Adventure of a Lifetime!

John and I just returned from our three week adventure in Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand.

We had an incredible time!

We started in Sydney, Australia for LLI's Summit Conference, which was awesome. You can read more below about that. When the conference concluded we rented a campervan (as suggested by our buddies Rhonda and Brian Swan) and drove up the cost from Sydney to Brisbane.
I must admit, the idea of 5 days in a small van when I live in over 5,000 sq.ft was a bit daunting, but we had a blast. I even cooked several times! It gave John and I time to be close and to think about when we used to live in a tiny apartment. We stopped at Budgewoi and then went up to South West Rocks. Rocks is a stunning place. We went for a stroll and happened upon some of the most beautiful beach I've ever seen...it was SPECTACULAR! We hung out on the beach and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather.

We then drove up to Byron Bay. What a cool and hip beach community the Bay is! We stayed at a camp site filled with surfers and beach goers. It was another relaxing day in the sun. John and I relaxed and talked about our goals for the future, sharing with each other our homes, dreams and gratitude for such an incredible lifestyle

We drove up to Brisbane, spent the night and flew out early in the morning to Auckland. We loved Auckland! Although it was rainy, it was tons of fun, with great dining and people. And then we were off to Rotorua. We stayed at an amazing place called Treetops (http://www.treetops.co.nz/). If you go to NZ, this is a must visit. High in the Rotorua rainforest, it's a luxury lodge with amazing staff and a cozy, loving atmosphere. The main lodge is 100% over-the-top luxur. We met great people from the U.S. and New Zealand and a travel agent from Russia.

At treetops we spent the day exploring the rainforest and with horseback riding with an amazing guy. His name is Diddy, a local legend of a horse whisperer who is 79 years old. He was a hoot!

The next day we wandered into Galatea to visit our first ever New Zealand Summit Advisor Delwyn McKenzie. She lives on a beautiful farm that backs up to the state park. While we were there we got to pet her llamas and they even showed me how to milk a cow! Delwyn, and her husband Cliff, are amazing. They are the epitome of entrepreneurs and risk takers and it has paid off tremendously.

We spent the night in Rotorua city...it stunk. Literally. It's right on a volcanic fault with sulfuric steam vents. Smelled like rotton eggs. We couldn't figure out why it was such a tourist attraction. We were happy to leave. We flew down to the South Island into Chrischurch and then over to Methven and Mt. Hutt. We spent the day snowboarding on Mt. Hutt. Can you believe it? We actually went snowboarding in July! It was great snow too!

We enjoyed a wonderful scenic drive through the incredible south island down to Queenstown, a hopping city in the mountains. The drive was breathtaking: rolling farmlands, snow-capped mountains, lush greenery.

Queenstown is a blast. We went snowboarding three days at Coronet - great snow, great people and great adventure! The city of Queenstown has tons to do and is mosly for tourists and locals. There were great shops and restaurants.

One of my favorite things was taking a small charter plane to Milford Sound through the spectacular Southern Alps. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We enjoyed seeing where parts of The Lord of the Rings were filmed and exploring the Fiordlands. We took a cruise through Milford Sound and got to see spectacular waterfalls and seals sunning on the rocks.

This trip was more than I ever could have imagined. Adventurous, educational, motivational, inspirational and tons of fun, fun, fun! Every minute was exciting and we got to enjoy the company of so many great people.

I'm so greatful to Liberty League International for providing a vehicle that gives me freedom. Freedom to grow and evolve. Freedom financially. Freedom to operate my business from wherever I may be. It's about living life to the fullest and enjoying every minute of the experience!

Check out the rest of our pics here: http://extremeteam.smugmug.com/gallery/3097955#169570131

Facing My Fears

So, a few days ago, I walked on fire.



I must admit I was petrified at the idea...I had an entire story running in my mind. A mental film, of which I was the star. In this mental movie, I stepped onto the hot coals with hundreds of people looking on and the smell of burning flesh began to permeate the air. I ran screaming across the coals and looked down at my crispy feet...swollen, blistered and in pain. I then spent the next few days on crutches as my wounded feet healed. Worse, because I had the experience, hundreds of others bailed on the opportunity to walk through the coals.



