***The Secret to Creating A Successful Business That Allows You To Live And Love Richly™

As a young girl growing up I loved throwing parties for my friends and family. These gatherings cost very little – all that was required was a little time and creativity. I remember hosting a tea party with my two best girlfriends when we were 15 in Southwest Missouri. We went to second-hand stores to find dresses and china, and spent weeks discussing and fine-tuning our menu. When our long awaited day arrived, we filled our picnic baskets and headed for the cool shade of the forest. I still have the invitations we had used saved in my photo album (“You are cordially invited to attend a picnic hosted by the Lovely Miss Leslie Dana…”). Then there were the endless early morning bike rides and walks (boy, were those Midwest summers hot and humid!). I remember rising early to the sound of chirping robins to meet my friend while it was still cool outside. I would hop on my bike and pedal a few miles to a quiet country road where we would go walking. The sun rose and the sky filled with brilliant colors. As we walked along the dusty road we made up stories about them… “You see those clouds up there Angie?” I would say, “Those clouds are the paths of the angels. That’s where the angels walked at night when we were sleeping!” We would laugh and our minds would drift onto the next topic of interest–school, boys, summer camp or what we would do with the rest of our endless summer day. You can’t really put a price on memories like these – they’re invaluable. We often forget the importance of quality-time and spend our income-earning years working overtime so we can acquire costly furniture and decorations to make our houses look “just right” … we take expensive vacations, buy the latest shoes, clothing, gear and equipment, thinking this is what will bring happiness. While money does help us acquire the things we want, to me what is truly inspiring about creating money is that it gives me the opportunity to see where I’m being called to play a bigger game in life. There’s nothing quite like time and money to cause our egos to instantly flare and bring old beliefs to the surface. I remember thinking that it was greedy, selfish and shallow to want to make more money. I thought I would have to choose between making great money and having a well-lived life – that I couldn’t have both. Or that the only way I could succeed at creating financial success in my life was to myopically manage my meager income – because I believed at my core I wasn’t capable of creating abundant income. I thought prosperity could only come at the expense of denying myself my basic needs. Then, eventually, I began to invest in training and personal coaching programs (even at a time when I didn’t think I could afford them) and slowly, yet incredulously, my financial life began to shift significantly. I’m still investing in my own financial growth – it’s a lifetime commitment. I have experienced some major financial transformations ¬– the most recent one being about creating significant personal abundance in the world. I used to think I couldn’t create a huge income because that would mean I was selfish or I just wasn’t capable of such things because I lacked the “inherent money-making” gene. I used to believe that creating an abundant income was something reserved only for big world leaders and best selling authors in personal and spiritual growth – not “little ‘ole” me. This erroneous limiting belief has shifted in a very significant way. I now know in my core that when we are truly committed to serving and making a difference for others that creating phenomenal abundance will naturally manifest because it is a reflection of “who we’re being.” To me the exciting aspect about creating money AND rich experiences is the opportunity to undergo deep personal transformation at a core level and become a powerful catalyst for financial and personal transformation in the world. I believe that we Live and Love Richly™ by building businesses that not only make a difference for the clients we serve, but that support us in creating rich experiences and free time for ourselves and our loved ones – and at it’s ultimate essence, it’s about the lives we’ve touched, the souls we’ve impacted and the memories we leave behind.