One of the highlights of my stay here in New York has been connecting with author, blogger and spiritual junkie Gabby Bernstein. Gab did my I Quit Sugar program a few months ago, blogged and SM’d about it to her vast and adoring audience and suddenly we were in each other’s orbits.
The funny thing is this: our books – I Quit Sugar and Miracles Now – both came out in the US on exactly the same day (last Tuesday), they both feature 108 recipes and spiritual tricks (respectively), then we randomly met each other on launch day when we appeared on the same TV show here in NY (she heard my voice in the corridor), then we dined that night. And then we shared some more.
I don’t talk “God” or “soul sistas” or about channeling The Light, but I’ve always had an affinity with people who do. I guess it’s because I talk, feel and live this stuff, but from a slightly different slant. Same view, different angle. And there’s nothing I like more than to look at the view while perched alongside someone who evokes it tantalizingly differently to me. It gets me thinking fresh. That’s how it was meeting Gab.
The girl is a freak. I went to the launch of her latest book Miracles Now in an ecumenical church on the Lower East Side last Friday night where 350 young and mostly female devotees packed into the pews to listen to Gabby riff for two hours, seamlessly and with heart. To use the language of those who see my view from a different slant, she channeled some serious light. Or, as I’d say it, she was in her flow. Wearing a glittery kaftan, snapping her fingers and gee-ing up the girls.
It’s not often that I’m compelled to share that someone is truly the real deal. Seth Godin is. So is Brene Brown. And Martha Beck. So is Gabby. You can smell it.
One of the things she riffed about on Friday was how she believes her success stems from a whole bunch of “little right moves”. Like me, she doesn’t sit down with a master plan mapped out on a white board. She goes where the energy takes her…using a whole heap of little tricks and techniques that keep her authentic, energized and balanced. She’s a control freak, like me, who can burn herself out. She’s not outwardly Zen, but she keeps her keel aligned in her own way…with little right moves. Miracles Now is a compendium of these moves, one of which is… to Just Show Up.
As she writes, 90 per cent of success is about just turning up. She feels crap some days, but she’ll commit to showing up at her yoga class, turning on her computer in the morning, saying “yes” to a request. When you get that far (to the yoga mat, to the desk), you’re most of the way there.
I totally agree with this. I live this way. I feel like crap (albeit less and less) often. But I’ll show up for a walk – I tie on my shoes and get out the door. I might only commit to a 20 minute stroll, but – and I write about this regularly – once I start walking I’ll often find I want to go further and might break into a jog.
I treat quitting sugar in the same way. Back in January 2011, I committed to “giving it a go” for two weeks. I showed up. Once there, I found it felt good and I kept going and going.
A few things happen when you Just Show Up, I reckon.
1. You put an end to the indecision that can stall you from achieving stuff.
2. You go gently. If you merely commit to showing up (instead of forcing yourself to commit to a hardcore outcome), you go easier on yourself, which, in turn, gets things done with the right vibe.
3. You put yourself in the best position to be in the right place at the right time. And much success is about this, right?
4. You build the right “muscle”. Doing, moving, committing…it all builds up good habits in the noggin.
5. Energetically you face the right direction. That is, you place your ship in the flow, ready to be carried by life. This is really key, to my mind. If you can face the right way, the rest of life will follow and you really don’t have to “try” too hard from there. I don’t really get stressed about doing TV interviews any more. So long as I turn up with the right energy and mindset, I know it work out from there. As I’m often quoted:
Where the mind goes, the energy flows.
Anyway, before I start talking about unicorns and auras I’ll sign off (so I can head off to see a psychic someone put me in touch with. Yes, fun and true story!). But not before offering US readers:
4 x copies of Gabby’s book, Miracles Now.
- Simply comment below on “facing the right direction” – any thought you’d like to share. I’m interested, always.
- I’ll choose the winners and post your book by next Friday, April 25.
If you want to follow the rest of my New York travels, check out my instagram feed.
