CONNECTION + COMMUNICATION Page 3 of 13

Be your own soul friend today

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Last summer I went to Santa Fe to take a workshop with the very magical Gail Larsen. At the end of it, she invited us to write love letters to each of the people we had shared the workshop with, and to prompt us she played a song which captured the essence of that person. It was a beautiful exercise. When it came to my turn, instead of playing a song, she played a spoken word piece by John O’Donohue, reading aloud a passage from his breathtaking book Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom.

The coincidence didn’t escape me. Just a few weeks before I had discovered the same book by chance when researching my own book Freedom Seeker. In Anam Cara I found a paragraph that was almost word-for-word the same as something Mr K had written in an early love letter many years before, although he had never even heard of Anam Cara. It made my spine tingle.

In Celtic wisdom ‘anam cara’ means ‘soul friend’. It reflects the idea that our souls need love like our bodies need air, and this love can awaken new dimensions of ourselves. According to John O’Donohue in his beautiful book of the same name, an anam cara recognizes the real you without any pretence or disguise. Theirs is a deep spiritual friendship unaffected by geographical distance or time. Your anam cara understands you in a way that makes you feel you belong together, with your destinies intertwined. If you have an anam cara, take good care of that person, as they are precious indeed.

And whether or not you have an anam cara right now, I invite you to be your own. You have to practice self-love on an epic scale to feel truly free. You have to counter the negative voices in your head and hold your own hand through it all. In the end your free self is your greatest ally and truest friend, so treat them well.

This week I challenge you to do something kind for yourself, and be your own anam cara.

Much love

Beth

If ever the world needed your brave heart, it is now

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Half of America and much of the world is grieving today, devastated about the future they had hoped for, which will no longer be. Our collective trajectory has shifted, but that doesn’t mean we are powerless to shape our own futures.

A couple of weeks ago I gave a talk in New York City on ‘How to talk to anyone’. It was a lesson in speaking from your brave heart, and now, more than ever, I want you to hear this. Now, more than ever, we need to be speaking from our brave hearts, and recognising the brave hearts in others. And teaching our children to speak from their brave little hearts too.

I hope this talk lifts you in these uncertain times. If you know anyone else who needs to hear this, please feel free to share it on social media using this link: https://bit.ly/2eW4wMc

Beth

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Meet me in New York or Helsinki? (10 inspiring, mind-expanding events for your calendar)

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Meet me in New York or Helsinki? (10 inspiring, mind-expanding events for your calendar) DWYL BLOG GREATESCAPE 650X250PX LR 1

I’ve just booked a flight to New York for next month and I’m hoping to see you there for I Am… Courage – a brand new event featuring some of my favourite storytellers, sharing new thinking for brave + truthful living.

Do you remember I mentioned I met some amazing women in Santa Fe recently? We bonded like sisters over a shared passion for freedom, bravery and truth, and decided to create a brand new event that challenges conventional thinking and inspires new ways of living. And YOU are invited!

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I Am…Courage is about redefining what it means to be successful, and how to claim the magic and magnificence that is in each and every one of us.

It takes place at Rise New York on Saturday 22 October from 2-4pm and promises to be a very special afternoon indeed. You can find all the details here:

I am honoured to share the stage with these beautiful souls: Kelly Rae Roberts, Kate Eckman, Christine Tripoli, Kathe Crawford and C Rene Washington.

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And if you can’t make it to New York, here are 9 other brilliant events taking place in the next couple of months across the world:

  • Sketch Doodle Draw from our sister site makeitindesign.com which I co-founded with designer Rachael Taylor. We are taking the team to Helsinki this weekend, to begin our celebrations of 5 years of Make It In Design. Join us for sketching and chats about creative careers (it’s free!) Helsinki, Finland (Sept 30, 2016)
  • YEStival from our friend Dave Cornthwaite Sussex, UK (Oct 21-23, 2016)
  • Start building an impact career (from two good friends, oceans advocate and adventurer Emily Penn and start up specialist Ben Keene) – London, UK (October 30, 2016)
  • Mojo Blast – Take Life, Work and Creativity to the next level (host Jamie Catto spoke at an event I was at recently and he was brilliant) London, UK (November 12, 2016)

PLUS – The Makerie at Chautaqua (Boulder, CO, USA Apr 27-30 2017)

I’m honoured to be the opening night speaker for this very special creative retreat, organized by Ali de John, a truly beautiful human. It is going to be absolutely magical. More details coming soon, but if you are interested in going it’s worth booking now as The Makerie is always a sell out!

This week I challenge you to get yourself to an event—any event—that makes you think differently and connects you to kindred spirits. Let me know how you get on!

