Best Selling Author Holly Woods Reveals Strategies to Help You Attain Your Unreasonable Goals (#91)

[00:00:05] Jeffrey Feldberg: Welcome to the Sell My Business Podcast. I'm your host Jeffrey Feldberg.

[00:00:10] This podcast is brought to you by Deep Wealth and the 90-day Deep Wealth Experience.

[00:00:16] Your liquidity event is the largest and most important financial transaction of your life.

[00:00:22] But unfortunately, up to 90% of liquidity events fail. Think about all that time, money and effort wasted. Of the "successful" liquidity events, most business owners leave anywhere from 50% to over 100% of their deal value in the buyer's pocket and don't even know it.

[00:00:43] I should know. I said no to a seven-figure offer and yes, to mastering the art and science of a liquidity event. Two years later, I said yes to a different buyer with a nine-figure offer.

[00:00:56] Are you thinking about an exit or liquidity event?

[00:00:59] If you believe that you either don't have the time or you'll prepare closer to your liquidity event, think again.

[00:01:05] Don't become a statistic and make the fatal mistake of believing that the skills that built your business are the same ones for your liquidity event.

[00:01:13] After all, how can you master something you've never done before?

[00:01:17] Let the 90-day Deep Wealth Experience and our nine-step roadmap of preparation help you capture the maximum value for your liquidity event.

[00:01:26] At the end of this episode, take a moment to hear from business owners, just like you, who went through the Deep Wealth Experience.

[00:01:32] Holly Woods Ph.D. and founder of the Emergence Institute is a visionary who sees deeply into other souls. She activates and catalyzes what wants to come alive in people and guides them to manifest their dreams through practical strategies.

[00:01:52] Holly brings 30 years of consulting and coaching in human and organizational development and two decades of experience building and scaling businesses and products to help entrepreneurs, visionaries, and innovators create impact. She helps clients uncover their nuance purpose, gain capacities and mindset to attain their unreasonable goals, and aligns decisions, products, and systems around what matters most. Holly is the author of the bestseller, The Golden Thread: Where to Find Purpose In the Stages of Your Life.

[00:02:31] Welcome to The Sell My Business Podcast.

[00:02:33] Wow. Do I have a great episode lined up for you today because we are absolutely honored and delighted with today's guest, who is a thought leader, author, visionary, and much, much more. I don't want to get ahead of myself. So, why don't we jump right in there? Holly, welcome to The Sell My Business Podcast.

[00:02:51] It's such a pleasure to have you with us. Let me kick things off by asking you my favorite question at the start. And that is, there's always a story behind the story. Holly, what's your story of what got you to where you are today?

[00:03:05] Holly Woods: Thank you Jeffrey, and I'm delighted to be here. And I'm going to give you the nutshell version of my story because it's a little consuming. Early on in my life, I had some voices that said I was here to do something important, but I had no idea what those voices were. And I had a very difficult childhood, very challenging.

[00:03:22] So, the shortened version of that is that I spent many years attempting to figure out what that important thing was. Why would I be encouraged to stay here and to do something useful if I didn't know what that was? And so, after, you know, some odd 30 something careers and many forms of education and training, et cetera, I finally figured out that I am actually here to help people live into their purpose.

[00:03:47] And so, I had to do my own set of healing and recovery, and exploration on this very long and circuitous journey in order to know, in a very brief and efficient way, how to support people to live into their own purpose and their own deep inspiration for living. I have this enormous toolkit.

[00:04:08] One of my friends calls it, my Mary Poppins toolkit, go in and grab what's needed in the moment. And so, that's really what led me to this moment where I now work with, you know, entrepreneurs and business owners and executives to get some clarity about who they are and how that could inform not only their lives, but their products, their businesses, to be more focused and you know, create abundance and have more impact on the world.

[00:04:35] Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow, Holly, there's so, much to unpack there, but let me ask you something. Did I hear you right that you had 30 something careers that I catch that?

[00:04:43] Holly Woods: You did catch that.

[00:04:44] Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow. Wow. So, 30 something careers. So, you must have seen a lot and experienced a lot in that journey.

[00:04:51] Holly Woods: That's yeah, kind of an understatement. In my late twenties, early thirties, by that time I had already accumulated a few careers, and each time I would go to the next thing people would say, so, what's with this lack of commitment on your part to stay in something?

