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Magic, magic, magic!
Our Dominican Republic Reset Retreat was absolutely incredible!
Click here to see the stunning video.
We enjoyed coaching workshops, authentic relating games, ziplining, ATV touring, swimming in waterfalls, bike rides to the beach, and more.
This retreat gave people the space to powerfully plan 2018, create new friendships, and completely unplug from their day-to-day.
Do NOT miss the chance to come with us next year! If you’re interested, reply to this post and you will be the first to know our dates for 2019!
Make sure to watch the video, and scroll below to see beautiful pictures by the one and only Leah Beilhart.
More updates to come (including my hilarious left shark moment in a salsa performance here in the DR!), so stay tuned!
Embrace the adventure,
Megan
Dear Readers,
How we INTERPRET what happens to us makes all the difference.
Our interpretations can make us miserable, delighted, frustrated, inspired and everything in between. They can also turn a seemingly negative situation into a powerful learning opportunity,
My first week in the Dominican is the perfect example.
After my Facebook Live on January 1, I hopped onto my plane to the DR feeling great. Creativity was surging through me as I flew down the East Coast and over the ocean.
“This will be my most inspired week of business!” I declared.
Upon my arrival, I had two insane days of productivity: I created new tools, listened to podcasts by my favorite thought-leaders, served my clients, and settled in beautifully.
“I am doing it!” I declared. “I am amazing and everything is going as planned!”
…and then came the evil death flu of 2018, including fever, chills, weakness, vomiting, and all the other dreaded symptoms.
This flu threw my plan off course, and I felt frustrated and scared. In my mind, I equated working hard to being safe in my new environment. If I couldn’t work hard…then what would happen?
Then I remembered this: When I see everything as perfect, I can turn the most challenging situations into opportunities. So I asked myself:
“How is this perfect? What is the divine lesson for me?”
The answer was crystal clear.
The flu forced me to slow down and actually be with my transition to this new country. While running full speed ahead is my default and a way I know to protect myself, it would have left me isolated and homesick during this huge new transition.
Instead, the flu forced me to seek support. It felt uncomfortable to ask my friends here to make me food, get me medicine, and help me with basic day-to-day things. That is a level of support I never would have sought without the flu.
Yet allowing myself to receive so much support was a huge gift. It reminded me that I’m not alone and that a new type of community is a huge part of why I am trying life here.
The support created a foundation for the relationships I am building.
Practicing gratitude and seeing everything as perfect allowed me to:
1) stay in the moment, rather than worrying about the future
2) feel inspired, even in the face of my illness
3) Be more open and authentic with those around me
I want to share this gift with you, readers. If you’re game, try out the following questions:
1. What are you currently looking at as a curse?
2. How is this actually perfect (if the answer doesn’t immediately come to mind, i suggest you free write about it for 10 minutes).
I hope you find this practice as rewarding as I did.
Embrace the Adventure,
Megan
Dear Readers,
On January 1, I move to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic!
I’ve thought about this move for a long time, and it’s become one wild, soul-whispering adventure I can’t ignore.
Have you ever experienced something similar? A calling from your heart, soul or intuition that you can’t explain? But you KNOW is right for you?
On a deep level, you sense it’s part of what’s next (even if you don’t know exactly WHY), but it takes COURAGE to actually pull the trigger.
Some of the BEST decisions I’ve made were inspired a spark of vision and excitement, then followed by second guessing, fear, and worry that I might be crazy (to hear more about this, tune into my Facebook live on January 1!).
It’s the times I’ve followed that spark DESPITE the fear that I’ve been the most delighted.
The decision to move to the Dominican was both thrilling and terrifying. After all, my life in DC is gorgeous. I love my home, my friends, and my business partnerships there.
I am not running away from anything. I am running TOWARD a calling from Spirit/God/the Universe (call it what you will!)!
The Dominican Republic has things to teach me. Every time I go, I gain new insight and perspective. My interactions there prepare me to meet the world with more love, connection and presence.
Plus, it’s walking my talk. I’m doing the same thing I help my clients do.
