Wendy Wallbridge - Spiraling Upward: The 5 Co-Creative Powers for Women on the Rise

First published by Bibliomotion, Inc.

39 Harvard Street

Brookline, MA 02445

Tel: 617-934-2427

www.bibliomotion.com

Copyright 2015 by Wendy Wallbridge

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wallbridge, Wendy.
Spiraling upward: the 5 co-creative powers for women on the rise / Wendy Wallbridge.

pages cm

Summary: Using her Spiral Up method, Wallbridge teaches women to cultivate the five co-creative powers of energy, thoughts, feelings, speech, and action. This method encourages each reader to create a fulfilling life aligned with her own gifts and callings Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-62956-067-0 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-62956-068-7 (ebook) ISBN 978-1-62956-069-4 (enhanced ebook)

1. WomenVocational guidance. 2. Career development. 3. Success. 4. Self-realization in women. I. Title.

HF5382.6.W35 2015

650.1082dc23

2015000505

For my mom, who taught me how to love

In order to become free it is important to simultaneously let go and move forward.

Angeles Arrien

H alf a century ago, women began to master the masculine path to success. And its good that we did. This effort has afforded women in the West a level of financial freedom, privilege, and influence that would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago. American women comprise over half of management, professional and related positions in our workplaces and control trillions of dollars in the nations economy, a figure which will continue to grow.

Never before in history have women been so degreed or so represented as decision makers in the economic and political sectors of the world. This is an exciting, even breathtaking, time to be a woman. So why are so many of us still sitting on the sidelines? Why are we rising only so far before we decide its just not worth it? Whats stopping us from unleashing our gifts in the world?

Twenty-five years of coaching professional women has taught me that while women have become masters at getting Asapproval, accolades, applause, achievements, and acquisitionswe become disillusioned because no amount of external validation can give us the experience of wholehearted success. This proclivity toward the linear (or as I call it, horizontal) path of accomplishment, at all costs, is devoid of the central ingredient needed for us to feel fulfilled. Most women are not drawn to power for powers sake. What matters more to us than ambition is meaning.

We can spend years, our whole career even, trying to convince others of our value or seeking fulfillment doing what someone else deems important. But one day that external motivation runs out. What used to excite us about our work no longer does, and we wonder whats wrong with us. No matter the kudos we receive, until we are doing our souls work, we will never be fulfilled.

This is the critical crossroads. No longer able to tolerate a life thats inauthentic, we arrive at a moment of truth. We can ignore the signs and push on. Or we can take the time to excavate our unique strengths, passions, and true nature in order to live from the core of who we are on behalf of all that we were meant to be.

If you have picked up this book, I believe that you are ready to rise to your full potential and live a richer, more meaningful life. The trouble is that our unique paths as women do not follow a straight line. Women are not meant to march on the masculine linear path to success. Our cultures emphasis on productivity is a demanding taskmaster. It prioritizes perfection over wholeness and efficiency over love. But deep down we know that material and external success without personal fulfillment is failure. We are meant to live spherically, wholly, and to expand outward rather than one dimensionally.

This journey of courageous reinvention is seldom validated by our society; in fact, it can be easily trampled on and even sabotaged. So while we want to risebecome more visible, speak truth to power, come out of the shadows to become the protagonist in our own storywe often let our fears about what others think of us dictate what we do. In order to diverge from the officially sanctioned path to success, we must first believe in ourselves and sponsor our heartfelt dreams. And, lets admit it, weve spent much of our life with our attention riveted on the surface of things, our exterior. To get where we want to go next, well need to mine the treasure chest within.

At this moment in history, when our voices are so desperately needed, a new approachone that mirrors the evolution and expansiveness of lifeis essential if we are to realize our greatest joy and contributions. Spiraling Upward: The 5 Co-Creative Powers for Women on the Rise offers a new road map for women to claim our wholeness and power in order to make an impact on our workplace, family, communityor wherever we feel called. Spiraling Upward teaches us how to put our masculine strengths in service to our femininethat is, in service to what really matters to usenabling us to consciously create a heightened and irresistible destiny.

But why specifically is it critical for you to rise? What is at stake for you personally? If you are like so many of the women I meet, you are ready to live beyond the constraints of your current reality and express yourself in a way that feels creative, authentic, and connected to the greater whole. You want to wake up to who you are within the world. You know the consequences of recycling old patterns and suppressing your wild souls desires. And you know that you have gifts and talents that the world has never seen. If any of those reasons ring true, you have arrived at the right place.

Unlike rising to power in government or the corporate world (though those things may also be part of your path), rising to power in your self means coming into possession of your own gifts so that you can fulfill your potential and live your souls purpose. It means doing the inner work thats needed to tap into the radiant and unlimited power you already hold. And when you do, nobody can take it away from you. And nothing can stop you.

It has been said that the teacher who is indeed wise does not ask that you enter the house of her wisdom, but rather leads you to your own. This book will guide you again and again to the wisest part of yourself and provide you with the tools and inspiration to become a powerfully conscious co-creator. You will learn what it really means to lead your life by becoming intentional in the five Co-Creative Powers of energy, thought, feelings, words, and actionsthe fundamentals of self-creation.

In the chapters ahead, youll engage in a processtested and proventhat is itself a spiral: a cyclical journey of self-inquiry, self-discovery, and application. You will gain tools for replacing self-doubt with self-agency and for expressing your creativity and power. And as you progress on the journey, you will move from the limited definition of yourself based on your ego (roles, beliefs, negative judgments) to a more integrated, heart-centered, unabashedly self-expressed woman who feels a sense of belonging in the world.

At this pivotal moment, you are being invited to live your true destinyto re-author your inherited scripts and wholeheartedly believe in yourself, to make your voice heard, to offer your gifts and talents fully. You are being invited to Spiral Up! toward a new definition of power and leadership.