For as long as I can remember I’ve always felt a deep call to “do things my way” and not simply do what’s expected of me.
While I may have lost my way at times and fallen into the trap of following someone else’s creed, system, belief structure or formula, I’m happy to say that I have truly found “my way” and it’s easier (and more fun) than I ever imagined!
As you may have heard by now, I recently hosted 100 clients from around the world for three amazing days at my Transformational Author Breakthrough in Baltimore, Maryland.
What I’m here to share with you today is how I facilitated this powerful and life-changing gathering with no plan, no agenda, no PowerPoint, no three-ring binder… nothing! It was one of the most liberating and impactful things I’ve ever done.
But before I share how I did this and the impact it had, I first want to let you in on the back story.
You see, I haven’t held a live public event for nearly five years… because I was somewhat traumatized by my last one.
The day before my last event began; I walked into the meeting room and literally broke down the moment I set foot on the stage. There was so much outside pressure to do it a certain way, to hit particular sales goals, etc. Not to mention the tremendous amount of internal pressure I had put on myself – the wounded part of me needed so much validation and confirmation of my value and worth because I didn’t FEEL it inside of myself.
This, my friends, was a recipe for failure.
Flash forward to last week at my Transformational Author Breakthrough where I’m now much more centered and grounded in my true power, and authentic self. I could feel it in my bones that this event was meant to be radically different that the last one. And indeed it was!
This time around I didn’t let anyone influence me with regard to how I facilitated the event… which would be a deep practice is trust, presence, listening, witnessing and holding space for people to feel so loved and accepted that the breakthroughs simply flowed.
Some people I mentioned this approach to thought I was crazy and that I should never go into an event without a plan. Others cheered me on, and knew I could do it. And, many more people encouraged me to “go for it” because they wanted to know that “throwing out the script” was a possibility for them too.
So you may be asking how I could “throw out the script” and trust that it would unfold perfectly.
The first thing is to make the important distinction between planning and preparation. I’ll share with you the very same thing I said from the stage at the event… which is that I did not PLAN for the event with regard to an agenda or pre-conceived concept of what we’d do once we gathered. However, I PREPARED for months so I would be READY and able to open and let Divine perfection, miracles, magic, transformation and healing happen through me.
I meditated; I prayed; I went through my own healing and transformation; I surrendered to what I was being called to do (or not do); and I reviewed nearly 100 prep forms from my attendees – so I knew exactly where they were on their journey and what they hoped to receive from the event.
I absolutely prepared for them. But I knew that I couldn’t plan anything other than how I greeted people when they walked in the room, and what time my two outside performers would share their brilliance on the stage.
Other than that, my “job” was to tune into what was happening in the room, create a sacred space filled with love, safety, acceptance, understanding and pure presence; and trust my intuition/guidance that I’d know exactly what to do and when to do it.
That last one about trusting my intuition/guidance was a tricky one… because sometimes I wouldn’t know what was coming next until I opened my mouth to speak! Yet even in those moments I continued to feel grounded, centered, loving, powerful and 100% present. Heck, sometimes I even sat on the stage for a minute in silence waiting to be shown what came next.
I allowed everyone in the room into the journey with me. I let them experience a model of presence – and the impact of being unscripted.
For some people this probably sounds terrifying. And for others, like many of the people at my event last week… this is nothing short of total liberation!
Several people shared how sick and tired they were of feeling manipulated, unheard, unseen, pressured, and valued more for their checkbook or credit card than for who they are as a person!
I’m so happy to say that none of that happened at my event. AND it was still very successful for me from a financial standpoint – without any fear or scarcity to get people to “buy.” They chose to because of how loved, cared for and valued they felt.
I believe this is the true power of throwing out the script. People want and need to be seen, heard and loved… and that just can’t be scripted in my opinion!
Throwing out the script creates space for your greatest gifts to come through, while creating space for unimaginable healing to happen for those you serve.
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So, how about you? Would you like to throw out the script… or do you think I’m crazy? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
