Today, May 1st, is the deadline for deciding whether to join Conscious Growth Club for our 5th year together.

Last year on this same day, more than 25% of the people who joined or renewed CGC for Year 4 did so in the last 7 hours of the day (between 5pm and midnight Pacific time), so it wouldn’t be surprising if we see a big surge in sign-ups today. That sort of thing has happened with every launch we’ve done.

For many people this is a big decision. CGC doesn’t have a monthly membership. It’s year-long experience. And there’s that $1997 price that invites people to think carefully about the investment.

Alignment is very important to me too. This year I have not invited people outside of this community (namely my blog readers, email subscribers, and course customers) to join CGC this year. I haven’t posted a peep about CGC on social media. I haven’t done any advertising for it. I did not even mention CGC on YouTube this time.

It’s in everyone’s best interests if you make an aligned decision here. That means that you feel good about your choice, and the decision works out to your benefit. It means that you make a decision that’s good for CGC as well. We want this to be win-win all around.

Let me share some tips and advice to help you make this kind of decision. You can use these decision-making methods for any other important decisions you have to make too.

Set an Aligned Intention

A good decision starts with a good intention, so set your intention first. If you get clear about your intention for what’s important to you, that can surely help you make a good choice.

Here’s a sample intention you could set for making an aligned choice regarding joining CGC:

In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, in its own perfect time, for the highest good of all, I invite the inspiration to make an aligned, intelligent, and satisfying choice regarding whether to join CGC this year.

Feel free to modify this intention to fit your values. Do you want to make a choice that makes you happy? Do you want to make the most intelligent choice? Do you want to make a regret-free choice?

I like making choices that I’ll appreciate. That’s been an especially good frame for making some purchase decisions. When I realized that my intention was to make the choice that I’ll appreciate most, the clear choice popped right out.

So here’s a simpler form of intention you may like:

I intend to make the choice that I’ll appreciate most.

If you appreciate the choice you’ve made, it’s probably good for you, good for others, and good for other people too.

I also want you to make the choice that you’ll appreciate most, so I’m going to set that intention for you as well, if you don’t mind: I intend that you make the choice that you’ll appreciate most.

Consider the Memories

Another good pair of questions to ask along these lines is:

Do I want the memories of doing this? Or do I want the memories of not doing this?

Those questions have helped me make some really good decisions. So consider this version:

Do you want the memories of joining us in CGC for Year 5? Or do you want the memories of sitting this year out?

It’s pretty factual that you’ll either accumulate one set of memories or the other. So which memories would you prefer? Which memories would you likely appreciate most?

If you would appreciate the memories, you’ll likely appreciate the experience. If you wouldn’t appreciate the memories, you probably wouldn’t appreciate the experience.

Enter the Coherence State

It’s best to make a decision such that your head and heart agree with each other. I don’t recommend trying to push your rational mind to overrule your emotions or vice versa. Ideally both should be pointing in the same direction.

A good way to get your heart and brain aligned with making the right choice for you is to enter the state of coherence before you decide. This is a calm yet positive emotional state that can be described with words like appreciation, gratitude, compassion, and unconditional love.

Most people can load up this state pretty easily by focusing on memories or thoughts that evoke these emotions. Think about someone or something that you love, or recall a cherished memory. Remember an act of kindness or generosity. Or if you have a good cuddle partner or a pet, have a little cuddle to center yourself in this state of being for a few minutes.

Note that this is not a riled up, rah-rah state. So you’re not trying to psyche yourself up or get overly emotional.

Coherence is a calm state. It’s peaceful. But it’s not empty. There will be some mild positive feelings when you’re in this state.

I like to think of this state as caring. I think of people I care about, such as Rachelle or the people I’m serving (especially CGCers that I know well). I often synch up to this state when I write articles or record audios. I did that a lot while recording lessons for the recent Amplify course. I recorded and published the 63rd and final lesson for the course last night, and I felt connected to a very caring vibe while doing the recording.

The state of coherence actually makes you a bit smarter. The non-profit HeartMath Institute has published a lot about this state and found that it has numerous benefits, especially when we use it for making decisions. It’s very good for our health too.

