Author: Greg Doepke
Founder, Aspire to Give® Academy,
Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy ®
C2 Pathway to Purpose:
Stories & Questions for Clarity
Course Description
Engage your feeling heart and thinking head in Pathways to Purpose – the second dynamic course of the two-course program for adults navigating life's transitions. This empowering course follows a proven transition roadmap, engages purposeful storytelling, and teaches goal setting and critical thinking to help you find clarity and chart a personalized path forward. Discover your unique sweet spot where passion and strengths align with your renewed purpose and harness the power of your life stories to shape a purpose-driven successful future.
Success Coaching
Besides supporting learners with email support, a skilled Success Coach leads each cohort (group) of 8-15 learners with video conferencing opportunities:
- Lesson 1: "Meet & Greet" (Required)
- Lessons 3 & 6: "Coach's Corner Check-in" (Optional Open-door)
- Lesson 10: "Celebrate & Reflect" (Required)
Course Lesson Titles and Summaries
L1 Start with Generous Inquiry (GI): Take a deep dive into the GI process to learn its roots and how the Socratic method, Appreciative Inquiry, and the principles of Reciprocal Benevolence evolved to Generous Inquiry. Focus on defining purpose and the first three steps of discovery, dream, and design.
L2 Highlight Purpose: Understand the importance of your "Why?" answer as the compass for life’s direction. Gain clarity as to the reason you do what you do. Review your life’s journey to recognize and appreciate your pivot points and the role of a Success Coach to better understand their importance of life’s journey.
L3 Find Meaning in Stories: Harness the power of storytelling to illuminate the values and lessons ingrained in personal narratives. You will learn to dissect storytelling components, amplifying the meaning behind every life event and character in stories.
L4 Share Your Stories: Delve into powerful, positive stories of your passions and successes as you share them to inspire positive possibilities for your transition journey. These narratives provide valuable insights into leveraging your passions and strengths as a potent personal growth tool.
L5 Find Your Sweet spot: Recognize the confluence of passion, strengths, joy, and personal meaning as the personal sweet spot and that everyone’s sweet spot is unique to the individual. Recognizing others’ sweet spot is essential in mastering your life’s transitions. Drawing on your own experience, tentatively identify pivot points and sweet spots thus far on your life’s journey.
L6 Frame Your Transition: Organize and structure your transition effectively with clarity and intentionality by comprehensively identifying and defining the different components of your transition setting with seven distinct questions.
L7 Clarify Your SMART Goals: With the support and guidance of your success coach, learn how to set and achieve your transition goals, set and draft preliminary goals for your transition, and clarify the approach you will implement to achieve your goals.
L8 Pursue Your Path to Purpose: With your transition coach at your side, a targeted sweet spot, and a refreshed, personal purpose, chart your path for your transition. Identify the critical choices confronting you and employ the proven PACE step-by-step decision-making process to draft your transition pathway.
L9 Assess with Critical Thinking Tools I: Enable wiser decisions with three inquiry-based, practical thinking tools. The first tool is the human-sciences derivative of Toyota’s “5 Why “root-cause analysis. The second thinking tool focuses on the consistency of thoughts, words, and actions to target specific, desired outcomes. The third tool unleashes life transition possibilities with three simple, reflective, generous questions.
L10 Decide with Critical Thinking Tools II: Elevate your decision-making with three additional, easy, inquiry-based thinking tools: one that asks four simple questions that frame a complete strategy for managing the risks of choices. Learn how to discern and find truth through self-questioning. To wrap up your decision-making process, learn to evaluate options with the Six Thinking Hats® methodology adapted to the needs of mastering life transition decision-making.
Our Purpose
Aspire to Give® Academy empowers adults to make wise choices at life's crossroads, enabling them to build their best lives and foster a better tomorrow.
Documents
Cohort (Group) Learning
(8-15 Learners)
Community Learning Groups
Peer learners, united by a common life transition, learn and support each other through shared experiences, empathetic engagement, and collective problem-solving. Community groups include veterans, young adults, recovering singles, and other common interest groups.
