Ep #115: Planning from Possibility

• Why it is our responsibility to act upon our dreams and use our gifts in this world.
• Where the ability to pursue our dreams opens up new, even unimagined, opportunities.
• How we dial into this energy of possibility in the Art School.
• What you are defaulting to when you neglect to make plans for yourself.
• How to question yourself to see where your reluctance to plan might be coming from, and really look at whether it’s serving you.
• An exercise in planning from a place of possibility and wonder.

“Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans,” John Lennon. I’ve also heard a quote like this attributed to Joseph Campbell. I think there is a lot of wisdom in these words, and of course, so much wisdom in staying present.

I also think there is another meaning, a nuance that can be taken from these words. And I’ve also heard, however, too many brilliant, talented people brimming with potential use these words and this kind of wisdom against themselves.

And anything used against one’s self cannot be wisdom. So, listen in today for a discussion of this and to see what this nuance is and what greater meaning it may open up for you in your life.

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 to The Art School Podcast. What is happening in your corner of the world? I would love to know, for real. I have had the opportunity this week to learn more about what is happening in several of your corners of the world. We’ve had new participants, new to the Art School and the Art School Immersion this week.

And it is always this beautiful, full-circle moment and surreal to have people come on and say they’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, and then there they are, living, breathing human beings, just like I have been imagining are out there listening all of this time. But it takes it to another level of extraordinary to actually meet them.

So, it’s been an awesome week in the Possibility Immersion. I have been doing that this week. Our Art School Mastermind is still continuing this month. Our final session wraps up in a couple of weeks and we have our final virtual retreat just last weekend.

I have some other really amazing projects that I’ve been working on. So, life has been full and deliciously so. I also have new podcast episodes that I’ve been working on that are a little bit more involved. And so, I couldn’t just release them right away this week, including some interviews with Art School members and masterminders, which I’m very excited to bring you.

So, in the meantime, while I will tonight gratefully take a hot bath and crawl into bed in a very grateful and very spent, exhausted heap with a good book maybe, if I can keep my eyes open. It’s the best kind of putting your head down on the pillow at night. Especially because I got in a great workout today too. That always helps.

So, honestly however, I was initially a little daunted at thinking, “Oh no, I also have to get an episode done,” and the other episodes I’m working on, there’s a ways to go in them and I don’t want to shortchange them or cut them short. And I don’t want to short change any of you.

And I have been pouring heart and soul and light, and it’s just been filling me up to be able to do this immersion this week and center it around this topic of possibility. Right now, more and more than ever, I know, for artists to come together and be as convicted in our love and our ability to Create, with a capital C, a brighter future and a more compelling tomorrow than ever while also – because not also, in spite of, but because we are acknowledging everything that is coming on.

So, it has been a lot of energy to hold this week. And then I thought, and I also need to bring it for a podcast. And so, what I thought was I could offer you a glimpse into the possibility immersion. Because I don’t do anything perfunctory. And while I am all about relaxing and settling into what comes naturally to me, I also am not just a box checker. So, on that note of not doing anything perfunctory, you know, for instance I have an optional Facebook group to go along with this immersion week.

For the full Art School, we don’t hold the online forum on Facebook. We move it over to a different online platform to do all of our written coaching and interaction. But for experiences like this that are brief and week-long and the synchronous communication that Facebook provides is really helpful, we were doing it on Facebook.

So, for instance, in the course of a week, I will easily have spent, gosh, I don’t even know how many hours to estimate that I spend on writing responses. And I take my time. I sit with clients’ questions. I consider it. I think about it. I come back to it because they have invested their time in their life with me for this week and I am going to give them, like, the experience that blows their mind, I hope. That’s my intention.

But I really want it to come from my heart and the best that my gifts have to offer so that they really leave with a profound takeaway that will change their life after this, the kind of offering where, if they implement it and I have the kind of people in this group that are absolutely powerhouse implementers and change-makers.

And so, rather than try to sum up for you or provide a summary of Possibility Week, which has been a pretty epic week and very dense, and I told them today, when I said immersion, here it comes, I meant it. You know, I presented things today that, individually, you could easily spend a month-long immersion on.