Thank God it was only a mental movie!!! Isn't it amazing how we create these grand dramas to prevent us from moving forward in life. I know of hundreds of people who have created movies like this in their head about starting a business...except they allowed the movie to stop them from moving forward.



Walking across the coals was simply, liberating and extremely exciting! It was awesome to erase the movie and create a new movie...one of achievement and excellence. That's how simple it is...we all get to choose the movie we create. It can be one of fear and drama, or it can be an Oscar winning movie of achievement and outrageous success. Yes, the heroine or hero will inevitably have some great adversities and obstacles to overcome, but it is out of this that great accomplishments are born.



When I walked through the fire, I was the second person to go. Talk about a leap of faith. When I face fears, I face them head on. I'd rather jump in and do it than sit in the fear. People were cheering and waiting for me with hugs of joy. I'm proud to be an example of success for people to follow.



Then I got to watch John go...he was a pro!

It's been quite an adventure!

Good Day Mate
Hello from Australia!

The Summit Conference Australia has been incredible...the Best Summit Conference LLI has ever hosted. The energy, community and presentation were explosive!!

As promised by Brent and Shane, the ALL NEW Summit Conference blew everyone away.

The adventures started with a private dinner hosted on a harbor cruiseline for the EMC. Brent and Shane presented the EMC with our own Harbor Fireworks display...millions of people looked on wondering what the festivities were all about. We certainly let Australia know we arrived with a big bang!!

From the Welcome Celebration to the BlackTie, this event was absolutely extraordinary! Bob Proctor was amazing as he instructed each of us how to unleash our true potential and excel in our lives and businesses. He gave a powerful presentation with specific instruction on how to move beyond fear and doubt, to achieve extraordinary levels of success.

On Wednesday, we faced our fears as we walked across the red hot coals in the Australia hillside. This was the most incredible event; watching a community of people, who recently were just strangers, empowered and supporting each other to excel. These were associates from all over the world; London, Paris, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, and many more, all converging together in a moment of achievement and excellence...cheering each other on as we walked across the coals; facing and moving through our fears, into our futures! Not one person backed out...the support and enthusiastic encouragement assisted everyone in moving past their limitations to achieve success. The high-fives, jumping hugs and bellowing laughs of joy and excitement were incredible to watch!

After two intense days of conference, we enjoyed a wonderful day exploring Sydney with some teammates, assimmilating and discussing all we learned and how we will use this information in our lives. We took a Sydney Harbor Cruise to Taronga Zoo and experienced our first opera at the Sydney Opera House...it was Fantastic!


We closed out the event with Lynn McTaggert, author of the Intention Experiment. She provided concrete, scientific evidence on the Power of Intention and how to use Intention to achieve remarkable results in life. Following, we celebrated the event with the Farewell Gala...everyone looked so amazing. It was a party of prosperity, joy and celebration.
As we move from the energy of this event, into the "real world", "What now?". I've learned from past events, that I'm so full of energy and power coming out the event, it's important to put it to immediate use. The impact of this event will be evident in the application of the knowledge and skills we gained...knowledge less than 1% of society actually possesses. What an incredible gift to move powerfully forward with the new-found understanding and education we possess.

In moving forward, I'm setting HUGE goals (private plan, talk show syndicated by the end of 2008, $3million home, $1million vacation property in Breckenridge and the formation of the Lavenia Foundation for Charitable Works) and now possess incredible strategies to achieve them quickly and efficiently; with new focus and clarity. The value of learning one-on-one from people who have achieved incredible success in their lives is priceless!

Now...John and I are journeying up the coast of Australia in a caravan(this in itself is an experience...keep tuned to learn more). We are having a fantastic time, enjoying every minute of our freedom.

Another Adventure of a Lifetime!

John and I are off on another adventure. This time we're spending three-weeks travelling through Australia and New Zealand.

Yesterday, we stopped over in Tahiti...it was beautiful! We went from 107 in Tucson to 80's in LA to 80's in Tahiti with 100% humidity. We walked under the moon along the cool beach front, enjoyed a wonderful dinner and Polynesian dance who. Here's a pic John snapped of me.