In this state your rational mind and emotions harmonize with each other. So it’s an awesome state for making aligned decisions.

The way I like to do this is to sync to coherence first. Just relax into that state of being for a few minutes. Then I think about one option of the decision. In this case you might consider the option of joining CGC. Then see what happens to your thoughts and feelings while you ponder that decision branch. If it’s a good decision, you’ll either stay with the coherence state, or you’ll flow into other positive thoughts and feelings.

Then sync back to coherence again, like you’re clearing your palate. And consider another possible decision branch, such as skipping this year of CGC. Ponder that possibility, and see how it affects your thoughts and feelings. Do you still feel in harmony with coherence, or do your thoughts and feelings shift in a different direction? Would you say that your thoughts and feelings stay positive or improve? Or did they decline into something not as harmonious when you followed that branch?

If you have a decision with 3 or more possible branches to consider, just keep repeating this last step. Then choose the option that harmonizes best with coherence.

Sometimes you may find that none of the branches harmonizes with coherence. In that case you can sync to coherence and let your mind ponder the decision more broadly. You’ll likely discover another option you hadn’t considered yet.

This state invites your best intelligence to show you an aligned path. I find that it’s really good for cutting through to the most important aspects of a decision. It can bring tremendous clarity. And it just takes a few minutes.

Assess Worthwhile Payoffs

Here’s another simple process you can use for making decisions like this, especially for joining a coaching program or growth-oriented community.

Some people can get overly fixated on the cost, but CGC isn’t mean to be an expense. It’s meant to be an investment that pays off with good value for you.

Take a moment to clarify some forms of value that you would consider worth the cost of your CGC membership. Ask yourself what you’d need to gain from the experience to consider that $2K a worthwhile investment and a solidly good deal for you.

What’s so nice about CGC is that there are many different ways to recoup this investment. There are many pathways to appreciation.

Note that there’s also a time investment with CGC. So it’s not just about recouping the money. You may also consider that there’s a social investment you could make in the group as well.

The time you invest in CGC is yours to choose. There’s nothing mandatory about any aspect of CGC participation, so you can invest very little time if you want. Some members do invest only a little time in CGC over the course of a year because they really don’t need a lot of value from it to get their $2K’s worth. For some people (myself included) $2K is a really small investment for a year’s worth of access to a group like this. Some people have enough leverage that they could easily pick up a few good ideas or shifts over the course of a year that make that $2K pay for itself 10X over, even with a very modest investment of time and energy.

For other members, $2K seems like a lot, so they really want to get their money’s worth. They may also be willing to invest more time to extract lots of value from CGC. They may go in with a desire to participate very actively in the community. So I would encourage them to consider this expected time investment as part of their overall investment too.

I know you won’t have perfect clarity about how much time you’ll ultimately invest in CGC, but you can at least consider what kind of behavior patterns you’re likely to see from yourself based on past experiences. Do you tend to be an all-in sort of person when it comes to joining communities? Or do you tend to invest very little time when you join something new?

Also consider: Have you been reading my blog for many years, proving that you’re already willing to invest time in your growth? Have you been through any of our courses or workshops? If you got good value from a course or workshop, for instance, you’re very likely to enjoy even bigger gains from CGC.

What kinds of results, gains, or shifts over the course of your CGC membership would make the investment worthwhile for you?

Consider these types of gains:

