BOLDNESS + BRAVERY Page 1 of 18

Doing what you love in the age of AI

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Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

– from the poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann (1927)

When my children were small, something shocking happened at the seaside playground we used to frequent. The place had a little cafe which got carefully locked up every night, with staff diligently bolting the metal shutters to the counter and double-locking the door. But one morning the manager came in to discover that thieves had taken a drill to the side of the building during the night and extracted the entire safe through the gaping hole. That’s kind of how it felt to find out about Meta’s great book heist, which I am sure you have heard about by now. According to this investigation by The Atlantic, Meta has reportedly downloaded millions of books (including ten editions of mine) from pirate database LibSyn and used them to train AI. Suddenly I could see that we have all been faffing around worrying about whether AI-generated e-books are going to affect the traditional publishing world and all the while Meta was out with its giant drill stealing all the existing books through a hole in the back of the library.

As someone who has spent countless hours (actually, years) and sacrificed many things to bring my books into the world, part of me is of course as upset about this as anyone, and wants appropriate action to be taken. To that end I have followed the advice of the trade unions, signed the petition and stand in solidarity with fellow my authors and academics. (See below for advice from the Society of Authors and Authors Guild)

However, another part of me is fascinated by the speed at which things are being disrupted and deeply curious about what the AI age might mean in terms of new possibilities for all of us, and how it might take some of the mundane stuff off our plates so we can focus on the issues that really matter.

That curious, hopeful part of me is the part which is writing to you today.

To be honest, as an author I feel pressure to be anti-AI. Of course I am as outraged as anyone else about the blatant piracy and use of our published books, and I have no intention of using AI to generate any of my creative works (other than where AI is automatically integrated into research tools). I also understand that many, many jobs are threatened by the rapidly developing technologies of our time which include AI, and I am aware of the real impact that will have on many lives. In the weeks I have been working on this essay, The Guardian-Observer newspaper has closed, H&M has announced the use of digital clones of models in its ads, and I overheard a cameraman at my local coffee shop talking about how the television industry is on its knees. This is heartbreaking. There are also huge environmental concerns relating to the proliferation of AI, and I for one won’t be wasting water and energy generating a doll image of myself anytime soon.

But I am also founder of an organisation called Do What You Love and I have spent the past fifteen years encouraging people to make the most of emerging opportunities in the face of disruptive change, to not wait for authority to tell them what to do next, and to be brave enough to choose the unconventional path, if that is right for them. This has never felt so essential.

To be hopeful in the face of rapid change is a radical act, which takes courage but opens your eyes to opportunities that only exist right now.

Click here to continue reading the rest of this essay (including journal notes to prompt your own thinking on this topic)…

Fly free my friend, fly free

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There was a hawk on my path today. It is the third time I have seen it this week, and I’m sure it’s the same one, always circling the same place. It arrived as a long shadow cast over my left shoulder, and as I looked up to see it turn towards the tree line, time folded in on itself and I was back there, in Costa Rica all those years ago, trying and failing to write a book.

Of course there is a hawk on my path today. It is the eighth anniversary of the publication of the book I was struggling to write back then, my first book Freedom Seeker. The one that set me free.

Talons. Wings. Circles. Flight paths. Control. Surrender. These words are riding the thermals as I remember the other hawk story, and measure in wingspans the trajectory that it shifted.

I’d like to share that story today, on this anniversary, and ask you a question. But first, some thoughts on nature, authenticity and control.

The Dáodéjīng (sometimes written Tao Te Ching), or The Way and its Power, is a poetic and powerful compilation of wisdom, which has become the most translated of all philosophical work in Chinese. Dating back to around 300BCE, it is traditionally attributed to a figure known as Laozi (sometimes written Lao Tzu), although it is likely to have had a long gestation in different hands.

Its mystical nature has generated a host of interpretations, but all centre on the notion of wú wéi, conventionally translated from the Chinese as ‘non-action’. This is not passivity, but rather letting things take their natural course, embracing spontaneity and not endeavouring to control things. It means having your mind perfectly attuned to an activity or situation so that no conscious effort is needed to accomplish it.

