Hello.

If we haven’t met, let me introduce myself.  I am Kori, the girl behind Santosha Society. This ‘society’ started nearly four years ago when I made the decision to start my own business. It was a venture motivated by the yearnings of my  heart and soul. Many said it was “completely illogical.”

The first year of starting this business involved a lot more than just creating a website, learning to market ‘myself,’ sorting retreat/travel logistics and heaps of other things I am forgetting to mention that comes with running your own business.  It involved pressure, fear, doubt and insecurity. The journey from dream to reality brought more tears and smiles than I could ever count.

The last four years have been anything but predictable and they definitely didn’t always go as planned.  It wasn’t always easy and has proven to be my greatest opportunity to learn and grow. Now I feel confident in my purpose and my mission. And even if the to-do list is never ending, I stop, kick my feet up and take lots of breaks (which I didn’t do at first).

Finding this peace has been a real process.  I believe the hardest part of running your own business is doing it sustainably, as in, sustaining your own happiness and contentment along the way.

In the next few five posts I will share with you some of the greatest lessons I have learned from these past four years of soul-preneurship. I hope you find them useful and encouraging for your own manifestation of your big wild and crazy dreams. There are always challenges along the way for all of us, you aren’t alone in that.

I would love to hear your own lessons/ experiences as well. Butterfly kisses and octopus hugs to all of you in this ever growing happiness-seeking society, Santosha Society. ⠀

With love,

The Intuitive Yogi.⠀

The greatest lessons I have learned from soul-preneurship : (1/5) Finding my authentic soulful purpose.⠀

When I first started Santosha, I looked at other businesses for inspiration. I made a list of who I was inspired by, because inspiration is a form of intuition.  Inspiration is an excitement that happens when you see something that your soul likes, because often times your soul has something like this in mind for you also.

After about a year of blood sweat and tears, when I looked at those same business, I got a little jealous. I felt I was living in the most cut throat competitive industry, yoga.  I was starting out at the bottom.  Although I spent twenty years of my like practicing and studying yoga, I didnt have a lot of hands on teaching experience.  I certainly didn’t have any experience running retreats.

Behind the scenes, that first year I was struggling to survive.

Finding you, your authentic, unique, soulful purpose is the key to not getting overwhelmed by your competition.  Knowing what you are working towards is about more than just the money or success, but a deep soulful desire to create this in your life makes a big difference when it comes to overcoming the struggles that inevitably will come.

About two years in, It dawned on me that I had practiced yoga consistently for nearly 20 years. I traveled to 52 countries. I had manifested a dream to become a surfer.  I manifested another dream to start my own yoga business.  I manifested yet another big dream writing a book on how to use intuition to manifest.

The moment I realized I was an “expert” in this field gave me confidence to continue on this path.  But the the moment I found my own two feet and stood taller than ever is  when I realized that all of this was the path my soul guided me to.  From that day forward, everything changed. There has been no jealousy or competition, only greater confidence and trust in myself.  A lot more trust.

Getting real with who I am, what I want and what I can proudly offer, I have found my greatest me.  I have certainly grown into my most confident version of me too.  And despite the fact that surf and yoga retreats are quite possibly one of the most competitive businesses at the moment, I am 100% confident that no one is doing them the same way. so I don’t worry about that.⠀

Now I understand jealousy to be a form of inspiration.  If you are feeling competitive or jealous, you can use that to see what it is your heart is telling you it wants and get clear on that.⠀

Knowing what you want is very much the first step to manifestation.  You cant grow a garden without first planting a seed. Your authentic soulful purpose is often times your wildest dream.

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So thank you Santosha Society for helping me find the new me, the authentic, real, no bullshit me.  I like her a lot!⠀

The greatest lessons I learned from soul-preneurship : (2/5) The art of making decisions.⠀

What do you want to do and how will you do it? When you decide to be a business owner, you are enter a world of never ending decision making.⠀

Once you choose which idea you want to pursue, then you have decide how to pursue it, when and how to grow, what to eliminate, and the list goes on. The more successful your business becomes, the more decisions you must make.⠀

For me, decisions have always been difficult. I used to worry and stress which one was best. The process used up way too much energy.  It was tiring and exhausting. So I came up with a system for navigating through the endless pile of choices. I even use it for my personal life too.  Let’s get into it already.

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My 3-step process for making better decisions:

1. Does this decision come purely from a place of soulful desire?  If something is exciting only  because of the prospective money you can earn, that isn’t soulful. You want to say yes because you are heartfelt and passionate about it. {Rule of thumb: heart and soul over money, fame, and ease, always.}⠀

2. What does your gut say? Your intuition is always guiding you (aka answering your questions). You can tune into your intuition by taking a moment of silence and wait for the wind to blow your little sailboat where it is meant to go.  The wind is always there, you must feel for it.⠀

3. If you still cant decide, it probably doesn’t matter.  Honestly, just pick already. Afterwards if you realize it wasnt the path you wanted to take, now ya know. I am constantly re-writing the words on my website and changing things up. The beauty of a ‘wrong decision’ is that it helps you get to the right decision.  So in the end, they are all ‘right.’⠀

When you know what your dream is (the seed from the last post), the next thing you must do is make the soil. This is the art of decision making! Next, we will talk about how to make that baby grow.