Lesson Exercises
Every course lesson includes a learning activity tailored to spark questions, foster reflection, and stimulate personal growth.
Success Coaches
Each cohort (group) of 8-15 learners is guided by an experienced, highly qualified Success Coach who serves as a mentor and resource. The Success Coach meets virtually with the group multiple times to enhance learning, guide learners, and answer learner questions.
Veterans Transition Empowerment Program (V-TEP)
The V-TEP program of two bundled courses empowers veterans to chart their own unique path as they transition to civilian life. Join a supportive cohort led by an experienced coach, where veterans learn, share, and navigate the road to successful transition.
Four Pillars of Learning
The Academy's state-of-the-art inquiry-based, transformative curriculum is based on four pillars of learning:
1. Personal - tailored to your situation.
2. Positive - uplifting & appreciative.
3. Probing - questions spark learning.
4. Practical - applicable to real-life.
Five Beliefs
1. Appreciate individuality
2. Give sincerely
3. Practice reciprocal generosity
4. Live with purpose
5. Choose wisely at life's junctures
Coming Soon
Course #3
The Art & Science of Financial Generosity
Engage both your loving heart and your thinking head as you learn to give genorously to loved ones and special causes. You will learn over a dozen strategic tools and strategies to give wisely to create a lasting legacy of signficance and impact.
Coming Soon
Course #4
Compose a
Legacy of Love
Compose a Legacy of Love invites you to construct an enduring testament of your life's journey, aspirations, and wishes, carefully framed in love, generosity, and consideration. In this course you compose and convey your legacies, align your resources, organize your estate affairs, and offer treasured guidance to loved ones to reduce stress, save money, and ease administrative hassle upon death.
Smart Goal Setting
Establishing specific, realistic, measurable goals in personal, family, career, and financial areas is crucial for navigating life transitions effectively. It creates clear guidelines for success during periods of change to craft your best life.
Coming Soon!
Digital Downloads
Each of the four courses of the series includes digital downloads of articles, research, references, and checklists that supplement the course video, workbook exercises, and cohort peer learning.
Crossword Puzzles
In addition to lesson exercises, each course includes 4 crossword puzzles as a fun way to learn the terminology. Being fluent in conversation with peers, coaches, mentors, and professional advisors is essential for successfully navigating life transitions.
Coming Soon!
Blog
Previous and new blog posts will enhance course and workbook content, equipping learners with extra references and resources on cutting-edge topics like the philanthropic frontier, effective financial generosity tools and strategies, and mastering life transitions throughout the lifespan.
Bundle #3
Legacy by Design
The Legacy by Design Program helps you give intentionally and generously to loved ones and special causes. Learn over a dozen financial giving strategies and how to avoid unintended consequences of financial generosity, evaluate nonprofit beneficiaries, and compose a legacy of love through letters capturing your aspirations, life-lessons, and values. Organize your personal affairs with this bundle, ideal for those with financial resources to share and in the sunset years of life. Legacy by Design is bundled courses #3 & #4.
Pivot to Purpose
Transition Program
Embark on a transformative journey with the two-course Pivot to Purpose Transition Program. Guided by a seasoned coach, adults navigating life transitions develop self-awareness, leadership, and renewed purpose and gain vital life skills to master life transitions.
Coming Soon
Course #1
Pivot Points: Mastering Life's Transitions
Pivot Points: Mastering Life's Transitions is an engaging, interactive course designed for adults at critical life crossroads. It offers ten comprehensive lessons and an insightful workbook, equipping learners with practical strategies and reflective exercises to gracefully understand their own life journey, navigate life's changes, and foster self-awareness and resilience for life's future crossroads.