There are also frequent references to the natural world, reminding us that birds are not always in flight and the skies do not always storm. In some ways it is an ode to zìrán, the Chinese term for naturalness, or embracing things as they are.

The Dáodéjīng also emphasises de which translates from the Chinese as ‘power’ or ‘virtue’, not in the moral sense but rather as a property inherent in something2. This is sometimes described as ‘authenticity’ or ‘skill at living’.

This is the wisdom of listening, practising and trusting without trying to force outcomes.

In recent years I have discovered that this is also the wisdom of fearless writing. I absolutely did not know that when I was writing Freedom Seeker.     [… continued]

 

Click here to read the full essay for free on my Substack.

Images: Top – Berlynn. Centre + Bottom – Holly Bobbins Photography. Artwork under teapot in bottom image – Emilie van Camp.

What is wrong with me? A vulnerable share about friendship

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When my children were very young I read an article about female friendship, which gushed about the unique blessing of small circles of besties, and interviewed a number of mothers who said they had only made it through those early years thanks to late night Whatsapps with ‘the girls’. I remember wondering what was wrong with me, that there I was in my early forties, not belonging to any such WhatsApp groups or having a tight knit group of girl friends to call my own. Later that same day, my youngest daughter came up to me, caught hold of my arm, looked up with big innocent eyes and asked, “Mummy, you have friends?”

We had moved back to my hometown when she was a few weeks old. I only knew a couple of people, and was worn thin with the dual demands of parenting small children and building a business. My mum lived round the corner and did all the toddler classes while I worked on my second book. I did have friends but most of them were people I had collected on my travels and various iterations of my life overseas, and they lived hundreds – if not thousands – of miles away. Even here in the UK, my husband and I have been itinerant, moving house once every three years or so ever since we met. It’s a strange habit we have, which is great for variety, not so great for building bonds, or staying in the lives of those we move away from.

My daughter’s question stung, not so much because of my lack of local friends – I had become numb to that – but more because I worried what I was modelling for her. I was a work-obsessed hermit and she could see it. I wondered whether that was how it would always be, whether I had reached an age where I had met my quota of potential friends and not done such a good job of making the most of them. Sometimes it made me sad but mostly I didn’t have time to think about it.

Not long after that we moved (again!) to Devon, near the sea where the community is strong, people have more time for each other and I am in a slightly different life phase. I am still slow to form friendships but am grateful for each one that has come into my life these past few years. I have also been stunned by the deep connections that have been forged through the world of writing, and I would love to go back and tell my younger doubting self that there is no need to worry, some very special people will soon arrive carrying armfuls of books and joy.

One of those people is Holly Ringland, who you might know as the award winning author of two of my favourite novels, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding. Holly isn’t local to me. She lives in Australia. But she friends like someone who lives down the road and getting to know her has been a revelation. I shared one of her books on social media about five years ago, and have recommended them many times over since. That led to us striking up a conversation via Instagram DMs, and last year, when she was heading back to her second home of Manchester she dropped me a friendly note suggesting we meet up for a coffee if I was ever in town.

We ended up meeting last August. It was the strangest thing – all week I had been horizontal on my hotel room floor, or hobbling around the city with terrible back pain, and could not sit for more than a few minutes. But then I met Holly in the bar at my hotel, ordered a mocktail, started snorting with laughter at one of the hilarious things she said, sat down and stayed there for hours, absolutely fine. I see this as evidence that Holly is a magical being. I would go so far as to say I was bedazzled by her, in that her light landed on me like a sticky jewel, and never left. It was the most joyous meeting, and soon after she came down to visit us in Devon. I’ll never forget watching her sitting on a deckchair holding up a beach pebble and explaining the essence of storytelling in the simplest, most beautiful of terms to my youngest daughter, who went straight back home, started writing and didn’t stop until months later when she held in her own small hands three hardback copies of her first book, which she got printed on Snapfish with her own money.