[00:05:07] And I couldn't explain it, it never felt like a lack of commitment. Cause I go in deep, pretty much in everything I do in life. And for me, it was always I've done this. It was great. I learned a ton. I, you know, and in many cases, I've mastered the thing and then the next thing would show up

[00:05:24] And so, what I've come to know now in hindsight is that I was able to hear, listen and live into the next impulse that was coming forward in my life. And so, this is some of what I teach people, how to do is how to listen for the version of you that's wanting to be lived, to become enlivened and awake and, you know, full of energy and joy and enthusiasm to be inspired because when we're living there, we're much more likely to create products and businesses that will eventually come into, a much greater abundance and more productivity and greater revenue to me, bottom line.

[00:06:07] Jeffrey Feldberg: I couldn't agree more and we'll certainly get into that, but it's interesting because people were asking you with the lack of commitment, why are you jumping? But the first question that ran through my mind is how did you get the courage to stop what you're doing, go to something completely new? So, I look at that, it really, as courageous, you're following your heart or your inspiration, your passion, whatever message you're getting from the Universe.

[00:06:29] If you want to call it that and knowing that, hey, this isn't my best place, my best opportunities. So, how did you find that courage from within, because I know so, many people and I'll even put myself in that category? There are times where maybe I know making the move is what's right for me, but wow does it feel scary. And I'm really stuck in my place. So, how did you work through that?

[00:06:50] Holly Woods: Well, you know it was over time that I can say that I don't even call it courage anymore. What I've come to know it as Jeffery is that I gained great inspiration and joy from living into the most alive version of me. And so, my childhood was pretty difficult, mental health issues, abuse, neglect, et cetera.

[00:07:13] The bottom line is I had to learn to overcome that at a really early age, in order to stay on the planet. I had suicidal ideation, didn't want to be here, and in order to stay, I had to learn very quickly, some tools and strategies and ways of being that would cause me to feel alive. So, I became very adept at when I wasn't having a good day, I would create a good day.

[00:07:39] And I think that I learned to bring that aliveness to everything that I did and do. And so, that's what I started following is what is going to cause me to be most alive? It's going to keep me here moving forward, productive, living into my life as best I can. I don't call that courage, you know, courage is sort of moving into something that scares you. I was moving away from something that scared me, like death. Death is at my back door and I'm trying to move to life. And so, I was moving toward what really wanted to come alive in me.

[00:08:15] Jeffrey Feldberg: And that really, when you described that makes a lot of sense. And for our listeners, I'll put this in the show notes, Holly, for your book, you recently came out with a book, The Golden Thread: Where to Find Purpose In the Stages of Your Life. And purpose, whether it's personal or business. I mean, that's really the North Star.

[00:08:33] That's the beginning, the middle, and the end. And as we look to that, Holly, I'm wondering about your observations and your insights. So, as you've worked with people and you know, really, maybe people will agree with me or not. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I'm a big believer in the following. If you get it right on the inside, personally, you're going to get it right everywhere else in your life.

[00:08:57] So, in other words, if things aren't flowing or they're not quite right, personally, you're not going to maximize your business. You're not going to have a world-class business. You're not going to be at the top of your game or going into a liquidity event.

[00:09:08] And that's what we do at Deep Wealth with our nine-step roadmap of just knocking it out of the park because there are internal issues it all meshes. And to play off a common saying out there. Everything's personal, you know, business isn't personal? Of course, it's personal. How can you be doing so, well in business if you're not doing so, well internally?

[00:09:26] So, where do we begin and how do we start as business owners of really aligning ourselves outside in, inside out, business, personal the whole nine yards?

[00:09:36] Holly Woods: Jeffrey, let me just first say I so, appreciate what you just shared and if, you know, if the whole world believed that like you do, like I do, of course, I wouldn't have work anymore because we all feel aligned with our purpose and living that. So, how do we get started?

[00:09:53] It's deeper, you know, it's not something I'm going to be able to do in a few minutes. But one of the things that I often do when I'm first working with someone is to have them look retrospectively at their life and begin to find the places, the things, the experiences that most inspired them, that evoked curiosity that brought passion and a liveliness to their lives.

[00:10:18] And that starts, you know, way early when we're children and there are some exercises that I use. And there's a free audio course on my website that you can go and download. But I walked people through these exercises that they begin to recount the parts of their life, where they felt most alive.

[00:10:36] So, obviously that came from my experience of trying to stay alive. I began to just like what is it that feels really good? I'm going go do more of that today. And I began to become, you know, really expert in my own life at finding the things that cause me to feel alive, which got me closer and closer to my authentic self.

[00:10:55] And the more I was doing things that just felt good that met my deepest desires that inspired me, that enthused me. I mean, you can see, I have this enormous level of enthusiasm now. Like I live this way. I live aligned with what is truly wanting to emerge from me. And if a person who is not inspired by their own life really just says what matters today?

