Learn How I Teach Visionaries to Align Their Messaging and Marketing
Using 4 Key Perspectives of What, Why, and How-To
Once you have clarity from this post you will effortlessly create content for:
Sales webinars your potential customers become paying customers because you know exactly what to talk about that will blow their minds
Social, email, blogs, videos, reels, stories, and podcasts that will excite and deliver value to your potential customers
Products, programs, and services that will best serve your client's needs and give them great results
How this started:
I’ve coached hundreds of founders over the past 5 years. They are often stumped by getting the word out for advertising, marketing, and messaging. They struggle to know what to talk about in a sales webinar - they don’t want to feel sales-y and they don’t want do underdeliver - they basically want people to be wowed by them and feel proud of their presentation - makes sense! That’s a reasonable goal.
Here’s what I came up with in my morning meditation while thinking about one of my potential clients’ situation. He is a doctor, which will help you understand why we chose the metaphor below. I spent a couple of hours thinking and reading and researching and writing about where he (and many others) are and why he is stuck and frustrated.
I get it. I've been there. There is a different way. A way where everything feels more aligned, inspired, and effortless. It comes from deep within, a desire to put your work out into the world because your soul has no other choice. But if you are not aligned with your soul - you will feel the kickback and resistance. It is reflected back to you in many aspects of your business. It starts to feel hard and you no longer love what you are creating. You aren't getting the engagement and energy back from all that you put out in the world. If what I'm saying here resonates with you, then we have continued work we can do together. If not, no big deal. Life is all a game of resonance.
“The psyche consists essentially of images.“ -Carl Jung
Let's start with the online business. You work with your clients online. You meet with them on Zoom and they interact with your company virtually.
We need to create a metaphor that bridges your subconscious and unconscious to this abstract and virtual world so you can create content, market your services, and sell programs and products with ease.
Carl Jung often explored how the subconscious and unconscious mind communicate to the conscious mind through symbols. We know this because of dreams.
Research on dreams and their connection to the unconscious and subconscious mind spans psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science, supporting Carl Jung’s ideas about dreams as a form of communication from the unconscious to the conscious mind. Here are several studies and findings that illustrate this:
• Domhoff’s Cognitive Theory of Dreaming
William Domhoff, a contemporary dream researcher, argues that dreams are linked to waking thought processes and represent unconscious emotions, desires, and concerns. Domhoff’s work supports the idea that the dreaming brain continues to process information, especially emotional and unresolved issues from waking life, as a means of communication from the subconscious.
• REM Sleep and Memory Processing
Neuroscientific studies have shown that the brain processes emotions, memories, and unresolved psychological issues during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the stage most strongly associated with vivid dreaming. The activation-synthesis hypothesis by Hobson and McCarley posits that the brain generates random signals during REM sleep, but these signals are given meaning through symbolic content that reflects unresolved waking concerns.
• Emotional Regulation
Research by Matthew Walker and his team at the University of California, Berkeley, found that dreams, particularly during REM sleep, help regulate emotions by processing difficult or unresolved emotions. This reinforces the theory that dreams are a communication tool of the unconscious mind, processing and symbolically representing experiences.
• The Work of Rosalind Cartwright
Rosalind Cartwright, a sleep researcher, studied how people use dreaming to process emotionally significant events. Her research on divorcees found that those who incorporated the emotional challenges they were facing into their dreams had better emotional outcomes than those who did not. Cartwright’s research supports the idea that dreams help us integrate unconscious emotions into conscious awareness.
• Continuity Hypothesis
The continuity hypothesis, proposed by researchers such as Ernest Hartmann, suggests that dreams reflect the continuity of waking life experiences, emotions, and concerns. This theory is backed by findings that show dream content often mirrors the dreamer’s waking-life emotions and psychological state, suggesting that dreams are one way in which the subconscious mind continues to process unresolved issues.
Meditation and visualization have been studied as techniques that can emulate the psychological processing that occurs in dreams, particularly in their ability to overcome obstacles, process emotions, and bring unconscious material into conscious awareness. Below is a summary of key research findings that explore how meditation and visualization may replicate or enhance the benefits typically associated with dreaming.
Mindfulness Meditation and Emotional Regulation
• Research on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program has been widely studied for its effects on emotional regulation. Research indicates that mindfulness meditation helps individuals become aware of and process difficult emotions and thoughts without being overwhelmed by them, similar to the emotional regulation role of dreams. Studies have shown that mindfulness practices enhance emotional clarity and resilience, much like how REM sleep and dreaming help process emotions.
