I recently retreated to Joshua Tree National Park to tune in to my mission at this next level – I am feeling so connected to the larger impact of having more, highly EFFECTIVE, transformational retreats happening in the world. And them connected to a program that supports people as they actually BECOME the transformation in their life.
This vision includes the retreat leader (healer, coach, consultant, teacher, creative visionary, transformational spark plug, etc…) actually earning a great living for doing this work!
This means we who have the skills that will literally save the world (humans need a massive amount of transformation right now!) are valued and respected for our place in it, on a broad scale, not just in select circles of slightly closeted woo-woo folks!
You can be RICH financially and RICH spiritually.
Let me tell you about being RICH.
So, as you may know, my book is called Retreat and Grow RICH!
I chose that title because, obviously, I am a huge lover of and believer in retreats. I also choose it because the connection to the book Think and Grow Rich automatically signals to people that there is a bit of mindset and magic involved in my approach (a good bit!)
And of course, I want you to MAKE MONEY AT YOUR RETREAT!
There is another piece to this title you may not know, which is that RICH is an acronym.
It has to do with getting those of us with the fabulous so-called “soft skills” that are so needed right now to take our place on the front lines. This acronym is my anchor to my personal why and I can’t wait to talk about it very directly!
But first, if I’m honest, there is another reason I formed an acronym.
Because the talented, intuitive, heart-centered women that I was attracting had a VERY HARD TIME with claiming their desire to be RICH! I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with women where they were sure to let me know that their goal is to be rich with love, with family, with beautiful experiences, etc. Which is all AWESOME and certainly the most important thing to me… and it is also OK to want money! You can support your dreams, hire and pay team members to work in their genius and then some!
More money in your business gives you more influence in the world.
I want you to have that.
Because I believe more money in the hands of the RICH will make all the difference.
R – Right-brained
I – Intuitive
C – Connected
H – Heart-Centered
These are the skills needed to support people in the western world to connect back into our hearts, our truth, our bodies and our connection to spirit so that we feel whole and complete. This shift will stop the violence.
When I was in my corporate job, I distinctly remember having a performance review in which I was told, “Your soft skills are great, Darla, but you might want to tone them down a bit – they will only get you so far here.” This was in response to my continued gravitation toward the human side of the products we were creating.
There was no mixed message here – it was clear that the more technical, linear, analytic skills were valued more and would get me promoted faster (though I still did get promoted), than my interest in really being tuned in to the heart of what our customers actually wanted to purchase and why.
Standing where I do today, I stand by my soft skills. That company is not doing nearly as well as it was when it was a dominant force and coveted workplace as it was when I worked there. Perhaps, had they placed a bit more value on the heart of why the products exist, and staying tapped into societal trends, this would not be the case.
And thus my mission.
Technology is great. I value that I could compose this message to you on a battery-powered laptop from my sunny front deck. And that it can reach you in an instant, via a team member who is three time zones away.
I value technology.
It’s also caused us to speed up in our work styles and lifestyles and the sheer amount of “stuff” that we feel that we need just to get by on a day-to-day basis.
It’s caused us to feel as if a moment of not doing something is a moment of ‘getting behind’ someone else who is.
We’ve become so disconnected from our physical selves and nature that our souls don’t know what to do. This creates self-judgment, loneliness, depression and a whole lot of suppressed anger.
And all of this is a choice to continue to buy into what has value in our society and what doesn’t in a way that ultimately leads to our detriment.
We, as transformational leaders… as RICH women can choose to live differently and use our powers for good.
Let’s break it down.
Right-Brained
This is the creative part of you who can think differently, who can put together the pieces outside of time and space and make quantum leaps in what’s possible. You can design retreat experiences that take people out of their normal way of experiencing life and have them actually SEE SOMETHING ELSE AVAILABLE. This tends to be a more feminine quality… to build on the essence of things, rather than a linear step-by-step plan.
Intuitive
Kurt Wright in his book Breaking the Rules does the best job explaining how the intuitive mind and the rational mind are designed to work together in harmony. He explains how the rational mind (linear-logical) is not actually capable of discerning truth. It can only explain facts and ask questions. This is why when we get in an argument we can sometimes find ourselves arguing for something we don’t even care about simply because it’s a sound, logical argument. This same idea applies everywhere.
Your rational mind is designed to ask questions of your intuitive mind, which is where your truth lies. For me intuition is spiritual. It is source speaking to me and through me. But even without that interpretation, you can imagine that your intuition is your access to what’s true FOR YOU. It may not appear to be logical or rational to anyone else, but you know your truth. The more we can honor our personal truth, regardless of how it appears to anyone else, the more our intuition will come alive. We’ll be operating in alignment.
Connected
When we’re connected to our intuition (or spirit), we feel really clear about what’s true for us individually. We’re solid and grounded in who we are and we can receive and respect others because we know WE are OK, so therefore it is totally OK for them to be who they are. This leads to a sense of intimacy and connection with individuals and the world at large.
I teach seven levels of energy work and my favorite level is level six, which has to do with the sense that we are all energetically connected and therefore when something good happens for me, it is good for the world. And it’s all good. Because that is the nature of things. When we know we’re all connected, we immediately hold ourselves and others in a whole different way. Imagine more of this energy on the planet!
Heart-Centered
We’ve talked about intuition, which for many people lives in the gut (though not for all!). Let’s talk about the heart for a minute. If we turn on the news for a moment or much of reality TV, it’s easy to see that we need more heart. When we operate from our head, to stay safe and remain in control, we make very different decisions than when we operate from our heart.
Imagine a world in which world leaders actually let their heart’s lead! What would that be like!?
And this is my mission. As you can see, to become RICH in this definition means to really be present and embodied and tuned into all of your senses as a leader. I continue to work on this myself in order to model the way for my clients.
And for those of us who have these skills and know they make a difference, WE must start honoring them and valuing them so deeply. It is the only way the world will recognize this need. This includes investing in those skills yourself. Working with coaches who can see and fine tune my energy field, mindset, how I’m showing up and how I’m caring for myself has been the biggest investment in my business, and will continue to be, because it is what matters in the long run to turn the tide… not hypey formulas or complicated solutions.
Imagine if each and every human embodied those four RICH skills because they personally made a decision to value those things above all…. What would shift?
It starts with us! With you!
I’d love to hear your experience and your questions about how to really embody this.
If you feel ready to actually EXPERIENCE this on deeper level and step more into alignment with this new way of living and working, and you feel called to retreat in ITALY… join me for the Aligned Retreat, Lazy Bee Edition. CLICK HERE to learn more and apply!