Welcome back.
This is our third and final meditation in this series.
And it's for anyone who is building something and needs resources to fully bring it to life.
Maybe you're raising venture capital.
Perhaps you're looking for a loan or a line of credit or your next round of funding.
Maybe you're simply asking your business or your own ambition to grow bigger than it's ever been.
Wherever you are on that journey,
This meditation is for you.
In our last meditation,
We practiced feeling what it's like to receive.
Today we're going to go a step further.
We're going to practice being brave enough to ask for what we actually want.
And brave enough to imagine the best case scenario instead of the smaller,
Safer version we usually let ourselves picture.
So many of us shrink the request before we even make it.
We round down,
We hedge,
We prepare for rejection so thoroughly that we forget to picture what it would feel like to actually get a yes.
Today we're not doing that.
Today we're going to dream as big as the dream actually is.
Find a comfortable position,
Seated or laying down.
And wherever you are right now,
Let your eyes soften closed or just soften your gaze down towards the floor.
Let's begin with the breath.
Take a breath in through the nose.
And let it out slow through the mouth.
One more like that,
A cleansing inhale in through the nose.
Nice and easy.
And out through your mouth,
Letting your shoulders drop a little more each time you exhale.
Notice your facial expression,
Any tightness in the body,
The shoulders,
The jaw.
And see if breath by breath you can start to unwind.
Now let your breath find its own rhythm.
Know there's nothing to control or force.
Just notice it moving on its own.
Maybe for a moment you focus on the rising and falling and the movement in the body that your breath creates.
And finally,
Feel into your foundation.
Feel into the support below the body.
Whatever you're seated on.
Whatever is holding you up.
And let it hold you just a little bit more fully,
Giving way to the sensation of gravity gently opening up the body.
As you take deep breaths now and throughout this practice,
Bring to mind what you're building,
Whatever it is,
A company,
A practice,
A project,
An idea that's finding its shape.
Let yourself feel proud of it for a moment,
Exactly as it is right now.
It's yours.
Now bring to mind what you need to take it further.
Funding.
Capital.
Investment.
Resources.
Whatever word fits for you.
Notice if there's any tightness that shows up around asking for this.
A lot of us were taught that wanting more makes us greedy,
Or that asking for support makes us less capable,
Or that we should be able to do this all alone.
None of that is true.
Every builder needs resources.
Every great vision of the past required someone at some point to say yes to it.
And just the same,
You are allowed to need support.
You are allowed to ask for it directly without shrinking the ask to make it feel safer.
Now let's take a moment to really feel the value of what you're building.
Think about the problem you're solving.
The gap you're filling.
Or the people you're serving.
Feel how real that value is.
You did not stumble into this.
You built it through skill,
Through persistence,
Through showing up on the hard days as well as the easy ones.
That has weight and it has worth.
Say this quietly to yourself in your own mind.
What I'm building is valuable.
What I'm asking for is fair.
Let that land in your chest.
Not as arrogance,
But as simple,
Grounded facts.
What I'm building is valuable.
And what I'm asking for is fair.
You don't have to convince anyone of your worth before you can feel it yourself.
Feel it first.
Let the asking come from that place.
Now,
I want you to do something we don't always give ourselves permission to do.
I want you to imagine the best case scenario,
Not the realistic one,
Not the safe one,
But the best one.
Take a few deep rounds of breath.
Just to get yourself ready,
Get yourself in the right mental headspace to imagine.
Imagine the meeting or the pitch.
The application,
The ask.
Going better than you expected.
Imagine the person across from you leaning in,
Genuinely excited.
And seeing exactly what you see in this vision.
Seeing everything going according to plan.
Imagine hearing yes,
Not a maybe,
Not we'll circle back,
But a real full yes.
And as you imagine this,
See it and feel it in front of you.
Let yourself feel what that yes feels like in your body right now.
Notice your chest as you're breathing.
Is it lift?
Of something and you finally exhale deeply.
You've been holding your breath for a long time without realizing it and now you can finally let it go.
Let this feeling spread Over your shoulders,
Down your arms,
Into your hands.
The same hands that are going to do the work of building this once the resources arrive.
Imagine the relief of having what you need to move forward fully without the constant friction of not enough.
Imagine the momentum on the other side.
Imagine the energy that gets freed up once this particular worry is finally resolved.
This isn't naive.
This is rehearsal.
Notice the element of rehearsing this vision before it arrives.
The body and the mind don't fully know the difference between a vividly imagined success and a real one.
So let yourself rehearse the win fully right now.
Let yourself feel good as you explore it.
As you continue,
Maybe a soft smile comes across your face.
Maybe there's small shifts in your posture.
How you're seated right now.
Perhaps something changes in the way that you're breathing in response to this exploration.
Allow this moment to feel good.
And allow any positive feelings and emotions to wash over you.
Now from this place,
I want you to feel the version of you who makes this ask without flinching.
This version doesn't apologize for the number.
This version of you doesn't soften it until it's barely a request.
It states what is needed clearly and lets the answer be the other person's responsibility,
Not yours to control.
Feel your posture in this moment.
Holding steady.
Feel how this version of you breathes before they walk into the room or send a message or make the call.
You have access to this version of you right now.
It's not someone you have to become someday.
It's already in you.
The part of you that built your idea in the first place against whatever odds were in the way.
Let yourself borrow that courage for a moment.
Let it sit in your chest ready for the next time you need to make this ask.
Before the resources and the support arrive.
You have to feel the version of you who is ready and willing to receive them.
The first step is always asking for support.
The second step is actually allowing yourself to receive it.
Trust that you are the person who is capable of doing both.
Here you can say out loud what your request is.
You can state it as I need.
I want.
More I deserve.
Anything that feels real and supportive for you and your work,
Feel free to state it now.
As we get ready to come back,
What I want you to do first is create this muscle memory of what you feel like in this moment so that you can feel it outside of this practice.
Take one more full breath in.
As you exhale,
Let this feeling of courage and worth settle into your body so it's still here after this meditation ends.
You are allowed to dream the biggest version of this vision.
You are allowed to ask for exactly what you need without shrinking.
You are allowed to bravely and boldly use your voice.
And you are allowed to believe in the best case scenario.
And to let that belief lead the way that you show up.
Now make that best case scenario vivid in your mind one more time.
See it in front of your eyes.
See it from every angle.
Hear the words spoken.
And trust that this outcome is possible.
When you're ready,
Gently wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Take a big,
Big stretch.
Take a full breath.
And in your own time,
Let yourself start to come back.
Welcome back.
Now it's time to go build the thing.