• Financial gains (many CGCers are building or improving their income streams, investing in cryptocurrency, moving deeper into abundance alignment, starting new businesses, etc)
• Career, work, or business improvements (lots of CGCers go through significant career shifts after joining, and we even congratulate people who quit misaligned jobs; there are also members who really like their jobs and want to keep advancing in their fields)
• Navigating successful transitions (career, relationships, lifestyle, living situation, going vegan, etc)
• Social and relationship improvements (many CGCers have made big strides in improving their dating and relationship lives)
• Health transformations, including diet and exercise improvements and stress reduction (today we are starting a 30-day exercise challenge in CGC)
• Creating better overall life balance (work, play, social time, fun, romance, travel, etc)
• Developing better skills (language learning, cooking, building websites, making videos, public speaking, etc)
• Support for long-term habit improvements (such as good sleep habits)
• Productivity improvements (we have some really great discussions about this in CGC, like sharing which apps we use for keeping projects on track)
• Becoming more self-aware (a group life this will invite you to see yourself from many different angles)
• Creating a happier life with less stress, worry, and anxiety (alignment is super important to us; we’re not into forcing things)
• Improving your sex life (finding great partners, moving beyond partial matches, creating sexual abundance)
• Overcoming fears and limitations
• Healing and recovery (some CGCers have had long roads back from injuries, accidents, major illnesses, etc)
• Abundant access to advice and resources from a diverse, international community of people who just love personal growth
• Having direct access to personal coaching from me for a year (we talk about absolutely everything that matters to our members on coaching calls; no issue is too big or small)
• Being part of a community where it’s equally okay to show up as a “hot mess” and start digging yourself out of a pit step by step, perhaps needing lots of compassionate hand-holding as you go… or to be in the flow of awesome results and wanting to keep making your life better and better (we all grow together; just keep showing up to engage, explore, learn, and grow)
• Connecting with Rachelle and me every day if you’d like (we are both active in the CGC forums daily, and CGCers are our friends)
• Becoming more immersed in the community around my work (CGC includes lots of members who’ve attend our workshops, gone through courses, attended in-person meetups, or read my blog for many years; these are weird, wild, fun, creative, and compassionate people)
• Having caring, compassionate, and supportive people encourage you throughout the year
• Having a private space where you can be fully yourself without having to wear a mask (come as you are)
• The potential for surprise gains you may not even expect, including gains which are often way better than the ones you did expect (this happens a lot)
• Having people to do 30-day challenges with you every month of the year (you can participate in any or all of them)
• Extra accountability for making progress on your goals (progress logs are very popular in CGC)
• A compassionate community to help pick you up if you backslide or relapse into darker territory (many members have rough experiences or tough quarters now and then, and we support each other through all of that)
• Having playful friends in your life (some members use our video lounge to watch movies together, enjoy Star Trek episodes, play games, or just hang out and chat)
• Learning about lots of other great personal growth resources (members often do deep dives into other groups and programs while using CGC as their core base; one example included joining a short-term program on improving video and YouTube skills that many members have done)
• Immersing yourself in a very unique culture of personal growth (there really isn’t a group like this anywhere else that I’m aware of; CGC is quite special in that regard)
• Having access to all of our courses, coaching call archives (100+ recordings), searchable forum archives (almost 90K posts), many bonuses (ludicrous abundance)
• Being part of a community that’s very vegan-friendly (any diets are fine within CGC, but we sure do have a lot of vegans and vegetarians inside… as well as people heading in that direction)
• Being part of an international community that’s LGBTQ-friendly, anti-racist, and anti-sexist (Trump voters and supporters are disqualified from joining CGC)
• Masterminding with other members for specific purposes (members often form small mastermind groups for discussion, exploration, and accountability; there’s a writers’ group in CGC, for instance)
• Getting direct help in setting your quarterly goals 4x per year (I personally review and offer advice on people’s goals for those members who want help improving the clarity, alignment, and balance of their goals)
• Getting to attend our new 3-day Halloween online workshop October 29-31 (it will be awesome!)
• Getting immediate access to an all-new self-development course for Q1 2022 and getting the insider’s perspective on how its development unfolds
• Having buddies and accountability partners to go through courses and various other growth experiences with you

So there are a lot of ways to extract value from a whole year in CGC. Would any combination of these be worth it to you?

I encourage you to list some potential gains (or note some gains from the list above) that would let you declare that you made a good investment. And give yourself options for what you’d consider a nice result that you’d appreciate. There’s more than one way to achieve a good outcome here.