The greatest lessons I have learned from soul-preneurship : (3/5) Stop, nurture and trust.⠀

My first business motto was ‘If you try hard enough, you will succeed.’ And so, I tried so f@$&ing hard I barely slept.  I overworked, over-worried, overthought and over-did nearly everything. ‘Overdoing’ comes from the attachment most business owners have to achieve a certain outcome.⠀

So there I was ‘overdoing.’ Then I had a baby. You can guess what happened next? With nearly no free time, even less sleep and an ever growing to do list, i burned out.⠀

So I started working less. My goal was to only work 4 hours a day.  And suddenly the time I spent working became much more productive because i was only doing the most important things I used my to-do list for prioritizing and not for completing. ⠀

And although diligence and hard work are absolutely necessary for creating a successful business, the key to sustaining your own happiness along the way relies on slowing down, nurturing more and trusting in the universe with the rest.

My daily yoga practice became relaxation-based using yoga nidra and loving kindness meditation. I actually write “relax” on my to-do list, then I prioritize it at the top. I started taking more bubble baths and getting more massages. ⠀

The more I invested in myself, the happier and healthier I became. Naturally, this led to a healthier and happier business. And miraculously business started running with much more ease! That is when I realized running your own business doesn’t have to be stressful or exhausting.

The universe started delivering miracles.  Despite the added costs of investing in myself, I started making more money and had more time. People offered to help. Publications contacted me to write about my project because they loved the idea!⠀

And now, I know for a fact, that they key to growing a business and sustaining your own happiness at the same time relies on slowing down, relaxing more and trusting the rest.

The greatest lessons I have learned from soul-preneurship : (4/5) Be Honest, Open and Vulnerable.⠀
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Do you remember in the movie ‘101 Dalmatians’ when all the dogs in town got together to help the cute and vulnerable lil puppies? Human nature is much the same; our nature is to help each other. When you are open, honest and vulnerable, people see you as real and naturally want to support you.
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Business coach @sabrinamphilipp says that people are more likely to do business with you if they 1- know you, 2- like you, 3- trust you. People are more likely to ‘know, like and trust’ honest, open and fiercely unapologetic you rather than the seemingly flawless you (cough cough). Of course starting a business involves fear and insecurity. It is intimidating and scary! You don’t have to hide that, you can use that to your advantage by talking to people and telling them what is proving the most difficult. And people will give you first hand advice, help, and support in ways you would never have imagined possible.

The key to being supported by the universe and all the compassionate people in the universe is by being open, honest and vulnerable. “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” Brene Brown.

The greatest lessons I have learned from soul-preneurship : (5/5) Make it really count.
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In the beginning I struggled with marketing myself. Two years before I started Santosha, I was living in a yurt deep in the Alaska mountains. I didn’t have power, running water or a well-functioning phone. I definitely didn’t have Instagram.
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Starting my own business came with a very intimidating thing called ‘marketing myself.’ I had to suddenly put my face (and all the things I don’t like about my face) online. My friend @conni.biesalski constantly reminded me that “people don’t know who you are or what you are offering without really showing yourself.” Then she would bluntly tell me “Put your face out there Kori”
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I knew ‘marketing’ was necessary, but I still really despised it. I felt like a used car salesman. That is when I had an epiphany I would start a ‘karma yoga’ policy offering well over 10% of my profits to local humanitarian projects. Suddenly marketing Santosha also meant raising funds and awareness for humanitarian projects I believe in. That’s when the motivation to market hit hard.
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To date, we have built a playground in Sri Lanka, raised funds for Sri Lanka Red Cross during the destructive floods last year, and raised over $2000 for Bumi Sehat Foundation @bumisehatbali in Ubud, Indonesia. We have supported a community project in Lanka taking underprivileged women and girls surfing @wwscsrilanka.
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This year we have a new and very exciting collaboration with A Leg to Stand On @alegtostandon. For every Santosha Society surf and yoga retreat in 2019, we will donate one high-quality modular prosthetic limb kit for a child with a limb disability living in the developing work.
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Now, I am quite proud to market myself if it means that building my dream simultaneously supports the dreams of others. Sometimes you have to take soulful and make it even more soulful

For more posts on entrepreneurship, living guided by your soul by learning to hear and act from your intuition, the best place to stay connected with me is my Instagram account @santosha.society. 

Wanting to grow stronger at living from your soul?  Learn all about how this soft subtle language from your soul speaks to you and offers you a path for manifesting your greatest dreams.   Santosha Society offers free (and very affordable) online courses and handcrafted boutique soul retreats at the most inspiring destinations in the world