How to Make A Global Impact And Operate As An Empath With Isabel Hundt
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I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Isabel Hundt and I learned a lot about trusting your gut and understanding people that are different from you. Listed below are some thoughts on the episode as well as questions to cause you to critically think in a way that allows you to use your difference to make a difference.
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When she was 12, Isabel had a vivid, prophetic dream. When she was 18, Isabel decided to venture to the U.S. to make it a reality. This dream stuck with her despite the difficulties she encountered on her journey, but wasn’t she sure how to make it real and didn’t understand where she was going wrong. As a result, she experienced some setbacks and fell into a deep state of anxiety, depression, and overwhelm. She didn’t know what to do about it, and started wondering, “Is this dream really for me?”
Sometimes, people let their dreams fade when they get too hard, or when they find themselves defining their identities through the lens of other people. Has this ever happened to you? If so, how did you deal with it?
Do you trust your gut? To what extent do you allow your intuition to influence the choices you make about your life?
Have the assumptions or doubts of others ever led you to question yourself, your dreams, or your path in life? How much weight did you give to those assumptions? What was the outcome?
What is a dream that you want to make a reality? What are you going to do about it?
At several points throughout her journey, Isabel tried to change her path, but always found herself coming back to that same vivid dream. Although she was deeply affected by the obstacles she faced and the negative assumptions of others, the recurrence of this dream was so impactful that it eventually became her truth. It became so normal to her, that at the end of the day, there was no alternative and no option but to continue pursuing it.
Think about a big, maybe even outlandish dream you’ve had. How has it influenced your life up to this point? Is it at the forefront of everything you do, or does it live in the background while you focus on other pursuits?
How do you decide who to turn to when you feel lost, confused, or unable to figure out the next step?
Is there ever a point at which we should rethink our dreams or abandon them entirely?
When you find yourself faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, how do you break out of your own mental prison and move forward?
After years of feeling disconnected and struggling with her identity, Isabel experienced a breakthrough during her ontological coaching training. Through working with her coach, she was able to confront her biases and work through her identity crisis. She came to understand that we are all connected on a spiritual level, and that where you’re from, what you do, and where you live do not define who you are. By finding her place “within”, she realized that home is a state of being within yourself, and not necessarily a physical place.
How do you characterize your identity?
What is it that defines you as a person?
How much does your career or professional life influence the way you view yourself?
Where is your home? What does “home” mean to you?
Transformational coaching deals with the inner workings of the individual (as opposed to external situations or circumstances), and always comes back to the question, “What’s going on inside of you?”
If we can learn to observe and understand our emotions, we are better able to connect with ourselves and communicate with others. This is no small task, as we are often faced with misunderstandings about what we feel, how we’re supposed to feel, and what emotions are good or bad. According to Isabel, “Your emotions are a reflection of your alignment with your soul.” By reflecting before reacting, and learning to express our emotions authentically and without judgment, we can cultivate a deeper level of understanding and connect with people all over the world.
Isabel says that, “Our first and foremost communication tools are our emotions.” Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
Do you feel a sense of alignment with your emotions? Is it ever difficult for you to understand why you feel the way you feel? How do you deal with that?
To what degree do external forces affect the way you view your emotions? Do you ever feel like you shouldn’t feel the way you feel? How do you overcome this?
Think of a time when you reacted before reflecting - what was the outcome? What would have been different if you’d reflected before reacting?
What role does your ego play in understanding your emotions, or the way you interact emotionally with those around you?
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