A Personal Note From Orion

Today’s guest’s passion is combining spirituality and business. But before he could tap into his passion, he experienced two “bricks-thrown-at-the-head” moments that made him into a Spiritual Business Activist.

Steve Rodgers is the host of The Alchemy of Business Podcast Show, author of Amazon’s #1 Bestselling books, Lead to Gold and The IGI Principles, and the CEO of the Alchemy Advisors, a coaching and consulting firm. He is a former Warren Buffett CEO who experienced a radical spiritual transformation that has evolved into a new mission as a purpose-driven consultant and coach for business leaders and entrepreneurs, an in-demand international keynote speaker, and a bestselling author. He specializes in helping business owners and leaders increase productivity, profits, and purpose through integrating spiritual intelligence into every aspect of their personal and professional lives. 

In this episode, Steve shares his personal, professional, and spiritual journey that led him to his passion and mindfulness practices that allow him to connect and converse with God. He also talks about the difference between a regular and spiritually driven business, EGO and IGI, the IGI principles, how to forgive and be forgiven, and much more.

And now, without further ado, on to the show.

In This Episode

• [02:26] – Steve Rodgers, a Spiritual Business activist, the host of The Alchemy of Business Podcast Show, the author of Lead to Gold and The IGI Principles, and the CEO of Alchemy Advisors, joins Orion in this episode. Orion starts by asking Steve about his passion and the moment he realized it; his brick-upside-the-head moments.
• [08:35] – Steve shared his God-like experience when he was 17. He mentions that his most profound spiritual conversations occur when he confronts his fears head-on, prompting him to share a personal experience with fear.
• [14:16] – Steve describes his daily rituals and how he connects with God. He also characterizes prayer and meditation.
• [16:07] – Orion wants to know about the most common reason people seek Steve’s guidance. Steve aims to instill in his clients a productive business and spiritual intelligence, spurring Orion to ask about the difference between a regular and spiritually driven business.
• [21:24] – A deck of your vision, product/service, people, market, competitors, and accounting is essential in business. Steve discusses how he connects with people and sets intentions as an individual and a team. He offers advice on incorporating body, mind, and soul assessments within your team into your business.
• [28:13] – Steve explains the meaning of IGI, inspired after reading a book by Dr. Wayne Dyer, who also happened to be one of Orion’s spiritual teachers. 
• [33:59] – Steve emphasizes the importance of pursuing happiness. He mentions Western Disease, written in Marshall Goldsmith‘s book, The Earned Life.
• [35:49] – Orion requests that Steve discuss some of the IGI principles. Steve discusses forgiveness and how he invites God to assist him with forgiveness. They both share their perspectives on forgiveness.
• [39:41] – What are the characteristics of God’s voice that separate it from others? As Steve explains, God is an intelligent energy in the universe, and forgiveness occurs when we allow it to work for us.
• [46:38] – Connect with a higher source, make yourself your best friend, and cultivate your talent are Steve’s top tips for living a stellar life.
• [47:37] – Get in touch with Steve through steverodgers.net or his corporate website, thealchemyadvisors.com. More important ideas can also be found on his podcast, The Alchemy of Business.

Jump to Links and Resources

About Today’s Show

Hi, Steve. Welcome to the Stellar Life podcast. Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you, Orion, for having me. I appreciate it. 

Thank you. Before we begin, can you share a little bit about your passion and how did you discover it?  

How did I discover my passion? I think I discovered it very deeply by a brick upside the head in a few moments of my life. Sometimes the universe does a quick brick upside your head when you’re not paying close enough to your passion. For me, I’ve had a near-death experience, and I was also fired from a very long career at a corporate company that I helped build for 15 years. So those two experiences of a brick upside the head moment helped me get deeper into my passion. 

My passion is spirituality and combining spirituality and business. Those moments, I already knew that was my passion, kind of cracked me open to make sure that passion is being pursued every day.

What happened first, being fired after 15 years of service or the near-death experience?

My passion is spirituality and combining spirituality and business.

What happened first was me almost dying. I was one of these people who worked hard, played hard, worked hard, played hard, and played very hard. Unfortunately, I was not only an overachiever in business, life, and making money but also an overachiever in drinking alcohol. I became way too good at it. I was overachieving, which worked for me for a long time in socializing with business. But my drinking continued to escalate, so I became—what is termed in this day and age—a functioning alcoholic.

Even though I put on the suit and tie every day, went out, made money, and led people, I was also heavily into heavy drinking on evenings and weekends. That alcohol addiction led to many health issues, and I ended up in the hospital. I was in intensive care for four or five days and literally almost lost my life. That was a wake-up call; that was one of the first ones. 

Then I stopped drinking, got help, returned to my career, continued to build a company, and climbed the corporate ladder of a pretty big status of success and money. Then the mortgage meltdown in 2008. Many real estate, finance, and mortgage companies started closing and consolidating, and the world was changing. I was one of those corporate people who put the guy under me that made half the money I did and was more of a yes man than I was. That birthed an entrepreneur.

