Living your Potential by Jeanne Weikert, Ph D
published in the November, 2008 edition of Garden State Woman

Lisa had created a good life for herself, and her work as a Chief Executive Officer had been a very rewarding part of it. Recently, however, she had been experiencing a vague uneasiness that was difficult for her to understand. She noticed that she was having feelings and desires that were new. She wanted something more of her life, and something different in her future. She wanted to be different. She didn’t know how to deal with the feelings and she did not understand where they were coming from. She even wondered if she was behaving like a child, and if she should just grow up and ignore her feelings.

Lisa is not alone, since many people have similar experiences. These feelings may show up during times of transition. They may arrive in midlife when responsibilities for family and work allow more freedom to explore what we really want for the future. We can try to ignore these feelings, or we can appreciate that they may signal a need for exploration of new possibilities in our life journey to self-awareness. The need that Lisa and surprisingly many others have leads us to another question: how and where do we find help in allowing us to understand our own potential? We instinctively know that answering these inner questions could be enormously beneficial, but having support during the process would make it easier.

We are in the midst of one of the most unique periods in human history. People can look forward to many more years of healthy living. In addition, the first wave of the “boomer” generation is approaching retirement. These two factors present new challenges for our society. As a result, we need to discover new models for creative living. What were useful guidelines for our parents do not fully meet the needs of our generation. We have more time, opportunity, and often the resources to enable us to grow into our unique potential.

I have worked as a therapist for much of my professional life. Also, I have worked with terminally ill patients who were under hospice care. In doing this, I developed enormous respect for the resiliency of the human spirit. People want, and in some cases demand to grow. They want to live full, authentic lives—even under the most difficult of circumstances. As I began to work with business CEOs like Lisa, I learned how much need there is for an educational program dedicated to personal growth. I found that many people want a place and a structure where time is taken just for self-exploration. This is not a reparative or healing process, but a creative one. As the times present dramatic changes, this type of creative process becomes a very important resource.

We developed an educational process where the environment, the curriculum, and the community were dedicated to exploring and understanding one’s personal story. It was designed to work organically. Each unit built upon earlier ones. This model created a natural rhythm
for exploration and change. What most impressed us all were the benefits experienced by the participants. Working with CEO’s, many of whom are entrepreneurs, is an experience in itself. Our members have always appreciated the bottom line, a return on time and resources invested. They bring an expectation of success with them and know what works in their lives. With all this energy and knowledge available, a new business was about to be born. We call our venture New Life Institute, and it is now available to a much wider audience as one-day seminars and discussions.

For more information, visit NewLife-Institute.com or contact Jeanne via email at JWeikert@NewLife-Institute.com.

www.gswoman.com, Issue 54, Garden State Woman