The Core Community Shift {An Excerpt from Selling with Synchronicity} –
Synchronistic Shift #5: The Core Community Shift“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.”
~ Oprah Winfrey ~
Days later, synchronicity kicked in, and my phone rang.
“Hello?” I said tentatively.
“Hi! Is this Ursula?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“Hi, Ursula. You probably don’t remember me. I heard you speak three years ago, and I’d like to have you help me with sales of my magazine. Would you be willing to help?”
“Sure!” I answered, surprised she had my number after three years.
We chatted for a while, and then I found out that we not only shared the same book publisher, but that she had also completed a bestseller campaign for her book. Somehow, we had been in the same community and not known it.
When she shared that, my breath caught in my throat. I was so shocked I almost didn’t know what to say. Should I have really been surprised? After all, wasn’t I just living what I teach?
I knew this was the clear next step. So, I asked her if she would help me with my bestseller campaign.
“Of course.”
Core Communities & Connections
The year 2008 was significant because we rebranded as Sales Coach Now, Inc. (from Potential Quest, Inc.). Potential clients no longer asked what we do—they were clear that we offered sales coaching and training—and they knew pretty quickly whether or not they wanted to be part of our community. Moving with that momentum, I wrote One Great Goal that year, and my speaking engagements and events really started to pick up. We launched our first Sales Coach Now-LIVE event in 2009 and had over 100 people attend, which was a big deal for me! I didn’t sell much at that event, but I at least made a profit and learned what I would do differently the next time. And, it was my first real glimpse at the core community shift I had made by getting committed to my mission to help sales professionals and entrepreneurs make a lot of money so they could give back to the organizations they care about—and live a great life. Little did I know how much that core community would continue to support me and Sales Coach Now over the coming years.
In January of 2009, through a series of synchronistic events, I attended a four-day event in Los Angeles. Just to attend the event cost over $3,000 plus hotel and travel costs. I dug deep to make it happen. I had already invested a lot in myself in the business with my master’s degree in Psychology (over $40,000) and my NLP Coaching Certification ($3,000). However, I knew that every time I invested in myself or the business, my sales grew. (More on that concept in the next chapter!) The seminar was powerful for me because every speaker she had, from Marianne Williamson to Neale Donald Walsh, inspired and motivated me to think even bigger. I started to believe that some of my greatest dreams were really possible.
My intention for attending the event wasn’t just to hear the phenomenal speakers, however. I also was very intentional about expanding my connections to grow my business. I wanted to expand my network. I just didn’t know at the time that I was also expanding my core community, or the importance of that.
Feeling very inspired, I applied to be part of the mastermind group that was offered that weekend. I was thrilled to be accepted into one of the programs, and I held my breath when I told Tim how much it was going to cost: $15,000 plus travel to Vegas three times in one year. Instead of being concerned about the amount of money I wanted to spend, Tim smiled. “Well, it’s probably what you need to get to the next level in your business. I know you will make the most of it.” I am so grateful to have a husband who believes in me more than I do on most days.
My first mastermind was a powerful experience. The members of my group became dear friends and colleagues with whom I am still connected. They also became part of my core community – those individuals I counted on when I was stuck or struggling. The collective mastermind and coaching pushed me to grow and the entire experience challenged me in ways I hadn’t expected. Let’s just say that I stretched way outside of my comfort zone!
The group was also instrumental in encouraging me to rewrite Selling with Intention, which I did. At the time, I didn’t know how important writing a second edition of the book was going to be and where it was leading me. But I see now that I was not only able to expand the book with everything I had learned since the first edition, but also that it was clearly the next step in my evolution and the growth of my core community.
A year later, I was connected with an individual who I hired to help me find corporate sponsors. The company represented authors and helped them create relationships and events with sponsors who were the best fit. Through that connection, I was given a ticket to attend Author 101 University in Los Angeles, which I’ve mentioned earlier in this book. I had a “feeling” that I was supposed to go, so I followed my hunch.
I remember sitting in the audience at Author 101 and I “suddenly knew” two things. First, I knew that I would find a new publisher for Selling with Intention. Second, I knew that I would speak on that stage someday. Sitting there, I asked myself, “How did I know that, and how did I get here?” Every synchronistic connection led me to the next step in my journey, and I was confident it would continue. I was building a powerful core community of synchronistic influence, and it felt like coming home.