First, it was the alcohol, then it was getting fired, and that is when I birthed myself as an entrepreneur– those two things and my passion. Having spirituality helped me get through that. I have a lot of other passions in life. I love to travel, I love biking, and I love to do yoga. But if I had to pick one passion, my biggest passion is my connection with source and higher power, and exploring spirituality through reading, meditation, exploring that with others, through mentors, guides, and those types of things.

Were you always spiritual, or did that come after the brick?

I was lucky enough to be raised in a very religious/spiritual family. My parents are great parents. They brought up five boys, and we are very catholic. They were very strict Catholics. I remember going to church, Sunday school, and CCD. From a very young age, growing up, religion and spirituality were very much part of my family and my parents’ DNA of our families. 

I was very happy in later years to know that that foundation of believing in something higher in yourself was really important. But, for me—not for everyone—I just found out that structured religion, as I became a teenager and a young adult, was too confined in the contradiction that didn’t work for me. 

I kept the power of having the belief of having faith, but I just expanded my definition and exploration of eastern philosophies and eastern religions. I melded it into an East meets West kind of religious practice, which became more of a spiritual practice than religious. I remember believing, knowing, and connecting to a source very young. 

What kind of God-like experience did you have?

For me, it was following a voice—an audible voice—that I hear and listen to internally and externally. For example, when I was 17 years old, one of the voices I remember is that I was very rebellious, and I was still in conflict with my father, a very strong Navy man, but my spiritual belief told me it was time to leave. 

I continued my path of life, trusting that I would be led by spiritual breadcrumbs to my next path.

I moved out of my house when I was 17 years old. I continued my path of life, trusting that I would be led by spiritual breadcrumbs to my next path. That began a trust of connection, following my gut, instinct, and decisions that led to this God conversation I had. 

I moved to California by myself when I turned 20. I traveled through Europe when I was 25 by myself for three months and went through 12 countries and 32 cities. Following this voice of feeling comfortable with myself because I have this connection to a higher power, my source, and God has helped me in my career, moving, and making decisions. 

When I met my wife—we’ve been married 32 years—there was a booming voice behind my back that said you’re going to marry this woman. I was 21 years old and had no desire to get married. I was like, “Who’s saying that?” I just saw her and didn’t know her name yet, but there was this booming voice that scared the hell out of me. We ended up getting married five years later, and we’ve been married 32 years. 

Those are some examples of when I listen to sources internally, whether meditating or just in life. I also started realizing that my doors of fear, or my blocks of fears, are where my biggest spiritual conversations can happen, and that is why I go to fear now versus going away from fear. That’s where I can connect with a higher source and spiritual conversation as well.

Did you go through fear?

I would say I’m going through it now in a very real way. My three-and-a-half-year-old grandson just got diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. That’s a crippling disease that causes children to lose the use of their legs and their limbs. They usually end up in a wheelchair by the time they are 10 or 12 years old, and they don’t have a life expectancy past, usually in their 20s. 

I also started realizing that my doors of fear, or my blocks of fears, are where my biggest spiritual conversations can happen, and that is why I go to fear now versus going away from fear.

The fear is breathing through my sweet little—his name is Desi. My daughter has a five-year-old and a three-and-a-half-year-old, and Desi is happy and healthy right now, but we are seeing some signs of this disease that is starting to affect his legs and walking. 

There is fear for what that is bringing forward. There is fear for him about what that will be for his life, so I’m trying to convert that fear. I’m doing a fairly good job of it, but it’s very close to home because you want your children and kids to be protected. It is one thing to do that for yourself, and it is another thing to do that for someone else in that trust phase. 

There are definitely moments of fear that I have in helping my daughter, her husband, and my grandson, who lives very close to us. We are almost secondary caregivers at times with him. I guess that is some fear about what is coming in that. So, I just have to turn that over into believing that this also has higher power, this also has a plan to it, this obviously is his soul’s destiny, and all the other people around him that will be affected by this in the next years ahead for him. Hopefully, his soul connection will grow from this even as his body deteriorates. There is some fear in that, but it is also accepted at the same time. That is the most current fear I can think of. 

Wow, thank you for sharing, and I’m so sorry to hear about it. 

Thank you. 

I interviewed Philipp & Cru von Holtzendorff-Fehling. Cru was talking about a supplement called C60. 

Oh, yes. Carbon 60. Yes.  

Yeah, and that might help him.  

Yes, and we’re going to definitely look at it all, and thank you for reminding me of that. I actually take C60 myself for inflammation and different things. We’re going to have him go to a holistic practitioner. He has been to Los Angeles Medical Center, and he has been to Rady’s Children’s Hospital. He got various diagnoses. They actually have him on steroids right now—which we are not thrilled about—but it is one of the things they do to stop the muscular deterioration. 

Then there is another thing called something 51, a drug that also helps. There is no cure for it right now, but it helps slow it. Luckily, my daughter is also open to holistic practice. She is a dancer and a real estate agent, but she is also very spiritual and holistic. She is also looking at acupuncture, herbs, and these oils. 

