Today we would like to introduce you to our dear friend and fellow entrepreneur Laura Clark! Laura is this month’s participant in the Custom Built Life™ Interview Series.
Laura’s passion is working with overwhelmed professional women who are ready to embrace their own inner wisdom to overcome the challenges of life. Known as the Soul Wise Living Mentor, Laura teaches a unique process of awakening and intuition development tools that allow her clients to align the energies within them and around them for spiritual empowerment. Through this, her clients learn to hear their gut instinct, their intuition, more consistently, understand it more clearly and, ultimately, find the courage to act upon it. Her clients soon discover the ability to discover an ease to decision making for greater peace-of-mind during difficult times and expansive Joy and Abundance in life.
Background:
What was a turning point or challenge in your life that made you decide it was time to take action and begin creating your Custom Built Life™?
I was in my 30’s when I discovered I had made choices that were based on what everyone else expected of me and not on what my heart desired. In shutting off my own inner spirit, I fell into a deep depression. After a year of this, it was clear I could either continue to wither away or I could start to slowly come back to life. I was fortunate enough to be working with a holistic counselor who taught me how to start breathing – literally – for the first time in my life. With focus on renewing this basic function of life, I was able to find the courage to begin creating a new way of living.
Tell us about the “before and after” of your Custom Built Life.
It took some time to leave depression behind. I was working in a career that demanded long work days and I was working 6 days and 60-80 hours a week. I never imagine then that I would be have the courage to quit that job, and indeed life, go back to school and open my own business. I never imagined, 15 years ago, that today, I would be the proud owner of not one but two thriving businesses.
What were some “rules” you used to follow, that you changed or released because they were not serving you well?
I followed so many rules! I believed that you always had to find a job and work hard at it to be successful. I believed that you had to find answers for yourself – that you could not depend on others to give you the support you might need. I believed that you had to always be responsible. By that I mean, I believed, that taking big risks only gave you bigger problems. Risks take courageous action and I never believed I had the kind of courage I needed to do something out of the ordinary ~ like starting your own business or following your own gut instincts. I believed that you had to follow logic and not your gut. I could not have been more wrong!
What are two or three personal “rules” that now guide your Custom Built Life?
The biggest rule, I believe, to creating and living a Custom Built Life is to always be seeking knowledge. Reaching out, getting support from others, and learning from them is an essential part of growing. But this ‘rule’ goes one step further. I believe that once you have received information and knowledge, you have to listen to your own inner wisdom, accept what fits and use it, bless those ideas that your gut tells you will not work and release them and tweak the one’s that you feel may fit but need some re-alignment for your own purposes.
Advice & Perspective
PAST: What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who has just started thinking about creating their Custom Built Life?
Be kind to yourself. Take time. Listen to your heart. Finding out who you are is not always simple. It takes time for the chatter to quiet down. Sit in silence, listen to your own inner wisdom. If you listen and hear what is being offered, then you can have anything you desire. Let your inner wisdom be your guide.
PAST: What is the biggest thing you had to overcome to create the life you have today?
My own limiting belief systems. Truth be told it’s still what I work on each and every day! Our belief systems are so ingrained in us that we don’t recognize them until we face the next biggest challenge. Being able to see them, understand them, tame them and develop one’s that serve is what ultimately allows us to take courageous steps forward.PRESENT: What are three things that people can do right now to start the process of creating their Custom Built Life?
Develop a compass to their inner wisdom by beginning to clearly hear their own inner chatter. It is our negative self talk that often stops us from hearing our own inner wisdom.
Learn how to be comfortable with your own self; to be your own best friend. Too often, we don’t like to be alone because we are so negative about ourselves. Spending time alone can be the best self-discovery you ever have.
Dare to Dream. I used to daydream about living in a country home, on a piece of property surrounded by trees on a lake ~ always believing that this was an idyllic life and always thinking it would never happen. Today, our home is in the woods with a river running through the property!!!
I used to daydream about writing a book and being a published author. This year, along with my co-authors, our book became an international best seller.
FUTURE: What lies ahead for your Custom Built Life? What are you currently working toward?
I am currently working on many exciting events for the fall which include hosting my annual women’s empowerment retreat and the release of my next book. I am always so blessed to have amazing projects to work on that fuel my soul!
Favorites:
Who have the most influential people been in your life? Why did they influence you so much?
My mentors. I’ve always been blessed to have powerful women in my life who challenge me to be the best version of myself as possible and who hold a space for me to accomplish that. From my field hockey coach in high school to my present business coach, from my own mother to my spiritual mentor, all of them have such faith and confidence in me and instilled that in me for myself. It is their wisdom that supports me when it’s time to make that next courageous step in my life.
What is your favorite personal development book?
Seriously? A favorite? It’s impossible to say. If I had to give you an answer it would be a tie.The Art of Uncertainty: How to Live in the Mystery of Life & Love it by Dennis Merritt Jones gives great tools for each of us to live a life of joy. And, The Soul Loves the Truth by Denise Linn. I’ve been trained by her personally and this book is an authentic discovery of how to rise above negative, limiting beliefs and fully understand your purpose.
What are your favorite tools or practices for staying motivated?
This is easy! Sacred Soul Journaling and Creating Sacred Soul Collages!!!! (Visit Laura’s site to find out more about these tools.)
What is your favorite song for improving your mood?
It’s a Slow Turning by John Hiatt (It reminds me that life is a journey!)
What would people be surprised to learn about your Custom Built Life?
They would be REALLY surprised that, while I have a certification in Feng Shui, my home is not ready to be photographed by House & Garden! This just goes to show that having supportive energy around you is not about the things you don’t have but is about how you use the things you do!
What question do you wish we had asked you?
If you could have ANYTHING in the world, right this moment, what would it be? My answer from a here and now space is a bowl of Ben & Jerry’s® Peanut Butter Cup. My heart-felt answer though is peace and healing for the people of Nepal experiencing such devastation from the recent earthquakes.
Thank you so much Laura for so generously answering our questions and sharing your journey with our Custom Built Life community!
If you would like to learn more about Laura and Soul Wise Living you can visit her online atwww.soulwiseliving.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/soulwiseliving
May Inspiration with Laura Clark