We're in Sydney, Australia now. Here's a pic from our hotel. We're right on the water with a great view of the Harbor, Opera House and Bridge. We're off to do the Bridge Walk in a few minutes.

Watch our Video

Thank you Shane for loading it up to You Tube...you rock!

The Sad State of People

I got an interesting email from a girl today who was sharing with me why she no longer is pursuing her business...

It was very revealing as to the state of our society...a society that is comprised of people who don't believe in their own potential, lack desire to success and are without the fortitude of the great men and women who have been awesome examples of persistence, belief and passion!

People have so much unrealized potential...it's time to tap into it!

I wanted to share an excerpt from the email and my response...

Dear Shannon

Please remove me from this list. I tried out the system last fall, untill my brother Leigh pointed out to me that 80% of those who start don't earn any money, while 20 % earn loads. That whole 80 % lose or stand still. The so called "winners," are standing on the shoulders of the losses and gullibility, or desperation of others. I can't live with that, can you? ...

My response:
Dear M,

It's unfortunate you allowed your brother to convince you that you would be part of the 80%. Look around, most people are broke, fat and lazy.

It's their choice.

When I got started with this system, I was broke, fat and lazy.

I plugged into system, followed the leadershp and DECIDED I wouldn't settle anymore. I became part of the 20% because I was determined to win...just like Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Howard Hughes and all the other people born into poverty who DECIDE to make a life for themselves and be the living example of success and accomplishment, REGARDLESS of all the poeple who "warn" them out of so-called "good intentions".

The awesome news. In our society only 3% of people ever make it to an income of over $100K. With our system, it's over 20%...try that on for size!!! That's the power of our system!

Sorry you worry about people failing...I don't. It's their choice. The system works. Works for me, works for lots of people on my team.

It would be a sad day when I don't show people an opportunity that can give them freedom and allow them to unleash their incredible potential, that works and has worked for thousands...because I don't believe in them or their potential! I BELIEVE in people and I know, without doubt, anyone can have success here if they truly want it.

Do people fail? Absolutely! I show them how they can win...to actually win is up to them. However...80% of people quit b/c someone convinced them they couldn't win. That's how weak our society is.

Your brother must being living an awesome, successful life for you to believe in him so much you let him steal your opportunity of being part of the 20% who wins in life. And...you gave up your opportunity to make a difference; to be the example of success and leadership.

Next time you use a computer, remember...Bill Gates decided he wouldn't be a loser and so our society now has all this great technology.

Thank you Bill Gates. I'm sure Bill's friends, brother, neighbor, the guy in the supermarket...they probably all told him how many people fail when they start a company....so many people probably told him he didn't have a chance without a college degree...so many people, I'm sure, tried to convince him he'd never get rich with those "computer thingies...".

What about all the people who dream of making it to the Olympics...they spend hundreds of thousands on travel, training, tools, education, etc...a very small percentage of them ever make it. The coaches and trainers charge thousands for coaching and they know only a very small percentage have a chance. Should they not offer the coaching because they believe the kids are going to fail??? So, should we start telling kids..."no way little Johnny, don't even dream about it. Don't think you could ever do it because 99.99% of people who try won't ever make it. Save your money, your energy and your time because, according to the statistics...YOU DON'T HAVE A CHANCE!".

What a hopeless world that would be!

My next goal in life...to be a talk show host. Yes, less than .003 percent of people ever make it on TV but I'm going for it. Thank you Oprah for being the example and for not believing in all the feeble minded people who tried to convince you that you weren't as powerful as you are! Thank you to LLI and all the leaders here for showing me I didn't have to stay broke, fat and miserable, for believing in MY potential even though others chose to fail. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'll let you know when my show is on.
Make it a great day,
Shannon

PS: I have happily removed you from my list.

It's this kind of victim"ness" that has created our society to be one of defeat, blame and litigation...people want to blame others. Our society lacks true leadership....people are looking around at other people failing and they are saying, "oh...I'll settle for failure too" so I can fit in and be "normal".

That's a bunch of BUNK....Living a life of wealth, freedom and empowerment is simply a decision and I'm glad I made it.

If people only knew that I spent the first 18 years of my life mentally, sexually, physically abused...my single mother was murdered, yes MURDERED with her boyfriend when I was 7, I was homeless, abandoned, neglected, left to sleep alone in cars, broke and beaten...and this is the PG version of my life!