Note that CGC is a personal growth group, not an entrepreneurial group per se. We do work on all aspects of personal growth, including business and finances for members who want to invest in those areas. So I would encourage you to consider a variety of ways to make the decision worthwhile for you, not just how you might leverage the group’s support to create an income stream to earn back the cost of membership. You could potentially achieve that result, but if that’s the only result that interests you, then I would not recommend joining CGC – it’s not a great match for people who are mono-focused on money. Bring your financial goals and challenges, but bring other parts of life you want to improve too.

Many members don’t leverage CGC for income generation and still keep renewing because they’re investing in other gains (such as relationships and health) for their payoffs. Some members leverage CGC for financial gains, but usually that’s just one of many areas of improvement for them.

I would frame it as being a little sad if someone joined CGC and only cared about improving their finances and that’s all. They would be leaving so many other potential gains on the table if they did that. I prefer that we attract members who are more holistically ambitious. People seem to do much better with transforming their finances when they’re aiming to create a great overall life and lifestyle too, including positive relationships, good health, and lifelong learning. That kind of clarity creates more motivation and alignment to get the money flowing nicely as well. Also consider if being mono-focused on money has worked well for you in the past; for most people (including me) that approach just doesn’t work well – it actually stems from a scarcity mindset.

There can be some unexpected financial gains happening because of CGC too. Some members have done well with cryptocurrency, for instance. I really haven’t looked into that space much, but thanks to CGC my relatively modest amount of Bitcoin has gone up about 11X in a fairly short period of time. (Did you know you can use Bitcoin to pay for your CGC membership if you want? Just send me a message, and I can share the details about how to do that if you want.)

Another thing I’ll mention that surprises some people is just how good it feels to support other people on their paths of growth. We’ve really leaned into practicing compersion for each other, which means celebrating other member’s successes. This creates a very encouraging vibe in the group. When one member wins, it’s a win for the CGC community. Isn’t it nice to have people to celebrate with you?

These feelings of compersion are very much genuine. I feel them as well. I think it’s because we invest so much in helping each other and in sticking with each other through the ups and downs of life, we are genuinely impressed by member’s accomplishments since we know what a long path of growth it was for them to reach that point. Some CGCers are about to begin their 5th continuous year in CGC together. So there’s this feeling of genuine happiness for the people who really earned those gains. I also love to anticipate members’ upcoming wins. I see how hard they’re worked on their goals – I want them to achieve their desires.

I honestly think I get more joy from helping members achieve their goals than I do from working on my own personal goals these days, probably because I’m just one person, but there are so many fascinating people in CGC, and so there are a lot more wins to celebrate within the community. I had a meaningful recent win in finishing the Amplify course lessons last night. Yet that doesn’t seem nearly as exciting to me as it does to engage with all the positive energy that’s flowing into CGC right now with all the new members joining this year. I’m more enthusiastic for them and all the adventures that await them this year. 😁

Resolve Objections

Another tip is to list out any potential objections you may have to joining CGC, and then rationally work through them one by one. I recommend doing this by journaling through each objection with the goal of getting to the real truth about it. Is it a true and valid reason for not joining? Or is it really a framing issue, and you need to look beyond the surface to identify the whole truth?

Take a look at your factual truth as well as you inner or emotional truth.

For instance, one common objection is that joining such a group wouldn’t be good timing. Is that actually true? A CGC membership lasts for a whole year (multiple years if you keep renewing), so is the whole year already spoken for? Most of the time, that’s an irrational objection, not a real one.

I once had this objection for joining a one-year coaching program for $12K at the end of 2016. I felt the timing wasn’t right because I had other commitments for the first month and a half of that one-year program, so I wasn’t going to be able to invest in it when it started. But then I took a deeper look at that objection before deciding, and I realized that it was an irrational objection.

It was mostly true that I wouldn’t be able to invest as much time in the program for the first 6 weeks or so, but after that I would have plenty of time to invest in it. So I asked myself whether it was good enough timing based on how I might leverage the program for the remaining 10.5 months. Did I really want to want a year till it was offered again?

That helped me see that a year offers plenty of time to extract good value, and 10.5 months is still plenty abundant. I could see that the investment was likely to be very worthwhile for me. And it was.

