This post is about how I run a downstream business. I’m going to share examples from my coaching practice and business about what I mean by downstream.
I want you to look for Law of Attraction behind the examples. Because that’s really the point: To see how daily decisions can be made and actions taken through the lens of LoA.
Whether you own your own business or work for someone else or are retired, whether you are a corporate executive, a stay-at-home mom, or a part-time employee, we all can benefit by embodying Law of Attraction in all aspects of our lives.
I’ve been coaching full-time since 2010.
There is a definite divide in my business that I describe as Before Law of Attraction and Living Law of Attraction. There is such a difference in terms of how my business feels, the ease with which I work, and the external success I’ve experienced using traditional metrics of success like revenue and clients.
I would describe the first several years of my business this way: Hustle and grind, try hard, work more, look around to see what others are doing and do that, fill To Do lists with shoulds and have tos.
Can you say upstream?
Back then, even though I loved coaching, I didn’t really love how I’d set up my business or how I coached or even what I coached people about, which was largely focused on setting goals and taking massive action to achieve them.
When I discovered Law of Attraction in 2017, it started to seep and then spill into every aspect of my life, including how I work. To the point where my very definition of success changed…to joy.
“Let your standard of success be your achievement of joy. For in the finding of joy, you are finding vibrational alignment with the resources of the Universe.” —Abraham
Believe me when I say my previous standard of success in my business had little, if anything, to do with joy!
Of course, with this new definition of success, a lot has changed in my coaching practice. To sum it up very simply, I would say I’ve gone from an upstream business to a downstream business.
Just to connect the dots, I imagine upstream is always taking us away from joy while downstream is flowing with and toward joy.
While I’m using my coaching practice to illustrate the LoA concept of upstream/downstream, the point is not what I do in my work, but what we are all doing in our lives. Are you going upstream or downstream?
Here’s a snapshot of how I would describe my downstream business of today:
- I love co-creating with clients from all over the world; they are truly amazing women and it’s a delight to be on the LoA journey with them. I don’t really have words to express how much I love these coaching conversations.
- I work from home and have immense flexibility and margin in my life. Until recently I coached three days a week. Because what is downstream continues to flow and evolve, I recently shifted to coaching two days a week.
- I have a portable career that feels like freedom. I can coach and run my business from anywhere. I can block out travel weeks to the farm where I grew up or for relaxing Staycations at home.
- I have chosen to coach by phone simply because that’s my preference. I appreciate that I get to wear whatever I want to work. Clients schedule coaching sessions online, which offers convenience and ease for everyone.
- I have very low overhead which feels like freedom. My Manifest with Ease course and how-to guide called thoughts: an LoA pattern generate revenue each month, which is empowering.
- I’m a prolific content creator. I post to my blog weekly—so that’s 52 posts a year. I’ve published over 200 podcast episodes with a weekly release every Monday since I launched the show in January 2018. I deliver LoA to the inboxes of thousands each month with my newsletter. All that creation is downstream.
- With over half a million active shows on Apple, this podcast that you’re listening to right now consistently ranks in the top 200 in the U.S., and is often a top 100 show in the UK. That to me is the external evidence of creating from downstream energy.
- I get to try new things whenever I want, like the super successful coaching pop-up I did in 2021 and offering exclusive content to patrons, which is an exciting newish adventure I’m on.
When I think about it, not much in my business is the same between the pre-LoA version to living Law of Attraction, from upstream to downstream.
The clients I attract and the content of coaching sessions are different, my work schedule and how I work are entirely different, the ease with which I create and what I offer are different.
Most of all, though, the way I feel is so incredibly different!
Downstream feels way different—and way better—than upstream. I know my coaching practice and my overall business are a success because I do achieve joy. It’s really this simple: The more I go downstream in my work, the more I experience finding vibrational alignment with the resources of the Universe.
“Let go of the oars…everything you want is downstream.” —Abraham
I said at the outset while I’m using the example of my downstream business, my coaching practice is not the real focus. The real focus is the downstream part. Because what Abraham is saying—“Let go of the oars…everything you want is downstream”—is true for all of us, all the time, about everything.
Everything you want in work and in life is downstream. In relationships and with regard to abundance, everything you want is downstream.
You only have to let go of the oars.
