It was January of 2014 and I received an email from Mastin Kipp, a big name in the spiritual community. His rise to fame came after his ‘Daily Love’ business got Tweeted about by Kim Kardashian. He was then featured on Oprah.
So when I got this email with the subject line, “Write your book in Bali…” I was beyond excited. The email contained an invitation to apply for a 28 day writer’s retreat to Bali, Indonesia. My gut instantly screamed a loud, YES and I applied right away.
I was 25 at the time and had always known a book was inside of me. I just had no clue what it would be about. However, I had dozens of journals.
Growing up in my Italian family meant suppressing your emotions and ‘sucking it up’ whenever something upset you. Crying in public was sacrilegious. I was expected to ‘be a good girl’ and not speak up or speak out. Naturally, I had to get my feelings out somewhere so ever since I was a little girl, writing was the safest place for me to do that. My various journals throughout life have been the ‘safe haven’ for my authentic self-expression.
Again, I knew in my heart that somehow I’d write a book. When I got accepted to join 29 other women on this adventure of a lifetime, there was only one thing holding me back. The money. It would cost me $15k alone to go on this trip. Plus travel expenses and lodging, which would total another $3k.
I had never invested in myself before that time. My scarcity and unworthiness programming came out through my anxious thoughts about ‘how in the hell am I going to pay for this?’ Even though I was a pharmacist at the time making $50/hour.
I could hear my dad’s voice say, “What?! $18k for a ‘vacation’?!” The voices were loud and the fear I felt was palpable.
That fear was so intense that I considered not going at all. Many times over. My best friend, Ellen, spent many hours on the phone with me encouraging me at the time. I’m forever grateful because I don’t know if I would have ever gone without those conversations.
I wanted this opportunity so badly, that I simply said YES and knew I would figure it out. I WALKED THROUGH THE FEAR AND DID IT ANYWAY. The fear wasn’t GONE, but I wanted it badly enough that I leaped before the net.
Then something interesting happened. My bosses at the time wanted the summer off. They wanted to be on the beach or spending time with their family and wanted to know if I wanted more hours at the pharmacy. I said a HELL YES and committed to work overtime in the month of July that year.
I forget how many hours I worked, but I must have made about $12,000 that month. My bosses also held my job for me when I went away for a month to Bali. And I was supported by the universe.
You see, you are always being supported.
But most people freeze in fear, wanting to wait until…
“It’s the right time.”
“I have the money.”
“The kids move out, something else falls into place etc.”
You see, the main reason you feel stuck comes down to your ability to take action.
You can hold yourself prisoner for years by NOT taking action. Trust me, I’ve done it.
I’ve wanted to invest in myself or make a change, but then froze in fear. Doing this will lead to repeating the same experiences, and same patterns over and over again. It’s exhausting…
You can break the cycle. The key is to MOVE THROUGH the fear because everything you want is on the other side of you taking action.
When you invest in yourself and trust your intuition, miraculous things come into your life to support you.
I’ve seen this time and time again in my business. It’s energetics. The universe doesn’t like empty spaces. Money flows out, money comes in.
On that Bali trip, I learned from the top writing coaches, made lifelong connections with the women there, and wrote my book in 14 days. Yes, 14 days. I worked night and day. I don’t play around when it comes to making an impact!!!
I also attracted countless clients, opportunities, and speaking gigs from writing the book. And I’ve received more throughout the years with the subsequent books I’ve written. This translated to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Now that I’ve learned those foundational principles of creating a book, I can duplicate it over and over again. I’ve created 4 books in the last 6 years. The investment of $18k more than paid off in so many ways – both tangible and intangible.
So my point is this:
#1. Anything is possible for your life once you say YES to yourself. You have to believe in yourself and stretch your comfort zone to create anything different in your life.
#2. You’re always supported when you follow your intuition. Your intuition is your direct connection to Source/God/the light.
#3. You can do this. Whatever ‘this’ is for you. Whether it’s writing a book, building a business, or otherwise. You’ve got this!!!!
Your dreams are waiting for you. It’s up to YOU to claim them!
With love,
Christina
P.S. Btw, all of my books can be found here.