Ep #53: Lessons Learned from a Year of Podcasting

“A year from now, you’ll wish you had started today,” Kelly Lamb. Well, it’s been a little over a year since I began this podcast, and I am so very grateful that I did. You know, if you’ve been listening, that what this work for me is so much about is bringing you the kind of information that, if you use it, can be transformational.

I am really interested in what really works in real life. So what I wanted to share in this very special episode today, which is the one-year anniversary of my podcast, this is the 53^rd episode, what I wanted to share are some of my greatest lessons from a year of podcasting and also the tremendous business and personal and creative growth that has come along with that.

I hope that you’ll find, in this episode, what you’ve found along the way, things that also contribute to your ability to cultivate a truly extraordinary way of being that makes those dreams of yours inevitable.

You are listening to The Art School Podcast; a show for artists and creatives who want to become the next greatest version of themselves. Learn how to cultivate an extraordinary way of being and take the mystery out of making money, and the struggle out of making art. Here is your host, master certified life coach, artist, and former lawyer, Leah Badertscher.

Hello, everyone, and welcome back.  I love that you’re listening any time and every time that you do. And I’m especially excited that you’re joining me today because this is like the birthday episode, the anniversary of the podcast. This is my 53^rd episode.

And, as I mentioned in the intro, my initial thought for this was, I’ll share my top three lessons and takeaways from the year. And that was so much harder than I thought it would be, not to come up with three, but because I had like filled my desk with note cards and notes and notes on my phone just thinking about it.

One of the ways I like to ideate and think things through is, part of my creative process is using movement. So, you know, I’ll go for a run or walk or go to the gym and bring a little moleskin or note cards, index cards in my pocket, or my phone to send myself notes.

And when I did that last Friday, I went to the gym, and I had to stay there for a few hours in order to get my workout done because I kept interrupting myself with more notes and more notes and more notes, because this has been a tremendous year; a tremendous year of learning, of business growth for me, personal creative growth.

Things have exploded this last year and so while now I have enough ideas for the next 52 episodes, I’m really going to try to hone in today on what a few of the biggest ones have been. And there’s another reason I’m celebrating this week, which I am excited to share in this podcast because my middle son, Sammy, turns nine.

He turned nine this week, my sweet Sammy. So I’m sending him lots of love. He is just such a special little soul and nine years ago, November 5^th, he came in with the first snowfall of the year. And today, we have the first snowfall of the year as well. So I’m very excited to be cozying up with you today and sharing this episode.

I want to express my gratitude to you because obviously, a podcast without listeners is just me talking into my microphone to the screen of my laptop in my studio. The fact that you are out there listening is magical and miraculous. I appreciate every single review, email you have sent me.

One person that I want to give a special thank you and shout out too, because she has been emailing me from the beginning and so consistently is Betsy Pearson. And the feedback I get from her is incredible because she is a brilliant coach and writer and creative visionary in her own right. And so while I know it’s most important that I have my own back throughout this process, these emails that I would get from her after an episode also were like gifts from the universe. So thank you, Betsy, and thank you everybody who is out there listening.

I also want to thank Pavel, Angela, and the entire team at Digital Freedom Productions because they have been tremendous to work with. They are responsible for taking the content that I’ve produced, the recording, and then they do all the backend, the tech. Angela does a brilliant job. I love the artwork that she finds.

They have just been a dream to work with, and actually, for me, have set the bar in terms of hiring additional team because working with them, I do my part, I am in my zone of genius, my wheelhouse, and then I give it to them and they do what they do on their end is so much better and more efficient than I would be able to do that aspect of it. So not only does it take things off my plate, but they add such tremendous value to this podcast. So I’m so grateful for them.

And to any of you who are thinking about producing a podcast, creating a podcast, I could not recommend them enough. And that actually brings me into one of the lessons that I wanted to share with you today, and that’s one that success is a social activity. You do not have to do it all on your own, and in fact, I think that there is a certain kind of depth and growth that doesn’t happen unless you are collaborating.

And also, unless you are investing in yourself. So for instance, hiring Digital Freedom Productions, that has been an investment for me in my own creative work, in creating this body of work that I’m sharing with you and getting out into the world, and also an investment in my business.

