643. Radical Responsibility: Her Key to Relative Freedom

Emily Pereira

Emily had played by the rules, giving 110% to her highly competitive job. She had proven to others that she could excel in whatever she put her mind to. But when a personal crisis began to crush her, she needed a more radical way to be responsible for herself.

Emily Pereira was entrenched in the corporate world, caught in an endless cycle of never feeling like it was enough. Then, she had a much-needed spiritual awakening that allowed her to recover her dormant creativity. She began writing, painting, singing, playing guitar and performing her original songs after 32 years of believing she did not have a creative bone in her body. A women’s love coach, yoga teacher and international retreat leader, she lives at the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica with her beloved, and baby girl. Together they are building the Spirit Nature Retreat and Wellness Center. Emily is the author of the forthcoming book, “What Money Can’t Buy: From the Hollywood Hills to the Amazon Jungle—One Woman’s Search for Enough.”

How Did You Start Using Your Talents?

Emily’s 15-year career selling pharmaceuticals started out as sort of an experiment. “I had a little talk with myself and decided I was really going to go for it and give it everything I had. I don’t know if I had ever genuinely put 110% into something, period. I thought, I want to see if I can be really good at something. I found that when I put my mind to something I can be quite good at it. Year after year, I was number one in the nation. They were flying me on trips to Hawaii, the Bahamas, Switzerland, different places. Even when I say it now, it sounds pretty good. But deep in my heart, I knew I wasn’t living my truth. I had no clue what that truth was, or how to find it.”

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

In the midst of a life that looked great from the outside, Emily’s world fell apart when she discovered the man she had been sharing her life with for six years had been cheating on her. She was devastated. Then, “the forces of the Universe swirled around, converged and connected me with a powerful spiritual teacher, clairvoyant energy healer. He told me, ‘Your pain has much less to do with this man and this life you’ve lost, and a lot more to do with the fact that you have bought into illusions about yourself and the way the world works. They are simply not true.’ He was right. I discovered my own perfectionism and how it was keeping me from my inner creativity.” She started a process that radically shifted her sense of responsibility for her own life.

The Most Powerful Lessons Learned?

“You do not need to be perfect to create, to participate fully in life. You simply need to give yourself permission to be a beginner. A beginner isn’t supposed to know anything, so the beginner can never fail. One of the biggest game-changers for me was taking radical, personal responsibility for every single thing in my life. Whether it’s the good, the bad, the ugly, the striped, the paisley, I accept that I created that. This radically shifts the energy vibration, away from ‘poor me’ and toward abundance and freedom.”

Steps to Success from Emily Pereira

1. Give yourself permission to be the beginner, to let go of perfectionism that holds you back.

2. Accept radical responsibility for your own life. Instead of blaming others, ask yourself, “Why did I create this?” Then, take responsibility for changing.

3. The Universe has one answer, “Yes!” So, be careful and intentional about what you affirm about yourself and your life.