Retreat 42 Group: Gavin’s Updates
March 16, 2010
I am guiding a wonderful group of 24 adventurers through the 42 Day Creative Retreat process and they are doing great! Here are some insights from Gavin, one of our members. Very exciting! If you get excited watching this and want to be part of the group, feel free to email me.
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Stories From the Next World: I Must Be From Another Planet
February 22, 2010
This is a companion piece to my blog post of last week, “Swimming Against the Tide.”
I must be from another planet. In fact I’m pretty sure that I am. When someone tells me about the right way to do things, I instinctively think, “Oh no, I can’t do that.” Well actually it’s not that I can, but more like I won’t.
You see I’m from another planet and maybe you are too. On my home planet we would never think of doing everything the same as everyone else. Oh no, on our home planet - we like to be unique and original just like our fingerprints.
We visitors from another planet tend to have this go against the grain streak inside of us that makes us stand out from the crowd. And that’s not a good thing. In a world where difference is seen as a threat to survival it’s not easy to be unique and go against the grain.
Years ago when I was in college, I took a ceramics class and one day our teacher announced that we were going to make a set of 6 mugs all alike. Now given what I’ve said above, I want you to imagine just what my response was? Eeek!
I don’t want to make 6 mugs all alike!’ So I had the guts to speak up and ask, “Why would I do that? If I wanted 6 mugs all the same I could just go to a department store and buy them.”
He was pissed! He didn’t like me messing with his idea. People that have the right way to do things rarely do. They get mad when you muss up their nice little formula for life. I didn’t mean to do that. Honestly, it’s not that I wanted to offend him. It’s just that I cannot, simply CAN-KNOT make 6 pieces of art all alike.
It’s not in me.
It’s not in my DNA, not in my bones and my hands won’t allow me to do it. Guaranteed that if I had tried, I would have gotten a horrible rash on my hands or something just to prove that it’s exactly what I should not be doing.
Now I know that people from this planet all like to do things in a certain set way. I understand the logic of that. But it never works for me nonetheless.
So in my ceramics class I actually slipped to the corner of the room and set about making my one, single, original and totally one-of-a-kind mug, while everyone else was making their six in a row.
It wasn’t comfortable to be doing my totally unique thing but it was necessary. Because had I forced myself to make six all alike, I’m pretty sure that I would be in a mental institution today still making mugs all in a row. We from another planet are very sensitive you see.
When I was done the teacher came over. He actually admitted that my lone original mug was pretty cool. Was I imaging it or was he really longing to break out of the mold and create one all his own? I’m pretty sure I felt his longing. We from another planet can feel things like that.
So don’t worry if you don’t feel the same and you definitely don’t fit all in a nice neat row. It’s ok. You’re from another planet and you’re here to make a difference. Or in some cases you’re here to be the difference.
Just breathe and go with the flow. Don’t worry what anyone else thinks. I still have that mug and I love it.
Be one of a kind because that’s what you are anyway - original, unique and just like your fingerprints, all your own.
Yours in always sharing the stories that make you stand out in a crowd,
Annie
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Where Oh Where Does Fulfillment Really Live?
January 31, 2010
The mystics say that there are invisible realms, hidden dimensions to our Universe that cannot be seen, felt, tasted, touched or experienced with our five senses. So the question is - Where Oh Where Does True Fulfillment Really Live?
Years ago the love of my life had a dream about me in which he took me to the top of a very tall building. As we looked out from the top he said to me, “I’m going to take you to other beautiful worlds.”
Ironically the love of my life broke my heart, but I never forgot that dream and I’ve always wondered, Where are those other beautiful worlds? Maybe you wonder too?
Too often in our daily life we go about busily feeling the stress and urgency of our daily tasks and commitments. We have so many things that we want to do and we also want to make a difference in the world at the same time. Jeez, isn’t it enough just to do my job, tend my family etc., do I have to make a difference in the world too?
But the irony is that this is the very reason that we are here on earth - to make a difference and to create a better world. So what are we doing when we’re do darned busy and how do we find meaning and fulfillment in the midst of our busy lives?
One of the many amazing things that I discovered on the Creative Retreat process was where true fulfillment really lives. I spent my 42 days happily engaged in the process and woke up every day feeling a sense of deep meaning and purpose. How did that happen? Nothing really changed in my life from one week to the next, and yet somehow the mission of the retreat gave me a deep sense of fulfillment.