Coming Soon
Course #2
Pathway to Purpose: Stories & Questions
for Clarity
Pathway to Purpose aligns your passions and strengths with your refreshed purpose and transition goals, offering workbook exercises, storytelling, and reflective questions for deep learning and decision-making. Learn seven practical thinking tools for clear, confident choices. Includes references for further reading. This courses is the second course of the V-TEP and Pivot to Purpose Transition Bundle.
7 Thinking Tools
In the Pathway to Purpose course, learners will enhance their decision-making skills with seven easy-to-use critical thinking tools. These tools will empower individuals to make more well-informed choices, allowing them to navigate life's challenges with greater confidence, comfort, and clarity.
Contact Us
Success Coaching
Our Success Coaches nurture and mentor a cohort of 8-15 learners, providing vital guidance, support, and resources. Through periodic virtual meetings and email support, they cultivate essential life skills, ensuring every learner feels empowered and connected.
Meet Our Coaches
Highly trained and experienced coaches will lead the various life transition cohort groups, including military veterans transitioning to civilian life. Coaching profiles will be available on the Academy's website.
Seek, Ask, Give, & Do
We embrace an educational philosophy anchored in Reciprocal Benevolence, where learning flourishes as a natural outcome of mutual kindness and support:
- Seek with an open heart, and you shall discover knowledge.
- Ask with caring curiosity, and wisdom will be imparted to you.
- Give generously, and in return, gain deeper insights.
- Do share the kindness, empathy, and respect you desire.
We nurture wisdom through caring questions, deliberate generosity, and thoughtful kindness.
Study Groups
Cohorts of 8-15 members from the same group are usually in the same class, promoting sharing and support among learners.
Pivot Points, Lesson 1
Learn the Lingo Answers
Crossroads of Life
During life, we encounter pivotal moments of choices, challenges, and changes that shape an unknown future. Examples include:
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Military veterans in transition -
Young adults (ages 18-25)
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Career changers & empty nesters
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Recovering singles (lost relationship) -
Restless spirits seeking more
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Retirees scouting for opportunities
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Those recovering from a setback
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Those at the sunset of life
Mutual Benevolence
Aligned with a shared purpose and guided by the principles of Reciprocal Benevolence, each contributing organization benefits both individually and collectively. This harmonious philosophy encourages mutual support, understanding, innovation, and growth for the greater good.
Strengths-based Resourcing
Srengths-based resourcing unites each organization's distinct strengths for the common purpose of maximizing the impact of life-skill education. Resourcing may include access to:
- Audiences with Life-skills
Educational Need - Expertise & Knowledge
- Financial Funding
- Additional Resources
- Policy Influence & Advocacy
- Best Practices
Essential Life Skills
In today's complex world, many adults lack the essential tools needed to build their best lives and foster a brighter future. While formal education provides academic and vocational training, there is a void in the teaching of essential life skills. To bridge this gap and build successful lives, adults need life skills education in:
- Self-leadership
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Emotional Intelligence
- Time Management
- Interpersonal Social Skills
- Critical Thinking
- Adaptability & Resiliency
A: It had too many problems!
But then it learned that every problem has a solution!
Pivot Point
Self Leadership
Self-leadership is guiding oneself effectively, honing and enhancing life skills for personal growth and success.
Active Listening
Active listening entails spending approximately 70% of the conversation focusing on comprehending, absorbing non-verbal signals, and truly understanding the speaker, with 30% dedicated to responding and interacting.
Generous Conversation
Generous conversation" involves genuine interest and appreciation for the other party, engaging through open-ended questions and practicing active listening 70% of the time.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one's own emotions, and to empathize with and influence the emotions of others.
Conversational Setting
A conversational setting is the intentional planning of dialogue with consideration to topic, location, timing, duration, and methods, which are crucial for achieving the conversation's objectives.
Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry is primarily used in organizational development, focusing on identifying and building on strengths within groups or organizations.
Socratic Method
The Socratic Method of inquiry involves asking a series of probing questions to challenge assumptions and stimulate critical thinking, leading to greater understanding or insight.