Holly has returned to Australia now, but we text often, marvelling at all kinds of coincidences and serendipitous overlaps that seem to happen in our lives, and I am so grateful, not just for our Whatsapp group of two but for her stories, her authenticity, her hilarity and magic and for her generosity as a human being. I want you to know her too, so I have invited her to share some words here with us today. As it happens, without knowing what I was going to write about to introduce her, she wrote us an essay called ‘The Language of Strangers’ – it’s a love letter to the weirdo in each of us, and it makes me wonder whether it isn’t those inner weirdos seeing and knowing each other that is the foundation of a true friendship, and the stories that we exchange weirdo to weirdo which bind us together.

As for making friends in later life, I’ll share what my mother told me in her last days, when I asked her for friendship advice. I remember, because I wrote it down. She said, We have different friends for different life stages, and different kinds of friendships in each one. Good friendship takes work. You have to keep up with it. Going for coffee. Calling them up. Spending time. There are some times in your life when you just don’t have as much time for that as you want. If you can make the time, great, but if you can’t, don’t worry too much. Just do the best you can. If it’s just you doing the work, it’s OK to let the friendship go. More friends will come. And right now you are in a really busy life stage. I want you to have as many lovely friends as you want, but I also want you to know that when the children are older and you have more time, different people will arrive and you will be glad for them. There is no rush.

How right she was.      [… continued]

 

Click here to read the full essay including Holly Ringland’s piece ‘The Language of Strangers: a love letter to weirdos and our stories that connect us‘.

Because life is too short not to do what you love

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From my first ever photoshoot in 2016!

Friends, what a year, How are you doing, friend? The world has been rumbling these past days. I hope you are doing OK. Today’s note is a reminder that whatever life throws at us, we still get to choose how we respond to the happenings of the world, what information we take on board, where we focus our energy and attention, what kind of support systems we build, how we make a living, and ultimately what we do with each day of our precious lives. And to celebrate, because celebrating is important.

Over the years I have come to understand that doing what you love is often an act of quiet rebellion. There are opinions to ignore, norms to step around, conformity to resist, expectations to let go of, and freedom to be had. If ever there was a time for doing what you love – making art, writing books, following your heart – as an act of rebellion, surely it is now? And if not for that reason, why not do it simply because life is too short and precious not to?

Today I invite you to take a moment to step away from it all and think back to what you were doing fourteen years ago. November 2010. How was your life different? What were your dreams back then? What has come into being since then? What do you still dream of? I’d love to know.

Why November 2010? Because fourteen years ago today I registered my company, Do What You Love, and a few days later carried that certificate into a local bank branch and opened a business bank account. At the time I was still working in the corporate world as a consultant, but I had a sense that something was changing, and I wanted to get out ahead of it, and do my own thing. I had no idea what I was doing, or how I would do what I wanted to do, but I knew that I had to do something, and setting up the company was the first step towards that. Since then I have lost count of the number of people who have told me that ‘do what you love’ is terrible advice, because people have mortgages to pay and obligations to fulfil. And yet here I am, fourteen years later, grateful that I ignored them all, and that so many of you joined me along the way. Thank you, friends.

Making an important point about something or other (or trying to think straight with a toddler and a new baby in tow, back in 2016!)

When I look through the names like yours on my mailing list, or the names of people commenting on my Instagram or more recently my Substack, I recognise people who have been with me for years, some even since the beginning – people I have known longer than I have known my own children. That is wild, and a huge blessing. However you found me, whenever you became part of this community, thank you. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.

I have witnessed so many of you making brave changes as you have navigated your own paths – changing careers, moving countries, going from shy creative to flourishing business owners, or from writing your first poem since school to publishing a book. It has been an astonishing journey of growth and expansion, both my own and yours, and as I take this opportunity to reflect on these past fourteen years, I invite you to do the same.

Back in 2010, when I handed over a few pounds to open that bank account, with nothing more than a laptop and an idea and Mr K’s support, things were very different. It was the year that the iPad was born, and Instagram was first released. A billion fewer people had mobile phones. I wasn’t yet married, I didn’t have any children, hardly anyone worked from home, almost no-one taught online, and blogs were only just starting to become a thing. Fourteen years and one pandemic later and although things have been tough in many ways these past few years, it has never been easier to work flexibly, or make the most of technology and online tools to connect with other people and thrive online.

