Amanda: Life is pretty good; the sun is shining and the Heineken Regatta is going on the next few days. So it’s very busy here and lots of fun.
Bobby: And where is that exactly?
Amanda: It is East of Puerto Rico and kind of Northwest of Guadeloupe. For those of you who are from America, it’s like for a few hours Southeast of Miami.
Bobby: Right! So, lovely islands of Saint-Martin, is that right?
Amanda: That’s right, yes. Still missing Britain you know.
Bobby: Well, you’ve got the sun today; we haven’t, so that’s a bonus for you.
Amanda: Well I’m sending it through the internet to everyone.
Bobby: I’ve just been looking up to get a pre-launch copy of your book and I have been reading it and it’s brilliant and I would just like to ask you a few question about it if that’s okay?
Amanda: Yes, sounds good Bobby.
Bobby: Reading your book “Connect to Authentic Success” why do you think there’s a need for this type of book now?
Amanda: Well obviously in the personal development around there’s a lot books out there but one of the main reasons why I wrote this is I’ve gone through my own personal development journey and few years ago even after having quite a bit of this information, I almost lost everything; lost the company, almost lost my house and then we were robbed - they took everything physically from computers through to anything that they could have sold and it really made me think about “Okay, when you have nothing what’s really important.”
There's a lot of people that are going through challenges at the moment, and I feel that this information is important for them to face their challenges with some new strategies, and some new tools, and to be able to move forward through that quickly, rather than staying stuck, and really banging your head against a brick wall, so I feel that this information is important now, because it is a difficult time for very many people.
Bobby: I've also noticed the book's not just about the theory of success, it's also the story of a personal journey, which you've just mentioned now.
Amanda: Yes it is, I like many people, probably about twenty years ago, I lost my mum to cancer, so that was the first turning point for me, it made me think about why're we here, what am I doing here, and what's it all for? When you start asking yourself some questions as in what can I do to change my life, then funny enough you start to get answers, or people, and circumstances start to present themselves, and you start to get moved in a direction that you maybe weren't going in before.
The other thing that happened for me is many years ago I was working in a very high paid corporate job doing extremely well, had a beautiful five bedroom detached house, BMW, everything that the external side of success would say is a success, tick box, I've done that, but inside, I was actually pretty unhappy. After a few years, my inner self kept saying “Amanda, you're on the wrong path, you need to do something about this”, and I left it, I just ignored it for a very long time. But I'm sure those people out there, you've got that little voice in your head that's saying “If you're unhappy, if you're stuck, there is a voice that's wanting to tell you to change it.”
So I finally listened, I went off and followed my dream at the time, which was becoming an actress, and I studied very long, and very hard. Along side that I also started to build up my own business, which did extremely well, in a very short period of time. So, it's my journey of being able to handle the emotions that we get thrown at every day, and the circumstances, and the challenges that get thrown at you on a daily basis, and how you move through that, and experience the emotions that you want to on a daily basis. Because that's what it's about, you could be achieving your dreams, you could be doing something that you maybe want to do, but the bottom line is, if you're not happy, what's the point?
My journey really is to, I think I've gone through all this stuff, to be able to associate with people, and say to them, look wherever you are, whatever problems you're facing right now, you can get through it, and here are some tools, and some very specific examples of how I've done it myself, and also for my clients.
Bobby: Right, so in this book, does it have something practical that readers can use straight away? Is this just like a traditional goal setting exercise, or more intuitive, or is there something more that people will get from this book?
Amanda: Well obviously, goal setting, and going for your dreams, has been around a long time. The strategies, and the exercise I've put in this book, because a lot of people, a secret came out a couple of years ago, and people started thinking that it was okay to sit in a room and meditate, and just expect things to come to you, and on a certain level, things like that can happen, especially if you imagine things, and let the attachment to it go. However, a lot of these people put some hard work in, so the reason I've put some very practical exercises in this book is so that along the seven steps, they can do things, and start to move themselves closer to where they want to be, and on the intuitive side, Bobby, there's a couple of exercises in there, about really focusing on the feelings, and the feelings that are going on inside, and also the little voice that's in your head.