I teach my clients to get out of the HOW and to stop looking for the RIGHT way to move toward their dreams. We already have EVERYTHING we need to get started, but often we need to:
1) Learn to trust ourselves and
2) Surround ourselves with wildly supportive mentors, coaches, and friends who help us stay on track
(And if this is something you are interested in, let’s talk!)
I’m so thankful that I’ve surrounded myself with a group of people who love the heck out of me when I experience moments of fear or uncertainty. These people remind me of my vision, my possibility, and that following my intuition doesn’t make me crazy.
In fact, it makes me insanely inspiring.
Just because something scares us doesn’t mean we should avoid it. It just needs we need more support to follow through.
When we follow through, there is MAGIC. We meet the right people, find new opportunities, and we allow ourselves holistic success on a whole new level.
I’ve seen it happen too many times to count — in my own life and in the lives of my clients.
It is the greatest gift to do work we love, live where we are inspired to live, and surround ourselves with a loving community.
I’m excited to share more with you about the Dominican Republic — a country I love so much. My website will be getting a makeover in February (stay tuned!) and will include not only blogs about coaching and entrepreneurship, but also about my life in the Caribbean.
And in case you’re wondering, here’s the location of the Dominican:
Megan
Hello Lovely Readers,
A quick request before my story:
If you enjoy my updates, but ALSO want 1) tips on business 2) guidance on becoming a stronger leader 3) tools to create more authentic and connected relationships and 4) special offers for my courses and products, sign up for my business email list here.
Okay! Now to the main event…
In September, I had the opportunity to take a safari in South Africa.* And, while the experience inspired me, it wasn’t for the reason you might expect.
The safari was an (often morbid) reminder of the harsh parts and fragility of life. While we saw many beautiful things, we also saw predators hunt prey and wounded animals get left behind by their families. As we approached some of the fiercest animals in the world, we were reminded how to stay safe. Those recommendations were supported by tragic stories about people who did not heed the advice.
As all of this unfolded, my coach brain was going a mile a minute. Witnessing life in the African bush led me to many insights…but here’s the one I was most inspired to share:
Humans are frickin’ magical
The fact that early humans survived in this environment completely blows my mind (and, yes, I know many communities still call the African bush home — that’s amazing too!).
Our ancestors faced the threats of lions, leopards, scorpions, snakes, drought and more, and STILL grew a population big enough to span the globe.
To me, this means a few important things:
1) We are endowed with incredible intuition
We are programmed to sense even the most minute details and changes in our environment. In the early days, intuition helped us stay safe from predators, find resources (food, water, medicinal plants), and survive challenging situations. Every one of us is endowed with this same, largely subconscious, capacity today. It’s why sometimes we “just know” that something is about to happen.
Sometimes we ignore or deny our intuition, and that’s too bad. By tapping into our intuition, we can generate great ideas and find the “inspired action” that allows us make the biggest impact.
Even if you feel disconnected from your intuition, you can trust it’s still there. It’s innate to us like our other survival instincts. Sometimes, we need to remember to listen and have the courage to follow our intuition (especially in the face of fear). This is part of the work I do with clients, and I love watching how it propels them forward!
2) We are programmed for community
To stay alive in such a challenging environment, our ancestors used the power of community. They often traveled in groups and organized their villages to protect themselves and their animals (for instance, the Maasai people of East Africa create fences of acacia thorns around their compounds).
It’s no surprise, then, that humans thrive through close relationships (check out this study by Harvard), and creating these bonds is a human tradition and basic survival strategy.
This is part of why I’m so passionate about my work as an Authentic Relating Games facilitator, as well as the relationship coaching I do. When we remove the resistance we have to closeness, support, and learning from others, we are more likely to live a fulfilled life AND reach our goals.
3) We are instilled with a remarkable resilience and courage
The next time you feel fear getting in the way of your goals, remember the courage of your ancestors who beat the odds in the African bush. Resilience, creativity and brilliance are in your DNA.
