By Anthony Paradiso
Born to Do It is a book for “people who are open to incorporating spirituality into business.” Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith is the “film festival doctor.” Of course, that term was never used before and that is the point of the book. There is no doctorate program for Film Festivals. Such a title never existed before but that is the point of this very interesting book. The book teaches readers about “film festival strategies” and shows readers how to become leaders of this niche. But really what the author is doing is presenting a way you, the reader, can find a job for yourself in this very confusing digital age. In her book, Dr. Smith teaches the reader many useful tricks and strategies that enhanced the way she did business, in a very interesting way. She reminds us occasionally, that while she branded herself as a “film festival doctor,” there is no reason that you can’t follow her lead and find a “niche” that fits you in your search for a career. Maybe you can even be a Dr. in something that interests you.
In the first few chapters, Dr. Smith introduces the concept of having a “soul purpose.” Dr. Smith tells us that a soul purpose is “the reason you are here on Earth” and that by following the path of what you are born to do, you can find a way of making a living doing what you love. At the end of each chapter, there is a list of questions designed to help the reader absorb the information from the chapter they just read.
One of my favorite parts about Dr. Smith’s narrative style is how she describes what it was like to fail at her first job, to recover from that and then how she really got her business to take off. Dr. Smith met a Feng Shui master named Marie Diamond who changed her “energy” after she started to dress with more vibrant colors. This helped Dr. Smith stand out more at networking events and helped her think more positively about her career.
In this chapter in the book, Dr. Smith describes how wearing new colors made her feel like she was “in alignment with my soul purpose and I was feeling a lot more balanced, both mentally and physically.”
This is an engaging book that everyone should read especially those of us who feel we haven’t really done what we wanted to do in life, because the spiritual techniques that the author used to figure out her soul purpose and to stick with it, can be learned easily. The good Dr. Smith prescribes that we investigate our “souls” to find out what we really want to do in life and to go for it, while understanding how you need to network and have the discipline and drive to become an expert in your field.