Thank you for reminding me of that. We’ll try everything we can to give him the best advantage, with lots of love, support, and appreciation for each moment we have with him. Then try and find some treatments that will come and help him.  

All right, cool, and they can send you some information about a product that might also help.

Thank you very much. We’re open to any and all things. There are so many different things with herbs, new treatments, and holistic stuff that can help. Diet—going on a lot of higher plant-based diets to reduce the acidity in the body can help. We also have a three-and-a-half-year-old. Three-and-a-half-year-old kids want to be three-and-a-half-year-old kids. 

We have also to let him live his life as a young toddler and, at the same time, know that this thing is progressive. It is going to be a journey. It will test all our fortitudes on our faith and belief. It will cause some roadblocks and issues, so we just work through those.  

You’ll See It When You Believe It by Wayne W. Dyer

Yeah. Your connection to God, you say you meditate a lot. Do you meditate every day? How do you connect to God? Do you have conversations with God? 

Yeah, I kind of describe it when I pray, and I do pray out loud, whether I’m in my car, if I’m in my office or in my morning ritual. I have affirmations that I do, and I also have prayer where I’m in conversation, in open dialogue with God, yes. 

I do a daily ritual, and I do it most days. There’s a day here or there that I miss, but I typically have a daily practice in the morning that includes a healthy breakfast, some type of exercise, yoga or working out with a trainer. Then I do spiritual reading every day, from the Torah to Bhagavadgita to the Bible. I have many smorgasbord things that I do for spiritual reading.

Then I do some form of meditation, whether a guided meditation on an app—I have various apps. I’m also a member of the Self Realization Fellowship with Paramahansa Yogananda, founded many years ago. They have some guided meditations, and they have Kriya yoga practices that they do. I have gone through a lot of training to incorporate meditations differently. Yes, I do some form of meditation every day, and sometimes, depending on a stressful day, I might do it multiple times a day. 

Then from prayer, I guess I look at it like prayer is when I’m having a mental or verbal conversation with God. Meditation is when I’m consciously fully listening to what God is trying to tell me. Even though I sometimes have this conversation and feel like I’m interacting with the universe, meditation is stilling my mind, my thoughts, my ego, and just being an empty space, trying to have those moments. Sometimes it’s ten minutes, sometimes 30 minutes, but it’s a very conscious thing. 

It is like an exercise. It is like the more you do push-ups or sit-ups, you will have a better muscle tone. For me, meditation is a discipline that I have not mastered in any sense, but it is an integral part of my mental, spiritual, and physical health.

What do people come to you for help? 

Meditation is when I’m consciously fully listening to what God is trying to tell me.

Originally, when I started my consulting company around six years ago, most people came to me to make more profit in their business. Everybody that runs a business wants more profit. You have to have profitable businesses, and since I was in the real estate business and helping people grow their wealth for many years. 

In the company that I was the CEO of, at our peak, we were doing about 36,000 transactions of home sales a year. We stretched all over Southern California. We had a title and escrow mortgage. Warren Buffett bought that company, and I worked under the Warren Buffett Home Services, Berkshire Hathaway Company, for about seven years that owned this real estate empire. 

Within that, people knew I knew how to grow, scale, run businesses, manage PnL, do acquisitions and mergers, recruit talented people, and train sales teams. I do a lot of that well because I was trained for many, many years doing it, and I learned in the process through trial and error, sometimes through success, and sometimes through failures. That is the knowledge and DNA in my system of helping people build businesses. 

Primarily, people came to me to help build more profit or to be more productive. They wanted to be more productive in their daily life or on their teams, and they also wanted to have more purpose. I just kind of simplified my practice and said that’s what I do. I want to help business owners and leaders, whether small entrepreneurs or corporate entities, to be more profitable, productive, and purposeful. 

God’s energy is the power of all things.

As I have evolved myself in the last four or five years, my company is called Alchemy Advisors. Alchemy Advisors helps businesses do what I just said, but it also is focused on transition, transformation, and evolution. So that not only we as people but our businesses and our products and services are constantly transitioning, transforming into something better, and then evolving. 

I have realized that unless people are willing to have these conversations around the board table or in a one-on-one zoom call, as an entrepreneur, I have to bring this essence, spiritual intelligence. I help businesses make money, grow, scale, and get more productive. I also help them bring whatever sense of their definition of spiritual practices for themselves or as their team that they can elaborate for themselves within the team what that might be individually, but collectively. 

It’s a little bit of a dance at times, a bit of a nuance, but I have found that, for me, is where I’m more passionate about helping people who want to have that as an element besides just making money. 

What are the differences between a regular and spiritually driven business?

Spirituality has many different definitions, and I’m not here to make the definition of any scope. I’m not here to preach or define someone’s spiritual discussion of what that might be. I am here to make sure that I’m asking them questions about their own life, their practice, the way they make decisions, the way they make corporate policies or entrepreneurial policies, the type of people that they attract, the type of meetings they conduct, the type of training they do, the type of benefits they offer, the type of charitable things that are involved in, et cetera, have some kind of spiritual influence in it. 

