Inner Architect Lights the Path to Personal Freedom
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Ray_A._Davis]Ray A. Davis

A few generations ago our ancestors began trading their family businesses and farms for the upward mobility offered by the corporate world. The tradeoff seemed to be a success. The middle class grew and there was prosperity. Little could our great grandparents have known how unsatisfying and soul-voiding this way of life would become for many in future generations.

The good news is that today technology and skills learned in the corporate world are making new self-directed lives possible. There is a renaissance in entrepreneurship. People are leaving the corporate world in growing numbers to pursue their own vision for their lives. They are creating lives of fulfillment and financial security by following their bliss.

There are a plethora of books and coaches out there promising to help you find that bliss. However, I recently became aware of a particular book that really delivers. It places the keys for your new life firmly in your hands.

“I felt stuck and didn’t know what to do about it. My heart had been absent from my work for a long time. I had a fuzzy idea about what I really wanted to do, but I couldn’t even imagine how I could possibly make it happen. So I continued to hold on to the job that was attached to my paycheck.” … “I felt dead inside. It then dawned on me what I was doing - trading the precious hours of my life for money and a piece of security. This revelation brought me to the understanding that the life I had created was one I was no longer willing to tolerate.”

So writes Susan Hanshaw, in the introduction to her latest book Inner Architect: How to Build the Life You Were Designed to Live.

With those words, Hanshaw captures the feelings of millions of people who trudge off to jobs each day attracted by the gravitational pull of the paycheck and the inertia of the obligations that have grown up around that paycheck.

Hanshaw was vice-president and second-in-command of a thriving direct marketing firm. She was making good money and “living the American dream.” The only problem is that she wasn’t happy. Her work had become meaningless because it was not aligned to who she wanted to be.

Maybe you have felt that same sense desperation and wondered if there is a way out. You have “tried” a side business or two; or dabbled with your great American novel.

Your heart was in the right place, but the truth is you didn’t really have a plan and your momentary energy turned to disappointment when things didn’t go as you hoped. You found yourself back in your cube less confident and more confused than ever.

Thankfully, Susan Hanshaw chose not to go back to her office. Instead, she writes, “I wrote my resignation letter that night and handed it to my boss the following day.” Thus began her journey of self-discovery and hard-earned lessons about what it really takes to move from the corporation to the life of your dreams.

The great American mythologist Joseph Campbell is often quoted for his affirmation, “Follow your bliss!”

“Yes,” you say, “I want to follow my bliss, but how? How can I abandon the paycheck? How can I develop the confidence? How can I change my vision of myself? How can I develop a plan for success? How can I stick to my plan?”

Inner Architect is a step-by-step master’s guide to charting a course for pursuing your heart’s desires and creating success on that path from someone who’s been there and done that. Susan Hanshaw consciously offers encouragement and wisdom through inspiring material and workbook exercises. The exercises are designed to draw out the knowledge, wisdom, and courage necessary for you to answer your questions and to claim your life back.

Hanshaw’s process is comprised of six phases:

* Considering Change
* Designing the Job You Love
* Breaking Through Fear
* Creating Your Plan
* Building from the Inside Out
* Moving into Your New Life

Each phase includes a series of steps and thought processes to work through. Hanshaw’s process is at once logical, emotional, and spiritual. This author really “gets it” that your whole self is engaged in bold, life-changing choices and she expertly provides the tools you need to deal with each aspect of your decision, plan, and implementation.

Inner Architect combines the practicality of a book you’d find in the business section of the bookstore with the insight and compassion of a book from the self-improvement section. This book helps the logical business person connect with the other aspects of his or her being that are needed to succeed in this change. It helps organize the emotional person to develop a concrete plan for action.

Inner Architect offers no illusions that “the leap” is going to be easy or work-free; or that it is not frightening. Hanshaw warmly dispels your worries by acknowledging them and openly sharing her own fears, obstacles, and heartaches from her journey.

Each step in the book is punctuated with a Key to Evaluate section. Here Susan assumes the role of coach. She asks questions that ensure you have digested the material and that you are committed to moving to the next step. It’s your gut check to see how committed you are to making the choices your change requires.

Inner Architect is not for the casual cube farm daydreamer. Rather, it is for the serious-minded person ready to affect real change in his or her life, but needing some guidance on how to get there. Those readers will walk away from this read with a fully-developed action plan to change themselves and their lives.

Even if you are not yet ready to make the “hand in your resignation leap”, Inner Architect allows you to work at your own pace. You can begin working towards your goal today and arrive when you are ready.

More than anything Inner Architect by Susan Hanshaw offers a tested route to living a happier, more fulfilled life - personally and professionally. It lights the way to your bliss, if only you choose to follow it.

Ray Davis is a writer, poet, and thinker based in the American Midwest. His writing advocates the principles of personal freedom and spiritual development. He has developed B2B sales training programs for a Fortune 40 company for nearly seven years. Prior to that he was a top producing sales rep for six years. He is the founder of The Affirmation Spot http://www.theaffirmationspot.com

He writes a near daily blog on positive thinking and motivation also called The Affirmation Spot at http://theaffirmationspot.wordpress.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ray_A._Davis http://EzineArticles.com/?Inner-Architect-Lights-the-Path-to-Personal-Freedom&id=1371205

Tags: Book Review, Career, Changes, Choices, Dreams, Inner Architect, Susan Hanshaw