NO EXCUSES

Successful people are in the habit...

I received this in an email today from Bob Proctor.

Several years ago I was brought face to face with the very disturbing realization that I was trying to supervise and direct the efforts of a large number of people who were trying to achieve success, without knowing myself what the secret of success really was. And that, naturally, brought me face to face with the further realization that regardless of what other knowledge I might have brought to my job, I was definitely lacking in the most important knowledge of all.

Of course, like most of us, I had been brought up on the popular belief that the secret of success is hard work, but I had seen so many people work hard without succeeding and so many people succeed without working hard that I had become convinced that hard work was not the real secret, even though in most cases it might be one of the requirements.
And so I set out on a voyage of discovery which carried me through biographies and autobiographies and all sorts of dissertations on success and the lives of successful people until I finally reached the point at which I realized that the secret I was trying to discover lay not only in what people did, but also in what made them do it.

I realized further that the secret for which I was searching must not only apply to every definition of success, but since it must apply to everyone to whom it was offered, it must also apply to everyone who had ever been successful. In short, I was looking for the common denominator of success. And, because that is exactly what I was looking for, that is exactly what I found.

But this common denominator of success is so big, so powerful, and so vitally important to your future and mine that I'm not going to make a speech about it. I'm just going to "lay it on the line" in words of one syllable, so simple that anybody can understand them.

The common denominator of success - the secret of success of every person who has ever been successful - lies in the fact that "THEY FORMED THE HABIT OF DOING THINGS THAT FAILURES DON'T LIKE TO DO."

It's just as true as it sounds and it's just as simple as it seems. You can hold it up to the light, you can put it to the acid test, and you can kick it around until it's worn out, but when you are all through with it, it will still be the common denominator of success, whether we like it or not.

It will still explain why people have gone into a business or profession with every apparent qualification for success and have been nothing but disappointing failures, while others have achieved outstanding success in spite of many obvious handicaps. And since it will also explain your future, it would seem to be a mighty good idea for you to use it in determining just what sort of future you are going to have. In other words, let's take this big, all-embracing secret and boil it down to fit you.

If the secret of success lies in forming the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do, let's start the boiling-down process by determining what are the things that failures don't like to do. The things that "failures" don't like to do are the things that you and I and other human beings, including successful people, naturally don't like to do. In other words, we've got to realize right from the start that success is something which is achieved by the minority of people...and is therefore "unnatural" and not to be achieved by following our natural likes and dislikes nor by being guided by our natural preferences and prejudices.

Excerpted from The Common Denominator of Success by Albert E.N. Gray

To read the entire article, click here.

Now this is inspiring!

I really didn't have any idea how many of these ultra-luxury mega mansions there were in the world...but there's a lot.

I thought I was doing well with a $2 million home...I'm INSPIRED!!!

http://www.forbes.com/realestate/2005/07/29/expensivehomes-world-realestate-cx_sc_0729home_ls.html

It's Sad but True

The middle class is dwindling.

The rich are getting richer.

The poor are getting poorer.

Why is that?

Well speaking as someone who used to be poor, I believe it's because I was duped into believing college and a job was the way to riches.

Right? My blue collar family convinced me of that.

We'll I got the degree...busted my butt working all the time to get it and ended up even more broke with college loans.

Finally, I realized it. If I was going to be rich, it would be as an entrepreneur....using my God given abilities to unleash my maximum potential.

How? With the RIGHT education...education that works, that is applicable and is tested and true.

Not words spewed out by professors who are also broke; but education formulated by people who know how to use the power of their mind, who have real results...proven results! People are were willing to show me how to do it.

I just had to prove I was eager, driven and willing to learn. That I was serious and coachable.

And I was. I applied it, shed my old conditioning...the conditioning laid on me by other broke people telling me how to live my life. I shed it, followed what successful people did and the results are self-evident.

It's a choice.

And...it's happening in our society. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and it's time to make a decision: Who will you be?

Check this out:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=49750&cl=2929386&ch=49799&src=news

Check it out!

You can learn more about me on my MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/shannonlavenia.