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Stop Dragging, Start Living: Author Jane Morales Shows Readers How To Live Their Purpose
By Andrea Marvin
Author Jane Morales describes herself as having many past lives, as she has easily been able to navigate shifts and adapt to life’s circumstances.
Morales' successful career spans from roles as a television journalist for major networks such as Telemundo to running her own business as a stay-at-home mom.
She is now a Human Development, Leadership, and Assertiveness Coach and holds a Master of Science in Communications from Boston University and has studied meditation and psychology.
When author Jane Morales began working with people who wanted to change, she noticed they seemed lost in the world and were dragging through life.
She developed a list of strategies to help her clients find their purpose and make authentic choices, outlined in her new book, Stop Dragging, Start Living. Morales shows readers how to map out the life they want.
During an interview, author Jane Morales discusses the importance of staying on track with goals by creating a daily plan and writing it down in a series of steps.
Stop Dragging, Start Living also offers a series of mindfulness exercises and emphasizes the importance of staying in the present moment to live our best lives.
Her greatest hope for readers is that they realize the importance and value of having a purpose. While striving to reach that ideal, Morales touches on the importance of considering where you are in life and learning how to adapt.
During an interview, Morales shares how she pivoted and stayed true to her purpose by making authentic choices.
Tell me a little bit about your book, Stop Dragging, Start Living. What inspired you to write it?
I always say that I have had many past lives. When our first child was born, I transitioned away from being a top executive because I wanted to raise my kids and stay home.
As I started adapting to my new life, I began taking classes online, including counseling and human development courses, and received a Master's in meditation and psychology.
I built my business and began working with people ranging from high school students to top company executives who had a desire to move forward and change.
What I noticed is that many talented, healthy, educated people seemed lost in the world, dragging through life.
When I would talk to them about what they were doing, they had no idea. So I would develop a list of strategies for them to find their purpose.
When COVID hit, I decided to start writing this book with these learnings. It took me some time to put everything in writing and create a roadmap that can help other people.
I always tell clients during our meetings and consultations that you have to map out the life you want, while considering your purpose and talents, to set goals and focus your mind on achieving them.
I believe individuals need to have a purpose in life because it gives them a reason to live. When we have a reason to live, everything starts to fall into place, and you start seeing things differently.
If you're doing something you love, you become happier, and the people around you begin to notice too.
How is the book structured?
I address many topics. For example, I start by encouraging readers to look back on the course of their lives and think about how, as children, they would get lost in fantasy while playing with toys and wouldn't think about anything else.
Flowing with time without even noticing it is the purest form of happiness.
I also provide guidelines to follow to define your purpose. At any point, you can determine what you want. If you don't know what your purpose is, find one and go after it, even if it's as simple as creating a home garden.
Consider what would make you happy and develop a plan to achieve it.
My sons read the book in college and said, "Mom, I needed this book." It motivated them to sit down, go through what they wanted, and figure out how to achieve it.
What are some of the tips that you give to help people get unstuck?
Since I have a Master's in meditation, I include many mindfulness exercises in my book to help you stay in the present moment and work with a clearer mind.
It's almost like going to the gym. When anxiety takes over, the focus is on the future. When depression occurs, the focus tends to be on the past and something we couldn't achieve.
It’s essential to focus on where we are today to make our goals happen. When we live in the present moment, we create our best lives.
I provide exercises on how to set realistic goals. You have to consider where you are in life and how to turn it around and adapt.
When struggling, it's also essential to recognize that it won’t last forever. We need to manage our struggles to avoid being derailed from where we want to be.
What methods do you touch on to break down goals?
When starting, I tell people to write down their goals for the day. For example, this can involve waking up and exercising.
Then, think about what your plan is for tomorrow. What are you going to do in the morning, and what would you like to achieve? Write your plan from today until next week.
When my husband and I dropped off our youngest son at UC Berkeley in California, he told me on the first night in his dorm that he felt overwhelmed.
I told him he shouldn't define college by one day but should measure it by weeks instead. And that's the same idea with goals - set goals for the day and for the week.
You can look back on that time, analyze which goals you were successful at and which ones failed, and then restructure them from there. From one week to three months, goals grow.