I was totally surprised by this. I had no idea.
It made me really think about how meaning and fulfillment are two of the biggest things missing from our busy modern lives and yet these two elements are the most crucial to life itself and what we are here to do.
Ironic isn’t it - that the thing we crave and need the most is the most elusive? It is not inside the busy freneticness of life, I can tell you that for sure.
Why mystics sat on mountaintops or went for 40 days in the desert is because they knew the mysteries of life and were dedicated to tapping them. We need to be dedicated too.
If we are to leave a better world - a world of meaning and fulfillment for others, then we need to be able to have the energy of inspiration whenever and wherever we need it. That is the basis of the Creative Retreat process and in the next few months I’m going to share with you the possibility of joining me on this journey of meaning and fulfillment.
I will be inviting 24 adventurous souls to try the process with me absolutely free. You will have the help and assistance of myself and my colleague who is creating the process with me. Together we are going to break the barriers to creating more fulfilling lives and meaningful work.
Want to join us? We’d love to have you! Please email me at: annie@anniehart.com to express your interest. Also if you’d like to listen to the kick-off Radio 42 Show, please feel free to listen.
You can meet my wonderful colleague and collaborator Ian Waddelow, a brilliant consultant from Europe. We are very fortunate to have Ian onboard.
Today take just a moment to stop, breathe and feel into these other beautiful worlds. They are right here all around you, all the time. You just need to stop, feel, look, listen and eat some good chocolate for them to appear out of the mist.
The mystics knew where true fulfillment really lives. We should follow their path.
Please join me every Friday for Radio 42 - the Meaning of Life, the Universe & Everything. It’s a fun, inspiring show that helps you change from the inside out.
Yours in that which brings greater meaning to life,
Annie
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The Miracle of the Creative Retreat Process
January 27, 2010
Today I officially finished my 42 day Creative Retreat and it’s been absolutely fantastic - truly miraculous. I accomplished what I set out to do!
When I started I had only a tiny idea of what I was doing. I wanted to crack the code on why I couldn’t get bigger projects, like writing a book, off the ground. I also wanted to know how you can access inspiration whenever and where ever you need it. I decided to set aside some time and figure this out.
Initially I thought I might only spend 4-8 days over the holidays to do this, but very soon the retreat process took on a life of it’s own.
It’s a common belief that we have to wait on the muses to inspire us, but that’s not very useful when you want to get things done, because the muses don’t tend to ever show up when you need them.
I don’t know about you but there have been times when I have sat down to do a project and nothing comes. All that information that is somewhere inside of me has decided to go off to hide in a cave.
It is damned annoying!
I wondered to myself - is this just a cruel trick of the muses or is there something that we can actually do about it? I had an inkling that there was a way to access it all the time, I just wasn’t sure how.
During the retreat I realized that the realm of inspiration is always there. It doesn’t actually come and go at all. So the question is - how can we access it when we most need to?
Well here’s the good news - I cracked the code! I’ve done what I set out to do. I not only figured out what stops us from doing bigger projects, but I also figured out what to do about it.
Then I used those findings on myself and believe it or not I created an almost complete body of work, in only 42 days! How’s that for amazing?
I also have a wonderful new colleague and collaborator, a well-known consultant in Europe, who is now doing the process as well. Together we will be creating the process and sharing it with others.
Come join us for my brand new radio show this Friday at 11 AM. Radio 42 - the Meaning of Life, the Universe & Everything. We will be discussing the creative retreat process and the amazing things that you can create in only 42 days.
Please join us Friday at 11 AM, EST. You can also download the show later if you can’t be there live. You’re also welcome to share your ideas and suggestions for the show. I am always happy to have you as part of the contribution.
Thanks to all of you for really truly for supporting me so lovingly along the way.
Yours in the creativity and inspiration that changes the world,
Annie
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Creative Energy Is Nourishing Good Food
January 21, 2010
Creative energy is nourishing good food.
It is the vital rich substance of life not the icing on the cake. It’s not something that we should only have if we have time left over.
How awful is that! That we only consider creative energy useful and important if it makes us money, meets a goal or does something else tangible in our material world.
Now I understand that we need a strong sense of mission and purpose in the world, I’m not talking about losing that for sure.
But what I am saying is that creative inspirational energy is vital substance. We can’t and shouldn’t live without it and yet we pretend that it’s childs play or something that we do only when we have extra time.