For me, spirituality is just doing something higher than yourself for the good of others and the good of the world. I happen to call my God, God. To me, God—for the definition—is just the sum of all that is. To me, spirituality is energy, and its conscious energy. Just like the conversation in life right now is a lot about artificial intelligence, it’s everywhere and everything. In previous years, we’ve talked about emotional intelligence and IQ or intellect.

Spiritual intelligence, I think for an entrepreneur or business owner, what’s the difference between a business and someone willing to give a higher purpose, higher meaning, and contribute to the world? Think of others first, and have a spiritual essence. It is the longevity of happiness and joy, and longevity in a company that has more meaning and less burnout. 

Think of others first, and have a spiritual essence. It is the longevity of happiness and joy, and longevity in a company that has more meaning and less burnout.

What I have found in many successful people who have driven fancy cars, had fancy houses, and had large bank accounts, is that many times—not all the time—have a sense of emptiness. They have a sense of is this all there is? They have a sense that I thought this would feel different when I got to my first million. I thought this was going to be more fulfilling. Then they start filling that hole in the soul with different things as I did grow up on my path, whether it is alcohol, drugs, sex, excessive spending, or whatever. 

For me, the difference between a spiritual conscious business, doing well and good for others in the world as an active part of your accountability just like you’re looking at your monthly numbers, and the difference between a business that’s not doing that is a business that I believe is going to sustain everyone that’s involved in it in an ecosystem that betters the world and will have more longevity. You’ll retain more of your employees. You’ll retain more of your customers, and your products and services will have more intangible energy that will grow and excel beyond your wildest dreams. 

How can one create that intention, and how do you bring your team along? 

Often, people are used to doing planning sessions, budgeting sessions, and things with their teams. If you are a startup, you have to have a deck. A deck typically consists of your vision, your product, who your people are within the company, what markets you’re going to serve, who are your competitors, what kind of money you’re looking to raise, and then what you’re going to do with that money, et cetera.

Then when companies exist, they typically have a budgeting scenario where they make a year’s projection about the markets they’re going to serve, the type of employees they’ll need, the salaries they’ll pay, and their margins on what products or services. 

No person on the planet does not have someone they need to forgive and someone who needs to forgive them.

There is already in companies—whether they are small or large—this sense of planning and accountability. Tracking and measuring how much you’re going to spend, what you are going to do, how much you are going to make, what is your profit, then what is our value? What is our unique selling proposition for a consumer or the end-user? In that conversation, it is very easy to add that into, and also, what kind of culture are you trying to create in your company?

I actually have people write down what their core values are. What is most important to them and their family and their life? What is it that makes their heart sing? What is it that makes them feel most creative? When do they feel most valued? When do they feel like they’re living their life’s purpose, in what duties, and what actions? How do they contribute to others? 

If you are a startup, you have to have a deck.

Those conversations create things within training, policies, procedures, descriptions with employees, or meeting structures. A lot of times, people have meetings every week with their teams, with their executives. 

They might have a board of directors meeting or a marketing meeting, and within those meetings, add simple things about these kinds of conversations before you start the meeting or during or after. For example, ask people, “Hey, how did the company contribute and serve you this week to help you feel better about your life or your job? What did you do for someone else in the company or your family that warmed somebody’s heart this week? What are you struggling with?” 

That is part of this, not just at the water cooler or not just if you think someone looks like they’re having a bad day, I should go over and maybe talk to them. Incorporating this is as important as reviewing people’s bodies, minds, and souls as viewing your inventory, as much as you are reviewing your profits, as much as you are reviewing your market share. 

I really incorporate and ask people, have you made somebody else know that you love them today? Within your family, within your company, within your organization? There are many ways people feel comfortable doing that at different levels. It’s just a matter of getting the conversation started, and then you make some goals and parameters around that, and you usually start with baby steps of adding those in. 

Then most people are really surprised at how open they are. Usually, employees or others are surprised that you are even asking these questions, that you are authentically real about wanting to know, and, more importantly, that you are doing something about it. 

The IGI Principles by Steve Rodgers

If you are a leader or an owner or you are building a business, you can’t open your heart to someone and ask them to open their heart and either get suggestions or things on how to improve the environment for the employees or your customers and not then take advantage of it and then not give back. It is always about giving back. 

How, in turn, does this make somebody else feel better? I say, if you can incorporate into your business plans, how can I make somebody else have a miracle today in their life—and that’s my mission—changes the thinking about what you do when you design business plans and performance. 

Wow. Doesn’t it take the team, or even the leader, to a place that is a little more esoteric and not connected to? Because I can see team meetings like this go in two ways: maybe the employees share much or a lot. The conversation goes on that and less on business. How does it really work? What did you find?

I found that it definitely is a process. Some people don’t want to open up and be raw and real about their emotions or fears until they start seeing that this is not a one-time thing, that this is actually part of the process and structure of every meeting. If you start every meeting, having each person go round, you can even have an app timer. I suggest this for regular meetings anyway. 