[00:11:17] What can I do today that would make a difference in me feeling more alive? That's you know, an aid question, one could ask and feel more aware and awake to the possibilities of that day.

[00:11:30] Jeffrey Feldberg: And so, Holly, let's dive into that from both your personal experience, but also with the coaching and the mentoring that you've done. And you're working with different business owners, founders, entrepreneurs. I am sure there are people out there in our community who are saying, okay, Holly and Jeffery. Yeah, that's really nice.

[00:11:48] But business is a grind. I do it because I have to, I don't particularly feel good. I don't think there's a Universe that exists where I can feel good, be happy, and actually have a successful business. What would you say to someone who's thinking that?

[00:12:04] Holly Woods: Well, I would say that I've been living for the last 35’ish years, proving that wrong. Both in my own life and with all the clients and businesses that I've worked with. I would argue, my contention is that our products, let's just talk products in general products, services offers. I don't really distinguish them, whatever you're putting in the world that you've monetized and are selling is a product. Your product in some deep way, some hollow fractal way if we were to talk about the quantum field, which is a whole other story is a representation of you. And so, you're putting something into the world that has your signature on it, and you're wanting to sell it to make money, to have a business, to have income that pays your bills and buys your car and your house and all of that.

[00:12:55] So, that product is literally a representation of you in the world. If you are living a less than optimal life you know, somewhere between slightly depressed and marginally enthused or, marginally satisfied that product is going to have that energy. It's going to have that imprint or signature, no matter how much it may be needed in the world.

[00:13:20] Or prized or valued people may pay for it, but you're not sending into the world the best version of you. If you were more aligned with who you really are. And even if it's the same product. Let's say you sell shoes. And I don't know, is there a better example? Shoes is fine. Let's say you sell shoes, you manufacture these particular kind of, you know athletic wear shoe.

[00:13:47] I'm just doing it because I need to make a buck and I don't really care much about the product, but I want to make money to pay bills and feed my family. And so, that is the representation of the product in the world. And you're not very excited about it for fun and leisure time, you go do lots of other things and you find joy in those parts of your life, and you may have a relatively satisfying existence, you know, there's work and there’s life.

[00:14:11] Well, that product is never going to be able to satisfy its customers really because you're not satisfied. And so, the energy of who you are, it shows up in the product. You're probably going to have to work pretty hard to sell very many of those shoes. It's going to be difficult to find the people who would want those shoes.

[00:14:30] And you're probably not going to be able to scale that business easily without throwing lots of money into marketing and branding and all kinds of systems that are forcing the product into the market. If you actually had this impulse to create a shoe that really allowed somebody to play a marvelous game of tennis, and this was the best shoe you've ever been able to invent, or maybe you found a product that like, this is it.

[00:14:56] This is the better than sliced bread. And I am so, excited about this shoe and it makes me happy. Cause I played an amazing game of tennis and it's fulfilling my desire to be with my friends and to be athletic. And that's the product you sell in the world. It's going to have a whole different energy to it, and it's going to be easy to brand and market it and sell it in the world.

[00:15:17] And your people are going to find it. Now that's an abstract notion, but I'm hoping it might have represented how the same product with a different level of alignment with who you really are, could potentially create a very different outcome for your business.

[00:15:34] Jeffrey Feldberg: Holly, that is so, in line and for our listeners out there, let's clue into something. So, in the Deep Wealth nine-step roadmap of preparation, step number two is your future buyer and when you put yourself in the no pun intended shoes of the future buyer, your buyer, they're smart, they're successful. They are sophisticated.

[00:15:54] They are doing deals all day long. And so, now let's dive into the art side of a liquidity event. So, your buyer who's interviewing you and checking you out as a business owner, as well, as your team, some people call it a sixth sense. Other people call it intuition. It doesn't show up in a formula on a spreadsheet, but the buyer will be able to say, you know what, this particular business owner.

[00:16:19] Yeah. I'm not getting that passion from them. I'm going to take a pass. So, Holly, to what you're saying, your enthusiasm, your passion, your belief in yourself, your inner thoughts really do create your outer world. And it's your inner thoughts, particularly for your liquidity event. That's what you need to put your future buyer over the moon and back to come back and say, wow, love this company.

[00:16:40] Not perfect, but what company is, we can come in there, take it to the next level. Founder has got it down and really what they're doing. That's the difference between a successful liquidity event or 90% of liquidity events that fail. So, Holly, you're spot on. So, for our listeners out there who are saying, okay, you never thought of it that way, but this is interesting.