I was able to go full steam ahead for the rest of that year, and I earned back way more than 10X my investment in the next 6 months. There were many personal growth and social gains too, so it was a helluva good decision. That investment has been paying major dividends every year since. So it was actually incredibly good timing. I just had to work through my initial off-the-cuff objection and unpack it to see if it was really true. I encourage you to do a similar unpacking. Get to the truth. Don’t let your brain get hung up on a single objection. Think through and beyond that surface issue.

Another common objection is the cost of something. That’s a good one to unpack to see if it’s really true. The previous section above can help you look at the big picture investment to see if the choice is likely to be a good one for you.

Most people are overly loss averse, and they miss out on very nice compounding gains by focusing too much on the downside risk. Many studies confirm this. Even with a coin toss, many people find it barely acceptable to make the bet unless they’re getting at least a 1.5 to 1 payout.. so people won’t even invest when they’re getting 1.2X, 1.3X, 1.4X on their money.

Be sure to look at the upside potential. With CGC you could slack off and not get your money’s worth, but you aren’t risking very much relative to the virtually limitless upside. On the upside you could rack up huge wins across multiple areas of life that pay dividends for the rest of your life, and you can continue to compound those gains year after year.

For someone who’s very growth oriented and willing to invest some time and energy in the group, CGC can be one of the best investments ever. There are just so many ways to gain from it, and those gains can interact with each other to create additional 2nd and 3rd order gains.

Chances are pretty good that whatever your objection is, there are active CGC members who had those same objections and joined the club and benefitted from it.

That said, if you identify an objection that seems truthful and valid to you, and if it wouldn’t feel good to you to join while still having that objection, then I think you should honor your rational mind and not join. One example would be if the cost just feels way too risky or scary for you. If you would feel super tense for months after joining because you’re still anxious about whether you made the right choice, that’s not a great vibe for you or for the group, so I wouldn’t recommend pushing through that kind of objection.

Some members do find it a financial stretch to join CGC, and that seems to be just fine for them as long as they can have a positive relationship with the decision to join. Some members love to approach this as manifestation challenge, inviting the universe to bring them all or part of the money in some unexpected way. And a number of people join every year when the money does indeed show up in synchronistic ways. So instead of having to do anything stressful to come up with the money, you could invite the universe to make it a peaceful experience of having the money just show up with perfect timing. If that doesn’t work out for you this year, you can always try getting an earlier start on that for next year.

Consider the Surprise Aspect

Lastly, how you feel about pleasant surprises?

The total effect that CGC will have on you over the course of your membership is impossible to predict. There’s something about the group energy that impacts us all in surprising ways. Within weeks after joining, many members identify misalignments they didn’t even know they had. It’s not unusual for someone going through the quarterly planning process and then completely rewrite their goals from scratch after a round of feedback that helps them spot issues they didn’t see before.

Even if you join CGC with fuzzy or unclear goals, or you’re not sure what you want out of the experience, CGC has a way of providing lots of growth and positive changes anyway. It keeps inviting you to look at your life with different frames, and that can really recode your personal matrix.

I feel like being in CGC acts upon me like I’m a field of energy, not just a biological person. My thoughts and feelings continue to shift over time.

Many members have described the CGC experience as “becoming more me” or “being more authentically myself.” How that unfolds is different for everyone.

This year a number of previous members who skipped Year 4 have already re-enrolled for Year 5. Some noted that they missed the CGC community and the positive effects it has on them. It can be hard to see those effects when you warm up to them gradually, especially for members who were with us during the Early Access phase of CGC in 2017 and 2018. But then if you leave for a year, you may really notice the contrast.

If you like the possibility of pleasant surprises and you’re open to inviting growth to happen in some unexpected ways, not just in the ways you’d anticipate, I encourage you to consider that likelihood as part of your decision. For many members these unanticipated effects outweigh the value of the anticipated ones.

I hope these frames and methods make it easier for you to decide whether to join Conscious Growth Club this year. My intention is for you to make the decision you’ll appreciate most.

Just be sure to make your decision today. A lot of people will be making this decision right along with you. 😉