If you know that you want to make a change in the coming months, to do more of what you love, be more creative, write more – write a book even – check out my courses here, or read my essay Doing What You Love in the Age of AI here. What might you be grateful for fourteen years from now, if you make a big decision today??

Wow I look young in this one. A lot has happened in the past eight years since this photo was taken, never mind the past fourteen since I set up the company! I wonder what has happened in your life in that time?

If you aren’t quite sure what would be the best fit for you, feel free to drop me a note at learning [at] dowhatyouloveforlife.com with some info about yourself and where you are in your life right now, and what you are looking for, and I will personally get back to you with some suggestions.

Whatever you decide, I want to take this opportunity to thank you so much for being part of this gorgeous community, and for allowing me to do what I love, as I support you to do the same. May we walk this path for many more years together.

Much love to you,

Beth Xx

PS Did you know The Calm Christmas Podcast is back? You can hear it on iTunes/Spotify etc or via its new Substack home at calmchristmas.substack.com.

Metamorphosis, in front of my eyes.

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A month ago the postman knocked at the door. “You’d better open this one soon,” he winked, handing a brown box to our six-year old birthday girl. “Are they dead, mummy?” she asked wide-eyed, carefully lifting the clear pot out of the box and staring at the five motionless hairy caterpillars inside, sprawled across some pale brown gunk. “Erm, I think they are sleeping,” I hoped, quietly wondering whether it was legal to send living things in the post.

A week later those caterpillars had eaten all the gunk at the bottom of the jar, quadrupled in size and crawled up to the underside of the lid, to dangle like a showoff doing one-handed tricks on monkey bars. Over the next couple of days they seemed to grow a cocoon, as if it was their own body thickening up, rather than spinning a web around themselves as I had always imagined. When those chrysalides hardened, we carefully lifted the lid off the pot, creatures still attached, and transferred it to the pop-up net habitat that had arrived with our unusual package. Over the next few days the chrysalides darkened and texturized into charcoal grey beads flecked with gold.

I became obsessed with them, watching for the slightest changes in their outer layer, imagining I could see the imprint of folded wings pushing against the hard casing. One sunny morning we went to the beach for a couple of hours, and piled back into the house all noisy and sandy before someone cried, “Look!” Three butterflies had emerged, and were clinging to the wall of their net home. Their shed skins remained attached to the lid at one end, the other end burst through in that moment of emergence.

They began as caterpillars and emerged as butterflies. I knew it was likely to happen. Of course I did. I had learnt about it in primary school forty years ago. But still I’m not sure I believed it would actually work. It seemed unfathomable. How did the caterpillars know what to do? How was that brown gunk enough to create something so beautiful? Where were their wings hidden? Surely they didn’t just spin them like fairy fabric in a matter of days? And how on earth did three of them emerge within an hour or so of each other, after all that time? (The other two had been disturbed when we moved them to their habitat and had fidgeted for a while. That must have taken some of their energy reserves, and they were the last to emerge a couple of days later)

Perhaps what amazed me the most was the realization that the caterpillar doesn’t actually turn into the butterfly, changing its whole body and so on. Rather it simply grows wings. I don’t think I knew that before, but having studied them so closely before they became chrysalides, I recognized their caterpillar faces as butterflies. Close up they were the essentially the same. From a distance they were completely new. When we released them, they instinctively knew what to do.

Their period of retreat had been an intense period of growth, away from the world, still and silent yet intensely fertile as they spun potential from their own bodies. What emerged was not another creature, but the same one, changed. The same face, but with the courage and confidence that wings can bring – wings they didn’t have to think to grow, but rather wings that grew on them, when they surrendered to the process, and trusted. Metamorphosis, just like that.

I am sending this to you from a short writing retreat where I too am surrendering to the process. It isn’t easy, or comfortable, but my winged friends reminded me that I don’t have to work so hard at it. Instead I just need to get quiet and wait. Then I’ll know what to write, or I perhaps will be written.

