Bula from Fiji
Interestingly enough I came to Fiji for 5 days… and stayed for over 2 weeks. As my readers know, it’s nothing for me to extend a trip. In fact, it’s quite common. This however, was different. I still don’t want to leave Fiji and if I didn’t have pressing reason to return to the states so quickly, I’d gladly remain in Fiji another month. You see, this trip has been unlike any I have ever been on and I’ll tell you why.
A few months ago, I called off a wedding. I ran into server issues that cost me over 100,000 usd in a few short months and seemed to be running into challenges unlike anything I’d expected. Challenges to me, are signs. Signs that I am on the wrong path. So I immediately thought back to the last time I was in this situation and remembered like it was yesterday- I had gone to a UPW event with Tony Robbins and in the following months, fired my job, fired my boyfriend and moved out of the country to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It had changed my life and put me on the right path once again. That was 6 years ago and while 5 years of that time were rather peaceful, it was now clear I needed another jolt- a new perspective and whatever it took to get on the right path again. I called my Tony rep and told her I needed to go to another UPW event- she said “no no no, you just need to go to Platinum.” I had no idea what this was to be honest but I agreed shortly after. I rearranged my schedule and had their travel agent book my first Platinum Partnership event to Fiji just a few weeks before the event.
Ok, now don’t laugh but to be honest, I hadn’t even thought about where I was going. I’d been so busy the week before, I hadn’t given it much thought. When I checked in at the airport, the lady handed me my passport and said the duration of the flight was just over 10 hours. 10 hours? Which hemisphere was this again? She laughed and told me to enjoy my flight. I believe she actually thought I was joking.
I arrived at the Sheraton Fiji at about 4 am. I still hadn’t seen Fiji in the light but the sun was rising. Only recently becoming more of a morning person, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen a sunset so I decided to take a stroll along the beach and snap a few pictures. This was my first taste of Fiji- seeing the tangerine colored sunrise while drums played off in the distance- I had a sense this was going to be a moving experience.
The next day, I arrive at the airport again ready to take my flight to the smaller Fiji Island of Savu Savu. The group is meeting at Anthony Robbin’s spa resort- Namale. Before leaving, I’ve met well over a dozen “Plats,” – Caroline, Yvette and David, Sue… oh and Martyn… briefly, but I doubt that anyone would forget Martyn after being around his entertaining self for even 5 minutes. I’m obviously the newest to the group but I’m welcomed with such enthusiasm and excitement, it’s obvious I’ve joined a tightly bonded family. Ya, this was going to be interesting…. Interesting good or bad… well, I suppose I can always sneak out the back and hop a flight home if they offer koolaid right?
The next week was indescribable for me. A whirlwind of self-discovery, new friends, epiphanies and… what do they call it? Oh yes, joy. I laughed so hard, I cried, and sometimes I cried so hard, I laughed. Did I mention this was a BUSINESS event? Can’t wait to see what the spiritual trips bring about. In the end, I’d realized things like my own self worth and the amazing achievements I’ve accomplished but never stopped to appreciate. How does that happen? I mean, I’m in the top 1{228efccc870839ae469269e86e00e47152df79753e930955a4dda5cfddb888ac} earning bloggers in the ENTIRE WORLD and I’m still finding myself saying, “I’m just a blogger” and making a million excuses why what I’ve learned and teach is nothing at all. Hardly empowering, let alone inspiring to oneself to do more. Well, I’m over that now- I owe that to Tony, calling me out, embarrassing me in front of the group with my position. During breaks I was often mobbed and ran out of business cards, and computer battery by aspiring bloggers asking for blogging tips.
One feat I never expected to make such headway with- for as long as I can remember, I have been positively terrified of being on camera. When I say terrified, I mean, trembling, bumbling, sick to my stomach the minute I saw that blinking red light pointing my direction. In fact, just a few weeks earlier, I was at Google’s office in Santa Monica and one of Google’s AdSense powerheads insisted I go on camera telling me, “Come on Jeni, it’s just a few lines!” It took me 8 embarrassing tries to get 3 lines right and I was so shaken after, I felt ill, physically ill. “I’m a worse speaker than Bridget Jones,” I tweeted that day. I shared this fear with a few of my new Platinum peers and was immediately told I’d be going on camera before the week was over. “OMG DON’T MAKE ME!” Long story short, I did it- my new friend, Tim Reynolds, (http://www.timreynoldsmd.com) helped me and while it was no State of the Union Address, I definitely felt the difference of having faced my fear. By the following week, I’d extended my trip and decided to stay through the next course of Business Mastery. Learning my blogging experience, Tony is calling on me regularly, and by the end of the week, I’m fine- could really care less that the camera is on me. Are ya kidding me? 35 years of camera fears and this is all it took? Oh ffs. Not a bad start to my Fiji experience.