And it’s been well worth it. The return has been phenomenal. And one of the things I attribute that to is my own bull-headedness. I insist to myself that, if I invest in something, I will create at least 10 times return on it. Maybe that 10 times return doesn’t come the way I thought it would, but I do that with every single thing, and again, investing in Digital Freedom Productions has just been a slam dunk because they’re so tremendous; tremendous on their end. And also, the money that I’ve spent with them, I have for sure seen, like, a beyond 10 times financial return.

The amount of business that has come my way through this podcast is easily 10 times over what I pay in order to have the podcast produced. So taking your power back to be the one 10-timesing your investment and then also seeking out the kind of support and help of people who are really extraordinary at what they do and investing in people to help you who are extraordinary at what they do.

And that’s also a lesson that I’m continuing to learn at each stage because right now I am looking at ways to grow my team. And again, it requires investment and it requires finding people who are really extraordinary at what they do to collaborate with and to come onto your team, who understand what the heart and soul of it is, and also who are really great with the implementation, pragmatic side of things, getting it up and running and out into the world.

The next lesson I wanted to share with you – and this one has been huge. This one, I could make not only an episode around, but I think an entire podcast around. And that is commitment. And not only commitment, but being very honest about what you want and what your dreams are and what your values are and what you think you can create, have, and be, and experience in this life, and really going for it.

I know a way that can get people hung up on making a commitment is this idea that we need to have clarity first and I agree, clarity is so important, and here is my suggestion for you on that; I don’t think clarity needs to come from this extensive exhaustive due diligence process of making sure you are committing to the right thing.

I think, for many people, this quote en quote lack of clarity is really about giving themselves permission to acknowledge and be honest with themselves about what their dream really is, who they really think they can really be in this world, and then going for it, even while then, in the beginning as you’re going for it, you are not there yet. You are not there yet, but you have to hold that truth in your heart, and at the same time, speak the words that you want to have grown into existence.

We just had Halloween, I know it just passed, but I really believe our words are this powerful.  But the words you use, the language you use should be big enough and the right shape to hold the energy of your true dream. And this is where I think people get too cloudy is they’re holding back what they really want. But the moment you can commit to what it is that you really, really want, what your soul is craving, and ask yourself, like, where is that magic blend for me of success, material success, external success as the world often defines success, and fulfillment?

And then allow yourself to have both. Allow yourself to be an expression and an example of both. This is something I continue to be on alert for within myself, this tendency to hold back, because I know it doesn’t serve me and I know this is a practice of continuing to build that muscle of being courageous and clear and honest. And to some, that will appear bold and audacious, about who I really am and what I think I’m really capable of and what I want to create.

And there is a power that comes along with this that this last year has also taught me, and I’ll talk about that a little bit later, that must be your friend and ally if you want to be this honest and this courageous and this creative in your own life. I’ll talk about that in a little bit.

But first, as I was saying just recently, I knew I wanted to hold retreats in 2020, but I was feeling on the fence about it. And I do not like on-the-fence energy. Like, Leah, we’re going to get off the fence. It’s a really uncomfortable place to be, so commit.

And then I realized, I was holding back. I was telling myself I had a lack of clarity, when really, what was going on was that I was not allowing myself to really commit to the dream retreat that I wanted to create. And once I had cleared that business away, then I was able to say, alright, now this is it. We know where the true power and creative energy is for you. It’s in going for what you really want, being really honest and clear about it and not holding back.

So I committed to the retreat. It’s at the end of January. It’s at the Miraval Resort and Spa, and it’s going to be off the hook amazing. It’s the retreat for the decade, of the decade. So, once I had been onto myself about where is this lack of commitment coming from, just decide. And then I realized, oh, I’m holding back. I’m thinking, maybe I should hold it somewhere closer or maybe I should hold it not at the Miraval; somewhere beautiful and nice, but not there, like, nope, that my heart’s not in it, my soul’s not in it.

And once I cleared that out, now I have sold already two maybe three spots of the eight that are available and I haven’t even announced it to my list yet. That’s just word of mouth.

So, as it pertains to this year and this podcast, what I’ve learned about committing is that declaring what you really want something to be – so for me, who I want to be, the kind of work I want to do includes being one of the greatest creativity life coaches in the world. And I knew I was doing powerful amazing work one on one and then I started The Art School and saw just the dynamic and the power that comes from community and group and the kind of energy and life of its own that that takes on.

And so the podcast was another big step I could take in serving that vision and serving that dream and reaching more people with this work. Also, I want to share the story of earlier this week, I went to – My daughter who is in kindergarten had a little dance movement program at her school and they’re really fortunate that this woman, Bonnie Baxter, is the teacher.