Have a good week friends,
Beth Xx

PS Did you know I have a brand new course starting on Monday? It’s called Excavate Your Life: writing towards clarity and direction. This extraordinarily rich five week life-exploration/personal development/writing course is a unique opportunity to discover what you really want from life. And as a special treat to celebrate its launch you can get 30% off with the code DIGDEEP if you register here by Monday.

(Butterfly images: Holly Bobbins Photography. Lotus image: Unsplash/Zoltan Tasi)

Excavate Your Life (brand new personal development + writing course!)

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For months now I have been working on a brand new course which combines personal development and writing, as a way to navigate life. Excavate Your Life is a rich online course which offers a unique opportunity to explore what you really want from life, while honing your writing skills. Join me, bestselling self-help author Beth Kempton as I guide you on a wild and beautiful journey towards clarity and direction. Each weekday for five weeks you will get a juicy lesson (audio, video, journaling worksheet and writing challenge) to help you go deep and stretch your writing. By the end of the course, the alchemical nature of it all will ensure you have a stronger sense of what really matters to you, and a clearer idea of where to focus your time, energy and attention. Not to mention having much more confidence in your writing after all that practice…

This is a very special hybrid writing and personal growth course which I have designed to help you find clarity and direction, both in your writing and in your life. I have spent more than a decade helping people to navigate change and reconfigure their lives to do what they love. I have also written a series of self-help books, all connected by a thread of making the most of this precious life.

It’s so easy in the rush of the modern world to go through the motions of each day without stopping to think what it’s all about, whether we are actually awake to our experience, and how we want to make the most of whatever is left, without knowing how long that will be. Personally I find journaling and writing incredibly powerful tools to help me tune in to the world, to my life, to other people, and to myself. I have brought all of this together in this course, with the aim that by the end of it you will be inspired, motivated and ready for whatever might be next.

To celebrate the launch of this brand new course you are invited to join with a 30% discount – just use the coupon code DIGDEEP when you register here by Monday August 23 (when class begins). Sign up now and start excavating your life. You never know what goodness you might find.

Beth Xx

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Who’s it for?

This is for you if any of the following are true:

  • You want to make a major change in life
  • You are wondering ‘What should I do with my life?’
  • You need help figuring out what you really want
  • You want to shake things up and get out of a rut
  • You want to mine your life for its most valuable lessons
  • You are looking for a sense of meaning and purpose OR
  • You want to write a memoir or a book that explores the human experience

Excavate Your Life: Writing towards clarity and direction 2

What’s included?

The course has been designed as a five-week intensive class, and includes:

  • Daily Spark audios to get your creative juices flowing
  • Daily video lessons, each guiding you to excavate your life from a different perspective
  • Daily journaling worksheets to guide you gently through the excavation process, seeking out clues and patterns to help you envision what kind of life you want to create
  • Daily writing challenges to push you out of your writing comfort zone and explore what you are really capable of
  • PLUS Along the way I include a host of insights into my experience helping thousands of people to navigate change, and writing five self-help books

Excavate Your Life: Writing towards clarity and direction EYL BANNER 4

About your tutor

Beth Kempton has spent the last decade helping tens of thousands of people find creative ways to live well doing what they love, through powerful online courses and workshops as founder of Do What You Love. Beth writes self-help books which have been translated into 24 languages.

Her bestselling book ‘Wabi Sabi: Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life’ has been recommended by TIME Magazine, British Vogue, The Telegraph, and Psychologies Magazine, described as ‘a truly transformational read’ by Sunday Times Style. She is also the author of Freedom Seeker: Live more. Worry less. Do what you love., Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year and most recently, We Are in This Together: Finding hope and opportunity in the depths of adversity’ (Piatkus) which she wrote in sixteen days in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. Mother of two adorable girls, she lives a slow-ish life in Devon, UK.

Important note

Please be aware that this is not a replacement for clinical therapy. Please seek professional clinical advice if you need it. Please also note that this class does not include specific advice on writing technique or any feedback on individual writing samples. It is a self-paced course so there is no direct interaction with Beth. It is also designed as a very personal experience so there is no private community with this course.