When you go into a meeting, always have an agenda and always know what the outcome is supposed to be and exactly how much time you want to spend on each agenda item. Make sure you start and end meetings on time. Make sure that you have let the other stakeholders know they will be in the meeting and what they’re responsible for reporting or conducting in that meeting. Then you can have a timer for the meeting, so everybody knows that the meeting is not going to just go on endlessly and people are going to ramble on and on about numbers or market share.

In the section where you might have team bonding, spiritual intelligence, conversations, and what you are doing to serve the community, you have that as an agenda item, and you say, “Hey, we are going to spend 10 minutes on this. Then we’ll spend 10 minutes on a profit and loss statement.” It’s part of an agenda, and you don’t let it go on and on, but you can still reference it. In my book, The IGI Principles, I talk about some of the principles in the IGI Principles, such as forgiveness. 

I’m sorry, can you share with listeners what IGI stands for? 

IGI is something that resonated with me that just came as another pop in my head about 15 years ago from a reading that I did and a lot of following of Wayne Dyer. If your listeners have not heard of Wayne Dyer, I highly recommend checking him out. Unfortunately, he has passed, but I just saw you say, “I love him.” Is that what I heard you say, Orion? Is that what you said? 

Yes, two of my first big spiritual teachers were Louise Kay and Dr. Wayne Dyer. I got to see Louise in person at Hay House. I never got to see Wayne Dyer in person, but I’m forever his follower.

I got to see him a few times. He spoke at a few events that I had been to. He was in San Diego at an event probably ten years ago. I had the pleasure of meeting him. I didn’t have a sit-down meeting with him, but I was at an event that he did, and he signed books and those things. I have followed him for years. 

Wayne Dyer was originally a therapist and psychologist in the ’70s; then, he evolved from his mental practice of helping people in emotional and mental crises to realizing that the solution for that is that there was a necessary element in mental health and human evolution of spirituality. He started writing and researching his spirituality. 

There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem by Wayne W. Dyer

In his readings, I think the original book he wrote was not necessarily a spiritual book but a relationship book. It was called Your Erroneous Zones and sold millions of copies. He became known for that. He has a whole story about how he put books in the back of his car and drove from bookstore to bookstore. This was before Amazon, before all the online sales, but he became a very well-known author. 

From that, he started becoming a spiritual leader-writer when he had notoriety and was on his own spiritual path. He’s written books like There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem or You’ll See It When You Believe It.

You’ll See It When You Believe It, something like that. 

Yes, it starts with that. He’s got a lot of great books, they’re all spiritually based, but he also talked about ego and breaking down the ego. Since he was a psychologist, he understood the superconscious and the subconscious. He said that when we are in ego, we are Edging God Out. I’d heard it before, but when I read it in one of his books, it hit me on my forehead; “Wow, that’s so true and so simple.” 

When I’m in my total ego, it’s all about me, me, me, what I want, what I need, and I’m going to make this happen, I realize that that’s powerful. The ego can be very powerful, and we all have egos. We will all always have egos as we’re on this planet. 

When I’m so much heavier into my ego and not balancing out, I can get into bad relationships. I can be known as an ass. I can be disrespectful to others. A lot of things in ego, right? I said I’ve got to continually remind myself to stay out of ego as much as possible. What’s the opposite of that? 

Just like the Yin and Yang sign, I thought the opposite of that would be that if I’m edging God out when I’m in EGO, then I would be inviting God in on the other times I’m not doing that, so I came up with IGI. I wrote it down on a yellow notepad about 15 years ago and said, IGI. That’s kind of like IGI, and I just said the word IGI. Around that time, there was a rap song called Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It. It was just kind of a funny little thing. 

I said I’m going to ask myself mentally and physically and get IGI with it. If I’m in a situation where I’m making a decision about where I’m going to invest, where I’m going to spend time with my wife, if I’m walking into a conversation, if I’m dealing with a family issue, I start just asking myself, “Okay, Steve, are you coming this from EGO or IGI?” I just started doing that filter for myself, for my own personal inventory of how I was showing up in a room and participating in conversations. 

It became a mantra of mine, and I started saying, “IGI or EGO?” It became like the DNA of a chip in my head. Then over the years, I started writing down principles about what IGI consists of. 

What IGI is, is Inviting God In. If you don’t like the word God, and a lot of people don’t. God sometimes uses the word because of their upbringing, or because society has turned them off, so they might want to use another word. You could see inviting good in, greatness in, and grace in.

The G can be whatever you want it to be, good, grace, God, something, but it’s something different than yourself. EGO, Edging God Out. IGI, Inviting Good In, is a principle I started using in my life. The more and more I did that, the more and more I got out of my ego, and I got out of my way. I started becoming more incorporated into the spiritual practices of realizing there is a balance to living as a human being on the planet, raising a family, making money, having the luxuries of life that we want to have while at the same time, serving others, living in our highest calling, and being authentic. Still, I had to balance those out because of a great need. 

