Have you ever dreamed of starting your own business?

Women make up about 36% of business owners around the world, and the number of women-owned businesses have increased by 114% over the last 20 years.

With so many small businesses out there, especially in the coaching, health and wellness, and consulting industries, it’s important to set yourself apart.

Starting a business that’s aligned with your strengths and passions is one way to stand out from the crowd and attract your dream clients.

Using your unique blueprint, you can start a business that works for you, instead of trying to fit yourself into someone else’s mold.

You have big dreams.

You want to help people and change the world, but you’re not sure where to start.

One of the best ways to contribute to serving the world is to find your life purpose.

Your purpose is who you are at your core. It’s your reason for getting out of bed in the morning and the reason you feel a sense of satisfaction when you go to sleep at night.

Living your purpose brings meaning to your life. It helps guide your decisions, influence your life goals, and create a sense of fulfillment.

Showing up as the fullest, boldest, most authentic you is what will change the world. Shrinking does nothing to improve the lives of others, and it will keep you stuck playing small.

And you can show up as the most authentic version of you when you find and live your purpose.

The thing I love most about my coaching business is the connections I've made with incredible women around the world.

Whether I've coached them, mentored them, learned from them, or grew spiritually because of them, I wouldn't be where I am today without them.

They've all contributed to helping me live my purpose, and I couldn't be more grateful for them.

A few of these women have had some incredible success recently, and I'm taking this opportunity to brag about them :)

Because when one woman wins, we all win.

At this point in your journey to finding and living your purpose, you may start to notice that some folks don't understand what you're doing.

It could be your family questioning your new path or your friends who haven't found their purpose criticizing your work.

Living your purpose is hard. It's uncomfortable.

Some people will love you. Some people will disagree with what you're doing. You're not for them, and that's okay. (Even if it is your family!)

The beautiful thing about the world is that we all have different beliefs and values that guide us.

We can be true and centered in who we are AND learn and grow and evolve.

Growing up in India, which is still a largely patriarchal society and having worked in corporate technology in the United States for 13 years, which is still a largely male-dominated industry, I often wondered what made a woman a power to reckon with, you know, a Fierce woman.

I would come across terms like ‘she is so brave’, ’so dominating’, ‘a total ball-breaker’ when describing a female leader or an emerging bad-ass-babe. And while those terms don’t necessarily equate to being loud, aggressive or unfeminine, there seemed to be an implicit agreement in both the eastern and western cultures I encountered, that these attributes were prerequisite for a woman to be a powerhouse.

And to clarify, I absolutely adore that loud, aggressive and/or unfeminine woman, if that is her true authentic nature. You go girl! Here though, I want to speak to that other woman who may be soft-spoken and erroneously considered a pushover by those around her or even by herself!

Have you ever set a goal for yourself where, for a few weeks, you stick with it, you’re moving forward, you feel great, then suddenly, you realize you’ve gone so far off track that you can’t remember when you stopped?

I always feel that way about exercise! I’ll be plugging along each day on my Peloton, tracking each ride, feeling good about myself, then suddenly – it’s been a month since my last workout. What happened? Where did the time go?

It happens to the best of us.

When you’re on a journey to find and live your life purpose, it’s easy to get off track. Living in devotion to your purpose is not easy. You may not know all the steps you need to take. You won’t always see the path ahead of you.

And in those moments, it’s easy to let self-judgement or fear or self-doubt derail your progress.

The good news is that as easy as it is to get off track, it’s just as simple to recenter and get back in alignment with your goals.

They say there’s this “seven-year itch,” where couples who’ve been together for seven years start to re-evaluate their relationship.

It’s a commonly held belief that at the seven-year mark, couples tend to fall into a slump, they start to get dissatisfied with their partners, and they start to question their feelings about the relationship.

I’m not a relationship expert, but I always thought this was an old wives’ tale or a myth made popular by the Marilyn Monroe movie of the same title.

So, as I approach my seventh year of marriage, and as I sat down to write this article, I did a little research.

Manifesting is bringing something tangible into your life by cultivating the experience of what you want to feel, then living and believing in that experience so it can become a reality.

An abundance mindset helps you manifest anything you want because it starts with a deep belief that you are enough, that you have enough, and that you’re deserving of the things you have in your life.

It’s a strong feeling of security and confidence in yourself. A belief that you already have everything you need to be successful. That anything you want is available to you.

That deep belief is the foundation for manifesting. Manifesting is about making everything you want to feel and experience a reality for you – through your beliefs, emotions, behaviors, and effects.

Manifesting isn’t about asking the Universe for help, then stepping back and waiting for what you want to just fall into your lap. You have to do the work. You have to take powerful, aligned action to achieve your goals. This isn’t a passive exercise.

Remember: your thoughts create your reality. If you believe you’ll never be good enough to go after your dream job or start your own business, you’ll behave in a way that gets you that result. In other words, you likely won’t take action toward your goals.

On the other hand, if you believe that you have enough knowledge, wisdom, strength, and guidance to achieve your goals, you’ll feel confident enough to take powerful action and manifest those goals.

Thinking about finding your purpose in life? Wondering what you’re meant to do, but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you think you found your purpose, but you’re not really sure.

If this sounds like you, you’re in good company!

These are the same questions I’m constantly asked by women like you, who are looking for more meaning and fulfillment in their lives.

Finding your purpose can feel like a daunting task. It’s overwhelming to think about the one thing you’re meant to do with your life and how you’re going to get there.

Trust me when I say, it’s not as difficult as it seems to find your life purpose. You might just need some reassurance.

Core values are the fundamental beliefs you have about your life.

They guide your behaviors, decisions, and actions. They bring about a sense of purpose and self-worth. They remind you what’s important to you and what you want more of in your life.

When you know what’s important to you, you can live in alignment with those values. This leads to greater fulfillment, clarity and self-awareness.

This self-awareness allows you to discover your purpose.

Your life purpose is who you are at your core. Identifying your core values brings you back to your center.

Values remind you who you are and who you’re meant to be in the world. They’re gentle guide rails to keep us on our path and help us choose actions that are aligned with what we really want.

When we find what we really want, we can truly live our purpose. And if every woman lived her purpose, every need in the world would be met.

Everything in our lives starts with an intention.

The careers we choose, the places we live, the people we surround ourselves with.

Even the food we put into our bodies starts with an intention.

If that’s true, is it possible to use an intention to find our life purpose?

An intention is a guiding principle for how you want to be, live, and show up in the world. It’s not the same as a goal, which typically has an endpoint or an expectation of success.

An intention is a path you aim to align to. It guides our thoughts, actions, and attitudes.

If you consider that your life purpose is who you are at your core, then an intention can help you discover who you’re meant to be, and how you’re meant to show up in the world.

I spent my career in healthcare specializing in continuous process improvement.  My job was to help smart people solve hard problems, figure out ways to make their jobs easier, and to set the strategy for transformational change.

Continuous improvement also translates nicely to the work I do with my coaching clients. I help women take small steps every day to transform their lives, discover their strengths and purpose, and lead with intention.

I used the concept of Kaizen to help me improve my own life and find my dream career when I found myself trapped in a toxic work environment where my ideas and opinions were constantly challenged. I felt stuck and discouraged. I didn’t know where to start or what I wanted to do.

It started with a mindset shift and daily gratitude practice. From there, I started to identify my strengths and values and how I could use them to find a career I loved where I felt appreciated, valued, and respected for who I am.