I’m going to share five tips to guide you in letting go of the oars. To illustrate these tips, I’ll share examples that connect the dots between Law of Attraction and the decisions and actions I’ve been taking in my business to go downstream.
Here’s the first tip for letting go of the oars and heading downstream: Alignment before action.
“Hard work is not the path to Well-Being. Feeling good is the path to Well-Being. You don’t create through action; you create through vibration. And then, your vibration calls action from you.” —Abraham
Too many of us are used to taking action we don’t want to take, that we don’t enjoy. We are taking action that we are not in alignment with.
Taking action that is not aligned is upstream. Every single time.
The beautiful thing about alignment before action is you can, indeed, get in alignment for any action. And you can get in alignment for not taking any action at all. It’s not the action itself that matters. It’s the alignment.
As an example, I get in alignment before taking any action related to Love Your Life. That means when I’m going to outline an upcoming episode, I get in alignment. If I’m going to record an episode, alignment comes first.
And if for some reason I’m not able to get in alignment, then I don’t take action.
Here’s another example of alignment before action. A couple years ago I was excited about an LoA-themed daily meditation book I was writing. It was inspired. It was flowing. I was excited about it. And I had gotten quite a bit written.
Then one day I sat down to continue, and the flow stopped. I wasn’t in alignment with action. Next day, same thing. I was no longer in alignment with writing that book.
Now, I could have continued taking the action of working on that book. But the downstream flow had stopped, which meant if I continued working on it, the action would be upstream.
I trust everything I want is downstream. When the book in the form I had envisioned it was no longer flowing, I knew not to force anything. I knew not to take action that wasn’t aligned, so I stopped.
I put the book aside and didn’t give it another thought. That is living this concept of alignment before action.
What about you? Are you upstream or downstream when it comes to alignment before action?
The next tip for letting go of the oars and heading downstream: Follow your joy.
There’s a little tailpiece on this one and that is: Not what others are doing. So to let go of the oars and head downstream, follow your joy, not what others are doing.
Because often times when we follow what others are doing—simply because others are doing XY or Z—we are heading upstream.
Awhile back I made the decision to get off Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter. Why? Simply because those interactions were not joyful to me. Letting go of the oars meant letting go of social media.
- If I had followed what others were doing, I would have made a different decision.
- If I had made the decision others said “would be good for my business”, I would still be on all those social media platforms.
Know this: I’m not for or against social media. That’s not the point. What I’m saying is I followed my joy not what others were doing.
My joy is the downstream pathway for for me. Your joy is the downstream pathway for you. Regardless what others are doing.
A similar scenario is when a client tells me she’s on the dating apps because she “has to be”, but she’s really not happy trying to find a partner that way. There’s a lot of friction rather than joy in using the apps.
Following her joy would be getting off the dating apps. Downstream would mean embracing that joy will be the pathway to finding the partner she wants.
Of course, another person may feel high vibe about being on the dating apps, in which case she is following her joy and the being on the apps is the downstream choice for her.
So again, it’s not about the dating apps being the thing or not the thing. It’s about following your own personal joy.
Here’s one more example of letting go of the oars and heading downstream in relation to following joy.
After my obsession with all things Law of Attraction, I made the decision to switch from coaching packages to schedule-as-you-want coaching because that’s what felt like freedom to me. Freedom and joy are both in the #1 spot on the emotional scale, meaning they are the same high vibrational frequency.
Making the decision to get rid of coaching packages—even as it seems the vast majority of coaches have them—was the downstream decision for me.
- Schedule-as-you-want coaching feels like freedom and joy to me, so downstream.
- Packages and obligations and ongoing commitments feel upstream.
It makes sense to me now why my pre-LoA business was so friction-filled. I was often headed upstream because I was following what others were doing.
What about you? Are you headed upstream because you’re following what others are doing or are you headed downstream because you’re following your joy.
The next tip for heading downstream: Please yourself.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is: What do I want to do?
Many of us never ask this question. Or we ask it, but don’t honor the answer. Instead, we start factoring in what others want or what others think.
“The greatest thing you can give yourself is freedom from what others think.” —Abraham
Don’t say yes simply to please others. Say yes to what’s in alignment for you. Say yes to what you want. Say yes to please yourself.