Generous Inquiry
In contrast to the organizational focus of Appreciative Inquiry, Generous Inquiry is more individual-focused, emphasizing empathetic, open-ended questioning, and active listening to foster personal understanding, enhance the relationship, and foster personal growth.
Self Leadership
Life's transitions provide opportunities for growth. Mastering self-leadership, emotional intelligence, and vital soft and life skills is crucial for managing challenges. Cultivating these qualities leads to a fulfilling life and positive relationships. True leadership starts with self-leadership, by looking inward, enhancing self-awareness, and committing to personal development. These practices help navigate transitions with purpose and resilience.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence involves the ability to recognize and manage your own emotions, as well as understand the feelings of others. By developing emotional intelligence, you can enhance your capacity to navigate through life's various transitions more effectively. This is achieved through enhanced communication skills, a reduction in stress levels, and the cultivation of resilience to adapt to challenges.
Self Awareness
Self-awareness is understanding your own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and values. It helps you navigate life's pivot points by allowing you to make informed decisions based on personal insight, adapt to changes smoothly, and align your actions with your renewed purpose and life goals, ensuring you stay true to yourself during critical life transitions.
Prospective Success Coaches
Transition Roadmap
In the Pivot Points Course (C#1), learners are introduced to a proven 5-step transition roadmap to pursue their renewed purpose to the next chapter of their life and foster a better tomorrow.
Aspire to Give® Academy's
Three Unique Benefits
1. Self-Leadership: We nurture a self-leading positive mindset and embed life skills such as communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, resilience, and time management in the curriculum.
2. Success Coaching: Recognizing the essential roles of parents, teachers, mentors, and coaches, our core curriculum is delivered in groups (cohorts) led by skilled Success Coaches. This approach provides the vital guidance needed to build your best life.
3. Reciprocal Benevolence: Guided by universal wisdom and the innate human desire to give, we nurture a culture of intentional generosity in the curriculum that fosters meaningful relationships, enriches lives, and creates a brighter future.
The Aspire to Give® Academy's curriculum is most effective when people are actively engaged at the Pivot Points of their lives.
Reciprocal Benevolence
Seek, Ask, Give, & Do
Reciprocal Benevolence is anchored in the ageless, universal wisdom where purpose, meaning, and impact flourishes:
- Seek, and you shall find.
- Ask, and it will be given to you.
- Give, and you shall receive.
- Do onto others, as you would have them do onto you.
Guided by this wisdom and the embedded human desire to give, we nurture a culture of intentional generosity that builds better lives and fosters a better tomorrow.
Thriving Communities
Social Sharing for Societal Solutions™ fosters a thriving community by empowering adults experiencing life transitions to build their best lives and foster a brighter future. Specific benefits for the community include:
- Stronger Families
- Life Skilled Workforce
- Economic Development
- Reduced Inequalities
- Community Enrichment
- Healthier Community
Community Champions
Just as each player on a championship team has unique talents, organizations also have distinct strengths that empower adults to develop essential life skills to build a champion community.
Community Champions include:
- Foundations & nonprofits
- Businesses & Professionals
- Government Agencies
- Colleges & Universities
- Community Groups
Success Coaching
Success Coaching provides compassionate guidance to adults navigating life's transitions, empowering them to overcome challenges, adapt to change, and make wise choices. Throughout our lives, we face numerous crossroads, and coaching during these pivotal moments is vital for success. A success coach is essential for building better lives, fostering thriving communities, and creating a brighter tomorrow for all.
Transitioning Lives on Life's Journey
At the crossroads throughout life, we encounter challenges, choices, and changes as we pivot and transition to an unknown future . Examples of lives in transition include:
-
Military veterans in transition
-
Young adults (ages 18-25)
-
Career changers & empty nesters
-
Recovering singles (lost relationship)
-
Retirees looking for a more fulfilling life
-
Life rebounders (poor choices, misfortune)
-
Those seeking to leave a legacy of love.
-
Restless spirits seeking more