And Bonnie has worked with some of the legendary names in dance and choreography. She worked and toured with Merce Cunningham and Twyla Tharp back in New York City too. It’s been decades ago. But that has been her background. And now she’s here and has developed these children’s dance programs that re such a gift to the community.

And she was saying something to the kindergarteners throughout this sweet amazing little program. She would say to them, “I want you to make a shape please, no mush. Show me a shape please, no mush.” And I grabbed onto that because I’m like, yeah, that’s commitment. What she’s showing them, and you could see the kids respond, is don’t be afraid to make a definite shape. Don’t be afraid to commit to something and then really be it.  Don’t just stand there like with a half attempt like mush.

And for me, that’s like with a podcast; committing to shapes with words, committing to a vision with words and allowing your words and your language to truly, the best you can, have them be the shape and big enough so that the energy of your vision can grow into that. If your words and your language are kind of mush, if you’re not throwing big enough shapes with language, then there’s no room for that big energy of your dream or vision to come in. It’s just going to be halfhearted and you’re just going to feel halfhearted about it.

So really commit. Go for it. Allow yourself not only to have that dream, but give yourself permission that it can be created in your way. And that is something else that I really wanted to emphasize, that so much of how this podcast came out for me and so much about what has made this year a success and fulfilling for me, even and especially when it’s been difficult, has been that I committed to doing what I really want to do, being who I really want to be, and doing it may way, doing it in a way where it is very much, to me, about cultivating the way of being along the way, about cultivating the mindset, the emotional mastery, the spiritual growth, and then also the physicality, the material part.

Who do I need to show up as? What are the day to day actions that I need to take in order to serve this bigger vision? And here is something that has happened over the course of this year that I know has changed everything forever going forward. Because I was, to myself, so dedicated to this, not concept, but practice and way of living of sacred twin intentions, meaning yes, there’s the dreams, the externals I want to create, the success, and it also has to be true to me.

It has to be fulfilling. This means then that I am building my vision, I’m building my dream out in the world around who I really am, that these bricks that I’m laying day by day, brick by brick, episode by episode, that’s the best that I have. And here has been something that has been so profound for me to realize over and over again; that laying brick by brick the best of what I have is the best that I have even on the days when it’s not.

Do you see what I’m saying? We have this fantasy sometimes of I’m going to do my best, I’m going to offer my best, that’s the visionary thinking. And then we come through as this craftsperson laying the brick layer and we’re like, “Oh, but my best is surely better than what I have to offer today.” But your best is what your offer is that day. It’s like that Leonard Cohen song Forget Your Perfect Offering. Make your offering in love to the world. Make your offering in love and gratitude for yourself and do bless it as your best.

And then it is by laying those bricks that your best starts to develop. But it has been, again, profound for me to realize that there is no other way I ever want to live my life than by being very true to myself because any other way is exhausting. There has been a lot of healing behind the scenes for me in showing up with you in this way.

It’s one thing for me, in a session, one to one with a client or even with a group of clients, it’s a conversation, I can respond in the moment. For whatever reason, this platform has been a little different and it’s brought up a lot of things that have been necessary for me to move through and heal, to allow my voice to grow stronger, my idea to grow stronger, and also my relationship with myself to grow stronger.

You may have heard me mention on other episodes that my strategy for this podcast for the year, the deal I made with myself was, Leah, we’re going to make 52 episodes before you allow yourself to accept or even give yourself feedback, before you allow yourself to go back and evaluate and see where you need to improve. But for these 52 episodes, here’s what the protocol is going to be.

You’re going to do it in a constrained amount of time. You are going to decide ahead of time that it’s good, that it is what it is and it’s good. You’re going to also throw some fun in and decide ahead of time, hey, for someone listening out there, this is going to make a meaningful difference. This is going to do anything from just bring some light into their day, shift their mindset, help them – it’s going to affect the quality of their day in a positive way, and then I’d set intentions too, like this is going to help someone finish a novel, this is going to help someone begin to paint again, this is going to help someone make $25,000 in their business, ask for a raise and get a $75,000 bonus, this is going to help someone else make their first six figures.

So I would set those kind of things because one of my agendas had to be that it not only would be done, but that it also would be fun and that I was also relinquishing this perfectionistic control over the process. That, over and over and over again, has been absolutely life-changing for me.