[00:17:00] Let's help them now, as they look to themselves and they start taking stock of their inventory, what's working for them. What's not working for them. Are there some tools that you can share with us of how I can begin to turn this whole thing around and have me happy feeling good and how did that translate into a business that hasn't even feeling better and I'm changing lives and making the world a better place?

[00:17:23] Holly Woods: Well, the very first place that you start is with uncovering your own precise purpose. And I say precise because there's a lot of people out there who are talking about purpose that is a misrepresentation of what purpose is. It's, you know, I want to do some good in the world. And so, I'm going to do some sustainability project, or I'm going to have a product that, you know, might have an impact.

[00:17:46] Those are all really important, wonderful things to be moving toward. They're not necessarily representative of your purpose, unless it inspires you and excites you and, you know, really resonates with the truth of what matters to you. And so, if you have a business, you have a product, there's probably some reason that you might be unaware of that you decided on this particular product.

[00:18:13] And so, if you think back to the origin event or events that related to why I built the shoe company, you know, was it because I love walking with my neighbors around the neighborhood and this shoe gave me an extra bounce and made me feel alive and energized? Or is it because I love playing tennis with my children and it gets me out there and I feel alive and energized as I'm relating to others? Or does it make me feel a champion in some way? There's always a reason that we get into something and the deep purpose, clarity work I do again, go get that audio course on my website requires you to do some deep introspection about what are the patterns of your lifetime that would indicate what your soul has been calling you to do?

[00:19:02] We're talking soul, which just, you know, hard for some people who are business owners and not quite, you know, it's out of bounds. And I just suggest that it is what draws us forward in life. So, go do some of that deep introspection work, as you get clarity about purpose. Then we also have to get out of our way.

[00:19:22] So, I do a lot of mindset work and we start looking at what are the fears that keep us from building a successful business or having a satisfying life? What are the limiting beliefs or the doubts or the distractions that keep me from being focused on that purpose? And so, those two things are pretty important.

[00:19:42] And then we look attraction and integrating purpose into every aspect of your business, every system. So, I've worked with entrepreneurs and founders, and executives at building purpose across systems of a company as well.

[00:19:54] Jeffrey Feldberg: So, let's talk about purpose across an entire company, but in just a moment, because I want to ask a rhetorical question for our community out there. And the rhetorical question for our community is this, you're thinking about liquidity event. You're smart enough to know you're not going to do it tomorrow. You're going to take whatever it is a year, two years, five years to do it.

[00:20:14] And so, this is the rhetorical question. Would you like to create a market disruption that catapults your company to the next level? Profits are off the charts. Your EBITDA is through the roof, the value of your company, the enterprise value has just gone upwards, like crazy. Is that of interest? And just about every business owner I know would say, yes, it's of interest. And so, the question for you then is if you want to create a market disruption, where does that start? And for most business owners, it's such an easy answer, but it's so, easy for us to overlook it. It starts when you look in the mirror. And it's the image of the person who's staring right back at you.

[00:20:53] Because when you think about it, all of us as business owners, we got into business, we found a painful problem that we were passionate to solve, and we actually felt good to solve that problem. It was helping people. It was making a difference. People were only too happy to pay us, to have us take their pain away.

[00:21:10] The business grew, and then something happened. Something called success. And we got mired down in the grit of the business and we really lost our North Star or we lost our way. So, Holly, when you're talking about purpose, I mean, purpose is so, important for where we are today, but more importantly, where we want to be tomorrow.

[00:21:31] And so, I really like what you said of how you can work with a founder, a business owner, an entrepreneur to take his or her purpose and now integrate that throughout the entire company. How do you do that?

[00:21:44] Holly Woods: Well, So, having this purpose, clarity their very precise purpose that you know, you can feel it. If you've got it at a granular level, it becomes a mantra almost. My tagline for Emergence Institute is where purpose creates innovation. And so, my knowing the way I work in the world is that I help people get this precise clarity.

[00:22:07] And as they come to know themselves, we create a perpetual innovation machine. I've recently written about the purpose flywheel and it's probably going to be my next book. So, when we live in that place, the next version of us is always ready to emerge because I have so, much access to this live impulse in me.

[00:22:29] And so, what happens is that we look at that mantra or the way of being for the founder and we look at how it can be spread across the teams. And then we look at culture, we look at all the systems of an organization and create processes and infrastructure to allow that purpose to permeate every system of a company.

