Crafting a Soul-Guided Business Plan That Leads to More Clients, Income, and Joy

Allyson Scammel…:         Hello, my dear ones. How are we doing today? I hope you are high vibing and thriving. We’re talking about one of my favorite topics today, y’all, and that is soul-guided planning. And whether you are a fellow lover of planning like me, or you are not so into creating plans, and you like to be more in the flow, and actually planning sounds like a bit of a drag… [00:00:30] either way my friend, you are in the right place, because we’ll be talking about how to craft a soul-guided plan that leads to more clients, income, and joy, no matter what your relationship to planning is. So I have just started my high-end group container, the Soul Guide Academy. It is… It has been sold out with soul clients, you guys. And so it has been just really exciting for [00:01:00] me to put that offer out there, because I felt really called to create a container for soul-guided entrepreneurs who are looking to get consistently and effortlessly… I always have a hard time saying that word… effortlessly sold out with soul clients. And it’s a good feeling when I am teaching people how to do it.

And I do it for myself, and it was one of the most powerful things that I’ve learned from Martha Beck, who was [00:01:30] my first teacher in coaching. And that is you got to live it to give it. And so whatever you’re offering your customers or clients, that you yourself are living it, more or less. We’re not talking about perfect here. We’re talking about you’re more or less living that which you’re giving. So if you’re teaching people how to, say, tap into their true authenticity, that you – more or less – are tapped into yours. 

And I’m mentioning that because [00:02:00] I’m going to be taking you through the soul-guided planning process that I use every single year. This is truly what I use. This is truly what I teach my clients. And this works for me year after year. So I can tell you this process I’m going to be guiding you through today works. It will align to you no matter what your relationship is to planning and it will get you results.

So in today’s [00:02:30] episode, I’ll make the argument for why you want to carve out time to craft a soul-guided life and business plan, the key parts to a powerful soul-guided plan, and how to craft a plan that creates the ideal outcomes your soul has been yearning for. We’ll end on a challenge that will have you excited to craft your soul-guided plan for the year ahead in a way that helps you align to the business of your dreams. [00:03:00] So please stay with us until the end.

Podcast Introdu…:           Welcome to Soul Guide Radio, a podcast for soul-guided leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs here to bring about change on a massive level. We’ll explore how you can activate your big soul mission, amplify your spiritual gifts, and clear the energy blocks weighing you down so you can gain unstoppable momentum in life and business. [00:03:30] I’m Allyson Scammell your host and soul guide.

Allyson Scammel…:         Hey there Soul Guide Circle! That is the name of this community of soul-guided leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs. In the Soul Guide Circle, we have big soul missions and we yearn to earn more, serve more, and grow spiritually along the way. If you aren’t already a member, then I invite you to join our Facebook [00:04:00] group of over 1400 leaders and light-workers who are in service to each other and the planet. You can find a link to join on my website, allysonscammell.com or in the show notes.

Today, we’re talking soul-guided planning. If you’ve been in my community for a while, you know that I heart planning, and I used to be a civilian humanitarian planner at [00:04:30] NATO. And I used to work with militaries from all over North America and Europe in their military planning processes, and I would provide the voice of this civilian community and the humanitarian community. And I always loved the seven Ps, which is a British army adage, and it is that “proper planning and preparation prevents poor performance.” And I have to say I more or less agree with those [00:05:00] seven Ps, but this is Soul Guide Radio, and we are talking about soul-guided planning, so it has a different energy and frequency to it.

 So why do you want to carve out the time to create a soul-guided plan? Hey, let’s look at 2020. Did 2020 go as any of us planned? I spent a lot of time… I usually do my planning in late December, early January. I go deep into my cave. [00:05:30] I go deep inside. What do I really want to do in the year ahead? Who do I really want to be? What do I want to create? What do I want to offer? And I did this whole thing at the end of 2019, and I came away with retreats! Woo hoo, live retreats! I want to do really amazing, beautiful retreats that bring people together in physical proximity to one another, and we get together and we spend a lot of time in each other’s presence. Great idea, right?