I hope this email reminds you of how awesome you are, readers. You have everything you need to create a life you love — it’s all about tapping into the genius that’s already within you and the community that’s already around you!
With gratitude and respect,
Megan
*Special thanks to the South African Tourism Board for the prize, and to my parents for joining me!
One of our guides with my dad’s favorite souvenir — an elephant made of pink beads
The protea is the national flower of South Africa and they have gorgeous bouquets with proteas EVERYWHERE.
Dear Readers,
Divine messages and opportunities are all around us, but sometimes we aren’t ready to receive them.
My experience last month is the perfect example.
In June, for the third year in a row, I focused deeply on spirituality. I meditated, read great spiritual books, and helped lead two weekends on spirituality for Accomplishment Coaching.
Each year, this focus on spirituality was a gift—I would wrap up the month feeling more relaxed, centered and connected.
But this time, something crazy and magical happened: I began talking with my departed grandparents.
It started in a guided meditation, led by one of my coaching colleagues. My grandparents came to me with messages about what was next for me in my life and career.
It was the third time I’d done this EXACT meditation, but I’d NEVER experienced anything like this.
So what made this time different?
I was different.
I believe that the experiences we are meant to have—and the reality we’re meant to live—is always accessible, waiting for us. When we are ready, we can step into it in an instant.
In previous years, I had a lot of blocks. For instance, I felt shame around spirituality (left over from when some kid in junior high made fun of my tarot cards), and felt a lot of judgement around how a guided meditation “should” be done. If something was even slightly out of place, I would check out of the experience.
This time, thanks to my own personal development work, I surrendered to the process. I surrendered to my relationship with the divine. I allowed things not to be perfect. I allowed whatever messages and experiences were meant to come to find me.
By surrendering in this way, I gained access to Spirit on a radical level.
And here’s the coolest part: The access didn’t go away. I can still connect to my grandparents any time I want.
Some days, I have coffee with my grandmummy before I start work. She shows up when I’m outside (she always loved the garden). She’s kind, but blunt, and often tells me the hard things I don’t want–but need–to hear.
My Mimi shows up when I need my truth mixed with a solid dose of quirkiness (sometimes it’s easier to digest this way). She reminds me to keep my sense of humor and roll with the punches.
My mimi (far left) with me and members of my family. I was about 16 in this photo.
Other days, my paternal grandfather comes to see me before I go to sleep. His energy is intense and I often have to turn my lights back on, make myself a cup of tea, and spend time digesting the experience.
And then there’s my Papa, who likes to give me business advice. He was an entrepreneur, so it’s no surprise he has a lot to say.
By reconnecting with my grandparents, I’ve realized I make very different choices and act with more courage when I trust I’m not alone.
I am so grateful for this sense of connection to my ancestors that is powerful, omnipresent, and of pure love. They only show up as the best part of themselves, which reminds me of the amazing qualities I inherited from them (as well as those the man–or woman–upstairs threw in just for me!).
Through this new trust in connection, many other things have shifted. My business is growing with ease, my old worries have been replaced with clarity and creativity, and I am a manifesting machine.
Thank God I wasn’t too busy judging the meditation to actually receive this gift!
Readers, I would love to hear about your connection to spirit, what connects you to your highest self, and the BLOCKS you have in these areas. If you’re inspired, shoot me an email back. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you!
With love and respect,
Megan
From the time I was young, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to find a way to work for myself and make a big impact on the world.
And yet, I was too scared to take the leap until I hired my first coach.
Now in my third year of entrepreneurship, I believe that I would have given up a long time ago without coaching.
This last Wednesday in Buenos Aires is the perfect example of why.
I was on a high when I left my hotel Wednesday morning. Here in Argentina, it’s autumn (my favorite season), our tango trip here was half-way through and going fabulously and I was on my way to a cool co-working space to work with my amazing coaching clients who are up to big things.
As I walked, I messaged a friend back home. I was literally laughing out loud about his witty reply to me when I was hit from behind by a motorcycle. I screamed and felt my phone get ripped out of my hand.