Pivotal Core Community Moments
One of the most pivotal moments I experienced on my synchronistic journey was inviting New York Times bestselling author (and multi-millionaire) Loral Langemeier to speak on my stage at Sales Coach Now—LIVE 2011. I asked Loral to speak at my event October of 2010 when I met her at Author 101, and then I stressed for months until February 4 (the day of my event) arrived! Yes, I was excited to have her speak at my event, but I was even more excited to introduce her to my core community. Her message of “making money is easy” was an important conversation for me to bring to them.
Loral flew in on her private jet. I connected with her briefly, and then ran back up on stage to introduce her. I remember asking everyone to get on their feet, and Brian (my AV team leader) brought the music up really loud as she ran up to the stage. I also remember watching her walk toward me and thinking, Wow! I did it! We have a packed room! Loral is speaking at my event! WOOOO HOOOO! She hugged me as she got on stage and whispered, “Great job! They love you!”
All I could say was, “Thank you for being here, Loral!”
I walked to the back of the room and sat down on a chair, so hard that I thought maybe I had broken the chair, but it was fine. I kept breathing and said a prayer, thanking God for that beautiful moment. I had sacrificed so much to get to that moment. I had worked so hard.
Having Loral speak at my event took my confidence and belief in myself as a speaker and entrepreneur to another level. Loral moves at 100 miles per hour, but when you have a few moments with her, she inspires you to create a new belief in yourself. She looks past your eyes and into your soul, and she sees something that you cannot. She saw that being a New York Times bestselling author is possible for me. She saw that speaking on national and international stages is possible for me. And she saw my future as a multi-millionaire. Sometimes you need someone else to believe it before you can, and she has held that space for me.
That was my second Sales Coach Now-LIVE event. And, it was by far our most profitable event ever and also the most meaningful because I could see the difference that my company was making in people’s lives. Even though it had been hard to get there, I started to see that more was possible––much more––and I was excited to take the next synchronistic steps on my path.
The clear next step was joining Loral’s mastermind group, The Big Table. I had taken her 3 Days to Cash class and won the sales contest during her event (what choice did I have?). Yes, I was investing in my business again, and I knew it would pay off. Plus, traveling to Tahoe with Tim every few months to attend the mastermind group seemed like a fun bonus. Loral, and her community, had become a very important part of my synchronistic core community.
Jim Rohn, one of the original thought leaders in self-development, said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” I always disliked that statistic! But there is a lot of truth to it. If you want to increase your prosperity (whatever that means for you), you need to expand your core community to include those people who are already prosperous. Why? You are always being influenced by the people around you, whether you are conscious of it or not.
I have always participated in and run mastermind groups because I wanted to work even closer with my core community. Surrounding ourselves with prosperous people on an ongoing basis is critical. In fact, synchronicity happens even faster when we are consistently with a core community that challenges us to think bigger, holds intentions with us and encourages us to leave fear behind.
Finding Your People
I love Seth Godin’s book Tribes because he talks about the importance of finding your people and building a core community—a tribe, as he refers to it—of followers and members:
“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate… Tribes need leadership. Sometimes one person leads, sometimes more. People want connection and growth and something new. They want change… You can’t have a tribe without a leader––and you can’t be a leader without a tribe.”
Sales Coach Now, my company, has been about building a core community from the start and bringing like-minded people together. That core community holds the intention and space for transformation to occur for all who join us on this journey.
The crazy truth is, however, you really don’t find a community; they find you, and you know pretty quickly if they are part of your core community or not. What do I mean by that? Your core community is comprised of people like you – people who share your beliefs, values, and interests. Your core community will be drawn to you because of how you show up in the world and how they view you. The best way to grow your core community is to just be yourself. Yes, you read that correctly. By being your most authentic self, people will know pretty quickly whether or not they are part of your core community.
Your core community is not defined by size; it can be a handful of people or thousands. Again, what matters is how in alignment they are with your beliefs, values, and interests.
Finding my core community was pretty painful. What I mean by that is that we all want to belong. We want to be part of something. When I first started speaking, I thought “the speaker world” was my core community, my family, but I found out pretty quickly that it wasn’t. After all, we all spoke on different topics and had varied beliefs, values, and interests, so it made sense that we didn’t all automatically connect. Yet, what I discovered is that my core community— “my people”— were waiting for me at the back of the room, waiting to connect, wanting to sell more in their business and give back to the organizations they cared about. When you take inspired action and become visible in the world, your core community will find you.
Remember, most of us are hungry for leadership and when we find someone to follow, we will follow them to the ends of the earth, almost to a fault. Being the leader of your core community comes with great responsibility. We’ve all seen examples of power abuse, scams, and poor leadership. Be careful who you follow, and who persuades you to become part of their community, because you want to make sure that they have your best interest in mind, not their own.
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