[00:22:53] So, it doesn't matter whether it's branding or marketing or leadership development or culture or HR or distribution systems. All of those systems can actually integrate culture and a great purpose at their core. And it might be just a slight tweak or it might be a huge distinction, you know, from an existing system.

[00:23:16] But when you do that, then the company is aligned. The founder can be aligned, but it does start with the founder and the original reason for the company.

[00:23:25] Jeffrey Feldberg: And so, that's interesting. And for our listeners, I know you've heard Holly say things like the field or quantum field and other types of terms. Let's have an open mind here for just a moment because Holly, I know you are many things. And one of those things that you are is a scientist. So, can you share with us some of the latest science of what's been coming out there with what some people call the field, or maybe you call it Universe or life, whatever you may call it, and how we can actually leverage the power of that both in our personal life, as well as in our business?

[00:23:58] Holly Woods: Yeah. So, I'll also share that I'm not a quantum physicist, so, I'm not going to be able to share the latest. I routinely do keep up with the science about the quantum field and quantum science. Some of the most important characteristics of the quantum field and, you know, and literally the quantum field is a knowing in science that we are all connected. It is an interconnected Universe or multiplex of Universes. What we see here in physical form and in our material world is really just one representation of who we are and what the world is. It's so, much more, it's so, much beyond what we can see in material form. So, we're all connected.

[00:24:45] The Universe is ever-expanding. I talk about the field of possibilities because what we can imagine with our little pea brains is almost insignificant relative to what's possible. If we imagine that there is so, much more. Part of why I'm able to live the life I do live and have been living is that I know that I can't even imagine what's possible for my own life.

[00:25:10] And so, I would suggest that we can't possibly conceive through our efforting brain or efforting mind what's possible for us. And letting go of the limiting beliefs that only these three things are available to me when there's just an infinite number of possibilities that could emerge right in front of us.

[00:25:32] I think those are probably some of the most significant aspects of how I bring quantum science into my work with people. And just knowing that anything really is possible when we allow ourselves to know that the more aligned, I become with who I am, the Universe literally does bring us synchronistic opportunities that will catapult us forward.

[00:25:57] And it starts to look and feel like magic. That is also something you don't really talk about in business. It doesn't fit on a spreadsheet. But it's true.

[00:26:06] Jeffrey Feldberg: It is all true.

[00:26:07] And you know I'm laughing here on my side because as you're sharing that, I'm remembering a conversation I had very, very successful businessman and he said to me, you know what Jeffrey if I had to choose, I would rather be lucky than smart. And for all of our listeners out there, I want you to think back to a huge success that you had.

[00:26:27] And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there was a little bit of luck or synchronicity, or maybe you're just at the right place at the right time, you bumped into someone. One thing led to another lo and behold, you've now captured this huge contract that took your company to the next level.

[00:26:43] And you know, like for myself, I go into my car. I put the key in, or I push the button nowadays and the engine starts, I couldn't tell you how it works. I just know that the car drives. And so, sometimes we may not be able to fully understand something, or our science today can't really explain it. It doesn't mean that it isn't there. And so, the luck factor or whatever you'd like to call it.

[00:27:05] I know for myself and many, many successful business owners have just played a huge role in making all of the difference. So, Holly, let's take the flip side of this now. And so, in working with founders and successful business owners, perhaps some of them weren't successful, to begin with. And when you look at what wasn't working for those business owners, are there a handful of things that we should become aware of that we need to stop doing now because it's holding back our success?

[00:27:34] Holly Woods: Yes. A great question, Jeffrey. The two or three that come to mind. One of them is like the converse of possibility. It's believing that nothing is possible. That I'm destined for failure and that I can't figure out what's next. And having that belief system that I really don't know what I'm doing, that I'm going to fail, this is not going to work again. I've had umpteen failures and this is just going to be another one is one of the most devastating beliefs that we can hold for ourselves. And part of it is, you know, related to the field as we described. But it is also if I don't actually believe that I can succeed here, I'm probably not going to do everything in my favor to actually succeed.

[00:28:20] So, I'm going to feel this dismal failure experience. And I'm going to take smaller steps and be less courageous and be less bold and not reach out to the people and not go have that meeting that could end up in a synchronicity and not make that third call to the person that I really wanted to connect with that I could do an important sale. I'm going to limit my options. If I don't believe that I can succeed. And that's a really hard place to pull yourself out of, if that's where you exist in your business, I'm guessing most of your audience doesn't really exist there. But if that is true, the most significant things you can do is begin to imagine what is possible for me.