Beth

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PS Time is running out to join the Do What You Love e-course starting October 17. This will be the last time we run this ‘life-changing’ course in 2016, so don’t miss out on this chance for a fresh start! Find out more and book your spot here.

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On speaking your truth and plans for turning 40

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On speaking your truth and plans for turning 40 dwylhq1

How was your weekend? Mine was spent in a yurt in the English countryside, with 150 entrepreneurs talking and dancing long into the night! I was invited to The Happy Startup Summercamp to talk about what it really means to do what you love in business, but feel like I came away with so much more than I gave. It was one of those very special meetings of very lovely humans, which included a lot of laughter, deep thinking, new friends, early morning secret adventures in the woods, late night disco dancing and much more besides. If this is the life of a speaker I am keen for more!

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Public speaking is one of those things that so many of us are afraid of, but I know is in my future a lot next year with the launch of my book Freedom Seeker. Rather than getting scared about it, I decided to embrace it with the largest hug that I could. And so I did the only thing there is to do – I flew to Santa Fe, New Mexico a few weeks ago, and took a class in transformational speaking from the one and only Gail Larsen. Gail has trained most of the most inspiring speakers I know – from Gabby Bernstein and Danielle LaPorte, to Kris Carr and Rebecca Campbell – so I knew it was going to be an important experience, but I had no idea just how transformational it would be.

When we arrived Gail asked us what would be a breakthrough for us. I have a good memory and like to be prepared, so although public speaking itself isn’t such a scary thing for me, speaking without a script was HUGE. As in, I-can’t-imagine-ever-speaking-unscripted-HUGE. So that would be my breakthrough. To stand up on the last day and give a 15 minute talk unscripted. And somehow, with Gail’s masterful coaching and brilliant approach, I did it. Not only did I do it, but I LOVED it. Now that’s what I call a breakthrough.I will be forever grateful to Gail and the angels who shared the experience. (I could tell you so much about the precious women who went through the breakthrough process with me, but I’m going to save that for another day, because I have so much to say… not least that we are going to be speaking together in New York in October. Stay tuned!)

But doing something in a workshop and doing it for real are two different things, right? So this weekend I tried it out for the first time at a proper event. In front of 150 people. On a stage made of hay bales, in a beautiful barn draped with fairy lights and bunting. To be honest, it couldn’t really have been more of a perfect place to learn to fly as an unscripted speaker. But I did it, and thanks to the soul-nourishing energy of the lovely people gathered there, I loved it again. It wasn’t easy. I still got nervous. I might do some things differently next time. But I got up on that stage and danced around in my cowboy boots and told some stories and had a bunch of people come up afterwards and look into my eyes and say thank you. So it was absolutely worth it.

That’s what happens when we do the hard things. And that’s why we do the hard things. Because it makes a difference to someone. Even if that person is just you.

This week I challenge you to do a hard thing, and notice what happens. And if you want to try public speaking in a soulful, story-based, self-inspiring way, talk to Gail, go visit her in Santa Fe or take the online version of her class, because she is the master.

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And finally… Turning 40 this year? Know any awesome women who are?

I am working on a very cool (currently top secret) thing to celebrate turning 40 myself in 2017, and would love suggestions for people to get involved. Only requirements are: (1) To be female (2) To be turning 40 anytime between now and the end of 2017 (3) To be a lovely human being who wants to connect with other lovely human beings.

Please email me suggestions (name/email/one sentence about them) to [email protected]. It’s totally fine to suggest yourself too, if you fit the bill!

I THANK YOU AND THEY WILL THANK YOU!

PS: Please share with a friend if they might know some awesome 40s!

Have a great week.

Beth

The key to a complete inbox detox (it’s free, and it only takes a minute!)

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Can you feel Autumn in the air? The evenings are starting to get a little chillier here, and my head is full of thoughts of apple pie. My town has been full of young people visiting for the university open day and small children looking nervous in their new school uniforms. September always feels like a time of new beginnings to me, so this week I decided to do a major detox of my inbox.

I discovered a free tool that is so brilliant I just had to share it with you, because it only takes a couple of minutes to set up, and can clear your inbox of hundreds of emails in one fell swoop. I know that having an uncluttered inbox can be the key to an uncluttered mind at work, so I do hope you will try it!

The tool is called unroll.me can be used online at www.unroll.me or downloaded as a phone app. I have no affiliation to it. I just love it! It has been around a while, as a tool for quick unsubscribing from emails you no longer want to receive, but I have just discovered they have added a new feature which makes a huge difference. It’s called ‘roll up’ and it allows you to roll up any emails you DO still want to read into a single daily email of all the newsletters you subscribe to. Genius, right? It’s so simple, and is worth a couple of minutes of anyone’s time. Happy unsubscribing and rollup-ing!