There's a lot of answers that you can find inside yourself, and these exercises will help you get there. The beginning part of the book is very practical, because you have to sit down with a pen and paper, and you have to think about what you want. So there is some work involved, but by the time you get towards the end of the book, it really starts to become more about you tuning in to your own answers, and your own feelings, and you'll start to find that the answers will begin to come, so it's going to be a journey for them, Bobby.
Bobby: Right, that's great, what would you recommend to somebody who's approaching this field for the first time and this is their first introduction to goal setting and success planning?
Amanda: Well again, the way I've written is very much how I've gone through my journey, so for a lot of people if you start saying you need to meditate twenty hours a day, to get the answers, that's a big shift. I find that a lot of people that I work with, especially clients, that you know sometimes you need to take baby steps, so the way that I've written is you start off with the practical right brain exercises, and if you don't want to do the whole book in one go, that's fine, you can maybe just take the first section, and take a month to do that, and then you might find that another section jumps out at you, and you want to go there straight away. Just really listen to that inner voice, and go with it.
If you're struggling a little bit, then we do have ways to help you, we have group mentoring program, we can work with you personally, if you're getting a little bit stuck, and you're not sure of the way to go.
Also the other thing that's going to be very easy for people, even if you've never done this work before, is I'm giving away a free mind program, with the book, on launch day, and also via Amazon, so if you're completely new, all you need to do is literally lie down, and listen to this, and it will start to work on your subconscious without you really having to do very much. So I would say the mind program is the first step for them, Bobby, if they've done none of this work at all, because a lot of the work will be done for them in that program, by just relaxing.
Bobby: Okay, that's great, what would you recommend to somebody who's already been around this kind of work, and it hasn't actually worked out for them, or they've failed in the past.
Amanda: Well again, some of the information obviously I've learnt from people that have gone before me, so some information for hardened person development people, some of it will be familiar. But the thing that I would say to them is even for me I started this personal development journey, and setting goals many, many years ago, it's all very well knowing it, from a conscience level, but the thing that's really hit me the last three years in particular is that sense of feeling it, of experiencing it, and owning it. Knowing it's not just a conscience thing that you're doing, but that it's part of who you are, and that you're manifesting through your own personal energy, and I'll talk more about that towards the end, you'll have to read the book for that, but it really is about your own energy.
Bobby: Right, there's quite a lot of quotes from the book, and one of them that I read that I thought was really well was “Stand alone until those who are ready to stand with you arrive.”, which I thought was very deep. You do mention a few times the word providence, and I was wondering who or what is providence?
Amanda: Well to answer the first part of the question, when you start on this journey, you start to meet people that I would say like minded, and sometimes as you move through your personal journey, friends, family, and other people around you may not necessarily understand your own growth path, and sometimes you know, particularly friends I've had in the past haven't come along on the journey with me, but what I have gained is that when you start to make decisions that you deserve a fantastic life, you deserve to be happy, then I said, as you say, in the book “Providence moves to support you, and those that need to come with you will find you.”
So, it comes from your personal power again, that energy to make it a really simple analogy, for people that maybe haven't heard this before, is if you think of yourself as a radio, you're transmitting a particular signal, now if you're very sad then obviously you'll be putting a certain signal out then, and things might during the day that will expand that, but if you're very happy for example, I'm sure that some people that are listening to this, have been loved before, when you're in love, you feel all warm and tingly, and things just seem to flow well.
If I use that example, when you make a decision that this is the journey you're going to take, then certain people, circumstances, the right energy will be attracted to you, so providence, I use lots of words in the book, and depending on your belief, you can substitute providence for God, or infinite intelligence, or universe, whatever your belief structure is, I want to work with it, and you choose what's right for you. But it's about that power you can't see, it's that faith that you're destiny, whatever it needs to be, is coming towards you, and you need to trust it. So that's really how I would answer that one, Bobby.
Bobby: Right, that was great. Couple more questions, also you mention the art of purpose, what do you believe the art of purpose is?