The motorcyclist then zipped off the side walk and into the street. He was gone within seconds.
What the hell am I doing running this dance trip company?
It is totally crazy to be traveling the world and balancing two businesses!
It’s only a matter of time until this all fails and I go back and find a day job.
(Funny thoughts, since both of my businesses are growing and have been since I launched them!)
In those moments after the robbery, I wanted to quit.
That’s right: I wanted to quit running my two profitable dream companies and go back to working a desk job — any desk job would do!
And, before coaching, I would have.
Here are some of the big lessons I’ve learned from coaching that helped me get back on track:
We All Have a Predictable Response to Triggers
At Accomplishment Coaching, I learned that people fall into one of three categories when DEEPLY confronted: They attack (lash out), suffer, or quit. I’m a quitter. In other words, my default is to run away from a situation when I get scared or angry. When I got robbed, my desire to quit was totally predictable. Through coaching, I’ve learned to empower my COMMITMENT (to be an entrepreneur who changes lives), rather than fleeting circumstances or emotions.
Drama is Optional
I could have made it mean a lot of things that I got robbed. I could have taken it as a “sign” that my businesses would not work or related to myself as a victim. I could have beaten myself up about having my phone out, made myself feel awful, or hyper-focused on how much replacing my phone would cost. Instead, I had a good cry, journaled and got plenty of hugs from my business partner. I then ordered a new phone with a great payment plan. I looked at the facts (not any dramatic interpretation of what happened) and allowed the situation to be a reminder to practice better safety and mindfulness when traveling.
AND Honoring Our Emotions Is An Important Part of The Process
I spoke extensively about this in my last email, and it’s worth sharing again: When we step over our emotions, we don’t allow ourselves the ability to heal and to learn lessons that are there for us. As I sat with my emotions this time, I noticed shame. I knew better than to have my phone out while walking around. This was a great opportunity to practice self-compassion and forgiveness.
Expect And Welcome Obstacles
When we are up to big things, we come up against big obstacles. That’s ok because there are lessons to be learned and BREAKTHROUGHS we can have. Rather than seeing this robbery as “that thing that ruined my trip,” I saw it as a normal consequence of running an international travel company and being a digital nomad. After processing what happened, I saw an opportunity to be a better leader and to act with more wisdom, presence, compassion, and care for myself and my travelers. In that way, facing this obstacle helped me further my commitment to who I want to be for myself and my clients.
I wish you each grace with the obstacles you are facing and send you all love from Buenos Aires.
Megan
Dear Readers,
A few weeks ago, my dear friend and business partner Melaina Spitzer attended the funeral of a woman who changed her life. This woman’s name was Sobonfu Some.
Sobonfu was a spiritual leader who grew up in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Her mission was to teach rituals from her home to the people of the West to help them connect more deeply with community and Spirit. Among the powerful rituals she shared were grief rituals.
Sobonfu supported countless people in being with and moving through their grief by creating a space where they could honor their emotions and their process. Her rituals were a critical part of these people’s healing and learning.
Like Sobonfu, I believe that being with our emotions and processing how we feel in a healthy way is critically important. When we push down our emotions, we create internal blocks. When we block our emotional energy, we also block our creative energy, the energy we have available for connection (to others, nature, ourselves), and more.
We cannot block off our hearts and expect every other part of our lives to flow as normal.
And yet being with our emotions is often comfortable.
We want to get over it. We want to fix what’s making us upset. We want things to get “back to normal.”
I GET IT because this is how I acted with my emotions for most of my life.
Until a few years ago, I hated crying. In fact, I avoided most emotions other than happiness – anger, frustration and sadness were all in my no-go zone.
I did not let myself express these emotions because I fundamentally (and subconsciously) adhered to certain limiting beliefs:
1) If I were anything other than happy, I was an imposition
2) My “negative” emotions would detract from or ruin others’ experiences
3) My value as a person was my ability to be optimistic, joyful and happy
4) It was selfish to ask for “too much” of others’ support.