The info we take in minute-to-minute, day-to-day, fills our minds. The right info fills our minds with inspiration and sparks ideas, but so much of the info that comes at us each day is just noise. I hope this brilliant little tool helps you clear out some of the noise so you can tune in to what really matters!

This week I challenge you to do an inbox detox with unroll.me. And if you want some additional chilling out, try our free 10-day mini course ‘Zen for Ten‘ and notice the difference!

Take care
Beth

My top 3 takeaways from an amazing festival of ideas

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A couple of weeks back I spent a few days at ‘How The Light Gets In’, an ideas and philosophy festival in Hay-on-Wye. I love that events like this are popping up all over the world, challenging our thinking, and connecting us with other people who are interested in deep conversation. 

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HTLGI was particularly special because of how intimate it felt. One afternoon I found myself sharing tea and excellent cake with one of Britain’s most celebrated pop artists, Allen Jones, the next morning I breakfasted with Jenny Boyd, a former model who hung out with the Beatles in their hey day, married a member of Fleetwood Mac and has had both George Harrison and Eric Clapton as brothers-in-law, and has gone on earn a PhD in Psychology and write a book about how rock stars tap into their creativity. In both cases there were only 10 of us around the table.

I was not expecting the heady combination of Cake + Warhol, or Croissants and The Creative Merits of LSD, but I was grateful for the opportunity!

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The whole festival had a friendly, unpretentious feeling, all teepees and delicious local food.

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People were invited to get involved in the discussion, not just listen to the speakers. I will be back, and I highly recommend it if you can get yourself there next year.

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Here are my top 3 takeaways from this festival of ideas:

(1) There was a moment in the sixties when almost everyone was divided into two camps: War / No War. You could tell which side someone was just by looking at them. You instantly bonded with people on the same side as you, and there was a strange magic in the air borne from everyone caring so much, whichever side they were on. (It’s feeling a bit like that here just a few days before the nation votes whether or not Britain leaves Europe…) These pivotal moments in time are opportunities for us to connect and contribute, and we must not let them past by without playing our part.

(2) The only way to conquer apathy is inspired leadership, and the first place to start is with yourself

(3) Everyone has something of value to offer to the conversation. Sometimes you just have to probe a little to give them the confidence to share it.

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This week I challenge you to think in big ideas, and find some interesting people around you to discuss them with. Maybe even book yourself into a festival this summer.  

Struggling to turn your ideas into reality? Try our free resource L.E.A.P. which will help you find the courage, commitment and focus to make a major leap this year, and see it through, to get your closer to doing what you love, for life.

Happy ideating!
Beth

PS We announced the winner of our ‘Reach Teach Profit’ e-course mentoring competition last week. The lucky winners were Michelle Lloyd (UK), Claire Eden (Australia) and Victoria Hackett (USA). Congratulations all!

Knee deep in books and ideas…

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I hope this finds you basking in the same kind of glorious sunshine we are enjoying here in the south of England. I am just back from a few days at the Hay Festival (of books), and How The Light Gets In, a festival of ideas and philosophy, both held in the sweet Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye.

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My mind was left buzzing so much from the events that I have hardly slept since I got back. Today I’m going to share a few pictures and thoughts from Hay, and next week I’ll share some insight into the fascinating ideas festival.

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The Hay Festival is one of the most famous literary festivals in the UK. It pulls in big name authors and crowds of 1000+ people to hear them talk, but it also has smaller intimate events where you can ask your favourite authors anything you like. I went to a wide range of events, from a Q&A with Sarah Bakewell, author of ‘At The Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails‘, to a session with Anthony Lester QC, author of ‘Five ideas to fight for: How our freedom is under threat and why it matters’ and the barrister at the heart of the thirty year campaign that resulted in the Human Rights Act.

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As you can see there is a bit of a theme going on here… no surprise that I was interested in talks on the theme of freedom with my own book deadline just around the corner, and freedom on my mind…

All the talks were interesting but the one which really blew me away was Ruby Wax on mindfulness. She was hilarious, powerful, knowledgeable, down-to-earth and very real. If I can ever hold a room the way she did, I’ll be proud! I’m looking forward to reading her book, ‘Frazzled‘.

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The main thing I learnt was that it takes all sorts to be an author. The most important thing is to write a really good book, but after that it helps if you can talk about it in a compelling way, with a touch of humour and a bucketload of humanity.

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Depending on your view of books, spending several days at a literary festival may seem like a luxury or a trial, but to me it was a fantastic opportunity to think deeply about certain ideas, to interact with authors and have a lot of fun people watching! It was refreshment for the brain.

