About
The Vail Alliance for Purposeful Living inspires purposeful living and helps people manage life’s transitions. This includes the inner work of developing more clarity and self-awareness and the outer work of contributing to communities and the world.
Through one’s own sense of it, purposeful living is sharing, giving back, paying forward, mentoring, and serving others and the community.
Our purpose is to inspire purposeful living.
Alliance programs, both online and in-person, support individuals as they navigate life and work transitions and their self-renewal.
Team
There is a small but committed working group driving the launch of the Alliance:
- Art Currier, a former business executive and sustainability champion
- Buck Elliott, a local business owner and entrepreneur
- John Horan-Kates, an author, executive, and founder of the Vail Valley Foundation
- Richard Leider, a best-selling author and speaker and our Purpose Ambassador
- Terry Minger, a former Vail Town Manager and foundation executive
- Sarah Smith Orr, a Ph.D., life coach, consultant, and professor
- Gregg Vanourek, an award-winning author and executive training, teaching, and speaking in the U.S. and Europe
Most of the Alliance founders either live in Vail or have extensive experience running organizations in the Vail Valley. We know this place well.
Each of the founders has considerable experience in personal development: Most are experienced retreat facilitators and coaches, many with over forty years of experience. This is a group of leaders with a proven track record.
Inside First
We use the Inside First™ framework in our programs, a framework developed and refined over decades by top practitioners in this field and used with great effect with many individuals and groups. As indicated by its name, it begins with the “inside first.”
We’ve found that most such programs begin on the outside with skill-building or other similar elements. While these are important too, we think it works best when we begin with the “inside first” work of clarifying one’s values and purpose, then move to the “outside next” work of expressing one’s purpose in real life, applying it in the larger world, while also addressing the “in between” work of removing barriers and identifying onramps to connect people with opportunities. Offered as part of an iterative process, they offer a complete picture of how to move from internal exploration to external application.
Benefits of the Inside First™ Model:
- Developing a clearer sense of your purpose energizes your work, because people with passion for their calling are more fully engaged.
- Gaining increased insight into your values and beliefs improves ethical decision-making, because you have a solid foundation from which to act. Developing these aspects of your character helps you understand how a clean heart, and not just your head, drives your behavior.
- Creating a sharp vision of your future provides a powerful roadmap to significance.
- Being clear about what’s important to you allows you to focus your creative energy in ways that generate extraordinary results.
- Developing listening skills makes you a better communicator.
- Building relationships of trust helps you see that making progress through others is the essence of life and leadership.
- Honoring a commitment to lifelong learning keeps you growing.
- Gaining awareness of your strengths and potential allows you to maximize your influence and make greater contributions to your organization, your family, and your community.
- Drawing upon your spiritual perspective helps you maintain a healthy ego.
- Developing an appreciation for nature allows you to reflect on the lessons of life.
“Purpose is that deepest dimension within us—our central core. It is the quality we choose to shape our lives around. Purpose is already within us waiting to be discovered.”