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FAQ

Do I have to be online at a certain time to join in?

The classroom will open on August 23, 2021, and content will be released from that date. You do not have to log on at a certain time – you can follow the course at whatever pace suits you. You will have classroom access until January 31 2023 and most of the content is downloadable anyway.

Can I join if I live outside of the UK?

Yes you can join from anywhere.

Any other questions?

Drop the team a line at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help.

Next year can be different

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“I want 2019 to be different.

Less stuff, more soul.

Less hustle, more ease.

Less chaos, more calm.

Less complexity, more clarity.

Less bravado, more truth.

Less resistance, more resilience.

Less control, more surrender.

Less head, more heart.

More time for me. More time for creativity.

More time for life.”

Sound familiar? We’ll show you the way.

Next year can be different DO WHAT YOU LOVE SALE BLOG BANNER

For almost a decade we have been designing courses and workshops and writing books that transform lives. We have helped tens of thousands of people to follow their hearts, and live a fuller, more authentic and inspired life doing what they love. Every single one of those resources is based on extensive research and testing, personal experience and a deep understanding of the field.

We never promise it will be easy. We don’t sugarcoat the reality of making different choices. But we know the rewards and understand the challenges better than most. And we really, really want you to fulfil your potential, find a rhythm and lifestyle that works for you, and appreciate the beauty of your wild and precious life.

Once a year we have a huge sale on all our courses, to make them even more accessible and help you plan for the year ahead. This is that sale, and it is your chance to invite a different kind of future. You can get 40% off our powerful, life-changing courses or save a huge 50% off if you invest in one of our multi-course bundles: The Perfectly Imperfect Life Bundle / The Time For A Career Change Bundle / The Set Me Free Bundle.

Sale ends Monday November 26, 2018. This might be the most important investment you ever make. We are honoured to be your guides.

Beth + Paul

Founders, Do What You Love

I have a confession to make… (I wonder if you have done this too?)

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This is a story about hiding what we have done well, and not celebrating our creative work. It’s a true story, about me. I am embarrassed to share it, but am going to, because I think we all do this to our detriment, and in doing so stop others accessing what we have created with love.

You might have noticed that I wrote a book which came out last month. It is a book about life lessons inspired by ancient Japanese culture and philosophy. What you probably don’t know is:

  • It has been #1 bestseller in multiple Amazon categories ever since here in the UK.
  • It hit the top 40 on the whole of thebookdepository.com (which has over 4 million books).
  • The Sunday Times Style called it “A truly transformational read”
  • The rights have been sold for nineteen foreign languages
  • Japanese people have said some incredibly kind things about it, such as “Beth is one of the great foreign writers who truly understand (wabi sabi and Japanese culture)” and “Beth has described (this philosophy) better than a native could”
  • Tokyo’s biggest English-language bookstore called it “a beautiful book about Japanese culture”

I could go on – there have been many many kind words from all corners – from interior designers to life coaches, and readers all over the world.

And yet since the day it came out, I have not sent a newsletter or even shared it very much here on Facebook, celebrating one of the best creative projects of my life. Why? I have told myself I have been busy, which is true – I have sold a house, been to America to teach, settled my family into a new home and town, and my eldest started school, all in the three weeks since the book came out. But still, deep down I know that’s not the real reason.

It’s because I didn’t want to brag, or show off. Know that feeling? But the whole point of writing this book was to bring this hidden wisdom out of the Japanese language, and share it with all of you so you could integrate its beautiful life lessons to live a more authentic and inspired life. And I really really care about that.

I only realised I had done this when I was stood in front of a room full of female entrepreneurs at the incredible 1440 Multiversity in California a week or so ago, answering a question about newsletters. I mentioned that I rarely use my newsletter or my groups on Facebook to sell things, because I prefer just talking to you about life, and sharing thoughts and inspiration which I hope are of use. What I realised was that I have written a book full of those things, which a lot of people have said is a really fantastic book, and yet I have hardly shared it with you.

