For the past two years, Meshell Zwicker and I have been doing a 3-day retreat at my home in Forestville, CA. The retreat is called “The Next Highest Version”. We call my home Compassion Ranch. This weekend we had our 12th Next Highest Version Experience. The work we do is deep and personal. We only work with four people per event. They arrive on Thursday evening and stay in my home until Sunday Morning. The work is divided into four parts:
Step 1. Reveal: What is the pattern of thinking and feeling that has woven into your life, between the ages of birth and ten years old and is unconsciously determining the direction of your life? What we are exploring is the big pattern, the one that has become a winning formula. It’s the pattern that got us to where we are today, but it’s not the pattern that will take us to the Next level. It’s the pattern that holds us back from experiencing ourselves at the next highest version of ourselves.
This is tough work because it requires a level of honesty and humility to look at ourselves and our behavior that is like a barnacle attached to a ship. In order to scrape the hull, it needs to be dry docked so it can be examined with care so you can realize just how much drag this barnacle is creating in our life.
Step 2. Remove: Once the pattern is revealed and named, it’s now time to remove it. We use a variety of tools and modalities to do this work. Because the patterns are deeply woven into the fabric of our DNA, it requires an enormous amount of courage and willingness to let it go. But when you stop and examine exactly how this pattern is holding you back, plus the damage it is slowly doing to your life and the people around you, you discover the strength to remove it.
Step 3. Release: Once the pattern has been removed, it’s now time to release it. The process of releasing is deeply understanding that you were not born with this pattern, it’s a belief that was developed to assure your survival. But you’re no longer in a place where you’re just trying to survive, it no longer your pursuit, you want to experience significance, so you release it.
Step 4. Replace: Once the space has been created, you now have a choice: What new pattern do you want to weave into your life? This pattern is called your Next Highest Version.
Reveal – Remove – Release – Replace
This is courageous work: it requires a commitment to deeply examine the truth, look it squarely in the face and deal with it.
I like to compare it to my Kokoro experience. Which was the civilian version of the Navy Seal Hell week, but instead of pushing the boundaries of your physical and mental strength, you’re pushing the boundaries of your emotional well-being.
Because we only work with four people at a time, there is no place to hide, therefore what we can achieve in three days is equivalent to what may take you ten years to do on your own.
So why we have been so successful with this work?
We only work with people who we know, and know us. We offer the experience to our Brovance Members, which is my quarterly mastermind group that I’ve been leading for eight years.
They trust me. They know that I am there to guide them they know it is safe to work with me. Creating a safe place for people I care about to to their work is a significant part of my life today. I have worked very hard for the past eight years to build a tribe of people who trust me. So far half of my tribe have made the journey to Compassion Ranch. I love this model of coaching. I encourage other coaches and tribal leaders to consider this type of model.
In my video blog, Creating, Growing and Leading a Referral Tribe, I share the mindsets and strategies to be a tribal leader.
My definition of a Tribal Leader is a person who creates the space for their members to fully realize their potential.
As I reflect on this weekend and our group of new Next Highest Version graduates, I’m filled with a sense of gratitude and destiny.