5) There was a quota around how much sadness, anger or frustration I could have at any given time
6) I would be unlovable if people thought I was too emotional
As I write these beliefs now, I feel a weight on my chest and a deep sense of sadness. I have so much compassion for the person who believed those things and I am grateful to have re-created my relationship to my emotions.
Why I Now Love My Anger and Sadness
I Have More Intimacy, Honesty and Support Than Ever Before
I previously believed that sharing my emotions would alienate others. Instead, I’ve found the opposite: When I open up, people are more than willing to be with me, hear me, and answer my requests for support. In fact, they often express their appreciation at seeing this new, vulnerable side of me and that THEY now feel more open to sharing their emotions. By opening up to these emotions, I’ve created more intimacy, honesty and support for both myself and the other people in my life.
I Support Others More Deeply Than Before
What we withhold from ourselves, we withhold from others. In allowing myself to be with my emotions, my ability to be with others’ emotions skyrocketed. I have more compassion, love and openness toward myself and others in my life.
I Establish Better Boundaries
When we set boundaries and stand up for our needs, we may make other people frustrated, angry, or sad. Learning to be with others’ emotions can therefore help us stick to the boundaries we set. Furthermore, the act of expressing anger and sadness (in a healthy way) can help people better understand our boundaries and what we need. In this way, the act of expressing our emotions is one of the most basic forms of boundary setting.
I Learn Important Lessons
When I notice intense emotions arise, I can zoom out and see what it means about what I need and my values. For instance, the other day I felt frustrated when I sat down at my computer in my office. I sat with this feeling and realized I wasn’t honoring my value of freedom by working at home five days a week. I packed up my computer, headed out to a cafe, and happily did work all morning from a different location. I was much more productive and happy there than I would have been at home.
I Feel More Energy, Freedom and Humanity
Because I give myself space to process my emotions, they don’t interrupt my life the way they used to. I used to spend a lot of energy holding back or hiding my emotions. It took more energy to hide these emotions than for to address them in a healthy way! I also previously believe that it was wrong or bad to experience intense sadness and intense joy in the same day (let alone the same hour – would people think I was crazy?!). By not making my emotions wrong and allowing them to be, I get to live more authentically and with more space to have creativity, joy, sadness, anger, play and more in my day-to-day.
Readers, do you struggle to be with your emotions? Which ones do you find most challenging? What is the cost of avoiding them or pushing them down?
I would love to hear your responses on my Facebook page.
Happy Friday, and enjoy this beautiful weekend.
With love and happy feet,
Megan
Dear Readers,
On the final night of our trip to the Dominican Republic, we headed off through the rainforest for our closing ceremony. Serenaded by frogs and under twinkly lights in a thatched-roof yoga hut, we brought the incredible experience to an end.
While sharing takeaways from our trip, people spoke about:
-Remembering how much fun it was to be themselves
-Getting back in touch with their beauty
-Reconnecting to their passions and sense of possibility
-The insane amount of laughter each day
-Having clear action steps for their goals
-Discovering a deep sense of community with fellow travelers
-Learning to trust themselves and their intuition
-The value they got out of facing their fears (of taking time for themselves, dancing, being in a foreign country, ziplining, and more)
And so many other things!
Learning to create experiences like this is one of the top reasons I chose to be trained as a coach. It was an honor to be the guide and partner to the people who attended. They came ready for a life-changing experience, and we created it together.
Catherine Wood (my co-leader) and I are already looking forward to next year and I will make sure to update you all once the details are ready. For additional updates, support, and inspiration, you can also join my Facebook group.
In the meantime, I am delighted to unveil photos of the experience (and will unveil more in the coming weeks). These shots were all taken by the amazing Rachel Hegarty of Rachel E.H. Photography.
Enjoy, and happy Friday!
Photo by Rachel Hegarty
Photo by Rachel Hegarty
Photo by Rachel Hegarty
Photo by Rachel Hegarty
Photo by Rachel Hegarty
Photo by Rachel Hegarty
Photo by Rachel Hegarty
Dear Readers,
What do Dale Carnegie, Beyoncé, and Yoda have in common?
