Ever heard about the time the meat industry sued Oprah? On her old TV show, she did an episode on mad cow disease and a couple of cattle ranchers in Texas claimed her show caused meat sales to plummet and sued her. She stood up for herself and was eventually acquitted. 

About that time in her life she’s said, “So you’re on trial by day, and you’re doing the show by night. It was stressful. It was challenging. To be on trial, may I just say, is one of the worst experiences of anybody’s life.”

When I first read that, I thought “If Oprah is saying it was stressful, it must’ve REALLY been stressful.” Because not only did she survive poverty and rape as a child, she also had to fight her way through the media system as a Black woman, in a white male dominated world, to become the billionaire that she is today. After all she’s experienced, if being sued by the cattle industry felt “stressful”, I can’t imagine how capacity testing/expanding it was.

Last year I had a few experiences with people who showed me a level of calculation, deception and plotting I’d only seen one other time in my life. I don’t tend to be that way as a human, so that level of nefariousness took me by surprise. I had to stand up for myself bigger than ever. 

During that time, a trusted mentor reminded me of my OWN words: “Well, Lisa. If you want a big life, you need big capacity. Anyone with a big life has to deal with these things.” I thought of Oprah.

She was right. With a big life, comes great responsibility and a need for greater capacity than most. Because in a big life, there will always be detractors. Bright lights make unhappy people do weird things. Look at everything people have falsely accused Oprah of! Yet, she’s never stopped and because of staying true to her mission even through stressful situations, she has a huge amount of capacity. She has the amount of capacity that matches the size life she desired to create. So, I decided I was gonna turn my own “detractor” experience into an opportunity to get more capacity to match the big life I’m creating.

If you’re in my community, you might be reading this and thinking “See Lisa? This is why I DON’T want to be more visible. Because that level of responsibility and haters scares me.” 

I have news for you: #1 That’s a capacity issue. #2 It’s unavoidable. Are you going to let a few vengeful people shut down your ENTIRE mission for which you came to this planet? Hell no. Therefore the only answer is to GET MORE CAPACITY. Period. 

People don’t ONLY hire me when they’re at a plateau or stuck, they ALSO hire me when they’re preparing for a whole other level of their careers or businesses in the coming year, and they KNOW they’re going to need greater capacity to deal with it. Look at the big and little things Oprah invests in for her own growth. They’re not strategies. They’re all capacity expanders.

So now I ask you: do YOU have the capacity you need for the big goals you’re planning and strategizing to achieve this year? Your answer is either “no” or “I’m not sure”. And even if you’re thinking “I think so!”, there are capacity blind spots you can’t yet see.

This time of year you’re bombarded with “plan your vision for 2021” workshops. Those workshops often take you through detailed budgeting and revenue spreadsheets and visioning exercises to set quarterly goals. 

And let’s be honest, did you think that turning the page on 2020 was going to make the immense challenges we faced just go away? By now you’re realizing 2021 is about to be another wild ride which will also require immense capacity from you. And if I know you, you’re not about to let yourself hide your head in the sand. 

You might have made a “yearly plan” or even worked up a revenue/salary spreadsheet by now, but have you made a plan that shows you exactly what CAPACITIES you need to grow to ensure your strategies actually work this year? Cause you can strategize and revenue project until the cows come home, but if you don’t have the capacity you need to navigate the challenges we’re ALREADY experiencing this year AND make those strategies work…that “envision your year” workshop won’t help you.

Last week I mentioned I *might* put on an event to show you how to plan your year with capacity. The only way I was going to do it is if I got enough interest, so I asked y’all to indicate your interest in that email.

Well, you blew. me. away. The interest was huge. Know what that means? IT’S ON!

Introducing CAPACITY 2021.

This is not a “workshop”. It’s an EXPERIENCE. And it’s unlike any other “envision your year” or “2021 planning workshop” you’ve taken. Because we’re going to dive deep into looking at where your hidden capacity deficits are (they’re almost never what you think), we’re going to unveil your capacity blind spots and we’re going to make a plan to make sure you know exactly what CAPACITIES you need, quarter by quarter, to actually achieve your goals this year.

WHEN: January 29, 2021 from 10am PT/1pm ET to 2pm PT/5pm ET.

WHERE: Zoom (virtual)*

INVESTMENT: Pay what you can, minimum investment of $195. The event itself is worth $500. So I’m leaving it up to the honor system that you pay what you can anywhere between $195-$500. If you can do $500, pay that. If you can’t, pay what you can.

Grab your spot here.

Remember, it’s NOT your “hacks”, “quarterly planning”, “methodology”, “power crystals”, crisp new planner or any other strategy. Your ego REALLY wants that to be the solution . They’re shiny objects because they promise a gleaming quick fix or a “step by step plan” you can “easily follow.” 

But your strategies aren’t going to do a thing for you if you can’t hold, handle and receive what those strategies will bring you. It’s your CAPACITY that needs the attention.