There is a balance to living as a human being on the planet, raising a family, making money, having the luxuries of life that we want to have while at the same time, serving others, living in our highest calling, and being authentic.

Bottom line, ego just gets shit done. It just does. I’m going to put it that way. EGO is a creation of getting things done, but IGI energy can help you balance out why you’re doing things to get things done. IGI brings in others and incorporates us and everyone together. EGO is more central to just yourself. 

Yes, because you don’t want to lose your life chasing a certain goal and not just living the moment and enjoying the journey because most of life is not when we reach the goal. Most of our life is when we work toward a goal. We might as well enjoy being connected, being with ourselves and others, and being very intentional about it. 

Totally agree. One of my mentors and friends, Marshall Goldsmith, is a great teacher and executive coach, and he’s written many books, but he just had one out now called The Earned Life. Marshall talks about how there is this thing called the Western Disease, and the Western disease is us, as Americans, we have this thing about “I will be happy when….” I will be happy when I get the title. I’ll be happy when I get the house. I’ll be happy when I get the girl. I’ll be happy when I get the guy. I’ll be happy when I get the red car. I’ll be happy when I have a million dollars. 

We forget to be happy now. Find ways to be happy now in your existing moments, regardless of what you have or who you are. Having that goal of happiness when I get something versus being in the moment is what many of us chase. Advertising and the way society is of all the statuses, of the stuff we have to have, any kind of marketing seats about stuff. 

We feel if we don’t have that stuff or have that job or that title, that we’re not fulfilled and we’re not worthy, and it is a big farce of we get on this wheel of the run, make money, make money, buy a house, have kids, get the dog, go on vacation, retire, and die. 

There’s got to be more than that. There has got to be more to life for the purpose of why we are here on the planet and what we are intended to do as spiritual and human beings. I think that is more about what we’re talking about. It’s more about purpose, serving others, and finding your inner understanding of yourself, not just your psyche and mind, but also your soul’s evolution. It is understanding that your soul is its own energy and its entity. 

I think as much as we can get wise through academia in getting degrees and education, we also can learn to nourish our souls and have that evolve similarly as we make our minds. 

There’s more to life than the purpose of why you’re here and what you’re intended to do as a spiritual and human being.

To nourish our soul, what are some of the IGI principles? 

Some IGI principles are acceptance, gratitude, forgiveness, paying it forward, prayer, and meditation. They’re not like new concepts, but when I tie those in examples in the book about how you tie those two situations and discussions with employees, with your wife or whoever. I’m using those examples and real-life experiences. 

Also, one of the things I did with a book that makes it easier for people to get real-life experiences like we are having now is that it is a multimedia book. The book has small chapters, and at the end of every chapter, there is a QR code that will lead you to a two to three-minute video and pre-written social media hashtags that people can use that have the written word and videos. Then social media hashtag swipes help bring the concept of how do you take forgiveness and incorporate that into a business of your life? How is that a business practice? 

What I have found is that there is no person on the planet that currently does not, right now, have someone that they need to forgive, and that someone needs to forgive them. There is not a single person on the planet, whether that’s a brother, a sister, a mother, an uncle, a friend, whomever, we all know who that person is.

If I ask your listeners, think about right now in your life who you’re most pissed off or feel most betrayed by, who is that person? Is that person taking up space in your head, in your heart, that is an energy that you don’t really like? 

There is no person on the planet currently does not, right now, have someone that they need to forgive, and that someone needs to forgive them.

If that’s the case, what I found is the quicker I could get to forgiveness and articulate my forgiveness from my head and my heart and do the work that it took to forgive that person, the quicker I unleashed energy that was a reservoir that I didn’t even know existed in creativity, that caused the green lights to start happening in my life again whether that would be a parent, whether that would be somebody. 

For me, in companies and building organizations, there are a lot of pent-up resentments that don’t get discussed and brought to the table. If you’re having a team meeting and talking about forgiveness within a team, did someone betray you as someone stepped on your toes? Did someone try to stab you in the back? Do you have a mother or father who was not a good parent? They did the best they could, but you feel they harmed your early years of being a child, and now it’s gone into your adult years? Are you angry at them? Do you still hold onto that?

One of the principles in the IGI Principles is finding ways to get forgiveness and then extend that forgiveness to them. Then vice versa, who needs to forgive you? Who have you potentially harmed, even if you didn’t think they have a right to be mad at you? Many times people say I know they think I need to forgive him, but I don’t feel like I did anything wrong. I go, well, let me ask you, do you think that could be a filter of your ego, that you’re saying I didn’t do anything wrong, but yet this person is hurt and resentful and feels betrayed by you? There’s a disconnect there. 

Would you consider finding a way to try and see a perspective that this other person feels like you harmed them, and would you be willing to find a way to extend the opening up conversation to find out how you could allow yourself to be forgiven or vice versa? This power of forgiveness is one of the techniques that I use, and people don’t even realize that’s why they might be blocked and sometimes people are blocked in creativity.