It is not.
Creative energy helps our brain feel good, it keeps our minds stay at their sharpest and it enhances anything else that we do in life. How great is that! 
On this retreat I have been restored. I have purposefully accessed my creative, inspirational energy every day, day in and day out, even when I didn’t feel like it. You know how that goes?
Usually you have to be in the mood. Eek, if you waited for that to happen, given this modern busy world, you would almost never experience it.
Not good enough.
Part of the experiment of the retreat was for me to learn how to access this inspirational energy every day no matter what. It didn’t matter if I was foggy, sleepy or out of ideas. I showed up every day and did the same set of process that I had invented for the retreat and when I showed up, inspiration showed up with me, even if it was in tiny droplets at times.
That was my experiment. Can I get it to show up when and where I want to and not on it’s own whim?
No more waiting on the muses folks! They are too fickle for my tastes. I love the muses don’t get me wrong, but I also like to get things done!
I have ‘accomplished’ more on this retreat than in the past few years. And I did it with an effortless ease that made it enjoyable. That’s the trick - it’s like an invisible tightrope - when you access pure inspiration, there is almost no effort.
I have done more good writing, had more fun, more rest, more renewal and peace of mind and on top of all that, the icing on the cake is that I enjoyed the whole darned process.
Now how is that for the proof of the vital substance that creative energy is!
Only 8 days left on my Creative Retreat. I’ve already decided to do a second one to write a whole other book. Yay, yay, yay!
Today go for the gold - that vital vein of inspirational energy that lives right beneath the surface. You won’t be sorry.
Yours in the creative vital substance that makes life worth living,
Annie
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Creative Retreat Process: A Structure For Success
January 11, 2010
Wow, believe it or not creativity has a structure that you can access and follow to take yourself to new creative heights. That is what I’m discovering on my Creative Retreat Process. *If you’re just tuning in and you want to read previous posts from the retreat they are listed under “Creative Retreat.”
Back at the beginning of the retreat (25 days ago) when I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. I asked myself the singular question - Why can’t I get my bigger projects off the ground? What gets in the way?
I felt like I needed to crack the code of what was in the way and more importantly to find out what would allow me to access my creative inspiration whenever, wherever and however I wanted to. In other words, I didn’t want to sit there waiting for the fabled muse to arrive. I wanted to be able to access her whenever I needed to. 
I started with a very simple process - a daily practice of writing, jotting down notes and a few other mysterious techniques that I invented on the spot.
I had one simple rule - that I would use everything that came up for creative fodder - bring on the inner critic, bring on the obstacles and challenges. I actually wanted to see, feel and experience what they were so that I could learn to deal with them and create a method that myself and others could follow.
So I am delighted to report that IT IS WORKING - my theory, my hypothesis and my method are all working on me and today I brought on board a creative partner and we are going to begin to share the journey together.
What surprise to find my theory working already. If you remember I’m on retreat for 42 days, so I’m half way there. Half way there and I’m already clearly experiencing the benefits and maybe soon you’ll hear from my partner in fun as well.
Most of all I want to encourage all of you to access the life-giving power of creative retreat in your life. Even if it is only 1/2 hour a day - we really need this energy to revitalize and rejuvenate us to keep going on bigger projects in our life.
Buon viaggio as they say in Italian. I am enjoying the creative journey and look forward to the moment when I will be holding the results in my hand.
Yours in the life that creative energy brings forth,
Annie
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Writing From the Desert: Report From the Creative Retreat
December 23, 2009
I am in the desert. Boy is it dry in here at times. Big stretches of emptiness with no growth on the horizon. Today I woke up to only 3 notes scribbled on my page. That means it’s time to face one of my bigger fears of - Eeek, what if I have absolutely nothing to share with the world? What if I leave nothing behind?
Don’t try to talk me out of this fear. For facing one’s fears is exhilarating, awakening and deeply scary, if you do it well that is. The purpose is to scare myself awake and into action. Facing one’s fears is a vital and necessary endeavor which we have little time or place for in our world.
We are too used to putting on the mask, looking heroic and going off to do the same things we’ve always done before. I’m putting the brakes on that automated behavior and daring to delve down deeply into the things that really scare me.
Why?
Because I want more out of life for one thing. I want to give more, share more and be more. And I can’t do that from the operating position of comfort and safety. Being in the desert isn’t my idea of a good time, but I am doing this on purpose.