That doesn’t mean that it’s been easy, which brings me back again, I want to talk more about commitment and what a gift going all in and truly being committed to your dream, that dream that’s sacred to you, truly being committed, what that does for you. What it did for me was that once making an episode every week was no longer optional – that was one, it’s not optional – once I committed to not only is it not optional, but being hard on myself, criticizing myself, telling myself, “Oh that was bad, you could have done better,” that was also not an option.

Speaking to myself with any shred of criticism, second guessing myself before, after, indulging in self-doubt and overwhelm, not an option. Strong emotions still came up and I knew they came up from those underlying thoughts and shame.

And here’s a huge one that I realized I want to do a different episode on this. I realized one of my biggest blocks has been not allowing myself, not only to speak, but to be wrong. The fear of being wrong, I see that holding back way too many women, men too, artists, creatives, intuitives, those of us who have ideas and have things that want to be born through us.

And there has been something, some conditioning, where then it just makes us want to crumple up and you feel this shame storm, this being wrong is, like, then you’re the pariah, then you’d be outcast. Then there’s just this blackness that descends upon you. And if you think I’m being melodramatic then just go out and do whatever it is that you’ve been wanting to do and you haven’t done it yet and see what comes up.

It is irrational, and yet we are not entirely rational cerebral beings. We are not robots. We are very emotional beings and more than we like to admit it, we are very controlled and directed by our emotions, even when you are on a path of awareness and awakeness and emotional mastery. So what the great kindness I did for myself with commitment and not making it an option to indulge in the shame that would come up, not making it an option to even have a conversation with the negativity, those feelings still came up.

But when I had taken it off the table that not doing the podcast was an option, when I had taken it off the table and been really disciplined with myself and believed that this can be done, that I will not indulge, that those feelings don’t have to happen to me forever, that I do not have to believe those thoughts that I am going to dig deep and come through for myself and cultivate an extraordinarily loving mindset for myself and positive self-regard and nurture my voice and creativity and what wants to happen through me. Continue to cultivate my way of being so that I am a stronger conduit for what wants to happen, that will create those results, the more I was fierce about that, then the freer I felt.

And again, it didn’t mean though that I still don’t experience that resistance that comes up, but here is the key. I do not make those feelings or resistance mean that I’m not going to do the thing anyway. And so who is more powerful at the end of the day? I’m going to do them anyway.

But here is why you really must commit and take off the table that it’s optional to do your dream or not do it. And here’s why I committed to 52 episodes as well. Because let’s say I did 12 and it was still so uncomfortable and I was like, that’s a pretty good job, I did 12. I didn’t think 12 would get me far enough through the fire of feeling the emotional burn and the emotional risk that I felt I would take from being so vulnerable.

And why did I feel so vulnerable? Because here is the honest truth. I mentioned my friend and colleague and she is also one of the extraordinary members of The Art School, Betsy Pearson, earlier. Betsy and I have had this ongoing conversation about how when you’re doing creative work, like making something out in the world physical for others to see, share material, or maybe it’s your words and you come from an orientation that that’s sacred work to you, that that comes from your soul.

So it’s like your soul is out there in the world building this work and then also what you’re doing as you’re doing this is you are building your soul. So as your soul’s out there in the world, building this creative physical work for the world to see, to share with the world, you’re also in turn building your soul.

And then as your soul continues to be built, then you can continue to build and grow and expand upon that work out in the world. The hard part is having it be out in the world, that feels – you’re so vulnerable. And if you’re really doing soul work, it’s authentic. It’s you’re naked. It’s you. It’s the best you’ve got, even when it’s not your best.

And that can feel terrible and that can feel like such a great emotional risk but that is also where all the magic happens. And so if we are not willing to feel that though, we don’t get to the part where we work through, that it really does matter to us that we do this soul building work in the world, even when we do it and it’s our best and not our best. When we’re our own harshest critic.

And so when you have the option of not doing it, you can really more easily believe lies like, “I just don’t feel like it. It doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m not really that good at it anyway. I’m just not into it anymore. This thing over here, I’ve decided this thing over here is better. I was actually wrong about that.” Give yourself a long enough timeframe.

For me I don’t think now even 52 episodes is long enough. I think I’m going to commit to – not I think, I am, committing to another 52 because I have a lot more work to do here and I also – the past 52 and this process has been so tremendous. I want to continue to do this building my naked soul nakedly, doing my best even when it’s not my best out in the world in front of you all because I do think it is that sharing and having it out in the world experience that is an essential element.