 [00:06:00] So I had my beautiful plan all ready to go in January, 2020. I was so excited, right? You probably had a cool plan in January 2020, and then the coronavirus happened. And I don’t need to explain the rest. Needless to say, I had to cancel my retreats. I had to give refunds. Have you guys ever given a refund of a high end event that you spent a lot of time and effort marketing, and connecting to people, and getting amazing [00:06:30] people to enroll, only to give them a refund and have to cancel? It’s not a good feeling, I’ll tell you that. But, I didn’t really let it get me down for too long because it really is the essence of soul-guided planning that all plans are fluid.

 All plans are constantly evolving and changing. And so, I had a plan at the start of 2020 to do retreats only to realize [00:07:00] that that couldn’t happen. So I just dropped into my heart. I dropped into my soul and asked, “okay, now what wants to happen”? The plan is changing. It’s fluid. It’s evolving. What wants to happen next that will be even better? And that’s when my Mastermind was birthed. And in 2020 I offered my Soul Mastermind. It was my first high- [00:07:30] end group event. And I gathered 10 amazing women together to be part of this. And I ended up earning way more income than the retreats would’ve ever brought in. And I ended up having, I believe a way more enriching experience, because it was six months together in community. And we were created a true soul family, and it ended up being way better than the plan I had crafted in [00:08:00] January 2020.

And it also led to the birth of my now signature group offering my Soul Academy. And so that brings us to another important point of a soul-guided plan is A) they’re fluid, and B) you’re always in the energy of “either it’s this in my plan or something better.” And that gets into that access consciousness adage, “it’s either this or something better.” [00:08:30] So whenever you craft a plan, we are always unattached to our plans. In soul-guided planning, there’s no attachment. And if you see attachment it’s okay, and that’s just your invitation to release that attachment because the plan is fluid. It’s living, it’s breathing, it’s ebbing, it’s flowing. And either you are going to manifest everything that is in that plan word for word, as you have envisioned it [00:09:00] or written it or dreamed it, or it’s going to be better. It’s going to be even better!

So there’s no reason to have any attachment. And here’s the heart of the reason why we always want to have a soul-guided plan in place. And that is, our energy likes to be guided. It likes to know where to go. And our energy is guided by emotion. So a good soul-guided plan will help [00:09:30] us be in the emotions we most want to experience. I often say soul-guided plans are feel-good plans. They should feel good. And if they don’t, that’s fine, it’s just feedback that something inside of it needs to be tweaked or refined.

But let’s go a little bit deeper here. In the soul-guided planning process, there is the concept of duality. Duality means that there is [00:10:00] an opposition or a contrast between two concepts. So the contrast we have going on here is on the one hand, we have a plan. We have tapped into our soul and we have created a vision for a future that we most want to experience, and we’ve crafted a plan to align us to that vision. So that’s one side of the contrast. And the other side is at the exact same time, we are in complete [00:10:30] response to what is present. We are in creative flow to what wants to be. We are completely unattached to the plan and we are willing and ready and able to shift left or right if the circumstances require it and our soul is guiding us.

So it’s having a plan and being in creative flow at the exact same time. And as I mentioned previously, that not [00:11:00] everybody plans the same way. Not everybody has the same relationship to planning. So another way to get to know how you best approach planning is to get to know your human design. Your human design type will tell you if it’s better for you to get more specific, be more in emotions, be more organized, be more in flow. So chatting with a human design consultant is a good… that’s a good question to ask that consultant, like what’s the best way for [00:11:30] me to approach planning for my life and for my business? But ultimately at the end of the day, whatever you craft really should feel good. It’s the feel-good plan. If it feels good for you to get specific, get specific. If it feels good for you to have wave-top ideas that trigger good-feeling emotions, go with that. Go with the plans that feel spacious, exciting and aligned for you.

That said, [00:12:00] I’m going to offer you the three key parts of a powerful plan. And I do recommend that you have some form or another of these three key parts that I’m going to share with you right now. And this is a higher-level strategic plan I’m talking about. So yes you will, in addition to this, need a marketing plan. You’ll probably have to put some meat on the bones here and there, but this is a super important place to start. This is your high-level [00:12:30] strategy for your life and business, and from here, everything else flows.

Okay. The first key part, probably the “keyest” part, if “keyest” is a word… The most key part to a soul-guided plan is your soul-guided vision. It is the ideal outcome that you most want to bring into your experience. So I always recommend that there be a [00:13:00] short-term vision and a long-term vision. Some people resist doing very long-term visioning. If that is you, go as far out into the future as you possibly can, that pushes the edges of your comfort zone, but doesn’t push too hard. So I always do a 10-year vision and a one-year vision. It is fun, if you feel comfortable with long term visioning, you can always do a 20-year vision, a 25-year vision. !