A 2015 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that regular mindfulness meditation improved participants’ emotional regulation and lowered stress, suggesting that meditation facilitates a processing mechanism akin to the emotional resolution occurring during REM sleep Meditation and the Default Mode Network (DMN)
• Connection Between Meditation and Dream States
Both meditation and dreaming engage the brain’s default mode network (DMN), which is active during periods of wakeful rest and mind-wandering. The DMN is also responsible for self-referential thinking, memory processing, and daydreaming. In meditation, particularly practices like mindfulness or transcendental meditation, individuals intentionally activate this network in a focused manner, allowing unconscious material to arise into awareness for reflection and processing.
A 2011 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that experienced meditators could regulate the activity in their DMN, allowing them to disengage from unproductive, wandering thoughts and focus on conscious processing. This process parallels the emotional and cognitive functions of dreaming, where the mind processes unresolved conflicts or obstacles through symbolic or abstract thinking.
• Visualization for Problem-Solving and Emotional Healing
Visualization is a technique where individuals imagine a desired outcome or rehearse overcoming an obstacle in their mind. This process is similar to how the unconscious mind may process issues through dreams. Visualization activates similar neural circuits to actual physical experience, allowing individuals to practice emotional responses and overcome mental barriers in a controlled environment.
The virtual world doesn’t make total sense to our subconscious minds
If you were born in the nineteen hundreds like me, you grew up in a different world and evolution hasn’t caught up. Therefore, we need to train our subconscious to understand what we are trying to do when there isn’t anything in the physical world to give feedback, visuals, metaphors, or symbols.
Let’s use a metaphor to help you build a symbolic representation of your virtual business so you can start communicating more clearly with your true self, your subconscious, and your unconscious.
First, I will give you an example. You can use this example or I can give you prompts to build your own world.
You are the caretaker of a small valley and the mountains surrounding it. Many eons ago, this would be called your kingdom or village.
You have a beautiful town in this valley, of which you are the king/queen. You are a glorious king/queen. A benevolent ruler who cares deeply about your people. Your town is very different from the other towns because it is peaceful and filled with healthy, thriving people.
When people become sick, they are taken to the retreat center located in the most beautiful part of your kingdom. They are treated with respect and dignity.
We are going to stand on the mountain and look over all the other towns and cities across the land. From this vantage point, you can see how some of the cities have smoke from industry wafting up from their ceaseless production. You look at yours and notice how lush the vegetation is. The air is clean and the water is clear. You and your people are in harmony with nature.
We transmute into hawks and start flying closer to the neighboring cities. We see their water is not clear. They’ve cut down too many trees. Erosion is causing the dirt to shift.
We fly over your city. We see people working. They are driven and happy, striving to create a beautiful existence.
We fly over the retreat and see the healers that you trained teaching people how to heal. We see those who are unwell taking action toward healing. They are participating in the treatments, trying new things, and are happy for the support.
We can’t hear what people are saying, but we see them engaged, present, and often happy. Their lives aren’t perfect. There is struggle. But we see an inner light that keeps them moving towards health.
Then we transmute into human bodies and now we are walking through the retreat center. We have arrived. You interact with the residents and the healers. Checking in and giving them support, guidance, and reassurance.
You meet with the healers weekly to review what they have discovered and offer clarification, guidance, and support.
It’s beautiful what you’ve created.
Let’s come out of this dream for a moment and discuss it from a meta level.
There are a few pertinent perspectives to discuss.
Global Level - many cities and towns are being ruled and built all over this world.
Mountain Top - from there, you can see your town and the other towns nearby.
Hawk’s Sweep - you can soar above the towns and glide down to see what’s happening in your kingdom.
Ground Level - from there, you are in the town, interacting with your residents and healers and even those who were healed and everyone who supports you and who you support.
These levels are important when you think about spreading your message.
Firstly, you have to be in love with the retreat center you’ve created. You rule here. You are the queen/king. You make the rules and laws. You decide who enters and who doesn’t come in. This is your world, and you get to use your discernment.
The ground level, at the retreat center, is the how-to. This is where all your step-by-step protocols live. This is where you teach people how to heal. This is where you teach your healers how to help people heal using your method. The healers may represent your membership, the support they get there, the Q&A calls, etc.
In order to do this, you must devote time to your art. This means you spend time building yourself, and your inner kingdom. You are physically healthy, move your body, eat well, meditate, dream, pray, you take care of yourself first. You do your art. Your art is your dharma. This is what your soul wants to put out into the world. This is your creativity. This is where you outline your protocols and get clearer and clearer about your laws, your message, and your work.