So, I really want to overdeliver. But then, when I think of how to translate that to a podcast, it doesn’t make quite as much sense. And what I want to do is just hone in on one question and answer from the forum. And this is one question and answer among many, many other questions and answers. But I have a feeling that this one in particular might resonate with many of you, particularly since it’s that phenomenon of what’s the most personal is what’s most universal.

So, I’ll speak in generalities about the person asking the question to respect their privacy and confidentiality. Because the sacredness of this space, the security of this space and a person’s privacy in life are of the utmost importance to me and I absolutely honor that. I do think I can speak in generalities and you will still receive the essence and the value from this response though.

So, we were talking about planning, like the actual implementation of what are you going to do, what are you going to plan? What would be the dream year, dream coming years? And putting that on the calendar.

And she wrote, “I have to admit that I’ve been having such a weird relationship with time this year, outside of current events, which just added extra distortion.” Because she has gone through a lot this year and some very serious health issues too. So, this is understandable that she writes this, that she’s been having a weird relationship with time.

She goes on to say that, “When I sat down to play with ideas, I hesitated. The idea of planning anything felt like I was just tempting fate.” And then she writes, “LOL, I don’t want past history to interfere with future possibility though. So, I’m still tinkering with ideas. But I think I need more time to get into a playful mindset about it. Meaning not letting the how of it all interfere.”

And so, now I will read to you what I wrote, “I want to see if we can help you find some space and relief around this idea that you are tempting fate by planning and help you with that playful mindset you mentioned you’d like. So, if your brain tells you it’s tempting fate to plan, I would ask it to look at all the ways, even if you don’t plan, that you are actually still planning, that you actually still have a plan. Can you see ways in which you do have plans for the future?

I’m going to go ahead here assuming that you do have plans for the future. But please tell me where I’m wrong. It’s likely though that the plans that you’re afraid of making are ones where you are really, really doing, being, getting what you really want. But again, please tell me where I’m wrong. The fear of tempting fate comes up with, I’d say, 99% of people I work with, myself included 100%.

The fear of, if it’s too good then the other she will drop, something will have to give. You may be aware of the term upper limit phenomenon or have heard me talk about it elsewhere. But I think that’s what is happening here. And I just want to reassure you that while walking through an illness and fighting for your health in your life will absolutely intensify that, you are not alone.

This is a very human condition. I also want to reassure you that you don’t need to stay confined by these upper limits. There are beautiful, gentle, safe ways onward and upward that will help you allow for yourself all the beautiful possibilities you want for your life.

There’s a great book on this subject, if you’ve read Gay Hendricks’ The Big Leap. It’s a short book but very enlightening on this topic. The other thing with upper limits is that it doesn’t work in the long run to just try and rip them out.

So, what I’m doing with you here first, if you read or listen back through this, is a gentle approach that I know to be effective in helping you make a true sustainable difference and allowing yourself more expansive possibilities.

First, bring your awareness to what your brain is doing. It is telling you, you cannot plan. But actually, you do. We either agree to a plan that allows for what we really value, or we agree to a plan by default in choosing not to prioritize our values and dreams.

It is so good to see this, to just see this with compassionate understanding, non-judgmental eyes toward ourselves and to have a lot of compassion for why we do this. Usually it is that we are afraid.

And then, there is the gentle good work of being with that part of ourselves that is afraid, learning to understand it and soothe it and reassure it. Not by letting it run our lives and drive the bus. But with profound, gentle strength, firmly conversing with it about how we are deciding to live our lives with intention and courage.

Again, you are not alone. It is an awareness we all have, that we are not promised an infinite or certain number of days. None of us knows how many. Many of us live with this conditioned idea that if we can just fly beneath the radar, maybe the gods won’t notice us and we’ll get away with more days and won’t be, quote unquote punished for daring to fly too high.

Another great book on this, The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin, also Patriarchal Stress Disorder by Dr. Valarie Rein. She writes, for much of history, any time a woman has reached for power, it has been a punishable offence.

And so, it’s not only conditioned in us in this lifetime, but it’s conditioned in our DNA. But that does not mean it needs to be what defines our destiny. We are shaped by forces in the world. But with awareness and new skills, we can become more adept at using how we perceive our experiences in the world and shape ourselves into all we dream of being.

