This is good

I was listening to a coach named David Ghiyam the other day, as I was doing his 30-day programme, and I meditated on the phrase, “This is good.” I listened and visualised everything that could possibly be perceived as good, even though it feels like it’s bad — it really isn’t.

I remember always sharing that life shows us which areas to work on, what our next step is, and guides us every step of the way. This is how the universe works for me personally, and it’s something that I deeply resonate with. I am shown which area of my life I am working on, which lessons are coming up, and which choices are in my highest outcome. I think all of us get guided in this way, but so many of us have become disconnected from the life force, this intuitive connection, because we are all just trying to survive. Life happens, and it pulls us away from this natural sense of always being in communication with everything around us.

As entrepreneurs and people holding big dreams and creating opportunities for others, it is important that we look at everything through the lens of “goodness”, no matter what happens around us, to us or with us. The question is, what if this is here FOR us?

I’ve been using this phrase for a long time, but it always takes a while to really land. We’re in a position where we are shaping our realities through business, but we’re also allowing our clients and team members to experience this world that we’re building, even if it’s just for a moment. What world are we building for others? This is where I am going in my thinking too.

Is it a world where they do not feel safe enough to rest? Is it a reality where they get fired if they do not perform well enough? Do we create a sense of fear and urgency within the reality of the service or product that we’re offering them? Literally, what world gets created?

When I think of the phrase, “This is good,” it takes me back to the founder’s personal experience because we experience so many things that break our spirit. We get rejected multiple times in a week, sometimes in a day too. We are often so misunderstood by our families, where they’re thinking, Why don’t we get a real job? Why is your business not making money?

Sometimes clients aren’t the easiest to work with either, and we are left feeling depleted. Sometimes we can barely have relationships outside of our business because we eat, sleep and think about our business every single moment of the day. Some of us aren’t able to socialise much or even have friends who understand our journey, to be honest.

The amount of friends who have left me personally because I couldn’t commit to seeing them every week, or even speak to them often because I was overstimulated, was insane. And sometimes, we lose money, and that controls our lifestyle, so we can’t even think of anything else outside of business…

A few years ago, I was still practising the concept of “Life is For Us,” not against us. I felt like it was easier to say it then because I don’t think I had experienced what I have experienced now, which is this: even if I lost everything because of the business transitioning, would I still say, “Life is For Us,” not against us?

Years ago, I was also practising the concept of “our business tells us what it needs”… until now, when Hucklberry transitioned into what it is.

There was a pause where we could no longer work with any of our older clients, except those who aligned with the future vision and leadership of Hucklberry and those who aligned with our values. This was the only way we could do our best work and build in the way we needed to. We had to put action to these changes because we were suffering to keep up with the demands of the business and the way it was built.

We overpromised and sometimes underdelivered, not because we were misleading, but because we cared so much for our clients that we ignored our own state of being. We cared so much for the mission of serving the dreams of others that our life force was being sucked.

In the end, we had to disappoint some clients by not always meeting the deadline. We were so malnourished energetically that there was no way we could see the future of Hucklberry like we had planned.

I had to sit with this shame the other day and forgive myself for not doing my best work under those circumstances, and I also had to forgive myself for neglecting myself and those around me during that period.

I felt so disconnected from reality sometimes. I remember falling into complete sickness eventually and even ended up going to the doctor because of fatigue. I was hallucinating because of how drained I was. I was told that I needed to take one month off from work, and the doctor understood that I really couldn’t. Instead, I took two weeks off, and clients were disappointed because of it.

I had the team that was helping me keep up, but the clients wanted me… all of me, like I gave them before.

I was allowing myself to be killed while working on my dream and the dreams of others.

Definitely then, I didn’t feel like life was for me. It definitely felt like life was against me and all the people in it.

My life dramatically changed then, and I had to slow down. I began to understand my boundaries a lot better. I went deeper into why I people-pleased, I went deeper into why I was chasing the business so much and overworking.

I had unresolved childhood trauma that was building the old Hucklberry, and I had a moment to sit with my younger self and ask her to show me what was happening and how I needed to make a change.

I spent time in deep journeys, uncovering the depths behind my motivation to succeed. What does it even mean to succeed? What does it look and feel like, but also, who am I doing this all for?

And the most important question was, what does it look like when I allow my softness to lead?

Do I have to give up my personal dream of having a husband, children and this big family?

If I wanted this, I couldn’t build the business like I did before, based on hustle and a lack of moral compass. I had to lead in the way my heart desires it to be… truthful and authentic to the way I love people, their souls, and how I truly am passionate about their dreams.

I had to allow… instead of control like I did before, because I actually had no control, to be honest. It was all an illusion.

I needed to do what not many entrepreneurs do at that time: allow the business to teach me, just as the universe is teaching me in my personal life, because they are related and in creation with us.

If I never took this step into leading from the way I was here to serve naturally, and leading from the depths of my soul, I would be sacrificing the dream of having my own family, the dream of finding solutions for other people on their journey and helping support them better, but most importantly, the dream of building a world where others get to experience the bliss of following their heart’s desires.

While I was sitting with all of this spiritually, physically, things would naturally change around me. We had to pause Hucklberry for a while, which was probably around six months now, and allow the recalibration phase to take place.

What this looked like was letting go of my home that I was renting and all my material needs. I had to rely on the help of my family to make it through and solely rely on the Creator to lead me to the next phase of the business.

This was not an easy task for me, as the pressures are heavier than I’ve ever experienced, but also, feeling the feeling of failure was the biggest transformation I’ve experienced.

I allowed myself to fail.

I allowed myself to not be perfect.

And guess what?

My soul was relieved, happy that I did not have to pretend to know it all or to be perfect for anyone any longer.

So when I meditated on the phrase “This is good,” I now see it.

Yes, everything I went through, and will still go through, is GOOD.

They are all guidance on how we can expand our vessel to receive more for ourselves, to receive more magic into our lives, but most importantly, to receive more of the love and support that is truly around us to build the business and its world for ourselves and those we serve.

So, whenever you are seeing signs in your life and noticing challenges in your business, say “This is good,” like the coach mentioned in a webinar.

This is good.

It’s giving us areas to work on. It’s allowing us to release limitations so that we can achieve that greatness we desire, that life we dream of and also, inherently, build a world where our clients thrive in.

Look at everything that is getting your attention now and say, yes, this is good.

I’m receiving an activation.

I am receiving guidance on what area to work on.

Then eventually, we begin to rebuild our nervous system, reprogramme our mindset to one that is of peace, and in turn, allow our souls to operate actively in our lives.

What I went through is now the method I teach in my programmes, and my goal is to help as many people as I possibly can around the world.

I really want you to feel what satisfaction feels like, what softness feels like, whether you’re a male or female, but most importantly, what it feels like to feel free and lead from sovereignty.

Sharing my truth, to lead you to yours.

Saskia Riley