So, as of today that is all changing! I am going to celebrate this piece of creative work in three major ways:

(1) I would like to encourage you, in no uncertain terms, to PLEASE READ IT. I promise you will feel more calm, tuned in, and appreciative of beauty in your own life as a result. You can get it in beautiful hard copy or on ebook here (currently at around 30% off on Amazon)

If you are in the US/Canada you can get it at 30% off with free shipping from The Book Depository here.

I wrote it as a precious gift to you and hope it helps you treasure all that is good in your life.

(2) If you have read it, I am going to ask you to PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW! Reviews make so much difference. I am so grateful to have over 200 five star reviews for my first Freedom Seeker, and know they really help people to decide if a book is a good fit for them.

GIFT FOR YOU: As a token of my gratitude for you taking the time to write a review, I would love to send you a small gift in the post, to wherever in the world you are. Please complete your review ASAP and then fill in the quick form here with your address if you would like some delightful personal snail mail from me.

Here are the links for leaving a review: Amazon / Goodreads (if you got it from The Book Depository) / Waterstones

(3) Over the next few weeks I am going to share some of my favourite snippets from the book and the ideas behind the and some personal stories about my journey to writing it, so stay tuned for those!

And I am going to stop being shy about celebrating the things I have worked so hard to create with love for you. I hope you will do the same – this week I encourage you to think about one thing you are proud of, and share it with someone in your family, friendship circle, online community or elsewhere, celebrating your skills, talents and dedication. Please feel free to leave a note in the comments and share it with us too!

Much love,

Beth Xx

I have a confession to make… (I wonder if you have done this too?) BethKemptonAugust2018 89

On getting lost and finding purpose

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What happens when you chase financial success, achieve it and then realise that things don’t feel quite as good as you thought they would? My guest on the Freedom Seeker Chronicles podcast this week, Brandon Evans, is the CEO and co-founder of 1Heart, a conscious start-up studio who found out the answer the hard way. Brandon previously built two $100 million companies, but after achieving financial success, he woke up one day lost and began a spiritual journey which he chronicled in his first Medium article entitled, ‘Lost on purpose’. That went instantly viral and he has since founded 1Heart with his best friend, with the goal of helping entrepreneurs to find their path and build conscious companies.

I talked to Brandon about finding real meaning, and keeping it real.

LISTEN HERE

On getting lost and finding purpose FS PODCAST FB S2 020 LR1
Key Moments:

[3m 00s] What Brandon has learned about how to find yourself

[5m 30s] How one particular blog post changed everything for Brandon

[9m 25s] Brandon shares the major turning point in his

[14m 15s] How his experience changed his relationships

[15m 43s] Brandon’s message to his younger, overworked self

[20m 59s] How Brandon’s start up studio is supporting other entrepreneurs

[23m 55s] The mistakes Brandon sees start ups make over and over

[25m 45s] On working with your best friend

[29m 30s] What freedom means to Brandon these days

 

 

 

{Podcast} On finding your inner gold with Paralympian Karen Darke

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{Podcast} On finding your inner gold with Paralympian Karen Darke FS PODCAST FB S2 013 LR

The Freedom Seeker Chronicles Podcast is back for Series 2, with more inspiring stories, great conversations and actionable advice! My first guest is one of the most genuinely inspiring people I know. Her strength in the face of adversity, and ability to train her mind to tackle any obstacle, was a real lesson for me.

When Karen Darke was 10 years old, she decided she would climb all 3000ft of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. She did so nearly 25 decades years later, even though she has been in a wheelchair since a rock climbing accident at the age of 21. She spent five days hoisting herself up the rockface and spent the nights on ledges in the cliff. This is just one example of extraordinary bravery and perseverance by Karen, who became Paralympic Champion in hand-cycling at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. She says “Life has taught me the importance of holding tight to belief, and never, ever giving up.” I invited her onto the show to share more about her amazing attitude to life, and what we can all learn from her about resilience, perseverance and possibility.

{Podcast} On finding your inner gold with Paralympian Karen Darke FS PODCAST LISTEN BUTTON1