 And [00:13:30] what we’re always looking for in our visions, more than anything, is the feeling states. It is the energy that is there. It’s always less important what specifically you see, like how big is your team? How many clients do you have? What are your offerings? That is all important, and I say that would be… that’s kind of maybe more important in the short-term visioning, but in the long-term visioning, noticing what is present, yes, [00:14:00] and being really conscious and aware of the energy, the feeling state. That is what you want to tap into because those are the feeling states and the energy you want to bring into your present day to help you get that alignment to your vision.

So y’all know that I love my five step process. So, soul-guided visioning is another five step process. So [00:14:30] step one, deep breaths. And a soul-guided vision, again, you’re tapping into your higher self to call up a vision of success, of alignment of soul purpose for you in the future, where you’re at your highest alignment in your fullest potential. That is basically what a soul-guided vision is as I define it.

So how [00:15:00] do you get that vision? Step one, deep breaths. Step two, pivot down to the heart space. Step three, connect to your higher self. Step four, ask your higher self to present to you in your mind’s eye, in your inner knowing in your feeling a vision of aligned, soul-guided success for you in the future, whether it be one year, five year, 10 years, 25 years. So let’s say we’re doing a one year vision. You ask for that vision, [00:15:30] that aligned vision for you in one year’s time. So the end of a calendar year, the start of a new calendar year is a great time to do that. If you are into the lunar cycles, you can do this around the lunar cycles. You don’t have to do it at the end of a calendar year, but for me, in the modern world we live in, the world is organized around the solar calendar. For me, it’s just a helpful way to do it.

 But again, this is your plan. [00:16:00] So you get to craft it around any cycle, which you wish to. But I do recommend crafting it around a cycle, whichever cycle calls to you. So let’s just imagine here we are in early January, we’re doing it for the 12 months ahead. What do I ideally want my life and business to look and feel like at the end of this calendar year? And then you go to step five and you allow a [00:16:30] vision to unfold. You allow guidance to arrive. You allow your inner knowing to kick in. You’re really engaging your intuitive gifts and allowing this vision to appear, however it wishes to appear.

And if you’re not sure what you see or sense to be there, go with your best guess and then write it down, always, because that’s the plan, right? Writing it down, on the back of an envelope, in some sort of document, that actually [00:17:00] creates the plan. Keeping the plan in our head, to me is not a real plan, because I feel like the energy is too scattered and it’s too much at the way of our thinking mind, and it’s too directionless for energy to be truly guided when your plan only stays in the confines of your mind. And that’s why it really helps to have some sort of piece of paper, [00:17:30] ideally printed out, but it can be something that lives in your computer that captures this soul-guided vision.

And I really encourage you to do the soul-guided visioning process more than once. I think that if you carve out a little bit of time at the end of the year, at the beginning of the year, to do this work, you want to do this soul-guided visioning about three times. So maybe you carve out three days where you’re going to take a little bit of time each day for three days [00:18:00] to do soul-guided planning. I think that’s a really good way to do it. And you want to do the soul-guided visioning part three times, once per day for three days. And then once you do the one-year visioning, then you can do the 10-year visioning. And to be honest, I actually start with the long-term visioning and then I go to the short-term visioning.

So that’s how I recommend you do it. But some people do have a hard access to that. They feel a lot of resistance around the long-term visioning. So do what it feels good [00:18:30] for you. You’re pushing into your comfort zones, but you’re not pushing too hard. Okay. So then you get your soul-guided vision. You’re noticing what’s in there, you’re writing it down, and you’re paying extra special attention to your feeling states. What is those energies that you’re feeling? What are those emotions that you’re feeling?

Alright. The second key part to your plan is breaking that vision down throughout the [00:19:00] year. So let’s go back to your one-year vision and again, you can slice and dice your vision however it feels good to you, but I’m going to offer you the way that I do it and I teach it and that is, I first break it down by quarter. So I look at my ideal outcome. I look at my end state, and then I work back. What do I need to do or be?