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This week I challenge you to take yourself to some kind of event which takes you out of your comfort zone and pushes you to think differently about something you are interested in.

Have a good one!

Beth

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PS: We have another ‘Mastermind Week’ coming up next week in ‘Reach. Teach. Profit. The E-Course Creation Masterclass’ so if you want the opportunity to pick my brain about anything e-course related, make sure you are signed up to class by Monday June 13! You can register here.

Why it’s worth caring about fragments of handwritten memory

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I have been spending a lot of time up in the attic lately, going through old journals and letters, finding snippets of memories caught in real time, in crinkled pages, on blue airmail paper, via postcards with exotic postmarks.

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A couple of the letters were from an old friend from university, who was editor of the uni newspaper and has gone on to produce ‘Today’, the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs programme. I used my very modern iphone to send him photos of the handwritten letters he sent to me when I was a student in Kyoto, Japan, aged 19, half a lifetime ago. It was a fascinating snapshot of student life – the things we cared about, the things we spent our time on, the people we fancied, the embarrassing and often hilarious capers we got up to. True to the career he would follow, he had sent detailed dispatches from Durham, letting me know the goings on of college life in full colour.

I remember when those student days, when I spent a year abroad in a very foreign land. The anticipation of coming home to my homestay family’s house after school, and looking on the bottom step of their winding wooden staircase to see if there was a letter for me from home. And often there was – I received and sent over 100 letters and postcards that year, in the days before email.

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Are you trapped? Are you a freedom seeker? I need your story for my book!

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I am deep into the writing of my book, which is due out with Hay House in Spring 2017. It will be called ‘Freedom Seeker: Live more. Worry less. Do what you love.” This writing process is tough, tough, tough, but it is also one of the most spirit-lifting, intellectually-stimulating, and thrilling things I have ever done. I absolutely love it. But there is still a long way to go until I hand my manuscript in in the summer.

And this is where you come in. The book is packed with tools and personal stories to help readers escape whatever is holding them back, and learn to soar, so they can live a life doing what they love.  But I also want to include a host of stories of other people at various stages of life, with a variety of experiences, who have felt stuck, trapped or held back from living their fullest life.

It could be that you are in it right now, feeling like you have lost control, or that your circumstances are dictating what is possible for you. Perhaps you have dreams of what you want things to be like, but you never seem to get off the starting block, or you get part of the way along and then the dark clouds come in – the fear, the negativity, the worry about money or what others will think. Or maybe your responsibilities always seem to take over and you can’t find the time to take the steps you need to take.

Or perhaps you have been there, but are now living a freer, happier life. Perhaps something happened and you were inspired (or forced) to make major changes in your life which have resulted in you feeling more free, doing something you love and being happier?

If so, I want to hear your story! If you would be willing to share it, please sign up here to join my Freedom Seeker Research Group by Wednesday 30 March, and I will be in touch later this week with an initial questionnaire.

Even if you aren’t able to share your story, I hope you will cheer me along over the coming months as I birth this book and put myself out there in a way which right now feels terrifying! Some things just have to be done…

Thank you so much!

Beth

**A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SHARED THEIR INSPIRING STORY WITH ME AND HELPED TO BRING MY BOOK TO LIFE. FREEDOM SEEKER: LIVE MORE. WORRY LESS. DO WHAT YOU LOVE IS NOW OUT.**

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Huge news! On becoming a Hay House author (somebody pinch me!)

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Huge news! On becoming a Hay House author (somebody pinch me!) dwylhq1

Some days are really big days, and I just had one of them. It was the day I signed a deal with Hay House, for them to publish my first book! It is a book about freedom, written for anyone who feels trapped, stuck, hemmed in—not in control of their own time, money, or destiny. It is for people who are afraid that life is passing them by, but feel powerless to do anything about it. It is a timely self-empowerment manifesto: an inspiring and practical manual that will enable people to recognise that freedom is a choice. I am busy writing it now and cannot wait for it to be released worldwide in Spring 2017!

Hang on a minute. Let’s just rewind. Did someone just say I’m going to be a Hay House author? Am I dreaming? It certainly feels that way right now, because this is not just something on my ‘Do Before I’m 40 Bucket List’, but something I have been dreaming of for many years.

In case you’re curious about how it came about, I’ll share the story here. I warn you, this is going to be a long post, because I want to share all the pieces of how this particular dream has unfolded. So get yourself a nice cup of tea and we’ll begin… (Note: I would love for you to help me bring this book to life. Right at the end of this post there’s some info on how to get involved!)

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