Saying yes to what’s in alignment for you and no to what’s not in alignment for you is guaranteed to take you downstream.
I get lots of requests in my coaching practice and business. Requests to coach on weekends. Requests for sponsorships or collaborations. Requests for video coaching sessions or for me to do an episode on a particular topic or for someone to be a guest on my show.
I am always open and curious about any request that comes my way.
I meet the request where I am today, based on what I want today. Meaning, I don’t assume because I’ve always declined guests on the show that I always will. But for today, that’s not what I want. And so the answer is a gracious, no thank you.
If I simply did what others wanted, that would be upstream.
My coaching hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays are pleasing to me. Could I get more clients if I extended my hours or coached on weekends? Probably. But if doing so compromises my vibration, that would then have consequences for the ease with which I can manifest.
If you are living with a lot of shoulds and have-tos, then you are not pleasing yourself and you are going upstream. If you are saying yes to every request that comes your way without checking in to see what you want, then you are headed upstream.
So what about it? Are you headed upstream pleasing others or downstream pleasing yourself? Are you asking and honoring the simple question: What do I want to do?
The next tip for letting go of the oars and heading downstream: Go where it’s easy.
“Everything that we want is downstream…and you don’t even have to turn the boat and paddle downstream, just let go of the oars, the current will carry you.” —Abraham
Even though the show is in the Top 200 of podcasts—and that’s out of some half million active shows on Apple—I will only continue to do the show if it’s fun. In other words, if doing the show is downstream, I’m all in. if the day ever comes that it’s upstream, I will happily call it a day.
Right now the podcast is where it’s easy, so that’s where I go.
Here’s another example of going where it’s easy. I mentioned in a previous episode podcast experts recommend if you don’t have access to a professional recording studio, the best sound quality would be to record in your clothes closet.
That may, indeed, be downstream for some, but it’s definitely not for me. Downstream for me is recording at my writing desk looking out over downtown Ann Arbor. I would find it very upstream to head to the closet to record these episodes. So I go where it’s easy.
Here’s another example: Over the years I’ve had many requests for conducting coaching calls via Zoom or FaceTime or some other video platform. In fact, back in the early days of my coaching business, I said yes to these requests. But it was never high vibe. It has never been my preferred way of coaching.
Once I discovered Law of Attraction and began to understood this concept of upstream versus downstream, saying no to these requests became the obvious choice for me. Saying no, for me, is going where it’s easy.
Of course, I fully understand and respect someone who wants a coach who is available via video conferencing may bypass me to work with someone else. For that person, going where it’s easy may very well be that other coach who loves video coaching sessions.
What about you? Where do you have an opportunity to go where it’s easy?
Here’s the final tip for letting go of the oars and heading downstream: Be in receiving mode.
I want the milestones and achievements and destinations I reach in my business to feel good. And the only way to ensure that’s the case is for the journey of my business to feel good. For the day in and day out to feel good.
“You cannot have a happy ending to an unhappy journey.” —Abraham
I want to feel appreciation and freedom and ease and positive expectation and empowerment. I like to be engaged in what I’m doing and feel enthusiastic about it.
What I’m describing as being in receiving mode, of course, feels good. Appreciation and freedom and empowerment are feel-good emotions.
The pre-LoA version of me was willing to sacrifice feeling good as I hustled and overworked to try to get where I wanted to go. Hustle and overwork do not feel good. Hustle and overwork are not receiving mode.
These days I live by this from Abraham: “Nothing needs to be fixed. Everything is unfolding perfectly. So when you stand in your now accepting that all is well, then from that vibration you become surrounded by more and more evidence that all is well.” —Abraham
The more time I spend heading downstream, the more times I let go of the oars, the more often I’m in receiving mode, I am surrounded by more and more evidence that all is well.
“Trying harder makes the resistance more. It’s letting of of the oars that makes it less. It’s trusting the process. It’s trusting the stream. It’s trusting that you have an Inner Being that is calling you toward it.” —Abraham
Here’s a recap of the five tips I shared:
- Alignment before action
- Follow your joy.
- Please yourself.
- Go where it’s easy
- Be in receiving mode.
Where do you have an opportunity to let go of the oars? Remember: Everything you want is downstream. Will you drop the oars? Will you head downstream?