Yesterday I share with someone that it is going to get even tougher in the future. He wanted to change my language to say instead, “It’s going to get interesting.”
BUT NO! That is exactly the kind of linguistic trick that keeps us from fully experiencing our real fears, the ones that are stopping us from bigger life. If we can’t fully experience them, we can’t change them.
I meant IT’S GOING TO GET HARDER. But if you listen carefully to what I’m saying, which he obviously didn’t, you realize that I’m doing this on purpose. It’s going to get harder because I am going to purposefully keep diving deeper into the muck.
My Inner Critic is going to hurl even worse insults at me. Today for example her whammy was, “What if you have absolutely nothing to share with the world?” Thanks a lot! Don’t worry, I’m going to deal with her later. We have a tango every night now :>)
I am actually having a good time challenging myself. I want it to get harder because I really want to get to the gold. I am not a person who induces needless pain, but I am one who loves a creative challenge and the juicy results that come.
So that is my report from the outback. I’m having a good time, feeling dry, confused, unworthy and incapable! Whew, what an enlivening ride.
I’ll report again in a few days so you know I’m still alive. Day 6 and I’m still going!
Yours in the spirit of that which brings life,
Annie
P.S I’d love to hear your comments and needs for creative retreats for yourself. No critiques please, the inner critic has that covered for now!
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Going For the Gold, A Creative Retreat To Tackle the Inner Critic
December 21, 2009
Eureka Moment
when the lightbulb goes off
It is that time of the year and I am going on creative retreat. I had a Eureka moment this weekend in which I realized that I never truly get traction on the bigger projects in my life.
WHY NOT?? I asked myself. And I had a revelation about it.
I realized that even though I am NLP Trainer and a master Hypnotherapist, I don’t know how to control my own brain!
Yes I know how, and I do this very successfully for my own clients, but I don’t access this power fully for myself.
WHY NOT?
Actually it is MUCH harder to do for yourself. At least on a regular, reliable and consistent basis. So that is my quest. To find a way to do this for myself - a way that works anyone, anytime and for anyone. That is my goal, and if it works on me than I will share it with you and everyone….
and if it doesn’t, then I will die trying!
This is a big one. I can feel my inner critic pulling out all the punches already and I’ve barely even gotten started! I know they may sound completely ridiculous to you, especially to those of you who know me, but trust me she’s got a LOUD voice and she knows how to hit right where it hurts. Try to hear these critiques in the acid-dripping tone in which she delivers them. Then maybe you’ll know what I mean.
Here is the list of her top three hard hitters:
- “Haven’t you tried this before?” You do have a whole set of notebooks filled with other great ideas don’t you?”
- “What are you doing this for? Haven’t things like this already been done?”
- “Who is going to want this anyway? You’re going to go to all of this trouble….and for what?”
As I said, she really knows how to hit where it hurts. She knows that I do have a cabinet of notebooks filled with my millions of great ideas. She knows that what I am working on is not rocket science and is in fact very simple. And worst of all she knows that my deepest fear (and everyone’s) is that all of our hard work and effort will be for nothing.
The biggest fear is that NO ONE CARES!
But HA! Don’t worry folks, I have the tricks and the tools to handle this. At least I hope I do. Here’s how it’s gonna work - as she throws me a hard ball, I will devise a creative process to work with that. So bring it on inner critic! I’m ready for you. (I know I’m gonna be sorry I said this!)
I am going to let myself be wrestled to the ground, strangled by her acerbic words and brought to the edge of giving up. This is my test. Can I do it? Can I face all of my foibles, failures and fears of inadequacy?
The fun is that I may die trying. Not literally but figuratively. Part of me will die, the part that has been afraid all along.
It’s much easier to pay someone to change your mind. That is what my clients do every week and they get great changes. I’m going to do it the hard way. It’s just going to be me, myself, my inner critic and my journal. Plus my bag of creative tricks that I’m going to use to tackle this problem.
If I can’t do it, maybe no one can. I don’t mean that in an egotistical way. I mean that if I, who has all of the tricks of the trade, can’t do it for myself, then maybe it’s time to find a way that it CAN be done.
I want to create a reliable and repeatable process that can be used anytime, anywhere. No more muse! The inspiration has to come when I call it, not just show up when it wants to! That’s too fickle for my purposes.
