The Power Of Connecting To Your Higher Purpose

So important for us personally as human beings. We need to connect with other human beings, but also from a business and from a marketing perspective, connections are so key. And one of my most prized or most precious connections, I should say, that I have is with Diana Wentworth. And she's here with us on Cash In On Camera today. Just so honored, Diana, to have you here because we met actually in— well, physically met in Lake Las Vegas just in June. And what struck me about seeing you in person is that you have a real special aura. I don't know if you know this about yourself, but you do have a special energy and a special aura around you that exudes positivity. And I just loved, you know, seeing you on stage and being around you. And I'm just honored to have you on the show today to talk about this idea of connection and connecting for a higher purpose. I'd love to dig in today and just ask you about what is it about connecting as human beings that makes it so important for us to do?

I think it's where everything starts. When we meet, there's a spark of some kind. And sometimes, the Chinese have a legend that we are connected when we're born by an invisible red thread that everyone that we're destined to meet And that certainly has proven true in my life of people showing up in the most amazing ways. And my whole career, I've been an entrepreneur all my life. And I've been connecting people around the table usually and watching so much magic happen.

Well, Diana, I mean, you just mentioned entrepreneurship, but so much more. I mean, you are a New York Times bestselling author. Of 10 books, award-winning books, 2 of which come from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which has sold millions and millions of copies. You know, you're an international keynote speaker. You, you just do so many things. And coming back to the relationships and the connections that you were just mentioning, you even at one point dated Elvis.

That's right. I knew him for a couple of years.

Yeah. Yeah, I love that. So tell me a little bit about what kind of projects you're working on right now that are really coming to the surface for you in terms of the stage of life that you're in right now and really how you are exhibiting really your higher purpose.

Oh my gosh, I am so, so honored to be 81 years old and still have all of these amazing opportunities showing up. I just expect magic. You know, I mean, that's the truth. I really do. It's proven itself over and over. And so in my first career, I wrote cookbooks and had a cooking show with my first late husband, Paul von Wellnitz. And we had a cooking school and connected people that way. And then we started the Inside Edge, which for 37 years hosted 1,500 speakers about life-enhancing subjects. And that's where Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen got together to write Chicken Soup for the Soul. And I got to be the first co-author in the series, which was just the best thing ever because the Chicken Soup for the Soul cookbook sold over a million copies. And that has just led me to so many connections in my life. And it just seems like I just naturally like to watch people come together. And that now is leading to something that I'm very excited. It's called the Chosen Family Project. We're in a time this year and right now in our country where there's so much divisiveness, and what I love is to have inclusiveness. So this is a project that we're working with, um, Sean and Andrea Fein, who are some of the top documentary makers in the world, and Bruce Purdy, and we're putting together a book all about how people choose their families. And this, this includes the LGBTQ group because of their coming out and losing their families, they have created a new family. So I'm all about creating family, and especially around the table if possible. And so we're looking for wonderful stories from people about how they chose their chosen family and how it's affected them and how it's enriched their life. So that's just—

Is that something, is that something that people can reach out to you with suggestions or nominate people Absolutely, yes, they can.

My email is Diana@DianaWentworth.com, and let me know. We're looking for great stories, really great stories.

I love that. You just mentioned about the divisiveness in the world right now, and I think we're all cognizant of that, you know, it's hard to get away from. What about your philosophy in life do you think you could impart to others in terms of how they live? Because I mean, when you're— like I said earlier, when we're around you, you do a positive aura about you. How can you, or how can we, better exhibit those types of qualities to make this a better world?

Oh, that's such a wonderful question. Every morning before I— my, you know, my brain starts going on, well, gosh, what do I need to do today? I always say, where's the most joy to be found today? Or how can I most effectively light this world? Because I believe that every one of us is here to light the world. It's our high— it is our highest purpose for all of us. And that we can, by choosing all the time, every time we say I am, we— I never say I am not feeling well. I always say I'm feeling better and better every minute. You know, I mean, this is a way of programming. And I use, of course, NuCalm, which is the most amazing meditation app. And I just love that. I go into that in the morning and I ask what I call quintessential questions. Which already contains some of the answers. So like, where's the most joy to be found today? Is it— yeah, joy is the answer, you know? So we're looking for it. And just the energy of putting that out there just seems to have things to show up. Um, I just recently had an urge to call somebody and tell them I'm looking for like an intern, social media expert person who just would love to work with me. And they gave me the name of somebody who's an angel. I mean, this woman has come to me. I mean, I expect, I really expect, I really believe that we are all connected to the divine. And all we have to do is ask. You know, they say that angels do not act of their free will. We need to ask. And I ask all the time. And sometimes I ask quite vehemently. I say, I need a miracle. I need a miracle right now.

