When President Joe Biden took the podium last week, it was a blue sky day in Washington D.C.
During his inaugural address, he demonstrated the kind of leadership we’ve been sorely lacking these last four years.
I’ve always been a sucker for powerful words and speeches (I gave the student commencement address at my college graduation), but Biden really got me with this one:
“In another January in Washington, on New Year’s Day 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.When he put pen to paper, the President said, ‘If my name ever goes down into history it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.’ Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together.”
“My whole soul is in this.”
You could feel the power radiate from those words. And from the man who spoke them. Because words are powerful, but conviction is more powerful still.
A well-written speech delivered with expert elocution can magnetize a room.
But a well-written speech delivered with heartfelt conviction can influence a nation.
Conviction is the secret sauce for creatives, leaders, and entrepreneurs.
Voicing your convictions increases your impact and expands your influence. Acting on your convictions (in a way sustains you and serves others) amplifies the good in the world.
Conviction makes you magnetic. It also expands your resilience and gives you a path to working and leading with greater joy and fulfillment.
The truth is, you have gifts and a role to play in this lifetime. You also deserve to enjoy the ride.
To harness the power of conviction in your daily life, you need to do two things:
- Define your authentic desires and soul-centered goals.
- Give yourself the space and support to actually create and receive them.
Here’s a simple exercise to check in with your current conviction levels.
When you look at your to-do list, can you point to specific items and say “My whole soul is in this”?
Take a second and think about it.
You probably have items you feel you MUST do (like laundry, tax filing, and updating your website).
You might have items you WANT to do (like planning a vacation, eating a brownie, and publishing a book).
But do you have items where you can honestly say your whole soul is in them?
Maybe…or maybe not.
If you don’t see many items that reflect your convictions, that’s normal and really okay.
All of us get caught up in the daily churn of responsibilities, deadlines, and distractions.
Finding your focus, prioritizing your personal needs, pursuing your authentic desires professionally—all of these things can be overwhelming or scary or just hard to do on your own.
If you’re a creative type or idea generator, you might pursue lots of ambitions at once. (Which tends to leave you feeling overwhelmed or discouraged when you drop the ball.)
Or if you’re highly sensitive or a big-hearted caretaker, you might prioritize everyone else’s needs ahead of your own. (So you’re likely to feel depleted or guilty when you can’t do it all.)
Here’s the good news:
You don’t need a complete life makeover or radical overhaul to start pursuing soulful goals. You can begin by making micro-adjustments and expand your commitments over time.
Take it from someone who’s helped a LOT of people create meaningful change in their lives. Whether you choose to pursue your soul goals via micro-movements or giant leaps doesn’t matter.
Our culture fixates on extremism, but the best path to progress is the one you’ll actually stick with. So choose the speed that works for you and the flow of your current life.
No matter what, the first step is giving your passion and purpose a place in your daily life. Not in your head or some far-off fantasy, but on your calendar and in your actions.
When you do this work, you can engineer your days so that you feel fulfillment and success.
You also nourish yourself in deeper ways, which allows you to give back to others from a very full cup.
BTW, getting clear on your priorities doesn’t happen when you’re busy doing other things. You won’t stumble on a soul-goal while folding laundry or sending emails or scrolling through Instagram.
It takes dedicated time and space to dig into your desires. You need to listen to hear the whisper of soul amidst the noise of wants and needs.
Once you hear it, you need to plan for how you will prioritize what you’ve heard. You need to give yourself the inner and outer support to consistently act on, and do, the things that truly matter to you.
Listening to (and acting on) that whisper takes courage.
But it’s also so, so worth it.
After all, this isn’t about a to-do list. This is about your life.
As Amanda Gorman wrote in her inaugural poem:
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
As we move into this new year together, I hope you will be brave.
I hope you’ll pursue what truly matters to you, and let your whole soul be in it.