[00:29:03] How can I move myself out of these limiting beliefs? I guess another thing that's really important for someone who hasn't yet met success is to find the part of your business that brings you the most inspiration. So, maybe it's meeting customers, maybe it's designing a new distribution system.

[00:29:26] Maybe it's working with your salespeople. Maybe it's a redesign on your product. They'll find that thing that intrigues you and inspires you and brings you back to why you started the business to begin with. Because a little kernel of inspiration can go so, far and getting excited about what's the next step?

[00:29:44] And what's the next thing I need to address? And where else can I look to tweak to make a difference? So, do something that feels good. Like I'm excited to get up tomorrow and go work on that thing. Even if that's not the greatest problem in your business, it will excite you and bring you back to why you started.

[00:30:02] Jeffrey Feldberg: And this is such sage advice and for our community out there, I'm going to ask another rhetorical question. And the question is do you really believe that money buys happiness? And I can share from my own personal experience, not a chance. Money can buy many things and it can make life a whole lot better, but it can't give you happiness.

[00:30:20] So, what Holly just shared with us is so, important. And I really hope that you're paying attention because all of us have an inner guidance system, we all do and sometimes we just ignore it. But if it's feeling good, which is what Holly is suggesting, move towards the activities that have you feel good.

[00:30:36] That's where your breakthroughs take place. That's where you can take your business to the next level. If you're feeling not so, good that's another warning to you. It's almost like maybe the stove is on and your hand is getting close to the stove and you're feeling this heat and it's wow. This is uncomfortable.

[00:30:51] Maybe I shouldn't go any closer. Same kind of thing. So, Holly, let's flip that because that's such great advice. You're working with successful business owners. I would have to believe that there's probably a handful of traits that they all share in common that are contributing to their success. What will those traits be?

[00:31:09] Holly Woods: You know, some might call it courage, we talked about this earlier. I would call it willingness. A willingness and a commitment to look beyond what feels hard or challenging and explore what's there. So, there's an important reframe for being in the world where you see things as hard or easy or comfortable or uncomfortable or painful, or, you know, blissful, happy.

[00:31:37] And some of what I teach people is variances in life are really just opportunities to become more of ourselves, more aligned with the truth of us, the more authentic version of ourselves. And when we frame things from good, bad, you know, black, white. We're limiting our ability to see everything in the world as an opportunity. And so, many of the people I work with who have had success and, you know, are able to continue to have success is they see this distinction.

[00:32:10] They see that stuff happens, you know, life happens and I'm going to choose to use each and every opportunity as an impetus to become a better version of myself. And so, they no longer view life as black and white, good and bad. They are able to reframe life events. As you know, something catastrophic just happened or I'm a victim to this too.

[00:32:38] Wow. This thing just happened. How am I going to respond to that in a healthy, productive way where I can use it in my business and make a difference. Another characteristic or attribute is this ability to see possibility where you know, it's not evident where you'd say nothing exists. There are no options here thinking outside the box and allowing possibility to emerge being patient and willing and open and listen.

[00:33:05] So, they become good listeners and observers of life. And they realize that possibility exists beyond my typical frame. And they know to look outside of what seems to be right in front of me and wait for that emergent thing to happen. Those are a couple of attributes I could go on and on. There's a lot of stuff.

[00:33:26] Jeffrey Feldberg: And there's a lot to unpack there. So, let's start with the last point first having faith. You may not see it right in front of you. It may even seem impossible, but come on. We're business owners, we're masters at transforming impossible into I'm possible. To paraphrase Holly, it sounds like what you're saying is when we put a judgment on a situation, we're limiting ourselves. So, when we say, hey, this happened, this was really bad for me. Or this isn't good, or this is just negative, maybe at that point in time from a very limited perspective, it's that. But from a big picture, it actually isn't. And so, that's a hard thing to do to have us suspend judgment and to take a very open view and say, hey, this is happening for me, not to me. How do I make the best of it?

[00:34:15] How would you advise our listeners to adopt that mindset? Because we're socially programmed to really put judgments and labels on everything. And a lot of the time we're more in the negative than in the positive.

[00:34:29] Holly Woods: Right. you know, this was a hard reference for me as I described in my early life, I had a lot to overcome, recover from, and lived as a victim for, you know, several decades. Probably early mid-thirties, still at a victim mentality until I realized I don't know exactly what happened, but somewhere in there I began to experience like, oh, I've been here before. I know what this is like. How can I see this differently? And I began to see things coming too. You know, I'm very clairvoyant. I have a lot of psychic capacities, but I began to see things coming toward me and my normal approach would be no, no, not you again, and go into denial or hiding.