I need it right now. I needed the miracle yesterday.

And by the end of the day, I can usually say that a miracle has shown up in some way. I really live that.

I know that you live by the mantra and you express this mantra of expect magic. It's also the title of your upcoming book, which is exciting. Can't wait to read that. Expect magic. Is that also a way of saying manifest? Is that a way of manifesting, or are they different?

No, it is. It is allowing, expecting, uh, knowing, trusting that your good is coming to you. And that's what you're here to express. You are here to be all that you can be in an energetic way, because it's contagious. You know, when you're around people who are, are depressed and so on, I, it's just hard not to become depressed. But when you're around somebody who's ebullient and joyful, um, it's, it's just like catching, you know, it's, uh, it's in a good way contagious.

I heard you yesterday, and we were both connected to David Fagan and Isabel Fagan, um, and, and through the Top Talent JV world. And I heard you yesterday on their event mentioning how you use NuCalm, and I'd like to get a little bit more into NuCalm. There may be people watching or listening who are unfamiliar with what NuCalm is, and we're going to set the stage of what NuCalm is in a moment. But you mentioned yesterday that you use NuCalm on a regular basis, and I know you're a spokesperson for it. And I too, by the way, I'm a masterminder. So love it. Now, you mentioned yesterday how you will do this as a practice in order to get downloads, I think is the word that you used.

You get downloads.

And I'd love for you to talk to us about what kind of downloads, downloads from whom or where.

I refer to it as the divine. It's the divine mystery. I don't know how to describe it in a way that is real, but I know that it's there. And when I wake up in the morning, I get up and have some water and take my pills and everything. I get back in bed I listened to either the 50 or the 70-minute Newcom, and what I discovered after a short amount of time, maybe 3 weeks into using it, I noticed that when I asked these questions, that all of a sudden I'd start having insights and solutions flowing into me that would not normally come. And it's, it's like this incredibly productive meditation. I even recently, just maybe 2 months ago, was having trouble writing something. I had— somebody was waiting for it. I hadn't been able to write it. And so I picked up my phone and put on a transcribing app. And I just started dictating. I call it divine dictation. Oh, I love that. I put out almost 4,000 words. I mean, it was unbelievable. And I only needed to correct the pronunciation, you know, the punctuation. It was as natural, you know, it was just natural, just the way I would speak. And I was thrilled with that. I use it also, you know, for lots of other things, for the power nap and for just, there's a creativity, there's one called Reboot that I put on and I write to that or one called Focus. You know, I just, I'm madly in love. It's my favorite thing in the world for sure. And I reached out to the company and told them they needed me because I'm 80 years old and my brain function is fantastic and elders really care They care about their brain function and they have the time to listen to it too.

So, well, and now, I mean, you obviously are our spokesperson for NuCalm and what they're doing and the great work that you're doing alongside Tony Robbins, who uses—

I know, isn't that amazing? They only have like 5 real spokespersons and I talked my way in there.

So really it's about using this technology. It really is. It's a form of technology that you're using in order to tap into the divine. And so that's obviously a form of connection. It's connecting to that, that's an intangible energy that has allowed you, in this case, you know, to download this information, to like write something that would maybe otherwise have taken you, who knows, uh, you know, a month to write. But it came to you so naturally. And I just think that's so amazing. How that pertains to marketing is that, gee, I mean, if you're using a tool like that and you're using that type of technology, who knows if you could get more clarity around what it is that you are expressing, your ideas, which tend to be kind of bottled up in our minds. We're thinking about these things all the time, but it's how do you express that? How do you make it real in this physical world?