And remember, states of being is really important here, because we’re talking about energy, right? So what actions [00:19:30] do I need to take, who do I need to be, in the first quarter of the year to get me to my goal? And then you want to look into the second quarter, the third quarter, the fourth quarter. So what you’re doing is going quarter by quarter of the year to four ideal outcomes for each quarter, that all add up to you being in alignment to your vision by the end of the year. And how I do it, is I normally choose my top three ideal outcomes or my top [00:20:00] three priorities for each quarter so I don’t overload myself and get bogged down.

So looking at my vision, what are the top three things I should do, should place my focus on, should prioritize in quarter one, two, three and four to align to and realize the out ideal outcome at the end of the year. And if it feels good for you to set quarterly goals that are kind of specific with numbers, do that. [00:20:30] And if it feels better to just focus on the emotions you want to feel and the space you want to be in, go there.

And then throughout the year, I recommend at the start of each month for 10 minutes, you get out your plan, you look at it, you decide if anything needs to be tweaked and refined. And then you look at your quarterly goals, your quarterly ideal outcomes. And then you ask yourself, okay, so if it’s beginning of January [00:21:00] and you’re looking at the first quarter, what do I need to do, and/or who do I need to be in January to realize my first quarter goals or ideal outcomes. And then that becomes your priority list for the month of January. Remember you always want to be guiding your energy. And also of course in creative response to what is present.

 Okay, [00:21:30] the third and very key part to a good, so guided plan. And again, this is something I received directly from Martha Beck and that is, you always want to have a couple wildly improbable goals. So those are the really big goals that feel so crazy that you just might be able to achieve it. And what that does is it really helps you push the edges of your comfort zone. Dream big, think big, [00:22:00] be in the energy of bigness, because if you’re here in the Soul Guided Circle community, chances are you have a big soul mission and your energy needs you to stretch those bigness muscles, right?

Because it is a muscle that you have to practice. Dreaming big does take practice. When you first start to dream big, you’re likely going to get some form of the thought “who are you to dream so big? [00:22:30] Just who do you think you are?” And you need to acknowledge that voice, feed it a grape, and then get back to your inner knowing, get back to your truth, get back to your soul-guided vision, which I know is going to tell you some form of you are the one.” You are the one with the big mission. You are the one to be thinking so big, and setting these WIGs as Martha Beck calls them, these wildly improbable goals or these WIGs, helps you to stretch your bigness muscle. And so I like [00:23:00] to set one WIG for my business and one WIG for my personal life each year. And I normally just set one for the year, but sometimes I will actually set WIGs also for the quarter.

 And how I experience WIGs, and it could be different for you, is I often don’t get my WIGs the year I set them, but this year I will experience last year’s WIG. Last year I set the WIG to have 10,000 downloads in one month for my podcast, and [00:23:30] I have a hunch that this might be the year that I get that milestone. And with WIGs, you want to be light, spacious, unattached, and in that energy of “wouldn’t it be amazing if?” Wouldn’t it be amazing if this podcast got 10,000 downloads in a month? Wouldn’t that be fun and exciting? And wouldn’t it be incredible of 10,000 people who really, really needed this wisdom or something that’s offered in this podcast was receiving [00:24:00] it? Wouldn’t that be so cool? And think of the ripple effect of love and connection that that could create.

 So when you think about your WIG, be in the energy of your big soul mission and that big transformation that you’re here to create in the world, and how you can help create that ripple effect to helping more and more people, being in service to more and more in a way that’s fun and exciting, and have fun with your WIGs. They are not [00:24:30] to put pressure on you. They’re not to feel heavy. They really are meant to feel light, loving, expansive, and connected.

 Okay, moving on to using this plan and crafting the plan in a way to create ideal outcomes. And again, we create our ideal outcomes by getting into the energy today of the energy we see [00:25:00] in our vision for the future. So you want to go back to your one-year vision, getting specific about the feeling states in it. You feel connected, free, expansive, creative, abundant, wealthy. Go with the truth. If in your vision, you see yourself feeling very wealthy, you see a lot of money, you see a lot of income, don’t be guilty about that. Don’t deny that. Don’t second-guess it [00:25:30] with thoughts like, “oh, that’s very selfish to see a lot of wealth in the vision.”