The hawk’s sweep is where you see the what. Not the how-to, but the what. The what people are doing. From this perspective, your future residents are able to see that this world is real, they see others like them working on their own health. They see that this could be a place they would like to go.
From the mountain top, you explain the why. Why you built this. Why you chose this spot. Why you rule the way you rule. Why this exists in the first place. Why it is different from other towns and cities. Why you are a different kind of ruler. Why you like to help people. Why you’ve chosen to acknowledge your gifts and share them with others.
Your programs and services are the ground level. The How-To.
Your marketing is the Hawk’s Sweep and the Mountain Top. The What and the Why.
The global view is the entire internet, the whole conglomeration of the world-builders.
Currently, most people’s websites and marketing are backward. They are way too focused on the how-to. I believe that many experts believe that showing people that they know the how-to is what will convince clients to work with them. This needs to stop. Showing them your how-to skills must come with a commitment. When you show people the how-to without a commitment to working with you, they aren’t committed. They may even make excuses as to why they can’t do it. They also don’t have the support or the container. People aren’t looking for the how-to. They can already find that. They can’t implement. They are overwhelmed. They have too much information. When people are overwhelmed and have too much information, they DON’T TAKE ACTION. They need someone to help them discern. They need a container BEFORE you give them the how-to.
People who know how to take action already know this…likely subconsciously. That is why you are attracting people who don’t buy right now. You aren’t setting yourself up to attract the right kinds of people because you aren’t speaking their language and you aren’t speaking to them. You are speaking to the people who are addicted to being victims and not taking action by continuing to offer how-to information that will continue to overwhelm and paralyze them and reinforce their perception of themselves.
That is why your marketing needs to be focused on the what and the why.
When you focus on the what and the why, people get to discern from the place they are at. They get to meet you and see if what you have to offer is something they want. You aren’t putting all your how-to information out there, so they garner respect for your personal boundaries. When you have personal boundaries and people can see that, they trust that you are a good leader.
Overall, this is a leadership issue. It is time for you to become the queen, the king, the leader of your healing center. Everything in this center has to be centered around you. It must support you in everything you need to be the best leader you can be.
This brings us to the question:
What do you need in every facet of your life to be and become the best leader you can be?
When you identify what you need, you identify what needs to change and what needs to be installed.
SOVEREIGNTY: focus on your inner world first. This models for your clients how they need to lead their lives. This is the foundation of your entire life. Everything starts here. This is how you develop leadership. Taking care of your entire life and not avoiding or letting important aspects slide.
The juju that wells up from sovereignty is more powerful than anything else in your life. You lead by example and carry an air around you that people are immediately attracted to and want to be around. When you learn and know yourself through reflection, quiet time, and self-exploration, you naturally become authentic.
AUTHENTICITY: This is what arises from sovereignty. Your communication, your marketing, and everything that comes from you is coming from a deep place of alignment. You are aligned with the best ways you communicate and the way you share that transmission with the world.
STRATEGY: This is where you know exactly what your business is doing. You know your numbers, you know where you are headed. You know how to guide your team.
When it comes to authenticity, I want to know what are the authentic ways in which you most like to communicate. Video, audio, writing, painting, kinetic? What is it for you? If you do not know how you most like to communicate, then you need to spend more time in Sovereignty and use techniques of self-reflection to discover this for yourself.
Citations:
Hall, C. S., & Van de Castle, R. L. (1966). The Content Analysis of Dreams. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. doi:10.1037/10022-000
Domhoff, G. W. (1996). Finding Meaning in Dreams: A Quantitative Approach. New York: Plenum Press. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-0298-6
Walker, M. P., & van der Helm, E. (2009). Overnight therapy? The role of sleep in emotional brain processing. Psychological Bulletin, 135(5), 731–748. doi:10.1037/a0016570
Cartwright, R. D. (1991). Dreams that work: The relation of dream incorporation to adaptation to stressful events. Dreaming, 1(1), 3–9. doi:10.1037/h0094312
Hartmann, E. (1996). Outline for a theory on the nature and functions of dreaming. Dreaming, 6(2), 147–170. doi:10.1037/h0094452
Keng, S. L., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011). Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(6), 1041–1056. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006
Brewer, J. A., Worhunsky, P. D., Gray, J. R., Tang, Y.-Y., Weber, J., & Kober, H. (2011). Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(50), 20254–20259. doi:10.1073/pnas.1112029108
Guillot, A., & Collet, C. (2008). Construction of the motor imagery integrative model in sport: A review and theoretical investigation of motor imagery use. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1(1), 31–44. doi:10.1080/17509840701823139