And I can’t try to tell myself that I’m perfecting something back here in the safety of my studio, my cozy studio and house, and that I’m just not going to any longer indulge in these fantasies that, oh no, I just have high standards. That drives me crazy when people say, “Oh, you don’t understand. I just have high standards. Oh, you don’t understand, this is just how it’s done in my industry.”

You have to be onto yourself and call yourself out when that’s really just perfectionism all wrapped up and made to sound pretty and tidy and convincing. But you know when you’re not buying it. You have to go for where the emotional risk is, and for me, there was emotional risk because there was financial risk. I spend my own money to create this podcast, I don’t have advertisers, and the emotional risk again, of offering what I have to offer.

I didn’t go to podcast school first. I do not allow myself to spend hours perfecting these episodes. The first episode I did, that was like, off the table after the first episode I did. I spent two agonizing weeks and that’s when I came up with this, oh no Leah, we are not doing that. We are going to make this an extraordinary experience and soul building, and this is not going to be an exercise in perfectionism. This is going to be an exercise in creative liberation and honesty and authenticity and growth.

And again, I am so grateful that I made that sacred twin commitment to how the process would be for myself because now, not only in theory but in actual practice, I know I only want success that is built on my truth. And that I know that it’s not only this pretty poster or Pinterest worthy saying that the road to success is paved with failure and all of this, the platitudes about vulnerability and authenticity.

I know why people don’t do it. It’s hard and it burns and I want it no other way. It is too exhausting. It would be too exhausting to show up here every week for you all and try to be better than I am. And try to also be smaller than I am. And to be less intuitive than I am, to be less quirky than I am, to be in words like professionalism just make me want to cringe anymore.

I want to be powerful and come from my true power. And what this podcast has helped me more than know, but truly internalize, is that I am my most powerful when I am my most relaxed. And part of what helps me be most relaxed is I know I’m going to fail, I know I’m going to be imperfect, and that is now my ally.

I have built so much this year, not in spite of imperfection but through it, because of it. So many of those bricks, those beautiful bricks I’ve laid have been highly imperfect bricks. But I have blessed them and loved them and sent good intentions for all of you all along the way and that matters, my friends.

As does – here’s another point I had for you. Taking the long view. 52 episodes, not long view enough because actually part of what I’ve been thinking about this entire time, I can’t think about it episode by episode. Not every episode can be my opus. A year’s worth of episodes cannot be my opus. I know that the work I’m doing now, god willing, I am doing for my 80-year-old self, and all the lives she touches along the way.

The work I’m doing now, this humble brick by brick, imperfect episode by imperfect episode offer, offering I’m doing, I am doing just to continue to unleash things within me that I don’t even know I have, but the work I’m doing now, who knows what it’s going to allow and enable my artist self, my writer self, my mother self, friend, wife, daughter, and teacher, coach self, 15, 20, 30 years down the road?

So this long view, this really brings me to another one of the main points I wanted to share with you today because this long view will inform the day-to-day, the tiny steps. A core principle that has helped me tremendously this past year is a version of think big and act small. It’s a version of keep the vision, keep the grand big vision and then take the small steps.

The way those things are phrased makes them sound like a contradiction or a paradox, but they’re not. Because I think if you’ve really committed to something that’s true for your soul, then there’s going to be magic in the thinking big and then there’s also magic in the taking small, and the taking of the small steps.

It’s not one is better than the other. They’re both a piece of the same process. It is so much about who you are becoming. And what I’ve found for myself and then what I see over and over again for many of my clients when they start working with me is that it’s really not the big vision that’s the obstacle. Any given time, the most insurmountable obstacle is going to be the tiniest next step. The tiniest next step is always going to be what’s the most insurmountable obstacle.

Because our brain wants to say it’s not big enough. How does that – you look at the face of the mountain and then you look at the next handhold or foothold you take, and like, how is that going to get me there? It’s the self-doubt that sets in when you realize how small you suddenly feel compared to the enormity of this next decision or the step you’re going to take.

And that’s why I think committing to an extraordinary way of being that’s rooted in a deep love of yourself is essential. Because to take the next smallest step when that mountain face looks like it’s straight up and the size of Mount Everest, taking that very next handhold is an act of radical love and an act of radical faith. Doing the very next step in your creative process, whatever it is you’re creating, is an act of radical belief.

