‘My worst fears have come true; what am I going to do now?’ It makes you realize you will only find true success when you follow your passion,” she says.


In the midst of uncertainties, many are asking, “Why am I here?”


Fashion a Passion-Driven Life


Realize Your Purpose and Feed Your Soul by Lisa Marshall


T


hree years ago, Cindy Readnower felt as if work was swallowing her life. As a single mom with


two sons to support and two franchise restaurants to run in Sarasota, Florida, she routinely would get up at 4 a.m. and go to bed after midnight. She didn’t see enough of her boys. “I never had a free moment to just shut down and think


about what I really wanted,” she recalls. Then the economy collapsed, forc- ing her to shutter her businesses, file for bankruptcy and consult with a career counselor to plan her next steps. Today, at 57, she’s working as a life coach and business consultant and as she sees it, living the life she is meant to live. “When you hit hard times and say,


Readnower represents what some


see as the silver lining in these challeng- ing economic times. At a time of high unemployment, when some can’t find a job and others are working grueling hours to compensate for laid-off co- workers, many Americans are stepping off the corporate hamster wheel and sincerely asking themselves: “What is my purpose here, and how can I realize it?”


Purpose Over Profits According to a recent study by the nonprofit Encore.org, which helps older Americans pursue more meaningful ca- reers, as many as 9 million people ages 44 to 70 have already transitioned into encore careers that combine purpose, passion and a paycheck. Another 31 million would like to. Meanwhile, surveys show that


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new college grads are increasingly gravitating toward nonprofit and public sector jobs that feed their souls more than their bank accounts. Off-the-clock volunteerism is soaring. Due to work- ing and earning less, people are also consuming less, cooking, sewing and gardening more, rediscovering forgotten passions and relationships and finding new ones in the process. “When the economy tanked, it prompted a real moment of spiritual awakening for all of us,” observes Sue Frederick, of Boulder, Colorado, a nationally renowned career counselor who also applies her intuitive skills in helping clients like Readnower find their muse. “We are no longer able to hide out behind jobs and benefits that might not have been a good fit for us to begin with. People are remembering their soul’s mission and waking up to the true work they are intended to do.” At the leading edge of the purpose-


driven career movement is the millenni- al generation, now in their 20s through early 30s. Having come of age amidst the Enron Corporation scandal, 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the 2008 economic collapse, they’re graduat- ing from college with a more holistic perspective on what constitutes a good


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