There are great big spaces in the world just wanting for us to do just that. I’ve given you a lot here. But the main takeaway is this gentle awareness toward the fact that we are still planning, even if it’s agreeing to a default that doesn’t allow for what we really want. Time will pass either way.

Another wonderful, albeit sometimes scary question to contemplate gently – and I am still contemplating this one. It’s one that grows as you do throughout the years. How good are you willing to let it get? Please let me know how you are after reading this. and when you’re ready, let me know any thoughts, insights, or questions you might have.”

So, that concludes just one small Facebook post exchange within one thread and one post. But there is an opportunity, even within a single Facebook post, to really go deeply into conversation and I think that’s one of the things I love most about this community, are the people who are willing to take the work and examine their lives and apply it to their lives. And they come forth with such amazing, well-considered questions and the nuance and the brilliance and also just the love, the compassionate hearts that they bring to the process really enrich it for everyone. And again, that’s just one example within many.

So, it brings me back around to the quote that I shared, the John Lennon quote, “Life is what happens when you are making other plans.” Because I’ll have a lot of people toss that out and say, “Well, what about that?” And here’s what I want to say is another meaning of that.

It is often us taking the initiative and the responsibility to act upon our dreams and to use our gifts in the world. That invites other opportunities in life to come right in. I cannot tell you how many times this has happened to me and for my clients, where they’re feeling the essence of the dream. They are dialed in and aligned to the truth and what is the sacred dream. And they are dialed into what, in Art School, this concept and approach we teach called the sacred twin intentions.

And then, they are taking inspired action and they are earnest about it. They are taking responsibility for their lives and being creative, not passive, not victims, not just waiting around. And they are doing it from this deeply settled, powerful place, not coming from force or grind or desperation or scarcity, but really coming from a true place of abundance where if you believe you have something to create and offer in the world, of course you’re going to take action and of course part of that action includes great strategic plans.

And does that mean everything goes according to plan? No. But again, here is that thing that often happens. You go for gold because you are planning to win and you’re playing to win. And that is precisely when these opportunities that you could not even have thought of come winging out of left-field or out of the blue – both expressions that I love – and seem to plop right in your lap.

I see that happen when people are already taking responsibility and willing to put their priorities, their values on their calendar in their life and commit to making plans. Because as I was communicating with this client, if we’re not making plans, we are really just defaulting to someone else’s plans.

Jim Rohn said, “If you don’t make a plan for your life, someone else will.” So, we are all proceeding along some kind of plan. We can be present and also plan. It’s, to me, he really interesting question of are you allowing yourself to plan for things in your life? Are you inviting in possibilities that really align with your core values, with what you really, really love and want to be doing in life?

So, again, I know that that John Lennon quote can be taken as be laid back and go with the flow. I thought, for many years, I was just a go with the flow person. But actually, what was happening was I was just accommodating other people’s flow. And I barely even knew the extent to which I was doing that.

And in fact, it’s so ingrained that my eyes are still being opened. Even when I’m thinking I am being completely proactive and taking full responsibility and living aligned with values, life delivers me some great lessons where I’m like, “Oh, a-ha,” I was actually going along with the flow of someone else’s agenda or plan or it was in my blind spot, how I was compromising my own values. I was compromising my own dreams. I was holding back. I was limiting my own possibilities and not planning for exactly the life I want because this flow I thought I was going with was really me not seeing where I was still going along with other people’s ideas for my life or their ideas about what I can and can’t do.

And it’s such great news when that happens. So, again, while people hear those words of, “Life is what happens when you make other plans,” and they take that as these words of wisdom that should be cautionary and therefore lead them, seduce them into being passive and hands off the wheel totally, I want to just offer a different way of reading those words.

I don’t know if that’s what John intended or not. But more as a logical, if-then statement, “Make other plans and then life will happen.” It’s that you make a move and then the universe takes a thousand steps towards you and providence moves too.

So, 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 and really work with me, coach with me. Don’t just take this information in and be educated by it. Take the information in, think about it, contemplate it for yourself, question deeply what it means to you and how it’d look applied to your life, and then go out and apply it to your life.