That is such a perfect statement. Yes, it's really all about clarity. And I think that I'm always inviting stepping stones. There's a wonderful story about a man who had a Chinese gentleman show up at his house and tell him, he said he just came to tell him a story. And he told him that before he left China as a very young man, that his grandfather had come to him in the evening and invited him to go on a walk down by the river. And when they got there, the river was all covered with mist. But his grandfather pointed to a rock right off of the riverbed. And he said, "Do you see that stone?" And he said, "Yes." And the grandfather said, "That's a stepping stone. Your life will be like that. You only see one at a time." And I really believe that. I just ask for that next stepping stone. And then the clarity comes. And clarity is the perfect word for what comes to me out of using Newcom and out of asking these really deep questions about next steps.

So going back in time a little bit then, Diana, back to when you were a television celebrity chef, you know, right?

That's many lifetimes ago.

Do you view that as a stepping stone Oh, yes.

Yes. When my daughter was born, I had postpartum depression, and I didn't know what it was, and there was no treatment. Nobody ever talked about anything like that. But my husband had the idea that I would start teaching cooking in the kitchen. So I— all of a sudden, all these people were coming to cooking classes, and we ended up having our own show and all these, these cookbook of the year. It was really quite a career. Yeah, definitely. That's interesting. Yeah, and then, you know, the cooking career fell apart and we didn't know what to do with our hosting talents. And then we started The Inside Edge, but that came from asking a lot of questions about how could we use our hosting talents to still bring people together? And it was there that, you know, all of these people, all like Louise Hay and Dr. Susan Jeffers and Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, just sitting there brainstorming their book. You know, I mean, it was like this petri dish of consciousness and people supporting each other in their dreams and everything. Yeah, yeah.

And, and those stepping stones, obviously, you know, you went through that process, and like you said, maybe that at one point it was a redefinition of what are we going to do with these hosting skills because the world has changed, and that's typical and normal to have happen. Um, and then you started moving into a different realm. But do you feel that you always have had a good connection or a good understanding of what your higher purpose was, even back in the 1980s, 1990s? Or was it something that progressed and became more clear to you as the decades have come through?

Well, definitely. I think it evolved, of course, because as we grow through all of our stepping stones and stumbling blocks, which happen to be stepping stones as well, we gain a lot of wisdom. So I have really used a tool of journaling. I do all kinds of journaling. I create dialogues with wisdom figures. I, I ask questions. I've gotten really used to listening deeply to what resonates. And I, I now use it all the time. You know, I do. I, it's like I have this ongoing dialogue all the time of what is my purest path, or what is the most helpful step that I can take to help a certain person, or, and, and I've gotten really good at that. But I think it's the, it's the most important thing that we can do is trust our inner knowing, which I know is coming from the divine, that we're all here with a divine purpose of, of helping each other and, and empowering each other and lighting each other up.

Dina, how has marketing changed since you have been doing marketing?

You know how old I am. You know, I was back in the day when our first TV had a screen this big and it was black and white. So, gosh, all of my cooking classes were advertised by mail, you know, snail mail. And then when we got into the Inside Edge, of course, there was no internet. Yet. So it was all word of mouth, and, um, the word just spread like crazy. I mean, we had so many members, it was amazing. But now that the, the internet is, um, firmly established in Zoom, of course, I think with, with COVID that was the greatest gift of, of COVID for me because I'm now widowed for the second time. I'm alone here, and I feel like I have this amazing social life through, through moments like this. Here, I'm so happy you invited me here.

I'm so happy to have you here too. And I love what you've shared here about this idea of connecting for a higher purpose and that those forms of connection are various, right? They are connections to other people, connections to the, to the divine, connecting through technology here through Zoom. There's so many different forms of connection. And that as you continue to do that, you too, just like Diana— and I feel the same way, I feel like my higher purpose is something that's evolving and I'm becoming more clear about it as I, you know, in my 50s now as well. So I think we can all appreciate that, that if you feel like you're still doing the work, right, you're still out there, you're connecting, you're not staying hidden in a silo and staying, you know, the best kept secret, put yourself out there. And good things are bound to happen. One of the things that happened in June when I saw you in Lake Las Vegas is that you gave out several of these little red hearts.

Oh yeah, very good.

This little red heart, I keep this, I keep this in, uh, in the bathroom. So every morning when I'm getting ready, I see the little red heart sitting on top. And I wonder what the story is behind your giving these out to people? Tell us a little bit about that.