[00:35:14] And it's like, well, I wonder what this is going to give me now. And stay open, stay awake and aware and watch the event or circumstance. And, you know, it could be pretty devastating, something or other, and I'd watch it come to me with the curiosity of what will they get from this and how will I use that?

[00:35:34] And so, that became my MO. Instead of retreating from challenges, I began to say, oh, look, here it is. I didn't welcome them initially you know, who want a challenge or devastating event, but they happen. So, we might as well embrace them and say, what is the utility of this? For instance, first book I wrote in 90 days, intended a publishing date, April 2020.

[00:35:59] So, happened to be early pandemic, right? Who imagined publishing a book in a pandemic? And I had planned this big speaking tour oh my God seriously Universe. And so, instead of falling into a deep depression, and there goes my next year of profitability, I decided to pivot and began expanding my networks globally.

[00:36:22] So, all of a sudden, I realized, wow, everybody in the world is on Zoom now, which means I have audiences everywhere. What a powerful opportunity to share a message to markets. I would never, ever have been able to travel to were I on an airplane or, you know, trains or whatever. And so, I just opened the door and said how many places can I spread my message. And what kinds of connections with communities and who can I meet? And, you know, LinkedIn blows up. So, all of a sudden, within three to four months I had a global audience that was receiving my message. I would never have been able to share before. And so, I have gotten to work with some unbelievable, incredible, wonderful, beautiful people all over the world I would never have met had this opportunity not presented itself. There's no longer a lag time for me when something happens, I see it. It's about to happen. It's about to hit it. You know, it's like a wave approaching the shore. Oh, here is the wave. What can I do if I step into that wave, what's going to be here for me that I didn't have access to before?

[00:37:26] It's a possibility, right?

[00:37:28] Jeffrey Feldberg: You know, that is so, amazing. And again, it goes back to another old saying, is the glass half empty or half full. Many people would have said, oh my goodness, here's a pandemic. Okay, Holly, the next probably year or more is shot to just take some time off, just relax. And you've lost all that time and effort, but you took it as, hey, what can I make of this?

[00:37:48] You know, I can't control the pandemic obviously, but I can control how I respond to it. And next thing you know, you have a global following that wouldn't have happened otherwise. And I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I was suspect that you would say because of the pandemic in a very unanticipated way, you're actually better off with a global audience that you wouldn't have had if it was just business as usual.

[00:38:10] Holly Woods: Completely Jeffrey. This is going to sound weird. I'm grateful for the pandemic for a number of reasons. Not discounting the challenge and the destruction that it has caused for many. So, it's been devastating in many ways.

[00:38:24] And I think it also helped us wake up as humanity we have evolved. And from that perspective, my audience has expanded because more people are now aware that actually I need to do something that matters. I'm no longer willing to step back and be complacent about where we are as humanity or the planet.

[00:38:44] I want to get on this bandwagon and find work that matters to me and live purposefully. And so, my world has exploded in a good way because it's now ready for the gift that I brought this lifetime.

[00:38:58] Jeffrey Feldberg: I couldn't agree with you more, Holly, my own personal belief is all of us are put on this planet with a gift. We don't necessarily know that gift when we start out in life. And it's our mission, number one, to find that gift and then number two, to take it to the world. And you said something really interesting and for all your business owners, I really want you to listen up because of what Holly was talking about with the pandemic.

[00:39:21] All of us had downtime. We had this crazy thing going on, where people were dying and everyone really rethought their lives. And that was a perfect storm for what's now being called The Great Resignation and many business owners you're probably going through this now where your employees are quitting, depending on which study you read and you are from 40 to 60% of employees are thinking of quitting. Some of them don't even have an opportunity to jump into, but what they're saying is they're saying no to bad bosses, terrible commutes, and an unfulfilled life. And they're saying yes to more family time, a quality of life, and a company that really moves the dial for them.

[00:40:00] And so, Holly, this ties right back into purpose. As a business owner if your purpose isn't there, if you're not aligned if you're not just oozing out this passion and this excitement into everything that you do. Okay. You don't have to do that for yourself, but your employees, aren't going to do it for you, your customers, aren't going to do it for you.

[00:40:17] And so, it's so, important that we get into alignment with ourselves. And like you've been saying, we have that clarity and we just find our purpose, our North Star, and take that to the world. You know, we can go on and on about this, and there are so, many different topics that jump into, but we're starting to bump into time here.