Fantastic post. Looking forward to reading more about Fiji and your Tony Robbins experience. Oh and seeing pictures.
Oh and isn’t facing fears amazing experience?
I have the pictures coming! Yes, amazing experience. Not only did I face fears but I discovered I had fears I didn’t know I had, faced them and overcame them all in a few weeks. Mind blowing, absolutely mind blowing!
Fiji is incredible!!! Bula! Glad you extended your trip.
Me too- would have gladly extended another month at least and can’t wait to go back!
Hey Jeni,
Not sure if you remember me, my name is Stan and we met at the Google Adsense seminar in Santa Monica that you mentioned in your post. You told me about your experience with your former web host (Godaddy) and how they moved your site to another server with an earlier version of PHP without any notice! Anyway, I’ve been reading your blog from time to time and felt compelled to comment your latest post from Fiji. I just wanted to tell you what an inspiration you were to me. I consider myself to be a success, with a decent income, real estate, a wonderful wife and new born son, but for the past couple of years I’ve had a great deal of self doubt when it comes to my career. I burnt out on my job years ago and felt for a long time that I had no long term plan in this department. Sometime after talking to you and visiting some of your websites, I too had an epiphany. I now have my own blog about traveling, but it’s more geared towards traveling with kids and family travel. I won’t mention the site in this post because I don’t want you to think I’m trying to promote it, but rather I want to say that I have a great deal of admiration for you, your work, and the way you live your life. You were an inspiration not just to me, but to my two friends that came with me to the Google seminar, and we are complete strangers to you! I can’t imagine how much more of an impact you have made with all the other people you have touched along the way. You deserve to be happy and joyful for your accomplishments and how you have impacted people around you!
Stan
Hey Jeni,
I had wondered where you had disappeared too. It was very cool when I found out you had popped off to Fiji. The pics look amazing and I wish I could have joined….. Gotta keep blogging as I don’t think i’ll get to these kind of events for a long long time.
Stan left a wonderful comment and I have to second that you have been an inspiration to know and I look forward to meeting you in person.
Hello Stan. Of course I remember you and wow, what an extraordinary compliment. I have to say, I was left rather speechless after reading this. What could I possibly say to express how truly touched I was, except to tell you… you just inspired me as well.
While I was in Fiji and San Diego this last month, I had a number of opportunities presented to me, including Tony himself asking me for blog help, and invitations to speak around the world. I wasn’t certain if I should take up these offers, for similar reasons that you mentioned above. I have coached new and experienced bloggers for years- I’ve never asked for anything in return and you just reminded me why. Knowing I’ve helped and inspired others is so much more of a reward than anything else could ever be. So that in mind, how could I NOT accept these opportunities, when I could help so many more bloggers and in return help myself. What an amazing experience this is going to be.
I owe you just as much of a thank you Stan. Heading over to your blog now to subscribe and looking forward to reading about your travels.
Jeni
Hey Ian,
Amazing comment from Stan, wasn’t it? As a pro blogger yourself, I know you can relate to what something like that feels like.
I know you follow me on brilliantjeni on twitter, but do you follow my travel tweets on spoiledtraveler too? Can always find out what I’m up to on there. I’m looking forward to seeing you on the opposite side of the world in November!
Hey Jeni,
I’m thrilled that you remembered meeting me at the seminar! After reading your Fiji post a week ago I decided to check out Tony Robbins’ website. I really didn’t know who he was or what he was about before that (other than his appearance on Shallow Hal). I watched a couple of his videos including the one on his home page and wow, he is quite an articulate speaker. I don’t know him like you do, but I can tell that he is deeply passionate about what he does. He is a true believer, and if he has invited you to speak at some of his functions around the world, than you should do it if you think it will benefit you! It’s a good reason to travel to new places for your blog, and having someone like him standing by you and believing in you will only help empower you more.
Anyway, I’m still just as excited now about my project as I was when I started it just over a month ago. I just posted an article about our family trip to the Karmina Palace in Manzanillo in 2004 if you want to check it out. My author alias is “Trinity”, although I think I might just replace it with my real name in the future. My sister just wrote an article about our Puerto Vallarta vacation in 2002 at Casa Marilu. I don’t know if you remember but you asked me how far it was from La Joya de Mismaloya and I told you it was about 5 minutes away. We actually stayed at Mismaloya a few years ago and I know our family is dying to go back. The only concern right now is all the turmoil these days with the government and the cartels. I’d be interested to know your take on this!
Stan
Hey Jeni,
I’m delighted to be one of those friends and budding blogging students that you met on your Fiji trip. Like the man says, “life will never be the same again”!
There is something quite magical about Fiji, especially sharing the event with such a wonderful bunch of people.
me too, planned to stay for only 5 days but end up spend 2weeks in fiji !!!
had great time in tony’s resort…
great time met u too!