Bonus #16
Ellen YinApr 18, 2023 at 9:55 pm19min
Ellen Yin
Hello friends welcome back to another bonus episode of cubicle to CEO, the podcast where we ask successful entrepreneurs, the business questions you can't google. If you're new here, my name is Ellen Yin, I am the host and founder of cubicle to CEO. And I love using these bonus Wednesday episodes to share the Behind the Business Insights I'm learning as a founder and as a self funded entrepreneur.
Ellen Yin
So recently, I got to spend three nights away at a personal wellness retreat in Laguna Beach, California, which is so gorgeous, if you've never been, it's the sleepy beach town, right on the Pacific Coast Highway. It's a it's a, oh, my goodness, it's beautiful. And I have never really invested in an experience that was purely focused on my personal well being and my personal development only. Typically when I'm investing in event experiences, or masterminds, or just any sort of ongoing education, there's always some sort of a business element tied to it. And so this was really the first time that I stepped outside of my comfort zone and decided to invest in something that I knew would nourish me just as a person, regardless of any impact that it would have on my business. Although, of course, any of us who know and have been in this journey for many years understand that your development as a person and your health and well being as a person absolutely impacts the way that you show up in business, especially if you are leading others in your business as well.
Ellen Yin
So anyways, I attended the permission slip retreat by my friend, Carmen Ohling, who I actually met in the strangest way, she is just generosity embodied. And I remember last summer, when we hosted our first live event for cubicle to CEO, let's get visible here in Oregon. Some of you may have attended that. I remember, I woke up one day to just a slew of Facebook notifications on my post sharing this event. And it was actually Carmen, and she was tagging all of these friends who lived locally in Oregon and telling them, Hey, you should go to this event, I think this would be really great for you. And here I was thinking who is this woman, like I had never heard of her before, I had never, you know, just had no interaction with her on the internet or otherwise. And here was this complete stranger showing up with such generosity. And taking her time and leveraging her networks to encourage these women, her friends to attend my event. And I just I thought that was the coolest thing.
Ellen Yin
So I ended up connecting with her and found out of course, through these conversations that she's from Oregon, I'm from a small town near where I grew up, but is now living in Miami. And she is a wonderful person and incredible holistic wellness and life coach. And I have been wanting to experience one of her retreats for a while now she does a few a year and I had heard amazing things from others who had attended. And so I finally jumped on this one because it was in Laguna, which is a short flight away from where I live. And also it was happened to be you know, going into Easter weekend. So I knew I could extend my trip and spend some quality time with my sisters down in LA. So anyways, it all worked out.
Ellen Yin
And I just wanted to share three quick things that I learned from that experience. Because like I said, I think as leaders, it's so important that we continue to develop ourselves and to invest in our holistic well being. And there were three big takeaways that I got from this retreat that have really stuck with me and enriched my life for the good. So I wanted to pass these off to you in case they enrich your life as well.
Ellen Yin
So lesson number one, this was from the get go and Carmen models this so well is this mindset of expecting miracles, to look at the world through this lens of miracles are normal, and they happen for you all the time. If you pay attention rather than thinking of miracles as this once in a lifetime event or a stroke of luck, or whatever it is to actually live each day as though you expect miracles is just such a joyful way to live. And the way that Carmen embodies that or models that for us is she has a saying, of course that happened. Thank you. So anytime something good happens in her life, no matter how small. She always goes. "Of course that happened. Thank you." And it's just this like constant practice of gratitude and receiving and just living in the belief that you deserve the good things that come to you and that they are normal, right that they are to be expected and to show that instant gratitude for it and recognition for the amazing things in your life. No matter how small like I said, it could be just the most micro moment. But to constantly hear her say that throughout the weekend, of course that happened, thank you. I just really, really loved that. So I wrote that down. And I've been trying to practice that more often in my own life. So I thought I would share that little nugget with you in case you want to also start using that phrase whenever you notice something good happened for you or the people around you.
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