Last year I was invited to be on a podcast by a friend and client of mine who has a huge reach. His podcast has had 25 million downloads so needless to say I was excited. I thought “we are going to have the opportunity to help millions of people to be able to have better lives. Yes!” But things didn’t go as I’d hoped.
My friend shared deeply personal stories about his work with me. I was moved by his vulnerability and honesty as I’m sure his listeners were. The interview went perfectly. I could not have asked for a better experience.
But after the interview, I received a text saying that my friend was pretty sure he’d lost the entire recording. I was devastated. I shared what happened with the students in the Occurring Course. I said, “Here’s a perfect time to use the Occurring Process to dissolve a negative feeling.” I did it right there on the call.
I asked myself three questions:
First, “What meaning was I giving the events?”
The meaning was that if we had to do the podcast over again it would never be as good as the one we just did and not make the impact I wanted it to make.
Second, I looked for other interpretations
What else could it mean that he lost the recording?
One possibility is “It might be better next time.”
Third, then I asked myself, “Does the fact that he lost the audio have any inherent meaning?”
My answer, “No. It does not tell me anything about the next one.” The feeling lifted and I felt lighter.
After the lesson ended my friend texted me that the recording was captured and everything was fine. I was thrilled. Had I not dissolved the feeling earlier, I would have been suffering for hours before I got that news.
About two months later, the big day was near
I was in anticipation. This fantastic interview would be made available to millions. I fell asleep that night knowing things were about to change in a big way.
The day came and went. I got some lovely emails from people who heard the podcast and they were very complimentary. Some people purchased our Natural Confidence program, I got a jump in Instagram followers and many people booked sessions with me but these were not the earth-shattering results I had expected.
I didn’t get it. In the past, I’ve been a guest on smaller podcasts which produced tremendous results for our company. I had expected much more from a show with millions of downloads. How could this be?
I was sad and disappointed because I thought that we would impact tens of thousands of lives and it didn’t look like that was happening.
Helping others is what gets me out of bed every day. We have reached hundreds of thousands of people in pretty much every country around the world and I just thought this would be the next big bump. I barely had a chance to be overtaken by the disappointment when I started using the occuring process. It was almost automatic.
I asked the three questions again.
First, what meaning did I give the events?
Nothing will come of this.
I didn’t reach all the people I should have.
It’s a lost opportunity.
Next, what other ways can I interpret the events?
The fact that it didn’t produce big results immediately could mean that I did reach a large number of people and they weren’t ready to work with us yet, but that they were still impacted by listening to the show.
It could mean that we will get amazing exposure and someone of great influence could see it in the future and we will have the opportunity to impact millions of people worldwide.
It could mean something big will come out of this just not today.
It could mean that just being on this podcast would give me great credibility for future endeavors.
Third, what does it really mean?
The fact that it didn’t produce the response today has no inherent meaning. I realized that I don’t know anything for sure based on the short-term result. Once I got this, I felt so much lighter.
Then I remembered that a few years ago Rodney, our Director of Training, suggested I agree to speak on Anges Vivarelli’s Youtube show. At the time I think she had about 500 followers. Not very much compared to the shows I mentioned above. Yet I have gotten more clients from appearing on her show than on some much larger shows. So, we never know what will make an impact in our lives or when.
As we know with Covid, life can throw us some serious curveballs
Even though we can have great disappointments in life, always remember that we don’t know anything for sure because something we badly wanted to happen didn’t happen. Use the Occurring Process to get rid of any negative emotions caused by disappointment and it will eliminate your suffering.
P.S. It turns out that my disappointment has turned into delight. His podcast continues to deliver amazing new clients that my facilitators and I are working with. We are elated to help change their lives. So I’m eternally grateful for my friend interviewing me for his podcast.
