the hardest thing to do. There are so many people who already know what they love and what they would like their life’s work to be, but haven’t made the switch. It’s understandable because there are so many roadblocks and fears associated with it. Many of which are unnecessary, but  have been led to falsely believe them.

Now is the time

Now is the time. You can make the switch. I wish you the best. I want to see a world where people have come alive because they are fulfilling their life’s purpose. No purpose is better than the other, no life’s work is better than the other. What you truly love and desire is  crucial data on what your life’s work is. When you make the switch, you’ve already made the world a better place.

How to get the free copy of the complete Make The Switch Framework

Follow the link below. You will be directed to my online store where you can download the framework for free. You will receive a free mp3 of the introduction of the framework and a free PDF of the complete framework. You will learn about the 5 things you need to know to make the switch.

http://jamiepennelly.bandcamp.com/album/make-the-switch-framework