Power of Intention

There are a handful of times in my life where I have experienced something so powerful that it moved me to tears. And hearing two consecutive voice mails back in the summer of 2005 was one of those times. One was a message from a stranger and one was from my husband, Bill. I listened to the stranger’s message which began with, “Hi, you don’t know me, but…” and he continued to state why he was calling. And then I wept. I don’t know that I have ever had that strong of a reaction to such a natural turn of events, but this is one of those times where I knew my life would never be the same.

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In the early 90’s when Bill and I first decided to hang together (and knew it would be forever!), we talked about our greatest love—vacations and travel. We simply couldn’t get enough of the “adventure” side of life and were delighted to be on the same page with each other.

Early on in our business, we led workshops together on creating conscious vacations, we spoke at travel conferences, we created our own vacation-planning process that quickly got the media’s attention, and we began writing a vacation book. A lot of great things were happening for us!

We also created a lifestyle that set us up for being able to take the vacations we wanted. We’ve always had a deep love and appreciation for vacations; they are simply sacred to us.

But in the beginning of our self-employment, we had to be careful with Read more »

Last fall I had an idea. I wanted to bring my coaching work into organizations to help leaders be their best, and I knew exactly the Fortune 100 company I was interested in approaching. I was in the middle of my work and very focused on business when my Aunt Jane called to say she’d love to take a trip to L.A. together to see our favorite guy, Neil Diamond, perform at the Hollywood Bowl.

Now if you know anything about me, you know that I love Neil Diamond. And I love my Aunt Jane! But in this moment I was so intent on ‘producing’ and ‘achieving’ that I politely thanked her for the fabulous idea, but I had “too much work to do.”

However, as the week went on, Jane even offered to treat me to this wonderful little getaway in celebration of my upcoming 40th birthday. Basically, everything was all set-up for me. I couldn’t turn it down! What a way to be following my joy…spending a week in the sunshine with one of my best friends and celebrating life by cheering on Neil Diamond. Okay, it was perfect. So I said yes.

As I grocery shopped later that day, I heard Neil’s music play in the store. That made me smile. Okay, Universe, I appreciate your support and vote of confidence in me following my joy.

Before I left home, one item of business I felt must be taken care of was to Read more »