Yes. Forgiveness is not an easy thing to do. 

No, it’s not. 

How do you invite God in to help you with forgiveness? What’s the process? How do you know that you actually listen to the voice of God and not some other voice, maybe?

The Earned Life by Marshall Goldsmith & Mark Reiter

That’s a great question. Here’s how I have come to my understanding of that. To me, God is a word I use, and I don’t look at God like white robes on a cloud somewhere. God is not a person or a figure to me. It is intelligent energy in the universe, and this higher consciousness is a collective thing that makes the tides come in and out. It makes the stars stay where they are. It makes the world on its axis. This energy, which is ununderstood, is about us as humans of exactly how it works; we know how some of it works. There is collective higher energy there. I choose to call that God. 

In my definition, if God is the sum of all that is in energy, then I have to tap into that energy. I also believe in EGO energy, which some people call light and dark; they might say God and the devil. If people think big enough about the possibility of looking at this, if I consider people considering the concept that God’s energy is the power of all things, then God is in that EGO energy. God is also in that dark energy. God can’t just be in light energy. 

If God created the entire universe, that all universes exist, then how could God not also be part of the energy of that darker energy that we look at as evil or like the dark side of ourselves or the shadow side? Sometimes it is my EGO talking to me, but the next question I ask is that answer that I’m getting, serving myself or serving someone else? 

If it’s serving someone else, it is usually more in the IGI than in the EGO. It doesn’t mean that my ego’s answer at times may not be the right thing for my protection, for drawing boundaries, for having the energy and the confidence to go through and do a killer sales meeting; sometimes, that takes your ego. I guess the answer is we all know when something is really in our gut if it resonates as truth. 

I don’t know how to describe the truth for each individual, but I do know if I asked someone, I asked my five-year-old grandson, I said, “Put your hand on your stomach, ask yourself a question, and does that ring true for you whatever it might be?” He goes, “no, poppy, it doesn’t really feel true.” I go,” well, would it feel true if you ask it this way?” 

What forgiveness means is you’re allowing the energy to be freed up so your soul can evolve to the next level.

We sometimes literally put his hand on his stomach, close his eyes, take a deep breath, and ask a question and say does that resonate that you know 100% that it is true? If the answer is yes, more than likely, that’s a higher energy answer, especially if it’s helping serve someone else. 

Even if your answer was, would it be nice, would it be healing, and would it be helpful if I chose to forgive this other person or let them forgive me? If the answer is, “I don’t give a shit what they think, I don’t want them in my life, I don’t need them, I don’t care what they think, I don’t care what others think.” Then, it’s probably coming from the ego. 

If you’re like, “yeah, that would be nice. Yeah, it would be nice to make up with my mother. Yes, it would be nice to make up with my cousin, whom I haven’t talked to in five family events because they’re always a jerk.” Whatever it might be, yes, that would be nice. It doesn’t mean that forgiveness means you have to continue to include them in your life. What forgiveness means is you’re allowing the energy to be freed up so your soul can evolve to the next level. You’re right; forgiveness is very hard.

I also believe you have to give yourself some slack—not being ready to forgive. If some healing needs to be done, then I believe that you need to go inside and heal and get help with whatever it is. Even if you need a few months or some people need more time. Then, when you’re ready, you forgive. There is also some kind of premature forgiveness where it’s almost about unwillingly giving away your power. I’m going to do it so I can move on with my life. It doesn’t come from a mature source. Would you agree?

I agree to a degree, but I feel like you’re having a conversation with my wife because my wife also says what you just said. The way she terms it, and I agree that I understand it, and I get it, she calls it spiritual whitewashing. When I try and gloss over things, and I’m not staying in anger, or if I’m forgiving someone too quickly, she’s saying you’re just spiritually whitewashing that, meaning you’re glossing over it. She says, “You’re not getting in your deep feelings about that, and you’re not really fully processing it.” I believe there is some truth in that. 

You have to get a sense of healing in yourself so that you can forgive authentically.

I also believe that many people, not all, let forgiveness go on way too long, and then it never happens. I believe you have to get a sense of healing in yourself so that you can forgive authentically. I know that pain for people is sometimes so intense that it takes a while to process that for yourself before you can give it to others. 

I also recommend that if you can find a mediator, a friend, a therapist, or someone you trust to do that, sometimes it’s helpful to have someone facilitate that forgiveness process, depending on how deep the relationship is. 

As an example, my wife had a very close relationship with one of our nieces in our family from the time she was one year old or so. They’re always great, like mother and daughter versus aunt and niece. Unfortunately, during the wedding period, an issue happened when she got married that caused a great rift between my wife and my niece. It was a shame because they were always so close, and for a year or so, they didn’t really talk together too much and lost connection. 

Luckily, they both were open to therapy on their own because they had their own lives, and my wife has done therapy at a different time. They agreed that their relationship was important enough that they would agree to see a therapist together. 