Integrate it, implement it. Using, working with the information is what makes it transformational. So, my questions for you this week are, are there places where you can resonate with this fear of, “I’m afraid of tempting fate by planning?” Or, maybe you resonate with, “Well, I don’t want to be super-controlling in my life. I just want to go with the flow.”

And so, then I would ask you, is that flow bringing you – is not tempting the fates creating for you the expansive possibilities and the life that you truly, truly want? That time is going to pass either way.

So, first, just bringing your awareness to that. And then, here’s a challenge. I love to do this. I will buy a few of these inexpensive paper calendars and I will use them like a dream journal to get out of me kind of my hesitation to put down what I really want on my calendar. Sometimes, it might take me a few goes at it, which is why I keep a few backups on hand. But can you acquire one of those?

And I like the analogue. I like the hard paper version. I like pen and paper. And write out your dream possibilities for the year. Write out, filling in first, all areas of life, the living of life, the time of family and friends, the nourishing, sacred, still time to yourself, the things that make you come alive, the health-building areas, the restoration.

And then, building in these places where you take massively magical, inspired action, building in these epic experiences that you want to create or projects that you want to create. And when I say epic, that also doesn’t mean you then plot out how you’re going to work yourself to exhaustion.

But make a plan. And put that plan down on paper and ask yourself then this question; how good are you willing to let it get? I know I’ve asked that question on this podcast before, but I feel like, given the times, it really needs to be asked again. Because with so much going on in the world, for those listening to me later, I’m recording this January of 2021 in the midst of the pandemic, all of the unrest happening in the United States, not to mention other things around the world.

And so, it can seem like our possibilities are limited. It can seem like planning for a compelling future, planning for dreams is something beyond our control. So, I want this to be a space where you once again have permission to dream. And more than that, you are encouraged to. You are encouraged to dream of a better tomorrow. You are encouraged to dream of the part you can play in that. You are encouraged to dream of peace, of unity, if beautiful projects, of travel, of amazing collaboration, of being more than ever grateful for everything that we enjoy in this world. You are encouraged to let it be as good as it can be and really the possibilities are endless.

Thank you for listening to another episode of The Art School Podcast. I am very grateful for your presence here. I am so grateful when you take the time to leave a review, so grateful when you share and help me bring this work to more people. And when you are ready to dive in and take this work deeper, the Art School and the Art School Mastermind are waiting with wide open arms and endless possibilities and extraordinary energy, waiting just for you. So, email support@leahcb.com for more information.

If you want to schedule a discovery consult with my team and ask questions and learn more, you can do that as well. Just put discovery consult in the subject line. You can also visit my website to learn more both about the Art School and the Art School Mastermind.

We have just a few spaces remaining for the mastermind. That application process is open. And you can learn more about that, again, by emailing us at support or you can also find out more at my website, www.leahcb.com. Also by emailing us and visiting my website, you can find out when our next free offerings are.

I offer free workshop and coaching every month. The next one will be coming out, I believe the day after this podcast is released, January 22^nd at 11:30am Eastern. But again, if you’re listening to this later, I offer things like this on the regular to my community. So, please stay in touch and you will be sure to never miss a thing.

And also, just a month left to join us for the March 2021 Art School. 2021 can be absolutely extraordinary, if you let it be and if you plan for it to be. So, don’t hold back in putting your dreams on your calendar this year and the Art School is an incredibly powerful way to make those dreams inevitable.

To close, I want to offer you this. As I mentioned, we are shaped by forces in the world, but let’s not forget that we also can be forces that shape the world. We can exercise our Creativity, with a capital C, to be forces for good, to be creative forces of nature that also shape and influence the world.

Thank you so much for being here, everyone. I look forward to some day meeting more of you on a Zoom call or in a course, in the Art School, in the mastermind, or as I was talking with one of my masterminders today, we were dreaming about that first retreat, that first Art School retreat we are going to have post-pandemic, how amazing it will be to hug one another, to go for walks, to have coffee, to have tea, not to mention dive into all of this great work in person, but just dreaming about that brought this infusion of possibility energy right back into respective Zoom rooms.

So, I’ll look forward to that day too. In fact, I am planning on it, Have a beautiful week, everyone. And I will talk with you next time.