No, your soul is always guiding you to the truth. If you see wealth and abundance in your vision, that means it’s there and your soul is guiding you towards it because it’s in your highest and greatest good. And you want to do the same thing for the long-term visioning. What feeling states are present? What energy is present? And those feeling states that are the same in [00:26:00] your long-term visioning as your short-term visioning are likely pointing you to your core valued feeling states. These feelings will get you vibrating at your highest frequency, and not all of us are motivated by the same feeling states. So notice what they are in the 10-year vision or the long-term vision, and then notice what they are in the short-term vision.

And then it’s going to the question, “okay, [00:26:30] I notice that in my visions, I see freedom, connection, wealth, love abundance, health, service to others, right? Contribution to the world. So I notice these feeling states, how can I experience those feeling states today and tomorrow? Who can I be and what can I do to experience those feeling states in my life, in my business, [00:27:00] right now?” The more you ask that question and the more you mindfully go into that energy today, the quicker and more easeful your visions of ideal outcomes will arrive into your experience. If you get into the habit of asking this question, at the start of each year, at the start of each quarter, at the start of each month, at the start of each week, at the start of each day, ” [00:27:30] what can I do and who can I be to experience my core valued feeling states?”

First of all, that will help you release any attachment you have to any ideal outcome because you’re already in the energy of the ideal outcome. And when you’re truly in that energy of that future ideal outcome today, the attachment melts away. Because taking the example of wealth, you’re already in [00:28:00] the energy of wealth. You don’t need an extra $10,000 in your bank account to feel it because you’re already in it and you don’t need money. You don’t need clients. You don’t need a fancy car to feel and be in the energy frequency of wealth. So what can I do today that would enable me to feel wealthy, to be in this state of being of wealth, for example. So as I asked myself that question, “what would feel wealthy [00:28:30] for me to do today?” I get the answer “work less.”

Yeah, because I’m wealthy, right? So I’m in the energy of wealth. So I don’t need to be in the energy of, I have got to do to earn money. I’ve got to do, do, do I’ve got to work, work, work to earn money. I am in the energy frequency of wealth so I can go relax. I can take a hot bath. I can take a long walk with my dog. And that is going to help me be in the energy frequency [00:29:00] of wealth. This is an incredibly powerful practice of how can bring those energy frequencies that I see in my future highest-aligned visions into my experience today and tomorrow and the next day.

And crafting an aligned, good feeling soul-guided life and business plan will help you get into those feeling states, into that energy. And that will ultimately [00:29:30] enable you to bring in more clients, income, joy, and whatever else it is you wish to experience.

 So, quick recap. Soul-guided planning enables you to guide your energy and get clarity on that place that your soul most wants you to go. There are three key parts to a powerful soul-guided [00:30:00] plan. And that is a long-term and a short-term soul-guided vision, breaking that vision out into four parts each quarter, and then breaking those quarters out to each month, and then each week, and then each day. The third part is including your wildly improbable goals to flex those muscles of you dreaming really big. And then you want to really notice those feeling states in your vision and ask, “how can I start feeling [00:30:30] those feelings and getting into that energy today?”

My invitation for you this week is to carve out three days, and at least 15 minutes a day for three days, to craft your soul-guided life and business plan for the year ahead. You need not more than 15 minutes a day for three days. And in those 15 minutes, I invite you [00:31:00] to do a long-term and a short-term soul guided vision. Notice what you see. Notice the feeling states. Write it down somewhere on a piece of paper that you can look at from time to time, and then break that vision out into quarterly ideal outcomes or goals and use those quarterly ideal outcomes to drive how you prioritize your months, your weeks, and your days.

And I’d love to [00:31:30] give a shout out to Miriam Schulman for her super nice rating and review of Soul Guide Radio. Miriam says, “Allyson rocks the podcast with important topics and conversations.” I love it. And then she says “@schulmanart, host of The Inspiration Place podcast.” And if you’re loving on this podcast, and I get so much positive feedback all the time, people are always telling me they’re binging my podcast. If that [00:32:00] is you, even if you’re not binging, and you’ve been going, “I’ve been wanting to give Allyson a review and just haven’t gotten around to it,” I invite you to do so with love and gratitude. And I will read your beautiful words on the air. And as always until next time, may your soul guide the way.

Podcast Introdu…:           Are you ready to fill your business with soul clients in the next 60 days? [00:32:30] Then download my free energy upgrade meditation to amp up your energy frequency, dissolve the doubt, and attract the soul clients you are destined to serve. Find the link to download on my website, allysonscammell.com, as well as in the show notes.