And to me, belief is rooted in love. Absolutely. It’s those, taking those next tiny steps and refusing to give into the voices that say, it doesn’t matter, this is not the way, this surely can’t be the way, you’re never going to get there, how are you ever going to get there at this pace? But knowing in your heart that you’ve already created it and it’s done and now your job is to lay the bricks.

It’s doing that everyday very humble but deeply gratifying, satisfying work of showing up to lay the bricks that are aligned with the commitment that you’ve made. The best that you have to offer that day and blessing it and releasing it and moving on.

This kind of work is also an investment. It’s an investment in who you’re becoming. It’s an investment in your future. It’s a stake in the ground that declares that you believe in yourself and that you know you matter and your work matters. And it’s the kind of investment that’s cumulative and compounding.

And I can see this already, only 52 episodes in. Each episode has been a seed that I’ve planted, sown intentions for those of you out there listening, that art babies are born, that money is made, that shifts happen, that you find your true authentic power, you find that seat of your soul where you’re most relaxed and you work on cultivating a way of being where you create more and more from that place and even when it feels like you’re not, you set the intention that in the end, that is what you’re creating.

So I’ve sown those seeds all along the way and sown seeds and intentions of my own. I’ve planted them with each episode too. And I can see what this cumulative effect is like and the compounding effect that already again, I’m just a year in, that it’s had.

For instance, I just started working with one client who told me that she’s been listening since nearly the beginning, and around March or so, she decided because based on work that she was doing just following along with the podcast, we hadn’t met yet, we weren’t working together, but she made $30,000 a month as an artist and she said that was by far her biggest month ever, and now I’m working with her personally and I am beyond excited because things are just going to explode for her. She’s extraordinary.

But things like that, that was back in March. I didn’t know who she was. I didn’t know she was listening. And you have to keep doing your work in faith, knowing that some things take time to unfold. And unfold in their own time and process, and that’s not in your control. But what is in your control is making a commitment, making a commitment to the result that you’re creating, no matter what, and it’s not this grit your teeth and bare it way there. It’s I completely believe that I am the powerful creator in my life, that I am the cause that creates the evidence.

Stay committed to that. Stay committed to the process. To your command of the process and how the process can be for you. So even if you can’t eliminate the shame and these overwhelming negative feelings that come up, commit to you doing this and love and being very kind to yourself. Not indulging in overwhelm. The step-by-step process, taking the next tiniest step in great love is a powerful anecdote to overwhelm.

Do this and you will start to reap what you have sown. And again, you won’t just be reaping. It’s not basic addition. It’s compound interest. This brings me to the part of the podcast where I want you to do more than just listen. I want you to lean in, work with me, coach with me. Take this information and don’t just listen to it. Don’t just consider it. Be entertained by it. Don’t even just think about it. But take it and ask yourself, how can I implement this into my life in ways that truly make a difference? That help me move the needle both inside and out.

So in today’s coach with me portion, what I want to offer you is to think about not what is your masterpiece that you want to create, because I hear so many people use that term about make your life your masterpiece, and I get it. And if that works for you, by all means, continue to use it.

And if you find though it gets you caught in perfectionism and analysis paralysis, trying to get everything just right and just so, maybe consider instead thinking about your body of work. I want to go back to what I was saying about this idea, what I think is a reality of how we build our souls in the world with the work that we offer and the way we show up for, not only others, but ourselves.

In small ways, small consistent ways every single day. And how do you keep that small consistent work tied to your big vision? How do you keep that big vision alive and sparking for you and how do you keep that energy channeled through those small consistent tasks? I think they feed off of each other. I think both are necessary.

So for me, not every work, not every episode, not every coaching interaction needs to be my opus, but it is my offering for the day. It is often my highly imperfect offering for the day. But I love to think that over time, that inner vision, my soul is becoming real and solid and strong in the world.

I was just between recording the first part of the podcast and now finishing up, I had to pause the recording because it was time to teach Art School. And I was sharing with them, my lovely students, hello from Art School. Love this group. I was sharing with them the difficulties that still come up for me with recording the podcast.

And some of them were dismayed to discover that, and I’m still trying to find a way to convince everyone that no, don’t feel bad for me and don’t be dismayed. Be heartened. Because what has happened is I have grown my inner strength so much and maybe it’s even grown because of the presence of that negativity that I needed to push back against in order to realize and claim my true inner strength and power and I needed to do it from a place of love.

