Your Soul’s Work: Bringing Your Essential Self Out of Hiding

by Tonya | Aug 25, 2020 | Life Lessons

I start from a basic premise that each person has a mind, body, and soul. The mind “thinks, reasons, feels, understands, and remembers.” It is the egoic, cognitive, conscious and unconscious processes that direct and influence what we know, our perceptions, our will, and our behaviors. The body allows us to exist in this physical plane and performs basic and vital functions. Then there’s the soul, that part of our selfhood that is the purest reflection of who we are. It is also the part that many of us repress, hide, and deny to others, and even to ourselves.

“There is a part of us that is purely and essentially us. The best version of all our attributes. The blueprint so to speak, of who we could become. The Soul…Soul work is the process of bringing the essential self – the soul – out of hiding.”

(What is Soul Work? by Phyllis Mathis)

Ancient philosophers and anatomists asserted that the soul was located in the heart or lungs due to their life-sustaining functions. Many believe that while the soul may inhabit the body, it is immortal and distinct from the mind and body. Further, the belief is that we die when the soul exits the body. The soul is our spiritual essence. Whether you fully believe or ascribe to this explanation of the soul is not entirely requisite to get the main point of this article. The point being, in order to live a connected life of meaning, have impact, and do the work we feel called or compelled to do – we must engage head, hands and heart. With the heart, metaphorically, we will do our soul’s work.

Business leaders who do their soul’s work are more effective leaders. Parents, teachers, and administrators who do soul work have lasting impact. Lovers who each do their soul’s work can be better partners and have more loving and empathetic relationships. This part of ourselves we’ve suppressed, especially in business, is the core essence of who we are. Diminishing the soul is perhaps one of the reasons so many people can be successful by all extrinsic measures and still feel unfulfilled inside. Despite significant achievements, life feels meaningless. It’s time to bring your soul into everything you do. Just as we herald sharp minds and strategic thinkers, those who are physically able to perform feats with their bodies, we need to elevate the soul’s role. Our truest nature and authentic self.

People who have done their soul’s work, find

“more inner clarity, stronger connection to instincts or intuition, renewed sense of meaning of life, discovery of gifts and strengths, better decision-making, decreased depression and anxiety, love for self, empathy, improved relationships, more energy and physical vitality, and peace of mind.”

(What is Soulwork? by Aletheia Luna)

What is your soul’s work? It is the work you do that allows your true nature to shine through in everything you do. Your soul’s work is the inward journey to wholeness.

Here are 5 steps in the journey to your soul’s work:

1. Self-Discovery

Discovering and living in alignment with who you are, your values, and your gifts and talents is your soul’s work. To get there, you have to be willing to engage in inner dialogue, to inquire into self, and then listen to your inner wisdom for the answers. Here is a guide to support your self-discovery.

2. Self-acceptance

Learning to love, forgive and accept yourself without condition will enable you to live in perfect freedom, joy and inner peace. For more, listen to the Your Aha! Life podcast episode on The Unbound Life.

3. Raise Consciousness

Awakening to the realization that you are an important part of this vast universe and interconnected to everything that is. This awareness leads to wholeness and unity with others, compassion, and a servant’s heart.

“Each individual soul has a particular path to follow that intertwines with all of the others around it. By working to become more conscious of our own particular role and purpose in the world and how we relate to others, we can begin to heal from our sense of isolation as separate beings and come to feel that we are all truly connected on a deep soul level.”

(Inner Work: Reconnecting with the Soul’s Purpose by Wendy Salazar, MFT)

4. Let go

Unhinging yourself from limiting beliefs, childhood wounds, social comparisons, and anything else that leaves you doubting yourself, playing small, and withholding your gifts and talents is your soul’s work.

5. Live Purposefully

Transcending self to be in service to others is our highest order of need and is an outwardly visible expression of the inner soul’s work. In whatever role you have in work or other areas of life, living purposefully is using your unique combination of interests, values, gifts and talents to make others, situations, or the world better.

“Only to the extent that someone is living out this self-transcendence of human existence, is he truly human or does he become his true self.”

~ Viktor Frankl

If you are interested in going deeper into your soul’s work, click here for Your Soul’s Work printable guide.

If you enjoyed this article, check out other articles on my website at Your Aha! Life. I invite you to subscribe to my monthly newsletter and receive a free guide to Discover Your Purpose. On my website, you will also have access to my latest podcast, some of my favorite resources, and you can learn more about joining my private Facebook group, The Aha! Community. I look forward to connecting with you.