So this my goal for my creative retreat. I will be back with the results in the new year. Promise to love me no matter what happens. Promise to stand by me whether I produce something or not.
Please admire for me just for going for it! I would really appreciate that.
I appreciate you already, for being here every week reading my blog. Thank you from my heart. Stay tuned for more in the new year. Anything good that comes my way, will be naturally passed on to you.
Happy New Year my friends….here’s to renewed Light in your life.
Yours in the creative incubator of life,
Annie
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Corey’s Story Journey: Fierceness
November 30, 2009
My big take away from today was an attribute that I have recently labeled about myself as impatience, but that my story guide Annie Hart redirected this morning as fierceness.
As my business is growing and our authors and company are gaining more popularity, more and more people are contacting me to help them with their branding.
That has created a serious bottleneck for me, because it often translates into hours each week of free consultation, where I’m having to describe the reality of what it takes to make a brand successful to people who have rose colored glasses on about the process. Constantly being pulled away to have those conversations frustrates me, because I have so much work to do not only for our clients, but for our employees.
The lack of patience increases when I’m on the phone with someone who is looking at this industry from the idealistic perspective of a child. Hollywood has trained most people to believe that if you have a great idea, it’s worth a fortune.
I used to sit in on workshops where agents and managers and producers would tell writers to never pay anyone to help them with their careers. “Hollywood should be paying you.” But Hollywood opens its doors to only .00001% of those people. So what does everyone else do? In the eyes of those producers, agents and managers, they should spend their time trying to be part of that .00001%. THAT’S ABSURD!
Everyone has a story worth telling. Everyone has many stories worth telling. I am cursed with that knowledge. I am cursed with knowing that our storytelling process is life changing for the people who tell their stories. And yet, I have to decide who we’re going to work with. I have to turn people away from that opportunity if they come to me with those rose colored glasses on.
I felt bad about being impatient. But I feel good about being fierce. This world needs change and change does not happen until we choose to see the world for what it is. When we take off those rose glasses, we leave the realm of the idealistic child and we begin to play in the arena of the powerful adult who can impact others. So forgive me if I come across as impatient…what I’m really doing is pushing to find the bravest of people who will go to battle for their cause.
Annie’s note: This is a wonderful grounded perspective on business. It’s difficult to be caring for everyone’s story but realistic about what it will take at the same time. Corey is blazing a trail of fierce commitment to the genuine product.
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Corey’s Story Journey: Annie Hart Strikes Again
October 22, 2009
After our morning call with Katie, Annie reached out to talk privately with me to check in and see if there was some unresolved tension from last week.
I admitted that last night I had gotten nervous about our call today because I’m starting to feel how these calls impact my week. With so much else in life feeling all over the place (especially my own businesses), my anxiety struck late last night and I jumped in to dictate the direction of today’s call without letting Annie in on the “why”.
I usurped her role as story guide and jumped in to lead. I was feeling like my desk was cluttered and in order to see clearly through this project, I needed to get some busy work done to free up some brain space and feel accomplished. And that’s what we did today.
Before the call though, I was unable to be honest with Annie about the why and in this follow-up she gave me an opportunity to fill her in which strengthened our rapport. 
She asked permission to check in with me in the future when she sees me struggling through something and she also asked that I give her permission to lead us through such experiences. In reality, that’s exactly what I want. I don’t want to have to lead.
In this case, I had hoped Annie would read my mind and know how hectic life was and how badly I needed a great call with the team. But alas, as good a story guide as she is, she is not a mind reader, so we both need to work on keeping the communication open and honest so we can continue to grow as we work together and nurture this message. Bravo Annie Hart. You teach me so much!
Annie’s Note: This was a crucial and tender moment for Corey and I in the story process. Rapport is the single most important factor between the storyteller and the guide. I had the sense all week that something wasn’t sitting right and I wasn’t exactly sure how to address it. I usually try to wait and see what occurs naturally, but after the call this morning things still didn’t feel right, so I called Corey.
We had a great conversation. The basis of true understanding is to really hear a person’s situation underneath of their language. Through our conversation, I got a deeper sense of where Corey is and what’s important to him. I gained a greater awareness of how to make the process easy and enjoyable for him. My main role is to look out for his emotional well-being on the journey.
We had a lovely connection and through deepening our understanding, we drew closer. Thanks Corey, for being so open.
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