[00:40:35] So, let me ask you this, as we begin to wrap up this episode, one of my favorite questions to close out every episode is this. Holly, think back to the movie, Back to the Future and you have that magical DeLorean car. And the DeLorean car it can go to any point in time that you choose. So, imagine now it's tomorrow morning, you wake up. Outside is a DeLorean car.

[00:40:56] The door is open. It's waiting for you to hop in. And you can go to any point in your life. Maybe it's Holly, as a young child, a teenager, adolescent, whatever it may be. What would you tell your younger self in terms of, hey Holly, do this or don't do that or wisdom or lessons learned?

[00:41:15] Holly Woods: I have to go backwards, not forwards that's the instruction.

[00:41:20] Jeffrey Feldberg: You have to go backwards, yeah.

[00:41:22] But I like your question.

[00:41:24] Holly Woods: I would tell my younger self probably as an adolescent, which is when I started becoming very suicidal to hang on, it's going to be a wild ride and you can't anticipate where you're going, but have faith to your point. It is about having faith that there's a reason that you're having these experiences and they're important enough to pay attention to so, live every moment.

[00:41:50] Live every moment as if it has an answer to a question that you can't ask yet, you don't know the questions, but the Universe is giving you the answers to something that you need to know and to embrace that. And so, I would say, hang on for a wild ride.

[00:42:07] Jeffrey Feldberg: That is such terrific life advice and wisdom. And for listeners, I'm going to make this really easy in the show notes. I'll have links that you can just click and you'll get to the spot where you want to get to in terms of Holly's book and the audio course that she's been talking about. But Holly, if somebody would like to reach out to you, what would be the best way online to do that.

[00:42:27] Holly Woods: Well, you could certainly go to my website emergenceinstitute.net or send me an email, holly[at]emergenceinstitute[dot]net. I'm happy to hear from anybody that would like to talk and let's set up a conversation.

[00:42:41] Jeffrey Feldberg: That's terrific. Holly, as we wrap up this episode, thank you, so, much for taking part of your day and spending it with us here on The Sell My Business Podcast. And as always, please stay healthy and safe.

[00:42:52] Holly Woods: Thank you, Jeffrey.

[00:42:53] Sharon S.: The Deep Wealth Experience was definitely a game-changer for me.

[00:42:56] Lyn M.: This course is one of the best investments you will ever make because you will get an ROI of a hundred times that. Anybody who doesn't go through it will lose millions.

[00:43:06] Kam H.: If you don't have time for this program, you'll never have time for a successful liquidity

[00:43:11] Sharon S.: It was the best value of any business course I've ever taken. The money was very well spent.

[00:43:17] Lyn M.: Compared to when we first began, today I feel better prepared, but in some respects, may be less prepared, not because of the course, but because the course brought to light so, many things that I thought we were on top of that we need to fix.

[00:43:33] Kam H.: I 100% believe there's never a great time for a business owner to allocate extra hours into his or her week or day. So, it's an investment that will yield results today. I thought I will reap the benefit of this program in three to five years down the road. But as soon as I stepped forward into the program, my mind changed immediately.

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[00:44:05] Lyn M.: The Deep Wealth Experience compared to other programs is the top. What we learned is very practical. Sometimes you learn stuff that it's great to learn, but you never use it. The stuff we learned from Deep Wealth Experience, I believe it's going to benefit us a boatload.

[00:44:19] Kam H.: I've done an executive MBA. I've worked for billion-dollar companies before. I've worked for smaller companies before I started my business. I've been running my business successfully now for getting close to a decade. We're on a growth trajectory. Reflecting back on the Deep Wealth, I knew less than 10% what I know now, maybe close to 1% even.

[00:44:37] Sharon S.: Hands down the best program in which I've ever participated. And we've done a lot of different things over the years. We've been in other mastermind groups, gone to many seminars, workshops, conferences, retreats, read books. This was so, different. I haven't had an experience that's anything close to this in all the years that we've been at this.

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[00:45:08] Deep Wealth is an accurate name for it. This program leads to deeper wealth and happier wealth, not just deeper wealth. I don't think there's a dollar value that could be associated with such an experience and knowledge that could be applied today and forever.

[00:45:22] Jeffrey Feldberg: Are you leaving millions on the table?

[00:45:24] Please visit www.deepwealth.com/success to learn more.

[00:45:31] If you're not on my email list, you'll want to be. Sign up at www.deepwealth.com/podcast. And if you enjoyed this episode of the Sell My Business podcast, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Reviews help me reach new listeners, grow the show and continue to create content that you'll enjoy.

[00:45:54] As we close out this episode, a heartfelt thank you for your time. And as always, please stay healthy and safe.