I don't know. The heart symbol has always been really evocative for me. And then in, in 2009, I had a sudden heart attack and it was a wake-up call, really. It was, I really had to tune in to my heart. I was only in the hospital 36 hours. They put in 4 long stents.. And then I decided that the American Heart Association needed some support. They are all about the body and the symptoms and everything else, but they're not at all about the emotional or the spiritual heart. So I wrote a book called Love Your Heart: Follow the Red Thread to a Heart-Centered Life. And I had that printed and I spoke at some of the Go Red for Women luncheons. And it's available on my website on the home page, free for a download. I just love— I love focusing on my heart when I, when I get into a place during the day where I'm confused or so on. I just, I just breathe in and out of my heart. I radiate energy, healing energy, into every cell of my body and tell my— tell myself to restore themselves and renew themselves in their original pattern and not in the situation they might find themselves in right now. So I must say, I have survived that heart attack really well and my body's great. And it's really the deepest thing for me is the heart.

Well, I did not know the background story of it. So now that I have that background story, I'm glad. I'll be looking at this heart differently and thinking of it differently, I think, going forward. So thank you for that. Just a very heartfelt thing that you did, which I love. I wanted to end by asking you about future projects. I know you mentioned Chosen Family Project and this idea of Inside Edge, which is, I believe, undergoing the next evolution and moving into some what you call wisdom circles. And I'd love for you to explain what that is.

Thank you for asking about that. My dear friend Robin Mohan and I are hosting Wisdom Circles. And they are for women primarily who want to design a fabulous legacy for themselves. You know, they've mastered their life. They probably are in their 60s or so on. What can they do for their encore? I had this sudden wonderful discovery of that word. I had gone for a facial and the woman who gave me the facial, she said, I don't know if you know that I'm a medium. And I said, well, no, I didn't. And she said, well, your husband Ted was here. And he wants you to, in meditation, remember what it was like to look right into his eyes. And he wants you to write something down. So next morning in my Newcomen meditation, I'm picturing Ted's beautiful blue eyes, and I heard the word encore. And then I heard encore at 80, and I was 80 at the time. I thought, you know, that is the perfect word. You know, it means that you have performed well, the audience has liked it, but they want more of you. And what better time to reinvent yourself in your encore years, I call them, where we still have a lot of juice and a lot of potential and a lot to express and so much wisdom to share. What can we create that's completely new and fun and has meaning um, for our legacy. So I love that.

Yeah. And how do people get in touch with you? I'm going to put this on the screen if I can do it real quick here.

It's Diana at dianawentworth.com.

I'm gonna put that on the screen so that people can see.

And my website is such an antique. I mean, you might enjoy looking through some of the antiquities there, but it will be completely refreshed soon. So, um, I'm excited about that.

Well, I would— you have so many. This is what I love is that you have— you're so active. You do so many things. Diana@DianaWentworth.com. Again, if you have questions about any of the things that we've talked about that Diana has her hands in right now, send an email and connect with her. That's the premise of it.

Connect with her.

She's on her path toward a higher purpose through all of these amazing projects. And so happy to know you, and thank you so much for being on the show today. The last thing I want to ask you, and this is something I ask of all the guests, is what is something that's really working for you, Diana, to market either yourself personally or any of the projects that you're involved in right now? Something, a tip, tool, tactic, or technique that's really working for you that you'd like to share with the audience today?

Well, we just started recording some videos. I'm teaching a course called Expect Magic, and it's only a 6-week course, but we're taking little snippets of the videos, maybe 10 minutes of, of what I'm saying there. And now we're posting those on, on social media. So the different topics like sovereignty and physicality and creativity, that ways to get those things moving in, in yourself. And we're just putting it out like that. I hope it takes off. It's an experiment. We'll see what happens.

I love that. And isn't life a whole experiment unto itself? I mean, isn't that really what life is? This is just keep going, right?

Going, and we will never understand it. Don't— we don't need to try to understand it. We just need to trust it, that it's, um, that we surrender and let go and trust the divine.

Diana Wentworth, thank you so much for being on Caching on Camera today. We really are the better for it, and we've learned a lot. And, and I wish you all the best with all of your projects.

Thank you, Cheryl. You're true.