A Note from Gigi

This is my 35th year of hosting retreats, and as we wrap up 7 days in Sicily for our Wealthy World Changers mastermind retreat, I’m struck once again by the acceleration of clarity that takes place in these environments.

There’s something about stepping out of your world for a full week to relax, reflect, and see your life from a different perspective that creates powerful changes.

Questions you’ve tried to get clarity on for years suddenly seem crystal clear. Emotions that have been pushed beneath the surface are given the space to emerge and be fully released. Opportunities show up like magic.

One of our participants got the call that she’d landed a major movie role while at the retreat. Another was sharing how her son really needed a better job, and the next day he called to tell her he’d been hired for an exciting new role.

Many of the attendees had pivotal shifts and “aha” moments that will set the tone for their next 12 months. Some will alter the course of their lives forever.

Yet, time and time again, I hear from women “I don’t have time to go on a retreat.”

I get it! I raised 5 children while running an international business. Life was very full.

But early on, I learned the power of “slowing down to speed up.” I discovered that even though it seems counterintuitive, we must have times when we step out of our day-to-day lives. And going on vacation is not enough. It’s essential to have the right kind of guidance & support to deeply unwind – and see things from a new perspective.

The other powerful lesson I learned was how to set up my life in such a way that I had very little pressure in my daily life & business. Of course stresses and breakdowns happened, but I always applied a technique that ensured they didn’t continue happening. As a result, I experienced a lot of ease and flow, even though my life was very complex.

In the retreat last week, we taught this technique to our participants to help them eliminate many of the pressures and breakdowns in their lives. This is about clearing out what’s not working – to make space for more of what you want.

Now I want to share it with you too.

After you try it, I’d love to hear from you. Write back to let me know how it goes!

With love and gratitude,

Gigi

“Pressure-Proof” Your Life & Business
with the EASE Technique

Often when women come to us, they are busy and overwhelmed. They say, “I have no time to move my bigger dreams forward – or to even get clear on what they are. I’m already juggling so much.” And it’s true. Between careers, families, and other obligations, these women have little-to-no space left over for anything else.

Unfortunately, this cycle never seems to end.

While we would all love to believe we’ll have more time & energy once we finish that next project, or once our kids start school, the reality is that nine times out of ten, something else inevitably shows up that needs our time & attention.

So what is a busy, ambitious woman like you to do? How can you stop putting yourself and your bigger dreams on the back-burner – without dropping the ball in other parts of your life?

It’s simple. You need to clear out what’s not working, to make space for what you want.

Think about the biggest pressures in your life right now. What eats up your time & energy? For many women, it’s some combination of interpersonal conflict, items piling up on their to-do list, and not knowing what to focus on or prioritize first. What would be possible if you could free up all that time – not to mention mental & emotional energy?

The solution is simple: “Every pressure needs a system.” This means that there is a simple system that can be put into place to eliminate or systematize every one of these pressures, so you don’t have to stress about them anymore.

I call this the EASE Technique. Each letter stands for a different word that will help you remember the four simple steps in this process.

Let’s go through a couple of examples.

Example 1 – Interpersonal Conflict

One of our clients shared that a daily pressure in her life was an ongoing conflict with her mom, who felt they didn’t talk enough. The client was often busy and didn’t have time to be on the phone with her mom everyday. Plus, because her mom would complain to her so much, she found herself wanting to call her less and less.

So we walked her through the four steps.

Step 1 is to Evaluate: What is the pressure? → “Arguing with my mom about how often we talk on the phone.”

Step 2 is to Acknowledge: What is the result you want? (And if there’s another person in the dynamic, what is the result they want?) → “I want us to stop fighting and have a more peaceful relationship. My mom wants us to talk more and be more connected.”

Step 3 is to Systematize: What is a simple system that will accomplish the result you (both) want? → “I could set up a weekly call with her on a certain day & time, so at the very least we are talking weekly, and anything additional is a bonus.”

Step 4 is to Exercise: Practice the new system for 30 days, and then re-evaluate to determine what’s working, and if there’s anything you need to adjust.

It seems deceptively simple, but the results are powerful. With this client, all the push & pull with her mom around this topic went away overnight.

Example 2 – Items Piling Up On Your To-Do List

Another client had a mile-long to-do list and she felt stressed and under pressure all the time. Things kept piling up, and she didn’t know what to focus on first.

We took her through the same four steps to get clarity.

E – We had her write down everything on her mind, and then put a star next to the things that would really move her business forward (because as an entrepreneur, this had to be her #1 focus). Then we asked her to put an asterisk next to the things that drained her energy or pressured her the most.

A – She acknowledged the result she wanted as being “Less stress, and more time to focus on revenue-generating activities in my business.”

S – First, we helped her define a system for the tasks that drained her energy & pressured her the most. She set a specific time on her calendar to work on these tasks for two hours each week. She blocked the time off first thing in the morning, so she would accomplish the hardest thing first before moving on to other tasks. Then she asked her assistant to sit down with her during these time blocks, so she would stick with her commitment and be able to collaborate with someone, which always helped her stay focused.

Then, we designed a system for helping her focus on the most important revenue-generating activities in her business. We decided the first hour of each of her other four week-days would be dedicated to the tasks that she had put a star next to. She would keep her phone on “Do Not Disturb” during these time blocks so as not to get distracted, and then work on everything else after that.

E – After 30 days of this, she landed two new clients as a result of having this block of time focused on revenue-generating activities each day. She felt far less stressed because she was taking care of the tasks that had previously been the biggest drains on her energy. She made some minor tweaks to her timing & approach, but all in all, the systems were working perfectly.

Applying the EASE System to Pressure-Proof Your Life

Let’s review the four steps.

Step 1 – Evaluate: What is the pressure?
Make a list of all the things that are pressuring you right now, and go through this process for at least the top 2-3 items on that list.

Step 2 – Acknowledge: What is the result you want?
And if there’s another person in the dynamic, what is the result they want?

Step 3 – Systematize: What is a simple system that will accomplish the result you want?
How can you put this on auto-pilot? Or, how can you change your approach to make this more fun & easy? Remember that if there’s another person in the dynamic, this system should ideally accomplish the results you both want.

Step 4 – Exercise.
Practice the new system for 30 days, and then re-evaluate to determine what’s working, and if there’s anything you need to adjust.

A Final Note: Keep it Simple

The simpler the system is, the more likely it is to work. The more consistent it is, the more likely you are to stick with it.

For example, if you want to start working out and you’ve been putting it off because you can’t fit in your 60-minute workout classes right now, your system could be to do 10 minutes of some kind of movement everyday (look up 10 minute workout or yoga videos on YouTube if you need some ideas!). This checks both boxes: simplicity and consistency.

If you miss a day, don’t just throw in the towel. Start again the next day!

It may not seem like these systems will make much of an impact in your life. But you will be amazed at the compound effect of these changes over time.

For the women in our Wealthy World Changers mastermind, we don’t just meet once a year for our retreats. We have a weekly group call, plus they have monthly private coaching sessions and voice note support between calls. So they are consistently checking in and sharing: What’s working? And what’s pressuring you, or where are there breakdowns happening?

This way, we can support them in real time to put the EASE Technique – and many equally powerful coaching & communication tools – into practice, day after day and week after week. Over time, there are fewer and fewer push/pulls on their energy. They experience more ease & flow in their lives, and their time & energy gets freed up to create more of what they want: more money, freedom, meaning/purpose, time with their loved ones, etc.

Now it’s your turn. 

Put the EASE Technique into practice, and remember to check in to let us know how it goes!