They went and sat with a person together, and the relationship was still not the same as before, but they knew that it was so intense around the emotion that they needed someone who was an expert in guiding them through it. At least it showed enough respect in both of their relationships. They were willing to spend an hour or two having a conversation at least. 

Your Erroneous Zones by Wayne W. Dyer

I know that’s kind of an extreme, but if there is this thing about forgiveness, I found all my principles: acceptance, gratitude, prayer, and paying it forward. Of all of them, the one that I personally have found the most is allowing me to be freed up to do my life the way I want my life to be through the power of forgiveness, without question.

I think the hardest thing about forgiveness is allowing yourself to be vulnerable. You need to let go of your anger to grow and move forward.

I totally agree. I agree. 

Thank you so much, Steve. I have many more questions, but before we say goodbye for now, what are your top tips for living a stellar life?  

As much as I talk about ego, I also realize that whatever relationship you have with any kind of a higher power, the next most important one is the relationship with yourself. So, my stellar life is to find some way you can have a connection with a higher power, then make yourself your best friend. 

When I started my consulting company, I said I would make myself my best first client as my consultant. My next goal in life is to find ways to become friends with yourself and like who you are. 

Then the third is whatever talent you have, cultivate it and find ways to give it away to others in a larger, bigger way because that’s the gift that you will find that excels you in other areas with the relationships with others that you want to be in. 

Thank you so, so much. Where can people find you, get your book, maybe consult with you? 

Thank you. Probably the best way is steverodgers.net. My a little more corporate website is thealchemyadvisors.com, and I’m on Amazon. You can just Google my name into Amazon as well. Any of those websites, Alchemy Advisors or steverodgers.net, has my podcast. I also have a podcast show called The Alchemy of Business. People could listen to that on iTunes, Roku, or many different stations. I have guests on. 

I’d love to have you on at some point as well. So I’ll have you, and I flip the chair here, and I get to ask you these kinds of questions. Checking out my sites will link everybody to everything they might want to check me out on.  

Awesome. Thank you, Steve. I appreciate you. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us.  

Thank you for having me as a guest, and thanks for the good work that you’re doing in the world in Stellar Life. I love the title, and I love the messages in which you’re bringing forward your guests and your mission. Thanks for contributing to your own IGI in the world.  

Thank you, listeners. Remember to connect to a higher power, be your best self, give, share your talents with others, and have a stellar life. This is Orion. Until next time. 

Thanks, everyone. 

Thank you, and I appreciate this.

Your Checklist of Actions to Take

{✓} Always have faith and spiritual practice in your life. This will help you to connect to God or Higher Source.

{✓} Listen and trust your gut or instinct. Listening to your intuition helps you avoid unhealthy relationships and situations.

{✓} Practice morning prayer and meditation with your God or Higher Source. Prayer is when you’re having a conversation with God. Meditation is when you’re consciously fully listening to what God is trying to tell you. 

{✓} Have a spiritual conscious business. Your business should sustain everyone involved in it in an ecosystem that betters the world. Open your heart to your employees and customers so they will also be open to you. This will improve the environment in your business.

{✓} Stay out of your ego. Instead, invite God, grace, goodness, or greatness in your life. This will allow you to live in your highest calling, be authentic, and be of service to others.

{✓} Be happy in your current moments, regardless of what you have or who you are. Happiness comes from living in the moment — also known as mindfulness. When you become mindful, you realize that you are not your thoughts; instead, you become an observer of your thoughts without judging them.

{✓} Forgive and be forgiven. According to Nelson Mandela, “Forgiveness liberates the soul; that’s why it is such a powerful weapon.”

{✓} Find a mediator that can facilitate your forgiveness process. They will listen and support both parties in a healing journey through forgiveness. 

{✓} Become friends with yourself and like who you are. Knowing who you are helps identify what you need to create the life you want. It allows you to focus on yourself positively, prevents you from getting too caught up in others’ lives, and keeps you grounded and balanced. 

{✓} Cultivate your talent and find a way to teach it to others. Your talent gives you an endless flow of creativity, a sense of peace, freedom, or empowerment; it serves as a clear sign that others could benefit from it too. When you decide to share, you support the potential for the endless opportunities your gift affords others.

{✓} Visit Steve Rodger’s personal and corporate websites to learn more about him and his services. Also, check out his podcast show, The Alchemy of Business, and book, The IGI Principles: The Power of Inviting Good In vs. Edging Good Out. 

Links and Resources

About Steve Rodgers

Steve Rodgers is the host of The Alchemy of Business Podcast Show, author of Amazon #1 Bestselling books Lead to Gold and The IGI Principles, and the CEO of the Alchemy Advisors coaching and consulting firm. He is a former Warren Buffett CEO who experienced a radical spiritual transformation that has evolved into a new mission as a purpose-driven consultant and coach for business leaders and entrepreneurs, an in-demand international keynote speaker, and a bestselling author. Steve specializes in helping business owners and leaders increase productivity, profits, and purpose through integrating spiritual intelligence into every aspect of their personal and professional lives.

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