I’ve been talking about Angel committees for years and it’s been a lot of fun. My idea of an Angel committee is that everyone has one and that they conspire to force us to live our lives fully. They will do whatever it takes to get our attention and they howl with delight when they think up a really good scenario to force us to get honest and get brave.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o />
A while ago my friend Francie and I were taking an afternoon walk. She had started a new network marketing business called Life Force, and she was trying to decide whether to go to a Chamber of Commerce meeting later that afternoon to pitch her stuff.
“I don’t think I’ll go,” she told me, with a little depression and desperation in her voice.
Francie had owned a wonderful restaurant in Corvallis several years ago called Café Croissant. It had been my family’s favorite Sunday morning spot. She sold the restaurant and she and her family took a year to sail around the world.
What I’m getting at is that this woman had talent and an adventurous spirit. She did not want to run a restaurant anymore. (Anyone who has run a restaurant might understand how she felt.) She did need to earn some income for her family, but she had never done any network marketing before and it had such a bad reputation, she was worried about it. Plus she felt nervous about having to “push” herself on people.
“Let’s imagine you have an Angel Committee, Francie,” I said. “Let’s say this committee decided to help you find a new career because it knew how much you did not want to own a restaurant anymore, but also knew you wanted to run your own business and work for yourself.
“What if your Angel Committee had a conversation that went something like this:
‘Hmmm. What career opportunity can we offer Francie that will have something to do with nutrition, but not involve cooking or running a restaurant?’ (Life Force’s main product is Body Balance, which is sea vegetables and aloe and is amazingly good for the body. Francie had lost twenty pounds on it and had some long term skin problems clear up. She was a believer.)
‘Yes,’ her Committee continues, ‘let’s also give this company a world-wide network because she loves to travel.’ (Life Force has people selling it all over the world. In fact, she had discovered it through a friend in New Zealand, and then drank it for a month in Ireland before she ever decided to start selling it.)
‘Yeah! And let’s give her a terrific coach who she loves and who loves her and who is full of integrity and encouragement!’ (This would be her friend and sponsor, Manfred from New Zealand.)
‘Oh! Oh! And let’s force her to step out of her comfort zone and talk to strangers. She’ll have to do it because she believes in her product so much!’ (The Angel Committee is now slapping themselves on the back and folded over in laughter.)
‘Tee hee! She will have to do things she never thought she could do, she will help people all over the world, and she will earn lots of money to support her family and her desire to travel all over the world! This is perfect!’
‘It will scare her to pieces,’ one Angel comments.
‘Yeah!’ they all scream and fall off their chairs laughing.”
After hearing this story (which I made up on the spot, by the way) Francie decided she must go to the meeting she was dreading. She did go, had a great time, gained confidence, and recruited someone into her business. We laugh about it now, but it was a significant step for her at the time.
My experience with Angel Committees is always like this. Thinking this way is how I coach myself and others: “What if I had an Angel Committee and they had planned for this exact thing to happen to me in order to promote my awakening and my freedom….” This question always leads to great stuff.
Blessings,
Vicki
P.S. This is an excerpt from my book Courage to Lead. Click on this sentence to order.