I also explain the importance of being able to adapt, because life happens. You cannot be stressed about fulfilling everything.
In life, we need to be accountable, but at the same time, we need to be flexible. It comes back to staying in the present moment. When we set goals and define our purpose, we need to do it from a pure place, which is in the present moment.
I have exercises in the book on how to get there as well.
What’s the primary message and takeaway for readers?
Having a purpose in life is extremely important for fulfillment and achieving happiness. Because when you have a purpose, you feel like you're doing something important. And it doesn't have to be a huge purpose.
It can be gardening and seeing your flowers grow, becoming a point of contact among your neighbors on the street, having a seat on the city council, or starting a company.
Finding a purpose tied to who you really are and your talents is important. Because when we find a purpose tied to that, we work toward becoming our best selves. When we feel good, we are happy with what we're doing.
It's also essential to go back and analyze our reasons. For example, do you want to start a business to make more money or to achieve personal growth?
It’s important to be clear because sometimes we get lost in what we want to accomplish in life based on outside influences. We need to discover our purpose, who we truly are, and our talents, because that's when we do our best.
I want people to be able to recognize and find a purpose because then life has meaning. When life has meaning, we become happier people.
Who do you feel Stop Dragging, Start Living speaks to? Someone contemplating whether to start a business, or tackling a big life change?
I always say the younger you are, the better. If you're a junior in high school, unsure of what to major in, or if you're in college, trying to build your professional future, this is a great guide.
It’s also a good book for people going through change. I worked in the television industry for many years before I became a top executive and mother. Many women want to raise their kids and work from home, and feel guilty about it, which there’s no reason for.
I touch upon that in the book – how, working from home, these women are creating something meaningful for their family or for the good of a company, creating something around them.
Or sometimes top executives of companies want to change jobs and wonder how to reinvent themselves. I explain in the book to go back to your purpose.
There aren't any obstacles to reinventing yourself if you're true to yourself. And if you're able to adapt to the time in your life as well, you'll find success.
Adaptability is a topic you focus more on in your next book. What can readers expect from it?
The book is about the importance of adapting to changes happening around you. Realizing what those changes are and adjusting to your surroundings. This can apply to family, work, social environment, everything.
We also have to know when to detach from circumstances that cause us stress. Instead of falling more into it, we need to detach, take a break, and return to it from a good place. Because those things drag us down. People drag us down.
We need to be aware of those people and social environments. When we know, we learn how to detach, find our center, and move forward.
Tell me a little bit about your professional background and how it influenced the topics you write about.
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I grew up in a family of two great parents and one sister. My mom and dad were mentors more than parents to us.
My sister and I were both ballet dancers, and I was a professional dancer by the age of 11. Dancing gave me a lot of discipline in life, but I was happy too, you know?
At the age of 14, I developed an instinct for what I needed to do to get to different places. For example, I recently went to my high school reunion. When I was a teenager, in the last two years of high school, I changed schools.
During the reunion, one of my high school friends asked why I did that. I explained how one day I woke up and just knew that I had to in order to get where I needed to go.
I never had a problem changing my circumstances to achieve what I wanted. When growing up as a dancer, you're always in the present moment, which helped develop that instinct. I also started meditating at a young age. I would daydream about what I wanted to do and write it down.
Career-wise, I worked in the television industry for many years, but I knew I didn’t want to grow old in the industry.
I transitioned into media communications and marketing next. I knew that had an expiration too because I wanted children. That's why I say I've had many past lives.
I never got obsessed with what I had achieved so that it had to be everlasting. I always knew that I could adapt and mold myself to become someone else. And just taking action to do that and change.
Author Jane Morales worked in the television industry for ten years, including at Telemundo and NBC Network, covering live events such as the Oscars on the red carpet.
She later became the director of communications, advertising, and public relations for Cartier Jewelers International, overseeing the Latin American markets.
She is now an entrepreneur with her own practice, training people about self-empowerment. Author Jane Morales is married and a mom to three. Two of her children are college athletes, and her third is working toward become a filmmaker.
Stop Dragging, Start Living is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. For more information about author Jane Morales: www.JaneMorales.com
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