I had taken it off the table that it could be an option to quit, that’s not an option. I had taken it off the table for me that I would do it but then I’d be hard on myself and beat myself up, indulge in criticism. I’ve taken that off the table so then what I was left with with every week, I had chosen to record this podcast and I knew I was going to record 52 episodes.

So knowing that I was going to do that, how could I make it the most loving and creative and enjoyable and kind and soul-building experience for me? And for me, that meant coming to this fierce determination that those negative voices are not me. And the truth that’s trying to come through me needs to become louder and louder, not only in my own head and heart, but it wants expression and voice in the world.

It wants a presence in the world, and the more it has a presence in the world, then the more that comes back and builds the strength of my mind, my heart, and my soul, and the more I feel like I have a greater capacity to give, to share, to teach, to create, and also to receive.

So for you, thinking about what is the body of work you would love to create, how would you love to build your soul in the world, and then think about what that means in very specific, practical terms. It doesn’t have to be 52 podcasts in a year. Maybe it’s a weekly blog. Maybe it is sending chapters of your book off every month to somebody who’s collecting them and is going to send them out to an agent.

Whatever it is, don’t hold yourself back waiting for it to feel better. Dig deep. Generate the love and the strength and the kindness. Call upon that. Summon that. Don’t miss out on that part of the process. You may struggle sometimes as this gift works to be birthed through you, but struggle and needless suffering are two different things.

You can struggle in a way that makes you stronger. You don’t have to struggle and be discouraged at the same time. So commit to it. Don’t let yourself have the option of backing out. Give yourself a long timeframe. And also commit to the extraordinary love and presence you’re going to be for yourself along the way as you cultivate that extraordinary way of being in mind, in body, in spirit that makes those extraordinary results, your dream, inevitable.

Thank you so much for listening to another episode of The Art School Podcast. Thank you if you have been listening this whole year, and thank you to those of you that are new. This podcast for me is an honor to create and a labor of love.

And if you appreciate what you’ve learned, if it helps you move the needle in your life and make those shifts that come from the inside and create amazing results in your external world, in your everyday life, moves you closer to your dreams, the best thing you can do to pay it forward is to go to iTunes and leave a review, to share it with friends, family, colleagues, anyone that you think might benefit from this work.

I’d love to have it reach more and more people and to have the community and the movement continue to grow. And if you love this work and want to take it deeper, come over to my website. Sign up for my newsletter. www.leahcb.com. We’re wrapping up with the current session of Art School and it’s been extraordinary.

The next full one is not until next fall, 2020, but never fear because I have some really exciting projects in the works for the meantime in between, including the retreat of retreats. It’s going to be the retreat of the decade, for the decade. I mentioned it earlier in the podcast. It’s going to be towards the end of January at the Miraval Resort and Spa, Oprah’s favorite, so hey, how can you go wrong?

It’s going to be truly extraordinary and a small intimate group of women working very closely with me. Some very special surprises along the way, and you will be taken care of in every aspect possible and you’ll also do some deep diving and some pretty intense work while in the most beautiful location and with great luxury and amenities to support and nourish you at every turn.

There will also be other retreats and live events coming up later in the year, but this first group, this smaller, intimate group is going to be pretty high energy for those creative powerhouses who are looking for the retreat that sets the tone and the trajectory of the entire next 10 years. So it’s by application only. I have eight spots and two are already spoken for.

So if you think this is speaking to you, calling your name, and you want to learn more and you want to submit an application, just email me. Leah@leahcb.com with retreat in the subject line and we’ll be in touch with more information.

There will be more details coming out soon but just in short for now, I can tell you that one of my intentions is that at every turn, with every experience and aspect that I have planned that it makes you this, wow, it would have been worth it for just this one thing, and yet wait, there are all these other things and there’s more time and there’s other experiences and there are these other people.

So at every turn I am setting it up, filling it full of these moments of massive magic and breakthrough and deep transformation and just so much beauty and fun as well. I’d love to have you join us.

For today’s close, I want to end the way I began. A year from now, what will you wish you had started today? Do that for yourself. Do it with deep love. Go all in. Be fully committed. I promise you will be so glad that you did. I love you guys. I can’t thank you enough. I cannot thank you enough. Have a wonderful week and I’ll see you next time.