Amanda: Well the art of purpose is really your soul blueprint, if I can use that term. Everyone's born with a unique set of talents, and abilities, and gifts, and many of us unfortunately go through our entire life only just scratching the surface. Many of us discover it when we're children, and they take it into adulthood, so for example, people like Tiger Woods, he was very clear about what he wanted to do, and what made him happy, and went on to make money through it. Same with Madonna, Michael Jackson, some of the big stars, they had very specific gifts, that were encouraged, and used, and they became successful.
So, for many of us, we aren't taught to figure out what our purpose is, we go into school, and we're conditioned to go on and make money, or go on and be famous. These are two of the main strands that are still running through our society now.
If you look at any of the major religions, or threads through personal development, it's about undoing the layers of conditioning that we've had pretty much all the way through childhood, through school, and even through work. But we're here to do something very specific. So one part of the book is where you go in, you ask very, very deep questions about what really makes you happy, what you did when you were a child, for example, that really gave you joy. If you think about times, you might have a specific hobby now, that you do, and when you do it, you feel fantastic. These are little clues to what your purpose could be, and the most difficult thing I found when I left corporate life, is making my purpose work.
My purpose here is to get a message out that people need to wake up and stop being miserable in jobs that they don't like, to make a business work for them, so that they can have products and things that make money for them while they sleep, so they can spend more time with their families. This is my purpose, and now that I'm here, it feels good, things flow, the right people come my way, the right circumstances happen. So, purpose is about aligning with who you are, what you're here to do, and to be happy.
Bobby: Wow, thank you, that's brilliant. So what will someone have at the end of reading your book?
Amanda: Well just really building on the last question that I answered, Bobby, the secret to happiness and fulfillment is having a day filled with positive emotions, being happy, doing something you love, being with people you love. So if you figure out that your purpose in life is maybe teaching people to swim, particularly children, and you find a way to make money from that, and every day you see the kids' faces, smiling because they've learnt something, they've progressed, and you can go to sleep at night, knowing that you've added value to some people during the day, what a fantastic feeling.
Unfortunately, as I said before, many, many people are not in a situation like that. They're in jobs that they're not happy with, in relationships they're not happy with, they're entrepreneurs in a business that's not making the money that they want it to, or they're trying to make money through internet marketing, or money making schemes that don't resonate with who they are. So once they read this book, once they apply the principles, once they listen to the mind program, and they might join us for some live coaching calls as well, they will have a sense of fulfillment, a sense of direction, a sense of purpose, for who they are, what they stand for, and what they're here to do. They will experience happiness and fulfillment, on a daily basis, and they will be able to spend more time with their family, and to be more of the person that they are.
Bobby: Wonderful. If people want to know more about you, and how you can help them in their journey, what's the easiest way to go about that?
Amanda: Well if they want to get a copy of the book, that'll be launched on March the 13th, they can go straight to Amazon, it'll be available on Kindle, and then again on paperback very shortly. If they want to work with me personally, and get involved in the group mentoring program, the best place to go is www.amandasteadman.com.
Bobby: That's great, and just another quickie, do we have time to talk about the chocolate effect in Terry's Chocolate Oranges?
Amanda: That's top secret, Bobby, so they'll have to wait until the final chapter in the book for that, I'm afraid.
Bobby: Oh, all right, no problem. It's been great talking to you, Amanda.
Amanda: Fantastic, Bobby.
Bobby: Like I said, it's been a really good read. I dug into it, went from start to finish, and I highly recommend people to check out this book. If they want to be authentically successful of course. Thank you, Amanda.
Amanda: Thank you, Bobby. Thank you for the extra feedback for the book, as well, as I always say on all of my casts, and blogposts, to everyone's health, wealth, and authentic success. Take care everyone, bye for now!
Bobby: Bye!
You can get Amanda's new book and bonuses here: www.amandasteadman.com
This book has already received Rave reviews from Brian Tracy, Peggy McColl, Christine Kloser and Kathleen Gage.
Let us know what you think and how you get along connecting to your own, authentic success!
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