DEVELOP YOUR INTUITION

If you have no idea what you want, try technique 1, while technique 2 is for you if you have an idea of what you’re seeking.

1 THE SEVEN-DAY JOURNAL

If nothing seems that inspiring and you just don’t know what you want, journal for a few minutes every morning for seven days, with this prompt at the top of the page: ‘What I really want is…’ Allow yourself to keep writing, and don’t read back over it. ‘Let that stream of consciousness out on to the page,’ Forleo says.

2 WOULDN’T IT BE COOL IF…

If you have an idea of what you want, use this prompt: ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if…’ Maybe it’s ‘wouldn’t it be cool if I took Fridays off’ or ‘if I carved out sacred time for two hours a day’ or ‘if I could work in Italy for two months’. Write following either of these prompts every day for a few minutes. ‘It is miraculous. After a week, when you look back on those seven days, you’ll see a couple of things that keep occurring,’ says Forleo. ‘Look back and think, “What is the most exciting or terrifying thing on those pages?” It doesn’t have to be epic in scale, but it needs to move you.’ Your next step is reverse engineering, working out how you can bring what you want to life. Think: ‘What would I need to do in order to make that happen?’ As an example, if it’s working abroad, you might have to talk to your boss, find a place to live, get new schools for the children… Forleo’s own most exciting ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if…’ idea came to life recently, when, to launch her book tour in New York, she threw an event with the theme ‘imagine a Beyoncé concert and a TED Talk had a baby, then threw a party’. It wasn’t easy for her and her team to accomplish, she says. But the joy she felt in returning to the creativity she felt as a dancer made up for everything (you can watch it all being put together online at Marietv).

3 MOVEMENT TO MUSIC

Exercise is another way to connect to your intuition when you feel stuck. How you move doesn’t have to look a particular way. It could be running, cycling, dancing, whatever suits you. ‘But find something that does have a bit of intensity to it. And add music along with that. There is something profound that happens when you push yourself physically. It opens up a creative channel and a connection to your intuition that you cannot get to any other way,’ says Forleo. She and the writer Elizabeth Gilbert – of Eat Pray Love fame – became friends the first time Gilbert came on her show. Forleo tells me that for 100 days after Gilbert’s wife, Reya, died, Gilbert danced in order to move the grief through her body and honour her love for Reya. As well as movement, Forleo’s other non-negotiable element is meditation: find a flavour you like and do it daily.

HOW TO KNOW YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH

4 LISTEN TO YOUR WISER SELF

This is a technique Forleo used in her mid-20s, when she was trying to decide whether to pursue a dance and fitness career, even though she had no formal training. She couldn’t ignore the urge, so she did what has since become known as the 10-year test (although you can use five, 15 or even 20 years). Ask yourself, ‘Would X-year-old me regret at least not giving this a go?’ So in her case, would 35-year-old Marie regret not trying to become a dancer? ‘Most people will get a visceral, internal-based answer. And that is your wiser self saying “let’s do this!”’ says Foleo, who ended up as a Nike elite athlete until she went into coaching full time.

5 FIND THE RIGHT SIZE DREAM FOR YOU

Defining your own success, what you really want and your dream is a courageous act, but you don’t need to achieve in a traditional sense to be fulfilled. ‘My mom’s biggest dream was to have two kids and a family. And she did it. And she tells me, “I feel like I’ve done exactly what I was put on this planet to do.”’ Don’t think bigger dreams are automatically better dreams. ‘I think that each of us is so unique when it comes to our appetite for what we want in our lives.’

6 CELEBRATE YOUR UNCERTAINTY

Whether you’re 40, 50 or 60, you still have plenty of time to find your direction or your thing or yourself, Forleo says. ‘If you’re waking up now and thinking “this isn’t who I am” or “this isn’t what I want to do”, this is a time to celebrate. You’ve got an extraordinarily long journey ahead of you. And so much more room to create, who knows, maybe one, two, even three more iterations of your career and your livelihood.’

So now it’s time to get started on the rest of your life, however you want it to look and however you want to feel. ‘The world needs that very special gift that only you have,’ says Forleo. Her view is that time is precious. And so are you. ‘Your genius is unique. Your DNA is unrepeatable.’ So you need to uncover and do something with your unique gifts, perspective, ideas, dreams or history. ‘When you hold back or play small, you are stealing from those who need you most.’