Fear doesn’t stop them.
Today, we channel their brilliance–and the brilliance of many others–to look at the topic of FEAR. Why? Because fear stops many of us from living the big, bold, fully expressed lives we want to live.
What are you afraid to do?
No, seriously. Think about it. Call it to mind.
Are you scared to start a business? Move to that city you’ve always dreamed of living in? Leave a relationship you know isn’t right for you?
And how LONG have you been afraid? How long has this fear been stopping you?
It is part of the human experience to be blocked by our fear (some of you may remember that fear stopped me from starting my business for EIGHT YEARS), but if we wait for fear to disappear, we’ll wait a long time…maybe even forever.
Don’t get me wrong–there are some things we SHOULD be afraid of, like cliff diving or swimming with sharks. Fears about putting ourselves in danger are instinctual and are born into us. THANK GOD we have those fears or our species might not exist.
What I’m talking about is a different kind of fear: Fear of failure, fear of judgement, fear of not being good enough. These fears we create inside our minds. They are part of an imagined future that may never come to pass.
What would you create if you could release those types of fears?
I implore you to look because there is a cost to bottling up our passions and visions.
When we DON’T push forward, it can lead to bitterness and resentment.
I remember how not pursuing my dreams created suffering in many ways: the internal suffering around wondering “what if,” the suffering of knowing I wasn’t following my calling, and the suffering of feeling jealousy toward people I knew who WERE living on purpose.
How does your fear create suffering for you?
There are plenty of reasons why NOT to go after that thing you want. I’m not interested in those. I’m interested in WHY YOU WOULD.
Do you have a reason that’s BIGGER than the fear?
Get in touch with the vision of what COULD BE and the impact you COULD HAVE if you went for it.
From that place….act.
And while the fear may always be there, you may create a different relationship to it.
Perhaps feeling the fear doesn’t mean that something is going to go wrong. It may mean, instead, that you are on the right track.
With love and happy feet,
Megan
Greetings from a treehouse in the Dominican Republic!
I am taking a healthy break from habits, American culture and typical day-to-day – and I have some awesome people with me for this experience!
I am currently guiding my coaching + dance adventure in the Dominican and it’s an absolute blast – we are dancing with locals in Santo Domingo and working with people on their goals in one of the most beautiful places in the country. This total immersion helps people get out of their own way. Through coaching and cultural immersion, they gain perspective on views they hold as a result of their life so far (including their upbringing in America).
By meeting people in a country where views on money, spirituality, family, time and friendship are very different, travelers can ask themselves if their current viewpoints support their goals or hold them back.
I’ll give you an example…
In my day-to-day, I am an efficiency machine. In fact, sometimes I’m so efficient that I start to feel robotic. It’s ironic since, as a coach, my job is to be fully present with my clients. I give them my full attention and work with spontaneity and openness – and yet I often don’t give myself the same gift. The result is that I can overwork, get exhausted and valuable parts of life (like spending time with my boyfriend, friends, or family) fall by the way side.
It’s so wonky! And yet it happens.
Since arriving in the DR, I’ve interrupted this pattern. I’m in a culture where people (even those I’ve hired) show up late, focus on relationship building over getting things done, and are fully present with me all the time. It’s different than how most Americans do things, and yet the work still gets done.
It’s a reminder to slow down, take great care of myself, and focus on loving the hell out of the people around me. I am reminded that my default ways of being don’t necessarily serve me.
If I put my habits down, the world won’t end. In fact, it can make reaching my goals way more fun (and more likely, given I run two relationship-based businesses!).
Understanding our default views of the world and learning when and how to empower alternative viewpoints is key to creating holistic success. I do this through ongoing coaching (with my own coach and by surrounding myself with amazing coaching colleagues) and through cultural immersion on the regular.
How do you interrupt your habits, re-center and re-connect to what’s important, readers? Share what you do and the impact it has on your life with my Facebook community!
With love and happy feet,
Megan